Chp.21: Talking secretly in the tents

The return journey was rather uneventful. They encountered no further dangerous animals on the way and ascending the tunnel was relatively easy. Once they got to the point where the hole became vertical, the five wizards used wind magic again, this time lifting their bodies not down but up, and before long they were finally out.

Haku, Zamor and Isaac, along with many other people, were there waiting for them. No sooner had they come out and confirmed that no one was still down there, they canceled the magic of the earth runes and made the sand collapse into the hole, plugging it permanently. Whatever was down there had better stay down there, at least until they learned how to control it. Having completed the security procedures, they finally welcomed the brave explorers in the appropriate way, thanking them for their contribution. Rhaegal, Serengal and Corgorin deactivated their avatars and returned to their real bodies, while Carlos was examined by Isaac to make sure that indeed there was no sign of the malignant tumor left. Since the night was largely gone, as evidenced by the position of the stars and the moon, Zamor allowed Efren, Sarah, Martha and Lisah to go and rest at least for a few hours before the sun rose again and they had to leave again; Carlos would join them as soon as Isaac made sure he was healthy. Dyana and Atelas however were dismissed and were escorted to their tents by Leuce and Tzegorn, as they too needed some sleep.

Or at least, that was what they had said. And indeed that was exactly what they did: they went to their tent to rest... but their respective leaders went with them to be able to have a word before letting them sleep.

Leuce accompanied Dyana to her tent, and once he was sure there were no prying ears he asked her: "So, what can you tell me?"

The lioness let out a growl. "Those dragons are... very noisy, especially the females. And even those adventurers have a few wheels out of place. It almost seemed that they enjoyed arguing among themselves. More than adults, I felt like I was watching five or six year olds how childish they were" she grumbled, then her voice softened a little. "Though… they seem to be really close. The dragons and those adventurers, I mean. bitten by that snake the dragons looked really worried to me They weren't desperate like the other humans, of course, but they still showed a certain sadness at the thought that he might die. So, to answer the question you asked me when you gave me this mission... no, I don't think they're faking it. At least towards humans, those dragons' feelings seem genuine"

Of course, Leuce and the other chief lionmen hadn't sent Dyana along with the adventurers just to provide some input at least in part; they had done it to verify if the dragons really were willing to help them, or they were just pretending to complete some sinister plan of theirs. After all, how many leaders had their duty to make sure they weren't being led into a trap. Both lionmen and tigermen did not trust them; not only were they dragons, which in itself was a good reason to be on guard, but they were relying way too much on them. Dragons held great power in that caravan of refugees, as they were the ones who showed the way and provided much aid. If they had decided to betray them they could easily have done so; and if they wanted to control them they could just as easily have done so, as Darbi had already done earlier by demonstrating this factor. It was therefore imperative to discover their true intentions; it was part of their role as leaders. Even those most willing to tolerate their presence, such as Leuce himself, couldn't sleep completely peacefully before having ascertained this. In fact, if their judgment proved wrong, all their people could have paid a very high price.

Clearly they couldn't go and ask them directly, or try to test them; the dragons had proven themselves time and time again to be very cunning and surely he would have known of their intentions, and that could have done more harm than good. Not only would they have become more cautious, but they could also have taken offense and decided to punish them, or demand compensation for this offense suffered. It would have been logical behavior and it would have been impossible not to agree with them. However, if the dragons themselves created a situation where they could be tested, that changed everything. The exploration of a completely unknown underground was an unmissable opportunity; no one knew what was down there, but given the encounters they had already had with the local fauna, it was likely that situations would arise by which their behavior could be assessed. If for example in a dangerous situation a dragon would have run away instead of helping an injured comrade, then this would have shown that they didn't really feel empathy towards other living beings and that they were only pretending, but that in reality what they what mattered to them was only their interest. Unfortunately the dragons had gone on a mission with their avatars, which was understandable given what had happened in the last few weeks, so the life-threatening situation was difficult to realize... but it was probable that other events would have occurred which would have allowed us to reveal a person's true character.

So they had sent someone to check the situation. They had chosen Dyana, not only because she was an excellent warrior, but also because she was loyal and above all she was very attentive to certain details. She would monitor the situation and analyze everyone's behavior, and from there she would draw her conclusions and report them to her chiefs, who would then decide how to act accordingly. For this reason she had voluntarily asked to capture the frog-lizard alive: to create a complicated situation and verify what would have happened in that case.

Leuce rubbed his chin. "So you think we can trust them?"

