Well, I had expected to be thoroughly awoken when my Godmother sent me back so abruptly. Instead, my mind was ever so slowly returned from the dreamrealm and back into my body. As I was coming back to consciousness, I barely noticed something nibbling on my wings, or more precisely, on my feathers. With a smile, half ruined by a yawn and a purr, I stretched out my claw to stroke over Illu’s head and encourage him to continue with the preening.

Only to sense that it wasn’t Illu when my claw landed on a lionlike mane.

“Bliz!” I jumped to my hooves and spread my wings, pushing her aside. “What are you doing?” My head spun, around searching for my batfriend. “And where is Illu?”

“She is just a good servant and helping us start the day,” Roary said.

“And Illu should not be far away,” Calmly added the same moment Bliz replied.

“Illu is in your carriage,” Bliz said as she tried to get close to me again. “Your mom's snoring was far too loud for him to sleep.” She made attempts to continue her preening, with her mouth already half-way open, but I pushed her away.

“Stop that.” I shook my head to get rid of the last remnants of sleep on my mind. That was the moment the memory of my dream came back to me with full force. It was at this moment that I also realised that Roary and Calmly hadn’t been around during it, though that was an issue I could address later. “Bliz!” I grabbed her head with both claws while my wings spread open even further. “I saw Shakirin-La! Fortuna showed me the ancient capital of our species!”

“No way!” Her hooves found their way onto my claws and her eyes widened. “You couldn’t have seen Shakirin-La!”

“I did! I did see it! The ancient town, not the ruins, the actual town! Bliz! Fortuna showed it to me, and not the ruins of today, but the whole living town back in the days! I was even able to speak with the kirins from back then!”

“You have to tell me all about it!”

“Of course I will!”

“Wait,” Mom suddenly piped up before she yawned and struggled with her blanket. “Fortuna took you to Shakirin-La?”

“Well, kind of. She visited my dreams, and in them, we went to Shakirin-La! It was sooooo awesome! Though it seems I have to deal with Aphrodite now, in addition to Ares!” I groaned at the memory. “We sort of have an agreement with Aphrodite for the time being though.”

“Hold on, one thing at a time,” Mom rose from her bed sheets and trotted over. “What do you mean we have an agreement with Aphrodite now? She was involved in bringing me and your dad together. I thought she was on our side?”

“It seems like more and more gods and goddesses are taking an interest in Shakirin-La, and those who can are sending their own contestants,” I explained. “Aphrodite made it sound like it’s all just kind of a board game for them. And this agreement is more a non-aggression pact till we arrive at Shakirin-La.”

“And once we are there?” Bliz wanted to know.

“Things get complicated.”

“Great,” Mom said in exasperation as she raised her hooves. “I should have a word with your godmother, she is supposed to keep her fellow goddesses in check.”

“I don’t think she has much influence on Aphrodite in that regard. I tried to convince her to use her control of luck to help me out, but she refused due to the rules.”

“From what we know about her,” my dragon brother mumbled from his spot, with his head still lying comfortably on Autumn's back, “there should be a way to negotiate with her. She probably only wants some fertility rites or something along those lines in the new empire.”

“Doesn’t sound so inconvenient,” Bliz mentioned as she tried to rub her head against me once more.

I slapped her with my wing. “As if it was that easy. Though, ancient Shakirin-La was very much to her liking. Kirins in those days were very naughty, even more than Dad!”

“I kind of doubt that,” Mom said with a smile. “Still, you should tell us about the city, it may come in hoofy to know. Along with everything else that happened in your dream adventure.”

My gaze wandered to Kindling, who was laying on his back with all his limbs stretched out and was doing his best to follow in Mom’s hoofsteps with his snoring. “We will have to wake up every creature first.”

*

… and that is how I ended up in a non-claiming pact with Aphrodite,” I said before sitting back down next to the campfire and waiting for every creature to process what I’d just told them. And by every creature, I mean my family, Bliz, who was laying next to me, Autumn, who occupied a pillow next to my brother Nightflame, as well as Nimble.

