Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Amber often trusted her own experience and instincts. She’d realised over the years that The Coin she’d bartered for was a tiny bit of a trap. If Amber wasn’t careful, she’d let it rule her life, dictate every decision. She’d simply be an agent of fate, not thinking for herself, letting the toss of her coin dictate her actions.

There was a time and a place to let her fate be decided by luck and the fae. When negotiations had broken down - the lord of the fae had realized the trap and had nearly turned the tables on Amber - and she found herself back on Pallos, Erebus heading towards her at full speed, Amber started flipping. She didn’t stop for days, using a few valuable stamina and sleep related gems to keep going.

When the skies darkened from horizon to horizon, when the Dragoneye Moons glared at the world with their full force, when it seemed like the entire world had gone mad - Amber flipped faster. A week went by, then two, and Amber’s thumb was getting sore from how often she’d consulted her lucky trinket.

A careful step to the left, and a small meteor crashed right where she’d been. Three quick steps backwards, and a line of black flames consumed everything she could see. Then the cataclysm moved on, only ashes mixing with snowflakes falling in the titan’s wake.

Amber flipped and walked for the third week since the Dragoneye Moons glared down on the world, and found herself on the side of a mountain, surrounded by dead goats. A cursory examination of the scene suggested that a meteor strike had killed the entire herd. The coin wanted Amber right here, and she decided to start examining the rock, then the goats. It was likely one of the goats had swallowed a dozen rubies or something equally absurd, but it was just as likely that the meteor was made out of solid diamond. Amber wasn’t squeamish, but if she could avoid getting her hands coated in viscera, she would. It’d be a pain to clean off, and until then, she’d attract every idiot predator that couldn’t see her level.

The clouds slowly cleared off and the sun broke through while Amber slowly rendered the rock down, her heart sinking at the prospect of going through all the goat guts.

The skies darkened. The entire world was briefly plunged into nighttime.

But nighttime would imply light. Would imply that she could see the stars in the sky above us. That she could see planets and moons, Pallos’s new ring, and if Amber was lucky and sharp-eyed, a comet dashing through the heavens.

This was more like a complete void. Like darkness had overtaken the world.

Two slits slashed across the perfect darkness that was the sky. They slowly pried themselves open, like a sleeping dragon lazily waking up. A familiar pair of baleful crimson eyes peered down on the world. Words rumbled across the world. “Lun’Kat, Goddess of the Dragoneye Moons.”

A different voice spoke a moment later, a proclamation, an announcement.

“Two moons are better than one.”

Amber wanted to roll her eyes at the egotistical announcement, except the ground she’d been on no longer existed. Amber, along with the goats and a few random pebbles and sticks, fell into an abyss.

She landed hard. Amber had taken a few lessons and skills from her mentor to heart, and had survived a number of Immortal Wars. [Persistent Casting] along with her heal skill had Amber swearing as she broke her leg and spine, then immediately healed them.

“What sort of stupid poor mounta-“

Amber’s cursing was cut off as she took in where she landed. Her eyes grew to the size of the emeralds next to her face, and money started dancing in front of her vision.

The lucky merchant had literally landed in a gigantic pile of gold. A quick look around revealed that she’d fallen right in the middle of a dragon's hoard.

The hoard was epic, and Amber could only see part of it. The pile of gems, gold, and other treasures she was landing on was ‘only’ the size of four city blocks, the head of a gigantic hallway. Trophies and prizes lined the hallway, with neat arches leading off into other sections of the lair. From where Amber had landed, she could see a suit of battle-scarred armor, bars of metal, precious, magical, and mundane, a waterfall of diamonds, sapphires, and other gems, and the treasures just kept going. Banners and books, weapons and crowns, the lair had everything.

Flame-scorched rocks and a few missing lights - were those fairies!? - spoke to a battle that might’ve taken place inside the lair, not too long ago.

“By all the gems on Pallos.” Amber swore.

She had enjoyed the itinerant lifestyle, having always been able to carry her treasures on herself.

Now? Now she couldn’t store a tenth of the pile of gold and weapons she found herself on, and this was clearly the “minor landing pile” of gold, never mind the rest of the gold and gems.

Never mind that it was the tiniest fraction of the hoard.

Amber’s valuation eye tried to calculate how much everything was worth. It broke past the 10 billion arc amount, and simply defaulted to “yes”. She took a moment to roll in the gold coins, throwing them up and letting them shower around her. Who cares that they hurt a tiny amount as they came back down? She could literally swim in the stuff.

