The Sparks of War

[Hiver]

I looked over the city below, relaxing on a stone ledge as I watched people move around below, cleaning up debris from the damage to the building.

I left my head half hang across the edge, giving me a good field of view. The sun was setting in the distance. The plan was to leave tomorrow, and Alexis had more or less ordered me to get something to eat and then rest up.

What is it with women ordering me around, I'm not even sleeping with this one.

Not that she was wrong, really, but still.

Amazing though, after sleeping for days, I still felt tired. Walking that often really was extraordinarily tiring… and that's not even taking everything after into account.

A pegasus flew past across the square. I followed it with my eyes, raising my head. Wonder what pegasi taste like?

Horse or chicken?

Eh, somebody likely owned it. Besides, after what a dragon did to this city, I don't think grabbing a pegasus and eating it on somebody's roof would be very appreciated.

I put my head back down with a snort. I'll find something to eat wherever we land next.

I heard an opening door behind me, and I turned my head to look back to see Gideon Jura walking outside into diminishing sunlight.

He looked at me for a second before walking over to me, "I hope I'm not disturbing you, Atregos," he said, stopping a couple of meters away.

I raised my head to look at him, "You are not."

Juras sighed softly and then nodded, "I came to apologize and to thank you."

I blinked at him, "What for?"

"First I would like to apologize for not coming to your assistance when you asked us," he said and shook his head, "I was wrong to vote against it. Chandra and… Lilliana told me about what had happened, what you were up against. That portal… with time it might have even been multiversal."

"Why didn't you?"

Juras frowned, "I have… experience with dragons. I didn't trust you."

I snorted at him, "If you only had had a mind reader."

"Indeed," he admitted, "And I thought you were exaggerating. I was wrong and I apologize. You deserved our assistance and most of us failed you, failed what we had already taken oaths to do."

I regarded him for a long moment, shifting to turn fully towards him and letting my tail hang over the open space behind me before I moved closer and bumped my snout against his shoulder, "You are forgiven."

He reached up and patted the side of my muzzle with one hand, "Thank you," he said before he nodded, "And I would like to thank you. You distracted Bolas at the perfect time for my attack."

"I heard your attack failed," I said and pulled my head back to look at him, "I'm not sure we made a difference at all.".

Juras smiled slightly and nodded, "It did," he agreed, "Not sure if you heard the details, but the sword had been a Bolas plot years in the making. The one weapon he was completely sure could not hurt him anymore, of course he would make sure that he got attacked with exactly that. We're lucky Lilliana turned on him."

I regarded him for a long moment, "That seems like a good plan," I admitted, "If it worked. What if you had used a different weapon or if somebody had changed the sword, improved it?"

"A problem with all plans," Juras agreed with a nod, "Things sometimes fail. As Bolas just experienced."

"If you're looking for a new weapon," I said, "I'm sure we'll be able to make some sort of trade."

He grinned briefly and nodded, "You know what? I might take you up on that at some point. I heard from your friend that you're leaving tomorrow."

I nodded, "We are. There is little more we can do here at the moment."

Juras smiled and nodded, "Understandable," he agreed and raised one hand. I shifted and bumped my snout against it.

"One more thing," He then said, dropping his hand and crossing his arms, "...The way Lilliana returned to life from the bind Bolas had on her. You taught her that."

"I did," I agreed, "As a thanks for when she helped save my world."

He nodded and frowned, "Could she have taught it to Bolas?"

I considered that for a long moment before I shifted my wings and shook my head, "No. Well, yes, but I do not think she did. If she used it to get out of her deal with him, then it was her ace in the hole. She would not have shown him how to do it. And if she had, he would have popped right back out again after he went down. Nobody found a little purple sphere, did they?"

"Not to my knowledge, no."

"Then no," I said and nodded, "I doubt she taught him how to do it. There are limits to it, the sphere can't be more than some twenty meters away, and you will reform next to it. It's not something that can be relied on for this kind of thing."

Juras slowly nodded in agreement, "Thank you, that makes sense."

"Your sword," I finally asked, "Did anything survive?"

He frowned and then shook his head, "It shattered into little fragments. I don't know if any of it would be useful to you at all, but they should be on the side of the Ziggurat still. Be careful if you look at it, that sword… it was evil. It wanted to be fed. I don't know if anything like that remains in the shards."

I looked towards the large ziggurat before I turned away again.

Fuck it, I just can't be bothered dealing with evil sword shards right now.

 

[Hiver]

Alexis' ritual to Walk was usually to run until she got lost. Which wasn't the most practical way of doing it, but luckily she had found a workaround that worked for her.

"Really?" I asked and crossed my arms.

"Yes," Alexis said, "That's how we have to do it."

"...That's just undignified."

"People that eat live food aren't allowed to complain about that, and if they do, they can Walk on their own," Alexis said with a grin, "Come on, Lizard, let's get going."

