We caught up to the large dragon as we approached the royal palace.

  This was a special place ordinary people would never get to see, so I was excited to be invited in so easily.

  I've worked so hard to be acknowledged with the bow that it still feels a little cheap to tag along with Gale.

  As suggested, I'm carrying the most powerful bow I own and a quiver of the best arrows.

  What could I need it for? They can't be sending us after bandits, right?

  Humans weren't usually allowed to take part in aspects such as law enforcement. Unless the dragons had a death sentence or similar.

  For us, there wasn't really much of an option to capture a dragon alive. As a human, if you have to fight a dragon on your own, you either kill them or you escape, there's no in between.

  While I pondered, I almost didn't notice we were already at the front gates of the palace. I was puzzled on whether I should call them gates or doors, as they were huge.

  As we entered, the ground below transitioned from a stone trail to smooth, premium flooring.

  There were many dragons inside the palace of various shapes and sizes. Me and Gale didn't have much experience, so we would probably be disrespecting everyone here if the important dragons weren't so clearly defined by what they wear.

  Typically expensive cloth and jewelry that covered their chests.

  But as we reached our destination, it was obvious who the most important dragon was.

  A young dragon sat powerfully at the end of the throne room, surrounded by other older dragons, both armed and unarmed.

  This was Emperor Stormlight, and he was among some of the youngest in history to be elected as emperor.

  Each term was typically 5 years. Some say the reason for the limit is to prevent corruption, but it makes more sense to say it's to be more fair for the occasional human emperor.

  Otherwise they might outlive any good human emperor before they get a chance.

  Gale bowed first, and I quickly snapped out of my thoughts and did the same.

  "Hmm, I called for Gale, but why has his human companion joined us?" Stormlight questions me.

  I bite my lip wondering if I'm allowed to answer before going for it.

  "I can be helpful too! Please let me-" I answer almost desperately before he raises a talon to shush me.

  "The old legend of our founder has turned out to be true. We're suddenly surrounded by strange lands we couldn't see or interact with before. Do you know what that means?" He asks stiffly, almost as if it wasn't even a question.

  W-What could it mean? Wait, they need Gale because he's fluent with the old language- does that mean?

  "T-There are other dragons?" I ask sheepishly.

  No matter which version of the legend I thought of, the other dragons were always the unpleasant kind...

  "Yes. We've already made contact with a group of them that have wandered into our territory, but couldn't understand their language well." He exclaims while straightening up, "It's just a tale, so there's no telling what's changed since then."

  That's true, I suppose it could have been biased from being retold over and over.

  Stormlight then continues with news that I'm no longer sure if I should be happy or worried about, "Since you want to remain with Gale, I feel it a good idea to see how they treat you. They will likely return soon, that much we could understand."

  "I-I see." I stutter in a bit of shock before remembering I should be using honorifics, "Thank you, your majesty!"

  I was quite worried about being the test subject, but I got myself into this...

  "Commander Ashwind will retrieve you when needed." The emperor dismisses us with a wave and we unwaveringly comply in a heartbeat.

  One of the servant dragons even leads us to a guest room, which looks unimaginably prestigious!

  "Wow, this bed is so huge and soft!" I exclaim while flailing around on the gigantic silky cushion in the corner.

  "Then let me try!" Gale demands happily and gives me no time to move at all.

  His heavy form lands close to me as he rolls over while snatching me onto his belly.

  "Ack! What are you doing?!" I wail pathetically at him.

  "What do you mean what am I doing, I'm having fun with you is what I'm doing!" He laughs at me wiggling in has grasp unable to escape.

  I swing and hit air while trying to punch that annoying smile off his snout.

  This is always irritating, but I also don't feel the need to demand release.

  "You're the only one that lets me play rough with you."

  "I don't let you, I just tolerate it because you're pitifully aloof at times." I snort coldly at him.

