Launairk stepped out of the lair, claws sinking into the soft mossy ground, an uncomfortable feeling he usually forgets he was used to since he was found as a wyrmling by Mryrzindrax, he instinctively wishes to go out of there as soon as possible, even though his mission now demands him to go deeper into the jungles and ruins of the local swamps.
As soon as he quickly looked backwards to the entrance, he turned to the front again, seeing Azulthragas was starting to get bored of attacking the downed copper dragon. He wondered if Mryrzindrax could possible finish her or at least keep her in this state forever, but his magic was only barely making it, time was running out.
Suddenly back from the entrance, a voice called for him "Young one, wait a moment." He turned again, now facing to Mryrzindrax coming out of the ruins. "My daughter… She and her companions, they may be stronger than you and your… friend there. There is… a green dragon in a forest nearby, his parents and me have fought for territory for a long time, but now, they are gone, and we are all on the same side, find him, just tell him you need to kill Visrenaka, he will help you, but do not trust any other words that lying worm says."
Launairk nodded, a bit confused, "Why are you telling this to me, father?"
"It came to my mind that… I may be losing two younglings in this fight" His red eyes shifted to the side, looking deeply into the jungle, he quickly turned and lifted his claws on Launairk's, in a wrestling position, and then laid down his neck on Launairk's shoulder, "Between you and her, Launairk, I chose you."
Launairk smiled faintly, "I will not disappoint, as I sa-"
Suddenly, Mryrzindrax lifted his head and crashed against Launairk's, forcing him into the ground, roaring.
"ARGH! What was that for?" Launairk roared
"You better not disappoint me, whelp, you better not" Mryrzindrax smiled and then return to his lair.
'Classical black dragon, no matter how emotional they may get, they still have to cause some suffering to others, just to not lose the tradition…' He thought, getting up and facing Azulthragas again, now landed and coming on his direction.
He walked towards her until both of them were face to face, "Azulthragas, we got a mission."
"Does it involve killing?" She turned her head.
"Yes, several dragons, probably" Launairk sat down, scratching his neck.
"By Tiamat, yes!" She jumped, excitedly.
"The thing is… We gonna need help"
"What? Why?"
"Visrenaka is not with any black dragons, she is with powerful spellcasters, apprentices of long lost magic and a dracolich, they won't be easy, we need someone more deeply connected with the forests and nature to figure out how to surprise them…"
"That's a lot of words, but a bunch of nothing. Who do we need to find?"
"I don't know, Mryrzindrax only said he was going to help us, and that we were all on the same side"
"Well, whatever your ancient says, lets get moving, I am tired of freezing that copper dragon…" Azulthragas said, shaking her head to Launairk lead the way. He stood up, still with some pain on his head and started moving away from the little lake in the jungle deeper into it, by foot.
Launairk knew flying was not an option, they would be spotted quickly and the few dragons they had to kill would become a full army of the undead, a thought that deeply poisoned his mind, the draconic desire to live forever, to attain powers from anything and everything, including death itself, but no, these cabal of dragons can not be right in their ways, not when even Tiamat denied their existence, dracoliches defy the perfection of dragonkind, they must be destroyed, including the wyrmlings… Launairk thought as he grew increasingly annoyed of the traverse into the trees.
Azulthragas was rather quiet on his back, the rather talkative white dragon has had fewer and fewer words since they met Mryrzindrax, Launairk couldn't exactly figure why, but deep down within him, a flame of hatred and anger towards Landishura was burning hotter than ever, and she saw dozens of her kind, countless skeletons of all ages, paralyzed into a macabre laughing audience to her jokes, as if their souls were still stuck in their lifeless bodies. He couldn't understand what would see a bunch of red dragon skeletons in that way, the most powerful and glorious of the chromatic, reduced to puppets of another dragon.
The day went on with both of them traversing the humid jungle into drier lands, a more welcoming landscape to cross and take a breath from the fetid and cold swamps. The journey through foot proved to be an annoyance, though both of them had muscular bodies and physique enough to travel dozens of kilometers in hours, a dream for most humanoids.
