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Chapter 104: Draconic Dealings

I steadied myself and looked up at the massive monster’s face staring down at me. Erani seemed frozen in shock, but the Dryad looked like she was the least afraid out of all of us despite the fact that I was the only one that’d actually spoken to this thing before.

“We have an offering for you,” I began. It couldn’t hurt to point out all the trouble we’d gone through for it. “Three Drakes, all slain by our own hand, and all with minimal meat missing. We hope they will fit your tastes.”

It glanced over at the pile of corpses. In comparison to the Dragon’s massive body, the monsters we’d worked so hard to kill seemed tiny. Then it looked back at us. “Hm. That will make a fine snack.”

“Right,” I said. Better than nothing. “We come to you, oh great Mountaintamer, Giantslayer, Kinsbane, Homeholder, Wastelayer, Ashbearer, Chasmcreator, Earthquaker, Humanslaughterer, Wisdomholder, Bearer-of-the-Heavens Astintash, in pursuit of you allowing us to assist you take down the wall constructed by the Humans and Demons in the valley.”

It raised its eyes when I said its whole name without pausing or stuttering to remember the next part – a feat I’d accomplished both from a decent bit of practice before our meeting, and from the fact that I was just repeating what Index whispered in my ear as I spoke – and it looked even more surprised when I said we just wanted to help it with something it already wanted to do. I began to get a bit hopeful that we could do this second try, leaving my last use of Time Loop for the assault on the wall itself.

“And how would you help me?” Astintash said.

“We have inside knowledge about how the shield you’ve been struggling with functions,” I said, going through the list I had in my head, “we are powerful enough to assist with the soldiers within the wall, and we could serve as a distraction if things go poorly.”

“Hm. What is this inside knowledge?”

“We would rather tell you once we have guaranteed that you plan on accepting our offer.”

“Bah, fine,” it rolled its eyes in a massive motion. “Then tell me this: why do you want to help me?”

“W-well, you are so great a being that–”

“No, no,” it interrupted me with a frustrated grunt. “I know how you Humans are. You do not consider me so great as to risk your life for my own sake. This is why I dislike dealing with you Humans. Liars, connivers. What do you gain from helping me?”

Hm. It’d probably just be best to tell the truth here. A sanitized version of the truth that omitted the fact that we were the reason the wall was there in the first place, but still the truth. “We want to pass through this mountain range, and that valley is our only way through without intruding on the territories of the Dragons, such as you. So to respect the Dragons’ territories, we must pass through the wall. And they will not let us through without us destroying it. We have the knowledge to destroy them, but not the power. Which is why we require your assistance.”

At this, Astintash drew a claw to its chin in a surprisingly Human gesture, pausing to think. After a moment it said, “and why did you want my help, specifically?”

Now it was my turn to stop and think. Part of me wanted to give an answer saying that we chose it because it was amazing and fearsome and powerful. Something that wasn’t very true – we’d really pick any Dragon out there – but that would stroke its ego. The other part of me kept in mind what it’d just said about Humans being liars and how it hated us for that. But I couldn’t really think about what to say for too long, so in the end I just spat out something a bit in-between.

“Dragons are a fearsome species, and one that we have great respect for. And when we saw you attacking the wall, we could see that you were not only as strong as the legends said, but also that you, specifically, were willing to help us with our task. We would never want to waste a Dragon’s time by asking it to do something it isn’t willing to do in the first place.”

“Hm,” Astintash grunted. “I see. So you selected me because I was most available from my species.”

“Yes, a species which is most powerful!”

“Then how do you know my name?”

I froze. I’d gotten a bit lost in the conversation – if we just selected it because it was the closest-by, then how would we know its name and all of its titles? That could only happen if we’d heard of it beforehand. And we couldn’t say a bluff along the lines of ‘because we know the names of all the Dragons,’ because it could easily test our knowledge on that.

What could we even say?

