"Final Devotion" by Dinosorceror 09-07-97, in collaboration with Palanth 09-09-97, with editing by Rogue 09-15-97 Palanth = large golden Dragon of Krynn Arantia = village of anthropomorphic Parasaurolophuses "It's pointless and stupid. What do you think I am, some kind of mystic?" Dino asked. "Well, you _are_ the Dinosorceror," the mayor mused. "Don't go pulling that stuff on me," Dino spat. "I am far from the voodoo-spewing priest that preceded me, and you know it. Hello? Remember science? Rationality? Truth? I don't have time for your nonsense." "You had better make time, Dinosorceror," the mayor grumbled, his demeanor rapidly deteriorating. "I am the one who puts up with _you_. Your...'experiments' have put members of the community in jeopardy on more than one occasion." "That's a small price to pay in the search for true knowledge, mayor." Dino spat, tinkering with a small motor. "Would we have electricity without the dam?" "No. But we wouldn't have all the flooding and irrigation problems we do now, either." "Not my fault that farmer Brown can't adjust his way of living a little bit," Dino grumbled, then yelped as he pinched a clawhand under a pair of pliers. The mayor's attitude lightened a bit. Dino was most certainly a heretic, but he had his followers. It was becoming increasingly difficult to get him to attend the religious functions his position required. "Dino, it means so much to the people of our community. This is just once a year. The Festival of Palanth only lasts one little day. Don't you think you can spare time from your...obviously busy schedule to attend one measly little ceremony?" Dino smirked, and rubbed his crest. "You need the people of Arantia just as much as they need you," the mayor continued. "I hope you're not thinking yourself a god to them as Palanth is, are you?" he chuckled. "As much as I'd like to say, 'Yes,' the answer is no, mayor. I'm trying to lead these people--" "_Your_ people," the mayor interrupted. Dino hated to be reminded that he was once just another run-of-the-mill member of the community when he was young. "--_these_ people out of the dark ages. I'm not claiming to be a savior; all I'm doing is bringing a little education to our community. And lesson number one is that there's no such thing as 'the great God Palanth.'" The mayor gasped and made a religious gesture. "Blasphemey! I swear, if not for your contributions to this community, I would banish you as a heretic." "Yeah, yeah." He grabbed the tiny golden Dragon icon from around the mayor's neck, snapping the chain. The mayor's crest turned beet red as Dino took the tiny Dragon and made it dance around on the table. "Oh, ho! I'm the mighty Palanth! Worship and tremble before me! Booga booga boo!" The mayor roared in anger, smacking Dino across the muzzle with the back of his hand, the little Dragon icon skittering across the room. "You have gone too far, you impetuous whelp!" he scolded. "Your viewpoint will be tolerated only for so long, Dinosorceror. You _will_ attend the Festival, and you _will_ show proper respect towards God! You are _not_ indispensable!" Dino stood his ground before the mayor, but was actually humbled slightly by the mayor's display of anger. The mayor took a breath, and stood muzzle to muzzle with Dino. "I will not have your radical beliefs endanger my village. Palanth is not merciful. There are many, many tales of his wrath that came down on our people long before you were hatched. You would do well to believe them." Dino swallowed roughly. The mayor took another breath, picked up the Palanth amulet, and shook it in Dino's direction. "May Palanth forgive your transgression. I will send the appropriate garments for the ceremony to you in a few hours. Tomorrow morning, you will preside over the offerings at high noon." As the mayor walked out, leaving the Dinosorceror bruised in more ways than one, he paused in the portal, and turned to address Dino. "If you do not perform the ceremony, Dinosorceror, I will do more than banish you, and the great Palanth will do more than punish you." Dino stood for a full minute, watching the mayor and his escorts walk back down the path from his laboratory towards the village. He clenched and unclenched his clawhands. "It's time to lead these people forward, not backward, Mayor. We'll just see who they're willing to follow," he sneered. * * * * * * * * * * The Festival of Palanth occurred once a year in Arantia. The ripest, most delicious fruits and the hardiest, most valuable livestock were sacrificed in the Temple of Palanth. To the citizens of Arantia, it ensured a successful growing season next year. To Dino, it was an obscene waste of resources. Yet, he smiled to each of the high priests that approached him with their offerings. He stood in the temple, wearing the traditional robes of the Dinosorceror, as well as the tiny golden Dragon icon around his neck. He did his best to look pompous and official. He looked over at the