Air and Sea IV

Meanwhile

Tariq awoke carefully as his young hand came up to his head, feeling bruises and cuts gone from his body completely. There was some sort of tube in his arm with fluid along with another wrapping up to his nose and pushed into the nostrils, he couldn't tell if either was taking water out of him or flowing in, with cool air being pumped through the latter. As his other hand reached over to try and pull both off, a metal woman of unknown origins came over and blocked his fingers. "Please do not remove that, child. It is for your benefit. You are dehydrated and need to recuperate." He stared at her with widening eyes, wondering where she had come from. The mechanical woman placed something on his forehead, for what reason he wasn't sure as it was removed right after.

"Wh… where… where am… I…" he rasped out as she took some sort of cup with a stick poking out of it and pulled out the small sponge attached at the end, requesting for him to open his mouth. The boy couldn't understand why she wouldn't just give him the cup to drink from, but maybe there was some reason she was being so restrictive of his movements. As soon as the room temperature water touched his tongue, he closed his mouth and sucked out the liquid as hard as he could, though he didn't feel as thirsty as he expected. Was this due to the tube in his arm? "Where am I?" he asked again.

"Currently you are in the dark elf capital in Olva'lore Forest child. Do you feel strong enough to move?" she asked. He turned his head slowly and looked down at his body, covered in clean bed sheets. There was some sort of shirt he was wearing, with an odd smell in the room, almost like an alchemist had set up his shop inside and was playing with different ingredients. Tariq slowly sat up with assistance from the metal woman and took a deep breath. He coughed immediately as she tilted his chin up to help open the air pathway in his throat, spraying some sort of mist in front of him lightly that he inhaled and soothed his coughing fit immediately.

"How… how did I…" he stopped asking as he remembered the white hair, the elven woman leaning over him. He could have sworn he was dying right then, seeing their god sending down a chosen to bring him up for everlasting peace in the realm of eternal slumber, dreams made true finally. The stories had said they were notoriously beautiful, hence the thought in his mind. He struggled to bring his legs out from under the covers, the woman gently trying to keep him from doing so.

"You are not yet well enough to get up young one. What is your name?" she asked, her green gem eyes, at least he thought they were eyes, tracking his body behavior the entire time.

"Ta…" he thought for a moment. Artinia didn't care about knowing anyone from their close neighbors, just taking what didn't belong to them. His name wouldn't mean anything right here, especially to the enemy of their enemy. "Tariq… my name is Tariq…"

"Tariq, you have a minor concussion your body needs to sort through first, along with starvation. Your body is mostly healed, but you don't have the energy to move correctly without harming yourself. Stay here in bed, we will provide a meal for you to eat." She stood up and waited for him to attempt to get out of bed yet again, but he had already seen now that they didn't mean any ill will towards him and simply waited. She walked away, only for a metal man to come in with a tray of assorted food for him to devour. "My… thanks…" he said as the boy, no older than ten, tried to show some appreciation for the much-needed assistance.

"You are welcome. Please eat carefully, most of the food is of lukewarm temperature and will not burn you; however, ingesting too quickly may cause swallowing difficulties." The metal man walked away, though he doubted he wasn't being watched somehow. As his eyes finally landed on the meal placed in front of him, he noticed it was a diverse amount, with some sort of soup, soft crackers, some sort of mixed fruit bowl diced up, two drinks and some small steamed vegetables with a dipping sauce he couldn't quite understand what it was made of, but was far tastier than anything he had eaten in the past three months. All of it wasn't to give him the nutrients his body needed, as the food was just there to stop his stomach from growling or causing hunger pains.

Once he was finished eating, he tried once again to get his legs out from under the covers, to immediately have the same metal woman show up and attempt to impede him gently. "I… may I… see the outside… please…"

"Do you have need to relieve yourself?" she asked him. He knew what that meant.

"Yes, and I also have need to see what is beyond this tent… if I may…" he quietly said.

