Chapter 33: Chapter Thirty Fate Proclaimed

 

She sat there on the ground with the others the dragon had already deprogrammed. The cool air brushed against her skin, and she could feel the alien soil and grasses against her skin. The captain without a ship let out a breath as she tried to bring her emotions under her control. All while waiting for the dragon to declare their fate. She had her limbs back under her own control, but she didn’t bother trying to run. Not after she had felt the power of that creature’s mind. It was too powerful. After feeling the weight of the dragon’s mind, and being controlled like a puppet, she no longer considered escape possible. Fighting was out of the question as well. They had nothing left with which to fight the dragon, especially after considering that it had shrugged off starship weaponry without so much as a scratch. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long before the dragon finally deigned to inform them of their fate.

When the dragon’s gaze swept back over her, she felt her heart rate increase, and it had only just started to calm. As her chest was pounding and that familiar lump in her throat swelled back up again, the dragon addressed them. “You should not be so frightened, I am not here to hurt you. As I already tried to tell you. In fact, I could help you a great deal. My magic can easily help you build better shelters, or plow fields for farming. All I ask is that some of you serve me, as future caretakers for my pups.”

She swallowed. Caretakers? What was she talking about? Was she offering help? That seemed weird to the young captain. The damn dragon was responsible for their current predicament in the first place. Her train of thought was interrupted when someone thoughtfully asked, “Caretakers? As in, you plan to trust us with your young? Why would you do that? We fought just days ago.”

She had to disagree with that sentiment. It didn’t make much sense, sure. However, that was only if you didn’t take into account the power of that dragon’s mind. The captain had little doubt that the dragon could just mold them to be the perfect babysitters for her young. What the dragon replied with, merely reinforced that impression.

“Because each and every one of you that becomes a caretaker will be imprinted on one of my pups. Although before I allow you to meet them and imprint on them, I will make sure you are perfectly trained for the job. I have all the time I need to mold you into excellent caretakers for my young before they hatch.”

She had another question brooding in her mind, but someone else asked, “um, what exactly would that entail.”

They were quiet, but the voice still rang clear to her, and the dragon heard it as well. She answered, but the captain wasn’t sure she liked the answer. “Well aside from the obvious. I will revert you to your natural states, and then bless you with enhanced resilience, life, and strength. Enough that you will be able to watch after the young dragons I will entrust you with for their entire developmental period. I think you should consider it. The natural Neku lifespan is barely over a century with proper care. If you become my servants, my caretakers, you will easily have a thousand years or more to look forward to.”

On one hand, she was offered a long life, but that came with servitude. Not to mention she wasn’t quite sure what the dragon meant by returning them to a natural state. Looking around, all the other women gathered here seemed equally uncertain. Her own question was forgotten, she knew not what to say. As her mind considered what she had heard, she started to note how many people were here on the hill. All of them were female, and there were dozens. Perhaps hundreds of girls gathered here. A stark display of the dragon’s mental power. She had a feeling that just about every female in the camp had been puppeteered into walking out here, and all of them were just as naked as she was. It made her feel better about being naked, although she did have other things to worry about. 

Back to the problem at hand. There also was the other offer for her to consider. The offer of help for the settlement. It wasn’t exactly something they could turn down. Especially given the fact that the dragon in front of her seemed to be planning on nesting here. If that was true, no rescue would ever come. The Imperium would wisely steer clear of any dragon nest. In other words, they would need to set up a permanent settlement. They would need better shelter, and farms to feed their stomachs. The dragon’s offer was tempting alright, but what would be the exact cost?

She opened her mouth, her question remembered. “How many caretakers would you need?”

“Two for every egg I lay, is considered optimal. Adult dragons like me can lay up to a hundred eggs in a single clutch, and I would like an extra ten people for personal reasons. I would say two hundred and ten would be sufficient. Before you ask, all of them must be female. Males aren’t suited for the demands of the job, as they wouldn’t understand the demands of the job. Not the way a female would. Also, you would be free to come back here and visit your friends when the demands of the job permit, nor will I bar you from taking a mate and having children of your own.”

That didn’t sound too bad. Actually. As one of the few officers of captain rank, however, these people here were her responsibility. She wasn’t sure she could ask that of them, but she didn’t think she could leave them as a caretaker either. The captain had to look after them. Her responsibilities as a leader took precedence, but no one seemed to be jumping to volunteer just yet.

The dragon continued, “I would prefer if everyone that took the job volunteered, but I know that might not work for everyone. A lottery would be a fair way to pick those who go with me, if need be.”

