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Memoirs of Dragora

Chapter 16: A Melody Plays, A Kingdom Rises

Dragora was walking down the hall toward the harp room being aided by Slypnir and Zerion. Auberlinz was walking beside the trio, telling them when to take a turn so he wouldn't take lead and push Dragora to walk faster. Nij walked closely behind them, recalling which halls led where and which pillars had secret doors attached. Farresetia was talking with Midnight as the walked down the hall side by side, with Midnight doing his best to keep up with her stride. Luxi, S'kria, and Orrik were all following behind the group quietly, with Orrik and S'kria holding hands.

"Are you sure I'll be able to play in this condition?" Dragora asked wearily to the 4' 11 draconian told them to take another left.

"The harp has other properties as well to one with a clear mind, it might also restore your strength." Auberlinz explained energetically, pointing to a door on the right side of the hall, "It's in here."

The group flooded into the medium sized chamber, minding the tracks on the floor and watching as Auberlinz told them to wait there while he went around. The doors that were closed firmly over the tracks opened heavily, each being near 3 inches thick. The little draconian struggled out with a chain over his shoulder, hauling an exquisitely crafted crystalline shelled harp out on a trolley connected to the tracks. When it was finally out all the way into position, the doors closed and Auberlinz set the chain down with a heavy breath. Walking over to the tracks, he pulled a bottle of oil out from one of his inner coat pockets and lubricated the tracks laboriously, finishing at the doors.

"It's even more beautiful then I remember. . ." Nij gasped out, examining the frame and seeing it recently polished and cleaned.

"Alright then, I'll try my best. Hopefully this works, I don't want to let the people down from not being able to go to their homes." Dragora stated knowingly, seeing Farresetia looking at him intently.

Dragora slumped over to the large instrument, seeing the top of it at eye level and then positioning to play it despite not knowing what the usual position was. He closed his eyes and breathed silently, trying to set himself into a meditative state of mind. When he forgot about the presence of the group he started playing softly but surely, the notes ringing clearly and bouncing off the walls which had amplified the sound enough for the guests in the main hall to hear. Dragora continued playing, letting his hands move on their own, forgetting what he had established to know to remember what his bloodline already knew. The group listened quietly, afraid to break their companion's concentration. Nij was softly humming the tune to himself while Slypnir and Zerion swayed softly side to side with the rhythm. Auberlinz grinned and closed his eyes, letting the melody play in his mind for the first time. The rest of the group looked around awestricken as the walls and the floor starting becoming lucid, only the walls surrounding the room where the harp was and a few other rooms were left a solid color. Farresetia smiled broadly as she could see the the effect begin spreading throughout the entire castle, climbing up from the first floor all the way to the parapets. The snow already stopped and was starting to melt, the foot-high layer turning to a rushing river down the hillside through their previous camp around the dock and into the sea, revealing rolling green hills of shimmering grass. The skies were long clear, with gentle white clouds floating against the brilliant blue sky, leading everyone in the main hall to step outside and cheer. The snow behind the castle lifted into the sky, as if picked up by some unseen force, and unveiled the large city, with brick roads and fine masonic houses. The citizens that were outside the castle eagerly rushed down to their homes, being greeted by countless others who had stayed inside.

As Dragora played the last note, he smiled and opened his eyes to be greeted by new scenery and pleased faces. Auberlinz hopped up and down in excitement while Nij and Farresetia smiled and bowed to the draconian that dispelled the kingdom. Slypnir and Zerion hastily went over and hugged their mate, both feeling a familiar strong embrace that they thought was gone and hugged tighter in joy. Midnight was looking down nervously, seeing his feet look like they were floating from his view. S'kria, Orrik, and Luxi were still looking around in amazement, stunned by how quickly the scenery had changed before their eyes and looking out to the beautiful city and already deciding in their minds what they were going to do for the new day as the sun was coming over the horizon.

"I guess it worked," Dragora laughed out, seeing midnight cautiously step over to Farresetia and still checking his footing, "It's solid you know. . ."

"It's not every day the floor changes from a solid crystal to almost as clear as glass. . . I need something to look at, seeing my feet on nothing is making me woozy." Midnight replied quickly, looking into Farresetia's eyes to get his attention off the floor.

"If I didn't get to know you earlier I would have said this is creepy." The cheetah giggled, giving Midnight a kiss on the cheek and seeing him relax tremendously.

"Well it seems the bedrooms are still solid, I guess that's a good thing, but what are the other solid rooms speckled across the castle?" Luxi asked curiously, seeing 4 rooms including the one they were standing next to also being solid but away from the bedroom hall.

