The Wyvern Nest
To Airen’s eyes, there was nothing beautiful about the creature—its snake-like eyes, its split, forked tongue, not a single graceful feature among them. But Cassio was too busy admiring every last claw to notice.
“Sir Kassi, could you use your beast-detection spell and check whether there’s a wyvern pack within range? It looks like we’d better take a detour.”
“Yes, sir. But look at those wings. Damn, aren’t they beautifully made? When it grows a little bigger, it’ll fly with those, won’t it? How can something be so tiny and so full of power—”
“...Right. I see you’re not hearing a word I’m saying.”
In the end, Airen gave up on borrowing the beast mage’s help.
No matter how docile the wyvern looked, it was still a wyvern.
There was no reason to keep meeting them like this. As a substitute for avoiding the wyverns as much as possible, Airen turned his gaze to the dragon priest, who at least seemed to know his way around.
“Priest Seherbian.”
“Yes?”
Grrrle!
As soon as Seherbian took his hand away from scratching its neck, the hatchling wyvern opened its eyes wide and flopped right over onto its back.
Even lying there, it kept kicking up dust with a tail that swayed endlessly, and its round belly was fully exposed.
It was no different from a puppy doing anything it could to win its owner’s attention.
“It doesn’t seem like a good sign to keep running into wyverns like this. Is there any way to avoid them?”
“Hmm.”
Seherbian thought for a moment about the habits of green wyverns.
“Green ones are... fastidious. They hate getting their feet wet. They like climbing onto large, sturdy trees.”
“Then it’d be safest to go up along the valley, where there are plenty of low trees.”
“Probably.”
Airen made a face, as if he already had a headache. After going to all the trouble of moving onto firmer ground to avoid the leech beasts that kept clinging to them, now they had to slog through wet, muddy bogs again if they wanted to avoid the wyverns.
“We’re heading back to the valley.”
The order came down to move for safety. The party, with the air of people swallowing bitter medicine, turned back toward the direction where the sound of water could be heard.
But one problem still remained.
“Cree-rk! Grrrle!”
“Ah, that little one...”
Waddle, waddle.
The hatchling wyvern had begun following them, spreading its wings—still not quite usable—to keep its balance.
The party watched, wearing awkward expressions, as the wyvern trailed after Seherbian like a duckling.
“So wyverns really do like holy power.”
“It’s following the priest around like a lost chick.”
“Heh. It is kind of cute.”
Perhaps because it wasn’t a fully grown wyvern, the fear of a beast wasn’t what filled the group. Instead, a warm sort of smile passed among them.
And Seherbian—
Lord of the Silver Lineage! Lord Silveeeer Dragoooon!
“...”
Where are you going? Should I show you the way? I know this whole mountain range like the back of my paw!
“...”
But could you pet me one more time? Please? Hehe. I really like the Silver Dragon!
—was suffering in his own way.
The young wyvern had recognized his identity the instant it saw him. It was the first dragon it had ever met, and the aura of the Silver Lineage had utterly enchanted it, so that it was now practically beside itself with joy.
Even when Seherbian didn’t answer, it kept chattering away and pattering along after him on its short little legs.
At this rate, it looked as though it might follow them all the way across the mountain range.
Just then, as Seherbian let out a small sigh, Cassio the beast mage—who had been completely smitten with the hatchling wyvern in return—suddenly came to his senses and asked,
“But do hatchling wyverns usually wander around alone?”
“No.”
“Ah, that’s what I thought.”
As Cassio nodded at the calm answer, he suddenly froze.
At the same time, Airen, who had been walking ahead, whirled around.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Just then, a long shadow fell over the heads of the pale-faced party. It was a shadow so enormous it could not be compared to the one cast when the hatchling had first appeared.
“Speak of the devil. There’s the guardian.”
Flap!
It appeared above them, not from the brush, but from the sky.
The color of dense foliage, a size vast enough to blot out the sun overhead, and—
Gooooo—
A tremendous gale came rushing down from the sky. Its cry was nothing like the hatchling’s, which had sounded almost like a child’s laughter. The roar of the green wyvern shook the ground so violently it felt as though an earthquake had struck.
An adult wyvern!
The Varzian knights could only brace themselves and keep from losing their footing. It was the moment they understood, with their whole bodies, why wyverns were called apex beasts.
The wyvern did not land on the ground. Instead, it came to rest atop a massive tree. For a creature so large it could have blocked out the sky, its movement was as light as a bird settling on a branch.
In the eerie silence, its glittering eyes seemed to speak.
Should we get into battle stance? Maybe we should just keep our defenses up in case we provoke it. No—but what if it sees the hatchling and gets agitated and suddenly charges? Could we even stop it then?
Cold sweat ran down Airen’s brow. He couldn’t even spare a hand to wipe it away as he thought desperately.
Because the hatchling had been following them, the scene could easily be misread from the beast’s point of view.
And since there was no way to explain it in words, that made things even worse.
What should I do?
This was a moment that demanded a decision, one that would minimize the casualties for the party. Just as Airen was cautiously preparing to summon a lightning spirit—
Seherbian passed by him.
Priest Seherbian? Wait, what are you doing now—!
Airen nearly shouted in horror as he watched the priest, with no fear at all, approach the giant tree where the adult wyvern had settled.
