POV ???:
Tania stood in the middle of a green clearing, her face facing a tall grey cliff with a dark tunnel in it with two rashly made guard towers on both of its sides, throwing long, imposing shadows.
To her side stood the tall man, a person that she trusted covered in the same grey cape with a hood as hers. The wind was howling, bringing cold with itself as their cloaks fluttered.
Figures of immortals in masks and mantles stood all around them, blabbering their insane nonsense about missions and events.
“Do you think that this is the start of a new event or large-scale mission?”
“Shut up. I want to hear dialogues in the cutscene!”
Tania shook her head at the antics of immortals, ‘Such idiots…’
It has been some time since they came to this world for the first time. In the beginning, chaos erupted throughout the world. Every world power panicked, scared of the possible shift in balance that infinitely resurrecting beings would bring, but soon their worries were found mostly irrelevant as the immortals turned to be weird beings that were willing to do the stupid task just for a small reward.
Still, Tania found them highly unsettling, ‘They are helpful for now, but they are growing stronger and stronger with each cycle. It is only a matter of time until they turn into an uncontrollable menace.’
She couldn’t help but think about seemingly random intervals of cycles when the immortals suddenly vanished from the world only to reaper years later, bringing a new wave of chaos.
But what scared Tania most was the seemingly random tendency of immortals to suddenly move worldwide with incredible coordination moving towards important historical events, ‘It almost feels as if a greater unfathomable will controlled them and predicted the future.’
She was nervously shifting her legs under the focused gazes of immortals. If there was any other way, then she would never make such a decision as coming to such a place, but sadly she had no other way, ‘There is no way that I will just abandon my magic just to marry some stupid musclehead.’
‘I wish that my family was more focused on the magic.’ Small tears trickled out of her eyes, wetting the scarf hiding her face as she nostalgically thought about the time when she was young, and her long-dead mother gave her first book about magic, awakening her love for magic.
Sadly her love for magic was what brought her to her current situation, ‘Why they can’t just understand that I will eventually overtake my stupid brother with my magic! I just need more time.’
It was no secret that mages needed much longer time to gain power than warriors, but in the end, they would come on top ‘Everyone in my family just cared about swords, always degrading me and calling me insane because I chose a different path.
‘Just because I am weak now doesn’t mean that you can just marry me to an idiot! Just give me more time!’
She quietly sighed, ‘Least if they married me to someone who isn’t another musclehead but a mage.’
Hatred flared up in her heart when thinking about her future husband, her own cousin that was nothing but muscles with his well-known violent tendencies, ‘More violent and more stupid than a goblin and orc crossbred together!’
She knew that after today there was a large chance that her personality would change, so she could only use the good side of that whole deal to calm herself down, ‘The blood of that wyrm will give me more magical powers than I could ever hope for and the eternal life on top of that. Well, better to be forever a servant of a wyrm known for their magic than be a wife of some stupid musclehead.’
Suddenly the dull sound of heavy steps and the scratching of something sharp against the stone came out of the dark tunnel before her, bringing her out of her self-pitying thoughts.
She straightened her back and lifted her chin in a noble posture so as not to shame her title even though she felt nervous about negotiating with the terrifying beast, ‘It is a wyrm; I heard that they are most reasonable from all draconic races.’
The tall and bulky figure beside her gave all of the reassurance she needed, “Let’s do this, my lady! It is better than an end in his hands.’
She quietly nodded, hoping that her future wouldn’t be as bleak as she feared. She had her doubts about the blood, but in the end, she felt like it had more pros than cons, ‘Nah, I am not so weak as to let some blood affect my rationality! I will use it to my advantage, gaining the incredible magic potential of wyrmkins! Even if it affects me, it is a small cost for me to become a new baroness, giving me a free hand and budget of the whole barony to spend on my progression as a mage! I will gain everything, tile, power and eternal youth!’
A wyrm’s servant in black with bronze dragon shaped makes on his face walked out of the entrance, “His Highness will speak with you!”
Immediately the masked immortals quieted down, uncomfortable silence falling upon the clearing.
Thick clouds of smoke and steam suddenly surged out of the tunnels spreading through the clearing with bright yellowy light leaking out of the tunnel’s darkness. Soon two large reptilian eyes glowing in golden light ignited in the smoke, patterns of yellow and blue shining through the smoke and creating contours of the enormous huge beast hidden in it.
The heavy feeling spread everywhere, weighing upon Tania causing her to hunch over, her magic-sensitive mind hurting under the intense and thick magical energy radiating from the beast.
Still, her noble upbringing didn’t allow her just to disgrace herself as she slowly straightened back up, clenching her fists, ‘When I saw them last time above the town, they looked much smaller… but the size is something else from so close.’
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon looked at the duo standing before him, “Speak mortals, do you accept my condition?”
“Y-yes… I will become your wyrmkin in exchange for your help making me a new baron!”
‘Huh, she must be pretty desperate when she as a noble is aware of the mind-affecting powers of my blood.’
Vesuvius couldn’t but feel happy about this whole situation, the glow in his eyes slightly brightening, ‘This will open me a path to take control of this barony! It will not be instant, but with a new baroness under my influence, I will be able to slowly shift opinions of the local population.’
The glow in his eyes grew even more, his heart loudly beating, ‘Then I will be able to collect tribute in exchange for my protection!’
There was still a problem that he had to address, “How will you hide that you have become a wyrmkin? Wouldn’t that alert the baron of your betrayal?”
The masked girl before him raised her hand and opened it, suddenly a tiny silver ring appeared in it, “I have this! It’s a magical ring that can cast an illusion on me, hiding my horns and eyes.”
POV Tania:
Tania stood before the dragon with the small ring in her palm, her other hand clenched in a fist, trying to keep her nervosity at bay.
Suddenly the thick clouds of smoke and steam whirled, moving out of the way, revealing the large hand covered in black stone with claws longer than her, glowing in magical runes. A slight red glow accompanied by a vibration of magic drifted from the hand. With large rings decked on, glittering in magical power that they radiated.
‘Huh, are these runes and magical rings? Maybe this wyrm is much more interesting than I thought.’ her whole body shuddered at the terrifying thought, ‘Wyrm using magical items and runes on its body… very likely to compensate for the weak body of wyrms. Wouldn’t that make it almost a lesser dragon?’
She heard how cunning and intelligent wyrms were, but seeing their intellect used in such a human way felt so surreal.
Suddenly the hand lowered towards the ground, her eyes finally falling on its content, her heart beating fast, sweat running down her temple as she spotted red glowing liquid pooled in it.
“Come here! Drink it and gain power!” the voice filled with magic entered her mind, her whole body shuddering under the magic pulsing through it.
She unconsciously took a step forwards and then another, not fearing the huge beast that the hand belonged to.
“Yes, come here, my minion, gain the power and eternal youth!” the cold voice sounded through her ears, vibrating in magic, the last remnants of her restraints vanishing as she rushed forwards.
“My lady, are you alright?” a voice came to her, but her mind ignored it as she slowly kept walking forward, not even feeling as her skin turned red from the heat.