The words reached the two young dragons in flawless Draconic.
Selvira’s voice was cold and distant.
Both Evelyn and Darrien froze.
Evelyn raised her head and looked at her mother.
There was nothing on Selvira’s face but indifference.
She looked at them almost as if they were strangers.
Evelyn had lived here for four years.
It would have been a lie to say she felt nothing.
The human part of her soul still cared about this dragon she had come to regard as her mother.
Unfortunately, Selvira was different.
Family bonds among chromatic dragons were notoriously weak.
Now that the two young dragons were capable of surviving on their own, Selvira only wanted them out of her territory as soon as possible.
Then no one would disturb her sleep anymore.
“Mom! I can’t bear to leave you!”
Darrien suddenly threw himself into a dramatic wail and lunged toward the pile of gold he had just surrendered.
Before his claws could touch a single coin, a thick dragon tail swept across the lair.
Thump!
Darrien went flying.
He landed perfectly beside Evelyn.
Headfirst.
His face disappeared into the soft mud.
“Leave,” Selvira said. “Go beyond my territory and establish territories of your own.”
That was her final warning.
Then she lowered herself onto the Treasure Hoard and closed her eyes.
A circular magical barrier appeared around her, sealing both the adult black dragon and her treasure safely inside.
By chromatic dragon standards, once offspring were driven from the lair, they were strangers.
Whether those young dragons lived or died was no longer their mother’s concern.
And if they were strangers...
Then naturally, Selvira needed to guard her treasure from them.
“Mom! I don’t want to go! I want to stay with you until the very end!”
Darrien yanked his head out of the mud and continued wailing.
You mean you want to stay with the gold until the very end.
Evelyn silently rolled her eyes.
She grabbed Darrien by the tail and started dragging him toward the exit.
She had always known this day would come.
It had simply arrived a little sooner than she expected.
“Nooooo!”
Darrien howled while his face and claws carved a long trench through the mud.
After the two young dragons finally disappeared from the lair, Selvira opened one eye a fraction.
Then she cast another barrier spell.
The entire dragon lair sealed shut.
Only then did she close her eye again and return to sleep.
...
Outside the lair, Evelyn burst from the swamp with her wings spread wide.
She tossed Darrien onto the shore and immediately flew toward the place where they had buried the Spatial Gems.
Only a short while ago, the two of them had been siblings fighting side by side through a life-and-death battle.
But to chromatic dragons, once they left their mother’s lair, that relationship was effectively over.
The next time they met, they might even be enemies.
From now on, Evelyn would have to build something of her own.
The supplies hidden inside those Spatial Gems would be her first bit of starting capital.
Night wind whispered past her wings.
Before long, Evelyn reached the place where they had buried the gems.
From the air, the lifeless crater in the middle of the dense forest was impossible to miss.
She landed and quickly found the hiding spot.
Then she dug up the three Spatial Gems that belonged to her.
She left Darrien’s gem untouched.
It only contained some gold and miscellaneous materials.
There was no reason to make an enemy out of another evil dragon over something so trivial.
That kind of conflict would only slow down her growth during these vulnerable early years.
Evelyn placed all three gems in her mouth and tucked them beneath her tongue.
Then she looked out across Blackbriar Forest beneath the night sky.
“Time to leave.”
The forest had plenty of food.
But it was too close to the human kingdoms of the east.
That meant adventurers could find her.
She had successfully turned the tables on this group.
Next time, she might not be so lucky.
Without Selvira’s protection, a single mistake could cost Evelyn her life.
The best option was to find somewhere without powerful magical beasts and with almost no human adventurers.
Then she could keep her head down for a few decades.
Once she was strong enough, she could worry about the rest of the world.
Evelyn searched through the geographical information stored in the Draconic Inheritance.
The human kingdoms east of Blackbriar Forest were immediately ruled out.
Going there would be walking straight into a trap.
If humans didn’t kill her for materials, they might try to train her into becoming a mount.
South was the territory of a mature green dragon.
If that dragon discovered her, enslavement would probably be the best possible outcome.
To the north, beyond the Saint Pedro Mountains, lay dwarven territory.
Those people spent their lives mining ore and hammering metal.
They were all absurdly muscular.
Better not to bother them.
Finally, Evelyn turned her attention west.
Beyond Blackbriar Forest lay the desolate Forsaken Lands.
Long ago, during the age when orcs ruled the continent, that region had been home to the prosperous Orcish Royal Court.
Then came the War of the Gods ten thousand years ago.
After that war, the dominant power on the continent shifted from the orcs to humanity.
Now little remained in the west except wasteland.
The Forsaken Lands covered an enormous area, but only scattered tribes of orcs and half-orcs still lived there.
Civilization was almost nonexistent.
“Barren, sure. But that also makes it safe.”
Evelyn quickly made her decision.
“It’s perfect for lying low and growing stronger.”
An endless wasteland would have been a death sentence for most creatures.
No water.
No food.
Nothing but barren land.
For a dragon, one of the world’s apex magical lifeforms, that was hardly an impossible problem.
If food truly became impossible to find...
There was always dirt.
A dragon could survive surprisingly well on that.
Evelyn was just about to spread her wings when a familiar voice suddenly came from above.
“Evelyn! Wait!”
She raised her head.
Darrien was flying toward her, beating his wings hard as he struggled to catch up.
“Hm?”
Before Evelyn could say anything, Darrien folded his wings and dove.
He landed with enough force to send a cloud of dust everywhere.
Then immediately started coughing on the dust he had kicked up himself.
“Cough! Cough, cough!”
Evelyn spread her wings and gave them two lazy beats.
The dust blew away.
Then she looked at Darrien warily.
Chromatic dragons had weak family bonds.
Their mother had already expelled them from the lair.
At this point, calling the two siblings potential enemies wouldn’t even be an exaggeration.
Evelyn couldn’t afford not to be cautious.
Darrien coughed for a while longer.
When he noticed the impatience in Evelyn’s eyes, he quickly waved his claws to show that he meant no harm.
Then, looking strangely awkward, he asked,
“Dear Evelyn... could I come with you?”
Evelyn narrowed her eyes and studied him.
For a young dragon expelled from its mother’s lair, survival was not easy.
Especially during the juvenile stage.
It sat between the hatchling stage, when a mother still provided protection, and adolescence, when a dragon finally possessed enough strength to defend itself properly.
This was one of the most dangerous periods in a dragon’s life.
More dragons died during these years than at almost any other stage of development.
Sticking together was a perfectly reasonable survival strategy.
Especially for dragons hatched from the same clutch.
They knew each other well.
By staying together, they could function almost like a wolf pack, gaining greater combat strength and improving their chances of survival.
Darrien might be an idiot from time to time, but he was still a True Dragon.
He was a capable fighter.
And after four years together...
Evelyn had to admit there was at least some attachment between them.
She weighed the advantages and disadvantages.
Then, under Darrien’s hopeful gaze, Evelyn finally answered.
“You can.”
“But you have to submit to me and offer me everything you possess.”
“Huh?”
Darrien clearly hadn’t expected that.
He hesitated for half a second.
Then, with an expression of profound regret, he removed the panties, stockings, and bra from his head and horns.
He held them out with both claws.
Evelyn stared at him.
“...”