A Phoenix's Rest

(Left weakened by recent events and old injuries, Maekrux seeks a place to rest that might cost him drastically...)


Below his lair, near the broken pieces of his once-proud terrace, in the park he had commissioned to bring new life to a dead valley, the group of hatchlings he brought together – Firepride – celebrated their murder.

True, the dragon they had killed had done bad things and acted like a demon and monster, and yes, it might not have been a hatchling at all. But the decision was made.

Firepride consisted of his grandchildren and their friends; the next generation, likely to be the last he would ever see. It made him reflective: at what point did dragons fighting dragons with claws instead of words become commonplace? For the last week he had watched above as Osearir tracked the evil hatchling day and night without pause or rest, seeking to undo an evil like his father before it could manifest; had he been able to catch up, no doubt it would be him celebrating blood. Even the Empire had begun to form search parties for him, likely to execute the non-gifted dragon lest another Fallen Son be born.

What purpose did an old Phoenix serve now? The age of peacemakers was coming to an end.

Perhaps it was exhaustion from tracking the progress of Firepride, being with them without their ever realizing it. Perhaps it was another Ash, forming before the last had cleared. Or perhaps the ache he felt in his bones – one of infirmity and weakness – was truly a sign of his age. Over five hundred years had he lived and could make another five hundred if his predecessors might be believed. But the long-lived dragons of yore eked out their existence upon a cleaner, pristine world that saw little in the way of true conflict: a world without Gifted, without the endless spiral of death those hapless individuals bravely fought.

“Is that what Fading truly is?” Maekrux wondered. “Perhaps those who Fade simply give up and no longer wish to die anymore.”

He also wondered if he could give up. He debated this for a long time, but he could not so easily just give up on Istaria, on his life, and on living it. He could not stop being a Phoenix. He was simply too comfortable with that title.

But, did that mean he would never know peace? The manic life of a phoenix in flame, burning itself out to a depressive ash – it had taken its toll on his body and soul. Only his closest family knew what a wreck he had become. Within his chest raged maelstroms of emotion, hope and regret mingling like high and low pressures to twist tornadoes into deadly blades to eviscerate his heart. And that was while he was awake – the nightmares that haunted him buried him alive in guilt, and drown his tomb in regrets.

He shook his head, trying to gain control of the storm through his willpower alone. Though it like his physical strength waned, he looked down once more at the strong hatchlings below him. They would grow soon to adults and the world would belong to them. He had taught them much. The rest would be up to them.

Maekrux rose from his ruined terrace and shuffled into his lair. His mind raced, the only thing of late that could still move swiftly. He did not wish to abandon his sons, but he knew they were strong and wise and could fill the gap left - for Firepride, at the very least. In order to have his rest, though, he would need to convince someone who loathed him for help. And that required fulfilling a promise he had been neglecting to attend.

Into the shrine chamber the Blue Phoenix strolled. He had once laid prostrate to beg for aid in the quiet place of contemplation, which he received in exchange for his promise. His claws reached to the base of the binding crystal and fiddled around for a time, until the hidden compartment popped free. From it, he withdrew the scroll he had hidden since Maurger’s defeat. He placed it in his pack, resealed the compartment, and then placed a paw against the crystal. The chamber darkened as dots of light filled the ceiling like the night sky. Three burned orange at his behest.

“I come soon,” Maekrux said to the one he knew listened.



Flight seemed harder as he ascended the hot ashen air of Dralk. Landing on the edge of the elevated lair, he looked down at the floating city below as he had many times as a child from the same lair. It was pure luck that his eldest daughter had purchased it, as he had given up all right to the lair when he left it against his father’s will years ago. He placed a hand against the side of the entrance, remembering his first mistake. Climbing down into the lair, he startled the saris eagerly sweeping away the constant flows of ash that found their way into the lair.

“Maekrux! Welcome!” Janys exclaimed.
Maekrux grinned at him. “Just Maekrux?”
The saris’ ears peeled back and he bowed. “Please forgive me-”
“No. I like it, Janys.” The old blue smiled as the white saris stared up at him. “Is my grandson about?”

“No, sir. He has left to the northlands again.”
“I should have known. And my daughter?”
“Mistress Aerioch sleeps well, as she always does.”
“Take me to her.”

Maekrux followed the cat through the various turns of his eldest daughter’s lair, marveling at how clean the saris kept the place without tiring. Save for the entrance, where he continually waged war on the natural elements, the spotless chambers shined even more brightly than they had when they were new, untold years ago when Maekrux himself kept his abode with his father.

