The Dragon King’s Palace was too large to traverse on foot, so, after a brief interaction in which Scorian inford Vivi and Embralyne that Cinereus was ready to receive them, the Lord Commander of the Royal Guard teleported away, expecting them to follow.
Vivi took an amused sort of pleasure in the choice of travel—in being around peers. Like dragons, she had also gotten used to warping space to move about rather than the tedious alternative. Why walk or fly when she could arrive sowhere in an instant? The normal answer would be ‘mana’ or maybe ‘warp disorientation,’ but dragons obviously didn’t have that issue.
A new location materialized around her. Tilting her head up to take in the enormous bulk of the huge entrance, she recognized the threshold to the throne room. Scorian swung the doors open and ushered them in.
The sight awaiting her and Embralyne was more than a little intimidating.
Embralyne had requested a private audience with her father, but that wasn’t what greeted them. The grand throne room was filled with at least thirty dragons, and though Vivi couldn’t read their strength at a glance, context told her that not one of them would be beneath Embralyne in level.
All had an oil-like sheen slicked over the sclerae of their eyes, making her magical senses shift uneasily.
Wonderful. It really is the whole palace.
A long red carpet led to the throne, and on either side of that pathway were lines of dragons in their humanoid forms, each bearing different hair and scale colors and extravagant armor.
To Cinereus’s left was Vulkarius, the Second Prince. He was dangerous in his own right, a martial prodigy to match Solfirus’s talent with sorcery, though he lagged a hundred levels behind the First Prince and thus didn’t worry Vivi too much. Solfirus stood to the King’s right. Both brothers bore the sa gray hair and orange eyes that Embralyne and Cinereus did and were dressed in outfits mixing regal finery with functional armor.
They appeared to Vivi’s sensibilities like n in their late thirties. That ant more than most people would assu. Elves and dragons were long-lived races and thus aged only with reluctance. Rafael approached two centuries old and seed to be in his mid-twenties. For Solfirus to even have lost a shred of his youthful appearance, his age had to make the bent-over, cane-wielding Aeris seem like a spring chicken.
Cinereus, though, was graying in the hair.
Even the five Heroes, the most absurd outliers in all of recorded history, hadn’t climbed to the heights the Dragon King had. Level eighteen hundred was generally reserved for Cataclysms only. Much less nineteen hundred. Regular people simply didn’t—couldn’t—accrue that sort of power without breaking themselves in so way. And usually, the world around them.
Yet the Dragon King had, through sheer perseverance. Across so many years, so many eras entirely, that he had gone gray in the beard. As an immortal.
Graying in the hair wasn’t to say he seed old and frail. He carried a distinguished look similar to Winston’s, vigorous despite his age. Vivi had seen many figures with heroic proportions, but the Dragon King trumped all, with his eight feet of height and posture that radiated an unshakable command.
Or at least… that was how he normally seed.
Now, he sat slouched on his throne—a throne set in front of an enormous dragon skull—with his crown askew atop his head and his eyes sunken into his face, dark shadows beneath.
The image unnerved Vivi more than she’d expected. She’d only known the Dragon King through a ga, yes, but without crossing into the realm of the literally mythical, he had been the example of the world’s powerhouse. Seeing him anything less than stiff-backed and dripping power and regality was just… wrong.
Vivi couldn’t imagine what Embralyne thought, seeing her father in such a state. Indeed, despite trying to hide it, the princess’s expression was nothing short of horrified. Vivi hardly had to ask whether this was the ‘sluggishness’ ntioned earlier. The mind-infection had progressed, and not by any small amount.
“My prodigal daughter returns,” Cinereus said—though Vivi didn’t think she could really call this Cinereus. Even his words ca out without the calm, assured strength of the man who had conquered the most powerful and unruly race in the world. Instead, he was quiet, nearly raspy. “And as a betrayer to our kind, no less.”
Embralyne almost staggered backward. “Father?” Despite surely recognizing that the words weren’t his own, she seed like she’d been slapped. “You—you misunderstand.” She looked around at more than two dozen of her kind staring her down, including the three eldest mbers of her family.
A frown tugged at Vivi’s lips. She had intended to silently hear out what this compromised version of Cinereus had to say, but on second thought, if he was just going to insult Embralyne?
Vivi would cut it short.
“They obviously know who I am,” she told Embralyne. “Why else show up with presumably every powerful dragon in the palace? These are the biggest threats, I assu?” As they’d talked about earlier, the mind-magic user—if it wasn’t so natural phenonon—had clearly gone down the hierarchy, ensnaring proper hosts.
Vivi’s question seed to ground Embralyne. “Y-yes. Yes, they are.”
“Then there’s no point in talking. Drink those potions.”
“You presu—” Cinereus began, but Vivi ignored him.
“[Blink].”
She teleported in front of the dragon. So sort of artifact, or maybe even reflexive magic from Cinereus himself, tried to intercept and reject the spatial jump—Vivi overpowered it and appeared anyway. With her staff already outstretched, the tip was perfectly positioned to press against the Dragon King’s forehead.