"You currently have a catheter emplaced and bed pan, you don't have to be moved to the restroom to do so." He sighed in frustration, doing his best to curb his expectations for who he knew he was, though that made little difference in another land. A slight movement of a bag nearby tugged on a special part of his body below the waist as she checked the level of fluid inside.

"I wish to see outside this tent, now. I… want to see where I am. Am I a captive here?" he sternly said, his age belying someone who wasn't to be discounted as a mere child.

"You are not a captive Tariq, you are a patient in a hospital being tended to. Moving you at the moment is not advised, headaches and blurred vision may affect you" she replied calmly.

"Let me at least see where I was brought, then I will willingly come back in." The metal woman took a second then agreed, picking him up swiftly from the bed and placing him in a metal chair with large wheels on the sides, footrests provided. Then she attached the catheter bag to the side of the wheel hair and stepped behind the handles, bringing him towards the flaps of the temporary hospital, the guards at the entrance opening them to allow the boy to see the city in all of its repaired splendor. Elves walked freely around to shop, though it was clearly towards the end of the day.

His eyes landed on the same woman who he swore he had seen out in the forest, before he lost consciousness. Princess Silara was strikingly beautiful as she stormed towards a staircase heading up to the Stonewood palace gates. Though there was a childish crush taking root in his heart, he knew that he wasn't yet old enough to marry like his second older brother did at sixteen. If by some miracle she was still available in six years, he would do what he could to prove he was enough of a man for her to take notice of, though it was notoriously difficult to woo an elf he heard. Tal Salunbal had no issues with dark elves, though they also did not have friendly relations. When Artinia made their first attempt to enslave or destroy the forest and its inhabitants, his father decided not to intervene. That might have cost him and his family an ally, though he did not yet understand world politics quite as well as he would like.

His brown eyes surveyed the rest of the city, at least from what little he could see given the placement of the hospital. After ten minutes, he accepted he was going to be brought back inside to continue recuperating, though he was informed once he was healthy enough to stand on his own that he would be allowed to leave, only to be sent to a refugee camp not far for transport to another location. He noticed something very odd about the tent as he was wheeled back in; the cloth that it was made of seemed utterly different from anything he had ever seen, with a slight glossy sheen with reinforced yet light skeletal frame holding it up. It looked nothing like what the dark elves could ever make, especially with the metal people looking after the sick inside.

"Are the elves allied with someone?" he questioned, mostly to ask himself. The nurse stopped the chair and picked him up to place him back in the bed.

"You are currently within the borders of the Clockwork Empire; Olva'lore Forest is a part of that empire." Tariq's young face seemed to gawk at that. When did the elves fall? Was this the new name of Artinia now that they had taken so much territory?

"Is… is this what Artinia calls itself now?" he asked calmly.

"Negative. The Clockwork Empire is under the rule of our creator, Empress Selene. You are safe here."

Creator? These… these things aren't golems! Who is this empress that can craft such intricate constructs that can speak like humans and do more than menial labor or fighting? She must be very powerful to have an army of these creatures at her beck and call.

"Th… thank you for the answer."

"You are welcome. We believe you will be healthy enough to move on your own by tomorrow. There may be a requirement for physical rehabilitation. Please listen to any commands asked of you, they are for your health and benefit." The woman left him to tend to other patients, a few of them he could see through the openings of the pulled closed curtains. The other slaves who had escaped with him were almost all alive, though one was missing, an older lizard boy who looked out for him while hidden deep in Paldos City. He made a silent prayer to whatever god his friend Kal'neth believed in that he survived.

Two Hours Later

The unveiling of the masterwork stone carved tree was an incredible morale boost beyond the economic boom they were going through already. The crowd seemed to be made up of almost the entire town, with all of them wanting to see this momentous occasion, some crying, a good amount of them being men. Selene stood up and made light conversation with Stafinson and Giles, with Abbey getting a chance to listen to Elsei and Morlan. "Hey lass, did you hear about the company in Glass Dale trying to undercut their workers?" Giles questioned her.

