Dragon Kings of the New World

by Dante Doom

  Van sighed. There was no way he'd be able to avoid the dragon if it decided to attack him now. "What do you want from me?" he asked.

  "Ah, I don't suppose I want anything from you," the Emperor said. It spoke differently from all of the other aliens that Van had met before. They were all so emotionless and cold, dispassionate and mechanical, but this Emperor was alive and excited. He seemed cheerful, even. "I just wanted to congratulate you on finally joining our ranks. That was why you joined the tournament, wasn't it? I'm sure that you aren't planning anything cunning in here."

  "Not at all," Van said through gritted teeth. The dragon chuckled again and leaned back in his seat.

  "My race commends you. In all of our years of running this operation, we have never seen a race so belligerently refuse us. You have been fighting so hard to stop us, and now what? You have failed miserably. Even as we speak, our protocols are beginning to activate. Sleeper agents are being ordered to do things that will forever change the face of this planet. There is no stopping us at this point."

  "Yet, here I am," Van said. "You think I'm here because I gave up?"

  "Oh no," the Emperor replied. "I think you're here because you are under the delusion that your army can somehow defeat me. That you can come in here and fight against us. But let's be honest here, Van – you are fighting against a god. This world is my own creation. I labored extensively to bring it into existence. I am the lead designer and was given this task so that I could create the perfect simulation for you humans. Something that would entice you, interest you, and test your strengths. Those foolish Xevov, including your little dragon friend? Their simulations are nothing compared to this. I and I alone crafted this realm. I am the father and author of its existence. You and your team trying to defeat me is pitiful at best. You cannot kill a god."

  "You really made this world?" Van asked.

  The Emperor grinned. "Indeed, I did, child. I built this place by hand. I envisioned the Spires of Alderban, and I told tales of the mighty Dragon Kings and how they have shaped the land. I wrote every quest, oversaw every event. I spoke and life came into this world."

  Van wasn't sure how to reply to the Emperor. That was quite an awe-inspiring thing, as even this was, to meet the mind that had created the most brilliant thing in the world… but on the other hand, this mad creature would also see the entire world burned down before him.

  "I see conflict on your face. No doubt, you are travailing over this decision to save the world," the Emperor said. "That is why I sent for you. If I had wanted to, I could have devoured you and then waited until your army arrived to wipe them all out. That would be quite easy for me to do. I know you have other team members here, as well, although I don't have their names yet. But it won't be hard to time find them."

  "So what, you're going to make me an offer? Tell me to join the dark side so that we can rule the universe together?" Van asked.

  The Emperor chuckled. "The dark side? Nonsense. What we are doing is a good thing. Perhaps you, as a limited human, don't understand the nature of what we do, but that is fine. There is plenty of time to learn. Plenty of time, indeed. I am curious: do you know what we do with the best of the best of each race?"

  "Put them in a bottle so you can add them to your collection?" Van suggested. This caused the dragon to let out a powerful laugh – one that sounded almost like roaring.

  "Put them in a bottle!" the dragon wheezed. "It is so refreshing to meet a race that understands humor. I have been doing this for so long, I often forget how funny jokes can be. Most races barely even have a basic understanding of sarcasm or satire. You humans are excellent at it."

  "Glad we could be of service," Van said.

  "Ah, more sarcasm," the Emperor replied. "I love it. I absolutely love it. So, let's get back to what I was saying. We don't simply leave the best of the best on this planet. That would be insane, to waste such talent. Normally, we place the very best on other planets so that they may assist us with laying down the groundwork of going forward. Humans are an interesting race because of how adaptable they are, though. Unlike most of the other races we've conquered, humans are relatively good at understanding and improving on other cultures. I fear that most of my Draco brethren are rather of dull minds. Few, if any, are as sharp as I am."

  "I noticed that," Van said. "You seem somewhat more… independent than the others."