Vivi didn’t like ntal magic for all kinds of obvious reasons, but she didn’t have much choice. She didn’t think Cinereus would be bothered, assuming he ca out of this in one piece. Which she had high hopes for… but she also didn’t truly know what she was up against. It would be arrogant to assu total success, no matter how overwhelming her magical ability.
“[Mind Breach].”
As before, there was resistance. This ti, rather than shoving through, she slithered past. Force had its use, but so did subterfuge. A delicate touch was best in matters of the mind.
It was difficult—very difficult—but she managed. All visual and auditory senses vanished as she opened to a vast network of information. Not that she had remotely needed confirmation, but the black spiderwebs spreading through and around the construct that represented Cinereus’s mind removed any doubt that he was under the effects of highly skilled ntal manipulation.
She searched around. She hadn’t invaded Cinereus’s thoughts with the intent to peel away the foreign influence for the sa reason the Fourfla Amulet couldn’t be employed right away—too high a risk of psychic blowback when the effect was so entrenched. She would rather not leave the King of Dragons brain-damaged.
Instead, she’d broken through his defenses pursuing a suspicion. A part of her refused to believe Cinereus had been beaten so thoroughly. That he was completely helpless and at the whim of his opponent. Or at least that he hadn’t done sothing to resist.
There had to be a part of him blocked away, walled off, secluded. Because that was what she would have done, and if there was anyone in the world she would call a magical peer, it was this man.
The thing was, it would be hidden. To such an extent that even this opposing master of mind magic hadn’t been able to find it.
Thankfully, Vivi wasn’t a ‘master of mind magic,’ but rather a little beyond that.
Scrubbing through, she identified a pocket of Cinereus’s thoughts that didn’t quite fit the proper signature. It had been masquerading as another part of the insanely complex arcane lattice, but, if peered at closely, she could see it was separated—deliberately so.
She dove in.
Sight and hearing returned to her, and she was no longer in the Dragon King’s throne room with the tip of her staff brushing Cinereus’s forehead. Instead, she stood atop a tall cliff. Below was a vast city. Not as large as ridian, but enormous, dense, and clearly wealthy. The architecture didn’t look like anything she rembered. Made of white and yellow stones, with a rainbow of colored roofs.
On the horizon, a thunderstorm crackled red lightning. It lood over the city, approaching with a dreadful finality. The nacing aura in those dark, angry clouds clenched at her stomach.
My actual instincts, or part of the mory? she wondered.
Beside her was Cinereus. And this ti, as the proper King of Dragons, not the mimicry from before.
He stood straight-backed with his hands clasped behind him, hidden beneath a gray cloak. He wore dark plate armor across his chest and shoulders, but the rest was fine cloth and embroidered silk, as befitting royalty. His golden crown sat neatly atop his head. Orange eyes surveyed the city with a sad, serious calm.
“Sothing is wrong. I can feel it, but I can’t tell what.”
Cinereus didn’t look her way as he spoke those words, though she knew he’d sensed her at his side. Vivi almost sighed in relief. Even his voice was more like that of the man she rembered.
“And you don’t belong here, Hero,” Cinereus said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Having arrived in a mory—for lack of a better term—Vivi hadn’t kept her halfdragon disguise. She was in her usual demonic body. “In fact, I believe I explained to you what would happen if I saw you again.”
“Extenuating circumstances,” Vivi offered, trying to sound apologetic. “Where is here, though?” As usual, she found herself getting distracted by curiosities, even if she should stay focused.
Cinereus gazed out over the city and didn’t answer for a mont. “The city of my birth.”
Her eyebrows rose. Jeez. How old does that make this place? And more importantly—“It looks advanced.”
He caught the aning in that statent. “More than one civilization has been buried and forgotten. Mortals are not alone in that regard.”
The words were heavy enough that Vivi almost apologized, but before she could, Cinereus faced her fully.
“There is an emptiness in my mind that disturbs . I suspect you can explain. It’s why you’ve co here, isn’t it?”
Right. She should get to the point. She was on a ti limit, and not the most forgiving one. “You don’t know anything?” She waved a hand around. “What all of this is? What… you are?”
Cinereus waited calmly, not dignifying the question with a response.
Vivi cleared her throat. “Well. You’re a portion of Cinereus’s mind that you sealed away as an ergency asure. This is a safe haven masquerading as a mory. A place you hid from whatever infected you the mont you realized sothing was wrong. That’s my understanding, at least.”
He considered. “And yet here you are, invading my mind too. Having found that safe haven despite my best efforts.”
An awkward pause. “I’ve… grown more adept at mind magic since we last t.” And also every other form of magic.
His voice remained steady despite the implications. “I see. And what is happening, now, outside of this haven? That would draw the Sorceress to my domain?”
Well, the threat hadn’t drawn her so much as Embralyne had. But it was a reasonable assumption and the semantics didn’t matter. She answered, “We’re in the throne room. You and two dozen or so other dragons. All infected by mind magic. Not fully consud, from the looks of it, but you in particular don’t seem like you have much fight left before you’ll be taken over completely. And once you go, the rest of the dominoes will topple too. So to speak.” She had a suspicion Cinereus was the dam holding back the worst of the Cataclysm’s influence.
