The Spark

[Kaerisk]

(Been awhile since I went here~ Maekrux may have had a backseat to most of this story, but in this moment where everything seems darkest, Maekrux is still there to light the way. Sometimes, however, you need more than a little help to start a fire...)





Though Ausixen remained despondent and depressed, his grandfather had great faith in him. Even as the purple cursed his – her, he constantly insisted – ineptitude and defeat, the Blue Phoenix had named him Ausixen for a reason. And so Maekrux traveled up his lair and into his shrine room, preparing for the next step to counter the evil that had permeated his beloved culture, having faith that his grandson would recover in time. This step, however, would not be without risk.

Maekrux’s shrine room was not merely for the binding of souls or the worship of gods, though both were possible. Those who knew Maekrux well knew that the Blue Phoenix needed a place to take off the heavy travertine runes that fit like the weigh of the world on his shoulders under the wings. Pressing down the right set of crystals, the chamber darkened of is natural light source. The water lit up as the black ceiling began to sparkle, dot after dot of light, colorful lines of nebula and galaxy streaking wildly as the night sky was created. Looking up, it was as if staring into the most brilliant and clear night during a new moon. Maekrux lowered himself to his elbows; his head bowed low, his talons placed against the shrine in supplication.

“Drulkar, magnificent lord of fire and eldest of us all, I turn to you for your guidance. By your great wisdom and strength, magnanimous heart of flame, please grant me the grand gift of your audience,” Maekrux prayed. For a long time, he was silent, keeping his head down, waiting for an answer.

It must have been ten minutes before Drulkar finally answered, the shrine changing from blue to orange-red. The heat burned against Maekrux’s scales. “I can’t believe you’re still there. You hate me and I hate you. Even the fall of the Primebarrier changed nothing for us, and you know it.” Still, Maekrux did not move. The First Dragon laughed. “Alright, you have my attention, Maekrux. It is enough to see you so humbled to me.”

“Surely, you know the state of your Champion-” Maekrux began.
Drulkar’s humor instantly vanished at those words. “Of course I am aware. However, my so-called Champion has lost his faith. Since his incarceration and subsequent freedom, he has not spoken to me. This is no surprise; doubtless, he blames me for his failure. He is one of your children, after all.”

“That is not true, Lord Drulkar. Ausixen has lost faith in himself and feels unworthy of you,” Maekrux said, at last lifting his head.

“And so long as he believes that, he will be. I trust you have better reason to incur my ire by contacting me than the state of my champion.” The heat burned hotter, as if Drulkar were ever more irritated.

“It is all for him that I do this, and for your children, Drulkar. Doubtless, you know of Maurger-”

Again, the Fire God interrupted the Blue Phoenix. “I am quite aware of the fallen creature that is Maurger! His corruption is like a creeping disease that has sickened the whole of the world, and my children are his victims! He is not even dragon anymore, merely a demonic ooze of the corrupted prime itself! He is evil incarnate and will destroy the foundation of all that I taught my people!” The shrine burned with all of the fire god’s fury.

“Great god Drulkar, whose flame is eternal, why have you not stepped in to deal with him yourself?” Maekrux asked.

The shrine lessened its heat. Drulkar snarled, but his lips of molten obsidian must have been curved, for Maekrux could hear it. “Wouldn’t that be easy? Certainly with the Primebarrier gone, nothing prevents me from sending an avatar and ending this horror unleashed.” The fire god growled. “However, you have lasted this long without my intervention. Maurger is your creation, the creation of every dragon who failed him as a child, who failed to kill him as an adult. But he is my test. Prove to me that you are still worthy of my favor, strong enough to defeat him, and that you are truly still Dragon. My intercession will not come, Maekrux.”

“Knowing his evil, then, will you not aid us? I have researched what might end a creature such as he, and I have found only one weapon that might-”

“Yes, Maekrux,” Drulkar interrupted again. Maekrux believed he was doing this in an attempt to irritate the Blue Phoenix and give him an excuse to not help him, but Maekrux kept his cool: a necessity around a fire god. Then again, Maekrux had once antagonized him in a similar way. “But how am I to trust one such as you with such an eldritch weapon?”

“My Lord Drulkar, I could not hope to wield this weapon. Only a Champion of your Flame could unleash its power,” Maekrux said.

