Each of these items was a masterpiece in its own right, a testament to the skill and craftsmanship of its maker. And yet, there was more to them than just their physical beauty. There was a sense of history about them, a feeling that they had seen much and experienced much in their time. These were not just objects, but pieces of a larger story, fragments of a tapestry that spanned the ages. They added a certain gravitas to my hoard.

  As I gazed upon them, I was finally able to appreciate at a deeper level why a dragon wanted… no, why a dragon needed a hoard. These items connected me to a larger world. They reflected my majesty, in that they were mine, and added a certain something to me.

  As I moved closer to inspect my newfound wealth, I was struck by the sheer variety of items that made up the hoard… no, that made up my hoard. There were coins from all over the realm, some so old that the designs on them were almost worn away, others so shiny and new that they looked as if they had just been minted.

  Among the gems, I spotted diamonds as clear as water, rubies as red as blood, sapphires as blue as the sky, and emeralds as green as the forest. There were opals that shimmered with a rainbow of colors, and pearls that glowed with a soft, milky light.

  As for the valuable goods and commodities, there were bolts of silk and rolls of velvet, casks of fine wine, and chests filled with spices from distant lands. There were intricately carved statues made of ivory, and paintings that seemed to come alive as I gazed upon them. There were musical instruments, all beautifully crafted, and weapons that looked as if they’d been made for a king. Those items held less interest to me, but their inherent value increased the beauty of my hoard.

  I practically felt like I was swimming through the hoard, even if it wasn’t quite large enough for that. I was careful as I moved about and inspected each mound. I found even more magical items as I did so. I could sense their power whenever I got close to one. There was a staff that seemed to pulse with energy, a ring that glowed with a soft, ethereal light, and a dagger that seemed to hum with an almost musical note. There was a cloak that shimmered and changed colors as I looked at it, and a necklace that seemed to have a life of its own.

  As I took it all in, I was struck again that this was not just a hoard because of the wealth it represented, but because it was a collection of history—of stories from all over Ileria. Each item had its own tale to tell, its own journey that had led it to this place. And now, they were all mine.

  As I thought this, I felt my mind creating a catalogue of each of the items.

  You have learned a new ability: Hoard Memory. This ability is automatically obtained by any dragon whose hoard exceeds 1,000,000 gold in value.

  I pushed the notification away. I didn’t need to read the rest of the description provided by the system. I knew what the ability did.

  My hoard was now an extension of my being. It would take time for me to process all of it, but once I was finished, I would know the placement of each individual coin and could even track a limited number of them if they were taken from my hoard. I expected that ability could even be expanded with an expenditure of DKP.

  As I settled down amidst my hoard, I felt a sense of contentment wash over me. This cave, with its dwarven-worked stone walls, its massive, vaulted ceiling, and its dragon-sized architecture, was now my lair. And this hoard, with its glittering coins, its precious gems, its valuable goods and commodities, and its magical items, was my treasure.

  I knew that there would be challenges ahead, that there would be times when I would be tested to my limits. But for now, I was content. I was home.

  Chapter 32 - Bearing the Soul

  The next few days were blissful. My minion Cassandra handled all dealings with the guards and workmen the Emperor had sent. There were a few knights amongst them who needed to swear fealty to their new lord. Cami, Cassandra, Galbrecht, and Modessa all discussed with me the relative virtue of revealing myself to the humans here.

  In the end, Cassandra believed that it would be better to delay, while Galbrecht thought that it might cause problems but believed that it was still the right thing for me to do—to reveal myself, that is. Cami and Modessa agreed with revealing myself, but only to those for whom it was necessary. Modessa said again and again as we discussed the issue, that having a hidden secret would be a huge boon; there was no reason to reveal my full strength.

  For me, revealing myself was the draconic thing to do. These lesser beings needed to know that dragons were not to be trifled with. After processing those thoughts and listening to everyone’s counsel, it was likely the fact that my mind evolution seemed to be more of an ongoing process than a onetime event which pushed me the most one way.

  I always said that dragons don’t lie—it isn’t necessary for us. But now, I was able to parse out how the humans working for me would likely feel, learning that they were being lied to about who it was they served. In one way, it would have been easier if I could have turned all of the humans on my island into my minions, but that wasn’t an option.

  My minion cap was now set at a hundred plus a single exalted minion. There were at least a hundred knights and soldiers who were meant to be the beginning of the household guard for Lord Sandumas. Additionally, there were nearly two hundred builders and a similar number of sailors. Fortunately, none of them had brought any of their mates or offspring with them, but still, that was beyond the number of minions I could take.

  And I already had taken a third of my available hundred minions, having accepted all of Daggin's and Ruben’s apprentices as minions, as well as Cassandra. Of course, adding on those additional minions had resulted in me gaining 315 DKP, and Cami had gotten 35 as I’d let her offer them contracts.

