I awoke to the sound of my name… Noregus was hanging off the edge of the caldera. I guess it beat the high pitched squeal. I laughed to myself. I nudged Haladoria and she looked up at Noregus and groaned. I just shook my head.

“They are waiting on you.” He said almost franticly.

“We need to review civilization here a moment.” I said with a laugh. “Civilized beings do not get up before dawn. I am going to make this an empirical edict.”

He laughed. “Not everyone sleeps in cozy lava, lazy bones.”

Haladoria grumbled. “Maybe they should.”

“You would have a lot less subjects that way, lady empress.”

I snorted. “We will be down shortly.”

Haladoria wrapped a wing around me and snuggled in.

“Well, maybe shortly.”

Noregus sighed. “I will go tell them.”

I watched as he flew off. “We should get moving darling.”

“Don’t wanna.”

I tried to move and she hung on tighter. “Don’t wanna.”

“We get to see the elves after the dwarves.”

She sighed. “Alright.”

Finally she let go and moved out of the lava. I followed. I stared at her for a few moments. She looked… different. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Shrugging, I took wing and circled till Haladoria joined me. We both flew to the docks. The yacht was beautiful. It had a dragon head on the front of it but was sleek and low to the water. The front was open and looked like it could hold at least a dozen people. The main cabin went back about two thirds the length and there was another open area in the back. It was sitting at anchor at the mouth of the harbor.

We landed on the dock, then ported out to the ship. Noregus was there.

“Faster than I thought. Never knew you were a sleepy head, Haladoria.”

She grumbled a bit and I chuckled. Glancing over to her, she still looked… I don’t know, different. I studied her for a moment then let it pass. We went up to the main cabin and joined the rest of the gathering. Soon Alistor started the engines and we started moving forward. Rather than travel to one of the gates, I simply opened a portal in front of it. The thought occurred to me… get on a boat and travel light years in a few seconds. This would make one hell of a book back home. Followed by the thought, naw, too far fetched.

The sea was rougher on the far side, but it was still clear. I went up and gave Alistor the direction to the port from where we were. He didn’t bother to open the throttles, content on the pace we were traveling. A quick look around with my radar confirmed we were quite alone out here. Someone had thought ahead and brought brandy for the trip. We spent the next couple of hours sitting and chatting about what we hoped to find and how we hoped it would turn out.

Dorvus was the first to bring up what we didn’t want to think about.

“What if they not be wantin to join us?”

I sighed. “We leave.”

“Ya gonna just leave em here?”

“What else can I do? I am not going to conquer them.”

“Aye, but that could bite us in the arse later.”

“They don’t have planar dragons. So they would show up with ships. Ships can be ported right back where they came from. It might take a few tries but I think even a dwarf can take a hint.”

He scowled at me, then chuckled. “We be not that hard headed.”

I just stared at him.

“Well not all the time.” He relented.

I laughed.

We all went up on deck when the seaport came into sight. It was all stone as befitted the dwarve’s nature. I could see a crowd gathering as we slowly approached. So far there was no indication of hostility. I just hoped that it stayed that way. There were several of the galley type ships in the harbor. None had so much as attempted to raise sail. I found that I was holding my breath. We found a place that was far enough out to not pose a threat, but close enough to let them know we meant to visit. Other than the gathering on the docks, there wasn’t any sign that they even cared we were there.

Alistor dropped anchor and we waited a bit. Neither side seemed to want to make the first move, so Haladoria, Dorvus and I dropped a launch and started in toward shore. One of them started waving and pointing to a slip, so we made way for it. So far it seemed pretty sociable. When we had tied off I climbed up the ladder to the dock. They had backed up far enough so we weren’t threatened. So I motioned for Dorvus and Haladoria to come up. Once we were all on the dock, I made introductions.

“Greetings, This is Dorvus, Haladoria and I am called Michael.”

We were greeted by silence for almost a minute.

“Why are ye hear?”

“We come on behalf of the gods.”

The dwarf sighed heavily. “We thought as much.” He looked at Dorvus. “Why ya be with those two elves.”

It must have struck Dorvus wrong. “Oh, but lord dwarf. These be friends o mine, but they not be elves.”

