by Virlyce
The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons
by Virlyce
© 2017, Virlyce
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:
[email protected]
Visit the author’s website at www.virlyce.com.
This book is dedicated to my HxC guild members.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Interlude
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Afterword
Prologue
“Sh-shouldn’t we stop her?” asked a red dragon. She sat on top of a boulder with her head raised, her reptilian eyes staring off at the rising smoke in the distance.
“No…. It should be fine. Probably.” A puff of smoke flew out of a gold dragon’s nostrils as he sighed. The dragon’s paws covered his head as he lay on the ground beneath the boulder.
“But what if the humans come?” the red dragon asked, flapping her wings twice. Her tail hung off the boulder, swishing above the gold dragon’s head.
A black dragon lying on his back, with his arms and legs splayed, snorted. He yawned and smacked his lips. “Then let them come.”
“Grimmy! You can’t solve everything with violence!” said the silver dragon who was sitting next to him.
“Of course not, dear,” Grimmy said as he raised his head to nuzzle her neck with his dark snout. His head fell back to the ground, creating a web of cracks on the rock surface below.
“Oh, get a room you two,” the red dragon said, puffing her cheeks out while staring at the couple. She turned her head back to the gold dragon and asked, “Are you sure we shouldn’t do anything, Vernon?”
“If you can stop her, be my guest,” Vernon replied. “The only thing I’ll be doing is praying I don’t die when she returns.” The gold dragon shuddered and closed his eyes. The other three dragons stared at him.
“He’s whipped.”
“Definitely whipped.”
A chorus of agreement resounded throughout the valley.
***
“Your Majesty, the Red Blade Adventurers have returned and wish to seek an audience,” a guard said with his head lowered and right arm across his chest. Across from him, sitting on a throne, there was a man with a crown.
“They may enter,” the king said. A group of six people, four men and two women, walked through the metal doors towards the king. They stopped twenty steps away, with one man ahead of the others, and knelt while staring at the floor.
“Your Majesty,” the man in front said. He wore a blue chainmail, and a red zweihander was strapped to his back. The blade of the sword extended from his shoulders to his knees while its hilt was slightly longer than his face.
“You may rise.”
The leading man stood up and crossed one arm over his chest. “We have accomplished your request. After stealing the dragon’s egg, we split up and entered six different towns before teleporting back to the capital. Sophie,” he said. One of the females, wearing a red robe, rose and retrieved a watermelon-sized egg from her bag.
“Excellent. You have done very well. As promised, I’ll send a word in to the adventurers’ guild to increase your ranking. Each of you may also select a weapon from the royal armory. You are dismissed,” the king said after taking the egg. The Red Blades stood up and bowed before turning around to leave.
“Won’t the dragons retaliate, Your Majesty?” a man standing next to the king asked. He had a white robe and a silver cross necklace, the metal barely showing from under his beard.
“They will, but we’ll only lose a few frontier towns at most. They wouldn’t dare to attack the bigger cities. What is worth more, Gale? A town or a dragon?” the king asked before bursting out into laughter.
“Forgive me, I misspoke,” Gale said while looking at the floor. He clenched his necklace until it cut into his palm and drew blood. I’m sorry.
***
Shrieks and screams resounded through the air. A man, wearing worn-out clothing, ran out the town gates with his wife. Tears streamed down the woman’s eyes as she clutched the infant in her hands to her chest. Behind them was a sea of fire. The smell of burning wood and meat lingered in the air.
“Head towards the forest.” The man had to shout over the roaring of the flames. The woman nodded and ran towards the woods. Before they even took ten steps, a shadow blotted out the sun and the earth shook as a sky-blue dragon landed in front of them. Its eyes, with golden irises and black slit pupils, stared at the two who had fallen over onto their butts. The dragon bared its fangs. Each tooth was the length of a man’s forearm, and flecks of flesh were speckled throughout its mouth. The man’s pants warmed up as a liquid passed through the cloth, but he couldn’t move. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The dragon arched its head up towards the sky and roared.
“Wh-why?” the woman asked. Her baby stirred in her arms, and her chest ached as fear gripped her.
The dragon glared at the woman.
“Vengeance,” it said as it raised its leg into the air. The woman closed her eyes and hugged her baby tight while sobbing. The baby’s eyes opened after a teardrop fell on its face. It made eye contact with the sky-blue dragon and opened its tiny mouth. The ground shook and shattered as a roar escaped from the baby’s lips, eliciting a scream from the woman as she dropped the baby and dove to the side.
The dragon’s claw stopped a foot above the dazed woman’s head, and it blinked its eyes. A rumbling sound caused the earth beneath the woman to tremble. It took a second before she realized the dragon was laughing.
A blue mage? Interesting. If they take one of mine, then I’ll take one of theirs, the dragon thought with a smile. She gently scooped up the infant with her claws. Her golden eyes stared at the woman who trembled beneath her. Her mouth opened, and the smell of carrion assaulted the woman’s nostrils.
