Victory Strike's POV

"Let's be quick," Victory Strike thought he knocked on the door.

"I still don't see why we need to see her," Dread grumbled.

Click.

The door opened to reveal an old nightwing that matched Victory Strike in age and experience. She wore a jewel-encrusted spectacle that was the only thing that revealed her wealth. Her turquoise eyes studied her old friend with relief as she looked down on him. Her 'mindreader' scales glinted from the lamp light as she tilted her head and slightly spread her greenish-black wings.

"Now, what do I own this gentleman," Soul-Reader rolled her eyes and grinned playfully, "especially at such a late hour!"

"Don't play a fool off of me, you night-crawler," Victory Strike hissed, " This is serious! Also, where is Alexander?"

"Did Inkheart have another vision," Soul-Reader asked already knowing the answer and watched as he nodded, "Alexander is out with his buddies for a drink."

"A drink, at this hour," Victory Strike asked surprised, "I should really ban alcohol."

"That is actually a good idea," Soul-Reader said before staring at Victory, "But it will not work."

"After all, alcohol is still in demand and will just lead to chaos," Victory Strike signed, "Besides, all those jobs that are opened up by legal alcohol trade will be replaced by illegal ones."

"True," Soul-Reader responded and quickly checked the surroundings before letting Victory Strike in, "so, where is this great prophecy."

Victory Strike stepped into a house that he was all too familiar with, the chandelier glowed a warm orange and decorated the many trophies, books and treasures in the lair. The polar bear rug in the middle of the space seemed to be made of amber and the oak table stood tall as the king placed the recorder to his transmitter, which he had instinctively activated to record the prophecy.

With a flick of a switch, the prophecy began to play.

The King of Mountain Demons will bring hell unless behead by the serpent slayer,

The Plant King will conquer all if bloodshed isn't made,

The dragons of Leaf will cause war, if not stopped during their flight,

The weapons of darkness will kill all who oppose the king,

May the dragoness of the future seek her paths,

The dragons of ice will fight for fallen homes,

The assassins will crawl into the picture,

After a trickster is revealed,

Brother will kill brother.

Heaven and Hell will feud after the orange dragon named for blood rises,

Jealousy boils and kills love.

Mortal kings live forever,

As sons fight death.

Sky and Grim will meet in holy matrimony,

As feuds arise.

Stopped by a common enemy,

And death of a gentle dragon

Your role in the future occurs during your time fallen and when you rise again,

Outplay Death and save all of the future from doom,

with the help of three other in each time of doom,

Beware fair king, for there are four dooms to face,

all caused by yours and those close to you.

Victory Strike signed and looked at a puzzled Soul-Reader, "So, what could this possibly mean."

"Well, for starters, your son has a superior future sight then basically every nightwing with that power for the last thousand years," Soul-Reader noticed, "but, not Clearsight levels."

"Damn it, I really thought thought that he was an incarnation of that dragoness," Victory Strike signed.

"But, that is still not confirmed," Soul-Reader tried to reassure a disappointed Victory Strike.

"Let's get over with this," Victory Strike said and replayed the prophecy again and allowed Soul-Reader to write down the prophecy.

"Let's see, The King of Mountain Demons is either Ghaster the World Ender or Nexfux," Soul-Reader said, "Your thoughts exactly."

"Please, just stop doing that," Victory Strike face-taloned himself as he noted, "bring hell could mean Ghaster's more aggressive plans or Nexfux's undead creations that one can say are from hell."

"True," Soul-Reader admitted, "serpent-slayer is definitely Dread."

"Great, I get to kill either a World Ender or a Vaal," Dread chuckled.

"The Plant King is most certainly that plant that takes over ones mind," Soul-Reader stated.

"Most certainly," Victory Strike said, "then, the bloodshed part is probably referring to the fleeing Leafwings whom are have made appearances at the boundaries of the seas between the two continents. Since, it has infected them already."

"Dragons of Leaf will start a conflict if not stopped in flight, must mean that their presence and the plant king will cause conflict unless we eliminate them," Soul-Reader agreed.

"Unless, it means that we must eliminate the plant king and help the rest in order to create a peaceful solution," Victory Strike reasoned earning a nod from Soul-Reader.

"I will see if there is anything else I can gather from it and I will call you later," Soul-Reader said, "How was Inkheart?"

"He is fine, besides the mindreader he gained from this prophecy," Victory Strike causally said earning a shock look from the nightwing, "can you teach him?"

"Sure, you have said that earlier," Soul-Reader pointed out, "how did you ever get that crown with your maniac attitude anyway."

"No idea, in fact I found you to be better than me," Victory Strike noted, "so, biases are probably involved. Do you what to be temporary queen when I die before retirement, so that Fluffball will have a cushion before she becomes queen?"

"Sure," Soul-Reader said in shock as the door opened and Alexander walked in.

The Amber-Caster walked in with a short staggering gait due to his limp. His purple eyes scanned the area with great interest and no lost of focus. He wasn't drunk. Alexander waved warmly at Victory Strike, "Victory, how are you and where is that adorable Inkheart?"

"I am fine, Alexander. However, Inkheart is with Secret-Ripper," Victory Strike greeted back causing Alexander's eyes to go wide, 'You left Inkheart with that drunken dragon!"

"What do you mean," Victory Strike asked with dread slowly building in his mind.

"He was with me and my buddies in the pub for drinking and left very drunk," Alexander said.

Victory Strike froze, wide-eye as he thought about how Secret-Ripper acted, "We need to check those two."

"Yeah," Soul-Reader agreed and the three quickly ran out of the house and took off.

———————————————————————————————————————————

Once Victory Strike was infront of the palace, he wasted no time to enter and reach the living room where he had left the to only to find two unconscious guards, a pile of broken glass and the sound of screaming from above.

Victory Strike quickly ran to the guards and noticed that they were breathing normally and were just knocked out, then he made a break for the open door and ran up the stairs to a guest room with its doors wide open which was where the screaming was taken place in and the sound of a fight flooded his ears as he peered inside to see Secret-Ripper fighting a bunch of guards with a broken wine bottle.

"Explains the glass," Victory thought before charging in and knocking the drunk dragon to the ground where the guard quickly secure him.

"Sent him to the dungeon for the next three days," Victory Strike hissed as the guards dragged the struggling dragon to the dungeons.

Victory Strike quickly turned his attention to his dragonet and quickly embraced the shocked dragonet as he inspected for injuries.

"Secret-Ripper didn't hit me, Father," Inkheart insisted while letting his father inspect him.

"Imagine if he did," Victory Strike hissed back and Alexander and Soul-Reader entered the room.

"Is he alright," Soul-Reader asked concerned while Alexander assisted the mostly human guard drag the dragon to the dark depths of the dungeons.

"I am fine, Auntie Soul-Reader," Inkheart continued to Dread's sheer amusement.

"Boy, you nearly got stabbed like Caesar by a paternal figure, some trauma is normal," Dread chuckled much to Victory Strike, Soul-Reader and Inkheart's discomfort.

"Anyhow, Inkheart I have assigned Soul-Reader with teaching you your basics in mindreading, for pay of course," Victory Strike tried to change the subject.

"You never discussed payment," Soul-Reader gawked and signed, "so when I start."

"Maybe two days from now," Victory Strike suggested to Soul-Reader before pulling Inkheart to his room.