Sitting with his eyes closed as the spiritual energy engulfed him, memories of how his father used to sit about cultivating made his blood boil but he remained calm.
Those images of his father cultivating and trying to help him rise in cultivation didn’t work but he knew the techniques and knew the sun dragon’s dance but never did he think that he’d learn how to cultivate after being alive for many years.
Thinking to how his father’s aura change while he cultivated and how his father explained cultivation to him he implemented what he knew and his body immediately accepted what it was given even being so greedy that it sucked in everything.
Time passed by and the two had been there for almost a week when the prince touched his thigh catching his attention. Qykerth looked at him after opening his eyes and saw that the prince was pointing down to the water then ahead.
Qykerth was confused about what he was implying and as much as he didn’t want to leave but what could he do, if the prince was leaving it was best that he went too.
He was given the seaweed again then the two of them dived into the water and made it back to Blossom Valley. When they broke through the water, Qykerth saw that Blossom Valley was decorated in lanterns.
A bird was the first thing to spot the two and whistled. Soon many fairies came over with spears and pointed them at the prince who stared at them listlessly.
Qykerth was completely confused, “What are you all doing, he won’t harm you all.”
“Says you!” Lancer said as he came over. He looked at the prince then at Qykerth, “Big brother, you’ve been gone for a whole week because of him. Come on up and leave him behind before he floods us with water again.”
Just as he said those words, the prince summoned a wave of water and threw it at them. The wave pushed Qykerth out of the water and made everyone of the fairies wet. Once the wave subsided they looked into the lake and saw a smirking prince – shaking their little heads the fairies got up and started walking because it was no use flying with wet wings.
Qykerth turned around and looked at the friend he made. Lance poked him on his foot that did nothing but make a sound and said, “Don’t worry, he shows up every day to make us wet.”
Raising his hand, Qykerth waved his hand at the prince who waved back surprisingly then went under and disappeared.
As they were walking back Qykerth asked, “Does he have a name?”
Lance looked up at him and nodded, “Yes, he is the 9th heir to the throne of Anaeco, Prince Queseon but he is an odd prince.”
“Odd?” Qykerth asked as he tried pronouncing the princes name in his head.
Lancer nodded, “Yep, he has no interest in the world of Anaeco, he loves the outside world instead that’s why he tries and befriend everyone one although he isn’t at all friendly.”
“He isn’t?” Qykerth asked as picked up the fairy and placed him on his shoulder. The little fair shook his head and sighed, “They are hunted for their beauty that is why the emperor of Anaeco forbids anyone to just enter unannounced, if they find you trespassing you aren’t given the chance to live and are immediately executed. I don’t know if you felt it but anything that wasn’t born in water finds it hard to swim beneath due to the pressure.”
Qykerth nodded his head in understand, “I noticed.”
Lancer hummed, “We can’t fight in their domain just like they can’t on land but I heard that the emperor of Anaeco found a way for them to live on land.”
“Is he powerful?” Qykerth asked out of curiosity.
Lancer sighed on his shoulder, “Our elder says so but the only reason why he is that strong is out of revenge. His first wife was hunted and killed when they were younger by a cultivator – he married again so that he could have an heir but I don’t know, you’ll have to ask the prince about his father.”
“Is there a way to communicate with Prince Queseon?” Qykerth asked since he couldn’t wait to meet him again. Lancer on the other hand gave him a curious look as he answered, “It would be a miracle if we could understand them but it is possible since our elder knows their language.”
Sneaking back into the palace, Prince Queseon made it to his room safely then hid his clone away. Heading over to the door, he pushed it open and the guards were completely taken by surprise. They cheered, “Our prince has risen to a new realm hooray!!”
Prince Queseon smiled at them then swam to his father’s throne room. When he arrived there he saw that his father and the crown prince, Prince Murrissey were busy going over official talks. Bowing his head he greeted them.
The emperor smiled at his 9th son proudly, “You’ve risen yet again?”
“Yes father,” he answered respectfully.
Prince Murrissey tsked, “If only my little brother would attend to royal business as much as he cultivated things would be a lot easier on us father.”
The emperor of Anaeco smiled amused at his eldest son’s words. Putting on a serious face he said, “Very true son, Queseon, you need to take more responsibility.”