At the darkening of the afternoon, Launairk come into an indecision. While adept at night vision, the difficult choice between being a walking or stationary target for someone else took place. He believed if they would to continue, the chance of the black dragons to uncover them in the forest was considerably increased, while a hiding spot in the middle of nowhere would be hard to find, even harder to fake a natural hiding spot with trees.
The odds however, were on their favor, in a random encounter, black dragons are not known to travel together under any circumstance, while he had Azulthragas, the pair was a peculiar advantage, and if they had the mysterious green dragon they were searching for, three against one would make this mission into a wyrmling's challenge.
Launairk's tail shacked around distressingly as he rotated his neck on all directions, listening and looking for something, anything, before he would be remotely calm. He felt an urge within his chest, a tremendous desire for violence and destruction he doesn't recall having before a fight, such as with the giants' party back in the icewind dale. Once weakened by the extreme cold of the location as his heat decreased, now he was in a far warmer place, with an ever more determined goal to accomplish.
On his alertness, Azulthragas sneaked behind him.
"Don't you think you are being a little paranoic? Back there your old man's lair was more… swampy and fetid, such as black dragons like, not here" She noted.
"But they can still go around in patrol…" Launairk whispered back, making a sign for her to sleep lower.
"Come on guys, black dragons don't go near this part of the forest…" A voice, apparently out of nowhere noted.
Both Launairk and Azulthragas went from tired to alert within a moment and started to search around the small clearing they were amid the trees, seeing nothing, even though their visions were well adjusted in the night.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Launairk snarled, looking around in the trees.
"Tsk tsk, no, what about we meet tomorrow, at morning?" The voice said, seemingly coming from high above a tree.
Azulthragas wasted no time in crashing against the tree and flew high up the sky, only to find absolutely nothing, as the howling winds continued through as the only source of noise in an awfully quiet forest.
"How is this possible?!" Azulthragas roared. "You must be invisible or something!"
"Sure. Sure. So…" The voice coughed, "How about we do what I said previously and you guys go sleep, this voice you are hearing must be some kind of delirium or undernourishment, whatever you prefer, see you soon!"
As the voice continued its speech, a cloud of gas spread through the clearing, although it wasn't a green dragon's breath, Launairk recognized it immediately.
"Its sleeping gas! Azul-!" Launairk roared as he swiftly moved but was caught by the gas and felt an intense sleepiness and fell into the ground. The confused Azulthragas, still trying to locate the source of the voice, followed quickly afterwards.
Stuck in his own dreams, Launairk could only watch in horror as he relived the moments before his life was completely crashed down, his goals mocked, his life taken as an object by the ancient copper dragon Landishura, a far darker beast than he could have ever predicted, a dragon that if not defeated, would never leave them alone, nor would them be her last victims.
He roared as loud as he could and stroke down the cloudy scene of his downfall, until it broken down into the ground as if it was made of glass and suddenly he was surrounded by darkness, with nothing but himself.
The greatest fear of a red dragon… To live in a plane without warm, without light, for he was the source of light, heat, maybe even hope? But he was the ONLY one in that darkest corner of his own mind. Tragic memories soon came to be, this doesn't seem to be the first time he was here, as he saw himself as a wyrmling once again, cowering in a cold night as his siblings were provided with the warm and heat from the lava pools of his mother's lair.
'The weakest and most pathetic of the clutch…' He softly said mentally, 'Kept alive because… Mom was particularly interested in my uselessness, why? I was a shame for her to call her own… Yer she kept me there… Maybe there's more to her than I thought…'
A flash of images of a group of wyrmlings releasing fire and beating one lonely one comes to his face.
'Not even her could protect me from them… Perhaps, she was just interested in how long would I last… She is old, the years passed swiftly for her…'
Suddenly he felt a pulse within his chest, the same one he had back in Mryrzindrax's lair, all this anger and rage is desperately trying to be released. He closed his eyes, muttering 'I will hide it no longer…'
He stood on two legs and with a bright orange light flashing from his eyes, charged his fire breath and released with so much fury at the once again mirror of images. His claws flexed and his tail slashed from one side to the other violently, crashing into the darkness releasing smoke and lava from beyond.
He stood there for a few minutes when in a snap of a moment, he stopped, falling into his hind legs into the darkness, standing still for a moment.
