“A dragon is a legendary creature, typically scaled or fire-spewing; with serpentine, reptilian and avian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons:

European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Balkans and Western Asian mythologies. Most are depicted as reptilian creatures with animal-level intelligence, four legs and a detached set of wings.

Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan (namely the Japanese dragon), Korea and other East Asian countries. Most are depicted as serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence, four legs and wingless.”

- The Journey to the Afterlife

***Dedessia, the Sea of Souls, Semper Fidelis***

***Elona***

“We have to understand the inner politics of Draconis. Currently we have the upper hand because we have Miraven in our custody.”

I survey the room, making eye contact with everyone to ensure that they understand the situation. Nobody knows that we have Miraven. We told the rest of our higher immortals that she ate something bad and fainted, then we carried her off. So not even they know what is going on. I have to remember to reimburse the restaurant owner. It was a brave and hopeful move of him to start something like a restaurant. Having one of your customers faint on you isn't good for publicity. Especially when the customer in question is one of the gods who are protecting the city.

“Draconis split up from Carissimi. There are a lot of people who have ties and family among both clans. Miraven isn't just a single case. If we confront Draconis and hostilities break out, we have to make sure that our people are indeed on our side. And we are under time pressure, there is a limit to how long we can hide that Miraven is in our custody. Her friends among our higher immortals are already asking questions and sooner or later someone will get suspicious.”

I end my speech and sit down. After Miraven spilled the beans, we immediately organized a meeting in the throne room. The room is sealed and only our immediate family members are present. It's hard to trust anyone else right now.

It appears that Miraven was one of Moonray's agents all along. He threatened to kill her relatives if she doesn't spy for him. The fact that her relatives worship him as the perfect leader doesn't help. If we tried to abduct them, they would probably even see us as the evildoers.

Doreen waves a stash of papers at me. “There are at least two more higher immortals among us who can be threatened with immediate family members. In fact, I think we should secure them too.”

“That would reduce our numbers to twenty-nine,” Shade comments. “Is there even a chance that Moonray is able to rile up enough of his people to attack us openly?”

Tisha shakes her head. “I've looked through the populations and the frequency with which people from both clans are visiting each other. I doubt it. The lows and mids of Draconis might be on Moonray's side because Moonray is popular with the masses. They can't travel between clans on a regular basis and it has been a few years since the split, so the family ties are weakened.

But the gods are going back and forth regularly. If Miraven is right, then her family doesn't even know that they are being used as leverage against her.”

Ishaan raises his hand. “I think we should pay Moonray a visit and confront him in front of his entire clan. All we wanted from Miraven is confirmation. In fact, we can try to use her as a double agent.

We don't need to use Miraven as proof. In fact, we can use that bastard of a courier and say that we caught him. Luckily Miraven wasn't stupid enough to put her name onto the message. We can say that we deduced everything else about Moonray from there.

“Once we present them with proof, there has to be a split inside Moonray's clan. I can't believe that he managed to inspire all of his clan members for his cause. Someone would have opposed. In fact, I think that only a small leading group around him knows what is going on. From what I know about Draconis I don't think that there are more than twenty people who have his absolute trust.”

Tisha stops her husband. “That sounds incredibly dangerous. How many higher immortals do they have, fourty-two? What do we do if someone starts fighting and we get caught in the middle of it? It will be chaos.”

Shade starts smiling and enters the discussion. “I like chaos. In fact, I like the whole plan. Better to have them fight each other on their own turf than to wait for them to send us another nasty surprise. The only question is how to introduce enough higher immortals from our side into the mix? If I show up there, I want substantial backup. We need enough people to pull out once all hell breaks loose. Does anyone have an idea for an appropriate cover story?”

Chloe shakes her head. “We can't do that. Many of the people from Draconis are almost like family. And the dragonlands are a dangerous place. If too many of them die, their clan will be doomed. We can't take in that many people.”

Shade claps his hands together. “Perfect. Maybe we should simply kill that floating jellyfish and drop it into one of the volcanos.”

My mother's expression turns shocked, so I raise my hand to stop him. “Shade, I am with you on the point that we shouldn't let ourselves be hindered by showing too much mercy. They caused death and pain on a far greater scale than the destruction of Draconis would cause.

But we aren't complete monsters. If there is an acceptable solution to this mess, then we will take it.”

Quianna raises her hand. “Actually I think that Ishaan's strategy has a far greater chance at success than you think.” She reaches for Antonius's hand. “Antonius told me a lot about his former clan. You fear that Draconis will split into two groups upon revealing Moonray's machinations. That's likely. But I don't think that it will spin completely out of control. Even those who stand firmly behind Moonray have family and loved ones among the citizens of Draconis. They will think twice before they start a battle between higher immortals right inside their own city.”

Antonius adds his part to the discussion. “I believe that Moonray has no more than sixteen people whom he trusts. If we play our cards right, he should be in no position to stay in control of his people. There might even be some who will challenge him for leadership once they get this information.”

I nod slowly to acknowledge my sister's opinion. “So what we would need for this plan is a proper excuse to visit Moonray with as many people as possible.”

Doreen shrugs and her expression turns fearsome. “A family meeting? I am sure that Moonray is excited to meet Ishaan and Tisha after all these years. I would say we simply crash in like good, old friends and demand housing to 'bond' with our relative. He may become suspicious, but he doesn't have any reason to deny us.”

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