The Captain looked around, and soon spotted one of the other Captains. She pushed herself off the ground, and slowly moved over. Intending to confer with the other officers of her rank. She knew a decision would need to be made, and soon. It occurred to her that rejecting the dragon’s offer might not be wise, but it wasn’t her place to make that decision unilaterally. The young woman knew she did not speak for everyone here. At most she could speak for her own crew, but not those of the other ships.

Before she could reach the other captain, however, a few stood up, and of all things volunteered. They did not however amount to the two hundred something people the dragon was demanding. It seemed there were a few young women willing to sacrifice themselves for the community. She guessed that made it a little easier in that they were not sacrificing their lives.

Reaching the other captain, she said, “What do you think about all this?”

The other captain noted her presence, and sighed, “Well Seru. I don’t think we are in a position to reject the dragon’s offer. I think we are going to have to take the risk, and accept it. Hand over a few of our people. At least a few of them already volunteered, that makes things a little easier.

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“I would not call two hundred a few people,” she replied, “That is roughly ten percent of our number.”

The other captain shrank a little, “I know, but...”

She looked around again. Seru was silent a few moments, but when she didn’t pick up again, Seru commented, “How are we going to select those who will go anyway?”

The other captain shrugged, “I don’t know?”

Seru would have proposed something but she too was drawing a blank. Suddenly someone, behind her, interjected, “You could always write the names of every eligible female down, and toss it into a bucket. Shake it up a bit, and then pull them out at random. It would be better than most other methods given the numbers of eligible female Neku.”

She nodded, “Yes, that does sound like...” Seru trailed off, looked back and almost jumped out of her skin. Somehow that massive dragon had moved behind her, without her noticing. It just made her more frightening.

“Glad you like it,” she said, As a bucket floated out from behind her claws, and deposited itself between Seru, and her fellow captain. “I already took the liberty of preparing a bucket for you. All of the names of eligible females minus the volunteers are already in there on silver nameplates.”

The dragon withdrew, and she glanced down at the bucket. Looking inside, she noticed quite a few rectangular metal sheets jumbled up in the bucket. Attached to the bucket was a lid that was currently open. She moved to grab one of the plates, but her arm suddenly froze. Then she yelped, when she felt a jolt of pain ripple up her nerves. A voice soon followed, “Naughty girl. Don’t pull a single name out, until everyone is ready for the lottery.”

She felt heat on her cheeks. As she realized the dragon had just done the equivalent of slapping her on the wrist like a naughty child. Seru suppressed the feeling, and glanced at her fellow captain. “Go find the others and meet me back here.”

The other captain nodded and ran off. She sighed, and Seru took the opportunity to try and sort out her thoughts and feelings. Not that she had long to do that. It turned out the other captains were already looking to meet. Almost as soon as the other went looking she was back with two others. That meant the captains of four ships were here, and they were the only people of captain rank here. Well from the fleet anyway. There were those from other branches here as well.

As soon as they met, they began to discuss the bucket thing and the implications of a dragon nesting here. They quickly agreed that no rescue would be coming and that they would need to plan for spending the rest of their lives here. The dragon’s offer was too good to ignore. However, the discussion soon stagnated after that, as they were all distracted. It took time before they agreed that they needed at least one person of captain rank to stay and provide leadership for the colony. Seru ended up being the one ‘volunteered’ to confront the dragon, and ask her to make sure their names weren’t in the bucket for the drawing.

Seru nervously left the group, and approached the dragon. While carrying the bucket. By now, she had managed to calm down enough to function, and the fear she was feeling wasn’t so pronounced. It made her no less uncomfortable about having to talk to the dragon.

When she reached the dragon, the dragon said, “Ready to start the drawing?”

She shook her head, but the words got stuck in her throat. Before she could work it out, the dragon was saying, “Ah, I see. Well. It would be unfair to remove your names from the drawing. Tell you what, I will guarantee that half of you stay here to watch over your colony and I will even bless you all. Regardless of the outcome of the drawing. Does that alleviate your concerns?”

It did, well some of them anyway. Unfortunately, she never got to speak before the dragon said, “Great. In that case would you draw the first name?”

She gulped. This really wasn’t going the way she had hoped. Seru glanced at the bucket, but hesitated to pull a name. She looked up, and noticed all the faces now looking this way. She felt herself flush. With trepidation, she reached into the bucket, a part of her feeling the weight of what this meant. Gripping a plate, she pulled it out, and read it. A part of her almost dropped it, feeling stung. The very first name, against all odds, turned out to be... her own.

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