"There's the royal quarters, that one is the workshop, and these two are the vaults." Auberlinz retorted casually, motioning to each as if out of routine.

"Well I hope the dresser in the royal quarters has clothes that fit, I'm afraid this shirt's been stretched apart by my wings. . ." Dragora stated, embarrassed by seeing the fox throw a wink his way that only he noticed.

Dragora proceeded unassisted to the royal quarters to change, still being escorted by Slypnir and Zerion. Nij and Farresetia proceeded to the mage halls to round up the council, with Midnight tagging along seeing nothing else to do and wanting to stay near the cheetah. Luxi spotted another platypus in the main hall and lingered off towards her, leaving S'kria and Orrik to freely go shopping in the town and enjoy the change in weather. Auberlinz ran off to tend to other errands he had neglected during Nij's absence, firstly struggling with the harp back into the vault and straightening his jacket.

Slypnir smiled to himself as he closed the doors behind them in the lavishly decorated and comfortable room. Zerion was admiring the velvet drapes that hung around the room and various silks, damasks, and other fabrics that decorated the room freely upon tables and the large bed in the center of the room. Dragora was already making himself comfortable and walking around in his loincloth, smirking in confidence as his companions' eyes locked onto him. Slypnir shifted himself slightly to account for the arousal from the musk released and sight of the stretching and flexing draconian, getting ready to strip down as well. Zerion was already well under way, letting his pants fall to his ankles and his bulge flexing in the cloth prison, pulsing to get free. Dragora brought his wings around teasingly, undoing the loincloth and feeling his pillar throb in response to rubbing against the leathery membrane that was concealing his shaft from his mates' locked on oculi. Slypnir gasped in response to seeing the cloth hit the floor, his manhood giving a strong flex against the abs and forcing the loincloth to give way to the shaft that was already extended above the top of the underwear. Zerion was already groping himself in stimulation of seeing a small poke on the wing breathed in delight as his rod gave an eager pulse of response to the contact. Dragora shuffled his wings in enjoyement and made his way over to the bed, finally letting his appendages stretch outward and letting the cock drop forward and sway in the quickly warming room. Zerion quickly strode over, his member oscillating and stiffening even more with contact to the air. Slypnir walked over smoothly, his large meat standing strongly and moving with it's owner's hips.

"Wait, how are we going to do this without any lubricant?" Zerion asked suddenly, eying Slypnir's sizable manhood.

"alright, I'll go into town and see if I can find anything. . ." Dragora replied, trying to die down his arousal with little success in the musk-filled room.

Dragora put on simple clothes from the dresser as fast as he could and hightailed it to the market, positioning his eager cock in a non-extruding position. He glanced at the signs, looking for an alchemy shop or specialty store. He found a store directly to the point, selling adult toys and other seldom publicly sold items. Rushing in, Dragora grabbed a large bottle of lubricant, not bothering to see what color it was, and went quickly up to the register, panting and shuffling through his pouch of money for something the store accepted. Seeing he had no currency for here, he took off his shirt and offered it to the clerk. The clerk refused and giggled, seeing the draconian still shuffling through his belongings for some kind of payment. Dragora finally pulled out a ring of tyralthium that had come off the armor and offered it up, seeing as fair payment. The clerk accepted it, telling him that the currency was tyralthium rings and he should go to a currency exchange to get spendable money. Dragora merely nodded hastily and took the bottle in an unmarked bag, hurrying back toward the castle and being eyed curiously by pedestrians. He closed the door behind him and sighed heavily, examining himself to see what everyone was looking at, including Slypnir and Zerion. As he looked, despite being shirtless, his member had decided to poke up a little above the pants and the bag he was carrying had a logo of two male signs overlapping. Blushing deep enough to turn all the edges of his scales red, he set down the bag and took off his clothes as quick as he put them on.

"I thought you weren't one for publicity," Zerion tittered out, "and yet here you are flaunting your manhood teasingly."

"I-I didn't know it poked up over the edge. . . and don't get me started on the little streaking affair in Sylphistrine!" Dragora retorted out smiling, still flushed around the cheeks.

"Well then let's get started, I'm starting to lose my composure." Slypnir said, groping himself in anticipation.

