Ep 18. Dear. Be Quiet. (2)

 

It didn’t take very long for the dragons to make out the source of the glimmer.

“Wha-“

Serenis softly landed, folding her wings back as she began to take in the scenery. She walked along the river of shining metals, noting the size of the chamber they’d landed in.

“Hm. Is this all of it? I thought there’d be more.”

A huge corridor that stretched far further than the chamber that held the dragon heart. Rivers of gold and silver stretched from one end to the other, and piled on top were mountains of various jewelry and coins.

“Gold!!”

Ilias failed to hide their surprise and excitement at the discovery of the river of treasure. Bruton and Raizel landed soon after as they both found themselves at a loss of words.

“This is…”

“Huh.”

Ilias dove head-first into the river of gold. When she resurfaced, a handful of gold was within each of her fists.

“Father, look! We’re rich!!”

“Ilias, we…don’t even need gold…”

“You can stay poor then! I want it!”

Bruton turned to Serenis for an explanation as his daughter began to swim through their discovery.

“What…is all this?”

The dragonlord shrugged back.

“Can’t you tell? Treasure.”

“No, but…where is it all from? Did our kin deal with treasures in the past? Or, were tales of gold dragons actually true?”

“Gold dragons? No such things exist. The closest kin we have to a gold dragon is right here with us, and I don’t believe she can spit out even an ounce of silver.”

Serenis pointed her finger at the steel dragon who was squatting down, twiddling a gold coin between her fingers.

“What? Did you say something?”

“…It’s nothing, child.”

Bruton cleared his throat as he faced Serenis again.

“Then…what exactly is the source of all this gold?”

“Tributes. From those that worshipped the dragonkin.”

“Worship? For what reason?”

“Because to them, we were no different than gods.”

“…Gods?”

It was true. For a significant amount of time throughout her rule, Serenis and the dragonkin were revered as gods of sorts, with treasure offers amounting to a daily business. Most were never collected, or even thrown away; dragons had no practical use for glowing metals, and those that liked human riches were far and few at the time.

The river of treasure in this chamber, too, is likely just a small token of their legacy. One that Vulka sought to protect and remember, not unlike the heart of his mother. Even if it was only a portion of what they once had.

Truthfully, the second dragonlord’s efforts to hide their legacies had effectively deterred the dragonkin from finding what was inside his corpse. Perhaps, if everything went accordingly, their legacies would have lain dormant within him for all eternity.

But what good is a legacy if it were to rot alone forever, unbeknownst to all?

‘You can only hide things for so long from your mother, Vulka.’

Serenis grinned at the thought. No doubt her son would angrily pout at her for taking things he’d hidden.

‘Perhaps one day, I’ll be able to hear your complaints again. One day.’

“So…Lord Serenis?”

“Hm?”

She turned to face Bruton, who was now holding the two girls in each of his arms. It was almost like a farmer holding piles of wheat that he’d just collected. His daughter now looked just as heavy as Raizel with the amount of treasure that was shoved into her pockets and arms.

“It’s only a speculation, but…this was a grave after all, yes? Of the elder you spoke of? I don’t see why mountains of treasure would be in it otherwise.”

“I cannot say for certain, but…I’d like to believe so. An extravagant grave that had to be passed on as a seal for reasons beyond our knowledge.”

“And right now, we’re wading through their…corpse.”

“…”

Serenis frowned at the last remark. She hadn’t exactly thought too deeply about that.

We kind of are, aren’t we?

“Then…wouldn’t it be an extreme act of dishonor to…well…”

“Blast holes and loot their treasures?”

“Raizel, I don’t think you were supposed to say that.”

“Pft, sure. Sorry for saying what everyone’s thinking.”

The three dragons once again looked to Serenis in unison. She’d practically become their go-to answer box.

Serenis forced a confident smile, crossing her arms.

“The legacy he left is not his corpse, but the contents within it. The dragonlord’s heart has returned to its rightful owner, and treasures are better in the hands of the living than the stomach of the dead.”

“Hm…that is true. I apologize for asking such a foolish question.”

“No, I’m glad you asked; it was a respectful gesture, Bruton. Now, if you children are done having fun, let us be off.”

Serenis briskly turned around and unfolded her wings, taking off towards the sky. Ilias hopped out of Bruton’s embrace as she took flight – albeit much more difficult than before, with all the weight she now carried. Bruton grunted as he took flight with Raizel in tow, realizing just how heavy it must’ve been for his daughter to carry the metal dragon before.

The dragonlord flew ever so slightly faster than she normally would. But it definitely wasn’t out of guilt. Of course not. Nope.

When they were finally outside, the dragons realized they’d come out of the hollow that was the corpse’s left eye – though they could swear the hollow wasn’t there before.

“…Wait, does that mean we could’ve gone in through the eye this entire time?”

With Bruton struggling to even keep up, it was Serenis who explained for the red dragon this time.

“There was likely a barrier in place. One that both hid the path, and repelled intruders.”

“A barrier? But I didn’t feel anything just now.”

“With the heart reclaimed, any device that depended on it as a source of mana would be rendered ineffective, barrier or otherwise. Only when the heart was claimed would the eye serve as an exit."

“Aha…”

From here, Serenis could see the huge hole that she herself had ordered Raizel to plow through at Vulka’s stomach. Another pang of guilt gnawed at her as she pointed her finger towards the hole, drawing a swift circle in the air.

Following suit, a circle of ice froze over the hole once more, hiding the path they’d paved behind it. Thankfully, none of the other dragons seemed to take notice; Ilias quickly took lead, beckoning towards the dragonlord.

“Come on, let’s go eat something! After all that’s happened, we might as well have a meal together!”

As the dragons all began to head back towards the valley, Serenis’ eyes were focused on the clouds. Somehow, she felt as if her son was watching her from somewhere above. If she died and met him there, no doubt he’d be lecturing into her ears for days on end for breaking into his corpse like that.

‘I hope I don’t die anytime soon. Again.’