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The Sins We Carry

Entry 7: Vainglory

From where we last left off, Solrent and Rex were sent to investigate a rumor about the next brother being located in the desert town west of them. Before heading there, they met with Smith, who gave them new weapons and armor for their travels. Smith also asked them to see if they can rescue his partner, Nino, since she too also was last seen going west. At the town, they witnessed a "pet" fighting arena, which Rex reluctantly participated in. There, they met the owner of the arena, Sapphy, and had to fight two battles in order to have an audience with him. With the help of one of the brothers, Rex was able to overcome his struggles and both him and Solrent were able to defeat Sapphy and rescue Nino. Despite the victory, Rex's mental state of mind is teetering on the edge of insanity. Now, with the last brother to face, will Rex's will be strong enough to withstand this enemy, or will he easily succumb to him.

A few days have passed since Solrent and Rex had their encounter with Sapphy. Faladiel granted the request for the two to take time off for them to regather their thoughts and composure. Up in their room, Rex was still visibly shaken while Solrent was doing his best to comfort him.

"So...how you feeling there buddy?"

"...Still not 100% Sol. I thought I would be better, but I'm still mentally scarred from all that occurred. And also, I know keeping that "gift" from Nino may remind me of some bad memories, I would rather keep it in our possession than to have it fall into the wrong hands."

Solrent gently kissed the top of Rex's head. "I see. Well, anything you would like me to do then?"

Rex looked up at Solrent, his eyes darting here and there. "...I think I just want to take a nap right now. Maybe just get my mind off of things. Perhaps this is a good chance for you to go see Athena as well while I rest."

Solrent gently nodded his head. "I would love to go see her, but I don't want to leave you alone either, in case something happens while I am gone."

"Sol, I doubt anyone would stampede their way to our room. The last brother is not daring enough to send himself or anyone else into the guild, with all of the adventurers here. I am sure Faladiel would do something about that as too."

Solrent smiled and rose from the bed, stretching a bit before heading towards the door. "True. I doubt even a messenger of his would show up. Would be pretty ballsy of him to do that. Anyway, I'll go meet with Athena, maybe she can give me some insight on some stuff."

"Thanks Sol. I'll catch ya in a bit." Rex returned under the covers and turned his head towards the wall, attempting his best to fall asleep.

Solrent left the guild and headed straight towards the church. There, he found Athena tending to the garden out front. He waved and shouted, her head turned and she waved back. She beckoned for Solrent to come inside with her to the church. Once inside, she brought out some tea for them to sip and they were able to catch up on everything that had occurred thus far, especially with the comments made by Sapphy.

"...I see, it sounds like Rex has some inner conflicts that are going on. For example, you told me that you had feelings for Rex and that when you encountered those sinful brothers, those feelings were amplified. Rex may be experiencing the same thing as you then Solrent."

Solrent cocked his head a little. "Mmm...I think I get it Athena. But, Rex's mentally is so weak right now. He's a bit damaged, and I feel like his personal willpower is on the edge right now."

Athena took a deep breath. "It is understandable. From all of your encounters, he looked to be the subject of everything. Starting with the first brother, you pretty much did something to him that he obviously did not like."

"Well, I didn't do it on purpose. I was controlled by him."

"That may be true, but then that led into the next encounter. You told him that you did have inner feelings for him and even though you were controlled, you may have enjoyed it. This caused Rex to storm out in anger, where that brother was feeding off of him."

"I guess, but we managed to defeat him and rescue Rex."

"Yea, well I am sure he enjoyed being rescued, but that's already two things he went through. And to quickly summarize the next encounters, he was critically hit by an arrow along with you endlessly shouting at him in your fit of jealousy. Then, he was about to be, ahem, molested by some tentacles in the cave. And now, most recently, he was forced to be a "pet" for other's entertainments, including you having to "claim" him."

Solrent began to sweat, stuttering his response. "I mean...yes...that is true...but...you see..."

Athena smiled and patted Solrent gently on the shoulder. "It's alright. It's not like you were the one causing those painful things to him...well except for two of those instances...but besides that, you were there for him to comfort him. And I know he appreciates that. And also..." Athena looks at Solrent, observing his entire body from head to toe, "...you look different. Did something happen recently with you?"

"Oh that. Well, you can say that I may have "evolved", in a sense."

"Evolved? How so?"

"Here, let me show you." Solrent calmly inhaled deeply, before exhaling, a bit of fire erupted in his mouth and a miniature flame was shot. Solrent then smacked his lips before smiling back at a surprised Athena.

"Hmm, I see. You must have gone through a revelation. I would assume that occurred after the encounter with the cave then?"

"Actually, you are right on the money with that logic."

"...I thought so." Athena beamed, a bit of pride swelling within her. "Like I said before, I was doing some research for you, especially with those thoughts and encounters you told me about. And I think it's due to a revelation you went through. The triggering of it must be related to the gemstones, especially when you got your third one. You see, I think these stones represent a personality between you and the sinful brothers. Now, I am not saying you are a sinner and should be punished, but we all have tendencies where our sins are with us, the fact that we have to carry these sins all the time."

Confused, Solrent shook his head. "I'm not getting it, Athena. What do you mean by that?"

"Ok, let me break it down for you. You see, you "evolved" because there are sins within you. Lust, Jealousy, and Envy, are a part of who you are. However, you did not let those feelings overtake your body, you instead understood the importance of them and overcame the trials and tribulations put forth in front of you. And as a reward, you "evolved", learning new abilities such as your fire breathing."

Solrent clapped his hands together. "Oh, I get it. So, you are saying that the three gemstones in my possession are like a key to unlock the hidden potential in me. That makes a lot of sense since I can breathe fire and also perform this really cool attack with my spear."

"You learned a new attack?"

"Yea, I read it in a book. It is called...Impale?"

"Ahh! That skill, the one bestowed to Holy Lancers."

Shocked, Solrent stumbled in his seat. "Wait, you know about that class?"

"Of course. Holy Lancers are one of the prestige classes a fighter can be. In my travels as a sister, I met other guardians of the churches and the one class that stood out to me was the Holy Lancer. They pretty much perfected the combat expertise of using a spear."

"That's actually pretty cool to learn."

"It is, and not everyone can be bestowed with this ability. Only a select few can attempt to master the spear. But I guess, you must be chosen as well. So, congratulations on that Solrent."

Solrent started to blush a little, not used to hearing all this praise. "Oh...thanks Athena. I truly mean it."

"Anytime Solrent. But anyway, back to Rex. I think he must be going through that as well. Let's see...he has in him, Wrath, Gluttony, and ... I assume it has to be either Sloth or Pride."

"Hmm...well, not to sound like a jerk, but both of those are potentials in him."

"Both are pretty bad. One embodies laziness and the other one embodies stubbornness. Regardless of which one Rex could be, I think he would need to overcome them on his own, to unlock his hidden potential."

"Ooo, I get it. Like his own trial as well. I cannot wait to-"

Athena quickly cut off Solrent. "Don't say anything to him. This is his trial that he has to overcome on his own. There could be repercussions for his "evolution" if he knows what to expect."

"But Athena..."

"I'm sorry, Solrent. I know you asked me to look this up for you and to tell you everything once I did find out. But now that you know, you have to try your best to keep it a secret from Rex as well, for his sake."

"I see..."

"I know Solrent, it will be tough, but I know you can do this. Because..." Athena squinted her eyes, paying close attention to Solrent's shoulders. She started to see three figures, mainly their heads and shoulders, appear behind him. The three, one being red, one green, and the last one light blue, smiled and nodded to Athena. The red one was the only one who looked like he was speaking, mouthing off words to Athena. Being the observant warpriest that she was, she ascertained that he said, Thank you. Keep it all a secret. We will ensure their safety, especially Rex. Athena blinked her eyes and then the figures were no longer there.

Solrent tilted his head in concern. "Umm...you ok there Athena? You stopped mid-sentence? Is there something behind me again?" Solrent turned around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Athena shook her head and chuckled a little. "It's all good. I must be very tired from my recent travels again. Can never get enough rest tending to the church and protecting my sisters. But anyway, as I was saying, because you have him as support, Rex can get through anything."

Solrent smiled a little. "Oh, ok Athena. Thanks, and I will ensure that I won't say anything to Rex about this."

"You are most welcome, Solrent. But anyway, I think I will go inside and take a nap. Being out in the sun all day can make one hallucinate and see things, heh."

"Alright Athena, I'll catch you later then." Solrent got up from his seat and bowed to Athena.

Athena returned the bow. "Mmhmm. Of course, always enjoy speaking with you." Athena then headed towards the inner sanctum of the church.

Solrent started his trek back to the guild. Along the way, he spoke with Smith, who informed him that he is still working on the spear. Solrent explained to Smith that the Wishblade is an amazing spear, and it feels very light in his grip. Smith chuckled, saying that the weapons will always choose the right master, and it looks like the weapon sees you as someone worthy. Nino chimed in, asking Solrent if he had learned anything new about that "item". Solrent shook his head and said that they are still working on it, but that Rex would need some time first. Smith looked at the two, wondering what was going on between them, but let it slide due to confidentiality between the client and the dealer. Solrent thanked them for their time, waved goodbye and finally headed back to the guild.

Upon entering the lobby, Solrent noticed a rather regally dressed Kobold speak with Faladiel.

"Ok sir, I will post a quest on the board for you, if that is what you want. But I cannot force any of my adventurers to do things. If any of them accept, I'll let you know."

The kobold tried his best to jump onto the counter, hanging over the edge with his arms. "But please, I need help now. Whatever it costs, can you please just find someone for me?"

Faladiel sighed heavily. "It does not work like that. You can offer up any reward you want to whoever takes it; I don't set the prices like that. Sure, it may encourage our guild members to take your quest, but you will have to be upfront with explaining everything to them. But, from what you have told me so far, it sounds alright. I'll try my best, so please, can you get off of my counter, you are making a scene."

The kobold dropped back down onto the floor, dusting himself off. He readjusted his attire, consisting of a rather extravagant robe. Underneath it from what Solrent could see, he saw the finest tunic and pants money could buy. It looked to be made of silk and he too noticed gold rings on two of his fingers. The scales of the kobold were a nice deep green, like that of the foliage surrounding the town. Solrent thought to himself, for a kobold, this guy looks to be well off. Solrent approached the counter, both the kobold and Faladiel turned their heads in his direction.

"Am I interrupting anything? I couldn't help overhearing but it sounded like you may need help there good sir."

"Oh, Solrent. Yes, this kobold is asking for some assistance from us. I told him that I will post the quest on the board, but I cannot force anyone to take it."

"I see, I'll take a listen to him then Faladiel, maybe it could be a nice break from everything that Rex and I have been through so far."

The kobold's ear twitched at the mention of the two names. "Oh yes, I am looking for some help in a matter." The kobold eyed Solrent up and down before jumping a bit for joy. "And you look to be the perfect adventurer for my cause."

Faladiel shook his head. "Well, sounds like you will discuss this with each other. I have other pressing matters to attend to. So please, if you want to continue this conversation, go ahead and take a seat in one of the benches. Oh and Solrent, you sure you want to do this so soon? I know it's been a few days since the last thing, but are you guys up to it?"

"We'll be alright. You know us, Rex and I always want to help anyone in need. But don't worry, we will still prepare for the last guardian. Just let us know if you find anything."

"No problem, I will." Faladiel bowed his head and returned back to his office.

