Valleus watched Aushen’s back as the prince was led away by the grand duke. A stable hand walked up and took the reins of the horse, and as if on cue, the chief knight called out Valleus’ name. 

“Valleus!” Within only a few steps, the large man had covered the wide distance between them. Valleus attempted a few words of apology, but was interrupted by a tight embrace. “My boy!” the man bellowed. “I thought we’d lost you for real this time!” 

Valleus returned the embrace in an attempt not to be crushed. "I’m sorry it took me so long to get back, Chief.”

The chief knight patted Valleus firmly on the back as he pulled away from the embrace. “I expect a full debrief, but first, go ahead and get cleaned up. I’ll meet you in the mess hall once you’re done.” Without waiting for a response, the chief stomped away. Valleus thought he might have seen the bear of a man wipe a tear from his eye as he’d turned to go. 

The knights around him were all clearly chomping at the bit to bombard him with questions, but the chief’s suggestion for Valleus to get cleaned up doubled as an order for the other knights not to bother him until he’d had a chance to get settled. The only one who ignored that unspoken order was his closest friend, the knight Coriund. The man stood in the entry to the hallway towards Valleus’ room, tears streaming down his face. 

Valleus sighed, unsure of how to greet the man who’d clearly worried half to death for him. “I’m back from patrol,” he tried, tone half joking. Coriund’s face scrunched up as he attempted to keep more tears from flowing. 

“You! You big dumb idiot!” He practically jumped onto Valleus, wrapping him in a tighter embrace than the chief knight had. 

Valleus chuckled to himself, gently patting his friend’s back. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry.” 

“I thought–! No, no matter. It doesn’t matter.” Coriund pulled away, wiping tears off his face. “I’m so glad you’re all right, Valleus.” 

“Of course I am,” Valleus responded gently. “Who would keep you from following through with your harebrained ideas if I wasn’t around?” Coriund bit his lip, feigning a frown as he playfully punched his friend. "I promise not to disappear on you again," Valleus continued. “In fact, next time I decide to raid an enemy camp singlehandedly, I’ll be sure to bring you with me."

Coriund chuckled, giving Valleus a playful shove. "You better." Then, after a pause, the man added, “Wait a second; it wouldn’t be single-handed if I came along.” 

Glancing back with a playful smirk, Valleus replied, “No, with the amount of help you’d offer, I’d still basically be doing it myself– ow!” Coriund lightly smacked him on the back of the head. 

“Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that.” The two friends headed towards Valleus' room, their footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. Coriund seemed not to have yet noticed the scales crawling up Valleus’ arm from his reptilian hand. While Valleus wasn’t exactly trying to hide it from his friend, he would definitely rather break the news to everyone all at once. No matter the explosive reaction, it would be easiest to rip the bandaid off by letting everyone at the same time see what had happened to his body.

Once inside his room, Valleus was touched to see someone–presumably Coriund–filled a bowl with warm water for him to wash with. As he wiped himself down and put on clean clothes, he couldn’t help but stare at his left hand. It was definitely his hand. The wings, the fire, the claws; the most unsettling part of it all was how natural it all felt.

For his part, Coriund chattered away behind the door, going on and on about how the night’s events had unfolded. Everything seemed to be about what Valleus had expected: Once Prince Aushen had been captured, the assailants withdrew from the caravan, leaving confusion in their wake. Luckily, no one had died during the scuffle, but several of the knights accompanying the caravan thus far had been injured, and much of the equipment was damaged. Nothing was taken, though– besides the crown prince. 

Valleus finished quickly and headed towards the mess hall. Coriund trotted behind him, chatting as he went. Valleus barely heard a word his friend said as he pushed the large door open. The knights all cheered and held their mugs of ale high into the air as he entered. Their warm welcome eased his nerves slightly, and he made his way to the table the chief knight sat at. 

The large man sat at the head of the table, all kinds of food spread out before him. There were two spots open at his left– spots saved for Valleus and Coriund. 

“Valleus my boy, you must be starved! Sit, eat, and share your story!” As he bellowed, the man poured two large mugs of ale and plopped them down at the empty seats. 

Though the knights around him were clearly waiting eagerly for his story, the chief knight heaped stew into a bowl and set it in front of Valleus. “Eat a bit first. Then we’ll hear you out.” Grateful that he was right handed, he kept his left hand in his lap while he ate, trying to avoid the eager glances around him. Finally, after getting about halfway through the bowl, Valleus began his story.

He first explained what he’d seen and why he’d followed without coming back to report his findings. The chief knight nodded gruffly, beckoning for him to continue. The translation for that was: ‘It’s fine, you did the right thing.’ He then recalled as much detail as possible of the brigands’ hideout, their numbers, and what seemed to have been their motive. It was as he explained the ritual that things started to get tricky. 

“So they used His Highness’ blood for their ritual?” the chief knight boomed, aghast. “What insolent, vile– ahem, continue. What happened after you interrupted their dark arts?” 

A small tremor shook in Valleus’ chest as he relived the moment of some great power breaking free from the crystal and flowing into his body. “They referred to it as the Heart of the Dragon,” Valleus finished. 

The mess hall was uncharacteristically silent as the knights waited for Valleus to continue. The chief knight studied Valleus’ expression wordlessly for a few moments. 

“Did it do anything to you?” he finally asked, as though he already knew the answer. 

Valleus gulped. “That, um– well…” he trailed off, pushing himself up from his seat at the table. “Yes.” Closing his eyes, he held up his left hand and was met with a collective gasp.