Intermission:
The Lost Dragon Lord
The Lord Crown stood prominently atop the mountain, competing with the sky itself for attention. From its massive roots to its thick, leafy canopy, the entire thing was filled to the brim with spirits.
Somehow, as if by a miracle, streaks of light managed to punch their way through the dense foliage to illuminate the path below.
Due to its secluded location, humans never ventured this far. Silence reigned supreme. The only sounds were those of wind rustling the leaves and water lapping in the distance.
Long ago, this place had served as a base of sorts for the mountain people, though now all that remained were the moss-covered ruins of a shrine, illuminated by the scant light that made it down to ground level.
The burbling sounds of a hot spring mingled with the whisper of the leaves, adding to the serenity of the scene.
Though left unused for generations, the large outdoor bath continued filling with naturally heated water, the excess liquid pouring off the edge in a steaming waterfall.
And yet, this mystical place had also fallen into neglect, the pool filling with rotting leaves and the bathhouse descending into decay.
At least, that was the case until quite recently.
A pair of elves and one of the mountain people had begun traveling to this place and improving the facilities, restoring them to their former glory. The place had become so clean that you could count the number of leaves marring the surface of the pool on one hand, and even those eventually joined the water on its trip over the waterfall.
A lone figure sat in the bath, letting the heat permeate his body as his warm breath mixed with the rising steam. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing better than lazing about in a nice, clean bath.
If you were to ask a layperson what this thirty-meter-long, four-winged beast was, you’d almost certainly be told it was a dragon. It was a fair guess, after all, with his blue scales, his four horns, and the striped pattern running down his neck.
More specifically, however, he was a Dragon Lord, a species known for their intellect, long lifespans, and power. They were, both literally and figuratively, at the top of the food chain.
And yet, in spite of all that, Dragon Lord Villiers Fim preferred to spend his days alone, avoiding interacting with outsiders as best he could.
There was one exception, however. One day, a strange elf decked out in full armor had invaded the Dragon Lord’s domain. The two had fought briefly before managing to find common ground. Part of their agreement, as requested by the odd-looking elf, was that he would be allowed to use this hot spring whenever he liked.
Villiers Fim yawned lazily in the warm water, wondering whether the armored elf would make an appearance today, when he suddenly sensed a powerful presence drawing near. He stuck his head up out of the water and looked around.
“Who’s there?” Even as the words left his mouth, he already suspected who it might be. He shook his head, trying to dispel the notion. That was impossible.
At first, he’d thought it might be the elf, Arc Lalatoya. But Arc always teleported directly to the shrine. That wouldn’t explain this approaching power.
Villiers Fim could feel the great force drawing nearer and nearer, though he couldn’t get a grasp on exactly what it was. It was like trying to catch a fistful of fog. Whatever the approaching entity was, it was immense and brimming with energy.
If Villiers Fim had to guess, it was another Dragon Lord.
He glanced toward the Lord Crown and narrowed his eyes, willing the sky into focus. In the distance, he finally caught sight of the source of all this power.
The figure shot through the dense cover above, stirring up a storm of leaves. It was definitely a Dragon Lord, as he’d predicted, but he was taken aback by the sight of exactly which Dragon Lord it was. He’d seen those beautiful wings many times from afar; they belonged to Felfi Visrotte, the Dragon Lord based near the center of the Great Canada Forest.
She was at least twice his size and covered in pitch-black scales. With every heavy beat of her mammoth wings, the violet patten on the membranes shimmered beautifully. Looking closer, he saw that her violet eyes were locked straight on his.
The large, crystalline dagger that stuck out of the tip of her tail glinted brilliantly in the sunlight as it traced a slow arc in the air above.
Villiers Fim adjusted his posture and swallowed hard. He could practically feel her gaze burning a hole straight through him.
From a distance, it might have looked like the Dragon Lord was calm as he watched this newcomer, but inside, he was anything but. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what she was doing here.
The first possibility was that maybe, just maybe, Arc had made good on his promise to deliver Villiers Fim’s message asking for an audience with Felfi Visrotte.
But even if that were the case, it didn’t explain why she would leave her domain to come all the way to him. His mind continued racing, until she landed heavily at the edge of the pool.
Her voice broke the silence. “So, what should I say? I guess ‘hi’ would do for a start, huh?”
Even such a simple greeting from this powerful Dragon Lord was enough to cause Villiers Fim to tense up. He knelt before her.
