Chapter 50 Flow Of Time

  Gilgamesh was reading a monthly guild report from one of the branches in Ruler’s domain. As usual, there was little more than stray beast and monster attacks and subjugations. Nothing important ever happened in Ruler’s domain, well, nothing adventurers could deal with anyway. He still remembered the day Ruler obliterated Battle with a simple backhand. No one, not even time or himself, would survive stirring up trouble in Ruler’s domain. That man was… unfair.

  The Guild Leader filed the report he had just finished in a binder labeled with the city and guild branch number of the guild in question. He had just closed it when the mortal sized door to enter his office swung open. He looked up from his task to see a familiar sight.

  The man that entered the Guild Leader’s office without an appointment was not a man at all, but a dragon. Tizshamesh’s tarnished copper colored hair was braided tightly against his skull across the side of his head until it reached the back where it cut off right at his collar, the rest of his hair was brushed back and also cut off at that point. His skin was the color of polished copper and his one yellow eye glowed softly in the dim light of the entryway. He had lost his eye long ago to a witch. A witch that had been vaporized before she could undo the curse.

  Tizshamesh was unlike most of his kind. Usually, lightning dragons would have a hard time sitting still. Their natural mana was a constant prod in the back of their minds to go, run, fly, dive, anything to go fast. Tizshamesh never walked faster than a casual stride for a human. He never showed even the slightest spark of lightning either. With his very normal appearance, most people that met him just thought that he was a sorcerer with a glowing eye. The reason that Tizshamesh didn’t follow his baser instincts was simple: he refused to let anything or anyone control him, he was a dragon after all. The reasons he helped Gilgamesh with the Adventurers’ Guild were because he was given access to the other dragon’s hoard of treasures, and information. Those and the fact that if Gilgamesh was around, then he wouldn’t ever be forced to use his true power. He planned to keep it that way until the next Dragon Surge.

  There was another reason for the ancient copper dragon to keep his lighting in check other than sheer draconic arrogance. He was constantly building power. The other half of yellow mana was potential energy, often expressed as static. Tizshamesh wanted to see exactly where the limit was to the amount of potential energy a being could possess. He had long passed the point of being able to sleep, which was a good thing, because if he lost focus for even a second, half of Altesia would disappear.

  “Tiz.” Gilgamesh greeted his fellow ancient dragon with a nod.

  “Gil.” Tizshamesh greeted in return. “I have news from Sapphirestone.”

  “Do tell.” Gilgamesh said and leaned in slightly.

  “The pair declined the original offer.” Tizshamesh began. “As you expected. They also accepted the secondary offer; to simply keep the building from being destroyed until a replacement can arrive.” He continued. “What you had not predicted was that the male would immediately get into a bar fight with half of the adventurers in the city, inside the Guild Hall.”

  Gilgamesh’s laughter boomed and echoed off the bookshelves and marble floor. His belly laugh was so deep and resounding that the chandeliers shook and rattled above them. Tizshamesh felt a gentle but noticeable heatwave hit him before Gilgamesh swore and tapped on a snowglobe that instantly lowered the temperature in the room back down to where it was supposed to be.

  Tizshamesh just shook his head in disappointment at his old colleague. “So? Who do you want me to send to relieve them?” He asked the Guild Leader.

  “Call the Flame Ravens back to Sapphirestone, and inform that fifteenth level hunter that he has three months to hit level sixteen so he can take over the position.” Gilgamesh replied.

  “The Glinting Blade will not like that. He has been overseeing their training in an attempt to get them all to double platinum.” Tizshamesh countered.

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  “Good.” Gilgamesh spoke with a nod. “Have the Glinting Blade train up that hunter while he’s at it.”

  —

  Isaac and Lenna had been babysitting the Sapphirestone Adventurers’ Guild Branch for over two days. It was the morning of the third day when some familiar faces walked in through the batwing doors. Eskahno Ravenborne, Mark the shield bearer, Fina the flame sorceress, and Shy the scout. Behind the Flame Ravens was Fable the Glinting Blade. Fable’s usual neutral expression was tinged with annoyance at the task he’d been given.

  “Lord Wexler, Lady V’Nova.” Esk greeted the pair for his team. “Your relief is here.”

  “Thanks.” Isaac replied with a nod. “The paperwork is piling up and the kids are getting restless. We’ll leave this in your very capable hands and catch the next caravan north.”

