ENTER THE MYTHRIL Chapter VI

CHAPTER 6


The rookery's learning and playgrounds. That same afternoon.

Beyond the forest behind Stirling Castle and several miles away and yet only about twenty minutes away by dragon flight, laid a wide meadow. Surrounded by tall trees and a dense forest it was almost inaccessible to humans. In the middle of it and at the foot of a hill, a large structure resembled the ruins of a former human gothic temple, abandoned many years ago and accommodated by dragons to make it pleasing to their eye. Nature itself had taken its toll on the structures of the half risen arcs and columns, as climbers embraced around them and up to the top of the pillars and walls. Bushes adorned the surroundings of the abandoned church, making the place a perfect creation, mixture of dragons', humans' and nature's doing. Apart from the soft breeze waving the trees and the sound of the leaves dancing as the wing subtly blew them to the north-east, the cheerful sound of hatchling playing their games was heard even before Allastor and Tavah had arrived to the meadow.

Upon landing, they both saw a group of hatchlings, 10 and 20-year-olds, enjoying themselves as the young couple used to in their childhood days. They remembered that one festival some time ago when they used to play with humans like Marie, Tod and Thomas. For many years they had spent great times at playing with those children, and half the times something happened to which Allastor had been blamed about. Nevertheless, they kept playing and having fun with the dragons for many years. But eventually, the human children grew up and became adults. Considering that humans aged much faster than dragons, it was expected. They would then look for younger human playmates only for the story to be repeated. By now, Thomas had become a member of the royal guard for the current Earl of Scotland. Tod and Marie formed their own tavern in the same kingdom. The latter two kept most in contact with the grown up hatchlings, but they had better matters to attend to at the moment. After all, they were fully grown up humans, and the hatchlings were still considered as such, even though their adolescence just hit them.

Apart from the little hatchlings and a few mothers keeping them under control and preventing them to get lost within the woods, two elders and a few other adolescent dragons roamed around, but they didn't really bothered in recognizing them. Tavah turned to Allastor and offered him her hand with a smile. The White one accepted it returning the smile and the Sapphire female guided him towards the abandoned building. The mothers greeted Tavah with smiles very warmly, but when they saw the male that accompanied her, most of their smiles disappeared. Some of them looked at Allastor with concern. Some even frowned. In either case, Allastor greeted them politely, as his parents and Elders had taught him, but he dared not looking at some of the adult females too directly. However, two of the mothers greeted and welcomed him. After all, Allastor as all of his rookery brothers and sisters, Tavah included, had spend their time in that place, as now the new rookery was. Some hatchlings of the new rookery looked at him with distrust, for their parents had told them things about this unique white dragon. One of the hatchlings came close to Allastor, a Sapphire one, with lighter scales than even Tavah.

"Hi, brother", said the little one, which happened to be Allastor little brother.

"Hello, Illidan", he replied with a smile.

"Did you come to play with us?" Illidan asked innocently. Tavah giggled a bit.

"I am afraid no, brother", Allastor replied, his smile disappeared from his face. "I came to accompany Tavah."

He made a pause a moment to look at the adult females. Some of them seemed to be piercing him with their look. Then he looked at Tavah.

"I shall try and not disturb you. I brought this book to distract myself on something until you are done."

"You won't distract me, Al", Tavah shook her head. She thought for a moment, looking at him. She then spoke playfully. "Maybe a little…?"

Allastor smiled shyly at her and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I shall be back in a few moments", the young female told the others and addressed to Allastor to follow her.

"Be good, brother." Allastor told Illidan with a soft voice and placing his hand on his little brother's shoulder. Illidan returned him a blank expression. Then, the white one followed Tavah.

The Sapphire female leaded her friend to a series of stair steps just outside of the structure where he could sit and watch her and the others and gave him the chance to read the book undisturbed. After a short chat between the two, Tavah looked at him with a smile and left to take part in her duties with the hatchlings.

For moments, Allastor dedicated himself to reading the book he had brought. A very old tome labelled with some of the oldest manuscripts written by dragons many eons ago, regarding the teachings of Bahamut. It was ancient, so much that the pages were so deteriorated that the minimum disrespect to it would destroy it. The book was appointed to Allastor by the very High Elder Xenarius, to instruct him on the ways of nobility, good and justice, without taking away ones' free will. To Allastor, it was more a guide to the right decisions.

