POV The old ambassador:
A massive, shiny ship levitating between the thick clouds of black smoke faced the giant dragon before it.
The crewmen were trembling in fear while the old ambassador and the vampire turned their chairs to face the beast.
The darkness brought by the clouds submerged the whole ship, a bright purple light shining through the smoke from the direction of the dragon.
The dragon’s voice boomed across the ship, all of the crewmen turning pale with the sound of clanging coming out of the trembling guards.
“You have attacked me, and now you are hiding behind someone else. How despicable. But it fits for an annoying mosquito like you who can only scheme behind my back!”
The two huge glowing golden orbs turned towards the ambassador, who almost turned smaller and smaller under pressure.
He felt a huge weight descend upon his shoulder as if he were carrier a back filled with lead on his back.
“Think carefully, mortal? Do you really want to enter this war? I will lay waste to your towns and cities, sink your ships and turn your legions into ash. This conflict is not between us so stay out!”
Each of the words carried an indescribable feeling that made the old man believe the words as he already imagined the huge dragon descending on the city and unleashing its breath with everything vanishing in the blazing inferno.
The vampire stood up out of his chair, his two eyes brightly glowing, and pressure erupted out of him, forming a bubble around him and the ambassador, “Do you see this? This is what dragons are. They can’t be negotiated with. They are already pressuring you with their aura, using fear and terror as their tools. They are uncivilised barbarians.”
The ambassador felt relieved by the weight lifting from his body but showed no change to the outside, keeping a stoic stone-like expression.
Lightning struck across the sky, its bright light blinding everyone as the black clouds around the ship whirled.
The old man looked unfazed, his face like a stone, his breathing and pulse stable.
But he knew that it was only because of a ring on his finger that kept his body in control as his mind was in disarray.
𝓞𝑣xt.𝐜𝒪𝐌
‘This is bad. Both of the options are bad, and also, the option to do nothing is as bad.’
He slightly stretches in his chair as his eyes move between both the vampire and the dragon.
‘If we help the Alvamora kingdom, our armies will suffer immense damage. On the other hand, if we let them fend for themself, then that would destroy our image. Enemies will not miss it and frame it as us throwing our ally to a monster.’
His mind was going into override thinking about all of the options, ‘Both of the consequences can be partially mitigated. If we could defeat the dragon and recover its body, that would be more than enough to repay damage costs, but there is too much stuff that can go wrong.
‘As for the bad image, if we take the initiative and frame it like a dragon cleansing corrupted monsters that ruled over locals.’
Suddenly the voice that felt like magma flowing into his ears disputed his thoughts, “So you have always known that the king was a vampire, and yet you still let him rule?”
“With benefits, they are also options.” the old ambassador Marcus looked straight at the dragon with a smile on his old face, suppressing his fear just with his sheer willpower.
“Tell me, mortal, what is your current deal with this leach?”
The vampire chuckled under his nose as he looked at the dragon with his glowing red eyes penetrating through the layers of smoke and locking with the two golden eyes, “Something that a barbaric and unreasonable monster like you wouldn’t ever accept.”
“Tribute and securing the borders against undead from the undead plains to the south.” the old man spoke, ignoring both of the monsters around him, his mind in horror as he knew that both of them could kill him in a blink of an eye.
‘I am just a replaceable pawn… that wouldn’t be missed if I get killed.’
Immediately something changed as the black clouds thickened, submerging the ship into absolute darkness except for the glowing purple light radiating out of the dragon and the light on the board.
“Never, do you really think that I, a dragon, would give even a single coin of my gold?! Everything in the kingdom belongs to me. But the second condition is acceptable.”
‘That’s it! Let’s wait and see how it goes. In the end, it will be safest to deal with the winning side. And if needed to finish them up.’
Suddenly the ambassador rose out of his chair and clapped his hands, “This is a too important decision for me to decide on my own accord. I will need time to ask my superiors.” he turned towards the vampire, “Your Majesty, for now, please leave the ship.”
‘Let’s see who is more worthy of our support.’
Immediately a disgusting cracking noise resounded through the ship as the vampire started to change, his body growing in size and hunching, his skin darkening and turning rough and dark red.
The ambassador stepped back in horror, all of the guards pointing their glowing polearms at the monsters.
A terrific two-and-a-half meters tall monster that looked mass of blood and flesh shaped like a grotesque bat with massive fleshy wings on its back stood there, its red eyes brightly shining in the darkness.
A dense red glow of bloodthirsty aura covered its whole body, faintly glowing under the darkness of the sky.
The monster flapped its wings and shot towards the sky, the ambassador and the guards toppling down under the wind wave that shook the whole ship.
The monster shot up towards the dragon like a red streak, its body turning into a blurry red mist.