by Daniel Ruth
"Um, that may not be the best idea," I stuttered. 'Almost' was the key word here. My dragon form attempt looked like a cartoon rendition of my true form. "There's not enough room in here."
She looked at me skeptically. She had a point. Like any dragon that could shapeshift, I could instantly modify my size from the stature of a housecat to my maximum height.
"It looks pretty ugly. I don't want your first look to be this," I finally admitted.
"That's fine," she said carelessly. "There's no rush. Any idea when you can finish breaking it?"
"It's going to be tough," I said dispiritedly. "Each time the rune is damaged it takes more power to effect it. The last time was with an artifact. I may be able to loosen it a tiny bit more but to break it I may need major help. Perhaps a god."
"That is going to be difficult since they all got locked out of this dimension. It may be centuries before grandfather wonders why I haven't stopped by."
"I'm sure something will crop up," I said with a smile. "By the way, how do you feel about ascending to godhood?"
"Eh, I doubt it will ever happen," she snorted. "Ascending required worshippers. Lots of mortals scurrying around whining for your attention. The effort needed to start up that kind of movement is monumental. Even for a demigod the number of worshippers would be enormous."
"But if it happened, you'd be okay with it?"
She looked at me strangely. "Godhood isn't like slipping on a banana peel. It’s a lot of work and effort. While I wouldn't mind being a full deity, it's not something I would chase after. Especially since it usually involved listening to mortal whine all day."
"I always wondered about that. Seems like all that praying would get annoying."
"From what grandfather says, once you ascend your mind expands. It's pretty much as if your subconscious listens and responds to your worshippers in the manner contractually agreed upon. The only one you have to really pay attention to are the high priests. Even then it would only be if they requested something extraordinary."
"I think you mentioned something like that before," I muttered. We had a few discussions in the past in regards to gods. Most of what I knew about them was from her. I nodded in satisfaction. Sounds like she wouldn't mind being a god. I was pretty sure about that, I just thought I would double check.
We finished eating in silence and then went out to catch a flying carriage. This time I had more luck and waved one down within a few seconds.
The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing jewelry shops and magic supply stores. It made a tiny dent in my reserves but Maribel enjoyed it so much it was well worth it. Afterword we went to a new restaurant and ordered five of everything. Luck was with us and the food was delicious.
As we finished the day and Maribel left, she mentioned that she was sad no one attacked her. Finishing off the Dark Guild had blunted a lot of the aggression she felt towards humans. I had noticed this in her new laid-back attitude during her date. I promised her that I would keep an eye out for a bit of fun bloodletting.
Chapter 16
A few days later I was in the map room again. I didn't really know why I bothered but I was drawn to the puzzle of the mysterious notes like a fly to honey. It really would be faster to simply roam through the portals personally.
I was getting what little joy I could from teasing factoids out on the portals. For example, one portal had a fairy nest nearby. That bit of information was less useful than another that had a note that a Balrog had a lair nearby. Apparently, it was not aligned with Vatapi.
An interesting but not critical piece of information. Mostly because Balrogs are general aggressive no matter who you're aligned with, solitary and although I might get bruised a bit, I could totally dominate one. Okay, maybe that was a strong word. I could eventually wrestle one into submission.
Regardless, it was made less interesting by having this note on a portal that was otherwise on a blank map. In other words, no one knew how to get to it or what was connected to it. I may as well say that somewhere in the multiverse Zeus is riding a hobby horse next to a random portal. It may be true or it may not be true. Who cares?
Fortunately, my terminal rang. Grateful for once to be distracted from my endeavors, I answered the call. Beth's image floated above my wrist.
"Tell me something interesting," I commanded her.
"The Alfred is back," she said shortly.
"You've failed me," I replied, disappointed. "Tell him to leave the allowance and go away."
"He won't go," she said, clearly annoyed. "He says your father wants to discuss things with you."
"Are you sure you’re dead set on this wizard school thing? I've already taught you the first semester spells. Do you really want to waste five years here?"
"Why do you keep calling them first semester? Those spells aren't taught until the third year."
"Well, it flows better than fifth-semester spells," I began. "And can tell myself the magic teaching system isn't as moronic as I know it actually is. Are you deflecting or are you ready to move on?"
"Deflecting," she sighed. "I like it here. Sentha and Holland are my friends. Even Clarence has grown on me. Jeremy says as long as I remotely keep up with the school curriculum in Arc, he is okay with staying here for a while. I think he's trying to distract himself from mom and dad's situation."
Their mom and dad had been put into stasis since technology wasn't too reliable with the flooding ley lines and energy storms running rampant. I had helped stabilize things in Arc but frankly, the magic users of this world had better methods. The countermeasures their civilization was using to ensure their nanites didn't get loose and melt someone's face, or a continent or two weren't working well.
Normally they would require people that were infected with nanites yet didn't want an explosive collar around their neck to go to Mars. After the aborted demon invasion, Mars first quarantined Earth and then got itself overrun by ley lines and portals. Life is ironic that way. Perhaps Lamia isn't really the goddess of undead and vengeance. Maybe it's irony.