Descending into the deepest lair, Aerioch slept. He smiled at her brightly and came forward to her side, placing a gentle paw on her head. “I had hoped to be here when you woke, my daughter, but I know not if I will return in time, or at all.” Her red scales rose and fell without acknowledgment, as they always did. “I want you to know, Aerioch, that I have always loved you as I have all of my children. And it is for your sake that I will return some day, if I am able. That is the Phoenix Promise I made to you years ago. I renew it now.” The elder blue removed the scroll and placed it gently in her grasp. “This is a gift for your son from Drulkar himself, Aerioch. I know that… the two of you never reconnected, and that you blame yourself. If you can hear me, if you can hear only one thing I wish to say, let it be this: let go of your pain, Aerioch. Your son still loves you, as I do.” He rubbed her head gently before turning to shuffle out of the lair.

“Master Maekrux!”
The blue paused.
“Don’t worry. I will be here when she wakes, and she will know your words,” the saris said.

The blue smiled. “See to it my grandson knows his mother has a gift for him.” And with this, he left his ancestral home.



A short flight later, Maekrux landed at the long spiral descending to the hidden Gate of Embers. He did not look forward to the confrontation to follow, as the Elders had always sided with Drulkar and he had spoken openly against their mistakes. Though he had the coordinates already on his own scroll of pathfinding, he needed their permission. He stood before the gold, V’Tieru, and stared him down as the remaining Elders came to circle him.

“I require access to the Gate of Embers,” Maekrux said, near out of breath from a flight that should have been simple.

V’Tieru looked into his eyes, and then nodded. “You may use it.”
“No argument this time?”
“No, Maekrux. I have seen those eyes before. We all have. We, too, walked away from a world that was in need of our guidance. Should you return some day, we will not judge you for it. And yet, as you know, there will be a new Maekrux waiting to judge you for abandoning this world when it needed your guidance most of all.”

The blue sneered. “My guidance is ignored, my name slandered, my work cast down! I failed my people here and I would fail them even more to remain.”

V’Tieru smiled softly. “And so you know why we left. Go Maekrux. He is waiting.”

The blue frowned as the gold stepped aside. He looked at him once more and then to the other elders returning to their positions, before placing his hand against the gate and attuning it once more to the Realm of Fire.

(A meeting with fire often results in someone getting burned. But will the phoenix find hearth or hell in this blazing realm?)

For the fifth time, Maekrux had returned to the Realm of Flame. He stood upon a field of ash as volcanoes erupted in the distance, spewing still more ash into the air. The ground trembled, but not from an earthquake. The mighty molten paws of Drulkar himself walked the land to meet the Blue Phoenix, his fiery wings covering his back like a cloak. His talons burned the hottest plasma and scorched the earth where he tread. His obsidian body, cracked and molten, seemed unusually solid and cool today. His eyes of burning, brilliant diamonds set upon his misbegotten child. When his stone muzzle pulled back in a frown, bits of dust and rock clattered to the ground below him. He towered above the blue, dwarfing even the ancient.

“I do not appreciate house calls, Maekrux,” spoke Drulkar in ashen tones.

Maekrux lowered himself to the elbows of his forepaws and dipped his head below them into the ash in supplication and surrender. “I have come seeking asylum.”

The flame god breathed out a laugh, smoke billowing from him. “And why do you suppose I should grant it to you? Do you feel you have done enough?”

“Lord Drulkar, I have given the world back to you. I have given you my grandson. I have given your children a new Academy that they might yet use. I have prepared the next generation to rise as I have. All I seek is time to rest.”

The flame lord shook his head. “You are a historian, yes? You know well that you are a far cry from your ancestors. You are no Helian, no Lunus. No Allathos. You have failed, and failed, and failed again.”

“Yes… I have.”
“Tell me of your failure. You know I always enjoy it.” Drulkar rest upon his haunches, his body temporarily deforming at the impact before bubbling back to shape.

The blue sighed. “I abandoned my father over a trivial matter.”
“Go on.”

“I was not there for him when he passed. I let down my biped friends and the ideals I had when I was a hatchling.”

“That’s a half-truth.”
“Which part, lord?”

“The ideals you held – they instilled themselves upon the bipeds. They began to have dragon pride, while our race lost it. Is this not why you gave up those ideals, at least publically?”

