Azazel POV

  The true dragon of will was sitting in a chair, waiting for his older sister to come back.

  She was taking forever.

  “Will she hurry already?” he muttered under his breath. The dragon looked around, sitting upright in his human form. Kyr had taken him to some sort of tower far to the west, way past the ravine where he had originally resided as an egg. The interior was as majestic as it was tall, which was very, with elegant white walls and a gray stone foundation. Wooden support beams were strewn across the ceiling, and the room that the dragon was currently in was surrounded by four intricately crafted triangular roofs jutting out from the top of the tower. A ray of sunlight could be seen shining from the window to his left, like a spotlight illuminating the winged sigil at the center of the room.

  Kyr had called it the Draconum. Home of the dragons.

  A winged beast suddenly passed by in a blur, causing Azazel to jump up in surprise. He made his way towards the window, then snapped his head back as a number of similar creatures began to soar upwards.

  They’re like me. He thought to himself.

  A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

  “Come in,” Azazel called, voice laced with annoyance.

  “That’s no way to greet your beloved older sister now, is it, Azazel?”

  “I came here like you asked, waited here for who knows how long, and now I’m angry,” the dragon of will spat in reply. “I want answers.”

  “And you will receive them… in time.”

  Azazel whirled around, staring daggers at the dragon known as Kyr. She may have been his ‘sister’, but he knew next to nothing about her.

  The female dragon sighed, then stepped forward. “Fine then. I will begin with this.” Her eyes glowed purple, and then she activated the skill she had used when Azazel first agreed to go with her.

  [Time Keeper Kronatus]

  The dragon's vision slowly faded to darkness, like his soul itself was being dragged away, then reappeared in a burst of color.

  It was a vivid scene, from the past or the future, Azazel couldn’t quite tell. A fully grown version of the dragon of will was soaring across the sky, mounted by a demon with black horns and matching dark hair. The dragon breathed out, but it was not the familiar violet flames of his Willfire skill, no. The attack manifested as a thunderous shock of purple electricity, tearing through a horde of what seemed like human soldiers. They fanned out in waves, like an endless army of faceless beings, staring up in fear at the encroaching pair of demon and beast.

  Then, a spear of light impaled the demon on the dragon's back, and as he fell through the sky, Azazel realized it was Lucivar.

  Suddenly, the world went dark, and Azazel’s consciousness returned to the tower. He breathed in sharply, as if he had just been underwater for far too long.

  “You’ve shown me this already. What’s your point?” Azazel seethed. There was nothing new, and the short vision, or whatever it was, told the dragon nothing.

  “This is your fate,” Kyr replied simply. She stood, pacing to a window and staring outwards. “Or at least, a fragment of it. I would not dare risk showing you the whole truth. Regaining my memories has led to several revelations, some of which even Thaleres is not privy to.” She paused, tilting her head as she observed a pair of dragons playfully flitting through the air. “You know nothing, brother.”

  “Then tell me,” Azazel pleaded impatiently. “Why don’t you just tell me whatever’s so important?”

  “Fate is fickle. To inform a being of their fate, well, that shapes fate in and of itself. Even you could come to such a conclusion, I’m sure,” Kyr answered.

  The Dragon of Will shook his head in disgust, plopping down in his seat like an angry toddler. “Then what the hell do you want me for?”

  “Your safety,” Kyr replied without skipping a beat. It was like she already knew what he would say before he said it. “Being with that demon spells only trouble for us all. History would agree—” She paused, as if she had said too much, then shot her brother a thin-lipped smile.

  “What are you talking about?” Azazel probed suspiciously.

  “Nothing!” Kyr shouted, almost flustered, losing the calm composure she had been maintaining for the last few hours. Despite having regained her memories, it seemed she was still the same dragon who had begged for her brother’s return.

  A familiar voice interrupted their conversation.

  “Kyr!”

  The dragon of fate physically recoiled at the booming sound, as if she were struck by a heavy blade. She turned nervously, staring at the door where the encroaching footsteps of a powerful figure were slowly making their way towards them.

  She didn’t tell Thaleres what she was up to? Azazel thought to himself in confusion.

  “Brother! You weren’t supposed to be back for another few days! How… wonderful?” Her voice tilted up as if questioning her own statement.

  The red-haired dragon known as Thaleres suddenly entered, and his gaze immediately shot towards Azazel, then settled furiously on Kyr. “You would dare go behind my back?” He spat quietly, but his tone held a deep-set anger that even Azazel found intimidating.

  “That’s not what—”

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  “Silence,” the simple command held a heavy weight as the eldest true dragon began to step forward. Kyr shook in fear, withdrawing slightly, but Thaleres did not approach her. “Azazel. How have you been, brother?”

  The white-haired dragon blinked twice in confusion, then finally mumbled a response. “Alright, I guess… and you?”

  Thaleres didn’t respond, instead turning his head to face his younger sister. “We will no longer be needing you,” he spat. It was not a request.

  Kyr seemed as if she were about to protest, but decided against it, sagging her shoulders and slowly stalking out of the room.

  “Well, is it alright if I leave now? I’m sure Lucivar—”

  Azazel’s sentence was halted by a glare from the intimidating dragon before him.

  C’mon, you don’t need to be scared. He tried to comfort himself, but it was no use.

  In reality, he didn’t want to leave just yet.

  The vision that Kyr had shown him was intriguing, but what she had said also scared him in some ways. What history was she talking about? What exactly was his fate?

  Why was Lucivar going to die in her vision?

