Quetz flared her wings, the hues of green and blue turning a deep shade of red as a spark of anger filled her.

“What did you just say, little ox?” She hissed. Normally she would have killed the fool outright for even speaking to her, but her elders had said she needed to show restraint. To show that she could be a magnanimous ruler.

The ox dropped his head, his eyes glancing to the side at the other members of their so-called team. The fox and lizard didn’t meet his eyes, looking like children who had been caught playing instead of working on their abilities.

Good. Quetz thought. At least some of her team had some semblance of propriety, even if they were little better than servants. That’s why she never bothered to learn their names. Why would she stoop so low. It would be rude to make the others believe they were even close to the same level as her. She figured this was partly what her elders had meant when they said to act like the queen she was to be.

“I only thought I might warn you of the dwarves moving through a building a few blocks from here. In case the mistress wanted to showcase her splendor for the lesser races.” The ox said. When Quetz didn’t speak, he hurriedly continued. “I have a tracking and scouting skill set you see. While the Primordial Energy is too sparse for you yet to fly continuously, I could be your eyes on the ground.”

She flared her wings again, flapping them in his face and took off to hover a few feet in air, pelting him with gust of wind, and even a few blast of her [Twisting Gale] skill, causing cuts to open across his skin. The ox grimaced but had the good sense not to protest or move.

“But of course it is nothing you cannot overcome. You are truly a Primordial reincarnate.” The ox stammered, his voice shaky and quick. “I was just hoping to offer my lowly services in order to serve.”

Quetz could feel her wings growing tired. The Primordial Energy really still wasn’t at the point she could fly freely. She was just too large to not use some Primordial Energy to offset the weight when flying. She let herself land, still looming over the ox who was flat on his back. She was surprised to find that she was pleased with his actions. She would reward him, as any good queen would, and allow him to witness her as she expressed her absolute authority over every being, both Allied and Eldari, in this desolate city.

“Show me where.” She said, willing to allow the little ox to serve her in this way.

The ox hurried to his feet and bowed to her. He then placed a hand on the ground as small golden ripples spread through the earth in the direction he had indicated before.

“They have not moved from the same building I sensed earlier.” He said. “Would you like me to lead the way?”

Quetz nodded. Fifteen minutes later they stood on a wide street in front of a tall stone building with four columns in front. The columns were covered in the odd algae that glowed in the night, and there were intricate stone carvings along the roofline. Quetz never understood the need for such frivolity.

A moment later, four stocky dwarves exited the building and stopped on the street only twenty yards away.

“Well, look what we have here lads.” A stout dwarf gripping a two-sided battle axe said. He had a long orange braided beard that fell over his chest and eyes that looked like two burning embers. “I’ve been craving some fresh meat ever since getting here.”

The others laughed. One of them held a thick bow that looked to be made from the horns of some creature, and another held two short swords. In the back stood a smaller male with flames burning in each hand.

Quetz flicked her forked tongue out tasting the air and nearly vomited. The stench of these vermin was disgusting.

“What’re you supposed to be. Some sort of overgrown chicken with a death wish?” The dwarf in front said. “No worries, lass. I can give you a good clean death.”

Quetz had heard enough. Rage filled her as she suffused the air with her domain skill, [Presence of a Primordial]. The dwarf in front took a staggered step back while the others visibly trembled, their eyes growing wide. She saw her team run behind and into the building behind them, trembling themselves.

The head dwarf’s skin turned a dusky grey color a second later as if it had turned to stone, small cracks of red spreading throughout his body. He swung his axe toward her, an arc of flames slashing through the air. She batted it to the side with a wing but was met with a searing pain as a few of her feathers caught fire. The head dwarf stepped forward, and she could see the determination settle over his eyes as the others were still too impacted from her domain skill.

Quetz vision went red. How dare this insolent little creature mar her perfect features. She flared her wings, the feathers turning a deep golden as she activated her most potent skill, [Wrath of the Primordial Winged Serpent]. She flooded the skill with nearly half of her Primordial Energy. Feather after feather detached from the underside of her wings and circled around her with increasing speed.

The dwarf wasn’t content to just sit and let Quetz do whatever she wished. He roared, somehow rousing the others from their cowardice stupor and pushed them into action. He burst forward, surprisingly fast for one so small.

