Gold

  William perspective

  I couldn't tear my gaze from Azrael; her words left me confused. Unease filled my chest, weighing me down but only slightly. She wasn't demanding the same way she did back in Hearthglen. The uneasiness bled into the street; no one dared to get close as the world grew silent, as the sun slowly set, casting a shadow over Azrael and me.

  Aurum stood beside me, tilting her head in puzzlement.

  "Why should I not mention that Aurum is a Gold Dragon?" I ask, giving her a lacklustered smirk. This was Azrael's first "Order" to me, so I am curious.

  "Aurum is an Arcane dragon," Azrael answered, which left me confused. I understand there are many species of dragons, but Arcane was a new one to me.

  Armed with this new knowledge and catching the irritation flickering across Azrael's face, I knew she expected my next question. "What is an Arcane dragon?" I asked, but before she could reply, I raised a finger, signaling her to hold that thought. I turned to Aurum, curious if she had any answers.

  Aurum caught my thoughts and answered right away. "Not understand myself. Didn't know." Her words were simple, honest. She was still young, still discovering who she was. It made sense, considering how much we'd been through lately.

  Azrael made a very loud, annoyed sigh at me, slapping my hand. She should've just told me why. But in this situation, she can easily just say no and walk off. But I got a good understanding of who she is. Given our time in the Blight Nest, she has her own troubles with the people around her. And I was never one to care about who she was.

  "Arcane dragons don't use elemental magic as the elemental dragons," Azrael explained, yet didn't really answer the question much to me. "Arcane dragons, use magic, like pure magic. The problem is all riders of any Arcane Dragon were nobles. Gold Dragons are Arcane Dragons. You having an Arcane Dragon could mean you are a noble. And in the last meeting no one mentioned about your dragon being Elemental or Arcane for that reason."

  Wait? What is she afraid of? Me….. Being a noble? What would happen? Will I upset the balance of the nobility? My mother, being a Lifebearer, might be a noble; however, my father said she wasn't from Drakelene. However, my father could be lying, so I can't rely on him. My father once told me that his family wasn't related to any noble family in Drakelene. Could this be a lie?

  The more I mulled it over, the less sense it made—how could being a noble be a problem? Maybe if I had noble blood, things with Azrael's father would have played out differently. Then a wild thought struck me. What if I weren't just any noble? My heart pounded at the possibility. "Are you saying I could be your brother?" I blurted, my voice cracking with uncertainty.

  "What? No!" Azrael yelled, bewildered at the thought. She took a step back, arms up in a gesture of confusion. "I wasn't suggesting that."

  "Well what were you suggesting," I argued back.

  Azrael's cheeks puffed out, her annoyance obvious as she crossed her arms and turned away, a flush coloring her face. She hissed, her voice filled with worry, while refusing to meet my eyes. "I was suggesting maybe... just maybe, the other nobles might feel threatened that a Gold Dragon picked you instead of someone with noble blood." Her words tumbled out, voice rising in pitch. Was I really that irritating? "Or they might... might accuse you of stealing the dragon from a noble in Hearthglen."

  My chest ached, my heart plummeted, and my mouth went dry, leaving an unsettling tickle in my throat. I could feel my grip on the hilt of my sword waver slightly, a subtle tremor that betrayed my anxiety. The ache in my chest spread slowly, a dull throb beneath my ribs as I processed Azrael's words. A sudden, uneasy breeze rushed past me, leaves rustling as we stood in the shadow of a dim, orange day. I ain't too familiar with politics, but I figured I was safe from the law as long as I am Azrael's knight. So what's the problem now?

  "But," I stuttered. "Wouldn't me being your knight keep me safe?"

  "Not when Gold Dragons are the rarest species that are only born every few centuries, into the royal family," she uttered. Her words were more like a threat, no longer stuttering. "You having one kinda complicates things and we didn't want that." I listened intently, feeling her words hit me like freight train problems that everyone has been trying to fix. "Like you being a noble bastard, like problem. Which isn't good in politics and royal families."

  I felt my eyes sink deep into my skull. "You're telling me this now?"

  Azrael crossed her arms, pushing her chest out to look bigger. Her brows furrowed even more as a sudden chill went down my spine. Then her face changed for a moment, as if she were guilty of something. Sadden? Disappointed, yet I can tell she felt it was right. How I knew, I didn't know. "My original plan was to kill you and your dragon so it doesn't leak out."

