There's been no indication that she has any particular skill in enchantment or artificing which are the skill sets required to fix the current problem. She's certainly not up to Atregos' levels in those two categories.
Paradox (SI)
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- Oblivion
It might have used to be that way.
Modern White though is more Light/Spiritualism/Law. And touches heavily in places on manipulating and summoning spirits/ghosts.
- Location
- The Outer Reaches of the Oort Cloud
White is spirit while Black is flesh - at least with regards to resurrection. White is ghosts, holy, unity, and bonds. Think of it as more "my bonds with this person allow me to call on their aid after death" rather than "I pulled their soul from the afterlife." Black is "I resurrected his body as a flesh zombie without a mind"
34
The air was clear and chilly as I circled above the ground before sinking down through the airstream towards the rocky outcropping below.
Sweeping down, I pulled up, beating my wings hard to kill my momentum before I settled down, my claws digging into the rock.
I took a deep breath and looked around at the forest below. This far down it was warmer and thicker.
But up there it was clear and chilly.
Closing my eyes, I focused on my magic and the magic around and most importantly beneath me. The flow and power of the ley line beneath me flowed like a massive river. Not raging, not quickly. But not serenely either.
It was faster, too powerful to ever be called serene.
It moved… like continental drift, just infinitely faster and smoother. It's amazing the damage the sundering must have done to Azeroth.
Ley lines were not anything close to this in our time.
In our time they were… sputtering, raging or uneven flows of magical energies. Not so now. Now they were smooth, moving dozens of more power and with barely a ripple of energy levels.
Azeroth… Azeroth had taken so much damage.
It's funny. Magic seemed so much easier too. Maybe it wasn't the Sundering really, maybe it was the multiverse itself?
Was magic slowly disappearing?
Opening my eyes, I looked up towards the sky before blinking as I spotted a black dot in the distance. It slowly resolved into a large black raven with a shape riding it.
I settled down to watch.
Alexis' giant raven went in for landing a couple of dozen meters away. She jumped down from it's back and dismissed it with a wave of her hand, causing it to disappear in a puff of spell smoke.
"Atreus," she said as she slowly approached, "Are you sane?"
I blinked at her, "No more than usual. You?"
"No more than usual," she agreed, sounding slightly hesitant as she reached out to put her hand on the tip of my snout, "What are we doing here?"
I watched her, "I'm inspecting the ley line."
Alexis nodded, "So Chromie said when she returned. You were meant to hack that machine, remember? End of the world? Azeroth burning?"
I nodded, "Of course," I told her and shifted slightly, "And I'll get to that when I'm done with this. We have thousands upon thousands of years to finish, remember?"
Alexis rubbed the bridge of her nose for a second, "Atreus, where is Ren?"
"She's inspecting it the other way, we should be finished more or less the same time depending on how far it goes," I said, "It's not one of the major ones that wrap around the planet."
"You have been gone for a week before I managed to track you down."
I shifted in annoyance, "Alexis, stop acting so strange. We'll get this done in another month or so, maybe two. Then I'll head back and break into the machine."
She stared at me, "Acting stran-" she started to say before she took a deep breath, "Atregos, why are you inspecting the ley line?"
"It's important," I told her, "Besides, Norgannon told me to."
"Have you ever in your life inspected a ley line before!?"
I shifted slightly, "...Not really, but it is important to guarantee smooth magical flow of Azeroth."
Alexis gripped my nosehorn and pulled my head to look into my right eye, "Atregos, get a grip. You're being mind controlled or something!"
I snorted and pulled back from her grip, "Mind controlled? Don't be silly."
"So why the sudden urge to inspect ley lines!"
"Because it's important!" I said and stood up, stretching, "And it's not like it risks the mission. If we didn't, Loken might suspect something."
Alexis nodded, "Fine, I think he has forgotten about you already, so how about we head back and find Ren and then get on with this. You may only get bigger as you age, but I'm mortal. I don't have a few thousand years to solve this."
"As soon as i finished this ley line," I said and yawned, stretching my wings, "I told you, it's only going to tak-"
I suddenly sound myself laying on my side, my vision darkening slightly and I could have sworn I saw stars.
She hit me. Hard!
Ow!
