Estinien doesn't often cry himself, but it's a trait he finds endearing in the right context - especially about something like this. To shed tears for someone else... there is a nobility in that, he thinks. It's empathy he wishes he'd been able to have when he was younger.

"It did," he says, and a bit of the tension in Estinien's shoulders lifts. The one good thing that came from it all - a chance to move on, to find peace. "Dragonkind is entering a new era of peace with their neighbors... and I pray it will last longer than the first one."

Any amount of peace is worth fighting for, but with the way dragons are, they deserve more of it than they seem to get. Mankind must seem so tumultuous to their eyes.

"As for Nidhogg..." Estinien trails off here, struggling uncertainly with the weight of their relationship. "When I... when I felt his shade leave me..."

It's hard to put it into words. It was so brief, but yet...

"His was a battle he could not surrender from, lest he betray the memory of Ratatoskr. And yet, when relieved of that duty by force... I believe there was... acceptance. He had done all he could."