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Chapter 17: Memories

Veledar released Arcturus, reluctantly letting the human fall from his grasp. The dragon took a deep breath and stood on all fours to look out to the sea of coins before him, littered with treasures of all sorts. It was hard to believe that the glittering expanse, all the weapons, armor and even the Drenedar carriage now belonged to him. In the back of his mind a silent voice let him know that he no longer had remain jealous.

Everything happened so quickly. So soon... Veledar wrinkled his muzzle as he paced around, letting his tail drag along the coins. He stopped to grab a clawful of metal disks, letting them fall through his digits like shiny pebbles.

"I am going to fly around and clear my head off the dark clouds that took possession of it." he said, turning to the human who had yet to leave his side.

He had to admit to himself, standing up to an angry dragon was pretty brave of the human. To face him down when he was most likely so intimidating. Not many could stand their ground like he did as he neared with his teeth baring and snapping.

"Are you sure?' Arcturus asked, that same tone of pity still present in his voice.

"Quite so," Veledar sighed, "You needn't worry about me setting things on fire."

Veledar spread his wings wide and wiggled his tail in preparation for the take-off, then leaped from his position and took flight within the grand lair. He looked behind him after a few moments to see that Arcturus had started walking in the direction where Lyndis and Merlia had walked down before his outburst.

_ I should leave him alone for now_, Veledar thought. He returned his attention to the sea of gold laden with gems, then took a turn as his eyes fell upon a flag resting neatly on a pole of wood. He narrowed his eyes as he remembered that flag and how he always hated it. The flag was a dark green with stitching outlining it. On the material rested a great lion holding a sword and shield. If only he could tear that beast from his mind...

Veledar sharpened his turn as he headed towards it. He remembered the day it arrived so clearly.

His mother had come into the lair with the accursed thing held in her mouth, spitting it out in disgust onto the floor. He had asked her why she had kept such a vile memento, the symbol of the hunters that had killed his brother.

"It is a reminder," She had said, "a trophy that I reflects the justice I brought upon those who inflicted harm upon us." she snarled, letting her teeth show and her muzzle wrinkle at the recent thought. Veledar had not questioned her after that as she finally had started to clean the blood dried on her claws. Human blood. Veledar could only imagine the ferocity that his mother had ripped into the humans that had torn her son from her side. She could have used her breath to freeze them in place, but she had taken a more intimate way of dispatching them.

"Are there any more?" he had asked her, his eyes at the time still tearing up over the loss of his brother.

"No," She had replied sternly, "The ones responsible have been permanently eradicated from the face of this earth." She stopped her cleaning of her claws and gave him a hard look, "What if there were some left? What would you do?"

At the time he had no answer to give her as a wrymling. However, now being grown and flying towards the flag he knew, Veledar knew his mother would feel deep shame. Still, in his heart he always knew all these years what he had to do. With a simple motion of his jaws, Veledar opened his maw and unleashed his flames upon the flag. That grim reminder would not darken his lair any longer.

He landed to watch the flag burn slowly as the green turned to black and crumbled away to ash. His answer to his mother now was obvious. He would kill any human that sprouted from the legacy of those murderers. He would take from them as they stole from him. It did not bring him peace of mind that Arcturus, his mothers, or even the others would approve of his actions. He tried to hear the wisdom of his mother's voice telling him that he should not base a whole on the actions of a few, but he could not hear it right now. She was gone, after all.

Veledar spread his wings again and took flight as the flag slowly vanished from his lair. He spotted the boat he had spoken of earlier with Lyndis, its mighty frame covered in coins, almost like it was going to sink. He landed by it, letting the leathery pads on his paws softly touch the ground. Veledar caressed the frame with one paw, remembering the times he would circle it as a wrymling and pretend he was taking the vessel as his own from pirates. He spied a spot on the underside he had scorched with his breath, claiming the vessel as his own he had told himself at the time, although he had never told his mother of course. No need to tell her that the ship was his at the time.

