Join the Dark Dragons

“I’m going to join a smaller guild.” Miranda says out loud.

We all turn around to look at her. A lot of us were convinced she was totally going to join Midnight Dawn.

“Uhm, Miranda, weren’t you like close with Dante?” I ask her.

“Oh, Dante? Yes, welllll … Dante was kinda just for fun.” Miranda admits. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s an ok guy, but it is only a matter of time until I go back to my home village and Dante is totally going to stay here. If I were serious about him it would only result in sorrow. So, no. He was just an exotic guy who was fun to be with.”

“I see. Will you be able to find a good guild?” Wendy asks.

“Oh, I already have.” Miranda says. “My friends from back home have joined the singing bluejays. I’m just going to join those.”

Miranda then gives each of her girl friends a hug, her guy friends receive a handshake. After that, Miranda walks out of the castle gates.

With Miranda gone, I steel myself and make my decision.

“I am going to join the Dark Dragons.” I announce to my friends. And then I start walking in Kiara’s direction.

Ryul holds Shalia’s hand and asks her, “So, Shalia … Would you like to join the Dark Dragons with me?”

Shalia smiles and says, “I’d love to.” Then the both of them join me at Kiara.

Leona shrugs and says, “Might as well stick with em.” And walks over to Kiara as well.

Sophie and Ari join us as well. Wendy first starts walking to us, but then stops.

“I’m sorry, Darx. But I’m going to join the Royal Guard.” Wendy says.

I’m surprised. I thought Wendy would join the rest of us. We were such a close group. First, she spent time with me, then with Leona, she’s also good friends with Ari and Sophie, the last week she spent most of her meals at our table instead of Dante’s.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Before I came to the castle, I often worried if there would be food that day.” Wendy explains. “While I was here, I never had to worry like that. Food was in such abundance that I even stopped worrying about hunger. While I was here, only Gerald saw me as a sex object. Everybody else treated me like a person. I’m sorry, Darx. But I don’t care about great adventures or lots of money. All I need is enough money to support my parents and a place where I can feel safe. Joining the royal guard does exactly that.”

There are several things I could say to try and change her mind, like the Dark Dragons being able to provide in the same way the castle can. But I can sense that she has though a lot about it before making this decision. She at least makes me feel like she didn’t come to this decision lightly.

I look at Wendy with a saddened expression and say, “I’m going to miss you, you know.”

“I’m going to miss all of you too.” Wendy replies. Then she leans in close to me and whispers, “But I will miss you the most.” And gives me a little kiss on the cheek. After that, Wendy starts walking back into the castle.

The other trainees divide themselves between Dante and Syvis with only a few of them walking out of the gates. Nobody follows Wendy into the castle. After that the mentors start leaving with their groups one by one. First Dante with his recruits, then Syvis, and finally Kiara and us.

As Kiara is walking us towards her guild hall, she first makes certain to take a small detour to the Knights Hospitaler guildhall. This guild is allied to all guild, so no matter the reason, if we are ever in danger or in need of healing, we can always get in here. Even adventurers without a guild, or non-adventurers can come here for help.

We can also expect to be safe from other guilds as long as we are with the Knights Hospitaler. Only once has another guild declared a guild war on them. After that, the Knights Hospitaler refused to offer their services to anyone who was a member of the offending guild. They literally left those wounded adventurers outside. As a result, people started to leave the offending guild and joined another just so the Knights Hospitaler would take them in again. The offending guild also got shunned by other guilds, nobody wanted to have anything to do with them. Less than a year later, the offending guild simply disbanded.

On our way to the Dark Dragon guildhall, Kiara also stopped by one of the guild’s chapterhouses. A large fortified mansion with a public square in front of it. She explained to us that many generations ago, this was a guildhall in its own right, but when its guild leader died without appointing a successor, a power vacuum was created and they started infighting. Eventually the guild disbanded and the guildhall was abandoned.

That is when Aelbrecht bought the building and decided to use it as something akin to a secondary guildhall. He sent messages to members of the former guild and invited them into his own guild. Those who accepted were allowed to return to their old guildhall, now under new management.

The Dark Dragons have several of these chapter houses in their territory. It allows them to have an easier time controlling their part of the city, patrolling the streets and responding to active crime scenes.

We will not be living in one of these chapter houses however. Aelbrecht prefers for new members to spend at least up to a year in the main guildhall. That way they can spend a lot of time with the senior members. Veteran adventurers who have discovered a lot of tricks to make adventuring a lot easier. Spending time with them will help us grow immensely in our skills.

When we eventually get to our new guildhall, we are quite astonished. I had already seen it from a distance, and so had an idea of it, but it is quite different seeing it up close.

It is smaller than the royal castle and has large walls made of grey stone. Different from the white walls of the royal castle. The walls are also in an oval shape, with many towers in between the walls. Surrounding the walls is a rather wide moat which is filled up with water. When I see the water touch the walls, it makes me wonder just how much deeper the walls go. The water prevents me from seeing the foundations the fortress is built on.

