Chapter 2

The city was constructed by slaves, but it was ancient dragon architects that designed and molded the walls. Despite the walls of the cave standing for countless millennia, the atmosphere did not give a sense of desiccation. This was because the ancient dragon architects sacrificed the souls of hordes of slaves to imbue the city structure with perpetual preservation magic. Time will not crumble the walls of the city so long as Loern dragons walk the earth.

The city was built in such a way that it would be a complete labyrinth for newcomers and invaders. The city was incredibly hostile to non-draconic entities, since there were dead ends and sheer falls. These obstacles were considered trivial for dragons, because of their ability to fly, but the slaves had to memorize the city structure so they wouldn't die in a wrong turn. This wasn't because the dragon architects hated slaves, it was because they simply didn't consider slaves to be important enough to accommodate for. Coincidentally, this made the city hard for enemy slave armies to navigate. Entire battalions could be lost in the maze, making them food for the livestock or slaves. The city was also built to confuse draconic diplomats, so that they require a guide to navigate the city, which doubly serves as a way to keep an eye on them. However, for Loern dragons and their citizens, they knew the city like the scales of their talons. This made the defense of the city, in the event that the first line of defense crumbled, give a significant home field advantage to Loern.

Yasilithi navigated the dark corridors, lit sparsely for the convenience of races that do not possess dark vision, towards the inner sanctum of the city. The Loern dragons and their knights reside in a gigantic opulent citadel in the center of the mountain. The walls of the citadel were lined with gems and precious metals imported from other Loern territories that were intricately carved by the hands of artisan-specialized slaves, and imbued with Wild Magic that strengthened the defense of the walls. It would take an incredibly powerful Wild Spell to even scratch the walls of the citadel. The entrance of the citadel is hidden, and can only be opened by activating a switch on the opposite end of the citadel.

The slaves within these walls were well fed, powerfully built, and fiercely loyal. While they had powerful souls, they were too important to sacrifice for Wild Magic. Given how weak Loern magic was, it was better to have meatshields soak the brunt of enemy dragons than to sacrifice them for a small boost to their own combat abilities. There were several hundred of these slaves, whose race ranged from cave trolls to quagoa to hobgoblins. They were all equipped with powerfully enchanted shieldbows, which were specifically enchanted to harm dragons. This made their combat abilities more potent against dragons than even the snipers of the frontlines. These slaves had not been deployed out into the frontlines because their entire lives were dedicated to the servitude and protection of the masters of the citadel. Unsurprisingly, all the slaves had the Brand of Loern embedded onto their foreheads.

When Yasilithi opened the citadel doors, his sharp draconic sense picked up more than a hundred bows trained on his body. Through superior training, every slave did not fire because they recognized his dark red scales. Imerina Loern, mother of Svalinn Loern and commander of the defense of the citadel, flew up to Yasilithi.

"Child, why are you here?"

While Yasilithi was an ancient dragon, alive for more than half a millennia, Imerina's age far exceeds his own. It was abnormal for dragons to live for more than a millennia except for the truly powerful, and Imerina was much more ancient than that. To her, in both strength and experience, Yasilithi was still little more than a child.

She narrowed her eyes. Desertion of a Knight's duties is an act of cowardice, and is punishable by death.

"Lady Imerina, Lady Svalinn wishes to call all dragons to the front lines."

Yasilithi bowed in respect to his superior. Imerina fluttered to a perch, and pondered.

"My daughter knows that the city would give us a home field advantage. Why would she want to pull all dragons to the front?"

Knowing that this is merely a rhetorical question, Yasilithi stayed silent.

"Knight, how many enemy dragons?"

"Exact numbers cannot be determined, my lady, but we estimate around 300."

Imerina whipped her head towards Yasilithi in shock.

"300?! How did the enemy muster 300 soldiers?"

Yasilithi bowed his head.

"I do not know, my lady."