  "Do you need me to squeeze you to get you to be more playful?" He jokes and then pauses to smell the air. "What's that smell?"

  Gale looks around and then his eyes widen at the table a few steps away.

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  "It's meat!" He squeals and drops me harshly on the bed.

  "How rude of you to discard me over a damn steak." I mumble to avoid sounding jealous of his attention.

  Even though humans were quite good at breeding animals, it was still expensive since dragons needed so much of it.

  Fruits and vegetables were much more plentiful and low-effort, so it wouldn't be strange for many dragons to have barely tasted meat in their lives.

  I grimace and wince at the crunching of bones; He was not elegant about it at all!

  "Oh, I almost forgot." He exclaims, muffled by a full mouth as he grabs me again and lifts me to the table. "See, I'm not heartless, you can have some too~"

  "I don't want it." I state matter-of-factly.

  "Yes you do." He repeats and shoves a small chunk in my face, threatening to make a mess on it if I don't let it in. "I'm so forgetful today- how could I forget to cook it first?!"

  He moves it a little higher and opens his jaws slightly to let out a short stream of highly compressed blue fire.

  The chunk of meat sizzles in seconds and he finishes while coughing from the side effects.

  They couldn't create a stream of consistent fire for very long, and it always made their voice raspy if they tried.

  "Here." He wheezes through a pained expression, "I'll be fine in a few minutes."

  Gale can be annoying on occasion, but he still suffered through that just to cook a tiny portion for me.

  And it was so good, just a little burnt. It genuinely felt like being royalty.

  After a few minutes, a loud knock on the door broke the silence.

  "It's time." Commander Ashwind calls us out.

  "Let's hope that legends aren't always accurate." I muse, ensuring I have my longbow and arrows ready.

  Gale didn't react to my words and moved me up to his back easily.

  Then, we were led outside of the city to a small clearing with sparse trees. How long would we have to wait?

  I wondered how strange these new dragons were going to be.

  Were they like the legends?

  I was with Gale the whole time, but I was never that into an ancient language. Given that I was always around, I can understand it pretty well, but I've never bothered trying to speak in it.

  I guess he must have really had some free time.

  I gulp as the familiar feeling of dragons landing nearby interrupts the tranquil air.

  Ashwind was watching from the side as the strange dragons approached. I don't seem to be very noticable in this situation.

  They were bulky, muscular and had flat snouts. They were kind of ugly, actually.

  The one in front had big shoulders and confidently tried to greet Gale by getting closer.

  "Hello! I am Sepia of the MudWings!" The big-shouldered dragon opens without a stutter of hesitation, but Gale doesn't seem impressed.

  "What do you want from us?" He asks one of the main questions he was earlier ordered to bring up.

  Gale keeps crinkling his snout during this as if he's smelling something strange.

  "Something metallic is in the air." Ashwind hisses under his breath.

  "Only an alliance! If my words are not enough for you, then please accept a gift," Sepia gestures to the dragon on the rear-left which has been holding something obscured to us by the angles, "Scavenger is a rare delicacy, right?"

  The 'MudWing' in the back releases a slim woman with short brown hair, who immediately gasps in air and bursts into a fit of sobbing that was held back by compression.

  "Monsters!" Gale growls and lunges, causing the woman to scream louder as the three are pushed back and one is pinned to the ground.

  I run to pull the woman behind a nearby tree, before watching the scene unfold as if I could only power through the shock to get this far.

  I have to help. I have to do something!

  Without even realizing it, I already had an arrow on the string.

  I pull back on it as hard as I can until I can't anymore.

  Thump

  I can feel my heart pounding as I aim. The dragons around Gale don't care about my presence at all, I have a clear shot.

  But- my hand is trembling.

  My arm was getting numb from the powerful weight of the bowstring, and I couldn't resolve myself to potentially kill them for the longest time.

  Since I was hesitating, Commander Ashwind instead took the initiative to intervene.