Solrent looked back at the kobold, and led him to an empty table so that they could discuss more about the quest. As they were about to sit down, Solrent looked up and saw Rex emerge from the top. He waved to him and beckoned for him to come to the table. Rex nodded his head, but saw a new figure sitting across from Solrent. Rex tilted his head in a bit of confusion, but descended down the stairs and sat next to Solrent at the table.

"Hey there buddy, how are you feeling?"

"A bit better. That nap worked wonders for me, but I still feel a bit disheveled. And who's this new guy?" Rex pointed his finger at the kobold.

"Oh, this guy? I honestly just met him not too long ago. He and Faladiel were having a discussion and this dude needs some help. So I told him that we would hear him out and if it sounds good, we would consider taking on his quest.

The kobold got up from his seat and gave off a curtsy bow before returning to his seated position. "Oh, let me introduce myself first, my name is Sorobra."

Sorobra

Dragon Herald

Kobold

Sorobra looked up and down at Rex and smiled. "You also look perfect."

Confused, Rex asked, "Umm? Alright, what do you mean by perfect?"

"Oh, I apologize. I got a little excited when I saw you two, because I need adventurers and you two look to fit the bill. Anyway, I need help in rescuing my dragon queen since she is being held captive by some evil dragonewt. This dude also has my entire clan held prisoner as well."

Two key words struck across the minds of Solrent and Rex. "Ok, hold up there Sorobra. What do you mean by dragon patron?" Solrent looked over at Rex, who just shrugged his shoulders.

Sorobra cleared his throat. "My dragon queen is actually a full blown dragon. We worship her and she grants us our wishes and desires. As kobolds, we serve our queen to the best of our abilities. And lucky for me, I am her patron, able to speak her words and thoughts and relay it to those around us. We are a peaceful tribe, focusing more on the beauty of nature and the world around us."

Solrent and Rex nodded their heads, but they also knew a second word struck their mind. Rex spoke up and said, "You mentioned a dragonewt?"

"Oh, yes. So, out of nowhere, a dragonewt appeared and he seemed to have done something to our queen. We have not seen her since his arrival. And he told us that if we do not listen to him, we will never see our queen again. Lucky for me, I was not enslaved by him and escaped. Which led me here, I need some strong adventurers who can defeat this guy and rescue my queen. And of course, you will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts."

"Ok, give Rex and I some time to discuss this, if you don't mind Sorobra."

"Of course, I'll take my temporary leave and let you guys discuss this with each other." Sorobra rose from his seat and walked around the lobby, observing all the other adventurers who were still here.

Rex turned to Solrent with a concerned look. "You sure this guy is ok? His story made it sound like the dragonewt forced him to find us. And if it's who we think it is, it may spill bad news for us."

"I know Rex, but if this is the dragonewt we are looking for, then we will finally obtain the last gemstone needed to unlock the portal. Did you get any vibes or anything malicious from him?"

"Honestly, I did not. I muttered Zone of Truth under my breath as he was speaking to us and everything was truthful. And my insight is telling me that he is truly honest with us. His queen really is in danger and the dragonewt is holding her captive."

"Well, this is the break we are looking for. I know it's been a few days and Faladiel still has not come up with anything. We can kill two birds with one stone if we accept this quest. We get to help a person who needs it and eliminate a brother in the process. But...are you ready for it though?"

"I'll be fine Sol. I'll just take it easy. Hopefully no more mind tricks or shit like that. My mental sanity can only take so much."

"I hear ya buddy, I'll protect you at all costs." Solrent leaned over and hugged Rex, who reciprocated the feelings. Solrent then looked for Sorobra, who made eye contact with him. Solrent gestured for him to come back, which he quickly walked back to his seat.

Solrent looked to his partner, who nodded his head in agreement, before returning to look at Sorobra. "Ok, so Rex and I decided to help you out."

Sorobra got out of his seat and jumped up and down gleefully, pulling out his lute to play a song in celebration. Rex quickly looked over at Solrent and commented, "I swear, we are finding many like me. What is this now, the 4thbard we met?"

"If you count Rubrum, then yes. I guess we just enjoy having a part that wants to do everything revolving around music."

Sorobra stopped playing his song and sat back down, with a happy grin across his face. "Oh, thank you, thank you. I am so happy you guys are able to assist me in this matter."

"No problem. Rex and I are all about helping those in need. But if you don't mind, we need to head upstairs and pack our belongings. Have to prepare for this."

"Of course, of course. I'll speak to that Faladiel fellow of yours and inform him you two have accepted the request."

"Thanks, we appreciate that. At least he will know what supplies to give us then. Anyway, see you in a bit Sorobra." Solrent waved to Sorobra as he and Rex headed to their room upstairs.

As they gathered their belongings, stowing must needed potions and other magical items in their possession, Rex looked over at Solrent and asked, "So, learn anything new from Athena?"

Solrent shook slightly, fumbling a little bit with the potion he was putting away in his bag. "Umm, not really. Athena told me she has an idea of what it could be, but she did not fully explain to him what it was. You know, about what I went through and whatnot. She's pretty cryptic, just like Top is sometimes."

Rex slyly glanced at Solrent, a bit of mistrust in his eyes.

Solrent sighed. "If you want to insight me or cast zone of truth, I am not stopping you. There is no reason for you to be paranoid about this Rex. You know me by now, especially with all the adventures we had so far. I have no logical reason to hide anything from you, not now, not ever."

Rex shook his head. "I guess. That is true, we have traveled enough together to know not to lie. I think I am just on the edge these days. It's like I cannot trust anyone right now, especially with what happened to me with Sapphy. But I know Athena has good intentions, particularly if she is a holy sister. And you Sol, you have been with me through everything. I'm sorry for doubting you."

Solrent smiled and hugged Rex tightly. "All good buddy, but don't worry, once Athena does have an idea, I will be sure to let you know."

Rex smiled and hugged back, leaning his head into Solrent's chest and rubbing against it. Solrent returned the favor by gently caressing his back, giving a gentle kiss on the top of his forehead. After a few moments, the two fully packed what they needed to bring and arrived back downstairs. They saw Sorobra at the entrance of the guild and a bag of supplies on the counter. Solrent went over and grabbed onto the supplies before they were led by Sorobra outside the guild and into a secluded area behind the back.

"Ok, now if you do not mind, we all need to join hands together?"

Baffled, Solrent and Rex looked at each other. "Huh, why do we need to do that Sorobra?"

"Oh, this is one of my special abilities as a dragon herald Solrent."

"Dragon herald...I know you are a bard, but why are you specifically called a dragon herald?"

"Oh that, yes. I have received training at the beginning as a bard, but a dragon herald is a kobold bard specifically. My job is a messenger of peace and I relay the words of my dragon as her patron to the people around us. So, I don't have the typical performances that you yourself have as a bard Rex, but I have specific ones that only I know."

"That sounds cool, I knew there were different colleges out there, but I did not know about specific races having specific classes."

"That's right, but anyway, that story is for another time. We need to hold hands so I can cast a specific bardic performance

The three all reached out and held hands in a circle. Sorobra then started singing some tuneful words, lasting around a minute. In the meantime, the ground around them lit up brightly before they felt a force enwrap around their bodies. The moment Sorobra uttered his last word, their bodies disappeared from where they stood, teleporting to another location.

"...Sol..."

"..."

"..Sol get up..."

"..."

"Sol, get up!"

"...What!" Solrent opened his eyes. His body was on the ground as he lifted his head. He gently rubbed it, feeling a migraine kick in as he started to scan his surroundings. He saw a giant, regal castle in front of him, with both Sorobra and Rex to his sides. "What happened? Where are we?"

"This, my dear Solrent, is my queen's castle. Welcome to my home." Sorobra bowed and extended his hand to show off the castle.

Solrent's eyes widened, never seeing something so big and grandeur before. Rex stood next to him, admiring the home of Sorobra as well. "Dang, I know that we have never seen something like this before, right Rex?"

Rex's jaw was still dropped as he continued to stare at the castle in front of him. "That's right, this is the first castle we ever encountered. In all of our travels, we've mostly been in caves, but rarely do we get to see something magnificent like this."

Sorobra blushed at all the comments he heard. "Oh, thank you guys. Our queen inhabits this castle and so does my tribe and I. We do our best to upkeep it. Not many guests come to visit us, since it does take a bit of effort to find us, but anyone who does stumble upon it, we do leave them with our blessings. And blessings from our queen are no joke."

"I see, but how did you cast this spell? Even with all of my magic expertise, I have never seen this type of teleportation before."

"Well, you see, this is not actually a spell, but something within my class as a dragon herald. Just like how we bards sing with our performances to bolster our allies, I can expand some uses of my performances to teleport anyone willing back to my humble abode."

"Sorobra, that is so awesome. I am so envious of your abilities as a bard." Rex reached out with both of his hands and shook Sorobra's.

"Oh, no need to be envious. I am sure your expertise as a bard will grant you some unique stuff."

"Heh, nothing yet. I'm just your typical College of Eloquence Bard. I'm good with my words, but that is about it."

"And words are sometimes all you need. Anyway, if you don't mind me asking, how crafty are you with magic?"

"I know a good array of support spells. But my only real offensive spell is magic missile."

Sorobra brought his hand to his chin. "Well, that should be fine. I recommend you hand over all of your weapons to Solrent for safekeeping."

"Umm, why would I do that? That would leave me pretty defenseless." Rex looked at Sorobra with a concerned face.

"Just trust me on this one. Magic is the best thing we got, and I know you have a stronger potential when it comes to casting the arts than swinging a sword around."

"...Alright then...here Sol." Rex gave his rapier and his crossbow and arrows to Solrent.

Sorobra reached into his bag and pulled out a black hooded cloak. "Here, I recommend you put this on Solrent. It is one of our queen's wondrous items. It's called a cloak of invisibility. Now, normally it requires some time to attune to it, but our dragon's blessings allow any user in its possession to activate it instantly." Sorobra handed Solrent the cloak, who in turn put it on himself.

"Umm...thanks I guess? Why would you give me this rare item so easily, especially after we just met?"

"I told you guys to trust me, and I have to keep my end of the bargain too. And the reason why you Solrent need to put this on is because my clan isn't too fond of seeing new dragonewts right now, especially with the current one. I don't want them to see you, panic, and alert everyone in the keep."

"I guess that makes sense. But Sorobra, I'm not a dragonewt, I'm technically a dragonlord."

"Dragonlord?" asked Sorobra inquisitively.

"Long story, but I mean, I was a dragonewt before. Anyway, that's fine, I'll just tag along behind. Does this really make me completely invisible?"

"Yes, it does. Unless someone has true sight, no one can see you at all. Anything you carry on your person is also invisible, hence why I asked you to carry Rex's weapons. The only way you can otherwise get caught is if you start screaming or make so much noise that someone bumps into you."

"Gotcha, well, here I go." Solrent put the hood on his head, and in a matter of seconds, his whole bottle was completely visible. No more trace of him was there. "Well, did it work?"

Rex walked to where Solrent stood, reached out and touched him. "I say so, I can't see you at all, but I do feel you there Sol. This is a pretty cool item."

"It is, now let's not waste our time too much. The cloak only has about 2 hours of use before all of its magical property is drained. Stay close to me and follow my lead, everything will be fine." Sorobra led the way, with Rex to his side and Solrent following close behind.

As they approached the door, two kobold guards stood post. They both looked at Sorobra, who nodded his head. The guards then stood aside, opening the door for the three to walk in. As they passed, Sorobra quietly whispered to them, "I will do my best to rescue her. At all costs." The guards slyly nodded their heads, but otherwise maintained their composure, knowing everything about them is being watched.

