When we made our way to the wolf's den, Hathor patiently introduced the bears to his pack. It was comical seeing a wolf barking while every so often pointing at a bear with his snout. Even more so, the confused looks from the wolves that greeted him.
Before long, he finished, and the bears walked forward, introducing themselves like they were playing charades.
Niles specifically pointed at himself, mouthing out the words slowly as if speaking to a child.
"NI ni- ni- ie-le-Niles." He nodded to himself, the corners of his lips pulled upwards as his chest puffed out. His wife, in her human form, was hanging onto his bicep, her head nuzzling on his shoulder. She had a proud smile on her face.
While the Adults were conversing, I turned to look at the children, I looked towards Luna, who was playing with the bear cubs.
After a while of mingling with the pack, the two adults started talking with Hathor.
The bears, so used to isolation, seemed awkward at first, but after engaging in a hearty conversation with Hathor, they also began to smile and laugh.
I enjoyed watching them have fun, but I did not wish to partake. I knew how awkward it was for a superior to butt into a conversation. Instead, I focused on my sister, who was staring at the bears with widened eyes, her lips twitching, almost smiling.
It seemed like she also enjoyed watching them bond.
How cute.
I gently put my hand on her head. My sudden touch broke her intense focus. She yelped cutely, turning to glare at me, her cheeks puffed up, and her eyes glossy.
She had forced me to do this; I looked around, ensuring no one was watching, and stretched her cheeks.
Her hands tried to stop me, but pitifully failed. After a while of enjoyment, I stopped. She continued to stare at me with narrowed eyes and huffed in disapproval.
Her eyes, which felt like daggers, stared at me before she presented her head.
I laughed softly and gently extended my hand to pat her. She faced me, her eyes softening while they shimmered like jewels. Tiamat nudged her head into my hand, her tail swaying behind her.
This was life.
I swore to make sure to keep this peace, I wanted to make this world safe for Tiamat. Even if that meant I had to rule it.
Although I doubted, I needed to do that much.
Before I started planning past this forest, I had to get rid of the last unstable factor.
The serpent.
My eyes narrowed as I glared outwards at the mountain beside the bears. It was my selfish desire that we could somehow win without bloodshed. I hoped our new adversary would be like Hathor and Niles. Ever since I was born in this world, I could feel a growing aversion to conflict that led to bloodshed. At first, it was mild, but as time passed, it acted like a seed sprouting. I felt it taking root inside me.
The feeling wasn't enough to worry me, and it wasn't even inherently bad either, but I still felt the need for introspection. Was it part of the Dragon's ego that rested inside me? Or a certain type of complacency.
There wasn't a single day in my work when I didn't have to fight, every day was a struggle between life and death. I lived like every day was my last, and as someone who lived amongst the worst type of humans, it could very well have been.
This wasn't the time to think about depressing matters.
"My liege." Hathor's voice entered my ear from my right. I blinked before turning towards him.
His white coat created a stark contrast against the dimly lit cave.
"Preparations for the siege on the serpent's lair are underway." His silver eyes stared into the distance as he spoke. His back was straight, and his head held high, his lips seemed to be trembling as he suppressed the urge to grin.
It was quite obvious that he was excited about finally uniting the forest.
"The Children will be taken care of, while Niles and I lay siege on the last Mountain Lord." He paused, before turning to face me, before I could respond, he spoke in a steady voice. "My lord, if you do everything yourself, then we are nothing more than decorations." He bowed his head. "If you grant me this honor, I will bring you satisfactory results."
I stared at the top of his head. His ears were twitching, and his tail subtly wagged in anticipation.
It wasn't like I had been with Hathor for long, but he hadn't disappointed me yet, and if this was what he desired, I didn't mind humoring him.
[Very Well.]
He raised his head excitedly; his lips curved into a satisfied grin that reached his eyes. His tail wagging passionately behind him, his ears drooped backward. He opened his mouth.
I had never seen him so excited, and I couldn't help but compare him to a husky.
Hathor looked at me, noticing my gaze, he cleared his throat, the smile left his face, but his tail continued to wag incessantly.
"Apologies, my lord, that was unsightly." He bowed his head, revealing his still relaxed ears.
[For what? Displaying emotion? Never apologize for that, Hathor. It is the beauty bestowed upon life.] I looked at him with sincerity in my gaze.
His lips trembled before a grin appeared on his face. "Yes, my lord." He pounded his chest with his paw, his head was held up high, his face turned towards the outside, and he howled. His howl caused all the other wolves to join in.
"Your grace, would you like to visit and petition for his allegiance?"
[Yes! Last time I got soup, what will I get this time?] Tiamat, who was enjoying my head pats, touched her chin, her head tilted slightly, as her usual regal face broke into a toothy grin, her mouth salivating at the thought of what she would get next.
[You heard her.] I turned to face outside, the light from the twin suns softly setting, the bright red maple trees, losing their luster as night's chariot slowly streaked across the sky. The fireflies and other creatures kept the forest lit.
The beauty of the scene drew me in.
"Niles!" Hathor turned around and barked loudly, his voice echoing into the cave. A response came in the form of thundering footsteps.
"HATHOR!" He patted the wolf's back before turning to face me. "My lord." His voice substantially lower, he bowed his head.
Hathor stumbled, a bit, losing his composure, and then glared at Niles.
I turned to face him and gave him a nod of acknowledgment.
He raised his head, his lips opened as he spoke.