  "Ahhahaha," the Emperor boomed. "We are a collective race! Independence is looked down upon as a terrible plague, and a curse even! If a child is ever born with a fierce independent streak, after it is evident that they cannot be tamed or controlled, they are killed. For the good of the race, of course. The child's parents won't shed a tear, after all, as they belong to the same collective and have the same values. So the child is killed." The Emperor ceased talking for a moment, his face lit up with an expression of pure joy. "But sometimes the child is stronger than the others. Smarter even. Smart enough to play the game. To blend in. And when that child grows up? He's the strongest of all of them."

  "I'm guessing one such child is you?" Van asked.

  "Indeed," the Emperor replied. "I and I alone command this collective. I speak their language with ease, for all I have to do to justify actions is use lofty language about the good of the group, and use their philosophical talking points. They are fanatical about our mission." He leaned forward to whisper. "But none of them know that our mission is really just my mission."

  "So you're… you're behind all of this?" Van asked. "You're the one who told them to do all of these terrible things?"

  "Of course," the Emperor said. "Why not? To be stranded on that wretched planet, surrounded by fools who drone endlessly on about order and the proper nature of existence being to be unified… why wouldn't I seek something else to do? And so I led them to believe that their task was to garden this galaxy. That they were created for this purpose. To bring order to the universe – ha, but that was what I told them. And they ate it all up. And when a collective makes up its mind to do something, it does it quite well. So they created these systems, they came up with this plan, and I oversaw the whole operation. Each race we have conquered has been for some purpose. The Xevov for their administrative powers, the Elgorians for their powerful psychic healing abilities, the Shrinar for their brilliant ability to manipulate matter, and countless others. Each garden that we build, we take the best out and put them to work for me."

  "So why have you chosen the human race, then?" Van asked.

  "Oh, that is because I have longed to get more of this kind of job done, but I have found it impossible to have creative directors from my own race," the Emperor said. "Without independence, a creator cannot truly create. Humans are fiercely independent and violent. So, I have been searching long and hard for the right ones to bring aboard my vessel. They must conform to a specific list of traits, however. They must be strong. They must be cunning and capable, able to adapt to any problems in front of them. And above all, they must be able to take the initiative. Of the list that I have, no one has been anywhere close to as qualified as you, Van."

  "Me?" Van repeated as he shook his head. "No way. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed by a longshot."

  "Perhaps not," the dragon agreed, "but you are strong. You are cunning and, above all, you show your creative side time and time again. Even as you struggle in vain against the likes of my race, you have somehow managed to elude my forces at every level. We like to follow the rules, you know. I created a system to find the best, though, and here you stand."

  "So what, you're just willing to hand me a job?"

  "A job? Hahaha, no, sir. I am not asking you to work for a gas station or to be an accountant. I am offering you godhood. You see, Van, I am eying at least six other races right now, but our operation takes quite some time to engage. We can't be everywhere at once, and in fact, I can only be in one place at a time. I want to expand my reach. So, I want to offer you the power to be the creative director over a new world. I want to offer you t
he chance to become a god, like myself."

  "How would that even work?" Van asked.

  "Our systems are far more advanced than your own haptic systems. You will be able to inhabit the world 24/7. There is a time dilation system we have developed, courtesy of one of our garden races. It will allow for you to exist inside of the game for an infinite amount of time while you craft the world. It took me, I believe, a total of a calculated ten million years to shape this world we are in. The passage of real time was somewhat close to that of a week. I am offering you the power to create a world in which you will revel. And then, after you are finished with your task, you can sit back and run the entire show. You can move things around, or participate as an actual part of the game if you'd like. You'd of course need to learn the culture of the race, but you have time for that, as well."

