World Dragon

Seelus stood on the ridge as the mountain across the valley began to tremble. He had come across a mage performing some manner of binding ritual. The mage had been so absorbed by the ritual that he almost failed to notice Seelus' knife as it slipped between his ribs. Now the one time assassin had no choice but to wonder if the mage had succeeded in the summoning before his life drained away, and if so, what creature Seelus faced in defense of the valley.

Across the valley the opposing ridge buckled and bent, serpentine and seemingly alive. Trees and rocks fell in cascades from the sides of it and dirt sloughed away. Seelus jaw dropped as a massive head, perhaps the length of a small village emerged from the falling debris. The whole ridge jerked upward and revealed the silhouette of its true form as more forest fell from it.

A dragon, bigger than any Seelus had ever seen or even heard of. It's great wings unfurled to blot out the amber sky, the setting sun seeming to turn the great membranes to liquid flame stretched between great bone spines.

It moved slowly into the valley, stopping about 600 paces ahead of where Seelus stood, its head level with him. Twin glowing orange starbursts peering at him from behind heavy lids that looked like they could crush a horse.

The creature yawned, displaying rows of teeth ten times the height of a man. The creature stretched its back and moved its head closer.

"You are not the one who awakened me" Its voice so deep and rumbling Seelus could barely make out the words. Seelus fell to his knees, even the creatures voice was so great he could not withstand it.

Then it felt like some great beast stepped on his mind. Pain like nothing he had ever felt lanced through him, every fiber of his being felt like it had been twisted and run along the edge of a sword. Then the pressure eased, slowly, but becoming tolerable.

I had forgotten how fragile your species is. I apologize for my earlier whisper, I thought it sufficiently quiet for you to bear. Are you still ... coherent?

Each word that rang in his head felt like a hammer's blow. His head throbbed and focusing his eyes was difficult.

"I... can... think ... though barely" He managed to gasp out in a whisper.

Hmmm. I will try to speak more softly, though this is about the limit of it for me. You should recover fairly quickly if memory serves. Again, you are not the one who awoke me. Do you know why I was awoken?



The pain in his mind slowly fading to controlable levels, Seelus managed his answer.

"I am the sworn protector of this valley, dragon." He inhaled deeply preparing himself for the exertion of his next sentence.

"I came upon a mage. He was performing a ritual, one of binding." He paused to breath again. The dragon was right, his recovery from the pain was fairly quick, though his ears... or perhaps his ears as they existed in his mind, were still ringing.

So it seems I have a mortal guardian. Interesting. I may owe you a debt.

There was a pause as the dragon moved his head closer to Seelus, it's nostrils flared, seeming gateways to the abyss.

It seems I do owe you that debt. Though the binding would have been temporary, it would have been unfortunate to be bound at all. You came across an unwarded mage performing a ritual this powerful? That seems unusual.

"He was warded, I just... am not one to pay much attention to wards." Seelus held up the small fetish that had come with his office. It was a cross of bamboo maybe a handspan tall, with a short crosspiece lashed to its middle with lemongrass. A simple tool, but one that had saved his life a number of times, and ensured he was able to continue his duties.

I see. So you possess a fetish of the Muran. That explains your success.

The great beast stretched its neck up into the air, standing taller than the walls of the small valley. A small tongue of flame escaped the beasts mouth as it breathed the air in deeply.

Have I truly slumbered for so long? By air I am 800,000 seasons older then I was when I lay to sleep. Surely I would have been awoken before such time passed.