The sadistic priestess looked over the audience to the ritual with a blood covered grin that could barely hide her inner fury. This was obviously not the way she had wanted the ritual to go, but she would try to save face if it was the last thing she did. A deep throaty laugh left her as she stretched her clawed hands wide in a gesture of jubilation.
“Behold the might of our lord! *cough* Even now in the midst of the great slumber, the powerful dragon has thought it necessary to test my devotion and strike me as a test of faith! Rejoice!”
The crowd murmured to themselves for a time with some scattered applause and cheering, but the overall atmosphere was one of skepticism. Seeing that her ruse wasn’t effective, she instead shouldered one of her guards out of the way so she could stand on a slightly raised plinth adjacent to the mirror where the gathered youth were still forcibly knelt down by magic threads. Good, stay away from Vimna you lunatic. Alright you giant dragon corpse, it’s time to make good on your end of the deal since I went ahead and gave you a quarter of a million mana. All of the mana lines in my limbs were incredibly sore, so there wouldn’t be any extra juice coming from me tonight.
The hurricane of energy suspended within the altar seemed to flex and twist at my words, the supposed dragon blood flowing into them quickly enough that it seemed to be only a few seconds in length, as opposed to the minutes it felt like I had been up there before. Maybe pure dragon blood’s potent compared to ichor, and diluting it is some other control method. Probably has something to do with the pretend dragon in the mirror. Evil cultists and their fake image dragons make me angry, and tonight would be a new permanent reason as to why.
Eventually the mana stopped dancing around in the altar, and unlike before it all coalesced into a single stream that flowed down into the deepest parts of the pyramid shaped base of the altar. It lingered for a moment, then without warning shot downwards like a bullet, the shockwave being strong enough to make the lingering mana of the room swirl like disturbed dust. Figures began to rise atop the altar, and among them were six red kobolds I knew personally. Thank you dragon, whatever your name is, you kept her safe just as promised.
The crazed priestess raised her hands as she cried out for everyone to rejoice once more, and this time was met with an actual roar of cheers. My eyes darted around the crowd to see families of the ones sent up there hugging and dancing in celebration, Dobo and Gyloa included, and a general feeling that this was a rare and grand thing overtook me. Nobody died, nobody was rejected, and the nut job running the show got a taste of her own medicine. All would feel well if I weren’t also a tad bit crispy, and if I could detect where these three elders mentioned before were. Now that Vimna was safe from the immediate danger, my brain was already scouring the upper levels to see where the incoming threats were hiding.
There in the same seat that ol’ Chalk Eater sat at before was a kobold I didn’t recognize. Dressed the part of an elder, had the same mystic vibes as one too, but looked completely disinterested in this whole affair. Wait, standing next to him, was that Vynrashu and Ephkarn? It was, and by the looks of it they weren’t too happy about being here despite the success of the ritual. That must make him their boss, Tapabaka the merchant master. Looking at him, he bore a striking resemblance to Vynrashu, from the conical head profile and purple/silver scales, even the musculature and brilliant red eyes hiding great intellect. Wait a second, was Vynrashu’s dad his boss? That made a whole lot of sense actually.
I can ask him about that later, right now I needed to see where the other two elders were hiding. A sense that I was being watched poked at me again, and this time it was from directly above me. Hovering high above on his magic platform was none other than Faerkurch and another kobold wearing the garb of an elder. What the hell are you doing up there? It was hard to spot from this distance, but the one with my boss was waving at me with one hand while holding a staff topped with a lit lantern in the other. Were they the one wanderer Lothengus, or maybe that Zhannta metal toucher or whatever. Metal touched, thank you Charles, and yes it does look like they’re wearing a backpack, so probably the first option of wanderer.
Two confirmed good elders in attendance, one ambiguous until proven evil elder in the VIP seat, and one guaranteed cultist running the event. Now that I know where they are and what they’re doing I can turn my attention back to Vimna, who has just reached the bottom of the pyramid. I hobbled my way over to her with Mom acting as my crutch and when she was in range of my arms I pulled her in close despite her groans of protest. You’ve got no idea what I just went through for you kid, so you’re gonna get a hug whether you like it or not. I held her at arms length as we parted, and only now did I notice the haggard look on her face. She managed to groan out a few words before planting her face into my collar bone.
“Feel sick, wanna go home.”
