Ep 156. I’ve Been Here Before. (2)
It was another uful day at the Dragon’s Valley.
In fact, almost every day was aful day; hardly anything happened except the occasional explorers who were lost, or too brave, or too reckless.
But retly, it’s been o after another.
They’d had the stra visitor t them to heel and decre themselves king; her family had ventured into the kin’s forbidden grounds, and she’d nearly (and uionally) poisoned said king. The entire brood had been summoo the northern ti, only to return with brethren they’d thought lost food.
“…”
From the insides of her , Aether gowards a peculiar, unmoving door.
Once upon a time, it’d housed two younglings who’d bicker and fight nearly every m – but it’d grown quieter and quieter as the two spent more time outside than at home. Aether and Bruton had repaired the room at least hundreds of times, but it’d been years sihey’d st had to tinker with its make.
With her gaze fixed on the door, Aether called out to her husband by the dining table.
“Bruton? Where do you think they are right now?”
“Hm? Eline said she was taking Theo to look for more of those wriggly pnts.”
“Not them. I mean…Ilias and Raizel. Even Serenis.”
“…I’m not sure about the other two, but Ilias would be ba that human town, no? You talk as if she’d have gone elsewhere.”
“Oh? You don’t think she did?”
When Bruton’s hesitant remark was met by his wife’s disapproving gaze, he scratched his head, shrugging in resignation.
“Well…the lord did promise she’d send Ilias bae…”
Aether quietly snickered at the ck of fiden Bruton’s voice. At least one of the two knew how unpusible that was.
“You didn’t seriously believe that, did you?”
“I mean…it’s a king’s oath.”
“That’d mean something if Serenis was one of those kings from the picture books Ilias brought home.”
“…”
Bruton’s eyes quietly avoided Aether’s teasing gaze. He’d never admitted to reading human books, but…sometimes, he didn’t really o admit things for Aether to know.
Bruton’s expression stiffened as he pced his against his fist.
“So what? You’re saying she took Ilias with her?”
“Serenis would’ve done what Ilias wao do.”
“…So she took Ilias with her.”
“Uh huh.”
An exasperated sigh escaped the elder dragon’s lips. Even though Aether seemed to remain nont, Bruton’s mind was being muddled with worry.
“Guess we should’ve brought Ilias with us back then…”
“Oh please, it’s not like she went overseas. We say northern ti, but it’s only a few hours of flight away.”
“…Aren’t you being too permissive? The kin do not leave the valley. This has been our standing w fes.”
“Says the one who took both of them to the forbidden grounds.”
“That was…beyond my trol…”
“Pfft, sure. If you really wao preach that w, you should’ve tied them both down here. But you didn’t, did you?”
“…”
For decades, Raizel has gone wherever she’d fancied – the steel dragon never went too far out from the valley, but she was definitely not home very often.
Ilias’ case was worse. The red dragon had go way further than her friend; she’d flown to almost every er of the Wayn ti, and eveled down for a handful of years within a human city.
Beaming a soft griher came to sit by her partner’s side.
“Remember when they went out of the valley for the first time?”
“…When they snuck out together? Of course I remember. They were still tiny. You were worried sick.”
“Yeah…I was. Evehey came home safe and sound, I scolded them for hours…like they’d done something wrong. But after Serenis appeared, I’ve been thinking…”
“Hm? Thinking what?”
“Why shouldn’t we leave the valley?”
Bruton blinked in fusion, w if he’d misheard his wife.
He’d heard the question hundreds of times from hatgs – every elder had, and they’d all answer in simir manners. But this was the first time Bruton had heard the question being asked by another elder – his wife, no less.
Clearing his throat, the dragon calmly began to answer.
“You know just as well as I do. The elders sued to warn us all the time. They said…”
“That ill fate would befall those who left the valley.”
“…Yeah. That.”
“So non should ever leave the unless absolutely necessary.”
“…Exactly. We were all raised like that.”
The couple each brooded over the kin’s a wisdom.
Truth be told, her of them had truly believed in those words. They’d preached it like some unbreakable w, but the truth remaihat both of them had let Ilias and Raizel roam free throughout their childhood.
Case in point, staying at the valley hadn’t dohem any favors. The empire’s invasion had made that point all too well.
Minutes after, Aether carefully parted her lips.
“Maybe our elders weren’t as wise as we thought. I mean…look at us. We’re the elders now, aill don’t know what they were warning us against.”
“…True.”
“And besides, both of them always mao e home. The most dangerous thiher of them saw outside were each other.”
“…Haha. Also true.”
“And Serenis even found our lost families for us. That never could’ve happened if she stayed in the valley like we did.”
“…”
“So, maybe we should-“
Before Aether could tinue any further, her ’s front door was torn open – quite literally, as the piece of wood fell limp onto the floor, trampled beh a single, giant cw.
Realizing her mistake, the youngling outside hurriedly reduced her form to step through the fallen door.
“Mom! Dad!”
Standing beyond the fallen door was their ever-so-familiar daughter. And slump over her shoulders was their other foster child who, strangely enough, seemed somehow smaller than before.
“…Ilias? Raizel?”
Panting heavy breaths, Ilias raised her wary gaze to meet her parents’. But instead of exging pleasantries reetings as usual, she instead began their meeting with a question.
“Where’s…where’s Eline?”
Both elders squiheir eyes at their daughter’s seemingly rushed tohey first looked at each other, though Bruton soon turned back to answer his daughter.
“If you’re looking for Eline, she’s out with Theolus. She said she’d be looking for some strange herbs or something…”
“Herbs? Where?”
“…Uh…”
“Actually, stupid question, she ’t fly. I know where she’ll be. Thanks, dad!”
“Wait! What happeo-“
Even as Bruton hurriedly called out to stop his daughter, Ilias was out the door in moments, still carrying Raizel in tow as she took off into the air. He’d expected her to at least put the steel dragon down, but whehat didn’t happen, the elder’s frown deepened further and further.
“What in the world…? She could’ve at least said hello.”
But while Bruton crossed his arms grumbling, Aether hurried to her feet, ing an arm around her partner’s waist to pull him along.
“e o’s go after her!”
“…After her? Why?”
“Didn’t you see Raizel?!”
“…Over her shoulders? Yeah, why?”
“Oh, for the love of…just e!”
As Aether dragged Bruton along with brute force, her eyes remained fixed on the red spe the distance. She quickly took flight to follow her daughter in the distance.
…As well as Raizel, who she could swear was scarred and mutited.