Being the adult here, I stuck my tongue out at her before holding my hands out for her.

She took them and then nodded, "Ready?"

"Ready," I agreed, and sighed before we started to spin in a circle. Alexis leaned back and I held on tight as we spun arouńd, closing her eyes.

I'm so glad the other Planeswalkers couldn't see us right now.

We moved faster, spinning around in a circle and light started to… bend around it weaving together and then got fuzzer and more diffuse until our surroundings blurred together into a mass of colours and lights and suddenly we were in the howling uncreation of the Blind Eternities.

Alexis' floating golden whining form moved next to me towards and away from one of the infinitely tiny little spots that were too large to even fit in a single universe.

Reaching out to touch it, reality exploded around us and we stumbled out onto a new world. Wind howling, around us, whipping snow and ice through the air.

I raised one arm against the wind and looked around. I felt… fine. Walking was always tiring, even a short little hop like this, but I didn't feel like laying down for a nap, which was nice.

I could get used for this.

A sound drifted through the howling wind and I looked over to a cursing Alexis as she struggled up from a snowdrift. I grinned and walked over to pull her back onto her feet, "Dizzy?"

"Shut up and get a shield or something up! I'm freezing to death!"

"It's not that cold," I protested but did as she said, "It's what… thirty below freezing?"

The glare Alexis shot me should have warmed the general area up nicely on i's own, and she scrambled through her bag, pulling out winter clothing and putting them over her usual ones, following it with a thick hat and a heavy, thick cloak.

As she got busy getting warm, I looked around. We were in a forest deep with snow, and while the weather sky was clear, the sun was setting in the distance and the wind was howling through the pine trees.

Pine trees. Why do all Planes have pine trees?

Alexis wrapped herself tightly in her thick cloak and shuddered, "Well, we're on the way home for sure," she sighed and looked around, "...Fuck. It'll be a day or two until I can Walk us again safely. We need to find shelter or I'll be an icicle way before then."

"Nah, we'll be fine," I said, "I still carry a cold weather tent in my main bag from when Sheila needed it. And a bunch of heating spheres."

"Ah," Alexis said and nodded, "You mean in the bags that were destroyed when Bolas smashed us from the skies? Those bags?"

"...Those bags," I admitted with a small sigh, "...Damn, you're right. Okay, if we find some stones I can make new heat spheres fairly easily."

"I'm still going to need shelter, even if you can keep that shield up for two days and keep the wind away, I'm not geared for arctic conditions!" Alexis said and shuddered beneath her cloak as she looked around, "Fuck it's cold."

I frowned and looked around. She was right about that, with it thirty below freezing and with this windchill she's actually at serious risk of getting frostbite in hours if not minutes.

The shield helped against the wind but it did nothing to keep the heat in. Besides, it wasn't made to be kept running for days at a time.

"There," i finally said and pointed towards a snow covered cliff, "Do you have a tent?"

Alexis nodded, "Y-yeah. Had a wizard one once, but it didn't react well to being put in something that was bigger on the inside," she said and crossed her arms, putting her hands in her armpits, "I have a normal thick tent. Not an arctic one, though."

I nodded, "Okay, well, it won't hold in this kind of wind. But we'll do this," I said, and removed my vambrace, handing it over to her, "Hold this to keep out of the wind and get over to those cliffs. I'm going to go get some good wooden poles. We'll string the fabric up using those and stones around the face of the cliff and put some heating stones inside. I'll turn back to my real form outside and act as a windbreak. Sounds like a plan?"

"S-sure."

And so we did. It didn't quite go as planned, the wind just tore the fabric away until we tied the entire thing to something more solid, which meant piling up a ton of stones along the edges and slamming thick poles of wood into the frozen ground. Neither of us really knew anything about arctic survival, I didn't need it and Alexis had never run into it like this before.

"This Plane sucks, " Alexis rumbled, sitting with her legs crossed with her hands over a softly glowing stone about the size of her head.

"Eh, it has potential," I said as I looked at her, "I'm going to take a flight tomorrow and see what I can see. It can't be like this all the time or the trees wouldn't be able to grow, and they are still alive."

I was technically still outside the tent, just having my head poking in, weighing the fabric down with a paw on each side to keep the wind from ripping it up.

"Well, I don't care how nice it is in the summer, it sucks now," Alexis groaned, and pulled her cloak a bit tighter around herself.

"I did put some warming enchantments on your clothes."

"...And they help, thank you," She admitted, and reached over to give my nose a quick pat before putting her hands above the warming rock again, "But it's still too cold for humans."

Well, I found it comfortable.

At least while the sun was up.

When the sun set and darkness descended, it actually got a bit chilly outside the tent.

 

[Hiver]

I rested on the wind, scanning the horizon as I flew over the forest. Nothing but trees, mountains in the distance, and some forest animals.

I had snatched a deer earlier. It had been a bit off, it's fur being white and blue with white antlers, but it had tasted fine.

