Dragon Gods Reign

[Royal palace]

Looking at the fire dragon kneeling before him, Darganth was pleasantly surprised by the attitude he had shown previously. Even while ruthlessly beating Verid down he had remained aware of what was happening outside.

When he saw the aura user attacking Curel he was already prepared to reign his instincts back in and intervene, even if it meant losing some of the satisfaction the torture brought him.

“You did well.”

“Naturally.” Curel replied confidently, slowly standing back up.

Seeing Darganth absentmindedly staring into the air and feeling him using telepathy, he stayed silent and waited for him to finish. After a few seconds Darganth visibly relaxed, sighing while closing his eyes for a few seconds.

“The remaining rebels are dealt with I assume?” He asked afterward.

“Many of my fellows could fight toe to toe with most emperors, this backward region poses no problem.”

“Just wanted to be sure.”

Following this exchange, Kheduil, who had burst through the door flying during it, could only look at the two in shock.

“Wait, what do you mean 'dealt with'?” He asked.

“What else would it mean but complete destruction? Their fortresses were destroyed and the armies shattered. Though apart from the mythical ranks some may have gotten away, at least as long as they reacted fast enough.” Curel said dismissively.

Kheduil's initial reaction to this was pure shock and horror, though he quickly caught himself. As soon as he did, it morphed into dejection at such a great loss of life among his people. This didn't even come with an accusing look towards them, positively surprising both Curel and Darganth.

“It seems that a whole lot changed since I last interacted with your kind. Maybe even enough that I won't hide again after this is over.” Curel commented.

“Why would you?” Asked Kheduil.

Raising an eyebrow, Curel gave him a look that screamed 'seriously?'. Prompted to rethink for a second, Kheduil slowly shrank back upon remembering how excessively they reacted to just a young dragon.

“Maybe I can see that we sometimes went too far.” He said after a bit.

“Sometimes? From what I hear you send at least a mythical rank to follow even Wyrmlings when you spotted one.”

Getting the extent to which their actions were exaggerated thrown into his face, Kheduil could only muster a wry smile.

“It seems I have some major reforms to do.” He said with a sigh.

“And there you have the change I mentioned.” Curel said with a smile, “Maybe there can even be some cooperation between our kinds in the future.”

The shock that followed this statement was without delay. Kheduil, the civilians and mana users that kept some distance from them, and even Darganth, nobody expected it. Quickly the discussion spread throughout the room, causing it to be drowned in the noise of every single dwarf giving his own opinion on it.

And while most weren't too averted to the idea, certainly elated at the prospect of no longer having to fear dragon attacks. That was helped by the power Curel showed previously, it shattering the previous notion that attacks were limited to retaliations due to the power of their emperor who would quickly send them reinforcements should such a case happen.

But while those for the idea were in the majority, those who opposed it did so far more vocally and Darganth could understand their arguments, at least partially. From their perspective, he had just purposefully caused Verid far more suffering than necessary, and that for no real reason.

The fact that he was an enemy didn't matter much, the fear of a dragon losing control and doing the same to them was overwhelmingly more impactful than that fact.

Overhearing these talks and seeing Curel's interest in the prospect, he decided to at least reduce the negative impact his actions left.

“While nothing completely new, it would certainly be a rare situation. So even though I was never interested in it, I'll at least throw you a bone and explain what happened here. Otherwise, I fear it won't find much goodwill among the dwarfs, especially with the situation outside.” Darganth said.

“Hm, I've been wondering myself what happened.” Curel replied.

While this exchange between the two failed to shut down the heated discussion, it drew the attention of Kheduil as well as some of the nearby dwarfs to him.

“Long story short, he had a magic item that served as a target relay for a mythical rank that was casting a world magic spell. My instincts warned me and I saw a future with the entire palace dead by death magic, including Jennia and Allaire.” He summarized.

The reaction following his words was near instantaneous. Kheduil drew a sharp breath, staring at the now-dead mythical rank with utter disbelief. The other dwarfs had similar reactions, especially the civilians who didn't expect to truly become targets of this fighting. Only Curel showed a similar reaction, clearly puzzled how this drew such a stark reaction from Darganth.

“Jennia and Allaire are his wives.” Kheduil explained, reacting faster than Darganth did.

“Oh. Oh!” Curel exclaimed, the realization of what this meant coming over him in waves.

