《The Destroying Protector》
Chapter 0.5: Prologue
Chapter 0.5: Prologue
It was hot and humid in Vorlianth''s lair, the summer was once again unbearable, as it was usual for the southern regions of Xavius. It was far beneath the earth, yet you could see the sky.
A huge dragon with jetblack scales and golden reptilian eyes, whose size was only challenged by the greatest mountains, was not pleased by the heat. Yet that was not his biggest concern, for he only knew how to bring destruction upon the world. That was the only activity which pleased him for 1025 long years.
Feared by mortals he was called Vorlianth The Eternal and he was seen as a natural calamity for that millennia, but he disappeared after realizing that bringing destruction upon everything was not something that could make him feel fulfilled. Now he was seeking a new purpose, but he could not find a worthwhile one.
No mortals knew where the eternal calamity went or where his lair was positioned, furthermore they were mostly not eager to find out. The only beings who knew where he lays, were the gods. And one of those gods was now seeking to meet him in his inner soul realm, a goddess to be precise:
Hebe who was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia. At least is was what Vorlianth knows of her, he had not seen her in 200 years.
Vorlianth''s own powers rivaled the gods, but only in destruction, and those who have power to be regarded as a god can visit the gods realm with their soul. If Hebe wanted to meet him he could just go into the gods realm and meet her there, but she seemed to value privacy in this matter, which conveys the feeling of it being very delicate, and chose to meet him in his own soul realm. The realm inside his soul was a huge nothingness, everything was black but him and the goddess.
Now here he was, the huge and majestic dragon, infront of Hebe the young and beautiful goddess.
" Why is it, that you seek to meet me after all this time? If my mind does not fool me, you should be serving the other gods and goddesses. Though I do not mind your company, since I had very little the last few decades. I presume you need my help?" spoke the dragon in his language, which sounded more like a rumble than anything resembling a language.
"Thou art not mistaken, Vorlianth, I came to ask thou a favor," spoke Hebe clearly struggeling speaking the draconic language, since her anatomy resembles a human it is a tedious task to speak draconic. " Thou shall travel to another world to protect a child, if you accept."
One could see a little surprise in Vorlianth face."You ask me to protect? You do know that all I can do is destroy. My size does not help the aspect of protecting, I may very well crush the child by accidently stepping onto it." This was no lie, Vorlianth could just step onto a village by accident, killing and destroying all the inhabitants and buildings.
"Allow me to explain," said the Goddess. "Thou shall die and thy soul shall be transported into the world of Viria, where thou will inhabit a body prepared by me. A human one, able to carry a dragons souls. Time is short, please tell me thy decision!"
"Presumptuous, but interesting. After nearly 700 years you present me a purpose which I long for and an opportunity to live the life of a human. I am tired of doing nothing, I shall accept, " spoke Vorlianth with conviction, desperate to escape his boredom. " But how should I die? "
"I thank thee, but this is why I meet thou in secret. Thou have to use thy grandest magic to destroy the planet so thou shall die with it, " explained Hebe.
"I bear no love for this planet and its inhabitants, they see me as a calamity and I shall give them their last one! Are you sure you want to anger the gods who are in charge of this place?" spoke Vorlianth without real concern, showing how little he cared for the lifes of Xavius people.
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"I shall tell thou in thine soulform. The "gods" are of little importance, compared with that child," eluded Hebe, sparking Vorlianth''s interest regarding the child he should protect. "Go now, I will awaint thine soul."
Not hesitating a single moment Vorlianth prepared to use his magic to the utmost limit. The air shrieks due to the density of Vorlianth''s mana. The magic of dragons are different from those of the mortals, the magic is more similar to a gods magic.
The Gods ''walk a path'', which is decided in the moment they start to exist. In Hebe''s case it would be the affinity for life, also called "Path of Renewal", she governs life, she can take souls and give them a new life, but she cannot take life she has given, she is also limited to animals, humans and demi-humans. This means she cannot govern nature.
Vorlianth walks another path, a path he does not hold dear anymore:
"Path of Carnage", this path is solely for war gods, because it gives the walker a natural affinity with all weapons and magic which cast destruction upon others.
The walkers do not govern death, yet with their magic it is easy to eradicate a living being. Vorlianth, being the dragon he is, could not utilize its full potential since he cannot use weapons. Yet it did not make a difference since his skill in destrucion magic was unparalleled, he had no need for chants like the others. The Eternal just needs to think about what the mana shall do for him and at this moment he used it all to create a meteor as big as the planet itself, only to launch it upon Xavius.
Vorlianth gazed on the meteor which he created and was not feeling remorse or regret, he would just wait until he died. And indeed he died.
While Vorlianth''s soul was on his way to the soul pool, it got grabbed by a god, no other than Hebe.
"Finally, now I don''t need to speak that draconic language anymore," sighed Hebe. "It would be tedious to explain everything to you in draconic."
Vorlianth shrugged."So this is the language of Viria?"
"Yes it is, but the one of the humans to be precise, since Viria has never had a dragon on its land ever before," explained Hebe. "Demons have run wild and Viria is the planet which we gods originally came from, usually demons would live in harmony with the other races-" "Which would be?" interrupted Vorlianth eager to know more about Viria.
"Humans, Elves, Dwarfs, Dark-Elves and Demons are the most common ones. Sadly we do not have the time to speak, the child you have to protect is called Serayana Crawgard, she is a half-elf.- Most importantly is the fact, that you need to help her. Right now!" spoke Hebe quickly. "You have to cope with your new body. My dissapperance should have already raised suspicion, the demons have some gods on their side, I must go. Good luck to you, old dragon. Or should I now say young human?"
"I hope I get more explanations," spoke Vorlianth in a demanding tone, dissatisfied with Hebes sudden disappearance. Then he felt his soul being applied onto a body, it felt like his insides were pulled out only to be put into something else. And everything went black.
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I hope you liked the prologue, please point out any mistake you can find. I am also not sure if I want to include comedy.
Chapter 1: Awakening in Viria
Chapter 1: Awakening in Viria
-------------------------------- Serayana''s point of view
It certainly was a journey which Serayana Crawgard would never forget, she visited The Royal Capital Rogat, which lies in the North of the country. She took this journey to discover her affinity for magic, like every noble citizen does. She has two affinities, both very great ones, the life affinity, which you need to heal wounds, and the fire affinity, which is mostly used as a weapon.
Serayana was currently riding in her carriage, with a total of 7 guards following her by horse, traveling to a wayside cross which leads into three directions: they were on the way to Medeth, the town of the Crawgard household, which lies south west. The other two directions would be south east where the Bourlean Lake lies and towards the west where Baguda home of the Farnstone household lies.
Her head was leaning at the window of the wooden carriage, her silver hair was untidy, a side effect of the road which was made out of cobblestone, but she did not seem to care. Her rather long and pointed ears, the trademark of the elves, were exposed. Yet they were not as long as a usual elf would have, only about half as long. Half long elven ears meant that she was a half-bred: half elf, half human. Half-Elves look like humans, except their ears, they had a better affinity with magic and a lifespan of over a thousand years. They would grow up like a human until adulthood and then they would just stop aging.
Currently the thin 14-year-old girl seemed to be bored, but there was a tinge of sadness in hear green eyes. ''The eyes of those nobles who looked at me were filled with hatred,'' she remembered unwillingly. ''Nothing has changed, even after the demons attacked. If they would sit in a room with a demon and me, they still would only poison my tea...''
The half-elves were frowned upon by the noble families, they regard a crossbreed as a dishonor for their noble blood and thus Serayana grew up rather lonely, as nobody wants to taint their own reputation.
Suddenly the carriage came to a halt and she heard the voice of Guard-Commander Eric, who leads the guards of the household Crawgard. He was 42 years old with brown hair, with a few grey hairs, and was regarded as one of the tallest men in the Kingdom of Aseran boasting 1,87 meters. He had hazelnut brown eyes and an athletic build, which was currently tensed up.
"Stay in your carriage Serayana. I see movement in the woods to our right, Thomas, John protect the back of the carriage."
"Yessir!" said the two guards in unison and promptly carried out their orders.
She heard a vicious howl from outside and stealed a glance outside the window. There she saw beings with black fur, about 2 meters in height. They stood on two legs, yet looked more like a wolf than a man. ''Worgen!'' she gasped and it sended her cold shivers up and down her spine.
A lone worgen should not be an issue for 7 guards, but as she looked further outside, she saw a dozen worgen, a whole pack, surrounding the carriage and her guards. Worgen would not stop chasing their prey until they were sated, thus it was for certain that it would be a matter of live and death. They seemed to be thinner than a usual worgen, they might not have been finding prey in their usual habitat anymore.
''Did something happen in the Untamed South? Beasts usually never leave their natural habitat. Is there something that made them flee? Asked Serayana herself, burying into her seat to hide from sight. A useless gesture, worgen had a superior sense of smell, but it made her feel safer.
The worgen started their hunt by jumping onto the guards simultaneously, the whole pack outnumbered the guards by far. Serayana saw Eric evading a strike by jumping backwards, he went in low and counterattacked, hitting the worgen''s flank. It was a fatal wound, but the worgen seemed not to care, driven by its hunger.