Sorobra navigated through the castle. They quickly passed by the kitchen, the laundry room, some of the sleeping quarters and even a place for training. Eventually, they finally arrived at the grand room. Solrent and Rex saw a bunch of kobolds, presumably all belonging to Sorobra's clan. The one thing they all had in common though, was they were nothing but rags, completely different from Sorobra's attire. However, as they continued to walk in the room, they noticed a rather fancy throne situated at the top of the stairs. On the throne, stood a rather imposing figure. A purple dragonewt was sitting idly, naked in his attire save for a tunic on his chest. Below him, two kobolds were licking and tending to his soles, while another one was servicing his dick. As soon as the dragonewt saw the group, he grabbed the kobold tending to his dick and threw him aside. The two that were lapping at his soles were kicked as well as he rose from his seat and slowly descended down the stairs to greet the invisible Solrent, Rex, and Sorobra.

Sorobra addressed the imposing dragonewt as he stood in front of them, his arms crossed against his chest. "I have found what you were looking for, Mr. Tristan, the enemy that you seek."

Upon hearing that, Rex turned his head and gave a wide-eyed look over to Sorobra in disgust. The dragonewt clapped his hands together. "Excellent. It looks like you can actually do something other than just play music. Now, you over there, restrain this enemy of mine this instance." Four kobolds came rushing over to where Sorobra and Rex stood, getting some rope and tying up Rex so that he could not move freely. Surprised, Solrent grabbed his spear and was about to pull the cloak off of him before Sorobra looked in his direction and motioned with his hand to not do anything rash yet. Sorobra also looked at Rex, with his eyes telling him to follow his lead still and to trust him, but Rex could barely believe him.

"Well, let me introduce myself to you. The name is Tristan."

Tristan

Domain of Order Cleric

Dragonewt

"I've heard all about you, Rex. All of my brothers that you eliminated, especially Chubbs, warned me about who you are. And because I have not heard from him, I can only surmise that he has met his end. But it doesn't matter, that plan was already discussed and he did his job for me." Tristan looked down at Rex, smirking with his sly grin.

During the whole speech, Rex did not know what to feel. He was told that everything would be alright and to listen to this kobold he just met. He was informed to trust him, but now he felt like he was led into a trap. No way Rex can do this by himself. And what about Solrent, why has he not sprang into action yet. Rex started to cry, tears swelling in his eyes as he felt disheartened about the situation.

Tristan chuckled at seeing how weak Rex was. "Heh, this will be rather easy. But, ahem, where is the other one, Sorobra? Where is his partner, Solrent?"

Before he answered, Sorobra quickly cast, message to both Solrent and Rex, informing them that to still stick with his plan and trust him, even though this looks very bad right now. After that, Sorobra said, "I only found the dinosaur by himself out of town. I assumed his partner was still inside of the town."

Visibly annoyed, Tristan tapped his finger against his arms. "Then why did you not wait to get both of them then?"

"Well sir, who knows how long it would take for the other to show up, or if Rex decided to head back into town. I just thought this was the perfect chance to isolate him and get him to you."

Tristan shook his head. "I asked for BOTH of them, not just one. If you cannot keep your end of the bargain, then I guess you don't care enough about your queen."

Sorobra immediately ran to Tristan's feet, groveling and begging, lifting up his foot and kissing it. "Please sir, I am still doing my best to find him. Please don't do this to us."

Tristan reared back his leg and kicked Sorobra squarely on the chest, causing him to tumble across the floor. "Heh, well if you want your queen, then go find that other dragonewt."

Sorobra slowly rose from the floor, silently nodding his head and leaves. He quickly sent another message to Solrent, informing him to still trust him and to follow him from this room. He glanced back at Rex, who was still in shock about what just happened, before he left the room. Solrent looked down at his partner, softly whispering, "We'll come get you, don't you worry Rex. I'll find out what exactly is going on."

"...Please...help me..."

Tristan looked over at Rex's direction. "Heh, no one is going to help you, unless you expect a ghost out of thin air to come and save you."

Solrent nodded his head and silently ran over to Sorobra, following him out of the room.

Meanwhile, Tristan brought his hand to his chin, looking down at Rex, pondering on what to do next. Then, a thought struck across his mind. "Guards, rip apart all of his clothing. And I mean, ALL of it."

The guards nervously nodded their heads as they brought their claws and shredded all of Rex's clothes. Rex fought back as best as he could, but with his arms and legs being bound, there was nothing he could do. He was about to say some words, to cast a spell, but Tristan brought out his warhammer and held it above his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I know you are a bard and you have access to magic, but if I see any spell slip out of your lips, well, I hope you know one to clear up a bloody floor. Now, on your knees."

Despite the struggles, the guards forced Rex on his knees as he nervously looked up at Tristan. Instead of seeing that smirking face of his, he instead saw his foot hovering above him. Rex could see all the scales that covered his three clawed foot. The obsidian talons were so sharp, he believed it could easily puncture his own scales. The size of the foot itself was big enough to cover a good portion of his head. Before Rex could examine the foot in front of him, Tristan brought it down onto his head, forcing it onto the floor. Tristan then grinded Rex's head against the floor, feeling the pressure of Tristan's sole above him. After a few turns, the foot was lifted and dangled right in front of Rex's snout.

"Now, slut, service me."

Rex looked up, with scared eyes and shook his head.

"Tsk tsk, that is not how you should respond." He brought his foot back and kicked Rex across the face. "You are being a bit too prideful. Just submit to me already. It'll be much easier if you do. And besides, I bet you secretly love this. Love submitting yourself to others, just like you did with Sapphy. You just want someone else to dominate you. But yes, I asked you to serve me slut, and I won't ask nicely again."

Rex looked at the foot again, seeing Tristan splay his claws apart before he leaned forward and gently kissed the middle toe claw.

Tristan smiled, murring a bit softly. "There we go my footslut, now continue doing that, and use that tongue of yours."

Rex leaned forward a bit more, his tongue escaping his mouth as he slowly gave one lap up and down the entire foot of Tristan, getting all of that musky flavor in his mouth. Rex felt his gag reflex kick in, not used to the flavor or smell of another's foot. However, he continued to lap at the foot, getting in between the claws as he gave each of them a soft kiss.

Tristan chuckled to himself as he saw Rex get a little more eager with his service. "Heh, in due time, you will become my perfect footslut. Just you wait, I'll make sure my brother did not die in vain and all of his hard effort will be put to use."

Tears continued to flow down Rex's eyes as he kept lapping and servicing the foot in front of him.

Concurrently, Sorobra led Solrent to a secluded area in the castle keep. Once they arrived with not even a soul around them, he instructed Solrent to take off the cloak, so that it could slowly recharge its power.

Solrent unhooded the cloak, and his entire body started reappearing back into existence. He then crossed his arms and tapped his foot against the ground. "Sorobra, you better explain what the actual hell is going on here. I know you told us to trust you, but what just happened back there? You forced me to leave Rex by himself with one of the brothers. I swear, I just want to choke you right now."

Sorobra quickly fell to his knees, begging for forgiveness. "Please Solrent, I ask you to hear me out. I'll explain everything, just please, don't hurt me."

Solrent sighed, wanting to just stomp the kobold to death, but he chose not to. "At least tell me we are safe here."

"We are, no one knows about this place. Not the guards, or even Tristan or queen either. I kept this place as a safe haven for anyone to escape to."

"I see. But you better start your explanation. And if at any point I find something off, I'm going to kill you and rescue my Rex."

Sorobra took a big gulp in his throat. "Yes Solrent, please no need for violence. I will tell you everything. So, please take a seat." Sorobra brought over a wooden crate for both himself and Solrent to sit on before he started explaining his story.

"As I explained briefly, this castle belongs to my clan and my dragon queen. Before all of this happened, we lived happily with each other. Our queen protected us and in return, we worshipped her and serviced her. We had a mutual relationship of understanding. However, the dragonewt you saw earlier came out of nowhere and placed some sort of magical spell on her. Now, she won't wake up from her slumber. He also enslaved all of my brethren into his service and if we do not obey him, he will hurt our queen. That is why you see all of my clan dressed the way they are and forced to tend to his every whim."

Solrent crossed his legs, nodding his head. "Go ahead."

"And you see how I still dressed the way I am, it was because of my status amongst my brethren. I was spared from doing all of his "dirty" work and was instructed to go find both you and Rex. He told me that if we wanted our queen to be saved, we were to capture you at any cost. You see, I have heard about your exploits from Tristan communications with his other brothers that you have slain, and eventually I was able to pinpoint a location where you two would most likely be at. When I arrived at the town, I was going to trick both of you guys."

Solrent immediately got out of his seat and pointed his spear at Sorobra. "Wait a second...you were going to have us walk into our deaths?"

Sorobra took a deep breath before exhaling. "Honestly, yes, that was the original idea. But, after I saw you two, I realized that you would be able to defeat him instead. You guys successfully defeated all the brothers you have faced. Tristan was a bit nervous, but that guy has so much pride in him, he felt like he would not fall to you. But just in case, he wanted to capture and enslave the both of you."

Solrent retracted his spear and sat back down, his arms crossed. "Uh huh, so you originally thought to trick us, but then you realized that we can actually defeat Tristan instead?"

"Precisely. I don't want to see anyone else be enslaved by this evil dragonewt. He already has my queen under his control and my entire clan at his will. I took a risk and did it this way instead." Sorobra fell to the floor and bowed, slowly beginning to cry. *sniff* "I know I have hurt both you and Rex and you will probably not forgive me for what I have done. But this was the plan I came up with at the last second, the one where Tristan loses and everyone else is happy. I know you two need his gemstone, and I thought this was the best course of action."

Solrent looked down at Sorobra, a part of him wanted to just leave this kobold for dead. But, he knows Rex would not approve of this. They are adventurers and their goals are to always help those in need. He knelt to his knee and slowly reached out his hand. "I understand Sorobra. It is alright. I understand the deceit and why you did what you did. You are thinking of your queen and wanting to save her. That is understandable."

Sorobra saw Solrent's hand and reached out, slowly getting back on his feet. *sniff* "Really? You forgive me, Solrent?"

Solrent sighed heavily. "Yes, I forgive you. But now we need to rescue Rex. I would assume you have a plan for that?"

Sorobra nodded his head. "Honestly, I did not think I would get this far. But I know we can come up with something. But I am a bit scared for your partner though. If I know Tristan, he will try and break Rex's will and pride. He will try to force him into being a slut."

Solrent shook a little, a bit scared at those thoughts. "I see...well, I know my partner is not doing so well in the mental health department right now, but he is strong willed. I am sure he should be able to handle himself. He is the smarter one between us after all."

"I am glad you have a lot of faith in your partner Solrent. But yes, we need to come up with a plan on how to approach this."

"For now, let's just lie low for one day. We don't want to stir up the pot too soon with him. Maybe Tristan will get complacent tomorrow and then we can defeat him. I want to check in on Rex, but obviously, I cannot use the cloak for too long and it would be way too suspicious for you to constantly be around him when you are out looking for me."

"Of course, that is true. Well, I know a spell that will help hide us and give us the most comfort we can to rest."

Solrent tilted his head. "Wait a second, don't tell me you also know that one camping spell. That mansion one?"

Surprised, Sorobra smiled. "Oh? You mean Magnificent Mansion. Well of course. What spellcaster who can learn the spell not actually go out to learn it. You would make any party happy with that spell."