“What ya be sayin?”

“This be the God Dragon Emperor and this is his mate, the empress. They be thinkin that havin a couple o ancient dragons on yer dock might upset ya. The boat we came from is from the empire and it is o all the races. So, now, just who do you be?”

“Ya upstart!” He threw his axe at Dorvus. I caught it and tossed it back so it stuck between his feet.

“You dropped that… you might want to be more careful.” I said levelly.

He looked up from the axe to me. “What the hell lad? How?”

Dorvus laughed. “You be messin with the eldest ancient.”

He looked at Dorvus then to me. “But… he be just an elf.”

I sighed then jumped up using my full dragon strength and shifted in midair. “Is this better?”

One of the dwarves threw an axe, which I batted up into the sky, then hit it with a fire ball. The resulting explosion knocked most of them to their asses. I shifted back and dropped to the dock as they were picking themselves up.

“Now, lets try this again. This is Dorvus, Haladoria and I am called Michael. We come on behalf of the gods.”

The discussion from that point on was a bit more polite.

The yacht was brought in and after the initial confrontation, the dwarves were fascinated with it. It took a while before they warmed to the different members of our group, but I think having a few fay making the rounds helped. Strangely, they had never seen them before. When they found that all we wanted was trade with them, they were more open to us. We established a portal that led to outer Dragonhaven and Dorvus took a few of them on a tour. They let us look around as well. They had a well established community and it was obvious that they had been there a while. Once they got used to seeing us… non-dwarves… walk around, they were pretty much accepting. They still seemed uneasy, but I figured that would go away with time. Dorvus finally returned with the leader who’s name was Racnar.

“Dragon, would ya consider makin one o yer big gates here so we could send our ships to ya?”

I smiled. “I will set it up to the main gate at Calalistos.”

“Where that be?”

“It is south of Dragonhaven, it is our main seaport on the main continent.”

“Ah, they be like your city?”

“It is Haladoria’s city and was a major seaport long before Dragonhaven existed. The people of our worlds are all as you see us.”

“Worlds?”

“We have sixteen now that we are building up.”

“You do this for the gods?”

“In part. We do this for the people as well.”

“I be thinkin that you be a good emperor for yer people.”

“I just wish to keep them safe and happy.”

“That be what I said, lad.” He laughed.

I chuckled. “I hate to cut this visit short, but we found another group that was cut off. We would like to bring them in as well. If we can get all to trade, maybe we can avoid war in the future.”

He stared at me a few moments. “You be bringin the people up and avoidin the problems later on. That be a good plan, I be thinkin.”

“Well, where would you like for me to set up the portal?”

We found a place outside of the harbor and I used the earth affinity to raise a ring that matched the one at Calalistos. It was the work of moments to conjure and enchant the crystal for it. After it was finished, Racnar was just staring at me.

“It is done, the way is open to our world now.” I said with a smile.

“You be a god. Tha title they be givin you weren’t a boast.”

I sighed. “No, no boast. It is a heavy weight, but sometimes I can do some good with it.”

He nodded. “Ya know its dangers then.” He chuckled. “Ya be makin a poor god though. They not be talkin to us mere mortals.”

I laughed. “I am working to change that as well.”

He just stared at me.

When everyone was accounted for, we raised anchor. The send off was much better than the reception, but all in all, it was a good thing. The stories the humans told of the wars between the stars was something I would try to avoid at all cost. With open trade, maybe that could all be avoided… at least I hoped. We left the harbor and I opened a portal to the next planet. Again I put us far enough out so as not to be spotted right away. Alistor put us on course.

“Michael, I do not know how this will go.”

“Why is that?

“Elves… well… we are a proud people. The ones we are to meet will not be open as much as the others.”

“What would you suggest?”

“I do not know. Maybe confront them.”

“I do not like that. Maybe we should talk to the others.”

The conversation with the rest pretty much said the same thing in different worlds. I didn’t like the idea, but it would seem that a show of force might be the best solution in the long run. Then I remembered when I met Alistor.

“Care to go flying love?” I said with a smile.

“What do you have in mind?”

