A Walk and a Talk

After the meeting, Emre and Idris were at a loss of what to do. In the end, they had Breton drop them off at the Grand Library. Emre told him to pick them up later that night since he was unsure how long it would take for them to search for what they wanted.

Breton said his farewells as Emre and Idris exited the carriage in front of a massive building. It was reminiscent of the type of old Victorian libraries one would see in movies. A massive staircase led up to the doors above.

None of the people coming and going looked as if they were poor. There were few who wore more humble clothing, but it seemed higher-end-born people were the most prevalent. In fact, there was one group entering that seemed to be mostly younger teens in uniform, led by two adults.

Emre could only guess that these kids were part of a private school and were either taking a field trip here or simply came in groups to study.

Those who had noticed them exit the noble carriage cast curious glances but no one dared approach. They had agreed to let their auras reach above-average strength just in case someone decided to come to bother them while they were out and it seemed to be doing its job.

At the top of the stairs there was one large set of double doors, but everyone coming and going were being watched fervently by guards on either side. Sometimes they would stop someone wearing more modest clothing and ask their business, but most of the people in fancier clothing were left alone.

As such, Emre and Idris were merely given a glance as they walked through the doors. The building towered upward, the top of the roof open to cast natural light onto the middle of the floor, dark wood bookshelves lined all of the walls and branched out onto the main floor aside from desks uniformly placed out in the center of the room.

Spiraling stairs reached up the highest of floors and Emre could only guess at first glance that the building was at least five floors high. Wide balconies represented each floor up, and Emre could see people milling about along the railings as they walked from one place to the next.

The building smelled strongly of old parchment and leather, not making it unfamiliar to how libraries smelt on Earth. There was one large desk with several people behind it, helping anyone who approached. Given how large the library was, Emre knew they wouldn't be able to find what they were looking for without help.

Approaching the front desk, a young man about their age stood up to tend to them. A good customer service smile was placed on his face as he spoke.

"Hello! What can I do for you two today?" He asked.

"It is our first time in this library, we were wondering if we could get help in finding books that contain information about dark creatures."

"Oh! We do have a book with information about them. Let me get someone to guide you."

Emre nodded and the two waited patiently as someone was called to aid them. An older man with fully grayed-out hair and a well-kept thick beard was brought over. They followed him through the main floor and he retrieved a thick book from one of the main floor bookshelves.

It read 'Book of Monsters' and the man helped guide them to the pages that contained the information about dark creatures. Emre only had to skim it to know that it contained less information than they already knew about.

"Are there any other books with information on dark creatures?" Emre asked the guide.

"No, they are not very well known so information is limited." He answered punctually.

"Not even in a restricted area?" Emre fished out the card Silvis had given him.

The old man gave it a look but still shook his head. "No, there aren't any in any restricted areas either."

Emre had thought this trip would be helpful, but it was less than so. They had told Breton to meet them back here later in the night. Given the unsuccessful trip to the Grand Library, the rest of their afternoon was free.

Placing the book back and dismissing themselves, they left the library. Emre let out a sigh of defeat as they were walking down the steps but Idris was only thinking that this was an opportunity.

"Why don't we go for a walk around? We might be able to find some shops." He recommended.

Emre's spirits lifted a bit at the mention. "Sounds good." He agreed.

They would be able to explore the chaos of this area of the city for a bit. They were in the higher-end area so they weren't sure what they would be able to find but as they walked down the street, Emre noticed a sweets store.

In excitement, Emre dragged Idris toward it. Idris put up little resistance as they entered the strong-scented store. The smell of sugar invaded their noses the moment the door was opened. It was bright and covered in all sorts of colors. Candies of all types were on display.

There were a few people inside, but most of them were children accompanied by adults. Emre didn't particularly mind that he was likely the only adult inside that was wanting sweets. He quickly began to browse the selection.

It was easy to pick out interesting-looking candies. Soon enough his hand was full of paper-wrapped candies.

'You have quite the sweet tooth.' Idris noted as they walked up to the desk to buy them.

'I've never had candies like this before so I want to try as many as possible.' Emre responded as he stuck his hand under his coat to sneakily fish his pouch out of his spatial storage.

He paid for the candies which weren't very expensive. Exiting the store, he offered one to Idris after glancing at the color inside.

"Wanna try one?" He asked.

Idris took it with reluctance, remembering the last time Emre gave him something sweet. Unwrapping it fully as they walked, it was a red fruit candy with sugar coating. Popping it into his mouth, his brows raised in surprise.

'It's good.' He said with a bit of shock.

'Did you think it would be bad?' Emre laughed.

