18 Swindling a Fire Dragon

The odd combination of a carnivorous dino-monster carrying a human boy carrying a girl-reincarnated tree soon arrived at the chasm's edges. Before Kyferne and Rialyne descended from the pseudo-tyrano's head, they surveyed the amassing crowds of various monsters and creatures.

Large and small, fearsome and humble, decorated and plain, various species gathered in a crescent shape around the left of the chasm. They all seemed to be squabbling in a language unknown to both Kyferne and Rialyne.

Unfortunately, neither of the two could ask the pseudo-tyrano about this strange congregation before they separated. The dinosaur also joined the crowds; although, it seemed to be more of a spectator than those bickering at the front.

To gain a better view of the whole situation, as well as inside the chasm itself since they wouldn't be able to reach it completely unless they passed through the monsters, Rialyne heaved Kyferne's body up a nearby towering tree.

From this vantage point, the two were shocked at seeing a familiar dragon at the head of the group along with other dragons and formidable, giant monsters. Lenodryv wasn't currently speaking; he had a somewhat bored look on his face. But, it was clear that he along with a few others were orchestrating this event.

Rialyne huffed at scene. "He didn't even tell us that he would be here! What, he doesn't want the others to see a human riding him?"

Kyferne chuckled, "Probably, and we didn't tell him that we're heading to the chasm. But I suppose we didn't get the chance to either."

"Hey…" An audacious idea burst forth from Ria's mind. "Why don't we crash that party and ask Leno what's up?"

"Umm, you DO realize there's hundreds of monsters down there that could kill us?"

"Yeah, but they're not fighting each other. And you saw those two dinosaurs from before. They didn't kill each other like typical predator and prey relationships! Something weird is definitely happening in this valley. We just have to find out!"

Rialyne couldn't contain her curiosity nor her desire to make some possible trouble for Leno. As the reluctant one now in these daredevil schemes, Kyferne acquiesced and allowed Rialyne to steadily make their to the front of the assembly through the trees.

By the time that they arrived, Kyferne was feeling slight secondhand nausea from swinging through the forest outskirts like Tarzan. The dragons as well became more heated in the discussion with the other monsters. And Lenodryv still obsersved the situation with dull eyes.

Creeping up behind and threading through the distracted dragons, they reached Lenodryv.

"Yo, Leno! What's happening here with all these monsters gathered?"

The overly familiar tone and disagreeable nickname jarringly shook Lenodryv from his stupor. To his disbelief, the human and tree had arrived at the chasm much earlier than expected. It had only been an hour since the end of their encounter. Even the swiftest land monsters couldn't arrive here that quickly.

Of course, unbeknownst to him, Rialyne supported the pseudo-tyrano with some energy to move faster. Initially, it was just an experiment, but opportunely, it worked.

At the sound of a human voice, all the dragons stopped short in their dialogues. And seeing that the human was looking at Lenodryv as well as calling him by a nickname that they had never heard before addressed to him, the other dragons began questioning the two.

"What's this Lenodryv? A human? From where did this ant come from, and how does it know you?"

"Leno? Pfftt—is that what this pathetic creature called you?"

"What's a human doing in this valley?"

"Someone squash this bug for daring to interrupt us!"

Ignoring the questions and taunts, Lenodryv asked them, "How did you get here so soon? No, why did you come over here to me? Don't you see that I'm busy? Begone lest you get trampled upon."

Rialyne just rolled Kyferne's eyes at the stream of questions that Lenodryv didn't actually care if they answered as long as they left.

"You don't look very busy to me. What's even happening here with all these monsters gathered?"

Somehow, Lenodryv just knew that these two wouldn't leave until they had answers. They just had to worm their way into things as well as out.

"This year is the nine hundred and fourth Peace Tourney. Before the yearly tournament, we have monthly challenges that rank the successors of each participating species. However, someone has just stolen the winners' food reserves for this month. We found the culprits and are discussing their punishment."

"Food reserves?" Rialyne repeated in puzzlement. She didn't understand why carnivorous creatures would have food reserves as prizes in a competition. Couldn't they just, eat each other? Was this why the dinosaurs from earlier didn't fight to the death? The valley's creatures rationed off food? It was unbelievable.

Seeing the confusion riddling the human's face, Lenodryv added, "Herzoldinne grows on on the chasm's walls. After the night of the full moon every month, its flowers and fruits can be harvested."

The dragon leaned forward and blew out the following words in a whisper.

"This is why the valley's inhabitants are at peace. With the discovery of the effects of the herzoldinne flowers and fruits, we no longer have to kill one another to survive. Instead we can focus on expanding the valley and making the land more prosperous. Ingenious, no?" Leno's eyes twinkled.

Rialyne shrugged. "Umm, I guess? You still haven't really told me what's so special about herz-old-dee-ne?"

"Herzoldinne. The flower's nectar has energy potent enough to last for days. The flower itself can be crushed into a powder or oil that has similar healing and nourishing effects. The fruit can also be squeezed into juice or pulp with similar effects while the seeds are even more extraordinary. When seeds are ingested, the creatures dies within a day, but its body becomes just as nourishing as Herzoldinne itself!"

