Hagan, ancient ruler of house Dracon awoke from her meditative state, coiled up in her serpentine form, her red and black scaled glittered as her eyes glowed and plumes of smoke exhaled from her nostrils. Enshrined in her innermost sanctum filled with lava and the very air burning with rich fire aether, she rose as burst of fire exploded from her frame. A figure passed through a burning pathway, kneeling immediately in her front as he maintained a rigid stance,

“He has arrived, hasn’t he?’ Hagan rumbled, her voice reverberating through the cavern,

“Yes mother” the figure said, looking up into the eyes of Hagan,

A humanoid dragon with an unhealing scar across his face, hand on a blade shaped in the form of a dragon claw, Mathol, master on the path of the burning blade and son of Hagan answered. Hagan stared at the irreparable damage done to her child and snarled in anger, turning back to the glowing silver insignia at the top of the cavern and growled,

“Why?” she thought,

“Why wouldn’t you come to our aid mother?”

Turning away, she closed her eyes, blue flames wreathing her entire form as she shrunk back to human size. Stark naked and with burning blue hair, she stood still as Mathol placed a shimmering cloak around her frame, the attire settling on her form as she opened her eyes, a vault opening to her side. She dipped her hand in and withdrew a staff with a blade at its tip and took in a deep breath, and then she slammed the staff on the ground, a keen gong going out from her surroundings and past the cavern itself, flowing with the rich aether of the world and system in general till it got to the ears of its intended.

“We obey” came the answer through the air,

Then she opened herself, feeling the latches from different masters as they took on her aspect, allowing her to see through their eyes, she spoke, wielding her aspect as expertly as any ancient dragon could and should. All around the nine planets that rotated the nest itself, burning scripts came to life, shielding the planets from the hail of rocks from the broken planets Ajax had dragged along with him. It did nothing for their war vessels desperately fighting for their lives though, those, she left to the hands of the more than ten masters that either were of house Dracon descent or swore allegiance to them.

She turned her eyes to the cage that hung far up in the cavern, chains with spikes that tore through the being in the cage before locking themselves to the cage itself. She spoke,

“Your child comes for you, a pity he would die by my hands” she said,

The being in the cage neither gave any sign that he heard her or responded, simply maintaining his crouched frame and shuddering with every breath. She gave an irritated snarl and turned, stamping her staff on the ground as the vault opened more, items floating out. Mathol knelt again as his mother spoke,

“Attend me” she ordered,

All around her, from the lava below floated being coated in the burning liquid, their voices almost angelic, they latched on to the items, gold plated armour for an absurdly large human and began to fix it to her frame, using the lava as a welding agent to literally burn the armour into her very flesh. The rich smell of burnt meat floated from her, but Mathol gave no sign of irritation or any sign in general, he simply waited, head bowed as his mother prepared for battle,

“The prime Forgeworld?’ Hagan asked,

“Still safe, protected by the red jaw” Mathol replied,

Hagan gave a dry chuckle,

“Still alive I see” she said,

“While it surprises me, seeing as she lugs around that…. disgrace to the house along with her, she has so far managed to keep the prime Forgeworld in one piece and firmly in our hands” Mathol replied,

Master Anala red jaw had survived the ambush by Ajax, she had been the warn to cry out about the coming disaster that was the omega blade. Hagan had relegated her to the Forgeworld, drawing her out of the war seeing as the fabled scythe squad had been decimated by Ajax and the council of the archailect were to busy preparing for war against Rohan. In effect, Hagan threw her to the fabled wolves, making it clear to the entire house royalties that Anala had fallen from grace.

With her paralyzed diamond ranked child, she retreated into one of the forge covens of the prime Forgeworld, helping them craft rare and legendary weapons in exchange for leads on how to heal her child. It was a futile effort, seeing as the only one who could possibly heal the disgrace of a child wasn’t even answering their calls for help. Hagan cursed her mother’s name as she spat lava, the helm of the armour in the form of a snarling dragon fixed to her face, then she stood strong, her aura roaring out of her and through the links to the masters who gave a great roar, jubilations as the strongest power of house Dracon awoke.

