NOVEL NEXT Dragon’s Curiosity
The Dragon of The East stared down at the looming horde of Fiends, a sneer forming on his face as his slitted golden eyes glared down upon the mass of putrid purple flesh. Invisible to all forms of detection, Legolanthas floated downward, closer to this ‘Scarless’ creature. Aside from the curse, the man didn’t look extraordinary. A lean warrior's build and a plain face, nothing of note aside from the chains bound to his forearms. Tolak was certainly not the same ‘Scarless’ Legolanthas had met in his youth, that was for sure.
Time had slowed for him, as it always had once he focused in on something, making the charging Fiends seem to be moving at a leisurely pace. If he wanted to, he could exterminate these vermin from the face of Ahkoolis with but a wave of his hand, and the urge to do so was nearly overwhelming… but he needed to stay his hand for now. Hoplite still hadn’t expressed any Draconic powers from what he had observed. The Dragon respected the man’s discipline, but other than that there was nothing that spoke of Hoplite possessing Dragon Blood.
Likely another one of the Trickster God’s deceptions, designed to fill Legolanthas’ mind with paranoia and fear. There was no other Dragon of Decuma besides himself, and the Banished Child could not have returned. If that creature had… Well, Legolanthas doubted that he’d still be alive. Despite his doubts however, the Dragon had found himself enthralled by Hoplite. There was something oddly familiar about the mortal, something that harkened him back to simpler times… Perhaps it was the cold calculating demeanor, perhaps it was of his inordinate size and armaments, but something about him drew the Dragon’s curiosity. These past few days spent skulking in the shadows had provided him only limited insight into the man’s true nature.
He knew that he was pale as a ghost beneath that plate armor, as if he rarely, if ever, saw the sun. Legolanthas had also learned that Hoplite possessed the golden-eyes of a dragon, yet they were not slitted, as his own were. There were other bloodlines on Ahkoolis that could cause the eyes to yellow like that, perhaps he was Wolf-Born? If that were so, where was his pack? He’d not have wanted to be separated from them if that were the case, Wolf-Born were much like the Atheyare that way. None of these others bore wolf-eyes, it was impossible for them to be in a pack.
No, he couldn’t be Wolf-Born, but neither could he be half-Dragon. Legolanthas had not fostered any half-breeds for centuries, and he’d not pursued the pleasures of the flesh in that same timeframe. That ruled out the possibility of Hoplite being his long lost son. Unless… could he be a descendant? His children had fostered their own young over the years, diluting his divine blood as the age continued on. Yet that seemed unlikely, if Hoplite was truly of distant relation, he’d be smaller, his eyes would be a standard shade, and he would carry himself with far less pride.
The more he thought on it, the more Legolanthas began to suspect that what Mazeek had claimed could be true. There was only one way to know of Hoplite’s lineage for certain, and that would be to spill his blood. If it dripped hot like magma, then Legolanthas would know for certain that the Banished Child had returned. Perhaps this coming battle would provide the Dragon with the answers he so dearly seeked… He’d been away from the east for far too long, his people needed him to return.