Dinner. Walking down the stairs towards the dining room, Verena actually felt nervous. She knew it was illogical, but she couldn't help it. Even though they had barely even broached the subject of entering a relationship, she felt like she was being brought to meet Arianna's family.
She was externally very calm, and she was heading down without issue. However, inside, she was thinking of every possible way it could go wrong and trying to figure out how she could ensure it wouldn't. She was holding tightly onto her own dinner, which she had taken from her pack, which wasn't helping much. One of her biggest worries was how they would react to her race. It was far less common in Agoria, especially in the Eastern Province, but there were still many people who had a strong prejudice against vampires. It wasn't quite as bad as with demons, but it was still very real.
Marianne, as perceptive as ever, put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey," She spoke extremely quiet, so even Ari couldn't hear. "Calm down. Just be yourself." Verena nodded, taking a deep breath.
As they walked into the dining room, Verena got a look at the rest of Arianna's family. As she had mentioned, there were ten of them, in total, living in the city. That meant it was Ari, her parents, and seven of her siblings. Sarah was, obviously, present. Sitting next to her was a man with slightly darker hair, but wings and tail that matched Sarah. This was, as Verena was told when everyone was introduced, Arianna's father, Marcus.
In addition to the parents, there were two boys and five girls, all younger than Ari. They were, from oldest to youngest: Michael, a ninety-eight-year-old boy, Evelyn, an eighty-five-year-old girl, Mina, a seventy-year-old girl, Rava and Maya, fifty-two-year-old twin girls, Lucas, a thirty-five-year-old boy, and Romana, a twelve-year-old girl.
It is to be noted: Dragons age much slower than most others, reaching adulthood and unlocking their system at the age of one-hundred, so Arianna, at age one-hundred and twelve, was the only one of the children still at home who had their class.
However, there were a few things that Verena had a strong desire to know about. "Hold on, twins!?" Verena looked at Rava and Maya with shock. "Twin dragons!? Isn't that unfathomably rare?"
Sarah laughed softly. "You have no idea, dear." She nodded calmly as she was eating. "Twin dragons are, indeed, rare. However, it's not because they don't occur as often as other races. It's because when twin dragons are developing, during gestation, their magic cycles back and forth between them, causing it to become significantly stronger than the magic of an average dragon. This intensive amount of magic is almost always fatal, meaning nearly all twin dragons are stillborn.
"However, Marcus and I have been incredibly fortunate. Rava and Maya actually aren't our first pair of twins. Our son and daughter, Rowan and Ophelia, were also twins. Nowadays, they're off on their own, adventuring in some other kingdom. We barely hear from them. We've seen them five times in the last hundred years."
Marianne was surprised by this, less accustomed to the kind of time-frame that dragons and vampires work on. "A hundred years? How old are they?"
Marcus chuckled softly. "Marianne, you have to remember, us dragons age a lot slower than you humans. To an adult dragon, a hundred years is like five years to a human. And to answer your question, they're three-hundred and seventy-six."
Marianne looked down in embarrassment. "Right, of course."
Verena giggled softly, leaning over and giving Marianne a kiss on the cheek. "Love, you're adorable, but you really should be used to how our races see time. You've been working for my family for seven years." Marianne just blushed harder, trying to hide her face.
Sarah gave the two a curious look, seeing the interaction. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your relationship with each other?"
Verena nodded, smiling warmly. "I don't mind, at all. Marianne worked for my family for the last seven years, the last six of which were spent as my lady-in-waiting. Recently, though, we finally worked out how we really felt about each other. We entered a proper relationship, and that's what we are now. A couple."
Arianna looked at her with wide eyes. "She was your maid, and you fell in love? That's so romantic!" She had an adoring expression on her face.
Verena started giggling. "Ari, you are adorable. Have I told you that?"
Marcus let out a boisterous laugh as his daughter turned scarlet, in embarrassment. "Careful there, Verena. If you keep talking like that, you'll make Marianne jealous." Marianne just smirked, starting to giggle, herself. This just confused Marcus.
Marianne looked back up, smiling playfully. "Why would I be jealous?"
Marcus tilted his head. "Because it seems like she's flirting with another woman? Aren't you worried about her showing interest in other people?"
Marianne just shook her head. "Of course not. There's more than enough room in Verena's heart for others." This surprised every dragon at the table, except for Ari, who had already heard all this. "I know my lovely Verena would never abandon me. If she wants to bring others into her life, and it makes her happier, why would I stop that?"
Marcus was baffled. "You'd just accept that? You don't have any problem with your partner loving other people?"
Marianne just shook her head. "Nope. I trust Verena. I know she loves me just as much as I love her. I know I don't have to worry because I know she'd never do anything to hurt me."
