fessions of the Historian are non-tinuous pseudo chapters that feature a timeframe far removed from the main story. They will not affect the main story’s update schedule, and will instead be uploaded at random intervals alongside them.
Ep 94. fessions of the Historian: Ruler of the Seas
The o’s stro creature?
A rge shark, perhaps. Or an enormous whale. Or perhaps a titanic, eight-legged monster residing withier’s depths.
Once upon a time, however, this question was not worthy of discussion. The ruler of the seas was far beyond the might of susignifit creatures; through his sheer size alone, he could flood the tis and trample its mountains.
Admittedly, he did no such thing. He could, but he did not – for fear he’d incur the wrath of his dear friend.
Though, they never were more than that.
? ? ?
“Excuse my intrusion, Lord Serenis! Urgent news!”
“…Hm?”
The discussion halted midway as Serenis, alongside numerous elders, fixed their attention on the man who’d just burst into the ir. His heavy breathing was a telltale sign that something had happened – enough to intrude upon an elders’ meeting.
“What’s the matter, child? Are you alright?”
“I…I’m fine, my lord. But Eden, she’s…she’s disappeared.”
“…Disappeared?”
An audible gasp swept across the gathered dragons at the news. Serenis rose to her feet, briskly making her way over to the news’ bearer. A heavy frown crossed her face, her expression ridden with disbelief.
“What do you mean? She’s still a mere hatg, dozens were looking after her. How could she have disappeared?”
“W, we’re not sure…she was there one moment, but somehow she was gohe . We’ve looked everywhere, but…”
“…”
The dragonlord silently walked past the man, leaving the gathered elders behind her. Nobody dared to stop their king as a pair of white wings spread forth, taking her into the air.
And soon after, a sed dragon rose to their feet. After gng around the other elders who were fidgeting in pce, she began to shout with a displeased look.
“Are you all just going to sit there and idle by?! A child’s gone missing!”
“…Settle, Arkrana. We don’t even know where she’s goo.”
“That’s right. Aill haven’t finished discussing what to do about the behemoths.”
The steel dragon gritted her teeth. She smashed the stoable they were gathered around, gring at the other dragons around it.
“Is that what you’re all going to do when your own children go missing?! Sit here and talk about other tribes?!”
“Well…that child’s just a half.”
“…What?”
“Eden may be the lord’s child, but she’s a mere half. She couldn’t have left the of her own accord, someone must’ve taken her on purpose. And if that’s the case, then she’s likely already…”
An uling siletled amongst the dragons. A few quietly nodded in agreement as they added their own thoughts.
“If anything, this is all the more reason to discuss what we’ll do and move together as kin. Surely it’s the behemoths behind this i as well.”
“I agree. Searg for that little child will only be a waste of precious time.”
“That does seem to be the wisest choice.”
“…”
When Eden was born, everyone had celebrated the birth of the dragonlord’s heir – but in truth, many had worried that the half child would one day i Serenis’ role as dragonlord. A half rising to the position of their ruler was unimaginable amongst numerous dragons.
And, quite frankly, a signifit portion of the kin had wished for something like this: for the child to simply ‘disappear’ befrowing to age. Even though they had no particurly ill feelings for Eden herself, it was thought that the child’s death would best serve the kin’s future down the road.
ht weaklings – such as humans – were far easier to spare passion for. A missing human child would better motivate these dragons to get up. Eden had been in an odd limbo given her rad position as heir.
‘And that’s why all of you are disgusting.’
Arkrana turo follow her lord and join the search. She spared a brief gre at the dragons behind her before taking into the skies.
“…At least the behemoths aren’t hypocrites. You lot are so much worse.”
? ? ?
A long, long time ago, there existed a demon tribe known as the velks. They were the only tribe whose homes lied uer, and also the rgest among demonkind as whole: an average velk rivalled the size of a small mountain. With four short limbs, a body-eng shell and a jagged head bearing dozens of gigantic teeth, the tribe was the o’s most horrifying terror…at least in appearance.
