Chương 17: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 17 - Broken Fang Tribe

Such a good thing? Kobold Chieftain Bolikri was nearly moved to tears. The great Black Dragon had not only bestowed upon it the bloodline of a true dragon, it had also rewarded them with a feast of exquisite meat. And the proof was already showing. Dark scales had begun pushing up through the skin along its neck and chest. Oh. What beautiful scales. Black as obsidian, as intoxicating as a dream. Bolikri had to fight the urge to pry one loose and keep it as a treasure. It could feel it already, it was stronger.

And it would only grow stronger as the Black Dragon grew more powerful. Eating meat off the ground? What of it? Kobolds ate carrion without complaint. Rabbit meat this fragrant, even with a little dirt on it, was nothing short of a blessing from the heavens. Su Nian watched his new minions chomp and scramble their way through every last scrap of rabbit, meat, bone, the whole mess, and nodded his dragon head with quiet satisfaction. He could already feel it: a faint thread of connection between himself and Bolikri.

Creatures that spent time around dragonkind absorbed draconic essence over time. Long enough, and they'd begin to change, scales, strength, instinct. Su Nian had started thinking of this bloodline ability the way he thought about Fallout: ambient, pervasive, and impossible to ignore once it started working. The invasive force of a dragon's blood was simply that strong. No wonder there was no reproductive barrier. You didn't even have to do anything.

Just exist near a dragon long enough, and some trace of the bloodline would seep in. There were three ways to transform a minion. The first was simple proximity, stay close to a dragon, and given enough time, the minion would gradually take on draconic traits. The second method was what Su Nian had just done: a single drop of heart's blood, fed directly to the minion, dramatically accelerating the first process.

Dragon heart's blood carried both potent corrosive power and fragmented traces of inherited draconic memory. That was why, in the old stories, warriors who slew dragons could only bathe in the blood. The heart was reserved for the true Dragon Slayer alone. The heart was always the prize. The third method was the Dragon Vein Ritual, a solemn, formal ceremony of transformation, reserved for minions who had proven themselves both powerful and loyal.

It cost the dragon something real, but the result was as close to perfection as transformation could get. Su Nian didn't know the Dragon Vein Ritual yet. And even if he had, Bolikri wasn't close to qualified. Since the kobolds had appeared, Anna had been a picture of wide-eyed curiosity. She sat perched on Su Nian's back, blinking at the scrambling creatures with frank fascination while methodically working through her roasted rabbit.

She didn't keep it all for herself, either, she tore off piece after piece and held them out to Su Nian beneath her, feeding him with cheerful dedication. She'd heard of kobolds, of course, but she'd never actually seen one. The Elven Forest was full of noble, beautiful things. Even the bears wore flower crowns and managed to look adorably dignified. These kobolds were something else entirely, ragged and battered, carrying a feral edge that didn't belong anywhere near graceful. Their poverty wasn't just visible.

It was written on every inch of them, the way exhaustion writes itself on a refugee's face. Anna tilted her head. Refugees, she decided. That was the word. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"Dragon Sir," she said, "what did you just say to them? They look like they want to become your minions."

"Correct." Su Nian turned and pressed his snout gently against her cheek.

"You'll have servants from now on." He'd grown increasingly fond of that cheek. The baby-soft roundness of it, the warm, smooth give of the skin, genuinely addictive. He couldn't help himself. The frustrating part was that he still couldn't speak. A juvenile dragon's vocal cords were only built for draconic, hisses and low rumbles that no one else could understand. He had noticed he could technically modify them, but the upgrade cost two hundred system points, and he was running short.

Once they'd relocated and he'd had a chance to hunt some magical beasts, he'd stock up on meat and points at the same time. Speech could wait a little longer.

"Ah — Dragon Sir..." Anna squirmed as he nuzzled her, laughter sneaking into her voice.

"I really don't need servants, I have perfectly good hands and feet, I can—" She pushed at his enormous head with both arms. It didn't budge even slightly. She gave up and let him do whatever he wanted. After a comfortable stretch of this, Su Nian finally looked up. Bolikri and the others had finished the last of the rabbit and were now sitting in a row, watching him with large, patient, hopeful eyes. They didn't move. They were his minions now, they wouldn't so much as twitch without his word.

He didn't make them wait. He turned back to the den, gathered up his meager belongings, lifted Anna onto his back, and stepped outside.

"Now." Su Nian raised his head, crimson slit-pupils settling on Bolikri with the easy weight of command. When he spoke, it was in draconic, resonant, unhurried.

"Take me to your tribe. I have no interest in remaining here. I need a new dragon nest. Spacious. Dry."

"As you command, Master. Please follow me." Bolikri had quietly swapped its title. The word came out smooth, like it had always been there. The chieftain scrambled to its feet and started barking at its subordinates, sharp, rapid sounds, waving them into formation to lead the way. The group moved out: one half-elf, one dragon, and a pack of kobolds.

They pushed through low shrubs, waded the small stream where Su Nian had once drunk, wound around a rocky cliff face, worked through a tangle of switchback paths, and eventually slipped into a cave mouth hidden behind an outcropping of stone.

"Master." Bolikri glanced back.

"Please stay close. The path to the tribe is full of traps. They're, ah, " It paused, apparently realizing how that sounded.

"Completely beneath your notice, of course. But if one were triggered and happened to strike you, that would be a sin of tremendous magnitude." Su Nian neither confirmed nor denied this. He plucked Anna down from his back and tucked her against his chest, using the claw that could retract its tips. Then he folded his wings around her, tight and careful, until only her eyes and two fluffy ears were visible. Anna settled in without protest, soft hands wrapped around his claw, quiet and small as a tame rabbit.

"Lead on." The cave started wide enough, then narrowed. After a while, Su Nian had to fold his wings flat against his back just to squeeze through the tighter passages. They turned, doubled back, turned again. He'd completely lost count of the forks when Bolikri's voice, reverent and proud, floated back from ahead.

"Master. This is the Broken Fang Tribe." He paused.

"The place where your kingdom begins." The tunnel opened. The space beyond was roughly two basketball courts wide, and it was organized. Not chaotic. Genuinely organized. Cooking happened in one corner, sleeping in another, food stores in a third. Several bonfires burned at the center, their light reaching every wall of the cave. Su Nian's gaze moved across the tribe's possessions. Human leather boots, split open and repurposed as containers. Metal dinner plates serving as shields.

Scraps of clothing, undergarments, skirts, wrapped around kobold bodies for warmth or wound dressings. A smile pulled at his dragon mouth. There was nothing shameful about scavenging. For kobolds, it was instinct. Waste nothing, use everything. The dozens of kobolds inside the cave went still the moment they saw him. Then the noise broke loose, a wave of barking that echoed off the stone walls, fear and excitement tangled together, rising and falling in overlapping bursts.

To Su Nian's ears, translated cleanly through draconic instinct, the meaning was simple: joy. Praise for the true dragon. Not bad at all. He carried Anna to the side of the great hall, caught the edge of a stone support pillar with one claw, and pulled himself up in a single smooth beat of his wings. From there, he looked down at the whole of his new tribe, every upturned face, every wide eye watching him from below. He drew himself up. Let the silence stretch for exactly one breath.

Then he roared, and his voice cracked through the cave like a thunderclap:"From this day forward — I, Su Nian Waterhouse Patunak, am your only master." The sound rolled against the walls and came back.

"Give me your loyalty. I will give you glory and safety in return."

[LOOT OBTAINED] Anna x1 ➤ Next: The Ettercap Tribe