“I’m sure you already know who I am, but for the sake of formalities, let’s get it over with. I’m Felfi Visrotte, the Dragon Lord of the Columbia Mountains in the Great Canada Forest. I heard from a man named Arc that you’re looking for me?”
She gave Villiers Fim a quick once-over from head to tail before giving a quiet, triumphant nod.
“I’m gonna be generous here and overlook the roundabout way you contacted me. Besides, I have a favor I’d like to ask you.”
She bared her fangs in what was meant to be a smile.
Being asked for a favor by the great Felfi Visrotte, a Dragon Lord Villiers Fim had admired for years, was nothing short of amazing. Saying “no” never even crossed his mind.
“I will do anything in my power to be of assistance to you.”
Felfi Visrotte seemed pleased at this, even though she’d known he’d accept before coming here anyway.
“Well, that’s good to know. It’s really not a huge deal anyway.”
Though they might both have been Dragon Lords, Felfi Visrotte was one of the oldest of their kind and had earned a great deal of respect among the rest of the Dragon Lords—particularly from Villiers Fim.
Felfi Visrotte swung her large tail about gleefully as she stared down at the Dragon Lord kneeling before her…and at the large pool of steaming water around him.
“Well, well, whaddya got here? Pretty rare to see a hot spring out in the middle of nowhere. Did you make this?”
She glanced at her surroundings with great interest and noticed the troughs carved into the surface of the rock to allow cool water to flow in and maintain the water’s temperature, as well as the stone tiling beautifully laid out both in and around the pool.
“This was built many generations ago, when the mountain people still called this place home, though Arc has recently been making use of it again. I must admit, it’s quite an impressive sight to behold.”
Villiers Fim stepped out of the pool and off to the side to make way for her, though there was simply no way that an eighty-meter dragon could have fit in it comfortably.
“Hunh. The only place I’ve ever seen a hot spring was out near the base of the Karyu Mountains. Well, I’ve got a little time to kill, so I don’t see the harm in taking a dip.”
She shook her massive body several times, and it began transforming. Within about five minutes, Felfi Visrotte had shrunk herself down into a two-meter-tall humanoid figure. She then stepped into the warm water.
“Aaaaah, now that feels greeeeat. If I’d known you had a hot spring, I might’ve stopped by more often.”
Villiers Fim’s blue scales took on a faint scarlet hue, his tail waving about excitedly. He’d always been hesitant to reach out to her, so hearing her say that she’d actually want to come and visit his domain was like a dream come true.
Felfi Visrotte giggled at the other Dragon Lord’s barely contained exuberance.
Villiers Fim noticed his tail wagging and tried to deflect attention away from himself. “Th-that’s a pretty impressive transformation there. I’m still not able to shrink myself down that small, nor can I take on the appearance of a human.”
Though all Dragon Lords possessed the same ability, how well they were able to pull this off differed from one to the next, largely due to the environment they lived in.
Moreover, transforming into a humanoid was more of a creature comfort, and squeezing their large bodies into such small forms wasn’t a skill that could be mastered without a great deal of practice. Felfi Visrotte’s humanoid form was evidence of her diligent study.
She looked surprised. “Hmm, is that so? Well, you’re still a little kid, really, so I’m sure you’ll get it in time. One of these days, maybe you’ll have a chance to show it off to me.”
Villiers Fim’s tail once again started wagging excitedly before he caught himself and quickly changed the subject again. “What is it you would like my help with?”
Felfi Visrotte slumped back luxuriously and raised her tail above the surface of the water to point its crystalline tip at Villiers Fim.
“Ah, that’s right. I didn’t actually come for the hot spring.” She stood up in the pool and smiled at the other Dragon Lord. “I’m here to ask you for help taking out some bad guys, Villy.”
Questions darted through Villiers Fim’s mind, though he wasn’t about to go back on his word now. He simply nodded in assent.
A short time later, the two were flying through wispy white clouds, watching snow-capped mountain peaks pass beneath them. They were currently over the range that the humans and elves referred to as the Furyu Mountains. On the other side lay what looked like a huge gash in the vast, open plains.
Felfi Visrotte’s large wings swept elegantly through the air as she looked down at the terrain below. “That’s gotta be the Dragon Wonder, so maybe a little further south?”
Villiers Fim followed her lead as his mind ran over their earlier conversation about the upcoming battle.