Quetz partially released the skill, sending a single golden feather infused with pure fury of a primordial after the lead dwarf while the remaining of the skill still built. The skill still wasn’t fully ready, but she enough control to sever a small portion of it to plant a seed of fear in this dwarf. He ignored the feather - clearly confident he could take the hit. Quetz smirked, eager to see her judgment be delivered. The feather pierced his stone-grey skin with ease, leaving a hole in the dwarf’s shoulder.

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He stumbled, eyes growing wide with shock. The others had joined the fray though, forcing Quetz to switch her focus. She would leave that dwarf for last. Now that she had used a feather on him, he was the only target the other feathers of her ultimate skill would go to, so she would make an example of the others first while the skill finished charging.

An arrow zipped toward her, shot from the horn strung bow of the dwarf in the back. She pushed herself to the side, serpentine body moving unnatural quick for one of her size, and sent a few gust with [Twisting Gale] toward the approaching dwarf wielding two swords. The currents of air slashed across the dwarf, opening cuts over his body as blood fell from multiple wounds.

The other dwarf at the back was busy sending a current of flames, not at Quetz, but at their leader with the axe. The fire filled the hole, somehow knitting the skin back together as he visibly relaxed.

Quetz leapt, ignoring the arrows coming from the archer and glided toward the swordsman. The arrows that hit her weren’t strong enough to pierce her skin. Unless he showed the hints of some sort of impressive skill, Quetz could largely ignore him. She could tell her [Presence of a Primordial] skill was still putting a toll on him, making it difficult for him to activate any skills.

The swordsman disappeared from sight as she got closer, and she hissed as she lost sight of him. So be it, she would take out the healer first. Two more arcs of flames hurtled toward her as the lead dwarf had largely recovered. She sent a [Twisting Gale] to meet the flames, and the skills exploded as they met in the air, neither able to overpower the other.

Quetz dropped to the ground, feeling her Primordial Energy drain too fast to stay aloft in the air. She felt a stabbing pain her flank as the swordsman reappeared and had planted his sword into her. She roared, turning to grab the dwarf with her claws but he was invisible again and out of reach in a moment.

Quetz grew more infuriated by the second. These insulant vermin thought they could challenge her. The true descendent of a Primordial. She was to be the ruler of all. She would not let this go on.

Quetz jumped again, just dodging the slash from the axe wielder who had charged her as she had landed before. She beat her wings sending razor sharp wing gust with her [Twisting Gale] skill to blanket the battlefield while she soared toward the healer.

The currents of wind locked the healer in place as he was forced to focus all of his fiery healing on himself. He essentially became a pillar of fire. Quetz didn’t care, she latched onto him, her talons digging into his chest as she activated her [Insatiable Hunger] skill. She felt immediate relief as the dwarfs Primordial Energy flowed into her. Despite the searing pain in her talons, she held on and took to the sky, using the drained Primordial Energy to fuel her flight.

Thirty seconds later, she dropped the lifeless husk of a dwarf one hundred feet onto the stone pavers below, the body slamming down next to their leader. He gripped his axe and screamed before slashing his axe at Quetz, sending fiery arc after arc toward her. She dodged easily.

Next was the archer who still cowered behind a stone pillar. He released a few arrows but was still trembling too much to really make a difference. Quetz had only chosen him next so the leader and the swordsman could watch more of their companions die. Her ultimate skill was ready, but she wanted to save it for now, even if it was a constant drain on her.

She sent a few twisting gales at the stone columns of the building as she descended, causing them to crack and crumble. The roofline fell and massive stone blocks crashed toward the ground. She laughed as she saw the little archer get crushed by a piece of the falling column.

She still had no sign of the elusive swordsman. She knew at some point he would have to abandon the skill, but without knowing the Primordial Energy investiture it required, she had no idea how long it would take.

Quetz had showed these dwarves who the true alpha of this trial was and allowed her team to witness her greatness. It was time to finish this fight. She released her [Wrath of the Primordial Winged Serpent] skill. The golden feather shot toward the lead dwarf. His eyes widened as more than twenty feathers fell toward him this time instead of only the one that had hit him before. He sent more arcs of fire toward them, but the feathers broke through without the slightest hint of slowing.

