“A Dragon’s Rider?” Aurelian asked with wide eyes as he looked up at Bael’tharax’s towering head. Surprise, shock, disbelief, and head-spinning levels of giddy joy burned through him with equal intensity while attempting to properly understand what was being asked. A Dragon Rider?! It was every nerd’s dream! “You want me to ride a—Me?” He asked in a stunned voice.
“You are the Reclaimer, Aurelian.” Tarixi said while air-walking closer to stand in his eyeline. “This is your privilege, and should you accept, shall become your greatest burden.”
“I thought Bael’tharax was the last dragon?” Aurelian responded while still trying to process his shock. The idea was of course something he wasn’t going to say no to. Just the idea of soaring through the skies on the back of Bael’tharax gave him a rush so giddy he wanted to giggle like a lunatic, but something within his mind stopped him. He was missing something. He could feel it.
“I AM THE LAST DRAGON THAT YET DRAWS BREATH, BUT AS TO WHETHER THAT REMAINS SO DEPENDS ON YOUR ACTIONS HERE AND NOW.”
Aurelian’s eyes widened with immediate realisation. “Eggs.” He breathed. “Dragon eggs!”
“You deduce things well, yes.” Tarixi said with a wry smile. “Though I will not ask how you knew. More wisdom from your mysterious place of origin, I would wager. In this case however, it helps us. Do you know what would be expected of you?”
“A bond of some sort, right?” He asked with a half-distracted mind, and visions of a little dragon dancing along his shoulder. The dreams of riding Bael’tharax across the sky might have been dashed, but there were other avenues of approach. Plus the phrasing implied he would eventually get a dragon to ride.
“CORRECT. A UNION OF HARMONY BETWEEN YOUR CORE AND THEIRS, YOUR SOULFORCE AND THEIRS, YOUR MIND AND THEIRS. TWO SOULS, TWO CORES, TWO MINDS, BUT ONE PURPOSE. UNTIL ONE OR THE OTHER PERISHES.”
“It would be a bond that enhances you both, and also offers great risk. When we gathered the eggs, it was assumed Bael’tharax would be able to ensure their survival in whatever world came after. He was still active in the war then, and when Justinian…” The Echo’s features fell for a moment, and she inhaled to steady herself despite not needing air. “With Bael’tharax’s time ticking down every second, we cannot rely on him to protect the new generation. He will not last long enough for such a task. You, however, are the Reclaimer. You are the Second Calamity. You… you could be their shepherd.”
“You want me to walk around with a bunch of dragons yipping around me?” He asked in a moment of incredulity.
Tarixi laughed at his reaction, and even Bael’tharax rumbled in amusement.
“No, Aurelian. That is not the case.” The Echo assured him. “The plan we conceived prior to my death was for the Reclaimer to select those they — or he, in this case — deemed worthy from among friends and allies. Those individuals would in turn bond to a dragon, and act as their partners and guardians until such time as the dragons could properly repopulate.”
“I don’t have friends and allies other than you two.”
“INDEED, THOUGH I DO NOT DOUBT SUCH WILL BE CORRECTED IN TIME. WE HAVE STRAYED FROM THE MATTER AT HAND, HOWEVER. RECLAIMER… DO YOU ACCEPT THE TASK BEFORE YOU? WILL YOU AID ME IN THIS LAST REQUEST, AND SEE THE PRIME MATERIAL’S GREAT PROTECTORS RETURNED TO ITS LANDS, SEAS, AND SKIES?”
Aurelian laughed despite the seriousness and graveness of the request. “Really, old man? Using your death as a means to convince me?” He said up to the dragon’s burning eye. Bael’tharax rumbled another laugh in response. “Well you needn’t have bothered! Of course I’ll do it. I’ve wanted to ride a dragon since I knew what dragons were, back where I came from! Well, they aren’t real there, but we have plenty of stories!”