“Y’see, Villy, these elves have been a great help to me, and they needed a favor. I agreed to assist them with some pact they made with the humans, but I think it’s gonna end up being a pretty big job. I was hoping you could lend me a hand.”
He was taken aback when she’d told him the details. Apparently, they were being called upon to wipe out an army of the undead numbering in the hundreds of thousands. There was no way such an army could have come together through natural means.
Absent an undead dragon, creatures of this sort posed little threat to Dragon Lords. Still, Villiers Fim disdained the undead on the grounds that they were abominations of nature. They only existed by abusing the natural flow of spiritual energy. Any time an undead creature happened to wander near Villiers Fim’s domain, he took it out with extreme prejudice.
A situation like this was bad enough on its face, but Villiers Fim found himself even more disturbed at the idea that someone was out there creating undead, which was the only explanation for such a massive force. Just imagining the land in front of him covered in moving, rotting corpses was enough to send a chill down his spine.
Villiers Fim didn’t hesitate for a moment over agreeing to help Felfi Visrotte, though he did feel a sense of unease when he heard that Arc was involved. Arc often looked like a member of the undead himself, though he clearly possessed a spirit of the living.
Even though there should have been a massive power differential between them, Arc was a force to be reckoned with, a point made even more peculiar by the fact that he’d been involved in calling upon Felfi Visrotte for help.
From what she’d said, it sounded like she’d taken quite a liking to Arc—a fact that Villiers Fim felt somewhat conflicted about.
Before he could dwell too much on that thought, though, Felfi Visrotte called out to him from up ahead.
“Heya, Villy! I hate to ask, but do you know where this Nohzan place is?”
He shook his head.
“Umm, no. I’m afraid I don’t know much about the human lands.”
“I figured. So…what should we do?”
She didn’t seem too upset with his response, though judging by the way she muttered to herself, she was in something of a bind.
As far as he could tell, she didn’t have any idea where they were heading. Hoping to come to her rescue, Villiers Fim began scanning the scenery below, looking for anything that might provide a clue.
He wasn’t terribly surprised that she didn’t know where they were heading. Dragon Lords had little more than a passing knowledge of the human countries. In fact, for a Dragon Lord to engage with the elves as much as she did was rare among their kind.
After scanning their surroundings for a bit, Felfi Visrotte noticed a large shape on the horizon that appeared to be humanmade. “Looks like luck’s on our side! Let’s hop on down there and ask for directions.”
With a few powerful flaps of her wings, she changed directions and began gliding toward the human settlement.
Villiers Fim hurried to keep up with her. “Umm, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to just pop in on humans like this!”
They dropped in altitude and sped toward the distant settlement, which appeared to be a sprawling city.
A series of massive walls surrounded it, clearly intended to protect the residents living within. Looking closer, Villiers Fim could see a variety of wooden buildings packed close together, and a large, stone castle at the center.
Though he knew little about humans and the lives they led, he understood that the presence of such a magnificent stone structure meant this was where the king lived. It also meant that the chances of the humans down below reacting negatively to the sudden appearance of two Dragon Lords were quite high.
Not that there was much for Villiers Fim and Felfi Visrotte to fear from humans, of course. But since they were trying to help the humans fight a common enemy, it would reflect poorly on them if they destroyed a human kingdom in the process.
Villiers Fim slowed to get a better look at the city, but Felfi Visrotte continued at full speed toward the castle.
Within moments, the guards standing watch atop the towers started rushing about in panic as they caught sight of the dragons.
After making several lazy loops around the castle, and drawing a fair deal of attention in the process, Felfi Visrotte swooped in and perched on one of the highest balconies. She did her best to avoid causing any damage to the building, despite her massive size.
Villiers Fim was impressed by the sheer finesse with which she was able to move about in her dragon form. Alas, he wasn’t quite so confident in his own abilities and landed on one of the perimeter walls. Everything was fine when he set down his left foot, but the moment he put weight on his right, he heard stone crumble beneath him.
He scowled and watched a small landslide tumble down the wall.
“They really should make these things stronger…”
Though he was less than half the size of Felfi Visrotte, at a mere thirty meters long, he had quite a bit of girth to him. Still, it was absolutely amazing to him that she’d managed to land so gently, without causing any damage at all.