"I heard, though it doesn't look like we'll have to do anything if all of the guilds are going after them anyways. It's kind of why I had all of you take command of those job specializations in the first place."

"Ah, brilliant as always. Yes, we're refusing to allow any connection to them in any way, with all other guilds pulling support. They're losing employees while we find them new jobs, they aren't receiving new ones either." The empress listened carefully, already realizing that she was dooming the company to collapse by not directly interfering. They should have treated their people better. She had no sympathy for those who would take advantage of others under their employ and expect to be bailed out. Her empire was not the U.S. government, there were far too many systems in place now to get those employees into new better paying jobs. The guilds were one such system, capable of adapting and building beyond their initial job specialization, the equivalent of a union.

Moira came by and gave the dev a hug, not even caring that she was surrounded by honor guards. She received one back as the innkeeper, now owner of an apartment complex as well, spoke about the influx of visitors arriving and then deciding to stay after a time. The stout woman was almost in desperate need of some new wenches to stymy the requests for drinks. The empress gave her a heads up that it might be a good idea to start calling them waitresses or waiters. Moira took that to heart and agreed.

"Ma'am, situation update for the dragons" Grey informed her through coms.

"Go ahead" she said as Abbey explained to her the events in Gold Pine, that a mural was now painted on the side of the old smithy and her position as Assistant Mayor now to Stafinson. Selene was doing her best to multitask between two different conversations, one with her smiling at all the hard work her friend was doing paying off, while the other involving empire security and intelligence gathering.

"One Gold Dragon flying east heading towards the semi repaired Dragon Eyrie, no escort, the rest are sitting back on the island network. It's riding a low-level air stream, getting here in half the time."

"Probably thinking they can get through the top hatch that has been sealed up." The Eyrie now was sporting a brand-new automated blast door and elevator to replace the crumbling stone the red dragon had previously torn apart, equipped with auto turrets and spotlights. Whoever the Gold Dragon was, firing a warning shot might be a good idea. "ETA?"

"Two hours ten minutes ma'am. Wait… minor teleportation was used, cut that down to thirty minutes, just outside the scrambler system range. Should we evacuate the draconological research team?" he asked her.

I've had bad relations each and every time one of these flying purses shows up, always starting something… but this one left alone while the others stayed on the islands to the west. I don't know, seems like it isn't an aggressive movement, though last time I thought I could come to an understanding with one of them I got locked in a fucking bunker.

"Not just yet, the doors can easily hold them back along with the security force defending. I don't know if I'm going to regret this, but I'm going to put out the order to hold fire until they take a more hostile stance." The tunnel network that previously entered into the deeper parts of the Eyrie were all sealed up, being little more than passages through the stone to the real structure inside. If there was something hidden in those caves, dig teams could easily make new openings and filter what was inside.

"Just got informed, security will hold back, though they have a target lock with just about every weapon there, ma'am" Dominic reported. "You've got shadows in the sky just in case." Abbey waved her hand in front of the empress, wondering if she was spacing out as she hadn't really answered for a minute or two to a question she asked.

"Sel? Hello?"

"Ah, sorry! Sorry, just thinking that's all. What was the question? Long day taking its toll."

"Ah, well I was wondering if by some chance the railroad you had built might be put underground, potentially having two going at the same time."

"Oh, I uh… well we already have a secondary railroad for royal use, probably get something worked up. Why, is travel a little slow?" the blacksmith's wife put her hands up defensively.

"Oh, not really, I just wonder if it would make it easier for those who want to leave Gold Pine for Glass Dale at the same time the train is coming back that's all. Would it take too much work? I'm sorry if I suggested something that would require so much effort."

"Uh… well, it would require excavation of the road, reinforcement, a tunnel to be installed, railroad to be laid, wiring and cable, I… well we could but-"

"That's fine! That's fine! Forget I asked! Really. You must have so much more to worry about now. How many towns and cities is our glorious empire up to now anyways?" Abbey said, shaking her splayed fingers to stop her from thinking about her little suggestion.