Guard-Commander Eric eyed the situation and saw his guards dying cause the worgen were nearly twice the guards numbers. "Serayana get out of the carriage and follow me! We have to flee!"
As Serayana heard the voice, she was overcome with shock and anextiy. ''Is this already the end?''
She bursted out of the carriage in Erics direction, grabbing the attention of a few worgen. They were not eager to let their prey to flee. Eric saw the worgen and managed to jump infront of Serayana to block the claw of a worgen with his body. Blood gushed over the floor. "Run away, Serayana! I will hold them off!" he managed to shout with pain apperant in his voice. "Don''t look back; run!"
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And Serayana did, scaring for her live she ran through the forest, trying to not stumble over roots. She was running faster than she ever did, part of the reason was the adrenaline, the other was that she never had such a good reason to. She heard worgen behind her, but she did not look back. She did not want to look back.
Running until she met a dead end, she stood infront of the Bourlean Lake, her only option was to swim. ''Do it Serayana!'' she thought to herself.''You may have never swam before, but now you have to do it!'' While she tried to muster the courage she needed she heard the an explosion.
*BOOM* the loudly sound echoed through the whole forest, creating a shockwave which swept Serayana from her feet, she fell.
-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view a few minutes before
Opening his eyes Vorlianth saw an altar with a familiar symbol , on which he is was currently lying.''A chalice? How fitting for the cupbearer,'' he mused.
He was trying to move, it felt very alien to him, as he never had the form of a human before. ''Humans usually stand on two legs, why is it so difficult?'' he complained, clearly struggeling with aspects of his new body. As he was trying to stand up, he slipped as his body still felt very foreign to him. He stumbled infront of a small pond and saw a human in its reflection. ''Is this me?'' he assumed, as he eyed the reflection.
It was a human with golden eyes, not reptilian, just golden. His hair was jetblack like his scales once were, he seemed very athletic with a sculpted face. He also was nude, yet it did not concern him in the least, as a dragon he never wore clothes, so why should he miss them, he thought.
Using his two hands to push himself up, he awkwardly stood up. ''Slow and steady, Vor, slow and steady...'' he told himself until he stood on his two legs, feeling proud of his accomplishment. '' Didn''t Hebe say the child I have to protect was in trouble?'' he realized while he was looking for an exit, clearly caught off guard with the sudden realization.
There was only one way in this cave, which was quite cold and humid. Only a single speck of light illuminates the cave.''This should be my way out of here,'' Vorlianth thought as he awkwardly walked towards the light.
After reaching it he saw that he was in a forest, he closed his eyes and listened. He was disappointed to not hear as much as he used to as a dragon.
''Humans truly haven''t got a great hearing, I cannot even hear the fishes swimming in that lake to my left...'' criticized Vorlianth the human anatomy, looking around to find a clue where the child under his protection was. ''I should make my way through the forest.''
At the same time as he made his way through the forest, he saw a human running from beasts. ''Why is a human running from dogs?'' he inquired himself. At this moment one of the ''dogs'' noticed the bystander and jumped infront of him.
''Hou? I have never seen a dog standing on two legs, maybe he can talk?'' Vorlianth thought to himself, surprised by the standing dog. "Good-... afternoon?" , he said awkwardly, grasping that he did not know the time.
The ''dog'' just growled and jumped at him. Vorlianth was so preoccupied with his blunder that he only punched the ''dog'' out of pure reflex. Blood and Organs splashed everywhere as his punch connected with the ''dog''.
The now red Vorlianth was surprised: ''He didn''t seem too friendly to me, what a shame...'' Vorlianth clearly was undisturbed by all the gore that was sticking to him.
He looked at the other dogs and saw that it was a child they were chasing. ''Is that maybe the child I have to protect?'' he mused while he gathered mana to use a spell. ''I think a simple explosion should kill the childs persecutors.''
He imagined the explosion in his mind and willed his mana create it.
*BOOM* ''Dragon''s shit! I did not want to blow up the whole forest,'' Vorlianth thought, this was his third blunder in a few minutes. Not minding the shockwave he walked towards the little human and realized that it was a ''she'' and to top it off she was not moving. ''Did I kill her? That would not be a good start to this journey.'' he worried as he looked upon her.
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Truly tedious to format this, I really need to get used to it, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Chapter 2: Back in the Cave
Chapter 2: Back in the Cave
-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view
Vorlianth checked the seemingly dead child. ''Well she does still breathe and I cannot see any real injuries, even if there were any, I couldn''t treat her anyway.'' He checked his surroundings, the explosion destroyed a great part of the forest, the worgen were crumbled into dust and the surroundings were damaged to a degree where it could also be called a wasteland.
''I wonder why I could not control my magic properly, it feels different than the time I was a dragon,'' the blackhaired young man understood. ''I should not use magic, if not necessary. My strength is not easy to control in this body, I now understand what Hebe meant with a human vessel which is capable of carrying a dragon''s soul. I still have my old strength.''
The forest was silent after the tremor caused by his explosion, countless animals were killed and the city Baguda was not far away. They had noticed the explosion for sure, it was only a matter of time that they sent somebody to investigate. Vorlianth was ignorant of that matter while he looked upon the destruction he caused. He felt nothing. ''I should carry the girl into the cave, she cannot lie here forever.''
Walking towards the cave while carrying the girl like a potato sack he searched for the entrance. The tremor caused a rockslide that blocked the access to the cave. He layed the girl on the ground and made a hole which was big enough to slip through, Vorlianth took the girl and went deeper into the cave and layed the girl onto the altar.
''I should clean myself, humans usually do not trust people who are smeared with blood.'' The young man stepped into the pond in which he saw himself for the first time as a reflection, he was surprised by the depth of the pond, only his head was sticking out of the water.
Vorlianth cleaned himself and inspected his body a bit more.''I should be about 1,90 meters tall, I am a male, as I can condclude with my lack of breasts. Even though it seems that I am not the only one with the lack of certain "assets",'' he mused as he gazed at the girl. '' I also have the characteristic "thing" of a male, which I lacked as a dragon. I should cut the fur on my head, I believe the gods called it "hair" back when I was first facing them.''
As he was reminiscing the young girl woke up, her clothes ragged from the chase. The once beautiful dress which once was red is now a tattered brown-green mess. She glimpsed around as she could not see much, due to her eyes not being adjusted to the darkness. "Where am I?" She asked, clearly not expecting an answer.
"You are in a safe place." Said Vorlianth in a monotone manner.
"KYAAAAH!?! screamed the girl horrified. She looked around and could only see a head sticking out of the ground, his body was obviously just in a pond, but she could not see the water yet. "What are you!?" screamed the girl as she was looking at the head.
''I retract my previous statement about the human hearing, that scream could have killed me as a dragon,'' Vorlanth mused completly ignoring the question of the horrified girl. "Are you Serayana Crawgard?"
The girl looked startled when she heard the question, her eyes adapting to the darkness. She saw the altar she currently was lying on and shock overcame her. "What if I am? Will you sacrifice me to a dark god?"
"Why should I? The altar you are lying upon is not one of a dark god. Tell me if you are Serayana Crawguard." demanded Vorlanth, he wanted to know if she was the girl he was tasked to protect, if she was not then he would be just wasting time.
Taken aback by his response she answered: "Yes I''m Serayana Crawgard, what do you want of me? Who even are you?"
Vorlanth rose out of the water, either not caring about being nude in the company of the other sex or just completly forgetting that he was not wearing any cloth. "I''m Vorlianth, but where are your manners? I believe one should thank his savior."
"M-Manners?! Don''t tell me something about manners when you are naked!" retaliated Serayana completly flushing. Since she grew up lonely, she never had much interaction with the other sex, except her older brother. She had a good view, of Vorlianth''s body before turning away in shame. "Vor-Vorlians? No Vorlant? I thank you for saving me, but why aren''t you wearing ANY cloth? Why are you even helping me, do you want a reward from my family?
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''Well, she does have some trouble to pronounce a dragons name, but why does she have to ask so many questions... I should probably not tell her that a goddess tasked me with protecting her. Why is there even a need to wear lumps of cloth on ones body?'' pondered Vorlianth, trying to give some plausible answers. "Call me Vor. Where I came from clothes were not needed. Also, I shall bring you home if you allow me to. I really would appreciate a reward."
Serayana gazed on Vor with eyes full of doubt, only to look away flushing when she saw him. "Why would I trust a naked guy who abducted me into a cave? In what place does somebody not need cloth? " she slowly said as she seemed to remember something, disturbation apparent in her young but good-looking face. "What happened to the worgen? Is Eric alive? What even did explode?"
''Worgen? Does she mean the dogs who managed to stand on two legs? Who even is Eric, was he with her? If he was with her than he should already be dead. Did I kill him?'' Vor was deep in thought as he tried to recall what he had seen before accidently blowing up a good portion of the forest. ''If I tell her that I am responsible for the explosion she would be scared of me, or angry. Probably both. '' Vor sighed as Serayana was trying to not look at him, as it is improper for a noble lady to watch a nude man without being married to him.
