Ignacia wiped the sweat from her brow and took a small break from healing. The slash marks were deeper than she originally thought and it was taking longer to heal the dragon. Rustam tried to help her, but she told him to save his energy just in case. She didn’t know why, but she got the feeling that one of them should save their energy. She pulled a small vial out of her pocket and contemplated whether she should use it now or wait.

“Are you running low on magic?” Rustam asked her.

“If I keep going, I’ll be drained,” she admitted quietly. “His injuries are deeper than I expected. If I drink this, it could easily backfire and I get sick, especially since I’m still feeling a little weak from not getting proper sleep the past few days. I wasn't planning on healing a dragon today.”

Rustam frowned as he thought about the risks. If trouble came, Ignacia would need to drink the potion to regain her power. But recovering magic energy too fast could result in getting the dreaded Magicae Pyrexia, a sickness that causes a person to become feverish and weak because their magic energy would attack their body. Rustam had never gotten it, but he’d seen Ignacia, Daelyniel, and Galenova get it a few times. Magic energy could be very finicky. If it recovered too fast or if they were born with too much of it, they could suffer from this sickness. It could be cured with medicine, but it was very expensive, and not many mages or alchemists could make it or grow some of the plants needed for it. Most of the time, waiting it out was the best option, but it could be fatal to infants or young children.

Ignacia put the vial back in her pocket and walked over to a log lying on the ground to sit down. “I’ll save that for later. Just give me a few minutes to rest.”

The prince looked over to Yamanaereus. He didn’t appear to be injured anywhere else, but it was obvious the injuries had weakened him greatly. The dragon looked back at him as Rustam slowly walked up to him. “Can you tell us who did this to you?”

The dragon glanced back at him and let out a low growl. It didn’t sound threatening toward Rustam, but the look on Yamanaereus’ face looked a little angry. “C-Captured…”

“Captured? By whom?” Rustam asked softly.

The Bronze Horror looked at the Dwarf for a few seconds before replying, “M-Mages…a-and prince…”

“Mages?” Ignacia questioned and stood up. “And a prince?”

Rustam’s heart dropped. He knew the dragon wasn’t lying. But which “prince” could Yamanaereus be talking about? Surely, it couldn’t be one of his brothers, right? His brothers had never been up close to a dragon. There was no way they could capture a dragon under everyone’s noses. “My brothers couldn’t have done this.”

Ignacia gave him a hard look. “I think you need to look outside of your parents and brothers…”

The prince’s eyes widened when he realized who she meant. “You can’t mean…?”

“It wouldn’t be that surprising,” Ignacia replied. “He has a motive and it’s damn easy to see why he would do something like this. Now, we need to find out where they’re being made, put a stop to it, and have your uncle admit to his crimes to your parents.”

“Igy, there’s no way Drefan would do such a thing!” Rustam exclaimed in disbelief. “He’s a lot of things, but he wouldn’t stoop so low as to create horrific creatures and hire others to kill my family-”

“And I told you that kin have killed other kin for lesser reasons,” Ignacia cut him off. “Drefan has always believed he would make a better king than your father. That’s all he goes on about and he tries to undermine your father every chance he gets. You can’t tell me you don’t see it, Rustam! Even when we were kids, you would avoid him!”

Rustam couldn’t deny that. He’d never been able to put his finger on it, but there was something about his uncle that made him uneasy. Even when he was a baby, his mother said he would cry whenever he saw Drefan.  But he had a hard time wrapping his head around it. To think that a family member would try to kill him and his brothers. 

“B-Boreas…,” Yamanaereus croaked.

“Hey, take it easy,” Ignacia soothed and petted his neck, frowning at the scars on his throat. “Boreas as in the Boreas Mountains?” Those mountains were the largest and in the northernmost part of the continent. Not many could travel there due to the dense forests in front of it and the wild animals living in it. Even the most experienced warriors and mages would think twice about traversing through the forest, let alone climbing the mountain. But that’s not all it was known for… “Fuck!”

“What is it?” Rustam asked.

“The Boreas Mountains were created to keep the dragons sealed there,” Ignacia answered. “Which means…” She walked over to Yamanaereus’ head. “Are all of the other legendary dragons captured and being held there?”

The bronze dragon gave a small nod, and Ignacia bit her fist to keep from screaming in frustration. 

“So they’re using the legendary dragons’ blood to create the drakes. But how…?” Rustam couldn’t help but wonder how his uncle and mages would accomplish such a feat.

“That doesn’t matter! What matters is that we need to head back and tell your father about this!” Ignacia exclaimed, waving her arms wildly. “We need to free the other dragons!”

