Titan King: Ascension of the Giant Chapter 1721: A New Sovereign Dawns

The moment the talk turned to that fresh batch of Snail-Dragons just brought in, the dead fat man Nico lit up all over, no end of money-making notions turning over and over in his head, slow to settle.

"Fat man, don't go getting crooked ideas about the Snail-Dragons. After Her Majesty takes the throne, she means to announce them publicly—a near-free public mount built for the Horde's common folk, a deeply important system. That's Her Majesty's own achievement. Touch it and you die." Kadir's eyes went wide, his look grave past measure.

"Eh, I get it, I get it. You ought to know, though—there are far too many Snail-Dragons; Stoneheart City can't use them all. Past keeping a breeding stock, there are plenty of Snail-Dragons to roll out to the Horde's other cities." Nico had it all worked out, full of his own reasoning, his small eyes narrowing till they all but flashed with stacks of gold coins. "Stoneheart City's beyond our reach, sure. But the number of Snail-Dragons parceled out to the other cities—mightn't that be open to a little discussion?"

Nico winked at Kadir, that familiar look and familiar way of going about things leaving Kadir at a loss for words.

"Heh. Brother, you've just joined the cabinet, your footing's not steady yet—don't colleagues need to exchange a few gifts, trade a little benefit? At a time like this, doesn't a Snail-Dragon allotment quota count as a chip?" Fat Nico clapped Kadir on the shoulder, his oily fat face all but printed with the words: Brother, this is how people and favors work—you follow me or not? "Besides, the public mounts may be near-free, but they're not truly free—a single copper of riding fee per head adds up to an astronomical figure. The Snail-Dragons will only grow in number, and once you net out the cost of feeding them, the more Snail-Dragons you've got, the higher the profit you pull down the line. It's a perpetual, sustainable channel of income, the very foundation of a city's economic growth. The Horde's city-lords, long as they're not fools, will come fighting over them like mad."

Nico laid it out point by point. The Stoneheart Horde was short of neither mounts nor breeding-dens; the reason it had yet to roll out a proper public mount was purely that no suitable breed had been found. Mounts as steady and load-bearing as the Snail-Dragon—eating either fodder or meat, easy to keep alive—weren't thick on the ground. Beyond that, mounts mild of temper, easy to tame, and peaceful and placid to look at besides, were a rare thing indeed. Elara's taking a liking to the Snail-Dragon had its reasons.

"You go easy. Don't run afoul of Her Majesty. This is the early stretch of Her Majesty's reign—if you trip up, no one can save you." Kadir fell to thinking. He reckoned there was wide room to work in what Nico described, but a word of warning was still in order.

"Once I get in—" Kadir meant to say more, then chose to shut his mouth all at once. Just then, the horn-call that had sounded long and unbroken across the whole city cut off, and the bronze bell in the square's bell-and-drum tower was struck—a marking of the hour, and a reminder both. Queen Elara's honor-guard was about to arrive; the Stoneheart Horde was about to greet the age of its queen.

"A new sovereign takes the throne, all the world rejoices, dragon and phoenix bring their blessing—may the Horde renew its every aspect, may its golden age last and last." Just as the horns fell quiet and the people sank into stillness, a voice grand as a great bell, vast as a god of the heavens, rang across earth and sky, surging into every corner of the Titan Continent.

It was Orion's voice—every soul of the Stoneheart Horde knew it, had heard it without number.

Before any of them could come back to themselves, two cries—one keen, one deep—sounded over Stoneheart City. Just then the dawn clouds broke, the glow gone gold and red, the cloud-sea churning, and a great dragon burst through the clouds while a phoenix beat its wings and rose. The dragon's eyes were like torches, its call far-carrying; the phoenix streamed light, its cry like a music of the heavens. Orion's word turned at once to working—dragon and phoenix bringing their blessing in truth.

"That's the fire-phoenix Fenyra—the one Lilith so often keeps at her side." Up on the spectators' platform, many of the people picked out the dragon's and phoenix's provenance at a glance, dragon soaring and phoenix dancing, setting each other aglow, and amid the gathering and scattering of auspicious cloud, every one of them marveled.

"The new sovereign comes, in radiance dazzling, ten thousand subjects bowing—may the Horde be harmonious and thriving, may it never decline." Orion's rich voice of blessing went on sounding across the heavens, lingering at the people's ears. The voice came like a spring wind, and spring returned to the land; the whole continent, the whole of Stoneheart City, seemed to have a soul breathed into it. In an instant, the buildings and old castles across every city woke, the watchtowers and arrow-towers kindled to life, and they bloomed with the most dazzling light, splendor ten thousand fathoms tall, shining over the continent, shining over the new age.

