“As I’m sure you are aware, Professor, a bag of holding connects to a pocket dimension. These three bags just happen to connect to the same one. One of the bags is with my dad and the other is with our staff in Eris’ Rise. So, if this works like I think it should, then one of them will get that note and then respond. This should work because there is no direct communication between Solun and Talos.”

  “You really are full of wonders. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised given that you are a meta-mage.”

  “Oh?” Mira asked. “I would have thought that there would be other meta-mages here. It is only a rare class after all.”

  “Once upon a time there may have been many meta-mages, but now, the nature of magic is much better understood, and thus most people would never seek to explore the fundamentals of magic. The last known meta-mage on Solun was Alucien, which is another reason that I need that pendant from you. It will create enough ripples that you are a meta-mage. You don’t want them also finding out that you had a connection, no matter how tenuous, with the former Archmage of the Imperium, nor that you are from Talos.”

  “I can agree to that as soon as I get a response from my parents.”

  “No one ever turns down an invitation to study at the Imperium,” Megor said while shaking his head. “I predict that you, Miranda Nelson, are going to cause quite the stir here.”

  He immediately stopped speaking as they both turned in response to a whisper of sound behind them. Mira was immediately calling up spells as she saw something she had never expected. It was as though Altracia the dungeon drake had taken on humanoid form.

  The man—yeah, he must be a man with the way he was built—standing in front of her was part dragon and part human. His form was basically humanoid, but he had golden scales all over his body, and over that he wore a chainmail vest with the symbol of a tower upon its front. In his hand was a sword that was pointed directly at them.

  Horns extended from his head outward at an angle and also from his shoulders and elbows. His arms had armor as well as bracers but ended in clawed fingers. He was at least seven feet tall and exuded an aura of overwhelming confidence and power. This was not someone to be trifled with.

  “Explain what you are doing here or be struck down.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Mystery creates wonder, and wonder is the basis of man's desire to understand. Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit. Wisdom begins in wonder. It's no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. —E. E. Cummings

  Imperium- Mira Nelson

  Megor scoffed. “Step off, Dragos. I have no time for you now.”

  The dragonkin snorted, and a small puff of literal flame blasted out of his nose. “You’ll make time. I’m tasked with guarding these halls, and yet here I find you after hours and with a stranger who has no pass to the Imperium with her.”

  “You are always sticking your snout where it doesn’t belong. One day you shall find the flame too hot for your liking. I am a professor—”

  The dragonkin cut him off, “Junior instructor.” A heavy emphasis was placed on the first word.

  The moon elf’s dusky skin grew darker in an expression that Mira recognized as embarrassment. Then he said, “Professor Quag gave me permission to conduct experiments so I am here. I simply wanted to show a promising student the Imperium. It is my hope to find a sponsor for her, shortly.”

  “That isn’t how things are done here. There is something that doesn’t smell right about this. You will both have to come with me to the guard tower. Then you can discuss this matter with the captain.” He turned towards Mira then. “As for you, you will need to turn over any magical items you have on your person. They shall be held safely for you until your identity can be ascertained.”

  “No, she is my guest, and I will not have her treated like this. She is the first meta-mage I’ve heard of in a thousand years. I will not have her treated like this,” Megor said. It was clear from his tone, though, that he was more concerned about himself than Mira. “I know who your sponsor to the guard was, but don’t think that scares me.”

  The dragonkin warrior took a step forward till he loomed over the much smaller elven mage. “And I know who your true patron is. I won’t let that corruption spread here again.”

  “I don’t know what is going on here, but I was summoned here by a spell. It was not my intention to come here. In fact, I didn’t even know that such a place existed.”

  The dragonkin kept his sword point up against Megor’s throat but glanced over at Mira. “Lies. How could any mage not know about the Imperium?”

  “That’s easy for a mage who has never been to Solun until today.”

  The dragonkin stepped back then. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Simple. I was living on Talos until just a half-hour ago when I was summoned.”

  Dragos looked at Megor, “What is the meaning of this? One or both of you are lying to me. I won’t be trifled with.”

  “Don’t threaten me. You may have quite the reputation for destructive force, but don’t think to match yourself against me. I was going to keep it a secret from all but the Praetors and those they deemed it appropriate to tell, but yes, she was caught in my experiment and pulled here from Talos. At least that is accurate as far as I can tell.”

  Dragos raised his left wrist to his mouth. “Was that enough, Praetor Mecrid?”

  An old and warbly voice was projected out of the bracer. “Yes. Junior Instructor Megor, you will report to my office, immediately. As for the newcomer, you will take her to your sire as discussed. May the Gods have mercy upon her soul.”

  Mira was so entranced by the communication magic that she almost didn’t sweat the final statement made by the voice on the other end. Almost.

  Megor trembled but then spun away and walked down the hallway with the golem following him. He didn’t even spare a look for Mira. The brief glance she had of his face had shown fear plastered across it.