Tarixi’s ghostly figure visibly slumped in relief at his words, and Aurelian turned to her when she gave him a tired smile. “I had feared that my earlier misstep might have soured you on this, Aurelian, and I confess to doubting you even had the desire for such an undertaking. One cannot be forced or pushed into this task, and Bael’tharax shouldn’t have woven in that piece of manipulation, though I cannot fault his earnest desire.”
Aurelian shook his head. “There’s no forcing about it. I’m being sincere. Nobody I know from my old world would say no to riding a dragon, though some of them definitely wouldn’t do it for the right reasons.”
“Which is why the bond is not one-sided.” Tarixi said with an agreeable nod. “We have offered you the chance, Aurelian, and you have Bael’tharax’s blessing… but a dragon chooses their rider. It has always been the final decision of the dragon, and it has allowed us to avoid almost any situation of malfeasance or corruption among the Ordo Draconis.”
“The Order of the Dragon?” He asked at a quick thought.
Philology is now Level 6!
“Correct.” Tarixi said approvingly. “There were always outliers, of course. Dragons are still susceptible to corruption, greed, and malice as any species is. It is primarily the Kings that ensured their species’ continued adherence to their ancient charge, and the Primes of each flight.”
“But now the King is dying and there are no Primes.” Aurelian said while his increased intellect worked at the problem. “Which also leads to other concerns, such as what happens if one of the new dragons is corrupted. Realistically if all other dragons are truly dead, then this new wave would be the Primes.” He reached up to idly run a hand through his long, silver hair. “So if I’m not really careful about who I pick—”
“—you could inadvertently unleash catastrophe.” Tarixi finished for him gravely. “It is why you must be absolutely certain of those you select.”
“Alright.” Aurelian said with a nod. “I understand. I really do. But… what if — and hear me out here — none of the eggs hatch for me?”
“THEN YOU SHALL BE THEIR CUSTODIAN, UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A WORTHY PARTY APPEARS TO TRY THEIR LUCK WITH EACH EGG.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Aurelian said wryly. “Okay. So. Protect the eggs, select people who don’t have an inclination toward being wankers, and don’t die. Seems… easy enough.” It did not in fact seem easy at all, but Aurelian wasn’t about to say no to saving what had to be the coolest species in any universe. Dragons were awesome. It was really that simple.
“What do I need to do?” He asked after the decision was firmly made, and looked between Bael’tharax and Tarixi.
Instead of responding immediately, the Echo turned up to Bael’tharax and then the world moved. Or rather, the dragon king moved and everything shook like the end of days as a result. His legs came under him and thousands of tons of muscle, scales, and flesh lifted from the ground with what Aurelian felt was the aid of magic. Even with the chamber hollowed out and excavated to the point it could have fit a town or small city, Bael’tharax’s wings brushed the stalactites above when he lifted himself to stand and moved his bottom half away from them both.
Aurelian watched in rapt fascination and awe as the ancient leviathan moved, and felt his heart rise up into his throat. The thought that such a creature, such a presence, whose very proximity was like a furnace of life, and power, and warmth could be snuffed out in the near future was… disturbing. Disheartening. Wrong. He felt tears burn behind his eyes and blinked them away as a sudden and staggering realisation of loss cut through him.
How vast and empty the world must have felt without such titans to roam it.
Instead of dwelling on the thought however, Aurelian turned to the purpose of the dragon’s movement as Bael’tharax settled himself down again. Only once the tremors and rattling from the dragon’s repositioning had died down, and he was certain that the old grump wouldn’t move again did Aurelian turn to where once had dwelt nothing but draconic bulk.
Instead there dwelled twenty-one eggs, arranged in haphazard order. Their colour was a uniform grey, with what looked like rock-like scales and upward-facing hook-like spikes grown from their exterior. The eggs were far larger than he’d imagined as well, with each one close to four feet high, and at least half as wide. He moved over toward them wordlessly, and lifted his gaze toward Bael’tharax as he did. “What do I do, gramps?”
Bael’tharax snorted with enough force to ripple through the cavern, and then tilted his colossal head toward Tarixi.
“Walk among the eggs, and reach out with your Soulforce. Feel their presence around you. Attune to them until one calls out to you. Find a harmonic connection, and hone in on that egg.”
