"My name is Mayla."
"Mayla…" Vlad paused before turning his head to face her. "The name's Vladimir. What are you doing here, roaming in the night?"
She still didn't meet him eye to eye, finding the fire much more comforting than Vlad's gaze. "I lost my way to my house. It's hard navigating through this place."
Another person who needs a babysitter?
Vlad took a deep breath, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "And you came here because you saw this fire, right?"
A curt nod was her answer and a sigh escaped Vlad's lips. "Just to mention, we don't have an extra bedroll, so keep that in mind."
Mayla tilted her head to the side. "'We'?"
Vlad tensed up. Fuck, I shouldn't have said that.
He immediately reached for his sword on the ground, but when he switched his gaze back to Mayla, she was already peeking through the tent's fabric. Without missing a beat, Vlad grabbed Mayla's shoulder and pushed her away from the tent while blocking the entrance.
"Don't pry into other people's business," Vlad warned while Mayla was looking at the ground emotionlessly.
"'Business'?" she asked and the air around the camp suddenly got colder. A dark purple aura started enveloping Mayla like a bad omen, and once she lifted her head, a shiver ran down Vlad's spine when two red slits stared daggers at him. "What kind of business!?"
She swung her hand with a swish and a wave of purple energy washed over the small part of the forest before a set of growls and roars reached Vlad's ears. He gritted his teeth while his eyes darted from place to place, and the once-empty darkness was now filled to the brim with red dots.
There was no escape.
"Shit," Vlad exclaimed and he was about to whistle to call Hoof, but Mayla dashed toward him, grabbing his hand with a strong grip.
"Where do you think you're going!?" she snarled, crushing Vlad's armguard as if it was made out of paper.
He hissed under the pain before shouting, "Sigurd!"
"Right!" The knight appeared behind Mayla, swinging in her direction and forcing her to back away. While she was getting her bearings, Vlad tapped the ring under his glove before merging with Sigurd, transforming into the form he was still trying to fully understand.
Mayla clicked her tongue. "Of course, she would leave someone like you with her." She pulled out a black dagger from her dress that emanated the same aura. "This will be over quick, human."
"I wouldn't think so," Vlad stated, and instead of rushing Mayla down, he flew inside the tent and picked up the sleeping Alear in one lightning-fast motion. Once he found Hoof, Vlad woke him up with an urgent click of his tongue and quickly put Alear on top of him. Fastening the belts, Vlad slapped Hoof's rear and both of them beelined out of the forest.
They soon met resistance. The Corrupted tried to block their path, but Vlad, in his form, dealt with them too easily. In fact, it almost felt like they weren't fighting back, as if they were still statues.
Suddenly, a dagger flew right towards Vlad with skilful accuracy. He didn't have time to dodge out of the way, and instead, he guarded against the throw. The blade pierced through his armor, embedding itself into Vlad's forearm and making him grunt with pain.
He looked up and his body immediately halted its fast retreat, because Mayla was standing right in front of him. With a wave of her hand, the dagger dislodged itself before flying back to its mistress's hand.
Vlad let out a hiss, caressing his wound. "Why are you so keen on not letting us through?"
Mayla growled, gripping her dagger even tighter. "I have nothing to say to you, human. Be glad I'll give you a swift death."
"That's not something I can get behind," Vlad retorted, the emblem's magic numbing his wound and letting him freely take a stance with his sword. "Then at least answer me this: why are you after Alear?"
Mayla raised her eyebrows before they quickly knitted together in a deep frown. Charging forward, she lunged at Vlad, dagger held forward. With a quick intercept, Vlad parried the strike and zipped behind Mayla, delivering a blow to her side with the blade's flat. He heard a loud thunk, but to his astonishment, Mayla didn't flinch much.
She turned around and struck Vlad directly in the face with a backhand, knocking him down. Quickly getting back up, he spat at the ground while drops of blood trickled down his chin.
"The fact you let yourself be hit…" Vlad trailed off. "Are you even taking this seriously?"
"I could say the same thing to you," she shot back before throwing her dagger at Vlad. He just deflected it with a simple swish of the blade.
"At least I have a reason." Vlad flexed his shoulders, earning a few pops. "But you're practically the same prick Alear was when I first met her."
Mayla growled. "Don't act like you know her."
"On the contrary," Vlad remarked before glaring. "Now, answer me, Mayla. What are you planning to do with her?"
"I said this doesn't concern you, and you're starting to test my patience."
"Getting riled up already?" Vlad let out a sigh. "I think I'm starting to see what's going on. You're a Fell Dragon, aren't you?"
