BEFORE ARRIVING AT THE LEGENDARY SCORMETHEUS, BASTAIN'S MIND SWIRLED WITH ANTICIPATION AND DOUBT.
THE REASON WAS SIMPLE: SCORMETHEUS, THE ELF IN QUESTION, WAS INFAMOUS.
IN HIS EARLY YEARS, MANY REGARDED HIM AS A SECOND "SAGE" AMONG THE ELVES, ONE DESTINED TO LEAD THEIR PEOPLE. BUT AS TIME PASSED AND SOME ELVES ASCENDED TO THE LEGENDARY "REALM OF THE GODS," THE IDEA OF THE CURRENT SAGE RETIRING ANYTIME SOON SEEMED FAR-FETCHED. THAT LEFT SCORMETHEUS, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE "ETERNAL PRINCE," IN A SOMEWHAT AWKWARD, LIMINAL POSITION, NEITHER LEADING NOR FULLY STEPPING ASIDE.M
WHAT TRULY MADE HIM NOTORIOUS, HOWEVER, WAS HIS ECCENTRIC BEHAVIOR. TALES OF HIS ABSURD ANTICS ECHOED THROUGH THE ELVEN LANDS.
"COME ON, DARLING, HAVE A DRINK WITH ME!" HE'D SHOUT.
"HEY, LET ME GUESS, WHO IS THIS LOVELY LADY?" HE'D TEASE, THROWING AN ARM AROUND THE NEXT UNSUSPECTING SOUL.
AS BASTAIN AND HIS COMPANIONS NEARED THEIR DESTINATION, THE ONCE-STRONG RESOLVE TO MEET SCORMETHEUS BEGAN TO WANE. BASTIAN, A TRUSTED COMPANION, FELT THE HESITATION CREEPING IN. SOME OF THE GROUP WERE ALREADY BACKING OUT.
"COUSIN, JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER. YOU'RE THE KEY TO THIS MISSION," BASTIAN WHISPERED, HIS VOICE STEADY BUT TINGED WITH THE WEIGHT OF UNSPOKEN DREAD.
BASTAIN'S EXPRESSION WAS HARDER TO READ, EQUAL PARTS RESIGNED AND AMUSED. HE HADN'T EXPECTED HIS FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH HIS "RELATIVES" TO PLAY OUT QUITE LIKE THIS.
JUST WEEKS EARLIER, HE'D STOOD BEFORE THE COALITION LEADERS, EYES SHARP WITH DETERMINATION. TO BOLSTER HIS CREDIBILITY, HE'D PRESENTED THEM WITH A "DRAGON DAGGER," A POTENT SYMBOL OF HIS LINEAGE. THE INTRICATE DRAGON PATTERNS ETCHED ONTO THE BLADE WERE UNMISTAKABLE, THE FAMILY EMBLEM OF A PROUD DRAGON CLAN, ONE OF THE MOST ANCIENT IN EXISTENCE. IT WAS A TOOL, ENCHANTED TO PROVE THE BEARER'S HERITAGE, A TRADITION BORN OUT OF NECESSITY. AFTER ALL, THE DRAGON RACE WAS NOTORIOUSLY PROLIFIC, AND THE PRESENCE OF HALF-BLOODS AND ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN OFTEN CAUSED TENSIONS TO FLARE.
TO AVOID SUCH DISPUTES, THEY HAD DEVISED A SET OF VERIFICATION RITUALS. A TOKEN LIKE BASTAIN'S DAGGER IMMEDIATELY CAUGHT THE ATTENTION OF THE DRAGON CLAN. SOON AFTER, A DRAGON FROM THE FAMILY RECOGNIZED IT, ALTHOUGH NOT ALL WERE WILLING TO ACKNOWLEDGE HIM.
"I KNOW," DIONA MURMURED TO BASTIAN, AS IF TRYING TO REASSURE HIMSELF. "I'LL ENDURE IT. EVEN IF THAT INSUFFERABLE BASTARD SHOWS UP, I SWEAR I WON'T SMASH A WINE GLASS IN HIS FACE."
