《Dragon, Silver Dragon; Revelations》


 Awareness

    It was a beautiful day, clear and warm. A light breeze blew in from moonward. A flight of dragons flew in perfect formation, looking like an arrowhead in the sky. The outside of the formation was ancients, their huge wings making the outside line of the arrowhead ripple. Inside, the next layer, was all adult dragons. Their wings working that much harder to hold formation. The inside was all juvenile dragons. They were the ones setting the pace, since they couldn¡¯t fly as fast as their elder brethren.


    The flight moved slowly through the sky. You might expect such a gathering to be noisy, but it was strangely quiet. The huge silver dragon in the lead seemed to exude a pall on the rest of the group. The group flew over the seaport city. The usual greeting that such a group would normally get when the people of such a city would see such a spectacle was not to happen this time. While the streets were all full, no one made any sound. They stared up at the dragons and watched as they passed over, then hung their heads and followed the procession down to the seaport.


    The seaport was cleared, there were no ships in the harbor. Strange at such a busy port as this. Outside the harbor, they were lined up in a long series of rows, all the rails facing the city crowded with people. People¡­ elves, drow, dwarves, fay, centaurs and others. There was no ill words, no conflict. Races that had for centuries had fought each other were there together with no hint of malice. It had been this way for the last century. Since an ancient dragon had made peace in the lands. Fighting the preconceived notions of all the races and his own people, he brought two planets peace. It was a lasting peace as he was now named emperor.


    The dragons landed. The Juveniles took the docks and the adults were behind them, they circled the harbor ring all looking out towards the harbor. The ancients were behind them, rather crowded, but there was no complaint. The people moved in amongst them and gathered where they would. There was no complaint, there was no fear. A century ago, this would have made for a bloodbath. Now they seemed to gather together as if for comfort.


    The large silver ancient landed on a pad that had been made for him so long ago, but for him, such a short time ago. He knew this day would come and with it the awakening of his people. He knew that none there fully understood yet just what this would mean. He wasn¡¯t sure he understood himself.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Michael stared down at the small boat. It was hard to believe that one little thing would trouble him so. The other dragons were quiet as were the people who were in attendance. A little elf mage said words over the boat then turned and looked up at me and nodded. I gently pushed the boat out into the harbor. I heard the other dragons shift behind me. Strange how everything seemed to come into focus. I watched at the boat drifted out from the shore. For some reason even the ripples the boat left were etched upon my sight. I shook myself and took a deep breath and let a long stream of fire out. The boat, which had been soaked in pitch went up in flames. I heard a strange high pitched keening sound and realized that it was coming from me. I heard my keen echoed by all of the dragons present. The only thing that I could think was;


    ¡°Goodbye Haladoria.¡±


    I tilted my head back and let out a roar of rage and pain against the mortality of my people. My eyes were tight closed fighting tears that dragons couldn¡¯t have. I opened my eyes and looked up to a scene from hell. The sky above the harbor was a sheet of flame as all of the dragons were screaming and flaming. It calmed me somehow. I looked over to the docks and there were people hugging the dragons and crying.


    Arienach, in my mind, screamed; ¡°Gods Michael, make the pain stop!¡±


    What was left of the human side of me understood, but could not conceive the anguish of a creature that had lived for untold centuries. I reached out to him as best I could.


    ¡°Please, please make it stop, please, please.¡± He whimpered in my mind.


    I looked out across the docks and understood what each of the dragons were feeling. Suddenly I feared for my people. This was only the first of what would become many scenes of tragedy as each lost more and more of those that they had become so close to. They had no means of coping as they had never cared before. I had given them a blessing and curse. I now knew the extent of each and I had no clue how to help them. With the pain I felt, I wasn¡¯t even sure how to help myself. I collapsed on the pad still watching the dragons scream as darkness gathered on the edges of my vision and closed till I saw no more.

 Even the Gods

    I awoke to my name. Noregus was on the edge of my caldera shouting my name. I looked around, wondering how I got here.


    ¡°Michael?¡± He asked. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I think so. How are the other dragons?¡±


    Noregus snorted. ¡°They are as good as can be expected. It took a while for them to recover, but they seem to be fine.¡±


    ¡°Took a while?¡±


    ¡°You have been up here for almost a month.¡±


    I stared at him for a few minutes. ¡°A month?¡±


    ¡°You disappeared after the¡­ whatever that was. I know not what the people call it. Anyway, no one, including me, was in any shape to go looking for you.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I suppose I should go see to the empire.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yes you should. But that isn¡¯t why I came up here. Most think you shouldn¡¯t be bothered in your grief.¡±


    I looked at him curiously as I made my way out of the lava.


    ¡°There is someone¡­ or something down at your house. It wishes to speak with you.¡±


    ¡°It?¡±


    ¡°You know how you can sense when a dragon is in it¡¯s other form? Well, this is the same feeling, but it isn¡¯t a dragon. I have never felt the like.¡±


    I yawned and stretched. Noregus stared at me for a few moments.


    ¡°You know, I never really believed Imar.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°He said you slept in lava. I thought he was full of it. But I do understand why you are so powerful now.¡±


    I just looked at him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. There isn¡¯t another dragon around that can even get close to your¡­ bed. Imar probably didn¡¯t notice because he was too worried about having to fish out half melted dragon parts.¡±


    I laughed.


    ¡°You sleep on a mana vent.¡±


    ¡°And I just thought it was warm and comfy.¡± I hadn''t known either, actually.


    ¡°Stop it. No one really knew.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Can you tell me any more about our visitor?¡±


    ¡°Your visitor. Whatever that is, gives me the creeps.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I suppose I should go down there then.¡±


    He looked at me. ¡°Michael? Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I suppose.¡± I said dully.


    ¡°You were in pretty bad shape. We all felt the anguish after you¡­ well. After.¡±


    ¡°I only remember looking out and seeing the other dragons in pain before I blacked out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, and the people stayed with us. If anything it drew them closer to us. That isn¡¯t something we are comfortable with, by the way.¡±


    ¡°I can see that.¡±


    ¡°Are we going to do that every time one of them¡­ dies?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, Noregus. I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if we were wise growing so close to them.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know that either. The only way I could see preventing this from happening again would be to just leave.¡±


    He looked shocked. ¡°I couldn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°I know. Neither could I. They have taught us so much.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Who would have thought a dragon could paint?¡±


    He laughed. ¡°You didn¡¯t do half bad. It really captured her likeness.¡±


    I felt a pain as I thought about it. It must have shown.


    ¡°Sorry. But she is everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I know, that is what I am afraid of.¡±


    He sighed. ¡°Well, I am going to go back to my servants. They have never truly recovered either.¡±


    ¡°Fair winds to you Noregus. Tell them I said hi.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°You are NOT going to steal my servants Lord Dragon.¡±


    I watched as he flew off, until he crossed the outer ring, heading towards Calalistos.


    ¡°He has a point, Michael. We do not know how all of this will effect the dragons.¡±


    ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°The pain lessens, but it is still there. Thank you Michael. I am not sure I would have survived that without your help.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure I was to survive that.¡±


    ¡°Will it be this way every time?¡± I could feel his fear in my mind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This is a high price to pay for befriending them, methinks.¡±


    ¡°But we cannot leave them. They have become part of us.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    I took wing and flew down to my house. Landing in front of it, I shifted. It was incredibly hard to walk up to the door, but as I did it opened and Ravina was standing there.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Welcome home master.¡±


    ¡°I thank you Ravina. How are you this day.¡± I said as I stared at her. Something seemed off.


    ¡°Oh, I am fine. You have a guest upstairs waiting on you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She seemed her normal cheerful self. Which was strange as she was closer to Haladoria than most. ¡°I will go up to see them.¡±


    She turned and swayed her hips as she walked into the dining area heading for the kitchen. I watched her till she was out of sight.


    ¡°No, you are not imagining things. She seemed¡­ wrong.¡±


    I didn¡¯t reply. Instead I made my way up to the second floor office. As I entered I saw a young looking elf¡­ young looking till I looked in her eyes. I felt a chill.


    ¡°Greetings.¡± I didn¡¯t bother with my name as I had a pretty good feeling she already knew it.


    ¡°Greetings Michael and you as well Arienach.¡±


    Strangely enough, that wasn¡¯t a surprise. ¡°Might I know your name?¡±


    ¡°Names¡­ yes. I am called Ta.¡±


    ¡°Tis good to meet you Ta.¡±


    ¡°I know of the problem with the dragons. I would offer you a solution.¡±


    ¡°And what might that be.¡±


    ¡°Immortality for the other races.¡±


    I just looked at her for a moment. ¡°What would be the cost?¡±


    ¡°We wish you to expand.¡±


    ¡°Stop it, Ta. What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Just as I said.¡±


    I suddenly knew. ¡°The entire galaxy?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Is this to be conquest or can we assimilate them as we did these two worlds.¡±


    ¡°That is your choice.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°So I am just to say yes and the other races become immortal.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    That made her pause. ¡°It would solve the problem about them leaving you.¡±


    ¡°It would have to be their choice, Ta. They would have to agree to it.¡±


    ¡°What if I upped the offer?¡± She seemed relaxed, almost cheerful. It gave off the same sense of wrongness as Ravina.


    ¡°What would you get from this Ta?¡±


    She smiled. I shivered again. ¡°We would get the galaxy and you would get ascension and Haladoria.¡±


    I looked at her levelly. ¡°I will not agree unless my people agree. I am not particularly fond of the godhood aspect and the thought of Haladoria¡­ it just seems¡­ wrong.¡±


    For the first time she looked uncertain. It lasted less than a second, but I saw it. ¡°What would you require, then?¡±


    ¡°I require time to ask my people what they want. If they say no, then I say no. I suppose I will regret that, but that¡¯s the way it is.¡±


    She stared at me.


    ¡°I will schedule a meeting in a week to talk it over with them. In the mean time, I will look for appropriate planets.¡±


    She tilted her head. ¡°You would do so without the the agreement?¡±


    ¡°The other planets would be good for the dragons if nothing else. Worlds they could explore. If the people say yes, then they could go with them. They can go either way.¡±


    She almost looked fearful for a split second. ¡°Would you mind if I waited here?¡±


    ¡°My land is yours so long as you don¡¯t harm the people.¡±


    Her eyes blanked for a second and she tilted here head. ¡°That would be acceptable. We are glad that we found you, Michael.¡±


    I felt a shock course through me.


    ¡°What do you mean, found?¡±


    ¡°Michael died. We were lucky and captured his soul and sent it back with you. That was a foolish move, Arienach.¡±


    ¡°Sue me. There was little else for me to do.¡±


    ¡°Hence Michael. Between the two of you, you far exceeded our expectations. We were planning divine intervention.¡±


    ¡°And I handed you the world.¡± I said quietly.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°This was a bloody experiment?¡± He sounded quite angry.


    ¡°Not as such. We couldn¡¯t afford to lose you. You were too damaged to continue on, so we brought Michael in. We did not count on you melding with him.¡±


    ¡°So, what is the cost. What do you really want?¡±


    ¡°We told you.¡± There was that trace of fear. More was at stake here than she was telling.


    I sighed. ¡°As you wish then.¡±


    ¡°Michael?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°If the people agree, will you take the other two gifts as well?¡±


    So, it was that important. Why? ¡°I do not know, Ta.¡±


    ¡°I will wait here.¡± She flickered again.


    ¡°I will return shortly.¡± I turned and walked out.


    ¡°Do you trust her?¡±


    ¡°Not in the least.¡±

 The Name of the Game

    I was sitting in the Dragon Head lost in thought, on my second brandy. This had something to do with the game. I don¡¯t know why, but it did. What did I know about games? I was never that much into them. Sure, I played that one online with the battleships, but all that was, was positioning yourself and hoping the rest of whoever you were with didn¡¯t run off and abandon you. Then there was the shooter that I played with my grandkids. They hated it when I found a sniper rifle in the game. I smiled inwardly. Still. This wasn¡¯t that type. This was more something that they played. That assassin game or the one that you killed rabbits for weeks on end. Can¡¯t even remember what they were called. What did something like that have to do with an entire galaxy? I remembered the game magazines as well¡­.


    ¡°Greetins Michael. How ya be?¡±


    ¡°Greeting Dorvus, I am well.¡±


    ¡°Ya don¡¯t look that well ta me.¡±


    ¡°Okay, how about well enough?¡±


    He chuckled. ¡°We were hoping that you would come back.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I never really left. I was passed out in my lair until Noregus came for me.¡±


    ¡°Yah, ya had us all worried. Some o the other dragons said they could feel ya when ya lost it out there. Course the rest of us weren¡¯t in that good a shape ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I remember seeing the dragons screaming before I passed out.¡± I said, staring out into space.


    ¡°Aye, it wasn¡¯t pretty. Will this be happenin¡­ well, you know.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Michael, this could drive the other dragons mad.¡±


    ¡°I know. Sad thing is, I know how to fix it.¡±


    ¡°Ya do?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but you and all the other people would pay the price.¡±


    ¡°Ya mean to kill us all?¡±


    ¡°Gods no. What would you think about immortality?¡±


    He almost fell off of his chair. ¡°That not be somethin ya just toss out on the table like a copper, Michael.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I know. You would pay the price for the safety of my race.¡±


    ¡°How would ya even do somethin like that?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t. But I was approached by a god.¡±


    ¡°Oh no¡­ What did they be wantin?¡± He had paled.


    ¡°Just for us to take over the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°Galaxy?¡±


    ¡°Imagine all the stars in the sky. Multiply that by a thousand and you have a small idea.¡±


    ¡°They not be wantin much.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it wouldn¡¯t be hard. I could open portals to each and every one, if I wished. I am thinking of doing a few of them anyway so the dragons would have places to explore.¡±


    He was quiet for a minute. ¡°That be expainin the immortality offer then.¡±


    He was quick on the uptake. ¡°Yeah, they wouldn¡¯t hand that out for free, even if it did save the dragons.¡±


    ¡°So, what ya tell em?¡±


    ¡°That I would have a meeting in a week to let the nobles know and then they would have to talk to their people first.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°How¡¯d that go over.¡±


    ¡°Well they did up the offer¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, ascension and Haladoria.¡±


    His face blanked. ¡°They need somethin bad then.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that is my thought. Thing is, they asked me if I would take those two¡­ gifts¡­ even if the races decided against the other.¡±


    ¡°I would be watchin then.¡±


    ¡°I intend to.¡±


    ¡°I think I be goin now. I want to talk this over with Cornal.¡±


    ¡°Fair winds Dorvus.¡±


    ¡°Take care¡­ Lord Dragon.¡±


    I face palmed and he laughed as he walked out.


    I took another sip. If this was a game, then who were the players? Why an entire galaxy? I closed my eyes and took another sip. The scent of the brandy tickled my nose and suddenly I was afraid to open my eyes. I don¡¯t know if I was more afraid of seeing Haladoria or not seeing her. I forced my mind back on trying to figure the mess out and opened my eyes. Shryke was staring at me.


    ¡°Are you alright, Michael?¡± Heasked softly.


    I sighed. ¡°About as well as can be expected.¡±


    ¡°We were worried about you.¡±


    ¡°I am more worried about the other dragons. How are they taking this?¡±


    ¡°Some have withdrawn, some still seem to be in shock. Others? They just seem to be going from day to day. None of us wish to be away from our friends, but the thought now of losing them¡­ I don¡¯t know. If this is to happen every time one of them dies, I think we will go insane.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°That is my fear as well. The problem is, there is a solution for it, but it would be the people who pay the price.¡±


    He stared at me for a few moments. ¡°What is the solution?¡±


    ¡°The gods have offered to make the other races immortal.¡±


    His eyes widened and he sat back in his chair. ¡°That is a hard price.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°What did you tell them?¡±


    ¡°I told her that the people would have to make the decision. They were wanting me to just say yes and then inflict it on the people without warning. I cannot see doing that to those we care about. It has to be their choice.¡±


    ¡°Good. How will you do this?¡±


    ¡°A week from now, there will be a meeting. Then the nobles will go and talk to their people.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.He sighed. ¡°What will you tell them?¡±


    ¡°The truth, the gods want us to take over the galaxy and they offer immortality as payment.¡±


    ¡°The galaxy? Why?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This whole thing stinks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see what that would do for them unless they get points over what they control.¡±


    ¡°The game.¡±


    ¡°Precisely. That also makes it seem as if they are players as well.¡±


    ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought of that.¡± I said staring off into space.


    ¡°Still immortality? It would make sense as it would make the expansion that much faster. Either that or they are desperate.¡±


    ¡°Yes. That makes sense.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The ¡°god¡± that I talked to seemed¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ fearful? They even tried to up the offer if I would accept.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°Ascension for me and Haladoria.¡±


    His eyes widened till they looked like they would fall out. ¡°Gods¡­ This isn¡¯t something simple then.¡±


    ¡°No, and my thoughts keep getting drawn back to the game. There is more here than we know.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say. No one even pays attention to the game other than to see how much they have grown. There is no real¡­ wait. There is no goal. Maybe the gods are wanting to set goals to get the game back on track?¡±


    I thought about that for a few minutes. ¡°Makes sense.¡± I said cautiously. ¡°But still, that would also mean that something has changed. They mentioned that our consolidation of this world and the other was an unexpected surprise.¡±


    ¡°So maybe they didn¡¯t realize.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We are in a standoff till the people of the lands make their decision.¡±


    ¡°I bet that makes them happy. I do wonder why they just didn¡¯t do it?¡±


    I cocked my head. ¡°Do what?¡±


    ¡°They are gods, why didn¡¯t they just go ahead and give the races immortality?¡±


    Yes, why wouldn¡¯t they? ¡°I don¡¯t know. They are being very careful to ask. And they are offering bribes¡­ They have something to lose, then.¡±


    ¡°They keep coming back to you as well. Those offers seemed to be made to make you make the decision for them.¡±


    I stared at him for a minute. I remembered what she had said to Arienach.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Michael. They never told me a damn thing before the incident.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t think of a damn thing¡­¡± I stopped as Noregus¡¯s words came back to me. ¡®You sleep on a mana vent.¡¯


    He looked at me strangely. ¡°Did you think of something?¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Just something Noregus said that I hadn¡¯t considered.¡±


    ¡°About the gods?¡±


    ¡°No, about my sleeping habits.¡± I chuckled.