Growling, I started to roll onto my paws, twisting around to face her again.
"Sorry gecko," Alexis said and her eyes flashed as she spread her arms, bands of white mana flew towards me, wrapping around my legs, my wings and my tail, pinning my jaw closed, "It's for your own good, I promise."
Then her eyes glowed white, red shimmering around the edges and I saw her fist flash towards my head and then darkness.
Sweeping down, I pulled up, beating my wings hard to kill my momentum before I settled down, my claws digging into the rock.
I took a deep breath and looked around at the forest below. This far down it was warmer and thicker.
But up there it was clear and chilly.
Closing my eyes, I focused on my magic and the magic around and most importantly beneath me. The flow and power of the ley line beneath me flowed like a massive river. Not raging, not quickly. But not serenely either.
It was faster, too powerful to ever be called serene.
It moved… like continental drift, just infinitely faster and smoother. It's amazing the damage the sundering must have done to Azeroth.
Ley lines were not anything close to this in our time.
In our time they were… sputtering, raging or uneven flows of magical energies. Not so now. Now they were smooth, moving dozens of more power and with barely a ripple of energy levels.
Azeroth… Azeroth had taken so much damage.
It's funny. Magic seemed so much easier too. Maybe it wasn't the Sundering really, maybe it was the multiverse itself?
Was magic slowly disappearing?
Opening my eyes, I looked up towards the sky before blinking as I spotted a black dot in the distance. It slowly resolved into a large black raven with a shape riding it.
I settled down to watch.
Alexis' giant raven went in for landing a couple of dozen meters away. She jumped down from it's back and dismissed it with a wave of her hand, causing it to disappear in a puff of spell smoke.
"Atreus," she said as she slowly approached, "Are you sane?"
I blinked at her, "No more than usual. You?"
"No more than usual," she agreed, sounding slightly hesitant as she reached out to put her hand on the tip of my snout, "What are we doing here?"
I watched her, "I'm inspecting the ley line."
Alexis nodded, "So Chromie said when she returned. You were meant to hack that machine, remember? End of the world? Azeroth burning?"
I nodded, "Of course," I told her and shifted slightly, "And I'll get to that when I'm done with this. We have thousands upon thousands of years to finish, remember?"
Alexis rubbed the bridge of her nose for a second, "Atreus, where is Ren?"
"She's inspecting it the other way, we should be finished more or less the same time depending on how far it goes," I said, "It's not one of the major ones that wrap around the planet."
"You have been gone for a week before I managed to track you down."
I shifted in annoyance, "Alexis, stop acting so strange. We'll get this done in another month or so, maybe two. Then I'll head back and break into the machine."
She stared at me, "Acting stran-" she started to say before she took a deep breath, "Atregos, why are you inspecting the ley line?"
"It's important," I told her, "Besides, Norgannon told me to."
"Have you ever in your life inspected a ley line before!?"
I shifted slightly, "...Not really, but it is important to guarantee smooth magical flow of Azeroth."
Alexis gripped my nosehorn and pulled my head to look into my right eye, "Atregos, get a grip. You're being mind controlled or something!"
I snorted and pulled back from her grip, "Mind controlled? Don't be silly."
"So why the sudden urge to inspect ley lines!"
"Because it's important!" I said and stood up, stretching, "And it's not like it risks the mission. If we didn't, Loken might suspect something."
Alexis nodded, "Fine, I think he has forgotten about you already, so how about we head back and find Ren and then get on with this. You may only get bigger as you age, but I'm mortal. I don't have a few thousand years to solve this."
"As soon as i finished this ley line," I said and yawned, stretching my wings, "I told you, it's only going to tak-"
I suddenly sound myself laying on my side, my vision darkening slightly and I could have sworn I saw stars.
She hit me. Hard!
Ow!
Growling, I started to roll onto my paws, twisting around to face her again.
"Sorry gecko," Alexis said and her eyes flashed as she spread her arms, bands of white mana flew towards me, wrapping around my legs, my wings and my tail, pinning my jaw closed, "It's for your own good, I promise."
Then her eyes glowed white, red shimmering around the edges and I saw her fist flash towards my head and then darkness.
- Location
- Switzerland
How to train your dragon, Alexis version: If your overgrown gecko is mind controlled, reboot him. A good way to reboot the gecko is to cast fist.
