Crack. Crack. Crack.

I woke up when I felt something dripping on my hand. After turning around for few seconds, still half asleep, my eyes registered the origin of the fluids. The former black egg was now completely transparent and leaking.

There were also a few cracked lines around the egg and the wyvern inside struggled to escape its shell. Out from the cracks flowed amniotic fluid directly onto my bedsheets. I stood up as fast as possible and put an old cotton jacket carefully under the egg. Then I got the wool sheets I had prepared for the wyvern from the cabinet and a bucket full of lukewarm water.

I put the sheets next to the hatching egg for now. A quick instruction for the servant on night shift was made. He fetched a bowl of prepared meat. Niloticus said young wyverns don’t eat directly after hatching, but I just wanted to be prepared for all possibilities.

The servant entered the room shortly after and placed the bowl down before retreating bowed from the room. I checked the contents of the bowl and was certain, that nobody had manipulated the prepared meat.

I continued to wait and observe the struggle of the little black wyvern. He poked again and again at the same spot with his head. I could see how the dent became bigger and bigger. Watching him struggle so much against the shell made me want to help him, but again teacher said the wyvern should break out of the egg with its own strength. So I waited as he struggled to free himself.

After a dozen minutes, the shell finally gave way and the head poked out of the egg. The creature continued his struggle and started to cheep after a few minutes of fruitless effort. I reacted on impulse when my hand reached out for the tiny creatures head, two fingers poked his head. The creature stopped the cheeps and focused on the foreign object near its head.

It started to sniff, lick and shortly after cheep at my fingers. The eyes were still closed, something that would change in the coming days. After ten minutes of getting to know each other, the wyvern deemed its escape from the egg again as its top priority.

It took a long time and numerous fruitless attempts, but after an hour the black mass broke out of the egg and fell on the jacket. The wyvern cheeped with energy after the short fall. I moved my head closer to the creature and it noticed my presence.

The small head bumped against my nose, tried to nibble on my cheek and licked everywhere. A laugh escaped my mouth when he tickled me again. I should probably name him. Better than calling him he, wyvern or black thing all the time.

I thought about a name for a while and had one ready after a few minutes. I also cleaned him with a bit of water, which he really didn’t like and dried him off with a wool sheet. I quickly build a makeshift nest from the other wool sheets. This would be his new sleeping place.

Quintus was the name I decided on. It meant fifth and was normally given to the fifth child. While Quintus may not be the fifth child of my parents, he already felt like a small sibling to me. My attempts at feeding him or giving him water failed at his complete disinterest in the matters.

So teacher was right again. Instead, the wyvern searched for my hand again and again. When I went to sleep one hand of mine lay in the nest with Quintus. The small wyvern was about the size of both my hands combined and had elected my left hand as his cuddling partner.

Sleep took us over soon after.

I sat Quintus down into a prepared backpack for him. It was basically a backpack with cotton sheets and provisions for him. We feed him mostly with different kinds of meat. Quintus preferred meat from more magical creatures. He profits from the mana in the meat as he is a magical creature as well.

The difference between magical creatures and normal ones is the same as between a mage and a person with a normal magic aptitude. A mage can do many things with his magic, while a simple person can light a fire, move a cup of water or create a small puff of air.

The same applied to magical creatures. They create their homes with magic, hunt with magic and fight with magic. Normal creatures use magic like a normal person. They can’t make much with their magic, but it still helps to improve their survival chances a tiny bit. Like creating a bit of water to drink or dig a bit faster with earth magic.

The bottle was filled with milk from a small desert mammal. An antelope quite common in the regions around Alexandria. The milk was diluted with water and small portions of meat and blood. We found the mixture Quintus likes the most after a few tries.

My little friend had also finally opened his eyes. They had the colour of yellow and the typical reptilian slit. The reason for our departure was the bet with Alaric. Today was the day for the close combat fight between us and the winner would get a favour from the loser.

Alaric had trained like crazy the last few days. I on the other hand had taken care of Quintus and had further analysed the notes from the archive. The suspected statewide corruption became clearer with each checked document.

Internal power struggles between not only the houses but also different kind of government branches showed the instability of the current system. There was a lawsuit between the branch for trade and the branch for taxation.

The topic was of course the higher taxation of trade and the trade branch lost the lawsuit. Not surprisingly, because both the legal branch and taxation branch were controlled by house Caesar. The trade department was controlled by house Bilibin. So the trade tax itself was just another power play between the houses.

My preparation for my bout with Alaric was focused on the right equipment, rather than fighting style or physical strength. While weapons were forbidden a good set of padded clothes were not. The plan was to tank Alaric’s hits and win the bout with endurance.

