Like that, a week passed. They expanded their home to four levels, enough to give relatively comfortable sleeping space for the children on the lower three floors, with the top floor as a communal kitchen/production area. The traps that were set caught a few small animals like rabbits and mice, and between that and the cat Carmen brought back, they were able to keep themselves from using too much of Vithi’s stockpile, but this meant that there wasn’t enough left of the cat for Assimilation to work. Lilith wasn’t particularly bothered about this, preferring continued survival to instant growth, bit she had to admit that the electricity the thing was discharging would be nice to have.

Lilith’s reverie was interrupted by a deafening roar from just outside the base.

“WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR CAUSING A STIR IN MY DOMAIN!?”

A cacophony of worried noise came from below as those that were asleep were woken by the roar. Lilith looked over to Vithi, who was staring at her with a pale face.

“Dragon.” She whispered. “What’s it saying?”

“I think it wants to know what we’re doing here.”

A moment later, Alex, Carmen, and Judy came up from below, looking worried.

“I’ll go talk with it. I can just come back if the avatar gets destroyed. Put up some defensive appendages, we might need them.” Carmen said, carapace like coverings appearing over her throat and heart. “While I’m distracting it, prepare yourself for a fight. I doubt I’ll be able to take it if it turns hostile.”

“I KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! COME OUT NOW OR I RIP THIS WHOLE HILL UP!” The dragon shouted, and then, in a voice so quiet Lilith could barely hear it, seemed to mutter to itself in a different language. “Ah. Wait, they probably don’t speak dragon. Crap. Uh, what language did the last people who came through here use…they called it, uh…”

The dragon stopped talking as Carmen stepped out, leaving the door open and revealing the dark green scaled leg of the dragon. She stepped away from the entrance, and the dragon seemed to bend its head down to get a better look at her, mumbling all the while.

“One of the Winter Court? No. That’s the smell of the Summer. Wait, that’s dragon. But…those wings and tail…” The dragon narrowed its eyes, body tensing. “It’s got to be some scent-jamming magic.”

“EXPLAIN YOURSELF!” It bellowed, causing Lilith to snap out of her trance.

“Alright…” she muttered, looking at the small display in the upper left corner of her vision. She was at 30/45 mana, with 600 in the subordinate’s stockpile. If she took into account the mana currently in her subordinates, she had 5,000 more to draw upon if worst came to worst. Fire probably wouldn’t work against a dragon, and she didn’t have confidence she could make anything that would pierce those scales with magic. She wasn’t sure how her eldritch anatomy might stack up, but she really didn’t want to find out.

Thinking of her anatomy, she sprouted the same carapace as Carmen, as well as several small, almost unnoticeable appendages on her back. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the mass to do much more, but even with just the six appendages and the coverings, her HP rose to 394 from her previous 306. But…she still didn’t have a plan of attack.

Then, she remembered a Skill she had gotten when she had made Raphael her subordinate, simply named “Rotation (Counterclockwise)”. At first it didn’t seem like much – it just allowed one to rotate an object counterclockwise as long as mana was poured into it. But…this could be applied to any other type of magic as an added effect, and Zoan’s Barrier counted. Lacking a better option, Lilith began to formulate a plan of action.

At the same time, Carmen was desperately trying to negotiate with the dragon.

“A bunch of students and I were attacked, and our teleportation spell went awry. We’re just camping here until rescue comes, then we’ll leave. We mean you no harm and have no wish to permanently settle. Just give us a few months.” She said, and the dragon blinked, weighing the words.

Of course, Carmen hadn’t left this purely up to the dragon’s sense of reason. She didn’t trust it one bit. Instead, she had turned Horrid Fascination on before going to speak with the dragon, and with her fully unlocked fae domains, she had more bonus to charm than any one being should reasonably possess.

The dragon shook its head violently. “CEASE THE MAGIC, OR I KILL YOU NOW.”

Carmen tilted her head. “I’m not actively doing any magic, but I’ll suppress it to the best of my abilities.” She said, deactivating Horrid Fascination.

“AT THE MOMENT, I CARE NOT FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES. EXPLAIN YOURSELF. WHAT ARE YOU?!”

Carmen shrugged. “Would you believe me if I said everything?”

