Oh, wait… uh…

  Had I just admitted to myself that Cami considered me a potential mate? It wasn’t that hard to see, if I stopped hiding my head under my wing. In retrospect, it was as clear as the snout on my face,

  What did that mean I thought about her?

  I shook my head. This was neither the time nor the place for such thoughts. I needed to deal with what was happening—here… now

  Harshdeep spoke in a gravelly voice befitting his name, “What do you want, blue? I’ve not seen you in these mountains. I knew of the female, but her lair is further to the west, out in the flatlands.”

  “And why did she come here now?” I asked.

  “That is no concern of mine. I protect what is mine. This is the dragon way. You should know that. Are you trying to impress her to mate with her? If so, you should know she bore a clutch only some fifty years past.”

  I felt bile rise up within my throat. Dragons might have different rules for such things, but I’d become too accustomed to humans and now such thoughts turned my stomach—not the idea of mating with a dragon, even if I considered myself too young for such thoughts, but rather because she was my mother.

  “Far from it. But I think you know more than you’re telling me,” I growled.

  He flapped his wings in a deliberate upstroke—the equivalent of a shrug for a dragon mid-flight. “She likely flees from the dungeon overload. Much of the flatlands have been overrun by twisted monstrosities. The humans all flee to the north, while the other dragons in this area are either leaving for the elven realm or, if they aren’t strong enough to make that journey, are digging in to wait out this calamity.”

  I grunted in response.

  “I say again,” Harshdeep rumbled, “that is the dragon way. We protect what is ours.”

  “But all of Ileria is ours,” I argued. “Should we not protect that? The gods wish to rule this world and the horrors wish to destroy it. Have you no memories in the Dragon Dream of such things?”

  Harshdeep shrugged again. “I remember that many dragons died the last time we fought the horrors. That time, as well, it was a blue Draconis who led my ancestors.”

  “Yes, but he never united them. I’m telling you there is more to being a dragon than standing alone. We each have power, but we can be stronger together.”

  When I spoke the words, I got a warning from the system. It was a repeat of something I’d seen before.

  You are experiencing a resurgence of the Mother’s Heart.

  Warning: If you complete this you will individually be in violation of the Pact. Your position as a Balance Warden will be altered.

  Before I had pushed such a notification aside, determined to think on it later. Now, was later. It seemed I had a decision to make.

  Balance Warden was a system created position in response to the Pact. I still had to think more on just what this system was. As far as I could tell, it was a remnant of some being or something beyond what I could conceive which had made all of Ileria and perhaps all of … well, everything.

  It was Eternity, or what remained of Eternity. Perhaps it was only that part of Eternity we could relate to. Either way, that didn’t matter at the moment. The simple fact of the matter was that Balance Warden was a title for a particularly well-behaved inmate—a prisoner of the Pact.

  I rejected it with an exercise of my will before I roared out the words. “I reject the Pact!”

  Time stopped as the world seemed to warp around me. I felt the magic of Ileria swirl in on itself like one of the swirly sinkholes in the ocean. It was sucked in and became denser around us in the eternity of a heartbeat. I could never have manipulated this level of magic if it were not for the greater control I’d gained from my followers as a dragon monarch.

  Harshdeep was buffeted about as though he were stuck in the middle of a storm. It looked like he was trying to fly away, but was moving in super slow motion as the magic congealed around us. It made the very air solid.

  Even as my body felt like I was trapped in amber, my mind raced. Notifications began to pour in.

  You have gained the modifier: Pactless.

  This modifier to your race will exist until either the majority of dragons in Ileria have left the Pact or the gods collectively repudiate the Pact. The horrors do not yet know of your decision due to the planar block, but they would support it.

  You have lost the title: Balance Warden.

  You lose 50 stat points - deducted from Durability

  You lose the Mortal Cloak Ability.

  I felt a brief surge of weakness ripple through my body. Fifty points of Durability was nothing to sneeze at—and its loss was effectively doubled, since my stats were doubled. That was a solid 1000 HP gone in an instant, not to mention the general resistance it granted me.

  Then another notification appeared.

  You may assume a new title if you wish: Dragon Advocate.

  This will not upgrade your Dragon Monarch status but will grant you a new position dealing with the forces which have designs upon Ileria.

  Do you accept?

  Maybe I should have taken more time to consider the offer, but as much as I wanted to rule, I also wanted to advocate for dragonkind. I wanted to establish a new draconic race that ruled Ileria like it once had, back before Tiamat disappeared.

  As I accepted, I felt a huge portion of the weight of that mana in the air around me settle on me.

