Chapter 1095 — Hidden Dangers
Blade of Dawn · Page 4 of 4
Gao Yang instinctively recalled his first meeting with this blue dragon lady—that really had been a late-night disturbance—and the memory made him laugh. Then he turned sideways, clearing the way deeper into the lounge, and raised a hand in invitation: "It's only just evening now; hardly late night. Come in—I happen to be quite free."
Metzen nodded her thanks and, without standing on ceremony, went straight to the chair by the fireplace—though it was already spring, in this elven outpost in the north of the continent, close to the border of the wasteland, the night air could still be called chilly, and the small fire in the hearth brought a comfortable warmth; the finely wrought elven decorative tiles were a fine adornment to the room as well.
As Metzen took her seat, Gao Yang sat down in the chair opposite; Amber fetched tea and refreshments and set them on the small table before the fireplace, then plopped down beside Gao Yang and proceeded to look the blue dragon opposite up and down with those amber eyes: "You know, I never could tell before—you actually have a real gift for being an ambassador. When you spoke, you came across as more seasoned than plenty of professional diplomats."
"Actually I was scared to death the whole time—several times I nearly forgot what I was supposed to say," Metzen said with a helpless sigh. "The poise you saw was nothing but a bit of experience I picked up introducing services to clients back when I worked as an agent."
"You did very well," Gao Rong said. "The news you brought achieved the effect it should have, and the appearance of the dragons successfully overawed the whole proceedings. And with the Dragon Pact of Talongde, the representatives of the various nations will shed a great many doubts, and the members who were wavering will firm up as well."
"Talongde today is nothing but an empty shell," Metzen said, shaking her head. "But that's not what I came to talk about."
Hearing this, Gao Yang immediately dropped the small talk, his expression turning serious: "Busy as you are now, if you've come to see me at this hour, I'm afraid it's about something out of the ordinary?"
Metzen gave a slight nod, her expression growing very grave: "Do you remember that there is a tower on the sea northwest of Talongde?"
At the blue dragon lady's words, Gao Yang instantly turned solemn, his brows knitting slightly: "'Countertide'?"
"Yes, that very tower once defiled by the God of the Counter-Tide," Metzen said in a heavy voice. "For over a million years, the dragons of Tarronde have kept watch upon that perilous spire. Our god... while He still walked among us, He too kept vigilant watch over the tower's condition. But now a war has changed everything. Tarronde is all but destroyed, the god is gone, and that tower still stands upon the sea—yet it stands unguarded."
Gao Yang's heart had already tensed of its own accord. "You mean... something has changed within that tower?"
"Not yet, but this matter must rouse our vigilance," Metzen said, his expression grave. "Just now, a kinsman flew here from Tarronde and brought me a letter from Chief Hragor. In it, the chief spoke of his fears concerning that tower."
"What is he afraid of?"
"He fears that those kinsmen who have lost all restraint may do more than come raiding the Loren Continent," Metzen said. "If they have truly taken leave of their senses, they are all the more likely to be drawn first to that tower—to be tainted by the 'knowledge' within it before flying on to the Loren Continent... and then the harm they wreak will be far more than plundering grain and goods."
(End of Chapter)