Chương 35: Chapter 34 – Girl talk

Sophie Hunter celebrated her twentieth birthday, and it was a great one, especially since all three of her new friends came. The carrot cake was soft and sweet, while the presents were all lovely. From Timothy, she got a signed album from her favorite band, while Gabby gifted her a replica of Sting from the Lord of the Rings movies. As for Luna, she brought a special box.

"Sophie, may I give you the Ring of Draconic Might!" Luna announced, kneeling down as if she were presenting a gift before a queen. It was all part of a fun little act, and Gabby and Timothy chuckled at the over-the-top presentation. Only... Sophie did not laugh. She opened the box and saw a lovely golden ring made to look like a tiny dragon curled up around itself. She was stunned, as she knew Luna was planning something crazy. If she had just brought her a ring, then this ring was definitely not ordinary jewelry.

She looked at Luna's face.

"Go on, take it." Luna smiled and gave her a wink.

"Gold matches your lovely hair." Sophie swallowed hard and carefully took the ring from the box. The craftsmanship was amazing, and the tiny eyes of the dragon were made from sapphires. She hesitantly put it on and waited… nothing happened. No magic, no crazy transformation, no sudden voice from another dimension. Absolutely nothing. Her reaction was followed by a round of laughter, and the party continued almost until midnight.

Sophie's father eventually took the other two home, while Luna explained that her father was going to come and take her home. As they waited outside, Sophie walked beside her.

"You winked. This is no normal ring, right?"

"Obviously, but no one else should know." Luna shook her head.

"There is an activation sentence. I'll show you what it does on the weekend. You're still coming, right?"

"Well, duh..." Sophie said with a giggle before hugging her. - - - - - - - - - - - - Gu Zhao was cultivating in silence inside his personal realm. One of the floating islands he had created was almost completely isolated from the rest of his world, with only an ancient tree, a small pond and several stone platforms surrounding him. The perfect place for some peace and quiet. His entire realm was under his control and heavily secured.

He could feel even the smallest changes in space, and after everything that had happened with the Hraak, he had made sure that nothing could simply enter his world without him knowing. Which made what happened next rather concerning. Something suddenly dropped onto his lap. Gu Zhao's eyes opened instantly. It was a rolled up scroll, tied with twine. No signature or even divine essence on it. There had been no portal, no spatial ripple and not even the slightest disturbance in his barriers.

The scroll had simply appeared as if it had always been there. He carefully picked it up with Qi and inspected it mid-air with his divine sense. It was just a scroll written with cheap ink. Gu Zhao slowly opened the note while making sure to have at least three defensive arrays protecting everything around it. He read the first lines:"Another world has a race that gathers human souls and sells them to gods. Their main facilities are located at these coordinates." Gu Zhao was not pleased with the information.

Even more less that someone had bypassed all of his security. That alone was enough to make him take this seriously. His World Seed was his personal domain, and another young god would have an extremely hard time entering without him noticing. Whoever had done this was at least a major god, possibly something even older. He looked at the scroll again and began reading through the information provided.

The race apparently used advanced technology to extract souls from humans and store them before selling them to various divine entities. The similarities to the Hraak were obvious, although there were some differences in their methods and technology. The only thing matching were the cards. His realm had massive amounts of people now that he freed all the stolen souls but he could not destroy the cards used for this so he just sealed them away.

Gu Zhao leaned back against the tree, his expression becoming more serious. He did not like this. Not because of the race itself. If the information was true, then they deserved to be stopped. What bothered him was the unknown person who had given him the information. Why him? He could already imagine what Joshua would do if he simply told him about another group stealing human souls. Joshua wanted peace and quiet. He was not a god who wanted to grow, but one who was pushed into this.

The dragon would likely just want to sunbathe. Gu Zhao almost smiled at the thought before becoming serious again… he could not simply rush in either. The Hraak had already taught him that destroying a soul-harvesting operation could attract the attention of gods who benefited from it. This new race could have even more powerful customers, and they might have defenses capable of harming a god. Joshua's information was right the first time as there were gods searching for the ones behind the attack.

