As soon as they saw Kossi, all five Senior Magi cast shining bolts of lightning at him, but every single one hit the ceiling as the dragon dived to the floor. His dark brown figure shrank when he hit the ground, magic flowing, matter reorganizing; when the blur cleared, the creature who stood alone in the middle of the room, with everyone else packed along the walls, looked like a human. And not just an average-looking one.

Oh dear, he’s so beautiful!

Kossi certainly didn’t look fifty or sixty in human years. Had I walked past him in the street, I’d have thought he was in his twenties. He had warm dark ochre skin, black hair kept in well-defined coils flowing down to his shoulders, a full mouth, golden eyes, and the subtle glaze of scales on his high cheekbones. He wore all black: pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a knee-length vest where the alternance of matte and shiny fabric suggested a fern pattern.

“Where did he find his clothes?” I whispered.

The advisor next to me frowned. “He can turn from dragon to human form in the blink of an eye, and it’s the clothes you ask about?”

Well, he’s right. Forget about conservation of mass, unless it turned into energy, but… oh, whatever.

Kossi turned around, facing everyone in the room, surrounded by murmuring voices and by the sound of broken glass. When his gaze met mine, he stared at me for a second before moving on to the next person and finally turning his back to me. Why did I get special attention? He didn’t know me, did he?

He must remember that moment, when I faced him with the little boy in my arms and shouted at him to go away.

“King Esthar!” he finally said, and of course the voice matched the look, warm and youthful, a treat to the ear.

The king, now protected behind a row of guards, gave him a look that wished it could kill. “Dragon Kossi. How dare you show up in Carastra after taking innocent lives?”

“I didn’t…”

Kossi stopped mid-sentence, not so much searching for his words as fighting to get them out of his mouth. He finally shook his head.

Something’s not right. He stormed into the room, he could probably kill us all in one fire breath, he should be standing on higher ground here, and yet, he looks so uneasy!

“It was only a warning,” he added in a bitter voice.

“What do you mean?” asked Princess Nigella.

Kossi looked at her with a sad smile. Look at his attitude! He may accept her father’s anger, his hate even, but he hates having to disappoint her. “I mean I came here to deliver a message from… From my master.”

The whole audience gasped. I exchanged a short glance with the princess. We both knew he wasn’t acting of his own free will, and now, he was admitting it to everyone’s face. Would it change the general decision? Would these officers in their shiny uniforms decide not to storm his lair after all?

“Speak!” ordered King Esthar. “Who is your master?”

I’d wanted to ask Cherub the exact same question. In fact, if it wasn’t for the whole early morning council and the breakfast adventure, I’d done it earlier. Now I was glad I didn’t. No need to use up my daily miracle. The dragon was about to reveal the name himself.

Kossi looked down at his feet, and for a couple of seconds, he ran his hand behind his neck. Was something bothering him there?

“My master is Lord Saegorg of Inabar.”

Inabar. I knew the name.

Esthar told me about it yesterday. It’s one of the small mountain lordships that stand north of the Brealian kingdom. It also shares a border with Elkodunar, so we can’t rule out the possibility that this Lord Saegorg is allied with Faur’s demon empire.

The uneasy silence around me suggested that nobody expected such a revelation. King Esthar frowned.

“How did Saegorg become your master?”

Kossi rubbed his nape again. I should have been in a perfect position to see it, but a couple of tall officers got in my way, so I shifted to the left. I had to know what was going on. The gesture looked out of place and it had to mean something.

“You don’t need to know how it happened,” the dragon said. “Here is the message I must deliver: Lord Saegorg is the rightful king of Brealia.”

What is he talking about?

The king gave the dragon an unimpressed look.

“So he claims, as his family always has, but we both know better.”

Kossi stared at him with a sad look on his face. Then he startled, as if pricked by a needle. When he spoke, he sounded slightly out of breath.

“My master tamed me, a Gold Dragon, as proof of his might, and he wants me to warn you. Step down from your throne, King Esthar, and let Lord Saegorg rule Brealia. He will show kindness by letting you live, and he will keep your bloodline in his dynasty by marrying Princess Nigella, or one of her younger sisters, should something happen to her.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Outraged cries rose around the room. Of course they did. Nobody could hear such a bold demand without reacting. What would I think if someone stepped into my living room and claimed my house was theirs, but they’d let me live on a mattress in the laundry room, out of kindness?

Princess Nigella’s eyes were wide with shock, but she didn’t move or say a word. She stood among the angry assembly, either too dignified or too stunned to react.

Kossi put a hand behind his neck and lifted his hair once more. This time, no one was blocking the view, so I saw what he’d been trying to show us all along. There was a complex pattern on his skin, glowing so faintly that one had to look for it to notice it. It was probably an important clue, but I had nothing to draw it on. What should I do?

Then I remembered I had my own cheat code to overcome that inconvenience. I quickly closed my eyes.

“Cherub? I need a small miracle today. Let me keep a perfect memory of this pattern on the dragon’s neck, and be able to draw it at will.”

“Granted.”

I took one last look at the pattern. It was all clear to me, engraved in my mind, as if I’d always known it.

Meanwhile, the king gestured at his advisors to calm down. He waited for silence to come back before speaking again.

“What will Saegorg do if I refuse?”

Kossi looked at his feet, then at the princess. He let out a sigh.

“Then I will destroy your towns one by one, until you surrender. If you care about Brealia, you will give it up before I burn it all to ashes. As I said, the first attacks were only a warning. I was holding back. You know how considerable my power is.”

