I woke up next to my sister. I groggily moved my gaze looking for Ember, but he was nowhere to be seen. He must have woken up before us, I figured.

I yawned, then tiredly got up from the nest. “Good morning.”

I looked to the cave entrance, seeing my mother sitting there with a firm gaze fixated on the nest with me and my sister. She had a wary look on her face, as if she was worried about something.

“Good morning mother… What is bothering you if I may ask?”

Mom sighed and then moved to the side to give me a better look of what was behind her. “This human came to our cave when we slept… He was looking for you, but I easily overpowered him and then tied him to the cave wall. I thought I’d let you hear for yourself what he was saying before deciding on anything decisive.”

I nodded, moving closer to the human. He looked bruised and beaten, but the wounds appeared to be slowly healing.

“There she is… the purple dragon. I have completed my mission, but I know I’ll never leave this cave alive to tell another soul.” He coughed a small amount of blood onto the floor, and it almost appeared to be forming a small puddle. “Damned be that hybrid dragon’s mana… its tearing me apart from the inside.”

I moved up to the man, grabbing the side of his head in curiosity. I wanted to get a better look at him. “You seem powerful enough. Human, what is your name?”

The man chuckled, spitting some blood into my face. “Like I’d tell you anything. I’m as good as dead anyway.”

I did not like that reply. I tightened my grip on the man’s head, pouring a small amount of void mana into his head.

He started screaming very loudly. The sound was getting on my nerves, so I quit feeding him void mana. “Do not do that again. My sister is sleeping.”

The man started panting, before finally uttering a word. “What the hell was that…” A small, evil smile appeared on my face. “How about you answer my question first, then I’ll tell you.”

The man coughed again, however this time his blood was rainbow like the void. “Is that distilled unicorn horn?” I opened my palm, producing a small ball of void which was colored in a rainbow color. “No, but if you want to know what exactly it is…”

The man scoffed. “Fine, dragon. I’ll tell you my name. It’s Sir Jackson to you.”

I let out a little laugh. “Jackson. Nice to meet you.” I closed my hand, squishing the rainbow orb and absorbing the mana once more into my body. “This is void mana. I am, as you could probably guess, a void dragon.”

Jackson’s eyes suddenly widened at my words. “Y-You’re what?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Do you know something about the void, perhaps?”

Jackson quickly shook his head, looking back toward the floor. “It can’t be. It’s just a children’s fairy tale.”

I let out a questioning “hm?” and looked into Jackson’s eyes. He started nervously sweating and he stuttered his next words.

“A-Are you the queen of dragons…?”

I debated whether I should tell Jackson. It wasn’t the fear that he might escape to tell others about it, it was more the question of what he planned to do with the answer. Did he know of some kind of anti-dragon spell? Or… did he simply want to become a dragonoid?

“What does that matter to you if I am or not?” I sneered, baring my fangs for a moment.

Jackson snickered, seemingly undeterred by my aggression. “I knew it. I knew it the moment I felt that accursed void flow through my body, you are the dragon queen. Please, could you grant a dying man his wish, your highness?”

I peered down at the pathetic, bleeding human in front of me. “Depends.”

Jackson dropped his head to the floor, defeated. “Take my soul. I wish to become your loyal servant. My kin have trained our whole lives for this purpose, and the day has finally arrived.”

I let out a little laugh. “You don’t even know if I am the dragon queen you so blatantly speak of! What makes your faith so unwavering, mortal? Is it the fear of death? Is the realization finally dawning upon you?”

Jackson coughed once more, adding even more fluid to the steadily growing puddle in front of him. “If you are not the dragon queen, then end me right where I sit.”

Damn it. This is one hell of a situation. On one hand, I could accept the man’s proposal and take his soul, making the first True Descendant here and now. On the other hand, I could just kill him and find a person I know I can actually trust.

I looked deep into the dying man’s eyes, trying to read their intent. They were curved upward in a pleading manner, and I knew the man was speaking the truth.

