The Jade Empire is a rumor shared among those who traverse into the depths of the Darklands. As if an entire country of could exist in that demon-tainted land let alone by how it seems to be composed almost entirely of the bestial races. The rumors speak of crystal blades that burn and destroy the taint, yet such magics have been lost as Jade Dragons have been hunted to extinction to fuel them.

Randy Ravnos

I didn’t sleep well, unable to rest as too many questions swirled through my mind. Too many questions on the changes in my son. Too many questions about what must have happened to him and what I can even do to help him. Just a few weeks ago he was clever and stronger than most of the Ravnos his age but never the raw power he now has on the threads of the Tellurian near him. Yet it isn’t tainted as Geldath’s and the other remaining Archmagi.

His reflection within the Tellurian also seems odd, powerful, larger than normal and something I can’t quite place. Something I can’t place from the story Katherine repeated to me last night. Still, he is definitely my son and that is enough for me. As much as I want to know the why and how of all of this, I don’t go and ask him for answers. He is my son and has enough to deal with without me adding additional stress.

Still, after camp has been packed up and we begin to walk he walks over to me as we begin heading eastwards. After a moment he asks, “dad, what’s the truth about our family?”

“Why do you ask?” I ask not really wanting to get into it if I don’t have to.

“You can feel something odd about me, right?”

I nod before my son continues, quieter than before “I can’t remember all of it, but I arrived here on Althrá from two separate locations. Two instances of me. . .”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know and as I wasn’t vaporized when I met the other me by reality being upset; it was caused by a different person. I can only think that it was some other Ravnos that sent me back in time. . .”

I look at my one son for a moment, “you, you’re . . .”

“Yeah, so can you tell me the. . .”

“You’re a composite.”

“A what?”

“Which Adrian are you?”

“That makes no sense, I’m me and do we really have a need for existential questions?”

“Are you my boy or a thing that killed. . .”

“I’m me. The only difference is I can remember a fork in causality. One an Althrá a few years older than this one invades Earth chaos and mayhem ran rampant then it gets blurry and I woke up in the woods near Pack Bloodclaw alone, the other I’m called by a ritual and am practically enslaved by the Althaen and meet myself during my escape attempt.”

“And your ability to use mana and shapeshift?”

“The shapeshifting is from mom's dragon blood it just had to be awakened. I started learning mana manipulation from the werewolves, I couldn’t remember much of anything at the time, but I’ve had to specifically work to maintain it.

Now can you please answer my question?”

“I’d rather not get into it where others can here. . .”

“Later then? When we stop to set up camp?”

“Sure, but how are you going to keep yourself from getting dragged off by your wives?” I tease and smile as a bit of redness fills his face. Sure, he responded with a flat voice, but I know my son.

“Nothing, but they’ll give me a bit of time.

So, uh dad how skilled are you with the family magic?”

“Looking for a teacher?”

My son rolls his eyes before asking, “will you help or not?”

I frown, not liking this change in my son. Still, I suppose I shouldn’t mess with him over everything . . .

“Of course, I’ll help; though our magic isn’t able to just be taught.”

“Why?”

“There are two parts to manipulating the Tellurian. . .”

“The what?”

“The Fabric of Reality. Actually, tell me what you know, and I’ll start there.”

“Well, we can alter reality by forcing our will on it and bending it in ways that take advantage of basic laws of the world make it easier.”

“That isn’t entirely off but you are missing a few details. Is this how you were taught?”

“No, grandpa only taught me the first thing. Push my will on reality and it’ll change. I think he left things out when he was teaching me. Add in some of the events of the other timeline and that he would have to be involved in however I ended up here it could only be on purpose.”

I nod, that does make sense though what Geldath would possibly have to gain is beyond me.

“You’re close but your missing a few details. Our power works in conjunction with an Avatar. . .”

“A what?”

“A second soul fused with our own until death.”

“So me-but-not-me is real? Not some fragment. . .”

“Me-but-not-me?”

“She says things to me in dreams that tend not to make sense. Dreams that tend not to seem like dreams.”

I smile in pride, surprised that he has a strong connection to the second soul. A fully sentient one was always rare too . . .

“Yes, well she is the source of your ability to manipulate reality. Just what the second souls are we don’t know but they are a part of our own souls until we die.

The ability to manipulate reality is not however tied to using the laws that govern reality but the strength of the second soul and the understanding and believe we have in concepts.”

“Is the conflict between the used concepts why one Ravnos can’t just teach anything to another?”

“Yes, I can explain to you how any of my weaves work but if your understanding and definitions of the relevant concepts differ they won’t do the same thing. I can tell you how I peered across the planes to search for you, but you couldn’t duplicate it by copying what I did.

I can however share insight into ideas and what I know of the only field of Reality Manipulation that does transfer between us without difficulty.”

“Which is?”

“Understanding the fabric of reality itself. The Tellurian is the same for everyone and also both the least and most helpful thing to know.”

“How?”

“Well, it isn’t useful on its own but combined with other concepts it can make the changes in reality permanent or include some interaction without fully knowing the details like making light into sunlight so it will destroy vampires . . .”