But other than that, nothing. No sign of habitation, no structures. No airplanes in the sky, no flying ships, and no railways.

Of course, none of which meant anything. For all I knew we were in this planet's version of Siberia and there was a starfaring civilization with starships, lasers, and antigravity down by the equator.

Now, I didn't rate that chance very high, but it was possible. But also no way for me to know it so it didn't matter for us right now, did it?

...And I didn't see any satellites last night so not likely. But that just showed that just flying around didn't really prove anything.

I couldn't search an entire planet!

Oh well, not every planet could be interesting.

Banking around, I slowly started to sink down lower with slow beats of my wings, I scanned the ground before spotting something moving in the snow in the general direction of the tent.

A bear. Well, something like a bear at least, it had white fur and six big and thick legs as it trundled through the thick snow.

Well, that can't be allowed.

I swept in low above the treetops and cast a spell as I passed over it, dropping a frost troll on it on my way. That'll distract it a bit.

Even if it managed to win, it'd have better things to do than continue in that direction.

But that proved a good point, I should summon the frost troll tonight to stand guard as we slept; even if fighting a bear wasn't that dangerous, I really didn't want to be woken up by one chewing on my tail.

Coming in for a landing, I folded my wings and moved over to poke my head in beneath the tent, holding it down again, "You awake?"

"I'm awake," Alexis said, and looked up from her book, "You see anything?"

"Nothing very interesting," I said, "Just trees, snow and some wildlife. I ate a deer… want me to find you a rabbit or something?"

She grinned briefly and then shook her head, "No, I'm good," she said and patted her bag, "I brought more than enough supplies to last until we get back."

"Ah, good."

She frowned and closed her book, "Nothing? In my experience most planes have people."

"About half in my experience," I said, "The wind has died down if you want to have a look around."

"Nooo, thank you," Alexis said and quickly shook her head, "I'm actually tempted to try to Walk today and just rest a bit longer on the next Plane."

I shook my head, "Better not. For all we know the next Plane drops us in the middle of an ocean. This is fine."

Alexis sighed and nodded, "Okay, yeah, fair point," she admitted and shook her head, "I'm just cold and bored."

"What of those Planes you read about?" I asked, "Are any of those in the right direction?"

She shook her head and shifted to lay down on her sleeping bag, reaching out with one hand to idly scratch beneath my closest eye, "Not really. The one closest to home I know about is an insanely boring one that I think might be a hundred percent grass plains and little else. But other than that, mostly unknown."

"We could go somewhere else? Plenty of Planes to check out that aren't that dull."

"I guess," Alexis agreed, looking up at the slightly rippling roof of her tent, "Depends on what we find on the way I suppose."

"True," I admitted and shifted a bit closer, closing my eyes, "...So what are your plans when we get back?"

"I don't know," Alexis said and shifted to put her arms behind her head, "Maybe… Maybe I'll go home for a bit."

"Earth?" I asked, raising my head slightly to look at her.

"Yeah," she said as she nodded, "I got to thinking last night. I haven't been there for a long time. It struck me last night that… "

"What?"

"My friends back home. I haven't seen them in years," she said and frowned up at the ceiling, "Even when I was there, I didn't go see them."

"Ah."

"Yeah," Alexis sighed and turned to look at me, "...What do you remember about before? Before you showed up on Azeroth?"

"Nothing much," I admitted with a snort, "Some memories, nothing… important. What about the wizards?"

She shook her head, "Don't worry, I'll stay in the US. Enough time has passed that they should have stopped looking in any case."

"Hmmm," I said and shifted my wings outside the tent, "Perhaps I should make you a medallion or something. Something that could block most scrying spells. Maybe something that changes your looks slightly too, just to be sure."

Alexis smiled slightly, "No blue hair."

I grumbled slightly and put my head back down, "Would have looked nice."

"Maybe I could be a blonde, always wanted to try that," Alexis said and put her head back down with a smile before she sighed, "Will be nice to see my family again."

"Hmm. Would be," I agreed.

I wanted to go home too right now.

 

[Hiver]

"Ready?" I asked as I rolled the fabric up tight and put the tent into my bag.

"Let's do this before I lose a body part," Alexis said and quickly offered me her hands.

I took them and we started to spin off into the Blind Eternities.

Even as we spun in a circle in the snow, I couldn't help but think that this was an exeptionally stupid way to travel. At least the last one I would be able to do myself and pull her along instead. But there was another couple of days and one more Walk after this one. Oh well.

The white, brown, and grey of the forest blurred together and then reality was gone and we were in the howling uncreation of the Blind Eternities, broken only by Alexis golden glow next to me. A single solid point in a landscape filled by nothing but shifting ideas.

She reached for the next spot and reality crashed down around us, and suddenly we were falling. Blue on blue tumbled around us and then we hit the surface before we even had time to scream.