  "You were going to what?" I uttered, my arm up and out, while wavering in disbelief.

  "You had a gold dragon."

  "After everything?"

  "That was before everything."

  I threw my arms wide, eyes and brows stretched in disbelief. "Apparently! What changed?" I demanded, my hands smacking against my sides.

  "Hello? Sir Thomas and I didn't like you or your father and we traveled few days together. Then Sir Thomas almost killed me and you didn't hesitate to stop him. Does that not ring a bell?"

  I scoffed, nodding. "Yeah, I remember. You both nearly took my father's and my head off." The memory of the Guild hall basement in Hearthglen flashed in my mind—blades ready to settle everything until Dimmal stepped in. "That didn't mean we were out to kill you just because we didn't like you. And Thomas nearly finished me off. Twice." My words dripped with a hint of venom.

  "But we didn't. And you killed Sir Thomas before he killed you and I. Plus I helped save you." She responded with a finger jab into my stomach.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I flinched and stepped back, rubbing my stomach. "I'll remember that next time you're behind me."

  Azrael's frustration was apparent, and it made me smirk, just a little. She planted her hands on her hips and spoke up. "Will you just listen? Gold dragons are royalty among dragons. If people see you, my servant, with a gold dragon, they'll see her as a slave, not a royal. Especially since dragons believe might makes right, and they're rarely wrong about that."

  Might makes right? I'd heard it a hundred times and hated it every time. It meant if I died, I was just weak. And since I am weak, I have no voice or say in what happens. My heart pounded with anger, my smile twisting into a scowl as I stared at the ground. My thoughts spiraled back to Hearthglen—to everyone lost to the Blight. The children, their parents, the dragons, and their riders. They all died because they were considered weak. And those who survived were either lucky or were mighty.

  Images of the fallen flooded my mind—people I once knew, their bodies twisted into horrors that would freeze anyone in terror. They were slaughtered, only to become monsters themselves.

  My breath grew heavy as those memories surfaced. Anger welled up inside me, tangled with fear and guilt.

  They died for being weak. And I was too weak to save them.

  Aurum's thoughts washed over me, pulling me back from the edge. My fists relaxed, color returning to my knuckles. Her gentle, comforting presence eased my breathing. I sensed her concern, so I tried to share my own thoughts with her—images of powerful men towering over the powerless, ruling and controlling those who couldn't fight back.

  Aurum shook her head in disgust, her thoughts echoing in my mind. She hated the idea of being ruled just because someone was stronger. "I don't want to be a slave," she whispered softly into my mind.

  "Don't worry, Aurum," I said aloud, stroking her golden head. "No one's turning anyone into a slave just because they're weaker."

  "You say that as if dragon magic isn't coursing through you. When a rider bonds to a dragon, all their original magic is amplified and turned into Dragon magic because dragon magic is far stronger and doesn't mix well with other magic."

  Well, that's new. I never knew Dragon magic did such a thing. "I really need to get an instruction manual for being a rider."

  "Why do you think Dragon magic works so well against the Blight. It's Blight magic. It acts like a disease that infects and mixes into whatever it can get its hands on, magic included. When coming into contact with Dragon Magic, Dragon Magic destroys it." Azrael explained, kinda perfectly, actually. I knew Drakelene was best at fighting the Blight because of the Dragons, but this answered why. "Just don't say anything about having a gold dragon."

  I sighed loudly. "What do you want me to say?"

  "I don't know… Anything…. Say she has a mutation. A distant cousin or something… not a cousin cause that wouldnt work…" Azrael ranted, making excuses.

  "Ok.. what happens if they find out? Like your dragon." I asked. I haven't met her dragon specifically. Actually, the only dragon I know personally was Lady Elrid. But that doesn't matter right now.

  "Don't worry about Argelium," Azrael answered with surprising confidence. "The other dragons will question the human hierarchy... Gold dragons are the most magical of all dragon kind. I don't know why. But that's just how dragons are. Even a Titan rider's dragon knows this. They start refusing to operate."

  "And since dragons can influence their riders."

  "The riders too will start questioning my father. Trust me it aint good for anyone. As long as everyone believes you don't have a Gold dragon, the most you have to deal with is assassinations."

  "Why? I would rather not deal with assassins. Can't you just.." I look around, making sure no one is near. "Just undo the mark?

