Six
Nick grinned and glanced over his shoulder at Jessie.
Who was, at this moment, rubbing her face back and forth against his thick cold-resistant coat from behind him. Her arms wrapped around his waist and acting a lot like a cat.
There was any itchy feeling in the middle of his spine an he blamed it entirely on her acting more like a cloak then a person hanging onto him in a gryphon saddle.
As he looked at her he saw Delaney, his royal guard, Sara, and Harlowe, all mounted on gryphons as well.
There had been some rotation and personnel changes in the royal guard as well as the knights, and high ranking army knights with the news of the Dragon-King’s Order.
As well as a large number of character class changes.
A great many things changed when his Dukes discovered that Dominic Randolph, their king, was a valid religious head of state. Delaney’s change, prayers, and order formation had shifted the court politics.
The Order had been blessed and subsumed in a way by Dolphen. Granted benefits, bonuses, and skill modifiers so long as they were part of the Order.
There was apparently an entire line of magic that’d been created, confirmed, and included into the Paladin’s spell-kit. He’d heard one of his guards wondering aloud when the first priest would be joining them.
Which made sense.
Where there was a Paladin Order, there was almost always a religion that they were part and parcel to.
One a sword, the other the quill.
Except there were no priests, no monks, no bishops.
Nor was Nick looking to start a religion around him.
It just didn’t seem correct to him to push even more over-sight over the people of Dolphen from his position. Being the king of them was more than enough without being their religious head.
As others had noted, and as he himself had done, worship in Dolphen had been generally toward the land itself whenever it happened, and most things ended there.
Looking ahead, he looked to the distant foothills they were heading to.
The Dragon-seeking crystal he held in his hand had been leading them in this direction since he’d activated it. Pointing him ever in this direction over the last several days.
They were well beyond the lands reach and the borders of his homeland.
They’d done over the walls and into the wilderness.
For one reason or another, there had never really been much in the way of civilization beyond the walls of Dolphen south and east. Not for a lack of trying it seemed as there were a great many ruins of civilizations and even cities.
There just was something about the area that folded everything back into itself given enough time.
Nick had suspected one of the reasons Dolphen had survived and thrived was it’s walls but also the worship of the land directly.
Which was why during the rule of Fash things had slowly been getting progressively worse.
In taking away it’s family anchor, Dolphen had turned against the country and had been allowing things to break and fail.
“I love this trip!” Jessie shouted over the wind as the gryphon they rode pumped it’s wings and flew onward. A highly trained mount he’d purchased specifically for battle as well. “We’ve gotten so much time just to us that it’ll be aggravating to go back!”
He couldn’t deny that he’d gotten a chance to spend a lot of time with Jessie, Sara, and Harlowe since all his normal duties had been set aside for the duration of this trip.
Turning his head, Nick looked out one way, then the other across the foothills.
“Mm?” asked Lucian, sounding surprised and somewhat confused. “Oh. I think we’ve found a Dragon, Sire. I do believe that itchy feeling you’ve been experiencing is their domain rubbing against you.”
Like predators scenting areas as their own in a way to keep others from coming in?
“Quite right, quite right,” Lucian confirmed. “If we’re looking at the area in front of us… or… actually, I’d say it’s almost below us. Take a look just ahead, down, and to the left.
“There’s a rather lovely little ravine and hilltop in one. There’s likely a number of caves in that location. Caves that would be difficult for an army of humans to enter in number. As well as paths and cuts that would need to be traversed just to get to them giving a Dragon a great deal of time to simply fly upward.
“Because once a Dragon is airborne, it has no reason to land again unless the enemy is already dead.”
Nick nodded his head grimly.
Now after having experienced what the gryphon advance force had attempted to do to him and his people, he could appreciate how deadly an enemy that could engage without being engaged with was.
Pulling at the reins of his gryphon, while pushing with his knees, Nick did his best to convey his wishes to the gryphon. It thankfully understood and began to descend toward the area Lucian had pointed out.
“Oh? Is it time for a break? I could go for another round. You really gooped me up this morning but I’m always eager for more,” Jessie purred and her arms tightened around him. “Mm, actually, I could use a break. Get Sara. Make sure you tell Bright-tits I said to get her, too.”