“Could have turned out worse,” Roary judged. “We may be able to overthrow Ares with the help of Fortuna, though we should avoid fighting several chosen ones at the same time.”

“And like your brother said, we should be able to negotiate with Aphrodite,” Calmly added.

“Seems everyone wants to get their hooves on my marefriend,” Illu complained as he wrapped his wing around me. “Mine,” he shouted to the skies while shaking a hoof angrily.

“That is how alliances are forged,” Schimmernde Morgenröte nodded. “You are for fun and love, while a marriage is for securing one's standing and social position. My niece shouldn’t pass on such an opportunity to calm your feelings.”

Quickly, I grabbed Illu’s snout and shook my head to signal for him to be silent. “Let my aunt voice her opinion, I don’t share it,” I whispered. “It’s bad enough already that Mom wants your head, don’t get on my aunt's list too, please.” I saw the anger in his eyes and tried to calm him down with a kiss on the cheek.

“It is for Fiery to decide which offers she accepts and which she refuses, not Fortuna nor Aphrodite,” Dad said and rubbed his nose over Mom's back. “Mom wasn’t happy with my decision at first either,” he told his sister, “though now she is approving of it. You can never know what possible gain there is when choosing a mate beforeclaw. Fiery may be better off with Illu than with any god or chosen one. Politically speaking, Fluffy wasn’t the most promising mate at first, but she turned out to be the best mate in the world.” He stopped cuddling with her for a second and looked at his sister. “Keep that in mind when your time comes to decide on a mate. Politics be as they may, you can never know where exactly choosing a mate will lead you.”

“I know exactly where my choice will lead me,” Night threw in. “To a lot of fluff and the throne of a kingdom. I will even surpass your choice, Dad,” he added with a raised head.

“I told you that a princesses of Equestria may be a good choice, but not better than your mom.”

“I’ll decide on that once I get to test the softness of their huge wings,” Night retorted.

“They lack the chest fluff,” Dad snorted disapprovingly. “It is clear that they are inferior to Fluffy!”

With a lenient headshake, Mom rubbed over Dad's side. “You still have a few years to decide on that, Nightflame. And while I agree with Softy on the matter of Fiery’s choice of a mate, I think we should focus more on the here and now. That's why…” She paused when she saw Dad suddenly tense up and lift his head into the air, sniffing. “What is it?” Mom asked.

“A strong scent of pine tree,” I answered for Dad, lifting my nose as well. The last gust of wind had carried this new scent over to us, which was strange since there were no pine trees nearby at all.

“There is also an undertone of something draconic to it,” Dad growled while his head spun around, looking for the source of it. After a moment, he rose completely to his hindlegs and scanned our surroundings. My gaze followed his, but there wasn’t anything that shouldn’t be here. My merriment, our carriages, Snowdrift and Nimble’s cart…

“Sister,” Dad turned to Schimmernde Morgenröte, “do you sense any dragons nearby?”

“No, I do not,” she replied. “And I do not smell one either,” she added with a ruffled nose. “You must be mistaken.”

I couldn’t smell any dragon who wasn’t supposed to be nearby either, though I didn’t know of any other scents that could be mistaken for that of a dragon.

Meanwhile, Bliz and Nimble moved closer to my side, looking out for threats.

“Somecreature is approaching,” Chilli Crust yelled from the outskirts of our camp. “Some creature… looking like a very long ferret. Or a kundeel who’s missing the middle legs.”

Hearing this, Dad released a loud, challenging roar, and sprang up into the air. Meanwhile, Summer Moon and Winter Sun appeared by my side.

“Big Softy!” Mom yelled, flying up as well, trying to calm down Dad’s protective instincts.

“You should take a look, Mylady,” Nimble suggested. “We do not know if it is friend or foe. Better you find out before your father attacks them anyway.”