'This… This was… Me…' He muttered as the intense heat he emanated and released melted the mirror back into the darkness beyond, his mind, suddenly, clearer than ever.
He stomped his claws into the ground and let out a furious roar, 'After I am finished with my copper dragon's business, YOU will be next mother, YOU.'
'For all the pain and the humiliation, I will END YOU.' He snarled and roared. 'It matters little the cost or the blood I must lose to destroy you, it shall happen. You don't know where I am, but I DO know where you are, in your pathetic little fortress of doom, high up in the mountains…'
Then the bright light in his eyes fade away as he suddenly stops, sating into the ground, remembering his past weeks.
'It… CAN'T be at any cost… My pet project is ruined, by followers dead, my riches stolen…' He muttered, lowering his head down, then lifting up again as a flash of images appeared, of his moments with Mryrzindrax.
'Mryrzindrax… A cruel master he was… But a stern father I never had. He tried to teach me about the dangers of the world, the powers to be conquered… And feared. I ignored his lessons, I still am a red dragon, after all, I believe no one has anything to teach me… But those times are gone, now I need guidance, more than ever, and maybe I am the first red dragon to ever admit it… The other dragons have teachings for me, I am BETTER than others by listening…'
From the mirrors, also came moments with Azulthragas, the white dragon.
'Azulthragas… I know her so little, but what she shares makes me believe she is more than a mere white dragon, she is more than her nature, more than her nurture, she is the individual she wants to be… Just like I always wanted to be. Despite her nature, still, she freed me from my frozen prison… ALL of this wouldn't come to those stakes if she decided she was too afraid to enter that cavern… What if I had switched places with her? Would I have saved her? Had the might and courage to enter there? I doubt…'
And then for a moment, an idea flashes into Launairk's mind.
'Azulthragas showed me every white dragon is an individual, not a beast. Mryrzindrax showed me discipline and patience are virtues us red dragons lack, and thus I am above them. And me… I showed them that we red dragons CAN learn… And now I will show them our rightful might is not to be underestimated…'
His eyes flashes into an image into the mirror, a group with all chromatic dragons…
'Those dragons taught me, and I taught them. Together… With all our abilities, we can rise above the rest, white, black, blue, green and red, united together, we CAN destroy Landishura… And we can do even more than that… One dragon is only so powerful… A flight of dragons… IS unstoppable…'
'Launairk awakened for his purpose, his dream, to gather those dragons, to bind them to his will, to learn and to adapt himself, he can finally achieve his ultimate goal, to turn all Faerun into his empire, his benevolent leadership bringing unity and freedom to all the peoples… It was a foretaste of the feast to come… If only so many wouldn't stand to fight his 'tyranny', laughable, those vermin don't know what is good for themselves.'
Launairk snapped for a moment, 'This… This is my draconic identity… I was conditioned to be a weakling, but now I realize my true potential, my purpose… City after city will fall… Dragon per dragon will obey or die… I came a long way from being a nobody trading cows with apathetic people, now, I am to be a conqueror…'
Launairk closed his eyes and laid into the ground in what seemed to be the most peaceful slumber he could ever take, when suddenly his eyes opened and with a gasp, he realized he was in the forest at the early morning.
He looked around, seeing only the abundant green vegetation and the chirps of birds, and of course, a considerably loud snore coming from Azulthragas, right next to him.
"Hells… All a dream… But I felt so powerful, it was so… So tasty to… Have power… Over the world, its peoples and its dragons…" Launairk whispered, almost in disbelief as he checked his talons and for brief moments saw so much blood on them.
He shacked his talons for a moment and all the blood suddenly vanished. His true nature was awakening, a fiery red draconic power, desire and lust for power, for riches, and for, above all else, to keep them, for its the only red draconic rule.
"To have is nothing. To keep is all." He muttered, bringing back memories of his younger years, where he said the same once, but in a different light, with a tone of shame and disappointment for his kind was so evil and destructive, instead of nurturing its wealth as he once wished.
Now those thoughts are almost gone, Launairk believes this is his purpose now, the way, the ONLY way to bring his vision to reality is through struggle and blood, and for the pulses in his chest, his lust for blood of his so hated enemies was only beginning.
