3038 Father of Fire (Part 2)
"Gentor, who is this guy and why did you bring him to my home?" After dealing with Salaark and Leegaain long enough, no matter how old he was, no Dragon could impress her.
"Ba?" Elysia asked, trying and failing to break out of the crib.
Valeron the Second joined her, afraid for their mother, but not even Origin Flames could put a dent in the Doomslayer crib. Yet the artifact reacted to the children's distress by aiming a battery of plasma cannons at the intruders.
"No!" The old man staggered back like he had been slapped. "How can you call me bad, Em'har? I'm your uncle by blood, brood, and heart. Not like that scum! He's afraid of you and only seeks to exploit you."
He pointed his finger at Kaz who felt dying again as Dragon Fear gave him a stroke.
Kamila recognized the draconic word for loved ones and noticed that only Kaz was affected by the bloodline ability. Even though she appreciated the effort, she put herself between the Dragon and Kaz, saving his life again.
"Sis Kami, allow me to introduce you to Valtak the Fire Dragon and current Father of Fire." Gentor said. "Valtak, this is Kamila, Elysia's mother, but we call her Kami."
"Correction. Only family calls me that and I don't know you." She offered the Fire Dragon her hand which he shook with the gentlest touch.
"Then I'll do my best to earn such honor." Valtak gave her a deep bow but his head was still higher than hers.
"Why did Gentor say the current Father of Fire? I thought it was Leegaain's title." Kamila asked.
"It was, back when grandfather called himself Agni and the Fire Dragon bloodline had yet to be born." Valtak explained. "After that, he passed the name and title on to the Father of All Fire Dragons who, before his death, passed the title on to the new patriarch.
"The Fire Dragon bloodline is one of the most ancient not like Golden Dragons." He pointed at Gentor who like the late Agni was Leegaain's direct descendant. "I'm the patriarch hence as long as I draw breath I'm the Father of Fire."
While they talked, the farmhands got back to work after snapping a few photos of the Dragons with their Tablets. The magical beasts yawned and resumed their napping while Kaz ran for his life as quietly as he could to not draw attention to himself anymore.
"What the fuck are we even here for?" Galan Sohl, the current Captain of the Queen's Corps stationed there, took a sip of relaxing potion to calm his nerves and prevent another stroke.
"I hear you, brother." Locrias patted the backs of the unit's members while handing pastries and a strong liquor spiked with hot tea. "Believe me, this job doesn't get better with time, but you get used to it."
"What's going on here?" Lith came out of the barn's door, conjuring Valia, Trion, and Varegrave as he walked.
They resided inside the Void Sigils on his wings except during battle and whenever he was in Lutia. Their respective families had moved into the houses neighboring Lith's in order to spend as much time as they could with their loved ones.
Solus was just one step behind Lith and looked even worse than him. They had half-closed bloodshot eyes due to the prolonged migraine and labored breath. Lith and Solus moved with a slight stagger, like they had just returned from a double shift in a mine and could barely move from fatigue.
Which wasn't far from the truth since shouldering the burden of the Prime Engine while fighting Sinmara had proven to be exhausting. The more floors of the tower they converted into weapons the worse the sensory overload became.
The tower took the mana abuse and the real damage, but the toll on their minds remained unchanged. Lith fared better than Solus only because his stronger core gave him better recovery abilities and unlike her, he didn't need focus to keep his body while away from a mana geyser.
Usually, it was a negligible amount but Solus' head throbbed so much that even remembering her own name was painful.
'I'll stay just the time to say hi to Elysia and Valeron before going back inside my ring. I'm not coming out before lun- oh, shit!' She inwardly groaned while looking at their guests. 'No rest for the wicked.'
"Lith, Solus, Gentor has come to visit us and has brought a friend with him." Kamila waved at the huge old man. "This is Valtak, patriarch of the Fire Dragons and current Father of Fire. Valtak, these are Lith, my husband, and Solus, his cousin."
"Dya! Masa!" Elysia and Valeron shook the crib's wall once more, and Solus went to take them out.
"Nice to meet you." Valtak gave them a small bow, his eyes fixated on Lith. "Where is your sister, the so-called Hercules?"
"Hekate." Lith corrected him. "What do you want from her?"
"The same thing I want from you." Valtak shrugged. "To check out the rumors about your unique ability to manipulate Origin Flames and put them to the test. From what I've heard, both of you might be worthy of inheriting the title of Father of Fire.
"I'm old and my life won't last much longer. Before passing away, I want to make sure to have chosen the right successor and taught everything I could to you hatchlings."
'I would like to reply that I'm a grown-ass man with a daughter but I guess that to someone close to 10,000 years a twenty years old must look like a baby.' Lith thought.
"Tista will be here in a short while." Lith checked his pocket watch. "I'm curious. I've never seen you or heard about you, Valtak. You didn't take part in the celebrations for Shargein's birth and you didn't attend Elysia's gala."
"As I said, I'm old. I was slumbering far away from Garlen and the Dragon Dance woke me up. Once it was over and I regained my senses, I had to catch up on a few centuries of recent history." The Elder Wyrm replied.
"Believe me, it takes a long while to sort out what's important from what it's not and to be honest I'm not done with it, yet.
"It's too soon to tell if things like the birth of the first perfect hybrid between the Dragon and Phoenix bloodline, which is you, Grandfather's latest newborn, and even your lovely daughter will have an impact on Mogar.
"You guys might be a beacon to the Dragon race as much as a flash in the pan. I have little time and I have to make it count."
"If you think so little of us, why are you here?" Lith took Valeron in his arms while Solus took Elysia.
"Correction, I thought little of you." Valtak waved his finger in front of the baby boy, studying his Bahamut form. "At least until a certain black sheep of the family started the rumor that you can control… nine kinds of Flames?"
"Eleven."
"Great Mother almighty!" Gentor blurted in shock.
"Leegaain's fire!" Valtak straightened up, looking for hints of deception with Dragon Eyes but finding none. "Eleven? Is that true?"
