Dragon Emperor 10: From Human to Dragon to God

by Eric Vall

  “Head east,” Naomi called out, and she held onto me even tighter as I picked up speed.

  “You got it,” I replied before I zoomed across the sand toward the copse of trees ahead.

  It took about ten minutes to reach the edge of the trees, and I landed in the sand with a gentle thud. The women slid down from my back, and then I shifted back into my human body.

  “Wow,” Naomi breathed with wide amber eyes. “That trip takes all morning on a wagon when we go hunting.”

  “Flying is much better.” I winked, and the lizard mage turned away as another blush colored her cheeks.

  We walked into the Kawaii Forest, and the sounds of various creatures were comforting after the time we’d spent in the Bileu Forest. Birds chirped and sang as they fluttered from tree to tree, and the flashes of yellow, red, pink, and white were a welcome change to the thick green canopy. A few lemurs leaped overhead, and I could just barely hear the hiss of snakes as they slithered in the dense grass next to the path.

  “So, what do these tacca flowers look like?” I asked as I looked around at the various plants.

  “They won’t be out here,” Naomi replied and continued down the path. “The petals are deep purple, almost black, and the stalks are blue and green.”

  “Sounds like they will stand out,” I murmured. “Where do we go?”

  “I’ve always heard the rare plants are just over that hill near some kind of water source,” she answered and pointed about fifty yards ahead of us.

  “Okay, let’s go find some flowers,” I said as the mage led us closer to the hill.

  As we reached the top, I could see a large clearing with a perfectly circular pond spread out below us. The water was a pale turquoise, though not as clear and pure as the water of the oasis, so I hoped this one didn’t have any water sprites.

  In the middle of the pond, a small islet poked up through the water, and a white bridge spanned the distance between the land and the tiny island. In the middle of the island, surrounded by tall, dark green grass were three purple-black plants.

  “I’m guessing that’s it?” I asked and pointed to the islet.

  “It would seem so,” Naomi replied as she headed down the hill to the clearing.

  Aaliyah and I followed behind the lizard mage into the clearing and around the edge of the water, and large blue and yellow fish swam lazily under the water’s surface and left tiny ripples in their wake.

  Then we reached the end of the bridge, and I had to do a double take.

  A small man with a long white beard sat at the entrance to the bridge. His green skin matched the color of the grass in the forest, and his face was mottled with bumps and splotches of gray. His white eyes peered into the air in front of him, but he never looked directly at us.

  “He’s a troll,” Naomi whispered. “And he’s blind.”

  “But he still can hear you,” the troll said in a raspy voice, and I caught a glimpse of his pointy, yellow teeth. “Who wishes to cross my bridge?”

  Nasty creatures, Miraya grumbled.

  Holy shit. Trolls actually guarded bridges? I had to stifle a laugh as I remembered my diplomacy lessons.

  “My name is Lord Evan of Hatra,” I introduced myself. “I’ve come for the tacca flowers. That’s all.”

  “Lord Evan of Hatra,” the troll scoffed. “Do you think a fancy title with your name scares me?”

  “I didn’t come here to impress you,” I muttered. “I’m on a mission from His Eminence, King Rodion.”

  “Ohhhh, the king!” the troll cackled maniacally. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”

  The troll stood, and it sounded like every bone in his fragile body cracked as he rose.

  “Sir troll,” Naomi interjected. “I am Lady Naomi--”

  “You are of no interest to me,” he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

  “Don’t speak to her like that,” I growled as I took a step closer.

  “Tsk, tsk,” the troll clucked as he turned his attention back to me. “The tacca flower is quite rare. Why should I allow you to have one?”

  “Allow me?” I scowled as I began to lose my patience with the troll. “If you don’t allow me, then I’ll just take it.”

  I strode onto the bridge and was nearly past the troll when he grabbed my arm.

  Aaliyah growled, and she took a step toward the creature.

  “Oh!” he gasped as he released me, and he stumbled back a few steps as his eyes went wide. “A dragon? This is impossible!”