STANDING BEFORE THEM NOW WAS A STRIKING FIGURE, THE "RED-HAIRED ELF," KNOWN AS NAAVYA DIONA, THOUGH MOST CALLED HER "NANA." SHE WAS A RED DRAGON, ALBEIT IN HER ELVEN FORM, A FIERY-TEMPERED CREATURE WITH A BODY THAT STRETCHED TWELVE METERS WHEN FULLY TRANSFORMED. THERE WAS A GOOD CHANCE THAT SHE WAS BASTAIN'S BIOLOGICAL SISTER, COUSIN, OR PERHAPS SOMETHING EVEN CLOSER.
BASTAIN COUGHED AWKWARDLY, WONDERING AT THE ABSURDITY OF THE SITUATION, BUT DEEP DOWN HE KNEW THERE WAS A REASON FOR EVERYTHING. THE FIRE-BREATHING RED DRAGONS WERE NOTORIOUS FOR THEIR HOT TEMPERS, AND BASTAIN'S TOKEN HAD ORIGINATED FROM THE "CORNWELL MOUNTAIN RED DRAGON FAMILY." DETERMINING HIS PRECISE LINEAGE WAS SIMPLY A MATTER OF TRACKING DOWN WHO HAD LOST THEIR "BLOODLINE DAGGER."
IN THIS PARTICULAR NEST, THERE HAD BEEN NINE RED DRAGONS OF THE SAME GENERATION, AND EACH HAD CARRIED A DAGGER IDENTICAL TO BASTAIN'S. NOW, THOUGH, ONLY THREE REMAINED. THE OTHER SIX HAD PERISHED, TWO BEFORE THE WAR BEGAN AND FOUR MORE DURING THE BATTLES THAT FOLLOWED. THE REMNANTS OF THEIR FAMILY WERE FEW.
"THE MOST LIKELY SUSPECT IS OUR BROTHER, EDDIE RAVENCORE," NANA EXPLAINED, HER VOICE TINGED WITH SORROW. "HE VANISHED FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. HIS LAST KNOWN WHEREABOUTS WERE IN THE NORTH, AND WE'VE LONG SUSPECTED THE ELVES WERE INVOLVED. THE TIMING FITS."
AT LEAST, THAT'S WHAT THE DRAGON KING HIMSELF HAD TOLD BASTAIN. YES, THE DRAGON KING, ANOTHER KEY FIGURE IN BASTAIN'S COMPLICATED STORY. IT WAS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT THIS DRAGON LEADER, LEMMILIS, ONE OF THE FOUR COALITION HEADS, WAS ALSO LINKED TO BASTAIN'S BLOODLINE.
IN A TIME OF PEACE, IF ALL THE DRAGONS COULD BE SUMMONED, THIS PUZZLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN EASIER TO SOLVE. EVEN IF SOME HAD FALLEN, THEIR MOVEMENTS AND PATTERNS COULD PROVIDE CLUES. BUT NOW, WITH WAR LOOMING LARGE, TIME WAS A LUXURY THEY NO LONGER HAD.
NOW, WITH FOUR RED DRAGONS DEAD IN BATTLE, THE REMAINING THREE WERE SCATTERED ACROSS THE WARFRONT, EACH FIGHTING THEIR OWN GRUELING BATTLES. THERE WAS NO WAY THEY COULD ABANDON THEIR POSITIONS FOR WHAT THEY SAW AS A "MINOR ISSUE" LIKE BASTAIN'S LINEAGE. AS A RESULT, THE INVESTIGATION HAD COME TO A HALT. WHEN ASKED DIRECTLY IF THEY WERE THE MISSING PARENT, EACH SURVIVING DRAGON SIMPLY ANSWERED, "IT'S NOT ME." BUT WHEN IT CAME TIME TO PRESENT THEIR DRAGONBORN DAGGERS AS PROOF, NONE OF THEM COULD. TYPICAL DRAGON NATURE, WHO KNOWS WHEN THEY LAST USED THEM, OR WHERE THEY EVEN WERE.
"BUT REGARDLESS OF EVERYTHING, YOU ARE FAMILY," THE DRAGON KING HAD SAID, HIS TONE GRUFF YET ODDLY COMFORTING. "WE WILL MAKE UP FOR THE WRONGS DONE TO YOU IN THE PAST."
