"B-blue flas! It’s the Dragon Lord!"
A wave of relief swept through the crowd. Even though none of them could move, it didn’t feel like much of a problem anymore. Not when hope surged up so suddenly, drowning out their fear.
After all, wasn’t the Dragon Lord the strongest being in Eryndra?
And that wasn’t entirely wrong.
To Kael Dravaryn, subduing a rampaging dragon wouldn’t take much effort. Restraining dragons was practically part of the job. He wouldn’t even need to fight back with his blue flas.
But the problem was, the one facing a fully grown, berserk dragon wasn’t the Dragon Lord at all.
It was his nephew.
A boy who still had a bedti and could be felled by a sudden bout of brain freeze.
Because at that exact mont, the Head of the Ministry of Balance and Enforcent was elsewhere, trying very hard not to burn the entire Nest to ash after discovering what had been happening right under their noses.
__
See, what was supposed to be a quiet infiltration had turned into a full raid the mont they saw the state of the dragonlings inside.
The place had always been called the Nest for a reason.
Just like the other beasts, it was supposed to be a sanctuary for the young. A place specifically made for the children of their race.
But if the ancients were to really speak of the purpose of the Nest then they would say the following:
It was intended to serve as a refuge where dragonkind, threatened during the great war, would gather their offspring so they could increase their chances of survival.
It was a place with way more safeguards established to ensure the next generation would reach maturity in the face of uncertain tis.
But more than that, it had been established so that parents who had no choice but to go to war could leave with so peace of mind, knowing their children would be safe.
That, aside from allowing them to learn from experienced dragons, had been the original purpose of establishing such a place.
Even after the war ended and a fragile peace settled in, the Nest remained. Over ti, it beca a place to temper young dragons, helping them gain control before their power could spiral out of hand.
From prioritizing survival, the Nest ended up becoming a place that decided when a youngling was capable enough to leave.
In fact, it beca an ostentatious place that felt more like a holding cell rather than a daycare for those who didn’t feel the need to start spreading their clan’s political influence as early as this stage.
However, even as ti passed, the place remained as the alleged safest place in the Dravaryn Dominion.
So what was this?
Kael let out a low, disbelieving laugh as he stared at the dragonlings lying unconscious in their rooms.
Forget discipline. Forget training. Forget even the bare minimum of keeping their instincts in check.
The children were simply...out.
Completely out cold.
Like human kids told to take a nap for their own good.
Except this wasn’t a nap. They weren’t sleeping o their own accord. Soone had clearly forced them under whatever this was.
Honestly, they might have missed it entirely because they’d been actively avoiding the children’s quarters. Originally, they’d been focused on the attendants’ quarters and Chancellor Malrik’s private spaces.
But everything changed because of one simple remark from his thankfully observant twig.
"Wow. Are the dragonlings here extrely well-behaved?" The question ca from a genuinely confused yet perfectly awed Riley.
"Hm?" Kael glanced at him.
"What do you an, my dear?" Lady Cirila added, equally puzzled.
"It’s nothing, really," responded the black dragon, his brow furrowing as he continued. "I just thought it was really admirable. The children here seem too behaved."
"I probably couldn’t sense it before since the first ti I ca here was while I couldn’t really sense mana."
"...But now that I can place them all sowhere, I’m surprised that they’re really well-behaved."
"...Behaved?"
Now that was the truly unbelievable part.
How could dragonlings, known for being so destructive that they could level territories if left alone, ever be described as behaved?
They were kept in line precisely because their instincts were chaotic. Because they needed structure, training, and restraint lest they end up taking the lives of people whose only cri was breathing mountains away from them.
So Kael’s face darkened at the absurdity of that assumption.
Upon seeing that look, Riley froze mid-motion.
Kael’s expression said everything he didn’t bother voicing.
"...Wait. Are you saying they’re not?"
"So they should be like the little ones—"
He stopped himself mid-sentence. He’d been about to ntion Orien and Liam back ho, but the realization hit him hard.
Then he spun around and bolted, catching everyone off guard.
"What?!"
Riley, a big brother, an accidental aunt and an ex-human who had seen children of different races panicked internally as a massive load of self-bla washed over him.
How had he missed it?
He lived with Orien and Liam. He knew what children were like but at the sa ti knew just what "ta" looked like.
And even those two who had long since been considered calm had difficulty sitting in the sa spot the entire ti.
They wouldn’t be boisterous, but they would definitely shift in place. A leg flinging here and there or the random stretching coupled with a little whining.
That’s what those two would do.
So what about the dragonlings here who dared to even fight for his man?
They couldn’t even sit out that gathering...
More importantly, he’d seen them sneak out even after Kael threatened all of them.
So how could these dragonlings have stayed in the exact sa spot, with the exact sa mana signature, from the mont they arrived until now?
An adult dragon deep in ditation could manage that, sure.
But children?
Children who could hear the faintest crunch of a snack from across a corridor?
Impossible.
And just like that, Riley stopped hiding.
He moved to the nearest door, threw it open without hesitation...
And froze.
A small dragon lay sprawled across the floor.
Unconscious.
"!!!"
Oh son of a gun.
That absolute trash of a bastard!
Riley’s eyes slitted in anger.
So beings really didn’t deserve to share oxygen.
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