Chapter 6: The Grave Dragon

Iskatl was currently filling a large pot with water using a runestone with the symbol of water carved into it. Katja and he did this at the end of every week: make a huge stew for the pack and hold a feast at the fire pit in the center of the village. It was among his favorite activities. Something he always looked forward to each week. Something was different this time, though. Amani, the elf girl from the week prior. She had woken up only yesterday, and now here she was.

She was eager to earn her keep and wanted to help around the village any way she could, and so she was behind Iskatl, chopping carrots into thick pieces, with onions, celery, and radish on the table right next to where she was cooking. Iskatl looked over as he finished filling the pot before tilting his head; the mark was still on her abdomen. Well, not a mark... Absence.

"Hey, Amani? Does your stomach hurt?" He asked, his words firm and sincere, as he stepped toward her, staring at the strange spot on her mana.

She'd blink twice, showing off her long eyelashes as she did so, with a head tilt of her own, raising a brow as she looked at him. "A little bit... Why?"

His eyes were narrowed into slits as he looked at her abdomen with a level of intensity that made her step away from him, raising her hands as she looked at him. "Why?"

He shook his head and raised a hand as if to plead for her to relax. "These eyes of mine let me see mana. Yours has a... hole in it? It's like some of your mana was ripped out of that spot. I can't explain it."

Her ears twitched as she listened to his explanation, tapping her chin with her finger. "I see... and it's near my stomach? Right?" He nodded in reply as she sighed. "I think it's something involving that blade I was stabbed with."

He offered a hand to her as he gestured for her to take a seat; she hadn't told him what happened before and that alone had him interested. He had to hear the story. "Can you please tell me what exactly happened? Feel free to redact any details you don't want to give out, but I'd prefer you didn't. I want to understand a bit better."

She winced as she recounted the events. Everything happened so fast, all she could even recall was the fight she had with that beast. Dark hair and an ornate sword, conjuring intense red flame.

"Well..." Telling the story, and sparing no details, the girl then exhaled deeply as she teared up, before the young man placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I never knew my mother, and my father died before I was born so I wouldn't understand losing those bonds, having those bridges forcefully burned down before my very eyes. However, I understand how you feel entirely..."

She'd sniffle, placing her hand over his hand before Katja barged in! "Heh? Am I interrupting something?"

Amani squealed, and turned away before Iskatl gave a deep sigh and face palmed before Katja gave a toothy grin, her tail wagging as she walked over to see how far the two had progressed with the stew - not very far, it'd seem. A grimace from the older wolven woman as she flicked her student, Iskatl on the forehead. "Have you guys just been talking?"

A soft 'ack' as he was flicked on the forehead before Iskatl growled softly. "Well, forgive me, Miss Katja. I was merely inquiring to the last survivor of the Fauna Village what had happened... Since nobody had done so yet, beyond the obvious; a dragon attack. There was much more to the event than anyone bothered to figure out."

One of her ears stood up straight as she heard that, an eyebrow being raised as Katja pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well? Ya gonna elaborate or jus' gonna be a punk about it?"

This back and forth they always did was equal parts annoying as it was enjoyable. So many people revered Iskatl due to his magical talents, they did the same with Katja to be fair. Supposedly most beastkin struggled with magic despite their natural affinity to sensing mana. It was probably due to it being 'too refined' for lack of a better term. "Well, she was telling me about a man known as the Twelfth Dragon Priest. I've never even heard about the other eleven. Surely, my wonderful teacher, you would know something about these dragon priests, no?"

Her body language shifted, from her usual annoyed stance to one filled with excitement and wonder. She was about to... Well, talk a lot. Iskatl braced himself and even placed an arm in front of Amani, as if to separate her and Katja before the blonde took a deep breath.

"Well, there's the first one who nobody knows about. All that's known of her is, well, her gender. Then there's the second one! He made himself known, that's for sure! The Glory of Larkan, a Brute Wyvern. He doesn't seem to actually use magic for some reason? Vaal, the Executioner is the third! She's weird... All of them are like humans and…turn into dragons. But she doesn't? At least that's what I know. Miur, the--"

"Katja." Iskatl stated her name, firmly and with intent as he took a step forward.

"What?" She looked irritated, before Iskatl continued.

"I'm glad you know so much about their names and their titles but I want to know what they are first. 'Kay?" Iskatl folded his arms as he looked at her with a bit of a glare before she shook her head.