Dragora walked over with the bottle of lube and opened it, lathering up Slypnir first and watching him wriggle in delight. Then he coated his tail with the solution, slowly sliding it up into Zerion's unsuspecting tailhole, causing him to groan in excitement as Dragora took him into his maw. Slypnir was already sheathing his own tail inside himself, making him pump harder and deeper into Dragora's crevice. Dragora's wings extended in ecstasy, wrapping around the mate behind him, pulling Slypnir closer so his sweaty core and chest danced upon Dragora's back. Zerion was thrusting deeper into the mouth that encased his throbbing shaft, the tongue inside sliding around and gripping the wet pillar, squeezing out pre down Dragora's throat. Zerion's tail was dancing wildly up and down Dragora's hard, pulsating shaft, tightening and pumping up and down, becoming slicker as more pre leaked out. Slypnir gave himself a deep thrust with his tail, pushing himself over the edge into Dragora's tightly squeezing muscles. Dragora moaned in rapture, feeling the mate behind shooting deep inside, making his tail stiffen in pleasure inside Zerion's enveloping anus. Zerion gasped in response, the tail firmly massaging his prostate and toying around inside him more assertively. He felt his climax approaching faster, the slick essence sliding along and building in his shaft. Dragora licked the vein hard and slid up to the tip, feeling the cock flex and shoot the white fluid onto the waiting center of the tongue. Dragora smiled and gulped, feeling himself approaching his peak as well while the juices flowed down his throat. Zerion's tail kept pumping the stiff rod, teasing droplets of cum out of the head as Dragora breathed and tried to hold back from the inevitable release of love juice. Slypnir reached around and pumped his mate's shaft, coaxing the spurts of essence to discharge into the air. Dragora moaned in delight as the ejaculate landed on his flexing and sweaty abdomen, the un-shot semen leaking out onto Slypnir's hand and Zerion's tail as they slowly moved them to release the pillar from their grasp.

Dragora licked his stomach teasingly, seeing Zerion's member only half-limp and still twitching. Zerion licked the fluid off of his tail while Slypnir did the same with his hand, but Slypnir came over and grasped Zerion's hips as he slid around to the back, his cock starting to harden for another round. Dragora just watched, assuming he was spent, seeing Slypnir dock into Zerion's already loosened hole from the tail that inhabited his crevice. Zerion just moaned heavily, the pain already subsided and only feeling pleasure and arousal. Slypnir pumped deeply into Zerion's anus, his cock throbbing again and more pre leaking out to lather up the inside. Zerion closed his eyes in fantasy, feeling the thick veins of Slypnir's shaft pulsate against the walls of his tract, feeling the draconian's slick chest and abs dance upon his back and giving a slight lick of delight to his wings that flexed and shifted in exaltation. Slypnir thrusted and delved deeper into his sub's ass, feeling the second shot build up in his testicles and he pushed and pulled himself in and out of Zerion. Dragora felt himself throbbing for more, his pole now fully erect and swaying in the wind as he watched the two rub against each other, moving in sequence to the sloshing noises as Slypnir forced himself into Zerion quicker, going as deep as he could. Slypnir twinged and bucked against Zerion's back, his peak approaching with each delve, each lunge into Zerion's prostate. The sub threw his head back in ecstasy and let out moans of delight, his cock waving in the air and squeezing out drops of pre. Slypnir bucked hard against Zerion's back, feeling his balls push the essence through the tubes, feeling the shot slide it's way up to the tip and building up for a hard release. Zerion gasped as the cum rushed out of the shaft delving that much deeper into his tract, coating his walls with the juices as Slypnir slid out slowly, feeling the head of his softening cock catch onto the ribs of the sub's tensing and gripping insides.

Zerion breathed out heavily as Slypnir pulled the head out all the way and freed him of the grasp, letting Zerion go over to Dragora and mount the eager and waiting draconian. Dragora's wings stretched in delight as Zerion slid into him, Slypnir's fluid still coating the walls, and gave a grunt of enjoyment as Zerion gave a prod at his prostate. The sub breathed heavily, not being able to control his gasps and moans as his insides were breached by pulsating pillar of muscle pumping more of the alkaline fluid to lubricate the tract that much more. Zerion delved and surfaced into Dragora's insides, forcing and drawing his cock, grabbing onto the sub's hips as he pushed harder and deeper into the wanting draconian's crevice. He felt the pre become thicker as he started thrusting faster, the love juices starting to rush towards climax. Dragora felt Zerion buck and squirm against his back, their sweat mixing and oiling Zerion's movements as his burly muscles writhed against Dragora's frame. Zerion felt the sub's walls clench in exaltation as he pounded faster, causing him to lose control of his thick member as the muscle flexed the seed out into the other draconian's insides. Dragora moaned in rapture, his own love muscle dripping beads of pre in excitement and eagerness to be grabbed as Zerion pulled out slowly, but Slypnir had something else in mind.