Shaking his head out of the memory, Veledar bolted back into the sky of his lair. He remembered how he had been taught to fly very early in his life. His mother had carried him into the sky like any other time, but on that occasion, she had let go much to Veledar's terror. He remembered flapping his little wings desperately in a frenzied effort to stabilize himself as his mother followed down the entire time, with a look of concern no doubt. However, he remembered the joy, the pride, and most of all, the warmth that was brought upon her snout as his wings caught the air to pull the small red dragon into a glide. Veledar released a little roar of joy. His tiny victory. If he had to describe it now it would of course be a mighty one, but he knew at the time some dragon lovers like Arcturus would call it cute.

Veledar flew over a large section of the lair that contained bookcases. Row after row of old tomes from every era were contained on those antique shelves. He remembered the late nights when he would read some of those stories. Some were good, like the stories of brave dragons, knights and other heroes that went on grand adventures. He chuckled as he remembered announcing to his sister that he himself was going to be an adventurer someday. That he would go a grand adventure just like those legendary dragons, save fair maidens from distress, find glorious piles of abandoned treasure, and possibly save the day if required. He landed by his favorite bookcase that contained all the stories he had just thought about. Veledar looked to the aging spines of the plethora of books, still having a hard time to believe that now they were truly his. He sighed deeply as he sat down on his haunches among the books. He looked up and imagined his little brother leaping from bookcase to bookcase as he had done so many years ago. His heart began to ache as the memories flowed into his mind, accompanied by images of his mother.

_ I can't...can't think of them right now_, Veledar pushed the thoughts down as he quickly walked out of the grand library and took flight once more.

His next pass along the lair had him pass over Lyndis and Merlia, who were in fact looking over kegs upon kegs of dwarven alcohol. They gave him a wave as he passed overhead. It occurred to him that they now had his name despite him not giving it to them.

_ To flames with that mindless construct. I have to figure out what to do with Auron now that he too belongs to me_, he thought, wrinkling his snout. Once again, there was yet another reason that he despised the thing. Well it could not be helped now. He figured it was only a matter of time before the two females ended up weaseling his name out of him anyway, so he tilted his wing membranes and circled the two before landing beside them.

"Wat in da- make sure ye let us know when ye land, scale-burdened rock-headed dragon. Why, yer almost gave me a heart attack!" Merlia said.

"I am most sorry for that unpleasantness." Veledar replied "but I just flew overhead and I figured your keen dwarvish eyes caught my dazzling scales."

"Not a chance, lad! For when ya were shoutin at Arcturus, we could hear ya across the damn place!"

"Oh. That. Well, about that incident..." Veledar trailed off, remembering the absolute fury he had felt. "I guess I should apologize for that as well, as undignifying as it is for a dragon to admit his mistakes"

"I like it! Betta ast forgiveness den permission!" Merlia cheered at him.

Veledar managed a weak smile as he sat down on his haunches in front of the two woman. He let his tail flick carelessly and tab behind him. "You know...there is something we need to talk about."

"We know," Merlia threw a glance at Lyndis who nodded at the same time as the dwarf with the same mischievous smile on her lips.

"Aye. T'was obvious from how fondly you grabbed each other."

"Sorry. What are we talking about?" Veledar cocked his head.

"Dat lone lover ye left behind! Denna think we haven' noticed ye sneakin' glances an' talkin sweet words ta each otha."

Veledar gaped his mouth, only to close it in shock.

"Guilty as sin!" Lyndis pointed at his face. "You don't have to explain yourself when that face tells the whole story. C'mon. Spill it already. You have a thing for Arcturus."

"I..." Veledar took a quick breath. "I certainly do not!"

"Das' no problem, dragon. Tis your lair afta all. Ye can kick us out an warm up all dose bad memories with a bit o' huggin, a wee caress..." the dwarf started to stroke the air, chuckling in the most annoying of ways.

"Nothin' better than love to temper the effects of tragedy," Lyndis raised her cup at Veledar. "To your new wedding. Mateship. Whatever you dragons call it."

Veledar's heart skipped a beat. His throat never felt so tight before. Was this how his countless victims felt when he teased the living flames out of them? He wanted to deny it with every ounce of his strength, yet he couldn't ignore the simple fact that the two women had a significant edge over him. Veledar had to do more than argue back. He had to turn the situation on its ass.