BASTAIN COULDN'T HELP BUT SMIRK AT THAT. SUDDENLY, WITHOUT WARNING, HE HAD ACQUIRED A SET OF "RELATIVES." YET, DESPITE THE KING'S WORDS, THE DRAGON CLAN HAD ALWAYS BEEN FIERCELY INDEPENDENT, AND BASTAIN HAD NO REAL DESIRE TO BECOME TANGLED IN THEIR AFFAIRS. BESIDES, WITH A WAR STILL RAGING, NOT MUCH SEEMED TO HAVE CHANGED. THE CHAOTIC WORLD THEY ALL FOUGHT IN REMAINED THE SAME.
IN FRONT OF BASTAIN STOOD "NANA," ALSO KNOWN AS NAAVYA DIONA. SHE WASN'T SURE IF SHE WAS HIS COUSIN OR PERHAPS HIS SISTER, BUT SHE WAS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE LEADER OF THIS MISSION, AS WELL AS THE LEADER OF HER DRAGON SQUAD.
IN THE SQUAD, THE ONLY ONES WHO COULD FLAWLESSLY SHIFT INTO ELVEN FORM, ASIDE FROM BASTIAN, A RARE HALF-BLOOD, WERE THOSE DRAGONS PROFICIENT IN MAGIC. THE THREE DRAGON LADIES, OF WHICH NANA WAS THE LEADER, WERE THE CORE OF THEIR TEAM.
AND WHY WAS NANA CHOSEN TO LEAD THIS PARTICULAR MISSION? WELL, THAT HAD ITS OWN PECULIAR EXPLANATION.
"SISTER NANA," ONE OF THE DRAGON LADIES ASKED WITH A MISCHIEVOUS GRIN, "ARE YOU REALLY SURE THAT SCORMETHEUS WON'T RECOGNIZE YOU IN THIS DISGUISE?"
"OH, TRUST ME," NANA GROWLED, ROLLING HER EYES. "THAT PERVERT NEVER LOOKS AT FACES. HE'S ONLY EVER INTERESTED IN ONE THING."
BASTAIN HAD TO STIFLE A LAUGH. NANA WAS STILL SEETHING AT THE THOUGHT OF SCORMETHEUS, THAT MUCH WAS CLEAR. AS THE NIECE OF THE DRAGON KING AND THE CHERISHED "LITTLE PRINCESS" OF THE DRAGON CLAN, IT WAS UNTHINKABLE THAT SHE HAD TO DEAL WITH A MAN AS REPUGNANT AS SCORMETHEUS. BUT FATE HAD A TWISTED SENSE OF HUMOR.
"UGH, LET'S CHANGE OUTFITS AGAIN. WE CAN'T RISK HIM RECOGNIZING US THIS EARLY," ONE OF THE OTHER DRAGON LADIES GRUMBLED.
"NO!" NANA SNAPPED, VISIBLY IRRITATED. "THIS MESS IS ALL BECAUSE YOU GAVE ME BAD ADVICE IN THE FIRST PLACE. YOU'RE NOT GETTING ME INTO TROUBLE AGAIN."
BASTAIN COULD ONLY SMILE HELPLESSLY AT HIS COUSIN'S (OR SISTER'S?) FRUSTRATION. AFTER ALL, THIS WAS TECHNICALLY HIS PLAN, THOUGH THE INFORMATION HAD COME FROM THE OWL SCOUTS.
"WELL, NANA, NAAVYA DIONA," HE HAD SAID TO HER EARLIER, "I REMEMBER HEARING THAT SCORMETHEUS WAS OBSESSED WITH YOU, CHASED YOU RELENTLESSLY. IF YOU SHOW UP, IT'LL DEFINITELY INCREASE OUR CHANCES OF SUCCESS. I'M PRETTY SURE HE LIKES THAT TYPE OF WOMAN."
THE FIRST TIME BASTAIN HAD HEARD THIS, HE HAD BEEN UTTERLY SPEECHLESS. HE COULD HARDLY BELIEVE IT, BUT IT MADE SENSE. FOR AN ELVEN PRINCE, PUBLICLY PURSUING A DRAGON WAS A POLITICAL DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.
YET, THE MORE BASTAIN DUG INTO THE INFORMATION, THE MORE HE REALIZED JUST HOW BIZARRE SCORMETHEUS REALLY WAS. ELVEN PRINCES WERE KNOWN FOR THEIR DECORUM, BUT THIS ONE? HE DIDN'T JUST FALL FOR AN ELF-LIKE DRAGON, HE HAD A TASTE FOR NEARLY EVERY KIND OF WOMAN. DRAGONBORN, DWARVES, EVEN GIANTESSES WERE SUPPOSEDLY ON HIS LIST.
