《Dragon Royalty In A Chaotic Kingdom》 Prologue: A Weird dream A weird dream. The dream I was having had to do with being a god, building a system, or something like that. The alarm woke me at 7, like always, I wake up 30 minutes later. After all, those dreams always give me far more interesting delamas; I often get lost in dreams, even if I know they are fake; I let them flow as if they were reality. After all, what is reality but a dream we may never wake from? Maybe 30 more minutes will answer that rhetorical question. I¡¯m drifting somewhere. Alway drifting, never still, yet always stagnant. My human eyes take a warped perspective, my voice softly projects across my dull room, ¡°Ah, one of these.¡± I try to move my arms as my mind attempts to keep me still. My torso, needles. My legs, needles. My arms, slack with needles. Nothing wants to move. It wants to stay but I don¡¯t. So, I torque and lever myself in a battle of belief so I can go into my bathroom to find the mirror; despite the struggle, it¡¯s not worse than the crippling depression I face. I open the door with strain, I hit the light the muscles supporting my neck give out. As I lean on the wall in my bathroom near the door next to the light switch I attempt to look at the mirror with a skewed view. I see nothing¡­ The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I have no reflection¡­ What is there to see? A familiar white light envelopes my will¡­ A drift once more. I¡¯m floating again. I have no body? No voice? No¡­ Objectives? How strange, my will is intact. I touch the shell of the void that I reside in. Something divine reaches out to me. My subconscious let it in through the cracks of this white void and this being¡¯s embrace crystallized and warmed me and by extension this realm. A radiant glow?
¡°Odd, I never thought I¡¯d be able to look at something so bright without being in pain.¡± I thought. That same thought rippled like odd drops of water on a still pond along the god¡¯s crystals. The God thought towards me, ¡°You are part of the few who could meet the requirements to do such a thing. I am a type of god, yes, but more of an angel in terms of duty.¡± The voice I heard was androgynous if a bit feminine leaning. When the god communicated it did so with an almost intense energy, but it was more directed than anything, almost like a targeting radar. ¡°I see¡­ I can tell there is purpose behind your actions.¡± were what my ripples of thought sent back. There was a moment of pause, crystal fragments shift and float around me with purpose and a slight hum as they¡­ Think? A part of that God? I used my will to reach out and mold crystals of my own like clay, similar to the god before me. It was oddly familiar¡­ ¡°How observant, no wonder you are blessed to have their attention. My only job as of now is to see if you are willing to accept a proposal.¡± our thoughts resonate to each other as we exchange information on a subconscious and conscious level. I can feel this god putting together thoughts in the same way I can feel myself put together thoughts. It¡¯s different, strange. Is this a dream? ¡°You want me to reincarnate in another world? I couldn¡¯t feel some of the details but I got the general picture.¡± I thought aloud ¡°Indeed, impressive still, you hold more hope to ascend than most.¡± as the god was talking I decided to go with the flow and accept. ¡°Ah good, you have made this easy for me. Very well, just open yourself to them, let their threads guide you.¡± I let the god out the same way they came in and I took a moment to look over myself, my soul perhaps? It¡¯s like one of those plasma ball tesla coil tower things; only much different at the same time. Hard to say what makes it different other than the weird higher dimensional crystals and its ludicrous luminosity. Let¡¯s get back on track. Threads huh? They knocked¡­ chaos knocked¡­ There. The threads were let in and I followed them. As I did my white void shattered and became reborn taking on a new shape. More crystals, different crystals, crystals that were long dormant woke and changed as we moved. They were hidden within from past lives now becoming much more grand. I¡¯m floating again? The white light begins to pulse softly dimmer. Chapter one; NEEDLES How strange, shifting, creeping, humming, pulsing, and yet I still feel no body all the same. Where am¡­ Needles Needles all over like a fire in arrangements that make no sense with a piercing shock too wide and strong to Ignore. Legs, short claws at their end. Arms, copies of my legs. Torso, muscles arranged differently from what I remember. My bones and nerves are all telling me something different and it¡¯s not just in my torso... Everything is distorted. It hurts¡­ Even things that shouldn¡¯t exist are there!!! An extra limb with no extremities!? Wait¡­ that¡¯s a tail. Anchor down. Who, what, when, where, and why. As I attempt to gain my bearings, I cope with what seems like a massive change from what I was used to. Who am I? Me obviously. What am I? I have no idea, maybe something lizard-like. As the needle-like sensations start to calm, I can start feeling the surface of whatever I¡¯m trapped in; bobbing up and down, warmed from whatever fluid I''m suspended in. It¡¯s oddly comforting. Though the taste is something a human flavor pallet really can¡¯t cover; it would describe as the color black. I can feel lots of fur; feeling tons of fibers and nerves touching against the shell of what is likely an egg. I lost track of when but I do know that I¡¯m S.O.L on the why apart from pure speculation. The options aren''t pretty if this is reality. Am I ascending with no strings attached or with some sort of test? Maybe this being that put me wherever I am now, did it purely for entertainment.