“Right,” I pushed off Illu’s wing, quickly rubbed my head against him, and rose into the air myself. To my surprise, I simply saw a luck dragon approaching our camp on all four claws. I couldn’t push the image of a close to the ground, floating noodle aside. This one was even longer than Rejinra, but instead of the light blue colour she had, this one was turquoise.

Unsurprisingly, they had stopped as soon as they saw Dad had made it halfway to them. Dad on the other claw was only stopped from landing right in front of the newcomer by Mom.

“Dad!” I shouted. “This is the species I was talking about! The luck dragon from Shakirin-La!” I caught up with him, hanging in the air beside him, and not too long after, Bliz did the same, except hovered between me and the luck dragon.

“Greetings! I mean you no harm.” The luck dragon remained in his stance while looking up to us. “ So, uh, I take it I wasn’t exactly expected.” Their gaze rested on Dad, who was showing his fangs and making it very obvious he saw this as his territory.

“Oh that,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said pejoratively when she spotted the luck dragon herself. “That’s what you smelled and identified as dragon?” She snorted. “Only a lower class dragon would consider them as a dragon.” Her gaze also wandered to Dad. “Sure, your instincts tell you to fight him for trespassing, but it is unnecessary. These hairy flying snakes are of a different mindset. They will not try to claim what is yours, they would try to bargain, if even that.”

“Well, it does lead to fewer conflicts if we’re not trying to take everything from others.” As he spoke, it became clear from his tight, slightly high pitched but melodic voice, along with my aunt's comment, that he was male. “And we are indeed dragons. Just because we don’t have wings and aren't covered in scales doesn’t make us any less draconic.”

“You can’t even breathe fire or other basic dragon things,” Schimmernde Morgenröte waved off with her tail.

“Fortuna called them luck dragons though,” I said before this could get out of claw.

“He smells like a dragon!” Dad shouted, still aggressive. As you may remember, dragons tend to not get along so well with each other outside of The Roof Of The World. So if his nose tells him this stranger is a dragon, they would have to fight this out if neither of them retreated from this meeting.

“Big Softy,” now Mom sprung in. “Let him have the chance to tell us what he wants before you scare him off.” She poked Dad in the side and demanded him to focus on her for a moment. “He said he means no harm, let us see what he wants first. Then you can scare him off if you need.”

Hesitantly, Dad snorted agreeingly.

“The influence of your mate on your dragon-heritage is disgusting,” my aunt commented.

“Thank Fortuna kirins are more like ponies.” I heard the luck dragon say under his breath with barely restrained irritation as he looked up with closed eyes, only saying it loud enough that I could just bairly make it out. He opened his eyes after this and looked towards me with a small smile. “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought I heard you say Fortuna told you what my race was called?”

“Yes, she did. When I first saw one of you, last night, I was going to call your species a n… I mean I wasn’t aware of your species name and she told me what you are called.”

“Wow! You must also be a-”

The luck dragon’s response was cut short when Dad shifted his attention back to him and a growl formed in his throat. Territory conflict be as it may, protecting his bornlings was practically engraved in his scales. And this stranger could possibly be a threat after all.

“As I said,'' my aunt intervened, “they are not aggressive and don't count as dragons, brother. Control your instincts, maybe he is of use for my niece's endeavor.

“What is it that you want?” Mom piped up, one hoof on Dad’s side.

“If I’m being honest with you, I can’t exactly say. I was sent here by Fortuna and told I would figure out what she wanted me to do. I’m pretty sure I know as much as you do regarding why I’m here.”

“Sounds like her,” Mom sighed with a little smile. “She never really goes into detail if she can avoid it.”

“I’m pretty sure she would say it was due to the rules if you ask her,” I added before smiling myself. “She has some strange ways of helping me for sure. Still, she does what she can I suppose.”

“Maybe he knows something about Shakirin-La,” Bliz whispered. “You know, if your godmother's high priestess was a luck dragon, and now one shows up at our doorstep, there might be a connection.”

