Year 79; End of the worm wars; Day 1

  The tall and green elf took a deep breath and looked back at Isaac, settling her mind, it seemed.

  “Issac, I have to be candid with you.” The descended god met his eye. She was still pale, but a strength shone in her eyes. “You as a dragon should not exist here... in this world.”

  Isaac tried to frown, though dragons lacked brows. “What do you mean?” he asked, curling protectively around the eggs.

  Was it his imagination, or did the air suddenly grow warmer?

  The elf retreated a step, and those nearby traded anxious looks as the mood shifted. “I said that...poorly said, Isaac, forgive me.” The world cooled down, and Alda drew a long breath, exhaling to regain her composure.

  “What I am trying to say,” she glanced at the eggs, her eyes filled not with fear but with a curious wonder, “is that the world is not ready for a dragon soul.”

  “Even more so, two more,” she added, her gaze fixed on the eggs. “That is what I have learned from my millennia of—” she winced “former—experience as a god.” A nearby elf put a hand on her shoulder.

  The god still looked pale, but continued, “But as I have seen this world,” she motioned around, “it is full of surprises and not a normal world... as you have shown.”

  Isaac still felt lost, and the former god seemed to notice his confusion.

  “You might not feel it from others, but you can feel it from me...” and yes, there was a type of pressure Isaac could feel from the god in question...

  But now that he noticed it, he realized the pressure also radiated from himself, an echo of his own dragon soul.

  And it left a mark on the world itself.

  Yet there was something else, something woven into his soul that he had never sensed before. It felt as if his very being resonated with the world, as if he belonged to it on the deepest level.

  He glanced at Alda; somehow, she seemed to follow his inner revelation. Her eyes were wide, shock written across her face.

  “But how...” Suddenly, glowing runes shimmered before her, pulsing as gentle waves of magic washed over Isaac.

  “That—makes...” she murmured, furrowing her brow in a daze, “that would—”

  “Alda, what are you doing?” Isaac interrupted. He could see that something had changed her understanding of... whatever was going on with his soul, and the world.

  The descended god let out a long sigh, but her shoulders straightened, the tension easing from her posture.

  “It seems I have discovered something new,” she said, a smile returning to her lips. “And it is good news for all of us—and for the world itself.”

  Isaac motioned for her to explain further.

  “Your soul appears to be an anchored soul, tied to the world and reality itself.” She studied him. “I... I have never seen this in a dragon before.” Alda gazed into the distance, half speaking to herself. “A dragon soul is already rare... I wonder—”

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  Isaac cut in, “So, I’m ‘special,’ is that it?” He tried to keep up with the half-god elf’s words, but honestly, he was just tired and dreaming of sleep, and a real meal—anything but worms.

  Alda looked at him in half horror, but then laughed, “You could say that, Isaac of true fire.”

  She shook her head and glanced around. The elves nearby regarded Alda with newfound awe. She had rarely mingled with them, speaking only to a chosen few over the years, so hearing their god—or former god—speak so openly was both startling and strangely comforting.

  “Let me welcome you to the green—” Alda’s words were cut short as a gust of wind swept up sand.

  “High one”

  “High—Alda!”

  The two who spoke were familiar to Isaac.

  Spirit of Leaves and Wind and Heart of Tree and Bark entered, bowing low, almost as if the wind itself carried them.

  They seemed apologetic for the small dust storm.

  "Forgive us, High One," she inclined her head, turning her gaze to Isaac. “ But I," she looked over to Heart of Tree and Bark, “ We wanted to thank, Isaac of fire and scales.” She straightened her posture, “For he is the reason we won today.”

  She looked over them all, the elves, and spoke.

  "Let us give due gratitude unto the One of Fire and Scales." Spirit of Leaves and Wind gestured toward the distant monsters, their eyes still alight with curiosity. "For he gathered a tide of beasts to kill the worms that plagued us since the High One bestowed new life upon our kind." Heart of Tree and Bark nodded along, as Isaac and his eye met.

  Isaac was unsure how to respond. If his scales were not already so red, he might have blushed from embarrassment, but he managed a grateful nod.

  “I...—thank you, Spirit of Leaves and Wind.”

  Alda clapped her hands, prompting everyone to join in. “I, too, thank you again, Isaac of true fire and scales.” She surveyed the group. “I see that you, and most others, are weary from this long battle.” Even a few of the more intelligent monsters nodded in agreement.

  “I propose a day of rest, and all are welcome in the green heaven,” she announced with a grin. “In the days ahead, we shall feast and celebrate a new era for us all!”

  Isaac could agree to this.

  Isaac stepped into what the elves called the green heaven, and it truly lived up to its name—a paradise of lush, living green.

  ‘It feels like home, but something else is here.’ Isaac’s gaze swept the area until he found it: deep beneath the earth, a pool of life he had tasted once before.

  ‘Oh... that explains it,’ he mused.

  The underground pool was much larger than the one he had consumed.

  But no froglets...

  He almost regretted killing them all.

  ‘Fuck forgs,’ but only almost.

  But Isaac had been given a place to sleep and rest... before the feast.

  Isaac examined the eggs. They resembled his own, yet their colors were different. One was pitch black, the other golden, and he could have sworn the gold one shimmered.

  He wondered if their colors hinted at their affinities. ‘I should ask Alda,’ he thought, as sleep gently claimed him.

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