"What can I do for you, my Lord?"
Seeing my reluctance to speak, Hathor intervened. He raised his head, his silver eyes meeting Niles' glowing orbs.
"Remember what we talked about?" Hathor straightened up, his eyes digging into Niles.
"OH!" He loudly exclaimed, his mouth the shape of an O. He touched his forehead with his hands. "The raid, yes." He nodded enthusiastically.
"I'm ready." He flashed a grin towards Hathor.
[Good.] I gave him an approving look.
[But first, we will find out if they are willing to submit or leave on their own.] I continued to tell him what we hoped to achieve.
[Do you have any information on the serpent?] I looked at him with an inquisitive gaze.
Now was the time for information.
"The serpent?" He scratched his nape. "Tough bastard," He spat to the side, his saliva hitting the floor, smoke sizzling from it.
I looked at him with a curious gaze, urging him to elaborate. My sister nudged me with her head, curious to hear the story.
He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "It's a story fresh from my youth, right when I settled here on this mountain range." He turned towards his wife, who was playing with some of the wolf cubs. His eyes sparkled, as they softened, the corners of his lips crinkled slightly, while a smile adorned his face.
"My wife and I had just escaped the Overworld during the winter solstice," He paused, turning back towards us.
How? If you're being this talkative, at least explain. I didn't voice my complaint and just listened.
"Desperate to separate myself from anything to do with Dragons, I went to the only realm without any." He stared intensely at us. "How funny is fate?" He chuckled, "Now the very blood I used to hate runs through my veins." His words made Hathor growl, and I could feel my sister's heated gaze just from being beside her.
Niles put his hands up in surrender. "No offense, my lord."
[Just continue]
He rubbed his chin. "Where was I?" he stared at the ceiling. "Oh yeah, I forced myself back into this realm, with my hand wrapped around my wife's waist."
Did this bear enjoy the art of speaking? First outside of his cave, and now this. I asked for the serpent.
But while hearing him speak was tedious, I couldn't deny the information I was slowly gathering.
"Since our entrance was forced, our position was random." He walked outside of the cave; we followed behind him.
"I landed over there," He pointed towards a massive crater beside the Serpents' lair. The stone was cracked, with moss and trees covering around it, but there was no life present in the middle.
"Enough" Hathor interrupted, his eyes narrowing into thin slits. "How was the Serpent?" Hathor spoke with gritted teeth.
The bear rolled his eyes, unbothered by his glare.
"Didn't give me a chance to speak, I barely escaped with my life."
"Oh, and it was the size of a tree trunk." He nodded to himself. A proud grin on his face.
"You must learn to speak less." Hathor growled, "You could have just said he was strong."
"Why? Does my voice not tickle your ears?" He laughed boisterously, patting his belly.
The bear's story was a massive letdown, but it was a stark reminder to never ask him for information again.
I turned away from them and hid my sigh.
[Very well, we will be on our way.]
The journey towards the other mountain was longer than I had expected. Niles' wife had joined us as she was the stronger of the two in case anything went wrong.
While it was easy for my sister and me to traverse through the air, it was not the same for the pair of bears. Hathor generously created a pathway made of ice. It worked wondrously, but the effort to cross it was tedious and lengthy. Niles had to hold onto his wife for dear life, as he kept on slipping across. We all waited patiently until we made it to the entrance of the third and final cave.
I landed gracefully, and my sister landed beside me, while Hathor landed and controlled the ice to lower them gently.
Niles kissed the ground. Hathor rolled his eyes while Leah looked at him lovingly.
But that was the end of the dramatics, this place drained the blood from all our faces.
First, there was the distinct scent of blood, which was pungent and lingered in the air. The second was the row of shrine maiden-like people kneeling and praying inside the cave's edges.
They looked like normal woman, if not for the deer antlers sticking out of their heads.
I focused my eyes.
The text appeared before my eyes.
[Earth Loving Deer Lvl.20]
[A peaceful species of deer, who were enslaved by the vicious ruler of the mountain, forced to worship him as their god, their cousins, the fire-breathing deer, pay tribute to their god in the form of young.]
"What the hell is this?" Nile's voice cut through the silence brought by the horror-like sight.
The deer people, unbothered, continued to bow their heads and raise their hands, as if they were worshipping something, words in a different language that I couldn't recognize escaped their tongues. The hymns were robotic and eerie to listen to. The blood running through my veins urged me to stop them. The words they uttered felt evil, wrong, doing something they weren't supposed to do.
Their eyes were empty as they blankly stared at the ground.
In less than the blink of an eye.
They halted their actions, all their heads turned to face us at the same time. They tilted their heads in synch.
I felt the air shift around me, something big was coming, and it was arriving from deep inside that cave.
Something vile, evil, a heresy that needed to be extinguished.
Thump! Thump!
It sounded like a train, racing in a flash, a giant serpent that couldn't be described as such appeared.
Its mouth was the size of the entrance, its teeth bigger than Niles' body. I swore I could drown just from a drop of its saliva. Its eyes were a red so vivid I could mistake it for blood; on its body, it possessed scales as black as night. Short antler-like horns were building on its forehead, and an inexplicable urge to rip them off swelled up inside me.
Short bumps formed beneath its chest, like a failed effort to grow hands, and short whiskers adorned the sides of its mouth.
I recognized it, yes, I knew what this was.
[Eun Yong The Imoogi Who Wishes To Be A Dragon Lvl.19]