I turned, looking around and swam up towards the surface above, breaking through the surface into the air.

Breathing heavily, I looked around. Sun. Blue skies, waves and in the distance, a shape on the horizon.

Land.

I looked around and a second later, I saw Alexis as she broke the surface a dozen meters away, coughing and spitting.

"Hey!" I yelled and waved in her direction.

She waved back, "Can you see anything?"

"Land," I yelled and pointed in that direction, "Hang on!"

With that, I dove beneath the surface and channeled my magic, returning to my real form.

Now, this water wasn't as cool as I'd prefer, nor were Blue Dragons actually amphibious like some may believe, but we were the best swimmers of all the Flights.

Looking around, I quickly spotted Alexis where she was treading water before I swam up next to her and poked my head over the water, "Grab on," I told her.

"I have water summons," she protested as she swam over and climbed onto my back, "I can have one of them take me there."

"Ah, but can they fly?" I asked.

"...No," she admitted, "Okay, what do we do?"

"Just hang on and take a deep breath, I need to gather some speed," I said, and waited a couple of seconds for her to have time to do so before I dove down again. My wings shifted through the water like large fins as I dove deeper before slowly turning around and starting back towards the surface. I moved faster this time and broke the surface in a spray of saltwater, spreading my wings wide and beating them hard and fast and slowly the water released its grip on me and I climbed towards the blue skies.

"Wait wait wait!" Alexis protested, half hanging from my side, "Give me-" she started before her eyes flashed white and she hauled herself fully onto my back, "I'm good!"

Chuckling, I banked around and flew towards the island. It was the only piece of land I could see in any case so without a lot more scouting, it was where we were going to stay this time around.

Hopefully it didn't have something too dangerous.

It wasn't very big, maybe a couple of kilometers straight across, but it had plenty of green plants all over it so there should be water somewhere. Not that that was a big problem, water I could just conjure if necessary.

"There!" Called Alexis and pointed, "Can you put us down on that beach?"

I nodded and shifted the course slightly, but I didn't land, instead I circled the island a couple of times, looking over it closely. No sign of habitation, no smoke. No large animals that I could see. Doing one last pass across it, I then circled down to land on the beach.

I beat my wings hard and landed away from the trees with my claws in the surf, sinking down slightly in the wet sand.

Alexis shifted and slid off my back onto the beach, the water reaching almost to her knees as she looked around, "You know what?" she asked as she walked around me to look along the beach, "Sometimes you just luck out."

"It's too warm," I told her.

She grinned at me, "I'd say it's just about perfect so far," before her eyes widened and she quickly opened her bag to dig through it, "Damn, damn damn!!"

"What?"

"I don't have my swimsuit packed!"

I rolled my eyes and moved past her, 'accidentally' knocking her over into the water with my wing.

She resurfaced, coughing and glaring at me, "Hey!"

"Looks like you're swimming just fine in that suit."

Alexis stared at me for a moment before she shook her head and struggled up again before she groaned, "...And now my bag is full of water. Thanks."

"Wasn't it before?"

"...Well, yeah," she admitted, "But not as much. At least my sensitive stuff is in a plastic box."

"...Sorry, didn't think of that," I admitted and turned to her.

She smiled slightly and walked up to pat my snout, "It's fine, you over-sized gecko."

"I could make your bag waterproof," I offered.

"That would be nice," she agreed, "After I laid everything out to dry. But before then, we should make camp somewhere. Going to stay like that?"

"Unless you need help with hands," I said, "If you don't mind."

Alexis shook her head, "That just means that you are doing the heavy lifting," she said, reaching up to toss the strap of her bag over one of my horns, "Come on."

And now I'm a drying rack.

Is that a step up or down from gecko, I wonder?

 

[Hiver]

I opened one eye to look at Alexis across the fire as she twisted and turned on top of her sleeping bag. Suddenly she let out a small sound of protest and sat up straight, breathing hard.

It wasn't the first time. Every night since we left Ravnica.

"Nightmare again?" I asked and lifted my head to look at her.

She breathed heavily and pulled her legs up, resting her forehead against her knees for a long moment before she answered, "...Sorry… did I wake you?"

"Was already awake," I said as I watched her, "What was it? It's fine if you don't want to tell me."

Alexis shook her head and shifted towards the fire and crossed her legs, resting her face against the palm of her hands, her elbows at her knees.

She was quiet for a long moment and I almost thought she wouldn't answer by the time she spoke up, "Remember Skyrim? The mages' college?"

"Vampires," I agreed, and nodded.

"Yeah. Dreamed of that," she said softly, "This time."

"Not each time?" I asked, digging my claws into the still warm sand beneath me. Above two large moons shone in the sky among a sea of stars, many more than you could see on earth or most planes.

Alexis forced a small smile, "Why repeat when there are so many to pick from?" she asked and sighed softly, "What about you?"

