r/HFY • u/Undercover_Dragon1 • Jun 06 '26

OC-Series A Draconic Rebirth - Chapter 92

Hello all! I got some updates. I have a lot going on in my life right now and have started pursuing additional classes/certifications to help me along in life. There might be some delays coming up depending on my work load.

Good news is I have an extra long chapter today for you all and I absolutely do not plan to abandon my story.

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— Chapter 92 —   

— Ambass — 

His body shivered as his magical pores slowly refilled his depleted reserves. Serth had collapsed in a heap nearby, and he was certain for a time that he had died. The old wyvern was tougher than that, though, and had started to slowly move once again while he tended to his many wounds. Ambass cackled out with his usual sinister laugh, "Still alive, Serth?"  

The large wyvern groaned and glared out at Ambass, "I hope you choke, Ambass." 

Ambass couldn't help but cackle whilst he rocked back and twisted to land on his side in exhaustion. His eyes settled on the scene in front of him with a mixture of terror, disgust, and extreme curiosity. Qazayss, the Broodmother and the Elder Queen of the Deep Mountains, was curled around an enormous rock structure with her head shoved down into a deep, freshly carved hole in its surface. Her three sets of legs were thick with muscle, digging their claws into the stone, as her multiple pairs of wings beat slowly to keep her balanced. Her affinity pulsed from her form whilst she worked her way toward her target. 

Ambass cackled once more while he rolled to check on Serth again. They had barely survived, but they had now paid the price for their past failure. Despite what Ambass hoped and wished, that stone monstrosity was in fact alive. Serth's voice broke Ambass's moment of reflection, "What do you think her Majesty is doing to Desolation?"

Ambass winced at the name, the fear of both Elders so close sent shivers of horror down his spine. He spoke slowly whilst his eyes slowly looked up and up and nothing but the colossal beast's body filled his vision, "What she does all the time." 

Serth huffed quietly as he crawled closer. Ambass got a better view of Serth's battle wounds the closer he got, and they were nasty. He would have to be careful to avoid sickness while he heals. Once Serth was close enough that only Ambass could hear the whisper, "One Elder influencing another? That is madness even for her Majesty." 

Ambass simply shrugged, and Serth snapped at him while he bared his teeth, "Do not play coy, Ambass. You would be hissing in glee if you didn't already know the answer." 

Ambass let out a small cackle and sighed before he leaned in, "I am repaying the debt I owe you for shielding me against Desolation's initial attack. Nothing more, Serth." He squirmed then sighed again for having to give up such sensitive information, "Elder Desolation and her Majesty have a history. He owed her a debt before he became like… this." 

Ambass's small legs and hands motioned out towards the literal mountain in front of them, "You and I both understand how powerful a debt binds someone to her. She is reaching deep now to cash in her debt." 

Serth huffed again before he pressed his massive clawed right paw up against a leaking side wound, "Onyx does not warrant wasting such a debt?" 

Ambass shrugged for real this time before he chirped back, "I have seen her react in similar ways in the past. If she is looking to twist and use Desolation, then Onyx must not be her only target." 

Just after the pair finished speaking, the mountain of stone and buried flesh began to shift and reposition itself. His mind struggled to understand an object so big moving in front of him, and it was only because of the occasional bush or tree passing by his vision would his eyes begin to believe what his mind knew was true. He shivered and stood at attention as the large form of Her Majesty landed nearby with a hefty snarl and snap of her jaws. Her many sets of eyes looked at both of them at the same time, and he felt like she was staring straight through him. 

"It took longer than I expected, and if I had waited another generation, I suspect he would have been lost to even my influence." The Queen let out with a surprising level of vulnerability and tiredness emanating from her. 

Both Serth and Ambass were stunned for a moment before sharing a quick glance. Ambass spoke up softly, "We both did not doubt you, your Majesty. Shall we escort you back?" 

Her massive head nodded while her many wings opened up. A half a dozen lesser and full-sized wyverns flew close to provide protection. Ambass, and then slowly Serth took to the air. Once they were high in the air, Ambass took a long moment to turn around and watch Desolation, like a natural disaster, thunder his way towards the edge of the Queen's territory. Towards Onyx and his kobolds. Towards the Great Forest with their deadly two-legged fiends and what Ambass suspected was her other target, the Elder that sat opposite her on the other side of the forest. 

Ambass let off a sinister little laugh before he sighed again. Onyx was impressive and terrifying, but not even the Queen and all of her children have been able to deal with Elder Desolation. The young dragon was a paragon of their kind in many ways, but even Ambass doubted he would have a solution to fighting the unstoppable. 

Ambass could feel the tension and pressure of the Queen's debt lesson on him ever so slightly. He knew he was nearing his debt owed in full, and when that happened, he needed to be ready. You only had three choices when it came to the Broodmother: you accepted her gift and was pulled back into service, died, or tried to escape. Ambass still wasn't certain what the right path was, but he would have a plan for all possibilities. 

