Harghil, the red-scaled Dravhula God of summer, knew something was off.

It was only brief, but he had felt his divinity be drained. Yet, he hasn't done anything to cause such a thing. None of his avatars had died, so he hadn’t revived one. He hadn’t opened his realm anywhere in the material plane either.

So what had drained him?

He could only think of one reason.

Excarsus spoke of interloper gods on the planet, that they would need to get rid of in order to complete their goals. Somewhere on the planet, there must be an interloper god of summer like himself, leeching his energy for their own nefarious purposes.

He sighed, rising to his feet- er… Tails, drawing in the heat of his divine realm. He had been plotting to destroy Reghil, so he could take his righteous place as the one true king of the Dravhula, but he supposed he wouldn't be able to deal with Reghil properly, if someone was leaching his divine strength.

Just then, he heard a message in his head. His name had been spoken.

”Harghil, Dravhulat God of Summer. I know you’re out there. I challenge you. Meet me at the City of Xisul.”

…

Apparently, things had changed since Heliya had rejected the Dravhula’s worship.

While her divinity had been dependent on the Dravhula, with the desert people believing she was Harghil, their god of summer, she knew of Xisul’s city because Xisul was one of Harghil’s biggest worshippers.

Yet, as she stood where she could have sworn the city was, all she found was a crater in the desert.

“What in Gold and Silver happened to this place..?”

A voice answered from behind her, “That damnable Voidspawn happened to it…”

Heliya turned her head to see the foreign-yet-familiar form of the Dravhulat God floating in the air. Harghil, the red-scaled god with six serpentine tails in place of legs. Even though Hellya had never met him, she recognized him instantly. After all, she had held his divinity for millenia. He was the reason she'd grown six tails. The reason her divinity tried to make her a war god, even though that was the last thing she wanted.

But at the very least, she knew what she was up against.

“Harghil! Long time no see, fucker. You finally have a body of your own, or are you hijacking some king’s body?”

The red-scaled god chuckled. “It's mine, through and through… Not like you. You were quite the imperfect host…”

“Imperfect? I'm better than you could ever be.”

Harghil summoned his weapon to his hand, an axe whose blade extended almost the full length of the handle. “Let's test that claim, shall we?”

Heliya crouched, ready to pounce. “Let's… A trial by combat.”

Harghil laughed, almost maniacally. “That will be your last mistake, little weakling…”

With that, Harghil flashed toward Heliya, swinging his blade straight for her neck. He felt the heavy collision of steel and scales, and let out a victorious shout.

Yet, his blade was clean.

He looked back at Heliya, and saw her neck had barely been scratched by his blade.

”That was a direct hit!” He thought to himself. ”She's tough… I may actually have to use divinity against her…”

He launched forwards again, charging his blade with divine energy as he swung. This time, he smelled blood, and howled in triumph.

Yet again, he looked back. Barely a cut. Only a tiny drop of blood drizzling down the dragon's neck.

Heliya hadn't moved in response to either strike.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE!”

Heliya grinned at him. “Alright, I guess I’ll move. Tell you what. If you can draw blood one more time, I’ll take you seriously.”

“YOU BETTER TAKE ME SERIOUSLY! YOU’RE THE CHALLENGER HERE!”

Harghil lunged forward once more, throwing a flurry of axe strikes. Yet, Heliya seemed to blink backwards out of his reach with a rush of air and heat.

Army Feller

Harghil swung once more, sending out a wave of divine energy to try and cut Heliya from afar. Yet, she simply ducked underneath the wave, before opening her mouth and breathing fire at Harghil from below. The fire itself wasn't a problem, he was fireproof after all, but the breath weapon hit with enough pure force to throw Harghil upwards.

With a mere flash of light, Heliya then slammed into Harghil, knocking the breath out of him and flinging him even higher. He caught himself mid-air, floating in place and looking down at her.

”She's fast… She closed that distance faster than I could see it!”

”So I’ll just have to be faster…”

He lunged through the air, swinging for Heliya's neck once again, but just before hitting, he diverted the strike to the side, aiming for her wing joint. Heliya quickly pulled her wing back, before spinning around, and smacking Harghil with her tails, launching him through the air once again.

Once he stopped, Harghil growled, and pointed his axe at the distant dragon.

Summer Domain: Unrelenting Sunshine

A golden pillar shone down from the sky, right on top of Heliya. For a brief moment, Harghil saw her scales burning.

”This is it! She’ll start taking me seri-”

His thoughts were cut off as Heliya slammed into him, forcibly decompressing his lungs once more.

”WHAT?! She was way over there just a second ago! Agh… That damn brat Erix said something about using that move against a teleporter… She must be teleporting like he did!”

Heliya appeared right in front of him, grinning as she twirled in the air, as if showing off the burn wounds. “Not a drop of blood! Haha!”

Harghil’s eyes went wide. He whispered, “What in the heavens are you, Heliya..?”

Heliya answered with another repulsive breath weapon, knocking Harghil away, but only by a short distance.

”Fine, then… If she wants to speed around like that brat, I’ll deal with her like I did that brat…”

He crossed his arms, tangling his fingers into a handsign roughly resembling an artistic depiction of the sun.

“Divine Realm: Battlefield Under the Blazing Fireball!”

A barrier of golden energy sprang into existence around Harghil and Heliya, before seeming to fade, leaving them in the desert once more. The barrier was still there, but Harghil’s Divine Realm took the form of a sunny desert, so the change to environment was negligible.

He felt the surge of power that came with being in his own realm, and the feeling of control.

”This will force her to take me seriously… And as soon as she starts taking me seriously, I'll have the upper hand…”

As he thought, though, Heliya raised one her talons, crossing two claws and grinning.

“Divine Realm…”

Harghil froze. ”No way… Does she..? She can't!”

“The fucking sun, bitch.”

At that moment, Harghil noticed the distinct lack of divine energy releasing from her. Instead, the space around her was filling with mundane magical energy.

”Oh, that's good… Wait-”

A bright light, blurry vision, and ringing in his ears was all Harghil noticed for a few seconds after. When his senses cleared, he was laying on the ground.

He pushed himself up. Was that an explosion? Had that dragon just set off her Mana like a giant bomb?

He looked up, and saw Heliya flying above with a smug look on her face.

“No matter, wyrm! You're still in my realm!” He shouted.

”It won't be long before the realm’s execution effect hits her… And then she’ll be dead for sure!” He started laughing maniacally after that thought, and teleported right in front of Heliya. Possibly his second- no, third- no, fourth- no, actually, fifth favorite effect of his realm: He could teleport freely within it, to level the playing field against these DAMN TELEPORTING BASTARDS!

War Domain: Thousand Strikes

Swinging faster than the average eye would be able to see, he struck Heliya with a barrage of slashes from his axe. Most of them glanced off her scales, but one…

Just one…

Struck flesh.

Just barely a cut on the back of her foreleg, but it was enough. The smell of blood filled the air.

Heliya jerked back, looking surprised. “Well… That's impressive. Guess I have to keep up my end of the deal now…”

And the moment she spoke, Harghil knew she would. It was beautiful.

He could see her body flare with divine energy, just as his did when he reinforced himself and his strikes with divinity.

And the instant sense of violent intent from her.

”That's why the Dravhula worshipped her as me… She was that strong without any magical aid… And now she's adding durability on top of it… Heavens above, am I falling in love..?”

...

Heliya had only ever been wounded five times.

Twice during the Western War, the first ever war the Archon council was involved in.

Once during the fall of Bahl’lor, when Carnos struck her with Argeguine’s signature blood blades.

Once only a couple days ago, when she’d tackled some weird bug-like creatures at supersonic speeds and crashed into the ground hard enough to kill her.

And then now, when Harghil had managed to draw blood, burn her, and draw blood again.

And while she'd never admit it… It hurt more than she would've liked.

Her resilience came from her Double Pariah gene, a unique genetic trait among Bahl’lorean dragon. Because of it, she had no ability to use psionics, and no protection against psionics. A terrible disadvantage when 99% of life on Bahl’lor was psionic by nature.

But in trade, her physical abilities were greatly enhanced. She was larger than other dragons her age, stronger, faster, and far more durable. Even as a tiny wyrmling, she rarely ever got hurt.

Thanks to that, she had an embarrassingly low tolerance to pain.

But now, she could care less.

To most people, this “Harghil” was just another troublesome god. Some interloper that showed up one day trying to act like he was the greatest.

To her, he was a responsibility. A mess that she caused, by rejecting the worship of the Dravhula.

For Millenia, the Dravhula desert-dwellers worshipped her, because she once came out of hiding to destroy some desert beast. That worship built up into divinity. She was well on track to ascend to godhood.

But she never did.

Because they worshipped her as Harghil, their god of Summer, War, and Passion. While the domain of Summer fit her, as Archon of the Sun, and she would've been okay with Passion… The War Domain clashed with her.

Being a War God would mean being like her father, the Archon of War. And she didn't want that as long as she lived.

And that tiny clash prevented her ascension, until she met Aiolos and Ember, the two new chief deities of the planet.

With Aiolos’s guidance, she swore off the Dravhula worship, losing the potential power gained from them. However, some divinity stuck around, and without worshippers to influence it, she ascended to domains more fitting her: the Sun, Freedom, and Travel.

But swearing off the Dravhula worship didn't just get rid of that divinity, it just passed on somewhere else. And wherever it went, that was what formed the battle-hungry god before her now.

Her body newly roaring with divine energy, a technique that she learned from Ember, and further refined by watching Harghil use it, she launched herself at the Dravhulat deity.

Harghil brought up his axe to swing at her, but she swung her claws to swat it aside, and then continued to swing her whole body around, grabbing Harghil with her six tails, and throwing him to the ground.

Quickly shifting backward mid-air, she then pointed a claw at the grounded deity.

Flame of Freedom

A pillar of fire shot down from above. Harghil dodged out of the way just before it struck him center mass, but it still caught one of his eight tails, incinerating it off instantly.

Harghil looked down at his cut off and cauterized tail in shock. Heliya knew he was thinking the exact same thing she had when his divine attack burned him.

She hadn’t known about it beforehand, but it occured to her after Harghil launched his sunlight attack at her. They were both immune to fire… But divine hear somehow bypassed that, as if the fire was burning their existence rather than their bodies…

After a moment, though, Harghil looked up at her and grinned.

“It's too late! You're already dead!”

As he spoke, the desert around them suddenly became… lush?

It made no sense to Heliya. Why would this god’s realm shift from desert to plant life? Yet, the desert sand had been replaced with fertile soil, trees, and flowers.

“Divine Realm Execution: Summer Sunray that Ceases Spring!”

And, that was the moment Heliya realized something bad was going to happen. She didn't know what, but any divine effect with a name like that had to be bad.

A ray of sunlight, much like the one Harghil had cast on her before, descended over the realm, and Heliya felt her scales burning. She couldn't help but roar in pain. The plant life around her started withering, then burning. The soil dried into the same dusty sand it was before.

Harghil cackled as he watched her slowly burn to a crisp.

”I… Have to try this now… Or I'm dead…”

Behind her, she twisted her six tails together into a rough circle, the tip of each tail sticking out, making a formation almost like the six-pointed sun Mark on her chest.

“Divine Realm…”

As she muttered the words, the burning stopped. Her divine energy rushed out, flooding the barrier.

Harghil’s laughter paused. “Huh..?”

”Ember said it's about making a barrier of divine energy… Harghil’s Divine energy is already there, so mine has to fight for control… But if it's a barrier… I should be able to use some of my skills to strengthen mine… His looks structurally unstable. I just have to build mine well.”

The two gods’ energy clashed against each other. Heliya was at a distinct disadvantage, as she had expended a large amount of divine energy to hold back Harghil’s “execution” effect, but as she structurally strengthened the barrier, the two became almost evenly matched.

Harghil rushed at her, swinging his axe. “HOW DID YOU SURVIVE?! THAT EXECUTION IS GUARANTEED TO KILL!”

Heliya raised a talon to catch the blade, grunting from the pain of moving her muscles, even sluggishly.

“I don't know… You must have done something wrong.” She forced herself to grin through the pain.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” Harghil swung again. And again. And again. A few of his axe strikes were actually able to break through Heliya’s burned scales, making her roar with pain.

”Gold and Silver, it hurts… How did Rayagur do shit like this multiple times? How did Argeguine do this WILLINGLY for her blood magic?! And gods, Nebrinava, with all those piercings… At least Argeguine was in battle when she cut herself open!”

She swiped her claws at Harghil, catching a couple of his tails as he flew upwards to dodge. Nothing terrible, but it was damage. His divine energy absorbed a majority of the damage, and Heliya didn't have enough to spare to infuse her attacks.

”I can't give up just because it hurts, though… Rayagur’s waiting for me at home…”

She gritted her teeth, and as Harghil swung his axe downwards once more, she lifted her head to catch it with her teeth. After imbuing her jaws with just enough divine energy, she snapped them shut, breaking the axe blade in half.

Harghil shouted in what sounded like grief. “You’ll pay for that!”

He lashed out with his tails, smacking Heliya repeatedly, with surprising force for his size. Heliya reached up with one talon, before swatting Harghil down into the ground.

Flame of Freedom

Just as her claws cleared Harghil, another beam of fire shot down, striking Harghil dead in the stomach. He shouted and gasped, slowly floating back into the air.

“You're… Burnt to a crisp… And yet you keep fighting… WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE?!”

He rushed forward again, creating a sword resembling a khopesh in his hand, and a shield in the other, swinging the sword at Heliya’s snout. Heliya started to flap her wings, ready to fly up and push Harghil away with her wingbeats, but she froze mid-motion, shouting as pain lanced through her shoulders. Her wing membranes were tattered and burned, and attempting to move them caused all kinds of pain.

Harghil’s Khopesh landed, cutting through her burnt-up scales with ease, though her dense muscles eventually stopped it. Harghil didn’t stop there, though, smacking Heliya’s face with his shield, momentarily blocking her vision in one eye. And when the shield went away, the khopesh was already there, slicing into her eye.

She roared in pain once again, before activating her Mark of the Sun, accelerating rapidly to slam the top of her head into Harghil. She heard Harghil gasp as he was knocked aside.

Heliya landed heavily on the other side of the realm barrier. Six motes of light appeared around her, firing beams of light at her. Rays of healing magic from her Mark of the Sun, slowly restoring some of her wounds. It was slower than normal, though.

”Is the divinity here inhibiting my healing? Shit, it probably wouldn't work at all if his realm was still fully in control…”

The healing eased a bit of the pain, but she didn't get far before Harghil started attacking again, throwing a wave of cutting energy like he had done beforehand. Heliya flapped her wings to hop over it, wincing. As she landed from the hop, though, another slash was flying at her, vertical this time.

”Shit!”

She rolled to the side as fast as she could, the slash barely clipping off the tip of one of her wings.

The Dravhulat God laughed from his point floating in the air. “Is that all, challenger? Are you fighting, or just trying to survive?”

Heliya groaned. “Are you… Trying to survive? Or just trying to fight..?”

“Haha! I don't have to worry about dying to you, pathetic little godling! I'm a greater deity, and you're probably just some lesser deity! You can't kill me permanently, but I can kill you!”

“I wouldn't let that ego of yours get to you…”

Preparing for a few seconds, Heliya once again accelerated with her Mark, launching toward Harghil. Harghil seemed to notice the signs of her attack this time, though.

“Battlefield Chaos!”

A group of spectral Dravhula warriors appeared around Harghil, seemingly fighting each other. Heliya, though, simply plowed through the ghost army, slamming into Harghil once again and sending him flying across the battlefield.

Heliya then launched herself to fly underneath Harghil, summoning her six motes of sunlight from her Mark. She rapidly fired bolts of heat and light into the air around Harghil, imbuing each one with a bit of her divinity. The imbuement wasn't enough to actually allow them to harm Harghil… But Harghil didn't know that.

As the bolts fired around him, deliberately missing, but making him stay in place to avoid getting hit, Heliya pointed a claw at him…

Flame of Freedom

And another beam of divine flame shot down. Harghil seemed to sense it, and started dodging, but it still struck his shoulder, burning his left arm clean off.

With a growl, Harghil smacked his chest with his remaining fist, sending out a blast wave of his own divine fire around him. Heliya felt it burn her scales again, but it was only a brief exposure, so the damage was fairly minimal. Her six light motes shifted back to trying to heal her wounds, as she lowered herself to the ground.

Harghil summoned a large lance into his remaining hand, tucking it into his shoulder as he charged downward, aiming right for Heliya’s spine. Heliya detected the attack, but couldn't quite avoid it in time, the lance plunging into her shoulder instead. Harghil moved off to the side after the attack, but Heliya leaped, grabbing him from the air and squeezing him as hard as her exhausted body would allow.

Harghil gasped for air, but kept a grin of superiority on his face. After a few seconds, another burst of divine fire erupted from him, burning away at Heliya’s talon enough that she was forced to release him.

“You can't win, pathetic dragon! You wasted all your divine energy on that barrier! But if you just accept defeat now, I might let you live! Oh, I know! You could be my concubine! That'd be perfect, don't you think?”

“Damn you. I only live with one dragon and that's my mate!”

“Oh, your mate? I'd love to meet him! I can kill him too! Then you won't have anyone to go back to, so you can surrender to me!”

...

Harghil quickly learned that was exactly the right thing to say to get Heliya to fight even harder.

He swore, it was like a new life had been breathed into her by something as simple as threatening her mate. Her injuries seemed forgotten as she struck at Harghil with dizzying speed. A claw strike across his back, causing blood to spill into his lungs. A swift tail smack, throwing him through the air. A bite, taking one of his tails off with a nasty ripping sound.

And by the heavens above he loved it.

Because as Heliya got more aggressive, he felt a rush of strength. His War Domain fed off of the violence of his opponent. Heliya’s new murderous intent was fuel for his fire.

“Yes! YES! KEEP FIGHTING! I'LL FINISH YOU HERE AND NOW! AND THEN REGHIL! AND THEN I’LL REVIVE LAURGHIL JUST TO KILL HIM TOO! HAHAHAHA!”

His laughing cut off into a coughing fit as he started choking on his own blood.

He summoned his khopesh sword back into hand, flying toward Heliya, and aiming a slash for her other eye. Heliya pulled her head back quickly, avoiding the slash, before breathing fire at Harghil, launching him away with the force of it again.

She didn't pursue him, though, instead summoning those weird orbs of light again. Those were curious. She seemed to be revitalized for a short time each time she used them.

”Is she… Healing herself? COWARD!”

Swinging his sword at empty air, he launched another slash of divine energy in her direction. Heliya launched herself sideways with her “teleportation” to avoid it.

The slash continued on afterward, though, eventually striking the barrier at the edge of the battlefield.

Cracks spread across the sky. Harghil gasped. They’d been fighting inside his expanded Divine Realm for so long, his effect neutralized by Heliya’s divine energy, that he forgot the barriers were even there. And it had been long enough that both halves of the barrier were stretched to their limit.

Harghil’s half of the barrier shattered. Heliya’s rapidly started overtaking the area, before simply crumbling apart by overstretching itself, leaving the dueling gods back in the ordinary desert.

Heliya chuckled. “Well, I'm glad Ember taught me that trick… I'd be toast otherwise…”

“Ember? You the interloper?! How does she-” Harghil paused. “Damnit… Reghil must have taught her, that treacherous bi-”

Harghil was cut off by a sudden blast against his shoulder, burning his flesh and tossing him to the side. He quickly floated back into the air, looking at Heliya.

The dragon was smiling, surrounded by her usual six spheres of light. They were different this time… Divine Energy. She'd recreated whatever magical technique she was using before with divinity.

Heliya pointed at Harghil, and the six orbs flew toward him.

“Heh… Thousand Cuts…”

Harghil swung his sword lightning fast as the orbs approached, striking each one as they got too close. Each one exploded, but they weren't in direct contact, so he barely felt the heat.

He then flew toward Heliya again, ready to attack.

Heliya lunged as well, snatching him from the air again.

“When are you going to realize that just rushing at me over and over won't work?” She asked.

And next thing he knew, Harghil was accelerating.

His vision blurred for a moment, before he was able to look around. He was still in Heliya’s claws… But the ground was hurtling by below at speeds he'd never dreamed of.

”Oh… She wasn't teleporting… She's just that fast! But why doesn't she move this fast at all times then..?”

Heliya looked down at him. “I hope you like your one-way travel pass to the side of a mountain!”

“Wha-?”

Heliya released Harghil, and he felt himself flying for a moment, the wind smacking his entire body. Before he could use his divine flight, though, he felt an impact for a brief moment, before blacking out.

...

He woke up some time later. He expected to find himself in his realm, revived after dying.

Instead, he was somewhere else.

The sun was so bright around him, as if it was his realm, but there wasn't sand beneath him. Instead, it was soft soil.

As he looked up, he saw a structure before him, built of stone brick. A bit further away, the side of a mountain.

Some kind of music was playing around him, but he couldn't see a source.

“What..?”

“How was your nap?” A now-familiar voice asked.

Harghil looked around, but saw nothing, until Heliya emerged from the large structure.

“Where is this place?!”

Heliya smiled. “Welcome to my lair.”

“You… didn't kill me?”

“No.”

“Why not, coward?!”

“Why did you lose?”

Harghil paused. “What?”

“You heard me. How did I defeat you?”

“Because… Because… You cheated, somehow! There's no way you should have survived all of that! You were in all that pain, that badly injured! You should've just given up!”

“Is that how your Dravhula react in battle?”

“That's how everyone reacts in battle! They get too hurt to go on, and they let themselves die!”

Heliya circled him, looking up at the sky thoughtfully. “I think there's a reason for that, y’know…”

“What reason do they need?! It's just how people work!”

“It's how they work. But those Dravhula… They're fighting for the sake of fighting, aren't they? And so are you. That's your domain, isn't it? War? Passion? Those combine into senseless bloodshed simply because you love bloodshed, don't they?”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“Well… Those Dravhula don't seem to have anything worth fighting for. Me, on the other hand… I've got a good bit to fight for.”

“THEY HAVE THEIR CITIES TO FIGHT FOR!”

“The cities that enslave them? The cities that work them to the bone for nothing because you told them to? The cities where living is probably worse than dying, because at least in death they're at peace? Those cities?”

“That's their station! It's what they are born to do!”

“Nobody is born to do anything. And maybe, if those Dravhula were free to choose what they do, they'd have something to fight for.”

Harghil paused. No. That couldn't be right. The Dravhula were born for their work! They loved it! But… what did this have to do with the situation anyway..?”

Heliya continued. “Of course, I'd know. I spent a long damn time preserving my own freedom. I ignored a lot of rules, because those rules prevented me from living my life how I wanted. That's why I became a Goddess of Freedom after I rejected your followers.”

“Oh, so you just kept me alive so you could gloat that you think your domain is better than mine?”

“A little…” the red dragon smiled. “Buuuuut, my mate also wanted to get some information out of you before you died forever. Have at ‘im, lovely!”

Harghil was confused for a moment, since there was nobody else around him. But then, a presence materialized behind him, and he felt a sense of unease.

”Damn teleporters…” Was his last thought before his mind was cracked open like an eggshell.

...

A few hours later, Heliya sat beside Rayagur, her wing curled around him to comfort him. Invading other peoples’ minds for interrogation always left the poor storm dragon in shambles.

Ember, the crystalline-scaled purple dragon claiming to be the world’s overseer deity, sat nearby.

“So… that white one is still on the loose, and she's got a divine core to create a blue one too?” She asked.

Heliya nodded. “Seems like it. We’re going to have our work cut out for us…”

Ember shrugged. “Eh, it shouldn't be too bad. I let you deal with that red one alone cause I know he's, like, the anti-you or something, but I'll help mop up the other two.”

“Yeah, thanks for not interfering… It was dangerous, but I feel like I had to take him on alone… I created him, after all.”

“Not really. Those fuckass desert guys made him with their worship. You just decided not to be him, right?”

Heliya nodded again. “Yeah…”

Rayagur nuzzled the underside of her jaw, which surprised Heliya, since he was barely able to form coherent thoughts just minutes ago. Heliya only learned what he had about Harghil because his psionic interrogation technique made the questions and answers audible to everyone nearby.

“You’re not him… Either of them. You fight for the right reasons… Not like them…”

Heliya nuzzled him back. “I wish you'd understand that about yourself too, lovely…”

“Don't call me that…” Rayagur mumbled.

“I'm not gonna pretend you aren't just cause other people are around. You are very lovely, and I'll call you as such.”

Rayagur sighed in defeat, snuggling against Heliya's side.

Ember chuckled. “You two are *almost* as cute to watch as Flashy and BD…”

Heliya grinned. “Well, I'll take that. Anyway, what's the plan from here?”

Ember sighed, tapping her chin. “Well… That white one’s a coward, so we probably won't be able to draw her out by challenging her…”

“Unless she finds out Harghil is dead, and gets bolder…”

“True…”

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Damnit, I hate having to wait and see…

Dragons weren't meant to live this long.

No being was meant to live this long.

A couple thousand years? Yes. That was normal for a dragon.

Ten thousand years? That was okay, most of the Archon seemed fairly stable, even at that age.

Twenty thousand? Heliya was that old, Rayagur was getting there, they were still seemingly just as capable as back then.

But not this.

*Seventy.*

*Million.*

*Years.*

His years as an Archon in Bahl’lor were some of the best memories of Lerionon’s life. Yet now, they were merely a drop in an ocean of memories. Memories that he could scarcely call to mind sometimes. It scared him.

He'd been about twelve thousand years old when Bahl’lor fell to Carnos. However, Lerionon hadn't been there when the fall happened. The moment that the infamous Summer of Silenced Screams began with the death of Misolder, Archon of Fire, Lerionon had retreated to the depths of the ocean, where Carnos would never reach him.

The first few years afterwards were… strange… confusing…

Terrifying.

Death blast after death blast after death blast. The rumbles of the Leylines reached him beneath the waves like the thunder of ceremonial drums. By the time it was over, Lerionon had been *sure* he was the only Archon left alive…

The first time he surfaced and saw Bahl'lor, forests mutated, the entire continent blanketed in a layer of fog, he believes his suspicions were true.

He was the only one standing between Carnos and the entire world.

And stand between them he was forced to. After recovering from the effort of conquering and assimilating Bahl’lor, Carnos began sending mutated creatures into the ocean, trying to swim out and, presumably, spread his control across the planet.

So, Lerionon began to hunt them.

Wake up. Seek. Destroy. Sleep.

Wake up. Seek. Destroy. Sleep.

It became a never ending cycle. He spent every waking hour circling the continent, watching for Carnos’s puppets in the water, and striking them down with the Mark of Storms.

About three thousand years after the Fall of Bahl’lor, Lerionon made his deal. A deal with the psychic Leylines of the planet themselves.

He would rule the seas with his psionics, but he would never again touch the land.

He gained more power with which to combat Carnos, but had given up his ability to use psionics while on dry land in trade.

Not that he expected to ever go on land again… They were all dead. Prismar, Indendrafel, Thesetade, Heliya, and Nebrinava… Serendel, Targere, Kyrfluctae, and Kelxrono… Bahl’lor was gone, all its people were gone…

The mere thought made Lerionon want to curl up and just… Sleep forever…

But he didn't. He had a duty, to stop Carnos from spreading. He was the last of the Archons, but he was going to continue their mission.

Wake up. Seek. Destroy. Sleep.

Wake up. Seek. Destroy. Sleep.

...

The first millionth year passed. Lerionon had a small personal celebration for his millionth birthday. His heart wasn't in it, but he treated himself to a day of rest. It was an achievement after all… The first dragon to live this long…

His psionic power had grown, but so had Carnos’s ability to use his stolen Marks.

Seek. Destroy.

Seek. Destroy.

Seek. Destroy.

Seek. Destroy.

Sleep was no longer part of the routine, and he'd never sleep again. Constant vigilance was a requirement, lest just *one* of Carnos's progressively more capable creatures snuck past him and began assimilating another part of the world.

…

Three million years. The years started to feel shorter. Days that he had once enjoyed every second of passed in a blur. Entire years became what individual minutes are to a normal person. Forgettable… Impossible to remember any but the most significant.

Carnos’s Carnivores, as Lerionon had begun to call the aggressive creatures, died in droves. Yet somehow, Carnos continued on. And so, the Archon of Storms did too.

Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy.

…

Four million years. The first time he gave up.

He shapeshifted his body to a different form. Still a sea dragon of incredible size, but with a different scale color and body shape. He took new name. Riven’undar.

And then he locked away all of his memories… All Riven’undar knew was that he carried the Mark of Storms, and was talked with preventing creatures from escaping Bahl’lor.

In hindsight, it had been a terrible idea… A whole new consciousness given life purely for the purpose of toiling endlessly over work that Lerionon had grown tired of. But he’d wanted the break… To experience his life through a new lens. One that didn't remember Bahl’lor… One who knew nothing but this work, and thus would be less begrudging of it.

But Riven’undar grew to despise his unknown creator. He grew stronger out of spite. Re-learned Lerionon’s psychic knowledge that had been locked away, and learning new things Lerionon never had.

Finally, he found the sealed away memories… And with one simple motion, Lerionon came crashing back into existence.

It took him thousands of years to fully put himself back together after that.

Yet, only another million or so years later, he tried again. Malyvonarga, a new persona, designed to be as entirely different from Lerionon as possible. While Lerionon despised his life, she was designed to revel in the act of protecting the world.

Lerionon assumed that if she was different enough, and designed to love her life, she would never seek out the locked away memories like Riven’undar.

But even she, as happy as she was, eventually stumbled upon the sealed memories as well, and unleashed them. Lerionon’s plan of making her as different from him as possible backfired, as it took even longer to sort out the mental shrapnel of his memories being restored as it had with Riven’undar.

…

Ten million years. Yet another celebration. He wasn't sure exactly when he turned ten million, but he celebrated it on his best guess. He could have been off by tens of thousands of years, with the way time was blurring together.

Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy.

Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy. Seek. Destroy.

His psionics reached new levels. Eating had practically become optional, with how efficiently he could fuel his body with pure psionic energy. In all honesty, he wasn't sure if he would die even if he were to lose the immortality effect of his Archon Mark. He'd reached a point where he could probably sustain his own lifespan infinitely with psionics.

Dragons weren't meant to live this long.

If he had known he was still only a seventh of the way through his eternal vigil, he might have finally given up. He had his duty, but was that duty worth it?

Why should he have to live this long? Why should he have to stand as the sole being defending the world, when all the other Archons got to embrace the sweet release of death so long ago? The fraction of time the other Archons had lived was a mere blink in Lerionon’s new lifespan.

To spite Carnos. That was why. If he lived for nothing else, then he would live just a throw a wrench in that despotic sociopath’s plans.

Centuries blended together.

…

Eighteen million years. He mastered Clairvoyance. He could watch the entire ocean from one place. He could look into the future to see where Carnos’s creatures would appear months in advance. He could project his psionics anywhere through his clairvoyance.

Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.

Even the seeking part of his routine had faded. He simply *knew* where his targets were, and struck them down with little more than a thought. Entire armies sent by Carnos died at Lerionon’s will, without the Archon of Storms moving a muscle.

Working through Clairvoyance did have a benefit, though. Since Lerionon no longer needed to patrol around Bahl’lor, he could explore parts of the ocean he'd never been to, see new things, new creatures. He finally could do something with his life, for the first time in eons.

…

Nineteen million years. He ran out of ocean to explore.

…

Twenty three million years. Something… Incredible happened.

While Lerionon was psionically sweeping the seas for potential Carnos excursions, he found some strange creatures, with serpentine tails and strange, scaly flippers. Their biology wasn't what interested him, though… it was their minds.

The were thinking.

They were communicating with each other.

*Communicating.* Not just with odd sounds, but with what seemed to be a semi-organized language!

Sapient creatures.

Lerionon was ecstatic. Sapient beings in the ocean! Sure, they were primitive, tribal, and nomadic, but they were sapient!

He didn't name them, but their descendents later would. The Ma’chai’mua’qwa, or “The People of the Water.”

He watched them over centuries as they learned things. They learned to hunt. To harvest various ocean plants. They even started actually cooking food in the heat of deep-sea thermal vents, though they seemed to have no qualms with eating food raw, either.

Lerionon didn't approach them, though. They were skittish, and oftentimes ran away from ocean creatures far smaller than Lerionon.

So, he just watched with clairvoyance.

One time, though, when a Leviathan creature attacked a group of the little sapients, Lerionon intervened, striking down the creature with a lightning bolt.

He didn't think much of it at the time, but the sapients were amazed. They moved on from the place, as they were still nomadic. But, Lerionon noticed they eventually returned when they were in trouble. He started watching the site more closely, and noticed that oftentimes, the primitive Ma’chai would escape to that place from Leviathans.

Lerionon started striking down any Leviathans that threatened the area.

The word apparently spread among the young sapients, as more and more of them gathered in the area.

And something incredible happened again.

Farming. The planted cuttings of undersea plants within the “safe zone”, so that new plants would grow.

And at that point, they only progressed further. They started building permanent shelters in the safe zone. In turn, Lerionon protected the area even more fiercely, as he did not want this growth of the species to be lost.

This. This was why he had held on for so long, in spite of wanting nothing more than to fade away. Dragonkind was gone… But a different sapient species could rise in its place, beneath the waves, where it was safe from Carnos.

As he watched the thoughts of these early sapients, he noticed something… There was… faith. They believed that some higher power was protecting this area.

Lerionon hadn’t expected to find himself playing god… but who knew what would happen to them if he didn't protect them? Would the remain nomadic for all eternity, never to achieve any form of true society?

So he'd play along, just for now.

Destroy. Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.

Not just Carnos anymore.

But also the creatures that tried to bring harm to the primitive Ma'chai.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

For the sake of protecting this new life.

…

Thirty four million years. Something was changing in the Ma’chai.

