---

Meria looked at Noble and nodded. "Indeed, I am a sorceress," she said to him and examined him. "We will talk about that later, let's sit with the Hermit first. She chose a place near the fire and decided to wait for the soup and listen to the others. She had found these people and helped them, but the hermit never was her goal. She glanced aside, to the lake where the small dragon floated on the surface and curiously looked at all the humans and dragons. She needed to bring her to the sea.
She turned her attention to Duncan when he began to explain his reasons for being here.

Mikhal smiled when Gnol doubted his ability to drink Dwarven ale, but didn't feel the need to defend himself. He looked at the Wyvern and stretched his arm out so it could rest there. "You will like my friend too," he said to it. "Shall we go sit by the fire?"
He was curious to what everyone else wanted to discuss with the hermit and maybe he could even help them as well.
"That is a noble quest," he said as he sat down, looking at Duncan. "The best I heard are rumours of questionable origin, but I'm more than willing to join you in your quest."

The Hermit laughed and started coughing. "Very noble quest indeed," he said between coughs and giggled some more. He stirred in the soup as he allowed the people to talk amongst themselves, he would share his knowledge in time.
He looked at the gathered people, if he could get them all working together, he glanced at Trevor specifically when the thought came to mind, the world had a fighting chance. Of course some people needed to be honest about their origin too.

Trevor stayed with Gnol, not giving any indication he wanted to join the others at the fire. "He may not look like it, but he can hold his beer surprisingly well," he said, but gave his words another thought. "I've rarely seen him drink more than one pint of heavy beer though."
He noticed the hermit looking at him and he glared back. Whatever the old man had in mind, he would have no part in it. The last thing he wanted was to join some kind of wild goose chase that would get them all killed in the end. And he wanted it even less if those bloody dragons were involved.

Rachel looked at Duncan when he talked. "You did find some dragon riders, that's true. And with some proper trainer we might be able to let our ranks grow." She looked at Ricki now, the girl had a dragon, but was far from being a Dragon Rider. If that was something she wanted to be. She was glad Damien was here too. If he had survived, others may have survived too. Hopefully they would find more, because rookie dragon riders were not going to be much help if it came to war.

Damien nodded as she put it away, he looked towards RedClaws silently before he bowed his head. "I do not know the feeling of losing a dragon, or what it's like losing a rider." He said quietly, "But the Order have a dragon much like you; he was the dragon of the Head Rider- the Old King."
He moved to stand behind most of the people, staying out of the way but within earshot. Orian moved quietly, inching away from the Star Dragon and headed over behind his Rider and moved his forelimb to pull him back onto his neck, offering himself as a seat. "Thank you buddy." Damien said quietly with a smile.

Damien, Ria and Noble all watched Duncan, and as soon as he mentioned the Heir- All three of them looked away. Damien clenched his fists, tapping them against Orian gently; Ria looked at her feet shyly, holding her breathe, waiting for anyone else to speak. Noble focused all of his energy on not standing up; Part of him wanted to, part of him thought he needed to.
But he didn't. He breathed in once Duncan had spoken and settled down. "I.." He started, coughing to try and clear his throat, "I want to find the Order. I... have questions for the leader... I've lost my family and... I need answers."

Ricki listened as she stood beside Seb, she looked at the ground before she looked at her hands. She clenched them with a small sigh.
She didn't really have a quest, she didn't have a reason. She had formed a bond with this dragon... She had escaped from... The Kings grips. She couldn't remember much before then.
Seb looked at Ricki and moved to rub her head gently. "Its okay little one." He spoke in another language, "You have a dragon now. Think of the possibilities!"
Aero chirruped at Mikhal's words, moving to settle across his shoulders quietly, giving a small huff of soft grey air.

Ark watched the skies as the humans spoke; she decided she was on watch.
She had no reason to mingle with the smaller dragons, RedClaws was really the only one she'd see herself getting along with, maybe even Mercury- but that was only due to him being of her kind.
Mercury stayed where he was, unsure if he wanted to move towards the other dragons or towards Fiona. He gave a small mumble before he started to settle on the ground where he stood.

Duncan smiled at Mikhal as he wanted to join in on the quest but before he could say thank you he looked confused at the Hermit as he seemed to find it very funny that it is a noble quest. Usually the first reaction of people when they learned someone is on a noble quests would not be laughter.
"Rumours I heard too. One or two of those led me here in the hope I could get more information, either about the dragons or the missing heir. I consider my quest of finding the dragon riders complete although I will offer my help to help them regroup. At this point I have as little information on either of my remaining goals so none of them are a priority yet." Duncan stared in the fire a bit as he felt a strange sensation like he needed to go somewhere. "I mean someone must have seen the dragons leaving here to go somewhere safe and provide some direction."

Alan looked at Duncan. "I cannot help you there, last I heard was that the dragons left and the riders were defeated. I got an abandoned dragon egg in possesion and brought it along to keep it safe. It hatched and now I am going to do everything I can to keep my partner safe. For now that is my priority but I am willing to help anyone out who needs my help as long as it isn't too dangerous for a young dragon." He looked at Terasivas who was still sleeping. "Maybe we stay with his new friend, I don't know yet."