  “Clearly not.” I smirked. “I’m right here.”

  “And he wants that flower,” Aaliyah added with another low growl.

  “O-Of course, ah, yes,” the troll stammered as he dropped to his knees next to me. “I’m so sorry, sir dragon. Please, accept my humblest apologies.”

  He felt around in the air for my arm again and grabbed my hand, but as he leaned his head down closer to my fingers, I ripped my arm away. The thought of him kissing my hand was enough to make me want to barf in the pond.

  “Yeah, okay,” I muttered. “It’s all good. We’re just on a bit of a time crunch here, so I need to get that flower now.”

  “Yes, yes, please!” the troll cried out. “Just, please, if it isn’t too much to ask, only take one. Ah, unless you need more, of course, sir dragon.”

  “One is all I need,” I replied and continued over the bridge to the island.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see the troll’s long spindly fingers grip the handrail of the bridge tightly, and he stared at the water while he took deep breaths to calm himself.

  Fucking trolls were weird.

  I stepped off the bridge and onto the islet. The ground was soft beneath my boots, and it squished down with every step I took toward the flowers. I plucked one of the purple-black plants and carefully tucked it away in my spatial storage. Then I turned and walked back across the bridge, and the troll bowed to me as I passed him.

  “Thank you, ah…” I hesitated as I realized he’d never given us a name.

  “Franklin,” the troll finished with another bow. “My name is Franklin.”

  “Thank you for your help, Franklin,” I said.

  “The pleasure is mine, sir dragon,” Franklin replied as he sat back down on the bridge. “All mine.”

  I offered an awkward smile before I remembered he was blind anyway, and then I grabbed Naomi and Aaliyah’s hands to pull them back toward the path. As soon as we were out of earshot, Aaliyah began to giggle uncontrollably.

  “He tried to kiss your hand,” she snickered.

  “Yeah, no thanks,” I laughed. “Why was he so scared of me? I mean, it worked out, but it was weird.”

  “Oh, right,” Naomi sighed. “You don’t know about the troll and dragon wars. They were several thousand years ago, but I’m sure you can imagine who won.”

  “Uh, yeah,” I chuckled. “I don’t know how those little things could have beaten dragons.”

  “The trolls were very arrogant,” the lizard mage giggled. “They truly thought they had a chance.”

  “And now they get to guard bridges?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “They obsess over little treasures,” she explained. “Rare objects or plants, the occasional artifact.”

  I shook my head as we crossed the edge of the trees and stepped onto the sand. Then I transformed into my dragon body, and the women climbed back on with no question this time.

  As we headed back toward Kana, I thought about all the history before I arrived in Inati. It was so odd to think about all the centuries of events that occurred here that I’d never even heard about. On Earth, we had years of history education, but I knew so little about the things that had happened here. I didn’t even know how Inati came to exist. Did they believe in the Big Bang Theory? Or were the gods the creators of the universe?

  My eyes focused on the walls surrounding the desert city, and I dipped lower to fly just over the tops of the buildings before I landed in front of the castle. Naomi and Aaliyah hopp
ed down to the sand, and I took on my human form again to walk inside.

  We made our way to the library, and everyone else was already there. Nike and Laika leaned against the bookshelves with Vallen, while the dryads and Ravi peered over Alyona’s shoulder at the spell book. My fiancée sat cross-legged with the book open on the floor in front of her, and the pale blue sapphire was perched on a stand over a plate. A small transparent cauldron sat on the floor next to the book, and I could see the bubbles that rippled on top of a black liquid in the pot. Black and purple smoke curled out of the cauldron, and the wisps twisted around in front of Alyona’s beautiful face.

  The princess looked up as we walked in, and a smile stretched across her face.

  “You found it?” she gasped.

  “Did you doubt me?” I teased as I reached into my storage and produced the tacca flower. “How’s the spell going?”

  “Great!” the princess replied. “The bones have already dissolved, and Ravi gave us her tears. Now, we need the seed and your blood.”

