Chapter 47: The Princess and the Sky |
Antaria woke up and sighed. Her bed – or what passed for her bed – was getting kind of crowded. Upon returning, the wolf pups had insisted on once again curling up to her at night. That was fine, and they were wonderfully cuddly, but they were also a lot bigger. As in… she could now legitimately ride on them the way she would a horse.
And then there was Filch. The raccoon had evidently decided that the only real way to sleep was to curl up to her too. He claimed it was to protect her in case someone tried to assassinate her while she was sleeping. She might have believed him if she wasn't sleeping in a house made by a dryad with giant wolf pups around her, not to mention the monsters who had decided that sleeping next to her house was the proper thing to do since she was their leader.
Yeah.
She wasn't buying it. Filch liked cuddles and belly rubs, and she happened to give out plenty of both. It didn't hurt that whenever she made breakfast in the morning, she always went out of her way to make some for him too – as well as the pups. She really couldn't say no to those adorable faces of theirs.
But as comfortable as her sleeping arrangements had become, getting up each morning was something of a chore. Filch wasn't too bad. As a raccoon, he wasn't very heavy at all. The only problem was that he'd usually spend at least half an hour clinging onto her like some kind of shadow-walking monkey.
The wolf pups, though, were another story.
"Come on," Antaria grumbled as she tried to sit up, only to fail miserably thanks to the wolf pup sprawled across her belly. "You do this every morning. Up."
The wolf mumbled in his sleep, and Antaria rolled her eyes before exerting her strength and simply lifting the wolf pup off her stomach and then prying the others off her as well. They grumbled but swiftly moved to fill the space where she had been as she headed outside with Filch clinging onto her.
A few of the monsters outside greeted her as she passed, making her way toward the spot she liked to cook in. She could have asked for a stove or a hearth in her house, but she felt a bit weird asking a dryad to make a place for a fire in a house that was basically alive. Instead, she'd found a nice spot near a small stream where she could cook over an open fire.
Preparing her food by the stream also gave her a chance to peek over at the village to see how they were doing. With all the new recruits they'd gotten, there were plenty of people settling into new lives. She'd been surprised by the new houses that had been waiting for them when they got back, but Corundum had explained that he wasn't about to let anyone say that the people of his domain lived in squalor.
The new recruits had certainly been happy. In the cities, it wasn't unusual for people who weren't wealthy to live in crowded buildings that had seen much better days. A new house with water and sanitation? That was a luxury – and something the new recruits had been only too happy to accept.
There hadn't been any real trouble between the villagers and their recruits, likely because Corundum had made it clear that if there was trouble, he would deal with it. Permanently. Even so, Antaria and the others had made sure to consider people's characters before recruiting them.
As Doomwing had remarked, it was possible to fix ignorance, but it was a lot harder to fix stupidity. When it came to recruitment, Antaria thought it was worth considering a variant of that advice. It was possible to fix ignorance, but it wasn't possible to fix being an asshole. She'd shared that phrase with Harald, and the dwarf king had chuckled and said that he'd used a similar criterion when choosing who to recruit as well.
A settlement was made up of people, and people weren't just pieces on a game board. Regardless of their skills and talents, if they couldn't get along and cooperate, it just wouldn't work. Doomwing had said much the same when she'd spoken to him about it. Apparently, even primordial dragons had issues like that.
"I will not pretend that all of my kind get along," Doomwing had told her. "So during Catastrophes, I would often have to consider their relationships when deciding their deployments. Squabbles are all well and good, but such foolishness during a Catastrophe could cost all of us our lives."
Antaria tried to imagine it – a bunch of giant, fire-breathing reptiles heckling each other while trying to save the world – and found the idea strangely comforting. It was nice to know that even dragons weren't immune to petty bickering.
As Antaria began to prepare her breakfast, she received the first of her petitioners for the day. It was part and parcel of being the leader of this area. People came to her with their problems, and she had to decide whether she should deal with them personally or delegate them to someone else.