A low rumble came from the dragon’s chest. “AMUSING. YOU WOULD CLAIM TO BE A PERFECT CHIMERA? I’VE MET ONE, AND YOUR AURA IS LIKE A DYING EMBER COMPARED TO THEIR BLAZE.” It snorted, a gust of wind washing over Carmen and threatening to push her away before two of her appendages speared out and pierced the ground, firmly anchoring her. The dragon watched this, curious. “I WILL ADMIT YOU INTRIGUE ME. BUT I CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE ONE SUCH AS YOU POACH MY PREY. RETURN WHAT REMAINS OF THE BEAST YOU SLEW A WEEK AGO AND LEAVE, AND I WILL SPARE YOU.”

Carmen shook her head. “There’s only bones. The children were starving, and we didn’t have enough other food.”

The dragon began to mumble once again. “Great. I hate it when children get involved. Ah, but I can’t just go back on what I said…I WILL TAKE THE BONES, THEN. LEAVE THIS PLACE.”

“But the children can’t make a march like that. Not only will some of them die, but we’ll get far enough away that the rescue party won’t find us. And that will just lead to more people tromping about in your territory. I will gladly give you the bones, but I can’t move them.”

The dragon paused, scanning the surroundings. Its gaze stopped at the entrance to the base, as if pondering something. Then, suddenly, it started and whipped its focus back to Carmen.

“ARE YOU COWARD ENOUGH THAT YOU CANNOT FACE ME WITHOUT A MAGIC TRICK? I CAN SENSE YOU IN THERE. COME OUT.”

Lilith frowned, but exited the base. The dragon looked back and forth between Lilith and Carmen, before it settled on Lilith. “DISPEL YOUR MAGIC. YOU HAVE NO FURTHER NEED TO USE THAT ILLUSION.”

“It’s not an illusion or trick, though. She’s an autonomous vessel with an alternate personality inside of her. She’s basically a different person.”

The dragon gave out a frustrated roar. “ENOUGH! WE WILL FIGHT, RIGHT NOW. WE’LL CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION AFTER I HAVE YOU BEGGING FOR MERCY.”

Lilith and Carmen immediately sped off to behind the dragon, continuing to run in the hopes that they could lure it away from the others. It lifted off into the air and gave chase, slowly beginning to close the distance that was created in the few moments it took to take off. Both Carmen and Lilith turned Horrid Fascination and Unknowable Entity on, and the dragon teetered in the air for a moment, the shock of the aura hitting it causing it to momentarily forget to flap its wings. When they were a good distance away, the two stopped and turned around to face the dragon, which landed a good ten feet away.

Carmen moved until she was standing less than a foot away from Lilith and spoke. “If you wish to fight, make the first move.” She taunted, “I have no desire to fight a dragon, so I’m certainly not going to strike first.”

The dragon snorted and swiped a claw at the two of them. They both activated Zoan’s Barrier, Carmen choosing to double up on Horrid Fascination, while Lilith infused Rotation into hers. A moment later, the claw struck Lilith’s barrier, and deflected ever so slightly upwards.

“Ow, that hurt! What kind of barrier is that?!” It mumbled, shaking its head, though its eyes remained glued to Carmen’s barrier. “Fine, fine. It’s a physical barrier, so fire should do the trick, just use some weak stuff so as not to kill her…” At this, it began to breathe in deeply. Carmen took off into the air, deactivating her barrier, but the dragon kept its focus on Lilith, and exhaled. The flames hit her barrier, and immediately another stream of fire shot back towards the dragon. It hit the dragon’s head, causing it to begin to turn. Immediately, the dragon’s neck tensed, and the rotation stopped. It kept at this for another few moments before it closed its mouth, the torrent of fire finally ceasing.

“It reflects physical and magical attacks!? That’s…not fair! How am I supposed to deal with that?! Overpower it? But…I don’t really want to hurt them too badly…” It mumbled. It attempted to bat aside Carmen, who was currently diving towards its side with her tail, arms, and legs transformed into sharp, rusty-brown spikes held in front of her, but she just activated Zoan’s Barrier and continued towards the dragon. Her attack bounced ineffectually off of the dragon’s scales, and she quickly retreated, thirty or so feet away from the dragon.

“If you don’t want to hurt us, then don’t!” Lilith said, looking desperately at the dragon.

The dragon stopped, blinking. “Wait. You understood this language the whole time?”

“Uh, yeah. You were just complaining about my barrier, and earlier you were saying something about Carmen’s smell and hating it when children get involved–”

The dragon cut her off. “Who taught you this?! I can’t feel any translation magic in use, and none of them should have this catalogued anyway!”

