Guardian at the Gate
The Anazi Prime system stood as the last bastion of draconic might in the sector. Though that might may be a overselling it a bit. The last time the dragons were the dominant force in the sector was eons ago, in the previous epic before the calamity. Before the darkness.
Now Anazi Prime stood as the last primary residence of the few dragons that still live within this sector. Bordered by the Primals and the Ehfants. The Anazi system named after the god of air’s assumed name. The system held 7 planets and two bands of asteroids that used to be several worlds.
Only the colonized world, Anazi Prime itself, bore a name. The rest of the planets in the system held little value and had thus been strip mined of anything of any value and left as little more than stellar dust in the system. The furthest planet in the system was a small rock encompassed of ice and heavy metals. In its shadow, space cracked open like broken glass.
Shortly after, the Cadaver Crasher spilled through the jagged maw. The damage sustained at Hidros now patched over. The mismatching hull plates glinting a little brighter than the atmosphere scorched and weathered ship. Like freshly healed scars.
Akamori closed the portal to the Umbral plane behind them, a small shiver rippling down his back as the connection to the plane disconnected. No matter how often they traversed the Umbral Plane, he always felt like he was being watched. Worse than that, he instinctively knew he was being watched. Like a field mouse aware of the owl in the trees.
“Take us in nice and slow. I want them to see us coming.” Morwen said.
The spell drive thrummed as Akamori fed it void magic. Violet energy emitted from the Crashers’ four engines at the stern of the ship. The aged warship pushed itself ahead towards the interior of the system. As it cruised, Akamori conducted a sensor sweep. No other anomalies are present. They were the only vessel in the system from what he could see.
The ship coasted towards Anazi Primes orbit casually, providing ample time for a response to be deployed if necessary. Shadows stirred within the belt as something massive shifted. A titanic wyrm emerged from the shadows. It drifted towards the ship casually. Coated in white scales with sky blue stripes. Multiple rows of horns jutted from the crown of its skull, brimmed by patches of hair and quills. Golden orbs slashed by narrow black irises focused on the ship with conscious intensity.
Everyone in the Crasher’s bridge swallowed unconsciously. Sirsir cleared his throat softly, the leather of his gloves creaking softly as he gripped the control sticks at his station. “That is one big fuckin’ dragon.”
Akamori nodded in mute awe. It would dwarf Big Blue on Hidros compared to the size of this wyrm. It slithered lazily through space. Eventually, it wound its way to face the stem of the ship. Its radiant gold eyes focusing on the ship as though it were peering through the hull and directly at the crew.
Morwen channeled some fire magic and cast a simple missive spell to the dragon. “I am Captain Morwen of the Mage Federation. We’re here on a diplomatic mission from Eryn. We seek an audience with the dragons of Anazi Prime. We seek an alliance. Do we have permission to land?”
The ivory wyrm titan studied them curiously for a moment, then finally it edged closer to the ship, its massive maw opening. Terror punched through Akamori as the inside of the dragon’s mouth loomed larger on the main screen. The ship rocked gently as it took them. The elder white wyrm then swam through the black towards the surface of Anazi.
On it’s way down, a massive wave rippled through the system and passed through the other side. Their escort stopped, panning its massive head from side to side, searching for the cause. Inside the Crasher, the crew had shaken free of their stunned awe.
“I want everything we can get on the sensors.” Morwen barked to Akamori then turned to Amara, who was strapped into a passenger seat next to Arjun.
“Amara, what was that?”
Amara shook her head, uncertain and more than a little shaken. “I don’t know…but nothing good, I’m sure.”
An instant later, a massive, menacing black crack spider webbed across reality. As if they were viewing everything from a scrye screen that just slipped out of their hands and shattered on the ground. Amara gripped the armrests of her seat as her eyes went wide. Her Maetrayops giving her a raw view of reality as it threatened to collapse.
“What’s happening?” Morwen demanded.
Akamori frowned, studying the image on the main screen through bursts of static. He squinted, leaning forward. “If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say it looked like a massive crack trying to breach to the Umbral Plane.”
Morwen fell back into her chair. Her divine gaze ability kicking in as she studied the web of fate. Searching desperately for a sign, they were about to face a collapse of reality. She poured through hundreds and thousands of different possibilities and choices as actions spun out. Eventually, a piercing pain pushed into her temples and it forced her to stop.
An instant later a system prompt appeared before everyone. One that made her blood run cold.
System Info: Emergency Patch.
Due to sustained heavy damage to the System, an emergency patch is being applied. System update to stablize existing System elements. Also, a refinement of the difficulty threshold system is being put into place. Rather than the current system, a new tier system will be implemented. At the first infusion of magic, A zero becomes an Iron Rank. Within each rank, a user may gain levels as they become familiar with their magic, learn new spells, and expand in other means. The cap for each rank is 9. The only way to progress beyond the cap is to gain another magic infusion. Growth beyond Diamond rank begins one’s path into Divinity.
Zero/Normals
Iron 0-9 (formerly 1 Infusion)
Bronze 0-9 (formerly 2 Infusions)
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Silver 0-9 (formerly 3 Infusions)
Gold 0-9 (formerly 4 Infusions)
Diamond 0-? (formerly 5+ Infusions)
~A
“Another Calamity… gods.” Morwen whispered.
