In contrast to his sister who sought food and the company of friends, Darius Silvermoon wanted to work out his own frustrations physically. Over the past month, he'd been training with the guards, learning how everything worked, what he was lacking in, and where he might be able to improve.

He also consulted Zane Darkwynde of Myrkir and Roark Starshadow. Since the trip to Thale had been postponed, he spent a week in Starshadow at their invitation. It was not a fun week but he learned a lot. It would take time for him to be prepared to take over the military, but he already had some ideas he wanted to implement.

For now, he'd concentrate on the immediate tasks. Going to Thale and then Cruinog, the Earthborne homeworld.

The Morningstars' First Knight Residence located within the Keep had a private training ground. He was his father's heir, but for now he lived with his mother and sister in the Ducal Residence. When he was ready to start a family, he would move to the First Knight Residence.

Despite the drizzle he stood in the middle of the training ground without any protective clothing. This whole political rigmarole was much better left to women. He was more than happy to swing his sword around. He was just aggravated on his mother's behalf.

A lot of nonsense. The whole thing was just rabble-rousing. The laws of Emphyralis was on their side. Asylum seekers were always welcome on Emphyralis. That his mother even called a hearing was just a show. Grand Duchess didn't have a lot of arbitrary power, but dismissing an unconstitutional proposal to strip an entire race of their rights and dignity of persons was well within her ability.

He pushed his wet, slightly too long black hair away from his slightly tanned face. Finally he cast a spell to dry himself and put a small water shield around himself. His sister often teased him about his low tier as a mage but he knew a wide variety of practical spells.

Movement on the empty residence grounds was easily detected. Only the occasional groundskeeper came to maintain the property. He turned when two young men approached him. They were already mature Dragons, but only a decade or less older than him. They were cousins.

Lazarus Darkfrost was the older of the two. He is a Sapphire-Onyx hybrid. Amadeus Darkmyst was three or so years younger, and an Amethyst-Onyx hybrid. They were originally from the town of Eventide on the northern coast of Silubra. Lazarus's father and Amadeus' mother were Onyx Dragons who'd migrated to Silubra after they lost their entire family to the Plague when they were young. They weren't a large or powerful family, so they decided a fresh start was in order. 

Lazarus's father joined the Silubran military when he came of age. His Sapphire mother was a Justice in Eventide. Amadeus' mother married the younger brother of Eventide's matriarch. Eventide was a well-known Gemcalling and Patternweaving family, but he had no interest in the family business. Lazarus first joined the military when he came of age, and Amadeus joined later.

The two made a good team. Amadeus was an Umbrakinetic with a little Gemcalling ability. His main asset was his quick mind. Darius had been surprised by his quick thinking and intuitive conclusions. Lazarus was Umbrakinetic with some Sonpathic abilities. He was good at investigating, tracking, and analyzing.

The two, despite being cousins, didn't look much alike except similar body types and characteristic Onyx black hair. Lazarus was more pale with blue eyes like his Sapphire mother with defined facial features. Amadeus had slightly flatter features, hooded purple eyes, and a deeper, slightly olive skin tone. 

Originally, he'd put them in charge of the witchborn operation. Even though the Parliamentarians were making a ruckus, the rescue operation hadn't stopped. After a month, the number of witchborn coming through had tapered off to perhaps one a day. There was about a week when one or two people a day was normal. After about two weeks, witchborn were fleeing Terranthea in droves. Nearly a hundred people a day came through for almost two solid weeks. 

During that time, Roark Starshdow volunteered to help out. He wouldn't admit he was checking in Troi Darkwynde, the underage son of the Starshadow High Sentinel, Zane Darkwynde. He was also a little jealous of his younger sisters' gaming devices and wanted to find one himself. He'd learned all the ins and outs from the two cousins, and when they were put on call for testimony, he completely took over the task with Troi.

This was fine with Darius. He wanted to take them with him to Cruinog, if not Thale. The delay actually helped. He could leave it in Roark's hands until they returned. 

Darius had given them time off while they waited to be called to testify, which they did yesterday. He didn't put them back on duty. He was ready to go to Thale now that'd all testified. The plans were already in place. Everyone was ready. They were just waiting for the testimonies to end.

Darius gestured to them. He was pleased to see they'd come ready to spar, wearing practice uniforms and light armor. It wouldn't be their first time sparring. Even though he'd been a mercenary since he was fifteen or sixteen on Thelessia, the planet he and his sister were raised on, these two had been soldiers for twice that long. He wasn't even twenty-two yet. He knew he lacked a lot of experience. The more he encountered, the more experience he gained. He hoped to be able to take on the mantle of First Knight of Silvermoon within the next ten years.

After more than a month, they got along more and more. "One at a time, or free for all?" Lazarus asked.

"Blades or fists?" Amadeus additionally queried.

"Claws?" Lazarus tilted his head.

Amadeus grunted. He was salty he missed the chance to fight against giant hellhounds on Terranthea. If he had to hear that shorty Gorka Deepheart brag about his axe skills one more time, he swore to Aecili... Ah, curse his brain and organizational and logistical skills. 

Lazarus chuckled, reading his expression.

"Claws are fine," Darius said. Stretching all his muscles would be a fine way to relieve the built up stress of the past few weeks. Although he had plenty of training with his humanoid body, he lacked experience in combat with his Dragon form. After all, he'd only been in his Changing Age for a little over a year.

He tilted his neck and let his neck crack. "Free for all." He grinned slightly and began backing up. He created a void and stepped into it, coming out at the edge of the training ground. He was getting better at Voidwalking.

Lazarus and Amadeus also began creating space. They stepped into the shadows. They were old hands at Shadowwalking. They reappeared equidistant from each other and Darius. The three men's bodies began to distort. Although the process was slightly different for each of them, they grew scales, claws, sprouted membranous wines, grew long tails and snouts. Their bodies expanded as they finished their transformations. They were designed to be perfect beings with front-facing eyes, articulate claws capable of grabbing with something similar to a proto-thumb, and powerful bodies.

Each Dragon had slight differences aside from color. Darius was a Silver Dragon whose brushed metallic scales had a slightly blue hue. His eyes also remained blue. When he spread his wings, it was only then that the membranes seemed to shimmer with an almost lavender glow. His body was svelte and longer legs seemingly built more for agility than brute strength like a Serval cat. He was a young Dragon, only just in his Changing Age. He was around twenty feet tall on all fours, forty feet from snout to tail tip, with a wing span of about the same length.

Lazarus was a Sapphire with very dark scales that were almost black at the roots. Even the phalanges of his wings seemed to be more black than blue, but when the light hit his membranes, they glowed a deep blue. His eyes were blue. His body favored his Onyx form, built for stealth and bursting power in the panther-like sinewy body, sleek yet robust. He wasn't much bigger than Darius, maybe a foot all around because he was still a young Dragon.

Amadeus was Amethyst, his scales were dark purple, but exceptionally luminescent. When the light shone through his wing membranes, they looked like a twilight sky. He retained his purple eyes. His body type favored his Amethyst side, slightly longer, strong, lean, and even more agile than Silver Dragons. He was a similar size as Darius.

The three Dragons paced around the periphery of the training ground, looking at each other, heads lowered, shoulders tensed, tails swinging. Darius made the first move, bounding toward the center of the training ground. Lazarus and Amadeus began moving as well, claws at the ready as they lept toward each other.

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