There Be Dragons

by Peronronchinos Dad

An imagination of life for True Dragon Lords prior to their near-extinction by the hands of the Eight Greed Kings 500 years ago. Look through the eyes of Yasilithi Ragrivin, a Red Dragon who embarks on a journey he never expected to have.

3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Within the Northern City was a sprawling trading area. The city itself was embedded into a mountain, but extends far outside of the cave entrance. There, the slaves have built an opulent marketplace for caravans to conduct their trade. The Northern City was situated in an ideal location for trade, because the surrounding area held high mountains that penetrated past the clouds, was a direct route to and from the Dragon Emperor's territory, and was a source of valuable raw materials. The Lord of the Northern City controls all the mining operations within the surrounding mountains, so nothing can pass his domain into the Dragon Emperor's territory without his permission, and nothing from the Dragon Emperor can pass into Loern territory without his knowledge.

The area was rich with valuable ores and crafting materials. While the main Loern city had valuable commodities in form of food harvests and slave village-farms, the Northern City had precious ores and rare gemstones. A significant chunk of Teverin's wealth came from this city, which means he will fight tooth and talon to keep this city under his control. Due to the infrastructure already in place, and how deep within the borders of the Loern and Dragon Emperor from the west and the east, it would be extremely expensive for any other Houses to attempt a takeover of this city. Destroying the mines within the city would mean potential cave-ins and loss of rich veins. The Dragon Emperor himself has not tried to expand his personal territory into Loern for millennia, after Teverin attempted to take the throne for himself, and thus was considered not a threat. Therefore, the Northern City was considered by many to be one of the safest locations in the world. Caravans from various House territories came here seeking trade and riches, and their soldier escorts were usually fresh young dragons on their first escort mission, overseen by only a couple of veteran dragons. The trade routes established by ancient draconic merchants was not without danger, but provides a good learning experience for inexperienced soldiers, and many other Houses consider its completion a newbie soldier's rite of passage into becoming a real soldier. The routes towards the Northern marketplace was a training ground for Loern Knights in Training as well.

During the day, the marketplace would be bustling with traders and caravans selling and buying their wares. This included bargaining precious metals for other precious metals, enchanted items intended to make slaves more efficient in various tasks, livestock, and slaves of various races hailing from many exotic regions. Soldiers of their respective caravans keep a vigilant watch over their goods, as dragons were not above stealing or tasking their slaves to steal goods. Occasional fights broke out, but order was generally kept for one main reason. Odarath, the Lord of the city, was a Loern branch family member, and was a relatively powerful dragon himself. He did not hesitate to kill disorderly dragons, and over the centuries built a reputation of being a no-nonsense dragon, who killed instigators and perpetrators for disrupting the market. This earned the wrath of other Houses, who had learned that their newbie soldiers had died fighting a Loern, but they could not send an army into Loern territory without Teverin intercepting and causing further losses. Therefore, they mostly grumbled about it, sent diplomats to the main Loern city to complain, and then leave.

However busy the marketplace was during the day, once the sun was down, it was off-limits and closed to traders for the night. Then several slaves would be sent out to clean up the mess and tidy up the market for the next day's trading. Except for the occasional sweeping sounds, the market would be dead silent. Tonight, however, a lone dragon would walk the dead streets, apparently looking for something. It appeared to be small, had feminine features, and walked with an air of regality. It spotted a slave, who looked like a mutated, ugly version of an orc, and stride towards it. They spoke briefly for a moment. Then the dragon shouted, started casting a spell, but was pounced upon by several other slaves. Her spell was successfully casted, but given her small soul relative to more ancient dragons, the spell could not have been a powerful one. Her claws glowed with power, and she swiped at her attackers, but they seemed unfazed by her attacks, as if they melted back into the shadows to avoid her strikes. She considered using her fire breath, but couldn't risk damaging the marketplace. Suddenly, undead started sprouting from the ground, grabbing her and locking her in place. She struggled mightily, but the sheer volume of zombies and what appeared to be husks with very sharp canine fangs dampened her movement and crushed the breath from her lungs. Another figure appeared, and bit down on the dragon's neck. His fangs penetrated her tough dragonhide as if it was made of nothing but paper, and ripped open a hole, bone exposed and blood spewing freely onto the ground. Eleven slaves descended on the dying dragon, and hungrily lapped up her blood.

Before the night was over, the body was left, but no trace of the fight was left behind.

—

Yasilithi flew swiftly along a caravan path. While he could fly directly there, he had to call back the slave runners still carrying a message for aid. His sharp draconic eyes spotted several bodies along the path, picked clean by the unintelligent monsters who dwell on the road. If they had all died carrying the message for aid, that would've been best for Yasilithi, but that was impossible. The amount of slave runners numbered nearly a small army, both because Loern had the slaves to spare, and because Svalinn was desperate for aid at the time. Svalinn now tasked a couple of Knights to travel to various routes to recall the slaves back to the mountain city. Yasilithi was to recall this set of slaves and continue onward to the Northern City. He could tell when he was approaching the Northern Lord's territory when the terrain of the land changed from lush green forest lands to rocky canyons and flat plataus.

Before long, he found a small mass of bodies hustling down a path. Yasilithi roared his announcement, and landed in front of the slaves with a mighty thud.

"The city has been saved. By the command of Lady Svalinn, you are compelled to go home."

The slaves hesitated. One of them spoke up. It was an old hobgoblin.

"Forgive us, master Knight, but there are... There are werewolves. You may have seen some of our fallen comrades."

Yasilithi snorted and glared at the hobgoblin. He disliked when slaves didn't do exactly as they were told. Why was this his problem? He voiced that question the the slaves, who shuddered.

"Master Knight... If we don't return, perhaps Master Svalinn assumes you didn't do as you were told? There are cave trolls amongst us... They're very valuable, yes?"

Indeed, he could spot a couple of variants of troll species within the runner group, although the number could be counted on one hand. It appeared the werewolves targeted trolls for their regenerating meat supply.

Slave runners were bred and trained to be swift, long distance runners, not war combatants. Even if a race was known for their physical prowess in combat, they wouldn't be able to fend off feral werewolves. To the mighty dragons, mere werewolves posed no threat to their hordes. However, it was insulting that werewolves would dare attack the property of dragons and make off with the spoils. One could imagine that certain slaves were assets that were worth dozens of platinum Dragon Eggs over their lifetimes, and to kill and eat these assets was akin to stealing from a dragon's horde.

Armed with this rationale, totally not because the hobgoblin convinced him, Yasilithi snorted, turned towards where the slaves were pointing at, and growled.

"Stay here. I will annihilate these pests."

Feral werewolves were not intelligent. Not like the werewolf slaves the mountain city occasionally purchases as an exotic pet. They do survive off animalistic instinct, and thus would go into hiding if they sense a larger predator prowling around. This was in full display when Yasilithi lumbered into the forest, smashing down trees that got in his way.

This mockery of a dragon's senses further exasperated Yasilithi, and he roared in response.

"COME OUT OR I WILL BURN THIS WOODLANDS DOWN." Yasilithi knew they wouldn't understand what he was saying, but they would understand his meaning from the tone of his voice.

He heard yelps in the distance, followed by a rush of padded feet. Yasilithi let out a roar, and smashed through wood and rock towards the sound. He spotted a werewolf, coated in fur and muscle and a stench of troll blood, and let out a jet of red hot flames. The entire area in front of him exploded in fire, and the poor wolf shriveled up into a crisp. Yasilithi snapped up the corpse into his mouth, and crunched down on it, bone and all. The fire in front of him died down as quickly as it began.

His senses picked up quiet padding behind him as he chewed, and then several angry werewolves exploded from the side of the shrubbery that Yasilithi didn't destroy. They latched onto his wings and legs in an attempt to immobilize him. The largest of the werewolves had his jaw firmly clamped on part of a scale on Yasilithi's neck. They were clearly trying to kill him, but Yasilithi found it amusing that these werewolves believed they could kill dragons. He couldn't even feel neck clamper's fangs, let alone the ones trying to tear off his wings and legs.

He let them struggle for a bit. He even roared in pain for a while, and drooped his head down as if conceding defeat. The werewolves, surprised and eager about their supposed success in bringing down the apex predator of their world, increased their wriggling with renewed vigor, apparently oblivious to the fact that they couldn't draw blood. Yasilithi then heard additional rustling, and saw werewolf pups, in both humanoid and wolf forms, as well as mothers emerging from their hiding place. It appeared that the werewolves felt safe enough to be confident of victory. The pups looked at him in awe, and the mothers howled at him in open hostility and ridicule. Yasilithi felt nothing but glee at his acting skills, and mocked their stupidity in his heart.

