Chapter Text
~O~
Ancient Dragons.
Malenia watched as Miquella unraveled a long scroll before her, revealing the detailed imagery of a dragon's anatomy.
"Malenia, get that side, would you?" Miquella asked, pointing to the scroll that started to curl.
"Oh, yes, of course."
Malenia knelt down, took the end of the scroll and held it down. She picked up a book and set it on the edge to keep it unraveled. Miquella smiled, rose and walked around to her side once the scroll had stayed open.
"Ah! Good, thank you," he said. He looked around the room. "I never did get to organizing this place."
Malenia smiled a little. "You are a busy man, brother."
Miquella sighed. "Not busy to forsake my own space."
Malenia looked down at the scroll. "What are you looking at this for?"
"Do you understand my studies, my dear Malenia?" Miquella smiled, seemed excited. His smaller form vanished behind a desk piled with several scrolls and books. "I think I may have found a potential exploration in Ancient Dragons!"
Malenia was surprised. "Ancient Dragons?"
"Yes." Miquella gathered a few books in his arms, nearly dropped them if not for Malenia reaching down to help. "We understand they come from a place beyond our own - thank you." He paused to thank her for stacking the books better in his arms. "Some exist in a time we cannot reach. If I can understand their design, then perhaps I will find a way to utilize this in hopes of healing what ails you."
Malenia felt relief in that moment. "A solution..."
Her brother had been doing more than his share of work for her. Malenia could never ask for anyone else. He understood her suffering and her fight.
No one else could.
Then, the two Demigods looked up the moment a Haligtree soldier hurried into their chambers, panting and leaning against the wall. Miquella was surprised, approached him and looked up at his snow-caked face.
"My Lord and Lady!" the soldier gasped. "The great wyrm!"
"Great wyrm." Malenia didn't understand.
"Theodorix?" Miquella questioned. "He does not bother anyone in Ordina. He keeps to himself as he guards the city. Has he done something?"
"Yes, my Lord!" the soldier panted, "But there's something else!"
"What?"
O
A roar.
Lightning raining from the skies above.
The fierce, jagged body of an Ancient Dragon locked in combat with the magma wyrm. Lava sprayed everywhere, splattering the icy walls of the cliffside and nearly toppling knights off of the edge.
Malenia and Miquella made their way to the scene; Miquella gasped at the presence of the Ancient Dragon, stunned to see it clawing at the wyrm violently with sharp, onyx-colored claws.
"I've never seen one so close!" he gasped. "What angered it?"
"We don't know, my Lord!" a knight shouted, "We think that she was wounded before flying here. But whatever the wyrm did - "
The Ancient Dragon was forced back, striking the cliff and the wyrm's blade sliced the great chest, sending a spray of blood across the ice.
The scream that pierced the air was terrible and Malenia seized her brother mere moments before he could plummet to the ground below. Miquella was stunned, hanging there by her arm and Malenia groaned, shook her head.
"Brother!" she gasped. "Be careful!"
"I always am, Malenia!"
She made a noise of disapproval.
The Ancient Dragon's claws dug deep into Theodorix's head, forcing him back against the ice. That terrible jaw opened and she sank her teeth deep into his throat, viciously tearing through scales and flesh before ripping his head clean off of his shoulders.
Malenia watched in awe. She'd never had to witness a dragon's fight before.
The dragon tossed Theodorix's body with one hand, her jaws parting as she looked up at the watchers above. Her expression twisted at the sight, as if she had just now taken notice to them.
Malenia had seen Lansseax before and in some ways, this dragon resembled her. Well, save for the onyx claws and blue eyes rather than golden ones. Miquella was also entranced by the sight of her.
"She's unique. I can tell." he whispered. "Such strength. Extraordinary!"
The dragon choked out a groan, looked down at her chest before she spread her wings and turned, taking to the skies. Her roar faded away, but Malenia could still hear the agonized sounds in them.
"We must go after her!" Miquella told her. "We must understand why she was here."
"Brother, an Ancient Dragon. You cannot." Malenia said. "Allow me to see to her."
Miquella stared up at his sister with a little amusement. "Malenia, you know I love you," he remarked. "But politics is not a blade."
"It can be." Malenia shook her head at his skeptical look. "I have learned much from you, Miquella. Allow me. I will not see her harm you if that is her intent."
"I don't believe it was."
"How do you know that?"
Miquella watched the direction of the parting dragon. His smile was a little curious again and Malenia had seen it often times when he found something he felt he...
...could help.
"I have a feeling." he said.
Malenia sighed, shook her head now. "Brother, your feelings..."
Miquella laughed at that. His softness radiated the air around them. The knights were agitated, but gradually relaxing under the weight of his charm and his strength of his spirit. Such was his way.
Malenia had faith in him.
O
The blood had formed a terrible trail down the slopes.
Malenia knew that Ancient Dragons had once been enemies of Leyndell, but have since been welcomed due to the faith not conflicting with the Erdtree. She remembered seeing them before, but never seeing how fierce they truly were in combat.
This one was agitated and wounded. Her brother wanted her to be cautious, not kill it her. Malenia had never fought an Ancient Dragon before. She did not know what to expect and she would not overestimate herself.
Malenia noticed the trail of blood led into a ravine and there was a woman kneeling in the icy water, washing her arms that had been bloodied and ripped open. She was muscular, scarred heavily from a lifetime of fighting, it seemed. She had long, black hair and...
Blue eyes.
Malenia's blade slipped from her prosthesis and the sound alerted the woman below her. She watched her stare up at her with an intensity that nearly made Malenia buckle right there.
No one looked at her like that.
"You can assume human form." Malenia said, "You thought you could hide from me in the water."
