SON OF THE HERO KING

[Southern Pride]

Standing in the throne room, alongside Jasmine – the supreme Daughter of Humilitas – and Siegfried – the Dragon Slayer – Satella was pacing about, walking in circles as she continuously bit on her thumb with a sense of anxiousness that was completely unlike the elven queen.

Her steps seemed jittery and she kept twitching every now and then while looking outside the window carved out of the tree.

“You should sit down now, please. Watching you walk like this is making me dizzy.” Jasmine waved at her friend. Today, she was wearing a silky transparent robe that did little to hide or even cover her form. It was more there for the sake of saying she wore clothes than to have any function of clothes actually.

She did not wear any jewelry but still had some white flower bracelets on her wrists and legs, creating a great contrast with her brown skin. Her Blue eyes were filled with amusement as she watched her long-time friend.

“She is right. I feel like you are worrying for nothing. Shouldn’t we prepare to head out? The meeting with Lord Sol is supposed to happen on neutral grounds, right?” Siegfried commented as well.

Unlike Jasmine, he was covered from head to toe in a green uniform made out of leaves. Those leaves were specially gathered from the world tree and tailored in a way to make incredibly soft and flexible armor. He was not holding his sword. After all, bringing a dragon-slaying weapon with him while meeting a literal dragon would be incredibly disrespectful to their ensuing guest.

Listening to her friend and her brother, Satella stopped for a short while, her pale skin glistening under the light of the sun and her long-pointed ears twitching constantly.

“Something is going to happen. I can feel it.” Her words made no sense as she had no power to see the future. But Jasmine and Siegfried grew concerned. Satella was a Blessed. No matter how ridiculous her sudden epiphany might be, it would always be better to pay heed to those bouts of incredulous intuitions.

In fact, if she had to be honest, she felt pretty excited and was filled with anticipation to meet with their guest. She had become somewhat of a fan of Sol and this feeling increased after reading his story from the book written by Nefertiti.

His sexual adventure aside, the story of Sol was one worthy to be put on par with the heroes of legends. His rise to power was so fast it could only be seen as out of this world and she had the feeling that they might witness the birth of the youngest demigod to ever exist in all planes.

Satella's frown lessened somewhat as she ruffled her hair, “It’s not dangerous. I do not feel threatened either. What I am feeling is different. It’s like my entire world is about to change.”

She sighed and started walking toward her throne, “But you are right. Worrying about this is a waste of time. We have other more important problems. Besides our meeting with that young dragon.”

Unlike Jasmine, Satella did not have much feeling for Sol beyond how dangerous he was for the peace of Southern Pride. She was partially a dragon herself after all. Even though her draconic bloodline was so faint that she would never be able to awaken it no matter what.

Still, it would be a lie to say she was not intrigued by him.

She respected Dragons but did not worship them like her brethren. The only ones she had faith in were Lady Kiyohime and the Dragon Empress, Tiamat. Only those regal dragons were worthy of her Faith. That was her firm opinion on this matter.

Satella still remembered her first meeting with Kiyohime even though it happened more than one thousand years ago. She had been a strong and slightly cold woman. Not showing much of her emotions even in front of the elves kneeling in prayer toward her.

For Satella, Kiyohime was the ideal dragon. Strong, reliable, regal, and stone-cold like a slab of millennia-old glacier. She had a feeling that even if she were to become a demigod, she would have a hard time winning against the Dragon Queen unless they fought in her territory.

Yet that knowledge never brought a feeling of inferiority in her. It was as if this was the natural order. An immutable law.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Well, in the end, I did not even become a demigod.

She sighed and dismissed those thoughts. Like all the elves, she had read the books written by Nefertiti and knew that Kiyohime was seemingly the mate of Sol. This did not surprise her.

Sol was strong and had an extremely powerful and potent bloodline, even amongst all the dragons. It was only logical for a dragon-like Kiyohime to conceive a superior child with such a man. She was sure that once a child was conceived, Sol’s fate would not be different from what happened to her brother after he fathered Nidhogg.

Female dragons were notorious for chasing away their mates once an egg was produced after all.

