In the midst of a forest, where tall blue trees loomed and the ground was a soft pink hue, a storm raged on. The clouds were dark and ominous, the rain pouring down in sheets, and the lightning illuminated the night sky with pink streaks. The thunder rumbled loudly, drowning out all other sounds in the forest, as the beasts took refuge from the tempest.
Amidst the chaos, a campfire burned brightly, the smoke curling up into the trees. The fire offered warmth and a sense of sanctuary in the miserable weather.
But the peace was soon shattered by the sounds of 'Clang…Clang..Bang…rumble' as an attacker descended upon the camp, slaughtering all the ones within.
They screamed for mercy but to no avail.
"Ah please no no n.." 'Thud', a head rolls on the ground
A woman's voice echoed through the camp, cold and merciless: "You revolting, vulgar beasts want mercy… hahaha, what a joke. Don't like it when someone grander battles back, hey?"
She systematically killed all 63 Orges in the camp, showing no compassion for their pleas.
Walking towards a tent, she stepped inside, her gaze locked on a child in a cage. She stared at him for a long time, entranced, as if something about the scene caused her soul to quiver.
The child is black-haired, with a moderate face, a rugged, tanned human boy, dirty, bloodied, with cuts, and bruises all over his body. His attire was ripped, and he barely had anything on.
But what bewitched her was...
His eyes gleamed bright silver, his pupils were encased in a purple hexagonal shape that seemed to shift and change with the light. When she looked at him, it felt as though she was staring into a soulless abyss, yet still, they were extraordinary.
She quickly unlocked the cage and opened it, but the boy cowered in the corner, too scared to move. "Don't worry, child," she said, lifting her hands in a peaceful gesture. "I won't hurt you."
But the boy only heard a strange noise and cowered further, hiding his face behind his hands as he saw the three white horns protruding from her forehead.
Safira realized the boy couldn't understand her and touched her chest, introducing herself. "Safira," she said with a bow.
The boy tried to make a sound, but all that came out was a dry and cracked Cough, "Ca...cough...cough."
Concerned for his well-being, Safira slowly reached towards him, conjuring a water satchel out of thin air and offering it to him. But the boy was still too scared and covered his face with his hands again.
As time passed, he peeked through his fingers and saw that Safira was still there with the water. He slowly reached for it and started drinking, but he drank too fast and began choking.
"Careful, little one," Safira said, quickly grabbing him and holding him close. She handed him another water satchel and stroked his head and back, trying to comfort him. The boy struggled, but he was too weak to break free.
So, he took the water and started drinking again, this time taking small sips so he wouldn't choke.
As Safira continued to caress him, she hummed a soothing tune and swayed back and forth. "There, there, little one," she cooed. "You must be famished as well." With a twist of her hand, a small piece of meat materialized, and she held it out to him, gesturing for him to take it.
The boy's nose caught a whiff of the delicious scent and his stomach grumbled. He reached out and took the meat, devouring it hungrily. Safira continued to feed him like this for 30 minutes until his complexion had returned to somewhat better.
Wrapping him in a large cloth, Safira stood up and held him tightly. She looked into his eyes and lifted her hand to his eyes, shutting them. He opened them again, confused, so she repeated the gesture but held her hand there longer, putting her head to his and removing her hand.
This time, he didn't open his eyes and Safira grinned, showing her sharp teeth.
As she stepped out of the tent, the sight that greeted her was a bloodbath. Blood, guts, arms, legs, heads - if you could name it, there was a body part of it scattered everywhere.
"Fucken creatures," she muttered under her breath. "I wish I could slaughter you again, much slower, for what you did to this child. I can't imagine what he's been through."
As she walked out of the camp, the boy looked over her shoulder and saw the devastation.
He then looked up at her captivating face and said, "Ca..cafar."
Safira looked at him and giggled. "Hehehe, close little one. Safira," she repeated slowly, enunciating each syllable.
