Old Friends Reunited

Vixton, the once bustling port city in the region of Noyøra, lay in ruin.  Half the docks in the port lay in splintered piles.  Many ships forlornly lay half-sunk in the harbor.  All that remains intact in the city are the two stone sea turtle sentinels that guarded the narrow mouth of the harbor.  The bright colors of the Dragon’s Pride were the only indications of the once blissful harmony that existed between humans and dragons in Vixton.  Amidst the rubble, Martha’s Tavern was still standing.  Inside, many of the regulars were partying as usual, unperturbed by their perpetual drunken stupor.  In a corner sat three dragons, long time friends and long time separated by the Humano-Draconic War in Noyøra.

Wyvcrist was captain of the Dragon’s Pride.  His body showed scars from numerous pirate raids.  Many of his cracked and broken grayish-purple scales have not yet healed from battles as general of the dragon armies.  His once free spirit had been hardened by the atrocities of war and the responsibility of commanding thousands of souls to their deaths.

Alhan owned another tavern in an isolated neighborhood in Vixton.  Once human centuries ago, he was possessed by a demon by the name of Sheihla.  He gave Alhan immortality and transformed him into a dragon.  He was covered in dark gray hide, wore a pair of hand-made leather shorts, and stood seven feet tall on two legs.  He was, in short, anthropomorphic.  Despite seeing far more death and devastation in the human ranks than Wyvcrist with the dragons, he remained a lively soul.

Thyos was resultant of the magic Sheihla gave Alhan.  Once a dragon slayer, he attacked Alhan in his own tavern.  Alhan knocked him unconscious and slipped on a magical ring that transformed him into a dragon.  After being adventurous in viewing the world through a dragon’s eyes instead of a human’s, he has returned to Vixton to find it all but completely destroyed by The War.  A robin’s egg blue in color, he was covered by feathers and had bird-like wings.  He wears a magically cloned twin of the pure gold ring Alhan used to make him so.  The real piece he carries on a necklace, waiting to pass the magical experience to another.

Wyvcrist and Thyos relaxed on the warm hearthstones of the corner fireplace while Alhan relaxed in a rocking chair.  They made casual conversation of their two-decade-long epic stories…

