Gems, Halberds, and Farewells... Onward we Go. (Chapter Five)
Chapter Five
Gems, Halberds, and farewells... Onward we Go.
Note to self: Never ask for history lessons while starving.
Truthfully, I don't think if I was actually starving I could have put this off any longer. I'm being offered the answers to many questions that I've had on my mind since the moment Prometheus told me of his intentions. I just wish I had thought to ask for something to eat before he started, running for your life and sprouting wings makes you hungry. Oh well.
After giving me the story of the previous Half-Dragons and getting a cup of water Kurltmak starts going into the world as it is in it's present.
"Ah yes, thank you Seletec." He says to Missmatch whose name is apparently Seletec but I still think Missmatch fits him better. Turning back to me he continues from where he left off. "Yes, that is the tale of the Half-Dragons and the Kobolds, we have lived here in Crimson Waters since Starclaw left us. However, we have not been completely idle, we have watched the world above us and made sure that none discover us and old grudges begin to emerge."
"Three powers are most prominent. Equestria, a large and diverse land ruled by the princesses of the Sun and Moon is a place where the earth itself in saturated with unnatural amounts of magic. It is inhabited by the three pony races, the Earth Ponies, the Unicorns, and Pegasi. For the last nearly three millennium they have lived in relative peace, although there have been isolated incidents occurring, especially in recent days."
"Then, there is the Griffin republic in the far northern mountains, but the name Republic might be a bit of a misnomer as they often act in the way an empire would, but they haven't had a full out war for centuries now. They have an Emperor as well as a senate, the Emporer having a hand in things when the situation calls for action the senate handles the day to day managing of the Republic."
"Finally, in the far east there are the Diamond Dogs and while in normal times they lack anything akin to a central governing body as the individual packs are led by their Alphas. In this sense they are the most unstable of the three major races, but as the Kobolds have seen, as well as experienced, they are able to become quite powerful despite that."
There are other races who call our world home, but if I were to tell you everything about the world we'd likely be here for several weeks." He says with a small chuckle. "Now then Half-Dragon, is there anything you would like to ask of me?"
"Yes actually, can I get something to eat? The last time I ate was a while ago and I've been burning a lot of energy."
"I apologize Half-Dragon, I did not know you were in such a state or I would have had something brought immediately." He says to me and then turns to look at Virnuln, "Go and bring the Half-Dragon something to eat." To which Virnuln nods and quickly makes himself scarce.
Huh, I could get used to that. Just a wave of my hand and anything I want would fall into my lap...
Turning my attention back to Kurltmak I say, "Thank you, but there is something else I would like to ask. You have told me a lot about what the Half-Dragons did but not how they did it. I've noticed a few things recently but I don't know what being a Half-Dragon fully entails yet."
Oh, so the all powerful ruler is thanking his mindless servants is he?
Shut up.
"Of course Half-Dragon, my knowledge is always your disposal." He says with a respectful bow of his head towards me, "The past two Half-Dragons were recorded to have strength, agility, and durability when compared to the other members of their races.
Well, that explains why falling into a roof hard enough to break it didn't kill me.
"They were able to assume parts of the form of dragons at will, and a legend that has been passed down since the battle at Irontail was that before she fell in battle Crimson Tide had turned fully into a dragon of considerable size and turned the tide of the battle in our favor. Unfortunately, we cannot be sure if this actually happened or if it was just a tale passed down by enslaved Kobolds to give themselves hope but there are some-"
"Hold on a second," I interrupt "You said they could take on parts of the form of dragons at will. What do you mean by that?"
"It means exactly what it sounds like," Kurltmak replies with no hint of being offended by the interruption, although from the look Seletec, or Missmatch as I still call him in my mind, is giving me I don't think that's how the old Kobold is supposed to be treated. My bad, sheesh. "The Half-Dragons were told to be able to assume their partly Draconic aspects as well as dispel them on a moments notice. I had just assumed that you were in the form you are as a personal preference."
"It isn't, I'm not entirely sure how most of my powers work just yet, I didn't realize I could make parts of my body disappear. How the heck does that even work?"
"I... cannot say, the Half-Dragons when they came to us previously knew at least partly of how to control their powers and never sought fit to tell us of their inner workings, I couldn't tell you how it works."
"Alright, fair enough I suppose." I say as I lean on my hand a tad grumpy from being basically told I'm inept and the fact my food still wasn't here. I close my eyes for a moment and try and see if there was actually anything to what Kurltmak was telling me. I do my best to try and feel the parts of myself, envisioning myself with my claw and wings and willing them to be gone. I feel a cool feeling on my hand and back as I open my eyes I see my left hand enveloped with a black mist and if the feeling coming from behind me was any indication something similar was happening with my wings. A few moments longer and the mist clears showing my perfectly normal left hand.