  I felt it was rather magnanimous of me—additional proof of further growth that I was happy to share 10% of my DKP with her. It also gave me a new perspective on minions. While I could only gain the benefit for each minion position that I filled, Cassandra had been worth so many more DKP than any of the apprentices. Getting sixty-seven more level 5-10 apprentice minions might give me 1000 more DKP, but I could get the same amount for less than twenty high-level minions.

  I would, of course, need lower level minions—but I also needed to focus on finding the best minions I could. This could actually end up being a significant stream of DKP. I had my bond to accelerate DKP, but for most dragons their minions was their greatest source of DKP.

  Even considering this possibility, I didn’t spend any of the DKP I had earned. I had experienced enough growth recently; I still needed to adapt to my new body.

  After taking those few days to bask in the glory of my new hoard and to ponder weighty issues like minion management, I came up with the solution of having the knights, building foreman, and ship captains brought to me so they could see the real me and decide if they wanted to become minions or food.

  Well, I made sure that the second part was worded differently, but it was what was in the back of my mind. It wasn’t that I would actually eat them. I’d lost almost all desire to eat humans after having lived as one. The problem was that I simply couldn’t allow them to leave the island knowing my secret without a minion contract.

  At the appointed time, I was sitting atop part of my hoard when Cassandra and Galbrecht led a group of six humans into my lair. I could hear their voices before they reached us.

  One of the men asked, “Why would a nobleman want to live inside of a cave?”

  Another said, “We could easily have built him a temporary home.”

  Cassandra said, “Our lord is a… unique individual.”

  Galbrecht added, “Stop asking questions. You’ve already been told everything would become clear once you meet your new lord. I will, however, remind you that this is your last chance to turn around. Once you see him, it will be a done deal.”

  The first voice I didn’t recognize said, “No, I’m not going to be dissuaded. The Emperor himself offered me this opportunity and told me that Lord Sandumas was only going to grow in power and prestige. I am happy to attach my family to a Lord who has the Emperor’s respect.”

  There was a bit more grumbling, but in the end, none of them turned around and left. I smelled Cassandra’s scent before any of the others. She smelled of various herbs and plants, which were used in her alchemy, as well as the earthy scent of ground bone.

  She bowed low when she saw me. “Lord Sandumas, I present to you several new liege men and potential employees or, as you like to call them, minions.”

  Cami was already beside me. She chuckled, as she must have found Cassandra’s words humorous for some reason. For me, the dragon-minion relationship was too vital to make light of it. I didn’t say a word, though, and instead basked in the absolute shock and awe upon the faces of all six men.

  Two wore heavy armor as knights were wont to do, while another had on a uniform, livery such as chief servants might wear, with a blue dragon imprinted upon their tunic. Another wore clothing I associated with sailors, and one was obviously a soldier but did not wear the same heavy armor as the first two. The final man appeared to be in what I took to be the attire of a laborer.

  There was an initial moment where the knights fumbled for their swords.

  Cami moved to intercept them, but Galbrecht was faster. He slapped down their arms and hissed, “Don’t act the fool! This is your new lord, and even if he wasn’t, do you really think you could threaten him?”

  The servant in livery was the first to bow. Then the knights both bowed, and soon the others followed.

  The taller of the two knights stood up after bowing and asked, “I’m still confused. Are you a wizard, Lord Sandumas?”

  I chuckled. “I eat wizards for breakfast.”

  The two knights glanced at each other and once again, their hands went to their swords. Cami stepped up again, lowering her spear.

  I shook my head. “No, it’s good that they are ready to fight, just so long as they know where to direct that energy. I was only making a small joke about wizards.”

  I stood and then leaned forward so that I loomed over them. “I am a true born dragon—which is something very different from the kind that you’re familiar with. I would only ever eat a human in the most dire of circumstances. I’ve never eaten a whole human, though the one time I chomped on one in battle, it left a nasty taste in my mouth.”

  I chuckled, which caused the sailor and workman to flinch. “Some might say that humans taste like chicken, but I personally prefer cows.”

  None of them seemed to know what to say, until the sailor burst out laughing. “Are you messing with us, Lord Sandumas?”

  “No.”

  The man’s laugh faltered.

  I changed into my human form and walked forward. “I truly am a dragon, but my magic allows me to change shape. I didn’t ask the Emperor to be named a noble, but I am seeking minions. I’ll let my dragon knight explain things to you.”

  Then I shifted back to my natural form and laid down on my gold. I only partially paid attention to their words and spent more time reading their body language. Human non-verbal communication was still something of a foreign language to me, but even I had picked up a few things while living amongst them. In the end, they all wisely agreed to accept minion contracts.

  Sir Michael was the senior of the knights, with Sir Thomas being his lieutenant. Each commanded a cavalry company of sixty soldiers. William, the soldier not in armor, was the captain in charge of the infantry and archers. Emilio, in his very sharp livery, was a trained butler. And while he seemed unsure as to exactly what my needs might be, he managed a serving staff of ten cooks and half-a-dozen groundskeepers.