Glancing down at the body, he only needed a second to confirm his suspicions. But during this second his face was filled with enough loathing and his aura carried enough bloodlust that Kheduil couldn't help but step back. This reaction was even worse with the other dwarfs, each one practically jumping away from him.

“And you only destroyed his soul? I would have it chained somewhere and tortured for eternity.” He said in disbelief.

This instantly started another wave of shock from the surrounding dwarfs, most being unsure how to react to the utter lack of importance the two dragons held for this taboo topic. Helplessly turning toward their king, they saw that he too was uncomfortable with it. But despite this he didn't say anything about it, just treating it as a cultural difference.

“Destroyed? No no no, I went quite far for him. Forced his soul to directly enter the realm of death without remaining here for even a second, even added a nice little note for Cehyla to give him special treatment. He will never see the outside of that torture chamber ever again, you should know how hard resurrecting someone from this state is.” Darganth answered him.

Upon hearing this explanation Curel started to grin, bringing quite a bit of discomfort to the dwarfs. Just as he started to chuckle in a low voice, he suddenly froze as a realization hit him.

“Wait, does that mean you send him to that crazy vampire?” He asked.

Receiving an affirmative nod from Darganth, a shudder went through his body and he fell silent. Using this opportunity, Kheduil interrupted the two.

“I know that dragons think about it differently, but it would be nice if you two wouldn't just casually talk about destroying souls.”

“Right, forgot that it is taken this seriously here.” Darganth said, adding, “Will try.”

Thankful that he at least understood his position, Kheduil's worries lessened considerably. Still, most of his subjects were bothered by their exchange in contrast to him, leading him to decide on a change of scenery.

“Maybe we should leave for somewhere less noisy.” He proposed, Darganth and Curel catching his drift towards the tense atmosphere.

“Probably. Karrazil is still upstairs, last I checked that room was largely unoccupied.”

Following Darganth's suggestion as they had no better one, Kheduil and Curel agreed to his idea before walking after him. But when they reached the junction at the end of the stairway, Darganth stopped and turned to the two men.

“I'll leave the rest to you, Jennia and Allaire are already waiting for me. Besides, you two reign in this area so I will leave decisions concerning it to you.”

After giving the two a short explanation of where Karrazil was staying, the three said their farewells for the day and Darganth left for his room. Walking down in the opposite direction as he went, Kheduil and Curel made their way through the corridor in silence.

This was only broken when Curel visibly relaxed with a sigh once they crossed a good bit of distance.

“What happened?” Kheduil asked, though already having a rough guess as to the answer.

“Talking with higher-tier dragons is always unnerving for me. My kind may not have adopted formal speech like you humanoids had and normally refer to each other as equals but due to the rarity of such situations, I am not accustomed to it. Especially so with someone of his standing.”

“Right, Voidborn was what you called him, right? Is that how his species is called or what?”

To this Curel lead out a loud laugh, amused at how close this was to the truth. To his knowledge, there should be no hints of the Void lineage so from his perspective it had to be a complete guess.

“Not exactly. How much do you know about the concept of lineages among dragons?”

Thinking for a few seconds, Kheduil couldn't remember learning about the term. Thus he tried to associate it with similar ones before just taking a guess.

“Is it something along the lines of which species of dragons are related to which?” He asked.

“Yes, though there is far more to it. And while not even I can freely divulge some of its secrets to you, I can say that certain lineages hold prestige far above their tier.

One example would be the cosmic one, despite most of the species compromising it being extinct by now. As for an image of what power these species have to hold, Solar dragons aren't included despite their direct ancestors being a part of it as they were judged too weak.

But even this lineage and similar ones pale compared to the Void lineage. Consisting of only two species, they stand at the very top of dragon kind in both power and reputation. Well, technically it's three species but the last one consists of only our creator.” Curel explained.

Staring at him with wide eyes in response, Kheduil's mind barely got past processing the information about the cosmic lineage.

“Dragons have a creator?” He finally stammered, his mind by then barely returning to working at a snail's pace.

“Ha, this world never fails to amuse me. The names of the six primordial's come up practically daily but you all forget the being that is their equal. And not just their individual equal, with at least two or even three of them being needed to match him.

And while I understand this for the silent powerhouses, he is the master of space and time that allowed creation to even happen, not someone who never affected history.” Curel said, the start of his sentence being amused before drifting to a mix of outrage and disdain.

