Sophia left her private quarters, her composure visibly restored, stepping confidently onto the bridge of the Stormbreaker. As she entered, the tense atmosphere was palpable, with the crew hurriedly coordinating responses to a rapidly evolving situation.
Approaching Ivor, who was managing communications, Sophia overheard part of a distressing update from Taileral. "Holvor has suffered severe injuries; he's lost his left arm and a part of his wing in an ambush. He's still engaged with the enemy," Ivor relayed, his tone grim.
Sophia's expression turned steely, her resolve crystallizing. "I'll handle this directly. Prepare for my departure," she commanded, her voice echoing with authority across the bustling bridge.
"Understood, General. We'll provide cover and continue to monitor the situation closely," Taileral responded through the hologram, her relief evident at Sophia's decision to intervene.
Nodding sharply to Ivor, Sophia instructed, "Maintain formation and keep the fleet alert. I'm going ahead." With a brisk stride, she moved towards the teleportation chamber, the crew parting ways in respect and anticipation.
Sophia steadied herself within the teleportation chamber, her focus intensifying as she prepared for the spatial leap. She whispered a series of incantations, layering enchantments for breathability and protection in the vacuum of space. Her voice, imbued with the depth of her draconic heritage, echoed powerfully as she initiated the primary teleportation spell. "Ada monv hachala," she intoned, the chamber responding with swirling energy and brilliant light. As the magic reached its peak, she declared the final word of the sequence with conviction, "Yaymoa!" The surrounding energies pulsed once more, then propelled her across the vast distances of space.
In an instant, Sophia was catapulted light-years ahead of the Stormbreaker. As she re-materialized in space, she swiftly transformed into her draconic form, a majestic creature whose size dwarfed even the largest dreadnoughts floating amidst the debris of battle.
In the vacuum of space, Sophia's immense dragon form, shimmering with sapphire and crimson scales, maneuvered with surprising grace. Her eyes, one blue and the other a deep red, scanned the battlefield for Holvor. Ahead, amidst a chaotic skirmish of remaining enemy ships and scattered debris, she spotted the fiery red dragon, his form marred by battle wounds but still fiercely engaging the enemy.
Sophia approached, her presence alone commanding attention. As she neared Holvor, it was clear he was lost in a berserker's rage, oblivious to his own safety. She knew she had to bring him back, not just for his sake but for the safety of their entire mission. Her approach was cautious, yet determined, ready to use force if necessary to subdue him and prevent further carnage.
She opened the communications channel, her voice booming across the cosmos. "Holvor! Stop this reckless assault and get your ass back to the fleet, you idiot!"
Holvor, amidst the din of battle and his own fury, seemed barely to register her command. His scales, normally a vibrant red, were darkened with soot and his own blood, one wing hanging grotesquely by mere threads of flesh. Yet, his spirit was unbroken, his roar defiant.
"Solaria! Why hold back? Join me, and let's finish this!" Holvor bellowed back, using Sophia's ancient dragon name in a clear challenge to her authority.
The invocation of her old name sent shockwaves through Sophia. Hearing "Solaria" resurfaced memories of a dark chapter she had striven to close—a time when she wielded her powers under that name, driven by demonic influences and necromancy, paths she had definitively abandoned. Now, looming large and formidable in the void of space, she blocked Holvor's advance. She had made it clear to all who followed her: she was to be called Sophia or Valicar, but never again that name.
"Don't ever call me by that name again!" Sophia's voice sliced through the chaos, heavy with authority and a palpable anger. "You know the darkness it represents!"
She then shifted her tone, trying to pierce the fury consuming Holvor, aiming to reach any part of him that might still heed reason. "This is not the path to glory, Holvor! It's sheer madness. Stand down now, or I swear I'll take you down myself!"
But Holvor, fueled by pain and the thrill of combat, met her command with defiance. His eyes, ablaze like twin suns, locked onto hers with an intensity that matched the inferno around them. "If you stand in my way, Solaria, then you are my enemy! I follow the dragon you once were—the true force of nature, unyielding, never retreating!" His voice roared across the void, defiant and challenging. "Prove you are still that dragon, or relinquish your claim as Dragon Lord!"
His challenge stoked the flames of rage within Sophia as she confronted not just the rebellious dragon before her but also the shadows of her past identity.
