“Is that your way of saying hello?” Lengsat playfully answered. The huge pride of a powerful entity couldn’t be concealed in his voice, yet his demeanor was tranquil as a pond of clear water.

Shadow dragons, as all of the chromatic dragons, are evil creatures by nature. Their power is only matched by their pride, they are living weapons that inspire terror in the whole land. Dragons are not creatures which you want to mess with, even less with an evil one at that.

However, a race as powerful as the chromatic dragons can’t run rampart, because the world was designed to be balanced. When the chromatic dragons were born, the metallic dragons were born at the same time, as the other side of a coin. Metallic dragons are good by nature.

And yet, nothing is absolute. Not all the chromatic dragons are evil, and not all the metallic dragons are good. Lengsat is a vivid example of this rule.

“Hmmmp.” Sile coldly snorted and resumed her walking.

Lengsat sighed awkwardly and then, with a pace nor quick nor slow, jogged until he was next to Sile. Neither of the guards said anything in complaint and just continued to escort her.

“Would you at least have the finesse of telling me what happened?” Sile asked Lengsat when she saw that he was close enough.

Lengsat cleared his throat and then replied with an earnest expression to the question he knew she was going to ask first, “I, and every other dragon in the land, was summoned by the Northern Dragonflight, I can ignore a summon or two of some elders but not a direct summon from them.”

“A direct summon of the Northern Dragonflight for all the dragons?” Sile was momentarily stunned when she heard those words.

The Northern Dragonflight was considered one of the biggest factions of the world. Whether be it humans, elves, beast men, orcs, or any other race, they knew that if the Northern Dragonflight would want to rule over any land, they only had the option of yielding willingly or face a complete extermination. A summon of all the dragons that made part of the Northern Dragonflight? Just how frightening was that?

However, Sile regained immediately her wits. Is not that she was not afraid of such force, but she know the nature of the members of the Northern Dragonflight, after all, she knew one herself. “Is something related with the Dragon Veins?” Sile asked with uncertainty.

“No, not at all.” Lengsat waved his hand, dismissing Sile’s idea. “Even I couldn’t understand clearly was what all about, but if you want the recap, let’s say that it was for us in order to be prepared against a formidable foe that can awaken at any time.”

“A formidable foe…” Sile murmured this words softly and slowly. She was trying to come up with an idea of how powerful it needed to be in order for the Northern Dragonflight to be called a formidable foe, and at the thought of it she couldn’t help but inhale a mouthful of cold air.

Since it was something that was unimaginable even for her, she stopped talking about it and the glared fiercely once again to Lengsat, “And it took you two years?”

“Why are you glaring me like that for? It were only two years!” Lengsat waved both of his hand in front of his chest while plastering an innocent smile in his face.

“…” Sile’s gaze turned even fiercer, to the point of threatening. Although Lengsat was a young shadow dragon, that’s only when you take into account the lifespan of a dragon. Lengsat was about two or three centuries old while Sile was just a quarter of century old. While 2 years didn’t represent much for a dragon, for a human it was a lot of time.

“Fine, forget it, there’s no use in being angry with such a tactless and egoistical dragon.” Sile said somewhat grumpily, but her expression turned somewhat beautiful and a smile surfaced in her face. “Nevertheless, I hope that you don’t dessert on my next mission.”

“Oh?” Said Lengsat with a surprised tone, “Did I came back in a good time?”

“It’s not what you think.” Sile looked at Lengsat, as if she knew what he meant by a good time, and shook his head gently, “I’m going as a scout and ambassador to the neutral tribes on the Northern Plains, I’m departing tomorrow.”

‘The great Holy Empire of Ivalice doesn’t has someone else to send as the Master of the Order of Exalted Paladins in order to do a scouting mission?’ Lengsat murmured softly in his heart, the suddenly recalled something, “Wait, the Northern Plains? Then there is a side mission, am I wrong?”

Sile nodded and her expression turned serious. “This matter has been delayed a lot. I’m the master of the Order only in title, since I didn’t inherited the title from Master Isiurem but just with a King’s decree… My authority is even below of that of the elders. We are always a laughingstock in the King’s Council!” Sile’s expression turned pained at this point.

“If I could find his whereabouts, or at least know why he took the White Lotus Grail… Then maybe I could restore the glory of the Order.” Traces of harsh feelings and conflicting emotions could be seen in Sile’s eyes.

Five years ago Isiurem Sicer, former Master of the Order of Exalted Paladins, took the White Lotus Grail, a powerful artifact left behind by Lord Titor, and disappeared from the empire without prior notice. Rumors says that he was last seen in the Northern Plains.

A few weeks after his disappearance the Order of Exalted Paladins turned chaotic. Although Sile, as first disciple of Isiurem and one of the most powerful paladins of the order, was appointed as the new Master of the Order, that was only an appointment in title. Most of the authority and privileges that the Order had were revoked, turning them in nothing more than a military battalion.

As paladins, no matter if their status was high or low, their loyalty was always towards their God and their king. They could only choose to endure and pray for better times. Sile hoped in her heart that she could find a solution to restore the former glory of the Order of Exalted Paladins.

“Don’t worry, I can foresee that something good will happen.” Lengsat patted Sile’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly, however, in his heart, a storm of uneasiness was brewing. ‘Why it had to be precisely the Northern Plains? They said it would be a few decades from now in that place, but why do I feel that Isiurem has something to do with what they said?’ Lengsat shook his head and decided to ignore the matter.