mayor every once in a while. And...he counted as the high priests approached him. Ramses, with his bowl of oranges. He's on my side. He knows that Palanth is a superstition. Fox, bringing a steed. He's still in the dark ages. He'd oppose me. On it went, offering after offering, Dino silently counting who would be with him, and who would be against him. He glanced at the mayor several times, who was watching him cautiously...but watching over all from overhead was the great granite muzzle of the statue of Palanth, constructed a thousand years ago, probably taking the savages of the time dozens of years to complete. It stood sixty feet tall at the shoulder, looming on four massive claws, sporting huge wings and a long tail. It was one of the most mysterious of questions Dino had first asked as a youngster: How did ancient Arantians construct such a massive sculpture inside such a cavernous temple? There had to be a rational, logical explanation for it. His mind returned to the situation at hand, however, as the last few offerings were placed between the giant statue's foreclaws. Dino finalized his count. There were twenty members of the council who were devout Palanth worshippers, and thirty- two members whom Dino thought would follow his new path into the age of reason. Bowing slightly, he smiled genuinely at the mayor, then raised his arms to address the village. "Citizens of Arantia," Dino shouted down into the grassy amphitheater before and below the mountainous temple, his voice magnified by the acoustics of it. The crowd below quieted, and he began again. "Citizens of Arantia. Today is the Festival of Palanth, the day when we offer the best we have in devoted loyalty to our God, Palanth," he said, gesturing up at the huge gray statue and trying his best not to sound cynical. He must have been doing a good job, because the mayor seemed content. "I do notice, however, that there are several offerings missing." A quick glance at the mayor revealed an "Oh, God, what's he doing?" look. The murmuring from the crowd quieted as Dino raised his arms high and spoke again. "Who will bring the medicine that has cured the white sickness? Who will bring the electricity that the dam generates? Where are the tools? The machines?" The crowd was really confused now, as confused as the mayor was angry. He was powerless to act, though...defiling the Festival was the most grievous of insults to Palanth, and he was not going to join the Dinosorceror in the fate that surely awaited him. "No, good people of Arantia. Do not look towards me for these gifts! I alone did not create them, and I alone am not worthy of offering them...but neither is the great God Palanth worthy of receiving them!" The cynicism was unmistakable in his voice now, and the crowd erupted in shouts. The mayor's gaze was icy. "Palanth did not bestow electricity to light your homes! Palanth does not pump the water that runs! And Palanth does not heal the sick! We create our own destinies, people of Arantia. We are not ruled by a mythical God! Our lives are our own!" Dino's gaze scanned the assembled council members. He saw the spark of acceptance in some, a look of disgust in others. A few were shoving their way towards Dino. "The offerings you bring before this statue are only a divine _waste!_" Dino continued. "This superstitious belief in Palanth only costs you valuable materials which, if anything, hamper next year's crops! The age of fear is over, people of Arantia. Let the age of wisdom begin!" It was clearly visible now. More than half of the council members had stepped away from the mayor's group, even more than Dino thought, assembling behind him, between the statue's massive claws. The villagers below in the amphitheater were in an uproar. Dino was electric with the power he was channeling. "Do you still wish to live in a world of fear that the mayor supports?" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the mayor's small group. The crowd quieted. "Or do you wish to live as free men and women, following the path of liberty and knowledge?" The crowd erupted in shouts, resounding through the temple around Dino. Dino smiled, looking at the assembled members of the new council behind him. "Then as Dinosorceror of Arantia, I hereby dissolve the old council in favor of one comprised of reasonable men and women! Let the legend of the God Palanth fade into memory and myth!" The Dinosorceror yanked the Dragon icon from his neck, and turned to toss it up at the chest of the statue, but...something struck him as different. The statue was no longer a gray granite, it seemed to have become a shimmering, golden yellow. The Dragon icon slowly slipped from his clawhand, rolling and skittering down the steps of the temple, and in the silence that prevailed for the next few moments, even the crowd in the amphitheater could hear it as it chimed metallically on the stone. The now-golden Dragon statue shifted ever so slightly, causing the floor