With those words, the space between them charged with an electric tension. Holvor crouched, ready to spring, his muscles taut, and what remained of his once mighty wing flaring out in a clear prelude to a charge. Despite missing an arm and most of his wing, his stance was one of a warrior ready for a final stand.
Sophia roared in a mix of rage and sorrow, her voice thundering through space as she faced not just Holvor's physical challenge, but also the dark reminder of her past and the test of her leadership. As she braced herself, her scales hardened and her muscles tensed, ready for the clash. The battlefield seemed to pause, the cosmos holding its breath in anticipation of the imminent collision between these two titanic forces, each moment heavy with the weight of history and heartache.
As Holvor lunged with a guttural roar, Sophia met him head-on, their titanic collision sending shockwaves rippling through the cosmos. Their scales clashed, creating a cacophony of scraping and clanging that echoed like thunder across the void. Despite her size advantage, Sophia had to maneuver with both power and precision, aiming to subdue rather than seriously harm, while Holvor fought with the wild desperation of a wounded beast, his attacks fueled by pain and rage.
The remnants of the enemy fleet seized the moment, bombarding them with a relentless barrage of demonic energy bolts and searing plasma fire. The battlefield transformed into a maelstrom of light and shadow, each explosive blast casting Sophia's sapphire and crimson scales in stark relief against the darkness of space. She twisted and dodged, her draconic prowess on full display as she deflected and absorbed the incoming onslaught with her formidable magical defenses.
Amidst this chaos, Sophia and Holvor unleashed their breath weapons, their dueling jets of flame clashing in mid-air with explosive force. Holvor’s flames, tinged with the crimson of his fury, collided with Sophia’s brilliant blue inferno, mixing in a violent dance that painted a gruesome tableau of their struggle.
In the heat of their battle, claws and talons found flesh, gouging scales and drawing blood. Sophia could have ended the confrontation swiftly with a well-placed spell, but she knew that brute strength and a physical show of dominance were the only lessons Holvor would heed. Each clash, each strike she delivered, was measured—enough to bruise and batter but not to break. It was not the first time she had to put him in his place, and her familiarity with his rebellious streak guided her strikes.
With each punishing blow, Sophia reinforced her authority, not merely as a leader but as the alpha, the dragon lord whose command was absolute. She reminded him through force why she led their kind, and why even his formidable strength was no match for her seasoned might. As Holvor struggled against her, his breaths heavy and his flames flickering out, Sophia’s tail whipped around with lethal precision. It coiled tightly around his neck, squeezing with a controlled, unyielding force. Despite his fierce struggling and the raw power he mustered, her grip only tightened, constricting his airway until his efforts weakened and his eyes dimmed to the edge of unconsciousness.
Through gritted teeth and with her body shielding him from another barrage from the enemy, Sophia leaned close, her voice a low growl that carried over the din of the cosmic battlefield. "This is why I'm in charge, Holvor. Remember this lesson." Her eyes, one a deep crimson and the other a piercing blue, burned with a fierce intensity as she finally subdued him, demonstrating not just her power but her necessity as their leader.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
As the enemy fire dwindled, realizing the futility of their efforts against such a display of draconic supremacy, Sophia secured Holvor's limp form with her tail, preparing to drag him back to the safety of their fleet. This battle was over, but the war continued, and she had made her point clear—not just to Holvor but to any who dared challenge her rule.
Exhausted and pained by the necessity of her actions, Sophia floated in the aftermath, Holvor's unconscious form securely in her grasp. The battle around them had quieted, the enemy's resolve broken by the display of draconic might.
With Holvor subdued, Sophia opened her communications channel to the Stormbreaker. "He's subdued. Prepare the medical bay; we're coming in," she reported, her voice carrying both authority and a trace of sadness. As she towed Holvor back to the fleet, her scales shimmered with the residual heat of battle, a vivid reminder of the ferocity and cost of their ancient form of warfare.
Meanwhile, as remnants of the enemy fleet began regrouping, aiming to exploit Sophia’s preoccupation with Holvor, the urgency of the situation dawned on her. Surrounded by the floating debris and wreckage of previous skirmishes, Sophia positioned herself strategically and began to channel one of her most formidable spells. Calling forth ancient magic, she prepared to unleash a cosmic phenomenon that mirrored the devastating power of a gamma-ray burst, ready to thwart any further advances by the enemy.