"I love Arcturus!" he declared much to the glee of the women.

"Knew it!" Lyndis said.

"Aye. Saw right through ye devious scaly 'ead! Yer not as sharp as ye think, dragon."

"I love him in the same way you love each other," Veledar then added as the two exchanged a weird look. "As friends."

"Dats horse dung!"

"I'm not buying it either." Lyndis said, then took a quick gulp from her mug. "This is a cheap way to get out of that bind."

Veledar barred his teeth. "It's the truth."

"Aye. Like yer gropes an' kisses." Merlia said.

"How dare you accuse me of fraternizing with an important member of this party?" Veledar pointed over to the kegs of wine. "Clearly the wine numbs whatever remains of your wits because there is no way a majestic dragon like me can be in love with a wingless, steel-wearing human that looks blatantly ridiculous in that thing he calls armor."

"Ah..." Merlia twiddled her fingers. "Now when ye put it dis way, I s'pose da dragon would have ta be really drunk to fall for a human."

"Or anything that doesn't have scales, wings, or even a tail," Lyndis said nonchalantly. "Your ego wouldn't let you."

"Exactly! So we should talk about real matters here instead of wild fabrications." Veledar said happily. Oh, how good it felt to take a proper breath. The tension just melted out of his body after the girls focused back on their thoughts and their drinks. Now he just had to turn the conversation elsewhere. "Hang on," he put up the best suspicious face he could form. "It occurred to me that, through an act of painful injustice, both of you came into the possession of my real name."

"Ah, that. Just so you know, I was prepared to keep calling you Crimson Sky" Lyndis said politely, "I did not get your name after all. Did you, Merlia?"

"Aye 'course I did lass! Dinna hear dat blue basterd blurt it out like-" Merlia replied, then stopped as her eyes went wide in realization, "Ahhhh of course, of course! I dinna hear a word of it."

Veledar grinned at the extent they were willing to go with this little self-inflicted lie. "I figured you would get my name out of me sooner or later, and even if you like to play games and pretend, we all know it won't be the same now with that piece of foreign knowledge lodged in your heads. I give you both permission to use it. Just don't roam tossing it around everyone like that good for nothing Auron."

"Thanks Veledar. You are most kind," Lyndis said, walking over and patting the dragon on his hide.

"Great, now I tink I might be getting' teary eyed." Merlia said, pulling out a cloth to wipe her eye.

"So where did Arcturus get off to? I thought I saw him heading to be with you two earlier?"

"Aye. We did see him for a moment, before he headed back to ya mom's...yer area of the cave." She pointed back towards the place where his mother used to rest.

Veledar turned his snout towards that area of the cave. It was a bit odd that Arcturus would make that trip. He figured the human was checking on the girls before going back to exploring that area of the cave.

"Veledar?" Lyndis said, "you take as much time as you need, alright?"

He nodded before he saw himself in the air again. With his wings tucked to his sides, the red dragon swooped towards his mother's sleeping area, or more correctly, his sleeping area now. He frowned. Some things would of course need to change. He figured he would just have to ask Auron and the spectral dragon would change the location of it within the lair. He passed overhead, looking for Arcturus, but found no traces of the human.

_ I surely hope you haven't unearthed another weird creature_, Arcturus. Veledar thought as he continued his search, flying towards a body of water within the lair. It looked like a mini lake within the place, with a fountain at its center shooting up water several feet in the air.

He landed at the water's edge and settled down on the cold ground. He put his snout on his paws as he gave his tail a thump. More images sprang to mind. This time, he remembered how he had been taught how to swim near one of the lakes near his original home. He remembered splashing his mother with water and falling over, hissing with laughter. She returned the favor of course with a large splash of water that had left him drenched from snout to tail. He thought to all the times gone, and how he would never see her again.

_ Mother...I am so sorry I'll never get to see, or play, or sleep under your wing ever again..._ The emotion was much stronger than Veledar anticipated. It felt like a knife jabbed into his heart as tears once again started welling up inside his blue eyes. His vision grew blurry as he imagined the conversations they would never have, the time they would never share, and how she would not see him in the splendorous glory of the present moment.

