Dragon Sorcerer 2- Chapter 71 (Patreon)

Chapter 71- What Forlay has to Offer.

I very slowly sat back down on the chair behind me. I wanted to show her that I wasn’t in an attack posture. At the same time, I began running through the best abilities I had in my mind. I could transform much faster than they knew, but I’d save that for my ace. Once I transformed, killing Lisella would be easy enough, but it would also bring the entire university down on me.

I wasn’t naïve enough to believe that I could prevail against all of them, at least not yet. Call the Charge would be a powerful combination of attack and defensive magic, but it took six seconds to cast. I had to imagine that if she was asking me this now; she was prepared with traps set.

I cursed myself. I’d grown lax around the humans. I thought I had them where I wanted them but maybe I was the one being played. My eyes darted around from side to side, looking for any danger. I didn’t pick up anything right away, but I did see the large window. If necessary, I could bolt for that.

The glass would cut this fragile human form, but my monk skills would ensure I made it to the ground safely. No, I needed to take a deep breath. She hadn’t attacked yet. I needed to be careful not to set her off. We were in her lair after all.

She smiled. I was fairly accustomed to it, but in this particular situation, it felt more threatening than I would have liked. Maybe that was just my anxiety speaking, though. Dragon Fear, yes, that would be my opening gambit. I just needed to be ready.

“Why do you think I’m planning on killing you?”

“Call it an instinct. We drove you from your home, took your sister, and now you’ve found out what the conditions other dragons are living under. That is to say nothing about Modessa’s outright hostility and repeated threats or even attacks on you. You’re an intelligent being. I can’t believe any of that makes you happy.”

I nodded but didn’t say anything, so she continued. “So even if you aren’t planning to kill the rest of us, I expect that Modessa has a mark on her head. If half of the legends are true, then dragons live a very long time, so you’re smart enough to be patient. For all I know, you could be planning your revenge for thirty years from now. For a being who lives hundreds or even more than a thousand years that would be an insignificant wait. That is, if dragons actually live that long.”

“Of course, dragons can live that long. Wyrms can live a couple thousand years if they react that final stage. Why do your domesticated dragons not live that long?” The words domesticated and dragon simply didn’t belong together and it was all I could do not to spit as I asked that question.

“I don’t know the answer to that. It’s just always been that way or that’s how everyone acts. They live more like thirty to fifty years. What I’m told is that at some point most of them just start refusing to eat or get up and simply fall asleep before dying. It’s like they give up.”

I wanted to demand answers then, but bit my tongue. I still wasn’t sure what her intentions were, but shouldn’t something like that have clued them in to the fact that what they were doing to the dragons was wrong? “That is an abomination, but I am NOTHING like that creature I met in the stable. If you think to turn me into that, then only one of us is going to walk out of this apartment today.”

She stepped back. I don’t think it was intentional, but I had gotten rather intense.

“No, I swear upon Miseria that I have no intention of imprisoning you or trying to collar you.”

A system notification popped up confirming that it was a binding oath, but I ignored the notification. Words were cheap.

“But you do have plans for me, right?”

She didn’t answer right away, instead taking her time to choose the right words, at least that was what I assumed. “Of course, you are a treasure in many ways. Already you’re as strong or stronger than a level twenty adventurer unless you factor all of their gear of course. But, it’s clear you have much more to learn. Everyone wants something from you. To be fair, though, I have plans for every acolyte I take under my wing, just like my uncle had plans for me. There’s a human saying, “Something for something…”

“Or nothing for nothing,” I finished for her. “It isn’t just a human expression. In fact, it’s probably just something else humans have taken from dragons.

“Before you ask, I don’t know the emperor’s plans or even all of my goddess’ plans, only that she has given me the impression that you or your kind at least are important for the survival of the world. I don’t think she means humans by that either. I think that the threat is one to all of creation, which would include dragon kind.”

I nodded but didn’t reply. That would however make more sense. In my memories, I didn’t ever get the impression that Draconis cared that much about the humans, but if he was protecting the world and thus the future of dragonkind, that I could understand.

“That still doesn’t tell me what you want.”

“No, it doesn’t, but I’m trying to set the table for you, so to speak. The empire had dragon riders, but so do each of the individual kingdoms. We are all part of the empire, but we still compete to see who can be the strongest within the empire. The emperor rules absolutely, but he still gives his ear to those who contribute the most to the empire. I expect that even other races such as orcs, dwarves, or even elves would have a desire for you.

“You may not realize just how rare your kind are. We hear rumors of dragon attack in the wild, but if there are many wild dragons left, then they are very well hidden. Knowing you a little bit, I find it hard to believe that they are willing to hide. The legends tell of dragons attacking towns and great parties being put together to hunt down a dangerous dragon. I can assure you that nothing like that has happened in my lifetime.”

“Perhaps they are simply hibernating. Older dragons can sleep for decades, perhaps even centuries,” I said. Even as I said that, I tried to think back through any memories I had from recent times in the dragon dream. That would have been mostly my mother’s memories before she laid my clutch.

Piecing things together, I believe my mother was a couple hundred years old. It was hard to put the tapestry together, but as I thought about it, her memories showed almost no contact with humans except a few desert villages. It was another piece of the puzzle. I wished that I could track her down and ask her, but there was no guarantee she wouldn’t have seen that as an attack.