Gnol chuckled. "All the better, I don't have more then one pint availabe for him anyway." he said as he walked over to his horse to get his small barrel. He brought his barrel of dwarven ale over to the hermit. "four mugs please. One for you, one for me, one for the young bard who definitly deserves one for getting me on my horse and one for Trevor because he will be my new drinking buddy." He looked at the others. "I'm very sorry but I couldn't fit a larger barrel on my horse and can't share with everyone. I will have to owe everyone who didn't get one now." Duncan made a gestured that it was fine, he wanted his head clear anyway and dwarven ale was not good for that.
Gnol looked at Rachel. "Three riders made it to my clan, two with dragons. The one without dragon was severly injured though so I don't know if she made it. One took off to the East, no idea where she went she wouldn't tell. One stayed with his dragon to protect us." Gnol looked at everyone gathered. "I don't have anything urgent going about so I can help out if anyone needs my assistance. Although I would like to stop by my house in the clan if it is on the way." Gnol took one of the slices of cooked meat, tossing it from hand to hand and blowing as it was very hot before he took a first bite.

Crreessa took a second slice of raw meat and started eating. "Gosh you are all so righteous. My one and only goal is to see the King dead. Watch him as he uses his last breath to try and curse me. The last his eyes will see is my fury. I will achieve this by any means necessairy, even if it means doing it in the most despicable way. I am not going to play nice, I am not going to to guided by a good moral compass. He killed my moral compass. I will have my vengeance. He will be dead. and I will not rest till it happend. I will go alone if I have to or I will tag along with anyone who will bring me closer to my target. But I will not be stopped." Crreessa looked defiantly at the others.
RedClaws felt his blood pumping by Crreessa's words and felt very much alive. It was all he wanted too. "Yes we will have our vengeance!" he roared.

"You will find some inside," the hermit said, pointing over his shoulder to the house. "I have my soup to attend to, but I thank you kindly for the beer. It's been a while since I had a decent brew."
He listened as everyone spoke, getting a clear idea of what everyone needed. Of course he knew a thing or two about the situation, even if he lived remotely like this, and he'd share his knowledge in due time.

Mikhal grinned when he heard he had earned himself a pint of dwarven ale. That was something he wouldn't turn down. He looked at all the dragons here, noting the different colours and sizes. He had gone years without seeing any dragon up close, and now he was surrounded by them. Of course he had seen his friend and her family, but she was an entirely different breed of dragon, it couldn't be compared.
Right now he couldn't do much more than listen to the plans of the others.

Rachel looked at Damien. "Maybe we should go to the dwarves, or at least one of us, to see who the rider is who stayed there. Even if they're not a member of the Order, we need more experienced riders if we will fight back."
They would never be safe if they would hide away, but their group was just too small to really do anything. And she was worried about the others.
Fiona walked to one of the collected animals and started eating. Whatever Rachel would decide, she would follow.

Trevor listened from a distance, the last to speak was Creessa. "Now that is an idea I can get behind," Trevor said after hearing her plan and he looked at the group. "If you don't like the current situation, get rid of what's causing it. She's not even human and she had the most sensible idea I heard all day. An assassination will have fewer casualties than some kind of war against the king and you just need a few capable and willing people instead of an army."

Noble listened to everyone speak, he flinched slightly as Creeessa yelled. He stayed quiet, he held his hand to his heart as the Old King was mentioned, closing his eyes slightly as he felt the power flood through him at the thought of his father. He tried to settle his nerves before he looked up, feeling his body give off some heat.

"I want him dead as much as the next rider." Ria finally spoke, looking at the fire as it flickered in her eyes, "I just want this land to be safe for everyone, Unknowns, Humans and Dragons alike." She glanced around before resting her eyes back onto the fire, "Which isn't something we can properly police, but having a King who isn't trying to kill everyone who tries to disobey everything and anything he does would help immensely."

Damien looked over to Rachel as she spoke. He thought about it quietly, looking over the group before he looked to Orian.
"It's a good idea." He said in reply to Damiens worried, "We have the flares we can give the others, you still have the rider flares right?"
"Rider Flares..." Damien spoke before he moved to his bags on Orian's back. He rummaged gently through the bags tied to Orian's light riding gear. "I think I have... A few?"

Ricki listened, her ears flexed towards Noble as she felt the energy off in before she tilted her head. She didn't speak about it before she watched the Hermit and then looked towards Ark and Redclaws.
These dragons were a lot larger than Mercury, and Mercury was larger than Orian and Comet. She closed her eyes as her ears flattened as a headache wracked over her.

Comet's ears pricked up slightly as she looked to the sky, she seemed to settle before she kept her eyes on the sky. She let out a few clicking sounds before she dropped her head again and lifted a wing to check her scale pattern.

Duncan frowned as Creessa stated her goal. An assasination mission was not exactly what he had in mind to restore the throne to the rightful heir. He had to agree with Trevor that it was less bloodshed and less casualties. If the attempt succeeded. "I will hold on to my righteous beliefs for the moment." Creessa snorted. Duncan continued "But I will not stop anyone for forming an assasination squad if that is what is preffered. I do belief that bringing the Rider together and found an army is a good idea, for now or for later when the heir needs protection. Besides we will probably have to deal with soldiers who are loyal to the king and I don't think we can assasinate them all" he said. Duncan reached to take some of the cooked meat to eat it.

Alan knew that his skill as a thief could come in handy when it came to breaking in and get people close to the king but he wasn't really willing to bring his dragon into the danger zone or leave him behind somewhere. Alan looked at Damien as he caught his words. "Rider Flares?" he asked.