'I've never had candy before.'

'Really?'

Idris let out a chuckle. 'I've only been in small towns. Not many had candies for sale.'

'Hm… try this one then.' Emre passed him another candy as he ate one of his own.

Idris took a look at the yellow candy next, seeming more interested in trying them now. After eating it, his face screwed up for a moment before he seemed to get used to it. Emre let out a laugh as Idris shot him a look.

'It's sour.' Idris stated.

'Not all candy is sweet.'

Idris shook his head as the side of the road opened up. It opened up into a large garden and park which various people were walking around. Children were playing and laughing as their parents watched over them. Without thinking about it, the two turned to enter.

There were flowers of all types blooming happily along the sides of the path. They all seemed to be well taken care of. Emre found himself stopping to smell a few blossoms as they passed by a larger bush. A simple relaxing walk was never bad after a few consecutive days of stress.

Idris also seemed to be enjoying the calm as he watched the people go about their days. There were couples walking about and families having picnics. Everyone looked happy and seemed to be enjoying the warm sun and breeze.

'There is a village just northeast of here that is near my childhood home.' Idris said as they continued along the path. 'When mother finally deemed it time for us to meet humans, she took us there to learn about them.'

Emre tuned in immediately. Idris had told him before that he would tell Emre about himself. He wouldn't pass up the chance to listen to how things were for Idris in the past.

'It was a very small village, even smaller than Palun. It's harder to grow crops in the north so they relied heavily on fishing.' Idris continued. 'There were so few people that there weren't many children either. Even so, my brother and I made good friends with a few of the kids that were there. My brother is only a year older than me, and we got along well at the time. I remember playing like normal children then.'

He was glancing around at the families and the kids playing about as he spoke. Emre nodded, folding his hands behind him as he listened. He never had any siblings, but he had some friends in school when he was young.

'Once our mother decided that we had learned enough she took us back home. I don't really know what happened to the other kids. They probably became fishermen or took off to find better lives. My brother and I, however, went into grueling training. She started teaching us about fighting and magic. And about other dragons…

'She told us that since dragons don't get along and don't share territory that my brother and I shouldn't be so close. She chased us out when she thought we had learned enough from her. My brother and I separated right away and I ended up heading to the northern mountain.

'It was a nice home and I intended to claim the area there. Unfortunately, my brother had the same idea. We happened to be hunting in the same valley... When I made a kill he came to take it and chase me out. Of course, I wasn't about to back down without a fight. It was what we were taught, after all. Our family ties didn't matter when we were out on our own. But… he was bigger and stronger.

'I ended up more injured than him and he needed to nurse his own wounds so he left me for dead. That was when Animor asked me if I wanted to continue living to fight on his behalf. I accepted and he healed the worst of my wounds. I left straight away. I headed south and then I eventually met Killan's group. And that's basically how it went. It's not very exciting and it's very dumbed down but… yeah.'

So that was why his face was bitter when he first mentioned his brother… Emre was silently glad that he had no siblings. He would hate it if things had turned out like that between them. His mother also seemed pretty strict on them. It was likely the reason Idris was so hesitant in the first place to work together with Emre.

'Sounds like you've also been through a lot.' Emre commented lightly.

'I suppose… but at least it was expected. I knew mother would chase us out and that my brother and I would no longer be friendly toward one another. You didn't expect what came to you.'

'Maybe not, but that doesn't make it any less hard for you. But hey, at least your mom wasn't right about some things.' Emre bumped his shoulder into Idris's. 'Dragons can be friends.'

'Mm… you're right.' Idris nodded with a smile.

'Do you think she would be upset?'

'About us being friends?'

'Yeah.'

'I'm not sure… I didn't really consider ever going to see her again anyway. She would probably chase me out the moment she noticed me. If we did meet her, she would probably say that I was making a mistake and that you would betray me in the future. She always said something like that.'

'I won't betray you.'

Idris glanced over at him but Emre was busy looking at the next bushel of flowers. He had said it so with such ease. It was hard for him to imagine meeting someone like Emre who was so sure that nothing would ever go awry in the future. And Idris could only cling onto that sureness.

'I know.' He eventually responded.

Emre looked back toward him with a smile and Idris felt his eyes soften and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted into a small smile in return. When Emre turned his head back to look in front of them, Idris found his gaze lingering for a moment longer before he finally looked away realizing that he had stared too long.

His ear tips warmed as his eyes dropped to the path in front of them, but Emre was unaware of this small, confusion-inducing development. He was simply content with the walk as well as getting to know Idris better and wondered where they would end up going after this.