White is erasure of definition while Black is dissolution of identity; neither of those things are particularly focused on souls or meat or other kinds of energy over eachother.
Yeah that programming seems like it's finally coming to a head unless Hiver pulls a bait-and-switch; maybe Atregos will end up modifying the dragonification ritual to turn himself into a Titan? Titans normally need to be world-souls first but I bet that Atregos can make a artificial planet or something.
Then again Titans take a long time to mature so something else might be better. He'd have to avoid the influence that Arcane Magic has on Titans anyway; I believe that the Void Lords are quoted as having said that their orderly nature makes them predictable.
Actually you know what? Azeroth is stated to be the most powerful potential Titan to ever exist; Atregos could probably become a Titan the size of a Dragon.
Edit: when he disables the machine and leaves a imitation of it to send his past-self to the past he can probably use the shell of it as a incubation unit for himself to grow into a small Titan.
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- Location
- Oblivion
If he is going to pull a race change again I would suggest a Dracthyr.
All the up sides of being a Dragon, with none of the downsides.
And with a big old bonus of gaining the combined affinities of all five primary Dragonflights.
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I think that Atregos can engineer a better Dragonkin to be then merely that.
- Location
- Oblivion
Has Atregos ever even done Biology?
Jormungandr
The Midgard Wyrm
A quick look at Dragonflight's lore from that link tells me that Blizzard are just pulling another Amon/Zerg Swarm/Primal Zerg plot variation. How uncreative and lazy. smh Then again, Blizzard's a shell of what it used to be.
Anyway, not to derail... yeah, Alexis issued a concussive remedy. It's super effective!
Now they just need to grab Ren.
...It's a longshot, but do you think the "paradox" is a Futurama situation?
"There is no way you're my many, many greats grandfather. There's no way!" The little gnome was rocking herself backwards and forwards now. "Not possible. Not possible. Not possible." Kek.
Vozen
Magic Adventure Cat
- Location
- Seattle
Eeeeeh… *makes a 'so-so gesture*
I mean she's physically mortal, but there are a lot of ways to extend your lifespan in one universe or another, possibly indefinitely.
Finding cheats with magic is what walkers do.
35
I slowly started to wake up.
My head hurt. A lot.
Something touched the side of my head and the pain slowly faded away. I forced my eye open to see Alexis running a hand glowing white across the side of my head.
Next to her, her angel stood, watching me with guarded eyes.
"Sorry," Alexis said softly, "Had to put you down before you got your armor into play," as she ran her hand beneath my eye, the pain fading as she did, "How do you feel?"
I stared at her, "Like somebody hit me."
"I'm sorry," she repeated and pulled her hand back, "How do you feel?"
"...I'm not sure," I admitted and slowly blinked, slowly starting to shift around fully onto my stomach. Moving slowly because the pain in my head, definitely not because I didn't want to find out what the angel would do if I moved too quickly so close to her mistress.
Alexis nodded, "Feeling like inspecting ley lines?" she asked carefully.
"...No…" I admitted, slowly putting my head down.
Had it been a spell? Had I really been mind controlled? Or had it been… just part of what I was? The Titans had made dragons as a servant race.
A race to serve their Order. We may have been changed from the original species on Azeroth, not just crafted outright like the Earthen and the clockwork gnomes, but we weren't a natural species.
It… it made sense. Of course they wanted their tools to have to follow their orders.
It had felt completely natural. It had all made sense too.
Like…
Like when Sargeras…
That had been way closer than I thought it had been at the time. If I had not been so very furious at the time, he would have taken control. No, not control. I would have served him willingly.
Because I would have believed it to be right.
Just like now. With Norgannon. What's worse… I didn't feel angry about it. It had been…
Nice. No worries.
For the first time in a long while.
I couldn't even bring myself to be angry about it now. I should be feeling angry about it.
Why couldn't I?
Alexis shifted to kneel next to my head, her hand glowing as she ran it along the side of my head, "Feeling sane again?"
"Yes," I answered plainly.
"Good, you can help me with Chromie and Ren," she said, "I'm not about to hit a dragon I'm not sure won't eat me when angry enough."