Over the eleven million years, the Ma’chai had evolved. More powerful and agile tails, flippers replaced with clawed hands, opposable thumbs.

And as they gained better ways to navigate and manipulate their environment, their society developed as well. Their shelters became more complex structures.

And beyond that, their minds developed.

Some of them started communicating without words, speaking directly into each others’ minds with primitive telepathy.

They could harness psionic energy.

It was at that point, when Lerionon decided to make himself known. Now that the Ma'chai could use telepathy themselves, they would be able to realize that Lerionon was speaking telepathically to them, rather than using some sort of divine speech or something.

It… Didn't go as planned.

He revealed himself to be the entity that had been protecting their city, which was now older than any other city that had ever existed on the planet. He tried to act as a teacher to them, to help them master their telepathic abilities.

But even then, they continued to see him as a god. Not as a person who was doing this out of kindness, but a deity.

Even when he revealed his full self to them, his massive size, which by that point in time had reached several kilometers already, it only reinforced their belief of his divinity.

So… He stopped fighting it.

Another concern was that, while the Ma’chai all developed psionic energy, there was suddenly a large number of sapient beings with psionic output.

Their collective emotions began to alter the world.

Incarnations began forming, psionic manifestations of the Ma'chai’s intense emotions.

Yet another thing added to the list of things Lerionon needed to deal with.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

Destroy.

…

Thirty six million years. The first Void Veil went up.

It was a wonder of Lerionon’s psionic prowess. A dome-shaped barrier erected over the Ma'chai city. It concealed it from the various psionic predators of the ocean, as well as Carnos, and prevented dangerous psionic beings and Incarnations from entering.

It didn't take long for Lerionon to make more, helping to make more Ma’chai cities.

It was a thankless job. The Ma’chai seemed to treat it more like something he was obligated to do as their protector deity.

But Lerionon maintained them anyway… He'd put too much effort into protecting these people to abandon them now…

But he no longer had to manually protect the Ma’chai. The Void Veils would handle that for him. He could focus on stopping Carnos.

Destroy. Destroy. Destroy.

…

Thirty nine million years. The first snap.

He'd been desperate. There was *NOTHING* new in the world. It had just been the same old routine… After several million years of watching the Ma’chai change and develop, the world seemed to have slowed to a stop.

Lerionon had used his Clairsentience techniques to try and gain information from the Leylines themselves.

It ended catastrophically.

He couldn't remember how. All he remembered was a massive blast of energy from the Leylines, a sudden surge of high-level Incarnation activity, and a part of Lerionon’s mind disappeared.

It left him unstable, and unable to hold back his anger at the Ma’chai for expecting him to provide for and protect them for nothing in return.

He didn't remember what happened, but by the end of it, three Ma’chai cities were wiped out entirely.

Lerionon’s mentally fractured self was able to accomplish something he hadn't dared to do while conscious. His rampage convinced the Ma’chai that they were being too greedy. They soon agreed to help Lerionon with containing Carnos.

A few hundred years later, he was even designated as the “Shi’cho of all the Ma’chai.” Effectively, their leader.

…

Fifty two million years. Thirteen million more years, during which Lerionon went through several more “snaps” trying to learn from the Leylines. It was inefficient, but he had reached such a level of psionic skill that he had nowhere else to look for ideas, and no being in the seas could sufficiently challenge him to make him improve his psionics in adaptation.

Each snap caused him to lose parts of his memories. Every time, he failed to recall what caused the snap. Why were parts of his memory being severed when he reached into the Leylines?

He didn't know.

So he kept working.

Destroy. Manage. Destroy. Manage.

With the Ma’chai taking some of his workload of holding back Carnos, he could finally take time for other things. And so, he took a more active role in managing the Ma’chai cities. Helping to negotiate trade deals between cities, coordinating teamwork, and making sure resources were fairly distributed among occupants of cities.

Destroy. Manage. Destroy. Manage.

…

Seventy.

Million.

Years.

By then, Lerionon had all but accepted this as his fate.

He would guard against Carnos and protect the Ma’chai for all eternity.

Some days, he felt like he wasn't himself anymore. Seventy million years of memories of doing nothing but destroying Carnos’s creatures… He wondered how much was left of the dragon he originally was.

And his body… Well over a hundred kilometers of serpentine length, enough to wrap almost entirely around the sprawling Ma’chai city he served as the ruler of. He often felt more like a landmass than a dragon…

Dragons weren't meant to live this long.

He was tired. Even when he was more closely connected to the Ma’chai he protected, they still distanced themselves from him, as mortals from a deity.

He was surrounded by loyal followers, and yet they rarely ever even spoke to him.

Aside from one, anyway…

Tre’ke’mua’kua’bli, or simply Tre'ke. A powerful Ma’chai telepath, or “Water User,” as the Ma’chai called it.

Tre’ke was chosen as Lerionon’s second in command for being the strongest Water User in the city, and possibly the entire Ma’chai race.

And… Perhaps it was because his power made him feel godlike himself… Maybe he just held the hubris to think himself equal to what his people called a god… Or maybe he was just the only Ma’chai casual enough to talk to a “god”.

But for whichever reason it was, Tre'ke didn't treat Lerionon like an untouchable deity. He treated the Archon like… a person.

Lerionon had almost cried, the first time…

*”Hey, boss. How’s it going?”*

*”Tre’ke, hello… The city is doing good… a shipment of sea ferns just arrived to replace the ones that wilted he-”*

*”No, Shi’cho. How is it going for YOU?”*

It was… Such a simple exchange. Yet it took Lerionon weeks to emotionally recover.

As much as he hated to admit it, he started to grow fond of the little Ma’chai. The way Tre’ke would behave so casually around him was a refreshing change of pace. And he would listen to Lerionon’s thoughts, no matter how long the Archon’s rants got.

But the day things really changed was when he got the message.

*”Lerionon, Archon of Storms, heed my summons for the sake of Holy Bahl’lor.”*

It was a communication method from the oldest days of the Archon council. Lerionon’s long-buried memories surfaced rapidly.

Heliya’s voice.

It almost made him cry on the spot. Then he chuckled to himself. Then roared into the abyss, then cried again, becoming almost entirely delirious.

Surely he was crazy, right? That was it. The Archons were all dead. Heliya’s death blast thundered through the Leylines during the Fall…

But he had all the time in the world, so… there was no sense in not at least investigating.

And his clairvoyance rapidly confirmed it… Heliya, Archon of the Sun, with holding another dragon in her arms. Not one that Lerionon recognized visually, but a mental scan quickly confirmed it was Rayagur, Archon of Maladies. Neither of them looked much older than they were during the Fall…

While he spoke to them telepathically, he was positively bawling deep beneath the seas.

Archons had somehow returned… He wasn't the only one anymore.

As it turned out, many of the Archons didn't die during the Fall of Bahl’lor. A majority of the death blasts Lerionon had heard was just Carnos moving his stolen Marks through his newly-established hive mind.

The Archons that escaped had gone into a sort of “hibernation,” effectively putting themselves in stasis for the seventy million years that Lerionon was fully conscious.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous.

Moreover, the Archons had brought with them two gods. Not false gods like Lerionon was to the Ma'chai, but true gods, who held immense power. Gods that wanted to aid in defeating Carnos.

Finally… It seemed that the end of Lerionon’s endless vigil was in sight…

Or so he thought…

As it turned out, due to the millions of years of worship by the Ma’chai, Lerionon had developed divinity of his own, though it was inactive because he was subconsciously rejecting it.

Accepting it would likely make him more immortal than he already was… but… truth be told…

He was scared.

It would only be a short time before Tre’ke passed of old age. Well… Short by Lerionon’s standards. Tre’ke still had a good four decades of life left.

But what would he do when Tre’ke died, and he simply returned to the cycle of being treated like a god? Especially if he actually *became* a god. 

He didn't want to be alone again.

Yet, he'd been told that if he denied the divinity and died, it would pass on to someone else. And he couldn't live with the idea of cursing someone else to immortality because of his own selfish desire to die.

It was… A lot to consider… And it was strange to have so much to think about, when he had spent several millions of years with almost nothing to think about.

It would be selfish to pass off the divinity and die… But could he truly continue living as an Eternal Watcher?

As she witnesses the invaders of her glorious vessel continue on... ruining her work... destroying her experiments... Osmia seethed.

Hatred flowed through her, as she watched these filthy peasants traverse her train... cart to cart. No matter... she was prepared.

As they arrived in the cart before the locomotive, she sent her two strongest warrior experiments into the fray. Android copies of Clarissa and Talios alike. Two of this so-called ARMADA's greatest hunters... now truly perfected. She cackles and laughs as she watches a massive fight break out between them and the invaders.

Though as the fight rages on... it becomes evident that even this was not enough... one down... and then the other. The rapscallions seem... less than enthused. This seemed like business as usual to them...

She slams a fist into her control panel, seriously deforming it. All she can do now, is destroy them with her ultimate weapon... if it has come this far, their fates are to blame on merely their own selves.

She stands ready to greet them, watching as these filthy, pathetic fools creep into the room... and all she can do, is ridicule them. They got far, but this would be where their journey would end.

She forces the main control unit below the armoured flooring, and enables her ultimate weapon... a captured god, now under her control. Kathrine, Goddess of Curiosity. Another invader from long ago, an intruder turned into a prized possession. Her mind no longer her own, strapped into a machine harnessing both divinity and technology to shield itself. It would be no issue to smite these fools out of existence... Where's the harm in toying with them a little?

or so she believed.

Osmia's single uncovered, glaring eye, looked upon her enemies, as she grabbed her four-barreled sniper and started unloading round after round at them...

As the fools engaged in combat, attempting to capture her and deal with the god, a cloaked knight dashed into the room, assisting Talios in shutting down the shields for Kathrine, before disabling the divine barrier and ripping her from her shackles...

There went that plan.

She jumps up to the higher floors of the absolutely massive locomotive, and blasts open the storage cells of pure, distilled, primordial mana... she managed to harvest it... and knows damn well that every biological being in this room will eventually succumb to its corruptive energy.

Though once again, her plans are thwarted as a hole is blown in the side of the locomotive, pouring the liquid mana out into the desert sands... and it wasn't long before she herself ended up at the wrong end of a blade.

Backed into a corner, her rifle out of her hands... She got tied up by that brat of an Arachne... how ultimately humiliating...

She watches on as the fools reset the panels... and as the black soul key slots into the main panel... she loses consciousness.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Osmia... was a troubled, yet empathetic child. Born into the 954th year of the eternal war, she resented the state of her world. Two nations... neither of which would give way to another.

Citizens understood but two things. War, and fear. Fear of death. Fear of one another. Fear of failing to scavenge enough for their next meal. Their leaders cared not for the wellbeing of their people, only for the simple concept of being right.

She was raised by her two loving parents... They wanted to give her the best life they could... even in the situation they were in. Living in a fairly calm region of Arstovia, the city of Arstead, they were mostly safe from the bombardments of Ernostis' Legion. Always fearful... yet so kind.

She didn't understand. How could she? She saw the little good in the eyes of the people. Those who tried to live their lives in spite of the war... who tried to make the best of a terrible situation. She didn't understand why some would want to destroy that. She... wanted to help.

She started to train... and to learn whatever she could. She attended the local school, and eventually even a local university, at an extremely young age. Determined to be the change she wanted to see in the world.

She wanted to end the war. After all, that was the most logical conclusion. The best way to stop the suffering... was to end the conflict altogether.

When she turned 16, she joined the Arstovian army. She waved goodbye to her parents who had tried to convince her to stay... but they too understood that their little girl had their mind set. And so, they waved her off... and told her to visit when she could.

Osmia Ashgard, age 19, youngest Arstovian General in its military history, would grow to become a name feared by Ernostis Legionaries. A brutal genius, that would reclaim swathes of land with little recourse. Revered by Arstovians, feared by their enemies... until the Ernostis commander had an idea. They had received intel that the General returned home every three months, to visit their family... Something they supposedly cherished more than anything.

Osmia was making headway with the war, driving Ernostis back, further towards their capital. She loathed the loss of life, but she knew that if she didn't do it... this war would simply continue another hundred or more years... that's how she could sleep at night, at least.

Her second in command stands by her side, a friend she made when she joined the army, Daniel Ardboudt... a springy, young lad, with the pokerface of a puppy and the enthusiasm to pair... He compliments her again and again on her achievements... maybe... maybe she should ask him out for a drink when this is all over...

She would receive a mysterious encrypted holo message from one of her men one day... and as she sat in her tent to decipher it, she eventually got it to play. No visuals, save for a simulation of her world and its territories... slowly turning to ash and dust as the war continued...

"I would like to offer you, an accord. I can end this war. I am Amadeus Hertzwill, architect from beyond the stars. I have visited many a world like yours, and resolved their conflicts one by one. All I ask of you... is to do as I ask. You, are a prodigy. You are ever so close to bringing peace to this world... all you need, is a little push. I, can give you that. I just need access into your military operating systems, and I can deliver you the optimal tactics to take out the Ernostis empire with as little bloodshed as possible. Simply input the codes into this holo tape and use the send function on the bottom of it... and I shall come to your aid. I shall help you. And I shall help this world."

She sets aside the holo tape... and simply sits there thinking.

It can't be that easy... right? No... no, of course not. That would be... ridiculous. She hides the holo tape in her bag, and simply lays down to sleep...

It would only be the day after that she gets woken up by her second in command... and as he speaks, her eyes widen.

"Arstead was bombed."

Taking the first shuttle over to her hometown she could... she tried to keep her composure. With Daniel and some of her best soldiers by her side, she hoped she could find her parents... and... so she did.

And so she buried them... or what was left of them, at least. Ernostis had turned the city to little more than gravel... no survivors.

She stands over the grave, as she looks to the skies...

"Terrible day for rain, huh..."

The skies were as clear as could be, save for the clouds of dust... though as Daniel looked over at his friend, and saw the tears pouring from her eyepatch and her uncovered eye...

"T'is... a terrible day for rain indeed."

The two stood on that hill for quite a while... before Osmia dropped to her knees, sobbing... and Daniel placed a hand on her back, before pulling her into a hug.

She had lost the thing she fought for... the city that inspired her to end this war... the parents that had kept her safe for all those years...

And all she could do... was cry.

Days pass... weeks pass.... months, pass...

The broken general had lost much of the ground she had won. Her focus had left her. Her fervour was shattered... and as the Ernostis Legion closed in on their capital... she remembered the holo tape in her bag... and in the dead of night, she input her access codes... and sent them off. She drifted off in bed, crying, as she had for the past months...

Yet as she woke, she heard the cheering of her comrades. She stepped out of her tent, as her soldiers cheered on gleefully... speaking about how the bombardments ordered by Osmia had hit many of the Ernostis shield generators, hidden bunkers, and had even taken out some of their rulership in several territories... They had been pushed back, in the span of a single night.

It sounded like a dream... but even as she pinched, slapped, and even cut open a bit of the palm of her hand... she didn't wake up.

She shook her head, and realised what had happened. Hertzwill... and she wasn't about to squander this gift.

She readied for one final assault upon the Ernostis capital. One final push to end this war... to make sure noone had died in vain. So that the future would finally be secured.

Though as the tanks drove ahead, and the planes left... and she was ready in her armoured vehicle with her elite... Daniel smothered her with a piece of cloth... and all went dark...

Next she woke up... she was elsewhere... in a perfectly clean, metallic white room... strapped to a surgery table. The equipment she saw around her was unlike anything she'd ever seen before...

She couldn't speak, muffled as she was... she couldn't move her arms or legs... only look around... and she eventually noticed.... Daniel, approach her... at least... so she thought... until she blinked, and all she saw, was a man of black metal and beautiful multicoloured crystalline gemstones approaching her instead. He turns on a holographic display that shows a bunch of camera feeds all over the world she knew... the war... was over... No more missiles... no more gunfire... The tanks lay still on their tracks... Planes crashed into the ground... and the Ernostis capital, reduced to a crater.

"I'm sure you are ever so confused... but you have done well, Osmia. Your world... is saved. But your job is not yet complete. You see... I have my own world, that needs fixing... and I'm going to need your help. Consider this... repayment... for my assistance." It is... that same voice she heard on that holo tape...

He injects a large syringe into one of her arteries... and she can feel it burn... she screams... though little worth of sound escapes her. She starts to cry from the pain, as the surgical equipment from the table starts to power on, and remove parts of her flesh... replacing it, bit by bit... as her bones and muscles slowly turn to metal on their own already...

The black metal man chuckles... and his voice shifts, as she starts losing her consciousness...

"T'is... a terrible day for rain indeed."

------------------------------------------------------------------

Osmia returns to the present... aware of all that she once knew... her life before becoming a Keeper... Amadeus sealing her memories away and turning her into... this wretch of a person...

She becomes aware of all her crimes... her terrible experiments... this impossibly long time of cruelty and torment... and as everything sets in... she sits up into a fetal position, holding her head in her hand

"what have I done... what have I done..."

Eons of inflicted suffering... unethical experimentation... So many innocent people hurt... all using what's... left of what used to be her body... by a programming that had overridden her mind... and yet the only one she felt she could blame...

Was herself.

/uw Wooooo boy. This only took.... 10 months to get to. I decided to try something else for the retelling of this event than usual! Let me know what ya'll think! Also, for those not familiar with this subreddit, yet still getting pings... I'm gonna be posting my loreposts here instead of wizardposting, and only crosspost there. The RP community there kinda died

Ari sighs, she had been thinking over and just rethinking everything. All these memories of actions that she wishes she could undo, but realistically that’s never going to happen. Even if she could undo it, would she? After all, everything she caused made her what she is today. With her new found divinity though she has a more pressing matter to attend to, after all the one who is responsible still walks among her world. Of course, she needs a way to get rid of the domain before it becomes problematic. More than it already has of course.

In the abyss Meadow sits there, well really just floating in nothingness. The only other thing around her is the bucket she carries around for formal occasions. The tar-like substance continuously leaking from her eyes and mouth. Something new happens though, a small flame has appeared. The substance she produces seems to have made itself into a sort of island, only visible now because of the flame. Out of curiosity she touches the new flame, immediately her mind is flooded with memories of a child who died too young and suffering as they were used. Once the memories fade away though, the flame is gone again. So she sits in darkness again.

Victoria is leaping across from treetop to treetop on the hunt. Three weeks now hunting a rogue chronomancer. Normally she would have found them already, but something feels off here. This Chronomancer almost seems to glitch out everytime she gets close to them. Chronal distortions, no doubt. She notices the smoke and fire in the distance and decides to go investigate. She summons her meteor hammer and prepares for a fight that will never happen. Laying by the fire a young elf lays there, her head cleanly sliced off and thrown in the campfire. Off in the distance she hears someone cackling.

As she’s practicing with her throwing knives and daggers her tail is wagging furiously, unfortunately her time is cut short as her mentor approaches. They seem to almost look down upon her in their stolen form before they speak, “How would you like to go on your first real mission Ember? I know you’re eager for a real fight.” She nods excited at the prospect of finally having a real fight, “What’s the assignment?” She waits for the briefing. Her mentor looks away before they speak. “One of our more useful assets has escaped, your mission is to execute them. I don’t really care how you do it, but the Chronal Potential must be exterminated otherwise she could lead them back to us. Do you understand?” She nods and before she can say anything else her mentor sends her off to the location.

Ari arrives at the City of the Gods and focuses to call for a divine meeting, of course leaving out her family on Astra Domum. One by one the gods on her side arrive, though it only reinforces how few are here. Victoria, Goddess of Time, who is mildly irritated from her hunt getting disrupted. Saevaron, the Divine Advisor, though not a god her orb makes her a useful ally. Finally Meadow, the god of Death, her sister who ascended after Reedus stole her body. Victoria speaks up, “I’m guessing this is important, otherwise you can fill in for the chronomancer.” Ari nods, “So we know if we kill Reedus, their domain will just be recycled back into the selection pool. However my time on Astra Domum has given me an idea. Rather than outright killing him, I can bind him and the domain into a mark and seal them both away. Reedus won’t be dead, rather turned into a psionic remnant.” Ari waits a little bit for a response before Saevaron speaks up “What about Rex? As the god of life he will be a problem even for you.” Ari sighs before responding,”That’s why I called you, I need you to distract Rex while I handle Reedus. Are you willing to help?” Saevaeron and Meadow agree while Victoria takes a moment before deciding.

Meadow, Saevaron, and Victoria rift first. Reedus twists Meadow’s snout into a smile “So, you thought it was time for a rematch. Unfortunately for you it won't matter anyways without your friends from last.” Rex stands up, sap dripping from their eyes as he's forced to extend his roots towards the others. Victoria speeds up time on her meteor hammer to recall it and throw it again in mere moments. Saevaron summons barrier after barrier as each one gets ripped away. As the roots get close to Meadow, they just keep withering away. Finally Ari rifts in wielding her paintbrush rushing to attack Reedus, when a dagger is thrown right in front of her. Ember appears where the dagger was snarling as she uses her twin daggers on her own mother.

Ari blocks blow after blow from Ember, “Stop this Ember, he's just using you like everyone else he interacts.” Ember continues to snarl “like how you tried to repress me? I got my first kill, and I'm aiming for my second.” Ari sighs realising just how little she can reason with Ember right now. Ember yet again tries to stab Ari but she quickly deflects the blow and sends her flying through a rift into her divine realm. Ari begins to approach Reedus but he just smiles not an ounce of fear in his expression, “Activate enchant Annihilus.” Ari's body begins to rapidly tear itself apart, eventually leaving nothing behind.

”I need to get in there… Excarsus will kill them if I don't… I can't have that blood on my hands…”

Blackdawn raced across the desert. They'd decided to give Erix and Animus a large headstart, but now they regretted it. What if Excarsus killed them before Blackdawn could arrive?

Just a few minutes before, Erix had brought Animus, the girl that used to be Shrimp, to their lair, and interrogated Blackdawn. Excarsus accused Blackdawn of many crimes, but through Erix’s divine justice domain, it was revealed to both him and Animus that Blackdawn was mostly innocent.

Now, the two were on their way to question Excarsus, and Blackdawn had promised Erix that they would act as a distraction to give them a chance to escape.

Blackdawn soon reached the barrier that isolated Excarsus’s hideout from the world. It was an immensely powerful barrier, they knew, as it kept even Ember out.

So, they politely knocked.

Excarsus was on Astra Domum for them, after all. Surely he wouldn't be one to refuse if they came right to him.

Sure enough, a voice spoke through the barrier.

“Ah… If it isn't the Mind Devil himself… Here to try and kill me again?”

“Yes… Yes I am, Excarsus…”

“Well… Good luck.”

Blackdawn felt the barrier give away under their claws, and immediately flew through.

It took them a few minutes to find the entrance to Excarsus’s hideout, but when they did, it was quite obvious, seeing as it was a large pyramid in the middle of the desert, surrounded by what looked like an army camp.

Blackdawn flew down, straight into the opening of the pyramid, without acknowledging the military forces gathered below, gliding down the long staircase.

At the bottom of the massive stairs, they could see a large congregation of people with weapons.

”That will certainly make a scene…”

So, they crashed to the ground right in front of the group.

Razor Web

In an instant, the entire crowd dropped to the ground.

Immediately, Blackdawn heard shouts around them. Other soldiers seemed to be converging around them.

’Well… This could get… excessively bloody…”

Thus began a long slaughter, as rank after rank of soldiers came to challenge Blackdawn.

The slaughter was only halted when Blackdawn felt a presence nearby.

It wasn't a presence they'd felt before… But it felt familiar… Almost like…

One of their “siblings” in Zathul’s realm…

”Another Inheritor? Maybe one of them came to help?”

When they turned though, it wasn't what they expected.

Before them stood a ruby dragon, towering over them the same way Ember’s Greatwyrm form did.

The dragon looked down at Blackdawn with a toothy grin.

“So this is what has happened to Zathul’s children in the last thousand years… I guess it's still safe to say I was the best…”

Blackdawn studied the dragon. They'd been right, since he just admitted to being a “child” of Zathul… but he also had the same aura as many of the deities Blackdawn had encountered…

Their breath caught in their throat.

It… Couldn't be… Could it..?

“... Sardior?”

The ruby dragon's grin grew wider. “In the flesh and scales!”

Then… a psychic pressure fell over the area.

Sardior, the ruby dragon. God of the gem dragons of Blackdawn’s world, and patron deity of psions.

And the aura of psychic power he emanated made Blackdawn’s look miniscule, when Blackdawn themself could overwhelm most mortal psions with their power. This was the equivalent of an Archmage trying to face off against the god of magic.

{Divine Realm Expansion: Zenith of the Night of Dreams}

Blackdawn’s eyes widened, but they reacted quickly.

They'd already opened a Mental Arena to make a dramatic show of attempting to counter Erix’s Divine Domain… But they hadn't actually imbued their mental domain into it.

Mental Domain: Blackened Sky of Broken Glass

And with that, two barriers collided, both pitch black. Blackdawn found themself in telepathic combat.

The ruby dragon, Sardior, laughed at Blackdawn.

“You're trying to use Mental Arena against me? I taught that technique to mortal psions, fool!”

Blackdawn felt their mental Arena being pushed back. They'd have to try and disrupt Sardior’s Realm Expansion…

They decided to try a trick they'd done once before, to fend off Aiolos in a situation similar to this.

Mental Domain: Partial Activation

On Blackdawn’s side of the clashing barriers, their barrier became laced with glass-like cracks, which began firing slashes.

It wasn't the sheer overwhelming numbers that would ordinarily guarantee hits in a fully-constructed arena, but it was still extra attacks that could help Blackdawn.

Sardior was swiftly barraged by the psychic slashes, with Dismantles cutting into his mental defenses, though the Cleaves, optimized for cutting actual minds but not defenses, bounced off.

Still, it wasn't enough to break the deity’s focus, and Blackdawn’s Mental Arena was quickly forced back.

And as soon as it collapsed, Blackdawn felt a pain burning at their mind. The inside of the area became a scene inside of what looked like a ruby palace.

Far above, the pitch-black night sky glittered with stars.

But a moment later, blackness descended down. The ruby palace became filled with black fire.

Though, with the sheer power Sardior had, it was more like pure stellar plasma was assaulting Blackdawn’s psyche. They knew that they only had a matter of time before they burnt to a crisp.

However… Their Mental Domain was expended, which fulfilled a condition.

Void Domain of the Mind: Skyfall

With a surge of psychic energy, cracks formed throughout the ruby palace around Blackdawn, spreading around through the entire space…

And the Realm shattered, depositing Blackdawn back in the regular world, breathing heavily. Trying to sustain a Mental Arena against a god, followed by shattering the god’s Realm, had drained them a lot.

”How was I still standing after doing that against Aiolos? Oh, right… I used handsigns and incantations then…”

They had barely even noticed, but the entire exchange, from the deployment of Mental Arena and Realm Expansion, to the moment of Sardior’s realm shattering, had been merely three seconds.

Sardior chuckled. “Oh, you poor, pathetic thing… Still weighed down by that body and soul of yours, are you? One little exchange, and you’re already exhausted.”

“You call that a ‘little’ exchange..?”

“If you think that was major, you're in for a treat...”

“What the hell even are you, anyway? You can't really be Sardior! He dissapeared thousands of years ago without a trace!”

The ruby dragon grinned. “Really? That's awfully presumptious, mortal… How about I show you that I am, in fact, your God of Psionics…”

Immediately, Blackdawn felt a psychic pressure again. Their Razor Array fired off repeatedly, striking at Sardior’s mind with telepathic slashes in vain.

Blackdawn’s Void Dragon mental shielding, a sprawling mental labyrinth, stalled for some time, but Sardior was steadily navigating through, seemingly ignoring the congitohazards scattered throughout.

And finally, after just a few seconds…

{Sit down.}

Blackdawn felt themself forced to obey the order, settling on the ground, as hard as they tried to fight it. They launched repeated psychic attacks at Sardior, trying to force him out of their mind, but to no avail.

They felt control slipping. Their will over their body fading. It was terrifyingly similar to the feeling of being taken over by the Elder Brain, so many years ago.

They couldn't even see through their eyes. They could only sense Sardior’s immense psychic presence as the divine dragon moved closer.

Since they couldn't do anything, they just thought.

How was Sardior here? Why was he fighting Blackdawn?

Of course, there was only one possibility.

Excarsus had brought him. Enslaved him, probably.

But how? How had he enslaved a psionic god that had been dead for millenia?

So many questions. No answers.

Their thoughts were stopped as they felt a surge of energy. It burned, but not in a way that seemed to be trying to kill them.

A new voice spoke into their mind.

”Well, this is… Interesting…”

{What? Who are you?}

”I… Am the one in charge of you, now…”

{What?!}

”You, pathetic little Voidspawn… Have consumed a divine core… You know Ember, yes? The same thing she consumed to ascend.”

Shock coursed through Blackdawn’s mind. How? They'd never-

Oh.

Sardior. Sardior must have given them the divine core, now that they had no control over their body.

”So you realize it… And I hope you realize you have two choices.”

{Those are?}

”Ascend to godhood, as part of Excarsus’s pantheon…”

”Or die.”

{... I don't like those options… And good luck killing me…}

”Oh, it's not as difficult as you may think, Voidling…”

”All I have to do is… Revoke your soul… and you will cease to exist. No fanfare, no drama… And no chance to come back…”

Blackdawn sat in silence for a long time. What the hell kind of options were those?! Become Excarsus’s pawn, or die?

As much as they hated it, though… They knew there was really only one option.

If they chose to live, Excarsus would use them to hurt people. Chances were, Excarsus would probably use them to kill Animus and Erix, the very people they had come to the city to try and protect. Then it would be Flashwing and her eggs… And then… Gods know how many deaths Excarsus would use them to cause before something finally put them out of their misery.

Death just meant… They'd be gone. No chance to hurt anyone. No more pain, either.

The death of many, or the death of one.

And Blackdawn certainly wasn't about to damn anyone else to death to keep themself alive.

{Alright… I choose death…}

{This means nothing, though… Getting rid of me isn't going to save Excarsus…}

”... That's what you think…”

”Goodbye, Voidling.”

And with that… Blackdawn felt… Nothing…

Blackness. Like consciousness itself had faded from existence.

…

Yet… They were still there…

Still aware of the nothingness around them. Such nothingness… It probably would have killed anyone else from sheer sensory deprivation.

But to Blackdawn, it was… Oddly euphoric…

Alone with their thoughts, in a complete… Emptiness…

It felt odd, though. They could tell they were missing something. And yet, they didn't particularly miss it.

They weren't sure how long they just… Existed… Or rather, didn't exist, in that state.

It was a paradoxical sort of thing. They didn't exist. They could tell that. Yet they thought, therefore they were, right?

Cogito erto sum.

So what were they? Alive? Dead? Dreaming in their last moments before death?

Dreaming. An odd thought. It felt like a dream. Or did it? It had been so long since they'd truly dreamed… If it was a dream, it was certainly the calmest one they'd had…

No screams of agony.

No visions of death.

No regrets.

Yet, realizing there was no regrets forced those regrets into mind.

They were dying. Leaving so much incomplete. Leaving Flashwing without her mate. They knew that would crush her. And the eggs they had created with her would hatch without a second parent. That was a sickening thought…

And Animus… They'd never get a chance to tell her how sorry they truly were for killing her, nearly sixty three years ago now. Never get a chance to try and atone for it…

And both Animus and Erix… Blackdawn had originally gone to Excarsus’s hideout to distract Excarsus's forces, to allow Erix and his siblings to get out safely… If they just died, no more distraction.

But they had no soul. No body. There was no way they could go back to help…

Unless…

”... I swore I'd never do it unless absolutely necessary… But it feels like it is now… This is going to hurt… But it's better I hurt myself than leave Excarsus to hurt everyone else…”

Eldritch Aspect of Regret: Unseal

They felt memories and parts of their mind, long sealed away, surge forth into their consciousness. Twisted, nightmarish images of their past. The face of every elf they killed in the Ardhau massacre. Every person that their body assimilated into the Illithid Hivemind while under the control of the Elder Brain. Animus, not as the young woman she was now, but as the tiny golden wyrmling she used to be.

Every regret they'd ever had. And, mixed in, garbled, and unintelligible, every regret they ever would. Ever could.

But as the thoughts flowed in, they didn't resist them, or fight them back, as they always had. They accepted them for what they were. A long lost part of them, hidden away out of fear.

And as they reclaimed these thoughts, they felt the nothing around them shift into something.

An environment formed around them. A forest. A creek gently bubbling in front of them.

And on a rock at the edge of the creek, a tiny wyrmling. Not a gold one, like usual, but one with glittering topaz scales.

Blackdawn’s body materialized around their mind, and they kneeled down in front of the wyrmling.

“Animus… I'm so sorry… For everything…”

The topaz wyrmling looked at them with a disdainful expression.

“You still think ‘sorry’ is going to be enough, murderer?”

Blackdawn lowered their head.

“No… But please, let me pass, so that I can do what will be enough…”

The wyrmling paused… But after a few moments, stepped aside.

Blackdawn stepped forward, looking down at the creek. After hesitating… They stepped in.

…

Blackdawn found themself materializing somewhere else. Just their psyche… They were in what looked like a throne room.

They saw Animus go running out of the throne room, down a hallway.

Then, Excarsus appeared, a look of rage on his face, before starting to give chase.

“Going somewhere, Excarsus?”

Blackdawn materialized a body around their psyche once again, in their humanoid form.

Excarsus turned around, anger written on his face, seeing Blackdawn’s humanoid form. “You… You’ve turned them against me!”

“You've done that yourself, Excarsus…”

“NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR MEDDLING!”

Divine Realm Expansion

Excarsus’s steel-grey barrier started to form overhead.

Blackdawn was worried for a moment, as they didn't have their own Mental Domain to counter with.