_ It's not fair!_ he thought to himself as his tail lashed at the ground behind him. How had she died? She had always seemed to have a plan, an item, a magic spell that had always seen her through the day. Through the stories she had told to her hatchlings, Veledar and his sister learned of her adventurers and the struggles she had. It seemed so wrong for her to simply not be anymore. He wondered if she had simply found something that even a dragon could not overcome and died too quickly before she could escape. Perhaps she had tampered with a spell, and it had backfired, ending her that way. Not that the thought brought any relief. Veledar still felt anger rising in his chest as he thought on the last possibility; that somehow, his mother was hunted down by a band of dragon slayers and killed. After all, this is exactly what happened to him when Arcturus and his band of wretched knights ambushed him in his home.

Veledar breathed deep as he tried to calm himself. The method worked as he soon settled down from that thought.

The worse thing about the whole situation was that Avalina had no idea, or at least he figured she had no idea what had happened. He would have to find a way to locate her, or use a spell to tell her about their mother's death. He already recoiled from the thought of having that conversation. He would not enjoy watching his sister's snout fill with sadness as he explained their mother's death. It was a shame that dragons were not mortals sometimes, as mortals could be brought back from death if you had the right magic, whereas a dragon, who was already a being of magic, could not be. He guessed it was a way of balancing things out. His kin had already been blessed with scales, claws, wings, breath attacks, magic, and very long lives. He figured that some God out there figured mortals had to have something.

"Veledar! Just the dragon I wanted to see. What have you been up for the last few hours?" came the voice of Arcturus, as he made his way over to the dragon. He had stripped his armor and was down to his black tunic, belt, sword, and scabbard.

How did the human find him? Did he have a third sense when the dragon was emotionally compromised? He buried his head into his paws and closed his eyes. "Just been flying through my memories."

"Quite a place this is. Look there! It even has a mini lake!" Arcturus exclaimed. He opened his eyes as he heard the noise of something plunking into the water. Arcturus had his hand extended like he had thrown something into the water.

"Did you just throw one of my coins into the water?"

"Skipped it actually," The human smiled. "And technically it's also your water."

Veledar had to give it to him, "Alright. You are free to continue to move my treasure if you wish Not that it matters anyway." said Veledar with a sigh.

"Auron are you there?" Veledar asked aloud, and almost instantly the blue ghostly dragon emerged from the coin in front of him.

"Always at your service, master. What is it that you need of me?" Auron asked just as Arcturus skipped another gold coin into the water.

What he needed? He of course needed plenty of things, especially after today. However, he decided to start with the damn spiders.

"I would like you to get rid of the phase spiders from my lair. I will not tolerate their presence any longer."

"As you wish, master. I will wipe out every trace of their existence."

"In the future you do not need my permission. Simply get rid of vermin like that." Veledar snorted. Why his mother had not conjured Auron to do that was beyond him, but at least the ghostly dragon listened.

"Yes, master."

"You must like that. Having him call you master I mean," Arcturus said with a nervous grin.

He figured the human was doing what people would call testing the waters with some humor.

"It's not like anyone else is going to do it." Veledar said, holding his head up high.

"Why would you want me to call you master?" Arcturus picked up another coin and skipped it once more onto the water.

"Would you?" Veledar grinned, scratching his head with one of this wing talons. "I suppose not. You humans do value your freedom after all."

Arcturus was silent for a moment as he picked up another coin and moved it through his fingers.

"Auron, next I would like to know about our friends on the mountain."

"Master, I believe your friends are already here within your lair. Unless you mean the people and gryphons flying around the mountain?"

Veledar frowned. It seemed that Garroth had not given up on finding him after all. Could the human even track them here? He wondered if the human thought him dead after the fall, or perhaps the knuckle-head figured the dragon lived and watched the skies for his eventual departure. Regardless, he hoped the illusions that hid the whole cave would hide them from him a awhile longer.

"Thanks for the information. I guess we have to lay low for another day at least. Your friend is very persistent it seems. Eager to kill me and save you."

"That's friendship for you."