of the temple to shudder and split under the weight. The silence was broken, and the crowd assembled below in the amphitheater before the temple began to shriek. The statue was alive! Palanth lifted his left foreclaw and flexed it into a fist. Dino could hear the tendons and muscles stretching as if they had not been used in millennia. Palanth then placed the great claw back in place. It sank several feet in the crumbling stone floor of the temple, and spilled a burning cauldron that was nearby. The mayor and his remaining council scattered before the flames, but not because of them. They were oblivious to everything but the giant Dragon God towering over them. Palanth spread his wings, smashing through the sides of the temple, and stone boulders rained down the hillside. The valley below was already emptying as the residents of Arantia ran for their lives. Dino and his renegade council members were safe for the moment as they stood beneath the chest of Palanth, and watched as the temple collapsed around them. Dino wasn't sure if the mayor had escaped or not, as he couldn't take his eyes off of the massive expanse of golden scales before him. As the rubble of the temple settled around Palanth, Dino took stock of the situation again, and could swear Palanth had grown larger. "Mortals..." Palanth rumbled, "they can never create my image to scale." The crumbled temple floor upon which Dino stood vibrated with Palanth's every word. Mountainous draconic muscles bulged and flexed as Palanth stretched the sleep of millennia from his powerful body; wide wings strained outwards, soaking up the noonday sun, making the whole of his golden-armored form shimmer and gleam in the bright rays as he grew. Dino was oblivious to the fact that the council members who were once with him had now scattered down the remains of the temple steps, their progress hampered by the boulders and debris strewn everywhere. As Dino stood, he watched Palanth's form loom larger and larger above him. Palanth no longer stood in the temple; he now towered _over_ the temple. Just one of his foreclaws could easily obliterate the whole of the ruined edifice Dino now trembled in. Dino's legs gave out from under him, and he fell to his knees. Palanth's huge glowing eyes and horned head tilted down to view the remains of the house of worship below him. "Oh, it is much too late to worship me now, foolish insect," Palanth said, his voice making the ground tremble around Dino even more than before. He chuckled ominously. "You have already demonstrated that your people need to be reminded of the respect they must show for their God." Palanth's vast wings arced upwards and swept down, whipping up a gale force wind that blew stinging dust and sand from the remains of the temple into Dino's eyes. With the sun behind Palanth's mighty back, his wingspan threw an ominous shadow over both amphitheather and temple, as well as the entire river valley of the city of Arantia, plunging all into a frightening gloom. Only the people on the other side of Arantia were far enough away to fully see the wicked smile cross Palanth's muzzle high above just before the giant God thundered again. "I do and always shall own your tiny lives, Arantia. You are near meaningless possessions to me, ones that have all too often in the past defied me. With this insult, I have deemed you all unworthy even to scurry at my feet. I shall now enjoy your final devotion." Dino had just rubbed the dust out of his eyes enough to see the huge scaled sole of Palanth's left foreclaw descending towards the temple. He fell on his back, staring in awe as the titanic claw shifted. The members of the council were still scurrying away in fear, now near the center of the amphitheater. A moment later, the entire small valley disappeared, accompanied by an earth-shattering boom, and all Dino saw was an endless golden wall thirty feet from him: the heel of the colossal Palanth. Dino trembled a bit as his eyes moved up that massive foreleg, craning his neck back, his gaze soon lost in the sheer vastness of the immense Dragon filling the sky overhead, dwarfing him to an insignificant speck upon the ground. The Dinosorceror was in shock. He felt no regret or fear or responsibility, only a sense of disbelief and wonder at the titanic Dragon that loomed above him. He saw no sky, only the plated underbelly and leathery-smooth wings of Palanth, the four powerful legs standing far more massive than any trees, a behemoth of a tail sweeping slowly back and forth across the plain. His gaze then snapped to the huge, dusky red penis that was beginning to emerge between Palanth's hindlegs. He stared at the Dragon's arousal swelling and stiffening tremendously, throbbing with his godly power, looming overhead into a towering erection as the golden God growled his immense pleasure. A sudden wave of hot, overwhelming musk assaulted Dino's senses, and shocked his mind into functioning again. Dino stumbled