Path of Dragons

“They’re comin’, hoss. Ain’t nothin’ we can do about that. All we can do is get ready.”

Ramik gripped the arm of his chair, his knuckles paling as he stared at the map on his desk. The man standing before him looked like he’d been through a war. His clothes were torn and bloodstained. He looked uninjured, though the same couldn’t be said for the pale, red-haired woman beside him. She had a bandage encircling her forehead, and another was wrapped around her leg.

“How many?” he asked. The map showed the natural subterranean passages beyond the mines, which led to a massive cavern containing a sizable settlement. Ramik was no stranger to the deep places of any world. For miles beneath the surface, his own native planet had been settled for centuries. The wildlife had been tamed, and the treasures harvested.

But gnomes were never quite as comfortable underground as some other races. Not like dwarves, who routinely lived beneath large mountains, and certainly not like dark elves who existed in much, much deeper places. Their entire species had adapted to it, and their culture had followed suit.

Colt shrugged. “Ain’t no way to tell, ‘less we send some scouts past that first fort,” he answered. “That ain’t happenin’, though. Too many enemies, and I’d bet my hat it’s enchanted.”

“That’s not the real problem, though,” the redhead said. Gwenivere, if Ramik remembered correctly.

“What is?” the goblin mayor asked.

“We don’t know if there are other exits,” she said. “For all we know, there are hundreds of ways out of those tunnels. They could surround the city without using the mine.”

Ramik’s ears drooped. He couldn’t afford to collapse the mine. Ironshore’s independence – not to mention his own freedom – depended on the ore within. Without it…well, he didn’t want to think about what would happen if he fell behind on his obligations to the Green Mountain Mining Guild.

“What do you two suggest?” he asked. They were both humans, and neither was a true resident of Ironshore. However, there was a reason he’d sent them into the mines to investigate the workers’ disappearance. Colt was the strongest combatant in town – at the moment, at least – and together, the pair represented a significant portion of Ironshore’s military power.

They still hadn’t had the ethereum or opportunity to truly replace Eason Cabbot and his mercenaries. There were a few promising recruits whose levels had been propped up by frequent tower runs, but the budding force would be completely incapable of defending against the doubtless much more seasoned warriors in the dark elf settlement. Even if they were nothing special, the enemy had been left alone to grow their strength for years, while Ironshore had been forced to start over after the ill-advised clash with Elijah.

“We need allies,” Colt said. “As many as we can get. Maybe from Norcastle or if we can swing it, from Argos.”

Ramik frowned. “Argos is a long way from here, and we can’t all travel as easily as you or your friends,” he said. Left unsaid was that he didn’t particularly trust the leaders of Norcastle. They were fine trading partners, but a military alliance was something else altogether. He feared trading dark elf invaders for human conquerors.

“Way I see it, we don’t have much of a choice. They’re comin’. They’ve already fired the first shot. So, unless you think there’s a diplomatic solution here, we need to prepare for war. Sometimes, that means pickin’ the lesser evil. And ‘sides, you’re forgettin’ one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Elijah. When he gets back, none of this matters,” Colt answered. “If Norcastle starts somethin’, you can bet he’ll be the one to finish it.”

“And Argos?”

“Good folks in Argos. I ain’t worried ‘bout them.”

“Okay. Then we need to dispatch a messenger immediately. Someone who can travel through the wilderness without arousing too much attention,” Ramik said.

Colt nodded. “I’ll go myself.”

“No,” Ramik argued. “We need you here.”

Colt took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. “Fine. I think I got another idea. Might take a coupla days, though.”

* * *

“You have taken quite an interest in that one,” said Mano. “He must be quite unique, as much as such a thing can truly exist in the infinite multi-verse.”

Kirlissa opened her eyes to see an enormous black dragon blotting out the sky. “Must you appear in that form?” she asked.

Mano snorted, a small gout of black flames erupting from his nostrils. On another world, he might’ve destroyed a city with such an outburst, but this was her world, and as such, it was subject to her protective embrace. So, for once, the flames of the dragon known as Black Death were entirely ineffectual.

“I see no need to hide my splendor,” Mano said, still looming over her. He was the size of a small moon, though Kirlissa was not intimidated. How could she be frightened of her own firstborn son?

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“Arrogance will be your downfall, child,” she said.

“Your fascination with lesser races will be yours,” he countered. It was an argument stretching back many thousands of years, and Kirlissa knew that a resolution would not be soon forthcoming. For all his admirable traits, the stain of arrogance had spread to every aspect of the black dragon’s being. He was her most powerful child, but in the least-used facets of her Sapphire Mind, Kirlissa considered him her greatest failure.

Sometimes, it felt as if those two traits came hand-in-hand.

“I disagree. Our kind have needed an injection of new blood for eons,” she said. “All of the elders agree.”

“Elders are just as prone to error as everyone else. Perhaps more so. You should know that most of all, mother,” Mano stated.

Kirlissa schooled her features, keeping her roiling anger from showing. “None of us are perfect, child.”

“We could be, and yet, you taint our bloodlines with beasts and…humans. Our family has become the laughingstock of the entire –”

“Enough.”