"So you're saying you would go to those lengths for me? For anyone in our little band of adventurers?"

"Have I not already?"

Veledar snorted as he realized this was true of Arcturus. "Well, I suppose you have after all."

"So after our little mission to get my book back is completed, what will you do, my dear armored paladin of Bahamut? You have asked me before, but have given very little on the subject."

He watched the human put a hand to his chin as he thought about his question. "Now that certainly is a good question. Would you believe I have not thought about it yet?" Arcturus sat beside the dragon, still clutching his chin.

"Maybe get far away from Entis. Leave all the war behind and go on another adventure."

"Has the adventuring spirit grabbed you, Arcturus?" asked Veledar, cocking his head to the side as he gave his tail another thump against the coins.

"I suppose it has! Certainly is better than being a guard captain at the least." He gestured to the mounds of treasure, "I certainly never saw anything like this during my days on a Lumarian airship."

"I suppose not," Veledar chuckled, "it must seem pretty droll in comparison."

"And there is no paperwork, no one harping you to keep everyone else in line. It's... it's... what's the word I am looking for..."

"Freedom." Veledar replied.

"That's it." the human smiled.

"Would you help me find out what happened to my mother?" Veledar asked suddenly, "You are good company at least."

If Arcturus was taken aback he did not show it and hardly skipped a beat to think about it. "Sounds like a noble cause." Arcturus held up his hands as if reading a large sign. "Troubled dragon seeks aid from human paladin." he stopped and gave the dragon a coy grin, "There would be of course fees to be paid to me."

"Fees? I thought we were friends you sneaky kobold!" laughed the dragon, realizing where this was going.

"Well yes. There's one for endangerment, another for upkeep of the weapons and armor, and then I have to listen to Veledar boast every five minutes fee. That's the real expensive one."

"It's going to cost me a fortune, isn't it?" Veledar asked, wrapping a wing around the human as they looked to the fountain.

"It might cost you one or two of those."

They sat in silence as they watched the water for quite some time. Truthfully, Veledar lost track of the time. Having Arcturus there with him was a soothing act in of itself. However, with the sound of his stomach grumbling, serenity gave way to other, more pressing concerns.

"Guess we should head back and get something to eat. The girls might get worried where we are and figure you ate me."

"Oh, certainly they know by now I don't eat mortals garbed in their silly dresses."

"Garbed? What, are you going to tell me you tried eating a naked one?" Arcturus asked nervously.

"Well, only once, and it happened a loooong time ago."

"Veledar! That's not an excuse to eat people!"

"Oh believe me, the world's better off without this scoundrel. She made a whole village miserable before I put a swift end to her. Besides, I haven't eaten her whole," Veledar stuck his tongue out, "too gamy. Honestly I do not understand how some dragons in stories developed a taste for something so...distasteful."

"Now by eatin an elf you mean like really eatin an elf." Merlia suddenly said as she emerged from a hill of coins. "Cause I have two pictures in me head with one more appeasin den de other."

"I assure you it was the food one, and not whatever strange things roam your inebriated head." Veledar responded, sticking his tongue out at Merlia.

Lyndis was next as she gave a chuckle at Merlia's joke. "So, if I understand this correctly, our next move is to hang low for the rest of the day?"

"How did you-" Arcturus began to ask, but Lyndis pointed to her ears. "Right."

Veledar explained of Garroth's inability to simply give up the chase when his quarry eluded him. He suggested to spend the day relaxing again, reading up on spells, meditating, and staying in good spirits. They would have to simply wait for an opening. More precisely, wait for Garroth to slip before they left the mountain. Veledar hated to admit it, but the superior speed of a gryphon in flight was a worrisome problem. If they saw him leave, Veledar and his party would not get far before the whole chase happened all over again.