    ¡°Well, no one really understands how you sleep in molten rock.¡±


    I laughed softy while staring out into space. There were more and more pieces, but they didn¡¯t even look like the same picture, let alone part of a puzzle.


    ¡°I need to get back. I don¡¯t like leaving Darhla alone and she isn¡¯t up to coming out yet.¡±


    ¡°When this meeting happens, could you and a few of the other dragons go?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but why? We cannot in good conscience argue for them to accept.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want you to argue that anyway. No, I want you to explain what they would face.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°You care for your people.¡±


    ¡°Aye. It¡¯s becoming a curse I think.¡±


    ¡°Fair winds Michael. I would not have your place in this.¡±


    ¡°Fair winds Shryke. Give my regards to Darhla.¡±


    I finished my drink and walked out into the night. I greeted a few people as I made my way through the ring. Gods offering rewards that were beyond generous. At least for them. Expansion out into the galaxy. Nervous gods. Nervous dragons. The game¡­ it all came back to the game for some reason. It was the only thing that made sense. But it didn¡¯t. I went back over the conversations I had over the day. Something was bothering me.


    The mana vent. I used my planar sight to track down through the magma. The vent expanded under my lair, almost as if the edges had collapsed inward. The shaft was almost twice the size of the opening. Down I went. The walls were straight and perfectly round. So it was some type of impact, but strangely, what ever it was didn¡¯t come apart. There would be signs of that in the walls and the shaft would taper and become irregular. Down I went. Strangely, the magma stayed the same color. I wasn¡¯t a geologist, but wouldn¡¯t the rock be hotter further down, closer to the heat source? Just past half way to the core of the planet, I found it.


    ¡°Michael, what the hell is that?¡±


    ¡°It looks to be a starship.¡±


    ¡°What is it doing here?¡±


    ¡°I have no clue.¡±


    My sight wouldn¡¯t penetrate the shell. It was long and smooth and obviously not natural. It looked like it was driven into the planet like a bullet. Then I felt it. Even through my sight, I felt it.


    ¡°Arienach?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°This is where the mana is coming from.¡±


    We both stared at the long cigar shape that was buried almost to the heart of the planet.

 Gifts Given

    I walked all the way to my house lost in thought. I couldn¡¯t come to any conclusions, but I had a long list of questions. I made my way up to the second floor, noticing that Ravina was curiously absent. Walking into my office, I wasn¡¯t surprised to see Ta sitting right where I left her. I paused as the tickle in my mind became an itch. I had expected to find her here like this. I filed the fact away for later thought.


    ¡°Greetings lady Ta.¡±


    ¡°Greetings Michael, Arienach. Have you given our offers any thought?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I have thought of little else. There will be a meeting in a week to talk to the various races.¡±


    I watched as she tensed, then relaxed. The reaction was interesting, to say the least. ¡°That¡­ that will be acceptable. The other matters?¡±


    ¡°My priority is my people, Ta. I will not consider my position until I know my people have been taken care of.¡±


    Her eyes flickered. I found myself studying her reactions, but strangely it seemed as if I expected them. ¡°That will be acceptable.¡±


    I smiled, knowing this would probably be the game breaker. Maybe literally. ¡°I do have a question, however, what can you tell me about the starship that is under my caldera?¡±


    She stopped. It was weird, like she was turned off. Then she disappeared.


    Arienach chuckled. ¡°I assume that is the human stratagem called tact?¡±


    ¡°No, that was more along the lines of blind-siding. I was more interested in a reaction, than an answer. But, if they want our cooperation, they will have to answer.¡±


    ¡°This is your strategy?¡±


    ¡°As such. I have a feeling that I may know what we are dealing with here, at least as far as our little god Ta is concerned.¡±


    ¡°And? What would that have to do with the situation?¡±


    ¡°Maybe nothing. But a perverse part of me wants to know. I think our dear little Ta is an avatar.¡±


    ¡°What will that do for us?¡±


    ¡°I am not sure. Maybe nothing. It does raise the question of why they would use an avatar to approach us.¡±


    I could feel the mental shrug in my mind. ¡°Maybe that is all they could do?¡±


    ¡°Which begs the question, just what could limit a god?¡±


    The meeting went as well as could be expected. The nobles were to go back to their respective people and relate what they had learned. The dragons were subdued, but strangely, the people made more of an issue over harming them than the possibility of facing an endless life. It was touching at the same time as it was slightly disturbing. I tried to keep myself neutral as it really wasn¡¯t my decision to make. I thought of Ta and what I had learned and wondered at what this would mean going into the future. The dragons were more uneasy about having the races deal with what immortality actually meant. All seen the opportunity of expansion, however.


    I started surveying other worlds to find primary candidates for the upcoming moves. I was working towards worlds where our presence would make a minimal impact. Civilizations that were already established were taboo this first run. Later, I would look into bringing them in intact with minimal to no presence there. I did not want a conquest.


    Ta hadn¡¯t returned a month later when the representatives came back to report the decision of their populations. It was unanimous. Seems we were to be the immortal hub of an empire. The reason they gave when I asked? They didn¡¯t wish us to suffer. They didn¡¯t want creatures who had terrorized their lands for untold centuries to suffer¡­ the thought boggled my mind. The meeting took place at the map room. It was then that I showed them what we had to look forward to. I did a mental picture of the galactic plane, taken from a ninety degree offset. I couldn¡¯t zoom since it wasn¡¯t true sight, but I was able to show where we were. I also highlighted the next few planets of interest along with the basic makeup. Once the shock wore off on the scale of what we were dealing with, they became excited about the prospect of exploring the planets. If the immortality went through, then we had the rest of time to do this. Ta still not returning was bothering me, though.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    I was lost in thought as I walked back to my house. The game was the key to all of this. The thing which came to mind was if there was a game, then who was the players? Were we? Something didn¡¯t make sense. As I walked to the door, it opened. My mind blanked. Haladoria was standing there.


    ¡°Greetings lord dragon.¡±


    ¡°Michael.¡± I said more by reflex than thought.


    She laughed and flew into my arms.


    ¡°What?¡± Not the most brilliant line of inquiry, but it was all I could think of.


    ¡°I asked them to come back. They caught my soul and asked me after they talked to you.¡±


    Strangely, Arienach was crying in my mind. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say.¡±


    She hugged me. ¡°Say I love you, silly dragon.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I love you silly dragon.¡±


    She smacked my shoulder.


    ¡°How about I missed you desperately.¡± I whispered as I kissed the top of her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± She said as she snuggled in.


    I know not how long I just stood there holding her. I refused to think on what this meant, or just why it had happened.


    ¡°I know about the meeting. You worried about the people too much. Most of the races are long lived. Elves can live almost ten or twelve centuries. The dwarves are almost as long lived. The only ones who we are going to really have to worry about are the humans. But the rest of us can help them¡± She said with a slight smile.


    ¡°Oh, why is that?¡±


    ¡°They barely live a century.¡± She said with another light squeeze.


    Alarm bells went off. ¡°Wait. You lasted another century before you¡­¡±


    ¡°Died? Yes, why?¡±


    ¡°The humans we met were at the very least in their mid to late twenties, some were older. If they would be¡­¡±


    Her eyes widened. ¡°They should all be dead.¡± She whispered.


    ¡°You should not have been the first. We have been played.¡±


    ¡°Those bastards planned this!¡± Arienach was enraged.


    I suddenly felt a tingle. ¡°Come on, I would have a talk with our¡­ benefactors.¡±


    We walked up the stairs and into the office. Ta was sitting pretty much in the same spot she had disappeared from. She looked fearful and had a shield up. The first thought I had was what would a god need with a shield?


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked as I walked through the door behind Haladoria.


    ¡°Because we need you.¡± She said with obvious fear.


    ¡°What is this about, and don¡¯t give me that shit about the galaxy.¡±


    ¡°It is about the galaxy. That is all I can say.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me. What is the game?¡±


    Her avatar turned white. ¡°I cannot say.¡±


    ¡°Then why should I trust you?¡±


    ¡°You already know too much. You can do what we cannot, Michael. We need you.¡±


    I thought about it for a while, just staring at her. She was trembling. I sighed. ¡°Okay. This is about the game and that ship. I have one question and you had better not lie to me. What will this do to my people?¡±


    ¡°Your people will not be harmed beyond the normal hazards of exploration. We have put in a reincarnation clause as well. If you take the ascension, you will be directly able to intervene. You will be a god living amongst the people.¡±


    ¡°Will they know?¡±


    ¡°Not unless you tell them. I think they will figure it out, but at your level, you were almost a god anyway.¡±


    ¡°Know that I will not let this matter drop. I would know what this is about.¡±


    ¡°We cannot tell you.¡±


    ¡°Why¡±


    ¡°We cannot tell you.¡±


    I sighed. Part of me wanted to hit something¡­ maybe a planet.


    ¡°What of this godhood you wish to give me?¡±


    I watched her shudder. ¡°You will be much as you are now, but have all of the powers of the gods.¡±


    Something about the way she said that¡­ then it hit me. ¡°All of the powers of the gods?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Each god had their specialty. Death, love, life, growth¡­


    ¡°Oh my god.¡± I whispered. ¡°You are desperate.¡±


    She almost whimpered. ¡°Yes.¡±

 And So It Begins

    I awoke with Haladoria in my arms. I stared off into space as I thought about what we had started. Funny, it seemed as both a dream and a nightmare. A brief flicker of thought brought up my basic status. I found it disturbing.


    Michael Arienach


    LEVEL - ????????????


    EXPERIENCE - N/A


    RACE - Planar Dragon God


    BREED - Silver


    AFFINITY - Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Magic, Creation


    CLASS - Ancient


    ALIGNMENT - Good


    So¡­ I was a god now. I chuckled to myself when the words to an old song by Van Halen came to my head. ¡°What do you mean I am tardy, I don¡¯t feel tardy?¡± It still came back to the game¡­ and the ship¡­ and the people¡­ and the dragons. Should I add the gods in there? I sighed in frustration. What do you mean I am a god, I don¡¯t feel like a god?


    For better or worse we were in this. All of us. While I could open up the exploration of the galaxy, I didn¡¯t know exactly what each planet would hold. I didn¡¯t want to see my people hurt. I really didn¡¯t want to hurt any other beings that we might encounter, either.


    ¡°You will drive yourself insane if you keep this up, Michael.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    What else could I do? I had to prepare the people for this. And learn what I was capable of. There didn¡¯t seem to be a manual that came with godhood.


    Haladoria stirred in my arms. ¡°Michael?¡±


    ¡°Yes love?¡±


    ¡°Did you say something?¡±


    ¡°I was thinking out loud. Talking to myself, I guess.¡±


    ¡°I was talking to the original owner of this body, I am new here.¡± I rolled my eyes as I bit back a laugh. Damn dragon comedian.


    ¡°You worry too much. We have all the time in eternity now.¡±


    That was a good point, but somehow, I didn¡¯t think it was right. Not with the gods being afraid. I just wish I knew of what.


    ¡°Let me get up and I will fix breakfast.¡±


    I was a little happier watching her dress. It was almost as much fun as watching her undress.


    She was with me as I went to the portal building. She was watching as I made one portal link with all the other portals on the planet. I set up an arrangement of crystals and it would key to the main crystal and connect. It took a matter of minutes. I started programming the other portals for the different planet clusters I had in mind. All we would need to do is put up a portal on each world now. It would be a very simple system.


    The next stop was a meeting. I hate meetings. The dwarves would start to build the portal arches and the rest would start to organize into parties to do the basic surveying of each planet we found. With the portals in place, we could set up base camps and supply through the portal as needed. In a worse case scenario, I could be there in a heart beat. There were talks of moving planes and such, which I thought would be a good idea once we knew the basic area was safe. That started me thinking about a massive portal that was open ended.


    The nobles were going to send me a small percentage of their people. The elves were to organize them into groups. From combat to building, each group would be selected to their specialty by their strengths. There was talk of a new scout plane and using the old warships as well. The first planet would be opened in six months. Some of the buildings around my lair was re-purposed for housing to support the groups.


    Once given a direction, they went at it with a will. Strangely, the thought of Haladoria coming back didn¡¯t seem to bother anyone. It made my skin itch.


    ¡°What is bothering you now, Michael?¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. I think what is bothering me is the fact that there is nothing bothering me.¡±


    ¡°Tell me this isn¡¯t contagious. What the hell do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange that there is no one who is protesting this? That everyone is cooperating? That there is no one who even questions what I am doing?¡±


    ¡°Why would they?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It just doesn¡¯t seem right. It is almost like everyone has a program with a personality laid over the top of it.¡±


    ¡°Viennarinia didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Point I guess. Maybe I am being paranoid.¡±


    A year later we had two new planets and so far everything worked flawlessly. I had experimented and found that I could make one massive portal, which would be one way, that would let aircraft and vehicles through. I made the stone matrix of it so that it was more of a keyboard than individual crystals. Two of them were built. One on land, the other on the sea. We could now put a plane or ship where ever we wished. The next strange thing that I noticed was that the colonist who stayed on each world were breeding like rabbits. The game, I wondered? The ones who rotated through the worlds didn¡¯t seem to as much, but on a whole, even on Dragonhaven, our population was growing quickly. Including the dragons. The dwarves were hard at work expanding the lairs for the juveniles on the ring.


    The next year netted us three new ones. Only one had caused problems and that was something that looked like a humming bird. We took to calling them flying daggers. I made a crystal bracelet that combined a shield with a lightning spell. Then taught the enchantment to the artificers. The elves had encouraged catching them once they were stunned and had plans to domesticate them. Or at least to breed the psychotic nature out of them.


    I was kept busy finding new worlds and making sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. Evenings were spend dancing and relaxing at the dragon head. I tended to spend the entire weekend in my caldera. Which was where I first noticed the change. The mana flow was increasing. I shifted my sight and saw thin beams of mana leaving the vent. With my sight, I could see where they were connecting to each planet we had colonized. I thought on this for a while. They did gain something from the connection, but what?Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The next planet was the big surprise. We had been there for a few months before one of the aircraft called for support. I ported in and found it being chased by a group of wyvern. They weren¡¯t using fire, they were just chasing it. The pilot was making a run for home and they were dead on his tail. They didn¡¯t seem to be attacking so much as just chasing it. I flew over them and when they looked up, they scattered. I escorted the plane home, then returned to about where I had spotted them and landed. I lay down and waited. Nothing happened that day, or the next. I didn¡¯t move, I just waited. It was the forth day when one landed in front of me.


    ¡°Greetings, I am Michael.¡±


    ¡°Greetings great one.¡±


    ¡°Do you not have a name?¡±


    ¡°What would I need with a name?¡±


    I didn¡¯t have an answer for that.


    ¡°Have we offended you, great one?¡±


    ¡°No, I just wish to meet you and your people.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°To learn about you and to see if we can live together peacefully.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I have been tasked by the gods to make homes for my people.¡±


    ¡°We have myths about the gods. They abandoned us so the legends say.¡±


    That caught my interest. ¡°Does the legend say why?¡±


    ¡°No, just that we were suddenly cut off from the gods. We feel them now though.¡±


    ¡°Will you live in peace with our people?¡±


    ¡°The ones who gather together by the portal?¡±


    ¡°You know of the portal?¡±


    ¡°We felt it when it came here. Strong magic, just like yours.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. Something clicked. ¡°The gods are waking up now.¡±


    ¡°If we leave your people alone, will you let us scout again?¡±


    My eyes widened. ¡°I would be honored for you to scout for us.¡±


    ¡°I will tell the others.¡±


    Then it flew off. I was a bit stunned by what it had said. I filed it away for later and flew back to the portal to wait. Haladoria was waiting for me there, so I shifted and we went to the local pub. I told her of what I found.


    They returned the next day. There were thirty two of them. One came forward.


    ¡°We wish to report. We require a recorder.¡±


    ¡°A recorder?¡± I asked.


    ¡°To take the report and generate the maps.¡±


    ¡°Just a moment.¡±


    I looked to Haladoria. ¡°I think we need an artist. One of the best we can get if my hunch is right.¡±


    ¡°Do you think they will follow us back to Dragonhaven?¡±


    I turned back. ¡°Will you go to our planet to report?¡±


    ¡°We will do so.¡±


    ¡°Haladoria, meet us back at the portal building.¡±


    She smiled and kissed me, then ran for the portal.


    ¡°I will fly and open a portal, follow me through it.¡±


    ¡°We will do so, great one.¡±


    When we came out over the inner band, they circled around till I landed. By the time I had shifted, Haladoria had joined me. Along with a few other dragons. The wyvern came in and landed, I assume the same one approached us, looking at the other dragons nervously.


