War of the Dragons - Chapter 7
"So. Let me just make sure I understand everything. The test was actually a set-up by Tryndamous in order to eliminate a Lord of the East, and he was willing to sacrifice your lives to do so. After you managed to prove that the dragoness was a Lord as well as a Courtesan, you got pulled into a debt of having to work with her for seven years in compensation for the death of the life sworn guards. Then, after you had escorted her back to Eastern territories, she told you here name. But that name isn't one that belongs to any of the Eastern Lords, meaning that it was her name before she became a Lord, and a name that only her most trusted confidants are normally told?""That pretty much sums it up.""How is it, that every time I let you out of my sight, you go and throw yourself head first into trouble?" Teprogia asked, plonking her head down onto Arcantos' bed with a huff. The earth dragoness lying directly across the bipedal dragon's lap. Much like a big cat, and like a cat. Very annoying as well."Stop being so dramatic." Arcantos said, arms crossed as he tolerated his friend's annoying behaviours. The trick might of worked during the first few years, but after thirteen odd years, tricks like that tended not to work anymore. "And I told you why I was chosen. My mind and elements are expressed differently compared to normal dragons, which is why I was a bit more expandable than the rest of you.""But I'm the same and I'm wasn't chosen!"
Teprogia said with another huff, not allowing Arcantos to calm her down. Too concerned for her friend and too stubborn to change her mind. "How is that you always get picked for the crazy stuff, and I don't? Why can't life start picking on me for a change?"Arcantos... didn't comment on that. It was a conversation that had before, and despite Arcantos personally preferring to take on the burden himself instead of sharing it on Teprogia. He knew that he wouldn't be able to convince the dragoness, no matter how logical it might be. Instead, he chose a different route."Well, your mental differences aren't as noticeable as myself, nor does it mean you act outside of the norm in all honesty. That means you are less disruptive than myself, and so it makes sense for the more disruptive dragons to be chosen over you." "I hate it when your right." Tep muttered under her breath, making Arc smile in amusement. Different times, different places and different arguments. But Tep would still reply the same way when she had lost an argument. So it only made sense for Arc to reply in the same way himself."No, you just hate that I'm alway right." Arcantos teased lightly, already smiling as he knew the reaction that was to come"No your not!" Teprogia replied quickly her head coming up and round to glare at the smiling dragon, her annoyance increasing as she realized that Arcantos was amused yet against at her reactions. "And wipe the smirk off your face, its not
funny!""Oh, but I think it is." Arcantos said, his teasing smile turning into an actual smirk as he taunted the earthen dragoness. "I can't recall one time that you've ever been right about something and proven me to be in the wrong, and I have a long memory.""Actually, that's just because you prefer to forget," Teprogia's glare turning into an evil grin, that quickly had Arcantos' smirk replaced by a wary look. The earth dragoness slipped of him, and got back onto the bed so she was facing Arcantos fully as she spoke. "You're wrong about a very important fact, one that you don't like to admit is true.""And what would that be?" Arcantos asked, already edging away from the dragoness. But alas, it was too late for the poor dragon to escape his fate."That you can beat me!" With that loud exclamation, the earth dragoness pounced, quickly knocking Arc onto the bed. Before he had time to react, Tep's claws slipped to his arm-pits, and began lightly dancing over the surface. Almost instantly, Arcantos started squirming and his expression contorted into one of forced restraint."Y-y-y-you only win by c-c-cheating! I-I-It doesn't c-count!" "All's fair in
