Defensive: Elemental Armor

  Utility: Summon Lesser Elemental

  Utility: Shadow Step

  Tier 5: (0/5)

  Tier 6: (0/3)

  Tier 7: (0/2)

  Elemental Valkyrie Spells:

  Tier 1 (1/6)

  Death Watch (Nico)

  Tier 2 (1/6)

  War Horn

  Tier 3 (1/6)

  Shori’s Hand

  Tier 4: (1/4)

  Elemental Shield

  Tier 5: (0/2)

  Gear:

  Masterwork Cold Steel Spear

  Soul Spear

  Buckler of the Bonded

  Leather Armor

  Amulet of the Bound Sun

  Ring of Ethereal Bliss

  Dragonscale Dress

  Chapter 5 - Ways to Grow

  I had a number of paths available for my growth. I could have increased one of my classes with the XP I’d gained. It would only be one level, but it would still be growth. Then, there was the mountain of DKP I had earned. Sadly, I knew it would disappear all too quickly, but it was still more than I’d ever possessed at one time before.

  It was easy enough to initiate any of the available evolutions. My Mind Evolution had clearly been the single greatest change in me—other than the bond, of course. It had altered me in fundamental ways. There was no doubt that I was more than I had been before, but right now I felt the need for a more claws on approach to growth.

  I crouched where I’d laid down and prepared to leap into the air when Vox asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m going to get Cami so we can go hunting. I think you’re right; I need to grow stronger to hold this at bay.”

  “That is idiotic. There is too much for us to talk about. You don’t know the full history of the bond. I doubt you know even half there is to know about the Pact or how it has affected dragons, nor what the gods and horrors gave up as part of the Pact. When else are you going to find someone who is 1500 years old to teach you all these things?”

  I only partially listened to her. Starting out with an insult like she had made me feel like she was challenging me.

  “I don’t want an info dump,” I growled. “I’d prefer to learn those things as we go, spread out a bit, rather than all at once. Besides, I’ve already figured out that the gods and at least the most powerful of the eldritch horrors are prevented from directly entering Ileria by the Pact. As for what we dragons paid, I’m guessing it has to do with why we are so aloof.”

  Vox snorted. “You’ve got it all figured out now, do you? I doubt you’ve even heard of the Queen’s Decree.”

  My eyes narrowed as I stared at her. “No, I’ve never heard of this ‘Queen’s Decree’, but I already have more on my hunt than I can deal with. Besides, if you’re so concerned about helping dragons, then why haven’t you done something for the enslaved dragons? Or perhaps you didn’t realize that they lost the Dragon Dream and are now considered different beings by the system?”

  Vox lowered her head. Her response spoke volumes. She’d known alright, but hadn’t done anything about it. I felt anger growing within me.

  “You knew, didn’t you?” I growled as my mind raced forward through the possible answers she might give as to why she had merely watched. “You were even alive when this began. Why didn’t you do something about the human emperors? This could all have been prevented.”

  Her voice was partially muffled as she spoke, her head still hanging down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You think I would have let it happen if I were here?”

  When she raised her head, I saw anger in her eyes. “I didn’t live on the continent of Taleia until eighty years ago. I was born on an island and have lived in a number of places all over Ileria. For much of my youth, I lived on the elven continent—though I have also lived in the great sweeping plains of Amorot, where the orc homelands are. Don’t forget, I’m half-orc.

  “This human face is far from the only form I’ve taken over the millennia. For a while, Naggy and I lived with the Clan of the Dragon, but even they had their own prejudices about metallics. When I returned to this continent, I first intended to live amongst the scattered orc tribes high in the mountains, but when I learned they had forgotten my father—who founded their clans—I decided I needed a break. So because my husband is human, we came to live in Forlay.

  “By then, the damage was done. Fortunately, the new human dynasty had stopped expanding the program… and I did try. By the first egg, did I ever try! But I couldn’t find a way to undo what had been done to the domesticated dragons. Free dragons stayed clear of humanity and the current Emperor wasn’t trying to gather more dragons, relying wholly upon the spawn of their domesticated dragons. I, too, began to think of them as a separate species.”

  I hissed in displeasure. “You gave up.”

  She hung her head for a moment before lifting it again, the sputtering spark of her previous anger fizzling out. “I tried,” she muttered.

  “You failed,” I snapped. “Results are all that matter. I will not only deal with the incursions by the horrors, but I will restore dragons to their rightful place.”

  Vox pulled back a step, lowering her head yet again.

  I studied the suddenly weary ancient silver dragon before me. “You can join me,” I finally offered. Then I sent her the quest to free the dragons.