"Um…" Selene did a check on how many were now incorporated in her Hud with the map reports. Given the total population was now at roughly nine million, with that more than likely expanding to fifteen million once Artinia was completely taken over, the towns and cities registered didn't have as many people living in them as would a place like Silvinholm. There were quite a few villages that took up the slack. "Roughly around one hundred, give or take a few. This doesn't include the villages." Abbey whistled. That was the combined number, though it sounded bigger to anyone that didn't do the math.

"It must be very exhausting dealing with all of that. But, then of course, you are considered a goddess now, am I right? Probably not as bad as I'm thinking it is" her friend said with a giggle and whispered a little as she elbowed Selene gently.

"Ah… yeah… heh… I didn't choose that label though…" Abbey joked with her involving the followers, though she mentioned that they were productive around the town, with donations for the homeless, what little of them there were given the systems in place to get them temporary rent free housing, jobs and educations.

"Five minutes out" Grey and Dominic both reported.

I know I should leave this to the security, and I know I said I'd let the android ambassadors talk to others, but I'm getting tired of these idiots flying in and thinking they have the run of the place. I need to give a piece of my mind to that Gold Dragon. I also need to make sure once and for all if they really are all selfish and think of nothing but building their hoards.

"Heads up, rolling breach for the dwarves, they're trying to regain a foothold. Also, intel on the child refugee from the hidden escape tunnel leading to Paldos City. Name is Tariq; we cross referenced that with any intelligence we've gained from Tal Salunbal… one of seven children of the Sultan, Gazi Haref Arun. Tariq is the youngest." Grey posted a dossier of the Sultan with satellite pictures of him leaving his palace.

"So, wait, what the hell happened? Why is his son an escaped slave from Paldos City? Capture? Sale? Kid got lost on a trip?" she asked, wondering how they all missed that.

"Kidnapping and human trafficking, chances of finding him would have been slim to none. Could be what the monks are looking for now" Will explained, adding into the conversation. Pictures showed up of the monks making camp, the leader looking up and closing his eyes to take in the cold air. The dev's eyes landed on the markings of his sleeveless muscled brown arms. They looked incredibly familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place where she'd seen the design…

I made a magical system that used similar tattoos to that, but it was never implemented in any of the builds because of the side effects. Yggdrasil certainly didn't have that as it wasn't copyrighted to them. It can't be… there's no way. Has to be just normal tattoos or mana infusion or something.

"Shit, so we already know where they're going to try and head towards… the dark elves don't need a bunch of aggressive monks interrogating everyone, then trying to physically rescue the prince and cause an international incident with us… god damn it, three things at the same fucking time…" she muttered.

"You don't have to be at any of them ma'am, all of it can be taken care of without your intervention" Will told her quietly.

"I know that, but we were already working on me showing up for the dwarves anyways. Which one can be handled immediately, which ones can wait?"

"The Gold Dragon is just about to… they landed just outside, realized the top hatch was sealed and aiming. They've… transformed into a blonde elf, female. Security has her contained, she's not moving or trying to fight. The dwarves just barricaded a second defensive line, they'll hold for the next two days. The search party won't arrive in Olva'lore Forest until three days from now." Selene sighed in relief, Abbey hearing it. There was a schedule to keep up with it seemed that gave her some leeway.

"Tired?" she asked.

"Ah, no, just… I uh, sorry to say, but I can't exactly stay. Got to get back to work and all." Giles gave her a hug as they said their farewells, with Stafinson kneeling and taking her hand, thanking her for being there for the unveiling. She nodded at him with a smile and headed towards the convoy, though was stopped by the group of followers that were singing hymns. "I really don't have time for this, whatever it may be."

"We have come to inform you, goddess, that a brother of ours does not see the same way we do. He has gone to start something involving you that we do not condone, straying from our path."

