"The Mouth… is a dragon?" Bernar asked first, earning a nod of confirmation from Ryfon. "I'm almost just as surprised as you all seem to be, but he's had his reasons for hiding for so long," Ryfon said, getting up from his kneeling position.
"It seems I have my work cut out for me, then. I apologize for my abrupt exit, but there are certain matters I need to attend to," he said, giving Ysevel a warm smile and the rest of us a slight bow.
He walked over to the edge of the balcony and leaped over the railing. With a surge of some of the purest mana I've ever felt, a twenty-meter-long white dragon with scarlet traces along the bones of its wings and crests of its scales soared into the twilight sky.
"Hoooooly fuck," I nearly shouted, more surprised by Ryfon's display than anything else. "Oh, right. You haven't seen him in his draconic form, have you? Don't worry, he can get much larger than that," Bernar said, putting his hands on his hips as if he wasn't surprised or impressed.
The feeling I'm getting from your core doesn't lie, brother, I sent him, hoping not to embarrass him more than I needed to. Oh, fuck off, will you? Bernar snapped back, causing me to chuckle.
"Well, I think that's a good place to start. We'll have to wait for him to come back and let us know he's completed his preparations for that trip," Ysevel began, getting up from the bench and pulling me along with her.
"But I think it'll be a good idea for us to get some rest. Thoma will finally be cleared from the infirmary tomorrow, and I've heard there's a special surprise for him after his release," she continued, giving me a wry smile.
What are you up to? I asked, trying to get the information out of her. Nothing, she sent back, blocking me from figuring out whatever it was, while Mom and Bernar went off snickering to their rooms, likely knowing what she was hiding.
The following morning, I woke up to a checklist of tasks to clear the infirmary. Apparently, it wasn't as simple as a quick good to go and pat on the back as it was in Codrean. Regardless, I was impressed by how thorough they were during my final examination, and bowed to express my gratitude.
"Any friend of Ryfon's is a friend of ours, so there is no need for you to bow. Also, Lady Syldir sends her regards," Ilyas, the one who tended to me during my stay, said, offering me a Caegweni bow. "S-She did? Well, you can tell her that I can't think of a better and more thorough person to have taken care of me in such a state than you, Ilyas," I said, bowing once more, causing him to chuckle.
"Lady Ysevel hardly left your side, so you should thank her just as much as you have me," Ilyas chuckled, his bright white eyes shutting to mere slits as he smiled. "Don't worry, she already knows," I said, grabbing the long flowing robe from the rack. It was black, just like the one my mother was wearing, though I didn't find it difficult to adjust to fit my body, having had a similar experience with Dwarven clothing.
Is it just me, or is Polarion like an amalgamation of cultures from Kavrass? I wondered, thinking back on everything I'd learned about the truth of that realm.
Brushing the thought aside, I made my way down the stairs to the courtyard, where Ysevel was waiting for me in similar clothing to what I was wearing. "There you are. I was wondering how much longer that was going to take," she smiled brightly as she made sure I was wearing the robe correctly.
"What can I say? Ilyas is extremely thorough," I shrugged as she adjusted my collar a little. She quickly pulled me in for a kiss, then smiled wryly. "Someone's here to see you," she said, jutting her head over her shoulder subtly. As I looked beyond her, I saw there were three people about Ryfon's height waiting for me.
The first had pinkish-blonde hair, bright blue eyes with hints of orange, and a build that reminded me a lot of my mother, only roughly a full meter taller. The second was Lady Syldir, whom I recognized from the day prior. However, the third was staring at me so intensely that I thought I was going to have a hole blown through my chest at any moment.
Her piercing golden eyes flickered with countless tendrils of mana, matching the highlights of her pure white robes that I couldn't have found a speck of dirt on if I tried. Her long, white hair was braided along the sides of her head that trailed back toward her nape. The braids met up with the rest of her hair and were secured by a golden clasp that twinkled like the stars of the Twilight Sea.
Ysevel and I approached them and greeted them with a bow. "Lady Syldir, it's a pleasure to see you again," I said with the utmost humility, knowing formality would serve me better when in a public area. "Likewise, Thoma. Allow me to introduce you to two people who have been anxious to meet you since hearing about your victory over Mideia," she gestured to each side, letting the two take a step forward.
"This is my daughter, Vauv. She's a… close friend of Erumon's, and has heard all about you from him," Syldir began, gesturing to her right. "Pleasure to meet you, Lady Vauv," I said, dipping my head with a hand across my chest. "Lady Vauv? Hah! Ysevel, did you really not tell him anything about me?" she chuckled, putting a hand across her mouth.
"I didn't say a word. I wanted it to be a surprise, remember?" Ysevel chuckled. "Of course, of course. It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Thoma. You may simply call me Vauv, since I think that will help ease any tension you might feel," she said with a radiant smile that all but mimicked the sun. "If you say so," I shrugged, growing immediately comfortable with her.
"And this is Kanarin Damiran, though I think it would be best if I let you two greet each other properly, first," Syldir said wryly. As soon as the words left her mouth, I immediately felt Ysevel's hand let go of my arm and realized she'd used the odoruki technique to step away.
Wait, what the…? I cut myself off as an overwhelming sense of dread filled my core.
Instinctively, I formed my kataki blade, and moved it in front of me, just in time to catch a balled fist aimed at my chest that moved faster than I had time to process. The shockwave would have sent me flying right back into the infirmary, but being in the fifth stage seemed to be enough to keep me on my feet.
I gritted my teeth through the impact, feeling my freshly healed wounds and bones strain against the weight of her strike. I managed to tear my eyes from the point of impact and realized her expression hadn't changed at all.
It's like she's not even trying, I gritted my teeth, then used my odoruki technique to reposition myself and try to land a strike of my own.
I reappeared to my right, and thought I'd gained the upper hand in positioning, but she was already there waiting for me to reappear. A balled fist came down, hoping to crush me into the ground and forcing me to move yet again, but like before, she was already there with a prepared uppercut.
Holy fuck, she's quick, I thought, immediately retracting my blade and twisting my body just enough to avoid it.
I used my left hand to try to push her blow to the side, but she quickly came down with an elbow aimed at my temple. I understood, then, that I was out of position, my center of gravity was offset, and I had no other choice but to try my best and mitigate the hit by putting my palm between us.
The force of that one strike alone was nearly enough to shatter all the bones in my hand, and I could tell that even then, she was still holding back. I used the momentum from the strike to launch me into a flip and, hopefully, be able to land a kick to her head.
She caught my ankle with a single hand and held me aloft for a moment, regarding me curiously for a heartbeat before she launched me into the air to roughly about the same height as the balcony I'd sat on the night prior.
Using the odoruki technique to regain my balance in mid-air, I leaned into the space between us, and appeared before her, lowering myself to dodge her left hook and aiming a balled fist at her stomach.