On our side of the moat is a gatehouse, similar as the entrance to the city and the royal castle. Except the stone entrance of this gatehouse is carved to look like a large dragon skull with his mouth wide open.

On the other side of it is a stone bridge which is connected to another gatehouse. This bridge reaches nearly to the guildhall, but not quite. The last part exists of a wooden drawbridge. One that can be raised with the help of two chains connected to a mechanism hidden inside the second gatehouse. Once past the second gatehouse, we are finally inside the guildhall proper.

On the inside, I can see that the walls are manned by walking skeletons. Not those of humans like in the pirate cove, but of monsters. I guess they are Aelbrecht’s minions. It is known that he is a very powerful necromancer. I guess it should be expected that he reanimets monsters to work for the betterment of the guild.

In the center stands the donjon. It is similar to that of the castle, except smaller and with grey walls. The entrance again has a dragon skull to it, only this is one is above the gate and is looking down at us. It seems like they really like their dragon motif.

When we get inside the guildhall’s lobby, I notice a couple of receptionists. I guess I’ll have to talk to these people when I go out on a quest. They will notify the Knights Hospitaler if I fail to return.

Deeper inside, we walk through some hallways with a lot of statues in them. I assume they are sculpted based on adventurers as each of them had a plaque with a name. I also remember what Aelbrecht said about my father being a sculpter. Could he have made these?

Eventually, Kiara leads us to a large room. It is filled with plenty of tables and chairs, and littered with adventurers of every class that exists. Warriors, archers, casters, rogues, … Most of them are human, but I can see a dwarf over to my right, to my left I see two elves, and in the distance, I think it is a foxgirl but it could also be a catgirl instead.

“This room is the place where all of us gather to socialize.” Kiara explains. “There is a wooden board with standing quests on the wall over there. If you are ever bored, all you have to do is check the wall and I’m sure you’ll find something.”

When I fantasized about the workings of the Dark Dragons, I imagined more something like an army. Members wearing uniforms, instead of expressing their personal fashion choice. People forming units with a captain and being told which quest they do. I never imagined it as something this casual. I don’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

While I am taking everything in, we are approached by one of the members. It is a guy in his forties. He is dressed in plate armor and is wielding a halberd. I have always thought a halberd was just a long axe but no. It is more a spear with an axe head on the tip.

“Hey there, Kiara. So, these are the new kids?” The man says casually.

“They are.” Kiara replies. “Let me introduce you to them.”

Kiara then looks at us and says, “Everyone, this is Jason. He is a B rank fighter. More specifically a knight, as he focusses on defense. He is one of our senior members. If you ever feel like testing your skills through training, he is one of the people you will want to challenge.”

Leona smirks and says, “Alright, I’ll take you on.”

After that, Kiara starts introducing us to Jason. As she’s going down us one by one, other Dark Dragon members start to gather around us as well, both young ones and old.

“Finally, we get to Darx. You might find a special interest in this guy. Apparently, his mother is a good friend of yours.”

Wait. Jason knows my mom?

“His mom?” Jason says as he looks at me with some suspicion. “A lot of women have come and gone from this guild and I have trained many of them.” Then he cocks his head as he studies me. “But if he’s young enough for the awakening, that means he’s at least 19, so it would have to be a woman that left very long ago.”

Jason honestly makes me feel a bit nervous when he studies me like that. Then he notices my eye color and brings it up. I honestly just want his studying of me to stop so I say, “Her name is Ilene.”

The guy frowns and starts pondering. “Ilene, Ilene. That name sounds familiar.”

“A rank B warrior, Jason. She used to be a couple with Azriel, who was an A rank mage and also an exceptional rune master.” Kiara helps him.

All of a sudden, I see Jason’s eyes light up and a smile brightens his face.

“Now I know. Yes, Ilene. Dude, your mom was one hell of a fighter. I have sparred with her so many times and I don’t remember beating her even once.”

Odd, this guy talks about my mom being better than him and he is nothing but smiles. I guess he must have been close enough with her that he didn't mind losing to her.

Jason then turns away from us and yells “Yo, healslut!” To someone deeper into the hall.

I couldn’t believe he would call one of his fellow guildmembers a ‘healslut’, but from among the other adventurers, a woman dressed like a nun comes forth and yells back, “Need another blowjob, Jason?!”

“Later!” Jason shouts back. “Do you remember Ilene?!”

“Remember her?! I went adventuring with her and Alice all the time! How could I possibly forget about her?!” The nun shouts in Jason’s direction again.

“Then come over here and say hi to her son!” Jason yells.

All of a sudden, every guild member in the room turned to look straight at me. They all stop chatting, yet remain where they are. Only the nun with the weird name comes towards me, though not only her name is weird. Her habit seems to have a bustier sewn into it to help it cling to her body and reveal her curves, D-cups for sure. Then on her left and right side she has those slits in her habit which travel from her ankles all the way up to her hips. I’m sure that if she’s not careful, she might accidentally expose her butt at times.

When she stands in front of me, she stares into my face with her blue piercing eyes, like she was studying it. Her entire demeanor was making me quite uncomfortable.