What happened, without a doubt, I agreed to the terms of service without reading the fine legal B.S that they forced on me. How beautiful. Pins, needles, gone, I need out. With the surge of lightning coursing through freshly formed nerves muscles move on their own. Shell breaks-crystal cracks and shatters into brittle bits. With the residual momentum I claw out and roll on whatever cold stoney surface this is to shake the adrenaline out. As this happens, my fur shoots up and becomes bristled making a rolling, semi-metallic, and semi-rock like chime. Smack!!! Reeling and flailing around from the freight train that scooped me up I entered a slight panic. Eyes open, there¡¯s a gigantic fuckoff lizard that''s bigger than a bus in all three dimensions. Flying up, my brain is running faster than my eyes can handle; vaguely I hear the giant say,¡±my precious princess.¡± It morphed into something bipedal and twice the height of a basketball player. Stolen novel; please report. I stopped seeing frame by frame, muscles and nerves fired on the way down; Whack!!! As the giant reeled I pushed off it and it landed with a thoom. Feet on the ground. Fur makes a metallic trill. The air drawn in is cold yet sweet. Vision is blurry and unfocused from goopy fluid stuck to my eyes; a massive treasure room with golden glints and gems shining all around except the center of the room where I am.
After a few moments of vigorous blinking, my vision clears up. A strange, falsely deep rhythmic noise that I recognize as laughter echoes from behind as A long winded groan comes from the fluffy, tall lizard. Adrenaline keeps all my fur and spikes as tall as trees but I start to feel confusion as I start to really take in my surroundings carefully. Energy surging, I make an effort to slowly move my neck and body in a deliberate fashion towards the source of laughter. I felt unsteady from all the new sensations but my ability to focus helped me from losing my footing as I now look at¡­ A bigger lizard¡­ It no¡­ She is properly titanic, though I can¡¯t tell by how much. My sense of scale is off since I have very little comparison other than the fluffy one over there, and she was easily double the size before the one I decked shrunk down¡­ Those wings and horns; not to mention these new smells and associations¡­ It¡¯s bizarre but I¡¯ll work with it. Never thought I¡¯d wake up as a dragon though¡­ Huh, it seems like my nose and other senses are a lot sharper too now that the egg goop is off. Back to her. Still clearly in pain and disoriented, the dude behind me slowly gets up with a loud, sustained, ghastly grunt. My muscles snap my eyes onto him along with a few shards from my tail that fly with a sonic crack, a couple of millimeters too close for comfort. In the next instant he said, ¡°woe, steady. I didn¡¯t mean to scare ya. I Just got a little excited.¡± The sounds I hear coming from his mouth are a bit distressing, firing the language part of my brain like I already knew this language by heart. He continued, ¡°I never thought our first born would be such a fighter.¡± His voice was deep yet soft and smooth, akin to clothing tumbling in the dryer. She said, ¡°Loki. Think, before you rile a freshly hatched child. Any closer and you would have earned a deserved wound.¡± Her voice rolled like cold water off of ice yet it carried enough warmth to be soothing. Loki¡¯s jaw was slightly ajar at her words, but quickly agreed with a nod. A few moments after that exchange that gigantic woman melded and condensed down into her bipedal form. It was only slightly shorter than Loki¡¯s, though her deep ice blue horns more than made up for that with the more upward elegant curve to them. ¡°Speaking of, would you let me hold you for a moment child?