Creessa hadn't expected the support from Trevor and she wasn't sure if she should be offended by the 'she is not even human' or let it pass since he backed her up. Ria spoke smart words too, Crreessa could see herself get along with her. The rage and blood thirst was still raging through her body. If it were up to her she would jump on her dragon andfly straight to the castle. But a part o her warned her that wasn't smart and she shouldn't waste a life on a fruitless attempt.
Redclaws went to one of the boars and started eating the meat. He needed his strenght

Gnol nodded to the hermit as he ate the meat and walked inside. He quickly found the mugs and went to his barrel. He poured the four mugs and handed them to the people he had promised one. "If you want an army you could take the time you spend at the Dwarves talking with those riders to see what their stance is and if they would be willing to allie with you. But I think you'd need a bit more then a rumour of the rightful heir and a handful of riders." he said as he said down. He raised his mug. "To fortune and glory! That all we will achieve all we want." he toasted before he took a big gulp. "And of course, thank you for your hospitality." he said to the Hermit

In the forest close to the wall of the capital two wolves trotted towards the wall. Seemingly searching for something. "Hurry up and open the secret doorway." snarled one of them. "We need to report to general Doruk. We need to tell him there have been dragon sightings in the mountains and there is proof the rumours of an alive and well ofspring of the assasinated family is true."
"Quiet, I know." growled the other as he opened the door, big enoug for a wolf to crawl through. They entered the secret doorway and made their way through the tunnel as the doorway closed behind them. On the other side the follow a crawlspace made into the citywall leading to a secret passage towards the castle. The female shapeshifter looked at her borther, still in wolf form, as she turned a mirror so the light thzt came in through a small hole would deflect to an object outside the concealed room so the general would know they were there.

The hermit listened as everyone discussed their plans as he stirred the soup. When Gnol offered him the mug he thanked him for it and then he looked at the group. Maybe it was time to give them a little more help, that was what they had come for after all and they had paid him well with all the wood, food and ale. He brought a wooden whistle to his lips and blew twice on it.
"Just calling someone," he said. "But to me it looks like your next goals are rather straight-forward. Our dear Dwarven friend here knows a few hiding riders, whatever you decide to do, in the very least you should send them a message." He looked around as he said that, but turned his attention to the soup afterwards. "As for how to deal with the king, I think it's important the offspring of the Old King will have a say in it. I knew him well, the king came to me with every time his new child was a year or two, I doubt any of them remember. But to reclaim the throne we seem to have two option. War or assassination. And the children of the Old King should decide how they want to reclaim the throne, the rest of us can merely follow in their decision." After he spoke those words he looked up from the soup again. "This soup is done, anyone want some?"

When Meria heard the soup was ready she took some bowl and walked to the Hermit, he could fill them and she would give them to the ones who wanted soup. She sensed a familiar aura emitting from Noble, and while she knew Noble was on their side, the magic felt hostile to her. The small water dragon seemed to sense it too, as she dove under the water. Fire and ground were at an advantage here, but at least the Hermit was here. In his sanctuary there would be no fighting.

Trevor sat down next to Mikhal and they both drank from the ale. "Yes please," Mikhal said in answer to the question of soup and Trevor nodded.
With how the Hermit talked about the children of the Old King, Trevor examined everyone more carefully. Were they here? Was that why the Hermit refused to look at anyone as he spoke. There were a few who had seemed awkward and tense when the Hermit had mentioned the heir before. Without voicing his suspicion, he examined the three he didn't know yet. The possibility it was Duncan was quickly dismissed, why would he search for the heir if he was it? And to make it worse, the Hermit had spoken in plural. Children.

---

General Doruk, a man with black hair with a few strands of dark-grey through it, noticed the light. If anyone would have been there he would have finished up the business, but since he was alone he went straight to the entrance and opened it for his agents. While he was broad and had a slight bulge in the area of his stomach as a result for his tase of fine wine, he was still quick to move.
"Okay, report. I hope you two have better news than the last messenger that came."

Noble listened quietly, he stared at the fire as he listened.
His magic was restless, and the flames seemed to flicker to his emotions. It was very minute, but the figure of a dragon flew through the deep part of the fire, flying around before breathing fire on what seemed to be a building. Nobles eyes focused on the fire before he suddenly glanced up, feeling eyes on him before he looked towards Meria with a smile. "You okay?" He asked with a whisper, he looked down at himself, "Have I got something on my face?"

Damien listened to the Hermit, he gritted his teeth.
"Stay down." Orian rumbled silently to Damien, "Now isn't the time. We need to get to the Order."
Damien nodded before he listened, looking towards Rachel. He stood up after a moment, as not to seem suspicious before he headed towards Rachel.
"I had a thought." He whispered to her as he watched the trees, "If we want to split up, I say we try to head back to headquarters." He continued, closing his eyes silently. "If anyone has gone back for the Kings dragon, It would be Kela and Ram."

Rai lifted her chin as the Hermit talked, closing her eyes as she focused on the air around. She felt it press against her body and twirl around. She glanced to Ark, who had her eyes on the sky as well.
Ark had climbed up the side of the ledge she had been resting on, getting a better look over the mountain.

"If we need a messenger." Seb suddenly spoke, in a soft, calm voice- But his voice traveled to everyone perfectly. "I can volunteer Aero. It's hard to catch her and she knows how to keep hidden."
Aero gave a small chirp and took to the air when she was mentioned, fluttering around the group making quiet noise. before she settled on Arks neck.

"Little one." Ark rumbled, Aero only chirruped in response before she moved into one of the nooks on her neck and her shoulder blade and settled down. Ark gave a soft growl of content at the small creatures movements.