  “Got it,” I said and handed her the flower.

  Alyona peeled back the purple-black petals to reveal a cluster of glowing white seeds. The seeds seemed to pulsate with light, and the petals curled in to cover them again. She peeled the petal away once more and plucked a seed from the clump. Then she dropped the seed into the cauldron, and it popped and fizzled with the addition.

  “You’re next,” Alyona murmured as she stirred the foaming mixture with a large wooden spoon. “Ready?”

  “Yep,” I replied and conjured a small fiery dagger.

  I walked over to the cauldron and dragged the blade across my palm. Then I turned my hand over and squeezed until my blood dripped into the potion. The liquid sizzled, and a cloud of steam escaped into the air.

  “A vision clear as day from night,” Alyona began the spell from the book. “With more than meets the prophet’s eye, pure and rare, a beam of light, the energy pours into the sky!”

  As the princess finished the last line of the spell’s incantation, she poured the potion over the sapphire, and suddenly, a brilliant blue light shot out of the gem in a wide beam aimed at the ceiling.

  The hell?

  Before I could ask what was going on, I was surrounded by the same blue light as though someone had shined a spotlight on me. I looked around the odd cerulean beam and noticed that the same light surrounded Alyona.

  “It’s illuminating all power,” the princess declared. “You and I have powerful magic, so it located us, too.”

  “What about the Sundex?” I asked, and I examined my hand in the blue light.

  Maybe try to look outside the castle, Miraya suggested.

  “Good idea,” I agreed. “Outside.”

  I led the group out to the front of the castle, and we looked around.

  “There,” Naomi said as she pointed to another beam of the pale blue light as it flowed down from the clouds toward the ground just behind the castle.

  “I think that one is the Bow,” I murmured as I pictured the underground location of the powerful weapon.

  “That must be it,” Nike announced and motioned toward a beam of light that landed somewhere in the area beyond the fields.

  “What’s over there?” I asked.

  “Nothing,” Vallen replied as he squinted his yellow eyes at the beam. “It is simply more desert between the field and the wall of the city.”

  “No more catacombs or secret treasures?” I prodded.

  “Not at all,” Naomi answered. “Nothing underground, and nothing on land.”

  “Let’s go,” I declared as images of Milo flashed through my head.

  “I’ll, ah, stay here and guard the sapphire,” Vallen volunteered.

  “We’ll be back soon,” I said with a nod.

  Then we took off down the road toward the bottom of the pale blue light.

  As we crested the dune just ahead of the field, I could see the light had cast down over a group of people.

  So much for the element of surprise.

  I motioned to the others, and then we sprinted down the dune and around the fields toward the circle of light.

  When we finally reached the group, I could see there were a dozen men who stood in a circle with grim expressions.

  The same grim expression was on every single face. The men looked exactly alike.

  “More golems,” Alyona groaned.

  I peered past the sandman creatures, and I finally caught a glimpse of Milo.

  The mage’s nearly bald head glowed in the cerulean beam, and a flicker of fear passed through his bright green eyes. He held the Sundex in his arms, and he pulled it closer to his chest as we approached.

  Suddenly, the light disappeared, and we all stood in the waning sunlight and glared at each other.

  “Give us the Sundex,” I demanded.

  “You can’t have it!” Milo screeched. “Get them!”

  Without a word, the golems spread out from the circle into a line that stretched out to form a barrier in front of the mage.

  Then the sandmen advanced toward us.

  Chapter 18

  I drew the Sword of Hatra from my spatial storage, and I could feel the strength of its power course through my body since Miraya was in my spiritual sea again. I squeezed my hand around the hilt, and the spirit took a fighting stance as I faced our newest opponents.

  Then Nike pulled the Sword of Light from his belt, too, and we rushed the two golems in the center of the line. We lifted our blades and sliced through their torsos in unison. Their halves separated for a moment, but then the sandy skin knitted back together as the golems continued to storm us.