“That is not what I mean, Leader of Platinum Shine. I have made deals with you in the past, but in each, I was denied that true reward I sought,” Drulkar said with ashen voice. Maekrux looked away. “Therefore, it is not with you I shall make this pact.”

The shrine lit up and shined into the false night sky above. Line after line traced around the stars, sketched in the symbol of a claw with three points and a hind claw. The lines faded, but the stars still glowed orange, as if burned by Drulkar’s flame. “What’s this?”

“You know well, Maekrux. Scribe these stars upon your Spell of Pathfinding. You will attune the Gate of Embers to its destination,” the god of fire said.

“But it will only work for-”
“The one who possesses your scroll. And it will not be you, Maekrux.”
“I don’t understand.”

“Of course not, Blue Phoenix. You did not understand when I gifted you children, but they did a wonderful job of humbling you. I had hoped it would have taught you to trust my judgment.”

“You took your revenge on me at the expense of my children!” Maekrux shouted. Maekrux immediately lowered his head after saying so, knowing he had made a mistake.

Drulkar, however, only laughed. “Do not blame me for your mistakes, mortal. I gave you what you wanted; it was you who lost it. To another of your mistakes, if I recall.”

Maekrux sighed. Drulkar was right, though it pained him to admit it. But this story wasn’t about him. “Lord Drulkar, what am I to do with the Scroll of Pathfinding?”

“When your grandson recovers his fire and finds his claws, when his wings spread wide and his heart regains its blazing rage, when his form can no longer contain his burning soul, you are to give it to him. He is my first Champion in years. I wish to guide him on his Ancient Rites.”

“As you wish, Lord Drulkar,” Maekrux said.
“And you will not be able to hide it from him, Blue Phoenix. I will have what I desire this time.” Maekrux nodded his still lowered head. “Now. Take the scroll and the necessary materials to the Gate of Embers and use it. If the Council of Ancients questions you, show them this.” The shrine erupted light once more, burning Maekrux’s foreclaws, the ancient symbol of the lord of flame burned into them. Maekrux cursed in pain. “I shall await you in the Realm of Fire, Maekrux. You will need help to forge that which you seek.” The shrine faded from orange to blue once more as Maekrux scribed the stars with shaking, pained hands.




Maekrux arrived in the chamber housing the Gate of Embers, scalepack full of ore. Traveling quickly down the spiral, he passed by V’Tieru and approached the Gate, opening the scroll and attuning the gate to it. The elder was none-to-pleased to see him. “Maekrux, it does seem rather hypocritical of you to censure us for allowing some dragons to visit other worlds and to see you apparently do the same,” he said.

“Well, that would be where you and I are different, V’Tieru,” Maekrux said, finishing the attunement and turning to the burnished gold. “I have official business of Drulkar that gives me cause to use the Gate,” the Blue Phoenix said, lifting his forepaws and placing them together, showing the burnt-in symbol of Drulkar.

“W-what?” the ancient asked, surprised to see the symbol, which he and the others had left behind in the Realm of Fire when they returned at Drulkar’s behest.

“I’ll be sure to say hi to him for you,” Maekrux said with a grin, before disappearing through the burning gate.




It was the fourth time that Maekrux had been to the Realm of Fire. It was, however, the first time he was not in mortal danger upon arrival. He did not choke on a sea of flame, or submerge into the hottest magmas in all of existence. He was not followed by one of the most evil bipeds Istaria had seen. No, this time he arrived on solid ground of obsidian. Twin volcanoes rose up in mountain peaks around him. From them leaked viscous lava, trailing down the slope in burning orange hues.

Between the cracks of the volcanic rock, two blobs of lava formed into humanoid appearance. “The master has informed us of your purpose. To the peak, we must go,” one of them said in fiery intonation. Both pointed to the far volcano, spewing smoke into a burning sky.

“Then that is where we shall go,” Maekrux said. It would have been faster to fly, but Maekrux followed the lavawalkers on foot. Up the tall peak and around the slow-flowing lava, they climbed almost to the summit before entering into an ashen crack in the rock, an old lava tube that, at current, was not flowing.

Inside the mountain was a thick piece of admantium, flattened by unknown forces. It rose up just a bit from the igneous ground on which it stood. The two lavawalkers came to either side and dug their hands into the rock, melting it. When they pulled their hands back out, each had a hammer of volcanic rock that cooled in their molten grip. The heavy heads of the obsidian hammers were tipped with admantium metal. “Have you brought the material?” the other lavawalker asked.

