“Grandpa” pushed “Mom” away from him and then pointedly looked at his nail and then at Adam. He looked thoughtful for a moment before he directed his voice toward Adam, “You broke my nail, What do you have to say for yourself.”
“I have a hard head,” Adam said with a straight face
The Old Man's face tries to remain stern and impassive but Adam can tell that finding his daughter has already thawed his heart. With a laugh, he stated, “Yes you do!”
Adam extended his chaos out and repaired the damage to Grandpa’s claw as Adjra asked, “Father, is there someplace we can go to relax?”
“Of course, Adjra. Of course,” Her father said. Adam watched as he turned away from her and made a motion with both hands as if opening a large curtain. Adam was intrigued when space opened into a very specific point above what looked like a large ancient city, though…As Adam considered the layout. It looked more like someone’s estate house made for a giant which also had some humanoid-sized structures around it. “Come! Come! This is my home,” He said as the wings on his back extended and he floated through the rift and waited for them on the other side.
Adjra was the first to step through with Adam right behind. Adjra and her father both used their wings to fly toward a building that was set on a hill with a waterfall nearby while Adam just used Molded Chaos to mimic a flying effect that could keep up. Mana consumption was negligible. Nor did he need to concentrate as he flew after them. As they came In for a landing, Adam realized he’d been correct. This place was the equivalent of a Multi-millionaire’s residence in the Swiss Alps, though the backdrop looked like he could be in the mountains of Alaska or Norway. It was breathtaking.
Grandpa led them inside where he poured three drinks from a pitcher that contained some form of fruit juice that smelled quite good. Though thinking of the Old Wyrm as Grandpa…yeah, that was getting old, “Excuse me, Grandpa. Yeah, Not trying to be disrespectful because we are family, but let's just say that I’m an old soul that has not always been a dragon. Is there some way that you wish for me to address you or do you have a name I can call you?”
The Old Wyrm and Adjra looked at Adam in shock until the Old Wrym said, “If you do not wish to call me Grandpa or some other familial honorific you may refer to me as Ancient One. Since you brought my daughter back to me, you may also call me Ajax.
“Thank you, Ajax. I know you want to spend some time catching up with your daughter. While you do that I need to get back to the plane we were just on and figure out if the dragons on Gemma can move back there if they wish. Would I need to talk to you about that at some point?
The Plains of Talinbar are endless and open to all, as are the mountain ranges that abut them. If dragons of whatever type wish to return there is more than enough room. If you return to the point we entered this place from just continues down for about five more miles. The cloud cover will dissipate and you’ll see that the plains and mountains extend as far as you can see. There are dragons everywhere. There are even dragon cities for those who want to dabble in bureaucracy. Not all dragons can create their own pocket dimension where they can place their home and access it on a whim after all.”
“Thank you,” Adam said as he switched his focus to Adjra, “Mom, I’m going to go fly around. Once I’m done I’ll check in on Fenris and let him know what I’ve discovered.”
“Very well Adam, Be safe and good hunting.”
Adam opened a portal back to the location Ajax had opened his portal from and stepped into the air. As he started to fall again, he shifted his position so that he was horizontal as he fell against the wind and then shifted to his Dragon Form before he dove and picked up speed. He kept his speed subsonic as he flew the last five miles down until he broke through the cloud layer and looked at the ground below him.
He'd been inside a Dyson Sphere. He’d even been in a Universe that seemed to go on forever. Still, what he saw below was breathtaking. On one side of the world that seemed to go on forever, plains with all kinds of prey animals for as far as the eyes could see were everywhere. There were even small lakes throughout with small rivers that came down from the mountains. Between the mountains and the plains was a mile of rolling grassy hills. It was almost like this place had been created for dragons.
Adam made his way closer to the mountains where he saw plenty of dragons. Also, it seemed that there was climate control of some sort in play because the further away from the hills the mountains were, the higher they became and the more snow and ice covered everything. A blue dragon that had been gliding near one of the peaks made its way toward Adam and shot a lightning bolt near him.
“You are outside your hunting grounds!” the blue dragon bellowed in draconic.
“Considering I’ve never been on this plane before; I can’t disagree with your statement!” Adam called back.
The blue dragon ignored what Adam said and came in for a fly-by. Adam paid attention to him and could almost see what the young blue dragon was going to do as it tried to tail-swipe him. Well, he didn’t try. He did hit Adam with his tail and broke it. Adam had come to a stop and utilized his affinity with space as an Adamantium Dragon to lock himself in place. He didn’t move. Nor did the blue dragon’s tail when it hit Adam which caused the dragon to break the bones about 1/3rd of the way up the tail. It also caused the blue dragon to shriek as it began to tumble.
