I quickly learned that Cami had far more to offer than simply buffing me. She was a weapon in her own right, a valuable component in our combined battles who could reach places I wasn't able to go. My respect for her grew immensely and I knew she was at least the equal of any of the new dragons. My pride in my bonded knew no bounds.

  I don’t think I would claim she was my equal at that point, but I did know that without her I was so much… less. We were a team, and together we were more than the sum of our separate abilities. With Cami at my side, I felt there was little we couldn’t do.

  At the end of those two weeks of training, I felt better prepared than I had at any point up until now. I gave instructions to Cassandra for running the island while I was gone. With Rollie and Patch as her enforcers, I was confident that the building would continue and she would work on getting the humans, and perhaps more elves if they ever arrived, settled in properly.

  My minions needed to breed so the population that served me could grow—but that was a long-term plan. For now, I needed them to create an infrastructure I could rely upon to feed and support an army—at least that was what I’d been assured would be possible by my inner circle of minions.

  My crafters were hard at work creating quality weapons and armor while the farmers grew food and raised animals. I did partake of a bovine snack or two before we left. It wouldn’t do to fly on an empty stomach.

  Vox was going to travel separately from me and Cami, bringing with her the host of new dragons. I wanted to check out the threats we might face with my own eyes before these relatively inexperienced dragons were thrust into combat without the formerly parasitic brains of their pseud-riders to guide them.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t trust the reports that had been brought back by my exalted minions. I paid a great deal of attention to what they had said. I refrained from pranking Modessa, because her suggestion that we use the dungeon outbreaks as a training opportunity for Cami and I was spot on.

  This was a ripe opportunity for us to put our combat training into practice and perhaps gain a few more levels. Seeing the weaker, smaller dragons reminded me that there would always be bigger threats that only I was equipped to fight. And reaching the ancient age category would represent a significant increase in power for me—not to mention the value gaining more levels for our combat classes would have.

  If I had one regret about the two weeks we’d spent creating Soul Seeds and training, it was that I’d been too busy to start learning elven magic. The gains from human magic had been driven home. So, why not elven magic?

  The little visions I’d had in the Dragon Dream of Tiamat suggested that was a wise course of action. Each of the so-called lesser races had something to offer and it seemed wisdom fitting of a dragon that I seek to learn from them.

  I didn’t know about parlaying with thieving dwarves, but perhaps even they had something of value I might snatch from their grubby mitts.

  The morning before we took off, I received a messenger from the Clan of the Dragon. They offered to send a bonded dragon rider and a few squads of dragon disciples to join us in Taliea. I sent Rizal to give them my enthusiastic acceptance and to coordinate our plans.

  The final thing I did before we flew south and west was to take one last look at my quests for any updates:

  All stats, draconic abilities, and control of the magic of Ileria are boosted by a total of 100%. This is your current maximum benefit as a dragon monarch. You must advance your monarch status in order to receive further bonuses.

  You have progressed toward accessing the Horn Evolution. Though 126 of 100 required dragons have pledged their fealty to you, you still lack the Prismatic Evolution.

  I chortled with joy at the fact that my stats had doubled. No dragon even close to my age category could hope to match me, and the more I grew, the greater this difference would grow thanks to this benefit. I also felt the tremendous connection I had with Ileria as it continued to grow.

  It was no longer like I had to force the magic to do anything; it now seemed to bowed before me, humbly begging to be used. Even Cami had noted how her spells seemed so much more powerful; my exalted minions said the same.

  I almost elected to gain three more exalted minions, but held off at the last second. I wanted to see the threats in the desert for myself before I made a final decision. Quantity had a quality all its own, after all.

  In much the same way, I decided to hold off on seeking another evolution. It most assuredly didn’t have a thing to do with my reluctance to spend the DKP that had finally reached a respectable level once more. I needed a second evolution before I could take the Prismatic Evolution and I was a bit nervous about that one.

  Having experienced visions where I saw out of five heads all at once had me worried what Cami might think if I became that ugly. The streaks which altered the formerly perfect blue scales along my neck were already more than I’d wanted, and I worried that such an evolution would result in me sprouting extra heads or simply becoming a rainbow-colored mess. I put such worries off to another, future day.

  When we departed the island, Cami and I flew quickly. Instead of flying overland when we reached the continent, we hugged the coastline. This took us past Maltesur, a human city-state on the northeastern corner of Taliea. From there, we flew down the coastline, past dozens of villages and over scores of fishing vessels. None saw us because we flew high enough that weak human eyes could not spy us.

  When we got close to the human city of Segwin, I felt anger rise up within me. A trio of dragons flew a wide patrol over their city—except these weren’t real dragons, they were still domesticated. I knew that not all human city-states had obeyed the Emperor’s decree, but seeing it incensed me.