I blinked at her and then raised my head, "What do you mean 'won't eat you'? Do you think Ren and Chromie are more dangerous than me?"
"No," Alexis said and pushed my head back down, "I said won't eat me. If you had your armor out or been ready you'd have been able to kick my ass, but I don't think it would have been lethal. With Chromie or Ren it might have been. You and I have too much history… I didn't think even mind controlled like that you would have killed me."
Snorting in annoyance, I set my head slowly back down, letting her get back to work, "So sure are you?"
"Surer than about Chromie," Alexis said and continued with her healing spell.
"...Did you have to hit me that hard? Couldn't you have used a spell?" I grumbled.
"And risk your armor grounding it or some sort of crazy stuff I had no idea about?" she asked and poked the side of my snout.
Ow!
Then she smirked slightly, "Besides, this way I can say I have KOed a dragon."
I growled softly at her I then sighed and raised my head again, only for her to push it back down again,
"Stay still until I have you fully fixed. Then we'll go get Ren.. and maybe figure out some better way to break it on her other than punching her in the face," Alexis said.
"Any spell knocking her out should do it, fairly sure it was that that did it, not actually the punching," I admitted, "And yes, my armor would have grounded such a spell automatically."
I felt the inside of my mouth with my tongue. At least all my teeth seemed to be where they should and none seemed loose either, "So… where are Sheila, Wrathion and Umbria?"
"Back with Nozdorum and Chromie," Alexis explained and pulled her hand away, "We thought it safer to send somebody that wasn't a dragon just in case. You know, immune to the mind whammy? We were three dragons down, adding more to that count seemed counter productive."
That… made sense.
"So… what exactly was the plan if 'punch the dragon' didn't solve the issue?" I asked as I slowly climbed onto my feet, working my jaw and stretching a bit.
Alexis shrugged a bit and climbed to her feet, "I have my portal key stone. So open a portal back, drag your trussed up tail back through and make you Nozdormus problem."
I snorted, "Not sure he would have interfered."
"Oh, you have no idea how annoying I can get," Alexis said with a small smile, patting the tip of my snout."
"Yes I do."
"Hey!"
"So what's the plan once we get everyone deprogrammed?" I asked her, shifting my wings and wincing slightly as my left one ached. Must have landed on it when I fell.
"That's your department, not mine."
My head hurt. A lot.
Something touched the side of my head and the pain slowly faded away. I forced my eye open to see Alexis running a hand glowing white across the side of my head.
Next to her, her angel stood, watching me with guarded eyes.
"Sorry," Alexis said softly, "Had to put you down before you got your armor into play," as she ran her hand beneath my eye, the pain fading as she did, "How do you feel?"
I stared at her, "Like somebody hit me."
"I'm sorry," she repeated and pulled her hand back, "How do you feel?"
"...I'm not sure," I admitted and slowly blinked, slowly starting to shift around fully onto my stomach. Moving slowly because the pain in my head, definitely not because I didn't want to find out what the angel would do if I moved too quickly so close to her mistress.
Alexis nodded, "Feeling like inspecting ley lines?" she asked carefully.
"...No…" I admitted, slowly putting my head down.
Had it been a spell? Had I really been mind controlled? Or had it been… just part of what I was? The Titans had made dragons as a servant race.
A race to serve their Order. We may have been changed from the original species on Azeroth, not just crafted outright like the Earthen and the clockwork gnomes, but we weren't a natural species.
It… it made sense. Of course they wanted their tools to have to follow their orders.
It had felt completely natural. It had all made sense too.
Like…
Like when Sargeras…
That had been way closer than I thought it had been at the time. If I had not been so very furious at the time, he would have taken control. No, not control. I would have served him willingly.
Because I would have believed it to be right.
Just like now. With Norgannon. What's worse… I didn't feel angry about it. It had been…
Nice. No worries.
For the first time in a long while.
I couldn't even bring myself to be angry about it now. I should be feeling angry about it.
Why couldn't I?
Alexis shifted to kneel next to my head, her hand glowing as she ran it along the side of my head, "Feeling sane again?"
"Yes," I answered plainly.
"Good, you can help me with Chromie and Ren," she said, "I'm not about to hit a dragon I'm not sure won't eat me when angry enough."