His voice, though still warm and melodious, shook a little. Even though I didn’t know him, I could tell he hated being coerced into speaking those words. His body language spoke for him.

King Esthar shook his head. There was hard resolve in his blue eyes.

“You know this is unacceptable.”

“Lord Saegorg thinks you’ll come to your senses and understand you have no other option.” Kossi let his last sentence linger in the air. His beautiful face was a picture of guilt and sadness. “I’m so sorry… Ugh!”

His whole body jerked. Whatever his master was doing to him, it looked painful.

“Think, King Esthar,” he added in a panting voice. “I’ll come back in ten days. If you refuse Lord Saegorg’s offer, my attacks will resume, and his assault will begin. Brealia won’t stand a chance.”

He looked up at the ceiling, his figure became blurry, and in under a second, the gorgeous man was a dragon again and flew out of the shattered stained-glass window. A magic missile hit him, but he didn’t slow down. Before anyone else could react, he was out of sight.

“Your Majesty, I saw the…” I began, but my voice was lost in the deafening noise of the entire assembly shouting over one another.

“How dare he?”

“A dragon weak enough to be subdued by the likes of Saegorg doesn’t deserve our mercy!”

“This outrage cannot be forgiven!”

My eyes met Archbishop Terru’s across the room. The small bald priest didn’t speak. He just looked at the assembly with a sorrowful look on his face.

Maybe, just maybe I can get him on my side.

As I elbowed my way through the crowd, Lord Gimon took my arm.

“Great Hero Al, you agree, don’t you?”

I looked him up and down.

“Why would I? There’s obviously…”

He let go of my arm and turned to an officer.

“General Lassentia, you agree, don’t you?”

I frowned. The experience felt painfully similar to many situations I’d lived in my native world. Most people in a position of power just didn’t listen. But hardly anyone ignored dissenting voices as blatantly as this advisor did.

Slowly, painfully, noisily, a majority decided that, even though the attacks weren’t Kossi’s initiative, he still was the weapon. Saegorg was the enemy. However, he would be much easier to repress if he didn’t have a dragon by his side, so the most obvious choice was to slay the dragon first, and to march on Inabar later. Fighting one enemy at a time. It sounded almost sensible. Almost.

King Esthar looked terribly sad. He knew he was about to make a terrible decision, but he thought there was no better option. Should I try to speak?

I’m the newcomer here, they won’t trust me. At least, not enough to change their minds entirely over a minority opinion.

I still opened my mouth.

“Your Majesty, I…”

“We must strike Kossi as soon as he comes back in ten days,” the king interrupted. “Can we have your blessing, Archbishop Terru?”

The priest had remained silent throughout most of the meeting, listening more than he spoke. He didn’t look too talkative anyway, possibly saving his voice for prayers. With a sorrowful look on his face, he nodded slowly.

“May he find redemption and rise to the Almighty.”

What’s in your minds? Kossi’s a victim in this scheme, not as much as the ones who died in the moat the day before yesterday, but a victim, still!

I wanted to shout at these men. I wanted to slap some sense into their little brains, one by one. Perhaps they could focus all physical and magical fire on one spot and get to kill the dragon, but how many fighters would die in the process? Kossi was under Saegorg’s control. When he came to Carastra at the end of the ultimatum, he wouldn’t hold back. There would be a bloodbath. And he’d probably end up dying too.

King Esthar listened to his advisors and officers while Princess Nigella kept her head low. Was it a tear she was trying to blink back?

From what the officers were saying, I understood that Brealia’s army was far superior to Inabar’s, so the kingdom would probably win the war in the end.

But at what price?

We can go to war if we really have to. But please, only as a last resort! We must try another solution first!

King Esthar finally nodded.

“It is agreed. We will wait for the dragon’s return. We have ten days to prepare the deadliest ambush we can think of. We must be ready by the time Kossi comes back to Carastra. We will not leave him a chance.”

A row of approving murmurs later, he turned to me.

“Great Hero Al, I will insist. You must take a prominent part in the operation, for the sake of the Brealian kingdom.”

Excuse me? I don’t know my way around, I can’t fight and I probably have no magical abilities, remember? What use would I be?

“With all due respect, Your Majesty, why don’t we first try to undo whatever makes Kossi obey Saegorg’s orders?”

The king looked up at the shattered stained-glass window.

“There was a vote. We made a choice. We agreed to kill the Gold Dragon.”

“But no one let me speak before we voted! Besides, I saw…”

“Are you a coward, Great Hero Al?”

King Esthar glared at me with all his regal cold anger. He’d summoned me. He’d torn me away from my life. And now he was belittling me, because I dared to suggest we try another method before resorting to war.

I breathed hard, my fists clenched against my hips.

I’m no coward. I just want to save as many lives as possible, and if it means I must save the dragon who got innocent people killed in the first place, then I will!

Princess Nigella walked to her father.

“Let me talk to her, Your Majesty. The Great Hero Al is new to this world. She cannot understand what is really at stake here, so I will explain the whole situation, and talk her into doing what is right.”

I narrowed my eyes, looking at how pleading her delicate face was in that moment.

If I’m not mistaken, she carefully avoided saying that she’d talk me into joining forces with the army. She said I’d be doing what’s right, and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t involve the slaughter of her beloved dragon uncle. I like this girl.

“Crown Princess Nigella, I trust you,” King Esthar answered. “Great Hero Al, do not disappoint me. For the sake of the Brealian kingdom, I expect you to be the one who brings down Kossi.”