The simple command was barely more than a whisper, but it carried with it the power of an Ancestor Soul. As yet, no one else in the entire Empire of Scale – even those who could trace their lives back to the very beginning – could boast of having reached that level. There were dozens of Transcendents on Donusa alone, and that was only one planet among thousands within the Empire of Scale. And yet, she was the only dragon to have achieved the ultimate level of Soul cultivation.

That was why she was considered one of the four most powerful dragons in existence.

“I will not allow you to insult your siblings, child. They are dragons, just as you are a dragon. Accept it as truth, or I shall be forced to punish you. If you were not my son, you would be dead.”

“You speak of arrogance as if you are not afflicted with such a sin,” Mano forced out. “Yet, you smother any dissent.”

“That is the prerogative of the strong, child,” she said, reaching out to touch her son’s snout. He was large enough that, if she hadn’t been acting against his influence, he would have altered the very laws of physics upon her world. She rested her hand against the black scales, saying, “When you pass me, you will make the rules, my son. I can only hope that you will learn restraint and compassion before that day comes.”

Mano didn’t respond. Instead, he quivered with unspoken rage, black flames curling up from his nostrils with every breath. And yet, even those fires of destruction were impotent. He was a Transcendent, but he’d yet to progress his cultivation past the Deity stage. At his age, it was remarkable that he’d gotten as far as he had, but he was a long way from becoming a true Elder dragon.

Finally, he asked, “Will you bring him here?”

“Eventually,” Kirlissa answered. “He will be a perfect companion for little Saraalinisa as she learns what it means to be a dragon. However, his world is newly touched, and as such, he must endure the challenges set forth by the World Tree before he can leave that planet.”

“And you believe he will survive? Why? Most do not.”

“As you said, he is special,” Kirlissa said. “In most ways, he is an average talent. He is not overly intelligent. Nor is he a tactical genius. He can fight passably well, but there are countless others who are far more gifted in that respect.”

“You make him sound like a poor investment of your time,” Mano said.

“If that was all there was to him, that would be true. However, he shows a remarkable talent for cultivation. Barriers that should have been nearly insurmountable for someone at his level are overcome without issue. He already approaches the first threshold, and I do not believe he will have difficulty surmounting it,” Kirlissa said. Indeed, the boy was remarkably talented. Even with the advantages he’d created or nurtured – especially that tree spirit – he had exceeded all expectations. “But there are many cultivation geniuses in this world and beyond.”

“Then what is it that fascinates you so? You could be helping true…”

Kirlissa narrowed her eyes, and Mano coughed. Such a lapse in control would have destroyed half the planet if she wasn’t keeping his power in check. He needed to work on that.

He continued, “You could be helping other dragons progress. Even a few days of your focused attention could help many break the chains for their innate talents and –”

“There is more to power than cultivation or levels,” she said. “His attunement to nature is strong to the point that, by the time he reaches the Deity level, his connection to the natural world will exceed even that of Archdruid Hamehl. Perhaps even before then.”

“That…that is not possible,” Mano breathed, once again losing control.

“Yet it is true,” Kirlissa countered. “The boy is a diamond amidst a world of trash, and I intend to ensure that he achieves his potential.”

“I see,” Mano said, raising his snout to the sky. “I will not question your judgement further, mother. However, I will say that perhaps you should look closer to home for your little projects, rather than training your attention on an unproven child a universe away.”

“Your concern is noted, my son,” she said. “I take it you are leaving? Would you not stay and share tea with me?”

“This world is too small,” he said. “I am uncomfortable with its restrictions.”

“Very well,” Kirlissa said. It would take nothing for him to adopt a smaller form, but Mano had always eschewed such a thing. “Where will you go?”

“To the front lines,” Mano said. “The Ravener’s forces push against us.”

“They will not break through.”

“Perhaps, but their endless hordes represent my only chance for growth.”

Kirlissa said, “Endless pursuit of levels is a mistake. You should be cultivating.”

Mano shook his great head, which would have caused tidal waves and hurricanes if Kirlissa hadn’t kept the side effects at bay. “That works for you, perhaps, but that has never been my path.”

“It is everyone’s path, even if they do not know it.”

Mano said, “I do not wish to revisit this topic.”

Then, without another word, he flapped his enormous wings and ascended to the heavens. A moment later, he disappeared on his way back to the front lines. Doubtless, he would destroy millions of the Ravener’s minions, but Kirlissa knew that her son’s efforts would prove ultimately pointless. Whatever benefits he might acquire from gaining a few levels would make no true difference – not unless he spent millennia engaged in slaughter – and no matter how many he killed, it would be as a single drop in a rainstorm.

Sighing, she released her hold on the world, pulling her protection back. With Mano gone, the shelter she provided was unnecessary. Hopefully, in a couple of centuries, her son’s arrogance would become tempered. But in the meantime, she had more important things to draw her focus. So, without further ado, she sank back into her state of meditation and turned her attention to cultivation. While Kirlissa had reached the ultimate level of Soul cultivation, the same could not be said of the other categories. In particular, her Body cultivation lagged far behind the rest – a problem that, over the next few thousand years, she hoped to rectify.

Nothing would ever happen without work, though, so she resolved to expend as much effort as necessary. The stakes required as much.

Still, one facet of her Mind remained on Elijah Hart and his progress in the little Trial the system had set up for his world.

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