“So… where do we go from here?” Ves asked as she sat around a table inside the stone fort from a newly created meeting room. Xeeta was currently on the warpath, sculpting away at the cliff face. It honestly scared Ves, but who was she to complain if the woman wanted to work.

  “If we want to grow the population, we need a means to house everyone and feed them. For that, we need skilled workers. First to clear the land, then build housing.” Farran responded.

  “Can’t we all just live in here?” Ves asked, gesturing to the stone around them, “Xeeta certainly is putting in the work to expand.”

  “Short term, maybe, but long term, I can see many issues. Besides, we will need to clear land regardless for growing crops as we can only forage so much.”

  “Taythes, would Senotraxia be ok with us clearing the forest?” Ves asked the dragon also in attendance. Setsu and Alice were also in the room.

  “We expect it to a certain extent, only asking that you keep it in moderation and leave smaller groves here at there. At the end of the day, this forest is the size of a nation in and of itself. Whatever you clear for the settlement is a small dent at best.” Taythes then gestured to Alice, who proceeded to grab a large yellowed parchment scroll, spreading it out on the table. It was a map.

  “This may be a bit outdated, but it should work well enough for now,” Taythes explained as he began to place down markers to show their current location and other areas of note. What really took Ves by surprise was the sheer scale of the forest. She knew it was large, but seeing it on a map really put it into perspective. In her mind, they were fairly deep in the forest, being several days’ journey to the border. Seeing this map through, she could see they were still just on the edge. When Taythes pointed out the mountains the dragons lived on, she could see why Sen said she had a long flight back. The journey would likely take weeks if not months on foot.

  “From Ryuko’s reports, the forest only grows more dangerous the deeper in we go. In turn, I would suggest we clear towards Kohdessia. It will also make trade easier in the long term,” Setsu added.

  “I would agree, sticking to the outskirts of the forest would be for the best. While our Queen may claim ownership of the forest, there are ancient things near its center that give even dragons pause.”

  “I take it we have little choice aside from Kohdessia to find workers and trade?” Ves asked, warily. At the end of the day, she was still wanted, and they had no way to test if her bond to Sen would actually negate the brand. Even if it worked, that didn’t prevent them from trying more mundane means to force her back, such as kidnapping.

  Farren spoke up to answer her question, “I’m afraid so, perhaps in the future we could construct roads through the forest to other nations, but for now Kohdessia is the only nation close enough to suit our needs. To that end, though, as the only one of us from Kohdessia, would you have a suggestion on where to start?”

  Leaning over Ves took a moment to look over the map. When Taythes said it was out of date, he was not kidding. The map may as well be a relic. Still, she could recognize enough locations to piece it together with the current state of things. Her former master was a busy man and had dragged her all over the country, so she knew the locations of major cities fairly well. Obviously, it had to be a city or large town on the border. She also wanted to avoid any locations with leaders she knew were friendly to her former master. Staying in that line of thought, perhaps a city lord with an antagonistic relationship to the bastard would be best. They may be willing to assist her simply out of spite. With that in mind, one city stood out more than any other.

  “I think we should start here,” she pointed to a city hardly a day’s journey from the border and not that far north of them. The city she had set out from on the fateful expedition that got her to where she was. “Corinth”

  “Why there? It does look like they are closer and perhaps more low-key options,” Farren asked.

  “I’ve been there before, it’s a major trade hub and the center of much of the nation's agriculture. And more importantly, its ruler, City Lord Varsray, is a heated political rival of my former master, enemy of my enemy and all that.”

  “I can see your logic there, I have no objections”, Farren commented as he rubbed his chin.

  “This work for everyone else?” Ves asked as she looked to Taythes and Setsu.

  “As I know little of modern Kohdessia, I will defer to your judgment, but I will ask do they have a temple?”

  “I believe so, why?” Ves asked.

  “You should visit and pay your respects,” Taythes said.

  “Would that not be dangerous considering the Lady Consort's origins?” Setsu asked.

  “I was worried as well, but after discussing it with our Queen while the consort was unconscious, we decided the pros outweigh the cons. She is worried about long-term damage to the consort's soul. There is no better place than the Temple to seek help. Add on that our Queen’s parents are the goddess's subordinate gods, and it is all but guaranteed that the gods are already aware of them. Remember, the Temple has a strict tenet of non-interference. They won’t act unless it's deemed necessary to protect the world.”

  “But they already declared war on the void-sent once,” Ves spoke up.

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  “Yes, but as I said, the Gods are almost certainly already aware of you. There is no hiding from them, there is no defeating them. All that is left is to approach them in good faith. Sen wouldn’t suggest you go if she thought you would be in danger.”

  “Sounds like we don’t really have a choice,” Ves mumbled.

  “When it comes to the temple and the pantheon, none of us do. That war was fought and lost long ago.” Taythes grimly added.

  Farren then spoke up, clearly trying to change the topic, “In light of that decision being made, I think we should travel there with a small group. Meet with the city lord and get permission to trade. As well as hire an initial group of workers to get us ready for welcoming in larger numbers down the road. While the dragonewts are rather skilled at hunting and leatherworking, we could use some experienced carpenters and home builders, even if just to set up temporary lodgings.”

  “Do we have anything to trade?” Ves asked.

