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It only took another day before the group of four walked into the capital of Arborrna, the dragon knight leading the way with the other three trailing behind them. They had placed Zefrit in the middle and it was clear from the initial looks they got that the public's interest in having a dragon in their city was at an all-time low. Word of the potential dread dragon coming to wipe them out had spread, Ryonir thought to himself, but most of the citizens seemed to calm down when they saw that he was a Dragon Knight. All he could do was put on a stoic face and continue to make their way down the street until they found an inn with a stable where they could hide the dragon away.

"You sure it's alright for me to be here?" the silver dragon said nervously. "It doesn't appear they know much about the rule between metallic and chromatic dragons."

"They're just scared Zefrit," Flynn reassured. "They think that any second now a creature that looks like you is going to come down from the heavens and turn this entire place into dust. Just don't make any big moves and keep your head down, we'll get through this just fine."

Samiel just huffed and grunted, crossing his arms as he put his head down. Ryonir could understand why, most werewolves tended to stay away from the cities since rumors about their kind were also generally not favorable. They had initially considered having Zefrit and Samiel waiting in the outskirts, but they didn't know how long it would take to get access to the dragon registry and the city was so big that if something went wrong on either side the other group probably wouldn't find out about it until it was too late. They decided it was best for the whole group to stick together as they finally found a decent inn... though once they had paid to hide away Zefrit in the stable and talked to the innkeeper they found there were only two rooms available.

"This is fine," Flynn stated. "Ryonir and I can double up, wouldn't be the first time that we had to share a bed and I can be there to help if he has any flare-ups with his dreams or injuries."

To Ryonir's slight surprise the werewolf frowned slightly at that before turning towards him. "Are you sure about that?" he asked. "You've seen me fight, you know that I would make for a better bodyguard then the other elf."

Ryonir found himself slightly intimidated by the sudden offer from both of his traveling companions to bunk with him. For Flynn it made sense, as he had mentioned they had shared a bed when he had gotten soaked by Zefrit and the other elf had been beneficial in his healing process. Samiel though... not only was this the first time that he had made such an offer but the insistence upon which it was made had the dragon knight wondering if there wasn't something else going on. After a few days of traveling the werewolf had also started getting visibly agitated again even after his revenge on the goblins, and Ryonir wasn't sure he wanted to be around if he decided to suddenly wolf out.

"It might be best if it's Flynn and I for tonight," Ryonir finally stated. "As you said you are a capable, loyal warrior and one that can certainly handle themselves in a fight. Since you've also seen me fight you can agree I'm the same, and wouldn't it make sense for one of us to be protecting the archivist?"

Though Flynn opened his mouth to defend his fighting skills, a sudden jab in the ribs from Ryonir's elbow caused him to quickly shut up as Samiel scratched his head. "That does make sense," he said with a nod. "Very well, you are the leader of this group so I will defer to your judgement."

Though the statement made him feel good that Samiel was going to listen to him, it also made Ryonir grin to hear himself get called the leader. He hadn't really thought of himself as such but he supposed it was sort of true. Zefrit was his companion and Flynn was more of a tagalong than anything else, which could also be said of Samiel too. The idea continued to make him grin even after they had gotten their keys and put away their gear for the night before locking the door behind them.

"So where do we go first?" Samiel asked once they had regrouped back in the tavern part of the inn. "Do we attempt to go to the registry or attempt to find my contacts and maybe get us an artificer?"

"Let's do the registry first," Ryonir responded. "There's a chance that trying to find an artificer will be a drawn-out process and might not even yield any results... of course the same thing might happen with the registry too but at least we know where that is. Getting in might be a problem, luckily we have an archivist who might be able to find a means to get us in..."

Flynn rolled his eyes but said that he might be able to use the fact that he works in Gildeon to get them access to the dragon registry, though he noted that a dragon knight would probably have just as much precedence too. The three went through the capital city streets towards the hall of records, not getting nearly as many stares now that they were short a dragon following them. Even though Ryonir knew he would probably be safe in the inn stables he didn't like the fact they had to leave Zefrit behind, but without him they were making much better time. Eventually they made it to the Arborrna archive building, one of the tallest in the entire city as they made their way up the polished stone steps to go inside.

