_________________________________________

Leo

Leo found that today was the day that just kept on giving, and ‘oh’ was he receiving. He met and dueled his 'dragon' kidnapper, was scolded by his girlfriend for not just fucking other women, gained control of an actual army of rebels, and he was now being berated by a lightbulb.

'I wonder if I'm just tripping on drugs in my apartment right now…' Leo genuinely considered as a possibility.

The orb continued to shine brightly. "...and utter piece of shit!" Yez yelled before finally finishing her tirade.

Leo looked back to the orb, as it's light was no longer blinding. "You done?" He questioned emotionlessly.

An audible ‘tsk’ could be heard from the other end. "Far from it, but I think I've vented enough, at least until I've met you in person." Yez answered him irritably.

Leo rolled his eyes. "So I think some proper introductions are finally in order, unless you want to shine another flashlight in my face…"

The orb dimmed. "What's a- whatever. My full name is Yez’iquitzia Galistre, but call me Yez. I am a dragon, as well as the leader and founding member of the rebellion, so I manage and oversee all of the progress being made in turning all of the kingdoms."

Leo raised an eyebrow. 'Huh, I wonder if all dragons only use the first few letters…' He thought curiously before answering with a slight frown. "My full name, not that it matters anymore, is Leonardo Alexander Erizmendiz, but I just go by Leo. I am the 'summon' that you've oh so kindly stranded in a forest for nearly three days. Still want an explanation on that by the way."

The orb’s light was low and consistent. "location was because we didn't want to accidentally summon something that could go on a rampage and kill countless people, and as for ‘how long’… Well, we only have rumors and myths to work off of, but more often than not a summon would just fuck off and do there own thing. We wanted to have you struggle a bit while you settled into Telnar, then when the academy attacked, you would have animosity toward them for destroying your new found life and would be way more compliant in joining us." Yez explained, and Leo was silent for a few moments as what she said slowly sunk in.

"Hello? You just si-" Yez was cut off.

Leo dropped into a rage as he set off on his own tirade against the manipulative woman on the other end. "A bit!? I was eating bark and munching on grass while slowly dying from dehydration, for three days! And what do you mean 'more compliant'!? That is the most idiotic, manipulative, fucked up, and round about way of asking for help! How you came up with that and are the leader of a continent wide effort is beyond me, because it makes me question your competence way more than the fucking laser pointer! And good job having me 'struggle' when I got to Telnar, It was a real gauntlet with how hard it was to beco-"

The orb grew very bright. "Fucking hell, I get it, sorry for being a piece of shit! But in my defense, I am managing over thirty other groups, struggling with the preservation of an entire race, and all while trying to remain undetected from a council of ruthless dragons that would see us all put in a fucking torture sphere if given the option! So excuse me for giving low priority to what was supposed to be an advisory asset, if it was done right!" Yez yelled defensively.

Leo was about to rip into her some more, but the scope of what she was dealing with stopped him. 'Over thirty… Maybe I should lay off the criticism, because even I got a little overwhelmed from just walking into the war room, and all that was just for taking the town…'

Leo scowled at the orb. "Okay, fine. Can you now fill me in as for why you're going through all this? I mean I get that the dragons are basically lording their power over all the other races, but what reason would 'you' have to want to go against them?"

The orbs light dimmed. "Ask Fel, I don't have the time to explain it all since you know nearly nothing about our world. I'd rather spend this time getting to know what you are, since you can apparently win a fight against us, and shrug off our breath." Yez remarked skeptically.

'Yeah, I'd imagine she would have more on her plate than even that major, so best keep this short and simple.'

"I know a lot." Leo answered simply, which was as bare bones as he could get.

"And?" Yez prodded.

Leo sighed and gave his usual explanation for how he used magic, along with the general scope of what his knowledge encompassed, and Yez was silent for a few moments after he was done. "You're a god then…"

Leo winced at her words. "No, I just know a lot."

"Mortal yes, but with magic you're pretty close." Yez countered.

Leo legitimately couldn't find an argument that would completely refute the claim, so not wanting to add ‘demi god’ to his list of titles he opted to just ignore it. "So, about me being in charge of the rebellion in Selaria?" He inquired while trying to redirect the conversation.

An exhausted sigh could be heard on the other end of the orb. "I will have to talk with Fel, but as long as you are more or less doing it for the same reasons, then I don't care who's in charge. To be honest I was close to writing off the effort in that kingdom anyway, but since things have finally resolved themselves, I'll send whatever small support that I can. Just make sure to keep yours and Fel’s Identity secret, and hopefully in a few decades you'll have control of selaria." Yez explained while sounding a little fatigued.

Leo’s brow arched at the last bit. "Decades?!" He yelled in surprise.

