Previous: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/32046476/
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The next several floors of the wolf king's castle, despite its relative massive size, proved easier to traverse than the pair had expected. Thanks to Crayt's map, they weren't having any trouble navigating the labyrinthian hallways and rooms, in fact, the only real hindrance for Lyle and Scale was time- Being small, they weren't able to cross distances like the regularly-sized drakespire dragons unawarely looming high above them could. It had been over an hour since they had entered the castle, but the wolf and dragon had barely made it a third of the way up to the highest, most secure chambers where the crown awaited them.
The stairs would have been a major impediment to their progress, if not for Scale's staff: They were all too steep for him to climb at a height of two inches, and so, he'd had to become even smaller so Lyle could leap from step to step, carrying the tiny, miniscule dragon in his paw. As they moved through the castle, the pair made use of the usual forms of cover whenever they heard, and felt, the gigantic drakespire dragons coming their way. Storage crates, pots, and the many bottles of ale that seemed to be present in every single room in the massive structure hid the little dragon and nightwolf from even the most attentive eyes as they skittered about the castle.

Another half-hour of travel brought Lyle and Scale to a large staircase in the center of a hallway. The last staircase before the crown, according to Crayt's map. The steps numbered at least fifty, and were a little steeper than the ones throughout the rest of the castle. At the top, an archway with a big pair of wooden doors. A faltering light shone through from the other side, flickering with various shades of orange.
The nightwolf, and the dragon, however, found their attention drawn to a sizeable gap in the wall across from the staircase. The opening was about six inches high and twice as wide, and seemed to stretch through the castle walls for several feet until it reached the opening on the other side. From the end of the tunnel, the pair heard multiple voices. A soft string instrument of some kind, and the crackle of a fire.
"Scale?" Lyle smiled, "How about we rest a few minutes?"
"Uhhh huh", the gray dragon huffed, tired from the walking that had brought him this far. "And I want you to carry me on the way out. My feet are hurting."
"Sure, buddy. Now, come on over here..." Lyle said, walking into the gap in the wall, "I want to have a look at whatever's through here. Do you hear that music?"
"Of course I can hear it, it's a giant harp...", Scale replied flatly.

At the other end of the air vent, the two friends found themselves looking down into a room, with wood panel walls, about a dozen square tables, most of which had dragons seated at them, and a bar that stretched almost the length of the wall it was joined to. In one of the far corners, a lavender mixed-breed female sat with a large gold harp almost as big as she was, on a small stage, calmly playing the instrument. Her eyes were closed, and aside from her arms, she was barely moving. The bar was staffed by two other mixed-breed dragons, one of each gender. Most, though not all of the other dragons in the room, were also mixed. There were no servant dragons in sight save for one small red one by the door, and only five warriors scattered around.

