The Sparks of War

[Hiver]

This is a continuation of the That First Step... (SI) series, you want to start there or you will be horribly confused. The previous one in the series was Metamorphosis.

Big thanks to Arratra and Xandros for betaing this.

Now, on with the story!

____________


A trio of knives deflected off my shield, and I let it drop as I charged forward, my weapon lashing out in a whip that burned like fire.

My opponent dodged freakishly fast as she flashed with red mana for a split second, the tree behind her exploding into shrapnel where my whip slashed through it.

A soldier formed in a flash of light and charged me, his spear stabbing towards my chest. I deflected with my vambrace, my weapon flashing back to a dagger and I stepped forward, slashing his throat in passing as I charged my magic into a summoning spell, sending my fast-appearing frost troll charging at my opponent with a loud roar.

A second spell caused roots to lash out from the earth, grabbing for her.

Alexis bared her teeth in a snarl, and she whirled her sword once. It briefly glowed white as a circle of power exploded out around her, streams of runes engulfing the roots and the troll with white fire.

I pulled my second weapon and fired twice, the magic bolts lashing towards her, but Alexis was ready, raising her left hand, her gauntlet forming a shield before her to block the spell bolts. As soon as the second one hit, she instantly channeled mana before stomping down onto the ground, blue mana flooding the area as she started to summon her massive squid, massive tentacles lashing out and breaking trees like matchsticks.

I turned and ran, jumping and turning back to my real form as I spread my wings and took to the sky, narrowly avoiding the squid's strike and the resulting flying splinters as it smashed a thick tree into toothpicks..

My armour finished deploying, flowing across me as I turned and rolled, allowing the top mana laser banks to track the target before, setting them to max before I triggered them.

Bolts of blue mana lashed out, cutting through the massive kraken in a burning line, setting the forest on fire behind it as it disappeared into spell smoke.

I whirled, avoiding another strike, this time from a storm of arrows that came from a group of archers on the ground, the arrows passing through heavy tree trunks like they weren't even there!

Sneaky bitch! Enhancing her summons!

Well, two can play that game!

I channeled my mana into a summon of two protodrakes, ones I'd seen in Un'goro Crater. The primitive beasts roared and charged as I wrapped both of them into illusionary and enchanted armour before I covered myself in an invisibility spell.

I banked as the first protodrake went down in a spray of arrows, but the second one crashed down on the troop of archers like a sack of bricks.

Where are you…

I released two spy drones, the small artifact creatures detaching from my armour and flying off into the forest, following my command to search for Alexis.

Banking around again, I slowed down, moving between the trees. Where are you… where are you…

One of my drones went offline. There!

I banked and dove, releasing my breath and blanketing the entire area with my frost, ice covering every surface, and crawling up the trees. Everywhere but in a shield bubble around an invisible area.

I've got you now!

I struck, pouncing almost directly on the shield bubble, letting the shield breaking enchantment of my adamantite claws do their work. The shield collapsed and I struck.

Alexis exploded into visibility, her sword shimmering with white mana and she moved so fast that she was a blur.

I snapped at her as her sword deflected off my armour in a shower of sparks, not penetrating but causing a deep gouge in the heavy material despite the magical shielding. I struck again, this time clawing towards her and she just barely dodged, my claw catching part of her shirt, slashing through and leaving a thin line of red across her ribs.

Pushing the advantage, I pounced.

Alexis twisted like a snake, avoiding my pounce, her sword slashing along my side, and I slapped my wing down.

The heavily armoured forward edge hit her hard, knocking her sword from her hand and sending her sprawling across the forest floor, and I twisted to follow her as she rolled, and slamming my forepaw down hard on her chest.

Alexis wheezed as I drove the air from her lungs, but her hand reached out for her sword and it flew towards her hand before she froze as she saw my teeth inches from her face.

She stared up at me for a second before she relaxed and slapped the ground with her free hand.

I stepped back, moving my paw off her and letting my armour retract back to the low profile configuration, "You," I said as I settled down to watch her as I folded my wings, putting my head down on my forepaws, "Are getting sneakier. But you still need armour in my opinion."

Alexis just laid there for a second, gasping for a second before she struggled up to sit, resting her head against her knees for a second before she shook her head, coughing slightly, "Slow me down… too much…"

"Doesn't slow me down."

"And if it breaks, I can't fix it," she continued and shook her head again, "Almost beat you this time though."

I blinked at her, "Really?"

"Fighting a dragon in power armour, doing that well is good in my opinion," she said and then looked down at her shirt, feeling her side, "...Damn it, I liked this shirt!" she said and then cast a healing spell on her side, "And I think you might have cracked my ribs."

"I'm telling you. Armour. It works. I'm sure the Flight has some that's more standard if you like."

That earned me a small glare before she struggled up to stand, stretching and putting her sword away in its sheath as she walked over to me, sinking down next to me and resting her back against my shoulder, "The gauntlet seemed to work at least," she admitted and looked at the shield gauntlet I had made for her, "Not as versatile as casting them myself though."

"Not made to be," I told her, turning my head to look at her, "But it is faster and much less draining."

She nodded, "true," as she poked her hand through the large rip in the side of her shirt before she glared at me, "God damn it, Atregos!"

"What?"

"You ripped the side of my sports bra! I only have two left and you can only get those on Earth!"

I rolled my eyes.

Humans.

 

[Hiver]

Taking a final look at the enchanting array taking up most of my workshop floor, I carefully stepped over an inlaid silver line, making my way out through it towards the middle circle where the lines spiraled into a single point.

"Everything's looking good," I said and raised my hand, "What do you think?"

"The design is as calculated," Library answered.

I nodded, "Should work," I agreed, "Last chance to back out. Because if it doesn't work, you're going to suffer a catastrophic matrix collapse."