“They’re really trying to get pregnant at the same time, Sire,” Lucian confided. “They are more akin to sisters than friends at this point. Lorelai as well as the Wretin envoy seemed shocked at how those two got along. Apparently it wasn’t something either had considered, but now must do so.
“There might be some thawing in their relations in the decades to come. It’ll be interesting to be sure.”
As Nick continued to angle down toward the ravine, Nathaniel and several royal guards swooped down, then pushed ahead of him. Winging rapidly toward the destination that Nick was heading toward.
He noted that his royal guard had already quickly gotten used to riding their gryphons and were showing a great deal of ability. His mind briefly took the thought that it likely was transferred skills from being mounted knights and understanding how to utilize cavalry.
Hitting the ground half of the royal guard remained mounted while the other half dismounted and started spreading out with weapons drawn. They were clearly putting up a perimeter despite not knowing why Nick was heading that way.
Rather than land, he brought the gryphon in close to the ground and then started moving toward where the Dragon-seeking crystal was leading him. He didn’t do it swiftly though, nor did he do it without making sure the royal guard noted he wasn’t actually landing.
He in fact held up the crystal and gave it a waggle toward them, indicating that this wasn’t a rest stop, but perhaps their goal.
“Oh? This might be it? Why didn’t you say so!” Jessie said sounding excited.
“I liked your idea better if I’m being honest,” Nick said with a chuckle, following the crystal.
As Lucian predicted, it began to shift the direction it wanted him to go. The movements became somewhat sever all things considered. As if the distance to the target was so slow that any shifting at all was enough to cause a change.
Then the direction it wanted him to go flipped over.
Turning the gryphon toward a cliff side, Nick started in that direction, then went down into the ravine once he was there.
No sooner than he was twenty feet down then he saw a rather large cave opening.
The crystal was directing him inside.
“Well shit,” he murmured. “Looks like I’m going to have to walk into a Dragon’s lair and see if they’re willing to chat with me.”
“By yourself, no less, Sire,” Lucian interjected. “Because going in with anymore than just yourself will likely cause the Dragon to rush off.”
With a grunt at that nightmare statement, Nick pulled his gryphon, which was named Glorious for some reason, and landed on the small path that led up to the cave. The crystal pointed oddly at the cave through the wall but also shifted twice. As if the inhabitant were moving around as well now.
“I’ll go in alone,” Nick stated and looked to everyone. “Lucian told me the Dragon will likely fly off if more than just me tries to enter. That’d defeat the point.”
“No! No, my lord Dragon King,” Delaney said, marching right up to him and grasping him by his coat. She was also in a thick coat and not her armor, just as he wasn’t wearing his.
The altitude and wind-chill was just too much to wear armor with how much they’d been traveling. It leached the heat right out of them and left them shivering swiftly.
All the equipment was packed away in a brand new spatial chest he’d purchased that was sat on the back of a backup gryphon.
Though to be fair, armor wasn’t going to stop a Dragon.
Staring into the pretty red-head’s face, Nick grinned, and patted her hand.
“Yes, Delaney. Now. Guard everyone else for me while I go seek out the Dragon. Worst case I summon Lucian into the cave wtih me,” Nick suggested. “Gramps is a better defender for me in that tiny space than you likely realize. Even if he dies there, he’ll just clog it up and I can escape.
“Just so,” Lucian confirmed with a snicker.
Delaney looked bothered. Bothered and angry. She didn’t release him.
She just stared into his face. Her eyes searching his for something.
Since leaving Dolphen she wasn’t receiving endless quests from the land. He’d noted it because she didn't’ seem as confident the moment they’d left his realm.
Carefully prying her fingers off, he turned, set his poleaxe on his shoulder, and walked up the path and then to the mouth of the rather large cave.
“Ho the cave! I am Dominic Randolph! I’ve come to barter with you, Dragon! I seek your assistance!” he called out without moving forward. “I would like to propose a deal wherein you assist me with killing a large number of humans. Or more precisely, to join my side in a war against another country.”
With Lucian telling him that those who were likely to be hired would be interested in the idea of slaughtering things, he led in with that.
“I will not barter,” called a feminine voice. It didn’t sound young, but neither was it old. It reminded him of Janet’s timbre.
“Certainly there’s something that you need Dragoness. I am the lord of my land. A king,” Nick continued. If they weren’t interested in the slaughter, then perhaps it became a question of offering them something. “I have means at my disposal to quite literally acquire nearly anything your heart could desire. Through magical means, I have access to… everything, really.