  Azrael huffed at me. "You dolt. It doesn't work like that. Killing you off would be the easiest and best solution for the the noble families potiental jealousy, hidden forbidden secrets or misplaced anger. And undoing the mark won't solve that you did stole a dragon egg. If everyone outside found out you stole a actual dragon, who knows what would happen?"

  Well, make it work, you ass! Misplaced anger? What the fuck? I would rather not have to watch my back while serving.

  "As long as you are marked, you are a servant bound to me, making you and Aurum both serve another noble of lesser status."

  I let out a heavy sigh, sitting cross-legged with my elbow propped on my knee. Dimmal paced back and forth while Aurum pranced after him, her tail wagging. Her emotions and thoughts swirled chaotically, giving me a headache. Every idea she had clashed with my own resentment at being called a servant to some pompous noble. Still, I tried to focus on what was right in front of me.

  We were at a storage house right outside of the Guild. Apparently, the saddle Lord Ryu supposedly gave to me was here. Dimmal was supposedly inspecting it, but from where I sat, it looked like he was simply placing his hands on it.

  "Where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Aurum kept asking, tagging behind Dimmal as he worked on the saddle. "I want to fly."

  The saddle was enormous—clearly not made for Aurum. As Dimmal inspected it, my thoughts drifted. Azrael's words gnawed at me, weighing me down.

  "You are a servant bound to a noble, making you both serve another noble of lesser status."

  Servant... The word stung. It disgusted me. I serve no one.

  Aurum pressed her head into my hand, bringing a soft smile to my face as I felt my hand just melt onto her scales. "She had her reasons. Better to have then none."

  "Does it make a difference," I asked her.

  "In someways it does," Dimmal interrupted.

  "You knew?"

  Dimmal turned to me, his sharp gaze looking down at Aurum and me. I can sense his sympathies in his sharp eyes as he lets out a sigh. "I figured that was the case when she and Thomas arrived. I didn't really care much when I saw Aurum, especially when I had already lost my dragon, and his body is now being used as a mindless puppet."

  Aurum lay on my leg, pinning me down. Her weight pressed heavily onto my thigh as I stroked her neck. "Whose side?"

  Aurum was right. Whose side was he going to pick?

  I hesitated for a moment. Then I asked. "If it did happen… who would you have helped?"

  "You and your father. I want my dragon to rest in peace, and Drakelene won't help with that. Trust me, I know. I have better chances with you all than with the royal family."

  "What about the Order of Drake…"

  Dimmal held up his hand, gesturing for me to be quiet, which annoyed me a little. "I am still loyal to Drakelene and would gladly die for my country and kingdom. This, though, is more personal. Like a wound that can't be seen but hits deeper and must be mended." Dimmal moved closer, dropping to his knees in front of me. "A wound so deep that it defies logic and reason. Makes me defy logic and reason."

  Sadness seeped into me. I can feel my chest tighten as Aurum looks up into Dimmal. Dimmal caressed her forehead and soon messed with my hair. I scowled, trying to slap his hand. I didn't enjoy him treating me like a child.

  Glaring up at him, I shove my sadness aside. Pushing Aurum off my lap—she whined in protest—I declared, "Aurum's excited to fly. Shouldn't she be able to do it on her own?"

  I didn't think much about it. Aurum was big enough to fly. Hell, I could ride her like a horse now. But she never did fly.

  "Depends on the dragon mainly. Some dragons prefer to have the rider present for the first flight. More impactful." Dimmal answered, however, part of me didn't understand. But before I could respond, Dimmal moved away, crossing his arms while looking at the saddle. "Lord Ryu must have made a mistake."

  The sudden change in topic caught me off guard. "How so?"

  "This saddle isn't meant for you," Dimmal answered bluntly.

  "No saddle?" Aurum asked, running up towards Dimmal. She bumps into him, throwing him off his footing.

  Didn't Lord Ryu say he was going to make the saddle himself? Maybe he got the sizes wrong?

  "Is it possible that Lord Ryu simply got her size wrong?" I asked as I stood up and moved over to the saddle.

  My eyes widened in shock. I hadn't been paying close enough attention—the saddle was nearly three times Aurum's size. I couldn't even process all the details.

  "Wrong size doesn't justify this. This saddle was meant for a different, much bigger dragon."

  I sighed loudly, feeling Aurum's sadness flow into me, making my own heart ache. I can almost feel my eyes water, and my chest growing heavy. Swallowing was difficult as I buried this foreign feeling, trying to ask Dimmal about Lord Ryu.

  "When is Lord Ryu returning?"