Velvet was awoken by a massive crash, the entire ruins shuddering, cracks appearing in the wall and ceiling of the room in which she had been sleeping in with Myne, dust raining down everywhere. It was as if something massive had smashed into the upper level of the ruins, but that shouldn’t be possible giving the misdirection ward that was set up. Irrespective it was definitely not a pleasant way to be woken up. Myne grumbled and sat up as Velvet tried to shake the stone dust from her hair.

“What’s going on?” Velvet queried.

Myne went silent as she weaved her sensing magic.

Myne swore, throwing the covers off and getting up in a hurry, summoning her bone armour.

“It would seem that we are under attack. A dozen demons are converging on the entrance as we speak, with more coming from further behind. Alice appears to have set some traps, but that’ll only delay them.”

Velvet frowned.

“Of more concern though,” Myne continued, “are the Riders. There are four circling around the upper levels, with a fifth having landed. Given the tremor and the size of it’s signature, it would appear to be comparable to a Prime.”

Velvet stood, summoning her armour as well. She was still using the bone armour dress as she hadn’t had the chance to acquire anything else suitable. Not that Myne seemed to have minded.

“But there aren’t any other known Primes...”

“That there wasn’t. It feels off, but there is no mistaking its size.” Myne shook her head.

‘Even we can feel it,’ Light added. ‘It feels real, yet not.’

‘Either way we can take it,’ Ashling boasted.

‘Since you’re so confident...’ Velvet grinned at Ashling.

Velvet grabbed Myne’s hand and gave her a quick kiss. This was not how the morning was meant to have gone. She had had other plans, but it was not to be so.

“I’ll take Light and Ashling and see what’s happening above. You’ve been playing with demons of late, so you’re probably better suited to deal with them.”

Myne grinned. “True. Very true. Ruby will meet me down there. Cammine’s making sure everyone else is safe. I’m not so sure about how well the Academia is going to survive this tho.”

Oh yeah, the bond between the Dragon Ferals. At least it would make teamwork easier.

‘Feeling jealous?’ teased Ashling.

‘Not at all. You?’

‘Pfft.’ Ashling did not make the sound well. It wasn’t really suited to dragons after all.

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

The concern was certainly warranted. As Velvet made her way up the floors the damage got significantly worse. She pelted along the corridors as fast as she could, running through clouds of dust and avoiding slabs of stone that had once hung overhead. She had the longer route though. At least Myne should be with the others by now.

‘She’ll be fine. Worry about yourself for now!’ Ashling scolded.

‘That’s not quite it.’

There was a muffled explosion from below, causing more dust to rain down around Velvet. Sounded like Myne had already started.

Velvet rounded a corner, and ran straight out into the open, instinctively activating her remaining reinforcements and shield. The mural room had not survived, and it, along with all of the surrounding rooms, were just piles of rubble. A wave of purple flames slammed into her vicinity, the tail end of it deflecting off her shield and then following her back as Velvet attempted to dodge clear.

‘No fair. Since when could Dragon Familiars breathe fire.’ she moaned internally. The flames were pushing her to the edge, but now wasn’t the time to test her aerial capabilities. Instead she changed directly bursting straight through the other side of the flames, her shield holding true.

‘That one is more than a little different. On the other hand, as you grow, so do we too.’ Light sounded a little guilty at the admission.

That could prove useful.

It was indeed a massive dragon that had smashed into the upper levels of the ruins. From here it looked like the remainder of the western edge and then some was history, and more than just the top floor. Perched amongst the rubble was the dragon responsible, glaring intently at Velvet as it finished it initial assault. While it wasn’t quite as large as Light, it was still many times the size of the typical Dragon Familiar, and Velvet guessed that it was probably somewhere between four to five stories tall, while Light was just over six. Had the Clan finally managed to summon a Prime? It looked and felt a bit odd to her though, its scales sharing the purple hues that were common amongst demons while all of its other features were standard draconic.

“Why if it isn’t the mysterious Rider, the catalyst for it all.”

A figure leapt off the shoulder of the Prime, the floor giving under her as she landed. She radiated magic as if it was continually leaking from her, but it was a dark stench and made Velvet wrinkle her nose in response. Velvet could see tendrils of brown and black magic radiating off her, twisting and turning over each other. They had eerie similarities to what he had seen on Melody, but they weren’t bonding her to anything. She had definitely taken of the Demon King’s power tho.

“And who are you?” Velvet asked.