“Do you truly not wish to barter with me? My goal truly is as simple as I’ve stated. I’m being attacked by hordes of gryphon-riders and I need forces that can combat them.”
There was no immediate response.
Standing there, Nick didn’t move away.
Nor did he move forward.
He didn’t try to add words to his offer or push for anything.
Having spent as long as he had arguing, debating, and talking with Lucian, he’d come to realize that there were times it was just better to let a Dragon think. To just allow them time to chew over what’d been said and go from there, rather than attempting to add further.
Slowly, from deep within the cave, Nick could see a faint blue glow moving toward him. It was strange to see and it reminded him of willowisps moving through the trees late at night.
Only for them to clear and grow in detail into two different lights.
And then for Nick to realize it was a pair of very large Dragon eyes.
It stopped at what was likely a good fifty feet away, or so Nick judged by the size of the glowing orbs. He could see nothing else of the Dragon or it’s body.
“A king,” repeated the Dragon.
“Yes. I am the king of my nation. I… I am Dominic Randolph. My formal title is the Dragon King. I am a descendant of the Earth Dragon Lucian,” Nick confirmed. He wasn’t going to push his luck with this Dragon. They were likely very aware that he was different and likely had some Draconic heritage. There was no reason to hide this information from them. “My lineage is distant, but I’ve undergone bloodline strengthening. I am told I am comparable to a first generation child between a human and a Dragon.”
“You most certainly do feel as if you’re a Demi-Dragon,” rumbled the Dragon. “Lucian? I don’t think I know them.”
“Most certainly not. He lived a very long time ago,” agreed Nick.
If the Dragon wasn’t interested, or had a need, they wouldn’t have come forward like this. Especially if they sensed what Nick was.
“You said you would negotiate for things I have a need of,” the Dragon continued. “I have need of protection. I have two young that aren’t ready to leave my den yet, as well as a clutch that my mate left me with before he departed to assist his brother.
“He has yet to return and my clutch will need to hatch soon. I will need… much. I should not go too far that he cannot find me though.”
“I can easily provide food, safety, and structure for you and your children,” Nick promised easily. He’d already gone over such things with Lucian to get an idea of spend. What she’d said so far was all fine.
He was surprised she had a clutch of eggs though. Lucian said it often took a good eleven to twelve months for eggs to become ready to hatch.
It meant her husband had been gone a long while and she was growing nervous.
“As to distance, we are but three days north, north-east from here by gryphon’s wing,” Nick offered. “It’s not so far as you likely fear, though certainly further than you would likely wish.”
“That’s a small distance,” she said even as the large glowing orbs began moving toward him again. “You do reek of a Dragon’s bloodline. It is very strong.”
“I can breathe fire, have Dragon’s might to be used when I wish, and I have Draconic Regeneration at the level of a Dragon’s,” Nick answered the unspoken question. He was presenting her with strength.
Strength and stamina that could defend her clutch and young if need be.
“Breathe fire,” she said, sounding infinitely more curious now as she came out of the shadows.
She was large.
Very large.
As large as Lucian in fact, though her scale colorings were slate like. She didn’t have as many horns or spikes as Lucian either.
“Shall I demonstrate?” asked Nick with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t mind proving my heritage.”
“I should kill him and eat him!” stated a man’s voice, followed by a pair of blue eyes peeking out from behind the large dragon. “He would give me strength, right?”
“You will do no such thing,” murmured the large female Dragon as a second pair of blue eyes peeked out from behind her on the other side. “Do forgive them. They haven’t seen much of the outside world beyond the plains around our home. Especially him. He’s just trying to goad you.”
Nick flicked his eyes to the young Dragon hiding behind his mother. He held it’s gaze.
He smiled as he wondered how hard it would be to beat a Dragon to death with his fists given his level, fire-resistance, and abilities.
The blue eyes blinked, then vanished, moving behind it’s mother.
Turning his head, Nick let out a brief blast of fire from his mouth after activating the Breathe Fire ability. It wasn’t very large, but Nick noted the heat that came off it was intense.
More so than he expected in fact.
Part of the wall of the cave began to glow orange and melt from the brief contact as well as light up the entirety of the cave in a flash of firey light.
Then he turned to look back to the Dragon.
