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Darzarath swiftly padded down the large paved road, catching the glances and murmurs of dragons being curious about her motives for such haste in what would have been a morning like any other for them. She ignored them, continuing onward.

The city was Margalon, the Dragon Home, the center of power of the Dragon Council. Deep underground, made livable by a careful balance of geology and magic, Margalon served as a safe refuge from the surface world inhabited by mortals. It was not the only one of its kind, as several dozens of similar pockets exist in this world, but it was the biggest, providing for food and accommodation for thousands of dragons.

Darzarath was headed for the center of the city, where the chambers of the Dragon Council were located.

Heads turned and still she continued on her way, until she heard heavy foot falls rapidly approaching her from behind.

"You surely are a fast walker!" A definitely male voice called.

She slowed down her pace, turning her head to look at the newcomer.

It was a large male, roughly her size if not even slightly larger. Size was not his most striking feature, however. Beneath his grey scales, of texture similar to basalt rock, a dull orange glow was visible at every movement of the body where the overlap of the scales would let a small gap through.

"Perhaps I am." She said, raising a scaly eyebrow at the male. "I fear we have not met before."

"Satarimus is the name." The male said, puffing his chest as he finally caught up to her and walked by her side. "I'm one of the Wardens."

"Wardens?" Darzarath mused. "Such an honor."

"Indeed." Satarimus laughed. "The Council ordered for a Warden to escort you, and so here I am."

Darzarath did not press the matter further, and Satarimus seemed to take the hint as the two dragons continued their approach to the Council.

The chambers of the Council were built in a largely organic way, a large central dome of hard basalt circled by a series of smaller chambers that branched off with a series of hallways and bridges all at different heights, forming a veritable maze of overlapping paths, platforms and structures.

Darzarath's destination, however, was only the main chamber.

She walked up the wide ramp at the entrance, the dragons by the side of the path bowing their heads in a respect she did not expect to receive. Still puzzled by the show, she moved onward, Satarimus still by her side.

It was but a few meters past the entrance that she could see the first of the Council. Opposite to the entrance, the seats of the Council were arranged in a semi-circle.

"The initiate arrives at last." A female at the left end of the Council's seats, one of the Councilors, said. "You have the thanks of the Council, Warden Satarimus, you may go."

Satarimus and Darzarath stopped, the male bowing to the chamber as he then silently turned around and left.

Darzarath looked at those present in the chamber. All their eyes were on her. She could feel the power of their auras, a signature to testify for their power as some of the most powerful dragons. But power was not the only thing she was feeling. A sufficiently proficient reader of auras would easily be able to interpret what Darzarath perceived from the subtle ebbs and flows of their auras. Intense desire, need, not of the carnal kind, but of the knowledge and power kind.

"I come as summoned." Darzarath said, bowing.

"Good, good." Another of the Councilors, a silver male, said. "We called you here because we heard many things about you and your activities in the region called Kail by the mortals."

"We have reason to believe, young one, that what you do might be an enormous, unprecedented boon to dragonkind." A red female right next to the silver said.

"My activities?" Darzarath asked.

"Yes, your friendliness with mortals is mouthed far and wide, for good or bad." A black male said. "Mostly for bad. But the Council sees past petty rumors and understands that your effort might... yield results."

"The Council, Miss Darzarath, extends this offer to you." The silver said as he grabbed what seemed like a large metal tablet from behind his perch and placed it to the ground in front of him. "You shall join as a new initiate to the Order of the Council, and in exchange you shall lend your knowledge and expertise of mortals to the Council."

"A... straight forward offer." Darzarath said, staring at the silver tablet in front of her. "A quite specific and expensive offer. One does not simply become a member of the Council, initiate or not, just by signing the Pact."

"Knowledgeable." The red female sighed. "I wish more of the young were like this."

"It is true, Miss Darzarath." The silver said. "But I can assure you that the price is perfectly measured to the reward."

"Afford me to doubt then, Councilor Jumi." Darzarath said to the silver. "I know well the Council's past efforts against mortals, especially during the Epoch of the Exiled Gods. My parents provided an accurate account of how you drove the enclaves to conduct outright wars against mortals."

"Different stories from a different age." The silver, Jumi, said with a dismissive wave of a paw. "Things have changed, mortals and their civilizations have changed, the Council's outlook on mortals has changed in consequence."

Darzarath looked at the Councilors. Some of them seemed to be tense, nervous. The others were relaxed, confident. She looked down to the tablet, and pulled it closer with a claw, the metal screeching as it scraped against the smooth stone floor.

"What if I deny the Pact?" She said.

There was a moment of silence as the Councilors looked at each other. Jumi, instead, simply stared down to her.

"If you deny the Pact, there is no more that this Council will ask of you." Jumi said. "But there is one condition."

"Which is?" Darzarath said, holding the silver tablet under her claw while she looked up at Jumi.

"As a dragon, you are still bound by the orders, edicts and directives emanated by the Council." Jumi said. "Signing the Pact would make it a voluntary exchange. Without the Pact, we may be put in the condition of ordering you to hand over your knowledge. And if you refuse..."

"If I refuse I would be branded a rogue and betrayer." Darzarath finished from where Jumi trailed off. "How convenient. Either I bow to your genocidal authority, or be barred from being considered an equal. You let your mask slip."

"It's not a mask." The red female quipped, seemingly dejected. "Mortals are a menace to dragonkind. The Exiled Gods left their hateful mark in the mortal culture and soul. No dragon will be safe from the spiteful jealousy of mortals so long as a single mortal shall be left free to their devices."

Darzarath took another look at the Councilors. They seemed agitated.

"Come now." Jumi said. "Let's not be so drastic. Although the dear Garoki here may have exaggerated things slightly, the Council's outlook more or less coincides. Mortals are a menace if not controlled or guided with a strong, wise, and foresighted leadership. The Council can provide that. But before we do anything more, we need to know more of the mortals, we need to understand their outlooks and motivations."

Darzarath pushed the tablet away, staring at Jumi straight into the eye.

"I shall not partake in this." She hissed.

The black male that spoke earlier leaped forward and landed right beside her.

"You dare!" He roared as he raised his claw to strike at Darzarath.

"Hurik! Stand down!" Jumi said, causing the black dragon to flinch.

Darzarath tried to maintain her posture, but her heart beat rapidly as the adrenaline of a fight coursed through her.

Hurik stood down, lowering his claw and taking some steps back away from her.

"As I was about to say before someone performed a rude interruption." Jumi said, glaring at Hurik before looking back to Darzarath. "It is regrettable that you would decline such an important opportunity."

"The conditions, honestly, are unacceptable." Darzarath interjected. "As much as I do not trust mortals either I have learned enough about them to know that they are no different to an individual level than us. Virtues and flaws included. I shall not partake in the programmed and planned extinction of whole species. If you want my knowledge, then you'll have to change your terms."