《Dragon, Silver Dragon》 Prologue A bright flash, a huge pressure, an almost noise... almost pain, cut off too fast to be felt. Then... nothing. No, not quite nothing. There was an absence of senses, only perceived due to the memory of what they used to be. He somehow felt as if he was falling, but truly had no external stimuli to verify his feeling. No sense of time passed, seconds could be hours for all he knew. With nothing else to focus upon, he turned inward. He was human. He knew that to be true. It was all he could come up with at the moment. His mind, his thoughts would not put anything with that basic claim. Focusing hard, he had fleeting images that lasted less than an instant before disappearing into the nothingness. Trying that much harder out of not quite desperation, a name. He grasped it and hung on as a drowning man would a lifeline. He was Michael. We have found one. Is it a suitable subject? We have not the time to do a full profile analysis. We must act now to save the primary. There are no others? This one shown brightly. Again, we do not have time to do extensive scans. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. I suppose we have little choice. Sudden light, then darkness. Transfer complete, nominal parameters. He awoke in pain. His body refusing to answer him. He was definitely falling this time, feeling the rush of air and the relentless pull of gravity. Sensory input optimal. A detached part of his mind noting that he was in shock. This detached portion of his mind also noted that his body had a few more parts than what he was used to. It quietly waited in the corner for the shock to wear off and the panic to begin. Primary is active. Michael finally managed to pry open one eye and was immediately sent into said panic. The reason was not what you would expect, however. It was the colors. They were wrong... no... not wrong, just... impossible was the only word that came to mind. Streaks of fire, halos around the clouds, shifting color as he rushed by. He finally collected himself enough to look down and then screamed as the ground rushed up to meet him. Without thinking he opened his wings. Wings? The ground got tired of waiting and crashed into him. Nothing... this was getting to be a habit. Emotional instability present. Primary is not interfaced at this time. Will the subject be viable? Unknown at this time. Definitions (Oxford English Dictionary: Dragon) NOUN 1 A mythical monster like a giant reptile. In European tradition the dragon is typically fire-breathing and tends to symbolize chaos or evil, whereas in East Asia it is usually a beneficent symbol of fertility, associated with water and the heavens. 1.1 derogatory A fierce and intimidating woman. ¡®the geography teacher was a real dragon¡¯ 2 another term for flying lizard 2.1 Australian Any lizard of the agama family. Origin Middle English (also denoting a large serpent): from Old French, via Latin from Greek drakon ¡®serpent¡¯. ---------------------------------------------------- RPG 1 Report program generator, a high-level commercial computer programming language. 2 Rocket-propelled grenade. 3 Role-playing game.
Dragon MindsetLove what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. A dragon is natures most perfect predator. They are geared for survival. They are extremely long lived. They are extremely intelligent. Depending on the breed, they have access to various magics. They also have breath weapons, the most common being fire. So what does this mean for a dragon¡¯s mindset¡­ it¡¯s basic view of the world around it? Start with predator. Dragons focus on the hunt. When on a hunt, they are single minded with an almost tunnel vision. This does not mean that they are not aware of threats around them. While able to focus their vision on a single target, they can use each eye independently as well. When not on the hunt, they are still looking for anything that they can hunt. This tends to lead to a basic food, not food, mentality. This also carries over into their survival instincts, with the view towards threat, not threat. Now comes the complications. They are extremely long lived and intelligent. As they mature, the intelligence level increases and tends to add views and ideas to the hunting. They come to think of enjoyment in regards to obtaining their next meal. The long life also tends to lead to boredom. So you have a predator that is bored that tends to enjoy killing. No real problem¡­ so long as you are a dragon. If not? Find a deep hole. Since they are long lived, this tends to make them ignore anything which doesn¡¯t effect them directly, unless it is something that they have personal interest in. This gives them a rather strange perception of time. If nothing new comes into their immediate area, they could go though years as if no time had passed for them at all. The intellect simply goes into idle mode. Even if faced with a long term goal (a rarity) they will only notice things that forward this goal. While this may seem strange. It prevents them from going quite insane with boredom. They bypass it by going on autopilot while the basic intellect sleeps. This is not a simple on off switch however. There is more of a flow between different states. They can operate on various levels socially without truly coming into full awareness. Then you have magic. This is what gives dragons their attitude. They are incredibly powerful. This leads to a very arrogant attitude. Not that any of the other race cares to argue the point. It puts a line of greater and lesser races in their mindset. Their goal is more power and do not deal with anything of lesser power. Therefore the one thing that dragons lack more than anything is compassion. Awakening He awoke to pain and disorientation, his eyes slamming shut when a barrage of colors assaulted him. After several attempts, things started to slowly swim into focus. It took more than a few minutes to push beyond the disorientation and catalog the locations on his body causing said pain. Therefore he actually hurt too much to panic, much, when his inventory covered more than as a human he was equipped with. The little detached part of his mind was amused when he paused upon finding his wing and tail were causing the daggers in his back. He had a tail... and wings... He almost passed out again. He wasn''t human anymore. He couldn¡¯t describe the emotion he felt as he cautiously re-opened his eyes, forcing them to focus. Is this going to be a problem?Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Unknown, we are putting a biped into a body it is not familiar with. His gaze traveled down his... arm? It stretched out to the side and was covered with bright silver scales and his fingers, or whatever they were called, ended with long black claws. He closed his eyes again, confusion warred with panic at the memory of what he had seen. After a time he tried to move his arm with little success. Gradually, the pain seemed to fade except for the sharp spike in his right... wing. He cringed away from the thought as well as the pain. Instinctively he focused on his damaged appendage. Shock coursed though him as he felt a heat and the easing of the pain, as well as a shift of balance. It suddenly occurred to him his wing had been broken. He wondered for a brief moment at how fast he had healed... at least he thought he had healed his wing. It achieved mental stability quickly. With the pain gone, he begin thinking about his situation. A feeble attempt to move again ended with failure, so he had little to do beside think. For one thing, he had no clue where he was or how he had gotten here. Come to think of it, he had no clue what he was, let alone where he was. Good question that, what the hell was he? The shock and panic returned with a vengeance when a screen appeared in his mind. RACE - Planar Dragon BREED - Silver AFFINITY - Fire, Magic CLASS - Ancient ALIGNMENT - ???? Health - 62% Mana - 85% WTF? Parameters are good. Success is predicted Not understood. Obvious mental distress. It is still conscious. Revelations Michael stared in shock at the words Planar Dragon for a moment when another window popped up. Planar Dragon A dragon that is capable of traveling between the planes of existence. While all dragons are magical beings, the planars have a greater knowledge of magic. Their magic abilities range from attunement with elements with affinity towards one major class (fire) but can influence the other fields, the weakest being the polar opposite of their greater affiliation (water). Their control of the planes lets them travel almost instantly between two points by jumping between planes as a shortcut. Stronger planars can see across planes to a limited degree, with the masters being able to shortcut their sight to see far distances. Their breath weapons can be enhanced with magic as well. (Note; you are the eldest of the ancients. This enables you to create and modify spells. You can now grow beyond the limits of your race and class (114% health, 137% mana). His eyes widened in shock. If he was understanding this, he was more than maxed out stat wise. Followed by the thought; is this a freaking game? His thoughts spiraled into a tailspin of confusion. After an undetermined time his mind wandered back from it¡¯s sabbatical. Given, this wasn¡¯t the body he was born with... as far as he knew. Who knows, maybe his previous memories were false. That didn¡¯t feel right somehow, since so far, he was not responding well to the (shudder) thought of wings and a tail. Speaking of which, he opened his eyes and managed to get his looong neck to respond enough for a peek at it. It was not what he expected. His idea of a dragon had horns and spiky things all over it. His was smooth and sleek. He stared at it curiously then tried to gauge it¡¯s size. Without a reference point, he had little success beyond comparing it to the local rocks. Letting his gaze wander upwards and around, he looked to be at the foot of a volcano, judging by the smoke rising from the peak. A part of him was drawn to the smoking mountain in front of him. He looked again at his tail, then followed it up his body. Again, bright silver with what looked like little rainbows from the angle of the sun, smooth and sleek. His back legs had those wicked looking claws as well and they were on the joints of his... wings as well. He sighed and just stared at them for a while. While it didn¡¯t really make them seem normal to him, it did help with the sheer disbelief of them. He tried to open one but failed. A thought, almost not his own, seemed to ask him if he had to think to open his fore-talons. It rather derailed his attempts as it suddenly sunk in that fore-talons was not in his normal vocabulary. ¡°Hello?¡± The word traveled out of his mouth as an almost guttural growl. There was a dry chuckle, followed by; ¡°Greetings¡± This comment taking place within his mind. ¡°Um... who are you?¡± This time it was a lower growl, but quite clearly spoken. So. I am a talking dragon at least. ¡°I am now you. Just before my mind was destroyed, I compartmentalized the part of me that thinks and sent it temporarily to another plane. Imagine my surprise when I picked up a hitchhiker. I cannot last long in this state, so soon you will inherit my old form. By the way, what is human?¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. There was a long moment of silence as the implications of these words were digested. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to describe a human, really. Biped?¡± ¡°Hmmm. I wonder, do you know of the race of elves?¡± ¡°Do they have pointed ears?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Then think of an elf without the pointed ears.¡± ¡°You were a scavenger?¡± The voice in his head sounded shocked and a little outraged. ¡°Did scavengers have their own cities and use technology?¡± ¡° They do have their own towns and the technology of this age, but are less than¡­ reliable. I can sense you are from a higher technological background, however.¡± There was another long pause as both of them thought of the concepts they were introduced to. ¡°Um... you mentioned your mind was destroyed?¡± ¡°Ah yes. A master mage dedicated her life to making a spell that would attack my mind if she touched my head.¡± There was another touch of panic. If she was around, then she had another chance at finishing the job. The voice in his head chuckled again, catching the stray thoughts. ¡°Not to worry, while she is quite close she, is no longer a threat to you.¡± ¡°CLOSE? Where is she?¡± He looked around in panic. ¡°Digesting as we speak.¡± Long pause. ¡°Um... Is that our normal diet?¡± Not sure what passed for tact with a dragon... spirit? A long laugh echoed in his mind. ¡°Diet... I suppose I should start your education. Lets see... a dragon¡¯s diet. First there are two major rules to remember.¡± ¡°Rules?¡± The voice in his head was still quite mirthful. ¡°Yes... Rule one. If it moves it is food.¡± It paused to let that sink in. ¡°Rule two. If it doesn¡¯t move it is food.¡± ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°What do you know of energy? Do the scavengers... er... humans of your world know of energy states?¡± Thoughts of physics and electricity floated to the top as another memory surfaced. Where the hell were they when I was looking for them? ¡°Ah, I see you do... partially. You have it wrong though. The universe is not based on the matter it is made of. It is based on energy and matter is pretty much along for the ride. Your unique digestive tract allows you to pull energy from anything from a rock to a living being. You also gain energy from other energy, such as sunlight or heat.¡± ¡°Sunlight? Heat?¡± In my mind I had an image of soaking up too much sun and exploding. There was another laugh, quite longer this time and I felt rather embarrassed. ¡°That was a good one as you say. Tell me, can you fill a bucket too full?¡± ¡°No, it would spill over.¡± ¡°Very good.¡± ¡°But.¡± ¡°No, that is now your tail, but I begin to get images from your mind now and you were an ugly creature, weren¡¯t you?¡± I didn¡¯t know whether to be shocked or amused. The laughter came back to my head. ¡°I can see where you get the idea of elves from, but you do not do them justice. There is a decent resemblance though.¡± The thought occurred to him that he was being trolled. It also occurred to him that the dragon spirit was directly reading his thoughts. ¡°Yes, but you see, I have been around for a very long time and I do not get the chance to talk as often as I would like.¡± Curious, I probed. ¡°Why would that be?¡± ¡°Dragons are not the most social of creatures. We tend to be territorial and the other races of the land do not particularly wish to converse either.¡± I mulled this over for a while. ¡°Random thought... if I am to, um, inherit this body, just what territory would I claim?¡± ¡°All of it.¡± ¡°Oh...¡± Activate the avatars. Is this wise? We have to go through a full cycle to retrieve them should this fail. Observe. This is the most activity we have seen from the primary in the last century. But the secondary? The secondary seems to be acting as a catalyst. As you command. Shutting down monitoring system. Activating god seeds. Avatars created. Results nominal. Deactivating monitor links. Education The next few months were training. He learned to use his body. Surprisingly, walking was harder than flying, once he got the hang of wings. His time on a hang glider had taught him about shifting his weight to move through the air. Having wings that could kite, extend and fold were a major bonus. Walking? Well he sure wasn¡¯t a biped anymore and still would trip and stagger if he was distracted. Part of the problem was he had too much power. He tended to over compensate a bit... well... a lot. There was also the problem of a tail. It tended to go the wrong way and overbalance him. He also discovered that not holding his neck centered... well... thank whatever maker there was, that his nose was armored. After his first week he had come across a large puddle or pond. It was his first view of his own face. It was almost hypnotic. Mostly silver scales with black bands across his long narrow snout. Glowing red eyes, long tapered pointed ears and long black horns that tilted backwards with a slight upward curve. He had black eye ridges as well. While he was watching a long blood red forked tongue slithered out and touched the water. He couldn¡¯t help but stare. The plain he was on was surrounded by a ring of sharp mountains with a volcano in the very middle. It looked like a meteor strike with the volcano being the impact zone. It was completely desolate from the ring to the center. No other sign of life, plant, bird or animal. Their first major trip was up to the volcano¡¯s caldera. That was where he learned a fact that shocked him to his core. Lava was nothing more than a warm bath to a dragon such as he. The heat had accelerated his healing exponentially, while recharging his mana at the same time. He also had his first meal. Iron nuggets and few gemstones. The voice in his head assured him that he would eat better later. The first jump off the side of the mountain took everything he had. The voice in his mind took it¡¯s amusement as his body started dropping like a rock. He had practiced opening and closing his wings, with coaching from the voice, on bending them certain ways. It paid off as he opened them and caught air. He managed to turn the fall into a glide... with a rather unimpressive landing. Yeah, gotta work on that. The rest of the day was spent climbing up, jumping off, gliding down... and healing. That evening was spent in the lava soaking up mana. It took almost a week to master turning, but he was starting to feel the way the air caught under his wings and how to bend them and kite them to slow down the glides. Eventually he found he could also pull himself forward in the air, almost like a swimmers butterfly stroke. Strangely, his passenger almost seemed proud the first time that he actually flew up to the caldera, rather than walk. The next shock was magic. It worked. Boy did it work. Arienach, the name of his host, had spent much time going over the various spells and enchantments. For a time he stood with his claws and horns glowing a bright blue, while he spat fireballs that would disintegrate large boulders. His glowing claws could cut through rock like it was paper. He also learned that magic could work like radar and if he was flying, it wasn¡¯t confined to just one plane. He could literally track a bug through the air at over a mile away. It didn¡¯t soak up much mana, either... or he had one shyte ton of it. He also discovered that his ¡°sphere of detection¡± could work while he was asleep as well. It made him wonder just how the elf had gotten so close, so he asked. Arienach sighed. ¡°You remember I spoke of not having much discourse with other entities? That was the weakness she exploited. I had long had the thought of ending the eternal strife on this planet and she approached me with an offer to consolidate the elves. Ambition overrode caution and she took full advantage of it.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Were the other elves of the lands involved?¡± ¡°I know not. But I doubt if that sort of maliciousness was born un-nurtured. The elves are long lived, yes, but they would know if one of their own was doing the extent of research required for that type of spell.¡± ¡°Then they may know of the spell themselves.¡± ¡°Point. Mayhaps we should remove the threat.¡± ¡°Maybe once you finish with your teaching.¡± ¡°I do not know if you have realized this, but I am not fading away so much as I am merging with you. The lessons need not end.¡± My eyes widened in surprise. ¡°I was worried at first for you. I felt myself losing my sense of self and thought I would just cease to exist, but now I find that I am not fading so much as being absorbed. I sometimes catch myself reviewing your memories of your time on your world.¡± ¡°Will this be a two way street?¡± ¡°I believe so. We will need to do something about your barriers though. You keep your mind in a cage for some reason.¡± ¡°A cage? What do you mean?¡± Arienach sighed again. ¡°You have a concept that I have yet to grasp that is called religion, along with a notion of honor and the ¡°correct way¡± that limit you. Honor is a guideline, the correct way is the way that works and religion is a way to fleece the believers, from what I see of your memories. Why you would let something like that dictate your thoughts is quite beyond my understanding. The gods exist and they do what they will. Why shouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Wait... gods?¡± ¡°Yes, after we take care of you and your issues, I will introduce you to a few of them, if you wish.¡± I pondered that tidbit for a moment. ¡°Visit the gods...¡± Arienach laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t expect too much. They are a bunch of self centered twits. If one offers you something, you can bet that they will get far more from it than you will.¡± The thought crossed my mind, making Arienach laugh, that the gods here were a lot like politicians back home. Followed by the thought that this was now my home. There was a part of me that wondered if I would ever go back, then I wondered if I really wanted to. I was rather starting to like the idea of being a dragon. Then, after consideration, I wondered just how much he had picked up from me, after his amusement over the politician joke. The elder dragon spirit worked for over a week, tweaking and tuning Michael¡¯s mind. Over time he noticed that while his views really hadn¡¯t changed all that much, his way of looking at them did. The concept of right and wrong were still there, but instead of just accepting that something was just so, there was more looking at the reasons why. He had come to reflect that this form of thinking was more of an ¡°outside¡± view, rather than a driving force. Reflecting on what he was taught, he came to the conclusion that the dragon¡¯s view was more one of time and deliberation. Humans were short lived. Dragons were not. Things that would be a driving motivator for a human were nothing more than a passing fancy for a dragon. Wars were fought, kingdoms fell. Over ideas that in another century would be viewed as ridiculous. Dragons watched, remembered and learned. Sometime in the process of his education of the mind, he started to remember. Remember things that he had never saw. The dragon and him had grown that much closer. Once it was realized, it seemed the process accelerated. It wasn¡¯t much longer before few to no words were required to share an idea or a concept. Shortly after, Arienach took him to the other planes. Worlds, moons, stars and space itself. There was nowhere they couldn¡¯t travel. Then he was shown the other planes. The plane of fire, of earth, of air, of water. A plane of nothing but emptiness and a plane of pure energy. The plane of chaos and of the gods and demons. These were not just worlds, but entire universes. Then he showed the outside. The concept is not easy. Try to imagine ninety degrees from everything. Arienach announced that I had the very basic concepts of what I was capable of at that point. Strangely enough, it didn¡¯t bother me. Everything happened around me now and little could touch me unless I allowed it. Then he told me about the game. A Hunting We Will Go Graniel was not a happy elf. As the leader of what was left of the guards, he had inherited the duties of the hunters. This situation was caused by a visit by the greenskin fleet in the middle of the night. The had taken the harbor, then proceeded to lay siege the city. The city guards had held the walls for a while. Until the greenskins unloaded and set up their war engines. Most of the guard fell that day. He was tasked, with a small contingent of the surviving guards, to get the civilians and the lady Haladoria out of the city to ¡°somewhere safe¡±. They had fled up river in the boats they had on the river side of the city. There were not that many. Most of the males had taken off across land with an agreement to meet up several miles up the river. It had been about a month and of the males that left on their cross country trek, only about a third had trickled in to the new¡­ town. If that was what you wished to call it. All in all, about a tenth of their population had survived. They had little in the way of resources and the hunters had provided a rear guard action. That left them with too few hunters. Add that to the fact that the greenskins didn¡¯t stay put, game had fled or was killed by the monsters. Reports had come in from several other towns and races that they had spread out and were taking over the region. So far, none had found where they had fled, but they were actively seeking a new location that was more sheltered and farther from the river. So far they had found several game trails, but little in the way of game. They had followed several as best they could, but they were guards, not hunters. So few had survived. They kept traveling away from the city into the heart of the territory. This land was avoided for reasons. There was suppose to be a dragon that lived somewhere in the middle of the lands. A big dragon. No one had heard or seen it in his lifetime, however, so it was his hope that the damn thing had just gone away. He knew better than to think it was dead, those things didn¡¯t die. He shuddered at the thought. They left the forest about a half hour later and came upon the sight of a chain of mountains. To Graniel they just didn¡¯t look right for some reason. There were no hills leading to the chain, just mountains rising up from a plain. He could see across the wide expanse and nothing moved. He felt that he had a choice at this point, turn around and try another direction, or see if there was something in the mountains. Maybe the game had fled and hidden itself in the valleys and rills. He didn¡¯t like it, but they hadn¡¯t seen anything on the way here. He relayed his thoughts to the others and none had a better idea.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. So they made their way to the chain. It was quiet and it seemed as if nothing moved. Too damn quiet. None of them had the desire to enter any of the valleys and there was a sense of foreboding that seemed to hang over them. The chain curved evenly away, broken only by the ridges that jutted out onto the plain. As they traveled around it, in his minds eye, Graniel could image it as a giant ring. It was getting into the afternoon and none of them wanted to stay close to the mountains. The quiet was unsettling. It was that quiet that allowed them to hear the low sounds of what sounded like cattle down one of the side valleys. They followed the sounds back into the valley which doglegged to their right. Rounding the corner, they found a large herd of cattle. They stopped cold. A heated discussion followed. There was no way that this herd did not belong to someone. The valley was a too convenient corral. So they sent two scouts out on either side of the valley. Two hours later, they returned. No habitations, and no signs of life. So, they had a herd of cattle in a valley with no one around. Another debate follow. They needed those cattle, but if they belonged to someone? Graniel finally decided that they would be better as live bandits than dead and honorable. Besides, the tribe needed the meat. They organized to herd the cattle quickly. They felt rushed and somewhat guilty. They couldn¡¯t seem to get out of the valley quickly enough. Several riders took the flank to turn them as they left the pocket and Graniel felt a sense of relief as they saw the plain ahead of them. He relaxed slightly only to freeze as suddenly the sun was blotted out. The world seemed to stop for him as he saw the reason. Whoever had said it was a large dragon was not saying half of the story. Graniel had never seen anything that big. It was silver which tickled at the back of his mind. Unfortunately, his mind was not working quite well at the moment. Both the cattle and the horses slowed to a stop as they watched the dragon do a loop in the air then land in the mouth of the valley. Meeting the Neighbors The horizon seemed to tilt to one side as I lazily banked. I had discovered the thrill of soaring. Arienach laughed at me inside my head. I think he was enjoying the newness I felt in discovering what I could do. Of course, something as old as he was, it was probably refreshing. I was learning about the world that I was currently calling home. Arienach had no name for it, dragons only worried about names, it seemed, if it was something they considered important. For a planar, it was just another rock to roost on till it grew boring. We could live anywhere. Arienach was droning on about the game and part of me was actually trying to listen. Seems that it was started before his time and he knew not where it came from. Players had stats and skills and such. Locals sometimes could join and advance themselves. The locals called them heroes. There seemed to be no way of actually winning this game and there was no clear goal beyond power. The thought of politics reared it¡¯s ugly head to Arienach¡¯s dry chuckle. Apparently, it had been going on for as long as anyone knew. Levels were gained and sometimes lost. I also found out that there was no resurrection. Even those who did not play for power had stats and skills that could be upgraded. While not a gamer, it sounded... orderly? Wars were fought over this and that, one race rose while another fell. Objects could hold power and items could be crafted. So far, I found no reason to be too worried about any of it since, from what Arienach told me, the closest competing dragon was several thousand levels below me and the locals were still below a hundred. That didn¡¯t really ring true, as Arienach was brought low by a local. Voicing my doubts, Arienach gave a mental shrug and replied that everything had weaknesses. We had flown outside the ring while we were talking and I was suddenly distracted by a moving dust cloud that appeared between two peaks in the valley below us. Focusing on it I saw a group of horsemen herding cattle. I was wondering why they were in such a hurry, when Arienach informed me that was his, our, claimed herd. It was a pocket valley with only one entrance, so I brought my wings in close and went into a dive towards the mouth. I was coming in from behind the riders, but quite high still when I passed over them, then over the entrance to the valley. A slight tilt of a wing and I did a lazy turn back, guesstimating the distance almost perfectly. I felt Arienach smile. Kiting my wings I touched down just as the riders approached. That was when I had my first major shock of the last few days. They were tiny. Arienach laughed at me. ¡°Let¡¯s see... by your old measurement standards they stand an average of just under six feet tall.¡± ¡°I... see...¡± The cattle didn¡¯t seem to want to approach, for some reason and the riders didn¡¯t look too comfortable with the idea either. I took a closer look at them, discovering they were elves. I also watched as several pulled bows from their backs and fired them in one smooth motion. I was starting to wonder if I should be concerned when the first struck. I didn¡¯t even feel it. Curious, I watched a few strike my shoulder and neck. They bounced without leaving a scratch. Needless to say, the arrows stopped after a few more shots. I could hear them talking amongst themselves and after a moment, I understood them. Seems I had a talent for languages now. Arienach was in observation mode... in other words, I didn¡¯t hear him. My guess was he was curious what I would do. Come to think of it, so was I. On a whim, I hailed the group.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Greetings this day. I am called Michael.¡± Apparently, I was a bit loud for them as the horses spooked, almost dismounting a few of them. They made no effort to run away, probably knowing there was nowhere to run too. I heard one say; ¡°It Talks!¡± I chuckled and replied. ¡°Very good. Might I know your names?¡± To be honest, I was rather enjoying their confusion. I detected a faint echo of mirth from Arienach as well. There was a brief hushed discussion, which I listened to. It seemed my hearing was rather better than it used to be. Since I was about two hundred yards from them and they were trying to whisper. I let them talk themselves into complying with my wishes. Seems none of them was too thrilled with the idea of pissing off a dragon whose fore-talons were twice the length of their height. While they were figuring out what to do, I decided to relax. I lay down across the mouth of the valley and stretched. Finally three of them approached on foot, and I lowered my head slightly. The lead one spoke... well, shouted. ¡°I am Graniel of the Horiel tribe.¡± I chuckled, the sound coming out as a low growl. ¡°Tis good to meet you Graniel of the Horiel tribe and the rest of you as well,¡± naming off the other members of his band. The elf recovered quite well, showing himself to quite brave... or resigned to his fate, not sure which. He was quick on the uptake as well as next time he spoke it was at a normal tone. ¡°I was rather curious where you were taking my cattle this day, Graniel.¡± His shoulders slumped slightly. ¡°They... are your¡¯s then.¡± He sighed. ¡°We did not know Lord Dragon. I give my life to you in payment for our error.¡± I didn¡¯t have the heart to tell him, that I already had it if I cared to take it. Still, I wondered what would bring them looking for livestock. ¡°Tell me, I know of no tribe close to my lair, what drove you to travel this far?¡± A look of puzzlement crossed the young elf¡¯s face. ¡°Since the green ones invaded our land several cycles ago, our farmlands were destroyed and our livestock has been killed. We come out of desperation.¡± I thought on this for a moment. Arienach was being quiet, even though I knew he was listening to what I was thinking, so I decided to see where this would take me. ¡°First, Graniel, I do not wish your life.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°Second, I will not see your people suffer if they come out of survival to harvest my herd. I will offer to you half of them, if you allow me to come to your land upon your return.¡± There was a stunned silence which stretched out for several minutes. ¡°I have no way to pay you lord dragon.¡± It came out as almost a whisper. ¡°Michael. I am not your lord. I do not require payment from you.¡± The next period of silence, I crafted minute gem, probably only an inch across and enchanted it to call to me. ¡°What should we do?¡± The poor elf sounded lost. ¡°Take this and call me when you return. I will allow you to take half of my cattle. Go to your people and let them know that I will be coming and that I mean them no harm.¡± I watched his back straighten slightly. ¡°I will do this lord... Michael.¡± I tossed the stone... carefully to his feet. I watched the flash of blue from it as he picked it up and stared at it. I guess my measurements were off, it was a little larger than his hand. ¡°Fair winds to you Graniel.¡± With that, I took to the air. Of Elves and Dragons Graniel was deep in thought on the way back to the village. His mind was screaming to him that he had just talked with Arienach. The destroyer. The king of the dragons. Why did it call itself Michael? He figured it didn¡¯t matter. He could call himself anything he wanted, he was still Arienach. His mind was going in circles as he remembered the stories of the five elven armies that had marched out to fight the winged menace. The dragon killed them all, supposedly with one breath. Judging from the size of it, it didn¡¯t sound so far fetched as when he heard it as a young elf. The story went on to tell of the dragon finding each of the lands that had sponsored the mission and destroying them as well. He hadn¡¯t felt warm since he saw the great dragon. His body was sweating, but his soul felt cold. He felt again the stone that rode in his pack. It was probably worth a kings ransom. For the good it did. Those were his thoughts as he rode into the village. The people excited as they saw the cattle only to stop cold at the look on his face. He didn¡¯t notice. The rest had stopped, but he continued on. On to see Haladoria. She had come from her hut like a ray of sunshine through the clouds. He smiled grimly, enjoying seeing her, but thinking that he may have just bargained away her life. Her and her peoples life. ¡°Graniel?¡± She hadn¡¯t said more than his name, but the tone had asked several questions. She saw his state and understood right away that something was not right. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.¡°Lady, I brought you cattle and possibly our downfall.¡± ¡°Please explain, Graniel.¡± ¡°I met Arienach. Those are his. He gave them to us with the¡­ request¡­ to see our village and to meet with you.¡± ¡°Arienach? The destroyer?¡± ¡°He called himself Michael, but he was¡­ he was huge and silver¡­ I have never ever seen anything that size before. It had to be him. We had found a herd in the mountains and were bringing them back when he found us. He told me they were his. Then asked why we were taking them. I told him of the greenskins and our need¡­ Then he offered us half. But he wishes to come here. I know not what for.¡± ¡°Arienach¡­ He did not kill you but gave you cattle? No dragon has ever given anything besides death before. He spoke?¡± ¡°Aye, a great rumbling speech. I didn¡¯t know that dragons could speak. He sounded¡­ amused. But he was polite. He said he would see no one suffer. I don¡¯t know what to think.¡± ¡°If it is him, what can we do?¡± ¡°What do you mean, milady?¡± ¡°He is the king of the dragons. If he wishes us, there is no where to hide. You did nothing, once he found you, he knew of us.¡± ¡°I could have gone elsewhere.¡± ¡°It is in the past. You have found food where there was none. The dragon? If he wished you dead, or us, we would already be there.¡± It made Graniel stop. She was right. But what could the dragon possibly want? ¡°Milady, you ease my mind somewhat, but I can not feel easy on this. Who knows the ways of dragons? We didn¡¯t even know they could speak.¡± ¡°We have no council left, so let us talk with the people. We do need to make a place for him, however. It is only polite. There is no way to avoid the meeting, but we may yet survive it. I take the sign of the cattle as good.¡± He brought out the stone. ¡°When we are ready, this will call him.¡± The both stared at the stone. Perfect. Glowing. It seemed to bring home the truth of the story. Greeting the Neighbors We were discussing the land around my mountain when the call came through a little over a month later. I had flown over most of the mountain range and verified that it looked like an impact crater. My lair in the middle surrounded by a ring of large jagged mountains. The ring was complete, no openings and almost as high as the lair, which I estimated to be somewhere around twenty five thousand feet. The caldera was well over six hundred yards in diameter, based on my wingspan. Judging by scale then, it had to be around five or six miles from the volcano to the outer ring. The land outside the ring rippled outward, forming rills and valleys in places. It was not part of a chain which seemed to further my suspicion. The land between the volcano and the ring had leveled, which spoke of a very very long time. Arienach seemed curious what I would do when I went to the elves. I really had no clue, but I didn¡¯t see where it would hurt. Seriously, there would be little they could do to harm me and I could probably wipe them from the face of the planet with little effort. Thinking back to Arienach¡¯s idea of unifying the elves, it might be a good start. I knew that he did it mainly just to see what would happen, but I had an idea that I might take it farther if I could create good will. I was also entertaining the idea of bringing the dragons of the world here as well. I think in the terms of the old gaming communities, this would be called empire building. Frankly, it just sounded more practical to me. Shared resources and ideas... who knew where it would lead. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like I was stuck here if it didn¡¯t work out. With those thoughts in my head, I shifted to their location. Being warned beforehand to do so well away from them. Displaced air and all that. Arienach was a wealth of knowledge and I was glad to have him teaching me. I noticed as I arrived the cloud of dust leaving the area and figured it must sound like an explosion when I got there and I was over a hundred feet in the air. The flight to the elves took only a few moments. I made sure to land well before them and walk my way in so as not to frighten them too much. It was rather awkward as the brush I was moving through turned out to be trees. I tried my best not to damage the forest too much and vowed to find a better landing spot next time. It would seem that the elves, like the stories I had heard, did have an affinity with nature, their part of the forest was well over twice the height of the surrounding woods. Still, all I really saw in the way of habitat was wood huts. The elves had made a small, for me, clearing. I had to leave a good portion of my body in the woods behind me so I didn¡¯t fill it. Graniel and two others came out to meet me, one being a female that led the group. They had stopped about fifty yards from me, so I lay down and put my head as close to the ground as I could. They still had to look up, but it didn¡¯t look like they were about to tip over backwards this way. There was a pause as the female was walking back and forth in front of me, looking me over. I was breathing slowly so my smoke wouldn¡¯t cover her. I let her take her time as I had the feeling that my presence might be a bit disconcerting. ¡°I bid you greetings, lord dragon. I am Haladoria of the Horiel. How may we serve you?¡± ¡°I am called Michael and I am no lord. I am honored to meet you lady Haladoria and you owe me no service. I would see no being suffer.¡± Her eyes widened a bit. ¡°Tis on our honor, lord Michael, to repay our debt to you.¡± I turned my head to the side slightly and sighed so as not to cover them with my smoke. ¡°If you insist on payment, do you have anyone of your people that has knowledge of magic?¡± ¡°Magic?¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.¡°I would learn of your magic and mayhaps teach them as well, if they be curious.¡± ¡°This does not seem as much a payment.¡± ¡°Tell me then, just what I could want? The cattle I kept as but a variety in my diet. I do not need wealth or a domicile to live in. I can travel this world at a thought and others besides. Knowledge is the only thing that is of interest to me.¡± That gave her pause, so I continued. ¡°One other thing I would know, if you would. Where do these green skins reside?¡± Arienach chuckled as that brought her up short. I watched patiently as she thought of the implications of that question. ¡°Why would you wish to know this?¡± She asked, caution evident in her voice. ¡°I wish to pay them a visit.¡± ¡°You would visit with them?¡± This time colored with concern. ¡°Yes, I would bargain with them for peace with the other people of this land.¡± ¡°I see... you wish these lands to be at peace. I somehow do not see this with the green skins, but I suppose that is up to you if you wish to try.¡± I smiled and they stepped back... oops, forgot about the teeth. ¡°There will be peace, one way or the other.¡± ¡°They are sunward of here, follow the river down to the coast, that was where our home was before they took it.¡± She had paled a bit for some reason. ¡°I thank thee lady Haladoria of the Horiel. I will return soon, if I may,¡± ¡°We will welcome you lord Michael.¡± She said with a slight smile. I shook my head. ¡°Fair winds to you.