"The do-... worgen... are dead, I am not sure what exploded in the forest but if there was somebody with you, then he is presumably not breathing anymore. I only saw you lying on the ground." responded Vor plainly causing Serayana to doubt his trustworthiness. "I won''t ask you to trust me, but let me protect you, if I had malicious intentions I surely wouldn''t ask you for your opinion. If you are uncomfortable with me being in my most natural form, then please give me a lump of your tattered cloth."
"I won''t trust you, but you don''t seem like a mage capable of causing such a calamitous destruction." she said spaced out, Vor regarded her lack of mournfulness in her beautiful face as a side effect of shock.
Vor knew that mortal races had fragile feelings, he remembered the time when he accidently stepped on a immense and pompouse manor of a rich noble back in Xavius. The face of the noble was twisted by horror, despair and sorrow, Vor still wasn''t sure whether it was the destruction of the nobles lair which caused his expression or maybe the fact that his family was still inside the mansion. Vor wasn''t proud of his deeds he had done over a thousand years ago, yet he still not managed to feel something for mortals, he still was as apathetic as ever.
"Still, you ask me, a noble lady, to partly undress myself and give a part of my cloth, to cover your most private parts?" Serayana asked, thinking that the request was presumptuous.
"Yes?" responded Vor nonchalantly, not understanding the issue the young girl had with his plea.
"I can''t believe I am doing this, but I cannot let you run around nude, I feel like I am the one who will end up protecting you." she complained as she ripped a part of her tattered dress, revealing smooth and pale legs. She held the piece of cloth in Vor''s direction not glancing at him till he finally covered his manhood.
''I believe humans would regard this child as lovely and dazzling, but isn''t she very short? I really have to get used to the clothing, is it even really necessary?'' pondered Vor. The size difference between the two was 30 centimeters. "Thank you for being so considerate, shorty."
"Hey I am still growing!" protestet Serayana, she seemed to not like her new nickname.
The young man went outside of the cave looking back upon the girl, he now looked like a barbar, an exceedingly handsome one, only missing a club in his hand. "Follow me."
"Do you even know where we have to go, Vor?" inquired Serayana doubting his knowledge.
"No." responded Vor blatantly.
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I hope you liked the second chapter!
Chapter 3: The Journey towards Home
Chapter 3: The Journey towards Home
-------------------------------- Serayana''s view
Even though Serayana went to the capital to get her magical affinities checked, she also picked up a rumor in court. The Demons movements in the south started to make the King worried, if they would start attacking then Serayana''s home Medeth would be endangered. She needed to tell her father, who was currently bedridden because of an illness.
As she looked at Vor''s back she noticed a huge tatoo of a beast she had never seen before, it was black and seemed to have many scales. ''Only slaves get a magical tatoo, but it is much smaller and not formed like a beast. Is he a runaway slave who tried to cover up his brand? That would explain why he hasn''t got cloth,'' thought Serayana.
She despised the slavery system, mostly elves were captured and enslaved, the enslavery of humans was usually forbidden, only criminals and the family of criminals were able to be enslaved. Half-Elves were a grey area, as they were very unusual, they would fetch a good price. If she were to travel alone, bandits maybe would try their luck to enslave her.
''Is he a criminal? He doesn''t look like it. Maybe somebody of his family got into trouble with a noble... I could pretend that he is my slave, that way he would not run into trouble while he is with me, even if he is nearly naked,'' pondered Serayana as she considered her options. ''We cannot go to Baguda, as they would question us. Even if we didn''t do anything they would at least question us for a day and I don''t want to waste time.I''
"Follow me." said the possible former slave towards Serayana as he stood at the cave entrance.
''If he was transported as a slave and only escaped because of the explosion then he shouldn''t know where he currently is.'' pondered Serayana. "Do you even know where we have to go, Vor?"
"No." responded Vor with a straight face.
"Why should I follow you then?" argued Serayana trying hard not to laugh about his response. ''How can he even keep a straight face while saying that?''
"Do you know where we have to go, shorty?" countered Vor.
"Of course do I know! We have to go..." Serayana looked outside the cave trying to orientate. "Where are we anyway?"
"So you don''t know." teased Vor, he found the blunder of Serayana amusing.
"I... ehm... I don''t know..." responded Serayana while her face went as red as a beetroot. ''How embarrassing...''
"Well, as you can see, we are in a cave, if you look past the crater to our front, you should see a lake, do you now know where we are? Because I don''t." said Vor scratching his chin which was devoid of any hair.
"Why do you speak like you are my guide? If this is the Bourlean Sea over there, then we have to go to the right until we find a waycross. There should be a street, but I guess the explosion destroyed it." Serayana pointed to the right. ''He wanted to tease me, didn''t he? He could have told me where we are since the beginning.''
"Well let''s go then." said Vor as he started moving.
Serayana followed him closely while she was pondering. ''I should tell him that he has to act like my slave, who ran away with me as worgen attacked us. But would a former slave readily play the role of a slave?''
They already covered two-thirds of the way when Serayana mustered up the courage to tell Vor what she was thinking. "Vor, listen, you have to play the role of a slave until we arrive at Medeth. I cannot show myself in this fashion in Baguda as it is the home of our rival household Farnstone. It would cause me great shame if I were to show up in this attire in their city. We have to go to the village Tavin which is located on the way."
"I don''t mind playing the role of a slave, but shouldn''t we try to eat something first?" answered Vor indicating that he had not eaten in quite some time.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view
''She doesn''t seem too hungry, perhaps she had lost her appetite due to the events. She is not aware of it, but she suppresses her feelings.'' thought Vor, as he grasped that the explosion should have shooed all animals away.
"You are right, we should eat, we won''t reach Tavin today, we probably need a whole day." spoke Serayana in a depressed way.
"The animals apparently ran away, are you sure we shouldn''t go into that Baguda town, we could get us a vessel to move faster." inquired Vor. ''Does she want to sleep outside? As far as I know humans prefered to sleep in a house, but maybe that was just a quirk of the humans of Xavius.''
"I''m sorry, but no. It may be conceited of me, but I cannot do that."
"Not a chance?"
"No."
Thus the two of them made their way towards Tavin, taking the south-west way of the waycross. It was already dusk and the sun didn''t seem to spend light for much longer, Vor also got hungrier with every minute and even Serayana seemed to feel her hunger now. In addition, Vor heard Serayana''s tummy rumbling, she seemed to ignore that fact and tried to not let Vor notice it. Her red face did not help her in that aspect.
An hour later, it was already dark. The morale of the two reached a new low.
''We were followed since quite a while, are they waiting until we rest?'' pondered Vor while he walked over the muddy road, his feet were already full of dirt. "We should rest, Mistress."
He could see the shock in Serayana''s eyes. "M-Mistress? You only have to play the role of a slave, you don''t have to actually act like a slave if we are alone. Yet it does sound better than "shorty"."
"Is that so, shorty?" teased Vor while he made his way to a place which was protected by rocks. He sat down and leaned against a tree. He pointed at straw which was probably once used as a bed.
"Is it okay that I am the one sleeping on straw?" questioned Serayana, uncomfortable with the thought of her benefactor sleeping on the ground.
"I am used to it." said Vor truthfully, since he originally was a dragon he never had the need to sleep on something else than the ground. "Also, I am going to make fire, wait here."
"Do you have something to light it?" asked Serayana with doubt written all over her face.
Vor stood up and searched for branches while he said: "I do know some fire magic." It wasn''t a lie, since "some" was not a defined amount of magic spells, technically he didn''t knew any real spells. As he went away he glanced back at Serayana, who looked back at him with surprise apparent in her fascinating face. Something told Vor that he should not have mentioned it. At least not this early.
When Vor had enough branches he lighted the fire with a flick of his hand.
"So you really know fire magic."
"I told you."
"Who are you really? A normal person shouldn''t know their affinities, nor should they know how to use them." Serayana demanded an explanation.
''Well, Vorlianth, you messed up. Improvise!'' Vor told himself.
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I hope you enjoyed chapter 3, next time there finally is some action again. (I am currently having some exams, which could slow down the release a little.)
Chapter 4: Who are you really?
Chapter 4: Who are you really?
-------------------------------- Serayana''s view
''He really knows fire magic... A noble would never be enslaved. If I think about it, I would presumably still be enslaved if I met the wrong people, who would trust a slave who claims to be a noble?'' pondered Serayana, while she tried to evaluate Vor. There were too many missing variables.
"Who are you really? A normal person shouldn''t know their affinities, nor should they know how to use them."
''He keeps his straight face... no the look in his eyes changed for a moment.'' observed Serayana while she fathomed every single bit of his body language.
"I am Vor." answered Vor trying to evade explaining his background.
"I know that much. I can''t trust you and most certainly not sleep next to you if I don''t know who you are. Even my benefactor has to properly introduce himself." countered Serayana, slowly loosing her patience.
"Indeed, forgive me for my poor manners mistress. I am Vorlianth The Subservient, created by a goddess to protect you." responded Vor making fun of Serayana''s dwindling patience.