You and me both, but we ought to go to the clinic just in case. Humey was the main kobold carrier with Vimna cradled in one arm and Sheep in the other, as well as having the largest sister Wheeth slumped over his shoulders. Juaki was practically carrying me over one shoulder while letting Ghàxni hang slack under the other. As for how the other two siblings were led off, I can only assume it was left to Mibata and Tokols somewhere behind me. We took the elevator ride up with a gaggle of other families with equally sick young, and at mom’s advising that Tuleni’s clinic would care for them they all agreed to come with us. We arrived all together, and my earlier overpreparation of ointments and beds just happened to give us the necessary fifteen beds and pain relieving salves. A tingling sensation in the back of my mind told me that fate was laughing at me for being its pawn, but today I would make an exception and thank it for the guidance.
Aside from the exhaustion and the feeling that my insides were deep fried for a second time, I was the healthiest of the patients lining the walls of the clinic. I was bandaged up and given enough pain relieving potions to move around on my own thus allowing me to keep an eye on the magic coursing through these kids. All of them were housing a mass of mana that was much greater than what their source could handle, yet none were suffering any physical damage like me or my brothers had when our ritual went awry. Perhaps that ichor we had been infused with was weaker than pure dragon blood, and whatever effect it had on us was a direct result of its tampering. Even if they're going to be alright I would stay vigilant in monitoring them until whatever changes the blood was making were complete.
Humey approached me as I made my fifth lap around the clinic, his hand weighing my shoulder down enough that I had to stop and face him. I knew that face Humey, don’t you dare try and tell me to stop now. My indignant glare must have translated what I was thinking to some degree, because immediately after looking into my eyes he released with a sad sigh. He bit his lower lip and looked away for a moment before letting his mouth open with a smack as his tongue clicked off of his teeth.
“I know you aren’t gonna stop until you know they’re all safe, but you’re about to drop from all this worrying. Can’t you tell from walking around that you’re swaying and staggering around now? I’ll be there to catch you if you fall, but I’d like it if you knew your limits and took a break. Just look how many people are here to keep an eye on them. Everyone’s got at least two eyes on them, some three times that many. Come on into the back room and have something to drink when you need it, mom and I will be waiting for you.”
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He lumbered off into the back room, leaving me stuck in a mental loop as I tried to decide whether to accept his proposition or not. I was very tired, and the rough treatment I had given my mana lines was indeed physically draining. On the other hand, there wasn’t anyone here who could sense mana like I did, so if one of them suddenly began to have some kind of reaction it would be up to me to help out. I hated leaving things up to chance, but maybe a coin toss would help me decide.
I scrounged around in my bag until I felt the rough trimmed edge of a Drak in my fingers. One flick sent it spinning into the air above me, but despite my attempt to catch it I could only watch as it bounced around on the floor between two of Wilter’s roots. As it spun I decided that tails would be going into the back room for some tea, and as if by magic the coin skipped over a small crack and landed tails up. Despite my desire to stay and keep an eye on everything, the coin has decided that I must rest.
Staggering into the back room of Tuleni’s clinic led me face to face with both of the green kobolds, and oh what faces they were making. Juaki looked as though she were about ready to dump her cup of tea on the floor with how contorted her face was with disgust, and Tuleni looked at her daughter with tired disappointment. Humey was trying to hide his face in his hands, but the slight jiggling of his belly told me that under those hands he was either fighting against laughter or trying not to sob. Probably the former, as I could now see the splatter of tea on the table and wall that must have been ejected by the warrior of the three.
Tuleni set her cup aside and sighed, and upon seeing me shook her head wearily. “Forty years she could grown, still hates herbal drink.”
I looked right into my mother’s eyes, and something about the way she had tears welling up in the corner of her eyes made something in my mind finally snap like an overstretched rubber band. At first it was a chuckle, then it was a laugh which then became a cackle, before finally it ended with me wheezing before losing my balance and nearly falling into the expensive alchemy equipment. Humey’s broad arms caught me as the extent of my exhaustion finally took hold, my body finally giving up after a full day of non-stop moving to keep my mind at ease. The tank was empty: my muscles were strained, my mana lines shot, and now my mind had finally run dry.
I weakly pulled at my slate enough that it came unhooked from my bag, but it only clattered to the floor uselessly as everything went black.
…
This isn’t the same dream. It was the same city, but the sky was red, not white, and the grayscale walls and floor were the same orange and yellow stripes as the real world. It also felt warm in this version, unlike the frigid cold of the previous dreams. I looked down and, to my surprise, found the mirror to be vacant from the dream. There wasn’t even an altar, just the statue and I at ground level facing one another.