Maekrux paused, thinking back on it. When he had returned from the Rift, empty-handed and sterilized, he found a world where bipeds no longer respected dragons as their betters. The greatness of dragons had fallen like the moon below the horizon and he knew that his ideas for biped equality had in part helped to create this world. He had stood at the forefront of invasions, side by side with elves and humans and others; he had shone like the phoenix he was. Did he not help return the dryad to Istaria, free Feladan from the blight, and break the hold on the satyr, all with the aid of bipeds?

Maekrux lowered his head. “What matter my success with bipeds to a dragon god?”
“Touché. Then return to your failures.”

“I outlived five mates and almost twenty hatchlings I took under my wing. But worst of all of these was Maurger and Kaevaeri – the former of my poor judgment and desire for the children denied to me and the latter, my guilt over my own father aiding the destruction of the only blood child I will ever have.”

“The Fallen Son fell, Maekrux. And while you and many others could have stopped it, it was ultimately his decisions and actions that truly destroyed Kaevaeri.”

The Blue Phoenix wept. It was cruel of him, but at least here his adopted sons could not see the truth. How much he missed Kaevaeri and wished he had been a better father to him, protected him from Maurger, had not pushed him so hard to follow his grandfather’s path in life, or then, to follow his own.

He slammed his fists against the ground, talons digging into his palms and drawing blood.

“No, Lord Drulkar. When he changed so greatly, in mind and body, when he was spending time with thunder spirits and ignoring Istaria, I was ashamed. For myself, but also for him. I did not want him to be my son! I did want others to see what he had become, confused and /different/ from the values and norms my father had instilled in me!” His head fell to the ground, kicking up the ash around him as it impacted the ground. “I was such a fool. I should have loved him for who he was. I should have stopped him from going into the Rift. My heart bleeds for him. Maurger may have injured him, but /I/ drove him away! I never deserved to be a father. Never…”

Drulkar lifted his head and began to speak. “Maekrux-”

But the phoenix gave up pretense of appeasing him now. Now, his heart was consumed by pain. “I drove away all my sons, one after the other. Each of them I betrayed and failed, because I was not a good enough Dragon. I could not live up to Daza’s moral standard, I was never strong enough for Zirothos, I pushed Maurger away for my own vanity, his son Osearir for my fear, and Idar – I let him down just being here.”

He bled upon the ash as he slammed his fists again.

“And my people? I abandon them, even now, as I have in the past. I remember how I was targeted as an enemy because I believed in the values my father instilled in me, values of true Dragonhood. I allowed the Star Dragons into this world! I took them in as my own children! I tore down the Prime Barrier. I nearly allowed my Star Runic to fall into evil hands. I ushered in the time of mutants and freaks and with Maurger’s death I have ushered in a new age of bloodshed! My grandchildren have murdered…”

“You know as well as I do that it was no dragon that they murdered.”

Maekrux looked up at him, but he could not distinguish his god’s molten features through a barrier of water. “It is just as much my failure. And no one ever graduated from the Academy. They likely never will…”

Maekrux could no longer continue. He let his head fall to the ground once more, water, ash, and blood mingling upon the broken plains of obsidian. His whole body felt drained of his horrible confession, as though his soul tried desperately to escape the flawed shell in which it resided.

Drulkar above looked down without frown or smile. He placed one paw over the other and remained silent for a time, and then smiled. “I see you do not include turning your back on me amongst your failures.”

Maekrux could not answer.
“Maekrux, you have allowed yourself to forget who you are.”
The blue did not stop his weeping, though it quieted.

“You are a paragon of what being a Dragon means. For all your flaws, all your mistakes, you have a strength, a drive, and a will to do right by my children and the world. And you have.”

He looked up at the dragon god, trying to blink the water from his eyes.

“It was you who first told stories in this war-spanned world. You inspired your peers, and countless hatchlings to have adventures and lives of their own. You stood at the Battle of Tazoon and Chiconis. You pushed back the Aegis with the aid of your compatriots. You reclaimed Feladan, saved other living races. And that was before you even started to aid your people…”

“Drulkar-”

“You taught generation after generation of hatchling. Your knowledge proved invaluable to them in the challenges they faced. Shymmer, your greatest student, was a pillar of the community. And even if they disregarded your teachings, it was the teachings themselves that inspired them to find meaning in life.”

