Chapter I will get it wrong anyways

For those who will complain that there is no progress, I just listen to what the readers want ..... so here we go. Have fun. Yay!

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They sat together on the green of the garden, a blanket spread out so their clothes wouldn't get dirty. After his sister had literally taken him by the hand and led him out into the fresh air, she had the idea of enjoying the sunshine as a couple and spending a little more time together.

He held her in his arms and leaned against a tree. It was a tree that had grown naturally here, and he didn't want to destroy something so beautiful. It was big enough that its leaves gave them both enough shade, but not big enough to destroy the image the tree gave.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, resting his chin on Seraphine's head and watching what she was doing with her hands. 

She was holding a flower she had picked earlier. It was a rose he had planted. They were flowers that had always fascinated humans. So pure, so beautiful, so graceful.

"They have such a short life, but it's fulfilling," she said, gently stroking the rose petals.

"The rose? That's true, I suppose, but I'd rather have a short and beautiful life full of highs than a long and dreary, boring one, wouldn't you?" he replied, taking the rose in his own hands.

"You're right."

There was a brief silence before he took her chin in his hand and gently steered her in his direction until she knew for herself what he wanted and looked him in the eye." You're a lot like that flower, did you know that?"

Puzzled eyes looked at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Most of their lives they hide what they are until one day they decide to bloom and show their beauty to the whole world." He noticed the blush in her cheeks as he spoke and gave her his familiar charming smile: "Just like you. Sheltered by our parents, protected at home, until you show your beauty to the whole world and everyone marvels at you and desires to be a part of it."

The smile he received in response to his words could light up the whole world on the darkest of days.

"I suppose you're right," she said, "and just as a rose can only be picked by one person and belongs to one person, you're the only person I belong to and you belong to me." 

They began to giggle until they couldn't contain themselves, laughing until their stomachs hurt. "I didn't realise you were so poetic, my fiery dragon."

"Well, as you said, I had a long time at home to read and learn everything I could get my hands on, and Lysandra also gave me a tip or two on choosing certain books." Her cheeks reddened again, this time with a mixture of embarrassment and bashfulness.

Just as she was about to say something, they both heard the loud roar of their dragons.

"How did you do that?" she asked, and he instinctively understood what she meant. He had placed runes in the palace that he had found in books and runes that he had seen in the Wall in the north. They were able to deter and keep away magical beings whose magic was not woven into the runes. He didn't want a magic user from the dark region of Asshai or one of the other dragon families to get the idea that he had to be killed.

Conversely, this meant that no magical creature, friend or foe, could approach the palace. When his sister approached the palace with her dragon Ruby, it was the first time Ruby had defied her. 

She wouldn't listen to her, and that frightened her, because it had never happened before, and it was never supposed to happen in the first place.

"All right, I'll tell you," he said and sat up, Seraphine sitting opposite him." It was a few years ago, in the middle of the night, and I dreamt that she came to me."

"She was Tyraxes, the goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, war and battle strategy. I persuaded her to share her knowledge with me," he said. The more he delved into the story, the further his sister sank into it.

She had learned that he had dragon dreams and took his story as true and very serious.

"In return, she asked for something that only I could give her. Can you guess what it was?"

When he asked, she just shook her head. No facial expression was drawn, no eye contact was broken, she was deeply absorbed in his story.

"It was..." he began, tilting his head closer to her until his mouth was at her ear. He couldn't help grinning at that moment. "The best night of her life," he finished.

As he pulled back, he saw the hand coming towards his head. He grabbed her hand with the biggest grin he had in a long time. 

"It's a nice story though" he shrugged.

"Nice story, my arse. Maybe for the next drunkard in some tavern who's no more educated than the savages who live here."

He smiled sheepishly and took her in his arms again. For a moment it looked like she didn't want it, but he knew better, she was just a little upset that he'd messed with her. 

"Runes," he said, "but I doubt you're interested in the details. Runes are often more exhausting than exciting. Believe me, Aunt Valaena has seen to that."

"Perhaps," came the reply.

"But tell me what you've been up to the last few days, we haven't had time to talk about it yet." 

She'd arrived late last night and there hadn't been much time apart from dinner.

"I've been spending a lot of time with Adema and Dona. Mother and I took them shopping for our wedding. Little Adema got a pretty pink dress and Dona preferred a green one."

"And yours?" he asked

She just smiled: "You won't get anything out of me."

"Is this your way of getting revenge or did you never intend to tell me?" he asked.

"Who knows, now you'll never know anyway," and crossed her arms.

"Huh, I guess I'm out of luck then. How about I wear something pink to our wedding?"

She turned around faster than a cat hearing the rustling of her food bag. "No! No way!"

He just laughed. He had never intended to wear anything pink. In his opinion, it was the worst color there was, but he'll make an excuse for cute little Adema.

"Sounds like a definite no, doesn't it? Then I guess not."

They spent the rest of the day together and went for a short ride where she rode Ruby and he rode Ancalagon. 

Ruby was much smaller than Ancalagon, but Ancalagon's growth was not normal, and although Ruby was a fast growing dragon, and relative to the norm or slightly above, Ruby was no Ancalagon. Something that often bothered Serpahine when they were young.

But eventually, she accepted that this was the way it was.

They rode into the sunset, admiring Azorath from above.

They rode their dragons into the sunset, admiring Azorath from above as the sea glistened in the sunlight.

Ruby was very much like Seraphine in personality. She was very playful, flying around Ancalagon as if to encourage him to play. He and his sister let their dragons fly freely and didn't tell them where to go, as they had no destination or plan of their own.

Ancalagon had also found a snack when a small group of three blue whales appeared on the surface. Gliding just above the water as his shadow darkened everything below, he snapped his fangs and lifted the blue whale into the air along with the tonnes of water.

He headed for a small island, unmarked on any map, and roasted the bluewhale with his flames. When the dish was ready, he even shared it with Ruby.

"Looks like Ruby has Ancagalon wrapped around her finger," joked his sister.

"I'd rather say that Ruby can't resist his charms." he replied without making a face.

In the evening, after the flight, they both plunged into a hot bath to wash off the dragon odour. As much as they love their dragons, they could really do with a toothbrush and some deodorant.

Throughout the day, as the two of them enjoyed the sun and good food, the construction never stopped. His bloodfarm, built deep in the mountains, away from any prying eyes and far enough away that the farm wouldn't ruin the image of his palace, was already fully operational, allowing him to inject many more slaves and therefore more workers.

It would probably be decades before the project was completed, but it was well on its way and was already enough to live in comfort and fear of nothing.

The day ended with the two of them gazing at the stars, while he told the ancient story of how the world came into being.

The creation myth of ancient Valyria holds that all the world, the stars, and everything that is was once contained within a single egg. A strange story, in his opinion.

To summarise, the egg was struck by lightning and contained all the land and water that can be seen in the world. In addition to these lands and seas, out of the egg also came twelve beings of great and terrible power. These twelve built a beautiful tower at the top of Mount Valyr, and called themselves the Valyrians.

They even created the first dragon in the image of the gods, apparently. But the dragons were mindless and kept destroying everything in their path and so they created mankind. They were made to kill the dragons, but in secret, the god Arrax - Ruler of Gods, law, order, justice, governance, and strength, who pitied the dragons, created his own men, like the others, but he gave to them the blood of a dragon, so that these men would have a kinship with the dragons and not kill them like the other men. This had the effect of turning these men's hair to the color of silver, and their eyes violet.

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Somewhere deep down there's a decent man in me, he just can't be found.

~ Eminem

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