  She looked at Dragos. “I’ve done nothing. If you expect me to go down easily then you are mistaken.” She summoned a mage shield around herself as she spoke.

  “You can fight me. Maybe if you are very skilled at combat you might escape me. I’m only 5th Tier but very good at destroying things. You can take your chances. I will try to capture you but can’t promise that you will be alive when it happens. Or you can stand before my sire as the Praetor has ordered. If you are truly innocent, he will know it, and you will be afforded whatever aid we can grant you.”

  It wasn’t lost on Mira that he didn’t say what would happen if she wasn’t found to be innocent of whatever crime she was suspected of. Not that it was really necessary. These were very serious people, and she began to suspect that Megor had been up to something.

  She weighed her options. She truly was in a new world now, and she didn’t even have her family to help her. Mira had believed she was capable, but in this moment, she would have given a great deal to have one or both of her parents here to handle things.

  She decided to go with him. It seemed the more prudent option. It also didn’t hurt that for as alien as he appeared to be, Dragos really was quite handsome. His scales and the wings upon his back were both beautiful and majestic. Then there was also the aura of magic that radiated around him. It was full of fire and danger and Mira wasn’t the first teenage girl to find herself impossibly drawn toward a bad boy.

  “It doesn’t appear that I have much choice, but I have done nothing except be the victim of a kidnapping. I expect to be treated as such. Perhaps you can explain a few things about the Imperium to me.”

  “No, you are correct you don’t have much choice. As for giving you answers, that isn’t up to me. That is for my Sire, Filignus’montibus, to decide. Now, do you have a way to fly or must I carry you?”

  “I have a ring that will allow me to fly but only for a few minutes, and I also have a skill that will enable me to run through the air,” Mira replied.

  “Oh, this I must see. Follow me if you can. If you can’t keep up, then I will carry you. If you try to escape, then I will burn you to ash.”

  Without another word, he walked through a maze of hallways. He never looked back to see if she was still following, but Mira figured that just meant he had another way of sensing her, which was good information to have. Once they were outside, he spared a single glance at her, then his wings opened and beat.

  Mira could see the weaves of magic around his wings as he was lifted into the air. It only made sense that wings that size wouldn’t be able to propel a seven-foot-tall man in armor through the air, but it was still something to behold. She almost forgot to chase after him till he looked under himself and back at her. Mira started running forward and then leapt into the air.

  Her Airwalker Trait made this possible, but she still seldom did it for more than a few steps here or there. Now, though, she began running into the air. It was exhilarating, and for a brief second, she almost forgot she was a prisoner with her life on the line. Youth was good for that sort of forgetfulness. She raced forward, passing him.

  “Keep up? It looks like you are the one who has to keep up with me.” Even as she shouted the words, Mira knew it was silly. She had no idea where they were going, and she probably shouldn’t agitate the dragon man. She hadn’t tried to assess him yet, but her ability to see magic was growing to the point that she was pretty sure he was higher level than her dad and thus not someone she wanted to piss off.

  Eventually, she fell in behind him and watched as he flew. The warrior was the strong, silent type, which was in some ways a welcome change from having the Sun Elf ambassador as her traveling companion. It would have been even more welcome if she didn’t have so many questions.

  They ended up traveling for hours. She got a bird’s eye view of the Imperium as they left it behind. It was massive beyond anything that could properly be called an academy or even a university. It would have put many cities to shame. She guessed there had to be a few hundred thousand people living amidst all the buildings.

  It was quite the warren of twisting streets, which from above she could see had clearly been built over a long period of time and without good city planning. She was surprised that no guards tried to stop them, but maybe they had some way to recognize Dragos.

  She became nervous when she realized that the Imperium was on an island. Rather it was the island as there didn’t appear to be much land beyond the outer walls. Still, she ran on. Hour after hour they continued over open ocean till she saw a string of islands ahead. They traveled westward, so despite having traveled for several hours and a few hundred miles, the second sun was still only at its apex.

  The islands had the appearance of volcanic islands like Hawaii. They were lush and green in the distance, and only the largest of them appeared to have anything which might have been an active volcano. A slow steam of smoke issued forth from its mouth, and it soon became clear that was Dragos’ destination.

  Suddenly, Dragos slowed and fell back so that they were side by side. His wings were still beating, but he was able to speak without strain. A hint of magic was present in that as well. “Someone is coming to greet us, but I don’t believe it is my clan. We need to be ready to fight. Can you do that in the air?”

  She wanted to say ‘of course’, but she knew she would be handicapped if she tried to fight up here, so she shook her head in the negative. Dragos frowned but said, “So be it. Follow me down. If you are innocent you are going to have to fight to prove it sooner than expected. If you are part of their cabal then do me the favor of being honest.”

  “I don’t know who you are talking about, and frankly, I’m pissed. One second, I’m your prisoner. The next you are telling me I have to fight with you against something I can’t even see. All the time you are accusing me of being party to some evil I know nothing of,” Mira spat out angrily while following Dragos toward the shore of the closest isle.