¡± It took me a moment to actually process that with all of the new and amped up stimuli. However, since I was used to that in my day to day I went to respond, still dazed. Though when I went to say something, the automatic response was a confirmative chirp. Not that I really cared at the moment but that came with some subtle mixed emotions that I would have to save for later. She approached me in a slow yet deft manner; prepared for whatever was to come I subconsciously controlled my breathing. Then It happened, though I thought it would be more uncomfortable than it was, she picked me up from my mid section from a squat, lifting with her legs. Vertigo was the first thought and dominant feeling as the ground got farther away. Lower and upper muscles ragdolled from torso down. Straightening up, our gazes seemed temporarily locked onto something deeper within. As Our eyes break contact, I couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Cherenkov radiation would be more or less blue than her eyes. She takes a few moments, likely studying my horns as she then says, ¡°Are you a girl? You do have purple horns, but the way your horns are structured, you could pass as either.¡± She then takes a moment, taking in a long draw of air, ¡°And that doesn¡¯t help clarify things either. Not that it would at your age. I guess it doesn¡¯t really matter since succession and right to rule follows merit first, age, then gender; at least in this monarchy.¡¯¡± A tsunami of drowsiness washed over in a way that helped drown out most of the borderline deafening stimuli. While mumbling to herself she said, ¡°well I should let them rest for now¡± In a soft voice, ¡°well then, my name is Nyx, your mother. That goofball over there, Loki, is your father.¡± Loki responds with a mortified, ¡°H-hey.¡± We started moving somewhere while the color of her fur popped, it was a shade of dark purple, just like the midnight ocean sea with no moonlight; it even twinkles here and there as stars dance across her. She carried me to a giant crystal poppy flower that was mounded by gold and other gems. The flower was soft and slowly gave underweight but was strong enough that it didn''t touch the floor. As a radiating glow from the flower softly moved through every nerve, the world got into a haze, then it dimed. Black. ChapterTwo; A Darkend Flower I feel it once more, that familiar haze... This is a dream. Though it¡¯s not like I''ve had before. Voids of white all around, equally as blanched crystal flowers of many assortments litter the dream scape. This space seems to fractal off into infinity but intuition says otherwise. In the center of the world is a black flame, in the center, my soul. The closer I get to it the more time seems to dilate in opposite directions till¡­ A soft, rhythmic, glass hum dims, the flower below feels like a stagnate, sharp, tundra gale blasting everything it touches with a cold burning passion. Oddly enough despite how cold to the touch it is, it¡¯s providing a sense of comfort. Eyes still closed I hear Loki say, ¡°Hun, they''re awake already!!!¡± Nyx said, ¡°Really? They''ve had their fill so soon?¡± When my eyes open I see Loki bearing a draconic grin, sections of pointy teeth shining a sparkly white, practically glowing. ¡°The flower is pitch black, I don¡¯t think our little gem is going to pull a drop more.¡± I start to make subconscious notes of his excited body language. ¡°Well then, our first born may yet be first for the throne¡­¡± I turn my head over with a questioning tilt towards my mother, who has a much softer smile of pride riding above her bottom jaw; two teeth slipping out from the top of her mouth at the front, extensifying her regal, calm yet radiant demeanor. ¡°Looks like the naming ceremony will have to be hiked up.¡± I look back to Loki who started to nuzzle the underside of my neck which sent a euphoric static throughout my body; without any will of my own, my vocal chords and chest produced a symphonic trill and purr mixed together. When Loki stopped, I had to shake my head to bring myself back to the present. ¡°They definitely have your icey touch.¡± ¡±They also have your cute trill.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a trill! Is it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s certainly high enough to be one. Though you shouldn''t worry, appearing more like a child, it¡¯s not feasible.¡± ¡°You''re on a real mean streak today.¡± She gave a soft chuckle, ¡°Maybe, though after you catapulted our firstborn, I feel it¡¯s deserved.¡± Loki let out a puff of a sigh, ¡°Fair enough.