"Hmm, you managed to do it after all," Freya skeptically assessed our achievements. The dragon had been defeated, although we tried to avoid such an outcome.
"Well, well, there's no need to be angry with them. Not many have been able to confront such a powerful dragon and survive," Siegfried tried to calm his wife.
"However, they killed her, despite promising to resolve everything peacefully. Now the White Tribe won't wait for us," Hilda said.
"Do you think I wanted to kill her?" Hilda burst out, still holding back her emotions. "I tried to calm her down, but she wouldn't listen to me."
"Now we will have problems. I would halve their reward," Hilda skeptically stroked her chin, examining the dragon's body. "And what do we do now?"
"No need to reduce our reward. Perhaps Ascareza wasn't the cause of this attack," I turned to the black-cloaked figure inspecting the body behind us. "Riz, did you find anything?"
"Yeah," the necromancer beckoned us with a gesture of her staff. "Looks like this is it."
On the dragoness's hind leg, there were four precise punctures from which green, gangrenous veins spread.
"Looks like poison. But what could have caused such marks?" Rizel put her staff against the wound, measuring the distance between the bites. "It must have been something big with a potent venom to bring down a dragon. And it doesn't seem like different bites, more like the marks of four teeth... Wyvern... unlikely, big snake... they don't inhabit this climate. Honestly, I have no idea what it could be."
"So, she attacked us because of the poisoning? Did she think people sent that creature?" I asked.
"Hmm, doesn't seem like it," Rizel took a bit of blood from the wound and tasted it... It looked rather disgusting from the outside. One drop made her contort, and she lay motionless on the snow for a few seconds. "Damn, strong stuff. I don't know what it is, but it seems the poison wasn't meant to kill her, at least not immediately. It was destroying her brain; that's why we couldn't get through to her. She was already in a terminal stage when she flew to the capital the last time. Even I couldn't have helped her."
"So, my lightning?" I asked.
"It only accelerated the process. Kat, you're not to blame for her death."
Katrina sighed with relief.
"Then we can't waste any time. Lady Ascareza asked me to take care of her children. They might still be in her lair, and we might save them if we hurry," I said.
"You're not going anywhere!" Freya stopped her heated daughter. "A few days ago, we already sent a group of soldiers to her husband, Azaron. It's dangerous to venture into her nest now, especially if that creature is still there. It's better to wait for assistance from the White Clan."
"But your squad will take several more days to reach there, and we might not make it in time!"
"To reach the nest at the northern peak takes a day and a half. Do you think many soldiers would dare to go there in such weather?"
"Then I'll go alone if I have to!"
"Then you'll only risk your life because of your own foolishness. It's not up for discussion; you'll stay in your room. The rest are invited to a feast in honor of saving our city."
The Queen turned and walked towards the castle.
"I'm sorry, Hilda, but your mother is right. No one would dare to go there, knowing that something scarier than the White Dragon awaits," the Great Jarl patted his daughter's shoulder and followed his wife.
"Hilda?" I looked at the girl. She gazed sadly at the ground, unable to save her friend or her children.
"Go on, I want to do something else."
The Nords knew how to throw a feast. Despite parts of the city being destroyed, despite the fact that the enemy had been their ally not long ago, and despite the possibility of a greater threat lurking that night, they organized a celebration for all the warriors and residents who lost their homes in the raid. The townspeople were temporarily sheltered in the palace, which was unheard of in our country.
I ate, but I refused to drink. I didn't like the idea of leaving the dragoness's offspring to chance, and I'm sure Hilda felt the same way. She never appeared in the hall, although many warriors clearly anticipated her arrival and, upon hearing footsteps at the door, hastily smoothed their beards to not appear uncouth in front of the princess.
I gazed out of the window towards our battlefield. Ascarreza's body remained there, and we didn't know what to do with it. Disassembling it for trophies would be sacrilegious.
At some point, something glinted in the moonlight next to the huge body, and in an instant, a snowstorm arose there. I hurriedly slipped out of the room to confirm my suspicion.
"As I thought, I would find you here," a girl in academy armor stood before the dragon, wrapped in a white shroud, with an axe gleaming with bluish flames.
"I just... wanted to bury her. For any Nord, it's an honor to die in battle at the hands of a strong warrior, or at least, I thought so. And even if she's a dragon, she deserves a burial," Hilda raised the axe over her head and drove it into the ground in front of her. Shards of ice swiftly gathered around the dragoness. "We bury great warriors in mounds or cremate them. I've heard that white dragons have a cemetery on the highest peaks of the eastern ridge, but I can't take her there. This is all I can do for her."
The ice enveloped the dragoness's body in a perfect crystalline mound. It was a fitting tomb for such a majestic creature.
"In our harsh lands, this ice will never thaw. Let it instill fear in my people now, but I hope they will forgive her in the future and remember only the good."
I honored the dragon's memory with a quiet prayer and turned to the princess.
"What will you do now?" I asked.
"I haven't decided yet," she replied.
"And does this bundle of warm clothes have anything to do with it?" I pointed to a bundle sticking out from a nearby rock.
"Well, there's no point in denying it. No matter what my mother says, I want to save the Askariza children, if it's not too late. If they have only a short time left until hatching, I can hatch them with these furs."
"Well, there you have it. Did you think someone would just let you go alone?" Katrina, Ragni, Rumy, Kurone, and Asura emerged from the darkness. "As you can see, it's not just Krito who's worried about you."
"Hmm, why do you think you're helping me?" Hilda swung the massive bundle of furs over her back. "You won't get paid for it, and I'm not exactly your friend."
"But you know that monster may be waiting for you in the cave. How do you plan to deal with it alone?"
"Hah, don't underestimate me! I can handle any creature."
"Fine then, we'll follow you, just in case you need help."
"Why are you all so persistent? Do as you please, but keep in mind that I have only a little food with me. We'll have to search for supplies in the ruined village at the foot of the mountains. If we go back to the castle now, we might not be able to make it out again."
"Then let's go as we are!" Katrina proudly pointed to the mountains rising to the north.
"Not everyone will go. The mountains are no walk in the woods. Kurone, you should stay, and I wouldn't advise you, Katrina, to take any more risks."
"Hey! You're underestimating me too. I know how to climb rocks, you know!" Katrina pouted in dissatisfaction.
"Fine, as you wish. But Asura, I want to ask you for one favor."
"Me?"
"Stay here and ask your mother to take you to the tomb of your ancestors."
"Why me? And why now? I can be more useful to you there."
"It's important. They might know what threatens us. But my mother would never dare to go there herself."
"Why am I allowed to go there?"
"You'll find out everything there. Wait until tomorrow morning; then it will be too late to send a pursuit after us, and my mother will have to listen to you."
"Alright then, good luck to you all." Asura waved goodbye to her five companions as they set off towards the northern slopes.