“You were quite busy, my dear Jade,” Lady Hecate’s voice interrupted my quiet contemplation, what some might have called a prayer, especially as it happened in the newly created and sanctified shrine of the very deity who was now addressing me. Somehow, a small part of me could find the amusing irony in the fact that when I entered a shrine, a deity was taking the initiative and talk to me, not the other way around. However, given that I had that deity currently in my head and I had no idea about the limitations of Her power when it came to mind reading, I quickly smothered that amusement, hoping that She wouldn’t take offence. For that, the roof on this place had far too little copper sheeting because, as Terry Pratchett once wrote, one should only blaspheme in a place with a copper roof and multiple lightning rods to ward off the inevitable smiting.

  “Oh, you are such a gem,” Her voice was filled with amused mirth, “But not why I wanted to talk to you.” She paused, and I hoped I wouldn’t be scolded again for my role in the mess at the farm, where a single acolyte now tended the shrine we had built previously. I was well aware that it had been a mess, though I remained convinced that a big part of that mess was due to the people there; I just hadn’t resisted experimenting a little with things far more dangerous than I had thought. Though, I was now well aware that pushing these particular buttons was something I would avoid, if only because I had no idea how to make sure they wouldn’t push me back.

  “Now, I wanted to talk to you about your little draconic project,” She continued, and I barely managed to bite my tongue and keep myself from interrupting the deity and insisting that the various elemental lizards, frogs and snakes we had been creating were far from draconic. Just some experiments with delusions of adequacy.

  At those thoughts, I could hear Hecate’s laugh echo through my mind, despite Her voice continuing as if I had never said, or rather thought, anything. “You should know, they will start fighting amongst each other if you make too many more. Once that starts, it is likely that they will rapidly drop below viable numbers unless you make sure to spread any further experiments out across a fair stretch of land,” She warned me, and now, I was getting curious about what reason She might have for that.

  Normally, my experiments were just ignored by Her, so why were these lizards so special? The obvious answer would be that they had the potential, minute as it might be, to become actual dragons in the future.

  “So, you are a fan of dragons?” I couldn’t help but ask, though as soon as the question came out of my metaphorical mouth, I already realised the answer. Lady Hecate was, as always, all about magic and expanding magical knowledge. Few beings, at least according to legend, were better attuned to magic than dragons, with long lifespans to explore its mysteries, powerful bodies to withstand any mistakes they might make and, at least in some interpretations, greed for new knowledge rivalling my own. Sure, other depictions had them as brutish creatures, only interested in carnage and with an insatiable greed for gold, so maybe there was more to it.

  “Everyone needs a hobby, my dear Jade,” She chuckled, “But you are correct. Dragons have some of the greatest potential to become magical scholars and, if we look at individual accomplishments, they are near the top in actuality, too. Sadly, there are far fewer scholastic dragons than I would like; far too many of them let themselves get ruled by foolish pride and the idiotic opinion that their powerful bodies are all they need in life,” the deity continued, now grumbling quite a bit.

  “What makes these lizards so special then? For now, they are about as far from a scholar as you can get while remaining alive?” I asked in return, noticing that Lady Hecate was a little more talkative than usual.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Think, what might make them special in general and special to me in particular?” she returned my question, using it as an opportunity to teach, as she was wont to do.

  Prodded by the deity, I did just that and thought about it. What could be considered special about these dragons other than their mere existence as dragons? It's not like there were a lot of those around, at least not on Terra. But would Lady Hecate care simply because these were new creatures in this world? Unlikely.

  So, what made them special had to be something universally special, elevating them beyond dragons in other worlds. This meant it had to have something to do with their creation or maybe even their creator, or rather, creators, as both Luna and I were necessary to pull this off. This, indirectly, meant Lady Hecate was directly involved as Luna was still a direct conduit of Lady Hecate’s power; even if Luna mostly used the Astral Power she could draw from the Astral River, not Her power. Additionally, I carried Her blessing on me, which might influence the blood I used to imbue these lizards with the material to spark their potential draconic heritage, adding yet another link between them and Lady Hecate. Links which, if utilised correctly, could grant immense influence over these creatures, possibly even give Lady Hecate the power to direct their evolution and development.

  “They are, or rather, they might eventually become, yours, right?” I asked, fairly confident in my deduction.

  “No, not quite. Well, they might, but there’s another who has first dibs, as you should know, my dear Mother,” She stressed the title, thus fully conveying her intent. If these lizards were to become dragons, I could be their primary patron if I ascended to take the spot. Given my proclivities when it came to magic, that might work just as well.

  “So because they are mine, and could be Yours, they will likely travel down the Arcane Path and seek to study magic?” I asked, just to clarify.

  “Correct,” I could feel the affirmation echo through my mind, “But that’s not a guaranteed thing. It will require a bit of effort and prodding on our part, or these lizards, as you call them, might never soar through the sky. Wouldn’t that be a tragedy?” She asked, making me chuckle just a little at Her easy way of pushing my buttons. Ever since I had learned to fly, especially with my own wings, it had become a favourite pastime of mine, even if I could barely indulge due to my guardianship of Luna. I didn’t want to leave my daughter alone, just so I could have some fun, even if Silva would keep an eye on her.

  “What do I need to do?” I was now fully on board with this project. Getting a few additional scholars on the arcane path was a worthwhile endeavour, even if this was just about as long-term as a project could get.

  “Explore this for a bit,” She told me, sending me a package of compressed memories, which unfolded within my mind as I followed Her direction. The memories, or thoughts, I wasn’t sure if these were memories of a place in another world or simply Lady Hecate’s imagination, were of a grand shrine built right where I stood, only without the shrine to Lady Hecate we had already built. This indicated to me that it was Lady Hecate’s imagination, though it barely mattered in the end. What mattered was that the shrine in her imagination, was a great deal larger and a lot more impressive than the small building we had set up.

  It was clearly built for something larger than humans, with massive doors large enough to allow a truck easy passage, serpentine statues coiling around the building before rising to hold the roof up on their wings, while statues of western dragons flanked the door as if to guard it. Within, at least in Lady Hecate’s imagination, the shrine was a lot more like the ones we had already set up, a house of knowledge and research, though the scale was clearly meant to be draconic. As the vision faded, a blue window offered me a divine quest to make this vision a reality.

  “This will guide your children on the Arcane Path, my dear Jade. Would you be willing to set it up and join in the consecration so it is not just a temple dedicated to Me but to You, too? To You, and the dragons your children could eventually become?” she asked, and, for the first time, I could feel a certain emphasis when she addressed me, making me realise that this might just become a turning point on my journey.

  Now, I only needed to figure out what direction I wanted it to take. Or if I could combine the paths I had previously thought would always remain separate from one another.