He came over licked down from Dragora's tensing neck, teasing over the flexing muscles and slowly tracing up the pulsating penis, lolling the head around with his glossa before taking the pillar into his waiting mouth. His long tongue was dancing in circles around Dragora's member as he bobbed downward, wrapping around and gripping the shaft to pump more pre as it's owner moved up and down in a teasingly slow manner. Dragora set his hand on top of Slypnir's head and pushed gently, not being able to stand the anticipation and wanting him to go faster. Slypnir only obliged a little, wanting to get as much satisfaction out of the play time as Dragora was, and only went a little faster the he tasted the lubricant getting thicker. He dabbled with the cock, making his tongue slide faster as he showed the flesh around his maw, using the ribbed roof of his mouth to tease that much more of the alkaline liquid into play and feeling its owner beginning to buck. Dragora felt the ribbed top of his mate's mouth as well as his member's bulb starting to swell with the load as it rushed to the tip, getting ready to shoot out into the new dwelling. He bucked his cock all the way into Slypnir's mouth and released in ecstatic pleasure, feeling the tongue begin to unravel around the flesh and him sucking to get the unspluttered cum into his mouth as well. Slypnir gulped playfully before he let Dragora pull his muscle out of the oral cavity, sliding up off of the draconian's softening shaft and kissing him while his tongue still played with leftover essence.

"mmh... we should have done this ages ago, but do we have anything to clean up with?" Zerion sighed out, dripping onto the carpeted floor.

"I'm not going out again this time, I'm embarrassed enough." Dragora stated, blushing wildly as he remembered what he did to get them going.

"You're the fastest one, and-"

"I'm just as messy as you are... 's gonna be a bit impolite to those who made these upholsteries, but I say we use them to at least dry off, then make way for the showers." Dragora replied thoughtfully, seeing they were surrounded by cloth.

Dragora went over to the curtain hanging from the top of the bed and started using the back of it as a towel, determined to not be embarrassed in public again. Zerion and Slypnir reluctantly followed, using nearby textiles to clean themselves up enough to put on the pants, getting ready to sprint for the washrooms. Slypnir's sharp ears heard a slight knock against the door and he shot up from drying himself off, going over to the door and peeking to see who it was.

"Crap, it's Auberlinz, do we run over him or shoo him away for enough time to run to the showers?" Slypnir asked quickly, seeing the small draconian stand there patiently, "No sign of him going anywhere on his own anytime soon."

"Ask him to go get a steamer and look for a tailor in town." Dragora replied, already dried off and putting on his loincloth.

"Yes, what do you want?" Slypnir asked calmly, only cracking the door open enough to poke his muzzle through.

"Dragora's father wants everyone to meet in the council room, says it's important." Auberlinz retorted, wondering what was behind the door then looking guilty, "I didn't 'interrupt' you guys did I?"

"No, but you wouldn't happen to know where the nearest shower would be would you?" Slypnir questioned, still trying to stay calm as can be.

"There's one in the room, behind the mirror. I was going to give you all a tour of the castle but Nij pulled me aside." The small draconian answered bluntly, turning to go the other way, "I'll just tell him you three will be down in a little bit."

"What did he say?" Dragora inquired, seeing Slypnir head for the mirror after closing the door.

"We have a enough time to clean up, then we need to go to the council room." Slypnir responded, hearing a click as he pushed the right side of the mirror, "Here we go..."

Zerion and Dragora looked in awe as the large mirror rotated on a concealed hinged, revealing a lavish bathroom behind it, and a small crawlspace leading off from that. Slypnir walked in and ran the water into the large tub, seeing it was more the big enough to fit all three of them, and turned on the other faucets around the tub to fill it faster. The pair of draconians outside were looking at the room in wonder, admiring the masonry of the marble and Dragora shivering at the sight of the dark crawl space.

"I swear if I see a spider come out from that thing, I'm sending an inferno through there." Dragora stated firmly, keeping his hands ready to throw a fireball at whatever might pop out.

"That's strange, this castle is see-through but I didn't see a crawl space or this room... I think there's many more secrets than this." Zerion breathed out, looking down the small path and seeing it was a solid wall.

"Alright, let's clean up properly, we have a meeting to attend, remember?" Slypnir pointed out, turning off the last faucet and getting in the hot water quickly.

"I still prefer showers..." Dragora sighed out, getting into the tub reluctantly and rubbing off the rest of the essence he couldn't remove before.

"Your showers are like saunas, it's a wonder if anyone who goes in with you doesn't come out wheezing." Zerion joked, getting into the water himself and doing similar to what Dragora was.