“Please… stop…”

“Your children loved you and those that remain still do. Somewhere in a distant realm, Kaevaeri remembers you. He wonders how you are from time to time. He still lives to make you proud. You took the flaws of your sons and you made them into better, stronger dragons. And always you gave of your heart, your wisdom, and your hoard to those hatchlings that found their way under your wing.”

Again the blue began to weep.

“You challenged the Elder Council, even myself, to be better than we are. You have sought to revive greatness of our race. And even though you have often stood against me, Maekrux, I have always valued you as the greatest adversary one could have. For adversaries need not be malicious; so too can they act as foils and show to us our own flaws. Yes, Maekrux, I am flawed, as were Helian, and Lunus, and Allathos, and all the dragons that came before you. But they had within them that which you call Phoenix. They held true to what they knew and believed in, and they did not give up either.”

The phoenix tore his vision from the ground to stare down his god. “Then I am a fool to be here!”

“No, Maekrux. For every dragon deserves a rest. A time to laze and reflect on more than just the bad, but also the good. To temper themselves into stronger steel. As you need a tail to balance your body, so too do you need Time to balance your soul.”

Maekrux shook his head. “I don’t understand. Are you saying you will let me stay here?”

“Oh, not that easily, no. You and I have dealt deals in the past. So too must we haggle now. This is a dragon’s way.”

Maekrux lowered his head. “What do you want?”
“Simple. I will induce you to sleep and take from you seven scales.”
Maekrux looked up at him suspiciously. “That seems too easy.”
“Very well, as my generosity is not enough for you, I will return you to Istaria.” The god of flame began to rise.

“N-no. I accept these terms, Lord Drulkar.” Again Maekrux returned to his pose of supplication.

“Very well. Your fate is sealed.”
“Drulkar?”

The dragon god placed a paw over Maekrux and heat washed down around him. Magic passed from creator to child, and in seconds, the Blue Phoenix had passed out and collapsed to the ashen ground. Drulkar chuckled a bit as he pulled his paw back to look at his work.

“I apologize, Maekrux,” spoke the god as though the phoenix could hear him, “I should not laugh. It’s just the first time I’ve ever gotten the better of you in a deal.”

His diamond eye focused on the blue and from him lifted seven scales; one plucked from behind his head, one from his chest, one from each foreleg, one from each wing, and one from his tail. Upturning one paw, he brought the scales to float above it, staring at them for a time. The Lord of Flame smiled as the essence of the blue followed into them – bits and pieces of who and what the dragon was. His massive stone eyelids sealed around his diamond eyes as he concentrated on a certain isle. To it many scales traveled, each scale there landing upon an abandoned egg that had been destined to die. Where they fell, new life sprang, and the occupants of the eggs again began to grow. At last, Drulkar’s eyes opened again and he placed his paw upon the ground.

“I know it is cruel of me, that you are not permitted to see your blood made new again. But let us see what the last of the old Kaer bloodline has left when you wake again, my worthy adversary. And as for you – minions of flame!”

The ground cracked, and lava spilled into the open air, where it soon formed into golem-like creatures of molten flame.

“You called, Master?”
“Take the Blue Phoenix to the neighboring territory and tell the elder Ro that I am calling on an old debt. I want him to devise a way to remove those runes from Maekrux and still keep him here.”

“It shall be as you will!” The stone creatures picked up the limp dragon and soon carried him away. Drulkar watched as he left, knowing well that he would soon be visited by another.

After all, Maekrux was craftier than this.

(As one phoenix departs, another must rise. Can one as known and needed as Maekrux truly leave without anyone knowing?)

In the snow-swept fields of Trandalar, where icy gales cut to the very bone and freeze lesser creatures solid, it is not uncommon for a flame to be snuffed out. But for Ausixen, who worshiped the flame and its master, Drulkar, to see his holy flame extinguished meant something else completely. He stared at the once-sacred flame for a time, smoke rising into the blowing ice and slinging sleet across the barren, beautiful emptiness.

Ausixen took to the sky, frost crystals dragging against his scales.

When he arrived in Harton Valley, he stared upon the destroyed terrace with worry. He dove into the lair, expecting some enemy, but no defenses rose up against him. Everything seemed as still as it had months ago, when Maekrux took a short ‘vacation’ to the Rift, to teach two dragons an important lesson on kinship. He walked around to the blue dragon mural hanging in the foyer and placed a paw against it. The runic lines arching over the picture sprung to life as did the dragon, which rose from the painting in beautiful, pulsing lines of foreign runic energy. The runic dragon searched for an enemy rapidly. Finding none, it reverted to guarding the foyer dais from intruders.

