The Nexus War (And Return)

[Kaerisk]

((I've been meaning to put this together for some time, but it's been nearly impossible. Try as I might, I couldn't come up with a strong structure as to how the story should be told. Ultimately, I decided to do something crazy, throw structure out the window, and show the story as Maekrux is currently seeing it, which is somewhere between haunted and post traumatic stress.

Towards the end, the reader will probably get confused, which is precisely how Mae is feeling. This is due to his Istarian life merging and running onto his memories, his fears, horrors, all the things that happened in the past. I've managed to keep that *mostly* chronological though... so, uh. Good luck~))

Maekrux was a noble dragon. What is he now? He no longer knows himself.

His soul was tugged. He felt it call to him, across untold distance of space and time. The promise he made to the Blue Aspect would not go unfulfilled, for Maekrux was a dragon that never went back on his word.

This is the story of his bitter promise.

[Kaerisk]

Maekrux opened his eyes. His shifted space had been torn open by a red dragon claw. Floating in the cool air of the pocket realm of the Eye of Eternity, the Dragonqueen, Alexstraza, faced the unfamiliar blue in wonder. “What creature is this that wears the shape of a dragon, but has not the mark of the Travelers upon him?� she asked. She was joined by a host of red drakes, mortals riding on their backs, who flapped their wings with the pride of dragons that Maekrux had seen lost in the battles on this world, on his own, in his own kyn.

“I am the Star Dragon, Maekrux Vythulhar, Dragon of Istaria-born, Ulhar Ausixen: the Blue Phoenix,� Maekrux said angrily, though not defiantly. He had grown tired of war.

“Star Dragon, I am Alexstrasza, the Red Aspect, Life-binder and Dragonqueen: She who is Life. You must know of me if you served Malygos in the Nexus War,� she said. Maekrux gave no reply, holding tightly to the twisting power with claws coated in Prime energy. Alexstrasza peered at the energy gathered and determined that Maekrux was not planning on using it against her – indeed, Maekrux could only hold it together with the use of Prime. “You… you hold the Leylines together?�

“For how much longer, I do not know,� Maekrux said through gritted teeth.
“This must be rectified immediately,� she said. Turning her head to face her drakes. “Drop off the mortals in the Nexus. We must quickly reroute the leylines before they erupt. Direct the mages to attack the Surge Needles in Crystalsong and Dragonblight first.� The drakes immediately rushed off, much to the displeasure of the bipeds riding them. “I will remain here, Star Dragon, and aid you.�

“As you wish,� Maekrux said. The Dragonqueen widened the Rift and floated up into the magical stream, taking it in her foreclaws, holding it with her superior life energy. “Will the killing of dragons by dragons finally stop?� he asked.

The red looked at him surprised, and then smiled. “Yes, Maekrux. It finally will.�

“I came here to fulfill my promise to him. I wish to return to my family,� he said. His eyes were distant and filled with energy; his mind was directing the latent energy to Istaria, creating a physical image of himself to be with his family. Alexstrasza slowly began to realize this as she held the power, seeing Istaria through the link shared through the energy.

“Malygos was once a great guardian of this world. He lost sight, for he let his pride blind him. His dedication was not what brought him down, but his sheer-minded determination to prove a point. I fear you have done the same to come here,� Alexstrasza said.

“I have. And even if I go back – even if my sacrifice makes a difference in the community – how can I face them? Knowing what I’ve done?� Maekrux asked, the magic leaking from his eyes like tears.

“Life bears many scars, Maekrux. I was forced to undergo many horrors as well, this war only the recent among them,� she said. Maekrux did not reply. “You must recover your life. You will have a chance to build it into something beautiful – as beautiful as the world I see through your eyes. Will you be able to?�

Maekrux was quiet for a long time, his eyes closed, his paws shaking slightly against the column of energy. “… I do not know.�

[Kaerisk]

Maekux nuzzled his children as they went to sleep in his lair. He had just adopted a third, Birdrayga, when the call came. His mind and heart tried desperately to ignore it. As he sat, his head poked into his hatchling’s room, he watched them with distant eyes, trapped in the memory of it.