Prince Queseon blushed, looking down at the pebbled floor of the throne room he said timidly, “I’m not as strong as father and my other siblings, isn’t it best that I keep to myself and not mess things up like how I messed up Draob’s ball?”
The emperor and first prince Murrissey sighed, that night was truly a mess but it wasn’t the prince’s fault entirely.
Clearing his throat the emperor looked at his son and smiled, “What can this father do for you my son?”
Queseon looked at his father and smiled. Shyly he asked as he poked his cheek, “Can I read books in your study?”
Both the emperor and the first prince blushed, this merman was too adorable and no one could say no to him, “Such a simple request, you can if you tell father what it is you’ll be reading up on.”
Queseon blushed, playing with his fingers he said, “I want to read up on the types of parasites within Anaeco.”
“Curious?” The emperor said with a glint in his eyes.
Queseon nodded his head, “I remember master telling me about parasites that are good for our race and bad, I want to familiarise myself with them and their abilities, if there is one or two that can help cure a disease or help us cultivate, I would definitely like to know about them.”
Prince Murrissey rolled his eyes, this brother of his was looking for ways to cultivate again.
“Queseon, now you know that you need to cultivate at a steady pace, if you cultivate rapidly you might injure yourself and your cultivation might be stagnant afterwards,” his father warned.
Prince Queseon nodded, “I know father, I will never do something that his harmful to myself.”
Prince Queseon was released after a few more questions. Closing the door behind him, Queseon rushed over to the shelf with the book on parasites, searching through the books he thought, ‘I know I saw it here somewhere, if it is truly possible then wouldn’t it be revolutionary?’
Finding the book he was looking for, he grabbed it then looked for the book on dragons and species, he made copies of those books using his treasure then placed the originals in his spatial orb and placed the copies on the shelves.
He snuck back to his room then shut the doors behind him tightly sealing them after telling the guards to not disturb him.
Sitting in his clam he rested against the pearl and flipped through the book of Dragons. He frantically searched for a dragon similar to Qykerth and smiled down at the paged when he found it. Running his hand over the picture of Qykerth he couldn’t help feel excited and so urgently wanted to see him again.
Running his fingers over the title ‘Sun Dragon Clan’ he smiled. Everything about the Sun Dragon was written down and just reading it made him feel close to Qykerth but then he suddenly became sad. The Dragon he was with didn’t understand him nor did he understand Qykerth.
Prince Queseon sighed and rested his head down as he continued reading about the Sun Dragon Clan, ‘Maybe I should show this to him, will he be happy?’ he wondered.
When he was done reading, he opened the book on parasites and flipped through it. Just as he was losing hope he found what he was looking for, ‘The Mother Worm’ this worm was a parasite with the ability to bare any creatures off spring.
What the mother worm did was once it was ingested whole, it burrowed into the steam of the person or creatures blood and attached it near the pelvic area. After a few months it grew into a womb and during intercourse the semen injected into the body would be sucked up into the womb by force which then would settle down in the centre of the womb and the worm would immediately get to work with the cells of the creature to generate an egg which then will be fused together with the semen and bear a baby.
What was surprising was that the Mother Worm had a 100% success rate in all creatures and beings but it all depended on the compatibility of the two who mated. Ducks and chickens mated and so did pigs and dogs, if they aren’t compatible then the thing that came out wouldn’t live.
Picking up the book on creatures, he searched through it and didn’t find anything on merfolk and dragons mating but there were water dragons so how were they born?
Queseon frowned, if he were to bear the child of a dragon from the Sun Dragon Clan he’d need an abundant amount of spiritual energy; according to the Sun Dragon Clan that it takes up to three years to for the infant to grow inside the parent and if the parent did not supply a sufficient amount of energy to the child, the child would eat it from the inside out and they will both die before the infant could be born.
‘If I do this it will be the first in history,’ he thought. Placing the books down, he closed his eyes and decided on it. It was worth the shot it would be time consuming and expensive but merman only lived long enough if they cultivated well. All he did was cultivate so that he could leave and if he couldn’t leave, he’d bring something from above to be with him always.