  Gale had the center one pinned, but seemed to be losing the strength battle.

  The other two were so surprised they didn't do anything for seconds before trying to pull Gale off.

  The first tried to catch Gale in his jaws, but as soon as he opened his mouth, a red bolt of compressed fire precisely flew into it.

  Thus, he screamed and choked from his throat being burned.

  That gave Commander Ashwind enough time to grab the second by the neck.

  Despite the foreign dragons being bulkier and perhaps even slightly bigger, he was practically on top of the caught dragon and had them completely locked in place. They couldn't break free no matter how strong they might be.

  Even so, Gale was still struggling and could have even been overpowered if they all didn't suddenly stop resisting.

  I couldn't understand why they would stop, until I realized they were both staring at Ashwind about to turn one of their necks into abstract art.

  Relieved, I relax my arm which has gone numb from keeping such a powerful bow drawn for so long.

  I could only slump against the tree and try not to think about what would have happened if there was no one to intervene and I still couldn't take the shot.

  A bunch of other dragons that were watching from a distance were arriving to take the 'MudWing' dragons away.

  I turned my attention to the crying lady that was now attempting to cry as silently as possible.

  "It's okay, you can talk now." I try to assure her. "I'm Field. What's your name?"

  The surroundings must be a blur for her right now, too panicked to hear anything but the sound of my voice.

  "I- My name- it's Misty. It was nice to meet you..."

  'was'? These are the words of someone resigned to their doom.

  The three foreign dragons were already taken away, leaving just Gale, who was now coming over to check on me.

  Misty seemed to be more aware now that things were less intense, clutching onto my arm.

  "Hurry! Shoot! Maybe we can-" Misty squeals and frantically tries to grab the bow out of my hands and pull the string while I'm still holding onto it.

  "Hey! Calm down!" I try to sound commanding, but she continues struggling despite not being strong enough to draw the bow even if I wasn't fighting it.

  Gale was already right in front of us and didn't know what to do.

  "H-hi?" He stutters meekly.

  Misty gave up on trying to fight and simply closed her eyes and sobbed harder than before.

  Gale winced at bringing such intense despair so easily. So did I, and I didn't know how to fix it.

  "Misty? That's a nice name." Gale retries after seeing her open her eyes.

  She looks almost even more shocked than she was while wailing her lungs out.

  "A dragon can talk?" She whimpers and looks to be fighting herself to look, as if needing to confirm it.

  "Yes!" Gale answers softly. "I'm not scary at all~"

  "That's not something you can decide for others, you oaf!" I scorn by slapping him with my bow.

  Gale tries to make it true by laying on the ground submissively and whining, but Misty doesn't seem to know what's going on anymore.

  "Is this what losing your mind feels like?"

  "This is all real. Welcome to the Illusora continent." I chuckle.

  "Continent? But it looked more like a really big island when I was... taken." She responds quietly.

  "What's an island?" I ask, stumped.

  "Huh? You don't know what islands are?" She sniffles and finally has a laugh, but that wasn't my intention at all. "They're like smaller patches of land, floating over the sea. A really small continent, I guess."

  So, this whole time we've just called it a continent because we had nothing to compare it to?!

  "Okay... Well, anyway, the dragons here are friendly. I don't know what kind of life you had outside, but there's nothing to be scared of when you're here." I return to explaining the situation now that I had an opening.

  "They don't... eat you?" Misty asks like it was an amazement.

  "No! Of course not!" Gale answers reflexively. "We all live together, why would we eat people? Only monsters do that-- Like those ugly, flat-faced ones that don't deserve to be called a dragon!"

  "I-I'm sorry, but you're kind of special when it comes to dragons..." Misty mutters while trying to be confident.

  That doesn't sound good... Maybe the colorful dragons being demons was the accurate telling of the founder's legend after all.

  "Then, would you like a tour?" I offer, rubbing Gale's head to show it was fine.