I considered that for a long moment and then shook my head, "Sometimes. Not often."

"Thought so," she said softly as she nodded.

"How do you mean?"

Alexis shook her head and brushed her hair back, rubbing her eyebrow for a second, "Just… you're not human, you don't think like one. Why would this stuff affect you like one?"

I shifted slightly at that, considering it.

There had been a whole hell of a lot of awful things that have happened to and around me. By all rights, I should have at least some level of mental trauma from it. Sure, I had nightmares sometimes, but never anything like she clearly had.

"Is it every night?" I asked gently.

Alexis shook her head, "Comes in waves," she admitted and sighed softly, "Lasts for a couple of weeks and then goes away for a while."

"I'm here if you want to talk, you know."

"I know," she said and gave me a small smile before she stood up and stretched, looking upwards, "Have you seen these skies?"

I looked upwards, "I did," I agreed, "It's beautiful."

"Mmmm," she agreed and then shook her head, "Maybe this is a nice vacation spot. A small cabin maybe."

"Bit warm for me, but I could see that," I agreed.

"Too little snow for you, huh?" Alexis asked.

"And ice, don't forget ice."

She shook her head and crossed around the fire, sinking down and resting her back against my side. I shifted slightly and set my head down next to her.

"You should talk to somebody though," I said quietly, "Don't have to be me. Just somebody."

Alexis was quiet for a long moment before she nodded and scratched softly at the top of my head, "I know," she said softly, "Maybe when I'm on Earth," she said before she laughed, "Ah, yes. I'm sure that'll go well over with a therapist. 'I'm a world traveling auramancer who's best friend is a dragon that likes making power armor. Can you help me with the bad dreams I have from being kidnapped by vampires, being killed or hurt?'"

I shifted and bumped my nose against her knee, "Showing some magic would help?"

"Yeah, I bet it would," Alexis agreed quietly and shook her head, "I might look into it, Kate might know somebody, I bet cops have to deal with this stuff all the time."

"Mmmm."

"Well," she then admitted, "Maybe not specifically this stuff."

"Maybe not," I agreed and titled my head to look at her.

Alexis smiled slightly and crossed her arms, resting her head back to look up against the skies for a second she looked at me for a small frown again, "Why were you awake anyway?"

"Just remembering," I told her, "There was a girl that helped me on Ravnica. Aishia. Helped get me to the Azorius building. She got killed on the way. She didn't need to help me, there was nothing in it for her. She did it anyway. There was nothing I could do to save her, and I only knew her for an hour. The only thing I can do is remember her."

"Ah," Alexis said softly and sighed, "Fucking Bolas."

"Fucking Bolas indeed. And fucking Vess," I said with a small growl, shifting my wings and brushing my tail club across the sand.

If I ever ran into Vess again, I'd rip her throat out… and then do it again if she had another soulstone going.

Alexis shook her head and then she looked towards the two moons, "I don't feel like sleeping anymore. Want to go for a flight?"

I considered that for a moment before I nodded and slowly started to get up, pulling Alexis along onto her feet as she grasped one of my horns, "Lets."

 

[Hiver]

The waves crashed gently against me, the water moving across my neck and up almost to my nose before pulling back again.

The sun was setting somewhere behind me from the light.

Alexis was off somewhere around the island towards the cliffs to the right. I had gotten strict orders to stay away from the cliffs and to not go flying.

She even left her angel behind to send for her if I wanted something.

Translation: She's sunbathing.

Clothes.

Silly humans.

Well, since she didn't want me flying, which was fine with me today, I had spent most of the day in the water or moving around in the jungle, exploring. It was a bit cooler out of the sun, after all.

That and swimming was fun, not something I actually got to do too often. I really should do it more often, it was relaxing and, especially in places like this, pretty.

Maybe I should return here with Zrazta, Sheila, and Ren? Just stay here for a couple of weeks? Might not be anything big enough to hunt in the forest, but plenty in the sea.

There were those shark-like fish that tried to eat me. They were tasty.

Opening my eyes lazily, I looked towards the Angel standing in the shadow of one of the trees. Maybe check if there were some Dragonkin that didn't mind being summons to have someone to build some shelters?

Because surely this place would have storms.

Zrazta would love this place, so many plants. Sheila would like it too. Bit warm for Ren and myself, but not too bad.

The angel suddenly disappeared in a flash of light and a puff of smoke. Blinking, I raised my head and looked towards the right to see Alexis climbing down over one of the small cliffs, jumping down the last couple of meters before heading down the beach towards me.

"Didn't fall asleep, did you?"

She shook her head, "Not without sun protection," she said and stopped and reached to scratch beneath my left eye with a smile, "What about you?"

"Been exploring and swimming," I said and shifted my head slightly into her touch, "There's freshwater in the middle of the island, a clear spring. No salt, so the island doesn't look like it gets swamped during storms."

"Oh, that's cool in case we do something with this place."