With his legs crossed and the book placed upon both his laps and his torso leaning on his arms behind him, he had both a full view of his reading and what was happening within the structure. After the hatchlings had stopped playing around, the older females gathered them to sit on the ground to pay attention to a lesson of the history of the clan and how dragons and humans came close as allied races, a long time ago. Allastor noticed how some of the kids managed to keep their attention on one of the Elders explaining, but some were somewhat uneasy and did not pay attention to the lesson, Illidan among them. The white one couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Tavah trying to silence him and a group of hatchling trying to disrupt the class. That was when he focused his sight on her. She was truly beautiful, especially when she laughed. He took special care in noticing how she was gentle with the kids but rather authoritarian. So much that the hatchlings looked at the Elder staring at them, knowing they had been caught. Then he said something Allastor could not hear due to the distance and how low the Elder had spoken, but it made some of the hatchlings and the older females laugh. At one point, Tavah looked in the direction of Allastor and she noticed him. And she smiled and slightly waved at him. Allastor, upon noticing her, he returned the smile shyly.

Allastor loved to see her in that state, always cheery and happy, and she hadn't changed one bit even through the years. He loved spending time with her. Much like his mother, Tavah had always been there in the hardest moments and supported him, despite what other dragons would say about him. But their time apart from each other had been a low blow for both of them. Allastor barely saw her now, due to his more intensive training and the way the other young dragons of their rookery treated him; as an outcast. On top of that, Tavah had confessed him that her father was not really fond of Allastor and he constantly tried to keep her away from him. It was something that hurt the both of them deeply. She had told Allastor, though, that at one point, she would not depend on her father and could be together as they always wanted. It was indeed a refreshing thought, but that day had its long way to come. The mere thought of this made his smile vanish and he looked at her with concern. And the female noticed it, and her smile faded as well, wondering what was troubling her friend. She thought that perhaps his own condition as Bahamut's chosen one and whatever it carried with it might be related. Somehow, she felt his pain but could not imagine it to its full extent. To comfort him from where she was, she shared a sympathetic smile with him, as if saying 'whatever it is, it will all be fine'. Allastor smiled slightly. He then resumed his reading.

Away from him, close to the opposite edge of the structure, four of the young, non-hatchling dragon watched the whole thing. They had not stopped looking at the Mythril since his arrival to the meadow. Three males and a female; the grown ups, the Ruby Talon and the Emerald Norren, now in company of a very seductive and fair Bronze female, Melina, and an slim Azure male, Draik, hung out talking and having fun making jokes about things and remembering old times until the white one showed up. Through the years, Norren had grown amongst the most powerful of their rookery, at least physically. He was the biggest among them and much like Allastor his taste for working out had made him look like a young power lifter dragon. Talon stood out for his quickness more than his power, but still would be a fine rival in combat. Draik was not nearly as athletic as Talon, but he developed an affinity for magic like few within the rookery, and Meleena had about the same complexion as Tavah, only slightly more 'gifted' - which she didn't bother in hiding -, focused more on elemental magic. The latter two became more and more attached to Talon and Norren, who always seemed to have fun out of the Mythril's condition and relative misery. In truth, they never really gave importance to Allastor being around, but they realized that being around Norren and Talon turned out to be more profitable. They enjoyed some privileges that Allastor or Tavah didn't. Norren's father was after all a member in the Arcane Council, one of the many with the opinion that Allastor should not be given the privileges of magic, and Norren openly took advantage of it even time he could. Or at least they thought so.

"Hmph… he thinks he's so special…" muttered Talon, looking at the Mythril, leaning against a column of the structure, crossed-armed. He wore leather pants and a sleeveless shirt, both ragged and decolorized into a beige tone.

"Well, he is the Mythril after all", said Draik with a low voice, as-a-matter-of-factly, shrugging. Wearing longer pants than Talon and a dark baggy shirt, he was sitting on a rock, with one leg propped up and crewing a bit of grass to keep his teeth busy. His tail ended in a fan and it swished back and forth idly. Melina leaned on his other leg, sitting sideways on the grass, wearing quite revealing attires.

"Ah'm not talkin' 'bout that little an' quite obvious detail, Draik", Talon replied sarcastically, staring at Draik. "Look at th' way they look at one 'nother…" he said then, signalling at the white one.

"Jealous much, Talon?" mocked Melina, almost moaning.

"Bah! Not I. It just irritates meh that he plays th' victim with such foice." He replied, smirking at Meleena. "Ye know Ah could find more an' better girls, don't ye, Melina?"

Melina just smirked suggestively. Draik didn't seem much pleased at the reply, but he didn't bother saying anything. Meleena and he had been together for quite some time, and he knew she was as playful with everyone, but some things were reserved to Draik and Draik only.

"Reason why Ah remain single, muh mates." He grinned proudly.

"In either case, Talon…" said Norren, sitting high over one of the beams of the structure, just over one of the oval arcs. He wore, as always, short ragged pants, just enough cloth to show off his powerful body. "Tavah must not remain without a mate, right?"

The three of them looked up at him.

"And she deserves more than just a 'tattooed' dragon. A girl like her needs someone with strength and determination to fulfil her desires… and with some influence." Norren made emphasis on the last part of the sentence, with a smirk.