“I have.” Maekrux withdrew the chunk of admantium and bars of mithril he had been saving since he took the core from the heart of the king of the golems. He placed them upon the anvil.

The lavawalkers gripped their hammers tightly, the black rock heating red again. Each hit their hammer onto the chunks, one after the other, again and again, melting and shaping the ore at the same time. At last, the lavawalkers directed Maekrux to do his part. Using the prime as his tool, he also fashioned the molten ore into its desired shape, and the ore grew long, with wide claws like fingers gripping against the anvil and adamantium etched into ancient runic shapes. The claw was beyond Maekrux’s skill and he knew it; though his flame-resistant claws received painful blisters and burns, he continued his work until the weapon was complete.

The mountain shook, but it was no eruption. Maekrux knew what was to come next and immediately retreated from the opening of the volcano. A massive draconic head peered down into the rim of the caldera as its claws of liquid flame melted into the side of the rock. The burning, fiery mane of the dragon god seemed to ignite the sky further. The cracks in Drulkar’s obsidian skin grew wider and brighter, his head and neck setting the air ablaze. Erupting from the igneous maw of the god of fire, he spewed down his flames upon the weapon and the hapless lavawalkers below who bubbled and burst apart. The flames shot like jets from the volcano, nearly incinerating Maekrux as he flew out of the way. At last the flame ended as quickly as it had come. The admantium anvil had survived, as had the claw resting upon it. Maekrux caught sight of Drulkar’s fiery wings as they spread out from the sides of the volcano. “It is done, Maekrux. Hold to your word in full, and deliver this Nail unto my Champion when he is worthy of that title once more,” the great god decreed. And with that, his wings beat against the air, and the God of Fire leapt into the sky, setting all ablaze in his wake.

The destroyed lavawalkers reformed and praised their god for his benevolent flame while Maekrux entered into the volcano. The Nail sat atop it, still warmed by the breath of Drulkar. The claw shined with a holy light. The mithril base was inlaid with runes of admantium, torn from the Golem King himself. It seemed to hum as Maekrux took the burning weapon into his possession, staring at it with reverence. He was thankful, however surprised, that Drulkar had been so willing to aid him.

“I have that which you need, Ausixen. Now you must find the spark to reignite yourself,” Maekrux said. The Blue Phoenix returned to the Gate of Embers, intent on helping his grandson find that ignition.

[Kaerisk]

(Part 2 of 3~ This is Ausixen's recovery, and part 3 should be short enough for me to get it up shortly. All of this is leading up to First Strike. Having suffered as he has, it seems like Ausixen would have a longer road to walk... is he more resilient than his grandfather? )


“Leave me be, Grandfather. Ae is shame enough that you see Iea like this…” Ausixen said. He still lay in the guest chamber, hiding his head under his claws.

“You are stronger than this, Ausixen. Where is-” Maekrux began.
“No, Iea am not!” Ausixen interrupted. “Nieo remember kor daughter, my mother. She was stubborn too. Even when I came to her to forgive her for abandoning me, she refused my forgiveness and chose to suffer. Is ae any surprise that I should chose to hide away as well? My shame is even greater than hers, and you have done nothing to save her. Go to her lair and wake her, see if she cares what has happened to Iea, and leave me be!”

Maekrux lowered his head and said nothing more. His words would not be enough, as he feared. He thought back to Ausixen’s ascension and remembered that there might be one other who the purple might listen to. And so silently, he left to contact her.

Sitting on his terrace, Maekrux closed his eyes. “Shian? It has been a long while, but I wish to speak with you. Would you have time to visit my lair in Harton Valley?”

Shian’s voice reached out to him. “Of course. Iea am on my way.”

Maekrux thanked her and saw a white dragon coming. It was too soon to be Shian, but he soon recognized her as Sombre. She looked quite stressed. “What is the matter Sombre? I’m soon to have a guest.”

“Maurger found my spell anchors and destroyed all but the one at entrance...” the white said, trying to catch her breath. “We have no way to know what happens inside and he would probably find them if I try to put more...” SombreNeige paused a moment before continuing, looking fearful. “But I learned something.”

Maekrux tilted his head. “What was it?”
“He knew it was your plan, and he knew I was not alone. He still doesn't know who it was.”