But just then, Erani stepped forward and spoke. “We’ve planned on passing through this valley for some time now, and so we spoke to our fellow Humans about what we might encounter on the way. We unfortunately heard nothing of this wall, but we did hear quite a bit about you, oh great Mountaintamer, Giantslayer, Kinsbane, Homeholder, Wastelayer, Ashbearer, Chasmcreator, Earthquaker, Humanslaughterer, Wisdomholder, Bearer-of-the-Heavens Astintash. All of the Humans we spoke to told us that your territory was close to this valley, and that you, of course, have killed many of our kind. Such strong Humans, felled by your hand, we were warned against drawing such a powerful being’s ire. That is why we have heard of you, specifically.”

I let out a breath, thanking the gods she thought of something.

“Hm. I did not know I had such a reputation among the Human tribes.”

“Yes, yes,” Erani continued. “We come from a settlement that is close to the wasteland, so the Humans have sometimes seen you soaring above the mountaintops. I would go as far as to say you’re famous from where we come from.”

The Dragon smiled in satisfaction. Of course, by smiling, it bared its teeth and let out the scalding-hot breath from its mouth, reminding me just how easily the massive monster could kill us. That reminder could very well have been intentional, when I thought about it.

Regardless, it continued. “Good. It seems Humans are not quite so stupid and ignorant. At least, not the ones you come from.”

“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head.

“What about this other creature?” Astintash asked, nodding in the Dryad’s direction. She was staring at the Dragon with a look of determination on her face, but as far as I could tell, she hadn’t said anything yet – to me, Erani, or Astintash. “This is not a Human – or, not one I of a type I have seen before.”

“She is a Dryad. She’s traveling with us, and I guarantee that she will be of help when attacking the wall,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back to the topic at hand. If Astintash asked too many questions, our story could fail under scrutiny.

“Hm, the wall,” Astintash said. “I suppose I could take advantage of that inside knowledge you claim to hold. Where does your knowledge come from? And how much confidence in it do you hold?”

“I’m one hundred percent sure it’ll work,” I said. “It comes from the System itself. I have something in my Status that can give me information like that, and it’s never wrong.”

“I’m flattered you think of me like that,” Index butt in, to which I couldn’t really respond verbally.

“...Hm. Well I can agree to allowing you to help me,” Astintash said, “but we will see to what extent. Give me the information, and if this is not a trick, I will let you live. I can swear that on my name.”

“Thank you,” I nodded. “The main piece of information about the shield that would help you is what it’s weak to. It’s strong against magic, but against–”

I was interrupted by rumbling. At first, I thought Astintash was about to rear up and stomp on us or something, but when I looked at it, I saw that it was just as surprised as I was. And the noise was coming from behind, not from the beast in front of me.

Erani and I turned around alongside the Dryad, who’d already turned and backed away from the sound. There was nothing there now, but the rumbling was drawing closer and closer by the second.

“What is this?!” Astintash demanded angrily. I could feel the heat coming off of its breath behind us.

“I have no idea,” I said back at it, pedaling away from the sound down the mountain. “Monster attack?”

“No monster would dare draw near me! This is your trickery! You Humans!”

“We have no idea what–”

I was interrupted yet again by sound, but this time it wasn’t just rumbling. Voices – ones I’d heard quite a bit in these past weeks. The voices of Infernals roaring out in anger.

A group of half a dozen or so Demons crashed through the trees, leaping and climbing up onto the plateau alongside us. Their faces twisted with murderous glee upon spotting me. But, of course, Astintash had no idea who it was they were eager to kill.

“I knew it!” the Dragon roared. This time I could feel the full force of its scalding breath on my skin, just barely not hot enough to light my clothes aflame. “You were with them. Leading me into a trap? Pathetic. I’ll show you what a mighty being does against such puny forces!”

“No, wait,” I turned and pleaded, “you don’t understand! The Demons aren’t after you, they’re coming after–”

But I was too late. With a gale of wind that blew me off my feet, Astintash flapped its wings and took to the air, opening its mouth and showing off a dangerous glow coming from its throat. The glow of deadly heat.

I tried to crawl over to a nearby rock to take cover behind, but I knew it was pointless. Nothing would save me from the wrath of a Dragon. With the roar of a monster and the roar of an inferno, the flames rushed across the mountain, engulfing us all, and–

You have died.

And then I was back.