She should be giving me respect, not this attitude. No, she owed me respect.

  Yet even as those thoughts surged through my mind, I realized I wasn’t immune to the plight of all dragons. Clearly, we were the superior race, but that didn’t mean we were infallible.

  “Watch yourself little sister,” I growled. “And here I was worried for your safety.”

  “Oh, Nico… playing tough was never your strong suit. I fully admit that you are stronger than I am. You always have been. I don’t know how you’ve gained so much power, but it suits you. For all that, you never had the instincts of a true dragon.”

  I growled, but we both knew I wasn’t going to kill her. I was forced to listen to her.

  “Why would you worry for me?” Sheraleigh continued. “I’ve found this excellent lair. I don’t have to share it with anyone and I have so many minions. They bring me food, treasure, and anything else I might want.”

  I shook my head and stepped forward. “You’re right. I won’t harm you if I can help it, but you will listen. You are too young to have minions. The ability to form minion contracts doesn’t come until you reach the adult age category. You are still decades from that at your current growth rate.”

  Electricity danced from her mouth and along her scales. “Then how do you explain all of this?” She spread her wings and reared up on her hind legs, showing me the mound of coins she was lying on. “I’m not an idiot. They may not technically be my minions, but they do my bidding all the same. There is an entire city of them out there.”

  “Actually, sister, this is a cage for you. It may be a nice cage, but you are still being kept captive here.”

  She glared at me. For half a second I thought she was actually going to attack me, but then she settled back down and snorted. “You’re just jealous. I’m sure if you stopped having all of your strange ideas that you could get a lair of your own.”

  My frustration was growing by the second. This wasn’t the reunion I had envisioned. I didn’t know what to say, so I tried a different tack.

  “Ileria is under attack. Monsters from the days of the last dragon war are re-emerging. I’ve fought horrors on two occasions, a baloth, and a number of other monsters. That and the humans are keeping dragons collared and treating them as little more than pets. If we don’t work together, then all we have will be destroyed.”

  Sheraleigh didn’t respond right away. Instead, she made a big show of stretching and then took some time to adjust the mounds of her hoard. “If one of these horrors or monsters appears before you, then kill it. If not, why should I care? And if dragons have been taken captive by humans, then they were weak and unworthy.”

  She snorted. “I begin to think it is I who should worry about you, brother. You have grown in body, but your mind is still full of strange thoughts. You know as well as I do that Draconis drove the horrors from this world long ago. The Dragon Dream has shown me that. He was your ancestor as much as mine, so you know this, too.”

  “Will you at least come with me?” I asked. “Explore the world with me a bit.”

  “Why? I have everything I need here.”

  I heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. Two humans. The Bond told me that one of them was Cami, so I assumed the other was the Emperor. Perhaps this would be an opportunity to shake Sheraleigh out of this.

  “Ah, see, my chief minion is arriving. Now you’ll see the foolishness of your strange thoughts.”

  Cami walked in and set her hand on me while the Emperor stood there silently.

  “Hello Sheraleigh,” Cami said. “I’m glad to meet you. Nico has been anxious to check on you.”

  Sheraleigh raised her head as though she was going to strike, and I prepared myself to intercept such an attack.

  “You allow your minions to touch you without consent? I knew you were far gone, but this is too much, brother. And what about you, chief minion? You haven’t bowed since arriving. Don’t allow this female’s behavior to rub off on you. I am not nearly so lax as my brother,” Sheraleigh’s voice dripped with disdain.

  A part of me realized that I might be going about this the wrong way. Sheraleigh only understood the world in one way.

  Before I could act, Castine spoke, “I fear that you have a misunderstanding, Sheraleigh. I am not your minion. I am the Emperor of the human Empire. This is not your lair or your hoard, although I would certainly give them to you if you are willing to following the same path as Nico has taken. The world is in danger, and I want us to be allies.”

  “Allies?!” Sheraleigh screeched as she stood. “Dragons don’t need allies. And you don’t give me anything. I take what I want. And if I can’t, then I will grow strong and take it from your children’s children, for you humans are but insects compared to dragons.”

  Cami trembled next to me. She could probably feel how much this upset me. I was angry with Emperor Castine. His attempts at pampering Sheraleigh had made her like this.

  No… that wasn’t fair. It had only brought out what was already in her.

  I tried one last time. “Cami is not my minion, Sheraleigh. She is my bonded dragon knight. I have taken up the mantle of Balance Warden and followed in the steps of the great blue Draconis. The humans may at times be our enemies, but there are greater enemies which must be dealt with first. If the thief will fight the destroyer, then you fight beside the thief.”

  Sheraleigh burst out into laughter. “What? You let that little thing sit upon your back as though you were a horse? Next, you’re going to tell me that you mate…”

  She never got to finish her sentence. Dragon Fear erupted from me and I lunged forward. My body was so much more massive than hers that in less than a second I had Sheraleigh pinned to the ground, my jaws clamped around her neck and only needing to bite down to end her.