    ¡°Great one, you bring us to the gods!¡±


    ¡°I bring you to my people.¡±


    ¡°The other dragons do not attack?¡±


    ¡°They are the people as well in this land.¡±


    ¡°Where is your recorder then?¡±


    I looked at Haladoria and she nodded. ¡°They are on their way here.¡±


    ¡°We will wait.¡±


    Imar came up looking a bit awe-struck. ¡°You found wyvern?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they are strange beast.¡±


    ¡°They have not been seen since the time of the great destruction.¡±


    This rather put me on the spot since I was suppose to be older than they were. I sighed. ¡°They offer to scout for us again.¡±


    ¡°We never really got along with them.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Judging from the reaction that the wyvern just had. ¡°We will just have to do better this time.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t exactly look at things the same way now.¡±


    As we talked, more dragons landed. One had the artist and she hopped off and came to me.


    ¡°Lord Dragon, what might I do for you this day?¡±


    ¡°Michael milady. I need you to draw what these wyvern tell you.¡±


    She looked over at the wyvern with a slight gasp. ¡°I¡­ I will try.¡±


    The wyvern came up and looked at her. ¡°She is not trained.¡±


    ¡°Can you work with her?¡±


    ¡°I will try, great one.¡±


    She set up her pad and took her brushes. The wyvern walked up behind her and touched her head with the claw pads on his wings. She stiffened, then her hands started flying over the canvas. I walked up to see what was going on and noticed that her eyes weren¡¯t focused. I tapped my life affinity and probed her. Her mind was on overload. I sent a trace of mana through the life link and she relaxed somewhat. I kept feeding her mana until she had finished about an hour later.


    She had drawn almost perfect topographical maps of the planet we had just left, along with several other varieties I didn¡¯t recognize. They were labeled in a strange script. I stared hard at it for a few moments and the words became clear to me. One was an ocean map with notes on the concentration of marine life and classification. One was the major weather patterns. One was the mana concentrations and showed a keystone location. There were a few others that showed everything from life groups to mineral deposits. I stared at the wyvern puzzled. How did they not only figure all this out, but record and transfer it?


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked the artist.


    ¡°I am exhausted. It felt like he was pouring images into my mind.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Do you know of anyone who would be better suited to this?¡±


    ¡°No. But you might take a younger artist and train them for it.¡±


    ¡°I would appreciate it if you would find me volunteers. I am thinking about thirty two, in fact.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, lord dragon.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Michael.¡±


    She giggled.

 Together

    The great destruction¡­ the words rattled around in my head.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know of it, Michael, just that it happened. The legends say that the races were scattered and that the gods went away. They seemed to have come back in our case, but¡­¡±


    ¡°The ship crashed.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Think about it. The wyvern said that the gods went away¡­ no¡­ that the gods were cut off. But that they felt them now.¡±


    ¡°How would they know about the great destruction then?¡±


    ¡°My point exactly. Unless the galaxy is suppose to be ran by these gods. Something happened and we were the only ones who could deal with them¡­ maybe something like burying their ship half way into a planet. Since we have been linking the worlds, they are coming back online one by one.¡±


    ¡°Why not tell us?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°That is the question. I can¡¯t think of a reason that makes sense. That and why are they so afraid.¡±


    ¡°Michael, they are not afraid of the people. They are afraid of you.¡±


    ¡°What? That doesn¡¯t make sense. You don¡¯t take someone you are afraid of and give them the powers of a god.¡±


    ¡°You do if he is in a position to do something that you can¡¯t.¡±


    I started going over what I knew. Wyvern scouts and recorders. The wyvern could tell that the portal had came to their planet. The could feel magic? But that didn¡¯t tell how they could gather the rest of the data. One thing was sure. They were created for a very specific role. Okay, that told me nothing. The ship was buried and I couldn¡¯t see inside of it. I was also pretty sure my magic wouldn¡¯t work on it, since it was what was generating the magic I was using. The other dragons would probably obey the gods, so I really wasn¡¯t vital to this. What the hell was I missing? Then I thought about what I had become. Looking back, I had been a dragon well over a century now. I couldn¡¯t remember half of it. It was like the only time I remembered something was if it was something I needed to address. The rest of the years just flowed by like water in a stream. I was outside of it all. Nothing could touch me. Puzzles within puzzles.


    I flew down to my house and was met at the door by Ravina and Haladora. I was busy for the rest of the day. At least I felt better afterward. The only bad thing about being up at the caldera now was that I was alone. I was coming to depend on Haladora to keep me balanced. It was then that I got another piece of the puzzle. I felt a tingle, the same one that I felt just before we confronted Ta. I carefully got out of bed to keep from waking anyone and went to my office. Ta was sitting there in her normal place.


    ¡°Hadadoria can be like you.¡± She said without preamble.


    ¡°Why would this be of interest to you?¡± I said levelly.


    ¡°You are under great strain. It would be good for you, we think, if you took a mate.¡±


    So, they were worried about me cracking. ¡°I will ask her if she would be interested.¡±


    Ta looked at me with a puzzled expression. ¡°Why do you not just change her?¡±


    ¡°Because she is a being in her own right. She should have her own choices.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ we¡­ will think on this.¡±


    ¡°Free will. People are happier when they can make the choices, even if they are choices that are not easy.¡±


    I could see her flicker. I was beginning to suspect that she was talking to the others when she did this.


    ¡°This is how you make the people follow you.¡±


    ¡°I do not make the people do anything.¡±


    ¡°But they¡­ I see I think. They follow you because you lead them.¡±


    I had a weirdest feeling that I was talking to a computer. I shook it off. ¡°I do what I do to protect the people. They are my responsibility. When I accepted their crown, I became their servant.¡±


    ¡°But a servant doesn¡¯t command?¡±


    ¡°No, a servant takes care of his charges.¡±


    ¡°They follow you because you take care of them.¡±


    ¡°Precisely. They know if I do command something, it is because I am concerned with their well being.¡±


    ¡°You would not place them in harms way.¡±


    ¡°Unlike most leaders in history, there is no need for me to do so. Nothing can challenge me, why would I wish for my people to be hurt when it is not necessary?¡±


    ¡°You care for them.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It doesn¡¯t matter what form they take, they are my people.¡±


    ¡°We will think on this.¡±


    ¡°Would you tell me how your ship crashed?¡±


    She disappeared.


    I sighed and thought about what I had learned. They were actively monitoring my thoughts. They were also concerned with my mental state. It also implied that I had skills an talents that I didn¡¯t know about. Damn, I wish godhood came with a manual. A second later a very large scroll appeared in front of me. I stared at it for a few moments then thought, wouldn¡¯t a book be easier? It morphed into a large leather bound book.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said absently.


    I opened the first page and stared, then looked at the size of the book. It was all in fine print. This was going to take a while. One of the first things that I found and activated was eidetic memory. The next was speed reading. Haladoria came in later and saw what I was reading. She left and came back with breakfast. Then lunch, then dinner. For the next three weeks, her and the girls kept me fed, but didn¡¯t disturb me. When I finally reached the end, I closed the book and stared at it.


    I could do anything. My mind boggled at what I was capable of. On a whim, I changed the book into a cat, then back again. It just required desire and a touch of focus. I literally had the ability to alter reality. I glanced around the room and realized that I was limited now in ways that I hadn¡¯t thought of before. Altering one thing could cause ripples that would effect everything else. It would be a fine line that I would have to walk.


    Stats was what bothered me the most. I knew how they were given now and the system could be altered. But if I altered it, the challenge would be gone. This was much as when I found out about being the most ancient. I could do anything, but what was I to do? I sighed and considered what Ta had suggested. I knew that Haladoria was lonely when I wasn¡¯t with her, as I was lonely as well. I suppose it wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Haladoria jumped up and down squealing. ¡°You would do that for me?¡±


    For her? I thought I was being rather selfish. ¡°I would. I can ease your transition somewhat as well. You will have to practice, however as you will find that having a few more limbs than what you are used to will be a challenge.¡±


    Then she looked heartbroken. ¡°But it will be centuries before we can be together.¡±


    I looked at here strangely. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I will be a juvenile.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°No, you will be an ancient. A special type of ancient. If you want this, you will be a planar who can withstand the heat just as I do.¡±


    Her eyes widened. ¡°Just like you?¡±


    ¡°Just like me. When I do this, you are going to gain a few levels as well.¡±


    Her eyes widened. ¡°What? I mean¡­¡±


    ¡°If I am to make you an ancient, you will have to have the skills of one. As a planar, you will have control of magic far beyond what most dragons are capable of. Your natural magic will grow as well as they are linked. This will fundamentally change not only your shape, but your very make up.¡±


    She stared for a moment. ¡°You would do this?¡±


    ¡°Only if you wish it.¡±


    ¡°I could be with you?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, forever and ever.¡±


    ¡°What else would happen?¡±


    ¡°Well, would you like to have children?¡±


    Suddenly, I had a crying, laughing elf wrapped around me. ¡°Oh thank you gods, thank you.¡± Then she looked up at me with tears and a silly grin. ¡°I am to be mate to the most ancient god emperor!¡±


    I sighed theatrically. ¡°Figures, you married me for my money.¡±


    She smacked me on the shoulder. ¡°Silly dragon. I loved you before I made you emperor.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Behind every successful dragon god emperor is a beautiful elf with a whip.¡±


    She laughed as well. ¡°I see as your mate I will have to work that much harder to keep you in line.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have it any other way.¡±


    We were in the arena. Haladoria had invited all of the dragon, nobles and strangely, the wyvern. This was going to let them all know that I had ascended. Ah well. They would have figured it out anyway. The huge amphitheater was packed. Everyone knew I was to take Haladoria as my mate, but no one knew how. I had just thought to change her over, but she wanted to make the people part of it. So it was I found myself on stage with Haladoria in a green flowing gown.


    ¡°This day, before the gods and the people, I take Haladoria as my mate.¡±


    There suddenly was twelve glowing beings hovering just behind us. Instead of a cheer, a hush fell over the arena.


    ¡°Lady Haladoria of the Horiel, Do you consent to become my mate?¡±


    ¡°I do wish it.¡±


    ¡°I accept your wishes and claim you as my mate from now till the end of all things.¡±


    With that a glow enveloped her. I felt my magic flow and warp reality as she grew and transformed. The glow grew brighter as her wings and tail grew from her body. I felt the flow of magic from the caldera funnel through the gods and into her. I guided her skills and added the spells and talents she would need. Her body shifted even more as her scales became apparent. Long talons grew and her eyes took on the reptilian look. Smoke enveloped her body. Then it was over.


    Before me lay a golden hued dragon, who¡¯s scales shifted mist green to blue as she breathed. Her wings were the same mist green as the gown she had been wearing and the talons were a silvery white. Her eyes were a glowing blue. She had the same sleek body that I did, with no horns or spikes save the two silvery white ones on her head. She was beautiful.


    Ta came down and landed before me. ¡°She will need to go to the caldera to finish replenishing her mana.¡±


    Ta then turned to the people who were watching stunned. ¡°I give to you this day, Michael and Haladoria. This union is blessed by us. Let no one come between them. Long live the emperor and the empress!¡±


    Then the crowd went wild.


    I shifted and went to Haladoria.


    ¡°How do you feel.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I do not know? I can see things and feel things¡­ I know things now¡­ it is a bit overwhelming.¡±


    ¡°It will take time. Can you stand?¡±


    She managed to get to her feet. I steadied her as she sought to find balance.


    ¡°It is hard. I have too much strength, It is hard to control.¡±


    ¡°Just move slowly. Try to relax as well. You will become accustom to it.¡±


    ¡°Gods, is this what it is like for you?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°No, I know how to walk.¡±


    She tried to bat at me with a wing and fell. Laughing she got back to her feet. ¡°You will pay for that.¡±


    I made a mock sigh. ¡°Ah the honeymoon is already over.¡±


    ¡°Silly dragon.¡±


    ¡°Beautiful mate.¡±


    I lay down beside her and the people who had been there came up and gave us well wishes. They were in awe of Haladoria now. Hell, so was I and I had a hand in changing her. She was a stunning looking dragon. The other dragons seemed tongue tied around her which Arienach found immensely amusing. It was late afternoon when we finally got moving. It was slow going until we started climbing. I could have just ported us, but she needed to learn how her body worked now. The wyvern flew and circled around us. It was like they had adopted us. Late evening found us at the lip of the caldera.


    ¡°This is where you sleep.¡± She said with a trace of awe in her voice.


    ¡°Now this is where we sleep.¡±


    ¡°I can sleep in that?¡± She said incredulously.


    ¡°It will help heal you and make you stronger.¡±


    She walked down to the edge of the lava, her steps more sure now.


    ¡°It is warm, but it doesn¡¯t feel hot.¡±


    ¡°This is how it is for us. No fire will touch us.¡±


    I watched as she slowly entered the pool. She let herself sink into it and looked back at me smiling.


    ¡°Ah, this feels wonderful. No wonder you spend so much time up here.¡±


    ¡°I do so because it keeps me charged.¡±


    I slid in next to her and our necks intertwined. I put a wing over her and our claws met under the lava.


    She smiled at me. ¡°Welcome Lord.¡±


    I smiled back. ¡°Welcome my mate.¡±


    She grinned. ¡°This feels decadent.¡±


    ¡°Once your mana is recharged and we are sure you are adapting, I will show you something else that is decadent.¡±


    The sun found us locked together on the shelf by the lava. It was noon before we went back into the lava sated. We both floated there and recharged. I knew that soon I would have to start teaching her how to fly and use her powers, but right now, we were both enjoying our time together and the worlds could move on without us.

 The Winding Road

    I was teaching Haladoria to fly. I found it wasn¡¯t easy. I had shown her how to move her wings and the various positions, but flying was a matter of feeling the way the wind caught them and being able to deflect it the way you wanted.


    ¡°Oh, I will never get this.¡± She protested.


    ¡°Yes you will. It will just take time. The trick is to feel the wind and respond. Since you never had wings before, it isn¡¯t a natural thing for you.¡±


    Ah the joys of trying to be supportive. I made sure we took frequent breaks and did periodic lava soaks. Still, I knew it was trying her patience. All I could do was keep trying. It was later on after a good long soak that she managed to kite her wings and land. I sent a thank you to the gods as she needed this success. We practiced that for the next couple of days. Then it came time to learn how to turn. I could see her fine control starting to kick in. It was just a matter of time now.


    The next few weeks had her doing loops and dives. She was not completely at home in the sky, but she was getting there. I then started to teach her magic. That took less time by far than the flying lessons. She knew magic, this was just a different type. Augmenting her fire with spells seemed to be natural for her.


    Using her planar sight and porting was a challenge. I found I could track her no matter where she went though, so it wasn¡¯t quite as scary as it could have been. Thank the gods that she caught on to it quickly. I wasn¡¯t that comfortable taking her across planes yet. She didn¡¯t have Arienach in her mind to coach her and I sure as hell didn¡¯t want to lose her. We had time.


    Before too long we were flying all over Dragonhaven, our moves were almost perfectly in sync. Other dragons would join us and at times, we had a flight of a dozen dragons or more in the sky. The other dragons idolized her. We took a flying tour of all of the planets after that. I made her do the portals and we came out together after each one. She was becoming more and more confident. It wasn¡¯t unusual for us to watch the sunset half way across the galaxy now.


    She started to help scout the planets that we would explore next. The wyvern followed her like puppies. We now had over a dozen more to go to and we didn¡¯t have to second guess about anything there. I had taken the thirty two volunteers to the side and with a little help from Ta, tweaked them till they worked in perfect harmony with the wyvern.


    As for the wyvern, I will admit that I never quite figured them out. They were at their happiest mapping a planet, other than that they seemed to have very little drive, save for tagging along after us. They grew used to the other dragons from what I could tell, but they didn¡¯t seem to understand the word friend. The other dragons just kind of accepted them and watched out for them, which seemed to confuse them to no end.


    We were laying in the caldera when I had a sudden thought. I let my sight travel up out of the atmosphere and into space. Mana didn¡¯t dissipate. It took a while to scan the area around Dragonhaven''s orbit, but I finally found a very faint and broken trail. It may not dissipate, but it could be moved and scattered. Following this faint trail out of the system, it became a little clearer as there was less out here to effect it. It was easy to follow now¡­ until it stopped. The trail was no longer there. Which meant that it had just appeared at that point of space and drove into the planet. A portal?


    ¡°You realize that you haven¡¯t been on this trail since Haladoria became your mate.¡±


    ¡°I know this.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this was on purpose?¡±


    ¡°Probably. In the end, they had to know it would only be temporary.¡± I said as I contemplated the cut off mana trail.


    ¡°I find I am growing as paranoid as you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why is that?¡±


    ¡°If something were to happen to us, who do you think would now be the leader of the dragons.¡±


    ¡°No brainer there. I get a feeling that I might be close to an answer.¡±


    ¡°Let us hope that they don¡¯t feel too threatened.¡±


    ¡°I never meant them harm in the first place. I don¡¯t understand what they fear, but I see no reason it should be me.¡±


    ¡°Still, we should watch our backs.¡±


    ¡°Oh trust me, I am. Not that I could do much about it if they did try something.¡±


    ¡°My aren¡¯t you the optimist.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°A pessimist is a realist with his eyes open.¡±


    It was a few years later that the wyvern came back with the news of a human settlement. The maps showed it on a small island about the size of Torgos. There wasn¡¯t a high tech rating and there were no traces of them on the other continents. The first thing that came to my mind was marooned. The children cut off, the great destruction¡­ It was all guess and supposition, but it fit.


