Tarixi watched while Aurelian and Bahamut ascended upward along one of the distant stairwells forged for access to Bael’tharax’s sanctuary, and only when the last glimmers of their Soulforce had gone beyond her awareness did the Echo turn to face the incalculable mass of the dragon king nearby.

Even after millennia, even as a spiritual remnant of the person she had once been, Tarixi could not help but feel awe each and every time she witnessed the monolithic size of the black dragon, and felt the thunderous force of his soul raging like a star within the area. She knew Aurelian would not have sensed the dragon king as she did: Bael’tharax would be shielding himself from the Nephilim to protect him.

The sheer magnitude of Bael’tharax’s power would have rendered him catatonic.

“You lied to him just as I did.” She said at last while a smile formed on her features. “You sneaky old lizard.”

Bael’tharax rumbled in response, but she could hear the bass chuckle for what it was.

“I MERELY TOLD HIM WHAT HE NEEDED TO HEAR.”

“You knew he never would have accepted your gift otherwise.”

“IT WAS NEVER A CHOICE. I KNEW MY DUTY WHEN HE PROVED HIMSELF.”

“Ever the noble protector.” Tarixi said fondly while moving herself toward the dragon king with a flicker of Intent. Her incorporeal form was useful in some ways, especially in how her remnant soulforce could be manipulated and guided in a way that had never been possible when inhabiting a corporeal form.

She manipulated herself to rise, having plenty of tether from the Simulacrum Generator which housed her phylactery such as it was, and elevated her ghostly form until she was level with the proud dragon’s left eye. “You old trickster. How much of your core did you cannibalise to give him those draughts without transferring the curse?”

“IT HARDLY MATTERS NOW.”

“To fully catalyse three Epic quality essences? While filtering out the spell killing you? I disagree! You likely shaved entire months off of whatever small amount of time you had remaining.”

“I WOULD HAVE RECOVERED.” Bael’tharax responded stubbornly.

“Before you were wounded, perhaps! How much, Bael’tharax? Tell me!”

The dragon was silent for several long moments, and then his head tilted in acquiescence. “ALMOST TOO MUCH. I HAVE DAYS AT BEST.”

Tarixi exhaled a breath she did not have, and once again forced herself to ignore the inherent logical fallacies of her existence. “Then I suppose we are of a kind, you old lizard.”

“YOUR HOUSING IS DEGENERATING?”

Tarixi nodded without showing the tremble of fear she felt. “This much prolonged activity… I barely had enough time to fully charge it when I made it. It—that is, I—was never intended to be a long term solution to the Nephilim’s learning. When he returns, we must impart as much knowledge as we can. He must be ready.”

“HE WILL BE FINE, ECHO. HE WAS CHOSEN BY MY HEIR.”

“Yes yes, I know how you dragons put stock in the bond, but it is not always infallible.”

“JUSTINIAN WAS—” Bael’tharax took a cavern-shaking breath before continuing in a quieter tone, though the fact that was possible was mildly shocking “—JUSTINIAN WAS NO MORE TO BLAME FOR WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM THAN ANY OTHER GODSWORN.”

“It isn’t mind control, Bael’tharax. It’s always a choice.”

“CHOICES CAN BE MADE WHEN ALL OTHER OPTIONS ARE STRIPPED, ECHO. YOU KNOW THIS WELL.”

“A dragon never turns on its rider, I suppose.” Tarixi said with quiet resignation while watching the large creature’s golden eye.

“THE BOND IS SACRED.”

“Yet he still—”

“ENOUGH.” Bael’tharax growled firmly.

The Echo subsided with a nod and drifted slowly forward to idly examine one of the dragon’s massive teeth.

“Are you truly ready to die, Bael’tharax?”

“I HAVE LIVED ON BORROWED TIME THESE MILLENNIA. MY LEGACY IS SAFE. MY SPECIES WILL RETURN.”

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“They are both so vulnerable…”

“ONLY FOR THE IMMEDIATE AND NEAR FUTURE. THEIR GROWTH WILL BE PRODIGIOUS.”

Tarixi raised her spectral eyebrows at the confidence in the dragon king’s rumbling voice. “The confrontation with their current foe will test him. Have you tasted the Necromancer’s Soulforce?”

“IT IS A DISTANT THING EVEN FOR ME. MUTED. OBFUSCATED.”

“That isn’t a denial, Bael’tharax.” Tarixi prodded gently.

“YES, I HAVE TASTED ITS SOULFORCE. IT IS AS FOUL AND CORRUPTED AS WHEN I FIRST SENSED IT MILLENNIA AGO. I DID NOT WISH TO BURDEN THEM WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE AGAINST. BUT… THE NECROMANCER IS WEAK. DECREPIT. THERE IS A CHANCE.”

“If they die…” She murmured with quiet trepidation.

“ALL ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES, ECHO. THEIR CHOICE IS NO EXCEPTION.”

“Could you protect them if it were needed?”

“IF THEY ARE TO FALL, THEN IT IS AS IT MUST BE.”

“That isn’t an answer, old lizard.”

Bael’tharax rumbled a disapproving harrumph and flexed his massive wings with a gargantuan stretch. The metres-thick leather of each one rippled through the air and created a quiet boom when he made the equivalent of a slow downward flap. The air pressure alone was enough to shake the cavern once again, when combined with the subtle movements of his huge body.