Towers gilt, glazed tile many-hued, holy statues lifelike, bells in chorus. Now there's a road of glory. Scamp had stolen half a day's idleness and lay sprawled on the shoulder of the statue raised to Orion's worship; from his vantage the whole city gleamed, holy light shooting everywhere. Ten thousand lights vied in brilliance, from far to near, laying down a road of glory for the sovereign soon to come.

At the road's end, longspears, great shields, red tassels, and cloaks showed themselves, and a troop of heavy-armored knights in full dress came marching. "The Queen approaches—all evil give way; where the procession passes, its might shakes the eight directions. All idle and sundry folk, fall back a hundred paces." A cry rich but not too forward rang out at the column's head: Anubis, astride a huge Snail-Dragon, walked at the very front. He held high the banner that belonged to Elara alone, the red cloak at his back spread on the wind, his bearing tall and straight. He was the road-breaking vanguard, the head of the honor-guard.

"Ha—that's my boy. Anubis, the pup I tossed to Her Majesty as a servant back in the day." Up on the platform, seeing his own pup so dashing and so risen in the world, Dirtclaw grinned ear to ear, ceaselessly showing off to Archelder, Onyx, and the others at his side. Dirtclaw was a demigod now, and the only ones in the Stoneheart Horde fit to keep him company were Archelder and the handful of old brothers.

"Hmph. The nerve, bringing it up. A stunt like forcing your lackeys in—only you'd pull it." Archelder gave a snort, deeply put out. Back then Pallas and Elara hadn't grown up yet, still little ones, and the people hadn't so much as thought of assigning them guards early—who'd have figured Dirtclaw would seize on the gap, haul his own two little ones up before Orion, and slot them in beside Pallas and Elara, calling it servitude when it was really playmate work.

"Right—got the prize and crowed about it too." Onyx was sore as well; back then the old brothers weren't as shameless as Dirtclaw, couldn't swallow their pride, and so lost the first move.

"Heh. Don't take it amiss, brothers. I didn't know better in those days. Once the celebration's over, come to my place—I've got good things to lay on." Not long ago Dirtclaw had made a trip to Blackstone City, killed no small number of enemies there, and traded for a good haul at the Wishing Tree. Back now, beyond attending Elara's accession celebration, he'd readied a gift for Archelder, the prophet, and the rest of the old brothers, and needed a chance to hand them over. "Besides, we've all still got our shot—the two youngest little highnesses aren't born yet, are they? When the time comes, each of our families hauls a little one over. They'll be demigod Mistresses—however they raise them, it'll be no worse than raising our own."

It was a reminder. Dirtclaw had it worked out: for fairness' sake, pups had to be lined up for the two future little highnesses as well. Of course, a demigod now, he couldn't well charge in alone; he'd have to sweep Archelder, Onyx, and the rest of the old siblings along to do it together. That way, those two demigod Mistresses likely wouldn't turn them down.

"Mm—a Gnoll through and through. Trust him to sniff this out." Beyond Archelder and Thundar—Onyx, Earthshaker, the succubus Yuga, Gronthar, the pandaren Taran, Slagor—the whole crowd of old brothers heard it and brightened at once. If their own little ones could back the right horse the way Anubis had, the future looked bright indeed. As for Archelder and Thundar, giants themselves, their offspring would get first pick for guard duty so long as they had the gift.

"Esteemed Lord Dirtclaw, Your Eminence—your reminder is like warm sun on a winter's day, warming our hearts, waking the lost lambs. You are the brightest lighthouse in the dark, lighting us, lighting the road ahead, you—" The succubus Yuga aped Dirtclaw's habitual bootlicking tone in praise of him, setting the whole crowd of old brothers roaring with laughter. Dirtclaw laughed along, smug and proud.

Amid that laughter, the honor-guard of blood-warriors from every race came marching in good order, salute-cannon and cheers and horn-calls sounding together, and the celebration formally began.

—

High in the heavens, scores of demigod phantoms stood ranked. Beyond the Stoneheart Horde's own people, most were allied powers from other worlds—some come for alliance, some come for the Ascendant Plane, the Mirage Void. At a moment so solemn, with Orion's god-might blanketing the whole continent, they could hide no longer and had to show themselves to offer congratulations, watching the ceremony quietly off to one side.

"The little one's grown up. Power and standing, resources in plenty, no want of gift—I can't find a reason she won't make demigod."