Zack returned to his cabin exhausted. The effort of staying alert, fighting creatures, dealing with people from Vinstra, and hiding his apparent ‘wizardness’ was overwhelming.

Zack decided he needed to eat some real food. Real food in this instance being comfort food. Then he needed to sleep as long as it took to get the weariness and fog out of his brain. Zack made some dinner and contemplated the last few days. He was not sure if going on adventures with the team was a good long term strategy. After dinner his eyes were so heavy he crashed into bed and was asleep instantly.

Zack woke up to the familiar sunlight in his eyes. He felt refreshed and relaxed for the first time in days! Lazily he worked his way out of bed. Took a shower and got dressed. I need coffee, he chuckled to himself, I would like all the coffee.

After some breakfast he decided to head up the mountain and process the events of the past few days with Paxton. In the distance Zack could hear a loud rhythmic sound from far away. Zack froze as he listened intently to the sounds.

What the heck is that noise? Is it getting closer? It sounds like a giant bird flapping its wings.

Zack ran to the window to catch a glimpse of the whatever was making the noise. It was definitely getting louder as it approached. Zack decided it would be a bad idea to go outside. The rhythmic sounds were so loud it shook the trees outside. What the hell could make this much noise and I can’t see it?

At that moment a shadow was cast over the house and surrounding area. Like a cloud passing in front of the sun. The sound ceased with a loud and earth-shaking thud that knocked Zack to the floor. Zack crawled to the couch and peered over the window.

Zack has never in his life shit is pants. In the past it has occurred him how does one find themselves in a situation that is so terrifying the next best thing he should do is shit their pants? In this moment he understood exactly how and why people shit their pants in fear.

Zack had to consciously and physically clench his abdomen to avoid vacating his bowels. As he looked out the window a giant deep purple dragon’s head with a golden main of spikes and steely silver eyes stared back at him through the window.

Zack jumped back behind the couch. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit, a motherfucking dragon…like a real live dragon, what do I do, what do I do, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!

Then he heard what seemed like the dragon version of a polite cough. Zack, trembling in fear, peeked over the couch. The dragon took several steps back from the house and looked right at him. With one claw on its huge hand, it beckoned him to come forward.

Like an idiot, Zack pointed at himself as if to say, me? The dragon cocked its head to the side as if to say, you are an idiot, who else would I be talking to?

Zack thought, I probably should not go out there. However, if this dragon wanted me for dinner, the cabin would not stop him.

With every part of his self-preservation instinct screaming at him, Zack slowly made his way to the front door. He slowly opened the door. The dragon moved even farther back. As Zack stepped out onto the porch he saw the dragon in its entirety.

The dragon had to be at least 70 feet long. It looked like a classic European version of a dragon. It had four powerful legs and a long torso. Giant leathery wings with a huge talon at the top joint. The head was as big as a large SUV. It had a mane of golden spikes from the top if its head down the back of its neck. Its coloring was sort of shimmering purple to black depending on the angle you were at. Some of its fangs were bigger than Zack is tall. Its eyes were glowing silver with red feline irises.

The dragon stood 100 feet from Zack next to the lake. As Zack stared at the dragon, it was looking in the lake. With impossible speed its hand shot into the lake and emerged with one of the deer eating fish and in one bite downed the fish. Zack stared in awe, as his fear subsided, he noticed his senses tingling. He felt magic emanate from the dragon. It seemed to be sending waves of calming energy at Zack.

After a few moments of silence Zack calmed enough to say, “Um hello Mr. Dragon.”

Zack internally winced at such a stupid way to greet a dragon.

The dragon took a deep breath and cleared its throat.

In a deep gravelly voice that sounded like a symphony the dragon said, “Greetings young master Tighe. My name is Salguod.”

Zack simply stared at him with a look of incomprehension on his face. He finally stuttered out, “hi”.

The dragon cocked his head to the side again and Zack got the distinct impression Salguod was worried about his wellbeing.

As if Salguod read his mind he said, “Are you all right young man?”

Zack snapped to attention and said, “oh yes, well I think so. You see, I have never met a dragon before. Actually, I didn’t think you, er, I mean dragons were real.”

Salguod laughed and said, “Real, how could we not be real?” As he said this he stood up and stretched his back and wings out to their fullest extent.

Zack stared in awe. He thought it was interesting that he didn’t feel terror anymore, he wondered if the dragon was influencing his mental state.

Zack said, “Where I come from there are just a myth or legend. Not real.”

Salguod smiled, or at least Zack hoped it was a smile, and said, “We are very real. The highest form of magical beings in existence. I guarantee we were real where you come from as well. Perhaps, we are not there anymore.”