"The load of crazy that was just outside my castle walls? Yeah, met him. He's being treated by medical professionals now… in a prison…" They all looked at each other.

"Then it is by your justice that he will be defined. It will be remembered for all that wish to be saved by your divine light, that your home is holy and shall not be tainted." They began to sing their hymns again, not moving from their position.

Except people have been invited to visit already, so that defeats what they're saying. I really don't have time for this.

Selene scoffed and used her amulet to teleport right to the Eyrie front entrance, leaving the convoy to pick up her entourage and the crowd awe struck at the scene. There, sitting on a rock, was the transformed gold dragon, seeming to wait for someone with a title to arrive. There was a little silence between them as the dev just stood there, sizing her up. The form was clearly just there to talk, easily capable of swapping back to her more intimidating winged visage. "I've got a lot on my plate right now, so let's just get this done quickly. What exactly are you here for?"

"A human that wants no small talk, interesting. I take it you are the ruler of these lands, what was once untouched by your kind?" the elf said.

"That's correct, and don't even think just because I'm human I am incapable of fending you off. I've already handled four of your kind before, what's a fifth?" The gold dragon smirked, thinking that the causes of death for the previous four was due to an army, probably with extensive losses. She still had no idea how strong the empress's military was.

"I don't exactly take well to threats human, I did not come to start a battle, though I will end it if you attempt anything. I will defend myself as well."

"Then what did you come here for? Other than to sit on a rock and look bored at me." The gold dragon shifted and jumped off the boulder, walking along an invisible line and keeping her hands out to balance as if she was on a tight rope.

"I have come to see that this Eyrie has been taken by your kind. We've come to reclaim it. It is an ancient home for many broods, one that we would like to have back in our possession. I am informing you that we would like you to leave our abode. Please, do so."

"Nope, sorry, I can't do that." The elf seemed shocked at that sudden response. Most humans would have feared her kind getting angry that they didn't get what they want. "That's not going to happen."

"I don't think you understand, human. This is ours, always has been. You have tried to claim what we have always owned."

"Not from where I'm standing. That place was in ruins when we found it; since then, it's been cleaned up, with a draconological team investigating the meanings of all your babble written on the walls. We put in new doors, swept the floors, put a new coat of paint up, even put up a little garden, I think. It's ours now. Find another 'abode' to live in please."

"Young human, I-"

"Empress Selene of the Clockwork Empire. It seems we didn't get the regular formalities out of the way before we started talking about this. Your name is?" the dev said, cutting her off and flustering her a little. Grey was listening in through a security model nearby, offering a heads up for negotiations and how to perform psychological tactics on her. Gala was working on different options to have this whole meeting end without a fight, with the empress getting something out of it.

"Zazastrelaex, though… if it assists you in addressing me… you may call me Zaza."

"Zaza, interesting, though I may still use Zazastrelaex. I don't know how many humans you've really spoken to, but I can read and write. You can call me your Empress Selene." There was a slight twitch from Zaza's left cheek at hearing that. Selene smiled at her, undeterred. It was done to let her know who was in charge here.

"Empress Selene… you need to remove your people from the Eyrie… it is important to us…"

"You and the group of dragons of assorted metallic broods still sitting on the group of islands to the west." Zaza's eyes widened. They shouldn't have been spotted at all, there were no ships anywhere, no magic detected trying to scry them. How did she know this?

"Yes… we want our ancestral home back. You will relinquish it to us."

"Nope. Let me put it to you this way. I don't get anything out of this, so it's clearly not a good deal. I have no idea how you think being entirely one sided and offering nothing would work. Maybe you figured your… what, majestic form would intimidate me? As I said, I've taken out four of your race already, one with a metal spike launching up from the ground and impaling it in one strike. You don't scare me. At all. I'm not going to tell the people here to abandon their history gathering and leave the lights on for you after all the work they've put in." Zaza seemed annoyed, walking towards the empress. The security aimed their rifles at her, with Selene putting a hand up for them to hold. The elf peered around her oddly, squinting as she did so.