Yasilithi watched Imerina fall into deep thought. If she refused to call her family to the front lines, then Yasilithi has no choice but to report back to Svalinn without the aid of her family members. From what Yasilithi could gather, Imerina is probably pondering the strategic value of throwing all of their cards into the front line defense.

"Is the enemy holding back their troops?"

"As far as I know, yes. Their slaves are initializing the assault."

"They plan on launching a siege. My daughter wishes to crush the enemy dragons and mop up the slave armies..."

"My lady, as I left my post, I heard the roars of many dragons. I fear my absence may have initiated an enemy assault."

"Then that is even better. The situation would've been different if they continue to hold back. We'll crush their dragons and feed their slaves to our livestock."

Imerina donned her Expanded Acoustics necklace, turned around, and shouted, "Father! Brothers! The front line calls to us! May the Sun witness our glorious battle!"

From within the citadel, several large dragons lumbered out. The Loern dragons have a reputation of evoking a fearsome aura. This is in part due to their abnormally large size. Yasilithi is by no means a small dragon. In fact, he is larger than the average dragon himself, measuring at around 45 meters from tail to snout. Loern dragons, however, are giant amongst gigantic beasts, averaging 50 to 60 meters. Even Svalinn and Imerina dwarf his size.

"Hah! I long to taste blood! It has been centuries since I've fought a good fight. Sparring with family gets dull after a while."

The patriarch of the family, and one of the oldest living dragons, Teverin Loern has been a soldier for longer than Yasilithi's own father has been alive. Teverin was so ancient, he still remembers the age when dragons fought without slave armies, and he himself was one of the old guard that refused to use slave armies until his family forced him to swallow his immense pride. Imerina and her brothers had fought Teverin for the right to use slaves in their fight for dominance over ancient lands, and after a brutal battle that changed entire landscapes, the combined might of three Loern dragons managed to beat arguably the strongest warrior in the world. Teverin once fought for the title of Dragon Emperor, but refused to talk about the outcome.

Two other large dragons flew up behind their father, flocked by several Knights in training.

"Father, it is best..."

"...That we stay prudent. Even you cannot defeat..."

"...An army by yourself."

Jozi and Joti Loern were twin dragons, sharing the same black scaling pattern. From birth to Younghood, they were so weak, Teverin grew disgusted by them and casted them from the family. However, when Imerina enlisted their help in fighting their father for the right to use slave troops, he witnessed that they were significantly more powerful working together than apart. It could be said that without their help, Imerina would not have been able to prevent the extinction of their House. Unlike other dragons, Jozi and Joti were not easily blinded by pride and arrogance, which allowed them to provide valuable strategic insight for their family. They were responsible for teaching Knight fledglings the meaning of teamwork and loyalty.

"Bah! I'll bet you ten of those fools can't match my fury!"

Teverin's mouth split into a savage smile.

"Boy! How many of them are out there?"

Yasilithi opened his mouth to respond, but Imerina interrupted him.

"Father, no matter the number, the twins' words are not to be taken lightly."

Teverin growled at Imerina, then turned to Yasilithi. Imerina cowered, and looked away.

"I'll ask again. How many are there?"

"About 300, Master Loern."

Teverin paused, then burst out laughing.

"Good! A challenge! It's time we root out the weak anyway!"

Yasilithi bowed his head, but the twins both fluttered their wings in disbelief. Imerina closed her eyes and grimaced.

"Those numbers..."

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Normally, dragon territories could muster hundreds of soldiers for war. Loern was no different. But they still need to have soldiers at their own territories to keep the peace and to defend from other invaders. Usually, they send about half of their troops into invading other territories. No single House could muster 300 soldiers at once to invade a territory unless they left a skeleton crew to protect and maintain their personal territories. Dragons were also extremely prideful and are prone to disobeying orders. Keeping order within the ranks of 300 dragons was extremely difficult.

