3045 Valley of Life (Part 1)
Valtak narrowed his eyes in surprise as he sniffed at the pups.
"What in the Great Mother's name is going on here? Another new species? And more hybrids at that?" He didn't know whether to be more impressed by the ragtag bunch of creatures that lived in Lutia or by the unmitigated gall of Protector's children.
"Back in my day every creature, living or not, cowered in fear at the sight of small Wyrmlings and worshipped Elder Dragons as gods." The pups, instead, barked and sniffed at him, their tone warning the Wyrm that he was a guest in their turf.
"Sorry for the loud welcome, Valtak." Lith stepped forward with Tista walking right behind him. "This is my sister, Tista Verhen the Hekate. Tista, this is Valtak, patriarch of the Fire Dragons and current Father of Fire."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady." Valtak's voice was like the rumbling of a storm and every one of his words caused a gust of wind that forced adult men to bend down to resist its violence.
"The pleasure is all mine, my lord." Tista gave him a deep bow.
'I know that Lith is almost as big as this guy, but my brother's presence is nowhere near this imposing. Comparing myself to Lith makes me feel weak whereas compared to Valtak, I look and feel like a child.'
"Where are we going?" Lith unfurled his wings and started growing in size but the Father of Fire stopped him.
"Not so fast. I'm here to meet the hatchlings."
"You mean Elysia and Valeron the Second?" Lith asked in confusion.
"No, I mean the hatchlings." Valtak scoffed. "Since I'm already here, I might as well meet the offspring of the entire family."
It took Lith a while to convince the parents since the kids needed no encouragement at all. A Dragon was cool, but a bearded Dragon was even cooler. That and the fact that Selia's children were already out with him was a great motivator.
The Father of Fire introduced himself to all of them in turns. He sniffed them as they approached, in the attempt to discern their bloodline and potential.
"You are a true Wyrmling, boy." He said to Aran who puffed his chest out with pride. "And so are you, girl. If you two Awaken your bloodlines and I'm still alive by then, I'll gladly give you a few lessons about your heritage."
Valtak double-checked Teryon to confirm the faint yet dominant Dragon smell.
"Yes! I'm special. I knew it!" The little girl clenched his fist in triumph.
"As for you lot, you smell more like a Phoenix. I'm sorry."
"Mom!" Falco, Lenart, and Leria pouted in unison like it was Rena's fault.
"It's not my fault!" Rena was hurt by the disappointment she saw in their eyes.
Only Surin took the matter with calm, mostly because she had no idea what the fuss was about.
Bloodlines and magic were irrelevant to her. She only cared about the sparkly red scales of the Dragon and the funny colors that sunlight generated when reflecting on the scales' surface.
"Can I caress you?" Gilly, Locrias's daughter, asked from behind the safety of her father's back.
She was a teenager so Varegrave's kids considered her the spokesperson of the younger generation.
"It's more like touching, child. I'm not a pet. That said, my answer is yes." Valtak had a hard time feeling imposing with four furballs climbing, biting, and licking at him.
Solkar had now joined the pack and had no qualms about showing the big lizard who the boss was. Even the smallest scale on the Dragon's body was several times bigger than the pup, but Solkar strutted around as if he had somehow asserted his dominance over the Wyrm.
The farmhands kept a respectful distance but snapped pictures and filmed shorts of the pup and the beast like there was no tomorrow.
'This is great.' Lith inwardly scoffed. 'They have a Tablet only for a few months now and their first instinct is to film things instead of running away. If Mogar ends tomorrow, people will die with a smartphone in their hands and it will be my fault.'
"Can I approach the mighty Dragon, Lord Verhen?" Bromann usually called Lith by name but, at the moment, he felt so scared that he needed to remind Lith of their lord-vassal relationship and ensure his protection.
"Ask the Dragon, not me."
"Can I approach your majestic body, your Dragonship?" Bromann asked, his voice quivering a bit.
"Yes." Valtak missed the days when humans mistook him for a god and offered him tributes so the Wyrm appreciated the farmer's efforts to be respectful.
His appreciation was short-lived. The moment Bromann was certain the Fire Dragon wouldn't eat him for lunch, he started taking selfies.
The rest of the farmhands joined him and soon even the members of the Queen's Corps broke cover to look at the Divine Beast from up close.
"I've changed my mind. We can leave as soon as you are ready." Valtak felt less like a god and more like a tourist trap.
Gilly was sitting on his neck, Varegrave's children were poking at his wings, and the farmhands were taking turns sitting in front of his hands. They pretended to be arm wrestling the Dragon while one of their friends took their picture.
"We are ready." Tista confirmed.
It took Valtak a few seconds and a couple of breaths of Invigoration to find all those hiding under his scales and return them to their respective parents.
"Dya!" Elysia expressed her displeasure at being separated from her father.
"Warm." Valeron nestled in the Dragon's beard, combing it with his fingers.
"Bark!" Solkar fought like a lion to not be separated from his underling.
"I'm so sorry." Selia used a mind link to remind Fenrir, Lilia, and Leria not to shapeshift in the presence of witnesses. As for her youngest, she could only pray to the gods for mercy since Solkar was too young to understand words.
'Yes, yes, fine.' Leegaain replied. 'Stop bothering me!'
"Don't worry, woman." Valtak said with a booming laughter. "I've had my fair share of hatchlings and this is nothing. Also, I like this one. Mark my words, he's going to be a great warrior."
"Gods, yes!" Protector said.
"Gods, no!" Selia said.
"Get on my back, hatchlings. It will be quicker." The Fathe of Fire ignored the human woman pleading with her son to become a scholar and not endanger his life. "We have a long day ahead of us."
Lith and Tista jumped on Valtak's head and the Elder Wyrm Blinked himself up in the air right after performing a final check for stowaways. The first flap of his wings boomed like thunder, bringing him higher and propelling him forward.
"Good gods!" Bromann said as the air pressure almost blew him off his feet despite the distance and cleared the sky from the nearby clouds. "And to think that I-"
He froze in surprise realizing that while everyone else was either crouching or had fallen on their butts, the Verhens stood tall like nothing had happened. Not one of their hairs was out of place.
"We are not good or bad. We just don't care." Leegaain said like it explained everything.