Maekrux sighed. “You and I both knew the risk. But if he does know there was another, I'm going to have to throw him off.” Maekrux considered his options. He needed Nyoko to remain where she was for the time being. But who would be willing to risk themselves to save Ausixen, and strong enough to fend off the black? He could think of only one. “I’ll ask her when she arrives.”



The two spoke for a short time before Shian landed on the terrace. Maekrux smiled as he regarded her. “Glit’sita, Shian,” Maekrux said and Sombre echoed.

“Greetings to you both,” she said, looking at Sombre.
“This is SombreNeige if you did not know her; she is something of my student and a friend of mine who has been very helpful in these recent trying times. Those times, however, are why I've asked to see you, Shian. Do you know anything about the dragon named Maurger?” Maekrux asked.

“I hear he is a menace, but I have never met him,” Shian said.
“Mm, quite so depending on whom you ask,” Maekrux said. He paused a moment to consider that. They still needed to know what had happened to Valkoth and Semeneth, and it was becoming more and more apparent that it would be necessary to actually visit Maurger’s lair to get the information they needed. “He captured Ausixen not long ago. Horrible things were done to him.”

Shian jerked her head back, alarmed. “What?”
“Sombre and Nyoko managed to rescue him, but.. he has lost much. He sits despondent and alone in the guest chamber below,” Maekrux said. “I hoped that talking with you might restore his spark.”

“Me?” Shian asked, blinking in confusion.
Maekrux nodded. “A'na. I saw this at his ascension; he looked at you with similar pride as when he looked at me. Do you have any idea as to why?”

Shian shook her head. “No idea really. I didn't think he thought anything of me.”

Maekrux nodded grimly. That wasn’t the news he hoped for, but Shian was already here. It was worth a try. “Then perhaps this is a bit of a longshot. But Ausixen needs to recover from this quickly. Maurger's influence has ensnared both Valkoth and Semeneth somehow, and if he is unchecked, there is no telling what his 'better world' will do to our people.” He looked back at his lair. "I have already seen what it did to Ausixen.”

“Iea am not sure what good I can do, but I will try...” Shian said, unsure.
“I wish I could say that is all I ask, but I have another favor I wish to ask of you,” Maekrux said.

“And that would be?”
Maekrux looked to Sombre, who sat quietly beside him. “When Sombre rescued Ausixen, she did so with help from Nyoko. But Maurger trusts Nyoko, and she is our best and safest source of information when it comes to Maurger and the hatchlings he has produced. Should Maurger learn that Nyoko was the one who freed Ausixen, she could be in grave danger and all our information would be lost. If you are willing, I wish to make Maurger believe that you were the one who helped instead of Nyoko.”

“Um... alright, but I am not sure how he would get such information,” Shian said.
“He has spies all over New Trismus. But leave that to me. Right now, Ausixen needs help,” Maekrux said.

Shian nodded at this. “Can you think of anything I can say that might help?”
Maekrux shook his head. “I wish I could, Shian. It took me a year to recover. I ask so much more of Ausixen.”

“Very well,” she said, looking into the maw of the lair.
“You can find him in the guest chamber below. I pray to Drulkar that you are successful,” the Blue Phoenix said. Shian nodded and traveled down into the lair.



Ausixen sat with her head down on the ground. Her hips were thicker than Shian remembered, perhaps the only telltale sign that she was female by sight. Shian approached Ausixen slowly, a bit unsure of herself and settled down. Ausixen lifted it somewhat when she heard Shian come in, paranoid it was the black. Seeing Shian, she became uninterested in all else except her own suffering. She sighed, closing her yellow-gold eyes. “Maekrux wishes to shame me further, Iea see. Hello Shian.”

“Hello, Ausixen. I came to visit you,” Shian said. Ausixen did not look convinced. “I came of my own accord. I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Ausixen huffed at that statement. “Oh, Iea am grand. I have free will again and mental capacity enough to feel guilt. Guilt, at failing Drulkar. Guilt, at failing myself. Guilt, at failing my unborn, leaving it behind in a den of monsters.”

Shian narrowed her eyes. “Because that does you - and them - a whole lot of good. The best you could do for them right now is to get them back, just as you were recovered.”