Zack thought for a moment and replied, “Well you are clearly real and right in front of me. I must admit, you are impressive. The shear enormity of your body is ridiculous. Well not ridiculous, just hard to fathom.”

Salguod replied, “I am on the larger side for dragons.”

Zack finally focused on the moment, “May I ask why you are here?”

Salguod responded, “To meet you of course.”

Zack said, “I think I am flattered. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me.”

Zack thought, why do I feel so compelled to be polite and treat the dragon with such deference?

Salguod said again as if to read his mind. “For someone with no knowledge of dragons you seem to understand our etiquette fairly well. Did Paxton teach you how to converse with dragons? How did you learn our language?”

Zack responded and stopped halfway through the sentence. “You know Paxton? I don’t know your lang…”

Zack realized he was not speaking English. The noises coming from his mouth were deep and guttural. He was indeed speaking another language.

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Salguod again smiled, to be clear his smiles were full of gleaming teeth, and said, “Not only do you speak draconic, but you also speak it without an accent.”

Suddenly Salguod looked at him with suspicion? “How does an outworlder know draconic”

Zack put his hands up and said, “I don’t know. I didn’t even realize I was speaking draconic until you pointed it out.”

Salguod chuffed and brough his head back in body language that looked like disbelief, “That is not possible. No one just knows the draconic language.”

Suddenly as if an idea occurred to him, he stopped and looked deep in thought.

Finally, Salguod said, “What is that crazy wizard up to? I assume you have met Paxton?”

Zack nodded in affirmation.

Salguod continued, “What did he tell you about dragons?”

Zack thought for a moment, “Other than you all are real, he has not told me a thing.”

On a hunch Zack asked, “Did Paxton ask you to pay me a visit?”

Salguod nodded and said, “He called on me and asked me to meet you. I told him I was far too busy to waste time with a human. But he called in a favor I owed him. As you may not know, having a dragon owe you a favor is worth more than you can imagine. I realized he must be serious and have good reason for me to meet with you.”

Zack responded, “Why did he want you to meet me, and why didn’t he tell me about you?”

Salguod seemed almost affronted by Zack’s question. “I have no idea, if he had not called in a favor, I would say he is attempting a really bad practical joke.”

Zack looked confused, “Why would meeting me be a joke. That seems like a dick move to me.”

Salguod paused and asked, “what is a dick move? What is a dick and how does the way it moves matter?”

Zack stifled a giggle, “Oh sorry that is a saying from my world that means someone did something that is rude or not nice.”

Salguod replied, “Ah yes, then it would indeed be a moving dick thing to do.” Zack could not help but laugh.

Salguod ignored his laughing and said, “It would be a joke for him to have me meet someone who claims (he put his massive paws in the air to make air quotes) to naturally speak draconic. Only a wizard can naturally speak draconic, and wizards have been extinct for 5,000 years.

Zack face went white, and his knees gave out as he sat on the porch steps.

Salguod noticed Zack’s reaction to his words, “Come now, enough games, tell me how you know draconic. Is Paxton playing a trick?”

Zack mumbled out, “No trick, I don’t know how I know draconic. I do know that Paxton thinks I am a wizard.”

Zack wasn’t sure if a dragon’s face could go white, but it was Salguod’s turn to take a seat as his knees went wobbly.

Salguod looked deep into Zack’s eyes and said, “Tell me everything, where you came from, how you got here, can you use magic, I want to know everything.”

Feeling comfortable with Salguod and not having anything to lose, Zack relayed the whole story from beginning to end. It took the better part of two hours with all the questions Salguod had.

By this time, it was night and Zack had lit a fire to keep warm. Salguod had eaten many creatures from the lake as they talked. Zack was amazed at the transformation of Salguod in his eyes. When he met Salguod, all he felt was terror, now it seemed like they were old friends.

Zack asked, “How old are you?”

Salguod said, “5,327 years old. I was just a hatchling when the last wizard fell.”

Zack asked, “Why is the connection between wizards and dragons so strong? You said earlier that wizards are the only beings that just seem to know speak draconian.”

Salguod took a moment and said, “Dragons were in some ways created by wizards. Well maybe the better way to say it would be they were domesticated by wizards. Dragons are the apex magical creatures on any world. However, they are pulled to places and people with a significant amount of natural magic. They would draw magic from the wizards and in return provide protection and companionship. Over time Dragons evolved to true sentience. A self-aware thoughtful being with their own lives and goals.”

Zack whistled, “You all would be terrifying as thoughtless predators guided by instinct.”

Salguod gave a wicked smile, “Actually, were even more terrifying as sentient predators guided by intellect.”

That gave Zack chills down his back. Salguod let out a good-natured laugh, “It is a good thing we are not mindless predators acting on instinct.”

Zack gave a nervous smile, “Yes, it is very good.”