Though, their namesake was far smaller pared to their actual terror, and the tribe cared little for fame. They were the only intelligent creatures within the o, and being famous amongst ndwalkers did little to serve them when they spent most of their time uer.
But every now and then, some would climb unto nd to bathe in sunlight. Though, because their emergence from the o ofteed in tidal waves flooding the nd, the tribe had heard turies of pints from others. Eventually, their lord had promised: that his tribe would reduce their forms to a human-like appearan nd.
All of that is to say…should one spot a peculiar individual bathing in the sun by the seashore, it was ofte not to interrupt their rest. For they could potentially be giant tortoises that could stomp a vilge underfoot.
Unfortunately, the little half girl didn’t know any of that.
“Wooooah, this ke is so big! I ’t see the other side!”
Eden happily ran about the sandy beaches, running towards the wavy waters. The glimmering o was so mesmerizing that she failed to notice the brown-scaled figure, half-buried in the sand…until she trampled over their face. Actally.
“…Bgh!”
After feeling something squishy beh her feet, only then did Eden turn around to check the source of the sudden grunt. The man she’d stepped on was now sitting upright, painfully rubbing his nose while gring at the little girl before him.
“You little runt…are you blind?”
“Eh?”
Eden dismissed the fury iranger’s eyes, instead fog on studying his odd features. He was in a humanoid form, but he clearly wasn’t human – though, he wasly a dragoher. His scaled tail was much thicker than the dragon tails she’d see at her , and his arms were simirly covered in scales. His shriveled brown hair was in a wavy mess, though that may have just been because Eden had just stepped on his face.
But most importantly…while he fortunately had a pair of pants over his legs, he had no clothes from the waist up. And nobody in the had ever walked around like that. At least not in front of Eden.
“Woah! You’re naked!”
“What?! No I’m not!”
“But you’re not wearing anything! I see your chest!”
“…Listen here, you little runt. I’m a velk, I don’t o follow your stupid human s. The only reason I’m even wearing anything at all is because a friend keeps yapping at me to wear clothes.”
“What’s a velk?”
“You’ve never heard of velks?...At all?”
“Nope!”
“…Well, I’ll be damned.”
After stretg his neck a few times and dusting off the sand from his body, the man finally gave the little girl a proper s. Only then did he notice the two bck horns protruding from her head – though he didn’t see any other non-humaures on her besides that.
“Wait a minute.”
He took a step closer, lifting Eden by the back of her dress like a fish he’d just caught. He spun her left and right, but he couldn’t find aale signs of her tribe beside the horns.
“No wings, no tail, no weird skin color…the hell are you?”
“My name’s Eden!”
“Not that. What tribe are you? You’re not human.”
“I’m a dragon!”
“…No you’re not.”
“Yes I am!”
“Uh, no you’re not. I know what dragons look like. I don’t see any wings or tail on you, and a runt like you couldn’t possibly have learned how to hide them already.”
“I’m not a runt! I’m Eden!”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.”
Even now, the velk whether he should simply swallow the little girl whole before tinuing his nap. The beach they were on was in aremely remote location, and little girl or not, he despised the thought of others intruding his private cove.
But then again, it’d be pretty troublesome if her parents were to start pining…especially when he wasn’t even sure what tribe the girl was even from.
‘Meh. ’t hurt to ask.’
If she turned out to be some insequential lost orphan, he could always return to his initial idea then.
“Where’s your mom and dad?”
“Mom told me dad’s somewhere far away. Mom is…”
Eden looked around ily, cheg if her mother was anywhere nearby. When she found no one else in the viity, she beamed an i smile at the man holding her in the air.
“Somewhere!”
“…Somewhere where?”
“I don’t know! But she’ll be here soon, she always finds me!”
“As if. I don’t know how you got here, but I doubt your mom will find you. Nobody knows about this pce but me…and you, I guess.”
“Don’t say that! Mom do anything!”
“Anything? Pft. What, is your mom a demonlord?”
“Uh huh! She’s a dragonlord!”
“ …?”
The velk furrowed his brows. He carefully lowered the little girl bato the ground, bending down slightly to look into her eyes.
