“Wait, pump your brakes there; you being a dragon, I can understand, but me? I'm not a dragon.”

  “Oh, but you are Henry, very much a dragon. You have a dragon's core and a draconic spiritual root. You might as well have scales at this point; that's how much of a dragon you are.”

  Henry sat there dumbfounded as this bombshell was dropped on him. When he heard about The Dragon’s Hoard, he had a vague idea that it might be an actual dragon’s hoard. He assumed that couldn’t have been the case, though, because it just felt like lazy writing in a trashy novel, but him being a dragon made Henry's head spin.

  “Can I have a drink, please? This is a lot to process,” Henry said, rubbing his forehead.

  “Of course, where are my manners? I must warn you though, it is quite strong,” the man, no the dragon, said as he took out a clean glass from thin air and poured Henry a drink.

  Henry slammed the drink and felt the liquor blaze in his core and meridians; it gave him some liquid courage for his next question.

  “So what do I call you?”

  The man pondered that question for a moment while he swished his glass.

  “Well, considering my relationship with your master, you may call me Martial Uncle Platinum.”

  “Fucking shit,” Henry cursed.

  “Language, Henry, we are not savages here.”

  Platinum put his drink down and steepled his fingers.

  “My brother has always been reckless and impulsive, but to think he would entrust his legacy to an otherworlder seems inexcusable.”

  Henry felt a little tinge of anger rise in him. Goldy was his bro, and no one talked shit about one of Henry’s bros.

  “Well, at least you are loyal; that is a surprisingly rare trait in humans,”

  “Umm, sir, Platinum, can you stop reading my mind,” Henry asked hopefully.

  “No”

  “Dually noted, sir; I apologize in advance if I’m being too impertinent, but if you aren’t going to murder me, and you know I’m your brother's disciple, then what are you going to do to me.”

  “Simple Henry, I will take back the money you cheated from me, and out of deference to my brother, I will let you leave unmolested,” Platinum said, almost like Henry was getting the better of him.

  Henry was getting tired of being called a cheater. He won that money fair and square.

  “Ahh, but you didn’t Henry; you cheated,” Platinum said, smiling a predatory smile again.

  “You see, my brother, your master, always had a knack for gambling until we caught on to what he was doing. You probably would have gotten away with it if you went to any other place and done what you did. Sadly, you walked into mine.”

  “Can you please just tell me what I did and stop being so mysterious about it,” Henry said, getting just a little fed up.

  “It’s funny for me to watch you struggle to see what is right in front of your face. Did you notice anything in the throes of your gold madness?”

  “I mean, I saw some stuff glow, but that's about it,” Henry said, still looking confused. “How is that cheating, though?”

  “You are dense, just like my brother; I guess the hatchling does not fall far from the nest,” Platinum sighed.

  “What you saw, Henry, was the potential of those numbers at the roulette table; my brother could see the likelihood of anything profitable to him. He also passed that trait along to you, but to a lesser degree.”

  Platinum looked at Henry intently. It was as if he was peeling apart Henry layer by layer with his eyes.

  “Could you please stop looking at me like that? It's freaking me out,” Henry said as he brought his arms around himself.

  “Oh, sorry about that, Henry, but you are so interesting. My brother has given you much of himself, to the point that I can not even speak with him in his current state. It makes me wonder what could have driven him to do such a thing.”

  Platinum strides over to Henry, and the grace with which he moves is frightening. He was like a big cat stalking a gazelle, and Henry was the gazelle. Henry shrank back in his chair, trying to seem as small and nonthreatening as possible.

  “My brother was self-centered even for one of our kind, which is saying a lot. So, I wonder why he would reduce himself to such a state. What does he stand to gain from all of this?”

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Platinum was behind Henry, with both hands on his shoulders.

  “What is he plotting? Why show himself now after being gone for so long? Come on, Henry, tell your martial uncle.”

  Yeah Henry, why don't you tell him, he is your master’s brother after all. What could go wrong? He wants to help you. Listen to him, Henry. Do what he says, Henry. OBEY HIM HENRY.

  “GET OUT OF MY HEAD”

  The voices stopped, and Henry could think again. This son of a bitch was trying to mind-violate him. Henry found that he was fuming. He had enough of all this mental fuckery.

  “Oh, simmer down, Henry; if I wanted to, I could crush your mind like a grape,” Platinum said as he released Henry from his grasp.

  “Just wanted to see if you could resist some prying. Whatever my brother's secrets, others will try to get it out of you. We can’t have that Henry, it would ruin our reputation.”