    Haladoria and I decided to go out to meet them. We ported in over the water out to sea and flew in. They were living in primitive conditions. Reed huts with leaves for roofs, nothing better than dugouts. No obvious technology. I could sense very little magic. It wasn¡¯t long before we were spotted and they ran and hid. Not to be unexpected as we were a pair of huge dragons overflying their island. We picked a spot well away from their settlement and landed.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Haladoria asked.


    ¡°I am not sure. They have been here without outside contact. They may not even have a very developed language anymore.¡±


    ¡°Well, I am sure they won¡¯t approach us in this form.¡±


    ¡°Probably not.¡±


    ¡°What should I know? I am new at this. What should I do if they attack?¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Nothing?¡±


    ¡°When you shift, you will still have your shield. They can¡¯t touch you.¡±


    ¡°So we don¡¯t have to worry about hurting them.¡±


    ¡°No. If they are too hostile to deal with, we will just leave.¡±


    ¡°No magic then.¡± She sighed with relief.


    ¡°Not offensive type. Your smallest dragon spell would wipe out half this island.¡±


    Her eyes widened.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t skimp on your defense, love. We don¡¯t know if there are more dragons out here.¡±


    To my surprise, while we were talking, one of the villagers appeared. He walked into sight from the stand of trees. He stopped to look up at us, then put his spear down and stepped forward away from it. Then he just stood there. He was human, average height. Rather skinny, but not really malnourished.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.??We looked at each other and nodded. Shifting to our elf forms, hoping there were not racial prejudice here. He didn¡¯t bat an eye as we approached him. He just stood there staring at us with a blank face.


    ¡°Greetings, I am Michael and this is Haladoria.¡±


    He stared for a few more seconds. ¡°So the gods return.¡± He paused then continued. ¡°Sorry, I am Gabe.¡±


    ¡°It is good to meet you Gabe.¡±


    ¡°Why do you come here?¡±


    ¡°The gods are waking up and we are expanding their holds.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. Can we go back now?¡±


    That gave me pause. ¡°Go back?¡±


    ¡°To the gods. We have been here for a long time. We wish to go home.¡±


    ¡°Things have changed a bit. The races all are part of the empire. There is no division.¡±


    ¡°How did you pull that one off?¡± He chuckled.


    Haladoria looked at me, then said. ¡°Well, there was this dragon¡­¡±


    It was a few hours later when she wound down. Gabe had been silent the whole time.


    ¡°So the eldest ancient made an empire and the gods profit from it. Now it expands. You are building their power for them.¡±


    I stared at him for a moment. ¡°Building their power?¡±


    ¡°The more they control, the more powerful they are. Didn¡¯t you know this?¡±


    I exchanged looks with Haladoria. ¡°It makes sense. They have grown since we started this.¡±


    ¡°What did they give you?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°They gave you something to do this for them. They were probably desperate.¡±


    The pieces fit. ¡°Just immortality for the people, godhood for me and I got Haladoria back.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Well, maybe they learned something this time.¡±


    I thought about that for a few moments. ¡°Do you know how they were brought low?¡±


    ¡°Not the details. Just that we were suddenly cut off.¡±


    ¡°I see. Tell me, are you immortal?¡±


    ¡°Thought you would have figured that out a lot sooner.¡± He laughed.


    ¡°How did you keep sane?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy. There is no resources to build on this patch of land. We have lost about two thirds of our people. Immortal is not invincible. The others killed themselves.¡±


    ¡°What do you know of the gods?¡±


    ¡°Not much. A memory wipe is SOP when they are sending people out.¡±


    ¡°SOP?¡±


    ¡°Standard operating procedure.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°This sounds more like a military operation.¡±


    ¡°In a way. From what I remember, we never suffered under the gods. They were just less than¡­ compassionate.¡±


    I thought about my interactions with them. He had a point. Strangely, they seemed to be changing. I wondered on that.


    ¡°Well, if you wish, I will open a portal back to Dragonhaven and you can rejoin us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. We need to get the hell off this island.¡±


    ¡°Strange that you would wind up here. There are two other major continents on this world.¡±


    He just stared at me, then shook his head. He turned to walk back, then stopped to pick up his spear. He looked at it for a few minutes then tossed it off into the bushes. We were met by the other survivors and the basics of the story was given. Some cried, others just looked blankly at us. When I told them it was time to leave, a few glanced at their huts. None of them went back to pick anything up. They were leaving with just the clothes on their back.


    I opened a portal after some thought. I finally settled on a landing point just outside my house. To be honest, I wanted to see how the gods reacted when some of their wayward children came home. It didn¡¯t take long for them to go through the portal when I opened it. There were only a hundred and sixty two left. I had Haladoria lead them and I stayed till the last one was gone. When we got there, they were huddled in a group, staring at the people that were gathering around them. Haladoria was in a rather frantic discussion with a drow and a dwarf who both took off together for the ring.


    They stared as the two got into a wagon and it took off down the main road. I think it was the fact there were no horses pulling the wagon. Between Haladoria and I, we finally got the people to step back a bit to give them room. The culture shock was going to be bad enough. All looked happy to see them, but they hadn¡¯t been off that island in centuries. I finally took them to one of the staging barracks that wasn¡¯t in use and had them settle in. It was like watching children as they found rooms and discovered that the crystals next to the door turned on the bigger crystal that lit the room. Running water, showers, beds¡­


    It was hours before they calmed down. I was standing outside talking with Gabe when Ta showed up.


    Gabe recognized her. He dropped to one knee and bowed his head.


    She stared down at him for a few minutes, then back up at me. ¡°We have done them all so much wrong.¡±


    I was shocked. ¡°What will you do now, Ta?¡±


    ¡°We put them under your wing. We still have much to learn from you.¡± She turned to Gabe. ¡°We are sorry.¡±


    Gabe looked up at her, shock etched on his face. She smiled sadly and vanished. Then he looked at me.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°She spoke. She said she was sorry.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Maybe even the gods can learn.¡±


    Later on, I was thinking about the events of the day. Haladoria was still trying to get the group of humans settled in. So I turned to Arienach.


    ¡°I start to see a picture here.¡±


    ¡°Aye, and it isn¡¯t pretty.¡±


    ¡°From what they said and the way things are now, I think we are guiding them down a new path.¡±


    ¡°So what should we do, oh great leader?¡±


    ¡°Smartass. That is my question. What should we do?¡±


    ¡°Michael, no one, including me, has a clue how you made this all work.¡±


    ¡°So, that makes all of us then.¡±


    I heard a chuckle in my head. ¡°They seemed to have mellowed somewhat. Ta saying they were sorry¡­ well¡­ I don¡¯t know how to take that.¡±


    ¡°Nor I.¡± I sighed. ¡°I still do not trust them.¡±


    ¡°But they do not interfere.¡±


    ¡°True¡±


    ¡°We keep on as we have been?¡±


    ¡°I suppose. I have no other ideas.¡±


    It was later on that night when Haladoria and I were settled down in the lava that she spoke.


    ¡°Michael, the gods are not what they were.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What are we to do?¡±


    ¡°What we have been for the moment. I think I know what the gods were afraid of now.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Their fear that they showed when I met them.¡± I sighed. ¡°It is the same fear that Viennarinia had. Change.¡±

 Castaways

    I awoke from a strange dream. I must have started as Haladoria shifted in the lava next to me. I fought to remember details but the only image I could get looked like a bullseye on a target. There were dots on it like bullet holes and I was in the middle of it. A chill raced through me. Was I the target of something?


    I sighed and stretched a bit.


    ¡°Love?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I was awakened by a dream. It is nothing.¡±


    She yawned showing double rows of needle sharp teeth. Funny how my views had changed. I thought it was cute.


    ¡°Tis not time to wake up yet. Come back and cuddle.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Yes dear.¡±


    The lava had it¡¯s magical effect and it wasn¡¯t long before I drifted off again. The dream was waiting for me. Strange in that I rarely had vivid dreams. What was said about dreams like this? Something about the subconscious trying to show you something that you had missed? I studied the bullseye in the dream. It had specks all over it. I couldn¡¯t see¡­ wait¡­ stars. The dream then faded and I knew no more until the dawn.


    I went down to visit Gabe and the others. I was still lousy with names. They had settled in and there were others there visiting with them. I chuckled when Gabe asked if there was a tavern. We decided to walk into outer Dragonhaven so he could see the sights.


    ¡°You have done so much here, Michael.¡±


    ¡°Not really. I only showed them a few things. This is what happens when all of the people work together.¡±


    Haladoria caught up to us, landing and shifting. ¡°Greetings Gabe. How are you this day?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. There is so much to see here.¡±


    I looked around myself and saw all that the people had done over the years. Funny that I never noticed such things until they were pointed out to me. Arienach chuckled in my head. ¡°Welcome to your life as a dragon.¡±


    I said nothing. ¡°We are heading in to the Dragons Head. Would you like to join us, love?¡±


    ¡°Any excuse for brandy.¡± She laughed.


    The trip through the ring took a while as Gabe was awestruck with the carvings. I was hoping to see Dorvus, but he didn¡¯t seem to be out. We made our way to the pub with frequent stops at all of the crafters and shops.


    ¡°This is fantastic.¡± He said as a fairy flew by. He watched it and just shook his head.


    ¡°Peace between the races has done wonders for the growth here.¡±


    ¡°Michael doesn¡¯t see that the dragons were key to all of this.¡± Haladoria said with a laugh.


    I looked at her shaking my head. ¡°We couldn¡¯t have done all of this.¡±


    ¡°No, neither could we until you opened our eyes.¡±


    We made out way into the pub and I placed our order, a round of elven brandy for all of us. Gabe just stared when a drow brought us our order. I tipped her and she smiled sweetly.


    ¡°Thank you lord dragon.¡±


    I sighed and rolled my eyes. ¡°Michael.¡±


    She giggled and wiggled off making Haladoria laugh.


    Gabe looked at me strangely. ¡°They tease you?¡±


    ¡°All the time. It¡¯s a damn conspiracy.¡±


    Haladoria laughed harder.


    We sipped our drinks and listened to a bard tell a tale. It was a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. I looked up as Shryke walked in and I motioned him over. He had a seat and I did the introductions.


    ¡°Gabe, this is Shryke, one of the first dragons to follow the crazy dragon. Shryke this is Gabe.¡±


    Shryke smiled and nodded. ¡°The crazy dragon that has brought peace and expanded the empire to what? Sixteen worlds now?¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I suppose. The people do all the work. Gabe was stranded on the last world, him and his people.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you are one of the ones who came in yesterday. How are you doing?¡±


    Gabe shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I am sitting at a table with three dragons sharing tales and sipping the finest brandy I have ever tasted. I keep expecting to wake up and this all be a dream.¡±


    Shryke laughed. ¡°I know, the brandy is pretty good.¡±


    Gabe just shook his head. ¡°You do realize that dragons never had the best reputation.¡±


    ¡°I know, it just took some overpowered silver planar to teach us manners.¡± Shryke said with a grin.


    ¡°He also taught us how to play together nicely.¡± Haladoria added.


    I thought about it. From their point of view, I suppose it was true. I simply tried to keep the peace and protect my people. The others chatted while I was lost in thought.


    After we left the pub, we made our way out to the docks.


    ¡°What the hell? How do those work?¡± Gabe asked pointing.


    I followed to what he was pointing at and didn¡¯t understand at first. One of the freighters was making it¡¯s way into the harbor.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°How does it move?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ come over to the shipyard, maybe they have one up in the air.¡±


    We walked over and found one of the old patrol boats in dry dock. I gave him a brief tour of it.


    ¡°You used your magic to power vessels.¡±


    ¡°Yes. They were needed at the time. Later, I taught the artificers how to do the enchantments. They took what they learned and made the horseless wagons that you see around from time to time.¡±


    ¡°You let the other people use your magic?¡±


    ¡°Why not? Everyone benefits if we share.¡±


    ¡°Strange. The gods do not protest?¡±


    ¡°Why should they? The other worlds we have found wouldn¡¯t be possible if we didn¡¯t have all this in place.¡±


    He grew silent for a while. ¡°You are teaching the gods.¡± He said quietly.


    That thought stopped me cold. Was that what I was doing?


    ¡°No wonder they said they still had much to learn from you.¡± He added.


    ¡°Now if I could just figure out what they want and what they are doing.¡± I half whispered.


    ¡°Same thing they always do. Take over galaxies for power.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°They take over a galaxy and it increases their power. No one knows why.¡±


    ¡°I see. So something went wrong this time.¡±


    ¡°Well, it never goes this smoothly, that is for sure.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked puzzled.


    ¡°The other races are usually segregated as they have never gotten along. Once they develop and discover one another, it usually leads to wars. Wars that span the stars.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.I was curious now. ¡°What happens then?¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°They go find a new galaxy.¡±


    The picture he painted was quite grim. But it did make sense. Where did the game fit in, though?


    ¡°Tell me, what is the game for?¡±


    ¡°It gives us points for advancement. That¡¯s all I know.¡±


    I sighed. Nothing more than I knew already. ¡°There has to be a reason for it.¡±


    ¡°I do know that after a certain point of advancement, it goes away.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°The game goes away. No one is quite sure why, but once the worlds are past a certain point, it just seems to shut off.¡±


    What the hell? Maybe it was to force the people to advance? I shook my head. There was no way of knowing.


    ¡°Well, thank you for the tour. Mind if I bring the others out to see the sights?¡±


    ¡°This is your world as much as ours now. You do not need to ask to go about in your own home.¡±


    He stared at me a moment. ¡°Thank you. You have a strange way of looking at things. But they make sense.¡±


    ¡°I am just trying to keep the people safe. If you need anything let me know.¡±


    ¡°Thank you¡­ lord dragon.¡±


    I stared at him for a few seconds then started to laugh. ¡°You will fit in good around here, I think.¡±


    He joined me in laughter. ¡°This is a strange new world.¡±


    ¡°Well, I should get back and see to keeping the gods happy.¡± I laughed.


    He nodded.


    I found my mind back on my dream again. The bullseye. What could it mean? I tried to bring up the image in my mind. Then I had a strange thought. I flew back to the caldera and settled into the lava. Next I sent my sight out to where the mana trail ended. I looked back at the path the ship took then thought of where we had found the wyvern. Next, I thought of where we found the humans. Hm, about the same distance. I imagined a ring and followed it, noting other star systems that we hadn¡¯t mapped. There were a few that fit the approximate circle.


    Haladoria landed and came in to float next to me. ¡°Greetings love. You look like you are deep in thought there.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I may have found something.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I need to go look at some star systems. I may know where there are more people who are stranded.¡±


    ¡°Oh! When do you want to go?¡±


    ¡°Fetch a few of your wyvern.¡±


    We went to the first one and found a barren system, still I had the wyvern search. They found nothing to my relief. The next one¡­ well, we found dwarves. I had the wyvern do a complete map and they had taken the entire world. They were not up to our level in magic or technology, but they had a full civilization in place.


    The next one was barren as well. That left one more. We ported in and found the planet that was most likely to hold life. It was dead. There had been life there. We could tell from all the ruins. The wyvern were sent out. When they came back, they told the story of no life to be found. We landed and explored as best we could. The remains that we found were either elves or humans. Since they held the same skeletal structure, we couldn¡¯t be sure. The place had been dead for centuries. Little was left of the ruins. I wasn¡¯t an archaeologist so I wasn¡¯t even sure what to look for.


    We went back to Dragonhaven slightly depressed. The thought occurred to me that the target had more than one ring. But I was in no mood to do this again till I thought of the implications. A ring of planets, with three, no four planets that were colonized. Three survivors. I didn¡¯t know what to do about the dwarves, nor was I in the mood to deal with them at the moment. We sank down into the lava and let it¡¯s heat and magic comfort us. It had been a long day.


    Haladoria and I entertained each other for a while upon waking. Reaffirming life. I told her of the dream and how there were more than one ring. She seemed intrigued. I explained the mana trail I used for reference. This time we ported out to it. I pointed out where the pattern was and where I thought the next ring might be. So we went there¡­ and found nothing. We did the tour and found a few more planets that were candidates, but none were inhabited. So we went out a little farther and tried it again. Again, nothing. Then we went inward. We found a planet of elves. I flew over it exploring while Haladoria went back to fetch the wyvern. We stayed pretty high up so that we hopefully wouldn¡¯t be spotted till the wyvern completed their survey. The elves were the only thing on the planet. They hadn¡¯t advanced that much either. I was beginning to think that maybe the others were right and only if the races worked together would they advance quickly.


    We returned to Dragonhaven to relax and consider our next moves. Dorvus came in and we brought him up to speed. He was intrigued by the dwarf and the elf world, but had little to suggest on what we should do about them. I thought that we should approach them soon to prevent any problems down the road. Dorvus offered to come with us when we saw the dwarves. I thought about it. It would help, but I wouldn¡¯t allow him there until we knew if they would attack us or not. I was not going to put him in harms way. Then I had a thought. Why not bring a representative from every race? They seemed to like the idea and it would give a hint at what was possible. After much discussion we decided to take a powered yacht. Dorvus seemed worried until I pointed out that a couple of planar dragons on board probably trumped one of our battleships. He laughed till he cried.