  Amos was the owner of the three ships and captain of one of them. He wasn’t sure what a dragon might need with his ships, but after we talked about my ideas regarding commerce and shipping, he seemed open-minded to the opportunities. The final human he accepted as a minion was Bob, the head of a construction crew which had already built the docks and were now working on housing for the soldiers, and others.

  We discussed plans, and I listened to each of them after they’d accepted minion contracts. Many were surprised by the benefits, but I pointed out to them that I couldn’t take on everyone as a minion—so they might want to keep it secret. We made plans to bring more servants in to meet me after they talked about how they could keep my hoard polished. I also gave permission for them all to have their families brought here, as long as they followed the orders. For now, the chain of command went from me, to Cami, to Cassandra.

  All of this was new and rather alien, but I couldn’t help but believe I would be able to grow my lair faster than any dragon had in the past. With willing minions, and people working for their own benefit in addition to my own, it seemed to be a strong path forward—even if other dragons had never considered it.

  We settled in for several more days. Things went well, and I was surprised at how much Modessa actually did help out, working with my minions. I was beginning to wonder if perhaps I shouldn’t make her a minion. I wasn’t sure if it would help her, but it seemed that her pain was manageable as long as she didn’t move too quickly or use any of her spells or abilities.

  Cassandra tried to get me to practice alchemy each day, but I had to educate her on the great custom of the dragon nap. Looking this good didn’t come easy, after all. Finally, I started to feel a most undragonlike sensation—impatience.

  Unsettled by this sensation, I decided to take a look at the crystals created by Tolston. They could be used to create a signature spell. The question was, whether or not I had any spells which were good enough to use the crystal on? A signature spell needed to be one that I would cast frequently.

  The mana cost reduction wasn’t that great of an incentive for me because of the size of my mana pool. A signature spell would either be a spell that I used very frequently or one which I could get a lot more punch from if properly upgraded. Many of my new spells were simply that—new.

  I didn’t have any idea about their value.

  That left me with Malcor’s Wings of Darkness. It was a powerful spell which would only grow more powerful. If it became my signature spell, it would hit even harder. The reduction in casting time would be nice, but not game changing. The cool down going from sixty minutes to thirty minutes wouldn’t really matter. No battle was likely to last even ten minutes, so it wouldn’t help me use the spell more often.

  In the end, I decided to hold off on using the crystal. But that made me think of another item that I had in storage which did need to be used. The evolutionary goo was something I’d obtained a while ago, and my idea was to use it on the bears.

  They were good friends to Cami and had showed a remarkable amount of intelligence for such creatures. Sure, they were a bit hairier than humans—though not by much, actually. Of the two mammals, the bears definitely had far less attitude.

  With that in mind, I went out to stretch my wings. I flew around the island for a bit. All the workmen and soldiers stopped what they were doing and stared up into the sky. I knew that the freed dragons regularly hunted along the coastline, so the humans were used to seeing dragons. Then again, I was significantly more massive than those dragons. It wasn’t surprising that they might be shocked to see me.

  My minions had decided to tell the other humans that I was a dragon bonded to Lady Cami, their lord’s companion. What all that meant, I didn’t know, but I figured was a good idea to wait until we were sure of the loyalty of these non-minions before revealing my true identity.

  I quickly found a hilly area where the now grown cubs lay sprawled under the shade of a tree. Cami must have sensed what I was doing, because she arrived not long after I landed. I transformed into my human form simply because it would be easier to administer the goo to the bears.

  This was a bit of trial and error on my part. In fact, with that in mind, I decided to get Cassandra to come help, as well. While waiting for Cami to get the older minion, I spoke to the bears for a while. They were pretty sharp, but not as bright as humans. Well, not as bright as the humans I regularly associated with, that is. I’m sure they could give some humans back in Cami’s village a run for their money, though.

  I could respect their simpler minds, though. They didn’t have pretenses. They slept, ate, crapped, and played. It was an easy life. As I waited, I had another idea. Would I be able to further enhance them? Perhaps something as a surprise for Cami? She loved the bears, and I wanted them to be around for as long as possible… for her sake.

  Making them minions seemed like the immediate answer, but I wasn’t sure if they were eligible to become minions. I thought back, trying to recall any memories I had from the Dragon Dream about whether any of my ancestors had ever used creatures other than humans, elves, dwarves, or orcs as minions.

  I had a vague recollection of a story, but it was not a direct memory—so not one of my ancestors. Apparently, though there were rumors of a black dragon who had lived high in the mountains of a different continent and who’d had tiger people as minions. In my memories of the dream, my ancestor had seemed confused about whether the creatures were a race of tiger people who walked on two legs, or if the dragon had done something to alter beasts in some way that made them more than tigers.