The remaining climb to Hugh’s clan wasn’t bad. The rain let up again, and Leo got to truly enjoy the scenery.

            He understood why the dragons loved their mountainsides. The view was stunning. A series of small valleys and ravines led down the sides of the mountain, thick with the maybe-magical aquamarine-leafed willow trees, before it hit a huge river-and-lake-dotted plain that went farther than Leo’s eye could see.

The plain was a veritable carpet of green trees and grasses, except where it was freshwater mangrove-style trees in swamps. He spotted huge animals, reminiscent of hippopotamuses, tiny as ants in the distance—a herd a thousand strong, lounging in a lake. Despite the colder climate, life was everywhere, almost certainly a result of the massive amounts of water and loose material across the huge plain. And perhaps the very high density of magical nodes as well, a resource Leo had to constantly remind himself of when thinking in ecological terms.

            As Leo crested the plateau ahead of the others, a few weird furry lizards scampered away from him, and then Leo got his first look at Hugh’s home.

            It was bowl-shaped plateau with a small lake in the center and a large cave opening overlooking the water.

Two adult dragons lounged near the edge of the water, their scales a bronze that appeared darkened with age but still glittering in the daylight. They had large leathery wings and horns that swept back multiple feet past their head. Twenty smaller dragons scampered around the adults, all the same lighter bronze as Hugh, and all between seven and nine feet long, but they stopped and stared as soon as they noticed Leo.

The two adult dragons half-stood and flared their scales. One hissed and flashed its fangs. The other growled as it spread its wings.

Leo held a hand up to shield his eyes from the sun. That simple movement was enough to agitate the dragons. The baby dragons scurried away, and the two adults flapped their wings and leapt. They landed a few feet from Leo with a thump as they hit the stone and dirt of the mountain.

            One was about fifty feet long, truly mammoth when Leo was staring down its gullet. The other was about thirty feet, which was still no mean size to have achieved. The scales on the larger of the mighty beasts were each the size of his hand.

Leo knew, from the feeling of the magic surrounding these dragons—as if the size alone wouldn’t have been enough—that they were way beyond his current kill capability. His build would need to be far stronger before he could challenge beings of this power level.

            Getting mighty tired of meeting shit where my existence is clearly at their sufferance, on their home territory. I really need to get stronger.

            Although, my skills have been going up rather rapidly from this trek, I suppose. Mostly athletics.

            Leo was wrenched back to the here-and-now when the smaller dragon leaned forward.

            “Who are you, and why shouldn’t I eat you?” the dragon asked, its voice a threatening snarl.

            “Mom!” Hugh cried as he pulled himself over the edge next to Leo. “I can’t believe you’re here! This is great, I don’t have to go back to our original cave to find you!”

            “Hugh?” the dragon asked, her voice shocked and slightly higher-pitched, not the threatening growl it had been before. “Why are you here, at the Long Speaker’s cave?”

            Hugh ignored his mom in his excitement, his tail lashing back and forth. He turned to the bigger of the two dragons. “Long Speaker Poct! Man, it’s great to see you again! I’ve told Leo all about you!”

            Leo held his breath, not sure if everything was going well.

            Hugh bounded over and nudged Poct, the more massive of the two dragons. “Not least about how often you had to whack me for being a bad student, eh? Eh? But I did okay, and I’m back now!”

            The two large dragons glanced each other for a moment, their scales still flared, their bodies becoming tenser with each passing moment. Although Hugh practically danced around them, his excitement was never reciprocated.

            Leo didn’t know why, but it seemed that Hugh’s mother and the Long Speaker weren’t thrilled to see Hugh here.

            The younger dragons flew over in groups of three and four. They came in all sizes, from five feet long to fifteen long with massive wingspans. When they landed, they were cautious, but the moment they spotted Hugh, they grew bold and stomped over.

            “Chad!” Hugh called out as one of the new dragons sauntered over.

            Again, Leo didn’t move much. He just observed.

Hugh hopped up and down. When another dragon approached, he shouted, “Brother! “Oh, man, guys, you won’t believe what I’ve been up to, and what I’ve accomplished! You’ll love it!”

            Then another bronze-scaled dragon, one that looked no different or special in any way that Leo could fathom, landed. It was about nine feet long, but when it landed, Hugh shifted posture slightly, and he stopped his jumping.

            “Polly, hi,” Hugh said, his voice strained. “Um, it’s really good to see you.”