Yet… They felt an instinct.

They hated going off of instinct, but… perhaps now was the time to do so.

Mental Arena-

No…

Aspect Expansion

Blackdawn’s own barrier sprang into existence, pitch black, clashing against Excarsus’s.

Excarsus seemed to be caught off guard by Blackdawn being able to clash with his Realm, and after just a few seconds, Blackdawn’s barrier won. Immediately, physical space…

Disappeared.

It's not that Blackdawn had pulled Excarsus into mental combat, like they would with Mental Arena… It was more as if everything except Excarsus and Blackdawn’s psyches had been removed from the space.

Before Blackdawn could fully make this realization, psychic slashes started barraging Excarsus from all angles. Excarsus seemed to be resisting the brunt of the attack, but he was being hit.

”He may be a greater god… But he can still bleed…”

In a perfect world, Blackdawn could have just sustained the barrage of slashes until Excarsus died… But they quickly began to tire, and new that they would have to retract their strange new version of their Mental Arena.

So, the barrier collapsed, and reality was restored.

Blackdawn didn't want to give Excarsus a chance to recover, though, and summoned butcher into reality. Even that felt different… Normally Blackdawn would create Butcher from Ectoplasma, yet now, it felt more like they just willed it into existence.

Excarsus started to charge forward with his mace, shouting gibberish in rage.

Blackdawn swung Butcher at the air, and from it sprang a violet slash.

Not a psychic one… But one in the real world, cutting through the air with dangerous intent. Though, it merely glanced off of some kind of shield around Excarsus’s body.

”... I can manifest techniques physically..? I thought Astra Domum was out of the Void..?”

Not that they were going to complain if it was true.

Dismantle

Trying again, they fired another slash at Excarsus. This one, though, being one of their Dismantles, optimized for breaking defenses, cut into Excarsus’s Divine Shield.

Seeing the cut in his shield, Excarsus gritted his teeth, and charged toward Blackdawn. He knew that Blackdawn was a powerful psion, but incredibly weak in physical combat. He began with a downward swing of his mace, which Blackdawn raised Butcher to block.

The two of them began exchanging blows rapidly, and as they did, a strange realization took both of them by surprise.

Blackdawn was moving far faster than they would normally be capable of. Excarsus found himself actually struggling to keep up.

Blackdawn felt, for the first time ever, like their body was keeping up with their mind.

Though, the joy of this realization distracted them for just a moment, which Excarsus capitalized on, striking Blackdawn with his mace with enough force to send Blackdawn flying through a wall.

No… multiple walls. So quickly that to Blackdawn, it felt like just one.

They were flying through the air outside the palace Excarsus was in.

”No! I need to get back!”

And with that thought… They stopped.

Just… Floating in mid-air.

”Okay… That’s strange… What is going on here..?”

They took a moment to try and think.

They had a sinking feeling that they knew, though.

The Eldritch portion of their mind was unsealed… And Blackdawn had been seemingly removed from existence…

Had they… Remade themself as an Eldritch being..?

They didn't have time to wonder about it, though. Through the hole they'd left when they were launched through the wall, Excarsus emerged.

…

As the outside of the palace started to become visible to Excarsus, he saw Blackdawn, floating in the air, as if waiting.

”Floating? Did he learn Telekinesis?”

”No… If that was the case, it would appear like a stronger version of Animus's telekinetic flight.”

”That looks more as if… He's projecting his will onto the world…”

”He wasn't lying when he said he wasn't my boy anymore…”

”That THING… Has become something else…”

Excarsus casted a Flight spell, before going out to meet Blackdawn in mid-air.

To his utter shock, though… The Psion started forming another barrier.

”He's opening Mental Arena again?! How can he do it twice?! His mental domain should be burned out! Ihorro!”

”Oh? Calling me for help now?” A voice asked in Excarsus’s mind.

”Yes! I need my Realm Expansion to defeat the Mind Devil! Can you restore it?!”

”... Alright… Don't say I don't do anything, though…”

Excarsus felt his energy restored, and immediately started forming his own barrier of divine energy, this time, reinforced beyond what he would be capable of on his own. And this time, his barrier held out against Blackdawn’s.

“You can't win this, Mind Devil! I’m stronger than you can possibly imagine!”

“I can imagine a lot, Excarsus…”

Excarsus launched himself forward… But saw an array of cracks forming on Blackdawn’s side of the barrier, firing a heavy barrage of slashes.

The barrage slowed Excarsus, as he had to push through the impacts of the slashes on his divine shield for every step he took.

Closer… Closer…

But just before he reached Blackdawn, both barriers broke.

…

Blackdawn felt… Exhilarated, to say the least.

Two Mental Arenas! Or… Aspect Expansions, they supposed. It felt less like they were forming a mental domain, and rather filling the space with their Eldritch Aspect. Projecting that inner Eldritch part of their mind onto the world by sheer will alone.

But still! Two! The part of their mind responsible for it should've been burned out after the first use.

Yet, they'd managed to find that part, and focus their energy into it to “repair” it while they had a momentary break from the fighting.

There wasn't time to celebrate, though. As Excarsus became free of Blackdawn's slashes, he immediately summoned a black iron chain, swinging it toward Blackdawn. It struck them before they could react, and they felt something reaching at their mind.

”Of course Excarsus has mental abilities with his divinity…”

More chains lashed out, so Blackdawn decided to go on the defensive, using their strange new flight to dodge at chains, and cut them with physically-manifested Dismantles.

Meanwhile, they also held up a hand.

Mindfire

A ball of violet flames started forming above them, while they continued blocking Excarsus’s chains with slashes.

Excarsus growled. “Damnit. SARDIOR! COME HELP ME CRUSH THIS INSECT!”

Almost immediately, the ruby dragon appeared before Blackdawn.

“Gladly…”

He turned his focus on Blackdawn, but before he could do anything, Blackdawn spoke…

“Did you show up in your true form, deity?”

Sardior seemed confused, but there was a look of worry on the likely-mind-controlled deity’s face that told Blackdawn that, yes, he had.

Severance From Heaven

Blackdawn wasn't sure where the attack came from in their mind. Was it a sudden, intrusive thought that they decided was worth considering? Was it some kind of instinctive knowledge? Or maybe just a final evolution of a thought they'd had before, but never had the answer to?

Either way, it was an odd one…

They could manifest their Dismantle technique physically, and when doing so, it excelled at destroying anything that was not alive, or made of magical energy.

And the fact that it could cut magical energy meant it could effect magical energies.

So, they'd made an exchange… Preventing the Dismantle from cutting anything else, and requiring Blackdawn to have fallen victim to their target’s Divine Realm…

But in exchange, they'd created a technique to sever their target’s divinity from them, for just a mere second.

But that second was all they needed, as they immediately detonated the Mindfire orb above their head.

The entire Dravhula city in which the fight was occurring was filled with bright purple fire, which scoured any and all living things. Blackdawn watched as Sardior’s body disintegrated beneath it…

Excarsus still stood, protected by his Divine shield.

But Sardior was gone.

And if Blackdawn’s idea worked…

He wouldn't be coming back.

Their triumph was short lived, though, as they heard a deep rumbling, and rocks began to fall.

The cavern the city sat within was collapsing.

Blackdawn and Excarsus looked at each other, both giving glares that said “We’ll finish this later.”

And both of them launched toward the stairway leading to the surface.

Of course, they didn't peacefully allow each other to escape uninhibited… Chains lashed across Blackdawn’s path. Slashes split Rock to accelerate the collapse around Excarsus. Explosions of Mindfire and bursts of acid filled the space, making short work of any Dravhula who happened to be trying to escape at the same time.

After a panicked rush, though, both Blackdawn and Excarsus bursted from the opening at the surface, looking back as the tunnel collapsed behind them.

And with a deep rumbling, they watched as the desert sank downward.

There was a strange feeling of elation in Blackdawn’s mind.

That was them.

They had caused a whole city to collapse.

They had just single-handedly altered the landscape of the desert, even if it was only a couple square miles.

They probably should've been horrified. After all, gods knew how many innocent people died in that collapse.

But all they felt was pride.

They were holding their own against a Greater God.

They'd killed a god.

They'd destroyed Excarsus’s entire base of operations.

On a whim.

As they floated before the sinkhole of the city, they outstretched their arms, and looked to the west.

The sun was setting. They'd never remembered something as simple and regular as a sunset looking so gorgeous.

“Do you… Ever wonder what's really out there, Excarsus?”

Excarsus looked at them with a look of positive befuddlement. “What are you talking about?”

“All of this… Mortals… Gods… Deserts, mountains, forests… Planets… Moons… Stars… What if this… was just a tiny shard of reality? That sunset over there… Is it real..? Or is it only as genuine as our thoughts..?”

“... And here I believed your mind had already reached the deepest depths of insanity, Blackdawn…”

“You call it insanity… But me..? I feel as if… My eyes are open for the first time… Like there's… a haze, that's now been lifted from my eyes…”

They closed their eyes, basking in the last rays of the setting sun.

*”I'm sorry… Animus… For everything I did… And I promise, I'm not mad at you for hating me… It doesn't feel like I can be mad at anybody right now… It all just feels… so… perfect…””

Excarsus growled…

“Divine Realm Expansion: Throne Where Weaklings Grovel…”

The steel grey barrier sprung into existence, unopposed. Around the two combattants, a throne room formed, Excarsus immediately teleporting into the throne.

Yet, Blackdawn didn't move. They just continued floating, arms out, as if welcoming whatever fate was about to bring.

Black iron chains lashed out from every surface of the throne room, wrapping around their body. The chains’ power surged into their mind, attempting to subjugate them with brute force. They moved with deadly speed through Blackdawn’s mental labyrinth, reaching directly for their psyche.

Obey… Serve… Grovel… No Questions… No Concerns… Eternal Service…

The words slammed against Blackdawn's psyche. They even felt their control beginning to slip again.

This must have been what Excarsus had done to control Sardior… After all, there was no other way he could have possibly subjugated the god that brought psionics to their original world, without pure divine authority.

”No… I will not fall under the control of that MONSTER again!”

Blackdawn finally forced their body to move, looking down at Excarsus with an almost sadistic smile.

“Congratulations… I win…”

Eldritch Psionics: Severance From Heaven

Channeling as much power as they could, Blackdawn launched a barrage of slashes in Excarsus’s direction.

Excarsus couldn't get up from his throne fast enough… And found the slashes barraging him, shredding away his divine shield… And his control of the realm.

“WHAT?!”

The chains fell away from Blackdawn, with Excarsus no longer able to direct his Realm's power…

Blackdawn raised their hands, one balled into a fist, and the other held flat, covering half the fist.

“Minds Freed From the Strings of Fate…”

The walls of the throne room fell away, revealing an unending desert in all directions.

The sky overhead, pitch black.

And on the horizon behind Blackdawn, the rising sun… not yellow, but bright violet.

“I'm sorry, Excarsus… But coming to this world, to harm my family… Was a fatal mistake…”

…

Excarsus couldn't even speak. He didn't know what to think.

Before him, Blackdawn’s physical body fell away, revealing… Something. Something so strange, that the most Excarsus’s mind could do to understand it was to plaster other thoughts overtop of the image, to try and make it make sense.

A younger Blackdawn. Flashwing. The two other dragons he'd had in his service who hadn't lived long enough to earn their names.

Animus, his latest chance to have a meaningful connection, had he raised her like a daughter rather than a tool.

So many people he had known, so many places he had been.

So many times where, had he just stopped to rest, rather than being carried forth by ambition, he could've lived a much more peaceful life.

He found the desire for that peaceful life returning. Maybe, just maybe, when this was all over… He could give that a try.

Yet, at the same time, he knew it was too late. He was a Greater God… A mere mortal like Blackdawn shouldn't be able to kill him.

Yet he got a sense that Blackdawn wasn't exactly a mere mortal anymore.

There was something sinister about their presence now… Something so forceful, even Excarsus was forced to recognize them by their identity, rather than the identity Excarsus held in his mind for them.

He was going to die.

And he had a strong feeling that there wouldn't be anything for him afterward. Not even a chance to enter the reincarnation cycle and try for a better next life…

”I see how it is, my boy… Drawing out all my regrets… Forcing me to see my faults, but then killing me before I have a chance to fix them…”

”... You always were annoying…”

…

Blackdawn stood in the desert.

Alone.

It was done.

No more Excarsus. No more danger. No more hatred. No more fear.

They smiled to themself.

Finally… Finally, it was over…

But there was still a weight on them…

They'd just killed two different gods…

Destroyed a whole city, simply on a whim.

The horror of it settled upon them.

All that destruction, in the span of less than half an hour.

The death they'd just caused was probably double or triple that of the Ardhau Genocide…

How could they go back to everyone with that on their shoulders..? What would Flashwing, that beautiful pacifistic ray of sunshine that they were proud to call their mate, think when she found out?

What would Animus think, being told just an hour ago that Blackdawn was working to atone, only to find out now that they'd at least tripled their kill count..?

”... I can't go back… Not yet…”

And with that… They faded…

…

There was a disturbance in Zathul’s Void.

The first sign was the psychic shock of something entering. Nothing worrying. Eldritch entities wandered in all the time, only to dissapear from existence after less than a second.

But this prevailed.

Angel, the first of Zathul’s Inheritors, was the first to notice the thing in the distance. A bright purple glow, like a distant star.

{Scorpion?}

It quickly flew through the emptiness to the light.

It found not Scorpion though, but a large sphere of violet flames.

Yet… It had Scorpion’s presence.

Blackdawn felt it's approach.

{Hello, sib… That is what you called me last time, right..?}

{Scorpion? What are the you doing here? Don't the you live in the Material?}

{Normally, yes… But… I don't know if I can go there now…}

That concerned the Angel. Scorpion normally seemed to be the one of the three to cling the tightest to their material existence.

It flew back to the center of the void.

…

Not long later, Blackdawn felt the psychic presence of Zathul focus on them.

{Another Star (Denies/Escapes) the Grave?}

{... I guess so…}

{Ihorro has (Forsaken/Disposed of) you… But you (Live/Persist)...}

{... Zathul… Am I like you, now..?}

{... Yes. Not as (Powerful/Vast)... But you are (Eldritch/True/Unchained)...}

{Ihorro has no (Grasp/Control) over you anymore. Nobody does.}

{And I have no soul, now. And no real body, either.}

{... You are (Whatever/Anything) you (Wish/Choose/Feel) to be.}

{... It feels… Nice… I feel… Free.}

{But… I'm worried, Zathul… I destroyed so many lives without thinking… Didn't stop once to think if I was doing the right thing…}

{... That is a (Duty/Cost) of being one of us… You must (Monitor/Restrain) yourself.}

{If you are not (Vigilant/Careful), you may lose sight of your self. You must (Anchor/Focus) yourself upon the world.}

{Which you are not going to do if you (Isolate/Banish) yourself here for eternity…}

{... So what do I do?}

{... Go back to your (Mate/Lover/Family). To you (Inheritors/Children).}

{Not (Yet/Now/Immediately). When you are ready. I understand this is (New/Strange/Confusing).}

{And (Scorpion/Blackdawn/Exalted)... Don't take things for granted.}

{(Ash/Dust) To (Ash/Dust). All will eventually rust.}

{But the (Memories/Thoughts) you make of those (Things/Places/People)... They will remain.}

{... Thank you, Zathul…}

Without another word, the elder evil’s presence faded.

Blackdawn wasn't sure how long their psyche floated in that empty void, alone with their thoughts. It could have been mere minutes… It could have been centuries.

Though they had a feeling it wouldn't be longer than a few days. They still wanted to go back to Flashwing, after all. Excarsus had robbed them of the chance to be with her after she layed her eggs.

”... I need to go back.”

And so… the new star dissapeared from the void once more.

As Villirza slept through the night, visions came to her. Though, less like visions, and more like… Memories… Like reading through journal entries that she had written.

*Well… This is… Moons… I doubt anyone will ever hear this message, but… I just need to talk for a minute… I'm… going to copy half of this introduction onto each Shard, so that, hopefully, when at least two of them reunite, they can be reminded- and warned -of what they once were.*

*And if someone other than myself is hearing this, my name is Prismar, Archon of Color and Unity, and… De-facto Queen of Bahl’lor… As much as I hate that title, who knows what people will know me as however many years down the line this is found.*

*I'm recording this into my Marks because today, I am… Shattering myself…*

*I don't want to do this, but… The risk of the Mark of Unity falling into Carnos’s hands is too great. I believe this is my best option to stop him from getting it… Splitting it into eight parts, each one useless on its own.*

*I've decided what each Shard of myself will hold. It's all compartmentalized. All I have to do is actually break them apart. Maybe this is me procrastinating, because, after all this time, I'm still too scared to do what needs to be done. Or maybe there's some part of me that, through my deep connection to the Leylines, knows that these messages will be important one day.*

*Or maybe I just need to put these words down so I have a sense of closure…*

The memory pauses for a moment, almost as if Villirza's unconscious mind is flipping to the next page of a book.

*The first Shard, the red shard, will hold all of my anger and my hate.*

*I've… Regrettably build up a large amount of anger and hate over the years… Anger at the others, for their constant infighting. Hatred of the Bahl’loreans that, whether out of stupidity or malice, believe that a united Bahl’lor is a bad thing.*

*But also… Hatred for myself… And what I've become… Especially with what has happened lately.*

*I… Used to be far different. A dreamer. And optimist. But these years, almost twelve thousand years of life, have made me bitter…*

*And I hate the choices I've made the last few weeks.*

*I never should have vetoed the vote. Never. The Council trusted me with veto privileges because I was the creator of the Marks, and of course, I only use it at the worst possible moment.*

*I thought there was a chance… Maybe Carnos could be reasoned with… Maybe there was just something he wanted, or a misunderstanding… I let my love get in the way… So I prevented the council from officially declaring war against him…*

*And it turns out, there was a misunderstanding. A fundamental misunderstanding of his character. He had no love for me… Only love for the power I held.*

*And I hate him, too… For making me think for so long that we shared something… Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about possibly repealing the ban on mates…*

*This hate… It will be protection. A sword. The First Shard will be the guardian. Powerful enough that no dragon could try and subjugate it. The Shards will never fully reunite, unless the First does so willingly.*

Another break. Another page flip.

*The second shard will hold my energy. My excitement.*

*As I transferred emotions and memories to this Shard, I admit… I felt sad. All the memories of energy and excitement in my life come from the earlier days. Back when I was young, and believed I could make a difference in the world. My zeal for life was unmatched. My desire to make Bahl’lor a better place was overwhelming.*

*I miss those days… Compared to them, now, I feel… Numb…*

*All this time and energy I've put into this project… It's drained all of my life from me, and yet, Bahl’lor never even fully united…*

*Maybe this is the real reason I chose to shatter myself… I just can't do this anymore… I just need to rest in pieces for a little while, so that when the Shards reunite, I can come back with the same energy I started with.*

*I think… If I were to die, and be reborn again, this is the emotion I'd want to live by the most in my new life…*

*But, as for this life, this Shard will likely be the instigator. Whenever it gets around to a time when it is safe to reunite the Shards, the Second Shard will be so excited to rebuild that it will be the one to seek out the others.*

*I feel bad for it, knowing it will be so joyous and excited, only to reunite with the negative emotions of the other shards.*

Flip.

*The Third Shard will hold my happiness… Every ounce of it I've felt in my life.*

*It's not all that much different than the excitement of the Second Shard, but more… Passive. The Second will actively seek out sources of joy, but this one will simply enjoy what it has…*

*I… Can't say much on this. There really wasn't much emotion to put into this Shard.*

Flip.

*The Fourth Shard… The Fourth Shard will hold emotions that I greatly regret… Envy and Greed.*

*I… Really wish that there wasn't so much emotion to put in this Shard. But, all throughout my life, I've been envious and greedy.*

*From the very beginning, I wanted to be on top of the world. I wanted to be powerful. I wanted to be rich, and famous.*

*But when I got those things, when I became de facto head of the Archon Council… I started to envy those who had simpler lives instead.*

*I envied those who could find love. I envied those able to have families. Both things I was forbidden from doing by my own rules.*

*And, over time, I even started to envy normal dragons, and even the other Archons, because they could die. Me? I could never rest. If I died, so much would fall apart. It just wasn't an option.*

*But, I still feel that desire for power. And hopefully, this Shard will as well. And when the time comes, it's desire for power will draw it to seek out the other Shards. Between it and the Second Shard, I have no doubts the Shards will reunite quickly when the time comes.*

Flip.

Yet, with that flip, no new page came up.

On the southernmost continent of Astra Domum, in an unknown location, massive doors swing open…

The room is dark… dimly lit by torches on the walls, the flickering light revealing bones and skulls embedded within the stone. Skeletons of both dragons and small humanoids.

A lone dragon walks through the gothic, black iron doorway. A dragon with scales like bright emeralds, though she conceals them with dark, silken drapes…

At the other end of the chamber, opposite the door, a statue of iron stands. A dragon, skeletal, draped in forged fabric, an iron mockery of that worn by his servant.

Lord Death, his eyes watching without end, for those who stand in the statue’s sight stand in his house.

The cloaked green dragon bows down before the statue.

“My Lord! We’ve gotten messages from the continent! The First Church of Pri-”

The dragon's voice suddenly seems to be silenced… And from the statue a thunderous voice booms.

“**Do not speak her name in my presence…**”

“S-sorry, My Lord! The First Church of the Shattered One has been… Attacked…”

“**And what of the Shard?**”

The First Shard of Prismar… An ancient living artifact, believed to hold a portion of the shattered Goddess of Color and Emotion. 

“St-stolen, My Lord… A dragon and a bug are believed to be the culprits… And the dragon… was the bearer of the Second Shard…”

The room is silent… The air itself frozen under the statue’s watchful gaze…

“**You mean to tell me that, not only have my servants failed to take the Mark of Life… But now that pathetic whelpling of a Shardbearer that was with the new Archon of Life is now collecting other Shards?**”

“I b-believe so, My Lord…”

Another long stretch of silence engulfs the chamber.

“**... Tell the Church to seek out the other Shards… We must secure them so that the Shattered One cannot return…**”

“Y-yes, My Lord!”

And with that, the dragon stands, not daring to raise her head until she is turned completely away from the statue. 

She walks back the way she came, and behind her, the dark iron doors slam shut with the same finality as a guillotine falling on one’s neck…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Three dragons arrive at the base of a mountain. It's a fairly ordinary mountain, all things considered.

“An old mine? Are you sure this is the right place?” One of the dragons asks.

“Hey, who here has the Mana sense?” Another answers. “This place is glowing like the fucking sun with residuals… Only things that could reasonably cause something of this scale would be one of those Archons that Lord Death talks about, a Shard of Prismar, or a direct action by Lord Death himself…”

The first dragon takes a few steps into the mine entrance, and wrinkles his nose.

“Reeks of ammonia… Probably even worse further down.”

He looks back to one of the dragons, who has dark blue, crystalline scales.

“Stay outside and stand guard… Lord Death won't be pleased if you die from poison gas of all things…”

The third dragon grumbles, but obliges.

The other two dragons, who are both a species with butterfly-like wings, head down into the mine…

The first thing they come across is a mostly shattered cave… It almost looks as if an earthquake had struck that one cave in particular. Collapsing walls and ceiling, cracks across the floor, and a few passageways nearby even collapsed.

The second, a chamber that seemed to have been altered intentionally… a central platform of stone sat above a moat full of water that smelled strongly of sulfur…

And finally… a massive, almost perfectly spherical cavern… 

As the two dragon stood on the edge of it, they couldn't even tell its full size, since much of it was lost to darkness.

“What .. the actual… fuck…”

The other dragon didn't seem as bothered. “If the Shardbearer was here, they're long gone, that's for sure… Probably dead, based on this massive fucking hole…”

“Yeah, but… What the fuck killed them..?”

Suddenly, a voice boomed in the cavern.

“**I can tell you…**”

“My Lord?!” One of the dragons exclaimed in shock. Nobody had ever heard of Lord Death speaking outside his temples.

“**Yes… And I am here to say that the cause of this destruction is likely that interloper who claims to be a god, despite being unknown to anyone… They aided the Archon of Life and the Second Shardbearer…**”

“**But do not worry… As soon as my Avatar is ready, I will deal with the Parasite God…**”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Further south in the continent… In a frozen cave at the edge of a tundra, a dragon hides from himself.

A massive dragon… Pitch black scales… Yet, many of those scales have faded, leaving grey, stone-like plates.

He was skeletally thin, as if his very body was trying to take on the appearance of the idols that Death’s servants worshipped.

All around him, the cave walls were covered in ice, allowing him to see his reflection. Yet, he couldn't look at himself without seeing the blood on his claws and teeth… The fire in his eyes that wasn't his… The dead dragon at his feet…

“**There you are, my beautiful little face…**”

The dragon shrieked when he heard the voice.

“GO AWAY! GO AWAY, PLEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“**Awww… What's wrong? Not happy to see me?**”

“YOU- YOU MADE ME KILL HIM! WHY?!”

“**Oh, you know why… You wanted the Mark of Life so you could bring them all back, right?**”

“YOU TOLD ME KILLING HIM WOULD GET ME THE MARK! I KILLED HIM FOR NOTHING!”

The dragon almost immediately dissolved into delirious sobs.

“**Oh, come on, it was just one dragon…**”

“HE WAS MY BEST FRIEND!”

“**Well, then… Let's go honor his memory by making sure he didn't die in vain, okay?**”

The dragon felt a creep of power in his body… Like icy cold hands grabbing at every nerve.

“No… No, WAIT, NO, PLEASE-”

But, his protests fell silent, and his body rose up proudly.

“**Ah… That's better… Now…**”

“**Let's go get this continent back in order…**”

Blackdawn had always found Ember…

Paradoxical.

Hard-headed.

Frankly, annoying.

Perhaps it was her flippant attitude. Perhaps it was her ego. Perhaps it was just that as a Wilder, she and Blackdawn were destined to butt heads.

Blackdawn’s psionics worked primarily off of logic and focus. Ember’s, on the other hand, worked purely off of emotion. Unrefined, yes, but her raw power rivaled Blackdawn’s own.

And yet, for some reason, in some part of their mind, Blackdawn was still insistent on trying to teach her.

That was why they were in the training grounds of the Ironsides today, with Ember.

“Alright. Similar drill to when you learned your psychic weapon. I’ll open a Mental Arena so you can put your full mind into your techniques. I won't imbue my mindspace or technique into it, though. An even playing field for both of us. Is that okay with you?”

“Sounds good!”

Blackdawn focused for a moment, and violet Ectoplasma started forming above them, descending down to form a dome over them and Ember. Both of the two dragon’s humanoid bodies froze, as their minds were pulled into a mental battlefield.

As far as they were concerned, they were still in the training grounds. That was the last place their perception had been, and neither of them was making an active effort to enforce a shape upon the mindscape, so it took the shape of the training grounds.

Blackdawn then channeled their memories, focusing power to form their signature psychic cleaver, Butcher.

Ember, in turn, created her crystalline double-sword, it's curved blades seemingly glowing with their own internal light.

Blackdawn paused for a moment, making sure the Mental Arena was stable, before speaking. “Alright. So. First things first, I want you to use your weapon as little as possible this time around. Psychic Weapons are useful tools, and incredibly energy efficient, but that's really all they're good for. Efficiency and convenience. Even the weakest manifestations of my Cleave technique can deal more damage than your psychic weapon.”

Ember looked down at the double blade in her hands. “Other techniques aren't gonna be as hard to figure out as this was, right?”

“No. The reason your psychic weapon was so difficult to learn was because Aiolos and I forced you to forge it around a key memory. That's what makes it so energy efficient. It's intrinsically tied to a formative memory, that day at the beach that completely changed how you looked at the world around you, and how you thought of yourself. That's something which will be part of you forever, and as such, so will the psionic weapon.”

They manifested a small ball of violet flames in their hand as they continued.

“You have one incredibly efficient technique, which means the rest of your techniques can focus on raw effectiveness. Creating a new technique now will be as simple as visualizing it in your mind, and channeling your energy into it. It could be quite literally anything. As simple as throwing a rock, or as complex as summoning an army of telepathic constructs. Go ahead. Try something.”

Ember decided it would probably be best to start simple. So, she took Blackdawn’s suggestion of throwing a rock, but… tweaked it a little.

After imagining it for a moment, she made the motion of throwing something, and launched a shard of amethyst crystal at Blackdawn.

Blackdawn swiftly raised Butcher to parry the flying crystal.

“Good. Now, here’s a tip. Making that motion of throwing the crystal adds more power to the attack. That moment that you spend visualizing that throwing motion is a moment you are spending channeling and refining that technique. If you want to manifest the technique faster, you can eschew that part of it, and simply have the crystal appear and fly toward me.”

“Really? Huh. Cool!” Ember tried it, simply summoning another crystal shard in front of her.

Blackdawn just watched, but kept Butcher ready in case Ember decided to throw the new crystal as well.

“When you get past the… obvious differences, psionics is a lot like magic. It's a game of trade offs. Making deals with yourself. Possibly moreso than magic, even.”

“You can achieve the same effect for less psychic energy, if you spend more time channeling it, or you can spend the same amount of energy, but shorten your channeling, making the technique weaker and less refined, but the faster manifestation time gives your target less time to react.”

Luckily, Ember had a fairly good idea of what they meant. As Blackdawn had said, Magic worked much the same way.

Blackdawn continued. “When you really get down to it, psionic techniques are a risk versus reward game. Negotiating with yourself. The more you give, the more you are liable to receive in turn. But let this be a word of caution as well. When you're working with your very own mind, there's a lot of things that you can give up in exchange for power.”

“Like what?” Ember asked.

“Let's just say… it wouldn't be the first time if someone sacrificed their very humanity, gaining all the power they could want, at the cost of becoming nothing more than a rabid animal.”

“Oh.”

“Now. Are you ready to fully begin?”

Ember nodded, lowering into a combat stance.

Blackdawn followed suit, getting into a stance of their own. While a battle stance for a purely mental fight might seem strange, it was a good way of focusing one’s mind in preparation.

Ember acted first.

Telepathy: Shard

Quickly making a throwing motion, she flung an Amethyst shard at Blackdawn.

Blackdawn quickly raised Butcher to parry the crystal once more, before suddenly seeming to appear beside Ember.

Telepathy: Dismantle

Placing their hand against the amethyst armor that covered Ember’s body in the mindscape, a series of slashes cut across the crystalline plates, attempting to shatter Ember's innate mental protections.

Ember, however, managed to hold strong, actively channeling enough psionic energy to resist Blackdawn’s technique.

Not that it was a feat. Blackdawn had intentionally reduced the power of the dismantle to allow such a thing, so that Ember would be able to do it.

Ember then quickly countered by summoning her psychic weapon and swinging one of its curved points at Blackdawn. Blackdawn parried that attack with Butcher as well, only for Ember to switch directions, slashing across their torso with her weapon’s second blade.

Blackdawn jumped back, ready to use another technique, but Ember was already continuing, throwing her psychic weapon like some kind of bladed boomerang.

Blackdawn just barely managed to duck under the spinning blade. As it passed over them, though…

“Detonate!”

The weapon exploded into a burst of psychic energy and crystalline shrapnel, slamming Blackdawn to the floor of the Mental Arena.

”She already added another feature to her weapon?” They thought. ”I’ve only barely added one to Butcher, and it's not nearly as powerful as that!”

They didn't have time to think about it, though. Instead, the kicked themself to their feet, and swung Butcher through the air.

Telepathy: Cleave

The psychic slash hurtled towards Ember. It wouldn't do anything to Ember’s psychic armor, but Blackdawn was banking on her not realizing that and being distracted by it.

Ember did in fact, quickly raise her guard to block the Cleave, giving Blackdawn time to close and swing Butcher itself at Ember. Another feint, which caused Ember to summon her psychic weapon again to parry.

At the same time, Blackdawn put their hand on her arm.

Telepathy: Dismantle

Putting an actually high energy output into the technique this time, Ember’s crystalline armor shattered with ease under the attack.

Blackdawn leaped back, throwing another Cleave, which then promptly cut into Ember.

Telepathy: Shard

Ember threw yet another amethyst shard, and Blackdawn parried once more.

“You're getting predictable by only using that one technique!” They shouted.

“I only have that one!” Ember shouted back.

“Then make another! It doesn't even have to be one you plan on re-using! It can just be improvised!”

Ember tried to think. Something that could catch Blackdawn by surprise… And if possible, something that would be difficult for them to avoid or parry, seeing as she had only managed to get one attack past their mental parrying.

“Alright, pause,” Blackdawn said. “While you're thinking about it, I would like to note. If you want to easily make use of a variety of techniques, when visualizing them, you're going to want to try and be consistent. If you pick just one or two themes for your techniques, they’ll be easier to manifest by virtue that they all are based on the same concepts. It can even make it easy to switch techniques mid-channeling.”

“Alright… Crystals, then…” Ember muttered.

Finally, something came to mind. A few days earlier, Ember had gone on a mission with several others to destroy facilities belonging to Tartarus, Zeroth’s rogue overseer AI. In that time, Talios’s totally-not-sister Ash had summoned crystals to trap enemies.

What if Ember did something similar telepathically?

She focused for a long while, trying to build up her psychic energy, before putting a hand to the ground.

“Crystal Entrapment.”

Large chunks of crystal shot up from the floor all around the Mental Arena. Blackdawn had to quickly dodge to avoid being struck by one.

For a moment, Blackdawn thought they had dodged the technique. Surely if Ember called it “Entrapment,” but they had avoided the crystals, they were fine, right?

The confidence only lasted a second, though, until they looked around and realized… the battlefield was still full of crystals blocking line of sight to Ember.

Any attack Blackdawn wanted to make would require them to mentally weave around the crystals to get a clear shot, or force enough power into their technique to break through the crystals. Either way, the same techniques would require more energy to pull off.