I blinked at her and then raised my head, "What do you mean 'won't eat you'? Do you think Ren and Chromie are more dangerous than me?"
"No," Alexis said and pushed my head back down, "I said won't eat me. If you had your armor out or been ready you'd have been able to kick my ass, but I don't think it would have been lethal. With Chromie or Ren it might have been. You and I have too much history… I didn't think even mind controlled like that you would have killed me."
Snorting in annoyance, I set my head slowly back down, letting her get back to work, "So sure are you?"
"Surer than about Chromie," Alexis said and continued with her healing spell.
"...Did you have to hit me that hard? Couldn't you have used a spell?" I grumbled.
"And risk your armor grounding it or some sort of crazy stuff I had no idea about?" she asked and poked the side of my snout.
Ow!
Then she smirked slightly, "Besides, this way I can say I have KOed a dragon."
I growled softly at her I then sighed and raised my head again, only for her to push it back down again,
"Stay still until I have you fully fixed. Then we'll go get Ren.. and maybe figure out some better way to break it on her other than punching her in the face," Alexis said.
"Any spell knocking her out should do it, fairly sure it was that that did it, not actually the punching," I admitted, "And yes, my armor would have grounded such a spell automatically."
I felt the inside of my mouth with my tongue. At least all my teeth seemed to be where they should and none seemed loose either, "So… where are Sheila, Wrathion and Umbria?"
"Back with Nozdorum and Chromie," Alexis explained and pulled her hand away, "We thought it safer to send somebody that wasn't a dragon just in case. You know, immune to the mind whammy? We were three dragons down, adding more to that count seemed counter productive."
That… made sense.
"So… what exactly was the plan if 'punch the dragon' didn't solve the issue?" I asked as I slowly climbed onto my feet, working my jaw and stretching a bit.
Alexis shrugged a bit and climbed to her feet, "I have my portal key stone. So open a portal back, drag your trussed up tail back through and make you Nozdormus problem."
I snorted, "Not sure he would have interfered."
"Oh, you have no idea how annoying I can get," Alexis said with a small smile, patting the tip of my snout."
"Yes I do."
"Hey!"
"So what's the plan once we get everyone deprogrammed?" I asked her, shifting my wings and wincing slightly as my left one ached. Must have landed on it when I fell.
"That's your department, not mine."
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
let me guess, he later has the opportunity to remove the mind stuff, and doesn't, leading to someone else having to do it instead
- Location
- Oblivion
Going by what we saw this chapter, I suspect the Mind stuff includes bits that make the Dragons not think about or try to remove the Mind stuff.
So if that happens it's probably not his fault.
Poor dragons... compromised so completely they can't even be angry at being controlled against their will. And their programming definitely has blindspots, i agree with you on that note.
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How exactly do you think he could possibly remove it?Obedience to the Titans is as deeply integrated into the minds of Azeroth dragons as the automminous functions of the brain like keeping your heart beating. About the only way to get rid of it would be to stop being an (Azerothian) dragon.
- Location
- Oblivion
You kind of answered your own question there.
Obedience to the Titans is as deeply integrated into the minds of Azeroth dragons as the automminous functions of the brain like keeping your heart beating. About the only way to get rid of it would be to stop being an (Azerothian) dragon.
He needs to stop being an Azerothian Dragon.
slenderman1942
Jungle Tyrant
- Location
- Home
that's not exactly a simple thing to accomplish
Black mana, eat some Skyrim dragons and use them as a template
- Location
- Oblivion
The same Ritual they used to turn him into a Dragon in the first place.
that's not exactly a simple thing to accomplish
Just use beings of a species other then "Azerothian Dragon" as the donor base.
- Location
- Internet
The problem there is getting a good donor, and keeping in mind that he was a subject of the original, un-nerfed Ritual.
After all, we've already seen that a lot of Dragons from other Planes are considered Proto-Drakes in comparison to Azerothian Dragons. Low-to-Middling Intelligence and Magical Ability. He would need a Donor from a Dragon Species that is at least as intelligent and Magical Capable as his current species, since the ritual reforges you down to everything but the absolute depths of the soul, including the mind. The wrong species could very well see him trapped in a feral body without a mind able to comprehend that it used to be a highly intelligent being.