Salguod continued, “I am not sure if the evolution of dragons is related to the downfall of the wizards. When the dragons evolved, we realized that many of us were treated like cattle and forced to do terrible things for our wizard masters.”

Zack frowned, “That sounds awful!”

Salguod responded, “My parents and grandparents told me stories when I was a youngling. It was awful and often deadly for the dragons when wizards fought each other. No matter how good of a person the wizard was, the corruption of power always got to them in the end. ”

Zack asked, “How did dragons break free from the wizards?”

Salguod said, “It was Paxton. He helped educate the dragons and empower them. When the Order of Acolytes came for the wizards, we simply left them behind. Paxton convinced the Order of Acolytes to ignore us, and we ignored them.”

Zack said, “That must have been hard to turn on the wizards, or was it so well deserved that it was liberating?”

Salguod said, “According to my relatives it was almost universally seen as a liberating moment for dragons. We have lived in peace with humans and other sentient creatures since.”

Zack asked, “Have you been engaged with the System and its mages?”

Salguod responded, “Not really, the stories of death and destruction dragons caused on wizards’ behalf was not easily forgotten. We are not drawn to system magic. It doesn’t feel right. Every now and then a dragon or some crazy mage engages the other side and skirmish occurs. But for the most part those are isolated instances and we leave each other alone.”

Zack and Salguod sat in silence as the conversation seemed to wind down. Zack stood up ready to call it a night, Salguod cleared his throat.

“Zack, I think Paxton wanted us to meet. You are the first wizard in 5,000 years. I am not sure how the dragon community will respond to this development. We have been aware of Paxton and on rare occasions worked together on projects.”

Zack interjected, “Wait, of course.” Realizing that this will be a huge revalation for the dragons he asked, “how many dragons are there?”

Salguod answered, “Hard to know for sure, somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 dragons.”

Zack’s eyes got wider, “Wow that is a lot. I am glad Paxton introduced us. I am not sure I would like to stumble across some dragons while I am wizarding and have a misunderstanding.”

Salguod replied, “Exactly, I am going to visit the Dragon elders and discuss the matter with them and make a plan of action.”

Salguod frowned at Zack and said, “Wait, what is your plan. What are you going to do? Do you have a plan for world domination?”

Zack laughed, “World domination, um no. I can’t even dominate my cabin effectively. I just want to go home. Paxton thinks I was brought here by some rogue mages to balance out the corrupted mages. As I said earlier, he thinks the mages are on the same path as the corrupted wizards of old.”

Salguod leveled his gaze at Zack, “What do you want?”

Zack sighed, “Honestly, I just want to go home. I have used magic a couple of times protecting the people of Vinstra from the nobles and the queen. But I didn’t sign up to be a hero.”

Salguod gave a rueful laugh and said, “Zack, couple of things. First off, didn’t you literally proclaim Vinstra, and the surrounding territory was under your protection?”

Zack sheepishly smiled and said, “Well, there is that I guess.”

Salguod continued, "True heroes rarely choose their path. Their choice is what to do when the path is presented. It sounds like your path has been presented two times and you choose to be the hero both times.

Zack sat in silence contemplating his words.

Salguod continued, “Why do you think you chose to help those people when you could have easily walked away?”

Zack felt that inner rage ignite in him again, suddenly he found himself spilling his story, “When my dad was killed, I had the chance to try and save him. He told me to stay where I was. That having me dead was too big a price to pay. By the time I finally decided to act it was too late. I watched my dad and a group of people be horribly murdered. It ignited a rage in me that I have not been able to let go of.”

Zack didn’t notice Salguod back away from him.

Zack continued, “The people and my dad were helpless. Their killers took a perverse joy in the pain and death they inflicted. The few of us not killed were frozen and unable to move. We could only watch as they were slowly tortured and killed. Since that day, I have felt a deep-seated rage bubbling in me. When I see others being bullied, I react without thinking. I don’t just confront the bullies; I inflict the pain they caused back on them. He felt the familiar rage and the new addition of raw power course through his viens.

Zack looked up and saw the concern in Salguod’s face and noticed he moved away from Zack. Snapping out of the moment he asked, “What’s wrong, are you alright?”

Salguod looked at Zack and said, “I have read many accounts of my ancestors and their relationship with wizards. You just remined me of a passage I once read. It said that a dragon can sense how powerful a wizard is with a few simple tells. One of them was if the wizard glows purple, they are at their most powerful state. Meaning they are able to access the magic in its purest form, with the most powerful effects.”

Salguod motioned to Zack over to the water. Zack walked to the lake shore while looking confused at Salguod, “What?”

Salguod looked into the water. Zack did the same.

Zack gasped as he saw his reflection in the lake water, glowing a strong vibrant purple.