Chapter 162

Zairiel

This place was still, quiet… It was clear I did not belong here, being twice the size of a solar system… yet even with my body honed, I felt inadequate here… I *am* inadequate. I knew through instinct that outside my home, I am a Small fish in a Big Ocean… I felt watched as a salmon before a mighty bear snatches it with its paws.

Someone kicked me Out. But who?

/I did./ linked grandfather Time. 

I blinked and it seemed I was far enough away from my universe, that it looked about the size of a basketball…. And behind it were two red star eyes.

How enraged they were. For a moment, it was the only part of him I saw….

I could feel the outline of red energy that surrounded him… His body held a hum, like suns when you get too close… His presence Is his territorial claim. To enter here without permission is death… Why did I feel like an intruder?

I could probably get lost between a damn scale…

That was Calaxious. My whole world fit underneath a clawed dragon palm. A single wingflap disturbed nothing, but I think it was more that he didn’t want to blow anything out of place. The sterling silver dragon held scales so reflective, that while it made a display of stars, it reflected all the red bubbles around.

/My, my haven’t you grown./ he linked.

“Uh….I can… put it back?”

/You’re not in trouble./ He chuckled. He flapped there, covered in gashes that were realms wide… though they were healed. He was so big that if he had mortals on his skin, multiple worlds worth of them could sit on a scale and never meet. A great crock mouth was slightly agape, but the teeth could be seen anyway. He looked… like me…

He linked because his words would rattle my innards. In the back of his throat is a black hole as well… 

But Bigger… Older, and his horns held the decorations of every dead Layer Lord he’d eaten… Those bells… each one was a Lord. How did I know that.

/Because you will have to choose your own fate. What path will you walk?/

“I don’t know what you mean, grandfather.” I said looking up at him. “Do you mean to make me rule a Layer?!”

/If you wish it, I will not stop you, but first you should learn a bit. Tak Revd Mek Neali hwu noatuif vik Vah.. Redth Zah-ear-ree-el./

His words rumbled in my head. His true voice is rich, but patient. I am not sure if any mortal could hear it, since it is so low, even in my mind… you *feel* them… and I wanna know how to do it.

/Patience. Do not forget those words. One day, you will understand them. Then you will be ready to return to me little one…This is hard, but you must be a man./

Uncle Bryson says that… so they know. Mother’s tears were for my departing… But I will return.

“Powerful words grandfather.” I said in the quietness of this place…

He could put my universe in his mouth, though I could hear the mournful snarl echo in my mind. My king does this for my sake.

I think I am the only living anything who has ever seen such a form. And It Was Cool! He’s So Cool! My sisters would be *jealous!!*

/You do not fear me?/

“No?” I asked in confusion. “You’re just really big.”

/Oh this is going to make this easier, but I should probably get smaller, before your target catches wind and flees./

“Oh so he’s a coward, but still too strong for me./

/At the moment, he is 3.84 trillion times stronger than you. But he’s also a *proud* coward that will fight dirty to keep his position./

Wel Fuck Me Then.

…. And when he shifted to the blue form I knew, I think I was about the size of a kitten. His teleport is soundless, lightless. He’s just there, holding me in his left hand. I felt like a little kid again.

Damn. I bet this is the size my opponent is.

/Aye, it’s why you have a long way to go…. But until you understand what I’ve told you, you will not be able to find your mate./

“When will I be done?” I asked. “What must I do to be worthy to find her?”

“Your *worth* was never the issue, your *power* is.” He petted me between the horns with a pinky… “I mean to make you rule a corner.”

“What.”

“You heard me little one.” He smiled. “Narru… I see his disobedience. At first, I’d done this on a whim, but I suspected after Karru got out of line, that a greater example should have been made. They allow their realms to ruin the balance I maintain. Go forth, gobble any bad ones you find, and when you are strong enough, your bond will reveal itself.”

“….. am I a realm eater now?” I asked.

“Aye. And I will not tolerate you here. You will starve, as your meat now is gods… and realms.” He said with a soft smile. “Well, not to *stay*….”

“….What of my tiny world sire?”

“I’ll take care of it, and when you are ready, I’ll send it to you.” He smiled. “Would you like to say goodbye to your family, or go with my blessing.”

I … I thought about it.

That was an ‘Either or’ kind of blessing.

Either see them one last time before who knows how long… or leave now with the blessing of our layer’s lord…

“…Such a bounty is too great… I accept your blessing.”

“Good.” He grinned. “Ziri.”

\[Status Change. Zairiel the Realm Eater, Rank 5. Welcome young master! All Realm Eaters gain access to the master’s console!\] she became a single purple teardrop earring. That shit kinda hurt, but I got a new god’s brand… it was inside the earring.

A left fist in an Omega symbol… the same as grandpa’s.

Though... now the cabochon that originally had father’s Scales was … blank… and oxidized silver.

“To earn your mate, you must ascend high enough to take her for yourself.” He said seriously. The stronger you become, the clearer the path to her will be.”

“And once it is, I must confront Narru.” I said as he nodded his head.

“Aye. If you try right now, he will eat you in probably a bite.”

So I was literally a kitten, being cast out to become a lion. Alright. Challenge accepted.

\----Xethia-----

I flew as fast as I could, arching up, streaking through the sky as a flash of shimmering clear diamond scales. For a female, I was twice the usual size, even bigger than mother… I was the most coveted of them all… the *flawless* diamond. I reflect whatever color the sky is.

I shimmer with every flap, and my serpentine shape makes me weave through the clouds faster. I am long, cylindrical, though I have father’s strong claws and legs. I look like mother, as if I am from the East. The First and Second Dragon have many…. Many children, though I am from the 5th Clutch, the gemstone generation…. Their 98th….

“Mercy!” screamed the villagers in the castle.

/Leave No Survivors!/ I commanded the battalion father gave me… a *female.*

Though, even his Council have asked for my claw, but I will be no one’s *second or third* wife.

They can die too. Rendth was only Fucking 87!

His brother would be JUST leaving the territory to find his bonded…

I dived. The explosion from me slapping my tail on the castle gates threw flaming splinters on the masses, all the while the wingless draconid marched in armor, and slaughtered them in their name.

Tenhneirgozion was the oldest of us three, being two thousand years older. He’d have a wife right now... He was the rookery babysitter. He died helping the rest of us escape….

I’m waiting for the right proposal… my mate has not yet come. I was 500… I was the only royal whelp in the rookery, since I was a bit of a late bloomer… I’d JUST learned to fly….

Rednth … He’d be Just turning five thousand about now…

Father ruled long before me, that men who can speak were not prey….We could not cull them… We never lusted for their flesh, even now….He ruled that so we could have peace…

And we did… We did for a hundred thousand years. Not a single dragon has ever laid claw on man… until they started this.

Until they killed my little cousin.

A literal Child. 

Rednth could not yet fly…. He could not breathe fire… He could not talk… His scales were pretty much green leather… Then they killed his elder emerald brother Tenhneirgozion, *my* clutch mate along with him.

When they came with their sticks, we thought nothing of it… Tenner even offered them fresh grilled fish… and they ate it with us…

For what? A few unready, worthless gems. Facets and hardness come with *age*…. Gem, and metal dragons don’t have ‘valuable’ scales until we become adults.… Our scales must become hardened, and develop over a few thousand years…  about 5, sometimes 6.

And we used to just give them as gifts or sell them for gold…. Not even at their true value because we knew they don’t have our larder….