Dragon Emperor

by Eric Vall

  Almost suspiciously so, I moved my forelegs under me. I focused on using the least amount of strength possible and ever so slowly lifted myself off the ground until I was almost in the perfect position to do push-ups. My claws scraped through the ground beneath me and formed deep gouges, and the part of me that wasn’t freaking out that I had turned into a dragon thought it was totally awesome that I had powerful claws.

  “Ok, you can do this. Just keep moving slowly,” I reminded myself as I moved my hindlegs the same way I had my forelegs. I swayed as I managed to stand without falling, and then I took a deep breath.

  As soon as I was standing, I stretched out my right foreleg, but my right wing unfurled at the same time and I started to lean off balance again.

  “Shit!” I groaned, but right before I face planted on the ground, I managed to catch my balance by unfurling the other wing. That managed to keep me upright for the moment, but I wouldn’t be able to get far with my wings open. It felt like I was balancing a table on my back with my wings open.

  I flapped a wing curiously and fanned up a ton of dirt and dust that ended up in my mouth. The bright side was that I could taste dozens of different flavors. The downside was that more than a few tasted like literal shit. Lovely guano.

  “Note to self,” I grumbled, “don’t try that again in a cave.”

  Flapping my wings was out of the question, and I wondered how I could close them. I thought about the muscles in a human hand, the way they would clench and unclench. Maybe it would work if I thought of my wings as hands?

  I focused on the tendons in my wings, and they twitched slightly. “Come on, just a little more,” I growled out.

  Another flex, just like how I would flex my hands, and they folded tightly onto my back. I let out a sigh of relief. That was one disaster averted. There was so much of me that I had to be conscious of. I felt like a baby learning to walk, I needed to focus on every single movement I made and how I made it.

  “Okay, baby steps,” I said with my favorite Bill Murry movie in mind as I focused on my right foreleg. I stretched it forward and planted it on the ground in front of me, and then I did the same thing with my left hindleg. I repeated it with my left foreleg and right hindleg. I had to do alternating limbs at the same time, which was the trick of it. Even so, I wobbled forward, like a newborn foal on legs that were too big for his body. Only, my new body was just too big for me. I stumbled and tripped with every other step, and my tail swayed behind me as it trailed along the floor and left more grooves in the ground.

  I probably looked ridiculous, but at least I was mobile.

  Once I’d gotten somewhat used to moving, I followed the stream of fresh air. The crystals in the walls lit up my way through the stone passage, so I stumbled around stalagmites that rose from the ground in the general direction my nose told me to go. Stalactites also hung down from the ceiling, and some of them grazed the spines that lined my back as I walked. It wasn’t uncomfortable, the stalactites broke off easily, but each time it happened, it felt like a blunt pencil poked my back.

  The air continued to clear as I went further. I smelled less and less stagnancy, for lack of a better word, and while I could feel that there was life in the cave, energy that pulsed within the earth and crystals, it smelled off.

  Decomposition was what it reminded me of. The smell of bodies that had already begun to rot away in a confined space.

  That couldn’t be good.

  I heard rather than felt the crunch underneath my claws. In a jerky movement, I leaned my head down to look at what I had stepped on. My heart nearly stopped. Bones. Hundreds upon hundreds and thousands of bones. There were some that were stained yellow with age. There were others that still had flesh and sinew. It was a mass grave of human skeletons and animal skeletons, and I didn’t know where one began and the other ended.

  “What the hell did this?” My heart rate slowed, and I could hear my blood pound in my veins with furious anger as my lips curled back in a snarl.

  When it came to hate and anger, these negative emotions had run hot within me as a child. Before my mother died, she tried to teach me to meditate and calm the rage that burned furiously inside of me. Aunt Emma continued that after she had died. My aunt had also been the one who had paid for my martial arts classes and did everything she could do to calm that white hot anger inside of me.