    Of course there was another meeting and the yacht had to be bigger than we planned. It seemed that many were eager to go see the dwarves. I shrugged hoping that this didn¡¯t turn into a major disappointment. Time would tell. By the time it was over, we had representatives from every race¡­ at least two or three each. Even Noregus wanted to tag along. Alistor volunteered one of his new yachts for us¡­ on the provision that he got to man the helm. I rolled my eyes. Still, it would be pleasant outing¡­ so long as the new dwarves cooperated.


    Later on Haladoria and I retired to the caldera to relax a bit¡­ then sleep. She seemed to be more amorous lately, not that I was complaining. I fell asleep with the thought that it was so nice not to be alone anymore.

 Elves and Dwarves

    I awoke to the sound of my name¡­ Noregus was hanging off the edge of the caldera. I guess it beat the high pitched squeal. I laughed to myself. I nudged Haladoria and she looked up at Noregus and groaned. I just shook my head.


    ¡°They are waiting on you.¡± He said almost franticly.


    ¡°We need to review civilization here a moment.¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°Civilized beings do not get up before dawn. I am going to make this an empirical edict.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°Not everyone sleeps in cozy lava, lazy bones.¡±


    Haladoria grumbled. ¡°Maybe they should.¡±


    ¡°You would have a lot less subjects that way, lady empress.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°We will be down shortly.¡±


    Haladoria wrapped a wing around me and snuggled in.


    ¡°Well, maybe shortly.¡±


    Noregus sighed. ¡°I will go tell them.¡±


    I watched as he flew off. ¡°We should get moving darling.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡±


    I tried to move and she hung on tighter. ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡±


    ¡°We get to see the elves after the dwarves.¡±


    She sighed. ¡°Alright.¡±


    Finally she let go and moved out of the lava. I followed. I stared at her for a few moments. She looked¡­ different. I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. Shrugging, I took wing and circled till Haladoria joined me. We both flew to the docks. The yacht was beautiful. It had a dragon head on the front of it but was sleek and low to the water. The front was open and looked like it could hold at least a dozen people. The main cabin went back about two thirds the length and there was another open area in the back. It was sitting at anchor at the mouth of the harbor.


    We landed on the dock, then ported out to the ship. Noregus was there.


    ¡°Faster than I thought. Never knew you were a sleepy head, Haladoria.¡±


    She grumbled a bit and I chuckled. Glancing over to her, she still looked¡­ I don¡¯t know, different. I studied her for a moment then let it pass. We went up to the main cabin and joined the rest of the gathering. Soon Alistor started the engines and we started moving forward. Rather than travel to one of the gates, I simply opened a portal in front of it. The thought occurred to me¡­ get on a boat and travel light years in a few seconds. This would make one hell of a book back home. Followed by the thought, naw, too far fetched.


    The sea was rougher on the far side, but it was still clear. I went up and gave Alistor the direction to the port from where we were. He didn¡¯t bother to open the throttles, content on the pace we were traveling. A quick look around with my radar confirmed we were quite alone out here. Someone had thought ahead and brought brandy for the trip. We spent the next couple of hours sitting and chatting about what we hoped to find and how we hoped it would turn out.


    Dorvus was the first to bring up what we didn¡¯t want to think about.


    ¡°What if they not be wantin to join us?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°We leave.¡±


    ¡°Ya gonna just leave em here?¡±


    ¡°What else can I do? I am not going to conquer them.¡±


    ¡°Aye, but that could bite us in the arse later.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t have planar dragons. So they would show up with ships. Ships can be ported right back where they came from. It might take a few tries but I think even a dwarf can take a hint.¡±


    He scowled at me, then chuckled. ¡°We be not that hard headed.¡±


    I just stared at him.


    ¡°Well not all the time.¡± He relented.


    I laughed.


    We all went up on deck when the seaport came into sight. It was all stone as befitted the dwarve¡¯s nature. I could see a crowd gathering as we slowly approached. So far there was no indication of hostility. I just hoped that it stayed that way. There were several of the galley type ships in the harbor. None had so much as attempted to raise sail. I found that I was holding my breath. We found a place that was far enough out to not pose a threat, but close enough to let them know we meant to visit. Other than the gathering on the docks, there wasn¡¯t any sign that they even cared we were there.


    Alistor dropped anchor and we waited a bit. Neither side seemed to want to make the first move, so Haladoria, Dorvus and I dropped a launch and started in toward shore. One of them started waving and pointing to a slip, so we made way for it. So far it seemed pretty sociable. When we had tied off I climbed up the ladder to the dock. They had backed up far enough so we weren¡¯t threatened. So I motioned for Dorvus and Haladoria to come up. Once we were all on the dock, I made introductions.


    ¡°Greetings, This is Dorvus, Haladoria and I am called Michael.¡±


    We were greeted by silence for almost a minute.


    ¡°Why are ye hear?¡±


    ¡°We come on behalf of the gods.¡±


    The dwarf sighed heavily. ¡°We thought as much.¡± He looked at Dorvus. ¡°Why ya be with those two elves.¡±


    It must have struck Dorvus wrong. ¡°Oh, but lord dwarf. These be friends o mine, but they not be elves.¡±


    ¡°What ya be sayin?¡±


    ¡°This be the God Dragon Emperor and this is his mate, the empress. They be thinkin that havin a couple o ancient dragons on yer dock might upset ya. The boat we came from is from the empire and it is o all the races. So, now, just who do you be?¡±


    ¡°Ya upstart!¡± He threw his axe at Dorvus. I caught it and tossed it back so it stuck between his feet.


    ¡°You dropped that¡­ you might want to be more careful.¡± I said levelly.


    He looked up from the axe to me. ¡°What the hell lad? How?¡±


    Dorvus laughed. ¡°You be messin with the eldest ancient.¡±


    He looked at Dorvus then to me. ¡°But¡­ he be just an elf.¡±


    I sighed then jumped up using my full dragon strength and shifted in midair. ¡°Is this better?¡±


    One of the dwarves threw an axe, which I batted up into the sky, then hit it with a fire ball. The resulting explosion knocked most of them to their asses. I shifted back and dropped to the dock as they were picking themselves up.


    ¡°Now, lets try this again. This is Dorvus, Haladoria and I am called Michael. We come on behalf of the gods.¡±


    The discussion from that point on was a bit more polite.


    The yacht was brought in and after the initial confrontation, the dwarves were fascinated with it. It took a while before they warmed to the different members of our group, but I think having a few fay making the rounds helped. Strangely, they had never seen them before. When they found that all we wanted was trade with them, they were more open to us. We established a portal that led to outer Dragonhaven and Dorvus took a few of them on a tour. They let us look around as well. They had a well established community and it was obvious that they had been there a while. Once they got used to seeing us¡­ non-dwarves¡­ walk around, they were pretty much accepting. They still seemed uneasy, but I figured that would go away with time. Dorvus finally returned with the leader who¡¯s name was Racnar.


    ¡°Dragon, would ya consider makin one o yer big gates here so we could send our ships to ya?¡±


    I smiled. ¡°I will set it up to the main gate at Calalistos.¡±


    ¡°Where that be?¡±


    ¡°It is south of Dragonhaven, it is our main seaport on the main continent.¡±


    ¡°Ah, they be like your city?¡±


    ¡°It is Haladoria¡¯s city and was a major seaport long before Dragonhaven existed. The people of our worlds are all as you see us.¡±


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.¡°Worlds?¡±


    ¡°We have sixteen now that we are building up.¡±


    ¡°You do this for the gods?¡±


    ¡°In part. We do this for the people as well.¡±


    ¡°I be thinkin that you be a good emperor for yer people.¡±


    ¡°I just wish to keep them safe and happy.¡±


    ¡°That be what I said, lad.¡± He laughed.


    I chuckled. ¡°I hate to cut this visit short, but we found another group that was cut off. We would like to bring them in as well. If we can get all to trade, maybe we can avoid war in the future.¡±


    He stared at me a few moments. ¡°You be bringin the people up and avoidin the problems later on. That be a good plan, I be thinkin.¡±


    ¡°Well, where would you like for me to set up the portal?¡±


    We found a place outside of the harbor and I used the earth affinity to raise a ring that matched the one at Calalistos. It was the work of moments to conjure and enchant the crystal for it. After it was finished, Racnar was just staring at me.


    ¡°It is done, the way is open to our world now.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°You be a god. Tha title they be givin you weren¡¯t a boast.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°No, no boast. It is a heavy weight, but sometimes I can do some good with it.¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Ya know its dangers then.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Ya be makin a poor god though. They not be talkin to us mere mortals.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I am working to change that as well.¡±


    He just stared at me.


    When everyone was accounted for, we raised anchor. The send off was much better than the reception, but all in all, it was a good thing. The stories the humans told of the wars between the stars was something I would try to avoid at all cost. With open trade, maybe that could all be avoided¡­ at least I hoped. We left the harbor and I opened a portal to the next planet. Again I put us far enough out so as not to be spotted right away. Alistor put us on course.


    ¡°Michael, I do not know how this will go.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?


    ¡°Elves¡­ well¡­ we are a proud people. The ones we are to meet will not be open as much as the others.¡±


    ¡°What would you suggest?¡±


    ¡°I do not know. Maybe confront them.¡±


    ¡°I do not like that. Maybe we should talk to the others.¡±


    The conversation with the rest pretty much said the same thing in different worlds. I didn¡¯t like the idea, but it would seem that a show of force might be the best solution in the long run. Then I remembered when I met Alistor.


    ¡°Care to go flying love?¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°We do not need to confront them. We simply need to talk with them.¡±


    ¡°But if they attack?¡±


    ¡°Then we wait till they get tired of it. They have nothing that can harm us.¡±


    Her eyes widened, then she laughed. ¡°That might work.¡±


    We had been on course for their harbor and before Haladoria and I could take to the air, two ships approached us. We started to hail them but was met with a flight of arrows. Which bounced off of the shield I erected. They sent flight after flight. Finally, with my air affinity, I killed the wind to their sails and we just passed by them. Ignoring them. I decided to make sure the yacht was safe, so I conjured one of my trusty crystals and enchanted it with a large shield. I set it up on top of the main cabin. I linked it to another in the wheel house, so it could be switched on and off.


    ¡°I leave this to you Alistor. When we are clear, touch the crystal to activate the shield and either find a place to set anchor, or if you are feeling nasty, just play with them.¡±


    ¡°You have an evil streak, lord dragon.¡±


    ¡°After being teased for over a century, do you blame me?¡±


    He snorted, coughed then laughed until tears came from his eyes.


    Haladoria and I left the ship, she hadn¡¯t realized that she still had her dragon strength while in her elf form. It rather shook her. We jumped and shifted in the air then flew in over the harbor. It was beautiful¡­ except for all of the arrows and the ballista bolts in the air. We took our time and toured over the town taking in the sights. Fountains and trees were everywhere it seemed. We made our way out to the docks to watch Alistor play with the other ships who were trying to chase him. He almost swamped a few when he reversed course and made a high speed pass by them.


    We landed and shifted, ignoring the elves who where still slashing at us with swords and then shooting arrows at us. I got bored and pulled a picnic lunch through a portal, so we had dinner and sipped brandy while waiting. Finally the attacks stopped. A rather noble elf walked up.


    ¡°Greetings, this is Haladoria and I am Michael.¡±


    ¡°Leave.¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    It stunned the poor elf.


    ¡°We wish to talk to you about trade.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Oh, so maybe down the road, your ships can at least catch ours?¡± I said with a slight smirk.


    He looked out over the water at the yacht that had finally dropped anchor and sighed. ¡°What do you want from us?¡±


    ¡°Trade.¡±


    ¡°Nothing more?¡±


    ¡°Only that you accept our people.¡±


    ¡°Dragons?¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Dragons, humans, elves, dwarves, wyvern, fay and drow, so far.¡±


    He just stared at me.


    ¡°We live together in peace on our worlds.¡±


    ¡°Worlds?¡±


    ¡°We have sixteen so far we have colonized. We do not seek war or conquest, but to explore the worlds.¡±


    ¡°And you would trade with us.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Might we see your world?¡±


    ¡°I can arrange that. Would you mind if some of our people visit right now? That ship has a group of us who wish to meet you.¡±


    He thought about it for a while. ¡°Let me speak with my people first.¡±


    I nodded and we sat back down to sip our brandies.


    Alistor brought the yacht into the docks. As the people stepped off, they were greeted with a stunned silence. It lasted till one of the fay decided to make an appearance. She flitted over and landed on my shoulder.


    ¡°Greetings Lady Tori.¡±


    ¡°Greetings Michael Arienach.¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°They are meanies.¡±


    ¡°They just need to get used to us.¡± I said with a chuckle.


    By this time we had a gathering of elves around us.


    One spoke up. ¡°We are sorry little fairy, we didn¡¯t know.¡±


    They stepped back, though, when one of the drow walked up. ¡°Is it safe for us to explore, Michael?¡±


    ¡°I think so. You have a call stone, if anything happens we will be there.¡±


    She bowed and strutted off. I never got tired of watching drow walk, but their distaste for clothing? It made for an interesting sight. The elves were half repulsed and half entranced. One of the humans called to her and she was joined by him and a dwarf. They strolled off of the docks into the town proper, to the shock of the elves.


    ¡°They¡­ they like each other?¡±


    ¡°They are all my people. We have found that by working together that we learn much from each other.¡±


    Haladoria added. ¡°The dragons watch over us and protect us.¡±


    ¡°But you are a dragon.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°I am now. The lord emperor here made me a dragon at my request.¡±


    A young elf looked at her shyly. ¡°You are a beautiful dragon.¡±


    ¡°Awe, thank you my dear.¡±


    The ice broken, the others mixed in with our group. I breathed a sigh of relief. This could have been so much worse, but with the shields we had, it had been nothing more than a waiting game. Once they found that we didn¡¯t wish to harm them, it was a matter of time. Now, we stood a chance of becoming friends.

 Surprise!

    I awoke rather late the next day. We had opened a portal to Dragonhaven and gave them the tour. The offer of trade, after seeing the town was pretty much given. I had gone back and placed a full portal outside of their harbor and then Haladoria and I made our way home. Haladoria was wrapped around me to the point I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle. After a while she finally stirred, then moaned.


    ¡°Are you alright love?¡±


    ¡°Sleepy. I don¡¯t know why.¡±


    I wondered for a moment if she was sick. Maybe she was just not used to all the flying we did, but then again, it was really no more than we did when we went to find the other worlds. She finally untangled herself and did a lazy stretch.


    ¡°I feel so¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ tired lately.¡±


    I watched her as she left the lava¡­ then my eyes widened. ¡°Oh my¡­¡±


    She looked over at me. ¡°What.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ how do you feel otherwise?¡±


    She cocked her head. ¡°Not really that different. I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s like I feel heavier.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Might be the eggs.¡±


    ¡°Eggs?¡± Then her eyes widened and she looked at herself. ¡°Oh¡­ OH! I¡¯m¡­ oh my!¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I think the word is pregnant?¡±


    ¡°We''re going to have¡­ um¡­ children?¡±


    ¡°I suppose that works.¡± I said smiling.


    ¡°Gods, what do I do? I have never had eggs before.¡±


    ¡°I would guess, you lay them and then keep them warm, which shouldn¡¯t be a problem where we are.¡±


    ¡°The lava won¡¯t hurt them?¡±


    ¡°I rather doubt it. We are the parents, so they should have our traits.¡±


    ¡°You mean all of our traits?¡±


    ¡°No, but probably most of them. We are both planar so¡­ oh¡­¡± My eyes widening over the obvious.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well, lets say babysitting might be a problem.¡± I said with a far away look in my eye. I could see tiny dragons appearing out of nowhere to¡­ I stopped my thoughts before they traveled any farther down that road.


    ¡°Why? Oh¡­ Oh my¡­¡± I could see the realization set it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it takes for them to get their talents, but this could get interesting.¡±


    She stared at me in abject horror. ¡°There will be no way to control them¡­¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I worry more about everyone else. We are born with knowledge of how to use our skills, but less than stellar control.¡±


    Her eyes looked at me pleadingly. ¡°What do we do?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I would say take it as it comes. We have no idea what their personalities will be like.¡±


    I think we both had visions of tiny uncontrollable magic wielding killing machines¡­ but cute.


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the last of that thought.


    She still looked a little panicked but she was calming. ¡°So, how long does this take?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue. I am new to this as well.¡±


    ¡°So they might hatch at any time?¡±


    ¡°Well, I think you have to lay them first.¡±


    She snorted. ¡°You know what I meant.¡±


    I had a thought. ¡°Um, Ta, could you tell us?¡±


    To my surprise, she appeared, floating above the lava. ¡°You have a few days before they are ready. It will take about a month before they hatch.¡±


    ¡°That fast?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s a survival trait. The longer they are in egg form, the more likely they are to being attacked. Once out of the egg, they can fully defend themselves.¡±


    I stared at her for a moment. ¡°Um¡­ fully?¡±


    ¡°Yes, fully. I do have good news for you thought.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°They will inherit all of your traits, we were not sure it was possible, but it seems you are hatching the next generation of dragon gods.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ this is good news?¡± I asked weakly. Micro dragons with the powers of creation and no self control crossed my mind.