Deep blue. Sure, maybe not all that rare of a color, but still a frightening simirity when put to perspective.
“Wait a sed. Your mom is…Serenis? You’re her daughter?”
“Uh huh!”
“…”
The man scratched his head in annoyance. Eating her was now off the table.
‘Damnit, that’s right, I think I did hear that her daughter was a half…’
He then looked off to the surrounding cliff behind them. The rocky structure was t above them, surrounding the entire cove; there was no way to Eden could’ve gotten here by foot without plummeting to her death.
“Hey, runt, how’d you get here? Did you fly?”
“I’m not runt!”
“Fine, Eden. Did you fly?”
“Nope!”
“Did you swim?”
“Nope!”
“How the hell did you get here then?”
“I dunno!”
“…”
“Mister, you look angry. What’s wrong?”
“YOU! You’re what’s wrong, damnit!”
“Eh…is it because I stepped on you? I’m sorry…”
“…”
He couldn’t just eat Serenis’ daughter and pretend nothing had happened. If she were to find out, that’d probably be the day a new velklord came to power. And even if she never did find out, he’d probably die of guilt.
“You’re lucky I like your mother.”
“You do? Are you going to marry her?”
“…A little te for that, don’t you think?”
“I dunno!”
“…”
The velk let out a long sigh, pg his hands by his waist. He could move fast withiers, but he was abysmally slow on nd – taking Eden back to the dragons’ would take days on foot, if not weeks. But he couldn’t take Eden into the water either, else she’d drown.
“…Guess you’re stuck here for a while.”
“Don’t worry, mom will find us soon! She’ll rescue you too!”
“I don’t need resg! Who do you think I am?!”
“A homeless person?”
“What?! How?”
“Well, you only have half your clothes…and you were sleeping in dirt.”
“Listen, I’m a velk. The o IS our home. You see all that water in front of you? That’s where we live. That’s all my territory.”
“But people ’t breathe in water! I tried!”
“Yeah, YOU ’t. Not even your mother breathe uer. That’s OUR thing.”
“Hrmm…then why were you sleeping in dirt?”
“…It’s called sunbathing.”
“Sunbaiting?”
“Here. Lie down.”
The velk sat back down onto the sand, tapping the spot o him. Eden plopped down onto the ground herself, rolling around irange, shiny dirt. Which is called sand, but she didn’t know that.
“It’s warm! This feels nice!”
“Exactly. It’s o be somewhere warm when you spend most of your time in water. It gets cold every now and then, you know?”
“Aww…you don’t have bs at home?”
“…No.”
“No wonder you’re cold.”
“…”
There were lots of things to say, but nothing Eden would really uand. So the velk instead kept his mouth shut, lying back down beside the little girl himself.
“Just sleep. Maybe your mother will find you by the time you wake up.”
“But I already oday.”
“Nap again.”
“But that’s bad! Mom told me sleeping too much is bad for your health!”
“…Seriously? She used to sleep the most among all of us. Times have ged, huh.”
“Who’s all of us?”
“The lords. You know, tribe leaders. Like your mother.”
“I dunno what that means. I only knonlord.”
“…We’re kings. Your mother is the king ons. I’m the king of velks.”
“Mom’s a king?”
“Queen, then. Whatever you wanna say. They’re human words, anyways.”
“Does that make me a princess?”
“Huh? Uh…yeah, I guess it does.”
“Oohhh.”
The little girl giggled at her newfound knowledge. She’d only read about kings and queens in storybooks, but they’d always appeared as wealthy, powerful figures. Their sons and daughters were often heroes and the main focus in various stories.
And apparently, she’s one of them!
“Thanks, mister! You taught me something!”
“You’re wele.”
“But you haven’t taught me the important thi!”
“…Great. Now what?”
“You still haven’t told me your name.”
“My name?”
The velk opened his eyes and g the little girl to find her on her side, staring ily into his figure. He snorted in amusement at the little girl’s audacity – he couldn’t even remember the st time someone had demanded a name from him.
“My name’s Kedor. Velklord Kedor.”
“Kell--door.”
