Dragon 4 Chapter 6

I let out an explosive breath once the meeting was done. To my horror, I learned that this would last a whole week. Seven days of arguing about minor details of the greater organization that dragons led behind the scenes of human politics.

Today was just day one. I sagged as I stood to leave.

"You know, King Tytus kicked out half of the dragons before the end of the first day on his first conclave." The green dragon commented as he stood.

"Yeah? What happened to him?"

"Died, but not because of that. I'm Thuun." He extended a hand in greetings. "You wanted to see the murals and learn our history?"

Hell yes I did. "That would be great. Can I bring my harem?"

"I apologize, but we traditionally do not bring non-dragons. You may, of course, repeat anything you have seen, but to preserve them, we are quite careful.” Thuun was almost reverent in his speech.

I nodded, deciding not to push the issue. I wanted to try to keep their culture intact as I worked to understand it.

As we stepped outside the room, I saw that the others that had come with us had been busy.

The structure had transformed. The encroaching jungle had been banished back away with magic. Everything had been cleaned, and furniture that looked like it had withstood the test of time had been dredged up from the bowels of the building. Yet I had no idea where the food came from.

"Dragons are often solitary creatures." Thuun pointed out. "This is not only a time for leaders to make deals and decisions, but a time for dragons to meet and information to be shared. There will be celebrations every night."

"Like parties?" I asked.

Thuun smiled. "How we celebrate has changed with the ages. I think it won't be too far off what you expect."

I spotted Yev in the crowd talking to my mates. "Yev, come join me."

My voice sounded unnaturally loud as the people preparing the celebration became quiet in an instant.

Yev did a double take, unsure of herself, before Tyrande shoved her forward.

Thuun laughed. "That might be one for the history books."

"What?" I wasn’t following.

"I’ve never seen so many eligible women zero in on a competitor so completely. Did you see their faces?" Thuun chortled to himself as Yev hurried over.

She looked like a high elf. She had the typical blonde hair and eyes that swirled with magic. "Zach?" She panted just slightly, breathless from hurrying over.

The deep breaths she was taking made her chest swell up, bringing my attention to it. Although it could have also been the green dress that expertly worked its way around her chest, pushing it up before flowing out.

"Come on. Thuun was going to show me the history of dragons. Though I'm told it is dragon only."

Thuun smiled kindly at Yev. "I knew your father; he was a great man."

"Thank you." Yev was surprised. "I miss him dearly."

Thuun nodded and started to lead us down an enormous, winding staircase. It was big enough that a medium-sized dragon could probably waddle down it.

"I should probably know this, but have you been to a conclave before?" I asked Yev.

Yev looked at me, surprised by the question. "No. They are fairly uncommon."

Thuun heard the question and elaborated. "We used to have to hunt down every dragon and send an individual invitation. Thirty years ago, Brom couldn't have gone on Paranormal TV and just announced it. He sent letters to those of us who might not be with the times for this conclave, but in the future it might be even easier."

The stairs Thuun led us down were a long winding affair, and there was no fresh breeze coming up. It felt more like a dungeon than anything else.

"There are no enchantments down here to make things a little more comfortable?" I joked.

Thuun looked over his shoulder. "The stone here is not only the hardest material we have ever experienced, but it is resistant to magic."

"Oh. Where did it all come from?"

"No one knows. Maybe the original Bahamut and Tiamat might know. Legend has it they led the first conclave."

"Bahamut and Tiamat?" Yev asked.

"Dragon gods, or the first dragons, I'm not quite sure." I stumbled through an answer as we got to the bottom of the stairs and Thuun lifted his hand, washing the cavern with green light.

The space wasn’t built of the same smooth stone bricks we’d just come from. Instead, it was rough-cut stone, like the basement was carved out of bedrock. The entire area around us was painted, beautifully detailed murals depicting various scenes.

"That question is a good way to start our journey through dragon lore." Thuun smiled at the segway and brought us to the first mural. "The first two dragons, born of opposing areas, yet so alike that they could mate, in theory."

The mural provided a sweeping picture, one of a dragon being born of the clouds and sunshine and the second a five headed dragon drawing herself up from the earth.

