Lind realized as Wen led him down several stone paths that he had not truly explored the temple lands. He had been to a few clan halls and camps but that was it.
In other words, he took for granted that aside from hope, all the rest of the people in the temple lands were dragons. He had been so narrowly focused on his goals he never checked!
Given the limited space and the description given by Lady Ren, he assud few had the power to save much of anyone. He would not hold it against anyone that ran for themselves to live in that situation but what the High Priestess described was a very different situation.
The dragon clans had already been present near the temple but those that were closer sent all they could towards the temple in the knowledge the Divine Inheritance might afford so protection.
They had been right but it seed not only dragons had co.
Wen explained how the Sunfire Clan had not always been as powerful and that a small human kingdom had saved her ancestors.
Thousands of years later, the clan had ascended and grown powerful. Dragons never forget a debt, even to other races.
It sounded good but the way she would not look him in the eye as they seed to co to a rundown area spoke volus to him.
She had a good read on his point of view and how he would react but it was like another world.
The clean and ancient streets were replaced by dirt paths and makeshift structures. They were older but barely acceptable for a single family.
Yet, Lind saw several families living inside them. The weather was fairly comfortable to him but he never assud his body refined by his dragon soul was the sa as humans. He saw children running away in fear from their trio which told him all he needed to know how the locals viewed dragons.
He could see close to 100 small wooden structures slapped together from what he could tell. No care or thought to longevity had been put to them either. Over ti, they had been improved but his skilled eye could tell they were just pieces of wood made to make a house as best they could.
While he could indeed sll humans, they were not humans too. Dragon scents mingled that he recognized from the various clans.
"Wen, what is this?" He tried to keep calm but his anger was clear to her as she flinched at his question.
"T-there was no space once the Qi wall settled so we could not keep them all in our clan halls. Even those had to be expanded a bit to accommodate the dragons that ca." It cald him a little.
It was a desperate situation so finding space with an eye to conserving resources was a practical issue. Still, that left a question.
"And the reason it is still so poor after a million years?" Wen winced at his question.
"P-please calm yourself, True Lord." He turned slowly and saw she was sweating next to him but he did not care.
"A million years ago, this level of care was excusable as shelters cannot spring out of nothing. In fact, trying to expect too much would be insane given the circumstances but from what I can see, they have been left to fend for themselves. So please explain why that is." He was calm but he felt a gentle hand on his back.
He knew Hope wanted him to calm his anger but the massive empty spaces he noted before kept coming back to him. There was loads of room in the stone structures for the humans in front of him and still feel empty!
Why were those people made to live like that?!
Wen looked away but a young man ca running up with his tan robes disheveled. It was like he had put them on as he ran.
"Great Mistress, I did not know you were coming!" A frown flitted over Wen's face but Lind was surprised to see it was one of affection. He looked closer at the young man and confird a faint scent of Sunfire Clan ca off him.
He also looked very healthy with his light brown hair cut neatly above his shoulders. His eyes had a flash of crimson and gold to them to show the dragon blood did flow in his veins.
Lind noticed the lithe muscles that made up his body by his agile movents. He also saw how the young man knelt without concern over his robes once he got in front of them.
Hope smiled down but looked at him as if to see what he would do.
"I am Lind Frey, may I know your na?" Lind held out his hand in greeting but the young man did not move. Wen blushed furiously at his reaction.
"Cousin, you need to–" Lind's eyes widened not only at Wen's choice of address but the young man's reaction.
"Mistress, I am but your vassal! Give
your orders!" Lind glanced around and saw several small heads poking out of rough wooden windows and stone piles around them. A few adults also seed to fearfully glance out.
He was about to speak when his eyes narrowed. A creak of wood was coming from deeper in and he had heard it more than enough to know what it ant.
He blurred to all, even Wen lost him!
The slapdash paths were no impedint as he narrowed in on a collapsing wooden structure. He saw a group of kids on the roof stumbling even as he ca in sight of it!