"Err…" Both Rialyne and Kyferne found this all to be very bizarre. To them, it sounded like herzoldinne was some kind of drug, perhaps with ambrosia like qualities. Otherwise, they couldn't fathom how they would all be willing to eat something tasteless or foul.

"Don't tell me that you force monsters to ingest the seeds?"

Lenodryv scoffed. "Only the strong survive, that doesn't change even with this kind of system. The losers must forfeit their lives for the sake of their species. Everyone agrees to this."

"That's still kind of morbid…" Rialyne shivered in Kyferne's body. It almost sounded like cannibalism, but then again, she supposed she was no different as a tree eating other…plants.

"What do you do with the bodies?" Kyferne asked, hoping they were wrong.

"We eat them of course, but the winners can choose to eat any of the species which ranked below them."

Thank goodness, Rialyne thought. They weren't all cannibals after all. Oh, but then that meant she was technically one still. However, since all plants grew from strangling others, then weren't all plants cannibals?! This was a bit of a horrifying, odd thought. At the very least, Rialyne would cling to her humanity regardless of her outer appearance.

"Although I can't say I still approve of it all, it does seem to be effective in keeping the peace. The monsters even seem to be friendly rivals…" Rialyne noted while thinking back to the two dinosaurs.

At this point, one of the other dragons budged in. "Lenodryv, why are you still speaking to this ant? Don't tell me that you actually know it?"

"Audicello," Lenodryv addressed the dragon who had flaming scales and iron hot eyes that sparked. Its ashen wings were enveloped in a scarlet sheen like the rest of the body not covered in scales.

"Pft— Audi, cello. Car brand, string instrument." Rialyne was thankful that she could control her sound from inside Kyferne's body. Otherwise, she was sure that Audicello would've burnt her to a crisp. Meanwhile, Kyferne bit his lips to stop the snicker that tried to peek out after he heard Rialyne's shared thoughts.

"Thes-This human came from the other side. I met it while it was traveling to this chasm." Lenodryv nearly gave away Rialyne's identity inside of Kyferne by almost saying "these." But luckily he caught himself. It would complicate the situation if the other dragons found out that such a strong existence laid inside of the boy. Additionally, he might have to explain the deal that he made with them for killing their kin.

Audicello didn't suspect a thing from the upright and forbearing Lenodryv who was at the head of the valley excavation force. The fire dragon cast its eyes down at Kyferne.

"Human, you should leave this valley. Although we aren't interested in a runt like you who could barely provide us any food, if you continue to bother us any longer, we'll have to take harsher measures."

"Yeah, please don't eat us haha…" Rialyne thought and sweat-dropped. Seriously these dragons were rather…condescending.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in Rialyne's mind. Rubbing her imaginary hands together at the crafty plan, she inwardly snickered. Since she promised Leno that she wouldn't kill any more dragons, she had to find a way to legitimately level herself up with opponents just as strong as dragons.

Although Kyferne couldn't hear Rialyne's inner thoughts, he somehow could feel her snickering inside. A sense of dread washed over the boy. This girl was scheming something up yet again.

"Audicello." Rialyne paused, wondering whether to address the dragon as sir or madam. She wanted to be as ingratiating as possible, but in order to seriously not offend the dragon, she moved on without the title.

"Would you be so kind as to let this lowly human participate in your monthly competition? I promise I can bestow a suitable enough gift for the occasion if I lose. If I win, however, I hope you will oblige my request to take my rightful share of the rewards."

The fire dragon narrowed its eyes at the boy. "Hah! If you lose? I doubt you could even last against the weakest species's champion. But tell me, what gift do you speak of human?"

Rialyne directed the grudging Kyferne to bow. "Let me give you a sampling of the finest energy I have come across in my travels. This is the gift that I can bestow." Since the dragons were already used to some energy source from the herzoldinne, then her tree energy shouldn't be too unfamiliar to raise suspicion.

Intrigued, Audicello feigned disinterest as it replied, "Go on then, show me this energy that you speak of."

Inwardly smirking, Rialyne moved Kyferne nearer to the dragon and hovered a hand in front of the dragon's foot. They could almost feel the scorch of the dragon from here.

"Hey Kyferne," Rialyne addressed the boy through her thoughts while a thread of energy snaked toward Audicello. "Does this dragon's heat bother you at all as fire mage?"

"No," he answered, "But I can still tell that its fire burns hotter than my own. I imagine that if I weren't a fire mage, I could be toasted being this close to it. It looks like Leno and the rest aren't bothered either, perhaps because they're of such high rank."

"Ohh…" Rialyne felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry about forcing you through this. Thankfully, you are a fire mage, but if you hadn't been…"

"It's ok." Kyferne couldn't smile to reassure Rialyne while in front of the dragons, but she understood his intentions nonetheless.

Audicello spoke up after receiving the energy. "This is some curious energy indeed. It's not quite like the herzoldinne, but it's similar. I shall accept your offer, human. But beware, this energy will soon be ours."

Of course, Audicello had no idea to the extent of the energy Rialyne held. She found this to be quite foolish. What if she had very little energy? Was the dragon actually so eager and prideful as to not ask how much she had? In any case, this was fine by Rialyne.

"Thank you Audicello. I hope to give you all a good performance."