  I spoke with my mouth full, “Dooo youou yieelld?”

  She shuddered and struggled, but only for a minute as thin trails of blood began dripping down the thin scales of her neck. Her movements had pushed my teeth through her scales. We stayed like that for a full hour.

  Castine tried three different times to get us to stop it, but each time Cami shushed him.

  Eventually, the tension in Sheraleigh drained, and she lay there limp. I held on for a few more minutes to drive the point home before I released my hold on her.

  “Listen to me, little dragon. Sister or not, you will show me the respect that my power demands. You may not share my views, but until you gain the power necessary to back up your views, you will heed them.”

  For a split second, she looked like she was going to argue, but then lowered her head meekly. “Yes, brother.”

  “You will come with us and I will teach you how to become strong. You don’t have to bond with a rider—that I will not force on you. It is the right of every dragon to decide that for themselves. But you will learn magic and you will fight for the world which is our birthright. No one, neither humans nor horrors, will take that from us.”

  Castine coughed. “If I might, there is a matter which requires your attention. And you might not want to bring her with you. A large number of giants and untold numbers of lesser monsters have broken out of the Antoi Mountains and are soon going to break into Forlay.”

  I turned to the Emperor. “And this is my concern because…”

  He coughed again. “Without dragon riders, the Empire will not have the means to fight them off. I have ordered that the dragons not be used in battle, pending further orders from you.

  “It would be more appropriate for you to take charge of all the dragons,” he continued. “If you do this thing for me, then I’ll pay you 250,000 gold as a tribute and will cede to you all of the Taleian desert. You can take all of the domesticated dragons there and establish your own kingdom if you want. We can be allies. I will put my best wizards and enchanters at your disposal and will share what I’ve already learned from this.”

  He held up a rider’s ring. I should have known that Serius would have given it to his master.

  “What do you know?” I hissed. “Where was the soul energy being drained to?”

  “I will tell you all that I’ve learned. It has to do with the most powerful human necromancer, the former Emperor Ragassi. He was overthrown after ruling for more than 200 years, but apparently death didn’t stick and he is now a lich. I have some theories about the soul energy, but am still learning more. I will be a good ally, but now I need you to be an ally, too. I’ll send my own bodyguards and have Serius bring his team, but we need your help.”

  I growled out loud to buy some time as I asked Cami telepathically, “What do you think?”

  “He’s probably trying to manipulate us, but I do believe he is better to have as an ally than as an enemy. A reckoning can and will come later… once we know everything,” Cami replied. “He showed me the system description of an artifact and told me some things which you need to know. For now, though, I think we should do this. If nothing else, Forlay is Lisella’s home. Our mentors are not perfect, but they have helped us.”

  I looked from Castine to Sheraleigh. “I don’t like this, but I will do it. But you must provide trainers for Sheraleigh. She needs to do more than simply lie around. Teach her magic. As for you, little sister, you will stop being lazy. You aren’t a red. Get up. Hunt. Learn. Grow strong. You can’t skip the work that comes before the hoard.”

  Sheraleigh didn’t answer me, but lowered her eyes. I trusted that she would obey, at least for a while. If I was gone too long, though, she would forget the lesson she had learned today.

  Sheraleigh was a symbol to me, now, of everything that was wrong with dragonkind. I would burn away this chaff and we would rise stronger than ever as the proper lords of this world. This I vowed to myself.

  Chapter 39 - Into Forlay

  The debate about what to do went back and forth. In the end, the system demanded that I address the threat. This invasion was powered by the horrors and would interrupt the balance. The gods could react, but that would only lead to further escalation.

  That is why I knew that Cami and I had to act.

  The promise of a large safe space for the domesticated dragons to live while my minions sought options to restore them was tempting, but I was careful not to agree to anything with the Empire which might reduce my options later.

  Lord Mercius was tapped to teleport us to near Forlay. I didn’t want him to send us straight to the wall, as I wanted to approach from the air and take stock of the situation myself. The plan was that several groups of high-level adventurers would be deposited on the wall as soon as I arrived.

  It struck me as rather manipulative that the Emperor wasn’t going to order the adventuring teams into the conflict until I was there. He placed a great deal of responsibility on me, even though the system was doing the same. While I transformed a few miles from the wall, I got another sign that the system was going to keep messing with me.

  New Quest: Scale Nation - Possess a land where dragons can live without interference from the other races. Create a political structure for those dragons to live under. The form of that structure is up to you, but will determine the extent of your rewards.

  Possible rewards:

  A magical item which is optimal for you of a rarity between Rare and Artifact.

  A unique spell customized for you of a tier between 4th and 9th.

  Gold in a quantity between 100,000 and 1,000,000 coins.