¡± With that I jumped high enough to clear the trees and took to the air. The trip took almost an hour. The elves had moved quite a ways from their old home. To me that spoke of a people who didn¡¯t wish to fight. A good sign in my book. I rarely flew this low to the ground, so I did a bit of sight seeing while Arienach and I reviewed my actions with the elves. He thought it might be a novel idea, but didn¡¯t understand why I did not take them as mine. I replied that I would rather have friends than servants. He grew quiet after that. There was a line of hills that the river ran though, after it left the forest. It looked as if no one else had ever settled these lands. I could see no roads or structures until I left the hills and saw the city in the distance. It seemed good size for the technology that we seemed to be living in, some of the buildings were in excess of three stories. Mostly done in pale white with muted colors. They were not the blocky look of the modern era, leaning toward tapered walls with intricate carvings and sometimes pillars on the corners. Some had stairs outside of the buildings as well. It had a flowing organic look to it. There were also trees. Lots of trees. A closer look had small buildings hidden under them. As I glided in lazy circles above it, I could see damage all throughout the city. Some of the streets were almost blocked by rubble and trash blew and collected where it would. The outer wall had seen damage as well, with several sections breached. Twould seem the green skins knew siege technology. My problem was to find these green skins and discuss things with them, however, from the looks of the place, twould probably be better to start considering what I could do to remove them without damaging the city excessively. Twas something I was ill suited for, since I was bigger than the largest building down there. ¡°You can change, you know.¡± Arienach suggested. ¡°Change?¡± ¡°I find myself forgetting you are not a natural dragon. You can shapeshift.¡± I thought about that for a few moments. Thoughts of mass and size... Arienach chuckled in my head. ¡°Would this not weaken me?¡± ¡°Not hardly. You would lose your scale armor, but you scarcely need it against most mortal threats.¡± What followed was a very in-depth explanation of energy states, near dimensional thresholds and things I really couldn¡¯t figure out a name for. I could think of a few mystics and writers back in my old life that would be in ecstasy by now. Me? I just got a headache. I landed by the bay, noting the damage to the shipyards and followed Arienach¡¯s instructions. It took a couple of tries.. well... okay, it took a couple of hours... with constant coaching. The first time I succeeded only lasted a few moments. I found that two legs were now a bit more complicated to stand on than four. Arienach made me practice till I could shift back and forth at will. Surprisingly, we were not disturbed the whole time. I guess whatever the green skins were, they were not worried about posting watch. I was not going to be the one to enlighten them. When I was finally ready, I approached the city gates from the harbor road. I was stunned to get a notification. You are about to enter the dungeon Calalistos, do you wish to proceed? Yes No The Dragon Haladoria was nervous¡­ well¡­ frightened was more accurate. They had talked over scenarios for almost a moon, but in the end, it came down to the fact the dragon could find them where ever they went. There was nowhere to run and they were not going to piss off a dragon. Especially if that dragon might be Arienach. Arienach. The name was a legend to all the races. No one truly knew the truth from the fiction. Some stories were so far fetched that they couldn¡¯t possibly be real. Up until Graniels return, she hadn¡¯t even really believed something could exist like Arienach. She had questioned the poor man over and over, along with his men. They all agreed, this one not a large dragon. This was a titanic dragon. Who was silver. With the black claws and horns. She sighed. This was getting her nowhere. They moved out in a solemn procession to the field they had cleared. The clearing was twice the size of their village, but Graniel had laughed and said it wasn¡¯t big enough. Well, they had used the stone earlier and they would know soon. She jumped as a loud rumbling boom was heard. The elves looked to each other nervously. She had to fight to keep her face calm, to be strong for her people. Then it appeared over the trees. At first she though that it must be very close, then she realized that it was still quite far away and moving at them at a fantastic rate of speed. It grew in her vision till it blotted out the sky over the trees. And it kept coming, finally landing and walking towards the clearing. It seemed to be walking unsteadily, until she realized it was trying to keep from damaging too many trees. Not an easy thing for it¡¯s size. It stopped with just its forelegs inside the clearing and looked around. No more would fit. She winced as it lay down and the trees beneath it was crushed and flattened. It suddenly occurred to her that she was no longer as frightened as before. Something¡­ That it was being so careful, put her at ease. Still, this was not a dragon to be trifled with. She had no doubt now. This was Arienach. This was the terror. It was worried about trees. It had been careful to come in far enough not to frighten them. Then it lay it¡¯s head down to be on more¡­ level terms. She still had to look up and it was still a good distance away. She couldn¡¯t help it, she walked, pacing out the width of it¡¯s head. ¡°I bid you greetings, lord dragon. I am Haladoria of the Horiel. How may we serve you?¡± She was amazed that her voice was steady. She had planned this speech for weeks¡­ a simple string of words that could mean their survival. Now it sounded rather silly.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°I am called Michael and I am no lord. I am honored to meet you lady Haladoria and you owe me no service. I would see no being suffer.¡± His words shocked her. The great destroyer was worried about suffering? Why was he calling himself Michael? Maybe it was the fact no one ever talked to a dragon and lived, she mused. Her eyes widened a bit. ¡°Tis on our honor, lord Michael, to repay our debt to you.¡± Then it occurred to her. She was arguing with a force of nature. A being that could simply exhale and wipe out her people. Still, it seemed right. ¡°If you insist on payment, do you have anyone of your people that has knowledge of magic?¡± Now this was not something that was expected at all. He had dragon magic. He was the most powerful creature on their world. Why? ¡°Magic?¡± ¡°I would learn of your magic and mayhaps teach them as well, if they be curious.¡± Her mind went blank. She spoke before she thought. ¡°This does not seem as much a payment.¡± ¡°Tell me then, just what I could want? The cattle I kept as but a variety in my diet. I do not need wealth or a domicile to live in. I can travel this world at a thought and countless others besides. Knowledge is the only thing that is of interest to me.¡± The view was so¡­ so alien. To be able to travel¡­ no threat at all. She didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°One other thing I would know, if you would. Where do these green skins reside?¡± What? Why? She felt a cold chill. ¡°Why would you wish to know this?¡± She asked, caution evident in her voice. ¡°I wish to pay them a visit.¡± ¡°You would visit with them?¡± This time colored with concern. Visit? Was he seeking an ally? No, that would be silly. ¡°Yes, I would bargain with them for peace with the other people of this land.¡± This was turning into something surreal. Arienach bargaining for peace. ¡°I see... you wish these lands to be at peace. I somehow do not see this with the green skins, but I suppose that is up to you if you wish to try.¡± His head came up and his maw opened. Her mind froze as teeth that were very sharp, very plentiful and very very large appeared. ¡°There will be peace, one way or the other.¡± The finality of that statement made the blood in her veins seem to freeze. The answer came out in a rush. ¡°They are sunward of here, follow the river down to the coast, that was where our home was before they took it.¡± ¡°I thank thee lady Haladoria of the Horiel. I will return soon, if I may,¡± He was polite after that epitaph. He was asking permission to return. He made no real threat to her people. ¡°We will welcome you lord Michael.¡± She said with a slight smile. ¡°Fair winds to you.¡± With that he jumped. He moved so fast he almost seemed to disappear, then his gigantic wings opened and caught the air. He pulled himself up and the wind blew us all to the ground and held us there. Then he was gone. Two strong wing beats and he was out of sight. She looked to her people and they looked back. She wondered to herself if she looked as pale as they did. Housecleaning Arienach¡¯s voice in my mind brought be back to reality. ¡°I suppose that answers the question about discussing peace.¡± I considered that for a moment. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°This is now registered as a dungeon. All inside are hostile. Trust me, talking will be the last thing that will be on their mind.¡± I sighed and asked; ¡°What should I know?¡± ¡°What you are in is known as a temporary dungeon. It will start off easy and gradually get harder till you find the boss, or the leader. I would usually suggest clearing the entire town then hunting the boss, but in our case, it isn¡¯t necessary as there is nothing our level in the known multiverse. This will actually be an excellent time for you to become accustom to your powers.¡± ¡°Is there anything I should or should not do?¡± ¡°Since you are wanting to preserve what is left of the city, I would suggest you avoid most of the more powerful AOE effects and maintain a shield.¡± ¡°AOE?¡± Arienach sighed. ¡°You never really played games much, did you?¡± ¡°Er... no? I mean, I did play strategic games, but never something like swords and stuff.¡± ¡°Strategic... then you may manage to preserve a good portion. Think of this as a street to street offensive. By the way, AOE means area of effect. Things like your magma blossom would probably take out a few city blocks. You see, even though you are not full size, your magic still is and it was designed to take out an ancient dragon in one shot. This will be an exercise in control for you.¡± ¡°So the problem will not be killing them, but not destroying the city as I do it.¡± ¡°Correct.¡± With another sigh, I mentally pushed the YES. The gates of the city were hanging off their hinges and it was no trouble to squeeze between the bottom gap. The street in front of me was choked with rubble, but there were ways through. I pulled up my ¡°radar¡± and instantly knew where my enemies were. Including the one in the tower behind me. I felt it as the crossbow bolt left the bow and things slowed down. Turning I waited, almost tapping my foot as the quarrel closed the distance. Then I caught it. ¡°I forgot to tell you about time dilation. When threatened, you will naturally go into this state. One of the perks of being a planar. You can also partially step outside this plane and no attack can touch you when you are there. Of course you cannot attack. I doubt that you will ever need to use that unless you just feel like frustrating an opponent.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. I also caught my first glimpse of my opponent then. It was an orc. I may not be a gamer, but an orc is an orc. Tall, broad shouldered, huge muscles, green. Well, this one was greenish brown, but you get the idea. He jumped off the parapet and I let him get about half way down before I sent a minor fireblast his way. I saw then, why I was going to have a difficult time here. The orc was gone. So was part of the tower. A minor fireblast took out a good six yards of the center of it, and it collapsed. Great. I sensed another trying to get in behind me and spun. I tried to back the mana down from the first spell and cast it again. Another orc down and I could see a three foot hole behind him. Judging by the light and shadows, I would guess that it stopped about seven or eight houses in. ¡°I am open for suggestions here.¡± Shaking my head. ¡°Hm... I have never tried anything such as this, but maybe a mana blade?¡± While we were speaking, another orc was approaching. ¡°Could you show me... er... you might want to hurry.¡± ¡°Why? Oh, him. Don¡¯t worry about him, he can¡¯t even touch you with your shield up.¡± I turned to watch the orc swing a spiked club at me. He looked to be around three hundred plus pounds and he put everything he had into it. I forced myself to hold still and was shocked to see the club break. Then he started to pound on the shield. ¡°See? Now. Focus your mana into a sword. Just think of the shape you wish and push your magic into it.¡± It took a few tries but after a couple of minutes, I had a rapier. I stared at it for a moment, then flicked it at the orc. I then proceeded to lose my lunch as the orc slid apart where I had cut it in half.It was a clean cut. Armor, leather, bones, all looked like they were cut with a laser. Then the guts spilled out onto the ground. ¡°New at this I see. Don¡¯t sweat it. Finish killing it... take off the head. That¡¯s right. Shame to waste good meat, but that¡¯s life I suppose.¡± Yeah, this was going to be a long day. The next five hours consisted of; find orc, kill orc, repeat. After the first few, I was no longer trying to empty my stomach as much, but there were still a few that reminded me that this was not a pleasant game. Since they couldn¡¯t surprise me, I started to feel like a butcher. I systematically tracked them all down and killed them. The leader was about half again their size and a little messier. I had to take off his legs to get to his head, but it still wasn¡¯t a challenge. Arienach, reading my thoughts, replied. ¡°Now you realize the problem of being overpowered. The challenge is gone and life becomes boring if you don¡¯t find a goal. I think that is one of the reasons that the elf that slew me was so effective. I was at the point of not giving a damn.¡± Clearing the dungeon Calalistos 159,000 points Killing the boss Grebar 1200 points Preserving 82% of the city of Calalistos 12000 points 3% to next level. Congratulations. I stared at the notification for a moment. At a guess, the next level was several million points away. Then I realized that it didn¡¯t matter. I didn¡¯t even have a clue what my level was anyway. That thought brought up the pop-up; Michael LEVEL - 8764 EXPERIENCE - 1,173,512 / 3% RACE - Planar Dragon BREED - Silver AFFINITY - Fire, Magic CLASS - Ancient ALIGNMENT - Neutral Health - 112% Mana - 105% Oh.... Housewarming I was so deep in thought as I flew back to the elf village, that I almost overflew it. This was to be my new life. I was in a body that for all practical purposes was immortal. What the hell was I going to do to keep myself sane? After the city, it struck home about Arienach not giving a damn. I didn¡¯t have centuries of experience behind me to cope. There had to be a direction that would allow me to survive and preferably thrive. I thought again to all of the orcs that had just died in and almost offhand manner. Where the hell was I going to find something to keep me focused? The other dragons wouldn¡¯t even be a challenge. I was already over the village when I noticed it. I had to circle around and find the place where I landed before. I set down carefully to avoid any more damage to the surrounding forest. The elves were waiting as I landed and I detected a faint sense of amusement from them. Haladoria spoke first; ¡°Greetings lord Michael. How was your discussion with the orcs?¡± She had a slight smile on her face, knowing the answer before I spoke, I think. ¡°Greetings lady Haladoria. They did not wish to speak with me.¡± She sighed and looked a little wistful. ¡°I regret hearing that, but it is not unexpected.¡± ¡°You can return there when you wish, but there is a lot of work to be done. I cannot help with that as it isn¡¯t in my skill set.¡± Her eyes few wide and the two with her stepped back. ¡°But you said that you were unable to speak with them.¡± ¡°They would not talk with me, so I removed them. They will not trouble you or anyone else anymore.¡± ¡°You... you... removed them?¡± Her voice trembled. ¡°Yes. They attacked rather than talk. Your city is yours again, but it was damaged. There will be much work to be done. All I request is a place large enough for me to land so I can visit with you in the future.¡± ¡°Of... of course lord Michael. Of course. We would be honored to have you visit.¡± ¡°I was also considering of having a small harbor up by my lair, so if you had any spare cattle, you could sell them to me. Would that be acceptable?¡± Her eyes went wide. ¡°Trade? With a dragon?¡± ¡°Would that be a problem? Who knows, there might be other things I could purchase as well. It has been ages since I tasted a decent brandy. If you find any others that would be interested, please contact me and I will return. The stone will summon me no matter where I am.¡± To me, I sounded like I was babbling, almost desperate. I had a small glimpse of my future and I suddenly understood why Arienach would lose interest in life. It was frightening. She was looking quite dazed by this point. ¡°Of course... yes.¡± I could see the wheels turning as the possibilities started to sink in. I had placed her in a position of ambassador and left it up to her to find others who might reap the profit from the horde of an ancient dragon. Glancing around, I could read shock on all of the faces present. Frankly, I doubted I would get much out of it, besides being a distraction. But it was something. I was still trying to shake off the vision of endless empty years. Establish trade agreement with the Horiel Clan. 50,000 points Establish ambassador with the Horiel Clan. 50,000 pointsIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. You have established a good will with another race. 10,000 points Arienach chuckled in my head as I spoke with the elves. ¡°Fair winds to you and I wish you well on your journey. If you have a need, please feel free to use the stone. May we both profit from our agreements.¡± Haladoria looked up and smiled. ¡°Clear paths to you, friend Michael. We will do as you suggest and may we both profit. Thank you.¡± With that, I took wing and flew back to my lair, my thoughts spinning. The next few months, I heard nothing from the Horiel. I was busy carving a new channel for the river to follow to where I proposed my harbor town. Dragon fire was a great carving tool and it taught me fine control. The harbor itself showed me the power of the AOE spell that Arienach told me about. I redirected runoff from the various streams around my outer wall of mountains and made two tributaries that circled either side of the chain. I had centered the harbor before two of the largest peaks then, after it was complete, carved an entrance into the inner ring. Looking from the harbor, the two peaks framed my lair, miles distant. I was called to the city of Calalistos about four months after. It was getting cold and I did not wish to linger in the air, so I ported over the bay... too close to the city, I found. I watched as the water went over the docks. I flew up, but the damage was minimal, thank whatever deity was watching over the city. In chagrin, I flew to the new pad where they had placed the crystal before the sculpture of a dragon that rose up with it¡¯s wings rampant. It was quite beautiful and I was touched. As I landed, there was a large throng that was waiting for me. A few were fearful, but most actually looked happy to see me. Arienach gave off a feeling of great surprise. ¡°Greetings Lord Michael!¡± Haladoria shouted. The crowd cheered. I was stunned. ¡°Welcome to Calalistos! Please consider this your second home. Be welcome in this land!¡± The crowd cheered again. I notice that there were also several shorted people dressed in leather and rough homespun clothes. They had on iron helms and carried double bitted axes. Dwarves, if any thing I had seen before was held true on this world. They cautiously stepped forward. I stared at them slightly confused. Arienach mirrored my confusion. ¡°What the hell are dwarves doing here? They are mortal enemies of the elves.¡± Haladoria introduced them. ¡°Please meet Cornal and Dorvus of the dwarven clan Rockheld. They wish to talk with you.¡± ¡°I am honored to meet you sir Cornal and Dorvus.¡± Though I had no clue which was which. I heard a whispered ¡°so it does talk.¡± then louder. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± I chuckled, though it did almost sound like a growl, making them both back up a pace and their hands moved to the hafts of their weapons. ¡°Tis an honor to speak with you and yes I do speak. I prefer speech to the alternative.¡± They broke into a boisterous laughter. ¡°Well said dragon. We came to ask if ya had need for miners or stone workers?¡± I smiled, careful to hide my teeth this time. ¡°Now that you mention it...¡± The dockside meeting went on for another hour or so. After a time, I asked if they minded if I shifted to talk on a more even level with them. I discarded my human form as I remembered Arienach¡¯s reaction to the thought of scavengers. Instead I went for the elven look. Average height with medium brown hair just past shoulder length and matching eyes. Made my ¡°clothes¡± black with silver trim. Once the shock wore off it seemed to ease tension and allowed us to go pub crawling. I was rather surprised when Haladoria and Graniel joined us. We drank and ate and discussed plans. They agreed to journey north after spring thaw as it was getting late into the year. Haladoria also promised a keg of elven brandy for me. When morning came, they begged their beds and I changed and flew back north, not even feeling the cold for the friends and agreements that had blossomed from them. Twas about half way back when the discussion started. ¡°I do not comprehend what has happened.¡± Arienach exclaimed. ¡°Oh? What part?¡± ¡°All of it! You give away cattle and offer to buy them back, you free a city and offer a trade route. There has been no profit for you, but suddenly you have them wanting to work for you.¡± ¡°Arienach, not all profit is gold. Do we need wealth?¡± ¡°Not in the least, however, we do not need trade either.¡± ¡°This is true. We do not need trade, we do not need wealth, we do not really need anything. But where else may we conquer? In game terms, we are so OP as to be ridiculous. Why not make our own empire? You admitted to being bored to the point of carelessness. I understand. If we keep doing what dragons do, I can see the next witch winning. Think if we can make an empire that brings together the different races and opens trade and ideas between them.¡± ¡°But they will seek power and cause much conflict.¡± ¡°Not if the one who is in power happens to be a level 8764 dragon with a known history of removing problems like orcs who don¡¯t play nice.¡± Arienach was silent for a time. ¡°You truly seek power over all of them?¡± ¡°Not really." I sighed. "I could care less about what they do, so long as they work together to do it. It will keep us and them busy and should work well for both of us. I just hope the other dragons will join us down the road.¡± ¡°Now you are being ambitious. But you have been nothing if not a surprise to me since we met.¡± New Direction Haladoria went to her bed that night in a daze. She couldn¡¯t blame it on the alcohol either. She had seen what the dragon¡­ Michael had done. She had seen the greenskins cut down with what looked like little to no fight at all. The greenskins that had almost wiped out her people. Then she remembered the strange almost lost look on it¡¯s face when it returned after the¡­ purge. The thoughts spun and danced in her head. Michael the enigma, the destroyer, now the protector. She knew it¡­ he¡­ was immensely powerful, but he had become elf like in size and shape and was charming and somewhat modest. It was strange when they were discussing the harbor he wanted, how he never seemed to dwell on what achievement he had made or brag on the obliteration of her enemies. Cornal and Dorvus were captivated with his ideas. His idea of a city open to all was¡­ she didn¡¯t even know how to frame the concept. The good dwarves were to meet with her tomorrow, oops, later today. She should get some sleep, but the excitement. She couldn¡¯t stop the dancing thoughts. She had a dragon, no, she had a friend who was the most powerful being on the planet. He didn¡¯t even seem to realize it. Or, he really did want the conflict to end. The meetings later were to discuss sending out representatives from Calalistos and the Rockheld clan to spread the word of the dragon. Michael. All of the people had suffered under the green skins. None had escaped their violence. This would bring others who had suffered as well.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Time would tell, but with Michael, time was not an issue. As their protector? What could hurt them? He demanded nothing. But he was putting this part of the world on a whole new path, a whole new direction. New Beginning The winter passed slowly. I found and cleared a few more of the ¡°dungeons¡± and also located a few more races that were on the continent. I left them alone, much to Arienach¡¯s chagrin. ¡°If we let the others bring them in, then they get a feeling of accomplishment. Rather they do the diplomatic work for us.¡± Most of the time was spent sleeping in the caldera since I had little use for the cold, even though it didn¡¯t effect me as when I went on two legs. Arienach and I talked long about many things. I think even he was impressed with what the elves had done in the short time they had to reconstruct their town. It looked alive now. When we weren¡¯t talking, I was thinking about the future. I was scheming even then about how I wanted the soon to be trade city set up. I had a few other ideas as well, but time would tell. I could only await spring and the arrival of my ¡°hands¡±, the dwarves. The first goal was to set up a trade city around the harbor and have it act as a gateway into the inner ring of my lair. Later on, I would have them build another city, much different around my volcano. It would be the hub at which the dragons would meet and have council. I would also task them to build lairs around the outer ring facing inward. Depending if I could get any of the other dragons on board. Time would tell on that as well, though. It really wasn¡¯t high on my list of priorities. I also wondered if the land around where I was planning the inner city was fertile. If so, then we could have farms protected from the outside if something did decide to come calling with trouble in mind. Surprisingly, the ice had barely melted from the harbor in early spring when I first sensed something moving up the channel to the harbor. I took to the air and met them at the harbors side closest to the entrance to the inner lairs. It was a flat bottom barge and it was packed with both elves and dwarves. A rarity, as it seemed historically those two races did not get along well. I also noticed two who at first I thought to be on horseback. Then I noticed the lack of horse head. Centaurs. I hadn¡¯t seen their like yet and they were a shock to me. There were also a few strangely colored elves, who Arienach informed me were drow. Again, the stories I had read before put the drow and the elves at odds. I supposed at least the orcs were predictable. ¡°I know not what is going on here, Michael. There should be no way that even the elves and drow should be there, let alone the rest of them.¡± I was about to step forward to greet them, when I felt something off in the distance. It was circling over the route the elves and dwarves had come from. I let my eyes focus and Arienach hissed. ¡°Viennarinia¡±. A pale gold dragon, she looked to be an ancient. She watched me as I watched her over the mile or so between us. She had a row of spikes down her back and her horns tilted forward as mine sloped back. She was majestic in the sky. After a while she flew moonward, or west I suppose. I was falling into the terms of this new land. I figured, rather than have the distraction now, I would talk with Arienach later about this new wrinkle. Several of our guests spotted her as well and looked decidedly uneasy. To break the spell, I greeted them. ¡°Be welcome. You are safe here.¡± I paused, looking towards Viennarinia¡¯s flight. ¡°On my word.¡± They slowly made their way off the barge, many were pointing. My lair in the distance, the wall of mountains, the new harbor... and of course, trees. Strangely, even the dwarves were interested in the forest that stretched out around the harbor. Many wandered the shore looking at the scenery and talking in a subdued manner. Most seemed uneasy with me. Arienach chuckled and pointed out that dragons did not have the best reputation. The approach of Haladoria and Dorvus prompted me to shift. I was getting better at the vertigo that sprung from the balance shift and the change of perspective, but it had been a while and I almost staggered. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± Haladoria said with a grin. I just looked at her. ¡°Michael, milady.¡± She just grinned bigger and replied. ¡°Who else can say that they can tease a dragon and live?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. The various people around us looked on curiously. Dragons laugh? Dorvus actually smiled. ¡°Greetings Michael, I find I be not that brave. Of course I did some of the cleanup work in Calalistos.¡± I nodded. ¡°I regret that I didn¡¯t clean up after myself, but I am not really equipped for it.¡± Dorvus chuckled. ¡°Ya did quite enough removing that plague. I also have heard rumors that ya took care of a few other towns as well.¡± ¡°I was trying to remove trouble before it started.¡± ¡°That is all well and good, but it leaves us short on places to train our warriors and build our wealth.¡± I was surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize you could get wealth from removing those pests.¡± ¡°Ya didn¡¯t... Oh, yes. Ya wouldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t guess at your level, but I doubt either was a challenge for you." ¡°What do you mean by level?¡± I asked curiously. He looked at me strangely. ¡°It be that long since anything were a challenge for ya? The rewards be based on how much of a fight ya have.¡± ¡°Well, it has been a century or two¡­¡± I worked to cover my ignorance. Arienach chuckled. Haladoria chimed in. ¡°He cleared Calalistos in a few hours by himself. I have no idea what level that would take, but it is far beyond anything we could do. Or imagine for that matter.¡± ¡°I promise to hold back in the future unless called. Would that be acceptable?¡± Haladoria smiled. ¡°We do not chide you over removing those problems. If left to themselves, they spread across the lands and cause greater problems.¡± Dorvus agreed. ¡°Yea, we had let those towns go because of the green skins at the port city. No harm done.¡± ¡°Still...¡± Haladoria grinned. ¡°Hush. I believe we will have more than enough to keep ourselves busy for a while. I suppose we should have asked, but do you mind having our peoples move here?¡± I was pleasantly surprised by the offer and looked to Dorvus, who smiled. ¡°Some of our people as well. We would have representation here if ya will it.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. That took care of me asking, anyway. ¡°I would be honored to have you. I have nowhere for them to stay, however.¡± They both smiled at me and Dorvus spoke. ¡°Let us take care of that. Now, would ya care to have mines and stonework?¡± I laughed. ¡°Of course¡­ If you are willing, I would like a few lairs built in the outer ring.¡± His eyes widened. ¡°Lairs? Dragon Lairs?¡± ¡°Yes. I am considering on taking those willing in on this venture. There will be rules, of course, but in the long of it, I would like to make this an open community to all. A place to trade ideas as well as goods.¡± They both stared at me, first in shock and then in speculation. Haladoria spoke first. ¡°How do you plan on keeping them from ignoring your rules.¡± I sighed. ¡°I am the eldest ancient. They will not cause trouble in my presence more than once.¡± Haladoria and Dorvus just looked at each other. A little elf girl came running up. ¡°They want to know where to pitch the tents.¡± They looked at me and I shrugged. ¡°Not like I need one. I do not know what you need to do what you wish, I leave this in your hands as I have no need of a building, let alone know how to build.¡± Dorvus just stared, then chuckled. ¡°I suppose ya have a good point. So anything outside the ring?¡± ¡°Yes. Do what you need to, to make it work. Shops, houses, farms or whatever. I may be able to travel between planes, but a plow is beyond me. If you wish, design the city how you like. I just ask that the ones staying are housed first.¡± Haladoria stared at me for a moment. ¡°You mean... you wish us to design a city... you trust us that far?¡± ¡°You have far more knowledge than I and my fore-claws would make short work of an axe or a pick. I will be less than useless for this task. The only suggestion I might make is to leave a wide clear path up to the valley to the inner ring.¡± Dorvus grinned like the cat that ate the canary. ¡°Would ya mind us taking residence in the peaks to either side of the valley?¡± ¡°As you will. Later on, after all is settled, then we can see what else we might need. Oh, before I forget. You do use gold for trade?¡± ¡°Gold, silver and copper.¡± Dorvus smiled. ¡°Ah, then a down payment on the coming work. I assume your people will be working with them on this, Haladoria?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. We may be taking another clan in and they will probably have people that wish to move here as well.¡± I smiled and opened a portal back to the caldera where I had put some gold aside. I pulled through a couple of small rocks... and forgot that I was no longer a dragon and my size estimation still sucked. The rocks were a little over a foot in diameter. Trying to play it down, I asked. ¡°Will this do for a down payment on the town and the docks?¡± Dorvus fell to his ass staring at them. ¡°Uh... um... yes.¡± Haladoria wasn¡¯t much better. ¡°Milord... there is wealth there for six cities.¡± I smiled. ¡°Then make one that will make all of us proud. I suppose these will have to be minted, but it should keep your workers paid and give cushion to any unexpected problems. Is there anything else you might require?¡± Dorvus just looked at me with a snort. ¡°You mean like mithril and silver?¡± I smiled slightly. ¡°Just a moment.¡± Silver was easy, I had some laying around. I wasn¡¯t sure what mithril was, but I had seen some of the elven hardware and had a clue what it looked like. It didn¡¯t take long for me to locate a vein and pull up a few pieces through a portal. ¡°Will these do?¡± Dorvus just stared. ¡°Good goblin gods. The mithril alone would pay for this town you wish built.¡± ¡°Ah, then after things are done, I know where a vein of it is. It is down quite a ways however.¡± Before we could go farther down that track, Haladoria started and moaned. ¡°I had forgot... Michael, we have a couple of centaurs who wish to stay here as well.¡± ¡°They are welcome. I will not turn anyone away that wishes to abide in peace.¡± Haladoria turned and waved the two over. One was black with white socks and a full head of black hair on his head, the other was a chestnut with matching hair. The black was male an the chestnut was female. They both looked uneasy as they approached. Haladoria had to encourage them. They huddled together as they stood slightly behind her, both towering over her. They stood a good eight feet tall. ¡°This is Micky.¡± Haladoria said, pointing to the black haired one. ¡°And this Jessie. They are part of a small herd moonward of here. The whole herd is looking for a home and work.¡± I smiled at them, but before I could speak, Micky softly spoke. ¡°We don¡¯t want to trouble you, we can go now.¡± ¡°Wait!¡± They had half turned and jumped when I called to them. ¡°Be welcome. If you wish to bring your people here and help, then feel free. So long as you help and do not cause trouble, you are welcome here. I am sure Dorvus or Haladoria knows your requirements, so let them know where you would like to be and they can work it into the building plan.¡± Their eyes wide, Jessie spoke. ¡°We have no gold for housing.¡± ¡°I am sure that if you help out, money will come. Consider the housing down payment for your work.¡± Micky looked shocked. ¡°You would do that?¡± Haladoria looked at him and laughed. ¡°Told you he was a strange dragon.¡± I grinned. ¡°Let your herd know they are welcome. There is much to be done and the more hands the easier the work.¡± Jessie gushed. ¡°Thank you, thank you mister dragon. Thank you!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°I am called Michael.¡± then held up a hand. ¡°Not lord or any other title, just Michael.¡± Micky hesitated slightly, then almost formally said. ¡°Thank you Michael, I will go fetch them. Jessie can stay here.¡± Jessie looked a might uneasy, so I said. ¡°Nothing will happen to her while you are away. These lands are mine and I will keep peace here.¡± Micky nodded and Jessie looked relieved. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Micky said. With that he trotted off. I wondered how he would clear the river that I had branched off of, but when he got there, he simple kept going. It only slowed him slightly. I shook my head. Apparently centaurs were strong. We kept chatting and suddenly I sensed another trailing Micky. ¡°Excuse me, I think someone is about to try to cause a problem.¡± The other three looked puzzled, as I jogged far enough away as to not cause a problem myself and shifted to my native form. I then launched myself upwards and climbed high enough to prevent anyone from getting drawn into the backblast as I ported. I came out just ahead of Viennarinia just as she started to drop into a dive at Micky. She hurriedly kited her wings and launched a fire ball at me. I caught it, looked at it, then at her and tossed it back. She scrambled to get out of the way. ¡°Now, is that any way to be?¡± I dead panned. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are trying Arienach. I saw those creatures coming to your lair.¡± ¡°I plan on trading with them.¡± That set her back for a moment. ¡°Trading? What do those vermin have to trade?¡± ¡°Knowledge. I seek peace for the lands. I cannot build, but they can. I know the mysteries of the planes, but not the subtle skills of those who have weaker magic. I seek other than destruction and waste. We have all that the worlds can give us, yet we have nothing. Our legacy is nothing more than eating and killing. I would see that changed.¡± She hovered in the air just staring at me. ¡°You have finally lost it. I heard that elf witch went after you, she must have knocked a something loose upstairs.¡± I didn¡¯t think it politic to let her know that Arienach was only a guest in the house at this point. Instead, I told her. ¡°I care not if you join with me. I do ask you not to interfere. The one below is pledged to me, therefore, I will watch over him and his people. Be warned Viennarinia.¡± She blew a jet of fire at me, which I allowed to hit me in the chest. While I just stared at her. Then she turned and flew off. Arienach informed me that she was one of the next strongest dragons below me, at less than half my levels. In other words, she didn¡¯t have a chance of a snowflake in a blast furnace. I looked down as Micky stared up in awe, so I dropped down away from him and walked up slowly. ¡°You are safe now.¡± I conjured another call stone, this time an emerald, and tossed it to him. ¡°If her or any of her kind bother you on your way back, use that to contact me and I will come.¡± ¡°Thank you lord...¡± I interrupted him with a fore-claw waving back and forth. ¡°Not lord.¡± He looked sheepishly. ¡°Yes Michael.¡± ¡°Go to your people. Take care of them and I will watch over.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± He backed away then turned and ran. I decided to fly back to give myself time to think. Arienach let me for a while, then interjected. ¡°You realize that most of the dragons, including me at one time, have her mind set.¡± ¡°I figured as much. All I can do is try. This is going to take a while, I know. It may turn out that the greatest enemy will be our own people.¡± ¡°I cannot council you on this. What you do, I don¡¯t understand, but I will not judge.¡± ¡°I thank you for that, Arienach. I thank you.¡± Crossroads Haladoria awoke to darkness. It was still very early in the morning. To her surprise, she heard noise in the distance coming from the dock. Apparently she wasn¡¯t the only one anxious to leave. She took her time getting dressed, reflecting back on the time since the dragon had told them their city was theirs again. She had seen distress and confusion in it¡¯s actions. She could only think that it no longer hungered for death. It was¡­ warming? Then coming back to Calalistos he had appeared over the harbor with a huge explosion that washed water up on the docks. He actually seemed embarrassed. Then he landed and somehow became an elf. A charming one at that. She caught herself blushing. He didn¡¯t brag, he talked about what he wanted to do and it included the races. All of the races. That in itself was incredible. He seemed to care. But she didn¡¯t think the histories were wrong. There was too much detail and to many incidents. She wondered what could have brought about such a change. Shaking herself, she walked out of her house, the one that he had returned to her, and made her way to where the barge was loading. She expected to see a few people who, like her, couldn¡¯t sleep. To her shock, everyone was there. The barge was mostly loaded and they seemed to be waiting on her. She was almost embarrassed. The cargo was nothing more than tents, food and tools. From their discussion in the tavern, there would be materials aplenty there. True, most of it was the forest and minerals in the mountains themselves, but they would need little more than that. Besides, it wasn¡¯t that far to Calalistos for any needed supplies. As she approached, The various leaders were grouped to the side. It was strange to see them together. Elves, Drow, Dwarves, Centaur and even a fay. There was no conflict or raised voices. They had each felt the touch of the greenskins. If it would have went on, they would have driven out all of the races¡­ or killed them all. The promise of security and materials to make a new start was a bright light in the darkness. The drow didn¡¯t even have a home to rebuild. The greenskins had collapsed their tunnels with them still in it. Very few had survived. The dwarves faired a little better, but not by much. They had found oil in the storehouses of Calalistos and hauled it to their caves. They dumped it down their caves and set it on fire. Those that didn¡¯t burn, suffocated. Only the ones close to the outside vents had enough air. It went on and on. The dragon did more than he knew by removing that plague. The talk was light and everyone was cheerful. The leaders, including her, especially her, were a little tense, but still there was a good feeling. They had made good progress up the river. Partly because it was a lot wider than it used to be. As the light rose in the sky, she noticed that it seemed like the edges of the channel was make of glass. She wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed either. The question came up on how the channel was not only wider and more straight now, but how did it come to have a glass lining? She was familiar with the glass making process. Great heat and¡­ she stared back at the bank. And sand¡­ which was found in most soil. She told the steersman to take them closer to the bank. When they closed, she could see where the vegetation was scorched away and was only starting to grow back. The edge of the glass was bubbled and ragged and there were half melted rocks. Arienach. The bed traveled for miles and there didn¡¯t seem to be a seam She felt another cold chill at the power that dragon must have. The dwarves exchanged glances with her. They knew. Most just brushed it off and went back to the scenery. They turned their eyes back to the path to their destination. It was a few hours later when they rounded a bend and entered the harbor. It was huge. Haladoria looked at the edges carefully and saw the same glassed sides. As they made their was towards the dragon¡­ the huge dragon. She noticed that the harbor was almost perfectly round. She followed it with her eye, gaging the distance. Calalistos would just about fit in the harbor. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what chance they would have if it ever attacked. The stories were true. He was quite capable of taking out armies or destroying cities. Then she glanced up past the dragon. There was a cut in the mountain range that framed a volcano in the distance. She had a feeling that this was the dragons home. And he opened it to them. By the time they had docked, she actually felt happy. Dorvus and Cornal dropped in next to her as they left the barge. The people were somewhat nervous about their host. Maybe it had something to do with the fact they could walk under it¡¯s claws without hitting their heads. To her, now that she had come to know him a little, he was awe inspiring. He had done this for them. He asked nothing in return. As they approached, he did that weird shift thing again and looked like a handsome noble elf. She was shocked at her own thoughts. But. He was cute. When she got to him, it bubbled out. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. His look sent a shiver down her spine. ¡°Michael, milady.¡± ¡°Who else can say that they can tease a dragon and live?¡± The look on his face was priceless and he laughed. He really laughed. I felt a strange stirring inside because there was no mask there. Dorvus and him talked for a bit about the dungeons as I just watched his face. It was strange that he had no clue about gaining wealth from battles, but then again, he must be well above what they were used to. She offhand wondered about that. Maybe a thousand? Two? No, that was just crazy. Nothing could be that high of a level. Still she wondered. She even chimed in about Calalistos and found herself mildly flirting. She covered it by asking about her people staying. Dorvus asked as well and his only concern what that he had no place for them to stay. Then he asked the question that set both Dorvus and I back a step. He wanted dragon lairs. ¡°How do you plan from keeping them from ignoring your rules?¡± I asked before I thought. He sighed. ¡°I am the eldest ancient. They will not cause trouble in my presence more than once.¡± Dorvus looked a me and we both understood. He was Arienach. We werechatting with a walking talking Armageddon event. We were saved by Liliana running up asking about the tents. We were still a bit distracted by who we were dealing with, but he was nothing but polite. He was offering for us to build the city as we saw fit. She couldn¡¯t believe his generosity. Then he dropped the next bomb. ¡°As you will. Later on, after all is settled, then we can see what else we might need. Oh, before I forget. You do use gold for trade?¡± ¡°Gold, silver and copper.¡± Dorvus smiled. ¡°Ah, then a down payment on the coming work. I assume your people will be working with them on this, Haladoria?¡± ¡°Yes, of course. We may be taking another clan in and they will probably have people that wish to move here as well.¡± He did something with magic that made my hair almost stand on end. He reached through a hole in the air and pulled through¡­ gods, was that gold? She had never saw so much gold. ¡°Will this do for a down payment on the town and the docks?¡± Dorvus fell to his ass staring at them. ¡°Uh... um... yes.¡± I couldn¡¯t stop staring at them. ¡°Milord... there is wealth there for six cities.¡± I whispered. ¡°Then make one that will make all of us proud. I suppose these will have to be minted, but it should keep your workers paid and give cushion to any unexpected problems. Is there anything else you might require?¡± Dorvus just looked at me with a snort. ¡°You mean like mithril and silver?¡± I think Dorvus was just trying to be sarcastic. But he did that thing with the air again. ¡°Just a moment.¡± He pulled out enough mithril for a full suit of armor, probably with some left over and a large chunk of silver¡­ my gods, how much did he have? The tales of the dragon hordes¡­ But it was Arienach and it wasn¡¯t only this world he had to draw on. ¡°Will these do?¡± Dorvus just stared. ¡°Good goblin gods. The mithril alone would pay for this town you wish built.¡± ¡°Ah, then after things are done, I know where a vein of it is. It is down quite a ways however.¡± Then I remembered Micky and his mate, Jessie. ¡°I had forgot... Michael, we have a couple of centaurs who wish to stay here as well.¡± ¡°They are welcome. I will not turn anyone away that wishes to abide in peace.¡± They were both quite shy, as were most of their kind. ¡°This is Micky and this Jessie. They are part of a small herd moonward of here. The whole herd is looking for a home and work.¡± Micky softly spoke. ¡°We don¡¯t want to trouble you, we can go now.¡± ¡°Wait! Be welcome. If you wish to bring your people here and help, then feel free. So long as you help and do not cause trouble, you are welcome here. I am sure Dorvus or Haladoria knows your requirements, so let them know where you would like to be and they can work it into the building plan.¡± Their eyes wide, Jessie spoke. ¡°We have no gold for housing.¡± ¡°I am sure that if you help out, money will come. Consider the housing down payment for your work.¡± Micky looked shocked. ¡°You would do that?¡± I looked at him and laughed. ¡°Told you he was a strange dragon.¡± ¡°Let your herd know they are welcome. There is much to be done and the more hands the easier the work.¡± Jessie gushed. ¡°Thank you, thank you mister dragon. Thank you!¡± Arienach laughed. ¡°I am called Michael.¡± then held up his hand. ¡°Not lord or any other title, just Michael.¡± Micky hesitated slightly, then almost formally said. ¡°Thank you Michael, I will go fetch them. Jessie can stay here.¡± ¡°Nothing will happen to her while you are away. These lands are mine and I will keep peace here.¡± Micky nodded and Jessie looked relieved. ¡°Thank you very much.¡± Micky said. I watched Micky go. Arienach follow him with his eyes. We started to talk about the town when Arienach paused with a strange look. ¡°Excuse me, I think someone is about to try to cause a problem.¡± He took off running and when he was away from everyone, he shifted. I was amazed at the speed of it. He was a full dragon almost in mid stride. He flew up then suddenly, another hole seemed to open in the air and he was gone. I stared at Dorvus and he at I¡­ It was almost an hour later he came back. He had a strange look on his face as he landed and shifted. It was deep thought and concern. What could cause something like him to be concerned? It wasn¡¯t till Micky got back later that evening with the herd that we found out. Relatives Visit I watched through the spring and into the summer as the port and the town grew. It seemed like every time a ship came in, it left with fewer passengers. We gained a group of fairies and a half fox that called herself a kitsune. I had no clue what that meant, but everyone was impressed, so I went along with it. Early on, I led the dwarves to a large vein of iron ore and another of copper. The docks and the shipyards were completed all in stone with carved wood piers. The main street was paved with granite blocks that were eight inches thick and polished to a sheen in the very middle of the street. The housing was up close to the outer walls of my lairs with the dwarves digging into the mountains on either side and making them their own. I kept feeling Viennarinia come and go. She would come and watch for a while then leave. She made no move on any of the transports or the people as they worked on the mountains or in the forests. The farms were out on the river leading to the harbor and they were not disturbed either. Still I kept watch and waited. About mid summer, the dwarves started carving into the face of the two entry mountains. I watched as the stone seemed to melt away. I asked Dorvus and Haladoria about it during one of my drinking trips into town. Both just smiled and ignored me. I had gotten into the habit of visiting them about once a week to go to the pub. It was one of the first buildings completed in the town. It took about a month before there was a new drink to try, and I found myself entranced. It was called Elven Brandy. I found love. More buildings came into being and the tents were all but gone by this time. We gained a second herd of centaurs towards the end of summer along with a full clan of elves. About a month later a full clan of drow joined us to mine and Arienach¡¯s surprise. Dorvus told us that he was in talks with other clans of dwarves as well. One night they asked me what they should name the town. I told them I really didn¡¯t have a clue, dragons didn¡¯t usually name things. So, Dragonhaven came to be. The speed of the cities growth increased with the size of the population. Around the harbor, the streets radiated out in a fan shape. From the air, it looked beautiful, the white stone making rays away from the center harbor. Warehouses and shops sprang up almost as fast as the people arrived. There were many places set aside, little round places in the junction and some larger places between the buildings that were spaced far enough apart. I figured I would find out what they were for in time. I was fascinated by the industry as well as the way that race barriers disappeared. It was nothing to see the dwarves and the centaurs working along side elves and sometimes fairies, though what the fairies did was beyond me. The buildings grew as they got closer to the entrance to my lair ring. Both in size and in intricacy. They were functional works of art, some quite fanciful. Dragons seemed to be the underlying theme of the city. It seemed like overnight, statues sprang up like wildflowers. Pillars sported dragons spiraling around them and buildings had them carved in where ever there was a flat spot. There seemed to be a never ending train of ships entering and leaving the harbor and carts were to be found on the roads at all times of the day and night. From somewhere a militia sprang up and they patrolled the entire city. I heard of no crime, but then again, I didn¡¯t interfere in their affairs either. When I joined the town in my other form, it seemed to be happy and peaceful. I rarely heard a complaint and mostly it was about something trivial. It was towards the end of summer, early fall that I felt two dragons heading towards my lair. I flew out to investigate. There were two of them, adults which were half my size, a red and a black. ¡°Greetings, I am called Michael here.¡± ¡°Greetings¡± said the black. ¡°I am called Shryke and this is Darhla.¡± Darhla? ¡°I greet you both. What may I do for you this day?¡± ¡°We seek understanding of what you attempt with these...¡± The black continued. ¡°People?¡± ¡°Yes. They build by your lair and you allow it? What does this do for you?¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Well, they build a port that they can live in and trade ensues. They build and we all learn from each other.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Learn? I do not understand. They cannot equal our magic. What do we have to learn from them?¡± ¡°Subtle magic. I, for all my knowledge cannot make a tree grow. Or heal something. I know not how the dwarves work stone as if it is soft wood or make soft iron into steel.¡± ¡°Why should you seek to know that?¡± ¡°Why not? Tell me, what do we truly need?¡± ¡°Nothing! The world is ours.¡± ¡°Sadly, this is true.¡± ¡°Sadly?¡± ¡°What do you have to plan for? What do you need go fight for? Where can you find challenge?¡± They both looked blankly at me. ¡°I wish to work with them as best I can. They have a drive that we cannot match for all our magic. We have everything, and it makes us less.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± ¡°Have you seen their art? Heard their songs? Listened to their stories? They have nothing compared to us, but have rich lives. I would learn this.¡± ¡°May we come see your city?¡± ¡°So long as you mean them no harm. Follow me.¡± Arienach was stunned. I wasn¡¯t too far off. We made the flight back in silence. Each with their own thoughts. Landing on the pad that was reserved for me, I shifted as they followed. Shryke turned out to be tall with broad shoulders and black hair. Darhla was of tiny stature with flaming red hair. I let them look around the dock and the shipyard then took them up the main thoroughfare. We paused for an hour at the pub... which now had the name Dragons Head. I hadn¡¯t noticed that before. Haladoria joined us for a time as we chatted. When we left, I could tell the other two dragons were amazed, especially with the elven brandy. We continued, sometimes stopping at shops and crafters, till we reached the valley and then I looked up. You couldn¡¯t see them from the air that well and I generally landed on the docks, not coming this way. There were two large, albeit unfinished, statues of rampant dragons with their wings spread across the face of each mountain. At the entrance to that valley, there stood three awe struck dragons. They turned to me. ¡°Did you tell them to do this?¡± Shryke asked quietly. ¡°No.¡± I replied just as quietly. ¡°They are beautiful.¡± Darhla whispered. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°May we join you?¡± Shryke asked. It took me a second to figure out what he was asking. In the meantime, Darhla asked. ¡°Please?¡± ¡°I would be honored to have you. You understand now.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± About that time, Cornal walked up and introductions were made. ¡°Have you had any time to work on the lairs?¡± I asked hopefully. Cornal smiled. ¡°We have about half a dozen done. They range from one, which is your size to three that are of the size of the dragons here. We also have two for the juvenile dragons as well. We connected them in the back with a tunnel and a very large cavern where they can meet and talk if they wish.¡± I just shook my head. Then I turned to the other two. ¡°Would this be to your liking?¡± Shryke turned to Cornal. ¡°Did Michael tell you how to build these lairs?¡± ¡°No, no... we pretty much were working off of hunch and guess. Each lair has a sleeping area, an area to study and a room to store things if you wish. It was the best we could come up with. It was to be a surprise, but this be a good time for it, if¡¯n you ask me.¡± I smiled. ¡°It is a perfect time. Thank you and tell Dorvus I said thank you as well.¡± I heard a voice behind me. ¡°You be welcome dragon. We still owe ya, but each thank you we get pays it down that much.¡± ¡°You own me nothing.¡± ¡°So you say.¡± He laughed. ¡°A question, is the one our size suitable to sleep two?¡± Shryke took Darhla¡¯s hand with a smile. ¡°Aye, that it be. But if ya need anything else, let us know and we will make it for ya.¡± They turned to me and smiled. ¡°Thank you Michael.¡± then turning to Dorvus. ¡°How can we find said lair?¡± He laughed. ¡°Through the valley to your right, about a quarter way up there are three caves in a line across. I would suggest the one on the far end from the entrance.¡± I followed them in after we shifted back. I had not noticed the caves as I was so used to seeing the mountain chain that I didn¡¯t pay attention. There was one large cave over three medium and the start of a line of small ones towards that bottom of the mountain. If they continued in that vein, then each mountain could contain it¡¯s own clan or community. I landed in the top lair and found it smoothed and finished on the inside with designs carved on the floors and walls. Someone had enchanted a large crystal globe and it shown down with a mellow light. I followed it back and found a room with stone shelves and then another with a smooth flat floor. The walls of which were carved with a forest scene. There was also a room with stone bookshelves. Both in dragon size and in human size with a stone desk and those glow orbs surrounding the room. Further back there was a ramp that led down which I followed. It led to a shelf overlooking a vast cavern where there was an area in the center which was probably large enough to support three ancients. It was amazing work. I flew down and looked around the room. ¡°Greetings Michael!¡± Darhla said as she glided in next to me. ¡°Wow¡± Was all I could say. ¡°Yes. This is... fantastic!¡± Shryke exclaimed as he landed a moment later. I couldn¡¯t help but agree. The people that I had befriended on a whim had surprised me over and over. We chatted for a while, then I had a strange thought. ¡°Out of curiosity, just how did you hear of the work here?¡± Shryke smiled. ¡°Oh, Viennarinia told us about it.¡± Falling She had it bad and she new it. Haladoria was falling in love. With a dragon. Not just any dragon, but the one of legends, the destroyer, the eldest ancient, the king of the dragons. She knew all of the legends. They were part of the elven lore and dated back thousands of years. But yet¡­ She sighed. He was charming without meaning to be, polite and modest. He didn¡¯t even realize when he had just given away more gold than most kingdoms had ever seen. He supported the people and let them lived the way they pleased, not setting laws but by suggesting things and guiding them. Then there was the incident with the gold dragon. Viennarinia. The she devil. Micky had come back with a tale¡­ Michael had faced down Viennarinia. No¡­ he sent her away like a whipped pup. She apparently had thrown a fireball at him and¡­ he caught it. He caught a fireball. Then tossed it back like it was an acorn. They had words and she blew fire at him. Micky said that he didn¡¯t even seem to notice. Gods¡­ The word spread like¡­ she chuckled, dragon fire. The people felt safe. All of the little complaints that the races had, had dried up. Talk against Michael had stopped overnight and it was a fool that spoke anything against him. Stolen novel; please report.??The patrols had made short work after that, of all the criminals in the town. Word spread and people poured into town. He started coming into town and drinking at the pub. People would stop in and he would talk to them all¡­ as equals. He never commanded. He often helped them work through problems. There was a meeting about the town name. We had asked him and he had no clue for names. So it was proposed as Dragonhaven. The people were falling in love as well. Dragons became the subject of just about every work of art in town. At that time we had no clue how prophetic the towns name was to be. It was late summer when Michael suddenly flew overhead. He was in a hurry and the people stopped and watched. He came back a short time later with two adult dragons. What followed was a tour of the town. They stopped at the carvings. Michael hadn¡¯t even noticed until that point. It was strange how he could lose what was going on around him at times. He had a talk with Cornal and Dorvus and suddenly, we had two new dragons in residence. And they loved it here. We were shocked when they started giving the children rides and carrying things for labor crews¡­ They loved to talk to the people. The council was the ones to suggest it. They wanted Michael as king. I suggested emperor and proposed that we send out delegations to the surrounding lands to invite them into the empire. If we could make Michael a rallying point and bring in others, we could give Michael his dream about unifying the races. The trick would be to make him take the job. I cornered a young bard and we set down and schemed. Song of the Empire I had taken to coming into town more often once Darhla and Shryke had made their home in the lairs. Sometimes we met up, sometimes we didn¡¯t. When we did, it was mostly at the Dragons Head, where we listened to and sometimes told stories. Some nights there were people playing instruments as well. I was enraptured when the people there sang to the music. Some songs tugged at the heart, some made you laugh and others told stories. It was on one such night that I met Haladoria there. ¡°Greetings Lady Haladoria.¡± I said as I approached the table she sat at in the corner. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± She said with a laugh and a wide grin. ¡°Michael, milady.¡± ¡°But, I find it fun to tease a dragon and live.¡± She winked at me. I laughed, I couldn¡¯t help it. ¡°How fair you this eve?¡± ¡°I do well, Michael. One of our musicians is due to be here this eve. I would hear her.¡± ¡°Oh? Tis a rare occasion, then?¡± ¡°Quite rare, you see, she is a bard and she has a new ballad she wants us to hear.¡± I looked around the room and noticed that it had been filling steadily since I had arrived a few moments before. ¡°I am glad that I am here to witness this event, then.¡± ¡°Oh, lord dragon, you would not have missed it.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°We were waiting for you to show up. We have sent word to Darhla and Shryke as well.¡± I looked at her curiously. ¡°I do not understand, milady.¡± ¡°Ah, here they come.¡± She had given me one of those smiles, that I had come to know quite well, that meant she wasn¡¯t going to tell me a damn thing. I glanced over to see the two young dragons coming towards us. Once seated, they both looked at me. ¡°Do you know what this is about, Michael?¡± Shryke asked. ¡°No, I had assumed....¡± Haladoria smiled. ¡°Be patient you three. You will see soon enough. Meanwhile, have some brandy to sooth you savages beasts.¡± I chuckled as she poured us each a glass of the golden nectar. I could smell it as she uncorked the decanter and my mouth watered. We sat there for a while chatting. Haladoria would just smile and change the subject each time we would get curious as to this bard and why we were here. Finally a young female elf came through the curtains from the back room. She took a stool by the fire, took a lute from a soft cloth bag and started tuning it. She seemed to ignore the people who were crowded in to see her, the room full to overflowing by this point. We had a prime table right next to the fireplace and no one would step in front of us. Looking around, I noticed that no one would come closer that a few feet from the table and most were glancing over at us as we sat there.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Finally the young elf strummed the strings and seemed satisfied. She then started to play a haunting melody. After a few moments her voice, clear and soft joined in. It took a moment for the words to sink in, but I was shocked as it told of the attack on Calalistos by the orcs. The breaking of the wall and the fall of many of the defenders. It told of the holding of the orcs so the survivors could flee and the death of most of the elvish army that day. The song went on to tell of all the arrows that flew and the blood in the streets, the fall of the gates and smoke on the horizon as the survivors looked back while fleeing up the river. It also told of their fight to survive and build, with little food or hope and how out of desperation, they sent a party north to hunt and bring back what they could. Then it told what the hunting party had found. She sang of the great dragon landing before the party and how the party thought that they had seen their last day. Then it went on how this dragon sent them on their way to bring not only meat, but hope, as well as fear. The fear because it wished to know where the rest of the survivors were. It told of the long talks the people had, wondering if the dragon would take them for it¡¯s own. It told of the fear of it finding them, but wondered at the gift of the cattle it sent. As I listened, I learned what they had went through. It was strange and somewhat saddening to view the events from their perspective. Even Arienach was touched. The song went on telling of the fear when the rest finally met the dragon, who was even larger than they had believed. The uncertainty when it flew to Calalistos, they knew not what for. The sorrow when it returned saying that it had failed to gain peace from their enemy, followed by shock when it told them their town was theirs again. Then it told of the travel back to Calalistos and what they had found there. It touched on the scene as they walked through the streets that looked more of a slaughter house with pieces of their old enemies torn limb from limb. The shock when there was not one found alive and how the leader was found laid out before the throne, with his head three lengths from his body, staring at the entrance. I hadn¡¯t paid attention when I had killed him. By that time, I was so disgusted by the killing that I just walked away. The song went on as the people found the town mostly intact and started to rebuild. It told of one of the scouts who went to the dwarves to commission a statue and of the amazement of the dwarves over the story. It went on when they summoned the dragon and it appeared over the bay with a deafening explosion that washed water up onto the docks. The fear and hope as it landed before them. It told of the meeting and the promise of a new harbor up the river where they could come and trade with the dragon. Of the long winter safe and of the plans to travel northward in the spring. Of the legend that spread out across the land and of the others who came to join them. Their lands were stripped and they were poor and the trade ships who came could not be paid. They pinned their hopes on the dragon¡¯s promise of trade. Of the spring when they traveled the half frozen river, with hope in a new place that could lift them up. Of the meeting with the dragon and the offering for them to build a new city. A city that was already paid for with an emperor¡¯s ransom and a promise that they would be safe. Of the confrontation of the dragon and one of his kin, the opening of mines and the free gift of land for business and farms. Then it spoke of two more dragons who came to join and of the promise of peace. It spoke of the new dragons helping where they could and letting children ride with them as they flew. Then it spoke of a new government for the people of all races, watched over by the dragons, in this land and of the city of Calalistos and it named a dragon called Michael as it¡¯s emperor... The song ended and it was dead quiet. I looked into the eyes of Darhla and Shryke as they stared back at me in shock. They had tears in their eyes and they bowed their heads. Then I let my gaze travel to the rest of the crowd and as I did, they dropped to their knees. Then I looked at Haladoria and she smiled. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± The Revelation She was rather giddy as Michael took his seat. She was also nervous. She had went over a thousand different scenarios about how to approach him and what would happen after. After. While she doubted he would react badly, but there was always a chance. Especially when he realized that he had been set up. She knew from past experience, he was not stupid. He missed things going on around him all the time, but he had a focus¡­ He would understand exactly what had happened, which was the reason for the bard¡¯s song. The greetings, the brandy and the idle talk kept him and the other two dragons sidetracked long enough for Denora to get set up. Denora was nervous as well, she knew quite well who and what she was dealing with. Still, as Haladoria watched, she set up her instrument and tuned it, showing no sign of nerves. Haladoria sighed as the song flowed out of the lute. Denora had done magic. The ballad brought to life what happened to the elves and brought a tear to her eye at the memory it gave. She watched Micheal as his face changed from relaxed to entranced to an emotion she couldn¡¯t place at first. It took her a bit, but she finally figured out the he was finally seeing it from the elves perspective¡­ from the peoples perspective. It forced her to look at it from his view. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.He had no clue going in what had happened to them, other that what little they had told him. He was learning of their flight from their own city and the hardships they had went through. He was stuck by the events. She looked on at him and realized that he really had just acted as he saw best. He had not known of any of the events. He just wanted peace and for the people to be happy. Just what could bring such a powerful being a revelation that he should change to such a degree? What event could trigger such a turn around in character? She had no clue. When the song shifted at the end, the look on Michael¡¯s face went blank. He looked at Darhla and Shryke, then looked out at the gathered people. He knew. As he turned his eyes on her, she felt a depth¡­ a vastness. She couldn¡¯t look away from his gaze. It pierce her to her soul. He tilted his head to the side slightly and her heart sang. She couldn¡¯t help but smile and said; ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± His eyes closed and he shook his head. The Dragon Emperor ¡°Michael.¡± I said absently, while looking at all the people in the room. She laughed again. ¡°It will be as you wish, but I doubt you will succeed in going by just your name now.¡± ¡°What of this? I am no ruler. I have little understanding of the things you do, let alone what drives you to do them. How can I be an emperor?¡± He was suddenly struck by how true that statement was. What had happened? When had he lost the perspective that let him understand the others? Suddenly it occurred to him that he was becoming more dragon than human. She smiled. ¡°You will be the best emperor, milord dragon. You care not for wealth or conquest, but for the safety of those around you. You do not ask to be worshiped or bowed down to, but ask people to rise up and treat with each other equally. You do not set laws, but let us set our own. You have done little save to guide us, not caring what you would profit from our work.¡± I stared at her for a long time before I replied. ¡°I cannot enforce your laws or set them down myself. That is not our way, as we barely understand what you find right or wrong. What good might I do for you if I take this role?¡± ¡°You would do good to guide us in a direction of your choosing. Before you gave your cattle so freely, this land was in constant conflict. Before you opened your city to us, we only traded with those from other lands, not trusting our own neighbors. The orcs crippled not only our lands but the lands around us as well. All the races here suffered. Then they sat in our city like a cancer to watch us waste away. You stopped that. Would we have dealt with drow or dwarf before? No. Would we even acknowledge another tribe of elves? No. You, with a simple act, opened the lands for us and gave us a common direction. We simple wish you to show us what else we have missed in our focus on just ourselves.¡± He thought to what he had learned in the song. He could see the desperation now and how his act of removing the orcs was more than just a simple thing to them. The idea of trade, made out of near desperation for want of something to do over the countless years, held an all new meaning when looked at from their perspective. He had shown them a way out of the bleak survival they were trapped in and then given them not only hope, but unified them into a common goal. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.¡°What would you wish to see come of this?¡± I asked quietly. She smiled slightly again. ¡°I would see all the lands fall under your spell and for us to be able to talk and trade with any kingdom, on any land or continent.¡± My eyes widened. ¡°You wish me to take over this world?¡± ¡°If it does even half the good that you have done here, the whole world would prosper as never before.¡± She replied. ¡°I see... You realize that this will not be a war to be fought. You cannot bring peace through strife, except for the final peace.¡± ¡°But that is the best part, lord dragon. Our warriors will become watchmen and their wives less likely to become widows. We will still need fighters for the dark races, but even then, there are a few of them who would join with us.¡± I raised a brow. ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°You have not noticed the drow that live here now?¡± ¡°I had wondered on that.¡± ¡°Should you accept, lord dragon, tomorrow you will meet with the king of the northsunward dwarves for him to pledge his service to you, as well as two queens of the underdark, both to the south and to the moonward lands. You will also meet with all the major leaders of every elven, dwarven and centaur towns between the moonward mountains and the sunward coast. From the northern darklands to the southward coast as well. We have received word that many others are heading this way as well.¡± ¡°I see. While this is a good portion of this continent, it is not even half. I cannot imagine all taking this peacefully.¡± I said levelly. ¡°We do not know what will happen past this moment. These lands have been left alone for a long time, so I would wonder if trouble came soon. Should we build up ourselves and trade fairly, mayhaps word would spread to them?¡± I thought is was a noble idea... but I also thought it rather over optimistic. Still, they were not wanting me to set laws or truly govern them in the classical sense. I chuckled to myself. Was this not what I had suggested to Arienach when I first started this? I had just not thought it would happen like this, or this soon, for that matter. At that thought, I had a reply. ¡°Do not seek my guidance in this, Michael. I can scarcely understand what you have done here. Never have I seen such as this and I have no idea where it will lead.¡± Then he chuckled ¡°my council would be; you started it, you finish it.¡± Great, a dragon comedian. But his words did have merit. I was the one that started this, it just didn¡¯t go how I had thought it would. Looking up at Haladoria I said. ¡°I will accept under one condition.¡± She looked at me curiously. ¡°Condition?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said with a slight smile. ¡°Call me Michael.¡± Her face lit up in a broad smile. ¡°As you will lord dragon.¡± I face palmed as the crowd began to cheer. I glanced over at Darhla and Shryke to see them whispering to each other, glancing my way. I took a sip of my brandy and looked that the people, elves, drow, dwarves, a fairy or three. I wondered if the centaurs had been invited, but thought the door too small. Funny how your mind wandered when you had no clue what to do. Dorvus Dorvus watched the dragon¡­ Michael¡­ Michael Arienach land. Funny thing, after meeting him and learning how he seemed to care for the people he watched over, Dorvus could see that Michael was not happy or impressed about what awaited him on his landing pad. He held back the grin and chuckle that threatened to bubble over. He looked around at the waiting nobles from the different lands and held back the sense of glee he felt. Michael would not stand still for their politics or their maneuvering. They were all out of their league and had no clue yet. The dread and apathy of this meeting was beginning to fade, being replaced with an almost evil sense of glee. Those feathered peacocks had done much to separate the lands in the name of good. Their good. He watched the proceedings at the dock and even Haladoria seemed to have no clue what her pet dragon was going to do. It was rather funny watching Haladoria. She had fallen for the big lizard. He could hardly blame her. He was the most honest and straightforward being that Dorvus had ever met. It was kind of funny watching the strong independent elf fall for a dragon. She was a strong and competent leader, he knew from the time they were still enemies. She had held her people together after the attack on her city and lead them. Now she was acting like a little school girl whenever that dragon so much as glanced at her.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The tension built on the walk to the meeting place and through the building. Dorvus could tell he wasn¡¯t angered, but there was a sense of¡­ what? Impatience? The others bowed and postured and Michael watched. He did not approve. As he took his seat, you could almost feel the sense of pressure building. ¡°The most ancient dragon emperor, Michael.¡± Haladoria announced. Then it happened. He stood and spoke. He could feel an ache in his jaws from trying not to laugh. Meet the Emperor I landed on the dock then next day to an honor guard. I silently wondered if this was to be the norm from now on. I certainly hoped not. There were people crowding around my landing pad and they cheered. I had no experience with this, not here and certainly not in my home world, wherever that was. Not being one for speeches, I lifted a foreleg and approximated a wave. Then I shifted. The guard stepped in from either side and turned as one to face the city. Haladoria and Dorvus stepped up to me with a bow, then rising, turned and led the way. We walked... and in the guards case, marched, almost to the entrance to the valley leading to my home. I was led to a large building to the right and up marble steps to the main entrance. The building reminded me of old roman architecture. With large stone pillars holding up the extended roof. But instead of straight fluted columns, these were sculpted dragons. The doors, which opened as we approached, were of bronze with rampant dragons facing each other. I was starting to detect a theme here, I though sardonically. The hall inside... well... I could probably fit in here in my dragon form if I didn¡¯t open my wings. More carved dragon pillars lined the hall to the back where it opened into a larger room. There were doors to the side that lead to who knew where and they were in bronze as well. It suddenly occurred to me that they had planned for this for quite some time. As we entered the main area, people... of various races... rose from their benches and bowed. Not knowing if I should do anything, I kept walking, nodding to anyone who I recognized. There was a ring of seats which we walked though, with a throne on the far end. It wasn¡¯t hard to figure out which was to be my seat and a part of me thought it was pretentious. I reflected that I had more than adopted the dragon mindset, as I though the whole thing was nothing more than posturing. When we got to the throne, I simply turned and sat. Haladoria went to my right and Dorvus to my left. ¡°The most ancient dragon emperor, Michael.¡± Haladoria announced. The temptation to face-palm was overwhelming, but I refrained. The guests who I had yet to meet, came to their places and bowed and sat. I thought about it for a moment, then stood. I could see that I had broken their little play, but I thought it was time to set things straight. ¡°You do realize that you have made a dragon your emperor, correct?¡± I chuckled, watching the confusion in everyone present. ¡°I will explain. I do admire your art, your industry and your craft, but know that I cannot quite understand it. I can only think and act as a dragon would, which is to accept thing as they are and deal with things as I may. I think, bear in mind that I am not sure, but I think this is meant to show honor. If it is, I thank you. But in my own mind, I would rather just talk of things that are needed. This I say not to belittle your efforts, but to explain my views. I bid you all greetings.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. You could have heard a pin drop. Some few paled and others looked blankly from one to another. In the gallery, the groups the leaders had brought murmured amongst themselves. Me? I simple sat down and waited. Dorvus chuckled to my left and slapped me on the shoulder. Then he said in a loud voice; ¡°I thank you Michael for reminding us how we came to conflict in the first place. I pledge to you this day, fealty of Rockheld and Highmarch clans.¡± The nobles in the center chairs looked at each other, then one by one announce their loyalty to the dragon crown... which I didn¡¯t have. Part of me wondered if they would make that next. I was almost surprised that they hadn¡¯t already. Then, I heard them talk of concerns... for the rest of the day. I commented when I needed clarity and stayed silent the rest of the time. There were no demands, which I thought was rather smart, since they did fall into food groups if I got too irritated. Still, most of the problems revolved around fair trade and safe transportation. The farther kingdoms had no real way to transport goods. I thought about it for a few moments when everything had finally died down. We needed a more clear way of looking at the problem. Look at the problem¡­ I knew I could look between the planes, but could I?.... I reached out to a view high enough to encompass the lands. That was simple. Now, I knew projection so if I... On the floor, in the middle of all the chairs, a projection of what I saw when I looked down appeared on the floor in full detail... including a stray cloud or two that lazily made it¡¯s way across the map. There was a collective gasp from the group, but they held their silence. Once I had that figured out, I thought on the locations that they had given me and I asked them to show me where their trade towns were. One by one they showed me each city and I highlighted them in different colors depending on the colors they were wearing. That brought a murmur from the group. By this point, I had a base line to work from. Conjuring a crystal, I took the projection and linked it to that point in space I was viewing from. Holding it if front of me, I focused on the marble of the ceiling till it started to melt then embedded the crystal in it. The was another collective gasp and one little whimper as the stone floated into place. Then it lit up and the map on the floor returned. I glanced up at this point and everyone seemed to be rather pale. A few with their mouths hanging open. I left my seat and walked to the various cities, causing the crystal to zoom in for further detail. No one spoke. When I had studied it enough, I spoke. ¡°I think I see a way to do this, if you do not mind river traffic. I need only reroute a few of the rivers and expand them and you can use them to carry your goods for you. I am sorry, but it will take about a week or so to do it.¡± One of them asked. ¡°Which city?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± I replied. One of them fainted. I wondered why, then shrugged. Turning back to my seat, I could see Dorvus grinning. ¡°Aye, ya have a way of cutting to the heart of a problem, don¡¯t ya Michael?¡± I shrugged. ¡°At least it isn¡¯t anything major.¡± Not understanding what the fuss was about. I looked up and all of the nobles were slack jawed staring at me. What? No Problem Haladoria felt like¡­ well¡­ she felt like reality had just left and a dream had taken over. She had much hope when the morning had started and they had met Michael. But he seemed different. She walked with him to the council room and he took his seat. Then she announced him; ¡°The most ancient dragon emperor, Michael.¡± He stood¡­ ¡°You do realize that you have made a dragon emperor, correct?¡± Then he paused ¡°I will explain. I do admire your art, your industry and your craft, but know that I cannot quite understand it. I can only think and act as a dragon would, which is to accept thing as they are and deal with things as I may. I think, bear in mind that I am not sure, but I think this is meant to show honor. If it is, I thank you. But in my own mind, I would rather just talk of things that are needed. This I say not to belittle your efforts, but to explain my views. I bid you all greetings.¡± She suddenly understood. He was a dragon. These¡­ events were not going to be like any before. He was now emperor and was also the most powerful being on the face of the planet. Dorvus recovered first. He seemed to think it amusing. ¡°I thank you Michael for reminding us how we came to conflict in the first place. I pledge to you this day, fealty of Rockheld and Highmarch clans.¡± Her dread at the meeting flying apart was eased as the others fell in line. They pledged their lands and went on to talk about trade. He listened and asked few questions. The nobles seemed to realize, thank the gods, that this was no time to try the normal power plays. That point was driven home after they finished. Michael somehow made a¡­ a map? It looked to be alive. Then she realized it was. She was looking down on the lands from a¡­ a dragon¡¯s eye view. He noted each location by the noble of the land and then somehow made a crystal. He took it and melted a place in the roof¡­ the granite roof¡­ and mounted the crystal there. She suddenly realized that he had made it so the crystal now controlled the map.