“Why would you risk your whole life for this? Is the idea of being robbed of your free will seriously that exciting to you?”

Jackson didn’t answer, instead looking deep into my eyes with nothing but pure want.

His change in behavior was abnormal... frightening even. I took one step back, taking a moment to look at the bruised and battered human before me. His eyes, which were previously energetic and ready, now lost their shine and he dropped his head toward the ground once more. “You're no dragon queen, are you?”

I was having a hard time deciding what my next move should be. A bead of sweat appeared on my forehead, and I bit my lip in frustration.

“Okay, fine. Give me your soul then since you asked so nicely.”

The knight raised his face up from the floor once more, looking at me with a happy yet shocked face. “I knew it! You are the dragon queen of legend! After all these years, I finally found you.”

Jackson’s eyes closed and he exhaled deeply, before chanting something under his breath. I waited a few moments before an orb of light emerged from his chest, floating in front of him precariously.

I guess this is his soul, then.

I reached my hand out, taking ahold of the luminant sphere and bringing it closer to my face. I got a deep, primal feeling that I should eat the orb, and after a few moments of hesitation I gave in and did. The orb was about as big as my mouth, so I swallowed it quite easily.

As soon as the orb reached my stomach, I got a feeling like it merged with my body itself. The orb shrunk in size, and then appeared to move to around my chest-area.

Jackson’s arms then somehow broke free from his restraints, and he fell to the floor with his hands and knees on the floor. He started panting, and his clothes started to rip. He appeared to be gaining muscle mass quickly and he increased in height somewhat.

My curiosity got the better of me and I moved closer to observe his transformation. From what I could see, horns were starting to sprout from his forehead. A tail was also forming, and it ripped through his underwear as it grew.

I took a step back when I noticed there were nubs growing around his shoulder blades. I figured those would soon form into wings, and with a horrifying crack I heard his bones adjust as two long, bony protrusions shot out from his back. The soon-to-be wings then folded out, and a thin membrane covered the empty space between, forming a sail-like structure before bones again shot out of the larger ones, embedding into the membrane, and forming a complete wing.

The horn-nubs he had earlier were now completely formed into full horns and his tail had also fully grown. The clothes he was wearing before the transformation took place were now completely shredded, and only a few scraps remained loosely hanging onto his body by threads, figuratively and literally. Jackson then collapsed to the ground, and it appeared he fell unconscious.

I was in complete shock at what had just transpired and could only stand there with wide eyes and watch his body.

I suddenly felt a strange chime in my chest. It felt like it was coming from where Jackson’s soul was sitting, and I had no clue what it meant. I tried my best to focus on the feeling, and after a while I was able to discern what it was doing. The orb was trying to communicate with me, but it only sent me emotions, and not words. I felt contentment, but also some sadness. I guessed the soul was sad that its body was unconscious, but also grateful to be a part of me now.

It suddenly occurred to me that I’ve had an audience this entire time, and I looked up to mother who was sitting there with a very confused face. “I have never seen anything like that before. What did you do to that human?”

I didn’t even know what I should respond. “Mom, if I knew I swear I’d tell you.”

She was not convinced by my words. “If you didn’t know what you did, how did you know how to do it exactly?”

I was only able to let out a weak “uuuh…” before a sudden flash of rainbow appeared beside me. I looked to my side, and saw a ghostly figure resembling that of Sirrus, but not quite him.

“Greetings. Circumstances would have it my time is rather limited, so I will cut to the chase. Esteemed queen-mother, your daughter has performed her first dragonoid ritual, thus transforming this regular human being into a dragonoid whom will share her traits. It should be noted my queen, you can communicate with the soul of the dragonoid and issue it commands. Don’t expect to have deep heartfelt discussions with it, however, as its replies will be rather dull. Refer to its humanoid body for issues regarding this.”

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Sirrus then performed a dramatic bow. “That’s it for now. Until next time!”

And just as abruptly as he appeared, he exploded in a burst of rainbow flame once more.