“A what?” Akamori asked, turning back to face her.
“A calamity. They built the System that holds together all of creation to manage and maintain magic and the energies that drive creation. Think of Calamities as a breakdown in the system. Afterwards, a patch to the System is applied, altering the system and repairing the damage as best as possible.”
“Who are They ? What makes up a calamity?”
“Something grander than gods. Titans perhaps, though it’s safe to assume the power came from something or someone even older and greater than them. Catastrophic damage to creation. Some of the oldest rumors about the Umbral Plane regard it as the very first Calamity.”
Akamori turned back around rocked at the possibility that there was a whole other plane of reality that was just utterly devoid of light, heat, and magic. All of it gone. Titans. Calamities. This was all so far beyond him. He just wanted a safe spot in the galaxy and now he was discovering someone else out there was tearing it apart.
“One problem at a time Shinjo.” he told himself.
Similarly, the guard wyrm must have come to the same conclusion. One problem at a time, and resumed his languid swim back to the surface of Anazi Prime. After an interim wait, the massive dragon gently placed the aged battleship down on the ground near a capital city full of tall spires with large openings running the lengths of the spires. They reminded Akamori of large flutes jammed into the ground upright.
“I guess we’re here?” Akamori said, shifting back and glancing at the Captain. She gave them an assenting nod, and everyone unsnapped their restraint harnesses and rose from their seats. Akamori stood, stretching out with a grunt.
“Hey, you ok? You looked a little shaken back there.” Yasiin asked Amara.
She shook her head. “It was like watching reality crack open. And raw nothingness threatened to spill in.”
Yasiin frowned, turning back to the Captain for guidance. Unfortunately, she had none.
“We can look into the calamity after we’ve dealt with Sauridius and his forces.”
Amara gave a weak smile. Thankful of the delay. Having a more immediate goal to focus on would help keep the horrors she’d just watched from sinking in. Entire swaths of reality were unmade in an instant. Just gone.
An instant later, a golden ripple pulsed through reality, washing over all of them. The system updated, being pushed out by A. Amara could see reality knitting itself back together and marveled at the immense magic required for such a task. The work was beyond what she would have imagined a god could do. Or not? Her understanding of divinity was grossly lacking. She needed to rectify that.
“Captain?”
“Yes Amara?”
“Who is A?”
“Ah. The prompts from the system.” Morwen said with a nod. “Many have wondered at that. Most speculate it simply stands for Administrator, but no one knows for certain.”
Amara nodded with a frown. Something to look into later. So many mysteries. So little time.
Morwen tugged her dark blue uniform jacket smooth and glanced at her crew. “Take a few moments and ensure you’ve got everything you need. We’ll go greet our hosts in a few minutes.”
Everyone gave her firm north-south head movement before getting to it. Akamori hung back as the rest of the squad filed out of the bridge and made their way to the cargo bay to get their gear. As much as it creeped him out, his new spell armor was handy in that he could always wear it, and yet not have it deployed. But gods, if it didn’t make his skin crawl when it deployed.
Several minutes passed, and the squad stood in formation, geared up and ready. Morwen hung back while Sirsir conducted inspections with Akamori supervising. They made sure everyone’s kit was topped off and ready for service. After clearing Amara, the dark-skinned NCO turned to Akamori and gave him a confident nod.
“Everyone’s ready for action, Sir.”
Akamori turned and gave Morwen a thumbs up. “We’re ready.”
Morwen punched the ramp button, and the lift in the airlock groaned as the hydraulics lowered them down to the surface of Anazi Prime. The talons of the massive air wyrm bit into the soil lightly in front of the ship. The massive creature loomed over them exactly where it had been when it placed the Crasher down. They all looked up in awe. Up close really drove home the size disparity.
“I’m pretty sure I could jump down his throat and he wouldn’t even choke.” Sirsir said with equal parts amusement and horror.
“Let’s not and say we did?” Akamori said as magic swelled around the massive wyrm until he shrank almost too fast to see.
Standing before them was a man wearing a snow-white robe with blue trim. It looked a lot like the robes they wore on Honshu. Akamori gave Amara a look who nodded. The guardian had a single sword belted to his waist. A confident hand rested atop the blade’s hilt casually. Golden eyes blazed through a neutral face. He studied them for a moment before finally turning and gesturing to follow him.
Akamori recognized the competently trained warrior in the man. Er. Dragon? Morwen stepped into the lead, and the squad fell in behind her. They made their way to the largest spire in the city. All around in the skies, Dragons soared like fighters and spacecraft, ducking into holes in the spires. The architecture of Anazi Prime looked like a more modernized and urban take on Honshu’s style. The spires were tall pagodas with small eaves, giving each floor of the spire a point for the dragons to grip for landing, while also providing a weather break.
Akamori spun as they followed their white robbed escort, unable to keep the smile from his face. It was like taking a walk through a distant memory of his childhood. A deep sense of content swept through him. The momentary pulse of joy enough to suppress his dread at coming to a world full of dragons, many of whom had tried to kill him in the past half year.
“Welcome home, LT.” Morwen said at the lead of the squad softly.