Endless nothingness. A blank void that stretches into infinity, and stops only at the border between here and there. That is this place, called Ofo. But that is just the name I happen to use. Some call it the ‘Null’, others refer to it as ‘The Timeless Realm’. All of them are fine, I suppose, but I prefer Ofo. I’ve been here for longer than I ever cared to keep track of, and longer than I could likely count in millennia. Long enough to forget my name anyway. The wizards who accidentally trap themselves here, and the criminals who were exiled here all call me Agba, and that works fine for me.
As I sit in a rock out cropping of my den, a small moss-covered rock brought here by accident eons ago, I gaze out into the nothingness and think. Well, it isn’t quite nothing anymore. Ever since a wizard called Helmgarthin created a spell to bring people here on purpose, there has been a lot more things floating around. Once, it was just me, and the dying wizards, and they certainly weren’t good company. Occasionally, I’d see a void worm roaming around, but they never got close. But now, many things exist. Loose dirt drifts around, and the corpses of dumb adventurers who didn’t realize that a void means there’s no air. There’s even a city nearby now. It’s filled with air, magic, and living people. One day, I might visit there; it does get lonely in Ofo occasionally.
As I watched the dirt drift around, and the city float aimlessly in the distance, I felt a presence come from behind me. It was small, and weak, so I did not mind it. Using my magic, I turned my den towards the direction of the creature, and saw it was a humanoid wearing a fine suit of armor, and standing upon a ship propelled by magic. It connected our minds, and introduced itself.
“Great Dragon Agba, I am Mel Thoron, Crown Prince of Thoronia.” The humanoid said.
“What do you seek?” I asked, skipping past this part. Over the years, many have come to me wanting something, or asking something, and I have grown bored of their silver tongues.
“I seek to invite you to my coronation.” He said, catching me off guard for a moment. Surprised, I uncoiled my long body, shook lose my limbs, stretched out my wings, and stood to my full height. I felt his fear through our link, but paid it no mind.
“For what purpose?” I asked, finishing my stretch.
“You… you have been our neighbor for centuries, we wish to welcome you to see our city.” He lied. He was clearly unaccustomed to using a mental link, and left his true undefended. He held malice, greed, fear, and betrayal in his mind.
“You seek to slay me. To bring me to your city, and fight me in your den, where you have the advantage.” I said plainly, but amused.
“No Agba, you misunderstand!” He stuttered over his words. Peering further into his mind, I saw his desire for glory.
“I do not, but I will play along.” I chuckled. “Let us go to your so called coronation.”
“Oh… um, yes.” Mel said, confused. The ship turned, and sailed through the void to the city. Small rocks would bounce off the wooden hull with hollow sounds as it glided swiftly on the waves of magic that filled its sails. We arrived at the city, surrounded by a large magical dome, and a field of dirt; some of which floated gently in its wake.
Crossing through the dome, a wave of magic passed through me, attempting to stop me, but failing. As the ship and prince landed in an open field of grass and stone pathways, I set myself down beside them. The grass tickled my scales, and the dirt settled nicely under me, cradling my body from my tail to my back legs quite pleasantly.
“Ah, this alone was worth the trip. Your kingdom has fine soil, Crown Prince Mel.”
“Um… thank you.” He said, using his mouth and sounds this time. I noticed it when I arrived, but paid no attention to it, but this dome was filled with cold, crips air. For the first time in eons, I filled my lungs, and even got a bit chilly. As I breathed out, flames poured from my mouth, frightening the prince.
“Ah, I had forgotten about that.” I apologized, and expelled the last of the air from my lungs. “I will use my thoughts, from now on, Prince Mel, so that I do not ruin your air.”
“Yes, quite.” He said, hiding his emotions from his face. “Please, follow me. The coronation is this way.”
“You continue with this charade? Well, if it means so much to you…”
“Truly great Agba, I do not…” he sighed, “if you know why I invited you, why did you come?” He asked. His voice was even, and calm, but anger and pride swelled in his mind.
“Why not?”
“You believe you can defeat us?” He asked, as he stopped walking, and placed a hand on the sword on his hip.
“I do not know, but perhaps we can learn something from this.” I mused. While he stopped, I continued to walk forwards, in the direction we had both been going. By the time I had answered his question, the last of my body was just passing his.
“We shall see,” he muttered, the followed. After a little more walking, we stood before a great set of doors, by human standards. Behind the door, were dozens of small weak presences, each with pitiful magic weapons and armor.
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A fine trap for a fool. I thought to myself. I had to kneel down and slither my body to reach the inside. Once my head was through, a large metal object fall down atop me, and I heard shouting from all sides. The metal object fell onto the base of my neck, but broke straight away against my scales. Looking around, I saw several men in armor cheering. Carefully, I slithered the rest of my body through, which silenced the cheers completely. “I apologize again, Prince Mel. It seems I broke this.” Picking up the remains of the metal object, which seemed to be some form of large blade, I placed it gently against the wall that housed the rest of its parts. Prince Mel however, had no response, but simply glanced back and forth between the blade and my neck.
“No, it seems I must apologize. I greatly underestimated your strength, Agba.” Prince Mel finally said.
“Have you learned anything yet?” I asked.
“That it will take more that a blade to slice your scales.” He shook his head.
“Indeed, but I was hoping for a more profound revelation. Perhaps on your next attempt?”
