— Blue - 370 Cycles Ago —

Blue offered a sad little chirp as she peaked down at her curled up Master. His body was giving off a warm, soft blue glow as he remained curled up in a ball. His body had hardened, with cracks forming periodically as he underwent growth spurts. The Masters were truly majestic and so very alien. Blue’s Elders had prepared her for this but seeing was entirely different than experiencing it first hand.

She wasn’t entirely sure how long Master was going to continue to grow, but she knew based on her teachings that it got longer and longer. It was her and her offspring’s duty to ensure that Master Onyx remained undisturbed.

She offered a sigh as she turned her attention away from her Master. A new batch of eggs had hatched and there had been an inspiring group of geniuses among her babies. A few had already taken to Red’s side and were patrolling for food. She herself had obtained a little follower which she had named Emerald.

Emerald was an effort by both Red and Blue to try out new names after Master had rather strongly worded his annoyance at their original naming convention. Blue still giggled about how flustered he became and was almost tempted to keep doing it. Despite how much Master had reassured her, she still wasn’t quite certain if Master would never eat one of them for annoying him. So they all ultimately made an effort to change up their names.

Blue was overjoyed the day she walked in on little Emerald expressing an affinity of her own, her little fingers twisting and twirling as solid rock formed into firm balls in her hands. Emerald simply let off a happy little chirp as she giggled in amusement at her own gift at work.

— Red - 337 Cycles Ago —

His muscular frame heaved as he threw White’Yellow over his shoulder and then in another instance did the same to Red’Blue. Both of them had shown themselves to be the top of their class when it came to fighting and they were advancing so incredibly fast. He wished he could show Master but he still slept quietly away, his size continuing to grow more and more. Blue and him had both brought up the need to expand the tunnels and Master’s cave sooner than later.

He fought to catch his breath as both of his little kobold warrior children stood back up. White’Yellow had taken up fighting with two shards of bone and Red’Blue adopted a similar style to him, using a skull shield and long bone spear. They spared back and forth for a little while longer before taking some time to rest and recover. The trio took their mid cycle lunch as they watched Blue, Emerald, Blue’Yellow and Yellow’Brown attempt to dig out a sizable garden near the cave entrance. The only thing to garden down in the depths of the underground were Mushrooms, but no one would complain about more food even if it was bland.

The warriors had done most of the hunting to date. White’Yellow had in fact become an expert in climbing up and snatching the little flyers up high in the cavern. While both Red and Red’Blue stuck to hunting Horned Burrowers and Monitor Runners. The former being something they both were still careful hunting since one mistake could lead to an injury or loss of limb, and the latter were just difficult to pin down without luck or some surprise on your side.

As he enjoyed his lunch he reflected on their life so far and concluded that it was one ultimately of struggle and survival. Despite all of that they had so far prospered. His Elder had planted the seed of paranoia deep into his head and so the day he spotted little Wyrmlings slipping around the edges of the Sanctuaries tunnels he wasn’t completely surprised. These little Masters were not his Master, so despite reservations, he would do whatever he must to drive them back if they pressed. He simply hoped that his Master would wake soon and that his own preparations would be enough to hold the line till then.

“Again” Red chirped suddenly as they finished their lunch and force them to practice anew.

— Red - 280 Cycles Ago —

A little Wyrmling with dark brown and gold mixed in had attacked the lair while Red was out. His jaws grinded together in frustration as he stood over the chewed up little body of Ruby. Ruby was from the second generation, like Emerald, and while not nearly as gifted it was still his previous little child. Tears clung to his eyes as he snarled, chirped and thrashed in frustration. Blue was at his side the next moment and the pair let off a chorus of sadness. Their children joined them and they all huddled together to chirp, offering their prayers to their Master, and then they grieved with their sorrow.

Red had lost many siblings while growing up, in fact, so many that they became almost countless. This was something different though. Losing a brother or sister when you had dozens upon dozens to work alongside didn’t sting as much as losing one of his own children. His anger burned and for a split second he glared at the lair, towards his Master who was still curled up sleeping and growing. He didn’t glare for long before Blue slapped him firmly over his muzzle and hissed at him.

“Red my dear. I am just as angry at you. Remember this is our duty and the Master was not the one to end Ruby’s life.” She nodded firmly before pressing her long muzzle back up against Red’s own.

