Kapitel 244: Family (2)
Without hurrying, we arrived in Nartandar by evening. As soon as the guards spotted us, they called for the royal couple at the gates. By the gates, their daughter Ascareza greeted us with a composed expression, and her mother, Freya, appeared irritated by her behavior.
"And how do you explain this?" Freya looked dissatisfied, inspecting our group. "You involved outsiders as well."
Hilda lowered her head guiltily, but Katrina supported her friend.
"We volunteered to help her. Besides, Ascareza died because of me, and I was supposed to take care of her children."
Freya scrutinized the little ones hiding behind our backs.
"Hmm, well, the fact that you helped her children will assist us in negotiations with Azaron, but you should not have exposed yourself to such danger. You could have relied on the guards. We were already assembling a search party."
"I'm afraid she wouldn't have returned from that mission," the girl in the gray dress stepped forward.
"And who are you? You weren't among my daughter's acquaintances," Siegfried examined the stranger. "You look like a white dragon, but something is off."
The dim light from the torches barely illuminated the dragoness's gray skin, and she smirked, content with her anonymity.
"We have a long conversation ahead. Let's go inside, and I'll explain everything."
By the Jarl's order, our comrades were also summoned to the throne room, and the guards, wrinkling their noses at the smell, dragged our souvenirs there as well.
"Now, can you explain who you are and what's in this bag?" Siegfried studied the black hide peeking out of the net with interest. "I'm curious about what you could bring from the dragon's nest."
"I'll start from the beginning," Reines made a slight bow. "My name is Reines, and I am a gray dragon who fought alongside the Death Mistress, Risa, against what you now call the Great Plague. I have been informed that you mistakenly blamed the necromancers, led by Risa, for this epidemic, but it's not true. The true culprits of the plague were these creatures."
Tearing off a part of the net, the dragoness revealed the face of a giant spider.
"Mental spiders, the results of the ancient kings of Nordrune's experiments. Their venom, combined with the power of the necromancers, caused the disease. Risa, on the other hand, sacrificed her life to heal people."
No one dared to object to Reines' words, and she continued to recount the thousand-year-old history and the role of her brothers and Risa in saving the world. She retold the entire history, from the creation of the necromancer kingdom to its fall at the hands of the great Jarl's ancestor. Tactfully omitting Rizel's connection to the royal family, Reines approached our time.
"Thus, these young people displayed exceptional strength, defeating the monster that had killed many Nords."
Freya and Siegfried exchanged glances, considering their next steps.
"It sounds quite plausible. Over the past millennia, we have forgotten much about our ancestors, but explaining this to people will be more difficult," Freya looked at the three dragonlings. "Ascareza killed many people, and someone might seek revenge against her children. Before Azaron arrives, we will need to protect them."
"I fear after his arrival, I will need his and your assistance in one matter. I think it's best to leave the children with their foster mothers for now."
Siegfried raised an eyebrow in surprise and looked at where the little ones were hiding.
"Haha, funny. I didn't expect to have grandchildren so soon," the Jarl laughed, but the queen interrupted him sharply.
"Stop it, our daughter cannot take care of a dragon."
"Why not? So far, she seems to be handling it quite well."
"Cough," Reines interrupted the dispute. "I'm afraid that even if Azaron comes, he won't be able to care for the children, and they'll need to find a guardian. I believe it's best to leave them as they are. If they go to the Academy, no one will touch them."
The rulers exchanged glances and nodded affirmatively.
"Yes, that will be an acceptable option. Hilda, take care of them until Azaron can take them in."
"Alright," Hilda exchanged glances with Ragni and Katrina. "We'll take care of them."
"Hmm, well, there you have it. And now, regarding my matter," Reines turned to the rulers again. "I guarded a nest, and its walls were recently damaged. I think it's worth checking the remaining two nests. If the seals are damaged, we need to destroy the spiders before a new plague starts. Azaron will help us with this, but I'm counting on your assistance as well."
"We can also help," Katrina stepped forward.
"No, young lady. You have other concerns now. We will be prepared for battle, so you don't have to worry. For now, it's better to return home."
After so many battles, we could finally return to our guild.
In the morning, after loading the well-deserved reward and carefully packed trophies onto the cart, we set off on the journey back. The children obediently followed their mothers. It was unusual for them to see land not covered in eternal snow, but they looked at the new world with curiosity. The dragonlings, seeing forests and field flowers for the first time, couldn't get enough of them, and we often had to stop at the forest edge while they played in the sun.
Within a couple of days, we reached the Academy. The charming children with their snow-white hair and eyes attracted the attention of the other students, but they only looked shyly from afar. No one dared to approach us, and I had long had the feeling that everyone was avoiding us.
Entering the guild house, we saw the usual scene. Two girls leisurely sipped tea in their free time.
"You took your time," Seleria lounged in the armchair. "The Rector has already received a letter of gratitude from the great Jarl, and you were still not here."
"And I thought you'd spend a lot more time with the Red Tribe. Did you finish everything so quickly?" I glanced at the princess with a smirk.
"Why not? I gave important instructions, dealt with the dissatisfied ones, and appointed trusted people to manage the clan under my supervision. It didn't take much time..." The girl's gaze stopped at a little girl hiding behind Ragni. "Ho-hooo, now this is interesting."
The princess quickly rushed towards the girl, who timidly hid behind her mother. A black paw intercepted the predatory princess in mid-air.
"Don't get close to her with your little hands. Can't you see you're scaring her!" Ragni pushed Seleria away, protecting the little girl.
"Mama," the girl called the dragoness in a trembling voice and hugged her back tightly.
