The Lady Ylfair had only a badly weathered set of steel armor, that had so many holes and dents that it couldn’t possibly handle another battle. She was proficient with bow, sword, and axe, but none had mattered against the monsters. Steel broke against their hides, and arrows shattered as they hit. The dragon’s magic protected them from man-made weapons. Having her weapons shattered and useless at the beginning of the fight so enraged Ylfair, that she fought the monsters with her bare hands.
Her steel gauntlets had been reduced to bits of metal strung together with string and dripping the black acid blood of the monsters, when the High Dragon came down from the tower to land in the courtyard. Its claws gouged at the ground, tearing apart the bodies of the chimera and basilisk. It drew itself up to full height, wings flapping hard enough to tear down trees, and crimson scales sharp as glass. The Lady Ylfair, exhausted from her battle, stomped her foot and roared her own challenge at the High Dragon.
The High Dragon laughed, a low and rumbling sound deep in its belly, and bent it’s head towards Ylfair. In its claw, it held an egg. It was no bigger than a large chicken egg, and looked so small in the dragon’s large claw that Ylfair almost missed it completely. She picked up the egg, and looked up in alarm as the High Dragon inhaled deeply. The Lady Ylfair was bathed in dragonfire, but not burned. Her armor, what was left of it, was scorched black, but became as durable and unyielding as the dragon’s own scales.
When the Lady Ylfair returned to her modest house in the village that would become Markholme, the egg hatched. From that egg came a baby dragon, no bigger than Ylfair’s palm, with shimmering blue and gold scales. That dragon was Lind, the dragon of Aldoran.
Loren finished telling the tale of her ancestor, and looked back to see Kae snickering, and trying to hide it behind her hand. “What’s so funny about the legend?” she asked.
“Well, that’s just what it is, right? A legend. Just because she has a pretty portrait hanging in the castle, doesn’t mean the whole thing actually happened.” The huntress said.
Loren smiled, and brushed the small dragon pendant she wore on a short chain around her neck. It was the same resting dragon that adorned the Aldoran banners, but was wrought from silver. Bright blue sapphires were embedded as its eyes. “Where do you think we got the dragon on our banners?” Loren asked back.
Kae shrugged, and walked on down the hall. “I don’t know. Someone could have had the idea. Any fool can draw, and send a design to someone who can sew.” She scoffed. “A warrior fought monsters and took home a dragon egg. Right.”
Loren followed the huntress, and couldn’t help but smile. She started to giggle.
“What’re you laughing at, princess?”
A loud roar shook the castle, rattling the glass set in the window. Kae looked around wildly, bracing for a large beast to come running down the hall. But Loren only laid a hand on Kae’s arm, and pointed out the nearest window. As the huntress looked, Lind flew past the window. His wing beats blew a gust of wind through an open window, and it was so strong Kae was almost knocked to her feet. Lind roared again, and soared above the castle and out of view, only to swoop back down and glide across the tops of the waves, down below.
“So…Where did we get the dragon on our banners?” Loren asked pleasantly.
Kae did fall backwards, and had scrambled away from the window in shock and fear. She sat, back pressed against the far wall, and pointed with a shaking hand at the window. “Dragon!” she said, stammering. “The dragon from the plains!”
“Yes, Kae. And it’s the same dragon too.” Loren said patiently, extending a hand to help the huntress up. Kae took it and stood, still staring out the window in a wide eyed expression of shock, unable to make a sarcastic comment.
Loren led her on through the long hall, and the princess stopped at an unmarked door. It looked the same as the other doors, and was between a portrait of a stout man with more beard than face, and a plaque holding decorative swords. She opened the door and let the huntress inside, shutting the door behind them.
“This is my private study.” Loren said, taking a small pile of books off an armchair and approaching a full bookcase, only to put the pile on the floor as there was no space. Everything had a light coat of dust, as if it had not been touched for a while.
Kae looked around, noticing the books, scrolls, maps, paperweights, swords, things in jars, and moldy half-eaten food. There was so much various junk littering the floor that Kae figured she could cross from one side of the room to the other without ever touching the carpet.
“Studying very hard I see, princess.” Kae said.
“I haven’t had to have lessons with the tutor since a few years ago, and my interests wandered to things I can do outside.” Loren answered, walking around and moving things out of the way with no care for the dust and litter.
“So... I’m here because a Beastman friend is missing?” The huntress prompted, in case Loren forgot why they came. Her study made it seem the princess was scatterbrained enough.
“Yes, yes. I didn’t forget, Kae. I just need to find the right — oh here it is.” Loren pulled out an old map from a