  He growled. “I forget how weak elven and human eyes are.”

  Mira could only laugh considering the fact she had become accustomed to having vision that was superior to a human’s. “There are three dragonkin flying this way. They are likely Shadow Clan, so if you are who I fear you are, they are here to rescue you. By all rights, I should simply strike you down, but I find myself believing you just might be innocent.”

  “Speak plainly or can no one on all of Solun do that?”

  Dragos stared at her for a moment, then he asked, “Are you a member of the Cult of Alucien?”

  She burst into laughter. “Goddess no. He tried to corrupt my father and brother while sending people to kill me and my family. We fought a spiderkin mage who served him and have opposed his people at every step of the way. Before I was pulled to the Imperium, I was studying a pendant that we took from the corpse of one of his followers in the hopes that it would give us a way to find them.”

  “From the way you speak, one would think that Alucien is alive rather than dead for more than a thousand years.”

  “I only know that my father said that Alucien spoke to him and tried to recruit him. It took a terrible emotional toll on my father, but he rejected the offer.”

  “Then it is as my sire fears.”

  Dragos didn’t say another word until they landed on the isle. He looked at her again. “As Mishpat wills. If I die today, I will die with the sun upon my scales and trust in my heart.”

  Then Mira got another notification.

  Do you wish to accept the invitation to join the party of Merrick Dragos?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Claw and flame is the way of our ancestors. If we are to survive in the new world, it will require smooth tongues.” —An unknown elder dragon.

  Solun- unnamed isle- Mira Nelson

  Mira quickly accepted the party invitation and then looked at the sky again. She could make out three figures flying their way. Actually, as they got closer, she realized that there was a second and third wave of them. It wasn’t just three dragonkin coming, but rather nine of them. They were closing faster than seemed possible. Except that wasn’t true.

  She was no stranger to extreme speed. Part of the perks she had gained from the Watcher was superhuman running speed. Combined with agility and the Airwalker trait, her impossibly high combined Running and Balance skill at 384 made her faster than anything she had yet seen in Eloria. Certainly, she was faster than Dragos had flown. She could have left anytime she wished to, but despite calling her a prisoner and a liar, she found herself liking this dragonkin.

  These approaching figures were moving at least three times faster than her escort had flown. They were still too far away for her to see, but magic was the most likely explanation. With that in mind, she glanced at the party sheet to gauge Dragos.

  Merrick Dragos

  Class: True BornLevel: 47

  HP: 3740Mana: 610

  That was a staggering amount of HP. It might be possible that her dad had more in his dungeon-born form, but she wasn’t exactly sure. Either way, it was significant, even if his mana wasn’t that impressive.

  “So I assume you looked at my stats. Do you have a plan? Anything to tell me about our incoming company.”

  “You speak oddly, even for an elf. Perhaps it is your mixed heritage, or perhaps you really are from Talos. Either way, the fact that you are a meta-mage confuses me. You really were speaking the truth, but I don’t know what a meta-mage can do.

  “I can, however, tell you about the ones who are coming. They are shadow clan for sure. I can smell their stench already. Most of them appear to be warrior types, while the rest will be mages. Shadow clan tends to mostly have mages with Charm, Essence, or Shaping specialization. If I were guessing they will be high 4th Tier or low 5th Tier. They likely want to kill me, but I suppose there is a chance they are here because of you.”

  Dragos shook his head. “Another meta-mage. This is going to be either very bad or very good.”

  Mira smirked. “It won’t be either if we don’t win. Is there anywhere for us to hide?”

  “There are some caves that are the remains of an old temple here, but True Born don’t run.”

  Mira wanted to scream. She had no idea what his class meant, but she didn’t need another man full of machismo in her life. “It isn’t running to choose the terrain for our battle. They outnumber us, and it sounds like they out-level me. I’m confident of my ability to handle a Tier 4 mage maybe even two. My class gives me advantages against other mages, but high-level melee threats are much harder for me.”

  Dragos stared at her. For a second there was an almost predatory look in his eyes, then he blinked. “It is unusual for my kind to share weaknesses, but I will say that my class is an epic one and gives me certain advantages as well. Some of those advantages I can’t use in tight confines, but I agree it would be best for us to pick the battlefield. Who knows what items they may have to deploy, and battles are often won or lost based on equipment—of which it appears you have precious little.”

  As an enchanter, Mira wanted to bristle at that comment, but a part of her knew it was true. There was so much more she could have made if only there had been time. Since arriving in Eloria, they were always on the move, and that was even with gaining an extra three years inside the dungeon. “Do they have any weaknesses?”

  Dragos grabbed her arm while pointing upward. The figures were far too close for comfort now, so she wasn’t shocked when he yanked her, hard. She was almost pulled off balance and realized she couldn’t break free with strength, so she twisted and managed to slip out of his grasp.

  He glared at her, but she simply said, “Lead the way, but don’t drag me.”