The orb continued dimly. "Taking control of a kingdom isn't as simple as killing everyone in charge. You need support, financially and politically." Yez remarked as if he said something foolish.

Leo was a little taken aback by the attitude. "I know, but that's way too long, since I think I could probably do it in less than a year." He remarked confidently, while also believing that if the rest of her plans were as bad as the one she had for him, then he wanted nothing to do with them.

The orb brightened. "Well if you want my support then you'll need to follow my orders, so the fir-" Yez was cut off.

"No." Leo interrupted with his lips pursed in a frown.

The orb spiked in brightness. "Excuse me?" Yez questioned offendedly.

Leo narrowed his eyes at the orb, and smirked. "Just to make myself clear, I am working with you, not for you. So in regards to your ‘support’. Didn't ask, don't need it, go fuck yourself.” He finished with a wide shit eating grin.

The orb grew very dim. "Can you give the orb to Fel? I need to talk to her in private." Yez asked with a bit of an edge.

'Well that's as subtle as a brick through a window…'

Leo deadpanned at the orb. "You're going to tell her to kill me, aren't you?"

The orb’s light sharpened a bit. "No, she's my student and I need to address the oath that she's bound by…." Yez trailed a bit coldly.

'Right, and totally not tell her to kill me.'

_________________________________________

Fel

Fel was now in an awkward situation, as she was left with Elaria and Allis while Leo spoke with Yez.

Fel shifted uncomfortably. "So… I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves. I'm Fel, dragon and former leader of the rebellion in Selaria…" She introduced a little awkwardly.

Elaria and Allis gave each other a look before turning back to Fel. "You've been spying on us for days, you already know who we are." Elaria said with slight irritation.

Fel shrunk a bit. "Right…" She trailed sheepishly.

A few more awkward minutes passed before Allis broke the silence with a cough. "Um, Fel? If you don't mind me asking, how did you summon Leo?"

'Oh thank the gods, a conversation starter…' Fel thought with relief.

"Well, I first had to have an insane level of concentration and visualization. It took a few years of training my mind to be able to casually do things like this.” Fel told her while visualizing one of her practice constructs.

Fel created a hand-sized mana construct that was made up of hundreds of small interconnected gears of varying sizes. The gears themselves looked a little worn with a texture that could be compared to an actual gear, and each one was unique visually. She then pushed a small amount of mana into one of the largest gears, and every gear inside started to turn in response to the first.

Elaria looked at the construct with passive fascination, while Allis was in utter shock as she gaped at it.

Allis was unable to look away from the construct as she spoke, her eyes a little wide while they were fixed on it. “And is this why it's so hard to summon a living creature?”

Fel shook her head before going on to explain. “Only dragons can summon living things, as far as I know. The reason we dragons can is because our second form is not actually in this world, and we use that connection to be able to more easily pull something else that's not us into this one, but at the cost of harming the connection to our other form. So on top of some other training, I needed to strengthen my connection to my other form to the point where I could be able to bring over just a single scale, because I could have lost my ability to change entirely if I didn't.”

Realization crossed Elaria’s face. “Oh, so it's not sacrificing a dragon, but a dragon's sacrifice…. Wait, that means dragons were responsible for the three conquest eras. ” She finished while visibly taken aback.

“Ehhh…. Not just…..” Fel trailed with a wince, and both Elaria and Allis gave her a very concerned look.

Fel shifted uncomfortably again, while she picked at her horn. “I’ll tell you about it after Leo’s done talking to Yez, she probably won't have time to fill him in on it anyway.” She deflected, and not a moment later Leo walked over to her to hand her the orb.

“Your teacher wants to talk to you in private, and the sound barrier is still up over there.” Leo pointed out before taking a seat next to Allis and Elaria.

Fel walked over to the spot and cocked her head at the orb. “Yez, you needed something?” She asked with a bit of concern.

The orb was dim. “Kill him.” Yez ordered.

Fel blinked in confusion while taking a second to process the words. “What, why?” She questioned dumbly.

The orb brightened. “He’s a fucking liability to ‘everything’, and seems as stubborn as you.” Yez spat.

Fel scowled at the comparison. “While I agree that he draws in trouble way too often for anyone's wellbeing, he is nowhere near as bad as me.” She remarked defensively.

An irritated groan could be heard from the other end of the orb. “Fel, for two straight years you kept trying to argue for us to just tell the other races the truth, and go to war against the council.” Yez chided.

Fel winced at the memory, and how irrational it was now that she had time to look back on it with a calm head. “I was just angry…..” She trailed sheepishly.

The orb emitted a constant glow. “As well as direct, impatient, and a walking headache, just like him. The only difference is that he's a mortal with the power of a minor god, so his head is even farther up his ass than the average dragon.” Yez remarked in frustration.

