Chapter 21: The Garden
They stood in awe in front of a magnificent woodland garden with huge trees that formed a canopy above. Many bushes with ethereal flowers lay scattered around the whole crater.
Huge crystals jutted out of the walls and the ground and glowed in a variety of colors. Fireflies fluttered around the trees and flowers, further illuminating the dark.
A small pond lay beside a central grove of olive trees. Seventeen activated his thermal sensors and was surprised to feel a pleasant warmth. He felt great, 'This has to be another hotspot.', he thought as he saw a peculiar blue fog in the crater.
"This is so beautiful.", Violet said in awe. She sniffed the air, "Yup. This is a hotspot.".
"You can easily tell that by smell?", Seventeen asked.
She nodded, "Demi beasts have awesome senses and I also have the authority as a Cardinal to declare this place a hotspot. I also have to make a report about it.", she sighed, "I hate paperwork."
'Is writing reports that bad?', Seventeen thought, remembering the times he saw Zephyrus flying out of the window whenever his secretary brought piles of paperwork.
(Seventeen, doing paperwork is a huge drag. Even I skipped a lot of them when I was alive)
"Uhuh. Well if you are writing a report, would you be kind enough to leave me out of it?", Seventeen requested. "Don't worry Fox. This isn't an official mission, just my wandering. So no need to write a report.", she replied with a wink.
"Thanks.", Seventeen then activated his magia vision. He saw that the crater had the highest magia density and the blue fog was actually high-density pure magia.
He looked around and saw that the magia is most concentrated in the middle of the olive grove near the lake. But he couldn't see what is in the grove.
"There is something in the olive grove.", he said. Violet looked at where he pointed for some time before nodding, "Shall we go check it out?", she suggested.
Seventeen nodded. They walked towards the center of the garden to the olive grove, looking around for any surprises. They reached the grove without any incident.
Seventeen entered the grove. He saw that the olive trees formed a circle around a rectangular stone. He noticed some writings on it. "It's a gravestone.", he whispered.
He motioned for Violet, "This is written in the ancient language.", she said after she saw the writing on the gravestone. Seventeen nodded in agreement. He was able to understand the ancient language since Prime already studied it and sent the information to his head.
Seventeen read the simple sentence aloud.
"Here lies my greatest friend and equal."
"Equal?", Violet asked. "I believe this is the grave of the friend of a warrior or a king. Someone who is on equal footing with the person who erected this gravestone.", Seventeen answered.
He activated his magia vision and whistled, "Damn. Whoever was buried here was really powerful. All the magia we encountered so far originated from this grave."
Violet touched the engravings and her eyes widened, "Oh my goodness. These engravings.", she looked at Seventeen, "They're about 3000 years old."
"You can tell that from the rock?", Seventeen asked, surprised. She nodded, "I can tell how old the engravings are by studying how deep they were in the stone and a lot of other factors."
She got up, "This place is over 3000 years old!", she said waving at the whole crater. 'Is this somehow connected to Zephyrus's theory?', Seventeen thought.
(It could be Seventeen. This grave itself could be a clue)
Seventeen went outside the grove. 'This place has been sealed off for a long time.', he thought.
Suddenly an enormous presence almost knocked him off his feet. "What the hell is that?!", Violet yelled as she rushed out of the grove. Seventeen felt the temperature around him drop.
Frost suddenly formed around him and an ice-cold wind came from above. Both of them looked above and their mouths hung open.
Flapping its huge wings above them is an enormous dragon. Its scales were white with a tinge of blue and its huge claws were a dark blue color. Blue crystal-like spines ran along its back. Its arms were fused to the wings and its blue eyes glowed with power.
"It's a wyvern.", Violet said in alarm.
Dragons in this world are divided into seven groups based on their categories and intelligence. The first three are also called wyverns since their wings and front claws are fused.
The first group is called the lower dragons. They are instinct-driven beasts and are aggressive. They are CAT 2 dragons with only a breath attack of their attribute. The next is the middle dragons.
They are CAT 1 dragons with intelligence and can make simple plans. Their breath attacks are more powerful and they are friendlier than lower dragons. They can become good companions and are the most common.
The next group is the higher dragons. They are highly intelligent and capable of speech through telepathy. They are CAT 0 dragons ranging from low to high level and can do simple magia codes.
A few higher dragons have the ability to attain human form. These rare dragons are called shifter dragons. The next group is the elder dragons.
They are colossal dragons and are practically invincible. They are so huge that people often mistake their spikes for hills or mountains. They are docile and mostly dormant and stay inactive for thousands of years on land or in water. Some are even mistaken for islands by sailors.
There is a legend that the Elder mountains were formed on the back of a colossal elder dragon millions of years ago. Not much is known about them since they are very rarely seen.
The next group is the founder dragons. They are much smaller than elder dragons but slightly bigger than higher dragons. They are six-limbed and highly intelligent with telepathic communication in many languages.
They are the predecessors of the wyverns and are high-level CAT -2 dragons. There are only 19 founder dragons in existence and all of them are shifters. They are rarely seen, once every decade and are capable of doing complex magia codes, enchantments, and even curses.