For the time being, she was able to deal with most things herself, but their population was growing quickly enough that she'd have to work out some kind of hierarchy of officials soon. Thankfully, the education that Corundum was giving her in her dreams was proving quite helpful in that regard. At the very least, he'd given her many, many, many examples of what not to do if she wanted to succeed.
She split her attention between the petitioner and the food she was preparing. It wasn't anything complex: bread, cheese, milk, and various kinds of meat. She was quite looking forward to the meat. They'd run into a giant scorpion yesterday, and it had been powerful enough that the monsters had called her over to deal with it.
A few bashes with a rock over the head later, and the scorpion was dead. But what to do with it? Corundum had suggested using the stinger and various other parts of the scorpion to make potions that would allow certain monsters to further their Ascension. However, the meat of the scorpion could also be consumed. Antaria had been leery of eating it – it was a scorpion – but a quick taste had convinced her.
The petitioner – a young farmer – finished speaking, and Antaria nodded. "I'll see about sending one of the giant moles over to your fields later today. They should have that rock handled in not time. You should also have them check the area for any other problems too, and if you need them to level the ground, get them to do that before they leave."
The farmer nodded gratefully. The rock in question was more of a boulder, and breaking and moving it would have been quite a difficult task for a typical human. Sure, the villagers were gradually opening themselves to magic, but the process could be quite slow, and none of them had anything close to her power although there were a few who might make good hunters or warriors. A giant mole could shatter the boulder in moments before using their magic to fix up any other problems with the ground.
It wasn't long before Antaria's meal was ready, and Filch was miraculously awake enough to have some scorpion meat. He was soon joined by the wolf pups who trooped out of her house and loped over to her with wagging tails and hungry eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I made enough for you as well." She gave each of them an affectionate scratch behind the ears. "I'm just glad you've already started your Ascension."
The wolf pups were currently wind wolves, and they spent their days training in how to take advantage of their newly gained abilities. They were far faster than wolves should be and were capable of using wind magic, most often in the form of cutting blades to enhance their teeth and claws. Their mother had become a sky wolf, and she was happy to roam the skies over the villages, scouting for threats and driving off would-be trouble.
According to Corundum, had the wolf pups not already started along a particular path, it was likely that eating the flesh of a powerful giant scorpion would have turned them into toxin wolves. The name alone was bad enough, and his description of what a toxin wolf was only made her happier that the wolf pups were already wind wolves.
Poison wolves were basically made of toxins. Their fur was covered in poison. Their teeth and claws were venomous. Even the air they breathed could be toxic. For obvious reasons, poison wolves were not very popular amongst other monsters, and she could only imagine how inconvenient it would be if the wolf pups had turned out like that. No more cuddles for one, and no more loping around the village and hanging out with other monsters either.
After breakfast was training. When she'd first started, the thought of eating before being subjected to the torture that Doomwing considered training had horrified her. Why eat when it was only going to come back up anyway? However, one of the perks of her increased power was a much faster and far more efficient digestive system.
Her stomach settled much more quickly, and her body produced far less waste. It had freaked her out a little at first, how infrequently she needed to use the bathroom, but she'd gotten used to it. If anything, she was happy. It gave her more time to do other things.
When she got to the training ground, an immense shadow fell over her. She looked up.
"Has anyone told you how terrifying it is that you can just… sneak around despite being absolutely enormous?"
Doomwing smiled. "I would hardly call a mere tenth-order spell sneaking around."
"Tenth-order?" Antaria sighed. "I'm pretty sure most human mages would sell their firstborn child to you to learn something like that."
"It would be pointless. Most human mages lack the skill or power required to cast such a spell. Besides, anyone willing to sell their child for such a spell is not the sort of person I would trust with it in the first place." Doomwing's smile widened. "Such spells are best used for when you don't want to be bothered but don't actually want to surprise anyone truly dangerous."
"Ah." Antaria nodded. "I imagine surprising another dragon could be dangerous."
