A Tale of Steel & Blood

THE DESTROYER'S DAUGHTER

DRAGON HALL

52 A. D.

Three years after my grandfather passed and I continued performing my duties as Lord of Dragon Hall. The people of Firefield were prospering and so were the Dragons.

I was honored to have Hogun Talltree as my advisor, for he had been my grandfather's advisor and we always told war stories to one another.

He had marched with my grandfather to Stallion's Field when he led the armies of Dragos against Sargon and his Horde. At almost sixty-eight years old, Hogun Talltree still looked pretty young for his age. One might even mistake him for a salty-old seadog from Siren's Bay looking to either speak diplomatically or start a brawl in a tavern.

However, he was pretty much the voice of reason to grandfather throughout his time as Lord of Dragon Hall; especially when it came to the welfare of the Dragons in the Grotto.

Now with Dragons flying freely across the realm, Hogun knew that there would be new challenges that we must face in the wake of this change.

Even though the Dragons never harmed any settlements in the realm, one particular Dragon had sighted flying over the Deadlands, many times.

That Dragon being Titus.

According to messages from Bronzetown to Seashell Port, Titus was attacking caravans of soldiers trekking through the desert and burning them for no reason. The banners they flew were that of the House of Rivera: the black scorpion standing tall upon a large red rock in the desert.

At first, I didn't want to believe that Titus would do such a thing for no reason, but then I remembered what else the Deadlands were getting attention for: poaching.

Poachers from Seaweed Bay to Red Harbor were being spotted tracking and killing youngling Dragons in their own nests, with occasional mid-sized Dragons for their large fangs and claws.

No one in the Winterlands or Ganymedes could prove that Lord Rivera and his men were responsible, but Titus knew. It appeared that Grand Scholar Voreis' theory about Dragons being intelligent than humans was correct.

One day, I received an unexpected visit from Lord Rivera himself. The visit was not a long one, though. Rivera requested that I find a way to reign in the Dragons that are flying beyond Dragon Hall's borders.

Unfortunately, there was nothing that I could do to accommodate his lordship, for as I had told a great many lords from the Goldlands to the Winterlands the same fucking thing: Dragons have no masters. We do not control them.

Dragons are their own masters, and they will go wherever they please and kill anything or anyone who poses a threat to them.

I did notice that Lord Rivera was wearing a necklace with what looked like the tooth of a youngling Dragon, which confirmed my suspicions that he and his bannermen were poaching youngling Dragons, which honestly should be considered illegal throughout Dragos.

I remember saying to Lord Rivera, before he left, "A word of warning, my lord. If you're going out killing youngling Dragons, just remember this: Titus will know. He always knows when one of his own is slain".

Needless to say, Lord Rivera did not heed my words after he returned to Scorpion Hill. Within one month after his visit, Lord Rivera and his entourage were burnt to a crisp in the Deadlands, where Dragons were nesting in Meleena's Oasis. After the fall of Lord Rivera, the rest of the Eastern provinces fell in line and ceased their poaching.

Two months after my meeting with Lord Rivera, the rest of the realm was finally at peace. Dragons were ruling the skies and the grounds. With all the prosperity happening all across Dragos, why the fuck was I so miserable?