Within the span of a few minutes, the ground below vanished from sight. They were now flying above the clouds.

Trillia found it more difficult to get a full breath of air. Layla seemed to be struggling with a similar issue. The two held on to the dragon's wing as it slowly glided over the clouds. Trillia had no point of reference to see how far they had traveled. But the clouds under them were dark and heavy with rain.

The dragon descended and landed on something solid. With a word, a large crystalline structure appeared atop the cloud. The dragon dipped its wing down, and the two girls tentatively stepped off. The clouds under their feet felt solid. Trillia could feel the surge of mana under her, twisted and bottled, ready to explode at a moment's notice.

"Trexes! The twins are in a mortal port. Go and watch over them. Do not interfere unless they are about to lose their lives."

What looked like an orc-sized lizard stood on two legs before the dragon. Small silvery wings folded tightly on its back. It kneeled in front of Quetzalcoatl. "Yes, Master. Is there anything in particular I should be wary of or interfere with?"

Quetzalcoatl continued to walk past the creature as it spoke. "There is an amateur dragon hunter somewhere in the city. I do not believe she is there to attack the twins. I believe she is there on behalf of a deity. Do not attack her unless she attacks us. We don't need some immortal hunter poking its nose around our business."

The creature nodded and sunk through the floor and the clouds. The peel of thunder was near constant, and the crack of lightning caused both of them to jerk in response more than a few times.

"Uzixu, Tirva. Prepare a mana crystal and get ready to transform into your true dragon forms. Depending on this conversation, we may need to ferry the little acolyte and a crate to the dwarven lands. This is a good time to do some trading as well. Bring any fully mature storm crystals we've harvested and have been saving. Buy mithril and adamantine. See if any of the true dwarves are willing to travel to our land to forge for us and see what the cost of such a thing might be. We have a fairly large stock of dragon scales that we could entice them with."

Two more creatures appeared out of the clouds and disappeared just as quickly.

Quetzalcoatl finally turned and laid down. Its head rested on the ground, and it spread its wings high and wide. It seemed as though lightning was drawn to striking its wings.

The ground rumbled, and more of the crystalline structure revealed itself. Quetzalcoatl's eyes closed, and Trillia watched as thin strings of mana formed a physical body. One that looked like the other lizard people. This one was far taller and held the same color as Quetzalcoatl.

"Come! It is quieter inside. It will suit your delicate sensibilities better. I do not wish to scare you."

Layla and Trillia both shared a look at those words but followed all the same.

As they stepped inside, the sound was almost entirely removed. It was more the background of a low rumbling that was rather calming, considering what had just been outside.

The inside of the room was primarily formed out of crystal. Lightning crackled inside most of the pieces. Quetzalcoatl sat at a table and motioned to two other chairs. "I will start asking questions. Be as honest as you can be. If I am not satisfied, I kill you both and move on as if nothing had happened. Are we clear?"

Both nodded.

"Whom do you serve?" Quetzalcoatl motioned to Trillia first.

"I am Trillia Demonsbane, Avatar of Arlyss Ocrey Darktone. I am from the Demonsbane clan that is currently being run by my brother Tormash but was formed by my mother, Amara Demonsbane. I am also a fledgling acolyte in the service of Lady Ora'sys."

"I am Layla. Soon to be Cleric of Lady Ora'sys and pact-bound to Lord Arlyss. I am otherwise unimportant."

Trillia winced a bit at that. She felt Layla was far more important than she gave herself credit for.

The dragon twisted its head slightly, looking at the two of them. "Do you know why I descended from my palace and my rest?"

Both shook their heads.

"You dumped nearly a hundred million mana into a lightning affinity spell. Dragons are a conduit of mana that they are familiar with. Usually, if a spell of that caliber has been used, it is because an immortal has descended and is causing problems. Dragons understand that all other mortals are weak and fragile creatures, with few exceptions. So we intervene when an immortal descends."

"In other words. You thought my spell was an immortal and came down to kill me?"