“What is his name?”
1
“Um, Sera, dear? What is that?” Vernon asked.
“It’s your son.” The sky-blue dragon stared at Vernon.
“I see. My son. Yes, of course. How could I have been so silly as to not recognize my own flesh and blood?” Vernon asked, enunciating every word. She’s gone crazy. Absolutely insane.
Sera was sitting on her hind legs, rocking the infant with her front claw. “Isn’t he adorable? Say Mama, Vur. Say Mama.” The woman had told her the infant’s name was Johann, but Sera hadn’t thought it sounded very intimi
dating.
Grimmy let out a guttural laugh and slapped Vernon’s back with his claw. “Congratulations on the healthy boy. He has your hair.”
“But he doesn’t have ha—. Oh,” the red dragon said and nodded. “It’s true. He most certainly has a mane as fine as yours, Vernon.”
The surrounding dragons let out giggles. Vernon glared at them before turning to Sera. His brow creased as he asked, “Why does he look so … human?”
Sera narrowed her eyes at him. “What part of him looks human? Why couldn’t you recognize a human when they stole our egg?”
“Ah, that was, ahem. Never mind. I’m sure little Vur will grow up to be a fine dragon.” Vernon let out a cough and looked towards the sky.
“Of course he will. I imprinted him,” Sera said and nuzzled the baby’s forehead with her snout.
“YOU WHAT?!” All the dragons turned to stare at Sera.
“Did you really?” the red dragon asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, he’s one of us now. If any of you dare bully him,” Sera said and narrowed her eyes, “then I’ll kill you myself.”
“She’s really done it now. After all these years, she’s finally gone insane,” Vernon mumbled with his claws covering his face.
“Did you say something just now, dear?” Sera smiled at Vernon.
“No, I was only—”
“Volunteering to feed him? What a nice father you are,” Sera interrupted. She held Vur out towards Vernon, and he had no choice but to accept. Vernon looked at Vur closely and frowned. The infant’s eyes were golden with slit pupils exactly like Sera’s. She really did imprint him, Vernon thought and sighed.
“Hello, Vur…,” Vernon said. Vur looked into Vernon’s red eyes and let out a roar.
“Holy sh—”
“No cursing in front of the child,” Sera said as she smacked Vernon’s snout with her claw. “I told you he was one of us.”
“A blue mage,” the silver dragon next to Grimmy whispered.
“Are we really taking in a blue mage?” Grimmy asked. He raised an eyebrow while turning over onto his belly to get a closer look at the infant.
“Mage? What mage? All I see is a blue dragon. Isn’t that right, Sera?” Vernon asked.
“You really do learn well, honey.” Sera smiled at him. “I’m tired after that little excursion. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking a nap.”
“Wait. How many towns did you destroy?” the red dragon asked.
“Only seventeen. Don’t forget to feed the baby, Vernon,” Sera said as she flew up into the air.
The golden dragon watched helplessly as Sera’s figure shrank in the distance. “But. What does he eat?” Vernon sighed, peering at the infant sitting on his palm.
“I heard the meat of magical beasts is great for humans—increases their strength or something,” Grimmy said. He poked the baby’s belly with his front claw, causing him to cry out.
“But he doesn’t even have teeth? Can he eat that?” the red dragon asked as she pinched Vur’s cheeks to open his mouth.
Grimmy snorted and returned to the silver dragon’s side. “Then make him drink their blood.”
Vernon frowned at the crying baby who had just peed in his paw. His red eyes widened and began to glow. A sphere of water formed in the air above Vur’s head before falling on top of the infant, drenching him while washing away the pee. “Hold him for me?” Vernon asked the black and silver dragons while offering the spluttering baby towards them.
Grimmy raised an eyebrow as he plucked Vur off of Vernon’s palm. He brought Vur to his nose and sniffed him with a nostril that was bigger than the baby’s body. Vur let out a scream as he slipped out of Grimmy’s claws and bounced against the floor. “Oops,” Grimmy said and caught Vur before he could hit the floor again. The other dragons blinked as Grimmy dusted Vur off with the back of his scaled claw, smearing the crying baby’s face with blood.
“Grimmy!” The silver dragon gasped and smacked her mate’s snout. She snatched Vur out of Grimmy’s palm and touched the baby’s forehead with the tip of her claw. Her silver eyes shone white, and a halo of light enveloped Vur. Translucent tendrils squirmed around Vur’s body, healing the gashes on the back of his head. Vernon sighed and shook his head before spreading his wings and leaping into the air.
The red dragon furrowed her brow as Vernon disappeared into the horizon before turning her head back to the now-squabbling couple. She cleared her throat. “No one’s going to tell Sera we dropped him, right?” she asked. The dragons fell silent and exchanged glances before nodding. The red dragon exhaled and patted her chest before lying prone, curling her body around the top of the boulder. “Nice save by the way, Leila.”