“Mhh, good point,” I nodded. “Say, Mr luck Dragon, do you know by happenstance something about Shakirin-La?”

“Only that it existed. I preach at a temple of Fortuna that was built near the end of the empire, and there are even a few ruins and artifacts from that time in the area or in the temple. But other than that, all I could tell you about it was that Fortuna had one of her primary temples there, the one for the Kirins.”

So this guy was a priest of Fortuna. I mean I assumed that much, but it's good to have confirmation.

“Yeah, I saw that one, it was amazing! You should have seen it! It even had a luck dragoness leading it as well!”

The luck dragon nodded with a content smile. “Makes sense, we have rather close ties to Fortuna. I have to say though, I’m rather impressed you were able to find the ruins. To my knowledge, the capital was lost and no one’s been able to find it since. Are you just coming back from there?”

Before I answered, I took a look around. Most of my merriment had gathered around us by now, keeping a close eye on the newcomer.

“We are actually on the way to Shakirin-La. But Fortuna showed me what her temple looked like back then, she was of the opinion I would have use for that knowledge.”

Now murmurs were heard from my kirins on mass. I hadn’t found the time to tell them just yet.

“Silence!” I shouted. “Well,” I continued when the murmur had turned down again, “if Fortuna sent you here right after she showed me her temple and made me aware of your species, there’s surely a reason.” I looked over to Mom and Dad. “Let us invite him to the campfire and speak about it, maybe we can figure out what her reason was.”

When I looked back at the luck dragon, I could see that his happiness seemed to have faded, and the cordial smile he’d had on for the last minute had slipped slightly, appearing as though it was being forced now.

“He still smells like a dragon,” Dad retorted.

“So do you, and so does Nightflame,” Mom commented. “Be nice, Big Softy. If Fortuna sends someone to help us, we shouldn’t be hostile towards them, right?” She added a bit of her pegasus magic to her words.

Dad growled, but snorted his agreement after a moment. “Keep your distance from my bornlings!” he warned. “Then I will allow you to enter our camp.”

“It is my camp, Dad!”

“It is our camp,” he insisted and subtly released a growl of me. For whatever reason, it just seemed that since the call, I was unable to not challenge him over who had authority. I was well aware that it was unnecessary in this case, and I was stepping out of line, still, it ruffled my scales!

“It is everyone's camp,” Schimmernde Morgenröte said. “With your kirins inside as well as my brother's family. Including you.”

“What Big Softy is trying to say is that you are welcome at our fireplace, as long as you don’t get too close to our children until we know you better. With you smelling like a dragon,” she looked at my aunt and then back to the luck dragon, “even if you are one or not, my mate would have trouble holding himself back if you make the impression of posing a threat.”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of doing anything untoward, I’m just here on Fortuna’s command. If I step out of line, just tell me and I’ll stop.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Mom quickly replied before Dad could.

*

“So Fortuna sent one of her priests to you, right after she let you see her temple and how her religion operates.” Nimble scratched his chin while he thought out loud. “There should be a use for him, I just wonder why she didn’t tell you. Mylady,” he added, slightly delayed.

“Your godmother sent her minion to support us of course,” Roary explained. “And to increase her influence on us.”

“She surely will benefit too if her chosen one claims the throne,” Calmly added. “The knowledge of how her temple once was and how her religion was practiced can only lead to one conclusion. She wants you to rebuild her temple and establish her superiority above the other gods in Shakirin-La.”

“She helps us gain the throne while making sure she is the most worshiped goddess in our empire. It does make sense. A fair deal,” Roary judged.

Actually, I hadn’t thought of that. I mean, sure, it does work out, still, from how my godmother normally behaves, I doubt she would be so selfish. There had to be more to it.

“...maybe she just wanted to protect us from another god’s influence.” I only caught the tail end of Winter Sun’s sentence after snapping out of my inner dialog.

“That could be the case,” Nimble agreed. “With more and more god’s getting involved, it is likely that one will try to pull you to their side, Mylady.”

