The Last Primal

"No. There's nothing that would be of interest. Go and look at the other stores, I am certain they could offer you what you are seeking!"

Without hesitation, the grumpy old dwarf instantly denied any sort of opportunity, chance, or route for barter of any kind. He clearly did not want to have anything to do with Aiden's team, nor with anyone else for that matter.

Seeing the souring faces, the dwarf uncaringly harrumphed, before focusing his stern, cold, unfriendly gaze at the black-haired, golden-eyed youngster.

"You there, boy!" He pointed at Aiden with his surly attitude.

"Yes?"

"You and that masked friend of yours, yes you two. Who else I would be talking to? These pesky humans?! Or this half-blood?!" He spat, a clear show of disdain flashing through his expression for a brief moment.

These words finally hit their mark, even if they weren't aimed for that. The calm, collected outlook instantly vanished from Aiden's face.

As the saying goes, (that surprisingly carries a lot of truth), every dragon has its reverse scale, the singular thing, be it whatever, a memory, an emotion, an object, or a being… They have this one topic, that under no circumstances should be brought up in such a manner, never shamed, hurt, or stolen.

Aiden wouldn't have minded if the old dwarven master continued to lash out at his human friends. While they were important to him, they were nowhere as close to him as his sister, Lily. 

Even if his servants, or for that matter, Galina would be shamed or humiliated, while he would step in to stop the mess, he wouldn't lose his mind instantly. 

Unfortunately, this was not the case when the topic was his sister. She was his reverse scale, the one thing, the only taboo that should never be cursed, at least not in front of Aiden.

As his expression soured, from the calm smile into the fierce, serious look. 

Suddenly, inside the dusty, forgotten, mostly closed up and crumbling store a gust of wind began to blow fiercely, circling around and protecting its master transforming into a dustacious whirlwind in an instant.

The wind-barrier that now covered his body, caused the mood in the room to shift instantly. The rest of the team, immediately understanding the reason for their friend losing his cool, rather than pointlessly trying to reason with him, instead took a couple of steps back. The dwarven blacksmith master, on the other hand, had no idea what caused the young man to react so intensely. He was stunned, couldn't react, and kept gazing with increasingly widening eyes at this monstrous youngster.

Still, his more than century-old experienced muscles reacted without needing his direct command. His fingers already holding his decorated hammer, curled around the elaborately designed hilt and reinforced their grip. 

His legs spread, entering themselves into a stance that would allow the old man to react to any incoming threat accordingly. While his mind was temporarily stumped at the sudden change of the scene, his body could still react. His muscle memory was carved in through the painful and arduous memories of way over a hundred years, after all.

As the wind continued to blow fiercely, another shock came to the old blacksmith. Those exotic-looking golden eyes of the boy suddenly lit up, glimmering in the gloomy room, carrying an eerie omen with them.

Suddenly, as their eyes met, the old master's body trembled. Despite the previous confidence his body carried, the strength instantly left his body like an ancient legend, a story of his childhood came to his mind.

His lips quivered, his eyes wide, his legs gave in, the old man fell on his butt, releasing his grip over his beloved hammer and threw it at his side in the process.

"D-d-d-d-dragon!" The old man cried out with a look of pure disbelief and overbearing shock.

He slowly, shakingly lifted his stump of a right arm and pointed at the glowing-eyed, cold-looking youth.

"Y-you! Y-you are a d-d-dragon!"

Shockingly, in the next moment the previous fear that overwhelmed him left his body, he sprung back up on his feet. His face curved into a delighted, elated smile, he exploded into a boisterous guffaw. 

"AHAHAHA! Really! A dragon! A real dragon! Finally, I met one!" His laughter continued, destroying the previous dark, cold and gloomy atmosphere in mere seconds.

His strange reaction also managed to confuse Aiden. The anger vanished, the glimmer in his eyes dimmed, the barrier of air faded, the magical wind in the room returned to its calmness.

With a bewildered look on his face Aiden turned to the old dwarf, he wanted to ask, but his sister was faster this time. With an upset, pouting look on her face, Lily asked the howling master.

"What is so funny old man? What are you laughing at my brother?!"

Hearing the question, the chuckling dwarf raised his right index finger in the air. Shaking it as his body continued to tremble under his explosive cachinnation, he tried speaking amidst his breath.

"N-no… It's not… I'm not…" Unfortunately, he needed a bit of time to calm down before he was finally able to respond in an understandable manner.

"N-no… I'm not laughing at your brother, young lady." His tone was now much warmer than before. His stoic grumpiness was replaced by the polar opposite, he sounded friendly.

"I was just happy. You see, when I was growing up I was told tales… no legends of this ancient race that was now considered extinct." He looked at Aiden, his bearded face contorted into an awkward-looking smile.

He sighed as he continued, shaking his head.

"No matter, I guess." He smiled. His next action caused yet another shock to spread amidst the small group. He gave a deep, courteous bow towards them as he apologized in a respectful tone.

"Please, allow this senile old man to apologize for his mistake from before. I have rudely thought that you folks are the same as the others. Here to cause trouble and try to drive this old man out of this city once again. I apologize, I was not aware that I am standing before such… prominent figures."

He then turned towards Aiden and continued with his baffling, incomprehensible actions.

"Your Majesty!" He knelt down, and prostrated himself on the ground in front of Aiden! "Please punish this unfaithful servant of yours! I was blind and rude, I deserve death!"

This was finally too much for the group, they stepped forward, whilst Aiden also leaned towards the old dwarf.

"Please stand up, respectable elder! You may confuse me with someone else… I have no idea who this majesty is but that's not me."

Seeing how the old man was shaking his head and was about to argue again, Aiden raised his hand, and sighed.action

"Let's start over, I believe we started this whole thing on the wrong foot. My name is Aiden, this shy, masked lady behind me is Galina."

"I'm Lily, Aiden's sister! Although you seemed to dislike me for some reason, I'm still glad to meet you!"

"N-no-no! I'm sorry, young lady, I was just…" The old dwarf tried to speak up, but he couldn't. After all, he did really diss the girl based on his kind. That was not something he should be doing. Reacting in the same manner as these racist humans. 

In the end, he could only sigh and look down on the ground whilst giving yet another apologetic bow.

"I apologize Young Lady. It was improper of me to sink to such a level. I cannot say anything to defend myself. I guess my time here in this human settlement being shunned and outcast caused my nature to also twist. Please, if you find it in your heart, try to forgive this pathetic old man!"

"Don't worry… ehrm…" 

"This old man is called Gluri Wyvernflayer, young lady." Still keeping his head plastered towards the ground, the old blacksmith finally introduced himself.

"Don't worry about it, Mr. Wyvernflayer…" With a wry look over her face as the old man had a rather weird name, Lily nodded and reached out, gently raising the dwarven blacksmith's head.

"Unfortunately, I also had a taste of how cruel humans could be." With a slightly saddened look, Lily responded. The memory of her capture and predicament was still quite fresh in her mind. Even though she wasn't suffering too badly anymore, as with her family she managed to overcome the despair, it was still not the happiest moment of her life.

"Still, these two here are our friends! Drake and Scarlet are not the same as the others, you shouldn't lump them together with those meanies!" Shifting her mood, she smiled cheerily, turning towards the two royal siblings standing awkwardly at the back.

"They are good people! Our friends!" She repeated with a cheery look.

Although he was much friendlier than before, Gluri still couldn't force out much towards the two, and just nodded before turning his attention back on Aiden.

"Your Majest-"

"Don't. Please, just call me Aiden. I don't know who this figure you are confusing me with is."