“I got a wish from a djinn that let me understand every language. Why, is it important?”

The dragon groaned. “It’s my family’s private language, so I thought I was safe. Well, now that I know my dignity’s shot anyway, there’s no point in fighting further, so let’s talk. Cut the crap, what are you actually? I’ve never seen anything quite like you.”

I’m going to go calm the kids. Carmen said, turning off her abilities and flying back to the base. Following her lead, Lilith turned her own off. “I actually am a Perfect Chimera, I’m just…new. As part of my wishes I got transformed, and that was only a few months ago. As for all this,” she motioned to her impromptu armor, and waved her small appendages about “I was given access to a few eldritch tomes, and it ended up letting me do stuff like this.”

The dragon tilted its head. “A wish? People have tried wishing to be a Perfect Chimera before, they usually just end up a regular chimera. Are you sure you’re not just a chimera?

“Positive. The Protectorate tested me pretty heavily, and my own analysis skill explicitly mentions several of my Traits coming from the Perfect Chimera Domain.”

“Hm. That’s…pretty definitive. Interesting.”

“Wait, you believe me?”

“I’ve been running a lie detector spell this entire time, so I know you at least believe everything you’re saying. Interesting…” The dragon paused, clearly debating something. “Do you know who attacked you?”

“The Society of Light. They were watching me after my wishes and were able to make their way into the school I was at.”

The dragon gave a disdainful snort. “I should have guessed. Those idiots would never let such tantalizing prey escape so easily.”

“You know of them?”

“They’ve been known to enslave dragons for use in their little war. Most of us know of them by now, and we’re not particularly fond.” It nodded to itself, seemingly having made up its mind. “Very well, you’ve convinced me. I’ll offer you my protection until your friends come to pick you up.”

“Really! Thank you!” Lilith exclaimed happily. “Why? Oh, and what’s your name?”

“I am Siph. As for why, I think it best that the Society of Light does not gain any more tools with which they might enslave my kin. It is in all our best interests that they do not gain control of you.” Siph sighed and stood straighter. “Allow me to assume a form more suitable to interacting with you.”

Siph’s form grew indistinct, shrinking before eventually resolving into that of a long-haired human woman. She was wearing a rather bland brown shirt and pants, and her hair and eyes were the same color as her scales. “Alright.” She said, “let me see your living quarters.”

“Yeah, this isn’t going to cut it.” Siph said, looking at the place the group had dug out. “First off, it reeks of humanoid. Anything with half a nose could smell this place from half a mile away. Second, it’s fragile.” She slammed a fist against one of the pillars, knocking it down and sending the gathered children into a panic. “Relax, it’s not load-bearing. Point is, anything potentially threatening thing that can dig would have this cracked open in a heartbeat. I’ll admit it’s probably better than just building stuff above ground, but that’s about it. If it wasn’t for the fact that most anything big around these parts has been eaten by yours truly, you all would have been devoured quite a while ago.”

Siph shook her head. “No helping it. You’re all coming back to my place. No ifs ands or buts. I’ve been meaning to expand the place, so I’ll be having you dig out an area next to mine, which I will permit you to use for the time being.” Her gaze locked on Carmen. “You, fae girl. If the sprouts outside are any indication, you can speed up plant growth, right?”

“Yes. What of it?”

“You’re making me a garden. I want to be able to eat sweet things sometimes, so for now I’ll have another space excavated to farm food with.” Her eyes flicked towards the children momentarily before refocusing. “I suppose, should you ask nicely, I could let the children have some as well.”

“As for you,” she said, looking at Lilith, “I do not wish to overburden my new farms attempting to feed you ravenous lot. And I certainly do not wish to hunt for food for this group by myself. As such, I will personally be educating you in this regard. Be grateful.”

Lilith hid a smile as she looked at the dragon. “Thank you very much. May I ask for the location of your lair? I’ll lead the kids there as fast as possible.”

Siph rolled her eyes. “Unacceptable. It’s in a place nearly inaccessible without flight, and it would take ages for those capable of flight to ferry the rest over. For the sake of starting my home renovation sooner, I’ll let the lot of you ride on my back. Don’t get used to it, this is a special circumstance.”