''You won''t get off that easily!'' stated Serayana in her mind. "As if I am that stupid, only because I am fourteen! Let''s start with your age, how old are you?"
"Over a thousand years older than you."
"Could you pretty please be serious?"
"21."
"21? I thought you were older..."
Serayana was not sure if she should take his answers with a pinch of salt or not. ''I cannot read him, was he trained to not show emotions? He behaves pretty awkward, he doesn''t seem to mind destruction. Was he a living weapon? That would explain the magic and why he is so handso- athletic!
"Were you used to kill people? In other words an Assassin?"
-------------------------------- Vor''s view
''What is an Assassin? But one could say I was used to kill people, my instincts were the ones who gave me orders while I wasn''t matured.
"I don''t know what you mean with an Assassin, as I was never trained yet, but I have killed people and I can use magic."
"So you were probably supposed to be trained, I can imagine it would not be unusual for a slave to not know what is going to happen to him. So I assume you were a slave?"
''A slave to my primal urges,'' thought Vor. "Yes I indeed was a slave."
"I am going to ask my father about this kind of thing. Why does your brand represent a beast?" asked Serayana.
''A brand?'' At the moment Vor willed mana into his back he felt as if a cascade of mana was absorbed. He felt his eyes changing into something else.
"KYAAH. W-What is with those eyes, they look like a lizardmans." screamed Serayana with shock written all over her face.
''Well thank you goddess, you could have atleast told me.'' complained Vor in his mind. "This brand allows me to take over certain parts of a beast."
''Presumably even the whole body, I can''t test that out here though.''
"I have never heard of such a tatoo, it would cost a fortune. There are indeed some magical tatoos which for example can amplify healing, but something of this extent..." explained Serayana, the tiredness apparent in her chiselled face.
"We should sleep and tomorrow you are going to tell me about yourself, as I want to know more about the shorty I saved." teased Vor once again, he found it strangely amusing.
"Yes... indeed..." managed Serayana to say before she already entered the realm of dreams.
''Well looks like she really pushed herself far today. I wonder why our persecutors are taking so long, I should ask them, maybe they have something to eat.''thought Vor as he once again willed mana in his tatoo. ''Just like I guessed. If I sent mana to my eyes and my tatoo my eyes will change, if I sent it towards my ears and my tatoo my hearing gets as great as it once was when I still was a dragon.''
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Vor made his way towards the bunch of persecutors.
-------------------------------- Dan''s view a few minutes before
"Boss, how long are we supposed to wait?" inquired Dan as he felt uncomfortable just looking at the huge guy next to their target. ''I never had such a strange feeling before, it isn''t excitement but something else.''
The seven of them were a band of thieves, they usually wouldn''t try to enslave people, but as they had seen the half-elven girl, their greed took over. Following the two of them for half a day, only to get over a thousand gold by selling a young girl. She would be even more worth if she was a virgin, some nobles had a strange taste, thought Dan. He himself thought that sex was, in that aspect, like chess, if you can play it you wouldn''t want to play with beginners.
"Until they sleep. It will be much easier." responded Grenn, the leader of the group.
"Can I have a taste of her?" asked Fett.
Fett was not the thinnest person out there and Dan thought his face looked like it once was used as a hammer. It looked really unpleasent, a few burns and many indentations, he was pretty small for his age. 1,50 meters at the age of 30, Dan still wondered to this day how he could be part of their group. He definitely was a beginner at "chess".
"If she is a virgin then she could be sold for two thousand gold coins, if she is not you are free to do what you want." answered Grenn, not even disturbed by Fett''s request.
"How much is one gold?" asked somebody in the back.
Fett responded in a disrespecting manner without looking back: "How stupid can you be? One-Hundred chopper coins are one silver coin and One-Hundred silver coins are one gold coin. What are you? A toddler?"
"I see thank you very much fat-shorty." spoke the voice.
It was at this moment Dan realized that there was nobody in the group, who had such a dark but soothing pleasent voice. "Who are you!?"
"I am Vorlianth, call me Vor if you still can." said the voice, Dan could now see the bearer of such a voice. It was the person next to their target, the young man did not move, yet Fett literally exploded. He may have had too much fat, but Dan would have never imagined that he would be such a mess, if he exploded.
''I have to run!'' was all that Dan managed to think. The feeling he could not really explain before was now as clear as day to him: Fear, his instincts told him to run!
"Dan, where are you going!" screamed Grenn confused.
"Saving my life!" he shouted back.
-------------------------------- Vor''s view
''At least one of them has good instincts.'' mused Vor, as he punched another one, he held back his strenght to its utmost limit, but the person who was hit still exploded. Vor was busy dodging the mess he himself created, as one of the Bandits shouted, presumably the leader.
"Get him! All at once!"
"UAAAH!" screamed one of the bandits as he swinged his sword wide, leaving a huge opening.
Vor pushed his little finger in that bandits stomach, yet there still was a huge hole inside his abdomen. ''Still too much power?''
Vor evaded all the messy swings the bandits tried to land on him. He was disappointed, they had no idea what they were doing. ''They are too loud and I am wasting time.''
He kicked another bandit, he hit his head and thought. ''Dragon''s shit, now my leg is dirty again, how am I going to explain this?''
The jetblack young man was now not in a good mood as he punched the last 3 bandits with full power, completly obliterating them.
''It''s time to meet up with Dan. I am sure he will be pleasantly surprised.''
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Didn''t have time to proofread this as I have to go to school now. But I will do that later, please point out mistakes and enjoy!
Chapter 5: A Cherry Blossom?
Chapter 5: A Cherry Blossom?
-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view
''I should make haste. I don''t want shorty to be alone for too long.'' thought Vor as used a little more strength to move. He tried to not destroy the ground beneath him, but it was in vain, everytime his feet met the ground they were pressed so deep into the ground that he had to jump out of the crater he himself had created. ''Am I a rabbit? I have to get a feeling for my strength, as soon as I use a little more power, I always end up destroying things.''
It didn''t take long to catch up with Dan who was running as fast as he could. "Whoa there! Would you be so kind and stop running? I promise I wont kill you."
"As if I would believe you!" retorted Dan not slowing down.
Vor jumped right infront of Dan and grabbed his throat. "Don''t. Move."
The old dragon was not pleased by wasting unneccesary time. ''I am hungry... Humans don''t eat other humans, do they?''
"What do you want?" Dan was irritated by the missing pressure on his throat.
"Don''t move, I can''t control my strength. If you still want to move, consider yourself as dead." spoke Vor glancing meanacingly. "I want your cloth."
"W-What?"
"Your. Cloth. Undress yourself." demanded Vor as he eyed Dan''s clothing once more. He ceased to grab his throat and waited.
"Why are you doing this?" asked Dan while he promptly undressed himself. He was not ashamed, he just was trying to survive.
"Look at me, I only have a lump of cloth around my lower regions. Don''t you think its inproper to travel with a lady like this?" responded Vor looking like he was used to this kind of situation.
A few moments later Dan was nude too, if one was looking at the two of them by a distance, one would surely misunderstand the situation. Vor grabbed two things: The dirty white shirt and the brown trousers. "You can keep the other cloth, they are filthy. Do you have something to eat?"
Dan quickly took back his underpants and dressed himself. "Y-Yes, in my bag, I''ve got a rabbit which I had hunted this morning and a whole bread which I stole."
''So there are some animals which exist in both worlds I know.'' mused the blackhaired young man. "Give the bread and the rabbit to me, after you''ve given them to me you are free to go, I have a feeling we will meet again."
Dan was overjoyed as he handed over the whole bag. "I''m going now, is that alright?"
"Even though I have many questions, I can''t waste more time. You can go." answered Vor. ''This already took by far too long, I have to get back. Can you eat the rabbit as a whole?''
Vor was on his way back when he realised that he still is full of blood. He sharpened his senses by sending mana into his tatoo. '' Where is a pond? Ah! A little lake! And a tree, but something is odd?''
-------------------------------- Dryad''s view
''Somebody is coming near my tree, I haven''t had a good meal in quite some time. I don''t feel anything from him?''
Dryads were tree nymphs who are surviving by sucking out the mana of a victim who was charmed by the her. They had the appeareance of stunningly beautiful women but were deadly as they sucked their victims devoid of any mana. If ones mana was sucked dry they wouldn''t stop which would lead to them sucking the life enery out of their victims resulting in their death.
This particular dryad used a cherry blossom to gather the attention of a potential victim, when the victim came closer she would show herself, she had pink hair and jadegreen eyes, her face was enthralling and her hourglass figure was only covered by a few petals which were sticking to her bountiful breasts and her most private area. She also was around 1,80 meters tall. She would kiss the victim and they would be charmed.
''Isn''t that a handsome one? I cannot feel his mana... If he hasn''t gotten any then this will be a short snack.'' pondered the dryad, she was running low on mana, she had only once sucked a human dry and that one was on the verge of dying already. A dryad only needed to gather mana once every thirty years, some lured prey far more often because it would pleasure them greatly.
