Book 2: Rage of the King I

Drozakrahth

My meetings were over for the day, since we decided to have one before sunrise to deal with the missing gold. It was now safely in the hoard vault, while my mate still slept. She was the one who told Yulanya of it, but I think all the servants knew…

I sat in the dining hall, eating in the relative silence this breakfast… but I was not alone…. I allowed the orphans to dine with Me now, so I could see the little children, and make sure they had no new bruises. Sister Trish was their caretaker, but she was in her 80’s… she’s going to die soon… living such a short life.

“I can’t thank you enough your grace.” She bowed.

“I cannot thank you enough for keeping my mate, and raising her to be a good person… I see you as a mother in law.” I said casually. Steak and potatoes were presented to me, as well as toast and some egg. I snuck into the kitchens to eat last night’s leftovers before the meeting… but after this I’d cast spells on myself again to re fortify them.

She looked rather touched, but she bowed her head. “I am only a Servant of Solis… May the Light Bless you.”

“I fear the dark times will come, when rich men become angered that their greed can no longer be quenched….” I said cutting into my meat…. I ate it honestly in about three bites.

Entrassi, the Green Dragon King had been assassinated, and now his tribes had no leader…. He was found naked with a dagger in his heart in his own bed… Dragon Slaying Steel…. Zeshava…. How they flayed my first mate… I could tell they did that to her while she still lived. How that was My fault because I wasn’t there….

How I was going to destroy this realm to bury them with her… had I not been beheaded there would be no realm to protect… I’d do it again if it was Azula…

“My lord?” Asked Sister Trish. I didn’t know how long my mind wondered… “I did not know your eyes glow… it unsettles the children sire.”

“Pardon me, I only think of serious topics this morning…” I said getting up. I wasn’t hungry anymore… The children looked happy, but still a little too thin. “How is construction of the new orphanage?” I asked.

“It has a roof, all we need are walls.” She said with a bow.

“Good. I need a taste of air. Eat, take food home. I want your expenses documented and presented to Yulanya for a new budget. A Realistic one.” I said leaving.

I didn’t know Where To… just not There. I needed to be in the sky… everywhere I went, everything I did was constrained…. I could not eat as much as I wanted… I could not fly at my full size. Well… not All the time, but that I was limited at all times, only Nox knew my struggle.

The elves did not know his power, nor his wrath too much. Since I waged war on my equal, he treated my lesser drakes like pests… He did not need to speak magic words or anything. Had I not been how I was then, many, not just my first mate, would be alive… but where would that leave little Azula?

I wasn’t settled in the sky… but I would go investigate. If I found the humans, ripping them apart would not settle my mind, but a taste of the old ways would likely kindle my fire.

It was then that I did become my full size, so I could go faster. I roared my loudest boom. I’m pretty sure any who were below me would be deaf had I not ascended above the clouds… I felt a lot better…

I flew for about 3 hours, had I stayed small it would have been maybe 5 or 6? Regardless, I landed by shifting into my mortal form, and falling to the ground. I was simply too big… I was made before small modern homes….

But green dragons didn’t live in a traditional castle. It was made like a pyramid of stone. The top was the palace part, and each layer below was filled with servants. Since I was in mortal form, I walked through the large wooden doors. They were wide open, and I could still smell the little weasel’s blood.

The green dragons who were there saw me and bowed, “My king… we did not know you would come yourself…” Said what scented like his mate. Her mark around her neck was faded, meaning he really was dead.

“I wasn’t but I’ll be Damned before Mortals slay the dragons I allow to be in charge.” I snarled. “Where is his body?” I demanded…

The fear… it annoyed me that these small weak dragons trembled… but that was their nature.

I took a breath… “Where is his body, so I can catch the scent?” I asked a little nicer.

“I can lead you.” Said a guard. He spoke up, likely worried for his mother… I could tell by his scent that he was likely going to be the next king.

“What is your name?” I asked as we walked down the small mazelike halls… I could barely fit in here. Green dragons were the smallest of us, being rain forest dwellers.

“Tivesh… I am his oldest son sire.” He said making a right and up stairs. They spiraled without windows, and barely any sconce light a few flights.

Inside his body wasn’t able to be covered in the blanket they topped across his corpse… without any skin, and missing some fangs… shifted and in a small ball… but the blanket was clean…

“Where’s his blood?” I asked.

How the Hell did a Shifted Dragon not have a Drop of blood… anywhere…

“They stole it sire….”

“… how the Fuck did they manage this?” I asked myself, but he bowed. He mourned his father, but feared my wrath… in old times in my anger I would have felled this castle, and attacked every human in a fifty mile radius.

“I don’t know sir…” he mumbled. I could see the blood drops from his face. His eye glands were activating at seeing such a terrible sight.

Now that I had a mother and father, I could understand how this would weigh heavy on the heart…

“Are you strong enough Tivesh?” I asked.

“Strong enough to unite my people, or to be king?” He asked.

“Both.”

“Yes master…. I mean… your majesty.” He mumbled.

“Do it. There will be no more sovereignty here. There will be no respite for the mortals. Where are they?” I growled.

“That’s the issue…. There is none… not a single mortal lives this deeply in the jungle… and father has no concubines except my mother….” He mumbled. “He said he was tired after he ate dinner, but I thought nothing of it. I thought nothing of his staggering up the stairs… I thought he had too much to drink.”

“Are any of your staff mortal or elves?” I asked.

“No… not even beastkin…. Except… Except Taja… I haven’t seen her since yesterday!” He growled.

I walked while he ran to the kitchens. Only green dragons were in there. I followed him to every servant section, and not a soul who was not a dragon or half dragon was there.

“What is Taja?” I asked.

“A half jaguarkin sir… she looks Almost human if not for the ears and tail.” He said glaring at the forest. There was murder in his eyes.

“I think you’ve all been tricked. Catkin smell like feline…. I don’t smell that…. I don’t smell anything… what else did she do here?” I asked.

“She served food, cooked, and washed clothes.” He said with a frown.

“Ah… then now I know what to scent for… Do you smell soap?” I asked.

“Not really… it’s the scent on all of us… we use the Jungle Spring soaps…imported from the Golden King’s lands…” he mumbled.

“I don’t. I like McDoven.” I said firmly… but that was such a faint, straw grasping smell… “Get in formation behind me.”

I sprouted only wings, bursting into a ball of fire in my anger as I shot myself straight into the sky. I was my true size again. They crossed a line… what did they need dragon’s blood for?

What on earth could a human, beastkin, or anyone else Need with blood and scales? I practiced magic. Me and Nox both could cast spells that held no rank. We were the ebb and flow, the waves on the beach… the tug and push of tides… opposites.

But this… this was more than just theft and assassination.

Wind magic to hide them…. Illusion magic to disguise themselves… but most importantly…. They had dragon slaying steel…. something rare…. Regulated… no one had this, as every king Years ago outlawed its possession….

I had to fly slowly with the band of about 50 green dragons behind me, but I roared anyway. The boom of it made an almost visible ring that could be seen.

“I am coming for you!” I yelled in common. “Those who bring death to dragons, bring death to their people.”