My preparations relied solely on the fact, that Alaric was quite arrogant and confident about his combat abilities. He wouldn’t see the need to buy something like padded clothes, or so I hoped. Still, even with the special clothes, it will be hard to defeat the physically superior vampire.

I swung the backpack over my shoulder and moved down to the lobby, accompanied by excited cheeps from Quintus. Alaric already stood at the lobby entrance waiting for me. It was rare for him to be on time, but he looked exhilarated at the chance to stomp me in the fight.

“Hello, Alaric it is nice to see you on time for a change. I hope you are ready for your defeat”, I said and saw his smile widen at my provocation.

“It’s nice to have dreams my friend, but I suppose you will concede only after I have won. I have a great idea for the favour”, he said and now I really needed to win. I may not know what he wants, but his smile tells me I shouldn’t lose.

“We will see”, we headed out to a local arena we rented for the occasion. We didn’t speak much on our way. Only Quintus cheeping was heard and drew curious eyes from the passer-by. The arena was reached after short 10 minutes walk through our district.

We entered the arena without being controlled. The guards already knew Alaric and could guess who I was. A small surprise sat at the edge of the fighting ring. On a chair, with a book in her hand, sat Livia.

She looked up as she heard as a flashed us a smile, which was mostly directed at me. I glared at Alaric in return. She stood up and moved to us.

“Greetings Lucius and Alaric. Your friend here asked me to be the referee and observer of your little bet”, she said and tried to stop her smiling. Not managing that feat in the slightest.

“And why are you really here?”, I asked her with annoyance audible in my voice.

“Alaric promised to give you a good beating. After you forced me to help your search through the documents, I really want to see you suffer a bit as well. Alaric even adopted my idea for the favour”, she said and laughed after seeing my expression worsen.

Fuck the gods! I had my concerns with what Alaric could come up with, but Livia was of another calibre. Another reason to give it my all against Alaric.

“Fine, let us start”, I said. Alaric and I moved into the ring. I had put my backpack next to Livia, who inspected it after a head popped out. She played with Quintus using one hand while observing us.

Alaric stretched himself and I did the same, after a few minutes of warming up we were both ready.

“1, 2, 3, start”, Livia’s count was our signal to begin fighting.

We moved to each other slowly at first, but when we were just 2 meters away from the other. Alaric sprinted in my direction. My mana sight told me he planned to attack me with a right swing, followed by a kick from his left leg.

I evaded the first blow by stepping back a bit and tanked his kick. I still felt the impact clearly, but it was far from the painful feeling I got normally. Alaric frowned in confusion and I used the chance to get a hit in.

My left hand aimed at his stomach and managed to hit the area. Alaric only twitched shortly in response. The fight continued in the same manner. I could predict his movements and he also managed to read me a bit.

I was not always able to evade or block, but the padded clothes helped a lot. A battle of strength turned into one of endurance and concentration. There were a few times Alaric managed to almost topple me over. Only a last quick reaction preventing my fall.

Livia’s smile also vanished when Alaric couldn’t swipe the ground with me as promised. The girl followed our fight concentrated. I could see Alaric stamina lower and felt exhausted myself. Punching Alaric also felt more like punching a sack of stones.

The fight ended with both of us out of breath and huffing and sweating like crazy. One of Alaric’s knees was touching the ground and with that, the fight was my rightful victory. He had cursed a few times in the fight, especially at the end, about the unfairness of my clothes.

My counter-argument of him having vampire strength, speed and endurance didn’t help much in convincing him. In the end, we turned to Livia to mediate between us.

“Livia are kidding me? The cheater fought with padded clothes. How in the world is that fair?”, Alaric shouted at Livia after she proclaimed my win.

“You did say the fight would be without armour and weapons. The loser would be the one to touch the ground first with his back or knees. I wouldn’t consider padded clothes as armour”, she said to him.

“Alaric calm down, it was a fair and close match. You didn’t specify what counts as armour and I only needed it to counter your vampire perks”, I said in a calm tone. Trying to pacify my friend.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck you, you and all the others!”, he shouted before sighing into his hands. “It is so humiliating to have lost, only because you used fucking padded clothes.”

Alaric cursed for a few minutes me and Livia and all our ancestors. The girl looked visible surprised at Alaric’s arsenal of curses and insults. I was already used to his words. He always cursed when I beat him ranged target practice. He calmed down in the end.

“Okay, I concede this one time and only, only, because I didn’t think you would use such a simple and stupid trick. You owe me one Lucius”, he said and I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

“I wouldn’t call it a stupid trick when it works, but I accept your acknowledgement of my victory”, I said. Alaric’s demand to have a favour as well was not really a concern for me.

“Then I would like you to swear your fealty to my house for at least twelve years”, I said and Alaric got down on one knee.