"It's fine," I said resignedly. I was hoping to take her along on a few adventures. Now Stella was off bringing the apocalypse to some poor misbegotten planet and Jeremy was still too fragile to go anywhere. It was academic anyway since I couldn't bring anyone with me when I teleported to the anchor shards. Still, once the map got a few routes added to it I wondered if Mei would like to go exploring?
"I'll head over now. Get it all over with."
I finished entering my new notes into the map database through the terminal and headed back to the apartment. I changed my form and robe's appearance as I climbed the stairs.
"Alfred, good to see you again," I greeted him with a plastic smile. "I hear you came to waste my time. Thank you."
"My name isn't Alfred, its..."
"Why are you wasting time?" I asked crossly. "Don't you have any respect for my father's time? I am sure he is anxiously waiting for me."
"Yes sir," he said as his shoulders slumped. "Please follow me. Your father has received a temporary dispensation to have the carriage meet us outside."
That was ominous. It was actually very difficult to get that from the academy. I wondered if I had met him at the party. The nobles mostly blurred together in my mind. Arrogant sneers, mindless snarking and brainless conversation.
I waved at Beth as she watched us leave with a worried expression. No doubt she was thinking I was going to blow her schooling plan. She was absolutely right to be worried. I was going to meet my 'father' and I didn't know a thing about him. I briefly thought about stealing Alfred's memories but there were too many issues with that plan. The sole ability in that field I had was reciprocal and since I couldn’t put him in a convenient coma that would be very awkward.
My interest perked up slightly as we flew off. The carriage was large and comfortable but completely gilded. I hated that. Real, solid gold or nothing. Never the less, the view was nice. It made me want to stretch my newly earned wings and flap
around.
"So, how's father been," I asked as I watched the buildings pass beneath us. "I haven't heard from him."
"He's been busy," Alfred said. "He's been in the city trying to drum up support for an expedition through portals."
"That’s very bold," I replied. "I would think they would be worried about wandering into the demon's portal. More than the average portal that is." Technically all the stable portals were made by the demons.
"Yes," the butler nodded. "Support has been slow."
Conversation died after that. I wasn't interested in talking to him and he obviously didn't like poor little Albuthy. The Duke's home was located on the other side of the city. Although the carriage was slower than similar flying vehicles in Arc, the city itself was smaller. It was only a few minutes silence before the driver called back to prepare for landing. After a slight jarring thump, we landed. I wasn't experienced enough in carriages to know if that was considered good or not.
A pair of fully plate mail armored guards met us at the door and walked us into the manor. One leading, one following. The manor itself was a decent size, far larger than the principal's mansion. It also had far more guards, even counting the animated gargoyles. Every hallway had a pair, including the entrance to the dining room.
The room was absurdly large. It looked like it could hold several hundred people comfortably. Dinner tables for every person could have been wide and spacious. Instead, it had a single long table with one well-dressed noble sitting at the far end. The single other chair was at the far end, well over a hundred feet away.
"Oh my," I said with a smile. "If I didn't know better, I would say you were allergic to me."
"Welcome home, Albuthy," the man said gravely.
"Thank you for the invite. Your hospitality is... enormous," I said gesturing to the room. Alfred took some invisible cue and left the chambers. There were no guards inside. It was just two people in a massive, mostly empty room. If it wasn't so absurd, I would have believed he was a giant or a dragon in disguise. Perhaps he simply was claustrophobic.
I checked his aura. He was a spellcaster, rather accomplished and obviously having undergone a transformation similar to Beth's. Perhaps he was a tiny bit less powerful than Sembling. That was fairly impressive.
"I think calling this home would be a stretch though."
"Would you have a seat," he said gesturing to the sole free chair literally hundreds of feet away. I could feel magical energies roil and churn from that location. I shook my head. I suppose the jig was up. This was so obviously a trap that only the most moronic creature would have fallen for it.
I glanced behind me and noted that there were spells on the exit. They hadn't been active when I had stepped through the door. They must have been built into it since I didn't see anything on the outside. It seemed to be an unfortunate trend considering the sneaky traps installed in the council room. You would think the city was getting ready to be invaded by shapeshifting demons or something.
"I think not," I nodded amiably. "Your welcome may be more than my heart could bear."
A shimmering blue dome appeared around the duke. I guessed he had activated some shielding enchantment. I didn't see him move so it was either mentally activated, timed or there was some third party involved. I was getting less confident by the second that Beth would be able to stay at the academy another day, let alone another few years.
"I see you are aware of the kind of situation you are in. No matter. I prefer plain speaking anyway, rather than beating around the bush," the Duke said. "I suppose the first order of business we have is determining whether you are a demon or a dragon. The only thing I am confident of is that you are not a hydra."
I snorted to myself in disdain. I could speak in complete sentences without turning into a rage monster. Of course, I wasn’t a hydra.
"It's very sad these days to see what family has degenerated to," I said as I began to slowly pace around the room probing with my psychic senses as I walked. "I had been wondering what little Albuthy had been doing next to a dragon's lair and wandering through a hydra infested forest. It was a miracle he lasted as long as he did."