love and war." Teprogia cooed, her evil grin still fixed across her muzzle as her claws continue to lightly stroke Arcantos' scales. Until eventually, a chuckle escaped from the bipedal dragon. Instantly, the damn burst, and Arcantos was turned into a quivering, laughing mess, as Teprogia continued to mercilessly tickle her friend."S-s-s-stop it! Y-y-y-you cheat!""Admitted defeat, and I will.""N-n-n-never!" Arcantos said, raising an arm and attempting to shove Teprogia off. Despite his army training having made him much stronger than previously, it had affected the earth dragoness similarly, and she continued tickling Arc."Surrender, or I shall tickle you to death!""I-I-I-I will n-n-not yield!" Arcantos gasped out, as he decided to try a different technique. Instead of trying to use brute force to her chest, he instead used his elements. Specifically, he gave Teprogia's rear right leg a shove with his wind, knocking it out from under her. At the same time, he twisted his body, pushing his right side up against her left body.Thrown off-balance by the lose of her leg, Tep could only yelp in surprise as she found herself sliding/tumbling off the bed to
land ungracefully onto the floor, with Arcantos quick to slip of the bed and into a standing position once more."Now then, what was that about never winning?" Arcantos asked breathless, but a grin on his face. Happy that for once, he had managed to break out of Teprogia's hold. The teachings of the army, coming into use and allowing him to finally get an upper hand against her. The dragoness just glared at him in reply for a few moments, before huffing."Spoilsport.""All's fair in love and war." Arcantos said in a sing-song voice, turning Teprogia's words right back against her. Making the dragoness scowl some more. Arcantos' victorious smirk became a softer smile as he said. "I have to admit, I'm surprised at just how effective the training is. Sides, we're training in how to counter moves just like that as well, so I only got ya cuz I surprised you.""Bed. Now." Teprogia said, still scowling at Arcantos, making the dragon start to get nervous... believing he might of pushed things a little too far as he began edging away, glancing in desperation at the cat curled up on his desk for help."Umm, I have some writ-""Bed. Now." Teprogia repeated, firmer
than before, starting levelly at Arcantos. The bipedal hesitating, before sighing and giving in to the stubborn dragoness and sat back down on the bed. In an instant, the breath got knocked out of him as Tep thumped heavily down onto his legs, before curling around him possessively. "I swear, you're worse than any pet." Arcantos sighed, much used to his old friend's behaviour... and understanding the reasoning behind it as well. So he tolerated, placing a hand on her head in a placating manner. "You're going to be coming with me to the east." It was a question, but a statement, though Teprogia nodded all the same."Where you go. I go. Someone needs to watch your back after all, and stop you from making silly stupid mistakes. Like getting into a Q? bèi debt with an Eastern Lord Courtesan." "I would of thought standing up against Tryndamous would of been the sillier mistake." Arcantos said teasingly, only to be surprised when the earth dragoness shuddered at the mention."Please... don't mention him." Teprogia said quietly, turning her head so that Arcantos couldn't see her face as she spoke. "I don't know about Ace... but I know you are to be trusted. Knowing him to act... like he did... I just don't want to think about it, okay?""Sure." Arcantos said softly, knowing that his friend was pained to see her hero turn out to be such a villain. Even if she did not quite trust Ace and his story about the High General. Still... it was best for Tep to be hurt
now, and let it heal over time. Then experience itself and leave a permanent scar. Overall... Arcantos had to say that the patrol was a success. Though he had to wonder why Tryndamous said they did well, with flying colours even.... what did Tryndamous have planned?* * * * * * *"Bloody hell its freezing!" Caross complained as he huddled close to the campfire. The rest of the usual patrol spread out in more... safe positions around it. All save Giratina of course, who had long since retreated to her tent. Frost rolled his eyes at the fire dragon's complaint, commenting."Oh please, its positively mild. A refreshing brisk spring evening to be enjoyed with fine company. Yourself excluded of course." The ice dragon said, unable to resist the temptation to add in a quick jibe towards Caross, and the orange dragon predictable too the bait."It might be mild to an arctic inmate like you, but I was born and raised in the great deserts of Osthurst. I'm used to the sun beating down on me and watching water steam when placed on rocks left out for just thirty minutes. To me, that temperature is 'slightly hot'. This temperature, that you call 'mild', to me, is absolutely freezing!""Aren't deserts the second coldest environments after the sun has gone down?" Arcantos pipped in, not all that bothered by Caross and Frost arguing once more. He was just curious as to the odd clash of information that had been presented before him and wanted to see it