She turned to Mathol,

“Take Nerla and your diamonds, ensure the protection of the farm planet” she said,

Mathol whipped his head to her in disbelief, stilling his tongue though, but his posture rigid explained everything Hagan needed to know,

“You think I throw you to menial tasks?” she asked, a deadly tone in her voice,

Mathol held his stance, Hagan approving of his will,

“And you would be right, you lost to his disciple, what makes you and your daughter think you could do anything to the omega blade?” she asked,

The insult bit deep into the burning blade as he trembled with rage,

“This war would be a prolonged one, a battle of pure attrition as Ajax attempts to grind us to dust, without food to feed our troops, this battle will be a short one” she explained,

“so if you ask if I’m relegating you to a role as a guardian, yes, but is it an important role?, yes” she said,

“besides” she continued, tapping the staff,

The blade at its tip went from a deep black weapon into one of pure blinding white light, glowing with gold and purple runes. Hagan felt the aether in the room suddenly wax stronger, even the being in the cage stirred a little, Hagan turning to him with a malicious smile,

“You recognize this blade, don’t you, Garda?” she asked,

“The same blade that held you down when the primordials ripped your very essence and path away from you” she taunted,

“And this blade will take the head off your child, I will present his head to you” she promised as she snapped the power of the blade away, the light disappearing and the oppressive nature of the power disappearing,

Mathol pointed to the blade,

“That…that power” he said, lost for words,

“Bestowed to us by the cosmic dragon, it’s a family heirloom” she said,

“It felt…it felt a bit like the titan blade” Mathol whispered,

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Hagan turned to him, incredulousness etched on her face,

“Were you that beaten that you assume every power that surpasses you belongs to that upstart?” she asked, acid in her tone,

Mathol was taken aback by the tone of his mother,

“No, no you miss understand me mother, I- “he said as she snarled,

“Enough!” she said as the cavern shook and the lava beings fled in fright,

“Must I be surrounded by cowards?” she growled,

“are we not dragons of house Dracon?, are we not the scions of the cosmic dragon?, are we not the descendants of Lotes herself?” she growled,

Mathol bowed immediately, head pressed to the ground in subservience,

“Forgive me mother, it was a moment of weakness, I shall atone by ridding our empire of the plague that are the forces of the omega blade” he replied,

She snarled as she slammed her staff again into the ground, a large pathway opening up to reveal an orbital platform where hundred of gold clad ascenders waited with rare weapons in their grasps ranging from spears to cleavers to projectile weapons and even mages arrayed,

The hundred fangs of house Dracon,

The worst of the worst of ascenders house Dracon had to present, powerful diamonds led by masters that delved into arcane and restricted paths but sanctioned by house Dracon itself, they would serve as the vanguard of Hagan herself, their brutality a most welcome method for the upcoming battle. She turned to Mathol,

“Do not fail me child” she said and passed through,

The pathway closed up as Mathol gave a loud roar, the cavern shaking as he let loose his anger, his chest heaving. With one last look to the prisoner, the burning blade opened a pathway himself and passed through. Up above in the cage, Garda grim gave a wide smile, for the first time in over a century of his capture, he gave a weak chuckle,

“good” he whispered,

Even high above the cage, a small serpent shimmering with silver light observed the cage and with a flick, it blinked out of existence, returning to its master.

*********************************

The orbital weapons of Wyrmforge, the prime Forgeworld of house Dracon continuously released volley after volley of aether eating bombs at the incoming ships of the omega blade stationed to take the planet. Not quite as close to the planet as for the surface to space weapons to get a lock on yet, but it was enough for the ships to release surface pods that had been crudely put together hastily by the forces of Ajax as they hastened their march towards the heart of house Dracon itself.

All around them, these pods with their devastating tectonic crash-landing tore into the very crusts of the Wyrmforge itself, those that survived to land though as the ascenders of the Wyrmforge fought back. Forge masters who had replaced their fleshy parts for construct replacements led their construct creations in an attempt to end the invaders before they became entrenched. Constructs both large and small with devastating aether weapons tore into the forces of the omega blade who were golds at best with a few diamonds spread across the troops.

These diamonds were who Anala handled, despite that it was insulting and disgraceful for a master on the edge of becoming a ruler to do battle with those so far beneath her, this was war, she had no choice, there were no rules in war. Removing her blade from the body of a diamond she had sawed in half, an insect looking humanoid in the black robes of the sect of the reaping katana, she flicked its liquid from her blade, twisting away from a bunch of gold who thought to sneak up on her, all combining their attack to crash into her.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t take the attack, seeing as their hastily taught path could do nothing to her, it was simply a reflex action on her path, wincing as the thought of Ajax using the same attack, she tore into them. Eyes flicking to the large ship that lurked behind the battle barges that deployed the pods that these set of ascenders occupied, her master ranked eyes allowing her to see clearly, she tapped into her communication construct, bringing up the forge master general of the entire planet,

“Anala, child, what goes on?” he asked, his fatherly voice rumbling slowly,

Despite surpassing the half construct half dragonoid in both rank and age, the man had readily accepted her into the Forgeworld itself despite her status as a pariah of house Dracon. He had readily placed his reputation on the line for her, and Anala had found a true father in a man she never had with her slain father Azar. Under his watch, she had readily handed Kenuran to him, her erstwhile child who had been broken through his own devices had first been broken again by Eldrakor the forge master himself. Humbled, the elderly dragon had placed him in the hottest of forges, secretly training him in the art of forge works, locking him for months on end, breaking apart his path of the red jaw and molding him as a forge apprentice.

