Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter Epilogue — Fate

Vion stood in a chamber covered in wards, deep beneath the castle. The walls around her were without any seams, having been created magically in a single go, with dimensional spells keeping this place tethered to reality with the slightest of pathways.

Not even the closest guards to the royal court knew of this place. No trusted advisors, nobody outside of the core members of the royal bloodline. Until today, that is.

She glanced at Zax who stood next to her. A fully grown adult dragon.

No, calling him an adult was a meaningless distinction, she knew he was older than many ascendants even. The reason why he himself wasn’t one escaped her, but she wasn’t going to pry. And this wasn’t about him. It was about her.

Vion took a deep breath. She could feel the nervous tension permeating the chamber. She couldn’t deny her own beating heart, that was for sure as well.

“Both of us knew the time would come, and I would not lie in saying I had certainly delayed this as far as I could’ve,” Draxius said. The king spoke much more frankly here, for here, he was not king, in this ancient chamber… he was simply Draxius. The man closest to being a father for her in life.

“I know this is not the time… but I do wonder if you resent me for that,” Draxius asked, looking at Vion.

“Somewhat,” Vion replied, crossing her arms. “But not because you kept me hidden and confined for so long. But because you never told me why or how you felt.”

Draxius said. “The burden had felt too heavy, and I am… not a great parent. Had your father still been alive, he would’ve been able to talk to you more honestly.”

“Well, then do better, because you’re the only one I have,” Vion said, snorting.

She did not look at Draxius after her claim, looking at Zax instead. “Is there something I need to be worried about? Will I go on a rampage, sleep for a century, or turn into some kind of hideous monster?”

“No, well the rampage thing may be a real concern, but not the others. And this place can take a rampage from you. So you need not worry yourself,” Zax said.

Vion nodded, but before she could proceed, Zax put a hand on her shoulder.

“All that said, you have to remember this too. You are special, and this place is special. You can feel it, can’t you? The ties this has with you. You were what this kingdom was meant to be, what their people were meant to be, the ideal, the true essence of two halves formed into one. And as such, none of us truly know what this will entail for you,” Zax said.

“Well, I’m not too worried. Afterall, what kind of dragon refuses to grow?” Vion asked.

Zax paused, and then grinned at her. “You have grown more than we’d anticipated.”

“It’s not growth, it is… understanding. This was what I’d been meant to be. From the very beginning. I had felt it, and now that I know, I can feel it crawling under my skin, the wrongness. The spell that was incomplete, itching for completion. I won’t deny myself this. Not now. Not anymore,” Vion said.

And with those words, Vion stood in the center of the chamber as both Zax and Draxius stepped back.

The process she meant to undergo was no grand spell, neither was it some complex or dangerous magic. It was simply evolution. A process every creature with racial levels went through. Even dragons.

And yet, just by the nature of her existence, it became a complex thing, a process that birthed something new.

Yet… unlike dragons, her path hadn’t been a juvenile dragon, or even a draconic humanoid or whatever. It had been none of those things.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She had a single option to pick from. And nothing else.

Vion opened her astral script, the words blooming into existence upon stone with glowing lava like words carved onto them.

You stand upon the precipice of change.

Your true form awaits you ahead.

Take the plunge.

Evolution Options:

[Dragonborne (Unique)]

You are the child of two halves, the merger of two worlds. Now, you will create a new one, the blending of two races into a brand new force that will have you at its helm. The legacy of this kingdom, and the one who created it.

Vion looked at those words, shining and glowing, shimmering with power. She didn’t even have to think of it, and that power flowed into her, changing her.

She closed her eyes, slumber taking her away, which was why she didn’t see the notification that came after it. A notification not meant for just her, but for ever Awakened on Erandir who could see their astral script.

A new Great Race has been born.

The world changed in that single moment.

***

Two figures sat around a table in a dark chamber. Only one was truly present there, the other a complex spectral spell that few would be able to see through and recognize as an illusion.

“It’s happening,” the spectral woman spoke, looking at the notification that had appeared in front of her. Her, and every living being on Erandir.

A man sat on a chair near her, legs set on the table with a cube puzzle in hand, each with a magical sigil inscribed on it that shifted as he turned pieces of the cube, forming complex patterns.

“Slightly earlier than I had anticipated,” he said.

“That does not inspire confidence. Are you even still in control of events? The dragon you chained is free and helping the shell, making guiding the shell much harder than necessary,” the woman said.

“He broke fate that time,” the man said, twisting the cube with precise movements.

“Like how he did when he met Hellion and gained her blessing despite being tied to the void? Or how he did when that life wyrm protected him from the watcher’s touch?” the woman asked, clearly angry.

“And yet, he is exactly where he should be, doing what we need him to do,” the man said, as the runes on his cube lit up, matching as magic flowed and the device opened up, revealing a golden and black object inside that pulsed with power.

“What are you planning anyway?”

The man sat up straight, moving the pyramid in his hands around as reality flickered around the object.

“I’m observing, our attempts at creating a vessel suitable enough to hold the shards have all failed, and I think we can use this one to our purposes,” he said.

“The void tried it too, and failed, you can’t chain him, not directly, the seal protects him. And if we let him run free, he’s just going to keep gaining shards and eventually the beast will escape out of its human shell, and this will all have been for nothing,” the woman said.

“Doubtful that it will happen so soon. We already have two major shard pieces, without them, he cannot Ascend,” the man replied.

“We need all of them. And we need to kill it and extract the shards,” the woman said.

“Not yet,” the man replied, standing up from his chair as the woman stopped the protest she would’ve continued on with for hours. He knew well enough how that went, he'd lived through that reality a few times to see if he could change her mind. He couldn’t.

She paused, knowing this to mark the end of this conversation. Lastly, she asked. “Does he suspect who you are?” she asked.

The man straightened his white shirt. “No. He has no idea.”

“What about the dragon? He is smart, he will be able to see through you given long enough. The risk doesn’t seem worth it,” the woman asked.

The man glanced down at his body, and then spun the pyramid as reality changed. He stood now, as a young boy, somewhere around eighteen or nineteen. He could feel the identity prodding his level.

[Chaos Primer - Lvl 200]

“I hate when you do that without warning. It makes me nauseous,” the woman said.

The man hummed in contemplation. “This form is a little finicky. Suppression at this level is tough, even for me,” he said at last.

He let the form dissipate for a moment, as his body flickered, changing the identify result along with it.

[Fate Architect - ?????]

“Just don’t get found,” the woman said at last. “Everything we have done, all of it will be for nothing, if you let this chance go.”

“I won’t,” the man replied.

With a flicker, his attention went to the island, and the trial for youth. The trial to become a Dragon Warrior. A smile lingered on his face. It had been a long time since he had gotten to directly participate in one of his games. And that too, not in a simulated world.

He was going to enjoy this.

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