  “Fuck,” I grunted as I remembered the last pain in the ass golem I’d faced in the catacombs.

  I looked over to see Aaliyah as she jumped on another golem and ripped her claws through his chest. Sand poured out like blood from a wound, but the golem didn’t stop moving toward us.

  I hated these things, but I’d already kicked one’s ass before. I just had to do it again.

  Times twelve.

  So, I took a step back, opened my maw, and released a column of fire onto the row of golems. The sandman in front of me slowed, and I focused the flames on his sandy body. Within a few seconds, he’d turned to glass, but the others continued on. They moved slowly, but they clearly had one goal in their minds.

  Killing us.

  “I can’t get all of them at once,” I growled as I took another step back.

  “Let me help!” Ravi called out as she conjured two of her fiery daggers.

  The phoenix launched the daggers at another golem, and the blades pierced his chest and stomach. Then the sand around the wounds began to heat and shimmer as it turned into glass around the holes.

  The golem slowed for a moment as he looked down to inspect his wounds, but then he continued toward us.

  “I got this!” Naomi shouted and created one of her black fireballs in her palm. She threw the fireball at another golem, and the flames seemed to almost melt as they crashed into his body. Then the fireball dissipated, and the golem didn’t even blink as it marched closer.

  “We have to figure out a way to get all of them to stop,” I said as I glanced along the line and racked my brain for a solution. “Since they can’t be killed exactly, we need to think of something else… Like not killing them.”

  Nike looked at me with a confused expression, and I opened my maw again to release a cloud of yellow-green smoke. The petrification magic billowed toward the golems, but they maintained their steady march through the cloud, so I realized the petrification didn’t faze them at all.

  “What the fuck?” I grumbled and clenched my fists.

  They don’t exactly feel anything, Miraya explained. And they’re made of sand, so their muscles can’t freeze. You’ll have to keep trying, my lord.

  “Okay, so what the hell can I use on them?” I muttered as we continued a slow retreat.

  They’ll only listen to their master, the sp
irit replied and paced the beach of my spiritual sea. He can control them with a single word. They will do anything he orders them to.

  “So, I just have to get him to tell them to stop,” I thought out loud with a touch of sarcasm. “No big deal, right?”

  Then an idea struck me like a bolt of lightning.

  Actually, I could do that.

  Predation: Activated

  Skill: Mimicry

  I gazed over at Milo, who continued to hide behind his magical guards with a smug expression, and I grinned as his green eyes widened while I took on his form. My shaggy, black hair shortened into his nearly bald style, and my arms and legs thinned out to mimic his wiry figure. I could tell I was still myself, but looking down to see someone else was eerie, almost like when I’d woken up in my dragon body.

  Then I turned to the golems and held up my hand.

  “Stop!” I demanded.

  The marching line of sandmen halted immediately and waited for my next command. They didn’t even question how their target had suddenly turned into their master.

  Badass, and I kinda didn’t think the idea would really work.

  “Now, kill each other,” I cackled.

  The golems hesitated for a brief moment and then turned to each other and began to rip their bodies apart. Some tore off the arms of other golems, while others yanked heads from their opponent’s bodies. Their destruction was quick and nearly soundless as they plucked their body parts from each other.

  “No!” Milo screeched, but it was too late.

  Sandy appendages littered the ground before they slowly dissolved into the desert floor. Then the golems’ torsos faded into larger piles of sand, and we stepped over the new sand hills to get to Milo.

  He clutched the Sundex to his chest and stumbled backward.

  “Stay back!” he ordered. “I’ll kill you all!”

  “What a dumbass.” I shimmered back into my own form as I stalked closer to the mage.

  “You can’t take it!” he screamed, and then he tossed a handful of small pebbles at the ground between us.

  I stopped and scanned the rocks a few steps ahead of me, and everyone else stayed back as I conjured a fireball and threw it at one of the pebbles. A small explosion burst from the ground, and the heat warmed my face as the flames rose over my head and then shrunk down toward the sand.