As I lay there, basking in the warmth of the rising sun, the sudden sound of my siblings' bickering woke me from my slumber. I opened my eyes and smile extended across my face as I saw Immy, and Sidus, flying towards our mountain.

"What are they bickering about now?" I thought to myself, knowing that my siblings could be quite argumentative at times.

As they approached, I could hear their voices clearly. Immy was speaking in a cool, detached tone, while Sidus was more animated, his words filled with passion and energy.

"Useless? You were the one who almost got us killed!" Sidus exclaimed, his voice rising in anger.

Immy snorted, a small wisp of smoke escaping from her nostrils. "If you had been more patient, we would have gotten rid of them more easily."

I watched as they circled each other, their wings beating furiously. They were both fierce and powerful dragons, but very different in temperament. Immy was as aloof as always, with her usual cold and calm expression. Sidus, on the other hand, still retained some of his impulsiveness it seemed.

As they landed on the edge of the mountain, they both looked up and saw me. Their expressions were shocked before they softened, and I could see the respect and admiration in their eyes.

"Brother!" Sidus exclaimed, his voice filled with surprise. "It's good to see you again."

Immy nodded her head in greeting, a small smile on her face. "Welcome back, brother. We've missed you."

I stood up, stretching my wings and feeling the warmth of the sun on my scales. It felt good to be back, to be surrounded by family once again.

"It's good to see you both as well," I said, my voice filled with warmth and affection. I had to admit, I missed these two. "What have you been up to?"

Hearing my question, they both launched into an animated retelling of their encounter with a shade and their fight against it, each one blaming the other for their mistakes.

My frown eased as I heard them recall their encounter. It seemed like it wasn't a particularly strong one. That made sense, after all, I doubted the dragons would allow a strong shade to settle in their lands, no matter how vast it is.

"So, what brings you back home, brother?" Immy asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

"Well, I encountered a shade during my travels, as well, but it was no ordinary shade. It was a special one, and I needed to consult with our parents on what to do about it."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Immy's eyes widened in surprise. "A special shade? What makes it so different?"

And so I began to recount my encounter with the shade and took extra care to explain what it was, and what differentiated it from the others. By the time I began to narrate my fight with it, and the aftermath it caused, my siblings' mouths hung open in shock and disbelief.

"So... You almost destroyed the plane, and the king had to intervene?" Sidus muttered in a daze.

"Well, when you put it that way, it does sound bad — but yes."

"I always knew you were strong, brother, but for you to already be able to affect the entire plane, it seems like we need to work hard to catch up," Immy answered with a smile.

"And so, what did mother tell you?" Sidus asked as he diverted the subject.

I glanced at them both before speaking. "Mother has advised me to use the mortals and the church they built in worship for me to gather information about the shade before dealing with it once and for all," I explained to them.

Immy's eyes widened in surprise. "The mortals? Why would we involve them in this?"

I shook my head. "Not involve them directly, but use their resources. They have a network of spies and informants that could prove useful in our mission."

Sidus nodded, his eyes alight with excitement. "I'm in. Let's go find this shade and take it down."

I held up a clawed hand, stopping his enthusiasm in its tracks. "Not so fast, Sidus. Did you not just hear what I said? This bastard is an ancient shade, it's not like the other ones,"

"So what, brother? Didn't you already say it's merely a projection, besides you fought him once, you could use our help," Sidus quickly replied.

I shook my head and answered, "It seems like you forgot something, you guys are both using pillars of existence as well, which means you cannot use your mana against it. Doing so would only harm the plane instead."

"But-" Sidus tried to argue but was stopped by Immy who sighed in annoyance.

"What use will you be without your mana? Even that muscle head, Ynos would be a better help than you. You'd only hinder brother Aether's mission."

Sidus turned and barred his teeth while glaring at her in annoyance, "Don't compare me to you, sister. If you are afraid of a mere possessed mortal knight, then you are nothing but a disgrace of a dragon."

His words caused Immy's usually expressionless face to twitch as she turned toward him. Sensing the tense mood between the two, I quickly spoke up, "Enough, I didn't tell you all of this for you to start quarreling. Besides this is my fight, the bastard ran away from me once, but that won't happen again. I'll handle it."

Immy nodded calmly and answered, "I understand. But we are your siblings, and we will support you in whatever you decide to do. So if you need our help, we will always be here, brother."

I smiled at her, feeling a warmth spread through me. "Thank you, Immy. That means a lot to me."

Sidus, on the other hand, clicked his tongue and lowered his head. It looked like he did want to come to fight the shade alongside me. Alas, what I said was not a lie, I was not sure if it was a wise thing to bring two more pillars to the fight. I doubted the plane could handle that.

"Don't be so disappointed, Sidus. We'll get our chance to fight together, hell, we might even go on one of those raids, father seems to love so much. Just not this fight."

My answer seemed to have pleased him as I could sense his mood turn for the better, albeit he tried hard not to show that. 'Cute, he was still a child after all.'