That same day…

Flying did little to ease the fatigue of a restless night. There was little that could. That wasn’t what Kinsoriel needed right now though. He could get through today well enough, but the issue was appearances. If he was to portray himself as a leader, appearing tired and weakened would be a no-go. With that in mind, Kinsoriel kept flying till he saw the turbulent waters beneath him. Taking a deep breath, he flew closer and closer until finally lowering his head.

One solid second beneath the chilling waves was enough to wipe the weariness away. Coming back out of it was like he had awakened for a second time today. It was a good thing he did because he needed to avoid a spire of rock that he hadn’t noticed before. Flapping his wings hurriedly, Kinsoriel wouldn’t come to a complete stop in time and he knew this. Thinking fast, he stuck out his claws as he approached. Sinking into the rock as a stepping stone rather than as a wall was far more preferable. Now with the aid of a solid surface, he kicked off of the rock and flew back to the glade, eager to put this embarrassing moment behind him ASAP.

Before he did anything else, he needed to get the rest of his kind on board with the plan. Wex had given him clear instructions on how to construct his altar during their first meeting. It was to be an open-roofed building surrounded by these special trees. Embellishments and fineries were not considered essential to the initial construction, so whatever they used to make it would be fine. They were on a time crunch since the equinox was a little under a month away. It needed to be done before then.

Spotting a group of about four that were sharing a meal, Kinsoriel hovered down as gracefully as he could. All of them bowed their heads at his entrance.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, oh champion of the divine?”

“Today we begin the work our lord has for us. I want you all to gather our kin and tell them to convene at the glade on the highest outcropping, the one over there.” He pointed toward the site.

“As you wish.“

It felt good to be shown the proper amount of respect. At least they understood the significance of his title, unlike a certain deathbound. Once they finished the last of their meal, the quartet took off into the sky.

Kinsoriel did the same, heading towards the rendezvous instead. It was a great clearing indeed. Done right, Kinsoriel estimated that this altar would be able to hold all members of their nation. Even the diminutive ones he’d rather have nothing to do with.

One by one, the other dragons started arriving. Good. They would need all of their numbers to make this work.

“Greetings fellow scholars of our people. Where you stand right now is the consecrated ground of the future.” He slowly motioned around the area. “It is here that we shall erect a glorious temple.”

“Would you mind getting around to how we’ll do it?”

“Yeah, how do you expect us to build something like this without any direction?”

It wasn’t a surprise when Kinsoriel saw who those voices belonged to. That argumentative one with the scar and his cohort were leering, their egos apparently bruised. They had a lot of nerve to act like this in front of all their peers. This was not the place nor the time for debates.

“Yes, I’ll be getting to that shortly. Don’t interrupt me again.” They backed off once again, but he’d keep his eye on them. Insubordination wouldn’t be tolerated. “Now, as I was saying, this spot was chosen by the master of dreams himself. When we build this altar to his specifications, it will allow us to do a ritual that will empower him. And through his power, we too shall rise.”

Satisfied muttering spread throughout the crowd. All except for the two critics. He raised two hands to the air, deciding to jump into it now and not allow them a chance to whine any further. “I will now show you the first step in its creation!”

Closing his eyes, he brought himself back to that dream. He’d been given much that night. Plans for the altar, the boon of limitless mana, and most importantly, spells tailored to fast-track the construction as quickly as possible. One of which would guarantee this building’s legacy for centuries to come. Thinking of the flow of time and resisting it, Kinsoriel felt a bundle of delicate strings appear in his hands. “Zone Everlasting,” he said for all to hear before letting the strings of mana fall to the ground.

Inching along like worms, the strings soon penetrated the ground. Despite the opacity of the dirt and grass, all were able to see them zipping along the glade in golden streaks. Some even thought to jump out of the way when they went underneath them. Once they had touched the entirety of the glade, they seemingly died down.

Scoffing, one of the troublemakers piped up sarcastically, “Wow, some spell that was!”

“Champion Kinsoriel,” one of the more optimistic in the group asked, “what exactly did that do?

“Let me show you. Pocket,” he said, taking out a large piece of rubble that once belonged to his tower. What he had first thought would be a sad reminder would now have a better existence. The rubble would be the first part of this holy place. Putting it onto the ground, the golden strings reappeared, wrapping around and being absorbed into it.

“This spell will inhabit any inanimate object within this area. It will stave off the effects of time like that of a dragon.”

“It’ll wear off eventually! Enchantments and the like aren’t perpetual!”

The naysayers would have a point any other time. This was technically enchanting the land and enchantments could only last one hundred years in the best-case scenarios. But, they forgot one thing.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Thanks to Wex’s boon, this enchantment will always be supplied with mana.”

A gasp was drawn out of the audience, all of them keenly aware of what that meant. “Yes, it and anything built here will last forever!”

Excited clapping made for a nice end to the demonstration. If that pair had anything else they’d like to complain about, they knew to keep it to themselves for now. Nobody would give them the time of day after this.

“I have one more spell to show, but it needs to be performed at night. Until then,” he added while pointing to the sky, “find whatever building materials you can! Try not to take them from our land if possible. When the sun begins to set, come back to me here!”

All of them did as he commanded, including those who had a bone to pick with him. Once they were out of sight, Kinsoriel let himself relax, sitting back on his haunches with a thud. Appearing fully awake was ironically very tiring. At least now he had a bit of time for a nap. Closing his eyes, he embraced the darkness eagerly.

.

..

…

“Going to sleep a bit early, don’t you think?”

