Cults of the Dragon Gods

by Brian McGoldrick

  The ride to Gor'achen is uneventful, and when our longboats touchdown on the Naval Dock, Thrall appears.

  "Brand and Elan, come with me."

  I look in Valcrit's direction. "Take the slaves back to the Blood Rose Stable."

  "Yes, Master."

  Elan and I approach Thrall and the scenery around us changes. I am a bit surprised to wind up in the mirror room off of my Smithy in the Blood Rose Stable.

  "Why did you bring Gor'achen here?"

  For a moment, Thrall reveal a look of disgust. The expression is gone almost as soon as it appears, and from Thrall's posture, I am certain that he was the target of his own disgust.

  Turning his back to me, Thrall walks out the door, heading toward the Forge. "I have come to an arrangement with Yggr. The Jotun Lords have split into factions. The main ones are centered around Yggr and Woden, but there are at least dozen of them. My half brothers have sided with Woden."

  I do not know the details about Thrall's family, but I know he was enslaved because of his brothers. Their father only passed the knowledge of Shadow Fist to Thrall. His brothers are probably unable to us the Od, so they could never use Shadow Fist. Their own lack of ability is the probably greatest source of their hatred and jealousy toward Thrall. His brothers either subdued and sold him or arranged for him to be captured by slavers. From the little he has said, I think that the reason he has not killed them is either because of their shared blood or out of deference to his father's feelings.

  "Right now, there is a three-way battle going on in the middle of the inland sea. The Pan Long Empire, the Tren'fon Citadel and the city of Valholl, which is ruled by Woden's minions, are at each other's throats. While the Pan Long forces are involved, I will not get involved, but if they withdraw from the field of battle, I will attack. Karl, one of my brothers, may be the ruler of Valholl." Thrall's emotionless facade slips several time in just these few sentences. Traces of his emotions even slip past his Psi shield, and his bitter anger mixed with regret is revealed.

  "The Pan Long Empire is ruled a Transcendent dragon isn't it?"

  As though he is looking at something that I cannot see, Thrall stares into space. "Yes. His name is Pan Long. I am probably not a match for him, but he is not with the forces involved in this battle."

  Thrall turns his attention in my direction, and a weave of Trinity surrounds me. After a few moments, he frowns. "Your Power is badly imbalanced. What did you do to start the fusion of the Trinity into Trinity while you are in this state?"

  I shrug. "As near as I can tell, overusing the Od started my evolution into a Triune."

  Thrall frowns and narrows his eyes. "The Od can hasten the process, but I have never heard of anyone beginning the fusion of the Trinity by using the Od. If you let the process continue naturally, it will take another six months or more. Once the process has begun, I know two ways for an Od user to expedite it. If I aid you, it can be completed in three or four days, but the pain might be enough to break your sanity."

  As long as Thrall can finish within four days, I will still have time remaining to finish my business on Earth. With the information given to me by Life, I do not need to waste time tracking down Karin. At best, she could fill in the details about my father and the Vangrade Empire, but after what Life told me, I find myself no longer caring. Since I only need to retrieve Thorrin from the dragon worshipers that have him and start a nuclear war, there should be plenty of time.

  "If you can finish my evolution in four days, I can deal with the pain."

  Thrall stares at me for a moment, then nods. "Very well. We will do it in the training hall. The wards shielding it are superior."

  Following Thrall's order, I stand, naked, in the center of the dojo. Thrall gestures, and supported by Trinity, I float into the air.

  Drawing on the Od, both Light Od and Dark Od, Thrall weaves an inordinately complex spell pattern. Unlike normal spell patterns, the one that Thrall is creating his three-dimensional. As it builds layer upon layer, the center of the dojo fills from floor to ceiling.