All hail the glorious transforming lizard!
"Well now, I'm honestly surprised that was so easy, let alone that it actually worked." I say looking up from my hand and speaking to Kurltmak.
"I did not doubt it Half-Dragon, while I still know very little of you, of what you are, I can feel that you are Half-Dragon, just as sure I can feel the warmth of my old and aged scales."
Wow... That was really heartfelt... I feel kind of bad about getting upset at him not being able to tell me about something he had no way of knowing. I am still a bit irritated about the food thing though.
As if the world had heard my thoughts just then I see Virnuln walking back into the room with a platter as he starts to walk towards me with it.
Yes! Man, right now I'm so hungry I could eat a horse.
...
That saying probably isn't going to ever be the same anymore, considering I've met sapient equines huh?
Luckily however the platter I'm looking at doesn't have anything along the lines of sapient equine meat. Instead on it sit a wide assortment of very sparkly gems, and boy do they smell delicious.
Virunuln reaches the base of my throne and holds the platter above his head saying, "Your meal Half-Dragon. Straight from the vaults and nothing but best for Half-Dragon."
I look down appreciatively at him and pick up one of the gems, a succulent looking ruby, with my now normal hand. At this point, I don't even think of picking up a very expensive looking ruby with the intention of biting into it strange at all. Just a day ago I would have called everything that has happened to me since I met Prometheus crazy, something straight out of fantasy, in the realm of impossibility.
Well, I suppose that's just adapting huh? If I didn't take all of this in stride like I am I'd probably be a curled up in a ball somewhere.
I let the somewhat depressing thought be washed away as I hear a satisfying sound come from the ruby being chewed in my mouth. It tasted like a candy apple and not a county fair candy apple either. It tasted like a gourmet candy apple, if they even have those that is.
Looking back to Virnuln I see him still standing there with what must be very heavy platter of gems for him. I feel like a bit of a jackass for making him stand there that long like that after carrying it all the way from wherever the vaults are.
"Virnuln you can just set them down somewhere, this ruby should tide me over."
I never would have thought his lizard-like face could be able to accommodate the grin he had after I said that, but somehow it did.
Holy shit, you'd think I'd just appointed him the king of the Kobolds from the size of that grin.
"Knows my name! Half-dragon knows my name!" He exclaims with glee, almost dropping the platter as he sets it down next to my throne. Then practically skips back to his position at the door as I look on at the sight with a raised eyebrow.
Kurltmak evidently seeing the confusion on my face, which is pretty impressive considering hes never seen a human face before this, explains, "Ah, you'll have to excuse his enthusiasm Half-Dragon he and Nirkul are two of the more... attached Kobolds in regards to the Half-Dragons. In fact, it must be some twist of fate that you come out of the tunnel they were positioned at. Truth be told, they're not even supposed to be in the hall right now, but when Virnuln came running in here almost passing out that he had met the Half-Dragon I couldn't bring myself to tell them to leave."
When Kurltmak says this Nirkul and Virnuln look at their feet guiltily as I look towards them.
"So, is there a reason that they're talking in broken sentences?"
"Well, that isn't exactly normal but Kobolds are prone to excitement and their meeting you must be making their minds go faster than their mouths can manage to decipher."
Finishing off the ruby in my hand I reach down and grab another gem and munch on it as I looks to Kurltmak and say, "Well, that's all fine and good I suppose. I do have a decree I'd like to make as the Half-Dragon."
"Really, what would that be?" Kurltmak says perking his head up at the thought.
"I need some clothes."
---
When I "ordered" clothes to be brought to me as the Half-Dragon, I had done so as kind of a joke. Seeing the dozen different sets of expensive clothing sized for me I realized they hadn't taken it quite that way.
Looking at most of the sets of clothing that the small army of Kobolds had prepared and brought to me most of them are pretty flamboyant, and not exactly my style.
No, the red one's too frilly for my taste, the blue's too short on the legs, the purple's just... not that one.
I list off the the sets of clothing one by one as I go down the line, finding none of them to be something I could actually see myself wearing. In fact with most of them I'd rather keep wearing my tattered rags, but I don't think that would fit very well with the "Noble Half-Dragon" position I'm in right now. My gaze finally reaches the end of the line of clothing and I see one I like.
It consisted of a long black overcoat that seemed as though the back had slits cut to allow my wings room to breath with it on. It came with a silver shirt that would go on under it, a pair of pants that matched the color of the overcoat, and the shoes were black with silver edgings and designs
Well, normally I'm not one for wearing that much black, but it does match my scales.