A snuffling noise brought her attention back to the present. A juvenile dragon was sniffing around. Amber froze, looked around and cataloged the gems she had on her.

The only exit she could spot from here was high up, but the endless caverns of loot suggested other exits. Her level suggested she might be alright against a dragon, and [Identify] confirmed it.

[Tarinak, the Untested Palette - 54]

The coin had only led Amber astray a few times, and she still stubbornly maintained the belief that she simply hadn’t known how to seize the opportunity presented, not that the luck had gone bad. In this case, it seemed clear to her. She scrambled back to where the goats had fallen.

“Here Tari Tari Tari.” Amber said. “You hungry? Fresh goat for you.”

The dragon came sniffing up, and pounced on the goats the moment he saw them. Amber had been around for a few thousand years, but still went green at how the dragon tore apart the bodies.

The dragon looked half asleep when he finished, barely able to keep his eyes open. Purring - Amber didn’t know dragons purred! - he curled up next to her and went to sleep.

‘Don’t bother a sleeping dragon’ was sage advice, and Amber spent the next few hours categorizing and planning.

The first thing she thought of was how to secure the place against intruders. She’d literally just fallen into the lair, and whatever protections had been here had failed with the death of its owner.

Or… ascension.

Amber paled as she put the pieces of the puzzle together. This had been Lun’Kat’s lair, and the freshly ascended Goddess had a vested interest in what happened to her child. It was one thing to take over a dragon’s hoard. Ambitious, likely deadly, but not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Doing it with a baby dragon underfoot and a Goddess keeping a careful eye on things?

“Good dragon.” Amber carefully scratched the dragon’s head.

Her other hand reached up to her braid of many gems. The merchant’s fingers trailed along the gems woven in, mentally cataloguing her spells and options.

Something was better than nothing.

Amber activated 6 different gems, powerful skills she’d bartered for over the years. A flurry of magic later, and the lair was weakly secured. By the standards of an Immortal who’d lived for thousands of years.

She continued to think and categorize until Tarinak woke up again. He looked around sadly for a minute, then perked up seeing Amber. The little dragon reached out with his jaw and gently grabbed Amber’s sleeve, then tugged a few times.

“Alright, I guess we’re following the dragon.” Amber said, letting the dragon lead her deeper through the lair.

A library that would’ve made Elaine jealous. A grove, filled with every plant and tree, a trio of dryads looking after it. A forge fit for a dragon. A temple to make Iona green with envy. The place had everything an ancient dragon could want, and Amber kept twitching with every new spectacle revealed.

Was… was that really a sea of beer?

The dragon and Amber paused at three freshly dug graves. Tarinak paused and keened at the gems, circling a few times and growling mournfully at them. Amber mimed removing her hat - she had none - and bowed her head respectfully at the monument.

She was about to ask if this was where the dragon wanted to take her, before he moved off, a bounce in his step and seemingly untouched by the moment.

The dragon finished his trip at a massive, Victorian-era galleon that was entirely out of place in Lun’Kat’s lair. An entire jungle filled the deck, and the vines peeking through the portholes promised more of the same within the depths of the ship. The air was still, but the sails were filled with wind and the pennants crisply cracked in the non-existent breeze. Amber’s eye refused to give the ship a value, either positive, negative, or too large. It simply didn’t exist to the eye.

“Onto the creepy ship I guess.” Amber had virtually no focus on physical stats, and only had [I am the Master of my Body] as a physical skill. It was trivial for her to jump forty feet and grab the edge of the ship, then she hauled herself onboard. She tensed as she landed, expecting the dense jungle foliage to attack her or some other similar bullshit. They simply waved in the non-existent breeze, and Tarinak scrambled up beside her a moment later, his claws unable to scratch the wood. He pranced around in happy circles, then scurried into the jungle. Amber followed with a curse. She pushed her way through the dense jungle, unwilling to hack or otherwise break anything here, regardless of the dragonling’s recklessness. She spotted him next to an open treasure chest at the base of an ancient tree, the same one that formed the main sail of the galleon.

Amber looked at it closely. In contrast to nearly everything else she’d seen in Lun’Kat’s lair so far, the chest was completely empty. It was also clearly what the dragon wanted her to see.

“Do you want me to move it?” Amber asked. The dragon shook his head, then mimed closing the chest.

“You want me to close it?” Amber was confused. Why couldn’t Tarinak do it himself? Well, when in the lair of a dragon, better listen to him. [The Fairy Trader] was having visions of owning the lair, guardian included. Even without that, hauling all of the loot out was going to require some cooperation from the dragon, if she didn’t want an angry goddess smiting her.

