The smell of salt filled his lungs as a breeze came from the west. It has been a while
since he was last here, but the scent of the sea was as good as he remembered. “Your
Grace?” A question came from behind him. Sometimes he dreaded how distinct his
appearance was, while in some situations it has proven to be extraordinarily useful. A
blessing and a curse, he thought to himself.
“Your Grace, it’s really you! What an honor it is, what brings you here?” The last few
words were muffled behind some rocks being shoved to the side. The other dragon has no
doubt bowed down before his king.
“Oh, just inspecting the far reaches of the kingdom,” he said, sparing a glance at the
dragon behind him, confirming that they indeed bowed down. “You can rise,” Yintul said,
turning around to face the brown dragon. It was much smaller than he had first expected, and
neither its voice, nor its appearance revealed much information. “Who do I have the pleasure
of meeting?”
“The name’s Maliark, sir,” the small dragon said, beaming with pride. “we live not far
from here, I went into the forest to hunt some squirrels. Does Your Grace like squirrels?”
“I used to love them,” he said with a smile, walking down the hill he landed on, enjoying
the nonchalance of the kid. “As you grow up, they begin to be a little too small, but they
always make a nice treat. You mentioned you live nearby?” He paused, waiting for the kids
slow nod. “Would you mind if I would come for a visit?” The kids jaw flew open as it gave him
a wide-eyed stare. Dragons across the kingdom were still not used to the slowly breaking
agenda that Browns stick with Browns and Sards with Sards, but the king himself visiting
ordinary houses was unimaginable by most.
“I- umm… I’m sure ma’ would love to, sir,” the kid said, his voice not following the
certainty in his words.
“Lead the way then,” Yintul smiled as he followed the astounded kid through the thin,
pine forest all the way to its edge, after which they turned right and walked alongside the
rocky coastal line. While he was silent, the kid blissfully chattered about his home, how me
caught an enormous fish three days prior, and that-
“Ekhm,” a voice sounded from behind them, causing them to pause and turn around. In
front of them stood a red dragon, her lime hood retracted, but her side clearly displayed the
royal regalia of the reds. The messenger stood silently, knowing she needs not to explain why
she was here. Nevertheless, it never happened that a king sent for an audition, so Yintul had
to be certain.
“Kersoth is asking to meet with me?” The dragon in front of him nodded, her posture
still as a rock. “I guess I agree? I will be in this general area for a handful of days, when would
he be able to get here?”
“Within minutes,” the dragon stated with a silvery voice, reaching into her pouch. She
took out some sort of a berry or a small stone, which she ate instantly as she jumped high into
the air, propelling herself with wings. Once above the treetops she looked up and breathed
out a column of fire, which stayed in the air for a short while, burning with unnatural blue
flame. Ah, so they were inakuts, he thought to himself as the messenger gracefully landed.
“His Majesty had to have seen that and should now be on His way.”
“That was an impressive display miss…?”
“Laurielle”
“…Miss Laurielle. Is your only task for now to wait for the king to arrive?” The
messenger nodded, to which Yintul continued. “Could you then be of assistance? I’d like you
to escort Maliark here over to his home, and then return back remembering where it is
located, so that you can lead me to it later.”
“Understood,” but instead of moving, Laurielle stood in place, taking off her cloak.
Seeing her struggle with putting it into her pouch, Yintul grabbed it gently with his
claws. “I’ll keep a watch over it here,” he said, pulling the cloak towards himself, lightly folding
it before carefully laying it on a big rock in front of him. The messenger didn’t look too happy
with leaving her cloak, but she was obviously not going to oppose kings word, even if it was
not her king.
“Understood,” she paused, staring at her cloak as if she wanted to say more, but
whatever it was, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“Oh right, that is your errand, now fly with the wind,” Yintul quickly recited, forgetting the
technicalities of Red’s message system. “Or I guess, walk with the kid would be more fitting
here.”
Laurielle gave him a look as if he said a really bad pun, topped with a slight, resigned
smile. She turned around and quickly trotted up to the kid to explain the situation, before the
two of them went on their way, leaving him alone with the sea. A few minutes later he could
hear heavy flapping of wings slowly descend behind him as Kersoth landed, followed by rocks
moving away from under his weight.
“You didn’t need an official audition to talk to me, we’re still family.” Yintul turned around
to face his grandfather. “Why have you came here?”
“Because seeing what you have done in the past decade, I believe you have proved
your worth. Noble and peasant alike, all seem to approve of your actions, and I never
would’ve thought it’s possible to please both at once,” the Ruby dragon took a deep breath
before continuing. “I want to finish what Zelnsith and I started all those years ago. I’m willing
to step down from my position to join our kingdoms under one ruler,” he took a pin with the
royal sign off of his chest, holding it forward. “If you’re willing to accept the burden, that is.”
Yintul stared down at the pin. While on its own it was meaningless, the message it
conveyed filled him with hopes for the future. “Will you be there to aid me with knowledge?”
He asked, knowing he wouldn’t be able to quickly adapt to all of the red customs.
“As a grandfather, but the rule will solely be yours.”
There was a moment of hesitation as Yintul considered if he’s truly fit to rule two races
at once, but knowing he may not get a second chance he took the pin, putting it on his own
chest, alongside the royal symbol of Sards.
“You will need a name to call the combined kingdom, so that people won’t get confused
about it,” Kersoth said, putting his paw back down, flinging some rocks off to the side.
“Hmm…” He wondered for a minute, noticing with the corner of his eye that the
messenger was flying back at a swift pace. “I’m not too good with names, so how about
Ruard?”
The Ruby dragon looked at the Sard king with slight confusion before seeing what was
done. “You have the most curious sense of humor. Hopefully your children won’t hate you for
it.” He paused, looking into the ocean for a moment before re-establishing eye contact with
Yintul. “Can you even have children?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll find out in time. I have my eyes on a fair maiden which will
hopefully not reject advances made by a mixed child.”
“Oh really? Is she a Sard or will you have a Ruby wife like your father?”
Instead of answering, Yintul turned around with a wink, facing the messenger who
somehow silently landed and put on her cloak. “Lead the way, Laurielle,” he said, waving
goodbye with his wing.
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