“That brings up the question, how do the other gods regard Fortuna, or what is her standing amongst them?” Bliz looked at Rythil, as that was how the luck dragon had introduced himself. “We do know there is a non-aggression pact between her and Aphrodite, and also kind of a conflict with Ares for the time being. What awaits us if we encounter one of the other god’s followers?”

“This is the first time I’m even hearing about the gods being in competition and lines getting drawn. As far as I knew, all the gods were on relatively friendly terms. Not the closest, but definitely not hostile.” He then scrunched up his face and turned it to the side while raising an eyebrow. “But I have to ask, why are you even asking me about Fortuna’s relationship with the other gods? Shouldn’t you already know this? It’s basic knowledge even priests in training are familiar with.” He then turned to me. “Furthermore, why are the other gods even interested in getting you on their side? I’ve never even heard of a god trying to take a priest away from another god, let alone try to get them to preach for them.”

“Oh, I am no priestess,” I giggled after a second of surprise. “I am forced to conquer Shakirin-La, claiming the throne and forming a new empire.” I even managed to say that without going crazy due to the task that lay before me… “And that it’s all part of the great game the God’s play, with every goddess trying to place their favorite on the throne for bonus points.”

“Fiery!” Mom admonished me. “Don’t speak like they’re just playing a boardgame, you never know how they’ll react if they’re listening.”

“It doesn’t seem like they can directly intervene so as to not ruin the game for themselves,” Nimble remarked. “Mylady should be able to safely speak her mind in that regard.”

“And Fortuna would growl at any god who interferes with your business anyway,” Night Flame asserted while sneaking his head under my wing and ruffling through my feathers.

Rythil’s face scrunched up even more. “I know Fortuna is the goddess of luck, but even she’s pushing it by trying to groom you into being her high priestess.”

“High priestess? Where does that come from?” I cuddled my brother with my wing while looking at Rythil. “Didn’t you listen? I said I claim the throne, therefore I become empress not priest.”

“You know, having the empress of Shakirin-La also be the high priest of Fortuna would give your godmother even more power and control over the kirins,” Roary’s voice sipped into my mind.

“Fortuna went into your dreams and not only showed you Shakirin-La at its height, but took you to her temple and introduced you to her high priestess at the time, telling you that it was pertinent for her to do this to give you knowledge that you could use. On top of that, she’s speaking to you on a fairly regular basis. I’m a priest and she’s only talked to me twice, and the vision I received from her was what I can only describe as a still image. There's no doubt that she wants you to become her next high priestess. And given this, I can confidently say she sent me here to teach you how to do just that.”

Some of us released a humm of thought after Rythils statement. I mean, it would make sense, though, my godmother would have told me if she would like me to become one of her priestesses, wouldn’t she?

“Becoming a priestess of your godmother could increase what she can do to help you claim the throne,” my brother mumbled from under my wing. “Could be part of her plan.”

While my brother spoke, I noticed two things. First, Bliz’s eyes widened in amazement at the opportunity to preen me again, and, second, Rythils face took on an expression of shock and disbelief.

“Wait, godmother? Like, if your parents died, they want you to be taken in by a church of Fortuna?”

“Oh, no,” Mom explained. “Quite literally, if something happened to us, Fortuna would be directly responsible for Fiery’s well being. It's kind of a longer story, but Fortuna caused Big Softy and I to come together more or less, and also arranged everything for me to get Fiery. So, in return for all her good work, I requested her to be godmother, with all the benefits of that.” She failed at suppressing a smile at Rythils expression and added, “She also likes to drop by every now and then to share some cake or cookies with us. She bakes good fortune cookies.”

During Mom’s explanation, Rythil’s face progressively showed more and more dissbelief, confusion, amazement, and awe. When she finished, Rythil just sat there in stunned silence, eventually opening his mouth to respond, only to close it again shortly after. This happened several times.