"Indeed," I said and nodded, "You find anything?"

Alexis grinned, "Didn't explore much, spent most of the day reading:"

"Ah."

"So, ready to continue on tomorrow?" She then asked and let her hand shift to rest on the end of my snout, "Just a couple more Walks home."

"We could," I agreed and then tilted my head in thought, "Or…"

"Or?"

"I can Walk us home from here in a couple of days," I said and stretched my wings for a second, feeling the evening wind for a second before folding them again, "We could just stay here for another couple of days and then Walk home directly. Why risk ending up somewhere worse when we have a perfectly nice Plane here to wait things out on."

Alexis frowned slightly in though before she nodded, "You know what, sometimes you are really smart."

"I know."

That got me a well earned twack on the tip of my nose. I ignored it and looked at her, "So? What do you think?"

"Let's do that," Alexis agreed, "God knows I need to heat up properly before we get home, not going to get much of that there."

I stuck my tongue out at her before I tilted my head in question, "Are you staying long before you leave for Earth?"

"...A while," She admitted and patted my nose before crossing her arms, "I need to stock up on supplies first anyway, this has eaten up quite a lot of my usual ones. And I so need to pick up a better tent on earth."

"I may have a small shopping list for you too?"

She nodded, "Can do. Just remember I can't carry as much as you even with expanded bags."

"Sounds good."

"So…" Alexis said and glanced towards the forest, "I'm getting a bit tired of the dried stuff I have. Did you see some rabbits or something similar?"

"Some deer like creatures with four horns," I said and looked at the forest, "But they're fast. How about you instead take that Albacore-like fish I saved for you beneath the tree where you had your angel?"

"That's like tuna, right?" she asked, glancing at me.

"Yep," I agreed with a nod.

"Thanks," she said and patted my snout before heading to pick up her dinner, "So what's your plan now?"

"Now," I said and followed, "I'm going to find a comfortable patch of sand and take a nap."

"Take a nap!? What else have you done today!" Alexis protested and picked up her fifteen kilo fish, "...This thing has teeth marks!"

I turned my head to look at her, "How did you think I caught it? I don't exactly have a fishing rod."

Alexis sighed and shook her head as she lifted it onto her shoulder, "...I guess that's what i get for hanging out with dragons," she said and moved to follow, "You ate already?"

"A dozen or so of those things. And something that looked like a shark?"

"No wonder you only eat like three times a week."

I snorted at her.

 

[Hiver]

I channeled my magic into a spell and sent a red fireball shooting out across the water, the bright light reflecting off the water before detonating into a… fireball some fifty meters out.

Casting another spell, I sent it flying after the last one.

"What are you doing?" Alexis asked from over by the fire before she got up and walked up next to me, the water almost reaching her feet, but she stopped short of the lapping waves.

"Practice," I said and turned my head to look at her before I turned back and sent another fireball flying out towards the ocean to explode, "I have promised Alexstrasza to practice my spellcasting when I can. The more I do it, the better I get."

Alexis nodded and focused, her eyes taking on a red hue as she channeled mana, moving her arms before sending a fireball flying out towards the ocean.

"I didn't know you knew fireball."

She grinned, "I'm a bit short on red mana, but Rengosa taught it to me. May not use it much, but it's good to have the option to put things on fire at a distance if necessary."

"It has its uses," I admitted and then shook my head, turning towards her and laying down to bring my head more to her level, "But it's so difficult to use when there is a rush. Alexstrasza and Kalecgos are right though, I have to learn how to cast spells as easily as every other dragon. It's just…"

"Difficult."

"Yeah," I snorted as I dug my claws into the wet sand, "I just don't get it, what am I doing wrong!?"

Alexis frowned at me, "From what I can see, nothing."

I sighed and shifted my wings, "Yeah," I said and half closed my eyes, channeling Green magic down into the earth and the roots far below shifted and moved up through the ground to latch on around a nearby rock.

"That one I don't know," Alexis admitted as she turned to look, "Easier for you than the fireball or harder?"

"Bit easier," I admitted, "What are you getting at?"

Alexis shrugged and moved to lean her back against my side, crossing her arms, "Well, something Master Goldmane said in one of his lessons. Everybody is more aligned to some sorts of mana. I fit mostly White and some Blue, it's easier for me to use than the others and most spells I know are like that."

"I guess I noticed some of that," I admitted and turned my head to look at her, "So I should find those colours that match my personality and focus on those?"

"D'uh."

I snorted at her and shifted my wings, "Well… I like illusions. Those work best with Blue mana. I don't know a lot of White spells, but those that I do know, shields and such work decently."

Alexis nodded and looked at me, "If you like, I could teach you some of mine and we'll see how it works for you?" she offered.

"Thank you."

"Okay, let's give this a try," She said and pushed away from me, "Wanna start?"

I glanced up towards the stars before I looked at Alexis again. I knew what she was doing, she was trying to avoid going asleep.