Perhaps he could investigate the world from a distance, learn about the race and determine which gods were connected to them. If the opportunity presented itself, he could then raid the facilities and rescue the souls without getting himself into a deep pit. The question was whether he should involve Joshua from the beginning. Gu Zhao stopped near the entrance of the pagoda and looked at the coordinates again.

"I really should tell him." He sighed.

"But first, I need a plan." He had no intention of repeating the Hraak incident by charging into an unknown world without knowing what waited on the other side. Whoever had sent this information wanted something. Gu Zhao just needed to figure out what. - - - - - - - - - - - - Sophie ran past Tobias, giving the gargoyle gardener a cheerful greeting as she went. She then gave Quatro a five-stage handshake, the two of them having made up together just for fun.

"Where is Lady Luna?" she asked.

"The young lady is in the training hall," came the resonant, deep voice from inside the armor.

"Okie!" Sophie nodded before running down the hall and into the underground training hall. Luna was there with a sword in hand, the martial arts book open on a chair, while Purra sat at a table on the side with a jug of lemonade and a towel ready for her.

"Morning, Miss Purra." Sophie walked past the cat maid.

"And a lovely day to you, Lady Sophie, nya." Purra beamed at her.

"Can't believe Father managed to learn this in less than a month." Luna walked off the training field and accepted the towel.

"Hey, Sophie." She nodded to her friend before downing an entire glass of cold lemonade.

"Is that the martial art of that foreign god dude?" Sophie asked.

"It is... I'm still having trouble with my balance, though." Luna groaned before shaking it off.

"Never mind that. I asked Father for a permanent portal to his own realm so we can just visit it whenever we want."

"Wait... isn't that world, like, full of monsters and stuff?" Sophie asked, sounding a little worried.

"It is, but with that ring, I bet no one would dare mess with you." Luna smirked. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Right. You still haven't told me what it does... and that scares me. Please tell me it's not what I think it is." Sophie looked down at the golden ring, her heart beginning to beat faster again.

"Oh, it most definitely changes you into a golden dragon." Luna chuckled.

"You've already seen my dragon form."

"Well... I'm more of a unicorn lover. I'm not sure if I want to be big and scary." Sophie hesitated.

"Ohh... come on. Tell me after you've experienced it." Luna grabbed her hand and pulled her toward another room. - - - - - - - - - - - The skies of New Terra were clean and bright as Luna and Sophie walked through the island. The island where the permanent portal had been placed was essentially a holiday resort for Joshua and Luna... or whoever they decided to bring along. There was a hotel-like building overlooking the coast, complete with all the five-star amenities one could expect.

An Olympic-sized pool sat beside several smaller pools, while a massive sandy beach stretched along the shoreline with chairs and colorful umbrellas already set up. Palm trees swayed gently in the breeze, and the clear blue ocean glittered beneath the warm sunlight.

"Wow. This looks more like some resort than another world." Sophie looked around in amazement.

"It actually is. Sometimes we come here to enjoy the beach as dragons, since doing that would make quite a storm on Earth." Luna chuckled, imagining herself and her father suddenly appearing at some beach on Earth in their true forms. The image of two enormous dragons casually walking into a crowded seaside resort was amusing enough to make her giggle.

"So what now?" Sophie asked.

"Repeat after me. Golden skies, golden scales, let me be a creature of tales."

"That sounds very fae-inspired." Sophie frowned slightly.

"Well, the idea came from them, yes. But the ring was made by Father, so no worries. It's curse-free." Luna nodded confidently before taking a few steps back. Sophie hesitantly looked down at the ring on her finger. She took a long breath, glanced at Luna one last time, and finally spoke the line. Suddenly, a brilliant golden aura enveloped her. Sophie barely had time to gasp before her entire body began to change.

She had expected some slow transformation, perhaps something gradual enough for her to get used to it, but instead the next moment she was standing nearly seven meters tall.

