Chapter 9
From time to time, a warm wind would sweep gently across the slopes of Mount Horeb.
On days when such a fair wind blew, the dragons would unfurl their sunlit wings, shimmering like jewels, and glide unhindered through the clouds.
That is, until the day humans mercilessly violated our domain.
A foreboding host of humans invaded Mount Horeb.
With their small, slender limbs encased in solid armour, they brandished cold blue weapons and advanced upon the dragons’ nests.
The human leader, greedy to the bone, had never intended to speak with us. There was no thought of peace in him, only conquest.
Instead of hands extended in courtesy and goodwill, they brought only the cruel gleam of steel.
And soon, those weapons drove straight for the dragons’ hearts.
[ We must protect the Lord and his egg! ]
[But they have already reached the mountaintop…!]
For dragons who had long lived in peace, this unannounced onslaught was a tragedy beyond measure.
When the humans’ heated spears pierced scale and flesh, dragons bared their fangs and claws, tearing out the breath of their cunning foes.
Yet even the sharpest talons were not enough to protect Mount Horeb.
He was seething with fury, crushing and tearing apart every human he could see.
In his mind boiled a blend of rage at the peace-shattering humans and desperate determination to protect his family.
The battle only grew fiercer with time.
One by one, countless kin fell.
Dragon hearts were skewered upon iron stakes, the hot ground was drenched in the mingled blood, cries, and screams of the dying.
The once lush and beautiful forest had long since burned to ash.
When he raised his head, he saw they’re home littered with countless tangled corpses of humans and dragons alike.
It was horrific.
It was unbearable.
And even after such terrible losses, the humans showed no sign of retreat.
[My mate, no matter what happens, you and the egg matter most. Leave this mountain at once, and flee to a far place beyond human reach. We cannot know when these humans, as numberless as clouds, will return.]
[This is my home, my birthplace. How can I abandon it? I will not leave you, my mate. I will protect you, our egg… and our kin.]
[No, my love. Already so many of our kin have perished on the points of their spears. Time and again, they have forged deadly weapons to steal our lives. Even our proudest warriors have fallen. In their minds there is nothing but the thirst for blood. I beg you, Lanya. Please, live.]
[I am the mate of the Lord, and among the finest warriors of our kind. I have faced battle all my life. How could I turn my back and flee? My heart is set. Even if these claws wear down to nothing, I have sworn to protect you and our child.]
[Lanya…]
Even his near-pleading could not sway her.
She vowed to fight beside his to the very end, and hid our egg deep in the cave.
Even in such despair, Lanya held to hope.
But the disorderly tramp of feet over blood-soaked fields and mountains of corpses grew louder by the day.
The sun that once shone upon dreams of a bright future now burned like a torch announcing another day of war.
As if mocking the desperate hopes of our kin, the humans trampled every last thing the dragons possessed.
How could any living being be so cruel?
Why must we die at their hands?
Only after the human leader had torn through his very world did he finally lower his cold blade.
Lanya screamed, her cry choked with agony and grief.
Her wail of despair tore the sky.
A dragon who had once dreamed of true peace between humans and dragons fell.
Lanya was slaughtered by human hands.
The humans’ greed knew no end.
They even found the egg hidden deep in the nest and claimed it as a trophy.
The moment all the names he had held as hope were broken.
When he stood before our nest, stained with Lanya’s blood, he knew the world he had known would never return.
Even with blood pouring like a river from mortal wounds, he had never knelt. But the despair of surviving alone dragged him into a deep abyss.
His beloved was slain in what had once been they’re home. The kin who fought to protect her all lay dead.
His child would become nothing more than a plaything for humans’ mockery.
Cursing the humans who had stolen even the time to grieve or rage, he crawled into the dark cave and went into hiding.
The arrogant humans boasted that they had subdued him, and sealed the entrance.
It did not matter. Whatever they said, nothing would change.
Yes. In one instant, he lost his kin, his Lanya, and his child.
