I am not a king! Every morning I clench my teeth to keep the prayer from coming out of my mouth, even though it is true that I cannot let the guards or the servants know that I have not been a king since the moment I was born.
My father was a first class wise man, always attentive to his people, no one mattered, his greatest friends built a great monument to his death, the successor was my brother, powerful warrior-magician, no one had the strength of his magic or the handling of his hammer, but oh misery! Seduced by the power of the elves, eager to improve and be number one, he decided to go with them, then my sister was discarded, the best administrator since my grandmother, she made an effort so that the economy was always stable, they brought me to the throne and said, you are the only man left, even with your 45 years you must be king, we were intimate friends of your father, so we can advise you in everything you have doubts, at that time with everything and everything, I still trusted them.
Then came the reforms, without realizing it, in less than five years, all of my father's trusted men were replaced by his friends, not to mention the accusation against my sister of having illegitimate desires over finances, from there everything went downhill, fifty years were enough to change the entire mindset of dwarven society, the population became poorer, lost purchasing power, warriors, Warriors, mercenaries and all those who were protected by the great merchants, prospered, but I did not oppose, the coffers continued to receive many treasures, exquisite crafts, amazing weapons of the best craftsmen, but they did not keep any for themselves, as much as I wanted to raise my voice, not only did they not listen to me, then they silenced me, immersed in their power, they devoured the dwarven people as much as they could.
One night fifty years ago (on my 148th birthday) a voice in my dream frightened me, it was terrible, merciless and cold, slow, painfully mocking, it spoke to me in my dreams for weeks, all the time ridiculing my reign, each time more and more intense, showing me images of my people suffering, of the dwarves fleeing through the tunnels, of all the people abandoning their homeland, When I couldn't stand it anymore, I shouted at her to give me solutions, not mockery, at that moment the voice stopped, she told me exactly what to do, how to take the power away from those bloodsuckers, I was so sure that it was my father or one of his gods who gave me his permission to rule, there I was still innocent.
With the suggestions of the one who bothered me in my dreams, I managed to tame these dwarves, although tame is an ugly word, I annihilated them, I used the elite guards against their combat systems, my warriors against all their mercenaries, I did not kill them, I would need them to recover all the riches, I thought I could be better than my father, that with all he would do for my people, this place would be much better, until he came to collect his price.
That night I could not forget it, the last of the great dwarf lords had surrendered his house unconditionally to the royal crown, he had taken several of the daughters of each house as servants, bodyguards and lovers, so if they tried to eliminate me they would have to kill their offspring, I went to sleep with a few extra jugs of beer, while I fell asleep I could only imagine myself on the throne, the day when I would look into the courtyards of the palace and all the dwarves would support me, At that moment a clap resounded in every corner of the place, the immense wall with the frieze of my father in warrior posture with his hammer raised now broke without anything to stop it, no one listened to me, everyone was still in the party, sitting without seeing a huge bone claw, when I destroyed the wall, some dead eyes watched the deepest of my being, "you will not forget the payment of the right of the ground. ... little king" the voice made me tremble, it was horrible, bone on bone, no tongue, no emotion, only malice tinged his words, when I managed to ask when I owed, he just laughed "all your weapons and gold stuff little scum, did you think I was helping you for the good of your people, you invaded my home, it is only fair that you pay compensation, I only did what was necessary so that you would have something to pay", as he spoke I could see him unfolding inside the main hall, Its claws crushed the invited dwarves, but only I was horrified, no one seemed to care, I was alone, when I woke up, I saw several dwarf skeletons in front of me, they had their hands raised in the typical gesture of demanding, my fate was cast.
More than seventy years have passed, I am old and without descendants, what I first wanted to give to my people, I gradually gave to the bone dragon, especially weapons, there was not a single beauty that someone forged in some distant city before these dwarves appeared, pure bone, only demanding what its master was looking for, I tried to send soldiers to look for him, but if I sent them from here to find him, who would defend me? That is why I have been testing this dwarf for months, he is someone who brings death, appropriately named Deathbringer, but I had to be sure he would be up to the task, the dragon must not know that I am looking for someone to finish him off, if I find out, I have tested him and it is time to meet him.
The meeting ended on a bittersweet note, he did not want gold, he did not ask for the things of his people (which is strange, roca celeste is one of the most scourged by my and the dragon's hosts), he only said he wanted a duel with me after defeating the dragon, duels are stupid things, it does not matter which head you remove, it matters which ones remain to perpetuate this crap, who would be left as king? The nickel-headed dwarves are greedy, the platian and deepdark dwarves are warriors, no one can reconcile the needs of an entire dwarven race, I cannot allow him to take me out of the way, I know that defeating the dragon will not be an easy task, my warriors will go after him without getting in his way, I tell myself that it is to protect him, to help him, to die for him, but no matter how much I say it, a part of me knows that I only do it to kill him when he is weak, so that after the death of the threats, my kingdom will be reborn as the empire that it was. ... with me as its true king! just as I eliminated all the great merchants so that it would be easier for me to manipulate their houses through their stupid sons.