“Runic Dragon, where is my grandfather? Was the immortality routine activated?” Ausixen asked.

“Negative. Said routine has been erased from my runic program. Master Maekrux has left the lair.”

Ausixen frowned. “Where has he gone?”
“He was last registered in Dralk by Imperial record.”
“Return to slumber.”
“I wait.”

The runic dragon rose up and leapt into the painting, the blue dragon once more appearing on the mural, and the lines of runic above them fading once more to black. Ausixen stared at that now vacated dais, remembering how often his grandfather had sat there and smiled, watching his children and wards play. He had been one of them, though he rarely played in those days, so full of anger. His grandfather was gone, but where? It was time to return to his other ‘home.’



Ascending the thermal updrafts of Dralk, he arrived at his mother’s lair. Janys welcomed him warmly with a low bow as he put down his broom. The Helian architecture sparkled, though Ausixen always felt it clashed with the molten décor outside.

“Janys, has my grandfather been through here?”
The saris blinked, his eyes snapping forward. “How did you know?”

“I just… know, when it comes to my grandfather. I spent my life with him and he is closer to a father than my own blood.”

The thought caused Ausixen to frown. He never had a chance to reconnect with his father either, but he still had mixed feelings on the black that birthed him.

“Did he say where he was going?”

“No, Master Ausixen, but his.. tone seemed dire. He spoke of not being there when she woke. I have never heard him say such a thing before.”

Ausixen lowered his head. “Is he dead, then?”

“I know not, Master. But he left you a gift. He placed it in Mistress Aerioch’s arms – technically, he said it was her gift to you.”

The purple sighed. “He still goes about that. Wait here, Janys.”

The saris nodded as the Purple Phoenix descended into the depths of the lair. It was always hard for him to come down here, but he often did. No matter how harsh his words had been to his mother, then, and even at their failed attempt at reconciliation, he too longed for Aerioch’s eyes to open. Even on the day of his birth, his mother had looked at him like a stranger, as though Ausixen had been born with two heads, or a fifth arm. The only love he knew was from his grandfather and it had been the only one that had ever mattered. Perhaps that was why he grew so angry and worried when his grandfather did things like this. The elder was getting on in years. Taxing himself so – was he still not good enough?

The red came into view, sleeping soundly as ever. He stared down at her for a time, lamenting the past he was denied by growing up with a comatose – and disowned – mother. Under technical law, he had no right to the lair that Aerioch owned, much less to be standing over her helpless form. But such law was made meaningless by the ache that resided in Ausixen’s chest. It had become almost as comforting as the love Maekrux had shown him all these years, as if this was the only way that his mother might love him.

Shaking his head from his doubt and memory, he regarded the scroll left in her grasp. Tenderly, as though he feared to wake her, the purple retrieved the scroll and opened it. Crafted upon it were three points of glowing orange energy – the divine flame of Drulkar that after several years had not consumed the paper. Above them were instructions on their use for attuning the Gate of Embers.

Below them was a message, penned by mortal hand.

Ausixen,

I have always viewed you in the highest regard. You have followed your heart, and dreams, to become the first Champion of Drulkar since the days of yore. You have done glorious combat in his name and you have put my Wisdom to good use. Above all, I am Proud of you.

I had the Honor of watching you grow from an ignorant whelpling, to a hatchling mad at the world, to a balanced and well-cultured adult. Though as you know you are not my true son, I view you as my own flesh and blood. I have shared with you the full extent of my knowledge, and I believe my Patience might yet be rubbing off on you.

If you are reading this, it means one of three things. One, Drulkar has deemed that you are ready for your ancient rites and this parchment has reached your claws without my consent. As per a deal I have with him, that is certainly his right. Two, it means that I have given it to you because I believe you are ready and I hope that, as you read these words, I am smiling. Am I? Ah well – I suppose I would know by now. Three, unfortunately, it means I am gone. Perished, Faded, or some other fate still worse to befall me. If this is the case, then I am sorry that I could not see you ascend to ancienthood and be there for the battles in the Rift. Remember – it is dangerous there. Go not without protection! I want great grandchildren someday.