Felfi Visrotte peeked through the window, catching sight of a figure moving around inside. “Hey, you there! I’ve got a quick question. Think you could help me out?”
The figure was dressed in elegant robes and accompanied by a contingent of guards. The moment they spotted the dragon, the guards drew their weapons and placed themselves in front of the figure.
“Protect the king!”
“Secure an escape route!”
“Draw your weapons! Someone call the mages!”
While the soldiers busily prepared themselves for combat, Felfi Visrotte smiled at the knowledge that she’d managed to find the king of this country. His guards, however, misinterpreted her bared teeth as something far more sinister. They raised their weapons, ready to lay down their lives if need be.
As the king was being ushered out of the room, he turned back to look out the window and caught the Dragon Lord’s gaze. His sharp blue eyes, set beneath a forehead etched with deep wrinkles, gazed intently at the Dragon Lord.
“Hurry up, Your Highness! We haven’t a moment to spare!”
The bodyguards urged the king on, but he raised a hand to silence them. He began making his way toward the Dragon Lord with slow, purposeful steps.
“I am King Karlon Delfriet Rhoden Olav, ruler of the Rhoden Kingdom. I can tell by your attempt not to cause our fair castle any harm that you are here on a mission of goodwill. I will answer your question to the best of my ability.”
The guards seemed reassured by the king’s demeanor and put away their weapons as they watched in silence, anxious to see what would happen next.
“Rhoden, huh? Y’know, now that you mention it, I remember Eva saying something about a place they had some problems with back when the forest was being occupied. That wasn’t you, was it?”
The king’s face tensed at this.
“Gyahahaha! Just a little joke, no need to look so scared. Anyway, I’m Felfi Visrotte, one of the Dragon Lords living in the Great Canada Forest. Now, the reason why I’m here is pretty simple, actually. You see, I’m looking for a place called the Nohzan Kingdom, and I seem to have lost my way. I hate to bother you, but could you point me in the right direction?”
All the guards stood stone-faced, exchanging glances with one another at this rather odd request. Was she telling the truth?
If they could have read the sincerity on her face, they would instantly have understood where she was coming from. But of course, trying to decipher a Dragon Lord’s expression was beyond the average human.
King Karlon looked straight up at the Dragon Lord perched outside his window. The only logical explanation was that her trip to the Nohzan Kingdom had something to do with their request for reinforcements.
The fact that two Dragon Lords had been sent here from Canada might mean that they were being watched. But the Rhoden Kingdom had learned its lesson long ago, and hadn’t entered the Great Canada Forest in generations, though the elves might see this differently, due to their longer lifespans. What was ancient history to the people of the Rhoden Kingdom was still relatively recent to elves and Dragon Lords.
Ultimately, the king decided it best to simply answer her question as directly and honestly as possible.
After getting directions, Felfi Visrotte turned her attention away from him and spread her massive wings.
“Well, let’s try to keep things on good terms then, huh? See ya later!”
With that, she took off from the balcony, the downdraft from her wings blasting the occupants of the room. She did a loop around the castle before shooting high into the sky, followed shortly by Villiers Fim.
The two Dragon Lords grew smaller and smaller, until they were lost among the clouds.
The king’s guards looked around uncertainly. One of them spoke up.
“Wh-what happened just now, Your Highness?”
The guard sounded worried, though the king attempted to ease her fears with a wave of his hand. The creases in the king’s forehead seemed deeper than usual, though a slight grin tugged at the corners of his lips.
The guards felt shame wash over them at how easily they’d fallen into a panic while the king had managed to keep his cool. It didn’t speak too highly of their training.
“It seems the castle is in a bit of chaos over the sudden appearance of a Dragon Lord.”
“We’re on it, Your Highness!”
The guards turned to head out of the room, but the king stopped them.
“No, leave it be for now. I want you to summon Prime Minister Bionissa at once. The citizens of our fair capital almost certainly witnessed this display of power from Canada, so let’s use this opportunity to round up those who have been thorns in our sides. Even if we have to get our hands dirty, they’ll be too worked up with fear over the elven threat to say much.”
Two guards took off down the corridor to summon the prime minister.
“Arc should be here a little after noon. Tell Sekt that I want the soldiers ready to depart without delay.”
Another guard ran out of the room to deliver this message to Sekt.
The king gazed out the window and grinned. “Today is shaping up to be quite a busy day.”
He turned and left the room, his large cape billowing behind him.
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