Staying close, Greyson set up camp in front of the mountain range. Knowing his friends, he believed it would not be long before they could escort him in. Especially since he was not actually an outsider but the grandson of two influential elders. Without too much worry plaguing his thoughts, Greyson quickly fell asleep. The addition of two soft furb.a.l.l.s made his rest that much more comfortable. Before it was always just Lucius, but now he had Snow and Theo accompanying him. He only started growing more anxious after the next day came an went with no news. Unexpected silence on all fronts as not a soul could be seen exiting the mountains to find him. Rosalie or his grandparents would have definitely tried to at least get a low-level Beastman to deliver news back to him. Nothing was definitely cause for more worry than something at this point. Trying to keep himself calm, he stayed in place and fought the impulse to rush into the mountains. After around two days, he was left pacing incessantly wondering his next course of action.
Unable to sit around twiddling his thumbs, Greyson got up and started approaching the mountains from various angles. Each time, however, he could detect the approach of the guarding dragons and retreated swiftly. Frustration mounting, he was starting to get ready to just full-on frontal a.s.sault to get in.
"Will you just sit down? Lucius finally could not handle the pacing.
"I am having a hard time calming down when most of the family I know is inside the mountains and is not coming out." Greyson spat back.
"Well, you moving like this is not achieving anything."
"Clearly." Rolling his eyes, Greyson did not want to listen. "But it"s at least making me feel better."
Snow hopped up onto Greyson"s shoulder and rubbed her face against his, seeming to sense his anxiety and unease. Grinning softly, he stroked her gratefully.
"Alright, alright, thank you. I"ll stop." Grunting, he sat down on the floor and leaned against a tree.
"Hey, Lu, what do you-"
"Grey! Duck!"
Without asking for the reason, Greyson merely acted on instinct and dropped to the floor. Right where his head used to be, an arrow lodged into the tree and broke it apart. Sinking into the shadows, he quickly escaped before another arrow lodged into the ground. This time, Lucius sent a counterattack in the direction of the arrows and the trees were cut apart by wind blades. Evidently, the attacker was not expecting such a quick blow back, and a low hum in pain rang out. Fluidly pulling out his bow and arrow, Greyson sent some light arrows flying towards the direction of the sound. The spells burst out and brightened the area allowing him to get a visual of the enemy. Golden hair, golden eyes, and golden scales lit up and reflected the light.
"A Light Dragon?" Greyson murmured under his breath.
Looking to send another spell, he nocked an arrow. However, his breath caught suddenly as a sudden pressure came over him. Sinking to his knees, Greyson did not grasp what was happening for a moment."Greyson, it"s the bloodline suppression ability of the Light Dragons!" Surprisingly, it was Theo who shouted out to help. Catching up quickly, Greyson underwent a change in appearance. His snow-white hair changed to platinum silver and the purple in his eyes faded to light grey. When his dragon bloodline receded to the background, the feeling of suppression also faded. Breathing easier, Greyson rapidly got back up and looked around. Lucius had picked up the fight with the attacker stalling until Greyson could join back up. Releasing a new bunch of arrows, they sped towards the dragon in every direction. A light s.h.i.+eld went up to block all the arrows as they ricocheted into the ground. Realizing the arrows were too weak, he put them away and Genesis appeared in its place. Increasing in speed, he slashed down hard at the dragon but his blade just bounced right off the scales. Creasing his brows, Greyson remembered the freakish durability of dragon scales.
"Lu, you happen to have something good against dragons?"
"What?! Is this really the time now?" Lu complained exasperated. "Oh yeah sure, let me just pull out my handy-dandy dragon slayer. You know, the usual."
"Well, it was worth a shot." Greyson shrugged. "Hey, you, who sent you? Why are you attacking me? I was nowhere near here when the a.s.sa.s.sination attempt occurred!"
"Oh, real smooth. He will definitely tell you." Lucius scoffed.
"I was sent by Young Master Irumen. He desires for you to disappear from Lady Rosalie"s side." Shockingly, the dragon actually responded. Greyson and Lucius both stopped fighting back for a second not able to comprehend that the answer came so easily. However, Greyson was only shocked for a moment before suspicion appeared almost instantly after. A genuine a.s.sa.s.sin ordered by Irumen would not just admit it so readily, unless he was the most incompetent a.s.sa.s.sin ever. The more he felt that things were suspicious, the more he felt apprehensive of the situation in the tribe right now. His distraction allowed an opening which the attacker took advantage of and Greyson was struck by a vicious light element enforced punch. Slamming through a bunch of trees, Greyson was disoriented while Lucius also attacked to defend him. Sensing the approaching attack, he put up his arms to block. Flinching in antic.i.p.ation, his eyes were closed, but he did not feel the blow. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see the dragon spitting blood as a long blade was drilled up his back. The red glint of the blade giving away its ident.i.ty of a dragon slayer. Glancing behind the dragon, he caught a familiar glimpse of platinum silver hair.
"Rosalie!"
"It seems my timing was impeccable." A grim-sounding Rosalie tried joking.
"Yeah, maybe a little earlier would have been better. Where did you get the blade?"
"Grandpa. It"s nearly impossible to get the blade from somewhere else. The Dragon clan tries to control all dragon slayer blades created. You could likely recognize why."
"How many are there?"
"The ones that aren"t instantly destroyed once they are obtained? There are very few, around three more in storage. Grandpa was able to acquire one for me for safety in the clan. Dragons are relatively difficult to kill otherwise. So, Irumen ordered someone to a.s.sa.s.sinate you? Hard to do when rumors say he is still fighting for his life."
"I don"t think it was Irumen. Just someone who wanted to make it look like it was him."
"What makes you say so?"
"First of all, he admitted to Irumen sending him. No a.s.sa.s.sin or even remotely loyal servant would do that. Second, he had no disguise. Obviously, he follows Irumen enough for most people to recognize him and who his master is like you precisely did. Whatever kind of frame job this is, the person who did it was quite sloppy. I mean, I would have to be pretty stupid to fall right into it, wouldn"t I? Plus, didn"t you say that Irumen has many formidable servants? Why would they dispatch one who is at a similar level of power as me? Especially when there was someone who could presumably eliminate me easily and more efficiently."
"When you say it like that... This was a pretty bad frame job." Rosalie felt a little speechless.
"What"s going on right now? What took you so long?"
"Someone in the Snow Dragon Tribe admitted to attempting that a.s.sa.s.sination. Our grandparents feel that this situation is very dubious, and they are not backing him up. They want the punishment to go ahead. However, the dragon is declaring all the right things presently. Firing up the feelings of rebellion in the younger Snow Dragons and some of the other elders other than our grandparents. He is claiming that Irumen is disgusting, irresponsible, and not fit to lead. That the sole reason he is next-in-line is because of the bloodline ability he inherited and the oldest born son. He is also overcome by l.u.s.t which is just a personal flaw not like the Wind Dragons. All absolutely legitimate things, just normally the other tribes just go with the flow because no one wants to make the Dragon tribe implode. There is too much inner working politics usually. Now that all this has come to light, a lot of the hidden conflicts and alliances are coming out in the open. The Light Dragons might not believe this Snow Dragon was the real a.s.sa.s.sin, but they want to believe. They have been waiting for years to put the "number two" in their place and weaken the tribe."
Greyson could already feel his head starting to hurt. These kinds of politics always bored him, and he avoided them like the plague.