"Whoa!" She tried to take a step backward from the shock, only to step directly on her own tail. Her eyes widened even further as her wings flared out instinctively. The sudden shift in balance threw her completely off, and she crashed onto her side with a heavy thump that sent a small cloud of sand into the air.

"This is so weird!" she exclaimed, breathing like someone on the edge of a panic attack.

"Okay, definitely need some work." Luna shook her head before shifting into her own dragon form and helping her friend back onto her feet.

"My neck is going all over the place," Sophie complained as she leaned awkwardly over Luna.

"It's all in the head. Clear your mind. Father enchanted the ring with some experience, so it should kick in." Luna nodded reassuringly. After a few moments of calming herself down, Sophie suddenly felt something change. It was almost as though a floodgate had opened inside her mind. Knowledge that hadn't been there moments ago began flowing into her: how to distribute her weight, how to balance her long body, how to move her wings without throwing herself off, and even how to properly position her tail.

Her clumsy posture slowly corrected itself.

"I... I think I can fly."

"Of course you can." Luna laughed.

"Follow me!" Luna spread her wings and launched herself into the sky. Sophie hesitated for only a moment before doing the same. The first few seconds were terrifying. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, convinced that opening them would somehow make the whole thing worse. But the wind rushing over her golden scales felt strangely exhilarating, and her wings seemed to know exactly what to do. After several seconds, she finally dared to open her eyes, and her breath caught.

Below her stretched the island, its beaches looking almost impossibly small from this height. Beyond it was the endless ocean, sparkling beneath the sunlight, while the horizon seemed to stretch forever in every direction. The clouds drifted beneath them, soft and white, and the entire world looked completely different from above. She had already ridden on Luna's back before, and that had been amazing enough, but this was different. She was actually flying herself.

The fear that had gripped her only minutes earlier slowly disappeared. A huge smile spread across her face as she banked awkwardly to the side and followed Luna through the open sky. Soon her movements became smoother, and then she began laughing. For the first time since putting on the ring, Sophie wasn't thinking about being a giant golden dragon... she was simply enjoying herself. An hour later, the two finally landed on a grassy hillside overlooking the ocean to take a break.

Sophie carefully folded her wings against her back before dropping onto the grass, clearly exhausted but still grinning. Luna shifted back into her smaller form and, seemingly from nowhere, pulled out a large picnic basket.

"I brought snacks." - - - - - - - - - - - - Queen Amistare, or Amy to her only friend Kirus, was giving out orders inside the bastion city. It had been fifteen times now that the god of this world had evaded her advances. The weirdest thing was that the male dragon god never outright denied her, which made sense. There wasn't a single male dragon who could resist her beauty, but she was also starting to get desperate. She expanded her magical senses, searching the land for any other dragons, and found only two.

A male and female copper dragon. An actual pair. While she would never mate with a copper dragon, as doing so would ruin her clutch, the sight of the loving pair still made her own heart ache. They looked so happy together, and for a moment she couldn't help but envy them.

"This is the latest report on the monster activities, Amy." Kirus walked in and tossed a scroll onto the side table.

"Dang... you still look like shit."

"I am fine." Amistare said with a frown.

"Bullshit." Kirus shook his head and shifted into his human form before pouring himself some wine.

"I know you better than your own siblings ever did. You fell in love with the god." He made a few exaggerated smootching noises with his face, only to get a stamp slapped across it.

"Oof."

"I am not going to give up. He never said no."

"Maybe he just doesn't want to crush your feelings?" The griffon stood up and used a tissue to wipe the red ink from his face.

"I mean, you tried everything..."

"DRAGONS!"

"Huh?" Kirus looked at her as she suddenly shot up from her seat.

"I sense other dragons!" Amistare exclaimed as she hurried toward the open balcony. Her expression had completely changed, the previous frustration replaced by pure excitement.

