15-32. Half of a Prince

“My love!” came a shout that rattled the walls encircling the palace grounds. It pierced through Elijah’s eardrums, briefly deafening him. Thankfully, they didn’t entirely burst, and his regeneration was high enough to heal the damage in a moment.

A second later, a figure blurred across the grounds and collided with Mano. The shockwave would have sent Elijah sprawling, were it not for the existence of Absolute Grasp, which kept his feet rooted to the ground. The same could not be said for the nearest trees, which were uprooted and flung across the terrain. They didn’t stop until they clanged against the wall.

Mano took a single step back, letting out a sharp exhale from the impact.

When Elijah’s mind finally caught up to what was going on, he was forced to look away from the very public display of affection between Mano and a slighter, though still muscular woman.

“Ah, it is good to be reunited,” Mano breathed a few seconds later. “Wife, meet my brother, Elijah Hart es Vyrin.”

Elijah took that as his cue to finally sneak a look at the couple. He barely had a chance to take it all in before he felt strong arms envelop him. A second later, his feet ripped free of the ground as the woman picked him up. The crushing embrace nearly shattered Elijah’s bones.

“Nice to meet you,” he managed to mutter, though with his arms pinned to his sides he couldn’t return the bone-crunching hug.

“Release him, Illska,” sighed Mano.

She gave Elijah a slightly stronger squeeze before dropping him to the ground. Elijah gave himself a quick burst of Wild Resurgence, in case of internal injuries, before taking a deep and painful breath.

“Definitely a couple of broken ribs,” he sighed as his spell knitted them back together. Finally, he looked up at his attacker. She smiled down at him in a way that made him feel a bit like prey. “Why is everyone always bigger than me?”

Indeed, Illska stood a head taller than him, and her frame supported a body full of thick muscle. Until that moment, Elijah hadn’t really considered the type of woman who could wrangle Mano’s attention, but if he had, he would have envisioned someone like Illska.

She was definitely beautiful, though. Not really surprising, considering that she was obviously a dragon. Elijah had yet to see an unattractive representative of the race. Her nearly black skin was highlighted by orange scales, which had formed whorls similar to Mano’s. Instead of a top knot, she wore her hair in crest-like mohawk.

“You are sturdier than most demigods,” she remarked. “As fits the brother of my beloved.”

“Thanks,” Elijah said, rolling his shoulders. Despite the healing, they still felt a bit sore from the overenthusiastic hug.

Illska beamed down at him. “Be strong, little brother. I saw your fights in the Tournament of the First Fang. You have potential,” she said. “Perhaps one day you can join us on the front lines where we can do battle with the wretched creatures of the abyss.”

“Been there,” Elijah said. “Not the front lines, but in the abyss.”

“Is this true?”

“Yeah. Spent about thirty…maybe forty years on an excised planet. I lost count of how many monsters I killed. A lot, though. An awful lot.”

“Then I underestimated you,” she said in a grave tone. She gave his shoulder a squeeze that was probably meant to be reassuring, but was too painful to meet that mark.

“As did I,” Mano admitted, stepping up to stand next to his wife. Together, they were even more intimidating than alone.

“So, how’d you two kids meet?” Elijah asked, wanting to change the subject.

“Ah, do you want to tell it, or should I?” asked Illska, looking at her husband with what could only be characterized as doe eyes. The expression stood in stark contrast with her appearance. And the power surging through her.

Unless Elijah missed his guess, she was a peak deity on par with someone like Tura or Birk. Perhaps even stronger, though he had a hard time differentiating when it came to that level of strength. To an ant, a hill and a mountain both loomed impossibly tall.

“I cede to your storytelling ability, wife.”

Illska grinned wolfishly. Then, she began, “I was on my third rotation in the abyss when we met…”

After that, she described how they’d instantly clashed, fighting one another almost as much as they battled against the Ravener’s forces. However, she unexpectedly told the story like it was a meet-cute in a romantic comedy. She also put a lot of emphasis on Mano’s rippling muscles and shiny scales.

And his ability to rip through whole armies.

She also went on and on about his size, which prompted a bit of blush before he realized that she was talking about his draconic stature. Rather than something else. Reminding himself to keep his mind out of the gutter, Elijah listened as she went on, describing how their vicious rivalry turned friendly. Then, how it blossomed into mutual respect that eventually became love.

This chapter is published on the NovelPhoenix site by its author, but the copy shown here was made without consent.

“We were married a few centuries later,” she finished. “It has been one adventure after another ever since then. Though he did beat me to transcendence – a reality for which I will never forgive him.”

“You will transcend in your own time, wife.”

She stepped closer to him. “Of course I will. You will not remain ahead of me for long, my love.”

“Have you made a breakthrough, then?” Mano asked, genuinely excited. Was it because of the prospect of returning to equality in the event she managed to transcend? Or was it simply happiness at his spouse’s accomplishment? Maybe both.

“Later,” she said. “In the meantime…”

It was at that point that Elijah noticed a group of people coming from the palace. Even from afar, Elijah could tell that they were mostly drakes and serpentors, though there were a few dragons present as well.

“They’re all in humanoid forms,” Elijah said, making the connection that should have been obvious the second Illska presented herself. After seeing nothing but dragons since entering the city, the difference was glaring.

“Mother refused to build the palace to scale,” Mano said. “Though she chose to take up just as much room.”