  Esk paled at the mention of paperwork and dozens of restless adventurers.

  “North?” Shy asked from just behind him in a voice that was barely audible to Isaac and the helmeted Lenna.

  “We are investigating a hunch while on our way to greet the king and then the Fate Breaker.” Isaac explained.

  “That is quite the trip.” Mark commented. “We took the teleporter to get here, why don’t you just do that?”

  “You guys have the money for the teleporter?” Isaac prodded with a questioning look and a smirk.

  “Esk doesn’t.” Mark replied with a grin. Apparently the magic knight had yet to pay off his loan from his master for his resurrection.

  “Hey!” Esk yelled at Mark.

  “The Guild paid for it.” Fina explained. “But yes, Esk is the only one that doesn’t have enough money for a teleport.”

  “I hate both of you.” Esk scowled.

  “You might want to hurry to meet the Fate Breaker.” Fable warned them. “His color is leaving.”

  “How long do you think he has left?” Lenna questioned him.

  “We’ll be lucky if he lives until next winter.” Fable replied. “After a millennium, it is finally time for him to rest.” He then shifted his gaze to Isaac. “What is this ‘hunch’ you are looking into?”

  “The Civil Servant Corporation, well, it’s head.” Isaac began. “According to Sir George and the CSC representative that he has been interrogating, their boss doesn’t leave the isle of Sissario, their offshore base and waystation. All of that is pretty normal for a company that deals with legal goods on the surface and people under it. What I find strange is the purple dragon motif that they use on everything. An indigo eyed dragon, specifically a blessed green dragon, could be using the corporation to amass wealth and information while it’s growing into its power.”

  Fable’s already stern gaze solidified like a marble statue. “If there is a green dragon, do not fight it.” He instructed Isaac. “There is nothing that any of us here can do against a green dragon’s magical breath.”

  “How do people usually deal with them?” Isaac wondered.

  “Suicide squads, traps, Time, Space, or Gravity.” Fable explained. “No one with a family should ever fight a green dragon. The risk of getting locked out of time until the dragon dies is too high.”

  “Locked out of time?” Isaac questioned.

  “The breath of a green dragon is the only part of it that I am positive that neither of you can deal with.” Fable continued. “If you are caught in it, it will almost halt your passage through time. Depending on the age of the dragon, a second from your perspective could be either a minute and a half or three hours to the rest of the world. The effect can last until the dragon dies, if it specifically hates you, but sometimes it lasts just long enough for it to escape. The problem is that green dragons are spiteful. If you’ve managed to push one of them into a corner to the point where they feel the need to use their dragon’s breath on you, they are already prepared to keep you like that until the end of time.”

  Isaac and Lenna shared a look. “We’ll let the guild in Vespera know before we do anything. It might be a good idea to have the Guild Master there let the Guild Leader know about our plan so he can contact Time, you know, just in case.” Isaac offered. It wasn’t often that Isaac actually felt wary about an opponent but anything that Fable told them they couldn’t deal with had to be a serious problem.

  “Agreed.” Lenna replied.

  “Good.” Fable said with a nod. “Nothing that ages or cares for others can escape the flow of time.”

  —

  Once relieved of their posts, Isaac and Lenna signed up for a bounty to protect a caravan heading up the coast that was scheduled to leave a few days later. Usually, goods would be sent up the coast via ship but caravans were generally safer and cheaper. The main upside to taking a ship was the fact that on one day the ship could sail up the coast, and on the next it could sail back down. The pair then left the Flame Ravens to their new task and decided to check in on Star and Cloud.

  Isaac and Lenna hadn’t let the orphans see them but a little invisibility and patience showed the children hard at work. Cloud was studying hard under the tutelage of one of the nuns and Star was practicing with a kitchen knife that she had very obviously stolen. Once Isaac and Lenna were at a safe distance they reappeared to the rest of the world. “They look like they are doing quite well for themselves.” Isaac commented.

  “Yes, thankfully.” Lenna agreed. “Do you think they’ll remember us in ten or even twenty years?”

  “Absolutely.” Isaac replied. “We are nothing if not memorable.” He assured her. “Well, we have nothing else to do for the next few days, want to learn how to fish?”

  Amaranth Serentia V'Nova Wexler