"So. War between humans and dragons, right? It's been ongoing for thousands of years, surprisingly humanity has put up a really good fight. Ingenuity and all that? The Dragon Priests are said to be Harbingers of the War. Aspects of Death, and curses the Grave Dragon has placed unto the humans - given form. The Dragon Priests are like... Living, breathing plagues upon humanity. Make sense?" The boy nodded before gesturing for her to continue with his hand.

"Anyways. Where was I?"

"Miur." If she lived in Japan, she'd be a huge nerd... probably would play, what was that game? The game of pretend, with the dice and magic. He doesn't recall the name - Iskatl was never interested in that stuff.

"Right, right!" Adjusting herself before she continued.

"Well, Miur is the fourth of the dragon priests! She's sent many human villages into a permanent ice age. A cold hearted and icy queen, if I do say so myself. After that is Myez, the Shroud Drake! Wherever she goes, her dreaded mist follows."

Another interruption. "Question. What's so special about not even the priests but dragons as a whole? To me they just seem like overgrown lizards."

Katja tapped her chin with her index finger. "Huh? Well, they're always born with Resonance, and an elemental mana nature - you may have been born with an elemental mana nature but it's not common. For dragons, it's a guarantee."

Right. Resonance was a more Primal magic, controlling elements directly instead of using various hand motions, incantations, and the like. If the magic Katja was oh so good at was like math, and science then Resonance was like art if the paintbrush affected the mana within the air. Resonance used the mana around you or the element you're resonating with if it were available, but the arcane arts that Katja used utilized the mana inside of your body. An Elemental Mana Nature was a severe advantage Iskatl had; using the mana inside of his body, he could produce flames for his Flame Resonance to manipulate, completely nullifying the main drawback of a Resonance - a gift from his father, one would assume. He knew his father was also born with a great flame affinity like his. Unfortunately, despite all he knew about Resonance, Iskatl didn't have one yet - all of his flashy flame techniques were merely manipulation of his own personal mana.

Katja snapped her fingers in front of Iskatl's face, dragging him out of his thoughts before she'd continue, "Not only that - they're even better at magic than me, even stronger than your grandpa, and their mana corrupts the world around them. The longer a dragon stays in one spot, the more their mana twists and bastardizes their surroundings. That's just how normal dragons are, so imagine the Dragon Priests!"

There she went again, answering questions he expected to have to find the answers to himself. That explained why that red dragon from before's mana was tugging at the area around him. Come to think of it, after this question was answered, he answered one he didn't even think of; that dragon's mana was pulling the mana around it in then expelling it out. Maybe something unique to a Dragon Priest? Katja probably didn't know the answer so he didn't bother asking - his mana detection was vastly superior to hers, after all.

"Now, where was I?"

"You'd just finished up about Myez."

"Right ri--!"

"KATJA. KEEP IT DOWN, DAMNIT." Skartha's voice rang out as he came in, smacking her on the back of the head. "The entire village can hear you yammering about dragons, and dinner hasn't even started? Gah! You kids are gonna give me a heart attack!"

Scarcely did his grandfather raise his voice in any form of anger. The only moments Iskatl heard him do that was when Katja was being loud, coincidentally. These two were inseparable, to be honest.

"I'm sorry, grandfather. I'll keep a muzzle on Miss Katja. I need her to tell me more, then we can finish." Skartha shook his head then left the room, grumbling.

"Okay. So. Let's skip to the end, tell me about their leader. Who started the War?"

"Well, the Grave Dragon of course. She's Valerica's favorite pet - the Goddess of Death's personal champion, and her avatar kind of?" Cracking her fingers to help her focus as she'd continue on. "Larkan Velika, the Grave Dragon. Some say she started the Grand Draco War to cause lots of death to appease her mistress. I don't really have any reason to not believe that theory."

Iskatl smiles as he turns back to the pot he had filled up with water. "Thank you, Katja. You're such a treasure trove of knowledge." He could hear her tail thumping against the table as she covered her face.

A soft chuckle as he'd turn to the vegetables, surprisingly Amani had cut them all up whilst the two were in the midst of their conversation. Dumping them into the pot before he did the same with some meat chunks he had cut before even touching the pot. This pot was quite large, yet surprisingly lightweight. It was to feed the entire village of hungry wolves, after all.

Beckoning the two to follow him, he'd set the rather large pot atop the fire pit as it quickly began to come to a boil. Sitting in front of the pot, Katja put her large wooden spoon within and began stirring. A deep exhale as Iskatl closed his eyes. Dinner was soon to come.