Dreary Nightfall

With full stomachs and satisfied expressions, little Junko and her big tiger comrade were making their way back to the cave.

Well, to be more precise, the tiger was the one doing all the walking.

It was nightfall. With Junko and the tiger having hunted for the whole day, Junko seemed to have grown tired as she could barely keep her eyes open.

A while back, Junko hunted her last prey. A strangely white bull that was almost as large as the tiger.

Cutting up its body like a rookie chef cutting an onion, the tiger had been simply following and observing the little child since she was practically being dragged around by her.

The crudely cut-up bull creature had its body severed into two. The top half of which, including the head were being dragged along the floor by Junko just as she had done with her spear.

Though she was tired, bloody and muddy with her stomach filled, she still hadn't tasted the bull she hunted.

At the start of their return trek, Junko seemed to be too tired to continue walking, thus she attempted to climb onto the tiger with both her spear and the top half of the bull in tow.

This did not work.

And the tiger, seeing Junko's exhaustion and not wanting to carry the bull like a pack mule, plucked Junko up by biting into the scruff of her dress and carried her like a kitten as Junko still held onto the bull and her spear tightly.

Surprised and interested by this new transport method she had been introduced to, Junko could only giggle in exhaustion.

Though the return trek was slower than the arrival due to the tiger moving considerably more slowly because of the bull Junko was carrying, they still made it back to the cave in one piece after an hour or so.

Reaching the cave, Junko was surprisingly still asleep, though her eyelids felt extremely heavy.

As the tiger placed her down and moved to the corner of the cave to sleep, Junko walked and threw the corpse of the bull into the corner with the most bones before walking next to the tiger who was already laying down and fell onto her soft furred stomach while hugging her crystal spear that was stained with dried blood.

The two slept the night away.

...

"No Apex sightings to report, your majesty."

"Nothing strange from the shore team either."

"The centre team had reported sightings of Ashblood tigers further inland, besides that, no Apex sightings nor anything else of interest, your majesty."

"Nothing that side of the seeable continent either. Not a single Apex in sight."

The four team captains reported everything to the prince as he sat in front of a small tent on a wooden chair.

"Strange. So it's true then?"

He muttered to himself while glancing at his white-haired fairy companion.

"... Yeah, yeah. I understand. Yes, I shouldn't have questioned you. No, that isn't it."

He muttered in response to the fairy before letting out a sigh as his eyebrows twitched.

"Alright. Since the planned strategy won't work with not even a single Apex around, we must move further inland. But not today but tomorrow at noon, we will refresh the protection blessing and move out with two main teams.

If anyone encounters an Apex at that time they must report immediately and retreat, same with anything else that seems strange.

Ashblood tigers shouldn't be too difficult to dispatch but don't let your guard down.

If all the Apex are gathered further inland as we suspect, then the Optional Objective will be ignored and we will retreat back and search the shoreline for any corpses.

I'll remind you all of everything we've discussed hear in the morning.

For now, get some rest and eat your fill, we have more than enough resources to keep going for a week or two if needed."

"A week or two?!"

Someone from the gathered groups shouted out in both surprise and reluctance. The rest of the groups followed up with similar complaints.

"Oh, we definitely won't be staying for a week. Four more days at most. Even I don't want to stay here for too long.

We just have enough food and drink to last a while so we can get a good quality drink if we succeed, yeah?"

The prince calmed down the crowd effortlessly with petty promises and a nonchalant joking attitude.

The mood of the crowd shifted in a heartbeat and everyone dispersed to go and enjoy a cooked meal that some chefs from the main ship had prepared.

The prince smirked calmly as he leaned back in his chair, almost falling a second later.

Catching himself along with catching his falling fairy, he placed his fairy companion back on his shoulder where she curled up to rest with an inaudible grumble and disgruntled expression moments later.

The prince looked on at the far-reaching skies in the distance where the centre of the continent sat.

A single bead of sweat ran down the back of his neck as he looked on with an anxious expression, much opposed to his previously calm facade.

'We mustn't get too close...'

...

At the said centre of the continent.

All dragons were gathered. The closer to the previously vast lake, the higher their rank.

The newborn dragonlings and juveniles were not present but ever-scattered across the continent. Sleeping the night away.

A debate was taking place.

"... by Dragon Law!"

A frighteningly tall man with exceedingly long red hair that reached his ankles and sharp grey eyes spoke in an irritated tone. He stood at about five metres tall, his hands and feet were still that of a dragon's, his claws made of dense flame. His black pants and tank top camouflaged him in the night, in contrast to his hair and eyes.

"The Laws definitely don't speak of anything like this you know? I checked them."