“That’s right. Remember it well, princess. There aren’t many who call me by name.”
“Ohh…”
The velklord closed his eyes once again, sighing in satisfa. His mind slowly began to wander off as sleep crept over his body once more.
Until Eden shook it off from him.
“Kedor. Kedor.”
“…Yes, that’s my name. You don’t have to keep repeating it. And stop shaking me.”
“Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Really? I am.”
“…”
Kedor relutly opened his eyes. Though he’d never had a child of his own, he’d always wondered why the others pined about having o was slowly starting to make sense.
? ? ?
After a few minutes, Kedor burst out of the water with a loud spsh. He trudged back ashore, tail ed around copious amounts of fish that were dropped ashore in front of Eden.
“Here.”
“Ooh. What are these?”
“You’ve never seen fish before?”
“Nope!”
“Huh. Well, they’re called fish. Little critters who live ier. Though, some grow pretty big.”
“Really? How big?”
“Big enough to fit yht in their mouth.”
“Wha?!”
Eden immediately backed off from the flopping fish on the sand. She eyed the creature warily, newfound fear in her eyes.
“…Fish are scary.”
“…Don’t worry, these ones don’t grow that big. You o go pretty deep to find fish that size.”
“So they’re not going to eat me?”
“Of course not. They’re your food, not the other way around.”
“Aha…”
After hearing the velklord’s reassurance, Ede down to grab the flopping fish. But her attempts were proven futile as their slippery bodies slithered out of her grasp each time, making it impossible to grab one.
Soon, the half girl turned over to face the velk with a teary expression. He was already lying back down on the sand, eyes closed in a likewise futile attempt to sleep.
“…Kedor…”
“…What is it now, princess.”
“They’re too slippery.”
“…Just wait for them to dry.”
“They’re also being covered in dirt.”
“It’s sand, not dirt. And what’s the problem with that?”
“Eating dirt makes you sick.”
“Wash them.”
“That’s going to make them slippery again though!”
“…”
The velklord raised himself back up with an audible groaole several g the bundle of fish and Eden, rising to his feet afterwards.
“Fine. Gimme a minute.”
Kedor quickly made his way to the cliffside, chipping at the stone surface to tear out a long, ft piece of rock. He brought it to the half girl a down, proceeding to skewer one of the flopping critters with his finger by the head.
‘Halves and their picky eating…you owe me, Serenis.’
Ohe fish was dead, the velklord swiftly sliced off their head and tail before proceeding to skin the meat. After shredding the flesh to little boneless slices oone surface, he finally ihe little girl back over to eat.
“Here. No problems nht?”
“Eh…”
“…What now?”
“Mom told me not to eat raw meat.”
“That’s because she fed you nd animals. Raw fish are fine.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Trust me, I know better than your mom when it es to o life.”
“Mm…okay, if you say so!”
It wasn’t long until Eden began nibbling on one of the slices. Soon, she pushed the whole slito her mouth, chewing and swallowing with a delighted expression.
“Fish taste funny! They taste like wind!”
“What does that even mean…?”
“And they’re squishy!”
Kedor watched with crossed arms as the little girl tio eat her meal. A thin smile curved his lips before he id bato the sand.
“…As long as you like it, princess.”
? ? ?
Kedor enjoyed a moment’s respite as Eden ate. She woke him then and there out of boredom, dragging him along into the shallow waters to py with her – ach her while he was at it if she ever went too deep. It took quite some time before the half girl would tire herself out aurn to the sand.
But ohe sun began to set, a new problem arose. And, as per tradition, the velklord was shaken awake to address it.
“Kedor. Kedor.”
“…Yeah?”
“Are you cold?”
“No.”
“Really?...I am.”
When the velk opened his eyes, a shivering little girl came to sight. Her dress lightly fluttered about in the chilly night breeze, and the sun was no longer present to warm her back. Even the sah their feet were ice cold now.
Of course, a velk hatg would’ve been fine in Eden’s pce. They spent their entire lives in cold water; a little night chill was nothing to them.
But Eden wasn’t a velk, and she wasn’t even a dragon. At least not in full.