  “That we do actually, many of the pelts we gathered from hunts should fetch a good price, as well as a variety of dried herbs that, while common here, can be sold for a sizeable price elsewhere,” Farren explained as he pulled out a small notebook with detailed legers on what they could trade.

  “Don’t forget the gifts and gold provided by our Queen. In terms of capital, we should have enough to get started. That said, there is another problem, transportation.” Taythes added.

  “I was worried about that as well. While we can assume once we reach Kohdessia, there will be proper roads and likely not that hard to rent or buy a horse and cart, getting to the border is an entirely different story on top of the already obvious dangers from traveling through the forest in general,” Farren added.

  “Could we use Bu?” Ves asked.

  “I think he will need to stay here. We will already need to bring guards with us. Ryuko at a minimum, to not get lost. If we take Bu as well, that leaves the settlement vulnerable,” Setsu spoke up.

  Looking at the dragon in the room, Ves’s eyes lit up with an idea, “Say Tayth-”

  “No”

  “You didn’t even let me finish.” Ves protested.

  “It’s obvious what you wanted to ask. I’m not strong enough to carry you and the goods while flying. Let alone a long list of other problems, not excluding that I’m a dragon, not a pack mule.”

  “Really? Don’t some countries use drakes for transport? Can’t be that different?” Ves regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. As the cup in Taythes’s hand shattered, she could see him struggling to keep his anger under control. Before anything further could happen, the dragon excused himself and left the room. Unsure what she had done, Ves looked to Setsu, who looked at her in horror, “Never compare a dragon to a drake.”

  Setsu then proceeded to give Ves a rundown. Apparently, drakes were too dragons as apes were to humans, and while apes were rather intelligent, drakes were not. Being widely considered nothing more than dumb brutes. With all but a few subspecies being too stupid to train, even if they were domesticated. The fact that to a layman some of the larger drakes looked like dragons was a sore spot. Setsu did teach her a safe rule of thumb to tell the difference, as even she admitted they could have very similar body types, drakes had four limbs, and dragons had six. More than anything, though, comparing a dragon to a drake was the height of insult, often met with deadly consequences. Ves, being Senotraxia’s consort, was likely the only reason things ended with just one broken cup.

  After that, the group decided to take a break until the dragon calmed down. While walking around, Nell spoke up, ‘Ves, what about a new drone?’

  ‘For?’

  ‘Transportation and clearing a path through the forest. We will need to make a proper road soon enough. I think we could make a drone to help clear the way.’

  ‘Worth a shot, something to do at least until Taythes is ready to accept my apology.’

  ‘Who knew dragons were so sensitive?’ While Nell didn’t intend it as a joke, it gave Ves a hearty chuckle all the way back to their cave.

  While the first drones worked well enough as a test, it was time to make something productive. The labor required to clear a road to Kohdessia would be immense, let alone the additional support staff, like guards. Drones though? They could defend themselves, and even if a few got killed, it was no big loss.

  Reaching the pool, Ves’s folded her clothes neatly to the side and then slowly slipped below the inky black surface. The worms immediately got to work, taking immaculate care of their body. Every inch cleaned, every blemish removed. Even a few recent injuries from her spars with Bu were quickly tended to. As she lay at the pool's bottom, a sense of calm came over her as all the tension in their body was gone within moments. All sense of pain or discomfort gone. Nell had explained that this placed their body into a receptive state for modifications and healing. Without it being in the pool would be incredibly painful as they were often essentially performing surgery on themselves.

  This time, though, there were only minor injuries to mend. Ready to work, Ves reached out to Nell, their connection an open door as Nell warmly accepted Ves’s mind as the two intermingled until they were one. The gestalt personality that came forward when they were entirely in sync, Ves’nell.

  Ves’nell took a moment to relax herself before she got to work. To start off, she needed a base. The drone needed to be large and powerful enough to clear trees and carry goods. Yet at the same time, she was wary of giving them a large profile that would stand out. Being seen, especially as they neared the border, was a concern, as many small hamlets dotted the area. To resolve this issue, she used a many-legged insect as a base, something closer to a centipede. Even with the size she had in mind, such a creature could easily hide among the plant life on the forest floor. She also kept its back relatively flat, making it easier to attach cargo. In a few spots, she even added loops onto the exoskeleton to act as anchors for tying ropes.

  To enable it to clear smaller trees and shrubs, she gave the drone a set of long, sharp pincers. Powerful enough to slice down any shrubs or grasses like a scythe. Even smaller trees, it would be able to cut through with ease. Still, the forest was ancient with many trees so large that a normal person wouldn’t be able to wrap their arms around the base. For this, the inside edge of the pincers would be jagged like the teeth of a saw. So the drone could latch onto a tree and slowly cut through the trunk.

  In order to allow them to hide or simply remove deeply buried tree stumps, she also modified their many legs to be adept at digging. Satisfied with her design, she called the worms in the pool forth. She planned to make two of the drones to start and knew it would take a great deal of resources. As she pulled in more and more material, she could feel the creeping moss around the edges of the pool receding. This wouldn’t be enough to completely destroy her reserves, but it was close. As she worked, she realized another problem. The pool itself was getting rather cramped. She had to stop several times to step aside from her own creation. Still, by the evening, she was done. Stepping out of the pool, she was greeted by her two newest drones, their black carapace softly illuminated by the cyan light around them. Each creature was massive, nearly thirty feet long and several feet wide. With any luck, they would make the journey ahead much easier.