"It's good for you, opens everything up. Plus you can change the temperature of the water if your body starts getting used the current level of heat." Dragora explained to Zerion, seeing Slypnir just sit innocently, cleaning himself from the last bit of the juices he had on him, "And what of you? Do you prefer baths or showers?"

"It depends on the situation, if I have a time limit or have to go somewhere then a bath, but if it's just to relax then a shower would be necessary." Slypnir answered simply, seeing them both look toward him and reinforcing the fact his trying to stay out of the debate didn't work.

"Reasonable enough..." Dragora retorted, dipping back into the water to let his wings soak and sighing in contentment.

Zerion and Slypnir followed suit, letting more of their bodies go deeper under the water to reach higher towards their necks. Dragora surfaced from holding his breath underwater and cleaning his head, in which he stroked his horns avidly with a sponge to get the grime of adventure off. Slypnir was the only one who didn't have to clean his horns, for his were stunted and barely out of the skin. After they were all done, they got out and Dragora grabbed 3 towels from the rack that was next to the bath, and handed one to the pair who were just now out after him. They dried off quickly and put their clothes on, hastily getting ready to go to the council chamber for whatever purpose they were summoned there for.

"I wonder why we'd meet in the council chamber if it's still in it's disused condition, the only thing that rivals those 8 legged things on the creep-me-out factor is their cobwebs..." Dragora muttered out with a scowl on his face, hating the thought of having to go through one.

"It should be cleaned up by now, and Zerion, do you think we should show him Aratrin after this?" Slypnir replied and asked jokingly, knowing Dragora had never heard of the upper world.

"No. just- no, Pneuschorn is as far as we're going in that direction. Anyway let's get a move on, I'm sure they're waiting." Zerion stated firmly and started jogging toward their destination.

"Pneuschorn? Aratrin? I've never heard of those towns and I've been almost anywhere the seas could take me." Dragora questioned curiously, with the names being completely foreign to him and keeping pace with the burly draconian easily, "Zerion, where's your armor? I just noticed you haven't been wearing it lately..."

"You'll see, it's a surprise, and you're wearing my armor, I hope it's been up to snuff for you." Zerion retorted simply, seeing Dragora all of a sudden look at the armor he was wearing in a new light, "I also modified it for your wings when you were sleeping, is it comfortable?"

"It never ceases to amaze me how well you know my shape, and yes it's very comfortable. This is the room right?" Dragora remarked and inquired, looking at the runed door.

"Y... yeah, this is it, just let me catch my breath a little, I'm out of shape..." Slypnir huffed out, slouched over and panting heavily before straightening up and taking a deep breath, "alright let's go inside."

They walked in and looked around seeing everyone looking toward them expectedly for answers to a conversation they didn't hear. Dragora proceeded over next to his father with Zerion and Slypnir trailing behind, also being looked at in the same manner as their companion. Nij whispered into Dragora's ear in the archaic tongue and he nodded slowly, then suddenly straightening up in alertness. Slypnir tried tuning into the conversation but lost track, for Nij was speaking quickly and intricately. Zerion just tuned out into his own thoughts, unable to follow what was going on and abruptly shook his head as he came back to reality. Dragora took in a deep breath as he turned toward the center of the table, getting ready for a long-winded speech to the council members who's faces were unfamiliar to him.

"I know you are all wondering what has provoked such a sudden action for Dawn to jump out from being frozen in time straight into war. It's Lothgrenier's movement and sudden gathering of a monumental mercenary army. We have indications that they plan to move with this army to begin another conquering spree that may also spread to this continent as well. They have already wiped out the army of Sylphistrine, and will no doubt also move to invade Aerinia. The colony we set up near Aerinia will be prone to this movement, therefore we must enforce it, and ally ourselves with who we can to push back Lothgrenier, and in the end also reclaiming part of this ancient kingdom's boundaries. It is thus that I suggest we mount those who can fight to mobilize for battle immediately, as we have no time to waste." Dragora explained sternly while standing on the center of the table everyone was sitting at, seeing everyone eye him cautiously.

"Very well said, but not all countries are threatened by Lothgrenier's movement, as they lack sky ships." A voice stated from above Dragora causing him to look around curiously.

Dragora looked up and saw a large bi-pedal spider on a ledge above him, leading to him screaming and bounding six feet over a council member out the door. Zerion ran after him, never having known Dragora was that afraid of spiders. Nij just tilted his head in confusion, wondering what about the guest caused his son to become so frightened and suddenly run away.

"Quite the athletic one isn't he? I'm sorry I startled him..." The spider said, coming down from the ledge lightly.