The reason why Loern Knights were so loyal and submissive to their commanders was because of their training process. In the beginning of training, they were permitted to fight the Twins in groups of ten, and the Knight fledglings were always beaten nearly to death. Then halfway through their training, they were permitted to attack Teverin in groups of ten, using whatever method they wish, and were always soundly defeated. After Knighthood, they were able permitted to attack Teverin again. Usually at this point, most Knights had learnt their lessons and choose to submit. Those who do not were brutally killed. This was done to establish Loern as the undisputed masters of their territory. Knights witnessed first hand how strong their commanders were, and the trauma of being beaten nearly to death by a single dragon will haunt them if thoughts of rebellion arise. This made it simpler for them to follow orders without question, despite their naturally huge ego.

This process also made the number of Knights low. Svalinn currently has command of 24 Knights by her side, including Yasilithi. The other 36 Knights are defending the six side entrances, evenly split apart, some of which lead to dead end traps. Another 15 Knights are accompanying various caravans. 10 Knights and a large contingent of slaves are currently bodyguarding Teverin's mate and the matriarch of the Loern, Pakuri, who is sending tribute to the Dragon Emperor.

Branch family members and vassals dotted the other cities within Loern territory, which housed more Knights, but they were all of lower quality, and they utilize the more common House troops, which were regular draconic soldiers conscripted for war when their Test of Combat performance was above average. These dragons received minimal training, and were then thrusted into war. Their loyalty was questionable at best, until they witnessed the mighty aura of Teverin whenever he visited other parts of his vast kingdom. Since teleportation Wild Magic is a common spell that even Loern can use relatively efficiently, and the mountain domain that Loern dragons live in has large numbers of slaves that they can sacrifice at their whim, Teverin and his family was an active threat to cities and vassal territories that fell out of line. Historically, Teverin and his family had razed only a few cities to ashes, and they were only to serve as an example. No territory had tried to split after hearing stories of how savage the Loern dragons and their Knights were in battle. Incidentally, the reason why Imerina and her brothers didn't try and split off from Teverin was because their father commanded their respect as the dominant dragon when they fought each other.

Their emphasis on quality over quantity may have backfired when in face of overwhelming numbers, however. Even if Teverin were to muster all of his troops into battle, fighting off 300 dragons and winning would require a miracle. This was why Jozi and Joti were worried about their situation. While dragons have incredible stamina, they don't have an unlimited amount of stamina. Like all living beings, they will eventually get tired. Teverin, being the combat fanatic that he is, probably thought that he just needed to fight 300 dragons one at a time to win.

Yasilithi bowed and replied, "I believe that is why Svalinn requires your help in the battlefield."

The twins pondered for a bit, flew off to a distant perch for a brief moment, then flew back.

"The odds are stacked against us."

"But we believe we have a fighting chance."

"If father joins us in battle..."

"Then we might win."

They looked at Teverin, who cracked another savage smile back at them. They then looked at Imerina, who nodded at them.

"Lead us to the front, Knight."

"Svalinn also wishes for me to pull all Knights from the side entrances to the front, as well as have those who are undergoing the Test of Combat to join the front."

Jozi turned to Imerina, and chuckled.

"Your daughter has learned well."

Joti turned to Yasilithi.

"However, to leave our flanks open is suicide. As the Supreme Commander of the Knights, I rescind that order. While we will need the Knights in the front, the Young shall attend the side gates. We shall meet at the front."

Jozi then turned to the Knights in Training.

"You shall lead the Younglings in the defense of the side gates. Split amongst yourself, and may the Sun light your path."

Yasilithi bowed, and shouted, "I hear and obey! Glory to the Loern! May the Sun shine brightly on our enemy's corpses!"