I heard the thunderous roar of a beast overhead, and when I looked up I watched something unbelievable as two giants grappled with one another. They appeared and disappeared as the sky fought to decide on whether it wished to be red or white, but eventually the red was supplanted by the colorless world of white with silver moons. I looked back down to find myself standing atop fragments of broken mirror shards, and a voice spoke to me in the same dream voice that was distinct from both the altar dragon’s voices, yet was also a combination of more than one voice.
“Survive.”
I was not thrust into the void between the waking world and the dream again, but instead spent only a few minutes staring up in silence at the dream moons wondering if they were looking back down at me.
…
I awoke atop one of the stone-carved cots of the clinic, and upon pushing myself upright and stretching found that these beds were absolutely terrible for your back. My eyes quickly scanned the room for the other patients, and to my surprise found them all to be lying in their beds resting peacefully. The mana inside of them was still turbulent as the dragon’s blood worked to augment them, but unlike last night it appeared to have found the places it needed to work and was diligently adhering to the new structure it was making. Vimna was only a few feet from me, and from here I could see the look of discomfort on her face as clear as day.
My attempt to stand had me fall back into the cot, the dizziness and heavy feeling in my head was like a tequila hangover, only without the blurry memories and bad breath. I found that someone had left me one of those super sweet blue pears and a slab of jerky on my bedside table along with a glass of water, and a note written on my slate. I read the message as I sliced through the pear with my fangs effortlessly.
“Kay, we all went home to get some rest. Tuleni says you strained your lines again, and that you should stop doing that or you’re going to tear them. Please don’t tear those, they sound important. Mom wants to talk to you, so head home when you read this. Love you - Your brothers.”
Aw, thanks guys, this is such a nice note…wait, who’s rummaging around on the floor? I peered over the edge of the bed, and to my surprise it was Tim! Hey buddy, I’m sorry I had to leave you behind last night, but I couldn’t risk you getting stepped on in that huge crowd. I picked up the hefty bug and scratched at his hard shell, causing him to trill and wiggle in my arms. You can have the rest of my pear since I’m not going to eat it.
Looks like mom is going to have to wait until my magical hangover is gone, because I don’t think I can manage a trip across the city in this state. Propping myself up with a few of the cot blankets and sheets between me and the wall, I sat there for the next hour or so as my head returned to a stable sort of state. I checked in with Tuleni to let her know I was heading home, her oath to protect and watch over her patients giving me the confidence to leave with my thoughts collected.
The main shaft was a completely different scene than I would imagine the day after a ritual. The food courts and markets were packed, the lifts working double time as people went from floor to floor, and a few magical and non-magical lanterns and displays flashing in the early morning light. I guess a 100% success rate ritual was a really big deal for folks around here, because I’d never seen everyone so hyped up. Well party or not, I still want to go home before I decide to try any of the delicious smelling treats being grilled up.
Keeping Tim in my bag spared him the worst of the bumping and shoving of the crowd as I fought my way down three flights of stairs. I wasn’t going to take the cross-city death-trolley again, not unless I wanted to lose my meager breakfast on the landing. Besides, I could use the steps to work off some of the bit of pudge I gained over the week of binge eating. On my floor the crowd was thankfully thinner than the floors above, so getting closer to my home actually meant it was smoother going.
Everything was actually feeling like it would be alright until I felt an unsettling sensation of a nearby camera eye turning its unliving gaze upon me. This one is a bold one, and seems to be quite the curious cat getting so close to me. I already had a sensor rune set up facing it and another facing in front of me, so all I needed was this sucker to get really close to me. There was still a hundred or so feet from me to the tunnel leading to home, so maybe I could throw this one off by stopping to take in the scenery. Come here little buddy, I won’t bite… yet.
The drone thing slid to a halt as I looked out over the railing of the city, as if aware that I was waiting for it. My tired yawn and seemingly carefree attitude must have given it the courage it needed, because a moment later it slowly began approaching me. Twelve feet…eleven feet…ten…now! I flicked on my sensor runes towards the drone, which reacted to my head jerk by spinning out of control. I watched in awe as the magical eyeball lost altitude until it was skimming the ground, then was actually dragging itself across the floor until it bumped into the wall. Oops, that wasn’t me, was it?
Wait a second, this thing wasn’t able to run, which meant I could enact the ancient rule of finders keepers. Yoink! The golf ball sized orb was mine, and as my sensors told me it was no longer functioning because of my scan. I don’t know what I just did to it, but I’ll take this as a win! My excitement caused me to jog home like a thief on the run, a devious smile on my lips as I thought of all of the ways to experiment with this stolen device.