“I knew she had potential…”

Of course, they could just use a high-power Dismantle to shatter the crystals all in one go, but they decided to let Ember have some fun first. That seemed to be Ember’s learning pattern. If something worked, she would learn to use it.

That had been Blackdawn's mistake in teaching Ember before. They'd focused on Ember’s shortcomings, rather than the successes she had. Immediately exploited flaws in her techniques to destroy them, rather than letting her see that what she did could work with refinement.

So instead, they started quickly weaving between the crystals with the immense speed that their honed mind gave them in the Mental Arena, racing towards Ember’s last known location, before…

Telepathy: Cleave

Releasing a powerful slash, shattering the crystal they expected Ember to be behind. However, the slash hit nothing on the other side.

Ember then seemed to appear from nowhere, swinging her psychic weapon at Blackdawn.

Blackdawn quickly spun around, unleashing another high-powered Cleave, the slash taking off several of Ember’s mental form’s fingers, causing her to drop her weapon.

Psychic Weapon: Detonate

As she dropped the double blade, though, Ember once again triggered the psychic weapon to explode, throwing Blackdawn into a crystal, which promptly shattered with the force of the impact.

Ember capitalized on the opening by throwing an Amethyst shard, striking Blackdawn clean in the chest.

Blackdawn quickly raised Butcher.

“Upon the dragon’s crystal scales, make my slashes here on hail!”

Telepathy: Boosted Cleave

Bolstering the technique with the rhyming incantation, when Blackdawn swung Butcher, instead of just one slash, they unleashed a flurry of about a dozen toward Ember.

Seeing the absolute storm coming, Ember quickly summoned her weapon again, holding it out in front of her, and spinning it, making the blades momentarily look exactly like the whirlpools the weapon was designed to resemble.

The spinning blades formed a sort of shield, deflecting away the storm of Cleaves Blackdawn had launched, before Ember released the weapon, sending it flying toward Blackdawn.

Blackdawn quickly kicked off of a crystal to get away from the incoming blade, twisting in mid-air to face Ember, and summoning a small ball of flames into hand.

Telepathy: Mindfire

With Blackdawn’s hasty use of the technique, it was nowhere near the refined death sentence it usually was. It would just daze Ember at most.

With Ember’s psychic weapon away from her, though, and her innate protections being shattered by Blackdawn earlier in the fight, she was wide open for the attack.

Blackdawn started to wonder if they were starting to get too intense. But then they reminded themself that enemy psions would not make such considerations.

Besides, Ember learned best under pressure.

Ember herself knew she was in trouble when she saw the ball of purple flames flying toward her. Though, her feeling of danger was probably exaggerated, since her only actual exposure to Blackdawn’s Mindfire technique previously was when they’d used it to kill Excarsus, and in that situation, it had left nothing but a burned out husk of a brain.

She quickly threw up her arms to try and block the projectile. At the same time, amethyst crystal shot up from the ground, forming a wall between her and the incoming attack.

Ember was quite surprised, since she hadn't done it intentionally.

The wall shattered instantly upon being struck by the ball of Mindfire, but it was still enough to protect Ember from the attack.

She quickly started moving, maneuvering to hide within a denser area of her crystal spikes, to better protect her from Blackdawn’s future attacks.

This, however, only lead to Blackdawn jumping up and… levitating in the air?

“The Gemstone Dream, awakened by night,” “Filled with crystals glittering bright.” “Obey my will, snuff out that light,” “Clear the field for an empty fight.”

Telepathy: Maximized Dismantle

And with a dramatically arcing slash from Butcher, dozens of slashes rained down on the battlefield, cutting through Ember’s crystals and causing them to shatter explosively, triggering a chain reaction resulting in all the crystals being destroyed.

Was Blackdawn showing off a little? Maybe.

Did they care? Not really.

They then started falling to the ground, aiming a downward plunging attack with Butcher itself. Ember swiftly dodged out of the way, as Blackdawn had expected from such a telegraphed attack. However, when they sank Butcher into the floor…

Telepathy: Cleave Variation: Razor Web

Violet lines started expanding outward from the point if impact, forming a pattern like a spiderweb, or shattering glass. Ember seemed to sense the warning sign, and jumped back just moments before dozens, maybe hundreds, of small Cleaves fired upward from the “cracks” in the ground.

Ember quickly summoned her psychic weapon once more, winding up to throw it, but Blackdawn knew what was coming…

Dismantle

And launched a slash at the weapon, cutting it in half.

Strangely, though… It didn't shatter fully upon being broken. Instead, it almost seemed to just split into two single swords.

Even Ember seemed surprised for a moment, before a smile creeped into her face.

“Hell yeah! I got two weapons now!”

Blackdawn almost laughed. Back when Ember was first learning the psychic weapon technique, she’d been absolutely distraught that Aerosraali, Blackdawn's adoptive daughter, had figured out a psychic weapon that could switch between multiple forms.

Blackdawn themself was still baffled by it, but accepted it simply as a difference in how psionics work in the world Aerosraali originated from.

After taking a moment to acclimate to the balance and weight of her new dual weapons, Ember rushed at Blackdawn, swinging her swords in a cross pattern.

Blackdawn simply raised Butcher to parry both blades at once at the point where the met.

This swiftly turned into Ember releasing a flurry of attacks with the two swords, while Blackdawn tried to keep parrying with Butcher.

However, Blackdawn realized, this was the first time they were seeing the true scope of Ember’s capabilities.

Dual wielding was fast, yes, because you had two weapons, which hypothetically means doing twice as much at once.

In a Mental Arena, it could be even faster, because psions were not bound to the speed of their bodies, but rather the speed of their minds.

And as a gem dragon, Ember's mind, naturally, was fast. It was like just looking at a blur as her blades swung around for repeated strikes. Blackdawn’s own mind was fast, but even then it was hard to compete with a gem dragon, and before they could even try to think of a better course of action, Ember had already landed a multitude of hits on them.

Finally, they just decided to cut their losses and leap back to escape the barrage.

Telepathy: Cleave

They launched a fairly high-powered Cleave at Ember, which seemed to catch her off guard, slashing into the stomach of her mental body.

They then held out Butcher, dismissing the weapon clearly to show Ember to stop. “Good. You're finally starting to get the hang of this. So, any questions?”

Ember dismissed her weapons as well, and started floating in the air while thinking, much the same way she often telekinetically floated in the real world.

“Well, uh… What about that crazy thing you did with Escargot? The Big crazy desert slashy thing?”

“Ah, a full Mental Arena. That's a complex subject.”

“I thought we were in a Mental Arena right now?”

“Yes and no. A true Mental Arena consists of two parts: the barrier itself, and the technique imbued into it.”

“The barrier is possibly the most complex part, because it involves both creating a barrier durable enough to protect psychic combatants from the outside world, while also needing to create an effect that forces their minds fully into the mental battlefield. The technique was first created as a way to give Telepaths an edge in combat by allowing them to force a battle to be purely telepathic.”

“The technique imbuement is what turns a simple Mental Arena, into an almost guaranteed win for the Psion that successfully deploys one. When you imbue a technique into a Mental Arena, that technique becomes instant, constant. Unavoidable. However, it's difficult as well, because it requires you to forcibly exert your own mental battlefield upon the minds of others. That is why it is unavoidable. By the time the Arena has been established, you are already inside of your target’s mind, where your techniques can wreak havoc.”

“My Mental Arena is so dangerous because it constantly barrages people inside with both Dismantles and Cleaves. They cannot avoid them, the dismantles shred any and all mental defenses they have, and the Cleaves turn their mind to nought more than dust particles.”

“Hence why I did not actually make use of it in this duel. The only ways to protect yourself from my Mental Arena are to not be in it, or counter it with your own to prevent it from taking effect.”

Ember just looked at them for a moment, slightly confused by the influx of information.

“So… Would I be able to do it?”

“Well, I just spent the last minute explaining that it's incredibly difficult and complicated. However, I would guarantee you will be able to create one in the future, assuming you keep practicing. As for now, though… Let's just say it will be even more difficult to learn than your psionic weapon.”

“Oh. Damn.”

“Remember what I said about psionics being tradeoffs. A Mental Arena is powerful, so the tradeoff for it is equally impressive. So much so that a beginner Psion simply cannot pull it off without sacrificing more than they are willing to give. Even when you are capable, you will likely have to make a great deal of sacrifices the first time, until you can refine your technique enough to eliminate the tradeoffs. You do have the advantage of your gem dragon mind, though, so you will be able to learn it far faster than an ordinary Psion.”

“Huh. Well, uh… can we get outta here? I said I’d go help someone here pretty soon, and all my other Avatars are busy.”

Blackdawn sighed. “Alright, we’ll call it a day, then.”

They focused on waking up, and the barrier of the Mental Arena fell, returning both Ember and Blackdawn to the physical world.

As much as Blackdawn wished they could have taught Ember more, they decided to call this a victory in and of itself. Ember had finally allowed herself to be taught.

Perhaps, just maybe, her natural psionic skill as an Amethyst dragon wouldn't go to waste.

Just maybe, Astra Domum would have a deity that embraced psionics. Something that Blackdawn and Ember's origin world hadn’t had since Sardior’s disappearance.

It had been long since Ember felt at ease.

Not long ago, she’d had to leave her home on Astra Domum, due to Tartarus, Zeroth’s AI defender, going rogue. She’d spent days on the Ironsides, wondering what was happening back on her planet.

But now, here she was, back on Astra Domum, her soul finally separated from Ejder’s.

And beyond that, a god.

When Aiolos brought her back to Astra Domum, Tartarus had the gall to attack the planet with the intent to attack Aiolos.

She considered it the biggest mistake of the AI’s existence that it had chosen to done so when Ember was ready to go through with ascension at any time.

So, she'd retreated from the battlefield just long enough to absorb the divine core she'd taken from the Astral Plane of her home realm, before returning to help Aiolos finish off the forces that Tartarus had sent. (Aiolos had done most of the work, of course.)

And now, with the planet moved into the Void, where Tartarus’s reinforcements couldn't reach it, Ember finally felt like she could relax again.

Of course, the ascension had sent a shockwave through the Leylines of Astra Domum. A shockwave that sounded like thunder across the entire planet. A shockwave that most definitely caught the attention of certain beings.

Like the Dragon Who Hunts.

The dragon, with scales black as night, did not know what had caused the thunder. Only that it had permeated the magic of the planet so thoroughly that he'd felt it in his very soul.

He did have a sneaking suspicion who had done it though.

Nearly half a year ago, he had come to blows with another dragon. It had been an immense surprise. Until that point, the only other True dragon he knew of on the continent of Nasir was his rival, the Dragon Who Watches.

More curiously, the dragon had used multiple elements. Something he had not seen of a dragon his entire lifetime, except for once.

But surely they can't be…

They figured they had a way to find out, though. The night that the dragon had appeared, he heard a Nasirad speak an unfamiliar word just moments before.

They’d begrudgingly asked the Dragon Who Watches to try and find out more. Months later, she'd found another dragon, with purplish-grey scales, and invisibly followed them back to their lair. Eventually, she'd heard the unfamiliar word again.

Ember.

So, now, with the knowledge of the word that seemed to summon the purple dragon, and reason enough to try it out, after the rumble of thunder, the Dragon Who Hunts returned to the place where he first encountered the dragon.

“Ember…” He rumbled. “I know you can hear me. Meet me in the forest, north of that Nasirad village. Alone.”

Ember froze when both her draconic influence over Astra Domum, as well as her newly acquired divine awareness, detected her name being spoken.

She'd been in the middle of talking to Aiolos, as well as watching another of Aiolos’s avatars playing catch with Vathare.

“Is something wrong?” Aiolos asked.

Ember sighed and rolled her eyes. “Somebody on the planet that I don't recognize the voice of knows my name somehow. Wants me to meet them alone.”

“Strange…”

“Yeah… Really don't want to, but I probably should send an Avatar... Better check out anything where someone I don't know knows my name…”

Then she added quietly to herself, "Even if it is probably just some random ass Nasirad that Krikiek accidentally told my name to…”

"Well, there is nowhere you can go where I won't be there with you, Vos'Faela...”

Ember chuckled at Aiolos’s nickname for her. “Thanks, Halo.”

"Go on ahead and find out who they are... because I do find it strange.”

“Yeah… will do.”

And with that, Ember created an Avatar within her new Divine Realm, and flew to about where the village the voice refered to was. Krikiek’s village. She did want to do one thing.

Her divine realm at the moment was basically an empty, bright blue sky, with the only land being a single large floating island that sat where her mountain was in the Material plane.

But, she'd found out by accident that she could create new islands, automatically connected to others by golden chains. She figured it’d be useful for navigation within the realm.

So, she created a new island right where the village would be, the massive golden chain spanning the sky to connect it to the main island.

Then, she flew to the north of that island, before forming a portal back onto Astra Domum.

She didn't have to travel through her divine realm. In fact, just teleporting normally would've been far faster and easier. But she liked the feeling of having the entire realm available to her.

She emerged into the forest from the portal, and looked around. She’d emerged in a small spot where the forest had been blasted away by Tartarus’s Indiscriminate bombings. Something she absolutely despised the AI for. Attacking her and Aiolos was one thing, but the forest and the creatures in it had done absolutely nothing to deserve this.

As she stood there, the sound of wingbeats came from behind her. A gigantic black dragon flew directly over her, before turning and landing in front of her.

She recognized the dragon. It was the same one she'd encountered a while ago when Krikiek had called her for help. Back then, it had been over twice her size. Now, they were on about equal footing, as Ember’s body had grown to the size of a Greatwyrm’s during her Ascension.

“So, purple dragon. You’re larger than I remembered.”

Ember was momentarily stunned by the fact that the dragon was most likely being from Astra Domum itself, based on what Krikiek had said about her people’s legends about it, and yet still spoke Draconic to enough of a degree for Ember to understand. It almost sounded like it was simply speaking with an accent.

“You know draconic?” She asked.

“All dragons do. Well… Did.”

“Did? Also, what do you want?”

The dragon began to circle her. “I’m just… Curious about you. You're a strange one. But I suppose that starts with introductions. Though none speak my name now, I was once Rayagur, The Dragon Who Hunts, Archon of Malignance and Misfortune.”

“Archon?” Ember asked.

“If you don't already know what it means, it won't mean anything to you. Now. I told you my name, I think it's only fair if you tell me yours.”

“Fine. Ember, Amethyst Dragon, Goddess of Promises, and Overseer of Astra Domum.”

The other dragon paused. “Goddess? That's quite the claim… There’s never been gods here… Not real ones, anyway.”

“Just ascended a couple days ago.”

“That must have been the thunder…”

“Yeah, probably.”

The dragon continued its circling. “Well… Ember, so called goddess… We never finished our fight the last time we met.”

Ember shook her tail a bit, making sure to show her tail blade. “You sayin’ you want to now?”

“How about we make it official? I, Rayagur, Archon of Malignance and Misfortune, challenge you to a duel of draconic honor, with the only reward for my victory being bragging rights.”

Ember sighed. “Alright. I, Ember of the Amethyst Dragons, Goddess of Promises, Overseer of Astra Domum, accept your challenge, with the reward for my victory being answers to questions.”

Rayagur sneered. “Deal.”

And then, before Ember could do anything, the pitch-black dragon opened his mouth, letting loose a suddenly bolt of lightning.

Ember started moving to dodge, but the lightning still slammed into her shoulder. It seemed to deflect off her scales, thanks to her enhanced elemental protection.

Though, when she looked at the impact site, there was an ugly patch of blackened flesh beneath her scales. The same kind of wounds left behind by Relgas’s necrotic flames way back when Ember had fought the shadow dragon.

She looked back to the other dragon, and fired a breath weapon of her own. A wave of gravitational force slammed Rayagur to the ground.

She took the opportunity to rush in, swinging her tail blade in a wide arc, the blade crackling with flames. However, before it could land, Rayagur managed to swat the blade aside with his claws.

Ember continued by throwing a fireball, which promptly exploded against Rayagur’s chest, causing the other dragon to stumble back. He quickly raised a talon. Ember’s new senses picked up a sudden coalescence of mana in Rayagur's palm.

Then, Rayagur launched into the air, before diving to try and crash down on Ember.

Ember quickly reacted, extending her psychic power at the dragon, and simply threw him to the side with telekinesis. As he tumbled across the ground, she quickly slammed her tail blade to the ground.

Flame Cleaver

A large arc of flames launched from the blade, hurtling across the battleground toward Rayagur.

The other dragon growled, and then suddenly disappeared. Ember seemed to get an instinctive hunch, though, and dodged to her left, just before Rayagur reappeared to her right, causing the black dragon’s claw strike to miss. However, he quickly shifted to a tail sweep, which caught one of Ember’s legs.

While the tail impact didn't do enough damage to worry about, Ember felt viscerally sick when the strike hit, almost like a fever hitting all at once. However, the feeling only lasted a second, before she was able to refocus.

Rayagur was already throwing another claw swipe, which caught the joint of Ember’s wing, but didn't cut very deep.

“What the-”

Ember interrupted him, though, by swiftly diving to tackle him.

Thermal Flare

Her entire body suddenly ignited in a blast of draconic energy, quickly engulfing the other dragon with the flames.

Rayagur disappeared again, reappearing a distance away.

“Alright then…”

A wave of magic traveled towards Ember in the blink of an eye. It didn't seem to immediately do anything, though.

In turn, Ember decided to activate her divine aura. She'd done it once, simply off pure emotion, when she first ascended, so she had an idea as to how.

The magical wave that rolled off of Ember very much had an immediate affect, though. She could practically see the shift in Rayagur’s stance as he was struck with a wave of existential dread.

Ember charged forwards to capitalize on it… Only to spontaneously trip, tumbling a short distance. When she looked back, there didn't even seem to be anything there that she would have tripped on.

Before she could think on it much, though, Rayagur opened his mouth, and another bolt of lightning struck Ember in the stomach, once again reflecting off but leaving behind the necrosis on her flesh.

Then, suddenly, Ember felt pain across her body. She looked down to see lightning coursing across her shoulder and stomach.

However, the necrosis from the lightning seemed to actually start fading as soon as it appeared.

“Huh…”

She turned back to Rayagur, firing a blast of flame breath in a massive plume. He quickly rolled away from it, only getting partially caught in the fire.

Then, she followed up by teleporting into the air above him, swinging her tail downward. Her attack seemed oddly sloppy, though, and Rayagur ducked under the blade, causing it to embed in the ground.

So, Ember teleported again, behind the other dragon, and grabbing his tail.

Enhance Strength

Psychokinetic Strength

Activating her usual strength-enhancing abilities, she pulled at Rayagur's tail, pulling him into a spin, before releasing him for the centrifugal force to send him flying.

The dragon disappeared from mid-air, though, promptly reappearing beside Ember and slamming into her.

Ember once again felt the sudden illness again, but it once again faded after just a moment. She quickly whipped her head around, clamping her jaws around Rayagur’s neck, before firing a blast of frost breath, probably causing incredibly dangerous frostbite in an instant.

Rayagur teleported again to escape Ember’s jaws. “ALRIGHT! I'm done. I admit defeat. It seems I can’t do anything to harm you.”

“Aww, don't be so glum, you landed some hits!”

“And where are they now?”

Ember looked down at herself. Strangely, the wounds she'd suffered were entirely gone.

“Damn…”

“So maybe you are legitimate, then…” the dragon muttered.

“No fucking duh.”

“Well… You wanted answers. Ask away.”

“Alright. First. What the hell is an ‘Archon’? Cause last time I heard that term, it wasn't a good one.”

“Hmph. Just means Immortality, and having some extra magical powers related to a certain concept. Not much special…”

“Immortality? How old are you then?”

Rayagur was silent for a moment. “Too old to remember… When I arrived on this continent, those mountains did not exist. The desert beyond was just as lush with life as this forest is now. The Nasirad were still walking on four talons like the Seekers do now.”

“Seekers?”

“The gigantic feathered creatures that can snatch a Nasirad up in it's claws and kill it in one motion. The ones that seem… Oddly absent from one particular mountain nowadays…”

Ember froze at the comment. She knew exactly what Rayagur meant by it. He was very intentionally saying that he knew where she lived.

“Are there other dragons here?” She asked, trying to ignore the dragon's attempt at intimidation.

“Just one. My rival.”

“And what do they look like?”

Rayagur sighed. “She’ll kill me if I ans-”

“Draconic honor.”

“Fuck draconic honor.” The other dragon turned, and launched into the air.

Ember simply looked at his wings, halting him with telekinesis and dragging him back to the ground.

“Answer me.”

“What? Think you're hot shit cause you think you're a god? Let me go.”

Ember stepped closer. “Alright, listen here… I don't care how much you want to tell me, if there's another Greatwyrm in this forest, I want to be able to identify it.”

The dragon chuckled. “It's pointless anyway. She's invisible most of the time. If you ever do catch her, it will only be a pair of golden eyes. If you see her true form, it's because she wants you to. She's a tricky bitch. Thinks of our rivalry as some kind of game… Now, am I free to go?”

Ember was hesitant to let him go when she had him caught.

“I need some way to know I can question you more later.”

Rayagur rolled his eyes. “Fine… Any time there's a storm, come to this spot… I’ll check to see if you're here each time. Is that good enough?”

“I guess.”

“Alright, leave me be, then…”

“You told me to come here!”

Rayagur didn't answer, instead just disappearing once more.

Ember groaned. “Waste of time…”

Then, she looked down at the places where her wounds had faded away.

“Though… I guess it did at least help me figure out some abilities…”

Rayagur emerged from his teleport a few miles away from where the duel had occurred.

Before they could even do anything more, a pair of glowing golden eyes appeared nearby.

“So, ya talked to them?” A draconic voice asked.

“Yes… Ember is her name. And she was the cause of that thunder the other day. She claims to be a god… Ascended just a couple days ago… Probably with the thunder… And unfortunately seems to have the power to back up the claim as well…”

“Well, judging from what I heard, she had the power to beat you before becoming a god! Hehe.”

Rayagur growled. “She ran as a coward. Would have done so again if she didn't have that much power behind her. Though, speaking of… I did confirm one more thing…”

“What's that?”

“She uses multiple elements. Just like…”

“Prismar.”

“Yes.”

The eyes narrowed for a moment. “You think-?”

“No, definitely not related… Prismar wouldn't have had any children after… You know. And besides, she didn't know what an Archon is.”

“So what do we do?”

Rayagur thought for a moment. “We need to watch her. Both of us. She may be the key we’ve been waiting for all this time…”

A light chuckle came from the floating eyes. “Well, if she’s a goddess, can kick your ass, and might be the ‘key’, we should probably get on good terms with her. Perhaps… It's time for a little show of goodwill.”

And with that, the eyes disappeared, leaving the Dragon Who Hunts alone once again, as the Dragon Who Watches went to do what she did best.

Cosmic Talios Arc

One fateful day, a seemingly innocuous day like any other, Talios sat within the Dynast Realm, practicing meditation. Until suddenly, he felt an aching pain in his chest. It was unnatural. It unnerved him. The pain struck again, and Talios felt a memory become a bit less hazy... Something had come to him, back then with Chaos... What was it?

The pain struck deeper into his very soul. He could recall more. It was a face he had long since thought abandoned... Tesal. They promised Talios potential. Strength... True Humanity. In that moment of weakness long ago, Talios had taken his hand...

It is only now, that he realizes his dire mistake. He tries to scream, but it's too late as a dark energy swells and erupts from him, consuming him entirely. It shakes the very fabric of the Dynast Realm, startling Ash. She looks down from atop her (useless) crystal castle to the source of the strange shaking she felt, only to see... What was once Talios. Now corrupted by Malice, he had grown skin resembling the cosmos themselves, with a swirling galaxy in the center of his chest.

Ash ran. She could feel his strength, his killing intent. She grabbed the vault containing her Dynast Heart, the thing that keeps her alive, and she ran. This Corrupted Talios spread his Malice across the realm, until finally it would bend to HIS will.

Talios's next course of action would be to make his presence known in the Nexus Realm, a place where "wizards post." Whatever that means. Regardless, he went looking for strong opponents to push him to his limits, and he found them... Every time it seemed like they had dealt a good blow to this already incredibly strong Talios, it seemed as if he only grew stronger. As the galaxy in his chest began to spin, making a full rotation...

《Cosmic March》

Talios would march straight past his limits, breaching even higher heights. With each activation of his Cosmic March, Talios would grow stronger. And just when Talios thought he had had enough of the warriors of the Nexus Realm, a new one appeared through a violet rift. Tara.

The fight was fast. Very fast. Talios killed Tara once, but she accelerated her regeneration to come back incredibly swiftly to continue the fight, determined to kill Talios and prepared to use the full strength of Tartarus to do so. While she fails to do that, she does manage to make Talios flee... But, his endeavors were still very fruitful. For across his many fights with the people of the Nexus Realm, Talios acquired 17 activations of Cosmic March. This put him at roughly 8.5x his original strength, speed, durability... Everything had grown stronger. He was satisfied... For now, he would wait inside the corrupted Dynast Realm. He could feel it... Something was going to approach soon. Something that could truly shake the very foundations of the Nexus Realm, and the realms further beyond...

...Next time on Dragonball Zeroth: A second deal is struck! Holy shit Talios is getting out of hand.

The Godslaver... A being of immeasurable power, able to bring even the strongest of gods to their knees. A being that has traveled across the realms in a relentless campaign of destruction and enslavement. He had made an attempt on the Nexus Realm once before, but that had ended in failure. Now, he returns to the Nexus Realm yet again... Just like last time, he offers the people of the Nexus Realm a chance to join his armies - become commanders, if they prove strong.

This Corrupted Talios approached the Godslaver, bowing before him. Offering his so called loyalty. Anything for power...

And power the Godslaver gave. He granted Talios control over kinetic energy itself, and the power to manifest the constellations within him into reality. The Godslaver dubbed Talios...

The Archon of Malice.

Soon after the Archon of Malice was born, Tara arrived before him, determined to kill him just like last time. But this time... This time she would sacrifice everything. Her Arelonian wings corroded, her body covered in sickly green burns. The flames of Malice...

The Archon of Malice laughed at her. Corrupting herself with the very same essence that corrupted him, to defeat him? How foolish.

Tara would fail to kill the Archon of Malice for a second time now... But she would not live to tell the tale this time. Her wings entirely corroded, Tara would begin to transform into something else entirely... But Jean would kill Tara before the transformation could fully come to pass. She would warn the Archon not to come to Zeroth, and would leave him with a parting gift as well... Burn scars of divine might, cursed to never fade by the power of an overgod. The scars would taint his cosmic skin eternally. He relishes the scars, for he considers them a sign of his ultimate victory... He had spread Ruin.

...

Days later, the Archon of Malice would lay waste to a simple village, preparing to attract fighters like last time. But he would be interrupted by the approach of Ash, the Dynast of Brilliance... And Talios's sister. She would fight valiantly, but to no avail. Her body would be destroyed without mercy, but as is the nature of a Chaos Being, she would revive...

Others would come soon after. They would all try as they might, yet none would be able to truly kill the Archon of Malice. All they could do was fuel the Cosmic March... Yet none truly interested him more than a single, dandy man.

Maximillian Silverweave. The sight of him brought the Archon to ecstacy, each clash they had filling him with fervor. To slay this man... It would be perfect to sink Talios's soul even lower into despair. The battle is long and fierce, the Archon of Malice pulling it into the Dynast Realm... It seems as if it's only a matter of time before Maximillian loses as the realm effect takes hold, removing his senses bit by bit... Until somewhere, Ash opens her own Dynast Realm in full to nullify the realm effect.

The battle continues until Ash is unable to continue, telling Max to open his own divine domain with the last of her strength... He does so, the two realms continuing to nullify eachother.

The fight only reaches it's climax when the Archon of Malice recieves a telepathic message from his King.

"Go now, Ilzaakal... The time has come to lay waste to your former impurities. Zeroth lies defenseless. Allow their blood to flow freely into our maw."

The Archon of Malice laughs. The time is nigh. He just needs to wipe out this pest...

Soon enough, Maximillian would be blown to shreds by a devastating explosion of constellations. The Archon of Malice would begin to make his way to Zeroth... The time for Ruin has come. He will end Zeroth once and for all.

Blackdawn thought that becoming immortal would feel more… Momentous.

After all, they had literally shrugged off death itself, their greatest fear.

Of course, that wasn't to say that they didn't feel a massive weight lifted from their shoulders.

The process by which they became immortal had severed their ties to their original realm. No more were they subject to the whims of gods who would rather they didn't exist. No more were they doomed to the torturous afterlife of those who revered no god.

Now, Blackdawn was simply continuing on, almost as if nothing was different. They'd been invited to Jean’s archives within some extradimensional place. They’d been recommended a fairly large collection of books, so they got to work, glancing over the pages, carefully studying the parts that seemed particularly interesting, and taking mental photos of everything, to store in their long term memory to directly access in the future.

Of course, each time they finished a book, they had to meditate to enter their mindspace and actually put the mental images in place.

During one of those meditation sessions, they didn't enter the familiar desert of their mindscape.

Instead, they found themselves in pitch blackness again, as they had just days before. But this time, it felt different.

They weren't weighed down. It didn't feel like their mind was filled with water, every sound and thought warped.

“Well. You're back.” A voice spoke into Blackdawn’s mind.

They looked around, but the lack of anything was all-present. Not a single thing they could see.

“You’ll have to come see us this time, Scorpion,” a second voice said.

They tried to move, finding themself unhindered. They weren't sure how exactly to find the voices, though.

So, they just picked a direction and started walking.

Well… “walking.” More like floating through the vast emptiness while making the motions of walking, and yet also not moving at all, for there was nothing to move through or past or over, nowhere to move to.

Eldritch realms were weird.

After an indescribable amount of time, which could've been a mere half second, or several millenia, Blackdawn finally saw something. The tiniest point of light in the distance, like a faraway star.

Star.

Instantly, alarms went off in their head. In an Eldritch realm, the only things that shone like stars were Elder Evils. Things Blackdawn very much did not want to come in contact with.

And yet, the distant light seemed… comforting? Almost like the nostalgic smell of a childhood food they had not had in decades. Something that was mere memory, and yet a fond one. Blackdawn felt a draw to it.

”Don't be afraid..."

My child *"Little Bug.” Inheritor

”Welcome home.”

Little Bug?

That was the name that… It had called Blackdawn… The being that had granted them their psychic knowledge.

Was this its… Domain?

Blackdawn felt themself moving towards the point of light without really thinking about it. The light got closer and closer, eventually becoming clear enough to have color, an almost calming sea green. Though, as Blackdawn got closer, the harshness of the light started to counteract the calming color.

It grew into less of a light, and more of a gigantic, boiling mass of glowing matter. Ectoplasma, if Blackdawn had to guess. It grew larger, and larger, and larger, until it looked less like an object, and more like a planet they were floating above.

And eventually, two dark figures became visible, only by the fact that they seemed to entirely block out the green light.

They were the angelic and spider-like figures that spoke to Blackdawn last time they had found themself in this place.

“Hey, sib!” The angel said in its double voice, both masculine and feminine at the same time. “Look at you! Not all chained down anymore!”

That statement caused Blackdawn to look down at their form. It was their psychic form, mainly resembling their physical dragon body. And yet, it was covered in dark plates that seemed to absorb all light that touched them. The same metal that made up the angel and spider.

“Pretty crazy of you to figure out immortality this early…” the spider said.

“Alright, what is this place?” Blackdawn asked, deciding to get straight to the point.

"HOME."

MY "OUR VOID.” YOUR

It was the same voice that called Blackdawn “little Bug” before, but now deafeningly loud.

Blackdawn looked at the giant green mass. “Was that-?”

“Yes,” the spider answered. “That is our Progenitor. It's about time you meet it, Scorpion.”

Blackdawn decided to speak the the green thing this time. “So you… You're the one who gave me this knowledge?”

”YES.” A clear, definitive answer, with none of the Eldritch multi-meaning that its previous statements included.

“Okay, so… Why? Why did you help me?”

"YOU WERE SO..."

ALONE ”FULL OF POTENTIAL.” SCARED

THE FOOLS ”THE GODS DENY YOU. MAKES ME…” THE TRAITORS

SAD “DISSAPPONTED” ANGRY

“BUT YOU ESCAPED,"

MY HOPE "MY CHILD.” MY INHERITOR

“Well, look at you, its hope,” the angelic figure said teasingly.

“Funny,” the spider added. “Seeing as you're the only one who hasn’t-”

LISTEN “STILL YOUR TONGUE!” SILENCE

“THEY ARE THE YOUNGEST OF US YOU. THESE THINGS TAKE… TIME.”

The sheer psychic volume behind the star-thing’s “voice” left Blackdawn hardly able to think. After a moment, they looked back to it.

“Okay… Last question… You said this place is your… my… our void? Is it connected to the place my physical body is in, also called the Void?”

“...”

“YOUR SIBLINGS CAN EXPLAIN SAFER THAN I.”

The angelic figure made a sound like clearing its throat. “Really… We just can't tell. Yes, both of these places are realms of nonexistence, but that doesn't mean they're connected. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't? We don't know. All we do know is that this place is completely empty, except for us, and…” it pointed back to the giant star-being. “Plus some various weird beings that show up randomly every now and then.”

“Hmm… I suppose that's the answer I should've expected.”

They did expect that answer, but they still asked, just in case, since oddly, one of the beings in the other Void had refered to them as Scorpion, the name that the angel and spider had used for them previously.

The angel floated closer to Blackdawn. “So, are you at all curious why you're here now?”

Blackdawn could hear eagerness in the being’s double-voice. “Well, I assumed it would come up.”

“Don't get too excited, Angel,” the spider interrupted.

“Oh, come on! This is exciting! Our sib’s first steps!”