Adam reached out with his chaos and healed the blue dragon’s tail and then continued on his way. The blue dragon quickly righted its flight and flexed its tail in disbelief before it looked back at Adam. Adam called out to the dragon, “The first one’s free, there is a price for any additional lessons.” As he flew off he double-checked to make sure he hadn’t taken any damage. The attack hadn’t even shown up in his Combat Log.
Adam increased his altitude until he was just below the clouds and then altered his course so that he would be flying above the hills and increased his speed away from the blue dragon. It couldn’t hurt Adam so there was no reason to fight it.
The temperature here was average. A little cool because he was at altitude but he could feel heat radiating from the ground below as if it was reflecting solar radiation even though there was no sun in the sky. There was sunlight, but it showed through the clouds, evenly until it bathed the ground below. Adam was sure it was inherent to this place and magically generated.
Adam increased his speed until he was just under the speed of sound and then willed himself to become ethereal as he increased his speed further. He traveled at roughly Mach 100 for an hour. As he slowed, the hills continued on below him with the plains off to one side and the mountains off to the other. He’d noticed dragons, and they’d noticed him but most hadn’t even tried to catch up to him.
Of course, as he slowed down, one of the dragons that had been teleporting to catch him again appeared in front of him and flared her wings, “How Dare You!”
“How dare I what?” Adam asked questioningly
“How dare you pass with Queen Seraphina’s territory without paying the proper respects”
“Exactly how long was I in Queen Seraphina’s territory?” Adam asked.
“I do not know, I just know that you didn’t stop,” The young gold dragon stated matter-of-factly.
“Is Queen Seraphina your mother?” Adam asked.
“Of course she is!”
“And you are?” Adam prodded
“I am Sienna! How do you not know this, All dragons know who Queen Seraphina and her daughter are.”
“And do you know of Ajax?”
“The Ancient One,” she gasped in horror. Do not say his name with such disrespect, he is The Ancient One, even Mother shows deference unto him.
“Well Sienna, I am Adam, Son of Adjra, daughter of The Ancient One”
Sienna’s eyes went wide and she hesitantly pushed her snout forward and scented him before her eyes went wide with recognition. I can smell the Ancient One on you. You were near him” she said as she took a deeper breath and bolted away from Adam back the way he’d come from.
Well, scaring a kid shitless hadn’t been his intention so he turned around and caught up with her off her left wing, “Sienna! Wait! What’s Wrong?”
“What’s wrong, I have offended The Ancient One’s blood, I have to get back to Mother.”
“Sienna, I am the Ancient One’s blood and you haven’t offended me,” Adam said with a gentle laugh.
“I didn’t?” Sienna asked with hope in her eyes as she slowed to a more reasonable pace
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“No, you did not. Why don’t you lead me to the Queen so I can pay my respects?” Adam asked.
“I can do that. May I teleport us both back to my mother’s territory?”
“Of course,” Adam said.
Sienna moved closer and touched Adam before they both vanished and reappeared above a very large Amphitheater. Adam immediately noticed a Gold Dragon sitting below them on what looked like a very large throne of gold.
Sienna looked at her mother and then called out, “Queen Seraphina, May I present Adam, Son of Adjra, Daughter of the Ancient One!”
The Queen listened intently then looked off to the side with shock in her eyes. A moment later a spacial rip opened as Queen Seraphina shifted to her humanoid form and smiled into the rift. It looked to be the same type of rift that Ajax had opened earlier, did the Queen know his mom? Did she have a way to contact Ajax? A moment later his questions were answered when both Adjra and her father stepped out of the rift. The queen rushed forward and Adjra and her hugged as if they were two close friends that hadn’t seen each other in ages.
While the Queen and Adjra hugged, Adam and Sienna came in for a landing. Like Adam when the Queen and Sienna transformed, they both transformed into humans. Both were almost 6 feet tall with beautiful blond hair and golden eyes. In her human form, it was much easier to see that Sienna had to be a very young teenager. Also, it seemed that playing to the stereotypes that metallic dragons were relatively good worked
Queen Seraphina looked at Adam and then looked to Adjra, “I thought this one was your son?”
“He is and he isn’t. He was born of my clutch but he is an old soul. It is my understanding that human is his original form.”