"We have reached the point where the only way to know for certain is to try it, Master," Library answered, "If it doesn't work, be sure to record the result for the next attempt."

"Of course I would," I said, frowning at the ring, "Well, if you're sure."

"I am."

Nodding, I slid the ring containing Library from my finger and set it into the middle of the large enchanting array before starting to work my way back out, carefully stepping across lines, avoiding small crystals, and then making a final circuit around the edge, checking the magic flux distributors.

Everything looked absolutely perfect.

Well...

...Here we go then.

Walking over to the control lantern, I put my hand onto it and closed my eyes, focusing on the magic.

Actually, I only sent a small amount of mana into the array, just enough to flick the little switch to activate the mana siphon hooked right into the leyline running straight beneath the tower.

Even through my closed eyes, the light of the array activating was a deep bright blue as it sucked in as much magic as the leyline would give it.

I didn't touch it, I just felt the magic flow, the hundreds of hours of enchanting work built into every millimeter of the array guiding and forming the flow of the magic into a rather complex bit of meta enchantment.

And by rather complex, I mean hilariously complex.

But it was the only way to do this. I'm good at enchanting work. But I wasn't about to try this by winging it.

I might be able to, but for something this complex, I wasn't about to do it the stupid way unless I absolutely had to.

The magic flowed through the room, twisting and shifting in currents before the flow suddenly slowed down to nothing, the light shining through my eyelids fading away.

There was a faint clicking of cooling metal and I opened my eyes to look at the array.

The silver/mithril/gold was warped and twisted even in the grooves in the stone, partly melted in places. The crystals looked somewhat scorched, but still intact.

Should have gone for Sapphires. Diamonds simply didn't have the heat resistance.

But what really drew my attention was the apparition floating in the air in the middle of the array.

Above where the melted remains of the ring were solidifying on the floor, were a dark blue, somewhat translucent bipedal shape floating. It seemed fairly solid even if the edges were somewhat diffuse in places, and the dark blue material was studded with what almost looked like stars, slowly shifting through it like sparks of magic.

Suddenly it twitched slightly, and a pair of slits opened where its eyes should be, glowing a white colour. It seemed to look around before looking down at itself, looking at its arms and five-fingered hands, slowly turning them.

Finally it turned to look fully in my direction, "It seems your calculations were correct, Creator."

"Seems so," I agreed, "How do you feel?"

"I... feel."

I nodded, "Good. Come, we should make sure that your current enchantment matrix is stable."

Library nodded and slowly floated over to me, passing above the twisted remains of the enchanting circle.

He wasn't very tall - even floating with the ends of his feet a couple of inches off the floor, he still needed to look up to watch me, "...What am I?" he asked as he reached me.

"I don't know what to call you yet," I said with a smile, "Any ideas?"

He was silent for a long moment, turning and looking around the somewhat worse for wear workshop, before he turned back to me again, "I was Library.... before."

I just nodded.

"I was Library before," He said again before he nodded, seeming to come to a conclusion, "I am a Librarian."







AN// Tomorrows part, today! Because early morning tomorroe.

 

[Hiver]

"There," I said and made a final adjustment to the armband around the Librarian's right upper arm. He wore two of the twisting bronze and silver armbands, one around each arm.

He was essentially an illusionary shell around an enchantment matrix. While he was stable on his own, he wasn't exactly very robust.

Some enchanted equipment would greatly assist in protecting him, and help ground out any stray magic that might go in his direction.

"It is good, Master," he answered, and looked down at the armband, "It is an efficient design."

"Well, you helped make it."

"Only by assisting in your calculations, Creator," he answered and felt the armband with one hand, "...Before we continue, we should proceed with Phase two."

I frowned at him, "Are you sure?"

"I am," he reaffirmed, "It is better to know now than to wait, in case you need to redesign the enchantment."

Nodding slowly, I put down the small wand I had been using to poke at his armband on the workbench, "Very well. Mana pool?"

"My mana reserves are currently sitting at seventy three percent. As predicted, my creation left me with sufficient mana."

"Absorption rate?"

"Positive," he answered, "Enough that it would be possible for me to use magic sparingly and still regain at a positive rate. Going from barely livable mana and no expenditure, I calculate that it would take me almost six months to get to current levels."

I frowned, "That's slower than expected. If not by a lot."

"We are in a somewhat depleted area right now, Creator," the Librarian reminded me, "The ritual would have caused a momentary lowering in the general metamagic field, at least until it has recovered from the flow of the leyline. I estimate that it would be safe to go through mitosis once a year."

"I wouldn't recommend trying to speed it up either," I told him, "One drawback of your design, you don't react very well to high magic flows."

"Neither do most other beings."

"Mhm. true that," I agreed, and then I sighed, "If you're sure, go ahead."

The Librarian bowed slightly to me and floated a bit away before turning to face me again. He closed his eyes for several long minutes, the sparkle of stars throughout his matrix sped up, moving towards his center before surging outwards in two waves and taking the rest of him with it.

He kind of blurred in place for a second before snapping fully into view again.

Or rather, they.

Now there were two Librarians floating in the middle of my workshop. I didn't say anything, I just waited for them to get their senses. It took a couple of minutes before they stirred.

The one still wearing the armbands looked around, and then at his copy, "My enchantment matrix is stable."

"So is mine," the new one said, looking back at him before turning to me, "My mana pool is down to ten percent, Creator."

I nodded, "About what was expected," I said and then frowned, "Anything else?"

They looked around before the one with the armbands turned back to me, "I think information is missing. I no longer remember these," he said and reached up to touch his armband, "I do not remember how they were done."

"I do," the new one said and looked at his copy, "But I do not remember how to read."

"I do," the one with the armbands said and turned back to me, "It seems not only our remaining mana was split equally between us."