resolved. Though he regretted it immediately as Caross turned to fix his withering glare on him. "That is why during nightfall we all sleep together in a single large tent spun out of fire cloth to keep everyone nice and cosy." Arcantos held up his hands placatingly, accepting Caross' information with ease. Especially as he saw the logic of doing as was said. Frost meanwhile, saw an opportunity an arched an elegant eye ridge."So that explains why 'family doesn't count' is it? Because you don't want to admit that your people sleep with one another freely? The orgies of Osthurst are rather infamous after all.""You shut your trap!" Caross nearly roared, leaping to his feet and whirling to face the his rival with a fierce glare. "Those orgies are a bloody lie created by jealous forgineers with no understanding of our culture! And any orgies that might of happened were initiated by the foreigners, and not us! We have full respect for the privacy of a mating couple, and everything in the communal tent is kept clean and friendly!""So you say, but why else would you be so obsessed about sex, something so against the norm of our cultural values, if the values of the environment in which you grew up within. Did not mold you to take on such a view?" Frost said calmly, a small smirk playing on his muzzle as he climbed to his feet as well, ready to confront Caross as alway. The fire dragon growled fiercely and his maw opened, fire gathering quickly. However, before a fight could break out, Arcantos lept to his feet. His two swords quickly sliding out of his sheathe as he shouted."Alert!" Immediately the situation around the campfire changed. No longer were Caross and Frost moments away from going at each over, but ready to fight the threat that had been announced. Teprogia and Sig quickly jumped up on their feet as well. Even Giratina rushed out of her tent as Arcantos told everyone what he had noticed. "Scorch is gone!"The pink patrol leader, unbothered by the slight evening chill had been standing watch some distance from the campfire. Within hearing distance of the patrol however, so the fact that Scorch hadn't come to stop the fight from starting confused Arcantos, leading him to notice that he had completely vanished.Arcantos had no more time to react however, as he caught a faint whistling sound.. before something slammed into his head and all went black.* * * * * * *Whilst the first thing Arcantos realized is that his head was throbbing, the first sense that came back to the dragon was hearing.... or more specifically, the sound of hooves on a stony path. Other, less prominent sounds followed. The creek of wood, the rattle of a wheel across stones. The sound of breathing around him... and the faint clinks and clanks of metal. All and all, it painted a vivid picture for Arcantos and made him take quick stock of the situationThis feeling was simply bolstered when his senses of touch and smell returned to the bipedal dragon as well. The feel of wood against his back, along with metal bands pinning his wings to his body, with more metal across his wrists and ankles and around his neck. Then the smell, horses, wood, paint and most importantly, dragons. Arcantos was able to pick up the scent of all six members of his patrol... but strangely, he couldn't pick up the scent of any other dragons...Carefully, Arcantos opened his eyes as slits. Allowing a little bit of light to enter, making sure they weren't flooded all at once and made his eyes still. As it was, it still stung a little, before his eyes adjusted. Arcantos opened his eyes a bit more, before allowing them to open fully and silently observe where he was.He and his patrol were inside a wagon... a prisoner wagon, judging from the basic interior, the metal reinforcement across the sides and walls, as well as the chains they had, connecting their limbs together and anchoring them firmly to the floor. With bands keeping their wings very tightly bound as well and collars attached round their necks. Glancing down at his hands, Arcantos toyed with the idea of trying to remove them with his magnetism... then dismissed it quickly. Whoever captured them were very well trained, and likely had the proper equipment to keep hold dragons, no matter their elemental ability or power... excluding the draconem. They tended to break the rules on what effected a dragon or not.Having taken stock of the situation, Arcantos decided what to do next. Carefully, he heaved himself upright into a sitting position, the clinking of the chains as he moved alerting his patrol-mates to his awakening