The dragon nodded. "Instead, I found an orc. A child at that. It intrigues me that you're capable of putting out so much power at such a tender age. What is your purpose on the Central continent?"

"My patron, Lord Arlyss, cannot reach the central continent. Nor can his brother or many of the other deities. We are not sure why this is happening. I was sent here to set up a portal to try and circumvent whatever is stopping them. That's what is in the crate. A very small working model and blueprints to make the real thing. It was my mission to deliver the crate as well as power the portal itself."

"Arlyss... he is one of the cursed children, is he not? One of the three seals currently stopping greater deities and higher from interacting with Alirast?"

Trillia thought for a moment and nodded. "I believe that is all correct. I'm not sure what you mean by seals. But, to my very limited understanding, all of his children must ascend to deity status before the debuff is removed."

"A seal is just something that prevents an immortal or a deity from manifesting all or some of their power. Alirast itself is a seal on the core. Most realms are prisons of some kind. Alirast is no exception. Are your traits a product of your deity?"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Trillia so desperately wanted to ask questions of her own, but now wasn't the time. "Not all of them. When I was a child, I was kidnapped by a psionic behemoth. It ripped off my hand and put me in some crystal-like pod. I spent a great deal of time in there being warped into something else. I believe it was on behalf of Alirast."

"Would you ever raise your power against dragons?"

Trillia paused and stared at the creature. It didn't rush her or push her to answer immediately. She thought carefully about what to say. "If dragons were to ever threaten my family, my clan, or my patron. Yes. I would do everything in my power to turn them away or kill them."

The dragon's mouth curled up into a terrifying tooth-filled smile. "Good answer. What was your intent with the spell you cast?"

"I was projecting an aura that was preventing everyone from using mana. I knew that the crew and my friends couldn't win the fight. The only way to stop the aura was to drain my mana. So I targeted myself and the highest-level enemy I knew of and used the spell, hoping that I had left myself enough mana to not die. I didn't realize how dangerous people could be without mana."

"The system guides and helps. If you rely on it entirely, you will be far weaker than those that do not. A soldier can use skills such as heavy slash and parry to do something. Or they can learn to do those things on their own. With their own mind and muscle memory. Doing so will let them more fluidly use skills. If you survive, I'd strongly recommend you incorporate several hours of training into your daily regimen."

Trillia nodded. Again, she wanted to ask more questions but waited. After a few minutes, the dragon nodded. "You've been honest with me so far. I won't kill you. As for your servitude...we will negotiate that. For now. Rest, recover, and say goodbye to your friend. I will send extra mana crystals to ensure whatever portal is built can be filled with enough mana to fulfill your mission. I will also send a diplomat with the caravan to discuss things with your deity. A diplomat that is not a dragon."

Trillia opened her mouth to speak, but Quetzalcoatl was already walking away from the two of them. Trillia looked at Layla and slumped back in her chair. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

Layla shook her head. "It's ok. We are alive. I will make sure that Lord Arlyss' mission is completed. Just stay safe. I will let everyone know that you're ok. Plus, you have to admit, it's kind of cool to meet a dragon!"

Trillia forced a little smile. An hour later, someone came to pick Layla up, and Trillia was alone in the room. She realized that the room had one bed that was nearly perfect for her size. A bath, a table, and a bright orange crystal that gave off warmth. This was going to be where she served her sentence.

Quetzalcoatl let her sleep for six hours before knocking loudly on her door and waking her. The two once more sat at the table. "You have the ability to see into the aether, correct?"

Trillia nodded.

"I'm not sure if you are aware of this. But direct contact with the Aetherian realms is the cause of the mana-warped trait. However, if you bring unattuned mana crystals into the aether, it's possible to capture a unique kind of mana. That being raw mana, pure mana, or force mana. Depending on the language you are using. Dragons do not dare enter the Aetherian realms. If a dragon were to ever become mana-warped, it would be disastrous to the realm. Especially if it happened to an adult dragon such as myself."

"I don't know how to enter the aether. I can only see into it."