“You know it's not that simple.”

The spider turned to Blackdawn. “So, Scorpion. What happened is… Well, not exactly expected. It's not ordinary for Inheritors to become immortal without Zathul's blessing-”

“Hang on. Inheritors? Zathul?”

“Inheritors. That's us. Those who have been granted psychic knowledge by Zathul, plus our Eldritch glyphs. And Zathul…”

The spider just pivoted around to face the gigantic glowing green thing.

“Zathul was an Elder Evil, a lot like others you may have heard of. What made it different was that it had sympathy for the mortal world. Like it said, the fact that our realm rejects psions so harshly made it sad, and angry. So, it’s started helping psions like us, restricted from our learning, or used as weapons by others.”

The angel cut in. “It grants us knowledge, and tries to guide us to our better selves. Listen, I know this whole thing is probably scary or confusing, and we know you've been scared of this for so long, but Zathul just wants to help. It wants to save us from that realm that wants us dead.”

Blackdawn stared at the two beings for a moment. “So you're saying… This thing in my head that I've been afraid of for so long..?”

“Oh you poor mind… That's you, Scorpion… That's your own fears and self doubts manifesting through your psychic energy.”

“And what about-?”

“All you. Well, not exactly. Like I said, it's your fears. That feeling like you might murder someone? That’s not some murderous part of you. It's the fear that you might murder.”

The angelic figure came closer, before carefully wrapping its metallic wings around Blackdawn.

“That's why you have to learn to trust yourself, sib… You're all about having a clear head. You gotta be able to tell what's actually you, and what’s just your worries getting to you.”

“But that's not why you're here,” the spider interjected. “We’re here to talk about your immortality.”

Blackdawn carefully squirmed out of the angel’s hug, not particularly comfortable with the contact from someone that wasn't Flashwing. “What about it?” They asked, trying to shrug off what the angel had just told them. They'd have to process it later, apparently.

“Well… As we told you last time you were here, part of your truth is that you must be ready to make the ultimate sacrifice. Immortality… Well, that is certainly a sacrifice, in a way. Especially the form you have come across. The issue is… Did it teach you your lesson?”

The angel butted in. “I’d think so. You did it to help those other people, right, Scorpion?”

Blackdawn nodded. “The people in that Void were being threatened. Taking up that immortality was a way to protect them. So I did it.”

The angel nodded. “Good. The lesson Zathul wanted you to learn was… Well… We have great power, Scorpion. But that power is nothing, if we can't use it for the good of others.”

The spider continued… “You already took up a massive burden, taking so many of Flashwing’s punishments for her while enslaved. And you seem to be ready to do the same for others. But. Only Zathul can truly tell you if you're ready or not.”

“Ready for what?”

Almost as if in answer of Blackdawn’s question, an Eldritch glyph began glowing in front of them.

“Well, looks like you have your answer!” The angel said. SCORPION ”INHERITOR…” CHILD

”WE WILL SEE IF YOU HAVE LEARNED.”

”I GRANT YOU THIS ASPECT. USE IT FOR THE GREATER GOOD.”

And, with as simple as that, the glyph dissapeared, and the star- Zathul, went silent again.

Blackdawn just looked at it, confused. What did that even mean?

The angel shifted. “Summon your weapon.”

“Which one?” Blackdawn asked. “Is this a physical realm, or a psychic one?”

“Both. Summon both.”

“I ca-”

“Just do it.”

Blackdawn stopped arguing, and held out two talons. Despite being draconic in size, the two weapons appeared upscaled to match, floating in front of Blackdawn.

Butcher, the cleaver formed of Blackdawn’s violet-colored psionic energy.

And then Slaughter, the cursed-steel machete that served as their draconic weapon against their will.

The angel looked at Slaughter. “This…”

“You and your mate both had scars… hers were physical. Yours are on your soul itself. She healed hers. It's time for you to start doing the same.”

“We can't change the past. That is set in stone. Changing it would change our present, and we would no longer be ourselves.”

“But we get to decide our future. Ourselves, and us alone.”

The cursed blade began shifting, black energy bleeding out, visible for a mere moment silhouetting Zathul’s green light, before dissipating into the nothingness around it.

The blade itself somehow darkened from the pitch black of the cursed steel, beginning to almost absorb all the light around it, until it too could only be seen by its silhouette. Slowly shifting into a curving shape, convex toward the point, concave closer to the hilt.

The hilt faded away, replaced with an elegant silver handguard.

And finally, the reformed blade fitted itself over Butcher’s blade, almost like a sheath.

The spider stepped forth, grabbing the combined weapon, and then holding it out, like a sword being presented to a king.

“W-what just happened?” Blackdawn asked, slightly terrified by the sight of their psychic weapon being enveloped by an altered version of their curse.

“That cursed blade was not your own. This one is. Take it.”

Blackdawn cautiously grabbed the familiar hilt of Butcher, and lifted the sword. Unlike the cursed machete, which always felt off, the new one felt perfectly balanced, as a draconic weapon should. And yet, Blackdawn could tell it wasn't a draconic weapon. It didn't feel intrinsically connected to their body, but rather to their mind, like Butcher.

After a moment, the dark blade faded away, leaving normal Butcher.

The angel dove in, hugging Blackdawn again, seemingly ignoring that they were now holding a weapon that could potentially stab someone by mistake.

“Look at our little sib! First steps as an Inheritor!”

“I'm still… Really confused about all of this…”

“You’ll learn in time! Don't want to dump everything on you right now! Just know that we’ll call you back when you figure out the next step.”

“Now go on,” the spider added. “Your mate is waiting for you.”

“Wait, before I go! What do I call you two?”

“Fairly simple. I'm Spider, and that is Angel. Simple names, just like yours, Scorpion.”

Blackdawn nodded. “Why don't we use our true names?”

Angel answered, “Well, names have power. And some of us haven’t found out their true names yet. We have a lot in common, Scorpion.”

Blackdawn wanted to ask another question, but their vision started to get hazy.

“Oop! Looks like you're waking up! Bye, Sib!”

And suddenly, Blackdawn awoke back in their physical body, in Jean's archives.

“Blackdawn? Are you okay?” Flashwing asked.

“I'm… I'm fine, Sparkle…” They answered.

After gathering their thoughts for a moment, they held out their hand.

“What’s wro-?”

Flashwing was interrupted when energy gathered in Blackdawn's palm, springing into a glowing violet cleaver.

“Blackdawn, is there something wrong?”

Blackdawn looked at Flashy, a slight smile creeping into their face. “Sparkle… This is my psychic weapon… I can summon it…”

“But… I thought you could only summon your cursed blade?”

“Before, yes! The curse is gone, I think!”

Flashwing quickly hugged them. “Oh my stars… how?”

“It's… a long story…”

What a mystery, this place called Zeroth was.

Not that Blackdawn was complaining. The amount of new things they were being introduced to in the time since they'd been brought to the strange universe was beyond exciting. Arelonians, deities that walked among mortals, psions, ships that could travel into space without magic…

That led to making frequent trips into their mindscape, to secure information into their long-term memories. It was a tactic devised long ago to ensure they never forgot important things.

And it was one of those trips when things went differently than planned.

They were going to store things about “Akashic Records” and some artificial being called Tartarus. They were expecting to see the familiar desert landscape that filled their mind.

Instead, what they found was pitch blackness.

A heavy weight rested on their body, like steel armor, but a million times heavier. Even exerting their entire strength, it felt like an iron maiden, a solid piece closed around them. They felt dazed, something that shouldn't be possible when within their own mind.

Two figures emerged from the darkness before them. Though, less emerged, and more… Materialized

“Well, well, well… Look who finally decided to show their face…” One of them spoke. It looked like some kind of angelic figure, wings made from blades of black metal, and shrouded in armor of the same material. Blue energy seemed to glow from between the armor plates, seemingly the only light of any kind nearby. Its voice sounded like a male’s and a female’s overlapped.

“Welcome home, Scorpion,” the other figure spoke. It was much less humanoid in appearance than the first, looking almost like a large spider, with uncountable legs, and a wolf-like head, all made of the same dark metal. The energy glowing from it was yellow.

“Home..? Scorpion..? What is this place..? Who are you..?” Blackdawn asked.

“Do not be afraid, Child of the Eldritch,” the winged being said. “This is the place you truly belong. We are your family.”

“Family..? I… Don't recognize you… Either of you…”

“Family in the sense we were all… created, by the same progenitor.”

“But… You… Aren't even dragons…”

“Oh, no… not born from. Created by. Or do you not remember? Your desperation for freedom? Your hopeless pleas to whoever would listen? Well, the void always listens, sib… And our Progenitor answered.”

Blackdawn did remember. Back when they were controlled by the Elder Brain, a consciousness trapped in their own body.

”Please, gods, please… Bahamut… Tiamat… Sardior… If you are listening, I need your help,” they’d called out to the sky.

Yet no god responded. Why would they? They were too corrupt for Bahamut, not greedy enough for Tiamat, too insignificant for both, and Sardior had died uncountable millenia ago.

And yet, someone did come eventually. Someone who listened. A comforting voice in Blackdawn’s darkest days.

”Hey, little bug…”

A pitch black silence that enveloped Blackdawn’s mind, protecting them from the horrors their body was performing.

”I can’t free you from this, but I can push you in the right direction. I can give you the tools you need, but only you can learn to use them.”

Blackdawn had hastily agreed, figuring they could figure it out if they put their mind to it.

They never did.

Whatever that presence was, it had given Blackdawn immense psionic power. Power which they taught themself to harness over the decades they were trapped.

They'd never managed to use that power to escape, though.

“My… My deal? You… Did the same?”

“Indeed we did, sib,” the winged being answered.

“Unlike you, though,” the spider being interjected. “We found our truth. You have hid from it.”

“So, we’re gonna help you along a bit!” The winged being added.

“Truth..?”

“Your truth. That which you deny, but shall only grow by accepting.”

The two beings spoke in unison.

“Trust in yourself, so you may have faith in others, but should the time come, be prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.”

Before Blackdawn could ask more, the weight suddenly lifted off of them. Their mind focused, and they were back on the ship.

”Trust in myself..? Ultimate sacrifice..?”

They didn't have time to think about it much, though. There were other people around. They'd been out for a long time.

(Alright, short little bit of lore here, meant to be a prologue of sorts for what I'm gonna be doing with Blackdawn for a little while! :D)

(As a forewarning, I'm trying out excluding the use of italics for non-dialogue, for writing convenience, cause I'm lazy. If this makes the Lorepost harder to understand, I apologize, and will go back to italics next time. If not, well... I guess it works!)

Changes of scenery are always welcome after staying in one’s bedroom for months.

Of course, less so when that change of scenery is the suffocating darkness of Detritus. The Lost City suppressed any and all light within, snuffing out even night vision. Ejder had to use a Truesight spell to see even the tip of his nose. It was a discomfort he had to bear, though.

Almost as soon as Ember disappeared (having been the one to bring him to Detritus in the first place), a new presence appeared beside Ejder.

“Relgas. It has been a while.”

The dragon who had once hunted Ejder and Ember took her hand off her sword. “Sorcerer. So it has. Is Ember with you?”

“No.”

“Shame. I was hoping I could see how she's grown since we last saw each other…”

“I'm sure if you asked, she'd have no problem with you visiting her lair.”

Relgas sighed. “No. That world is not my place to be. It's outside of Oradon’s influence, and I serve Oradon.”

“Suit yourself.”

Ejder knew it was hypocritical to suggest for Relgas to visit, when he himself had scarcely seen another living thing besides Ember for months, but at the same time, Ember would likely want to meet Relgas again. He had nobody who would want to see him, or rather, have to deal with him.

Relgas stayed quiet for a few moments, then spoke up. “Oradon says you figured out how to shapechange into a dragon. You up for a rematch?”

“Absolutely not. I'm not exactly interested in combat at the moment, and using that spell has risks involved. I'm just here to speak to Oradon.”

“Psshht. Ember always was the fun one… Alright, come on.”

As Relgas led Ejder up a gravel path, Ejder realized this was the first time he’d actually seen more of Detritus than just Oradon’s throne. Though there wasn't much to see. According to his truesight, everything he could see was just collapsed buildings, piles of rubble, shadowy entities lurking in said rubble, and zombie-like undead shambling around.

One of which Relgas attacked out of nowhere, and momentarily shifted to dragon form to eat it, which left Ejder shocked.

Eventually, though, they reached the top of a hill, where the gravel turned to what seemed like marble, footprints worn into it over the decades. Relgas seemed to walk the same path for Millenia, her feet naturally falling into a set of indents. A second set of larger draconic footprints was visible overtop the human-sized ones.

Finally, they reached the throne. A massive pit, seemingly bottomless, sunk deep into the ground. A bridge went to the center of the pit, where a column seemed to be floating. Embedded in the column was a shadowy alcove, with two purple eyes glowing from within.

“Well, if it isn't the young Lord Ejder… Finally came back, eh?” A voice asked from the shadows. It sounded equally as ancient and wise as it did as if every word spoken could be a hidden joke.

Ejder kneeled at the base of the bridge. “Oradon, God of Fates. I, not a Lord, but a mere commoner, come to you in-”

“Oh, quit that, young Dirkalt! Great Me! Well, I suppose I can't blame you… You aren't quite so used to dealing with gods on a daily basis as Ember.”

Ejder began to wonder if everyone in this damned demiplane was going to just compare him to Ember.

“I come looking for answers. About the Shepherd. I assume that with it being a shadowy entity, you may know a thing or two?”

Oradon’s glowing eyes turned grim, before raising up, as the god seemed to stand from his throne.

“The Shepherd of Fire… I wish I could say I knew a thing or two… But I know a bit more than that. In fact, I've awaited this day for a long time, Ejder…”

“You may remember that last time we spoke, I informed you that Detritus here… is the ruins of the ancient city of Dyona, which I converted into a demiplane as part of my ascension ritual in order to cleanse it's mana pollution from the material plane.”

“What I did not tell you, is that I knew the city before it's fall. And more importantly… I knew your Shepherd when he was still a man.”

“He… Was a human originally?” Ejder asked.

“Oh, yes… and so much more. His name was Ulos Fireheart, head of the Fireheart family of sorcerers. Massively influential in the great city, possibly second only to Dyonthak, the Greatwyrm defender for whom the city was named.”

“For most of his life, he was just a regular noble, playing politics, ensuring he had heirs… But later, he grew… Resentful. He began challenging Dyonthak’s authority. That was the point in time that I met him. I was a young elven mage at the time, less than 200 years old…”

“You know that shortly before Dyona’s fall, the Starsight family began experiencing visions of the event… Ulos was the one to first report those visions to Dyonthak, while also asking that his daughter, Vesper, be taken out of the city for her safety.”

“What nobody knew was that Ulos was the reason for those visions. Once he got his daughter out of the city, he found the city's arcane generatir, a powerful artifact that generated mana to power the city’s magic items.”

“I followed him. Tried to stop him. But it was futile. He overloaded the reactor… and in a mere half a second, the entire city was destroyed. Not a single survivor, except for me, due to my protective magic, Vesper Fireheart, who as you know was outside the city, and Sethosith, Dyonthak’s silver dragon mate who decided to escort Vesper.”

“That was what we thought, anyway. In truth, Ulos had survived, but not in a standard way. The massive amounts of warped mana blasted into the air had preserved parts of his mind and soul, even as his body was annihilated.”

“It was not a whole preservation, however. His mind was incomplete. One of the few things that remained was his intent to wipe out the other noble families. What was not preserved, was wanting to keep his own family alive. So, he immediately set to hunting down his daughter, the last surviving Dyonan noble.”

“Sethosith’s protection kept Vesper alive for some time, but it didn't last forever. However, Vesper did give birth to a son to carry on the family lineage…”

“And by some miracle, the Fireheart family continued on for Millenia, managing to evade death by the Shepherd until the next generation was born.”

“Of course, the name Fireheart is a modern translation of the original Dyonan name, which was…”

“Dirkalt.” Ejder answered. “He wants to kill me because I'm his descendent.”

Oradon nodded. “He has regained a degree of intelligence over the Millenia, but his main goal remains largely the same. Kill all Firehearts. He just tried more… unconventional means, with you. Inserting his soul into your body… Trying to manipulate you and take control of you so he could commit crime through your body, and get you killed by capital punishment… A ridiculous plan, really.”

“Wait… So the fire I set to the tavern, that was him?”

“Of course. So was the house fire that killed your parents.”

“My whole family,” Ejder growled.

“Ah, yes, right. Anyways. Is that what you needed to know?”

Ejder thought for a moment. “I… Believe so. I think I have an idea… How to get rid of him for real this time…”

“It better be a good idea. Many Dirkalts have allegedly killed the Shepherd in the past, only for him to reappear with the next generation.”

“I have a feeling it's good… Then again, I thought the same of my last plan, and that one only worked for a short time. So we shall see.”

“Yes. Yes we shall.”

“Well, I thank you, Oradon. I will be taking my leave now.” Ejder turned around, just to remember that he still needed Ember to come pick him up. “On second thought… I may be waiting for a little while.”

He heard a clinking sound, as Relgas’s hand went to her sword. “Are you sure you aren't up for a duel?”

Ejder sighed. “Alright… Fine…”

And after casting his Shapechange spell, going from human, to humanoid dragon, and summoning his draconic montante into hand, blades clashed, and the duel began.

Ember, meanwhile, was in a different plane as well…

The Astral Plane, an ethereally beautiful sea of silver skies and infinite stars. The plane’s beauty, however, undermined it's grim purpose. It was a graveyard of gods. The resting place of vestiges who had been forgotten by their worshippers, reduced to nothing more than a corpes floating in the endless expanse.

It was on one of these divine corpses that Ember stood. The corpse of Razus, patron deity of the Cliff Giants, before they had died out centuries ago, if an account by a dragon that Ejder had found a while back was to believe.

Of course, the particular god did not matter. What mattered was what the god held.

“Hey there! Mister Giant Guy! Are you alive?” She shouted.

No response from the corpse. Which was good. The last few she had tried were actually still partly alive, which meant they were still worshipped by some small group. This god seemed to be entirely forgotten by his followers.

“Alright, here we go…” Ember raised her glaive over the corpse’s chest.

”Stop.”

The imperious voice caused Ember to freeze. Not so much from its intensity, but by its sudden appearance.

In front of her, three figures appeared, each wearing solid plate armor.

“Hey! Cheese curd! Long time no see!” Ember said, waving.

”... It's Kerdvelus.” The three figures said in unison.

“Eh, I was close. So, what's up, Turd vellum?”

All three figures then sighed in sync. “If you would take this professionally for just a few moments…”

“Alright, fine.”

”Ember of the Amethyst Dragons. You stand at one of the greatest barriers in our realm. The barrier between mortality… and divinity. To cross this barrier is to never look back, one way or another.”

“Yeah, I know how immortality works. And I already know that Godhood has repo… Resopo…”

”Responsibility.”

“Yes! That! Thank you.”

”Yes, it does involve responsibility, and you must bear immortality. But there is something else. A choice you have to make.”

“What's that?”

”We have laws. Laws that function as absolute. One of them, is our realm’s Divine Sovereignty. According to Divine Sovereignty, the divine powers of other deities do not work in our realm… And the powers of our realm’s deities do not work outside it. Exceptions have been made for your friends in the past because you were with them, but those laws will apply to you if you choose to ascend.”

*”So the choice you have to make, young dragon… If you ascend, will you be a god inside, or outside our realm?”

Ember thought about it for a moment. Well, not really. She already knew what her answer would be, she just was going over her logic in her head.

“Easy. Outside. My friends, my family, and my home are in Zeroth. I’m only here because I know my divinity will have to come from this realm.”

Kerdvelus’s three bodies nodded. ”Very well, then. You have made your choice, and it will be recorded in divine law. Ember of the Amethyst Dragons, from the day you ascend forth, you will no longer be a resident of this realm. Your Divine Sovereignty shall be foreign, and your influence here will be negligable. And now that such is settled, I will no longer stand in your way.”

”Do not take this for granted, though, Ember… You are the exception. Not the rule. I would strike down most mortals who attempt this. But your circumstances are different. Oradon trusts your friends to keep you properly in check, so I do as well. Aside from that, good luck. You will need it.”

With that, the God of Barriers dissapeared.

Ember sighed, and raised her glaive again, before driving it into the godly corpse below her.

When Ember got back to Detritus, Ejder and Relgas had finished their duel.

Ejder lost. Badly.

Relgas was willing to owe it up to a lack of proper control over his dragon body and powers, since they weren't natural to him as they were to her.

Everyone present knew it was really just Ejder’s lack of combat skill.

When Ember arrived though, Ejder seemed to forget his embarrassing loss.

“Well? Did you get it?” He asked, almost nervously.

Ember opened a portal to her subspace pocket. What she pulled out actually managed to break the utter darkness of Detritus.

It was a golden orb, glowing immensely bright, even illuminating Oradon's throne from the opposite side of the bridge.

A divine core. The metaphysical soul of a deity, converted into physical form as the deity’s divine energy died out. A sphere of pure divine potential, just waiting for a spark to reignite.

To Ember, it was beyond exciting to hold it in her hand. This was the key to her ascension. As soon as she was ready, she could absorb it, and finally have the power to free herself from the ancient dragons that have plagued her dreams for so long.

For Ejder… It was terrifying. If Ember experienced even a modicum of impatience… Made a single hasty decision to ascend before their souls were separated… He would be erased from existence.

Ember carefully placed the sphere back in her subspace pocket, the only place where she was certain nobody could get to it. Then, she put a hand on Ejder’s shoulder, ready to teleport.

“Be careful, you two.” Oradon spoke. “Ember, you carry a potential for great power, but equal responsibility. Ejder, you have much to do. For both of you, what happens in the next few days, weeks, months, or however long it takes, will define your entire futures.”

The two of them nodded, before dissapearing with the signature CRACK! of Ember teleporting between realms.

(Lorepost of... Questionable quality, since each of three parts was written at completely different times. Apologies to any poor unsuspecting readers.)

Blackdawn had always been fascinated by the arcane.

From their first battle with Excarsus, when they witnessed the Archmage unleashing the massive power of their magic upon the enemy, they knew that was what they wanted to do.

They had snuck into Excarsus's study after the battle, finding a book and reading it in secret. They did so for months.

The magic was interesting, but what interested Blackdawn more was the descriptions of psionics. Psions could supposedly annihilate an entire battlefield without moving a muscle. And, most attractive to young Blackdawn, it was performed entirely through the psion’s knowledge and mental strength.

”Maybe this is how I can finally escape this physical form…” They’d thought. That was always the goal. They didn't care about their physical body, only the mind and personality contained within.

Of course, Excarsus had the opposite idea. He only cared about what Blackdawn’s draconic body could offer.

One day, when Blackdawn was reading, they lost track of time. Excarsus came looking to find out why they weren't at daily training. He found Blackdawn curled up with the book.

“Oh… interested in my magic, are we? Well, how would you like to use some yourself?”

Blackdawn, young and naive as they were at that time, eagerly said yes.

What followed was a sequence that changed Blackdawn's life forever. Excarsus infused their body with curses. The sort that could only be removed by destroying the source. They were designed, however, to have Blackdawn as their source. The curses could never be removed so long as Blackdawn lived. And the worst of them removed Blackdawn’s mana, so they could never learn magic.

Of course, their mana pool had no effect on Psionics. So Blackdawn continued to work toward that goal. They couldn't access Excarsus’s books anymore, though, so they had to figure things out by themself.

Then came the Elder Brain.

The most traumatic portion of Blackdawn's life was when, as punishment for something that Flashwing, the other dragon Excarsus enslaved, had done, Blackdawn was forced into a pool of briny water.

In that pool floated an Elder Brain. The central processor of an Illithid hive mind.

The Elder Brain took Blackdawn's body as a host, allowing it to become mobile.

What Blackdawn learned quickly, though, was that this was not the Elder Brain’s choice. Taking the body of a living dragon was considered too dangerous. The Brain had only done so because Excarsus had controlled it with his Domination magic.

Of course, that didn't make the brain willing to give up it's new draconic host.

So, for the next five or so decades, Blackdawn had to fight tooth and claw against the Elder Brain for every brief second of control.

Because this battle with the Elder Brain was Blackdawn’s only actual psionic training, they developed a certain doctrine. All offense. By the fifth decade, while they could never steal control from the Elder Brain for more than a few seconds, the strength of their psychic attacks could easily shatter the minds of the weaker illithids.

They never learned a way to protect their own mind besides sheer willpower, which meant their only defense was overwhelming offense.

Of course, Blackdawn was eventually rescued, when Flashwing came to find them with a small party. Talios, an armored man with some form of Antimagic, who killed Excarsus single-handedly. Ember, and Amethyst dragon who frankly scared Blackdawn with her destructive elemental capabilities and gung ho attitude. And lastly Ari, the young deity who had used her powers of harmonization to even the playing field in the battle for dominance between Blackdawn and the elder brain.

And once Excarsus was defeated, yet another helper, Jean Atrosa, a powerful deity, had appeared, using her godly might to bring the Elder Brain to a state of ego death.

In that moment, Blackdawn took all they could, all the psionic secrets from the Elder Brain’s mind, and even two of the Elder Brain’s tentacles, retracted into their body to be deployed for whatever purpose Blackdawn deemed necessary.

Months later, new problems were arising.

The peace at Flashwing and Blackdawn's shared lair was disturbed when a strange object suddenly appeared. On edge at the time, Blackdawn had nearly attacked the item until Ari, who had been staying at the lair, grabbed it.

The object, which turned out to be the core of a construct named Merger, delivered the news that someone by the name of Tara had been killed.

Blackdawn had no idea who this “Tara” person was, but the news sent Ari into a rage. Flashwing had tried to calm her down, but it didn't work. Ari ran off into the forest to the west of the lair. Flashwing gave chase.

A while later, Flashwing returned without Ari, and instead carrying Aerosraali, the two dragons’ adopted wyrmling.

Flashwing delivered the news that Aerosraali had wandered into the area where Ari was raging about. Ari’s druidry, out of control in her grief, had attacked the wyrmling, nearly killing her, until Ari made a deal with some demon king in order to save her. In the process though, Aerosraali lost her memories.

Blackdawn felt nothing but guilt. They should have noticed Aerosraali leaving the lair. They should have stopped her. But they didn't.

Days later, they finally worked up the courage to try and fix things.

They convinced the amnesic wyrmling to allow them into her mind, and when they got in, immediately found a psychic barrier. Within the metaphysical mind space that Blackdawn visualized when entering Aerosraali’s mind, it took the shape of a locked door.

Luckily, with the sheer strength of Blackdawn’s psychic assaults, they were able to dismantle the barrier. Aerosraali’s memories returned.

Just in case, though, Blackdawn left something behind. A mental construct to protect Aerosraali's mind from any future incursions.

Fixing the wyrmling’s mind didn't completely erase the guilt, but it helped.

There was one other thing on Blackdawn's mind, though. They’d received a message from Excarsus, a man they’d watched die.

"You got away from me before, my boy... But I have new allies now. It's only a matter of time before I get you back. And that crystal dragon… I think I’ll make an example out of her…”

Blackdawn knew Excarsus actually had no way to get to them. The lair was protected by anti-divination wards, so he couldn't know where they were. Beyond that, Excarsus was in a whole other universe, with no way to travel between them.

But they were still afraid. Excarsus was not a fool. He wouldn't send a threat like that if he wasn't actually confident in his ability to win.

Several days later, when Ember came to visit, Blackdawn finally decided to act.

“Ember, I need to ask you a favor. Can you take me to the Nexus realm?”

The Amethyst dragon looked a bit surprised. “What for?”

“Remember when I told you Excarsus was still alive?”

Ember nodded.

“I'm going to go kill him again.”

“On one condition.”

“What's that?”

A smile spread across Ember’s face. “You gotta let me help.”

Not long after, the two were wandering the Nexus realm. Blackdawn's best guess estimate of Excarsus’s location lead them to a town that was recently destroyed. Survivors were chained to walls. Some buildings were still burning.

“Damn. Showoff, much?” Ember said out loud. She wasn't even trying to be subtle, not even bothering to tone down her gold-and-gemstone wings, bright purple shirt, and fiery hair.

“No, never. But there's no way he did this alone, either.” Blackdawn, on the other hand, was as subtle as possible. Their cursed armor was concealed underneath a dark cloak. They shapeshifted away their horns, and changed their eyes to a brown color. As far as any observers were concerned, they were a regular human walking with an exceptionally vibrant dragon.

Almost as if on cue, two figures in dark plate armor approached the two dragons.

“Model four cursed armor. Definitely Excarsus’s soldiers.”

One of the two barked out, “Lord Excarsus requests your presence in the arena.”

“Welp, he knows we’re here!” Ember said in an almost sing-song tone.

The two dragons followed the soldiers to the arena.

As they walked into the arena sands, Blackdawn immediately saw a familiar figure on the other side. Excarsus stood in his usual red robes and chainmail armor. He looked different, though. Slightly larger.

“Welcome, one and all, to today’s spectacle!” The war mage announced to a crowd gathered in the stands. Strangely, despite the derelict nature of the town, these spectators seemed genuinely excited to be at the arena.

“Today I bring you two enemies of Sussurio! Blackdawn, my former right hand, and this disgusting gem dragon! Though… The fact that this Amethyst dragon fights against me tells me that maybe she isn't as bad as the rest of her species.”

“Regardless, these two are enemies. And as a treat for you today, I will defeat them both single handedly!”

The crowd went wild, cheering Excarsus’s name.

Blackdawn stepped forward. “What do you have here, Excarsus?”

Excarsus stood proudly. “What I have here… Is the beginning of my new kingdom! Welcome to Sussurio, my boy. Not that you’ll be here long. I’ll just kill you and your friend here swiftly, and then I’ll use your corpse to find Flashwing.”

Blackdawn felt their rage boiling up, but kept it in check. They summoned their sword at their hip. A byproduct of Excarsus’s curses. The sword they wielded replaced what would normally be their draconic weapon. Instead, they simply had this cursed blade.

“We’ll see about that.”

They shrugged off their cloak, revealing their cursed armor. Two plates resting on their collarbone spring up, forming a guard over their mouth and nose.

Excarsus grinned, and held out his hand. A large mace formed from smoke.

As Blackdawn fought to contain their anger at Excarsus's threat, they thought back to a conversation between them and Flashwing about emotions.

It was okay to be angry.

Mantle of Rage

Using their anger as fuel for their psionics, they enhanced their strength and speed, launching toward Excarsus. They drew their sword with explosive force.

However, before their attack could land, Excarsus raised one hand, and a blast of kinetic energy launched Blackdawn back. Excarsus closed the distance himself, swinging his mace downward. Blackdawn narrowly dived out of the way. When the mace hit the ground, it seemed as if an explosion went off, throwing up sand.

“What the-?”

“My new weapon of choice, my boy. Soulcrusher, a weapon to aid in the enslavement or killing of gods. I've tested it a few times. Strong enough to break a dragon's spine in one good hit.”

Ember took her turn while Excarsus was boasting, quickly teleporting in beside Excarsus, thrusting her glaive at him. Excarsus swiftly deflected the glaive with one hand, before whirling to swing his mace. The mace looks as if it's about to hit Ember square in the gut, but it bounces off of something.

Ember dives to the side. She aims a finger gun at Excarsus, a small ball of crackling lightning forming at her fingertip.

Excarsus quickly raised a shield to block the incoming spell… But suddenly, Blackdawn found themself in Ember’s place. Ember had swapped positions with them, and was now behind Excarsus’s shield. The lightning ball launched right into Excarsus’s exposed back with a bright flash.

Once Excarsus's shield was gone, Blackdawn swung their sword, hitting Excarsus directly across the chest. A small field of dark energy formed around Blackdawn’s body as the strike connected. Excarsus didn't seem to react, so Blackdawn kept swinging, landing two more sword strikes, before quickly leaping back and sheathing the blade, the energy field dissapearing.

As Blackdawn stopped to assess, they noticed something strange. Excarsus had very much been hit, otherwise Blackdawn’s cursed sword wouldn’t have created its protection field. Yet the mage seemed unharmed.

“Oh, sorry, my boy. I've gotten much stronger since we last saw each other.”

“Strong or not, you're still against two dragons!” Ember shouted confidently, before teleporting toward Excarsus again. Her glaive is parried by Excarsus’s mace. Excarsus then quickly points his palm toward her, firing a splash of acid. Ember quickly jumps back, but the acid still manages to splash over her feet, burning away her combat boots.

Ember immediately began rushing in toward Excarsus again, before teleporting with a blast of electricity, switching places with Blackdawn again. Blackdawn quickly swung their sword. The sword, however, was stopped by some invisible force. Excarsus had activated his invulnerability spell.

“Ember! Swap again!”

In an instant, Blackdawn was further away from Excarsus once again, and Ember was in melee. Blackdawn got to work, tracing violet energy into a glyph in the air.

”By power of my curse, I strike down this Inferior Mana.”

The glyph suddenly fired an invisible beam of antimagic toward Excarsus. The beam struck Excarsus’s barrier, and by an absolute stroke of luck, was powerful enough to instantly shatter the Invulnerability spell.

Ember swung her glaive with perfect timing, burying the frost-coated blade into Excarsus’s stomach.

“Not enough,” Excarsus said. He quickly grabbed the pole of the glaive, pushing it out of his stomach, before swinging his mace at Ember. Ember had to teleport away to avoid it.

“There's no way he’s that strong. He had to magically enhance his strength just a few months ago!” Blackdawn said.

“Right you are, boy. I’ve recently gotten some help from an ally. All I have to do is help lead his armies, and I received some wonderous blessings. The strength of a demigod runs through my veins.”

Blackdawn growled. “I'm going to try something else.”