  She had said that it ran in our family’s blood, that we felt everything too deeply and purely. We could only be happy or sad or angry, a single emotion would fill us all up. Aunt Emma had also said I couldn’t let it control me, that I had to control the anger.

  My eyes narrowed onto a skull. It was a child’s skull.

  I slammed my eyes closed, and then I took in a breath to calm myself, to focus deep inside of myself and find a stillness. I listened past the sound of my heart and the blood that pounded in my ears, and instead I focused on the natural sounds of the cave. The drip of water as it trailed down the stone walls. The flutter of bats and the insects that dwelled in the holes along the walls. Of snakes that slithered across the ground.

  And then I heard sounds that did not belong.

  It was a sudden noise that echoed in the stillness. A yell. A clash of metal upon stone. A voice.

  A scream that pierced the quiet world of the cave.

  There were people here.

  My eyes snapped open, and I lifted my nose in the air as I strained to smell where they were. To hear where they were. I didn’t know what I was doing, though. There was too much to listen to at once, too many smells and sounds that suddenly assaulted me. I didn’t know what to look for, what to focus on.

  I took a deep breath. Metal. Focus on that. On the smell of warmth and living things and sunlight. They lingered, however, just on the edges of my senses. I growled, a sound that echoed loudly throughout the cave and caused smaller stalactites and stalagmites to crumble into pebbles. Then I bounded through the tunnels of the cave.

  Or at least I tried to. I probably looked like a giant toddler, or a drunk bull in a china shop, as I careened through the cave, but at least I was moving. Still, I did trample a number of stalagmites along the way.

  I had to move quickly, though. There were people in danger, people that needed help from whatever dangerous creature lurked inside this place and lived among the damp, old stone. I didn’t even know what I could do when I reached them. I was a dragon for fuck’s sake, it wasn’t like I could stitch them back up like this. But I couldn’t just stand around. I had to do something. I had to try, even if it was just buying them time.

  “Please, be alive, just hang on.” I prayed that by the time I reached them, they wouldn’t have joined the angry ghosts that surely haunted this sorrowful place.

  My claws dug into the compacted earth beneath me, and my scales scraped against the cave walls whenever the space became smaller. I forced my way through the discomfort, though, because it was only temporary, it was something I could deal with.

  I came to an underground lake, and the sounds and smells of the fight seemed closer. The lake spanned a mile, maybe two. Sadly, it wasn’t a distance I could jump, even with the body of a dragon. I would only crash into the ceiling, and even if I didn’t give myself a concussion, I would still bring the ceiling down upon me.

  There were fewer cave crystals in the area around the lake, but my improved dragon eyesight still allowed me to see through the darkness surrounding me.

  My only choice was to swim across the lake, so I drew in the deepest breath I could manage to fill my lungs. Then I dove in.

  I thought the water would be freezing, but the range of temperatures I could comfortably tolerate seemed to have expanded, and the water kinda felt nice along my scales. Before I had jumped in, I had kind of wondered if I was a cold-blooded reptile, but it seemed that wasn’t the case, since I could feel my body heat pulsating out into the inky liquid around me. It was also way easier to swim than it was to walk, and I shot through the lake as easily as Michael Phelps had when h
e won all his gold medals.

  Strange fish filled the lake. They had scales that glowed brightly in the dark waters. Their bodies reminded me of the crystals that had lined the cave ceiling, and I wondered what species they were.

  Classification: Crystal fish, commonly found deep in underground lakes.

  It was like I was playing a video game and the on-screen narration flashed in front of me. I knew what the fish was simply because I wondered about it, but I didn’t have much time to consider this new development. I’d already reached the other end of the lake and arrived at where I had heard the sounds of battle.

  I peeked my head slowly out of the water so that no one would see me and looked at the source of the battle.

  Five people stood with their backs to the water, and because of that, to me.

  Classification: Five Demi-Humans. Two wolves. Three dryads.

  Priority: Immediate healing required.

  Status: Mortally wounded.