A while later, Siph had taken everyone to her lair. Fortunately, she was large enough that everyone was safely able to find a place where they had enough traction to stay on, an endeavor aided by an adhesive enchantment courtesy of Vithi. They had begun their excavation of the surrounding area, and currently the adults were catching up on rest, most of them having gotten less than they should have in the past week or so.

Except for Carmen. She was currently alone with Siph in one of the dragon’s many rooms. The lair itself was actually quite homey. The walls were of a smooth stone, lit by magical-looking lights along the even ceiling. To everyone’s great surprise, the whole floor aside from the entrance was actually carpeted, and the whole place was at a rather comfortable temperature. When asked about this, Siph shrugged.

“I happened across some of the stuff and rather liked how it felt. It took me a few decades of trying off and on to replicate it, but eventually I did and swapped out the stone floor for it. I left the entrance as it was so that blood from my kills would wash out easier, and the whole place has been fortified with enchantments, so it’s not like I would scratch it up with my claws. I figured if I was going to be living here for the foreseeable future then I would at least live in comfort. Anyway, what did you need me for?”

“I have a proposal that I think will benefit both of us.” Carmen said, locking eyes with Siph. “I happen to have quite a lot of abilities that strengthen anyone magically bound to me, and I think having you in on them would be for the best. It doesn’t need much – just a simple contract that will alert me when you disobey me and you’re in. You’ll be able to break it off any time you want, and there’s no need to actually obey me, I’ll just ignore it whenever that happens. Enhancements to all abilities while providing for children, the ability to telepathically communicate with anyone also magically bound to me, an extra 10% of your magic power that can be stored in me for no extra burden, and you can even receive eldritch abilities from me, although I might have to borrow some of your magic power to actually have enough to give one to you. So, what do you say?”

Siph eyed her warily. “You know, Lilith already gave me the full rundown on your abilities. Including the unedited version of what you just told me.”

Carmen frowned and opened her mouth, but Siph cut her off.

“Be that as it may, I am not opposed to entering into this agreement, provided I am allowed to amend it. All I ask is that you and Lilith refrain from purposefully attempting to charm me or use Horrid Fascination in my presence, unless I specifically allow it.”

Carmen raised an eyebrow. “And you’re not at all opposed to me gaining access to all of your abilities, including a transformation into a dragon.”

Siph laughed. “If I was, I would have left you all to fend for yourself at the very least, maybe even killed you should I have deemed it necessary. You’re going to get this sort of stuff eventually, so I think that as long as I’m helping you, there’s no reason for me to delay things, provided I’m protected. I’ll get on your good side, you become easier to protect, win-win. So, you in?”

Fighterman481

And so we introduce Siph. She wanted to appear all tough in front of everyone, uphold the image of her species and all, but thanks to that mumbling habit of hers it just wasn't in the cards.

I mean, for anyone else it would have just been ominous growling, but still.

Anyway, as for the fight, Lilith and Carmen had no chance of actually winning a straight fight. Like, none at all. Siph's just way too strong for them to even think about it at this point in time. Fortunately for them, Siph can be pretty chill once you get past the tough facade. Even more fortunately, she adores kids, and wasn't going to try and really put them in danger. To be honest, if negotiations kept going the way they were before the fight, Siph probably would have given in and she knew it, which was why she decided to put some fear in them.

And the Society? I mean, the only thing that should really be surprising about their behavior is the fact that they've got enough manpower to successfully enslave a dragon at all. Of course, once they got one it became that much simpler, but my point stands. And while enslaving a dragon sounds really neat on paper, that's only if you forget that dragons have a nasty habit of hunting down and systematically destroying anyone who does that. The species is proud, and once word gets out...well, any hypothetical dragon slaver would be the target of any and all dragons. They don't usually last long.

The real difference here is that the dragons can't access Earth without help and the Society knows it, so they're abusing that as much as they can.

If you're curious, most dragons these days have spread out among the Wildlands, carving out their own territory and keeping to it as much as possible. So, you don't bother them, they don't bother you. Like bees. That could probably incinerate you with a thought, but bees. As for types of dragons, there are a lot. All of them share a fire breath, but each type has their own thing going on, and families within those types have their own specialties too. Siph's family focuses on the physical body, seeking dominance over others through unbearably sharp fangs and claws, and an unbeatable defense. Or, that's what they'd like you to think. It works great on anything that's not as strong as a dragon, and offers a pretty hefty advantage in melee combat between anything else, but they're not really equipped to handle any enemy that has a long range attack that can pierce their scales.