The cavern that contained Shattengrod was a few miles in diameter and a little less than a mile in height. In the heart of this ancient city, an inferno grew in its tallest tower, illuminating the entire city. Shadows fled from the light as it began to burn their ethereal bodies. Zombies and skeletons shambled towards it like moths to a flame. Mercenaries that explored these ruins' at the empire's behest watched in awe or fear as I burned a city block to the ground. 

 

The vampires that lurked within the tower jumped for their lives as the flames consumed the building. Some of them turned into bats or mist and tried to escape. Others lept to nearby buildings and hid in the darkness. Three floated towards me, weapons drawn and spell energy crackling between their fingers. 

 

A hooded figure with chains and hooks hanging from him spoke first. “You have lived your last day, Dragon.” 

 

Smoke drifted out of my mouth, and my voice rumbled from the base of my throat. “I don’t think so, bloodsuckers. You have something I want, and I am going to take it from you.” I cast the antimagic field, and all necrotic energy within ten feet of me disappeared. My vestige, as a divine artifact, was unaffected by my field. 

 

From my studies with Rubert and Clarion, I knew that vampires had a charm ability that could take over someone's mind. The good news is that the ability requires eye contact, and Red Dragons had perfect blindsight within sixty feet, which meant I could fight with my eyes shut. 

When killed, vampires turn into mist and then retreat to their coffins to spend an hour regenerating. When they were a mist, they had immunity to all nonmagical damage. I had some spells in the form of a firebolt or ray of frost cantrip, but that was it. Abaxis would chastise me for failing to keep up with my magical studies. 

 

One of the three vampires, a tall woman in a red dress, fired a lighting spell at me. She cursed in frustration when it disappeared at the edge of my field. 

 

The last vampire, a large man in a white three-piece suit wielding a thin rapier, spoke next. “Mighty Dragon. Let us take a moment and negotiate. If you end your attack on our city, we can give you the item you seek.” 

 

I thought about it for a second. Just get the beacon and leave. It would save me a lot of effort, but then I have three vengeful vampire lords who will return to hunt me. 

 

The tower made a loud cracking sound and collapsed on its side. Whole buildings were crushed under the tower's weight. A dust cloud exploded outward, surrounding us and blocking all sight. The vampires used the cloud as cover and spread out around me. 

The spellcaster was useless as long as my field was up, so I ignored her and swung my tail at the hooded one, causing him to crash through a wall. The one in the suit rushed at my face rapier first. 

 

I bit off his arm and broke his blade with my teeth. 

 

He screamed in pain and shouted at the red-dressed vampire. “Get the minions! Overwhelm him with numbers.” 

 

Idiot. Don’t say your plan while the enemy is listening. 

 

While the white-suited vampire committed the cardinal sin of villainy, the cloaked vampire reappeared from the wall he was smacked into. The chains and hooks that wrapped around his body shot outward and grappled my limbs and wings. His attempt to restrain me didn't work, as whatever magic he imbued into his weapons was deactivated in my field. 

 

I could have ripped them apart since they were now regular metal chains, but I decided on a better idea. I grabbed a bundle of the chains with my claw and yanked the vampire to me. 

 

“You lack knowledge of my powers and overestimate your abilities. I hope you take some comfort in the fact that this was not personal,” I told him and smashed his body into the ground. Now buried a foot into the stone road, I unleashed a fire breath at point-blank range.

 

Like all undead, vampires are tricky bastards that cling to unlife. Even when this hooded figure looked more like charcoal than a vampire, he still regenerated from his wounds. He wasn’t moving, so I moved my senses to the white-suited vampire. He was behind a wall, trying to regrow his arm. Some of the firebreath must have singed his clothing because he smelled of burned silks. 

 

I decided to give diplomacy a chance and spoke to him condescendingly. “Is the one beneath my claws a rival, chatty vampire?”

 

“He is. The three of us had lived in this city since the days when mages ruled the sky and hunted your kind for sport.” He said that like it was supposed to scare me. 

 

“Then you should know the age of magic is gone. For vampires over a thousand years old, your weakness is painfully apparent. What is also clear to me is that the one in the dress has decided to let me kill you both and take over the remaining vampires for herself.” I had no idea if that was actually happening, but I wanted to see if my lie would work. 

 

The formerly cloaked vampire started looking almost healthy again, so I spewed more fire on him. Maybe with his rival lying here helpless, the white-suited one will be encouraged to make a quick decision. 

 

“If I give you the thing you are after, will you help me kill Morgana?” He asked cautiously. 

 

“No, but I will spare your life and take the artifact. You can deal with her yourself.” I didn't want to be involved with vampire politics, and if they were alive to fight each other, they might leave me alone for a bit. 

 

“Deal. Sorry Bloodsycthe, but it seems like you are the unlucky one today.” He bid his acquaintance farewell and left to deal with the other vampire lord. 

 

The hooded figure coughed up some blood and stared at me. “Fucking finish it, beast.” 

 

I gave him what he wanted and burned his body to ash, which then started to turn into a mist cloud and float away. My antimagic field was still active, so I had to cancel it to cast a firebolt that would end him for good. With that taken care of, I cast detect magic and search the crumbled tower. 