to his feet, but was knocked down again from the sheer force of Palanth's forefoot lifting, and he turned to see the huge talons rain bits of debris down on the new claw-shaped amphitheater. Along with the boulders that had been wedged in folds on the vast scaled sole fell shattered, tiny bodies...the council members who had chosen to follow him. He stared at the golden scales and gleaming talons dotted with the remains of his followers, and recoiled in horror, now beginning to fear for his own life. He remembered that Palanth had addressed him a few moments earlier, but he wondered if he still held the massive Dragon's attention. "Palanth! Stop!" he shouted desperately. "I alone am responsible for channeling the disrespect tow--" Dino felt a shiver down his spine, as if something from Palanth was radiating anger at him. //No one commands Palanth, you insignificant flea.// Palanth was invading Dino's tiny consciousness. //Your kind will serve as toys for my pleasure before I completely destroy them. You shall live to see the end.// "All my fault," Dino said aloud. Suddenly he found himself half-crushed up against the steely scales between two of Palanth's huge talons. The giant hindfoot pressed down around him. //Yesss... Watch, tiny one. Watch as your village disappears like dust under my claws.// Dino whimpered, frantically climbing up between Palanth's talons to avoid being ground to a thin paste between them. He could hear and feel the heavy muscles beneath those scales bulge and tense around him as the Dragon began to move towards the city, his thunderous footfalls sending earthquakes through the ground under his unbelievable weight. After feeling Palanth take a few more crushing steps, surely obliterating vast areas of the forest around the city, Dino managed to work his way to the top of one of Palanth's toes, which was larger than the dam Dino had helped construct across the river... ...the very same river that now ran beneath Palanth's belly. "Such tiny devices for such foolish purposes. You waste your time with them instead of worshipping me," Palanth thundered to the specks of life below him. He lifted a foreclaw as Dino watched, touching the very tip of his ivory white talon to the dam. It cracked and shattered, spilling a flood of water into the valley. The Dragon chuckled as the tiny creatures below were swept away by the miniature pool of water. He leaned his muzzle down, lapping at the water, sweeping countless Arantians into his muzzle and swallowing them whole. Rumbling pleasantly with the tiny tickles falling down his long throat, he rose again and turned towards the city, deliberately grinding the ruined dam beneath a heavy claw. With only a few more quaking steps, Palanth towered over the entire city, now filled with the populace that had managed to escape his rampage at the temple. He chuckled thunderously in answer to the screams that floated up to his ears. "It has come time for you to please me, tiny specks. Your lives now belong to me, as they always have." Palanth rose up slightly, placing all his weight on his massive hindfeet, his long tail sweeping slowly behind him, rumbling over the earth, devastating in its passage. His foreclaws reached out, grinding down into the earth and slowly sweeping the entire city towards him. The tiny creatures abandoned their houses, herded helplessly before the tumbling wreckage and forced toward Palanth's oppressive presence. His claws swept away house after house, crushing and pulverizing those people unable to move fast enough, gathering the entire city into a pile of rubble before him. Dino watched as the last group of surviving citizens were huddled below Palanth's golden belly. As Palanth lifted his foreclaws and rose to his full height on his powerful hindlegs, Dino saw that the city was now a muddy brown plain. Nothing remained of it, except for the heap of debris and the mob of tiny creatures cowering in abject fear beneath their angry God, who now towered over them in immeasurable enormity, looming larger than any mountain, gleaming golden and powerful in the bright sunshine. Dino whimpered softly as the ground below Palanth's hindclaws liquefied under his weight, seeming to ooze up between his toes like mud. There was a low, powerful throbbing far above, and Dino lifted his gaze, gasping in unison with the cowering throng as they watched Palanth's arousal visibly throbbing, achingly huge with the pleasure of his godly retribution. Palanth lowered his horned head, sneering down at the townsfolk past the enormous organ jutting from his loins. Licking his fangs and grinning, he made a playful thrust, his heavy balls crashing against his powerful thighs. The thin, musky evidence of his excitement fell from the tip of his erection, splattering over the crowd below, miring them helplessly in place. Palanth swept his vast wings a few times and blew away the clouds before him. He rumbled in deep pleasure, sending a tremble