The Battle With Kalkor (2/2)

During the long flight back to the Threshold, Haalfrin ends up randomly asking the older dragon, "Anyway, aren't you mad about your nephew...?"

"Oh," the dragon snaps awake, "you mean how you killed him? Anyway, the fact that his soul and power follows you means that you defeated him with your own power. There's nothing to be mad about this."

"He's your nephew," Haalfrin points out, "and he died. Does that really mean nothing to you?"

The dragon only shrugs, "If you fight often enough, you will lose. Dakka lived recklessly and followed that stupid battle cult. His death is entirely his fault."

"Uh..." Haalfrin grunts before saying, "I don't know about defeating him with my own power. He fell at a prison fortress, and I used their defenses to take Dakka down, along with many lingering spirits...."

The dragon slayer then goes into great detail describing his fight with Dakka.

To this, the dragon king responds curtly, "Cunning is a form of power. The fortress defenses were trying to kill you as well, but you managed to turn it all against Dakka. He was too stupid to do the same."

The dragon adds, "Authority is also a form of power; you had an army of Wills willing to perish for you, and without them, you'd definitely have lost. Sending minions to do your dirty work is a perfectly respectable way to terrorize your enemies."

Hearing this dragon so calmly and consicely point this out, Haalfrin groans to Dakka, "Why weren't your other uncles so logical? They were all stuck up baffoons who thought they had to avenge you at all costs!"

Dakka doesn't answer this.

Instead, Haalfrin looks up and asks, "Oh, Mr. Dragon King... I never caught your name?"

"It's Kalkor."

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Along the way to the Threshold, Haalfrin asks a few more questions; specifically, he's VERY curious about what's so special about 7 horned dragons. After all, Haalfrin keeps on seeing a 7 horned dragon in his Soul visions, so it must be important.

Kalkor laughs at this question. "Nevermind a 7 horned dragon, you'd be hard pressed to find a 6 horned dragon anywhere! Ever since the gods cursed our race, we weren't able to breed those behemoths anymore; with no new 6 horns being born, the greatest among us can only dwindle."

Haalfrin wiggles his toes in frustration. "Yes, but what about the 7 horns?"

Kalkor looks up – this time more seriously. "It's said that a 7 horned dragon can't be born. Rather, the only way to become a 7 horned dragon is to slay it."

The human rolls his eyes, "What, so if I killed a 7 horned dragon, I'd become one myself? Yeah, that sounds a little far fetched."

"I'm being serious, human." Kalkor looks down and glares at Dakka, "You'd better listen too, little nephew."

This information about the greatest of dragons is new to Dakka as well, since Fheldin himself teaches all his children the day they become 4 horned dragons. Since Dakka ascended on another world, he had no access to this advanced information.

Now that Dakka is listening too, Kalkor continues explaining, "Power is Force, and Force changes hands all the time. When you punch, you give some energy from your body away, and you put it into whatever you're punching. It's the same concept; Power NEVER stays with the same person all the time. That's a Universal Law."

"Oh," Haalfrin realizes, "so since the 7 horned dragons are the closest to the truth of Power there is, then even their positions as dragon gods can be taken away from them at some point."

"Exactly," Kalkor smiles while baring his teeth. "For this reason, the number of 7 horned dragons can never go down; even if you slay it, you'll just be creating another one. That's why the 100 dragon gods have all been mostly been sealed away by the gods of other races."

"Any stories of a BLACK dragon with 7 horns?" Haalfrin asks expectantly. All he knows from his visions is that the dragon who fells him in the future is a dragon with this description, and that it's a HER, and that her name is Drakavar.

"A black dragon?" Kalkor looks up in confusion. "Black isn't a natural color. Hmm… Father always mentioned specifically that there will never be a family line of black scaled dragons; he was oddly specific about that."

Haalfrin isn't disappointed with Kalkor's answer; if Lord Fheldin was so sure about there being no black dragons born, then he probably knows the reason WHY this Drakavar is so special. "I'll have to remember to ask Fheldin this next time I see him," Haalfrin thinks.

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Given that a Drakin more powerful than Dakka is carrying the team, the make it back to the Thershold far faster than the original trip up. In fact, Kalkor was flying them so fast across the landscape that Haalfrin doesn't even have time to report to Commander Fisco through the Far Speak medallion; instead, the entire trip had been occupied by Haalfrin's and Kalkor's brief conversation.

When they get to their destination, Haalfrin smiles at the gratifying look of shock on the guards posted outside the mountain. After all, only once had a 4 horned dragon (much less, one as huge as Kalkor) ever visited the Threshold before, and that was before none but the eldest of the soldiers here can remember.

Kalkor then drops them all off, and he flies back to his own territory. Without wasting any more time, Haalfrin runs over to the Commander's office to report in person and apologize for taking so long.

"…and that's how it all went down," Haalfrin reports with a rigid stance.

Fisco looks down at his desk for a moment before saying, "Next time, stay out of the big battle. I can't afford for you to get yourself hurt before your term as my subordinate is over with."

Frankly, Fisco is flabbergasted (well, more flabbergasted than usual) at Haalfrin's recklessness. What kind of insane person charges into a battle with millions of enemy soldiers and no back up?

"Respectfully, I can't do that, sir. I had the strength to participate," Haalfrin says, "so it would be wrong to stand by."

Fisco sighs and grumbles, "Well, me and the other humans aren't as strong as you, I suppose. Anyway, your 100 years is up… yesterday. I suppose you've also come in person so you could sign your resignation papers?"

Haalfrin looks at Fisco dead in the eye without saying anything.

Fisco leans back in his chair with an exhausted look, "Would you consider in the Threshold until the Ant crisis is over with?"

There's some deep thought reflected in the dragon slayer's eyes as he says, "What about the outside? In order for the Ant Queen to compete against the dragons, they'll have to eat a LOT. Millions or billions of people are going have to die for their victory."

"They have the dragon kings, and Lord Fheldin above them. The Drakin are neither weak nor stupid – especially those who have managed to escape from Fheldin's Lair," Fisco points out, "but what about the Threshold? What about the billions of lives behind that world gate? There are no Drakin who care enough about the humans to forsake their territory in order to protect our world. You, Haalfrin, are the strongest person there is among the humans."

"Is that an order?" Haalfrin frowns.

"It's not an order," Fisco frowns back, "but you must remember that my sole job is to make sure the World Gate isn't breeched by dangerous creatures like the Ant Queen. If I have to strip off my badge and make you the Commander in order to keep you here, then I will."

As if to show his point, Fisco rips off the golden medal on his chest and throws it at Haalfrin's feet. Haalfrin doesn't move to pick it up.

Instead, the dragon slayer looks down at the stone bottle on his waist, then frowns.

Of course, Frey is no longer in the bottle, but he still keeps it on his waist for old time's sake.

"Is this really the crisis that Freyya warned about 100 years ago?" he asks Fisco. Then, he pulls out the Crow goddess's token that Fisco had given him, as if to remind him of what they both learned a century ago.

Fisco nods, "More than likely."

Seeing Haalfrin deep in thought, Fisco lets him be; it wouldn't do to impatiently interrupt him and make him angry at this critical moment.

After several minutes, Haalfrin abruptly asks, "Did the Crow goddess say how many are going to die?"

"More than likely…," Fisco says, "… the Threshold will fall. I wouldn't count on surviving."

"Hmm...," Haalfrin hums. "Very well. You can count on me to stay they kind, at least."

The dragon slayer then looks down with a frown, presses his foot on the Commander's badge and kicks it across the floor to Fisco. "And put that thing back on already! I don't want your stupid office!"