Even now, Kenuran worked ceaselessly, producing weapons and armaments for the defenders since war came to Wyrmforge. She smiled at Eldrakor,

“we’ve managed to end the growing siege at the lava pass, the generators are safe, where else do you want me?” she asked softly,

“Back at the bastion itself, you need to rest daughter, you have been at it since when you brought back warnings of the incoming scourge, a master you might be, but you need rest” he said softly,

She shook her head,

“No, I can feel it, something bad is about to happen, the Forgeworld needs me out here” she replied,

Eldrakor sighed,

“Fine, but remember, the Forgeworld might fall, but if so much as one of us survives, then the ancient Dracon arts of forging survives” he replied,

“let’s hope it doesn’t get to that, how goes the other plan?” she asked,

“Exodus?” Eldrakor asked as she nodded,

“All ready, we await the signal, Lotes forbid it’s given” Eldrakor said sombrely,

“And Kenuran?” she asked softly,

“There is hope for him, you did well Anala, not every mother can admit their mistakes, be at peace, he is safe here” Eldrakor replied,

Anala nodded, blinking back tears as she gave a shudder,

“So, where to next?” she asked,

“The orbital guns will soon be overrun, but if we want to allow more forges to pump out more defensive construct, we need to buy more time for them” Eldrakor said,

“Then I go there, goodluck Eldrakor, may Lotes be with you” she said,

“And with you, Anala” he replied as the transmission cut off,

***********************************

The orbital platform commander, a short stout wyrm ran from one control room to another, ascenders both humanoid and other scampered as the orbital guns were reloaded and more ammunitions brought with battle barges that hastily landed and went back to the surface of Wyrmforge to ferry more. It was into this chaos that Anala arrived with a team of diamond ranked ascenders of house Dracon, marching into the room that boiled with steam, the main energy conduit burning hot to the touch. She glanced at an ascender with her, a blue skinned dragonoid that nodded and lightly tapped his feet to the ground.

Ice burst forth from his sole, coated the main conduit as it cooled down despite its continuous feeding of energy into the gun placements on the outside where hundreds of thousands of ascenders began to run into bunker like placements, weapons drawn both crude and projectile like, preparing for the inevitable assault on their platforms.

The orbital commander turned to her, gratitude in his eyes,

“Lady Anala!” he exclaimed, bowing as the other ascenders in the room followed suit,

‘up” she snarled,

“up I say!, we do not have time for this, where do you need me?” she asked,

The man looked taken back, eyes wide,

“Need you?” he stuttered,

“Yes, where do you need my forces the most?” she asked again,

“Hurry!” she snarled as the man was jarred from his state of shock,

Turning to his command staff, he shouted, urging them to find the weakest spot on the orbital platform. The platform shook as they all exclaimed,

“What was that?” she asked,

The man consulted his screen, pointing to a red blip,

“There!” he shouted,

The hologram showing the orbital platform to the east that had lost its reactive shielding,

“They fired something I haven’t seen before, it’s not aether, it’s something else” he exclaimed,

“chaos” she whispered,

The man whirled to her,

“What?” he asked,

“Nevermind, I need a clear view of that spot” she ordered,

The man nodded and a general view of the east gun placement was brought up, Anala nodding as she tore open a pathway to that spot. They stepped out into carnage, pure and simple. Melted mithril, a feat that in itself was almost impossible seeing as it was used in forging legendary weapons and only the hottest of aether fire or the strongest of aspect could do. It was practically unheard of for something as large as a ship to turn an entire platform of mithril to slag, a concentrated shot was possible, but a wide barrage?, it took something with considerable power to do such.

Around them the dying screams of ascenders that had defended the platform echoed around her and the smell of burnt meat pervaded her senses, her eyes watering and bile rising up her throat at the sight she saw. With finely trained control she had honed over centuries, she removed her eyes from what she saw and turned to the distance where the surface to space guns were firing at something with shielding,

The first of the fleet of the Omegablade had landed, their banners waving in the frigidness of space, the dome that protected the ascenders from the cold of space cracked open like an egg. The forces of all forms of life dressed in the black cloak of the sect surged forwards, all wielding black blades with the path of the reaping katana. Anala could feel the aspect of death in the air as the mainly gold and silver rankers surged forwards, the bunker protected ascenders of Dracon first replying with their projectile weapons to reduce the tides of ascenders coming for them.

Anala turned to her forces,

“Let them know we’re around” she growled,

They nodded and as one, they released their powers, pure power of different diamond and master ranked paths shooting into the air, the defenders roaring as they continued firing with renewed strength. Anala turned to the distance where another master ranked power revealed itself, the red jaw gripping her blade with grim resolve,

“that” she said,

“Is our target” she completed as she and the diamonds waded into the tide of enemy ascenders.