"For the landscape, perhaps, but not for me." Doomwing nodded at Corundum. "Corundum tells me that you are progressing well. Your mastery of floating and gliding runes is improving rapidly, and you have further honed your grasp over a variety of combat techniques. You have also organised our new recruits here acceptably."
Antaria shrugged. "They're a good bunch, nobody too troublesome. It's more helping them settle in and showing them how we do things around here. They get along okay with the villagers, and they're all doing what they're supposed to."
"Good. What of the clan of assassins?"
Antaria glanced at Corundum. She'd already talked to the doppelganger about this, but perhaps Doomwing wanted her to explain again. "You already know that Lyra is here training with Corundum."
The doppelganger snorted. "For an assassin, her stealth is pathetic and her knowledge of poisons, traps, and other techniques is sorely lacking. As for her shadow-walking, Filch is already better than she is. However, she is determined."
"If we're going to have assassins, we might as well have decent ones." Antaria snickered. "But, yes, she and her clan are taking this really seriously. Once I beat the crap out of all of them, they decided that the best way to succeed is to join Team Doomwing."
"Team Doomwing?" Doomwing asked.
"Well, I can't really call it Team Antaria since I'm working for you, can I? There's a saying: ride the wave or be smashed by it. You're the wave, and they'd much rather join the winning side and acquire power through dedicated service than make enemies out of us and get exterminated." There were people who would absolutely have chosen death over kneeling, but Lyra's clan wasn't like that. They'd survived by knowing when to submit and when to try their luck. With Doomwing around, they could see the writing on the wall. "I brought a few others over too, mostly to watch the new recruits, make sure nobody tries anything or gets into any trouble. As for the others, I asked them to start infiltrating merchant companies and the like. With the way things are going, we'll have a lot of merchants coming around, along with plenty of people looking for a new start. Having eyes and ears amongst them seems like a good idea."
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Doomwing nodded. "Yes. I am glad to see that your lessons have begun to bear fruit."
Well, it was hard not to learn something when she was being lectured every night by a dragon who'd probably forgotten more about everything than most people ever learned about anything.
"So… what are we doing today?" Antaria asked.
"Your progress with gliding and floating runes is acceptable. Your progress with flying runes is not. There is no reason you shouldn't already be able to perform at least a basic rune of flight."
Antaria grimaced. Her progress had not been as swift as she'd like when it came to flying. She could see the runes involved, but she just couldn't make them herself. She wasn't sure why. Corundum had suggested it was a mental block of sorts since her skills were more than sufficient for the task.
"It could be going better."
"Today, we will be fixing that."
Doomwing took to the air, and Antaria bit back a scream as his telekinesis seized her and carried her up with him. Corundum followed at a more sedate pace. They flew up and up until even the clouds had been left behind. From here, it was easy to see the curvature of their world, along with vast oceans, plains, mountains, forests, and so many other things.
"This…" Antaria smiled. "It's quite a view."
"It is," Doomwing agreed. "And you are only enjoying it because of my magic. At this height, the air is incredibly thin and cold. In time, you will learn how to sustain yourself using only your magic, but until then, you should avoid heights like this."
"I'll keep that in mind." Sustaining herself using only her magic? Would that allow her to go underwater without drowning? If so, that would be incredibly handy. "What now?"
"And now you learn to fly."
"Huh?" Antaria's eyes widened as she began to fall back toward the ground. "Hey! You can't just drop me from up here!"
Doomwing merely tilted his head to the side. "I can – and I did. Your inability to properly use a rune of flight is almost certainly mental in nature. Given your tendency to learn best under pressure, dropping you out of the sky is perfectly reasonable."
"What? That's… ah!"
Antaria flailed wildly as Doomwing gave her a little telekinetic push to send her plummeting toward the ground. But a smirk soon crossed her lips. "I can just use a rune of floating or gliding. I don't have to fly to land safely."
She concentrated and began to form a rune – only for that rune to shatter like glass. The magical backlash sent her spinning wildly end over end, and she cursed as her body momentarily went numb.
"What was that?"
