A Draconic Rebirth - Chapter 79
Sorry for this one being a few hours late. Life decided against me posting right away. Enjoy!
— Chapter 79 —
He landed as gently as he could and the pair quickly leaped from his back. They huddled nearby in shock and spoke among themselves in their distinctive tongue. The Speaker stepped across the mold covered ground and pressed her hand against the massive, solitary Elder tree. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a long, long time. She finally broke away with tears in her eyes and sat down as she began to heave oddly and a heavy sap-like substance oozed out of her pores, David realized suddenly that she was crying.
“What happened Speaker?” He rumbled as he lowered himself closer to the ground.
She began to have a coughing fit as more blood splattered out of her mouth, “The Elder has lost most of its sanity. The strain was too much. It just kept repeating the same thing about the mold over and over again. She is releasing every bit of affinity she gathers as well.”
David nodded his head as he closed his eyes and reached out once more with his Genomic Mastery and focused it onto the mold that covered everything. It didn’t take long for him to confirm his suspicions, “The affinity is being absorbed by the mold and I would guess is feeding them.”
The Speaker, in between coughs, nodded her head, “The Elder is doing it on purpose then!”
David nodded his head as he motioned to the mold that covered the Elder tree, “The mold is competitive with the disease. It is in its best interest to fight it off. The Elder, most likely by accident, discovered this.”
The Speaker’s eyes went wide, “But why?”
David rumbled for a moment before speaking, “Nature is competitive at all sizes, Speaker. Even mold has enemies and needs defenses to fight against them. There is a substance that this mold produces and you can cultivate it into a medicine that will fight back against the disease.”
“This could change everything!” The Speaker exclaimed. David nodded his head as he leaned forward and washed a Healing Breath over her. The fog clung, sunk deep and soon her breathing cleared. He turned to the other bark folk, who had also begun coughing, and healed him of his affliction too.
“My affinity can cure it. There is only one of me and even if you gave me every amber you had on hand I have doubts it would be enough. You understand why I showed you this first, right?” He rumbled.
She nodded her head slowly as she took a deep breath, “Yes. Despite having you and your affinity bound to our sacred gifts it isn’t a practical solution. We must look elsewhere.” She bent down and pulled out a beautiful iron knife from her pouch. She carefully cut away at material covered with mold and began to set it aside.
David rumbled in amusement, “I have an idea. Keep cutting away slices and set them up in a row.” David looked over at the warrior as he huffed, “Warrior. Help your Speaker.”
The warrior bark folk looked at him with confusion before the Speaker spoke up quickly in her rapidly changing tongue. The warrior nodded before he pulled free their own blade and jumped to her help. It didn’t take long for the pair to cut out dozens of circles of mold and set them nearby.
David took his time to look at each mass of mold and quickly concluded that they all shared the same genome. He had quite a bit of experience now dealing with fungi and he was already able to pick out significant DNA clusters that had influence over different properties he was interested in tweaking. His Genomic Copy and Genomic Paste wouldn’t cut it this time and he planned to impart more of his intention behind his affinity now. He took a heavy breath and focused his affinity downwards as much as he could with Genomic Paste but instead of having a template to insert into place he focused on what he desired. He understood the fundamental mechanics behind what he was doing but now he needed to let his affinity and his will power do the work.
He began to shiver and tremble in pain as he focused. He twisted his affinity into a slightly different use than it was used to and like all the times before it the pain was intense. It took some time but he heard and felt a pop of success before he let out a gasp of relief. He quickly hushed the concerned bark folk as he steaded himself to peer back into the structure of the mold’s genome once more. He grinned wide as he spoke, “A success.”
His prompt pinged him a second later.
Life Affinity expanded. Genomic Alteration learned.
David settled into a seated position as he pointed at the mold he had just worked on, “Speaker.
Take your samples but that one will aid your people most.”
Even as David spoke the mold was already growing before their very eyes. The affinity in the air was disappearing as the mold spread rapidly. David continued as he motioned at it, “I have altered it. It will grow as quick as it can manage as long as it is supplied affinity to feed it. Pack it away and use it as a seed to grow more for your medicine. Be warned though that too much affinity and it might grow too big too fast or burn itself out.”
The Speaker once again was taken aback as she stared up at David, “Almighty Onyx, one cannot just change a living creature. How?”
David sighed as he stood tall. He watched them carefully pack away the still growing mold as he motioned to his back, “I have my own secrets, Speaker. Let us just leave it at that.”