after drawing their attention. Teprogia let out a sigh of relief at the site, whilst Caross let out a snort."So glad that you could finally join us sleepyhead." Arcantos let the jibe pass, knowing that it was just Caross' way of putting on a brave face and keeping morale up. Despite how contrary the second statement might of been. Instead, Arcantos moved straight onto more important matters by asking the patrol."Do we have an identify on the attackers?""We have nothing." Scorch said, Arcantos turned to face the pink dragon, a flash of relief going through him that Scorch was alright... present circumstances aside. "And I mean absolutely nothing, save that they were all wearing dark gray full-body suits. We hardly managed to get any glimpses of them at all, and they used no elements .We don't know if their eastern or western dragons, we don't know if their bipedal or quadrupedal dragons and we don't even have a scent. Hell they even came from up-wind and I never noticed them at all." "Shinobi." Arcantos said firmly, putting the pieces together and coming up with an answer that none of the others were able to come up with... through he got looks of confusion from the patrol instead of understanding or curiosity. As always, Caross was the first to speak up."Shinobi? Those mythical dudes who killed Arthurian? Why are you bringing them up like in a time like this?""Because Shinobi are not a myth anymore than me and you. They are the elite covert force of the eastern nation. Highly trained and highly disciplined, they perform the roles of spies, saboteurs and rarely, assassins. Ask any eastern dragon about them, and they will be able to say yes, they exist and if you look into their history, you'll find numerous occasions where shinobi were known to change the world. The death of Arthurian is simply the most high-profile change that the shinobi performed.""If their so influential, how come we've never heard of them?" Caross asked, scoffing at Arcantos' words, no able to believe them. The bipedal was ready for this however, and knew the very reason behind it."Because that is what they desire. Western dragons rarely know of them, because they want us to not know about them. In case war breaks out, they are hidden weapon of the east that will allow them to level the playing field. Secrecy is their very existence. No non-shinbo knows their base, their selection process, their training, or their members. Indeed, in the past it is been revealed that even Lords can become shinobi with no one, not even the other lords or members of the Ti?npíng huì knowing. Of all the times that they have known to make a difference in how the history of the world, played out, there is likely one thousand times more that they have had a similar or even bigger impact and no one ever knew.""That is just a load of bull." Caross said with a snort, turning to the others as he said. "I mean seriously, it's ridiculous isn't it?" Then, the orange dragon saw the thoughtful, pondering looks on the faces of the patrol - save Giratina who had her usual sneer - and his face fell. "Guys? You can't be considering it, can you? Its completely insane!""No, it makes sense." Teprogia said, shaking her head. Caross let out a derisive snort but the earth dragoness cut in before he could. "Think about it, these dragons are unidentifiable and highly trained. Their abilities at stealth are near-mythical themselves. Who else would be able to sneak across a good 50 metres of open ground up wide without notice, save dragons whose sole purpose is to be stealthy?" "That much makes sense I agree, but a such a highly trained group? So unknown that their presence is thought of as just a myth? That is just absolute bull." Caross said, shaking his head once more, the others fell silent as they were rather confused about it themselves. How did the shinobi retrain such anonymity? "The same could be said about the Paladin's." Arcantos said, all thoughts and pondering coming to a grinding halt at his words, through the bipedal dragon was quick to push his point. "Despite the evidence of their existence in history, many believe them to be a myth due to how well-trained and powerful they are known to be, yet no one knows anything about them past that and a few of their members.""Well I suppose if you put it like that..." Caross grumbled out with a sigh, rather disliking the idea of the shinobi being real... and he almost as much disliked having to admit that Arcantos had a point. Yet, that was the only thing he could do in the face of such an argument."So... the Paladin's are actually real?" Frost said, sounding rather disturbed at the idea.