But before he could stop him, Seherbian had already reached the tree.
All the while, the hatchling wyvern continued to waddle after him, delighted.
“...”
When Seherbian, standing before the tree, raised his head, the green wyvern’s narrow pupils turned toward him.
Seherbian smiled faintly.
“Hello.”
Kaarrr...
A murderous rumble rolled out between its sharp teeth. The rest of the party was on edge, but Seherbian ignored them and scooped up the hatchling, which had waddled after him in little hops.
“So, you came to take this little one back?”
“Kree-rk!”
The little one was thrilled, utterly innocent and bright. The adult wyvern glanced down at it as it rubbed its forehead against Seherbian, then narrowed its eyes.
The grown wyvern spread its wings again and slid down from the tree.
Thud!
The ground shook once more the instant its thick claws crushed the grass beneath them.
Then the green wyvern lowered itself and met his eyes.
I greet the Silver Lineage.
Unlike the hatchling, its tone was measured and polite. After offering a solemn greeting, the adult wyvern’s gaze shifted to the Varzian party, frozen on one side.
And those are...?
“My companions?”
Seherbian replied casually, but the wyvern flinched at that.
Your... companions...?
Companions of a dragon!
And not just any dragon—the companions of the Silver Lineage, of Winter Bell.
In the wyvern’s mind, the Varzian party’s status rose in an instant.
What brings such honored guests to a place as humble as this...?
“We’re just passing through.”
Seherbian answered calmly while stroking the whimpering hatchling. Then something seemed to occur to him.
“Ah.”
...Do you have some order for me?
“Everyone’s a little uncomfortable around wyverns, so I’d appreciate it if we could avoid running into them whenever possible.”
It was no different from barging into someone’s home and asking them to make themselves scarce, an utterly shameless request. But the wyvern bowed its head willingly.
As the great Silver Lineage wills it.
“Thanks.”
The green wyvern spread its wings, ready to disappear quickly from sight in accordance with Winter Bell’s wishes.
Seeing that the wyvern really did seem about to leave peacefully, Airen, who had been frozen with shock, finally edged forward.
“So... this is resolved?”
“Yes. It says it’s taking the little one back.”
Even with that reassurance, Airen couldn’t ease up so easily. If that huge, swift wyvern spread its wings and suddenly lunged at them, they wouldn’t even be more than a mouthful.
Besides, for something supposedly resolved, the mood was anything but normal.
Groooaaar.
Cree-rk, kree-rk!
It was because the big wyvern and the little one had suddenly started raising their voices as if they were fighting.
Come here, child. Let’s hurry back to the nest.
No! I’m following the Silver Dragon!
How dare you be so disrespectful!
The adult’s eyes sharpened as it looked at the child.
After a short struggle, the grown wyvern finally flapped its wings.
The wind rose again, and through the surging leaves, its massive body soared upward. At the same time, the tiny hatchling in Seherbian’s arms floated up into the air. Then the adult wyvern extended its claws and snatched the hatchling up as easily as though it were catching a calf.
Nooo, I don’t want to go!
Screee!
At last the little one burst into tears, but the green wyvern was merciless as it climbed higher and higher. Airen, staring blankly at the family disappearing into the distance and leaving only sorrowful cries behind, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Priest Seherbian, did you...?”
“Yes?”
“Does child abuse exist in wyvern society too?”
The dragon priest only gave an awkward smile instead of explaining that this had been discipline, not abuse.
* * *
Since what had just happened proved that wyverns did not attack priests who carried holy power, Seherbian’s standing within Varzian rose even higher.
The knights who had once taken a wait-and-see attitude now began to trust him completely, at least in the Wyvern Nest. If Seherbian said they should walk through the mud, they did so without complaint; if he told them to plunge into a grass thicket full of spiderwebs, they ran ahead at once.
The only one whose attitude never changed was Deputy Commander Jin.
“At last, the mountain range is almost behind us.”
Night had fallen, and they were resting around a campfire after the grueling march of the day, trying to ease the fatigue that had piled up in their bodies.
They had achieved the great feat of crossing the Wyvern Nest without encountering a single wyvern after the first day, and the high pass lay just ahead. The rugged path was nearly over, and soon they would only need to ride across the plains below the mountain.
“We’ll all be able to return safely and quickly to Varzian headquarters, and that’s entirely thanks to Priest Seherbian.”
Airen’s deliberately formal thanks was echoed by the others with applause and whistles. They had all survived after facing a wyvern at close range, and they had truly made it out of the mountains quickly.
Airen swirled the warm goat’s milk in his cup.
“It’s a shame there’s no liquor for a good day like this, but let’s raise a toast anyway. To the prosperity of winter.”
“To it!”
The atmosphere warmed even more, but Seherbian just stared blankly at the roaring campfire, cup in hand.
Of all things, prosperity of winter.
Varzian was the winter knight order, so of course it was an appropriate toast. But for a guardian dragon who had abandoned his duty, it sounded painfully wrong.
With a bitter smile, he rose from his seat first—and then a faint bell chimed at his ear.
Ring.
You’ve been followed.
Ah, again.
There was no need to say who it was; the answer was obvious enough that it rose immediately in his mind.
Maybe it’s time I asked why.
Seherbian swallowed a sigh and moved away from the campfire, toward the forest.
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