Fel frowned deeply at being compared again. “He and I are noth-” She was cut off.

The orb sharpened in brightness. “Fel! You used desire! Whether you want to acknowledge it or not is irrelevant, because he's more or less a reflection of you and your wants.” Yez stated harshly.

Fel was going to argue again, but begrudgingly accepted that Yez was correct. She also came to a stark realization that since he is a reflection with so much power, and had so many aligned views, then why would she want to kill him?

‘You'd probably let the opportunities pass you by.’ Leo's words floated to the surface of Fel’s mind.

Even though Fel thought fondly of Yez as a person, as a leader her methods were beyond grading. Fel believed that Yez’s plans took too long and were way too cautious and convoluted to get anything done within their lifetime, but Fel didn't have an alternative, other than trying to build her own rebellion from scratch. So Fel followed her orders with varying degrees of contempt for them, even some of the ones that went against her morals. Fel always wanted to push just a little faster, but Yez withheld support every time she seemed to step out of line.

The only time she’d agreed to speed the plan was when Leo progressed too quickly, all on his own. Otherwise Fel would have had to wait an entire year to take Telnar, and it would have been another slightly agonizing wait while she slowly coasted along with the plan.

‘But with Leo…’ Her thoughts trailed as her mind began to put together a new path for her to tread.

A wide and greedy smile spread across Fel's face. “No”

The orb’s light dropped in brightness. “What…” Yez trailed speechlessly.

Fel’s smile widened, and her tail whipped in amusement. “I said, no. I won't kill him, in fact I'm joining him.”

The orbs light spiked. “Fel, what the hell are you thinking!?” Yez yelled angrily.

Fel scoffed, the smile on her face making the reaction mocking. “I'm thinking that a ripe opportunity has presented itself, because with how fast and easily he's been gaining wealth and power, I don't need to follow ‘your’ slow ass plans anymore.” She responded snarkily.

The orb brightened significantly. “Fucking- Fel! I won't give those rebels any more support if yo-” Yez was cut off by Fel, and the sound of small cracks.

Fel grinned maniacally. “Sorry- I- think the - is breaking-” She tightened her grip around the orb until it shattered in her hand.

‘Fuck that felt good.’

Fel walked out of the sound spell toward Leo, and she noticed him grinning at her like a madman.

Fel shook her head and smiled a bit. “You were listening, weren't you?” She asked him with a chuckle.

Leo raised an eyebrow and smirked, his expression radiating amusement. “Why wouldn't I? Especially with Yez being ‘sooo’ subtle with wanting to kill me.” He answered sarcastically.

Fel sighed with a bit of relief, now that she finally got out from underneath Yez’s thumb. “Slow, methodical, paranoid, and over controlling? Yes. Able to hide her intentions and motives well? No.”

Leo slumped his shoulders at the remark. “Sounds like a wonderful boss… And speaking about motives, mind telling me why a bunch of dragons have it out for their own council?”

“Sure, but Allis and Elaria might want to prepare for this one, and this might take the rest of the day to explain.”

_________________________________________

Leo

Elaria and Allis looked utterly shocked as Fel finished explaining, but Leo’s interest was loosely peeked. The revelation of the last few eras may have overwhelmed the two selarin, but to Leo it was just more lore dumping, so he was more interested in the desire of that era to hunt the dragons, and even more so in how anyone managed to kill them.

‘So there must have been an actual tech boom during the age of progress, and dragons may have been the equivalent of a gold rush for…. Something. Maybe relating to their transformations?... Eh whatever, it's not important right now.’ Leo thought with a furrowed brow.

Leo yawned, the activities of the day finally getting to him. “Well if we’re done, then I’d like to head back to the inn to get some sleep. It's getting late, and I am really just done with today.”

Fel cocked her head. “Since you’re in charge now, why not stay here?”

“Honestly? I don't feel comfortable in a small fortress filled with heavily armed strangers. That, and I have to wait for the architect, since they'll be here any day now. Also I may be officially in charge, but you know these people better than me, so continue with whatever you were planning and fill me in on it tomorrow…..or maybe the day after, I think I need a break after today….” Leo explained with a casual shrug.

Fel nodded, and as Allis, Elaria, and Leo started to leave the base, Elaria told Leo that she was going to stay with Allis for the night to talk about something private, so he would have to head back to the inn by himself.

Leo’s mind was slightly clouded with drowsiness as he walked back to the inn, and when he finally got to his room he took a quick shower and headed for bed. But halfway into the room, someone snuck up from behind and pressed themselves against his back.

“So…. I think I was promised something nearly a week ago…” A familiar voice seductively whispered into his ear.

‘Oh, right, Glia….’

_________________________________________