Lisella’s words broke my train of thought. “Hmm… perhaps. I didn’t know that. My point is that both Miseria and Forlay would like to recruit you. You could still serve the good of the world and secure a rich future, but Forlay would like you to do it under our banner.”

“Have you discussed me with your sire or uncle?”

“No, not with anyone outside of our group and I won’t unless you give me permission. But Forlay is not a weak country and I am not without influence in the church of Miseria. I’m sure that together we could make you a very compelling offer.”

I immediately wanted to ask what she had to offer. Piles of gold and jewels, servants, and the like all danced before my eyes. I stifled it with a supreme effort of will. I wanted, no needed those things. They were the birthright of every dragon as far as I was concerned, but I needed something else more.

It was becoming increasingly obvious to me; just how endangered dragons were. Some travel would be required, but I needed to seek out others of my kind. Before that, though, I needed something else. I needed power and as much of it as I could gain.

“Power.”

“What?”

“That’s what I want. We can talk about details and then you can talk to your people, but what I want is my freedom and to have that I need power. So, if you want something from me that’s what I’ll want in return. I need to find out what has happened to other dragons, but I’m not going to lead you to them. Decisions I make for myself are my own not theirs. Oh, and I’ll need a layer in case Temulara doesn’t come through.”

She looked at me strangely. “Oh, didn’t I mention that the goddess of the sea promised me a lair of my own if I completed a little quest for her?”

Lisella was clearly shocked now. “You know she can’t be trusted. She is known as the most fickle of goddesses.”

“She never invaded my home or took my sister prisoner.” I kept my face like stone, but on the inside I was laughing because I knew she couldn’t argue with that.

“What quest?” she asked.

“I’m not going to tell you. Maybe later.”

“It will be hard to help you, to give you everything you want without at least a little trust.”

Then, when you’ve earned a little trust, I will give it to you. For now, I need to stretch my legs. I want to get out there and see some more of this island. Then I picked up the scrolls and put them in the pouch I had taken to carrying on my waist. I didn’t bother to ask if it was okay for me to take them. Once they were in my claws, err… fingers, they were mine as far as I was concerned.

“Okay, but think about it. I’ve found a tutor to train you in martial arts. He’s a bit eccentric and rather young for a master, not even forty yet. He’s the only one I could find who practices the dragon style of martial arts. His name is Edgar Hellegers, but for some reason he doesn’t want to be called Master Hellegers. He insisted that when you train with him, you’ll have to call him Edgar.”

“One name is just the same as another for a human to me.”

“I was going to line up a mage to teach you storm magic because of the images from your testing, but if you are going to be a monk, it will be difficult to explain that. Monks still use magic, but it is mostly related to self-enhancement or sometimes healing.”

“What about my second class?”

“You mean a crafting class?” Lisella asked. Then she shook her head. “Oh, I was being stupid. I forget that you break all the rules. Normally, people only have one class. They can evolve that class and they can get a crafting class, but they only have one adventurer class. Your character sheet said monk and sorcerer originally. Have you gained any powers of a sorcerer?

“Wait no, I really was being stupid. Sorcerer is only an uncommon level class, but it is very unusual for there to be any now. Records indicate there used to be more, but this would explain some about how you learn magic. Sorcerers still study books and learn theory, but they are much more intuitive in how they cast magic.”

She seemed to have moved past wondering if I actually had the class of sorcerer like I had activated the monk class, so I just sat there staring at her. She started pacing and mumbling to herself. “Could it be? That would make so much sense, but I need more proof.”

I just watched patiently and ate more of the food she had laid out.

Eventually, she said, “What do you know about the interaction of humans and dragons in the past? Have any other dragons walked amongst humans disguised as one of us?”

“First off, as disgusting as this is to think about, this isn’t a disguise. My magic actually turns me into a human, not just the shape of a human.”

She made the shape of an ‘O’ with her mouth. It was a particularly odd human expression. “That’s right. I didn’t think about the significance of that before other than that it would protect you from detection. Does it work like that if you take other shapes? I mean you can take other shapes, right?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“This is going to be so important. So, do you know if any other dragons have interacted as humans?”

I thought about it. I was giving her too much information, but she seemed to be onto something and I found myself curious. “It isn’t like I know what every dragon in the history of the world has done. Do you know what every human has done?”

“Of course not, but Serius and I were talking about some things you’ve said. It seems obvious that you have a way of knowing things that happened before you were born. Maybe it’s magic, maybe it's an inborn instinct. I don’t know. And I’m willing to bet you aren’t going to tell me what your source is.”

Silence was the only answer I gave her. Then, after a couple of minutes, I said, “I believe that some other dragons may have taken human shape in the past, but I don’t think any of them did for as long as I have. Now, tell me why you ask.”

She paced again for a minute before she said, “If dragon blood entered the human race, it might explain how sorcerers or other mage variants came about.”

“Are you suggesting that a dragon would mate with a human?”

“Well, obviously in human form.” Then she stood up extra straight and pushed out her chest as she ran her hands down her sides. “Are you saying that would really be so awful?”

I couldn’t answer her question as I threw up a little bit in my mouth.