“All mine,” Illu made clear and laid his wing possevely over me, entangling it with my other wing and hindering my brother from cuddling with me in the process. This not only made Night growl at him, but also caused Bliz and Nimble to rush towards me, purring and requesting their share of attention too.

“Stop it! No one is stealing me from you, Illu! Night, if you don’t stop growling at my batfriend, no cuddles for you anymore, and you two,” I pointed with my claw at my follower azures, “you get cuddles when you get them! Sit down!”

“But he,” Illu started.

“No, he didn’t do anything. He is a priest of Fortuna and she didn’t tell him I am her godchild, how is he supposed to react? You should have seen Rejinra when Fortuna told her, she nearly sprung out of her body!” I shifted my attention back to my brother and caressed his head with the wing I’d freed from Illu. Bliz and Nimble, meanwhile, were well behaved and settled down in front of me. Not without longingly looking at me in hope of attention and praise, but that I could tolerate. “Kindling,” I said after inhaling deeply, “could you please cuddle with Night for a bit? He is very clingy and I don’t have the patience for it now.”

He didn’t look very happy about it either, but he still fluffed up and spread his wings slightly, attracting his brother's attention with it. Like I mentioned before, Night using him as a napkin really ruffled his feathers, but still, his desire to cuddle his twin overcame that obstacle quite quickly if Mom didn’t interfere. So after a moment, everycreature was calmed down again and we could listen to what Rythil had to say after he found his voice again.

“I.” Rythil’s voice immediately cracked, squeaking that one word so thoroughly it was as though the revelation of who I was had caused him to become a child again. After a cough, his voice returned to its proper tenor. “I wasn’t expecting that of all things. I have so many questions, but I think I’ll try to come to terms with you being the godchild of Fortuna before burying you under them.”

“Maybe he was sent here for his own sake instead of yours,” Schimmernde Morgenröte snorted. “From how he’s behaved so far, he has some issues with his life as priest of Fortuna. Could be your godmother is using you to get her priest back in line.”

“Your optimism is really contagious,” Mom said. “Could you try not to see everything so negatively? I am sure Fortuna has good intentions.”

“If you say so, mate of my brother.”

This caused me to raise an eyebrow. My aunt never held back in expressing her disapproval with my mom’s species and their habits, though she tried to avoid directly speaking up to Mom. I wonder why that is, though, that was a topic for later. It was just taking me off guard how combative she was being today.

“I can ask my godmother about Rythil later,” I tried to calm her. “No offense intended, Rythil,” I added. “Though, for the time being we should just assume that everyone profits from him being here.”

“None taken. I’m sure we’ll figure out what Fortuna sent me here for exactly soon enough.”

*

A little while later, I had a moment of peace, and was sitting next to the diminishing fire while everyone else was busy breaking down the camp. That was when Wind Root approached me with some kind of fabric attached to his back.

“Fiery,” he called out, lowering his head when he was next to me.

“Hmm?” I ruffled through his mane, causing him to purr quietly.

“I made something for you!” he proclaimed with a happy voice and fetched the fabric from his back. “Here,” he said while hoofing it over.

“What is it?” I unrolled the fabric and revealed an artistic, hoof drawn picture of me with some red and dark green colours as background. The whole thing smelled like grass and strawberries.

“I designed a banner for you!” he proclaimed. “I thought that we could use it to represent you, and I can be your herald!”

I gave the thing a closer look. It was definitely made with great effort and passion, even though it lacked the proper skill.

“I don’t know if I need…”

It was at that moment that Bliz rushed over to us, growling and pushing Wind Root back with her presence. Obviously, she had been eavesdropping on us. “I am Fiery’s second in command,” she proclaimed, “if anythingl, I will become her herald!”

“But I…” Wind Root started, but was cut short by another loud growl from Bliz, so he ducked down and pulled his tail between his legs.

With her head held high, Bliz turned around to me. That was till I grabbed her ear and twisted it, forcing her to bow down and eventually lay on the ground. “Don’t you dare,” I growled, louder than she had before. “It was Wind Root who put effort into this, and it is he who received the praise for it!”