Wyvcrist: I miss the Vixton I left.
Alhan: We all do, my friend.
Thyos: We are friends, yet you two were blood enemies just two months ago.
Alhan: Things change.
Thyos: ‘Tis true.
Alhan: You are still wearing the ring.
Thyos: Only a duplicate.  I carry the authentic around me.
Alhan: You surprise me!
Thyos: Because I chose to stay the way I am?
Alhan: I thought you would become your old self.
Thyos: I still have not accustomed to wings and feathers, but I would rather be a dragon and live free.
Wyvcrist: The War has made freedom taboo.
Thyos: What war?  Is this why Vixton is under such tribulation?
Wyvcrist: The War has damaged much of Noyøra.  I am still surprised that you, Alhan, forgave me.
Alhan: The War has ended.  Enemies need to be friends now.  He reaches over and gives Thyos a quick scratch behind the ears.
Thyos: What war!?  I have been gone these twenty years.
Wyvcrist: Twenty years!?  Tell us what you have done these twenty years Alhan and I have passed in war.
Thyos: I have seen the world as a slayer.  I left Vixton to see the world as those I hunted.  I saw the world through fresh eyes.  I experienced everything again, and I met men with more self-worth than the pompous lords I once served.  I met another ten times my size and saved him from what I once was.
Alhan: You did not kill a man did you?
Thyos: Only one.  He was just about to kill a woman after violating her!
Wyvcrist: You did a noble deed.  What he did was unthinkable.
Alhan: What of the dragon you rescued?
Thyos: I near dealt a death blow to the slayer’s neck.  He was not worth the trouble.
Alhan: I see.  When did the ring break?
Thyos: That instant.  Dannør feared I would become a slayer again.
Wyvcrist: Alhan, it would have been easier to convince Thyos at your tavern that night.
Alhan: Then he would still see the world as a human, biased against what he now is.
Thyos: Alhan has a point.  If he has kept me human, I would only be acquainted with him.  I would have fought in this war you speak of instead of being reborn a new soul.
Wyvcrist: I am glad one of us has not seen worthless death.
Alhan: What of yours, Wyve?
Wyvcrist: My what?
Alhan: Your story.  What have you done?
Wyvcrist: I was general of the dragons’ ranks.  I was responsible for the battles in Tanangau.  I left my ship and crew.  In the final two years, I heard wind of their mutiny and desertion of the human navy.  They longed for my leadership, so I deserted my own ranks.  I have been in hiding with my ship and crew since.
Alhan: There is no logic in The War’s name.  Both races fought equally on both sides of The War.
Thyos: What be The War’s name?
Wyvcrist: Scholars are labeling it the “Humano-Draconic War.”
Thyos: I have heard news of a war, but if I had known it was in Noyora…
Alhan: We will forget The War and move onward.
Wyvcrist: The regulars here have well embraced that idea.
Enter a waitress.
Waitress: May I get you anything, Drakes?
Wyvcrist: Gin.
Alhan: Bourbon.
Thyos: Rum.
Waitress: I’ll be right back.  Exeunt.
Thyos: Beautiful weather today.
Wyvcrist: Indeed.  The sun shines brightly.
Alhan: ‘Tis illuminating a bright future.
Wyvcrist: How so?
Alhan: I saw a man and a dragon that were locked in mortal combat right up until the moment The War ended.  Upon the news that It ended, their hatred turned to friendship.  They be bondmates now, and are rebuilding their shop and home.
Thyos:Has Sheihla given you much trouble?
Alhan: Indubitably.  He has thrice attempted to repossess me.  Once he succeeded for three months.
Thyos: Damn.  Pity a man must suffer so for the pleasure of a creature that does not deserve to live.
Sheihla: He is happy!!  It was at the cost of my freedom!
Alhan: Yet you persist in controlling me.
Sheihla: I saved you from certain death!  I made you immortal, but you cannot survive death blows.  I dominated for those months for that reason.  Your death results in mine as well!
Alhan: You called to Lucifer, though!
Sheihla: I abandoned Him!  Not all demons serve Satan!  That is a label for amorphous creatures that cannot survive alone and have abilities that are associated with Him!  He gave me these powers, but I would not give Him my soul, so He punished me by joining my soul with yours.  I could not use my powers until I found you.  Now, they are ours for the keeping, and I can renounce His control over me.  He cannot touch us.  Not as long as we remain infused within each other.
Wyvcrist: What is your tale, Alhan my dear friend?
Alhan: I fought with the humans here, but I did not fight against the water dragons.  I fought to return peace and order to our walled-in sanctuary.  Garon lays bedridden under the intense care of the very dragon he attempted to kill.  His wife, Zari, is watching over the orphaned.  My own inn and tavern lays ransacked and robbed.
Sheihla: And several of his regulars have left his tavern to never return.
Enter the Waitress again.
Waitress: Here are your drinks, Drakes.
Wyvcrist: I’ll pay.
Waitress: That can be arranged.  Exeunt.
Thyos: I never anticipated the amount of respect I have received those past two decades.
Alhan: We are dragons.  Humans respect us.  We must choose our words carefully, and not forget.
Thyos: I figured that much out in the first year.  One cannot entirely be human.
Wyvcrist: Nope, but then again, what is human?  Many of their habits stem from us.  In essence, man cannot entirely be dragon.
Thyos: Lying?  Did dragons start the practice of recounting falsities?
Alhan: Unfortunately, yes.  However, the truth is severely underrated.
Wyvcrist: Indeed.
Alhan: I must return to my tavern and start rebuilding.  Care to join me?
Thyos: No.  I will stay here the night.
Alhan: I understand.  Exeunt.
Wyvcrist: I need to help my crew ready the Dragon’s Pride.  All sea worthy vessels are required to guard the harbor against any pirates that may have heard of the damage The War has done to Vixton’s defenses.  Exeunt.
Thyos: He is alone in the corner.  He takes another drink from his rum.  The War, which lasted two decades, was costly and bloody.  Two thirds of the humano-draconic population of Noyøra died in The War.  Half of those were not casualties on the battle front.  They were victims of genocide.  The War’s effects were not limited to Noyøra.  Many of the surrounding nations routed much of their trade through the country.  When the waterways were blockaded, whole kingdoms declared war on each other from disputes on overland trade routes.  These humans sought the wisdom of their region’s draconic population to work things out.  After The War, humans and dragons united in a single super-race.  Scholars, or even fortune tellers, cannot predict our demise, but I think that the alliance will endure forever…and then some.  Exeunt.  The curtain falls.