---

A rumble came from the castle's cellar, the New King froze up and breathed.
"Calm yourself my friend." He said, hiding his shakiness.
"I am not your friend human." A Rumbling voice echoed from the darkness, the smell of blood hitting the kings nose, causing him to gag. [b]"You are merely a puppet in play. I do not care to be calm, I am injured and you wish for me to be calm!"
He flinched, "I understand." He said, "That damned Star Dragon managed to get a good shot at you."

Duncan listened to the Hermit and he thought. Were they suppose to find them, more then one as he had thought, an ask it or did he know where one or more were. He noticed Trevor examining some of them and he sat up more straight. Could it be one of them?
Duncan wanted a bowl of soup and he smiled gratefully at Meria for handing out soup. "Thank you." he said. Duncan looked pensive at Noble. He had stated his quest to Noble before but Noble never claimed to be the heir which could have been for reasons to conceal it or Noble wasn't their heir or he didn't know. He didn't know the other two at all. Duncan blew on the soup before eating it. "Very well, I'll follow whatever the children of the Old King decide if we should meet them. Until then I'll do what I think is in the best interest for the Kingdom."

Creessa huffed. She was definitely not going to change her plans and she didn't care who decided what. Her mind was made up. She silently ate some more meat. RedClaws sensed the sentiments of his rider and agreed. In his opinion they had their chance now Crreessa and him were going to do what they thought best.

Gnol looked at Aero. "I'm sure Aero is very fast but I need to check there anyway so I can take any messages if they aren't coming personally. I would prefer some company of course having only a horse to talk to gets boring after a while and everyone knows horses can't talk. Besides sending just a message would perhaps not persuade any Dwarves in possible alliances. One of the reasons I was here was to gather some information about the current state of affairs." He glanced towards Alan. "Anyone is free to come along, although I'm sure Pointy Ears and mrs Water have better things to then tag along with a humble me."

Alan was looking around to see who the hermit had called when heard Gnol talking. He blushed a bit and his hand went to his perfectly round very human like ear. He sighed, it was obvious this Dwarf had a dislikes for Elves and it stung a little that because of his father blood some people instantly disliked him, even if he was only half-Elf.

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The shapeshifter pair looked quietly at each other for a second. It was a chance it would not be received as good news.
"That depends on what news the last messenger brought." growled Theo. Thea smacked her brother with her tail on its snout.
"General Doruk, the red dragon that lost its rider has been spotted rampranging in the mountains.
There have been sightings of other dragons too and possible riders.
In the forest near the mountains the scent of one of the offspring of the killed king has been picked up near Trevors cabin.
I asume you already heard Trevor decline the offer.
A group of thugs were kind enough to share what happend to them in the forest when they tried to mug a group. They had breathed in some sort of soft glittery steam or a jet of silver dust emitted by a dragon with a rider and fell asleep because of it.
The dragon egg that a man took was trailed to the mountains too but the trail went cold there. We asume it took off with dragons there, there was a cave with a strong human and dragon scent in the mountains."
Thea ended her report and watched to see how the general would take it and hat their orders would be.

Well, that was disappointing, none of the children wanted to step forward. The hermit sighed, but decided he would have a word with each of them before they would be off.

Meria's mouth lifted into an amused smile. "You have nothing on your face, but I did feel the desire to douse you. It's nothing personal," she assured him. When she heard the dwarf speak, she turned her attention to him. "I do have better things to do than travel with you," she agreed.

Mikhal remained quiet. He definitly wanted to help, but he wouldn't be able to decide who he would help unless all the plans were made. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wouldn't assist in any assassination.

A roar sounded and the Hermit looked up. A big, orange dragon flew towards them. Trevor heard the roar too and narrowed his eyes, his hand moved to his sword, but he relaxed when he recognised the dragon as the same dragon he had met on the ledge.

The dragon landed and looked at all the dragons that had gathered. "I didn't expect so many dragons to still be here," he rumbled in the human language. "Most I know have fled to the Sanctuary." He lay down on the grass, his eyes resting briefly on Trevor before he looked at the Hermit. "I decided not to go there after all. It's time I find a volcano where I can rest."

There was saddness in the eyes of the Hermit when the dragon said that, but he nodded. "You are old, my friend. We all must die one day, but maybe you have enough strength left in your wings to help these people. They want to go against the king who has been killing dragonriders and dragons."

---

General Doruk seemed far from pleased, but he nodded. "I got the news Trevor refused. We could have used his skill and I hoped he would join our side. But now that he is not, he is a threat. Kill him. And mark all the dragon sightings on a map. The King will want to know about it."
He gestured to a large map on the wall, where several flags in different colours marked things only the general knew. The dragon pins were purple flags with a small dragonhead on them.

Noble blinked at Meria's words; his face flushing red before he looked away. He looked at the ground before he closed his eyes, moving to stand up before Rai cleared her throat.
"I have something to mention." Rai said loudly, Arks head turning to face her Rider before she narrowed her eyes.
"Is this really safe." She asked her Rider before Rai nodded, opening her mouth before the roar echoed around. As the dragon landed, the Secret Children all looked at the Dragon that spoke Human.

"Sanctuary." Damien repeated, narrowing his eyes slightly. Orian tensed at the sight of the new dragon, their attention that was originally on Rai had turned to this new beast.
"Ah, that is what I could smell." Ark commented absentmindedly, turning her head to her rider.
This is dangerous. She spoke to Rai directly through their connection.
I know, I know. Rai replied, Someone has to do it and if the other two aren't going to have some balls I might as well do it.

Noble and Comet both looked to the new dragon, Comet standing to move towards her rider, ready to snatch him if anything goes sour.