“Ah, yes. We’ve never been introduced have we.” The woman smiled. She was pretty, but in a different way. She wasn’t all curvy and sensual, but rather was solidly built with a well honed body that spoke of effort and power. Soft brown hair fell on her shoulders, framing a mature face with intense hazel eyes. Her earth coloured bone armour covered her vital areas and lower legs, the rest of her body covered in a tight black scale the likes of which Velvet had never seen before.

“I am the Lady Knight Amber.”

While Velvet knew that Amber had pledged allegiance to Sorene and the Demon King, it was still a shock to see one of the most powerful Riders in front of her, but on the other side. She had a Lattice Soul, and was a force to be reckoned with in her own right, but she had never had a Prime.

“Why are you doing this? Why have you sided with the Demon King?” Sadness tinged Velvet’s voice.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“You wouldn’t understand. You haven’t been through what we have, what I have,” Amber replied with a hard voice that carried a depth beyond Velvet.

“No, I have not. But nothing can equate to the price that has been extracted so far.” Velvet sighed. “I’d ask you to leave, but you won’t will you?”

“Smart girl.” Amber flexed her shoulders, summoning her bone shield and war hammer.

“Let’s get this over with then,” Velvet stated, dropping into a defensive stance.

“Where is your dragon?”

Velvet rolled her eyes. “Everyone asks that. She’s here.”

“Let’s see how good you are then. You did a number on Sorene after all.”

Amber was a lot faster than she looked, especially given her chosen weapon. She lunged at Velvet, war hammer swinging high. Velvet attempted to dodge, only to find her footing unstable, her magical shield deflecting the blow as she recovered into a roll. Amber’s magic was earth aspected, and she was very skilled at its usage it appeared. Amber didn’t give Velvet a chance to breathe, the floor shifting under Velvet again as Amber came in with another swing. Having anticipated it, Velvet was prepared this time, rolling with the movement and letting her shield take the blow and push her back, as she summoned her scythe and counter-attacked. Amber blocked the attack with her shield, Velvet’s scythe leaving a deep gouge in it.

“You have some bite there child,” Amber complimented as she moved to the side, the flames from her dragon slamming into Velvet again. Velvet’s shield easily deflected the flames, but she could feel the drain on her, summoning her secondary shield to block Amber as she attacked from behind.

‘Ashling since you’re so confident, do something about her dragon please. Light, the Riders are all yours.’

‘Of course,’ Light replied.

‘Gee thanks.’ Ashling on the other hand was being his usual self.

She needed to give herself some space. Amber had many years experience over Velvet in combat, but she wouldn’t be used to fighting with a Prime. Having said that, Amber was still using it rather well. It was time to try out some new ideas she had been working on. Velvet radiated a flash of bright light, dashing away from the flames as Light and Ashling left her shoulders. She then spun around, resummoned her scythe and resumed her attack against Amber, who instinctively brought up a barrier of earth to block the blows as her eyes adjusted back.

“Resourceful, but you’re going to have to do better than that,” Amber said as she turned part of the barrier into stone darts, flinging them at Velvet as she followed up with her war hammer. Velvet parried the attack with her scythe, the darts were an annoyance more than dangerous for her, a distraction from the real threat that was Amber herself, Amber’s blows heavy and again pushing her back. They continued to trade blows, Amber supplementing her attacks and defence with her magic as she pushed Velvet towards the edge of the building, and while Velvet’s counter-attacks took their toll on Ambers defences, she wasn’t achieving much else. Amber wasn’t giving Velvet any openings, and Velvet was having to put her full concentration on the fight as even the terrain wasn’t friendly to her against Amber.

‘And here we go,’ Ashling stated in warning.

Velvet steeled herself as the building shook again, Ashling in his large form slamming into Amber’s dragon, another section of the building giving way as it stumbled, ungracefully sliding off the edge.

‘They’re all on the other side,’ Light answered before Velvet could ask.

Velvet had hoped that Ashling’s attack might have given her an opening, but it was not to be so, Amber taking it in her stride and continuing her attack, as Velvet defended and manoeuvred herself so that she wouldn’t be pushed off the edge.

‘Even with all your power, you’re still fighting with such mundane methods. In a battle like this, experience will always win out. Think outside the norm!’ Ashling scolded.

Ashling of course was right, and using a lack of training as an excuse wouldn’t do her any favours in this battle. In the end she was just fighting as she always had, albeit with some buffs to herself and a few small tricks. Given what Amber was doing, surely she could do so much better. She had to do better.

Time to get serious.