"It's not your fault, he had a bad encounter with feral spiders when we were small so he sort of fears them more than anything. I'm just glad he didn't use magic, his fear seems to invoke him to run away rather than stamp out thankfully." Slypnir explained to the arachnid who got off the table and sat down near him, "Also he's never seen Aratrinians, so this is all foreign to him."

"It seems you're the level-headed one of the trio, Slypnir I assume?" the crawler asked calmly, holding out a hand to the small draconian, "I'm Tetrius, current king of Aratrin. It seems your friend has never laid eyes on the upper world."

"Yes I am, pleased to meet you, and he hasn't, nor has he seen a sky ship. We were planning on showing him the upper world while we wanted to go traveling, but the recent events sort of interrupted those contrives. While we wait for Zerion to bring him back, what brings you all the way down here? I thought you said the upper world wasn't threatened by Lothgrenier?" Slypnir asked inquisitively, seeing Tetrius shift positions in the chair that was not meant for his shape.

"While Lothgrenier doesn't have sky ships, Dawn does, as well as a few secluded mountain towns on that continent. If Lothgrenier gets a hold of one of these ports, then we are in danger of being invaded as well, so truth be told we are involved in defending the gates, nothing more." Tetrius explained firmly, trying to not sound selfish.

"We are going to need more than just two countries and a couple of nobles to fight back the army they have, they've gathered mercenaries from around the entire middle world, effectively making it the largest in history up to this point, unless we have more forces their taking control of those ports will be inevitable. I really don't care who you are, if you think you're not in peril of being invaded you're sorely mistaken." Slypnir retorted aggressively, already knowing the arachnid's intentions.

"The upper world couldn't possibly be threatened by a few ferry ships, they can only hold so many people." Tetrius remarked confidently, still shifting around.

"If they capture one, they can learn to make more, have you seen how many factories Lothgrenier has? If they capture Dawn as well they could produce fleets of battle-oriented sky ships in mere months. You refuse to see the repercussions if they capture any part of the middle world, therefore you are blind to the outcome of things." Slypnir stated aggressively, feeling Nij put his hand on the draconian's tensing shoulder.

Dragora peeked through the doorway at Tetrius, afraid to get any closer but was nudged forward by Zerion, who was holding him by the collar of his armor. He inched his way forward with his heels being nudged by the stronger draconian's feet, until he was within an arm's distance of the crawler's appendages. Tetrius turned aggressively to see what had snuck on him while he was debating with Slypnir. Dragora cringed as an extremity swooped by his face, but saw a relaxed being in front of him.

"S-sorry for running off like that, I... had a bad experience with feral ones that got the better of my judgement." Dragora explained, trying to recompose himself in front of his fear.

"Forgive me, I was in a debate with your friend here. Anyway I am Tetrius, current king of Aratrin." The arachnid stated gently, seeing the draconian flinch as he held out his hand to him.

Dragora took the hand wearily, trying to be kind through his extreme caution, and shook gently with his hand quivering more than the movement. Zerion let go of the draconian's collar for a second to see if he'd try running away, then relaxed a little after Dragora finished shaking hands. Slypnir just went over by his companion's side to comfort him so he could speak, seeing Tetrius ready for a proposal.

"What is the upper world you mentioned? I've never heard of it nor the country of Aratrin..." Dragora asked feebly, still fearing the presence of the crawler.

"The upper world is a constantly shifting world in the clouds. Some are fortunate enough to be able to fly there, but as you can see, not all of us have wings, this is where your kingdom's invention of sky ships comes in. I was debating with your friend that the only way Lothgrenier would pose a threat to anyone in the upper world is if they captured one of the very few ports for these ships." Tetrius stated, thinking this draconian will have a different opinion.

"Actually, not true. You may be constantly shifting, but a cannon shot from a modern cannon which they have possession of can easily pierce through the clouds. It also doesn't help that these cannons are highly mobile, and their only weakness is on the bottom. Plus, even if we were to destroy all the sky ships we have on this world, if they capture the ports they'll know the basic design of them." Dragora explained calmly, trying his best to be civilized.

"That's something I wasn't thinking of... Do you have such a cannon as well? Dawn has only just woken up, therefore is understandably behind in war engineering despite being ahead in skyward technology." Tetrius asked, seeing a new factor on the threat Lothgrenier would pose.

"Yes, it's on my ship, it's down at the docks near Dauntae's Freezer, or what used to be anyway. The ice holding it to the ship should be melted as well, so we'll try to bring it to the castle, though I don't think it'll fit through the doors. We might have to add a workshop onto the structure of the castle." Dragora explained starting to head for the door eagerly and seeing Slypnir right beside him despite walking at his fast pace.