---

"You do not need to retell what happened. I remember it." The large Dragon Rumbled, stepping out of the shadows as his Murky black scales shone in the sunlight.
There was silence between the two, The dragon towering over the King and the King feeling nothing but fear. "I need to hunt. But I cannot fly, not with this Injury." He flexed his wing, a large tattered whole seemed to glisten around it's edge. "Order your men to hunt me food. Or I will eat soldiers."
The king flinched at the threat before he ran off quickly, dropping his crown along the way. It didn't matter at this point, he had to appease this beast....

Footsteps echoed around the larger dragon, his eyes narrowed as he sneered, showing his teeth.
"Destiny." He growled. A tall, slender female watched from the shadows, just out of reach.
"Brother." The female spoke softly, "I thought I should see how you are. I heard you were harmed. And since I know Harris wasn't going to see you, I was the only one to do so."
A growl echoed from the larger beast, stepping towards his sister before pain struck through his body, causing him to collapse to the ground. "I assume you're here to tell me of my son."
Destiny grinned before she softened her grin to a smile. "He is okay. He has a Dragon, as you already know. He's warring against you."
The beast rumbled before he turned his head away, Destiny continued to speak to her brother, stepping closer before she was right beside his snout.
"If you're not here to heal me or join my side, I'd advise you to leave." He said before Destiny gave a laugh.
"Oh Volven..." She said before she seemed to gently touched his maw with a hand before she seemed to fade out of sight; revealing she wasn't really there- Only a illusion connection.

Duncan listened to Gnol and nodded, having an alliance with the Dwarves was a good thing, perhaps they could get the Elves on their cause too but that would be more difficult then the Dwarves. He would love to join Gnol but he still had the feeling that the Dwarves was the wrong way for him and he trusted his intuition.
Duncan was eating more of the soup when Rai spoke up. He sat up more straight as he wanted to listen what she had to say speaking up like that caught his attention and he wasvery interested what she had to say. When the big orange dragon landed Duncans tensed up, not knowing what the dragonwould do but when he spoke Duncan relaxed again. He didn't claim to be a dragon expert but the colour suggested fire. "The Sanctuary?" He asked before he thought a moment. Sanctuary was far and off limit for humans as far as he knew. He glanced East, he knew there was a port city there and if he recalled some legends right that was a direction believed Santuary was. Ofcourse no one ever could confirm it.

Crreessa looked bored at Rai, she had little interest what was going to be said. When the big orange dragon landed she looked from him to her red dragon. RedClaws looked at the new dragon. He bowed his head. "Elder, you honour us with your presence" RedClaws said. "I will help you in your search but I hope you can find some strength to aid us. We could use your experience well."
Crreessa was unsure if she should bow too or not. But she decided she was not a dragon and not officially a rider so she didn't do anything, her dragon could show all the requiered respect.

Gnol gave a little nod that he had heard Meria's words but didn't react otherwise. When Rai spoke up he looked at her to see what she had to say, it did have a ring to an important announcement to it and he didn't want to miss any of that. When she didn't continue right away he wondered why but when the orange dragon landed he understood. "Well they just get bigger and bigger don't they." he muttered in his beard. He didn't like dragons as he didn't like Elves but he did respect dragons more. Especially when a good trade deal was established like some treasury for smithing in dragon fire or to charge Dragon Heart Stones. As long as they didn't put their paws on any of his treasure or valuable items Dragons were tolerable "I know a nice volcano not too far from where I live with hardly human activity and hardly and Dwarven or Elven activity." Gnol said.

Alan shared Meria's sentiment but perhaps not for the same reasons. He wondered what Rai had to say and he flinched as another dragon appeared. His small dragon woke up when the orange dragon landed. He yawned and looked with big eyes to the orange dragon. He ran over there and looked up "Oh boy! You are big. And so old! You must be a granddad. You are now my Granddad. Is it ok if I call you Granddad or maybe Pops?
I will carry you if your wings are tired, Imma strong dragon!" The little green dragon said as he somewhat flexed his wing.
Alan facepalmed as he heard his young dragon ramble on not very respectful.
RedClaws glared at the imature dragon. "Be respectful." he growled.

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The shifters nodded at the order of killing Trevor. Theo raised his upper lip in enjoyment. "It will be done." He said.
They looked at the map Doruk gestured at. After a quick glance at each other Thea went back in the passage, shifted in human form and came in the room in a hooded cloak that covered her face. She carefully placed the pins at the mountains where the cave should be and the estimation of where the dragon was spotted in the forest. It was hard to She also pinned the village where some dragons had been spotted in the area and Trevors house.
"There that are the last know locations of dragons. We will keep track of that too while we hunt for Trevor." Thea said. "We keep out ears and noses open for any new information as always. Was that all or is there more we can do general Doruk?"

Trevor turned his attention to Rai, she had wanted to say something before the dragon had landed on the field and drew in all the attention. "What is it you had to say?" he asked.
So far he still needed to hear a plan better than the one Crreessa had suggested, but Rai seemed like a likely candidate to come with something good. Her posture had indicated that she was self-assured and he could appreciate that in a person.

The Hermit looked from Trevor at Rai, he too wanted to know what she had to say. Maybe it was best to let the dragons talk amongst themselves and greet the Elder.

Rachel had stood up when the old dragon had landed, and so had Fiona. While Rachel remained where she was, Fiona walked to the Elder and she too bowed her head as a greeting. When the small dragon walked to the old dragon she thought it was endearing, but it was obvious they needed to teach the young ones a few things.