  “I am… I am so tired. I had thought that soon I would sleep and never wake. Colors are muted, tastes are bland, and life holds little joy these days. I have lived as long as I should. But perhaps…” She seemed to sniff the air. “Perhaps you and young Camille could be our… no, never mind that…” She sighed, finally meeting my gaze. “Yes, I’ll help you.”

  When she accepted the quest, something resonated within me. Several humans had joined me in this quest. Most of them were my minions, although Lisella and Modessa had accepted the quest as well. But Vox was a dragon—a half-dragon, perhaps—but looking at her now, I saw only a dragon.

  A notification popped up.

  Another dragon has joined you in your quest: Free the Dragons.

  Do you wish to invite her to join in your second quest?

  Hmm… my second quest? I’d almost forgotten about it.

  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.

  Optional Modification: 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?

  I supposed that, technically, I now possess a land which qualified. Or did I? Something about the word ‘possess’ made me wonder. Emperor Castine had promised to cede me the southern part of the continent, what the humans called the Taleian Desert.

  It certainly wasn’t the most desirable or lushest part of the continent. I had to admit I was inclined to think favorably of it, though—it was where I’d been born and spent the first 50 years of my life, after all. Dragons were perfectly suited to living there. Only a few humans lived there, as well as an assortment of monsters and other natural wildlife.

  I looked over at Vox again. She was right. She did possess a great deal of knowledge, knowledge which I lacked. It would be useful to have her around. The way she spoke about her own pending death made me nervous, but… I was me. I could show her a better way for dragons to live.

  While she hadn’t done anything to help the domestic dragons, she had at least not been here when it had happened. I took her claims at face value—dragons didn’t lie, at least not outright like that.

  “I have another quest to share… if you want to join it,” I said.

  “Yes. I’ve decided that you and Camille are exactly what Naggy and I need,” she responded with a decisive nod of her great silver head.

  “What does that mean? … never mind.” But when I tried to send her the notification, I got one of my own instead.

  You are attempting to create Scale Nation, an official draconic nation. Available forms of government include:

  Monarchy

  Oligarchy

  Democracy

  I snorted. The choice was obvious.

  When Vox got the invitation from me, her eyes grew twice as wide.

  Was something wrong? I looked at the notification as it had been sent to her and my eyes narrowed.

  Dragon King Nicosandumas has invited you to become his first loyal subject in the Scale Nation.

  Accept?

  Reject?

  Challenge* for rule?

  *Note: You may only ever challenge one time

  I braced for combat. Normally, I would have scoffed at the notion she would attack me. She had invited me into her lair and shared her food, after all, but it was not the draconic way to cede control to another. In picking Monarchy, I’d known this would create challenges. To be honest, though, I hadn’t expected to face these challenges right away.

  The system was clearly making it more difficult for me to bring dragons into the fold. But Vox surprised me.

  Dropping her head to the ground and tucking one foreleg in, she declared, “I bow before you. Dragon King. With the tips of my claws, the strength of my bite, and the power of my breath, I pledge my fealty to you.”

  I was at a loss for words, for once. Dragon King… I liked the sound of that. But if I was at a loss for words, the system wasn’t.

  World Announcement: Following the Queen’s tail, a new Dragon Monarch has arisen. Not content to strive to become Draconis, Nicosandumas has founded Scale Nation, an as of yet unsettled nation. He has become the first dragon since Tiamat departed this plane to accept an oath of fealty from another dragon.

  Let all Ileria shake, as only time will tell whether the new King is worthy of his crown. For one month, Ileria will be sealed off from other planes. No travel to or from another plane will be allowed. Extra-planar summoning magic will not work. Divine and eldritch powers will not be able to reach into Ileria for a full year.

  Those who rely upon the power of the gods or horrors to cast their spells will find that those spells will only work if they can find a draconic patron to fill in.

  Let the Scale Nation rise or fall, as it may.

  Vox’s head was still lowered as the words filled my mind. But wait, it wasn’t just in my mind. I was hearing them with my ears; they resonated all around me.

  A second later, Cami’s voice popped into my head, “What did you do?”

  I almost asked what she was talking about, but then it hit me. “Did you hear that notification?”

  “I think everyone heard it… I mean everyone, everywhere. Both Lord Nagafen and I heard it. The servants were all running around like crazy, so I know they heard it as well.”

  At that point, I wanted to say something about how I’d simply assumed my proper place in the world, but it felt too glib and fell flat—even in my own head. Instead, I went with an informative answer. “I asked Vox to join my quest to form a dragon nation… honestly didn’t expect any of the rest of that.”

  Cami groaned, if such a thing was possible telepathically. “You know that notification is going to paint a target on your back. Humans and dragons will both look at you differently now.”