Aurelian turned to the goblin as she spoke, and then nodded. It made sense if the dragon was the one to initiate the bond. He would likely create some sort of resonance or feedback loop with the method she suggested. He turned his eyes to the eggs, squared his shoulders, and then strode forward toward and between them. Aurelian slowed his gait when he was two egg rows deep and reached inside of himself, taking a hold of his esoteric Soulforce and… listening to it. Pushing it outward.
Unlike with his mana, the act was incredibly simple. It was as if his Soulforce wanted to expand away from him, and the moment he attempted it he found an immediate feeling of… rightness with his connection to the world.
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
You have met the requirements to unlock the skill Soul Sense (UC)!
Soulforce is the most intrinsic and fundamental aspect of any being in the Realms, no matter how virtuous or evil they may be. All creatures that exist within the grand design possess this energy, save for those from the Pits or Void Beyond. It is this energy that allows living creatures to connect, both with each other and the world, in a manner that transcends words. By extending your spiritual awareness and sensing the souls around you, you have taken your first step on the path to mastering this enigmatic and powerful energy of your own self.
Trust your feelings, Reclaimer!
“Huh,” Aurelian murmured while reading the prompt, “that’ll be useful when I meet actual people.” He put the alert out of his mind and instead focused on what he was doing. He pushed himself to feel, to taste, to know his Soulforce and the odd concerto that it sung back to him. Each note was an impression of nascent emotion. Each crescendo an echoing spark of awareness, sourced by a reacting soul. Each dip and rise was the lucent glow of a slumbering mind, shining to his soul’s senses like a beacon in the darkness.
With his eyes open and his soul bared, Aurelian moved among the eggs with slow and methodical steps. One foot moved behind the other, keeping pace with the different sounds of spiritual melody that assailed his spiritual ears. His gait was largely random while he searched for what he had no idea of, waiting for something to… pull at him or respond to him. It was a discordant ensemble of warring beats, each one a separate spirit and unique in their song.
Perhaps it was because it was dragons he was sensing, but every one seemed somehow alien and yet familiar. Undefinable in that they superseded all conception he had of the idea of normalcy, and yet startlingly comforting in that they elicited feelings of courage, or ferocity, or wrath, or determination, or desire, or fear, or any other number of things that resonated with the deepest core of who and what he was. They were no helpless infants, not in the manner of humans as he was used to.
Soul Sense is now Level 2!
These creatures were born with an adolescent mind, already developed within the safe care of the eggs they inhabited. There was another sound that filtered through them all as well, a lullaby of sorts that Aurelian picked up after enough time listening to the music of their spirits. It was an enchantment or weaving, something forged entirely of Soulforce; and which kept the creatures in a state of enforced and protected stasis within their eggs. They could last there for thousands of years, he knew, even without the stasis that had preserved them and their behemoth protector.
These dragons would not hatch until they found their proper partners.
It was a necessary act Aurelian realised, but one that nonetheless left him perturbed. It was an enforced denial of independent action, and though he understood and perhaps even saw the justification behind it; part of him rebelled at the very notion. He had allowed himself to be corralled, controlled, and directed like that once before. On Earth. He had already vowed it would not happen again, not in the Realms, not where he had the power to decide his fate.
I am the sovereign of my own destiny, System or no System. He resolved firmly.
Soul Sense is now Level 3!
An echo of connection rippled across his mind and a harmonious ripple — not unlike the strumming of a bass guitar — momentarily rendered all other songs to background noise. Aurelian turned on his heel as if compelled and moved toward where he had felt it. The direction. He considered his new life up until that moment as he did.
He had been called Reclaimer. He had been asked to become the Second Calamity. He had been requested to reclaim the Elysean Empire. He had been cajoled to stand up to the Godsworn, or whatever force has succeeded them in the new world of the Prime Material. He had been tasked with slaying the undead and whatever power animated them. These things he knew and accepted, and when looking them over; none of them he had a reason to find issue with.
