”Wait for it! Wait for it! Now! Fire!” The captain ordered and the heavily armed airship blasted several bolts of deadly arcane energy directly at their target. The ship was a brand new model designed to take on regular ships of the line despite being smaller and more maneuverable. However, their target quickly proved why they had gained the title of undisputed masters of the sky.
The dragon spun quickly in the air, the speed and nimbleness of its movements seeming impossible for such a large creature, and most of the shots sailed past harmlessly. The one that did manage to score a grazing hit was deflected by the thick and sturdy scales of the beast. The dragon growled more in annoyance than pain. “Don’t mind it Nalafor. Their firepower was higher than we expected but it makes little difference.” The elven rider of the dragon patted his mount’s neck. He knew the dragon was more annoyed at itself for getting hit than anything else.
“Easy for you to say Ellandal. You’re not the one who has to dodge the incoming fire.” The dragon protested, though the tone was joking and made it clear how leisurely the two were taking the battle.
“Come now, old friend. Since when did dodging shots become such a chore? We've downed enough of these flying contraptions before. What makes this any harder than the others? Besides the fact that their leader actually had the patience to wait until we got close enough to surprise us, that is." The elven warrior in silver and gold armor asked with a small smile. At the same time, he waved his hand and a brilliant blue sigil glowed brightly, forming a shield of energy in front of the dragon to deflect the next volley. The elf gave a small sigh. “I suppose it was too much to expect the empire’s finest to just give up after a single volley.” The drain on his mana was quite noticeable, which spoke volumes of the effectiveness of those weapons firing at them.
“Time to return fire before their reinforcements arrive.” The dragon’s voice sounded like an avalanche of stones falling down the hillside as it pulled in a large breath and flew closer to the ship.
“Captain! Incoming from the port side!” One of the officers on the bridge of the airship shouted in alarm and they all watched as the large beast flew past them while the deadly breath of the dragon covered the right flank of the vessel in a sea of fire. As the flames finally burnt out, the brightly shining protective barrier flickered and turned sickly yellow. It was hard to compete with the breath of a dragon in destructiveness.
“The port side barrier took severe damage and we’re compensating from the other barriers. Captain, we won’t be able to take another one of those!” One of the mages in charge of the barriers fields protecting the ship warned, sweat already covering his forehead.
The captain released a breath he had been holding and flexed his fingers that had been squeezing hard on his chair. “It’s a good thing the dragon is relatively small. Otherwise, we would be toast." The barriers of the ship were state of the art and could take heavy bombardment from other airships, but a dragon was a dragon, and their breath was the most dangerous weapon any flying being possessed. Well, aside from the rider in this case. “Why in the blazes is one of the Dragon Princes here? I thought we would be able to retrieve the item and flee before anyone else arrived."
“Sir, their presence makes no sense.” His advisor whispered. The wiry man was usually a great source of information. “They either had foreknowledge of the Heavensfall this time, or we have the shittiest luck in the empire.”
“Blasted seers!” The captain cursed. “Have we located the item?”
“Yes!” The scout leader relayed, his eyes glowing with magical light as he shared vision with the scouts outside. “We’ve spotted the cocoon of divine power at the side of one of the mountains. The impact created a rather large crater. It’s going to take some effort to dislodge the item without magical help. Effort and time we don’t have.”
“Curses! Alright! Time to recognize when we are outmatched. The higher-ups will have my head for this, but better a demotion than losing a prototype ship on the first bloody voyage. At least we can take back a report of the Dragon Prince violating our borders. That should get us some concessions even if we won’t get the item. Prepare to Shift back home.”
“They’re running away.” The dragon grumbled as they both sensed the power gathering inside the magicore of the vessel.
“As they should. They know when they’re fighting a battle they can’t win. We need to move quickly. The empire won’t tolerate our presence and will send more forces as soon as they can. It will be annoying to fight a protracted battle and the Queen wants to avoid a war. Otherwise, she would've sent more of us or one of the elders.” The elven rider released a sigh. He had no real desire to actually destroy the ship as the empire was not in war with the elves. Still, some things were too important to allow falling into wrong hands and they had no idea what had fallen from the Divine Planes this time. It could be nothing, or it could be something that could upset the delicate power balance between the various major powers.
The airship was just about to be surrounded by a field of mana that would allow it to transfer to a safer location, but suddenly the spell seemed to dissipate and fizzle out. “Oh dear. It seems we’re out of time.” The rider shook his head and the dragon managed to look pensive. Now things were going to become complicated.
