In that moment, I saw through five sets of eyes all at once. I had five heads that weaved and bobbed back and forth. I knew this wasn’t me, but a memory—or perhaps a dream.

  I stared at a jet black portal. No, it wasn’t pure black. There were tiny lights that sparkled in the portal. I knew I had to step into it, but I hesitated… Then as quick as it had come, the dream slipped away. It was too powerful and my mind couldn’t hold on to it.

  That was fine, though. I was busy holding onto Iskaldurdauoi. In this moment, I was power—I was the storm incarnate.

  As my claws sank into Iskaldurdauoi's back, I felt his thick scales crack and shatter beneath my strength. The sensation wasn't just physical—it was almost as if I felt his very essence weakening beneath my grip. His immense body bucked and thrashed underneath me, but my Eye of the Storm ability ensured that I remained perfectly poised and unfazed on top of his back.

  My head leaped forward, and my jaw snapped down on the point where his wing met his shoulder. I felt tendons sever under the force of my bite. Iskaldurdauoi’s shriek was lost to the storm which raged around us.

  Bolts of lightning cast surreal, flickering shadows over Cami and me as we rode upon the back of the now maimed ancient dragon. The sound was a cacophony of roaring wind, clashing thunder, and a screaming dragon all mixed together.

  I tightened my grip, my claws digging deeper, and Iskaldurdauoi let out a tortured roar that echoed across the vast expanse of the city. I tasted his fear now—the rich, sharp tang of it mixing with the bitter cold of the storm. It was a blend of the elemental and the visceral.

  I took no joy in his pain, though I did exult in my power. It was clear that his strength was fading. Cami’s spear had broken something inside of him.

  The sight of the ancient dragon's blood, a deep, shimmering blue, dripping from my claws seemed almost poetic. Each drop that fell sizzled and evaporated before it even reached the ground, lost to the storm that I now commanded. I resisted the urge to taunt my foe. He had given in to despair, having died long before he fought me.

  This was the problem I now faced. All of the free dragons did their own thing; none sought to protect what was ours. Somehow, I had to change their mindset, to get them to focus on what was most important.

  With Cami’s burning spear close by and my storm-enhanced power, we became a force of nature, impossible to stop. I could feel the currents of the storm as they surged through me, guiding my every movement. I willed the lightning, directing it to strike the ancient dragon, jolting him with pure electric power. It flowed through me and out of me.

  With each strike, Iskaldurdauoi's attempts to pull away became ever more desperate, his roars of defiance turned into whimpers of pain. His once-majestic white scales were scorched and blackened by lightning, and large patches of raw, exposed flesh appeared.

  The sight may have seemed gruesome to anyone else. To me, though, in that moment, it confirmed the sweetness of justice. Iskaldurdauoi had sought to pervert death itself, but that was not the dragon way.

  "I am the Storm!" I proclaimed, giving voice to my newfound power.

  The tempest responded, amplifying my declaration with a roar of thunder.

  I am the Storm - This ability awakens a storm within you. Drawn from the magic of all Ileria, this storm will surge out and do your bidding. You must learn control or this ability will eventually rip you apart. Be warned, the storm is a raging beast and only the strongest will can control it.

  A bolt of lightning, larger and brighter than any before coursed through me. It arced out into the world—not out of my mouth, but out of my chest. It struck the dead center of Iskaldurdauoi’s back and ripped through him, tearing his chest apart with the exit wound. His body convulsed, but so too did I

  This power was greater than I could wield, and it forced me to let it go for a moment.

  Cami, in perfect sync with me, leaped from my back with her wings spread. She thrust her spear forward with a speed and precision that left no room for error. The fiery weapon, imbued with her soul, pierced the dragon's exposed heart, releasing a burst of searing heat that radiated outward in all directions.

  The black, shriveled remains of Iskaldurdauoi's heart burned into cinders.

  Soul Seer allowed me to see as the last bit of his soul shriveled up and became less than dust, unable even to blow away. All the necromantic connections within him shattered, and he truly died in that moment.

  I could smell the singed scales and the burning flesh as the very air around us super-heated and shimmered. The tactile sensation was a mixture of the wet splash of the dragon’s lifeblood and the hot, dry gust of the storm’s wind.

  My ears rang with the simultaneous screams of the dying dragon and the triumphant roar of the storm. The very world seemed to tremble at the confluence of such intense energies.

  I released my hold on him and the ancient dragon's massive body plummeted to the ground, creating a deafening crash and a shockwave that rippled outwards, flattening everything in its path. Fortunately, we were dozens of miles from the city by now.

  Floating there, amidst the remnants of the storm after I released it, I enjoyed a deep breath of the crisp, post-storm air. The scent was a mixture of wet earth and ozone, with the faintest hint of burnt scales.