¡± Loki then gently lifted me, and as he did, the flower beneath crumbled into brittle bits. Taking a closer look, it seems instead of scales Loki has a white smokey quartz formation all around His body, looking closer all kinds of different colors seem to dance off the surface of him. His eyes are a beautiful pale almost blue but still mostly green hue. As he turns his head in excitement towards Nyx, I get a better look at his horns that go almost straight back, slightly curved back to the ground. The most interesting part yet besides his personality is the fact that his horns are mesmerizing; a dark opal with plenty of red mixed in seems to adorn his head. Following where Loki is looking I can see Nyx is pondering something, likey the naming ceremony, her tail seems to softly sway like a pendulum while one of her claws resets under her chin as she stands on her two feet. ¡°So when do you think we can get the party started?!¡± Loki said with an almost worrying vigor. ¡°Considering we haven''t told anyone yet about our firstborn hatching, if we want to do the ceremony right, at least a month of prep would be needed unless¡­¡± ¡°Unless?¡± ¡°Unless we prioritize the needed traditions and scrap some of the completely useless or what would otherwise be awkward¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s weird trying to entertain some of the exhibition, especially now that they are awake.¡± ¡°Indeed, Importing and modifying to adapt to current circumstances all in all is the best solution.¡± ¡°So what¡¯s the actual solution we are going to implement besides the obvious?¡± Loki said while softly nuzzling the back of my head. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.That seemed to draw a smile out of her as her neutral face picked up a soft smile. ¡°Well, most things become obvious when you observe them, but to actually answer the relevant part of your question we¡¯ll just do it in two phases.¡± She starts taking steps towards me and Loki, purpose in every step. Loki holds me slightly higher as he says, ¡°If I were to make an educated guess, I''d say we will first do a quick quiet one, then when all the showy stuff is ready, we throw a public spectacle.¡± She wraps her arms around me and Loki, both of them seeming to have a more conductive touch now that they both are borderline smothering me. ¡°Well, the most important element is receiving a name from chaos, everything else can be taken care of in the background. Any other speculation would be out of our control anyways, so we¡¯d be better off giving details on a need to know basis.¡± ¡°True, now that I think about it, I''ve only heard and read legends of our kind having that short of an absorption period, and that was when Chaos actively guided us and the other gods of the world, and even still when they let the realm run free¡­ Do you think our first born could be-¡± ¡°Blessed by Chaos? If so, we may have much more to worry about in the near future, let alone the probable reactions of the countries that slipped from our control a generation ago.¡± Nyx said while stepping out of the hug and caressing the side of my face. Loki then softly rested his head on top of mine while he said, ¡°It¡¯s really settled then, we use our reputation for keeping our personal matters private to lie about their incubation and absorption time, minimizing political ramifications. This would be a lot easier if faith wasn¡¯t so ingrained in the world, but there is only so much uninvolvement that can occur even if there are fundamentals that prohibit that from directly happening.¡± Nyx lets out a chuckle, ¡°Honestly, culturally we are one of the more advanced peoples, but following the doctrine of order and chaos didn¡¯t cement our legacy like our ancestors thought it would; one of the specters of order said as much, but since it wasn''t explicitly written in chaos¡¯s grand design, they were to afraid to deviate from our set path.¡± ¡°Understanding a god''s intentions is easy compared to the force of nature that created them¡­¡± ¡°Getting back to the topic of the most urgence, where should we hold the private ceremony?¡± Loki gave a soft hum while he thought of a good place, ¡°The only thing I can think of that would be ready on such short notice would be our gathering hall.¡± Nyx gave a nod and took the lead while Loki carried me out of the treasure filled room.