He spoke a standard oath of loyalty to follow me, protect my house and help my cause. I ignored the curses and insults he used in between. An oath was an oath even if it was filled with profanities. He stood up again and his smile made my worries surface again.

I had forgotten who helped him to find a good use for his favour. An exchange of looks with Livia’s smiling face was all I needed to confirm my fears. She smiled at me and suppressed a laugh.

“Very well Lucius, I will hold my promise. I would also like to use my promise. You are to court Lady Livia with inexhaustible effort for the duration of our stay in Alexandria”, he said and they both laughed at my reaction.

I opened my mouths several times, but couldn’t find the right words for the situation. Their laughing didn’t help me in concentrating either. I accepted my fate in the end. There were probably worse things he could have made me do, but I gave credit where credit is due.

There was nothing more annoying or uncomfortable for me than to court a lady. I had literally zero experience with it and it already dreaded me to stand before Maxiana, Livia’s mother, and inform her, that I’m courting her daughter.

Livia and Alaric collected themselves after a while and we prepared to leave the arena. Livia approached me with my backpack in hand while I changed my clothes to something less sweaty.

“You know I heard house Bilibin is missing a black wyvern. What a coincidence for you to owe one”, she said and I rolled my eyes.

“Did he tell you?”, I said as I pointed at a smiling Alaric.

“Maybe, but I would have put one and one together anyway. How do you call him?”, she asked with interest.

“I called him Quintus. Because he is like a fourth sibling to me”, I answered and she nodded to me.

“Be careful of the houses. I’m not sure how the power struggle will play out, but house Bilibin will get their revenge if they win one of the two contested positions”, she said and I agreed with her.

House Bilibin was without much power right now, but the situation could change in the years I stay in the city. I need the support of the other two houses or come to an understanding with house Bilibin.

“I appreciate the concerns. I will take measures to prevent any harm coming my way”, I said to her. We said our goodbyes to Livia and she hugged both of us surprisingly. My expression again causing laughter in both of them.

We left the arena afterwards and I continued my studies of Alexandria’s policies and governments affairs. Quintus used the time to explore my bed and I had to rescue him a few times when he got lost under the blanket or in the pillow. He cheeped as if he feared the blanket would devour him.

“Queen Galvalla we have lost the war, you had promised a deciding engagement and we got one. One that sealed the fate of this expedition!”, Lord Cicero shouted directly into the queen's face. Ignoring the death stares the guards gave him.

“Not all hope is lost. Valens report stated, that Neapoli's legions received heavy casualties in their last assault”, Galvalla said to calm the human down. “If we land with another legion in Italia, we can relieve the siege.”

“We can’t do that. There are already four legions ready to reinforce Valens troops, but we can’t break the damned sea blockade with our navy resting on the bottom of the sea. The sea-folk from the east or demi-humans have also declined all our requests or offers to use their navies”, lord Cicero pointed out the biggest problem.

“And there is another problem you ‘forgot’ to mention. Jagu has begun to construct a second wall. Even if we get troops over we would still have to breach two walls, if we want to rescue Valens. And Jagu can withstand a siege longer, than Valens. Our troops would starve out faster than theirs”, lord Cicero looked visible helpless at the situation. He knew which fate awaited him if the expedition ends in failure.

“We have calculated the risk. In the end, failure was a possibility from the beginning. We have both paid a price for this campaign”, Galvalla remained him, that he wasn’t the only one who took losses. The loss of so many wyvern and their riders was devastating. She already commanded Valens to send them back to Dacia, only to find out the creatures died in battle or were slaughtered for provisions.

She knew Valens did that on purpose. He knew she would not want her wyverns to be sacrificed in a hopeless situation. Then that is what the siege of Roma had become. A battle against time, which the east was losing.

“You took losses? 65 percent of the troops were from our provinces. 80 percent of the funds were provided by us. We will be hit far harder if the expedition fails completely”, he pointed out and was right of course, but the last thing the queen worried for was the well being of her human neighbours.

“We would have gotten fewer land in case of a success. So there is no reason to see the outcome as unfair”, she locked eyes with the fuming lord. “We may have a way to get supplies over and a legion, but it will only work once.”

Lord Cicero listened closely to Gavalla’s words. Desperate for any solution, which could save his head.

“We will use this method if the conquered land is divided into two halves”, she said and Cicero suppressed a shout.

“Fine, I will talk with the human council. We will discuss your proposal”, he said and left the building.

The queen turned to a guard and saw his smile match her own. The elves wouldn’t lose more through this action, but the human council and Jagu will lose more troops and funds. Either she gets half of Italia or a weakened human part of the east.

It would be easy to gain influence in Hellas the moment the expedition fails for good.