Path of Dragons

Elijah had almost forgotten how strange the core visions were. Not only was he surrounded by unfamiliar sights on an entirely alien world that, as far as he could tell, was comprised of an unfathomably large city of innumerable towers, but he also wasn't entirely in control of his own actions. Certainly, it felt like he was in charge. When he wanted to move his wings, they did what he told them to. However, he knew that the entire vision was on rails, that it was meant to show him something very specific.

He had a will of his own, but it just happened to coincide with what he was supposed to do. Only when he tried to veer off course – at the end of quite a lot of mental struggle – did he begin to see behind the curtain. Even then, he couldn't truly stray, even if, in the back of his mind, he desperately wanted to explore the fantastic cityscape. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire

Immediately after his arrival, Elijah hadn't had much of an opportunity to study the area, and his following flight had been fraught with so much danger that he couldn't really focus on anything but avoiding being killed. That wasn't terribly surprising, considering he'd been dropped into the middle of a war between dragons.

He still wasn't entirely sure what the crux of the conflict was, and when he tried to ask Zaka, the words died in his throat. Over time, he had come to a couple of other conclusions, though. It seemed that Zaka was his older sister – a position to which he was already accustomed – and she was quite protective of him. In addition, the situation in the city had died down, and the war had come to a halt.

That allowed him to truly study the architecture, which he found both fascinating and alien. The building materials looked vaguely familiar, and they tended toward ivory and jade. However, the designs of the towers were absolutely novel, with various architectural flourishes that defied his expectations. But overall, the entire cityscape brought to mind elegance and grace.

Much like the dragons he saw.

Whether they were large or small, every one of them moved with a perfect unity of purpose. Like balletic, airborne dinosaurs, though with a nobility no beast could ever possess. It took Elijah a while before he realized that it reminded him of Kirlissa. Though she had only ever appeared to him as a demi-human, she still possessed a certain aura of sophistication and perfection that he found undeniably powerful. The other dragons laid claim to a similar characteristic, though to varying degrees.

By comparison, he felt like a lumbering oaf.

The dragon whose body he'd inhabited was young, but he got the impression of powerful potential within his chest. That sense was supported by the reactions of the other dragons they passed. Now that the chaos of war had faded, they all gave Elijah and Zaka a wide berth, and he even saw quite a few looking at them in awe.

They held positions of power within draconic society, though Elijah had no idea what that truly meant.

The other thing he saw was that everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction. It wasn't difficult to imagine that some of the dragons flying wing-to-wing with other dragons had been fighting one another fairly recently, and many of them still sported grievous wounds. Every now and then, much larger dragons flew by far above. The size of those creatures was truly daunting. Some were as big as houses, while others were even larger. However, none were nearly the size of the one that had blotted out the sky upon Elijah's arrival.

They were headed in the same direction as everyone else, though.

After a few hours, Zaka started gaining altitude, and the ascent continued for another few hours. It was saying something that they never really left the towers behind. Many were so tall that their height could be counted in hundreds of miles, which prompted dozens of questions about the nature of their construction. He wondered how they'd been built and by whom, but most of all, he couldn't help but question the scale of everything. It beggared belief and skewed Elijah's senses.

Finally, their destination came into view.

The first thing Elijah noticed was the gathered dragons. There were far too many to count, and they represented every draconic variation he'd so far witnessed. Billions were present, forming a rough sphere beyond which hovered a pair of enormous figures.

One was as white as snow. The other was as black as the darkest night. Both radiated a level of power Elijah could never hope to comprehend, and they were larger even than the blue dragon he had seen at the beginning of his vision. Their size distorted his perception to such a degree that he had difficulty making sense of it all. They were the size of planets, though if that were truly the case, there was no way Elijah could have perceived them fully.

But he could, which meant that some sort of magic was at play. A spatial distortion that allowed him – and everyone else – to see.

Soon enough, he and Zaka closed with the sphere of dragons, joining another group of white-scaled creatures. As was the case with all the other variants Elijah had seen, their sizes were diverse, ranging from no larger than a horse all the way to the largest, which was at least the size of an office building. That wasn't uncommon, but what stood out to Elijah was that there were quite a few of them. They weren't the only group with so many clearly powerful members – after all, Elijah got the impression that size was tied to might – but they were one of only a few.

Across the sphere, there was a contingent of red dragons. Nearby were the greens. Blues were present as well. And, of course, there were the black dragons. Elijah saw a few other colors represented, and some mixed groups as well. However, it was easy to pinpoint the hierarchy of power.

Before Elijah could study them further, a booming voice cut through the din. The moment it swept over the gathered dragons, they all fell silent. It said, "At the heart of Akar, the First City of Dragons lies the birthplace of our entire race. Far below us, the Mother of Dragons fought for our very existence, and she ushered our people to prominence. Bless the Mother."

"Bless the Mother," every dragon echoed. Even Elijah found the words spilling from his mouth.

When the sound faded, the speaker continued, "We have gathered here today to settle a grievance." Only then did Elijah see what looked to be a tiny, golden dragon hovering between the two planet-sized figures at the center of the sphere. After a moment, he realized that wasn't true at all. The speaker was at least as large as any of the other gathered dragons, but looked so small only in comparison to those other two. "The Eldertalon has challenged The Caretaker to a duel of honor, as is his right. Yet, peace is always an option. Is there no chance of a peaceful resolution?"