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. She stared in wonder as he studied it. Walking too and fro with that focus he had. Like he was stalking prey. She shuddered to herself slightly. She glanced back up at the crystal. She could still feel the heat from the melted stone. Then he spoke. ¡°I think I see a way to do this, if you do not mind river traffic. I need only reroute a few of the rivers and expand them and you can use them to carry your goods for you. I am sorry, but it will take about a week or so to do it.¡± One of them asked. ¡°Which city?¡± ¡°All of them.¡± He replied. She couldn¡¯t be hearing right. Dorvus said something, but it didn¡¯t even register. A week? He was talking about connecting a third of the continent. Thousands of miles. Then he spoke again. ¡°At least it isn¡¯t anything major.¡± She was in shock. He had no clue. He sincerely had no clue what he was proposing. She looked around the room and realized that there would be no power plays now. They were dealing with a creature that was so far outside of their understanding, their power, that it would be suicide to play those games with it. She looked at his face. He really could not understand what the fuss was about. What had she done? The Emperors Work I talked Shryke and Darhla into doing a little messenger work for me. They flew to each town to talk to the officials and make sure they knew that the dragon who was going to show up soon was not attacking. You see, I discovered after I made the first harbor outside of the elven town up north, the sight of an ancient dragon using an over-sized magma spell just outside of town disturbed them for some reason. After they calmed down a bit... and reentered the town, they crowded the walls to watch me alter the course of a local river to fill the new harbor. Then I started carving the access and making the spill gate to keep the harbor level. It was only the matter of an hour or so. Most of the others went quite easily. I only had one that I had to divert about thirty miles, so that one did eat about four or five hours. I noticed the river did run faster over the glass smooth channel I had cut for it. Something about spell enhanced dragon flame seemed to do that to mere stone. One river had to have tributaries added to it, but that was little problem as well and got rid of a nasty marsh that was stagnating in some low hills. All in all, it took less than a week. I did have to enlarge our north channel to handle the extra water flow and widen it all the way to Calalistos but it did seem to make traffic more convenient as larger draft ships could now travel it. Calalistos had more than doubled it¡¯s size and Haladoria asked me to enlarge her harbor as well. It was tricky as I had to enlarge it without letting it fill or it would have steamed the whole area. So once the added area was done and fairly cool, I blasted the encircling ring of stone around it to let the water flow in. Wherein I found that the boats that were close were almost sucked in. I had to carry three of them to safety. Much to the shock of their crew. I did leave a peninsula that shielded it from the sea so it was a safe area. At it¡¯s completion, I landed on my pad by the docks and was greeted by a very quiet crowd... and Haladoria. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon!¡± She grinned as she exclaimed. ¡°Michael, milady.¡± I sighed as I shifted. ¡°My pardon, Michael, but you are so fun to tease.¡± I glanced around and our little exchange seemed to shock the locals out of whatever was bothering them and a few greeted me as they went back to whatever they were doing. I smiled and exchanged pleasantries with them as best I could. ¡°You do well, Michael. How is the rest of the channels doing.¡± She inquired. ¡°Oh, I finished them up yesterday. I decided to enlarge the channel to here to provide an acceptable flow.¡± Her eyes widened slightly, then she laughed. ¡°Somehow, the thought of what level you must be terrifies me.¡± I cocked my head in puzzlement. ¡°Why should that bother you?¡± She shook her head. ¡°That much power.¡± I laughed. ¡°That much power is useless unless you can do something with it. While many may dream of it, it is a burden beyond reckoning.¡± She stared at me a moment. ¡°Why would you say that?¡± We had been walking to the local pub... which had a new sign ¡°The Dragons Rest¡± hanging over the door. I looked at it with a chuckle. After we entered and I had a sip of their most excellent brandy, I continued.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Think on this... What goal do you have when there is nothing that can challenge you? Where do you find drive when you have entire universes at your claws? What do you buy when you own the wealth of a thousand worlds? Where do you call home when you don¡¯t even know the name of the planet you live on?¡± Her eyes were wide when I finished. I took another sip of brandy to let her think on it. ¡°You are alone.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Is there no one else that is of your level?¡± ¡°Not even close. The golden dragon you saw when you first came to my harbor is the closest I have found and she holds less than half my power.¡± ¡°My god.¡± I smiled. ¡°No, just a very old dragon.¡± She chuckled and smacked me on my shoulder. ¡°I see now why you are interested in our ways. To be blunt, you must be bored as hell.¡± I laughed, then thought how accurately she had summed it up. ¡°Truer words have not been spoken, milady.¡± ¡°I do find you amazing, Michael. I cannot image such power.¡± I laughed. ¡°I am only level 8764.¡± I said as I took another sip. Her eyes widened and her face paled. ¡°My gods.¡± She whispered. I smiled. ¡°Your harbor did not appreciably touch my mana. But that is not anything important. What you do is important.¡± ¡°Us?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Have you ever heard me sing?¡± She looked stunned for a moment, then started chuckling. The chuckle evolved into a laugh at which point I joined her. ¡°You see, milady. You have something I do not. You have a drive, you have art, you have music and you have hope. The other dragons are much like me, but have not realized they are poor for all their power. We cannot sing or dance or make art. For all our abilities, we are far poorer than you and your people.¡± I noticed the room had grown quiet. Looking around it seemed that we had an audience. ¡°Up until this point, my people thought they had everything. Not knowing what we missed. Shryke and Darhla were the first to come to me and it took them less than an eve to understand. Dragons have power that few can conceive, but they only know how to horde their wealth or destroy. They cannot even understand your art. Your lives may be but a moment of our life, but it is so much richer than what we have. This is what I come to learn from you. This is also what I seek to teach the others of my race. We need you to teach us how to use our powers, as we seem to have made a mess of our efforts up to now.¡± ¡°But we owe you so much, Michael.¡± ¡°No, milady, I owe you. You will find that I am pragmatic well beyond your belief. While I understand and appreciate your humor, I have yet to grasp it as my own. So far, as far as I am concerned, the only constructive things that I have done to date is dig a few ditches. What I wish from you, lady Haladoria, you and all the nobles of this land, is to keep bringing me problems. The larger the scale, the better. I would also like to learn of your magic and see if it can be combined with what I know.¡± ¡°Our magic?¡± ¡°Yes. It would take but a thought for me to level this town, milady. I think you say, I wouldn¡¯t break a sweat. But I cannot so much as make a flower grow. Nor, for that matter, paint a picture or carve a statue.¡± ¡°Our magic. You do not seek it as a weapon, you seek it to make things.¡± ¡°Aye, I would learn the subtle magic and see if I can refrain from just being nothing more than a winged bearer of destruction.¡± ¡°You are not that way, Michael.¡± ¡°No? Remember your return to your city?¡± Her face paled for a moment. ¡°Do you know what took me so long to accomplish that?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I had to figure out a way to do it without completely leveling the entire city. I wound up fashioning a sword of pure mana and doing it one orc at a time. Nothing else I could do would save your town.¡± She stared at me. ¡°But....¡± "The harbor... well you saw how I did that. That was very hard for me.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°I had to hold back as much as I could to cast that blast. This is not creating in my eyes, this is just controlling destruction.¡± She smiled softly. ¡°But even in destruction you have made something that we needed. Your harbor and your channels? That would be the work of decades for even the strongest of the people of these lands. You did it in but a week. Do not count yourself short, for even a stone carver must destroy the stone that is in the way of his creation.¡± Her words hit me like a dagger. I had watched the dwarves carve and yes, it was controlled destruction if you looked at it like that. So what if I carved the harbor and the channels with dragon fire. A tool is a tool. ¡°Milady, you have begun my education most profoundly. I thank thee.¡± Cornal Cornal was tired. He had just came down from Dragonhaven on a barge with a load of marble for an order and had to load the darn thing on a ship almost by himself. It was getting on towards evening and the merchant ship was almost ready to weigh anchor. Seems the ship was short handed, or so the captain said. Still, it was loaded now, with the help of two of the crew. He turned away from the galley and wandered to the end of the dock. He wasn¡¯t going home tonight, he probably needed to get moving and find a room at one of the local inns. He stretched his back muscles and rubbed his eyes, looking out over the water. He knew he was tired now, he was seeing spots. He stared at them for a few minutes¡­ they didn¡¯t go away. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be getting closer. He rubbed his tired eyes again and they came into focus.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Ships on fire! Ships on fire!¡± He ran for the edge of the harbor. Behind him he heard the call taken up and the harbor came to life. He got to the edge in time to pull a sailor from the water, badly burned and half unconscious. Yelling for a healer, he looked up to see people jumping from the burning ships. Three ships all burning. Looking back out to where they had came from, he saw a large cluster of ships in the late evening light. One launched a flaming ball at what looked to be another ship that was trying to reach the harbor. He stared at it not knowing what to do. Michael. The dragon would know. He ran for the call stone, then realized he had no clue how to make it work. He beat on it in frustration. Then he screamed at the top of his lungs; ¡°Michael! Get yer scaly ass here damn it!¡± The stone lit up and he almost passed out from relief. Shaking his head, he turned back to help pull the survivors from the water, keeping an eye on the approaching fleet. Black Sails A month had passed since the channels were done. There were meetings with the nobles, who I had finally learned the names of and small side projects. I was given to believe that the lands were prospering under my rule... not that I ruled that much. I spent time in the libraries as much as I could now and speaking with the various races mages and shamans. Most of my experiments were not the greatest successes, but I learned from them as I could. Twould seem my greatest failing was at limiting my mana. I remember the growth spell I was taught by one of the local elves. It worked quite well. The tree grew so fast that it exploded. They tried to teach me how to guide the growth, but I found I was to learn better control before I could even attempt such subtlety. I had left the library and was making my way to the Dragons Head when I felt the summoning from Calalistos. Wondering at it, I made my way to my pad and shifted. Twas the work of minutes to take flight and port to the city, making sure this time to stay over land and not flood the place. Once I turned to fly to the dock, I was greeted by a very disturbing sight. It looked as if the harbor was in flames. I quickly flew to it and found three boats that were burning brightly and another that was smoking as it made it¡¯s way in from the sea. I shifted my vision, as it was getting dark, and saw it being chased by a fleet of ships with black sails. As I passed over the smoking ship, I saw the sailors on board fighting to put out small fires. It was a moment and I was over them heading towards the black sailed ships. I was about to kite my wings, when a light on one of the lead ships grew bright and then was launched in an arc towards the fleeing merchantman. I jogged to the left and caught it. It was a sticky mass that seemed to burn quite hotly, so I figured it must be valuable and tossed it back to the ship that had lost it. Several of the other ships then noticed me and fired more of the sticky burning things at me. I ignored them and turned my attention to the fleet. There were thirty or more ships and it seemed to me that they were on less than a social call. I flew up over them as they kept shooting, wondering if they had a clue that I bathed in lava and the balls they threw were barely warm to me. Since none seemed to feel like talking, I took a deep breath when I was centered over them. My flame blasted down on one in the middle and the flames splashed outward across the water in an ever expanding circle. The ships blew up as they were engulfed and the water steamed. I turned in the air and took out the lead ships with fireballs and started to work my way around to the back. I left one ship alone. It seemed more than happy to leave after having a taste of their own medicine. The steam and fog now covered the water where my flames had boiled it and what remained of the ships cast tiny flickering lights in the mist as what was left that could burn, did. I was sure that the surviving ship would relay the unspoken message that I sent. I made my way back to my pad and landed, turning to look out at the four ships. Or what was left of them. The one that I had saved looked to be in the best shape, the others had almost finished burning to the water line. I found myself less than pleased. ¡°Ho, Michael. Grim day it is.¡± ¡°Greetings Cornal. What happened here?¡± ¡°The first merchant came in almost completely aflame about half an hour past. The survivors jumped ship in the harbor and swam to shore. Two others followed. Tween the three, there were less than a handful of survivors. They told the tale of coming upon that fleet and being chased. Only one was making it¡¯s way here, but they knew of this port and tried to reach it. I suppose the rest you know. Thankee for coming as fast as you did, we didn¡¯t know what we were facing till they told us of the fleet and we called as soon as we knew.¡± ¡°Mayhaps I should have saved more than the one ship and brought one back with me. I am curious if this was an attack on this port or just a chance meeting, though those weapons they used seem to speak otherwise.¡± ¡°You let one go?¡± ¡°Yes, I thought to send a message that it wasn¡¯t in their best interest to return.¡± ¡°How many were there? The sailors said more than a dozen.¡± ¡°More than thirty by my count. Having just one return may make them a little more cautious about attacking innocents next time.¡± ¡°We can hope. But thirty ships? Sounds to me like it were an invasion fleet.¡± I looked out over the water and sighed. Then I shifted. ¡°Lets go grab a drink. I need to think on this.¡± We made our way to the pub in silence. A few of the locals waved as we passed and I smiled and greeted them. We were seated no more than a minute when Haladoria entered with one of the nobles. ¡°Greetings Lady Haladoria.¡± ¡°Greetings Michael.¡± She said quietly. Tension showed in her posture and her speech. ¡°Michael? Are you well?¡± The comment at least brought a smile to her grim countenance. ¡°Lord Michael, would you tell of what you found?¡± The noble spoke. ¡°Thirty plus ships all having black sails.¡± Haladoria glanced towards the docks nervously. I gave her a sad smile. ¡°You need not worry, I left one to return home with the tale. It was the work of a moment to take out the rest of them.¡± The nobles eyes grew wide as his face paled. He whispered. ¡°Thirty plus?¡± I looked up at him. ¡°Yes. They had something that threw flaming balls of some sticky stuff that burned. Rather hotly as I actually could feel the heat through my scales.¡± ¡°I will have a watch on the sea now. There is no other harbor along this coast for many miles and that would make them heading towards our harbor.¡± Haladoria said. ¡°You have the stone. As long as they do not make landfall here, they do not stand a chance.¡± She cast a sad smile. ¡°Still it is worrisome.¡± ¡°Thirty ships is a high cost for no gain. To lose them all in a matter of minutes would give any sane man pause.¡± ¡°Some are less than sane, Michael.¡± ¡°Then next time, I will find out from where they came and see if I can encourage sanity.¡± We talked into the night. The mood never lightened. No one knew of ships that ran black sails, so no one knew of where they were from. Of course the black sails might have just been so they wouldn¡¯t be spotted until they were almost in the harbor. I suggested patrol ships that could spot them and flee. A small ship that was fast and agile would be able to return with news. Then it came to me. ¡°I have an idea.¡± I said as I stood. ¡°What?¡± Haladoria asked. ¡°The tool I made for surveying the lands.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ??The group looked at me with mild confusion. We needed to get back to Dragonhaven. Thinking for a minute, I opened a portal to the building and stepped through into the audience chamber. The others hesitated, but followed me. Upon arrival, I went back and activated the crystal and the land came to life in the middle of the floor. Using my planar sight, I brought the view closer and moved it over the sea where the encounter had occurred. I remembered the heading the ship was on as it turned away from where the rest of it¡¯s fleet met their end, so I started to move the view in that direction. It took about an hour, the sea is a big place, to find the ship. Pulling back, I used the bearing to see it¡¯s possible landfall. The most likely being a large island continent. I zoomed my sight in on it¡¯s coast and discovered a very large seaport on it¡¯s southmost side. Haladoria drew a deep breath. ¡°Torgos.¡± I turned to her. ¡°What does that mean?¡± She glanced up at me. ¡°We call it scavenger island. There is a strange looking group of people there. They look almost like my people but they have stunted ears, almost like apes.¡± I snorted, remembering Arienach¡¯s thoughts on scavengers. Still he did seem rather surprised when I knew technology. From history I knew that mankind was often not kind. Twould be ironic to wind up fighting my own kind it this, but in the end, it really didn¡¯t matter. They were starting trouble. I was going to end it. The ship in the projection made a bee line for the seaport, so I took the view in closer. There were a little over a dozen of it¡¯s brothers sitting at anchor and about half a dozen in various stages of construction at the dry dock. The construction make me curious so I zoom in a little farther. ¡°Oh shit.¡± Haladoria looked puzzled till I pointed at the ship building. ¡°Oh gods. They are using slaves.¡± She said in a half whisper. ¡°That complicates things a bit.¡± I said with a frown. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just blast that place if they are holding slaves hostage.¡± I pulled the view back far enough to survey the island. The city by the seaport was the largest, but there was one just to the north set back in the hills plus a few more scattered around the island. All in all, it didn¡¯t look that populated considering the size. I focused on the one north of the seaport and slowly worked my way through it. Mostly scavenger, human, but with other races mixed in as well. A close look a a few had them well fed and moving without restraint, so I assumed that not all of the people there were slaves. The city looked clean for the most part. There was a large villa overlooking the town and just down from there was courthouse looking building. I wondered if that was the seat of power. A quick trip back to the port, I found our survivor off loading and one of the crew making haste towards the town. Now I should at least have a direction. I was disappointed for a few minutes when it stopped in at a building just off the piers. Harbor master, probably. The crewman left after a few minutes and started heading north. I followed him through town and watched as he continued northward. I smiled to myself. He passed through the gates and kept going. I noticed that there were quite a few guards, both at the gate and on the walls. I had a pretty good idea where he was going, so I went back to the docks again. I started looking for and found many, many guards. I figured I still had time so I started searching the town. Just to the sunward side, I found the base, nestled in the trees. I took my time and looked it over carefully. My eyes widened when I found the slave pens at the far side of the base, set up against a cliff. ¡°If I could just get into that base and hold it, they would bring the rest of the slaves to me.¡± I muttered to myself. ¡°How many would you need to hold it?¡± Cornal asked. I jerked my head up, surprised. ¡°I was just thinking out loud.¡± ¡°Think louder lad. How many would you need?¡± I stared for a minute. ¡°Only a few. It would be more to keep anyone from slipping away and giving warning, than to hold the place. I would need enough to pose as guards when the slaves were brought in from their work. The problem would be getting them out to safety.¡± ¡°What if we put a boat in right here?¡± Haladoria pointed to the south were there were several inlets along that stretch of coast. ¡°It might work, but it would take several trips that way.¡± I replied. ¡°You would be exposed and I would need to get back to the shipyard to take care of it.¡± ¡°What if we had air cover?¡± Cornal asked with a half cocked smile. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± ¡°We do have a couple of dragons other than you, you know.¡± ¡°If they would be willing.¡± I replied. ¡°So if we sent about two dozen of the watch and then a contingent of the dwarves, the base would be ours and we could free them.¡± Haladoria observed as she rubbed her chin. ¡°Take that as a possible action. We need to do a lot more digging here to avoid surprises.¡± Cornal chuckled. ¡°That would be wise, I be thinkin.¡± I moved back to the port town and surveyed it carefully. I saw no other base, but there were what looked like guard barracks. I noted their location carefully. I checked up on our wayward crewman and he was still a few miles out from the gates of the northern hold. So I took a look at a few of the other towns as well. It looked like there was a presence there but no real bases. Which was strange, unless this was just the one location who was causing problems. I got back just in time to follow the crewman up to the court. Seems I was right. A few moments after he entered, a runner took off up the hill. I smiled to myself. He was greeted by a couple of guards and went inside. After several minutes, a human on a horse left by the side and came around to the front. Checking where he had exited, there was a good sized stable there that could hold about a dozen horses. I looked the place over carefully and discovered that the detached building in the back was a small barracks as well. Since there was no way to know what was going on in the court, I went back to studying the towns as well as the land around them. My surprise came at the northmost town. It was a walled town with a castle. It was manned by elves and they looked to be on high alert. Curious. They had a small port as well with a few ships. ¡°I have not seen those ships before.¡± Haladoria commented. Where most ships he had seen on this world reminded him of merchant galleys, these looked to be more in kin with Viking long ships. Long and narrow with very smooth lines, but triple masted. Low to the water line, they did not look like merchant ships. ¡°Passing strange.¡± I replied. I pulled the sight out and noticed a speck off to the sunward side. Zooming in, there were at least two dozen of the black sails rounding the island and I could guess where they were heading. I focused on the ships and started when I saw that each had a catapult mounted on a swivel on the fore-deck of each. Closer inspection showed they were all human. Scavengers. I suddenly wondered if scavenger was another word for pirate. ¡°What to do, what to do... Should I intervene here?¡± I mused. ¡°It would be an opportunity, methinks.¡± Cornal said as he stoked his beard. The ships were moving at a good clip and the sun would be behind them as they got to their target. But what if they were allied? It wouldn¡¯t matter. It would be a force reduction for them. ¡°If they are enemies of each other, it is a good show of faith. If they are not, it is a good warning. I see no harm in this.¡± ¡°Aye, ya be thinkin right.¡± Dorvus said. I looked up at him. ¡°When did you get here?¡± ¡°Oh, its been a while.¡± He said as he walked out of the shadows of the hall. ¡°You be thinkin an plannin instead of just reactin. That be good in my book. I saw no reason to interfere.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Feel like doing some work then?¡± ¡°What did ye have in mind?¡± ¡°Come here and pick a spot on the map and think about getting closer to it.¡± He looked puzzled, but came over anyway. After a few seconds the map responded. He looked up to me with a grin. ¡°If you want to move out farther just think of moving away. Focus on anything you wish to see and you can get a closer look.¡± ¡°Aye. What be I lookin for?¡± ¡°Troops, bases or anything that tells us what we are looking at here. It seems there may be two power bases here, but the southern one is better organized. See if you can figure anything else out about them. Meanwhile, I think I will go visiting over on the sea around Torgos.¡± ¡°That be a good plan methinks. We will get to work on it.¡± As I turned to leave I heard Haladoria. ¡°Michael, be careful.¡± "I will, milady.¡± I smiled. It was strange that the little elf would worry about a dragon, well, at least to me it was. Maybe it was because we had grown to become friends? I thought about it, then realized that more and more I was starting to look at things from a dragon¡¯s perspective. The thought of close friends was strange. ¡°I fear you are becoming more like us every day. But the human side of you still guides you. I may be a bad influence on you.¡± He said with chuckle. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard from you in a while, spirit.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t needed to speak. There is little now that I need teach and it would seem our thoughts are merging. While this is good in some ways, in others it may influence your way of thinking for the worse.¡± ¡°We have done fairly well so far.¡± ¡°Yes, but you reacted to the ships, and twas a stroke of luck you let the one survive. The human side of you let it go and then used our sight to track it.¡± ¡°So a dragon would have just destroyed, then flew back home and went about the day.¡± Arienach laughed in my thoughts. ¡°That pretty much sums it up. I would withdraw a bit, I think.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°No, you see, I need your perspective in this. I think we must see a balance. Humans think too short termed and dragons tend to just wipe things out. We need to find a harmony because either of us alone is weaker.¡± Arienach chuckled. ¡°Food for thought. Your perspective has not led us wrong yet.¡± Preflight Cornal was exhausted as he watched the dragon take out the enemy fleet. He felt numb as the dragon''s first flame put down a quarter mile circle of pure destruction. He had never seen Michael in action before and the results? He could only think it was far better to be where he was standing. It was over almost as fast as it started and all that could be seen was fog and smoke. Flames flickered inside to fog as what was left burnt. It looked¡­ ghostly. Suddenly, Michael reappeared from the fog bank and made his way to land on his pad. ¡°Ho, Michael. Grim day it is.¡± He could hear the relief in his own voice. Looking up at the towering dragon, he had never felt safer in his life. Shaking his head tiredly, it combed back his hair with his fingers. ¡°Greetings Cornal. What happened here?¡± ¡°The first merchant came in almost completely aflame about half an hour past. The survivors jumped ship in the harbor and swam to shore. Two others followed. Tween the three, there were less than a handful of survivors. They told the tale of coming upon that fleet and being chased. Only one was making it¡¯s way here, but they knew of this port and tried to reach it. I suppose the rest you know. Thankee for coming as fast as you did, we didn¡¯t know what we were facing till they told us of the fleet and we called as soon as we knew.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Mayhaps I should have saved more than the one ship and brought one back with me. I am curious if this was an attack on this port or just a chance meeting, though those weapons they used seem to speak otherwise.¡± ¡°You let one go?¡± ¡°Yes, I thought to send a message that it wasn¡¯t in their best interest to return.¡± ¡°How many were there? The sailors said more than a dozen.¡± ¡°More than thirty by my count. Having just one return may make them a little more cautious about attacking innocents next time.¡± ¡°We can hope. But thirty ships? Sounds to me like it were an invasion fleet.¡± He watched as Michael changed into an elf. It made his eyes hurt. Still it was a lot easier on his neck this way. ¡°Lets go grab a drink. I need to think on this.¡± He said grimly. We were in the pub before I realized it and I stifled a yawn. Michael was talking with the locals as he always did and it wasn¡¯t long until Haladoria and a peacock showed up. I sat down with an ale and tried to listen to them talk. Next thing I knew, they were all getting to their feet and following Michael¡­ through a hole in the air. He stared at it a minute, wondering if he was so tired he was seeing things, but followed them anyway. He floundered a minute as what his eyes told him refused to make it through to his brain. They were in the council chamber in Dragonhaven. He looked back to where the hole was, but it was gone. Then Michael called up the map and he felt a chill as it came to life. Suddenly,he felt wide awake. Dragon magic. Watching as he tracked the ship and got the lay of the land, it occurred tohim that Michael wasn¡¯t going to reply to the threat¡­ he was going to end it. Just Visiting When I arrived at my landing pad at the harbor, I found Darhla and Shryke waiting on me, in their elven forms. ¡°What might I do for you this day?¡± I asked curiously. ¡°We would go with you.¡± Shryke said. ¡°Do you know where I am going?¡± I asked. ¡°No, but we have heard of the attack on our land and would help you as we may.¡± I was slightly surprised, not so much about wanting to help, but by the ¡°our land¡±. Twould seem they had found a home here. ¡°I would be honored to have you, for this strike as well as the one that will come later.¡± I asked Arienach how I could take them with me, as this was a new concept for me. He laughed and asked how I had gotten the gold when I met with Haladoria and Dorvus or how I had gotten to Dragonhaven. So, open a portal behind me? I only heard a chuckle, but felt a sense of pride in my mind. ¡°Follow then. Once I go, there will be an opening that you can follow through.¡± They glanced at each other a little uneasily, but both nodded. ¡°We will follow.¡± ¡°When we arrive, we will be going moonward. There will be a small harbor bearing to your left. Fly to the entrance of the harbor but do not enter it. If by chance any get away from me, stop them from entering the harbor. We are hunting black sail ships.¡± ¡°What lies in the harbor?¡± Darhla asked. ¡°Possible allies. I know them to be elves, but I know not where we stand with them.¡± ¡°Then why not just wipe them out as well?¡± There was no malice in Shryke¡¯s voice, only curiosity. ¡°Because it is hard to befriend the dead. We will not be their enemy unless they make themselves such.¡± I watched as the new concept, at least new to them, was pondered. ¡°We will do so.¡± When we arrived, I dropped down to a low glide over the water. Darhla and Shryke split to the left. Two of the black sails were engaged with a watch tower that I had not spotted, about a mile before the harbor. I watched as Darhla took one and Shryke took the other, blowing them both out of the water. Then they proceeded to their places over each side of the harbor mouth. I took my time while this was happening to study the ships as we approached them. There was one that looked different from the others. It was a slight bit larger and flew some type of flag. I decided not to attack that round and simply overflew the fleet, taking a few of their masts with me. I could hear the screams and shouts of rage as I shot over them. I flew out ahead of them then turned in the air and came back. Canting to the right, I carefully took out the ships closest to the harbor, taking care to not touch the large ship. Then I repeated the maneuver for the other side. We were almost on the harbor by this point and three survivors tried to run for the harbor. They met with destruction from Darhla and Shryke. As for the larger one, I took his masts off, then his catapult and left him to sit. Flying to the moonward side, I found a large flat area. No arrows or other projectiles were forthcoming from the elves, so I landed and shifted. Darhla and Shryke stayed where they were, landing, but keeping an eye on what was left of the big ship. I waited there, facing the outer wall. After a time, the outer gates opened and a column of troops came out and marched towards me. I walked to meet them. As they drew close, they formed a line in front of me and stopped, lowering their spears while the line behind them drew arrow. I smiled and said. ¡°Greetings, I am called Michael.¡± A few of then glanced to each other while I heard laughter from behind them. ¡°Greetings to you as well, Lord Dragon. I am called Alistor of the clan Estaria.¡± ¡°I am glad that we may talk. I do not wish your people harmed this day.¡± ¡°I am glad that you do not wish to harm us lord dragon.¡± ¡°Michael, please. I get the lord enough back home.¡± The tall pale elf came forward and we looked each other over. Then he spoke. ¡°What are you in the hierarchy of the dragons?¡± ¡°Oh, you know of us?¡± ¡°We made a study of your kind and have kept it for many generations. I am sorry, but my studies sometimes goes before my diplomacy.¡± I laughed. ¡°That is a good priority if you would ask of me. I am the eldest ancient.¡± I heard a rattle as the spears dropped behind Alistor, who dropped to his knees looking somewhat paler than he had. ¡°I... I had heard... your name was Arienach...¡± He stuttered. I sighed then smiled sadly. ¡°Please rise, I mean you and your people no harm. I am Arienach. Michael Arienach. Again, please call me Michael.¡± ¡°Nice save. I like that name as well and it is an apt description now.¡± ¡°What may we do for you... Michael.¡± ¡°I would ask to borrow this space for a while, I wish to know of the ones who are on that black sailed ship.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.¡°They are scavengers. One managed to rise to power in the south and has taken the major seaport in this land. Most others would not oppose him and any that sent diplomats to talk, lost them to slavery.¡± I heard a loud crash. Glancing over, I saw Shryke return to his perch. He glanced over and I motioned him to join us. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked as he landed. ¡°Oh, a tiny boat tried to sneak away from the far side of the ship.¡± He cocked his head. ¡°You know, there is no way to disable one of those little ones, they blow apart too easily.¡± ¡°Do not worry yourself. Shryke, this is the high elf Alistor, Alistor, this is Shryke.¡± To my surprise, Shryke managed a very good bow. ¡°I am honored to meet you, Alistor.¡± ¡°We never knew...¡± Alistor said in a quiet shocked voice. ¡°We had no clue...¡± ¡°My pardon? What did not you know?¡± I asked. ¡°We never knew that you could talk. Our chronicles list you all as nothing more than savage beasts.¡± Shryke laughed. ¡°We are savage beasts. Michael seeks to change that.¡± I glanced at Shryke then shrugged. ¡°We are working with the people over on the continent to the south moonward side of you.¡± Alistor¡¯s shock was evident. ¡°The people?¡± ¡°Yes, the Horiel clan, the Rockheld and about a handful of others... I am lousy with names, though I am trying.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Rockheld? I have never heard of such.¡± ¡°They are dwarves.¡± ¡°Dwarves?¡± His eyes widened comically. ¡°Yes, our people are made up of all of the races who care to join and live in peace. Many new ideas and much art has arisen from the joining.¡± I replied. ¡°How did you... how was it managed?¡± ¡°Quite by accident, actually. Green skins... I know them as orcs, captured Calalistos and the surviving elves sent a party of hunters north. They tried to take my herd of cattle. I let them have half, then arranged trade with them and it developed from there.¡± Alistor sighed. ¡°So the orcs hold Calalistos.¡± ¡°No, I removed them.¡± ¡°I can see this story requires quite a bit of telling. Mayhaps another time? What will you do about the scavengers to the south?¡± ¡°Well, we have a plan to take care of them, once we can make sure the slaves are protected. We are studying the problem as we speak. If you would, I would like you to come to my city and talk with some of the other leaders so that we would know more of what we face.¡± ¡°If I may go reassure my people, I would be honored. How would I go there? It would take at least two days by ship.¡± ¡°Have you ever thought to ride a dragon?¡± Alistor turned white and swayed on his feet. One of the spearmen came forward to steady him. I smiled. ¡°You can bring one other. Make sure that they do not fear high places.¡± ¡°I will go and talk with my people now.¡± He said weakly. ¡°I will be back in a few hours. Feel free to use this space.¡± As he left, I opened a portal and pulled the ship through it. It landed with a crash and rolled to one side. I was sure it would not be comfortable to be in it at this moment, but I waited patiently for the humans to emerge. I noticed Alistor and his guard looking back for a few minutes then head back to their city. Darhla joined us as the first of the humans left the shell of their ship. I studied it, noting details of it¡¯s construction. From what I could remember of my life before I came here, it would be a very slow design. Rounded hull would not make for any great stability on heavy seas either. I walked around it, then met with an over large human in plate armor who tried to take my head off with an axe. After the axe broke, I took his head off with a flick of my wrist, conjuring my mana blade. The others decided to calm down a bit at that point. ¡°Are there any left in your ship?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s it to you, dragon?¡± The gentleman talking spat the words. ¡°I seek their safety as in a few moments, that hull is going back out where it was and it will be destroyed.¡± He stared at me for a few moments then yelled. ¡°Come on out or die. He means to destroy what be left of it.¡± About two dozen warriors came out and lined up behind him. I looked them over. ¡°Greetings, I am called Michael. Now tell me of what happens in the south.¡± He stared at me defiantly. ¡°Why would I tell you that?¡± I grinned at him. ¡°Because we missed breakfast to come here?¡± He started to reply, then suddenly his face paled and he took a step back. ¡°So... would you rather talk or be breakfast?¡± I continued. Shryke looked over the top of the ship and licked his lips. Suddenly, they were not so defiant. Taking the opportunity, I ported the ship back out to sea and sent a full magma blast to it. The harbor stopped the worst of the tidal wave, but it washed all of them off their feet and sent them into the side of the cliff behind us. A cloud of steam and spray mushroomed up from the doomed ship. A few of them were damaged, one was killed, but there was no defiance left. Then we talked. The villa used to belong to the old town mayor. King Ralph (you¡¯re kidding, right?) worked for the mayor when he wasn¡¯t out stealing everything in sight. He made some less than reputable contacts and gathered a like minded group (thieves) together and then killed the old mayor in his sleep. By the time the town figured out that happened, they had control. The army was only a local militia and they went along to keep the peace until the slaves started showing up. Good old Ralph also got in contact with a band of pirates. Which was where his fleet had come from. Ralph let them use the port and built on that. At first, the black sails were kept hidden from the merchants till enough was raided to start serious ship building. Once they started talking, they didn¡¯t shut up. No they didn¡¯t know about the fate of the other fleet. No they didn¡¯t know what else Ralph had planned. But they did know about the slaves and who was minding them. Mostly pirate crew. So when we went in against the slave pens, we wouldn¡¯t have to pull punches. Alistor returned with a contingent of guards and the pirates were marched off to see their new lodgings. He brought with him a elf maiden named Rainia. ¡°Welcome Alistor, are you ready to fly?¡± I asked as the pirates were led away. ¡°Greetings Michael. I would introduce you to Rainia, my adviser. Rainia, this is Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°Tis a pleasure, milady.¡± I said with a half bow. Rainia furrowed her brows for a moment. ¡°Arienach as in the dragon Arienach?¡± ¡°Yes milady.¡± She fainted. After she recovered, Darhla knelt down and let her climb up on her neck and slide back so she was just in front of her wings. It seemed that once she was actually on Darhla, she calmed down. With what I knew of our reputation, it must have been terrifying walking up to an adult dragon. She pulled a set of goggles out of her bag and a long scarf. Alistor followed suit. ¡°Twould seem you came prepared, is this the standard dragon riding outfit?¡± I jested. Alistor laughed a bit. ¡°No, but if you are in with a group riding horseback, you learn to protect your eyes.¡± ¡°Tis a wise precaution. I think I am going to port to Calalistos then fly up to Dragonhaven so you can see the sights, if you wish.¡± ¡°As you wish lord dragon.¡± ¡°Michael.¡± The elf chuckled. I was starting to wonder if it ran in the race. With us all set, I shifted. I heard a gasp from Rainia, followed by ¡°magnificent¡±. We took to the sky and I circled to make sure our guest were doing alright, then opened a portal to Calalistos, out over the water. We flew in over the port and then across the city. Alistor and Rainia were actually waving back at the people who came running out to greet us. I kept a fairly slow pace so that Darhla and Shryke could keep up. Then followed the river up to Dragonhaven. It took just over an hour. I let Darhla and Shryke land first and they let their passengers dismount and then they shifted and moved off the pad. I came next. By the time I landed, Haladoria, Cornal, Dorvus and much to my surprise, Graniel were waiting on us. ¡°Graniel! Well met. Greetings all.¡± I smiled in greetings. Graniel grinned but said nothing. Haladoria came running up and gave me a hug, much to my shock. ¡°Michael, all went well?¡± ¡°It went quite well. Let me introduce Lord Alistor of the Estaria clan and his adviser Rainia.