After Maurger’s death, I began to realize that he, too, I should have seen as a son. Had I been a better father, instead of the public figurehead I was, perhaps his time would have ended in a life well lived. I am as much to blame for your hardship and that of the world as anything Maurger did. And while his death facilitated your rebirth and I am proud of all you have accomplished, I am sorry that it cost the life of another dragon.

Regret is the most virulent poison that a dragon can suffer, Ausixen. With this scroll in your hands, you could report to Drulkar in the flesh for the first time and let him guide you to ancienthood. But ask yourself first – have you put to rest the regret you have now? The mistakes you have made? Ascension means moving forward, but it also makes permanent the past. Find a way to make things right with her, Ausixen, if at all possible. Else if you are ready, and I know you will be, embrace your future without regret and your destiny at Lord Drulkar’s side.

One last thing. In the event you are reading this for the third reason, I must be certain my affairs are in order.

On this sacred paper, I declare that, upon my Fading, you will be the primary beneficiary of my lair and hoard, and that its use and division amongst my other children shall rest upon your wings. I also charge you with the care of your mother, Aerioch, and any hatchlings in my keeping that are too small to care for themselves. This is an unfair burden, but I know you are capable of handling it.

You are a Phoenix, Ausixen. No matter what, you must always rise again, stronger than before. I have taught you this lesson, again and again, and I shall continue to do so, as long as I am able.

May you always keep your head high and your wings splayed proudly.

With all my love,
Maekrux Vythulhar
The Blue Phoenix

Ausixen rolled up the scroll, lest he get it wet. He tried to hold onto his faculties, even as he rested a paw over his mother’s, wishing she was there to speak to him, comfort him, or even just yell at him. It took several deep breathes before he realized. Maekrux had not Faded, but had left a trail for him to follow. But this opened many other questions. Why had his grandfather sought the Realm of Fire? Hostile as it was to all life, it was even more so to Maekrux specifically, due to the enmity the phoenix and the fire’s master shared. He stared at his mother for a short time longer before fleeing the lair, relating to Janys that he would return soon.



Ausixen knew well where the Gate of Embers resided. He often passed it to worship at the Altar of Drulkar, a sacred site far less known than his symbol or the gateway he left behind. But this time, his business was with the gateway and its guardians.

V’Tieru bowed his head with a smile as Ausixen approached. “Champion of Drulkar, have you come to worship again?”

“No V’Tieru. I have come seeking my grandfather.”
The council hushed at this. The other ancients looked upon him with concern.

“I am sorry, Ausixen, but your grandfather has ascended to the Realm of Fire. He has sought his rest.”

“That is not his choice to make.”
“But it is.”

The purple narrowed his eyes. “Maekrux Vythulhar belongs to the children of Drulkar, not to our lord himself.”

The others set to chatter at this. V’Tieru silenced them with a gaze.
“That is sacrilegious for a Champion to say.”

“Perhaps it is, but so too is it fact. You know well that Drulkar and Maekrux bear no love for one another. Why was access to the Gate of Embers granted him?”

“Drulkar was expecting him.”
“Then send me through.”
“I am sorry, but until the time comes for your rites-”
Ausixen lifted the sacred paper and the ever-burning runes of flame laced upon them.
“I have an invitation of my own, V’Tieru.”

The gold stared at the runes for but a moment, but then nodded, stepping aside. “I pray you go to speak with him about your rites, Champion. If you seek your grandfather, you might not like what you find. This world scarcely needs more unfaithful children.”

“Drulkar, and his children, should never fear truth, elder.”

As the purple ascended the bridge to the gate and attuned himself to the runes on the scroll, V’Tieru nodded slowly. “Indeed, Ausixen. Remember those words. You will need them when you return.”

The purple looked back at him one more time before disappearing into the swirling gate of fire.

(Ausixen confronts his lord about the fate of his grandfather, and discovered what gift Drulkar has given to the world - and the new charge his master sets upon him.)

The burning fires of Drulkar towered around Ausixen as he arrived. It seemed as though the land of conflagration was pleased with his arrival and heralded it with explosions of magma and towering pillars of tornados of flame licking against the sky. Sparks rose into the air like fireworks and, for a moment, even Ausixen’s worry and suffering all seemed to wash away under a blaze of internal warmth.

The ground shook as the volcanoes began to subside, their liquid rock bubbling down the sides of the mountains slowly like freshly opened bottles of champagne. And from around these mountains came Drulkar, whose form became the horizon itself. Ausixen prostrated himself before his lord as the great dragon god strode up to him in proud gait. And when he stood before his Champion, the burning heat of his very being swelling within him like the pride that registered on his face, he nodded respectfully to Ausixen.