I rubbed my chin, "...Didn't consider that possibility, but it does make sense. We're going to have to see if we can figure out some way for you to quickly share inf-"

The door to my workshop opened and Jaina padded inside, "Atregos, I ne-" she started before she stopped and blinked at the librarians in surprise, shifting her wings, "...What?"

I grinned, "Cool, huh? They are Librarians."

"What are they?"

"Oh, uhm... enchantment creatures," I explained, "Essentially. It's a bit more complex than that, but they are made of nothing but magic. I just need to solve the information split issue when they replicate, but then they'll be good."

Jaina stared at them for a long moment before she nodded, "...I see. Well, you are clearly busy already, we can handle it tomorrow. It wasn't that important."

I nodded and eyed the Librarians with a frown, "Thanks, this will likely keep me up late. Can you tell Sheila and Zrazta if you see them?"

"Of course."

The door closed behind her as she left and I motioned to the new Librarian, "Better come over here so I can get you fitted with a pair of those armbands just to be safe. Then we'll need to do some calculations to see if we can get you some sort of information sharing net."

He bowed and floated over as I reached to pinch some metal off a couple of bars of bronze and silver.

Quicksmithing is so awesome. I have to remember to go visit Rai sometime soon and thank her for teaching it to me.

I had just finished the first armband and fit it onto the Librarian when the door of my workshop opened again. I glanced up as my Flightleader walked inside, "Kalecgos," I said in greeting before refocusing on forming the metal of the other armband in my hands, "You just missed Ja-gak!"

Kalecgos didn't even break stride as he crossed the workshop and grabbed the back of my neck, turned around and almost dragged me out the door.

 

[Hiver]

Alexstrasza looked at me levely, "You created a self-replicating, thinking manavore?"

I frowned and rubbed the back of my neck, I was fairly sure I'd end up with bruises, "I wouldn't say it like that…"

She raised one eyebrow, "Why not?"

"It makes it sound all bad," I admitted, "It's not quite like that. Yes, they absorb mana from the environment and yes, they can self replicate and yes, they think and can cast spells, but…" I started before I trailed off.

That did sound bad.

Alexstrasza sighed softly, "Kalecgos?" she asked, turning to my Flightleader.

"They are contained. As soon as we evacuated the workshop, I set guards at all exits and set up antimagic and anti teleportation wards," he said and crossed his arms, watching me levely, "Hopefully that will contain them."

I rubbed my eyebrow for a second, "...Seriously, it's not as bad as it sounds. They have the same kind of weaknesses as any solid enchantment. If you hit them with a coherent mana matrix, they just dissolve. Each time they replicate, one half gets half the knowledge and the other gets the rest and even with, say, a leyline, they can only absorb mana so fast without dissolving. It'll take at least six months between… breeding cycles."

"Which just means that in five years, there will be…" Ysera said and did some mental math, "over two thousand."

"And five years after that, over two million," Kalegos said seriously, "Even if they aren't hostile, according to the absorption readings you gave me," he said and looked at me, "They might suck the environment dry of mana."

I sighed, "Assuming that they replicate at full speed, which they won't want to as every time that happanes, they lose half of everything they know."

Alexstrasza frowned and looked towards Wrathion, "You have been quiet so far," she said.

Wrathion shifted his wings and lifted his head from his paws, "I trust Atregos. If he says it's fine, it's fine. Can't say they don't worry me, but if he says they are safe…"

She nodded and then looked to Nozdormu. Nozdormu looked back at her steadily before he shook his head, "The timelines are steady."

As useful as usual, Nozdormu.

Alexstrasza gave him a nod anyway like he just made sense and then she sighed and frowned, "Atregos, you have done something no Flight has done since the first Dragonborn, and even they were originally mortals. You have done something that has not happened since the Titans themselves if these things are truly alive." she said and turned back to me, "Dangerous or not, I'm not about to destroy an entire new race just because they are dangerous."

I nodded.

She then sighed, "However, they are dangerous, that can not be argued. They can't be here, Atregos. You need to move them to some other Plane."

"I-" I started to answer before I frowned, "...That might be possible," I admitted, "They are in essence just a magic structure."

Kalecgos nodded and looked at me, "Can you do it?"

"I think so," I admitted, "It won't be like using a soulstone, but I think it can be done. It's going to need some work, but it should be possible."

"Until then," he said, "I want them to remain where they are."

I nodded, "Can do that."

"And I would like to meet them later," Alexstrasza said seriously, "If you truly have created life, it would be an amazing thing."

I smiled at her and nodded, "I'll make sure everything is safe, I promise."

"And no more creating new life!"

Swallowing, I quickly nodded again, "Y-yes Lifebinder."

Alexstrasza was not somebody you wanted to get mad at you. She could seriously wreck your shit without even trying.

She smiled slightly back and reached out to brush my hair back with one hand, "Now go tend to your duties, little one."

I knew a dismissal when I knew it. Run along while the adults talk.

I quickly bowed to her and walked to the edge of the tower, turning back to my real form before taking to the air and starting to circle down around it on my way down.

That could have gone way worse. Compensating against the crosswind, I landed on the platform at the edge of the tower and turned my head to look out over towards the forest in the distance. While it was in the middle of the summer, it looked like a major rainstorm was on the way.

Too bad, I had planned to hunt later, but doing that in the rain was always such a pain. Difficult to see, and when you finally found some prey, it was all soggy and possibly even muddy.

Maybe I'll wait with eating until tomorrow.

Hmm, maybe Sheila, Zrazta and Ren would be interested in joining in, then we could grab something bigger like a mammoth.

I could take one myself easily enough, but it was just simply too much meat for one dragon my size.

Sighing, I turned back to pad inside into the tunnel. Time to go tell Sheila what I did so I can get yelled at. This time I might even have earned it.

 

[Hiver]

By the time I got back to my workshop, I found the Librarians neck deep in books. Well, maybe not literally, but the one that knew how to read had clearly spent the time I was away teaching his/her copy to do so.