That was when the black dragon spoke. "My sister refuses to listen to reason. She cowers here in Akar while the rest of the universe laughs at our inaction. Whole planets have been snatched from our claws. The Mother would cringe at how far we have fallen."

"Fear is not respect, brother," said the white dragon. The Caretaker, Elijah realized. Her voice was undeniably feminine. "We need not fight the rest of the universe. We are custodians. We are meant to –"

"You espouse weakness!" the Eldertalon shouted, and Elijah felt his bones turn to jelly at the sound. For a moment, he went entirely weak, but a second later, a wave of healing swept over him. "You invite challenge. You are weak. Vulnerable. You are a disgrace to the Mother's memory. She fought for us. She was a conqueror."

"She endured," the Caretaker stated evenly. "Because there was no other way to survive."

"Lies!"

"Your entire philosophy is built on half-truths and distortion of reality," the Caretaker said. "You believe it because it gives you leave to act on the worst parts of your nature. You are greedy. Selfish. Your hunger never fades. You can never have enough. And you have twisted the Mother's tale to justify your own desires. For that, I accept your challenge. For that, I name you an enemy of the Empire of Scale. Prove me wrong, Nyar. Brother. Abandon this madness and let us live in peace. Do that, and we can –"

"Madness?" the black dragon roared, flapping his wings angrily. "You hunker down in your palace and have the audacity to call me mad? I have seen dragons die due to your inaction! They starved. They were killed by our enemies. They were displaced. You have abandoned your duty. You promised protection, and all you have given them is neglect. I take no pleasure in what is to happen here. I do not want to kill you, sister. But for the good of our people, I will. Your apathy to the plight of our people is a cancer that must be excised, and I am the instrument of healing the Empire of Scale needs. Prepare yourself, Caretaker. Defend yourself with the same fervor with which you refuse to defend those who have put their trust in you."

"If I must," was the Caretaker's response.

"I will ask one more time if there is no other way to resolve this conflict," said the golden dragon, though even Elijah could hear the pessimism in his voice. "Is this unavoidable?"

"It is," said the Eldertalon.

"I wish it were otherwise, but no," the white dragon responded. Then, she said, "Let us do this, Speaker."

"So it is," the Speaker said resignedly. "Honor the Mother. Protect the Scale. Resolve your differences."

After that, the gold dragon disappeared. For a long moment, the two massive dragons faced one another, a study in contrasts. Not only were they opposite colors – black and white – but their demeanors conflicted as well. Where the Caretaker was calm, flapping her wings almost lazily, the black dragon seemed almost to vibrate with unrestrained aggression.

Or hunger, Elijah realized.

Reality shifted as the two dragons threw themselves at one another. The clash sent ripples through the whole world. The sky split apart, and the towers beneath the pair shattered before crashing to the ground. The two dragons didn't fight with spells or other ethera-based abilities. Instead, they tried to rip one another to pieces via tooth and claw. Blood flew for miles, but somehow, none the impact affected Elijah.

Clearly, some sort of magic was at play, though Elijah had no interest in figuring it out. He was too entranced by the scene unfolding before him to care.

The other dragons let out roars of encouragement or anguish as those two massive creatures tore into one another. None were louder than the contingents of black or white dragons, though some of the others made a good showing.

The battle raged, and even though hours passed without a victor, Elijah remained transfixed. He could no more look away than he could simply cease to breathe. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel his host's emotions. Fear. Anger. Despair. And a hundred other feelings rushed through his mind. Thankfully, he was able to maintain some sense of detachment. Otherwise, he would have been entirely overwhelmed.

Some of the other dragons were not so lucky, and they raged and screamed at the situation. It was only after a few more minutes that Elijah realized what was happening. They weren't just watching a pair of leaders fight a duel. They were watching the end of an era. A battle between gods.

Their world, at least as they knew it, was coming to an end.

Suddenly, the white dragon snapped out, wrapping her jaws around the Eldertalon's sinuous neck. He tried to pull away, but she clamped down with such power that Elijah could hear shattering scales even from outside the distortion in reality.

That was when the black dragon finally used a spell.

Until that moment, the two combatants had only used physical attacks, so the sudden blaze of ethera that came next was more than a little surprising. Elijah couldn't even see what had happened, but one second, the Caretaker had her jaws around the Eldertalon's neck, and the next, he was free. She reeled, a gaping wound in her side. An ocean of blood poured from the injury, staining her white scales as it fell upon the city below.

"Treachery, brother?" she growled. "Why am I not surprised?"

"There is no such thing. Victory is all that matters."

"If you truly believe that, then you are lost," she stated unequivocally. Elijah saw that the wound had begun to heal, though with its size, it would take some time before it mended entirely.

"The fact that you do not says the same thing of you, sister," he responded. Then, he raised his voice, "This farce is finished, but the battle is not! Attack!"

At his command, millions of dragons sprang into motion, intent on resuming the war they'd been fighting when Elijah had arrived.