The Ether-Knight's Lessons

13

.^^ Chinese Hua Long ^^

— Idun —

Darien was very famous, I found out quickly, amongst Elves and Mages, as the first Mortal to ever become a Dragon, and turn himself back, all with one Talisman. His talismans were, apparently, found worldwide, even in Asia, where they usually kept to their own ideas of Magic.

"You know, we only spoke about me, at lunch and in the library. Tricky little bastard, aren't you?" I tsk'ed at him, making Orissa (who had appeared at Eliza's panicked shouting,) and Eliza to gasp, while Brigit just hummed, surprised at his thoughts.

He shrugged. "C'est La Vie, Granddaughter... I like this word, Granddaughter... it is amusing. These are your friends?" He looked at Brigit, Orissa, and Eliza.

"Yes, and my Roommates. Eliza is the Companion of Aurelius, the smaller Gold, and Bergen is mine, the Bigger one. There's seven others, one silver, three green, and three blue. This is Orissa and Brigit, Twins, and top members of the Dean's Apprentices, the guard-force of the academy." I explained.

He nodded, and walked towards Bergen, suddenly changing into a giant Sky-Blue Dragon, mid-stride.

I whistled softly. "So you are a badass. Good to know."

"Can I get an explanation for why Lord Darien Rotors-..." Orissa froze, staring at me.

"So he says." I answered simply.

Brigit nodded. "He believes it, as well. He recognized your mothers face in your memories... also, if you don't mind me saying, your mom was beautiful. She looked almost nothing like you..." she said indelicately, distracted.

"I know, I look like my father." I said dryly, and she blushed, suitably apologetic.

Darien sniffed Bergen, who hummed softly. "Idun? This Not-Human smells funny... almost Dragon... I don't know if I like it or not."

"I concur..." Aurelius growled softly at the much bigger dragon.

"Well hello, little ones... I understand that you were bred by my Son's Grandchild, Idun?" Darien asked simply.

The two Dragons reared back, surprised, and then hummed, sniffing him again. Bergen snorted, trotting around him, towards me. "Still smells weird, ancestor or not." He muttered to me as he laid behind me.

Aurelius snorted and laid back down in his chosen patch of sunlight. "Our Brood-Mother's Grandsire is a non-human, and he smells weird. Simple."

Darien laughed deeply, and took another step, turning back to his elven form, and walking over to us. "That was amusing. Your dragons are very spirited. You treat them well. Now, I was introduced to two members of the Dean's Apprentices? Is it still that Elder Newid... Syral, the Nightingale?"

"The nightingale? It has a Title?" I asked, curious.

"You don't-... I see... You wouldn't have been born yet... no, my son was still younger than you, when it happened, I suppose you wouldn't know about it." He hummed.

"Do I get context?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm? Ah, yes. Well, about 120 years ago, during one of the many wars for Deutschland's expansion, an elite force of Mage-Killers, loyal to the 'Holy Republic of Rome', invaded the Academy."

"And Syral didn't like that." I added easily.

"You... could say that, I suppose. Syral turned itself into a cloud of nightingales, large enough to blanket the sky for seven miles in every direction, and killed them all by pecking them to death. It then spread, and devastated the army of 200,000 soldiers camped within a few miles of the portal, over the course of four days, all while maintaining a barrier to prevent their escape. The mountain we stand on is made from the Bones of a Scourge of Dead, created by none other than that flock of Nightingales. No one has ever threatened this college, or any of the others, ever since." He grinned.