The Court of Souls?

“In the early Vedic religion, Vritra (Sanskrit: वृत्र (Devanāgarī) or Vṛtra (IAST)) "the enveloper", was a dragon or a "naga" (serpent) (Sanskrit: नाग) or possibly dragon-like creature, the personification of drought and enemy of Indra. Vritra was also known in the Vedas as Ahi ("snake") (Sanskrit: अहि), and he is said to have had three heads. In later Puranic mythology he came to be identified with an Asura.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Draconis***

***Elona***

“We need more food! What was on your mind when you allowed them to join us! Our clan alone has almost seven thousand people. With all the small fry from Draconis we are scratching at the ten thousand mark,” Doreen complains to Tisha.

Shade's mother shrugs with an innocent expression. “I thought that with this new crystal technology it would be no problem to provide enough living space for those people. And isn't this clan related to you? I thought especially you would jump at the opportunity to help them. One thing is clear. If they have to leave this jellyfish and make a living down there between the volcanoes, we will have a lot of deaths on our hands.”

Doreen shakes one of her bandaged hands at Tisha. Somehow it looks funny. Yesterday I feared that my grandmother would die, but the old hag is recuperating fast. Even if her whole body is covered in bandages and my healing potions. I made a quick trip home to get the medicine and check on Seria.

Then we decided to make Moonray's skyscraper our new headquarters; at least until Draconis is evacuted.

The first fifteen hours were the hardest time for Doreen. Since Shade, Titho and I are the only ones who know strong healing magic, we had to take turns in stabilizing Doreen. Moonray's fire didn't only burn her skin, it also applied a strong curse against any healing or restoration effects. So we had to overcome the curse while stopping Doreen's body from quitting out on us.

In the end Doreen finds her voice again. “It's not about living space and I am sure that you know that. Ten thousand people is at the edge of what our safe zone can support. And that's only if we have all our fields in order. Did you forget that we had several major battles? Half of our fields are useless until we manage to make the soil able to bear fruit. We already have food problems as it is. Yggdrasil is helping, but he isn't a wonder-plant which grows food in a day. I think that we have to help, if we can. And that's the crux. You should think and do some calculations before you spread your arms to take in every refugee who happens to come across.”

I knead my fingers in search for an answer. “And Draconis isn't doing well enough to give us some time to come up with an answer. How much time do we have?”

Tisha's expression turns sour. “Two weeks. We are a little tight on foodstuffs. As Doreen said, all those battles didn't help much.”

Doreen throws up her hands, exhasperated. “Hell, no. Look out of the window, Child. Out there are stones and volcanoes. Moonray's clan exists at the edge. They always have water and food problems. At least we can say that water is of no concern to us with a swamp right next door.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Then how did they get their food up until now?”

“Hunting dragons,” Tisha replies crestfallen.

“Pardon?” I ask.

“You heard me the first time. They hunt the dragons which live in this region. The carcass supplies food and high grade materials,” Tisha says.

I purse my lips and let my attention wander towards the window. “Okay. Let's kill some dragons. How can I find one?”

Doreen starts shaking her head and Tisha is outright shocked. “You can't hunt a dragon. The smallest ones are the size of a house and all of them are on the level of a spirit.”

I make a dismissive gesture. “Point me at a dragon and I'll kill it. The bigger the target, the better.” I turn around and leave them gaping. A little hunt should be just fine to relieve some stress.

All I have to do is to snatch Shade and then we search for that windy Jera character who is managing the integration of Draconis. He should know where to find those dragon nasties.

One hour later I am walking along the foot of a particularly big volcano. Shade and I linked arms while following Jera towards the hunting grounds. Shade is using his valuable staff as a simple walking stick. Our guide looks a little stressed out and there are actually pearls of sweat on his forehead. “Are you sure that you want to do this with just three people? I am not much of a fighter, you now? My divinity lies in divination.”

Shade scowls. “Not much of a deity if you had no idea about about our arrival. Why didn't you warn Moonray.”

Jera scratches his head. “Divination doesn't work like that. My ability only shows me what's good or bad for me and how to avoid it. I actually knew that you were coming, but not why. I only knew that the outcome would be good for me.”

Great! So he is a rabbit god. Only with the difference that he starts running before he is actually in danger. I gesture for him to go on. “Yes, yes. Hurry, where are those dragons? I want to go back to my baby. Explain how this dragon hunting is supposed to work.”

Jera points at a dark cave which leads into the mountain. “Actually we arrived. This is their nest. Red fire dragons. They live in huge packs and build their nests inside mountains. One nest can contain over a hundred animals. We will wait here until one of them comes out to hunt. Then we kill it as silently as possible. We avoid waking up all of them, otherwise we would have to fight the patriarch of the nest.”

Shade raises an inquisitive eyebrow. “And that's bad... why?”

“The patriarch commands the rest of the pack and if all of them attack at once we stand no chance. In addition the patriarch is normally the biggest and oldest dragon. They are very intelligent and can wield magic with abyssal power. If he wakes up we should get out of here.”

“Hmmm...” Shade points a finger at the cave and a ball of blue energy shoots out and into the cave. “That should speed the waiting process up.” A low rumble marks a big explosion and the mountain rumbles a little.

“What did you do!?” Jera gasps. “I see my own death if I stay here!”

I wave at him. “Then you should probably get away. Be sure to direct a few gathering groups to this place after we are done.”

Jera teleports away, mumbling something about batshit crazy deities.

We don't get the time to fret over it. A dragon jumps out of the cave and roars in rage. It's a puny, little thing, not much bigger than a house. It's a standard european dragon with wings, tail and four legs. We need much more than that if we want to feed the clan. I draw on the power in my crystal dagger and flick my finger at the monster. The force is transmitted instantly and its head explodes.

“You are no fun,” Shade sighs. “But I can't really blame you. If that's all they have, then this won't be much more than pigeon shooting.”

I grin. “You get the next one.”

As if on command the cave lights up with fire and dragons start pouring out. The cave entrance is huge, surely a hundred metres wide. So I am actually impressed that the blasted things manage to clog the exit of their lair.

Shade and I start throwing spells, dispatching of the weaker dragons as they pour out of the cave.

Then a huge head peeks out of the dark hole. The patriarch's head fills the cave entrance completely. When the creature sees us and the corpses of its smaller brethren its maw snaps open and we are engulfed in hellfire.

Hadn't Shade created a barrier just in time, we would be toast. After a few moments the fire stops and we find ourselves in a sea of lava.

Shade wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead. “Luckily I didn't forget to bring my staff.”

I unhook myself from Shade's arm and step forward. My view tunnels as I channel mana through my legs and in the next moment I find myself right in front of the dragon's left eye. The eye alone is bigger than me, but it doesn't change the fact that this creature is simply too slow. There is no point in being big if you don't have the power to back it up.

I place my palm on the wet eyeball and channel all my mana reserves through it, directly into the creature's brain. With a wet 'pop', eyeball and grey brain matter are blown out of the other side.

Then the head sinks to the ground and it seems like the battle is over. Even if there are more dragons inside the nest, they can't get out because the big one blocks the entrance.

Shade appears next to me. “This is relaxing. I feel like on a bunny hunt, just that the bunnies are coming to us.”

I smile and hug him. “I knew that you would like the idea. Now we only have to deal with Doreen. I hope she won't be too mad once she takes the bandages off.”

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