The End of Summer (3)
Will the dragon attack the people?
I don't know. No one can even look into a dragon's head.
Conversely, what if humans attack the dragon?
If the dragon were merely a simple beast, that would have been the case. No matter how large or powerful it was, a beast was still a beast. Scare it away and that would be enough.
If this were the Empire, I would have done exactly that.
The Empire regards dragons as mere beasts.
In the Empire, dragons are seen as fierce, foolish creatures—great crocodiles that breathe fire. The Empire expects no intelligence from them.
They would have attacked, treating it like any other great beast.
But on the steppe, the dragon is an entirely different life form.
The elves of the steppe believe dragons possess intelligence.
That was why Ashtien had not struck first.
-If the dragon does not bare its claws, neither side should spill blood.
She feared the sight of blood.
-If the dragon were just a simple beast, a dead dragon would fall to the ground. Birds and wolves would tear at its corpse. The dragon itself would fly over and do the same, then return to its nest as if nothing had happened.
But if the dragon truly possessed intelligence—if it had intelligence on par with a human—
the dragon would remember the blood. Its own kind would remember the price paid in dragon blood.
Blood remembered is never easily erased; it sinks deep.
This was the single principle shared by every nation on the steppe.
That was why Ashtien kept the string taut and continued watching the dragon.
Kuuu-
The dragon showed no special intent to attack. It merely circled the arena at a low altitude.
Its enormous body cast an unrealistically vast shadow that swirled chaotically.
Vesta checked the elves' safety amid the confusion.
'Everyone is safe.'
The match would be canceled anyway. Should I join the elves now?
While Vesta was still pondering, a voice cut through the air.
"Even if it's a centaur, in a situation like this, it's no different from a herd of foals."
Those were Attila's words. When Vesta turned, he saw the centaur standing in the center of the arena.
"Isn't that right, gladiator?"
Vesta had no time to answer. Attila was staring at the entangled centaurs with a troubled expression.
"The scene from early summer comes back to me. When summer had just begun. The griffin had returned to the steppe and was hunting wild horses."
Vesta had witnessed the same sight. With Orolbai, leading the young lambs, a griffin had flown in and devoured a wild horse.
Wild horses were utterly helpless before a griffin.
"The scenery before us now isn't much different from that time."
Replace centaur with dragon and griffin with dragon, and the comparison would fit almost perfectly.
But leaving aside the centaurs, has any creature in this world ever been powerless against a dragon?
-Are you different? Special?
"That is a little unpleasant."
Attila's face hardened. He approached the judge who seemed unable to decide what to do and snatched the flagpole from his hand.
The fluttering flag at the tip of the pole was the centaur totem.
Vesta asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"What are you trying to do?"
"It's not difficult."
"What are you trying to do?"
Attila answered indifferently.
"I will kill the dragon."
With just this flagpole?
"In the centaur's way."
Attila gripped the flagpole backwards. Vesta realized what he intended to do.
He was about to throw the spear.
A long, heavy flagpole—not a throwing spear—toward the dragon.
Vesta's eyes widened as he tried to stop the reckless act, but Attila paid him no heed.
Unlike the elves, centaurs view dragons as monsters. They expect no intelligence from them. That was why he had made a different judgment from Ashtien.
Kung-!
Attila rolled his foot against the ground as if stomping. Then he took a much larger step. The momentum was so overwhelming that Vesta's ears rang.
It sounded like thunder.
Attila stomped and charged forward. Considering his massive body, the speed was absurdly fast.
His shoulder pulled back, and at the exact moment he was about to throw—
'Blood will flow. And that blood will burn.'
A warning bell rang in Vesta's mind. He turned pale.
At that moment, the wind blew.
A lone gale sliced through the storm raised by the dragon.
It was not only Vesta who noticed the solitary wind. Everyone gathered here felt it.
Suddenly, a single white beast appeared on the plain.
"Princess."
An anonymous beast. A member of the royal line walking the royal path to become the Ekarkwidae.
It was the same beast that had blessed Vesta before. Vesta recognized it immediately.
Even if it had been tied with a spiked collar, he would have known it anyway. He could simply feel it.
The white beast galloped across the steppe.
Kuuu-
'The dragon sensed the princess's presence.'
The dragon twisted its body in mid-air, revealing the side of its head instead of the lower jaw. The legendary dragon eye appeared. That eye held the princess.
Even though the gaze was not directed at him, Vesta's body stiffened.
'Even when facing the eyes of a man-eating tiger up close, it wasn't this bad.'
Uuuu-
The princess let out a low cry as she looked at the dragon. It seemed as if two beings beyond human understanding were conversing.
The dragon flew in the direction the princess was running, then twisted its body again.
Whoosh-
The dragon soared with powerful wingbeats. The people reacted with excitement.
"The dragon has retreated!"
"The princess has driven it away!"
Ashtien watched the dragon until the end and lowered her bow. The Keshik followed her command.