¡± The dwarves and elves bowed. I noticed the look of shock on Rainia¡¯s face, with Alistor just looking perplexed. ¡°Lord Alistor, Lady Rainia, this is Haladoria of the Horiel, Graniel her ranger, Dorvus, chief of the Rockheld clan and his second, Cornal.¡± ¡°We be greeting you, welcome to the dragon empire.¡± Dorvus said. Alistor and the Dragon Alistor of the clan Estaria stood on his the battlements of his castle and watched the pirate fleet close on his harbor. He made no move to man his ships¡­ they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance anyway. No sense in throwing away any more lives than he had to. He counted about twenyfive black sails and knew that it would be a miracle if his clan survived the day. The watch tower on the point of the island had sent word, flashes of light off of polished shields, that told of the fleet. They had come under attack and what few reports they had told of heavy losses. He was deep in thought about how they might face down the fleet, when a bright flash from the direction of the tower, startled him. He turned and looked in that direction to see¡­ dragons? They flew up in the air and met with¡­ gods, was that a¡­ his mind stopped when he saw the huge silver beast gliding over the water towards the black sails. The two smaller dragons took up positions on either side of the harbor while the big one¡­ It looked almost like it was playing as it calmly ripped masts from the black sail ships. Then it looped back and started destroying them. A few had gotten away and the two dragons watching the harbor burnt them to the water line with little effort. The remaining ships shot those fireballs at the large one, but it didn¡¯t look like it noticed. He could see flames dripping off the sides of it as it killed the rest of the ships¡­ all but one. It ripped the mast from it and pulled the catapult from the fore deck, then turned toward the harbor. His hand tightened on his sword as the monstrous beast turned towards him. He hardly noticed. When his mind finally realized, he let it go. A sword against That? He nervously chuckled to himself. The beast landed on the plain next to the harbor, then shifted to¡­ an elf? He just stood there as if waiting. It suddenly occurred to him he wanted to talk. It was the work of a few minutes to round up his personal guard, since they never let him out of their sight. He found himself amazed that he could speak with a steady tone and walk without his knees knocking together. The dragon had just saved his clan, but¡­ the raw power¡­ and the old writings. He shook his head. Best not keep the¡­ elf-dragon waiting. The walk to the elf had to be the hardest thing he had ever done. He was more a scholar than a warrior. Still¡­ who else? He knew how to lead, but this? His troops lined in front of him like it was a precision drill and they were on parade. He could feel the tension radiating from all of them. Then it spoke. ¡°Greetings, I am called Michael.¡± He couldn¡¯t help it, it was so anti-climatic he just laughed. To his ears it almost sounded hysterical. ¡°Greetings to you as well, Lord Dragon. I am called Alistor of the clan Estaria.¡± ¡°I am glad that we may talk. I do not wish your people harmed this day.¡± He looked at the elf and tried to envision the dragon it had been. He was so polite and mannered, it seemed impossible. ¡°I am glad that you do not wish to harm us lord dragon.¡± ¡°Michael, please. I get the lord enough back home.¡± He wondered briefly what he meant. It did no good hiding behind his men, so he stepped forward. There was no threats and really, little they could do if it wished to harm them. Besides, he was curious. ¡°What are you in the hierarchy of the dragons?¡± ¡°Oh, you know of us?¡± It seemed surprised. Well, it wasn¡¯t the only one. None of the texts said anything about shapeshifting. ¡°We made a study of your kind and have kept it for many generations. I am sorry, but my studies sometimes goes before my diplomacy.¡± The dragon laughed. ¡°That is a good priority if you would ask of me. I am the eldest ancient.¡± ARIENACH his mind screamed. He was standing a couple of feet away from death incarnate. He found his legs had given out and he was looking up at him. ¡°I... I had heard... your name was Arienach...¡± He stuttered. He smiled and looked rather¡­ sad? ¡°Please rise, I mean you and your people no harm. I am Arienach. Michael Arienach. Again, please call me Michael.¡± His soft voice was calming. ¡°What may we do for you... Michael.¡± ¡°I would ask to borrow this space for a while, I wish to know of the ones who are on that black sailed ship.¡± He needed this space? ¡°They are scavengers. One managed to rise to power in the south and has taken the major seaport in this land. Most others would not oppose him and any that sent diplomats to talk, lost them to slavery.¡± There was a crashing sound out to sea and the black dragon returned to his position. Michael waved at it and it flew over to us and landed to the side. He could feel the men tense behind him, but they were well trained. Plus they all knew that the wrong move here, they probably wouldn¡¯t even know what happened before they were dead. Then Michael spoke to the dragon. ¡°What happened?¡± Then the black dragon spoke. It really spoke¡­ nothing ever said they could talk¡­ ¡°Oh, a tiny boat tried to sneak away from the far side of the ship.¡± He cocked his head. ¡°You know, there is no way to disable one of those little ones, they blow apart too easily.¡± ¡°Do not worry yourself. Shryke, this is the high elf Alistor, Alistor, this is Shryke.¡± The black dragon executed an almost perfect bow. He knew his mouth was hanging open, but¡­ it bowed? ¡°I am honored to meet you, Alistor.¡± ¡°We never knew...¡± Alistor said in a quiet shocked voice. ¡°We had no clue...¡± ¡°My pardon? What did not you know?¡± Michael asked. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. All this time, they were intelligent? It made no sense¡­ ¡°We never knew that you could talk. Our chronicles list you all as nothing more than savage beasts.¡± Shryke laughed. ¡°We are savage beasts. Michael seeks to change that.¡± His mind spun with the implications. ¡°We are working with the people over on the continent to the south moonward side of you.¡± Michael said with a slight smile. ¡°The people?¡± Elf clans had joined with him? ¡°Yes, the Horiel clan, the Rockheld and about a handful of others... I am lousy with names, though I am trying.¡± Michael chuckled. ¡°Rockheld? I have never heard of such.¡± ¡°They are dwarves.¡± ¡°Dwarves?¡± His mind was reeling from shock after shock. ¡°Yes, our people are made up of all of the races who care to join and live in peace. Many new ideas and much art has arisen from the joining.¡± Michael replied. ¡°How did you... how was it managed?¡± ¡°Quite by accident, actually. Green skins... I know them as orcs, captured Calalistos and the surviving elves sent a party of hunters north. They tried to take my herd of cattle. I let them have half, then arranged trade with them and it developed from there.¡± ¡°So the orcs hold Calalistos.¡± It was saddening news. ¡°No, I removed them.¡± He removed¡­ orcs¡­ he removed orcs. Suddenly his mind snapped into focus. He decided to focus on the island¡¯s problems. If he could enlist the aid of these dragons, then maybe they could free the island from those pirates. ¡°I can see this story requires quite a bit of telling. Mayhaps another time? What will you do about the scavengers to the south?¡± ¡°Well, we have a plan to take care of them, once we can make sure the slaves are protected. We are studying the problem as we speak. If you would, I would like you to come to my city and talk with some of the other leaders so that we would know more of what we face.¡± He felt a sense of relief. They were planning on helping. It sounded like they were working to bring help from Calalistos as well. ¡°If I may go reassure my people, I would be honored. How would I go there? It would take at least two days by ship.¡± The sense of relief vanished with the dragon¡¯s next words. ¡°Have you ever thought to ride a dragon?¡± His mind went blank. All of the legends and the texts¡­ he looked at the black dragon standing off to the side. All he could see was an armored magical killing machine. He felt one of his men grip his shoulder as the world seem to tilt. Michael seemed not to notice, or was politely ignoring it. ¡°You can bring one other. Make sure that they do not fear high places.¡± ¡°I will go and talk with my people now.¡± He said weakly. ¡°I will be back in a few hours. Feel free to use this space.¡± There were about half way back to the castle when the felt it. Magic. The all turned in time to see the pirate ship drop out of a hole in the sky and land with a crash. He and his men exchanged glances. It suddenly occurred to Alistor that they were being careful. The thought gave him pause. Judging by what he had seen so far, they were being careful not to do too much damage or frighten his people. They were polite and very careful, but even the fact that they had to be careful was frightening. Just how much power did they have? Arriving back at the castle, he climbed back to the ramparts and watched. Suddenly, the ship was back out in the water again and¡­ The flash almost blinded him. He dove to the ground as the blast wave hit the castle and he felt the massive stones tremble. He was laying on his stomach and looked up¡­ Rainia was laying right in front of him staring into his face. The held that pose for a few moments then both of them started laughing. ¡°I have someone you need to meet. Rainia. You may want to go fetch your riding gear and your scribe tools.¡± She grinned. ¡°Does it have anything to do with our guests out there?¡± He grinned back. ¡°As a matter of fact it does. We have a chance to greatly increase our knowledge this day.¡± Alistor smiled as she hopped up and ran to fetch her things. He called his guards over to escort them out and to retrieve the prisoners¡­ if there were any left. He shuddered a bit. It didn¡¯t take Rainia long to return with both hers and his travel packs. It worried him for a few moments about putting her in danger, but he had come to believe that the dragon really meant them no harm. In the back of his mind he heard; ¡®if they did, he wouldn¡¯t be here right now thinking about it.¡¯ They made their way back to the dragons, the guards taking the prisoners back to the castle. It was a formality now, they would be hung. He was greeting by Michael. ¡°Welcome Alistor, are you ready to fly?¡± He was smiling as the pirates were lead back. None had any fight left in them. Thinking back the the display, he didn¡¯t need wonder why. ¡°Greetings Michael. I would introduce you to Rainia, my adviser. Rainia, this is Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°Tis a pleasure, milady.¡± He smiled and said with a half bow. Rainia furrowed her brows for a moment. ¡°Arienach as in the dragon Arienach?¡± ¡°Yes milady.¡± She fainted. I suppose I should have warned her. She then found out that the female dragon, Darhla, would be her ride. She only wobbled a bit this time. I walked with her to the massive beast and Darhla knelt down so she could climb up on her neck, then I walked over to Shryke. I admit, it took everything I had to go near it, but it knelt down and let me climb up. We pulled our goggles out and our scarves. ¡°Twould seem you came prepared, is this the standard dragon riding outfit?¡± Michael asked, obviously amused. Alistor laughed a bit. ¡°No, but if you are in with a group riding horseback, you learn to protect your eyes.¡± ¡°Tis a wise precaution. I think I am going to port to Calalistos then fly up to Dragonhaven so you can see the sights, if you wish.¡± ¡°As you wish lord dragon.¡± Alistor had no clue where the urge to joke with it had come from, but the look on Michaels face was priceless. ¡°Michael.¡± He replied with a sour look on his face. Then chuckled. He walked away from the group and at first, I though I might have angered him. But he stopped when he was a good ways away and changed back to his full form. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him. Way up. The dragons we were on were not small by any stretch of the imagination, but Michael was¡­ beyond huge. I stared as he walked. His whole body was shimmering in the light and his muscles rippled. He almost moved as a cat would. Then he jumped in the air and the dragons tensed beneath us. I couldn¡¯t figure out why till the back blast of his wings caught us, almost blowing us from our seats. ¡°He has no clue of his own power.¡± Shryke muttered beneath me. We followed him up. Our dragon working that much harder to get airborne. The ride was not smooth. We would lurch forward as they pulled with their wings then smooth out and glide, to be pulled forward again. It wasn¡¯t bad when you got used to it, but I knew I would feel it come the morrow. A big hole in the sky opened in front of us and we followed Michael through it. We were over Calalistos. We had traveled many many miles in a fraction of a second. We were spotted over the bay and the people stopped what they were doing and waved and cheered. I looked over at Rainia and she was waving. I smiled and waved at the people below as well. It was rather fun. The city looked larger than I remembered, but it had been a long time since I had come this way. From the look of the harbor, they had a busy port. Which was probably why Ralph and his crew wanted it. Before we knew it, we were past the city, following a river. I glanced at it, then looked back at it. Something about it was off. It took me a few moments, but then I realized. It was uniform in width and perfectly straight. How had they managed that? I puzzled over it for a while, then let it drop to enjoy the view. I was seeing sights that few had ever seen before, having been trapped upon the land. It was a magnificent view. The river split and we took the right fork. I saw the city up ahead, then we cleared the trees to a harbor. A perfectly round harbor. A huge perfectly round harbor. Michael circled while we landed and we were greeted by a very strange group. Two dwarves and two elves. Shryke and Darhla changed and I was surprised, as Darhla was a little slip of a girl. I felt the blast of air behind me as several tons of Michael made a landing. He changed and walked over with a big smile on his face. ¡°Graniel! Well met. Greetings all.¡± He was grinning at the male elf. Then came the real shock as the female elf all but tackled Michael with a hug, grinning ear to ear. ¡°Michael, all went well?¡± He grinned back. ¡°It went quite well. Let me introduce Lord Alistor of the Estaria clan and his adviser Rainia.¡± I was shocked as both the elves and the dwarves bowed. There was no hostility. None. Then Michael introduce the others. ¡°Lord Alistor, Lady Rainia, this is Haladoria of the Horiel, Graniel her ranger, Dorvus, chief of the Rockheld clan and his second, Cornal.¡± Then came the real surprise. ¡°We be greeting you, welcome to the dragon empire.¡± The one called Dorvus said. Plans Alistor turned to me in shock. ¡°I think you might have left something out, Michael.¡± ¡°I never finished the story, remember?¡± I said with a smile. Turning to Haladoria. ¡°By chance is your bard handy? I would rather they hear this from your point of view.¡± Haladoria laughed. ¡°You are too practical to describe it as it deserves, Lord Dragon.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Michael, milady.¡± She leaned over and stage whispered to lady Rainia. ¡°It is so fun to tease him.¡± Rainia looked shocked. ¡°You tease him?¡± ¡°All the time, it shows we care.¡± She laughed. ¡°Besides, he is only level 8764.¡± Rainia fainted again. She seemed an impressionable young elf. I had turned off all of my notifications, but at Haladoria¡¯s comment, I opened the status to check. I was up to eleven percent of my next level. Apparently, becoming emperor and being on good relations with the various races added to the experience pool. Who would have thought? What followed was a tour of the city, followed by a trip to the Dragon Head. Brandy was served, then the bard sang her song... It had been embellished a bit more, but it did a fine job of telling the story from their point of view. She had added in valiant defender after she learned of the black sail fleet and afterward, I saw Rainia going over to talk. Something tells me the ballad will be longer next time. We made our way back to the building I held court in, but stopped outside to watch the late afternoon sun hit the almost completed dragon carvings on the mountain. It also showcased my lair in the distance, framed by the valley. After the song, it shown in a whole new light. The next stop was our destination. No one spoke as we made our way back to the audience chamber. I looked at the pretentious throne with a long sigh, then turned to Dorvus. ¡°I thought you were going to get rid of that thing.¡± I said, pointing at the chair in question. ¡°Lad, even if¡¯n ya don¡¯t be liken it, some of the other nobles be expectin it. Give em time ta change. Now be a good dragon, and take yer throne.¡± He said with a grin. I rolled my eyes. ¡°Yes Lord Dwarf.¡± As we spoke, Darhla and Shryke made an appearance. They walked to the circle and looked at me questioningly. ¡°Have a seat, you are welcome here.¡± Dorvus walked to the center of the room as I took my seat. He had figured out how to activate the projector and the island of Torgos appeared. Our two guests seemed to be entranced. Darhla and Shryke even seemed surprised. ¡°I were not able to add much ta what ya knew, Michael. Mayhaps you have another ally to the moonward side. They have turned away several that had come from the seaport and the town to the north.¡± ¡°The seaport is called Haversten, the town was called Harroina, now Ralphburg.¡± Alistor supplied. ¡°The moonward side town is call Veirania.¡± Glancing up, I asked. ¡°What of the sunward side?¡± ¡°Oh, that is another town of scavengers, but these want nothing to do with Ralph. Strange lot, they keep to themselves. Their town is called Dallase.¡± I bit back any reaction to the name. ¡°So... five widely spaced cities that have little to do with each other? Seems a strange arraignment.¡± ¡°Veirania is another town of our people. They are fishermen and feel more at home on the water, probably an old outpost of the grand fleet who originally explored Haven. We trade with them, but they want little to do with anyone not of their group. Harroina used to be the neutral ground where all met. Now all trade is accomplished by boat and it is mostly smuggling, since the black fleet charges ¡°taxes¡± on all trades.¡± I let out a deep breath. ¡°So, as long as we are careful, no one would be hurt by removing the current ruler.¡± I glanced up at Alistor. ¡°Do you have the resources to run Harroina till the people of your land recover?¡± He gave me a puzzled look. ¡°I thought you would take it over.¡± I smiled. ¡°This is not a conquest, Alistor. Those lands belong to the people who live on them. I am simply trying to remove a sore before it becomes infected.¡± I paused for a moment. ¡°The only thing I wish from you is good will and free trade.¡± He grew quiet as he reviewed what I had said. I looked up and the two dragons were trying to get my attention. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.I laughed. ¡°This is not a school, you two. If you have something to say, please say it.¡± Shryke looked embarrassed but spoke. ¡°There are three more dragons who wish to visit.¡± I must have look puzzled so he continued. ¡°They do not want to approach as they are unsure of their welcome. I encountered them when I was flying one of the nobles back to their keep, moonward.¡± ¡°If you wish, bring them here and show them around. Just let them know that they must not cause trouble for the people of the land.¡± ¡°Um... I am not sure I should do that, Michael.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°One of them is Viennarinia.¡± I sighed. ¡°I see. I haven¡¯t felt her visit since I took the title here. Mayhaps I should visit her. Where does she wish to meet?¡± ¡°She is off to the moonward side. She questioned us about why we stayed and we told them all of what has happened here. The two with her were dubious, but she seemed... to accept it? We have talked with her several times since we moved here, but I cannot know what she thinks.¡± ¡°I suppose hope for the best and plan for the worst.¡± I looked to Dorvus. ¡°Do you have lairs ready in case they do wish to stay?¡± ¡°Aye, we have been steadily expanding out around the ring. There are five more lair groups ready in the inner ring.¡± He paused then continued. ¡°About that, what do ye intend to do with the land around your lair?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think it was time yet, but I would like a meeting place, open air, for the dragons and the people of the land. Mayhaps a small city as well, but I cannot think of what should go there. The rest of the land I was thinking of protected farmland in case something were to occur where the outside lands were destroyed.¡± Dorvus nodded his head and looked at Haladoria. ¡°What do you think?¡± Haladoria smiled, then looked to me with a strange expression. ¡°I think a certain dragon emperor worries about his peoples safety. We should meet with the other nobles to see what could be done.¡± I let that pass. ¡°Now as to the problem on Torgos, What are your thoughts?¡± Dorvus smiled grimly and walked onto the map, causing it to zoom in on the area around the slave camps. ¡°We do as you suggested. We take Haladoria¡¯s idea of docking the ships we would need to transport the slaves away, till it be safe for them to return. Our two dragon friends can guard them. It will take about a half dozen ships from the count we have, I would say a few over just in case.¡± He paused then continued. ¡°After they are safely away, I would suggest using the base to our advantage, staging out of it. Other than the remains of the black sails, we have no hard targets, so it will be a matter of holding the area until you take care of the hold up at Harroina.¡± ¡°So we are looking at a manhunt once the head is removed.¡± ¡°I would say as such, yea. The soldiers will be easy targets and ye may wish to hold off on the villa and let them attack the base, it will give them an objective and keep them from scattering. We thin them down then hit the villa. Once the slaves be out, I would suggest you disappear.¡± I raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°If you be there, they will not attack. It will make it look like ye were only after the slaves. Once they are outside the walls, then ye can take em out.¡± ¡°I like this. I would get the slaves safe, take out the soldiers that I can, then take the rest of the ships down. That would save the harbor and the shipyards.¡± ¡°Ye got the gist of it. Now, I have ready to go, about thirty of my people, a good fifty of the elven rangers, ten fairy scouts and about ten centaur calvary. The centaurs have selected ten elven rangers to act as bowmen from their back, so each would count as two.¡± I was impressed by what they had put together, but they would be outnumbered greatly. ¡°So you would stay with the base?¡± ¡°Aye. Tis a small force, but the base would give us walls. Knowin you, we won¡¯t be fighten long if at all.¡± He smiled. ¡°After, we can work our way into the town and start hunting.¡± ¡°So we have three teams. Can you get the fairy leader here?¡± ¡°Aye, give me a moment.¡± He walked out of the room. ¡°What is your thoughts on this, Alistor?¡± ¡°I would ask you to give us some time to go down to Harroina and surround it. We can keep the bugs from scattering when you kick over their nest.¡± I got up and walked to the map, studying it. ¡°If I were to get your people to say... this point.¡± Pointing at a shallow valley that was just north of the town. ¡°How long would it take to be in position?¡± He came over and smiled. ¡°You have an excellent eye, dragon. I say a matter of hours. If you can get me to Veirania first, we may have a way to keep them contained as well.¡± ¡°Transportation is no problem.¡± I smiled. ¡°Then, since the mountains are to the sunward side, and the base is against the cliff, we would need but to have them in a line across this area.¡± ¡°That leaves the way north open. I think I see...¡± ¡°Yes, when you hit the ships, and their quarters there off the dock, they should run. Most of the ones who don¡¯t will be citizens. The ones who scatter will be the ones you be looking for. They should be guided up towards Harroina. Take the villa and you should have the worst of them exposed. Since the people there are not exactly in agreement with the good king, it should be little problem finding the rest of them if they go into hiding.¡± I thought about it for a while. ¡°Go ahead and prepare for that plan. I am going to go see the other dragons. Who knows, maybe they will help.¡± Dorvus returned a few moments later with a little sparkling flying woman. ¡°I would like to introduce Tori of the fay.¡± ¡°I am honored to meet you Tori of the fay. I am called Michael.¡± She giggled. ¡°I know who you are Michael Arienach. Tis a pleasure to meet you as well.¡± I smiled. ¡°I have something for you for when we go scavenger hunting.¡± ¡°Oooh, presents, I like presents. What¡¯s it do?¡± I laughed as I conjured a tiny calling stone. ¡°It will call me if you have any trouble.¡± I had made the stone a citrine to go with the color of her hair. I held it out in the palm of my hand and she flew over and landed on my hand, then bent over and picked it up. She smiled and did a little happy dance, which did really impressive things with her anatomy. She was rather well endowed for such a small female. ¡°Oh, I like it! I will have one of the smiths make a necklace for it! Pretty pretty!¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t a bad idea¡± I said as I conjured a green stone for Haladoria and a brown stone for Dorvus. For Alistor, I conjured a blue and a diamond for Shryke. I passed out the stones to their respective owners. ¡°I will make a few more for key people.¡± As I made a few more that were black. ¡°I think the centaurs should have one as well.¡± Dorvus looked at his. ¡°I can have these set as rings if¡¯n you folks would follow me.¡± I gave him the rest and asked if he could set them as necklaces. ¡°They will be ready in a few hours. Now go see to the other dragons and let us prepare.¡± I bowed slightly. ¡°Yes Lord Dwarf.¡± He gave me a look, then busted out laughing. ¡°Ah, ye got me ya big lizard.¡± ¡°I am learning.¡± More Relatives? I decided to fly to the meeting with the dragons. I gave me time to think. While we were coming along nicely as a group, things like patrolling the borders and being able to contact each other in case of an emergency... or in case of a curious dragon showing up... about the same thing, actually, would be next on the to do list. I thought back to earth and wondered if the crystals I had been conjuring would be able to be enchanted to work like cell phones. Without the mindless games and such. I let my mind wander those channels until I saw that I was nearing the keep where Shryke said he had ran into them. Opening my ¡°radar¡±, I was going to have to figure out another name for it, I spotted them moonward and to the south. It would seem they were nervous about entering any of our claimed lands. I wondered about that. I met them at the border, no fire was exchanged this time. ¡°Greetings, what may I do for you this day.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Hello Arienach.¡± Viennarinia said flatly. I chuckled. ¡°Tis good to see you too, Viennarinia.¡± ¡°We wish to come see what you are up to.¡± ¡°Up to? I told you before what I was doing.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t ring true, Arienach. I think you are trying to take over this world.¡± ¡°One question,¡± I said as my smile faded. ¡°If I wanted to take over this world, just what could stop me? I mean seriously.¡± The two other dragons looked at each other nervously. ¡°I would stop you!¡± Viennarinia exclaimed. I merely smiled at her. ¡°How?¡± I waited a few moments, then added. ¡°What level are you?¡± She looked pissed. ¡°I am level 3286.¡± I chuckled. ¡°Less than I thought. I would work on that a bit if I were you.¡± She scoffed, so I added. ¡°Something like maybe five thousand or so, you might be able to put up a fight.¡± One of the other dragons asked. ¡°What level?¡± I looked at them all. ¡°I am level 8764" Viennarinia¡¯s wings stopped for a moment before she caught herself. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Yes way.¡± I paused then continued. ¡°Why do you think I started this project? I am bored out of my mind.¡± ¡°But... you could have...¡± ¡°Absolutely nothing. I already have planets to travel to, gold for the taking... with not a damn thing to spend it on. I have no challenge anymore. I can destroy a continent with a thought. But as I said, I cannot build. If you truly are curious, come with me. I will show you what the lesser races have to offer. I seek the subtle magic now, not to destroy, but to be able to create. For all I have, I have nothing.¡± The white dragon spoke. ¡°I think I understand. I will follow you.¡± The Bronze agreed. ¡°I as well.¡± Viennarinia looked at them. ¡°Then go. I will not be a part of this.¡± Then she turned and flew off. I felt a cold chill as I watched her leave. I shook it off and turned to the other two dragons. ¡°Might I know your names?¡± ¡°I am called Imar.¡± The white one spoke. ¡°And I am Tirreg.¡± The bronze added. ¡°Tis good to meet you. All I ask is that you harm no one.¡± They looked at each other, then nodded. We flew to Dragonhaven in silence. I landed first and shifted and they followed suit. Tirreg was large and broad, looking like a barbarian. His hair was the color of his scales. Imar was an albino, tall and thin. He drew the eye as his skin almost glowed. His white hair down to the middle of his back. They surveyed the harbor and the docks in silence for a few minutes. Then Imar asked. ¡°Did you have them build this?¡± ¡°I told them I wanted a place to trade. I was thinking of the docks, but the rest they added.¡± ¡°You allowed it?¡± Tirreg asked. ¡°They are not my servants. They asked if some of them could stay and I told them to build as they would.¡± Tirreg looked at me strangely. ¡°Why?¡± I chuckled. ¡°What could I build? Seriously. They have made this land into a work of art.¡±This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. We walked around the harbor, the dragons stopping to look at a shop, a carving, a statue or even the paintings. One time they stopped at a local eatery and had some meat rolls while listening to a group of street singers. Imar was watching a group working on a building and asked. ¡°There are dwarves with elves and drow. I knew not that they even tolerated each other.¡± ¡°Normally they don¡¯t. But they have changed since coming here. I really do not understand why, completely, but there have been no real problems since this town was built. Calalistos, down to the south is the same way now.¡± ¡°Passing strange.¡± We started up the main street towards the valley to my lair. Again we stopped at odd times to see the sights. The rings that I had wondered about at their making turned out to be set for trees and they were growing rapidly. We stopped off at the Dragon Head and I introduced them to Elven Brandy. There was a bard there, so we listened to her tales for a while. We continued till we were almost to the entrance of the valley and then they spotted the dragons carved into the mountains. Tirreg exclaimed in a rather subdued voice. ¡°Those are magnificent.¡± ¡°Aye.¡± Imar agreed. Tirreg then looked squarely at me. ¡°I see now what Viennarinia is so afraid of.¡± I looked up startled. ¡°Afraid?¡± I felt the chill again. He chuckled. ¡°Yes, afraid. You are changing the very way this world works. These people live in peace alongside dragons. They are growing to be less peasants and more free thinking.¡± ¡°Why would that scare her?¡± ¡°Because it is happening without us.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t. Nothing can touch you. In the end, the dragons will have little choice. Either join you or be left out. You are taking over the world, just not by conquest. The world is changing and if the others, whatever race they may be, do not join, then they will be left behind.¡± ¡°I see. Is this a bad thing that I do?¡± Imar laughed. ¡°No, that is the problem. If it were a threat, it could be battled. You lift up the land and the people. Even if you went away, they would keep this.¡± ¡°I never thought on it like that.¡± ¡°You know not what you have started. It will not be a boring time, that I am sure of. I would join with you.¡± Tirreg stated ¡°I would as well. It is interesting how they serve you of their own free will.¡± Imar agreed. ¡°They live their lives and I simply observe. I am there to help when they need it, as when the black sails attacked and they are there for me. We will be leaving soon to free the island of Torgos.¡± ¡°Torgos?¡± Imar asked. I sighed. ¡°The black sails came from Torgos, it appears some king decided to expand his domain and sent a fleet to attack us. I stopped them and found out where they were based out of. He tried to take the rest of the island over as well, and that was prevented. The elves of Torgos, the Estaria are now allied with us to take this king down.¡± ¡°How hard can it be, we fly over and level the place.¡± Tirreg said. ¡°Not that simple. There are a lot of innocents there. It is hard to have free will without people.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We are going to weed out the rats, then turn it back over to the proper owners.¡± ¡°Sounds overly complicated, but then again, it also does sound like a challenge. Would you like some help?¡± Tirreg said. ¡°I would go as well, I wish to see how you would do this.¡± Imar said. ¡°Well, I can show you what we have in mind, I would see what you suggest.¡± We went to the chamber and I brought up the map. Imar stared at the crystal in the ceiling, then at me. ¡°How did you put your planar sight into a crystal?¡± He asked. ¡°Would you believe that I am not entirely sure?¡± I replied. ¡°I just thought of what I wanted and then imprinted it in the crystal.¡± ¡°Interesting. I think you have surpassed your race limits.¡± He said. Tori flew in a few moments later. ¡°Michael, the other were wondering where you were, I will go fetch them.¡± And flew back out. I shrugged. ¡°I guess you will get to meet the rest of the crew.¡± Dorvus, Cornal, Haladoria, Darhla and Shryke accompanied her back. I waited till they were all seated. ¡°I would like to introduce Tirreg and Imar. Two ancient dragons that will be joining us.¡± Shryke hissed. ¡°I know of you Tirreg.¡± ¡°And I of you Shryke.¡± Tirreg laughed. ¡°Well, the rest of the people are Darhla, Dorvus of the clan Rockheld and his second Cornal, Haladoria of the Horiel clan and the little one is Tory, the leader of the local fay.¡± ¡°You keep interesting friends Michael.¡± Tirreg grinned. ¡°I trust this is not a problem between the two of you.¡± ¡°Not unless Shryke there holds old injuries against me. I hold no ill will against him. I found him to be quite the brave to stand against an ancient in defense of his mate.¡± Shryke spoke. ¡°It is done. I will not hold it. We were dragons being dragons. I hope we can move beyond that now.¡± Tirreg shrugged. ¡°After what I have seen here, I can but try. I believe this may just be the hope for our people.¡± Shryke¡¯s eyes widened but he didn¡¯t speak. Darhla snuggled in next to him. I looked at both of them wondering what the story might be, but knew better than to ask. We had a tentative truce, so just move on. ¡°Now, this is what we have planned.¡± I said. A few hours later, we had decided that Tirreg would go with Alistor and if he could recruit the clan at Veirania, so much the better. If not, Imar would hold the side. I conjured a calling stone for both Tirreg and Imar. And then opened a portal for Alistor. He eyed it warily, but stepped through. When he called, I would reopen it and if he didn¡¯t come through, I would go fetch him. That meant that they tried to detain him and it would not go well for their town. We sat and waited as the hour grew late. Finally I received the call. I opened the port and Alistor stepped though. ¡°Welcome back.¡± He chuckled. ¡°It was trying to hammer a nail with a twig, but I convinced them. They were not too fond of having a dragon along, once they finally believed that a dragon would actually help them and not eat them, but they will do it.¡± I sighed with relief. ¡°Then I will send you and Rainia back... where is she by the way?¡± Haladoria spoke up. ¡°She was in the library last I saw her.¡± Alistor laughed. ¡°Let her know that we will be back for her. If she found a library, we have lost her.¡± I chuckled. ¡°I understand. I will be up there to get your people into place. I will let you decide when to move. The rest should be in place.¡± I opened a portal and he stepped though. ¡°Haladoria, how long to get the ships ready?¡± ¡°Send me back now and they will be ready by dawn.¡± She replied. She kissed me on the cheek and left with the next portal. ¡°I already have our people in place. You probably need to get those ships there first. Then come back for us. I will meet you at the pad at first light.¡± Dorvus said as I turned to him. ¡°That works. Oh! We need lairs for Tirreg and Imar.¡± ¡°No problem. Just enter the inner ring and there is a line of them around the very entrance just inside.¡± Dorvus told them. ¡°If you need anything for them, let me know.¡± ¡°I thank you, sir dwarf.¡± Tirreg said. ¡°I as well.¡± Agreed Imar. ¡°I just be called Dorvus. I leave the sirs and lords to Michael.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get them started too.¡± I said with a chuckle. ¡°I would not think of it.... lord dragon.¡± Imar said with a smirk. Imar He was about tired of listening to Viennarinia¡¯s whining about what Arienach was up to. She was fixated on it. Tirreg finally corned her one day and told her to prove it. They decided to go meet with Arienach. He wasn¡¯t so sure it was a good idea, but still, if it would just shut her up, it would be worth it. He really wasn¡¯t too comfortable with the meeting, seeing as none of the other dragons had seen Arienach in over two centuries, but there were three of them. If Arienach started something, surely three would take him down. He ignored the voice in the back of his mind that was calling him a fool for thinking that. It was about a month later that Viennarinia came back and said she had arraigned a meeting. We flew to the edge of a mountain range and waited. I wondered why. ¡°Why are we stopping here?¡± Tirreg asked, reading my mind it seemed. ¡°He claims the lands going forward. I really don¡¯t want to cross him on his own lands.¡± ¡°Then how are we suppose to find out what is going on?¡± I shook my head. ¡°Ask him?¡± Viennarinia looked at me like she had tasted bad meat. ¡°He lies.¡± I stared at her for a few minutes. ¡°So this is nothing more than a waste.¡± She was acting more unstable all the time and this was pretty much the last deer in the herd. I started to turn and leave when I heard his voice. Turning, I almost fell out of the sky. He was huge. We were all ancients but he¡­ Gods, how old was he? ¡°Greetings, what may I do for you this day.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°Hello Arienach.¡± Viennarinia said flatly. ¡°Tis good to see you too, Viennarinia.¡± Strangely, he came across as non-threatening¡­ except for his size. ¡°We wish to come see what you are up to.¡± ¡°Up to? I told you before what I was doing.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t ring true, Arienach. I think you are trying to take over this world.¡± I looked at Viennarinia in shock. She was trying to piss him off. It suddenly occurred to me that we were meant for backup. She wanted us here so she could provoke him. Tirreg and I exchanged glances. ¡°One question, If I wanted to take over this world, just what could stop me? I mean seriously.¡± I glanced at Tirreg nervously. There was¡­ something in the way he said that. He wasn¡¯t joking and he was altogether too confident. ¡°I would stop you!¡± Viennarinia exclaimed. ¡°How?¡± He waited a few moments, then added. ¡°What level are you?¡± She looked pissed. ¡°I am level 3286.¡± ¡°Less than I thought. I would work on that a bit if I were you.¡± He was laughing at her. ¡°Something like maybe five thousand or so, you might be able to put up a fight.¡± He added. I was starting not to like where this was going, so I asked. ¡°What level?¡± Arienach looked at us levelly. ¡°I am level 8764" Viennarinia¡¯s wings stopped for a moment before she caught herself. ¡°No way.¡± ¡°Yes way.¡± He said. ¡°Why do you think I started this project? I am bored out of my mind.¡± ¡°But... you could have...¡± ¡°Absolutely nothing. I already have planets to travel to, gold for the taking... with not a damn thing to spend it on. I have no challenge anymore. I can destroy a continent with a thought. But like I said, I cannot build. If you truly are curious, come with me. I will show you what the lesser races have to offer. I seek the subtle magic now, not to destroy, but to be able to create. For all I have, I have nothing.¡± Suddenly it made sense. It also explained Viennarinia¡¯s actions. I found I was curious now. ¡°I think I understand. I will follow you.¡± Tirreg smiled. ¡°I as well.¡± Viennarinia looked at them. ¡°Then go. I will not be a part of this.¡± Then she turned and flew off. ¡°Might I know your names?¡± Arienach asked with a smile. ¡°I am called Imar.¡± ¡°And I am Tirreg.¡± ¡°Tis good to meet you. All I ask is that you harm no one.¡± Strange way to put it, but he was rumored to be watching over some of the lesser races. We followed him in silence. The lands we passed over had a strange feel to them. Then we came up to a harbor before a city. Arienach landed on an open area off to the side of the harbor and we followed him down. He had shifted into the form of an elf so we follow suit. Tirreg, of course going for his barbarian look. We looked around. The place looked¡­ orderly. There seemed to be no fear here, either. Then, looking closer, was that a drow walking with a centaur and an elf? The harbor was busy. I looked at Arienach and asked; ¡°Did you have them build this?¡± ¡°I told them I wanted a place to trade. I was thinking of the docks, but the rest they added.¡± ¡°You allowed it?¡± Tirreg asked. ¡°They are not my servants. They asked if some of them could stay and I told them to build as they would.¡± Tirreg looked at him strangely. ¡°Why?¡± He chuckled. ¡°What could I build? Seriously. They have made this land into a work of art.¡± He was right. The more you looked, the more there was to see. Nothing was left undecorated. Carvings of dragons were everywhere. The shops were all busy and music seemed to be everywhere as well. We found a shop selling what Arienach called ¡®meat rolls¡¯. Cooked and spiced, they melted in your mouth. A group of street singers wandered by singing a ballad. It was mixed races as well. Children played in the street. We saw a group working on a building and I had to ask; ¡°There are dwarves with elves and drow. I knew not that they even tolerated each other.¡± ¡°Normally they don¡¯t. But they have changed since coming here. I really do not understand why, completely, but there have been no real problems since this town was built. Calalistos, down to the south is the same way now.¡± ¡°Passing strange.¡± They called him Michael or lord Michael or lord dragon. They weren¡¯t afraid. They sang, they danced, they created. The city was alive. ¡°Mister? Are you a dragon?¡± The tiny little elf looked up at Tirreg and I with wide eyes and a solemn expression. We glanced at each other. ¡°Yes, we are dragons.¡± I answered her. Her face lit up with a huge smile. ¡°Are you going to stay? Darhla and Shryke live here now and they give us rides and show us places and help lots!¡± She was almost bouncing now. ¡°Seara! Come here and behave!¡± ¡°But mommy, they¡¯re dragons!¡± The mother of the little elf came over. ¡°I am so sorry, but she loves dragons.¡± She said apologetically.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. I smiled at her. ¡°There is no harm. She is a beautiful little girl.