"Handle things while I am gone!" Before Kirus could even respond, Amistare jumped from the balcony and transformed into her dragon form mid-fall. Her massive blue wings spread open, catching the air as she shot toward the horizon.

"Aaannd there she goes again." Kirus sighed, watching his queen disappear into the distance before simply walking back toward the table. He picked up the scroll she had completely forgotten about and unrolled it.

"Right... monster activities." He took another sip of wine. - - - - - - - - - - - The closer Amistare got, the more clearly she could smell the dragons. There was a golden one and another she had never encountered before. The unfamiliar scent alone made her curiosity spike. She followed it until she finally spotted the two dragons landing on a grassy hillside, both shifting into human forms before settling down for a picnic. Amistare landed not too far away, but not too close either.

She was careful not to kick up dust and ruin their meal. Unfortunately, when she got a proper look at them, her excitement deflated somewhat. Both were young girls. Still, she needed to speak to another dragon before she went mad from being surrounded by humans all the time.

"Hi! I hope I am not bothering you." She gave them a gentle bow.

"Oh! You must be Amistare, the blue dragon queen." Luna giggled.

"Father is always funny when he speaks of you. Come, I really want to know what you did to him to make him so flustered whenever he speaks of you."

"Father? Don't tell me. Lord Joshua Steel..."

"Is her father, yes." Sophie nodded.

"If you are stunned, it's normal." The girl shifted to the side, making some space beside her.

"Oh, well, thank you." Amistare nodded and sat down elegantly, making sure her blue dress remained perfectly arranged. She glanced at the two girls and their strange clothing.

"You two wear some really unique clothes." she spoke up, not really know how to speak to the daughter of a god.

"I kind of like it."

"Oh, it's from the other world. I guess it's too revealing for your society?" Luna asked. She looked over Amistare's dress, which covered practically everything. There wasn't even a shoulder or ankle to be seen.

"Well, back where I came from, maybe, but we are in a new world." Amistare shrugged.

"I just got used to it." She hesitated, suddenly unsure how to approach the subject.

"Erm... please don't take this the wrong way, but what does your father like in females?" Luna was in the middle of drinking her tea when the question hit her. The tea came straight out of her nose. Sophie immediately burst into laughter, nearly falling over as she started hitting the ground with her fist. Amistare simply sat there awkwardly, staring at the two girls. Her question wasn't that weird... was it? Luna coughed once, wiped her nose, and finally managed to chuckle.

"No way. You like Dad?"

"Well, I am a queen, and I lost all my kin during the war in my world, so..." Amistare's cheeks and ears began turning a deep brownish-red.

"Well... yeah?"

"No." Luna held up both hands.

"It's not like that... It's just, I never had a mother. I was created by Father alone, and the very idea of someone getting together with him is just... odd."

"I guess I have no chance then..." Amistare bit her lip, fingers steepled.

"No way!" Sophie suddenly shouted.

"Love should always bloom. Don't give up, sister!" Both dragons were completely stunned.

"What?" Sophie asked innocently.

"Like you never wanted a mother..." Luna gritted her teeth.

"That was supposed to be a secret." She glanced at Amistare, who was now even more confused than before.

"If you want to charm him..." Luna began, rubbing her temples as she tried to figure out where to even start.

"I would suggest asking him out for dinner like a human would. Or maybe ask about his interests. Did you do either of those already?"

"I tried purring and flaring my scales... and brought him a massive monster skull too." Amistare said proudly. Luna slapped her forehead while Sophie covered her mouth, desperately trying not to laugh.

"That explains so much," Luna muttered. Amistare blinked.

"What did I do wrong?"

"You didn't do anything wrong," Luna sighed.

"You just... approached him like a dragon." Luna exchanged a look with Sophie. A moment later, the two girls moved closer to the dragon queen.

"All right," Luna said.

"We're going to have a little talk."

"A girl talk," Sophie added. Amistare sat up straight. And so, on a peaceful hillside overlooking the ocean, the blue dragon queen received perhaps the most important lesson of her very long life: how to actually flirt with a man.