The dragon looked at the green hatchling and a deep rumble sounded. "You can call me Elder," he spoke in the dragonic language.
Please forgive him, Fiona thought to him. He has recently hatched and he has no parents. I will teach him the proper ways of the dragons.
The old dragon nodded and turned to the little green one again. "You overestimate your strength. But I appreciate the sentiment." He turned to look at RedClaws. "It depends on what help you need," he said.
His eyes moved over all the adult dragons that were gathered here, he recognised all species, but it seemed the only two free dragons were himself and the small one floating on the water.

---

The general looked at the map and nodded slowly. "Find Trevor, find Dragon Riders. Kill on sight. Those are your orders." He paused as he examined the map, his eyebrows moving into a frown. "Between all those sightings is a place I can see dragon riders or Trevor going, although they may have left already. A hermit lives here." He put his finger on the map. "If they aren't there he might know where they are. It will be a good place to start your search."
He looked at the two shifters. "That's all. I will report to the king."

"Everything will be fine Comet." Noble whispered to his dragon, "So say hello. Maybe he'll have respect for you as a Star Dragon."
Comet hesitated, she didn't want to leave Noble's side before she stepped forward towards the larger dragon. Her gaze went to Ark before she swallowed her fear and took another step. "Hello Elder." Said with, lifting her head a bit higher.

Mercury stepped away as the larger dragon entered the scene. He kept himself low to the ground with a bit of a quiver.
"H...He's big." He uttered to Ricki. "I... I don't like this. I..It's too crowded." Seb moved to pet the dragons neck as Ricki stepped towards the older dragon.
She seemed almost fearless suddenly, the look of the new dragon lingered in her head before she held her hand out. "You're massive!" She said with a smile, "Look at your scales!"

Rai bit her tongue for a moment, breathing in sharply as others returned her attention to her.
"I have something to say!" She called out, hoping to stop the chatter amongst her companions."
Damien and Noble moved to look at her quietly, Damien's face still holding a small frown.
"I..." She hesitated before she shook her head, "I am a lost child of the Old King!"

Damien and Noble both froze as she spoke, both pair of eyes widening.
"What?" Damien uttered out loud, Noble speechless, "How do we know you're not lying to us?" He said, his stance suddenly minorly hostile, as if offended by the idea someone was potentially masquerading as his sibling.

---

The King walked back to his Dragon after a while.
"I... I have ordered some meat for you." He managed to utter, the large Dragon God letting out a rumble, trying to lift himself up again.
"Good." He rumbled angrily, "I'm starving. have you tried to get the healers and mages in your ranks to come look at this fucking wound?"

The King nodded quickly, "Y...Yes yes of course." He stammered, "They're on their way too! We'll get you patched up I promise."
Volven swayed his tail and slammed it against either side of his holding area, causing the area to violently shake.

Duncan looked astonished to Rai. One of the siblings here... he wanted to rise and bow but Nobles words made him hesitate. He didn't know the murdered royal family, the times he been in the castle he could count on one hand. He never saw paintings of them or at least never studied them. He had to admit there was no way of telling for him wether or not Rai spoke the truth. Duncan had some experience in telling if someone was lying but not enough to see a real con-artist behind the mask. The hermit knew them so Duncan looked towards the Hermit to see what he thought of the claim.

Gnol was just taking a gulp of his beer and nearly choked in it. "What? Why didn't you say so before? Very convenient though, saves the noble knight the quests of finding you." He looked at Noble who seemed to take the news not so well. "What do you suggest noble Noble? How can we unearth the truth is this claim is false. You think she is an imposter? A spy of the King?"
As far as he was concerned if this girl she claimed she was then she was. If she wasn't he only needed one word and he'd throw her off a cliff himself. No reason to get all wind up about.

Crreessa applauded when Rai told who she was. If she was a lost child then those other two gawks must be her brothers. She didn't envy Rai if they were always that dence. They would know who their sister was, they should in her opinion. Those three had a similar scent over them and because of that Crreessa was willing to trust Rai on her word. Besides Rai had said he wanted him dead aswell so in her eyes that was all she needed to confirm that an assassination was the path they would follow. Crreessa knew that it was still not agreed on but to her it all she needed at this moment.

RedClaws looked at the Elder "We will train him properly." he said glaring at the small dragon. "My rider and I want to take revenge and kill the one respondsible for all the deaths amongs riders, their dragons and wild dragons. But the others might go look for others first." he said.

Terasivas nodded. "Yes Elder" he was about to babble more when RedClaws looked sternly at him again. The hatchling looked at all the big dragons and drew a bit back. The old big dragon was very impressive and the little green dragon went to Alan to tell about the experience. "Alan, did you see that? Isn't he superduper big?" Alan smiled and nodded but was a bit preoccupied with Rai

Alan frowned when Rai made her statement. There was ofcourse a possibiliy that she was a fraud like Noble pointed out but she could telling the truth. Ofcourse it was smart of not revealing who she is right away if she didn't know she could trust them. It would mean certain death telling such big news to the wrong people. And since no one was immediatly grabbing a sword and shouting death to the lost child Alan felt it as more likely to be truth. He couldn't see any signs of deception, keeping in mind that if Rai was a fraud she was a better con-artist then he was and he should bow down to her nevertheless, but he was inclined to believe her. He waited with speaking up to see how she was going to answer Nobles question.