He tried again, "Ca-fia-rea."
Safira clapped her hands and nodded her head. "Good endeavour, you will get it soon." She then pointed to him, trying to see if he knew his name.
As she touched his chest, he stiffened, noticing her sharp fingernail. Safira quickly yanked her hand back and pulled out another piece of meat for him.
He gladly took it, as it was the finest thing he had ever tasted.
"No one will hurt you, little one," Safira said, looking into his exquisite eyes. "As long as I'm around, I'll take you to your home or clan, if I can find them."
With a sudden jolt, he jumps out of his skin, as the lightning outside rages on, illuminating the dark sky and drowning out any other noise.
Safira holds him close, trying to calm him down, wishing she could control the weather and not just lightning. She makes her way quickly to her heavily guarded camp.
"Halt, who goes there? Identify yourself," the guards call out as someone approaches their campsite.
Safira doesn't stop, walking up to them, "It's me, at ease you four, I'm back," she says as they recognize her voice and drop to one knee, bowing their heads to her.
"Your majesty, please forgive us," they say.
Safira responds, "Nothing to forgive, good job, keep up the good work. I'm going to my tent," and nods at them to be at ease before leaving.
As she walks to her tent, everyone bows, and she nods back with respect, to them happy to see they are all in high spirits.
"Fenris, Fenris sweetheart," Safira calls out as she enters her tent.
A woman rushes over quickly, bowing to her, "Safira, back so soon, hope you found something to hunt," she says.
Safira groans at her words, "Yeah, disgusting ogres killed them all. Will you be a dear and warm my bath water? I want to wash this one," she says as she pulls the cloth covering his face off, revealing a young boy.
Fenris looks at the child in surprise and quickly hurries over to the bath to heat it with her flame ability, and adds various smelling salts to the water, so the queen can smell fabulous and majestic.
The boy looks around the space, wide-eyed, as it is stunning, an all-white tent with wonderful glowing things on the ceiling, it smells amazing, and there's a massive bed that he gets placed on by Safira as she stares at him.
…..' Click'
"Hello, hello, there you are. We're going to take a bath to get you cleaned up, little one. Don't be scared now," Safira tries to talk to him, but he's not comprehending a word of it and just looks around, still astonished by the room.
He looks at her and notices he's made her dirty and looks at her robe in dread, worried he might get injured, so he stiffens up again.
Safira sees what he's looking at and shakes her head, quickly removes her robe, and tosses it to the corner of the room. She pulls out another piece of meat and hands it to him, caressing his head, "They can be washed, dear. No dread and worry here," she says as she cuddles him to soothe him further.
"Safira, please permit me to bathe him," Fenris rushes over to take him to the bath with open arms.
Safira shakes her head and unclips her belt holding her long sword, and hands it to Fenris. She starts undressing and then walks over to him, two giant wings flick open, and a tail comes out from her back.
"Good to be unrestricted from that harness," she says.
Only now does he stop gazing around and notice the wings and also the tail. The long, snowy-white hair falls to her hips, with sharp ears going upwards. After she unwraps her hair from the cloth she had it in to protect it from blood.
Safira stands in front of the boy and starts giggling because he's enchanted by her now. She slowly lifts his shirt off and almost gets super enraged when she sees all the cuts and contusions he has, but then she removes his pants and strolls towards the bath to clean him to not frighten him by getting mad.
Fenris looks at the situation concerned and speaks out, "Safira, are you sure this is very unorthodox of a Queen?"
"Fenris, I am the Queen of the Dragons, an Ancient God beast. I do what I want when I want. Just because my powers are restricted here doesn't imply other existence can look down on me. This boy has lived through...I don't want to imagine. He's skittish and badly hurt, just look at his body," Safira says with a tear slipping from her eye as she looks at him.
