An even more profound silence fell after Orion spoke.
The possibilities that Monolavir killed Amelia''s parents made both dragons tense up.
"I knew one day, this disaster would fall back on you. I know you had your reasons, but you still did something terrible."
Ruminona expected this situation to happen one day, this was the reason she tried to stop him at that time.
"First, I want to ask where you attacked. I''m not concerned about the name of the cities, just their general locations. Even if it is true, I won''t do anything, but Amelia needs to know if the dragons, you in that case, did it."
''If only I had kept my thoughts to myself.''
Regret invaded Orion''s mind. Just by speaking that sentence, Monolavir could have turned against them right then.
"You are right. Let me recall what happened. I left the nest while following their scent. They took a road south-west at first."
Orion pictured the map of Triazils in his mind.
All the way north was the Talviera Mountain Range, with the Northern Sea a little further north from the mountains.
West, from where they came from, lay the now merged Eogis and many human cities.
East from there was where most of the oppressed factions were, and the home to both Amelia and Orion, Auro.
For some reason, not much was known about the south, as it was a frozen area. No one knew how far it stretched, or if people lived there. Past a massive wall, the Frigoria Plains laid frozen in time, where only beasts lived.
"Toward the place you rescued us? This might be obvious, since the one who stole from the dragons are humans. Moving towards their cities, though, might not be the wisest choice."
Orion frowned.
"You said ''at first'', which means west wasn''t the right place. Did they move east?"
Monolavir closed his eyes and answered.
"Indeed. Near one of the cities, I found traces of our eggs. It might have been a waypoint, but that made no difference to me. I destroyed it and the people living inside."
Orion recalled the city being destroyed first. In history, it was Mounti, the city under the Apostle Pierre''s leadership. The city was rebuilt rapidly, and never brought this incident publicly afterward.
"I have an idea of where Amelia might have been from, this definitely is the place. After that?"
"The next scent was going south-east. There was one small village below the birch forest that seemed to be looking for a dragon, but the egg cracked before arriving, and our poor child died. I also crushed the whole village there."
"Not there either, she''s not from the south."
''Keith gave me a good idea of where she came from. Let''s hope Monolavir is not guilty of such things.''
"The last one drove us further east, but slightly closer to the eastern sea. What surprised me at that time was the pillar of light erupting from the center of the continent, but I didn''t pay much attention since I needed to find the last eggs."
''I heard he attacked when I was found by Dylan. He was pretty close to Auro too.''
''From the looks of it, he flew past Auro, and continued south. This is nowhere near the place.''
Orion analyzed the path Monolavir might have taken, and reflected on it.
"I followed some tracks going inside a forest, but the moment I saw it was a village of beasts, I realized the thieves only moved through the forest."
''I was right. He went by Auro.''
Monolavir continued to explain, his eyes focused on nothing in particular.
"Further east was where the tracks stopped. Indicating that they realized I was chasing after them, they left even more traces behind them. I have no idea how, but they managed to move it without a carriage at that point."
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
"If it wasn''t for us dragons being able to feel where other dragons are, I might have never found it."
"I''ve found the last of our eggs smashed on the ground near the entrance of the city, located in the south-east. It looked like the guards destroyed it before they entered, fearing for a dragon to come to them? This is what it felt to me now that I think of it."
''This is not where she came from. She''s from further north-east.''
"Amelia, he''s not the one that made you an orphan. Even if he was, I would have thanked him for that."
"I should have expected you''d realize I wasn''t sleeping anymore."
Amelia took her face away from his shoulder, and looked at Monolavir.
"I can''t understand you, but Orion said so. I''ll believe you. I apologize for doubting you, even though you saved us."
Bending forward slightly, Monolavir turned to Ruminona.
"Rumi, what would have I done if I was the one who ruined her life?"
She closed her eyes, and remained silent. Monolavir then turned toward Orion and Amelia.
A dragon''s perspective was different from a human. They possessed a strong sense of pride towards their strength, and that incident in the past proved it.
What could a dragon do to be forgiven by a human was on his mind.
Quite frankly, they didn''t care. A human was a fly for them, there was no need to apologize whatsoever.