A woman spoke. Her hair was aquamarine in colour as were her eyes. She was short compared to the others that were gathered yet her presence was just as overbearing as their's if not more. About a metre and a half tall, she sat on a large boulder. Her posture would most easily be described as 'yakuza'. Thankfully, her teal-coloured dress covered her entirely as it nearly reached the ground even from atop the large boulder she sat on.

The red-haired man and the aquamarine-haired woman glared at each other, lightning seemed to clash between their glares as neither let up.

A familiar old man sighed as he diffused the situation.

"As stated, the Dragon Laws don't mention this specifically. Yet they do speak of a similar topic. Though not having been discussed within many an aeon, the birth of something that may threaten dragon kind and the appropriate response is clearly written of."

The old man then glanced at the aquamarine-haired woman.

"Lochyr, you were there when that specific Law was made, were you not?"

"Tch."

"And by Law, an appropriate response must be chosen and executed by a majority vote of all living Elden Ranks. So, let us begin our discussion. At present, the Old Ones present are Lochyr of Water, Scorzyr of Fire, Decibyr of Sound, Centuyr of Time, Quakyr of Earth, Nebalasyr of Stars, Auryr of Gold, Lazulyr of the Blue Moon, Godmyr, our newest Makyr of the Arcane and I, Luminyr of Light."

"Must you even mention the presence of Godmyr? Ugh, truly I don't understand why he is even here."

Nebalasyr of Stars spoke as he covered his nose and mouth with his hand while frowning. His hair was dark purple in colour with black strands hidden around and his eyes silver. His short stature contrasted the length of his hair yet complimented his youthful appearance.

Godmyr, the familiar-looking middle-aged man only clicked his tongue and grumbled out:

"Shut up, Nebby."

Refusing to respond to Nebalasyr's provocations any further.

Time for an introduction round.

Lochyr of Water, the previously described woman with aquamarine hair.

Scorzyr of Fire, the previously described tall man with red hair.

Luminyr of Light, the familiar and muscular old man.

Godmyr, the familiar and nonchalant middle-aged man.

Nebalasyr of Stars, Nebby, the previously described youthful boy with long dark purple hair.

Decibyr of Sound, a woman with short grey hair and black eyes. Her mature looks and calculating gaze constantly observed everything around her. She stood at the taller side of about 2 metres in height and wore simple shorts and a shirt she had obtained from a 'human continent' at some point in time.

Centuyr of Time, a woman with similarly short hair coloured brown and eyes the colour of jade. Her stature was average, clocking in at about 1.6 metres and she wore a simple one-piece black dress along with quite a few accessories of bronze. She seemed mostly uninterested in the matter yet still chose to listen.

Quakyr of Earth, with semi-long black hair that covered most of his face along with his red eyes, the man called Quakyr stood at a surprising 1.3 metres. He was by no means a boy from his looks, the thick beard covering his face proved so. The man was simply short in stature. He wore simple leather clothes coloured red and brown.

Auryr of Gold, wearing countless golden accessories, over his golden-weaved clothing of white, the man named Auryr was essentially shining in the midst of the Old Ones. With a height of around 1.8 metres, his eyes were coloured just as gold as the hair on his face, a cared-for goatee and moustache sat on his face. Sadly, the top of his head was hairless. Bald.

Lazulyr of the Blue Moon, the man wore dark blue coloured clothing. His hair was black and tied into a single thin ponytail at the back of his head whereas the rest of his hair flowed freely. Standing at around 1.7 metres, his hat made him appear taller than he was. The dark blue top hat atop his head was tilted forwards and his closed eyelids hid the colour behind them just ad his unnatural smirk hid his true thoughts from others. Leaning forward with a cane in hand, he stood there soundlessly.

Makyr of the Arcane, the newest member of the Old Ones. Short and pure white hair with eyes coloured grey and a height of just under 2 metres. Wearing black-rimmed glasses and a black coat over his black coloured turtleneck sweater along with a black pair of straight pants and boots, he stood there unmoving as he read a leather cover book. Directly behind his head, there were unmoving flat diamond shapes arranged in a circle. Not a great colour scheme but no one has yet commented on it.

Luminyr then spoke again.

"Let us start discussing things."

So, it began. Luminyr spoke of everything regarding the lake. What might have happened to it, what might have consumed it and what might have been 'born' or 'awakened' from it?

Even though the gathered 11 Old Ones were all rivals competing for the throne, they listened intently. Save for Godmyr who knew all of this since the old man Luminyr already told him and Makyr the Arcane who was simply reading his book.

The issue at hand covered the entire Great Dragon Continent, the whole planet and possibly beyond. So, since all of their survival might depend on it, they listened and chose their actions accordingly. Possibilities were discussed and votes took place every now and again.

This continued far into the next day.