While we were moving, I noticed that the crystals that made up my fur were yet to settle on a color, sometimes dropping to the dark midnight that Nyx has and at other times shifting to a deep crimson, inaddtion to occasionally a snow white. On an interesting note, I can sorta control it. It¡¯s a bit finicky and requires intuition but seems manageable. Just as I decided to stick to a nice shade of crimson, I¡¯m once again lifted much higher; this time my arms grab a hold of his shoulders, peeking out from the left side of him. Wings morphed out of his back, almost pinning me to his back. Instead of being annoyed by the lack of warning, I decided to appraise the situation a bit more. This castle seems to have a pretty open design. I honestly have no reference for architecture, but it was very much not of any culture I know of. Spires. Spirals. All pointing in different directions, some carved in such a way that it pops and blends with some of the others, creating lots of depth. There are also similar shaped protrusions on the roof jutting out as a light source in various abstract sconces as well as chandeliers that look like they belong in a modern art gallery. The carved texture of the wall is interesting too with subtle repeating quartz formation patterns way more fancy than popcorn wall but also reminiscent of it. To me I looked as elegant as it could be with all of the abstract ornamentation making me feel an assortment of things. This whole hallway was a piece of art. Though I¡¯m pretty sure any human who came in probably wouldn¡¯t fully appreciate it, unless they were obsessed with dragons. As soon as we reached one of the junctions Nyx turned on a dime to face us, ¡°so little one, are you ready to meet someone new?¡± To that question I could only give a tilted head. ¡°For now it will just be the priest that lives in this part of the castle, but if you''re feeling up to it, later we can introduce you to some of the staff around the castle.¡± Loki said with his excited grin yet to fade. Being able to actually possibly respond in words I do my best to see if speaking in this new tongue is something I can do. The syntax is free form but it seems those two use a dialect that uses the same syntax format as english. ¡°Sure.¡± After digging around my brain, the one word I wanted to say came out. Nyx seemed to adopt the same excited simile as Loki; the metaphorical ice around her melting as stars burst in her eyes at my first word. ¡°So adorable!¡± Loki nods in response to her comment. I couldn¡¯t help but smile softly myself, even if I was the one to cause this scene. After my mom took a moment to collect herself she started to turn towards the door again preparing to knock. Wait Mother? I guess it took a second to settle in¡­ ¡°Ready Loki?¡± She said ¡°As ready as I¡¯ll ever be.¡± Chapter three; Something Strange Before Nyx could knock, the priest opened the door and said, ¡°welcome your majesties. What brings you to this part of the castle, if you¡¯ll allow me to know.¡± Keeping her cool demeanor she said, ¡°Well if you look at Loki''s shoulder, you¡¯ll find more than a clue.¡± ¡°Really?¡± said the priest in a puzzled tone.Once the human priest laid his eyes on me his jaw dropped to the ground. He murmured something in a language that sounded slavic in nature while giving a bow from his knees, making a strange gesture with his hands; the gesture had his fingers in a finger-gun configuration with his index fingers and thumbs touching, arms over his abdomen. Intriguing. ¡°You doing alright there?¡± Loki said with his head just as tilted as mine in the other direction. ¡°Ah yes, nevermind me, just a little over excited for the future. Getting back to the present, we should start the naming ceremony as soon as we can, thankfully I already have everything ready to set up.¡± Mom¡¯s head takes a slight tilt as an emphatic gesture as she says, ¡°Well then, we should head to the gathering hall closest to us; meet us there and we¡¯ll have the rest of the staff prepare for the ceremony.¡± ¡°Excellent choice, your majesties.¡± The priest said with a slow bow from the waist.