“We do not need to confront them. We simply need to talk with them.”

“But if they attack?”

“Then we wait till they get tired of it. They have nothing that can harm us.”

Her eyes widened, then she laughed. “That might work.”

We had been on course for their harbor and before Haladoria and I could take to the air, two ships approached us. We started to hail them but was met with a flight of arrows. Which bounced off of the shield I erected. They sent flight after flight. Finally, with my air affinity, I killed the wind to their sails and we just passed by them. Ignoring them. I decided to make sure the yacht was safe, so I conjured one of my trusty crystals and enchanted it with a large shield. I set it up on top of the main cabin. I linked it to another in the wheel house, so it could be switched on and off.

“I leave this to you Alistor. When we are clear, touch the crystal to activate the shield and either find a place to set anchor, or if you are feeling nasty, just play with them.”

“You have an evil streak, lord dragon.”

“After being teased for over a century, do you blame me?”

He snorted, coughed then laughed until tears came from his eyes.

Haladoria and I left the ship, she hadn’t realized that she still had her dragon strength while in her elf form. It rather shook her. We jumped and shifted in the air then flew in over the harbor. It was beautiful… except for all of the arrows and the ballista bolts in the air. We took our time and toured over the town taking in the sights. Fountains and trees were everywhere it seemed. We made our way out to the docks to watch Alistor play with the other ships who were trying to chase him. He almost swamped a few when he reversed course and made a high speed pass by them.

We landed and shifted, ignoring the elves who where still slashing at us with swords and then shooting arrows at us. I got bored and pulled a picnic lunch through a portal, so we had dinner and sipped brandy while waiting. Finally the attacks stopped. A rather noble elf walked up.

“Greetings, this is Haladoria and I am Michael.”

“Leave.”

“No.”

It stunned the poor elf.

“We wish to talk to you about trade.” I said with a smile.

“Why?”

“Oh, so maybe down the road, your ships can at least catch ours?” I said with a slight smirk.

He looked out over the water at the yacht that had finally dropped anchor and sighed. “What do you want from us?”

“Trade.”

“Nothing more?”

“Only that you accept our people.”

“Dragons?”

I chuckled. “Dragons, humans, elves, dwarves, wyvern, fay and drow, so far.”

He just stared at me.

“We live together in peace on our worlds.”

“Worlds?”

“We have sixteen so far we have colonized. We do not seek war or conquest, but to explore the worlds.”

“And you would trade with us.”

“Yes.”

“Might we see your world?”

“I can arrange that. Would you mind if some of our people visit right now? That ship has a group of us who wish to meet you.”

He thought about it for a while. “Let me speak with my people first.”

I nodded and we sat back down to sip our brandies.

Alistor brought the yacht into the docks. As the people stepped off, they were greeted with a stunned silence. It lasted till one of the fay decided to make an appearance. She flitted over and landed on my shoulder.

“Greetings Lady Tori.”

“Greetings Michael Arienach.”

“What do you think?”

“They are meanies.”

“They just need to get used to us.” I said with a chuckle.

By this time we had a gathering of elves around us.

One spoke up. “We are sorry little fairy, we didn’t know.”

They stepped back, though, when one of the drow walked up. “Is it safe for us to explore, Michael?”

“I think so. You have a call stone, if anything happens we will be there.”

She bowed and strutted off. I never got tired of watching drow walk, but their distaste for clothing? It made for an interesting sight. The elves were half repulsed and half entranced. One of the humans called to her and she was joined by him and a dwarf. They strolled off of the docks into the town proper, to the shock of the elves.

“They… they like each other?”

“They are all my people. We have found that by working together that we learn much from each other.”

Haladoria added. “The dragons watch over us and protect us.”

“But you are a dragon.”

She laughed. “I am now. The lord emperor here made me a dragon at my request.”

A young elf looked at her shyly. “You are a beautiful dragon.”

“Awe, thank you my dear.”

The ice broken, the others mixed in with our group. I breathed a sigh of relief. This could have been so much worse, but with the shields we had, it had been nothing more than a waiting game. Once they found that we didn’t wish to harm them, it was a matter of time. Now, we stood a chance of becoming friends.