Chapter 63: The Dragon’s mountain (7)
Yue was embarrassed. Incredibly embarrassed. He could feel Viktor staring at him and he immediately remembered the events of the night before. Remembering how he and Viktor had been touching each other made his cheeks grow warm and he decided to get up instead of pretending that he was asleep any longer. He felt a kiss on his cheek right as he opened his eyes and turned red.
“Good morning,” Viktor said and smiled, pulling Yue up into his arms. Yue flinched as he remembered they were both shirtless because of their activities.
“You’re so seductive, Yue.” Viktor chuckled and kissed Yue’s lips.
“Don’t say that…” Yue mumbled and blushed, he clearly remembered everything, including how he had behaved near the end. Of course, Viktor remembered it even more Vividly. He had to take care of his erection himself after he saw Yue’s pleased expression when they both had released.
Viktor giggled a little and started getting dressed.
“Vik,” Yue said and made Viktor stopped what he was doing.
“Yes?” Viktor asked, happy that Yue was using his diminutive.
“You’ve done it before, haven’t you?” Yue asked with a pouty expression.
Viktor’s look of panic made Yue even poutier.
“...I have...but not really like that. I’ve never touched someone else the way I’ve touched you.” Viktor said and kissed Yue. He could tell Yue was confused but he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to tell Yue that his first time was with Mark of all people.
Yue seemed to understand after a second. He was still a bit grumpy to think that when they actually go the whole way he won’t be the first though.
“If it makes you feel any better, you’re my first lover.”
Yue wanted to pretend that didn’t make him feel better but that did actually make him pretty happy.
“Your last one too,” Yue said and hugged Viktor’s waist and looked up at him with a smile that looked innocent but was full of intent.
“...I know you meant for that to be scary but you just made me excited instead,” Viktor murmured and looked down at Yue with a perverted expression.
“A-Are You a Masochist or something? That was supposed to—That was supposed to be a threat!” Yue murmured, he could see the bulge in Viktor’s pants and became embarrassed.
“Who knows? Maybe I am.” Viktor said and gave Yue a kiss before going off to the bathroom. Yue sat there embarrassed for a few minutes before starting to get ready with bright red cheeks.
—
“Suspicious.”
“What?” Yue asked as he walked with Mai along the trail. Viktor was leading their groups in the direction he’d gone in the day before so they could find out where Hundun was going.
“Something about you two today is very suspicious,” Mai murmured and nudged Yue.
“You’re imagining it,” Yue said and looked straight ahead. His blush gave him away though.
“Don’t believe ya, I’m gonna go ask Viktor—“
“No!” Yue whisper-yelled and made Mai laugh out loud.
“So did you—“
“I’m not going to discuss that with you!” Yue whispered before rushing away.
Mai giggled and didn’t continue to pry. Yue wakes up near Viktor, trying to look around the area as they got closer to where Viktor said he had seen the Hundun mages.
“This place... probably can’t be seen by the Wyverns.” Yue murmured, looking around at how the trees made it impossible to see the sky.
“...Let’s go this way,” Viktor said after looking around a bit.
They started walking more stealthily as they got to an area where they could sense humans. Viktor set up a spell to make them invisible and Yue supported it with his magic as they peeked over into an area where the trees were much taller and the area was more open.
Other than Viktor and Yue, the other members of their group, including Mai, felt terrified by what they saw. Yue honestly felt nothing at all and Viktor just felt curious. A large dark red dragon was sitting on the ground near the mages of Hundun. It was speaking in human tongue, more specifically the German with the Austrian dialect that was common around these parts.
“Aethen does not even know how to properly use it. He just keeps it with him at all times because of a promise he made. He’s Old even for a Wyvern, he won’t be hard to kill.”
“You’re sure the treasure is exactly this..?” A man asked the dragon, showing him a painting.
“Yes, I’m certain.”
“Treasure..? Aethen…” Yue mumbled.
“If Hundun wants it then it must be something they shouldn’t have…” Viktor whispered.
Yue wanted to say something but he was worried that they’d be found out so he motioned for them all to sneak away from the area. They made their way back to where they had come from.
“That Dragon is probably the leader of the Wyverns...And Aethen is one of the Wyverns...I don’t know who though..” Yue murmured.
“Wait so the Dragon is betraying the Wyverns…?” Walter asked.
“Not the Wyverns as a whole, he’s probably just planning on betraying Aethen because of his treasure…” Viktor murmured and looked a little lost in thought.
“So we need to protect Aethen right? How do we figure out which one he is though?” Alexius asked.
“I’ll figure it out,” Yue said and turned to face Viktor’s chest. Other than Mai who caught sight of the faint glow coming from Yue’s eyes, the other students thought Yue and Viktor were talking to each other through telepathy.
Yue saw himself walking into a cave and seeing the Wyvern that he had met in the mountains a few days earlier. His future self opened his mouth and called out to the Wyvern, “Aethen. It’s time.”
Yue wanted to keep watching the prophecy but he decided that was enough. He never really liked seeing too much of the future unless he was in the middle of a fight.
“I think I know where Aethen will be. Let’s go.” Yue said and turned around to lead everyone back to the mountain near the base. He started using magic to try and look for that specific Wyvern after he started noticing that they were getting close to the base area.
“They might not be awake yet, there's still an hour or so until sunset,” Viktor murmured.
