Speed Is King

“You’re a unique one. To think you made me turn into a mini version of myself in order to deal with your attacks.. You qualify.” Khalendros said grudgingly.

“Qualify for what?” Elliot asked him without a single trace of surprise. He knew that the dragons wanted something from him. They wouldn’t have waited so patiently and politely had they merely wanted a good old fight with him.

At that, Khalendros waved his claw lightly and a blue dome shimmered into existence around them. With that, they were effectively cut off from the continuous monitoring of the Games.

“To join us, of course!” Khellendra said as she stepped forward. She gently patted Khalendros and he immediately reverted to his human form.

“Join you? To what end? You’re an Insert, I am a native. I doubt we even have the same objectives in this cursed game.” Elliot said with a tinge of animosity.

As polite as they had been, they were still part of the larger alien community which delivered Earth into its apocalypse! Although they were not directly responsible, Elliot still didn’t like them very much.

“Oh rest assured we have the same objectives. For weak natives, sure, their main goal is to just survive. But you’re no longer just a weak native. You’re one of the strongest King level warrior I’ve ever fought. And because of that… You’re playing an entirely different game now!” Khellendra said with a smile.

“Hmmm. Interesting. Tell me more.” Elliot said.

“The Gaming Commission had made Earth into a Battle of Kings. Now, Kings walk the planet and are free to do as they please. You probably know that, right?” Khellendra said.

“Of course.” Elliot nodded.

“What you probably don’t know is that, the Battle of Kings is not referring to having Kings walk the planet. Not in the very least. The Battle of Kings refer to… a series of games between the strongest Kings for the rights of planet Earth!”

“The rights to planet Earth?” Elliot said in surprise. However, surprise quickly turned to outright anger.

“So they’re not content with just toying with us human beings, but they want to give away the entire planet as a form of prize? Who gave them the right to do so?!” Elliot bristled at the preposterousness of it all.

“I am surprised you’re still feeling this way.” Khalendros said. “You know very well that it’s not who, but WHAT gave them the right to do so.”

“And? What exactly is that?”

“Might.” Khalendros said very simply. “Their might, and their power gave them the right to give Earth away. That, and a complete lack of fighters from Earth to challenge them, of course.”

“Indeed.” Khellendra agreed softly. “Many long years ago, we were like you too. Our planet was turned into “The Blue Dragon Games”. Many of our clan members died.”

“What? Even Dragon planets were not spared from the Games?” Elliot asked incredulously.

“Spared? Ha!” Khalendros barked out a laugh of derision. “On the contrary, planets with powerful lifeforms are extremely popular. I think our Blue Dragon Games still holds the millennial record for the highest amount of revenue generated.

“But don’t you have other dragon allies? Like the Red Dragons and the rest. Surely they wouldn’t just stand on one side and let the Blue Dragons take the fall!” Elliot said.

Khalendros stared at Elliot and frowned.

“He’s such a little boy.” Khalendros muttered to Khellendra.

“As we were, a long time ago.” Khellendra said gently to him.

“That’s definitely true.” Khalendros sighed.

“I see.” Elliot nodded in understanding. He could sense that she wasn’t lying at all. And his instincts told him that they disdained lies. Dragons have no need nor desire to lie.

“Our Blue Dragon planet, Tempus, was invaded almost two hundred years ago by the Gaming Commission. All of our allies disappeared that day, and The Blue Dragon Games – Path of the Emperor, was initiated. Our parents-“

“Our parents, and almost every single Blue Dragon elder died in the following six months of Games because they were too weak.” Khalendros finished his mate’s sentence harshly.

Elliot turned to Khalendros and looked at him with a grave look on his face.

“I understand… Why do you want me to join you? What is your purpose in trying to win Earth?” Elliot asked him.

“We want a new home for our clan.” Khalendros said quietly.

“Join us, and we’ll share this planet. At this point, the planet is too big for you humans anyway.” Khellendra added.

“Share? You dragons can kill human beings with a single spell. What’s there to share? If I help you win this planet, this planet will be like a playground before you and your kind’s unparalleled-“

“There are only one hundred of us left.” Khalendros interrupted Elliot. “Dragons do not reproduce very fast. It’ll take us a thousand years just to bring our numbers back to over a thousand.”

“You will be too weak to assault us, and we couldn’t be bothered to deal with you. We’ll have peace for many long years.” Khellendra said.

“Peace that will eventually be destroyed. Human beings will never accept not being the overlords of the planet.” Elliot said stubbornly.

“Problems for the next generations to deal with. Why bother with future problems when we have bigger problems to deal with now? As I see it, you need us as much as we need you. If any other power wins this planet, they will turn all of the remaining human beings into a slave force.” Khalendros said slightly impatiently.

“It’s the same case for you. You can’t ally with anybody else except the natives of this planet. And I doubt you’ll find any human beings with even a fraction of my power.” Elliot immediately shot back.

“I can coerce fugitives to join me. They won’t be as motivated as you, but the rewards I promise them will be sufficient to assure their participation.” Khalendros glared at Elliot.

Elliot nodded as he conceded the point. But he still had one more very important question to ask.

“Do you represent the rest of your clan?” Elliot asked. “I don’t want to make a deal with you, and then get nothing in return because your boss disagrees.”

Khalendros snorted with irritation at Elliot’s questions. In his mind, he was doing Elliot a great favor! And yet, he still had the gall to be so long winded!