The woman stared at her before smiling thinly. She rose and Malenia could see that she easily towered over her, even in this form.
"Are you here to kill me?" the woman asked, after a moment.
Her voice was deep, reverberating even in the human form she chose to wear in her effort to hide away.
"Not if I don't have to." Malenia said, truthfully.
A fair answer. One the dragon in human form seemed to appreciate. Malenia knew that dragons could assume human form, specifically those who were much older than their lesser descendants. Not all were perfect like the case of Lansseax and Fortissax.
"Why were you here?" Malenia asked her.
The dragon seemed distracted now, her brow knotted with a troubled sound. "I had heard rumors that one known as 'Miquella' welcomed those who are abandoned and cursed. I wanted to meet with him."
"You're cursed?" Malenia found that strange.
"Yes."
She had never known of a dragon being cursed before. It made little sense to her.
"In what form?"
"That, I do not know." the dragon told her, with a small, almost vulnerable frown that came and went quickly. "I am ancient and yet, I have carried it with me since my hatching and this is all that I know. I had hoped... I hoped that the Demigod could help me understand."
Miquella's kindness had spread quickly. Malenia appreciated it in some ways, but was wary of it in others. Her brother wanted to help everyone, but she knew that the worst would become attracted to that idea eventually.
"Very well," Malenia did not sheathe her blade just yet. "Come with me. You will do no harm to my brother. That is the only time you will be warned. Do you understand?"
A small bow of the dragon's head. No resentment. Just understanding.
"If I had intended so, I would not be in human form speaking with you right now." the dragon told her.
A true point made.
Malenia gave her a small, thin smile in response. "Your name, dragon."
"Umbrasax."
The Shadow Mountain.
A curious name, but Malenia would not dwell. Instead, she watched the dragon stand, touch her bare chest where the gash that the magma wyrm had inflicted on her had begun to knit itself.
O
Umbrasax kept her word. She sat calm and still in Miquella's study, let the Demigod raise his hands to her back, reach into her to seek out the very thing she swore was a curse of her own. He was humming softly, thoughtful and curious by her presence. Malenia recognized that her brother loved dragons, eager to study her.
"You claim you are cursed?" Miquella questioned.
"Yes." Umbrasax told him.
Miquella made another thoughtful sound. "Describe to me the details of this curse."
"Do you not sense it?"
"I do not." Miquella stepped back, furrowed his brow. "You are a unique member of your species. I do not see many Ancient Dragons with your eyes and your claws. But unless this curse is of a new sort, I sense nothing wrong with you."
Umbrasax didn't seem satisfied. "Impossible!"
Her onyx nails dug at the arms of the chair. Miquella watched her calmly, noticed Malenia shifting with agitation before he raised a calming hand to her. He returned his attention to Umbrasax.
"Describe what you feel to me. I will hear you." he assured her.
Miquella's calming voice seemed to help; Umbrasax sighed, relaxed and spoke evenly. "I am rejected by my kin," she explained. "I don't know why or how, but surely this is a curse. This is why I sought you, Demigod. I hear you are welcoming to those like me."
Miquella found it strange. "Ancient Dragons rarely reject their own kin unless you committed a sin truly unforgivable."
"I did not slay my own." Umbrasax paused when she noticed his stare. "The magma wyrm attacked me first. I did nothing to him but defend myself."
Miquella agreed. "Yes, of course. I would never ask anyone to simply never protect their own lives." he replied. "But even so, he protected Ordina. He was our ally. What can be done about this?"
Malenia knew that Miquella could better communicate with those like Umbrasax than she could. Her way was by the blade always; politics was her brothers' strength, fighting was her own.
Umbrasax seemed to think about it. She looked at him hopefully. "Perhaps I can take his role as protector." she said. "I am stronger, I am feared. I can be of use. A dragon always pays their dues."
Miquella smiled. "You can provide me with studies of your kind?"
"Pardon?"
"I rarely speak to Ancient Dragons." Miquella explained. "Oh! Don't be offended, I simply want to understand more about you. My studies lack history and research about Ancient Dragons. And you are a curiosity all your own. We can help one another."
Umbrasax smiled a little. "I see the wisdom in that."
"That pleases me."
Miquella looked at Malenia with a reassuring smile and she sighed, shook her head.
Still, an Ancient Dragon here would help them both. Maybe this was a good thing, after all.
O
Umbrasax wandered into the chasm where Theodorix once resided, scanning her surroundings with a thoughtful growl.
Malenia watched her wings flutter slightly when snow rained down on them from above. She huffed, looked down at them.
["I see he had little to concern himself with."] she mindspoke.
"You would be welcome in Ordina." Miquella told her, "A dragon such as yourself shouldn't be living in caves."
Umbrasax rumbled through her nostrils - a laugh in some form. ["I grew in a great tree. I'll be fine here. Until they learn not to fear me."]
"Very well." Miquella nodded his head. "I'm happy to have you with us, Umbrasax. I hope you will consider Ordina your home, in time."
Umbrasax shifted her great body, slid onto the ice a little to find comfort in the cavern. Her horns crackled a little with lightning, but seemed to relax and vanish once she seemed comfortable.
["Thank you, Miquella."] she said.
He bowed his head once, turned and left the cavern with Malenia in tow. He could sense she was curious. She could not help herself.
"It's alright to be curious, Malenia." Miquella said, with a chuckle. "I am, too."
"Is she cursed as she says?"
"No." Miquella replied, his tone softer now. "But she thinks she is. I think it's important to learn why."
Malenia could agree.
"She is giving respect." Miquella assured her once more.
"I know, Miquella..."
She was running from something and like anyone who fled to this place, there was always much to learn. She would keep an eye on her anyway.