After hearing Vaile say those last few words, Vyviir knew that he had fucked up. In all of his haughty, arrogant, prideful, hubris-ridden time alive as of late, he had just assumed that he knew everything and that the rules of this trial were simple.

This was not the case. No, it was most assuredly, most definitely, absolutely, entirely not the case. Nope, not by a long shot. He honestly expected it would be simple, he would ravage this land faster and more completely than his bitch of a daughter could and claim the vast wealth in his numerous hordes as his own, and just like that he would claim absolute victory.

But, no, this was not to be. As the rules were read out, Vyviir, or rather, the being that was currently manipulating Vyviir’s mental faculties, realized that this Trial was not something it could win if it or its puppet acted lazily. While somewhat complex and overly Byzantine, the basic gist of the Trial was pure common sense, at least if you went and used the common sense that would arise from hearing the name of the Trial.

While overly complex at times, the rules were essentially, at their simplest, as follows.

Rule 1: Both Parties must abide by the judgment of the Judge, who also acts as the Jury. Failure to do so will result in immediate forfeiture of the Trial.

Rule 2: The Judge and Jury must be a being of greater strength and higher societal standing than all participants in the Trial, and this must be agreed upon by both parties and a majority (4/5) of lesser members of the societal structure.

Rule 3: Both parties start at Zero Wealth, and all that they have hoarded or otherwise taken ownership of prior to the start of the Trial are not able to be counted, even if one or both parties involved in the Trial attempt to or succeed in seizing these repositories.

Rule 4: Both parties must limit their power to be equal in all respects barring knowledge and skill. Size must also be limited to be equal to the smaller participant/ participants of the Trial.

Rule 5: Neither party involved in the Trial may, by action with direct intent, physically harm the member/ members of the other party under any and all circumstances.

And finally, the rule that made Vyviir sweat bullets (not that he could due to being a dragon).

Rule 6: In the event that the Trial takes place between the ruler of the Dragon’s Domain and any and all heirs to their position, Lord Vaile will, by default, be the Judge and Jury, and will be able to hand down any verdict regardless of the desires and performance of any and all parties, participant or otherwise. Failure to abide by this rule will result in the offending party forfeiting the Trial.

As Vaile read out the last few words of those six major rules, Vyviir shot a side glance at his insubordinate whore of a daughter and his eyes narrowed in silent fury as she mockingly flashed him the mother of all shit-eating grins.

Well, he was too deep now to back out, and he could tell that something was wound around his very existence, meaning that if he did try and weasel his way out, he would only end up being robbed of everything. However, his mind did come up with one idea that could, quite possibly, turn the odds permanently into his favor.

Monarkea was in the habit of raising those ‘Heroes’ that were supposed to culminate their journey by attempting to slay her. Maybe he could use the current one to do exactly that, ending his treasonous whore of a daughter’s life before the Trial ended and thus allow him to claim victory by default.

Ah, it was a wonderful plan and a masterful scheme.

But he grossly overestimated the power and capabilities of the current ‘Hero’.

And he also underestimated the sheer denseness and stupidity that his chosen weapon was capable of.

This would not go well for him.

…

“On your marks. Get set.” Vaile paused for dramatic effect as the now equally massive pair of dragons braced for their initial starting rush. “Go!”

He was glad that he had put up a barrier ahead of time, as the pair of dragons rocketed off with such force that the backblast of their initial propulsion alone would have easily sent him flying to the terrain behind him with enough force to do some decent damage. As the dust settled and the dragons that had come to observe this new tradition looked on, both Vyviir and Monarkea sped off in different directions, leaving Vaile to pop out a fine chair and get some popcorn ready.

“My Lord is this truly wise?” asked a dragon in a respectful tone. “For the changing of command to be done like this… was there no other way?”

Vaile took off his mask, causing the nearby female monsters to swoon. Ignoring this, he tossed a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth as a series of rectangular, semi-transparent holographic screens began to show the actions of the two dragons as well as the sounds of their activities.

“Yeah. Yeah it is. You’ll hopefully never need to find out why, but if and/ or when you do, you’ll immediately understand why this was necessary.” Vaile sighed and looked at the screen showing Vyviir’s activities. “You’d best pray that you never have to find out. Ignorance is bliss, after all.”

As he downed another handful of popcorn, Vaile watched as Vyviir descended in front of a single Human and began to attempt to wheel and deal with him. As their dialogue progressed, or rather, failed to progress, the other screen showed that while her father was attempting to set in motion plans that would see her killed, Monarkea was using her wealth of experience to push the result of the Trial ever more in her favor.

With a single breath, she reduced an entire town to ashes and smoke, all while turning every animal in the place into a sculpture made of any number of precious metals or other valuable materials, all of which were still very much alive and cognizant of their current state, yet powerless to do anything about it. As she razed settlement after settlement, Vyviir continued to try and talk a brick wall into moving for him.

And you can imagine how well that was going for him, can’t you?