Because the incident was an incident, the excitement did not subside easily. The centaurs' voices grew louder.
However, no centaur approached the princess.
Because to them as well, she was a sacred being. They believed that touching her rashly would bring disaster.
The princess stood tall, receiving every gaze upon her. She was majestic and dignified.
When Ashtien was about to command her to prepare the tribute, the princess began to move.
Where the princess was heading was—
"It's been a while."
In front of Vesta.
*
"I've never seen such a sight while I've been alive."
"Who else? When this happens, I think I've lived too long."
The murmuring of the people was slightly annoying.
There was no need to mention the cause. That fluffy thing lying casually in front of Vesta. It was because of the princess.
In front of her, who lay face up with convenient ease, various rare game were piled high. The tributes offered to her.
She herself had eaten the one Vesta gave her, her belly full, and was now ignoring those tributes to sleep like that.
"Does the Ekarkwidae follow humans?"
"Even if you ask the elves, they'll say no."
"Then the consort of the Khan of the Wilderness must be a special person."
The people seemed to believe Vesta had some secret.
'Even if you don't listen to what I say.'
No stubbornness was as stubborn as this.
The collar pressing her neck was annoying. When I approached to loosen it, the princess growled and backed away.
If I got any closer, it was like a water spirit. She was simply lying down at this subtle distance, neither looking for anything more nor pushing anything away.
"What do you want?"
Even when Vesta asked that, the princess did not answer. Vesta clicked his tongue in frustration.
"No need to be impatient."
"Ashtien."
Ashtien approached. Vesta greeted her with a warm smile. A smile appeared on Ashtien's face.
"Since you've endured so many hardships, you are a being bound by many restrictions. Surely you are waiting for the right moment."
Is she really waiting?
"Since you drove away the dragon, as a reward, I would like to loosen this collar too."
Ashtien narrowed her eyes and glared at the collar around the princess's neck. It resembled a dog collar.
"...It's not a normal thing. It feels like an evil that has continued for hundreds of years."
"Is it made of special material?"
"Yes. It must be made from materials from the spirit realm. Whether I can loosen this with human hands..."
Ashtien stroked her chin and fell into thought.
-Having waited for hundreds of years.
-Finding a person who can loosen this collar?
She glanced at Vesta. His trusted warrior.
-If you chose this child, you must have quite high eyes.
Ashtien pressed Vesta's head down and stroked it roughly.
"Ugh."
While she was playfully doing this—
"Um, it's noisy."
"Because people gathered because of the princess, I guess."
"No, it's a different matter from that."
Ashtien felt a strange tension. Soon after, Ahor and Uushun, and the Keshik appeared in an orderly formation, surrounding her and Vesta.
"What is happening?"
"A scout discovered an orc group."
"Orc? Around here?"
It was a hard-to-believe report. An orc appearing in the place where the centaur army and the king of the wilderness were stationed.
'The orcs I saw last time were dragged out as prisoners. The situation is different.'
If the orcs had not lost their fear, this would not have happened.
"It seems different from the usual situation."
"Then I will check it myself."
"Yes, Khan."
Ashtien led the Keshik forward. Ashtien was the first to turn the corner, and then the centaur chiefs took their positions.
They too had moved after hearing the scout's report. A long wait continued in a rigid atmosphere.
The scouts reported one by one, and Ashtien accepted the orcs walking straight toward her.
-It would be better to let them in. I don't want to see blood, but if things go wrong—
-I have to do a one-sided attack from inside. With the best cavalry in the world next to me.
They passed through the swords one by one, then climbed the mountain path.
Finally, the orcs appeared. It was a quite large group. At least among the ones Vesta had seen, it was the largest. So among the orc groups.
-Grrrr.
Wild men leading wolves and wild horses. There was a male at the front leading the rough breed.
He was a sturdy warrior. And unlike other orcs, his fur was black. Like a black wolf.
"Oh, everyone is gathered."
A mixed soup-like language. I couldn't feel dignity, but at least it wasn't Orcish.
The chiefs and Keshik who knew all the steppe languages could understand the man's words.
Of course, Vesta and Ashtien could as well.
Ashtien asked the man who seemed to be the leader.
"Orcs who brought a group to Ainuwail, it's been a while."
It was an unusual and awkward thing, but not illegal. Ainuwail was officially not owned by anyone.
"The king of the elves. Khan, you are."
"Who are you facing?"
Soon it would be the king of the wilderness.
"The Khan of the Wilderness. I didn't think so, but it really is the Khan of the Wilderness."
The orc laughed. He had a laugh with tension.
"In this case, I have to introduce myself. It's a place where kings meet kings."
-A place where kings meet kings?
"My name is Karakh. I am the king leading the orcs of the Rock Mountains. The king of wolves."
The man introduced himself as the king of orcs.
The reaction to the bold statement was mixed. The chiefs seemed very displeased that orcs claimed to be 'kings', and Ashtien was expressionless. And Vesta was.
'What is this?'
He tilted his head.
'Something is lacking...'