When he saw that didn’t stop them, the veins of red that looked like lave beneath his skin exploded outward, forming a shield of molten lava that completely encased him in a little dome. The feathers hit it. The first ten drilling into the rapidly hardening molten stone before fizzling out. If that’s all there was, the dwarf might have been safe, but the final feathers continued in their wake as a small hole was opened. A few seconds later, the molten stone around the dwarf evaporated in plume of smoke. It revealed him on the ground, holes riddled through his body.

He gasped for air, blood pooling at the corner of his mouth. Quetz noted an imprint in the blood beside him and descended, her talons digging into the spot. She smirked when they dug into the final dwarf. The elusive swordsman.

He flailed and cursed at her. Trying to slash him with his swords. They left shallow cuts on her legs. Just as she had the healer, she drained the Primordial Energy from him as she watched the light fade from the lead dwarf’s eyes. She ripped the swordsman in half with her talons when she was done with him, finishing the fight.

The bodies dissolved into motes of pure Primordial Energy a few minutes later, leaving behind skill crystals. Quetz was pleasantly surprised to see the lead dwarf had left behind a glowing red and black cube. A tier 4 body crystal. The dwarf had been resilient, much more than she thought possible. His defensive abilities were greater than any she had fought before. Still, there was nothing he could do even supported by three others.

She would allow her little followers to use the other skill crystals as she was a magnanimous leader. For now, she was more interested to see what the newest addition to her skill set would be. She clutched the glowing cube and flew to a secluded roof. When she returned, she would officially accept the others as part of her team so they would not be affected by her domain skill. It was a fair reward for after she had obtained a body skill crystal through the encounter.

Still, she did not trust them enough to be left vulnerable in front of them. She had always been told to never trust those around her, and more than one had been ambushed when using a skill crystal as it left you exposed and vulnerable.

Quetz pressed the cube to her chest. She cherished the warmth that filled her as the energy swirled in her chest. She felt her muscles contract, her wings twitch and a pain through her entire body that was also pleasing at the same time. The sensation only lasted a few seconds as a flood of information filled her mind. She activated the skill and looked to her wings to see the once vibrant feathers a dark iron color. They clinked as she let them brush the ground. She deactivated the skill and her normal color returned in an instant.

Yes. This would do very nicely. She thought. Quetz opened her skill screen and relished in the greatness of her now improved skill set. That, and the flood of Primordial Energy that came with using a skill crystal, completely refiling her stores.

Skills

Arm: [Wrath of the Primordial Winged Serpent]: All shall bow before your might or suffer your wrath.

Flare your wings, sending feathers flying that blaze with the heat of the sun. Each feather delivers the judgment of the Primordial. They cannot be dodged and cannot be outrun. The feathers will continue endlessly until their mark is found. Number of feathers generated based on amount of Primordial Energy invested. Attack can only be used once every twenty four hours.

Arm: [Twisting Gale]: The wind is yours to command.

Send a gust of gale force wind with a flap of your wing for a small Primordial Energy cost. The gale is not only physically powerful but becomes razor sharp as if cut by your own feathers. Cost increases with distance of attack.

Body: [Of Earth and Iron] You came from the Earth. It is only right your body should be as strong as it.

Turn your feathers to iron, greatly increasing your defensive capabilities. Effect is immediate, but causes a constant Primordial Energy drain.

Leg: [Insatiable Hunger]: When you are the pinnacle, you require more than the rest.

Sink your claws into another being, draining their Primordial Energy and vital energy from them to make it your own. Energy is purified and amplified in your own body, but always fleeting. Energy will slowly dissipate back to the original host if not used within two hours.

Leg or Mouth: -

Domain: [Presence of a Primordial]: You are the epitome of creation. Who could possibly stand above you and who dares stand before you.

All beings can naturally sense your superiority. When fed with Primordial Energy, this skill will cause others to be overwhelmed by your presence, causing them to tremble, cower, or second guess themselves. Has a varied effect based on all that it encounters. Area of affect based on amount of Primordial Energy invested.

Primordial Energy: 800/800