Ausixen shook her head. “I suppose it doesn't. But then again, the dragonelle that birthed me was no better. She was stubborn about making herself suffer, even at the expense of those around her. It would figure I'd get all of her positive traits, wouldn't it?” Ausixen struggled to stand; she was thinner from a lack of appetite, but she wasn't starving by any means; she turned to face what she perceived to be her current tormenter.

“Most dragons I know show no signs of being anything like their parents. You are your own dragon, regardless of where you came from,” Shian said.

“All dragons, unique unto themselves? Maekrux preached that, too. Many 'unique' dragons out there...” Ausixen sighed. “And the dragon I am, Shian? What kind of dragon am I?”

Shian pondered her words for a time before speaking again. “You are your own dragon, nothing else. Why else would you choose to become a Champion of Drulkar?”

“Revenge, Shian. And guilt.”
“I suppose that was your parents’ decision then?”

“It wasn't their decision, no. But it was the only decision I had, for what was done to them. I became a Champion so that I could kill the most evil dragon in all of Istaria.” Ausixen lowered her head. “And I failed.”

“Guilt... does the land and Drulkar no good, especially to a gifted. Everyone harbors guilt. Some more than others, but whatever drives us should still keep us going and not be weighted down by guilt. Whatever we harbor should also drive us instead,” Shian said.

Ausixen shook her head, uncertain. “Even if I were to be rid of my guilt, what then? What should I do? Seek revenge? It would only risk my unborn, myself to horror again. That flame has gone out...”

Shian looked down and said quietly, “There is no 'getting rid of' guilt. It will be with us like a battle scar.”

Ausixen sighed. That was not what she wanted to hear. “What guilt do you harbor, Shian?”

“Iea... would rather not talk of it. It is my own to bear.” Shian paused for a moment, nursing some private pain. “Yet I do not hide in my own lair for fear of it. I carry it daily, but it is enough to keep carrying it.”

“That's still no direction as to where I should go. Out of the lair only puts me in harms way again,” Ausixen said.

“If you could do anything.... what would it be then?”

“Shian... what do I have left to fight for? I can't take revenge for this, for my fear is too great... my guilt that I did not suffer as my grandfather is gone, for now I have. If I could do anything, I would go back in time, kill Maurger when he was still just a hatchling in the nest... but only so that I would not have suffered now.” Ausixen pawed at the ground impotently. “He took everything. I haven't anything left on which to stand.”

“There is always something else lose, of that I know,” Shian said.
Ausixen stopped pawing the ground, closing her golden eyes. “That's a depressing thought. What has Maurger not taken from me yet?” He certainly would before long, she thought quietly.

“Your grandfather still cares about you. You still have a home. And you still have your own strength whether you believe it or not,” Shian said.

“If grandfather wishes to deal with Maurger, Drulkar knows he wouldn't need my help to do it... And this home in which I live? I don't feel welcome here anymore. I don't deserve to be here... As to my own strength, maybe I have it. I can't be sure Maruger didn't take that when he took my body.” Her claws looked so frail to her now.

“Trials... are what make us stronger. If one is not tested, how can they be sure where the strength is?” Shian asked.

“Be that true, then Maurger would make a wonderful ruler for us all. The trials I've gone through must have made me immortal,” Ausixen said in sardonic tones.

“Everyone needs help sometimes. And a dragon that does not behave like a dragon is not a dragon at all. Didn't you tell me that once?” Shian asked. She was right – where was the Dragon who was worthy of his Pride?

It stung Ausixen. “Yes... yes I did. Was I so weak, Shian, that I crumpled and lost what made me Dragon at my first true trial? Or was Maurger simply too strong?”

“Maurger is strong. I know of no one that can do what he did,” Shian said.

Ausixen lifted her head. “Did you truly come here of your own accord, Shian?”

“If I did not, I would not be here. I would have simply returned home had I not cared about you,” she said.

That also stung, in a different way. Maekrux may not have known who Shian was to Ausixen – or Shian herself, for that matter – but her import was greater than either knew. “Iea see... What do you consider me, Shian?” the purple asked.

Shian pondered her words. “You are one I hold closer than most. There are not many dragons still alive that hold the ideals we do. Sometimes I wonder if I am alone in my ways. When I do though, I think of you. I am not so alone anymore then.” She paused a moment after having said that, adding, “Perhaps that sounds silly...”

Ausixen just nodded. “Iea see...” She too considered for a moment. “Do you know how I view you, Shian?”