The trek there was much shorter, having arrived there, Loki ordered the staff to set up for the ceremony. The staff was an interesting mix. It ranged from humans, elves, dwarves and full on dragons in addition to a dragonoid species separate from what I am. I couldn¡¯t tell you for certain why I knew the dragonoids were something else but it was like telling apart a grape from a watermelon in a lot of ways. Or for a different comparison, an elf or dwarf from each other. In the grand scheme of things they are basically the same but, in a lot of cases, details matter. The gathering hall itself was only slightly smaller width wise than the massive treasure room. What really caught my eye however was the decor. It looked like we were inside of a glacier cave, only instead of ice, the walls were made from precious gems and plastered with different assortments of aesthetically pleasing crystals. A lot of the furniture was made with wood that gave off an interesting aura; even more decadent they were fundamentally covered in an array of coveted metals. Big indoor waterfall crashing in the background, barging in yet just quite enough not to be overbearing. The sound waves, waving pleasing static relaxing any tension I had before as the sonic tranquilizer works its magic. Loki already made his way to a very wide stool that¡¯s basically a twin bed cut in half on a very wide stilt and set me on it. The stool was near the waterfall and two very interesting pointy art pieces. Loki and Nyx sat in the chairs next to me, becoming just as relaxed as I was. We all sat there for a couple of minutes before the staff started getting busy setting things up. After those few minutes, a fuzzy cobalt colored kobold, wafting of various spices, walked up to us slowly and gave a small waist high bow, waiting for the go ahead. Mom said, ¡°You may speak.¡± ¡°Would y¡¯all like some refreshments while you wait for the final stages of preparation to be complet?¡± The chief said with a sharp confident smile. Their fur is completely flush, their tail softly swaying waiting for an answer. The gestures he used with his hands were very self assured; he also seemed more at ease in our presence, unlike many of the other staff. Then again, cold reading someone I have little context on is less than reliable. ¡°And what have you made us this time? I know you only smile like that when you make something of interest." Loki said, hunched over in the big thinker pose; his head pointed towards the still short but taller than a dwarf of a kobold. Those words seem to light a little spark in the crimson eyed chief who¡¯s tail twists and turns like the tail of a kite in flight. What I think is a normal pitched rhythmic laughter, is just short of projecting as he tries to mute it. He then says while putting one of his well kept shiny claws to his chest, ¡°To think I¡¯m as readable as that. I was only promoted to head chief last week¡­ Ah sorry about that, I got a little carried away.¡± He took a breath and continued with the same brightness as before. ¡°To get to the point, our expeditionary guild finally managed to procure goods from the other side of the globe, and in decent numbers to boot. Although it will take another year at sea, give or take a lot. And to the finer point, the fruit they brought with them is a stark, sweet acidic fruit called a vango; I¡¯ve had success making a syrup from it as a result, it¡¯s very good in carbonated beverages.¡± Strings call out. Like a droning reverberation from a chord of a violin, it ripples in my subconscious. It guides me to his mind. I ask, ¡®Could you tell me what it looks like?¡¯ The words appeared to pluck his very soul as I could see him jolt. Tail snapped in a different direction like a chain on the ground. Fur rolled like a subtle wave in the ocean. His neck turned slowly to me with a softly tilted head as he said with a humid breath, ¡°Well it¡¯s color ranges from red, yellow, to green with its fruit being an off yellow that has a tiny bit of orange hue to it.¡± When his slitted pupils met mine his body had the same reaction, only this time letting off a silent high pitched chirp. He¡¯s now in sort of a daze, left arm gently holding the right, as right makes a half hearted effort to cover his body. Sharp smile blunted into something just as wide yet softer than before. After standing there for awhile, his tail swaying slowly, Loki asked, ¡°Is everything ok Lateri?¡± That seemed to snap him out of the trance he was in as he shakes his head to anchor himself steady. ¡°Yes¡­ I think so¡­¡± Energy seemed to radiate off of him more readily and his smell morphed in a slightly subtle way too. His ears twitch softly as he asks in a softer voice, ¡°So will you be willing to try them while you wait?¡± Nyx and Loki gave a look to each other and before Loki said, ¡°Why not.¡± The frazzled kobold makes his way to one of the staff and asks them to bring the refreshments on his behalf, making his way out of the room afterward. When he does, mom is the first to speak. ¡°Loki¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°Good question. Kobolds are usually more fond of us dragons, especially us crystalids, but that particularly strong reaction may be an anomaly.¡± He then continues in a whispered voice, "Either that or our first born resurrected the art of threads¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing the latter¡­ We are wholly unprepared for a child with such talent¡­ If word got out.¡± Mom adopted the thinker pose too. ¡°A normal blessing would¡¯ve been a headache¡­ Now we might as well have pulled neck muscles.¡± Loki said as he touched the base of his neck ¡°The brighter and bigger the star, the quicker it burns out.¡± She looked me in the eyes, indistinguishable muted feelings from somewhere, sparkled like a firecracker.