During this entire interaction, Verena had been keeping an eye on Sarah. She'd noticed the woman's disappointment when she heard that Marianne and Verena were a couple, and she was now watching the woman look back up with hope, glancing between the young vampire and her daughter. Verena softly smirked, thinking to herself. She's going to try and get me and Ari together. The idea amused her, as she had already intended to try and see if her and the young dragon got along well. She tuned back into the conversation just in time to hear Marcus saying how impressed he was with the trust they had in each other.
As things fell off into a calm silence, Verena broached the next topic she was curious about. "So I don't mean to be rude, and if you don't want to answer, you don't have to. However, I was wondering about something." After getting a nod from Sarah and Marcus, she continued. "Don't dragons usually only have two or three children, at most?"
Verena saw Ari wince, but her mother just smiled sadly. "You're right. Most dragons don't have more than a couple children." She took a deep breath before starting. "Marcus and I are from the same tribe, as you probably guessed. We're both Light Dragons. Well, our tribe was mostly insular. Only a few ever left home, long term, and none who married other Light Dragons ever moved away from the tribe."
Marcus picked up the story, at this point. "The only pure-blooded Light Dragons there are were all born in our home. Then, one day, almost seven-hundred years ago, Sarah and I were getting back from a long hunting trip, and we found the village in ruins. Buildings were burned, frozen, choked by plant growth, and more. Whoever, or whatever, it was, it was either an incredibly powerful elementalist, or a group that wielded all of the major Elements between them."
Sarah continued. "There were no survivors. We had to make sure, and we had to give them a proper funeral. The village wasn't large, less than a thousand people, and while we didn't know every one of them, personally, everyone knew the population size. We... we counted the remains. They were all there."
Marcus clenched his fist, anger seeping into his voice. "That's the worst part. There was no reason! They didn't take anything. They didn't harvest materials from the bodies. We dug through the ruins for months, and we found every single Dragonstone. They just killed everyone and left!"
Verena was shocked. "That's awful. Though, at least they could be properly put to rest."
Sarah nodded. "Yes, I'm very grateful that we could find them all." She sighed, continuing. "We decided to do whatever we could to give our kind a chance at survival. That meant ensuring there were as many Light Dragons as possible, so we will keep having children for as long as we can, to make our odds as good as possible."
Verena nodded, understanding, now, why they had such a large family.
Marianne, however, was still confused on one thing. "Um... What's a Dragonstone?"
Arianna smiled softly before responding. "A Dragonstone is the core of a dragon's magic. It holds our power, and our spirit. It's the single most valuable part of a dragon's body, and it's also incredibly sacred. A draconic funeral involves the destruction of the Dragonstone, to set their spirit free."
Verena continued from here. "In theory, a Dragonstone is one of the most powerful magical catalysts in existence. It's the primary reason that Dragon Hunters exist. However, using a Dragonstone from a fallen dragon is considered abominable. It's the core of their spirit, so keeping it as a weapon is like keeping someone's soul as a source of power. It's horrendous."
Marcus smiled softly. "The only exception is if a dragon expressly bestows their Dragonstone on a person or, more rarely, a place. When a dragon does so, it makes an intrinsic bond between them and the one it's given to. Any dragon, or person who understands dragons well, can easily tell when a Dragonstone is being used with consent."
Marianne was shocked. "Are they really so powerful that people would hunt down other people, like common beasts, just to get one?"
Verena smiled softly. "If you want to see what a Dragonstone is capable of, you need only look outside." Marianne gave her a confused look, so she continued. "I'm talking about the upper city. The floating islands above us? You saw that massive green crystal, in the middle of it all, right?" Marianne nodded. "Well, that crystal is a Dragonstone." Marianne's eyes went wide, but Verena held a hand up. "It's one of the most extreme examples you can get, though. You see, that Dragonstone comes from an Elder Dragon. Nobody knows their name, any longer. It's been too long since it happened. However, the story still remains.
"Long ago, an Elder Wind Dragon was killed in this place, in a long-forgotten battle. In a final act of desperation, the dragon placed a blessing on the land where it fell, binding their Dragonstone to the land to keep it out of the hands of the one who killed them. The magic of the Dragonstone permeated the land, and eventually, it caused The Soaring Cliffs, as we know them, to be formed. According to the legend, the crater we're in, right now, is where the dragon landed when they were struck down."
Marianne was amazed. "All of this magic came from a single dragon?" Several people around the table nodded. "Well, if that's really true, I can see why Dragonstones could inspire such incredible greed, even if I don't agree with it."
With the talk about Dragonstones complete, everyone returned to eating. Marcus and Sarah's story had mostly killed the mood, and there was little talking for the rest of dinner.