pov; just a normal diary
27th of Auv
It's a beautiful day today. Too bad it's soured by the birth of a new royal. This one's named Zesmo (big surprise there). And of course I'm the one who has to represent our city for the celebration.
I wish uncle Brildlid was still around. He dealt with dragons, I'm sure he'd have good advice for dealing with Esmos. After all, they're the most likely to usurp the dragons when they go extinct. Which at the rate the dragon slayer is going, is probably within 200 years. Well, assuming they'll live that long.
Now what should I bring as a gift? No metals, too cheap and heavy. No food, I remember what happened to the representative from Nulim. No art, their definition of art is too skewed. Maybe jewelry, but i doubt I have anything that'll fit. Maybe one of our best magic tool?
It's so annoying how they keep their technology hidden. I can't tell if the 'rod of healing sand' or 'flute of infinite snakes' will be a good gift or not. Well, it's not like I have much options.
13th of Ax
I hate traveling during fall. The nights are too cold and long. Being cold-blooded doesn't help. I envy my marsupial servants.
Old Calvin was waiting for me when I came back. Something about a cult. I'll have commander Zas to check it out and subdue them if deemed necessary. I trust his capabilities.
15th of Ax
It was a fucking cult of fakers. We can't deal with that. We'll have to ask the Esmos for help. Dammit, why can't they just get rid of that false god. It's causing more problems for the rest of us.
18th of Ax
Good news; the cult was annihilated.
Bad news; There is now a large glass crater the size of a village.
5th of Ay
I never really believed in a god before. Still don't, but that dragon is the closest thing to a god that I've seen. Turning a lake into blood and pulling several full dragon skeletons out is certainly not normal, even for a dragon.
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pov; annoyed dragon
It didn't fucking work! 70 years of waiting and yet nothing. At this rate, the dragonoid project will end in failure. At least the sapient bastard experiment is showing some results. But it's all too slow!
Alright me, calm down. Let's review everything we know so far. When a dragon and a non-dragon have a child, it will always be a bastard. These bastards have limited intelligence, and cannot learn spells. However, theoretically, a bastard made from a sapient should be smarter, and may be capable of magic.
No, this isn't just theoretical. There's living proof; the dragon slayer. They have dragon blood, are sapient, and can do things only possible through magic. Clearly, they're a bastard, yet they have none of the downsides. How is that possible?
The first attempt I did was to just make bastards with sapients. All it did was give the bastards fear, which is certainly not helpful. In the second attempt, I injected my blood into both the sapient parent, and bastard. All it did was kill them. For the third attempt, I transplanted the brain of a sapient into the body of a bastard. It took 11 years to get it right, and the resulting amalgamation was blind and deaf, and only lived for a week. The most recent attempt used time magic to extend the lifespan of a bastard by 50 years. Unfortunately, its bad memory makes it forget anything it learns within a year.
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All of these are failures, and I cannot learn anything significant from them, other than what doesn't work. Compared to this, the sapient bastard experiment is far more successful.
By using the uplifting ritual on a bastard, it increases their intelligence by a small amount. Theoretically, if I do it enough times, then I can make a bastard with the intelligence of a sapient. Of course, they still won't be able to use magic, but that's only a small downside. The more bigger problem is cost effectiveness. Based on what I calculated, it'll take 106 uplifting rituals to raise one bastard to sapience.
Given enough time, I'm sure I can save up enough resources to do it. But I don't have that time. The dragons are dying, the dragon slayer is approaching, and I have a tumor in my lung. Sooner or later, I will die. What can I do...
Dammit. I guess the only thing I can do is ask for help. The question is, who is willing to help a traitor like me?
...Vildra. The one dragon I know crazy enough to listen to someone like me. Coincidentally, she reappeared recently. I just have to hope she doesn't kill me.
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pov; a crow
Mama always told me not to go into the desert. Unfortunately, when chased by a thunderbird, you don't really have much options. The ocean is dangerous because you can't see what's beneath you. The plains are dangerous because there's nowhere to hide. The forest is dangerous because the trees like to lie. That just leaves the desert.
I don't know why, but this part of the desert has a lot of giant skeletons. I can fly through them for cover from the thunderbird. It's too big to fit between the ribs. I'm lucky it's fall, else it'd be too hot to stay in one spot.
Wait, it's flying away? That's strange. Maybe it doesn't want to chase me anymore now that I'm under cover? No, thunderbirds are persistent. They'd wait for me to get hungry, forcing me out. Something is making the thunderbird fly away.
Is it something to do with these bones? No, they've been here for a hundred years. If there was anything strange, I'd know about it. Maybe there's a predator nearby that the thunderbird is scared of? But the only thing that can scare one is a dragon. Is there one nearby?
Yes! Over there, near that tall mountain. There's three of them? That must mean something unusual is happening. Based on my time as a delivery crow, that should be the territory of the Esmos. I wonder what they're up to...
Oh wait, there's a fourth dragon! They just came out from that cave. They're shouting something? Should I go closer? Mama always said to keep my curiosity in check... but then again, mama isn't here right now. So let's go!
...
I should be close enough now. Luckily, dragons know not to immediately kill crows, so I'll have a chance to escape if things get bad. Hey, what's that floating above the mountain? Why is it glowing? Is it some sort of decorat- nope, that's a weapon. Oh damn, it just blasted a hole through a dragon. Must be pretty strong. I'm guessing that dragon who was shouting was the one who owns it?
Hey, um. I know dragons can shape-shift and stuff, but why does that dragon have three eyes? I don't think that's norm-
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Ugh. What happened? I was just flying near some dragons, saw one died, saw another with an extra eye below their left one... and now I'm in a cave of ice? Where is this? There's light that way, so that's probably outside. Weird, the ice isn't cold.
Outside is... barren. There's too many dead trees for this to be a desert. There's also no sand, this is more like dry, cracked clay. This was probably once swampland, but it all dried up for some reason. If I have to guess, it's because of those towers over there.
They look like they're made of wood, and they stretch above the clouds. Now the question is, should I see what's above the clouds? I don't know why, but every time I think of checking it out, I get a little sick. Eh, I doubt it's anything dangerous.
By flying straight up, I reach the clouds within a few minutes. Inside the clouds, I feel rain below me. As if gravity was reversed for only water. Then it started to snow below me. I persevered through the cold, until I flew above the clouds.
A sense of peace overwhelmed me. Snow flowed upwards, faint enough that my vision wasn't obscured. All sound seemed muffled, including my own. The cold fades into warmth. If not for me actively flying, I'd've fallen asleep.
Then I noticed the moon had roots. Those were the towers I saw before. But why does the moon have roots?
Then it opened its eye. The night sky that I didn't even notice faded to pure darkness. The snow started to burn. All sound deafened. I could only float as an invisible ocean suffocated me.
Then the sky opened its eyes. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of eyes, staring at the moon's one. In the moments before I faded out, I heard the strangest voice, a language I did not know, yet could still understand.
"Found you"
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"Hey dragon, why's there a dead crow under your bed?"
"Hm? No idea. I wonder where it came from... Well, it's not a messenger, so we don't have to worry about it. Toss it out with the rest of the trash. Anyways, continue Iesmo. What's this 'flannel' you invented?"