Mayla scoffed, and her upper lip twitched. "So what?"
"Because if there's one thing consistent with all of you, it's your short temper," his transformed state began to exude electric sparks. "And let's just say the last Fell Dragon that tried to 'take care' of Alear meant to kill her. I'm not going to try my luck a second time."
"So you're not going to back down," Mayla remarked before shaking her head. "Humans should learn not to stick their noses into others' business."
Vlad's sparks seized and he stared at her flatly. "Calling the kettle black, pot?" He waved his hand dismissively. "You know what? Screw this, I can't waste my time with you."
"Wha—how dare you turn your back on me!?"
"And this is what I'm talking about," Vlad stated. "If you wanted me dead, you would have either set all of your Corrupted on me or stabbed me when you tanked my attack."
Vlad's left hand began to twitch in pain, and he clicked his tongue to call Hoof. Alear was still perched on him, and Vlad quickly dug through their bags to find a bandage. Once he tightly wrapped his wound with it, he flexed his fingers. While the pain was still there, it was much more manageable.
All the while Mayla stared daggers at him the entire time.
He turned around to face her. "I'm going back to my camp. Come only if you're up for a meaningful conversation. Otherwise, you're not welcomed."
"You're not going anywhere!" Her voice became ethereal while she clutched a red stone in her hand. Her fingernails grew and became sharp, parts of her skin turned into scales, and slits replaced her irises. "You're not going anywhere until you give Alear back!"
Vlad thought he should have felt scared, but at that point, all he saw was a grown woman throwing a tantrum. He inched his way towards Mayla, who was in deep concentration trying to absorb the stone's power. Sweat started to pour down her temples, but try as she might, that stone didn't react any further and its glow grew less bright.
No transformation to a dragon, no shockwave to accompany it, and certainly no fire to start burning the forest down.
All that bravado and nothing to show for it.
Vlad sighed, and while Mayla was still struggling, he eventually put a hand on that stone. "Let's just talk about this."
Her head shot up and her deep frown was still present. She clawed at Vlad's face, but he dodged out of the way and took away Mayla's stone from her hand. All the changes to her body instantly vanished, shattering like glass, and she went on her knees, panting.
"My offer still stands," Vlad mentioned while fidgeting with the now-dormant red stone.
"Like hell I'm going to take it," she said while standing up, pointing her dagger at Vlad. "I'm not going to lose Alear a second time!"
That took Vlad aback, but when he was about to question her further, a rustle of leaves made him snap his head towards a certain bush. From that bush emerged a child in similar clothing as Mayla. The only difference was a set of chains binding her legs, yet she could move freely.
"Mommy!" she shouted, beelining towards Mayla, who let out a gasp.
"Veyle! What are you doing here!? It's dangerous!" Dropping the dagger entirely, she reached the child before enveloping her fully.
The girl was sobbing and already had streaks of tears staining her cheeks. "But you left so suddenly and… and I was afraid you wouldn't come back!"
Mayla desperately shook her head. "No, dear. I would never do that to you. I just—"
A gasp from Veyle interrupted her once her purple eyes landed on Alear perched on Hoof, still fast asleep. "Big sister!"
She pried herself from Mayla and rushed towards Alear.
"Wait, Veyle! Stop!"
She did as she was told, but didn't understand the desperation in her mother's voice until she saw Vlad towering over her with a neutral expression on his face. Her breath hitched once she spotted the red stone in his hand and took a step back.
She brought a hand to her chest. "Mom? What is going on here?"
"Your mother is being very uncooperative, Veyle," Vlad knelt down to her level. "Could you convince her to just talk?"
"Don't you dare touch her!" Mayla shouted while stepping between them. "I swear I'll kill you if you do!"
"Oh for crying out loud, can you just shut up for a minute?!" Vlad suddenly yelled at her. "Do I look like I could kill a child!? For fuck's sake, all of this fighting and drama is not getting us anywhere—do you want to talk to Alear, or not!?"
They both stared at Vlad in silence. Mayla gritted her teeth, not answering, but Veyle was a different story. She took a brave step forward and nodded with a determined look despite her bloodshot eyes.
Vlad released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Finally, some progress."
He stepped towards Hoof, unfastened Alear from the seat and gently placed her down against a tree. Her body slowly fell to one side, but Vlad grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her.
"Wake up, Alear. We got company," Vlad said and was rewarded with a groan escaping Alear's lips.
"What?" she groggily answered while her eyes slowly opened. "It's… not even morning yet."