¡± The mother nodded and did a quick curtsy, her face taking a pink hue. ¡°Thank you my lords.¡± We looked at each other in shock as the mother towed the little girl away. We were not feared here¡­ we were loved. We caught up with Arienach¡­ Michael again, and he took us to a tavern called the Dragon Head. We were served by a drow. She flirted shamelessly as she took our order and brought our drinks. She called Michael lord dragon. He got an irritated look and she danced off laughing, her hips swaying the whole way. They teased him. Then we took a sip of the brandy. Gods, it would be worth living here for this alone. I looked up at Tirreg wide eyed. He was staring at the drink. The next hour or so was spent sipping brandy, chatting with the locals and listening to a bard weave her tales. I have to admit, I hadn¡¯t been this relaxed¡­ ever. Truth be told, it was hard getting up and leaving. We wandered out and followed Michael through some more shops. Then Tirreg grabbed my arm, spinning me around and pointing. We walked till we had a clear view of them. Two dragons, carved into the side of each mountain, framing the entrance way to the inner valley. The stonework made them almost look alive, their wings were spread wide. Tirreg exclaimed in a rather subdued voice. ¡°Those are magnificent.¡± ¡°Aye.¡± I agreed. ¡°I see now what Viennarinia is so afraid of.¡± Tirreg said flatly. Michael looked shocked.¡°Afraid?¡± Tirreg chuckled. ¡°Yes, afraid. You are changing the very way this world works. These people live in peace alongside dragons. They are growing to be less peasants and more free thinking.¡± ¡°Why would that scare her?¡± ¡°Because it is happening without us.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t. Nothing can touch you. In the end, the dragons will have little choice. Either join you or be left out. You are taking over the world, just not by conquest. The world is changing and if the others, whatever race they may be, do not join, then they will be left behind.¡± Everything came into focus. Michael worked with the people and it wouldn¡¯t stop here. I looked around the city and saw nothing that indicated that there was anything negative or controlling. They would react badly if someone tried to take it over by force. But they would continue to work together. Any dragon who actually came here and had two brain cells to rub together would probably join. Being a dragon was a lonely existence. Even finding a mate. Dragons trusted each other least of all, but here? Once the truth of this land¡­ of this empire came to the dragons, or any other race, it would spread like dragon fire. ¡°I see. Is this a bad thing that I do?¡± I laughed. ¡°No, that is the problem. If it were a threat, it could be battled. You lift up the land and the people. Even if you went away, they would keep this.¡± ¡°I never thought on it like that.¡± Michael stared into the distance. ¡°You know not what you have started. It will not be a boring time, that I am sure of. I would join with you.¡± Tirreg stated ¡°I would as well. It is interesting how they serve you of their own free will.¡± I agreed. ¡°They live their lives and I simply observe. I am there to help when they need it, as when the black sails attacked, and they are there for me. We will be leaving soon to free the island of Torgos.¡± ¡°Torgos?¡± I asked. ¡°The black sails came from Torgos, it appears some king decided to expand his domain and sent a fleet to attack us. I stopped them and found out where they were based out of. He tried to take the rest of the island over as well, and that was prevented. The elves of Torgos, the Estaria are now allied with us to take this king down.¡± ¡°How hard can it be, we fly over and level the place.¡± Tirreg said. ¡°Not that simple. There are a lot of innocents there. It is hard to have free will without people.¡± I chuckled. ¡°We are going to weed out the rats, then turn it back over to the proper owners.¡± Then it truly struck home. He genuinely cared for the people. His people. ¡°Sounds overly complicated, but then again, it also does sound like a challenge. Would you like some help?¡± Tirreg said. ¡°I would go as well, I wish to see how you would do this.¡± I said. ¡°Well, I can show you what we have in mind, I would see what you suggest.¡± We walked to a building and I was stuck by the work and detail that went into it. I had never seen such art and craftsmanship anywhere before. The pillars were carved dragons that almost looked alive, their raised wings holding up the roof above them. It suddenly occurred to me why. Why no other city looked like this. Michaels said it was the combination of the other races and he was right for the most part. But no other city would dare do this. The major reason being dragons. Why build a beautiful city that could be destroyed by a random dragon coming through. I suddenly felt small. We, as a race, were holding the world back. Michael was ending the chain of destruction. I suddenly studied the old dragon. He seemed¡­ at peace with himself. I wanted that. It would also give him something to do. I realized that I really wanted that. Something to do. We made our way back to a chamber. A council chamber? I had no clue. Michael brought up a projection from a crystal in the ceiling. Tirreg and I exchanged glances. We both recognized the view. Dragon sight. ¡°How did you put your planar sight into a crystal?¡± I asked. ¡°Would you believe that I am not entirely sure?¡± Michael replied. ¡°I just thought of what I wanted and then imprinted it in the crystal.¡± ¡°Interesting. I think you have surpassed your race limits.¡± I said. A small fairy flew in a few moments later. ¡°Michael, the other were wondering where you were, I will go fetch them.¡± And flew back out. A fairy? How many races lived here? ¡°I guess you will get to meet the rest of the crew.¡± Michael said with a shrug. A few minutes later a group of people walked it. I could feel that two of them were dragons. I was curious if they were the ones the little elf child was talking about. ¡°I would like to introduce Tirreg and Imar. Two ancient dragons that will be joining us.¡± One of them hissed at Tirreg. ¡°I know of you Tirreg.¡± ¡°And I of you Shryke.¡± Tirreg laughed. ¡°Well, the rest of the people are Darhla, Dorvus of the clan Rockheld and his second Cornal, Haladoria of the Horiel clan, Alistor of the clan Estaria and the little one is Tory, the leader of the local fay.¡± ¡°You keep interesting friends Michael.¡± Tirreg grinned. ¡°I trust this is not a problem between the two of you.¡± Michael said quietly. ¡°Not unless Shryke there holds old injuries against me. I hold no ill will against him. I found him to be quite the brave to stand against an ancient in defense of his mate.¡± Shryke spoke. ¡°It is done. I will not hold it. We were dragons being dragons. I hope we can move beyond that now.¡± Tirreg shrugged. ¡°After what I have seen here, I can but try. I believe this may just be the hope for our people.¡± I looked at Tirreg from the corner of my eye, apparently his line of thought had followed mine somewhat. Shryke¡¯s eyes widened but he didn¡¯t speak. Darhla snuggled in next to him, looking content. ¡°Now, this is what we have planned.¡± Michaelsaid. The planning went smoothly and was well organized. Michael made sure to stress that it could change as needed, depending on what happened when we got there. It was complicated, but would free the slaves who could be used as hostages while drawing in the pirates to attack. Michael sent the one called Alistor to seek aid from one of the local towns. It would keep the rats contained and keep them from stirring up trouble later. It was surprisingly well thought out. True, it wasn¡¯t as easy as flying over and leveling the entire island, but I was starting to see the value of these people and friends were a good thing. We sat and chatted, got to know of each other, while waiting on the call from Alistor. Tirreg was interested in the call stones, so Michael conjured each of us one, so we could contact him if needed. It was a very handy thing to have. Finally Michael got the call and opened a portal. ¡°Welcome back.¡± He chuckled. ¡°It was trying to hammer a nail with a twig, but I convinced them. They were not too fond of having a dragon along, once they finally believed that a dragon would actually help them and not eat them, but they will do it.¡± Michael sighed. ¡°Then I will send you and Rainia back... where is she by the way?¡± Haladoria spoke up. ¡°She was in the library last I saw her.¡± Alistor laughed. ¡°Let her know that we will be back for her. If she found a library, we have lost her.¡± Michael chuckled. ¡°I understand. I will be up there to get your people into place. I will let you decide when to move. The rest should be in place.¡± Another portal was opened and he stepped though. ¡°Haladoria, how long to get the ships ready?¡± ¡°Send me back now and they will be ready by dawn.¡± She replied. I was stunned when Haladoria kissed Michael on the cheek before she left. ¡°I already have our people in place. You probably need to get those ships there first. Then come back for us. I will meet you at the pad at first light.¡± Dorvus said. ¡°That works. Oh! We need lairs for Tirreg and Imar.¡± ¡°No problem. Just enter the inner ring and there is a line of them around the very entrance just inside.¡± Dorvus told them. ¡°If you need anything for them, let me know.¡± ¡°I thank you, sir dwarf.¡± Tirreg said. ¡°I as well.¡± I agreed. ¡°I just be called Dorvus. I leave the sirs and lords to Michael.¡± He chuckled. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t get them started too.¡± Michael said with a chuckle. ¡°I would not think of it.... lord dragon.¡± I said with a smirk. This was going to be fun. Michael just stared at me a moment and rolled his eyes. I couldn¡¯t help but laugh. Tirreg and I made our way to the lairs. I don¡¯t know what I was expecting, but what I found¡­ They were finished on the inside with dressed stone, carved with murals and designs. There was glow stones in the ceilings and separate rooms, including a library. I explored a for a bit until I heard Tirreg land in front. ¡°These are lairs? I have never seen such as this.¡± Tirreg said in awe. ¡°I haven¡¯t either. I was expecting a hole in the rocks we could curl up in. This? I have never seen such.¡± ¡°Did you look out the back?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t make it that far, I was looking at the mural in the library.¡± He laughed. ¡°Then you are in for a shock. Follow me.¡± He lead me out the back of the lair and we were looking at a vast cavern with a platform in the middle. I could see other entrances that led to the smaller lairs. This was set up for a community. ¡°He has given us room for our own clan.¡± Tirreg said quietly. I stared out at the vast room. ¡°If I counted correctly, we have lairs for three adults or six couples. There are also lairs below for the juveniles. I think I counted at least six groups so far and it looks like they are expanding around the ring.¡± ¡°I think his lair is in the volcano. He is at equal distance from all of us and we would all be as equals.¡± ¡°It is a way to keep things level. No striving for a better position or the higher mountain. The people here provide for us and we protect them. We are valued instead of feared and we can have friends now instead of strife. I can¡¯t help but wonder if Michael truly knows what he has here.¡± I said staring at the cavern, but seeing a possible future. The next morning, I was awoken by the sound of Shryke landing on the pad in front of my lair. My first thought was to defend my lair and I growled. Then I woke up and shook myself feeling silly. This was going to take some getting used to. ¡°We were asked to go to wake Michael. Seems he decided to sleep in.¡± Shryke said with a laugh. ¡°Sleeping on the job.¡± I said with amusement. The amusement turned to horror when we flew out and found Michael in the lava of the caldera. Opening Moves I awoke to someone talking. I couldn¡¯t make out the words at first till they asked; ¡°Do you think he is dead?¡± followed by ¡°Gods I hope not.¡± then ¡°What will we tell the others?¡± I opened one eye and saw Shryke and Imar perched on the edge of the caldera. I couldn¡¯t figure out for the life of me what they were so bothered about. I yawned and stretched, bringing my wings out of the lava then lifted my head a bit. ¡°Is it morning? It¡¯s still dark.¡± I said with a yawn. I heard an ungodly shriek as Imar jumped up into the air. ¡°What the hell? Are we under attack?¡± I asked looking around. ¡°Are you okay? We thought you fell into the lava!¡± Shryke was rattling off in a panic. ¡°Huh? No, that¡¯s where I sleep. It¡¯s nice and warm.¡± I said, relaxing, fighting the temptation to sink back into the warmth. ¡°SLEEP??? What the hell?¡± Imar said as he landed on the edge again. ¡°I can barely take the heat from here.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re not a fire dragon, then.¡± I yawned and stretched as I made my way out of the pool. ¡°Sorry, never was a morning dragon. What¡¯s up?¡± Imar shook his head. ¡°Viennarinia said she hit you full in the chest with her fire and no one believed her. I think she did and you just didn¡¯t notice.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. She hit me. I was wondering what she thought she was trying to do, but she was gone before I could ask her.¡± Shryke laughed, still a little frantic. ¡°Bahel be damned. What the hell are you made of?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Scales and gristle, mostly. Gods, I forgot, I need to get down and get those ships moving.¡± Imar chuckled. ¡°The others just ain¡¯t going to believe this.¡± ¡°Eh, so I am a heavy sleeper. It just felt so good floating there.¡± ¡°Yeah, floating on molten rock... I can see that would be comfy.¡± Imar rolled his eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t knock it and all that.¡± I said as I took wing. ¡°Time to get the show on the road, I guess.¡± I heard Shryke behind be say in a soft voice. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t have a clue what he is saying sometimes.¡± I chuckled to myself. After porting down to Calalistos, we made the flight out to the landing pad where Haladoria and Dorvus was waiting for me. ¡°Ya oversleep a bit there, lizard?¡± Dorvus asked. ¡°Yes, but I was awaken by this ungodly high pitched shriek. It kind of sounded like...¡± I laughed. ¡°Hey! We were just worried.¡± Imar said indignantly. Shryke just shook his head. ¡°What were we suppose to think? Most things don¡¯t sleep half submerged in lava.¡± Dorvus¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Lava?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s nice and warm.¡± I said with a smile. Haladoria just shook her head. Just when she thought she understood the dragon... I decided to get back on track. ¡°Are you ready to go, Admiral?¡± ¡°What is an Admiral?¡± Haladoria asked. ¡°It is the person that leads the fleet.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Ah, then yes. I will take them out, what do you want us to do?¡± ¡°I will circle till you are on heading, slight moonward by north. When you are making your best speed, I will open a portal and all you need do is adjust your course on the other side. I will put you about a mile out. Call me with the gem when you are in place.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Very well. Good luck and be careful, Michael.¡± Haladoria said in farewell. ¡°We will be with you the whole way.¡± Shryke said as Darhla landed next to him. Dorvus and Imar were quiet as the ships left the harbor. When the last one was out and they were formed up, I took wing and flew over them. I circled and waited till they looked to be going as fast as they could, then opened the portal. I could actually feel it drain me a bit as I held it open, but when I checked my stats, I had only dropped by ten percent. Overpowered, thy name is Michael, I thought to myself. Darhla and Shryke were the last ones though and I dropped the portal and returned to the dock. Tirreg had joined them as well as the strike force off the pier. As I landed, both Imar and Tirreg were just staring at me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Just wondering... how much mana did that cost you?¡± Tirreg asked in a flat voice. ¡°Oh about ten percent.¡± I said offhandedly. Tirreg and Imar just looked at each other and shook their heads. I looked at them, then asked; ¡°Ready? You first Imar, then Tirreg.¡± When they were gone, I shifted then motioned to Dorvus and the group started marching. I fell in beside Dorvus and opened the portal. He didn¡¯t even flinch at the shimmer in the air. As we went through, I summoned my mana blade. ¡°Get them organized and take the walls.¡± I said. ¡°Then send some people to guard the slaves.¡± ¡°What will ye be doing?¡± ¡°Housecleaning.¡± We were almost in place when the alarm was raised. As the last guard on the wall fell, about half a dozen men in armor came streaming out of the first building followed by the other buildings starting to empty. I met them and went through them like a knife through butter. The others paused as I started walking towards them, then rushed me. I didn¡¯t let one of them pass. After that it was just turned into see movement, slash. I sighed as I became the butcher again. There were about half a dozen left and they dropped their weapons and knelt. I turned my back and saw a blade break against my shield. I turned and split him in half, then took his head. The rest stayed put. I turned back again and motioned for five to guard them, then started walking thought the camp to make sure none were in hiding. My last stop was the slave pens. I almost went back and killed the last of them after seeing what condition the slaves were in, but thought better of it. Dorvus caught up to me and told me the wall was secure and they had the escort ready for the trip to the ships. He had talked to a couple of the guards, who seemed quite willing for some reason, and found that the shift change was coming up in a couple of hours. Good, that gave me time to get the rest of the plan in place. ¡°I will be gone for a short while to get the rest of the force in place. Will you be alright?¡± Dorvus chuckled. ¡°We be fine, Michael. I already started the slaves down to the coast. No sense waiting. They be in pretty ragged shape.¡± ¡°Good. Once I get the call, I will be leaving.¡± ¡°We have some of the uniforms from what was left of the guard. If anyone comes, we will let them in and hold them. If it is a large group, we¡¯ll lock the gates and let ye know.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± About ten minutes later, the call came in from Alistor. I ported up to their city and they met me at the gate. They came marching out four abreast, about a hundred of them. They were the most professional looking force that I had seen to date. ¡°Are we ready?¡± I asked, dropping into step with Alistor. ¡°Ready as we will ever be, how did the slave pens go?¡± He asked. I opened a portal and we marched through. ¡°No problems, five prisoners. I await the call to move the people of Veirania.¡± I looked up as Tirreg flew through. ¡°Well, I will let you get to it.¡± He said with a salute. I thought about the situation, then decided just to port into Veirania. I walked into pure chaos. The people of the town were firing bows at Imar. I watched as he simply kept out of bowshot. ¡°STOP THIS.¡± I yelled. They turned to me muttering. ¡°What the hell is going on.¡± It wasn¡¯t a question. One of them stepped forward and yelled. ¡°We ain¡¯t dealin with no damn dragon.¡± I sighed. ¡°Your call. I will go tell him.¡± ¡°You do that.¡± The elf spat. I shifted in front of them and watched as they turned white. ¡°In the mean time, something to think on." I turned my head and spat a magma blast off into the woods to the south of them. The blast rocked them to their knees. As they watched the cloud travel up into the sky, they dropped their weapons. ¡°My gift to you, who promise and do not keep their word. You have a new lake. Think hard on what would have happened if this damn dragon would have taken exception to your words.¡± I said in a level voice. I took wing and flew up to Imar. ¡°Looks like it is on you. Anyone who tries to break to the moonward side is all yours.¡± ¡°I thank you Michael. I did nothing to provoke them.¡± ¡°Worry not on it. I will not bother with a portal then, just fly in and find a place where you can watch the town.¡± ¡°I will do this. Good luck with the rest of the plan.¡± ¡°If this is all that goes wrong, then I will be a very happy dragon.¡± He laughed as I dropped down and shifted to human. One of the elves came running up. ¡°We are sorry, lord dragon.¡± He said as he watched Imar fly off. I sighed, then turned away from him and opened a portal and went back to the slave pens. I was met by Dorvus. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± He asked ¡°The elves of Estaria are getting in place as well speak. The elves of Veirania decided not to participate. Imar is on his own.¡± I sighed. ¡°Don¡¯t think on it too hard. Promisin be easy, doin be hard.¡± ¡°I am not worried. It is nice to know beforehand who you have at your flank.¡± ¡°Too true.¡± They All Fall Down Time seemed to stretch as we waited on the rest of the slaves to return. Everyone was on alert and the waiting tended to wear on them. ¡°Michael. After we deal with this lot, they be tellin me they want to clear the seaport town.¡± Dorvus said. ¡°Clear?¡± ¡°As in house to house. Make sure we get everyone.¡± He clarified. ¡°I see.¡± I said. ¡°Michael, they want ta feel like they did somethin. Ye be makin this too easy.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Then when the ships are down, why don¡¯t you take the guardhouse?¡± ¡°Aye, that would work. Then we hold the docks.¡± ¡°Yes, house to house is a messy thing and you don¡¯t have enough troops to cover the whole town.¡± ¡°Good point. Once ye be gone north, they may make a run on the docks as well.¡± ¡°I am not going to bother with the town, so you may be right.¡± Finally they came into view. There was a line of the guards on either side and the slaves were two abreast in lines of about twenty five or so. As they neared, the gates were open for them and they almost made it all the way inside before one of them caught on. One of the lead guards turned with his sword to strike a slave and died with an arrow through his throat. I saw another down the line another rear back to strike and to my surprise one of his fellow guards took him down. Two or three joined him and they took out the guards in the back as we finished the rest. Then laid their weapons down and knelt. ¡°Greetings.¡± I said as I walked up to them. ¡°I am called Michael. What happened here?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve been watching those bastards torture the prisoners for so long, we took the opportunity to remove them from polluting the land.¡± The one said with disgust. ¡°I see. Stand and follow me, then.¡± I said as I turned and led them back into the fort. Dorvus was forming an escort for the last of the ex-slaves, some needed to be carried, but most were just happy to leave. There were questions about their loved ones in Estaria, Harroina, Veirania, Haversten and in a couple of cases, Dallase. There were told that they were just being moved away so that they would be safe while we rounded up the rest of this crew. They were told that if they had no connection with the guard and the pirates, the people of those towns would not be harmed. I walked up to Dorvus. ¡°We have a few who decided to help keep the prisoners safe. What would you do with them?¡± Dorvus walked over to look them over. ¡°Would ye be willin to fight to put this island back ta rights, lads?¡± They looked at each other, then at this dark haired human. ¡°I am John. We will fight with you. There are a few here and there who just got caught up in this mess when Ralph took over.¡± I smiled. ¡°Once in, it was hard to get out.¡± He looked at me. ¡°Yes. It wasn¡¯t this bad at first, but when he started the slave camps and raiding merchants, it got out of hand. His bullies took any excuse to enslave or kill anyone who they didn¡¯t like or just felt like killing.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s almost over. Stay with Dorvus here when they go in to raid the guardhouse. If you know of any other strongholds, you can guide him to them as well.¡± ¡°I thank you Michael.¡± He said with a smile. ¡°I never had a problem with elves. Truth be told, most of us in Dallase didn¡¯t.¡± I smiled. ¡°Oh, I am not an elf, John.¡± Dorvus laughed. ¡°That be the shape he walks in to talk ta us normal people.¡± John looked confused. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± I sighed as Dorvus did the introduction. ¡°John of Dallase, I would like ta introduce ya to the Emperor of Dragonhaven, Michael Arienach.¡± He looked puzzled for a moment, then he paled. ¡°Wait a minute... you mean Arienach like the dragon Arienach?¡± ¡°One in the same, lad. You have the honor of talkin to the eldest dragon.¡± I followed along as the group made it¡¯s way to the seaport. It was only a mile, but it gave me time to look them over. Dwarves, Elves, Fae and Humans. I couldn¡¯t help but smile. They quickly took the gate house that guarded the road to the fort, then started down the docks. I noticed several small boats begin to head out to the ships out in the harbor. ¡°Dorvus, take care friend, it is time for me to go put paid to the last of that fleet.¡± ¡°You as well, Michael. Haladoria would never let me hear the end of it, if even one o¡¯ yer scales got scratched, though it be beyond me how that could happen.¡± I laughed and shifted. I noticed the humans pointing as I took wing and flew out over the harbor. I also noticed some of the ships were manned as catapults swung around in my direction and fired. I ignored them and climbed till I was well over the fleet as a whole. A few had already made sail when I sent spelled dragon fire down upon them. It hit in the middle and spread out in a shockwave that almost reached the dock, turning the water underneath it to steam. The ships went off like firecrackers and I only had to take out two others with fireballs that managed to get out of the blast radius. I looked out over the destruction towards the town and let out a bellowing roar, then aimed a stream of fire out over the city. Arienach was clapping in my head and laughing uproariously.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I guess the guards got a good view of the show as only a few dozen tried to stop Dorvus¡¯s band. The rest of the guardhouse surrendered. I stayed out over the harbor so as not to cause mass panic, till things calmed down a bit. Then I landed on the edge of the docks and shifted. As I walked into Haversten, I surveyed the damage. Hardly anything, actually, save for a ton of dead fish and some scorch marks on the wood that was facing the fleet. By the time I caught up with Dorvus, the town was pretty much secure. John had worked with Dorvus to point out which guards could be trusted and pointed out several locations that were mysteriously empty by the time we got there. I was betting the roads to the north would be crowded at this point. We wound up with a couple dozen humans, who seemed really glad to see us. Most of the town, once the shock of having an ancient dragon destroy a whole fleet in their harbor, came out and cheered the group on. ¡°Okay, time to end this. Keep march north, Dorvus. I will be there waiting.¡± ¡°Good luck dragon. Good huntin.¡± I smiled, then opened a port to the villa and walked through. As I stepped into the courtyard, three bandits jumped me. Various weapons flashed in the sun. None had time to scream as their heads left their shoulders along with pieces of armor, weapons and assorted limbs. I started the walk through into the house. I had my radar up, mapping locations which I approached one by one. There were a few half naked female elves in collars chained here and there. My blade made short work of their chains. The men of the house fell as they were found. As I continued, I notice several running towards the back of the house as I worked my way farther in. One room looked to have a group just waiting, so I went there only to find it was home to at least twenty elf slaves. The slaver was already dead, strangled with a chain. I smiled and started cutting their chains loose. ¡°You may want to stay here until help arrives. There is a mixed group heading this way to secure the area.¡± ¡°Thank you lord elf. We are in your dept. I am Ravina, I am honored by your presence.¡± Her voice left little doubt how she wanted to pay that dept. ¡°I am called Michael. I must go, there are still some left.¡± ¡°Ralph has already ran, he has a bolt hole in the back.¡± ¡°I thank thee, but it is open land sunward and he cannot move that fast.¡± ¡°He is on horseback.¡± I laughed. ¡°It does not matter.¡± She looked at me strangely as I walked out of the room. There were only three more present that I had to hunt down. One of which was a naked elf chained to a bed. I freed her then cut down the human that was hiding in the closet. That made an end to it. Shifting as I cleared the house, I took wing to pursue the last of the band. I flew out over the plain and came to a stop. Horses and riders were down and the last fell as I watched. I landed away from them, shifted then walked up to them. ¡°Greetings, I am called Michael. By chance was Ralph in that group?¡± One of the humans came up to me. ¡°Greetings Michael. I am David from Dallase. Yes we killed him.¡± ¡°I thank thee then. It is done now, save whatever stragglers there are.¡± He smiled. ¡°We heard rumor of your coming, Michael. Is it true that elves and dwarves travel with you?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Yes, those as well as centaur, fay and even a few of your men who got caught up in this mess.¡± He looked surprised. ¡°You allowed them to live?¡± ¡°Being what I am, I would be an ill judge of someone else making a mistake.¡± ¡°I do not understand.¡± I sighed. ¡°Long it has been, the only thing dragons were known for was greed and destruction. I would be quite the hypocrite to point a claw then, wouldn¡¯t I?¡± He chuckled. ¡°I see your point. What are your plans now? ¡°I plan on going home. I suggest you meet with the other leaders from the various towns and see about putting someone else in power.¡± ¡°The others of this land do not care for us.¡± ¡°Well, as one of the elven cities did not come when promised, I would say that Alistor will be more willing to hear your case now.¡± ¡°Lord Alistor of the Estaria?¡± ¡°That be him. He met with the people of my land and I think he might be a bit more open minded now. Go to him and treat him with respect and you might find it repaid well. Having Ralph¡¯s head should be a bonus.¡± ¡°I thank thee dragon, though I have never heard of a dragon known as Michael before.¡± I laughed. ¡°People tend to take my first name better than my last.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes, for some reason the name Michael Arienach seems to bother some people.¡± I watched as he turned white. ¡°My god.¡± ¡°No, just an old dragon. Fair winds to you David. It was good to meet you.¡± I turned and walked back to Harroina. I was standing on the road in front of the villa when Dorvus came to meet me. I was surrounded by the ex-slaves. ¡°I see you get the choice ones, dragon.¡± Dorvus laughed. The women looked at the band approaching warily. ¡°Twas not my intention.¡± I replied. ¡°Tell that to Haladoria. I do want ta be there when ya do, though. She will peel your scales.¡± Ravina finally spoke. ¡°Dragon?¡± ¡°Ya didn¡¯t tell her?¡± ¡°I never thought to.¡± Dorvus laughed. ¡°I am findin this ta be too much fun, dragon.¡± I sighed. ¡°Go ahead, get it over with.¡± Ravina looked back and forth between us. Dorvus cleared his throat. ¡°Ladies, I would like to introduce you to your rescuer. This is Michael Arienach, Emperor of Dragonhaven and the eldest ancient.¡± It was only a few seconds. Three fainted, two screamed... scarily enough, several looked interested. ¡°Are you done now?¡± I asked. He laughed. ¡°Yes lord dragon.¡± ¡°You are making jest?¡± Ravina asked. Imar¡¯s timing was perfect as he came up over the rise on the far side of town, his wingspan dwarfing it. He glided down and kited his wings, landing on the road. ¡°Greetings Lord Michael! My task is done. Moonward is secure.¡± A few moments later, Tirreg joined him. ¡°Lord Alistor bids you wait, he wishes to walk with you.¡± Dorvus looked at Ravina. ¡°Does it look like I am makin a jest, lass?¡± We met up at the harbor. I had went to Haladoria and told her to bring the ships into port. They were met by representatives of all the major towns save one. I will say that when it was discovered that Veirania had rejected helping, there were quite a few unhappy people on that dock. Ex-slaves and free people. The ex-slaves were off loaded for the most part. Some wished to come with us. I didn¡¯t mind and no one else raised an objection. Even when a group of humans wanted to join us. The rest were taken care of by their various groups and there were hugs of greetings as well as farewell. Seems the fleet made a few friends. There were a few raised eyebrows, though, when Ravina showed up with about a half dozen of the other slaves from the villa, but Haladoria took them in with good graces. Even if they hadn¡¯t bothered to change out of their slave silks. The people of Haversten gave gifts. Everything from knickknacks to bottles of wine. And other beverages. One of the taverns contributed a whole keg of ale, which Dorvus took custody of. I took what was handed me in good spirits, but had no clue what to do with any of it. I thought the mithril broadsword was nice, though. It was good to see everyone getting along without the usual race prejudice. Even us dragons were welcome. There were many there that wanted us to change to our full form, just so they could see us. The other dragons took turns and were applauded. Ravina and her crew along with many of the locals finally convinced me to shift. I went out on one of the piers and shifted. There were only a few that turned pale this time. I stretched my wings out to the sides and the entire dock was in my shade. I shifted back as the last of the gifts and supplies were loaded. As we were standing in the street, there was an impromptu meeting about uniting the island. When the talk turned to politics, I took my leave. They bade us a farewell and most seemed to be sad at our leaving. I had Haladoria get underway and the dragons took wing and were pacing the ships. Once they were all moving, I shifted and took wing. As I flew over the fleet, I opened a portal and the fleet and the dragons went through. I followed and closed the portal. Ravina Ravina looked out over the sea as the ship they were in made for the dock. Less than an hour ago, they were in Haversten but now they were coming into the port of Calalistos. She glanced up to see Michael and the dragons fly off over the city and disappear. She had been in the group sent by Alistor to talk with the new leader of the scavengers¡­ I guess they were called human now, when Ralph took over. They were met with bared weapons. The men were mostly killed or sent to work the shipyards. The women? There were times she wished she was dead. They were loaned out like cattle or used anytime Ralph felt like. Or used to keep his guard entertained. She managed to keep the survivors from their expedition and some of the others that were there before, stable enough to keep surviving. Then Michael showed up. He cut through the guards and released them. He then left to find Ralph. We had no clue till he returned a little while later, just what he was. Other than cute. And polite. She smiled to herself at the memory. We were out in front waiting, we knew not what for, when a group led by a dwarf showed up. She remembered the conversation like it had just happened. ¡°I see you get the choice ones, dragon.¡± The dwarf laughed. The dwarve¡¯s band didn¡¯t attack and walked up to Michael. A dwarf talking to an elf? And what did he mean by dragon? ¡°Twas not my intention.¡± Michael replied.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Tell that to Haladoria. I do want ta be there when ya do, though. She will peel your scales.¡± ¡°Dragon?¡± I asked. ¡°Ya didn¡¯t tell her?¡± ¡°I never thought to.¡± Michael replied. Dorvus laughed. ¡°I am findin this ta be too much fun, dragon.¡± Michael sighed as if put out. ¡°Go ahead, get it over with.¡± She had looked back and forth between them. What were they talking about and why did this dwarf talk so familiarly with what was obviously a high elf? Dorvus cleared his throat. ¡°Ladies, I would like to introduce you to your rescuer. This is Michael Arienach, Emperor of Dragonhaven and the eldest ancient.¡± Arienach? Michael Arienach? Arienach the destroyer? She stared at the high elf that stood there waiting. Could it be? ¡°Are you done now?¡± He asked. He laughed. ¡°Yes lord dragon.¡± ¡°You are making jest?¡± She had asked, disbelieving. A huge white dragon came over the hills and glided over the town to land in front of them. I was too shocked to move. ¡°Greetings Lord Michael! My task is done. Moonward is secure.¡± The shock hadn¡¯t even lessened as another came in from the north. This one was bronze. ¡°Lord Alistor bids you wait, he wishes to walk with you.¡± Dorvus looked at Ravina. ¡°Does it look like I am makin a jest, lass?¡± She numbly stared down at the dwarf. They had made their way down to Haversten, not even bothering to change. There was a group that followed her, but she paid them no mind yet. The only thing she could think of was to find Michael again and see if she could¡­ she could do something? She had no clue what. She had talked to the high elf Haladoria and found out much about Michael and to her surprise, Haladoria accepted her. Then they started planning. The future started looking a lot brighter. Affairs of the Heart Haladoria and Dorvus were in the Dragon Head discussing the events of the day. Michael had given them prosperity far beyond what they had ever envisioned. Peace had come to the land, mostly due to the fact that most dissenters were squashed as soon as they opened their mouth. Crime was not tolerated and citizens were quick to report any attempts at any illicit organizations being organized. Race played no part, they were all citizens now of Dragonhaven and they were proud of their city. ¡°I be goin fer a bit. Got us a contract up north.¡± Dorvus said as he sipped his stout. Haladoria smiled ¡°Not stealing our work crew for the inner ring, are you?¡± Dorvus laughed. ¡°No No lass. Be a few of us stone shapers. Duke Ramses wants a fountain fer his new place. Surprisenly enough, it ain¡¯t o¡¯ him.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Ya, believe it er no, he wants a statue o Michael. Hope the big lizard don¡¯t see it, it¡¯s suppose ta have water shoot outta it¡¯s mouth. Suppose it do beat having dragon fire, but it just don¡¯t seem right.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Haladoria laughed as she pictured Michael shooting water. ¡°No, That doesn¡¯t seem right.¡± She agreed ¡°Heard Michael is scratchin his horns wonderin at what we be doin outside his new home. Think we oughta tell him?¡± Haladoria giggled. ¡°Now, lord dwarf, where would be the fun in that.¡± They both had a good laugh and Dorvus waved for another beer. ¡°Ya, who woulda thought we be playin games with the great destroyer?¡± Haladoria sighed. Somehow she just couldn¡¯t reconcile the legends with the dragon they both knew. ¡°He is¡­¡± She sighed again. Dorvus cocked his head to the side. ¡°I ain¡¯t one ta be tellin someone their business, but why don¡¯t ya just tell him?¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°Tell him?¡± She said weakly. He snorted ¡°I knew ya as an enemy and I knows ya as a friend. Hun, ya got it bad fer the big lizard. I know he be dense as a rock sometime, but I ain¡¯t. I ain¡¯t got a clue how¡¯d work, but you be drivin yerself crazy.¡± Haladoria just stared at Dorvus for a time. She made to argue, but thought better of it. He had her dead to rights. ¡°I am afraid, Dorvus. I don¡¯t know what to do?¡± She said quietly. It was Dorvus¡¯s turn to sigh. ¡°I be knowin hun. Best I can say be take a chance. I don¡¯t think the lizard would send ya away, and it be better ta try, than ta fail by not tryin.¡± They sat for a while after that, both lost in their thoughts. Unexpected Turn Time passed and a house grew outside of my volcano. Well, in my old life, I would have considered it a mansion. It was built in the elvish way, with decorations on every surface imaginable. The first thing that caught my eye was the grand staircase that faced the double doors at the entryway. Two levels, plus a basement, it was stone. Not facade, but stone. Looking at the insets at the doors, it had to be about three feet thick at the base and the dwarves only knew what the foundation was like. It wasn¡¯t quite done when construction started on a much larger building to the left of the new pathway that lead away from my house. The house being centered as you looked in from the valley. Try as I might, I couldn¡¯t figure out just what they were building. And of course, no one would tell me. I wondered if that was just being creative or they like to hold me in suspense. Probably the latter. Haladoria visited about once a week and news held that trade had increased, including place they had never dealt with before. Funny thing, she noticed that some of the ships had mixed races now manning them. News had spread, I guess. Dorvus had said that he had received requests to do stonework on some of the buildings on Torgos. Me? I was spending as much time as I could in the libraries and talking to anyone who knew magic. It really wasn¡¯t until one of the demonstrations struck a chord that I made my breakthrough. It was something the dwarves used to move rocks. Basically the spell made the rock roll over. Didn¡¯t matter if it was flat or round. I had wondered how they had moved their stones. The breakthrough? Well, it got me to thinking of the technology of earth. I started thinking of the little things that we had. Like wagons. Strange that the population had carts but no wagons. It only took about a day trying to get my idea to be understood by the elf and centaur who were working at the place that built carts. I took a half built cart and put it before one that was finished. Then I showed them that if they linked the two poles on the cart together and made a pivot, it would turn and they could build the box on the cart all the way to the front. To the blacksmith, I showed the idea of springs. It took him a while, but after about a week, he had discovered spring steel. Then he went on to start playing with alloys when I explained how metal could be mixed. They knew it worked with bronze and such, but had never thought to try it with iron. Once he had a hard enough alloy, I had him make a rod and cut it into one inch sections. Then two rings. Haven had it¡¯s first bearing. It was his idea to make taper bearings, but couldn¡¯t figure out how to file them all evenly. So, I explained what a lathe was. That took over a month of trial and error to build, but once it was, it took them no time at all to figure out the implications. I backed away a bit to let them figure out things on their own. Between the wagon maker and the blacksmith, I had a feeling things were going to really start developing on their own. About mid summer, Haladoria came to visit me in a carriage of all things. It wasn¡¯t fancy, but it kept the rain out. I knew the elves would be improving on it as fast as they could. ¡°Lord Dragon! Greetings.¡± ¡°Michael, milady.¡± She rushed up and gave me a hug. ¡°You make us rich, do you know this?¡± That stopped me. ¡°I am sorry, but I do not know what you mean.¡± ¡°The wagons we turn out? They are gone as soon as they are built. We are building a wagon making business just for exports down in Calalistos.¡± I stared at her in shock. ¡°Truly?¡± She laughed. ¡°Yes truly. With those spinning things in the wheels and that brake thing, they are in great demand. The idea of the iron ring around the wheels was brilliant as well.