Or gotten started at least, the one without armbands seemed to be slowly making its way through one of my easier books, a paperback from earth.

The one with armbands turned to me when I entered, "Welcome, Creator," he said, "I take it Kalecgos, The Spell-Weaver, did not approve of our creation?"

I snorted and settled down on the floor as I shifted my wings, "They are simply worried. You do absorb mana from the environment."

"Not to such a degree that it is a danger to the dragonflights."

I tapped a claw against the stone floor, "Not currently no. But if twenty years? If you keep replicating, then yes, you might notice a drain."

They were both watching me now, "We are to be destroyed then?" the one that had been reading asked.

"No," I said seriously, "you are not. You are thinking beings, if made by magic, and existing is no crime. Alexstrasza wishes to speak with you later. Meanwhile, between you two you know of every Plane I have been to. The Flight Leaders feel that you are too dangerous to remain here. Moving you to a different Plane will solve that problem."

The one with the armbands slowly nodded, "That is the logical course of action, Creator," he said, "But is there not a worry that we would then be a danger to the locals instead?"

I shrugged my wings slightly, "I think that is way down on their list of concerns. Pick somewhere you think will work well for you, somewhere safe. I will start designing a way to move you between Planes… unless either of you think a Soulstone would work?"

The one by the book titled its head in thought, "That depends on whether we truly possess souls, Creator. It would be possible to test if we were to visit a swamp. I have the knowledge on how to cast one as well as the knowledge of how to access Land Mana."

I looked at him in surprise, "Have you tried it?"

"I have, Creator," he confirmed and raised his hand, a small glowing ball of white light forming above his hand, "It has the advantage of not draining our internal mana storage while still allowing us to cast spells."

I nodded, "That would be useful," I admitted, "I'm going to need to experiment on the transport mechanism, would it be possible for me to take one of you as a summon? I wouldn't want to test it with somebody real."

"Of course, Creator," the one with armbands said and approached me.


XXXXXXXXXX


Rengosa watched the two Librarians move around my workshop, her head resting across the back of my neck as small streams of metal shifted and twisted before me, "They are amazing," she said quietly.

"Mhmm," I answered as I worked the enchantment into the metal as I slowly twisted it around a bubble of emerald in the middle, forming a firm enchantment net around it, layer after layer of shielding, defenses and making the entire thing a complete fortress. It was technically a mix of a soulstone and a mana storage device, made to preserve any spell or enchantment matrix of whatever is stored in it.

I thought it might work out like that, but no way to really know but to give it a try.

As the artifact finished forming, I raised my head to look at where the two Librarians were going through a pair of books, looking like a pair that contained lists and descriptions from my travels.

"They are," I agreed and cast a telekinesis spell, floating the container onto the workbench. That was one possible design, I'll have Alexis try two of them tomorrow as I only had two Librarian summons. I could try Walking with them myself, but she could much easier get into the Blind Eternities than I could... or rather, she could do it again a lot faster than I could, "Now we just need to move them somewhere safe."

Rengosa nodded and moved to get up, stretching like a massive cat before nosing at one of my horns, "I need to go to my duties. See you tonight?"

"Tonight," I agreed with a nod. After she left, I returned to mortal form and picked the containment artifact up again, turning it in my hands and giving it a once over. In theory this should work, the Blind Eternities mostly seemed to affect things too far from me in any case or I'd end up landing naked and be unable to bring anything along with me. It didn't need to protect them from it, just keep them and their enchantment matrix intact while compressed.

Weaving an enchantment spell, I formed a knife in my hand before I touched it to the artifact. There was a flash of light and the knife was gone and the inside of the sphere glowed softly. A quick check of the configuration confirmed that everything seemed to be working as it should, so I turned and lobbed the sphere across the workshop. It bounced off the floor with a clatter of metal against stone before coming to a stop. There was a slight flash of light and then the knife was laying next to it on the floor. Walking over, I picked up the dagger and containment sphere, feeling through the enchantment matrix before I let it dissolve back into magic, and I shrugged to the two Librarians, "Seems to be working. I'll check with Alexis later if she can help with the experiment. If it doesn't work, I have another couple of ideas. If those don't work, we'll give soulstones a try. Sounds good?"

The closest one, the one with the armband nodded, "It does, Creator."

"Say, have you thought of names yet?" I asked as I pocketed the sphere, "I mean, so far we haven't really needed to keep track of who is who, but it will be trickier when there are more of you."

The one with the armband looked at the other one before turning back to me, "We believe that I was the original, so I am Alpha. This is Beta."

"Well, it'll work until you run out of letters at least," I agreed with a shrug, "Anyway, you two need anything for now?"

Alpha shook his head, "We have enough books for the next few days, Creator. We are working on homogenizing the contents of our knowledge. It will be a lengthy process."

Aka, reading the entire library. Again.

"Okay. if there is anything, just let the guards know, okay?" I asked, "and do think of where you want to set up."

"Of course Creator."

I smiled at them and nodded before I left the workshop, stepping through the antimagic shield outside the door and moving past the dragonkin guards beyond it. I gave them a nod too before putting my hands in my pockets and starting through the hallway. It didn't feel right to force them out like this, but I wasn't about to go against Alexstrasza's wishes... and not like they weren't right, the Librarians had the potential to be dangerous. But so did all beings.

Whatever; maybe in retrospect I should have checked with somebody first if it was a bad idea or not.



AN// Posted early

 

[Hiver]

Sheila jumped over the fallen tree and ran through the bare forest ground, and I followed quickly and smoothly, Zrazta taking the lead.