To say mother looked confused would be an afront to the word itself. She looked baffled. Aghast. Stunned, even.

“You have some explaining to do, young woman.”

I told mother everything. Everything about the void dimension, Sirrus, everything.

She didn’t interrupt me throughout my entire explanation. She only gave quick nods and appeared to be taking this all completely calmly.

“I’d like you to take me to this void realm.” She finally said once I stopped my explanation.

I only nodded, and we both transformed into our humanoid forms. “I’m surprised you’re taking this so lightly, mom. I expected more questions…”

Mom looked a bit on-edge but gave me a warm smile regardless. “From your explanation, it would appear that this Sirrus character would be able to answer my questions much better than you can. That’s not to say I doubt your knowledge, daughter, it just seems to me like you know just as little as I do.”

I didn’t argue with her. I just nodded briefly and then brought her to the purple indentation.

“Mom, do you know any light spells? I know you are a wind dragon but I don’t think this is going to work without light. Celestia helped me discover this earlier…”

Mother nodded before snapping her fingers, producing an orb of light similar to Celestia’s. “My mother was a light dragon, and she did teach me some light spells before she… died.”

Mother had a brief look of thought, then turned her attention back to me. “Don’t be sad for me. That’s just part of life, we all have to die someday.” She then looked at the wall, which was now glowing with purple.

“So, this was in our cave the whole time? Either that or it appeared when you were born I suppose.”

I, again, had no useful answers so I just touched the emblem and waited for the portal to appear. Sure enough, a swirling, rainbow-colored disk appeared, and I sighed. “This is it, the portal. Just step through, it’s safe.”

Mother didn’t waste any time and stepped through the portal without any further ado. I went through right behind her and was greeted by the familiar black cave. Mother had an intrigued look on her face, and then she looked to me. “It looks just like our cave, except black.”

I nodded. “I assume Sirrus will show himself soon.”

Almost on-queue, Sirrus appeared in a flash of flame, bowing before me and mom. “Greetings. I suppose explanations are in order, yes?”

I idled away the time by looking at the map in the lounge. I also decided to change the void back to its purple color because however funny it was to see Sirrus in a rainbow suit, I must admit it was rather jarring.

I also decided to take Jackson into the void room with us. I wanted to keep an eye on him at all times and besides, Sirrus had told me this room was secure. If Jackson did anything, mom would be there to handle him if Sirrus or I couldn’t. I had my doubts that there was anything in this world Sirrus couldn’t handle but I guess I just might be a little paranoid.

Eventually mom and Sirrus also sat down with me at the table. “This is all a little confusing to me as well, but I think I understand a little bit more now. Thank you, Sirrus.”

Sirrus smiled with a bow. “My pleasure, queen mother.”

Mom didn’t seem all too happy with her labeling and asked Sirrus to just refer to her as Phyrra. Sirrus bowed again, apologizing.

Mom sat down beside me on the table, looking at the map with me. “So, this map lets us see where every dragon is? Intriguing.”

I nodded, looking up from the map for a moment and meeting mom’s gaze. “Apparently no dragon can harm me too, if I don’t consent to it.”

Mom gave me a warm smile. “It seems that fate has destined you for great things, daughter. I am very proud of you.”

I gave my mom a heartfelt smile. “Thank you, mom.”

Out of nowhere we heard a loud grunt coming from Jackson. Me and mom were quick on our feet, standing at the ready. Sirrus remained just as calm as usual however, which upset me a little.

“There is no need to be alarmed. Your dragonoid is just adjusting to his new body is all. Give him a few moments.”

I didn’t feel particularly convinced and I looked at the man on the floor. It looked like he was going to get up, but then failed in propping himself up with his arms. “He’s… He’s like a baby learning how to walk his first steps.” My alarm immediately turned to dumbfound as I stood there, confused. “I hope he doesn’t stay like that forever, Sirrus…”

Sirrus only gave me a small chuckle. “How would he be able to serve you if he can’t even stand upright? As I said, he is still adjusting to his new body, give him some time.”

