--- 08:00 ---

The door slowly opened, and I gulped, hiding behind Riley. She chuckled and strode forward easily, looking straight forward, not sparing the elders even so much as a glance.

I followed, quickly memorizing each face, shivering as I felt the truth spells layer over me. I had no intention of lying, as I viewed it as a rude thing to do, (though not morally wrong, especially if it furthered my goals and did not harm anyone,) but the lack of freedom to do so annoyed me slightly.

We stopped in a circle, and Riley smiled and bowed her head to an elderly woman. "Empress Dowager Chami, it's good to see you again. You've not aged a day." She grinned.

The woman snorted. "No, I've aged many, many days, Lord Riley. But it's good to see you hale enough, that's true... Who's this you've brought us? Caleb's heir, you say?"

"Yes. She is Caleb's Heir. He gifted her with his soul, and knowledge, as well as the ability to Shift into a Dragon, as he did my predecessor and I." She nodded.

"She is a girl." One older man said, rubbing his temple.

"Astute observation, Milord." I said dryly.

He chuckled. "She's feisty, yes, but a girl, nonetheless. How does a man's soul transfer to a woman's body?"

"Perhaps Souls are genderless." I replied clearly.

He hummed. "Milord, is that true? As the Shifter on the council, you are our expert on soul magic." He asked a large man at the front of the circle.

The large man, whom I recognized from a memory, hummed, but I interrupted him. "I remember you!!! You're Erie, the man Caleb fought in his first tourney final! Heh, he kicked your butt thoroughly, huh?" I grinned innocently.

The man boomed with laughter. "That he did. I wasn't ashamed. Caleb was the best fighter among the shifter population... Has he passed on his skills to you?" He asked.

"Ye-" Riley started.

"No." I said clearly, and the room silenced.

"No? Why not? Was it not a full Gift?" He asked.

"No. He kept much of his knowledge separate, so that there was still something to learn, when I go to the college. He left grimoire's for me to study in his lab, which I have to find." I grinned at the thought of the adventure.

He chuckled. "I see, that snarky Druk... Makes sense, that he wouldn't want to simply give you everything. He invented the Gift, and yet no one ever listened. Such a shame, really." He nodded.

I smirked. "I get it, though. He gave me memories of you, so I'd recognize you as an ally... He said I'd have allies, but I wasn't sure whether to believe him or not. He's sneaky." I snickered.

The elders were becoming impatient with our banter, and it was visible. I grinned at them. "What? Impatient for something better to do? You could ask questions, you know, that's sorta why I'm here and not in bed." I smiled.

Several frowned, and even more scowled, angered by my apparent disrespect. "She's Caleb's spawn, alright. He always made Disrespect into an Art Form." Erie laughed, slapping his thigh.

"It's amusing." I shrugged. "Besides, I don't have a reason to respect them, yet."

"Moving on, let's get this over with, hm? Where's the Grimoire?" Riley said briskly as several of the people glared at me and grumbled about my ignorance and rudeness.

I snapped my gaze to one man in particular, as he said "Ignorant Peasant Farmer. Her parents must not have taught her her place in the world. Not surprising, with the ineptness of peasants..." He grumbled, not expecting to be heard by anyone but the man next to him, who nodded in agreement.

"You will never say that again, or anything to that effect, or I will rip your tongue out with my bare hands, do you understand?" I hissed.

"Dearest-" Riley tried to stop me from advancing at the man, but I shrugged her off, and stomped over, breaking the marble under my feet.

"You will never insult my family again, do you understand?" I hissed again as he gasped at me, surprised.

He regained a semblance of a spine, and then sneered. "You do not threaten me, little tramp. You have no idea who I am, and so I will forgive you, if you acknowledge your insolence, and the fact that you and your entire family are nothing but dirty peasants." He smirked.

I stood in front of him, about ten feet away, and then shifted, and in one fluid move cut out his tongue with my sharp claws, ripping his knowledge out of his mind as he screeched, and took his shadow off of his body, with two of Caleb's spells. Then I magically ripped out his vocal cords completely, halting the screeching. I punched him once, and he was out.

I looked around at the shocked and panicked faces, and shifted back. I addressed them gently, and met each and every pair of eyes. "I am many things... But a liar and a coward are not among them. I said I would rip out his tongue if he insulted my family again. I trust no one else will repeat the follies of an ignorant man."

I stood next to Riley again, and she sighed. "I apologize for my charge's... Exuberance. Let's just calm down, hmm?" She hummed.

Chami chuckled dryly, and coughed once into a fist. "Feisty isn't the right word... Fiery? Yes. Fiery girl. What do you think?" She asked Riley.

"Possibly... Now, the DNA test shouldn't be necessary, but let's get it over with. The Grimoire, Erie?" She asked.

He hummed, and nodded, producing a small leather-bound book. He tossed it to me, and I caught it easily. I raised an eyebrow. "Where's the lock?... Oh, there isn't one. What, do I read it?" I opened the book, and hummed at the title written on the first page.

'Heere There Be Dragon's... and Whores' was written on the Title Page, and signed 'Caleb Johnson.'