"I can teach you to use rift-based magic. It will let you realm walk into any realm that you can see. I will also educate you on the use of magic to return to a fixed point in this realm. So that you are never lost to another realm."

"That seems fair. May I ask why you want this unique mana?" She did her best to hide her excitement at rift-based mana and the ability to travel so freely.

The dragon nodded. "When dragons are born, they begin absorbing mana in the area. The more mana we have absorbed, the larger we grow. There is no limit to this, but once you have grown old enough to go past the age of adulthood, you ascend to become immortal and are no longer realm-bound. As a whelp, you learn to fight physically to defend yourself, but whelps are easily killed, so they are often protected. You do not grow into a juvenile until you have absorbed enough mana to obtain mana manipulation. You then shift into a dragon of that type. For instance, a whelp born in the belly of a volcano would quickly become a fire dragon or magma dragon, or something like that."

Trillia pulled out her journal and began writing things down. Quetzalcoatl paused to let her finish and get caught up. "Every time your age increases. Whelp to juvenile, to young adult, to adult, to ancient. Your body evolves with the mana you have absorbed. It is why I am considered a Storm dragon, not just a lightning dragon. A dragon's mana manipulation is akin to a deity's portfolio. Any mana that falls under a category I have mastery over, I can sense. To put the range into orcish terms. The range is several thousand miles."

Trillia paused at that. It wasn't far off from her own abilities. "You know whenever anyone is using those types of mana? Doesn't that get...annoying?"

"No. You get used to it. It's also good practice for becoming an immortal and later a deity. I've also set my system to ignore anything that is cast under five hundred thousand mana. Unless it is cast more than a hundred times in the span of a single second. This lets me ignore the fledgling wizards, mages, and dragons who are learning about their newfound power. It almost entirely alerts me to dungeons and immortals."

"I see. My assumption is you want the mana from the aether to evolve into a more powerful dragon when you become immortal?"

The dragon tilted its head and leaned back. "Sort of. That is a benefit, yes. But I want to research and develop a way for dragons to travel the aether. It will be a huge leap forward for Dragonkind. It may also help me study ways to reverse the mana-warped trait or combat it."

"May I ask you an unrelated question?"

As Quetzalcoatl nodded, she continued. "Why don't the dragons help fight the [Primordials]?"

"Why would we? They can't kill us. Our young sometimes rush down to get some battle experience. But more often, they just die to armies of mortals. We have no stake in the survival of the lesser mortals."

Trillia opened her mouth to speak but found no words escaped. After a moment, she closed her eyes and softly said. "Is every creature that is powerful so uncaring and cruel as dragons and deities?"

"Bold words when sitting across from such a creature. Tell me, why don't you exterminate all of the birds?"

Trillia's face twisted up in confusion.

"How about exterminating all spiders?"

"Why would I?"

"Do you know how many millions of insects die to birds and spiders every cycle? Why are lesser mortals so cruel and uncaring to the plight of the insects."

Trillia scoffed and couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it. "I guess that's a fair point. Dragons will never see orcs as equals. You don't care if we die by the millions. How terribly enlightening."

The dragon leaned forward and squeezed her shoulder gently. "It's not that we hate your kind. It's that the problems we face and deal with are so many more times important. The [Primordials] are here to keep the population low. We are not the kind of creatures to interfere with the balance of reality. Mortals must learn how to fend for themselves. It's all a plan. It all leads to creating powerful immortals. The weak are culled, and the strong survive. That is the ultimate truth of existence."

Trillia sighed and raised her hand to rub her eyes. Quetzalcoatl grabbed her hand and her other wrist. "This will be the first mistake we correct."

Trillia blinked as she looked down at her arms. "What?"

"I'll be moving Alirast's mana channel from your hand to your spine. It won't require you to be missing a limb that way, and if the mana feeds into your spine, it will spread more quickly to the rest of your body. I suppose this is what happens when you enlist a dog to do this sort of work."

Trillia blinked in even more confusion.