>>5686265“Long overdue, by what I’ve heard of them,” the Throat-singers says perfunctorily. “Never liked that damned Translator, even. Snooty.”
The Pit-guard doesn’t immediately respond, body language stiff, eyes narrowed in concentration.
“Pit-guard?” you address him directly.
“I… Have been alive many decades, Superior One. Always I have served the Priesthood, and the Grand Design. I was bred and born within it, to serve it, as many generations before me… As we all were. The Priesthood MADE us. They shaped our race, kept us safe…”
You tilt your head, listening without judgement… For now.
“I… Do not know how I feel. But I know this: as their servant, I was a Pit-guard, as you so call me… I helped control breeding. I mostly spent the last twenty years keeping little shits like you from getting one another pregnant every rut and estrus!”
You chuckle at this uncharacteristic defiance, even as the Pit-guard rattles at the irony of it as well. It’s true—as a Young One, you came to know this male in your many frequent altercations when <appetite> overwhelmed duty and good judgement and eld you to try to infiltrate the breeding pits to sample the sweetness of heat-slickened cloacas. It is a testament to the old Steeltalon’s strength, skill, and dedication that you did not breed until Glowie ‘persuaded’ you in this very mountain range!
“Do you prefer your current lot in life?” you ask him.
The Pit-guard nods, without hesitation.
“This is better. I… I may not be suited to it, I admit… But I serve you, Dragon King. I will continue to serve you, if you will allow it. The Serpent Priests kept us safe… but it is under you that we grow. The world is changing above and below us, and I wish to be part of that change.”
You clap a hand on the Pit-guard’s broad shoulder, shocking and startling him with the familiarity.
“You will have that which you wish,” you tell him in the True Speech. “You will be rewarded for your diligence, your loyalty, and your efforts. When next I and the bastard meditate together to cultivate a Dragon Soul, you will join us.”
“B-but I am not Dragonblooded!” he protests weakly. “I cannot—”
“Blood is not important.”