throughout the countryside. Then without warning, he fell forward hard, slamming his foreclaws deep into the earth, laughing heartily as twin earthquakes radiated outwards from the impact, the remaining wreckage crumbling to powder beneath his talons. Dino could not imagine a more horrific sight than what he had seen from his vantage point, but then he gasped as Palanth placed an upturned foreclaw beside the cowering crowd. "Climb into my claw, tiny ones." Palanth did not have to threaten; he knew full well they would obey without question. After allowing a few moments for the tiny things to struggle out of his sticky fluids and scamper up the side of his claw onto the vast expanse of his scaly palm, he crushed those who were too slow into the crater of rubble, grinding them to nothing under his talons. Dino cringed in horror as Palanth unceremoniously wrapped his foreclaw around the incredible girth of his penis, instantly creating lubrication by the crushing of a thousand lives against the dusky red flesh of his leviathan erection. The Dragon's expression far above reflected his infinite pleasure, glorying in his power as his passions rose hot and strong, long tongue curling over the top of his muzzle as he groaned thunderously. His towering erection throbbed insistently in his grasp as he began to stroke the slick remains of his worshippers over its needful length. The Dinosorceror felt the massive toes around him curl in titanic ecstasy, heard the low thunder of the Dragon's heavy tail thudding upon the earth far behind. Drops and spurts of Palanth's sticky fluids rained down on the flat plain of debris that was once Arantia, kicking up clouds of dust and forming steaming craters filled with crystal clear liquid. The steady rumbles of Palanth's lustful strokings shook the earth beneath him, massive talons gripping hard around his slickened erection, the heat of his godly passion shimmering the air around his enormous golden body. Dino felt Palanth's glowing-eyed gaze upon him and looked up, and up, far past the gargantuan Dragon erection being languidly stroked with the precum-mixed remains of the city's inhabitants, up into the lustful grin of the titanic Dragon God. He gasped, nearly choking on the thick musk that filled the air as Palanth rumbled in pleasure. "My worshippers are tremendously satisfying, yesss...serving their God one final time. They should feel blessed." Palanth groaned loudly; he licked his dripping fangs, feeling his tremendous power gorging his cock in his slick grip, his fist catching under the broad ridge of his flaring glans as his enormous balls tightened, rumbling beneath himself with their hot volumes of draconic lust. His unbelievable erection bucked strongly in his grasp, straining stiffly, looming over the obliterated city below, grown huge and full as the giant Dragon's climax threatened. Dino felt the Dragon shudder, watched the enormous horned head rise into the air, jaws gaping to loose a loud bellow as Palanth's entire body tensed, thrusting forward into his claws. Mere moments later the huge red volcano of Palanth's massive cock spewed the white sticky lava of his colossal orgasm high into the air, the raging eruptions crashing down in frothing rivers on the far side of the debris field, the mighty Dragon roaring his passion to the skies above as he fountained his lusts over the remains of Arantia far below. After what seemed an eternity to Dino, Palanth allowed his gushing orgasm to cease, and dropped back to all fours, surveying his work. Most of the remains of Arantia were covered in an oozing, steaming mire of his milky-thick pleasure, heavy musk rising from it in almost tangible waves. Palanth's erection still throbbed hugely between his powerful hindlegs, most pleasantly satiated, his heavy balls relaxing a little from their copious efforts. "The seeds of a new civilization of worshippers, my tiny one," Palanth rumbled, lowering his head to address the speck that still clung to life between his toes. "In a thousand years' time, they will start a new city here. A thousand years later, one like you will lead them in rebellion against me." Palanth spread his talons, shaking them slightly, and Dino slid down the gigantic golden valley thus opened to land on the compressed earth that was once under Palanth's foot. Dino whimpered in utter submission, staring up at the towering Dragon God as Palanth slowly raised his heavy hindfoot. He deliberately let his claws hover over the tiny, cringing Dinosorceror, Palanth's grinning muzzle and giant talons filling his whole world, their mere presence oppressively heavy upon Dino's tiny body. "And I shall crush him like an ant," Palanth continued, "just as I now crush you." Palanth smiled, enjoying the final desperate look on his last worshipper, then he slowly lowered a single ivory talon downwards towards the tiny Dinosorceror...and tapped it lightly. When it lifted, nothing remained of the people of Arantia.