STARS SPARKLED AGAINST the deep indigo of the night sky. The whispering wind swirled around the solitary figure gazing out over the forest from a south-facing promontory of the split mountain home of the central Dragonway Temple.

“It’s been so long, Ti. Where are you?” Doom asked the sky. He spun at the sound of wings, barely catching himself from taking a step off the cliff as a familiar black and grey dragon with glowing blue-white eyes landed between him and the tunnel back into the temple complex. “Keth?”

Amusement radiated from the dragon god as he settled and folded his wings on his back. “You remember me.”

“I always remember threats to me or Tiwaz,” Doom pointed out acerbically. “In case they return.” He crossed his arms, still scowling. “Why didn’t any of you tell us who you were?”

“Would you have believed us if we told you we were gods? You barely trusted us as it was,” the dragon replied simply.

Doom opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again in annoyance. “I had suspected something,” the gromek grumbled, turning back to gaze over the forest again. “Ti was adamant the glyph shackles she bore could not be removed by anything but a god. She has never lied, but I thought Alimar had lied to her and dragons were that powerful.”

The dragon watched him, then turned his own eyes to follow the gromek’s longing gaze. “Remember, my son, what someone knows as truth is not necessarily true.”

Doom’s eyes widened at the familiarity of the accent and he spun back to stare at the dragon. “You! You were the wagoner who got us to the ship!”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Keth inclined his head. “In a manner of speaking. Juran does not exactly have a firm grip on reality, so it was easy to speak and act through him. Crossing the veil outside of places holy to us is draining.” The dragon regarded Doom steadily. “While there is always the risk he still could have suffered without proof of his involvement, when they examined him through magical means, he had no memory of that night.”

Cold shock closed around his heart like a fist. “Alimar had looked for us? Did he kill anyone because we fled?”

“Some suffered, but none were killed. Alimar’s attentions have returned to tormenting the living.” The dragon’s expression waxed aggrieved. “He has warded his estate heavily against divine eyes, so it is difficult to see within its borders. Between your mother’s race and those wards, I could not find you until you were in the temple.”

Doom blinked. “You…you were looking for me?” Keth nodded. “But not Tiwaz? Why?”

Eyes closed as Keth heaved a heavy sigh. “Perhaps it would be easier if I showed you something.” The dragon god’s form rippled, then suddenly changed, shrinking down until he stood before Doom as a gromek. His hide retained its draconic patterning, but the green hue of a gromek mottled the black instead of grey. Instead of having Doom’s yellow eyes, they were still blue, and he bore a tail.

Keth quickly grabbed Doom by the wrist, keeping him from toppling off the ledge in his shock. “You! I remember you! I was barely a year, but— You’re my father?” Doom shook his head. “No, it can’t be possible. I’m not—”

“Gods frequently couple with the races they answer to. Dragons coupling with other races is more common than most realize, regardless of divinity. We are more magic than matter, so form is less important to us than other races.” He gestured towards himself. “This is how I appeared to your mother.”

“Did she…know? That you were a god?”

“Not at first. I told her before I had to return to the divine plane.” He smiled, shrugging one shoulder. “This world is more magic than most understand, which is the root cause for there being so many races and why it shattered as it had during the war with the high elves.”

Doom frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Typically, everything occupies a niche and suits the environment it dwells within. You noticed yourself that if you needed a particular prey, you had to go where it lived. But it was rare to find unique animals sharing similar aspects.” Keth shrugged. “That is because for survival, they would compete for territory and drive out or kill anything that encroached. By the time most races evolve to being intelligent, they had already eliminated all competition.

“But on this world, windows would open for a time between this and other worlds. Some became stranded here and flourished. They even brought some stability to this world because their forms were so unchanging.” Keth looked from the stars back to Doom. “Only once at least one member of a higher evolved population undergoes transcendent evolution do they truly belong to this world. Gromeks and shape-shifters are two of many populations that remain in a transient state.”

Putting his hand to the side of his head, Doom walked past Keth away from the cliff edge. The god turned, watching him with a faint hint of concern. “I think I understand how Ti felt when I or Gareth tried to teach her something complicated and foreign to her.” He turned back. “What in all the hells is ‘transcendent evolution’ and what does that have to do with anything?”

“It is when a mortal becomes a god.” Doom blinked, then stared blankly. “Yes, I know. Most mortals define gods as omniscient, omnipotent, immortal beings who have existed since creation. They’re wrong.”

“They’re wrong?” Doom’s expression reflected his confusion. “Gods aren’t immortal?”

“Immortality is not defined by divinity, though the divine are immortal. See, dragons are immortal by their nature. Nevertheless, dragons have all the physical wants, needs, strengths and weaknesses that other mortals do. And they can die, just not of old age. You would imagine that we would have been the first gods, but we are some of the youngest. Until there were other races on this world, we had no need for gods.” He shrugged. “Not everyone can become a god. One must be born with a seed of all the non-divine magical energies within them.”

He put his hand over his heart. “They must also possess a passion about something. Not just a strong desire. It must be an all-consuming passion that gains admiration and followers. They must master themselves and their gifts, possess understanding of the world around them, and their part within it so profound, many call it enlightenment.”