Everyone with magical ability present could feel as a restrictive field covered the area completely in all directions. All forms of spatial magic and teleportation both in and out became impossible. The size of the field was enormous, signaling the fact that whoever cast it was very powerful indeed. Both the dragon and the elven rider raised their eyes higher and spotted a large spatial tunnel closing in the sky. The tunnel was extremely large, but not because of those that came through. A single man didn’t need such a large and power demanding spatial pathway. No, the size of the pathway was because of the distance the pathway had to travel.
The dragon recognized the burden involved in making such a large tunnel through space and knew it would require a great sacrifice of power, but it didn't recognize the person that came through. The elven rider did, however. Or to be exact, he recognized the uniform the handsome looking dark-haired man was wearing. The black military uniform with golden highlights was the symbol of one of the most powerful military forces on the plane. The uniform also had three insignia that he was able to make out with his sharp eyes even at this distance. One insignia had nine stars on a black night sky, the second had a glowing portal opening, and the last one had nine glowing swords crossed in a circle. The three symbols told a dreadful story about the power of the man, and the rider knew they were not going to win if this turned into a fight. He also knew who the man must be despite never having seen him before.
”Grand Medjai Arjuna. An unexpected pleasure. I certainly did not expect the Shadow Weaver to make an appearance. I suppose I don’t need to ask what would bring the Magocracy all the way out here.” The elven rider greeted courteously as his dragon flew closer to the man slowly floating towards the ground. He even lowered his weapons to signal that he had no intention to fight.
“I must admit, I was not expecting to see one of the Dragon Princes of the High Elven court either.” The man gave a small nod and a polite smile. While his uniform was impeccable, it was clear he was not all that comfortable with the formal attire. The top button at his neck was unbuttoned and his long hair was flowing around free and untied. Both would’ve been violations of the dress code in most militaries. The young-looking man didn’t seem to care about such details though.
“The Queen had a vision.” The Dragon Prince explained curtly. “This time the Heavensfall brought something special. Something we can’t allow to fall into the hands of the empire. Or any of the more aggressive factions for that matter.” Luckily, despite the might of the man and those he allied himself with, the Magocracy was not an expansionists power. They were meddlesome, however.
“What a coincidence, I was also sent here by the master of the Starlight Tower.” The man stated in a calm voice but his words shocked the elven noble to the core, to the point where he got small shivers down his back. Even the dragon looked like it had swallowed something it shouldn’t have.
“T-the Witch of the Starlight Tower sent you here? How bad is it?” He asked cautiously. The Starlight Tower was the most famed home of seers in the entire plane. No one on the Higher Planes would contest that and many distant worlds sent their ambassadors to consult the seers of the tower on various matters. Usually the master of the tower and those that directly served her only got involved when things were extremely serious.
Stolen story; please report.
“Very. She ordered me to retrieve the cocoon personally. I was told not to allow anyone to stop me.” The dark man looked at the elf sternly, making sure the other side understood his implication. When this man was sent to do something and he put his mind to it, there were very few beings that could even slow him down. This was something most of the notable powers of the Higher Planes were aware of.
“You put me in a bind. However, I can recognize when I’m outmatched. I would ask that we come to an agreement though, to save our Queen from being embarrassed.” The elven man requested, knowing that this was the best he could do, and he was already pushing things. The man in front of him was perfectly capable of just ignoring him and taking what he wanted.
"You shall have your agreement. We can discuss the details another time. I need to complete my mission first. This is too important to wait for some political maneuvering.” The man stated and the elven warrior agreed. A promise between the two was enough. He knew the other party to be honorable.
“What of them?” The dragon growled and eyed the airship flying away in a hurry.
“Letting them leave would be…inconvenient, but better than risking war by hunting them down after they’ve chosen retreat. The empire is fairly belligerent anyway, and this won’t change things too much. Until we meet again Grand Medjai.” The rider decided and urged his dragon to leave in the opposite direction. Both sides would need to get outside the field that prevented Shifting to leave the area.
Arjuna watched as the Dragon Prince flew away on his mount. The High Elves were the only ones who could successfully bond the prideful dragons, and that alone made their lands safer than anywhere else in the Higher Planes. He gave a small sigh. The cost to open a portal to this part of the world had been great, as the Starlight Tower was on the opposite side of the enormous planet. Most worlds on the Higher Planes were large, and theirs was no exception. Still, he could’ve opened the portal with his own powers, but that would’ve drained him completely and left him vulnerable in case he had to fight a serious battle. He still might have to despite coming to terms with the biggest player in this part of the world.