Drawing upon her deep knowledge of celestial mechanics and the arcane arts, Sophia focused on manipulating mass and gravity. Her incantation, whispered in the ancient tongue of dragons, resonated through the cosmos. "Fa za ra Hol munchav wes tal brasl," she intoned, her voice growing in power with each syllable.
Around her, the particles of destroyed ships and cosmic dust began to swirl, coalescing into a dense, glowing orb at her command. Sophia harnessed the gravitational forces of nearby celestial bodies, amplifying them with her magic to compress the orb into a nascent star. The energy within it grew unstable, teetering on the brink of a supernova.
As she orchestrated the cosmic phenomenon, Sophia remembered Mike's reaction to their earlier experiments with nuclear reactions at HelmHold. Even if the finer scientific details sometimes eluded him, the sheer destructive potential had always captivated him. "You would have loved this spell, Mike, just like the nuke," she mused softly. The current spell, a controlled supernova, was like a nuclear reaction on a grand scale—far more powerful and intricate. It involved manipulating the fundamental processes of fission and fusion, similar to those in a nuclear bomb but vastly magnified. This manipulation of stellar forces was not just about destruction; it was a profound display of power and control, harnessing the life cycle of a star to unleash energy millions of times more potent than any terrestrial nuclear device could produce.
As the enemy fleet closed in, Sophia sent a urgent message to Taileral and the rest of her fleet. "Pull back to a safe distance immediately," she commanded, her tone firm and authoritative. "Prepare for shockwave dispersion."
With her own forces moving to safety, Sophia finalized her spell. The mini star, now pulsing with unbearable energy, reached the critical point. With a final gesture of control, Sophia released the constraints she had magically imposed upon it.
The star exploded in a blinding supernova, its core collapsing before unleashing a directed gamma-ray burst. A devastating beam of plasma and gamma rays tore through space, cutting a swath of destruction across the enemy's formation. Ships that were caught in the direct path of the burst vaporized instantly, their materials disintegrating under the extreme energy.
The blast radiated outwards, the light brilliant and terrifying, a testament to the raw power of dragon magic fused with celestial phenomena. As the light faded, the remnants of the enemy fleet were either obliterated or thrown into disarray, their advance halted by the sheer force of the gamma-ray burst.
With the immediate threat neutralized and her fleet safe from the aftermath, Sophia hovered in space, surrounded by the silence of victory and the remnants of her powerful spell. The void around her was now a graveyard of enemy ships, a stark reminder of the destructive capabilities she wielded when pushed to her limits.
Sophia reflected briefly on the origins of this spell, a devastating combination of her ancient dragon knowledge and the scientific principles she had learned during her time on Earth. It was this unique blend that had enabled her to defeat the Pillar of the North, using a similar cataclysmic force. By merging science with magic, she had unlocked new ways to wield her power, resulting in effects both spectacular and terrifying.
Sophia returned to the Stormbreaker, her presence shifting the mood instantly. Upon arrival, she changed back into her human form, the small yet formidable Valicar girl, her crimson and sapphire scales receding into the simplicity of flesh and cloth. Beside her, Holvor transitioned into his human form to fit within the confines of the ship. His fiery red hair and blazing red eyes marked him as much a force in this form as in his draconic guise. Though still missing an arm, his rapid healing was evident, his stature twice hers, lending him an imposing presence even in recovery.
After a short trip to the bridge, Sophia stormed into the medical bay, her fiery entrance matching the tension that crackled through the air. "Holvor, you're a fucking nightmare, you know that? How many times are we going to do this?" she spat out, her frustration evident as she surveyed his battered form sprawled across the medical cot.
Holvor, still groggy but ever defiant, managed to prop himself up on one elbow, his one good eye glaring back with fierce stubbornness. "I was winning, Sol… Dragon Lord. If you hadn't yanked me out, we could've ended it all! Just like Omega Prime, if you had let me go after those Ja'ias slug fuckers, we wouldn't have lost millions!" he shot back, drawing a parallel to a past conflict Sophia had restrained Dragon Tooth from engaging in due to its lack of demonic or holy magic involvement.