Sneering, Yasilithi suddenly straightened back up, fluttered his wings to rid himself of the annoying pests on his back, and let out another jettison of flames. Yelps of pain and agony could be heard from the mothers and pups as they desperately tried to run away, but the flames obeyed the will of their master, and wouldn't extinguish even if the werewolves jumped into a river. The pups were the first to perish, followed closely by their mothers, who helplessly watched their young ones be cooked alive as their last dying vision. The band of werewolves that didn't get caught in the flames howled in pain, and lashed away at Yasilithi's feet and talons. Yasilithi laughed, like a child toying with the plight of doomed rats, and playfully swiped at the largest one, who exploded in a flurry of meat, fur, and blood. The others didn't let up their attack, as they appeared to be going berserk, unaware and uncaring for their own safety. Yasilithi, growing bored with his playthings, yawned and crushed the rest of the werewolves with the sheer bulk of his body. He then picked up the pups, whom by then were finished frying in his flames, and popped them in his mouth, bunches at a time, like popcorn. He then picked up the cooked corpses of the mothers and brought them to the slaves waiting for him at the opening in the forest.

"Use these provisions wisely for the run back. Don't test my patience or you'll end up in flames yourself."

The slaves shouted their eternal thanks and loyalty, and bolted back home. Yasilithi was slightly annoyed by this delay, but reasoned that the other Knights must've been having the same issues as himself. He also had a nice, free lunch, and so decided that it was all worth it.

—

When Yasilithi finally arrived at the Northern City's marketplace, he found it closed off, with various sized dragons guarding the entrance against a sizable crowd of merchants. While dragons could fly over it, their caravans couldn't sprout wings, and thus must be pushed by beasts tamed by slaves. Any dragon flying over the entrance would be tackled onto the ground by the guards surrounding the marketplace anyway, and there was no reason to enter if no one was displaying any valuable wares.

Yasilithi flew up to a guard, and asked what was going on. He pulled out his official missive, and handed it to the guard. The guard looked over it, returned it, and nodded at Yasilithi.

"Lord Odarath's daughter, Lady Rikima, died last night. Brutally murdered. It was a grisly scene. Funny thing was, no blood was found on the body or the crime scene, and no damage could be found on the surrounded area, so she must've died without a struggle."

Yasilithi pondered.

"But you said she was brutally murdered?"

"Oh yes, that's why it's strange. The neck was torn open and there were signs of bruising around the body. The slaves working last night said they didn't hear a thing."

Yasilithi stretched his wings, as if he was not interested. This wasn't his problem.

"As the missive stated, I require audience with Lord Odarath."

"No can do, Lord Knight. Lord Odarath's pretty distraught by the death of Lady Rikima."

"Hmm? What, did he want to take his own daughter as his mate?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort. You see, the only way to get Lordship of this City is for the heirs to kill the ruling parent. Odarath's pretty much killed every potential heir in fair, open combat, and he doesn't want to be seen as a coward now by killing his daughter before she's ready, in the middle of the night with no audience to witness."

"And how would you know his intentions?"

"I don't. He told us in a speech this morning. You just missed it. Personally, I don't think he did it. I would be shamed to no end if I had to resort to such underhanded techniques to retain power. Then I'd deserve to die a coward's death and lose it all."

Yasilithi nodded.

"So there's no way for me to speak with him."

"Nope."

"Even by the the threat of Master Teverin?"

The guard's snout visibly paled. There was no dragon on this world who didn't know his name.

"Perhaps you're an exception to the Lord's rule..."

"Indeed. I am."

The guard shouted towards his comrades to cover for his spot. They looked at him in confusion, but decided it wasn't worth prying.

"Follow me, Lord Knight."

They both spread their wings, and flew into the marketplace. Behind him, Yasilithi could hear protests from merchant dragons shouting why they were letting one of them into the market.

The guard led him to the crime scene. Indeed, there has been no sign of any struggle surrounding the body, yet it was horribly mangled, and there was a small, gaping hole on the neck that cut deep into her flesh. A large dragon surrounded by two smaller dragons loomed over the body, as if examining the body would allow them to discern the culprit immediately. The two dragons besides the larger dragon heard flapping sounds, turned around, and shouted for the two to get down from the sky.

"Halt! No trespassing on the Lord's orders! Wings down or we will breathe fire and fury!"

"Stay your breaths! I come with a representative of Master Teverin, Ruler of our domain!"

Yasilithi dipped his head in acknowledgement to the other dragons, and properly bowed to Odarath Loern. However, the latter dragon didn't acknowledge the gesture, and continued to stare at the body. Yasilithi could feel seething rage coming from the titan of a dragon, but could not understand why. Dragons do not share much of a familial bond, much less a father towards their offsprings. The mother only tolerates their children up to a certain point before kicking their children out of their nests. For the Mountain City, this phase coincides with the Test of Combat.

"Ah, dear great-grandfather Teverin... What a time to send a representative to my domain."

The dragon turned towards Yasilithi, sizing him up. Yasilithi could feel his own scales crackling, his wings fluttering, as he instinctively made himself seem bigger. He met the Loern's eyes with his own stare. After personally facing Teverin and the Twins in live combat as part of his Knighthood training, not many dragons scare Yasilithi anymore, as everything else seemed like a lesser threat. Not even the weaker kin of the main Loern family was any different. But Odarath was not like other kin. He had almost the same air of power as Svalinn, and the same eyes of wisdom as the Twins.

"I am quite angry. No, anger doesn't describe what I feel... I feel ridiculed. I feel wrath. I feel burning rage."

Odarath turned towards his daughter's body.

"She disgraced me. A Loern dragon! Died so easily! Couldn't even leave a couple of her killer's scales behind! And now Teverin's lackey show up in my city for him to be notified and be reminded of my grandfather's failure as a Loern dragon!"

Odarath suddenly reared himself back, sucking in air... And let out a great roar towards the sky. His guards shrank away, taken aback by the strength in his voice. They were shocked to see that Yasilithi was the only one amongst them who seemed genuinely unfazed.

"O great Sun! Hear my plight and aid this dragon! The rest of the world shall believe me a coward who couldn't fight his daughter in a fair match! Help me shine a light on the true culprit, so that we may put this issue to rest behind me!"

He then turned to the guards.

"I want you to round up the slaves who were here last night. I don't care if we questioned them before, we shall do it again. But before you do, wait until I'm finished with our dear guest."

Odarath looked at Yasilithi.

"Honorable Knight, I deduce that you wish to meet up with Lady Pakuri. There is no other reason as to why you're here. I will tell you which route she took, but you must do something for me first."

He pointed to the body.

"Clear my name."

Yasilithi gave him a confused look.

"Forgive me, Lord Odarath, but why is she my problem? You know your city best. And you don't even know if the dragons of your city even believe you did the deed. Your own soldiers don't think you did."

Odarath chuckled.

"Don't play dumb with me, boy. My city knows me, but they don't know you. You are not someone whom I can influence. They cannot dispute the word of a Knight from Strunmahsahsun. Everyone knows of your reputation."

He glanced at the body once more before meeting Yasilithi's eyes.

"You are the only one who can do this. Now, tell me your name."

"Yasilithi Ragrivin."

Odarath nodded.

"Guards, let the soldiers know to aid Yasilithi in everything he needs. Do not interfere with his investigation, under the penalty of death."

The three other dragons nodded, and bowed, before flying off towards the cave entrance.

"I will give you until the Sun is at the midpoint in the sky. You have until then before the slaves clean this mess up."

Odarath then muttered something under his breath before flying off.

Yasilithi suddenly felt very alone and overwhelmed. Normally, draconic society does not investigate the deaths of anyone, whether they are a minor dragon or a lord of a territory. This was because of the law of strength. Only a dragon can kill another dragon, and thus if a lord died, they did not deserve to rule if they could not kill a peer. There is an exception, however, when it comes to dishonorable kills, wherein the perpetrator used underhanded tactics like poisons and such to weaken his foe, or conscript the help of strong slaves and weaker dragons to pile on one enemy. These sorts of deaths are easy to solve because dragons usually do not think through their crimes; there is usually a witness slave or dragon who saw the deed done and squeal.

This crime, however, was done when no one was around to see it happen, and was coordinated enough for a Loern dragon to die. This could mean many things, and Yasilithi felt it would be extremely time consuming to test them all. While Yasilithi could teleport back to the Mountain City and have a Loern force the words from Odarath, he also felt curious as to who the perpetrator really was. He also wished to not rely on the strength of other dragons, as that made his pride in his own strength feel rather hurt. He knew that he couldn't beat Odarath... Probably, but he didn't want to take that chance.

Yasilithi decided to examine the body to search for any clues. He gave it a deep sniff. Indeed, no trace of blood, as if it was purposefully exsanguinated. He also detected a slight scent of desiccation, as if the body was surrounded by dead slaves. It was heavily masked with floral scents, but if an acute draconic nose could detect a quarter fool's gold Dragon Egg in a pile of a thousand gold Dragon Eggs, then this was considered a much simpler task.