—

The glint of shining bows met the eyes of the slaves in the front at first. Then they caught sight of the Brand of Loern featured prominently on the foreheads of various powerfully built slaves. Whispers spread like wildfire amongst the slave ranks that the fabled Loern slaves has joined them in battle. They called these slaves Immortals, because of their unnaturally long lifespan, possibly due to the brutal training that the Loern dragons subject them to. Of the thousands of slaves that are required to go through the brutal training process, only a few dozen make it out alive every year. This keeps the number of Immortals constant, as these slaves were never sacrificed, but were ritualistically killed when in their deathbeds. Their souls are believed to be valuable for the Sun, and to use their souls for their own Wild Magic would be selfish in the eyes of Loern. To pull them into battle was never seen before, even for the draconic soldiers housed at the mountain city.

Then four massive dragons flew out, even bigger than the already large Knights fighting ferociously in the battlefield. The dragons on the ground were ordered by Svalinn to stand their ground and continue unleashing their breath attacks onto the enemy. These dragons drew a sharp breath in, not to breathe their elemental attacks, but to gasp in awe at the masters of their city. They recognized the largest dragon, nearly an entire wing's length larger than themselves, as Teverin, and have heard stories of his skill in combat.

Then they witnessed more Knights flying out than they've ever seen before, led by a dragon with dark red scales they recognized as their Sunbearer. The soldiers realized that this was unprecedented, and that the seat of House Loern will be tested by the aftermath of the battle. Some began to pray to the Sun for their lives.

The slaves on the ground sensed the unease of their masters, and began to shift uneasily themselves. They could see the enemy slaves lumbering ever so slightly to their own front, with enemy trolls leading the charge to mitigate the damaging effects of caltrop traps.

The Twins turned to the Knights.

"We'll punch a hole into their ranks!"

"Teverin will lead the charge!"

Jozi pointed towards the side of the dragon swarm.

"Father! Head for their flank!"

Teverin let out a mighty battle roar, and then charged into combat.

Several dozen enemy soldiers noticed their arrival, started to form up ranks to brace for the charge, noticed that there was a titanic dragon leading the charge, and scattered like flies. They did not even bother to warn their comrades about the charge, who were busy attacking the Knights in a spherical formation.

Teverin's charge caused several dragons to explode from impact. Gore rained down upon the enemy slave army, impeding their charge and crushing several dozen slaves. This caused the slave charge to falter, utterly demoralized, as they have never witnessed their masters explode. Dragon scales were the toughest material they knew, harder than even adamantite, yet malleable enough that bending the scale won't cause it to snap. For dragons to split apart would require incredible strength, strength that even dragons didn't think they could possess.

And yet, Teverin defied all logic and expectation.

His claws, buffed by Wild Magic using his own massive soul, shred through dragon scales as if they were made of flimsy human skin. His breath engulfed his enemies in black flame, boiling their blood and organs alive. His wings, which were the thinnest part of his body, shrugged off desperate blows made by any dragon unlucky enough to encounter him. The very first bite he made was already enough to puncture scale, and was strong enough to crush necks or tear limbs off.

And then there was his children. Each one was as savage as their father. Each one just as experienced in the art of combat. Their way of fighting is an art form: an elegant dance of death with their foes. Dragons fall without knowing what happened; limbs liberated themselves from bodies and blood poured from holes they never realized had been made.

Svalinn's Knights, who were beginning to break from nonstop fighting, breathed a visible sigh of relief. Almost a third of their number lay dead on the battlefield. Svalinn shot Yasilithi a quick look of gratitude before leading her troops to the rear.

From the beginning of battle to now, only a half an hour have passed, and yet, scores of dragons lay dying or dead. Knights fought as if they no longer cared about their own lives to defend a territory they could not call their own, which is a foreign concept for the enemy. A few Knights have also fallen, their bodies serving as platforms for enemy slaves to avoid caltrops. While there were still hundreds of enemy troops left, they were demoralized by how efficient their opponents were at killing them. And the ground troops still have not taken flight yet, continuing to belt out waves of breath attacks. Loern slaves and the regular slave troops rained arrows and projectiles towards the enemy. They began to route, slowly at first, but as comrades saw friends perish or flee, others began to do so as well. The importance of preserving their own life suddenly began to outweigh the pride of standing their ground in the battlefield. So what if they looked like a coward, desperately flying away? If a dragon had witnessed what Teverin was capable of, no one would call those who ran a coward.