  That was as meek as I would let myself be. Something swelled up within me. It wasn’t foolish bravado, but a sense of destiny. I wasn’t foolish enough to think I was strong enough to contest Draconis, let alone a stream of endless dragons if they wanted to contest my rule. It would be important to form alliances, but even that thought gave me pause.

  The words that I spoke to Cami held none of that introspection, but they were the truth. “Let them come. I am the dragon King.”

  In the back of my mind, I kept a tiny thought to myself… “Or at least I will be.”

  I was about to talk to Cami about what this might mean for her, but then I felt her approaching. Besides, there were a pair of notifications still flashing in the corner of my eye.

  New progressive title gained: Dragon Monarch.

  Dragon Monarch - All stats, draconic abilities, and control of the magic of Ileria are boosted by 1% per dragon who swears fealty to you.

  Then the second one.

  A new evolution is available to you: Horn Evolution.

  Horn Evolution: No crown was ever as noble as the horns of a dragon. Evolve your very nature as you seek to embody the true majesty of all dragonkind.

  DKP: 5000

  Pre-requisites: Prismatic Evolution and 100 dragons have pledged their fealty to you.

  Chapter 6 - Royal Advisor

  My mind raced. Something about this new evolution seemed beyond my expectations. I now had more evolution options than I knew what to do with. At least some of them were linked. In order to get the Horned Evolution, I would need to complete the Prismatic Evolution first.

  I pulled up the description of that evolution.

  Prismatic Evolution - Why limit yourself to the powers of one color? Become a dragon amongst dragons. Pre-requisite: You must first master at least three lesser evolutions. Don’t allow evolution to control you—control your own path.

  I needed to complete two more basic evolutions to even consider the Prismatic one, but I did like the idea of controlling my own path. Why should a dragon have to follow anyone else?

  The downside to this was that I couldn’t forget that my Mind Evolution had come with a host of unintended consequences—consequences which I was not keen to experience again. Never let it be said that a blue was afraid of anything. This wasn’t fear… but caution was certainly warranted.

  “My liege…” Vox began.

  It took me a moment to realize that she was speaking to me. I suppose it hadn’t really settled in yet that I was a King. Well, a King without a kingdom. I now had one official subject and land which had been promised for our Scale Nation. In truth, I did not yet control the territory the Emperor had granted dragonkind.

  I turned my head to look at her. “Yes, Vox?”

  “I don’t know how this really works, so I don’t mean to offend you. The faintest mention of a dragon monarch is really only a rumor of rumors. I’ve never been able to find any first-hand accounts of what life was like back then—only legends. But I do know that Tiamat was called both ‘the mother of dragons’ and ‘the queen of dragons’.”

  I was confused by her choice of words. They brought back to mind the vision I’d had during the battle. I shook my head. No, it would be best to push such thoughts aside for the moment.

  I could think on them… later. I had too much to deal with now. Even if the hunger inside of me had abated, I wasn’t keen on having a bit of oblivion remain lodged within me.

  “You don’t know how what works?” I asked.

  “I don’t know how a dragon monarchy might work. I swore you my fealty, but was caught up in the moment—not that I’ll take it back. I truly wish to see you succeed. I see you as the…” She faltered briefly before picking back up again. “Well, no… anyway, I just don’t know what it is that you need to do. Or even how best I can serve you, my liege.”

  “It’s pretty simple. You can serve me by doing what I say. Isn’t that how a monarchy works?”

  “There are many types of ruler amongst the races which I have observed,” Vox admitted, “but one common theme is that those in power must have others they rely upon for advice. I would like to offer myself as your royal advisor. I am much older than you, have seen far more of Ileria, and want nothing but for you to succeed in freeing all dragons and creating this Scale Nation.”

  “Don’t forget,” I growled, “getting vengeance upon those who wronged dragonkind. Even if they were young and weak or foolish enough to be captured, they were still dragons. The majesty of dragons should never be impugned.”

  “Yes, well, I’ve never found vengeance all that satisfying… but I will certainly help to make you as strong as possible.”

  I thought about it for a moment. Things were progressing too quickly, but everything Vox had said so far resonated as true. I might not agree with all of her decisions, but the fact that she was related to my ancestor set a foundation of trust…

  In that moment, a question popped into my head. If her mother was also my ancestor, then how could she be a metallic dragon? Yet, I sensed only truth from her.

  “Answer me this before I decide on your request… How is it that both Wasnera and Tra’vis appeared in the dream for me? If what you say is true, then they can’t be in my lineage.”

  “I already told you that I surmised you were a descendant of what humans would call my uncle.”