*
Sitting before the elder Qykerth was left in tears as his words echoed in his head. He looked down at the red scarf in his hand and squeezed it, this thing had three souls residing in it, his, his mothers and the child that was in her womb and that’s why it was alive.
“That day when you saw your mother’s body hanging from the beam your mind crashed and the energy that had built up through the years exploded casting your human self away and when one casts away part of themselves they die but thanks to your bloodline you were able to live and will live as a Dragon from now on,” the elder said as he stroked his beard.
Sniffling Qykerth wrapped the scarf around his neck which snuggled around him and asked the elder, “Does my father know about what happened?”
The elder looked at Qykerth with his eyes of wisdom and nodded, a villager who knew about him informed him that his wife and son were killed, currently, although the family he married into is not happy about it but he searched for your body since only your mothers was found, unfortunately the search was called to an end soon after and your father returned.”
Humming as he received a cup of ale the elder continued, “You should be well aware of what your father is capable of and the dragon clan he married into is greedy for power, they named themselves king and once a talent such as your fathers caught their attention, they did everything they could to secure him as theirs which lead to them giving him the title of emperor and married their princess to him. Their dragon clan is unlike yours that is of pure blood which is why they asked for your father to father a son as soon as possible to purify their bloodline again but Qykerth, you will always stand above your half siblings if you cultivate and experience the world. You are welcome to stay or leave but just remember that if you leave there is no way of returning. I was asked to take care of you by my friend and so I shall, I’ll teach you all that you need and release you when you are ready but you need to be patient and cultivate properly.”
*
The next day, Qykerth was immediately put to work and told that he should cultivate under the waterfall after he told the elder what he experienced in the cave with Prince Queseon but as he sat down under the water fall with the water crushing down on him he couldn’t stop thinking about how his father betrayed them for power, he said he was doing this for them but it was just for his own selfish reasons.
His mother couldn’t handle it all and killed herself along with the child in her womb and now the only thing remaining of them was the scarf bathing in the water with him.
Tears streamed down his face. He cried under the rushing water that muffled his cries to the outside world but unlike those on land who couldn’t hear him, those in the water could hear the pain in his cries. He was asking for help but no one was coming to his rescue.
Prince Queseon was in front of a merchant who looked at him with a smirk. He was handed the expensive looking box and opened it; inside was the mother worm that he recognized. Lifting it up between his fingers, he opened his mouth and swallowed it.
As he closed the box and handed it back to the merchant along with the gold coins he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and yelled. The merchant winced and said, “It works quick, that worm.”
Prince Queseon felt numb, he didn’t expect to feel the pain but at least he knew now that it worked. Looking at the merchant he asked, “Do you have anything that can help with communicating to those on land?”
The merchant shook his head, “The royal family forbids those types of devices entering the Kingdom but there are a few devices that can help you just need to search for them above land or ask those who know our language to teach you.”
Prince Queseon nod his head and paid the merchant and extra thirty coins, “This is for your services, buy your wife something special.” The merchant smiled and thanked him but Prince Queseon wasn’t in the mood.
He didn’t have his crown on with him today and he covered his tail to look like any of the other citizens so that he could fit in, his hair was also black so no one really cared.
He slowly made his way to visit his dragon and immediately frowned when he heard those familiar wailing sounds. He kicked his tail and swam fast finding Qykerth under the waterfall. Quickly taking off his disguise, he swam up to Qykerth and hugged him from behind.
Qykerth caught a fright since he wasn’t paying attention but calmed down when he saw that it was those familiar rainbow webbed pale green hands and arms wrapped around his waist.
Queseon moved around and hoist himself up onto the rock ledge that Qykerth was sitting on and looked at him. Although the water was gushing down he could see his tears and the pain on his face. Queseon’s heart pained for him.
Leaning forward he wrapped his arms around Qykerth’s neck and hugged him, ‘Everything is going to be okay, I’m here now.’
As Queseon’s hand rubbed up and down his back, Qykerth felt this need to let all his emotions out and did just that with the prince comforting him.
Later in the afternoon, Lancer came over to find Qykerth and found him asleep with his head resting on Queseon’s lap. Queseon immediately sensed the fairy’s arrival and glared at him not to come over.
Lancer raised his hands then quickly left, he wasn’t a fan of that prince and it looked like something weird was happing between those two.