They also could reproduce with humans and the other races if they chose to, usually they would use a charmed victim for that purpose. Once they were impregnated a seed would grow in the middle of their tree, they would give the seed to the charmed human and let him plant it if he found a good place. If the charmed being was one of great power then the dryad which would be planted would grow into a dryad queen who reigns over a whole forest. There were only few dryad queens as the mightiest beings would usually not be able to be charmed, so they had to reproduce with the dryad with consent.
The dryad watched the young human undress, he obviously wanted to clean himself. ''His hands and feet are full of blood, yet it isn''t his blood. A warrior?''
While she watched him bath, she came out of her tree and walked into the water. The young man looked at her quizzically, but continued to clean his legs. "Young man, let me help you." she said as she suddenly but gracefully embraced him, leaning in for a kiss. Nevertheless, it was quite awkward if watched from afar, apparently the dryad had not much experience in charming men. Yet the young man did not resist, he was taken by surprise.
''Fufu, now I should have him charmed, because he hasn''t got any mana, it was easy.'' thought the dryad blissfully.
"What are you trying to do?" asked the young man suddenly, startling the young dryad.
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''He should be charmed!'' The dryad once again kissed the young man, trying to charm him. A man with no mana should be easily charmed.
"I don''t get what you are trying to do, I won''t hurt you because it doesn''t feel bad, but if you want to mate, please not now." The declaration of the handsome male shocked the dryad.
"I-I''m not trying to mate! I just wanted to charm you with magic!" blurted the dryad out. ''Craap, I''ve told him!''
"Charm? You cannot charm me with magic, you are far too weak. But why would you even do that?" questioned the young man, unusually interested in the dryad.
"I am too weak? You should be the one without mana!" retorted the nearly bare young woman.
"Only because I am hiding my mana, it doesn''t mean I haven''t gotten any." answered the man. "But tell me, what did you want to do after charming me?"
"You cannot hide your mana! Mana is your aura and you haven''t gotten a noticable aura! And a dryad obviously wants to get your mana and life energy!" blurted the dryad once again. ''Auu, me and my loose tounge, but it isnt my fault, I have never really talked to anyone.''
" I can give you some mana if you answer a few questions for me." suggested the young man. "First of all, call me Vor. Secondly, what is your race? You call yourself a "dryad" but I never seen such a being before."
After explaining what a dryad was, the dryad thought: ''How can he not know about dryads? I thought people knew of us.'' She was gazing at the young man, only now noticing his golden eyes, she first assumed they were a bright brown, his long eyelashes complimented his rare mesmerizing eyes. ''Beautiful..., wait! He should be the one getting charmed!''
"Thank you, I believe I should give you your promised mana now. But how can you suck out my mana?" asked Vor.
"Eh? I would suck you dry if I started to draw out your mana. If you wanted to give me your mana, we would have to kiss and you would have to let your mana flow into me."
"Is kissing the thing you did to me?" asked Vor, he didn''t know what it was as he never did it as a dragon.
"Yes? How can you not know that?" asked the dryad. ''He is sometimes like a child, its kinda cute...''
"Well I wasn''t always a human, I never needed "kissing" as the being I once was." responded Vor, before he suddenly started to kiss the dryad.
All of a sudden a shockwave went through the whole land, rousing every living being in the Kingdom. Babies cried, sleeping men and women awoke, beasts were startled and ancient beasts were woken from their slumber.
''What is with this amount of mana? It is even more than the strongest dryad queen has!'' managed the dryad to think, as mana surged through her causing great pleasure until she was completly filled.
"Damn, I shouldn''t have let out my mana, but I was never good at controlling it to that degree..." complained Vor as he parted his lips with the dryad who now had a feverish look locked onto him.
"Would you care to mate with me one day?" asked the dryad panting from the pleasure she just had recieved. ''I need him in my future live!''
"Where does that question come from?" asked Vor as he seemed to ponder for a moment. "It should be fine I guess, I don''t know how this mating thing works, but I am sure you could teach me."
''Yes!'' The dryad was estatic. "I''ll take you up on that, meet me in one year! I have to put all this mana to good use! A dryad probably never had so much mana! "
"I shall come back in one year, but I don''t know your name yet?"
"Dryads usually don''t have a name... Could you give me one?"
Vor gazed at the dryad''s hair, she liked being looked at by him. "How about Rosa?"
"Rosa? Rosa." she nodded. "From now on I will be called Rosa. I will await you, Vor!"
"I have to get going now." said Vor as he dressed himself.
"Wait. Take this with you." spoke Rosa as she spoke a chant in a low voice.
A root shot out of the ground taking the form of a table presenting a fruit.
"This is a Melon, you have to slice it open, then you can eat it with your hands, once you have eaten it, you can use it to fetch water."
Vor showed surprise, but then quickly nodded and took the melon. "Thank you, Rosa. I have to hurry now since I probably have woken up the whole continent."
Vor quickly ran away, taking his bag with him. Rosa looked at his back until she wasn''t able to see him anymore. ''He managed to fill me with mana to my utmost limit and he had so much more mana. Who is he? And what did he mean with that he wasn''t always human? I will have to wait a year to find out, a lonely year, but I now have something to await.''
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My first exam is over, but the next are coming soon. I have to eat something now, gonna proofread the chapter at a later time, I''m starving. PS: R-18 Chapter in a "year" confirmed?
Chapter 6: Meeting up with Serayanna
Chapter 6: Meeting up with Serayana
A little disclaimer: I''ve hurt my right hand badly, it isn''t broken or anything but it needs to rest for now. As I am writing now only with my left hand there will not be longer chapters yet (today a little shorter :( ). Sorry volks! Also no chapter on the 30.09.2016 I don''t have the time to write.
-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view
Vor was already half-way to their camping place, carrying Dan''s Bag and the weird fruit called a "Melon". ''Even though this encounter was interesting, I presumeably have woken up shorty. This is going to be difficult to explain...''
"VOR!?" shouted a voice in the distance.
''That girl... She doesn''t even mind that somebody else could hear her...'' criticized Vor in his mind as he made his way towards the voice.
"Don''t be so loud, you could attract attention from beings who want to harm you." spoke Vor out of the dark to Serayana, she jerked and looked into his direction.
"Where were you? And what was this weird feeling a few minutes ago?" asked Serayana, she looked quite distressed.
''It shouldn''t be long since she started looking for me. Maybe 15 minutes?'' pondered Vor ,while he was hesitating to answer, he went next to Serayana. "No clue. I was meeting... new friends."
"New friends?" asked Serayana as she gazed at Vor, her entrancing face was full of confusion. "Why do you suddenly have cloth? Where does that bag come from and whats up with that fruit? Seriously, I take my eyes off you for once for a few minutes and you come back with all this new stuff."
''She really likes to ask questions, doesn''t she? Let''s tease her a little.'' thought Vor. "I''ve met Dan and his colleagues, Dan gave me this cloth and some food! And I''ve got this fruit from a dryad. Say, why were you searching and shouting for me? Were you scared?"
"Eh? I wasn''t... I was a little bit scared." spoke Serayana in a low voice, she was embarrassed.
''Hou? That is new, I wouldn''t have thought that she actually would admit that.'' Vor was a little bit surprised.
"Anyway, why would Dan give you food and cloth? And a Dryad? Why would a nymph give you anything? She would usually kill you!" retorted Serayana, she thought that Vor was making no sense.
"Don''t mind the details, Dan was in a situation where he happily gave me the cloth and food. The Dryad was actually really social, she thaught me new things and gave me this melon. I am still hungry, let''s go back and eat." evaded Vor, he couldn''t disclose too much. He had thought about what would Serayanas reaction be like, if he told her everything, but she probably would be scared of him. You can''t really protect somebody who is scared of you.
Serayana seemed to be deep in thought, she didn''t seem too happy with Vor''s vague answers, but she understood that he would not respond properly. The two of them went back to their camping place. The fire was nearly burned out, which is why Vor put in more branches. He took out the bread, the rabbit and the melon.
"Do you have something to skin the rabbit or open the fruit?" inquired Serayana because she had no knife or anything.
"I have my hands." responded Vor. ''So humans really need to get rid of the fur to eat a simple rabbit, I could open the melon with my fingers.''
"So we only get to eat bread..." said Serayana in a depressed way.
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Vor swiftly pierced the melon with his finger, he easily managed to open it by using his finger like a knife, it looked like he was cutting buns with a knife.
"How did you do that? Whats up with your strength, it shouldn''t be so smooth without a knife..." spoke Serayana without her usual vigor, she seemed to slowly accept Vor''s weirdness.
Serayana and Vor ate the bread and the melon and went to sleep. Serayana was still in dire need of rest, Vor on the other hand didn''t feel the need to but did it anyway. As a dragon he didn''t need to sleep too much either but he did it anyway for over 500 years, when he was sleeping as a dragon he was in a state of hibernation which means that he did not need to eat.
Vor was the first to awake as the morning sun shined through the trees.
"Wake up shorty." said Vor as he gazed at the sleeping Serayana. Her figure was currently nothing like a graceful lady, it was similar to a child, her hair was messy, her legs were spread and she was lying on her back. The only thing missing was the snoring. ''Humans and their clothing...''
