Dragon Tyranny

"Whew..." "What a terrifying foe." Only after confirming that the shadow dragon was truly gone did the red dragon slowly descend to the ground, licking his wounds. *Dragon's Respite.* Golden particles of vital energy rained from the sky, swiftly mending his injuries and visibly restoring his slightly weakened draconic body. "One day, I will kill him." "Mortifer." Cassius murmured the name that embodied the night. The red dragon stared in the direction where the shadow dragon had vanished. His expression turned ferocious, and his golden pupils burned as though fueled by raging flames. To have an enemy bring the fight right into his own territory was an affront that had to be avenged no matter what. In the near future, he would crush that dragon lurking in the shadows. Yet now was not the time; his power was still nowhere near sufficient. The surrounding area lay in utter ruin, still reeking of the shadow curse. Thin wisps of black mist drifted from splintered branches and splattered mud. Gradually, the moon emerged in the sky, shedding a gentle, serene moonlight that cleansed the pervasive shadow energy. Cassius could sense that because of Duke Brad's all-consuming sacrifice, space here had grown exceptionally fragile, faintly threatening to become a nexus between the Material Plane and the Shadowfell. Mortifer had not lied. This planar shift was continuing unchecked and would not stop unless the source of the curse—the shadow dragon himself—was eliminated. "Still..." "For now, at least, it's finally over." That shadow dragon was undeniably powerful, possessing an absolute dominance in raw strength. The black mist that had blotted out the heavens had forced Cassius to recognize his own insignificance. Fortunately, he understood the art of borrowing another's might. By draping himself in the mantle of Tiamat, the Chromatic Dragon Queen, he had managed to terrify the shadow dragon into retreating. Yet power beyond one's control always carried a price, and the Terrifying Vision of Tiamat was no exception. "Or perhaps... it isn't completely over." Cassius looked up at the sky, his breath catching in his throat. The apparition that was supposed to appear only in Mortifer's mind now manifested directly before him. Such was the might of a deity. Even conjuring an illusion, speaking a name, or contemplating a concept could be perceived by them and used as a conduit to project their presence into the world. Unlike the overwhelming oppression of the shadow dragon commanding the night, what the Dragon Mother brought him was a despair from a higher order of existence. Five heads peered down at him from above. "We meet again, my child." Her gaze was far less maternal than it was ravenous. That look made Cassius feel as though his very soul were being laid bare. Not daring to meet her eyes any longer, he lowered his head and said with forced calm, "Greetings, great Mother of Evil Dragons, Queen of Chromatic Dragons, Your Majesty Tiamat." "I offer my sincere apologies. In order to drive off that shadow dragon just now, I took the liberty of invoking your prestigious name and conjuring your majestic likeness. It was truly an overstep on my part." Tiamat chuckled softly, the white head speaking first: "Heh, that matters not." The green head said, "You have done well. You established a dragon kingdom in Anzeta, refusing to let the ancient glory of our kind fade." The black head followed, "Yet even greater trials await you in the days ahead, my child." Finally, the red head spoke: "Ten years. Within ten years, I want you to unify Anzeta, march south into Fadlan, and become an instrument of my dominion over this world. This—this shall be part of the grand design for all dragonkind." "When I ascend the throne, the tyranny of the gods will end. The rule of dragons shall be restored across the land, dragon wings will once again blot out the Material Plane, and you, my child, as one of my lieutenants, shall become a duke in my service, gifted with immense power and boundless wealth." Tiamat's eyes burned with insatiable greed. Perhaps from spending too long in Avernus, her words sounded as though they were meant to drag Cassius straight into the Hells. Hearing the words "grand design," Cassius's heart skipped a beat. Something felt terribly off, and the lines struck him as oddly familiar, as if he had heard them somewhere before. Even so, he kept his head bowed, put on a show of boundless reverence and excitement, and respectfully replied, "Yes, Your Majesty." "Thy will be done." The apparition of Tiamat vanished from the sky in an instant. Only then did Cassius breathe a genuine sigh of relief. He swiftly erected mental barriers, sealing away the terrifying image of Tiamat lurking in his mind. A notification flashed across his interface: [You have gained the status: Tiamat's Greedy Gaze. Your Frightful Presence receives an additional bonus. Your Proficiency: Intimidation +6.] *Great, now I really am halfway to becoming a Chosen.* *Tsk, even if I wanted to be an unfilial rebel, I wouldn't have the chance...* After all, Cassius was merely a pitiful adolescent red dragon with a Challenge Rating of 17. What else could he do? Beneath the Dragon Mother's crushing majesty, he had no choice but to play the dutiful son. Having borrowed her name to scare off his enemy, he still had to show proper deference. Several more warning prompts updated across his interface. On the surface, Tiamat's words had been nothing but praise and commendation, but Cassius knew full well that the Mother of Evil Dragons was far from benevolent. There was undoubtedly something about him she coveted. If he blindly trusted her words, he would likely be devoured whole, down to the last scrap. As for the rhetoric she used, Cassius knew it better than anyone—dangling carrots and painting rosy futures. The very corporate promises he routinely fed his subordinates were now being turned on him, which left him feeling profoundly strange. *Clash of Kings, Dragon Tyranny.* *I need to increase my strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I won't survive a world-scale event like this,* Cassius mused. This was one of the major side questlines from Version 2.0, *Clash of Kings*. The Holy Fadlan Empire, also known as the Blazing Sun Empire, was the most vast and militarily powerful nation on the central continent. Its emperor, blessed by Amantana the Sun God, had used the divine artifact known as the Wheel of Eternal Radiance to forge the Blazing Sun Legion, a force rivaling divine scions. Unstoppable and undefeated, this army carved out a vast territory for the empire under the declaration: "Wherever the sun shines, there lies our realm." Yet after the old emperor—Aragorn I, known as the "Sun King"—died unexpectedly, his colossal empire collapsed. His three imperial sons carved up the remnants of the realm, establishing the three legitimate kingdoms of Cassander, Thrace, and Seleucia. The divine-blooded nobles of the Blazing Sun Legion likewise founded numerous realms of varying sizes. Virtually overnight, the empire fractured into a constellation of warring states in an event known to history as the Great Collapse of Holy Fadlan—the prelude to the Clash of Kings. And Tiamat had used a sinister cult to seize control of the Kingdom of Seleucia in southwestern Fadlan, attempting to summon her true body, restore draconic dominion across the mortal realm, and make her dreaded name echo through the world once more. That was—Dragon Tyranny.