    She smiled. ¡°We will watch them for you. They will come to no harm, nor will we allow them to harm anyone.¡±


    Haladoria was shocked. ¡°I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but, um¡­ why?¡±


    Strangely, she turned to me and smiled. ¡°It is the least that we can do for you.¡±


    Then, of course, she disappeared.


    I looked up at Haladoria blankly. ¡°What the hell did she mean by that?¡±


    Naturally everything got complicated after that. It didn¡¯t take long for everyone, and I do mean everyone in the empire and the other two lands to find out. It was strange the way the people reacted. I think the dragons were the worst. They literally had a flying guard around the mountain and rotated shifts. The wyvern had to be held back or they would have burned themselves trying to get closer to Haladoria. I wound up putting up a shield to keep them out. The inter ring was full of people all waiting on the news of the eggs. I was half amused and half terrified. The fay were almost as bad, but at least they stayed outside the cone where they wouldn¡¯t get fried.


    Once the eggs were laid, things mellowed a bit. Not much, but a bit. I stared at the little spheres and wondered at how they could effect almost twenty planets. That month seemed to take much longer than the previous century. Haladoria recovered quickly, but, as expected, would not leave the eggs alone for a second. I suppose I was just as bad, as I didn¡¯t leave the cone either. It was a strange time, like the entire empire was holding it¡¯s breath, waiting on those eggs to hatch.


    The day finally came. The dragons hovered overhead as the eggs rocked back and forth. The wyvern wove in and out between them. Haladoria and I lay there entranced as the eggs formed cracks, then split open. Then their occupants crawled out. We had no clue what to expect. We thought we had figured out most of the things that could happen. We were wrong. Once they were all out, they turned to me as one.


    ¡°Greetings¡­ lord dragon.¡± I heard in my mind with a chorus of laughter.


    I looked up at Haladoria and she looked back at me with her eyes wide. ¡°I take it you heard that?¡± I asked.


    Noregus, from behind me said; ¡°I think we all did¡­ lord dragon.¡± Then he snickered.


    I suddenly heard all of the dragons laughing as well as the people down on the plains.


    I studied my new children. I didn¡¯t have a clue what sex they were. They were all a pearly white with hints of shimmering color that seemed to ripple across their scales. Black horns and claws. At a guess, they were about three feet long from snout to tail tip. They didn¡¯t have the pudgy look of the juveniles, but the sleek look of the older dragons. Their eyes seemed to glow with the colors of the rainbow. There was intelligence in those eyes. A deep knowing intelligence. It was a little frightening. They looked at one another and then jumped into the sky. They went through my shield like it didn¡¯t exist. The dragons fell back as they flew out of the cone and circled around all the people gathered there. They were glowing streaks, going as fast as an ancient at full speed. Then they slowed down as if to show themselves to all the people of the lands. They made their way back and landed. Then they made their way into the lava with a contented warble. It almost sounded like birds.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    I looked up at Haladoria and she looked back at me. Unspoken was the question. ¡°Now what do we do?¡±


    Ta and the other gods appeared. They hovered over the lava and looked at the newest dragons in the lands. They looked at each other and all of them disappeared except for Ta.


    She landed on the shelf and smiled at us. ¡°It would seem that we do not need to worry about your children.¡±


    I stared at her for a moment. ¡°They are fully intelligent.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Haladoria, looking a little lost, asked; ¡°What are we to do?¡±


    Ta¡¯s face lost it¡¯s smile a bit. ¡°We do not know. It would seem your children have the sum knowledge of both of you.¡±


    What do you say to that? I looked down at the three tiny sleeping dragons at a complete loss.


    Strangely enough, they acted like children¡­ for the most part. Curious, they explored as they would. They were polite to a fault, however. Most of the time they were together but then again, it was nothing to find them wandering the streets alone. Or one of the other planets. They had no fear, why would they? Even if anyone tried to do them harm, which was unthinkable, if the dragons didn¡¯t get them, the rest of the population would. They were idolized. We gave up trying to keep track of them. We were outnumbered. Most of the time they didn¡¯t mind us following them around, others, they would just disappear. Sometimes it was the reverse, they would follow us. They took to riding on our backs if we were flying, then they would dart away if something caught their eye. They didn¡¯t seem to want to talk, so we didn¡¯t force the issue, but we knew that sometime soon there would be a discussion. It was inevitable.


    Haladoria seemed a bit lost. I think part of her was expecting the joys of motherhood. Not to have fully sentient gods who were mostly fully developed. I stayed with her and the children did as well, when they weren¡¯t out exploring. Ta even dropped in to visit every now and again, she rarely said anything, but would watch the tiny gods with a slight smile on her face. We didn¡¯t know what to think about that.


    Things were going well, but I started thinking about getting back out into the galaxy. Since we had already charted several worlds, we were still expanding, but before too long we would have to go back out and search some more.


    We were laying in the lava pool just after waking up. The children were cuddled up between us.


    ¡°Good morning father.¡±


    I jumped slightly.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± I replied cautiously.


    ¡°I am Tristan.¡±


    ¡°I am Ronan¡±


    ¡°I am Eric¡±


    There was no real visible way to tell them apart, but I knew which was which.


    I stared at them for a few minutes. ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡± I finally replied.


    ¡°We realize that this is rather hard on you. Mother especially. We will try to help out where we can.¡±


    She finally spoke. ¡°Thank you. We were not prepared for you.¡±


    ¡°We know. We are sorry.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sorry, it just came a surprise is all.¡± I said.


    ¡°We do need to get back to work, though. We hear dragons crying.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked stunned.


    ¡°You have not found all of the castaways. There are dragons out there in pain.¡±


    Haladoria was fully awake at that news. ¡°Do you know where they are?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly, but father knows how to find them.¡±


    I do? Wait, I never finished searching the second ring. ¡°Yeah, I think I do.¡±


    They smiled.


    We ported out to the end of the mana trail and I took a look back at the pattern. It looked like four more systems this time. To save time we split up, with Haladoria going to one with Tristan. We stopped back and picked up three wyvern apiece, then went hunting. My system was dead, no planets were in the sweet spot. I was about to go join the next in line where Eric was, when I got the call from Ronan.


    ¡°Found them. We need to get them out as fast as we can, this planet is a death trap.¡±


    I felt a chill as we ported in. The planet was literally coming apart. It was almost impossible to see, the air was choked by ashes and steam from the boiling sea. Everywhere you looked mountains were spewing molten rock into the air and the land was split open with lava flowing out of the cracks. The land shook in an almost continuous earthquake.


    The wyvern took off to map and I started my radar scan. I went to the first cluster and found about half a dozen who were in pretty bad shape. I ported them to one of the planets we hadn¡¯t colonized yet and told the others which one it was. When the wyvern finished we knew we had to work fast. The next group I took was in fair shape, but I had to heal one who was severely burned. I got a call from Haladoria and went to her. There were four and two were on the edge of death. A mountain near by blew its top and I raised a shield. Haladoria was crying. I told her to try a healing spell, just to trickle the mana into it. She managed it, but she was shaking afterward.


    The children managed to get more than we did, but we almost lost a couple of wyvern in the process. I wound up porting them all home. They were scared and trying to follow us, not paying attention to where they were flying. There were still two groups left so the children grabbed one and we got the other. We left with the last group.


    When we got to the dragons they were starting to come back to life a bit, but we still had some major healing to do. They were not equipped to deal with the volcanic ash in their lungs. Many were blinded as well. There were less than forty all told.


    Haladoria was not in good shape, this little expedition had shaken her. The children gathered around her and I watched as she was enveloped by light. When it was over, she looked the same, but she wasn¡¯t crying. I didn¡¯t have time to think on it as I was healing them as fast as I could.


    The rest of the day was a blur after that, but we finished with them about the same time. To my surprise, Haladoria was the last to finish and was smiling. I looked at her curiously.


    She smiled at me. ¡°It looks like we are all divine now.¡±


    I looked from her to the children, wondering just what else they could do. They were born into their powers.


    ¡°I did find something interesting on the planet I went to.¡± Eric said as he gave me a knowing look.


    ¡°Oh, what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Trolls, they are guarding something.¡±

 All The Creatures

    We stayed with the dragons as they recovered. The children pulled another miracle. They conjured a large crystal in the center of the field and connected it to the energy plane. Then they did something that let it take the incoming energy and convert it to mana. I tried to study the enchantment, but it was beyond me. They looked up at me and smiled.


    One of the ancients finally pulled himself up onto his feet and came to me.


    ¡°I am Trigar. Thank you. We were almost gone.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry I didn¡¯t find you sooner.¡± I said sadly.


    ¡°What¡¯s done is done. You are Arienach, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I go by Michael Arienach now.¡±


    ¡°So the eldest ancient is now a god.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°Not my idea, but it was a package deal.¡±


    He chuckled, then coughed. ¡°Damn that stuff burns your throat.¡±


    ¡°It will take time. We got it all out and healed you, but it will still be raw for a while.¡±


    He snorted. ¡°Raw is much better than the alternative. What will you do with us now?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? If you wish, you can stay here or join the empire. You might have to get used to the empire, however.¡±


    ¡°You made a dragon empire?¡±


    ¡°Not really, but they call it that. It is an empire of all the people.¡±


    ¡°You mean the lesser races.¡±


    ¡°That would be where you would need to adjust. Once they were brought together with us, they have done miracles.¡±


    He shook his head. ¡°They don¡¯t hold half our power.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°And we don¡¯t hold one tenth of their creativity.¡±


    He just stared at me.


    ¡°We hold sixteen worlds right now. Seventeen if you wish to add this world and join us.¡±


    ¡°I would see these worlds.¡±


    ¡°How about I take you to Dragonhaven?¡±


    ¡°Dragonhaven?¡±


    ¡°The other races named it. I rather suck at names. It is the capitol of the empire.¡±


    ¡°I would see that, I think.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we wait a bit and see if any of the others wish to join us.¡±


    Haladoria came to join us after making her rounds of the dragons. Most were starting to stir, but they weren¡¯t quite aware of their surroundings. Then the children showed up.


    Trigar¡¯s eyes bulged. ¡°My gods!¡±


    They giggled and said in unison. ¡°Yes?¡±


    He just stared in shock. Then he looked at Haladoria. ¡°You as well?¡±


    She smiled at him. ¡°Yes, the children made me a god while I was trying to heal you. I couldn¡¯t have done it otherwise.¡±


    ¡°These are your children?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I was an elf, but became a dragon to be with Michael. These are ours.¡±


    The other dragons had been stirring and a few came over to listen.


    One of them asked. ¡°How was it that you became a god?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°It was rather a package deal. Haladoria had died and the other dragons¡­ well, they didn¡¯t take it too well.¡±


    Haladoria sighed. ¡°So the gods gave the other races immortality so the dragons would not suffer.¡±


    We neglected to tell them that it was a setup by the gods. They were changing it seemed, so it seemed petty now. We waited until all of the other dragons had recovered then asked them all if they would care to see Dragonhaven. After seeing the children and Haladoria, they were all more than willing.


    ¡°The only thing that we require is that you do not harm any of the people while you are there.¡±


    That brought on another discussion of the people, but in the end, they were amiable. We flew up and circled, then opened a portal over my caldera. The others came through and saw for the first time the empire of the dragons. They were like curious children as we flew over the city. The people came out and cheered as we flew over the outer town. They were stunned. The docks and such caught their eye, the gleaming streets in a fan shape to either side made for an almost surrealistic view. Haladoria and the children landed first and shifted. Well, Haladoria did anyway. Then they landed one by one and gathered around her pointing and staring. The people came out and greeted them, offering them food and odd things. When I finally landed, I had to bite back a laugh when I saw one I knew to be an ancient with a yo-yo.


    The shops, the artisans, the crafters¡­ they were entranced. Haladoria met us outside of the Dragons Head with a cask of brandy. I watched as more than one¡¯s eyes glazed over in amazement. The dragons on the cliff face held them fascinated for almost an hour. The carvings on the walls to the inner ring as well. The inner city also seemed to captivate them. All looked in wonder at the various races coming and going, chatting and working together. I stopped them a mile in and pointed out the lairs on the inner ring. They looked at my volcano, then at me.


    Trigar made the statement they were all thinking. ¡°The gods live here.¡±


    I smiled. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Then Ta showed up. ¡°Welcome dragons. We are sorry that you suffered.¡±


    It was dead quiet as the dragons stared at her.


    I smiled. ¡°It is over now for them.¡±


    Ta turned to me with a smile. ¡°You have more to save, but you do well Michael. None should be as these were. We have found blessing under your rule.¡±


    Then, it typical Ta fashion, she disappeared.


    Trigar whispered. ¡°They talk¡­¡±


    I smiled¡­ right up until he continued. ¡°I would join your empire, Michael.¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I would be honored to have you.¡±


    I turned to the other dragons who all took one knee. The empire dragons who had been watching cheered and then ran in to hug their brethren. Haladoria hugged me with a little tear in her eye.


    ¡°You do well¡­ lord dragon.¡±


    I rolled my eyes and sighed.


    Noregus laughed then grabbed Trigar. ¡°Let me tell you about the traditions of the empire.¡± He said giving me an evil grin.


    I just shook my head and laughed.


    Arienach gave me a mental nudge. ¡°Did you happened to catch what Ta said?¡±


    I though for a few moments. ¡°I guess not.¡± I said perplexed.


    ¡°We have found blessing under your rule.¡±


    I didn¡¯t catch it at first, then the wording sunk in. ¡°Oh my gods.¡±


    ¡°Apparently.¡± He said dryly.


    ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡±


    Haladoria noticed the look on my face and came over. ¡°What is the matter, Michael?¡±


    I sighed. ¡°I am not sure. I may have been hearing things.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Did you hear exactly what Ta said?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Go over exactly what she said.¡±


    I could see her focus for a moment, then her brow furrowed. ¡°That can¡¯t be right¡­¡±


    Tristan appeared next to us. ¡°But it is.¡± She said with a whisper and a laugh, then she disappeared again.


    We just stared at each other.


    The next morning found us in the caldera. The children were snuggled in between us warbling. I couldn¡¯t help but smile as I lay there floating. Haladoria awoke next and smiled at me.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.¡°They are little angels.¡± In a half whisper.


    I snorted, causing them to stir in their sleep.


    ¡°They are little gods.¡± I replied in a low tone.


    She just grinned.


    We lay there for the longest time until Ronan opened one eye. ¡°You know, we can feel you watching us.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°Would you like us to stop?¡±


    ¡°No, it feels almost like a caress. We just thought you should know.¡±


    ¡°Well, when you are ready, we will go see the trolls.¡±


    That had all of their attention. The others stirred and yawned, then grinned. They had grown a bit, they were almost four feet long by now. I now knew the parental pleasure of watching your children grow. I suppose most parents didn¡¯t get to watch them grow this fast, however. Still, nothing else in my life was normal, why should this be? I reasoned.


    One of them giggled. I just shook my head with a smile.


    We ported in over the sea and flew to where the trolls had been spotted. I had thought to bring the wyvern, but held off for some reason. Just a feeling. I had Ronan and Eric on my back and Haladoria had Tristan. We couldn¡¯t figure out how they could stand there as we flew. I suppose it was one of the perks of being god-lings. Land came into sight and I scanned the beach we were headed for. I didn¡¯t see anything. We landed on the beach and Haladoria and I shifted. Strangely the children stayed with us. I had the feeling we were being watched, but I didn¡¯t bother to scan. Who or whatever it was would either make itself known or not. After a few minutes I notice the trees moving off to my left. Then I got my first view of a troll. It wasn¡¯t the cute little furry ones, this was about twice our height and¡­ well¡­ it was flat ugly. It was dragging a huge club behind it as it approached. It stopped about five feet in front of us and I had to look up to see it.


    ¡°You no run.¡± It said in a gravelly voice.


    Part of me had a feeling something was off. ¡°No. I am called Michael, this is Haladoria and these are our children, Tristen, Ronan and Eric.¡± I said with a smile.


    One of the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. His voice changed to an almost British accent when he next spoke. ¡°So the gods return. What brings you here?¡± He said with what I figured out was a smile.


    ¡°We are just checking in on all of the castaways to see if they need help. We would also like to set up trade if you wish.¡± I returned the smile.


    He laughed. ¡°We aren¡¯t known for our arts and crafts. We are usually wanted to work in dungeons.¡±


    ¡°I hope that isn¡¯t a job preference. We don¡¯t have any.¡±


    His eyes widened. ¡°No dungeons? How do you level?¡±


    ¡°We are exploring worlds. The empire now is up to seventeen, last I checked.¡±


    ¡°An empire of dragons. Who would have thought.¡± He said with a chuckle.


    ¡°No, an empire of people.¡±


    He looked at me perplexed. ¡°What do you mean, people?¡±


    ¡°Elves, humans, drow, dragons, fay, dwarves, centaurs, wyvern¡­ So long as they can live in peace, they are part of the empire.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡±


    ¡°Nope. We are making contact with the original castaways to establish trade. If we can bring them up to where we are, we figure that we can avoid war in the future. Joining us isn¡¯t mandatory, we just wish to keep the peace.¡±


    He just stared for a few moments. ¡°Now this sounds like a tale I would hear.¡±


    Ronan spoke up. ¡°Do you mind if we go see the unicorns?¡±


    I looked down at him in shock, then back up at the troll. He shrugged. ¡°We watch over them and keep them hidden. Oh, I am called Rarge, by the way.¡±


    I shook my head and chuckled. ¡°Nice to meet you Rarge.¡±


    He looked down at them with mock seriousness. ¡°So long as you are not looking for lunch.¡±


    They laughed and took off flying towards the tree line.


