I watched as the human tore hungrily into the cooked meat. He was draped in a makeshift blanket fashioned out of the bearskin. Judging by his ribcage clearly showing through his skin and the way he ate without breathing, it was clearly his first meal in a while. I nibbled slowly at my portion, which was much smaller. I didn't mind though; bear meat had a lingering bitter aftertaste that I absolutely hated. How this lesser being was stomaching an entire bear leg on his own, I had no idea.
"How long ago did you escape?" I asked him.
"Hard to tell time in a storm," he replied. "About half a week?"
I grimaced. Everything suddenly started making a lot more sense. In the time that Donghai had been stranded in the forest, the Aesir had either presumed he was dead, or given up on pursuing him. At the same time, my father had finalized a deal that had been negotiated for years now, promising to teach the lesser races how to use Mana.
As a result, because they knew that humans also had the capability to use Aura, they began teaching lesser races the usage of Aura, under the guise of benevolence. In reality, they were probably just scared that Iadra was planning a war, weaponizing the lessers to use as fodder.
"After you recover, I'll accompany you back to Heiguang. The Aesir shouldn't target you anymore."
Donghai looked at me skeptically. "How can you be sure?"
I sighed, not wanting to explain the politics of the four deity races to a lesser. "It's a gut feeling." I shot him a reassuring smile. "Besides, even if they did, you've got me here with you."
Between mouthfuls of the smoked bear he was still inhaling, he grinned. "You never told me why you're up here."
"I told you, I come up here to clear my head."
"Something must have happened for you to have to clear your head." Donghai pointed out. "It's okay. I know politics can get tiring."
I raised an eyebrow. Donghai flinched and immediately bowed his head again.
"T-that's not to say that I understand what you're going through! I would never be so impudent as to put my problems on the same level as a deity's! Please forgive me!"
I sighed. The crown prince of Heiguang was undoubtedly much younger than me, hailing from a lesser race that aged much quicker, but in terms of dragon years, I was around the same age as him.
"I'm around your age in dragon years, so there's no need to prostrate yourself to me like that." I paused, thinking about how much I was allowed to tell him. "King Iadra has decided to teach the lessers how to use mana." I said, deciding that the prince should have already known about it anyways.
"Isn't that a good thing? I don't understand why you would be upset about th-" Donghai paused, remembering that we weren't of the same race.
"Just because I don't care for the fake pleasantries involved in politics doesn't mean I have no pride in my race." I scoffed. We were meant to be the progenitors of mana, the building blocks of existence itself. I saw no reason we should allow for lesser beings to grasp our knowledge.
Donghai frowned. "If you hate us lessers so much, why bother saving me?" he asked, his voice steadily getting louder. He scowled at me, rage seeping into his voice. "I was wrong to think of you as different. You're no better than the Aesir."
"Watch your mouth, human." I spat. "I have nothing against your race. The weak should know their place, that's all. I see no reason for us to lower ourselves to help your pitiful civilization. If I really was as bad as the Aesir, I'd have sat in the snow and watched you bleed out."
Donghai shot up, marching into my face.
"So why didn't you? If you don't want to lower yourself to help us lessers, why bother saving me? Because I can use Aura? Is power the only thing you care about, you damn lizard?" he hissed.
"Please," I scoffed. "You think being able to use Aura means anything to me? Even my own people can't use the same type of magic as me, and you think being able to use Aura means anything to me? The Aesir are nothing more than insignificant bugs to me."
Donghai's hand glowed with a fiery red energy. I stared down at him, silently daring him to try something. He clicked his tongue and turned away from me.
"Forget it." he said. "You aren't worth it."
"What?" I snapped.
"I said you aren't worth it!" he yelled. "You're no better than a spoiled brat, drunk on his own power! You're so obsessed with strength you can't even tell what you want! If you cared so much about how powerful someone was, why save someone you consider to be less than yourself?"
I grabbed him by the neck, slamming him against the cold, grey walls of the cave. He choked and sputtered, desperately trying to claw himself out of my grip. His face was turning blue, and I could tell he would either pass out or die if I didn't let go. I clenched my jaw.
"Know your place, ungrateful filth."
He momentarily stopped struggling to free himself, flipping up his middle finger.
"Go f*ck yourself," he smirked, and then passed out.
I dropped his limp body and walked out of the cave. I sealed the entrance up with ice before pausing.
He's right. Why do I care about what happens to him?
I walked down the snowy path, all while his words echoed in my mind.
If you cared so much about how powerful someone was, why save someone you consider to be less than yourself?
I pondered for a while, not paying attention to my surroundings. No matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't come up with an answer. I felt my heart ache with a bout of sharp pain, causing my mana to flare. I dropped to my knees, sinking slightly in the snow. What was this pain I felt?
Before I could contemplate any further, I heard a massive explosion in the distance. I whipped my head around, realizing it came from the direction of the cave I had left Donghai in. I looked at the tracks behind me. There were two sets of footprints; one was my own, heading in the direction that I was going, the other following my tracks back to where I came from. I could detect a faint residual aura coming from it.
The pain in my heart got a little bit worse. Donghai's words repeated in my head again.
I revealed my true form, unfurling my wings. I took off, speeding as fast as I could through the sky, tearing through the clouds. If any Orrostumans saw me, they'd assume the clouds were at war with each other. I closed in rapidly on the cave, but I was too late. I watched helplessly as the cave shook violently, and then exploded.
"Donghai!" I screamed.
When the dust settled, I saw a man around the same height as my human form. He had the air of a seasoned warrior around him, his chin jutted out arrogantly, eyes focused on Donghai struggling to free his neck from his grip. The man's golden eyes glared at me through fire-red bangs.
"Stay out of this, dragon." he spat. "What do you want with him?"
I transformed into my human form, walking up and staring at him. "Watch your tone, whelp. What I want with him is none of your business."
A look of recognition flashed across the man's face. "Ah! Blonde hair, an unmistakeable sense of self-importance, dazzling eyes, if I do say so myself, you must be Iadra's brat!" He tossed Donghai aside, his bones audibly cracking from the impact. "What should I do? Odin and Zeus both instructed me to forget about the human, but how can I do that when I've been slighted?"
He turned to me, rage blazing in his eyes. His face contorted with anger, and he flashed me a toothy grin. "And now some brat who's balls haven't dropped yet tries to mess with me? Father Zeus, Lord Odin, forgive me for what I'm about to do; I'll explain to Iadra why I killed his son."
"Ah, so you're Mars. I should have been able to tell, if the stupidity and horrid smell was anything to go off of." I was smiling, although my eyebrows were probably twitching with displeasure. "Won't you please step aside? I have a responsibility to make sure the Prince of Heiguang is alright. After all, you wouldn't dare mess with King Iadra, would you?"
"You damn brat. You think I care about Iadra? I'm the strongest of the Aesir. He's nothing to me. I'll crush you, and then bring your head to him on a stake." Mars spat on the ground.
"Strong as you are, I recall you lost a duel to Iadra quite easily. Where does all of that confidence come from?"
Mars clenched his fists. The wind around us began to pick up, swirling ominously. "I'll kill you." he said through gritted teeth. "It's a given that I lose to the strongest of the dragons, but you're a different story, newt."
I bristled angrily at the slur. Nobody knew their place these days. First a mere human dared to call me a lizard, and now this muscleheaded ape wanted to spit insults at me. In my opinion, Aura was inferior to Mana in every aspect. Being able to harness one's innate lifeforce was impressive, but through the manipulation of Mana, I could make the world bend to my whims. Compared to that, Aura seemed rather lackluster.
"I'd like to see you try, weakling."
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