Ryonir had been in Gildeon's archives long enough searching for information on Xarlix to recognize the smell of old parchment and feel the tingle of the magic that protected the tomes from decay as well as other things. The preservation of history was highly important to mages and it was their magic that kept places like this alive even if the rest of the city should burn to the ground. It make the dragon knight wonder if it could survive even an onslaught by the dread dragon himself... but that was a piece of information he would rather not have. The three walked through the large lobby area until they reached the carved stone desk where an elf woman sat looking through various scrolls.

"Welcome to the capital archives," she said with a small smile as she looked at the three of them. "What can I help you with today?" Before Ryonir could speak she seemed to take notice of his armor and her eyes lit up. "Oh, you're one of the Dragon Knights of Gildeon!"

"I am, yes," Ryonir said with a nod. "I am Ryonir, next to me is our archivist Flynn and on my other side is Samiel our... werewolf warrior. We're here because of the threat of the dread dragon Xarlix rising once more and have a possible lead to help us defeat the black death once and for all."

The elf's face grew slightly pale as the mention of Xarlix, though she quickly regained her composure and took out a scroll from one of the higher shelves. "Well we have quite a comparable collection on the dread dragon in our history section," she said as she looked at the parchment. "I'm sure that Gildeon's records also have a copy though and we don't really have anything new in that particular section for the last forty years since his last attack, so I'm not sure how else we might be of help."

"I'm actually hoping to access your registry of dragons in the Frostward Vale," Ryonir replied. "We have... information that there might be another dragon in the area that might be able to help us, but we don't have a name or location and I'm sure you can realize that just going up there blindly is a quick way to an early demise."

"Oh, of course..." she said, biting her lip slightly as she slowly rolled up the scroll. "Unfortunately that registry requires... special access, and while I would love to give it to you it's going to take a certain amount of time to gather everything needed. I'll see if I can expedite the request but it's going to take at least a day until we can get you access, should I start the process?"

Though Ryonir was intensely disappointed that he had to hop through hoops he knew that archivists were extremely protective of their information, and when he glanced over at Flynn he saw the other elf simply shaking his head. "Yes, that would be fine," the dragon knight stated. "If I give you the information of the inn I'm staying at would you be able to send a messenger there as soon as you're ready? I'm sure I don't have to stress to you the importance of getting this done quickly, especially since the time of the black death is overdue."

The female elf archivist nodded fiercely in understanding and said that not only would she send a messenger to the inn but also contact Flynn as well, the two touching hands briefly so that they could communicate to one another via magical means. Ryonir thanked her and promptly left the area, clenching and unclenching his hands as the other two quickly picked up the pace in order to follow him. Once he was outside he punched one of the nearby columns with his gauntlet, cracking off a small chunk of the stone.

"Whoa, easy there Ryonir," Flynn said. "She said she's going to get us access as soon as she can, punching a hole in the wall isn't going to make that information come any faster. May I remind you that this is your idea, and that we agree that this was the best course of action to find out about this other creature?"

"I don't know why we're even doing this anymore!" the dragon knight practically shouted as he gestured towards the Frostward Vale. "We're down here chasing our tails trying to figure out some weakness when that dragon is probably looking down at us right now and laughing! I have my weapons and know his general location, I should just go up there now and take care of him..."

"That's not how the Dragon Knights do things and you know it!" Flynn retorted, also raising his voice. "This isn't just some chromatic dragon that's terrorizing the countryside that you can set a net trap or two and take down in the same night, this is a DREAD DRAGON. These creatures can take out entire cities without breaking a sweat, you and Zefrit march up there now with just what you have and you're not coming back down. You got lucky escaping the Frostward Vale once, don't be in such a rush to go back up there so it can finish the job."