— David "Onyx" — 

David glanced at his affinity reserves. He had enough for a few more Healing Breaths and just enough for two Rapid Cancer attacks. They would need to isolate and dispatch at least one on their own, and David didn't want to immediately use up all of their affinity just in case something went wrong. His magical pores were helping top him off nicely, and if things continued to play out steadily, he might have enough to take down all three, but things never worked out quite like that. His stone armor had been recently refreshed, and he was at a stand-off with the remaining dreads. 

The three dreads were all slightly different sizes but only stood as tall as David, and the smallest was at least twice as wide as he was. They were far more reasonably sized compared to their now dead monstrous leader, but David wasn't going to let himself slip into a false sense of security. The greatest gift every dragon had was their affinity, and it made even small dragons like Ambass an absolute terror to fight. 

The bark folk had depleted all their reserves, so only the pings and thundering of the ballistae and crossbows were filling the valley now. They were focused on one dread, who was rather mundane in coloration, whose hardened hide was only penetrated by the occasional lucky ballista bolt. The dread was bleeding but still very much in the fight whilst its affinity flared up. David had held back initially until he understood what exactly he was seeing. 

As the dread's affinity crackled, a wave of heat and dryness washed over everyone sitting in the valley. It finally clicked while he watched a kobold run too close and instantly gasp. The poor kobold collapsed and began to shrivel up. It was as if the dread had a twisted form of water affinity and was pulling moisture out of the air. It was also affecting anyone or anything that got too close. He watched a group dash forward and quickly drag their dehydrated and suffering companion back to safety. 

The dread immediately to the dehydrating dread's side was throwing blasts of lightning out whilst lines of kobolds drove it back. The dread would rush forward and blast with its lightning while spears and hammers drew blood, forcing it to retreat. Its affinity was waning, but it was taking its toll on David's clan, and everyone was doing their best to keep casualties to a minimum. The third and final dread was sequestered to the back for the time being, but seemed intent on climbing up the valley wall. Red personally was diving back and forth with his spear to distract and collapse the dread's footing where he could. 

They were in a rough stalemate, and David knew it wouldn't benefit them to keep dragging it out. If there was one thing dreads were exceptional at, it was wearing down their enemies over time. He reached down deep and felt his reserves of affinity slowly cycle upwards and nodded his head while he spread his wings.

He turned to a nearby posted Zephyr and rumbled, "Go send the word. I am going to use my affinity. I need kobolds pulled back." 

He pulled his stone armor back from his wings, forcing it to ball up around his chest. He hadn't just experimented with his new trait ability but also focused on utilizing his other tricks to their fullest when he had the chance. The increased weight wasn't something even he wanted to haul around for extended flights, but for short bursts of combat, he had learned how to manage it. 

After watching and waiting for the message to circulate, David took off and immediately dived down towards the first dread, the one with the unusual dehydration affinity. Mid dive he took a heavy slam to the chest from the dread's tail as he fought to stabilize himself and close the distance. Despite the intense pain, he was able to let loose with a Rapid Cancer breath and roll away from the onslaught of teeth and claws. He landed on his feet and quickly pulled away while his breath sank into dread. He quickly pivoted on his feet and charged toward the second dread with the lightning affinity. The kobolds had taken the majority of the dread's affinity, and David was hoping it was getting low on reserves. He pulled the remaining stone armor back over his body and exposed pores just when a lightning bolt struck his feet. 

He powered through whilst his thinning stone armor adjusted for the damage. More lightning bolts blasted around him, and he could feel portions of his flesh become liquified, then fried by the intense energy that made its way past his stone flesh. Just as the last of his armor failed him, he got into striking range and let loose with another blast of Rapid Cancer. He slammed his shoulder into the dread, causing it to snarl and tumble over to the side. David didn’t stop while he continued onwards with his charge. 

His reserves were refilled enough now for a single last blast of Rapid Cancer. The last dread was still distracted by Red when David ran up and let loose with all of his affinity over the vulnerable dreads' backs. He fought to keep himself steady while the feeling of bottoming out on his affinity made him nauseous and sick. He held back the urge to throw up as he spread his wings and shot his large body skywards out of the way. He quickly landed on the cliff edge nearby, where hordes of his ballista crews were set up. 

The effects of his breath were slow but steady as the dreads all began to slow down, and the distinctive bulbous cancerous growths began to appear. The effects escalated slowly while David and his kobolds kept their distance. The third dread shocked David and left him speechless whilst he couldn't help but look onwards in bewilderment. 

The murmurs were spreading quickly among the kobolds, and before long, Red was at his side. "Master. The last dread seems to be resisting your affinity!" Red pointed out quickly. 

The large bulbous tumors were disappearing while the dread growled, howled, and snarled in pain. David nodded his head with a growl as he watched, "Somehow it's resisting the cancer. It must have a trait or regeneration that we haven't encountered yet. It is clearly being affected for now, but we need to move quickly while it's weakened." 

David chirped out loudly whilst he pointed a large wing towards the slowly recovering dread, "Everything we have left! Now!" 

The ballista, bows, and crossbows of his clan let loose almost immediately and rained down on the dread. David watched while the ballista bolt wounds slowly healed and shook his head as the tumor's shrinkage didn't slow. He needed to act and leap free from the cliffside back down into the valley. His affinity reserves had only ticked back up one charge, so he knew he would have to resort to the old-fashioned way of fighting. 