The silver dragon smiled at her before shooting a glare at Grimmy. He scratched his cheek and chuckled while smiling. Leila turned her head away and began to jostle Vur in her palm, attempting to stop his crying. “Give him here,” Grimmy said and held out his palm. “I know how to make him stop.”
“No.”
The cries continued as the sun moved across the sky. The howling of wind interrupted Vur’s voice as wings flapped. Vernon was returning with a dead bear dangling from his mouth. The ground trembled, causing Vur to cry even louder, as the golden dragon landed next to the couple and released the dead animal in his jaws. “How is he?” Vernon asked as he picked a scrap of flesh out of his teeth with his claw.
“Noisy,” Grimmy said. Leila passed Vur back to Vernon before shaking her head and sighing.
“I wish you luck in raising him,” she said. Vernon frowned as he placed Vur onto the ground and stripped a piece of flesh off the dead bear. As if noticing the change, Vur stopped crying and sat on his butt with his legs sticking straight out.
Leila curled up next to Grimmy’s side. The sun shone on her silver scales, creating a rainbow pattern of light. She turned her head towards Grimmy and nuzzled his neck with her snout. She asked, “Is he really going to feed him that?” The duo watched Vernon wave a piece of bloody bear meat in front of the sitting baby.
“Doesn’t it smell delicious? Go on; try it,” Vernon said. He smiled at Vur, blood dripping from his jagged teeth.
Vur stared at the piece of meat before starting to cry. The red dragon snickered, causing Vernon to glare at her. “Quiet, Prika. I’m not in the mood.”
Prika covered her snout with her paw, her eyes shining as muffled exhalations escaped from her lips.
Vernon sighed and turned his head back towards Vur. The dragon’s eyes shone, and an invisible force knocked Vur over backwards, plastering him to the ground. Vernon held the meat over Vur’s head and let the blood drip into the infant’s open mouth. Vur’s eyes opened wide as he spluttered, but Vernon wouldn’t relent and manipulated the blood back into Vur’s mouth with magic.
Vur drank mouthful after mouthful of the bear’s blood until Prika called out, “Stop, stop! He’s unconscious.”
Vernon’s eyes stopped glowing. He nodded at the infant who had bloody foam trickling out of his mouth before eating the chunk of meat in his claws.
***
A purple-eyed man with four curved horns, two sticking out of his forehead and two protruding out of his temples, stood by a bedside with his hand holding onto a smaller, whiter hand. His skin was pale, blue veins decorating his exposed skin like little snakes. He wore a purple robe with a golden, horn-shaped insignia embroidered on its chest. A large crown made of orange metal rested on his head, supported by the two horns on his forehead. His wife lay on the bed with a blanket covering her bulging belly but exposing her bare legs. She screamed and clutched her husband’s hand, sweat rolling down her face onto the plush bed. Like the man, her skin was pale and she had four horns growing out of her head. A maid with a single horn sticking straight out of her forehead was by the foot of the bed, staring at the woman’s private bits.
“How does it look?” the man asked, frowning as his fingers were crushed by his wife.
“It just started, Milord,” the maid s
aid. She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. A white light enveloped the screaming lady, causing her to gasp. Her screams reduced to labored groans, and the light disappeared. The maid opened her eyes and inhaled before speaking, “Talking to Milady may help distract her from the pain, Milord.”
The man nodded and looked at his wife. He tucked a lock of black hair, damp with sweat and sticking against his wife’s cheek, behind her ear. “Did you hear?” he asked. “The humans provoked a dragon. They lost over fifteen settlements.” He stroked his chin with his free hand. “It must be an auspicious sign. The future demon lord is born after hundreds of humans have died.”
His wife gritted her teeth and glared at him with bloodshot eyes. “Does it look like I care about that right now?” she asked and hissed as her lower body spasmed.
The man scratched his head. “I was just trying to help,” he said. He glanced at the maid who avoided his gaze. “How does it look, Prim?”
The maid resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “It just started, Milord,” she said in the same tone as before. “Birthing can take up to eighteen hours, more if there are complications. You can’t expect”—her eyes widened—“eh?”
“What’s the matter?” the man asked. His wife’s grip on his hand loosened, causing his heart to pound. “Is the baby alright?”
“Yes, Milord,” Prim said, her eyes still wide. Her hands reached beneath the blanket into the area where the man couldn't see. Moments later, she raised her arms, revealing a silent baby. “I retract my previous statement.”
The man released his wife and hurried next to the maid. He snatched the bloody baby out of her hands—seconds after she snipped the umbilical cord—and peered at it, occasionally flipping it around and upside-down. His face fell. “He has no horns,” he said and looked at Prim with an accusing gaze.
Prim nodded. “That’s to be expected, Milord. Only exceptionally gifted demons are born with horns,” she said. A groan caused her to look back towards the wife lying on the bed. Her body undulated, and a scream escaped from her lips. Prim’s eyes widened as she stepped forward. “Twins, Milord.”