"Bahamut and Tiamat." I said.

"Yes. Some have interpreted the stories as the metallics born from the celestial plane and chromatics born from hellish energies. But no one is nearly old enough to remember the first birth of dragons. Not among the Fae, the angels, demons or dragons. So the exact meaning shall remain a mystery." Thuun explained, lifting his hand and showing the next mural.

While such opposing forces might find each other immediately, the next mural showed them wandering on opposite sides of the globe, splitting into five dragons each.

"Thus, the two were destined to never be together. But they roamed the world bearing many children. Beginning the ten clans of dragons. Five each held their allegiance to one of the two."

"So Bahamut is metallics and Tiamat is chromatics. You said Zach was the heir of Bahamut? What does that mean?" Yev asked before stopping herself quickly. "If that's not too much to ask. I do not mean to pry into our king's business."

I scoffed. "You knew me before all of this king business. Please, do not start calling me that." It didn't escape me to see Thuun's eyes sparkle with a little mirth.

"Then I shall answer." Thuun struggled to get the smile off his face. "As the heir of Bahamut, he has the ability to be any of the metallic colors and give birth to any of them. The role of the two heirs is steeped in mystery. Brom might have more for you."

"Oh." There was a moment of confusion in Yev's eyes. "What about green?"

Thuun wasn't stupid. He immediately realized that she asked the same question I did the first time they had explained it to me. His eyes lifted over to me. "Funny. That's the same question Zach asked when he heard this information."

Thankfully, Yev was comfortable in more sensitive conversations. "Oh really?" She stuck out her tongue like a goof. "I just thought it would be cool if he could be the same color as me."

"Of course. That is a perfectly reasonable way to think. I'm sure Zach had similar thoughts given how interested he is in you." Thuun continued with her misdirection, but I could tell he didn’t buy it.

"Interested?" Yev muttered under her breath, her face blushing as she hurried to follow Thuun.

"What was that?" I asked her.

She waved her hand. "Oh nothing. So, what's the next one?"

"The first meeting of Bahamut and Tiamat." Thuun moved on, turning and hiding his smile.

Yev's eyes went wide as she looked at the next mural, making me quickly turn to look. "That looks bad."

"It was. Some even suggest it was the dragons that caused mass extinction sixty-six million years ago." Thuun commented, as if it was casual.

"Hold up. You are saying dragons coexisted with dinosaurs?!"

There was a slight smile on Thuun's face. "Dragons are ancient, sentient creatures capable of magic. Yes. Dragons, or at least our close ancestors, were alive during the same time period as dinosaurs.”

He motioned to the picture and continued. "But it was the first time that Bahamut tried to tame and mate with Tiamat that led to a disastrous change in the era. When the conclave spoke of changes in the pattern and the problems that follow, this is the scale of disaster they spoke of."

I nodded.

But with what I was learning, the fact that I could shift into a green dragon made no sense. If the combination of chromatic and metallic led to such destruction, how was I still here?

"Then what?" I prompted.

"Bahamut and Tiamat died, calling the first conclave here to this very site. It began around what is known as the Ice Age, and our population dwindled. Several clans died out." Thuun passed another mural, but beyond the depictions of ice, there was another war taking place on it.

I frowned. "What's this?"

"Fae war. The summer and winter courts joined together to drive the wild court from the fae lands. That war also tore at a great pattern, and winter was in power for too long."

"Wild court? I've never heard of them before."

Thuun nodded. "Gone. Long ago the Summer and Winter courts continued their cycles, whittling each other away, yet the Wild remained neutral and continued to grow in power. Eventually, both the seasonal courts grew jealous and threatened by their growth in their neutrality and joined forces to remove them." Thuun gestured at the characters, and I could see the mixed army of the two courts fighting another army led by a spider.

"Who's the spider?"

"The spider queen, Ikta. The weaver of fate, although she is also known as the queen of darkness. She led the wild fae." Thuun rumbled before shaking his head at the scene and moving on.

Every time a Tiamat and Bahamut descendant met, there were great disasters. But they never tried to rejoin once more. When the descendents arrived, it was followed by a blossoming of dragons. Individually, they repopulated each of their sides of the dragons.

