When the blue mist cleared, Darin found himself once more in the Hall of Dreamers. Without even thinking, he launched himself into the air and flew up the cliff. He searched around the nest, his fear driving him on for several seconds. “No bones. Oh thank god, no bones here.” He stated, before his gut twisted. “They would have died at some point. But what happened to them after that? Did they survive it all? Damn it, I’ll never find out…”
A few minutes passed with tremors racking his tiny frame, sobbing in silence for those he never met, unable to shed tears from his armored eyes. When he regained his composure, Darin looked back at the nest. Knowing who built he, he held it in greater respect. “To think, the first time I was here, I had such a bad perception of this place.” He pondered aloud. He took a moment to look around the area in greater detail, the amulet could only light up a small region inside the cave. Hundreds of nests filled the area around him, all nameless an lost in the giant cavern. Darin turned to leave, when one last though crossed his mind.
Two hours later, he spread his wings and took flight. He focused on the Hatchery and began to sense his way there. His forward claws ached, and showed signs of wear, but his expression was pleased. Holy place or not, he’d done what was required for him to find peace. Up on the ledge behind him, cut into the ancient stone, was a new inscription. It read in a simple script: SHADOW EMBER. With a small heart carved, between the names. Everyone else’s nest could remain nameless, but they would be remembered.
The first time he had escaped the Hall, it had taken him almost an hour to find an exit. Compared to Shadow’s excursions, the ten minutes it took him passed in a flash. He landed with grace and turned off the amulet before leaving. It was a handy thing, but he still needed to get it back to Greed in the next few days. That whole bitten in half thing, would be a bit of a downer. Before he made it through the Hatchery, he ran into the others. As ever, trouble was not far behind.
“What, you’re back? I thought you quit or rerolled.” The red whelp grumbled aloud.
“Where have you been?”
“Gave up when you got hungry?”
“He must not have found it, he’s still tiny.” Spikey suggested, looking a bit bigger than he used to.
“Do you need help searching for your shell? I know how large that cave-” Greenie began. Only to be interrupted, by a soft warning growl from the den mother. “I mean, I’ve heard about it from others.” She corrected herself.
“Well?” Blood Claw asked, being far more to the point than the whelps. When Darin nodded she focused on him with an intent graze. Startled, she shook her massive head and focused on him again. A few seconds later her jaw dropped and her lovely golden scales seemed to pale. The others looked between the two of them, some even trying to identify Darin. Seeing only his primary race, they failed to understand the change, beyond his level.
“What’s wrong Blood Claw?” Greenie asked, puzzled by the exchange. Darin was keeping quiet, as he was confused by her reaction as well.
“Not now Jana-Sorry, whelps. Hold on, I need some happy thoughts.” She declared. A moment later she reached into a small, scale-colored pouch on her hind leg and pulled out the sun flower belt. None of them could recall ever hearing her speak that way.
“Den Mother?” Greenie asked, surprised by the use of her name. Blood Claw sat with a thud, and wrapped the belt around her wrist. A moment later it clicked closed, granting her body a soft golden glow. “Oh, pretty…” Greenie stated, eying the belt(bracelet). The males seem to find it less eye pleasing, but none of them were dumb enough to say so. So much for guidance, Darin mused. Realizing he’d not eaten in a while he focused on the Dining Hall and took the first step.
“Hey runt, where the hell do you think you are going?” Red asked, blocking his way. His idiocy and strong opinions were starting to get annoying. The others simply watched, willing to enjoy the show without needing to risk anything themselves.
“I’m going to get something to eat, then I’m going to turn in a quest. After that, I need to go see the sky.” Darin stated, with a glance at the cave’s ceiling. This causes a murmur amongst the others. When the larger whelp didn’t budge, Darin decided to offer some incentive. “If you really want to stand in my way, it’s not like I can push you aside. But you can help me test my improved flames.” He could see the muscles in Red’s right arm tense, preparing to swipe. Sure he’s big but what an idiot, telling me his attack ahead of time.
“Learn your place freak. I’ll see the sky long before you do. I’ll help you understand why. I’ll show you what a true dragon looks like.” Red growled. A moment later he swung his claw, his muscles were huge but his speed was a joke. For Darin it seemed effortless to dodge. But he’d seen Shadow’s battle and knew this was child’s play. He was getting ready to strike back, when Blood Claw spoke.