“To be honest, I had not given it much thought. When you were younger, you held some resentment towards me. I knew that had changed when you ascended, but... I was not sure to what extent. I hope that resentment is less at the least,” Shian said, clueless to the truth.

It made Ausixen chuckle. “D'na. I do not resent you.” This made Shian relieved. “I was born to Aerioch and Nidhogg. Neither really were parents to me. I even hatched alone, you know. When he left Aerioch for you, I was so angry. I let my anger guide me through all my hatchling years. But…” Ausixen paused. “When I began to fight Maurger, I looked at the world differently. I didn't see not-dragons, anymore. I began to see Dragons, as they were meant to be. You came to observe my rite battles. I know it's not fair to you, but...” Ausixen lifted her head to look up at Shian, eyes soft. “In that moment, you became more of a mother than Aerioch ever was. I don't know if that makes me just like my father, but... that's how I feel.”

Shian smiled at Ausixen warmly, but then looked at her paws, almost ashamed in her own way.

“Shian, if I don't stop Maurger, will anyone else?” the purple asked.

“Perhaps no one would stop Maurger. It is obvious a single dragon would have difficulty,” Shian said. Ausixen nodded. “Earlier... you asked what my guilt was.” Ausixen looked up at that. “Mine is not being able to be a proper mother.”

Ausixen raised a brow. “To who?”
“When I moved my lair from Snowfall to Winter's Peak, I took my children with me. Nids, Shirani, Hitori, Tenkako, Kolodi and Suzu. Seemingly just as soon as we moved in, Blight Anchors showed up at my front door. Not usually a problem, but when the anchors grew more numerous and started blighting the land itself, it became obvious my children could not live there. It took one of them getting hurt for me to realize it. I also found it was just me and a single guard standing in between them and Kirascant. I could easily move again and keep my children safe, but…”

Ausixen tried to remember this time. She had hidden safely in the lair during all of it, and so her memories were faint.

“Instead I chose duty to Istaria and sent my children away. To grow up on their own. They're now missing... because I did not look after them. Even Zhyree, one I had adopted does not seem to regard me much as a mother.” She paused a moment in thought. “Many nights I wonder if I had made the right choice. If I had chosen my children instead, I might still have all of them, grown and happy. Kirascant may or may not have been able to fend on its own.” Shian sighed and put her head down on her paws. She looked tired.

“Shian, I think you made the right choice. At least, you made the best choice you could at the time. You sought to protect them, in your own way. You did what you felt was right, and it was for them, even if they became lost to you for it. You…” Ausixen sighed. She had been tricked into this line of thought, however important it was. “You can't spend your time wondering what might have been. You can only go forward.”

Shian lifted her head. “And so I do. I fight the Blight wherever it appears. I can never be a real mother, of that I have come to terms with.”

“D’na.”
“No?”
Ausixen rose up slowly, walked around the crystals and leaned her head into Shian's face, nuzzling it. Shian churred softly at the nuzzle. “Niea are a real mother. Just as Maekrux is a real father. Being a mother or a father is making mistakes, and having great intentions for our children.” She pauses a moment, thinking of her abandoned egg. “I think that I understand that better now, having an egg of my own... Niea do kor best. That is all any can do.” Ausixen sighed. “And I have not done mine.”

Shian was quiet as Ausixen spoke.

“I need to think on this, Shian...” Ausixen lumbered back to her bed. “I'll rest for a time... thank you for visiting, Shian. It meant a lot.”

“I have no idea where my children are. If you want help getting yours back, you can be sure I will be glad to help,” Shian said resolutely.

Ausixen nodded. “I might just need it...”
“If not for anything, for my own revenge,” Shian said, chuckling softly at her own demons. She turned to leave. As she did, Ausixen watched and realized much about himself and about being a parent.

[Kaerisk]

(Part Three of The Spark. This was up earlier, and then it wasn't. I WENT BACK IN TIME~ And I didn't use a Delorian or anything. Forum rollbacks are awesome. Anyhoo... Will Ausixen live up to the promise his grandfather believes he has, or will Drulkar need another champion?)

At last, Ausixen left the safety of the guest room. He climbed up into the foyer, expecting to find his grandfather lazing on the terrace. As he was about to exit, he heard a heavy claw fall against the ground in the biped library. Ausixen went there.