“It’s fine, I’ll wake them. Or wait.” Yue said and continued walking.
After some time they made it to a cave high up on the mountain and Yue deliberated for sometime before deciding what to do.
“You all should stay here,” Yue said and turned to the group.
“No, I’ll go with you,” Viktor said and stepped up near the entrance of the cave with Yue.
“The wyvern is going to antagonize you…” Yue murmured.
“It’ll be fine,” Viktor said and pulled Yue along with him into the cave.
The cave was much deeper than it seemed so it took some time for Viktor and Yue to reach the area where the Wyvern was sleeping. Yue walked in front, motioning for Viktor to wait as he walked closer to the sleeping Wyvern. A weird uncomfortable feeling filled him as he walked closer, something started lightly glowing as he approached the Wyvern.
"Hmm? Your Majesty?" The Wyvern raised his head and turned to face Yue with a confused expression.
"Is there something you need from me?" The Wyvern asked.
"Your name is Aethen right?" Yue murmured, the uncomfortable feeling wouldn't stop and he couldn't even describe it. He wasn't even sure if it was an emotional sort of feeling or that something was going on in his body.
Viktor watched their interaction and noticed Yue's odd behavior. He was shifting on his feet, clearly showing his discomfort. Was he nervous?
"Oh? Why yes, yes it is? Have you spoken with our leader? He is the only one who calls me by my name here, the rest all call me 'Elder'." Aethen said and raised his body so he was sitting up.
"No, I didn't speak to him, I saw him speaking to a human."
"Huh? Why was he speaking to humans!?"
"He's colluding with them to take a 'treasure' from 'Aethen', He said you'd be easy to kill. " Yue explained.
"That... I can't believe Skarr would say such a thing..."
"Do you think I'd lie to you?"
"Oh, of course not! I know you wouldn't lie, Your Majesty!" Aethen exclaimed.
"Your treasure...What is it?" Yue asked.
"Oh? It isn't quite time for me to return it to you," Aethen said with a toothy smile, "I can show it to you though."
Yue was confused, "Return it to me?"
Did Aethen actually know a former Azure Dragon? What could they have given him? When did they even meet? Yue couldn't think of a reason for an incarnation of Azure Dragon to even come to Austria of all places, It was so far from their territory.
Aethen moved his wing and pushed the item that had been glowing behind him so it was visible to Yue. Yue's hand flew to his mouth as he saw it.
A pure white fang was glowing with a blue-green aura in front of him and Yue immediately knew it was his own fang. If he didn't immediately realize, the piercing pain that he felt in his mouth as he looked at it would let him know.
'What the hell?!' Yue ran his tongue over his teeth, he could feel the missing tooth in his mouth in the form of a human canine but he also simultaneously couldn't feel it. It was there but it also wasn't there and it hurt about as much as when he had his ribs removed.
'Are all my teeth still there?!' Yue asked Viktor through telepathy, turning to face him. Viktor had been curiously watching them, unable to understand their conversation. The fang had intrigued him because it felt like a part of Yue but he didn't think Yue would be this panicked as he saw the fang. He nodded in response to Yue and looked at Yue worriedly.
"Ah, have you forgotten, Your Majesty? It’s not missing from your body, it's missing from your soul. It might've physically regrown but your soul still wants the original." Aethen chuckled, watching Yue's uncomfortable and pained expression.
"Ah that's right, My predecessor did that." Yue was confused when the incarnation of Azure Dragon that talked to him while cultivating suddenly chimed in.
"If you, or anyone, absorbs it they will gain the power that is missing from you. He removed it because he didn't believe he was ready to rule the Dragons. You're probably not ready either but better you than Hundun."
'I'm missing power...?' Yue murmured, trying not to look at the fang because of the painful feeling it filled him with.
"Yes, You are currently the weakest of the 4. Even Weaker than the odd one out."
"Odd one out?" Yue asked out loud, moving past his anger at being called weak. The incarnation didn't answer, however.
"...Me and the Humans that are with me will protect you. This isn't something that I can let other people have..." Yue said and sighed.
"Hmm... Very well. I'll try not to eat them, The only tasty one was marked by you anyway. I didn't think you'd be interested in a tortoise and human mix...It's interesting."
Yue wanted to silence Aethen to hide his embarrassment but he didn't want to be rude. The fang was probably left with him for a reason and he had kept it safe for all this time so he didn't want to be rude to someone who has been protecting such an important item for him. He silently turned around and walked out of the cave to go talk to the group that was waiting outside, choosing to ignore how Aethen was chuckling at his embarrassment.
"Return to the base and tell everyone that we will be changing our main objective. I'll explain it more tomorrow morning but for now, I'll be staying here to protect Aethen." Yue explained, His mouth was uncomfortable and it felt weird to speak since he was hyper-aware of how his soul's mouth was missing a tooth.
"What is the treasure?" Mai asked, curious.
"It's a Dragon's fang," Yue said and pointed to his own teeth, letting Mai know through telepathy that it was actually HIS fang. Mai was a bit confused about how that all worked but she winced at the thought of Yue missing a tooth.
"Mai you can stay," Yue added as he saw her start to get ready to leave with the rest of the group. He didn't want to hear Aethen tease him about choosing to stay with Viktor in the cave, plus he wanted to explain the situation to her some more.