The Humans

I open my eyes. Everything is calm and peaceful. Too peaceful. What happened to all the flying wyverns? Gone.

What about the giant one? She's resting by the side of the pond watching me. Her gaze doesn't move one bit. She's not blinking either.

Surprisingly she didn't try and kill me while I was sleeping?! I was totally exposed and defenseless too. Seems I misunderstood her big time. She is probably simply lonely.

She's used to ruling over the others as a Queen. Not sure how that title even works for her species. She seems to have the power to control them­. Yet I haven't seen her talk to her subject. Maybe she has some telepathic communication method or something. Back on earth, the most popular Queen was more of a symbol than anything.

Anyway, in some aspects, this new world is better. I mean the only option to see a realistic-looking wyvern would have been some amazing CGI. Now I have one right in front of my eyes. A blood, flesh, and scales one.

I think she doesn't know how to react to my very presence. That much is normal. After all, this place seems pretty wild. When was the last time she could even hold a conversation with anyone? I can't help but tease her.

[Hey, is watching me sleep fun? *Wink*]

"T-that, no! I was just surveying the area!"

Of course. Now, where did the wyverns even go? Apparently resting in crevasses.

[Oh right, do you usually live near the pond?]

She seems to be hesitating.

"T-that I wasn't sure if I could go rest."

[How come?]

"I didn't want to leave and to come back to a massacre."

Please do I look like the violent type? I'm not some edgy killing machine. You know the kind that has a dark past and totally can't get over it. Do I really seem like…? Okay from her perspective yes. Fair point. From their perspective, I was the intruder.

[Don't worry as long as they leave me alone I won't bother them.]

She pauses.

"Thank you."

[Right, what do you know about this mountain?]

"It is one of the few safe places in the area for our kind. For some reason, the humans fear coming here."

Probably related to Yggdrasil. No, definitely.

[So there are no humans whatsoever in the area?]

"No, there is one guard tower right here and a few on the other side."

[To remain standing here it must be extremely strong.]

"The farthest ones yes. The closest poses no danger at all."

[Why?]

"I have gathered that it is there to serve as a signal. When it gets destroyed, they will know."

[How did you learn that?]

"It took me a long time. A very long time."

[What about the dangerous ones? What is bad about them?]

"They are vigilant and will check for any sign of an intruder. They also have blessings set up all around the place."

[Blessings?]

She seems suspicious.

"You don't know?"

[Let me put it this way. I know what true blessings are. I just don't know if we are talking about the same thing.]

*Nod*

"The empire's rise to power came from the blessings. They found these in ruins and have prospered since then."

[You seem very well informed for a wyvern.]

"That is because I have ventured the world of men in the past."

[You can polymorph?]

"Sadly I can't."

[Then how did you gather all that information?]

"I didn't gather it, I remembered it!"

[How?]

"I'm not sure. When I saw some humans use some blessings I remembered. But it wasn't my memory it was…"

[A kin's memory? A parent?]

"How did you know?!"

[I've read about something like that in the past. Inherited memories.]

"So that's what it's called!"

[Should be some kind of bloodline legacy. I've heard of dragons having something like that. Well, I'm not sure if the ones here have it.]

She seems stupefied. For some reason, I think dragons are her weak point. As in she becomes extremely interested as soon as that creature is concerned. I guess it's because they are atop of her species on the food chain.

[How about you tell me everything else you know?]

Ensue a very long conversation. She describes how it felt. How wyverns used to rule that part of the world. Flying freely in the sky. Enjoying life.

Humans were there but they were powerless. The strongest were the mages. At least to them. No warrior can fight a flying creature efficiently. Archers are dangerous too, but one can evade their projectiles.

No, the real worrisome ones were the wizards with their homing spells. They were the bane of the wyverns. But still, they couldn't do anything much. They were too few to effectively fight.

That is when disaster struck. Some weird humans started popping out of nowhere. Carrying the power of blessings. With that, they established monster-free areas.

Then they started expanding. Extremely fast. Before long they had driven away all the other lifeforms of the area. She recounts the story from a wyvern's perspective but the same probably happened elsewhere.

She talks about the fear. The despair. The sadness. The anger. All ends relatively quickly. The wyverns almost getting wiped out and retreating here. Nesting in that very mountain since then.

Interesting how the first historical information I come across comes from such a creature. The way she tells that story is extremely vague too. Sometimes her thoughts seem scattered. There is no sense of time either. I can actually relate to that one. After all the time I have spent without any notion of time.

Still none of that matters. It is enough to make me understand one thing. The humans out there are scary as fuck. No matter what, I need to be careful when I head there. The good thing is I can quite possibly seem like a wandering mage.

"Right, what are you going to do with the thing in the water?"

What thing? …