"Yes, but," Vlad pointed at the two Fell Dragons behind him. "We stumbled upon some people who know you."
"...who—"
"Big sister!" Veyle didn't wait and jumped towards Alear, practically tackling her. Veyle immediately hugged her as tightly as possible, smudging her face into the armor while squeezing the breath out of Alear. "I'm so glad you're back!"
Once Alear managed to catch her breath, her eyes widened at the long mop of silver hair on top of her. "Veyle!?"
Frantically looking around, she eventually spotted the other dragon as well. "Mayla!? What are you two doing here!?"
"It's…" Mayla paused, still wary of Vlad, who watched over the hugging duo with a keen eye. "It's a long story."
"Then how about you come to our camp, and talk things out," Vlad pointedly said as he nudged his head in Veyle's direction. "You can do that for her at least, right? As a mother should?"
She clicked her tongue. "You don't have the right to lecture me."
He blinked before eventually looking away. "I guess you're right."
{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}{*}
The once-empty camp became less empty all of a sudden. Alear and Veyle were sitting next to each other, the latter animatedly talking the former's ears off with a small smile on her face. A sight Vlad wasn't used to, but he didn't have much room to appreciate it.
By just turning around ever-so-slightly, Mayla's glare kept him a different kind of company. Poking at another slab of meat over the fire, he carefully set the logs away from the food so it wouldn't char.
"So," Vlad exclaimed. "Mind filling me in?"
"Not until you tell me what's your relationship with Alear."
He sighed. "There isn't much to it. I was appointed to be her caretaker. To help her out whenever she needed it. I was doing just that until you showed up."
"You? A caretaker? A brat like you couldn't possibly take care of someone else, let alone Alear," she said pointedly, making Vlad pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Of course this had to be brought up again," he said before letting out a groan. "You should already know not to judge a book by its cover. You're a literal dragon in sheep's clothing for crying out loud."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That I'm much older, like you?" Vlad said sardonically. "I might just start telling people that I'm a dragon so they can cut the crap about me being young."
He then blinked twice and tilted his head to the side in thought before touching his chin. "Actually, that might not be such a bad idea…" Taking the red stone from his pocket, he gave it an experimental squeeze.
Mayla frowned at him. "When will you give it back?"
"Definitely not now," Vlad said breathlessly. "But call me curious, this is what dragons need to transform into their actual form, right?" he pointed at her. "And yet you didn't. What happened there?"
"That's…" she paused before biting her lip. "That's because it's not mine."
Vlad's eyebrows knitted together. He took the meat out of the fire and took a bite without breaking eye contact with Mayla. "Mind elaborating?"
She clicked her tongue before wordlessly bobbing her head in Alear's direction. Chewing on his dinner, his mouth hung loose for a moment and clumped it shut soon after. He took a meaty swallow before coughing.
"You're serious? But then…" Vlad paused before tilting his head back to Veyle and Alear, the latter still listening in with the same smile, but it didn't alleviate the sudden pile of questions floating in his head.
He eventually let out a groan while leaning his hand against his forehead. "This is too much for me in a single night. Can we just leave this for tomorrow?"
"No," Mayla answered flatly. "You could disappear altogether before I wake up."
"Then don't sleep?" he shot back. "Or have you exhausted yourself that much with our little scuffle?"
Vlad wasn't expecting Mayla's frown to get any deeper, but it did. "For how long do you think I can hold out after trying to take someone's power for myself?"
"And condescending to boot," he remarked. "Fine, ask away. My questions can wait, but don't test my patience. There's a limit to how much sassiness I can stomach each day."
"Who are you?" she asked immediately.
"Vladimir."
"I don't care about your name, I'm asking what you really are," Mayla said, her tone getting lower. "Lumera's lap dog? Some random bystander who got caught in the flow?"
"And what does me being something have to do with anything? You're only putting out questions to justify your anger." He flexed his fingers, earning a few satisfying cracks. "I'll keep it short. First, I don't intend to hurt anyone here unless it's justified. Second, the sooner you cut this act, the quicker we're going to get to what we actually want out of each other. And third, the most important one, I don't want to leave Alear in a world where no one would accept her, barring a few exceptions."
The way she suddenly flinched made Vlad smirk with a lop-sided grin. "Did I finally get your attention?"
She jolted her head away. "Screw your shrewdness."
"Not the first time I heard that," he remarked before crossing his arms. "Now, I want the whole story—before Lumera brought her under her wing."