“You may rise, my Champion. I have long awaited your coming.”

“Lord Drulkar – I found the scroll you had left for me, but I do not understand the circumstance. Why has my grandfather disappeared? Why was it in his possession?”

“It was part of the trade for coming here to create the Soulflame Nail.”
Ausixen looked at his weapon which shone even brighter in this place.
“I wish to guide you on your ancient rites.”
“But… am I ready, Lord Drulkar?”

“You are not. You will know when you are. Indeed, seeking my blessing is not why you came here, is it?”

“No, Lord Drulkar.”
“Then speak to me, my Champion.”
“What have you done to grandfather?”
The lord of flame smiled. “Nothing he did not agree to.”
“Then why did grandfather come here? The two of you have bad blood.”

Drulkar rest now, placing one wrist over the other as he had for the elder phoenix. “Do you know why Maekrux left that scroll for you now?”

“I assume he wanted me to follow him.”

“You would be correct, Ausixen. He wanted you to stand before me, as he had centuries ago, and see if the god you worship is worthy of that worship.”

“A test of my faith?”

“If you let it be. I suspect he also knew that if I did anything to him too horrible, it would break your faith in me, as well. Maekrux is a very crafty adversary.”

“I don’t understand Lord Drulkar… please, tell me. Why did Maekrux come here?”
“In a sense, he came here to die.”
Ausixen jerked back. “What?”

“Patience, Ausixen. Maekrux might have secretly wanted it, deep in his heart, but you and I both know that the word surrender does not exist in Maekrux’s vocabulary. That is what makes him a Phoenix. With that said, he came here to rest.”

“Was he not already doing that?”

“Amidst a lair full of horrible memories under the constant gnawing need to go out and meddle in the affairs of his lesser brethren again. True separation was the only hope Maekrux had for a peaceful rest. Perhaps he might have gone to another realm, but he knows well the dangers my children and those simulacra face amongst the Stars.”

“And yet he is not here to greet me, my lord.”

“Maekrux has taught you well. As in the past, we have bargained for what we wanted. He wanted asylum and rest; I wanted to give him that rest – and take from him seven scales.”

The purple phoenix furrowed his brow. “Scales? What for?”

“Those scales have found their way back to Istaria and rest upon eggs in Skalkaar. There they have brought new life from old blood.”

“W-what? You-”
“Gave him the children he wanted.”
“This isn’t what he wanted!”

“No, it is not what he wanted. It is what I wanted. Maekrux might have openly declared he would still someday find a mate and try again, inwardly he knew the truth. No mate remained left to him and his sterility was still an insurmountable issue.”

“But Lord Drulkar, how can you give him a gift if he is not there to receive it?”

“The gift is not for him. It is for my world and my children. The Kaer bloodline has always been a paramount to the race of dragons. Yes, there have been many others, but few of them remain and in the force they once did. The blood of my people has become diluted by Star Dragons, mutated in the absence of the Sleeper. I once chose your form, that of the Sleeper, as the archetype and greatest our kind could ever aspire to reach. Now amongst the changed I send the Kaer blood again, to see if this choice of mine remains true or if my children will be lost to me.”

Ausixen crumpled before his god, shaking his head. “All of this, I – I cannot fathom, my Lord.”

“Fire burns, Ausixen. Even its champions feel it. But your grandfather knew the risks in coming here. He chose the evil he knew over the dangers he did not.”

“Are… you evil, Lord Drulkar?”

This caused the god to chuckle. “Certainly not. Maekrux has left a void in his absence. I might burn, sometimes too hotly for even my children, but it is still in my heart and my will to do right by them.”

“What will become of grandfather?”

“He is safe. He will remain here for a time in the Realm of Fire. I will watch the world that builds without him, but I know that my children will still someday need his Wisdom and guidance. No other dragon has ever martyred himself so greatly for his kyn. When the time is right, he shall again wake and return home, rested and ready to start anew, a blaze brighter than my own – so he would say.”

“… Where is he? May I see him?”

An ashen figure walked on two legs up to the dragon pair. He was huge for a naka, but this was no naka – his hair was the blackest soot and his eyes burned with fire even brighter than the land around him. Attached to his back was a spear, whose tip flamed. Char had cascaded itself down the shaft of it, noting that it had seen much use coated in fire. His clothes were crimson and covered his legs in a sarong-like wrap, while only half his chest was expected by its toga-like extension, attached over his shoulder.