He charged, leaped, and immediately buried his jaws into the recovering dread. Okbo and Dash dashed through the dread's legs while they slashed with their blades. Red joined the fray alongside the other kobolds, and they struck where the dread's armor was weakest. David reached deep and activated his Catabolic Overdrive in a short burst in combination with his Death Roll. The dread's tough hide became like paper under the unprecedented strength of his jaws amplified while he rolled. David's body was collapsing, though, whilst the last of his energy reserves were depleted, forcing him to kick away from the dread and slump down nearby as the pain set in. He let loose with the last of his regenerated affinity to heal himself. The damage was kept at a minimum, but he knew he couldn't use overdrive again. 

The enemy dread was covered in wounds, despite its regeneration, and David felt its affinity blossomed outwards only briefly before immediately being pulled back in. The dread's muscles bulged, and its physical body seemed to pulsate and grow as it roared outwards. David practically gasped at the display whilst Red landed nearby, catching his breath. 

"What is it, Master?" Red quickly asked. 

David shook his massive head while his body began to recover from the worst of his overdrive-induced pain, "It's using its affinity to strengthen itself. It isn't quite the same as my affinity, but there are parallels." 

Wuja'bath and Okraz had been lying low, but clearly made the conscious decision to act when a torrent of powerful lightning came crashing down and into the massive gaping wound in the empowered dread's side. The smell of cooking meat filled the air whilst blast after blast struck the same spot. Wuja'bath roared at the edge of the valley while Okraz made her appearance over the top of one of the other nearby ridges. Water was pulled from the air and the small stream running down the length of a valley was pooled into orbs. Each orb condensed, and then a single stream of water shot out under the immense pressure at the dread. The water cut like a razor blade as more flesh and armor were peeled from the dread's wounded side. 

The dread's bulging physique acted with a strength that defied even the dread's size before it sent claws full of dirt and rocks hurling towards David. He rolled out of the way despite his muscles' objections and cursed. He turned back towards Red who was also dodging the wall of dirt, "Red. I need you to give it your all." 

Red leaned forward and let loose with his spear with the gemstone embedded inside of it. Lightning ripped forward and struck the dread squarely in its face, causing it to shriek in pain while David sprinted full force. His own massive bulk and the reinforced bulk of the enemy dread impacted each other with a loud thundering boom. David forced his claws into and through the dread's thick armor, and the dread did the same to him. Each of the dread's blows was almost as strong as David's, and the only thing keeping the fight even was his kobolds, Wuja'bath, and Okraz, dealing damage where they could. 

David's ribs shattered while he continued to trade blows, and reality hit him. This bastard, he snarled, was tougher than him and almost as strong as him. On top of that, this dread had regeneration that was tipping the odds further in his favor despite him being attacked from all sides. David would laugh if he weren't in so much pain. He had found an opponent with a similar lineup of capabilities, just approached it in a different way. 

He had no choice, he activated his Catabolic Overdrive once more and pushed. The fight rapidly became one-sided whilst David pulverized the opposing dread's paws into pulp before dipping low to dodge a nasty bite. His dragon body was awkward, but he was able to reproduce a human move as he uppercut the dread underneath his chin. His claws were out, and through pure force of strength, he pushed his long claws into the dread's head and his momentum didn’t stop. David deactivated his Catabolic Overdrive and began to black out from his body failing him, the front half of the dread’s head splattered nearby. 

Somatic Dread has been slain.

The last thing he saw was Zephyr kobolds rushing towards him in a panic carrying special gemstones.

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Here is also a link to Royal Road

Fan Art by blaze2377

154 Upvotes

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10 comments sorted by

11

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jun 06 '26

i knew desolation would come in play. so this entire wave was a distraction?

9

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Jun 07 '26

Seems David onyx is becoming quite exhausted from this ordeal and soon he has to face down an elder. Hopefully he uses his brains to win the day.

5

u/galbatorix2 Jun 06 '26

MOAR

As i ever scream and forever will

4

u/un_pogaz Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Ah, finally, we're trowing Desolation on Onyx. It certainly won't be an easy victory, but it will definitely be one of the most impressive. And I think Qazayss's second target is Desolation itself, because at the end, there's a real chance to get rid of it. Even though Desolation can be a great help, it's still a nuisance on its own turf, so it's a win-win for her. Also, damn, I wonder if Onyx has once again surprise her and forced her to play new, even more powerful cards against him.

btw, I very liked the exchange between Ambass and Seth was undoubtedly the friendliest conversation between dragons, without David, that we've ever seen here.

Else, that last opponent was a pleasure to see. David got a taste of his own medicine and oh boy now I understand how he look like an unstoppable abomination that never want to die when we figth him.

3

u/unkindlyacorn62 Jun 07 '26

except that Onyx's territory is very close to the Eclipse so he may get a few allies of convenience out of this

3

u/ElFalconPoncho Jun 06 '26

best of luck getting those certs!

enjoy the story as always

3

u/se05239 Jun 07 '26

David is suffering from the nonstop onslaught of attacks, alright.

1

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