 

The more academically inclined members of the Soul Dream and I theorize that magic works similarly to radiation. A thin sheet of lead can make it impossible to find any lingering effects or energy from a magical source. Stone had a similar effect but must be thicker to block magic like lead. Dunamancy isn't a school of magic like transmutation or conjuration. It was something like an augmentation that changed how different schools work to create dunamantic magics, and it leaves a visible effect that I could see with Detect Magic. 

 

I moved around the rubble for a bit before finding the ruined remains of arcane traps. They must have activated when the tower fell. Searching around where those traps were led me to see my first-ever glimpse of Dunamis. It came from a dodecahedron lying in a destroyed glass case. It didn't have the golden handles you might find on a Dynasty beacon, but it was slightly vibrating the air around it. Untransforming quickly, I shoved the artifact into my bag of holding. As much as I wanted to gaze into the beacon and see the secrets of reality, space, and time, this wasn't the best place to do that. I changed back into my dragon form and booked it for the exit. 

 

The politics of this undead city have been stagnant for a thousand years, but with the arrival of one shape-changing Dragon, everything has changed. What this means for the rest of Wildemount is unknown, but the ramifications here will be felt by many in the coming years. 

………….

 

Rexxentrum Archives of the Cobalt Soul. 

 

“High Curator! High Curator!” An apprentice of the Cobalt soul yelled. 

 

“What is it, apprentice? The High Curator is going to an important meeting. This better be more important, or I will have you cleaning the latrines for a month apprentice,” a halfling woman said. She was Expositor Sia Kresh, right hand to the High Curator of the Rexxentrum branch of the Cobalt Soul. 

 

Yudala Fon, High Curator of the Rexxentrum Cobalt Soul, addressed both of them: “It's fine, Expositor Kresh. Take a deep breath and tell me what is wrong, Apprentice Wagner.” 

 

The apprentice took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing his nerves and trying to focus. “There is word from our agents in Shattengrod. A Red Dragon has been seen inside the ruin attacking the Vampires that we suspected were lurking within the city,” he reported. 

 

“What of our agents? Are they involved in the battle?” Yudala asked. The safety of the members of the Cobalt Soul was paramount. They risked their lives daily to safeguard the world and its knowledge, but that didn't mean they didn't care about the safety of their members. 

 

“The report was made by mercenaries inside the city and confirmed by agents stationed at the entrance to the ruins. So far, the fighting has been between the Dragon and the Vampires.” the apprentice said, trying his best not to fuck up or face Kresh’s wrath. 

 

“Contact those with sending capabilities and request all mercenaries to retreat from the city. Expositor Kresh, organize a team to investigate the battle and its participants. If you encounter Cerberus Assembly members, do not engage them.” Yudala started giving orders and clenched one of the reliquaries on her neck. It glowed with a warm blue light and cast a sending spell to the Archivist in charge of Shattengrod.

 

Don’t let anyone leave. Confirm all identities. Find and contain anyone who doesn’t belong. A Dragon might be among them. Please be careful.

 

This incident couldn’t have happened at a worse time. The Assembly had just been given clearance to explore more of Shattengrod and had hired freelancers from Taldori to help them. Yudala had yet to learn what they hoped to find or what might lurk within the ruins, but neither option looked good. 

 

And now a Red Dragon was fighting Vampires in the middle of the city. The Cobalt Soul would have to discover what was happening before the Assembly, or the information could be lost forever. 

 

…………….

 

Shattengrod

 

The tunnel back to the surface wasn’t big enough to fit a Red Dragon, so I walked all the way back up as myself. Halfway there, I heard many footsteps coming down the tunnel toward me. 

 

I thought to myself, should I meet them? I did cause a lot of destruction in the city, so someone was bound to come and investigate. There might even be too many to hide from. I guess I will say hello.  

 

Clank, clank, clank. The sound of heavy metal boots and armor soon arrived. A squad of armored knights followed by robbed individuals became visible. Their torches illuminated the tunnel, allowing me to better see the emblems they wore. The knights had matching armor with the regalia of the Empire on their shoulders. The other robbed individuals had many clothing styles, but the matching color scheme made me think they were monks of the Cobalt Soul.  

 

To not be in their way, I stood off to the side of the cavern. I intended to let them pass, but the column stopped about forty feet away from me. 

 

“You there! State your identity and any affiliations you possess,” one of the knights demanded. 

 

“Do you want all affiliations? I have made many friends in many places,” I said jokingly. It probably wasn’t a good idea to antagonize them, but I need to have fun somewhere. 

 

“We do not have time for your jokes. Identify yourself or be arrested and face the consequences,” he commanded, pulling at the blade on his hip. 

 

“Fine, keep your swords in your pants. I’m Edsom Strider, solo adventurer, former Zhelezo, monster hunter, technically a pirate, associate of the Vellum Steepe Archives in Uthodurn, and I can’t think of anything else too important,” I said, racking my brain for things that would matter or be funny. 

 

“We can confirm that later. All mercenaries inside the ruins of Shattengrod are to be detained while the Dragon situation is investigated. You will return with some of our members and be held for questioning,” he explained. 

 

Oh boy, I have been arrested anyway. They didn’t react to the pirate thing, so I guess they didn’t take me seriously. I could work with that. 

 

“Alright, fine. Take me away,” I said, surrendering myself.