THE ELDEST DRAGON PRINCESS' MATE IS A THIEF

ASTAROT

The vast lands of abundant greenery spun across the surface of Jundaq- A world of fantasy filled with magical beings of all varying kinds.

However, far far north, beyond the boundless mountain heights and high above the smoky-white clouds, lies the terrains of the overlords- the proclaimed rulers of Farlok. Well... alongside their counterparts.

Swoosh!

A majestic being of great might soared the skies with its wings cutting through the strati and leaving a jet of white behind its trail in an arc.

Roaar!

As it announced its arrival in a booming cry of domination, its radiant feathery bat-like wings that shone of different colors under the bright light of the two white suns in the white-purplish sky of the world, furled like sails on both sides of its dull, dark-bluish, scaly, gigantic, serpentine body length. The iridescent slit of its reptilian eyes on its scaly head, which was adorned with horns for crown, reflected the imagery of a limitless steep valley covered in fog and nature, with towering fortresses that rose into the skies pointing out on each ridge.

Roarrr!

"Welcome, Ancient one." Several drakes, raptors and common draconians bowed and praised solemnly with their snouts directed at the vast bronze terrains that they all stood upon as they paid their respect to the most respected dragon in Farlok.

"Whoa, huge!"

"B-bow your head, son. You must not look at the ancient one!" A draconian mother scolded her child.

Nonetheless, the "ancient one" didn't spare a second to acknowledge them. In its eyes, they were all worth nothing. Rather, its gaze was fixated on the fortress at the farthest end of the land, which is of elegant windows as tall as the building itself that generously acted as the walls than the stone cements of the structure. This fortress has stood the test of time... Yes, it has stood it well and still stands, but cracks had begun to show here and there, and this is further indicated by the thick green vines that ran along its spires which seemed to be made of strange materials that shimmered in the clouded sky.

Carts, boxes, tents and various trade goods were stacked and packed outside the gates of the fortress in the market square, ready to be sold. And as the ancient one flew by, every dragon race present ceased their transaction and bowed in reverence. Except for one...

'This should fit right in my collections'

Astarot's blood red eyes shone greedily as he accessed the round ornament made of pure ruby and coated with gold, with possessive eyes. He quickly swooped his short cloak beside and tucked the ornament in his breech pocket. His dark shoulder length hair fell over his now less-apparent masculine face in the process.

Astarot was an orphan dragon who knew not of his origin, he had lived his whole life doing two things- stealing and surviving in the harsh world of prideful overlords.

"Excuse me..."

"Coming through..."

"Don't mind me."

"Aah... Such a beautiful day" he said to himself, readjusting the new necklace that he adorned himself with. The smile on his outlined face couldn't describe his satisfaction.

"H-hey, have you seen my necklace" a raptor, feeling his neck was lighter than usual, asked the draconian beside him to which the latter shook his head negatively. The former looked around and seeing that no one else was near him other than the draconian, he frowned and approached him with the intent to beat the truth out of the draconian. Commotions of likely nature broke out all around.

All these were nothing but music to Astarot's hearing. He'd been so used to it that it became boring now. All dragons were extremely greedy race who treasured jewels and took any jewel by all means they could. Well, Astarot liked to think of himself as doing the same thing; just taking what he likes into his possession.

"Today is the First Princess's mating ritual, and I'm definitely attending once I'm done here" Astarot heard one of his victim-to-be say and he paused his hands that was already latched unto the hook of the shiny glossy anklet worn around one of the drake's hind legs.

Draconians and halfbreeds who were humanoid like himself were allowed to roam as they liked around the larger drake and wyrm species or it would have been harder for Astarot to make out with his deeds alive. Despite being a dragon himself, Astarot knew not of his origin and he'd lived his whole hundred and fifty years of living as an orphan. Regardless, he'd always stayed in his human form as it enhanced his ability to sneak around these gigantic greedy fools all around.

"Is that why the square seems so empty today?" He retracted his hands and asked. Raising his head to look into the fiery green eyes of the drake that just spoke now, fearlessly.

"What else does it seem like?" Drake's have always been hostile towards draconians and half-breeds. The thought that it might be a true dragon roaming about in disguise never crossed their minds as none ever stooped that low. Moreso, they would have sensed their aura. And this one doesn't even have a single air of a dragon around him, not even that of an half-breed. If not for the slight stench of belonging to the dragon race that they recognized him with, the debate that he was a puny human was left at chance. It was hard to sense his presence at all.

"S-sorry, I just thought to ask" Astarot quickly apologized and moved away from the two drakes that now glared at him irritably just at his mere sight.

"Anyway, I would attend too. Why don't we..."