  Cami flew back to me, her wings beating gracefully, her spear now back to its normal state. As she landed on my back, I sensed her sorrow at the necessity of killing a dragon. But at the same time, her blood was pumping, and I already knew what she was going to say.

  She leaned forward along my neck and whispered in my mind, “I feel so alive.”

  I nodded, the weight of our actions sinking in. “It was necessary,” I replied.

  I hesitated to share with her the vision I’d had. I would at some point, but I didn’t understand what it meant. I needed to ponder what I had seen.

  We both took a moment, watching as the storm dissipated, the once-turbulent skies gradually clearing till they revealed the first hint of stars. Just then, notifications started to appear. The stars would wait, but I heard them singing.

  You have slain a dragon more than a full age rank greater than you.

  You have gained:

  DKP: 500

  XP: 31,150

  Cami has gained:

  DKP: 150

  XP: 84,475

  You have slain a dragon with your bonded companion. This is a binding event. Cami’s ability, Spell Share, and your mutual ability, Elevate Spell, have been fused to create a new greater ability—Two Cast as One.

  Two Cast as One - From now on, you will each have a shared mana pool whenever you are within 1 mile of one another. Either of you will be able to Elevate the Tier of a spell by increasing the mana cost by a cumulative 50% per Tier up to the highest Tier that either of you are capable of casting. You will only be able to cast the spells on your own list of spells, but if you both know the same spell and cast it simultaneously, the effects will be greatly enhanced. Finally, any spell that one of you casts to buff either of you, now equally affects both of you.

  You both gain the title: Dragon Slayer 1 (for slaying a dragon of a greater age rank)

  Dragon Slayer 1 - Gain +10% respect with other dragons. Your Dragon Fear has a 10% greater chance of affecting other dragons. Gain +25 to your lowest stat, as dragons do not have weaknesses. Now you know what DKP really stands for.

  You have gained an optional modification to your Quest: Scale Nation—Join me or Die.

  Join Me or Die - You have seen the fragmented nature of dragon society. Will you rise to become the first true Dragon Emperor since Tiamat?

  Rewards: The very best of everything… as long as you don’t mind living with the smell of blood.

  Epilogue

  Ferdinand walked the balcony outside his suite at the top of the highest tower in the City of the Dawn. It was one of his favorite times of day. He watched as the sun broke the horizon. The view here was unparalleled. No, that wasn’t true… he supposed that a dragon could get a much better view.

  Being higher wasn’t always for the best, though. The weight of his responsibilities laid heavy upon him. He didn’t want to play the role he’d been called upon to fulfill, but it was his part in the play. The visions he experienced left little room for anything else.

  The Emperor sighed. Sheraleigh had been a disappointment on every side. He’d hoped she would become like Nico, but there was something he was missing. The bonded blue dragon was far more powerful than even he had anticipated, yet there was something unique about him which had made that possible. Unfortunately, his sister displayed no interest in learning anything new.

  Perhaps he should reach out to the Clan. They might have better luck with Sheraleigh. He could only keep pampering the dragon for so long. She was going to eat through his treasury at this rate. Normally, the system provided for dragons in the wild, or at least that was what his research indicated.

  There was just so much to do. Ferdinand knew he was going to have to go dungeon diving again, and soon, if he wanted to keep up with paying for Sheraleigh. And that hardly counted what it was costing him to free the other dragons. Many nobles had investments in those dragons, and they weren’t letting them go easily.

  At least Nico had revealed himself. Things were going to get rocky as the expectations of both nobles and citizens shifted, but Ferdinand hoped that, in the end, it would be for the best. Only time would tell. What he knew with certainty, though, was that the attacks in the west were only the beginning.

  ____________________________

  Arjes Sillun, the former emperor, vented and screamed. That blasted dragon had ruined his plans—again. It was unbecoming of an emperor and lich to behave like this, but the only others in the room were mindless undead who served his will. He knew his time was running out. He had made a deal with powers from beyond this world, but his part in that deal was coming due.

  It wasn’t that he cared about honoring his word. Rulers made the rules; they didn’t follow them. That might have been the only wise thing his father had ever said, but it had stuck with him for all of his very long life. The problem was that he wasn’t ready to deal with the fallout.

  He, as his father and his father’s father before him, had sought a way to extend his life. Necromancy, among a wide assortment of options, had been tried. Arjes was the one who had succeeded where all his ancestors had failed. He had found a way to extend his life.

  The problem was that it required a life force far beyond his own.

  That was where the horrors came in. A hideous creature, one that even he had no name for, had come to him as an emissary. It had promised him that its masters could teach him a magic that would give him what he needed, a magic which only they had.

  They had taught him so much about the soul, that he had ended up gaining the legendary class which had evaded him for so long. It wasn’t that being a level 20 Blighted Necromancer wasn’t powerful, but that it hadn’t given him the option he needed. What had opened the way, was when they had presented him the option to become a Soul Reaver.