I nodded, then looked back at the helpless man. It was a very strange display indeed, seeing a fully grown man struggle to get to his feet. He eventually planted his palms into the floor, finally succeeding in lifting himself off the floor before standing upright.

He dusted himself off. I thought he looked rather silly considering he was wearing nothing at all, but I suppose it was a formality. He then looked at me with his dead, soulless eyes and spoke. “At your service, my liege.”

Looking into his eyes made me very uncomfortable, so I moved my gaze away from his face. I inspected him thoroughly, before nodding. “Jackson.” The former knight furrowed his brow slightly, huffing. “Perhaps a new name would be befitting my new role. May I request you refer to me as only Jack moving forward?”

I didn’t quite understand why he wanted the change, but I didn’t exactly have any reason to deny his request. “Sure, Jack. How about we get you some clothes first of all…”

When dad got rid of all the corpses from the army outside our cave, he decided to keep some of the less damaged armor pieces. Being a fire dragon, he has a natural affinity and an equally keen eye for gold and if there were any engravings or gold details on armor or weaponry, he would instinctually hoard it. He had his own pile of gold items further inside the cave, and after asking dad for permission, I took Jack down to the pile.

This room never fails to amaze me. Dad has perpetually lit fires made of pure fire mana which illuminate the room brightly, and the gold shines with an almost serene glow. I took a moment to bask in the glow, before waving Jack closer. “Look around for any armor pieces or clothing you think would fit and try them on. Don’t bother with a chest plate, I doubt any of these are made with built-in wing holes. Maybe keep an eye out for leather ones, but focus on leggings, gloves and boots for now.”

Jack nodded, then immediately got down on his knees searching. I didn’t intend to stand by idly and I began looking for suitable items myself.

I eventually found a left glove. It looked a little small for Jack’s newly ripped arms, so I discarded it and kept looking. Eventually I came across a helmet and to my surprise, it did have horn-holes built into it. Perhaps there was a Tiefling in the armies ranks- they are adept warlocks after all. I took it to Jack and luckily it fit him. There were some issues threading his curled horns into the helmet but after a little neck exercise from him and some elbow grease from me, we got it onto his head.

Jack had also found a pair of silver leggings which I thought were quite fancy. They even came equipped with knee spikes made of silver, and I guessed that they probably had belonged to a vampire hunter.

I eventually found a pair of gold-detailed leggings. The dominant metal of the armor was undoubtedly steel- small steel plates layered on top of each other in a sort of scale-like fashion. As I was inspecting the leggings closer, I noticed there were details and intricate patterns made of gold running down each leg. If I squinted, the engravings almost looked like wyverns. I immediately brought them over to jack, but much to my annoyance they were too small for Jack.

I cast the armor aside in annoyance but as I did, I swore I could see it increase in size as it flew through the air. Wait, what?

I picked up the leggings again- and now that I paid it more attention, I could see them shrink in real time. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were enchanted to perfectly fit whoever the wearer would be.

My jaw immediately dropped to the floor, and I handed the pants to Jack. The pants comedically grew in size as soon as his hands touched the cold metal, and I let out a “woah” in pure awe.

Jack looked to me with a questioning look. “Have you never seen an item enchanted with owner’s touch before? Most curious.”

He immediately took of the silver leggings and put the scale-plated pants on. “Fits like a glove.”

We spent some more time looking for armor before giving up. The gloves in the pile were all too small and we somehow only found a single right gauntlet out of the near 20 we went through. As luck would have it even that one was too small.

As soon as I uttered the word weapon, Jack plunged his hand into the pile and withdrew a longsword seemingly at random. It was a very fine blade, the blood gutter appeared to be coated in gold and the sharp edges themselves were made of silver. The owner must have cared for the blade greatly for it was sharp as a razor and wonderfully polished at that. Jack also found a sheath in more or less the same spot as the blade- God knows how he knew where it was- and attached it to his leggings before sheathing the fine blade into place.