Suddenly, a roar of frustration and anger rumbled throughout battlefield. Another massive dragon, though not as big as Teverin, pushed and clawed at his fleeing troops.

"Get back there and fight, you cowards!"

And yet, no one heeded those words. On the ground, the enemy slaves started to follow their masters and pull back. The slaves felt fear, but they were too loyal to flee the battlefield by themselves. This was reinforced by the fact that hundreds, if not thousands, of them lay dead or dying from caltrops, trenches, and arrow fire. If their masters fight, they fight. If their masters flee, they follow.

Yasilithi then saw one of the most massive dragons he has ever seen push through his own troops like a swarm of flies. Teverin was barely bigger than this dragon, and it dwarfed even the other Loern family members. A gasp of surprised escaped from his mouth. His keen hearing detected that he was not alone.

Teverin split a grin, and spat out blood. It was most likely other dragons' blood, but he himself didn't look any better. Claw marks marred his already scarred body, and bloody tear marks were visible on his wings. The other dragons did not look any better. Jozi, the only dragon who could grasp healing type Wild Magic enough to efficiently use them, casted a wide-area regeneration spell. On the ground, several hundred slaves fell, and were quickly moved away. Wounds slowly began to mend. The spell Jozi casted was one that accelerated a dragon's natural healing, and prevented scarring by improving the regeneration process. Joti followed suit by casting another Wild Magic spell. This time, everyone suddenly felt their stamina rapidly restoring. Another few hundred slaves died. The spell Joti casted drained soul energy to replenish stamina.

"Father... Is he really..."

Imerina's voice trailed off. The Twins looked at their sister in confusion.

"Who..."

"...Is this?"

Teverin continued to stare at the other dragon.

"My dear brother... How many millennia has it been? I thought you died. Introduce yourself to my children."

The other dragon roared in response.

"They shall not know who I am! I will murder you and your family, and finally take what's supposed to be MINE!"

Teverin's mocking smile quickly turned into a deathly sneer.

"Fine then, dear brother, you'll die an unknown nobody!"

He turned to his children and soldiers.

"Nobody interfere! Or I'll rip your skulls out and feed your head to my trolls!"

Svalinn cried out, "But mother! His wounds-"

Imerina hushed her.

"There is nothing we can do but watch. If that really is his older brother... they've had a score to settle, if my father's stories are to be trusted."

Both dragons roared at each other, one so loud and powerful, the slaves on the ground had their eardrums shattered, and several of the conscripted dragons fainted. The Knights themselves fluttered their wings in a sign of nervousness, but the Loern dragons remain stoic.

The enemy soldiers who haven't fled yet held back in the distance, not wanting to interfere. They were just as spellbound as everyone else.

The two massive dragons rushed towards each other, claws imbued with magic and extended, teeth bared and primed to bite a killing blow. They didn't bother to shower each other with breaths the split second before the clash, possibly because they knew their breaths would nullify each other, wasting precious stamina. A shockwave erupted from the the collision of their headbutts, and claws danced towards each other, ripping scale from skin. Teverin is confident in emerging victorious from nearly all battles he fought, but there were scant few individuals where even he didn't know if he could beat. His brother was one of them. Teverin swiped at his brother's wings and punctured a hole clean through the abnormally thick scales. His brother followed suit and clamped down hard on his arm, but quickly retreated to avoid the swipe that would land on his neck. Teverin's other claw was swift, but barely found its mark. It scraped at the armored plate of a scale that protected the back of his brother's skull, causing a huge gnash that had blood gushing out. The victor was still unknown.