"Ye 'lways lik'd her, Norren. An' she doesn't interest meh, even though she's quoite… 'lluring", said Talon with a smirk. "What's tah stop ye from taking her as yer girlfriend? Him?"

"When are you going to learn, my dear Talon, that a female has the last word on that matter?" Norren said, and he hopped down from his sitting place and landed with a loud thud on the grass. He finally said with a grin, "All males can do is give them a reason to pick them… and discard the others."

"And what ar' ye waiting for?"

Norren looked at what Allastor was holding with a somewhat sinister smirk.

"The moment to do disparage my rival… and have fun at the same time."

The other three smirked. Norren and Talon headed towards Allastor by foot. Draik and Melina took off.

Allastor was lost in his reading again. He had reached a point that spoke about 'giving the self without losing it'. He was at the same time concerned and interested in the matter. He had stopped to think about the meaning of the phrase when a shadow blocked whatever light was allowing him to read comfortably. He raised his ears. The familiar smell and the silhouette on and the grass made him realize who the new comer was.

"Norren…" Allastor sighed.

"Well, hello, Allastor", the Emerald replied with a hint of gibe.

A second smell and turning around revealed Talon as well, standing behind Norren, who already showed a smirk.

"And of course you had to have company." The Mythril closed the book and looked up at both. "What is it that you want now?"

"Oh, not much", Talon said with sarcasm, shrugging. "We thought ye need'd some companeh."

"I am fine, but thank you for your concern." Allastor replied just to be polite as usual, standing up. "I will just move to another place."

The Mythril started to walk away from the two dragons and their presumable intentions, but after a couple of steps, Melina landed just in front of him, startling Allastor. She had a very seductive look and walked towards the shocked white dragon.

"Where are you going, handsome?" she said softly, running a claw over the birth mark on his chest. "We just want to play for a while. And you might like it with me around…"

She was already enjoying it since Allastor himself was very well built. As for him, his eyes were wide open, alternating his gaze between her face and her finger a couple of times. Somewhere in the way, his eyes caught her cleavage for a split second, which the female was showing off the whole time, and he immediately dismissed the look shaking his head.

"Melina!", he said nervously, grabbing her wrist with his free hand and putting it away gently, "I-I appreciate it very much. But I don't believe it's a good idea…"

Allastor started backing up but his wings and tail found Norren standing directly behind him. He turned his head to look at him. Before he knew it, the Emerald one had taken the book from Allastor's hand.

"What's this, 'Snowflake'?" Norren asked, turning the pages of the book. "Homework?"

"Give it back, Norren!" Allastor turned around and intended to take it, but Norren moved his hands away and blocked with his wings before the Mythril could get a grasp on it. "Please, Norren! That book is very delicate and ancient! High Elder Xenarius entrusted me with it!"

"Oh, really?" Norren passed the book to Talon, turning himself to face Allastor. "Then it would be a great disgrace if it broke", he said with a grin, mere inches from Allastor's nose. "Oh, the High Elder would be furious, don't you think?" The white one widened his eyes and looked at Talon, gesturing as if he was going to scratch the cover.

Allastor moved pass Norren to grab the book, but he felt his tail being pulled in the opposite direction. He turned his head to see the Emerald was grabbing it close to the tip.

"Not so fast, Mythril!" grunted Norren with a smirk.

The struggle went on for a few moments before the hatchling, the mothers and the Elders within the structure noticed the five adolescent dragons. Tavah herself was wondering what was going on and she recognized the other four dragons that were with Allastor. She got worried and immediately stood up. The Elder teaching the interrupted lesson addressed calmly to the mothers in charge of the journey back to gather the hatchlings and return to the den. And so the females did, they started gathering the kids around. Both Elders then watched silently. Tavah meant to get a little closer to the other adolescents and try and help Allastor, who most likely would be taking part as a victim.

The book had moved from one youngling to the next, always seeming to escape the Mythril's grasp, who tried to get a hold of the precious and invaluable book without having it damaged. It flew towards Draik, who caught it effortlessly with a small leap and then waited with a smirk for Allastor to come after him. Which he did, but the Bronze female pronounced a short echoing phrase in draconic:

"Edar Cha'sid!*"

Suddenly, a series of roots and creepers from the ground bound Allastor's extremities and torso. The white one struggled for a few moments, unable to break the boundaries. Then he looked at the Bronze and the Azure; Melina blew a kiss at him and Draik laughed celebrating his girlfriend's deed, playing with the book passing it from hand to hand.

"Aww… What's wrong, 'Al'?" he mocked at the bound dragon. "The mighty Mythril can't let himself loose?"

