I need a plan. The king really fucked me. I was just getting into the tyrannical dragon role then he drops an entire city into my lap. He’s giving me what I wanted when I first got here. A city to call my own where I can impose modern morals onto medieval people. This is obviously a ploy to placate me while he gathers a larger army to defeat me. I must be wary of betrayal, but I can’t do nothing. There is a town full of people who need me to guide them. Guide them with an iron claw into a glorious golden age. How do I do that? How do you speed run a century of progression in just a few months? And how do I do it in a way that doesn’t cause riots?
“I’m buying slaves.” I tell the baron. He has built two places for me to land when I wish to visit the city. I sit on a large wooden stage outside of his house. This must have been a large work public works project. He is acting as my subordinate. The old laws are still in place for the sake of public order. One change a month should be a slow enough transition that the people will be placated.
“How many my lord?”
“All of them that can speak or their species has the capability of speech. One gold each.”
“But I thought you detested slavery?”
“I plan to free them once I receive them. Bring them to the border. There they will be given jobs, housing, everything they could need.”
The baron nods. I must prepare for the inevitable invasion. Building defenses takes manpower. The houses are easy. I can create houses from dirt. “As for domestic labor. In your city. I need to mobilize the downtrodden. A grand public works project will do just the trick. An aqueduct will keep them busy. Thieves are only people who require a job.” It is an idealist belief. There will always be people who steal for the fun of it. “The prisoners too. Non violent crimes, they should be contracted to work on it as well.”
“What if they commit crimes while working?”
“Execute them. Obviously. Same goes for any thieves that only steal for personal gain. How are your courts run? Are they fair? They may need an overhaul.”
“Overhauling the courts will displease the nobles.”
I forgot about them. “They are fools. There are no nobles anymore. Tell them such.” The baron looks worried. “They have their own personal armies, sir.”
“Then message me if any get out of line.” This is going to be a topsy turvy French revolution. “As for the people. I need them endeared to me. What problems does this city have?”
The baron looks worried again. Like he doesn’t know what to say. “Speak freely.”
“The biggest problem is the anxiety about being ruled by a dragon. Perhaps a public appearance would benefit you?”
I nod. Perhaps it would.
I arrive back at my cave only to find another dragon sitting where I normally sit. My kobolds have rolled their ballistas into the cave and have them pointed at the smaller dragon with scales of bronze. They stare at eachother waiting for the other party to attack first. I land in between him and my kobolds. I stand to my full height and open my wings. My large body eclipses his. He is small for a dragon. Only half my size. I focus my killing intent, but killing intent isn’t a real thing so it does no damage. He smiles at me. “My what a big scary dragon.” He muses running a claw down my chest in a playful manner.
“What are you doing here? You have frightened my kobolds.”
He laughs like a pixie. “What do you care if I frighten your underlings?” He doesn’t seem hostile, just playful. I bring my wings to my side and lean in closer to him. “Listen they got some PTSD with dragons, plus they don’t know you. How would you feel if a stranger just showed up in your home?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
He shrugs “Adventurers do that all the time. Traversing vasts deserts to visit my cave only to make a contract with me.”
“Why are you here?” I wish he would just answer that question.
“Contractual obligation.” His smile is taunting. It’s too playful for this situation. His aspect is more genie than a dragon.
“What does that mean?”
“I was contracted to slay an evil dragon.” I watch his movements, waiting for his attack, but he just lays his head in his claws. “But I’m having trouble finding one.” He laughs like a hyena. “They gave me this location, but there are no evil dragons around here. Just you, but no evil dragon would put the lives of his subordinates on such a pedestal. Not even I, one of the so called good dragons, would treat my kobolds like they are above me.” He giggles.
A large shadow blocks the light from the top of the cave. We both look up. A massive green dragon is circling around the cave. “He with you?” The bronze dragon asks me. I shake my head. “Must be my mark then.” He winks at me then vanishes. I fly up out of the cave. The bronze dragon is still in the same sitting position, but on the mountain side. The green dragon has landed in front of him. “Did you kill my son?” The bronze dragon shakes his head. Then points to me. The mature green dragon’s eyes go wide. “Did you kill my son?” He asks me in a shout. I inspect him before I speak.
[Name: Verdous. Race:Brutal green dragon Level: 200/400
Skills: Breath attack(major).]
It’s another shut in dragon like Verde. His only skill is what he was born with. His level is below even mine. “Do green dragons never leave their caves?” I ask him. The bronze dragon laughs. “It’s a sign of dishonor to do work in their society.” That would explain a lot. They are like nobles, coasting by on their birth, never working hard. “Was your son’s name Verde?” I ask, the Brutal green dragon lunges for me. I fly upwards to dodge him, but he adjusts his angle with his wings. His bite collides with the scales in my chest. His teeth barely get past my rib cage. He has his head preoccupied with ripping flesh from my chest. The rest of his body is lower than me. Easily attacked. I Grab his wings with my claws. The bones holding the wings are always so grossly thin when compared to the rest of the dragon’s body. They are as easily broken as a bird’s wing. I snap both his wings. He recoils. Allowing me enough time to get his teeth out of my chest. I fly up again. This time he has no way of following me.
“Fireball.” I send a blast of fire down on him. His scales absorb the hit. He does not seem phased by it. I’ll have to up my game. I keep my mouth closed while I channel my fire breath.
He opens his mouth, channeling his fire breath. Why do dragons do that? It’s like announcing that you’re about to breath fire. I launch my breath first. It lands into his open mouth. The black fire dances. The pain causes him to cancel his own fire attack and focus on putting the fire out, but it doesn’t go out. It just keeps burning. Anywhere that my fire touches will burn forever until water magic is used on it. He has no means of putting it out. This battle is won.
The pain must be imaginable for him. He frantically looks around for a water source. He spies the river. He runs towards it. Halfway through the explosions start. Large explosions from under the ground. With each step he sets off at least three. I don’t recall giving the kobolds land mines, but here we are. Watching a brutal green dragon be slowly exploded to death as he runs towards the only source of water in his line of sight.
He reaches the watter and plunges his head in. I fly up behind him. From above I can see the black flames dancing even underwater. I fly in close and land a bite on his neck. His throat makes a sound like a balloon deflating. I have punctured his trachea. He gasps for breath while underwater. Sucking in water, the water begins to flow out of the bite on his neck. I fly up again.
How long does it take for a dragon’s body to run out of oxygen? I’m not sure. I wasn’t paying attention. I healed myself then flew to the spots where my breath had fallen onto the ground. “Create water.” The water fell on top the black fire, with a splash the black fire was extinguished. When I returned the dragon was motionless. My black fire still burning on his face. I checked his pulse, after confirming that he was dead I extinguished the flames on him as well.
A clapping came from behind me. “Bravo Bravo. Very good.” The bronze dragon had teleported behind me again. He laid in on the rocks by the river. “That could of been the evil dragon, but killing one's own kind is something that an evil dragon would also do.” He holds up his arms in a shrug. “What do you want?”
“Just having fun, it’s a shame. Without a dragon all the dragonesses and kobolds in his nest will be enslaved by the next strongest dragon to come around.” Why is he saying that?
“There are kobolds in trouble? Did you send him here so I would kill him? Are you going to move in?”
“Me, no? Just thinking out loud, but his nest is only on the other side of the city. I could show you where it is.”
I sigh, this smells like a trap, not a physical one, but a mental game of his. I take the bait anyways.
“One second first.”