Volume I: Forged

Chapter 31: End of an Era

"I do not have much time."

Despite himself, despite the past, despite everything—Phil felt his heart ache. Those were words he hoped to never hear in his lifetime, yet here he was.

"You are to keep him safe at any costs."

"Of course." The words were heavy on his tongue, but the promise was heavier on his heart. A terrible burden, but one he was willing to bear all the same.

"He is the last. The very last until the End gifts us with a daughter to continue the line. He must remain alive for this to happen, for the magic to remain anchored in this world. Do you understand?"

"Yes, M'lady."

The great dragon huffed, the warmth of her breath rolling over Phil in a wave. Her one red eye fixed on Phil, and he felt his soul quiver inside him. He may have been many things, but even he knew the fear that was acquainted with facing a dragon.

"The One have mercy on your soul if you fail, Angel, because I will not."

"Understandable." He knew she would be unable to carry out her threat.

The dragon regarded him with something akin to disgruntlement for a long moment, but Phil knew she was tired. She had already been delaying the inevitable for too long.

She would pass within the hour.

When she could stall no longer, she swept her tail to the side. A human child, curled up tight against her back talons, muttered at the disturbance.

Phil, throwing a cautionary glance at the dragon, advanced.

The kid was young, about Tommy and Tubbo's age. Light brown skin, ruffled black hair, and a slight build. His clothes were loose over his thin frame, and distantly Phil wondered how the dragon had managed to find clothing for her son.

Logically, Phil knew they would be there, knew the extra appendages would have to be present.

But his heart still skipped a beat at the black wings splayed out behind the boy's body.

"I have hidden his draconic form beneath a layer of human flesh," the dragon explained. "With your teaching, he should acquire a Hidden form quite easily. While his scales remain hidden, he is a full dragon."

"The last," Phil repeated what she had said earlier.

The dragon hummed in agreement, her tail adjusting the child's hair with a precise flick. Her one working eye, filled with so much love, remained fixed on her child.

She had had many children, over the millennia, and watched them all die at the hands of glory-seeking mortals. This child would be her last, would be the only one to carry her name and her fire.

"His name?" Phil asked respectfully.

"Eryn," the Dragon breathed. "Eryn Onix."

"His legacy?" Phil dared to ask.

"The first dragon to ever grace the Overworld lives on in him," the dragon said, her chest puffing in pride.

Phil chuckled. "The first and the last."

The child stirred, then curled in on himself. The wings fluttered, scales rustling over each other, then he stilled with a small huff.

"Will he remember you?" Phil asked, after a beat.

"I have hidden his memories, as you have requested," the dragon said. "He will know what he is, but not who, till the time is right."

"That is all I ask. The rest must be protected as well."

The dragon nodded, then lowered her head till Phil was face to face with her. He could see his reflection in the eyes as clearly as if he was looking in a mirror.

"He is all I love anymore," she said solemnly. "From a mother to a father, swear on your magic you will protect him."

Phil swallowed, but when he spoke his tone didn't waver. "I swear."

"Swear that he will be safe."

"I swear."

"Swear my child will not be the last, that you will ensure my child lives till a daughter is born."

"I swear."

The dragon continued to hold his gaze for a minute longer—to Phil that minute felt as an eternity.

Perhaps it was—no one could ever tell with dragons. They were beyond mortal comprehension, beyond what some could find within themselves to believe. The purest form of wildest dreams born with scaly wings and fire in their hearts, the greatest of imaginations tied to a mortal realm.

Eventually she broke her gaze. "Be safe, Angel. I give you my son. I give you my heir, to make your own."

Phil smiled, his heart aching as he prepared himself for what he was about to witness. "He will be the son of the Angel and the Dragon together. His legacy will be great."

There may have been something akin to tears when the dragon pressed her forehead to Phil's, the heat from her scales singing his hair.

One second she was there, a beautiful, magnificent creature. A force rent from the oldest of times, glorious and powerful.

The next, she was a passing cloud, a vapor in the air. Phil tasted ash on his lips, brimstone singing his nose.

He turned his blurry eyes to the heavens in time to watch the stars realign.

"Goodbye, old friend."

...

"So this is the last dragon, huh?"

Kristin ran her hand through the child's hair, thumbing his cheek. Eryn snuggled deeper in the pillow-blanket nest Kristin had prepared. He would awake confused, but Phil would have a story and the half-haphazard memories the boy would retain would be enough to let him feel safe.

"The very. Like Tommy," Phil sighed heavily, feeling the sadness deep in his bones.

"The fate of two whole species is living in our house," Kristin stated, though it was much calmer than a sentence of that caliber had any right to be.

"There's a lot more than the fate of two species in this house," Phil remarked, feeling oh-so-much wearier for saying it.

Kristin gave him a look and sighed her own sigh. "We're almost done on our little quest."

Phil nodded. "Soon, we'll be ready."