It wasn’t the most tactful way to put it, but untold years had tempered Cinereus; he focused on the threat to his kingdom without blinking. “That is troubling news indeed, if you are to be believed.”
She ignored that last part. “We don’t have forever to talk. He, or it, or whatever, is tracing the path I took to get to you.”
A short silence. “Even more troubling.” Thankfully, he didn’t add the ‘if true’ part again. He rubbed his chin, sounding unconcerned despite the circumstances. Rafael had apparently found a spiritual peer in his unflappability.
“I’m hoping you can explain what the threat is,” Vivi said. “If you know anything. It might help.” That was why she’d opened this encounter by delving into Cinereus’s mind. Anything that had posed a serious threat—and might even have won—against the King of Dragons was sothing Vivi wanted information on before engaging in combat.
He was quiet for a ti. Eventually, he answered in a way that Vivi didn’t imdiately follow. “Those beings you call Cataclysms. How many have you killed, Vivisari?”
“…seven?” Debatably a lot more, given recent events, but now wasn’t the ti for that discussion.
“How many do you suppose I have?”
That had Vivi’s brow furrowing.
Cinereus’s mouth quirked at one side. “Perhaps that is generous phrasing. Let try again. How many do you suppose I have strangled in their crib?”
“…I have no idea.”
He smiled. “How many were wrought by our own hands? Creations of n? Unnatural?”
She wasn’t sure where this conversation was leading, but she knew it had a point. “Most?” The ga had described a few of their origins in clear terms, but others were only hinted at or explicitly frad as in-world theories, not facts.
“Most,” Cinereus agreed. “The only one I can say with confidence was not created is the Elder Beast. You called it the Colossus.” A wistful expression touched his face. “I felt great lancholy when I heard of its death. It was ancient beyond even . Though I understand the necessity, there is sothing… wretched… about a fixture of the world being slain.”
Vivi remained silent.
“I digress. Forgive . I am an old man at heart.”
“I’m assuming you’re saying this thing is also a Cataclysm,” Vivi said. “Or with similar origins, aning… created by soone? The Selrath-Kyn?”
Were they responsible for most of the Cataclysms, in one way or another? Was that what Cinereus was implying?
“And you tried to kill it in its cradle, but it lived?” Vivi continued.
She only made those connections because she didn’t believe Cinereus would waste her ti. Though she would have preferred that he spoke plainly—unfortunately, that probably wasn’t in his nature.
“Do I seem like an incautious man, Vivisari?”
Yet another question t with a question couldn’t help but fill her with exasperation. But she humored it. He’d lived for at least five thousand years, maybe ten. Or more. Recklessness didn’t allow for that kind of lifespan, no matter one’s strength. She’d had that thought before.
“No.”
“When I eliminate a threat, I eliminate it thoroughly.”
“Yet it lived.”
“And apparently, I brought it back with . How curious.”
“Not to rush you or anything, but again, we’re on a ti limit. What’s your point?”
“When I discover old laboratories of the Selrath-Kyn, I do not stride inside to study their journals. I spend a month forming a plan to erase them from existence. From many miles away.”
It seed like her theory of ‘horror better left buried’ had been correct. “So it’s conventionally difficult to kill.” She had assud that anyway. “And you also don’t know much about it.” Because he’d tried to nuke it from a safe distance. He hadn’t ever investigated.
She admired the restraint, in truth. The more she heard about the Selrath-Kyn, the more she found herself begrudgingly fascinated with their work. Those ritual bone-shards in Vanguard’s vault were a source of considerable interest even now. Theoretically speaking, of course.
“Indeed,” Cinereus said. “I am saying do not try to kill it, because you might offer it an escape in doing so. Or worse.” He took on a grave expression. “However. I am certain that if you contain it, in any capacity—even a fragnt—and restore , then I can end it.”
She tilted her head. “Why not use that trump card to begin with?”
“So things are too costly to employ without absolute need.”
And destroying a laboratory that might contain a nascent Cataclysm hadn’t counted? Then again, Vivi supposed she didn’t know how many laboratories of the Selrath-Kyn the Dragon King had found over the years, and purged.
She wanted to talk more about that, but again—not the ti.
“Hm,” Vivi said.
No matter the predicant the Dragon King had found himself in, she knew he was wise, powerful, and cautious, so she would take him at his word. To be honest, if his scorched-earth approach hadn’t eliminated the threat, then—as he himself had suggested—she doubted she could kill the nascent Cataclysm either. It clearly didn’t die to normal magic, no matter how excessive or varied.
She could try putting together her own ‘ultimate solution,’ and it might even work. But that didn’t feel like the smart choice.
If the Dragon King said he had sothing that would definitely kill it, despite his earlier lack of success, she believed him. Honestly, that was why she feared him. Not for his raw strength. But because soone didn’t live for ten thousand years without picking up a few tricks.
“I’ll rely on you for finishing it off, then,” Vivi said. “But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. I need to break the enchantnt on your mind without killing or seriously hurting you.”
“It’s clear to that you believe you can do so. Despite my own apparent failures.”
“I have a strategy, yes.” She ntally winced. “You just might not like it.”
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