new calendar Year 352, Winter.
Rustling snowflakes fell from the gray sky, plating the towers, streets, and squares of Crimson Flame Royal City with a steadily thickening silver coat.
The wind blew from the northern wilderness, swirling fine snow dust that hissed as it struck rock and metal.
The Red Iron Dragon was perched atop a steep cliff.
He allowed the thickening snowflakes to cling to his back and wide wing membranes, slowly extending a foreclaw, spreading his thick pads to catch some falling flakes, quietly watching them melt into water in his palm and then quickly evaporate.
"Before I knew it, I have already turned one hundred and thirty-two years old."
Galos withdrew his claw, his gaze drifting toward the wind-swept snow in the distance.
The past years flowed through his mind like an unceasing river.
By the scale of a Dragon's long lifespan, he was undoubtedly still very young, the chapter of his life as a dragon having just begun its prelude.
However, the density and intensity of the battles, schemes, construction, and challenges he had experienced in these hundred-plus years were enough to make many longer-lived Ancient Dragons pale in comparison.
For example, White Dragon Beskar.
Though he was an Ancient Dragon, most of his long years were spent in dormancy and endurance; besides meeting basic survival needs, he hid in some unknown corner, quietly watching time pass.
Amethyst Dragon Ithalamas's situation was slightly different, but essentially, he also remained far from the world's clamor.
The depth and breadth of such dragon lives were far less solid and rich than Galos's.
The Red Iron Dragon stood on the mountain peak like a sculpture cast in steel, silently overlooking the kingdom beneath him.
The outline of Crimson Flame Royal City was slightly blurred in the snow curtain, but those flickering lights still pierced through the wind and snow, sketching the city's vigorous vitality.
A few seconds later, he broke through the howling wind and snow, accurately calling out a name.
"Vera."
"Here!"
A ripple spread through the air, and the small figure of the Fairy Dragon appeared at the sound.
She hovered beside Galos's massive head, her wings maintaining high-frequency vibration, chest out and head high, responding crisply as always.
Galos lowered his massive and majestic head, his gaze landing steadily on the Fairy Dragon.
He scrutinized the Fairy Dragon carefully.
At first glance, Vera's appearance didn't seem much different from when they first met over a hundred years ago.
Still that same exquisite and petite body; her scales were bright and lustrous, reflecting rainbow-like shifting colors, as if she were draped in a hazy glow.
But if one observed long enough and carefully enough, subtle changes could still be caught.
The edges of her wing membranes, thin as cicada wings, had some subtle wrinkles that hadn't existed before and were now hard to detect; her originally brilliant scale colors showed faint traces of pale gray in a few places like the neck and wing roots.
Her eyes were still lively, but a hint of fatigue occasionally flickered through them.
Moreover, Galos had noticed behavioral changes long ago.
The number of times the Fairy Dragon snuck over to watch him train had significantly decreased; those once endless pranks were now rare. She had become exceptionally lethargic, often spending most of the day curled up in her attic nest filled with clutter or in some warm corner of the palace, snoring softly.
The Red Iron Dragon leaned down.
His massive head was almost against the snowy ground, level with the tiny Fairy Dragon. In his eyes, those subtle gray-white marks on Vera's scales were reflected, like ash mixed into a winter hearth fire.
"Vera."
The Red Iron Dragon asked, "How old are you this year?"
The Fairy Dragon blinked her eyes and flapped her wings twice.
She tilted her head with a look of reminiscence, extending her small claws and counting them one by one.
"One, two, three... hmm, it seems to be one hundred and sixty-three? No, should it be one hundred and sixty-four?"
"Oh, I can't quite remember the exact year, but it's definitely over one hundred and sixty!"
After speaking, she giggled twice as usual.
But Galos did not laugh.
He was somewhat silent; only the sound of wind and snow howling past remained on the mountain peak.
"I remember."
A few seconds later, the Red Iron Dragon spoke slowly, his voice heavy, "For your Fairy Dragon race, the limit of your lifespan is roughly two hundred years."
A hundred-and-sixty-year-old Fairy Dragon... this meant she had entered the twilight of her life.
The recently observed changes—the wrinkles on the wing membranes, the dulling of the scale color, the lethargy and decreased vitality—all had a logical explanation.
The hands of her life's clock were moving toward the end.
