Azgal entered his cavern with confident moves and dropped on a large mountain of gold coins. The dragon’s mouth was big enough to chew Fran and ten more like him in one go. His scales shone with black beauty in the cavern’s light. His red and black eyes reflected mountains of gold and dozens of unique treasures and magical artifacts.
Fran knew the dragon had seen him. He stood still, whether out of cautiousness or just because he’d lost control of his legs, he didn’t know.
The dragon knelt and stroked his reptilian head against the closest gold heap like a sleepy dog rubbing against a soft pillow. He relaxed his long neck and turned to Fran.
“You must be really scared right now.” Fran heard the voice directly in his mind. “Are you?”
“Yes, I’m very scared,” replied Fran.
“Good!” said the voice. “We’re off to a great start. I would have hated it if you tried to look tough. I mean, look at you, I could swallow you and I wouldn’t even be starting breakfast. But I won’t eat you. I never eat humans. Can you guess the reason?”
“Because eating intelligent creatures would be a form of cannibalism?”
“Wrong, but good answer anyway. Introduce yourself, young man. Have some manners.”
“My name is Dhenn and I, I just don’t know what to call you. What’s the right way to address you?”
“The monks call me Lord Protector. Others call me Azgal, Lord Azgal or the Great Azgal. You can call me by my name, but I must learn yours first.”
“My name is Dhenn, Lord Protector.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Fran felt his brow sting with sweat. He wiped it with his hand.
“You play with me, Lord Protector. My name is no secret to you because you can read my mind.”
“Mind-reading isn’t a talent available to dragons. Not that we miss it. What could I read in a human mind that I’d find interesting?”
Fran sensed that it was time to stop playing with the dragon’s patience. Better to just fold when you have a bad hand, like Alsu had said.
“My name is Fran. Francisco. But I don’t use it, I go by Dhenn.”
“Francisco. Nice to meet you, Fran. Welcome to my cave, where I receive tribute from the city that owes me everything. My name is Juan Antonio. And I don’t eat humans because I’m one myself.”
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Juan Antonio turned out to be a chatty dragon with a treasure trove of stories about everything from how it feels to fly the skies of Mela to the complex social dynamics of a dragon herd to the electric jolt he’d felt the first time he heard a Beatles song as a teenager in the late 60’s.
“It was a different time, right? I’m sure some things are better now, or at least more abundant. My grandchildren introduced me to a computer thing that has all the songs in the world. Videos. You just enter the title of the song and it has a hundred videos of it. It had all sorts of Beatles live recordings and demos I’d never heard. And I was a completist, you can believe it. I was a real fan. Remember that record store that specialized in expensive limited edition vinyls? It was close to the Gran Vía subway station. You’re from Madrid, right?”
“I am.”
“That’s the reason you’re here, Fran. The cube usually picks up on the worst scum you can imagine. That’s what I instructed the monks to create, a way to find the worst of the worst. I use it to free Mela from serial killers, rapists, sadists and psychopaths. They arrive at my city of their own free will, the morons. And they all believe I agreed to the creation of this little protectorate to protect people like them! Anyway, I asked Ninkurzi, the head monk, for the cube to include a secret feature: The box would notify me if someone close to me arrived. I mean close to my physical body on Earth.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“That cannot be right. My friends live in Madrid too and the box spared them.”
“That’s odd,” said Azgal.
“Juan Antonio, where are my friends?”
“They’re healing. You can be sure they won’t die before they return to Earth. I had to rush things quite a bit with you. I forced the the monks to perform a ritual that heals anything except death in minutes. It’s exceptionally risky, or so they say, but they’ll do anything I ask. And frankly, it wouldn’t be that difficult if they specialized in healing magic and not in whatever disgusting stuff they do in that cathedral of theirs.”
“Why associate with them, Juan Antonio? They’re as bad as the people you kill.”
“No, they’re not.”
“And this city you created just makes it easy for all those people to plan their next assault on the innocent people farming their fields and making olive oil. Azgadal doesn’t make Mela a better place.”
The dragon’s nostrils flared.
