"So... are you really the dragon of my family?" She asked in a suspicious voice.
Valthor nodded slowly.
"Yes. When Adaïr was still reigning, before his disappearance, he ordered me not to intervene in the family's affairs, especially because of his children."
Anna frowned.
"And after his disappearance? "
Valthor looked away slightly.
"Her son Asher, was the last to know about my existence, but he died too young without talking to his son about me. No new contracts could be formed. After that, I spent my time facing monsters here and there. "
Then he got up, and advanced towards Anna.
"Ver the time the Ingriss have forgotten me, but I am still there thanks to the bond that unites us. This bond that unites the Ingriss and me, is only thanks to a pact that my mother, a black dragon, had made with the hero king Raiden. "
"Since my mother's death, her tasks have returned to me. First, that of protecting the Ingriss lineage in its moments of weakness. Second, that of protecting the history and heritage of the Ingriss. And lately, that of lending my power to an Ingriss who wants it thanks to a contract. "
Anna remained silent, absorbed in his words.
"But... if you promised to protect... why didn't you prevent the fall of our family? "
Valthor stared at her and replied unconsciously:
"Well... because I didn't want it. I had promised to protect the powerful Ingriss lineage, but since I succeeded my mother, I have only seen five interesting generations and the rest of you were all mediocre. "
"In addition to that, you must be grateful to me, because since your fall you have lost your true domain which is in the Southwest of the continent, and I had to install my territory there to prevent anyone from coming to steal your inheritance. "
Anna felt a burning curiosity grow in her.
"A real domain? "
Valthor nodded.
"Exactly, your current domain is not your real domain, and on tops of that, you have lost the true essence of your traditional ceremonies. But hey, I think you can be the perfect person. "
"Say to me little one, do you want to make a contract with me? Together we do everything we can to raise the Ingriss family back to the top. "
"Come with me, and I will take you to the true domain of the Ingriss, and there you can learn the true sword arts of the Ingriss that were forgotten over time. But above all, you will have to do everything to reach the FivFtera stage, because when you reach it, your children will be able to inherit the power that flows in the blood of the Ingriss. "
She widened her eyes.
"You're talking about the FivFtera stadium? It is a rank downright impossible to reach, even the current patriarch is only at the TriFtera stage. "
An almost mocking sneer emerged on Valthor's lips.
"Hmm, impossible?" What bullshit... back then even the least talented could reach the Seenftera stage, to the point that the TriFtera stage was a norm before their twenties."
"You have become so weakened over time... it's disgusting," he said with a slight air of contempt.
The silence fell, heavy as an anvil. Anna lowered her eyes, her fists clenched.
"And if I can't do it? "
Valthor approached her, and began to observe every corner of her face.
"Even if you didn't pass the first mandatory Ingriss ceremony, I believe we will find a solution to the domain. But if you still can't do it, then the name of the Ingriss will disappear forever. "
"Even if there is a bond that unites me to you, I would much rather disappear than serve a weak lineage," he says, staring intensely at Anna.
Anna was silent for a moment, thoughts swirling in her mind. Then, she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders.
"Very well... tell me what I have to do, and I will," she said, determination shining in her red eyes.
Her pale beauty, marked by her long white hair, contrasted with the harshness of her words. She knew the truth: the women of the Ingriss lineage could not directly transmit their power to their descendants, unlike men. Only one escape existed, forgotten over the centuries: reaching the stage of FivFtera.
By discovering this condition, Anna finally saw another road, a different way from the one that had been tried to impose on her.
Valthor, scrutinizing his eyes, saw a new flame. A burst of satisfaction crossed his eyes.
"Well... So let's pass our contract. "
In a deep rumble, he metamorphosed into a dragon again. Its dark scales captured the light, and its imposing mass made the air vibrate around them. He advanced a paw, and the sharp curve of his claw gently landed on Anna's chest.
A scorhing heat immediately springs up in his veins. She inhaled strongly, first surprised... then the pain broke out, lightning.
— Aaarrrhhhh!—
His cry echoed in the air. His legs trembled, his back arched as the transformation began. His bones twisted, his muscles contracted violently. In a sinister crack, two wings unfolded in his back, still smoking with heat. His skin was covered in places with black scales, a black horn emerged on the side of his forehead, and his left eye took on the golden and reptilian hue of Valthor.
Anna invaded by pain lost consciousness, and ended up collapsing next to Valthor.
Valthor watched him for a long time, seeing how his transformation dissipated.
Then a carnivorous smile stretched his draconic mouth.
