To Aijiasun, who had held the Book of Dragons for more than two centuries, the habits of these dragons were all too familiar—especially those Metal Dragons who fancied themselves righteous and kind.
When dealing with Chromatic Dragons, you might still need to play a few little schemes against them. If you ran into one that was cautious by nature, though, it would flee with astonishing speed:
Swallow its treasure, kick off with both legs, and vanish without a trace.
Metal Dragons, on the other hand, were much easier to deal with. So long as you did not fear their habit of rallying friends and their tendency to blacklist people within Metal Dragon circles, kindness itself was the best thing to exploit.
Thus, he had no need to make any further demands of Alabeth. So long as he served as her trump card whenever she hesitated or retreated, she would throw everything on the line and keep driving the battle line deeper into Calidyrr, toward the Kendik Royal Court, until it was occupied.
When facing such a resolute rebel, all you usually needed was to offer a little help at the crucial moment. They would reveal an unprecedented madness, bringing you a delightful surprise.
Sammaster had been like this back then, and Aklam later on was the same. Compared to those two masterpieces of his life, this "overage female mage" was merely a convenient tool he had picked up as an unexpected bonus during a hunt. There was absolutely no need, nor any reason, to invest too much effort in her. Once his goal was achieved, whether she lived or died had nothing to do with him.
And this marquis's daughter from Mirabar did not disappoint him. With victory within arm's reach, she immediately committed all her direct troops, driving those