They both had the same upbringing: learning from the same mother, and passed the same test administered by their father. Their father was strong, and so was their mother; after all, they came from a family of strong and proud dragons. Their lineage traced back to one of the first Dragon Emperors, and while they tried taking the title back, the Loern family could never do so again. This changed when the brothers were born. Specifically, when Teverin was born. His older brother passed his test with flying colors, with remarks from his parents that "he could change everything". However, everyone was surprised when Teverin passed his test: not only did he beat his father in mock battle, he actually managed to draw blood. This was unprecedented, as Youngling teeth and claws were too soft to penetrate veteran ancient dragons, especially those whose life revolves around war. His father knew, the moment he actually felt a nick of pain from his son's bite, that Teverin was special. From then on, everything Teverin did overshadowed whatever his older brother did. It shamed him to no end, that his exceptionally talented brother outshined his own accomplishments, no matter how outstanding he was. He was powerful, more so than even his own mother and father, but he could not deny that Teverin was yet stronger still, and he could not understand why.

And so, several millennia ago, the older brother butchered his family and tried to burn down everything the Loern built. However, when he confronted Teverin, he witnessed his own little brother laugh at the corpses of his parents and siblings. Dragons did not share much familial bonds, and Teverin was planning on killing everyone himself, but his older brother did the deed for him. However, Teverin was fond of his home, because he didn't want to have to start over from scratch, and decided his brother must die for burning down his abode. Both battled each other, each barely past the ancient stage of their lives, but neither could quite emerge victorious. However, Teverin had the upper hand for the majority of the battle, and forced his brother to flee to distant, unknown lands, feeble and broken.

Teverin flew around his brother, tail whipping out trying to flay his brother. His brother responded by flying upward, and breathing thick black flames at Teverin's back. Teverin spun around and launched his own breath, and then quickly flew out of the way. As if on cue, his brother exploded through the flames, and crashed into the ground, earth buckling from the extreme pressure. His thick skin and scale, along with his abnormal constitution, made him take barely any damage from the fall, with the caltrops simply flattening themselves on contact. But this slowed his momentum, and Teverin made quick work of it. Before his brother could recover, Teverin landed hard on his back. An ordinary dragon would've had his spine snap from the weight, but this was a Loern dragon. However, it still knocked the wind off of him, which momentarily stunned him again. Teverin then proceeded to claw away at his brother's back, savagely roaring while he clawed, wrapping his own tail around his brother's tail to control it from grabbing his own neck. He focused first on the wings, and after a few clean swipes, lopped a wing clean off. He then punched at his brother's skull, dazing him again, then grabbed it, then repeatedly slammed it into the earth. Teverin's leg claws dug deep into his brother's legs, severing muscle and causing it to leak blood.

Spectators could see that Teverin's brother was starting to go limp, as if he was slowly dying, but Teverin kept going. He ripped off the other wing, picked up his brother by the neck, and flung him towards a ditch filled with the corpses of enemy slaves. While his brother tried to get up, he slammed his brother into the ditch, causing the mere wooden stakes to buckle, and crushing any slave inside the ditch. Teverin ran his brother's body through the ditch, causing more bodies to be crushed and more stakes to be pulverized. With his brother's eyes and nostrils filled with wood and bone particles, he worked on dismembering his brother's tail. Teverin grabbed the tip end of the tail, and the middle of the tail, and snapped the tail in half. Moans of pain wafted from his brother's mouth, but Teverin pain him no heed. Knowing that the tail is no longer a threat, he held his brother's body up, and bit down on his neck. Teverin ripped off most of the scales away, leaving bloody patches of skin behind. Hugging and puffing, Teverin then walked back and stared at his brother's body, still breathing despite the abuse Teverin wrought onto it.

"Any last words before I crush your neck, dear brother?"

Wheezing and whimpering, his brother opened one of his eyes and muttered something almost inaudible. However, dragons have keen senses, and Yasilithi could barely hear:

"I... I don't want to die..."

