Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers #5)(30)
Bob put his hand on Julius’s shoulder. “I found a dragon who didn’t think like the others, and I put my entire clan under his care. I built Heartstriker into an empire bigger than any dragon clan this world has ever seen, and then I gave it all to him. But the best part—the best part—was that after I put Julius on top, he kept it without my help. He was able to stay in command because he understood what you lost faith in long ago: that dragons are not always defined by our lowest common denominator. That we are all different, and that we are just as capable of compassion, reason, and understanding as any other intelligent species. I didn’t manipulate him into being that way, either. Quite the opposite. Julius is Julius despite his environment. He’s living proof of his own concept, your concept, and the moment I realized that, I knew I’d found the lynchpin that would let me break the cycle you’ve always hated.”
“Break the cycle,” Dragon Sees Eternity repeated skeptically. “Brohomir, you just put him in power. He hasn’t even done anything yet.”
“Au contraire,” Bob said. “Julius has changed our clan more in these last two weeks than Bethesda managed in a thousand years. I may have set up the board, but he’s the one who played through. He changed our clan from a dictatorship to an elected Council structure in a matter of days, and he did it without killing. He reconciled our war with the Qilin without bloodshed as well, and repaired our relationship with the Daughters of the Three Sisters. His human also just became the first Merlin, which means we have a real shot at peace with the native species of this plane for the first time since we arrived and started eating them. And it was through his great and selfless service to the Qilin that my sister Amelia received the stroke of magical luck she needed to become the Spirit of Dragons, solving our greatest magical problem on this plane and giving us a new home.”
He pulled Julius closer. “It’s true I pointed him at each of these events, but my brother was the one who actually made them happen. Together, our efforts have reordered the world into a more peaceful, more cooperative, nicer place where the old draconic ideas of might-makes-right, take-what-you-want, step-on-everyone-else are finally seen for the barbarism they always were. That is the future Julius and I have built, and even after I sell everything else to buy the one timeline where we aren’t devoured by the Nameless End, that’s the future that will remain. It can be yours too, Black Reach. All you have to do is make your own decision not to kill the key players, and you can finally have what you’ve always wanted: a better dragonkind.”
By the time he finished, Julius’s head was spinning. He hadn’t realized just how much they’d changed until Bob had spelled it out. But while he was feeling awestruck by everything they’d achieved, the Black Reach looked more furious than ever.
“So that’s your final play?” he spat. “Bribery? I deny my purpose and spare your life, and you’ll give me a future I won’t hate?”
“It’s not bribery,” Bob said, insulted. “It’s incentive. And I’m not asking you to defy your purpose. Why do you think you were tasked with making sure no seer ever sold a future again? It wasn’t because selling possible futures is inherently bad. Let’s not forget that seers were doing it for eons before the end. The only reason it was forbidden is because dragons got irresponsible and sold everything. That’s where we messed up. That is the mistake you were made to prevent, but I’m not doing that. I’m not selling timelines to gain an advantage over another clan or make myself a king. I’m trading millions of futures where we die for the one where we get to live. That’s all it is. Not a horrible crime, not a sellout, but a carefully planned shot at survival with a good dragon at the helm.”
He put his hands on Julius’s shoulders. “That’s the choice I made, Black Reach. Now, I’m giving it to you. You can enforce the letter of the law and kill me simply for the act of trading a future. Or you can honor the actual reason you were made and help me save our species before fear of one End dooms us to another.”
He finished with a smile, but Julius was close enough to feel the truth. Bob looked confident, but his heart was pounding so hard Julius could feel it through his coat. He didn’t even breathe while the ancient construct considered what he’d said, which was a problem, because Dragon Sees Eternity thought for a long, long time. Then, finally, the Black Reach lowered his arm, his impossibly giant claw shifting back to a normal hand as it fell to his side.
The moment it was clear he wasn’t going to raise it again, Bob collapsed on the ground.
“Bob!” Julius yelled, dropping down beside him. “Are you okay?”
The seer burst out laughing, grabbing his brother in an enormous, joyful hug. “Julius!” he cried, rolling back and forth. “We did it!”
“Did what?” Julius croaked, because he hadn’t heard the Black Reach say anything.
“We lived!” Bob yelled, letting him go at last so he could grin wildly into his face. “Don’t you see? This was my death. I was supposed to die just now, but I didn’t! I’m alive!” The grin fell off his face, replaced by a look of dumbstruck wonder. “I’m the only seer who’s ever beaten the Black Reach.”
“Don’t get cocky,” the construct growled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Just because I’ve decided to give you a chance doesn’t mean I won’t change my mind later.”