  “Thanks I guess, man you dragons are big on this the whole show don’t tell method of teaching huh?”

  Platinum chuckles as he walks back to his chair. Sitting down like an emperor ready to pass judgment, he says, “I think you’ve wasted enough of my time, Henry.”

  With a flick of his finger, Platinum pulled Henry’s bracelet off his wrist and into his hands.

  “I’ll be taking this.”

  Henry was about to say something stupid, but Platinum looked at him with that better not-push-your-luck look.

  “I won’t leave penniless, Henry; what kind of martial uncle would I be if I did that,” Platinum said as he pulled five gold coins out of his pocket and threw them at Henry’s feet.

  “Here you go don’t say I never did anything for you, now get out of my sight.”

  There was a knock on the door, and the same scary woman and her goons walked into the room.

  “You may take him, Isabelle; we are done here,” Platinum said dismissively, not even looking up from some document he was suddenly perusing.

  “Of course, my lord, come with us please, sir, we shall escort you out,” Isabell said with finality.

  Henry picked up the coins from the ground and sighed deeply; at least he was still alive after this interaction.

  “Oh, wait one second, Henry.”

  Henry locked up; maybe it was too soon to assume he would stay alive.

  “Oh, stop. I’m not a monster; I would never commit parricide. I just want to let you know, though, that if you ever set foot in one of my establishments ever again, I will have Isabell there kill you instead.”

  Henry looked at Isabell, who just stared back at him with her customer service smile.

  “Please, sir, let us be on our way,” Isabell said again, this time more forcefully.

  Henry was frog marched this time out of the Dragon’s Horde through what he assumed was the back door and dumped unceremoniously with the trash.

  Isabell gave him one last look, winked, and then closed the dimensional door on him.

  As he lay in the trash with the five gold coins, Henry realized he was broke, tired, and had no ki left.

  What a great start to his first day in Crucible City.

  ****

  “Isabell, attend to me please, my dear,” the dragon that called Henry knew as Platinum said into a crystal shard.

  A second later, there was a knock on his door.

  “You may enter.”

  “My lord, how may I be of service,” Isabell said, bowing deeply.

  “Have you assigned the proper people to watch over my nephew?”

  “Yes, lord, I have assigned four shadows to him,” Isabell said as she walked over to pour herself a drink from the bar.

  “What do you think of him, Isabell? Isn’t he just delightful,” Platinum said as he fidgeted with Henry’s bracelet.

  “He is crude, impulsive, and an embarrassment to your lineage, sire,” Isabelle scoffed as she put an olive in her martini.

  “You forgot a potty mouth too, Isabelle, but he is still my brother's legacy holder, so I will leave it up to you and your people to ensure that not too much harm comes to him.”

  Platinum throws Henry’s bracelet to Isabelle, who catches it deftly in the air.

  “That is your payment. Don’t coddle him, of course, but I have a feeling that boy will be a magnet for trouble, so do make sure that he doesn’t die.”

  “Sire, you have always been a softie,” Isabelle said with a chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t know what you see in him.”

  “It is not what I see but what my brother sees in him.”

  Platinum gets up and walks over to his window, which overlooks the whole of The Dragon’s Horde.

  “My brother is an idiot most of the time but he never picks a losing horse, I want to see what plans he has for dear Henry.”

  “Of course, sire,” Isabelle said softly.

  She knew that whenever her lord acted like this, there was some plot that he was hatching. Five hundred years of service, and she could read his moods like a book. This was the “I'm gonna make a big gamble, but I’m sure I'll win" mood.

  “If that is all, my lord, I will take my leave,” Isabelle said as she made for the door.

  Platinum held up one manicured hand for her to stop.

  “One last thing Isabelle, I know my martial nephew has plans on entering the Rookie Tournament, so if there are any issues with that goal, you will make it known that he has my favor and that barring his path, will be met with my displeasure.”

  “Understood, sire,” Isabelle said as she shuddered. Only an idiot would offend Lord Yinlong of The Dragon's Hoard. With that, she vanished from the room and left Platinum alone again.

  Platinum replayed in his mind's eye the scene of Henry leaking that golden mist from his body. He would recognize his brother's ki anywhere, but Henry’s was slightly different, alien, and almost otherworldly. It was indeed draconic, but it also had trace amounts of divinity.

  What was his brother planning? Platinum could play the long game. He could wait till his investment bore fruit, and then when it was ripe, he would add Henry to his horde.

  Help a Bro Out!