“Sis?” Siegfried spoke and Satella waved her hand. “Sorry. Got a little lost. So, as I was saying, we have a new situation. The rangers caught suspicious movements at our borders. Vampires again.”

Siegfried frowned, “How is it even possible? We only share borders with Lustburg and Wratharis. Wratharis stand between us and Envilya. How are those demons able to smuggle into our territory?”

Satella and Jasmine exchanged a look. They remembered that Siegfried had been mostly in isolation in recent years.

“Not long ago we had…” Satella began but Siegfried raised a hand.

“Wait. Sorry to interrupt you. When you say, not long ago, could you be more precise? Do you mean a few centuries not long ago or just a few years?” He just needed to be sure.

“Not long as in, a few months ago only.” Satella was not offended. This was a valid question after all. “So, vampires have infiltrated our country with the help of a few traitors. Back then we got help from the Princesses of Lustburg and Envilya and I thought the situation was somehow resolved but… I wonder if Envilya is preparing for war.”

“Isn’t that a stretch? You just said the princess of Envilya helped us.” Siegfried was confused. “This should be the actions of a rogue faction, right?”

“In theory, yes. But the reality of Envilya is very different from ours. They…” She was about to continue when a tremor filled the air.

Both Jasmine and Siegfried immediately stood up and jumped out of the throne room. Satella followed them immediately. They were clearly not the only ones to feel the tremor as many elves were coming out of their homes.

High in the sky, a gigantic blue magical circle was forming above and the space around it seemed to break apart. Soon the circle was complete and, in the middle, the insignia of a coiling dragon could be seen.

They were initially worried but, seeing this light, their eyes immediately lit up. Out of all the dragons, only a few had this sinuous form.

Satella felt her heart beating with joy as a majestic roar resonated and a blue dragon came from beyond the portal.

“Lady Kiyohime…”

This was something she could never forget. Right below her, many elves were looking at the sky, their eyes filled with veneration.

Another dragon roar sounded.

“Huh?”

But something was wrong. It did not come from Kiyohime's direction.

“Satella…” Jasmine muttered quietly but Satella did not need a reminder.

Looking in the opposite direction, she could see a dragon that was even larger than Kiyohime breaking out from the cloud.

His scales were silver and his appearance was no less majestic than that of Kiyohime, if not more.

Satella did not recognize this color. But, in the mortal realm, there was only one dragon that could have come from this direction.

Her heart thumped and heat covered her cheeks as a feeling she believed was beyond her spread in her chest.

The undeniable urge to kneel down and pay her respect in the most subservient way possible was threatening to overwhelm her. She fought that feeling, not understanding what was happening and she could see that Jasmine, Siegfried, and a few older elves were the same as her.

But this only applied to a few exceptions.

The appearance of two King-ranked Dragons was simply too much for many of the younger elves to take.

The stronger ones of the lots were all on their knees. The slightly weaker ones were sobbing as if they had witnessed a revelation and were ready to fly to heaven. While the weakest were foaming at the mouth or outright fainted.

It did not take long for the elves who had been resisting the compulsion to put one knee on the ground and in the end, only three of them were standing.

Or rather four of them.

Nefertiti Castitas was also standing among them. Her face showed a smile so bright and an expression so beautiful that even Satella felt herself entranced for a second. Sadly, she had to focus on the situation.

The two dragons were coming down and the pressure continued to increase. She could feel their eyes on her as if asking why she was still standing.

For a brief instant, a struggling light appeared in her eyes. But she understood well that now, she had to put aside her pride.

Satella could only give a bitter smile and sigh in defeat.

This was why she wanted to meet him on neutral grounds. She already knew what would have happened if he arrived and it was clear her hunch had been resoundingly right. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

As such— she did the only thing she could in such a situation. She bowed. Fighting to keep as much of her dignity as she could. Siegfried and Jasmine, on the other hand, all put one knee on the ground. But she did not look at them.

She only had eyes for the Silver-White Dragon basking under the light of the sun.

“I, Satellla Superbia, Queen of Southern Pride, humbly welcome the All-Seeing Radiant Lord and the Queen of all Dragons.”

This day would, without a doubt, enter the annals of history of the elves.