Amber closed the chest.

[*ding!* [The Fairy Trader] has lost a level!]

[*ding!* [First Apprentice of the Mother of Modern Medicine] has lost a level!]

Amber gasped in horror, taking three steps back from the level-stealing object. Tarinak chirped happily, entirely oblivious to her distress, and opened the chest himself. The merchant eyed the dancing dragon suspiciously.

[Tarinak, the Untested Pallet - 55]

The little level stealing-!

One of Amber’s skills started to pester her, an unrealized connection that could promise great profit.

Wait.

WAIT.

There was potential here.

Amber knew vampires were cursed with slow leveling who’d pay anything to level up faster. This required more experimentation. Tarinak bumped his head into Amber’s hand, and she started idly scratching his head. A low rumble filled the cave at the dragon’s contentment.

Amber rubbed her hands together greedily as the arcs and opportunities danced before her eyes. More money than she could possibly spend in many, many Immortal lifespans. The promise of endless levels simply facilitating things. Being the only [Merchant] who could sell levels?

Oh yes.

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Today was a very lucky day indeed.

We stared at the shimmering lights that had been Lun’Kat, the Stygian Deceiver. A new pair of eyes opened up in the sky, a new pair of intangible moons joined Pallos’s orbit.

“It’s getting real busy up there.” Iona commented.

Between the ring, the moons being revealed in their true glory - I bet if I squinted I could spot the temple we’d built - and the new illusionary moons, basically a self-made domain, Pallos’s sky was getting crowded.

“I’m just thankful I don’t need to work out the new tides.” I said.

Auri had been gazing up with me, then practically jumped up in the air in startled realization.

“BRRPT BRPT BRPT!” She frantically exclaimed, then started to dash around at high speed.

Auri went to Iona first, and tried to hug the Valkyrie around her waist. Which mostly looked like she’d been pinned to Iona’s stomach, the dimensions did not work.

“Brrrpt brpt.” The phoenix told Iona. My wife rubbed the feathers of fire.

“You’re acting like we’re not going to see each other for years, not that you’re going ahead by like, a day.” Iona said.

Auri shot Iona the stink-eye at ruining her emotional moment, then fluttered over to Fenrir, landing on his snout.

“Brrrrpt.” Auri whispered ‘quietly’, which was more like an indoor voice for the rest of us.

Fenrir rumbled back, a growling language that only Auri and Iona fully comprehended. The two stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, then she flew over to me, landing on my shoulder one last time.

“Brpt.” Auri told me.

“You are the vainest bird I’ve ever met.” I told the rascal. “It’s been a pleasure, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Brpt!” Auri cheerfully told me, rubbing her head on my cheek.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right. Alright, go get it before someone steals it from you.”

Auri stared up at the sky, her eyes shining. With one last brrrpt that sounded suspiciously like ‘First’, Auri vanished in a sparkle of lights.

We smiled in relief as the notification came through, confirming her success. I keenly felt the loss of the companion skill, my entire mindset both changing and not.

No more was I forced to be vain by the companion bond, by my own magic. Now my vanity was enforced by thousands of years of the same thought patterns, no true change at all to myself.

“Time’s burning.” Iona said. “Do we want to do this together, or separately?”

“Both.” I promptly replied, routes and plans already spinning through my head. “We’re going to split up, and meet at designated places at designated times. If we’ve encountered someone we’re looking for, we’ll trade their locations then so we can both talk to them. That’ll let us cover the most ground and find the most people to say goodbye to.”

Fenrir growled.

“Follow Auri.” He said. Iona hugged his leg.

“I love you.” She told him. “You’re the best companion I could’ve asked for. Go, chase your flame.”

Fenrir lowered his snout and rubbed the Valkyrie. Then in a sparkle of lights, he ascended.

I snorted at the announcement.

“Really?” I asked, shaking my head. Iona was grinning.

“That’s my boy.” She said.

I summoned two large sheets of paper and a quill, and started to write furiously. I circled times and places where we’d meet up again, then ripped the pages out and handed it to Iona. I had my own memorized already.

“Times are in School Standard.” I said. “If we miss a meet up, don’t panic, just ascend. If I see you ascend, I’ll also ascend, and vice versa. We can always talk to people as gods and goddesses, nothing says we have to do it here and now.”

Iona nodded.

“Let’s not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.” She said. Given how our fight with Lun’Kat ended, it felt appropriate.

“I love you. See you soon.” I said.

