Chapter 123: Dragon Senses
[Kira POV] Year 5, Day 207
Kira closed her eyes. Fully taking instructions from Hob.
Hob guided her through corridors — each turn called and executed perfectly, left and right flowing without hesitation.
She liked it. There was something deeply calming about surrendering control to someone else's guidance for a change.
Kira literally turned off her body control like dragons do and let it run almost on autopilot from Hob's instructions — pure surrender, with nothing to decide and nothing to figure out. Strangely relaxing.
Then they stopped and the bit was removed from Kira's mouth.
Kira opened her eyes. They were standing in some random hallway. Just them and a few of Hob's servant girls and guards.
Hob spoke. Voice clearly confused. Almost alarmed. "What was that? I've never felt or seen any ponygirl do that before."
Kira had some idea. Quite good idea actually. But sensitive topic. Need privacy first.
"Anti-spying devices."
Hob gave fast commands to the guards and servant girls. Make space around them. Don't let anyone close. Privacy needed.
They placed anti-spying devices around the area, and the magic flared up to seal them off. Whatever was said now wouldn't leave the bubble.
As soon as those went up, Kira asked—wanted to be sure what Hob felt. "Did it feel strange? Bad?"
Hob corrected fast. "No. Just I can't describe it properly. It's almost like I controlled your body directly. Or well, I have that feeling like I did."
Now Kira was sure.
[Dragon. Seems ponygirl riding and dragon riding aren't that different. Almost want to laugh over it. How dragon abilities make everything just outright weird.]
She explained as well as she was able. Most of what she knew about actual dragon riding came from instincts or things she'd read and heard.
"It's probably the dragon in me. This pony ride triggers some dragon instincts and abilities. Allowed you as rider to have some near-telepathic control over my body. It actually felt really nice—much better than that hour of effort you put in before testing my holes."
Kira felt how Hob froze in the saddle — every muscle locking at once, like his entire body had short-circuited.
She wasn't able to see his face from this position. It probably looked hilarious. But the way he stopped moving—probably something in his male honor or goblin power or something just got totally destroyed.
The pause made her worried she'd actually broken her pet goblin, before Hob finally started moving again.
Hob finally spoke, selecting his words carefully, voice still broken. "Okay. That kind of makes sense. I've driven wyverns before. Can't really comment on dragon rides without knowing the basics. And it felt similar. Just... so much more."
Kira answered with real anger flaring up — the comparison was insulting, and her inner dragon almost screamed at it. "Don't compare me with wyverns."
[True dragons equal wyverns? NOT! Never! Completely different! How dare—]
Hob did fast damage control. "Sorry. Didn't mean it like that. Let's continue if nothing else?"
Kira just nodded, accepting the apology and letting her anger settle back down.
Bit back in mouth. Anti-spying devices collected. And they moved again.
Kira found it actually hilarious. A real contradiction.
[Dragons—all this power—and they're instinctively meant to be ridden. No wonder true dragon bonding is such a sin. If you let some ant ride you, you start to care about them. Feel for them. Bond with them. So much easier to just restrict it completely. Ban it. Make it forbidden. Protect yourself from the vulnerability.]
But her instincts — or maybe something leftover from dragon memories — told her this pony bonding didn't count against the sin. Too weak, just a shadow of real bonding. Dragons never take it seriously, at best treating it as some strange fetish.
As she turned her body to autopilot again—controlled by rider Hob—she was able to expand other senses. Dragon way. Perception beyond normal.
Mistress had talked about how she could detect life signatures. Kira could also do that now. But it didn't make much sense yet. Massive amount of noise and confusing signals everywhere. Probably an ability that needed a lot of time to learn to understand properly.
But she was able to detect some things.
She picked up similar energies and signals from dragons and wyverns spread across the area in large numbers — the race still ongoing, riders everywhere along the route.
This led her to a strange idea — but it was probably the truth. [For some participants, that demo round might have been their fastest lap of the entire race. Are they not trying to drive fast — or how are there still so many riders out there on the track?]