“You will protect me, my clutch, my children. You will feed us all. You will give us a place to roost and call home,” the Dragon clarified. “You will also add to my hoard a reasonable amount in proportion to those I slaughter in your name.
“In return, I will gladly lay war upon your enemies. Though my children are not old enough to participate in this pact, so do not ask it of them. They are on the edge of adulthood. Perhaps two more months.”
“Adulthood isn’t measured in years but size and maturity, Sire,” Lucian added helpfully. “The one that spoke earlier is likely already thirty years old. Raising a dragon is a slow process. It is why we value them so deeply.
“Also… we should accept the deal. Though this only gives us one more Dragon. It doesn’t solve our issue.”
“You mentioned… gryphon riders?” asked the Dragon, to which Nick nodded his head. “I obviously cannot handle this entirely on my own. You will need others. What else do you have at this time?”
“My too many great’s to state grandfather, Lucian, can be summoned nearly at will to assist me,” Nick confided. “That is all I have at this time though I’m open to suggestions. Do you know of other Dragons I might employ?”
The Dragon’s head tilted severely to one side at the mention of being able to summon Lucian. It was obvious she wanted to ask more about that.
Which made it suprising that she didn’t go straight into that.
“Yes, I do know of other things that would help,” she said. “This ravine is the home of a great many flying Drakes. Tens of thousands of them, in fact. They live below the earth, however. They only come out to hunt but generally spend their lives underground otherwise.
“They are in fact listening to us right now, most likely. They are semi-intelligent. I have assisted them many times and they have assisted me with… problems, in the past.”
“They would be amenable to being uh-that-hired? Acquired? Relocated?” Nick tried. He didn’t quite know how to approach what was said. If they were semi-intelligent it meant they could understand to a degree, but also couldn’t.
“I could convince them to move with us. I would negotiate on their behalf,” declared the female Dragon. Then she surprised him and got down in a laying position in front of him. Her massive head coming down to a level that was near his own. “I am Angelique. It is a pleasure to meet you Dragon King Dominic. How should we proceed?”
“I would like to present you with a title to begin with to show you my sincerity and the truth of my words. If I may?” he asked.
“Certainly,” Angelique said, her large eyes watching him.
“Then as the king of Dolphen, Dominic Randolph, I Appoint you and name you the Royal Dragon Champion, Angelique,” declared Nick, stamping his name and authority upon it. “This is a lifetime position unless I revoke it. Would you accept this position?”
Angelique’s reptilian face took on a strange expression that he had no chance to identify at all. He barely understood humans emotions.
“I do so accept,” she murmured.
Household member gained!
Royal Dragon Champion has been assigned as Angelique Delisq!
“This is rather fascinating,” Angelique remarked, looking at what was likely her status window. “I did not realize such a thing was possible. This is a significant boon.
“Well… it would seem we have the beginning of an accord. I want to discuss the details though I’m deeply curious. Would you please invite your great-grandfather, many times removed, to join us?”
“As you like,” Nick said and simply summoned Lucian in behind himself.
The big Earth Dragon would likely appear in the air, or clinging to the side of the cliff.
Appearing in the air just as Nick expected, the big red flapped his wings once, shifted forward, and landed beside Nick in the cave.
“Lucian. Earth Dragon,” stated Lucian, and bobbed his head to the other Dragon. “My grandson did not deceive you at any level.”
Angelique’s head shot upward the moment Lucian appeared and her entire body posture had gone as taut as a bow string. Despite asking him to summon Lucian, in some way, she likely hadn’t expected it to happen.
“Angelique. Sky Dragon,” stated the other Dragon. Then looked back to Nick. “Let us conclude our bargain then. It seems… I am now a vassal to the… Dragon King.”
The last was said with a strange tone that Nick felt like there was more there, yet Angelique said nothing more to it.
“We’ll begin with food allocation,” she said instead. “I do hope you don’t mind but it’s important to me as a growing Dragon’s needs and nutrients are quite specific.”
Angelique paused, watched him, then snorted. She sounded somehow incredibly amused.
“Sire,” she finished.
“It isn’t normal for Dragons to be willing to serve, Sire,” Lucian remarked. “It takes a lot of strength, dominations, or desperation. I think… it’s the latter. She has many children, both living, and waiting to be born, and her mate has been gone longer than expected. You’re fortunate.”