*** Alzi ***

The long group of carriages slowly drop off everyone. Too many carriages are coming by for us to all drop off together. The Queen went first, of course, but they let me go next, trying to butter me up. Yet when I walk inside, the Kitsune Queen is already there with her two daughters.

Should I bring her to my Goddess wife? She should be happy with me if I made her a champion. I can find out if Nakuma and Yuki are a good match first and decide from there.

"Hello, Champion," a Priestess says, sporting the normal fake belly. "If you would follow me, please. Fertility will see you after the meeting. The Goddess of Dragons wishes to see you first. If you are ok with seeing her."

"Sure," I say. It would be nice to see why she sat behind Elora in the divorce and what she did to me. The Demoness hinted to a number of Goddesses more than I have tattoos about. Oh, then, my kid! I need to learn her name and maybe what these tattoos are doing to me. I sure don't feel more lucky or anything. Space is clear enough, and then the tattoo as well. But contracts, luck, and the mushroom thing are unknown. My silly daughters are marking their Mother. I waited a full twenty-eight years to make a move on Mommy, and they couldn't wait a single day.

Damn Goddesses thinking they can do whatever they want to me. They're lucky they're so cute.

And then I feel different after the divorce, more than I should. I think Dragon did something to me.

"This way, my Champion," the Priestess says. I should give her a real belly. Give a child to a real priestess and not some Goddess pretending to be one.

Will I get a Queen pregnant without her hiding as a noble? Do they count as nobles?

Whatever, I follow the Priestess into a corner of the temple, a small dinky room, hardly a room really, and closer to a storage closet. I guess the priestesses don't like to keep up the space not dedicated to their Goddess.

"Just pray like normal inside," The Priestess says. "I will wait here to take you to the meeting."

"Is there a simple ritual I can do with you after all this? Or maybe a few of you? I should do that while I'm here. I can give a few of you real pregnancies."

"We would be honored, Champion," the Priestess says, her face getting a little red. "I would love to carry for our great Champion. I will work with the high Priestess on setting something up. There are a few options that we will offer later. You shouldn't keep the Goddess waiting."

I wouldn't mind making her wait. But I have questions to ask this time around. Don't let her run away before asking them, Alzi. "Ok," I say. Inside the room is a simple mat, likely to kneel on. In my stupidity, I brought along two of my sleepy daughters, so I shouldn't do that in case I relax too much when she takes me away.

Well, I sit down against the wall and carefully rest my kids in my lap. They don't really fit, but the kids are close enough, and I think a Goddess can keep them safe. Or she better.

"Hello, Alzi," comes as I close my eyes. Someone can't wait to see me. "How are you?"

"I'm doing better," I say. We're in a cave, a black smooth rock surrounding us with a few rivers of magma providing the light and warmth. "What do you want to talk to me about? I didn't even know there were guest quarters in temples."

"There aren't," Dragon says, bathing in one of the rivers. "I had to make a few promises with Fertility to let me see you without you going through her. I want to tell you what I meant back when I said Elora had a lot to offer you. The first is access to the Phoenixes, as you now know. The second is Death. I would advise you to go and see her. Those tattoos you've been collecting are the old way of declaring a champion. We used to be picky and refuse any woman who already had a tattoo, but as you can clearly see, that has gone away as we found a new method to mark a champion. Fertility likely was hoping the tattoo would cut off Sex, but she has her fingers a bit too deep into you for that to work. Then you have Power to marking you, and it seems to be open season on your skin. I did give you my mark, but Fertility seems to want to hide that with your horns. But I'm fine with that. I hope my mark has helped to clear your thoughts. It won't erase the past, but it should help you fight through it when you need clarity the most."

She's naked, so it should be fine for me to strip, right? Whatever, I want her to explain the tattoos if she can. I pull my robe into one of the rings and point at the mushroom. "What is this one? I don't know my own daughter's name, and I don't like that."

"Be careful showing such a fine body off around dragons, dear. You aren't the only one that likes to breed. But that is the mark of a new Goddess, Destruction. Then you have Luck, Contract, Fertility, Space, and my own. Be careful with Destruction. She likely doesn't have control over her powers. If she gets threatened, the world may stop existing for a while, and that would be an issue for us all."

"Then everyone should."