  Dragon Advocate - You speak for the shared interests of dragons all over Ileria in communication with gods, horrors, or other extra-planar beings. Unlike a Dragon Emperor, your word is not completely binding upon all dragons and some may act to reject it, though all dragons will be considered as being bound unless they act accordingly. As a Dragon Monarch and a Dragon Advocate, any agreement negotiated by you will be completely and irrevocably binding upon any dragon sworn to you, unless they decide to and successfully challenge you for your position.

  In which case, you will be dead and won’t care.

  Title Gains:

  +50 stat points to replace those lost to the Pact. Dragons do not easily suffer the loss of that which is theirs.

  50% resistance to scrying or influence from extra-planar beings.

  25% damage against extra-planar beings, including +25% increased potency of spells cast against extra-planar beings.

  Personal field of Mother’s Heart…

  Error… revising…

  Personal field of A Father’s Heart.

  A Father’s Heart - This field is a mobile enchantment, centered upon you, which dramatically negates the influence of the Pact upon dragons within your sphere of influence. Current range is a 1 mile radius. Each upgrade to this title will result in a 10x expansion of this field.

  A Father’s Heart lacks the softness of A Mother’s Heart but is more protective, swifter to discipline, and better at mobilizing for shared tasks.

  My mind reeled with this latest notification. The power that I’d lost was replaced, and then some. It seemed the system had specifically tailored the reward to meet my needs… almost like it sought a restoration of what had been before.

  As that thought crossed my mind, one final statement popped up.

  Eternity demands balance.

  Everything belongs in its place and there is a place for everything.

  I looked at Harshdeep with new eyes. I wasn’t like I suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy towards him, but rather that I thought of him as a part of my team—a team which badly needed to be whipped into shape. There might even be a chance for friendship here, if such a thing could be conceived.

  Was it possible for a fat, lazy red, and a dynamic, amazing blue to be friends?

  He snorted, suddenly craning his head all around to inspect himself. “Why do I feel different? I don’t know what you did to me, blue, but don’t think you can trick me out of my gold.”

  I wanted to smile but instead let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. The pressure all around us lessened, and I snapped back, “I don’t want your gold, but I do want your support.”

  “You don’t want gold? Are you sick? Is it catching?” Harshdeep glared at me with a mix of curiosity, lingering anger, and a trace of fear.

  “I like gold as much as the next dragon, but just because I like gold doesn’t mean I’m going to steal yours. Wouldn’t it be more fun to work together to liberate the wrongfully gained gold of a dwarven clan? or to take the gold created by a dungeon?”

  “Fun…?” He said the word like he was tasting it, turning it over between his fangs. Then he shook his head.

  His hostility seemed to be evaporating. “Still not sure what you did, blue, but liberating wrongfully gained gold from dirty, thieving dwarves does sound like some fun. Though probably best we tackle a dungeon, first. If we don’t act to stop the spread of these dungeon creatures, then pretty soon even my mountain lair won’t be safe.”

  He eyed me with a narrowed gaze. “I’m still not letting you in my lair.”

  “Fair enough,” I acknowledged.

  He shook his head again. “Why does that make so much more sense now, but before all I could think about was hunkering down and protecting my hoard?”

  That was my invitation, and I seized it.

  We descended to the rocky side of a mountain and both found a spot that worked as I explained about the Pact, how it had affected dragonkind, and even showed him glimpses of the Dragon Dream I had experienced about Tiamat. As was appropriate for dragons, we spoke long into the night and then into the next day.

  There was a great deal to unpack, and I was worried what would happen once he was outside of my personal field of enchantment. Would he immediately fall prey to the Pact again?”

  Finally, though, he said, “What happens if I renounce this Pact?”

  I allowed myself to smile—I had him. And all it took was binding the gods away from this realm for a period. Sadly, I only had a few days left before they would regain some influence over Ileria once more. At least it would be the better part of a year before they could return, unrestricted.

  By then, I intended to shatter the Pact.

  Of course, what I said to Harshdeep was different. “Well, if you do that, then I suppose I’ll be looking for a dragon noble to lead the reds who become part of Scale Nation. Know any elder or ancient reds who might be interested?”

  Chapter 38 - Dungeon Overload

  We came to terms then and there. Assuming that I could prove my worth by clearing the closest of the three dungeons, I would gain my first true dragon vassal. Just as important was the fact that Harshdeep knew the location of the majority of the dragons in this desert and the surrounding mountains—at least the ones who were nearing mature adult or later.

  He didn’t consider the others worth mentioning.