"Perfect... It seems that my instinct did not deceive me. "
He took it and wrapped it in one of his paws .
He came out of the cave, and with a powerful flap of his wings, Valthor rose into the air, taking with him the future savior of the Ingriss. Together, they swent to the Southwest, where the real domain of the Ingriss was located, hidden from the eyes of the world.
After a few minutes of flight, the clouds tore tore, revealing in the distance the true domain of the Ingriss, hidden for centuries to the southwest.
"We are there," Valthor announced in a deep voice in his mind.
Anna woke up and came down from the dragon, her feet slowly treading this earth.
Despite the weather, the gardens remained maintained, the buildings intact, as if the true masters of these places were going to return at any moment. She inhaled deeply. The air had a scent that she had never known.
In the silent rooms, she walked on carpets that had crossed the ages.
She reached a huge library that collapsed under the weight of several books.
Anna discovered many dusty grimoires telling the story of her lineage, books describing ancestral ceremonies, sword techniques and even books containing jealously guarded secrets in a room that must have belonged to the head of the family.
She touched the cover of a book with a leather cover: The Chronicles of Raen Ingriss.
She took the book, then opened one of its pages at random, and she read a few words in a low voice:
"This monster forced me to open the doors to the void zone, it was…"
Her voice broke. She closed the book and put it back in its place.
Shortly after, under the strict supervision of Valthor, Anna awakened the sleeping power of her lineage, and the training began.
She trained tirelessly next to the dragon who had no mercy.
The days followed one another, each training adding its share of fractures and torn flesh. But at every moment, Valthor healed her instantly with his magic.
This cycle was repeated day after day for five long years, like an endless martyr with a constant struggle against its limits.
And yet, over time, a strange complicity was born between them. Valthor, who despised humans, accepted her not only as his contractor, but also as a friend.
In record time, Anna reached the Triftera stadium, erasing the accumulated delay with a jump. His return to the continent marked the beginning of a new bloody chapter. With Valthor by her side, she undertook the extinction of all those who carried the blood of the Ingriss in their veins.
Even if his own power was not enough to face the strongest possessing his blood, the power of the dragon now flowed in his veins.
Then the nights became relentless hunting grounds. In the dark alleys, in gigantic mansions, to the party halls, she hunted, one by one, all those who carried the blood of the Ingriss, even diluted, all over the continent. Men, women and children, none escaped his blade. Powerful nobles, soldiers or commoners, she made no distinction.
For five years, in anonymity, she transformed the continent into a theater of hunts and executions, which everyone nicknamed her, the Moonlight Executioner.
Then Anna returned to her own family. She massacred her father, the head of the family, then all her brothers and sisters, even those who implored her clemency.
She seized the throne in a bloodbath, and all those who dared to challenge her actions were executed without delay, regardless of their rank.
From then on, a new name circulated across the continent: the Queen of Death.
From her first day on the throne, Anna shattered the ancient structure of the kingdom.
The power of the Crown became the supreme, indisputable authority, crushing the centuries-old privileges of the noble houses.
Whoever dared to express the slightest objection, she responded not with words, but with destruction.
Domains were razed, the lineages extinct, and often, it was herself who, armed with her black sword, reduced the coat of arms of her opponents to ashes.
Very quickly, a shiver ran through the high spheres: a single misstep could condemn an entire lineage.
But Anna did not just reign through fear.
She reformed the army, reorganized the troops, fortified the borders and equipped her troops with new weapons, forged in the workshops of the capital.
Ça
In less than two years, the kingdom of Ingrissia was no longer a manipulable kingdom... it was an expanding power.
Then she raised the banners of the kingdom.
She officially declared that it was to "recover the lost territory of the Ingriss".
The kingdoms and nobles, who manipulated and directed the Ingriss in the shadows, did not understand Anna's actions. So they sent messages to understand what was happening and at the same time send threats and warnings to Anna.
But they were all received and treated in the same way:
- Welcomed like slaves,
- Humiliated before the entire court,
- Dragged in the mud in the eyes of the people,
- And in the end, they were sent home with a missing ear and arm, marked forever by shame.
Seeing the state in which their messengers were, they all understood that Anna would not be manipulable and that a bloody war was about to begin.
And when a first kingdom fell on Ingrissia's banner, they all noticed that Anna was not staying in the back hiding behind her walls, but she was on the front line, leading and leading her troops.
But during the conquest of this kingdom, the fact that marked everyone's minds, was the appearance alongside Anna, of a mythical being known to remain in the southwest of the continent, the great Black Dragon.
To be continued...
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