  Thaleres stared at his younger brother knowingly, then uttered a surprising request. “Will you allow me to give you a tour of the Draconum first?”

  The duo of dragons soared through the sky as Azazel breathlessly took in his surroundings. The massive tower at the center was only the beginning of the sprawling landscape that made up the dragon's territory. Deep, cavernous ravines spread like cracks across the surrounding floor, each one with hordes of dragons flying between them. Houses could be seen carved into the cliff sides, each with distinct colors, tinging the ravines with hues of fiery reds and earthy browns.

  “Each home is crafted with the scales of the elemental dragons inhabiting them,” Thaleres explained. He was flying in front of Azazel in his dragon form, a beautiful pure white dragon with tinges of red accents along the bottom of his webbed wings. Every flap of his powerful wings sent gusts of heavy winds careening towards the comparatively smaller dragon, almost knocking Azazel off course and sending him careening downwards towards the ravines below.

  They continued to fly, reaching a point in the Draconum where the endless cracks of deep trenches met, forming a singular ravine that led towards Mount Boom. They landed simultaneously, morphing into their human forms as they did.

  “It’s beautiful,” Azazel admitted, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. They were now facing towards the massive tower in the distance, while numerous dragons flew in a spiral around it, playfully darting through the air at various speeds.

  “It is our home,” Thaleres said firmly, turning his gaze towards his younger brother. “And it could be yours as well, if you willed it so.”

  Azazel wasted no time in replying. “And if I don’t?”

  “Then that is your will, however,” Thaleres’ tone grew commanding. “Are you truly safe, bonded with that demon?”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be the dragon of truth? Why don’t you ask him yourself?” the younger dragon challenged.

  Thaleres sighed, as if remembering an infinite number of memories all at once. “When no being in this world can tell a lie in your presence, there is an allure to having a mystery just beyond your reach.” The dragon focused his gaze directly on his brother. “I have yet to regain my former memories, despite having lived in this reincarnation for over a thousand years. A part of me hopes to never have to.”

  Azazel’s eyes shot open as he took in the new information. “A thousand years? But why?”

  “I have already shared the reason with you, Azazel,” Thaleres reminded, but his tone held none of the fury or command that it had when he was speaking to Kyr.

  They both sat in silence for a moment, taking in the beautiful sky before them, filled with dragons dancing in the sunlight. A part of Azazel yearned for it, a primal, instinctual yearning. Taking to the skies with his kind and learning what it meant to be a dragon.

  But there was another calling.

  “Did you know me… at least, the me before this?” Azazel questioned, gesturing down towards his child-like form.

  “I did,” Thaleres answered, offering no further elaboration.

  “Then, what did he, or rather, I, do?”

  “Do you truly wish to know?” Thaleres challenged.

  I… I’m not sure. Azazel thought silently.

  The young dragon hadn’t been around long enough in his current reincarnation to come to much of an understanding about… anything. Yet still, the mystery of it all was something that the dragon of will found rather interesting. Kyr had told him that being informed of one's fate would lead to changing their future. If that were true, then would becoming privy to how his former self lived influence who he was now?

  “I… I guess I don’t,” Azazel finally replied, still unsure of himself.

  Thaleres nodded, then smiled widely. It was almost foreign to the intimidating dragon, like he had forgotten how to do so for many years. “I was hoping for that answer, to be truthful.”

  “Why?” the dragon of will questioned earnestly.

  “Kyr is blessed with the powers of foresight. Powers over time and destiny. She can see futures, and even manipulate them to her liking,” the eldest true dragon paused, as if deep in contemplation. “I am blessed with factual knowledge. I am privy to all that is true, whether I come to agree with said truth or not.”

  “And me?”

  “The true dragon of will has always been the most interesting out of the three of us. Compared to any of our reincarnations across time, at least as far as the current me is aware, yours are easily the most varying in nature.”

  “Why is that?” Azazel questioned, observing a family of dragons morphing into their humanoid forms and entering into a small, humble home directly below them.

  “The dragon of will is one shaped most by his surroundings,” Thaleres explained. “Willpower is inherently separate from your sister and I. Our powers stem from universal constants. Think of it like this. There are three states of happening in our world. Destiny, predetermined by some higher power, as some might say. What happens, which is determined to be fact.”

  Thaleres paused dramatically, as if he were waiting for the dragon before him to come to the conclusion first.

  “And what someone wants to happen,” Azazel finished.

  “Precisely. No reincarnation of the true dragon of will has truly wished for the same result. I suspect you will be no different,” Thaleres said with a calm wisdom. “I am simply curious to see where this one will end up, considering you have formed a bond and unlocked your transformation faster than any true dragon reincarnation in recorded history.”

  Faster than any ever before? But it all just felt natural, like someone was telling me what to do… Azazel contemplated mentally. Choosing to stay with Lucivar, calling him his brother, even fighting by his side, it was all an act of instinct. There was still so much to this world, and by extension, himself, that he knew nothing about.

  “So I leave you with this, brother,” Thaleres said after a brief moment of silence. “You may choose to come with me. Living here in the Draconum, learning the nature and the history of the dragons, and by extension the history of you,” a pause. “Or, you may forge your own path, and hopefully come to find what exactly you wish to bring to this world.”

  The two dragons regarded each other with respect, then Azazel bowed his head, a gesture that felt almost necessary for some deep, primal reason within him.

  Then, he unfurled his wings, soaring into the sky and making his way back towards the place that he decided that he would call home.

  I’m coming, brother. Azazel thought to himself.