Chapter 145 145. Finally, Some Answers

Chapter 145 145. Finally, Some Answers
Isolde sat down on a pile of gold. She was waiting for the red dragon named Silvee to start talking, or rather, the half-screech that was supposed to be hissing.  

"You don't make demands; I am your owner, and I tell you when I want." The Dragon spoke. Isolde just stared. "Fine, we start at my birth." The beast added. Isolde knew how Dragons came to be; what could a dragon's birth be relevant to what she wanted to know? "I woke up after a long, hot sleep; that is all I recall from my time before.

It was hot, and my body slept. When I woke up, I was a glorious thing to behold, bright red.  Age has turned some of my scales to black with time."
Isolde couldn't help herself; after all, how many wielders had the opportunity to speak with a creature, a dragon of all things. "How old are you?"  

"250 years old, I believe, but time is such a small thing." The Dragon said, straightening its reptilian neck. Isolde tried to think: how had this Dragon survived hunters, how had it gone undiscovered? She asked, and the Dragon just stared, not interested in answering the question, and went on with its life story.  

"So I was glorious and flew, gaining riches across the globe, living here and bringing my things back to this beautiful home I dug for myself." The dragon looked around as if admiring her home. Isolde didn't like it but stayed silent, hoping that not responding would get her the information she wanted.  

"So, I don't know how long ago it happened, but I was here minding my own, having a good roll on the gold, you know, some of it I found buried in the sand; it was ten chests of gold coins." Isolde considered this. Did this Dragon say she had found buried treasure? It was ridiculous. But also only the slightest bit amusing. She wanted to know who was doing all this. She wanted confirmation that Ashford was using creatures, and how he was connected.  

Lucifer hissed low, "She goes off on these tangents about her riches, Izzy. She knows where every piece is from and knows it all." The Dragon told Lucifer not to interrupt her, and she stretched, then her massive body lay down on top of the treasure, its enormous head in front of Isolde, who had Lucifer coiled around her arm.  
"I was minding my business, rolling around in my gold; it helps with my itchy scales, but a man came in a weilder. He could not speak split tongue, not really; he tried, but then he, as you did, dark weilder tried to force his way into my head. I threatened him as I did you. Offered him the same deal, but he grabbed one of my coins."  

"Who was it? What was his name? Do you know? Was he a creature? How did he get in your mind if he couldn't speak the language?" Isolde asked. These were the things she needed to know. How, who, and why.

A growl ripped from the beast, and it spoke again harshly: "Quiet my story, not yours." Isolde realized then that greed was in charge of everything with this beast. She wanted ownership of even her words, her story; there was no way Isolde could question her. She would have to think of a way to get her answers. If she were lucky, she would reveal it.  

The Dragon continued. "So this man told me he wasn't a dark wielder or wielder. I smelt different, of course; my nose always knows. You, for example, reek of Dark Craft. He reeked of Craft, but it was different. I only met two others like him, and ate them. Obviously, the first time was curiosity about how they would taste; the second was because she was troublesome and seemed like a waste of flames."  

"This man said he was like me; he wasn't obviously glorious, so he was a liar. I wanted to burn him or eat him; either would have been adequate. He came to my home after all; he should be punished after he tried to break into my mind. But he took one of my coins, tried to break my mind again." I couldn't burn him with my flames; I would have melted my gold."  

Isolde stilled; that was some new information. "He was proud, a thief, and I had to let him go, and as he left, he dropped my coin at the entrance to avoid being killed by me. So he went on living by my benevolence. He came back again with a friend, one glorious green. It was male. I attacked, sure the green would take what was mine, but the man was there. The green one, like me, didn't touch my things; he said he wouldn't if I would listen."  

"It is clear he was not a real glorious one; if he didn't covet my horde, it's priceless. He told me to join them, and I would have riches galore, but the man who was not a wielder and not glorious was a liar and thief, and I have not lived this long listening to others. The glorious green one tried to convince me, but he was young, small, glorious but too young, naive, and I had to scar him to remind him never to enter my cave; he is lucky I didn't kill him, kept saying King Ashford of the Damned would raise them. It was ridiculous."  

That was what Isolde needed; it was Ashford, and he was calling himself King of the Dammed, which Isolde could only assume meant that creatures, and he wanted to rule what, the world? Did that mean he or those creatures would reign? The Dragon went on. "They are fools. I told them never to come back, or I would have to kill them, both of them, but this man was a horrible thing; I don't know how he controlled the glorious green one. He doesn't speak our language."  

Isolde thought on this. Did creatures speak a different language? She knew that she could communicate with the dragon because it was a serpent. Malachi was clearly wrong; she wouldn't be able to control creatures with mind manipulation; that was clear now. She could only invade the mind of a dragon because it was a serpent.  

This Dragon Silvee had confirmed everything for her. Yes, Ashford was behind it all; it was to rule the world. He was undoubtedly a creature if he could communicate with dragons despite not speaking split tongue. He had to be a boogeyman if he was any creature, because clearly he had higher intelligence. Then the last clarification came. Isolde would have to control this dragon's mind if they were going to win.  

Malachi was scared, and Ashford held a young green dragon. She had to break Silvee's mental barriers and take control of her if they wanted to win; it was the only way she could gain an advantage against Ashford. The Dragon whipped its head quickly to the side, and that's when Isolde saw Drake entering the glittering cave.