'Azulthragas! Wake up, its morning!" He snapped his fingers at her ear holes as he tried to wake her up, 'Come on! We gotta keep moving!"
The blue eyes of the white dragon opened wide as she jumped into a position of battle-ready, snarling at all sides.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down… Its me, Launairk, we are on the SAME side!" He said, backing down, to no avail of course, as she jumped into him, trying to bite his neck while he held her snout with his talons.
"Come on!" He roared, as the two wrestled against each other, a very loud laugh begun from the top of the trees, causing both of them to immediately stop.
"Heard that?" He asked
"Yes…" She responded.
"Whatever we heard yesterday, it wasn't an illusion…' He said, as he let her go from his grasp and both properly stood up, carefully watching their surroundings.
Moving through the forest was uncomfortable, it was no swamp, as Launairk once got so used to under the care of his elder, yet, he so quickly forgot its smells and the high humidity could nearly fall him sick, or whatever part Mryrzindrax had taken on this odor of death. The comfort of his mountain was one of those which he couldn't understand how anyone would live near the ground, especially in a forest.
The claustrophobic small spaces between the trees, safe only a few clearings, could only be described by the uneasiness in the air. Launairk was used to love flying over his territory and getting the highest points of view, the vastness of his sight was only recomforting. Such privileges were not afford on low ground.
Suddenly a subtle movement through the canopy of the trees could be detected. Launairk halted and held Azulthragas for a moment, when a voice came from the trees.
"Tsk Tsk… A little bird told me two drago-… What do you mean you said three dragons? What? No! I don't count as another in those lands, you fool!" A cracking voice came from the canopies.
"Well, as I was saying…" The voice coughed, "Two dragons in my territory…"
"Pardon me." Launairk snarled, "We came in peace. If you are a green dragon, that is…"
"Well, why is that? What if I am a black one? Or blue? Perhaps even red, if you wish…"
"No dragon can camouflage in the trees like a green dragon!" Azulthragas roared.
"Fine, fine, you guys got me…" A sudden shape came from the trees, and magically its scales reverted back to its characteristic tones of green again. He called them with his talons to approach.
Launairk and Azulthragas looked at each other and started to walk towards him, whom with a grim, started to smile.
From one faulty step, Launairk and Azulthragas yelled as they were suddenly swallowed by a hole in the ground, covered by carefully put leaves, bushes and rocks. Down the hole, the stench of decaying bodies filled the air.
"Ha! It seems I got you two!" The green dragon's grim expanded even more, "You know, I never caught a dragon in a prank… Those despicable copper dragons always get all the fun in that regard…"
Launairk and Azulthragas climb up the hole, from quite a considerable depth, yet too small for them to fly from within. His first reaction was to pin down the treacherous green dragon.
"Alright green clown, I hope your little circus has gone out of town, because I am already DONE with you!" Launairk launched himself into the green dragon and his large talons, pressed against the neck of the green dragon, causing him to caught some poisonous green clouds.
"Wait!" The green dragon plead, as he coughed and chocked, "Wait… Peace!… Peace!"
"So NOW you want peace? Huh?!" Launairk pressed against his neck, "I should just blast your head out of your body!"
"N-No! No!" He gasped, "I… I k-know w-why you are h-here!"
"You do?" Launairk released the pressure of his claws over his neck for a moment.
The green dragon took a long gasp for air, "Well… I don't, but I can make an educated guess, you know, being maliciously helpful is one trait of mine…"
His grim suddenly starts to fade and give in for tiresomeness, "Look, I know there's all this talk of green dragons lying and stuff, but whatever you seek, I don't-"
Azulthragas jumps off the hole in his direction, spreading over her claws and maw at him.
"No, no, no WAIT!"
She pins him down and starts to bite off his neck, "NoOoOoOo!"
"Azulthragas, no!" Launairk pulls her back from the green dragon, who stands up with his claws on his neck.
"I like when dragonesses pin me down… But not like this…"
Launairk snorts and sighs, "Can you stop being unlikable? For a second?"