“One last hug.” Iona stated, drawing me into one.

Which led to one more kiss. Which led to more activities, which led to us being late for the timetable I’d worked out.

“Let’s go!”

“Artemis!” I carefully called out from a distance, fluttering up to the School. I didn’t want to get zapped one last time by the paranoid mage.

She spun around and sagged in relief when she saw me.

“Elaine! Thank the gods, you’re alive! When I saw the notification I was so fucking worried, how dare you do that to me? I’m no spring chicken, my heart can’t take that sort of stress.”

I grinned sheepishly at my mentor, landed, and hugged her. She still smelled faintly of Lava, brimstone, and sulfur. I hadn’t quite realized how close she’d been to the core team’s central explosion until now.

“Well, tough. I survived. Better start saying your own goodbyes if you want to be one of my angels.” I paused, a devious grin splitting my face. “Also… better practice your choir singing.”

“My what?” Artemis squeaked.

I couldn’t resist the urge to end our final encounter as mortals on a high note, to get away with the last word.

“You heard me! Singing! Choir! Better start practicing your scales!”

I flew off with a proper witchly cackle.

“But I’m tone-deaf!” Artemis yelled after me.

I was still smiling to myself until Artemis’s final words registered with me.

Wait. Updates are released by 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍

Fuck.

I knocked on Sara’s door to a rhyme I’d sung to her many times as a kid. A tune that was deeply engraved into both of our memories.

I could see her sprinting across the house, and she flung the door open.

“Mom!” She cried out, and threw herself into my waiting arms.

“Hey Sara. How are you?” I asked. “How’s work? Sleeping well? Eating well? I don’t have a lot of time left, let me look after you one last time.”

Sara went pale and started looking me up and down.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” She asked. “Are you sick? Wait, no, cursed? I know a good [Cursebreaker], I-”

Realizing Sara got entirely the wrong message, I cut her off.

“No no no, nothing like that, I’m fine.” I winked at her, enjoying her eyeroll. I was her mom, it was impossible for me to be cool, nevermind that we were both multiple thousands of years old.

Sara leaned back and squinted at me. I waited for the penny to drop, because there was nothing more enjoyable than messing with my kids. I saw the moment she realized.

“Oh my gosh! YOU MADE IT!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

“I did!” I said, then grinned at her. “Now I can watch you… forever! Mom knows when the chores aren’t done. Mom knows when you don’t brush your teeth. Mom-”

Sara interrupted me.

“Mom, I’ve raised over thirty kids. Believe me, I know. I grew up with your perception skill always peeking over my shoulder. You have no power here! If anything, you’ll know less about what I’m up to.” She smugly informed me.

I clicked my tongue.

“Drat.”

“Where are my manners?” Sara asked. “Come in for one last cup of tea.”

I checked the clock.

“A quick one.” I said. “I reached the final level mid fight, and I’m on a bit of a timer to say goodbye to everyone, but I can stop in for a quick cup of tea.”

Goodbye lingered for far too long, and was far too bittersweet.

We both knew it was the last time, the last hug.

The last time hearing each other’s voice as we were now.

“Goodbye.” Was all the harder because we meant it.

Iona had found Nina, and I told her where Sara was. I zipped over to the kitsune.

The poor girl was still reeling somewhat from her goodbyes with Iona, and I pretended not to see her tears. She was hiding them with her Mirages, it was only polite.

I wrapped her in a hug, her fur as soft as anything.

“You’ll always be our daughter, and we’ll be watching over you. This isn’t goodbye, just the next journey.”

Unsurprisingly, the waterworks increased.

Night was with Susan, and fittingly, they were last. I simply didn’t have the time for more, and none of the spots we’d tried had Amber. The wandering merchant had always been a little difficult to find. She was the one I was the least worried about. She had her coin, and could always be relied on to land on her feet.

I could easily say hi once I was a goddess, it wouldn’t be too hard. There was just something a little different about doing it as a mortal. The ‘last time’.

“Night!” I hugged the elderly vampire, still as spry and energetic as the day the gods created him on Pallos. Susan made it a group hug.

“Elaine.” He smiled at me. “Another protégé that has gone the distance, another friend that I will not need to worry about anymore. Walk with me?” He invited.

And for one last time, I joined Night on a long, slow walk around his house, four moons in various stages lighting up the night sky, a ring of myriad colors shining down on us.

“Allow me to give some last parting advice, and a few humble requests.”