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. I smiled, knowing that they had come up with that one on their own. ¡°I am glad that some good comes of this.¡± ¡°Some? The iron mines are now in full production, The hardwood forest are being harvested as well and we can barely keep up with our replanting. The whole empire is gaining from this.¡± I said nothing as I hadn¡¯t considered that they would market what I had showed them. But then again, it did make sense. She rattled me out of my thoughts with her next statement. ¡°Oh, I was talking with Dorvus, your house is ready. The staff is already moved in.¡± She had a strange smile on her face as she said it. ¡°Staff?¡± I asked. But she ignored me. We were in town at the Dragon Head of course. She led me out to the carriage and we headed out towards the valley. We made a small stop on the way to pick up Dorvus. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon¡± I sighed and stared at him. ¡°Michael, Lord Dwarf.¡± ¡°Ouch. Ye not be playin fair now.¡± I laughed. ¡°How goes it, Dorvus?¡± ¡°Quite well. We took yer idea for the wagons and made small box carts fer the mines.¡± I raised and eyebrow at him. ¡°Sometime when you have a free moment remind me to tell you about rails.¡± ¡°Fence rails?¡± He asked puzzled. ¡°Nope. Ever have a problem with the carts getting stuck in ruts or on fallen rock?¡± I asked with a smile. He stared at me a few minutes. ¡°This should be an interestin talk then.¡± The miles had flew by, the horses making good time. I wondered at the smoothness of the ride, until I left the carriage and found they had made a smooth stone road out to the house. I wondered how I had missed that. The other building was almost done and there were a few more being put into place. From the foundations all of them would be huge. As we approached the front of the house, Dorvus stepped ahead and got the door for us. ¡°Ya be welcome ta yer new home, Michael.¡± I stepped through and came to a dead stop, Haladoria running into me. Behind me I heard Dorvus snicker. ¡°Welcome home, master.¡± Ravina said with a smile. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked. I was quite shocked. ¡°If I would have stayed on Torgos, the best I could look forward to was to be a whore. Too many had known me. As your servants, we have better status and we get to be in your company.¡± ¡°Wait, we?¡± She clapped her hands and six others from the group I had rescued came out of a side room. ¡°Welcome master.¡± They said in unison. Haladoria pushed by me with a grin. ¡°Yes, welcome home lord dragon.¡± I sighed. ¡°While I do appreciate this house, what am I to do with it? I generally sleep in my pool.¡± ¡°This is for when you entertain... guests.¡± She had a rather odd look on her face as she said it. The emphasis on the word guests was not lost one me. ¡°Just what do you mean by guests, milady?¡± ¡°Oh important visitors, dignitaries...¡± She smiled at Ravina. ¡°Who knows who you might entertain here.¡± I heard Dorvus snicker again. ¡°I see. Entertain.¡± I shook my head as I looked between the two of them. Dorvus chuckled. ¡°Ye never know, you might have ta entertain more than one at a time, even.¡± Ravina actually blushed and Haladoria¡¯s grin grew bigger. As the silence grew, Dorvus broke it with a tour of the house. The upstairs was mostly bedrooms with a two room master suite. Exquisitely detailed and fully furnished. There was a small study at the head of the stairs. First floor held a large dining area and kitchen on one side and the other held a library and office. We went back further and there was a full ball room across the whole back of the house, complete with an area for a band. The basement was for storage, food as well as other rooms that were empty. There was a workroom set up there as well and it was well stocked with a lathe and a passable drill press. Across from it was another store room stocked with metal and wood. After seeing the two wings of the house, Dorvus led us back to the center and opened a large iron door. Behind it was a tunnel that had finished walls and led back into the mountain. We followed it back to another Iron door and found behind it a large circular room done in white marble. All of the gifts that I had been given were either mounted on the wall or on marble display shelves. There was a large round platform in the middle with a round squat pillar. On it was the mithril sword that I had been given. I walked around the room looking. ¡°I do not understand, Dorvus.¡± ¡°About the room?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°This be yer treasure horde. It be a place that you can display yer treasures and achievements.¡± ¡°I see. I don¡¯t know what to say. All I can think of is thank you.¡± I said quietly. ¡°That be plenty. Ya have no idea what ya have done fer us. This be small payment.¡± I stood there for a few minutes, the stillness finally broken as Haladoria took my hand. ¡°Lord dragon, you had a question earlier about entertaining. If the rest of you will excuse us, I will see to... explaining things.¡± With that she tugged my hand and I followed her up to the second floor where we both had a thorough lesson on entertaining. I wondered as I left her sleeping on the bed if she had thought to take into account a dragon¡¯s stamina. Arienach laughed in my mind. Right Direction? We were in a meeting in the map room as it had come to be called. Twas nothing more than a report on the trade and how well it was doing. I think it was an excuse to come to Dragonhaven and drink. One of them said something and zoomed into the area in question to explain his point. Then it hit me. I had made it so that anyone could use my magic. I mean, yes, I knew it, but I didn¡¯t think on it. I was still sitting on my throne when Dorvus found me that evening. ¡°Michael?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± I started. ¡°Sorry, I was lost in thought.¡± He cocked his head to the side. ¡°I be seein that. What be botherin ya?¡± ¡°Not bother. I wish to try something. Can you build me a pair of archways that face each other. Large enough for an centaur to walk through about ten feet apart?¡± He looked at me strangely. ¡°Where ya be needin em?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just somewhere private. Maybe in one of the empty storerooms back at my place.¡± I said, then paused. ¡°If you build them there, will you be able to get them out?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t be understandin, but yea, we could get them out. What ya be thinkin.¡± ¡°I am not sure yet. I think I may be changing the world again.¡± ¡°Oh, if that be all, then nothin new.¡± He laughed. It was in the evening a week later when he came and told me it was done. I had a pretty good idea what I wanted to try, but I didn¡¯t know if it would work. The ride back to my house was quiet as I think Dorvus sensed my mood. We made our way down to the storerooms and I saw the arches. ¡°Perfect.¡± I muttered. ¡°Thankee lord dragon.¡± I walked around them studying them. Finally, I opened a portal, centering it on each arch. Then I tried to push the magic into the stone. And failed. The portal faded out. I stared at them some more. I heard Dorvus shuffle his feet. I couldn¡¯t figure out why it wouldn¡¯t take. Both the calling crystals and the map crystal... wait. Crystals. I conjured two crystals and set one in the keystone point on each arch and tried it again. It worked. I found that only one crystal need be enchanted, but with both, it could be opened on either end. I walked through one arch and came out the other. ¡°Great goblin gods! What have ye done, Michael?¡± I shut the portal down. ¡°Walk up and touch the arch, Dorvus.¡± He did and the portal reawakened. ¡°Ya know, the world should be shakin because of this.¡± I looked at him and sighed. ¡°I know and this is just the start.¡± ¡°I think I may be more scared of ya now than I ere were before.¡± Dorvus said in a hushed voice. So, one down. I made two more crystals and tried to link them. I had an idea in my mind of the old radios or cell phones. These would just use planar magic rather than a cell tower. I though on it further and made it so each was pretty much a transmitter and receiver. Then I walked across the room and placed one on the floor and the other across the room on the floor. I walked over by the door and thought to my crystal to contact the one on the right. ¡°Testing, testing.¡± I said Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.Out of the crystal on the right, my voice came out. ¡°Testing, testing.¡± The I checked the left one. I looked up and Dorvus was pale and shaking. ¡°Ye don know wha ye do.¡± He said softly. ¡°Oh, I have a pretty good idea.¡± I said. ¡°I will need to work on these some more. I think I will key the crystals to only certain people. Both the gates and the communication crystals.¡± ¡°Aye, that be wise.¡± He said, the shock wearing off. ¡°Ya may want ta ha it make a noise so ya know someone be tryin to talk ta ya. It¡¯d keep em from listenin in as well.¡± ¡°I was thinking about not letting them link unless you basically answered it.¡± ¡°So they wouldn¡¯t work if ya just did whatever ya did. The other side would need ta let it work as well.¡± ¡°Less chance of them being abused, I think.¡± I said thoughtfully. I picked the one off of the floor and enchanted the options, then handed it to Dorvus. ¡°Here, this one can be yours. I think one for Haladoria and if they work, one for each of the nobles as well. I am not sure of the gates yet, but I think one in each town would be a good idea, if we keep them keyed to only certain people.¡± ¡°Aye, I wouldn¡¯t let this get around to much till we know more about em.¡± ¡°I am also thinking of a map room in the towns as well, so we can keep an eye on the borders.¡± Dorvus looked up at me for a minute. ¡°Ya be thinking that trouble be comin?¡± ¡°Not really, but it would seem foolish not to expect it.¡± I shrugged ¡°Besides, these are cheap, lives are not.¡± ¡°Aye. Well, I am for getting back now, I be thinkin.¡± Dorvus said with a shrug. ¡°Wait. One last thing. Can you have the blacksmith make me a steel tube with a hole about the size of my thumb about three feet long and about an inch and a half around?¡± Dorvus shrugged. ¡°Sure, I can do that.¡± ¡°Tell him to make it out of the hardest stuff that he has.¡± ¡°Do I wanna know what this be about?¡± Dorvus asked with a sigh. ¡°Probably not. I will probably be in town tomorrow at the Dragon Head. Maybe we can talk more then.¡± ¡°Aye, look forward to it.¡± Dorvus said as he headed out the door. He stared at the portal gates and the com crystals then thought about the other idea. He shook off the melancholy feeling, then turned and went up the stairs. ¡°Master, how may I serve you? Ravina asked with a trace of husk in her voice. I smiled and started to leave, then I thought about it. ¡°Tell me, are you and the girls wishing to be entertained?¡± Her face lit up. ¡°Yes master. Which of us do you desire this eve?¡± I smiled slightly ¡°All of you.¡± I entertained them all. Twice each. A few three times. Until they were all passed out on the bed. I admit I used them to break my mood and it worked somewhat. I gazed upon their smiling sleeping faces and felt my spirits lift. Flying up to the caldera, Arienach spoke. ¡°You are going to alter this world in ways no one can predict, you know this.¡± ¡°I am well aware. I do not know why, but I am ill at ease.¡± Arienach chuckled. ¡°May have been something you ate.¡± ¡°No, the blond was quite tasty as was the red head.¡± Arienach laughed. ¡°They have quite the tale then, how they were eaten by a dragon and lived to tell of it.¡± I laughed as well. ¡°Good night old friend. Methinks the lava calls to me.¡± ¡°Sleep well, Michael. I must say that it has been very rewarding knowing you.¡± Misunderstanding? I decided to ride into town. I had been just flying or porting from place to place, that I had missed what was going on around me. I stopped at each of the buildings around my home and explored. The first one they had completed was an arena or a meeting place, I wasn¡¯t sure which. It rather reminded me of the Colosseum. The others were not completed, but I found inside of them a bunch of rooms. The trip into town was done at a slow pace. I found many stakes in the ground and finally took the horse off the main road and went to look at the pattern they formed. In closer to my lair, I found them quite close together with spaces in between them. They led around the lair mountain in concentric circles. The pattern repeated itself as I moved farther out. Further out, the land wasn¡¯t subdivided as much and I had little trouble seeing that it was laid out as farm lands. Returning to the road, I made my way to the valley. Just inside the start of the valley, to either side, there was towers with a wall being built. I couldn¡¯t help but think that they had taken my idea about developing around the lair and ran with it. Since I gave them no constraints, it would be a time of discovery for me as each piece of the puzzle was built. The valley itself had been smoothed at the base. I had carved the valley with fire balls so it wouldn¡¯t have the smooth polished look that magma left. More natural. They had cut into the sides and made an inner wall that was carved, of course, with dragons. They had also added all the races that inhabited the land as well, and the completed designs showed everyone working together in harmony. I rather liked it. I noticed doors in either side, wide spaced and as I let my gaze travel upwards, I found windows. The first two layers were nothing more than slits, but above that there were tall wide windows and in some cases, patios carve into the sides. I had told the dwarves to move in and they had done a very complete job of it. I stopped the horse and tied it of to a pillar set into the ground with a ring on top of it. The pillar was carved into the likeness of a dragon. Seems to be that the entire empire had a thing for dragons now. Making my way into one of the doors on the left side, it wasn¡¯t long before someone found me. After saying I wished to see Dorvus, I was led across the road and to a door further back. We went into the corridors making rights and lefts, seemingly at random, till we arrived before a plain wooden door. My guide turned and left. ¡°Ah, greetins lord dragon.¡± He said as he opened the door. ¡°It be good ta see ya.¡± ¡°Greetings lord dwarf, it be good to see you as well.¡± He laughed and motioned for me to come it. The room we entered looked as if it could would fit in with any large apartment on old earth. Neatly done with decorations here and there. There was a long couch and a few overstuffed chairs set around a large round coffee table. ¡°Would you be needing anything?¡± I glanced up and my eyes widened. It was another of the elf slaves that I had rescued. ¡°Nay Felicia. No, come ta think on it, bring us some coffee.¡± I glanced over at Dorvus. ¡°Coffee?¡± ¡°It be a black drink that may help ta wake ya up.¡± ¡°I know what coffee is, I just didn¡¯t realize you had it here.¡± ¡°Ah, be a poorer world that does nay have coffee, Michael.¡± Felicia returned with two steaming cups. She smiled at me when she sat them down. ¡°Will you need anything else?¡± Looking me in the eyes. ¡°Arg, don¡¯t be stealin my servants, dragon.¡± I laughed and asked Felicia. ¡°How is the old dwarf treating you?¡± ¡°Oh, I have all I could ask for here. He treats us all well and we have money to spend now. The others don¡¯t look down on us, either.¡± She said enthusiastically. I chuckled. ¡°I suppose I should look into paying my help. I hadn¡¯t thought.¡± Dorvus laughed. ¡°It be taken care of dragon. We knows ya have a lot on yer mind.¡± I smiled as I looked at Dorvus ¡°Out of curiosity. How many of that group made it here?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Eventually, most everyone, including a few that had been in the slave pens we took out. They were not welcome with their own people because they were soiled.¡± ¡°And you found them all work?¡± ¡°Yea, Tirreg and Imar took a couple a piece. From what they be saying, those dragons spoil em rotten. Haladoria and I took a few ourselves and the others found jobs.¡± I smiled, then frowned as I got a summons from Calalistos. ¡°Sorry, but I have to go, I just got called from Calalistos.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.Dorvus frowned. ¡°Ya better get goin lad, last time it were black sails.¡± ¡°I will let you know when I know.¡± I ported and found myself on my landing pad... with seven dragons facing me and a few more flying behind them. Haladoria came running up from the stone to stand with me, which didn¡¯t do much for my nerves. ¡°Michael, these dragon just flew in and started asking for you.¡± She said breathlessly. I looked back around to the dragons. ¡°I am called Michael. What may I do for you?¡± An old green ancient spoke. ¡°I be Noregus. We come to tell you that Viennarinia has been stirring up trouble. She is saying that you are wanting to take over the world and make all the dragons slaves.¡± I was stunned. ¡°Slaves?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Noregus continued. ¡°She says you trick dragons into joining you and then tie them to the people of the lands so they cannot escape. Is this true?¡± I shook my head. ¡°No. Just a moment.¡± I took out my crystal and called Dorvus. ¡°Dorvus, can you get the other dragons down here as fast as possible? Seems their friends are worried about them.¡± After he acknowledged, I turned back to Noregus. ¡°Can you shift so your friends can land? We have a while before the others can make it here.¡± Then turning to Haladoria. ¡°Could you fetch us some brandy? This might take a while.¡± Noregus shifted as well as the others and they were a motley group. They grouped on the dock and didn¡¯t wander too far, but pointed at this and that, talking with each other. Many seemed fascinated with the statue and it¡¯s calling stone. After the brandy arrived and was passed around, they seemed to relax a bit. It was over an hour and a half later when Tirreg, Imar and Shryke came flying in. ¡°What¡¯s up Michael?¡± Shryke said as he landed. I laughed. ¡°Greetings slave.¡± ¡°What the hell? What are you talking about?¡± He took a step back in shock. Noregus looked at him, sizing him up. ¡°Viennarinia claims you are enslaved here.¡± Shryke looked at me puzzled, but it was Imar who broke in. ¡°Noregus, what the hell are you doing here? I didn¡¯t think your fat ass could leave your cavern.¡± Noregus jumped a bit. ¡°Imar?¡± ¡°Yes, this is me. What the hell is that silly bitch going on about? We are here because we want to be.¡± ¡°You want to be amongst these...¡± ¡°People, Noregus. They are people. And we are learning much from them.¡± Imar said firmly. ¡°People? But they are weak.¡± ¡°Yes and we are fools. Your point?¡± I noticed as we talked that the others had been drawing closer. ¡°Haladoria, could you bring us some more brandy, this might take a while.¡± She laughed at me then kissed my cheek, causing a stir amongst the other dragons, and skipped off to the bar for our refills. The dragons weren¡¯t quite arguing. It was close, but it wasn¡¯t an argument. I noticed upon Haladoria¡¯s return, they mellowed somewhat. It was strange having Imar, Shryke and Tirreg arguing in my stead, but I figured if I stayed out of it, it would carry more weight. Haladoria slipped over next to me and whispered in my ear. ¡°I have the bard going toyour arena.¡± I turned to her smiling and kissed her. ¡°Thank you.¡± She grinned. ¡°Maybe we need more invading dragons, I liked that.¡± I rolled my eyes at her, then turned to the crowd. ¡°Okay! Have we decided that the dragons here don¡¯t wear collars yet?¡± Noregus had the grace to look embarrassed. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What say we take a flight. I would show you this land if you would. There is also a bard who will perform at the Lair¡¯s Arena if you wish to listen.¡± ¡°Denora is going to sing?¡± Shryke asked. ¡°Oh yes, let¡¯s go!¡± I found it strange that Shryke knew her name and I didn¡¯t. ¡°We can stop where you would and we will answer any questions you might have. If you so wish.¡± They talked amongst themselves and two shifted and flew away. Imar came over to me. ¡°Let us do this. Viennarinia has been working to turn them against you. Better if you are not along, I think.¡± ¡°You still have your stones, correct?¡± ¡°Yes, we will call if we have any trouble.¡± He smiled. ¡°This is better than I had thought it to be.¡± ¡°You expected this?¡± ¡°I expected much worse. I will contact you when we reach your theater and you can join us. Looks like they are ready to go. Wish us luck.¡± I watched as they flew off, my mind a whir. Haladoria started to lead me away and I followed numbly. We walked past the pub and to a large home towards the center of town. As we walked in, we were met by her new servants. ¡°May we serve you this day?¡± One asked. Haladoria looked up at me with a wicked grin. ¡°Oh yes ladies. We have to sooth a savage beast here, methinks it will take all of us to tame him.¡± All in the Family The call from Imar came several minutes ago, however, as I stared down at the peaceful smiling face of Haladoria, I was loath to wake her. But I gently shook her awake as I wanted her to be there when I talked with the other dragons. ¡°Awaken, sleepy head. Rise and tell me what it is like to be eaten by a dragon.¡± She awoke with a grin. ¡°Twas heaven upon the lands. Tis no wonder that the princesses in the stories never return.¡± I laughed. ¡°Best get ye dressed, we have dragons to go see.¡± ¡°And why should I be dressed, none of you be when you are in your wings and scales.¡± ¡°Minx, you only wish to see them fall from the sky with your beauty.¡± Her eyes widened. ¡°I know not where you are learning these sweet words, but methinks we need send you there more often.¡± I laughed. ¡°You need not fish for complements, I find you entrancing as you are. I am just learning how to say it in words you would understand.¡± She shook her head and finished dressing. I noticed she did little to straighten her hair and she looked a little messy as if she had hurried her dress. I wondered at her reason as we really had little reason to rush and she had taken her time getting dressed. I was a mix of a human and a dragon spirit, but neither could provide the answer. So I did the only smart thing that I could think of¡­ I ignored it. After partaking of a light snack and a little lighter teasing, I opened a portal to the coliseum and stepped though. I could hear a rather ¡°lively¡± discussion going on as we made our way inside. I thought it rather ominous when it got completely quite upon our discovery. Looking around, I could see we had everyones attention. ¡°Greetings¡± I tried a smile with that to see where it led. Noregus waited till I was up on the stage to speak. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± I sighed. ¡°Michael, please.¡± ¡°Arienach, I have no idea what you are playing at, but it would seem lord dragon is more apt than Michael.¡± ¡°I am playing at nothing, Noregus.¡± ¡°You truly don¡¯t know what you are about here, do you?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Noregus shook his head. ¡°Do you know how many planar dragons are on this world right now?¡± ¡°Last I remember, (checking with Arienach) less than half a dozen.¡± ¡°Yes. And they are the only ones that can escape this madness if they do not wish to join your little experiment.¡± ¡°I am not forcing anyone to be here, Noregus. I only want those here who wish to be here.¡± ¡°And if we do not wish to be here?¡± ¡°Then leave.¡± I said flatly. ¡°How?¡± That gave me pause. ¡°I don¡¯t understand? I am not holding you here.¡± Noregus just stared at me. ¡°You really have no clue. Amazing. I really didn¡¯t believe them when they told us.¡± ¡°Then would you explain what the problems is? Because I am not understanding it.¡± ¡°Arienach, we have no where to go. If we do not join you, we will be exiled to lands that are uninhabitable and even then, we will be pushed out. Do you think your little empire is going to stop here? I have seen what it has done for both the dragons here and for the people and yes, I understand now that they are people, here. You WILL take over this planet. You could crawl into your lair and never leave again and you will still take it over.¡± ¡°I¡­ I see¡­¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think you do. I actually agree with what you do. We have been a plague upon this planet since time unknown. Not knowing that we were less than even the lowest scavenger. You have opened the eyes that would open. BUT. There are many who will refuse to open their eyes.¡± He looked at me an chuckled. ¡°You may be on the path to a war between dragons. A war that the others have no chance of winning¡­ because of you.¡± I was dumbstruck. Noregus laughed. ¡°I can see now that you had not thought where this would go. Do not worry on it much. There is little now that you can do to change it. But be warned that if you do not wish to see your people harmed, you had better find a way for the others to escape or you will have to destroy them.¡± ¡°I wish none of them harm. I could not care less if they do not agree with me. I will find a way through this, if it be possible.¡± ¡°I wish you luck then, as I don¡¯t see a way.¡± I looked around the arena and saw the other dragons nodding. ¡°I can do nothing but try.¡± ¡°That be as it may. While you were rolling around with your elf, we were talking about things we might aid in.¡± I bristled at his comment, but Haladoria just laughed. ¡°He seems to have you there, Michael.¡± ¡°We are thinking about a dragon transport service.¡± He continued. ¡°Fast transport for high value cargo and people.¡± That stopped me. ¡°What would you want out of this?¡± He laughed again. ¡°Same thing you are getting. A chance to be with and learn from your people and to have a home here. To be useful.¡± I was starting to get numb from all the continued shocks I was receiving. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Michael. We all agree that your people are now to be protected. No one here would lay a claw on any of them.¡± He glanced at Haladoria with a grin. ¡°We might see if any want something else laid upon them, however.¡± Haladoria laughed long and hard. I just shook my head dumbfounded. After the meeting Haladoria and I walked back to the mountain ring to visit with Dorvus. After the shocks to the system, the walk did me good. But I was still a little dazed when we knocked on his door. ¡°Greetings Haladoria, Lord Dragon.¡± I laughed. ¡°Greetings Lord Dwarf.¡± ¡°Behave you two.¡± Haladoria said with a smile. ¡°Yes mother.¡± Dorvus said with a grin. I just shook my head and took a seat. Haladoria joined me. ¡°Ta what do I owe the pleasure?¡± Dorvus asked still grinning. ¡°Oh, we just got some more dragons, I promised you a talk about rails and I was also wondering about that tube I wanted built.¡± ¡°Aye, it be a social call then.¡± He said with a laugh. ¡°There is news as well. I was there for the talk at the arena. Seems there are a few things that we missed that was pointed out to us.¡± Haladoria said, her smile fading. ¡°Oi? What might that be?¡± ¡°The dragons think that if we continue on the path we are on, there will be a war between the dragons.¡± Dorvus¡¯s face went white. ¡°No¡­¡± I sighed. ¡°Yes. They made their point quite clearly. It seems by opening the lands to the dragons, I drew a line in the sand. They either join or die. NOT what I had in mind, but the general consensus is that I could go into hiding now and the world would still come under my rule.¡± Dorvus thought for a few minutes. ¡°And there be no where they could hide. They would almost be forced to attack.¡± I shook my head sadly. ¡°And no where they could leave¡­¡­¡± Dorvus and I looked at each other at the same time. ¡°The portals!¡± We almost said it in sync. Haladoria just stared at us. ¡°What portals?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. I opened a portal to the room we had put them in and they followed me through. Haladoria just stared as they were demonstrated. ¡°The problem is, I don¡¯t know if they will work from one planet to another.¡± I said. ¡°Then ya might wanna find out, lad.¡± Dorvus said with a chuckle. I knew of one planet, mostly mountainous, that would suit the dragons, so I traveled there and pulled one of the portals to me. Touching it, it activated and I could see the room that I had just left. So simple. I stepped through back home and just looked at the two of them with an uncertain smile. ¡°When did you¡­ never mind. What were you going to do with those?¡± Haladoria looked uncertain. ¡°I was going to link our cities with them. Keyed to the nobles to keep them from being abused.¡± She thought about it for a minute. ¡°Wise, I suppose. Those things could be dangerous.¡± ¡°Aye lass, I told him as much, but I be thinkin he knew it already.¡± I sighed. ¡°I have been feeling¡­ uneasy? These projects came to mind. Maybe I knew what the dragons were saying, or suspected it. My meetings with Viennarinia may have had something to do with it. Either way, I wanted some tools to unite our lands in case of trouble. These and the communicators came from it.¡± ¡°Communicators?¡± She cocked her head to the side with a frown. ¡°Aye lass. They be lettin ya talk across distance.¡± I pulled the other one that I had made that night and handed it to her. ¡°Think of me and say something into the crystal.¡± She stared at me a moment, then raised it to her lips and asked; ¡°Michael?¡± The stone on my necklace echoed her words. I watched as she dropped it in shock. I bent over and handed it back to her. ¡°You can call Dorvus the same way. They will not work unless you actively allow it, though.¡± ¡°These are your powers. You have found a way to share them.¡± She said in awe. ¡°I thought they might be a way to keep the people safe.¡± She shook her head. ¡°So long as that is all they are used for.¡± ¡°I have them keyed to you and Dorvus so far. If anyone else tries to use them, they will not work.¡± Dorvus looked at the remaining portal. ¡°Where ya be thinkin on puttin it?¡± ¡°I am going to get with the other dragons and see what they recommend. I doubt having it on these lands will be a good idea. The other dragons will probably have to be the ones who tell Viennarinia and her crew anyway. I doubt from this point forward that any visits I may make with them will be productive.¡± Dorvus laughed. ¡°Ya have a way of understatement there, dragon. Now, what were ye sayin about rails?¡± I smiled. ¡°At least this will be a good thing for you, methinks.¡± The talk on rails and the wheels that would make them work was quite enlightening for the dwarf. He was almost dancing as he said his goodbyes and ran from the room. Only to run back in and tell me that my mystery tube was in my workshop. Haladoria and I both laughed as he ran back out. ¡°What be this tube thing that Dorvus was talking about?¡± Haladoria asked with a smile. ¡°Another good thing?¡± I frowned. ¡°I do wish I could say yes. But it is something that I hope we never need.¡± I walked to the shop and looked at the tube. It was nothing special, just a rod of metal with a hole through it. I looked through it and it was smooth and straight. I shook my head sadly as I conjured a crystal. ¡°Michael, why does this trouble you so?¡± Hadadoria looked at me perplexed. ¡°Follow me and you will understand.¡± I said quietly. We went outside and I looked around. Walking around my lair a little ways till we had a clear line to one of the mountains that had not been turned into lairs. I enchanted the crystal, which I had formed with little fins on the back and slid it into the tube. ¡°You may want to cover your ears.¡± I said. She just looked at me strangely and did as I suggested. I put the tube up on my shoulder and sighted along the barrel. A touch of magic, a whipcrack sound and five or six miles away, a very large explosion as the magic inside the crystal was released. It was several seconds before the cloud of dust settled enough to see where it had blasted a hole into the side of the mountain. ¡°My gods, what have you done?¡± She whispered. ¡°I have made it so that your people can kill mine.¡± I said sadly. ¡°Oh Michael. No. No. This thing must never be used.¡± She said, her voice almost breaking. ¡°If it comes down to your people and the renegades, I think this will be a bargain, as one of the dragons can destroy a town such as yours with little trouble. I do not want to see this used. I pray this is the only time something like this is ever used. But I will not turn away if it becomes necessary. Dragons have ruled through destruction enough. The smart ones tire of it and come willingly. The others? I have no clue what they will do and I would be a fool not to protect you and the others. I cannot be everywhere and if they attack several places at once, this is the only way I can see that they can be stopped with minimal damage to all.¡± She was quiet for a long time, then she said; ¡°We did you no favors by making you emperor.¡± I smiled sadly. ¡°It needed done. I will do what I must to protect my land and my people. I cannot just take the good without the bad and I swore to protect you. I think my next stop is the blacksmith again, as we have a new tool to make. One that hopefully will not be used and put away quickly. I want these placed around every town, at least four on towers and at least one on each of our ships. I will make them so whoever is keyed to them will be the only ones who can fire them.¡± I managed a half chuckle. ¡°At least pirates will no longer be a problem.¡± Haladoria stayed with me when I went to the blacksmith. I showed him the design as best I could and explained what it needed to do. Four much larger tubes with rectangular magazines that fed them. Mounted about three feet apart in a square. It was the same design as the old WWII anti-aircraft cannons, but they had no clue about that. After explaining the swivel for it and the elevation mechanism and how to mate it with the sights, I gave him enough gold to get the material he needed and then to make a larger foundry and to increase his tooling. By the time it was getting on towards evening meal, we had the dwarves and the centaurs there as well. While none asked the purpose of the strange devices, it seemed that all knew that they were not instruments of creation. All looked uneasy at what they saw. We ate a quite meal at the Dragon Head, then went to see an artist. I had her sketch out for me a very strange picture. It was a piston inside of a tube with valves and a crystal set into the top. It was the work of a few hours, but it captured what I wanted. I went back to the senior blacksmith and showed it to him, telling him to make a small version for me to work with. I showed him where it needed drilled and what the bearings should be made of. Late that night, Haladoria followed me back to my house and we entertained each other till we fell asleep in each others arms. Lord Alistor Comes Calling It was early morning when the call came in from Calalistos. It shocked me awake, but I wasn¡¯t quite focused. I felt a soft weight on my right side and in confusion, I reached over¡­ ¡°Good morning to you too!¡± Haladoria said with a sleepy grin.¡± I came fully awake at that point. ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°I take it you are not used to sleeping with company.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I just got a call from Calalistos. I am not quite awake yet.¡± She shot out of bed and started to get dressed. I have to admit that I lost track of what I was doing, it was a sight to behold. ¡°You had better get moving lord dragon.¡± With a sigh, I rolled out and dressed myself. ¡°Spoil sport.¡± She laughed. By the time I was finished, she was waiting on me. She was even first through the portal, which I considered rather foolhardy. I followed her and almost ran into her. The dock was crowded, but not with dragons this time. There was a ship I recognized docked in close to my landing pad. Haladoria had made a bee line towards it. I followed at a more sedate pace, not seeing flames or multiple dragons this time. By the time I caught up to her, she was already greeting Lord Alistor. ¡°Greetings Lord Alistor. It is good to see you.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± He said with a mischievous grin. I just rolled my eyes. He turned to Haladoria and said; ¡°I see what you mean about it is fun to tease him.¡± I sighed. ¡°It¡¯s a conspiracy now, I take it.¡± They both just laughed. ¡°What brings you to our corner of the world?¡± I continued. ¡°I wish for you to come to Torgos and meet with the new council there. We would also like for you to bring a few of your winged friends as well.¡± I laughed. ¡°How many would you like to visit? We seemed to have picked up a few more residents here lately.¡± He smiled. ¡°As many as you please. The others of the council wish to meet you and any of them who want to visit.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I will ask them. When would you like for us to drop in?¡± ¡°As soon as possible. I was hoping to ride back with you.¡± ¡°I would be honored, but my neck is a bit large for you to sit comfortably.¡± ¡°True. I would be at the mercy of your smaller brethren, I suppose.¡± ¡°I doubt that will be a real problem. If you don¡¯t mind waiting, I will go back up and see if any wish to come along. Methinks that Lady Haladoria will take care of you in my absence.¡± ¡°I would be honored.¡± Turning to Alistor. ¡°Would you care for some brandy? Tis the dragon¡¯s favorite.¡± I laughed and ported back to Dragonhaven. I found Imar first and we split up to find the others. Imar found a few in the lairs and I ran across Darhla and Shryke in Dragonhaven. All told we found about six ancients and one other adult. With Darhla and Shryke, we had about ten dragons, including Noregus, who was beyond curious. It was strange, but he seemed much happier than the first impression I had gotten of him that first day. We took wing and I opened a portal to Calalistos. As we passed over, the streets were packed with people pointing up at us and cheering. The new dragons in the group were surprised at their greeting. I had them land one at a time and change. I followed and approached Alistor. ¡°Will ten do?¡± I smiled. He seemed a little shocked. ¡°That will be fine. I didn¡¯t realize that many lived here.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t till recently. I am not sure if more will come or not, however. They do not trust in what I do here.¡± ¡°Uniting the people and the lands?¡± ¡°And making dragons aware that they can be more than winged destruction.¡± ¡°Why would that bother them?¡± ¡°I suppose that they are afraid of change. At least that seems to be what Imar thinks. The dragons are convinced that I will control this world. Whether I like it or not. Twould seem that the ones who fear this think they will be trapped here.¡± ¡°And if they are trapped, they will fight?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes. Yes I would. You do what you have to, to protect your people.¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± I sighed. ¡°I may have a way to diffuse the situation, but it will take time to put it into place. I have yet to talk to the other dragons about it though.¡± ¡°Well, what say we go to Torgos and talk about this later? The others were rather anxious to talk to you.¡± I was curious. ¡°Why would they be anxious?¡± He just smiled and shrugged. I called over Shryke and Darhla to ask about playing transport. They were more than happy to. Darhla was to take Alistor and Shryke was to take Haladoria. The dragons took wing and circled, much to the delight of the crowd, and then formed up in a line. I took wing and flew to the front, opening a portal. We came out over Harroina. While not the sendoff that we got from Calalistos, they were still happy to see dragons in their skies. Strange how much had changed in such a short time. Maybe the dragons were right to worry. As we overflew their town, they started running towards the villa. Darhla canted to the right and started to glide down towards the villa where I had released the slaves and ended Ralph¡¯s rule. She flew over it and landed on the plains behind it, where there was a group of people gathered. I stayed in the air as the dragons landed one by one. It gave me an opportunity to take a look at the gathering. There were Elves, a few dwarves, a small group of centaurs and humans. I smiled to myself at the mix. It gave me a sense of hope. Maybe they would sign a trade treaty with us. When it came to be my turn, I was feeling playful, so I flew up till I was straight vertical, then let myself fall backwards till I was in a dive straight down. I opened my wings full and did a full turn in the air then pulled up into a hard bank, slightly descending. As I lined up where I wanted to land, I went to full kite of my wings and touched down¡­ As I did, all of the dragons roared. The people started to clap and cheer. I chuckled to myself, a year ago, they would have been running to hide if they heard a dragon roar. Now there were nine of them and they thought it a grand thing. I shifted and approached Alistor and the small group in the center of the ring of dragons. It was strange to see all of the other people mixed in with the dragons, a few taking shade and talking to them. I was smiling as I got to the group¡­ when as one they all dropped to a knee and bowed. ¡°As the legal representatives of the lands of Torgos and the people herein, we hereby request entrance to the empire and swear fealty before the emperor, the most ancient Michael Arienach.¡± I came to a dead stop. I suppose I would not have to worry about a trade agreement. Now what was I suppose to do? I looked around and the people all dropped to their knees. Then the dragons joined them in most formal bows. I sighed. ¡°First, let it be known that you will make your own laws and administer them. This land is yours and it is your responsibility. There will be no tax levied by me, nor patent against your lands. I only ask that you treat all creatures as brothers until they prove themselves different. I will take your fealty and I will become your servant as such. Your responsibility is to your land and yourselves, mine is to protect and to nurture you. I will say now, I am a dragon. Do not bow to me, but talk to me. It is not possible to do the work of the land on your knees.¡± I slowly looked around the circle. ¡°Welcome to the dragon empire!¡± The people roared almost as loud as the dragons. Haladoria came running up and hugged me. ¡°Did you know about this?¡± I asked. She shook her head no, with tears coming down her cheeks. I put my arm around her waist and turned to the approaching delegation. ¡°Tis strange that all the years we thought ourselves so important, twasn¡¯t till we stopped that were are venerated.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.I smiled at the thought. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon!¡± Alistor had a huge grin as he said it. I just stared at him for a few moments. ¡°I suppose Michael is out of the question?¡± Haladoria started laughing and after a moment, I joined her. We moved our little meeting to the local pub. This would be one tradition that I would not discourage. After meeting and promptly forgetting the names of all of the leaders and nobles, we talked about what was needed for the land. It was summed up nicely in two words. Trading fleet. The only ships belonged to the people of Veirania and the few that the Estaria had which were not merchants. I smiled an opened a portal to my caldera. This time I pulled through four spheres, six inches across and gave one each to the town leaders. I had learned to plan ahead. ¡°I would also speak with an artist and the head shipwright of the Haversten ship yards.¡± I said, then thought for a few. ¡°I also want a building commissioned. Octagonal in shape with twenty foot ceilings as the minimum. On each of the interior walls, I want archways built with a triangular cap stone as large as you can make them. In the middle, I want a bare circular floor at least thirty feet in diameter with enough room around it to have seating.¡± ¡°This sounds a strange building, but we will do it. I will send for the artist, the shipwright is already here somewhere.