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This is labeled Chapter 144 for convenience, but it’s actually Side Story 1 of Book 3.
This side story was sponsored by Gabriel C., Maria S., Benjamin H., and David M.. Two more sponsored side stories are coming up in the next two days, so if you didn’t see your name on this list, please hang tight. 🙂
A silver dragon hummed to himself while drawing a symbol on the ground with his claw. He was in a cave, brightly lit by sunlight streaming in through the ceiling. His tail scraped the walls as he turned around to draw a perfect circle. Then he brought his paw close to his chest and spun around again, drawing a smaller circle inside the first one.
There was a knocking sound, followed by a voice coming from the other side of the cave wall, “Luke? Are you planning on sneaking out again? If Mom finds out, she’ll murder you.”
“If you tell Mom, Lulu, I swear on your left pinky toe that I’ll forget to bring you back a present,” the silver dragon said. “How did you even know I was going to?”
“There’s always a scraping sound before you leave,” a different voice said from the wall opposite Lulu’s.
Luke furrowed his brow and tucked his tail under himself before spinning again, drawing a third concentric circle. “Look, today is a day called Valentine’s Day. It’s something the cephaloids came up with to celebrate love, and Teana is really into it, and I think I’d be ruining everything that I have with her if I don’t show up to the dinner she has planned.”
“Why don’t you tell that to Mom?” Lulu asked.
“Because she wouldn’t understand,” Luke said, a hint of a grumble in his voice. “She still thinks I’m a child that needs to be chaperoned.”
“Here’s an idea,” Leo said. “Why don’t you bring Mom with you to see your girlfriend? If she thinks you need to be chaperoned, then let her chaperone you. That way, you won’t get in trouble when Leila inevitably tattles on you again.”
“Why is that an inevitability!?”
“You know how Leila is.”
Luke sighed. “Ever since she met that cursed dragon….” He clicked his tongue and shook his head, tracing diagonal patterns within the circle. “No, maybe she was like that before she met him, and the only reason they work so well together is because she’s the way that she is.” He stopped drawing and stood up, taking a few steps back from the circle. “And no, I’m not going to tell Mom.”
“Not going to tell me what?” Kondra’s head poked into Luke’s cave.
Luke stiffened and fell onto his side, attempting to block the magic circle on the ground from Kondra’s view. “Mom! A little privacy!?”
“You’re still a child, what do you need privacy for?” Kondra lumbered into the room and peered over her son at the magic circle on the ground. Her eyes widened. “So this is the magical imprint you use to trick me when you sneak out. Were you planning on sneaking out just now?”
Luke bit his lower lip. “N-no.”
Kondra raised her eyebrow. “Then what’s this circle for?”
Cold shivers ran down Luke’s spine. He opened his mouth, and a whisper came out, “Uh…, Leo was going to sneak out, and he wanted me to draw this circle for him so you wouldn’t notice. Don’t tell him that I told you though.”
Kondra’s eyes opened even wider. “He what!?” She dashed out of Luke’s cave while roaring, “Leo!?”
Luke took one glance at the broken rocks his mother left behind while charging through the passage before taking in a deep breath. He swept his tail over the magic circle, activating it. Then he leapt into the air and out of the hole in the ceiling of his room. There was a translucent barrier covering it, but after sneaking out so many times, he had already created another passage to bypass it. Once he was outside in the snowy frostlands, he swallowed and looked down at the ground. There were no hints of a cave being underneath. “Oh man,” Luke said and swallowed again. “Mom’s really going to kill me this time.”
Casting away all hesitation, Luke flapped his wings as hard as he could to get as far away as possible before his Mom figured out his deceit. He headed straight north while casting holy magic on himself to cure his fatigue as he flew. Soon, he reached the edge of the frostlands, a sheer cliff of ice leading straight into the ocean. He continued flying ahead, lifted into the air by the winds rushing up from below. When the icy cliff could no longer be seen behind him, he scanned the horizon and found a recognizable landmark—a pillar of smoke rising up.
Luke wasn’t sure why there was an ever-burning fire on the island that produced smoke, and he wasn’t sure what the three letters—S.O.S—next to the fire meant either, but he wasn’t going to question it. Once he reached the smoky island, he took a glance at the sun before flying east. There, on the surface of the ocean, he saw a familiar patch of kelp. Luke rubbed his snout while muttering, and a translucent white barrier formed around his face. Without hesitation, he tucked his wings against his side and plunged straight into the water, following the long kelp stalks down to the bottom. When the sunlight no longer broke through the water and it was almost impossible to see, Luke relied on the feeling of kelp against his scales to make sure he was heading the right way. After a few minutes of nonstop swimming, a dim light came into view, becoming brighter and brighter the more he swam.
Luke spread his wings as far as they would go once the bright light nearly blinded him. Then, he lost his sense of weightlessness and plunged down, but he caught himself with his wings. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. Underneath him was a sprawling metropolis made of coral, dried seaweed, and the bones of various large creatures. The place was dry as if he were on land, and above him, the ocean was held back by a white barrier. It was almost as if he were looking up at the sky. He couldn’t see the ends of the barrier, the underwater city seemingly spreading on endlessly.
Cries came from below that sounded like birds chattering. Octopi looked up at him and pointed. They were walking around on two tentacles that were noticeable thicker than the rest. Some wore jewelry made of coral, while others wore clothes made of seaweed. After the initial outburst of chattering sounds, the commotion died down, and the octopi presumably went about their daily lives, doing whatever it was that octopi did in a metropolis at the bottom of the ocean.
“Luke!”
Luke turned around in midair. A purple dragon was approaching him with a smile plastered over her face. Luke’s face broke out into a smile as well. “Teana.”
The two dragons collided in midair and fell to the ground entwined in a hug. The purple dragon nuzzled her face against Luke’s. “You made it! I wasn’t sure if you were going to.”
“How could I miss Valentine’s Day of all days?” Luke against and grinned. “Once I go back home, I’ll definitely be grounded for years since I tricked my mom and fled instead of sneaking out like I normally do.”
“Then don’t go back home,” Teana said, pushing Luke down to the ground, her front paws on his shoulders. “Stay here. With me.”
Luke’s eyes widened. “C-can I?”
“Whose permission are you asking?” Teana asked, giving Luke a slight smile that showed the tips of her teeth. “You know what it means to accept a woman’s invitation on Valentine’s Day, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Luke said, his face turning bright red. “I know, but I wasn’t sure if you actually…, you know.”
Teana pursed her lips, but they were still curved up into a smile. She shook her head and rolled off of Luke, letting him up. She held her tail out towards him. “C’mon, I have a lot planned for today.”
Luke entwined his tail around Teana’s. The warmth coming off of it combined with the giddy feeling in his stomach pushed all the dread from defying his mother out of his mind. He was going to enjoy today to the fullest. “Teana?”
The purple dragon turned her head towards Luke. “Hmm?”
“I really like you.”
Teana’s eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed pink. She slapped Luke’s face with her claw, but it had no strength behind it. “What are you saying?” she asked and turned her head away, but her tail coiled even more tightly around his. “I-I know that.” Her voice shrank. “I like you too.”
The two dragons stepped closer together, walking through the underwater city with their shoulders and hips touching, their wings draped over one another, looking at the scenery with red faces but doing everything possible to avoid looking at each other. A few octopi pointed up at them and chattered, but Luke didn’t mind. It didn’t matter what other people thought. He and Teana were happy, and that was all that mattered.