Though Ryonir was still very angry at the situation the words of his friend were calming him down, though he could still feel himself fuming. The werewolf chimed in and said if he still wanted to punch something there was a place he knew of that some of his pack went to fight, but he just shook his head and started to walk down the stairs back into the city proper. At this point the only thing he could do now was wait, and that was the one thing he was hoping wouldn't happen as they started walking around the streets. On Flynn's suggestion to keep busy they started looking around for a place where they could buy supplies for the trip up the mountains, but just as they found an outfitter Samiel grabbed Ryonir's shoulder and pointed up at a sign with a single eye painted on it.

When both Flynn and Ryonir looked at the werewolf in confusion Samiel explained that his former alpha talked about an enchanter whose sign was just a single eye, saying that he had told the old man several times to change it since no one on the street knew what it meant. While not exactly the same as an artificer it was worth a shot, Samiel leading the way towards the door and opening it. Almost immediately their noses were hit with the typical scents of a mage den; some sort of incense burning so thickly it created smoke clouds as well as sage, alchemical compounds, and a few other exotic ingredients. As they looked around they didn't seem to find anyone manning the counter and after about a minute Flynn suggested that they just leave and try to find someone else.

The words of the elf seemed to summon the owner of the shop, the curtains opening with a flourish as an older human man walked through with the help of a carved wooden cane. "Apologies for my absence!" he said as he flourished his hands and caused the wilted flowers on the vase on the nearby table to perk up and the nearby window to open. "I wasn't expecting visitors, normally when people want enchantment magic done I get word of it before they even come into my shop, makes me look more impressive when I'm standing here all ready to take their order."

"We're also sorry if we've barged in on you," Ryonir responded. "I'm Ryonir of the Dragon Knights and I have a few items that I needed identified if you don't mind."

"You got the coin, I got the magic!" the man said with a toothy grin. "Name's Alfonso Medusae Modestos the Fourth, but you can just call me Al. What am I looking at today?"

The main one is this," the elf took the dragon tooth out of the satchel he had on him and set in on the counter. "When I attempted to identify it myself I didn't see it as magical, but then... something happened and I'm beginning to wonder. Is there some sort of latent magic or curse that I didn't see, maybe something that might have come from a powerful dragon?"

Both Flynn and Samiel stepped forward and looked at the necklace and Ryonir in question as Al took it and held it up, dangling it in front of his face. Though the three didn't see the mage do anything they could feel the release of magic as he continued to stare at it intently before setting it down. "I might see some echo of ancient magic on there," Al said as he set the necklace back down. "Might help me a bit more if you explain what has caused you to have these doubts about it just being a fancy piece of jewelry."

Ryonir found himself swallowing hard as he could see Flynn's eyes growing more accusatory by the second, but at this point he couldn't hide it anymore. The elf sighed as he brought up his fingers to his tunic in order to undo the top part. "I was having... carnal relations with a dragon and I started transforming into one," he stated as he pulled down his chest plate and revealed the black scales that had spread over his chest. "As you can see I also started growing scales in the area where I was wearing it, at first they were just tiny flecks but even without wearing it they've continued to grow."

As the mage let out a small noise of understanding and continued to look at it Ryonir could feel his face grow hot from the gaze of the other elf staring at him. Flynn uttered something about having a word before grabbing the other elf by the edge of his armor and yanking him backwards with surprising strength. Samiel looked at them both in confusion and Ryonir just said to hold on for a second and to let them know if he found anything when they get back. Flynn dragged Ryonir all the way outside the shop and slammed the door before bringing him to a nearby alley.

"You were the one that told me that you were fine," Flynn said as he pushed Ryonir back against the wall, walking away for a second before coming right back up to him and pressing his finger against his armor. "You looked straight in my eyes and when I said this might be too much for you to handle you PROMISED me that this wasn't affecting you. Now I have to find out that you're growing scales after banging your friend in the woods?"

"I... didn't think that this was a big deal..." Ryonir replied as he rubbed the area where he had been dragged around by, still slightly surprised at how strong the other elf was when he was enraged. "I stopped wearing the necklace and Zefrit and I haven't fooled around since!"