“And that is when they become gods?” Doom asked slowly.

Keth nodded. “Prayers strengthen the bond the gods have to the mortal plane and allow us to hear our followers. Unfortunately, most gods are bound to the members of their parent race, sometimes to a group within their parent race, so what they can hear or do when it comes to anyone outside their race is limited.”

“Humans have a lot of gods,” Doom observed in dry tones. “My trainer told me about many of them. Not that praying to any did any good.”

“Humans are rather…prolific, despite their limited lifespan. I think they can have such intensity because their numbers allow them to sacrifice everything for their passions. However. Because dragons are native to this world, we can be the chosen god for any race, even those without gods of their own.” He closed his eyes. “Without a connection to the divine plane, those races are all but invisible to all gods, even my siblings and I. Unless prayer is directed to us to draw our attention.”

“So, because we didn’t worship you, you abandoned Tiwaz and me?” Doom demanded, the spines along his backbone rising in anger.

“Remember I said that gods are not omnipotent or omniscient? It was moreso for us since the temple had been broken shortly after the war. Without the central temple, the temples were isolated, and our perception of them and the world weakened and fractured.

“Most believed my siblings and I equally broken or gone entirely, which spiraled into a decline in those who believed in us, which degraded our ability to influence anything in this plane. Your mother happened to pray to me. She sought a mate who could defeat her in combat because no others were capable within her tribe. I confess, her blunt manner and matter-of-factness intrigued me. I remained on this side of the veil through your first year of life. Foolish of me, because I could barely see much less do anything when I returned. Sulnar kept vigil for me, but it was only when you took shelter in one of our lost temples outside of Shurakh Arln’s wards that you roused our notice.”

He reached for the pendant Doom wore, holding it in the flat of his hand. “And only because you kept the coins we gave you could we keep track of you. I dread imagining what would have happened to you if you’d not listened to your half-brother and never went to Dragons Gate.”

Doom looked up sharply. “Half-brother? I have a half-brother?”

“Yes. Gareth Tavarius.” He shrugged, unapologetic. “I have a soft spot for strong females of any race who yearn for a strong mate as passionately as they had.”

Stunned, Doom asked in exasperation, “Exactly how many siblings do I have? Is Tiwaz my sister?” Before Keth could answer, Doom frowned, focusing inwardly. “Wait. No, she can’t be. You all seemed to be confused by her. Sulnar and Veridian both insisted I abandon her.”

“You are correct. She is not your sister. Part of the magic in those glyph shackles were the same as what has been placed on that estate. After Sulnar removed them and we could see Tiwaz for who and what she was, we realized what Alimar has been doing.” Keth’s eyes flashed brighter in repressed fury. “He has been capturing the young of any race bereft of gods who also possessed very large magical capacity. In that way, when he told you there were no gods, he spoke the truth as most understand the divine.”

Doom blinked. “Oh, Ti.” Keth tilted his head, expression quizzical. “Ti always believed Alimar spoke the truth. Lies would have given her hope.”

Keth closed his eyes, sighing. “Too often, truth is merely in perspective. Neither of you were raised to pray to any gods, much less to the Dragonway gods. And it would not have mattered for your friend, regardless.” Doom was gratified to see his own anger mirrored in his divine sire’s eyes. “There was no one your Tiwaz could have prayed to for aid. No one could have heard her prayers because of those glyphs she bore. She may as well have been shouting from inside a sealed jar.”

The younger male turned towards a large boulder and punched it. A crack raced away from the point of impact and the halves shifted slightly in two different directions. Keth put a consoling hand on his son’s shoulder. “Thrahx Vaug, I am not here simply to tell you about the past.”

“You aren’t?” Doom regarded him dubiously. “Then why?”

“I am here to teach you how to use your own magic.” Before Doom could counter that he had none, Keth pointed out, “Gromeks have magic like dragons do. They simply only use it for flight because they prize physical prowess higher than mental pursuits. But you are my son, and if you are going to keep your promise to Tiwaz, you will need to be able to disguise yourself to reach your enemy.” He looked him up and down frankly. “You are incredibly distinctive.”

“My promise?” Doom straightened. “To live to see Alimar dead.” Keth nodded, a mirthless smile on his lips. “Don’t gods usually frown on killing others?”

“Believe me,” Keth replied grimly. “Every god, good or evil or otherwise, wants his arrogant throat ripped out.” He flared his wings. “I was not there for you when you were a child. No matter my power, I cannot change the past. But I can be as much of a father to you now as you’ll allow me.”

Doom turned away, gazing out over the forest in silence. Keth waited silently. The tip of his tail twitched, betraying his apprehension of his son’s response behind his otherwise impassive expression.

“Ti, I know you hate magic,” Doom murmured. “I hope you will be able to forgive me.” He turned back to Keth, meeting the dragon god’s eyes. “I always considered myself a gromek. I don’t know that I will ever see myself as anything else. But…I am also part dragon.” His visage darkened in a scowl. “I told Alimar I would be his doom. Before he dies, I want him to know I did not lie. Teach me. Father.”