Risen: Infiltration pt1
This is about three years old; I merely changed some of the dialogue and the like. If you think I am editing the entire thing, you're funny.
"I look so stupid..."
Serthal was looking down at the reflective water below him, scowling in displeasure at the fact that he had to 'look presentable'. Why he couldn't sneak in was beyond him, but it pissed him off.
In fact, he had no idea what they were even looking for. All Ethinar said yesterday was that some noble was trying to pull something while throwing some sort of party. Couples got in for free...and he had a feeling he lied.
So Deltore nabbed his soon-to-be mate Aleria and Serthal was left with Virith. Somehow, this night of magic didn't seem so magical. He had basically cleaned himself up and used some sort of oil to make himself appear more attractive. Serthal protested against this as he really did not want to go with Virith to this. Some random dragoness, yes, as he may have a chance to get 'lucky' again.
With Virith, he had no hope of that.
Looking down at the reflective water again, he once more looked at his burnt body. It was a wonder how he even survived the attack of the Kracken, but a quick glance at his chest reminded him. Attached to his chest through eight tubes, four on each side, was a machine. It had a vial of red liquid in the center of the grey/black metal, blood swirled around before shooting back into his body. As his heart did not work properly after the encounter, this filtered his blood with fresh air.
"You done yet, Serthal?" he heard Deltore ask from outside of the room he was in. Given the choice, Serthal would've snuck off, but as he was a member of Griv'Thanos...he couldn't exactly do that anymore. Plus, he would be hunted down.
"Yes dear." Serthal responded, mimicking Aleria's voice. Now he was really tempted to just go there on his own. He had the gold to do so, though he kept it hidden in his room in an area that no one would guess. He did live with Deltore, after all...
Despite not seeing him, he knew Deltore was rolling his eyes. "You have one more minute." He responded.
"I'm coming out now..."
Serthal stepped out into the small hall-like area and looked at Deltore, who looked impressed that he actually did what he was told. Serthal shot a glare back at him that basically said 'I'm not doing this again'.
"You got some sort of mask to cover my eyes or something? It may hide my identity despite everyone seeing my body." Serthal asked jokingly, noticing that his scales were actually a brighter silver color. What else does the oil do?
"You already have a bandit mask!" Deltore responded in the same manner, starting down the hall to a large wooden, Serthal slinking behind him. He knew who was out there, and tried to hide so that she wouldn't find him.
"Low blow..." Serthal muttered
However, it was lit from a hovering crystal and he couldn't hide anywhere, so he had no choice but to step into the room, muttering under his breath on how he didn't want to do it. The only thing he had to look forward to was that there may be some attractive females. Virith would kill him if he left her though, as she would drag him to wherever she wanted to drag him to. Last time she dragged him to a room and locked him in there. However, he easily got out but left something in there to fake that he was still in there.
Standing in the corner was none other than Virith, the only dracidon that Serthal feared. She was...well...stunning, as her scales shone even more and had a glossier look to them. Here jade eyes also managed to gain a bit of color to them. Plus, she seemed happier for some reason. Maybe the night wouldn't be that bad after all.
"Well Serthal, I must say you look...better." Virith commented with a hint of a blush.
"Not my choice. Given the opportunity, I would've just left and found out myself..." Serthal responded, missing her blush, "And you know I would've. This is the worst day of my life already..." he grumbled.
"Oh, that's too bad." Virith responded, walking over to him, her smirk only getting wider. Serthal kept his gaze level with hers, showing that he wouldn't back down yet, "Because you are my slave tonight...and if you step out of line..." she trailed off.
"Oh good, I like S&M." Serthal said to Virith as she simply stared at him. Deltore snickered slightly.
He also noticed that Aleria had come out and was standing next to Deltore, giggling slightly. She was a yellow dragoness with light brown horns that were reasonably thick, as she was an earth dragoness. They started to curl, but didn't quite go all the way with it. Unlike some females he met, Aleria actually had muscles that showed. Not enough to make her look like someone who spends their entire lives lifting things, but enough to show that she could defend herself easily.
Plus, like Virith, she was dominant. Serthal had snuck back through Deltore's room, thinking he was asleep. He was dead wrong. It didn't matter, as they were too busy with each other to care or even notice. So he easily slipped back to his room.