"I can sense peculiarities of your aura… reminiscent of someone else… something like a… player… but… so much different…" she said, backing off a little and crossing her arms over her chest, an ever so slight hint of worry in her eyes now. The sun was setting, causing an orange and yellow glow to cast over the area with little snow fall nearby. Zaza seemed to nod slowly, realizing that maybe her original plan wasn't going to work, at all. Her support, the other dragons, wasn't going to be much help now that she didn't know what Selene was anymore.

"So, you know of players. That's quite interesting, really. I'm not one of them though" the dev replied, hoping to throw her off even more. That statement let Zaza know whatever she was, not to antagonize.

"I… can see that now. What do you want in compensation?" the gold dragon asked.

"Nothing, or at least nothing that you would consider worthwhile. Pretty sure big strong dragons would walk away from some of the things I'd request." Zaza scoffed.

"Surely a ruler such as yourself wants riches or magical items to help them in whatever conquests they march towards or lead their people. We can provide if it means relinquishing your hold on the eyrie." The empress sighed and brought her hand up to her forehead in a facepalm.

"Look, let me break this down for you. I don't need any material resources from your kind. Gold? My treasury is almost filled, I might have to excavate for more floors. Resources or materials? Nothing you give me will be as strong as what I'm manufacturing right now. Magical items? Probably low tier for me."

"Even this?" the elf questioned, pulling out a ring with a dragon's tooth carved into the gem on top. Selene's Hud registered it as a Wild Magic crafted item from what Orlo and Turnie could find out, though the quality was about on par with a World Class Item. The ability of the ring was still an unknown though.

I'm almost there with making Artifact quality tier. I really shouldn't care about this… much. Once I get to that, I could make my own, even stronger version with all the modifications I can add. Then of course, I have absolutely no idea what this thing does yet, so I could just insert my foot in my mouth. Damn it, this might be a fair trade.

"And it's use would be?" she asked.

"The power of this ring can part seas themselves, contain aquatic creatures as toys. It was made from a lost tooth of… a rampant lost friend…"

"Leviathan?" Selene questioned, fishing for intel. Zaza seemed startled. That information made her wonder how much knowledge the empress had, while what the dragoness had just said explained what had happened at Sweet Water. That proved the sea dragon had somehow gone mad, not truly hostile, just insane and not knowing what it had caused. That made the dev almost feel sorry for him, with a chance of dementia having a factor.

"Don't tell me you… you…"

"Nope, haven't ended him, though I do have troops looking in the event he shows up to cause more trouble. Does he have the capability to open portals to the plane of water? He sicked four Grand Kraken along with an army of aquatic creatures on a harbor of mine, all wiped out or at least mostly… the army I mean" the empress said, wondering if she really did remember all her development research she had to do. Multiple planes of elements, something something plane of chaos, spellplague. There was absolutely no guarantee any of that was real here.

Zaza did her best to hide her emotions as she just narrowed her eyes at the auburn-haired woman. No one on this planet knew about the krakens, or at least lived to tell about it. "Who… are… you?"

"I already gave you my name. You should sit down, you look a little pale. Well, at least paler than before." The adult wyrm shapeshifter shook her head and went to sit back down on the boulder, trying to figure out Selene.

"Even I am unsure what you mean by plane of water. The krakens live in these oceans, though few survive long enough to become… grand… mostly due to infighting. But you must have already known that… dragoness…" Zaza explained, fishing as well to see if the empress was one of her own, just hiding in plain sight with strong magic and didn't want to be found out. The dev laughed and shook her head at the failed probe for information.

"Not even close for the race, but nice try all the same. Sorry you don't have anything to really offer in exchange for the Eyrie, but it's going to remain under our control. That ring doesn't really do anything functional for us. I wish you luck on finding another place to live." The woman started to walk away, having the elf dumbfounded.