He had always wanted to matter. To be a Hero. To be special.
Soul Sense is now Level 4!
Sure there were some that had that wish granted and hated it, but Aurelian refused to succumb to that trope. He detested it. There was an honour in the bequeathing of responsibility. Was it daunting? Absolutely. Was it a challenge? One hundred percent. Was it worth it? That he didn’t, wouldn’t, and in fact couldn’t know until far later along the path. Yet in that moment, if asked if he regretted the various twists and turns which had led him to the point of walking among dragon eggs and seeking a companion: he would have honestly answered in the negative.
He regretted nothing. He was done with regrets.
Aurelian had made choices along the way to where he was at that moment. Perhaps they had been necessitated by circumstance, but they were still his choices. They were his personal decisions. He had not let anyone else choose for him or send him on a mission based on their predictions or expectations for him. He had been given options, and he had chosen. The lack of reasonable alternatives did not preclude agency, it merely dissolved the burden of uncertainty. Did he wish he’d had more options? Perhaps.
But then again, he was going to be riding a fucking dragon.
Soul Sense is now Level 5!
The echo or resonance as he rationalised it occurred once more to his senses, and Aurelian pivoted to his right and approached a small clutch of eggs near the rear of the collective. His eyes searched over the uniform grey exterior of the eggs, and alighted finally on one that sat ever-so-slightly apart from the others. Another and more earnest clash of imagined cymbals pinged within the core of his Soulforce, and he moved toward the egg like a magnet to metal.
When he stood before it the music in his core built, and he could feel as much as ‘see’ the boiling storm of power at his interior centre begin to thunder and shake. Every part of him from his mind, to his core, to his very soul sensed something important in what was to happen. A feeling of trepidation mixed with excitement went through him, and he lifted his right hand. “Watch me Cass,” he whispered to the air. “I’m going to make our childhood dream come true.”
Soul Sense is now Level 6!
Aurelian placed his bare hand against the egg.
The music in his soul hit a deafening crescendo.
Light exploded out from under his hand, first a pure and radiant white, and then followed by a shaft of voidal darkness that seemed to puncture reality for but a moment… and then there was more. Red, blue, green, yellow… Too many shades and hues and colours to count erupted from the point of contact until the entire egg vibrated with energy, and was ensconced in a wave of prismatic energy.
Aurelian felt something tug at his consciousness. His essence. It was a slight and insistent pull on his very soul, and with an instinct he could not place he opened himself to the tether. The cave and its blazing egg vanished instantly, and instead Aurelian hovered in a place that was not. He was formless and yet had a perfect recall of himself, and before him hung something. It was vast beyond comprehension, so massive that it dwarfed Bael’tharax by several orders of magnitude.
Yet despite this there was no fear. No reservation. No hesitation.
Aurelian felt a peace and rightness wash over him that he could not articulate to anyone who asked. It was a completion of a missing peace, an end to loneliness he had never realised he had wallowed in. It was a melding, a symmetry, a perfect fusion of two halves into a greater and more powerful whole than could be comprehended by any mind in truth. Unbidden and without prompting, he heard his physical and spiritual self speak in tandem.
“My body, my spirit, my mind I cleave to thee,
Partner I never knew whose life is as my own,
I take you as mine, and give myself as yours,
One heart, one soul, one will, one purpose,
Until all is rendered unto dust and ash.”
The words echoed infinitely within the kaleidoscopic space he inhabited, resonating and repeating a thousand times a heartbeat as a second voice, sonorous and powerful, joined his own in assurance and affirmation. Streamers of energy twirled about him, and in their depths he saw a winged shape traversing the clouds, sundering the heavens, and casting low the vainglorious gods. He saw the rise and fall of an Empire, and knew that it could be his own. He heard the earth-shaking roar of a deific beast, and understood it to be sourced from his own soul.
A yearning came to him like an arrow of clarity, and Aurelian knew the answer it required. Had known it from the moment Bael’tharax had offered to him this soul-confirming opportunity. He laughed as he gave his reply. He wept as he felt its approval. It was the greatest moment of his existence. There were no words that could capture it, no intonations that could conceive of a means to elucidate the utter rapture of the experience. He was whole in a way he had never contemplated before.