  I am uncertain of the reasons, but the spell patterns of the majority of Casters have a flat, two-dimensional design. My personal theory, one that is shared by others, is that because of being recorded on flat surfaces like the pages and books or tablets of metal and stone, over time Casters developed the habit of designing their spell patterns is two-dimensional. I have encountered other theories that postulate the reason being a difficulty in conveying the proper depths and distances in three dimensions to apprentices. There are also theories that delve into the nature of the Mind and Soul, which I consider to contain too many logical fallacies to be viable. In the end, I like mine the best.

  The reasons behind two-dimensional theories aside, the fact that a three-dimensional spell pattern tends to be far more effective at gathering and directing Power is undeniable. With the size and complexity of the pattern that Thrall has drawn, I feel a bit uneasy. This may be the closest I have ever come to knowing fear.

  "Are you ready?"

  Drawing in a deep breath, I release it slowly and nod. "Any time."

  "AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

  I do not know if I scream aloud or within my mind. My awareness of the outside world disappears in a sea of pain the instant the Od touches me. I would swear that my body has been blown apart into a fine mist, while leaving every nerve ending intact. The pain of being slowly burned alive in an overturned car is nothing compared to the searing agony of the Light Od coursing through my body. The Dark Od feels like it is dissolving and crushing me at the same time. I never imagined pain like this could exist.

  Without any connection to my senses or ability to perceive the world around me, I have no concept of the passage of time. All that I know is eternal and unending pain. It could be minutes or hours, but I feel like years have passed.

  Eventually, my awareness fills the personal Realm that is forming at the core of my being. I am at the center of the ball of Trinity floating within it. Now, I AM the ball of Trinity, and the ball of Trinity is me. Even here, the pain continues. I am being crushed and compressed, and at the same time, I am being burned into ash.

  After an eternity, the pain seems to begin dissipating, or maybe, I am just getting used to it. As several more eternities pass, I become certain that the pain is far less intense. While I am still in agony, I am able to think and focus on my surroundings.

  My awareness is still in the Realm at the center of my being. There are no longer any streams of Ki, Mana, or Psi flowing into the Realm. The ball of Trinity is still roiling, but it is more solid and liquid inconsistency.

  As more time passes, the ball of Trinity shrinks and solidifies. In appearance, the ball is primarily a silvery-grey color, but there are threads of greenish silver and a black that has even finer threads of purple and red mixed in it. For some reason, traces of the Od are mixed in with the Trinity. I do not know if that is normal or abnormal.

  When the ball finally appears to be entirely solid, I no longer feel pain. The ball begins to rotate, and the Realm Fills with a mist of Trinity.

  I push my awareness out from my core and feel the three parts that make up my being: my Mind, my Body, and my Soul. The pain is truly gone, and Trinity flows out from my internal Realm, spreading throughout my being.

  *** Gor'achen Citadel – Battleground of the Damned ***

  Return: Day 351

  (Brand)

  Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink.

  Opening my eyes, I once again perceive the world around me. The cold stone floor of dojo presses against my back, and the stone ceiling of of the dojo is visible above me. Sitting up and looking around, I see Thrall, in a lotus position, floating in midair, and Elan leaning against the wall, asleep.

  I stare at my arms and legs. Their bulbous, steroid user, puffy look is gone. Now, the striated appearance to the muscle tissue is visible through the skin. Sinking my awareness into my Body, I examine my physical form. I have lost about a third of my
obscene bulk, but the density of my body has more than doubled.

  In the physical enhancement technique that I inherited from the real Talon, there were references to Body compression, but the methods were missing. From the little bit of knowledge that Talon had acquired from Tae Sun, I was never certain what it was, but it seems that I may have undergone a stage of Body compression while my Trinity was in the process of fusing. When I have the leisure, I will need to understand how it happened and develop a proper method for Body compression to use in the future.

  Again, I open my eyes. A distance of about fifty yards separates Elan and myself, but I am able to make out the pores and her skin and the individual strands of her fine silver. There have been other changes besides the Body compression. Without the use of Power, my vision was not so acute.

  Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink.

  Who is using my Forge? With Elan and Thrall here, it cannot be someone that has snuck in without permission.