"Wait, this ring is beyond compare! Don't you understand?" she asked after the retreating form. Selene stopped and looked over her shoulder.

"Ok, so it makes water move around, big whoop. It seems like it'd be more worthwhile for you to use than me."

"You can permanently keep the oceans back. That can expand your empire to the sea floor! More land, more farms to feed your people, easier travel, control of the sea against those who would attack your homes along the coast."

"Aaaaannnnd I don't care? I mean, yeah, most rulers would jump at the chance to get that in their possession, I understand this. I'm not most rulers. I'm sorry." A quick example of {Molecular Reformation} was cast on the ground with a flick of her wrist, lifting a massive pillar of stone and dirt and casting a metal frame around from the iron and burnt out impurities that was superheated into steel, all in the span of a few seconds.

"Tch…" Zaza made a noise, unsure what else to say. If they attacked, they'd be destroyed, that much seemed certain without even testing those metal soldiers all aiming at her. This… whatever she was… had quite a bit of power available to her. "Wait, you cannot do this."

"I just um, did. Find somewhere else to live. I'm not here to start something with you either, but if you try and fight for what we just remodeled, for what you abandoned and we have taken care of and tried to reveal the history, to learn from, I'm turning you all into a dragon scale pimp suit." The empress turned back around and walked away.

"Wait… wait! We require this Eyrie! There has to be something we can provide! We need it for our broods!" she yelled after her.

"Whyyyyyy do you need this place so badly? Make another! Seriously, you can part the sea with that fucking party trick, yet you can't pop a fortress out of the ground or something? Dragons are supposed to be powerful; I don't understand how you can't just poof in a new place to live, I don't understand why any of you would even live in caves! Wait, I lived in a cave once… never mind, forget that last bit, that would be an insult against myself, whoops." Selene knew of the tier spell [Create Fortress], though she liked her [Pocket Dimension] a lot more. She'd like to think the dragons could cast something akin to high level tier spells at least, given most of the other races could only get up to sixth tier. Creating a new home should be easier than baking a pie for them.

"It is our heritage, where we have kept our eggs for so long. It was also where we helped delegate how to deal with issues amongst our race since time immemorable. You want us to be living there… human… it would benefit your empire."

"Last time I had any dragons anywhere near here, two got shot out of the sky because they were coming in aggressively, one tried to eat my lead draconologist and was impaled by me, and another tried to stick me in a magical bunker as treasure and was a thief of eggs. Your kind have put a bad taste in my mouth so far, Zaza. I need a little more than-"

"Eggs?! What eggs?! Where?!" the dragoness jumped off the boulder and bolted towards the empress, a security model jumping in front of her and blocking her path. The elf had barely enough time to skid to a stop and bumped against the automaton, with the soldier not even moving an inch. Her face had a desperate look, her eyes searching the woman behind the guard. It wasn't anger on her face, but desperation.

"Why do you need to know?" Zaza backed up and transformed, her scales radiant in the fading sunlight. A QRF rolled through the nearby trees and aimed, multiple HRVs with a mobile SAM carrier. A grumbling sound came out of her throat, sounding almost as if she would try and incinerate the empress with a breath weapon. It was just her sighing, doing her best to calm down and focus.

"Those are our stolen children, empress! Where are they?! We must retrieve them immediately! I know exactly what dragon you had met before now! Where is he hiding?! Please, this is important!"

"He's dead, I blew him up." The gold dragon stomped the ground and roared, though the security held their ground.

"No vengeance gained… this cannot be…"

Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? Wait… damn it… she hasn't tried to attack me, she's offered a ring as payment that most people would start wars over, she's been mostly professional… she's desperate… they're just as diverse as we humans in personality it seems as long as they can't intimidate to get what they want. I'm planting a stereotype I made from previous encounters on her. Fifth time could be the charm… maybe… doubtful, but maybe… if she proves the same, I guess the stereotype will hold.