"Sure," I answered with a nod, "So what do we do?"

Alexis smiled and rubbed her hands, "Let's try an aura. It's a small boost, but everything helps. Just takes a single White mana. Master Goldmane called it Ethereal Armor."

I blinked at her and nodded, "That sounds nice."

She grinned, "Figured you'd like that. Okay, it's done like this," she said and her eyes glowed a soft white and she spread her arms slightly and white light flickered over her, leaving what looked almost like plates of half see-through white armour covering her. Vambraces, chestplate, shoulderpads.

"What does it do?" I asked and poked her waist with a claw, passing straight through the ghostly armour.

"Despite the name," Alexis explained and waved one hand, "It doesn't actually form armor. It makes me a bit stronger and a bit tougher and makes it easier to react fast enough to things that happen."

"It increases your reflexes?" I asked and tilted my head as I studied her, wishing my armour had survived with its sensors and lenses.

"Some," Alexis agreed with a nod, "But most importantly… it adapts to other aura enchantments I use."

"Difference between an enchantment and an enchantment aura?"

"Enchantments are for things, enchantment auras are for beings, longer lasting than boosts, but not permanents" Alexis clarified, "And the more I have, on me or even on other people or summons, the stronger this thing becomes. This may technically be the strongest thing I have, but it takes way too long to put everything else up for it to be practical most of the time. But it is relatively easy to cast."

I nodded, "Okay, lets give it a try."

"Okay, so this is how you do it-"

The next half hour was spent going over the spell from front to back. Finally it was my turn to cast it and I channeled white mana into it, going over it slowly step by step before allowing the spell to settle over me.

When I opened my eyes, I looked around at myself.

See through armour seemed to cover me, somewhat like normal dragon armour, not my own full body special ones.

I bounced a bit on my claws, "...I feel a bit stronger," I admitted and spread my wings.

"That's what it does," Alexis agreed, "So how does it feel to cast?"

"Easier than the fireball," I admitted before I looked at her, "...Wait, why haven't we done this before?"

"Because we're both really busy," Alexis said and crossed her arms, "And… well… I don't know that many myself," she admitted.

I nodded, "Fair," I admitted, "I can teach you some of my stuff too, it would only be fair."

Alexis snorted and rolled her eyes, "Like I could even figure out how to use half your stuff, yet alone make it."

"...I know things that are not enchanting," I grumbled, "but what do we do when we run out of spells to learn? It's not easy to find any sort of spells, and figuring them out alone would take too long."

Alexis looked at me for a second before she stepped up to rap her knuckles against my skull, "Hello, anybody home?"

I blinked at her, "Wha-?"

Alexis looked at me and crossed her arms again, "Atregus, use your genius brain for anything but enchantment design for once. You're literally too smart to be this dumb. Think!"

I dug my claws into the wet sand and glowered at her for a second before I snorted and looked away for a second, thinking before I felt like smacking myself.

"I need a teacher," I finally said before I looked at her, "...We need a teacher. And Ajani is just too busy, isn't he?"

Alexis nodded, "Yeah. That's what I think too," she agreed before she smiled, "See? Using your brain only hurts for a second."

I growled at her and then bumped my head hard enough against her chest to cause her to fall on her arse onto the sand.

She laughed up at me, "Ow! Respect your elders. lizard!"

I blinked down at her, "Elders? I'm almost twice your age!"

"Oh you are not," Alexis said and climbed back onto her feet, "Maybe if you count years, but that's not the right way of doing it. In dragon years, you're what... like thirteen?"

I growled and did the mature thing. Which of course was pushing the laughing human right back down onto her arse.

 

[Hiver]

We crashed back into reality, and I spread my wings for balance in the soft sand as not to go sliding down the dune.

Alexis let out a yelp of surprise as she lost her footing and I quickly snapped out with my teeth.

Letting out an "oomph" as her backpack stopped her fall, she clung to her straps, "Agh! Atregos!"

I backed up, hauling her up across the 'cliff'.

Of course it was more like a slight slope.

Chuckling, I let go of her backpack, dumping her onto the ground, "Better now?"

"...Yes…" she grumbled and picked herself up, brushing the dust of herself, sliding her pack off before checking it, "...And you didn't even puncture it."

"What do you take me for, some feral beast?"

"I've seen you eat," she teased, and then looked around, "Desert."

"Mmm," I agreed, and stretched my wings, "We're about halfway across the world from the Tower. You still have your portal key stone, or should I cast the spell to open one?"

I hope she does, that spell is a pain to cast manually and I lost my stone with my armour.

Alexis frowned and felt through her bag, "I should have it here somewhere…" she said and after a couple of minutes of looking, she pulled out the small carved oval stone with a gem set in it.

Shouldering her pack again, she raised the stone and started to channel some magic, and a second later, a portal started to grow into existence before us.