Caross glanced at the ice dragon in disbelief, opening his mouth to state it... only to glance at Scorch and close his mouth without saying a thing. In a situation like this, falling out would not help them at all in the current situation."Just as likely as shinobi are." Arcantos said with a nod, but was quick to change the subject so that Frost didn't spend too much time ponder it. Nodding down at the handcuffs that bound him tight, Arc asked. "I'm guessing these are made from an Inanite alloy in order to cut of our access to our elements?"Scorch nodded in response to the question, stating. "All of this stuff is full military grade gear. The breaking tolerance is far beyond anything we can muster, even when we all put our muscles into it there's no give at all. The Inantie is high-concentration as well, even if we put as much power as we can into mouths we get not even a flicker of energy getting through.""So in other words, where's screwed, completely and utterly." Caross added one with a huff, thumping his head down onto the floor as he grew bored with the conversation. "No element breath, no elements through our feet and wings doubly bound. None of us are strong enough to even break normal metal so there's no way we're breaking this stuff. Nothing to do but wait until this shinobi decide to kill us.""Thanks for the vote of confidence." Sig said sarcastically at this negative commentary. Caross didn't even reply however, flicking his tail morsley. Not even able to shrug with his wings bound so tightly together. The conversation petered off after this, as no one really had anything more to say.Only, Arcantos wasn't quite ready to call it quits. He knew how Inanite cuffs worked, blocking off the flow of elemental energy from within as it was directed to an outlet to be shaped and used, so he knew their weakness. They only blocked the outlets is placed on a passage to it. Putting an inanite band on the chest for example would do nothing to a dragon's ability to manipulate elemental energy despite the heart being the core of the dragon's energy. The collar cut off anything energy being directed up to the mouth, the most natural and most powerful of the outlets. The cuffs on their arms and legs stopped anything from reaching their hands and feet. Even the wings there covered, just in case anyone attempted to use their elements through their wings, rarely done due to how difficult and inefficient it was... but something it gave a soldier a necessary avenue to attack in order to turn the tide of a fight.However... there was one more possible outlet for a dragon's manipulation. The tail, often used just to coat the tail-end in an element to empower striking with it. Or just letting out a quick burst of energy at an enemy holding onto it or nearby. Arcantos knew it was why they didn't have binds on their tails, if offered them no way to escape. Tail strikes were useless against any type of armour or metal, as they simply weren't strong enough to piece through them.Only... the tail wasn't restricted to just those forms of elemental usage. The outlets had no restrictions on how the elemental energy could be challenged through them, it was simply that the tail was the most inefficient and difficult of the outlets to use. Dragon's putting in the effort to be able to use their tail similar to their claws or mouth was practically unheard of... but not completely, and under the instructions of his mentor, Arcantos had learned how to.He was far from a master of doing so, as it drained his resources quickly and he struggled with complicated forms of manipulation, or using his second element through his tail. But he could do it, which granted him an edge in this situation... as long as the shinobi learned nothing about it. If they did, his tail would be bound in seconds.It was for this reason that Arcantos didn't say anything to the others about his ability, Teprogia knew about it as well of course. Yet the fact she was silent and morse as the others indicated that she hadn't thought of it either. So instead Arcantos just sat back against the wagon wall and closed his eyes, focusing.With his throbbing head, concentrating enough to be able to draw a usable amount of elemental energy to his tail was very difficult, taking Arc several tries before he managed to get the smallest usable amount. Lighting energy, that Arc infused into his hands. Allowing him to use them to draw on external elemental energy before releasing it in a burst. A safety precaution if you will, through as time went on the more and more the energy would be able to build.'Of course, this is a double-edged sword' Arcantos mused to himself, thinking through the process and keeping himself occupied as he rested. With his throbbing head, he would have to be slow and careful with his tail-elemental use. 'A
dragon's body is the most adapt vessel at handling elemental power out of every animal in the world, through that is only the average of course. An alpha thunderwolf can easily handle their elements than a non-soldier dragon. That being said, no one can handle unlimited power, even the most trained of dragons can only handle so much elemental power before their bodies simply begin to break down, and after a point training begins to have diminishing returns....' Here, Arcantos gaze settled on Teprogia, and he recalled their last two discussions... specifically, the common link between them. 'Only everything changes for a draconem' Not only does their natural strength, speed, endurance and power get multiplied one hundred times, but their is no known limit to their power, there is no diminishing returns with training... and even without training their gain more power as they age along with size. A two hundred and fifty year old draconem is theorized to be able to eviscerate all life on the planet. That being said, draconem almost seem to have a built-in limit to their power, and if they push past it they end up being burned up by elemental energy. Surprisingly easy to do so as well, so draconem rarely live past one hundred and thirty' "So..." Arcantos' self-musing was broken when Frost spoke up, the ice dragon surprising hestaint in voicing his thoughts for once. Losing the noble somewhat arrogant tone he usually had as Frost continued. "If the Paladin's are real... does that mean the rumors about them actually being able to use the Aether without dying is true?""Yes and no." Caross said a little smugly, sitting up straight and making sure eeeeeveryone was paying attention to him as he continued. "You see, the tribes of Osthurst are infamous in the academic world for their tales and how accurate and reliable they are. As the Paladin's