Velvet let her magic flow raw, leaking out around her, hanging off her and pooling at her feet, her arms glowing bright as numerous runes started to form there. Amber paused briefly, cautious. While Amber could see Velvet’s raw magic, bright and intense, and the glowing runes on Velvet’s arms, she would have no idea as to its purpose. Velvet coalesced a little of the magic, forming a ragged claw that she sent slamming into Amber. It was easily blocked, but that was part of the point. She then gathered more magic around her, causing herself to glow blindly bright, holding the magic there. Not so good when fighting alongside allies, but here with just her and her dragons it would be a lot more effective.

‘Now it feels more like a recap,’ Ashling quipped.

‘Heh. You were still lazing about then.’

She lunged into Amber, going on the offensive. Temporarily blinded and unable to directly look at Velvet, Amber switched to full defensive, battle instincts still enabling her to block each of Velvets blows. But that was what Velvet had been banking on. Each attack was attaching a thread of her magic to Amber.

There was a sickening crunch as Light impacted with one of the other Riders and their dragon, sending them slamming into the ground. They weren’t as skilled as Amber, and unable to look in Velvet’s direction they were suddenly quite vulnerable.

“Disperse you idiots,” Amber yelled. The warning was too late though as Light, very adapt now at instantaneously changing sizes, sent another dragon careening over the trees, it’s rider knocked free. They’d probably survive better than the first pair had though.

‘Ashling, some fire please,’ Velvet requested, as she leapt back and pulled all of the attached tendrils of magic tight, Ashling’s silver flames slamming into its target as Amber suddenly found herself unable to dodge out of the way. A roar sounded as Amber’s dragon rose back to the top of the ruins, Ashling twisting his head to send the flames into it. Smoking stone crumbled away from around Amber, the hastily made dome having taken the brunt of the attack, as Velvet charged straight back in again, tendrils of magic still holding Amber tight. Amber raised her shield in defence, but it was not enough, Velvet’s scythe shearing it clean in half and biting deep into Ambers chest. If it hadn’t been for her scale armour, it would have gone clean through her.

Amber grimaced, spitting blood as she raised her war hammer, pure force of will breaking some of Velvet’s tendrils. Velvet blocked the blow, and though it’s force was weakened, it still pushed her back.

“Well played child,” Amber coughed as she crouched to one knee. Her attack had taken its own toll on her as well.

Amber’s dragon roared again, this time in fear, and twisting past Ashling, which was pretty impressive given their massive sizes, it swiped Amber into its claws protectively and then bathed the roof in its purple flames.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you escape. You’re far too dangerous by yourself,” Velvet said sadly, not that she could really be heard. She didn’t want to, as in different circumstances Amber could have been a strong ally, but she knew that she had to.

‘Pin her down please,’ Velvet requested as she burst through the flame towards the dragon.

The entire west side of the ruins gave way as Ashling slammed into Amber’s Dragon, claws digging in deep, the pair of dragons falling to the ground with a solid thud, Ashling on top, the ground rippling underneath them. Amber’s dragon’s movements were a little sluggish now, as if it wasn’t fully used to its size, and probably effected by Amber’s wounded state. Velvet followed them down, pouring as much magic as she could into her scythe, severing the dragons claw as she landed, black magic smoking off the limb. Amber tumbled out, her front soaked in blood, the scene painfully familiar.

Velvet walked up to Amber, and changing to her longsword, she plunged it through the cut in the scale and straight through her heart. Tears rolled down her face unbidden, as she let her glow fade, no longer a blinding beacon.

“I’m sorry,” she said again. Taking someone’s life, enemy or not, was painful and tore at her.

“Don’t be,” Amber said, an odd warmth in her voice, blood leaking from her mouth. “We all made choices. We live with the consequences. Or die with them.” She paused, looking directly at Velvet, as if she was looking at her soul. “The wedding is in a months time. Zorthac sends an open invitation.” She grinned, and then collapsed, her life gone.

Velvet stood their watching as Amber’s dragon slowly disintegrated, streams of black and brown magic fading into the air.

‘Light, how are we going with the Riders?’

There was the sounds of trees being snapped into two as Light sent another one careening into the forest.

‘One to go. They’ve lost heart tho. You’ve just defeated The Amber. Shall I let them go?’

‘Capture them if possible.’ The other Riders wouldn’t be as much of a threat, but then again they didn’t know anything of their capabilities.

‘Sure.’

‘Ashling, how’s Myne going?’

‘About that...’