They returned to the area where his bed now was to spend the day as he suggested. Arcturus was passing time by doing his movements and trying to cast another spell and such, each time his face would look like a child in amazement of his deeds. He did not do anything too impressive on his own though, and, for both friendship and boasting reasons, Veledar tried to coach him on some spells like mirror image, fire bolt, and charm person. However, Arcturus could not perform the spells for some reason. Veledar snorted and simply wrote it off as human error. Lyndis pointed out that Veledar cast his spells through arcane magic, being a dragon and all. Paladins, on the other hand, cast magic through divine effort. She suggested that the lessons Veledar knew might not cross over into the paladin's repertoire of spells. For that, they would need to find another paladin, a book, or a divine spell caster that would help Arcturus focus on the proper way to cast his spells. Veledar and Arcturus were satisfied with this answer, as they wrapped up spell training for the day.

Merlia practiced with her bow by making makeshift targets to hit and placing them at further and further distances. She was a good shot for a dwarf. Veledar had to admit at least that of the lass. Before knowing her, he had always figured stocky people like them would feel comfortable tossing axes or hammers when they didn't feel like beating or slicing people to death. He never heard any story of dwarves using bows or being rangers for that matter.

That night, Veledar dimmed the lights and set up a fire for warmth using the mental imaging spell that still remained active in the other section of the cave. They ate their food by the crackling fire, exchanging jokes and having a good time overall. Veledar had conjured up whatever his party asked for. Lyndis requested cooked fish with squash and green beans. Arcturus had asked for a steak, potatoes and broccoli, while Merlia just wanted lamb and mead. Veledar himself had some sheep, with the same sauce as he had the night before. After the meal he regaled them with stories of his mother's exploits, and it warmed his heart as they gasped in the right places, cheered or asked simple question like an excellent audience. Finally, he told them the other kind of tales he knew, about what his mother had told in regards to Bahamut's tears.

"Well, hopefully your mother is looking down on you right now, proud of the mighty dragon her son has become." Lyndis said with a smile.

"Aye, that I can agree on. Da way ya ripped up dose spiders, fed us an' joked an' told tales. Yer already a hero in me book!" Merlia said with a burp.

"Honestly, the only dragon I'd kiss instead of sticking him with the sharp end of my sword." Arcturus laughed, patting Veledar on his side.

"Wot?!" Merlia cocked her head.

"Knew it! I knew it!" Lyndis smiled and gestured at the two of them.

"What? It's just a harmless comparison!" Arcturus said even as he moved to hide under Veledar's wings. "You believe me, right?"

"Yeah." The dragon nuzzled through his hair, then pointed his snout at the two laughing females. "Don't pay them too much attention. They're obviously drunk out of their minds."

"Oy! Come back 'ere! I 'ave a tale o' me own ta share!"

Veledar than sat in silence as the others shared their own memorable events. He listened just as intently as they had to his stories, until the fire began to die down and yawns replaced the merry smiles.

They split off into beds conjured by Veledar, copies of the ones from the previous night. The red dragon curled himself up and hugged the stuffed dragon he created just for himself. It was an almost exact replica of the one that was stolen from his previous lair, although, as he laid there in his soft blankets, his bed still felt lacking. His eyes opened softly as he eyed Arcturus sitting on his own bed, pulling the covers over himself. That's what he was missing. He quietly climbed out of his own bed and padded over to Arcturus'.

"Mind if I?" He asked quietly to the human, who had been watching him slink over the entire time.

"Do you even have to ask? I'm standing in a bed conjured by you, in your own cave, stuffed with food you created," Arcturus chuckled. "The only thing remaining is to give me a set of clothes and ask me to call you master."

"Well then, my dear subject, would it please you to accompany your overlord to his bed?"

"As long as he doesn't eat me, sure." Arcturus kept on smiling through the affectionate nuzzles that assaulted his chest. "Alright, alright, you made your point you scaly adorable thing."

"Thing?" Veledar narrowed his eyes.

"Don't be silly. You know what I meant."

"Maybe."

The dragon laid down and clasped the human within his claws. "Now you are my plaything, little human."

"Happy to oblige when I'm getting all this warmth."

Veledar rumbled happily, nuzzled his human good night, then slowly lowered his wings over the bed. It was a nice feeling to have the human's warm body pressed against his chest. Without a second thought he disregarded the stuffed dragon. He thought he heard Arcturus sigh as he closed his eyes, and listened to the human's heart beat steady until sweet sleep took him in its ethereal embrace.