The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 20: Dwelling Of Ramiris

We stood at the outskirts of the barony. Well, Erebus and I were standing firm, the other two have a slight wobble in their steps now. I had warned them that the fastest way to travel, either by riding Erebus or by me carrying them, was going to do a number on them. Cruz was alright with it. At the time. With no other landmark except it being near a mountain range, which I hadn't seen before, it took some time to find where the small territory was.

"Th-thank you, we'll be fine from here," The girl commented, nearly following over.

"It was nothing," I continued, "But I thought about the payment last night." I toss her my only copy of the Tenets.

After barely catching it, she opened it and read the title, "Tenets of True Dragons?" She read the first page quickly, "Oh, this is a book about Veldora and the monsters of the Jura Forest."

"Close," I corrected, "The first section is about Veldora and the Jura Forest, but it's also a religious doctrine."

"Is that so?" She closed the book and held onto it, "Then I take it the payment is spreading the words inside it."

"If you're worried the Holy Church branding you a heretic, I won't hold it against you if you burn it after I leave. As I said, delivering you here was nothing," I said before looking at the mountains.

"I won't burn it," She said a moment after, "Not at least before I've fully read it. But I should warn you, if you're going further south into the Dynasty, don't try to spread it."

"I'll keep that in mind. And do what you want with the book," I tapped the side of my head the mask was on, "It's all up here. Now, let's go Erebus."

"Yes, my lord," Erebus stood ready to follow after me.

"Wait, I haven't gotten your name," The girl said, causing me to look at her one last time.

I sighed, "I'm F/N Dora Tempest, son of the [Storm Dragon]." Her eyes grew wide at the claim and her butler stepped back. "I suppose I'll tell you to find me in the Jura Forest, in the village described in that book, should you need to bother me. Well, we'll be going now."

With a great leap, Erebus and I once again made our way south. At first, we followed along the mountain range, which descended into the territory of the Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion. We did not stop by any villages, towns, or cities to rest or for fun. In fact, at night was when Erebus traveled fastest. However, to make sure we remained heading in the right direction, we sometimes traveled on foot to speak with other people that were traveling.

One couple, both elves, were nice to talk with and asked about my business in Ulgrasia. I made up a story that an acquaintance of mine was getting married, and that I was on my way to invite their parents in Ulgrasia to the wedding. The two bought the story and after giving me directions and wishing me safe travels, they asked me to congratulate my friend on their behalf.

Only a few times did Erebus and I stop when we saw monsters. The first time was out of boredom. After dropping those two off, nothing of real note happened. I didn't really mind the peace, but at the same time, I expected enemies to appear along the way. With the cliché meeting the baron princess, I half expected another cliché to appear. None appeared. Instead, the second time we found monsters, they were a small village on the border of the Dynasty and Ulgrasia. In both cases, they quickly stopped being, what is known as, alive and in our way.

The destruction of the monster village had nothing to do with the fact that it appeared uncomfortably close to that elf's hometown. It's not that I felt bad for using [Lover's Embrace] on her or anything.

Erebus and I walked through the dense forest, looking for the entrance into the Dwelling. With his wolves scattered about it helped save us some time. Hidden away, a large stone gate sat at the top of a short stone staircase. A large, overgrown tree mostly consumed the stone wall, yet did not cover the gate. I stopped for a moment, as the sunlight beamed down through the forest and lit the door. It was a calm environment at the time.