            “How’ve you been, Hugh?” Polly asked, after a bit of staring at him.

            “I’ve been great. I made four levels. Check me out!” Hugh tensed, and his muscles bulged.

            No one said anything. Some of the dragons sniffed at him, but they mostly just exchanged glances.

            Hugh held his head high. “And I’ve got a huge hoard now, too. Not my sire’s hoard, which was gone, but Leo here helped me raid a vault. I’ve got, like, a thousand gold’s worth of stuff in my hoard. And I can do magic!”

            Hugh reached down and pulled some of the stone up, quickly adjusting it to be a spike.

            “Can you fly?” Hugh’s mom asked.

            Hugh chuckled nervously. “No, but I’m way more powerful now. Seriously. I’m a Level Ten creature. And I’ve got a great hoard for a young dragon, right?”

            No one said anything.

            The persistent silence even grated on Leo. Why weren’t they acknowledging Hugh’s accomplishments?

Hugh’s tail went flat, dropping to the ground. “I mean, that’s badass, right? Um, right?”

            “It’s very impressive, Hugh,” Hugh’s mom said. “How did that happen?”

            “Well, I almost died on the way to my sire’s lair, funny story how that happened but I’ll tell it later, and Leo here rescued me! And we became super good friends. We adventured together, and I made a bunch of levels—that’s why I’m so much bigger now!”

            “So… a mortal found you, made you his pet, and helped you make a few levels?” one of the younger dragons, only about seven feet long—the one Hugh had identified as his brother—said with a snicker. “You always were kinda pathetic, Hugh.”

            Hugh lowered his head. “Why would you say that, brother?”

            “Brother?” Leo asked, his mouth running before his brain caught up. “Is this the same brother who couldn’t hunt a deer until he was five?”

            “How dare you talk about that in front of my classmates!” the dragon yelled as the other dragons all laughed. “By Merdrek’s Teeth, I’ll end you!”

            The dragon charged, tooth-filled mouth first. But Leo had been training against Hugh near daily, and this dragon was a sad imitation. As the dragon went to bite Leo—a surely devastating blow if it landed—Leo used telekinesis to pull a rock from the ground in front of him.

The dragon bit the rock, screaming as a tooth broke. Leo whipped his sword out from his sheath and shoved it into the dragon’s mouth from the side, behind the rock. He stabbed him in his throat and pulled his sword out quickly.

            Leo dismissed the ‘critical nineteen damage’ notification.

            The dragon started to cough blood but also shot lightning. Most was absorbed by the rock, but some hit Leo.

            Oh, right. Not exactly like a pathetic version of Hugh. These ones can all fly and shoot lightning bolts.

            Leo hit the ground. He rolled to the side, smoking and twitching slightly, then stood as the dragon pawed at its mouth. But the dragon did so by raising one foreleg, exposing the less armored ‘underarm.’

            The dragon collapsed, coughing up even more blood, as Leo stuck his sword deep into the exposed weak point, through to the dragon’s lung.

            The whole thing had taken perhaps three seconds.

            He stepped back, not prepared to kill Hugh’s sibling.

            A lightning bolt from the side hit right in front of Leo, and he shook and twitched as the lightning splashed, then fell to the ground.

            “You die, elf,” Poct said, lunging.

            Hugh threw himself in the way. “No! I owe Leo everything. You can’t kill him! And Lily can make this all better!”

            Poct hesitated for a moment, but then his face firmed. “Then you die as well, Hugh. No mortal shall be suffered to attack a dragon.”

            Poct lunged, and above Leo, Hugh crouched lower, looking down and closing his eyes.

             Hugh’s mom slammed into Poct, and pushed him to the side. He crashed into the ground, rumbling the whole mountain.

            Zir’s thrown knife hit Poct and bounced to the side, utterly ineffectual and unacknowledged in the fray.

            “NO!” Hugh’s mom yelled, her voice agony to Leo’s ears—the thundering voice of an angry god damning the masses to hell. “No. Hugh may be a disappointment, but he’s still my child, and a good boy. If he has, by some miracle, found a place he can be happy, we’ll not take it from him. I, Ancatlitopeca, give Leo and his mortals their life, assuming they can fix my other son as Hugh promised. If he dies, they die.”

            Lily went forward and touched Hugh’s brother, whose name Leo still didn’t know. It took three uses of her Regeneration ability to restore him—and her regeneration ability was Rank II now. That was a lot of health.