Bliz whimpered submissively.

I let go of her ear and took the banner to examined it closer while gesturing to Wind Root to come next to me. “It is a great first try,” I ruffled his mane and patted his head, “but it still needs a bit more work. Go and work on it a bit more.”

“Sure!” he said overenthusiastically due to my praise. “I will do my best!” He took the banner back from me and rushed back to his carriage.

“You really should try to do better, Sill,” Blizzard Torrent suggested while she approached.

“Indeed,” Bliz’s Dad, Blizzard Frost agreed. “You made Fiery angry with you. You can do better than that.”

Their happy approach was interrupted when Bliz growled at them. They were just acting like parents, but with their daughter standing higher in the hierarchy then them, it was a huge mistake.

“If I want to hear your opinion, I will tell you what it is!” she hissed, raising up.

Instantly, her parents laid flat on the ground, lowering their gazes.

“Don’t you dare to speak with me that way again!” Bliz scolded them. “It’s me who’s in charge of you now!”

Wrong place wrong time, Bliz. While I didn’t mind what she was doing, she did this in full view of Mom. So when Mom noticed how Bliz was speaking with her parents, she excused herself from the talk she and Dad were having with Rythil and flew over to us.

“I must say, it is not right for you to speak that way with your parents, Bliz. Show a little more respect,” she demanded.

“But they are below me now, miss Do. I am supposed to lead them, not the other way around.”

“It doesn’t seem right to me though. You parents just want to help you, like we do with our daughter.” She laid a hoof on my back. “That is what parents do.”

“And leading is what azure-kirins do,” she retorted.

“But not your parents. Especially not when you’re so young. It's not right.”

“Luckily that is not for you to decide, it is kirin culture.”

Mom’s wings sprung open a little bit, a clear warning signal. If Bliz wasn’t careful, she would be in trouble.

“I very well have a say in this,” Mom insisted. “This kind of misbehavior can’t be allowed. For your own sake too. I demand that you handle your parents with the respect they deserve.”

“You demand?” Now Bliz wings sprung open. “They are below me in the hierarchy! I have the final say here!”

I noticed how my Dad’s head sprung towards us due to Bliz' raised voice, unfortunately, Bliz didn’t notice.

“Listen up young lady,” Mom raised her hoof, causing Bliz to growl in defense. I am sure she didn’t even mean for it to be aggressive, still…

I cringed while releasing a little sound of compassion right before directing a sharp ‘stay’ at Bliz parents when Dad crashed into their daughter. Surely Bliz wasn’t in any serious danger given Dad still considered her a child, however, growling at Mom was something neither I nor Night even dared to do. I mean, Kindling can do it…

“Big Softy,” Mom rushed next to him and used her head to push him up and cuddle him out of his defensive stance.

Bliz, in the meantime, had this ‘I am toast’ expression written on her face.

“Growling at my Mom is a no go, Bliz,” I said in the calmest tone I could muster.

She simply nodded.

“This kirin hierarchy is a mess,” Mom proclaimed. “Whoever came up with this idea of children ruling over their parents was a feather brain!”

Dad rubbed his head agreeingly against her, but used his presented fangs to further intimidate Bliz.

“Surely they didn’t even think about teenagers when they created it!” Mom went on. She turned to me. “Good thing we can help fix that oversight here and now!”

“Huh?” Was all I could say.

“You can set the hierarchy in your merriment, right?”

“Uhm, yes?”

“Then set Bliz's parents above her.”

I stared at her with wide eyes. “But… they are not azure kirins, they can’t be higher than her in my merriment.”

“Nonsense,” Mom waved off. “If you say they are, then they are.”

“But, but I don’t want them above Bliz.”

“It is not right for a kid to rule over their parents, Fiery, so do as I say and set them higher.”

“But Mooooom!”

“I will not repeat myself.”

“Mom it is my merriment!”