The only Dragons he has access to that fit the bill right now are the D&D Dragons, and the Chromantics and Metallics come with their own whole host of issues. The other best bet would be Ugin, and he f**ked off with Bolas to an isolated sub-plane for the next thousand years so that he can play the part of Jailor till Bolas dies of natural causes.
And without the full ritual, even if he does get a good species, he can't keep his magical development between the two bodies because of the nerfs they had to make to make it castable without The Aspect of Magic. He'd lose his Azerothian magic in the transition, and gain none of the innate magic of his new body.
- Location
- Internet
Biomancers on that scale and ability are actually relatively rare. Typically because unlike the Titans, they tend to get themselves killed either by whatever they make, or because they pissed someone off rather badly. There's the Simic, but past that? The next best would probably be the Phyrexians and the list gets pretty short, pretty fast past them.
The MC could possibly create a purely artificial body to inhabit if it came down to the worst, his enchanting/artificing are up there enough he could probably make a very impressive Construct to inhabit. He could also maybe load up a Librarian Enclave with as much Biomancy Knowledge as he could get and set them to work for a few years. Maybe throw a few Simic Summons at them to help out.
36
I flew low, tracking Ren by the tracking on her armor, but kept below the edge of the ridge. Because Alexis had been right.
If I had been ready and knowing she had been trying to stop me from inspecting the ley line, I would have fought her about it.
Fighting Rengosa was not something I wanted to do.
Not that I couldn't defeat her, especially with Alexis helping, but.. Because she was good enough that I wasn't sure I could do it without hurting her.
I really didn't want to hurt my Rengosa.
So I'm going to be sneaky about this.
"Twenty seconds," I told Alexis, "Get ready."
"Ready," Alexis answered and clung to my back between my wings, holding on tight to my armor.
I banked up hard over the ridge, spotting Rengosa with her eyes closed, focusing on the ley line. She had just started to react, turning her head towards me when I landed hard and fast, slamming into her and overriding her armor.
The metal deployed across her body and then freezing, keeping her from moving, "Alexis, now!"
"Atregos!? Wha-" Ren managed to ask before Alexis jumped off my back and her eyes flashed white as she slapped her hand across the side of Rengosas head.
She slumped in her armor, held up by the metal.
"Did it work?" Alexis asked as she climbed back onto her feet.
"I don't know," I admitted and looked at Ren closely, "You think your spell works as well as a punch to the face?"
"I hope so, it's an overpowered stunning spell, kinda… same idea..." Alexis said with a frown, "but I never tried it against a dragon before!"
Ren stirred slightly and I moved up, nosing at the side of her head,
"Love? How do you feel?"
She blinked slowly and forced her eyes open, looking at me, "...Atregos… what was…" and then she visibly struggled against her armor, "What is this!?"
"We need to go back to the rest," I told her, "What do you think?"
"Of course we do! We ha-" she started to answer before she froze for a second, slowly getting thoughtful, "...I was inspecting the ley line. It seems so important…"
I touched a claw to her armor, "It was the Titan. His orders overrode everything else."
Ren slumped slightly as her armor retracted back again and she shifted, leaning against my side, "...I don't like it."
"Neither do I," I admitted and rested my head against hers.
We stayed like that for a bit before Alexis walked up to us, "Okay you two, we need to get moving. We still have one dragon to de-program before we can try to find a new plan."
"You didn't already?" Ren asked, looking at Alexis before giving her a big lick across the face.
Alexis acked and pushed her away, "Oh god. I have to stop hanging out with dragons," she groaned and then looked at her, "And no, I tried it on the dragon least likely to make me a snack first if it went wrong."
Ren looked amused, nodding before she looked at me, "...So what is the plan with Chromie?"
I hesitated, "Thinking to ask Nozdormu for help with that, none of us can really take Chromie in a fight. At least not without hurting her… same as with you."
"And she's not wearing one of your armors," Ren agreed and bumped her nose against the side of my head, "Won't be as easy."
"Maybe," I said and sighed, leaning against her, "I know some binding spells that might work, but our best bet is asking Nozdormu for help. If we manage to immobilize her, will that still work on her?" I then asked Alexis.
She nodded, "Should. Reason I didn't do it on you was that I figured your armor would ground it."