Aleria had brown eyes, which were very common for earth dragons. Her right eyes, however, seemed to be a bit brighter than the other one though. Though, finding brown eyes on any other dragons was rare, especially ice dragons. It was as rare as Serthal's eyes, though his appeared from his father.
"Is everyone ready?" Deltore asked as everyone except Serthal nodded, "You don't count Serthal. We all know that you don't want to go." He said as Serthal scowled at him, "You could use the manner lesson anyway."
"Yeah, ok." Serthal shot back, "Did you already forget about-!" he began when Virith suddenly dug her claws into his leg, causing him to stop.
Deltore knew what he was talking about and looked uneasy as Aleria shot a questioning glance at him and Serthal. "Whatever, let's just go and find whatever the hell we are looking for. OH THAT'S RIGHT, NO ONE TOLD US!" Serthal snapped in a sarcastic manner, leaving the room, banging his tail on the wall like a child as he left.
"What a hatchling..." Aleria commented.
"That is he is. Don't underestimate him though." Deltore responded with a small smile forming on his face, "He can do almost anything under your nose and you won't even know..."
"Some things that I'd rather not know..." Virith added, "Unfortunately, I found out the hard way."
Aleria looked a bit disturbed at her comment as Deltore and Virith shared a glance, both knowing what the other meant. Virith was still angry that Serthal had been doing that for so long without being caught.
"Well, if we don't hurry, we'll be late." Deltore said quickly, following where Serthal left.
Serthal was ahead of them, flying casually to where they were supposed to be. He knew the way, as he had previously snuck into the building for curiosity instead of stealing something. It was actually really simple to get inside, as there was one area that was completely unguarded. Once inside, there was nothing as well to guard the various treasures inside. It didn't interest Serthal though, as there was no effort to it.
However, as it was around midnight and everyone was asleep at home, he had to be extra careful in case he awoke someone. He wondered if he had flown ahead of them and snuck inside if he could find whatever they were looking for and gloat. Looking at the horizon, he saw that the sun was starting to set, casting a reddish color hue over the plain that he was currently flying over. Even his scales seemed to turn a bit red and his horns darkened from the approaching darkness.
That's when he saw something out of the corner of his left eye, in the direction he was supposed to be going. Instantly, he whirled at whatever was there, and froze instantly. What the...? He mentally asked himself.
It looked like a completely black wolf with bat-like wings that was just hovering there without flapping its wings. It was quadruped, yet it looked like it was standing in a bipedal state. As it was far away from Serthal, he couldn't see the features too well. However, he could clearly see the crimson orbs staring directly AT HIM. This unnerved Serthal so much that it wasn't even funny.
Out of reflex, he blinked. When he opened them again, the wolf was gone. Sweating nervously, he spun around in every direction he could to see where the dragon could've gone. There was nothing.
"Boo." A voice said from behind him, causing him to whirl around in a frightened away and grab whatever said it by the neck. This was one of the few times where he was actually scared for his life, and didn't take chances.
Only then when he was about to hit whoever did that, he realized who it was and pulled away, shaking slightly. It was Virith, who had a look of confusion, anger, and a bit of fear in her eyes.
"What was that about?" Virith asked as Serthal released her.
Serthal's eyes darted in every direction except for at Virith, but he smirked and tried to calm himself. "Oh nothing. I just can't keep my claws off of you. You ARE sexy, and I hear the sky is better than the ground. Wanna try?" he responded, knowing full well that he just signed a death sentence.
Virith glared at him as if she was trying to read his mind and growled, "Uh huh...I'm sure that's it entirely. Had you been honest, I may have allowed you to bed me..." She ran a talon across his shoulders.
"Key word being 'may'."
"Indeed..." Virith smirked,, "Now let's go, slave. If we're late, your master won't be very happy..."
"What are the consequences?" Serthal asked innocently as Virith started to fly away. He flew after her, "I mean, if it isn't that bad, I can slow you down all I want..." he said, flying beside her.
"I will torture you as much as I can without technically breaking any rules." She responded, "Funny that you forgot the LAST time you made me late for something..." she grinned, "Oh, I had fun taking revenge on you. Didn't you enjoy it?"
Serthal shuddered involuntarily as he remembered, but shrugged it off. It wasn't as bad as he thought it was, now that he thought about it. "I got a question though." He spoke after a minute of flying in silence.
"Hmm?"
