Countryhumans Oneshots

The Murder of a Kingdom

TW: Blood and Murder. It's kinda graphic.

When Norddmandi asked to meet with him, Gwynedd was skeptical. Norddmandi, the conqueror of Lloegr and the murderer of the Kingdoms of Iwerddon, was well known in the Ynysoedd Prydain for her being ruthless and cruel, someone who cared only for her own wants and desires.

Gwynedd believed it. He had spoken with her many times before, and it was always unpleasant.

Unfortunately, Gwynedd was a countryhuman, and therefore, he had to meet with other countryhumans when they asked. However, he didn't trust Norddmandi not to stab him in the back, so Gwynedd picked a small stone hut he owned as a meeting place, where Norddmandi wouldn't try any funny business with his rulers.

He tried to be professional when Norddmandi arrived to talk with him.

"I have heard about this new principality you are trying to make?" she asked. Gwynedd sighed.

"Norddmandi, you have been informed of these plans because they will put us in a similar position to what Alban is now. Why do you need to check this?" Gwynedd asked, suspicious of her intentions.

"I just want to talk about what you plan to do after. Are you going to live with me and Engleterre?" Norddmandi asked. Gwynedd really hates talking with this woman.

"No, I will stay in my own home but visit once or twice a year," he explained, uneasy. Something about the way Norddmandi was holding herself set off over seven hundred years of hard-won instincts within Gwynedd's brain.

Even though he suspected it before, he was sure now that Norddmandi was up to something.

"How nice. And what about Engleterre? What are your plans for him?" Norddmandi asked. Gwynedd snorted.

"I'm not becoming a principality to try and control Lloegr. Relax. If anything, I will simply rekindle our former friendship to ensure peaceful relations," Gwynedd explained, tensing as Norddmandi's eyes narrowed.

"Meaning?" she asked. Gwynedd shrugged, trying his best to look nonchalant, even as his fire built up in his throat, making it hard to breathe normally.

"I just want to be friends. After all, I have known him for longer than you, and I am much older than you both. I have plenty of wisdom and advice to pass down, and I would be happy to do so. I remember years ago when Lloegr would come over to my capital, and we discussed trade and then would get off topic, and I would tell him stories of the kingdoms before him—the ones I knew in any case, and then, especially when he was younger, I would help him with his flight." Gwynedd explained, smiling as he remembered the many weeks spent teaching Lloegr to fly. It was the reason for his first official visit to Winchester, as Lloegr's government wanted him to know how, and Lloegr certainly took to it like a duck to water.

What Norddmandi did to his wings was unforgivable. Gwynedd couldn't imagine the kind of torture going through losing them and then having to be without them was. He shuddered at the very thought of it.

"So you're the one who instilled that in him," Norddmandi said, something calculating in her eye. Gwynedd shrugged.

"I was simply the closest dragon countryhuman nearby to help," Gwynedd said. Norddmandi nodded before smiling

"Thank you, Gwynedd. You have made this choice much easier."

Norddmandi suddenly lept at him, teeth bared. The noise that escaped Gwynedd at that moment was far from human, but one that showed his surprise. Norddmandi knocked him to the ground, stunning him as her claws ripped at his chest, cutting part of his clothes and flesh into bloody ribbons as his teeth snapped at his throat.