If she couldn't Breakthrough the Legendary barrier, a Fairy Dragon could theoretically live to two hundred.
But that was only a theoretical limit.
In reality, most Fairy Dragons would meet their end earlier, around a hundred and seventy or eighty years old.
When the lively and mischievous nature of a Fairy Dragon completely vanished, when they lost interest in pranks and play, becoming silent, dull, and drowsy all day long, it usually meant the final moment was approaching.
Perhaps after one seemingly ordinary nap, she would simply never wake up again.
Vera's state was already starting to approach this stage.
"Yes, yes."
The Fairy Dragon seemed completely oblivious to Galos's heaviness.
She flew forward gracefully, landing on one of his massive foreclaws, finding a comfortable spot to sit on the relatively flat wrist scales, her tail swaying occasionally behind her.
"I can't compare to you big guys who can live for thousands of years at the drop of a hat."
"In human terms, I'm already an old lady among Fairy Dragons."
She spoke with utter composure, even using a hind claw to casually scratch a slightly dull-colored scale under her jaw.
Galos fell into a deeper silence.
Galos was silent for a moment; the lights of the royal city below the cliff were as hazy as stars in the thickening snow curtain.
Memories surged up uncontrollably.
He had known this Fairy Dragon since he was a Young Dragon, struggling for survival in the peril-filled Serre Wilderness.
Their first encounter was full of deception and small misunderstandings; the process wasn't exactly pleasant.
But after that, Vera's joyful mood indeed provided him with rare relaxation and adjustment amidst the omnipresent dangers and pressures of the wilderness, preventing him from being constantly tense like a fully drawn bow.
Almost every step of his entire path to rise had been witnessed by this Fairy Dragon.
Before he knew it, he had grown into a powerful Legendary Dragon, while the over-energetic little troublemaker of those years had quietly reached the twilight of her life.
The Fairy Dragon aging and dying... this thought gave Galos a strange sense of friction.
He wasn't used to thinking about the passing of things around him, especially an existence that had long been integrated into his life's trajectory.
"Is there a way? A way to extend lifespan."
The Red Iron Dragon asked.
As for relying on one's own Breakthrough to Legendary to achieve a life leap... that hope was even slimmer.
The Fairy Dragon's own Rank wasn't low, but when a dragon begins its twilight years, its growth rate drops sharply; the possibility of breaking through the already extremely difficult Legendary barrier was minuscule.
Vera stopped swaying her tail.
"There is."
She lowered her already tiny voice, speaking in a tone as if telling a secret.
"Legend says that if we Fairy Dragons can return to the ancestral land where we were first born, receive the recognition of the ancestral spirits, and undergo the baptism of the origin breath, we might be able to reshape our life Foundation. If our luck is good enough, we might even break through the shackles in one fell swoop and become Legendary beings..."
She paused, her wings folding in slightly.
"But then again, that's just a 'maybe'."
"Old stories all say that; who knows if it's true, and how many have actually succeeded?"
Feywild.
Galos knew of this place; it was one of the many Outer Planes, the realm where the gods of the Mini-races dwelled, and the primary habitat for various fey creatures and natural spirits—a world full of magic, wonders, and unpredictability.
"I will send you to the Feywild."
The Red Iron Dragon made a decision and said.
"Since an opportunity exists, we shouldn't give up trying. Besides, I have never set foot in an outer plane; taking this chance to see the landscape of a different world would do no harm."
The Outer Planes were places where true masters hid, connecting to infinite possibilities and dangers.
The ancient ancestor to whom Galos's surname belonged, the powerful dragon named Ignas—if he hadn't perished, he might very likely be hiding deep within some outer plane now.
The Fairy Dragon looked up, a proud expression appearing on her face.
"Don't forget, Your Majesty, I am a Planar Dragon."
She puffed out her little chest, "I've actually long had the ability to open a passage to the Feywild and return to my homeland on my own."
Hearing this, the Red Iron Dragon was slightly taken aback and then asked, "I've never heard you mention this before. Don't you want to go back and see the homeland where you were born?"
"Your Majesty, oh Your Majesty, have you forgotten something?"
The Fairy Dragon burst out laughing, fluttering her wings to fly up and hover before Galos's massive eyes, her wings vibrating at a high frequency.
She put on an exaggerated look of fear, pointing at her own heart with a small claw.
"I have your contract on me! That terrifying and powerful Enslavement Contract."
