Erebus was bored.

Suprising? No.

Irritating? Yes.

What was taking them so long?

It was as if the everyone had met in clandestine meetings and established that they would render Erebus incapable of feeling enjoyment for more than a couple of minutes.

Not only that, he had two nuisances to deal with.

They went by the names Triton and Mae. Erebus respectively referred to them as Freeloader Number One and Two.

Triton’s excuse was that it was “boring” waiting for people to come and challenge him. He expected that Erebus’ would sympathize with his pain, seeing as Erebus had felt it before.

Mae’s was that Erebus had good food and booze and there was absolutely no legitimate reason for her to leave.

“It goes like this, Erebus,” she explained one day. “I’m one of your best friends. Why would you even want me to leave? Exactly! You don’t. So I’ll stay. Good talk, I’m going to go and get drunk.”

The dragon rubbed his temples.

“Listen, Erebus,” Triton said. “How does it feel when you have to wait for enjoyment? Terrible, doesn’t it? I’m in that same exact predicament. I’m one of your best friends. Why would you want me to go through that pain? Exactly. You don’t. So I’ll stay. Good talk, I’m going to go and play games with Weryn.”

Their similarities pissed him off. The two got along way too well, Erebus felt as if their lines had been rehearsed.

And Tear had been extra pissy lately (her precious time with Erebus had been snatched away), which only added onto Erebus’ list of annoyances.

Magnus and Stone were, well, themselves... which was self-explanatory.

Lilian, as usual, seemed to be his only saving grace. But one too many times had he seen her stroking dolls that looked exactly like him and giving them kisses.

“Should I go out again?” Erebus asked himself, seriously considering the option.

Ah... but his fight with the Four Princes.

An adventure would have to wait until later, Erebus determined. He couldn’t go around as a Quester anymore because the Dragon Council had whined about him being one, what should he do instead?

An idea occurred to him.

Erebus jumped up onto his feet and made his way to the servant’s quarters. They were located near the dungeons where Vyne would be lurking if he was here.

The servants all seemed to be surprised to see him, Erebus rarely ventured down there. It wasn’t that he was rude or mean to them, it was just that he had no reason to come.

“Where’s Amber?” he asked a blonde-haired dwarf who stood nearest to him, she was mending a dress.

The dwarf frowned, scratching her thick head of hair in thought. She was a forgetful fellow. “I think she was up in the library cleaning with her son. Xaltiq was with them, too... I think.”

“Thanks!” Erebus chirped.

She nodded and waved good-bye to Erebus.

The dragon quickly made his way to the library, he had an absolutely marvelous idea.

A truly splendid one, something that he considered to be ingenious (in reality, it was a sly, sneaky move).

How had he not thought of this before? His lack of creativity was just appalling.

He burst into the library, surprising the three that stood in. They were all standing by a table, reading an ancient book that had piqued their interest. The book contrasted with everything that they had been taught or had heard about.

“Ah! Eh? Uh, Master Erebus, greetings,” Amber stumbled over her words before finally curtseying.

Xaltiq bowed. “Lord Erebus.”

The young son followed the actions of the two, he bowed at his waist to Erebus and said his greetings.

“What brings you here?” Xaltiq asked his superior. It was still slightly strange to him that Erebus was a dragon, the boy he had thought was his inferior. A small part of him wondered if Erebus knew of Fox, the woman who had fought him not too long ago.

“You two are human. One hundred percent, bonafide humans,” Erebus said, determination cut in his eyes. “You don’t have to pretend to be humans.”

They nodded their heads, confused as to why Erebus was saying this.

Erebus clamped his hands on their shoulders, his grip tight and uncomfortable. “Listen, you two will become Questers. Immediately.”

“Eh?” Amber tilted her head. “Lord Erebus, I am incapable of using magic and I have no combat experience,” she said. “Someone more suitable than me should b picked...”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You two will go now! Register as Questers and come back to me. Try not to befriend anyone or answer any personal questions when you’re there. Also, be quick,” he informed the two.

“What about my son?” Amber asked with a dazed expression, she wasn’t sure how she felt about leaving him in this place.

“He’ll be fine,” Erebus brushed away her concerns then he turned to the small boy. “Won’t you, Mathis?”

Mathis nodded his head firmly before a toothy smile spread across his face and he looked up at his worried mother. “I’ll be fine. I have plenty of friends here!” he exclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest.

“See?” Erebus patted the child’s head.

“Well... I...” Amber stuttered, unsure of how to handle this. The thought of not being with her son was a painful one. She had almost lost the boy.

“No excuses!” Erebus clapped his hands together. “Get packed and go.” When they didn’t move, he tried again, “Hurry up and go!”

The two bowed their heads to him, confusion and bewilderment still ringing in their heads as Erebus left the room.

“Now that’s all set and prepared,” Erebus said cheerfully, he paused in the hallway; drumming his fingers on his chin in thought. “Hmm... I’ll train Weryn a little as a warm-up. He’s growing stronger and stronger, I can’t wait to see the extent of his powers when he’s full-grown.”

Sadly, that wouldn’t be until a few more centuries. Dragons weren’t considered adults until they were, at least, four hundred, even then they were still young and developing.

What a shame, such a pity, truly.

Just as Erebus turned on his heels, a voice entered his mind, Lord Erebus, we will be arriving shortly. We have just arrived on the Main Continent. My grandfather has alerted the other Princes of Hell and they are on their way.

Vyne sounded exceedingly irritated as he spoke to his master.

The idiot neglected to mention to his companions about who you truly are. I would advise you to be prepared to receive shocked reactions from them or for their heads to be inflated.

Eh? Is that so? Well, I’m used to it, Erebus answered.

The dragon stood still, wondering on how he should greet his newest playthings. This, he concluded, would be a worthy form of entertainment.

An ephemeral moment that would appease his desire for amusement until the boredom plagued him once more.

It, he also concluded, was a great tragedy that befell his poor soul.

Erebus, with a heavy and light heart, continued on his way.

He wondered if he should test them all like he had done to Lucifer. The child, in Erebus’ opinion, had held up quite well. He hadn’t fainted or started screaming--so that was a start.

Then again, if he decided to mess with them that way they might be less eager to fight him similar to how Lucifer was. The Prince had only offered so that he could have Vyne accompany him on his quest for petty revenge.

The dragon was confused about the concept of “revenge”. He had tested it out before, it wasn’t as fulfilling as it had been cracked up to be. He felt the same as he had before he had exacted his revenge.

And! Erebus destroyed kingdoms, taken too many lives, yet no one came to him with any vindictive intent.

Therefore, he concluded, revenge was a useless tool and provided nothing but momentary relief.

Lucifer’s son was dead and no matter how many angels he killed, nothing could change that fact.

That.

Was.

Why!

They should move faster. Pointlessly avenging his son was fine and all, but Erebus’ had things he wanted to do, too!

Specifically... he wanted to hurry up and test the limits of this human form. See, Erebus was able to only draw out a small portion of his actual power when he was transformed into a human. He had never seen how much of that power, he only had an estimate of what it could do.

Normally, he would transform into a dragon because it was simply easier and more convenient to be in that form when doing complicated spells or things of the like.

But today would be different.

He would see if there was anyone actually capable of forcing him to use his dragon form.

Erebus wondered, he pondered if the children would be yet another disappointment.