Chapter 97
PART16
In the skies over south-western Serminak, above a forbidding range of volcanic mountains, four
dragons emerged near the mightiest peak in the region, the crater of which had been filled in and built
up to a point with a t top only five hundred and fifty meters wide. A cone of darkness expanded
upward from the mountaintop, obscuring what was urring there and blocking the mid-morning
brightness for as high as the eye could see. But they knew what was within the darkness, since they’d
seen it in Readings.
Each of the four was about forty-six meters in length from tail-tip to snout. Karz looked the same only
adult andrger; still uniformly glossy ck over every part of him.
Fire had colored herself to match her nickname, being red on her legs and belly, varying in streaky
patterns through orange to light yellow along her spine and on the top of her head, with glowing orange
eyes. Though not realistic enough to convince anyone that she was actually on fire, it was done well
enough to provide an amusing facsimile of it, particrly when she was moving quickly, while
simultaneously entuating the lines of her muscles and contours.
Val had kept close to her true coloring, being ck on her wings and along her sides, silver on her back
and belly, and her eyes were still a vivid dark violet.
Six had colored every part of himself that same dark violet, with a reflective metallic sheen to his scales
that made him emit cascades of violet sparkles in the sunlight. “I just love the color of your eyes.” he
privately mentioned to Val, and she privately giggled back.
It didn’t escape her mind that he had excluded both Karz, and Fire, whose eyes were normally the
same color as her own. It pleased her a little, in an indefinable way, but there was no time to think
about that now. She mentally filed it away for future consideration as Karz psionicly announced their
arrival in Grande High Draconian, and with considerable volume.
“I am Karzog. You are my blood-father. We would speak with you.”
A momentter the response came in the samenguage, and just as loud. “You may approach.”
They flew forward and entered both the cone of darkness and an Illusion that epassed the same
volume, making everything within seem to glow just enough to be seen, without producing any real
light. The stars and moons overhead glittered and glowed like it was midnight.
Zarkog reclined upon the stone with his eyes pressed to the twin eyepieces of a great device. They
recognized theponents of the Psionic Distant Listener, but thoseponents were now only a
small part of a greater device. The immense hundred and eighty meter long bulk of the eldest mortal
dragon filled a significant portion of the mountaintop. His physical, magical, and psionic presence was
impressive and intimidating. He was nowpletely t ck, having removed the gold and silver
ents he’d worn as Dragon Lord of Serminak and the glossy reflectivity that had gone with them.
Even with the Illusory glow, it was difficult to physically see him in the darkness.
In a moment of mild panic, Six checked to see if Zarkog was still sworn to justice, and detected the
Marking of The Just Alliance only six millimeters wide located just beneath the base of his tail. The size
and location of the Marking said much about Zarkog’s opinion of his involuntary vow of justice, but the
vow was still in effect.
“I havee to ask you what changes you made to me while I was still in the shell.” Karz bluntly
stated, snarling and growling even more aggressively than thenguage required, waving his wings
and writhing his tail for emphasis.
“You are me, reborn.” Zarkog returned just as bluntly in his awesomely thunderous voice, without
looking away from the eyepieces. “Not as I was when I was born, but as I was when you were
conceived, with all of the improvements I have made in myself over thest eighty-seven million years.
You think Tekritimaki is your blood-mother, but she is not, for you did not have one. She was merely the
female whose body created your egg andid you. You inherited none of her traits or characteristics in
any way. You are me, younger.”
“I see.” Karzog stated. “So I ask again, what are the changes you have made in yourself, and in me?”
“My size is obvious, beyond that I will not say specifically.” Zarkog answered, still gazing through the
device. “To do so would reveal the details of too many of my own advantages, which would be tactically
and strategically unwise for me. Suffice to say that you are inherently superior to every other dragon
who has ever lived, in every way, with the obvious exception of myself. Beyond that, you will have to
discover your capabilities for yourself.”
“I thank the Source that I did not inherit your personality.” Karz growled. “I realize that your
observations of the demons are important to all of Keran. None-the-less, you are being discourteous.
I think you could spare me a nce as a sign of basic respect.”
Zarkog waited a long and leisurely moment, making an obvious point, before he turned from the device
and considered his son. “What a ridiculous costume. You earn no respect for trying to appear more
impressive than you are in this immature way. You are a barely-born infant, and you are verging on
serious disrespect yourself. We agree on one thing. You have not inherited my personality, more’s the
pity.”
“The appearance of this Simcrum is no more mature than my abilities, which are far more advanced
than you would expect from me at my age. Mypanions chose to wear such things as a courtesy,
so that they could converse fluently in thisnguage. We chose this size so that you wouldn’t have to
strain your tired old eyes to see the subtleties of ourmunications.”
Zarkog stared at him for a moment, then suddenly rocked forward and back with his tail raised a bit a
few times; theughter of dragons. “My tired old eyes can see you with sufficient acuity still. But now
you have piqued my interest, and I have considered you with almost half of my attention. You are
indeed correct. You have emerged from the time-bubble early, and you have only experienced twenty-
two years. Your determination and your eloquence are both far beyond your age. And your mind…”
Zarkog trailed off as he Probed the youngster psionicly, and met a nk wall of Shielding. He pushed
harder, then harder still, to no avail.
“Amazing. You have the finest Psionic Shielding of any being I have encountered beyond the gods.
Now I am truly curious. I ask you with all due respect and courtesy. Remove the silly costume and let
me see you, and share your surface thoughts.”
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“I will let you see what I really look like.” Karz stated as he altered his Simcrum to have his true
appearance. “But that is all. When you have given me the specifics of how you have altered me, I will
share more with you.”
“Hmm. You look as I expected you to.” Zarkog stated, and turned his attention to his son’s three
“That is very attractive. If I were still Lord of Serminak and that was more than a costume, I would rape
you quite vigorously.”
“You might have tried.” Fire returned derisively. “One of us would have died before that happened, and
it might not have been me. And if it was, you would still have to fornicate my corpse.”
“So you think.” Zarkog snorted, with the equivalent of a chuckle. “Many others thought the same, and
were proven wrong.”
“None were me.” Fire shot back, and snorted two rings of fire from her nostrils.
He considered her again. “You know, I think you are not really a dragon. And if that is the case, you are
more fluent in Draconian than any other small folk I have met.
“Why are you here? To provide this cub with moral support, or to marvel at my magnificence? Or
perhaps to try to protect him from me, should I ovee the vow of justice?”
“We each have our own reasons for wishing to speak with you.” Fire stated. “My own personal reason
is to marvel, not at your magnificence, but at the most colossal failure in the history of Keran. You
could have had it all, you could have ruled the world, you could have been the greatest person who
ever lived, you could have saved us from the demons. You could have ensured it!