Dyana thought carefully. "I think they are really friends with those humans. But as far as trust from all of us… I still can't tell you" she said. "What I do know for sure though is that their relationship with humans is much closer than the one they have with all of us beastmen. I'm sure they did something to them, because those humans' strength level wasn't what I thought. they had said". She scratched her lip with a fingernail. "When we chopped off that human's arm, the chances of regenerating it would have been almost zero for a level silver mage. They tried to convince me that they were going to infuse their mana into it in some way, which I don't know can be done, and they avoided my questions. But then, with everything that happened, they forgot about that detail and they only dealt with healing the human from the tumor... and as a result the human regenerated his arm from This proves that he has a higher level of strength than the level silver, and he certainly can't have gotten it by training as I clearly remember that when the sand sharks attacked us he showed exactly that level of strength and in some cases he also seemed fatigued. So something abnormal must have happened to increase his strength. My theory is that the dragons did something to those humans to increase his strength and decrease the risks they would take in this exploration"

Leuce thought carefully about Dyana's words. "Mh. My sources have confirmed to me that dragons use their blood to fuel their items and their runes... and from what the legends say, drinking a dragon's blood increases an individual's strength exponentially. If indeed those humans have gone from level silver to a higher level in such a short time, it is likely that they have received the blood of a dragon". This worried Leuce: this showed that between the five humans and the dragons there was a deep bond, but it also showed that the dragons had no such bond towards the beastmen since they had not offered their blood to anyone else, not even Zamor. Moreover, this unequivocally demonstrated which side in the event of a dispute the dragons would choose. This could be dangerous in the long run. But there were also positive sides: if dragons really trusted someone to the point of supplying them with their blood, it meant that they weren't completely devoid of empathy, and above all that they could really become attached to people. If the beastmen had managed to have that same relationship with them, then things would have been rosy. But it was still too early to draw conclusions. "I trust your judgment, Dyana. Therefore, starting tomorrow your task will be to become friends with those adventurers and extract from them all possible information about dragons. It will be easy for you to approach them since you have lived this adventure together. Become their best friend or even seduce one of them if necessary, but find out how trust works for dragons. Once we know this, we can be sure whether we can trust them back or not"

Dyana nodded without batting an eye. She had no problem cheating people by posing as their friend, not if it meant contributing to the safety of her people. She was willing to do anything to prevent a repeat of tragedies like the one they had just come out of. It would have been easy for her to get close to the adventurers: it would have been enough to go to them the next day with the excuse of knowing how Carlos was doing. And through them she could easily have gotten to the dragons as well. "It will be done" she declared without any wavering in her voice.

Meanwhile, in another tent nearby, Atelas was instead conferring with Tzegorn. The tigerman was saying much the same things to his boss as Dyana, but much more clearly. In fact, he knew many more things than she did... because he had been able to hear rather more interesting things. "Mh. So you're telling me the God of Knowledge gave that dragon a prophecy?" Tzegorn murmured in amazement.

"Yes. I heard it clearly thanks to the amplifiers. Unfortunately the human stopped the dragon before he could tell him what it was" Atelas replied. The amplifiers he was referring to were small magical objects that were inserted into the ears and provided better sound reception. Atelas knew that if he put them on directly the dragons would notice, so he waited for Rhaegal to send him away from him and Efren and then put them on. Normally he wouldn't have had a chance to hear what they were saying from the top of that column (or fungus) he'd been asked to climb, but thanks to the amplifiers he'd been able to hear Efren and Rhaegal's conversation clearly, learning many interesting things, including the fact that humans had received dragon blood, that Rhaegal had been tortured, and most importantly, that he had received a prophecy.

Tzegorn thought carefully. He didn't care much about that dragon's traumas, so the information about the torture wasn't worth much. And even the question of the dragon's blood, even if it could be used as a weapon of blackmail, would have had little value: if Tzegorn had tried to blackmail Rhaegal with that information, he would probably have preferred to confess the truth to his siblings in person, the which ones would get mad at him but then they would also go and play them at the tigerman. However, the prophecy was particularly interesting: Tzegorn knew how important the prophecies of the God of Knowledge were. However, he also knew how dangerous it was to try and interfere in the plans of the gods, especially that particular god. He had to proceed very carefully if he wanted to avoid ending really bad.

Atelas' voice shook him out of his thoughts: "Anyway, sir, I think we can at least try to trust those dragons. Their reactions, their behaviors, their words were very genuine. If we build the same level of trust that they have those humans with them..."

"Atelas, no. Don't be fooled" Tzegorn stopped him quickly. "Our history has taught us all too well what happens when a dragon decides to take an interest in us. I, all the other leaders, and even those who ruled us who died in battle... we studied that part of the history very well, and therefore we know that we cannot let our guard down in their presence"

"Are you referring to the fact that a dragon attacked our people centuries ago?" Atelas asked. "I know the story too, everyone knows it..."

"No, Atelas. You and all other ordinary people know only a part of it, the most violent. The essentials have been handed down only among the upper echelons of our society" Tzegorn replied. His face became quite gloomy. "So listen to me and don't forget my words: never trust a dragon. Never. They may seem docile and friendly to you now, and maybe even they think they are like that, but as soon as they get the chance they will bite you and leave you no way out. It's their nature"