Serepha descended slowly, cautiously, as if instinct told her that this island itself was a holy ground one she almost feared to tread upon.
Cassius could feel it too.
The air was different here—denser, richer, humming with a kind of magic that felt older than the idea of magic itself.
Each breath itself was like when you go on vacation somewhere like the carribean where each breath feel sort of like your drinking in the humidity in the air compared to more of the northern hemisphere of earth.
Lady Draconis herself landed upon a periphery of the island, looking almost reminiscent of the white cliffs of dover except for that the walls of this cliff were blood red.
Her voice broke the silence first.
"I forged this isle."
Cassius blinked.
Forged?
She raised a translucent hand, and the entire island seemed to respond—trees rustling, mountains humming, waters shimmering with recognition of their creator.
"Every grain of soil. Every stone. Every cliff. Every nesting hollow for a brood of dragons. All were shaped by my magic."
Cassius swallowed.
He had known she was powerful.
But this—
This was beyond even the wildest legends.
This was quite literally an act of creation akin to the feats of the gods themselves.
Lady Draconis's gaze softened, almost wistful.
"Long before Hogwarts was conceived, this was my sanctuary. The world's last haven for true dragons. Once the Muggle population became something we wizards could no longer control, and from them came those rulers seeking to throw numbers at my children causeing lossed by attrition rather than by skill."
Serepha rumbled, bowing her head in something like reverence.
Lady Draconis continued.
"True dragons seek the thrill of battle, hence why when there were many they often fought amonst one another to prove who was strongest, once they became the hunted even when they themselves tried to avoid human settlements i created this place for those that survived to live. But the island itself was a no combat zone for fear of their battles destroying the island itself as such many ventured off to fight one another never to return again."
She drifted downward, motioning for Serepha to follow.
They descended toward the island, and the view unfurled beneath them:
sprawling cliffs shaped perfectly for roosting
crystalline lakes steaming with natural magical heat
caverns lined with glowing veins of mana-rich stone
forests older than any known civilization
and roads—wide, smooth, carved for dragon talons, not feet
A world built by dragons, for dragons.
Lady Draconis's voice grew heavy.
"You my dear remain as the last of the true dragons born of my own flesh, thanks to dear sweet Cassius here. And short of producing further true dragons through alternate means such as evolution of Basilisks or other suitable races, egg laying itself remains the only form."
Her spectral dragon lowered its head.
"Hmm? But if Serepha is the only dragon how can she... you know lay eggs?"
"Simpled enough dear Cassius, as a confirmed Heir, thanks to your ability to elevate her, egg laying is something that happens naturally to Mature female dragons, but the rub comes down to Fertilization."
"... you're not about to say what i think you are are you?" Cassius deadpanned thinking the worst.
"That is right. You'll need to inject a drop of your blood and magical power into the eggs she produces this will serve as a form of fertilization making the dragon born a child of yourself and this child."
If a dragon could blush Serepha would be doing so hard right about now as her great head was turned fully to not give me a glimpse of any part of it.
"Ok so we can ressurect the noble race of true dragons in this way, but i mean wouldnt this just be a placeholder? Its not like we could ask them to interbreed doing so would simply produce genetic mutation and causing monsters to be created." Cassius warned using his Muggle genetic knowledge from the future to alert Lady Draconis.
"Mutation? Hehe my dear Cassius, True dragons are not your everyday magical creature, they are the pinnicle of earths magical creatures. As such being an apex predator they have never needed to evolve and as such built up a natural resistance to evolution. Basically meaning once reaching Dragonhood they have reached the peak and cannot change anymore."
"Huh... but wait if they cannot change how come you said previous true dragons who were captured were bred and resulted in the race of dragons known among wizardkind today to exist?"
"The 'dragons' kept by wizards today—the Horntail, the Ridgeback, the Opaleye—are not dragons. They are corrupted descendants. Mutated. Dim. Creations made either through Alchemy of True Dragon blood and other magical creatures effectively creating breedable chimera's that look like dragons, or forcing noble true dragons to breed with lesser creatures..."
Serepha recoiled at the word.
Lady Draconis agreed.
"A pale imitation of my kin. Made to be mounts and weapons, not sovereign beings. Watered down blood capable of being controlled and farmed by wizardkind enough that a team of adult wizards could take down an Elder dragon, but the same could not even think of ever matching a single teenage True Dragon."
Cassius felt sick.
All those creatures he'd seen in textbooks—dangerous, yes, but not intelligent like Serepha—it suddenly made sense.
Wizarding dragons were beasts.
True dragons were effectively people.
He had been mislead by his thoughts thanks to Norberta the simple dragon hatched by Hagrid, norberta was a norwegian ridgeback but even whilst looking like a dragon, she was such a far off cousin that to Lady Draconis she might as well ahve been called a Wyvern and not a dragon.
Lady Draconis floated ahead toward the central mountain—the one crowned with the towering citadel Cassius had already instinctively named.
Camelot.
Her voice softened with memory.
"This island was once filled with my children. My knights. My kin. My dragons."
She touched the air as if stroking the face of someone long gone.
"Now only the ghosts remember."
Cassius's chest tightened.
"…Is this why you brought me here?"
She turned to him slowly.
Her eyes glowed with a deep, ancient pride.
"I brought you here dear Cassius because in all the time i've known you and watched over you, i've come to realize that you will become a far greater power in this world than i ever could ahve been. I was to focused on my own realm, never bothering to understand or even wish to be involved in the exterior world, but you... you even before having access to my power, you'd already been well on your way to becoming a force to be recked with in both worlds."
She smiled faintly.
"So here where i honed my skills and raised my own realm i welcome you to a third world. Not Magical or Muggle. The world i once shared with my family, with my children."
Cassius felt the world expand around him.
"And… your husband? If this is…" He gestured helplessly at the castle. "…if this is Camelot—"
Her expression stilled.
For the first time since he'd met her, true emotion broke through the regal composure.
Not anger.
Not superiority.
But something gentler.
Sadder.
"Yes."
The word was quiet, but absolute.
"My husband was Arthur."
Cassius's breath hitched.
"King Arthur. Arthur Pendragon?"
Her lips curved.
"Pendragon was the muggle bastardization of his true name. He was Arthur Draconis. King of Dragons. Rider of the Black Dragon Akon_Kagura. My beloved. And the father of the founders."
Serepha trembled beneath Cassius, overwhelmed by the history saturating the air.
Lady Draconis lifted a hand and pointed toward the great castle atop the mountain.
"Come, heir. Come to Camelot. This was our kingdom, a place we once sought to create the perfect refuge, a place where we and those who agreed with our vision could live in peace and develop.
But our peace and prosperity attracted those with greed and malice, that was why our kingdom fell, and we retreated our grand fortress to this hidden isle but thanks to repeated betrayals the number of loyalists remaining was enough only to guarentee that we could survive for another hundred or two years before we simply would die off."