He rapidly descended and landed next to the cocoon of golden power. “A rather small thing to cause so much worry.” He commented, and with a wave of his hand, the stone surrounding the cocoon seemed to be eaten by the darkness surrounding the crater. Yet when the shadows came too close with the cocoon, they seemed to dissipate, which slowed the process down.
A tiny black shape peeked from his sleeve. "Not a weapon then?" The feminine voice of the shadow suggested. The cocoon of golden energy was slowly dissipating, but even at its full size, it hadn't been much bigger than Arjuna himself. They knew from experience that such cocoons could be deceptive in size as anything inside would need a lot of protection to survive the trip from the Divine Planes. The term Heavensfall was not an exaggeration. The meteoric crash was the easiest part of the trip as realities were torn apart to allow such passage.
“A dagger perhaps?” He suggested. No matter the nature of the object, this wasn’t the place to speculate. Once the earth around the object had been cleared sufficiently, he placed his hand on the cocoon and tried to store it in his storage ring. The failure made his sharp eyebrows draw into a thoughtful frown that would’ve excited the members of the opposite sex. The problems he was having were not inconsequential. Very few reasons could cause this reaction. Either what was in the cocoon was protected against such storage methods, or whatever was inside was alive and couldn’t be stored for that reason. He prayed it would be the former, as the Witch of the tower had been rather specific in her instructions. He would need to look after whatever was inside to avoid a huge calamity. It was not the first mission of its kind, but he still hated dealing with the smug and self-assured woman that had given him those missions. The only reason he still went along with it this time was the promise of dire consequence she made if he didn’t agree to help.
“Not working is it?” The shadow asked, knowing what that meant. It had learned a lot following its master.
“We’ll just have to do it the old fashioned way.” He waved his hand and glowing energy lifted the cocoon from the crater and held it aloft. Well, at least he had not been forced to fight so far, so he would be able to make the gate himself this time. A large and complicated sigil appeared above his head and the shadows seemed to swallow him and the cocoon.
------
“Welcome home master.” Arjuna was greeted on the teleportation platform of his tower by a stunningly beautiful woman wearing attire similar to his own. The difference was that she wore it perfectly. Not a single button was out of place and her long wavy brown hair was gathered in a tight braid that came all the way down to the small of her back, just above her long and soft tail. The serious expression she wore while she gave a small perfunctory bow was the same one she always had on her face.
“Duskclaw. I assume everything is still in order despite my absence?” Arjuna asked offhandedly. He had faith in his disciple. Still, the mission had been thrust upon him without any forewarning and there were demands on his time. Demands that didn’t simply disappear when the mission was given to him. Luckily his disciple was perfectly capable of handling a few lectures without his presence.
“Everything is in order master. There were no unexpected complications. Your workshop has been prepared for receiving the artifact, and I’ve taken the liberty to cancel all the rest of your appointments for the rest of the day.” She replied with a confident but emotionless face. Arjuna had seen her smile exactly once. That was when he had taken her as a disciple. That smile had been the last one she had shown, mostly because her seriousness was her way of showing appreciation and respect.
“Good. I’m afraid the Heavensfall this time might have brought us something special. Not that we should expect anything different considering it was that witch that sent me to retrieve the cocoon.” Arjuna nodded appreciatively. His disciple was very competent and he knew that he could rely on her for such things.
"How did the mission go?" She asked while stepping up to walk behind him at a respectful distance as they quickly walked through the corridors of his tower. The tower was one of the largest in a city already filled with large buildings, and the distances inside were extended further by spatial magic. This wasn't due to Arjuna's need for ostentatious surroundings. It was a matter of standing and the need for space due to his experiments and various projects.
“Successfully, although I did have to promise a favor to the High Elves. One of their Dragon Princes had arrived before me and was battling some prototype ship of the Aegean empire. I had to give the elves some leeway to prevent things getting dicey. A favor to complete a mission for the witch without a battle seemed like a decent enough trade. Once we get this thing into stasis, I can extract the value of the eventual favor from the witch as this was her idea.” He already had some ideas in mind. Mostly ideas that included being left alone in the future.
"The cocoon seems rather small this time," Duskclaw commented while looking at the floating container of divine power.