  I could see bushy tails and wolf ears on two of the people, and their hair and tails were a soft gray color. The three dryads had green hair of different hues. One of the wolf Demi-Humans drew my gaze, and I could see the strength in her back as she held up one of her comrades and gripped a broadsword in her free hand.

  Exhaustion was evident in their frames. Blood dripped from wounds that littered their bodies, and I could see crimson puddles of it on the floor of the stone cave.

  My eyes widened at the sight, but then I saw what they fought against.

  Two giants made of stone approached them, but it looked like a third had already been felled and had crumbled into a thousand rocks. The two giants that remained were formed of boulders with smaller ones at their joints, and they towered over the group of five adventurers. The rock giants were maybe twenty feet high and almost the same size as me.

  Those people didn’t stand a chance.

  As I watched, one of the dryads formed a wall of roots to slow the giants’ approach while another dryad tied tourniquets and pressed rags against the wounds of her companions.

  I had to do something, I had to. I couldn’t just sit around in the water and watch as these people were slaughtered. I was an EMT for crying out loud.

  But I didn’t know what I could do. I couldn’t help treat those wounds, I would just make them worse. I was too big for that now.

  Wait. I was too big for that now.

  I couldn’t do anything about the wounds, but I could do something to stop the giants. I was a dragon, after all, and if I knew one thing about dragons in video games and movies, it was that they were fire and death.

  I grinned to myself. The stone giants wouldn’t know what hit them.

  I rose out of the water with a roar that echoed throughout the cave. “Get away from them!”

  Everyone, including the pair of stone giants, flinched, swung their eyes around, and stared at me with shock clear on their faces, but I didn’t give them time to react. I just stepped protectively over the group of adventurers and faced down the two stone giants. I could smell the blood and decay that seeped out of the monsters from the bits of flesh that clung to their stone teeth, and I could also see shards of white bone tumble from their maws as they stumbled forward. They were the cause of the mass grave I had found earlier. They had eaten those people and cast their remains aside as if they were nothing more than trash.

  I wouldn’t let them add more bones to that mountain.

  My claws tore up the ground beneath us, and the earth groaned as I felt power vibrate in the air, and I realized that the energy I felt was within me.

  It was my rage, and it begged to be used.

  Without knowing exactly what to do, I opened my maw wide, and I could feel the energy and power swirl within my throat. Then I let loose what should have been a great wave of fire that would have melted the stone giants into a puddle.

  But a molten wave of fire did not leap out of my maw.

  What did come out of my mouth was a giant cloud of rainbow glitter that shimmered and twisted through the air like an overzealous smoke machine at a rave. The rainbow-glitter-dust filled almost the entire cavern and settled on everything like a light blanket of party confetti. When the multi-colored fog cleared, I shifted my head to look at the giants.

  They somehow didn’t have any glitter on them, and they seemed totally unaffected by my magic.

  One of the stone giants opened their mouths and laughed, and it was a gravelly sound that grated on my ears and made them ache.

  Shit.

  I looked down at myself for a moment. I was a dragon, right? A monster of legend who caused death and destruction? What the fuck was with the rainbow glitter? Was I some sort of party dragon?

  Both stone giants stepped toward me, and I felt my heart hammer in my big chest. I was going to have to fight these guys the old fashioned way.

  Even though I had just learned how to walk like ten minutes ago.

  I hissed deep in my throat and felt the ground rumble as the sound echoed loudly throughout the cave. The air curled inside of my chest as I bared my fangs, and the stone giants hesitated. Their attention had gone from the adventurers to me, and I didn’t have time to figure out why I couldn’t breathe fire. I needed to focus on the two stone problems that currently faced me while I figured out how to treat the adventurers.

  Status: Adventurers healed.

  The words flashed before my eyes, and I blinked in surprise. I had no idea how or why they were healed, but I glanced down at the people below me and saw there was no more blood that dripped from their wounds. In fact, underneath all the dirt and grime, their skin was clear and unblemished.