“Enough of this pathetic play fighting. You, go see Greed before he bites you in half. You can see your sky, after the trials…if you do well.” She ordered Darin, reminding him of the late penalty. “And you.” She turned to face the other whelp. “You call that an attack? Even the black one’s tail whips are less predictable than that. Did you forget that you where challenging an opponent that can dodge? Or one that can fight back for that matter? Do you honestly plan to fight like that?” As Darin headed off down the hallway, he could still hear the Den Mother criticizing Scorch’s poor performance. He couldn’t help but snicker a bit on the inside.
A few minutes later, Darin found himself at the door to Greed’s lair. Much to his displeasure, the door was closed. He tried the door handle, but found it too high for him to reach. He flew up and grabbed it, but lacked the traction to turn it far. Knocking with the bottom of his claws, made too little noise. “Stupid door.” He grumbled. As no other dragons were around, he went ahead and tried flying body slam.
Crash: A solid door has dealt you 2 damage.
You have dealt 0 damage to a solid door.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“Stupid, damned door. Are you in there Greed?” He called out, but heard no reply for a few moments. In frustration, he reared back and struck the door as hard as he could with his beak. It produced a nice loud noise, as well as a pair system messages. The first window caused his hopes to soar, then the second helped them crash.
Racial ability unlocked: Mighty Peck
“A derivative of Crushing Bite, hurt your foe and your pride in one attack."
Attack: You deal 5 damage to a solid door, status inflicted Armor Break.
A solid door has dealt you 0 damage.
By magic, Greed has become aware of your actions.
Greed does not like vandalism. Reputation with Greed decreased.
“Vandalism? But all I was trying to do was knock.” He grumbled, a glance at his character showed him that he’d earned another point of Evil. He sighed. But so long as that was the worst of it, he’d live with it. He sat by the wall and waited, trying not to notice the new dent in the door. A few moments later he heard the rumble of a storm from down the hall. As the rumbling rounded the corner, a tired and very angry looking Greed closed on him.
“Greed, I was just-” Darin managed to say. The black dragon leapt forward, one large claw slamming him into the floor with excessive force. Caught by surprise, his world started to fade to black.
Subdue, Critical hit: Greed has pinned you down for 75 damage, it is Fatal...
Some of your equipment has been damaged.
You have died.
Your were killed by a faction NPC, faction relation decreased.
You are now 00.00% of the way to your next level.
“Holy shit. I only have 16 HP max, and he hit me for 75?” Darin grumbled, “I tried to knock and he killed me for it? If he’s gone aggro on me, I can’t turn in the quest…” As the mist receded, the three familiar tombstones came into view. This time Darin sat back on his haunches and thought it over. He hadn’t had a good stiff drink in a while, maybe the aggro timer would wear off before the quest ran out. At this point, that sounded like the best option. He started to reach for “Lounge” when a pop up message got in his way.
System Notification: Greed might have overreacted, a bit.
Greed is fully awake now.
Reputation with Greed has been restored to previous levels.
Reputation with faction has been restored to previous levels.
Reward offered by greed for your quest has been increased.
Quest time limit has been increased.
…
Greed is afraid of what Blood Claw might do, if you don’t come back soon.
Darin pulled his hand back from the tombstone and read the message. “At least I can finish the quest.” He said with some relief. Realizing how panicked the black dragon must be right now, he decided to count to 100 in his head before respawning. Given that he’d just killed his character, it only seemed fair to let him panic for a bit. He got up to 63 before another window appeared.
Quest: Get over here, now.
Blood Claw would like to have a few words with Greed. But she needs you there to do so. She wants to sort out this damned mess.
Greed will be unable to harm you during the quest.
Completion condition: Respawn, speak with Blood Claw and speak with Greed.
Reward: I’ll figure that out later.
Failure condition: Fail to complete the quest within 1 week.
Penalty: Your relationship with both will be strained, Greed will need to do a lot to return to her good graces...
“So the first one was clearly from Greed. But the second sounds a lot more like her. Honestly, even for AI, what is with the NPCs here?” He asked. He accepted the quest and reached for the Respawn grave. When the mists blurred and were replaced with the Hatchery, it was only Darin and Blood Claw in the room. The others had already been sent off it seemed. She gave him an odd look, she seemed to be at a loss for words. “Shall we then?” He asked.
In response, she sucked in a deep breath.
- - - - -
Author’s note: What an impish way to end a chapter. Bad author, bad. I think my dark sense of humor infected this chapter. Fear not folks, things have to get better…so they can get worse later. On a more serious note, I hope you enjoyed the read. Thank you to those who’ve helped me find errors. And thank you to all those who’ve been encouraging me with positive feedback!