Intimated by this sudden shift, Kheduil recoiled slightly. On guard towards Curel despite the futility of any attempts he may make, he waited for him to calm down with shaky hands.

By the time Curel saw this reaction his flare of anger had calmed significantly and he could only sigh.

“My opinion about you is vastly above that of most other humanoids, so I will give you the following advice. Never, and I truly mean never, forget his existence, most dragons won't react as nicely as I did. The fact that he was practically forgotten is something of a sore spot for us, even though he himself isn't particularly bothered by it.”

“I will, thanks. Though if I may, why is that?” Kheduil answered.

“Because we take great pride in our connection to him and that for a good reason. He is a being whose closest equal could only barely reach his level and he gifted us a small percentage of the potential he possesses, so who wouldn't venerate him in our position?” Curel explained.

“Few.”

Continuing in silence, Kheduil's thoughts went over what he learned again and again. Especially the power shown by Darganth stayed in his mind, the barely visible traces of his time magic especially.

He considered himself as one of his kind's top mythical ranks in terms of knowledge and that with good reason. So when he felt the causality spell being used he was naturally shocked, especially when it came from a being below the mythical rank. And while the knowledge of what kind of dragon Darganth is helped initially, the fact that this level seems normal washed it away just as quickly.

Even compared to time magic, which is already a hard element to use, causality magic was on a whole other level. Just the initial requirement to be able to use circle magic threw many dwarfs out of the picture, its complexity just being too great to be used without auxiliary circles.

But what made it truly dangerous is that it is a subcategory of fate magic, the part of time magic that most beings worry about the most. Just the ability to know the future makes its masters powerhouses, but causality magic allows them to also perfectly navigate it. As long as it isn't resisted, it can make a person as easily readable as an open book.

But its true danger comes from its name-giving power, the ability to manipulate causality, quite literally changing the relation between cause and effect. Just the thought of attacking someone and being wounding himself brought him some fear when he first learned of it and he never dared to imagine what further possibilities this magic.

And while Darganth wasn't yet at the level where he could do so and Kheduil had personally crafted quite a few defenses against such spells, he still held a large amount of respect and some fear of even its low-level practitioners.

When his thoughts wandered to how to deal with this knowledge, he instantly made a decision. And as soon as his thoughts finished, Curel smiled lightly.

“So I didn't make a mistake in my assessment.” He said, recognizing the look in Kheduil's eyes.

“Huh?”

“Most of your kind would instantly think about how to best get rid of him. But you didn't and as long as it doesn't negatively impacts us, few dragons care if others benefit from their presence or actions. But always keep that second part in mind while making your plans.”

“Why would I purposefully start such a fight?”

“You wouldn't, but many other people cling to the vein though that they are in control. Even your kind, who constantly look up in fear of dragons somehow hold this delusion. So when they see something that threatens this perceived power that they have they try to get rid of it.

It's one of the many reasons few of the truly powerful dragons show themselves openly, we just find it bothersome to constantly deal with those people. Someone like you is far better, instead of clinging to that notion, if you ever even had it, you go with the flow even if you try and gain an advantage from it.”

Hearing this explanation, Kheduil thought back to both his and his fellow dwarf's actions for a second time. Slowly the realization started to dawn on him of how much truth the words held, remembering how much outsiders, not just dragons but all kinds of beings, were needlessly antagonized out of fear.

“But isn't it normal to still fight back against one's enemies?” He nonetheless asked.

“Against enemies, but they often only become exactly that. Few of my kind have any interest in mindless destruction, but we don't take kindly to provocations.

For example, I initially didn't care when first beasts, then monsters and dwarfs controlled these mountains I call my home. Sometimes I even defended one of these civilizations when I enjoyed their presence. But down the line they all grew fearful of my power and tried to force me out of the territory 'they' ruled. And I will tell you, it didn’t end well for any of them.

So you can see, it is possible to coexist with my kind, though from my experience few have the kind of wisdom needed to do so. It is a similar situation with me and the solar dragons, I accept that they are more powerful but as long as they don't cross my lines I won't attempt to change it.

Though I have to admit that it's rarely individuals but instead a gradual process born from the short lives other species live, a disadvantage I don't have. While I will always remember the power I witnessed, without someone like you who draws them back to reality other races will slowly drift to extremes based on exaggerations, myths, and old prejudices.” Curel said, presenting Kheduil his view.