I point to it and say, "I would like that one, I think it's... fitting. Leave it here and let me change"
The Kobolds obediently go about carrying out my wishes, taking away the other sets of clothing and filing out of the room. Once they all have left the room I begin to remove my old clothing and begin to don the new set. The size is surprisingly comfortable and I'm surprised that the Kobolds were able to guess my size as well as they did. Looking down at myself I have to say I look half-decent, a big improvement from the clothes I had originally been wearing even when they were new.
Who says a dragon can't have style?
That thought on my mind I turn towards the door that would lead back out into the main part of the hall. I begin to push the door open as I push and I see Kurltmak, Missmatch, Nirkul and Virnuln waiting for me.
"Ah Half-Dragon, I must say it's a definite improvement from what you had been wearing earlier." Kurltmak says to be in his old and wizened tone.
"Yeah, I think so too." I say, looking out towards the murals lining the walls again.
"Is something troubling you Half-Dragon?" Kurltmak asks as he notices my gaze grow distant.
"Yes... I think there is something." I say, causing Kurltmak to look at me expectantly.
"It's just, I feel like a stranger. Not just in this city but to this world in it's entirety. I know you've probobly noticed my lack of knowledge about most of the it." Kurltmak nods in response to that, "That is because I have not been here for long, and while I know you'd be more than willing to answer any questions I might have about it being told of something, and living it are two very different things."
"I... see. It is not my place to question the Half-Dragon, and I will not question where you have come from. I will ask however, as an adviser and confidant, what is it you wish to do?"
I think for a moment as I truly consider what I truly want to do. Up until this point I've only been going where the flow of events have been taking me, without much real time to consider what I want. It's easy to just blindly stumble forward when you don't have any choice in the matter, to just grit your teeth and wait for things to get better.
This however, is a different thing entirely. Now I can choose what I want to do, and I know Kurltmak wouldn't stop me even if I just said fuck the world. Part of me wants to, an immature and petty part of me wanting to do it out of spite towards Prometheus as if that were the only thing I could do to deft him. However... I think in the end that would hurt me more than it would inconvenience him.
It's kind of hard to get payback on an immortal Titan huh?
Kurltmak has told me so little of a world around me, an entire world untouched by the hands of humanity. The innovator, the explorer, and the crusader that the human race has proven itself to be. An entire world stretched out before me. Now how could an ambitious human resist that?
"Kurltmak," I say, feeling the conviction growing in my voice. "I have a world to see."
---
Taking into account my luck so far with this cheery little world of magic and technicolor ponies I figured I'm probobly going to need some way to defend myself. So, I asked Kurltmak to see about getting me a weapon.
"Of course Half-Dragon, what kind of weapon?"
I scratch my chin thoughtfully, as I consider the question.
What kind of weapon indeed.
Thinking of medieval weaponry first thing that comes to mind is a sword, the weapon of kings as it were. However thinking about it using a sword with any degree of skill takes a lot of training from a young age so that thought finds it's way out of the door pretty quickly. Taking a moment to take my wings into consideration perhaps a bow of some kind? It'd allow me to stay safely in the air. When I remember how I broke the handle off of the door without even trying and the fact that there seemed to be quite a few creatures that would be able to reach me in the air that idea goes out the window too. An axe or a mace wouldn't be fitting either I simply couldn't see myself using one with my build even if I did have the strength for it now.
I keep going through a list of weapons in my mind and none of them seem to fit. A flail? That wouldn't work very well when I was flying. A spear? It feels better but there're some bad memories that go along with that. A spear is close but not it.
Halberd.
...
The Halberd, a two-handed pole weapon that was the combination of a spear and an axe. It's pointed spear like tip allows for thrusting attacks or use in a charge. It's axe-head allows for the wielder to take sweeping strikes.
Perfect.
"A halberd Kurltmak, a Halberd would be perfect."
"Of course Half-Dragon, it will have to be forged from scratch for someone of your stature but the smiths will begin immediately."
"Thank you Kurltmak, I know I'm making a lot of selfish demands. I just can't sit idly by while an entire world is out there. I promise that I'll return someday however. I owe you that much for everything you've done."
Kurltmak has a warm smile come to his face as he replies, "That is comforting to hear Half-Dragon. My people will be disheartened to hear that you are to be leaving us again so soon but I think your decision to be a wise one despite what any might say."
"A wise decision?" I ash wish no small amount of confusion in my voice.
"Yes Half-Dragon, to see the world with one's own eyes is something that will serve one who is to change it very well."
"You... you think I'm going to change the world?" That thought doesn't exactly bring me a lot of comfort.