"Dragora, wait. You're ship might be slightly... flooded by the run-off of the spell, I'm sorry." Nij stated guiltily, forgetting that the spell flooded the outside of the town's countryside.

Upon hearing this, Dragora picked his pace into a run before he even left the castle doors, Slypnir and Zerion both falling behind quickly as their companion rushed ahead worriedly. Dragora sprinted across the fields in adrenaline, hoping his hard work wasn't washed out like a tide, and bashed through the closed doors of the draconic masonry fort where they camped. He hurdled over fallen stones and slid under low ceilings in a free-run pace to get to his ship, using the smoothness of the armor to it's limit. Slypnir and Zerion looked and saw the doors to the camp bashed open, half broken off the hinges and ran on knowing their friend was a good amount ahead of them. Dragora reached the courtyard and took flight, flapping strongly and hastily as he cleared the maze-like walls toward the dock where he left his pride. He reached the dock and fell to his knees in relief, seeing the ship was still afloat and the caravan was still in the deep grooves. Slypnir and Zerion reached the courtyard and saw the talon marks end toward the center pointing straight toward a wall. Zerion shrugged and took a running start into the air to follow his companion's footsteps, still behind Slypnir who was a graceful and strong flyer. They arrived at the dock to see Dragora just getting into the caravan and trying to get out of the grooves.

"Next time would you give us a slight chance to catch up!? I don't mind flying, but you going ninja through a debris filled path is a little much!" Zerion shouted to the draconian in the caravan, seeming to struggle with controls, "Here, let me get it out of there, I know how to drive it..."

"I... haven't done anything... like that in a.... long while..." Slypnir panted out, hunched over against a crate and wheezing from exhaustion.

"Alright, I'll go inspect the ship, it may look fine on the outside but if the inside is flooded..." Dragora trailed off concernedly, hoping the interior was fine.

Zerion got the caravan out onto the dock, maneuvering it onto the actual land before getting out to check on Slypnir, who was still panting heavily and trying to gain his energy back. Zerion picked him up and carried him into the caravan, securing him into a passenger seat and then getting back out to go check on Dragora. He went below deck and saw him sitting there, cradling the empty anniversary keg and sitting on a waterlogged bunk. He went over and touched his shoulder, seeing Dragora just staring blankly at the black shell lost in thought. Dragora snapped back into reality, letting out a heavy sigh and setting the keg down reluctantly.

"It's gone... the ship, my storage, our supplies, gone... I don't have the funds to rebuild the ship again, I don't even have a coin to my name here, none of us do, their currency is different. Now I have no means of transportation off this island, I know I can't fly that far." Dragora explained, downtrodden by the sight of his ship just only being able to sit in it's place as a monument, "Even the spell on that keg, washed away. There isn't enough wood here to make another, I've lost the only thing I had pride in when I was a mercenary."

"Come on, it's not that bad, and there is enough wood actually, but we're going to make a different kind of ship: we're taking you to the upper world." Zerion stated, seeing Dragora's face light up in realization.

"I don't know how to construct one like that-"

"I do, while Nij was getting you out of the twilight plains, I looked through his books and saw the schematics book for sky ships. I have it with me here, all we have to do is secure supplies, but regretfully you're right. They take a different currency here, Luxi's money is useless." Slypnir interrupted, pulling a book out of the inner back part of his jacket.

Dragora looked through the book eagerly, seeing all kinds of different sky ships. There were plans for war ships, ferries, cargo vessels, private ships, scouting ships, and he stopped on one that caught his eye more than the previous ones; a frigate. Zerion looked over Dragora's shoulder and saw the vast plans, worried how they will get the supplies to construct it. Slypnir looked at the construction carefully and raised an eyebrow to the sheer size of the vessel, leading to similar thoughts that Zerion was having. Dragora sighed and went up to the top, wanting to leave the waterlogged gravestone behind and thinking about how much lumber and metal it would take to produce the sky ship. They drove back, plowing through the debris of the halls, past the broken doors and over the fields toward Dawn. The council was marveling at the construct as it pulled up, admiring the design and seeing a foreign contraption making the caravan move instead of animals.

"Here it is, now you have your proof, you happy? I'm off to go get materials, I'll just have to get them myself if we can't buy them with our money." Dragora stated, summoning an axe and heading towards the nearby forest.

"D-Dragora! Wait, not that forest!" Nij shouted out to his son and running after him.

"So what's gotten into him?" Tetrius asked curiously, seeing a completely different side of the draconian than what he saw at first.