    I sighed. ¡°Children.¡±


    Rarge laughed. ¡°Not many have children who are gods. You must have your hands full.¡±


    Haladoria laughed. ¡°You do not know the half of it.¡±


    He smiled. ¡°You have been blessed. I don¡¯t know about trade, but can you set it up so we can visit? I mean, we don¡¯t get much in the way of company here.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°Sure. So long as you aren¡¯t looking for lunch.¡±


    He laughed. ¡°Ya got me. The people of your land wouldn¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°It might take them a bit to get used to you and the doors are probably way too small, but I don¡¯t see why not.¡±


    ¡°Well, if they put up with you dragons, we can go as beauty queens.¡± He snorted.


    I laughed. ¡°They are going to love you.¡±


    ¡°Let me trot off and fetch a couple of people from our village.¡±


    ¡°Sure. However many wish to come.¡± I said with a grin. ¡°If you decide to have open doors both ways, I can set you up a permanent portal.¡±


    ¡°That works, follow me then.¡±


    We walked to a small village full of trolls. They stopped and stared at us and we smiled and waved at them. A few of them laughed and went about their business, whatever that was. Rarge stood in the middle of the village and bellowed out an invitation for anyone wanting to go see the dragon empire. About half of them seemed interested. I asked Rarge where he wanted the portal and he pointed to a spot just about where he was standing. Made sense, I guess. A little earth magic, and enchanted crystal later, there was a new portal link to the portal room by my lair. They followed us through and then outside to the inner ring, then stopped. Dragons in the skies with wyvern, elves and all the other people going back and forth.


    Rarge looked about in amazement. ¡°You weren¡¯t joking, were you?¡± He said in awe.


    ¡°Nope, The volcano is my lair but I have a house down here when I need to meet with people.¡±


    We took the tour. Most of the people were amazed to see trolls but once the shock wore off, they were talking to them like old friends. I could see the shock of the trolls as they were taken here and there and show different things. Haladoria introduce them to elven brandy of course. They wound up at the docks and stared at the ships as they came and went.


    ¡°I would like to bring more here to see this.¡± Rarge said quietly.


    ¡°Feel free, the portal is open now.¡±


    ¡°You make for a strange god, dragon.¡±


    I laughed. ¡°I have been told that before.¡±


    ¡°What do the other gods think of this?¡±


    Ta appeared and Rarge dropped to a knee.


    ¡°We approve, Rarge.¡± She said with a smile. ¡°Michael is guiding us to a golden age.¡±


    He looked up in shock. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    She laughed. ¡°We have made so many mistakes. Do not worry Rarge.¡± She then disappeared.


    He looked up to me. ¡°The gods speak.¡±


    ¡°That they do.¡±


    ¡°We will talk again.¡± He said as he stood up. He looked around slowly. ¡°Maybe we can find something of use to you.¡±


    ¡°If not, then we can at least be friends.¡± I said with a smile.


    ¡°That we can.¡± He replied.


    I watched him walk back toward the portal. Strange how they seemed to be the most easy going of all the races I had met.

 The Dead World

    Time flew by. The day to day of running an empire and raising young dragon gods took up all of my focus. The children had taken over finding planets. It was almost a hobby with them. Worlds opened up to us like a field of wildflowers in the spring. Haladoria watched over them as best she could, but she knew that there was no way she could keep up with them. One nice thing about having planar god-lings for your children, they never stayed out all night. It didn¡¯t matter what happened in the day, there were five dragons in the caldera that night. They knew their mothers pain and were there with her as much as they could be.


    The children were a mystery to all but themselves. They never spoke to each other, but after the lord dragon crack, when they projected to the entire population, we had a pretty good idea how they talked. They grew, but not as a dragon would. They were almost twelve feet long by this point, but it was linear. Dragons had growth spurts. Hatchling to juvenile, juvenile to adult, adult to ancient. It was only after they hit ancient that they had any steady growth, and that took centuries. A lot of them.


    Strangely, everyone knew them by name. Even though there was no way to tell them apart¡­ at least that I had found. They were beautiful. I had studied their scales, the shimmering white was deep within. It was hard to look into their eyes for very long. The vertical eye slit was there, but the glowing colors around it would pull you in. The talons and horns looked, at first to be the only normal dragon trait that they had, until you looked closer. They were black, but it was so deep that they looked like all of space was inside their claws.


    The ship? Well that was another mystery. It sat in the back of my mind like an itch I couldn¡¯t scratch. It had to be moving at a very high rate of speed when it came though the portal. The portal, a miscalculation? Sabotage? The rings suggested escape pods, or the equivalent. The gods, crew on the ship? Command? Or were they only game related? ?Then the question of why they couldn¡¯t tell me. Ta was around so much now that she was almost part of the family. Then the comment that they had found blessing under my rule¡­


    ¡°You worry too much father.¡± Ronan said in my mind.


    I looked down into the eyes of my son. ¡°It is a thing I do to keep the things I don¡¯t worry about from biting my tail.¡±


    He let out a tinkling, almost bell like laugh. Their voices were still developing. ¡°You will know soon.¡±


    I stared at him as he let his head sink back down.


    ¡°What do you make of that, Michael?¡± Arienach said in my mind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I replied looking out from the cone.


    Then there were the people. I stared out at the lands around me. There was no dissension, no unrest, no rebellion. I thought back to Torgos. The pirates there had taken over almost half the island, the empire comes calling and suddenly they are all wanting to join and they lived happily ever after. Once part of the empire, they fell into place like a well oiled machine. They were creative, cooperative and quite productive. I sighed. There was a picture here, but I was just not seeing it. Was the way the people responded just the way of the game? None of them could see it for themselves. They had bright personalities and their lives almost sparkled. I shook my head. Maybe it was just me.


    Just me. Time seemed fragmented. I didn¡¯t see things unless they were¡­ what? Necessary? Important? I had watched the land around my lair grow, but I hadn¡¯t really seen it. I didn¡¯t notice the small things unless they were pointed out to me. I knew I was more dragon than human now. Having two minds merging¡­ I was still me, but I wasn¡¯t. Most the time I was content unless, I laughed at myself, I worried about it. I heard Ronan chuckle in my mind. Arienach joined him.


    I was the dragon god emperor¡­ shut up and deal with it.


    It was later that day, while I was at the Dragons Head with Haladoria, Dorvus, Darhla and Shryke, I got a call from Eric.


    ¡°Father, you should come see this.¡±


    I sat bolt upright in my chair. Somehow he had told me where he was as he had spoke to my mind.


    ¡°Michael. What is the matter?¡± Haladoria looked at me curiously.


    ¡°I just had Eric tell me that there is something I should see.¡±


    ¡°Where is he?¡± Shryke asked.


    ¡°Almost half way across the galactic plane.¡± I replied wonderingly.


    ¡°I would be joinin ya, but I seem ta be lackin wings.¡± Dorvus chuckled. Still he looked concerned.


    The others said they would come, so we left the pub and went to the docks. The normal flight formed up and I opened a portal.


    At first, I couldn¡¯t see what the fuss was about. It looked like one of a thousand different worlds. Quite alive, the sky was clear¡­ then I saw them. They were so old that they were almost completely hidden. Partially buried ruins. Eric met us then flew to what could have been a harbor¡­ it was hard to tell. As we flew over it, I got a perspective in the size. It was vast. I looked out over the city, what I could make out of it. It was almost completely buried and covered with vegetation. I circled higher while the others landed. From the looks of it this city as almost as large as Torgos.


    I finally landed. The others were still in dragon form. I think that this place had them unnerved. The dock I landed on was quite wide but it was cluttered with mounds and small hills. Creation and earth¡­ I lifted the earth and plants away to see what was underneath. It wasn¡¯t a big section¡­ for a dragon, but at least we would get a look. The dock looked to be metal, if there was any wood in the construction, it had long since rotted away. It looked like it had tracks set in two rows on either side running parallel to the length. Metal boxes of some type, some broken open. Whatever was inside was long since gone, save for scraps of metal in the debris. There were other strange things laying here and there. I suddenly realized I was looking at machines.


    We had found the ruins of a very advanced civilization. Well, compared to where we were. I had no scale to measure it against the ship back home. Haladoria had peeled a layer back from the face of a building and I could see some glass and whatever the metal was in the construction. There was also what looked like concrete. Haladoria seemed fascinated with the glass. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. Darhla came over with what looked like some kind of scooter in her mouth. I held back the mental image of a dog playing fetch. She put it down and looked at me.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.¡°What are these things?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I am not sure. We need to bring in the wyvern and map this place. If there are no threats, I think we should turn it over to the people to look at, they may be able to figure this stuff out.¡± Part of me felt a little guilty for lying, but no one knew, save the gods and the children¡­ they had to know, that I wasn¡¯t just a dragon.


    Shryke came up a few minutes later. ¡°Michael, this place is strange. I cannot help but wonder what happened.¡±


    I looked around at what I could see. ¡°Yes. This place looks amazingly intact for how old it must be.¡±


    The children made an appearance, landing on Haladoria¡¯s back.


    ¡°What will we do, father?¡± Tristan asked. Her stare was a little too intense and I looked away.


    ¡°Map it and give it to the races if it is safe.¡±


    They nodded.


    The planet was indeed safe. The wyvern came back with their report; nothing harmful. The largest predator was along the lines of a jungle cat, but they were well away from the cities. Most of the world was populated by these cities which argued a very large civilization¡­ when it was alive. We hadn¡¯t found any remains, but the doors we had found were about the same size as what we used. I could see no real harm, so I turned it over to the races.


    They went after the city with a will. Haladoria, the children and I cleared as much as we could. The city stretched farther than I had originally thought, since it has suburbs surrounding it. I had found what I thought was a power plant, but saw no wires to transfer the energy. Probably buried. The roads were all paved with what looked like asphalt or whatever passed for it here. They were amazingly intact as well. I did find an airport on the south side of town. The wrecks there looked to be only slightly advanced over what I we had had back on earth.


    The people, for the most part, didn¡¯t report unless they saw something that they considered important. They recognized the planes immediately, but were puzzled by what made them fly. The vehicles on the streets and in the garages were puzzles for them as well. They were about to make a major leap into the future. I detected no magic in anything that they brought to show me, so this would be strictly technology. There was a major party when they discovered the library. Hundreds descended on in. The books were dissected and transcribed. Then they set about learning how to read them.


    The tradesmen found machine shops and service areas and were learning as fast as the others. The dragons went from city to city, just looking at the shapes and reporting anything that looked different. That was how we found the spaceport. Again it didn¡¯t look to far advanced from what we had back on earth. After we cleared the debris, it was remarkably intact as well. I surveyed the facility with a growing unease. Of the cities we had uncovered, none looked damaged beyond age. We had also found no remains. We had pictures now. The houses and buildings were full of them. They were human.


    The people seemed to have adopted a policy of not disturbing the cities any more than they had to. Alistor told me that they didn¡¯t want to do anything that would disturb the memory of the people who used to live here. They were making a planet memorial, it seemed. That didn¡¯t stop them from pulling samples of just about everything they found. They had set up something akin to a research lab on one of the other planets we weren¡¯t using and it was growing fast. I did a tour of the place and had to look away when I found something that just had to be a cell phone.


    The part of the building that was dedicated to books was growing as well. They hadn¡¯t taken long at all to be able to read what they had found, but they were puzzled that some of the books were in different dialects. Eventually they found that the dialects were from different regions. Except for the shape of the landmasses, this could have been earth. The parallels were uncanny. The major question was where was everyone? What happened? Did they just clock out from work one day and say, hey! Lets disappear and leave no trace.


    ¡°You are troubled Michael.¡± Ta had appeared.


    I had never seen her off planet before. ¡°Well, from what I can tell, the inhabitants of this planet just disappeared for no reason.¡±


    Ta looked around. ¡°We do not know. Our scope was limited and this happened before we arrived.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever see anything like this?¡± I asked watching her.


    ¡°No. The pattern of development is pretty standard. Entire populations disappearing is not.¡±


    ¡°From what we can tell, the wildlife is intact. There is no sign of damage whatsoever, save what time has done.¡±


    Ta paused a moment. ¡°Maybe it was something that targeted intelligent life?¡±


    I snorted. ¡°Then where are the politicians?¡±


    She stared at me for a moment, then laughed. ¡°I had to find the references for that. You had a low opinion of them.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, that was a sore spot for me. I find it hard to respect someone who is for sale to the highest bidder and does not do the job that they agreed to do.¡±


    She shrugged. ¡°I could see that being a problem, seeing as they set your laws.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t help here though. I suppose all we can do is keep our eyes open. This happened a very long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Truth. We will keep watch.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She smiled and disappeared. Typical Ta fashion.


    It was about a month or so later when the people figured out how electricity works. Almost. The next lesson after that was sudden and taught them about rotting insulation and what shorts could do. They had replaced one of the reactors at the power plant at the space port with a crystal that was tapped to the energy plane. Apparently, the children taught them the enchantment. When it went online, it caused quite a few fires before the feed lines completely shorted an tripped the breakers.


    They studied the problem and figured out how to make their own wires. To be honest, I kept out of it. I seriously doubted that anything electronic would have survived that long, but I figured it would be an exercise in learning for them. It seems I was wrong. The bunkers where control and several of the labs were sealed. They had discovered computers. What they couldn¡¯t find in all of the papers and books they found on hard drives.

 Mistake

    I was laying in my pool staring at the sky. Strange things had happened back on the dead world. Funny, the elves like to name everything, but they refused to name that planet. It was officially the dead world. The people were digging deeper into the records from the space center. They had discovered several more in rooms that were sealed. The children opened the rooms for them. Security locks didn¡¯t stand a chance against a planar. I had been told that only about a third of the computers the people had found had worked. So they read the fracking manual and found out what a hard drive was.


    They were piecing together something about a mission to the fifth planet. The children went there, but couldn¡¯t find anything out of the ordinary. It had a high metallic ore composition and they had no real coordinates to work off of. That was what the people were working on. They had already found an installation on the moon of that world. It was a sad affair. A simple dome with an airlock. They did recover a computer from it however. Space is a good preservative, it would seem.


    I sighed.


    ¡°Problem love?¡± Haladoria snuggled in next to me.


    ¡°Not really¡­ at least nothing more than we already have.¡±


    ¡°You worry too much.¡± She smiled as she said it.


    ¡°Someone has too.¡±


    ¡°I have an idea. Why don¡¯t we fly down and see the girls. You have been neglecting them terribly.¡±


    I laughed. Who could argue with logic like that?


    The day was pretty relaxed so far. I was trying to keep my mind off the empire for a while. Too many questions, not enough answers. Of course, it couldn¡¯t last.


    ¡°Father, we found something.¡± Ronan sounded pretty excited.


    I rousted Haladoria and told her of the message. We left the girls sleeping and ported to the coordinates he gave me. We came out over the fifth planet and dropped like a rock, there was no atmosphere. We suddenly slowed and touched down. Haladoria was shaken, but she recovered quickly. I had no clue how we could survive with no atmosphere, but as planar dragons, it came with the package.


    We made our way over to an area that had been cleared out. There were three domes and something in an open space just beyond them. I walked over and looked at it. It was a ring with a bunch of cables coming from it. It looked broken on one side and I could see a platform. It probably stood vertical on the platform, was my first thought.


    ¡°It is a portal.¡± Tristan said as she appeared next to me.


    I tried to speak and remembered, no atmosphere.


    She laughed. ¡°You should learn mind speak, father.¡±


    I thought about it for a second. ¡°Call me old fashioned.¡±


    ¡°Very good. We are in the dome now retrieving the drives from the machines there.¡± She said.


    ¡°What do you think this is about?¡± I was getting used to projecting my thoughts now.


    ¡°Not so loud, love. You are pushing a bit hard there, they probably hear you back on Dragonhaven.¡± Haladoria laughed.


    ¡°Sue me, I am new at this.¡±


    ¡°You are fine, father. We will work with you later if you wish.¡± Tristan said with a chuckle. ¡°We are keeping the conversation local, however.¡±


    ¡°You are a bit loud.¡± Eric said. ¡°We have the drives, lets head back.¡±


    I was bemused as I watched Eric and Ronan walk through the wall of the dome.


    ¡°Father, you do not use half of your powers.¡± Tristan chided me.


    ¡°I have never needed them.¡± I replied.


    ¡°If you do need them, you won¡¯t have them¡­ or the fine control.¡± Ronan argued.


    We ported back to the dead world. I looked around and was curious to find that no one was around except us dragons. Haladoria and I shifted and followed the children into one of the buildings. It was deserted as well.


    ¡°We are not sure if we wish to release this bit of information to the people.¡± Ronan explained.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Haladoria asked.


    ¡°Because it goes beyond dangerous. You are now a planar and father hasn¡¯t taken you across planes for a reason.¡±


    She looked at me curiously, then turned back to Ronan. ¡°I am sure he has his reasons.¡±


    I chuckled. ¡°No need to defend my actions, love. Yes I do have my reasons. One of which is that you can go to places like, say, the chaos plane or to the lower realms and not be able to return. The other reason is quite selfish. I do not want to lose you out there if you become lost while exploring. I¡¯ve gotten quite attached to having a snuggle dragon.¡±


    She stuck her tongue out at me. ¡°Love you too dear. But it should be safer now.¡±


    ¡°Safer is not safe. You were not born a planar, mother. Father is right to worry, as we worry about both of you. Neither of you were born gods. Even though Father has, as he puts it, read the fracking manual, it is not the same as having the reflexive reactions of your abilities.¡± Eric explained quietly.