It wasn't until recently that humans even began to show up on the murals.

"Here is the first gift of magic." Thuun laughed. "Do you know why dragons gave humans magic?"

"The magi have their own theories, but after hearing 'harvest' several times today, I think those are wrong." I ignored Yev’s sudden look of horror at the word.

Thuun chuckled. "Quite right, though we can't be certain of exactly why every dragon gave humans magic. We believe it has to do with how dragons grow. You ate Servile and grew vastly, correct?"

I nodded. I hadn’t loved eating him, but I respected his wishes that his strength be used to support dragon kind. "Yes, and angels have also helped me grow.”

I had no issue with eating the angels that were attacking those I loved and enslaving dragons.

Thuun nodded. "Dragons produce vast amounts of mana into the world. They aren't wholly unique in this, but of the mana produced in the world, some estimate dragons produce over seventy percent of it. In order to produce more, we must grow. But to grow, we need large infusions of mana." Thuun started.

The picture was coming together, but I didn’t love what it said about dragons.

I put words to my growing fear. "We taught humans to use mana and to absorb it so that we could harvest them at a later date to grow."

"Precisely. Or at least, that is the story of those dragons who lived during the time." Thuun seemed far less disturbed by the concept as he moved on to a blank space.

"Here is where the artists of this conclave will come together and draw the enslavement of Servile and the dawn of a new Bahamut. It’s likely they'll leave space for the Tiamat, but I can tell you that every chromatic out there is now praying for her return and the restoration of the red dragons."

"The red dragons were powerful?"

Thuun clicked his tongue. "The reds have the strength of the gold, but none of the restraint. They are terrifying dragons when enraged. They once rushed out to meet the church during their inquisition in vicious surprise attacks. It was the golds and silvers that formed armies and fought back.” He pointed out part of the last mural.

Thuun stroked his chin as he thought, staring into the murals. "Different forms of battle, but both are very effective. That is the difference between the metallic and the chromatic, and why pairings of them are so popular." Thuun's eyes flickered between Yev and me, full of humor.

Yev cleared her throat. "I noticed that. Many pairings here seem to be a chromatic male with a metallic female, or vice versa."

"Balance." Thuun said, turning around and heading towards the stairs again. "Many admit that having a mate from the other side leads to a more balanced relationship. Two chromatics tend to feed off each other's chaos. Over a vast period of time, they become nearly feral. And pairings of only metallics often become so prim and proper, trying to stay within the lines of order to such a degree that they are unable to move."

I was understanding more and more the concept of balance. There were cycles of extremes, but the best moments of life lived in the balance. The world naturally wanted to recenter.

We walked back up the stairs, and I could already hear the celebration in full swing.

Cheers and thuds resounded as the dragons partied above us.

My head was still spinning from all I’d learned, and I wanted to put off being swarmed by eligible dragons for a few minutes. “Thuun, where would they have put the wounded black dragon?" I wanted to check on her before celebrating. And it would give me a bit more time with my thoughts.

"There's a healing ward set up for the unfortunate scuffle or two that will occur here. Third floor to the east."

I nodded to him and turned to Yev. "I'll come join you and my mates shortly. Save a spot for me?"

"Of course." She paused with a rueful smile as she grabbed her dress and pulled it out while curtsying. "My King."

I rolled my eyes, and she burst into laughter as we came out of the stairs.

We drew enough attention that the party quieted down, but I broke from those two, taking stairs up to the next floor before anybody at the party could reach me.

Finally alone for a moment, I walked and considered all I had learned.

According to Thuun, the world would change drastically if the last heirs to Bahamut and Tiamat met. And the telling sign was their ability to change their dragon colors.

Checking to make sure I was alone, I held my arm out in the light of a torch. I shifted my arm golden scales, and then shifted them to green.

Willing myself, I shifted them to silver and then pushed on myself, shifting them to white.

A chill went up my spine that had nothing to do with frost magic.

Returning my arm back to normal, I couldn’t deny it.

I possessed the powers of Bahamut and Tiamat. The simplest explanation to me was that I was somehow the child of the last two heirs.

