Tilly shot a glance over at Hiro, trying to gauge if he understood anything about that answer. The only thing he could recognize was the reference to the Contested Lands, everything else might as well have been in another language. But, of course, Tilly was unable to read anything on the Guardian’s stony face, who simply held the dragon’s gaze with his crystalline eyes.

Without even thinking about it, Tilly let out an explosive sigh, “Why doesn’t anyone answer direct questions on this plane? Look, Brokenridge, why do you keep calling us your Hoard, and what do you mean by ‘giving you strength’? What do you want from us? Because we aren’t just going to follow you somewhere and fight in some dragon conflict.”

Brokenridge shifted his front legs to focus back on Tilly. His snout twitched almost imperceptibly as he felt the continued bite of the axe head in his chest. Despite the obvious pain, his gaze fell back on Tilly, as if he was trying to unravel a particularly interesting riddle.

Finally, he answered with something less opaque, “It is not a question of you following me. Your strength is my own as long as you remain within the boundaries of my Domain. The Fatewatcher’s gift changed everything about how the binding is set. I have given up the ability to absorb your worth permanently, but in exchange, the size of my Domain and the spectrum of things I can bind with has increased tenfold. I do not yet know what has augmented my breath attack, but I assume it is an artifact of unsurpassed power to be able to affect my form at such a fundamental level.” He explained in a slow voice, almost as much to himself as to them. As he spoke, Tilly realized that this creature was incapable of anything that even hinted at submission. Especially to those it thought lesser. Even the concession of giving an explanation was more due to a grudging acknowledgment of Tilly’s prowess than any sort of willingness to compromise…

Its nature seemed obsessed with dominance, and since they would never be able to dominate it, the best they could hope for was some sort of mutually beneficial symbiosis.

“So the more valuable the treasure in your Hoard is, the more powerful you become?”

“It is known.” The dragon responded,

Just then a huffing Shuji turned the corner of the rock walls of the quarry and gasped. Well, he had already been gasping, but this sound he made upon seeing the three-story creature built from muscle and scales was significantly higher than the noises before it.

“Uuuah! ... So it is true!”

“Shuji, you may leave us at once.” Hiro quickly ordered, still not sure where this conversation would end and not wanting to risk any more people than they had to.

“Ah, yes, Lord. Normally I would, but there is something you must know.” He stuttered as Brokenridge turned to consider the new addition to the group.

“Something has changed in the Crystal Chamber. A smoldering magical script that I have never seen rose up from the stone itself and wrapped around the chamber. When it happened, I was studying the new requirements for Faction advancement, and then the mountain started to shake. I must say the journey down was quite… perilous.”

“Yes, Snack. You are correct. The Scorch that would normally enclose my Soul-Bound Hoard was changed in anticipation of one of these new Crystals Epochs ago. The boundaries of this Crystal’s influence are now my own.” The dragon said, pulling in a long breath through its nostrils and closing its eyes in focus, “I am not displeased with what you have here, I can taste the beginnings of power, but it is not nearly enough. Long tooth has sat his perch for far too many millennia, and with the change I feel coming in the Land, the time of challenge is upon us. I will plunder nearby powers and return with their greater strength. Then we will set off to conquer my Birth-right”

Tilly was about to follow up with another question when Shuji gasped again, this time even more dramatically, if that was possible. He fell to his knees as he took in the drying slag that covered the ground of the quarry and the walls of the dragon's passage.

“It can’t be… But of course… How else?” He said, carefully picking up a still-hot piece of stone, now resembling something close to obsidian. He gingerly handled it within multiple layers of his robes and took in the still-glowing heart of flowing crystal, frozen in its strange shape by its exposure to the cool air around it.

“Oh, what is it now scholar?” Erash huffed keeping her eyes warily on the much more important threat, and quickly growing tired of the lapin’s dramatics.

“Dragon Glass,” he whispered in reply.

Erash froze in place, almost like a piece of glass herself, as her eyes once again scanned the ground before looking back up at the dragon, who at this point was oozing smug indifference.

“My father owns a Dragon Glass sword, and it is one of our chief treasures, you can’t be saying this is all the same material…”

Then with an irritated huff of smoke, the dragon intervened, “Yes, yes. I have seen some of your kind scurrying behind in the wake of our power and collecting such things, but it is simply a poor byproduct of my might. Now, it is time for me to be off, there is some strength here, but you will need to grow much richer if you are to be of any use to me.” The dragon answered in a bored-sounding voice, hunching down as if to leap before once again twitching his lips in a snarl at the weapon still lodged in his chest.

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Tilly waited in astonishment as he realized that the dragon was too proud to ask again, and would literally leave it in his chest to prove he wasn't bothered by it. Teeth bared, Brokenridge repositioned his claws, putting the majority of his weight on his hind legs.

“Wait!” Tilly called, an idea forming as he belatedly registered that the nearest target in the dragon's mind would probably be the Sanguine Order…

“Let me remove that from you, mighty Brokenridge.”

The dragon’s studied indifference melted away, and another one of those predatory smiles cut across his elongated jaws, “Very well, Little two legs. If you insist, it is in your best interest after all.”