Allastor panted a couple of times before he took a deep breath. He then clenched his eyes and fists, gathering all his strength and forcing and stretching the entangling plants. By sections, the roots and creepers started to break, slowly letting him loose until he broke free. Melina couldn't believe it and stared at Allastor in awe. The Mythril, using the inertia of the effort to break free from the roots pounced at Draik and he dropped the book to the grass. Allastor was on top of him and the Azure male was stunned. The white ones moved to grab the book but Norren grabbed him by the back his neck, pulling the scales that resembled white hair on the Mythril dragon. Allastor roared in pain, and Norren applied a holding technique on Allastor, locking the white one's left arm and wing with his own, travelling from under the armpit and first wing joint so his left hand met with his right hand, which locked Allastor's neck and right arm, holding his right wing completely folded, from behind to immobilize him. Additionally, Norren stomped on the middle section of Allastor's tail and held his foot on it. They both struggled, one to break free and the other to maintain the locking technique. Both the Emerald and the Mythril were growling now. Both dragons' eyes were glowing, Norren's in a bright red and Allastor's in an intense white. Talon took his chance to grab the book and looked at the to larger dragons.

"You are… very… persistent!" grunted Norren, struggling with the Mythril, barely holding him in place. '… And quite strong! I won't be able to hold him much longer!', he thought to himself feeling that either his own strength was failing him or Allastor's was greater than he had imagined.

Draik then started casting a minor flashing spell, but Allastor already knew the spell. Before the Azure would finish the somatic component and the phrase, the Mythril leaned forward and closed his eyes. The flash blinded the Emerald instead. Norren lessen the force of his grip, stepping backwards a couple of steps, releasing the Mythril's tail. This gave Allastor the opportunity to break free with a sudden movement of his arms downwards and hit Norren's abdomen hard with his elbow. Norren leaned forward and coughed, moving his arms to hold his belly, and Allastor caught his head and tossed the Emerald one towards Draik, who couldn't react and got knocked back to the grass. Talon was fast enough to avoid being hit by the other two, but was unable to dodge Allastor's pounce. Now with Talon with his back on the grass, the Mythril grabbed the book, crouching on top and growled at Ruby dragon with his eyes glowing. Talon's own eyes were also glowing in green, growling back at him. The struggle would have continued if it wasn't for the presence of a cloaked dragon in front of the two younglings. Both Allastor and Talon looked up at the imposing figure with their eyes wide.

The figure was the same Bronze dragon that had been watching over Allastor. He stood still, which made him look even more fearsome to the younger dragons. When Norren and Draik had recovered they also saw the towering dragon. He was apparently alternating looks between the adolescents, but Allastor.

"You shall leave this meadow at once!" his voice thundered with a sinister tone, and as soon as he spoke, the four younglings took off in the direction of the den.

Allastor was about to leave too, but he was petrified by the presence of the older dragon. Nevertheless, he held the book between his arms and against his chest protecting it. The Bronze dragon looked at the Mythril dragon for several seconds, but for the white adolescent it seemed like an eternity. With the sun setting now, the look wasn't very encouraging. When he noticed, the mothers had already taken off with the hatchlings; Illidan remained with Tavah, still at the entrance of the ruined structure and looking at them. Behind the, the two Elders did the same.

The Bronze dragon looked at the Elders, to which both dragons nodded their heads. One of them took off and the other remained with Tavah and Illidan. Then, the cloaked one looked at Allastor and extended his hand, palm facing up.

"The book, Allastor…" he grunted in draconic.

Allastor widened his eyes and held the books tighter against him, frowning.

"I am aware of the significance of this relic, Mythril dragon. I shall give it to the High Elder myself. You need not worry. Now, the book, please…" the Bronze repeated somewhat impatient.

"Y-yes, sir…" Allastor said nervously, and hesitantly handed him the book.

A moment of silence surrounded the two of them once the Bronze took the book in his hands and examined it, and it made Allastor feel rather uneasy. Any visible damage would most likely get him into trouble with the High Elder and the Arcane Council. Tavah and Illidan approached them curious about what had happened. The Elder behind them had followed the female and hatchling, and signalled them to stay close to him, several steps away from the other two. Minutes seemed to pass as the Bronze dragon stood in front of Allastor, while the white dragon waited for some sort of lecture or judgement from the older dragon. But nothing came out of the cloaked one, and he took off, heading towards the den. Allastor could only sigh deeply in relief, but suddenly the feeling of guilt invaded him. He probably shouldn't have brought that book out of the limits of the library chamber in the first place. He was now expecting a calling within the Chamber of Trails, possibly to be lectured about what had happened. His thoughts were interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

Tavah approached to comfort him, followed by his little brother. He looked at them with an apologetic face, but the female smiled. Illidan tugged his hand from below.

"Let's go home, Al." Illidan said with a very soft voice. Allastor nodded. The three hatchlings were escorted by the Elder all the way to the den.