Chapter 19
There is some tension in the castle with the arrival of Mortemia, particularly coming from the male guards and staff, they stay out of her way. When Adam crosses paths with her, he simply gives her a small nod in greeting and keeps on his way as the days turn into weeks, she nods back at him as well.
Adam is wet to the bone, the rain had been merciless pelting down on him, he hadn't been wearing any waterproof clothing, there had been no need for it, the patrol started off with a clear sky with no sign of rain for kilometres. And then there was a boom at the distance that became closer as minutes passed.
Moments later the rain and the wind started, the storm lasted for 20 minutes or so, more than enough to cause some flooding with its intensity and drench him. At some point he had to take refuge under Mizer's large draconic body as hail started to fall, the scales and fur offering the much-needed protection from the ice spheres falling from the sky.
Taking pity on him Mizer sent Adam home early when the hail stopped and the rain lessened in intensity, Adam feels like a rookie underestimating this region's climate. Haruna is close to the sea of course storms would roll unexpectedly whenever they wanted and without previous warning.
Sighing and listening to the wet splatter his footsteps make; he fantasizes with a hot shower and a warm bed. So distracted by the tantalizing idea that he almost doesn't notice, but thankfully due to most of his life being in danger of getting killed, honed his instincts and he catches a faint whimper which makes him look up towards the roof.
He gasps when he sees what is happening, there is a tiny dark dragon (well tiny in comparison to the forms of the others he had seen, this one is as tall as great dane but thicker, heavier and longer), slipping down the terracotta roof tiles, the tiles are slippery due to the rain, the height the dragon is slipping from is comparable to an 8 story building. If his knowledge is correct this one is a child, he curses and begins sprinting as fast as his wet boots allow him to, the little one let's out frightened noises it's claws losing their precarious hold and slipping down fast, it's wings don't appear to be helping it fly to save itself.
Adam doesn't even think about it; he activates his aura to protect himself and dives to cushion the child's fall. Despite the aura protecting him, his breath is knocked away with the impact, the dragon weighs several hundred pounds. His back is going feel great in the morning he muses as he lays on the ground dazed, the frightened dragon over his back is stunned, its weight pinning Adam against the ground in a puddle of water. Some terracotta tiles shatter as they fall around them but by pure luck they don't get hit.
Eventually Adam hears shouts and splashing running steps and then there is a wet thud nearby. He turns his head slowly and sees Mortemia has landed nearby them; her face is pale and frightened. She moves to grab the dragon lying on top of Adam's back when Rosso appears and stops her, shouting for someone to go and wake Rozen up. Rosso kneels by Adam's side and with Mortemia's help slowly they take the stunned child slowly off him, supporting the long neck and limbs. The faunus feels like he can breathe easier now that the extra weight is gone.
He tries to move but he is stopped by Rosso who places a gentle yet firm hand over his back. "Don't move, we need to make sure you aren't hurt, I know you can take more than that but we have to make sure", she tells him gently. The little dragon seems to have recovered from its shock and has shifted back into a little boy in Mortemia's arms; he whimpers the words "mommy" over and over again. She does her best to comfort with cooing noises.
Rozen arrives running dressed in his night clothes and falls to his knees by Adam's side, since he is the one that took the brunt of the impact. He starts by checking his spine, ribs and head, satisfied that there is no palpable damage he instructs Rosso to help him sit up slowly and bring him to the clinic for a deeper check up.
Rozen turns his attention to Raijin; it seems that this is the child Mizer told him about. The little one has hair that is dark red with some black parts, feather-like his mother and stunning silver eyes, he appears to be 5 or 6 years old.
Rosso helps him stand up from the ground, supporting part of his weight as he is limping slightly and accompanies him to the clinic. Adam sits down on an examination table while Rozen and Mortemia arrive with the still crying child.
A female doctor approaches Adam, she has short ginger hair and toxic green eyes, a long serpentine tail with fiery colors is curled around her leg, some scales adorn other parts of her body. The shape of the scales indicate that the woman is a spiny bush viper. She is wearing blue scrubs and black shoes. "I am Uma, I shall tend to you while Rozen checks Raijin better".
Rosso, knowing that Adam is still wary around strangers, stays by his side as Uma conducts all kinds of tests and checks up. His right leg has a small sprain that should heal within the next couple of days as well as some bruising in his back and legs, nothing serious. Raijin's claws or scales didn't pierce his skin due to activating his aura prior to catching him.