Red simply dipped his head in shame as more tears welled up. He redirected his anger outwards, and glared towards the deep shadows of the caverns where he knew the little Wyrmlings were lurking.

— Emerald - 223 Cycles ago —

Her body shimmered as her magic flowed through the tips of her claws and she willed the rock, and dirt to roll forward and pile up in front of her. Emerald had a satisfied smile plastered across her little face as she helped her Elders build up the great mounds around their home. The stone, rock and dirt would act as a natural barrier against the constant probing attacks of the different Masters. Emerald wasn’t quite sure why they were called Masters, and how they could possibly be related to her own Master.

Elder Blue, her dearest mother, had told her stories of their Master. The massive pile of blue glowing mass that was her Master had not moved her entire life. She was one of the few to actually touch him while he slept. The pure raw mana that radiated from his form was almost intoxicating to her. Mother had scolded her for sapping away some of her Master's “power” but that didn’t stop Emerald from sneaking in periodically to press her cheek close and become energized beyond comprehension.

Emerald didn’t think Master minded since he was clearly growing without end and he had so much mana that excess was just leaking off of him. She giggled to herself as she heaved more piles into the makeshift walls. Her siblings, the newest batch to be born, were helping her using their little bone tools. They were still learning and unfortunately it did not seem that any others had manifested an affinity like herself or Elder Blue.

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Her little mind wandered as she worked and she didn’t notice the small silver Wyrmling that had peered its way over the barricade. When she did finally notice the Wyrmling’s staring face from the shadows, it seemed memorized by Emerald and her magic at play. She swore she could see a twinkle in its little eyes as it seemed to be registering something. As it finally raised itself up further over the barricade Red’Blue let off an alarmed chirp and charged forward past Emerald and dived towards the silver Wyrmling. Emerald stood there in shock as the little Wyrmling bounded out of Red’Blue’s range and into the deeper darkness of the cave beyond. The little Masters were becoming bolder and more numerous.

— Blue - 142 Cycles ago —

They had thought that the brown gold and silver Wyrmling had moved along as they were now harassed by other Wyrmlings coming from the depths of Master Ambass’s territory. It had been weeks since they last saw them so it came as a sudden shock when both over the course of two days reappeared. They had changed, much as their own Master had, and now both were full blown Wyrms.

Blue’s affinity shimmered and beamed forward in a blinding bang as she stunned and drove back the devilish brown and gold speckled Wyrm that now towered over her. Her affinity wasn’t overly useful for combat at the start but with practice she was able to condense it into bright bursts of light that stunned all who weren’t prepared. She had utilized her new tactic twice now and her magic was almost all spent, thankfully her powerful little helper Emerald came to the rescue. A furry of rocks flew forward and impacted the stunned Wyrm, causing it to tumble over itself and then make a hasty retreat. Emerald was progressing at an exceptional rate and Blue was proud of her bright little daughter. The pride she had was quickly overshadowed by the sadness that followed as they recovered yet another victim of the hungry Masters. Blue offered a stone cold expression as she leaned down to scoop up what remained of the now dead Sapphire, another one of her children and now deceased sibling of poor Emerald.

Blues eyes drifted back towards the lair, where their Master slept soundly still. She simply offered a sigh.

— Emerald - 87 Cycles ago —

The wall of incoming rocks were sharpened to a deadly point but Emerald was able to counter them in stride. The silver Wyrm had attacked relentlessly with its new found affinity, one that Emerald had no doubt had picked up watching her over the many cycles. It could and would overpower her in no time if she matched it one for one. She shifted the remaining of her mana to wrap her arms in a thick layer of hardened stone and began to strike the remaining stones out of the air, twisting in time to dodge the snarling jaws of the Wyrm. She countered with a stone fist to its snout, which caused the Wyrm to huff and stumble briefly.

Her magic was spent except the stone that still clung to her fists and yet more sharpened stones began to hover around the Wyrm. As the next wave of stones came bursting towards her a large bone skull shield hammered in between her and them. Her father, Red, stood with a soft white glow as his defensive abilities kicked in and the stones disintegrated against the bone shield.