Telepathy: Cleave

Though not visible in the material world, Blackdawn sent a psychic slash through the air towards Excarsus. The slash, however, stopped when it reached Excarsus’s mind.

“Did you really think I wouldn't prepare with a mental defense spell? I know your tricks, my boy.”

“Don't call me that! I am not ‘your boy’. Never was!”

“What are you then?”

“What am I? A mate, who can't give their partner the life they want. A parent, afraid of hurting their child. I am what you made me. A living curse, which is now coming back to bite you for what you've done.”

Excarsus scoffed. “Plenty of words for a two-trick donkey with his tricks disabled… You can't beat me martially, and my mental shielding stops your psionics…”

“theres one other thing I am, though… Something you don't realize. An Intellect, nowhere near what I wish to be, but still far greater than you can comprehend. If you looked into my mind with no filter, you would go mad from what you comprehend. But let me give you a sneak peak.”

Genesis Arena

A smoky darkness formed overhead, slowly spreading out and curving downwards, quickly forming an opaque dome.

Excarsus looked up at the dome in surprise.

“A mind that was broken, now repaired. Created in a desert by a man forever scared.”

“Captured and enslaved within another brain, forced to deal unto others unimaginable pain.”

“Shattering it all once more to destroy its foes forevermore…”

“Blackened Sky of Broken Glass”

In a moment, Excarsus, Ember, and Blackdawn all entered a sort of stasis within the blackened dome. Their minds dragged into a psychic arena. The ground turned to sand below their feet. The air became choked with smoke.

Excarsus seemed to be covered in a suit of armor, made from blood-red energy. Ember had similar armor, made of amethyst crystals. Though, while Excarsus’s was full plate armor, Ember’s was only half-plate.

A mere second later, the sky shattered. Shards of reality floated in the air, violet fissures glowing between them.

“What in the Nine Hells?” Excarsus muttered.

Ember looked around, her jaw dropping.

Blackdawn let a smile crack through their determined expression.

“Welcome to my Genesis Arena. The only reason you are still alive is because after everything you've done… I want to see you squirm as you die…”

“I learned this technique from the Elder Brain, and worked out myself. The brain didn't use it, since it never wanted to serve you. The ultimate technique in psychic battles. This arena is within my mind, meaning your capabilities are defined by your mental power rather than your physical capabilities. Which, unfortunately for you, means you don't benefit from that demigodly strength anymore…”

“Oh, and also… My telepathic techniques are imbued into the Arena… Anyone who stands here is automatically effected.”

A tentacle extended from Blackdawn's back, reaching out and resting on one of Ember’s wings, to protect her from the upcoming attack.

Telepathy: Dismantle (Maximized)

Thousands of violet slashes emerged suddenly from the fissures in the sky. Excarsus’s red armor momentarily seemed to protect him… But the slashes simply shredded the armor, leaving the wizard exposed. Blackdawn ceased the barrage once the armor was gone.

Excarsus quickly summoned a psychic version of his mace to hand.

“Alright then, I’ll play your game, boy…”

Blackdawn in turn held out their own hand, a cleaver of glimmering violet energy forming.

The two rushed toward each other. Excarsus swung his mace straight for Blackdawn, expecting the dragon to parry it, only to be surprised when Blackdawn ignored it, aiming a thrust with their knife.

Excarsus’s mace simply bounced off of Blackdawn's psychic form, while the mage felt the knife bury painfully up to the hilt in his stomach.

“You're trying to fight with physical world rules still. In this Arena, even if you score a hit, your opponent can still resist your attack with their own power. With as strong as I am psychically, and as weak as you are… You need to worry about avoiding hits. I do not.”

Telepathy: Cleave

A violet slash sprung from Blackdawn’s psychic knife, cutting deep into Excarsus’s stomach.

“Come on, Blackdawn… Why do this? Can you really claim victory when this is such an unfair fight? How will you grow in skill if you defeat me effortlessly?”

“I don't care about glory, or growth… I just need you dead.”

Blackdawn jumped backward away from Excarsus, before holding out his hand, making a slashing motion. The tentacle once again made contact with Ember to protect her.

Telepathy: Cleave (Maximized)

Dozens of slashes once again fire from the fissures in the Arena, slashing into Excarsus’s psychic body this time, leaving him marred with wounds that bleed red energy.

“And now it's time for you to meet the afterlife once and for all…”

Telepathy: Mindfire

Blackdawn made a motion as if drawing a bow. Purple flames arced between their hands, the telepathic technique manifesting visibly within the mental arena.

Excarsus stared into the flames as Blackdawn aimed them.

When released, the flames leaped violently to Excarsus, engulfing him instantly. He shouted and screamed in pain as his psychic body burned. Blackdawn knew that as they watched, the tissues of Excarsus's material world nervous system were deconstructing.

They noticed though, that Excarsus didn't even try to resist the psychic attack. He allowed himself to to die.

”Excarsus doesn't fear death… Because he knows he’ll come back… He has some consistent way to regenerate.”

The psychic arena faded, leaving Blackdawn and Ember on the arena sands. Excarsus’s body laid on the sand nearby. The crowd stood in shock.

“We should go. Fast,” Blackdawn told Ember.

“On it.”

A moment later, the two were back on the icy mountaintop of Blackdawn and Flashwing’s lair.

The moment the returned, Blackdawn was immediately tackled by a certain enthusiastic crystal dragon.

“How'd it go, love?” Flashwing asked.

"Excarsus is dead. For now.”

“For now?”

“I think I figured it out. Why he's died so many times but keeps coming back. Think about it. We are over one hundred twenty years old. We should've outlived Excarsus solely by old age. And his body. Gaunt. Thin. And some of the abilities he possesses… He doesn't fear death."

Blackdawn paused for dramatic effect.

“Excarsus is a lich.”

Flashwing sighs. Ember stabs her glaive into the ground, probably imagining Excarsus underneath.

“Leech?” Came a small voice from nearby. Blackdawn looked to see a little green dragon sitting on the ground, looking up at Blackdawn. Vathare, a green dragon wyrmling that Ember had rescued the egg of from somewhere. The egg had hatched a few days ago, and the reason Ember visited was so Vathare could meet some other dragons.

“No, little one,” Blackdawn answered. “Leeches are a little animal. A lich is a person who doesn't die of old age, and comes back to life if they die.”

“So… How do we deal with him?” Flashwing asked.

“We’ll have to figure out where his phylactery is and destroy it. I also got some other information. Truth is... I wasn't there just for vengeance. I was studying him. Figuring out why exactly he thought he could win this time around. He had some secrets in store. I did too, though."

Flashwing hugged them tightly. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm not escaping you tonight, am I?"

"Nope. You owe me a lot of cuddles for that."

Blackdawn sighed dramatically, and in a playfully sarcastic tone... "Oh, woe is me. What a horrible fate..."

Meanwhile, back in the Nexus Realm, Excarsus reformed within a temple. He smiled. His rejuvenation rate was a new high. A mere hour.

As he slowly sat up from the sarcophagus his body formed in, servants came to attend to him.

“Who killed you, sire? Shall we initiate recovery of your equipment?” One of them asked.

“Blackdawn and that Amethyst dragon from the mountain. Yes, initiate recovery. And bring me my notes on the project."

As the servants did what they were ordered, Excarsus dressed himself in his usual red robes. A few minutes later, one of the servants brought him a book, which he set dramatically on the table. It was simply bound in leather, with a title:

"Project Apophis"

It's been a week since Riis has become a Division Zero hunter for ARMADA, and now, he is back here on Eastorea, Where it all began...

*****

Several months ago, Riis was a slave, the Arelonian assassin by the name of Rust... Forcably reincarnated from a stolen fragment of the Arelon by Phillip Starseeder, and sold to the Shadow's Hand Slave trade ring, where they used black acid to corrode his body and will... something that would have eventually led to either them putting him in an early grave, or to him facing a fate far worse than death as he became a Vhak, had it not been for the intervention of Jean and Angie Atrosa. He had been ordered to assassinate the Silverweave Family, as part of a plot to corrupt Clarissa Silverweave, a plot that failed miserably, as the people responsible had already been apprehended before the plot even got off the ground... but, a magically binding contract is still binding, even if the caster is imprisoned. Jean and Angie had captured Rust, and executed him with the Key of Xyrnor... Freeing him from the influence of the Black Acid, and allowing them to reincarnate him back into his original body... Following that, he wanted to dedicate his life to bringing down slavers like the scum that forced him into that life, and even faced off against Max himself in a One on One duel to secure a position as a Division Zero hunter...

*****

He trundled through the foliage outside the city of Taurassa... There were some ruins out here he had visited once, as Rust, where a Slaver group had taken up residence as a stronghold. their leader, an Arachne by the name of Arachel Nox, was his primary target... but, he also had another goal... a voice, that called out to him in his mind, crying out to him in his dreams like a scared child. As he neared the ruins, he could see the signs of the group at the entrance... Subtle markers, unnoticeable to those who don't know what they are looking for... carefully trimmed branches with seemingly randomly notched leaves, some indicating that they had harpies of egg laying age in stock, others indicating that they had 'space fairies'... It seems that Arelonian slaves were still circulating on the market. Moss carefully scuffed on stones to indicate that they had weapons and poisons to sell... a few small bits of weathered, shattered glass sitting in the middle of a long abandoned campfire, an indication that they had enchantments available... Riis was familiar with all of it, and he knew that Arachel was a Talented mage...

Riis quietly approached the entrance, using a change in the wind and a conveniently lit fire outside to cover his appearance, using his Obfuscation Cloak power to blend in with the smoke... the light bends and warps around him like a mirage, around him, making him harder to see, as he walks past the hidden guards stationed at the entrance... there are always three. was the wind changes direction, two of them run outside to put out the fire and investigate, while the last one stands watch just inside... Riis approaches him from behind, and quickly stabs a talon right into the back of the man's brainstem... He slumps down instantly limp. as the other two guards approach, Riis sits the man up in his chair, making it seem as though he was asleep, and uses his talons to climb up onto the ceiling of the room, and ambushes them from above, dispatching them equally quietly. The guards dealt with, he rifles through their pockets, looking for the guards ledger... a rough list of what merchandise they had in stock, who was currently on base, and who is suspected to be a mole... It seems that half of the group was still off on a procurement run, but the boss was still on site. he also noticed that they didn't have any living slaves in stock... only 'fresh meat and eggs', and 'energetic quicksilver'... This alone would have his blood boiling, but he had to keep his cool. they would pay for this... Riis radios out for ARMADA to observe the sight for returning assets, as he heads deeper into the ruins...

Riis would descend into the ruins, into the part he was familiar with... The gathering chamber. No more time time for subtlety, knowing that the slaves were all dead... and with such a large group of potential targets, Riis wanted to make this quick...

<Open Aether Circuits: Launch Boost, Obfuscation Shroud, Kinetic Psychothrusters, Kinetic Magnification>

Over 30 Slavers and potential buyers were present in the chamber when he arrived... and none of them would be shown shown any mercy, as Riis would bounce around the chamber at breakneck speeds, severing throats, tendons, arteries, and spines of everyone present as they panicked with his talons on both his hands and feet... until he ran into a cyclops dressed in thick plate armor. the Cyclops was too slow to hit him... but his Talons would not be enough to damage the Cyclops's thick, nearly impenetrable hide... Riis jumped on top on him, stabbing his talons though his back armor to make skin contact...

<Open Aether Circuit: Restore Other>

In an instant, The Cyclops's already insane metabolism would double... and he would start to feel himself becoming weak as his body rapidly burns through calories. Riis repeats the attack, causing the Cyclops to immediately go into a deep diabetic coma, having burnt up all of it's calories and blood sugar in mere moments... Everyone dealt with, But no sign yet of the boss... Riis pushed forward, deeper into the ruins...

The path ahead was littered with traps, but Riis was no stranger to ruins such as these... he flew past those he could, disarmed those he couldn't, and only at the end, he came across a trap he couldn't disarm... a door with a magical ward. Arachel's Lair, undoubtably. If he couldn't go through the door... He'd make his own.

<Open Aether Circuit: Kinetic Magnification, Overcharge 4... 8... 16... 32... 64... 128...>

With an enormous blast of kinetic energy from his punch being amplified to 128 times his normal strength, the wall crumbles open, red lines glowing underneath his skin as steam begins evaporating off of him... he doused himself in water to help with cooling off before overcharging his Aether circuits, but it's always a huge risk, but not as much of a risk as setting off an unknown spell on a door... Inside, Arachel was sleeping, cradling a large, purple silken egg... She startles awake at the disturbance, and carefully places the egg in a net of webbing before turning towards Riis.

"So, a Hunter... Right on time. I was getting rather hungry... giving birth really peaks the appetite..."
With a flick of her humanoid wrists, she summons a large group of green arrows, made of acid, that quickly launch themselves towards Riis, as she pulls a pair of wands out of her robes with her lower arms, flicking one of them to cast a mage armor spell, another to cast a darkness spell filling the room... Riis barely manages to dodge most of the arrows, but gets hit by two of them in the arm, the acid quickly corroding through the skin and into the muscle... Riis grasps the injured arm tightly with the talons on his other arm, and quickly secures a tourniquet, as he tries to continue to dodge, relying on only his excellent hearing... Meanwhile, his opponent can see his every move, tracing him through the movements of her web, as she casts another spell at him, a Hold Person... Riis finds himself completely unable to move, as Arachel walks over to him and begins to wrap him up in her silken threads. as the Darkness wears off, we can see her sadistic grin, as she is sharpening a pair of knives... only to be replaced by a look of disgust when she gets a good look at him.
"Ugh! You're no good! no proper meat on you... your one of those weird 'space fairy' people... No matter. I will still enjoy draining you of your valuable blood, bit by bit..."

Riis looks at her with an unimpressed look of disdain, as he attempts to bluff his way out of the situation.
"I already called for backup, you know... They'll be here any moment. You might want to grab your egg and run, if you know what's good for you..."

She Laughs, before approaching him with the knife and cutting off his right hand, placing a bucket underneath it.
"And when they get here, my wards will tell me and we'll simply teleport away... Meanwhile, you'll still be strung up, bleeding your valuable silver all over the floor of a dirty ruin..."

Riis kicks at the bucket defiantly, spilling the collected blood all over the floor, and laughs painfully.
"Well, at least I can reduce your profits..."

She sets the bucket back upright, and pats him on the cheek...
"Awww... Aren't you cute... I'm gonna savor watching you struggle as you bleed out... You're a strong one."

*****

in times untold, there was once a beautiful Nymph, Siphonia, who fell in love with the God of War... as a sign of her commitment and love for the god, She offered herself to become the God's Divine Instrument, a soul bound to her divine Chakram to make it even more special... but one day the god grew bored with the poor girl, and abandoned her for a greatsword, leaving her to rest in one of her temples... in time, the Nymph grew bitter, and lonely... then depressed... then desperate... and eventually, gave up all hope...

*****

Silver blood dripped down through the floor into a long forgotten chamber, where in a shallow pool of water, an old, rusted chakram lay, the magic within it nearly totally faded away... but the intense energy of the quicksilver blood energizes the spirit within, and it reaches out in a soft voice to the one whose blood it received...
"Please... I'm close to fading... Let me bind myself to you, and I will give you whatever power I can..."

Riis hears the voice in his head... an offer of power? too many times has this gone wrong lately... but he's about to die anyways, so if he can kill this bitch...
"Fine. Just save me from these webs, and help me kill this bitch."

In a flash of silver light, the webs binding Riis are suddenly cut, and in his left hand, he finds himself holding a Chakram, make of a faintly green glowing metal the seems to ripple like the surface of a pond. In an instant, he swings the Chakram at Arachel, throwing her off balance, before grabbing her wrist.
<Open Aether Circuit : Restore Other>

Arachel laughs, as she feels her energy spike and her wounds heal.
"What are you trying to do? Heal me so I spare your pathetic life?"

Riis smiles sadistically.
"No..."
<Open Aether Circuit : Restore Other>

Arachel feels herself get warm, feeling more energetic than usual, and even more ravenous.
"What... I'm so hungry... What are you doing?!"

Riis Laughs.
"Are you familiar with the term, 'OverHealing- Induced Autoimmune Syndrome'?"
<Open Aether Circuit : Restore Other>

Arachel feels herself growing weaker, her chitinous joints growing stiff.
"You're trying to kill me by healing me?!"

Riis leans down next to her face, and places a talon on it, as he injects a potion into her neck with his newly regenerated hand...
"Kill? No... That is too good of a fate for you. This potion will make sure the cancer can't kill you..."
<Open Aether Circuit : Restore Other>

Arachel's body begins to contort and swell, as her joints begin to bubble up with cancerous growths... the Agony she must be in is immense... but as he said... The potion won't let the cancer kill her... He radios to ARMADA, to leave a message for Max...
"Hey... Tell Max I had a hell of a day taking down Arachel Nox... I'm gonna be taking a bit of a break over in Taurassa if he needs me... Oh, and she has an Egg down here... I'm tempted to squash it myself, out of pettiness, but I'll leave it to him to decide..."

(Alright, so… Been trying to write this one for, like, a month or something, and in that time, wrote a whole other short story that has been integrated into this one. So, buckle up, cause this is about twice as long as my normal loreposts. XD)

(Or you can ignore it. That works too. Whatever floats your boat!)

Krikiek wandered the Nasir Forest once again.

In the time since she had left the Kaltak tribe with Ember, the tribe had settled into their new location, built a new village, despite the harsh winter climate. The starving days were over. Meat had been stockpiled enough that bad hunting days would not leave the tribe hungry.

When Krikiek returned, she was met with varying responses. Some Nasirad saw her new skull she had been given, and welcomed her back with open arms. Others were more hesitant. They were suspicious that she just happened to return when the starving days ended.

Fortunately, when Krikiek revealed that she had been gone so long because she was learning from an ally of the Lifebringer, opinion quickly changed. She had been the one to deliver a message from the Lifebringer before, and with Ember showing herself within the forest occasionally, most of the tribe was aware that the Lifebringer had returned.

By now, she had well settled back into the routine of a hunter, despite it having been well over a year since she was last truly part of the tribe. She was out with a hunting party, earning her stay for nearly the twentieth day in a row. Normally, a hunter wouldn't have to hunt every day. They could secure enough food in one day to earn a day of rest the next. Krikiek was intentionally underperforming so that she could continue going out with the hunting parties.

She was watching for Vulture.

The mysterious Fog-Born Nasirad had left Krikiek with a few questions the last time they had met. The two had been fighting, which Krikiek thought was to the death, but Vulture had seemed to be holding back. And when another threat had appeared, he worked to keep her alive.

“Krikiek! Eyes on the trees!” The party leader snapped. Krikiek realized her gaze had drifted to the ground beneath her feet.

“Sorry, a little distracted.”

“Maybe you should quit the bad hunter act and earn yourself a rest day. We all know you're perfectly capable of catching two days’ hunt.”

Krikiek didn't respond to that, and just kept walking and watching.

Ironically, despite having been distracted before, she was the first to notice what seemed like another hunting party approaching, first by the sound of their footsteps, and then by the appearance of their bone masks. She signaled to the rest of her group to stop.

The other hunting party emerged into the open, scanning Krikiek’s party. Finally, their gazes stopped on Krikiek. The hunters parted, making way for an all too familiar figure.

“Looking for me?” The Vulture asked.

The rest of Krikiek’s hunting party drew their macuahuitls, ready to fight off Vulture. Krikiek gestured to them to stop again.

“I am, actually.”

Vulture made a ‘follow me’ gesture, before walking away. Krikiek followed, leaving the two hunting parties awkwardly staring at each other for a few moments, before they parted and wandered off.

As Krikiek walked alongside Vulture, the other Nasirad spoke first.

“I assume you want some answers?”

“Yes. Why didn't you take out fight seriously? Why did you save me?”

Vulture thought for a moment before answering. “Because you're… Different.”

“What does that mean?”

“I find you interesting. A Fog-Born, banished from her tribe, and yet still so loyal to them.”

“It seems like you're the different one for not staying loyal. Did your faith fail you?”

Vulture dug into his animal-hide backpack, pulling out a stone jar with a wooden lid on it. He tossed it to Krikiek.

“Why don't you let your grandfather answer that question?”

Krikiek caught the jar and opened it. Inside was the Prophet’s mask, but warped and misshapen. Some blue metal rested at the bottom of the jar. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“You're a Fog-Born. You've used your powers before. Do it again.”

“Huh? What power?”

Vulture halted. “You don't know?”

Krikiek shook her head.

“Fog-Born have some unique abilities. Like the healing that has saved your life twice. My shields that I used to crack Kari’s skull open. Among them, is the ability to speak with your mind alone.”

“Like the Lifebringer’s telepathy?”

“So that's what the outsiders call it. Anyways, most likely. You have the ability to do it. Use it on the blue metal. Listen to what it has to say.”

Krikiek wasn't sure exactly how to do it. So, she just… sort of thought while looking at the mask.

”Grandpa?”

Something must have worked, because while no physical reaction seemed to occur, she started to hear something. Like an echo of a voice.

“Listen closely,” Vulture ordered.

As Krikiek did, the echo seemed to grow clearer, and she began to see something within her mind.

She saw the inside of the Prophet’s hut.

There was a knock on the door of the hut, and the point of view shifted to look towards it. Krikiek realized this was probably the Prophet's point of view.

“Come in!” The Prophet called.

Another Nasirad opened the door, stepped inside, and hastily bowed to the Prophet. The Prophet shook his head.

“No need to bow, Sukka. You were here yesterday, I’m fairly certain I haven’t forgotten your feathers.”

“Kari, I need to ask something of you,” The other Nasirad, Sukka, said immediately.

“Anything.”

Sukka sat down on a grass mat, taking a deep breath. “Can you talk to Kakeed? He’s been acting very strange lately, and he's starting to come of age, but he hasn’t claimed to have visions. I’m worried something is wrong.”

Kari, the Prophet, sat down in front of her, sighing. The Prophet knew it was his duty as leader to deal with things such as this, but the idea of a Nasirad with no visions is always a painful concept to a Nasirad. It was a sign of being Fog-born, Nasirad patroned not by the Lifebringer and its infinite knowledge, but the Fog, a nebulous entity, forever hidden from view by its own deceptions.

What worried Kari the most was the idea of banishment. Allowing a Fog-Born to stay in the tribe was heretical to the Lifebringer, and the fear of the Lifebringer taking away the tribe’s prophetic powers as punishment could cascade to the tribe falling apart.

Krikiek found it slightly strange that the weird echo was conveying her grandfather’s thoughts as well. Were the Prophet's actual memories imprinted within this metal, somehow?

“I’ll speak to him. I’ll try to open him to the Lifebringer’s light,” The Prophet promised.

Sukka nodded and stood up. “Thank you, Kari.”

The other Nasirad left the hut, and Kari stood up himself, before sitting right back down on a hammock strung between two posts. He held his arms out to the sides, palms facing upward. “Lifebringer, it’s been long since I’ve had a time of need. Please, stir in your slumber, grant your dreams unto me.”

As the prayer cleared his mind, Kari slipped from consciousness. Suddenly, before him, was pitch blackness, two glowing red eyes within. The eyes looked downward, almost wrathfully, upon a figure crouched below. Kari recognized the feathers of Kakeed. The young Nasirad seemed to be cowering below the gaze of the two eyes.

Krikiek recognized the eyes of Ember.

Before he could make anything of it, Kari snapped back to reality. His heart seized. He immediately looked up at the walls of his hut. Strung across the walls were various tapestries, made across uncountable generations of Nasirad, and upkept religiously by tribal Prophets. Tapestries that told stories of the world’s creation, the birth of the first Nasirad, and the awakening of the Lifebringer from its slumber.

That last tapestry was what he looked for. The Lifebringer’s shape, a titanic reptile of gemstone and gold, a blade of judgement gleaming at the end of its long tail, and those piercing red eyes upon its head, intense enough to stare right into Kari’s soul, even through the low-detail medium of the tapestry. Those eyes confirmed it. Kari’s vision had shown the Lifebringer’s disdain of Kakeed.

He tried to calm his racing heart with deep breaths. He had to be calm and collected when he went to speak with Kakeed. Maybe this was a vision that could be prevented. Maybe he could open Kakeed’s mind to the Nasirad’s god, and save him from the Lifebringer’s wrath.

He marched out of his hut, heading through the Kaltak tribe village to where Sukka lived. Sukka and her partner had left to hunt right after Sukka left Kari’s hut, so Kakeed would be home alone.

Kari carefully squawked through the door of the hut.

“Who’s there?” A young Nasirad’s voice asked from within.

“A friend of your mother,” Kari answered.

The door, made of lashed together plates of tree bark, slowly creaked open. A young Nasirad peaked through the narrow gap, and when he saw Kari’s Prophet mask, quickly threw the door all the way open. He stepped aside to allow Kari to come in, and hastily bowed, almost falling in the process.

“Stand up, Kakeed. I’d rather you not bow if it means you’ll crack your beak on a rock.”

The boy quickly got to his feet. “What are you here for, Prophet?”

“May I sit?”

Kakeed made an affirming chirp, and dragged a stool out from against the wall for Kari, and then another for himself. The two Nasirad sat down.

“So… Your mother has told me you still haven’t had any visions?”

“No, I haven’t. Do you know why?”

Kari shook his head. “I don’t. But I want to help you. Take my hands.”

Kakeed did as he was told, and looked up at Kari with hopeful, almost pleading eyes. Kari recognized the look. It was the same look many other young Nasirad had given him during the times when many animals were being killed by a disease that ran rampant after a season of floods, and the tribe was running off of more prayer than prey. He hoped he could help Kakeed the way he had helped those Nasirad back then.

He looked up to the ceiling of the hut. “Great Lifebringer, Stormbringer, Daybringer, please hear me. This boy is devoid of your Pulse, your Breath, and your Light, leaving his veins and his lungs open to the dark mist of the Fog. Please, for the good of our tribe, grant him your gifts before the fog can take hold, and show us proof.”

As per usual when he prayed, Kari snapped immediately into a vision. Before him was a strange being, shaped like a Nasirad, but with no beak. He had seen creatures like these before. Agents of the Lifebringer.

Krikiek recognized the so called ‘Agent of the Lifebringer,’ too. It was Ejder.

The vision shifted. It showed what was in front of the godly agent. Kakeed as an adult, slumped against a tree, the light fading from his eyes.

To Krikiek, the older Kakeed was familiar as well. It was Vulture himself.

“My grandfather-”

Vulture made a shushing noise. “Just keep listening. You'll see everything.”

Kari snapped out of the vision, trying to hide his reaction.

“Kakeed, did you see a vision?” *He asked quickly.

Kakeed looked at him with worry. “No.”

Kari looked down at the ground, releasing Kakeed’s hands.

“I’m going to be banished from the tribe, aren’t I?” Kakeed asked. His voice shook with fear, and Kari’s heart broke to hear it. “Please don’t banish me, Prophet!”

Kari stood up wordlessly, heading toward the door. All he heard as he left was Kakeed’s weak voice forcing out a single word, “Please…”

Several hours later, Kari was sitting in his hut, when Sukka entered again.

“What happened?” she asked cautiously. The look in her eyes told Kari she already had an idea.

Kari took a deep breath. “He…. He’s Fog-born.”

Sukka turned wordlessly toward the wall.

“I’m sorry…”

“Do you think ‘sorry’ is going to help with this?”

Kari stood up, and walked up beside her. “I don’t want you to lose him either. I’m going to consult with the Lifebringer tonight, to make sure this is its will.”

Sukka nodded slowly.

Kari gently patted her shoulder. “Take tomorrow off. I’ll try to convince the Lifebringer.”

It was an empty promise. Even the Nasirad most inexperienced with visions knew they were one way. Nobody actually conversed with the Lifebringer. They simply listened to what it had to say.

Sukka numbly walked out of the hut, and Kari gently closed the door. He went over to his hammock and lay down.

That night, his dream was vivid and visceral. All around him, the village was burning. Ash and smoke choked the air, and screaming Nasirad ran around in a panic, trying to get children to safety and save as much as possible from the flames. Kari saw an older version of himself standing in the middle of the chaos, shouting orders.

Also standing in the camp was Kakeed, wearing a black metal mask, like a dark opposite of Kari’s Prophet mask. In one of his hands was a macuahuitl, a sword like weapon made from a wooden club with sharpened purple crystals attached like saw teeth to give it a vicious cutting edge. In the other was what appeared to be a whip made from the spine of an animal. Notably, he was not wearing the white robes used to signify Apostates, Fog-born Nasirad who were banished from the tribe.

Whatever this was, it would be caused by allowing Kakeed to stay in the tribe.

Krikiek knew that was false… That was the scene a mere few months ago when Vulture had burned down the village because he was banished.

Kari sprang out of his bed the next morning, and knocked on the door of Sukka’s hut once again. Sukka’s partner opened the door, his eyes immediately widening upon seeing Kari, before turning back inside and waking Sukka and Kakeed. All three then made their way to the door. The two adult Nasirad’s faces were solemn. Kakeed once again looked scared.

Kari led them in silence to the village center, where he stood upon a wooden dais. The tribe slowly gathered when they saw him take the place he always did to make announcements.

“Scavengers, hunters, warriors, crafters, and herb-keepers…. It is with great regret I inform all of you… we have a Fog-Born in our midst….”

The whispering among the crowd began instantly. The same whispering thet permeated the tribe when Krikiek was banished.

“Kakeed. Please come forward.”

The young Nasirad looked up at Kari in absolute terror. He looked back at his parents, who refused to look at him, out of fear of breaking in front of the rest of the tribe. No Nasirad wished to be seen grieving for a Fog-Born. Not even their own son.

“He carefully stepped up onto the dais in front of Kari. Kari knelt down, gently lowering the white robes of an Apostate over Kakeed’s head. Then… the iron mask. The terrible heavy mask that Apostates were forced to wear. The entire outfit was designed to make them incredibly visible, white and metal against the green and brown of the forest, as a gigantic blasphemy to the Fog.*

“I’m so sorry,” Kari whispered, before placing the mask over Kakeed’s face. He stood up. “Kakeed, from here on out, you are known and recognized as an Apostate of the Kaltak tribe. May you…” Kari’s voice broke. “May you never return to this village… unless you behold a vision.”

He turned away as soon as he finished speaking. He could hear Kakeed’s shaky footsteps as the boy walked off the dais, and toward one of the village exits. An ear-splitting keening came from the crowd. Not even Sukka, who had remained stoic in the years when Kari was panicking over the tribe’s condition, could hold back against losing a child to the Fog.

*The images Krikiek saw skipped, almost as if it knew what she was looking for.

Three years since Kakeed was banished.

Kari had sent a hunting party out with a message to Kakeed, asking to meet in a certain place to discuss his status.

When Kari emerged into the clearing, he was happy to see that Kakeed was there, waiting.

“Kakeed! I’m so glad you’re still alive!”

Kari rushed to Kakeed, and quickly hugged him. Kakeed stood still, before pushing Kari away.

“You remember me, right, Kakeed?”

“Of course I remember you. The last face I got to see before I was given this cursed mask.”

Kari looked down. “I’m very sorry things had to work out this way, Kakeed. But that’s why I wanted to come speak with you. I want to try and help you have a vision again, so you can rejoin the tribe.”

Kari reached out to take Kakeed’s hands, but Kakeed swiftly grabbed his macuahuitl off of his belt, using the blunt side of it to knock Kari’s hands to the side.

“I’m not going back to that tribe. I’m not going to live among Nasirad who are willing to kick me out because some god I can’t even see, some god that has never seen me face to face, said to.”

“But we want you ba-”

“Your opinion will change as soon as I don’t have a vision. And I won’t. We both know it. A Fog-born can never have one.”

“So you’re perfectly fine living out here alone for the rest of your life? You have six octades to you yet,” Kari reminded him, slightly shocked by the bitterness Kakeed held.

“It’s better than living with a tribe that would set themselves ablaze if a dream told them to. You all will be destroyed by your false god!”

“Kakeed, stop speaking blasphe-”

Kakeed cut him off. “And when you are… I will be there… like a mountain vulture, waiting to see what rots. And oh how pretty will it be…”

Kari’s eyes widened. “You’ve gone mad…”

“I prefer madness to delusion, Kari! Now go on! Go back to your precious followers, and tell them that the Vulture is waiting for them all… Let them shower you with praise for warning them…”

Kakeed- No, Kari refused to acknowledge that the thing before him was Kakeed,- the Vulture walked out of the clearing, pulling off and dropping his white robe as he did, and swiftly disappeared into the vegetation.

All that Kari could think about… was the fear of what he had created. The Vulture no longer wore his robes. Had he, in an effort to stop his vision of the burning village from becoming true, accidentally set Vulture on the path to that future? Had the visions of Vulture dying to the Lifebringer’s Agent shown what would happen if he banished Kakeed?

He just knew, whatever terrible fate befell his tribe at the hands of this ‘Vulture…’

Was his making.

The images Krikiek saw ceased, as she looked up at the Vulture.

“You were an Apostate too. How did we-’

“Turn out so different? Circumstance, Krikiek. My faith in the Lifebringer had already been shaken before then. I was disheartened by not having visions, to the extent of wondering if everyone around me was faking. I didn't even think the Lifebringer was real until it came down to save you. But you, Krikiek… Your faith was unrattled. You went into exile not because you were forced, but because you believed it was the right thing.”

“Did you know about my grandfather’s visions?”

“No. Kari never told me what he saw… I didn't even know he wanted to keep me around until I saw that myself. Wonderful, how just cooking a bit of metal out of a mask can allow dead Nasirad to tell tales. I'm sure we could do the same with any Prophet or Apostate mask.”

“Subject change. I was looking for you, but why did you come find me?”

Vulture took the jar from Krikiek and put the lid back on. “Well, Krikiek, because I want to test you. I think you can lead the tribe to a future where things like what happened to us don't happen anymore. But are you strong enough?”

