The dragon sailed silently through the air. Its massive body was impressively sleek despite being incredibly long and measuring roughly fifteen meters from snout to tail. The dragon was not especially muscular and had a lithe build that belied its true strength. The beast could crush ice and had the power to smash through glacial walls.

  The dragon had ice-white eyes and deep within them, a visible fury swirled. But so too did something else: a smug satisfaction. The grim dragon was visibly eager, its claws vibrating with bloodthirsty delight at the thought of savaging frost giants and taking their lives.

  The creature was incredibly speedy. It sped through the icy, cloudless skies and its eyes could see for kilometers even at the speeds it was flying. The creature would occasionally be distracted by the rare, delectable morsel that was attempting to travel here or there atop the assorted glaciers or other solidly sized chunks of ice that floated through the icy sea.

  That said, in a testament to the beasts willpower, an especially rare trait in ice-dragons, it managed to overcome any and all temptation brought on by the sight of easy meals. It was saving its hunger for meals that would be more satisfying: the delicious taste of frost giant flesh.

  I ignored all of the sounds around me and listened quietly to the beating of distant wings. I heard the force and hatred that spurred them on and smiled. At last, I closed my eyes, insofar as my thought-form had eyes, and killed the blizzard that was beating around me. The eldritch weather died as abruptly as it started, and in the span of time it took the human heart to beat three times the last of the snow and ice had fallen to the floor and at last the giants around me could see my thought-form.

  They each stared at me, silently and with assorted emotions visible in their gazes. I could see awe, fear, admiration, and other emotions in their white, blue, green, and even scarlet eyes. I chuckled, the sound escaping the difficult to see thought-form I had adopted.

  I heard their muscles clench and tighten in anxiety as they realized that the sound I had uttered was a chuckle. I heard their heartbeats quicken, and I could almost see their muscles flex as they prepared to swing into action or to flee in terror at whatever I did next. I turned my attention to them fully, finally giving them the attention they had sought earlier.

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  "Mortals... I have done what you asked of me." I explained, attempting to sound divine and boisterous. I infused divine power into my voice, and made it spread out evenly across the surface of the glacier we all stood on top of.

  "However, a god does not aid mortals for free..." I told the giants, ominously. I took a second to make eye contact with each and every one of them. As I did, they tried to avert their gazes from my powerful eyes. They attempted to turn away from the terrifying power of my gaze, but I didn't allow them too. I felt their fear of me sharply increase when they realized they couldn't control their own bodies.

  I did this very simply. All it took was an application of my powers over skin and bones. I simply prevented them from averting my gaze by locking them in place and ensuring that they looked at what passed for my face. This thought-form had two empty eye-sockets from which shone two brilliant yellow lights, one that was almost as bright as the sun which was visible in the skies above the glacier.

  "What will you give me in return for my aid?" I asked, speaking powerfully. My voice echoed eerily across the featureless wastes. I felt them shudder in fear once more, once again reminded that even though I was a god of freedom I was still a god and gods would always be different from the mortals they aid.

  "Althos... Thank you for your aid! Please inform us as to what would be an appropriate price for us to pay?" One of them asked, and that question caused me to pause and turn to face her.

  She was a young female giant. She had clear blue eyes and an innocent expression on her face. She stared into my eyes, and wasn't trying to pull away from my stare. We gazed at each other for a few moments, long enough for the other giants to begin to relax, before I began to speak.

  "You would ask a god to name their own price? Curious..." I remarked, amused by this. I had busied myself during my time in the tower by making contact with mortals across the universe and though this wasn't a first, I had enjoyed using chances like this to spread mischief. I could both hear and feel the other giants around her react in annoyance to the giant's proclamation and to my response.

  "Hmm... And you are also the boldest of the giants present..." I observed, rewarding her willingness to speak first by acknowledging the truth. She was quite brave.

  Off in the distance, the dragon drew ever nearer. I could hear the beating of its wing, and I could hear its heart pounding faster and faster. I knew that soon the blasted beast would grow close enough to attack with its fierce frost breath. For a moment I dove into myself, into the strange part of my mind that tethered the system, the domains and subdomains, and myself together. As I did so I looked at the powers granted to me by a stranger domain of mine that I hadn't had many chances to fully and truly use: the domain of disease.

  By the time I finished mulling over the powers over and related to diseases I had gained I glanced off at the sky and chuckled. The dragon was now in view, and within seconds it would have become visible to even my allies. Or rather it might have, if I didn't immediately open a portal in front of it, one which led deep underground, and the dragon only had a second to react to it right before sailing right through it.

  I suppose I ought to get some practice fighting powerful creatures before I next fight against Morehammer... I thought, in the safety of my own mind. I wasn't used to individual combat, and fighting a creature as powerful as Glacial would be some good practice for me to finally get used to fighting. Plus I had a number of powers that could easily allow me to control the battle, especially against a mortal.

  I opened a portal to the place the dragon had been deposited, and through it I could already hear the sounds of crashing and of pained roars. I glanced at the giants, and they shuddered as they heard the noises coming from the portal.

  "I'll be back." I told them, my voice filled with a dark sadism, and an unbecoming excitement, as I stepped through the portal and into the portion of the world beneath Puerto Rico. I had transported Glacial Rimefrost into one of the empty caverns not far from the city of Aronms. And now I intended to "fight" the dragon. I was sure it would be a bloodbath. Even a dragon can't hope to fight a god. Especially not one of disease. Even as I phased from the glacier into the darkened cavern I felt cruel schemes working their way into my brain.

  It was time to fight a dragon.