  Van wasn’t sure what to say to the alien. There was something of a temptation in him to take the offer seriously, but he knew that he could never do what was being suggested. Regardless of what Neil believed about him, he'd never sell out his own race just to enjoy the power of being in total control. Still, perhaps there was another way of defeating this dragon. It appeared that he and he alone was the sole controller of the Draco race. He was directing them, and they would obey whatever his demands were. Perhaps there was some way Van could get aboard the ship and unplug this guy. It was a somewhat insane idea, but with the way things were going, the Iron Dragons didn't have a chance to win an all-out fight.

  "Your words are intriguing," Van said. "And when I am to get aboard this ship?"

  "Ahahahaha," the dragon laughed. "Am I an infant? Do you believe that I was born yesterday? Friend, you and I both know that you have no pure intentions here. You inquire about getting on my ship so quickly. Do you think you can just find some way to kill me? I admire your defiance all the way to the end."

  "Can you blame me for trying?" Van asked.

  "No. Instead, I commend you for trying," the Emperor said. "Stay by my side for the evening, Van. For though you will try to kill me and fail miserably, I shall allow you to live. Once you have lost everything, there will then be no reason for you to refuse me."

  "Why are you doing this at all?" Van asked. "What drives you to so mercilessly destroy worlds that have done nothing wrong? To kill countless innocent people?"

  The dragon looked at him for a moment and its grin slowly began to fade. "You must understand something, Van. To reach the top, it was the greatest struggle of my life. To move so undetected in a culture, a world that despises who you are. To be different is to be worthy of death. When I got to the top, when I saw that as long as I spun my words the right way, they would do whatever I demanded, it was intoxicating. There was a feeling beyond anything else I could describe. The first conquest was just an excuse to escape. I felt that, if I convinced my people that we needed to go to another planet, I could slip away onto this new world and find a home. But then I arrived. I saw how much of a mess that planet was. They were divided, at war with one another, mercilessly fighting and allowing famine to overtake them. Without a leader, someone to see the big picture, they would be condemned to obliteration. So, I stepped in and took charge."

  Van felt a shiver run down his spine as the creature continued to speak.

  "And I realized something – once I had asserted dominance over that world. I realized that perhaps it was my destiny to go beyond simply fleeing my own people. That perhaps I had been placed in this universe for a reason. And that reason, my friend, is to lord and rule over all living things. We create these gardens so that I may rule the worlds with efficiency. Their lives improve and I… I grow in power."

  "But how is that any different than your race killing its young because they were independent?" Van asked. "How are you any different from them?"

  The words seemed to anger the Emperor a little. He shifted and growled, baring his fangs. For a moment, Van thought the beast was going to attack him, but instead the Emperor regained his composure.

  "I suppose someone would think me cruel for my decisions," the Emperor said, "but I have been fair and sporting. I have allowed every race to prove themselves worthy to me. I have allowed them to fight tooth and nail to get to the top, just as I had to fight. And those who show me that they have the strength to live, who earn the right to be different from the rest of their race… they are the ones who inherit the world. They are the ones who are my children."

  "You're a monster," Van said. "An absolute monster.'

  "Am I?" the Emperor asked in return. "Or am I a god? You are watching me transcend even now. At midnight, the world will melt down to pieces and then will be rebuilt in my image. I will wave my hand and my chosen few will inherit this earth. And you? You can begin your own path to divinity if you so wish. Or you can fail to kill me, and perish with the billions of others who are unworthy of my radiance."

  Van shook his head. He had no idea what to say back to this creature. It was clear that, while it had the independence which was missing from the Draco as a whole, it still had the same kind of unethical view of the universe. Still, this revelation was good news. This meant that they didn't need to kill all of Draco in order to stop the invasion – they really just needed to kill the Emperor. If he died, then the Draco collective would have no idea of how to move forward. But the question was… would it stop the imminent destruction that was to be unleashed on the world?