  When I introduced him to Cami, he didn’t seem to be interested. The red was willing to acknowledge that I was far stronger than I should be for my age category, but he seemed to prefer to attribute that to my status as a dragon monarch. It was my title which granted me that strength, rather than being bonded with a lesser being. At least he was diplomatic enough to not call Cami a ‘lesser being’ where I could hear it.

  That was the final thing that convinced me we might be friends, while at the same time frustrating me. Cami explained that true friends didn’t have to agree on every point in order to get along. I was disappointed, because if a few mature or elder dragons were to willingly bond with a human, or one of the other humanoid races, Scale Nation would soon have an army of ancient dragons with even a chance at some wyrms.

  Were that so, the horrors wouldn’t have stood a chance.

  I still had my work cut out for me to prove the wisdom of that flightpath. Even when Belicossa showed up with her rider and my former training master, Edgar, in tow, Harshdeep remained unconvinced—although he did seem interested in Bellicosa for other reasons.

  She returned the sentiment and the two dragons were soon spending more and more time flying together alone as I worked up a plan for clearing the dungeons with my minions. Apparently, the effect of the Father’s Heart did more than just clear the thinking of the dragons it affected.

  Cami made a joke about the elder red female being as forward as a Saldean farm maid at harvest, but the reference was lost on me. She simply said it was a from a book she’d read, but when I asked her about it, she couldn’t remember how it began or ended—mumbling something about there being neither beginnings nor endings to great stories.

  My three exalted minions, along with Edgar and Cami, spent the entire next day planning strategy with me. Or at least we did until we were surprised by a couple of unexpected guests. When a portal opened and Liam and Lisella walked out, it brought all discussions to a screeching halt.

  “I need a moment to speak with our two guests,” I growled. “Cami, care to join me?”

  My minions, and even Edgar, bowed their heads.

  When I locked eyes with the two adventurers, Liam sighed. “I’ve been expecting this conversation,” he admitted.

  Lisella added under her breath, “Yes… and not looking forward to it.”

  They were both surprised when I allowed them to climb onto my back. Then they squealed when I took off. Seasoned adventurers or not, riding on the back of a dragon without a harness or a skill that allowed to you hang on effortlessly, must have simultaneously been the biggest thrill of their lives and the most terrifying of moments.

  Not that I let them ride with me out of the kindness of my heart. High up in the air, I had them at my mercy. I figured if this conversation didn’t go the right way, I might feel the need to fly a loop, and the first step off of my back was a doozy.

  When we got up high enough to make my point, I cast Sphere of Controlled Speed around me before focusing on my ability, Eye of the Storm. I pushed it further, willing it to slow the flow of air around us so much that we’d be able to speak without being disturbed as I glided upon the weaves of Ileria’s magic.

  “The Elf first,” I growled.

  “Half-elf,” Liam retorted.

  I could respect that he wasn’t completely cowed by my presence and power, but only so much.

  “You know what he wants to know,” Cami said. I was watching the half-elf through Cami’s eyes; it was easier that way.

  He nodded before speaking. “Yes, you want to know why and what I reported to my father about you.”

  When I didn’t reply, he continued, “I could say that it was out of a sense of familial obligation. I certainly was connected to my family long before you and I’d been desperate for much of my life to earn the favor of Namis—though it took years before I could admit to myself that I never really did.”

  This last bit he muttered reproachfully under his breath, but I still heard it.

  He coughed, but then continued, “I know that many elves kill their half-blood children, so I suppose I owe him that much—and he did provide me with a foundation of training before he abandoned me. Because he never offered to take me with him, I can’t say that it was because of some sense of family obligation or debt.

  “Rather, it was because I wasn’t sure what to make of you. I believed in freeing the dragons, but there were odd things about you that would concern any of elven blood… there are even more of them now.”

  He paused for a long moment, which I gave him to collect his thoughts.

  “I recognized that none of us, not even Serius, who is the most scholarly man I’ve ever met,” he finally continued, “really knew anything about free dragons. Sure, we’d fought some wild dragons in the past, but they were always young and never really much larger than domesticated dragons. They always fought more like beasts and never displayed the magical aptitude you have.”

  Lisella added, “They also never spoke to us, although I’m fairly sure now that was because they considered it beneath them.”

  Cami glared at the priestess, and she shut her mouth to allow Liam to continue.

  “It is as Lisella said,” Liam agreed. “But I also remembered stories that my father, err… that Namis told me. He spoke of there being powerful, free dragons on the elven continent and thought it a shame that the dragons on Taleia were mistreated by humans. I never understood what he meant until I learned about dragons’ true nature.”

  “You thought the elves would help the dragons on Taleia?” Cami asked.