Malygos stood reproachful over Maekrux-Resurgam, who sought to return to the people that mattered most to him. “Second, you must keep your oath,� the Blue Aspect bellowed, “This will not be the final battle; Korialstrasz has spoken it. It is possible that when the two mortal factions invade these lands with their mindless, bloodthirsty adventurers that the mages of the Kirin Tor will use them to strike at us. When that time comes, I will send for you to fulfill your vow and we will fight to defend the Nexus once more.�

“Will there be dragons among those adventurers as well?� Maekrux had asked.

“I do not know,� Malygos replied without care.

“I cannot go back on my promise. My word is my bond. To forfeit that is to be unworthy of the pride of being dragon.�


Maekrux shook his head, refocusing on his hatchling, sleeping so unaware. “What good is pride anymore? We have lost it beyond hope. Pride is still as dirty as it was when I was torn asunder,� Maekrux thought. His tail shook back and forth apprehensively. “And to leave my hatchlings behind, when they are still so young…�

Maekrux stood. He could look on them no longer. For his heart was still dragon and his pride still mattered to him, even if it was only the tiny shred he had been left. At least he would not be made a liar. This was not about his kyn. Not this time. This was the only way he could be the dragon who could tell his failing race what it must and must not be.

In the morning, he told Athina and Daza of what must come, and Birdrayga too. They were none too pleased. They worried for him, and rightly so, for Maekrux was going to war. Still, he would not leave them to fend for themselves. He placed them in the care of another dragon whom he had come to know and trust and ensured that their hoard and education would not be lax. He spent every waking moment he could with them, seeing that his lair would be left in order, making sure his student, Xeffer, caused no trouble with his family and had a place to protect while he was gone. And me made sure that each of his children knew just how much he loved them and that, just as he promised to go to war, he would promise to return. To a dragon like Maekrux, that promise would drive him forth until the end of his days if it was not completed expediently. He had already spent two hundred years trapped in the Rift doing the same.

At last the day came, and he nuzzled his hatchlings and said goodbye. His trip began: Maekrux returned again to that ancient land to fight the Nexus War.

[Kaerisk]

He walked the winding paths of the Rift for months to reach his goal. In the gray nothing between realms, time flowed differently – more time, sapped by the hateful Rift, he thought bitterly. But this time, something was different. When he arrived at the closest point between the Rift and the Realm he was to visit, there was a great swirling white vortex of energy flying in and out, rapidly pulsing. He realized it was the very essence of magical energy, condensed so greatly that the space between the Rift and the Realm had begun to twist and tear. He contemplated whether it was safe to try to phase between realms, but his presence caused a sudden reaction in the energy, which rose up like a wave and engulfed him. Pulled violently between the worlds, he landed on a platform overlooking the massive tear through which he had fallen. Above him, mana-creatures struggled to escape as their energy was lost to the tear, the hungry Rift threatening to seize it all.

Sparks dew Maekrux’s attention. Directly ahead was a magical beast stronger than the others; it was an anomaly of magical energy that seemed to have been formed from the very rift itself. It roared to life with Maekrux’s presence, desiring to tear his body and soul apart to add to its own power. Maekrux instinctively tried to take to the air, but the tear was interfering with the Primewind, which Maekrux and other Istarians needed to fly. From the short vantage point he got before crashing to the ground, though, he saw that other blue dragon-creatures fought with similar beasts of energy. He would receive no aid for this battle. The rift-creature sparked rapidly, lifting its burning white arms.

Maekrux turned to face the beast in full, spread his wings wide behind him, and lifted his voice in a mighty roar, which echoed even over the rushing wind that escaped into the Rift behind him. Charging the beast, his claws glowed with the energy of his hoard. Channeling the Prime from within them, he unleashed a devastating series of blows upon the anomaly, tearing into its sparking not-flesh and releasing bursts of energy. Threatened, the creature shrunk down and channeled its power into two places, creating a barrier that made itself immune. These smaller tears had substance that Maekrux could grasp, but from them flooded elementals of Rift energy. Maekrux reached up and channeled a ball of Prime energy into his foreclaws, its effect greatly magnified upon this realm, and with a single blow, shattered one of the tiny rifts. The elementals clawed at his flesh, searing through his scales to the flesh beneath; he responded with a withering burst of flame that snuffed the smaller elementals completely. Freed to attack the anomaly directly, he tail-whipped the torso-shaped beast clear off the platform. He followed with a powerful leap, biting, clawing, ravaging the beast until it finally loosed the whole of its energy and remained behind as nothing more than a solid core of dead energy.