  “Nico, I know you’re upset,” Cami sent, “but if we engage them now, they could be hurt and you’ve been stressing that we needed to move quickly. Why don’t you send Galbrecht to Segwin to negotiate for their peaceful release?”

  I thought about it for a moment before I replied, “That is a good idea… and if they don’t comply, then Modessa can simply remove their human ruler. Perhaps his replacement will be more compliant.”

  I sensed Cami’s hesitation at my idea, but after a moment of indecision, she sighed and it was settled. I simply needed to send instructions to my Emissary and Shadow—which I’d do once we stopped for the night. I didn’t want to test my ability to speak to my exalted minions in mid-flight.

  Once past Segwin, we turned westward and headed for the mountains, which framed the eastern side of the Taleian desert. That was when I got my first thrill of this flight. I saw dragons flying below us, but they were much larger than domesticated dragons or even the freed ones.

  These had to be real dragons. A pair of them were circling each other.

  As we got closer, I realized this might not be a good thing. They were clearly preparing to fight. Either one of them needed to submit or this would come to blows. Fortunately, dragons often postured for a good while when facing one another, so I hoped to have time.

  One of the dragons below us was a blue. When more detail became available, I noted it was a female—likely a mature adult, judging from her size. She looked oddly familiar.

  The second dragon was a red. He maintained a position close to the side of one of the mountains. If I had to guess, he was guarding his hoard from the blue. He was either a later mature adult or perhaps an elder, thought I was too far away to identify which.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Cami asked.

  I was immediately conflicted. I heard again that voice in my head, as a memory more than words from the present: “Children fight, but killing one another only weakens all of us.”

  These words matched the attitude with which Tiamat had regarded her children. She didn’t brook defiance or disrespect—what dragon would?—but she had encouraged her progeny to get along. The more I saw of her in the dream, the less I could connect the dragons of her day with the dragons of today.

  Perhaps the alterations of the Pact explained it, but I couldn’t fathom why any dragon would have entered into a Pact with the gods and horrors—certainly not why they had turned against the dragon mother.

  I stopped when I was roughly five miles away from the red and the blue. They both had to be aware of me, though they remained focused on each other. That is, until the blue broke away and flew towards me. The red roared at her tail but didn’t follow.

  As the blue got closer, the sense of recognition grew stronger by the second.

  Cami was the first to say it. “Is that… is that your mother?”

  I didn’t need to respond. Such relationships didn’t mean the same thing to dragons—as had been made painfully clear by the hatchling Seli’s behavior. I thought back through the Dragon Dream and realized that I shouldn’t expect any motherly affection.

  To her, I was just another dragon—an elder male, for that matter. The fact that I was a blue, like her, didn’t mean we would immediately start on good terms. She likely did expect me to side with her again the red.

  When she closed with me, we locked gazes. She didn’t have identification magic like I did, and I wasn’t aware of any way that she might recognize me as the same hatchling she had last seen several years ago.

  Winging past, she stretched out her neck and gave me a fleeting sign of submission. That wasn’t to say that she would obey me, but it seemed she was trying to demonstrate respect.

  “Honored elder,” she called out, “the desert is in turmoil. As you know, we blues have long claimed this as our home, but a red took up residence in the mountains a couple centuries ago. He has driven off or killed any blues who sought to challenge him. Now that the lowlands are unsafe because of the monster swarms, I sought shelter here and even offered to bring gold to his hoard, but he has rejected me.

  “Now that you are here, we don’t need to bow to a lazy red. Instead, we can drive him off together. The majority of his gold would be yours, of course, as could other things… if the mood comes upon you.”

  I groaned internally.

  Cami echoed my feelings, though she chose to voice them, “Eww… did she just offer to …”

  “It’s the dragon way. Strong sires produce strong offspring. Mature adults are the ones most likely to breed. Before that, the females are too young and once beyond the age of elder, much of the desire seems to leave my people. Though perhaps that is because, by then, they truly are ancient—not just in age category but in actual years.”

  I felt a tremble of fear and concern pass through the bond and I added, “I may be close to ancient but I feel more like a new mature adult dragon. I have many years left in me.”

  For some reason, those words comforted Cami. Actually, I knew the reason for that, but wasn’t ready to dwell on it—not with the behavior I had started to notice I’d been evidencing.

  When I didn’t answer, my mother said, “You can’t be one of those slave dragons in the north. I’ve seen them before, but they are tiny. Yet you have a rider. Are you part of the cult?”

  “No,” I finally replied, “I’m a freely bonded dragon.” I adjusted our flight until we were above though still in her field of vision. “I’m not surprised that you don’t recognize me. mother. I’m barely more than fifty years old.”

  She seemed to miss a beat of her wings, but fortunately the magic of Ileria kept her aloft. “Impossible,” she hissed, “that clutch was destroyed by adventurers.”