Corundum drifted over to her. The doppelganger had folded his wings to match her speed. "I will be preventing you from using any runes or magic to slow your descent other than runes of flight."
"…" Antaria reached out to grab the doppelganger only to miss as he gracefully banked away. "Are you crazy? I'll die if I hit the ground!"
"That is unlikely. Given your present durability, you would most likely survive hitting the ground since wind resistance will eventually prevent you from accelerating any further." He paused. "Of course, hitting the ground will still be extremely damaging and painful. However, based on your current trajectory, you won't hit anything important."
"What about me? I'm important! And I'll be hitting the ground!"
"If you have enough time to yell," Corundum said. "You have enough time to try using a rune of flight."
Antaria bit back a curse and took a deep breath. She could do this. She had seen a rune of flight. All she had to do was copy it, and she could fly back up there and kick Doomwing… or maybe not because as tough as she'd gotten, she'd probably just break her leg again.
Her brows furrowed, and the rune began to take shape. It was almost there, just a few pieces were – damn it! The rune came apart, and she hissed as the backlash rippled through her. Cancelling a rune was one thing, but trying and failing a rune could definitely be painful, especially given her inexperience with them. It might be her increased power. She was putting more power into her runes now, which might be making the backlash bigger.
She tried again and then again, only to fail both times. Why couldn't she do this? All her life, she'd dreamed of being free, and what was freer than being able to fly? Yet now that it was within reach, she couldn't do it! There had to be something she was missing, something that she was forgetting –
There was a rush of wind, and then Doomwing was diving alongside them. The massive dragon was perfectly at ease in the air, moving with the sort of grace and agility that a sparrow would have envied.
"I can see your problem," Doomwing remarked. "It is simple."
"What is it then?" Antaria asked. "Because I'm trying my hardest, and it's not working."
"Your mind is full. Full of doubts. Full of assumptions. Full of how you think the world works." Doomwing's eyes gleamed. "A rune can change the story of the world, but you must believe that the story can be changed. Gliding is easy. Anyone can do it. I have seen humans glide after sewing blankets together. Floating? More of a stretch, but not so different, especially when you are close to the ground. But flight? True flight is something different. It something that almost everyone human wants. What human child has not stared at a bird and wished they could fly? What human child has not heard of dragons and wished they too could rule the skies?"
Doomwing loomed, so close that she could have reached out to touch his snout. "But humans cannot fly – and you know this, deep down inside. Yes, there is magic, but that is not the same, is it? They cannot fly the way birds can, the way dragons can." He paused, and then growled. The sound threatened to send her tumbling away until his telekinesis steadied her. "And that is why your rune fails. How can you ask the rune to change the story of the world when you yourself doubt that it can be changed?"
"You want me to forget that humans need magic to fly?" Antaria asked. "That's… everyone knows that humans need magic to fly. How can you expect me to believe that I can just… fly like a bird?"
"I am Doomwing, and I am a dragon. The skies were made for me. Even without wings, I could fly." And then he did just that, a rune of flight allowing him to soar without using his wings. "You are a human, but you serve me. And I am telling you that you can fly."
Antaria stared at him in disbelief. "You can't just tell me to fly and expect me to be able to fly!"
"Why not? I am Doomwing. Who knows magic better than me? Who knows the skies better than me? I am Doomwing, and I am telling you that you can fly. You may doubt yourself, but never doubt me, and I am telling you to fly. So fly."
"Gah!" Antaria hissed and clenched her fists. "It's not that simple!" She began to form the rune again. "You can't just order me fly and expect me to do it – huh?"
The rune snapped into place. Her magic flared, and she stopped falling. Instead, she began to rise, somehow moving toward Doomwing as the dragon paused in his descent. He stared at her with the smuggest expression she had ever seen in her life, and she couldn't help it. She found herself lancing through the air as she heaved a kick at his side.
"Agh!" Antaria screamed, clutching at her broken leg. "Why didn't you stop me from kicking you?"