“Lord Drulkar, I bear news from my father,” the newcomer spoke.

The elder drake looked to him, as did Ausixen. Unlike his champion, however, the god of flame knew this visitor. “Ah, the Burning Prince. This is either very good news, or very bad that he would send you.”

The biped-god scoffed. “My father could care less. He says, however, that your package is well cared for.”

Drulkar smiled down to Ausixen. “You are skilled in conjuring. Will you show my Champion?”

The Prince again scoffed, but did as asked. He lifted a hand and a wispy gate, like a heat mirage, appeared in the air beside him. Through it, Ausixen could see a spire of stone. A great blaze rose around it, towering high into the sky.

“The runes once on the dragon could not be removed completely. We do not have the understanding of their meaning or make, and so could not reproduce them. Instead, we have placed them into that structure and use them to channel the planar friction away from them and the dragon. Were we not beings of flame, we would fear retrieving them someday. This creature which sleeps soundly has a fire that burns brightly. You should be proud of your spawn.”

“I am proud of him. Make no mistake of that. My enmity and love are both well earned.”

Ausixen lowered his head so that they would not see him taint the realm of fire with water. “So am I.”

“Touching, really.” The younger Ro waved his hand through the mirage. “We will store him for a time. After that, we will ask you to remove him to your territory. My father says his debt is paid.”

“Very well. Send word when it draws time, unless I come first.”
The Prince nodded and turned to leave.
“Who was that?” Ausixen asked.

“There are many lesser deities of flame, for the Realm of Fire extends very, very far, and each has their own star to watch and plot over. You will learn much under my tutelage – but first, you must complete an important task before you may return here to seek your ancient rites.”

The purple looked up to the molten god. “What must I do?”

“I want you to ensure that the Kaer eggs make it to Zirothos and Idar. You are not to claim any of your own, but you must teach those hatchlings as Maekrux once did. Only when they are ready for their adult rites will you be ready for your ancient ones.”

“Drulkar, I-”

“Are terrible with children. I know. But you must overcome your past and your aborted childhood, so that my children have a chance at theirs. This is part of your duty as my Champion.”

“Then let us deal.”
Drulkar grinned. “Oh? Is my Champion starting to deal with me now?”

“I will do this, so long as you bless those children, do not hide them from Maekrux when he wakes, and see to it that he is protected here. And I wish to know one thing.”

“These shall all be done. What do you wish to know?”
“Why do you deny me children?”

Drulkar smiled softly, his fiery core cooling. “Because, Ausixen. Someday, you will find a mate who will stand at your side until both of you have grown old. You will have children worthy of me without any divine intervention, as I have always intended.”

Ausixen lowered his head. “I am not ready for that.”

“No, you are not. But someday, my Champion, you will be.” The Lord of Flame lowered his paw. “It is time to send you home, Ausixen. Know that your grandfather rests in good hands.”

The purple climbed into the molten paw, careful to avoid the plasma talons of his lord. Before long he had sunk into the flame and, when he rose again, he was once more on Istaria, looking out from the cauldron of Dralk. There he rested for a time before prying himself free from the liquid rock and flying to the isle of Skalkaar, heart heavy for his grandfather, and the task he now had to accomplish in his stead.

(I have to admit, it took me awhile to write this. Maekrux has been around as long as the game has and, while a part of me wants to hang him up for good, I know I can't do that. If I ever did, I'd lose all desire to be here.

That said, I need a break from him. Of late, I've felt quite tired of fighting the same challenges and the near eight years of history that Maekrux has behind him. In that time, he has acquired too many enemies and too many flaws to make him anything but a burden to play. I am also interested to see what becomes of his children, especially if he's not around to deal with them and I've left a few scales just in case that doesn't work out. It will give me something to return to when I'm ready to do that.

I'll still be around of course, but it's time that one or the other alts I have that linger in limbo gets a chance for the spotlight. And while no one can fill Maekrux's grooves on the New Trismus tavern, those characters deserve a chance to try, as do others. After all, there may come a time when I really will be gone.

I hope you all enjoy these stories and others that might yet come.)

I like the storyline, how you weave what you're doing through the characters; a neat read. It will be interesting to see what other form(s) you choose in game and what you do with them. :-)

yeah i hope to see one of them in game my order shard draggy is sapphirescale