“Black hair, red eyes, …” The nun mumbles. “and … is that Ilene’s nose on you?”

“Euh, I was always told I have my mother’s nose.” I say nervously.

“Oh my god, you ARE Ilene’s kid!” The nun shouts happily.

Then she grabs me and hugs me to her body, pressing my face in between her huge boobs.

“I can’t believe it! Ilene’s baby is all grown up now!” The nun continues shouting, even though I am standing right next to her.

When she lets go of me the nun quickly asks, “I’m sure Ilene has told you all about me. Come on, tell me. How many times has she told you about me?” and she says it with the excitement I would expect from a teenage girl.

“Very sorry.” I apologize to the nun. “But I’m afraid my mom has never told any stories about anyone named ‘healslut’.”

Jason, Kiara, the nun and other Dark Dragon member around who heard me all start laughing. It’s as if I just told a really great joke, except I wasn’t aware I told it.

“That’s not my real name!” The nun says while laughing. “That’s just a nickname everybody has given me! My real name is Sister Helena.”

“Oh!” I say in surprise. “I have heard of a Dark Dragon nun named Helena. A healer with rank A, right?”

“The one and only.” The nun replies.

I can’t believe it. This is the kind of person my mom used to hang out with? I’m starting to worry about my mother’s choice of friends.

For the next hour, Jason and Helena take me around to meet the other guild members. Most of them are people who joined after my mom left, but plenty of them say they heard about her. I’m guessing they did so from Jason and Helena, but who knows. My friends tag along and get introduced to everyone along with me. I had thought Kiara would have led us around, but it seems like she has disappeared.

While Ryul was talking to the two elf guild members, it suddenly got quiet around us again. I turned around to see what was going on and then I saw Aelbrecht walking up to us with Kiara walking along next to him. I am sure that once my friends saw him, they immediately recognized him as well. After all, the stories about him are spread far and wide.

“Greetings, new adventurers.” Albrecht says. His voice sounds ancient and wise and he speaks slowly. “I am grateful that you have chosen my guild to be the one you wanted to be a part of. But before you join, you must agree to a couple of things.”

Aelbrecht then lists off a few things while the 6 of us listen. It is just basic stuff, really. He asks a promise from us to not break the laws of the city and should we see someone commit a crime, we are to arrest him and hand him over to the authorities. We are to help out the guilds allied to us whenever their members ask for assistance and we are to keep safe the civilians living in the territory we control. In case of a disaster, like a fire or an earthquake, we are expected to help save people out of the rubble and afterward rebuild. And above all else, we are to treat our fellow Dark Dragon members as family.

After we agreed to all of these terms, Aelbrecht reaches into his pocket with his bony hand and he pulls out a necklace with a black dragon skull medallion. He opens the medallion, places his thumb in it for a second and then closes it again. He hands the first to Leona, who accepts it and puts it around her neck. Then he gives one to Ari, Sophie, Ryul, Leona and also one to me, opening the medallion and placing his boney thumb in it every time. I first stare at mine a little. I’ve seen my mother’s medallion many times before. But this time I am looking at one which I have earned myself. It almost overwhelmed me and I had to blink a few times to get my eyes dry again. Then I put my Dark Dragon necklace on and proudly wear the medallion with my guild’s emblem on my chest.

“I can still remember the day I gave Ilene her membership.” Aelbrecht muses while staring at the medallion. He then looks at me and says, “I think she was about your age, Darx. If I hadn’t known you were her son, I might have confused you for being her brother.”

I’m assuming that was a compliment from him. “Uhm, thanks, sir.” I say.

Jason then lays a hand on my shoulder and says, “Welcome to the family, Darx. Guess I need to see you as my nephew now.”

“Nephew!” Helena screams and gives me another hug while holding my head between her boobs. She even shifts her chest from left to right, really pushing her boobs against my face.

Then Helena turns to Ryul and screams “Elf nephew!” And hugs him in the same way, to Shalia’s dismay. But Helena then surprises Shalia by screaming “Neice!” and taking the Asian girl’s face between her boobs as well.

Ari remains completely deadpan when it is her turn, where as Sophie screams “Aunty!” when it is her turn and happily hugs Helena back.

Leona pulls her cat ears down and hisses at Helena when the nun comes to her. But Helena casts a [Restraint] spell on Leona, which causes Leona’s arms to be pressed against her sides. With Leona restrained like that Helena screams, “Neice!” and gives her the same kind of hug, while Leona is trying her best to pull her head away from the nun.

I spend another hour socializing with the other guild members. Introductions can take quite a while in a large guild like this one, and I’m sure I have only met a minority. I notice my team mates having a good time as well and while Leona first chose to socialize with fellow beastkind like herself, I soon noticed her having conversations with humans without them judging her for her race.

Eventually though, Kiara collects us and suggests for us to be assigned some rooms. We follow her deeper into the guild hall, towards the dormitories. I make sure to remember how many turns I take. I wouldn’t want to get lost in my own guild of course.