  There wasn’t even a hint of rainbow glitter left on them.

  Well then, that was one worry wiped away. If the adventurers took one stone giant down, they could probably take down another one while I fought the last one.

  “Kill one of them,” I snarled at the five adventurers under me. “I’ll take down the other.”

  The warrior woman cast me a bewildered expression, but then her face took on a steely resolve. “Understood, we’ll do as you say,” she grunted before she turned to face the approaching giants.

  I nodded in response, then my lip curled up, and I roared as the giants charged at us.

  Let’s see how well my claws and fangs fared against stone.

  I flexed my talons in the earth and focused on the two stone giants. They lumbered slowly toward me with stiff joints that made them almost look like stop-motion animated dolls, but the wounds on the adventurers proved that these things were really fucking dangerous.

  I could do this. I could beat these guys. I just had to think of this as a match back in my jiu-jitsu dojo. The only difference was that there were lives on the line and no one gave a shit that I had a black belt.

  I rose on my hind legs and slowed each breath I took so that I could focus on the attacking stone giants. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the adventurers move into formation behind the wall of roots the dryad had summoned. One of them sought high ground, and I realized it was an archer. The two mages, a wolf and dryad, moved behind the remaining pair of wolf and dryad. The two women settled into battle stances, one with a broadsword that gleamed in the darkness of the cave and the other with a dagger that curved cruelly.

  As soon as I took down one of the giants, I’d join their fight with the other one. What I had in mind wasn’t technically allowed in most competitions, since I’d be penalized and most likely out if I tried this in a match.

  But this wasn’t a friendly competition.

  With a roar, I launched myself at the stone giant closest to me and latched onto his shoulders. My claws dug deep into the stone flesh, and the giant let out a bellow of rage. With a sidestep and a pull, I swung him around and forced him to face plant into the ground. I had intended to mount him as soon as I took him down, but I underestimated my own strength again and had tossed the massive stone giant a good hundred yards away. A moment later, he rose up, almost as
if he hadn’t fallen at all, and started to advance on me.

  I growled with frustration. That throw should have dazed anyone.

  Then I noticed the chunks of stone that had fallen off him when I had thrown him to the ground and the gouges from where I dug my claws into him. He moved slower than before as well.

  I’d hurt him, and this sight gave me confidence.

  Though we were of a similar size, I was faster, and I dashed forward on still awkward legs so that I could slam my shoulder into him. My first hit knocked him back into the cave wall, and the cavern echoed with thunder, but my attack didn’t seem to do as much damage as my first throw, and he tried to grab onto one of my wings.

  I dipped down low and scuttled back away from his arms. Each time he tried to grab hold of me, I slipped from his grasp. And as I did so, my scales ripped at his hands the same way they had ripped at the stalactites earlier.

  Off to the side, I could see how the adventurers fared against their own stone giant. The gray haired swordswoman had dug her own deep gouges into the joints of the giant, while the dryads worked together to limit his movement. Their plan was clear: immobilize and then amputate his limbs. It was a clever strategy, and they moved like a well-oiled machine, but it would only work against one, not two or three.

  As I watched out of the corner of my eye, the stone giant swung its leg out in a great arch. Two of the dryads were slammed against the wall, and I heard the sound of shattered bone. They drew in wet gasps of air, and it was a familiar sound. Their ribs had probably been broken.

  I needed to break apart the other giant. Quickly.

  I launched myself again at my opponent, wrapped myself around him, and buried my claws as deep as I could manage into his stone skin. He let out a screech of agony, but I ignored his whine, tightened my grip around his chest, and faintly heard the crack of stone. One more twist, and I raked my claws up his torso and closed my claws around his neck. I didn’t know the anatomy of a stone giant, but I knew that very few things, no matter the world, could survive without a head.

  The moment I ripped off the stone giant’s head, two things happened.