"Now... let's just relax here for a while, and watch the lizards- I've always wanted to see what these dragons are like when they're not swinging axes on a battlefield or patrolling old fortresses", the nightwolf said, lowering himself to the ground and resting on his belly, peeking over the edge of the vent. Scale sat on the edge, carefully.
Lyle laughed softly, and motioned to the one servant dragon far away. "Hey, Scale. It's really something, how the little red guy over there is the same race as those big, buff warriors. Hm?"
"Huh? Uh, sure, I suppose. I've never given it much thought, to be honest", the gray dragon replied. "Some races just have quirks like that".
"So, you've never wondered what makes them both so different?"
Scale scratched his earfin and shrugged. "No? Genetics?"
"Probably. I always figured the servants had bad growth genes or something. I met a deserter once who told me another story, though...", Lyle said, focusing on one of the dragons sitting at the bar- A large, jet-black warrior with a steel sword on his back.
"Oh? And what was that?", Scale asked, leaning back a little.
"Well, according to this particular dragoness- The halfbreed Drakespire dragons are what the original race looked like, before they were turned into servants and warriors."
"Turned?" Scale looked at the nightwolf, skeptical.
"Yeah. Going by what she said, pretty much all of the Drakespire dragons believe this; Their kingdom was attacked by hordes of snow foxes, jackals and wolves from the north, but most of the dragons didn't try to fight them off. They hid in Drakespire's underground caves and the forests while just a few tens of thousands repelled the invaders", Lyle recounted, still watching the warrior at the bar. "Some say those dragons wanted the kingdom to fall so whichever king they had at the time would be deposed, and, others think they were just weak and timid and didn't want to fight. It was both, probably. If it even happened, right? It could be nothing more than an old drake's tale", the nightwolf laughed. "Anyway. The dragons were losing from the start of this big invasion, you know, because of their numbers, and because they couldn't farm as much as they needed to and fight at the same time."
"Uh huh? Then what happened?", Scale asked.
"Well- Just as these northern invaders were about to attack the capital, the few thousand remaining dragons undergo a sudden change- Like, they get bigger. Stronger. And, as this is happening, an apparition appears- Huge, like, as big as Drakespire's central tower- A gigantic gold dragon spirit, just shows up, out of nowhere. This, is the Drakespire war god, and, he tells these beefed-up warriors they've been miraculously gifted with divine dragon blood- His divine blood, that is. They're half-gods now, more than powerful enough to drive out the invaders no matter their numbers. And, drive them out is exactly what they do. They also burn down half of their own kingdom with their flame breath, which is now so powerful they can't control it", Lyle laughed subtly. "Now, the dragons that didn't fight, on the other hand..."
"...Oh", the gray dragon mumbled, looking at the red servant dragon in the corner.
"That's right. Just as the courageous dragons were empowered, the cowardly ones were diminished. They were lesser dragons, now. Or, servants, that's what the warriors decided they were. After the war, they wall themselves off and keep to themselves for a few centuries, until they emerge as the greatest fighting force on the continent and start pushing out in every direction. By this time, they have hundreds of thousands of halfbreeds in their army serving as infantry, and, tens of thousands of pure-blood warriors. Only, their flame breath has waned a lot since they were first created. It's still powerful, but, most of them have lost the god-fire- That's what they call it. Which means, a warrior can only burn one house to cinders instead of half a town."
Scale sighed and stared at his feet, idly flexing and curling his toes. "So, do you think there's any truth to that, Lyle?"
The nightwolf hummed softly. "Maybe. Guess there's no way to find out- Oh, wait. Maybe there is, my little alchemist. Couldn't you test one of these overgrown lizards for traces of divine blood?"
The dragon's mouth curled into a subtle smile. "I might know one or two ways of doing that, yeah."
"Hm. Good. Maybe we'll be the first ones to debunk this little myth of theirs."

Scale observed some of the dragons in the room beneath him. Most of them were talking and playing card games with one another, and all of them were drinking- No surprise, Drakespire dragons were known for that. The door the red servant dragon was standing by suddenly opened slowly, accompanied by the ringing of a soft bell. A mixed-breed, green dragoness walked in, wearing a small cape in addition to the usual battle garments, with a shortsword at her side and a compact bow on her back. A quiver on the hip opposite her sword held a dozen or so arrows. She simply waved at one of the dragons behind the bar, and walked across the room, taking a seat at the table directly under the air vent Scale and Lyle were peering down from.
The black warrior at the bar, after downing half a large glass of ale, got up from his seat, and made his way over to her. Scale watched as Lyle's gaze followed, locked on to the dark, green-eyed titan.
"You've been watching that one, huh?" Scale asked, playfully.
"Mhm. I like him, you know? He's gorgeous, don't you think?" Lyle looked up to the gray dragon with a smile that did little to hide his clear infatuation.
"Yeah", the dragon answered, blushing a little.
"Black scales, green eyes. Perfect figure... I bet I'd look just like him if I were a Drakespire warrior", Lyle mused, looking back down to the massive dragon. "I like them all, really. Drakespire warriors. They're a sexy bunch of lizards. It's too bad they're all savages who eat their own young."
Scale felt a small flutter in his belly and rubbed his neck, thinking.
"Hm. I, um, I didn't think that was anything more than a rumor, actually. They don't really... Do they?"
"Yes, they do", Lyle said, the jovial look on his face flattening into a subtle frown. "Listen, I've met enough deserters to know what does and doesn't go on behind the walls."
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That's all for now. Last part soon, I hope!