Trevor examined Rai. This was unexpected, and a good point had been raised: how could they be certain her words were true? And, more importantly, did he even care? If the current king was gone, he couldn't care less who'd sit on the throne, as long as he could live his life in peace.
"If she wants to feel important, let her," Trevor said. "It's not like we have any other heirs and if she wants to risk her life in a battle against the current king, why not?"

The Hermit looked at Damien and Noble. "Do you have a reason why you think she would be lying?" he asked them, knowing very well why they reacted that way, but he'd give them a chance to explain it. He ate from his soup, relaxed and calm, ignoring the hostile stance and the hard undertone of the words.

Mikhal forgot to eat his soup when Rai announced who she was. He looked at her and how everyone responded. He had to remember this, there was an epic tale unfolding here and he had to pour it into a song. It was one of the best ways to preserve history of course and it didn't happen often a bard was in the middle of it.

The elder dragon turned to Ricky. "My scales are old, just like me," he said to her, before turning to Comet. He nodded slightly as a greeting. "It's good to see your kind again, it has been a while," he said to her.
He looked around for a moment, his eyes lingering on the water sorceress. Not his favourite kind of sorcerer, but if she would be civil, he would be too.

---

The general felt the castle shake. "Volven," he grumbled and made his way to where the dragon rested, to make sure if everything was okay. And he assumed the king would be there as well. And if he wasn't, the man would surely haste to see what the dragon needed.
Bloody dragon. If it was up to him he'd kill the beast, just like any other dragon. But it wasn't up to him.
"Your Highness!" he called from the top of the stairs, before he started descending them and ventured into the cellar.

Noble looked around as everyone asked him why. He thought quietly before he almost fully backed down.
Damien on the other-hand stepped towards Rai. "We're apprehensive because the Kings Heirs were said to be killed." he said sternly, looking down at the woman.

Something in Rai finally snapped, she stepped towards her brother, almost toe to toe with him, there was a height difference but she stared up at him angrily.
"Well you say that-" She started, narrowing her eyes before she stepped back and motioned to the group with her arm, "If that's the case than why are all three of us standing here right now?" She almost yelled.
Noble, Damien and Rai all froze after she spoke those words. Rai's sudden confidence bubbling away as she stepped back from her brother, her brain started to panic, trying to think of a way to backtrack on her words.

"You guys... Survived." Noble uttered under his breath, looking at his hands before his eyes started to water. "You... Survived the attack! H...How did you... They said they couldn't.." He babbled, looking to Rai.
Damien stayed completely still at Rai's words, he had his hands clenched before his shoulders completely relaxed.
"I'm... Fucking dumbfounded." Damien said, "I can't fucking believe this."

Ark watched her rider with a sway of her tail, she didn't condone her riders actions, but she couldn't really argue with the stubborn woman.
She looked towards the two males who tried to confront her, she stood up properly now, her wings fanned halfway as her tail swayed over the ground; Her perch wasn't the right size for her to stand properly, but she made do.

Ricki listened to the larger beast, her ears drooping as she nodded. She examined him for a moment, before she glanced to Seb; who notioned for her to step back towards him and Mercury.
Mercury waited near Seb, as he was the only other humanoid he really knew.

Comet bowed her head, "As I have heard, I don't know if any of my kind are around either. I hatched away from other dragons. In the hands of traders." She said before she looked over towards Noble and moved over to him, slipping her wing under his body to pull him closer to her.

---

The King flinched as he heard the General call out, he fumbled quickly before breathed in and puffed out his chest.
"Yes hello." He replied, Volven only growling a laugh before he moved to settle down properly. He sat in the light so that his darker scales could be seen, as if they were taking in every single bit of light.

"How can I help you?" The King asked with a frown.
Volven gave a yawn, showing his sharp teeth before he closed his maw, "I hope this is the first of my moving meal."

Duncan looked at Damien. "To be honest, rumours that one or more of the childeren were still alive have been going around on various places of the kingdom by different unrelated people, it were those rumours that set me off to find them in the first place." he said. When Rai snapped Duncans head turned to Noble. Noble hadn't told him while he knew his quests. While noble was trying to sort his confusion and focussed on what proved to be his long lost siblings Duncan could only wonder why Noble had chosen to keep it from him, they way he spoke made it seem that Noble knew he was a child of the murdered king and the rightful heir he just didn't know his brother and sister had survived too. Duncan glanced at the hermit to see if he backed up the claim Rai made and they were indeed who they said they were.

Crreessa looked with interest at the unfolding drama. When Rai exposed her brohters as the presumed dead childeren too she clapped again. Amused she looked at the astonishment of the two males. It was not an enexpected plot twist to her as their scent gave them away but still, it was a nice piece of family drama. She wondered if they would all fall in each others arms crying or that the rage Damien showed earlier would persist and that he would stomp away with Noble keep standing their confused. But since she saw Damiens shoulders relax she doubted Damien would walk away angrily. Crreessa hoped it wouldn't be an all crying and hugging end to this magnificent piece of revelations.

RedClaws didn't pay any attention to what was going on with those humans, he couldn't care less. Human politics were boring as it was always the same in the lonf run. If they would approve Crreessa plan they could come along, if they didn't they would go alone. Simple like that.

Gnol listened as Damien and Rai went on. Astonished he listened how it unfolded further, his jaw dropped. Gnol blinked a couple of times before he closed his mouth again. He looked at Rai when Noble was done babbling "So Rai, you say that you are not only the presumed dead child of the murdered royal family but those two are your brothers?" He sat back and shook his head. "What are the odds to that." He looked at Mikhal. "Hope you got that young bard, this is gold."