"Heh, I know Rex has been desperately trying to learn that spell."

"Hmm, well, after all this is done. I'll see if I can teach it to him, if he has the proper experience of course. But for now, let's just call it a day." Sorobra stood back and cast, Magnificent Mansion. An almost invisible portal was created before the two of them. "Come Solrent, we will discuss a little bit more about what to do tomorrow in the safety of my mansion."

"Alright, go ahead and lead the way."

Solrent and Sorobra entered the latter's mansion, hopefully to come up with a plan to rescue Rex.

Meanwhile, Rex continued to service the feet in front of him. He lapped at the sole, dragging his tongue from the heel all the way to the claws. When he got to the claws, he sucked on each one individually, taking in all of the strong, musky flavor that Tristan had to offer. He felt the claws tap against his tongue, feeling how sharp they easily were. If Tristan wanted to, he could easily draw blood within Rex's mouth.

"Heh, it ain't so bad right? You'll get used to it real soon."

Rex looked up at Tristan, the soul in his eyes fading as he just focused on nothing more than the foot in front of him. After some time, Tristan pulled his foot off of Rex, only saliva connecting the two together. He then reached down and grabbed Rex's head, guiding it to his cock. Rex's eyes widened at seeing how big Tristan's cock was. It stood about 8 inches long, but the girth of it was pretty wide. Pre formed at the tip as a bit spewed onto Rex's face.

"Now, you need to take care of this. You interrupted me earlier, but I believe that was for the best. I will make sure you love my seed and crave for it and don't even think about biting, unless you want to know what having no teeth is like. Also, when I find your partner Solrent, I'll be sure to slowly torture him in front of your eyes."

Rex slowly nodded his head, before engulfing the cock. He sucked as hard as he could, dragging his tongue all around the head and the shaft. The member in him tasted vile, almost to the point of Rex wanting to gag himself again. For a person who embodies pride, he must not really hygienically take care of himself. However, Rex, with whatever brain power he had left, knew he better not displease this villain or else he will eternally suffer. He teased the tip of the cock with his tongue, drawing circles and playing with the head. As a reward, he felt more pre shoot into his maw. He hesitantly swallowed it, feeling the liquid slowly slither down his throat. _I just have to imagine this is Solrent...Where are you...Please...rescue me..._Rex then felt something in the back of his head as he was forced to deepthroat the dick, feeling it hit the back of his throat and causing him to tear more.

Tristan looked down and chuckled to himself. "I thought you would be used to this by now. I know you sucked off your partner multiple times, so this should be easy for you. Even if it's not, I am sure I can easily train you. So, just keep sucking and soon, you'll be rewarded with my delicious milk."

Rex closed his eyes, focusing all of his energy on just sucking off the cock in his mouth. He moaned loudly, feeling the cock slowly pulse in his mouth, shooting more pre into his maw.

All of a sudden, he felt some strong pressure in his groin as a wave of pleasure flowed through him. He felt something sharp and rough tend to his cock as he eyes shot open to see a smirking Tristan staring at him.

"Normally, I would not even do this for anyone, but I know you are special. To really show you I mean no harm, just enjoy this other gift of mine. I bet you didn't even realize you had a strong foot fetish didn't you. You just want to have strong feet like mine just step all over you, to tend to your tiny cock, to service and lap at delicious soles. Just admit it, you know it's true."

Rex wanted to shake his head, to stop sucking on the cock in front of him and tell this evil dragon he is wrong. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs that he is completely wrong and he will never succumb to this pride hurting ordeal. The cock in his mouth, he wanted to bite down so hard, Tristan would wish he was dead. Yet, a small part of him paused to do anything. No, this guy is completely wrong. I can't see myself as a lesser person. I don't have a foot fetish...Not like I ever fell for Solrent's...But then again, Solrent does have really nice feet...

Before Rex could continue his thinking, he bellowed out another moan as Tristan expertly rubbed his feet along his shaft, using two of his claws to grab onto his head and pumping up and down. His cock continued to spew more pre onto Tristan's foot, and Rex's body instinctively started thrusting against it.

Tristan smiled, moaning a bit himself as Rex's skillful mouth serviced his cock so tenderly. "Mmm, see I was right. You do have a foot fetish in you. And you have the perfect pair in front of you. These will be the only ones you see for the rest of your life, so why not continue to practice with mine until it becomes second nature for you to service them."

The life in Rex's eyes was flickering, his will and soul teetering on the edge of stability as the only goal in his mind was to consume the milk from the cock in front of him. Rex bobbed his head, sucking harder and faster to get the milk into him. All of his focus was just on the milk, just wanting to taste it and finish his task. Rex did not have to think too much as he felt one last pulse in his mouth, combined with a loud groan from above. The throbbing feeling hit him hard as something thicker than pre he had been swallowing went straight down his throat. Tristan kept him in place, the hand behind his head keeping him still so he could swallow everything he was given with gusto. Simultaneously, Rex groaned loudly, cumming hard and painting Tristan's purple foot white with his seed. The last bit of his will he had in him disappeared, along with any thoughts of self-awareness he had in him. After a few pulses and gulps down his throat, Tristan pulled Rex from his cock, the last shot painting his face. Rex started to cough up the cum, catching his breath before Tristan brought up his cum covered foot and pushed him onto his back. He dangled the foot in front of Rex's eyes, cum dripping onto Rex's maw as his tongue subconsciously escaped his mouth to lick at it. Tristan laughed triumphantly as he saw the blank stare in Rex's eyes.

"Good, now clean this up. You sure made quite a mess my little slut."

Rex leaned his head forward, servicing the foot again, using his tongue to lap all of his own cum off of Tristan's foot.

As Rex serviced his foot, Tristan softly whispered to Rex and said, "There there, give all of your pride, your spirit to me. You don't need it anymore. You are mine now and soon, when I eliminate your partner, the only thing that matters in your life is seeing me as your master."

*********************************

A royally dressed green kobold followed by an orange dragonlord stepped out of a rift in space. The two looked at their surroundings, seeing their place undisturbed before speaking to each other.

"Well, you were right about this Sorobra, no one really knows about this place."

"Of course not Solrent, no one would bother going in this direction. This area of the keep is so secluded, and when this castle was built, only I knew about this place."

"I see, but back to our objective for today, what is the plan?"

"Well, I'm going to assume the worst. Because if it was the easiest, you could easily overpower Tristan with the help of Rex. My job would be to ensure none of my brethren interfere."

"Makes sense, but let's assume the worst, because I'd rather be prepared for that if possible."

"Worst case is that Tristan may have done something to Rex. Either put him out of commission or be forced to fight us."

"Hmm...that would be problematic, but I doubt Rex can be controlled to fight against us, especially me. And besides, I don't want to brag or anything, but I can easily force Rex into submission."

Sorobra looked at Solrent with a puzzled look. "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Oh no, it's not like that kind of submission. No, not that. I meant to say, I can easily subdue Rex and ensure he won't harm us if he was turned against us. His magic might be a pain, but other than that, we should be fine."

"Uh huh...if you say so. Anyway, if we assume Rex is out of the picture, it will be a tough battle for you to fight him one vs one. I am sure I will be out of the picture trying to keep my clan from interfering. But if I know Tristan, he draws his strength from his power over others, especially when he is able to drain you of your pride."

Upon hearing that last statement, Solrent's eyes showed concern. "Oh...wait a second...that's not good."

"Umm...would you like to elaborate on that?"

"I mean, if what you said is true, then I feel like we could be in trouble. If this is anything like the other brothers we have encountered, then I am afraid he would be more powerful then I anticipate. Like how I briefly told you in your mansion last night, all of the brothers we have faced were influenced by our inner sins. For me, Lust, Envy, and Greed were fed off of me."

"I see, well, how much pride does Rex have?"

"I don't know, but I assume it would be enough for Tristan to satiate himself with. Rex is rather prideful, not really letting me do some stuff to him that one would question demeaning. But besides that point, I am scared for Rex now."

"Then we better hurry, we don't have much time to lose. The more Rex is in Tristan's presence, the higher chances that all of his pride will be depleted, possibly leaving him an empty shell that Tristan would shape for his desire."

Solrent and Sorobra quickly packed up their belongings, with Solrent putting on the hood of the cloak to turn himself invisible. Then, they made haste to the throne room. When they arrived, both were shocked to see a sight that not even Solrent would believe.

Rex was on his knees, in between Tristan's legs as he lapped at the cock presented in front of him. He then placed the cock deep in his maw, a slight bulge forming at his throat as he sucked with vigor, eliciting moans from the dragonewt above. Solrent shook underneath his cloak, making a bit too much noise for Sorobra's comfort. Before anyone else paid attention, Sorobra spoke up and addressed Tristan.

"Ahem, Tristan."

Tristan looked down from the stairs above, seeing the small kobold speak to him. "Ahh, looks like the dragon patron has returned, but I don't see an orange dragonewt standing next to you, and I don't mean my brother Spaz."

"Well, you see, I am still trying to locate him. He's a bit elusive, but I am honestly trying my best."

Tristan crossed his arms in annoyance. "Your best ain't good enough. I demand that dragonewt to be captured now...mmm...whoa there, I know it's only been one day, but you seem rather eager for this all of a sudden." Tristan looked down at Rex, as he started to bob his head up and down, his tongue dancing and teasing the cock's head in his maw.

Solrent wanted to scream and stab the evil dragon, but Sorobra intervened. "Umm, is that Rex?"

"Oh? This guy, you mean my new slut? Yes, it is him. He came around faster than I expected. Well, with all the stuff I had my brothers put him through, to weaken his will and mind, his pride was so shattered, it was easy to break it. And now, this is the result of my power, he is now my willing slut. So, at least it gives all your brethren a break from me, because all I need is this guy to serve me to the end of eternity."

"But...but...that's just wrong!"

"Heh, who are you to tell me what's wrong? I didn't ask you to be my advisor. Your job is to capture his partner, Solrent. I'm not going to break him like I did with this one here, he's going to be broken in a more torturous manner." Tristan looked at Rex, who looked back at him, the soulless gaze reflected in his eyes. "Heh, now, let's see how much you have learned in a night, my slut." Tristan slowly picked up Rex's body and positioned his tailhole right on top of his cock. "Just take a deep breath and...UGH!" Tristan slammed Rex straight onto his cock, all eight inches of himself deep within Rex's tail, hilting him all the way. "Ooo, that was a lot easier than last night. I have outdone myself." Rex then started to lift himself up and down off of the member, riding it like his life depended on it.

Solrent shook some more in his position, becoming more and more angry with what Tristan had done to Rex. He placed his hand on the edge of the cloak, feeling the need to reveal himself, but Sorobra quickly stepped in front of him and said, "Why are you subjecting Rex to this? You already captured him, you don't need to do anything this vile to him!"

Tristan snapped at Sorobra. "I told you, you are not my fucking advisor!" Tristan looked at Rex and nodded his head, resulting in Rex riding the cock in him with a quicker pace, moaning and murring as his prostate was constantly being pressed, his own cock spewing and pulsing pre all over the ground in front of them. "Mmm...there we go, just like I taught you. Ride that faster and faster, feel every part of me in you, you fucking slut. And soon, I'll reward you again with my delicious milk. But, ahem." Tristan stared back at Sorobra. "I can do what I want. You don't own me, you little bastard. Whatever I do to my slut, is none of your concern. My brother could not subdue him fully, but at least he did enough for me to overpower Rex's mind. I am here to finish the job all five of my other brothers started. Now, if you want your queen back, then you will do what I say. Or would you rather never let your queen wake up from her eternal slumber?

