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 nded, folding her wings back as she began to take in the sery. She walked along the river of shinials, noting the size of the chamber they’d nded 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 drago. Rivers of gold and silver stretched from oo the other, and piled on top were mountains of various jewelry and s.
“Gold!!”
Ilias failed to hide their surprise aement at the discovery of the river of treasure. Bruton and Raizel nded 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 stay poor then! I want it!”
Bruton turo Serenis for an expnation as his daughter began to swim through their discovery.
“What…is all this?”
The dragonlord shrugged back.
“’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 thi. The closest kin we have to a gold dragon is right here with us, and I don’t believe she spit out even an ounce of silver.”
Serenis pointed her fi the steel dragon who was squatting down, twiddling a gold 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 signifit amount of time throughout her rule, Serenis and the dragonkin were revered as gods of sorts, with tributes amounting to a daily business. Most were never collected, or even thrown away; dragons had no practical use flowials, and those that liked human riches were far a the time.
The river of treasure in this chamber, too, is likely just a small token of their legacy. Ohat Vulka sought to proted remember, not uhe heart of his mother. Even if it was only a portion of what they once had.
Truthfully, the sed dragonlord’s efforts to hide their legacies had effectively deterred the dragonkin from finding what was inside his corpse. Perhaps, if everythi accly, their legacies would have in dormant within him for all eternity.
But what good is a legacy if it were to rot alone forever, unbeknownst to all?
‘You only hide things for so long from your mother, Vulka.’
Serenis gri 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 pints again. One day.’
“So…Lord Serenis?”
“Hm?”
She turo 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 specution, 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 ot say for certain, but…I’d like to believe so. Aravagant 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 frow the st remark. She hadly thought too deeply about that.
We kind of are, aren’t we?
“Then…wouldn’t it be areme act of dishonor to…well…”
“Bst holes and loot their treasures?”
“Raizel, I don’t think you were supposed to say that.”
“Pft, sure. Sorry for saying what everyohinking.”
The three dragons once again looked to Serenis in unison. She’d practically bee their go-to answer box.
Serenis forced a fident smile, crossing her arms.
“The legacy he left is not his corpse, but the tents within it. The dragonlord’s heart has returo its rightful owner, and treasures are better in the hands of the living thaomach of the dead.”
“Hm…that is true. I apologize for asking such a foolish question.”
“No, I’m gd you asked; it was a respectful gesture, Bruton. Now, if you children are done having fu 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 – which was 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 e 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 eime?”
With Bruton struggling to even keep up, it was Serenis who expined for the red dragon this time.
“There was likely a barrier in pce. Ohat both hid the path, and repelled intruders.”
“A barrier? But I didn’t feel anything just now.”
“With the heart recimed, any device that depended on it as a sourana would be rendered iive, barrier or otherwise. Only when the heart was cimed would the eye serve as a.”
“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 g her as she pointed her fiowards 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, being towards the dragonlord.
“e o’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 watg her from somewhere above. If she died a 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.’