The red dragon was the biggest of us and also the fastest, but because she was bigger, it was also harder for her to fit between the trees, letting us keep up on the ground. She jumped onto a large rock and then upwards, spreading her wings for a second for a glide through a clearing. Sheila didn't bother with anything fancy, she rounded the rock instead at a full run. Meanwhile, I jumped, dug my claws into a tree and threw myself upwards, beating my wings twice, then diving after Zrazta. The end result was that we both caught up with her just as we hit the forest on the other side of the small clearing.

Zrazta slowed down, breathing heavily as she turned to face us, "You are moving better, Sheila," she said and gave the smaller dragon a small nuzzle. Sheila's purple, almost black scales shone in the bright midday sun, and she was breathing heavily as she slowed down, stretching her wings for a long moment before furling them again, "It's been almost half a year," Sheila admitted, "Would be strange if I wasn't."

"Not that strange," I said as I moved up next to her, catching my breath, "It's not an easy thing, I know better than most."

It had been difficult for her. The fight the Fel put up during her transformation had left her outside any of the Flights,she was closest to one of the netherwing dragons that had been touched by the void. She had been based on one of the Black Dragonflight, but while her general body shape was similar, that's where the similarities ended. What struck you first was the colour; instead of black scales, they were a deep purple, darkening to almost black on her back and then going to a light purple the closer to her front it got. She also lacked a nosehorn; instead the bridge of her nose looked almost armoured and instead of the two sidehorns a female dragon had, she had three on each side of her head. Her wings were almost normal, but the flightskin was more translucent purple.

I thought she was beautiful...

...and I was not the only one. She had gotten a fair bit of attention from the other dragons. None that had been willing to Challenge me over it, but still.

She was still too young for most dragons that felt they would have a chance.


Sheila stretched her wings and sniffed at the air, "I smell a deer," she said quietly.

I sniffed and nodded, "Me too. Hungry?"

"...Not particularly," she admitted, and folded her wings again, "It's strange not eating every day."

"You'll get more used to that when you can take mortal form again," I said and moved up next to her, "But imagine if we ate like humans, we'd hunt the continent bare in just a few years or decades."

"I suppose," she agreed and sat down, looking around in the forest before she dug her claws into the ground, "That turned out harder than I thought it would."

"Took me years."

"And that was amazingly fast," Zrazta interjected, "I managed it in about eighty," she said and moved up to Sheila's other side, giving her a small nuzzle, "that's about average. Most dragons don't manage it until they reach over a hundred. Rengosa and Atregos were way faster."

"Doesn't bode well for me," Sheila sighed and then shook her head as I looked at her, "I know, I know," she admitted, "But magic is so hard now."

I gave her a nuzzle, "Don't worry, you'll get it."

Sheila nodded, "I know, it's simply frustrating," she admitted, and then looked up before glancing at me, "...Fly back?"

I quickly nodded in agreement, "Sounds fun."

Ren and I moved away to give Sheila room. She took a couple of running steps out into the clearing, spread her wings, and then jumped, beating her wings hard as she took to the skies. Six months in and she was already doing that quite well, at least. Zrazta went next, running and then taking to the skies, wings spreading high as they circled upwards.

Smiling, I followed and threw myself into the air, and rose up to follow them to a good height. The landscape rolled out beneath us, and in the distance the smoke from a human village could be seen. We didn't bother them, and they sure stayed away from us and the tower. Couldn't blame them about that one; if I was a human I wouldn't want to mess with hundreds of multi-ton apex predators that can breath various elements.

The wind was cool at this altitude despite the summer, but it didn't bother any of us. But it was nice stretching my wings, I spent way too much time in the workshop to be honest. I needed to get out and fly more.

Zrazta shifted her course and dove towards me. I grinned and quickly shifted, twisting around to lash out at her in turn, my claws hitting hers as we twisted through the sky before breaking off again. I laughed and went back to level flying.

Sheila dropped down to fly next to me, resting on her wings for a second, "If I tried that, I'd fall out of the sky."

"Give it some time," I said, "You know how clumsy I was when I flew with Venir in Outland."

"Wouldn't call that clumsy," she admitted before she looked down, "But... being able to fly like this is amazing. Might actually be worth it on its own."

"That's because I didn't try anything too fancy," I told her, "Unless you count a hard dive."

Zrazta banked to the left and Sheila and I followed, beating our wings evenly as we flew towards the tower in the distance. We'd be back soon, and then it's time to go back to work, to see if the Librarians had picked a world. Transporting them there should take priority over deliveries and pickups.

I should likely also get onto my other duties, I suppose.

Might as well head out and do a pickup while I drop them off, maybe to Skyrim. It's about time to get their latest report.

...Or maybe hire Alexis to do that one and head off somewhere else instead and pick their data up.

Hmm.

Caldeum maybe. Or maybe visit the Durmand Priory and trade with them.

Oh well, I have at least a couple of days to decide.

 

[Hiver]

Alexis stalked into my workshop and I glanced up at her,

"Hey."

"Hey," she said and walked up and leaned back against my workbench, crossing her arms, "Hey… uhm…"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "What?"

Alexis grimaced slightly, looking down before she looked at me again, "...I need a new sword."

"A new sword?" I asked and frowned, "What happened?"

"I broke it," she admitted with a sigh, "I was trying a new spell and the blade snapped."

I gave her a flat stare, "You broke it."

Alexis nodded again.

"You broke a mithril adamantium alloy blade enchanted to be stronger?" I asked her, "How in the fucking blind enternites did you manage that?"

She cringed slightly, "I was trying to pass mana through it as a fire spell. Like you did with that whip thing?"

I sighed and rubbed my eyebrows, "Alexis, my weapon was specifically made for that kind of thing! You said you didn't want anything fancy!"

"Well, it was pretty cool?"

Shaking my head, I walked around her and started to do quick inventory on what I have. Maybe.. Hmmm....

Well…

...That could work. That would be cool!

"I was trying to channel a fire enhancement spe-" Alexis explained. I nodded as I picked up a small brick of adamantium and a slip of copper as well as a handful of small, fingernail-sized gems.