"I was curious to see if you were actually foolish enough to make contact." Doomwing chortled, his smugness slowly beginning to ebb. "But I was right. You are flying, and all I had to do was order you to do it."
"…" Antaria's eye twitched.
She hated the fact that he was right, but at the same time, she could understand why it had worked. The story of the world was a tricky thing. Asking it to change, so she could be stronger wasn't that weird. She was just doing more of stuff that she could already do. Even floating and gliding weren't that weird. But as Doomwing had pointed out, flight was different. Human's couldn't fly without magic. Everybody knew that. It was a fact of life. But to use runes to fly, she needed to make the runes, and that required her soul – and her soul, deep down, struggled to grasp the concept of her flying, no matter how much she wanted to.
But Doomwing was different. As crazy as it sounded, she probably trusted him more than anyone she'd ever met. It wasn't that he couldn't lie. It was that he would never bother to lie about something like that. He was a primordial dragon, one of the most powerful beings in the world and probably the best magic user in the world. What reason did he have to lie? And so when he told she could do it… well… even if she had doubts about herself, she would never doubt his analysis when it came to magic.
And so here she was… flying… with a broken leg.
"Do you think you can fix my leg?" Antaria asked quietly. Her gaze was locked onto the world below them. It had been beautiful before, but looking at it now, seeing it while flying under her own power… it was something else.
"Yes." Doomwing's magic flowed into her. "Amongst dragons, there are few occasions as important as a hatchling's first flight." His voice softened. "We are sons of wind and flame. To fly… to soar through the skies… that is our birthright… our destiny. The skies belong to us." He paused. "And now… they belong to you as well."
He turned and began to fly off. "Follow me. Now that you can fly, you need to practice."
"Are you planning something?" Anataria asked, hastening to catch up. Flying was weird… it was… it was almost like having an extra set of muscles she'd never noticed before. But it was amazing, maybe the most amazing thing she'd ever experienced. She was tempted to try some tricks, but she wasn't sure if –
"Feel free to try things," Doomwing said as Corundum glided into place beside her. "You are like a hatchling flying for the first time. Some foolishness is to be expected. Better up here where you have time to recover than closer to the ground where you will simply crash."
"Did Elerion ever fly?" Antaria asked.
"Elerion?" Doomwing laughed. "No. Not under his own power. But he did try – and fail – many times. It was amusing." He glanced back at her. "I actually expected you to fail two or three times."
"…" Antaria stared. "What?" By failing did he mean hitting the ground? Would he have let her hit the ground two or three times? Knowing him? Probably.
"But you did well to get it on your first try. A reward is in order. That is why you need to practice flying."
"Wait… a reward?" Antaria's eyes gleamed. She wasn't about to say no to a reward.
"Yes. I have to return to my lair to collect the hoard of a friend. He has returned, and I will be giving it back to him. However, the… nature of certain items means that I have to handle them personally and cannot send them to him using magic. You will accompany me to my lair, and I will allow you to choose one item from it."
"One item from your lair?" Antaria rushed to catch up to him. She only succeeded because he was clearly flying at what he would have considered a snail's pace. "Any one item?"
"I did not say any one item. I will not permit you to choose anything that would stunt your growth, nor will I allow you to choose anything too dangerous."
"Wait… could I just ask for like… a giant golden statue or something?" Antaria asked.
"I have several extremely large golden statues – including two that were made in my likeness – but if you choose to squander this opportunity on something like that, then I have clearly overestimated your intelligence."
Antaria huffed. "I was just joking! I'm not going to pick something stupid like that. Hmm… maybe a weapon… or what about armour…? I'm going to have to think about this." She paused. "Isn't your lair in a volcano? Won't I die if I go there?"
"Yes. However, I will be using magic to ensure you do not die."
"Will we be stopping off to visit the dwarves?" she asked. "It might be nice to check in on them."
Doomwing shook his head. "No. They might ask why you are with me, and I would prefer to avoid any mention of my hoard. Dwarves are… much more prone to treasure-related madness than humans."
"Ah. Good point."