‘Why you gotta do this to me, Serenis…’
Once again, the velklord rose to his feet with an audible groan. He began walking towards the murky waters, stretg his neck left and right while more and more of his body gradually sank into the water.
“Wait here.”
? ? ?
And another hour ter…
“EDEN!!”
A gigantic thud shook the entire cove with a monstrous sound. Kedor jolted awake and looked up to find a white dragon standing before him, their figure lightly shimmering in the darkness of the night.
Soon after, their body briefly fshed in white before being reduced to a much smaller form. The panting dragonlord frantically looked left and right for her daughter which she could feel nearby, and when she couldn’t find her daughter, began gring at the velklord before her.
“Where’s my daughter, Kedor?! If you did anything to her…!”
“Woah woah woah, calm down. She’s right over there.”
The velklord ily poie cm off to his side, easily big enough to house a person or two inside. Serenis immediately made her way over and burst it open by tearing off the top half, waking up the girl soundly sleeping within.
“Mmh…mom…?”
“Eden!”
After embrag the little girl in her arms, Serenis once again began gring at the velklord beside her. As far as she was ed, there was no way in hell Eden could’ve ended up in a cm’s mouth at a lone cove like this. They weren’t even close to the dragonkin’s .
“Kedor, you better have an expnation for kidnapping my daughter.”
“…Ok, there’s a huge misuanding here. I didn’t do jack, your daughter just appeared out of nowhere! This pce was supposed to be MY private resting spot, not hers!”
“Is that the best story you could e up with? After feedio some odd o creature?”
“I didn’t FEED her to the cm, your daughter was freezing so I tucked her inside somewhere warm! The hell was I supposed to do, dip her into the o? You know I ’t make fire!”
“…”
“Just ask her! She’s right there, you know!”
Serenis’ furious gre loosened into a distrustful stare. She then lowered her gaze to the half-asleep daughter in her arms, gently rubbing the little girl’s back.
“Are you alright, Eden? What happened?”
“Mmh?...Em…Kedor taught me sunbaiting.”
“…?”
“And I ate fish…it tasted like wind. And then I pyed in the big salty ke, and…I slept in a really weird bed…hehe…”
“It’s a cm. Both of you really o work on your o knowledge.”
Despite the velklord’s pouting, Serenis pletely dismissed his words. The smile on her daughter’s face was all she could see right now, their small ughter all she could hear.
“…Is that so? It sounds like you had a fun day.”
“Mhm!...”
Serenis cuddled the little girl a moment longer, letting her daughter fall back asleep in her arms. She then turo Kedor, l her gaze apologetically.
“…I apologize for the misuanding. Thank you for taking care of her.”
“Just a thank-you? You owe me big time, Serenis.”
“…Of course. Would you like anything iurn?”
“…”
Kedor also lowered his gaze to study the little girl in Serenis’ arms. A plicated mix of emotions welled up within, but he mao grin back to the dragonlord – as he always have.
“e with your daughter again sometime.”
“Here? To this shore?”
“Yeah. You both ought to know a little more about the o. Seriously, how do you not even know what a cm is?”
“…Is that what that bed is called?”
“It’s not a…you know what, sure, let’s go with that.”
Serenis bnkly stared at the pouting velklord a while longer. A faint smile eventually curved her lips, and she nodded back to her old friend.
“…I’ll be sure to visit again soon, then.”
This was Eden’s first meeting with a demon outside of the dragonkin. It was also her first notable meeting with a demonlord other than her mother.
And it was also the day Kedor’s personal resting spot became a not-so-personal family piic spot.
? ? ?
You were a fool, velklord. You knew you could and at her side, a you strived for the impossible.
Had you given up on this futile prospect, perhaps the error wouldn’t have grown to what it erhaps you’d still be alive, together with your beloved friend.
But you chose to support their growth. And you chose to risk your kin for the erroneous dreams you nurtured within them.
Surely, you knew your life would never amount to anything when making these choices – when you yourself volunteered to be their tool.
Perhaps the only differenow is that your wielders have ged to humans.
A/N:
Kedor remained celibate until his death.
