Lord Fheldin (2/2)

Once Hraldin gets to the end of the story about the dragons' escape, Fheldin realizes that 3 of the dragons got away. Instead of getting angry (like Haalfrin expected), Fheldin lifts his head up and gives an encouraging laugh, "AHAHA! I'm so proud of them!"

"..." ~ Haalfrin

Fheldin turns to one of the servants hanging out in one of the human-sized halls nearby. "Tell my treasurer to send Tefka, Kree, and Faalk enough funds to last them for a decade, as well as plots of private land from my territory. Also, send them my regards."

"FATHER!" the youngest dragon roars out in excitement, "Does that mean we're not in trouble!?"

"..." Fheldin turns to the dragon who just spoke. "...Are you an idiot? Have you forgotten the lessons I've taught you?"

"W-w-w-which lessons?"

"Tell me!" Fheldin sternly lectures, "what are your crimes!?"

"We lied to you! We tried to run away from home!" the 6 dragonlings all cry in chorus.

"WRONG!" Fheldin's voice at that moment was still calm and measured, but it felt like a shout to everyone listening. They all shudder and look down.

"Your crime," the lord of the dragons says, "was getting caught. Lying, stealing, murdering, and kidnapping, then getting away with it is a victory, and victory is a virtue... Lying, stealing, murdering and kidnapping, then getting caught, is defeat. Defeat is a crime."

"..." ~ Haalfrin

"HONEY!" the phoenix slaps Fheldin's arm, "What did I tell you about the children!?"

"..." ~ Fheldin

The dragon lord WAS going to add an extra bit on his lecture, saying that his duty as a father is to teach natural consequences. Victors get rewarded by life, and losers get punished with poverty, pain, and humiliation.

Instead, there is a long pause from Lord Fheldin. Then, he turns to the kids again and says in a kinder tone, "Your 3 runaway brothers have done something terrible, lying to their own family members like that. However, I'm so deeply worried about them that I can't leave them destitute. Send them money and territory."

He turns to Hraldin and says, "beat them up and send them to their rooms." He points at his 6 shivering sons.

The 6 dragons take one last look at Fheldin as the fire in his eyes momentarily flares up. 'Despite looking so calm on the surface,' they think, 'Dad must be REALLY angry, right? Ugh... he probably wants to split our skulls open...'

---------------------

'Eh heh heh...,' Fheldin thinks while looking at his 6 terrified sons, 'I'm so proud of these boys! Maybe I should tell Hraldin to go easy on them... No, no, they need to have it pounded into them that defeat has nasty consequences, or they'll be careless growing up.'

In reality, Fheldin isn't angry at any of his children at all; in fact, he's VERY happy over this turn of events.

Indeed, these 9 children had gone hundreds of years without trying to escape once. Papa was starting to get worried these children had no ambitions and had contented themselves with living in failure. It's good to see his children willing to challenge him - albeit, indirectly.

What any father doesn't want to see is his children waste away into insignificance, forever cowering away from challenging the world - too afraid to crave anything more from life.

Just thinking about his children finally trying to grow up, Fheldin barely suppresses sniffing back his tears of joy.

However, it wouldn't do to have his image ruined, so he puts on his stern face and pretends that he's mad at them.

In Fheldin's mind, they all have to be afraid of him in order to serve as a proper stumbling block for them to overcome.

---------------------

Once the runaway dragons carry themselves to their rooms to await their punishment, Fheldin turns to Haalfrin and says, "So, you're the human I heard about…" He narrows his eyes. "Death Aura, huh? You must be a budding Death God."

"What?" Haalfrin asks, "Have you seen one before or something? I mean, how did you know that?"

"In fact, I HAVE met a god candidate before with Death Affinity. You heard of Freyya?"

"Oh?" Haalfrin asks with interest, "Where did you meet her?"

"Here, in fact," Fheldin laughs. "Or rather, on this world. The Crow Clan she was born in is on this world, and I was alive to see the beginning of her reign as a Death god."

Hearing this, Haalfrin can't lie and say he's not interested in paying the Crow Clan a visit… Though with his duel at hand, he likely won't be able to go there.

What a pity.

"So," Haalfrin asks, "Can I fight you now?"