That was when the retinue finally arrived. A single dragon – a deity, from what Elijah could tell, though not a strong one – stepped forward and greeted the new arrivals. She pointedly used their full names when welcoming them to the Embassy of Prosperity.

When he realized that no one else was going to speak, Elijah thought about questioning why the deity had brought so many people along. In the interest of avoiding offense, he chose to keep his mouth shut, though. Instead, he listened as the dragon explained the local situation to Mano.

Which the big dragon mostly ignored. He was too busy hugging Illska close enough to border on scandalous.

Seeing that she was getting nowhere with Mano, the deity, who finally introduced herself as Ophanilia ak Vyrin, decided to escort them inside. The trip across the grounds was uneventful, and they soon entered the palace. It had been decorated similarly to the palace on Vyrin, though with much higher ceilings meant to take advantage of the extra space Kirlissa had claimed for her embassy.

It felt like walking into a grand cathedral, but without the religious connotations or iconography.

That thought did bring to mind the question of religion. Based on what he’d encountered with the illythiri, the concept existed in the multiverse. In their case, they worshipped a long dead drachnid who’d probably ended up enslaved to the vespirans. But surely, there were other deific figures out there.

Not with the dragons, though. If there was one thing Elijah knew about his adopted race, it was that they worshipped nothing but themselves.

In any case, those ideas occupied his mind as the reason for the retinue soon presented itself. One of the attendants was meant as a guide, while the others introduced themselves as his personal servants, and they made it abundantly clear that they would do their duties whether he liked it or not.

So, Elijah reluctantly tolerated their presence as they followed him to his room. Or rather, an entire wing of the palace dedicated to his use.

Inside were living quarters, a training facility that the attendant in charge told him would accommodate anyone up to mid-deity, and an entire staff of drakes and serpentors that would work for him for the duration of his stay. When he asked them what that entailed, he was treated to a list of suitable tasks that ranged from research to spycraft and everything in between.

One of the drakes – a slim man with black-and-green scales – even hinted at assassination being an option.

“If I want someone killed, I’ll do it myself,” Elijah told him.

The drake bowed his head. “Of course, as befits a dragon. Yet, we endeavor to solve any problem that might arise. Especially those the young master judges beneath his august character.”

The statement sent a chill up Elijah’s spine. Not because of the implied offer of assassination. Not even because the drake was a high-tier deity. Rather, Elijah’s discomfort came from the man’s simple confidence. If he wanted someone dead, that person would die.

Other attendants specialized in things like acquisition of goods and travel plans, which was a little easier to digest if no less surprising to Elijah.

However, there was one amenity that he immediately chose to take advantage of – the baths.

Of course, like everything dragon-related, they tended toward the ostentatious and oversized. The baths were as large as an Olympic swimming pool, with hundreds of soaps, scented oils, and other accoutrements available. But Elijah was far more concerned with the scalding, vitality infused water.

He was so concerned, in fact, that he didn’t even notice that four attendants stayed behind when he asked for privacy.

Only when they entered the water behind him did he realize that he was not alone.

“Uh…what’s going on?”

“We are here to bathe you,” said one.

“Not necessary.”

“But –”

“Yeah – definitely unnecessary. When I say alone, I mean alone. So, yeah. I want to be alone,” Elijah insisted.

The woman let a slight pout cross her face, but Elijah was undeterred. And soon enough, she and the other three bathing attendants reluctantly gave him his wish. Though Elijah knew they wouldn’t be far away.

But that was more than okay. So long as they didn’t disturb his soak, he wouldn’t object.

With that in mind, Elijah sank back into the water and let himself fully relax for the first time since leaving Earth. He’d fought only one battle, and that had been over before it really started. But he felt like he’d been fighting non-stop for weeks. He sighed as he let all the tension of travel wash away.

He was so relaxed that he didn’t even acknowledge when one of the attendants returned. Not until she cleared her throat and informed him that his presence was requested in the secondary dining hall.

Elijah thanked her, then, using his soap, took a quick bath. After that, he dressed before letting one of his escorts guide him to the appropriate location. There, he found a table full of people waiting for him to arrive.

Three were familiar. Mano, Illska, and Ophanilia, he already knew. But there were twenty or so others that he’d never met before. Ophanilia took it upon herself to introduce everyone. Most were part of the main family, though somewhat removed from Kirlissa’s lineage. However, there were quite a few others who were simply part of the Vyrin clan.

In any event, Elijah took his place near the head of the table, which was occupied by Mano and Illska.

After that, the meal began.

Elijah didn’t recognize any of it, though the fare was described as native to the planet. Mostly shellfish-adjacent creatures that tasted slightly smokey. Not in a bad way, but definitely noticeable.

As they ate, Illska took it upon herself to treat the meal like a battle briefing. She started by describing the thirteen great clans, their disposition throughout the city, and their threat level, but she also included information about vespiran raids and the local wildlife.

For his part, Mano added bits and pieces here and there, but he let his wife do the bulk of the talking.

In all, it was one of the oddest meals Elijah had ever enjoyed. But he did enjoy it, which was all that really mattered. He and Mano had grown closer over the course of the journey, but the shared repast did a lot of heavy lifting to cement their growing bond. Elijah didn’t quite consider the big dragon family, but that eventuality drew closer by the day.

And it felt good.

Very, very good.