            The dragon stood, and shuffled a bit closer to Poct, who was again upright and staring stonily at Leo and his friends.

            Despite his fear, pain, and frustration, Leo was absurdly pleased with himself. Two critical hits in a row, and devastating damage. Perhaps I won’t need quite as many levels as I thought to fight some of the powers of this world.

            “Can I at least make my pitch before we go?” Hugh asked. “I think it would be a great deal for some of us.”

            Hugh’s mom nodded. “Of course, Hugh. And I really am glad you found a place for yourself, my poor lost baby.”

            There were snickers from the other dragons, and Leo noted that Poct was staring at Hugh’s mom with a sneer and furrowed brow, like she was pathetic and distasteful.

            Hugh tried to rally, but Leo heard the lack of happiness and excitement in his voice. “So, guys, really. I have a great deal for you. Leo will pay people to work with his town, protect it. And I’ve got caves, good caves. I made them with my Earth magic. And a spot to fight monsters and gain treasure, for an even better hoard! We can all get an awesome start on our hoards.”

            The dragons were all looking at him, except a few in the back who turned away.

            Hugh called to one. “C’mon, Chad, it’s a great deal. You’d love it!”

            The larger, eight foot dragon, whose horns curled at the ends—Chad, Leo supposed—turned back. “Dragons don’t work for, or with, mortals. I’ll not be their slave.”

            “It’s not like that. Leo’s a great guy! He won’t even take elves slaves.”

            “If he won’t impose his will on others, he’s just weak. But I’ll not let him put a collar around my neck by trickery if he’s too weak to put it there by force. This is the worst kind of bird thinking, Hugh.”

            The other dragons turned and started walking away.

            Hugh took a few hesitant steps after one. “Polly?” he said, his voice a bare whisper.

            Polly stopped and turned back. She hesitated, glancing around at the other dragons, who were mostly staring at her now.

            “Oh, you gonna go be a slave with Hugh?” Chad mocked.

            Another dragon snorted and laughed. “Wouldn’t it be funny if she ended up with a flightless lizard? Can you imagine all their pathetic hatchlings?”

Polly’s face firmed. She held her head high. “I’m not going to be with some dragon like Hugh.”

Hugh stepped a little closer, his chest puffed. “Polly, I’m way more amazing now!”

 She turned away. “It’s sad you even think that. You’re weak and pathetic and worthless.”

“But—”

“You came all the way back to show off your levels but you didn’t even fight anyone and win. What kind of dragon are you? I’ll only mate with the best of the best—not some flightless lizard who is far beneath me.”

Polly preened, the scales across her bronze body flaring as she hurried to catch up to all the other ‘normal’ dragons. The Long Speaker seemed pleased by Polly’s speech. He smiled and held his head a bit higher. Hugh’s mother said nothing, though she remained tense.

Leo could hardly believe what he just witnessed.

            He seethed inside, but the presence of Poct, glowering away, and his own sense that this might be a ‘Band-Aid better removed fast’ situation, restrained him from action.

            Hugh leapt forward a few feet, trembling. “W-Wait! How… how can you think I’m pathetic? Even though I have a hoard and levels and everything?”

            Polly flared her wings and sneered as she turned to him. “Look at everyone around you, Hugh. Everyone is leaving because you’re embarrassing.”

            “But I have power now!”

            “Not your own power. Your power can be taken away in an instant if your stupid mortal decides he isn’t your buddy anymore. Or dies of old age tomorrow. By Merdrek’s Teeth, I would never want a simpering dragon who relies on others to father my hatchlings or help guard my hoard.”

            The other dragons chuckled and laughed. A few even swung their tails at the ground, kicking up dirt and rocks and throwing them in Hugh’s direction.

            “I deserve a real dragon,” Polly said, turning her back to Hugh once more. “Not a gutless, flightless lizard who answers to others.”

            “You tell him, Polly,” Chad said, flashing his fangs.

            “Yeah, yeah,” another dragon chimed in, chuckling the whole time.           

Leo had to do something, and stabbing the little bitch to death wasn’t currently an option. Instead, he walked over and put his hand on Hugh’s shoulder. “Let’s go, buddy. There’s nothing left to say.”

            “Yeah,” Hugh said, his voice a raw wound. “I guess there isn’t anything left to say at all.”