The other blues saw him at last and cheered. “Brother Resurgam has returned! The hero of the Floating City Battle has returned!� they called, quickly ending their opponents to greet him. When their battle had ended, the group of dragon-creatures met with him: some standing like bipeds and using weapons, others with four legs but also biped arms and torsos – both were scaled. Maekrux knew of these, bipeds who had served the blues to the point that they were worthy of transformation; they served as worthy foot soldiers, and Maekrux always wondered what it would be like to see such things on his own home of Istaria. Bitterly wondered, perhaps – but that would be a matter he would reason at another time. “The Nexus War has come! Lord Malygos wishes to see you immediately!�

“Take me to him,� Maekrux said. The dragons immediately agreed and led the blue dragon through the familiar crystalline halls, up from the Nexus and into the pocket-space known as the Eye of Eternity. As he traveled, he noted how few blue dragons of unfiltered origin he saw.

Maekrux had not been allowed in this sacred chamber before. It was from here that Malygos oversaw the ebb and flow of magic on his beleaguered world. It was here that he languished for near ten thousand years; it was here that he at last awoke to find a world consumed by the overuse of magic, of bipeds ruling and killing each other, of demons clawing forth from realms yet unknown to conquer and devour. It was a simple space at first glance: a blue-gray platform hovering in what looked to be an endless expanse of stars. Maekrux found the Blue Aspect in the air, tending to a blue portal of magic – a leyline – that was slowly filtering power into this place. Magical runes and text floated downwards like banners constantly writing and rewriting itself; this hidden Astronomicon and Magical Lexicon Maekrux had only brushed in his study of runic hundreds of years ago under Malygos’s tutelage, when he first passed through in search of his way home to Istaria. “That presence-� Malygos murmured. His face turned, his crystalline horns shimmering like the dragon’s glowing eyes, his mouth turned to a great smile. “So you did not abandon me, Maekrux. I have been calling long.�

“I know this. But I had to remain a while longer for my family’s sake,� Maekrux said. He had tarried as long as he could.

“Saragosa!� the Aspect called. From the portal through which Maekrux had traveled came another blue dragon, this one female and noticeably smaller than Malygos himself. “Take over for me, dear. I must tell Maekrux what his role must be.� She flew up beside him and began to tend to the same blue portal. “And no eating the power this time. We will need every bit to combat the reds,� he added sharply. She glared, but said nothing. Malygos landed and smiled brightly at Maekrux once more. “Welcome to my sanctum. In these times of war, I am afraid I cannot indulge in pleasantries such as private space.�

Maekrux tried to smile. “Then I suppose I will not be afforded them either.�
“You’re catching on. Come.� Malygos led Maekrux out of the Eye and up to the top of the floating rings of energy. From the very top, where the guardian dragon Eregos oversaw the movement of mortals and dragon as they maintained the Oculus, Maylgos showed Maekrux his plan. “Behold, Resurgam. I have redirected the leylines to this point.� With that, Malygos lifted his wings and powerful magic rushed up through and around the rings, coating the sky in brilliant colors. They were then captured by several stations nearby, carved into the walls of the Coldarra, and channeled into the Nexus for further storage. The tear in space was the work of Malygos himself.

Maekrux began, “This seems incredibly reckless, Lord of Magic. I had to fight for my life from the moment I arrived because of this-�

Malygos interrupted him. “You will continue to. The Nexus War has begun, Resurgam. And I have many tasks for you.� And so Malygos revealed to him the beginning of many horrors to come.

[Kaerisk]

After several months of battle, the war ended and Maekrux returned to his home. He found his hatchlings had all survived without him, that the elder he left them with had treated them well and kept his lair in order, and that his home was now invaded by a new clutch. Even as he played with the new whelplings, he could not help but brood over what had occurred.