    ¡°Your noninterference policies have worked quite well with the people to this point. But cases such as this, where we are not sure what we are dealing with, you should have all of your resources available to you, father.¡± Tristan chided.


    ¡°We cannot do this for you, you must do it for yourself.¡± Ronan said, staring at me.


    Ronan had walked over to a crystal tablet on the floor. With his forelegs, he plugged one of the drives in. A second crystal lit up on the wall and resolved into pictures and data from the drive. It looked much like the displays I was familiar with back before I came here. As I watched him work, I thought about all that had happened and the time it would take me to learn my full powers. I mentally sighed, it seemed a daunting task.


    ¡°We will help you father, it need not take that much time and we can watch over your people for you. Mother should be included on this as well, even though we were able to give her some instruction with her gift.¡± Tristan said quietly.


    I sighed as I watched Ronan work. The children were right of course. They knew more than we did. I had the feeling that they knew about the ship and the gods as well. Strangely, I trusted their judgment. I found myself staring at the crystal that Ronan was using and wondered at it.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.¡°We found where the original machines were made and recovered the designs. Rather ingenious the way they manipulated electricity and magnetic fields to almost make those things think. I wasn¡¯t hard to build layered crystal latices to work the same as their machines." Eric explained to me with a smile.


    ¡°So now you have them working off of mana.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Magic computers.¡±


    ¡°Computers is a base term, but acceptable I suppose. These are far beyond the calculators that they were using. We intend to let the people catch up to the technical aspects before integrating the magical.¡± Ronan cocked his head and looked at me. ¡°Your trust issues are understandable and not really issues. Any of what they have learned so far can be abused. And too large a jump can make one fall.¡±


    ¡°Your servant analogy is quite accurate. We must watch over them so they do not fall. They have came so far.¡± Tristan added.


    Ronan froze for a second. ¡°As these fell. I have found where the people of this world went.¡± He said sadly. ¡°Their portal worked, however there is no record of what happened after they opened it. They probably didn¡¯t have time to do anything. Their portal opened on the demon plane.¡±


    Eric disappeared. His words hadn¡¯t quite been understood by Haladoria yet, and Tristan just started shaking. I felt numb. They must have feasted well that day. An entire planet of souls in one go. I watched as Eric returned, the displaced air making a loud pop in the room.


    ¡°It is done, I destroyed the base and the lab on the moon. We will have to watch the people carefully when they achieve the ability to make portals." Eric said with a tired sigh.


    I reflected on his words. He was quite right. They would eventually figure out portals on their own. We would have to step in at that point and teach them the dangers and responsibilities that came with them. They were good people, but even good people could make mistakes.


    I felt immensely tired after what we had learned. Then something occurred to me. ¡°What about scouts?¡±


    Haladoria looked at me strangely. ¡°Scouts?¡±


    ¡°We have not detected anything that used mana for life, but we were not looking for them. We should bring back the wyvern and have them scan again.¡± Ronan said.


    ¡°Scouts, as in someone left behind to see if anyone came back to the world so the demons could return.¡± Tristan explained.


    Haladoria froze. ¡°They would do that?¡±


    ¡°I know I would in their position. An empty world that was just made to be explored. It would make a perfect trap.¡±


    ¡°Our portals are keyed so that no one who is not of the people can use them.¡± Ronan looked an me with a lopsided smile. ¡°It seems that fathers paranoia has worked in our favor to this point.¡±


    ¡°The wyvern didn¡¯t find anything their first scan, why would they now?¡± I mused.


    ¡°Because this time we know what we are looking for.¡± Eric said just before he disappeared again.


    ¡°Quarantine the planet. Take what we can to study back home.¡± I said quietly. ¡°Once the people are out, destroy all of the portals except for one. Make sure it is in and obscure place and remove the keys.¡±


    Haladoria¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Why would you do such a thing? They could find us then.¡±


    I smiled sadly. ¡°Not if the remaining portal is set to the chaos plane.¡±


    Ronan nodded. ¡°It would discourage them from searching any deeper into this realm.¡±


    Tristan disappeared. Probably to start evacuation. Ta appeared in her place.


    ¡°We would help with this.¡± She said simply.


    ¡°Get the people off this planet as fast as possible. And make sure nothing else goes with them.¡±


    Ta disappeared. I commanded the gods. I just shook my head.


    Eric reappeared. ¡°Gremlins¡± He said. ¡°There are ten on this continent, the wyvern are scanning the others as we speak.¡±


    ¡°Set a filter on the portals and scan everything that has been taken from this world. Lets get moving.¡±


    It didn¡¯t take long, all things considered. I did something I rarely ever did. I commanded them to leave. They simply dropped what they were doing and left. The portal screens had caught one trying to sneak back with us, I almost laughed, he was hiding in a cell phone. I always thought those were the work of the devil. We had the wyvern do one last scan then we left the world. The scans of the things that were brought back turned up nothing. We made sure to check for residual mana traces, as even with the gremlin stealth skill, they had to use magic to remain undetected.


    We got lucky.


    The demons didn¡¯t have the skill to raise a portal without a lot of work, but I wasn¡¯t going to allow them the chance to build a portal. They didn¡¯t need to be in our plane. After everything was settled, I went back and nudged one of the planets further out-system. I was going to make the pool shot from hell. I sensed a build up on the dead world, so I pushed harder. Suddenly, there was twelve gods and the children helping. I had to correct course because of the acceleration, but when they hit¡­ The dead planet held together long enough to soak up the kinetic energy from the ¡®pool ball¡¯ and was knocked from orbit as it started coming apart. The others left, but I stayed and watched for a while. It wasn¡¯t a perfect shot, but the sun is a huge pocket and I was sure the planet would hit it.


    Haladoria, the gods and the children were waiting for me as I returned. I cocked my head as they surrounded me, then the world disappeared in a white light. The light faded after a few moments and I knew. They had connected me with my powers and I understood what the children meant. I felt them all. I let myself travel outward and I could feel all of the people as well. I looked at the children and they just grinned at me. Ta bowed to me and her and the other gods went back to the ship. I could feel them now and knew where they were. I thought back on the day and suddenly, I was tired. It had been so close.


    I looked over to Haladoria with a slight smile. ¡°What say we see if the girls are awake?¡±


    The children laughed and went back to the caldera.


    She grinned. ¡°Yes, lets.¡±

 And in the End

    A century or so later:


    Strangely the empire population had stabilized. There were still births, but nothing like before. I wondered at it at night, curled up around Haladoria. It had happened a few decades previous. I watched but little had changed. We still expanding and the people still worked together. Technology had risen drastically when the people took apart what we had brought back from the dead world. Time passed as it always did and I watched. The puzzles were still there and I poked a the pieces every once in a while. The children had grown. They were almost ancient sized by this point. They still called me father and Haladoria mother. The rest of the people called us gods.


    I never did really get them to call me Michael. Insert Arienach¡¯s chuckle here.


    They had tried to make jet aircraft and decided they were too inefficient to use with steam. They wanted no part of fossil fuels. No one was in a big enough hurry to warrant the use of those creations. Since the people were pretty much immortal, what was the rush? The children had started to merge the technology with magic and the enchanters took it from there. I cannot say I was thrilled with the idea of cell phones, but at least they turned away from the idea of advertising. Crystal computers were everywhere now. They used them with just about everything. Funny thing, at least to me, there was no network for either the phones or the computers. They were linked through the portals and it was nothing to send a message across the galactic plane with no real delay.


    Still, I was shocked when I woke up that morning and discovered the game was gone.


    Haladoria looked over at me in shock. ¡°Michael. What has changed?¡±


    I was half asleep. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Something feels different.¡±


    Eric opened one eye. ¡°Oh, finally.¡± Then he grinned. ¡°What is your level now, father?¡±


    I shrugged and pulled up my status. Nothing happened. ¡°What the hell?¡±


    Haladoria looked up at me with wide eyes. ¡°Mine isn¡¯t working.¡±


    Ronan yawned. ¡°About time they shut that off.¡±


    Tristan was a bit more animated. ¡°It worked!¡± And hugged me.


    My eyes widened and instinctively I reached out to check on the people. Some were confused, others were a little shaken, but none were panicking.


    ¡°So. Does that mean we are not gods now?¡± I asked, confused.


    Eric just looked at me. ¡°No father. You are still the supreme god of this galaxy. I expect Ta to show up shortly to explain this to you.¡±


    ¡°You knew about this?¡± I asked shocked.


    Ronan sighed. ¡°You did as well, the humans told you about it.¡±


    He had a point. ¡°I know, but still.¡±


    I suddenly felt a tingle. Strange, it was down at the house. The children just looked up at me and smiled. Haladoria looked puzzled for a moment, looking between me and down to where the house was.


    Tristan gave me a nudge. ¡°Go on you two.¡±


    We flew down to the house and shifted. Ravina met us at the door with a smile. ¡°She is upstairs waiting on you.¡±


    I looked at her for a moment. She seemed¡­ happier? ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She curtsied and did her hip swaying strut out of the room. ¡°Some things never change.¡± I said with a smile.


    Haladoria just laughed. ¡°True, but she is one thing we do not wish to change.¡±


    We made our way up the stairs and into the office. Ta was sitting in her normal chair, but something was different about her.


    ¡°Hello Michael. It is over now. Thank you.¡± Then she started crying and flew into my arms. ¡°Oh thank you so much.¡± She said between tears.


    I just stared at her. ¡°Um¡­ You¡¯re welcome?¡±


    Haladoria had a bemused expression on her face. ¡°Ta? Are you okay?¡±


    I thought it was a strange question to ask a god, but what did I know?


    Ta answered after a few moments. ¡°I am fine, excellent, wonderful!¡± She was sniffing as she said it.


    ¡°Not to break the mood, but what is happening?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It worked this time thanks to you.¡± She sniffed again. She seemed so alive now¡­ that was it, she was alive this time.


    ¡°Yes, quite alive as are the rest of the seeds.¡± She answered my thoughts.


    ¡°Seeds?¡±


    ¡°Oh, this is going to be a story.¡± She laughed and sniffed again.


    Haladoria found a handkerchief and offered it to her. She sniffed an blew her nose. Then grinned.


    ¡°Believe it or not, it is so good to be able to do that again.¡±


    I was totally confused. ¡°To blow your nose?¡±


    She laughed with tears coming from her eyes. ¡°To be alive again.¡± She almost sang. ¡°Sit down, this will probably take a while.¡±


    So we sat.


    ¡°This starts many eons ago and many galaxies back. Our race had found godhood and was not prepared for it. We lasted for several centuries, but in the end, our population had dropped to a percent of what it was. More and more of our planets were dropping from the union and those, we found had pretty much all committed suicide.¡±


    I stared at her as she caught her breath. ¡°So they sent out a seed ship.¡±


    ¡°Not at first. It took a long hard look from the survivors to see that they needed to find a challenge. Most had been living in a virtual world to escape the endless, endless time we were facing. Some of the remaining planners decided that maybe we could make a galaxy along the lines of the game and it was proposed to the people. The first attempt was a disaster. They were gods. They knew it. When something didn¡¯t go their way, they changed it.¡±


    ¡°And pretty much caused a war and destroyed whatever galaxy they were in.¡± I said quietly.


    ¡°Yes. Then it was decided to make the ships. What the other gods didn¡¯t realize was the game that was put into place would suppress their powers and pretty much lock them into their chosen race. There were three such ships made. Ours was the last. We went out to our chosen galaxy and everything worked perfectly.¡±


    ¡°Right up until they found star travel and found each other.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately. We had their souls stored in the chambers, or seeds, so they would recall back to the ship when they died. It took less than four centuries before we had ninety percent of them back.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.¡°Gods.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that was the problem.¡± She said softly. ¡°We tried changing the parameters of the game, but each time the races found each other, they warred to extinction. We didn¡¯t know what to do, so we kept going. Time passed and we kept trying and failing. We knew that once they found each other they would all die. But we didn¡¯t know how to stop them.¡±


    I looked over at Haladoria and she was pale. ¡°Are you alright, love?¡±


    ¡°I think so.¡± She whispered.


    Ta looked at her sadly. ¡°We had to suppress your memories. We had little choice. We had turned around at one point and went back to where our home was, but it wasn¡¯t there anymore. The entire galaxy was gone, save for a few stars. We had to go on. For all we knew, we were the last of our civilization.¡±


    I was totally overcome by the scope.


    ¡°We had all but given up hope, when our pilot who happened to be a planar, opened a portal in front of the ship. When we came out, the rest of the crew realized they were on a collision course with a planet and manage to send out two groups of seeds.¡±


    ¡°The rings¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes. We thought we would be fine until the crash. Our ship was buried half way into the planet and we couldn¡¯t project enough mana to reach the seeds. Without the mana, they didn¡¯t advance as they should. We had to release one of the races. But who? In desperation, we released all of the ones who were creative enough to hopefully get us a link out of where we were. We sent out the dragons, including the pilot who had tried to end the mission, along with all the other races, which you know about.¡±


    ¡°The pilot¡­ oh hell.¡±


    ¡°Yes, it was you Arienach. We understand, we were out of hope by that point. But it made it almost impossible to trust you.¡± She turned to Haladoria. ¡°This next part is going to come as a shock to you, as Michael has never told anyone.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Haladoria looked confused.


    ¡°Michael and Arienach were two different beings. Michael came from a mortal plane that was close and we captured his soul after Arienach got bored and had his brain scrambled.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I didn¡¯t have any memories and I was bored as hell, how was I to know the damn witch was set to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Michael? Arienach?¡± Then she laughed. ¡°No wonder you used to talk to yourself so much.¡±


    I just shook my head. So much for the meltdown I had expected.


    ¡°They melded¡­ or merged as Michael likes to say. To our surprise, Michael and Arienach as a whole was far stronger than either alone. Through a simple act of mercy, he set a course, and held it to where we are now. We were terrified when we offered him godhood again. We had to get back to our people and we did lose a few before we managed to bring them back in, but it was a gamble we had to take. Gods we screwed up when we tried to corner him into taking ascension.¡±


    ¡°Not taking into account the humans life span was almost your undoing.¡± Haladoria said with a smirk.


    ¡°I was so scared. We all were. You had given us back the planet and we could still feel the others out there, but we couldn¡¯t reach them.¡±


    ¡°That was one part of your plan that I have a hard time forgiving, Ta.¡± I said.


    ¡°We screwed up. Badly. I realize now that all we needed to do was ask you, but we only had our past to go on. We were expecting it all to fly apart at any moment. We didn¡¯t tell you before this because you knew too much. So we gave you leadership. Over all of us.¡±


    I looked back over that time. The clues were there in their actions.


    ¡°And you learned.¡±


    ¡°Oh, we learned. Looking back, you probably could have saved our entire race. We were self centered and manipulative. We never thought to lead by helping rather than ordering.¡±


    I snorted. ¡°You would have thought my views on politicians would have been a dead giveaway.¡±


    She laughed. ¡°We understand that now, but we didn¡¯t then. So far, you have done little but guide the people, mostly by example. They are not suppressed by the game anymore, but none have had any urge to do anything other than follow where you lead. Most have completely regained their memories as well. Reach out, feel what your people feel, Michael.¡±


    I did as she asked. I felt nothing but a sense of relief and gratitude.


    ¡°What of the other gods?¡±


    ¡°They will join the people now. The ship is nothing more than a mana generator now an the other worlds produce their own.¡±


    ¡°So you are here with us in this little adventure.¡± I chuckled.


    ¡°So, my god leader. Where do we go from here?¡± She said with a grin.


    I laughed. ¡°I haven¡¯t a clue, but then, that is nothing new.¡± I paused again. ¡°What of the children?¡±


    ¡°That was a huge shock for us. We were going to implant a few of our seeds, but when we got to them, they had already developed. They are their own beings and they, being brought up in the magic of all the gods, learned all that anyone who was close to you knew¡­ which included all of the people and the gods. Your children left their shell with the sum knowledge of everything that was in the ship and in the lands. They chose to remain your children.¡±


    Three perfectly formed young elves walked into the room. Two males and a female. Their eyes glowed with the colors of the rainbow.


    ¡°Why would we not follow one who led by raising up the people rather than by controlling them?¡± Tristan said with a smile.


    ¡°Arienach gave you the perspective and you gave him the compassion.¡± Ronan said.


    ¡°You care not for power but use your power to protect and enlighten your people.¡± Eric said.


    I shook my head. ¡°Why not take the empire for yourselves?¡±


    Tristan laughed. ¡°You are so much better at being paranoid and worrying than we are. Besides, who would want that job?¡±


    They just stood there smiling.


    Then I heard a droning sound. I couldn¡¯t figure it out. It almost sounded¡­ like a bunch of people talking? I looked at Haladora and Ta and they were smiling as well. We walked down and out the front door and found the entire inner ring was full of people. As we stood there, they grew quiet. Then they knelt. I stared out across the sea of people. More were coming out of the portal building as we stood there. Elves, human, drow, fay, centaur, dwarves, trolls, wyvern and dragons. The empire. Looking to me to lead. Looking to me to guide them. Waiting on my words.


    I looked out at them and said. ¡°I suppose Michael is out of the question?¡±


    The entire empire laughed.