There was no doubt that Teverin could hear it as well.

"Heheh... That's too bad, S- I mean, dear brother. Almost gave your name away!"

"M-my name... is... Sa-"

And before the downed dragon could finish, Teverin swiftly leapt over and clamped down in his neck with all his might. His claws batted away at his brother's flailing arms. His brother's legs were too damaged to move, and he could barely raise his tail. Soon, there was a loud snap, and the body shuddered, and fell still, like a puppet whose strings have been cut. Teverin, mouth covered in blood, and teeth glistening red, reared up towards the sky and roared.

Yasilithi was stunned. Here was a monster of a dragon, who had just fought a terrible battle, emerged filled with wounds and slightly drained, and was still able to battle an equal and emerge victorious. If this dragon fought the Dragon Emperor and lost, how powerful was the Dragon Emperor?

This was the final straw for the remaining enemy dragons. They turned tail and flew away, quickly disappearing into the horizon. Their slaves had already cleared the battlefield, following the majority of the retreating forces.

In the end, the battle took the lives of around 53 enemy dragons. A total of 12 Knights died, and a couple of conscripted soldiers were wounded. No one bothered to count how many slave lives were spent. While the numbers seemed small, the loss of twelve Knights meant that nearly a fifth of Loern's best fighting forces were dead. Given the history of how brutal the training process was for Knighthood, the current twenty or so Knights in Training would be culled down to about two or three over the next century. Even Teverin realized that he can not afford to be ambitious until his numbers were replenished enough. With the emergency over, hordes of slaves were sent out into the field to clean up the mess. Slave bodies must be picked up to be used to feed the livestock. Draconic body parts were given to the Dwarves to fashion armor, weapons, and tools for their personal use. The bodies of the fallen Knights were collected by their comrades to bury at the mountain peak. This was to ensure that the light of the Sun would shine upon their souls, so that they may be of eternal use to him in his endless battle with the Moon. Dragons resumed their daily lives, and Knights resumed patrols within the city and the immediate Loern territory.

A quick survey of the side entrances led to the discovery of dozens of dead Younglings and enemy slaves, with the Knights in Training leading the charge in a valiant defense of the side gates. Those who survived the assault were given their rings indicating that they passed their Tests with an average score.

—

Svalinn flew towards Yasilithi as he prepared to fly off to visit the Goblin Village for a routine patrol, as well as to collect more slaves and bounty from the village to add to the city coffers.

"Sunbearer, I need you to do us a favor."

Yasilithi turned towards Svalinn and bowed.

"What do you need, Lady Svalinn?"

"I need you to deliver this message to Lady Pakuri. My uncles wrote it, so it must be important."

She handed a piece of leather etched with draconic symbols. A quick glance let Yasilithi know that it was an enchanted coded message, designed only for members of House Loern to be able to read. He could only make out a few nonsensical words. She also handed him a missive stating his official business and his authority to operate. This allows him to operate under the name of Loern when visiting other Loern-controlled cities. Yasilithi placed these documents within a pouch that wrapped around his body, usually intended for collecting Dragon Egg tribute from slave territories.

"Understood, my Lady."

"One more thing, Yasilithi. What you did today... You have saved us. Allow me to thank you on behalf of my family."

Yasilithi's wings fluttered, tail nervously swishing.

"I am only doing what I am required to do, but I humbly accept your thanks, my Lady."

"Fly north until you reach our northern borders. The city there should be able to provide enough slaves for a teleportation spell. I shall send another Knight to the Goblins to run your errands until you come back."

"My Lady, if the matter is urgent, I can spend my own soul-"

"That won't be necessary. My grandmother's location is currently unknown. There are three routes she could take from the Northern City to the Dragon Emperor's abode. The Lord of the city would be able to tell you where she went. That is why I'm not providing slaves for you to teleport right now."

"Understood, my Lady."

Yasilithi bowed again, and flew off.