He was now fully armed and armored, safe for a chest plate that is.

I took a moment to think, and it occurred to me I didn’t really have any concrete plans. Sure, I can make dragonoids and I’m unharmable by other dragons, but that doesn't really mean anything. At least, not yet.

The humans so far are unaware of my whereabouts, even though they do know of me. Maybe I should ask the mayor where the capitol of these lands is? I decided to not do anything rash just yet. My father has told me plenty of times that he wishes I were home longer, so I might as well just hang around for a while.

I told Jack to stay in the void room for now. The real cave wasn’t built with human comfort in mind, but the void could be shaped into pretty much anything. Sirrus already made the lounge area and a kitchen, so making a bedroom wouldn’t be any harder a task.

I, on the other hand, went to my family. Father had just returned with the spoils from today’s hunt, and they were all lying down around a little campfire. I scooted in beside Ember, and father greeted me.

“Good afternoon, Apocalypso. I was in the middle of talking about how I got this scar.” Dad turned his head and showed me a scar I hadn’t seen before that went over his right eye.

He cleared his throat, continuing the story. “I was flying around above our cave, when I suddenly felt a foreign presence nearby. I was rather young at the time, so I investigated. Turns out, this was around the mating season of wyverns and a female had wandered into our territory, thinking I was one.”

Father let out a slight chuckle. “Let’s say she was very insistent. I had to defend myself, and she managed to dig her claws into my face and as you can see, the wound became a permanent mark.”

Mother rolled her eyes, probably sick of hearing this story by now. “I just hope it didn’t lead to a wyvern-dragon hybrid. To have a half-breed stepchild would not sit well with me.”

I let out a slight chuckle, taking a piece of the meat roasting on the campfire. It seems today’s spoils were of wild boar, and I savored the juicy meat. “I hear you’ve been up to quite a lot lately, Apo. I hope you’ll remember we’re here for you, no matter what happens.”

I swallowed the pork and licked my lips clean before I answered. “Don’t worry dad. I’ll never forget you.”

Dad gave me a warm smile before returning his gaze to the fire in front of him. “You’ve also been up to quite a lot lately, haven’t you Ember?”

My brother was in the middle of chewing what looked like half a boar carcass and he half-choked on the meat before he swallowed the food down his throat. “W-What? Did someone say my name?”

Father laughed. “Yes son, I asked if you’d care to tell your sister what’s been going on when she was away.” Ember’s eyes slightly widened, before he turned to face me. “Oh right! You don’t know what I can do, do you?” I couldn’t help but snicker at my brother’s childishness, then I cleared my throat. He is a child after all, if he acted like I do it would almost be a little strange.

Ember didn’t seem to be bothered by my outburst and instead opened his palm, almost as if he was holding something out toward me. I was slightly confused because he wasn’t holding anything. I looked up to face him again, but I was immediately met by a cone of fire blowing straight into my face. I was so shocked by the act my head recoiled backwards and I let out a girlish “eek!”

Ember immediately began laughing his ass off and pointed at me. “The look, the look!”

I was a little angry but mostly just indifferent. I sighed, wiping the ash off my face. “Very impressive. You got a name for that little magic trick of yours?” Ember was way too busy laughing at his own trick to answer me.

I didn’t intent to humor him any further and instead returned my attention to the meat I was eating. It didn’t take very long for Ember to apologize, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, don’t be like that… I was just trying to make you laugh.”

I looked up from the piece of pork and smiled slightly. “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I’m just very hungry.” Ember let out a phew and returned his own attention to the flames. “I actually lit this fire. Dad showed me how.”

Some time passed around the fire. There was more than enough food for everyone and by the end of it we were all so full we almost had to roll back into the cave. It didn’t take long before we drifted off to sleep, but I think I was the last one to do so. I looked around the cave one final time with tired eyes, making sure everything was as it should be.

It was.