Unable to protect the breaths entrusted to him, he chose not to fight on in lonely defiance, but to curl his body and surrender to a long sleep.
He sank beneath the weight of grief, turning his loss and fury over and over in his heart.
Time passed, and green returned to Mount Horeb.
Life he had thought gone forever rooted itself again and darted through the forest in search of food.
But no dragon remained to walk with him and sing of peace.
In that dark, silent place, he was forced over long years to accept the unendurable truth that he had saved nothing.
It was when his heart had grown one with despair after endless suffering that it happened.
As always, he was lost in the mire of pain and self-reproach, when a sound reached him from beyond the sealed cave mouth.
The voice was absurdly small, yet unmistakably spoken in the tongue of dragons.
[This… is the dragon tongue?]
[…Lord of Mount Horeb, black dragon Zakhar. I have come to seek you.]
A human who could speak our tongue, what business could they have here?
Surprise turned swiftly to a bitter fire, stoking the embers of his frozen heart into rage.
‘What human dares to deceive me?’
What right have you to stand before me?
He crawled toward the entrance with fury burning in him.
One swipe of my foreclaws shattered the cairn of stones that had sealed him from the world.
‘Was this so-called seal truly so feeble?’
The broken moonlight poured through, bathing him in a ring of light.
There, in the wake of the commotion, stood two absurdly small humans.
Strangely, one of them reeked of death.
It was a scent he knew well, the dreadful residue always left where the stench of blood lingered.
The human, showing no hint of fear, stepped toward him without hesitation.
[Come with me, and leave this place. When the time comes, your wings will cover the whole sky.]
The woman’s voice was steady, her stance unyielding.
A being he could crush in an instant beneath his claws, and yet she was bolder than any armoured human in his memory.
The name she gave lodged itself in his mind with strange force.
Empress of the human Empire, of the noble bloodline of Rhynes that bore the legacy of a mad dragon…
[Henriette…]
One who shared his pain.
‘Because of you, I found I wished to embark on the journey to fulfil an old promise.’
Zakhar slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her.
Tears welled in them and slid down the curve of his eyes.
Henriette, understanding without words, brushed his forehead in welcome as he woke from his dream.
She knew well what such tears meant. They were the grief-filled tears shed when the most precious thing was lost.
Instead of speaking, she wiped his cheek with her sleeve and offered a gentle greeting.
“Zakhar. Are you awake?’
“…What happened?’
“According to Bertrand, you suddenly collapsed as if sensing something was wrong. Then your polymorph broke, and you nearly went berserk. We barely managed to subdue you”
Zakhar’s gaze fell upon the bite mark at the base of Henriette’s pale neck.
“It seems… while I had lost my senses, I attacked you without knowing”
Bitterness swept over him. Slowly, he pushed himself upright and rubbed his face with one hand.
“…I have troubled you”
“Not at all. Bertrand’s life is not in danger either. I sent him to the physician, and he will recover soon”
“I see…’
Zakhar stared into the air for a moment, one hand pressed to his chest, feeling the beat beneath his palm. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.
“My child is hidden somewhere in this palace”
“What? You mean…’
Henriette tilted her head, startled at the stark difference from his usual indifference.
Then, to her greater surprise, Zakhar’s arms went around her back.
Holding her tightly, he drew her closer, as if he would never let her go.
Before she could react, he had pulled her into his embrace and buried his face in her shoulder.
“Do not ask anything. Just… let me stay like this”
Henriette said nothing, granting his wish.
Whatever he had dreamed while asleep, she wanted to give him comfort in this moment.
She awkwardly wrapped her pale arms around him.
Her palm brushed a deep hollow in his back.
It was without doubt a wound from the earlier commotion.
She gently caressed the injury, murmured something under her breath, and closed her eyes.
‘Was this the way to soothe a dragon sunk in darkness?’
For the first time in many years, Zakhar felt warmth.
Light from the clumsy magic she had only just learned wrapped them both in a gentle glow.
The scratches and gashes faded, and new skin began to form.
Zakhar did not release her for a long while.