Sorobra bit his tongue. "Why you! You told me to just capture them. I captured one of them, and I am working on the other. But I did not expect you to be this evil and force them to be like this to you. This is just completely wrong, on all accounts."

Tristan smirked, moaning loudly, feeling his cock pulse a bit more, almost on the edge. "Heh, you have grown a spine, I see. You are not like your other clan members are you. I like that about you, you have a bit of pride within yourself, even though you grovel and beg."

"Grr..."

"Now you're going to just growl at me. How cute. Anyway, I think my slut finally gets his reward." Tristan gripped Rex's side as he continued to bounce up and down on the dick inside of him. After a few seconds, Rex sat down one last time on the cock, Tristan holding him in place as he moaned loudly through the room, echoing down the halls as he unloaded all of his milk straight into Rex's bowels. Shot after shot of his milky substance filled Rex completely, a slight girth in his stomach was formed as Rex's own cock shot a few ropes of his cum onto the floor as well. Rex leaned his back on Tristan's stomach, panting as he sat there in his afterglow, his eyes still glazed. Tristan panted as well, rubbing Rex's head gently for the good job his slut did. "Mmm, that was quite a ride. Way better than last night, if I say so myself. And, for being such a good slut, I'll reward you with my feet again, doesn't that sound nice my slut?"

Rex nodded his head as he slowly got off of Tristan, the cock dislodging himself from his rear as oozing amounts of cum slowly seeped out of that tailhole. Rex then fell to the floor on his knees as Tristan propped up his foot. Rex leaned forward and began kissing at the claws, giving them each a suckle before he lapped at the sole and pressing it against his face.

Tristan laughed and smirked. "You see there Sorobra, I don't really need any more of your brethren to service me. This slut is the complete package. So willing and easy to control. No one can stop me now!"

With full fury in his eyes and being unable to contain himself, Solrent grabbed onto the cloak and threw it off of himself. There was a murmur of sounds throughout the room, everyone in a bit of a surprise save for Sorobra. Tristan was taken aback, but a smile formed across his face as he addressed the two.

"Well, I guess you can do something right after all you useless kobold. Guards! Apprehend that dragonewt over there." The kobold guards started to hone in on Solrent, drawing up their weapons towards him.

Sorobra stepped in and brought out his arms. "Everyone, back off. We don't have to listen to this evil dragonewt anymore. We will win this fight. Trust me."

The guards hesitated to move, not wanting to hurt their dragon patron. Tristan scoffed at Sorobra. "Ha! You dare defy me you incompetent fool. If you guards don't get him now, I'll personally inflict pain on your queen and ensure she never wakes up."

All the guards looked at each other and nodded their heads, a bit of tears and fear across their faces as they started to charge at Solrent and Sorobra. Sorobra reached into his person and pulled out his lute. He started to dance and sing, playing a soft melody with his lute as he used his bardic performance to display mass suggestion. As a result, all of the guards in the room dropped their weapons onto the ground as they were lulled into sleep. Solrent and Tristan were amazed at the power that Sorobra actually had within him.

"Solrent, I cannot support you more than what I have here. It is up to you to fight Tristan. I have to keep this performance going or else all of my brethren will wake up. You got this, I trust you completely in defeating this guy and saving my clan."

Solrent nodded his head while Tristan gave off a maniacal laugh. Tristan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "It's been a while since I was in a serious fight. I feel empowered after all of the energy your partner has given me. And now with that, I don't need him anymore right now." Tristan kicked Rex's body aside, sending him tumbling down the stairs, a few yards away from the both of them. Rex just laid there, as his emotionless body showed no sign of life.

Rage started to fill in Solrent's eyes. "Why you! I'll make you pay for that." Solrent reared back before charging forward, his spear pointing right at Tristan's chest.

Tristan took a defensive stance, his Warhammer raised in the air as his shield was propped in front of him. "Come at me, show me what you got!"

Solrent thrusted his spear, but Tristan easily deflected it with his shield. This threw Solrent a bit off balance, allowing Tristan to bring up his warhammer and strike at Solrent's side, connecting with his armor. The clanging of the metal echoed throughout the room, and Solrent jumped back a little, clutching at his side. A dent of the head of the warhammer appeared on his armor, but luckily nothing more than just pain for him. Solrent shook it off before blitzing in again with his spear. Tristan parried it once more with his shield, but Solrent saw this opportunity and leaned in with his shoulder to charge at him. Tristan did not expect this and he felt a huge blow to his chest as Solrent crashed into him. Tristan brought out his hammer to swing at Solrent, but he jumped away at the last second, using his wings to create some distance between the two.

"Heh, you sure know how to fight. But I am nothing like my other brothers. You may have fought with all of them, but I am nothing compared to them." Tristan cracked his neck and prepared an offensive stance.

Solrent panted a bit. "Must be proud to think of yourself as all high and mighty. I will admit that you may be a bit stronger than the others, but I fought and defeated all of them already. Even though Spessart was a tough one with his strength or Emmerette with his deftness, I know I can defeat you as well."

"That's a boat load of confidence you have there as well. But at least I can back up mine."

"Well, I know I can. And if this is all you can do, swing your little hammer here and there, then I know I can win."

"Oh? You thought I was being serious? Well, I guess playtime is over then." Tristan brings his hammer up above his head before striking at the ground in front of him. All of a sudden, an overwhelming aura enveloped Tristan. The energy was so strong, it pushed against Solrent and caused Sorobra to stumble in his performance. Luckily, Sorobra was able to maintain his performance and continue his song and dance. "Mmm, I do have to thank your partner Rex for this. He had so much prideful energy in him, he really gave me all the strength I needed to defeat you. I was hoping to not use this and save it for later, but I can always get more from him." Right as he said the last word, Tristan quickly dashed at Solrent preparing his warhammer to swing at Solrent's head.

Solrent's eyes widened, not seeing how fast Tristan actually was. Right when he was able to see Tristan in front of him, he saw the warhammer swing to his right, aiming straight for his temple. Thankfully, Solrent managed to bend backwards, the swing missing him as the head of the warhammer almost caught his snout. Solrent quickly backflipped and took a defensive stance. "Whoa, what the hell."

Tristan brought the warhammer and tapped it on his shoulder. "Heh, I thought I would get you with that one. I may have underestimated how fast you really are. Does not matter, you will eventually fall."

The two continued to clash, the clinking of the metal continued to reverberate. No matter how much Solrent tried to be on the offensive, he was forced to parry all of Tristan's quick attacks. And when he was able to thrust his spear into him, he brought up his shield to block the attacks. Realizing this, Solrent inhaled deeply, feeling that burning sensation within him. Upon seeing this, Tristan immediately brought up his shield as Solrent released a gigantic blast of fire from his maw. The flames hit the shield, with Tristan bracing himself for as long as he could. Solrent tried to maintain the fire, but being new to this ability, he was only able to hold it for a few seconds. Eventually, the fire dissipated, but not before singeing a bit of his armor.

"Hmm, I heard about this from Zenny and Chubbs. Didn't believe them at first, but now I get to see firsthand that you can breathe fire."

Solrent gasped for air, breathing heavily. "Heh, yea, that is something I can do."

Tristan smirked, banging his warhammer against his shield. "But that won't matter, I can tell that you are not used to doing that and it does take quite a bit out of you. At least with my energy, I have a source for that." Tristan pointed at Rex.

Solrent's eyes slanted in anger. "You leave him alone!"

"Tsk tsk, then why don't you come here and "save" him?"

"Why you!" Solrent charged again at Solrent, dropping his shoulders as he put all of his energy into his spear. Tristan swung his warhammer and it clashed against the Wishblade. They both continued to swing their weapons at each other, no one on either side relenting on the assault. Sorobra continued his performance while watching in awe as the two combatants kept at it. Neither side wanted to give in to the other. Though, the battle of attrition would not be in Solrent's favor as using the fireblast earlier did take a toll on his body.

Solrent panted a bit more, sweat dripping down his face. "Heh, you are a good fighter, I have to agree with that."

Tristan smirked, leaning a bit on his warhammer. "Well of course. I am the oldest of all my brothers. So I know a thing or two about fighting. And being the oldest, I also have to learn to fight on my own, which is why I am the best," Tristan gloated.

Solrent shook his head. "And that is why you will lose. At least I fight with my partner and my friends. We can accomplish anything together. Isn't that right, Rex? Rex?? Rex!!!"

Tristan looked over at Rex, who continued to lay motionless on the floor. "He's not going to help you, no matter how much you call to him. He already lost all of his will to fight."

Solrent gritted his teeth, biting down hard. "No! He is there. He knows how much he means to me and vice versa. He knows that I'd do anything to protect him, anything to ensure his safety."

"Oh? Then where were you then? Where were you when your partner was left alone? Where were you when he was captured by that so-called "friend" of yours back there dancing and acting like a fool?"

"Grr...You don't know anything. You don't know anything about either of us."

"I am sure I know enough. That you would abandon your partner in his time of need."

"NO! You are wrong." Tears started to form in his eyes as he looked over at Rex. "Rex, I'm sorry for not being there for you. I'm sorry for not always being there to protect you. All those times we had together, I let certain parts of me get the better of me. My lust clouded my judgement, the same with my greed and envy. You know I honestly love you. And not just a friendly love, I mean it fully. I want to live a happy life with you after this. A life where we can settle and just enjoy each other's company in a more intimate way." Rex's body continued to lay motionless, as if what Solrent said fell on deaf ears.

Tristan gave off a slow clap with his hands. "Aww, that is truly touching. But you are just wasting your breath on him. He belongs to me now. He lost his will, his pride, everything that made him who he is. He submitted to me, and now, I will make him the perfect slut once I am through with you. But..." Tristan dashed quickly to Solrent, catching him off guard. "...I'll give you one last moment to be with your so called lover." Tristan brought back his leg and kicked Solrent's chest with such force, blowing him over next to Rex's body.

Solrent felt an immense amount of pain in his belly as he coughed up a little blood. He laid next to his partner, staring at his eyes. No matter how much he wept, to get Rex to react, there were no signs of life in his eyes, nothing more than an empty void.

Tristan slowly made his way to the duo. He looked over at Sorobra and said, "You, when I am done with him, you are next, you hear me!?!"

A bit frightened, Sorobra maintained his composure and his performance. "Do not lose hope Solrent and Rex. I know you two will be able to defeat this monster and rescue my people and my dragon."

Tristan chuckled and continued his movement towards Solrent, twirling his hammer in his hand.

Solrent panicked a bit, seeing Tristan slowly inched his way to them. He tried to rise from his prone position, but his legs would not move, not even an inch. Solrent laid helplessly there, as he mustered all of his strength to reach out and hold onto Rex's hand. "I'm truly sorry Rex. I should have been there and not let you go through this. I need you more than ever now. Please, come back to me. Please...Please...Please..." Tears continued to pour down Solrent's face, but Rex's voidless eyes showed no emotional response.

Tristan stood right at their feet. His imposing figure looked menacing from below. "How touching. I'll be sure to let my slut now how you feel, but too bad he won't care. The only thing that will be in his mind, is servicing me. He will be my perfect slut that I will create, tending to all my needs. But first, let give you a taste of what he experienced." Tristan brought his huge foot right on top of Solrent's head before slamming it down, causing Solrent to cough up more blood from his maw. "Heh, you have a pretty hard skull, I expected it would cave in from that. Better news for me, since I can have a little more fun with this." Tristan raised his foot again, before stomping it hard against Solrent again. He repeated this numerous times, Solrent screaming in pain with each press. After about seven stomps, Tristan pressed hard against Solrent's skull, grinding it to the ground. "And this is where you all belong, right underneath my foot. The only reason any of you should live is to service me. You are nothing more than lesser beings in life, nothing more than sluts and slaves. You will never amount to anything, except being a carpet for me to drag and clean my feet with."