Yasilithi paused. Come to think of it, the scent of rot surrounded this specific area of marketplace. It was as if this area served as a slave burial ground centuries ago. But it also contained an intense floral and herbal scent, as if trying to disguise the fact that there was rot underneath. Given how busy the marketplace usually is, and how most dragons are concerned with how much Dragon Egg they have left after a day's worth of perusing, no one would've detected this scent at all.

Taking note of this, Yasilithi turned his attention back to the body. He noticed that the claws were extended, which meant that Rikima was in combat. There was no flesh or scale bits on her talon as far as he could see, which meant her opponent had to have tough scale or nimble limbs and solid reflexes. This doesn't reveal anything to Yasilithi, as the body appeared to be a mere adult dragon, not an elder or ancient dragon with sufficient combat experience. There were probably slaves within the citadel of the Mountain City who could kill her in single combat.

Yasilithi then examined her most obvious wound. A closer look revealed that it appeared to be a bite mark, as if someone bit the chunk of flesh and scale, and ripped it all away. He could trace the jagged fang marks around the wound, and from experience, knew that the bite was very strange to be a dragon's bite. As a soldier, Yasilithi has bitten many dragons over his years, and the bites he made left a much bigger wound on his target. It was as if a miniature dragon had taken a bite from the neck. But no baby dragon could take on an adult and win. Yasilithi has never heard of any dragon, not even the Loern dragons, who could take on an adult dragon as a child. The shape of the bite also didn't match the snout of a small dragon either, but dragons varied in different shapes, sizes, and forms, so this could simply be a foreign dragon that Yasilithi hasn't seen before. Thus, Yasilithi concluded that the bite mark must have been made by a particularly small, ancient dragon.

Yasilithi continued to examine the body. He noticed a ring on one of her talons. It glowed brightly, without the luster of time dimming the engravings on the ring. It appeared that she had recently completed the Test of Combat, with a mark of "exceptionally strong", as expected of a Loern descendent. An amulet of unknown power adorned her neck, glowing with a mysterious Wild Magic enchantment. Given how it's owner died, it probably didn't contain a powerful enchantment, or it wasn't even a combat-oriented amulet at all. In any case, the killer did not want to steal Rikima's possessions.

All the possible clues point towards a dragon that stole all of Rikima's blood for purposes unknown, who was small and ancient. However, without scale samples and any knowledge of Wild Magic that could locate dragons, Yasilithi did not know what the dragon looked like, or even what colored scales it had.

Yasilithi looked up at the sky. The Sun wasn't at the midpoint of its flight, but Yasilithi felt that he was done with his investigation here. Now it's time for him to interview everyone he could think of to gather additional information, as well as a possible motive. He took her ring and her amulet, placed them in his pouch, and flew off.

As Yasilithi flew off towards the Northern City entrance, the flight of the Sun reminded him of another legend. The legend of Unslaad Lok-Bo, a massive dragon who took to the skies and never returned. That dragon was as old as time itself, even older than Teverin, and was said to have flown so high, he touched the Sun's body, and in doing so gave him tremendous power. The dragon used this power to fly with the Sun forever. Dragons gave him the title of "Heavenly Dragon Lord", and his name translates into "Perpetual Flight in the Sky". Whether or not he existed did not interest many dragons. But occasionally, if a dragon were to take flight for long periods of time, and were to look up, they might spot a tiny speck in the distance.

—

"I assumed you came back here to give me a verdict. And yet, I see no beaten dragon pitifully trailing you. Where is he?"

Odarath laid on his lofty throne. It was intricately carved with imagery of dragons and the Sun. Blue diamond jewels sprinkled across the throne, painting a sky, and a giant gold sun, enchanted with Wild Magic to glow like the sun, perched above Odarath's head. It made him look like he had a halo. His concubines lay around him, lazily snacking on dried, salted, and smoked exotic meats. The artificial spices made it nearly impossible for Yasilithi to detect the type of meat they ate, and he was in no mood to guess. Indeed, this was a throne room fit for a king, but Yasilithi didn't like how there was no homage to his commanders nor Teverin. This terrifying display of wealth was a testament to how wealthy the city was, with millions of rare metal and gemstone Dragon Eggs leaving the mines of the surrounding mountains every year. This was on top of the taxes charged on every purchase made within the marketplace.

"Forgive me, Lord Odarath, but I require additional information. The culprit of the murder eludes me due to the lack of evidence, as you can observe."

Odarath pondered. He picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in a blood bowl, and started munching on it. The blood had a strange scent, which Yasilithi could only assume was added flavorings.

"You wish to know what possible motives were behind my daughter's death. Aside from my motive, I know not of her own personal affairs."

"Do you know of anyone who hated her? A peer who she bullied in the past? A potential mate she humiliated?"

Odarath glanced at one of his concubines.

"I do not know. I don't really care about what she did, only that she performs to my satisfaction when the time came for her Test of Combat. And she did. But you know that already, if you had half a brain."

Yasilithi produced the ring, and handed it over to Odarath. But Odarath didn't reach for it. The concubine that he glanced at stood up, walked over to Yasilithi, and took the ring. He assumed she was the mother of Rikima.

"She was my best child. Dragons shouldn't have much bonds with their children... but I loved her more than I should have."

A tear rolled down her eyes, but she hastily wiped it away. Odarath shot her a glare.

"Call it a true mother's love."

"Daali was Rikima's mother. Ask your questions with her, but not in this room. Every time I think of my daughter, it makes me angry."

As the two dragons walked out of the throne room, Yasilithi pulled out the amulet from his pouch.

"What is this then?"

"My gift to her for passing her father's test so well. It provides a weak stamina recovery, as well as slightly better regeneration."

"You're an enchanter?"

"Yes, but only a bit better than anything you can make. I gave that profession up after Odarath fancied me as another mate. I had to produce strong children, so I had to be strong as well. Otherwise, he would've killed me."

She flapped her wings.

"You got to see how well we eat though. The risk was worth it in the end. My child survived when the others couldn't."

Yasilithi thought about the other concubines.

"They're not dead."

"They have three successful hatches before either leaving the nest or risk being killed."

"Since you said 'Rikima was your best child', you're on your second or third egg."

"Third. I'm in a unique situation right now, wherein the Lord couldn't decide if he should cast me out despite technically having a successful child, or if he should give me one more chance. But that's not your problem. You asked the Lord if our daughter had any enemies."

Yasilithi nodded.

"She had rivals. Her half-siblings. But.." Her voice trailed off.

"They're dead." Yasilithi knew very well how brutal training can be, even at birth.

Contrary to popular belief, dragons can lay dozens of eggs every mating season. Dragon eggs were very, very frail, however, and thus the mother dragon has to tend to the eggs vigilantly while the father hunted (or in modern dragon society, a mixture of hunting and buying food) for himself and the mother. Even with vigilant watch, the eggs often fail to hatch. Normally, two or three eggs out of every dozen would hatch. A newborn dragon would then use all of its might to crack the tough shell. A popular, but not necessarily true, belief amongst dragons was that a dragon's strength potential could be gleaned from how easily a hatchling could crack the shell of their egg.

When the egg finally opens, the hatchling falls into a deathly still state, utterly exhausted from exerting itself to break free. In this near-death state, the mother and father breathes Wild Magic into the hatchling's body, giving it the necessary connection to the World to manipulate its powers. The World decides if it would reject the dragon, upon which the hatchling would die of exhaustion, or if it would accept the dragon, upon which the dragon would promptly breathe its elemental breath for the first time. Even at birth, it's the survival of the fittest for dragons. Dragons without the necessary potential to grow would die, rejected by the World from the start. One in three surviving hatchlings would die by the rejection of the World. This was one of the main reasons why dragons do not flood the world with sheer numbers due to their egg count.

Experiments were done to see what happens to dragons who never received the Wild Breath. The survival rate increased to 100%, as the hatchlings naturally recovered from exhaustion, but they grow up to be stunted. They could never meet the physical strength of their peers, no matter how old they grew, as if their growth stopped after a certain point. They also couldn't use magic at all, but they could learn to breathe their respective element after a certain amount of time passed. Of those who took their Test of Combat, none survived. Those who never took the Test were treated no different than slaves, as dragons who were weak and can't use Wild Magic were not seen as dragons at all.

Even for those who survived the Wild Breath, life as a young dragon was not easy. Training from their mothers were brutal, and many more children died from the stress. The Test of Combat further diminished the amount of dragons who passed on to adulthood. Thus, over the lifetime of a dragon, if they successfully made it to parenthood, they'll see about two or three children make it to adulthood on their own, out of possibly hundreds of eggs.

Because of the nature of hatching eggs, Odarath now has to decide whether hatching eggs with Daali was worth the investment, for the possible outcome of producing another strong heir. While it may seem counter-intuitive for Odarath to want a heir that may some day kill him, dragons will not die of old age. Thus, dragons lust for an honorable death in battle once they feel that they've accomplished everything they wanted to do.