Rustam groaned in frustration. “But how would mages be able to pull that off? Capturing all the dragons? And how would they keep them inside the mountain?”

“One artifact and one spell! The Dragon Containment Mirror and the Dragon Containment Seal! The Mirror can easily absorb them inside it for easy capture so long as one knows the spell, and the Seal was created to keep them locked in the Boreas Mountains should they ever become a threat to us or the world!” Ignacia yelled and continued waving her arms. “And only the Five Blessed Relics can break the seal once it's activated!"

A rustling noise from the forest put them on alert. Rustam pulled out his sword and readied himself. Ignacia quickly picked up her staff and stood next to him. As the rustling got closer, Yamanaereus growled and tried to stand up, but was too weak to even lift his head.

Two Dwarves stepped out of the forest and looked surprised to see them. One looked around Rustam’s age with black hair and dark brown eyes, and the other looked around Sir Oren’s age with long light gray hair with dark brown eyes too. The old man laughed nervously and raised his hands up. “Well, this is a surprise. Why are you here?”

“We could ask you the same thing,” Ignacia snapped and aimed her staff at them. “What are you two doing here? This is a forbidden island.”

“You’re here. Is this island not also forbidden for you? Or is it your private property?” the older man countered sarcastically.

Rustam lowered his weapon but stayed on alert just in case they tried something. “We’re here on official business for the royal family. I’m Prince Rustam Scale-Singer, and I demand to know why you’re here.”

The old man glared at him and Ignacia before smiling at them. “I’m a scholar, young prince. When I saw the Bronze Horror, I couldn’t help but want to get a close look at him. And this is my grandson, Sigmar. He’s a mercenary and I asked him to protect me.”

“Regardless, you shouldn’t be here,” Rustam said firmly. “If you go now, I’ll pretend we didn’t see you even though you broke the law.” He saw Sigmar grip his axe handle tightly with an angry look on his face.

“P-Please, Your Highness,” the old man begged. “I just wish to get a close look at the dragon and-”

“No.” Rustam narrowed his eyes and aimed his sword at them. “Now, I’ll tell you one more time: please leave. Please don’t make us take you in for doing this.”

Yamanaereus growled and glared at the two men. “T-Them…!”

The young man looked surprised to hear the dragon speak and laughed nervously when Rustam and Ignacia looked at him and his grandfather. “He must be mistaken us for others. I know I’ve never seen this dragon before.”

Rustam eyed them suspiciously. “But you’ve seen the others?”

“N-No! I’ve never seen a dragon before!” the young man exclaimed. “Neither of us has seen one before.

“Your Highness, I believe we’re getting off track. I just wish to collect some samples for my work and examine the dragon. Maybe I can help? He appears to be injured,” the old man offered.

Ignacia huffed. “And now, we’re asking for the third time to leave. Prince Rustam and I will handle this ourselves, Sir…?”

“I’m Heiner Stone-Wall. I’m a scholar working for the Arcane Academy. I just wanted to take some notes about this magnificent creature for my colleagues,”  the old man insisted. “We don’t mean any harm.”

Yamanaereus growled and struggled to stand up, but still couldn’t. “L-L-Lies…!” His visible eye glared at the two intruders.

Rustam and Ignacia looked at each other, then looked at the men. “You’re the ones responsible for his injuries, aren't you?” Ignacia questioned them.

The old man laughed nervously and slowly backed up as his grandson moved to stand in front of him. “As if we could cause those injuries! He was obviously attacked by a beast of some kind!”

“And we know someone is creating said beasts!” Ignacia shot back. She pulled the vial out of her pocket and popped the top off, drinking the liquid in one gulp. The green crystal at the end of her staff started glowing and gave the old man a knowing look. “And I know exactly who you are, old man. You fought my grandfather for the position of court wizard back in your younger days. He said you got so angry and desperate that you almost destroyed the whole city during the fight.”

Heiner’s eyes narrowed and his face twisted in anger. “I see. So you’re Oren’s mongrel granddaughter. I've heard a little bit about you.”

She grinned at him. "And you'll hear more about me once I become court wizard."

Rustam readied himself and saw Heiner’s grandson do the same. “Answer this, Mister Heiner. Is Drefan behind all this?”

Heiner laughed and shook his head. “Very good, Your Highness. You’re smarter than your uncle thinks.” He held his hand out, and a large fireball formed. “And that’s why we can’t let you and your friend leave here alive.”

Need something to read while waiting for the next chapter? Check out these other Tapas AF Tourney novels! Links below! <3