She dropped it after that and they quickly climbed his back after they both gave the Elder a long good bye. They both seemed depressed from their goodbye conversation with the lone Elder. The journey back to their camp was quiet and uneventful. The journey back through the bark folk’s root teleportation system was as bizarre and confusing as the first time. In a split second he was dragged through miles upon miles of roots and spit out into the familiar village of the bark folk. He sat and gathered himself as the dizziness settled and the pair quickly excused themself.
By the time David felt normal again they had returned with news. The Speaker had a smile on her face, “Almighty Onyx. We spoke and shared our experiences with our Elders. They wish to speak with you.”
David rumbled a bit as he considered it. It had been only a short amount of time since he last spoke with them and he was still doing okay on his timeline. He finally nodded his head and was quickly guided to the central Elder tree. He repeated the ritual, murmured the words that were expected of him and he was greeted with a familiar prompt.
An invitation to speak with Elders has been extended to you.
Accept Y/N?
He of course accepted and felt his very essence pulled forward into the tree. It took a while before he opened his eyes and when he stared down his body was a blur. It wasn’t quite human but instead was blurry with spots of scales spotted over his flesh. David gaped a bit in confusion before a voice broke his daze, “Onyx. Do not be frightened. Remember that your form is simply a reflection of your inner being. It is natural that things change over time.”
David looked up to see the familiar multi-faced bark folk Elder standing before him. There were others and it felt like he had the eyes of every single Elder connected to their network this time. He took a deep breath and nodded before he took a seat, having to pull a wing sticking out of his left shoulder blade to the side to fit in the chair.
“Elders. It is a pleasure. I did not expect to talk to you all so soon.” David’s voice came out with a mix of a human and dragon vocal cords. He closed his eyes for a moment and calmed himself. In the end he was in a virtual world of the mind so his appearance didn’t matter. He felt his mind calm finally before he opened his eyes and awaited the Elders' response.
“The Speaker, as you know her, has shared with us all that has happened. We were hopeful that your unique perspective would give us some insight but will this mold truly be the fix we need?” The many voices spoke at once.
David nodded his head slightly, “Yes and no. It is hard to describe but the mold produces what we call an antibiotic. It is a specialty compound that specifically targets bacteria.”
The faces shifted and then a new voice spoke, “Life exists on all levels. Even our roots rely on things that we can sense but cannot see.”
David smiled and nodded, “Exactly. The thing attacking your kind isn’t doing it to be malicious but its…” He took a moment to think, “method of reproducing or simply interacting with plants and animals happens to have a dramatic and, I am afraid, deadly effect when it comes to your people.”
The many voices spoke again, “We will need to find a way to extract this anti bacteria substance then.”
David nodded again, “Yes. You have a wide variety of affinity and knowledge here. I have used my own to alter the samples brought back. They will grow as fast as you feed them raw affinity. You will have to experiment with what works for your people. I imagine you will need a different approach for your young folks versus the older tree Elders.”
The many faces hummed in thought as David continued, “I can engrave some more of your amber with my affinity. It will heal your people if you have enough affinity. Realistically though how many of your people exist? How many Elder? Thousands? More? You will need a method that can scale better like the mold.”
The many heads stopped humming as they spoke, “Will this bacteria adapt in time?”
David raised his eyebrows in surprise, “You Elders are terrifying you know that. Yes in time they will. You will need to look for more antibiotics. They exist and once you know what to look for you will realize quickly that they are everywhere. “
The many Elder dipped low, “Thank you for your time. We have much to consider and you have a war to fight.”
David stood up and gave a bow as he began to turn to leave. The Elders spoke out once more as one, “We will advise the youth to offer you support. The Queen must be dealt with.”
Before David could respond he was gently but forcefully ejected. He gasped and pulled free from the massive tree. He shook his head with a rumble and looked down at the Speaker, “They are pleased. You will need to confirm what they said and speak with your leadership but I have a request.”
The Speaker bowed low, “What is it?”
David rumbled as he dipped low, “I need as much Voracious Ravager meat as your people can supply. I have a hunch and it might be the deciding factor in this war.”
She translated to the warrior near her and received an odd look. The Speaker laughed as they talked, “The meat is not great. Too little fat. We do not make it a priority to keep much around but I will speak with the leaders. Will it really make that much of a difference?”
David nodded his head as he spread his wings, “It is a gamble Speaker but I do believe so. Speak with your people and if you need anything please ask.”
The Speaker bowed once more as David spread his wings and took off. It didn’t take long for him to climb out of the forest and get high enough to enjoy the long glide home. He allowed his mind to wander and enjoy this moment of peace before greeting death once more.
Here is also a link to Royal Road
Posted Mar 7, 2026, 11:26 PM UTC