The Fallen Prince

⋇- 23: Back Home -⋇

En's figure decreased in size as he slowly landed on the island. Before his feet could touch the red soil, his body returned to its normal form. When his dark boots met the ground, his large wings shrunk and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

He examined his surroundings, finding himself in a vast sandy area that had nothing but marine blue plants randomly spread around. Several meters away from him, he spotted a few dragons taking flight. He was surprised to only see those dragons in the zone. As a spot that was used for landing and shifting to take flight, it looked empty.

En's obsidian hair swayed and bothered his dark eyes as a moderate wind blew past him. The sound of heavy flapping wings filled En's ears. Partially protecting his eyes with his hand, he turned around. Not far from his spot, he saw a large silver dragon land in front of him.

Now that he had shifted to his original form, En really felt like a fly as he stared at the dragon. Kraden's webbed wings flapped a little bit more before they wrapped around his scaly body, hiding his figure. 

It took several seconds for that figure to shrink in size and shift into a human-like figure. A few blinks and En saw a tall and fit silver-headed man with light blue eyes that had a shadow of yellow on the contours.

"Your speed in dragon form has improved." Kraden walked towards En. "I can't believe I struggled to keep up. It must be my age; I'm an old man now."

En failed not to laugh. From the surface, Kraden looked like a man in his early to mid-thirties, so he couldn't take him seriously whenever he said he was getting old.

"I've trained a lot since you last evaluated me," said En, calming down, "so it's normal I've improved. Besides, you still look young despite being in your early fifties."

"You could be right," said Kraden thoughtfully. "But I should have kept up. Maybe my youthful years are ending and my body is aging again."

En raised a brow. Now that Kraden had mentioned it, En wondered if he would reach a phase where his body stopped aging for several years before it aged again. 

It was very common that members of the Dragon Clan to stop aging at a certain point in their life before the process returned after many years. But as the son of an Earthling, En thought the chances of inheriting that trait weren't so high.

"Well, I'm at the age of being a grandpa, so I don't mind those wrinkles," teased Kraden.

En couldn't imagine Kraden as an elderly man. Ever since he could remember, he always saw Kraden as a lively man in his thirties.

"Alright," said Kraden after taking a deep breath, "let's go. The family is anxiously waiting."

"I still don't understand why we had to come here," said En, walking by Kraden's side. "We should have gone straight to Celestia, after all, everything will be solved there."

En couldn't hide his frustration. Ever since he heard about what really happened to his parents, the only thing that crossed his mind was killing Belinsk. Even though the several hours he spent with his maternal family brought him a sense of calmness, he still wanted to face his uncle as soon as Kraden showed up to pick him up, a few hours ago.

"We still have to talk to Belinsk and the council," said Kraden, exhaling, " so there was no need."

"Still," persisted En, "we could have gone there and saved time. What's the point of coming to the islands only to travel back to Celestia after a few hours?"

Kraden gazed at En as they kept walking, his eyes serious.

"And where do you think you'll spend the night?" he asked. "That castle is no longer your home. We're not sure how long Belinsk will take to allow us to talk to him. It's better if we stay here for the time being."