  It wasn’t just any souls that he needed, though. He needed souls which were infused with a type of power far beyond anything he’d discovered before—he needed the souls of dragons. With the dark magics he learned, Arjes mastered the ability to slowly drain the vitae, the life force or soul or whatever one wanted to call it, out of dragons.

  It couldn’t be done quickly, though. Because if it was, then the soul would simply flee to wherever it was that dragon souls went after death. Arjes was confident that it wasn’t the afterlife provided by any of the gods of Ileria. No, as a necromancer, he knew more about those afterlives than even their own priests did.

  Dragon’s souls went somewhere else that he wasn’t able to access.

  The trick, he had found, was to siphon off a small amount of their vast souls over a very long period. Fighting even a mature adult dragon was risky, and anything beyond that required a great deal of preparation. So, Arjes came upon the idea of quantity over quality.

  The best part was that the citizens of his empire praised him for what he accomplished. It wasn’t that he cared about their love or their fear, he only wanted to be free to perform his research. And with that, the dragon collars were born.

  Arjes paid a veritable fortune to adventurers who were able to gather dragon eggs. Then he hatched those eggs and collared the resulting dragons. His first attempts failed, but with a stroke of genius he was able to recreate a form of the famous dragon bond which had won the last war against the horrors. Thanks to that bond, the dragons didn’t initially rebel.

  It was a forced bond, but it still accomplished what he needed.

  The problem was that with all the stolen life force, Arjes became lost in his magical experimentation and failed to realize that his empire was about to be taken from him. In that revolt, he had been pushed to death’s door. He’d barely escaped, by casting his soul into one of the objects he’d been experimenting on. He still shook his head, surprised that this had ended up being his phylactery.

  It had taken him a hundred years to reconstitute his body the first time, but now he had mastered the art. During that time, though, a tremendous amount had changed in the world. The captive dragons had become something… less. His supply of soul energy had also dissipated.

  Now, the horrors were coming, and calling his debts. He had promised them the continent of Taliea, but he hadn’t expected to be here when the bill came due. Now, he wasn’t strong enough to ascend, nor did he have the forces in place to conquer another continent to which he could flee. Arjes was bound to Ileria, and unless he could ascend to the phylactery, he couldn’t even hide in a pocket dimension.

  All of his plans were unraveling before his eyes. Perhaps it would just be best to let the pesky dragon deal with the horrors. If the beast won, then he’d have time to find another way to gather the soul energy he needed to ascend. If it lost, maybe it would stall the horrors long enough that he could find another way out of his predicament.

  Arjes could have screamed again at the thought. He was the one who held dark deals over others. He was not meant to be the one holding the short end of the stick.

  Yes, the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. Instead of trying to kill this Nicosandumas, he would help the dragon prepare for the horrors. Who knew, this might turn out even better than he had hoped.

  Here ends

  DRAGON SORCERER - TAIL SMASH

  Nico and Cami’s adventures continue in DRAGON SORCERER - BITE DOWN

  Estimated Release: DECEMBER 2023

  Sometimes I get asked, “What can I do to support your writing?”

  The answer is fairly obvious—read my books, leave positive reviews, and spread the word. For those who want to go beyond that, though, I do have a Patreon page, where you can read early chapters of the books I am working on, as well as get early glimpses at cover art as it comes together, along with various behind the scenes info.

  Here is the link to my Patreon page:

  https://www.patreon.com/user?u=39529448&fan_landing=true

  Stats at the End of Book 3

  Nicosandumas

  Race: Blue Dragon

  Maturity: Elder (10% to Ancient)

  DKP: 729

  Length: 90’1” Weight: 52,887 lbs.

  Base Speed: 18 mph on land/198 mph in the air

  1st Evolution: Mind

  Aura of Perception

  Enhanced Magic Sight

  1 Spell Slot per Tier

  1 to Maximum Spell Tier

  -50% to Spell Elevation for Bonded Rider

  25% effect to spells when cast in human form

  Astral Projection: 5

  2nd Evolution Paths Available: Claw, Breath, Scale, Wing, Prismatic

  Nascent link to oblivion***

  Stats:

  STR: 845

  AGI: 276

  DUR: 655

  MIND: 427

  Free: 50

  HP: 6,505

  Regen Rate: 655 HP/day (855 with Cami)

  Immunities:

  Electricity

  Poison

  Sleep

  Paralysis

  Resistances:

  Magic- 55%

  Physical Damage: 35%

  Acid: 50%

  Combat Proficiency:

  Armor Rating: 52

  ATK: 40

  DMG: 5-50+50 (claws), 7-70+75 (bite), 5-40+50 (wings), 6-72+75 (tail)

  Critical Strike: 33%

  Racial Abilities:

  Breath Weapons:

  1: Spark storm 225’ x 30’ (30-240 damage)

  2: Lightning Bolt 500’ x 8’ (50-500 damage)