"Winning? You call getting torn apart by those possessed freaks 'winning'?" Sophia scoffed, her voice rising with incredulity and echoing off the sterile walls of the medical bay. "We had to haul your giant, reckless ass out of there before you turned yourself into a martyr!" She paused, her tone sharp as she added, "And you know damn well my stance on Easton's empire. We protect the Veil; he and his Templars secure the empire."
"Yeah, well, maybe if you'd let Easton take the reins more, we wouldn’t be knee-deep in this shit now!" Holvor retorted, his voice thick with anger and lingering pain.
Sophia leaned closer, her presence imposing and her voice icy with command. "Listen here, you stubborn fuck," she hissed, her words sharp as daggers. "I'm not about to watch you throw your life away against the enemy just because your ego's bruised. We have bigger shit to handle now, thanks to your damn 'heroics.'" Her glare was piercing, reminding him starkly of the hierarchy between them.
Holvor met her gaze, the fiery red in his eyes dimming as the reality of his situation—and her authority—sank in. Even in his dazed state, he understood challenging Sophia further, especially invoking her dragon name as he had done in battle, would be a grave mistake. With a grunt, he looked away, the fight draining from him as he lay back down.
"Remember who you're talking to, and who yanked your ass out of the fire," Sophia continued, her voice softening slightly but still edged with steel. "I may not be the emperor, but I’m your Dragon Lord, and I won't tolerate insubordination, not from anyone." Her words left no room for rebuttal, cementing her authority with unmistakable finality.
Holvor nodded weakly, the severity of his injuries and Sophia’s commanding presence tempering his usual rebellion. "Understood, Dragon Lord," he murmured, a mix of respect and reluctance in his voice. He knew better than to cross Sophia again, especially not in her current state of barely contained fury.
Before Sophia could continue, the medical bay doors swung open abruptly. Raz and Taileral entered hastily, their expressions grave, signaling the urgency of their news. "Dragon Lord, we’ve got serious trouble," Taileral said, her voice trembling slightly with the weight of her report. "The Ja'ias rebels, along with the Faluians, have launched a full-scale attack on Caldera. The entire planet is under siege!"
Sophia’s frustration surged as she faced this intelligence failure. "How did they slip through our defenses?" she demanded, her sharp gaze sweeping over Raz and Taileral. Her strategic mind raced, the urgency clear in her eyes—a striking mix of red and blue. Her commanding tone filled the medical bay, pressing for answers and ready to formulate a rapid response.
Taileral, her silver-white eyes wide with regret, flinched slightly under Sophia's intense gaze. "They exploited the gaps left by our forward lines. We weren't able to set up a proper border because of the rush, Holv..." She cut herself off as Holvor's glare intensified, then quickly redirected. "Anyway, the Ja'ias and Faluians used stealth technology we've never seen before, except in one place—it's likely scavenged from ancient celestial ruins. Tech that's millions of years old and well beyond what our scanners can detect." She gestured towards Holvor's missing arm, adding, "We encountered some earlier today."
Holvor, catching the urgency of the situation, grumbled bitterly, "That damn laser they hit me with... must've been from the same stash. Hurt like hell before I could crush their ship."
Sophia’s frustration boiled over as she muttered under her breath, "That goddamn orc had one job," her ire directed at the Templar commander's failure. Turning back to the group, she added with a steely tone, "That technology is dangerous. We need to capture it..." She paused, eyeing Holvor, "undamaged if possible. But the fact it can cut through even dragon hide is worrying."
Turning to Raz, whose golden eyes met hers with a grim determination, Sophia’s voice carried a mix of resolve and urgency, "Raz, prepare for immediate departure. We’re heading to Caldera. We need to address this siege head-on."
To Holvor, she issued a stern command. "You’re staying here to recover. Think about how your damn heroics have screwed us over. Tail will run the show until you're fit to lead."
Turning to leave, Sophia's tone was firm. "We're going to defend Caldera, no bullshit. This isn’t just about pushing back an attack—it's about showing we can stand our ground. They’ve crossed a line, and we’re going to shove them right back."
With each step towards the command deck, Sophia's resolve deepened. She was ready to lead her forces into battle, to safeguard the empire, and to demonstrate their power against the rebel and Faluian alliance.