are one of my favourite subjects for the tales, I've pretty much memorized all known information about the Paladin's. So, this is an question I can answer quite comfortable.""Then stop your air-wasting blithering and get on with your explanation." Frost said, his tone of arrogance quickly returning as his sniped at his long-time rival. Caross shot him an irritated glare in response, through Arcantos swore that the edges of his mouth flicked upwards for a brief second before he huffed."I about to before you interrupted!" Caross snapped, before moving around to get comfortable... deliberately chinking his chains together to annoy Frost. Through everyone got rather irritated at the action in all honesty. "Now then. The Paladin's can't use Aether any more than anyone else. No matter your training, Aether's raw power is just gonna burn you up, we ain't made to handle it as I'm our scholar can explain in much boring detail." Caross nodded in Arcantos at the last of these statements, through Arc didn't react to the 'boring' jibe."What Paladin's can do however. Is harness Aether through their arms and armour and that is a major factor to their power." Teprogia opened her mouth to say something, but Caross saw it and spoke first. "Yes Tep, the Aether Guard have their own armour and the distortion field. But the Paladin's are able to perform more consistent feats with their Aether channeling, and a lot more powerful as well.""Through of course, those are only tales." Frost said, not one to just let Caross get one up on him. "Despite how reliable and accurate they might be, they are only tales in the end. For a group of dragons whose existence is questionable, so they likely carry a heavy bias. Not to mention that you need more than one source in order to
proper back up statements." Caross could do nothing but glare at Frost. Knowing there was nothing that could be said about that. The ice dragon just smirked, and settled back down, indicating that the discussion was over. Allowing Arcantos to turn his attention back to his tail-elemental use. This time however, he didn't use lighting energy, but what he had an even stronger affinity for... magnetism.Specifically, Arcantos made a small magnetic field above his handcuffs pulling them upwards, then a second field below them pulling down. This made the handcuffs tremble and rub against his scales, a rather unpleasant feeling, but Arcantos bore it out. Knowing that this separate pull was weakening metal and would make it easier to break later. Admittedly, he couldn't do this for long due to his throbbing head and soon leaned back. Arc's breathing having deepened thanks to the effort it took to for tail-elemental use.With the discussion about the Paladin's and Aether, alongside his own thoughts about how a dragon's body can only handle so much power, his gaze dropped back to his hands. 'The buildup of energy in my hands isn't really a factor. Even without soldier training it would have taken two to three months without causing serious harm. With the soldier training, its much more likely to be at least a year for any lasting damage to be dealt.'Arcantos gaze shifted slightly, going from his hands to the cuffs that were placed on them, binding them together. 'No, the main concern for this is the Inanite cuffs. Elemental energy isn't just built up continuously by creatures, but passively expelled via the outlets so that the buildup of energy does start to hurt the animal. Inantie cuffs prevent this from happening, so they can only be placed on dragons for a limited amount of time before they started taking injury' 'Having the tail free means that there is an outlet, and the expulsion rate out of the tail is much greater than usual - making using if for elemental use even harder than normal come to think of it - and means that amount of time we can go without the cuffs being removed is around two-weeks before we are in risk of injury.'-'That is where the issue comes in, if we are imprisoned for more than two weeks, then they'll give us time with the bonds reduced so that we can discharge the excess energy. They'll liking take off our handcuffs so that we don't have full-power but can still discharge energy quickly, limiting the time we have outside of our bonds' Arcantos clenched his hands, recalling a time in his past... a bit of a painful experience when his teacher showed what happens if it wasn't careful with his elemental usage. 'With the build-up in my hands however, the removing of my cuffs would lead to a surge... and unlike some surges, I wouldn't be able to absorb or redirect it, so
I would immediately be found out, unless I staged my escape attempt then and there' The next subject of Arcantos' gaze was the door of the wagon, and a frown came over his face. Considering what was beyond it... and the dragons most likely surrounding the wagon. 'Whilst I don't want to put us in a place of risk, I want to know what is going on here. Why are we being targeted by shinobi? That is if my theory was correct. If it wasn't it likely brings up even more questions as to who they are? We're simply trainee's in the western army, would anyone have interest in us? ... Whatever the answers, I have a bad feeling that this is just the start...'