"Ok! Ok! Gee, hmph, the green dragon is always the beaten one in the end…" The dragon sighs, "Ugh. My name is Khavatarthoth, your local green dragon, and so, what are you two… doing here? More than beating me?"
"Shut." Launairk snarls, "I am Launairk, and this is Azulthragas, we were sent to find help in a mission, from a green dragon in this forest, likely you? Mryrzindrax said mentioning his name would help us connect with… you"
"AH yes, yes, Mryrzindrax… The black dragon who feud against my family for decades…" Khavatarthoth gives a dramatic pause, "I couldn't care less about them, so its all fine! So… What is this 'mission'?"
"We need your help to fight a local black dragon in the nearby swamp and-"
"Woah. Woah. Woah." Khavatarthoth interrupted, "You mean you want me to join you two to fight the ancient one? No, no, no, no. I am crazy but this is far my boundaries, have a nice day."
"Wait!" Launairk yelled, "No, we don't want to fight him, only a particular dragoness, Visrenaka. Mryrzindrax said you might know of her."
"AH! Yes, indeed I do… I tried to mate with her once… Only got acid in my face…" He sighs, "Eh… I didn't even liked her, anyways"
"By ALL the gods imaginable! Is there a single female you saw and didn't tried to mate with?" Launairk roars.
They two look at Azulthragas, "Well… I… Actually didn't tried with your mate here, yet…" He blinks at her.
"Only if you can beat me in a fight…" Azulthragas snarls.
"She is NOT my mate!" Launairk snarls, "And also, Azulthragas, NO. Ugh! Just answer me this, will you help us?"
"Sure." He shrugs, "Why not? I mean, I am definitely the right dragon for this job, I have stalked Visrenaka for years, I know her every move, every path, and every entrance to her lair"
Launairk blinks for a second, "I am not sure if I am glad to have you on our side or if I want to put an end to your miserable existence…"
"Hey!" He scoops between Launairk and Azulthragas, holding both of their shoulders, "I am certain its the first option, huh? Huh?"
"Yeah…"
"I mean, you two are the coolest dragons I have met so far, now that I come to think about it…" He walks in front of them, "Most of them attack me and fly away, or is trying to hunt me, but I have such a good camouflage and invisibility spells, b-but you two! You two attacked me, but now are talking… I am… Happy to meet you two"
"Are you being truthful or its a nice sweet lie?" Launairk asks.
"Uh… Well, I suppose its true, though, regardless of how many times I say it, it always sounds like I am lying…"
"Also uh, what about your little prank there? Filled with corpses and all that stuff, is this a green dragon tradition or something?"
"Oh! Did you guys liked it?" He excitedly swags his tail, "No, no tradition, just my little genius here… I had a bunch of elf slaves working for me, so at night, I forced them all to dig that hole!"
"It was kinda boring, not gonna lie, they all cried and moaned little prayers to their gods or something. When they were finishing it, I snatched a few snacks and killed the rest" He finished, with a big grim on his face.
Azulthragas leaned close to Launairk's head, whispering "Are you sure we are not gonna kill him now?"
"Unfortunately… He knows information about Visrenaka we have no hope of getting…"
"Haha! So…" Khavatarthoth signs them to follow him, "No traps this time, I promise, lets come to… Wait…"
"What?"
"Damn it…" He clawed the ground, "I have yet to learn any sorta of spell that would prevent you from burning my lair…"
"I… I promise I wouldn't do such thing!" Launairk smiled, but wasn't convincing enough.
"Ha!" Khavatarthoth smiles, "Look, red dragon… Launairk, my friend… You demand a lot from my word, and I know, I know, 'never trust a green dragon', I know the stuffs… But I am NO fool… Your greedy little snout will not know my lair's location, nor step inside it!"
Launairk steps back for one tense moment, before Khavatarthoth launches his head back, laughing, "I am just fooling around! I believe you are quite an… odd red dragon, from all the ones I have seem around, you are fine.."
Something about his grim certainly shacked Launairk's senses that this green dragon was playing with him… With them, but Azulthragas didn't paid attention to tricks and wordplay, although she still disliked the green dragon's advances, she would most certainly beat him down for fun, let alone to knock him out, they were safe…