"Only five more minutes..." responded Serayana still half asleep.
"Why do people wear so many different cloth beneath their usual clothing? Dan had a trouserlike thing beneath his trousers which was half as long as his trousers, you have... can you even call this cloth? Its white and only covering a really small portion of your lower body, does it even offer any protection?" asked Vor pondering about the different uses of clothing.
"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!" screamed Serayana as she jolted upwards, covering herself with the rest of the skirt from Vor''s view.
"I am looking at your cloth and I am wondering why it is so different." answered Vor, not understanding why Serayana was suddenly so mad.
"Y-You..." Serayana slowly seemed to regain her composure, she was pretty tolerant with Vor''s weirdness so far, but she seemed to slowly reach her limits. "Woman wear other cloth, because our body is obviously different than the one of the mans! Where does the sudden interest in clothing and underwear come from!?"
"Because my new trousers is itching, since I have nothing else to wear beneath it." answered Vor scratching his legs. ''Wow, do all woman get that mad if you look at their underwear?''
"... We will get you something to wear beneath the trousers when we reach Tavin." declared Serayana, she seemed to have given up trying to teach Vor common sense. "Seriously, at the time we arrive at Medeth you are going to get yourself teached by one of our servants!"
"Does this mean I can stay at your home?" inquired Vor, he sensed an opportunity to stay near Serayana.
"I-If that is your wish, I will arange it, as a compensation for saving me." answered Serayana, she was happy that she finally found something with which she can repay her debt. "I would employ you as a servant, servants are payed decently in our household."
"Thank you." said Vor wholeheartedly. ''Protecting will be much easier that way.''
Serayana was surprised from the sudden change of behavior from Vor.
"It''s the least I can do for you."
The two of them made their way till Tavin , it didn''t take them too long. The sun was at its highest point when they finally had arrived.
Chapter 7: Tavin
Chapter 7: Tavin
Little author''s note: I was procrastinating and had to finish that stuff, which is why I couldn''t release anything yesterday. Now onwards to the chapter! PS: Writing with one hand sucks. Also thank you for nearly 60 followers, I would have never imagined to have so many people read my amateur story!
-------------------------------- Vorlianth''s view
Currently, Serayana and Vor were on the mainroad which splits towards Tavin and its neighboring city Medeth, Serayana''s hometown. The young athletic man gazed onto the huge wooden gate which was currently infront of him and thought: ''This door looks so much bigger, than the entrances of the humans of Xavius, but then again I was a dragon at that time.''
"We are finally here." rejoiced Serayana, she was dirty and her cloth were torn, yet you could still see a graceful woman, unlike prior that morning. She was exhausted, but her motivation seemed to have recovered.
"And you are standing there with cloth, which look even worse than mine. Aren''t nobles usually very pompus? They certainly aren''t looking like you. " teased Vor, he regarded Serayana as easy to tease, but he could not fathom why he found it so amusing to tease the child. ''One of the "nobles" in Xavius was so stuck-up that he still demanded from me, that I should cease to destroy his fief. What a naive child he was...''
From Vor''s perspective, everyone else, maybe except the gods, were childs, who haven''t even lived a tenth of his life. What he didn''t know was that elves in this world actually have the chance to live as long as he does, since they have a ridicioulus amount of livespan. Some even say that they do not even have a livespan since no elf did yet die of old age.
Serayana looked like she was ignoring Vor''s teasing and said: "I know the villagers and they know me. I was quite the adventurous child, always playing with the commoners and getting my cloth dirty. Since the court despises me, I couldn''t find friends in their ranks, but the normal villager is more tolerant towards other races." Vor just gazed silently at Serayana while she was reminiscing.
"Let''s go inside, I know the guards, just be silent and let me do the talking." suddenly declared Serayana, finally making her way towards the huge wooden door. The village was quite big and had a palisade around it for protection, everything looked very well maintained.
"As you wish, sho- mistress." answered Vor, actually having trouble switching to "servant-mode". ''Will I always have to call her mistress now? That would be not too great. But for now I have to act like every normal person!''
Serayana just rolled her eyes while got close to the guard. The guard, was quite old, for a human that is, he looked like he may very well have grandchildren. He had short grey hair and a shaved beard, he was quite big and muscular, something you would not expect from a man past his sixties.
''I was wondering why there were not many young men here, but I guess they are fighting the demons.'' mused Vor, he looked like he was some boy from the country, seeing everything for the first time, which was unlike the usually stoic warrior.
"Markus, don''t you recognize me?" inquired Serayana as she stood infront of the old human. She has not visited the village in a year, because she was learing proper ettiquette and studied the last year.
"By the gods, if that isn''t little Sera, what happened to you? You are all tattered and who is your companion?" asked the shocked Markus, he knew Serayana since she had played with his grandkids in the past. He hugged Serayana for a short time and looked quizzically at Vor.
"This is my new servant and current bodyguard Vor, introduce yourself Vor." said Serayana, trying to be as convincing as possible.
"What am I even supposed to say?'' complained Vor in his mind, as he once agains readied himself to improvise. "My name is Vor, as my benevolent and incredibly beautiful mistress has introduced me. I''m a sorry soul, who got picked up by mistress after saving her. I am pleased to meet you!"
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Serayana looked quite taken aback by Vor''s sudden behavior, she had problems to cope with his acting and her face was currently showing it. She had luck that Markus attention was fixed on Vor who was flattering her in any way possible.
Markus looked accusingly at Serayana as if his facial expression said: "Another one?" She only could sheepishly look back at him, it was crystal clear that Vor was not the first one Serayana had "picked up". Her parents were actually really lenient with her daughter in that aspect.
"Ahem, let''s go into your house Markus? I believe I should tell you the whole story." suggested Serayana since she was uncomfortable standing infront of the city gate the whole time.
"You are right, I''ve got a feeling this could take a while, my old bones are not fit to guard this village anyway, but we have a shortage of young men, since they are all defending our country right now." spoke Markus, he looked very disheartened, only a few men were left in the big village and only because they were neccessary to harvest the crops.
After Markus left his duty to a guy in his fifties, the three of them went to Markus house which was at the right part of the village.
''Did I do something wrong?'' reflected Vor as he walked down the streets, for some reason men and woman alike seemed to stare at him for some reason. The men appeared to focus on his hair and the woman appeared to completly scan him.
''What did I do? Now that I think about it, my hair is way too long, even longer than Serayana''s,'' pondered Vor as he compared his hair to the hair of the residents, since his hair was reaching down to his hips and because it was jetblack it was an unusual sight for anybody. Black hair was very rare and it was seen as especially beautiful and long hair was uncommon since it was tedious to take care of it. ''I should really cut my hair, I should ask Serayana about it later, but I want to explore this village, maybe after explaining it to the child Markus.''
The village of Tavin seemed to be flourishing, the fields and orchards were humming with activity, with filled sacks of wheat lying everywhere. The houses were well maintained but the lack of men seemed to affect the morale of the residents. If there were not enough craftsmen to do repair and maintenance then the village was bound to degrade over the time.
"Where are Lisa and Tom?" inquired Serayana as they arrived at Markus house.
"They are working on the fields, we are lacking manpower." answered Markus dejectedly.
"...I see."
The three of them went inside, the house was quite big, there was enough room for at least 4 people, yet only 3 rooms were actually used.
The interior life was sparse, as one would expect of farmers, yet it had a lovely charm to it. Nearly everything was made out of wood, as it was the primary building material for peasants. The three sat down at a wooden table, Markus sat infront of Serayana and Vor was beside her.
"Now you will tell me your story and I will make us something to eat."
As Serayana was telling her story to Markus, Vor was bored, he wanted to explore. After finishing the meal he told Serayana: "I will be outside for a bit." Serayana had no chance to retort and Vor went outside.
''I might be neglecting my duties, but I''m interested in this village, let''s see what human life looks like!'' thought Vor to himself in high spirits. Thus the young and handsome man made his way into the center of Tavin while the sun was setting.
Chapter 8: Time to Explore!
Chapter 8: Time to Explore!
Little author''s note: I was binge-reading Polymath Redux and thought that my way of perspective was too narrow, which is why I am trying a somewhat broader view now. (Tell me if you liked it) PS: The thumb of my right hand is numb, wtf?
-------------------------------- 3rd Person, all-knowing
The sun drowned in the horizon, it''s rays of light coloring the sky in a twilight of red, orange, violet and yellow. It was''nt really cold, yet you couldn''t call it hot either. Vor was walking down the dirty road, it wasn''t actually a real street since people walked over the ground for so many times that it formed something similar to a path. While proper streets exist in this world, they only are built in a city.
As Vor looked around he noticed the gazes of kids, as his gaze met theirs they ran away. This led Vor to ponder a brief moment, ''Am I scary?'', while such thoughts ran through his mind, he failed to notice that the expression he was making while thinking looked quite intimidating. The fact that he boasted about 1,90 meters of height and was quite muscular didn''t help him in that aspect. The citizens weren''t that tall in the Kingdom of Aseran, the usual adult men was only 1,75 meters. Men in the northern countries were usually bigger, but they would obviously not live in the Kingdom.