  “No, I and one of the females, Sheraleigh, survived. She is in a human city to the north—treated as a respected guest until I figure out what to do with her. On the other wing, I have returned to the desert to create a nation of dragons. I’ve been freeing the dragons enslaved by humans, and have reached an agreement with their ruler by which they have ceded the desert to us. It will become a home for all dragons.”

  She snorted, but quickly stifled it. “That was you? I have heard… tales. We dragons have spoken with others of our kind far more of late, as the world has become a chaotic place.”

  “It’s only going to get worse. The horrors our ancestors fought are returning. Our ancestor, Draconis, fought them off last time, but we need to build up our strength. I’m coming to claim this land and any dragons who would live here must bow before me as their monarch.”

  The red must have tired of our conversation because he started flying toward us. I got the chance to cast Identify before he got too close and grinned. Red or not, another elder would be welcome.

  Harshdeep

  Race: Red Dragon

  Maturity: Elder (12% to Ancient)

  Length: 101’4” Weight: 62,003 lbs.

  Now, I just had to see if he was willing to talk, or if I’d have to fight him first.

  Chapter 37- Foundations of Flame and Spark

  Of course, this couldn’t be easy. The red had started sucking in air in what I recognized as the precursor to a breath attack. I really couldn’t blame him—faced with two reds that threatened my hoard, I’d have done the same thing. Facing off against a lone, weaker dragon like my mother, he would have felt confident. It was easy not to be aggressive when you were sure of yourself.

  Now, though, he had to think that two blue dragons were joining to attack him. He didn’t know that was the last thing I wanted. I needed allies, not more dragons to fight.

  I quickly moved in front of my mother, though it would be more appropriate to start referring to her by her name. Her days of doing anything motherly for me had long since passed.

  “Crysandora,” I roared, “get behind me.”

  As a jet of flame rushed toward me, I quickly cast Resist Energy (Fire). The spell didn’t grant me immunity from fire, but rather reduced the amount of damage I took from fire by 30%. Even better, Cami had Dragon’s Truth in her hands and was using its attunement to fire to absorb a great deal of the heat. In the end, I was scorched by his flames, but my massive health pool easily absorbed it.

  Because of my doubled stats, I could afford to react differently than if I was fighting a dragon who should have been my equal in battle. My mind raced, and I felt that moment where once again things seemed to slow down. There was a need here to ensure I did this right… something was important about this moment.

  It was almost like the Dragon Dream was screaming at me not to muck this up.

  A phrase from a quest popped into my head: Reform the Mother’s Heart.

  The Mother’s Heart was supposedly an enchantment that Tiamat had created, but as my mind mulled over what I should do, I realized that it was simpler than that. I’d always viewed the world differently than my fellow dragons. It was what enabled me to learn from humans and in learning from them, I’d seen things.

  Human parents, especially mothers, went to ridiculous lengths to protect their children. They had a great love for them—even when their young were disobedient. This was so different than what we experienced as dragons.

  A flash of the battle between Tiamat and her three children came to my mind. I’d sensed such an emotion there—though it didn’t stop her from doing what a dragon had to do. This was starting to make so much more sense.

  It wasn’t that the Mother’s Heart was simply a global enchantment. It was, rather, Ileria’s magic made manifest in response to Tiamat’s love for her children, her love for all dragons. That was what we were missing. That was what the Pact had taken from us.

  So much suffering and pain could be laid on the wings of those who had made this Pact with the gods and terrors. They broke our race, divided our family, and made us little more than selfish individuals spread across the globe. This was yet another thing I’d had to learn from humans—something which dragonkind had once known but then lost.

  Ferocity and individuality were wired into us, but it was never meant to be to the point that we couldn’t work together.

  “Hold,” I called out. “I am not your enemy, Harshdeep.”

  My voice echoed with the power of a dragon monarch. Dragons were supposed to give weight to what my words, although being the same age category meant that this red would not be as powerfully affected as those I’d spoken with up to now. Despite that, he stopped.

  When he spread his wings and halted his dive at me, my mother moved to attack. As she did, I growled, “Don’t you dare.” After giving it a few seconds to ensure she had heard and obeyed, I said, “This is something I need to handle on my own.”

  To my bonded, I growled, “Take care of her.”

  Cami leaped from my back as wings sprouted from between her shoulder blades. “I will.”

  Strangely, mother must have thought I was speaking her because she replied, “Yes, monarch.”

  Hmmm… I wasn’t sure what to make of that, but they both descended in broad spirals to the rocky ground below, finding perches on a cliff and staring at one another. I hoped that Cami didn’t expect meeting my mother to be remotely similar to how it might have gone with humans, with their mating custom of bringing a potential mate to meet their parents.