The Dragon's Kiss

As Calix, Ira and Thane all worked preparing every detail for the eventual day of rebellion, they soon encountered an unexpected problem.

The problem, strangely enough, hadn't crossed a single one of their extraordinary minds until Itzae brought it to Calix's attention.

"So, how will you earn their loyalty?" Itzae questioned, resting in his and Calix's quaint house during a week-long break from his travels.

"What do you mean?" Calix asked.

The boy had just finished explaining the meticulously plotted plans created by himself and his allies. The plans covered the time leading up to the rebellion along with the beginnings of how Calix would proceed to take over the continent.

"I plan to first improve the flow of goods through the empire by lifting the monopo-"

"No, Young Lord," Itzae interrupted. "You informed me of the places you'd first send the army to capture, but you never told me how you'd ensure the army's loyalty."

Calix's brow furrowed as he pondered his teacher's remark. Was this a trick question? Surely the issue of the army's loyalty would resolve itself within his carefully crafted strategy.

"I guess I don't understand," he finally confessed.

"Silly child," Itzae chided. "You're young. You don't have a single drop of the emperor's blood. You lack the support of the most powerful faction in the empire. Simply wearing a king's crown won't make you a king."

"I see," Calix replied thoughtfully. "I accounted for pushback from the nobles at first, but I've concluded that the increase in the empire's wealth will eventually win them over."

"It's not enough," Itzae clicked his tongue. "Benevolence will never sufficiently secure their devotion. Just as you've already figured out, fear is the second best way to motivate loyalty."

"The second best?" Calix tilted his head. "Then what is the first?"

Itzae chuckled. "Don't think too hard; you already know what it is. It's love."

"But doesn't benevolence lead to love?" Calix quipped. "And isn't fear the opposite?"

"The strongest love," Itzae remarked, "blossoms only from deep-rooted fear."

"That.. doesn't make sense," Calix shook his head.

"Think about it in a different way," Itzae continued. "A benevolent leader will gain his people's affections, but those affections can be lost as soon as hard times happen upon the land or they become convinced of a better leader."

"That's true," Calix assented. He had been relying on the very fact to secure his allies against Anselm.

"But love motivated by fear, the kind of love given to someone so revered that the people tremble at the thought of incurring his wrath," Itzae remarked, "is an unbreakable loyalty."

"That sounds like the kind of devotion only a god could achieve," Calix scoffed.

"You're exactly right," Itzae smiled.

"You must become a god, Calix."

***

"Become a god?" Ira spat. "What kind of fairytale nonsense is that?"

"Oh! My grandmother used to tell me stories of gods living on top of the great mountains in the north!" Thane proclaimed. "Maybe we can travel there and go ask them-"

"Are you stupid?" Ira scowled. "Surely at sixteen, you've learned how to distinguish reality from fantasy."

"Calix's teacher was the one who said it first," Thane pouted.

"If nobody follows the king, is he truly a king?" Calix murmured amidst his friend's bickering.

"What? Of course not?" Thane answered, gratefully turning away from Ira's berating.

"It's the people who make a king," Calix went on, "and it must be the same for a god."

"So we just need to make the people believe you're a god," Ira sighed.

"Great! That sounds far easier than becoming a real god," Thane smiled.

"Again…" Ira growled, "are you stupid?!"

A long discussion among the three boys ensued, each of them producing and then rejecting ideas. After the better part of an hour, it seemed Calix was no closer to becoming a god than when they'd first begun arguing.

"What is a god anyway?" Ira exclaimed in frustration. "Besides a being who is stronger than a human?"

"Strength and intellect above that of a normal man," Calix recited softly, thinking of Itzae's words from long ago.

"Right, exactly," Ira huffed. "But how do we achieve that?"

If Itzae was correct, Calix already possessed the traits of a god according to Ira's definition.

But how could he use them in a way to convince the people?

"Maybe you could learn an impressive magic trick?" Thane suddenly suggested.

Ira immediately began to complain, but Calix put up a hand to silence him.

A trick? Something the people had never seen before and could only attribute to godly strength?

As he pondered the idea, Calix was suddenly reminded of his childhood in Subterra. He hadn't thought much of it until now, but, unlike the uncomfortably cool home he was currently in, the houses in Subterra were effortlessly kept at a pleasant temperature year round.

Not only were the Subterrans capable of heating their buildings without fire, they also found a way to cool their buildings when the underground air became hot and humid.

That wasn't the only notable advancement in Subterra. Growing plants without sunlight, building whole castles right into the ground, and even creating miraculous medicines were all part of daily life in the underground community.

Calix knew Itzae believed the dragon's blessing of old had practically died out from the people, but perhaps that wasn't entirely true.

"I should go see my family," Calix finally spoke.

"What? The empress??" Thane gaped. "Are you crazy?"

"Ah, no, not that side of my family," Calix corrected. "But now that you mention it, I believe there is someone in the palace I ought to visit before I go."

He immediately rose and headed toward the door, his mind flooded with new ideas. Becoming a god wouldn't be as hard as he thought so long as he had the power of dragons on his side.

"Oh, don't follow me," he commanded his two friends who had leapt up and reached for their coats.

Thane and Ira shrugged at each other before obediently sitting back down.

"Do you know what he means about his family?" Thane asked.

Ira shook his head.

"You know, the more time I spend with Calix, the more I'm convinced I know nothing about him."