“Emerald retreat. Red can hold” Red hissed as he leaned into the bombardment of stone and stepped closer, and closer to the enemy Wyrm. He lashed forward with a skill, his spear striking true as it dug deep into the silver’s shoulder. It hissed and snapped at Red as a curse could be heard underneath the Wyrm’s breath before it turned and retreated.

Emerald blinked in shock, “These Master’s speak…?”

“All Masters speak in time. Ours was just faster than most.” Red peered over at Emerald as he caught his breath. He smiled warmly at her, “Do not let them distract you. We only serve one Master.”

Emerald simply nodded her head as the pair leaned against each other as other kobold warriors finally came running up to back them up.

— Blue - 2 Cycle ago —

Blue’s light was now condensed, focused, and aimed forward like a beam as it sheared the flesh of the large brown Wyrm that had just leaped over their barricades. The beam’s damage was limited, but the bright light also stunned the enemy Master. Red, Red’Blue, White’Yellow and half a dozen younger warrior children of hers all rushed towards the dragon. Their bone weapons scraped and mostly deflected off its thick hide as it thrashed about. Its thick muscular tail sent two unprepared kobolds flying before it slammed against Red’s glowing shield with a resounding thud. Her powerful Red let off a loud chirp and cursed at the dragon as he counterattacked leaving a small puncture hole in its tail.

The Wyrm let off a yelp and bound straight up into the air using its powerful hindlegs. It rotated midair and blasted the entire group with its cold breath, causing visible frost to form around the kobold’s scales and weapons. As the Wyrm came crashing back down it quickly lunged forward attempting to snap its jaws around the still semi frozen Red’Blue nearby. Just as its jaws were about to close a sharpened stone half the size of its head slammed home sending the Wyrm flying with scales and blood erupting outwards. Little Emerald came rushing up with her claws and fists encased in solid stone and more stones that started to hover around her.

The cold only lasted another moment before all of the kobolds were able to shake it off and then a battle chant that perked the morale of the entire group was heard. Blue caught her breath in that moment and took up the rear prepared to use her affinity again. They all stepped forward with their weapons and were determined to drive this blasted Wyrm off once more. As they neared the injured Wyrm a sudden torrent of stone came rushing towards them.

Emerald in a flash stepped forward and countered with her own wave of stone. Shards of stone went flying as each of Emerald’s rocks disintegrated against the opposed rocks in mutual destruction. The silver Wyrm had appeared out of nowhere and appeared determined.

Blue waved everyone back at the appearance of the second Wyrm. The two Masters usually avoided each other but clearly something was different now. She stepped forward with a prepared focused beam of her magic, knowing instinctively that this was the last of her magic.

“Back! To the lair! We can hold them off there.” Red chirped as well as the other kobolds began to retreat.

Blue hoped for a moment that the silver Wyrm had simply come by chance, or to seize the opportunity to attack the competing Wyrm. Her hopes were dashed, and her fears realized when a moment later the silver’s stone attack halted and a brown, golden blur came leaping forward. It closed its jaws around her precious little Emerald in the moment Emerald’s focus was still on the silver and the results were horrifying.

“No!” Red called out nearby as Blue's favorite little daughter got torn apart before their very eyes. Blue saw Red’s clawed fist dig into his spear as he activated his Spear Throw in a moment of pure rage. The spear flew fast and dug deep into the chest of the brown Wyrm and the impact sent it sprawling onto its back. Blue’s own rage built up and she let loose her final blast of light. The whole cavern lit up and the beam seared the silver’s chest an instant later. It too stumbled back in a heap of surprised pain.

“Be gone or we will end you both!” Blue let out with a mad chirp. The two wounded Wyrm’s retreated then, running off with the remains of poor Emerald before they could act.

Blue began to cry once more. It had been many, many cycles since she had cried from a loss. She felt hopeless, and she wasn’t even sure how much longer they could hold out. Master had grown to an impossible size, and yet he still didn’t wake. Was it time to consider another option? She wouldn’t ever abandon her Master but they were getting overwhelmed. There had to be another choice. She had no doubt those two Masters would return soon and take even more of her children with them.

As she cleaned the tears from her muzzle she heard a little excited chirp from behind her as one of her recent borns came rushing out of the lair towards the pair screaming loudly!

“Master awake!!!”