Dad then turned his attention to me, and my neck scales started to tingle a bit.

“You don’t have to set them at the top, just above Bliz,” Mom decided.

Now Bliz looked at me too. She pleadingly shook her head.

“I dunno, Mom, it doesn’t feel right.”

“Do as your Mom said, Fiery!” Dad growled.

“Fine… “ I looked at Bliz with an apologetic smile. “Here goes nothing. Bliz, you will treat your parents with respect.” I looked back at Mom. “Happy now?”

She just gave me an raised eyebrow, seeing through me like I was out of glass.

I sighed. “Alright… Blizzard Torrent, Blizzard Frost, you two are above Bliz in hierarchy when it comes to parental matters. Not in general,” I quickly added. “Bliz still is my second in command, but, when it is about something between you and her, you have parental authority just like before the call.”

Mom snorted agreeingly while Bliz and her parents slowly rose from the ground.

“So, what was that about you telling us our opinion when you wanted to hear it?” Blizzard Frost asked furiously with his back already catching fire.

“Yeah, you are in charge now, huh?” Her mom sprung in, sparks already spreading from her back.

“I… I mean…” Bliz slowly stepped back from her parents who were both growling now.

Seeing this, I rushed forward and quickly grabbed an ear from each of Bliz’s parents. “We don’t want to rush things here, now do we?”

Instantly their growling stopped.

“That's way better. Now,” I looked at Bliz, “you and your parents surely have a lot to speak about.” I increased the pull on their ears. “Without any grudges, right?”

Both purred agreeingly, and when the little flames vanished from their backs, I let go of them.

“You know, Mom,” I said when Bliz and her parents had put some distance between us, “you do make my life complicated sometimes.”

“Do you think it was wrong to settle things between them?” Her voice didn’t sound like she was asking me a real question, though at the same time, there was real curiosity in her question.

I rubbed over my head, thinking. “When we met them yesterday, I would have said this was good for them. Now, however, after Bliz was more or less normal again, I don’t know. Placing her parents above her again… it seems wrong to me.”

“It is their duty as parents to guide their bornling,” Dad piped up. “Till the bornling has grown enough to decide on their own.” He leaned over and rubbed his head against mine, ruffling my mane with his nose while emitting soft purring and fatherly love. “Your friend isn’t ready yet, and neither are you.” He finished his explanation with soft licks over my forehead.

***

As you just saw, my parents both still interfere way too much in matters of my merriment. I wish I could find a solution to that sooner rather than later, however, for now, there were two more important things that required my attention before we could continue our adventure to Shakirin-La. One was the dominance fights and the establishment of a hierarchy. With Bliz’s former merriment and mine merging into one, we had to get that sorted out or the fights we’d had so far would look like minor arguments in comparison. And the other was sending Nimble home. I wasn’t so happy with losing one of my azures, though, the egg must be protected, and he had to be around for the hatching.

When it came to the hierarchy fights, they took a while longer than I would have liked, though, as Nimble had predicted, everykirin was happier than before when they were over. It also left me with some kirins in remarkable positions, like the captain of my guard, Summer Moon. As well as her night time equivalent, her sister Winter Sun. Not to mention our quartermaster Chilly Crust, and the head of lodging, Timeless Blossom, one of Bliz’s former merriment, responsible for our carriages and camp placement.

So in the end, we lost some time, but received a better organization of my merriment.

In regards to Nimble leaving however, the only thing that stood out was Illu getting furious when Nimble rubbed himself against me to say good bye for now. Well, to be fair, Snowdrift didn’t respond to Nimble’s affections towards me positively either. Both seemed to be upset with the situation, but aside from that, since Nimble promised me he would stay in touch mentally, it wasn’t such a big deal.

Author's Note

The artwork for this chapter is still in production so I will add it later. One of the rare occasions when I finish a chapter weeks before the artist delivers the artwork

Update, well as of today, 10.05.2023 /05/10/2023 Schattendrache has provided the artwork and I added it to the chapter