“Not to worry, my human form was replaced before I entered this Universe and cycle,” Adam said. He shifted to his humanoid dragon form to show the queen that he was Adjra’s son, then shifted back to his human form. “Though I prefer my human form.”
“I see,” Queen Seraphine said.
A hint of mirth entered Ajax’s eyes as he looked at Adam and said, “Stop Showing off. Adjra, why don’t you speak with the Queen while I take Adam to a location where he can portal the dragons that want to come home.”
The Queen looked up, “Ancient One?” she asked questioningly.
“Adjra has been trapped in another dimension all this time, as have many other metallic and colored dragons. Even Aeris was there, though I am told she is no more?” Ajax stats as he looks at Adam.
“She was playing with forces that could have wiped out entire planes of existence. Those forces killed her. I may have helped,” Adam states flatly.
“What makes you think that you are qualified to make that kind of decision,” Queen Seraphina asks coldly.
Adam looked into the Queen's eyes and held her gaze, “I’ve done something to offend you. I will not apologize for doing what needed to be done. That said I do apologize for removing someone from your life that you obviously cared about,” Adam said sincerely.
Queen Seraphina looked from Adam to Adjax and struggled to stay angry then sighed before she addressed Ajax, “Ancient One, please take Adam to the neutral mountain valley. That is where the dragons that want to come home should return to so that they can be greeted and then led by their brethren. There has not been a war among dragonkind since Adjra and the others disappeared. There will not be one upon their return. I wish to speak to Adjra and then we’ll be along to set up for their return. Sienna, have Zepher relay a message that I would like to speak to him at sunrise tomorrow in the Neutral Valley.
“Yes, My Queen, Sienna said as she flew off”
Ajax looked to Adam and then rose into the air before he shifted into his full dragon form and flew deeper into the mountains. Adam nodded to his mother and the Queen, then rose into the air, shifted to Dragon Form, and flew off after Ajax.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the valley, just over an hour flying at right around half the speed of sound, so about 350 miles. As Ajax came in for a landing colored dragons flying near the valley looked on but none approached.
Ajax shifted to his Dragonkin form and looked at Adam as he came in for a landing as he switched to his human form he asked Adam, “If you don’t mind me asking, how strong are you?”
Adam looked at Ajax thoughtfully and then transformed his body into his Chaos Incarnate form which turned him into an amorphous pearlescent indistinct blob before he retook his human form.
“That was pure Chaos?” Ajax hissed.
“You asked how strong I was, I needed you to understand that the limits of the SYSTEM within this universe do not limit me,” Adam said.
“What? The SYSTEM limits everyone,” Ajax said.
“Aeris had met the limits of the SYSTEM and she stood no chance against me, though I was truthful, and the element she was playing with destroyed her. Of course, I shaped and trapped her within in it because….”
“Because Chaos can adapt to anything,” Ajax said knowingly.
“But you do not act chaotically, Adam. If you are in chaos I would expect you to be, well, more chaotic,” Ajax explained.
“Grandfather, you have known me for a day. Yes, I have been reincarnated into an Adamantium Dragon egg and my true form in this incarnation is that of an Adamantium Dragon but I am not a purely good person. I am selfish and I do what I want, when I want. Though I do not try to hurt others. I have had help from others that have softened me a bit but…How to explain. Since I started on this path it is not that I have not been chaotic as much as every single struggle I’ve faced has been filled with Chaos. Yes, I am quite powerful, and I’m not going to complain about the fact that I’m smart enough to take advantage of loopholes and exploits in whatever SYSTEM governed universe I end up in because isn’t it true that chaos will overcome and adapt to anything, which is what I do.”
“So you are the harbinger of chaos then?”
“I wouldn’t call myself a harbinger. If I’m anything, I’m the other part of the chaos that fights itself so it doesn’t go too far out of control.”
“I see,” Ajax said as they both thought about what Adam had said before Ajax continued, “If you can teleport or open portals, this is the location that you should open the portal to. They’ll be able to transfer to here and from here the Queen and her counterpart among the colored dragons will be able to get the dragons to new areas they can settle and call their own.”
“Very well,” Adam said. “If Adjra didn’t tell you, there are nine dragon sanctuaries on Gemma and the metallic dragons are all deep underground. I’ll set up ten portals that lead here.” Adam explained while he pointed to the locations where he would open the ten portals.
“That should be fine. I’ll remain here to help and intimidate those who come through, just in case any of them get any ideas," Ajax said.