Invaders had arrived from the dual factions that vied for control of the war-torn world: the mortal races banded together for mutual survival and destruction. They had come to do battle with the Aegis – well, the Scourge, but the same principle – and found themselves caught up in the same war that Maekrux himself had. From the raid on the Nexus, the battle at Wyrmrest, the corruption of Crystalsong, the death of Eregos, it seemed as if the war would never end. By the end, Maekrux was a changed dragon. He tried so hard not to think. With Eregos’ death, he had been given command of the Oculus, which he had used for his own ends – to return in spirit to his native home of Istaria while his body was used as a conduit to channel the incredible forces of the Oculus. The Prime had a strange affect on the magic of the world. Malygos used the rune that Maekrux had given him magnificently, his Vortex a direct copy of the Prime spell of Gust, magnified by the energy of the redirected leylines.

But even that would fail him.

It was for the best anyway. But when Maekrux opened his eyes from this vision, he knew something was wrong. He was no longer playing with the hatchlings. He was facing an impossible egg. He knew not how. But there it was.

“Things are always complicated. You will learn this with you hatch, aorban... but I seem to have made things ever more complicated for myself,� he spoke to the egg. He knew that eggs needed that love to grow. What if the hatchling was going to be changed, altered, imperfect? He had so many worries, his mind could not hold onto them, spilling over into memory.

“What became of the Netherdrakes?� Maekrux asked Eregos.

“Alas, the master decided that they were abominations. All of them were hunted down and killed,� Eregos said plainly.

Maekrux gasped. “How can you be so nonchalant about it? They were dragons-�

“Shells of dragons. Nothing more. Impossible for them to dream of being anything more than drakes,� Eregos said, grunting.

Maekrux looked at the white, but found it wasn’t a white egg, but a white dragon. He told her the truth. Now Maekrux finally understood. So long as he held onto his foolish dreams of being the dragon he pretended he was, she could never be happy. It would hurt, but he told her everything. All of the horrors he had done – on Istaria at least. He needed help. He sought it. He would not find it. Just like at Wyrmrest.

“Where are the Azure?� Maekrux bellowed, his claws holding a massive ball of primal energy in his claws. It was further empowered by the leyline routed behind him; he threw it at the temple, creating massive scorch marks in the earth at the temple far beyond.

“Brother Resurgam! We fly!� young, whelpling-like and untrained voices came. At his sides came five Azure Drakes, artificially aged from the egg by the magic of the leylines, bodies covered with runes to allow them to use powers far beyond their natural limit.

Maekrux’s eyes went wide when he saw them. “You are but children! And those runes – you cannot sustain them! They will kill you!�

The drakes looked about themselves, confused, unfamiliar with death. “We fly!� they said, and took to the air. Maekrux flew after them. They tore viciously at the reds in the air, drakes of natural age and even their adult defenders, but one by one, the drakes fell from the sky. Maekrux could do nothing to stop their deaths, for he could not fight well in the air. And none would come to his aid.

Maekrux stared at the tavern roof of New Trismus. His indelible mark was left there, in the bent boards, the broken thatch, and the imprint of his body. There he had spent so many hours teaching hatchlings, or just waiting for the chance to teach. He had helped many hatchlings from this place. But no more.

Maekrux sat brooding in the silence of the early morning, thinking about the night before. In the time he was gone, his family had near fallen apart, and his dream of finding a mate seemed to be slipping away. No – last night he had given up that dream completely. He couldn’t have known how much he hurt her. No, he did. In hopes of freeing her. Freeing her like Keristrasza?

The runed form of the red lay at his claws. The wards that held her frozen in place had been smashed by the same claws, claws that dripped now with blood. One by one, he carved the runes from her flesh, until his entire chest was red as the dragon he had freed from her hellish, mind-breaking servitude. He dragged her corpse from the Nexus while mortal envoys stormed the Occulus. He threw her battered form impotently towards the Transitus Shield, knowing they would recover her and bury her with her kyn in the Dragonblight. At least Malygos would torment her no longer. When he was not wholly consumed by his madness. The flows of magic ripped at reality even outside the anomalous Rift.

Maekrux was telling a story in New Trismus. That is all he realized when he came out of his nightmare. Thank goodness it wasn’t what he was remembering, he thought. When the story was over and the crowd grew restless, he took his leave to rest. As he did, he heard the voice of a hatchling behind him, telling him that his story was the first good memory he had of Istaria. Why? Why did he have to give up teaching?

