The circle of red widened and started roiling with different hues of crimson, as if it was a wine red sea being shaken up by the hand of an angry god. Suddenly, dozens more circles appeared next to it and all across the sky above us. There were more colored red, some were gold, silver, pure white, or even purple. All of them shifting and shimmering as if they were alive. The caravan came to a stop, the beetles needing to be calmed for the first time since we’d begun our trek. Everyone was terrified, pointing at the sky and rambling.
When the activity in the circles reached what seemed to be a fervor, they broke, tearing into rifts. I felt an immediate boost in strength as my Borne of Two Worlds ability activated. They were portals, and something was about to come through.
A massive claw gripped the edge of the first portal. Massive, red, and scaled, it was soon joined by another on the opposite end. Slowly, a powerful and massive head broke through. It was covered in blood red scales, its massive yellow eyes visible even at the extreme distance we were from it. The beast pulled its body halfway through the portal, revealing wings that when spread they seemed to cast the entire world in shadow. It roared, revealing rows of black teeth, and I could feel my soul shake within my body as the vibrations in the air hit me. It was a dragon, terrifying, glorious, and radiating heat and strength so great we could feel it from the ground.
It pulled the rest of its body through, and its wing began beating, carrying it higher into the sky where it released a triumphant burst of flame before diving, and disappearing behind us. Leaving behind only a trail of smoke.
We sat and watched as this process was repeated with each of the other portals, releasing dragons of all types that flew with powerful wingbeats in different directions. After around a half hour, the portals had vanished, and a powerful new race had entered the world. A notification filled my vision.
A Choice has been granted through the efforts of champion Cormac
This Choice has been made
The god of XXXXX has welcomed dragons into this world
So that's what a choice could do. I'd remembered Ren complaining about the lack of dragons in the world, and the choice I'd earned him by completing the system quest had allowed him to bring them through. I wondered if his choice was related to the fact that I kept a different race from entering Tu'reyne, or if he could've done anything and merely chose that.
I dismissed the notification and looked around the rest of the camp. No one's eyes were on me, which was good. I’d only ever introduced myself as Cor, so that gave me a bit of cover. Not that I’d been shy about my origins before, but in my defense I hadn’t really realized the full scope of what was going on. A person's sense of scale is bound to change when they see dragons tear their way through portals and burst out into the sky above you. I saw people subtly move their heads as they dismissed the notification and started to talk to one another. I went to sit back down in the spot I’d claimed, when I noticed Zervrack behind me.
His eyes were wide and a sharp tooth smile was spread wide across his face. “This was you?” He asked, pointing up at the sky.
I looked around to make sure no one was listening before bending down to whisper. “Yes, but let’s keep it on the down low.”
Zevrack nodded and dropped to all fours, lowering his body as close to the beetle as possible. “Is this low enough?”
I sighed, but rather than arguing I just dropped down too. “Yeah, that’s fine. I didn’t know that dragons would be the result, in my defense.”
Zevrack nodded. “Yes, if you’d known I’d bet you would have worked much harder and made it happen sooner, yes?”
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“Uh, sure.”
The kobold started tapping his fingers excitedly. “I knew it was the right decision to allow you to be my companion. Now when I see the clan I can tell them that we helped bring the gods back into the world.”
“Yeah, let’s keep that between ourselves and Elle until then, okay?”
He nodded, his smile not leaving even though after being outside his pile of blankets and coats so long he was starting to shiver.
Geode started yelling at different drivers and guards. “Alright, let’s get moving! Yeah, dragons, very incredible, absolutely awe inspiring, but if we don’t want to camp in the snow or miss our schedule we gotta load up and scuttle out.”
I nodded, and stood back up to return to my post. Zevrack did the same, scurrying away and re-burying himself in his warm nest. I managed a glance back at Elle, who had that same feverish look I’d seen on her face in the past, as she scribbled furiously into a notebook, while a guard practically dragged her back onto her ride.
Once everyone had been loaded back up, Geode and the other drivers began pushing the beetles harder than they were before to make up for lost time. They didn’t complain, instead just moving their six legs as quickly as was asked of them. The change in speed was likely more difficult for the passengers than it was for them. The previously smooth ride became bumpy at this speed, and we skipped over a planned break trying to make up for lost time. We’d only just barely made it back into the caverns when it was time to stop for the night.
Once we were back in the caverns I found myself immediately beginning to miss the sun and sky above my head, and even the cold wind that had blown against us as we rode. I climbed down from the lead beetle and started helping people unload their camp supplies for the night, breaking off occasionally to help Geode with anything he needed.
Once we were done I got out my weapons and walked a short distance from the camp before I began going through drills, both to limber up after the long ride and just to train. I went through some basic motions, starting with bare handed shadowboxing, then I moved on to work with my dagger, then the sword. Finally I started to work on mixing and matching everything I’d picked up so far. Casting partial spells, while making strikes with my sword, adding in the occasional acrobatic movements. As I trained I felt my mind wander to watching the dragons emerge. The sheer power and force of them was unlike anything I’d experienced before. They reminded me of seeing a tornado, or a forest fire, but greater, even more destructive. The thought of them filled me with excitement, and I could feel my heart race even beyond where the training had brought it. I wanted to meet one of them, to see what else the world held. There were so many opportunities here that I’d never have had on Earth, I could explore it forever, build something here.
I finished off my training by burning out the last of my flash step spell, dividing it down to inches, and moving rapidly back and forth, trying to acclimate more to the disorientation that came with the spell. It was still odd, and felt strange every time I used it, but it was growing easier. I turned to walk back to the camp and dismissed the notifications I received showing I’d gained a point in both barehanded and acrobatics. Solid gains for the day.
Before I’d gone too far I heard a noise behind me, a kind of rapid flapping that was growing louder. I turned around and drew my sword just in time for a massive black shape to slam into me, rolling me across the ground until I was at the edge of camp. I forced myself up and started looking around for what had hit me. I couldn’t find it until I heard a scream and swiveled around to see a massive black pair of wings flying toward the ceiling of the cavern. There was a second scream and I swiveled to see two more shapes swooping down.
They were bats, massive and leathery with sharp fangs. Not nearly so cute as the ones I was familiar with on Earth. I activated a quartered stone toss spell, gathering the dust that surrounded me into a heavy rock and firing it at one of them as it made another pass. My shot struck true and it crashed into the ground just a few yards from me. I drew my sword and leapt, slamming it into the beast's neck and killing it instantly.
When I looked up, the other guards and Zevrack had all joined the fray. Confused and scared merchants fled to the safety of the beetles. Zevrack managed to leap onto one as it swooped and he let it carry him high into the sky as he started raking into it with his claws. There was a screech, and Zevrack managed to just barely drag himself onto it’s back and adjust it’s wings so that when the bat slammed into the hard ground he was able to leap safely off at the last minute.
The remaining bat was covered in cuts and hits from the dwarven caravan guards that remained. It made one more attempt at the merchants, managing to grasp Tinsel in its claws, but he surprised me by pulling a small dagger, seemingly from nowhere and cutting a deep gash across the creature's wing. It gave an unholy screech and collapsed, giving the dwarven guards a chance to finish it off.
I looked around, keeping my eyes and ears open for any more of the creatures, but sensing nothing. I turned to Zevrack. “Everything seems clear.”
He gave a nod and approached the bat I’d slain, lifting up one of its wings in his claws. I could see the gears turning as a smile slowly made its way across his face.