" Yes Safira of course I understand that", Fenris bows and nods her head to Safira
Queen Safira slowly lowers herself into the grand, oval-shaped bath, the water a milky white, infused with a lavender aroma. Her wings rest comfortably against the circumference of the bath, her tail hanging out lazily as she cradles the small boy against her chest, gently running water through his hair.
"Fenris, please fetch me some clothing for this little one," Queen Safira commanded, her voice so gentle though. "And tell my royal vigils outside to circulate the word in the camp. We're heading to the main city tomorrow, and I want the S squad to go ahead and gather knowledge about this child. See if they can find anything about his race in this globes codex."
AN:" Vigils are Queen Safira's royal guards"
Fenris, ever the dutiful servant, quickly complied. She stood and went to a table, writing down the decrees and folding the documents, stamping them with an insignia. She then returned to the bath, jotting down the boy's appearance before bowing to the Queen and rushing off to fulfil her duties.
As Fenris left, Queen Safira tended to the boy, cleaning him thoroughly as he playfully touched her horns and fiddled with her long hair.
She closed her eyes, lost in thought, "What are you, boy? I've never seen a being with eyes like yours on this planet. Your silver pupils are so uncommon, and the purple irises are shaped like a hexagon. Even more unique."
But her musings were interrupted as she heard her name being called. She opens her eyes and looked around, confused. And then it comes again, "Safira," the boy said, staring at her horns.
Queen Safira's eyes widened in surprise, a smile spreading across her face as she giggled and nodded her head in approval, she clapped her hands and pointed at him
He looked down but still doesn't understand so she just plays with him some more.
After 30 minutes of soaking in the bath, Fenris returned, holding a small pile of spotless new clothing, and laying them out neatly on the bed.
She walked over to the bath, bowing to the Queen before kneeling to check the water's temperature.
As she rose to fetch the Queen's bathrobe, she was suddenly grabbed by Queen Safira.
"Safira, how can I assist you?" Fenris asked, quickly twisting to look at her, thinking she required something.
Queen Safira grins as she points to Fenris and says her name, then points at the boy. The boy looks at Fenris and then back to Queen Safira, "Fenris," he says, mimicking the Queen's words.
Queen Safira claps and smiles, "Such a smart boy," she says, making a cute giggle.
She then proceeds to label different objects in the room, and the boy repeats each one after her.
Fenris stands by in awe, she has never seen the Queen of Dragons act in such a way before. She bows and asks, "Queen Safira, may I prepare your robe and a towel?" Queen Safira nods her head in agreement and Fenris quickly goes to fetch them.
Rising from her bath, Queen Safira wraps herself in her robe and carefully places the young boy on the bed, covering him with a blanket.
She surveys the plain clothing adorned with the dragon clan's logo, a dragon soaring among the stars, its wings and tail resembling her own around a sword.
As she begins to dress the boy, Fenris approaches, "Queen Safira, please allow me to do that." But the Queen shakes her head again, "My dear Fenris, you may brush my hair later." Fenris bows in obedience.
Once the boy is fully dressed, Queen Safira takes him to her chest of drawers and sits him on top.
She brings out a brush and begins to groom his hair. After a few minutes, Fenris steps forward to brush the Queen's long hair and clean her horns.
As the evening wears on, the Queen puts on her pyjamas and sits down at the table for dinner. Fenris serves the meal, but the Queen can't help but giggle as the boy devours his food with lightheartedness.
She raises her glass of dragon wine to drink it, but the boy glances over and points at it, causing Fenris to stand in concern.
The Queen laughs and shakes her head, "Fenris, sweet water for him."
She quickly pours him a glass and clinks it against her own, "Thanks, Fenris.", she then points to her, and the boy mimics her and drinks.
After dinner, Queen Safira settles into bed with the boy cuddled close. She glances at Fenris and says, "Night, Fenris," which the boy repeats.
Fenris smiles, "Goodnight, Safira and young man," before departing to her tent. The Queen sings a lullaby until the boy falls asleep, and then she too drifts off.