If Rikima's rivals were all dead, then it couldn't have been a disgruntled battle between two adult dragons. The marketplace would've shown signs of battle. Unless...

Yasilithi suddenly recalled that there were slaves present during the night, who said that they didn't hear anything that night. However, slaves are tight-lipped if they're forced by another dragon to lie. They may not have heard anything, but perhaps they've seen something. Or perhaps those slaves even had a connection or grudge against Rikima...

Daali noticed Yasilithi fall into deep thought.

"Did you figure out something?"

"Who were the slaves that were present last night?"

Daali shook her head.

"I don't know. The slave master should know though. Although I heard from Odarath that the slaves didn't hear any commotion last night?"

"Hmm. Tell me where the slave master is."

"Fly down three levels below the Throne Room. There should be pathways leading up to it that our slaves use to receive their work for the day."

"Is the slave master a dragon or another slave?"

"Both. It's one of those Unbreathed."

Yasilithi nodded. Unbreathed was the name given to dragons who never received the Wild Breath. They never moved beyond slave status. However, due to the fact that they're unable to die from old age like the other slaves, they're usually given administrative roles. Unbreathed were also an extremely rare case. It usually occurs when the Lord of a city faces a boom in dragon population, and doesn't know what to do with the extra dragon births. New births would then be bought by the Lord for a hefty sum of gold Dragon Eggs, essentially selling the children to be slaves. The Mountain City doesn't have one, because the sight of weak dragons made Teverin sick.

—

Saalodiv may be a slave, but he was the master of all the other slaves. He took pride in being in control, even if he wasn't considered a full-fledged dragon by his peers. Yes, he still considered himself a dragon, and thus other dragons were his peers. Such was the arrogance that Saalodiv possessed. Despite his weak stature, he was an incredibly ancient dragon. He was the slave master when Odarath's father ruled this domain over 600 years ago, making him older than even the most veteran soldiers in the city. His breath was as strong as his peers, and he was still had superior strength compared to the mightiest slave soldiers. Such was the strength of dragons, that their race was strong enough to lord over the other races even without the power of the Wild Breath. Due to his old age, Saalodiv was also wiser than most dragons would care to admit. Whether they like it or not, Saalodiv kept the slave schedules running like a well-oiled machine. He meticulously kept records and always knew who was where at all times. This meant he also knew the schedules of dragons who wanted to take slaves for errands for the day.

Given the circumstances behind last night's murder, he anticipated the arrival of Odarath and his soldiers into his domain. He gave them the slaves, demanded them back under the threat of not having anything done for the day, and carried on schedule. He didn't, however, anticipate for Odarath to question his slaves again, nor did he anticipate an outsider snooping around asking questions about the slaves who are being interrogated right now. This annoyed him to no end, as he sees his well-oiled slave empire struggling with the constant interruptions to his duties. This was only his imagination, as his slaves could function autonomously without his input, but any slight delay in services rendered hurt his pride as a competent slave master. He was now down 10 slaves, all of whom were his most veteran, hardworking slaves. He could depend on them the most if he needed emergency manpower, whether it was for mining or general services. In other words, those 10 specific slaves were worth an equivalent of twice their own race's worth in manpower. He was also missing a slave answering directly to Odarath himself, Mekra, who was also part of the nighttime cleaning crew last night. He was skeptical about why she was needed in the cleaning service, but Lady Rikima herself ordered her to be on the team, so he didn't dare to question it.

Saalodiv hated being interrupted while working, but Yasilithi was one of the fabled House Loern Knights. He knew, from the snippets of what he's heard, that these dragons were capable of killing two of the Lord's soldiers without much trouble, and could probably end his life with a single swipe of their claw. If they were that strong, perhaps they're all even a match for Lord Odarath himself. And Saalodiv learnt to swallow his pride many, many centuries ago.

"Master Knight, once Lord Odarath's men are done, I shall be... pleased... to let you have them. Or perhaps you would like to see them right now?"

He choked out the word "pleased" like it was a piece of rotten flesh.

Saalodiv observed Yasilithi perking up at the mention of meeting with the slaves. Perhaps he could have the Knight interrupt the soldiers' interrogation, as payback for interrupting his own work. And for dumping part of his paperwork on the floor.

"They were with the slaves for quite a while now. They should be done now."

Saalodiv shuffled his papers around. That was a partial lie. The other soldiers left only recently, and should've only started now. However, they were here earlier, and were with the slaves for quite a while. The slaves returned slightly shaken, but otherwise in tip top form.

Yasilithi responded with an air of haughty superiority. "Yes, bring me to them at once. I shall conduct the questioning under the authority of Lord Odarath."

Saalodiv bowed, and led Yasilithi to where he knew the soldiers would keep his slaves. It was near a sheer fall cliff within the mountain. Slaves who performed terribly would be sent there either to shake them up or die. Dragons would push the slaves off the cliff, and decide whether to save the slaves or let them go. It usually depended on the mood. For slave races that could fly, dragons would just kill them and dump their bodies.

While walking there, Saalodiv sensed that Yasilithi's immediate protection of his wellbeing would be beneficial, as the dragon soldiers there would punish him around for interrupting their fun.

"Master Knight, I presume you are here about the death of Rikima? As the Slave Master, I may have valuable information that you require, that the slaves may not tell you. All you need to do is ask."

Yasilithi did not hesitate to take the bait.

"Very well. I shall amuse this offer. Slave Master, do any of these slaves hold a grudge for Lady Rikima?"

"No, Master Knight, that I am certain. They all do not mix with the Lord's daughter... Except for one."

"Explain."

"Mekra, a mutated Orc, was purchased by our Lord and given to Rikima. Since Rikima's death, Odarath has the rights to be her master. I am afraid I am not very familiar with the slaves directly answerable to our Lord's family. As for the other slaves, they're usually for the general population, or for mining work."

Saalodiv bowed.

"Hmm... Before we move on, explain what you meant by 'mutated'?"

"Yes. Originally, when the Lord bought Mekra, she had a different look than she does now. After a while, her body warped a bit. We all assumed that it's just something that can happen to Orcs."

"Interesting. Has it happened before?"

"Yes, Master Knight. One of the slaves we shall see was also a mutant Orc."

"I see. Next question. Since you are the slave to see when one wants slaves to be allocated for the day, you must know the schedules for everyone. Who mirrored that of Rikima's? Or better yet, who was active last night?"

"It appears that the fabled House Loern Knights are more intelligent than the average grunt Odarath employs. Indeed, I have an inkling of what most dragons do in this city. However, I do not know for certain what it is that they do, especially for those who request general service for the day. The best I can tell you is that the only dragon who is active at night was the Night Bearer, who stays vigilant for enemies and sounds the alarm when trouble is spotted. No one knows Rikima's schedule. Not even I, so I cannot say if anyone is following her or not."

"I am familiar with what the Night Bearer does. I am the Sun Bearer of my city. In that case, I shall head for the Night Bearer next after this."

"Master Knight, then you should know that the Night Bearer is resting right now. To interrupt that one's sleep would spell jeopardy for this city!"

"Hmm.. You're right. But Lord Odarath, I have observed, is not a patient dragon. The Night Bearer shall have to answer my questions before truly resting. Or I shall beat the answers out of him."

"Master Knight! The Night Bearer is a powerful dragon! Surely you know one must be so to withstand a surprise attack to still sound the alarm! And-"

Yasilithi chuckled, amused by the Unbreathed's assessment of strength.

"Do you doubt the power of a Loern Knight? I'd rather face this Bearer's wrath than Odarath's. And remember. I, too, am a Bearer. He shall face claw and fury if he resists."

Saalodiv replied in a small tone.

"She will prove to be a match for your fury."

Yasilithi ignored the last bit, and continued on.

"I have one last question. Was there a slave burial ground within the marketplace millennia ago?"

"No, Master Knight, I-"

The two dragons spotted several shapes ahead. They could see the silhouette of two average-sized dragons, and many significantly smaller shapes. They have arrived just in time to see one of the slaves pushed off the cliff, screaming for its life, before a dragon dove down, snatched it, and tossed it back up.

Saalodiv quickly answered, "No, there was no slave burial ground, as far as I know."

They both flew towards the two dragons, and Yasilithi signaled to Saalodiv to let him do the talking.

"Soldiers of Lord Odarath, I shall conduct this interrogation from now on."

The other two dragons paused at what they were doing, and sized up Yasilithi. The slaves silenced themselves, staring at the dragon who ended their misery. Saalodiv silently seethed at the potential decrease in productivity from the slaves for the day.

"Under who's authority?"

"Lord Odarath's. Or, if you don't care about that, mine."

Yasilithi flared up his wings. His mouth glowed with power. His last word emphasized his threat, and his stature demonstrated his intent to attack. He was confident he could beat both of them.

The soldiers didn't dare to see if this was a bluff. They could sense the power Yasilithi holds. This dragon was larger than both of them, and had a body that can be honed only from countless battles.

They both stepped aside.

"Of course... emissary of Lord Odarath."

"I am a Knight of House Loern, Yasilithi Ragrivin. Do well to remember that."

Recognizing one of the highest seats of power in their territory, the two dragons were glad they didn't choose to pick a fight with the stranger. They then spotted Saalodiv cowering behind Yasilithi.

"Filthy Unbreathed... Ruined our fun."

"Yeah. Let's see how much fun we'll have with you later on. Haha-"

Yasilithi interrupted them.

"This slave is under my protection for the duration of my stay. If I see that he is harmed, I will flay both of your scales off, collect your horde of Dragon Eggs, kill your mates, and send you off to Strunmahsahsun to serve as Master Teverin's training dummies. Under the threat of utter annihilation, I doubt Odarath would refuse."

Yasilithi's mouth broke into a savage, toothy grin. Both dragons' snouts turned pale.

"D-duly noted, Master Knight!"

"Indeed! Off we go!"

Both dragons promptly spread their wings, and flew off. Saalodiv internally breathed an intense sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Master Knight."

"Of course. You are valuable for my investigation. Now, can these slaves speak Dragon tongue?"

"They are fluent, yes."

"Good. Stay here. Let me know if they speak lies after I am done."

Saalodiv bowed.

"Of course."

Yasilithi turned to the slaves. Indeed, he counted eleven slaves total. They all looked incredibly warped, except for an elderly-looking dark elf. Yasilithi almost couldn't recognize their race.

The dark elf frailly stepped forward. What looked like a female Orc helped him walk. In a hoarse, dry voice, he spoke up.

"I speak for all of us. You have questions. I shall answer the best I can. I warn you.. in my old age, I have difficulty hearing."

Yasilithi glowered at the slave. Something smelled off about them, but he couldn't place it due to the intense scent of raw ores on them.

"Who and what are you?"

"My name is Illuthin Durvil. I am a dark elf."

"A dark elf... At your age? In a city like this? You... You don't smell like one."

"What?"

Illuthin looked flustered for a moment.

"Must be... the mining. Yes... we mine all day."

Yasilithi shot a glance at Saalodiv, who nodded.

"Hmmm... You say you didn't hear anything during last night. What did you see?"

Illuthin paused for a moment, as if pondering. The other slaves shifted their bodies around, but Yasilithi ignored them.

"We did see something," the old elf replied in a soft tone.

Intrigued, Yasilithi leaned closer.

"We saw a strange shadow that silently tore into Master Rikima's body. We feared for our lives and hid until it was gone."

Surprised, Yasilithi abruptly jolted back. He did not know of any Wild Magic capable of doing such a thing. Still, it wasn't implausible for shadow magic to exist. There are great Houses who specialize in Wild Magic, and, given enough souls, could create great artifacts of power. The Dragon Emperor is one such individual. Who knows what Wild Magic they could concoct? Still, Yasilithi could not let the slaves know.

"Impossible. There is no Wild Magic that can manipulate the shadows. Even if there were... She should've had protection from Wild Magic."

The old elf shrugged.

"I know what I saw, Master. And I refuse to say more."

"What? No, you will tell me everything. This dragon who did this will not harm you anymore. Keep in mind that I have the backing of the mightiest dragons in these lands. No one refuses Lord Teverin's edicts."

The dark elf paused for a bit.

"I believe Master is misunderstanding. I cannot say more because I have no more to say. The shadow was... erm... numerous. Silent. Evil. It was dark already, and my eyes are poor. I would've thought it was my old age if it wasn't for the scent of dragon blood."

"Hmmm..."

Yasilithi turned to Saalodiv.

"I'm finished with these slaves. You are free to do whatever you want with them."

"Understood, Master Knight."

Saalodiv bowed, earnestly and respectfully, towards Yasilithi.

—

The Night Bearer's chambers is located deep within the mountains, away from the noise and clamor of slaves mining, dragons roaring, and market bustling. Reina=Rekwo was a dragon who loved the darkness of her cave. She found comfort in the silence of the walls. She felt that there was no greater pleasure than to curl up in her den of ultimate privacy, and sleep or read. Her inner sanctum, built to be very spacious but intimate, and by her own request, with silver and mithril decorations rather than the preferred gold and gemstone designs that most dragons crave, was filled with scrolls by accomplished dragon scholars. If one took a look at her, a dragon of pale white scales and slender body, no one would've thought that underneath her bookwormish attitude laid the city's fiercest warrior.

There was a great debate amongst the soldiers of the city between who was the stronger dragon: the Lord of the city, the Sun Bearer, or the Night Bearer. Reina had no interest in finding out who was stronger. She was strong, as her comrades in battle would proudly attest. Her enemies frequently underestimate her small body, but quickly realize their blunder when her body nimbly dodge their attacks, and counter attack with hide-rending claws. Her breath and Wild Magic specializes in bogging down her opponent with deep frost, with the temperature of everything within her sphere of influence plunging down into subzero temperatures. This shocking change usually leaves her opponents temporarily stunned but unharmed, which provides ample opportunity for Reina to sound the alarm in case of invasion - or if Teverin and his consorts were arriving.

Despite being a powerful dragon, Reina hated fighting. She loved to read about old historical epics from Dragon Sages, and would ask her father, who shared the same passion, to buy her scrolls if he saw any merchants selling such wares, as the marketplace closes by the time her vigil starts. Her favorite was the mythology behind the God-Dragons Sun and Moon. She loved hearing stories about Teverin and his children, and their exploits of territory domination around the world. Within the privacy of her own cave, she loved to cuddle with a scroll, and relive ancient battles.

Today, she was giddy about a new purchase her father had made. A rising upstart in the West, a bright, multi-color scaled dragon had made ripples within the dragon scholar community. He had pointed out that the Sun was no dragon, but merely a giant ball of gas billions of flight-days away from this planet. She would read his thesis disproving the myth of Sun and Moon as mere stories. She sensed that this was history in the making. She had centuries of research that he had made and she couldn't wait to spend the next few decades reading his works.

As she started poring through the vast stretch of tomes and scrolls, her sharp draconic senses picked up a commotion outside her cave entrance. Odarath had stationed guards outside her entrance to ensure that she does not get disturbed. They're to turn away any and all intruders, as Odarath valued Reina as a vital part of his defenses. Reina received a lot of suitor invitations from many dragons, weak and strong, however, she wasn't interested in having mates. To her, her scrolls were her beloveds. Reina tried to ignore the commotion at first, but it steadily grew louder. She was about to fly out when the commotion stopped. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned back towards her scroll.

"Annoying admirers..."

Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard, and the sound of battling dragons echoed throughout her cave. This startled Reina, as she couldn't believe there was someone foolish enough to contend with two of Odarath's guards.

Exasperated and incredibly annoyed, she spread her wings and flew outside, with the intention of freezing everything in sight. What greeted her was the most intense heat she had ever felt in all her centuries of battle. And then she beheld the sight of a giant dragon beating two other slightly smaller dragons to a pulp.

"KNOW YOUR PLACE, WORMS. NO ONE MAY LOOK DOWN UPON A KNIGHT."

The two other dragons sputtered an apology to Reina, before fainting from the intense heat.

"My l-lady..."

"Forgive us..."

The strange red dragon then gave Reina a look of shock. She in turn glared at him, and sent forth a flash of frost, intending to silence his flames. To her surprise, his flames died down but didn't go out. She had never seen flames she couldn't put out. Yasilithi also stood there, with a stupid look on his face, as he's never witnessed his flames snuffed out so easily by anyone but the Loern dragons, who possessed a more powerful variant of elemental flames. Today was a day of firsts for both dragons, nearly equal in age and strength.

Reina then registered what the red dragon said. She was very well versed in the accomplishments of the fabled Loern Knights, second in strength only to the ruling family. She had witnessed them once: when Lady Pakuri visited several nights ago, and could tell the stories were no mere embellishment. Here was living proof of their might.

"A Knight? Don't tell me... The Loerns sent a Knight for me?"

Her heartbeat quickened. She would join the Loern Knights without a second thought, just to live out their glory firsthand.

Yasilithi broke out of his stupor, and shook his head.

"Not exactly, Night Bearer."

"Oh.."

He straightened out his back, fluttered his wings, and stepped over the unconscious bodies of Reina's guards.

"My apologies for interrupting your rest, but I have an incredibly important matter to discuss with you."

"If it's not to join the Loern Knights, then what could it be...?"

Yasilithi gave her that dumb look again. She frankly thought he looked incredibly adorable, and not at all like a mighty Knight.

"Eh? Join the Knights? No, no, Jozi and Joti only recruit from within Strunmahsahsun... Although you do have a lot of potential."

Yasilithi stared at Reina, and nodded.

"But that's not the point. Lady Rikima is dead."

"So? What does that have to do to with me?"

"She was killed last night, when you were still active. I need to know what you saw. What you heard."

Reina shook her head.

"Who was Rikima again...? Ah, right, the pipsqueak of the Lord's. She was a brat. I couldn't care less if she died."

"Well you better start caring now. I must find the killer."

"Since when does a Loern Knight care about the death of a dragon?"

"Because your Lord is withholding information I need unless I exonerate him, and I'm also curious as to who would kill this dragon, if it wasn't the father."

Sighing, Reina paused to think about last night. On her high perch, she didn't see anything special, and she was too far away to really hear any covert operations.

"All I remember was how odd it was for a dragon to lurk into the marketplace last night. But it wasn't my job to care, that was for the normal guards to handle. I didn't hear anything or see anything inside the marketplace, so the incident must've happened outside my field of view."

"Hmmm..."

Yasilithi pondered about what he had heard. Before he came here, he had asked several guards who were patrolling last night if the Night Bearer had remained stationed at her post the entire night, and they all had said yes.

"So this dragon either knew of your existence or was lucky enough to have killed Rikima in a blind spot... Why does this dragon have to make my life difficult?!"

Reina could feel the heat rise again.

"Well, last night, I did see a shadow puppeteering dead bodies of slaves. I didn't think much of it. It's the duty of the guards to kick dragons out of the marketplace, not mine."

"Eh? Dead bodies, you say? I smelled them this morning. I thought the marketplace was built over a large slave burial site."

Reina shook her head.

"No, but I have overheard from the guards that some slaves have been complaining about missing family members. It's been a problem recently.. I'd say it's persisted just this century."

She shrugged her wings.

"Looks like you'll have to interview some slaves. Perhaps a polymorph spell could help you blend in. Slaves won't say anything they think a dragon won't care about. Their lips may be looser when they're talking to a comrade."

Yasilithi considered Reina's plan.

"I shall consider it. Thank you, Night Bearer."

"I am Reina=Rekwo, Night Bearer of Bromhofkiin. You will do well to remember that."

Yasilithi nodded.

"And I am Yasilithi Ragrivin, Knight of House Loern, and Sun Bearer of Strunmahsahsun."

"Sun Bearer..."

Reina leaned closer to Yasilithi, who nervously edged away. Red Dragons were supposed to have a slight disdain for White Dragons. She smiled a toothy grin, and laughed.

"At first, I was mad at you for disrupting my reading, but now, I feel like I'm witnessing history before my eyes. Farewell, Sun Bearer Yasilithi, and good luck."

Reina spread her wings and flew back into her cave. Yasilithi stared at the entrance where she disappeared behind for a while, as if entranced, before he took off.

One of the guards lying on the ground peeked opened his eyes, saw that the coast was clear, and gave a sigh of relief. He could sense that his buddy was still out cold, but he was glad they weren't killed in a massive battle between two of the strongest dragons he has personally ever met.

—

A strange lizard-like slave walked around with Saalodiv, with a brand of Daali featured prominently on its forehead. The brand was fake, as the lizardman was immune to Wild Magic attack spells casted on him, and Brand was considered an attack spell as it slightly damaged the slaves it imprinted itself on. Yasilithi painted the Brand onto his forehead with special dark ink meant for writing on scrolls, and enchanted the ink with Wild Magic that let it slightly shimmer. The brand was crudely drawn, but slaves wouldn't notice. Daali's brand wasn't widely known.

Saalodiv had agreed to accompany Yasilithi, as the latter had no idea how to navigate the Northern City and access the slave district. He had set several slaves to handle the administrative process in his domain, but still worried that they'll somehow muck the whole process up. He believed Yasilithi's plan to open up a couple of slaves to questioning was a stupid idea, as dragons were too arrogant and prideful to understand. Even Saalodiv himself, a fellow slave, cannot understand the suffering of a true slave, as he never had to work physically challenging jobs ever in his life. Such was the pride of dragons, who subconsciously still favorably view the Unbreathed over any other slave, and couldn't stand seeing a fellow dragon, even if not a real one, do actual slave work.

Therefore, Saalodiv decided to cut some corners and skip some unnecessary time wasting ventures, and ignore Yasilithi's request to go to the mines. He led Yasilithi to an old hag herbalist; a wood elf who was almost as old as Saalodiv himself, and was the wisest being he knew. A slave who possessed astute observation skills and invaluable knowledge of herblore, Aelinia the Hag was the best choice to answer some of Yasilithi's most pressing questions.

Within the first few steps into this territory, Yasilithi had already sensed something was wrong.

"I know mines. I've seen them before. This is not a mine."

"Lizardman, I would never lead you astray."

Saalodiv glared at several other slaves looking at their direction, who promptly looked away in fear. He then lowered his voice.

"Master Knight, this is already suspicious. The slave master never visits the slave district. Especially not with a slave. I told you this was a bad idea."

"Really now? So how do you assign work to the slaves? They just know from telepathy?"

"The masters select from a pool of slaves available in my domain. The ones here are either too old to work in the mines, are currently too injured, or are currently resting for the day."

They spotted a group of Antkin crawling along the walls into and out of holes, with their legs producing crittering sounds against the stone walls. Yasilithi shuddered, not in fear, but in disgust. He never liked those demihumans, and he liked them even less now that they're bigger from his current perspective. He would always sought to fry them first in the battlefield. As it turns out, most of the slaves don't like them either, and had erected a fence to separate the Antkin from the rest of the cavern.

"Get to the point. Where are we? This polymorph spell renders my strength useless until I dispel it. You had better not lead me to a trap, or this entire place burns."

Saalodiv gulped.

"Fear not, Master Knight, I am merely taking you to the one who could answer your questions best."

"Oh? Tell me of this slave."

"Her name is Aelinia, but it is best for her to introduce herself to you. I guarantee you, she poses absolutely no threat to you."

"And how do you know that this Aelinia can answer my inquiries?"

"She tends to the injured, which happens to every slave every day. Her alchemical remedies have no peer... But you do not care about that. She hears from every slave, and thus she knows more than even I about the city's affairs."

"Hmm... Very well. I shall allow this for now. But if I sense one inkling of danger..."

"O-of course, Master Knight. I will do you no harm."

Soon, the two dragons made their way to an isolated hut located at the very back of the cavern. Huge glowing mushrooms provided light to various different herbs, and heatstones were used to emulate the warmth of the sun. Yasilithi's nose tickled at the scent of many different rare and valuable herb specimens. While he was no loremaster of herbs, he could tell how much effort it took to get this garden going. The Mountain City did not have a place like this; the slaves usually either worked or were killed.

It appeared that the slaves had discovered an underground river flowing through this spot, and this hut was built to take advantage of the water provided by the river. A small irrigation canal ran through the crops to keep their roots properly watered. Different herbs were placed in different soils to maximize their yield and lower the chances of disease. Despite being deep within the mountain, this tiny area functioned essentially like a botanical garden, with various insect species crawling around the garden, doing their own part in keeping the greenery alive. To Yasilithi, this was merely a valuable target in case he didn't get want he wanted.

Saalodiv was too big to prod into the garden without ruining the crops, so he waited at the edge. Yasilithi trudged on by himself, feeling uneasy about not wearing his glorious draconic skin. He felt disgusted to morph into a lesser being, but felt it was necessary to achieve his goal.

As he approached the hut, he saw what appeared to be a worm with spiked needles protruding from its body crawling in front of him, churning soil and dirt as it passed by. It left behind a glowing trail of slime, which quickly disappeared into the soil. Yasilithi's dulled dragon senses could pick up the insects within the soil doing something with the slime. Yasilithi picked up his foot, and was about to stamp down on it, when he heard a creaking voice.

"I wouldn't step on that if I were you. The Kinzon Insectum is named thus for a reason."

Yasilithi looked at the hut entrance, and saw a hunched over figure leaning on the frame. He snickered.

"Sharp Insect? Hardly a creative name."

Yasilithi stepped over the crawling critter, and walked up to the figure.

"You must be Aelinia."

"Indeed I am. But who are you? I've never seen such a spry, young, and proud slave come here before."

She reached a shriveled hand towards Yasilithi's false face, but he shrank away from her touch, as if the mortality of an old slave could steal the agelessness of a dragon from him. She giggled, amused by this knees-jerk reaction.

"I guess you would be handsome for your race, no?"

Yasilithi's lizard face turned into an unhealthy shade of purple, both embarrassed by the compliment and angered by himself that he was afraid of a mere slave.

"I am here to ask you a couple of questions, since it has come to my attention that you know more about this city, and it's slaves, and meets the eye."

"Oh? And who told you that?"

"Saalodiv."

"Saalodiv... ah, our beloved master."

"Wrong. The dragons are your masters, he simply tells you were to go."

Aelinia paused.

"Are the dragons not your masters as well?"

Yasilithi was about to scoff and answer in the negative, but quickly remembered that he was supposed to be a slave. Sometimes, the inexhaustible pride of dragons serve as more hindrance than boon. This was why most dragons cannot spy or handle covert work. It was more honorable, glorious, and easier to meet in open combat anyway.

"I have but one master. And he is... far away right now."

Aelinia stared at Yasilithi with her cloudy, blank eyes, before nodding.

"If you are here to ask about alchemy, I can help you the best I can. But I know nothing else."

"Alchemy? No, I wish to ask you about the other slaves. I have heard of slaves who disappeared suddenly, with no explanation, over the past century."

"Ohohoho? A slave who is curious about this city's history? My child, don't concern yourself with this matter. It won't help you work, and our masters don't care."

Yasilithi let a low growl escape from him, but managed to stomach his frustration. An outburst would blow his cover and further delay his investigation.

"I am interested because I've heard stories of slaves going missing over their lifetimes. I do not wish to bring harm to my family if my master is unwilling to protect us."

Aelinia nodded again.

"A good a reason as any, I suppose... Yes, I've heard of dozens going missing over time as well. Entire swaths of slaves... poof. The masters don't care. That dreaded marketplace always has fresh blood to purchase. And the rate at which slaves go missing is significantly lower than the rate at which they're being replaced."

Aelinia paused, trying to recollect the centuries of observations she's had of the city. Yasilithi leaned closer.

"It was only recent... well, to us elves, it was recent that whispers of a looming shadow appeared over the marketplace at night. Then old slaves, those who were near their deathbeds, would suddenly vanish into the shadows when they go out to clean at night. Some tell me that they spot shadows dancing in the distance... Just out of reach of their Dark Vision. Some tell me of apparitions they've witnessed, shadows where even the sun's light should've illuminated. And then... And then..."

Aelinia trained off, her cloudy blue eyes darting from shadow to shadow in her hut. She shivered, as if she felt a presence watching her, leering at her from the corner. Yasilithi let out a slight cough, which seemed to snap Aelinia from her stupor.

She whispered in a raspy tone.

"A dragon! Made of shadow. Born from the Moon herself. I've seen the blasphemous magic this dragons has done. I've seen..."

Aelinia started to gasp, hyperventilating from a traumatic memory. Her fingers danced around a shelf for a vial of medicine. When she found it, she did not hesitate to pop the bottle open, and swigged the contents down until no drops were left. A foul, rotten stench wafted from the bottle, and her mouth. Aelinia then started to swoon, as if whatever she drunk stole her strength.

"Yes... The shadows! They control them! They control-"

Suddenly, from the corner of the hut, a shadow tendril shot out and penetrated clean through the old elf's chest, who promptly slumped over. Yasilithi let out a cry, but couldn't do anything to stop the shadows while he was polymorphed. More tendrils appeared, and shot out at Yasilithi, but they dissolved into nothing the moment they made contact with his skin. This continued for a while, until the onslaught stopped as suddenly as it started. Yasilithi then saw black smoke wafting from the elf's mouth. He rushed towards her, and picked her body up, expecting it to be cold. To his complete surprise, her eyes shot back open.

"A potion... which delays my death. Slows my metabolism to a halt... Once I sleep, I slumber forever."

"What was that? Was that the dragon? Was that the Moon herself?"

"My child... Master Dragon... It was no Moon. I do not know what it was, only that it is a master we have never seen before..."

"I... You knew... How..."

"Dragons... Are too proud to have a master."

Aelinia gasped for air, wheezing and coughing.

"The shadows control... Several slaves. One strong, posing as weak. The rest... Severely mutilated by this foul magic."

She clasped onto Yasilithi's hands.

"Please, master dragon. Find this shadow monster. Kill it. Do it not for us worthless slaves. Do it... Because of its horde."

Aelinia took one last breath before succumbing to eternal sleep.

Yasilithi dropped the body to the ground. His greed had been tickled by this slave. Now he had a good reason to get to the bottom of this whole mess, because he stood to profit significantly from it.

Sitting down next to the corpse, he internalized what he had heard. From what he could gather, someone had been collecting bodies for a good part of a century. They utilize Wild Magic he had never seen or heard of before, but given how House Loern did not specialize in Wild Magic, Yasilithi wasn't surprised by what the dragons of this world were capable of. This Wild Magic was capable of remote control of dead bodies, and perhaps could also convert living slaves as well. If Reina's word could be trusted, this dragon could control dozens of bodies at a time. Dead bodies posed no threat to dragons of Yasilithi's caliber. Wild Magic less so. This implies that the dragon operates in the shadow for good reason, which is to avoid open conflict. But there were still questions that remained unanswered. Why would it kill the Lord's daughter? What was the purpose of the dead bodies, if they're useless in draconic combat? And most importantly... Where is this dragon? Thus far, Yasilithi could not gauge the distance from which the dragon could operate from. This was because he had assumed that the dragon was within the city the entire time. But remote control Wild Magic was unpredictable when it comes to the range at which it was effective.

During one of Teverin's conquests, Yasilithi has witnessed armored golems controlled remotely by their enemy House. While the golems were easy to destroy from the air, it prevented their slave armies from marching into the enemy territory, while the enemy fielded fresh slaves to join the battlefield. The Twins tried to replicate the magic to a lesser degree of success, and decided that it was a venture not worth pursuing. However, they realized that to finely control so many golems would require massive concentration and focus by the controlling dragon. Therefore, the war was won if Teverin's armies could find the enemy strongholds where the controlling dragons reside in, and bombard the outside with enough noise to break their concentration. The enemy House knew this, and hid deep underground, behind a maze of stone and dirt, to both block the noise and to hide their presence. Teverin's patience eventually grew thin with the search, and gave up his conquest into the lands. Before he left, though, he ordered his troops to seal as many cave entrances, holes, and mountain cracks as possible. Within a few decades, Teverin made a second attempt to take over the lands. This time, resistance was scattered and disorganized. The enemy House could not find the way out of their holes, and thus couldn't communicate with each other or even hunt for their food. They had to resort to eating slaves, and when that food supply ran out, they fell into deep slumber. Teverin is still finding pockets of dragons in slumber to this day within that territory.

Yasilithi didn't have the time to seal every last hole in this territory. He also didn't have the time to wait out a couple of decades to see if the shadow dragon had died or went to sleep. His only option now was to notify Odarath of his findings, and hope the Lord of the City would find this enough to tell him the route Lady Pakuri took to the Dragon Emperor. Before that, however, Yasilithi decided to travel back to the mountain city to inform the Twins and Teverin about this shadow dragon's horde. There was no guarantee that it had a large collection of Dragon Eggs, but given how it was able to pilfer slaves and sneak dead puppets into the marketplace without anyone noticing, there was a good chance it was stealing bits and pieces of loot as well.

—

It was a couple of days since Odarath ordered that Knight to go and find the perpetrator. His patience was growing thin. He could almost hear the chatters of the lower class dragons talking about the murder of his daughter, and how it could be his fault.

A slave brought a piece of fresh meat to his throne. He lazily picked it up and crunched on it.

"That worthless Knight... I should've known that he was good for nothing."

A low growl came from deep inside his body. The slave serving him shivered, and scurried away to serve his other concubines.

"I should've looked for the killer on my own. I probably could've found him by now."

He took a sip from a blood soup bowl. The taste of freshly boiled baby ursine blood always calmed him down. He only permitted himself a very small amount per day, given how little his city could produce, even with his vast wealth.

"Perhaps he simply took the shortest route to the Dragon Emperor's domain and waited for Lady Pakuri there."

Odarath then shook his head. The Dragon Emperor's soldiers would not accept early retainers of an arriving Dragon Lord, for security purposes. He stood on all fours, stretching, and prepared to fly out to look for the Knight, when the door to his throne opened. His slave master, carrying something in between his claws, strode towards him and bowed.

"Master Lord Odarath. Master Knight Yasilithi wishes to enter and speak with you."

Odarath paused what he was doing, and stared at the door.

"Let him in."

"Of course, master."

Saalodiv rushed to open the door, and Yasilithi flew in, and bowed.

"I trust you have news for me. I see no body behind you, so this better be good."

"As it were, I have reached the limit of my assistance that I may render for you."

Odarath reached down to scratch a thick, calloused silver sphere that was situated next to his throne. The sensation of ripping metal soothed him. The well-worn state of the sphere indicated that Odarath was a dragon whose patience was as short as a baby dragon's talon.

"...Explain. Now."

While the slave master behind Yasilithi flinched, the Knight himself remained calm, almost oblivious to his attempt at intimidation. The unfazed look of this Knight... Actually, of every Loern Knight Odarath has ever saw, annoyed him to no end. He was used to dragons cowering before his awesome aura. It was as if their fear was entirely cut off from their soul. In the back of his mind, he wondered how Teverin was able to train his dragons to this point and still retain their utmost loyalty.

"Lord Odarath, I have discovered the presence of what may be an unauthorized dragon using unknown Wild Magic trespassing in your domain. His or her main crime was the murder of your daughter, but done indirectly with the use of meat puppets."

Yasilithi gestured towards Saalodiv, who threw what he was carrying onto the floor. It was a desiccated slave corpse, but twitching in an unnatural manner. Saalodiv pressed his entire hand down onto the slave, pinning it under his giant bulk.

"I had believed that these corpses were directly controlled by this shadow dragon, but it now appeared that the dragon had placed a sort of automated response within the corpse to any external stimuli. The magic within the body can be remotely activated by the caster, which can switch it from this current state, to a dormant state."

The slave body was now gnawing on Saalodiv's talon, to no effect. Even an Ubreathed dragon was completely unfazed by the pitiful attacks made by this corpse.

"Interesting, Knight. But I don't see how this pitiful little thing can harm a fully-grown dragon."

"It didn't. As it turns out, the shadow dragon has also given remote access to these corpses to several of your slaves. I believe these slaves are currently mentally dominated, and thus constitutes as theft of property. It was these slaves who killed your daughter."

Odarath stared at Yasilithi.

"You do realize that you're making a hefty accusation. Wrongfully accusing my slaves is akin to insulting my honor. Show me proof."

Yasilithi nodded.

"Follow me. We shall enter the slave cages."

Odarath nodded to two of his guards standing at attention, who promptly flew over to stand on either side of his flanks. Yasilithi led the group, followed by Saalodiv, then Odarath, and finally his two guards. Slave retainers ran after the group from below. The moving slave corpse was crushed and destroyed by Saalodiv's breath.

"I caught on their scent while asking around disguised as a slave. One of the city's slaves, Aelinia, gave me the first step towards the right direction. After interrogating a couple of other groups of slaves, I figured out that the main slave responsible for controlling the husks was within a small group of about eleven slaves. I don't know which it is, but it's one of them."

Yasilithi, while questioning other slaves, had heard rumors of a group of slaves who wander during the night, while everyone was asleep, performing strange and horrifying rituals in an attempt to gain the same magical powers as dragons. They were all mutilated versions of their original race, warped beyond all recognition. Some slaves claimed to have witnessed these slaves prostrating to something in the shadows that their dark vision couldn't make out. They tell stories of how shadows would lash out on slaves who venture too close, killing those who didn't get away in time. Those who died to the tendrils would melt into the shadows, never to be seen again. It was clear that the shadow dragon has placed many shadow tendrils within the city, much like the ones that had attacked Yasilithi.

When the group arrived at the cages, they could see that the cage was shrouded in an inky black veil. Astonished, Odarath howled out in exclamation.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Yasilithi stepped forward, and white hot flames burned away at the shadow, but couldn't penetrate the veil. Taken aback, he laced his flames with some of his soul, making the flames glow brighter and burning a hole into the black fog. A small dragon, clan in scales that mirrored the night, jumped out yelping and flapping its wings in a futile attempt to put out the flames.

"AHHHHHH! STOP THE FLAMES! STOP IT!"

Curious, Yasilithi motioned to lower his fire, but Odarath stopped him.

"Let this dragon burn for a while."

"NO, NO, I SWEAR, THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK! LET ME EXPLAAAAIN!"

They stared, watching as the dragon writh and squirm around. The shadow surrounding the cage dissipated, revealing husks of slave bodies.

"HOW AM I HURT BY THESE UNGODLY FLAMES?! WHAT SORT OF WILD MAGIC IS THIS?!"

Yasilithi started to smell charred flesh, and stopped his flames from burning.

"Because these are not wild magic fire, shadowed one."

The dragon collapsed, huffing and puffing in exhaustion. Odarath motioned to his guards, who marched forward, gripped either of his shoulders, and hoisted the dragon up.

"Speak."

Half-delirious from pain, the dragon groaned, and shook his head to clear his mind. He shrugged off the guards, and stood proud before Odarath, who was clearly a head and neck taller than him.

"Look... I am... Well, my name isn't important. I'm a dragon scholar experimenting with dead subjects. I wanted to see what happens if we imbued some of our souls into bodies of varying age. What I discovered was that we create bodies that could be remotely controlled, albeit requiring extreme focus to properly control, with fine movement impossible, unlike remote golems. This was utterly useless for my research, until I discovered that when I let go of my control over the body, the dead remain animate."

The dragon wheezed, and examined the place where he was burned the worst.

"Well cooked, Knight. The stories of your strength are no joke. You burned my flesh almost to the bone, yet cauterized my wound from bleeding out."

Odarath let out a deep growl. The dragon flinched, and lowered his head.

"Yes, yes, I'm getting to it. So, the dead remains animate. They walk about, attacking anything that moves. It's quite a fascinating thing to observe. After a while, they fall to the ground, having expended all of the soul I imbued into it. So I wondered, what happens if I imbue this same spell into a living slave? Well, it results in a grotesque mutilation of the slave's body, which was irreversible. And also an insatiable appetite for blood once my soul magic ran out. Now, to explain this phenomenon would require extensive lectures on the relationship between blood and soul, but the general consensus was that the closest property to the soul, which powers our Wild Magic, was blood. The appetite for it was to replace my piece of soul that, I theorize, had replaced the slave's soul when the spell is used on a slave. Certain slaves have a certain... synergy with this magic. And certain dragons could use this spell, while others cannot. I won't get into the details of that nonsense."

The dragon paused, and tried to catch his breath. He limped towards the cage, and pointed to a body. The elf, Yasilithi recognized, was Illuthin.

"This is my wood elf slave, Wundel. For some unknown reason, he had a very special reaction to my spell when I imbued him with my soul. He could control shadows like me, to a lesser extent, which I found out too late. He also retained most of his own will. He hid most of his powers from me, only choosing to show me results I wanted to see, which was retention of intelligence and an increase in personal strength, as well as enhanced dark vision. When I allowed my soul to run its course through his body, he pretended to collapse. Naturally, I tossed his body out."

The scholar sighed.

"It appeared that he was able to infest others with my magic, keeping a tiny part of my soul to maintain control over Wild Magic, while using mainly blood to satisfy his hunger and persistence. I was able to track him down using the tiny soul he kept within him. For a slave to so expertly wield Wild Magic despite not ever having training in it..."

Yasilithi nodded, accepting the scholar's explanation. However, Odarath grew angrier.

"Why did you kill my daughter and frame me? Get on to that NOW!"

The dragon looked flabbergasted.

"Eh? They did what?"

Yasilithi spoke up.

"The frame part... I don't think that was intentional."

"I don't care. It made me look bad. No one tarnishes my reputation and gets away with it."

The dragon backed up.

"Calm down, Lord! I believe that... perhaps Wundel and his minions believed that drinking the blood of a sufficiently powerful dragon would grant them full use of Wild Magic?"

"I won't accept that explanation! Is that slave dead? I must speak to it, and show it the error of crossing with me."

"It's too late. I extracted my soul from his body. That killed every-"

Odarath roared in anger, and slashed at the dragon scholar, who yelped in pain. His talons left a deep gnash that ran from the dragon's face, down the neck, and to his chest. His tough dragon scale and hide did nothing to mitigate an attack by one of the Loern.

Yasilithi coughed, and stared at Odarath. This was a favorable development, seeing as the culprit practically turned himself in. He fulfilled his end of the bargain. He didn't care that Odarath didn't get the closure he wanted. All he cared about was getting the correct route Lady Pakuri went through, and he was already delayed by a couple of sun cycles. If Odarath didn't tell him what he wanted to know, he'll just have to force it out of Odarath himself. Teverin was already convinced that the shadow dragon had a horde, which probably isn't true at this point, so Odarath will have to cough it up in its place.

Odarath looked at Yasilithi, and sighed. He didn't want to deal with another problem, and decided to make it go away immediately.

"Alright, let me give time. I shall write the location to you. Follow the instructions to the letter."

—

The Dragon Emperor's territory contained many naturally occurring phenomena that could only be described as beautiful. It was hotly debated amongst Dragon Sages if this was the result of an ancient spell casted by an ancient Dragon Emperor dozens of millennia ago, or if it simply was this way from the initial genesis of the world. No one could explain why such natural wonders could occur, as the brightest Wild Magic users could not replicate a persistent Wild Magic effect that mimics whatever happened in here.

For example, in the tropical flatlands of the southwestern area of the Dragon Emperor's domain, there exist a powerful whirlwind that spans thousands of meters across and reaches a height higher than a dragon can fly. This natural phenomena picks up strength every one hundred and twenty seasons, where it collects debris from the surrounding area. Dragons who enter the enormous tornado to explore came back out to report an astonishing discovery: the tornado magnified the stars in the sky.

It became a vital part of the Dragon Emperor's territory, as it helped his astrologers examine signs of the future from the positions of the stars. The future looked grim: his astrologers had recently predicted a cataclysmic event that will wipe out draconic society as they knew it. They warned the Dragon Emperor to start using his almighty Wish-granting powers to gather mighty weapons to avert this event. Little did these dragons knew: they had already set in motion a series of events that will lead to their downfall.