Solrent continued to wept, a mixture of blood and tears formed below his head. He wanted to say something, but even his voice escaped him.

"Tsk, can't even muster enough strength to say anything. Where was that tough guy talking earlier, hmm? All I see is a dragonewt that knows his place in the world now, below my feet. Anyway..." Tristan brought his foot off of Solrent's head, admiring the work he had done. Time's up, and now you will die." He brought his warhammer with both of his hands up above his head, then brought it down, aiming straight for Solrent's head.

********************************

Rex was crying, sobbing all over the floor as he felt completely hopeless and broken. He felt anger at the predicament that he was put in, but most importantly, his pride felt tarnished. He was hungry to get it back, but his lethargy made it impossible to do anything. As he continued to wallow in his own void, a voice ran out to him. Rex momentarily stopped his crying to look around, but found no one. Depression started to seep into his mind, as he curled back into a ball, just wanting to be left alone. The voice came back, but this time, Rex felt someone touch him. Rex slowly opened one of his eyes and looked up. The sight he saw amazed him as none other than Top stood there, smiling down at him. Top reached out his hand, which Rex slowly grabbed before he was helped back onto his feet.

"Nice to see you again there Rex. Not the best place to catch you, but I know this is the only chance I got."

"...Hey there Top, it is nice to see you, but what are you doing here? And, where am I exactly? I don't remember being here. I swore I was with your brother Tristan not too long ago..."

"Yea, there is a lot going on. But let me see how I can explain this easily. You are correct, your body is with King right now, but I pulled your soul here since I knew you were in danger and could use a little bit of help. Right now, back in reality, King is about to mortally wound Solrent in front of your eyes."

Anger started to fuel Rex's body as he started to yell at Top. "Send me back now Top! I need to help Solrent! I can't let him die for me!

Top shook his head. "I understand what you want to do Rex, but that is not the smartest thing to do right now. I pulled your soul aside to talk to you and prepare for the fight, not give you a moment of reprieve to give me your last thoughts."

"Then what can I do to prepare myself? There has to be something. Ugh! I'm just so useless since all I can do is support Solrent. I can barely take care of myself, let alone anyone else."

"And that is why I am here. Now, I know you had some conversations with Solrent about what he went through and every time, he was aloof with giving out information."

Rex calmed down for a bit, slowly nodding his head. "Uh huh, yea, I know about that. Why do you mention it now?"

"Well, that was all my idea. I did not want anyone to tell you anything because this is important for your evolution?"

Confused, Rex asked, "Evolution? What?"

"Yes, you heard me right, evolution. This is what Solrent went through and why he is able to breathe fire now. It is the same for you. I had all my brothers tell Solrent to keep the idea of evolution as a secret. Hell, I even had them briefly meet with Athena to inform her to keep it a secret too."

"Wait, you guys were able to meet with someone as holy as Athena?"

"It's a long story, but due to how spiritual and holy Athena is, she was able to see all of us to an extent. But this is not about her right now, we are here to focus on you Rex."

"Ok, fine. But I am still confused by evolution. You mean something within me has to change?"

"Yes, that is right. I guess you can call it more of a promotion than an actual evolution. Maybe more similar to a class change, just like how Solrent is now a Holy Lancer and Dragonlord. You have a hidden potential within, and it can only be unlocked when you accept the personalities and emotions of who you are. And...here they are to come explain a bit more about that." Coming up behind Top, two figures appeared, an orange dragonewt and a deep blue dragonewt, but with smiles across their faces.

The orange dragonewt quickly grabbed onto Rex, hugged him tightly before lifting him up on his shoulder. "Hey there my little Rex, how have you been?"

Rex held onto Spessart's neck, balancing himself on the brute's shoulder. "Spessart, wait a second, what are you doing here?"

"We are here to help you out. Top told us you were in deep trouble, and after what I saw what King had done to you, I jumped on the chance I would get to see you again. And...though I still have my personal feelings about it, even Chubbs here is going to help you."

Sapphy waved to Rex, bowing in apology. "I'm sorry about our last encounter, Rex. I'm sorry for setting you up for King and the evil stuff he had done to you. I did not know, but now that I spoke with Top, you have my full support."

"Huh, I mean, I accept your apology, but this is a bit overwhelming for me. Top, please help."

Top snickered. "Don't worry. They are not here to harm you in any way. They are here to support you, especially Spaz. He really has taken a liking to you Rex. You won't believe the amount of stress he put me through every time he intervened to help you.

Rex was taken aback, but pondered on those words. "Wait, you mean that time with Emmerette, Zain, and Sapphy?"

Spaz bounced Rex on his shoulder. "Yep, that was me. I helped you a few times in those instances, to ensure not only no harm to you, but also your victory as well. I did, however, get a bit of a talking to with Top here. He did not want me to hinder your evolutionary process, but I think everything is still on track, right?"

"Yes Spaz, that is correct. You see Rex, in all the instances you defeated my brothers, I reached out to their souls. In exchange for saving them, they agreed to assist me in the future. And that future is now, the future of your promotional change and defeating our dad. But, they do not have an actual "body", since you all saw them disintegrate in the real world. Still, they can freely roam in my astral plane or when I pull you aside. And sometimes, I let them borrow my power to come into the real world, but only for a rather brief amount of time."

Rex looked down at Spessart and over at Sapphy, who both nodded their heads. "Ok, that explains some stuff, but this is still a lot to take in right now."

"It's alright Rex, I know it is. But we don't have much time. I can only pause time for so long before my brother realizes what is going on. Ahem. Like I said before, you must accept the emotions inside of you and learn to control them. Hence why Spaz and Chubbs are here. You know Spaz represents the fury in you while Chubbs is the voracity in you. These are two emotions you have to fully accept and synchronize with in order to start your evolution. And the last emotion, your vainglory, your pride, that is the final piece of the puzzle."

"But how do I accept it? I don't understand what you mean by that."

"I'll let my brothers explain their emotions first, and I'll bring it back to King's. So, go ahead, Spaz."

Spaz placed Rex back on the ground and put both of his big arms on Rex's shoulders. "Mine is the easy one Rex. It is fine to have anger, but don't let it consume your thoughts. You may not realize it, but sometimes your words do have an effect on others, especially to Solrent. He is a rather nice guy and doesn't tell you, since he wants what is best for you, but you have to keep it under control. I know it's funny, coming from the guy who is the embodiment of wrath, but just trust me on this and things will work out for the better."

"I understand Spessart. Thanks for letting me know. I'll be sure to keep that in check."

Spaz beamed heavily, hugging and lifting Rex into the air and moving in circles. He then placed Rex back on his feet before rubbing his head and stepping back, allowing Chubbs to step forward.

"Heh, now I really know why Spaz really likes you Rex. He can't stop talking about you. But anyway, for me, you know I represent voracity. Now, mine is a little bit different. I know when everyone thinks of gluttony, it is all about food. That is true, but it is also about the overindulgence of things. There are many aspects of me in you. The easiest one is that you do enjoy cooking, and so do I. But how does that relate to voracity really? You see, what I am trying to address is that it is ok to indulge in your hidden desires of what you want and not be embarrassed about it."

Rex's face was beyond the point of confusion. "Huh, Spessart made complete sense. But, I'm sorry Sapphy, your explanation made things worse for me."

Sapphy bowed multiple times. "I apologize. I'm not good with my words. But my emotion ties in with King. Based on who you are, both my gluttony and his pride work in tandem together. So, Top will wrap it up then." Sapphy gently patted Rex on the back before stepping aside.

Top approached Rex and placed his clawed finger on Rex's forehead. "The last missing piece, like what Chubbs said, is King's pride. You've been through a lot, with Chubbs making you wear a collar and submitting yourself to being a pet followed by King forcing you to be his...ahem...slut. But what you have to do is accept that your pride may be wounded at times, but do not let it get the better of you. I know you are in denial of this, but from what I saw, from what all of my brothers saw, you may actually enjoy the activities that you were put through. In terms of Chubbs, you may have enjoyed a little bit of that master/pet relationship, right?"

"I mean...at first no...but I guess, it ain't too bad with the right situation."

"See, and you kept that gift from that one lady lizardfolk right? That special leash and collar?"

"We kept it because we did not want it to go in the wrong hands."

"That is what you tell yourself, but honestly, you want to try it yourself one day. It's fine, we are in a judgement free zone. None of us want to do anything to harm you, trust me on that. Hell, I bet if anyone here wants to do it, Spaz would be the first and ensure your safety over anything else."

Spaz nodded his head. "Rex, we are not here to do anything to harm you anymore. We want the best for you. What you are going to do will save our family and that is all I look forward to."

"Thanks for that Spessart. But Top, I don't feel comfortable admitting to that. It's just too demeaning to fall from grace like that."

"See, and that is what we are here for. Why do you consider it demeaning?"

"Because it's just wrong. Like, the whole idea of it."

Sapphy stepped in. "Look Rex, I am not the right person to talk about this, since I started all of this. But this is one thing I can speak on. There is nothing wrong, if this is something you honestly like and find the right partner for. And your perfect partner is Solrent. He respects your decisions and your feelings. He is the one person you know you can trust to indulge in your secret desires. Just give it a shot and if you do not like it, I am sure Solrent understands."

Rex sighed heavily, shaking his head for a moment before looking back at the three, admitting his defeat. "...I guess you are right...After what you made me go through, I may have enjoyed that collar around me and being next to Solrent like that..."

Top smiled. "See, that is the emotion of pride that you have to accept. That your pride and ego may be hurt at times, but never let it get the better of you or even let it diminish, which was what King sadly made you do. And about that, this is a bit new for me, but do you secretly have a foot fetish?"

Rex's eyes quickly looked down to the floor, avoiding any contact with his feet or the brothers. "I...have no comment at the moment for that..."

The three brothers all chuckled. Spaz went over and stood next to Rex's shoulder, placing his hand on it. "It's alright there my Rex. You don't have to say anything. I know it takes a lot to admit certain things, and we are not in a rush for that. You already took the first step, and everything here should be easy."

Sapphy stood to Rex's other shoulder, placing his arm on it as well. "And we will be here every step of the way. If you have any hidden desires or things you want to try or indulge in, talk to Solrent about it. I am sure he will be happy as long as you are happy. Hell, I did not see it as much, but he did have some nice feet."

Rex blushed, images of Solrent's feet now coming across his mind. He never thought about it before, but those were rather nice feet, especially with how sharp the claws are and how big the sole is. And ever since his promotional change, they looked a lot better.

Top looked at Rex, seeing that blush and the thoughts coming across his mind. He knelt down and stared at Rex squarely in his eyes. "It is time now. I think you are ready. You accepted your fury, your voracity and finally your vainglory. And me, being the catalyst to it all. Your hidden potential, of what you honestly want for you and your partner, will reveal itself. So, go out there Rex, you got this. And my brothers and I-" Spaz and Chubbs let go of Rex and stood next to Top. "-will support you every step of the way."

