early release for next week’s chapter as i will be busy most of sunday and will not get the chance to post then. rouge was able to take time from his family and do a proof read so don’t worry about poor grammar. i also want to thank mejinzs who was also able to take some time to look over it.

also on a side note the following weeks chapter might be a bit late as i have finales for summer classes this coming week and i don’t know if i will have time to write it.

WARNING if you are Entomophobic you might want to skip this chapter… you have been warned.

Without further ado, Chapter 52

——————————————Aesthyra POV—————————————-

“Thank us that that crazy lady is gone,” I thought to myself as I snuggled into my little hoard of silver coins.

“Aesthyra, we are leaving in a little bit, don’t forget to pack a hoard.” My mother shouted from the other cavern.

“I don’t want to go anywhere,” I groaned.

“To bad dear, both you and Fafnir need to know how to be a proper dragons and I would be a failure as a mother to not prepare you.” Mom replied as she poked her head into my cavern.

“Can’t he come here instead?” I asked not wanting to leave the comfort of my hoard.

“No, he is only a little older than you and can’t use the paths to travel yet,” my mother replied as she entered my cavern, “so you need to pack up your hoard and get ready to go, I will not repeat myself.”

“Yes mom.” I grumbled as I got up. I stretched my long serpentine body as I started to feel for the strange bump near the back of my throat that would allow me to access my hoard stomach. After readying myself I stretched my jaws open and started to shovel the mound of various coins down into my stomach.

“Ok mom, I packed my hoard” I yelled as I entered into the main cavern.

“Did you have your scales cleaned?” My mom asked from the kitchen.

“But mom, it feels weird when I have my scales cleaned.” I said while a shiver ran down my back.

“You need to have your scales cleaned, you don’t want your scales to fall off, do you?” She replied.

“That’s not how it works.” I responded, tapping into my inherited memory.

“You only inherited a fraction of my knowledge, now go get your scales cleaned, wyrmling.” She snapped.

“Yes mother,” I sighed as I headed to the bathroom. I entered the small cavern and stared at the pile of coin which hid the creepy flesh eating beetles. “I can do this,” I said to myself as I moved towards the coins. I laid down on top of the pile and shifted around a bit to awaken the beetles just like mom had shown me. The clinking of coins and the soft chittering sounds let me know that they had begun.

“They’re just cleaning my scales.” I reassured myself, holding back to urge to scream and murder them all. Minutes seemed like hours while they crawled over me removing the debris stuck to my hide. I waited patiently until the chittering sounds finally died down.

“They’re finished!” I smiled as I stood up and took a few steps away from the pile of coins containing the terrifying bugs before examined my now shining scales.

“It’s time to go!” Mom shouted.

“Coming,” I replied as I left the creepy flesh eating murder bugs behind. I entered the main cavern where mom was waiting. “What’s in the sack?” I asked looking at the brown bag sitting next to mom.

“It’s for Fafnir, now come on we have to go.” She replied as she extended her wing to cover me and the sack. I braced myself for the strange falling sensation that accompanied interdimensional travel. I moved my head to peek out and see the strange multicolored bubble that surrounded us.

“Dear, stay under my wing or you’re liable to accidentally fling yourself into an unfriendly god’s domain.” My mother cautioned. A few more minutes passed as we traveled the path when the strange weightless feeling singled our arrival. I poked my head from behind my mother wing and saw that we were in the middle of a forest.

“Where’s Fafnir’s lair?” I asked as I looked around.

“It’s about a five minutes by wing, that way.” Mom replied as she pointed towards the north.

“Why did we end up here instead of in his lair?” I asked wondering what my mother was up too.

“It’s rude to teleport into another god’s domain without expressed permission.” She replied as she picked up the sack in her front claw.

“But aunt Tene just pops in and out of your lair.” I complained.

“Aunt Tene helped me carve out my lair and has my permission to come and go as she pleases, now come on I have lots to teach the both of you.” Mom said as she jumped up and started to fly off.

I quickly took off and followed my mom towards a large mountain covered in large trees. I enjoyed flying over the sea of green and noticed a large crack in the cliff face.

“Does he live in that cave?” I asked, pointing towards the cave.

“Yes dear,” she replied as we approached the mountain.

“I want to remind you that Fafnir doesn’t have parents and we’re here to teach him how to be a proper dragon, so be nice.” Mom said as she gave me one of her scary looks.

“Yes mom.” I replied wondering what she meant about Fafnir not having parents.

I watched my mother descend and land on the ledge right outside the cave. I glided around the ledge while my mother entered the cavern. I waited a few seconds before I folded my wings and dropped towards the mouth of the cave. I snapped my wings open to slow me down so I could land on the ledge. I looked into the fairly well-lit cavern as I landed and right in the middle of the cavern I saw a dragon, who I assumed was Fafnir, holding down a small human with his front claws, and dark elf kneeling next to him, leaning over the human.

“See, that wasn’t so bad was it.” The dark elf stated as he stood up.

“Yes, because forcefully getting holes put into your ear is your idea of a good time.” The trapped human snapped.

“Suck it up, whiner; just be glad you can understand him now.” Fafnir replied as he released the human.

“Excuse me while I go clean up.” The human huffed as he stormed off deeper into the cavern.

“Ahem,” my mom said drawing attrition to us.

“Come on! It hasn’t been a month yet!” Fafnir mumbled to himself.

“You’re right it hasn’t, but I came early as there is more than just biology you need to know.” My mother replied, “Now I want you meet my daughter, Aesthyra.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Fafnir” Fafnir said giving a little bow.

“Nice to meet you Fafnir,” I replied as I studied the dragon. He was a bit bigger than me with sharp fangs, sturdy looking horns and and covered in the same milky blue scales as the rest of our kind, but where my scales were shiny and clean, I could see some dirt and other debris stuck in between his. Despite his dirty appearance he seemed a hidden strength.

“Now that you have been introduced I have a few things that every dragon needs.” Mom said as she pushed the sack towards Fafnir.

“What is it?” He asked as he used his fore claws to open the small sack.

“If you are on track for completing the book I assigned you, you should recognize them.” My mom vaguely replied.

“Wait, are these those flesh eating bugs?!” He shouted as he pushed the sack away.

“So you have been reading, good.” My mom smiled with her scary smile, “I want you take them and have them clean your scales as they are filthy. When you have finished I will explain what the other things are in the sack. Got it?”

“What this about flesh eating bugs?” The elf interrupted.

“I will explain later.” Fafnir explained as he carefully picked up the sack and headed towards the back of the cavern. A few seconds passed when my mother turned towards me:

“I want you to go help him; he did not get much from his draconic inheritance.” My mom said with a sad look in her eye.

“Ok,” I reluctantly replied not liking the bugs, as I moved to follow the interesting dragon.

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as always me, mejinzs, and rouge are mostly human let us know if we missed anything, and let me know what you think in the comments below.