At that, he seemed shocked. “You… what?”
“Is this the only attempt you had planned?” I wondered.
“Well… if you would give me a moment.” He said, and called over several of the men in armor. After a short while, they left, but returned quickly with potion vials, rope, and crossbows. “This will do you in, certainly!” Mel boasted.
“A hasty plan can be worse than none at all, you know.” I teased him, and watched him dip the crossbow-bolts into the potions. “Shall I lay down so you can use your rope?” I asked. Mel grumbled something, then politely refused. His mind was growing ever more frustrated and embarrassed. I on the other hand was rather enjoying myself. This was the most fun I’d had since his father’s coronation, and his father’s before that. At least this one had the courtesy to invite me to his coronation.
After several hours, and well over a dozen different failed attempts, the prince’s coronation continued, and he was officially named king. I clapped as he solemnly took his crown, and gave my congratulations for his ascension. Then I gave my condolences for his failure to kill me. After that, I welcomed him to try his hand at killing me whenever he wanted, and flew back home. My den had floated away while I was gone, so I swiftly corrected it, and retook my position watching the void.
Time passed, and through it, the new king Mel stopped by with a group of warriors to take me up on my offer. More than once, actually. Hundreds of tries, hundreds of plans, and hundreds of failures. But each time I’d ask him what he learned, occasionally he would even answer before storming off. He would say things like, “level two enchantments weren’t enough,” or “if poison doesn’t work, I’ll try acid!” It wasn’t much, but it was progress, and it was amusing.
One day, while lounging around my den, thinking about what I wanted to eat that year, I spotted something moving in the void. At first, I assumed it was King Mel coming to try to kill me again, but as it grew closer, I realized it was much too large to be a ship. In fact, it was almost as large as I was.
Looking closer, I saw that it was another dragon like myself. Ah, perhaps this is the day I die after all? King Mel will not be happy about this. I thought, and laid my head down in waiting for my visitor.
“Hail, father! Agba of Ofo!” A familiar voice called out. Opening one of my eyes, I saw the face of my youngest son. Now his face looked very different from mine. He looked old, his frills went all the way down to his neck, and his skin grew wrinkled and grey.
“Hail, son. Throm of… where did you end up?” I asked, closing my eye again.
“With mother in the realm of falling leaves.” Throm answered.
“You’ve sure gotten old.” I said.
“Not all of us cower from death in realm between realms. I faced my mortality with grace.” Throm said. I did not need a psionic connection to tell he was upset.
“As one should.” I agreed, and scratched an itch behind my frills.
“Mother is dying, father. She wishes to see you.”
“She is welcome, anytime.” I said.
“She is too sick for interplanar traveling spells.”
“How long has it been?” I asked.
“She has been growing frail for the last four thousand years. I fear she has less than one hundred years left.”
“I see, then I will visit. One last time.”
“How long will you be able to say, father?”
“An hour, at most.”
“Then I will inform mother. When will you come?” Throm asked. I stood up, to my full height, and began casting a planar traveling spell. While I did that, I cast another spell on my den. One that would serve as a final farewell to King Mel, and as an apology for him not being the one who kills me.
“We will go now.” I said, and finished the spell. With a bright flash of light, we burst through the walls of the realm of falling leaves, and appeared beside my love.
As soon as we arrived, I felt the years begin, but my heart was lightened when I saw my love, Ti. She was laying on a small nest made of cloth and leather. Her small body rested cozily, but stirred when we appeared. She raised her head, now no larger than that of a human’s chest, and smiled upon seeing me. “Oba!” She called out, reminding me of a name long forgotten. “My love!” I laid down beside her next, and she moved from it, to my snout. “You came.”
“Yes, my love. To spend my final moments with you.”
“Father has but an hour, Mother.” Throm said.
“An hour is an eternity for an immortal, and not nearly long enough.” I said. Ti removed herself from my snout. Not by choice, but because it was no longer large enough for her to rest on. The years were catching up with me, quickly. I looked down at my claws, and saw that they had lost their golden shine, and were now wrinkled and yellow.
“Ah, a much more manageable size.” Ti laughed. “Throm, you will need to cast the spell when it is time.”
“Yes, Mother. I am aware.”
The next hour went wonderfully slowly as my love and I laid side by side with one another quietly, enjoying each other’s presences and linking our minds one last time. Once I reach the same size as her, we knew it was time to part for the last time. Throm cast the spell, as I was no longer capable of doing so, and we move into the far reaches of the realm of falling leaves.
“Thank you, my son.” I said, feeling my last moment come upon me.
“Father, before I go… you’ve lived so long. What did you learn?”
“I learned the final lesson all immortals learn; waste not a moment.” I told him, as my heart tore itself in two.
“Goodbye, Father.” With that, Throm vanished, and returned to his mother’s side. Five…. I gaze out into this new void, and thought how clustered it was. Four… it was filled with so many things. Three… Stars, planets, people, and who knows what else. Two… I used the last of my strength, and cast one final spell. One… I want to do it all again, from a new perspective.
Screaming filled my ears, a woman’s I believe. I tried to open my eyes, but they were too weak, so instead I trained my ears. People were talking. New people. I touched their minds with my own, and saw through their eyes. A humanoid woman had just given birth. To a small baby boy… a dragon-kin boy… to me, I think.