A light started glowing behind Rex, a doorway leading back to the real world. Rex nodded his head, and started walking toward it. He looked back over his shoulder, seeing the three brothers wave at him, giving thumbs up as well. "Thank you guys. Spessart, Sapphy, and Top. I appreciate the help. I will defeat Tristan and obtain the final gemstone." Rex took one step into the doorway, his body now covered in a bright, shining light.

*************************************

"What the?!?" exclaimed Tristan as he had to bring his shield up to his face to block the blinding light in front of him.

Solrent, with his eyes still closed, saw through his eyelids a blinding light emanating from Rex's body. However, this light was not hurting him at all; it actually felt comforting and warm. Once the light ended, Rex was seen standing on his feet, albeit with something new entirely wrapped around him. A white and gold cape appeared on his shoulders and back, and he slowly opened his eyes, filled with the life that Solrent knew for so long. Rex smiled down at Solrent, reached out his hand to help his partner up.

"...Nice to see you again, Solrent. I hope you are not too hurt by Tristan."

The atmosphere in the room changed. Solrent and Sorobra were both starstruck at the sight of Rex while Tristan was disgusted at what he saw.

Solrent wiped the tears in his eyes away and hugged Rex tightly. "I'm so sorry for not being there for you. I should not have left you alone back there with this creep."

Rex patted Solrent gently on the back. "It's alright. I know you did not want to, but Sorobra told us to trust him, and we did. I went through a lot back there with this heathen, but honestly, I think it all worked out in the end. I accepted the anger that got the better of me, the fact that my pride was also wounded. But now, I will use all of that to defeat Tristan once and for all."

"Let me help you then. Ugh..." Solrent groaned in pain as he tried to get up, but the kick from earlier knocked the wind out of him.

"Just rest. I will take care of it this time. You always were there to protect me, now it is my turn to return the favor."

"But Rex, your spells..."

"Don't worry, I have a few tricks up my sleeves now."

Solrent nodded his head, smiling as he propped himself on his shoulder, giving Rex a thumbs up. "Go get him then tiger."

Tristan scoffed in disgust. "Tsk, I thought I zapped you of all your energy, your pride."

"You may have Tristan, but let's just say, I got a big amount of motivation from a select few who care about me. Maybe someone whose whole world is filled with anger, and the other one with voracity. Not to mention, the last one who is apathetic towards the world."

Tristan's eyes shot open. "No! No way! There is no way they would do this to me. Spaz and Chubbs. They would not betray the family. But Top, he wouldn't dare have all my brothers turn against our father."

"Heh, wouldn't you like to know." Rex chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I know a lot more about your brothers than you expect. And now, let's finish what my partner started." Rex got into a battle stance, his arms at the ready.

"Haha, you are a funny dinosaur. Like a mere bard can defeat me."

Rex

Dark Arch Sage

Mage Saurus

"Oh? If that is what you still think I am, then sure, it should be an easy battle. Let's find out, shall we? En Garde."

Tristan yelled at the top of his lungs before charging towards Rex, bringing his warhammer back to smash Rex's skull with. Rex easily side stepped it, dodging out of the way and jumping a few meters away.

Rex stretched his leg, kicking at the ground. "I guess I have not lost my touch in dodging with this power of mine. Good to know all of my bardic training is still with me."

"You done talking about yourself?"

"Funny, coming from a guy who is the embodiment of pride. Don't like it when someone else is better than you?"

"Why you little fucker!" Tristan raised his hammer into the air before bringing it down and pointing it at Rex, muttering a few words underneath his breath. "...Guiding Bolt..." A flash of light streaked towards Rex, aiming straight for his body.

Rex stretched out his hand, his palm facing towards the light as a runic circle appeared in front of it. Right when the guiding bolt would hit him, a dark energy erupted from the circle and engulfed the light, rendering the attack moot. Rex smirked at Tristan, waving his clawed finger back and forward. "Nice try."

Confused and angry, Tristan slammed his warhammer into the ground. "What the fuck is this bullshit? Spells do not work like that. You can't use magic to defeat magic."

"Like I said, I am full of surprises. You have not fought anyone like me before. But I know how your kind works. I may not have met many clerics in my time, but I briefly know of one and what she is capable of doing."

"Just shut up with your cheating and fight me fairly."

"It's not cheating if that is what I can naturally do. Learn to adapt and stop being so stubborn."

"Fuck you!" Tristan quickly dashed towards Rex, leaning in with his shoulder as his hammer was at the ready to swing again. Rex waited patiently for Tristan to approach him and dodged at the last instance he saw him connect with his body. As Rex ducked sideways from charge, Tristan chuckled and brought out his hammer in Rex's momentum. "Got you know, you dodging fucker!"

Rex just smiled and brought out his hand again. Another runic circle appeared and he placed it in the path of the hammer. Right as the hammer went through the circle, a force pushed back Tristan, knocking the hammer and himself a few yards away from Rex. "Nice try, times two."

Tristan moaned a bit in pain, feeling a bit of his wind knocked out of him. He looked over to his side and grabbed his warhammer, propping himself back up again. "This is not right. You are breaking the rules of magic and spellcasting with your bullshit."

"Well, I feel like the rules don't apply to me at all. At least the rules around spellcasting. But I still respect them and we both know that we are limited to how many spells we can cast a day. You just have to find out what my limit is," Rex said teasingly.

"Shut up you slut! I swear, when I defeat you, I'll turn you into the sluttiest thing known to exist." Tristan stood back in his offensive stance, though his legs were shaking and he started to pant a bit more.

"Heh, well. I had a lot of fun trying this out, but let me try this one other thing I learned." Rex closed his eyes, muttering words that no one, not even a spellcaster like Sorobra or Tristan understood. Runic circles appeared before him before suddenly, they reappeared behind Tristan.

In a bit of panic, Tristan swung at the circle, but his hammer bounced off, the reverberation sending a numbing amount of pain throughout his body. "What is this? Ugh! My arm!"

Rex opened his eyes, a bit of darkness swirled in them as chains emerged from the circles and attached themselves all onto his limbs, forcing him onto the floor and laying spread eagle. Rex then summoned another runic circle by his neck, and a collar appeared and latched around it."

Tristan struggled against the binds and screamed. "Let me go, you slut. I am no one's slaves. You are supposed to be mine!"

Rex casually walked to Tristan, looking down at him and smiling. "And where was that tough guy who said he would defeat me? Heh, you let your pride get the better of you."

"Fuck you, I will get out of here and I will defeat you!" Tristan continued to struggle against the chains, but to no avail.

Rex leaned down and gently patted Tristan on the head. "There there, it will all be over soon. I am sure there will be a bunch of people waiting to see you." Rex stood back, closed his eyes, and spread out his arms, beginning the process of casting his next spells as a huge runic circle appeared around him.

Tristan started to panic, struggling even harder and yanking as best as he could on the chains. "No, let me go. This is not how it was supposed to be. I am the winner, not you! Let me the fuck go you slut!" Tears started forming in Tristan's eyes as he knew he would not escape this danger.

Dark energy started swirling around Rex, the glyphs on the runic circle started to turn dark purple, with a black flame emanating from each character. Sorobra and Solrent were fully immersed at seeing this new Rex, this new found power of his. They stared in awe at this magical spell that no one had seen before. Rex waved his hands in the air, creating the same runic circle below him where Tristan laid. The glyphs started lighting up with its dark flame, each character being filled slowly. Tristan saw this, and tried to move his body out of the circle, but the chains prevented him from doing anything. The moment the last glyph was lit, Rex opened his eyes again, the same dark energy as before in his eyes, but more intense. He closed his hands and a huge, dark tornado formed from the circle and erupted violently around Tristan.

Tristan screamed in agonizing pain as the tornado ripped at his scales, slowly tearing them apart. "NO! I WILL NOT FALL LIKE THIS! NOT LIKE THIS! YOU! I WILL GET YOU! EVEN IF MAY NOT PHYSICALLY BE HERE! I WILL HAUNT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

Rex took a calm breath, nodding his head. "I understand that you will. You will always be a part of me Tristan. My pride, that is a part of me that I have already accepted. But you know what, I won't let you overtake my mind. I know how to handle my pride, and know how to live with humility in my life. Stuff that you never even heard of. I have my friends, my partner, everyone I have met and I respect all of them. So yes, even though I hate you for what you did to me, I will still show you respect for getting me where I am today. I look forward to seeing you again soon."

Tristan then screamed inaudibly as the tornado continued to destroy his body. After a few seconds, the tornado dissipated from the circle it came from and the only thing left of Tristan was his shield, his warhammer, and now a glowing purple gemstone at the center. Rex walked over to where Tristan last laid and picked up his belongings, stowing away the weapon and armor and holding the gemstone to the sky. The final gemstone, the violet Amethyst, was finally in his possession.

Rex turned back, glancing at both Solrent and Sorobra, nodding his head slowly as he showed them the amethyst. Solrent continued to cry, never seeing his partner like this before as he rushed over and gave him a hug. Sorobra stopped his performance and ran over to hug Rex as well.

"Oh, thank you Rex. You finally defeated this evil dragon and saved my entire clan. I cannot thank you enough."

"No thanks are needed Sorobra. And, I know you will bring it up, I accept your apology. I know you honestly did not want to set me up like that and get enslaved by Tristan. From your actions and how you defended Sol back there, I learned that you were finding the best route to save your queen and eliminate him."

Sorobra backed away and groveled at Rex's feet. "No, I made you go through all that hell with him. He made you do unforgivable stuff that I am fully ashamed of. I accept any punishment you have for me."

Rex shook his head, waving his arms around as a runic circle appeared and lifted Sorobra back onto his feet. "It's alright, I should have been stronger willed to resist that. But in the end, it all worked out for the better. I may have learned a lot more about myself, and I gained this new power and skills because of it. I should be thanking you."

Sorobra beamed, at a loss for words for all of Rex's praise. Solrent coughed, interjecting himself into the conversation. "So, Rex, buddy ol pal, this is still the same you right? You sound a bit different now, like the way you talk?"

Rex sly eyed Solrent. "What do you mean by that?"

Solrent gave off a soft chuckle. "There's my Rex."

"Fuck you, god. Always finding humor in things." Rex shook his head, but then leaned forward and gave Solrent a soft kiss on the cheek. "But that is honestly what I do love about you. You always know how to lighten up the mood."

The kobolds around the room started to wake up from their slumber, stretching their bodies and giving off loud yawns. They all looked at the party and noticed that Tristan no longer was around. They all murmured to each other before looking directly at Sorobra, who gave off a soft nod. Then, they all erupted into cheers as the evil dragonewt controlling them was finally vanquished.

"Heh, sounds like your entire clan sure is happy about Tristan no longer being here, right Sorobra?"

"Of course, we no longer have to listen to that tyrant. But wait...our queen! He said he would

release her to us. But, where is she!" Sorobra started pacing around the room, trying to find any whereabouts of the queen. All of a sudden, everyone felt the ground shake as a humongous dragon entered from above the stairs, behind the throne. With its wings flapping, it descended onto the ground below, stirring up dust as it landed on all four of its limbs. The imposing dragon glared at everyone, instilling fear into anyone who would dare disobey her. All the kobolds in the room immediately dropped to their knees, bowing in respect to the dragon. Sorobra quickly gave off a curtsy bow before rushing over to the dragon's side. Solrent and Rex noticed the two exchanging words. After a brief moment, Sorobra smiled and beckoned for the both of them to come over.

