Tiamat's Greed

The instant Cassius entered the Material Plane carrying the Heart of Garyx, the flesh on the heart decayed rapidly, crumbling away into ash. For matter that had lost its font of immortality, time in the Astral Plane was practically at a standstill. But this preservation came at a price; once brought out of the Astral Plane, all the time that had passed retroactively caught up with it. In the end, the colossal heart, once twenty meters across, shriveled until nothing remained but an indistinct, faintly luminous crystal—the remnants of Garyx's immortal bloodline power lingering in this body. Cassius pinched it carefully between his claws. [Heart of Garyx] [Wondrous Item, Mythic] [Domains: Chaos, Destruction, Dragon, Evil, Fire (Renewal)] [Effects: Unknown (Extremely Dangerous)] [Description: Garyx the All-Cleanser symbolizes pure power and destruction among dragons. It is debated whether Garyx truly suffered from madness, which resulted in the ceaseless howling winds of Pandemonium. Before being banished to Pandemonium, Garyx periodically descended upon the Material Plane, unleashing unholy flames of ruin upon the mortal realm. His true form was sealed away by the gods in the astral void, and his divine power dissipated with the passage of time. The sole remaining violent bloodline gathered in the heart alongside the throbbing of his fundus vessels, quietly awaiting Garyx's return.] An inexplicable sense of unease crept over Cassius. The moment he descended onto the Material Plane, he felt several gazes fixating upon him. "This is..." He swiftly bent reality with his will, weaving a temporary extradimensional space to stow both the blazing energy crystal and the Astral Prism, masking their auras. Just then, an uncanny, stifling pressure echoed in his mind before bleeding out into the surrounding world. Cassius looked up at the sky, his expression instantly turning grave. "It's Tiamat." Sure enough, riding an invisible ripple, a colossal phantom of five colors and five heads manifested in midair, gazing down upon the red dragon with a savage grin. "Child, you have grown stronger." Cassius bowed his head slightly, offering a respectful yet composed greeting. "Good day, Your Majesty Tiamat. My meager strength is not worth mentioning before your supreme might." The five-headed dragon seemed to inspect him closely, as if searching for something, an insatiable greed burning within her eyes. "Yet the stronger a child grows, the more inclined they are to rebel—especially a 'peculiar' child like you." "I hope... you are not one of them." Cassius folded his wings, adopting an earnest and innocent posture—even if such an expression appeared hideously unnatural on the face of a red dragon. "Your Majesty, I have continually labored and fought for your grand chromatic cause. How could I ever speak of rebellion?" Tiamat's phantom continued to look the red dragon up and down, the central head baring its fangs in a smile once more. "As a young dragon, it gratifies me to see you possess such devotion. I, too, have always remained committed to finding ways to expand the power and influence of chromatic dragons across the world." Then she paused, her tone taking a bizarre turn. "However..." All five heads spoke in unison, their overlapping voices carrying a resonant, suffocating weight. A crushing divine aura suddenly surged forth, violent winds sweeping across the land. Cassius had to strain with all his might just to hold himself upright, barely keeping from sinking to his knees or flattening against the ground. "Why do I smell upon you—the scent of my foolish brother?" So Tiamat spoke. This was the true face of the Dragon Queen, the goddess of evil dragons. The motherly gentleness she had displayed earlier was not even a proper mask, but merely a trinket to cajole a young dragon like Cassius. The instant her core interests were touched, she would tear away every pretense, displaying her boundless greed and divine might without hesitation. With great effort, Cassius raised his head to meet the gaze of the five-headed dragon in the sky, wearing an expression of righteous innocence. "Your Majesty... I do not understand what you mean." As though crumbling under the pressure, the red dragon lowered his head again, trembling as he defended himself. "I am merely a fortunate soul favored by my ancestors, one who unearthed a tiny scrap of heritage from the great dragon bloodline. I know nothing of the feuds among the dragon gods, nor do I understand those ancient histories. I only wish to follow in your footsteps and restore the supreme glory of our chromatic kind." "I have been in this world for a mere ten years—scarcely long enough for you to take a nap. How could I possibly know another great dragon god, let alone your brother?" Finally, he forced his head up, gritting his teeth as he spoke every word with fierce resolve: "Your Majesty Tiamat, heaven cannot bear two suns, and dragons cannot serve two masters." "In my heart—there is only one sun, and that is you!" Tiamat stared deeply at him. All at once, the suffocating, immense pressure abated by more than half. The chromatic dragon's tone softened, as if none of the preceding hostility had ever occurred. "Child, I hope that is truly what you believe in your heart." "I have seen far too many promising young dragons choose to defy me out of petty self-interest, only to bring about immense disaster. In the end, I had no choice but to erase them with grief." "You must know that I view every chromatic dragon as my own flesh and blood. Even when I personally snap their necks, it fills me with boundless sorrow, often moving me to tears." "I bear no hatred toward these rebellious children. I only feel immense pity for their folly. They could have been part of a grand design, yet they chose such a wretched end." Cassius nodded repeatedly, his eyes burning with sincere devotion as he replied, "I shall abide by your teachings, Your Majesty." "Cassius, my child, remember: whatever I do is for the shared good of all chromatic dragons." "I hope... you do not walk the contrary path." Tiamat's phantom fixed another piercing gaze upon him, as though trying to unearth whatever lay hidden, making Cassius hold his breath despite himself. Then she dissolved into the void, and her overwhelming aura vanished along with her. ... "Huff... huff..." Cassius's heart pounded violently, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Drawing upon his limited knowledge of psionics and mental magic, he constructed dozens of psychic barriers within his mind in a single breath before finding a shred of comfort. *I grew far too careless after that slumber, underestimating the capabilities of the gods.* *I can never use that Terrifying Vision of Tiamat lightly again. It would be best to purge it from my mind entirely.* Cassius thought grimly. Merely bringing back the Heart of Garyx for a few seconds had drawn Tiamat herself to descend via avatar, not to mention the other dragon gods peering from the shadows. The situation had been perilous in the extreme. Fortunately, he was still loosely considered Tiamat's "kin," bound to the ramshackle war chariot of the chromatic dragons, and had not thoroughly infringed upon the Dragon Queen's interests.