I may have much bigger worries than the type of being who placed me here. One thing is for certain however, studying human geography, people geography if you want to get technical, will be a very interesting study. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.Gazing around the room more carefully it appears the kobolds occasionally catch themselves staring at me, if only for a second before they go back to work. I go through a somewhat complex series of different viewpoints on the matter. Though pride wants to claw its way up, having torn down my ego long ago, it feels strange to have a sense of vanity. Just to note, while the rest of the staff have a passive curiosity in me, they are far too busy right now to study me. Especially displaced now, was my now automatic reaction to when one of them stares a bit too long for comfort. It¡¯s novel though, to have a small frosty cloud of disdain come out of my nostrils. Besides that it¡¯s interesting to observe the different temperaments and positions of the different races. Kobolds so far, I¡¯ve seen in every position. Elves appear to be in predominantly managerial positions while dwarves and dragonoids appear to be skilled labor; the humans fill the niche of pure numbers alongside the kobolds. That being said, currently, the staff are mostly humans hauling things into place into approximate positions, with a few kobolds sprinkled here and there. The stronger and more precise of the staff, put them in the correct positions with supervision from the staff experienced in managing a project that is essentially repurposing and redesigning a room. To me it was Impressive seeing how efficiently they were making up for deficiencies and complementing strengths. It was akin to watching an ant farm but better.
While I was observing people doing their thing, an elf brought us the drinks mentioned earlier; bizarrely when I focused on her, she seemed affected by it, if only a little bit. She took on a tinge of red in her cheeks as she poured my drink into a plate-like cup. Making the mistake of looking me directly in the eyes, she was entranced for a moment before an icey puff woke her. She explained to my parents that the ceremony should be ready by the time we finish our drinks. Before she left, she gave me a deeper bow than usual to indirectly apologize. Looking at the cup, it wasn¡¯t very obvious to me the elegant solution to drink from it without embarrassing myself. The liquid in it was definitely carbonated with it fizzing a whole bunch. I looked over at my parents, they treated it like wine before they drank it. After examining the cup it had a secondary wider lip along with carvings that look like a grip. I¡¯m not sure of the etiquette, but drinking like a dog or cat is out of the question. After they had some of the vango soda, they both looked towards me, as if to see what I would do. That cemented whatever predisposition I had of smushing my face into the cup; It amused them, and me, when a puff of frozen air chugged towards them. Having a brilliant idea, I decided to test how coordinated I can be with my prehensile tail. With a practice motion, it seemed I could treat it somewhere between a spine and very big finger. Meaning, dexterity was a thing I had out of the box. That done I wrapped my decently long tail around the cup and carefully sipped from in the same manner that I saw them do it. After I did that they decided to communicate through a series of subtle gestures. It was definitely a full, separate language, that or they just knew each other very well; they went from borderline snickering to what looked like nostalgia. Drinking the soda, it definitely tasted like mango. It also had a slight apple after taste. The flavors were much deeper and stronger than I''m used to. Not in a bad way however. I¡¯ll chalk it up to the majorly heightened senses. Smell is a big part of flavor so I can understand why the soundstage and clarity for flavor is a lot more open. Soon enough the ceremony was ready and our empty cups were taken away. The staff all took a seat in the many chairs they brought. Lateri, the chief from earlier, stands out from the crowd. Mostly because it seems like he¡¯s focusing on actively avoiding my presence. A moment later, the priest from earlier came in with a decorative metal tiki torch. It had a pitch black flame coming from it along with two smaller pure white flames forking off like a trident. He let go of the staff near the altar and it bobbed in the air like an ice cube on the surface of water. The audience is facing the altar in the direction of the waterfall and by extension us. Judging by the nature of what¡¯s happening, most of the attention is on me. With a bow from the priest he says, ¡°May convergence favor the change you shall make upon this world.