Solrent and Rex looked at each other, visibly shaking as they had never seen a true dragon up close before. They nodded to each other, clearing their throats before striding over to the dragon. The moment they were a few feet in front of the dragon, they both felt a calm aura blow through them. They felt like they were one with nature, as if the earth was singing to them. They heard a voice in their head that said to them, My children, I cannot thank you enough for not only saving me, but my other children as well. My personal patron, the one you called Sorobra, told me everything that the two of you had done. I am forever grateful for your kind actions. Please, let me know if you do require anything from me. I rarely give anything, but knowing your heroic deeds, you two are worthy.

Solrent bowed. "Yes, Queen...?"

Oh, that is right. I have not told you my name. My true name may be a difficult one to pronounce in your native tongue. But, the name you may address me as, please, call me Arboros.

Rex bowed. "It is our greatest pleasure to help you, Queen Arboros. We were more than happy to help Sorobra when we learned of his predicament. We know the importance of helping your clan, because they are your family."

"Yes, and family, specifically the ones you love and cherish, should always be put first. Because, at the end of the day, your family will always be there for you, and have your back no matter what." Solrent turned to Rex, who turned back as they both stared in each other's eyes.

Queen Arboros smiled, a soft tune escaped her maw. Of course, that is the most important thing anyone can ever have. That is what that evil dragonewt never truly had. He may have had his other brothers, but he honestly never cared for them. If he knew his brothers were being eliminated by you two, he should have done something to stop. But instead, he let his pride get the better of him, and that was his downfall.

Solrent and Rex agreed, leaning into each other's embrace as the queen continued to speak to them.

You two are always welcome in my castle. You are our honored guests and may always request an audience with me. I tend to be very busy, but if you two do need anything from me, do not hesitate to speak to my patron. I will be sure to listen to your request and respond as quickly as I can.

Solrent bowed. "Of course Queen Arboros. Although, may I ask a question now?"

Everyone looked at Solrent, Sorobra tilted his head, Rex raised an eyebrow at him, while Queen Arboros sat properly on her haunches. Go ahead my child, please speak.

Solrent scratched the back of his head. "Well, I don't mean any offense, but I am curious because you are the first dragon I have ever seen. So, if you don't mind telling me, how long have you been here?"

Sorobra gasped as he covered his mouth in shock while Rex facepalmed his head. Queen Arboros gave off a loud laugh, as she opened her maw and bared her many teeth at Solrent. My child, one should never ask a lady her age.

Solrent quickly dropped onto the floor, bowing his head up and down. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just that, I have always been curious about the true dragons of this world. I know my heritage is a descendant of them, but no one I ever knew came across one as magnificent as you."

Queen Arboros closed her maw, blowing a puff of air at Solrent. I understand why my other child over there spoke about your humor. You do know how to change the mood of the atmosphere. But anyway, I'll just say that I have walked this earth for many millennia. I have seen many of your kind evolve as well. And, looking at the two of you, you both have something special in you.

"Of course Queen Arboros. Both Solrent and I went through a lot. We learned about our emotions and personalities, how the brothers who we fought against, they are all a part of who we are."

Ahh, I see. That makes sense. Heh, even for someone as old as me, I can still learn a thing or two. Those, brothers you call them, I sense that they each embody a personality that you all carry, a...sin...I think is the word you used to describe them. So you are indeed correct my child, every one of you will carry a piece of them within, but what matters is how you address them. From what I can tell, you two learned how to utilize those emotions, and turn them into the new power you have today. Because you, my dragon child. The Queen looked at Solrent. You are indeed a dragonlord, one of the rare bloodlines of the dragonewts. You have harnessed the power of the spear and perfected the skills that come with it. And for you, my dinosaur child. The Queen turned her attention to Rex. You are indeed a rare one. I have not seen many of your kind so far in my life, but I have come across a few. Sadly, I do not know much to tell you about your past, but I can see that you have evolved into a more magically oriented version of yourself. But... The Queen's voice sounded deeper all of a sudden.

Rex looked at the Queen, concerned with her change in tone.

The magic you seek to perfect, the arcane arts, or rather, the dark arts. This is not something many can master. If you are not careful, it will consume you and eat away at your soul.

"Oh...I see...I mean, that is not good. That's not really what I would like to hear, honestly. Now, I'm a bit nervous to use my new skills."

Don't fret my child. I only told you this, to prepare yourself in the future. As long as you know what is most important to you, your soul will stay pure. You have the ability to master these spells, and my dragon child over there will support you every step of the way.

They both turned their heads towards Solrent, who gave a thumbs up in Rex's direction. "Of course Queen Arboros. I will never let anyone harm Rex again. I will ensure his safety is of my utmost importance."

Now, I must attend to my other children. My dragon child, my dinosaur child, please, come visit us whenever you are able to. I know you have to finish the quest you started, but I always enjoy listening to stories from those we come across.

Solrent and Rex gave one last formal bow to the Queen and both said in unison, "Yes Queen Arboros. We gladly accept your offer."

Sorobra jumped up and down, playing a melody on his lute. "Oh, this is just amazing. We rarely have any outsiders come visit us, and now the Queen has given you her blessings to come and visit us. This calls for a celebration!" The Queen glared at Sorobra. "...And we will do that at another time. I'll help escort you back. It might take some time, but I think I know a spell that can get you guys back to your town."

"No need for that Sorobra. There were a few spells that I learned since my promotion. I just need...ahh there it is." Rex reached into his bag and brought out the pillow that was lent as a supply from Faladiel. "This is what we need. This was given to us by Faladiel, and only our guild makes these specific pillows. With my Teleport spell, I should be able to get Sol and I back safely."

"Alright then Rex, until we meet again."

"Mmhmm, I cannot wait to see you again. I love learning about more bardic stuff. And, since I just have to ask, do you happen to know Magnificent Mansion? Of all the spells I should know, I for some reason do not have access to this spell right now."

"Oh yes, Solrent knows all about that, isn't that right?"

Solrent placed his hand on Rex's shoulder. "Yea, he knows that spell. To be honest, his mansion is pretty amazing. I am sure after we are done, we will come back here and you guys can chat up a storm about being bards, haha."

"Oh shut up Solrent. Whatever, you ready though?"

"Yes, let's head back home."

Rex closed his eyes, as he waved his hands in motion, causing a runic circle to appear below their feet. The glyphs on the circle below them were filling as the pillow Rex held glowed with light. Right as the last glyph lit, Solrent and Rex felt a light envelop their bodies as they felt themselves being pulled into the ground below. They heard voices call to them, screaming in joy.

"Till next time. I look forward to discussing all of my bardic secrets with you Rex and of course, hanging out with you again Solrent."

Yes my children, we will wait to hear about your endeavors. Until then, stay safe and always cherish your loved ones.

Solrent firmly pressed his arm onto Rex's shoulder as they both disappeared from the castle keep. After a brief moment, the two suddenly appeared in the lobby of the guild, right at where Faladiel would normally sit at the counter. The entire room fell silent, as both the adventurers and the guild workers stared in awe, never seeing our two heroes like this before. Even Faladiel was a bit shocked at seeing them magically appear in front of them. The two looked at the crowd, everyone staring in disbelief at the magic they just saw. They nervously smiled and informed everyone that everything is ok, it was just a Teleportation spell that they used. The murmurs of the crowd continued to stir, but they eventually got back to doing their daily tasks, not with a few eyes still staring at our party. Solrent and Rex ignored them and turned their attention to Faladiel, who cleared his throat and smiled back at the two. Rex reached into his pocket and showed Faladiel the final gemstone, the amethyst, before saying, "This is it Faladiel. The final one has been obtained. Now, we can finally defeat him, once and for all."

*********************************

Six brothers were calmly enjoying the warmth the hot springs had to offer. All the colors were here, except for one, a very specific purple dragonewt has yet to make his presence known.

"Hey Top. Where is King? Shouldn't he at least enjoy being here with us?. I mean, we are finally a full family again."

Top let off a big sigh. "Well, Roo, you see, when I went and found King's soul, he was a bit adamant about leaving him alone. I think his pride was a bit too wounded. But I was able to convince him to let me rescue him and bring him back with us. He's in his room right now, and he asked to not be bothered, at least for tonight. He just has a lot of thinking to go through."

Spaz shrugged his shoulders. "Heh, what do you expect of the eldest. He's trying to still be the boss and all. And when things don't go his way, he throws a bit of a fit."

Em nodded his head in agreement. "Spaz is right, King is being a bit stubborn and childish right now."

Zenny chimed in, his hand caressing his Master's tentacle. "Yes, yes. This one agrees, and so does Master. King needs to put aside his pride and come join us. Not to mention the important role we will all play soon. We need him here."

Chubbs sighed heavily, shaking his head. "I know King the most, since I am the second oldest. We just have to let him be. He will get over it. Let him wallow for a bit, let him lick his wounds. I know he did not like what Rex did to him, but he will come around and support both Rex and Solrent. I can at least see to that truth."

Spaz slammed his hands against the water, splashing everywhere and everyone around him. "He better. For how he treated my Rex, I almost want to kill him too. I forgive you Chubbs, after I had time to cool off and whatnot. But for what he did to my Rex. Ugh!"

Top raised his hands. "Now, everyone, please calm down. I know we all have our own opinions on the matter, especially with King's demeanor. But please, like you all went through, you all wanted to eliminate Solrent and Rex. I spoke to King, and I told him my plan. He did not say no to it, nor did he give me a definitive yes, but I know, at the end of the day, he sees us as his family. And, I know we all heard this many times between Solrent, Rex, Sorobra, and even Queen Arboros, family is the most important thing and to always cherish it. That is why I rescued all of you, because you all are the most important thing in my life."

"Oh Top, you don't have to say it, we know."

"Yea Top, we get it. You are what's keeping us together. And we truly respect your feelings. Hell, this has brought us closer than we were before, and it's good to see both Solrent and my Rex bringing us together too."

"That's right Top, we all respect you for what you have done and taught us."

"Mmhmm, Master fully respects you, and so do I."

"Heh, you got nothing to worry about then Top. Just like how you brought me around and helped me make amends with Spaz, King will come around too."

Top sniffled hard, tears trailing down his eyes, as he bowed to his brothers. "Oh, thank you everyone. I truly mean it. You guys mean the world to me and I cannot imagine a world without you guys. But, we need to prepare, I am sure we all will visit Solrent and Rex soon. So, let's just enjoy the rest of tonight before we get back to work."

"Wait, we get to see my Rex again?" Spaz was steadily jumping as best as he could in the water."

*sigh* "Yes Spaz, we will see them all again, real soon."

Spaz raised his fist in triumph. "Yes!"

All the other brothers shook their heads, not sure where Spaz's enthusiasm for Rex exactly came from. But in the end, all the brothers just laughed and had a good time with each other, knowing that tomorrow will be the day they all look forward to.

...Meanwhile...

A purple dragonewt was sitting idly in his chair, staring at himself in the mirror. He looked down at his hands, his body, his legs, his feet, before returning back to look at his head. He shook it in disgust. "..." He heard the commotion from downstairs in the hot springs room. The sound of laughter and joy rang in his ears. He looked at the door, seeing it propped open. Rising from his seat, he walked over to the door and closed it shut. He then returned back to his chair and stared back at himself in the mirror. "...Heh..." Placing his arms on his desk, he clutched his head. "...I really do not want to...He doesn't deserve any of this...But..." He raised his head and looked at himself once more. "...If what Top says is true...then I can still get what I want...after all of this is over...I know more than you think about yourself...Rex...I am coming for you...Don't you forget it...I will continue to haunt you...And you will enjoy my company...heh..."