It took a couple of moments before it grew large enough for me to move through it, allowing Alexis to take up the rear and close it behind us.

"World Walker!" one of the large dragonkin exclaimed as I passed through, "You have returned!"

"I have," I agreed, "It is good to see you, Lokadormu."

The bronze dragonkin bowed slightly, "There are orders from the Wyrmrest accord, Worldwalker. You are to report to them as soon as you return."

I didn't want to do that. I wanted to find Sheila, Zrazta, or Rengosa, and cuddle up to them.

But a command from my Flightleader or Alexstrasza was what it was.

I nodded, "Of course," I said and turned my head to Alexis, "You don't need to come. Go get some rest."

"Forget that, I'm coming along," she said as she walked up next to me, looking at the dragonkin as if to dare him to challenge her about it.

He was like four times her size, but he did the smart thing and stepped back, carrying his spear over to press his hand against a spot on the wall, causing a portal to open up at one end of the chamber leading to the top of The Tower.

I nodded to him and moved through the portal, Alexis walking along next to me, one hand resting on my side.

A second later, we found ourselves atop the Tower, stars shining high above. The area was lit by several floating crystals, and only two of the Accord were present.

Alexstrasza was in her real form, and turned her head to look at us when we walked out. The other one was Nozdormu in his mortal form.

Nozdormu.

He simply nodded once when we walked in.

Alexstrasza moved closer, "Atregos," she said and bumped her nose against my side, almost knocking me over, forcing me to take a couple of steps, almost forcing Alexis to scramble out of the way, "What happened?" she growled softly.

I turned to rub my head against her muzzle, "It was a trap," I told her, "A… dragon of sorts… he was trying to turn himself into a god. He had a device that caused all Planeswalkers to come to a Plane, and then he blocked everybody's ability to leave. Anybody that got killed… he absorbed their Spark."

Alexstrasza shifted her head to look down at me, "You survived."

I rose up, putting my forepaws on her nose, "We did. Many didn't. But we won in the end."

Settling down, Alexstrasza bumped her nose against me again, this time she did knock me onto my side, "Tell me everything."

So I settled down and did.

I told her about the fighting, the danger. The plans and problems.

Alexstrasza didn't say anything other than ask a couple of questions for me to clarify and I did my best, Alexis filling some things in when necessary.

Finally Alexstrasza nodded and snorted softly, "Atregos, you are never to Walk anywhere alone ever again," she growled softly, "You are too critical to risk in such a manner."

"Excuse me," Alexis said and looked up at the massive dragon, "I'm not sure that would have mattered in this case. We 'had' to Walk, we didn't have any real choice in the matter. It could literally have happened in the middle of the night."

Alexstrasza looked at her and then nodded, "So it seems," she admitted, "Would you be interested in a job, Miss Castle?"

Alexis hesitated, "I'm not sure I could bodyguard Atregos," she said, "I have other things I have to tend to."

The dragon queen nodded, "Understandable," she said and there was a cloud of spell smoke as she turned to her mortal form before walking over to Alexis, putting her hand on her shoulder, looking down at her, "I still thank you for your service to the Flights," she said gently, "You are a true friend to the dragons."

Alexis shifted a bit beneath the attention, "I was just helping a friend."

Alexstrasza smiled at her and moved her hand up, running her fingers through Alexis' hair for a moment like she does to me sometimes before she turned back to me, "That does not change things," she told me firmly, "No Walking alone in the future. If you can't bring one of your Consorts, ask somebody else. Ask Wrathion! If nobody else can come, ask me!" she said as she gripped my muzzle firmly with her hand.

"...Yes Alexstrasza…" I agreed, shifting my wings uncomfortably at the attention.

She shifted and rested her forehead against the side of my head, stroking along the top of my muzzle softly, "We can't lose you, Atregos. Do you understand? Without you, we may never return home."

"I understand, Alexstrasza," I answered softly, scraping my claws against the stone beneath me, "I'll be more careful, I promise," as I leaned against her touch.

Alexstrasza smiled slightly and then looked towards Nozdormu.

He simply smiled back and then walked over and through a portal towards the inside of the Tower.

"He knew," I said quietly.

"Likely," Alexstrasza said and shook her head, "But getting him to tell is an entirely different matter," she continued before she looked to me again, "Go to your consorts, Atregos. Go rest."

Yes. Yes please.

Alexstrasza turned to Alexis, "You as well, Miss Castle. Go rest, you have both earned it."


AN// And that's it! We're going to leave Atregos to face that chewing out on his own and instead move on to something less violent. We're going back to Star Wars and the former Sith apprentice with Breaking the Links. The previous story in the series can be found here: Links In The Chain (SW)

Many thanks to Arratra and Xandros for betaing this section!

Next story will start being posted on Sunday and will of course be linked in this thread.

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it and my patreon is below if you have more money than sense.

 

[Hiver]

Next story can be found here: Paradox (SI)