"If I were to sneak off to the Feywild, so far away from you, what if the contract triggered halfway and wiped me out? I wouldn't dare take that risk."
Enslavement Contract?
A trace of doubt flickered in Galos's eyes, and then a corner of his memory was lit up.
He remembered exactly what the Fairy Dragon was referring to.
It was a past event that he had almost completely forgotten.
Back then, to keep this useful yet troublesome little thing when he lacked effective means of restraint, he had casually scared her into signing a non-existent Enslavement Contract.
"That contract," Galos stared at the Fairy Dragon and said, "is fake."
The mountain wind swept past, swirling the snow like smoke.
Vera was quiet for about two or three seconds.
Then, the fearful expression on her face instantly dissolved.
She extended her small claw, pointing straight at the tip of the Red Iron Dragon's massive nose, and then erupted into a series of crisp and loud laughter.
"Hehe... Aha! Cunning Evil Dragon, I actually knew it long ago!"
"That lie of yours wasn't clever at all!"
She laughed so hard she did somersaults in the air. "Did you really think the brilliant Lady Vera couldn't see through such a clumsy lie? I've just been playing along with you!"
"You..."
Rarely, the Red Iron Dragon was somewhat at a loss for words.
"I just wanted to see when you would expose it yourself."
Vera finally managed to stop laughing, but the curve at the corners of her eyes remained. "As it turned out, I waited for a hundred years. You're really good at holding it in. But... this is also fine. With the contract, I had a legitimate reason to stay in the Material Plane."
"It's so interesting here; I can tease those fierce-looking but silly Great Bears."
"There are countless interesting creatures in the royal city—humans, Goblins, Ogres... every one of them can keep me company, listen to my stories, or be the target of my little pranks; and there are so many new things constantly happening..."
"So, it's not that you couldn't go, but that you didn't want to go to the Feywild?"
Galos asked.
"Not entirely."
The Fairy Dragon stretched, revealing the paler scales on her belly.
"At first, I thought it was fun, like a long-lasting adventure game. Later, I got used to life here. And then... I also wanted to see just how far the Young Dragon who once tried to scare me could grow, whether he could stand above the heavens and fulfill his dream."
She flew up, pressing her tiny forehead against one of Galos's massive faceplates.
"But," she continued in a whisper, "I think I'm really a bit tired now."
"My wings don't flap as light and strong as before, and those wonderful inspirations for pranks in my head seem to pop up less. I can't play tirelessly all day long like I used to."
After speaking, she landed back in the dragon's palm and yawned, feeling somewhat sleepy.
Galos stared intently at the Fairy Dragon.
"I will send you to the Feywild."
He repeated with an unquestionable tone.
Vera nuzzled into his warm palm.
"That won't do. The Feywild is full of little cuties like me. If a big Evil Dragon like you goes there, you'll scare the residents and trigger a crusade."
"Don't underestimate us little ones; there are gods among us."
"And they live in the Feywild; they won't allow a big Evil Dragon like you to run amok."
The Fairy Dragon said giggling.
Galos said, "You're worried I'll cause trouble in the Feywild? No, I'll be discreet. And compared to planes like the Abyss and Hell, the Feywild is basically harmless; a Legendary Dragon is more than enough to soar through it."
In fact, anywhere, a Legendary being is no weakling.
Furthermore, while there are gods in the Feywild, they dwell within their own divine realms; unless something significant catches their attention, they won't cast their gaze upon a Legendary life.
The Fairy Dragon blinked.
"Oh right, if it's you, it'll definitely be fine."
"Come to the Wilds with me, but not now."
She said, "Wait until spring. I hate going out in winter; it's too cold, and there are no pretty flowers or plants, and fewer small animals. I want to see one more spring in the Material Plane, and then return to my fairy home."
Galos nodded slightly.
"Alright, we'll wait for spring."
"Then it's a deal, my dear His Majesty Ignis."
Vera's voice carried a heavy weariness, gradually fading, "When spring comes, you'll go to the Feywild with me... Now, I'll sleep for a bit... remember to wake me up to see the sunrise..."
Her breathing became steady and long; she fell asleep in the Red Iron Dragon's palm.
Galos closed his claws, shielding the Fairy Dragon from all cold winds.
He did not train any further today, simply perching on the cliff heights and closing his eyes to take a nap with her.