¡± With those words said, two dragons moved me and the stool I was on to the altar; now a couple of feet away from the altar and elevated higher than it, people could get a more detailed look at me. The priest walked over and grabbed the flaming trident and asked me to blow on it. As my breath touched it, the entire room lit in black light. The only thing visible being my purple horns which are now ringing with a soft electric hum; horns shining brighter than what the flame could mute. Everyone but the priest was surprised at the display. Some of the spectators were awed while the more experienced are straight up shocked from the current spectacle. While the black flame made all colors mute and dark, I could still see the priest softly gesture his hand towards the altar. After a slight extension of his index, a rectangle holographic box above a multi ringed reticle appeared. The reticle danced in all three directions, foreign letters and numbers filled the box as he said, ¡°I invoke thee, specter.¡± Everything shook yet stayed perfectly still. The black flame inverted into pure white and washed the room in a clinical bright light. The reticle carried the flame to the altar and a halo of a different, stacked multi ringed reticle hummed to the same sound of my horns. Then it happened.
The halo consumed the flame, split in two, whirred to life. A portal to somewhere now opens, wherever it is, it¡¯s as energy dense as the mariana trench is dense with water. Only for a moment, it felt like I was going to be crushed. I wasn¡¯t crushed, thanks to the two beings that appeared the very next instance; when they appeared the gates deleted themselves, taking the excess density with them. One, all shades of black, the other all shades of white. The black specter has tear shaped, white slitted pupils with multi black hued irises. Sclera are a normal white; the white specter, the inverse in colors but not design, has black sclera and pupils; giving the white spector an eerie aura with their white irises. They were both feathery dragonoids by design, possessing feathery angel wings that shimmer as they remained suspended in the air. Both of them have two horns, as if to mirror each other, one broken horn slowly floats around their heads in a halo. Angles of death; gods of sleep, reside above. The specter of orders intrusive whispers crawl in your head; juxtaposed, chaos rings and resonates the very soul. Order holds back a chuckle before saying, ¡°You children have been blessed on this day, how lucky.¡± Those words were without warmth, they were as calm as a stagnant pond. The angel had a small amount of tears roll down their face. Chaos just smiled, their feathery dragon tail slowly swishing as a pendulum, for a clock unseen. ¡°Origin has seen fit to name this one, through this name, their point of convergence shall be finite in this realm. Forever molding this world.¡± The voice of everything else, warmth and hope for prosperity. Hero to the cold void that order promises. ¡°Before we continue, let us take care of an unwanted annoyance who wishes to leave.¡± Orders words felt like they had a hollowness to them, disdain doesn''t do justice for how clinical they felt. Before the next instance, an elf dropped coldly after a simple blink. No one dared move. Chaos turned their gaze on me, as he did it felt as though the very threads of reality shifted as they said, ¡°Your name is Zenith Atlas. Hear it, let it resonate as a part of you.¡± Order whispered, ¡°Know the meaning of this name, for it shall mirror you by any means necessary.¡± Then, in unison before they popped out of existence, ¡°May your auspicious name serve you well¡­ Sibling.¡±