"Didn't I hear correctly?" the red princess spread into a sly smile. "Did she just call you 'mama'? You're not wasting any time."
She couldn't resist teasing Ragni, winking at me meaningfully. Of course, she did it in such a way that everyone could see, which caused Ragni's face to come even closer to the color of her form.
"You! He has nothing to do with it!" Ragni boiled with anger.
"Is that so? Oh well," the princess respectfully nodded at Grain and Werner. "What about the eagles then?"
"Stop it!! What do you think, I could actually be pregnant and you wouldn't notice!?" The dragoness was almost yelling, scaring the children even more. "Besides, Hilda and Katrina also..."
"I can see, I can see, but it's sometimes fun to tease you," Seleria spread a satisfied smile. "Then two questions: Where did you get them? And are there any more?"
"Sorry, but there were only three, there's nothing left for you," Katrina stepped back, protecting another victim from the maniac princess.
"What a pity, but I hope they'll stay with us for a while longer. And now, tell us how everything went."
Finally relieved of the princess's claims, we settled in the room and began to tell the story.
"Mama," the little girl didn't want to let go of Ragni.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the scary people," the dragoness gave a sidelong glance at the drooling princess and sat the little girl on her lap.
"Mm," the girl happily snuggled into her mother's chest and peacefully dozed off. I noticed how the dragoness's face flushed, and she tried to calm herself, turning away.
For another week, we peacefully attended classes, waiting for Reines to come for the little ones. Just like ducklings following their mother in a line, the dragonlings tirelessly followed their parents, bringing endless rays of joy to all the passersby. The little beautiful children of unusual coloring piqued the interest of the students. Whenever their mothers relaxed for a moment, someone would try to treat them with sweets or pat them on the head. The schemer in red persistently followed this group.
From birth, the children were different from each other. Though they were born at a reasonable age for a human, they were not identical like twins.
The boy following Katrina had a short haircut and a mischievous character. Although, according to Reines, males in the lineage were usually calmer. He never strayed far from Katrina and always tried to learn something new. During classes, he squeezed into neighboring seats and peeked into other people's notebooks.
Behind Hilda, there was a girl with shoulder-length hair. She was just as curious as her brother but much more timid. Therefore, she was afraid to wander far from the valkyrie.
And the third sister was the quietest of the trio. The girl had longer hair than her sister and slightly squinted eyes, probably because she spent most of her time sleeping. Apparently, she inherited that sleepy nature of white dragons, which allowed her to doze off in any situation and any place. Naturally, she relied solely on her mother, causing fits of embarrassment for the dragoness.
Everything was fine until one day when Ragni locked herself in her room at the guild house.
All our attempts to get through to her were in vain. The dragoness didn't respond to us, and not even the little girl's soft sobbing moved her. We waited until evening, but there was still no response.
"Ragni can spend the whole day lying in bed, but she hardly would leave her little daughter alone," I said, tired of waiting, and headed towards the neighboring door.
"Krito?"
"With some skill, you can open a window from the outside. I hope she won't object too much," I looked at the peacefully sleeping dragonlings. They hadn't left their sister, who was dozing by the door. "Better put them to sleep, I don't know how soon I can convince her to come out."
"Good luck," Katrina picked up the boy, and Hilda and Asura picked up the sisters.
"Well then," I emerged from the neighboring room to the outside.
The living quarters were on the third floor, but the reliefs on the walls allowed me to move from window to window. Leaping onto the nearest window, I peered inside Ragni's room. The light wasn't on, and there was no sign of movement, only a pile of clothes on the bed indicated the presence of its owner.
Carefully, I unhooked the latch with my sword and slipped inside.
"Rrr," emitting a low growl, the shadow darted from the bed in my direction. A powerful paw pressed me against the wall. "Krrrito?"
Ragni released her grip on my shoulder and stepped back. Her eyes glowed with a yellow hue, and her cheeks were flushed with heat.
"Ragni, are you sick?" I asked.
"Ah-ah-ah," she retreated further, then quickly climbed onto the bed, wrapping herself in layers of blankets. "Leave."
"Ragni, at least tell us something. We are worried, and our little girl hasn't left the door all day," I said, sitting at the edge of the bed, causing the bundle of clothes to shift to the opposite end.
"Please, go away," the girl huddled into a ball under the layers of clothing.
"Hey now, we are all your friends. If you need help, you can always ask. Maybe some medicine or at least a cold compress?" I inched closer and touched the girl through the blanket. She was trembling.
"Leave, please," her voice was barely audible. "I'll be fine soon and come out."
"Ragni, this doesn't seem like an ordinary cold."
"Mmm," she nodded.
"Is it what your mother mentioned?" I leaned a little closer, feeling concerned.
"Yeah," Ragni reluctantly rolled back.
"Can I help with something?" I had a hunch what could help, but I didn't want to say it out loud.
"I don't want it that way," Ragni's voice was almost a whisper. "I know you like Kat, and she doesn't hide her feelings either. I don't want to interfere with you."
Right then, the girl's face turned crimson from embarrassment, and she tried to cover it with a pillow.
"But why did it happen to you so suddenly?"
"I don't know... Maybe because of the little girl. She was hugging me and calling me 'mama'... and suddenly it seemed like a good idea to have my own children. After that, every day it's been getting worse."
"And you couldn't think of anything better than locking yourself in your room?"
"What else could I do? I'm afraid that if I go out, I'll pounce on the first person I meet, and I don't want that!"
"Do you have someone you like?"
"Yes... but I won't ask him for anything."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein