As was seemingly becoming habit, Leon found himself staring at the Great Dragon Clans’ armada, still floating a good distance from Belicenion. The skies above the plane had become choked with arks in the couple weeks since his own arrival, and the vast arkyards and Void Fortresses guarding the plane filled up quickly, but despite space becoming a limited commodity, no one dared to stray too close to the Great Dragons.
From what he’d seen of them so far, he guessed that the Great Dragons liked that state of affairs just fine, no matter how much Jennifyr and Varon might pretend to lament their loneliness at parties.
Knowing that his mother was right there was torture. The more he stared at War Cry, the more tempted he was to just rush to the ark, black fire pouring from his body, and demanding a meeting. The rational part of his brain was still in control, however, and was putting in gargantuan effort in holding him back.
That might not hold for long, however, as his meeting with Jennifyr aboard her Clan’s ark was in only a matter of hours. Of all the Great Dragon arks, Sweeping Tide was less intimidating than most, lacking much in the way of obvious weaponry, but Leon knew for a fact that even if the ark was on its own, it wouldn’t go down without a tremendous, plane-shattering fight. And he was to approach that ark alone if he wanted that meeting with Jennifyr.
There was no question in his mind that he was going to do just that, but that also didn’t stop him from feeling nervous about it.
Probably sensing his mounting anxiety, an arm snaked its way around his midsection, gentle and comforting. When Leon glanced at the body that the arm was attached to, he found emerald eyes staring lovingly back at him.
“Silver for your thoughts?” Elise asked sweetly.
Sighing deeply through his nose, Leon replied, “Wondering how long I can keep up the subtlety.”
“Don’t,” Maia stated defiantly as she joined them on Leon’s other side. “Don’t hide yourself. Declare yourself before the universe and demand the respect you’re owed.” She crossed her arms and nodded confidently.
“Such posturing can get a man killed, Maia,” Valeria stated.
“There’s a point where such ‘posturing’ is required,” Cassandra jumped in to support Maia’s suggestion. “How long should we wait for the dragons to know what’s obvious? How long should we wait for that brat—who doesn’t deserve to be associated with such a noble color as gold—to wise up?”
Leon scoffed, “Won’t be counting on the wisdom of a fifteen-year-old girl. Took a chance, didn’t pay off. I’d rather bet on Jennifyr, or even Varon, before trying again with Nyra.”
Elise smiled. “Hmm. That’s certainly a better plan. I was too busy fighting with my mother and running away to Teira to make smart decisions when I was fifteen.”
It was Leon’s turn to smile, but before anyone could say anything, Maia took him by the shoulders and physically turned him around to face her. Her expression was one of utmost seriousness, her lake-blue eyes boring into him with all the weight of a rushing river, demanding that she be taken seriously.
He did just that, listening intently as she began to speak.
“They don’t respect anything but strength. So show them strength. Don’t play around. Be direct, show your power, demand your place. All will be well if you do that.” She nodded again, but her iron grip on Leon’s shoulders impressed her words into him almost as much as her tone.
With his smile fading, replaced by stoic seriousness, Leon replied, “I’m tempted. The Great Black Dragon has… encouraged me in similar ways.”
“Then why haven’t you followed through?” Elise asked, circling around him to stand beside Maia. “I think he’d know how to handle dragons better than anyone else.”
“We’ve been too public,” Valeria said as she took a position beside Leon. She glanced at him, and when he nodded, she continued, “It’s one thing to reveal everything to the dragons. Another to reveal Leon’s power to the universe. So far, we’ve always had others around us. Gwarim, Archelaus, Miuna… Better to wait for an opportunity like this: in the company of none but the dragons. We can leave subtlety for… other such operations.”
Leon reached out and took her hand, giving her a gentle squeeze. They were still weak, so directly challenging Kamran for Ariana wasn’t yet feasible. It seemed like Justin wasn’t lying when he said that Kamran was too busy with Halbast to attend the Games, but if he had been here and Ariana was with him, then… Leon knew that he would’ve worked to reunite his silver-haired wife with her mother, too.
“We won’t be with you, Leon,” Valeria whispered, “but we’re here, ready for whatever happens. Do what you think is best.”
Leon met the eyes of each of his wives, all of them expressing similar sentiments to Valeria. His heart fluttered, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d done to get so damned lucky. It was still a little early to leave, but he bid them goodbye and hurried out to avoid breaking down in front of them. He loved them too much to subject them to his lovestruck blubbering.
Fortunately, once he got going, the dangers of the situation once more hammered themselves into him, and a stoic glare reasserted itself over his face.
‘Time to meet the Blue Dragons on their turf…’
---
Like the cracking of a distant storm, Leon’s blood thundered in his ears. He could barely hear the lightning-quick reports from his pair of escorts, important though their words were.
Instead, he let his power suffuse his blood, filling his body not with silver-blue lightning but with black fire, the power of the Great Black Dragon. As he sat in his Ulta suit, the giant assistant doing most of the work flying him to Sweeping Tide, he simply immersed himself in this power, while also paying attention to how it interacted with his eyes. Doomfire alone would be his ace-in-the-hole, but he would be well-served having conscious access to the Eye of Calamity.
Hoping for such a breakthrough in these last few seconds was the refuge of a fool, and while Leon would claim the title of fool when he was feeling foolish, in this case, feeling the waves upon waves of powerful magic senses washing over his Ulta suit’s frame as it closed with the Great Dragons’ armada beat as much of the foolishness out of him as could be beaten out of him. He could feel the attention of many of the most powerful beings in the universe as his destination became clearer and clearer, and those who were paying attention only grew in number the closer he got.
No one approached the Great Dragons. In this, he was unique, and that demanded attention.
“They’re sending out the welcoming party,” Anzu whispered through their suits’ internal communication systems.
“Not too large,” the Jaguar remarked, he and Anzu having insisted on accompanying Leon at least to Sweeping Tide, even if they couldn’t be allowed to board. “A strong force, but not enough to betray hostile intent, I think…”
Leon absorbed their words quietly as he fought to still his racing heart and twitching muscles. He watched the half-dozen fighter arks and the pair of accompanying eleventh-tier single-winged blue dragons close in, then surround him and his escorts as they slowed for their final approach.
One of the dragons came forward and glared at Leon’s Ulta suit, and he sensed darkness magic hissing against the suit’s wards.
“Open the canopy,” Leon ordered without hesitation, and his giant assistant complied without a word, snapping open his thirty-foot-tall Ulta suit and exposing him directly to the Void.
Coating himself in origin power, Leon hardly felt a thing. But he stood in the open suit and returned the defiant glare to the blue dragon, waiting for their words.
When he felt the brush against his mental defenses, he let it through, and a voice like the crashing of waves swept into his mind.
[Your escorts stay outside. The Princess’s invitation was for you alone.]
[That was the plan,] Leon impatiently responded. [Let’s just get on with this.]
The blue dragon’s nostrils flared at his tone, but at least complied with his words as it turned around and led the way back to Sweeping Tide, propelled by magic rather than anything its wings were able to beat against out in the Void.
Leon remained standing in the open canopy as they were led closer to Sweeping Tide, the great blue ark seeming to glitter as they lessened the vast distance between them. The entire ark was seemingly covered in blue scales, with crystalline ice shining through in a few select places. While there was sure to be some utility in the ice, Leon’s eyes judged it to be more decorative than functional, especially in the ‘garden’ surrounding what seemed to be the palace-like living quarters of the ark, which were entirely filled with ice sculptures of flowers, trees, and other exotic plants. There were even statues of animals made of what looked like precious stones darting in and around the ice plants.
[Brother!] Anzu silently called out, tearing Leon’s attention away from the ark’s décor. He found that the Blue Dragons had closed in with Anzu and the Jaguar’s Ulta suits, preventing them from following any further.
[My King,] the Jaguar added. [How should we deal with this?]
[Stow your fangs,] Leon replied. [No need to make them tremble. Not yet, anyway. I might be a while in there…]
[I will tear this ark to pieces if they should do anything untoward,] the Jaguar promised.
[Not before I rend it with beak and talon,] Anzu growled.
Leon smiled, reiterated his peaceful strategy, and followed the blue dragon down to the gardens, leaving his brother and Marshal behind waiting for him. He didn’t doubt that they’d follow through on their threats, but he endeavored to make doing so unnecessary.
He didn’t get much of a chance to further admire Sweeping Tide’s exterior as the blue dragon had him fly through the ice garden to what seemed to be a private hangar, and within, he noted about a dozen transport arks of varying size, as well as a single transport ark barely large enough for three or four people, with an exterior replete with green scales.
’Seems Varon beat me here.’
Before the hangar doors closed behind them, Leon had already leaped down from his suit’s canopy, which closed up behind him. It would stay there, unmoving, until he returned, the giant within given strict orders not to let on that the suit didn’t suffer any loss in combat potential without him until such a time as violence became inevitable.
But Leon didn’t pay that much attention; instead, he was captivated by the sight of the blue dragon’s form shifting into that of a human, albeit one covered from head to toe in blue scales, and with nary a single strand of hair poking out from his head.
“I will take you to the Princess,” the dragon-in-human-form stated, his tone communicating his disagreement with such an allowance where his words did not.
Leon simply replied, “Let’s waste no time.” Like that, the dragon spun on his heel and headed further in.
To some extent, Leon was surprised that there hadn’t been a more robust welcoming party. The hangar had been deserted upon their arrival, and no other guards or armed security of any kind could be seen in the extensive palatial halls that he was led through. It was as if the ark had only enough passengers to fill a village despite having the space to carry an entire city’s population.
As they went, however, he tuned his senses to his surroundings and was quickly able to parse out at least some of the truth: much of the internal security was delegated to golems. The halls were painted blue, and projected scenes of blue dragons, oceans both calm and raging, and great cities and their great inhabitants, but the decoration that Leon paid most attention to was the many statues of various animals and people situated in alcoves or prominently featured on plinths that they passed. Nearly all were made of sapphire or some similar kind of crystal, and about half had similar enchantment patterns to the golems that Nestor produced in large quantities. While Leon couldn’t sense any wisps within them animating their frames, he didn’t doubt that they were there, ready to leap out at him if he so much as let a single whiff of killing intent into his aura.
Silently, they marched through the halls, the golems silently watching despite never moving, until they reached a door of sea-green coral. Instead of swinging open, the coral seemed to recede, as if it were shriveling up, allowing them entrance to the room beyond. When they passed through, the door ‘grew’ back, sealing them in.
The room beyond was an opulent lounge, complete with enough plush seating for hundreds of people. A bar was situated at one end, while at the other was an enormous window projection showing the controlled chaos surrounding Belicenion. Standing in front of the window were a pair of familiar figures: Jennifyr and Varon, the two dragons calmly chatting, their whispered voices absorbed by the decorative curtains and thick carpets, preventing them from reaching Leon’s ears until he was brought much closer.
“Princess,” the blue dragon said with a bow to Jennifyr.
“Thank you, Rozhek,” the Blue Dragon Princess replied in a friendly tone. “No need to stick around on our account.” The scaled man glanced at Leon and gave his Princess a skeptical look. “No need for that,” Jennifyr responded. “We can handle Leon, can’t we, brother?”
“Certainly,” Varon confidently replied.
With their insistence, Rozhek made for the door, though not before sending a look of warning Leon’s way, which Leon completely ignored.
“Leon…” Jennifyr began before Rozhek had even left the room. “This is a much nicer place than Miuna’s ballroom, isn’t it? More intimate, fewer eyes watching your every move… I hope that you’ll be more candid with us, now.”
“After further reflection,” Varon said as the coral door opened and Rozhek stepped back into the hallway, “I find the familiar sensation in your aura to be… familial. Here, without any spectators, I demand an answer. Who are you, and what powers are you concealing?”
Leon smiled as the coral door closed behind Rozhek, leaving him truly alone with the two Great Dragon descendants—or at least, as alone with them as was possible on Sweeping Tide.
“Who says I’m hiding anything?” he asked with faux innocence.
“Nyra,” Jennifyr stated. “I met with her after Miuna’s disappointing party. Care to guess what she shared?”
As much as he wanted to just summon black fire and be done with this, the instinct to mess with the pair was too great for Leon to resist. “I’m going to guess ‘fuck all’.” He complimented his statement with a wry grin, silently daring either of them to challenge him.
Jennifyr’s sea green eyes narrowed in displeasure, but it was Varon who took up his unspoken challenge.
“She said enough,” the Green Dragon said. “Tell us now, friend; we are not the only two you’ll be meeting with today. Others have expressed an interest in you, and they’ll be here momentarily…”
The pull at the corners of Leon’s lips was great, and he gave in readily enough. Wearing a proud, unabashed smile, he revealed himself to them entirely: he raised his hands, and in one, conjured a ball of black fire, while in the other, he summoned Serana’s black slate. The power of the Great Black Dragon blazed unambiguously, undeniably, and Leon asked, “Does this explain enough?”
Whatever their intentions were for the meeting seemed to vanish as Jennifyr and Varon stared wide-eyed at the Doomfire in his hand, at first in disbelief, but then in dawning horror and shock. No small part of Leon reveled in the reaction, but he cut it short as the coral door opened once again. By the time the tall man entered, he’d already cut off his black fire and pulled the memory slate back into his soul realm, though Varon and Jennifyr continued to stare at him, practically slack-jawed.
The man who entered the room smiled jovially, though with a hint of judgment and derision when his golden eyes locked with Leon’s. He chuckled and said, “Apologies for being late. Now I feel like I’ve interrupted something…”
Varon snapped out of his shock while Jennifyr looked only one step away from going catatonic. “Despot Leon…” he whispered hoarsely, “this is Ryker, nephew to Fargrim, Patriarch of the Great Black Dragon Clan…”
—-
—-
Thank you to my Apotheosis-tier patrons:
Easyreader – Scarab6 – Caleb Michael Mills – A.M.R. – Laggmonkei – Stretchheart – CWMA – Tae – helvetica – Murigi – DJ9warren – Gabe9230 – Caleb – Johnny – Matthew Schultz – Divine univers – Paul Whatever – Kenneth House – Dr.Pine – Isaac T. – Zachary W Jensen – Zach Atchinson – Heretic Turtle – Chris Prevou – Hunter Greeno – Deadguy – Joseph Weber – Richard Jarvis – Andrew Jones – Michael MacDonald
---
Please be sure to visit Royal Road and leave a rating or review!