"Bunny Brigade!" The words flowed from him without thought as air, water, and light Qi obeyed his command. As the words indicated, the fluffy shapes of bunnies actually appeared!
They were facsimiles but their purpose was clear. The 3 children were safely caught while he smashed the flailing wooden pieces away. An Art it could not exactly be considered but the number of tis his children had made him use it were not small!
It was created first as a fun way to teach his children about Qi but beca a lifesaver. It was ingrained into him after so many tis of conjuring it.
The conjured bunnies were essentially condensed clouds made more solid with all 3 elents.
The 3 children were crying but unhard as a pair of won ca running. They all wore what Lind would generously call rags. He inspected the partially collapsed structure before he finally beca truly angry.
The wood was grade 6 red harken oak. It was a highly powerful wood to use in any structure but it was essentially held together with string!
Hovels! These were just hovels where they kept their pets!
He had taken in dogs, cats, and several kinds of pets on Earth but he always treasured them. Yet, the things he bought were always with the knowledge of the impermanence of pets compared to a human.
They did not live as long and often could not care for themselves in the end. Lind could vividly recall cradling a puppy that then beca a whimpering old dog at the end. It had broken him as it was the first death he could recall in his life.
Still, he had known of people that shoved their pets into barely passable places built outside and did not even care if the weather was lethal to them!
That was the feeling of the wooden structures and the level of care around him!
He saw the won weeping as they checked the children over but a man stayed in the shadow of the doorway. He held a simple quarterstaff tightly as he stared at Lind.
It was not a kind stare. A whiff of their scents placed them with the Scaled Shell Clan. Their scales were harder than most dragons and far above most ores.
Refiners would sell their souls to have even one but they were notorious for driving people out of their territory harshly. They also had no reason to offer their blood to humans yet here were so right in front of him.
They were not sickly but the anger was thick.
Compared to the young man from before, he felt the resentnt in that man's dark eyes.
"Are they ok?" The won froze at his question but a little girl among them laughed and waved at him.
"I wanna go again!" He smiled at the innocent response but saw a hand raised to slap her. He saw the fear in the woman's face and knew she thought she had to punish her child.
Before she could move, more bunnies appeared under the girl and pushed her back into the pile. Her laughter froze the woman in place. She stared at him in confusion.
"A child is safe and wants so fun. No harm has been done to them and it was an easy request." He then controlled the false bunnies to let the children bounce. Slowly, more ca running and joined in.
The young man from before arrived behind Wen and froze at the scene. Hope, on the other hand, ran into the pile with a wide smile on her face.
She had been another one to cause him to summon the brigade more than once!
"T-true Lord, what is that Art?" Wen looked confused at the strange fluffy creations as they bounced the children around.
"My children were curious beings and often did not understand their own strength. The number of broken wooden beams, stone trellis, and other architectural features they have to their na would stun you." He looked on at the growing crowd of children and parents.
So seed unsure what to do while others actively encouraged the children to play.
"Bunny Brigade? That is a childish na. Who would–" The young man seed to find affront before he went pale and put a palm to his mouth.
"For the record, they had just been clouds before but my little girl Isolde once said it would be cuter as bunnies. I encourage imagination in my students and children so I figured, why not?" Ling smirked as both Wen and the young man looked at him flabbergasted.
His previous anger had faded but it was not entirely gone. His eyes glowed as all the dragons of the temple suddenly felt the desire to kneel.
[All Clan heads will report to
at dawn.] His words were heard by everyone and many were stunned they could not resist at all!
Lind spent the rest of the day fixing up the run down area. Qi manipulation was felt on a level none had ever conceived as a massive number of fine stone houses were conjured out of thin air!
Wen and Hope followed him out as the sun set and while one was smiling, the other was left in shock. A young man was left standing at the entrance of a now finely smooth stone path that had a fountain at each intersection and smoke slowly curling from chimneys.
There were more houses than needed but they would beco needed as families grew.
He slowly turned and saw the backs of the trio and had no idea what to think. Just what kind of monster had beco the True Lord of Dragons?
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