“You’re probably right,” Adrissu laughed, and though he would have sorely appreciated Dirge’s expertise, he did not press the issue. He was sure he could find someone else, if not for the upcoming term that was rapidly approaching, then perhaps before the next.
When he had only two weeks left of his tutelage under Dirge, he was gathering herbs in a thick, overgrown part of the forest about a mile from the town, when all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up at once. His heart plummeted to the very bottom of his stomach—there was another dragon nearby, and it was drawing closer. If he could sense it, then surely it now could sense him, too.
Cursing, Adrissu ducked under the cover of the trees and peered anxiously up into the sky. There were no records anywhere of a dragon even remotely nearby to the village, so why? Why would a dragon be here now? How did he have such rotten luck, again and again?
He’d hoped the dragon might veer away, just as surprised to sense him as he was to sense it, but this did not prove to be the case—in fact, after waiting a moment, Adrissu was sure that not only was the other dragon continuing on its trajectory, but was purposely seeking him out. He swore again, then draped himself with invisibility; hopefully the dragon would give up if it could not see him, though such a strong charm wouldn’t hold for long if it decided to stick around and investigate.
A dark shadow passed over the dappled sunlight—and then another. Adrissu could have screamed in frustration—twodragons? Two dragons purposely seeking the presence of another could only be a sign of something supremely unpleasant.
For a long moment, the only sound Adrissu could hear was the pounding of his heart thudding in his ears. Then, the same two shadows passed over him again, and he heard a distant, loud thump—they must have landed. He crouched closer to the tree he was huddled beneath, waiting as silence filled the woods again.
“Zamnes,” a woman’s voice called out, vaguely familiar, but not enough that he readily recognized the voice. “We know you’re here, Zamnes.”
“We’re here to talk, not to fight,” a second voice came, this one more recognizable, and Adrissu scowled, half in anger and half in confusion. The voices belonged to Heriel and Naydruun, with whom he had parted on very unpleasant terms. He’d threatened Naydruun’s life if he ever saw the other dragon again—how had they found him here? What could they possibly want so badly from him they’d come all the way from their home in Robruolor, to Polimnos, and on to the far north of Aefraya?
Their voices came again, softer this time as they seemed to talk amongst themselves. “He must be here. I still sense him…”
“I am here,” Adrissu barked in irritation, though he kept the invisibility charm on himself. “What do you want?”
He heard a rustling in the underbrush, then he could just make out a figure between the trees several yards away, mostly obscured in the overgrowth. It looked like Heriel, but the hood of her long, forest-green cloak was pulled up.
“We’re here to talk,” she said. “Can you come out? We don’t want to fight.”
“We…” Naydruun started, their voice coming from behind Heriel. “Well, we need your help.”
Adrissu hesitated, the admission unexpected. What could they possibly need his help for, especially after how poorly their last meeting had gone?
“Do you have any weapons on you?” he snapped, eyeing Heriel suspiciously as she stepped carefully through the dense woods, clearly following the sound of his voice. She didn’t look like she had a weapon, but her cloak concealed much of her body.
“We don’t,” she called out, eyes flickering around. “I give you my word, Zamnes. We’re unarmed and just want to talk with you.”
Adrissu sighed, and against his better judgment, dropped the invisibility charm as he stepped out of the shade.
“What?” he snapped, glaring at the form of Naydruun appearing in the trees a little ways behind Heriel. “How did you even find me here?”
“We sought you out in Polimnos, but your servant told us you were studying in Aefraya,” Naydruun said
“Servant? What servant?”
“The woman at the school.”
Adrissu bit back a laugh; they must have meant his secretary, though he supposed that to a dragon who lived outside of human society, a secretary and a servant might look suspiciously alike. “What could you possibly want so much that you came to the entire other side of the world just to speak to me?”
The two glanced at each other, each bearing an inscrutable expression. But they must have understood each other, because Heriel was the first to speak, her gaze lingering on Naydruun for a moment, before turning to Adrissu once more.
“We need your help,” she started. “It’s a bit of a long story, but… Well, Naydruun and I, we have a son, from when Naydruun was Grizenth the Red. His lair is rather close to you… In fact, you’re the closest dragon to him, so you might know him. He’s also a red, and his name is Tyrsun.”
Adrissu remained silent, processing. The very red he’d wanted to keep a close eye on was the son of these two—that very well might put an end to his plans, now that they were approaching him.
“He has been causing problems,” Naydruun said. “He is… arrogant, to a fault, and of late has enjoyed lording over the humans in the nearest cities. Flying over the settlements, intimidating people, even killing just for the sake of frightening the rest. He is garnering a lot of attention, in a negative way, and he won’t listen to us when we tell him to tone it down. And now…” They sighed, scrubbing a hand through their hair. “Now, a woman in the city nearest to him is building a weapon specifically designed to kill dragons. If it works, it could be a threat not only to our son, but to all dragonkind.”
Everything clicked into place, and Adrissu grimaced at the realization that he was much more involved in this already than perhaps even they realized. “I might know the woman,” he said, sighing. “A woman known as Daiana? A monster hunter?”
Heriel frowned. “You know her?”
“I stole a different, dangerous weapon from her, once,” he said, leaving out that the reason he’d been there in the first place was to learn more about their son. “And… If she is commissioning a new weapon, I might also know the maker. Do you know any details about this weapon?”
“It’s enchanted,” Naydruun said slowly, though both their expressions had changed, partly suspicious and partly surprised that Adrissu seemed to know the human at all. “A crossbow—powered by magic—with pressurized steam.”