"If you are attracted to things that shine, why aren't you attracted to me?" he asked in the innocent voice again. It was a good question...at least for him. The question did bug him, as he did see her go after anything shiny.
"Your attitude sends me away. Maybe if you at least acted maturely..." Virith responded, "Now, no more questions from you until we get there. Master won't like you even more if you do..."
"You already don't like me..." Serthal responded in a hurt tone, "Or you just have a different way to show attraction." He added.
"That's for me to know and you to find out." Virith scoffed, flicking her tail slightly.
"Meanie."
Soon they found a large palace-like building that easily stood out, despite it being hidden in a hill. Spires reached towards the sky, as if trying to pierce it. It was made of a black metal, which was incredibly rare. Black metal was so rare that dracidons would actually assassinate each other to get a particle of it. No one knew where it came from, other than it was incredibly strong and actually grew.
Should Serthal snag a piece of it, he could easily become rich. That was his goal tonight, though last time he was here he didn't think of it. It seemed so simple to grab, as it probably had a weak spot somewhere. Though banging on the metal until it broke wasn't the best idea...
Unfortunately, he couldn't just fly up to it tonight, due to the countless guards. That also canceled his plan of abandoning his 'date' to find out himself what was going on. Even if he could, she would follow him.
As they descended, Serthal spotted Deltore and Aleria in a line, trying to get in. it seemed that everyone was couples in the line, but like he and his Mistress, they could be faking it. Oh well, what did he care?
Moving towards where his brother was, he felt something wrap around his tail and drag him backwards, "Hey I knew you felt somethin!" he exclaimed.
"You wish," Virith responded, "But as we are posing as a random couple, cutting won't be a good sign, even if you do know the dracidon. We go to the BACK of the line." She explained, flying towards the back of the line.
"What? Oh hell no...." Serthal responded in a childish way, "Not being to be last in line when we are kind of in a race against time..."
Virith whipped around and held her tail-spike to his neck, "Shut up. Once we get inside, then we can charge into the castle or whatever. I don't like waiting either, so just be a little more mature for once!" she hissed as Serthal smirked, "What?!"
"The funny part is that if you actually killed me," he indicated to the spikes onhis neck, "You would only be quickening my already approaching death." He laughed, finding it amusing for some reason, "You of all dracidons should know that my heart is dying, no matter how many times I take the medicne in this machine."
Virith only growled and lowered her tail, causing Serthal to smile inside. He had gotten through to her with that per usual. It was that went off to find the materials to create his cure to prevent his heart from tearing itself apart and dying. She was also the first one to be informed of his condition.
She opened her mouth a few times to retort to that, but could find nothing. Instead, she raised her tail and hit him over the head with slightly more force than usual. Luckily, Serthal's head was as hard as a rock, as the abuse from Virith made it thick.
"Must you always bring it up? You know I don't like it when you do..." Virith grumbled, turning to fly towards the back of the line as Serthal only laughed. It got her every time...
As Serthal followed her, he realized that the line wasn't as long as he thought it would be. In fact, if he could keep his attention on anything that moved, it would go by really quick. However...he did have another question for Virith.
"Ok Virith, I got a serious question. And before you ask, it isn't perverted or anything." Serthal spoke after a minute of standing in the line, watching the palace loom ahead of him. If only he could fly there...
"...Ask then." Virith responded, looking at her claws for some reason. She was probably still angry at his heart for failing or something...
"Do you also wonder what we are looking for and if it could be the last thing we see?" he asked, absently staring at the two moons. For some reason, it was relative to his interests at the moment.
He'd always had an interest in the stars and moon, and when he was younger, he wanted to go out there and see the mysteries of the universe. Then again, everyone he knew at that age did as well, but he didn't care about them.
One moon was noticeably larger than the other, and each were a different color. The larger moon was called Vectus, and it was a dark purple color. The other one was called Postain, and it was a bright white color.
From what Serthal had heard, they were to represent two gods or something. He never paid attention in those classes, having been too tired to care or it was just too boring for him. How he managed to pass was beyond him...at least, that's what he told everyone.
In truth, he cheated.
"I suppose. I would be lying both to you and myself if I said I wasn't curious in the slightest.." She responded, sighing in a somewhat depressed way, "At the moment, I just want this line to move faster."
"What about the entire 'last thing we ever see' part?" He asked, not really paying attention. Instead, he found the ground relative to his interests now.