Maekrux saw the eggs around the Nexus, carelessly exposed to the horrible flows of energy. They had grown crystals of all shapes and sizes, some of them penetrating the egg and killing the unborn creatures within, staining the eggs and ground red. Others had been outright destroyed by the very axes intended to defend them, stolen from their dead guards. No, this was not how hatchlings were to be raised! And the new drakes, forced to grow before their time, runes placed upon them to manipulate that flow – could they even speak? Whelplings! They were whelplings, how could such ignorance –


Daza was asking him if he was alright. He told him that it was the nightmares again. He didn’t go into detail. He couldn’t. He was too ashamed. At least his family was near and loved him. He fiddled with a ring around his finger – one that appeared from a distance to be cobalt and obsidian, but upon closer inspection was something else entirely. It brought him some comfort. He stretched his wings. He had to. Anything to keep moving.

He flew by New Rachival, stopping a moment to stare down at the decorations. “Maekrux, we need to talk.� The voice belonged to Sereamha.

“There has never been once in my life that a dragonelle has said that to me that everything has turned out alright,� Maekrux laughed. It was clear there was something serious on her mind, and so they returned to Harton together. There they spoke of harsh matters, of hatchlings in need of guidance. Who was he to offer guidance, they wondered? They knew not what kind of dragon he was! Did any?

“Resurgam, you are the only dragon I can trust to maintain the Occulus,� Malygos said.

“You cannot entrust such a thing to me. I am better on the front lines,� Maekrux said, though he was loathe to admit it. His Prime magic was incredibly altered in this realm and it had battered Wyrmrest in their initial contact with it. It was only Alexstrasza’s magic that pushed him back and the mages coming to barrier the temple. Still, to risk seeing more whelpling-drakes explode into rains of blood -

“The magic of the Occulus is building to a crescendo. If it becomes too much, your energies will be needed close to maintain the flows until they can be unleashed at the floating city and Wyrmrest both, and then even the fallen prince beyond,� the Master of Magic said to him. He walked around the ring of the spout of the Occulus, pushing Eregos’ slashed and battered corpse off the edge. “Took all his organs they did. He will be missed,� he said, callously. “You are Ley-Guardian now, Resurgam. Do not fail me.� And the Aspect retreated once more into the Eye of Eternity, weaving the energies together.

“Run away! I need you to protect the hatchlings!� the blue screamed. Blood and chains, bones, animate and inanimate, crystal of unholy energy. Maekrux carved his anger into the stone roof and flew away. Could there be any stop? Where was he now?

He sat in front of the lair that was not his. The black and pink hatchling asked him, “How it happen? Now Ieo have nothing, am nothing. Life gone, taken! Make it go back! You so strong! Make it go back!�

“I have no strength, Maurger. Not where it matters. Not at all.� He sighed. He wanted to snap the hatchling’s neck, to roar in rage, set fire to the trees. But he did nothing. He was bottled up, fighting off the nightmares.

Maurger was gone. A white and turquoise told him that the blue had been replaced with ease. Maekrux only thought was that he deserved. What ill hadn’t he done? How could he be reborn from this? What frightened him so much was that he had nothing to live for, and so much more to lose. So much more.

“You will have a chance to build it into something beautiful,� the dragonqueen said, “as beautiful as the world I see through your eyes. Will you be able to?�

Maekrux was quiet for a long time, his eyes closed, his paws shaking slightly against the column of energy. “… I do not know.�


“… I do not know.�

[Hraefn]

Woah. Loved it. <3

[Kaerisk]

Heh, thanks. It's been awhile since I last posted up a story.

[Raptress]

Your posts in this section are always quality. :3
Loved the fragmented story-telling near the end.

[Galdethriel]

Maekrux, do you happen to be published? Where can I find the bazillion novels you have out? XDDD

This is great, I always love reading your stuff and this one was no different from your usual awesomeness

You really need to make a timeline for Mae's life because the guy hasn't a dull second. Millisecond. Nanosecond. X3

~Galde

[A'Sasha]

You, sir, are an excellent writer and I would gladly subscribe to your newsletter.