"I don't care if you've been fucking your dragon friend all night every night!" Flynn shouted loud enough that several people passing by looked at the two as the elf went up to him again with his voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Let me guess, you've also been having the dreams with Xralix, haven't you?" Ryonir tried to think of something to respond to that, but when words failed him and he ended up saying nothing that only stoked the flames of the other elf's anger. "I knew it!"

"So what?!" Ryonir shouted back, finding himself also growing angry. "The elders of Gildeon charged me with killing Xarlix and stopping his destruction before it even starts, this is far more important than just a few dreams and a reaction to a magical object! If I don't take care of him then who is going to?!"

"Literally anyone else!" Flynn shouted back, his rage seething as he started rummaging around in his pockets before grabbing something wrapped in linen and flinging it at him. "You want to go up to those mountains and die by my guest, I don't want any part of this anymore!"

Ryonir could hear the clank of the cloth-covered rod before he picked it up, then looked up to see Flynn stomping off down the street. "Hey!" he shouted, moving out of the alley and into the middle of the road as Flynn continued walking. "What are you doing?!"

"Leaving!" Flynn shouted back. "I don't want to be here when you fail and the black death comes here to burn this place to ash!" Ryonir stood there in stunned silence, then looked around to see everyone else within earshot of their argument staring at him with a similar expression on their faces. The dragon knight found himself sweating with all the attention on him and assured everyone that things were going to be alright, before ducking back into the store to see Samiel and Al looking at him as well.

For a while the three stood there in awkward silence until Ryonir asked if they had found anything else about the necklace, "Oh! Right..." Al said as he held up the golden tooth. "So I have to admit this had me a little puzzled even with your explanation, but when I racked my brain with what sort of magical effects could cause things like draconic transformation I realized there weren't any. So I took a bit of wraith blood and put a drop on it and boy, it started sizzling like a steak on a fire!"

"Great..." Ryonir replied, trying not to let his sour mood show. "So what does that mean then?"

"It means you have yourself an actual dragon tooth!" the mage said with a cackle. "Must be from an old dragon to have produced such a strong result, my guess is that when you were... eh heh, having fun with your dragon friend it caused a reaction that has you growing those scales. I can get you a case that will help block the latent aura of the piece if you wish to keep it, otherwise I'd be more than happy to pay you quite a few gold to have it as part of my collection.

Though the idea of just getting rid of the talisman was tempting he couldn't find the heart to get rid of it, instead paying for a glyph-covered box to put it in which the mage said would probably take a few days before the magic on him would wear off. "I have one more object for you to look at before we go," Ryonir said after putting down the coin, putting the box away before taking out the cloth-covered rod that had been thrown at him and set it down on the table. "We found this on a kobold that was using goblins to attack us."

"I see your friend took great length to wrap it up," Al stated as he took a knife and cut off the twine that was wrapped around it. "Not many mages know the proper way to bind a magic item so that it doesn't effect anyone, if I had a silver for every time someone came into the shop under the effect... oh my..." when he pulled back the last piece of linen and revealed the rod he reached over and grabbed a pair of glasses to put on. "I haven't seen something like this in quite some time..."

"Really?" Samiel asked as he started to reach out to touch it, only to have his hand slapped by the mage that caused him to retreat. "What is it?"

"It's a rod of true identity," Al explained, taking the cloth and using it to turn over and examine the purple amethyst crystal in the middle. "They made these back in the changling wars, troops kept getting infiltrated by enemy spies that posed as their own men, often killing high-ranking officials and taking their places. In response some powerful mages made rods like this that they would give to special Inquisitors... not only did they manage to sniff out changlings but they could tell if someone was being possessed, a werewolf like your friend here, a magical creature, or even if they were under the influence of a demonic or divine influence. Make sure to tell your shapeshifter friend that he had quite the find here."

"Yeah, if he's still here..." Ryonir muttered, looking down until his mind processed what had just been told him that caused his head to snap back up. "Wait, our what friend?"