“It’s Tilly, not two legs, and I wish to make an agreement with you first. One that will multiply the strength of your Hoard.”

“And grow its riches!” Shuji added, looking up with a feverish glint in his eyes.

Brokenridge eyed the small group in front of him, and the paltry, but not insignificant potential power they represented to him, “State your terms, little… Tilly. But do not think you have me at some sort of disadvantage. This,” He said, waving a claw at the tiny-looking hatchet in his chest, “Is a pittance, barely a bother. I am still perfectly willing to destroy all of you if I see any advantage in doing so.” He finished, eyeing Tilly with such intensity that Tilly could almost feel those sharp teeth closing on his neck.

Suppressing a shudder, he answered loudly, trying to shape out his argument in a way that would make sense to the predator, “You want to strengthen your Hoard. This aligns with our goals perfectly, we also must grow stronger to survive. But some of the neighboring factions have allied with us, and if you attack them, you will diminish our power in any upcoming conflict.”

“You are incorrect, I will pillage what is of value, and then they will come here and submit to me as their new ruler. Their tribute will increase the value of this place significantly.” The dragon answered back, not at all interested in the petty agreements of his lessers.

“My lord Brokenridge, am I correct in assuming you slumbered through the last several epochs?” Shuji broke in, sensing the weakness of Tilly’s argument in the eyes of a creature with a vastly different outlook on the plane.

The dragon looked askance at the corpulent lapin, “What care do I have at the minute changes to the world my kind still rules?”

“None! It is but a small thing!” Shuji declared, bowing repeatedly. Tilly had seen him adopt this sniveling behavior before and was not shocked to note that it seemed to work perfectly in redirecting the dragon's attention.

“It is just that the last Epoch was aptly referred to as the era of Mercantile Domination. Along with it, came the establishment of two plane-wide institutions. The Guild of Commerce and the Auction House.”

“And what, Snack? You seem to be wasting my time, and from what I smell of you, I could eat you and it would be no great loss to my Hoard."

Shuji straightened from his bow, something like a smug smile pulling at the corner of his mouth, “These two institutions have made plane-wide trade possible. With your… By-products and certain other magical discoveries we have recently made, we will soon be able to bring in vast wealth. War comes again to Nephesh and we seem to be in a position to supply essential arms to one side in exchange for… tribute to your Hoard.”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed at Shuji’s explanation, obviously not enjoying the idea that he did not already know something significant, “How can that possibly be better than plunder?” he snarled.

“My lord, your might is unquestioned, and your power is awesome, but you can only plunder one place at a time. If you allow us a window to prepare, we will have powers from around the plane clamoring to offer us tribute in exchange for this.” He declared, lifting the now cool, but still glowing chunk of melted stone in his hand.

“Very well, you may do so… while I go out and plunder.” The dragon concluded, rocking back on his rear legs and preparing to launch.

“Wait!” Tilly called, finally understanding the implications of Shuji’s argument, “It will be a waste of your time to plunder nearby allies because they will… plunder themselves to trade for what we have. If we had enemies nearby, you could plunder them, but we have recently defeated our greatest threat, and they are scattered. Now, I am going to remove my weapon from your chest, are you ready?" Tilly followed up quickly, hoping to distract Brokenridge enough to pull him off this whole ‘plunder’ obsession.

The dragon tossed its head unconcerned, “Do as you wish human, such a small th- AAARRRGG!” he roared surprised as Tilly recalled the hatchet. To the shock of everyone present, including the dragon, a geyser of blood exploded out along with the absence of the weapon. Tilly who was still the only one standing a few yards in front of the wound found himself suddenly soaked in dragon’s blood, which, as it turns out, burns terribly.

“AHHH!” He screamed, his voice joining the dragon in surprised pain.

The dragon whipped its head down and blew out a river of flame over his wound, stanching it closed, and at the same time, bathing Tilly in fire once again. The whole group dodged away from the sudden melee and the floor of the quarry was once again flooded with blue fire. Erash leaped onto one of the high walls surrounding the mining operation, her staff already stretched forth to bathe Tilly in healing magic. All the while, she kept her eyes on the dragon to make sure its focus stayed wholly on Tilly and itself.

Tilly for his part, managed to cover his face with his arms just before the blood hit him. Every piece of exposed skin began to boil and the dragon did not help anything by quickly following up with another face full of blue flame. The seconds before Erash’s magic took effect seemed to last hours even as the flame rendered the blood’s caustic heat inert.

Tilly felt the burns all over his hands, head, and neck begin to heal, and he lowered his arms, eyeing the dragon in front of him in fury. His armor and weapons began absorbing the Mythic substance even before Erash’s healing washed over Tilly and his notification icon began blinking excitedly, not that he paid it much attention as he took a few threatening steps toward the giant lizard.

“What the Hell!” Tilly shouted up at the dragon, brandishing one of his axes like he was about to throw it again.

The dragon, for just a split second, almost looked chagrined, before laying on a snarl of its own and bringing its head back level with the furious two legs who had clearly forgotten its place.