The long exaggerated sigh gave Vlad some hope Mayla would finally give him a few more puzzle pieces to get a clearer picture. She then suddenly smiled coyly.
"When a dad dragon and a mom dragon love each other very very mu—"
Immediately, Vlad's hand, which was constantly inches away from his sword, suddenly grabbed the hilt and levelled the tip against Mayla's throat while a deep frown formed on his face. "I told you something about sassiness, didn't I?"
She flinched when the blade nicked her chin. A slight hiss escaped her mouth while the wound slowly stitched itself back together, and she pushed the blade away.
"Fine, the whole story," she exclaimed. "You already know that Sombron has many children, and Alear and Veyle are among them. However, each and every single one of them is nothing but a pawn in his grand scheme."
"That much I could figure out myself," Vlad said.
"Of course you could." Mayla's upper lip twitched before shaking her head. "But Sombron had something not many of the other dragon tribes had: power."
She then suddenly scoffed. "We wanted our children to be strong—to be able to survive, but our greed had to come back to bite us. Every child that was born with his blood was practically chained to him. Some couldn't handle it and went berserk, others who did survive were immediately put to use."
Her strained look suddenly took a forlorn turn while she eyed Veyle and Alear. "When that knowledge became clear, it fractured us. Most sided with Sombron, becoming a part of his brood. Those who didn't banded together to form the Divine Clan in response."
A mirthless chuckle escaped her lips. "Not that you can call the Divine Ones a clan anymore."
Vlad took a deep breath while touching his chin. "Something doesn't add up. If Sombron is as powerful as you make him out to be, why hasn't he crushed everything under his feet already?"
"Because he couldn't care less about what was happening around him," Mayla answered.
Vlad couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Of course."
"But I've said enough. Now you," her tone switched back to her usual snappiness. "Just… why?"
"Why what?" he said while shooting her a questioning look.
"Why are you helping her out? What's your motivation? What do you get out of this?"
Vlad closed his eyes, taking a moment to formulate his answer. "I'll be frank and say you haven't earned my trust yet, so I won't be pouring my heart out just because you asked."
Mayla's snarl came back with a vengeance and she looked ready to snap at Vlad, but he held out a finger in front of her to stop her. "But I'll reaffirm what I said before. What I want right now, and by extension what you want too, is for those two to live without having someone breathing down their neck."
It didn't calm her down completely, but enough to ask, "But how does that answer my question?"
"It doesn't," Vlad stated, and his expression grew somber with each second. "But if I told you everything outright, you wouldn't believe me anyway."
Mayla paused. Vlad's face was completely visible under the light of the campfire, allowing her to fully dissect his features. In her eyes, the teenager before her was just that in every shape and form. Deep in her thoughts, she waited for his expression to change and see whether he was playing her or not.
It didn't.
It remained until they locked eyes with each other again, and Vlad's gaze grew wary once more as if burying that forlorn look. She blinked before a wave of nausea hit her. The repercussions of assimilating to a different dragonstone were coming back to bite her, but she refused to avert her gaze.
She already had her assumptions of humans, so why were her instincts telling her a different story?
"I'll listen," she suddenly said, taking Vlad aback. "I'll listen to… what you have to say..."
Her eyelids suddenly grew heavy and with a dull thud, she plopped on the ground, sleeping soundly as if someone had sung a lullaby.
Vlad sighed. "Leaving me hanging like that."
He tilted his head in Alear's and Veyle's way. "I think it's time for you two to go… to sleep."
His face immediately formed a flat look when he spotted both of them sleeping as well in their embrace. His expression, sour as it was, slowly wilted away, leaving him behind with a content smile, and he shook his head exasperatedly.
"At least it's good to know Lumera isn't the only one you can call family." He picked up the only two blankets left inside the tent and draped both of them over the sleeping dragons before sitting back next to the campfire.
He let out a yawn. "Sigurd, could you be on the lookout just in case? I don't know how long I can last myself."
Sigurd blinked into existence next to Vlad, already sitting down, and gave him a nod. "Of course, friend. Such an eventful day must have taken its toll on you."
A snort escaped Vlad's lips. "That's an understatement."
AN: Slightly late, but some last-minute touches needed to be addressed, so I apologize for the slight delay. Now, I've been asked a few times already about Mayla being here, so I'm sure some of the confusion should have been cleared with this chapter.
Now, with that out of the way, I'd like to thank Cavik for beta-reading this chapter. Once more, his help is always appreciated because my ESL can be troublesome at times.
I hope you've enjoyed today's chapter.
God's speed.