11 The Teacher

The days past quickly, Destorianaxe got use to Stares at Skies Vast slowly, much as the kobold adjusted to life with the dragon. To be honest, once she worked through her initial terrors the kobold partially took over the lair often sending her 'goddess' out for this or that to make the lair more than hole in the mountain. Every so often the kobold would hear the chants from the hole and miss her old life, but by the same token she was truly free of what she had formerly been restricted to.

The lair itself had changed greatly. A rough stone bench and table along with a small bundle of hides for a bed sat to one side, a nook perfect for the kobold. Opposite her spot was Destorianaxe's slab, now covered in hides and straw, while the wyrmling protested not needing it, even she had to admit it was more comfortable. The pushy kobold was always doing things like this finding the barren lair very cold and forbidding, almost as if it were a graveyard not the home of a goddess.

Destorianaxe shook her head in wonderment at how easily she got caught up in the kobolds dreams. Though it was fun. Looking around her lair as the kobold was pushing bones into the hole, she had to admit, rather than being a lonely existence, her lair now had a fair bit of life in it. Her yellow eyes followed the kobold as the pale thing went around cleaning, using a freshly tug pool to scrub at the blood stains left in the wake of the young dragons last meal.

As the kobold scrubbed she looked towards the passage before turning to Destorianaxe, "Goddess visitors this way comes."

Destorianaxe lifted her head cocking it slightly, "Visitors?" Turning to look to the entrance her eyes rolled slightly seeing DG walking in, "Thought you said you never used the front passage DG?"

The draconic man chuckled, "No helping it this time, with your guest and mine hard to do my usual jump scares."

Destorianaxe tilted her head glancing from Stares at Skies Vast to a second figure that appeared in the wake of the draconic man. This second visitor stood stiffly, looking at the wyrmling through narrowed silver eyes. He wore simple clothes and a travelling pack. Glancing to DG the second figure spoke in their language, "So this is the student who couldn't meet her teacher on time?"

DG shrugged helplessly, "To be fair that's on me. I told her a month without telling her what a month is."

The man beside DG looked at the draconic individual with one of those gazes that screamed the former was judging the latter's intelligence, "So she knows next to nothing is what you are telling me?"

DG scratched the back of his head, "Hey now she knows some, just not alot when it comes to mortal concepts. She is a pure blood dragon after all."

Sighing in disgust the man strode forward to stand before Destorianaxe, his silver eyes met her yellow, "I am your teacher, Talian Setroth, I will be teaching you the concepts you need to exist in this world without causing mortal society to hunt you down. Which they will anyways but we digress."

Destorianaxe felt her brain itch as this man thing spoke, draconic pride had them look down on everything but this beings nose was firmly affixed to the crown of his head. Even before a dragon this Talian looked down on even her! Snorting she glanced from those haughty silver eyes to look at DG, "Oh how nice, you brought me lunch."

DG blinked and face palmed. Hiding his face in his hands he wondered, not for the first time, if this had been a good idea? Maybe getting one of his older children would have been better than outsourcing the task to one of Estrelie's brood, but again, she needed to fit into mortal society... as much as any dragon could... so one of his other older children certainly didn't promote that goal. Grumbling under his breath he stood back to watch the sparks fly.

Talian stood unconcerned before the irate dragon, his gaze matched hers evenly while a smirk crossed his thin pale lips. "If you think you have what it takes to hunt me lizard, have a go." Standing before her with hands on hips the slender fellow challenged the dragon boldly. Stares at Skies Vast edged very quickly away from the growing conflict, finding refuge behind the legs of DG.

Destorianaxe narrowed her eyes, appraising this man thing, it bore no fang or claw, its skin looked soft and weak. Yet something gave it the arrogance to stand before her and egg her on. The wyrmling tilted her head then flicked her tail rather than snapping her jaws forward. One of the rock stools Stares at Skies Vast was sent towards the man thing only to shatter against a rainbow tinted shroud that flickered over his form. Talian was still staggered to the side by the blow, but damage wise he was unheard, just pushed to the side by the force of the rock slamming into his shield...

Narrowing her eyes the dragon tapped her tail slowly, "I see, you meant to have me bruise my face on your protection eh? Well just means I bury you in rocks first." Casually stepping off the slab she laid her tail by another large stone, "Shall we continue with the lesson that you don't slight a dragon ever, teacher?"

Talian frowned tugging at his tunic, his formerly straight combed black hair was dishevelled, his cool composure was lost as he glared at Destorianaxe then to DG, "This is not what was agreed."

DG sighed, "What was agreed was you teaching this childe what she needs to know. Trying to bully and humiliate her is on your own head."