I quickly tuned her out as I worked, shifting the metal through my fingers as I worked enchantments into it, sliding the gems into place and…

Shift the metal around, a small slip of mithril and some cobalt… mostly for colour to be honest. Then just a little bit of shaping of the metal for the guard and-

"...have you heard a word I have been saying?"

"Nope," I said, "Working. Had an idea," I said and then turned and handed the weapon to her.

Alexis frowned as she examined the rapier; the grip was in the form of a dragon, tail curling around the pommel stone, with its outstretched wings forming the guard, the gaping jaws of the head where the blade should have been. Most of it was made of silvery mithril and adamantium, but the dragon head and wings were coloured blue.

"So… does it deploy or something?"

"Channel some mana into it and press the button under the hilt," I said, and crossed my arms.

Alexis frowned and then did as I told her to. There was silence for a couple of seconds as she worked out where to channel the mana, before, with a crackling sound, a glowing, meter-long blade snapped out from the hilt, the white light filling my workshop.

"Hmm," I said and frowned, "Maybe I could add some sort of filter to make the projection blue."

Alexis gaped at her weapon and then at me before looking back at it again, moving it back and forth a bit. Despite the noise of the activation, it was almost completely quiet.

"You made a fucking lightsaber!?"

"Not really," I said and frowned, "It's actually a manablade, think about it like a modification of my mana blasters? I played around with one on my spear before, but I like having the actual metal to work with better. It's stronger but not as flexible."

"You made a fucking lightsaber!?"

I looked at her, "Are you still on that?"

She looked at me and then motioned at the blade with her other hand frantically.

"Yes, yes, get it over with..."

"Lightsaber!"

"Just don't give it to your dad," I said and sighed, "Not that he would be able to activate it without mana to feed into it. How's the drain?"

Alexis blinked at it, "...Not too bad, but I'm not sure I'll be able to keep it going for more than an hour or so, especially if I need to do other spells."

"Hmm, that's a bit high. I'll have a look," I said and held my hand out.

Alexis looked hesitant to hand it over, but she shut it down and handed it back to me to look over. I turned it over in my hands, peering down at it as I mentally went through the enchantments,

"Ah, I see," I said and nodded, "Give me a second. So… Wrathion finally leave you alone?"

"He was persistent, I'll give him that," Alexis admitted and crossed her arms, "And kinda nice looking. But I'm not going to be somebody's second wife. I'm not sharing."

I grinned, "Oh?"

"Yeah. Not happening. Especially as I'm not into girls," she said and shook her head, "Besides, I'd like somebody I date to be… I'm not picky you understand, but… you know, I'd like him to at least be bipedal."

I grinned, "Well… you know, the Consorts thing isn't just one male and several females. It's about dragons naturally being attracted to stronger and more skilled individuals. I bet that you could have more than one applicant if you were interested."

Her cheeks turned a bit red and she quickly shook her head, "Bipedal!"

"So picky," I teased and handed her new sword back to her, "try it now."

She glowered at me but quickly turned to study her new toy.

Amazing what you can get away with when you offer people something shiny at the same time.

 

[Hiver]

Alpha and Beta were moving around my workshop, making a copy of the containment vessel I had designed. They couldn't quicksmith it, but they were still making one of their own.

I had made the parts, but they were assembling it and doing the enchanting on their own, I was just overseeing the work.

Beta lifted one of the gems and turned in in his hands as he regarded it, before turning to show it to me, "This gem is flawed, Creator."

I know. I put it there.

I held my hand out and he handed it over, "It is. There are more in the supplies on the main workbench. Pick one you like that matches the spec."

Beta nodded and floated around me to move over there as I pocketed the gem. Too flawed to be of much use for something like this, but I could always trade it for local currency on an expedition or hand it over to the jewel crafters for similar purposes.

Stepping back to allow them to work, I walked over to Alexstrasza who was standing by the wall, her arms crossed as she watched, "What do you think?"

"Incredible," she answered softly, "They are so… alive."

"Mmm," I agreed, "their mindstate was copied from my summon of the Augur of Dunlain, which was a magically ascended mind of a human. Their mindstate isn't human, it's been way too long since they were anything like it. But their mindstate is not completely alien either."

The Dragon Queen regarded them for another moment before she nodded, "They are mana elementals."

I frowned and shook my head, "Not quite. They may be made from similar stuff, but mana elementals are naturally formed from the base forces of the universe. The Librarians are much more structured than that. I think a golem with an advanced mind state would be more accurate, just skipping all of that messy material that usually makes them up."

"But alive and thinking."

"Yes."

Alexstrasza nodded as she watched, "What are those metal armbands?"

"Protection," I said and sighed as I looked as well at Alpha as he carefully assembled the interior structure of the device with Beta assisting him, "They are, in essence, enchanted illusion constructs, and as such, very vulnerable to directed magic. The armband is a device I assembled to give them a little protection so a random spell doesn't kill them. It's not perfect protection, but they do stop them from suffering from matrix collapse just by being 'painted' by the casting of a spell on them. It doesn't protect from the actual spell however."

Alexstrasza nodded and looked at me before reaching to brush a stray hair out of my face and behind my ear, "Have you chosen a location for them to move to yet?"

"I have not," I said and shook my head before looking over towards them and waited a second for Alpha to finish his latest screw, "Alpha:"

Alpha looked up and put his tool down before floating over to us, "Creator?" he asked and looked between us, giving Alexstrasza a small bow, "Life Binder."

"Have you picked a Plane yet?"

Alpha nodded, "We have, Creator. The Plane with the city called Minas Tirith. It is a Plane with magic while still not having a great number of natural threats."

I slowly nodded, "That could work. Especially if we set you up somewhere far away from the local inhabitants. Thank you, Alpha."