"I do Half-Dragon, the logical part of me would say that I believe that to be so because of the effects the previous Half-Dragons had. However that is not truly why I think that. I cannot put into words why I feel this way, and perhaps it is simply senility catching up to me but I cannot deny that I feel it." He lets out a deep sigh as he says this and adds, "But that is enough uttering from an old lizard I think."
So then world changer, are you just going to stand there or are you going to get the smiths to make you your Halberd?
---
Nirkul and Virnuln were the ones to escort me back to the surface. Thankfully I remembered to ask them to take me to the surface through a tunnel far away from where I had left a very angry orange dragon. I stand on the surface under the night sky for the second time since I fell into this world. Now however I move with a purpose, I am not being carried by the current, and I now look towards the horizon as my goal. I grip my Halberd in my left hand, the finely crafted metal feeling as light as a feather in my grip. Calling forth my wings and I feel the cool sensation of the black mist on my back.
"Good-bye Half-Dragon" Nirkul says with poorly concealed sadness, and Virnuln stands next to him looking like a scolded child. During my short stay in crimson waters the two little Kobolds had been a constant for me, always so excited and full of energy. It's depressing seeing them look like that.
"Now you say that like it's the last time we'll be seeing each other." I say with a hint of humor in my voice and at the words I see them perk back up a bit. although they still look like they're about to cry.
looking at my left hand, and I see my human fingers and skin. It's strange to admit this bu tit feels odd seeing it that way. One of the first things that had happened to me when I arrived in this world was my clawed hand.
Sometimes I don't understand myself at all.
The black mist begins to surround my hand and it lingers for a moment. When it fades away I see my now familiar looking black scaled hand gripping the metal shaft of my Halberd. I feel a strange sense of pride well up in my chest as I see it gripping my newly forged weapon. Beginning to beat my wings I feel my feet losing contact with the ground and soon I find myself flying forward as the cold night air nips at my skin.
I had consulted the map Kurltmak gave me before I had left Crimson waters and I already knew where I was headed.
First stop, Equestria. I think I'll see if I can pay "Miss. Celestia" a visit. For the sake of mischief of course.
---
Nirkul and Virnuln watched as the Half-Dragon flew away, both of them sad to see him go but comforted in the fact Kurltmak had agreed to their request.
When the two Kobolds had first heard of the Half-Dragon's plans to leave Crimson Waters they asked Kurltmak if they could be allowed to accompany him. Kurltmak had given them a coy smile and told them that the Half-Dragon had not said anything either way, he allowed the two of them to leave Crimson waters so that they could follow the Half-Dragon as he explored the world.
The Kobolds had tunnels reaching to nearly every corner of the world, it was how they kept tabs on the other races. Now however they were going to serve as the way in which the two young Kobolds would follow their Half-Dragon.
"Virnuln?" Nirkul looks to his to his brother.
"Yes Nirkul?" Virnuln responds.
"What do you think he's going to do?"
"No idea Nirkul. No idea."
Stats
Page generated in 0.028 seconds
Total duration
1,111 users online
2,150,730 hits today, 2,782,760 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I do not think he will take over the world...probably bring alot of bloodshed but not war....
First stop Ponyville?Or has that been overrated already.
OMG... Please keep this story up. Can't wait to see him troll Celly.
Also,
FUCK YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH HALBERDS,OOH OOH MAKE IT SPIT FIRE.
1973229 he's going to Canterlot to prank Tia, that's my guess
1973432 WITH PIE!!! OHOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AND FIRE.
1973462 a flaming cream pie topped with the classic cherry
1973477 AND THE CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!!!!
AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF,HE'S GOING TO PLAY SKIP RRRRRRRRRRROPE WITH DISCORDS INTESTINES!
1973514 ...
[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=37OWL7AzvHo]
1973541 No fun.
1973574
ouch
1973514 Okay there Sheogorath.
Fucking fav'd
Paying celly a visit are you...?
Oh this should be good...
only thing I hope for in caterlot is Luna love and Discord becomes a sidekick
Me:....
Brain: Bro you okay?
Me:....
Brain: Bro...?
Me: Brain...
Brain:...?
Me: Deathwing mode activate
images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110928192812/wowwiki/images/4/45/Deathwing,_the_Destroyer_TCG.jpg
Tear Canterlot a new one when the time comes
2533410
LOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!
dude an entire race at his beck and call awesome
I love this please make more storys
Sightseeing first, World Domination later.
4357869
No sightseeing and ducking up the world at the game time
/\
Auto correct
Hmmmm..... Why do I think about Overlord and his minions?
I can understand the confusion.
This story is giving me flashbacks to Jake Long, good times...
I had icecreem salt in my pocket
Honestly probably a good idea to get some power and experience before leading an entire race
Frankly first thing first gunpowder iron grenades and canons