I snorted in slight amusement, "And it had nothing to do with you enjoying punching me in the face just a little bit?"
"Can't say you haven't deserved it, gecko," Alexis said with a small smile, "Besides, I healed you after."
"She got you there," Ren commented and then shook her head, "It was… so strange. I knew our mission was important and that I should find you… but…"
"Getting the ley line inspected was more important," I agreed, "Then… I didn't even question it. Now it's… it's disturbing," I said before I looked at Ren, "Are you angry about it? That he did that?"
"...No."
"Neither am I," I answered and shifted, my claws digging into the rock beneath us, "And that's even worse."
If I had been ready and knowing she had been trying to stop me from inspecting the ley line, I would have fought her about it.
Fighting Rengosa was not something I wanted to do.
Not that I couldn't defeat her, especially with Alexis helping, but.. Because she was good enough that I wasn't sure I could do it without hurting her.
I really didn't want to hurt my Rengosa.
So I'm going to be sneaky about this.
"Twenty seconds," I told Alexis, "Get ready."
"Ready," Alexis answered and clung to my back between my wings, holding on tight to my armor.
I banked up hard over the ridge, spotting Rengosa with her eyes closed, focusing on the ley line. She had just started to react, turning her head towards me when I landed hard and fast, slamming into her and overriding her armor.
The metal deployed across her body and then freezing, keeping her from moving, "Alexis, now!"
"Atregos!? Wha-" Ren managed to ask before Alexis jumped off my back and her eyes flashed white as she slapped her hand across the side of Rengosas head.
She slumped in her armor, held up by the metal.
"Did it work?" Alexis asked as she climbed back onto her feet.
"I don't know," I admitted and looked at Ren closely, "You think your spell works as well as a punch to the face?"
"I hope so, it's an overpowered stunning spell, kinda… same idea..." Alexis said with a frown, "but I never tried it against a dragon before!"
Ren stirred slightly and I moved up, nosing at the side of her head,
"Love? How do you feel?"
She blinked slowly and forced her eyes open, looking at me, "...Atregos… what was…" and then she visibly struggled against her armor, "What is this!?"
"We need to go back to the rest," I told her, "What do you think?"
"Of course we do! We ha-" she started to answer before she froze for a second, slowly getting thoughtful, "...I was inspecting the ley line. It seems so important…"
I touched a claw to her armor, "It was the Titan. His orders overrode everything else."
Ren slumped slightly as her armor retracted back again and she shifted, leaning against my side, "...I don't like it."
"Neither do I," I admitted and rested my head against hers.
We stayed like that for a bit before Alexis walked up to us, "Okay you two, we need to get moving. We still have one dragon to de-program before we can try to find a new plan."
"You didn't already?" Ren asked, looking at Alexis before giving her a big lick across the face.
Alexis acked and pushed her away, "Oh god. I have to stop hanging out with dragons," she groaned and then looked at her, "And no, I tried it on the dragon least likely to make me a snack first if it went wrong."
Ren looked amused, nodding before she looked at me, "...So what is the plan with Chromie?"
I hesitated, "Thinking to ask Nozdormu for help with that, none of us can really take Chromie in a fight. At least not without hurting her… same as with you."
"And she's not wearing one of your armors," Ren agreed and bumped her nose against the side of my head, "Won't be as easy."
"Maybe," I said and sighed, leaning against her, "I know some binding spells that might work, but our best bet is asking Nozdormu for help. If we manage to immobilize her, will that still work on her?" I then asked Alexis.
She nodded, "Should. Reason I didn't do it on you was that I figured your armor would ground it."
I snorted in slight amusement, "And it had nothing to do with you enjoying punching me in the face just a little bit?"
"Can't say you haven't deserved it, gecko," Alexis said with a small smile, "Besides, I healed you after."
"She got you there," Ren commented and then shook her head, "It was… so strange. I knew our mission was important and that I should find you… but…"
"Getting the ley line inspected was more important," I agreed, "Then… I didn't even question it. Now it's… it's disturbing," I said before I looked at Ren, "Are you angry about it? That he did that?"
"...No."
"Neither am I," I answered and shifted, my claws digging into the rock beneath us, "And that's even worse."