Alpha gave us a small bow and then floated back to their work area.

"You let them pick?" Alexstrasza asked and regarded them for a moment before looking at me.

"It's to be their new home," I said and shrugged, "Only fair that they get to pick which one. Of course, if they picked something that would be difficult for them to survive, I'd tell them to pick somewhere else."

Alexstrasza nodded thoughtfully, "I have read the report on this world and it does seem fitting," she agreed, "You can move them safely?"

"As far as we can tell," I confirmed, "Alexis tested it with a summoned Librarian and the prototype containment module I made. It makes it through okay."

Alexstrasza nodded again and then regarded me, "How is Lady Castle?"

"Well enough," I said and then frowned, crossing my arms in thought, "But the loss was hard on her. She's healed, but she also hasn't gone back to traveling."

She had spent a lot of time practicing though. Either with me, or with Rengosa or Zrazta, or even the other dragons or dragonkin. I feared she wanted to go back and find the guy that destroyed that town.

What's worse, I feared that she was planning on doing it alone.

She barely got away last time. Besides, I wanted a chance to bite his head off, myself. He hurt my friend.

Alexstrasza reached to run her gauntleted fingers through my hair, adjusting it lightly, "She is an ally of the Flights and the only other Planeswalker here. Make sure she dosn't do anything stupid."

I knew a command when I knew one, "Yes, Life Binder."

"Your hair is getting long again. Good, it suits you better."

"...Thanks. Sheila prefers it too."

"How is your Consort handling things?"

I sighed softly, "Well. But things are difficult for her. It's not an easy thing to get used to an entirely new body and new set of instincts. Especially with her magic acting the way it is without the Fel."

Alexstrasza smiled slightly, "You would know, little one."

"Yeah. It was difficult," I admitted.

"It's amazing watching you," she said gently, "You and my brother. So similar, so different. I can see some of him in you, but you're…" she paused and shook her head, "Different."

"Different how?"

She frowned slightly and let her hand drop, "I'm not sure. You're as clever, as imaginative, but…" she said and then sighed, "It's like you're his younger twin. Especially in your real form… if he had been a dragon at that age. I think that when you get older you might look almost identical."

I frowned and then looked up at her, "Seeing me… does it hurt?"

Alexstrasza smiled softly and shook her head, "No, Atregos. Seeing you give me hope. Hope that we will eventually be able to go home."

 

[Hiver]

Sheila growled at me.

I gave her a small nuzzle, "It'll be fine, I promise. I'm just dropping them off and all of you have better things to do than sitting around for a week waiting for me to get back."

Sheila growled and turned to look at Rengosa.

Ren shifted her wings a bit and moved up on her other side, giving Sheila a small nuzzle, "He's right, you know. It is a fairly safe world."

"And I have no intention of going anywhere close to anyone," I reassured her, "The Librarians would like somewhere isolated to start building."

Sheila shifted with a small growl, her claws scratching against the stone beneath her, before she snorted and gave me a lick between the eyes, "You better."

"I will," I said and then licked back, "If I'm not back in a week, you can always send Alexis to find me."

Sheila growled again and sat down.

I sighed softly and nuzzled, "It's fine. I do have them to back me up, too."

"We are ready, Creator," Beta said as he moved up next to me, "Shall we enter the containment devices?"

I turned to look at him, "Put the armbands away first, but then enter containment."

Beta nodded and floated to my side to put his armband away in my satchel, quickly joined by Alpha as they removed their stabilizing armbands.

Turning back to Sheila, I nosed softly, "I know you want to come. But until you can make a soulstone again, it's not safe."

She let out a small frustrated breath and then nodded, "I know," she admitted and shifted a bit closer, nuzzling along my neck, "Everytime you're away alone, I just worry. Things can go wrong and I just feel better if one of us is with you."

"I agree with that," Zrazta said as she padded into the chamber, "Even on a simple trip things can go wrong."

I growled at her, "Now you're making me nervous about it!"

She chuckled softly and gave me a lick at the same place as Sheila had.

"I'll bind with a Swamp," Sheila said seriously, "I have no other duties… Once I have that, I can make soulstones again. I can come with you when you go in the future."

"Need mortal form too," Ren pointed out gently, "At least for most places."

Sheila growled at her before she sighed and nuzzled softly at her in apology, "...I know."

I gave her a quick lick before I pulled back and looked at the small glowing orbs on the floor of the chamber and cast a spell to float them into my satchel, closing it tight.

Giving my Consorts a nod, I then closed my eyes and focused, channeling my magic into my spark as I scraped my claws on the stone floor.

Reality shattered around me like a mirror and I was left in the howling eternities, uncreation scrambling and tearing, solid concepts buffeting against me while real things no more substantial than ideas passed me by like smoke in a hurricane.

I turned, looking around as I shifted towards one of the tiny little infinitely large looming dots in the close infinitely far away from me.

Reality crashed down around me again and I stumbled, half spreading my wings for balance as I stopped and looked around.

I was in a forest. A forest of some sort of leafy trees, the ground covered with fallen leaves. But it was summer or spring, it was warm enough, and the crowns of the trees were covered with rich green leaves.

Listening, I looked around. No sound other than wind through the trees.

No birds.

Then again, not exactly rare just after I Walked in. Not sure if it was the lightshow, the giant predator or something else, but birds always freaked the fuck out when I appeared.

Taking a deep breath, I turned my head to open one of my bags, lifting one of the containment spheres with my magic. It was glowing happily just like when I left.

Awesome, it worked.

Putting it back into my bag, I looked around. Alpha had said they wanted to start on a mountain far away from other people, which was fair. Not like they needed actual food to live or cared about cold any more than I did.

Looking around, I spotted a clearing in the distance and quickly padded towards it. Too many trees to be able to easily take off from here.

This was kind of a nice world to be honest. A good pick.