The doctor prescribes him some painkillers as well as a salve for the bruises, before allowing him to go back to his room, after taking a dose of the painkillers.
Rosso goes with him, leaving him on his own when she makes sure that he is going to be fine and has helped him take off his drenched boots and socks. Adam goes for a quick shower, examining the bruising on his back and legs, where most of the child's weight rested, he applies a bit of salve and crashes on his bed, not even bothering to dry his wet hair, he did place a thick towel over his pillow to avoid getting it wet before laying down. As he drifts off to sleep, he wonders what the child had been doing on the roof on his own.
He is awakened hours later by knocking on his door. He shouts to give him a moment, wincing as he gets up and quickly goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. He feels tired and not quite awake yet. Combing his fingers through his hair he opens the door coming face to face with Xiang, the woman unexpectedly wraps her arms around him in a tight hug muttering thank you over and over, kissing his cheek while he stays paralyzed. "You saved him, you saved Raijin!", she exclaims, letting out a loud sob.
Those words cause Adam to snap out of it, the exhaustion and the brain fog he still feels from last night banish. "Is he alright now? What happened? Why was he on the roof?"
Xiang takes in a shaky breath to calm herself, before letting go of Adam and smiling at him. "I didn't know what had happened until I woke up this morning. Mortemia had gotten up during the night for some tea, she was having nightmares and she left Raijin fast asleep, she was in one of the small kitchens with Rozen when they heard his screaming, she took up fast to her room and saw the window open, when she looked down, she saw you catching Raijin. Apparently, he had nasty nightmare and, in his confusion, when he woke up, he took off to escape through the window, not quite awake when he did so, normally Mortemia would have noticed something was amiss but she hasn't been sleeping well.", she pauses, letting him absorb the information.
"He is okay now just shaken up and a little bruised… but if you haven't appeared I don't want to imagine what would have happened, he is still a baby and can't fly that well yet", upon hearing her, Adam breathed out in relief.
His name is suddenly called, and he looks at the hallway and sees Mizer walking up to him. "Are you alright!?."
"I am alright, my aura protected me from the worst, just some bruises and a leg sprain, no broken bones", he says knowing better than to lie and say he came out completely unscathed.
"Thank you for saving my nephew, take a couple of days off to heal, the weather will probably be miserable again tonight and the following ones", he pats Adam on the shoulder and turns to leave before he remembers something.
"Ah father sends his thanks, he isn't here right now, he had to go to Baikal to tend to some matters", after saying this Mizer leaves, Adam blushes causing Xiang to giggle.
"I will instruct a servant to bring you breakfast now and lunch later, you must still be tired from last night… also there is a chance Mortemia might thank you in her own way", says Xiang giggling again.
Before he can ask what she means Xiang is already walking away.
Shrugging he closes the door and turns around, he lets out a surprised yelp when a familiar feathery tail scurries out of his window leaving behind in the windowsill two clumps of golden, red, and spotted feathers that appeared to have belonged to a golden pheasant.
But they aren't just random clumps of feathers, as he takes them into his hand, he notices that Mortemia made a brooch and an eye patch with them.
He looks outside to thank her but she is nowhere to be seen. He touches them gently with his finger noticing the sturdiness and quality of the materials used to make them.
A knock on his door shakes him out of it and he places the gifts on his desk before opening the door. A servant brought him breakfast, Adam thanks him and sits down to eat, exhaustion getting back to him as he does. When he is done, he walks back to his bed and lies down, sleeping claiming him almost immediately.
Author's notes:
This is a drawing I made of Xiang ookamigirl00/art/Xiang-Quintis-884588958 an example of one of the elaborate robes she can wear when attending important matters, but she can also wear more revealing clothing and different styles. Also, I highlighted some of her were-beast features, I need to update on how I described her looks in the story, I previously mentioned that her scales were golden when in fact the more abundant colors of them are red and black with some gold accents
This is how spiny bush vipers look like search?q=bush+viper&tbm=isch&chips=q:bush+viper,online_chips:spiny:W_CiA_CpmIQ%3D&client=firefox-b-d&hl=es-419&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjm6Lbt5OXxAhVJeDABHc2KBVMQ4lYoAXoECAEQEw&biw=1519&bih=684
Golden pheasant search?q=golden+pheasant&client=firefox-b-d&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp-LPO8OXxAhVsQTABHRGmD3cQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1536&bih=684
Some interesting things will start to happen in the next chapter, I promise.
