The rain, while unpleasant, was unseasonably warm. I pulled my waterproof hood up as the rain began to really come down. The gods wept about something far above in the heavens. I wondered if one of the demi gods they scattered throughout the world had passed. It had rained quite a lot when Shepherd had passed, a game and storm that trapped me on that island until it passed had raged when he returned to their embrace.

I shivered as water ran down the treated leathers of my travel clothes and I could feel what wool that peeked out was starting to soak up water with the deluge of raindrops. I felt my once strong mood wilt as I wrapped my arms around my torso and sighed to myself. The warmth caused me to start to sweat inside my clothes and I would soon be completely soaked. I hoped that my belongings would weather better than my outfit.

The hard packed earth of the trail didn’t become mud, the stones having been laid and the proper road had been built. These were far better than the once between the smaller towns. The footfalls of my boots were muffled. A sense of something else came over me, I tingling along my spine as some thread of fate brushed against me. A tingling of power flowing through the ether to fill my pool a little more. The faint whisper of a thousand conversations came into mind as I started to fill a ripple through the world.

My tale of knights and the stolen princess seemed to have flown through the many marks I had left around the small towns inside the inns and taverns I had been able to mark. The very voice of Gertrude from just a little bit ago floated in my ears as she began to tell the tale of Profitable. About my trials as I found a fledgling dragon. When I thought he would survive on his own because of his ability to bring prosperity to the people. I could hear Mary’s voice as she sang to children about a farmer freeing a beloved son. A man spoke of shifting sands and a sorceress Khalifa growing into power. A woman spoke of the ancient frozen times that tribes struggled to survive in. When monsters more openly wandered the earth. A dwarf in their rough language told the tale of the mighty dragon that had watched over them since the dawn of time.

An ancient crone spoke about when dragons first walked the earth. I could almost hear the gasps of children through her ears. Ancient coast bound people spoke of the mighty journey of great heroes tracking down magic unparalleled healing wool in their flowing language. I heard a shaken knight whispering a lullaby to himself. One that a stranger had soothed him through a night of terror with.

A dozen tavern songs I had weaved to tell poetic stories with filled my soul with a newfound boost of energy. Duke Ursal listening to his mother tell the same tale I had told them. About when I took human form and walked amongst those of the world for the first time. Trevor whispered a story to his lover that night. One that his mother had told him and her mother before that. Each last instance and feeling flowed into me like a stream into an ocean of power that I could call upon.

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Holding this mortal farm was like heat evaporating that same power slowly. The stories I told were the rains that fell back down. If I could tell these tales in my true form I would. I would fly from city to city and speak to the whole world that I would do anything to protect them. I would ask for other dragons to be found so that I may guide them to live amongst the people.

If it was in my power I would teach the nobles the values of patience and understanding. I would build trust with the elves that had so long ago been destroyed by Crafter in her ill earned rage. These were dreams I held so long ago in times only I remember clearly. My mind and memories never fogged. The old aches never healed. I was so tired, I felt so alone. The fleeting moments of bonding with mortals the only salve that filled me with purpose. As much as I hated the mortals for what they had done to my kind I cherished them far more.

As a whole people could be cruel, they could be unwise. They could be vicious. But as individuals there were always reasons behind such actions. To judge them for how they were molded would be to judge the gods themselves for building this beautiful world that life thrived upon. My mind wandered as I turned my head up and felt the rain on my face.

Soon I would be in the capital. I would have to rely on intrigue, manipulation, and social skills honed over a millenia. All the while I could feel a strange noose around my neck. I was hunted, a wizard capable of summoning demons walked the lands, and above all that I could feel a calamity coming. I would be forced to take my true form then. To use every last ounce of my knowledge and power over thousands of lifetimes. I needed to be safe to do that.

Once I was sure that Profitable still lived or had died so long ago I would turn my attention to Blood Hunt. Though that could be so long from now. I knew they were hunting after me. The assassin’s story had made it clear he brought a team with him of the most skilled of their warriors.

Time was ticking and I needed to work as hard as I could to survive and save this world. I would serve the gods even when some of them were unknown now. Some had new names over the times that had changed.

I hope that whoever has read my tale will stay with me. That them knowing my plight may earn me a sliver more of power that I would use to save them from what was to come.

Thank you, I hope you find the next tome I have transcribed.

Weaver of Tales

I set down the quill that I had been using the past months to transcribe my memories. I blew on the ink to dry it and smiled down at it. I stroked the leather spine of the book that had stamped upon it “Oh Ye Traveling Bard.” I handed it to the scribes I had hired with a great fortune I had owned and asked that the dozen men I had hired would transcribe copies and spread them through the lands into the libraries of every noble that would read it. The men started to scribble more as one of them slowly read it aloud to his comrades. Their trickle of power as they learned my tale tickled at my senses. It was time for me to return to the lands and walk the earth once more. I pulled on my coat, the bottom of it draped below my knees. I straightened the cuffs on my arms and took a deep breath. I had someone to meet. Someone very important.