Three running steps and I spread my wings and I was in the air, beating my wings hard as I drove myself up into the air, circling slowly higher.

Banking, I scanned the horizon. Smoke from a village somewhere a couple of kilometers to the west in the forest. Better avoid those, a dragon might cause panic. Don't want to bother the mortals unless I have to.

I turned, banking away, looking east instead.

Snow covered mountains far in the distance, just poking over the horizon. That might work.

Casting a blur spell over myself, I started to climb.

 

[Hiver]

"So, what do you think?" I asked, laying down in the thick snow as I watched the two Librarians slowly look around before me.

Alpha turned towards me, "This will work well, Creator. We are close to a leyline."

I nodded, "I made sure to pick one," I said, and flicked my head, causing my armour to deploy along the top of my head, placing a lens over my right eye as I looked around, "This was the most magically dense location I could find, at least far away from anything inhabited."

Alpha nodded, "It seems to be. It is a good choice. Shall we unpack the equipment?"

"Go ahead," I said and folded the lens away again, shifting my wings to give them better access to the four bags tied to the sides of my armour.

Three were theirs and contained some equipment and supplies that they might need to get started, including some gems and jewelry to use for trade if necessary.

I felt bad about leaving them here, I made them, to just abandon them on some other Plane…

It didn't feel right. But not only was it a direct command from Alexstrasza as well as Kalecgos which meant I didn't really have a choice in the matter, but…

...They also had something of a point.

Beta moved to put one bag down, before opening and looking through it. Closing it again, he moved to assist Alpha with the remaining two.

I watched them as they worked.

Putting the bags down, Alpha turned to me as the snow whirled in the slight wind, "Do you have anything in specific you wish for us, Creator?"

I slowly stood up, shaking some snow off myself as I looked to them, "Try to keep peace with the locals if possible. Collect and curate knowledge and build a powerful defensive fortress to hold it."

They both bowed before Beta looked at me, "What is your plan now, Creator?"

"Now, I'm going to hunt something to eat," I told him and stretched my wings, "Then I'm going to map as much of the area as I can before I have to Walk back. At least give you an idea of where the local villages and towns are."

"We will begin construction, Creator."

"Sounds like a plan," I agreed, and then turned and spread my wings against the wind before throwing myself into the air, climbing higher as I circled before diving down the side of the mountain towards the forest far below.

Now to find something to eat. Maybe a deer, I felt like deer today. Not completely sure, but I don't think I tried one on this Plane before.

They always tasted slightly different, but I had yet to run into a deer that wasn't tasty.

I bet they will be equally nice on this Plane. Oooh, Crocolisk maybe? But I have only found those on Azeroth and Outland so I bet I wouldn't be that lucky.

But deer were common enough on most Planes, so my odds were good.

I rested on my wings as I scanned the forest below, slowly banking back and forth. Come on, where are you little snack...

Where ar-

There.

I folded my wings and dove like a falcon, eyes locked at my target. A large buck with impressive antlers, moving with a small herd of other deer.

I half spread my wings, shifting my course, twisting slightly and then spreading my wings wide and hard as I crashed down on top of him with a bone crunching impact, my jaws snapping down on his neck and giving it a twist and snapp.

The other prey honked and squeaked in terror and surprise, jumping high as they bounced away through the forest.

I ignored them and dug into my meal.

I had been right. Deer was just as tasty on this Plane as on most, if possibly a bit bland. Ripping a piece free, I gulped it down and then blinked.

Something was shimmering in the sky.

I slowly tilted my head, looking up towards them. What was that? Play of the light through the leaves. I lowered my muzzle again and ripped another chunk free and then paused and glanced back again.

Stronger shimmers, lights, shifting in all colours.

Swallowing, I took a step off the deer and then glanced down at it. What in the fuck did that deer eat?!

The lights shimmered and shifted, glowing red, blue, white, green and even black. Whirling and moving. What…

I didn't feel like I was drugged. They looked… real. Somehow, they gave me a sense of… Doom.

Ravnica.

They came from Ravnica.

Come here.

Come here.

Come here.

Come here and meet your Doom.

I took another step back and shook my head, closing my eyes. I could see them still, even with my eyes closed.

They were real. But they were in my head!

They were in my head!

Come to Ravnica. Come to your Doom.

I shook my head again and dug my claws into the ground. In my head. That… it was him Had to be.. The Mindwalker, the Telepath. Jace Beleren. Leader of the Gatewatch.

Snarling, I took another step back.

Come to Ravnica. Doom.

It was him. Had to be. Why would he… He was trying to trap me, to attack me, to drag me there into a trap!

I growled and took another step back, wings half spread. No. I'm not going, I'm not falling into your trap!

Come to Ravnica. Come to your Doom.

But… how could he…

If he got me there, he wouldn't know where I would appear… unless he had a way to track me. But if he could track me here, then he could track me there or…

Have a way to redirect me to somewhere.

But I couldn't Walk yet in any case, it has only been a day. If I walk this early, I'll… I can't walk this early. It would completely wipe me out for hours.

Come to Ravnica. Come to your Doom.

The lights. The lights were shining. Shimmering.

Calling to me.

Shifting another half step back, I growled deeply, digging my claws into the ground beneath me as my tail lashed. Jace Belaren.

The Gatewatch.

I could see them doing it if they thought me a threat. I could see Lilliana going along with something as cold as calling me there to kill me.

But… Chandra…. She'd burn me alive if she thought me a threat, but this wasn't the way she acted. Wasn't her style.

Which meant that either she was out or…

The Mind Mage.

I shook my head again trying to clear it. Come to Ravnica. Come to your Doom.

I snarled and my armour deployed across me, sliding along my legs and wings, my helmet covering my head and the small crystals through it thrummed to full power.

You want me in your trap? You better hope it's perfect.

Because here I come.

Reality shattered around me.