Vor did not only scare little kids, but the young men and older men were cautious of the newcomer, glancing with uncertainty in his direction, thinking, ''Uwaah. He sure is big.'' , Vor was oblivous of this, but he was pondering why everyone was so much smaller than him, but he concluded that it wasn''t too different to back in his time as a dragon, with the exception that he can now enjoy the literally small things in life.
While farmers usually had to work hard in the harvesting period, they still manage to relax at evenings. Thus the tavern at the villages center was crowded, inside and outside. It was full of life . Vor was flashed, he never had seen so many people as once, with the exception when he used to crush them, but now he had to blend in. This was only of moderate success, the gloomy looking handsome giant was behaving like a village boy would in the capital, earning him strange looks.
''I am the most normal out of all normal humans!'' was going through Vor''s mind while he awkwardly went towards the tavern. The tavern was big and not shabby, it was a half-timbered house and looked well maintained. He opened the door and was greeted by noise, the spacious room with mutiple tables and chairs were filled by people, mostly farmers with their buddies and a few girls. As he went inside the tavern slowly got more quiet until there was utter silence and everybody just looked at Vor, everybody had something different in mind as they eyed him.
''What did I do?,'' Vor didn''t know how to behave in such a situation, he didn''t even have a clue how to behave in human society anyway. ''Whats up with their expressions?''
''Huuge.'' thought a brownhaired short guy. While the men were impressed with Vor''s height and athletic built, the women and girls were appreciating the same things in a different way.
"His long hair is black, it looks sooo smooth." whispered one girl to another, who replied: "But did you see his eyes? They are golden! And his body is to die for." The two girls weren''t the most beautiful girls in the kingdom, but they were very pleasently to look at which caused the boys who were sitting with the girls to look at Vor with envy. "You two obviously don''t know what you are talking about, just look at this heavenly face, even with that alone he would be the most handsome person in Tavin!" retorted a woman in her thirties, this lead to a heated debate between the women and if one debates about taste, it was bound to get louder. And it did. A few moments later the tavern was already as loud as it was when Vor went inside.
''Is it over? But I didn''t do anything, why are they even debating about my appearance in the first place? Did the goddess somehow give me a grotesque appearance? This doesn''t seem the case from their reactions, but it seems to attract attention, unwanted attention.'' pondered Vor as an older man approached him. It was the same old man who kindly stood in for Markus. He seemed by far older than Markus, short statue and short grey hair, yet he seemed rather fit. His blue eyes still maintained a certain youth, he was clothed in a farmers attire and spoke to the youngster.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"Well, aren''t you the lad who was with little Sera? Why aren''tcha at her side?"
Vor was quite surprised by the man''s way of speaking, but he managed to get a grip of himself and responded. "Indeed I am. You may call me Vor, I wanted to explore this village of yours, it looks even bigger when you are inside it." While he still wasn''t comfortable to speak with more than one person at a time, he wasn''t too bad to speak to one person. Even as a human he retained the knowledge and capability of his dragon brain.
The old man was pleasently surprised by Vor''s praise and grabbed Vor by his arm, thinking something along the lines of ''He will have ''n interesting story.'' Arriving at a table with 3 people he finally said. "Grab a seat lad, I''m Maximilian! These two youngsters are Marie and Lisa " he gestured at a cute girl with auburn short hair and blue eyes, she seemed quite athletic with rough hands presumably from working on a farm. The other girl Lisa seemed very meek and quite intimidated by Vor''s presence, she had blonde hair and brown eyes. She was about 10 years old and was quite thin, unfit to work at a farm.
''Wow, he sure looks strong, I wan''t to spar with him!'' thought Marie with a devilish smile. She was quite the troublemaker, being 15 years old and always looking for a fight. Her dream was to be a renowned warrior, which was unlike the usual girl, yet she wasn''t mustered for the army. If girls wanted to fight they had to carry the expenses for their education themselves. Thus she worked at a farm since 5 years, saving money to finally get educated in the knights school of Medeth. She also knew that she will have a harder time to be acknowleged by men in the military, yet she didn''t care.
"Young lad, don''t be shy, sit in front of me and next to Marie!" declared the old man Maximilian as he gazed onto the handsome young man still standing awkwardly at their desk.
Vor finally sat down while he thought. ''How did I even end up in this situation. I can''t go now can I? That geezer, what does he even want?... Wait! Lisa? Wasn''t that one of the childs living with Markus?''
Vor eyed Lisa, who met his gaze for a short moment instantly looking away from him. "Are you a grandchild of Markus?"
Marie looked interested in Vor and Maximilian was waiting for Lisa to answer, he wanted her to be more open towards other people. "W-What if I am?" she looked quite defensive, but she was quite intimidated by Vor''s huge stature, this and the fact that she was quite meek resulted in this behavior.
"You don''t have to worry, you have done nothing to incur my wrath." ''Yet'' spoke Vor he wasn''t used to this behavior, but then again he wasn''t really used to any human behavior. "In fact, I will be sleeping at your home tonight."
"WHAT?" now it was Marie whose voice bursted out, one could misunderstand what Vor said, especially at her age.
"Well that shouldn''t be too surprising if he is with Serayana. He will stay at their home Marie, I don''t know why you are so worked up." said Maximilian, but he actually knew why she was so surprised, he had such thoughts once too back in the day.
"He''s with Serayana?" blurted Marie, she was equally surprised as Lisa. She liked Serayana but she disliked the fact that Serayana was always fawned over by the village boys, yet she couldn''t really bring herself to dislike the loner of the court. "I will make my way towards Medeth tomorrow, I think you two will be going too? Would you mind if I tag along? I want to go to the Kights Academy to learn how to fight!"
"You have to ask Mistress, I wouldn''t mind more company." answered Vor, he was eager to question her about that academy, since he was interested in the combat humans use, even if it didn''t really had any use to him, he wanted to be able to use weapons like a normal human would.
"Now, now , I want to hear about how you''ve met Serayana and what happened to her that she was all tattered." spoke Maximilian as this was the reason why he actually pulled Vor to his desk.
Thus Vor told them his story, leaving out a few details and using the background Serayana came up with. After finishing the story he only thought ''It''s time to get back to shorty.'' Vor wanted to leave quickly, yet he somehow was escorted by Marie who came with him to speak with Serayana and Lisa who just wants to go home. Thus the three of them made their way back, only the moon shining upon them.
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I will cut the chapter here, sorry I don''t have more time. :P
Does somebody have a good cover for this story? Because I don''t.
Chapter 9: Sword Training for Former Dragons
Chapter 9: Sword Trainingfor Former Dragons
Little author''s note: My right hand is nearly completly fine again! BUT I actually managed to hurt my left hand. It''s pretty funny if you think about it, but it suuuucks. Well since I am right-handed everything is now easier. Have fun with the new chapter length, even though it is not as long as it will be after my hands are fine again, as the left hand isn''t really that hurt and my bandage on my right hand can be taken off tomorrow. A big thanks to Bokuboy who made the cover for this fiction!
-------------------------------- 3rd Person, all-knowing
Since it was getting late, the streets weren''t as lively as in the beginning of the evening. A few drunk and tired people who made their way back home were to be seen. Yet there also were Vor, Marie and Lisa, those three didn''t really fit into the scenery of drunken and tired people. On the way to Markus'' home, Vor questioned Marie about the knights academy, because he toyed with the notion of trying to learn there. If everything worked out, he would get educated as a servant of Serayana and he would have to learn how to use weapons to protect his new ''mistress''.
He wasn''t eager to serve somebody, but he had planned to aquire neccessary knowledge to move upwards in the human ranks. He was sure it would work differently than the ranking system of the beasts, but also different from the gods. He had to aquire basic knowledge and rise in social status, he now had a goal, but he also had a duty. Thus he has to find a balance between his duty and goals.
While Vor was deep in thought after questioning Marie, the three were already nearly at Markus house. Marie still wanted to spar against Vor, as she walked beside him. Lisa was silently following Marie, keeping a safe distance to the huge man called Vor, yet not too far away as she was scared from being too far away. She was in the awkward position of not wanting to be too far away, but she also didn''t want to get too near. Therefore, the meek girl was stuck inbetween these two states.
When they finally had arrived at Markus home, he was already outside waiting for them. Serayana was not yet to be seen.
-------------------------------- Vor''s view (3rd Person)
''Where is my new short mistress?'' thought Vor, as he drew closer to Markus. He decided to search for her aura, which magicans didn''t seem to be able to hide in this world. Perhaps they hadn''t found out how to do it yet, but since it was so simple it just couldn''t be just mere coincidence. Vor was able to sense any person with mana inside them, the people with bigger innitiate talent and those who were trained would naturally stand out. ''She sleeps... Well, I cannot blame her, as I wouldn''t mind to sleep either.''
"Where did you run off to? And why are you dragging Marie and Lisa along?" asked Markus, he seemed tired and there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes.
"I was exploring the village and met these two. Also the guy who took over for you, Maximilian. He wanted me to escort Lisa." replied Vor while he was watching Lisa who hugged Markus and went inside.
