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Those wyverns didn't answer to her anymore. Those that didn't want a master were allowed to roam near the northern fortress. People were discouraged from heading north. The wyverns were strictly prohibited from eating anyone, but that didn't mean they were going to listen. I still wanted to see if Aurora had the same ability to take human form as I did, but I didn't think she would.

Although I could sense divine energy flowing through her now. It wasn't a complete loss for her. I guess it wasn't a complete loss for me either. I nuzzled Aurora gently, and waited. There was no doubt in my mind that Letty would have us move out soon.

The real question was how many of Aurora's bonded were going to come with us. Goliath, and Elisa were givens. Aaron was the one I wasn't sure about. He was a kid so it wouldn't surprise me one bit if his mom decided to hold him back, but at the same time Aurora's bond to him was the strongest of her three. She wanted to use the ritual on him to strengthen their bond since it had hit the limit of how far it could grow naturally.

I persuaded her to wait. With the speed his bond to her was growing there was a pretty good risk of him becoming a dragon kin before he hit twenty, and that would not be a good thing. She ended up agreeing with me. Aurora was a bit disappointed, but I didn't worry about it. She could wait.

Their bond wasn't going to get weaker with a little time. I just didn't think it was a good idea to have a bunch of dragon kin running around. Not yet anyway. Besides the kid was way to young to deal Aurora being as mature as she was now. I decided since I had a few free moments that I should go down to the forge, and see what Bryce had wanted to show me.

Copper was excited to see me there with Aurora a few minutes later, and I still didn't know why yet. While Copper was alert, and ready for me to be there, but Bryce had apparently been up all night working with Schnider on this little project. I had to at least make an effort to see what it was he was working on. I hesitated to leave Aurora's side, but she didn't make me leave her side. She sensed what I wanted, and she seemed to agree.

I headed down the stairs to the bottom floor. I was glad I'd made the stair big enough to handle young dragons. I'd have to go down the outside rather soon. I'd be lucky to fit on the stairs for another decade. As it was we both had to lower our heads to fit on the stairs in the first place.

I had no intention of making the hollow mountain into an adult dragon accessible area. The hollow mountain was supposed to be a free space, and while dragons could access all the floors they wouldn't be able to move through them freely unless they were relatively small. The only floor that was big enough for adult dragons to move freely was the bottom floor. The northern stronghold was a completely different from the hollow mountain. It was going to be a dragon specific stronghold.

Right now we were focused on building. I wished we could sit there, and keep working away without being harassed by the humans. They weren't going to allow that unless we gave them a reason to. I planned to give them plenty of reasons to leave us alone. I wanted to advance the earth's magical forces.

To do that I needed some more mages, but first we needed to find those mages. The easiest way to do that wouldn't be to go looking for them, but tell them where to come for a free education in the ways of magic. An academy that accepts all non ability users. Regardless of back round or upbringing. Turning people that were largely considered useless into proper fighters would give the military a reason to stay off our case.

We had so much to offer. All we had to do now was prove it. If the humans weren't willing to accept the value we had then we would make it impossible for them to get rid of us. I strode into the forge confidently. I rarely went around in my dragon form so the fact that all the people running around parted for us to pass was actually kind of nice.

I should stay in my true form more often. The humans, and the various half breeds all parted to allow us to pass. I scanned the forge looking for Bryce once again as more, and more people got up, and went about their day. Many of them worked simply to keep occupied. Many of Elisa's students had moved here since our alliance had become official, and they would stop the slaves from working too hard.

Alternating between keeping an eye on the slaves, and practicing their practical magic abilities. This whole meeting wasn't something I really had the time to do, but skipping it wasn't an option. We had to take the time to speak with our potential enemies. If there was a middle ground to be reached we had to make that attempt. I noticed Bryce as he walked into the room half awake, and yawning.

He apparently hadn't gotten to sleep until quite late in the afternoon. The few dwarves we'd managed to get our hands on were already awake, and chatted quietly as the eyed us suspiciously. Aqua shoved her head under my wing suddenly demanding attention. The sight of the wyvern made most of the slaves in the room go quiet. Copper came through the outer entrance because he couldn't come through the same path Bryce used anymore.

He looked at Aqua with a look I recognized. He was still young so those puppy dog eyes begging to play with Aqua were hard to resist. I ran my talons through Aqua's scales along her back. Checking mentally to see if she was willing to play with him. Bryce was given a cup of tea.