“Could you do the same with moonlight?”

“Yes, but . . . I would advise against creating moonlight just to shine it on your lycanthropic friends.”

“Why? They know we’re allies and won’t harm us.”

“The process of shifting does put a strain on their bodies. Doing it too often should be bad for them.”

“Fine, but I’ll end up asking them about it.”

I nod, the werewolves would know more about how the moon affects their bodies, though I much prefer only having to deal with their beast forms from a distance and as rarely as possible.

“I’ll teach what I can, but I do have a few questions.”

“About what?”

“How is it that you’re unaffected by lycanthropy?”

“Oh, some moon wolf spirit handles that.”

“What? You know a Spirit of the Moon?” Kythia interrupts.

“I thought I [email protected] told you that.”

“No.”

“Well I’ll 1n7r0duC3 him to everyone closer to the full moon.”

She looks at Adrian for a moment before walking over to the other werewolves to no doubt talk about whatever this Spirit of the Moon is.

“Is a Spirit of the Moon important?” I ask, only for my son to shrug.

“You didn’t pay any attention to their religion or culture did you.”

“I paid plenty of attention to what I needed to.”

“Which was?”

“Gender roles, familial ties, rites of courtship, rites of adulthood, government, martial arts, and their arcane traditions.”

“Their religion is important too.”

He rolls his eyes, “I got the gist of that but the pair that ran the shrines were not very welcoming to me.”

“You just didn’t like her telling you that you're bad at magic” Kythia shouts over to him.

“Yet I still beat you at it” he shouts back, and I see her smile rather than the challenge I expected.

Lycan-Lupine culture confuses me. Those were insults yet none of them seem offended. I’ve seen people killed for less . . .

“Any other questions?”

“How did you awaken as a dragon?”

“Eating a few after drinking their blood on accident.”

“And you plan on having your mother do that?”

“Not knowing what it is but yes.”

“She’ll never agree to it.”

“Which is why I’ll only tell her what it is afterwards. She might say something about not killing an intelligent creature.”

“That doesn’t sound like her.”

“She’s going to end up considering them people because I am one. And then it’s murder.”

I frown, that is a logical jump. “Do you consider them people?”

My son shrugs, “they’re food but sometimes. Danny I . . .”

“M @3 is n07 Danny.”

“Y0&% @3 is ** l0%g F0% daily u$3.”

“You speak Draconic? How many languages have you learned?”

“Draconic, Elven, Canine, Dwarven, Althaen, the high dialects of Elven and Dwarven, Ignan, Orcish, Lycanthrip, and Necrol. So, eleven” my son says as he counts them out.

“Several of those are dead languages.”

“Not here. So back to your question, I am a dragon that has to eat other dragons to survive. Yeah, they are sentient and sapient life forms but that won’t stop me from eating.”

“Has to eat other dragons? You’re sure of that? Was it an effect of the awakening process?”

“It shouldn’t be. Mom in the other timeline thought draconic flesh was disgusting.”

“And that doesn’t worry you?”

“No, why should it? I’ll ask Danny to make sure it isn’t unusual.”

“Why would you ask her?”

“She’s a draconian, a half dragon.”

I watch as Adrian asks a few questions in Draconic, able to recognize a few words of the language. The girl Danny seems scared by the questions, but he doesn’t seem to care.

She answers him in the same language and while I can pick up a few words the human ear isn’t designed to hear all the range of sounds needed.

“I’ve nothing to worry about. The cannibalism is part of the mutation that results in void dragons. Me wanting to and actually eating other dragons is normal. Probably some way of gathering something I don’t produce enough of naturally.”

“I don’t want you turning you mother into something your instincts will start telling you is food.”

“Eww no. I would never consider that. Besides I don’t have to eat everything I feel like eating.”

I look at my son very carefully for several seconds before nodding. The only thing more important to me than him is my Katherine. He does seem absolutely repulsed by the idea though and it probably would be good for her. . .

“Fine but answer me this. Did you ever feel even the slightest desire to cannibalize her?”

“No.”

“Then go ahead if she wants it. Mind telling me what sort of thing you can do? Both naturally and by manipulating reality.”

“Sure, it’ll give you ideas on what to teach me. Starting with . . .”

I am utterly surprised by the wide array of what he admits are mostly unused abilities. I don’t know how to judge his mana-based magic but any use of it at all is further than any Ravnos have managed. He says it’s weak, but his manipulation is apparently good.

His 'draconic awesomeness' is however strange. Different from any records of dragons I’ve read, and it is honestly a bit terrifying to contemplate the idea of a dragon that can fly between planes and has innate abilities focused around the manipulation of space and absorbsion of the energies that run rampant in the planar void.

Even so, his manipulation of the Tellurian is worse than I’d feared. Crude half-made effects pushed into being by raw power. Accelerating time without stabilizing space, healing that age the target area of the body, detection that works off the same idea as radar but is easily warped to give false information in addition to broadcasting your position to anything listening . . .

"Son, I'm proud of you but there is a lot you need to improve on" I say as he finishes.

He smiles, glad to have to opportunity to learn more. . .