"Shapeshifter friend," Al replied simply, taking another thin piece of metal and tapping it against the amethyst stone. "I remember a legend I found for this once that the type of stone in the middle would change depending on who handled it; ruby for a supernatural creature like a werewolf or vampire, sapphire for possessed creature, diamond for divine-influenced creature, obsidian for demonic-influenced creature, and of course if it was an amethyst then it was a creature with the power to shapeshift magically."

Even though the information was being presented to the elf his brain was refusing to process it. Flynn... a shapeshifter? That was impossible, he was an archivist for Gildeon, there's no way that he could have pretended to be an elf for all those years since his arrival without them figuring it out. Yet Al appeared adamant on his description of the rod, saying he would bet his shop on it.

Ryonir felt the entire world swirling around him, the shelves and glittering items on them turning to stars before his eyes as he started to stumble towards the door. He vaguely heard Samiel say something, turning his head around to see the werewolf grabbing the rod, the gem turning a brilliant red, before going over and grabbing him. The elf was fading fast though and before they could reach the stairs that led to the street he found the polished wood floor rushing up to meet him. Before his face hit the ground however he felt someone pulling him up, but the next second darkness rushed in as he passed out...

When the elf opened his eyes again he found himself in an increasingly familiar place, the cave lit by the sun outside as he saw the dread dragon Xarlix laying on his back. They weren't the only ones there either, Ryonir seeing a number of kobolds scurrying around and doing everything from sharpening his claws to polishing his scales. "Poor little elf," the dragon said with a chuckle, all the kobolds echoing him before he snapped the claws on his forepaws that caused them to stop. "Here you've been traveling with someone whom you didn't even know who they were, someone that you thought was your friend. Must be heartbreaking..."

"Like you would know anything about friends," Ryonir snapped back as he rubbed his arms, looking around the cave for some sort of clue that help him bring down the beast. "All you got are your devoted slaves."

"I prefer to call them devoted servants," Xarlix rumbled, turning on his side and motioning for those kobolds massaging him to get his newly exposed flanks before looking back at Ryonir. "You and I are more alike than you think little elf, both of us have been betrayed by someone that we thought was devoted to us." There was a deep sigh, Ryonir having to hold onto a nearby boulder not to get blown away by the force of it. "That's the thing about creatures like us, we think they're cozying up because they actually care about us, then they strike you down when you least expect it."

"I'm pretty sure we're nothing alike," Ryonir shot back. "I haven't destroyed the lives of thousands of people with the intent to do even more."

The elf jumped as the dragon laughed at that so hard it threatened to cause the rocks above to collapse. "That's just because you don't have the power to do so!" Xarlix shouted as he gave Ryonir a fanged grin. "Everyone thinks that if they were given such awesome abilities they would do the right thing, or the just thing, but in the end everyone only does the thing that benefits them the most... even those metallic dragons you think that are so good and righteous. All creatures who wield power like mine do so for selfish reasons... my kind merely don't hide it."

"Enough of this..." Ryonir said angrily as he stood up, gesturing around. "What's the point of all this Xarlix, what are you trying to prove here? What, that I shouldn't destroy you because in your sick, twisted mind you think that you're doing the world some sort of service? That killing you would somehow make the outside world a worse place because you couldn't get your fill of carnage and mayhem?"

"I couldn't have put it better myself," the dragon said with a wide smile as he rolled on his back, continuing to stare at him as the kobolds immediately started climbing on to rub his belly. "Perhaps I just enjoy torturing the dragon knight that is coming to kill me, showing you the very thing you desire the most but can't have. Maybe you're the one reaching out to me, trying to see what I'm all about for one reason or another. That I cannot tell you, but I can let you in on one secret..."

"Oh yeah?" the elf said with his arms crossed.

"Soon, this whole thing is going to be all over," Xarlix stated with a smug grin. "And when that time comes, when I finally unleash myself upon the world, you will already be dead and I will be standing in your place..."