Nearly falling over, Kinsoriel scowled as he saw his student’s grinning face.

“Didn’t I tell you to handle your people? What are you doing here?”

He looked around and noticed that the sky had already darkened. The others would surely be coming back soon.

“Yeah, and I’ve been doing just that. You were snoring by the way.”

That last comment stunned him. He didn’t sense any lies from him, but did he really snore? Shaking himself out of that distracting thought, he got back to the main issue

“Why are you here then? No matter how I view you, other dragons will only see you as another deathbound.”

The grin disappeared from the little author’s face. “I’m trying to get the city that you wanted off the ground. It’s not going to happen without some help from a couple of your scaly friends.”

“None of them are what I would consider friends.” Holding a hand to his chin, he realized what Benjamin had just said. “How are you planning to do that?”

Asking this returned the smile. “Would you like to see?” Giving the go-ahead with a nod, his student put a finger up. “Pocket,” he said as he cast the spell. Reaching into the personal storage, he pulled out a man’s armful of scrolls and journals. As he placed them onto Kinsoriel’s waiting hands, a harsh voice called from above.

“What is this?” Landing before him with a forceful gust was the scarred dragon. He had to close his hand around the documents to make sure they didn’t get blown away. “Why does this deathbound have your spell? You,” he said while glaring at Benjamin, “show me your tome. Right now.”

“He will do no such thing.” Kinsoriel got between his pupil and him. “He doesn’t use tomes, and it is not your place to make demands of him.”

“And just why not?” Other dragons started to show up, holding quantities of building materials. “This deathbound steals your spells, and you defend it? How about you tell all of us what entitles him to such privileges over your own kind instead?”

Maintaining his composure in front of a crowd was important. He couldn’t be seen lowering himself, he represented Wex’s will. Even still, he couldn’t help but push his teeth together behind his mouth.

“I gave him the spell willingly. I taught him our ways of spellcraft. His ‘privileges’ are entirely based on merit. In this regard, he is your equal.”

Murmuring circulated throughout the forming crowd. It sounded like it was mixed and not entirely positive or negative.

“How dare you say such a thing!”

“What is your name?”

The sudden change seemed to catch the scarred dragon off guard. “Iretung,” he responded.

Looking over to the crowd, Kinsoriel asked, “Are there any others that agree with Iretung? Raise your hands now if you think you are above the deathbounds no matter the situation.”

To his disappointment, Kinsoriel saw there were more than two hands up. There were five in total. For dedicating themselves to learning, there was still a considerable amount that needed to confront these harsh truths. If he had to be the one to show them, so be it.

“All of you who have raised your hands, step forward now.” When they did so, Kinsoriel said the next line loud enough for those who didn’t. “Until you learn to co-exist with the mortal members of our new society, you will be prohibited from the construction of Wex’s altar.” Their distraught faces twisted with other emotions. He gestured towards Benjamin. “You will instead follow my student’s orders and help build our city. Any problems in this arrangement will be brought before me.”

“This is insane!” one of them cried.

“What dragon in their right mind would be subservient to those vermin?!” came another.

“As of this moment,” Kinsoriel said authoritatively, “you should no longer consider yourselves dragons. We are all as oblivious as the deathbounds before Wex, and thus, we are all of the same people.” He narrowed his eyes at each of them and growled, “I shouldn’t have to mention the price for crimes against one of our own.” Two of them cowered under his browbeating, while the others were stewing in a silent rage. “Now go toward the main forest and wait for this man. You are dismissed.”

They did so reluctantly. Iretung shot a look at Benjamin which Kinsoriel returned. Unsaid message clear, he got in line with the rest.

“For the rest of you, I have a spell straight from Wex himself. In your dreams tonight, you will see the exact directions to build the altar. Come to me one at a time.”

After lining up, each of the dragons had their forehead touched by the champion’s index claw. Visualizing it as pushing a thought into another’s head, Kinsoriel cast the spell, “Dream Bestowal,” on every one of them. It may have drained him a bit if he hadn’t had Wex’s boon.

“I will see all of you early in the morning. Until then, have a wonderful night.”

Bowing their heads, they all left Kinsoriel and Benjamin by themselves. Looking over at the deathbound, he noticed the man’s eyes drawn towards his hand. When he lowered his sight, he saw the crumpled scrolls and books still held in his right hand.

“Oh. I am really, truly sorry for this.” He handed them back to the little author who promptly started straightening them out. As best as he could at least.

“That’s fine. Why’d you stand up for me though?”

“Hmm?”

“You didn’t need to do it, I know that. So why?”

Rolling his eyes, the dragon shrugged. “Wex wanted me to get all of his subjects to work together. It had to happen at some point, and it was better to happen now than when everything is already settled.” That answer was satisfactory and had no lies within it.

“Oh.”

He continued to fix the documents in silence. Once he was done, he handed them back to Kinsoriel.

“Tell me what you think.”

Skimming through all of them, he had few complaints or additions to make. “It all looks good to me,” he said handing them back. “You may want to consider carving some dwellings for the dragons into the walls of the cliffs though.”

Taking out a stick of charcoal, Benjamin noted it down. “I’ll see what can be done.”

“Keep up the good job Benjamin. Your efforts are already telling me I made the right choice with you.”

“Ah, uh, thanks.” The little author turned to leave as well. “I’ll report back to you later. Goodnight.”

He waved him off but kept an eye on him. Once he saw the troublemaking dragons talk with him before leaving themselves, he relaxed and went back. There was much to do, and now he had fewer hands to do it. He could only hope they’d have everything done before it was too late.