Talian glared at DG then coughed straightening up, "Fine, I... apologize... for my lack of composure."

Destorianaxe nodded lifting her tail away and moving back before the man thing to truly study him, at first she had believed him to be one of those human things DG had stopped her from eating before but there were notable differences. For example was the silver eyes, but beyond this difference was Talian's body in itself. Most humans, at least the tribe she had first seen, were fairly burly. Despite being male Talian had the build more akin to a human female minus the chest ridges. Then there were his ears, she had noted one of the humans had had big round pink flaps on the side of its head, Talians however were long and slender, tapering to a point.

Turning from her inspection she looked at DG, "What is he? I don't think he's a human thing."

Talian snorted answering in place of the draconic fellow who was more than content to continue soothing Stares at Skies Vast, the kobold had gone from being startled by the conflict to acting strange around DG. "I am an elf. Part moon and high to be specific hence my dark hair."

Destorianaxe turned her attention back to Talian and tilted her head, "What's an elf? What does high and moon mean?"

DG chuckled taking Stares at Skies Vast by the hand leading her to the passage, "Let's leave these two to their first lesson shall we?"

Stares at Skies Vast nodded absently, she went with DG though her movements were odd by Destorianaxe's thoughts. The kobold was pressed close to the draconic fellow like she had found some desperate life line to cling to. Shaking her head she again focused on Talian as the elf broke into a lecture on his people. The hours slowly slipped by as her first lesson delved deeply into her teachers homeland, a forest to the far north of the continent, an Empire by the name of Silvertree.

Elves were apparently, by Talians estimates, the first race. Elves having existed far longer than everyone else and having long since established a civilization that none could rival at this time. It was lead by the royal born high elves and thinner blood elves. Most of the common day to day tasks were handled by moon and wood elves with half elves, or mixed blooded elves taking the lowest rung in society. When she asked about his own mixed blood he had indicated that was not what he meant, rather half elves were exactly that, crossbreed between an elvish parent and usually a human, in elvish society it was better to have no elvish blood than partial.

When asked why Talian had frowned and explained. Humans were savages, barely above animals. For a male elf to lay with a human female was akin to laying with an animal. On the other side of the spectrum, the only time elvish females laid with the brutish human males was in the case of a village raid and the poor woman being taken by force. The unholy union between such was very much frowned upon by true elves, thus half elves were a great deal undervalued compared to full blood anything else.

Destorianaxe listened attentively but quietly had formed her own opinion of these elves, truly even dragons didn't roll in their own arrogance and superiority as much as a high elf might! These thoughts she kept to herself though, she had demanded a teacher and while she could well guess Talian was as biased as one could get it was better than nothing, she would just have to take his lessons and mix in her own observations to make a more neutral informed decision on topics.

A few hours later they took a break, DG had carried a limp Stares at Skies Vast in earlier explaining briefly that he had guided her in some exercises that wore her out. Destorianaxe had paid this little mind knowing her kobold companion had wanted to get stronger but Talian had snorted in disgust. When she had asked him why, he had waved her off saying it was a lesson for another time. Not being concerned, the young dragoness had headed out to catch a decent sized pair of beasts to feed herself and her guests.

When she returned Talian was checking on Stares at Skies Vast, while in the far corner the kobolds makeshift fire pit had been lit, a series of hides had been slung by the inventive kobold to guide the smoke up along the wall and towards the exit so the lair wouldn't fill up. Talian set to work cleaning up the beasts, though unlike the kobold he did not request a tool, rather he seemed to chant something in a strange language and the bodies skinned themselves after they floated into the air. Even the blood and organs had stayed aloft as the elf used his strange powers to unravel the make up of each carcass.

Destorianaxe watched in wonderment, "What is that?"

Talian glanced at her briefly before focusing, "Elven magic, we stopped crudely butchering our food centuries ago, now a spell makes it very easy and significantly less messy and gorey."

The dragoness watched in awe as the meat seemed to unwind itself from the bones leaving barely a residue on them, "Can I learn that too?"

Talian thought a moment and shook his head, "I cannot teach you elven magic," seeing her look crestfallen he smirked, "But you can learn your own magic of course. Draconic spellcasting is much less involved than mortal or fae magic. We use motions, chants and materials to cast our spells but a dragons magic is purely innate."

Destorianaxe blinked looking as Talian set about roasting the meat, "I have magic inside me?"

Talian nodded as he worked, "It's a lesson for another time, most dragons don't come into their mystical talent until they reach young adult, so from His explanation you're a few hundred years or so too early for it."

Destorianaxe frowned inside her mind, she wanted this magic now not wait hundreds of years to even start learning...