He had found his soul-brother.
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
You have met the requirements to unlock the skill Spirit Bond: Dragon (M)!
There are things within the Realms that transcend all knowledge and understanding, and the act of Spirit Bonding remains among their number. In the days of eld, when such things were almost common among lesser creatures, still they were rare among the greater ones, and among the dragons the rarest known. By bonding to one of these beasts of old, thought extinct by the denizens of the Realms; you have transcended into a figure out of myth and legend.
Forget not the glory of this gift, Reclaimer!
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Hidden Conditions Met!
You have managed to bond with a dragon, an act not witnessed for thousands of years!
Achievement: Upon Wings of Might and Magic
For successfully achieving a rider’s bond with a dragon, you have received the following:
Title: Dragon Rider
Trait: Dragon Force
3 x Skill Upgrade Point
Aurelian’s awareness snapped back into his body and the egg beneath him shivered and cracked with lines of raw mana. Shell came away, followed by gelatinous membrane, and two wings tore free of their bindings. His eyes traced them as they did, and he noted the fullness of their design. There was strength there already. His eyes snapped down to the egg, and in a sudden eruption of power a sinuous, muscled body tore apart the remnants of its shielded gestation.
Eyes the colour of molten gold opened slowly, framed beneath a pair of front-facing horns lined in platinum. Runes the same precious hue adorned scaled flesh along the sides of a four foot long body, and a spined and brutally sharpened spear-tipped tail whipped through the air to dislodge the last dregs of the shattered egg. The spines along its back, the claws on its four feet; even the fangs in its maw… all were a brilliant platinum. The newborn dragon shook its body and flexed its wings, and when it rose to all fours to look at him in the eyes, Aurelian clocked its height just shy of his sternum.
Warmth radiated into his soul from an invisible bond tethered to the hatchling.
“Bahamut.” Aurelian greeted the dragon with a smile.
Aurelian. The dragon sent back, its voice a bass hum within his mind.
Aurelian turned toward Tarixi and Bael’tharax, and paused at what he saw: the goblin’s echo was openly grinning, with the biggest self-satisfied look on her face he’d ever seen. Bael’tharax however was unmoving, and his great golden eye was locked with such an intensity on Bahamut that Aurelian almost felt the need to take a step back.
“JUST WHEN I THINK YOU CANNOT SURPRISE ME AGAIN, RECLAIMER, YOU PROVE ME WRONG.” The massive dragon moved his head closer as he spoke, and his massive eye fixed directly on Aurelian’s two. Then slowly and deliberately, his mammoth jaws parted in what Aurelian could only call a smile. “THANK YOU, AURELIAN, FOR THIS MOST PRICELESS GIFT.”
“Aurelian, do you know what you have wrought?!” Tarixi interjected with a cackle like a bond villain. “Do you even comprehend what has occurred?”
“I bonded a dragon.” He responded with mounting confusion.
A wave of amusement came from Bahamut, and Aurelian glanced at him.
“Bonded a dragon…” Tarixi said with a snorting laugh. “Yes, Aurelian, but not just any dragon.” She pointed out Bahamut’s platinum runes, and then gestured in kind to Bael’tharax. “In your dazed state, you perhaps did not notice. You did not merely bond a dragon, Aurelian. You have bonded with Bael’tharax’s successor.”
Aurelian turned to stare at Bahamut at that revelation, and his eyes widened; the runes! How had he so easily failed to account for those? Had his mind truly been that overwhelmed? He felt like an idiot! Had he read such an oversight in a novel, he’d have called the protagonist a brainless dolt!
His thoughts abruptly cut off when something pinged off his senses, and the newborn dragon unleashed yet another wave of calm amusement. You see, Aurelian? I am quite special. You may feel free to bow at your leisure.
Bael’tharax’s thunderous laugh filled the cavern.
It did not stop for some time.