IT WASN'T JUST NANA HE HAD HIS EYES ON, EITHER. THE MAN WASN'T PICKY IN THE SLIGHTEST. RUMOR HAD IT HE'D FLIRTED WITH NEARLY EVERY RACE IMAGINABLE, REGARDLESS OF THEIR SIZE OR SHAPE.
"THIS IS MADNESS," BASTAIN MUTTERED UNDER HIS BREATH. "NO WONDER HE WAS STRIPPED OF HIS INHERITANCE RIGHTS. IT WASN'T JUST A SCANDAL, IT'S COMMON SENSE. HOW COULD SOMEONE LIKE HIM EVER BE CONSIDERED A RIGHTFUL HEIR?"
STILL, DESPITE BASTAIN'S SPECULATIONS, THE COALITION LEADER HAD DISMISSED THE IDEA. IT WASN'T PURELY ABOUT THE SCANDAL. SCORMETHEUS HAD LOST HIS RIGHTS FOR A MULTITUDE OF REASONS, HIS RECKLESS BEHAVIOR WAS JUST THE MOST VISIBLE SYMPTOM OF HIS UNSUITABILITY TO RULE.
"SCORMETHEUS WASN'T ALWAYS LIKE THIS," NANA SAID, HER VOICE CARRYING A MIX OF FRUSTRATION AND NOSTALGIA. "HE WAS ONCE A FAIRLY NORMAL ELF. IT WAS ONLY AFTER HE LOST HIS INHERITANCE RIGHTS THAT HE CHANGED SO DRASTICALLY. IT'S BEEN A FEW YEARS NOW, BUT THE TURNING POINT WAS WHEN THE SAGE PASSED THE 'CROWN' TO HIS SECOND SON, JORDAN. SINCE THAT DAY, SCORMETHEUS HASN'T SET FOOT IN THE ELVEN CAPITAL. INSTEAD, HE'S BEEN DRIFTING FROM CITY TO CITY, CAUSING ALL KINDS OF CHAOS."
BASTIAN FURROWED HIS BROW. "AND HOW STRONG IS HE? ANY IDEA?"
NANA SHRUGGED. "THAT'S HARD TO SAY. A GUY LIKE HIM RARELY GETS INVOLVED IN DIRECT COMBAT ANYMORE. BUT DON'T UNDERESTIMATE HIM, HE WAS TRAINED AS THE SUCCESSOR TO THE SAGE. HE'S CERTAINLY NO WEAKER THAN THE OTHER ELVEN PRINCES. MY ADVICE? DON'T ENGAGE HIM UNLESS IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY."
THE PAST CENTURY HAD BEEN FILLED WITH STRANGE CLAIMS FROM THE ELVES. THEIR SAGE, ALONG WITH HIS SONS, DECLARED THAT THEY HAD ACHIEVED GODHOOD, PROCLAIMING THEMSELVES THE NEW GODS OF THE ERA. INITIALLY, THE OTHER RACES HAD SCOFFED AT THESE BOLD ASSERTIONS, DISMISSING THEM AS THE RAVINGS OF LIARS OR LUNATICS. AFTER ALL, THE ANCIENT GODS AND CREATION MYTHS WERE THINGS OF LEGEND, FOUND ONLY IN CHILDREN'S STORIES AND FABLES. WHO, IN THEIR RIGHT MIND, WOULD BELIEVE THAT ANYONE COULD TRULY ASCEND TO GODHOOD?
BUT AS THE WAR PROGRESSED INTO ITS THIRD PHASE, THE COALITION FORCES BEGAN TO FACE AN UNSETTLING TRUTH. THE "SONS OF GOD" APPEARED ON THE BATTLEFIELD, ONE BY ONE, AND THEIR POWER WAS UNDENIABLE. WHILE THEY MAY NOT HAVE BEEN BORN GODS, THEY WIELDED ABILITIES THAT BORDERED ON DIVINE.
"THEIR MAGIC IS BEYOND ANYTHING WE'VE SEEN," BASTIAN MUTTERED, HIS THOUGHTS RACING AS NANA CONTINUED.