“Ask away.” I promptly told Night. “I’m well aware I wouldn’t be here without you. If I did nothing but tell you thank you for everything you’ve done for me, I still wouldn’t have enough time here on Pallos to properly express my sentiment. From the first day you met me you believed in me, even when I didn’t. If there’s anything I can do for you, just ask!”

His smile was toothy.

“It has been my great pleasure to have known you over the years, and I’m honored how highly you think of me. Susan and I have a pair of domains that our hearts are set on, and it is my wish that you don’t take one of them. Not that I believe you would. If you could leave the domains of the Goddess of Vampires alone, as well as the Goddess of the Sentinels, that would be much appreciated. Susan has had the domain she’s wanted preemptively taken from her a few times now, and it would break her heart if you took it.”

I walked a few steps in silence, as our long tradition demanded. Then I shook my head.

“No, not at all. I’ll leave them be, I’m sure there’s other openings that I’ll resonate with more.”

Night nodded.

“Many thanks. Immediately upon ascension is both the most powerful and most vulnerable time for a newly minted goddess. As you were not exactly hated in life, nor was your path stained by your hands spilling the blood of others, I do not believe you will find many threats upon your apotheosis. Some of your friends might, but as the four of you are working together, I do not believe it is of great concern. As you get settled into your domain, you will quickly find your position secured, and will no longer need to worry. For the power aspect, the moment you ascend you will be more, but do not mistake that for a lack of vulnerability.”

None of this was particularly new, but the refresher right before it became relevant was nice. Night had engaged in his fair share of deicide, and knew what he was talking about. I took the time to organize my thoughts, think through contingencies, and see if looking at the information from different angles changed anything.

“Excellent.” I said. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Is me leaving going to cause you any issues with your Mirror skills?”

He shook his head.

“Not at the moment, although I still might send the occasional promising apprentice your way. Do not worry for my skills. I have helped train several more [Healers] over the years, and will make do with slightly less potent medicine soothing my old bones.”

I snorted.

“Old bones? More like old fossils.” I joked.

“Indeed. Practically petrified.” Night’s voice was serene, accepting.

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked.

“Anything in my power.” He agreed.

“I’ve got a few trinkets I’d like to ensure make their way to me.” I said, thinking of the age worn napkin my parents had given me, the prayer for my safety still stitched in faded gold. “Can you hold onto them while I ascend and send them to me?”

“Of course.” Night agreed, and I handed him a sealed lockbox with the memento inside, along with a few more sentimental items.

“Do you have time for one last meal?”

I sniffed. Susan was already nearly done making one of my favorites. Thinkers. Had to love them.

“I believe your wife already knows my answer to the question.” I said.

“I believe she does.” Night agreed.

And our walk ended two steps later, right on Night’s doorstep, exactly as planned when we took our first carefully measured step.

Our last walk in the beautiful moonlight.

Susan agreed to distribute my lifetime of accumulations, at least the items I hadn’t already dumped on various people. “Might be worth half a level if I push it.” She told me.

Piles of art and coinage, gemstones and seeds, all of it priceless, all of it worthless.

But ah, my books. My precious books, collected over thousands of years.

“You need to make this the best library the world has ever seen.” I told Arachne.

Night snorted.

“Fine, top 64.” I amended.

“Far more reasonable.” He agreed.

“If it’s not in the top 8, I’m doing it wrong.” Arachne said with a fanatical gleam in her eyes. Clotho waved one spider leg at me in farewell.

Night and Susan had been my last stop, and Iona met back up with me inside my pocket dimension.

Some poor Ranger team was going to have to deal with a loot piñata exploding in his backyard. It was going to be great.

There was one last stop we all had to make. One last thing we had to do before ascending. One last person to say goodbye to.

For the last time, for etching their memory into the grooves of eternity, for giving their names and memories true, durable Immortality, we went through the Hall of Memories. We traced our fingers over names etched into stone. Over deeds boasted on copper plaques. Over lives preserved in folded garments.

One last time, I whispered out loud the names of every person I had met, or every soul that had gone ahead to Samsara.

I was going to become the net, the great filter catching my loved ones and preserving us together for as long as we wished.

I ended at an empty shrine, a place I had spent too many hours and not enough time at. A place with its heart removed.

I asked my second last question.

“Mom. Dad. Are you proud of me?”

I didn’t wait for an answer. I turned on my heel and left.

I was about to find out.

I met Iona in the great hall, and neither of us commented on the fact that there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.

I took my last step.

I held my last hand.

I spoke my last words.

“Ready?”

I heard my last answer.

“Yes.”

I opened my System for the last time, made my last decision.

The two of us ascended together.