  I read the quest, and I immediately wanted the rewards, but I was determined not to let the system manipulate me any more than I let the Emperor manipulate me—such machinations only frustrated me.

  Unfortunately, things were moving quickly. I had only just gotten used to one level of growth when I’d grown again. My power had definitely grown, but I was unsure how it would fare in a setting like this.

  I needed time to get used to this larger, more powerful form. But a battlefield was not the place to experiment. It was different from hunting or from any small unit engagement on the same scale as my growth made it clear Elder was from Mature Adult. My struggle was because I vacillated between draconic arrogance and uncertainty about my rapid growth.

  Cami calmed me when she said, “We will do our best, Nico, but we won’t die here. There are too many dragons counting on us. Don’t be afraid to pull back if we have to.”

  “Yes,” I sighed. “Sheraleigh was a disappointment, but she did make one good point. We are dragons; we don’t have to win today. We have centuries to win.”

  “Did you just call me a dragon?” Cami asked.

  My wings stuttered as I heard her question. I had called her a dragon… hmm…

  “I guess I see you as my partner, as an equal. Don’t let it go to your head, though,” I told her. “You’re still small and squishy.”

  Cami laughed, but I didn’t sense anything other than raw joy coming through the Bond from her.

  When we could see the wall of Forlay unfurled before us as we drew near, I saw a monolithic sentinel born from the earth and magic. By human measurements, it was a prodigious marvel, rising to a staggering forty feet high. The base of the wall was as wide as three large oak trees laid end to end, an impressive eighty feet, though it gradually narrowed to a still-formidable thirty feet at its crest.

  The stone itself was an intricate tapestry of gray and blue, infused with veins of shimmering minerals that glowed faintly in a testament to the arcane energies that bound them together. The craftsmanship was exquisite and, at least to my eye, seemed to be dwarven work.

  Each block seamlessly melded into the next, giving the impression that the wall was carved from a single, massive slab. Slits were worked into the stone for arrows to be shot through and channels appeared here and there for liquid weapons like flaming oils to be dispensed from. From its start by the Yanin River, which sparkled like a sapphire ribbon, to the chilly embrace of the Antoi Mountains, the wall stood as an unwavering shield for Forlay.

  A memory from the dream spoke to me of when the foundation had first been set more than two thousand years ago. Etchings and sigils adorned its surface intermittently, their arcane purpose clear—to strengthen the wall and deter those who might use dark magic against it. Even now, it seemed to be holding the spells of the goblin and ogre shamans at bay.

  Above, the mountains acted as jagged guardians, their peaks appearing like silver claws under the cold, indifferent sun. Its rays, though weak, dappled the snow-covered slopes, turning them into a canvas of light and shadow, revealing perilous cliffs and ominous chasms. It wasn't just nature that protected this region; the strategic importance of the trails along the wall made it an indispensable key to the Empire's defenses.

  At regular intervals, the formidable wall was interrupted by imposing towers. These sentinels rose even higher than the wall itself, their stone darker and almost black. They were adorned with banners that flapped violently in the wind, displaying the crest of Forlay.

  As the towers pierced the sky, their elongated shadows danced over the pristine white below them, mingling with the patterns the wind carved on the snow's surface. Nestled between these soaring towers, war machinery lay in wait. Mangonels, with their massive arms poised ready to rain death on the foe, stood beside large ballistae ready to fire massive spears into the enemy.

  There were mana-powered cannons, too—but these were no ordinary cannons. Their barrels glinted with runes, and the faint hum of magic emanated from them, signaling that they were charged and prepared to unleash bursts of arcane energy upon any who dared challenge the might of Forlay. I couldn’t help but notice a lack of mages to man those cannons.

  The army of Forlay, stationed atop and at the base of the wall, might have seemed impressive—to humans. At first glance, they appeared as a shimmering mosaic of steel, leather, and color against the gray of the stone and the white of the snow. The majority of the soldiers were outfitted in sturdy leather armor, which had been colored white and gray, allowing them a semblance of camouflage against the wintery backdrop.

  From far above, however, I could see the scars worn into the armor from previous battles. This fight had clearly not just started, but rather had been going on for hours—perhaps even days. These were veterans, though they may have been raw recruits when the fight had started.

  I could respect their discipline. They might seem like ants from up here, but even ants could accomplish much when they worked together. The soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, each clutching a formidable pike. Their weapons were nearly twice the height of their bearers and gleamed dangerously, their tips honed to deadly points. That is when they weren’t busy being thrust into the goblins who were trying to scale the wall.

  Beyond the phalanx of pikemen, archers methodically drew and released their shafts. Dressed in more flexible, padded tunics, they moved constantly. Their eyes remained trained on the horde below, drawing and releasing as they rained death down upon the monsters below. The quivers strapped securely to their backs were a veritable arsenal of differently fletched arrows—some obviously designed for distance, others for penetration, and yet others imbued with alchemical substances meant to burn or blind.