Bad Boy. She could feel him. He carried some of her energy — residue from when she'd licked him in Dragon Sanctuary — and it lit him up to her dragon senses like a beacon she could follow from anywhere.
He still felt wounded, but improving — healing well, clearly being cared for by the medics.
Heavy guilt hit Kira at the contact.
[Never said properly thank you before to this loyal wyvern. He worked really hard in that fight in the arena. Protected me. Saved me. And I just left him bleeding without proper gratitude.]
And another thing Kira now understood. That licking in Dragon Sanctuary—Bad Boy had wanted to be her friend. Bond with her. Connect.
But she hadn't understood at the time. Panicked instead. Ran away.
[So rude. It's like someone saying 'let's be friends' and you hitting them and running away — cruel and disrespectful in the worst possible way.]
She gave herself a promise. Before they went back to Borderwatch, she would go and say proper thanks to Bad Boy. Ask sorry for her rude behavior.
[True dragon asking sorry from a wyvern. It has to show something. He'll understand I mean it. That I value what he did. That I'm grateful.]
But with dragon energies, there was something else. Something more she felt.
A point with massive amount of dragonic energy. Best she was able to describe it — like a black hole, the energy too immense to measure properly. Compared to anything else she could sense, this was magnitudes beyond. Overwhelming to the point of impossibility.
[Another true dragon? Or what could be that much energy concentrated in one place?]
Kira opened her eyes and looked in that direction.
They were outside now. Walking over some kind of gangway between buildings.
This energy seemed to be coming from some VIP viewing area — one with distinctive blue flags visible, the kind that marked official territory.
[Hob probably knows what it is. Should ask. But how?]
Kira was thinking about trying to give signals that she wanted to talk. But then remembered stories about high-end dragons using telepathic links with riders. Direct communication. Mind-to-mind.
So she tried to reach out to Hob like one would do via seed network. Best reference she had for telepathy.
«Hob, can you hear me?»
Hob almost jumped. Spoke loud. Surprised. "What? Kira? How—"
«I'm using telepathy. Dragon stuff. But listen and watch.» She directed his attention. «That observation area there. The one with those blue flags. What is it?»
Hob moved his head, scanning around until he found it.
Then answered—still talking aloud. Clearly didn't know how to send thoughts back. Or maybe couldn't. The telepathy might only work one way with this strange mix of ponygirl bonding and dragon abilities.
"It's the Dwarven Union lounge."
Kira thought. Where had she heard about that?
[Ah. The first spot where X got Void invited initially. Dwarven Union VIP section — the exclusive, expensive kind where only important people get to sit.]
She asked more. «Can you have someone check it? Tell them to be careful—don't approach, just identify from a distance. Fifth flag from the left, about thirty meters in. I need to know who sits there.»
Hob sent one guard running to make this strange inquiry — fast and professional, no questions asked.
After that, they continued walking. Direction: VIP area where her brother was waiting.
[Whatever that massive energy is, I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with. Dragon instincts are screaming that it's important, and possibly dangerous to even me.]
As they approached the VIP area, Kira recognized one more signature — Void and the others with him. The seeds inside them made them easy to locate, glowing with the warmth of familiarity and safety, the closest thing to home she had in this city.
They entered.
Kira looked around through the blinders' limited view. Managed to locate both brother Aldric and Void. Both were sitting near each other, but far from where she'd entered — in different sections of the VIP area. She mentally thanked Hob for picking the distant entrance — that walk gave her precious time to assess everything before she had to face anyone.
Then Kira's dragon senses stirred again. HARD. More than that strange dragon energy signature before.
Only a few tables away from the entrance, a woman sat there — carrying a world mark her dragon senses picked up like a warning siren.
| True Dragon Killer: killed 47 true dragons, helped to kill 22 true dragons. |
Kira's mind crashed at the numbers. [Forty-seven solo kills. Twenty-two more assisted. Almost seventy true dragons dead by this one woman's hand or help. How can someone like that exist — aren't true dragons supposed to be apex monsters? And...]