"No, Nature and Justice do not care about that. They'll find some way to spin it into something good for them. Those idiots lack all common sense. Most of us do. It happens when you have to fight your way into power, disregarding all else, and then living for thousands of years doesn't help anything. Speaking of those two, they are preparing to attack you. The phoenixes or Kitsune can handle the dragonkin, but the dragonkin won't have my support; Justice is stirring them into the stupid action. Don't be afraid to kill them. The weak and stupid don't need to live. I hope you will be willing to take the throne, even if you let another take the crown in name and control them from the shadows. But that is for after this mess. The real problem will be Nature. Her abuse of Fertility earned her some disgusting monsters she has been hiding for a while now. They will be out in force and will come for you. Not the Queendom or realms. You. You won't like this, but you need to make this assault the Queendoms and realms issue. Fertility has already given them some stakes with her decree, making it so they need you for easy access to kids, but they are capable of performing the rituals, so they don't need you. This war is enough for them to ignore. I'm sorry, little hatchling, but it would be in your best interest to marry Yuki, Elora, and Shimmer. Even Ioelena has value with the Fairies and the Pixies. They may be trouble makers, but they can fight even if they hate it."

"Is that really it?" I ask. "A Goddess wants to capture me, so I have to marry a bunch of Princesses?"

"Yes," Dragons says. "I understand you hate it. I would too, but Fertility being a dumbass has put you in a tough position. You aren't strong enough to punish them all yet. I'm sure you will be eventually but eventually isn't when the attack will come. The other option is to whore yourself out to a bunch of Goddesses and get them to act in the world as well. My advice would be to do both. Have the Princesses dancing in your palm as a plan to hold off Nature and the rebel dragons. That way, you don't have the Goddesses controlling your life; they have to give you something of value more than survival. You will need to work this plan out with Fertility. She'll likely stop you if you just go off and get a bunch of Goddesses pregnant. She has been stingy with kids for a very long time, and we don't change quickly up here."

"Why does Justice care about me?" I ask, step over to the river. The heat feels good outside, but how will it feel to bathe in it?

"I was wondering how long you would stand outside, showing off that pretty body of yours. But Justice just likes Nature and is now mad that Contract exists. Contract took some power that Justice was incorrectly lording over. You'll find that often up here. Like Love taking over marriages. Nature and Fertility like to fight over Life. It was the only thing that let us know Fertility still existed sometimes. She liked to have some decades where women could swim in sperm and still not bring new life into the world. Stupid girl. Come here."

Dragon transforms from the normal beautiful Goddess with horns and wings to what I guess a true dragon looks like. Her wings double in size; golden scales cover her body, and a long spiked tail swishes behind her. She has four legs like a cat. A lion would probably be a safer comparison; she could most definitely eat me in a single bite. Dragon gives out a roar, shaking the cave and making waves in the magma. She sinks back into the river, and I think she wants me to rest against her belly.

She must be creating a path for me to walk as I don't just sink into the river she is hiding most of her monstrous size in. I rest my back against her rough scales and find myself more relaxed than I've ever been. Her warmth flows through me, a heat stronger than the magma could ever give off.

'We can rest like this for a few minutes, then you must go. I will not do much in this upcoming fight. That is for you to solve. Only the strong deserve to live. I believe you are strong, but you'll need help. Take those silly Princesses and turn them into your bitches. Your broodmares. Make them work for you. Make them understand how small they are before the dragons. Show the stupid Phoenixes that they will never be our match. You can hate those you marry. This is why I offered the compromise. Who cares that you hate them? Just use them as they plan to use you and turn your focus to those you love. When you make it through this, come to Zarzi and truly take her. She is ready to give herself fully to you and will do as you will her to. She will show your other wives how they should behave around their dominant. Don't be afraid to use her to grow your power. That is her new purpose in life, and I promise she will embrace it.'

"Ok."

'Get all you can in the negotiations. Fertility will be watching over them. If you need help, don't be afraid to pray to her. She's figured out that she can't be absent and have things go her way. She will help you.'

"I guess," I say. Not even a week free of Elora, but she's right. They didn't mind marrying someone that doesn't love them. Why can't I? They wanted to use me, so it is only fair I get to use them.

'That's my little dragon.'

"Hmph, get out of my brain. I want to sleep in peace," I say.

'You're lucky I like you. Grow, and we can fight over who will be the dominant. If you get past my true dragon.'