"Oh yeah, I never asked but I have at least one more brother, Adjrock. You will probably have more family visiting…Grandpa," Adam said
“So my days of being the lonely old dragon are coming to an end. Very well. I’d much rather have Adjra and her children back in my life, even you Adam.” Ajax explained.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be around, but I will try to be available. I’m still more human than a dragon or creature of chaos,” Adam said.
“You are what you are, now go talk with Fenris and get the portals set up to this location. Dragons were never meant to live in the numbers Adjra has described among the humanoid races. Also, they shouldn’t be hunting them like they have been. It just breeds resentment that eventually those same humanoids will act on.”
Adam nodded as he transformed into his human form. Next, he opened a gate to Aeris’s meeting room where Adjra, Fenris, and he had been talking. He stepped through quickly and connected to his nanites. In a moment he’d located the nine leaders and Fenris and sent them a message with his nanites.
Once everyone was back in front of their monitors and Fenris had returned, Adam laid it all out for them. How he’d found the birthplace of their kind and the fact that he could open a portal in the center of each of their sanctuaries that led there using one of the technologies that he had access to. Additionally, he explained where the portals would lead and exactly who would be on the other side to keep the peace as well as help them get settled. Should anyone decide to start a fight they would have to deal with Adjra’s father.
It seemed that once Ajax’s name was mentioned the leaders all calmed down. Ajax was known to be neutral, fair, and incredibly powerful. Fenris promised there would be no issues for any of those who wanted the freedom that going home would give them. After Adam worked everything out with Fenris, he contacted Adjra and portaled her back to her home underground and set up a 10th portal for the metallic dragons to return to their ancestral home. That went over a lot easier when Ajax, a figure of legend, was easily seen through the portal resting off to one side talking with Queen Seraphina and a Blue Dragon, Zepher, another dragon of legend.
Adam only had to go back one time when Ajax summoned him so that the assembled dragons could all see who it was that had found a way for them to return home. It was also nice that The Ancient One vouched for him and that he was a direct family. Adam knew that would make dealing with the dragons a lot easier down the line.
Adam set 10 of the portals from his bunker to handle the portals that allowed the dragons to return home. It only took one day to get that all setup. The last thing he did before he returned to Adaline was head out into space and take a look at the Solar System Gemma was in. Overall, it was very similar to Earth’s solar system except that there was only one planet closer to the sun at roughly the same distance that Venus was from the sun. The star also looked to be a G-type, just like the sun, but without some investigation, he wouldn’t know for sure.
Investigation time it was then. Adam flew in close to the Sun and dropped off a lot of nanites as he made his way around the star a couple of times. He wanted the process of the solar wind being saturated and spreading the nanites on the solar wind to start a lot sooner. He also stopped by the larger of the two moons Gemma had and did the same. There he also instructed the nanites to recreate the base he’d created at Nu Draconis which would have more portal devices after he set up the power requirements for them. For now, he just wanted the nanites to create the structures and basic living quarters so he could move his family off Gemma and put them someplace that was a lot safer than where they were.
Adam returned to Adaline and spent time with his family and friends as they acclimated to the idea of being killed and reborn and then they all watched through his nanites on the monitors he had in the bunker as the dragons went through the portals. The next day they were surprised when a few dragons returned through the portals which had remained open all day and shared their experiences with everyone.
Adam also sent Desira and Clarence out to collect and bring back all the humanoids that were being hunted with his portals .. Those individuals were redirected into the underground area where the metallic dragons had been because they had all decided to leave. Adam made sure they had food water and beds so they could get rest and recover. As he could he teleported in to heal them and explain what had happened before leaving. He let them know they were all being watched and that if they needed anything all they had to do was call out with what they wanted.
All in all, it had been a very productive two, now, three days. The dragons were mostly home with only a few of the colored ones in each sanctuary not wanting to return home. The metallic dragons all followed Adjra home. Tomorrow was going to be fun. Tomorrow he was going to release the information packet and let the world know that dragons existed and that they had left to return home.
Sure some of the pricks who were worried about their businesses and money would be upset with him but he’d worry about that tomorrow. Right now he had family and friends to spend time with and go over his future plans. Number One on his list was to find his daughter. Number two was to find Thor and possibly Al and finally, he really wanted to go have a serious conversation with the asshole that had tried to shred his soul. He was kind of looking forward to that conversation because he had some ideas, now that the complexity of his soul had increased a millionfold.