“IF IT WERE NEEDED, I BELIEVE I COULD FORCE MY WAY OUT. EACH USE OF MAGIC HASTENS MY DEMISE BY A FRACTION, BUT I COULD.”

“Only in the most dire circumstances, then. Understood. Let us hope they will not need your intercession.”

“THE TIME OF MY DOMINION HAS LONG-SINCE PASSED, ECHO. WE ARE BUT CORPSES THAT DID NOT HAVE THE GOOD SENSE TO DIE, YOU AND I.”

Tarixi snorted. “How poetic you are near your death, Bael’tharax.”

“I AM A CREATURE OF IMMENSE INTELLECT AND CAPABILITY. IT SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE THAT I WAX POETIC NOW AND AGAIN.”

The pride of dragons would survive longer than any other part of them, she wagered. Even dying and drained of much of his power, the dragon king was as proud as the day he’d hatched. “Did you expect Bahamut to choose him?”

“I HOPED. I DID NOT KNOW, NOR DID I WISH TO INTERFERE… BUT I HOPED.”

“I’m sure the latent resonance of your essence within the Reclaimer had nothing to do with it.” Tarixi replied slyly.

“I SUPPOSE WE WILL NEVER KNOW.” The dragon king responded with shameless regality. “THOUGH EVEN IF MY ESSENCE DID CREATE AN INITIAL RESONANCE,” he said as if entertaining a decidedly silly notion, “ALL IT WOULD HAVE DONE WAS ALLOW THE CONSCIOUSNESS WITHIN THE EGG TO BE MADE AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY. BAHAMUT STILL WOULD HAVE HAD TO CONFIRM AURELIAN’S WORTHINESS HIMSELF.”

“And the name?” Tarixi asked curiously. “Do you approve of it? It is not very draconic.”

“PERHAPS IT IS NOT, BUT THAT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE IT ANY LESS APPROPRIATE. THERE WAS GREAT PRIDE, PASSION, AND REVERENCE IN THE RECLAIMER’S MIND WHEN HE SPOKE THE NAME. WHILE IT MAY MEAN NOTHING TO US, I BELIEVE IT MEANS A GREAT DEAL TO AURELIAN.”

“Which makes it worthy.” Tarixi finished with a small nod. “That makes plenty of sense. I was not aware you were tracking his emotions so closely, even after you sensed his surprise at my obfuscation.”

“YOU WERE NOT THE ONLY ONE LEFT WITH A TASK, ECHO.”

Tarixi raised both eyebrows. “Oh?”

“LUCIUS TOLLARIUS ASKED A FINAL SERVICE OF ME. HE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT, EVEN WITH HIS WIFE’S ASSURANCES, THERE WOULD BE NO RISK OF ANOTHER CATACLYSM.”

Tarixi grimaced. “The fact that so many of the Nephilim that came in later centuries were such monsters is…” She shook her head. “Many of us were sceptical at best, and terrified at worst when Imperatrix Selucia proposed her summoning. Unleashing another Calamity Core absent the Empire or Dragon King to stop it should the Nephilim go mad? It was horrifying to even contemplate. I always wondered why the Imperator was so willing to accept her assurances, wife or not.”

“WONDER NO MORE. I HAVE BEEN DELVING AURELIAN’S SOULFORCE AND PSYCHE SINCE THE MOMENT I AWOKE. EVEN MY FIRST WORDS TO HIM WERE A TEST. EVERY ACTION, EVERY MOMENT HAVE I WATCHED. WAITED. I WAS READY TO END HIM WITH A SINGLE BITE, EVEN IF IT SHOULD COST MY SPECIES THEIR RETURN, RATHER THAN SEE ANOTHER MAD CALAMITY UNLEASHED UPON THE PRIME MATERIAL.”

“But you were in stasis, what if he had never released you?”

“THERE WERE FAILSAFES.” Bael’tharax responded cryptically.

“I see… that is consistent with the Imperator’s nature.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Which means he and you were both thinking ahead to different possibilities.” Her eyes widened a fraction. “So then the offer to bond was—?”

“HIS FINAL TEST. NO DRAGON WOULD EVER REFUSE A NEPHILIM’S POWER. NOT UNLESS THEY WERE TRULY, DEEPLY, AND IRREPARABLY ROTTEN.”

Tarixi sighed and peered at the ancient leviathan with a smile that she felt to her core. It was a reassurance, a measure of peace, and a liberation of any final worries all at once. Bael’tharax had given her what she needed to finally, finally come to terms with her fate. She could walk toward it, so to speak, with no more doubt.

The Reclaimer was not a nascent cataclysm. A weight lifted from her weathered soul.

“Then I suppose we can both look forward to our rest.” She said softly.

“INDEED.” The dragon said while inclining his massive head. “IT HAS BEEN AN HONOUR TO KNOW A SPIRIT AS RESILIENT AS YOURS, TARIXI FIRESOUL.”

Tarixi blinked and looked up at him in shock. “You used my—her name.”

“I KNOW.” Bael’tharax replied with simple, but meaningful resolve.

Tarixi felt herself smiling, and ghostly tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Thank you, King of Kings.”

The dragon said nothing more and together the two of them waited in silence.

Two ancient souls lost to time and resolved to the final twilight of their long lives.

Acceptance. At last.