"His ship got ruined by the flood, so now he wants to build this." Slypnir answered simply, handing the arachnid the book on the page displaying Dragora's desire.

"Quite the ambitious one isn't he? However, this isn't just a schematics book, you should hold onto it or give it to Nij, as it's his." Tetrius said, smirking and chuckling to himself.

"What's in it?" Slypnir asked inquisitively, not being able to read the handwriting.

"Have Nijraketo tell you, that isn't my affair, no where near." the crawler explained while walking back into the castle.

Slypnir looked toward the father and son debating in the field, and tried to read the pages once more. Zerion just giggled as Dragora handed his father the axe like it was weightless and saw Nij instantly follow the axe's path to the ground. Dragora unsummoned when he was half way over without looking and turned to see Nij staring at the grass blankly. Finally Slypnir waved the book in the air for Dragora and Zerion to come over as he deciphered part of the text.

"H-hey, that's mine! That's personal!" Nij cried out, seeing the trio gather around his journal eagerly as he ran over in embarrassment and tried getting it back.

"Hehehe it seems someone had an thing for pastries when they were little..." Slypnir giggled out loudly, tossing the book to Dragora.

"Oh come on, Gimme a sec', I bet there's something in here about how you met mother..." Dragora said, running around while being chased by Nij and eventually flying up and sitting on top of the door arch.

"T-this isn't fair... would you give it back please? I only prodded into you by accident, I didn't dig through your life..." Nij stated firmly, seeing Dragora hop down from the 20 foot vantage point with ease and handing the journal to him.

"Alright, but on one condition. Where can we get the wood and other materials for... this ship here?" Dragora asked, seeing Nij's eyes widen in surprise.

"We don't have the technology for that... It was just a dream I had, a fantasy, nothing more. However, seeing what we have today I might be able to make something near as good, but slightly less scaled." Nij said starting to sketch on a blank page and occasionally looking up to the caravan.

He kept at it for over 3 hours, sketching and looking at the caravan, until it became dusk and he hurried everyone inside while holding the book tightly. Slypnir just wondered what was so bad about the dark and then heard a feral howl off from the forest that Dragora had been planning to chop down. Zerion's ears weren't as sharp but just dismissed it all, heading his own way toward the workshop to go try working on the armor. Dragora just sat and watched his father draw into the journal avidly, occasionally scowling and erasing, etching wildly around the paper as if a painter were making an abstract canvas. Finally after taking a break for everyone to eat dinner, he finished at midnight and showed it to Dragora. It was a design similar to Dragora's old ship but larger, with 6 cannons like the one on the caravan mounted on each side and 2 more in the front. The middle hull of the ship would be purely a generator, with paths going around for them to access the front cannons. The bottom deck was half storage and half sleeping quarters, being able to hold 24 people and 30 mid-sized crates. Dragora observed and studied the design carefully, looking at all features and deficits, looking for flaws but finding none. He set the journal down and nodded in agreement with the idea, however still wondering how they would get the materials needed.

"So how are we going to get the materials, tools, and hands to help us with it? We have no funds here, Luxi's money won't be taken anywhere." Dragora asked cautiously, seeing the factor that he didn't want to accept earlier.

"You're wearing it, if we need money then the chain mail parts of that armor will become a bank. I know you don't want to sell it because Zerion made it for you, but he's making amazing progress on that armor in the workshop, believe it or not, and he'll most likely want to make you a better suit soon enough anyway, plus you still have the splint and plate mail parts to hold onto." Nij explained comfortingly, seeing Dragora's insulted look ease into understanding.

"Alright, but I hope this will be enough, I don't want him to go through any trouble just to make something for me..." Dragora replied sadly, not wanting to take off any part of the armor.

"I'm sure it will be, those rings look pure." Nij stated, getting up off of Dragora's bed from sitting down on it and heading toward the door, "Everything will work out, I know it will..."

Dragora just laid in bed and saw his father close the door to the chamber behind him, leaving Dragora alone in the room, as Zerion and Slypnir were in their own separate chambers. Suddenly he heard a click from the door and he looked over to see and undistinguishable shadow in the entrance. The figure crept through the opening quietly and closed the door silently, not wanting to wake up the draconian that looked asleep. Dragora opened his eyes the rest of the way, looking at the shadow that stood near the center of the room and froze there. His purple eyes glowed in the darkness of the room, looking at the pupils of the figure's eyes as it's own locked onto his.

"I see you're awake, we need to talk, if you don't mind." The figure said, walking over to the side of the bed now that Dragora was sitting up right.