"Pft, what can ever kill ME?" Virith laughed a bit arrogantly. "I am not going to die in this, nor will I die from anything from old age. Death is something that can go away; I am not afraid of it and will beat it down." She finished, laughing again.
Serthal stepped to the side slightly, "I'm not afraid to die either," Virith shot him a 'Is that so?' look, "Yeah, I know: shocking. Like I said, I am not afraid to die, just afraid of what's going to kill me and how."
"Oh my god..." Virith appeared to be shocked at what Serthal said.
"What?" Serthal asked, confused at her outburst. Had she actually felt something there?
"You just said something that could be considered a good quote! You got something to write with? I need to write this down..." Virith answered in a sarcastic manner that made Serthal a bit jealous. Oh well, she can have her sarcastic moments...
Serthal sighed, bored again. He always had an issue with keeping his attention on one thing, as he can be easily distracted if what he is looking at interests him. He glanced at the dracidon ahead of him, and he inwardly smirked.
It was a large pouch with gold coins almost exploding from it. How easily it would've been just to take the pouch or at least a few coins from it. Glancing behind him, he saw that it was a couple kissing each other or something and probably wouldn't notice.
He reached forward to grab it...when a tail slapped his claw away. "Don't even think about it..." Virith hissed.
"I'm not." Serthal responded, reaching in quickly and pulling out a few gold coins, "Who's to say we don't get paid in advance?" he asked, quickly hiding the coins before anyone noticed that he did it.
Virith merely narrowed her eyes and looked like she was refraining from hitting him. Serthal couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at her reaction, as she probably wasn't use to thieving. In a way, he was finally 'superior' to her.
Serthal realized that the line had really started to move after stealing, and he felt his luck starting to grow. Maybe they can find what they are looking for quickly as well...but that would be pushing it.
"So tell me," He heard Virith start, "What did you see back there that was so terrifying?" She asked, flashing her fangs in a non-insulting way, but her voice was almost dripping with venom.
"I saw you and was immediately looking for somewhere to hide." Serthal responded absently, trying to see how much longer this ridiculous line was.
"Can you be serious and tell me straight? If something has you spooked, I need to know just in case it returns." Virith replied with a small sigh.
"It was this weird flying wolf with burning red eyes. I have no idea who it was, but it spooked me." Serthal looked up to see that they were three places away from being let in.
"Interesting..." was all Virith said.
As the entrance approached, Virith wrapped her tail around Serthal's, as much as it disgusted her. "What're you..." Serthal began to ask as Virith shot him a look that silenced him instantly.
"I'm doing this to fool the guards. Don't get those thoughts into your head..." Virith hissed, knowing that if she didn't say it, Serthal would instantly think something perverted...as usual.
"Oh, okay..." he responded, acting in shock.
Digging her right claw into his left limb, she signaled him to be quiet. He instantly stopped opening his mouth and looked at where they were going in a bored way. It was doubtful that he was paying any attention.
In fact, she could tell him that she loved him and that she would actually 'get it on' with him and he wouldn't pay attention. Of course, she wouldn't mean a word of it, as she wasn't really looking yet.
"Names?" a guard asked as they approached. It was a male dragon in dark blue armor, which was the standard color for armor. The next rank was another shade of blue, followed by white, and then black. The dragon seemed young as well, not too much older than Serthal.
"Virith Galewind and he is Serthal Pridewing." Virith responded, looking at the distracted Serthal. He appeared to be finding the sky interesting again...
"Another Pridewing..." the guard commented, looking at Serthal, who actually stopped looking at the sky to stare at the guard.
"Oh my god...He knows my last name! Hide!" Serthal exclaimed in false horror as he pretended to run away frantically. Virith only sighed, having been used to this behavior from him before. She only wished she could knock some sense into him...
"...Ok, you two can pass." The guard responded after a moment. Then, he bent his neck over to Virith, "Make sure your mate doesn't cause trouble. Reactions like that could cause some negative attention..."
Virith smirked in a cold way. She wanted to hear that so that she could finally have an excuse to be 'abusive', as Serthal calls it. She called it 'being disciplined.' "Don't worry; I am the dominant one in the relationship. He won't step out of line if he wants to live..."
The guard shook his head as they went back. Virith had a feeling that she managed to scare him with that, and it made her frown a bit inside. She didn't dare show it in front of Serthal, though...