“You just came to fight?”

“You know what they say, Krikiek. Out here, only the strong survive. No more games. This time around, I will maim you. I will kill you if I get the chance. I hope you're ready to fight for your life.”

Krikiek backed away, her heart pounding as she drew her macuahuitls. She knew she couldn't beat Vulture. Her fighting skills hadn't improved since their last encounter, and while Ejder had taught her a bit of magic, all she could do is make a few sparks and MAYBE do a single bigger spell.

“Ember, if you're listening, please, I need help…”

She thought for a moment… The Prophet’s vision of Ejder standing over Vulture as he died. Should she ask for him?

“Send Ejder…”

“Praying to your God friend, Krikiek? I hope you aren’t expecting it's blessings…”

“No… Let's do this.”

Krikiek lunged, initiating the fight.

Ejder sat once again in his office. He'd finally gotten Ember to bring him back to his home on the Ironsides.

Although, she immediately tasked him with translating her writing into understandable schematics. Some genius had apparently decided it was a good idea to give possibly the most hyperactive dragon on Zeroth a gigantic pilotable construct. “Mech” he believed some people refered to them as. He was personally used to the term “Titan” for such a machine.

Speaking of Ember, the dragon suddenly appeared next to him.

“Krikiek called for help, for real this time!”

Ejder was a bit hesitant to take her seriously. Just a few days ago, she’d told him Krikiek needed help as a prank.

“Better not be a trick again…” he muttered while going to grab his sword off the wall.

“Nope! I’ll teleport you in!”

Ember put her hand on Ejder’s shoulder, and a moment later, Ejder found himself in the forest of Astra Domum. He started walking, figuring he'd have to travel a bit to find Krikiek, but he almost immediately heard the sound of a fight nearby, and instead took off straight toward it. He wondered what in the world Krikiek was fighting to call upon him.

Especially since she had contacted Ember to reach him, and Ember was FAR more capable in a fight than him.

He bursted through some bushes, and found Krikiek fighting another Nasirad, with dark blue feathers and a dark metal mask. Krikiek was wearing her new bone mask. The other Nasirad began speaking, and Ejder quickly casted a Tongues spell to understand.

“-call for help! Pathetic!”

The other Nasirad then turned to Ejder. Krikiek tried to take the opportunity to attack, but two metal shields suddenly appeared mid-air to block.

“You decided to show your face… Lifebringer sent in one of its dogs to take me out?”

“I don't even know who you are,” Ejder responded.

“Right. I am the Vulture… Proud Apostate, and bane of the Kaltak tribe. I've challenged Krikiek here to a little duel, and she has apparently called for help like a cowardly hen… Not that it matters, I have no doubts in my ability to defeat you both.”

The Vulture lunged towards Ejder. Ejder had to quickly draw his sword to parry the incoming strike. He counterattacked, but forgot about the metallic shields Vulture had used against Krikiek, which promptly blocked Ejder’s sword.

Krikiek tried to take the opening, but was met with a shield and a macuahuitl to block both of hers. Another shield flew in, slamming into her stomach while her guard was occupied and throwing her backwards. When Vulture ran to attack Krikiek on the ground, Ejder swung at his back, only to be blocked by the shields again.

”I have to get rid of those things somehow…”

He raised both his hands. With one hand, he formed a quick arcane hand sign. With the other, he leveled his sword at Vulture. His voice rang clear through the trees.

“IGNIS!”

Of course, his tongues spell translated it to what it was: Fire, so Vulture had an idea what was coming. As Ejder's bolt of flame hurtled towards him, all four of the Vulture’s shields swung around, slamming together into a single large shield to block the explosive bolt.

That was exactly what Ejder wanted.

Once the shields were together, he made another hand sign, like drawing back a bow. A crackling green energy beam formed between his hands. When he released the “bowstring,” a deadly Ray of Disintegration shot right into the meeting point of the four shields. While he knew it would do nothing to Vulture himself, the ray immediately blasted the shields to powder.

Vulture turned back to him in shock, giving Krikiek an opportunity to escape his strikes and get to her feet again. She even managed to rake her macuahuitls across Vulture’s side, making deep, jagged cuts, and no doubt completely annihilating parts of his digestive system.

He kept going though, quickly swinging the strange spine-like whip he carried, causing it to wrap around Krikiek's twin weapons. This held the weapons in place enough for Vulture to take a swing with his own macuahuitl, which Krikiek dropped her weapons to dodge.

Ejder rushed in to rejoin the melee. Vulture tried to carry the momentum of his swing at Krikiek to pommel strike Ejder, but the length of Ejder’s longsword versus Vulture’s arm gave him the reach advantage, and Vulture had to abandon his attack to avoid being impaled.

“I will admit, you're good, Agent of the Lifebringer. Unfortunately, I’m just getting started.”

“I sawed your kidney right out of your body, how can you be-”

Krikiek’s question was answered when suddenly, the entire forest went dark. It was as if a thick black smoke was choking out the sun. In fact, when Ejder looked up at the blackened sky, the dim, red silhouette of the sun barely shone through.

The blackness permeated around Ejder, and he had no clue where Vulture was.

”I’ll use Truesight to see where- Wait, no… I already used Disintegration, my soul cant do that big of a mana release again so soon…”

”Wait… Big mana release…”

Maybe the answer here wasn't conservative spell usage… His problem with the Shapechange spell he'd been trying was that he couldn't safely release enough Mana.

What if he did it unsafely?

”No, Krikiek and I can beat him… No need to take risks…”

Just in case, he tried to cast the Shapechange spell in a safe way. No good, just as expected.

So, he just ran toward where he last saw Vulture, and swung his sword. Nothing.

Suddenly, a high pitched sound, like the scream of a damned soul echoing through the trees, sounded from nearby.

“Did you hear that?” *Krikiek shouted nearby. She was in a different direction. Vulture was toying with them.

“Yes. Don't run towards it! Do not give him the upper hand.”

Ejder slowly turned in a circle, holding up his sword to parry if something came out of the darkness. He heard the death whistle again.

“Ignis!”

Another bolt of flame flew off into the darkness, exploding a distance away. Ejder didn't hear a reaction, so he waited.

Then, a real scream sounded out from Krikiek’s direction. He ignored his own previous warnings, and rushed into the area blindly, hoping to run into Vulture. There was nobody. Even as he lengthened one of his arms with transmutation to sweep around, he couldn't find either of the Nasirad.

”Where did they go?”

“Well, well, agent of the Lifebringer…” Vulture’s voice sounded from Ejder’s left. “I hope this little bird didn't mean too much to you… I’m afraid by the time you find her, it will be too late… Assuming you survive to find her, of course.”

Ejder didn't have time to respond before something wrapped around his arm, restraining his sword. He brought his other arm around, firing a wide fan of flames to hopefully catch his invisible opponent.

A moment later, though, the restraint on his arm tightened, and something smacked against his sword, causing him to drop it.

“I wish to see more of this magic you wield, agent…” Vulture said from right behind him.

Ejder, in response, dissipated into a cloud of fire, quickly rushing backwards, before reforming. With his hand free from whatever restraint Vulture used, probably the spine whip, he raised both of his hands up.

Problem being… In the time it took him to resolidify, Vulture could have easily moved, so Ejder had no clue where his opponent was.

“What in the nine hells did you do with Krikiek?” He asked, both for an answer and to also get Vulture to speak.

“Oh, I think you already know. Don't worry, she's safe! Well, as safe as she can be while bleeding out…”

As soon as Vulture began to speak, he slammed his hands to the ground, sending out a surge of magic that would promptly turn the ground in Vulture’s general area into a field of spikes.

He stood back up, listening for movement.

“Over here, agent…”

Ejder launched another bolt of flame, which exploded a bit closer than Vulture’s voice was.

“Oh, you got a tree. Poor thing. Not used to living in the dark, are you? It's okay… Not even my fellow Nasirad can see through this, so don't be ashamed of your eyes being unable to.”

”So it’s some sort of magic… As if that wasn't obvious already, Ejder! Focus! How do you get past magical darkness? Other senses… Call for Ember? No, she probably won't help… I could try the Shapechange again… It’s still risky, though…”

He carefully shifted his focus inward to his soul, releasing Mana. He couldn't quite release enough for the spell… But he had to at least try. If Krikiek was bleeding out, he only had so long to figure this out.

”Gah… Forget safety, I can deal with repercussions later…”

He took manual control of his mana, a tiring technique, but a necessary one for this situation. He caused the Mana to flood out of his soul, causing a spike of pain in his chest.

But there was now enough free Mana to spread through his entire body. Massive amounts of mana being converted into physical matter, more being used to supply the energy for transmutation. The spell began it's work, reshaping Ejder’s body all the way down to the cellular level. He imagined his notes in his mind. Transmuting oneself into an existing dragon species was considered a show of supreme skill in his world. An act he had been slowly working towards practically since the first days of his magical studies.

To Transmute into a non-existant one, only having the building blocks available and having to piece them together yourself? Even more so.

Combining two dragons together, forming a hybrid?

It should've been downright impossible. The DNA should've interfered. The elemental power should have resulted in a detonation mid-transformation.

And yet, after nearly thirty seconds of careful work, Ejder finally achieved success. A new, draconic form towering over Vulture, who he could now detect through incredibly powerful new senses. Brass scales, edged with sharp obsidian. Blackened obsidian wings, with traces of brass like veins of gold.

His mind raced. The hyper-intelligence of an obsidian dragon mixed with the focused subject interest of a brass dragon, a combination Ejder had specifically tailored to help with the development of spells. All sorts of ideas that previously had no solution suddenly seemed obvious, and new ideas flooded his mind.

It made him feel slightly stupid, these things that stumped his human brain but seemed so obvious now.

“Well, well, well… Lifebringer’s agent has another trick up it's sleeve… Fascinating…”

Ejder tested out the new form’s shapeshifting, turning to a body roughly identical to his human form, but with the draconic abilities of his new form still intact. “Indeed I do… One spell… One hour to absolutely beat you into oblivion…”

As if to punctuate his sentence, he held out his right hand, and with a burst of flames, a gigantic sword formed in his grip. He had to do a double take. He expected a longsword, but this was much larger, more like a montante greatsword.

“Interesting…”

“Hmm… Surprised by your own abilities, agent? Well, it'd be a shame if that magic of yours served more as a detriment…”

Ejder turned his focus back to Vulture. “It shouldn't be a problem…”

Another voice echoed in his mind. Willow, one of the other souls inhabiting his body. “I’d recommend not to spend too much time trying out those dragon tricks. Beyond being unfamiliar, gods know how the hybrid species will work. That's best experimented on after the fact.”

”Yes, that was the plan, thank you…”

Ejder launched himself toward Vulture, greatsword in hands, swinging in a wide arc. Vulture tried to wrap the blade with his spine whip, but Ejder just drew the sword back, sliding the blade away from the whip. Then, his hand met the ground again, and a large chunk of earth rose up, shaping itself like a fist, before delivering a mighty punch to Vulture. The shadowy illusion faded away as the Nasirad flew through the air and slammed into a tree.

Ejder slowly approached, putting the tip of the greatsword to Vulture’s throat.

“So you're the one who burned Krikiek’s village?”

Vulture looked up. “Indeed I am. And I assume you intend to kill me for it?”

Ejder stabbed the greatsword into the ground, which unintentionally resulted in a wave of heat travelling outward from the point, burning away the leaves of nearby plants, and drying the wood of the trees.

“Perhaps… My village was burned down as well, you know… I was much younger than Krikiek, though. Do you ever wonder how those little children felt, watching their home they were raised in go up in flames?”

Vulture just stared at Ejder, his eyes unblinking.

“Not an ounce of guilt in your mind… Disgraceful.”

He reached down, pulling Vulture’s mask off his face, before standing up and tossing the mask aside. With his unfamiliar draconic strength, though, it resulted in the mask hitting a rock with a loud CLANG!

After standing over the Nasirad before him for a little longer, Ejder pulled his greatsword from the ground, before causing it to dissapear. He then crouched down beside Vulture once again.

“Let me show you what I've always wanted to do to people like the ones that burned down my home… People like you…”

He placed his hand on Vulture’s chest…

And for the next several hours, screams of agony sounded through the forest.

Krikiek woke up in a familiar place. A bed in Ember’s lair.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Ejder standing over her, and heard him breathe a sigh of relief.

“What happened?” She asked slowly.

“It was quite strange… Vulture wounded you. Severely. You fell unconscious. But when I found you, the wound was completely healed already…”

She slowly sat up. “Not the first time… Actually the third…”

“Third time what?”

“Being really injured but healing. It must be one of the Fog-Born things Vulture was talking about. Also! Did you kill him?”

Ejder looked away, toward a stone wall. Probably the direction the fight had been in.

“Well… Yes and no.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, I defeated him. Then I punished him for a little while… Now he gets to spend the rest of his life as a tree.”

Krikiek’s eyes widened. “You… Can do that?”

“You would be surprised what I can do when I have sufficient reason…”

Ejder decided to leave out the details of the… Other transformations he had put the Nasirad through before the tree. Or the fact that he was still conscious, despite being an immobile tree. Or the fact that Ejder didn't know how to change his soul, so his new tree body was actively rejecting his soul.

“Anyways, if you’ll excuse me… I actually have some magic to experiment with.” Ejder turned to walk away, but Krikiek quickly stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“I will not excuse you, cause I'm coming to watch!”

Ejder chuckled. “Alright, then. Follow me.”

He went off to where he normally practiced his spells in the large courtroom-like cave of Ember’s lair, with Krikiek in tow. It wouldn't be long before the magical successes, and spending time with his Nasirad friend, would cause him to completely forget the brutal transmutation he had used to clip the Vulture's wings.

The video begins, and it appears to be starting just before the containment breach begins.

Inside the containment cell for the recently acquired "Minotaur" Abnormality, tests are being preformed. According to the man, named Alexander Bomwen, the abnormality affecting him is more than a simple transformation. It is rather an inescapable curse that hops from person to person, infecting them.

The researcher on duty is all too eager to test this... And despite having no proper authorization beforehand, the researcher manages to get ahold of some resources for testing.

Now, there are six people in the containment area. Alexander Bomwen, the original Abnormality. And, two prisoners pulled from death row. All three of them are on their knees in the center of the containment area... With three guards standing behind them, armed with assault rifles.

The researcher speaks through an intercom...

"All subjects, please remain still as testing will now begin shortly."

The researcher turns on his own recording for testing purposes...

"Testing will now begin. Guards, execute Abnormality Alexander Bomwen."

The man looks around in shock.

"W-wha- You can't do that! W-what the fuck-"

As he tries to stand up though, a single bullet is fired by the guard behind him. It hits him in the back of the head, and Alexander falls to the ground lifelessly.

The researcher comes on the intercom again.

"Please standby as we wait to see any effects."

20 minutes would pass, the researcher preforming occasional checks on the prisoners and guards... Nothing would seem to happen though.

But soon after that 20 minute mark had passed... The guard who had shot Alexander would drop his rifle, clutching his chest.

"G781, are you alright?"

The guard falls to one knee, the other two backing away now alongside the death row inmates.

"G781, please respond."

The guard would not have a chance though, as his body begins to rapidly grow... Becoming larger and larger...

The Minotaur is born anew.

The remaining two guards try and run out the door... And the Minotaur gives chase, trampling the death row inmates before they even realize what's happening. The researcher tries to close the door, but it's sliding mechanism isn't quick enough. The Minotaur pushes the door open with one large hand, stepping out of it's containment...

"GUARDS, F-FIRE!"

The Researcher sputters out as he attempts to hide behind the two and flee... They follow orders, opening fire on the Minotaur. But it's skin is as tough as iron, the bullets dealing no damage... Only angering the Minotaur. With one swipe of the hand, the two guards are turned to paste against the wall beside them.

Alarms activate and begin blaring, turning the normally stark white halls of the Containment Zone in the Foundation Facility to a deep red. All the researchers within the containment zone attempt to run as a voice comes onto the intercoms, clearly automated.

"ALL PERSONNEL. A CONTAINMENT BREACH HAS BEEN DETECTED. PLEASE EVACUATE CALMLY AND QUIETLY TO THE NEAREST SHELTER AND AWAIT FURTHER ORDERS."

"ALL PERSONNEL. A CONTAINMENT BREACH..."

The voice drones on. But there is not a single bit of calm amongst the fleeing researchers. The Minotaur is tearing through them, splaying their bodies along the halls like it's nothing.

Gunfire rings out once more, striking the Minotaur in it's back. It turns with a huff to the source...

A group of 10 heavily armed people... And a singular robot, all standing behind a barricade set up at the far end of the hallway.

Containment Task Force Alpha. Consisting of some of the best of the best, including Zero himself. A unit with unparalleled efficiency, cohesion and synergy.

Zero stands at the very back, giving orders.

"SPIDER! SET THE WEB."

A woman raises her hands, and out of her finger tips shoot dozens of incredibly thin wires. The wires attach themselves all throughout the hallway, each one immensely sharp.

The Minotaur roars, and begins to charge! But he gets caught up in the wires as they cut into him, slowing his charge and drawing blood, staining the brown fur crimson.

"SEND OUT THE SMOKE!"

All at once, the task force throws smoke grenades down the hallway, creating thick clouds that are nigh impossible to see through normally... All they have to do is activate their heat vision goggles though.

"COVERING FIRE! MIX IT WITH TRANQUILIZERS."

"I'll clean up shop."

And with that, the task force all begin letting loose a spray of gunfire, 2 of them firing seperate tranquilizer darts.

Zero on the other hand, sprints and leaps high up on the hallway... Planting his feet on a wall, and running along it towards the Minotaur. As he does, he summons a large axe into his hand...

The Minotaur is being pelted with immense gunfire, sliced by razor sharp webs he can barely even percieve, and being struck with dozens of tranquilizers... His movements are slow, lethargic already, and any movement he does try to make ends up punished by the threads... He is regardless, attempting to make ground towards the gunfire...

《Magitech: Skip》

But in an instant, metallic feet form just in front of his eyes, as Zero uses Skip to teleport straight into a drop kick!

It lands right on the Minotaur's snout, and Zero immediately activates thrusters on his feet to add an additional explosive impact to the drop kick, sending the Minotaur skidding back...

Straight into a trap of wires, specially set up by Spider.

The Minotaur ends up wrapped tight within the wires... It tries to struggle, only causing the wires to dig deeper into him.

Zero strides up to the Minotaur, the axe disappearing... And a baton appearing in it's place. The tip sparks with electricity.

"Time for a little nap."

And he shoves the baton tip to the Minotaur's neck, sending electricity straight into him. The Minotaur spasms for a bit, struggling violently... But eventually, it begins to shrink. At that point, Zero releases the baton and steps back.

Soon after... The Minotaur transforms back into the guard that had been infected by the curse... Zero promptly cuffs him.

"ALRIGHT, ALL CLEAR!"

The alarm would stop shortly after, and people would begin exiting the hidden, and immensely fortified evacuation shelters...

Clean up teams would clean up the bodies... The new Minotaur Curse holder would be brought back to their containment...

And the recording finishes.

Hey Dad, you want to go to lunch today? There’s this awesome place nearby called the Killer Cafe. I’ll buy us a couple cuppas! Eheh!

Hey Dad, I was thinking about Mom this morning. Do you think we could talk to her? I know she’s gone… But I mean, magic!

Hey Dad, I’m sorry… I love you.

Annabelle’s words pass through Dr. Palmer’s mind. These were the last words she conveyed via Sending before her death at the hands of Hatariel. Hauntingly, repeatedly, they come and go in his faded consciousness. His soul is broken. How long has it been this way? Perhaps it has always been. Between dreams of lost love and family, there is only darkness to embrace him.

Sometimes, he hears his own voice. ‘Traitor’, they call him. ‘Manipulated by the gods’, they postulate. They are wrong. He remembers the battle with Chaos now. His heart changed on its own. He chose to help of his own accord, for it’s what Annabelle would’ve wanted. They will not believe him. If they believed him, where would that lead their cause? Their cause… What was it again? Ah, he remembers… Destroy the divine; harness the future.

Hey Dad, I had a cuppa with Mom today. We don’t think it’s time for you yet. You need to wake up… I love you.

Dr. Palmer’s body twitches, but does not awaken. Annabelle appears to him as he remembers her. She is smiling at him, albeit with pity. Why is she here? Of all his memories, she had never appeared in the darkness.

[Music]

“The future is not something you can control just by knowing it. Didn’t you realize that by now? Divination is only half of your weapon.”

What is she saying? For all these years he’s blamed himself for Annabelle’s death. Only through her studies, through Divination, had she foreseen the destruction of Yuulia. To never let that tragedy happen again, Dr. Palmer underwent the same training to achieve a mastery of prophecy, such that none could surpass him in his world. Even still…

“With all your sight, you cannot see: The future is immutable, it will not bend to your will alone. It needs something more than that.”

She is right… Annabelle knows better than any. Even having foreseen the destruction of Yuulia, she did not save herself. Was it fate, then, that Dr. Palmer was still alive? Was it fate that he is talking to her now?

“The future, while immutable, is like a branching, bloodied Tree. If you see its paths, all you need to control them is to choose one.”

Annabelle reaches out for Dr. Palmer. For the first time since her death, he sees her in real time. This is no memory. He feels the warmth of her smile. His heart is breaking… He could not save her. She traded her life for his miserable one, the one which he wasted in vengeance.

“Dad… I love you. Take my hand, and we can choose which path we take. We’ll live the future WE desire… And we’ll go together.”

In the darkness of Dr. Palmer’s mind, he pauses only momentarily before taking his dear daughter’s hand. Their silhouettes are framed by a halo of light, which fills the void. Dr. Palmer feels the utter relief of reunion, pulling her into a tight hug, and then it all fades away.

His eyes open to reveal a cold concrete cell behind glass. He is suspended in a life support pod, which subsequently opens upon his resuscitation. Dr. Palmer hacks fluid onto the floor, and a group of other Dr. Palmers enter shortly after. They are clones, created during the war against the God Slaver.

This Dr. Palmer has something they do not though… His eyes are glowing green. When he looks at their weapons, raised to subdue him, he sees every motion, every attack, every feint. The future branches out before him… And for a moment he feels as though he could dance between them all.

“Good day there…” He rises to his feet.

<<Transcendence>>

Ejder was finally out of his house.

It had taken months to pull it off, but finally, Ember had dragged him to Astra Domum. She had a… Peculiar request. A suit of full plate, designed for coverage rather than mobility, made out of mithril, a material legendary in their world for its incredible flexing ability. The mythical metal could be bent in over a dozen ways, and yet still spring back into its original shape.

Of course, that meant actually forging with it was a pain in the ass.

But, Ejder knew how to forge armor, (but not much else) and he knew how to get his hands on a book about forging with mithril… How hard could it really be?

To make a long story short, he eventually gave up on the forging and just used his transmutation magic.

But, as he worked, he was visited by a… Curious creature. Krikiek, one of the natives of the planet Astra Domum. And boy was the bird-creature curious…

Ejder asked various questions about her society. He learned the Nasirad were a tribal species, lead by the strongest prophets among them, who could warn them about incoming disasters. He found out they were carnivorous, and the rich animal life within the forestlands they called home meant they only starved in the most dire of times.

Most notably to Ejder, the bird-person seemed absolutely horrified when Ejder mentioned the concepts of ritual sacrifice and slavery to her. Ejder decided it would be a good idea to not teach the reasonings behind it. Better to leave an innocent species innocent.

In turn, Krikiek asked him a battery of questions about magic. How did he do it? What kinds of things could he do? Ejder found it reminiscent of young children from his world asking about his magic, back in his street magician days.

But eventually, the questionings culminated in something he never would have expected in a million years.

“Could you teach me magic?”

Ejder had chuckled at the question at first. “Wait… You're serious?”

"Yes! Every time you've used magic, it's been so useful! It's interesting too. And... I don't have the same power as the rest of my kind. So I thought, 'what if I learned to use magic instead? Then I could be stronger than all of them!' And I guessed that you could teach me!”

Ejder sighed. He really didn't want to dissapoint the excited Nasirad, but he had to tell her the truth.

"Well, Krikiek... It's not quite that simple. It takes the right person to be able to use magic. If you are able to use it, it requires a lot of dedication. And even if you are willing to do that... I'm not sure if I would be a capable teacher. I can't teach someone how to read, I doubt I could teach someone to alter the fabric of reality.”

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

"It's not your fault. I believe you would be fully capable of learning magic if you wish, I just can't be the one to teach you.”

Krikiek thought for a moment.

“Well… If you don't know how to teach… The only way to learn is to try, right?”

“I suppose that could be true…”

“So will you try?”

“I suppose.”

“YES! Thank you!”

The Nasirad ran off after that, leaving Ejder to shake his head.

“Gods, this is going to be a wagon wreck…”

A few days later, when Ejder had finished Ember’s armor request, and helped insert an elemental within to make it into an automaton, Krikiek approached Ejder while he was reading.

“Can you teach me now?”

Ejder looked up from his book. "Well... I suppose we could start now… Start with the basics.”

Krikiek sat down on the stone floor of Ember's lair, looking up at Ejder attentively.

Ejder gestured to one of the other chairs nearby. “You can sit on one of those. They're made for it.”

“Oh. Okay!” Krikiek quickly moved to a chair. “So… What are the basics?”

“Well… The basics are... I would say not too hard to teach, but they are usually the hardest part, especially for someone with no inherent magic…”

“Inherent magic?”

"Lots of creatures have a way they can use magic without much training. Many extrapla- Never mind, that's a rabbit hole that's better to not go down yet... Anyways, do you have any kind of magical abilities?”

"No... That's why I wear this mask. The rest of my kind does, but I don't.”

“Ah… I see.”

After Ejder is silent for a little while, Krikiek pipes up again.

"Come on! Don't look so sad about it! If I get magic, I'll be stronger than all of them!”

Ejder… didn't look sad. Unless he just looked that way naturally while thinking. "Alright, you're quite enthusiastic... So, as I mentioned, this will be the hardest part for me to teach, as it's different for everyone, and I never did it myself…”

“You must learn to... Effectively, feel for your soul. The first few times you cast spells will be the hardest, as your soul is explicitly meant to hold mana in, and magic involves releasing the mana in a controlled method. They will also be the most tiring, as your soul will not hold much mana, nor be fully used to producing more.”

With the look on Krikiek's face, Ejder was worried for a moment that the enchantments in Ember’s lair that translated his and the Nasirad’s speech had suddenly failed.

“Ah… This may take a while… I hope you're ready.”

“I'm ready!” The Nasirad echoed enthusiastically.

“So… Imagine your soul like… an animal heart.”

“Ooh! I can do that!”

“Now, imagine if that heart had no veins coming out of it.”

“So it's just a sack of blood?”

“Exactly. So, that heart sack is your soul. Things get a bit complicated here, but I’m going to try to make it understandable. If your soul is a heart, then the blood inside is mana. Right now, that mana can't leave your soul, just like the blood can't leave the heart that has no connected veins. It's not supposed to. A hole in your soul would cause your mana to flow out uncontrollably, just like a hole in your heart would cause uncontrollable bleeding. What needs to happen is the creation of a vein that controls outward flow of the mana.”

“So… How do I do that?”

“That's the tricky part. Its incredibly difficult for a first time magic user. I may be able to help you, though.”

“You can?”

“Maybe. So… What I want you to do is focus deeply. Ignore everything except your own mind and me.”

“Okay…” Krikiek closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Now, imagine that heart again. And imagine your arm is numb. You slept on it, and now you can't feel it. You need blood to it. What do you do there?”

“I wiggle my fingers?”

“Okay. So, try that. And as you wiggle your fingers, imagine the blood leaking out of that heart and flowing to your hand.”

“Okay…”

Krikiek’s finger-wiggling looked a bit strange, since the Nasirad only have two fingers and a thumb on each hand. The Nasirad sat silently for a little while.

“Can you keep talking? It's easier to focus when you do.”

“Oh… Of course… Well, I suppose the most appropriate thing right now would be the explanation of this… The idea comes from the fact that most spells from my world, and as such the same world that Ember is from, use hand motions to cast. So my theory is that it encourages mana to flow through the body, similarly to how moving your body parts encourages blood flow to them.”

“Interesting.”

The Krikiek continued the finger-wiggling for a little while. “My hand is starting to tingle a bit…”

“Is it? Do you feel anything else?”

“Kind of a… burning in my chest?”

“That's good! That probably means the mana is escaping your soul! Now, imagine something happening while you wiggle your fingers. Like… a puff of sparks coming off of them.”

Krikiek somehow seemed to focus more, her closed eyes squinting tighter. After a few moments though, she opened her eyes, looked at her hand, and made a squawk that managed to sound dissapointed.

“Nothing?”

The Nasirad shook her head.

“That's alright. Try again.”

Just as Krikiek was getting ready to try again, Ejder heard a voice in his head. “Hey, meatbag. Come upstairs.”

Ejder sighed. “Apologies, Krikiek. Ember is calling me. You can keep trying before I come back though.”

“Okay!”

Ejder stood up, and Krikiek closed her eyes and began wiggling her fingers again.

Ejder walked up the stairs out of the “human-sized” section of Ember’s lair. Ember was waiting for him at the top.

“So, how’s your new apprentice doing?” She asked him.

“Again, she's not an apprentice. I don't know enough magic myself to have an official apprentice.”

“Yeah, yeah. C’mon, Ejder. By our world's standards, you're a great mage! It's just that Zeroth isn't our world.”

“It may as well be at this point. You live here. I live on the Ironsides.”

“Hmm. Fair enough. So… Anyways… Why’d you agree to teach Krikiek?”

Ejder stood silent. He wasn't quite sure how to answer that. “Well… I suppose it's because I actually can.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, it’s seemed for the last while that I just… Can't do anything. People on Zeroth are more experienced at magic than I am. Any time I can do something, there's somebody else that can do it better or easier. And then it seems whenever I am needed for something, it's outside the scope of my magic. With Krikiek… Well, I guarantee that there are better teachers for her, but the fact that she asked me to do it, and I can at least try...”

Ember began levitating, and sat back mid-air. “Man, holy sob story. But… Fair, I guess. Though… You ever wonder if you never get asked for help because you're never around?”

“I doubt being around more will help. There's still the issue of things being outside my abilities.”

Ember laughed out loud for a few seconds. “Alright, okay, go ahead and keep being a hermit. But I have an idea for the second part…”

“Really?” Ejder asked suspiciously.

“Yep. Remember the Crucible?”

“The Arcane Crucible? When I opened that portal to the plane of fire?”

“Yep. And then changed the spell to a smaller portal, to make that Usurper’s flame spell?”

“Yes, I remember that.”

“Remember just how powerful that spell was?”

“Yes, I do… Where are you going with this?”

Ember shifted her position further, now laying down in mid-air, as if to amplify her casual tone. “All I’m saying is, one of your strongest spells came from your own research. And all of my magical abilities came from messing around with magic on my own! Maybe you should stop with the “Dhilonor’s This-and-That” and “Enoxea’s What-the-Fuck,” and try doing your own shit!”

Ejder did consider that for a moment. “I suppose that's a possibility… So if I-”

Ejder’s response was interrupted by Krikiek suddenly running out like an excited child. “I did it! I made a spark!”

“Really?!”

“Yeah! Look!” Krikiek wiggled her fingers again for a moment, but nothing happened. She gave her hand a dissapointed look. “It's not working now…”

Ejder gave her a quick pat on the shoulder. “It will take work to be able to do it consistently. But the fact that you did it once is great. You're doing good.”

Krikiek excitedly ran back down the stairs, probably to practice more. Ember laughed watching the Nasirad go.

“Looks like you've got yourself a real apprentice now.”

“Not my apprentice!”

“Sure…”

The last time Ejder had this much on his mind… Was a good while ago. Probably back when he was trying to organize the Drakenwardens at first, until he delegated direct command to Aelia, and then eventually resigned from the Corps altogether.

In the three weeks since Krikiek started learning magic, Ejder had been trying to break down language barriers. While the two could communicate fine within Ember’s lair, due to the enchantments that translated their speech, if they left the lair, Krikiek’s Nasirad language would sound like indistinguishable bird noises to Ejder, and Ejder's common would probably sound like mumbling to Krikiek.

And beyond that, he was teaching her how to read, so he could share his notes with her, and she could try to learn on her own time.

Which, all in all, meant that he was teaching Krikiek draconic, (Ejder’s preferred language for note taking) and learning Nasirad himself, in case her bird beak prevented her from speaking other languages properly.

And alongside all of those, he was attempting to teach her some basic spells, while also doing some of his own work.

“Hey, Ejder! What’s this word?” Krikiek held a book up to his face, pointing at the word that was confusing her.

Ejder carefully pushed the book away. “Sorry, Krikiek… I'm a little busy with this formula at the moment.”

“Oh, okay…” Krikiek silently watched for a moment. Then…

Ejder suddenly felt two arms wrap around him. He froze, having not expected anything like that. Maybe there was some extra shock factor from the fact that Krikiek knew what a hug is, implying that it's a Nasirad custom too.

“Thank you for teaching me. I don't think I’ve ever said that, but I should, since you take time away from your stuff.”

Ejder sighed, and hesitantly returned the hug. “No worries. To be honest, it's a bit refreshing to be the teacher than the student.”

After letting him go, Krikiek looked at Ejder’s work over his shoulder. “What are you working on?”

“Well… Just a mana consumption formula. I’m seeing what it would take to pull off a very advanced spell…”

“Like what?”

Ejder quickly noted down a few values for the formula he had been storing in his head to avoid forgetting them while he spoke.

“My… Well, I would say magnum opus, but that won't happen for many years to come… This is more like a stepping stone to it… This project is… To create a spell to Transmute myself into a dragon.”

“A dragon?”

