A Tale Of Dragons And Sorcery III

Now that all was right in the world and Scola had finally calmed down, I began to take a look around the room. The walls were lined with tall bookcases, with each being a glinting polished silver. In the corner, there was a tiny inset counter with a small stone oven beside it. Looking up, the room was lit by a large crystal growing from the ceiling. It was a far larger and more powerful version of the one in the pool. Near the door and off to the side, a little passage seemed to lead to another room.

Curious, I leapt up off the bed, causing Scola to lift her head and start after me.

"It's fine, I'm just exploring the room."

Scola looked at me for a moment, distress filling her deep black eyes before she finally released a chittering sigh and laid back down. Seeing that she was now unconcerned, I walked into the passage, which was lit by little glowing crystals inset into the walls. I then came up to a wooden door, the face of which was embellished with silver branches. Pushing it open, I revealed a dimly lit bathroom.

There was a stone toilet that looked almost like a well, and a sink that held a small pool of water. Off to the side was what seemed to be kelp rolled up like…

Oh.

That's this world's version of toilet paper.

I guess that actually makes sense.

Seeing as there was nothing else besides a silver framed mirror, I had no reason to stay here.

I then turned around and returned to the main room.

Looking at the edge of the bed, Scola had curled up into a fairly small mound of chitin and legs. It was surprising to see how much she had compressed.

However, more interesting than Scola's size was the books on the shelf. I walked along the many shelves of novels and scrolls, my finger gliding along the spines of the novels as I looked at their backs.

Though I recognized none of the silver lettering along the spines of each one, I could somehow glean their meanings.

I had been fairly quick to realise I had been isekai'd. That much I was sure of. This was not earth. So seeing as I could somehow read all of this, by isekai logic, I'm guessing I can also write things, though I don't have any way of testing this theory at the moment.

Looking around, I started to note that some novels had numbers within their titles. They seemed to be records?

Picking up one, I read its title aloud.

"Age of the third matriarchal cycle, year 222,073-300-032."

'If this is the third cycle, then…'

Placing the record back, I found the second, then first record. Taking it off the shelf, I took it with me to the bed, sitting on its edge as I blew the dust off the records cover.

Opening it, it seemed to have been written by Armia the first Matriarch of Light?

'So it's likely there are more draconic matriarchs out there.'

Taking note of this information, I then opened it to the first page, the crinkling of ancient paper signaling the beginning of my journey into this world's history. An old wood-like smell filled my nose as I flipped open the cover.

…

The matriarch to first discover the concept of an Irn, was the dragon matriarch of light, who's scroll of revelation revealed the secrets to her sister's power. Spreading this knowledge among her sisters, they quickly consolidated their strength and challenged the grand dragon emperors of the age.

Though the Emperors held their own, the time they spent as immovable pillars of draconic society left them inflexible in the face of the new age. They were hunted down and executed, one by one.

When the final emperor died in the claws of Iacon, the Matriarch of Void, a new golden age of draconic society began.

As the matriarchs aged however, they learnt that they could no longer stand their own respective peoples.

So they searched for and mated with the new generations of each of their tribes, producing a single daughter each.

And so it was. When each Matriarch tired of their responsibilities, they would choose a worthy mate to bring forth the next generation.

The only one to never relinquish their role was Iacon, the Matriarch of the Void and keeper of the stars.

As to where the old generations of Matriarchs went, it was never known. Dragons loved their secrets after all.

Besides I, Armia, Matriarch am beginning to tire as well. The remaining Matriarchs have long relinquished their titles. Perhaps I have watched over this world for long enough as well.

…

Flipping the novel closed, I finally understood the basics of the first age. Armia, the matriach of light gained strength and then wiped out the old age of Emperors, bringing forth the age of Matriarchs.

Looking around I could see there were about three more records. This one was year 0 - 120,456, so the next one should be…

'Found it! year 120,456 - 222,073'

I took it off the shelf, also bringing the next two with me. This one was written by the Matriarch of wind, Oltreni.

Funny enough, throughout these novels there were no illustrations. What each of these dragon types looked like was a complete mystery. Opening the second record, this novel was written on a very thin type of paper. I had to be extremely careful with every page.

However what I began to understand showed me I had not been the first living Irn.

…

In this new age of the Irn, dragons searched far and wide to collect their icons of power. Having assumed the title of the new grand matriarch, I now act as Armia did before me.

I led the dragons through thick and thin, holding my head high as our sisters watched for the dangers of the coming age.

However, as we held our heads high, we failed to see what was happening at our feet.

The Irn's were no longer just items. Dragons had begun to collect beings. Sentient or not.

Among the better ones were the matriarch of earth, Vildun, who's mighty back held up the grand cities of the scorpius.

However some were not so kind.

The sons and daughters of our tribes indulged themselves in the hunting of all life to increase their strength.

Eventually though, some refused to lie down and take this abuse of power. The elves fought with a dragon of nature, killing it in the ensuing battle with the help of a fire dragon. This came at great cost to the elves, and they swore to never again take up arms.

With this, the sparks of war lit a flame that consumed the world.

Mankind, replacing the now depleted elves, strode forth in their attempts to eradicate the dragons.

Though they were neither the weakest or strongest of all the races, they were certainly the most violent. No matter how much the Orc scourge fought amongst themselves, or the depth walkers cannibalized their own people, none could match the lengthy, war filled history of mankind.

And so, like madmen, they lead the other race's in a war like no other.

However it was all in vain.

Dragons are beyond anything even the titans could handle. And as experienced in war humanity was, I had lived for far longer than their ape minds could comprehend. In a matter of months, I had driven them back to their capitals, deep within their strongholds and fortresses. An army of dragons was simply too much for any man or beast to handle. Our entire race was made to be the apex of the world after all.

And so, year after year, century after century, the races of the world fought us.

Until one day, everything changed.

On that day, the humans brought forth a champion.

His name was Hiroki Sato.

And he would be known as the dragon slayer.

…