I opened the first page, and blushed. The first page was a moving image of a tall, well endowed woman, her shapely body swaying alluringly as she slowly stripped out of her clothes, dancing smoothly.

She slowly stood, and a pole rose from the ground, and then she began to cling to it, moving her nigh-naked body to wrap the pole in a clear innuendo.

I looked away finally, snapping the book closed. "Damn you, Caleb... I'm a 10 year old Girl... I don't need those images..."

"What is it?" Erie raised an eyebrow.

"It's pornography. The title is 'Heere There Be Dragon's... and Whores'." I sniffed derisively.

He blinked, and then laughed uproariously. When he eventually calmed, he wiped his eyes. "Ahh, yes. I believe it. Anyway, opening the book would have been impossible if you weren't his heir anyway, so it's fine."

"I knew the man, and yes, that sounds like him... I feel bad for Jazz and Ira, having to have dealt with him for 350 years. Ouch..." Empress Dowager Chami chuckled.

"Oh, they enjoyed every moment. Now for Magic? You've shifted, but protocol calls for a test of magic. If you would do some of the more complicated magics Caleb was capable of, my dear?" Erie chuckled and nodded, sobering.

I subtly tucked the book in my shirt, and resolved to yell at Caleb later. (Then read the rest of the book...)

Riley smirked. "Well then... Let's move outside... Caleb's level of magic cannot be practiced indoors."

---

"Is this sufficient?" One of the many craggy elders snapped as we entered a large and empty garden of the palace, one of the only ones.

I hummed, nodding. "Yes. This should do fine. I hope the emperor doesn't mind charred grass..."

I began speaking in my magical tongue slowly, choosing my words and vocabulary specifically.

Clouds started gathering, and spinning, making a sphere above us slowly, with random splotches missing as the clouds moved within the barrier.

"We've seen more than enough, you're clearly a simple Mage-"

Lightning struck the ground, shutting off the man's chatter. Then lightning struck me, again, and again, filling me with magical energy.

I pushed it back after draining the skies for almost 300 miles, and made a living tree out of lightning, with clouds for leaves. It was almost 2 miles tall, and the surface was as cold as ice, as it absorbed heat, giving off light, and attracting and eating more lightning.

Clouds and sunlight would be its sustenance, and it set its roots deep into the earth under us, Miles and miles of roots. I quickly had the idea to make vines from it to act as power lines, finally making power accessible to the entire city.

I raised the poles out of the stone, and began lacing lightning between poles, in a living energy form.

I grinned, sagging in exhaustion, and leaned against Riley. I winked at the empress, then smirked at the newly returned and amazed lords who'd disrespected me earlier. "Ha! Take that, ya fecking Twat's!" I saluted sarcastically, and then sat down heavily, cracking the stones under me.

Riley chuckled. "I'm gonna throttle him for teaching you that word. Ladies don't say-"

"Ladies can go suck a fat one, because I ain't one." I crossed my arms, and huffed a small stream of fire out of my nose. "I'm not a lady, I'm a Lord, ain't I? That means I'm a man, in the eyes of the Council. That means I can do and say as I please!"

She hummed. "Dammit... You're technically right, but you're still my charge, and you'll be respectful of those who respect you, and you'll be respectful of the Empress, if nothing else." She narrowed her eyes.

I nodded. "Alright, but no one has shown me respect, so I'm sure I don't have to respect any of them yet." I shrugged.

She narrowed her eyes again. "You know, You have to be SMART before you're a SMARTASS, otherwise you're just an ASS."

I grinned. "You know you love me. Anyway, is that the end of all this?" I asked the Empress, who was watching our exchange with a mixture of amusement and adoration.

She smiled again. "Indeed. Though, your claim that you're a male does need some... Review. Though, again, if that's what you want, we can leave it as it is. Moving on. The matter of Caleb's Grand-Mastery's."

"What about them?" I blinked. "Do I need them?"

She chuckled. "I'd say yes. And you have them, obviously. That also means that you are an honorary member of the Council, until you're of age." She nodded.

"What's 'Of Age'? 18?" I hummed.

She nodded, and Riley grinned. "Well, the college semester starts in three days, right?"

"Four, if you don't want to attend that annoying formality they call an orientation. But I'd happily give you access a few days early, so you can go to Caleb's Island. It's about a mile off from the port, and you can't miss it, as it's the center of all things electronic on the planet." She grinned.

I smiled and nodded. "Let's do that, then."

---

I looked down at my arms, and realized my Skin Story had grown. Small waves of crops circled my forearms in beautiful tribal patterning, and then my left bicep held a depiction of me ripping out the man's tongue, and the right one held a picture of my electricity tree, and my making of it.

The man's shadow was laced through my left bicep, darkening the skin as a whole, instead of a certain image. As I watched, it slid onto my back, and out of my sight.

Riley smiled at me. "Amazing, isn't it? Those will shrink, as you do other great things, but for now, that's your entire story."

I grinned. "It's amazing, yes. I can't wait for there to be more!"

"You can wait, that's an untruth. You just don't want to. Now, we're coming up on Caleb's Island. Be ready." She warned me.