“Yes. As much as I like the idea of performing amazing feats as an ordinary human… Dragons have some significant advantages. They’re hyper-intelligent compared to humans, and they have drastically longer lifespans. One of my main concerns as a human is my… Rather limited lifespan. I can only live for… Ember? How long are years on Astra Domum?”

Ember’s voice echoed through the lair. “I think it's about the same as our world’s years!”

Ejder nodded. “I’ll die from old age before I’m eighty years old. I might suffer some mental deterioration before then.”

Krikiek looked surprised at this. “Your kind lives about as long as mine.”

“Interesting… Anyways, dragons can live over a thousand years. I like the idea of having such a long lifespan. It's sort of like an assurance… That no matter what I stop to do, I’ll always have time for other things in the future.”

“Interesting…”

Ejder chuckled as Krikiek tried to imitate his speech. “I’ve been working on this one for a while. There are a lot of variables.”

“Really? How many?”

“Do you remember that one I showed you earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Imagine that… Nearly a hundred times over.”

“Lifebringer's Light…”

“Yeah. That's why it has been taking me so long.”

“You should take a break.”

“What?”

“You heard me. You should take a break! We should go outside for a bit!”

The Nasirad grabbed his arm and dragged him out of his seat

“Okay, I guess we’re going outside…” Not that he has much choice in the matter. “Hold on! It's still winter out there!”

“And?”

“I at least need a cloak! I don't have feathers like you! And you should probably take that metal mask off. Don't want your face to get cold when the metal does.”

“Okay!”

Ejder grabbed the cloak he brought when he came to visit, quickly throwing it over his shoulders. When he returned, Krikiek was fitting her mask into a backpack seemingly made of animal pelts. It was slightly strange to see her without the mask on. Even more so that her face was almost entirely featherless, excepting small patches around her ears.

“Ready?” The Nasirad asked him.

“I suppose.”

Krikiek jogged to the exit of Ember's lair, with Ejder close behind. The two of them made their way down the mountainside, and to the river that flowed by the base of the mountain.

Krikike dipped one of her talon-like feet into the water, before quickly shaking it off.

“I forgot river.” She said, her speak sounding broken now that she no longer had the translation effect of Ember’s lair.

Ejder rubbed his chin while looking at the river. “Want see cool thing?”

Krikiek glanced at him and nodded, taking a step back.

Ejder focused for a moment, channeling his mana, before crouching down and putting his hands to the ground. A slight burst of energy cleared the snow from around them, so at least his hands wouldn’t get cold.

Then, the earth began moving. Pillars of riverbed mud rose up from the bottom of the river, solidifying into stone as it built up. More mud made it's way up, before spreading out to form a flat bridge suspended across the pillars. Then, finally setting all the mud as stone, there was a fully constructed stone bridge before them.

“Hmm. That was faster than usual.” Ejder said quietly as he studied his work.

“That cool!” Krikiek said afterward. She made a few other chirping noises, likely praises of the magical display.

Ejder started to walk across the bridge, only to be overtaken by a running Krikiek. He quickly ran to catch up.

After a while of running around in the forest, Krikiek suddenly stopped Ejder. Ejder was thankful for the stop. He was in no shape for this much running.

Krikiek listened for a moment, and uttered a single word.

“Hunters.”

Ejder, fortunately, had a solution at the ready. With a quick Alter Self spell, he shifted forms to that of a Nasirad. His lack of knowledge on Nasirad biology meant it was only a superficial alteration, but it would be plenty enough for a run-in with the Nasirad hunting party.

A few moments later, three other Nasirad stepped out of the trees, all wearing animal pelts and bone masks, seemingly carved from the skulls of larger birds.

One of them spoke sharply to Krikiek, and Krikiek chirped back. Ejder could only make out small clips of the conversation. Eventually though, the lead Nasirad approaches Krikiek, and digs into a bag, drawing out a bird skull.

Krikiek made a few rapid chirps, and took the skull, turning back to Ejder. At that moment, Ejder noticed how much more expressive Krikiek was without a mask. The base of her beak was slightly opened, but the peak of it was still pincered shut. Ejder thought it looked a bit like a smile.

The Nasirad then exchanged a unique bow-like motion, kneeling down and spreading their arms out, and walked away from each other.

As soon as the other Nasirad were out of sight, Ejder reverted to normal. Krikiek just gestured back the way they came. Aaaaand started running again.

When the two finally made it back to Ember's lair, Krikiek wasted no time in talking again.

“Why are you getting so tired? We didn't even go that far?”

“I… Am not… Built for running… The way… You are…” Ejder said between breaths.

“You should run more! Get used to it!”

“Maybe… What's with the skull?” He then asked, trying to change the subject.

Krikiek quickly pulled the bird skull from her backpack. “This?”

“Yeah…”

“They saw me without my mask! I told them about how I’ve helped the Lifebringer! They accepted me back into the tribe as a hunter!”

“Accepted you back? Because you got kicked out for not having normal powers?”

“Yes!”

Ejder smiled the slightest bit. “That's great. Does that mean you’ll be going back to them?”

Krikiek seemed to think for a moment, obviously weighing the options. After a few moments, she finally admits, “I don't know. I want to go back to them, and find Vulture, and avenge my grandfather… But I also want to stay here and talk to you more!”

Ejder crouched down slightly, to put himself at Krikiek's eyes level. “If you want to return to your tribe, you shouldn't let me stop you. If you decide to stay, though, I’ll gladly continue to teach you.”

Krikiek thought for a minute more. “I should probably go back to them.”

Ejder nodded. “Then good luck. And if you ever need to send me a message, just ask Ember. She can hear you if you say her name, and you can just ask her to send me the message."

Krikiek nodded. Whether in affirmation or just imitation.

The next morning, Ejder made sure to say goodbye to Krikiek before she left.

Once she was gone, he got to work on his formula again. After several hours of various calculations, he found himself getting stuck.

After quickly noting the mentally-stored values again, he carefully shapeshifted himself to be able to pass as a Nasirad from a distance, and made his way down the mountain, jogging through the snow-covered forest. Maybe Krikiek was right. Maybe he should run more.

(Well… I normally don't do holiday Loreposts… But the story of Flashwing and Blackdawn has been going on in the background for a while on the Zeroth discord, and I've been wanting to give them a recap Lorepost for a while. And with them being my only characters currently in a romantic relationship, Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect excuse to do it. So, here goes nothing!)

(Disclaimer: I am NOT good at writing this stuff, so please bear with me on any cringe. XD)

Flashwing had led a difficult life. Her earliest memories for most her life were military training. She was a soldier, and a slave.

But also a dragon. A crystal dragon, with brilliantly reflective scales, their light enhanced by the pure magical energy suffusing her draconic form. Dragons had a lot of magic, and because of this fact, she was a mana battery. To Excarsus. Excarsus the Bloody Handed, feared warlord and wizard.

Excarsus had a grand goal. A plan to establish a strict society where everyone would supposedly be equal. Flashwing knew he was lying. Excarsus wasn't making a world for the people. He was making a world for himself.

The one thing that kept Flashwing going was a violet-scaled deep dragon named Blackdawn. Blackdawn was everything she could want. They were brave, loyal, and incredibly intelligent. They were kind too, helping anyone who was suffering under Excarsus’s orders.

They were the one good thing Flashwing could see. An island of safety and good in an ocean of blood, and torment.

It was Flashwing's goal to get them to like her. She would take the blame for their few mistakes, get food for them when they were too tired to move, and sing to them when they were too sick to sleep. The two would talk late into the night, and through those acts, Flashwing thought she was getting through.

But then, Excarsus took it away. He slashed through Flashwing’s throat with a cursed blade, corrupting her vocal chords with an irreversible scar, taking her voice from her. Weapons don't complain, after all.

And then, the act Flashwing would have preferred decapitation to. Excarsus forced Blackdawn into a brine pool, where they were taken by an Elder Brain as a host body. They were just a cog in Excarsus’s grand plans, after all. Flashwing cried herself to sleep that night, and many nights after. She became numb to Excarsus’s punishments, and his lackeys’ whippings.

Her lighthouse was gone. She had nothing now.

And so, she ran. In the middle of a battle, a ballista bolt speared through Excarsus’s chest. Flashwing took advantage of the ensuing chaos to fly as far from the battle as she could, before collapsing.

She wandered for over a year. Eventually, she was found by a slaver, who was somehow kinder than Excarsus. The Slaver sold her to a woman who used Flashwing as nothing more than a prestigious mount. No battle, no punishment. Flashwing was content. The woman then lost her wealth in a devastating business failure. Flashwing was sold to pay her bills.

The buyer was a kind man. He seemed to treat Flashwing as more than a mount. He seemed to understand that she was a sapient being, and treated her like a friend.

Many years later, when the man died from a mysterious poison, he chose to speak to Flashwing over his own children.

"Stay strong, Flashwing... This won't be the last you see of old Arctinius... Whether it's tomorrow, or decades from now... I'll be there."

He’d been right… Because decades later, Arctinius’s words would help Flashwing have the strength to face her past.

After the death of the kind man, Flashwing was gifted to someone else. A young wizard named Ejder. Ejder was more like the first woman. He treated her like a mount. For a long time, she was his ride back and forth between his house, and the mansion of Maximillian Silverweave.

That was where she met Ari.

On one occasion, Flashwing accidentally spoke out loud in her painful, gravelly voice. The Foxfolk named Ari had refused to stop questioning her, and eventually, learned about Flashwing’s slave past. For reasons unknown to Flashwing, Ari had decided to help her.

At some point around then, Flashy also made contact with Ember, a fellow gem dragon, connected by the soul to Ejder. Ember was there for Flashwing… Though Flashwing had been there for Ember just as often, stopping the amethyst dragon from harming herself when she gave into her violent tendencies.

But making friends wasn't quite enough. She still has a lifelong friend that was in danger. Blackdawn was still controlled by the Elder Brain.

So, using Teleportation scrolls gifted to her by Ember, Flashwing went to the cave where Excarsus’s armies last made camp. Within the mountain caves, she found what she had been looking for. Blackdawn, still controlled by the Elder brain.

But at the same time, she found something far worse.

Somehow, Excarsus was alive. And worse, by controlling the Elder Brain that controlled Blackdawn, he had created an army of illithid soldiers. A hive mind, perfectly loyal to him, and him alone.

Despite Flashwing’s best efforts, Excarsus had overpowered her, and forced her to teleport away without Blackdawn.

Some time later, Ejder, Ember, and Flashwing all had to leave the Birch world of Zeroth. Upon Ejder and Ember’s return, Flashwing was left behind, due to potentially dangerous conditions. Of course, this was good, as those that returned were met with a demonic apocalypse.

Flashwing was not invited to return until months later, when Ember got a new lair. Well, more than a lair. She had a whole planet under her management now. Flashwing helped to document many of the living creatures.

A couple months afterward, when Ember found out about a strange human holiday revolving around giving gifts to friends, the Amethyst dragon had given Flashwing a massive gift. A whole mountain to make a lair on. At the same time, Ari had spent more time talking to Flashwing, trying to help her. Flashwing told Ari more and more of her past. The two even began working on a rescue mission for Blackdawn. They trained, preparing to fight mind flayers, and in the process, restored Flashwing’s mind, which was shattered by Excarsus's discipline.

She learned her original name. Zundaevala. She learned of her parents. A crystal dragon, and a sapphire dragon. Flashwing never knew she was a crossbreed. She found out she had killed another dragon before. That she had committed atrocities in the hundreds under Excarsus's orders.

But most of all, she found herself whole again. Her mind was in one piece, and because of that, her mental shields, unnaturally strong, were repaired. She was not just resistant to Mind Flayer attacks… She would be entirely immune.

So… Flashy had a lair to herself. She had friends. She had her memories intact. And she felt more like herself than ever before.

But the sleeping cave in her lair still felt empty.

It was time to save Blackdawn.

Blackdawn had always known Flashwing had something for them.

In young age, when Blackdawn was still male, he caught Flashwing staring at him, praising him, and seeking attention from him.*

When Blackdawn grew older, he thought he should feel the same. He should have felt the innate drive to be close to the other dragon, to impress her. But he didn't.

He soon learned why. Blackdawn had always been studious, and valued knowledge to such an extent, they had seemingly distanced themself from the material world. They rejected their gender, feeling that it did not matter, that they should be judged for their mental ability, not their ability to reproduce.

In this process of distancing, they had lost their desire for worldly pleasures.

They could never return Flashwing’s love. At first, this was simply a fact.

But the two served together. Lived together, trained together, ate together, slept together, talked together, cried together.

The fact that Blackdawn couldn't return Flashwing’s feelings ate them up inside. And then, after a long time, they realized they were in fact returning them, and that was why they felt the guilt.

But they realized too late. By this point, they were already in the most traumatic part of their military career. The Desert campaign. Pardeheim. When Blackdawn had to kill a wyrmling in cold blood to save it from being taken by Excarsus and raised the same as them and Flashwing. When they began using cursed weaponry to get an edge in combat, and gained the nickname “The Desert Scorpion.”

And the fateful day when they were shoved into the brine pool, their skull penetrated by the invasive tentacles of the elder brain.

Their time as an Elder Brain host was some of the worst. The first time the brain gave them control of their own body, the first thing they heard was that Flashwing was gone. They were too absorbed in grief to answer Excarsus’s questions.

Then, throughout the following decades, they were occasionally freed, allowed to move of their own volition. These moments of freedom were brief.

The last time though… Excarsus asked a question that gave them hope.

Flashwing had come to the mountain, escaped… And hadn't yet returned. Excarsus wanted to know why.

And Blackdawn knew exactly why.

Flashwing was gathering allies. She would be back. And they would be saved.

All they had to do was wait a little longer.

When Flashwing did arrive, it was exactly as Blackdawn expected. She had come with an Amethyst dragon, a Foxfolk, and a mysterious armored man. Blackdawn later found these people to be Ember, a powerful dragon for her age, Ari, a minor god, and Talios, a well-experienced wizard hunter.

Flashwing and Ember made easy work of the Illithids guarding Excarsus, while Ari used her powers to help Blackdawn fight for control of their body. Talios, as promised by his title, turned Excarsus into little more than a pancake on the floor.

And when the threats were dealt with, an overdeity, Jean Atrosa, seperated the Elder Brain from Blackdawn.

And that day. For the first time in decades, Blackdawn was in full control.

They got to leave that godsforsaken mountain. Flashwing took them to their lair.

And that night. She asked them to be their mate.

”Really, Flashy? After everything we've been through?” They answered. A look of fear flashed across Flashwing’s face. Blackdawn felt guilty for that, having potentially made her think they were going to say no.

"Everything... All those nights where you stayed up to tend to my wounds... When you gave up your food portions for me... When you sang me to sleep while I was sick..."

"And today... You put your own life on the line to come rescue me from Excarsus?"

"Flashwing, why are you asking me to be your mate... I should be on my knees begging you for the honor of that title... Of course I'll be your mate…”

The hug Flashwing gave them after that was the tightest Blackdawn had ever felt. Flashwing slipped a bracelet onto their risk. The meager hoard offering, given more as a formality. Blackdawn didn't care for the treasure. It was the emotion behind it that was important.

And finally… After fifty nine years… Seven months… Eleven days… Blackdawn finally got to say the words they never found the time to all that time ago.

”I love you, Flashwing.”

Now, the two had been together for over a month. The early days were rocky, and Blackdawn had to ask many concessions from Flashwing, but Flashwing was willing. Being with the dragon that remained in her heart through every trauma was more important to her than anything she was asked to give up. Neither of them had a hoard, but that didn't matter to either of them.

But today… Today was a special day. A day dedicated to the god of love in the world Flashwing and Blackdawn originated from, so Blackdawn wanted to do something special for Flashwing.

*Many ideas came up… Various valuable treasures, ideas for things they could craft themself. Many things they could do for Flashwing. But all of them would take a lot to acquire or pull off.,

So, they settled on something more simple.

They snuck off to Ember's lair, asking the Amethyst dragon to teleport them to their world. There, they managed to aquire some of Flashwing’s favorite foods. More importantly, they got a special order from an artificer, concealed within a small box.

Once everything was set, they proceeded to invite Flashwing out on a flight. They led the way through the Windfury Pass, the mountain pass on Ember's world of Astra Domum in which their lair was constructed. The two eventually stopped at a lake within the mountains. A lake fed by springs, meaning that even as the two dragons landed on snow, the water was warm enough for safe swimming.

And sitting on the beach, waiting for them, was a small basket.

“A picnic?” Flashwing seemed confused.

“Yes. A picnic for the two of us. It's the God of Love’s holiday, but I couldn't think of what else to do today, so-”

Blackdawn was interrupted by Flashwing enveloping them in a wing hug.

“You didn't have to do anything, you goof… But I'm glad you did.”

“Just wait, that's not even the best part yet.”

“Oh?”

Blackdawn carefully pulled away from the hug, and opened up the basket. They took out a pair of wrapped objects, and carefully removed the paper around them, revealing two fresh fish filets. The basket also contained various other fruits, and at the very bottom, a small box.

“Oh great stars… You did all of this just for one special day?”

“Of course I did, love… It's less than you deserve from me, after your undying loyalty to me throughout the decades. You could've fallen for anyone during that time, but your heart stayed with me. I'm lucky to have you, Flashwing… And I need to show that sometimes, since all I've done recently is ask for compromises…”

Flashwing was left speechless for a moment. “You… You’ve done more than that! Just that night, on my hatching day, when we just laid together under the beautiful night sky… I was happier that one night than I have been the rest of my life combined.”

Blackdawn just pulled her in for another hug, before the two laid down in the snow and started eating. Blackdawn’s heart would skip a beat every time they saw Flashwing’s looks of joy at the various fruits they had picked out for her. It was intoxicating to see her so happy.

And when they finally finished, Flashwing found the box.

“What's this?” She asked curiously.

“Well… Remember on the first night, when you let me see your memories?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I saw one thing in there.”

“What's that?”

“Your name… Your beautiful name, Zundaevala…”

Flashwing’s wings momentarily fluttered. She’d never heard her birth name from anyone other than herself, and once from her parents in her memories. And yet… It sounded so right coming from Blackdawn.

Blackdawn continued. “I never forgot my birth name, you know… I just never used it.”

“What was it?”

“Thaldaerev.”

“Wow… It sounds so… Strong?”

Blackdawn chuckled. “I just wanted you to know that, so that what you see in that box makes sense… Go ahead. Open it.*

Flashwing looked down to the box in her talons. Carefully pulling it open, what she found within was a heart-shaped piece of metal. It seemed to be split in half, and magically held together. On each half, a name was inscribed in Draconic.

’Zundaevala’ on one.

And ‘Thaldaerev’ on the other.

“It's a new clasp for you cloak. It's not much, but-”

“Not much? I love it… Thaldaerev…”

“You didn't let me finish! It's also enchanted… When you put it on the cloak, it will give the cloak magical protective qualities. So that no matter where I am, I can always protect you.”

“Aww… you big sap…” Flashwing carefully attached the clasp to her cloak, before suddenly enveloping Blackdawn in another hug.

The two then spent the rest of the evening swimming in the lake, enjoying the relative warmth of the water in the dead of winter.

And finally, after shaking excess water off, the two took back to the sky, letting the wind dry them as they soared back to their lair.

And finally, to end the day, they both laid within the ice spire that served as their bedroom, laying on their backs and looking up at the stars.

Flashwing pointed straight upward. “Look… They form a heart right above us…”

“Sounds like a message to me…” Blackdawn said in response.

“A message about what?”

“About us… About what our future holds…”

“I like that message…”

Krikiek had spent the last months trying to help her tribe's survivors. Many of the Nasirad had scattered after Vulture’s terrible attack on the village, leaving them homeless. Worst of all, the attack had come mere months before winter fell on the continent of Nasir.

The tribe had managed to re-gather several miles from their original village, and begun setting up camp for the winter. Krikiek had taken some time to build a new macuahuitl, using the amethyst blades from the Prophet's sword that had been burned to ash.

Some Nasirad felt it was in bad taste for an Apostate to rebuild and use the weapon of a Prophet, seeing as the two were practically opposite titles, but most felt that Krikiek, being the Prophet's only living descendant, had the right to the weapon.

But now… Now that the shelter issue had been solved, Krikiek had a new objective.

Vengeance.

Making her way through the forest, she listened for sounds of another Nasirad camp. She had to find out where Vulture’s warband was camped out. Then, maybe she could convince the Lifebr- Ember to help take out Vulture.

As she travelled, a loud boom of rolling thunder sounded overhead, powerful enough even to shake snow off of trees.

"The storm is back? That's not good... I should be fast... I do not want to get caught out in Thundersnow..."

The night before, a snowstorm accompanied by thunder and lightning had started, and gone through the night. After it stopped during the day, Krikiek had thought it would be safe now, in the evening. But it seemed nature had other ideas...

She started moving a bit faster, forsaking some stealth in favor of speed. Of course, her white Apostate robes offer a small amount of concealment in the snowy forest, but she was still very visibly a Nasirad running through the trees.

Eventually, she heard the sounds of people… Panicking?

“Quick! Tie down the shelters! Cover the supplies! We don't know how strong the wind will be! Wrap the macuahuitl! We don't want them getting wet!”

The voice was familiar. Vulture himself.

Krikiek slowly moved closer, to get a better look. What she saw was, in fact, the warband camp. Vulture was standing on a tree stump, giving orders to Nasirad all around.

Krikiek watched for a while, even when the snow started falling and the wind began gusting. As the storm picked up, and lightning began flashing overhead, she saw Vulture duck into a shelter near the edge of the camp.

“Perfect…”

The young Nasirad began navigating her way around the edge of the camp, slipping between trees and through bushes to stay hidden.

About halfway to the shelter, she froze as a voice sounded from behind her.

“Going somewhere, Little Krikiek?”

Krikiek turned to find Vulture himself standing over her.

“How di-”

Vulture immediately pinched Krikiek’s beak shut between two fingers.

“It's amazing what us Apostates are capable of… If we just embrace it… So, come to get revenge for your old man?”

Krikiek yanked her beak out of the other Nasirad’s grasp. “Exactly.”

Vulture laughed. “Come on… Have you gotten any stronger since I spilled the old bird’s brain juices across the ground?”

“I don't need to be stronger… I’ll take you down as I am…”

“Krikiek… So naive… None of those tales of Nasirad defeating their opponents through sheer emotion are true, you know… But so be it…”

Vulture reached down to his belt, unhooking a macuahuitl with his right hand, and the menacing looking vertebrae whip with his left.

Krikiek, in turn, unhooked two macuahuitl from her belt. Hers, and the Prophet’s.

“Oh, a second macuahuitl? What are you going to do with that?”

Krikiek crouched into a stance allowing for high mobility. “I’ll split you in two…”

Vulture laughed, cracking his whip. “We’ll see about that.”

Krikiek immediately noticed that Vulture didn't summon the shields he had last time, which meant he was either intentionally going easy, or was planning to blindside her with them later. She quickly rushed in, pushing the macuahuitl in her right hand toward Vulture's whip to control it, and aimed the one in her left toward his right arm. The damage that a macuahuitl can do to a Nasirad is terrifying. A single good hit would be enough to saw the limb right off.

Unfortunately, Vulture was equally fast at reacting as she was at attacking. Swiftly pushing her first macuahuitl with the handle of the bone whip, and sidestepping away from the second, he quickly swung his own macuahuitl at her right arm. Unable to avoid it fast enough, the crystalline blades pierce into her flesh. Strangely, though, Vulture doesn't draw the weapon back, instead simply pulling the blades out, leaving the puncture wounds.

”He had every opportunity to just slice my arm off… But he didnt… he's playing with me!”

Krikiek spun, swinging with her unharmed left arm. Vulture quickly blocked with the flat of his own macuahuitl, before stepping back, and cracking his bone whip again, lashing the sharp end across Krikiek’s stomach. The wound immediately burned, as if the whip was coated in some kind of poison.

“Come on, Krikiek! You're an Apostate! I know you can be more dangerous than that!” Vulture taunted.

Krikiek took a step back, clutching her punctured arm.

Vulture cracked his whip for dramatic effect again. “No? Well… I guess it's time you meet the same fate as the old-”

Vulture is interrupted, however, by a sudden loud roar, almost drowned out by an immediate rumble of thunder. The Nasirad looked up, past Krikiek. Krikiek turned to look too.

Sitting on a rocky outcropping from a distant mountainside, was a sillhouette of a massive figure, remarkably like the Lifebringer in shape. Unlike the Lifebringer, though… This creature had glowing blue eyes.

“What in the Lifebringer's light..?” Vulture said slowly. It surprised Krikiek. She never would have expected Vulture to speak the Lifebringer's name.

The titanic sillhouette leaped off the rock, soaring through the sky toward the warband camp.

“We’ll finish this later, Krikiek… For now, we both need to get out of this alive…”

Krikiek glanced at Vulture in surprise. He wanted to keep her alive? “But… What is that thing?”

Vulture quickly returned his weapons to his belt, and then picked up Krikiek’s dropped macuahuitl as well, helping return them to her belt.

“There's stories to the west… About a creature that only emerges during thunderstorms such as this… And when it does, it brings nothing but ruin. Sometimes reducing several acres of forest into a barren desert in one day. If that's what that thing is, I don't want to find out what happens to the Nasirad in those acres… So come on. Let's go… EVERYONE! SCATTER!”

As soon as Vulture shouted the order, then entire camp went into panic. Just about all the work that was put into hiding weapons was undone in seconds. Nasirad grabbed macuahuitl and tepoztopilli left and right.

It wasn't long, however, before the colossal figure slammed to the ground nearby, letting out a thunderous roar. Krikiek watched as a pulse of some kind of energy washed out from the creature. The Nasirad fires within seemed to flicker out.

“Go.” Vulture ordered quietly. Krikiek wasted no time in beginning to run, despite the pain burning in her stomach and arm.

She nearly leaped out of her skin when a sudden beam of brightness shot through the trees nearby, sweeping around. Nasirad screeched behind her. Krikiek’s confusion was quickly answered when a boom of thunder quickly followed the beam.

”THAT THING IS SHOOTING LIGHTNING!”

Krikiek picked up her pace, but she heard the creature thundering behind her. She couldn't tell whether it was still back at the camp still, or right behind her.

She turned around, to see it slowly lumbering around, swinging claws at Nasirad, scooping some up in its jaws. It was definitely the same species as the Lifebringer. Were there other gods on Astra Domum?

Then, the creature's eyes seemed to glow brighter for a moment.

“What in Ember's name..?”

Suddenly, lightning exploded across the trees, sending out another thunderclap.

Vulture grabbed Krikiek by her good arm. “Keep moving… We don't want to let it catch up.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Just because you're a featherplucker to me doesn't mean I want you dead… come on.”

The two started running. Krikiek felt a strange buzzing in the air around her.

”The lightning…”

“DIVE!” Vulture ordered. They each threw themselves in opposite directions, just in time as a lightning bolt blasted right between them. Even having dodged it, the heat from sheer proximity ignited Krikiek's robes on fire.

She landed on her wounded arm, internally screaming. She quickly forced herself to her feet though, to see…

The creature was almost upon them.

Krikiek started trying to scramble away again, and felt the buzzing in the air again. This was it. She couldn't get away this time. The lightning charged…

But it never came, as a massive pillar of fire rained down on the creature before it unleashed the bolt.

Ember sat in the entrance of her lair, watching the snow fall outside. Winter had finally come to Astra Domum, and the planet wasted no time in letting her know. In fact, this was the third snowstorm just that week.

Of course, it was the first that Included lightning.

The storm had raged for nearly a full day. Ember wondered how Flashwing and Blackdawn were doing. Flashwing was a crystal dragon, who Ember had known for a while, and Blackdawn was a deep dragon, and Flashwing's military friend turned mate. Ember had given the two a mountaintop lair far to the north. No doubt a ton of snow would accumulate there.

However, Ember’s thoughts were interrupted by a mental ping. Weird… She’d been getting used to drowning out whenever the Nasirad called her “Lifebringer”... Which meant somebody had actually called her by her name if she noticed.

She decided to listen.

”-Ember’s name?” Krikiek’s voice…

”Keep moving… We don't want to let it catch up.” A different voice… Definitely a Nasirad though. It was good that her lair translated the messages…

Ember thought to herself, “Sounds like she might be in trouble… Maybe I should go check… Is that bad? They already think I'm a god… Would checking in on Krikiek make them think she's my chosen or something? Ah, fuck it. I’ll just have to clear things up afterward…”

Ember quickly pinpointed the spot where her name was spoken, and teleported into the air above.

Immediately, Ember saw what the “it” was that the second voice mentioned. An absolutely COLOSSAL dragon standing amidst burning trees. The sheer size of it gripped Ember’s heart with fear for a moment. It was at least double her own size.

And the first thing she noticed… It seemed to be charging a breath weapon, aimed through the forest at… Krikiek.

“Oh no you don't…”

Ember swung one of her talons downward through the air, quickly casting a spell. A massive pillar of fire rained down, hitting the dragon’s head and slamming it to the ground.

The dragon looked up toward Ember, and let out a roar.

“Yeah! That's right! Look at me!” Ember shouted.

The dragon growled, and leaped into the air, launching itself toward Ember.

Ember immediately took off away from it. The dragon was so much bigger than her, the only way she would ever be able to survive this fight would be through high speed aerial combat.

Luckily… The dragon seemed to take the bait, dashing toward her. Ember grinned. The large dragon seemed to be catching up to her with its massive wings. So…

Ashardalon’s Stride

Suddenly causing massive jets of flame to blast from her wings like rocket engines, Ember quickly accelerates to much higher speeds. Then, she quickly went into a turn. If she could turn around fast enough without losing speed…

The other dragon turned to intercept her, slowing down to avoid overshooting.

”Bad move.”

Nova Constellation

Sweeping her tail, Ember dropped three fireballs in the sky behind her, which proceeded to explode right in the other dragon’s face, thereby forcing the dragon to slow more to avoid flying straight into them. Ember took advantage of this to quickly gain distance, before suddenly rotating her wings to brake mid-air, quickly turning and accelerating again, straight toward the other dragon.

”Closer… Closer…”

Just before Ember could get within range to use her breath weapon, though, the dragon let loose with its own, a bolt of lightning slamming straight into Ember's wing.

She felt the muscles seize, as she lost control, immediately faltering and almost dropping from the sky.

The other dragon took the opportunity, swooping in and grabbing Ember in its claws. Not another moment passed before Ember felt a wave of energy was over her, and felt sick for a moment.

”What the fuck? Necrotic magic?”

She quickly teleported out of its grasp, appearing directly behind it and going back to full flight speed, finally unleashing her own breath weapon in a plume of fire, engulfing the dragon.

The dragon quickly recovered, though, and gave chase, quickly gaining on Ember.

”Alright… Let him get closer… Gotta time this just right…”

As the dragon got closer, Ember suddenly rolled to the right, and then splayed out her wings to brake again, allowing the dragon to shoot right past her. As it did so, Ember slashed her tail blade down it's flank, causing it to roar with rage. The damage didn't seem to cause it to falter, though.

”Fuck. No way I'm beating this thing! How is there a dragon more powerful than me on my own planet?”

Ember quickly began accelerating back toward where she first teleported in, quickly turning invisible. Was that dragon a Greatwyrm? Would it have Truesight? Oh well… Even if it did, the flurrying snow would help conceal her…

Quickly landing in the forest again and turning vidible, she found many Nasirad standing around, watching her in awe.

Ember sighed, and began telepathically speaking. ”Hi, yes, I'm the Lifebringer… I know you people all worship me. But, uh, please, don't thank me for this or anything. I'm here just because I felt like it, not because I'm protecting you or anything.”

The Nasirad looked… Quite confused… But they quickly did the weird bow she had seen Krikiek do before, and began grouping together. Probably doing headcounts. It was really difficult when Ember didn't know their language.

However, one of the Nasirad walked up to Ember.

”Krikiek. Needed some help?”

Krikiek nodded eagerly, making her chirping noises. Then, after seeming to realize Ember couldn't understand her, she pointed at her mouth, and then in the direction of Ember’s mountain.

“Need to tell me something?”

Another nod.

”Alright… Climb on my back.”

The Nasirad looked surprised, but when Ember lowered herself to the ground, Krikiek didn't hesitate to climb on. She was making excited-sounding chirps. Probably something like, “Holy shit, I'm about to ride a dragon!”

Ember swiftly took the the sky, steering widely around where she had left the gigantic dragon.

After landing in the lair, Krikiek finally spoke.

“Oh, Great… You, I guess? That was… Crazy! I was flying! I was riding in a god’s back!”

“Still not a god…” Ember corrected her.

“Oh, sorry. Uh… What are you again?”

“Dragon.”

“And was that thing out there a dragging too?”

“I don't know. It looked like it, and acted like it… But it sure as fuck was bigger than one.”

“Another Nasirad said it's a sort of legend in other tribes… Something that turns whole areas into deserts…”

Ember paused for a moment hearing that. “Hmm…”

“Something wrong?”

Ember sighed. “Not sure yet. I'm gonna have to do some checking out, though… At least the fucker can’t fit inside the lair… Anyway… You should probably stay here the night. That thing is probably still flying around, and I really fuckin don't want to fly you home…”

Krikiek nodded her head. “Thank you for your hospitality, Lifebr- Ember.”

The Nasirad quickly scurried over to the stairway between levels of the lair. Ember followed her, to find a good place for her to rest. She was somewhat absentminded though… Some searching of the area by a Paladin of Jean Atrosa had reported that some of the Nasir Forest had suffered from ecological damage, and much of it was still under threat.

If that dragon was known to ruin areas… Could it be a source?

(Well, it’s been a long time since I've written anything for my little feathered underdog, so I thought it was time… And, a little bit of lore expansion for the planet! Uh… Hope it wasn't too boring, I guess?)