As the two continued to discuss, Astarot strode away calmly holding the wyrm's precious anklet in his hands. It was quite big for his feet and after placing it around his head without it fitting, he threw it on the floor and continued towards the wide-open fortress gate being flooded by bipedal dragon races. He caught glimpse of the ancient dragon from earlier swooping towards a high point on the King's fortress where everyone was flooding into.

"If the goods won't come to me, then I'll go to them" His blood red eyes gleamed of determination as he grinned broadly.

...

"Welcome Ancient one. My apologies for having-"

"There's no need for all this, Choryrth. I won't be here if I didn't want to anyway. I'm only here to see whom that little one would call unto and prevent a catastrophic consequence on Farlok" the feminine voice of Coatl, the ancient mystic dragon, resounded through the balcony of the glass windowed fortress as she landed and transformed into a grey haired quinquagenerian lady whose fierce gaze could melt anyone's confidence. She cut off the King before he could even apologize.

"Y-yes, grandmother Coatl, I understand. But still, my gratitude knows no bounds" Nevertheless, King Choryrth, the fierce dragon King of Farlok, bowed his head in sincere appreciation. Truly, the probability of his daughter calling upon another ancient was high considering her exponential talent, and that was why he had requested her help. The fact that she, being an ancient, accepted his request was beyond what he could imagine. She could as well have ignored him if she wanted. Afterall, none of the affairs of Farlok were of her concern.

"Praise to the ancient one..." On the balcony the four dragon lords of each houses greeted the ancient one. They dared not near her so they did so distantly.

The ancient one's colorful eyes roamed the ranks of the dragon lords for a while. Her eyes gleamed slightly when she laid sight on the purple haired dragon lord dressed elegantly in a wine-red justacorps that fitted his "demeanor" perfectly. She furrowed her brows as she observed him for a while, before she turned around to face the crowd below. The ancient one was skeptical of the smirk on his face but she was less concerned.

"Where is she, the child?" The ancient one asked, butressing her point. Standing by his side, she could easily read the king's mind and hence, she knew that he was thinking about the Queen, as this occasion reminded him of the day he called to her.

"Pardon the delay. She is still with her mother, preparing. Matter of fact, she should be out any moment soon" King Choryrth expressed with his gaze raised towards the upper floors of the fortress as if he could see through the thick walls of glass. The frown on his face spoke of discontent.

"Very well" the ancient one nodded and continued to wait. Time was the most invaluable thing she had to spend without extent. She stared without focus at the lesser dragons that filled the bailing. Her thoughts unknown.

"How long do you have?" Elder Coatl's words echoed in King Choryrth's conscience. King Choryrth didn't react as he should, in fact, he wasn't surprised at all. As expected, the ancient one had noticed his predicament.

"Only enough to set things aright" King Choryrth responded in a bitter tone.

Sigh!

"I'm sorry that I cannot help little one. Even I cannot overcome the effects of the ichneumon's poison." Coatl's eyes glinted slightly in remorse with a hint of rage.

"There's nothing to be done..." King Choryrth stated calmly.

"Ahhh... This looks promising." Astarot whined as he stepped through the gate along with the other draconians and half-breeds in a tight cramp. Contrary to everyone's expression of discomfort, Astarot was in ecstasy as his whole being had become adorned with jewelries. He had never won this much his entire life, not even on days when the market square was full and occupied. His heart fluttered in delight feeling how rigid, heavy and rough his pouch touched his waist. However...

"Every dog indeed has his day" he muttered to himself with eyes that glittered greedily at his own lucky chance in the lap of luxury. His eyes glittered even more in reflection of the gems and precious jewelries all around when he reached the bailing where almost every dragon in Farlok currently is. He swallowed hard and struggled to hold back himself from getting into action already.

"I'll wait till they're all distracted... For now, let's just mix with the flow" Astarot moved further into the heart of the crowd, calculating and planning his route of operation alongst the while.

"My heart beats in anxiety, I feel like it could be me already" A red true dragon said not short of confidence. His race were quite powerful so his prideful nature is well dignified.

Scoff!

"He must be feeling high and mighty because he's a red."

Heavy smoke was exhumed beside the red dragon and he couldn't help but look to his side. His blue dragon neighbors seemed to have enmity that runs deep in their blood for him.

"Her Highness is of the divine race, it only makes sense that she calls upon the rarest and the most powerful dragon of similar kind to herself." A dream dragon with colorful feathers commented in a quite fanatical manner.

Her remark seemed to end the debate, but, it did nothing to wipe the look of optimism on the half a chance possibility that the eldest Princess' mate could be any one of them, on everyone's face at the moment. Their gazes shifted to the wide open entrance at the top of the dragon King's fortress every now and then, in anticipation of the mating ceremony that was about to begin.