  From the entry to the dojo, the sound of metal being worked on an anvil reaches my ears. I should not be able to hear sounds from the Forge with such clarity, and I also hear Elan's soft breathing as clearly as if her head were resting on my shoulder.

  Rising to my feet and a single fluid motion, I happen to the air without intending to do so. At a quick guess, I would say my physical strength is two to three times what it was before. Once again, it seems that I will have to readjust to the current state of my Body.

  In addition to my physical changes, the precision and clarity of my spatial awareness seems to have improved, and I can faintly detect Elan's emotional state, despite her innate Psi shielding.

  I do not really qualify as a Caster, so I will need to do something along the lines of Forging an item to be certain, but I expect that the strength of my Mind has increased to a similar degree.

  Thrall opens his eyes and appears to be appraising me. After a moment, he nods in apparent satisfaction and places his feet on the floor.

  "Now that you are stable, what are your plans?"

  "How long was I out?"

  As Thrall stares at me, his eyes narrow slightly. "Just over two tenths."

  A feeling of shock strikes me like a physical blow. "Two tenths? You said it would take four days."

  A slight frown turns down the corners of Thrall's lips. "You screamed like a damned Soul for three and a half days before passing out."

  Ah. It was almost four days. At least, I know my screaming was not just in my mind. With the intensity of the pain, I am not surprised.

  Your enemy is cruel to do this to a child, but the pain is not as great as you believe. You have no concept of real pain. The words Life once said to me flashed through my mind. I wonder, does the pain I just went through qualify as real pain by Her standards?

  My eyes turn to Elan, leaning against the wall asleep.

  "She refused to leave the training hall. It was not until after you passed out that she sat down and passed out herself."

  "Who is using the Forge?"

  "The Possessed Dvergar that was with you, Dacbold." Thrall gives the impression that he is getting irritated.

  "Plans. Do you have any?"

  I turn my eyes back to Thrall. "Go back to earth, and blow the shithole up."

  "What about long-term plans?"

  I shrug. "I'm leaving Gor'achen. I'll probably spend time on Taereun."

  Thrall looks around. "Vili told me that the laws of the metaverse will be changing. I will be able to stay around for a few centuries, but after that I will forced into the Elemental Realm. If you do not return before I leave, my wards will hold for thousands of years. There will be no one left in the Amalgamate Realms with the Power to breach them. This place will be waiting for you should you ever choose to reclaim it."

  I nod. Once I leave Gor'achen, I do not know if I will ever see it again. "What about the Night Raven?"

  "She is yours. Do with her what you will. If you change your mind and wish to take rulership over Gor'achen, I will aid you in establishing your sovereignty."

  I shake my head. "No. I have no interest in being a Lord or anything like it. Once I'm done with Earth, I'm out of here. Right now, I have too many people following me around, and it makes me uncomfortable. I don't like being a leader. I'm too used to being alone, even when surrounded by people. I need to go back to being alone, again. If I can't convince Elan and Angelique stay here, I'll bring them with me but no one else."

  Thrall lets out a breath in a way that it almost sounds like a sigh. "If there is someone you want placed in power here, I will aid that person."

  Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink. Clang! Clink.

  My eyes turn to the hall leaving the dojo. "If Dacbold wants this place, you should give it to him. He might be both practical and ruthless enough to make a go of it as a Lord."

  Thrall looks in the direction of the Forge with a speculative air about him. "Very well."

  With his stony face, Thrall stares at me. "Once I am gone, you will be the only real practitioner of Shadow Fist. You are my final disciple. It will be your duty to complete my art and pass it on to a proper disciple."

  I bow to Thrall. "You are the only Master I have left in the martial arts. I will not let your style die with me, Master."

  Thrall looks at Elan. "Do not push her aside. Since you came to Gor'achen, she has changed. I do not think she would do well without you around."

  I look at Elan. "I know, and if I was capable of experiencing fear, that would scare me. I don't like people being dependent on me. I don't know how to deal with it."

