Born In The Dungeons

Chapter 14: Grandfather

"Kingdom Gora thanks you, Emilia. You saved our future queen and found the murderer among us. And I, as a father who is happy to see my son with his healthy wife again... You have my deepest gratitude." King Ira of Gora bowed down to me at the foot of his throne. 

Prince Leo followed his father's lead and knelt beside his own throne on the right side. "As with I. Please accept my deepest gratitude. I am forever in your debt. If you ever need Kingdom Gora's help, know that you will receive it. As a future king, I make that promise to you."

After meeting the king and receiving a warm welcome to his kingdom, I was asked by Princess Liana to accompany her to the gardens. She was now fully recovered from the poison and looked healthy with her rosy cheeks and bright grey eyes. 

As we walked slowly through the colourful and blooming maze of the garden, we learned more about each other. I've taken a liking to her very quickly. Her gentle and kind nature drew me in, and I could see a good friendship growing between us.

When we stopped by a clearing where a field of familiar red flowers covered the ground like a carpet, I gasped and pointed at them. "Tulipberries!"

Liana smiled. "Yes. We grow them to feed the poor, and I believe these were harvested not too long ago. See how the petals are open?" She pointed to a tulip below. "The flowers are empty now."

I crouched down to look inside one and saw three berries at the bottom. Taking them out, I showed the princess. "Are you hungry by any chance?"

"Ah! They missed some," she said. Her stomach growled and she laughed, extending her hand to take one berry. "Thank you. It appears I am."

A large shadow suddenly covered the field and we both looked up at the sky. Nephos flapped his large wings and landed hard on the tulip field, crushing the poor flowers beneath him. He lifted one paw and looked under it, shaking off a petal that got stuck in between his claws. 

"Nephos, you destroyed them." I gasped and turned to Liana. "I am so sorry. Is--"

"Not to worry. They will grow back as good as new," she said, looking at Nephos in awe. He was now chasing his own tail and crushing more flowers with his weight.

I frowned. That wasn't my reaction at seeing this giant dragon for the first time. "You aren't...scared of him?"

She shook her head and tilted it to one side. "I wonder if they know each other."

She put her thumb and index finger between her lips and whistled twice. A short moment later a silvery grey dragon landed beside her gracefully. I wondered why Nephos couldn't do that. Perhaps it had to do with his size. The grey dragon was much smaller than him, nearly twice as small. 

Nephos stopped chasing his tail and straightened his posture when he saw the creature. The two dragons stared at each other.

"What's its name?" I asked Liana.

"His name is Vunos," she responded. "Leo and I named him when we found him in the mountains many years ago. The poor thing was on the verge of death. He was even smaller than he is now, and he can barely emit fire. Only small fire balls."

"I see. It's a good thing you found him. You saved his life."

Liana nodded. "How did you find your dragon?"

"He was the one that found me." I shrugged. "He saved me from being eaten by mountain lions and brought me to you."

She smiled and looked at Nephos. "Then I have him to thank as well. I will give him one of Vunos's goats as gratitude. Will he like that? Oh! I think they do know each other." She laughed and pointed. "Look."