  Sang stood before the large army of players who were shouting war cries. They were rowdy and excited, slamming their weapons together and asking Sang when they would be teleporting. She was standing on the western wall of one of their secret hideouts and overlooking the population. There were nearly 1,500 players who were willing to put it all on the line to save their planet from either aliens or terrorists. A lot of them believed the terrorist angle, but there were also others who were adamant that the real threat was Draco. Either way, they were ready for a fight, and she couldn't help but feel proud of Van. He had managed to put this entire army together by the skin of his teeth, and it was a fierce enough group that she genuinely believed they had a chance.

  Sang glanced at her UI, but it read You have no messages. All she needed was a single message from Van. The message didn't even have to say anything; it just had to arrive in her Inbox.. Then she'd activate the ring and teleport the entire team to fight in a massive battle against Draco. The fighting itself would be safe enough until she activated the failsafe system.

  Standing by her side was Jet. He was perched on the wall and was watching the rest of the team prepare for battle.

  "Are you ready for this?" Sang asked.

  "My race does not die in battle," Jet said. "We are peaceful beings. I have never once faced the prospect of dying in a war, nor because of violence. I fear that perhaps I am unable to do this."

  "Well, think about it like this," Sang replied, "you're the first of your race to learn what bravery is."

  "And being brave will remove this fear?" Jet asked as he turned his head to look directly at her. Despite how large the dragon was, she could see that he was indeed afraid.

  "Bravery doesn't remove the fear, my friend; bravery is what lets us act in spite of it," Sang said.

  "I suppose so," Jet replied.

  "So what's the plan?" Bidane asked as she walked up to Sang. "I managed to trick Capello into logging out, by the way."

  "Good," Sang said. Of all the things to deal with, she didn't want to have to worry about Kylian's sacrifice being in vain. " We've got 14 minutes until we're past the signal time. We're just gonna blink in and go to town on the first Draco we see."

  "That's the big strategy?" Bidane asked.

  "We have the element of surprise," Sang said. "And it's going to be a huge surprise when our army arrives in the middle of a banquet – especially when we have a dragon with us."

  "Yeah, I’m excited to let this guy loose," Bidane said. "He's gonna shred them."

  "Please do not talk about me as if I were some base animal," Jet
replied. "I am a living and intelligent being just like you."

  "Sorry," Bidane said. "But that doesn't take away how cool it's gonna be a to ride a dragon into battle."

  Sang glanced at her timekeeper. 14 minutes until the strike. When would Van message her?

  Van scanned the crowd, desperate to see where his team was located. He couldn't see Fredlin or Sahara anywhere. The Dragon Emperor to his right had stopped talking to him a few minutes ago, but refused to let Van walk away. The dragon was rather fond of Van, it seemed. He doubted there was any way he could convince the creature to stop what it was doing, though. The dragon was far too entrenched in his thinking to change his mind now.

  As Van looked out at the crowd, there was a loud shout from one of the players. He stood up from his seating and gasped, clutching his stomach. Van noticed the words Lethal Poisoning appearing over his head even as the character collapsed to the ground.

  "Whoops," the Emperor said as he craned his neck forward. "What an odd thing to happen. Are you responsible for this?"

  As if responding to the question, dozens of players began to fall over, gasping and holding their stomachs before dying from the poison. A few players drew their weapons and began to attack the remaining survivors, shouting things about saving earth.

  "Interesting," the Emperor said. "Very interesting."

  As Van watched the carnage begin to unfold, he noticed that Sahara was waving at him from a distance. She held up a small vial of purplish liquid. He realized that she must have poisoned some of the stronger players.

  The tone of the room changed from joviality and mirth to that of an all-out brawl in a matter of seconds. The depressed players who Van had noticed earlier were flipping tables and smashing their foes with their weapons. The other players, confused and startled, responded to the fighting in turn. More were dropping from the poison, though, and to top it all off, a gigantic black cloud had formed high above them all. Flames were beginning to rain down from the cloud and burn the traitors to humanity. Van noticed that Fredlin was standing in the center of the melee, his hands raised high as he commanded this incredible fire spell. Now this was a good team.