Fheldin starts pacing back and forth while thinking aloud. "…I did hear you've defeated some of my children, Sir Dragon Slayer. Being a god candidate, that certainly explains why you could do so. Hmm… Being a god candidate makes you a creature of equal social standing to me, which means I have to treat you with chivalry."

"…What does this 'chivalry' mean?" Haalfrin asks with concern. Having Dakka claim to be chivalrous, only to wantonly burn, pillage, and kidnap directly afterward... He feels that the word "chivalry" has no clear meaning to dragons.

"Chivalry means," Fheldin explains, "that I can't fight you while you're in a weakened state." He points to Haalfrin's stubbed leg. "That would be dishonorable."

"Oh…," Haalfrin sighs in disappointment.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Fheldin says while reaching around his own neck. "Here, take this pendant. It has my personal crest on it. If you show it to my front door, I'll know you've come immediately, and I'll open the gate for you. Also, show it to anybody who makes trouble for you. It'll let them know that nobody is allowed to kill you except for me."

Haalfrin takes the pendent, yet his mood isn't getting any better.

"Oh, don't pout!" Fheldin consoles him, "I hear the humans have VERY advanced medical skills. Sometimes, the Rehkin send their people (for a fee) to get severed limbs regrown."

"…I'm a human, and I've never heard of such technology."

Fheldin replies, "Of course. All the greatest human minds live in the Threshold, and all their most potent arcane technology is kept there. It's not just the time-locking enchantments that are unique to that fortress, after all."

Haalfrin bows his head and says, "Thank you for your generosity. I'll be back one day…"

"I look forward to it."

Just before Haalfrin walks away for good, he gives one last look of expectation to Hraldin, who is standing off to the side with a blank look.

Seeing Haalfrin's face, Hraldin scratches his head and says, "Sorry. Dad said that dueling people when they're not at their best is dishonorable."

"!!!" ~ Haalfrin

---------------------

As Haalfrin is being escorted out of the dragons' den by Hraldin, the human is walking on the ground this time, with Hraldin at his side in humanoid form. They're not in much of a hurry right now, and Fheldin's eldest son likes the human enough to make small talk with him

"Any questions for me, human?" Hraldin asks while puffing his chest proudly. "I know everything you might want to ask!"

"Yeah," Haalfrin asks, "Why have I only seen boy dragons? Do you only have brothers or something?" For humans, men and women are about 50/50 (with slightly more boys born, to account for boys dying young more often). As for dragons... why do they all seem to be men?

Hraldin looks down, and his tail droops down, dragging on the floor in sadness. "It's a punishment from the gods," the dragon says. "At least, that's what father told me."

Seeing that Haalfrin is interested in this, the 4 horned dragon explains, "Father said that a dragon's power runs in our blood, and that blood is a gift from Drakavar - our ancestor."

"That Drakavar a black dragon with 7 horns?" Haalfrin interjects a question.

Hraldin has a "don't know" look on his face before he continues talking, "Anyway, when a dragon has a child with a woman not of his race, our blood is diluted, and the child is destined to be weaker than the parent. Father is a 5-horned dragon, but I can never be that strong because my dragon blood was diluted with Mother's."

"Oh," Haalfrin consoles the man, "So your Names are capped at 4. That sucks."

"Yeah..."

"So," Haalfrin adds, "I suppose that means that if both parents are dragons, then the children's dragon blood is either preserved, or it grows stronger?"

"That's right," Hraldin nods vigorously, "that's why the gods placed a curse on the dragon race. We grew so powerful that they all got scared of us."

"With no female dragons," Haalfrin adds, "your race is destined to forever grow weaker over time, instead of growing stronger."

This makes Haalfrin very thoughtful, so he spends the rest of the trip out of the palace without talking while he pretends to listen to Hraldin prattle off about how pretty a girl dragon must be, if they still existed.

---------------------

Once Haalfrin leaves the dragon's palace, he makes the long walk up the ramp while thinking about his complicated situation with his leg and his delayed duel with Fheldin.

'I literally just made an enemy out of the entire Threshold,' Haalfrin mentally protests, 'and now I have get their help? Great. That'll be awkward.'