"Great trouble sometimes comes in small packages," Arjuna replied without realizing just how prophetic those words would end up being.
They soon arrived in a workshop filled with various magical apparatuses and artifacts. Nearly all of them were used to either build something or to take something apart. The rest were used to study the nature of objects, or the meaning of texts. The workshop was large, and it had a large open space in the middle where a waist-high pillar glowing with glyphs was surrounded by layers of magical formations etched into the floor and the ceiling high above their heads.
With a wave of his hand, Arjuna sent the cocoon floating on top of the pillar and the pillar extended to accommodate for the cocoon. It also shifted a bit so that the edges of the pillar rose up to keep whatever was in the cocoon inside a small basin that was formed at the center, just in case the cocoon contained something liquid. Long arms glowing with magical symbols extended from the sides, and they all had crystals of various colors at the tips.
Duskclaw stayed at the edge of the room so as to not interfere with what was going on, and she couldn’t help but admire the masterful ease with which her master effortlessly controlled over thirty spells at the same time as the crystals danced around the cocoon. It looked as if the cocoon was a tapestry being unwoven by a master weaver as threads of divine power were slowly being absorbed by the crystals and the formation below.
Despite making it seem effortless, Arjuna was on the verge of breaking into sweat as he struggled to dismantle the cocoon. This wasn’t the first item that had fallen from the Divine Planes that he had acquired, but he had never seen protections like this. Heavensfall was not a common occurrence, but not so rare that he would be unfamiliar with the procedure. Divinities and immortals often fought either each other or some unknown threats, and the items they lost were sometimes flung through space and time to land on the lower planes. The cocoon of divine power was something that formed on divine objects to protect them during the journey. Unweaving the protective power was challenging but not something one couldn’t do with enough expertise and proper equipment. The only issue was that the process was delicate and you couldn’t really stop until you finished.
This time the protective layer of divine power was deceptively thick and tightly woven. It seemed like whatever was inside wasn’t something that had accidentally fallen from the Divine Plane, but something that had been sent on purpose. Something that someone really wanted to survive the trip. Finally, the remaining power of the cocoon started glowing in a way that signified that his work was done. The rest of the power would dissipate on its own. Once he identified the object, he would be able to slap a bunch of protective and sealing talismans on it and throw it in the deepest vault he had and be done with the whole project.
He stepped back to allow the rest of the power to be drained by the containment formation, though to his surprise, most of it seemed to travel inwards towards the item itself. With a final burst of light, the cocoon was gone and Arjuna’s eye twitched in annoyance. “What’s that?” He asked rhetorically.
Duskclaw walked closer and for the second time ever, Arjuna saw her smile. “Master, I believe that’s a baby. A sleeping baby to be exact.”
“I’ve been had.” Arjuna suddenly realized. “The damn witch told me quite specifically that I would need to look after whatever was in the cocoon.”
“And you assumed that meant you just had to store an item and make sure it didn’t fall into wrong hands.” Duskclaw finished for him, understanding the thinking of her master after having spent enough time under his tutelage. “It seems she allowed you to misunderstand on purpose. Looking after a baby is quite a bit more difficult than simply storing a dangerous object.”
“So it would seem.” Arjuna gave a deep sigh. They could both sense the aura around the child and they understood that the parents of the baby were anything but ordinary. The baby didn’t look ordinary either. She already had a sort of otherworldly quality about her and looked more like a miniature person rather than a normal baby. It was quite obvious already that the child would be stunningly attractive when she grew up. “I think we can safely assume we just became the parents of a Godling.”
Godling, Empyrean, Demi-God, Godborn, and countless others. A host of names all used to describe a child born between Divines. This was not the first time such a being had been sent down from the Divine Planes, and every time the child would upset the balance of whatever world it landed in. “W-we? Parents?” Duskclaw stuttered a bit with a shocked expression. She was showing more emotions in a single day than in decades before this.
“Yes. We. If I’m supposed to take care of the child, then I’m certainly not going to do it alone. Besides, I’m not exactly optimal parenting material. You have younger siblings, right?” Arjuna asked, his voice sounding slightly panicked, something his disciple had never heard before.
“Yes, but that’s not the same. Master, you’re not going to push this whole thing on me. YOU were told to take care of the baby, not me. That was likely for a reason.” Duskclaw hastily countered.
"And as much as I loathe to do so, I will do my part. I will have your help, however.” Arjuna stated decisively, his tone brooking no arguments.