“Of course it does, don’t you get fresh with me! This is Mela you’re talking about, understand? It’s only your second visit and you think you know everything. But I shouldn’t be too harsh with you, I made mistakes too. I was so excited at the start. This place wasn’t just a dream or a world of adventure. Mela is life. Real life. That’s the reason I decided to put all my efforts into finding a way to stay here permanently. I’ll leave Earth to others. They can keep it. I’m a black dragon, for chrissakes.”
A chill wind flew into the cavern.
“You found a way to never go back? A lot of people would like to reproduce that trick. All the cozyheads in the New Alliance, to begin with. And probably Sancho, my necromancer friend.”
“I’d share it with you or with my old friends in the Alliance, but I can’t. I remember nothing of my last months on Earth. I can’t recall if it was a ritual or what, but it must have been… intense.”
“What about your body on Earth?”
“Good question,” replied the dragon.
‘You might die there. Or maybe your body actually died and this is all that’s left.”
“Sounds good to me. My grandsons will appreciate my condo by the sea in Benidorm, and the country house in the mountains outside El Escorial. They’re welcome to them. Life here is better than it was on Earth anyway.”
“The world might end in 51 weeks, Juan Antonio. Of course, nobody knows for sure, but it could happen.”
“Oh, I do know: Every human being on Earth will die. Earth itself will die.”
Fran was rendered speechless by the casual way that Azgal said those words. The dragon really didn’t care about his home world anymore. He’d removed himself from the fate of his family, his loved ones and his whole species.
“There must be something we can do.”
“There is: You can fight back if you’re powerful enough. Powerful in a Melan way because, when the time comes, the weapons of Earth will be useless. I’d pick the winning horse and side with Mela if I were you, but I can tell you won’t listen to the voice of reason. You think that Earth matters. You’re blind.”
“The New Alliance, they’re not my friends at all, but they are trying to find out what’s going on, and a solution too. You’re a member, right?”
“Kid, I was a founding member. It felt special when 9 of us met in the sacred meadow by the Ogdan monolith to talk openly about Earth and Mela. An Alliance was born indeed. I’m happy that Naoko and the others are doing fine, but I just don’t care for your world anymore.”
“Is that Naoko part of the Inner Ring?”
“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds dodgy, to be honest. We didn’t create a hierarchy at the time. Just an alliance. But that’s all in the past. Look, I’ve evolved beyond my wildest dreams. Now I have a city, a cult of adoring blood monks, guards running around, tribute from hundreds of merchants. Tell me, Fran, do you want it?”
Fran tried to avoid the obvious trick question, but the dragon wouldn’t let it go. Azgal spent the next hour trying to convince Fran to do him two favors, just two favors, two small favors, and he’d become Viceroy of Azgadal.
“I need someone I can trust out there. Someone from Earth like me. The monks, I cannot trust. They worship me sincerely, but they have their machinations too. Other Melans just don’t understand me, they consider me a dragon and believe that I think like a dragon. Dragons don’t mix with other creatures and burn intruders at the drop of a hat. The monks were brave to ask for my help, to be honest. So, are you up for it, Fran? I hope you are. You could use everything I have to help Earth. It’s better than money. I have ways to help you become more powerful than your rivals in the Alliance. You haven’t seen the magic of this land yet. It affects us dreamers a hundred times more than Melans. We’re special here. That’s the reason I didn’t just become any dragon. I’m the strongest dragon on the continent, and my treasure includes all sorts of unique magical items. I can help you unlock your potential.”
“Do I get to ride you?”
Azgal stood and moved his head closer to Fran.
“Fuck no, kid. I’m not your dog, understand? No one rides a dragon!”
Fran licked his lips and nodded as fast as possible.
“Of course, of course.”
“Good. Now listen. Two tasks, okay? The second one will have to wait until you return to Mela next week. The first one you can perform anytime, because it’s in what I used to call the real world. The sooner the better, but we should still discuss the second task now, for preparation: Dark forces surround Azgadal, eager to attack by surprise and steal my treasure. I’m talking about thousands of orcs, hiding in the vast forests around the city, ready to strike with speed and brutality. A battle is the only way through, and I want you to win that battle for me.”