Alan looked from one to the other of the siblings as Rai exclaimed they were all the offspring of the murdered king. He hadn't expected that. not at all, especially with Damien saying that they didn't want to believe her since the heirs were supposed to be killed. Why would he not belief if he were one himself. Could be a trick to keep to protect himself but Alan couldn't really understand the hostility if so.
"So, now we just have to find out if it is true that they are all the heirs or that they are all imposters." Alan said with a pensive look on his face as he studied them and their reactions carefully.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Theo and Thea made their way to the secret passageThea shifted back in her wolf form, shaking the cape off. "The hermit." Theo said with a snarl. Neither of them wanted to go to the hermit, that area had a repelling effect on them. If they could avoid going there they would.
"We have to choose wether we go to the hermit as wolfs and treathen him or go in our human form and try to get the information out as help seeking people." Thea said. Theo growled disgruntled. "He might guess we are shape shifters. I don't want my secret out. Those who know us in wolf form don't know our human form and vise versa. Let's just hope we pick up a scent in the area as we round it." the siblings nodded to each other and when they were back in the forest they trotted through the forest towards the area the hermit lived.

Trevor groaned. Great, not one, but all three heirs were here. If the truth had been spoken. He looked at the Hermit, who seemed rather amused by it all.

"It's not unlikely that traumatic events block certain memories," the hermit spoke. "If you don't remember how your siblings looked back then, I can imagine it's hard to recognise them now. But I recognised each of you." He looked from Damien to Noble. "Rai is correct, she is your sister and you two are her brothers. And one of you will have to come forward to claim the throne. The honour usually befalls the oldest, but I don't mind who the heir to the throne will be, as long as you three all agree. And then you have to decide on a course of action. Will you gather an army and go to war? Will you go with a small team to assassinate the king? And don't forget someone must bring the small water dragon to the sea."

Mikhal stared at the three riders, but when Gnol spoke he snapped out of it and turned his head to face him. "Yes, I heard it all. The Tale Of The Three Heirs. I think that is what the title will be." He noticed he was holding something and looked at his bowl of soup. He quickly dipped his spoon in it to eat it, with everything going on he had forgotten all about it.

Rachel stared at Damien, all this time they knew each other and she had had no clue who he really was. "You could have told us," she said. "The Silver Order would have helped you. I would have helped you."

Meria listened to everything, but she didn't pay much attention to the conversation. While the revalation was unexpected, there was something more important. The heirs all had dragons and by the sound of it loyal followers. The water dragon had no-one, that was her responsibility.
"I'll be travelling to the sea," she said. "I could try to find the dragon sanctuary too, let the dragons know we're going to fight back and need more help. That if the new king is defeated they can return home."

The old dragon looked at Meria. "They won't allow humans in," he rumbled. "And I can't fly there. But the sea dragons could speak for you if you return their offspring to them."
He had lived long enough to see dragons and humans at war with each other, then the peace between them, and now dragons were once again hunted down. That had to stop. "I will do what I can to help. I say we burn the castle to the ground. Problem solved."
Trevor looked at the dragon. That was a strategy he could agree with.

---

"Wrong," the general said. "You will be fed soon, don't worry. We have some humans in prison, criminals and a couple of dragon riders awaiting execution. I can send them here so you can feast on them." He made a small bow for the king. "We have a possible location for the last hiding dragon riders, I will send our squad of dragon slayers to kill the dragons and their riders. Do I have your permission to send the condemned men here instead of the gallows?"

Damien didn't look at Rachel as she asked why he had kept it a secret. He sighed slightly, "I'm sorry." he said after a moment, looking to Rachel with a frown. "I was afraid. I didn't want anyone to project my father onto me, I didn't want others to have high hopes for me and my leadership, I didn't want to crush anyones hopes."
Rai looked to the Hermit as he mentioned she was telling the truth, She gave a bit of a smile before she looked to her eldest brother with a small frown.
"Will you take the throne?" She asked.

Noble mustered up his courage, "I...I'll take the throne if none of the others want." he said, getting his siblings attention and his confidence falling again, "I...I have a bit of experience.. I had to... Run the castle when everything... went wrong."
Damien gave a nod before he looked to the larger dragon when he mentioned humans weren't allowed.
"Then you mean the proper Sanctuary, not the one based near the Silver Order." He said, moreso to confirm for himself. "I'm sure the Order's Safe is still safe compared to anywhere else. I believe that's where the old kings- I mean, Dads' dragon is."

"What about not... Fully humans?" Ricki asked the large dragon when he mentioned that the Sanctuary. Mercury stepped forward finally, moving to stand beside Ricki now, looking at the much larger dragon.
"Burning the castle down will help with taking care of the King and his men." Seb started, "But I doubt that Volven himself, wouldn't be harmed."
Orian and Comet both let out a low rumbled snarl at that name, almost instinctively. Ark gave a disgruntled flick of her tail but didn't growl like the younger dragons, Mercury only flinched.

---

Volven gave a rumble at the General, smirking at his bravery. "He'd make a better king than you." He huffed towards the current king, who furrowed his brow before he looked towards the General.
"That's good. Any possible locations are good clues to where the fuck they've gone." He said, he glanced towards Volven momentarily, before swallowing the ball of fear in the back of his throat, "Keep the riders in the gallows, try and break their allegiance, make them swear to me, If they don't, kill them. If they do, more men for us. The prisoners bring up here for the Beast."
"Say my name." Volven growled, standing up properly now, his claws clinking against the ground, his eyes on the King angrily.