  "I will talk with the Possessed Dvergar." In complete silence, Thrall leaves the dojo.

  As a wave of exhaustion rolls over me, I stagger. After over three days of screaming in agony, it seems that four or fives hours of sleep was not enough.

  My gear is next to Elan, and I spread out blankets on the stone floor. After stripping off the scraps of translucent fabric that pass for Elan's clothing, I lay her on the blankets and collapse next to her.

  *** Gor'achen Citadel – Battleground of the Damned ***

  Return: Day 352

  (Brand)

  "Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah."

  The feel of a tight, wet pussy riding up and down on my hard dick wakes me up. I am sprawled out on the blankets on the dojo floor, and opening my eyes, I see Elan straddling me with her hands resting on my chest.

  "You look even more beautiful wrapped around my dick that you normally do."

  Elan opens her eyes and give me a mischievous smile. "That is a sexist comment for an Earth sheep."

  "I just wake up and you start insulting me like some Earth cunt. I knew taking you there was a bad idea."

  "Wouldn't a real man be awake and fucking my brains out, if his woman was as beautiful as I?"

  As I flip Elan onto her back and pin her arms, she squeals and grins. "This is more interesting."

  "Didn't they say fuck your brains out, in one of those old pornos you were watching?"

  Elan scoffs. "I was researching the political history of the twenty-first century. The pornos were just playing in the background. I could not understand how a nation that would have such sexual entertainment could make laws criminalizing something as benign as the act of asking a woman out for alcohol."

  "I don't understand it either, but since the laws only applied when a female decided to file a complaint about a heterosexual male, they had to be something targeting heterosexuality. Maybe, that's why so many losers became fucked in the head and fell into faggotry. Maybe, that was the point of the laws."

  Elan puts on an innocent expression. It does not really suit her. "You are not moving your hips very enthusiastically. Did returning to Earth make you fall into faggotry?"

  I start thrusting into Elan harder and faster. "A slutty face suits you better."

  "Fuck my brains out and I will look as slutty as you want."

  *

  When we leave my section of the compound, the Smithy is empty, and the fuel in the f
orge is cooling.

  The guards at the base of the stairs leading up to the owners residence render sharp salutes that would not be a disgrace to the delete Atran'ler Empire Legionnaires.

  I open a whisper channel to Valcrit. *Do you know where Dacbold and Angelique are?*

  With the exception of some of the new slaves, everyone who went to Earth is in the arena, Master.

  With Elan's arm linked around my own, I pass through the gate into the gladiator's section of the compound. The tunnel leads to the mess hall for the gladiators, and inside, we find a naked grey skinned Alfar female, Mei in her Selestra body, cleaning up the remains of the gladiators morning meal.

  Having heard our footsteps, Mei raises her head, but as soon as she lays eyes on me, she spins around, grabs a half-full basket of dirty dishes, and makes for the door leading to the kitchen.

  Seeing Mei's actions, Elan's anger flares. "Halt, slave!"

  Mei freezes and a foul mix of terror, anger, hate, and resentment radiates from her rigid body.

  Elan disengages a cell from my arm, and a long whip appears in her hand.

  "Ah!" As Elan's whip opens a bleeding welt on Mei's ass, her sudden shriek echoes of the mess Hall.

  "Put down that basket! Come here and kneel!" Elan's anger is discernible in the sharp tone of her voice.

  While shivering from her terror, Mei places her basket on the table and rushes over to kneel in front of Elan. Elan's brutal slap sends her sprawling to the stone floor.

  "Slave, who gave you permission to lie down? Get on your knees!" Elan's voice is an angry hiss, but I do not understand why she is so enraged it Mei.

  Obviously dazed from Elan's blow, Mei struggles back onto her knees. Seeing Elan's hand rise to slap her again, Mei tenses her body and barely manages to avoid being knocked to the ground again.

  "Who and what do you think you are? Your master enters the room, and you try to flee before you even learn what your master desires. Is that the behavior of a good slave or one seeking punishment?"