There were wards all over the place, all under the floor. This made it very difficult to identify them. I activated my force field. A good fraction of the possible ward effects were indirect attacks. Death magic, pain, and paralysis. These would ignore such force fields unless you had a defensive spell suited for them.
I didn't have any such things readily available but my inherent resistance should be more than fair. But, oh my, there were a lot of them. I felt like I had walked into a circle master's home. This was something I had distinctly told Conrad not to do when he was chasing Baron Samedi after the zombie debacle.
No doubt there were also wards that prevented teleporting or dimensional magic as well. While I was nervous, I was also confident that my anchor rune could trump anything in the ten dimensions. The black dragon that had engraved them on me was stronger than even Vatapi.
"My son was found studying demonic tomes and dissecting the children of the village for his own entertainment and edification. Naturally, he was sent away with his followers to somewhere he could conveniently disappear to without sullying the name of his ancestors," the man said flatly. "Therefore, I was surprised to hear he had actually safely arrived at his destination. Obviously, you are not my son, but the question is if you are a demon masquerading as my Albuthy or something else."
I paused in thought. That explained a bit more. "Wow, I knew he was a piece of work based on the little bits left from the documentation and journals I found in the wreckage. However, he was more of a jerk than even I thought."
"Simon had said he seemed less rabid than usual. It was the first sign that you weren’t really him. The second was asking for money for prostitutes. Albuthy was extremely young and loathed women," the Duke replied. "The third was him getting a perfect score on his examinations despite having only attended a single class."
Doh! I smacked myself in the forehead. "So, assuming I am not a demon. Where does this leave us?"
"You claim to be the dragon?"
"No, Mirabel's the cute female dragon," I admitted. "You seem to have hooked her handsome boyfriend."
"Can you prove this?"
"Well, I'm a shapeshifter. How handsome do you want me to be?" I asked in mock confusion. He looked at me witheringly. I smiled and chuckled. "Okay, I suppose I'll have to laugh at my own jokes. Again."
"You should be taking your situation seriously," the Duke said. "Having entered my home of your own free will, you can only leave at my pleasure."
"That," I began as I shifted to my adult form and changed my robe to my suit. "Remains to be seen. Your setup is nice. I admit that if I intended to attack you, I would be shit out of luck. Once your magics activate I would have to immediately leave." I hadn't had the time to ward myself like I had when I had stormed Baron Kerns study. It would definitely hurt if I overstayed my welcome.
"You will find..."
"That I can't leave?" I interrupted. "I have faith in my ability to run away. You should too. Let's continue this conversation with the mutual assumption that I can end it whenever I want. However, there is clearly something that you want from me or we wouldn’t be in this situation."
I smiled at him. "I understand this just as you should understand there is something that I want as well."
"True, but first we need to prove you are not a demon."
I stopped smiling. "You don't recognize this form? Have you been living under a freaking rock? I met almost all the nobles in the city just a few weeks ago!"
He appeared confused. "I am afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Did you check on who I am living with? Jeremy? One of the envoys from the other world? A few weeks ago, there was meeting with all of us and supposedly all the nobles of the country that were in the city. Come to think of it I didn't see you there. I would have noticed a full mage attending."
&n
bsp; The Duke spent a few moments in thoughtful silence. "I had more serious concerns at the time. A party seemed frivolous. The dragon's territory is in the area of the portal where the newcomers are from..."
"I'm glad you're not completely oblivious," I muttered to myself. Either there were excellent room acoustics or there was magic involved because he looked at me piercingly when I said that.
"If true, this would be even more appropriate," he said. "We still need to prove this though."
"Well, if your interest is exploring the ten worlds and beyond then you are in luck," I said, causing him to jerk in startlement. "I am from the dimension next door and plan to be visiting a few more."
"How..."
"Your Alfred is a bit chatty," I exaggerated.
"Who is Alfred?"
"Old guy. He brought me here."
"Simon?"
"Let's call him Alfred."
"Why? His names Simon," the Duke said in confusion.
"So, Alfred mentioned you wish to explore the worlds," I said as I fiddled with the terminal and brought up the projection the ten worlds.
Truthfully it looked like the three worlds and small patches of geography on seven mostly blank globes. It caught his attention though. His breath hitched and his eyes fixated on the slowly rotating spheres as they circled me.
I glanced at the available power from the corner of my eye. This large projection was visibly depleting the reserves.
"I have the means to explore the worlds," I began. "The intention to explore the worlds and the methods to gather the data conveniently. I presently lack a method to bring others along, however, once the map is filled in a bit and we have the one hundred permanent portals located, that will resolve itself."
"I see," he said. "It appears you do indeed have something I want. I must also have something that you want." I nodded amiably. "All we need to do is confirm you're not a demon and we can come to an arrangement."
I stared at him. "We're still stuck on that point? Durmont invited me to a party filled with fragile nobles," I counted on my fingers as I ticked off points. "I killed Vatapi's right-hand man, Baron Kerns. I killed Vatapi himself! Obviously, I must be a demon spy because Vatapi has a sinister plot to kill himself multiple times and crush you all with his corpses!"