But maybe there was another answer. Maybe I was the heir to both of them. Because if they had met, then some great disaster would have occurred.

Still, if the murals were to be believed, my very existence meant disaster had come. I couldn’t very well get away from myself.

Stopping and looking out a window, I saw no nuke on the horizon, no massive cloud of locusts or a gale of acid raid. It didn't feel like I had caused a disaster.

At least, I hadn’t yet.

A weight heavier than I could ever have imagined settled on my shoulders. I made a vow to myself. I wasn’t powerless. I would do everything I could to keep balance.

A door opened down the hall, and I was startled out of my thoughts.

"Hello. Coming to check on the patient?" The woman who had joined the conclave to represent the black smiled at me.

"Yes. Was that what you were doing?" I asked in return.

"As I was suddenly put in charge of the black dragons, I thought it right for me to come and check on her. Tend her wounds if I could." She was wiping her hands on a rag. "By the way, I'm Amara."

"Glad to meet you." I shook her hand. The smell of death tickled my nose, but I did my best not to react to it.

"Thank you for the opportunity to represent my color. The dragons mean well, but I'm pretty sure the idea of bringing a woman in there had literally not even occurred to some of the older ones." She shook her head. "Some of us just have minds from a different era. When I was asked, it was like waking up and realizing I could have pushed for it long ago, but..." she trailed off. "I'm blabbering and you should hurry. If you don't get back to the party, there will probably be a riot and search parties sent out. My own daughter is down there waiting to sweep you off your feet."

I raised an eyebrow. "Riots?"

"Yes. All the chromatic girls are beside themselves. Don't keep them waiting or you might end up in the infirmary from being swarmed." Amara smirked, continued past me, down the hall towards the party.

I pushed open the room she’d exited and immediately noticed the room was much darker. The sconces were partially shielded, keeping it dimmer for the injured to rest.

Laying on the bed was a black-haired woman sleeping soundly. The smell of death still clung to her, and I let my nose wrinkle a little now that no one was watching. It reminded me of the skinwalkers every time I smelt it.

Sitting down next to her, I focused more on the responsibility weighing on my shoulders. "I promise. We'll find out who did this to you."

My words made her stir as she groaned and her eyes fluttered open for a moment. "Where?"

"Shh. You need to rest. We can talk when you are better. You are at the dragon conclave and the best healers we have are tending to you. You’re safe."

Her eyes focused and unfocused on me before she grunted in what sounded like agreement. Then she turned her head over to rest it on the pillow.

I wasn’t going to interrogate her when she was still so fragile, but the beast in me was angry that a dragon had been attacked. It wanted to annihilate any threat to the beautiful black-haired woman on the bed.

A part of me hoped it was The Church so I could justify lashing out at them as the new king. But I knew The Church wasn’t our only enemy. There were also those behind the Skinwalkers, and likely others who hadn’t even surfaced yet.

***

"There's the man of the hour, day and week." Scarlett turned to me, her face a little manic.

"Ever--" But I was cut off.

"My king!" A woman rushed forward with her hand on her shoulder, shifting it blue as she bowed low.

It was like a dam had broken. Dozens of people rushed over to me, doing the same gesture.

"Have you met my daughter?" A blonde-haired woman broke through all the bowing and shoved an awkward teenager at me.

I held up my hand to stop the tide. Most of them stopped at my motion, with a few just on the edge of continuing.

But it was Cloe that truly stopped it with a clap hard enough to be nearly concussive.

"Larisa and I have been with the king for several months. If you all throw yourselves at him, I can guarantee all you will do is annoy him. Please respect his first mate. Her proposal was reasonable."

My attention shifted back to Scarlett, whose expression was pleading for help.

I cleared my throat to get all of their attention. "Given my sudden surge in popularity lately, my first mate has been helping me narrow down options for our harem. I would highly recommend listening to what she says, because if you lose favor with her, you lose favor with me."

The blond-haired mother from before scoffed. "She is a kitsune, and we are dragons. Even if she is your mate, she has no power here."

I raised my eyebrow. It had been a long, hard day, and I was not about to let my women get worn down as well.