forum At War // OxO // Closed

Started September 19, 2021 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

Seren let out a sharp, disappointed breath. "So you claim to know nothing about it?" he demanded, shifting the whip in his hands and shaking his head a little bit.

The pain was slow to fade. Kaylum did not answer, taking time to refocus his mind away from the pain and onto survival. In Tesh, your mind was your most valued asset, so it was of great importance to control it. Although Kaylum wasn’t the best at it, he knew the tricks many used to keep their wits about themselves, and now was the time to use them.

Seren waited silently for a response from the dragon shifter, shaking his head again. This endeavour could prove fruitless if Kaylum would not answer.

Though he could still feel the pain, of course, he was able to get his mind out of panic mode. After another moment, he said, with a hint of teasing in his voice, “Not nothing, of course.”

Seren exhaled very slowly. "You are not nearly as funny as you believe yourself to be."

Despite everything, Kaylum somehow smiled. “Really? How tragic. And I had thought this whole time…” he trailed off, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Seren sighed loudly. "Answer the questions, Kaylum, or I will bring Nikolas in here."

He was tempted to say that he had technically already answered the question, but that was probably the wrong thing to say. Faintly, Kaylum winced with pain before immediately taking control of his mind again. “Yeah, yeah, I’m answering them. What was the question again?”

"That you claim to know nothing. Is this true?" he demanded, frowning as he stared down at the dragon shifter.

Kaylum frowned back at him. He answered the question, he was being serious. Well, mostly. It was lie, but a serious one.
“I told you. Not nothing, but certainly not enough that would be useful to you.”

"Entertain me." he said, voice dry as a stone. "Tell me what you do know."

Kaylum rolled his eyes. “Oh, great ancestors up above…” he murmured to himself. The pain came back again, but it seemed to be fading too. He took deep breaths and tried to focus on what Seren said. “Um… I know that the Oré family has been ruling for some 1,200 years up until this point. They overthrew the Sundam line in the some kind of battle… the Battle of Ashep. It was some territory dispute I guess, the Oré family had accumulated enough power to complete with the Sundam, and both wanted Anthemian’s Tooth.”

"And what is Anthemian's Tooth?" Seren asked, cocking his head faintly as Kaylum spoke. He was not sure if he had heard of this tooth before, and if it was important, then he needed to know more about it.

He sighed. There was some risk in telling Seren anything about Tesh in general, but this seemed so small a detail. He had already given a grossly simplified portion of its history.
“It’s the tallest mountain in Tesh,” he replied, a tone that suggested it should be obvious.

"And why did that matter so much?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He had thought maybe the tooth would be some sort of sumbolic relic, but if it was a mountain…why had it mattered? Why was it important.

Kaylum frowned. “I told you. It was a territorial dispute,” he said, and all he felt like saying.

"Over a mountain?" Seren replied, sounding rather disappointed by this news.

(Seren, whimpering: over a— a m— mountain?)

“Over a mountain,” Kaylum affirmed. “Don’t humans have that stereotype… that dragons like to hoard things?” He shrugged.

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"Yes, but it was gold. Not…mountains." he arched an eyebrow at Kaylum.

He closed his eyes. “Ah, I see. Well, I thought it was that dragons hoard everything, and technically land would be no exception.” Then he chuckled. “But then, I suppose that’s the common stereotype of humans. Your desire for conquest. We hoard wealth, you hoard land. Isn’t that right?”

He sighed faintly. "Whether or not that is the case, it does not amtter." he replied, shaking his head.

Kaylum just made a shrugging noise, smirking faintly despite still feeling a sting in his back.

Seren continued to glare at Kaylum. "How can you be such a useless prince, that you can tell me nothing of your country's government? What, was your purpose simply to sit and look pretty, like a little plaything?" his words were biting, his tone sharp as a sword.

“I guess so, since father and mother never let me fight in any battles.” Kaylum did not feel like he was lying here, not exactly. It wasn’t that his purpose was to look pretty, it was to stay alive. Looking pretty was just a side bonus. His parents only let him participate in things that they deemed to be safe, like strategizing.

Seren sighed. "That is not the same thing, and you know it." he replied.

Kaylum had to hold in a laugh. The sigh, his tone of voice, everything. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought this was fun. “Oh, really? I think it’s a least in the same ballpark, right?”

"No. It is not." Seren said, slow and dry and exceedingly fed up with Kaylum's behavior.

"Are you sure?" Kaylum insisted. "I mean, I would be pretty terrible in battle, wouldn't I? I'm much better for looking pretty for the masses."