But this time was different, he had a debt of life towards the demons, and she was accepted as one by himself.
"I have no idea either, only the concerned party can tell you."
Orion glanced at Amelia, then pointed to Monolavir.
"He wondered what you would have asked of him if he was the reason for their death."
"Huh? Like a judgment?"
She looked straight in Orion''s eyes, and then, after a few seconds, both began to laugh.
"Haha~ Good one. Do you think we can judge dragons?"
Orion looked at Monolavir and Ruminona. The two dragons then understood, even if she had asked them to die, they would have refused.
"All of that is in the past, it doesn''t concern us in the slightest."
Monolavir swallowed his pride, and managed to say something to Orion.
"I would have at least brought my head to the floor, and asked for forgiveness. This is how much I value the demons."
Shock appeared on Ruminona''s face. She had known this dragon for a long time, and this was the first time she heard such words come out of his mouth.
Amelia understood that what the blue dragon had said was absurd, enough for the green dragon to stare at him, stunned.
She looked at Orion for the translation, as she for once was eager to understand.
Ruminona stared at Amelia, who showed great interest in the conversation, and then an idea came to her.
"Young man, tell your friend to show me her wind magic."
This sudden call from Ruminona, which was also the first time she voluntarily spoke to him, surprised him. Still, he told Amelia.
"The green dragon wants to see your wind magic. She excels in wind magic too, it seems, so it might not be a bad idea to show them. Your water magic, too."
The water part intrigued Monolavir too. He was a master of water himself.
"I can do that. The complete set?"
"The complete set."
"I''ll do that then."
Question marks appeared over the dragon''s heads.
"Dana, Aura."
Two daggers appeared in both of her hands. They were extremely sharp for being elemental weapons, which proved how much control she had on the quality of magic.
''Wind gliders and water cloak, too.''
Her boots began to glow before a calm wind enveloped them. She began to move towards a boulder in the cave, and when close enough, she slid on the ground with water around her legs.
During this movement, she sliced the boulder. The daggers extended themselves to cut what Amelia wanted.
Before the dragons processed what they saw, she was back next to Orion.
"Rumi, is it possible for a human to be this powerful? Or is it because she has this man with her?"
"It is possible, look at those degenerates among the humans. Yet, compared to her, their strength isn''t a legitimate one, she possesses true power."
"Also, the way she uses those elements is fascinating. I never thought of using wind magic like such, probably because it favors agility over power."
Orion listened quietly, caressing Amelia''s hair, rewarding her effort.
"I''ve decided, I''ll bless this girl."
"Rumi?!"
This time, it was Monolavir who looked at his partner with a dumbfounded look.
"What? Don''t you think she has the talent for it? I want to see her prowess in the future."
"Do you wish to make her an even greater being?"
"I don''t care, I''m pretty sure she won''t attack the dragon either. This is my payback for the past. I''ll use their kind against them."
Monolavir looked at Orion, as if to ask for permission, but as he didn''t know of the dragons'' customs, he asked.
"What do you mean by blessing her?"
Orion looked at Amelia, then Ruminona. The latter explained her thoughts to him.
"The dragons can bless a single human, by doing so, we bestow a part of our magic to them, and we authorize that person to act freely in our territory. She will possess the power to summon the dragon that blessed her during her time of need."
"And as a freebie, she will understand us. Not a bad deal, isn''t it?"
Orion''s gears began to operate at full throttle.
"The downsides are? Don''t tell me there''s no trouble coming with the deal."
"I don''t know if it is a bad thing for humans, but I heard a scale the color of the dragon blessing her appear on the body."
He looked at Ruminona with astonishment.
"That''s it?"
"What? Did you think it was a contract? It''s only a blessing, young demon."
''Oh, she''s right. I might have been too cautious on this one.''
"I feel bad for doubting you."
He explained the gist of the situation to Amelia, the same Amelia that couldn''t believe the proposition she received.
"I- Do I have the right to such a blessing? Was my magic good enough according to a dragon?"
She looked at her hands, weighting the pros and cons in her mind.
"It''s your choice. There''s no real downside to it, either, except that scale."
Amelia fell into deep thinking.
After a long minute of silence, she opened her mouth.
"I accept."