The sixth group is the Dragon Lords which consists of the seven most powerful shifter dragons in the world. They are high-level CAT -3 beings who control and represent the dragon race. They are seen more often than the founders.
The existence of the seventh and last group is still questioned by scholars and many consider them a myth. They are called the Dragon Gods and nothing is known about them except for a single sentence in an ancient book.
"Dragons sure are awesome.", Seventeen said in awe. This was his first time seeing one. "Judging by its immense presence, I believe we're facing a higher ice dragon.", Violet's voice brought him back to reality.
"Oh yeah.", Seventeen said. He almost forgot they're facing a possibly angry dragon. He held Nyx and got into a stance. Violet followed with her staff.
The wyvern roared causing the ground to shake. Seventeen could swear he heard an avalanche outside. The wyvern suddenly flapped its huge wings, creating an icy wind blast.
Seventeen stabbed his sword on the ground and gritted his teeth as powerful winds threatened to blow him away and ice formed on his hands. Fortunately, he deactivated his thermal sensors so he didn't feel the cold.
He looked behind to see Violet leaning on a rock. Apparently, she summoned a rock behind her to stop her from being blown away. Seventeen returned his gaze to the wyvern.
The wyvern landed in front of him with a thump, instantly freezing the ground. It brought its head closer to Seventeen. He kept completely still.
Seventeen saw Violet getting ready to attack. He slowly shook his head to tell her to stop.
Seventeen looked the wyvern in the eye. The wyvern sniffed him, its breath forming ice crystals on him.
(I wonder what you call a frozen android? An ancicle or an andricle?)
'Not the time for jokes Prime', Seventeen replied in his mind as the wyvern looked at him with its piercing blue eyes.
The wyvern suddenly roared in his face, glazing it with ice. Seventeen flinched but he didn't back away. He heard Prime laughing in his head.
(You look like a glazed donut. Haha)
Seventeen said some unflattering things in his mind, making Prime quiet. The wyvern stared at him.
"What are you?", a deep male voice suddenly spoke in his mind.
"HUH?", Seventeen was taken aback.
The wyvern repeated the question, "What are you? You are not human.", its eyes twinkled with curiosity.
'Can dragons find out I'm not human but a machine?', he thought.
(Dragons have an extremely keen sense of smell. They can easily distinguish between races and living things. So I wouldn't be surprised if this fellow finds your true identity)
"Uh. I am a warlock.", Seventeen replied, praying that the answer will not turn him into an ice statue.
"A warlock? No wonder you also smell powerful.", The wyvern stepped back. It looked at Violet, "Don't be afraid young demi beast. I mean no harm since you didn't attack me on sight."
Violet looked nervously at Seventeen who assured her with a nod. She stood beside him and did a small bow, "Greetings, esteemed ice dragon. I am the Earth Cardinal, Violet Zelien.", she introduced herself.
"A child of Zelien. I am not surprised that you became a Cardinal. The Zeliens are indeed strong.", the wyvern replied. It looked at Seventeen.
"Uh. You can just call me Black Fox. Or if you want, I can say my actual name.", he replied. The wyvern stared at him. It suddenly threw back its head and made a noise that sounded like laughter.
"You are an interesting person. It's okay, I will just call you warlock.", it looked at them, "I am Frigus the ice dragon, the guardian of the grave of my master's friend.", the wyvern said.
"Your master's friend?", Violet asked. Frigus nodded, "I swore not to reveal the name of my master but I can tell you the identity of the one buried here. Her name is Raviel."
"RAVIEL?", Violet's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Do you mean that this entire mountain was named after this person?", she pointed at the grave. Seventeen asked, "How did you guys know this mountain was named Raviel?"
"From ancient records.", Violet answered, "How long were you here Frigus?", she asked the wyvern.
"About 3000 years.", the wyvern answered. "Seriously?", Seventeen asked. "This is amazing. The first evidence of 3000 years old Arken is here.", Violet said with excitement.
"I would appreciate it if you keep this place a secret. My master wanted his friend to have a peaceful rest. But you are free to come here and do your studies. You can also ask me your questions.", Frigus said.
"How come you decided that we are not bad people?", Seventeen asked.
"We dragons can sense the intent to kill. I have been observing you since you first entered the garden. I only chose to appear when you went near the grave I was tasked to protect. I didn't feel any killing intent and decided to test you.", Frigus answered.
"So that's why you tried to blow us away.", Seventeen said. Frigus nodded.
He suddenly asked the wyvern, "Um Frigus. Why do I feel like I've been here for a longer time than normal?".
"That is because there is a time difference of six hours between here and the outside.", Frigus replied.
"Six hours?", his face becoming slack behind his mask. The wyvern nodded.
'Prime. when did we enter the crater?", he asked in his mind.
(About 3 am. So it'll be about 9:30 am outside now..... Oh. Oh shit)
Seventeen gulped, 'I'm late for my class.'
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
just_a_fox
just_a_fox Looks like somebody's late. This chapter turned out to be about dragons. Hope you guys understood. Post your thoughts in the comments.
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