Then she noticed the male next to her — also carrying the mark, but looking almost normal in comparison.
| True Dragon Killer: helped to kill 7 true dragons. |
This woman also instantly noticed Kira. Brief panic flashed across her face — controlled almost immediately, but unmistakably there.
[Recognition. She can sense me too. Dragon killer recognizing dragon — two predators sizing each other up across the room, both knowing exactly what the other is capable of.]
Kira had no idea who these people were, but she really didn't need this kind of complication on top of everything else.
She pinged Hob through the telepathic link, urgent. «This woman and man — who are they?»
Hob couldn't reply through the link, so he leaned in close and whispered the answer into her ear.
"It's the ruler of the Empire. The Emperor and his Head Mage. They were at the Banking Guild Gala yesterday with the Syndicate leadership."
He lowered his voice further before continuing. "There are rumors they're both more than ten thousand years old. Proper ancients with real power."
Kira cursed internally.
[Empire's ruler and his Head Mage. Ancients. Dragon killers sitting a few tables away. Every single thing I came here hoping not to deal with — concentrated right in front of me.]
But then she remembered. [They are visitors, guests. Just like me. Attending the festival. Probably not looking for fights or hunting. Just... being present.]
She tried to look less dangerous — friendly and non-threatening, the opposite of whatever predator signal she'd been giving off.
Even sent a telepathic message. Or well, tried to. No idea if anything actually reached them — but anything was better than silence and looking hostile.
«I'm not here to fight. Just your friendly ponygirl giving her goblin pet a ride.»
She almost wanted to start laughing after sending such a stupid message. [Why did I send such a stupid message? Or well, at least it's so absurd that nobody would ever think it's a lie. Because who would make up something that ridiculous? Who would claim to be a ponygirl unless it was true? The absurdity is the proof, the strangeness is the authenticity.]
The woman — Head Mage — nodded slightly, looking less surprised but somewhat stupefied. Like "friendly ponygirl giving her goblin pet a ride" had been too weird and unexpected for her ancient mind to process cleanly.
[Perhaps that message was too much? Maybe I should have just sent 'not hostile' and left it at that. Too late now — it was already out there and received.]
Hob, who had no idea what kind of existential crisis Kira had just experienced, guided her to keep moving.
Direction: brother's area. And Void, who was nearby.
[Emperor, Head Mage, ancient powers, dragon killers — the worst possible audience. And I just introduced myself as a friendly ponygirl to them. This day keeps getting better and better.]
First who noticed them was Void and the others at his table.
Everyone behind the table was looking. HARD.
Reactions ranged from barely managing to keep laughter back, all the way to Void himself — who looked totally frozen, shocked, even a bit horrified.
Kira found Void's behavior puzzling. [Void knew where I was going. Knew what I was planning. Why is he so surprised?]
She gave Void a more serious look — assessing him with her dragon senses, reading what she could through the bond and normally.
The result caught her off guard — she'd never seen Void like this. [Ant. No question about it. Mistress's pet. But higher in hierarchy in the household than me, so I'll follow orders. This was what Mistress commanded. And Mistress's commands are absolute, so I serve Master through her.]
Her brother still hadn't noticed. Had his back to their direction. But others around his table were already looking. Staring. Understanding what was approaching.
Finally, Aldric turned.
The moment he saw Kira, his face split into a victory grin he couldn't have hidden if he tried.
[Oh, brother. Did you really think you'd won? That the chain and humiliation would be enough to break me, and I'd just hide somewhere and cry?]
Hob patted Kira's head from the side, the gesture both affectionate and possessive.
Kira gave a fast look in that direction.
She saw it. The large hologram display over the arena was showing them. Showing her. Showing this scene.
[Broadcast. Of course it's broadcast. Probably every display in Central is showing what's about to happen — every screen lit up, every viewer locked in, the whole city watching.]
A predator's calm settled over her. [Brother wanted a show. He's about to get one. Just not the one he expected.]