¡± Alistor said. ¡°I think I saw him back at the villa talking to David earlier.¡± Haladoria added. ¡°Yes, he was wanting to know if we would send him lumber. He was also talking of a dock.¡± David was smiling. ¡°Thank you Michael.¡± I looked up at him, curiously. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For saving our land from the pirates and our souls from ourselves.¡± David said. ¡°We never worked together like this before.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. I was saved as the artist came into the room. I had her start a sketch that after the first broad strokes had everyones attention. She was almost finished with the side view when the shipwright walked in. ¡°What the bloody hell? Who¡¯s idea of a jest is that?¡± I chuckled. ¡°It¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°Well, you need to stick to ruling then. That thing won¡¯t support a decent set of masts, especially for it¡¯s size.¡± He looked like he was trying to teach a two year old. ¡°Well, it won¡¯t need masts.¡± He just stared at me. ¡°Are all of you dragons crazy?¡± I pulled another sphere of gold from my lair and handed it to him. ¡°Just start laying the hull, surely you have built ships for eccentric people with too much gold before?¡± He was about to say something when Alistor caught his eye and shook his head no. ¡°Remember where those carriages were built. I would suggest you might want to start laying that hull.¡± I smiled. ¡°Tell you what. Build a ten foot long model of it, first.¡± He picked up the sketches and walked out muttering to himself. Haladoria looked to the artist. ¡°Could you draw another set of those? I have seen what that crazy dragon can do.¡± She said with a grin. Then she looked up at me. ¡°By chance does this have anything to do with that sketch you gave the blacksmith the other day?¡± I smiled back at her. ¡°Now whatever gave you that idea, my dear?¡± She smacked me on the shoulder and I laughed. It was a few hours later when Alistor came up to me. ¡°One last thing I would ask of you. What do you want done about the oath breakers?¡± ¡°I would have thought that you would have taken care of them. What would you suggest?¡± ¡°They are good people for the most part. We didn¡¯t invite them to the governing of the land because their offense was with you, Michael.¡± ¡°I see.¡± I thought for a few moments. ¡°I will go talk with them. If they have lost their bigotry, I will bring them back, will that be acceptable?¡± ¡°If that is your wish.¡± ¡°No¡­ You have to live with them. I would see them accepted back into the lands or not at all.¡± ¡°I see. Go and speak to them. If you find them acceptable, so shall we.¡± ¡°Good enough. I will return.¡± I walked out and onto the street. A portal later, I was walking the road to Veirania. I had opened it about a half mile outside of town. It was quiet and there were few people out as I walked in. There was a strange feel to the town, almost like it was waiting. No one seemed to pay me any attention, so I kept walking till I got to the town square. I drew a cup from the fountain and sat down to wait. It was almost ten minutes later when someone came along and noticed me sitting there. ¡°Excuse me, could you tell me who I need to see as the leader of this town?¡± I asked. ¡°Just begone stranger. We have no real leader now and our town is dead. We are oath breakers and do not belong here.¡± ¡°Who says you do not belong here?¡± I asked quietly. ¡°There was an emperor named today. Our town gave insult to him and one of his people. We broke our word to him and to Lord Alistor of our people. No one will want us now, because of our anger and stupidity.¡± ¡°Is is stupid to realize that you have made a mistake? I would still talk with your leader.¡± The elf looked at me funny. ¡°Who are you?¡± I smiled. ¡°Just call me Michael.¡± The elf¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°I will return shortly, my lord.¡± I sighed. ¡°Just Michael?¡± He ran off and I took a sip from my cup. ¡°You know, you might as well give up on Michael.¡± I chuckled. ¡°You can¡¯t blame me for trying.¡± ¡°I suppose not¡­ Lord Dragon.¡± I had to choke back a laugh as a very unhappy elf was brought to me. ¡°Who might I have the pleasure of talking to? My name is Michael.¡± ¡°I was called Jearomy. I know who you are, lord dragon.¡± ¡°Then you are still called Jearomy and I still prefer to be called Michael.¡± He looked at me strangely. ¡°We will leave your land as soon as we can, lord.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He stared. ¡°Do you make jest?¡± ¡°No.¡± I paused. ¡°Tell me, before you knew of me and my people, what did you know of dragons?¡± ¡°Just what we had seen and the stories we were taught. That you were cruel and spiteful, a curse upon the lands.¡± ¡°Ah. What changed your mind?¡± ¡°You saved the entire land from the pirates.¡± ¡°So, other than that, you had nothing to go by except past experience and legend.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Your legends were true, Jearomy. Which brings me to a point I would like you to think on. It has only been in the last passing year or so that I helped some starving elves and found out just how much of a plague our kind has been. Then I studied them and found honor and beauty. I made a mistake. I lived a mistake for many centuries. Should I leave?¡± He stared at me for a long time. ¡°You mean that we have hope?¡± I laughed. ¡°You would have to make up for many centuries to even come close to being as I was. I would be quite the hypocrite to turn my back on you for just one mistake. Come back with me to see your brethren. I talked to Alistor before I left, he will accept you. Just know that you are part of the empire now. You will owe me no taxes and the laws are your own. I only ask that you judge no other creature unless they prove themselves to be evil.¡± I hadn¡¯t noticed but there were a few elves that had gathered. I smiled at them and then knelt. ¡°Rise, I am a dragon, I would rather talk with you than have you bow to me. Learn by your mistakes and judge not those who make mistakes, as we all have them in common.¡± I opened a portal and stepped through with Jearomy. We were back in the tavern and Haladoria and Alistor was still there chatting and drinking. I walked over and bowed to them. ¡°Milord, milady, might this old dragon have a seat with your noble selves?¡± Haladoria and Alistor laughed, then looked up at the elf that was with me. ¡°Jearomy?¡± Alistor asked. ¡°I came to apologize Lord Alistor.¡± Alistor looked at me puzzled. ¡°I explained that I would be a fine one to point a claw at making a mistake. The legends of dragons WERE true, you know.¡± Lord Alistor looked back at Jearomy. ¡°Then have a seat and make sure to call Michael Lord. It is tradition now.¡± I sighed. ¡°A damn conspiracy.¡± Haladoria laughed and hugged me. ¡°You love it lord dragon.¡± The Winds of Change Frustration. The blacksmith looked on patiently as I cussed in a language that he didn¡¯t know. He did know that I wasn¡¯t happy. The engine would turn and it had a ton of torque, but only at one speed. I had made a crude valve on the intake, but it did little more than shut the engine down. The crystal ¡°spark plug¡± was fired by sensing the position of the piston and the valve train. It came down to needing a carburetor, or a fuel injection system. It couldn¡¯t inject pure water as the crystal wouldn¡¯t be able to convert it to steam fast enough. I sighed and called for the artist. It came down to fuel injection. After I explained it to the smith, it was actually his idea. The work of about a week, we had a single cylinder steam engine that worked by magically vaporizing water. I smiled and called for the artist again. After the sketch was done, the smith was drooling. The guns? Now that was a different story. The mechanical aspect was simple and worked flawlessly. The firing was another matter. I finally decided to put ¡°trigger¡± crystals at the base of each barrel with a master crystal in the trigger. We put it on a wagon and took it to one of the towers at the entrance to the harbor. After a dragon airlift, it was mounted. I flew up afterward and studied it. It was a sitting duck. I conjured another large crystal and put it under the mount. I made a second ¡°trigger¡± crystal to activate it. Haladoria had joined me by that point. ¡°I like it not, Michael.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care for it either, Haladoria. All we can do is pray it is never used.¡± ¡°How does it work?¡± She asked. ¡°Just sit on the stool and turn the wheel on the bottom to swing the guns left to right, the top one makes them go up or down.¡± ¡°So simple.¡± She sighed. ¡°It would seem that this much destruction should be harder to use.¡± ¡°The blue crystal in the center of the handle activates a shield.¡± I continued. ¡°Shield?¡± ¡°I took my power and embedded it in that crystal.¡± ¡°So another of your powers you let us use.¡± ¡°The red crystal on the front of the handle fires it.¡± She stared at the crystal like it was a hungry dragon in a cage. ¡°Will you test it?¡± I sighed. ¡°I suppose I should. I think you should warn the people, though. If this works it could cause panic.¡± ¡°I suppose you are right.¡± ¡°The smiths are going to make another place to make these and the engines.¡± ¡°Engines?¡± ¡°The things that will make your new boats move. Later on, they will probably be used for the carriages as well.¡± She sighed. ¡°These changes¡­ where will they take us?¡± ¡°I hope to a safer future. These are tools to help you survive should something happen and I cannot be there fast enough. Think on the pirates. If something else had happened at the same time, how would I be able to handle both problems? With just this one working, the black sails would have never been able to enter the harbor. Nor would the orcs when they attacked. Try not to think of it as a destructive device. Think on it as a tool for survival to protect our people.¡± She smiled slightly. ¡°I will try. You make a valid point about the orcs and the pirates. I only fear the next problem might be your own people.¡± ¡°As do I, Haladoria. As do I.¡± Twas another week when the shipwright on Torgos sent a message that the test hull was done. It was simple with no details. I ported over the sea outside the harbor and flew into the docks to land. He approached as I shifted. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± ¡°Greetings. Tell me, if I gave you another gold sphere, would you call me Michael?¡± He laughed. ¡°No, tis common knowledge now that it is a tradition of the empire, therefore it is and unwritten law.¡± I just sighed. ¡°I do want to apologize, though. I made two ship models of the same size. I actually made the second after I made yours. The second was of the hulls that we commonly use. I would have contacted you last week, but I couldn¡¯t quite believe the difference would be that great between the two. I even weighed them with cargo and dropped large stones in the water to make waves. I don¡¯t know where you got this design, but I am sold.¡± I was rather shocked that he tested it at well. ¡°That saves me time as the testing was what I had came here for.¡± He smiled. ¡°Well, while you are here, come look at your new hull.¡± ¡°New hull?¡± ¡°I made a few additions and modifications to the sketch. I still don¡¯t understand how you are going to drive this, but it will be a grand ship.¡± We were walking down the docks to the dry docks and in the last berth, the ship sat. It was longer and leaner than I envisioned and the control deck was enclosed. We climbed aboard to look it over. ¡°As it sits, it can carry about fifty percent more cargo than the old ships and be stable in waves that would sink them. From what I saw with the models, It takes less than half the power to move it as well. I used a weight and pulley system to measure that, by the way.¡± I smiled. ¡°If you would like to make a sailed version of it, make the beam larger and make a fin that is about a third the mast height under it. Like the dorsal on a fish.¡± His eyes lit up. ¡°Aye, I can see that working.¡± ¡°My smith says that the engines will be ready in about two weeks. The flat section on the hull before the stern will have to be made to fit the shafts and screws that mount there.¡± ¡°Screws?¡± ¡°Have you ever seen a windmill?¡± ¡°Of course. We use them in some of the shops now to cut wood.¡± ¡°Then imagine the blades of a windmill that are shaped like rounded leaves made of metal. Three of them around the shaft. I probably should have brought the sketch with me, but the smith wouldn¡¯t turn loose of it.¡± ¡°Something like that will move this hull?¡± ¡°If I have everything right, it should.¡± ¡°Then good luck to you, Michael.¡± ¡°I thank you¡­ I never caught your name.¡± ¡°Jim.¡± ¡°Jim?¡± ¡°Yes, my father heard the name from one of the scav¡­ er¡­ humans. It got me a lot of teasing over the years so I did my best to overcome it.¡± I laughed. ¡°I understand the legacy of names.¡± ¡°I suppose you do. Your¡¯s used to be a curse word.¡± ¡°Well justified. I would say I was sorry, but it would change nothing. I, like you, have to work that much harder to overcome it.¡± While I was there I went to see Alistor. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon!¡± ¡°Greetings Lord Alistor.¡± ¡°What, no fight?¡± ¡°I was talking to Jim and found it had been made a tradition, I figure it would do no good to fight it.¡± ¡°But it is no fun unless you react.¡± I laughed. ¡°I suppose I must keep tradition, then.¡± ¡°What can I do for you, Michael?¡± ¡°I wanted to tell you that you will need a metal shop, foundry and production smithy.¡± ¡°I take it you are going to expand our shipping?¡± ¡°That and a few other things. In a few weeks, the new ship should be ready for the test run. If successful, we may wish to expand your ship building as well.¡± ¡°I will be sending plans to you soon for what they are to build. One set should be made in it¡¯s own shop, but we can discuss that later.¡± ¡°I get the feeling that coming under your wing is not going to be boring.¡± ¡°Probably not. Though I could wish for it. My main concern is to keep our people safe. I do have an idea if you would be interested.¡± ¡°What would be your command most ancient?¡± I frowned at him as he chuckled. ¡°I want to contact Jearomy about making a special military shipyard.¡± ¡°Military? What do you have planned?¡± ¡°You said that they were more home on the water than on land. That sounds like navy to me. I am going to design some ships if my tests on the new hulls work and I would give them the designs and make them the patrol for the sea lanes as well as a coastal guard for Torgos and Dragonhaven.¡± ¡°Might I make a suggestion?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Make the people of Veirania the sea arm of the navy and the people of Dallase the coastal guard. The humans work with us, but still feel like outsiders. As a military arm, they would be insured of their place on Torgos.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.I smiled widely. ¡°I like that. It helps bring the people together.¡± ¡°I will talk with David later this eve, then. I am guessing they will need to make a shipyard as well as everything that was on the list you gave me.¡± ¡°Yes, For each of the shipyards.¡± ¡°I will start working on it then. Is there anything else?¡± ¡°Not now, we will know more in a few weeks.¡± Two weeks later, I was back at Torgos with the new engines. I had given the smith the single cylinder and he made it work with the lathes and presses. Apparently, it had sped up production dramatically. The main problems were mounting them and making the shaft seals so they wouldn¡¯t leak. The smith had made the bulkhead mount with duel bearings, but the seals were the problems. We wound up with brass disks that were stacked along the shaft. It still leaked slightly, but they worked well enough. ¡°Are you ready to try this thing?¡± Jim asked. ¡°Sure you want to tag along?¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t miss it. Given any thought about how you are going to back it out?¡± I face palmed. ¡°Lets tow it out and get it pointed in the right direction.¡± We were finally pointed out of the harbor. I hit the crystals that started the motors and the boat started forward. No clutch. Damn, this shit was complicated. We were crawling forward and Jim cheered. ¡°It works!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know that yet.¡± ¡°What?¡± I advanced the throttles about a third. I was NOT expecting what happened. The ship jumped forward, Jim landed on his ass and I came close. The front rose in the water and seemed to ride on top of it. It smoothed out and we were cruising. Jim climbed up and looked out of the wheel house. ¡°Oh my god. How fast are we going?¡± ¡°I have no clue. Lets take the next step a little slower.¡± He looked over at the throttle leavers and turned white. I took them and slowly started pushing them forwards. I put up my natural radar so I didn¡¯t run over some poor innocent merchant. The engines didn¡¯t sound like they were working that hard as it started picking up speed. About two thirds, I lost my nerve. We were cutting waves and it almost seemed like we were flying. I backed it down to half and started to wheel it around. I had to use planar sight to figure out which way Torgos was, as it was well out of sight by this point. ¡°Is this as fast as it goes?¡± Jim asked with wide eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I am just not that sure how controllable it will be if I open the engines up.¡± ¡°It will hold together.¡± ¡°Well then, here goes.¡± I opened the throttles all the way. The engines sang. Two horizontally opposed six cylinder engines came to full power and the ship leapt forward. I could see Torgos in the distance coming up fast. I cut throttles back to a third, but it took a while for it to slow down. I shut the engines off and coasted the rest of the way in. We were just inside of the harbor mouth when it drifted to a stop. Jim was almost white when he looked at me. ¡°This is a freighter hull. I would hate to see something that was made for speed.¡± I agreed with him. ¡°This design is yours. I have the shops being put into place to make the engines here as well as plans to expand your ship building capabilities. I am not a sailor, so I leave this to you. You have the basic principles of the design, feel free to experiment, just share the plans. Alistor is going to be building small ships, Veirania will be doing naval ships and Dallase will be making patrol ships for the sea lanes.¡± ¡°You do realize that you are going to make Torgos the capital of the sea by doing this.¡± ¡°Yes, and once I have the armament finished, you will be a force to be reckoned with.¡± ¡°Armament?¡± ¡°I have something that will make even dragons pause. All that have seen them so far agree in the hope that they are never used.¡± Jim shuddered. ¡°Why do this, then?¡± I smiled sadly. ¡°Because I cannot be everywhere and I will not see my people harmed.¡± It was another month before we worked out a usable transmission for the ship. There were two more hulls that were almost ready, so after a test run with the new transmission, I dropped Jim off and turned the bow towards Calalistos. The ship was a lot smoother and controllable and I made the journey in a matter of hours. I took it into the harbor at, for it, a crawl and dropped anchor. I dropped a row boat and rowed into the docks¡­ only to be met with a huge crowd. They parted and Haladoria stepped through. ¡°Greetings Lord Dragon.¡± ¡°Michael, milady.¡± She smiled. ¡°I have the nobles here. Would you like to take us for a ride?¡± ¡°I hadn¡¯t planned on it, but I think that would be a good idea. I am thinking of a demonstration as well.¡± ¡°The guns?¡± She asked with a frown. ¡°Yes. I think it better this way as it will not cause panic. We can do it safely out to sea.¡± She sighed. ¡°You are right, I think.¡± By this time the other nobles and Dorvus of course, were at the docks. I opened a portal to the ship and we went on the tour. I had made two slightly raised platforms just before and aft of the wheel house, which were left blank. The looked at them questioningly, but none said anything. I weighed anchor and backed the ship out far enough to turn it around. Everyone was suitably impressed. Then I took it out to sea. I was careful to advance the throttles slowly so the increase over time wouldn¡¯t be that violent, but at a quarter throttle, the nobles were looking at the ship in awe. Half throttle and they were beyond that. I left it there and held course till we were well away from both land and the sea lanes. Then I stopped. Walking to the forward platform, I opened a portal to the warehouse where the guns were stored. I literally had to place the portal where I wanted them and then move it around the gun to transfer them. They were of a larger bore than the originals. When the fore and aft guns were in place, I turned to the nobles. ¡°Greetings this day. What I am about to show you now, I would like for you to keep hidden. I do not want our people panicked. These things are something that I pray we never ever use. However, I would be neglect if I did not have them in place. The dragons and I can only be in so many places and we are not always easy to reach. These are in case you need to defend yourselves when we are not there.¡± That said, I pulled a large box through the portal and opened it. I took out four clips of bright red crystals, about a foot long, finned, twelve in a clip. I slid each one into the magazine and pulled the lever that released them and pulled the clip out. It was loaded. I was at the forward gun. I had the nobles move to the top of the wheel house and then sat down on the stool. I swung them around to the port side and dropped the elevation to just lower than the horizon. I looked up and met Haladoria and Dorvus¡¯s eyes. I activated the shield stone then shook my head with a tired sigh and touched the trigger stone once. They were ¡°programmed¡± to fire each barrel in order, top right, top left, bottom right and bottom left. They worked perfectly. It cycled four shots in two seconds, lines of fire with whip cracks and the sea was ripped open. I took the elevation up till it was around sixty degrees and held it down for a three count. Then dropped it back down and fired the rest back into the sea. The barrels were hot, but not glowing and there were no misfires. The design worked flawlessly. I felt sick. Looking up to the platform, I could see I wasn¡¯t the only one. Three or four were actively being sick over the side of the rails. Dorvus had sat down and just stared at the gun and Haladoria was crying. I was called back to Torgos a week later. A dead adult dragon had washed up on the shore just south of Dallase. Suddenly, I didn¡¯t feel paranoid anymore. The body had lacerations all over it and it¡¯s wings were almost shredded. I looked down at my poor dead cousin and wept. It was a long way over from Torgos to the other continent, but suddenly, it didn¡¯t seem far enough. I went back home praying that we had time. Precursor to War It was getting on towards winter when I turned the sketches over to Veirania and Dalluse. The ships for Veirania came in four flavors. A small launch that could travel from ship to ship, a destroyer class that was fast and agile, a cruiser that was not quite as fast but mounted four good sized cannons in paired turrets and a battleship class that mounted two triple large cannons in turrets in the front and two in the rear, along with three of the smaller four barrel guns on each side of the ship. The battleships would be the largest ships the world had seen to date. The Dallase ships were along the lines of the PT boats that I had seen back on earth. Fast and very agile they sported the four barrel guns on the foredeck. By spring, there would be a small navy on Torgos as well as Calalistos. The shipwrights of Calalistos had me expand the harbor once more and made an entire shipyard that specialized in both the merchant ships as well as the naval ships. They had already turned out two PT boats and a cruiser. The cruiser sat just outside the harbor watching over the flow of traffic. Each of the towns and villages had at least four of the four barreled guns on towers. The nobles didn¡¯t care for them, but after we had talked it over, they had seen the worth of having them. They had heard the news of the dragon at Dallase and there was little argument. There was a new building now outside my lair. It had multiple archways with strange crystals set in each capstone. They were linked to each town in the Dragonhaven Empire with a master that led to a similar room on Torgos. Nobles, their advisers and ranking military were allowed access. The stones were inactive otherwise. The Torgos hub held the map room as well. My enchantments refined, the crystal keyed to select few that were to be the watchmen. I had worked overtime to make the communication crystals and there was now a network on the ships, towers, towns and of course, the dragons. It was about that time that the smiths had figured out that the engines could power wagons as well. I simply stayed out of that one. I was getting used to seeing things change as they started recreating the industrial age before my eyes. I had cut down my meetings to once every two weeks and my visits to the pub down to once a week. Mostly I stayed in my caldera and prayed that we survived what was coming. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.??Just before mid-winter, three very ragged looking adult dragons showed up at Calalistos. I met them at the landing pad and interviewed them. They came seeking asylum. Viennarinia had tried to take over the dragons that were not attached to the empire. She was not being nice about it. From what they said, she had killed a couple of ancients for suggesting that they wanted to join us. The adults and juveniles lived in fear of her and there were several ancients that had joined with her. I called a meeting at the arena the next day and had them relate their story to the other dragons. Tirreg took all three under his wing in his lair group after the meeting ended. The somber feeling spread throughout the dragons. Late winter had several more ports and towns join us with stories of dragons landing and demanding they serve them. By spring, they were armed and were part of the empire proper. It would be late spring before their portal rooms were in place. By mid summer, the entire continent was empire. We also notice that trade had slowed to a trickle from the over seas lands. We had found an island and placed the portal to the mountain world there. None of the dragons were willing to go face Viennarinia, however, so the dragons were still trapped. An ancient and two more adults came in early summer and their stories had chilled the empire dragons. A few weeks later, we had a group of juveniles come in. They were in bad shape and two out of the fourteen died before we could save them. After that, we had them trickling in by ones and twos. Dragons now patrolled the borders and escorted any in that could make it. The dragons also rotated to keep a presence on Torgos. Meetings with the other lands had stepped up and there was a new building outside my lair. It sported several map rooms, planning rooms and a meeting hall. The dragons now all had communication crystals and they were all determined to protect the people of the lands. Funny thing was, none of the ones who had shown up had rejected the empire¡¯s stand that people did not have to have wings to be equals. Maybe all of this would be worth it. I prayed it would be worth it. The Winds of War It was later that year about early fall when a damaged merchant came in. Two cruisers of the Torgos fleet escorted it into the harbor. I was called well before they arrived and was awaiting them when they dropped anchor. Haladoria and Dorvus were with me and none of us felt like talking. The lands seemed to be under a blanket now. The worst news was from a com transmission that said they had downed a dragon who was attacking the merchant. Those words echoed in my head. Downed a dragon. Gods had it come to this? I greeted the elf that stepped from the boat that had rowed him in from the merchant. He looked up at me and asked; ¡°You are Michael Arienach, Emperor of Dragonhaven?¡± ¡°That is I.¡± He sighed. ¡°Thank the gods. I am Alain of the Moonsinger nation. Now forced vassals of Lady Viennarinia.¡± ¡°It has gone that far.¡± I half whispered. ¡°I would not be here now if not for your ships. I know not what those weapons are, but it seems the only chance of living if the dragons find you.¡± ¡°They are weapons I had hoped would never see use.¡± I sighed. ¡°Our lands here were at peace till the news arrived about Viennarinia.¡± ¡°Where will you go now?¡± Lady Haladoria asked. ¡°I have nowhere to go. My land is in ruins and the dragons rule the skies. They even fight each other and no one dares work the fields.¡± ¡°How much of the lands are like that?¡± Dorvus asked. ¡°All of them. The states and kingdoms are all but ash now. Our people are slaves.¡± I turned to Haladoria. ¡°Call a meeting. All of the nobles and dragons up at the arena in Dragonhaven. Tell them it will be held in two hours. I want Torgos there as well.¡± ¡°What will you do, Michael?¡± Haladoria asked. ¡°What I have to. This must end.¡± The meeting went as well as could be expected. The dragons were all for attacking their brethren. I wanted the empire protected and finally they backed down and understood. I still had major protest over not wanting anyone with me. Torgos and the warships of the other nations were to patrol the seas around the empire. The dragons were to aid them. All of the map rooms were to be manned and to watch the sea at least a few hundred miles out. We got what intelligence we could from Alain. There were actually few dragons left that supported her, from what could be told. Most went along just to keep from drawing her attention. So, if this went well, it would not be a true war. I hoped. Surprisingly, neither Haladoria nor Dorvus tried to talk me out of what I had planned. The only thing that was said was from Haladoria. ¡°I did you no favor by making you emperor.¡± ¡°You were not to blame in this.¡± ¡°You will come back to us.¡± ¡°That I will.¡± Once I received word that everyone was in place, I shifted and ported. Over hell. The lands looked to be a battlefield. Crops everywhere were in ruins and there were craters and burnt areas that stretched for miles. In the first hour of flight, I saw nothing living. I had my radar full up and only located a few dragons. Two ran from me and only one, a ragged looking ancient approached. ¡°Who are you?¡± It asked weakly. ¡°I am Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°Oh, thank the gods. Please kill me now.¡± ¡°Why would I do that?¡± ¡°To end the torment that bitch has inflicted.¡± ¡°I have a better idea.¡± I opened a portal. ¡°Go to my lands and live in peace. This will take you to the city of Calalistos where you will be met.¡± The old dragon stared. ¡°Truly?¡± ¡°Truly. Go rest.¡± I suddenly felt the crown of the empire and it was a heavy thing. I wondered at the choices I had made to this point. Strange how it wasn¡¯t really power that caused this, but fear. All of this because of the fear of change. Maybe if I had gotten the portals up sooner? No use guessing, deal with what is. He left through the portal and I resumed searching. I used my planar sight and flew to the next group of dragons I had found. Again, most ran. None attacked. I talked to one of them and found that they were trapped here as the empire would murder them and Viennarinia would use them. With what she had done to them, I wondered at why they would still believe her. ¡°You will not be murdered in my lands. If you do not wish to join us, then there is a portal on an island south sunward of here about three hundred miles out from the coast.¡± ¡°Where does it lead?¡± ¡°To another world. One where neither I nor Viennarinia will bother you.¡± ¡°Viennarinia will always find us.¡± ¡°Not where she is going.¡± The dragon stared at me for a few moments. ¡°What are your lands like?¡± ¡°All the races, including dragons are equals. We live in peace and learn from each other.¡± ¡°Then send me there. I would know.¡± I opened a portal for him with the warning. ¡°Harm no one there. Listen and learn.¡± ¡°I will lord dragon.¡± I didn¡¯t bother to correct him, as finally I felt the full weight of the crown I didn¡¯t have. The next group were of five, who were attacking a seaport. When I flew up, two ran and the other three attacked. I let them. Their ice and flames did not even test my shield. One screamed in rage and flew at me. I opened a portal in front of him and he was gone. The other two screamed and attacked again. I grew tired of it and captured them with a portal as well. I knew then that some of my brethren were quite insane. There would be no way to save them all. Please whatever gods listen, let this be worth it. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.??One of the ones who had ran returned cautiously. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°To find Viennarinia.¡± ¡°Are you going to kill her?¡± ¡°No. I am going to send her away.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t kill?¡± ¡°Not unless I have to and she is no threat to me. I wish to end this plague she has started.¡± ¡°May I help you?¡± ¡°If you would help, find all the like minded dragons and gather them together. I have a home for them either in my lands or another world that has not been settled.¡± ¡°You would not enslave us?¡± ¡°I would see all creatures free. If I wished, I could do as Viennarinia, but that way only leads to grief. Find the others, I would give them the choice.¡± ¡°I will do this lord dragon.¡± The weight of the crown increased. I flew though the day and the night. I found group after group of dragons. Some ran, some talked, some attacked. I tried to spare what I could, save for the ones who showed no signs of sanity. There were more of those than I cared for. It was the next morning when I found her. She was with three ancients and they were ripping the wings off of an adult. My first blast shredded the one that was holding the poor dragon down, the second took the one who was ripping off the wings. Both her and the ancient attacked me. Flying at me blowing flames. They met with a portal. I flew down to the dragon. ¡°Are you alright?¡± It coughed up blood. ¡°Finish me now. I hurt.¡± I remembered what I had been told by the elven healers. For a change, I had the control. I had the weight of the crown. I let a trickle of magic follow the lines of the healing spell that they had painstakingly showed me. I let it flow into the battered dragon and watched in awe as the wings knitted back together and her twisted limbs straightened. I had learned to heal. I stayed at it till I could sense no more wounds. ¡°Can you fly now?¡± ¡°I think so?¡± ¡°Then come with me. We need to go to the rest of the dragons. I would save what I can.¡± ¡°Wait, my mate is close. Let me go see if he is alright.¡± I followed her to a small cave. She went inside and shortly returned with an injured dragon. His wings were shredded and one eye was gone. His left foreleg was broken as well. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°Come to finish the bitches work?¡± ¡°No, I have come to fix it. She is gone.¡± ¡°Gone?¡± ¡°I sent her away, she will not be back.¡± The little dragon just stared at me. I focused on his injuries and repeated what I had done for his mate. It was almost noon when I finished. ¡°You are not what they said.¡± ¡°I give a choice. There is another world you may go to, or you can join with me.¡± ¡°What do you mean, join with you?¡± ¡°My lands hold all people, dragons or the other races as equal. We live in peace and learn from each other. You will be free either way.¡± ¡°I think I would join with you. What may I do to repay your kindness?¡± ¡°As much as I loath asking, would you go through the lands and see if there are any who would join us as well? If not, there is an island about three hundred miles off of the south sunward coast. There is a portal on that island that leads to a mountain world.¡± I conjured a crystal. ¡°When you tire of this task, call me with that crystal and I will come for you.¡± ¡°I will do this lord dragon.¡± ¡°I thank you. I will make sure there is a lair on the inner ring waiting for you.¡± I watched as him and his mate flew off. I met with the dragons. There weren¡¯t that many, most looking worse for the wear. I healed the worst of them and gave them the choice. Most went to Calalistos, but a few took wing for the island. After it was over, I called Haladoria. ¡°It is pretty much over. I sent those away that I could, killed the ones I couldn¡¯t save and sent the ones who were held hostage to you or the other planet. There are probably still some that I haven¡¯t found, but most of what I have found are with you.¡± ¡°Are you a right?¡± ¡°As well as I can be right now. This land is hell, we will need to bring in food and shelter for the survivors. Could you coordinate with Torgos to send a convoy with escort here?¡± ¡°I will set it up, what will you do?¡± ¡°Much what I have been doing, trying to save what I can.¡± ¡°Be safe Michael.¡± ¡°You as well, lady Haladoria.¡± I flew to the nearest city that was on the coast and started clearing the wreckage that was blocking their harbor and docks. As I worked, a few came out to watch me, but none approached. I started working my way up the coast. The third city was what used to be a major seaport and I worked to pull the wrecked ships off to the side. I made sure not to use magic as I was sure the survivors had seen enough to haunt their dreams for a lifetime. I was several hours into the work when I noticed a human woman watching me from one of the docks. ¡°Greetings, may I help you?¡± ¡°Hello! What are you doing?¡± ¡°I am clearing the docks. Ships from my land will be here with food and shelter for those who need it.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t pay for it.¡± ¡°You have paid enough. It is over now.¡± ¡°Over?¡± ¡°Viennarinia is gone. She will not return. I will stay and guard against any of her followers.¡± ¡°She will be back. She always comes back.¡± ¡°Not this time. She is on the plane of chaos. Not even my magic works there.¡± The woman just stared at me for a time. ¡°Who are you, dragon?¡± ¡°I am Michael Arienach.¡± ¡°But they said you were evil.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I have learned. My lands are free and human, elves, dwarves and drow work together along side dragons. I suppose to them it was evil, as it denied that they were supreme.¡± ¡°I will tell the others. Thank you Michael.¡± I nodded and tossed another wrecked ship onto the pile. Epilogue Epilogue The world was now the Dragonhaven Empire. I still stay in my caldera, but visited the lands more often. I also entertained the girls more often, much to their delight¡­ and mine. It took several years to rebuild the other continent and to set the damage right. The dragons who had went to the other world came and went as they pleased. They held to the rule that no one was to be harmed on my world. The people advanced. Research into science and magic grew by leaps and bounds. I taught them many of the enchantments that I had learned and I was taking lessons in painting. I was looking forward to showing Haladoria my first painting. It was of her. I should say the first one that I finished, as the others were not that good. But I can learn. ???Arienach still talks with me at times and I think he has found peace. Actually, I think he understands peace now. The other dragons have spread across the lands. They make their homes where they will and the people welcome them. They aided some researchers on the new continent to learn to fly. The elves had refined the motors to the point that they could power airplanes. They are moving forward and growing as I watch. There are all manner of ships now, from pleasure sailboats to cruise liners. The ships of the fleet still patrol, but they haven¡¯t fired their guns in years. All of the towns and lands have the guns now, but they are kept covered. They are not needed. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.??There were a few restless souls that sought out the portal to travel to the mountain world. I even visit there on occasion. It took little time for the dragons there to see that the other races were the promise for the future and there is little difference now from this world to that one. Over time, the cities have grown. People come and go as they would. There are still dark creatures in the lands and some still play the game, so things are held in balance. Oh¡­ and I leveled. Michael Arienach LEVEL - 8765 EXPERIENCE - 1274 / 0% RACE - Planar Dragon BREED - Silver AFFINITY - Fire, Magic CLASS - Ancient ALIGNMENT - Good I still wonder if it was worth it. The others do not realize yet. We are falling in love with mortals. Yours, Michael Arienach Emperor of the Dragonhaven Empire Afterword Where to begin? I have RPed a dragon for over a decade. Both in forum style and as of late, in the world of Second Life. It has given me a different view of dragons. It is not an easy thing to play a dragon as a character and do it realistically. For one thing, space is a premium. You do not land a multi ton, multi story flying creature in the middle of a town. Seriously. Not unless you wish to risk breaking your wings or anything that happens to be in the street at the time. Likewise, a true dragon is a very hard thing to kill. With just those two factors in mind, they become very aloof creatures. you cannot just drop in to visit friends and what friends you do have will probably not be around in a century or two. The makeup of a dragon would naturally tend to be isolationist. Even with the knowledge that they have picked up over time, there is little way for them to apply it in a real world setting. Few could imagine a dragon''s views. There is little that they would see that would be new to them, which would also make for an almost tunnel vision. His surprise at finding the mostly carved dragons on the mountian and the lairs which he flew by repeatedly is a prime case of this. He had seen the mountains, why focus on them? He was more interested in the city that had bloomed outside his lair ring.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. It was also brought up that he did not focus on the details. That should actually be pretty obvious. What goal do you have when there is nothing that can challenge you? Where do you find drive when you have entire universes at your claws? What do you buy when you own the wealth of a thousand worlds? Where do you call home when you don¡¯t even know the name of the planet you live on? I think the best word to describe it would be jaded. It comes down to; is it important enough to influence him or whatever he is working on or with. If not? Then why pay attention to it? Now that is over with, why I really decided to add this. Thank you. I have never tried to put a story down like this and I have never had formal training in writing. To tell the truth, I had to look up some of the references that some had written about in their comments. What you have given me a starting point. I know now what I have to learn to write something decent now. I did pay attention to every comment. Even the ones that I had a hard time taking seriously. Your comments are what I needed to give me a direction in which to improve. To all that commented, to all that read it. Thank you Teaser 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;This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Goodbye Haladoria.¡± Sequel in the Making My fans suggested I add this as a chapter so that all that are following this could find it. This is the link to the sequel. (told you I was new at this)The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The new book will be writen as a chapter by chapter release. I will try to get one finished a day, but there are no guarantees. Due to this, I will not be able to proof as I normally do. I do not know how this will effect the final product, but I will keep my claws crossed. If you have any questions, concerns or maybe chocolate chip cookies, please feel free to contact me. I truly value your feedback.