"I knew I shouldn''t have trusted that geezer. He send Lisa away with a guy he just met? I bet he is currently drinking!" complained Markus, he didn''t seem like a person who goes out to drink alcohol.
"Hey! I was there too, so it was safe." pouted Marie.
"What are you even doing here, Marie? Your home is at the other side Tavin!" scolded Markus, even if everybody in Tavin knew each other, one still should not run alone in the dark.
"Calm down, I have to ask Serayana if I could come with them towards Medeth. Where is she?" responded Marie, she was used to being scolded.
"...She is asleep. She has gone through a lot and surpressed her feelings, as if a fourteen-year-old child could handle the shock of nearly dying." he sent an accusing gaze towards Vor.
''What did I do wrong now? I knew she wasn''t showing it, but I don''t even understand what they are thinking.'' complained Vor in his mind while watching the exchange of Marie and Markus.
"You may accompany them, Marie. I don''t think Serayana would mind and it wouldn''t be for that long anyway. I hope you can find home yourself, I have a feeling that if I send Vor with you, he wouldn''t find back here." said Markus.
''He sure has unbroken faith in me.'' mused Vor as he watched Marie nodding to Markus words.
"I going to be here tomorrow morning. I will wait for you guys." said Marie as she waved at them, slowly disappearing in the shadows.
"You should go to sleep too, Serayana trusts you, but I won''t, don''t do anything stupid. Your room is at the second floor, the second one on the right." declared Markus, even his eyes were showing his doubts.
''I can''t blame him, I wouldn''t trust me either.'' thought Vor, he went inside not responding to Markus words. He found the stairs and was surprised as he had never really seen them. ''So this is how humans get to higher places. One step at a time.'' He was awkwardly going up the stairs, nearly tripping over his own feet. It was quite the unique experience for the dragon. The steps were not as big as one another, making it easy to slip.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Vor went into the second room as he was told to, he could sense Serayana sleeping in the first room. He opened the old wooden door and went inside, he was met with a sparsely decorated room, with only a bed and a table with a chair inside. He payed no mind, as he did not know what was usual for the humans. ''I really want to learn more about humans, but I am probably only able to fight. Humans create and humans destroy, much like the other races, but dragons? At least I can only destroy, but maybe I can learn to create? My form is at least human now.''
Without undressing he went to bed, noticing his dirty feet. ''I should probably get these cloth for feet.'' was all he tought when he went to sleep. The night was uneventful, only when the first rays of the sun shined trough the old window, Vor woke up.
''It''s early, I can sense that Serayana, Markus and Lisa are still sleeping, but there is somebody else? A child sleeping there too and Marie is infront of the house already?'' the young man stretches his legs, which still feel oddly alien, but that was to be expected if one lived for over a thousand years in another body. His black hair was a mess, but he did not know how to fix it, except cutting it off. ''I still don''t know the importance of "hair" , I really have to ask somebody else about it. No rash decisions. I should go down to Marie as she will come with us.''
The blackhaired man got up and went outside his room, down the uneven stairs and finally outside the house. There he saw Marie sitting on a rock, she was daydreaming or probably not even really awake. She was didn''t react towards the low noise which Vor was creating by slowly walking outside the house. He eyed Marie, she actually had equipped a chainmail and her cloth seemed somewhat more sturdy than yesterday. She was wearing trousers which were made by some kind of black fabric which is why it shouldn''t grant too much protection, yet it was certainly easier to move in. She also had two woodenswords strapped onto her back. Her athletic built was emphasised and her auburn rather short hair was tied into a knot, so that it doesn''t get in her way. Vor''s hair was the total opposite, a total mess and unbelieveably long.
"You got up very early." said Vor as he made his way towards the rock Marie sat on. She jolted upwards and looked at him in shock. ''She totally did not pay attention to her surroundings...''
"O-Oh, yes but you are quite early too! Say, are you strong?" responded Marie, trying to distract Vor from her shock.
''What does she want now?'' mused Vor. "Yes, you could say I am quite capable."
"Would you mind to spar against me? Everybody seems to sleep, so we should kill the remaining time." declared Marie, the look in her blue eyes was eager, outrageously eager.
"What is a spar?" asked Vor, completly dumbfounding Marie, his lack of common sense was leaking out.
"What? A spar. A fight where we don''t try to kill each other, but try our techniques and learn from each other." explained the confused cute young girl.
"Techniques? I am not sure whether I even have ''techniques''." said Vor, he wasn''t sure if he could hold his strenght back in a fight.
"You don''t have any? Do you have any experience with weapons?" asked Marie, she was doubting Vor as he looked nothing like a pushover.
"No, I fight with my fists and my feet." answered Vor. ''And Magic, but I better don''t tell her that.''
"But you should do martial arts then? Techniques with your fists are still a technique, or are you only using brute force?" Marie was not sure what she should think of Vor. He certainly was mesmerizing and looked very strong as he was quite athletic and tall, yet such a person claimed to know nothing of weapons. He had no visible scars which were unsusual for fighters but that body didn''t look like it was made solely to farm crops.
"Yes, you could say I use my strength to fight." responded Vor. "But I would like to learn how to use a sword or other weapons."
"I see, I can teach you the basics of sword fighting, but you have to show me your strength afterwards." proposed Marie, she had to see him in a fight to assess his ability.
Marie handed Vor one wooden sword and signaled him to follow her to Markus front yard, which basically was just a meadow.
"You have to hold your sword like this." she held her wooden swords in two hands putting up a guard. The sword was in a position that ran from the bottom of her torso to the top of her head. A middle position, easy for beginners but also useful for veterans. It enables you to respond to an attack with speed and also gives you many different angles to place your own strikes. "Be relaxed and take a stance in which you can maintain a good balance. Always remain calm or it could cost your head, try to control the flow of a battle. Aim for fatal blows, don''t throw swings that probably will miss, because your opponent will be taking advantage of missed swings and end your life with a fatal blow."
Thus Marie tutored Vor in the way of fighting with a sword, only the basics as she didn''t knew how to do more herself. It was all she could have learned in a village which was protected by the neighboring city. After explaining the basics to Vor she declared. "Now try to parry and evade my blows."
''Swordfighting seems very interesting, it could be unexpectetly funny.'' thought Vor, usually swordfighters would not think fighting in life or death situations would be enjoyable, but Vor would probably not run into a situation in which swordfighting would turn into a threat. He took his stance as he was told to and waited for Marie''s blows. They were unexpecetly fast for somebody of Marie''s stature, the first blow hit Vor as he was his body was stiff anticipating the blow.
"You have to evade my blows! Relax and evade or parry, didn''t that hurt?" scolded Marie, even though she wasn''t too different when she first took up the sword.
''My body went stiff by itself, that''s weird.'' thought Vor as he relaxed his tensed up body. "No it didn''t particularly hurt."
As Marie felt her pride taking a blow, she swung the wooden sword with her full strength in Vor''s direction. It didn''t connect, she wasn''t even sure if he had moved and threw another blow. Once again it was evaded, she now saw his miniscule movements. She grew agitated and threw more reckless blows at him, yet she only hit air.
"Don''t get angry, relax!" teased Vor as a revenge for her scolding, only resulting in even more blows. He was forced to take steps back as Marie moved forewards and thus they ran through the whole meadow but Vor never even once used his sword to parry. After a while Marie was too tired to even lift a sword, yet not a single drop of sweat was to be seen at Vor''s head.
"Your...footwork...is..unbelievable." said Marie while panting due to the strain. After regaining her composure she asked. "I refuse to believe you didn''t know that fancy footwork beforehand, who trained you?"
"I never had somebody who trained me in martial arts." answered Vor truthfully, he wasn''t sure if he would hurt Marie''s pride with that answer.
"Life sure isn''t fair. Some people are way too gifted." complained Marie while she looked enviously at Vor.
"I still want to know your strength, you didn''t even parry once. Could you hit this tree over there with you full strength?." requested Marie, she knew that strong martial artist could probably leave a deep mark in a tree if they hit hard enough. The tree was located in Markus back yard, right infront of the wooden palisade, it looked like a healthy and sturdy tree.
Vor went positioned himself in front of the tree and got ready to punch. ''How much strength should I use, a little bit more than against the bandits? That should be the norm for humans of my build, right?''
Vor tensed his muscles a little and punched the tree, it bursted into pieces which flew backwards. They would have hit the palisade if the shockwave from his punch hadn''t destroyed the palisade. Vor looked at the hole he had created and then looked back at Marie, whose eyes were full of unbelief.
''Did I screw up again?'' was all Vor thought as he saw her expression.
What happened?
Quite simple actually: Some kind of malware had managed to infiltrate my pc and after realizing that I could not get rid of it, I decided to reset my dear PC. Thus all my future story-lines were killed with it and a chapter too (killed my motivation for a whole month), I am currently rewriting story-lines while I search for other ideas as I wont be able to reproduce what I already had :/ . Expect a chapter in the next time though, sorry for the delay!This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Edit: As I read through all the new comments, I realized that my "Harem"-Tag is kind of misleading (I decided to get rid of it now), Vor will not take more than one wife.
Lilabrot~