Maekrux sat quietly, pondering over a sheet of stone upon which he had been carving and studying. The runes were eldritch and forgotten, some of the oldest in Istaria, put together in unique and exciting ways. He was just about finished when Ausixen arrived. “Hello Ausixen. How are you feeling today?” He continued working as he spoke.

“Better. Wouldn’t you have more to work with if you did this in the dragon library?” Ausixen asked.

“A’na, I suppose so. But I didn’t want to disturb you,” Maekrux said.

“That would be why you’ve been leaving deer outside my room then,” Ausixen said.

Maekrux furrowed his brow for a moment. “I haven’t been leaving you deer.” He smiled a bit as he thought about it. “Though I might suspect who has.” Maekrux finished his work and looked up at his grandson.

“Grandfather, I don’t know if I have the strength to resist him. But someone special to me explained just how important my children are, and the children are to all parents. I want to try, but I can’t do this alone,” Ausixen said.

“Ausixen, you are never alone. Each Dragon is unique unto themselves, but each Dragon is dragon! We are a family. Even the most blighted, most twisted, most foul dragons are still dragons. But because they are our family, it is important that we stand together to intervene when it is necessary. To cleanse the blight, to straighten the twisted, to purify the foul. As someone recently told me, Maurger is a mistake on the part of our race, not just me, or his father, or even himself. No one intervened when we should have. And now our intervention must be permanent and drastic.”

“What would you have me do, grandfather?” Ausixen asked.
“D’na.”
“No?”

“You are the Champion of Drulkar, Ausixen. You once stood to purge that evil from our ranks. Drulkar waits for your prayers and your resolve. We all wait for you. All that remains is for you to lead us, Ausixen. I am just your guide,” Maekrux said, his head leveled to look Ausixen in the eyes.

“Grandfather, I have looked up to you all my life. How am I to lead you?” Ausixen asked.

“Not just me, Ausixen, but all who are Dragon against the evil that has infested us.”

“That doesn’t make it easier-”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s not supposed to be easy, Ausixen. It is a responsibility, a responsibility to your race and to your god.” Maekrux smiled. “But I am confident that you have the strength and the resolve to do it. I will support you once you stand, but you must stand yourself. All phoenix turn to ash once in awhile, my grandson. But they always rise again. Now it is your time to stand, and see who else stands with you.”

“Grandfather…” Ausixen closed his eyes, envisioning the horror and pain he had experienced again, what his grandfather had said, and Shian had said, of the egg he left behind, and of the demon posing as a dragon that had done all of this to him. All of it led to this moment.

His name. Believing all his life in the difference between dragon and Dragon. Growing stronger as he stood alone. Learning of the monster and watching him as he grew. The responsibility of protecting the lair. The remorse found in Drulkar’s claws. Hating himself, and then at last being rid of his hate. There he found the spark.

Ausixen opened his golden eyes. His brow was furrowed just a little, his eyes hard. Behind them burned all the fires of Drulkar’s host, the phoenix flame in which his grandfather had always believed. His fire reflected in Maekrux’s eyes, and he felt it burning from his chest, as if he had to breathe his flame.

“I have a responsibility, grandfather – no, a duty, a duty to my race, my god, and myself. I must return to Sak’tal and defeat him, for all dragons that have existed, all that have suffered, and all that might yet suffer under his sway,” The Purple Phoenix said, head raised high, frills extended proudly.

“Yes, my grandson. Now at last is the time to give you what you need,” Maekrux said.

Ausixen watched as Maekrux opened the dimensional pocket within his scalepack. From it he pulled out the claw he had crafted. The silver-blue mithril seemed to shine in the helian library, and the runes of admantium glowed orange light in time with the flame burning within Ausixen. Maekrux lifted it to his grandson, and he heard it hum as if at last finding its master.

“This is the Soulflame Nail, sometimes called the Phoenix’s Talon. It was forged in the Realm of Fire and empowered by the God of Flame himself,” Maekrux said.

“Grandfather…” Ausixen trailed off, knowing how hard it must have been for Maekrux to have forged it.

“It has, in the talons of a true Champion, the ability to burn the soul of its victim away. If you can use its powers against Maurger, there is not a place in the world he can hide a bit of himself. All of him will burn away in Drulkar’s righteous judgment.” Maekrux handed him the weapon. Ausixen fit it on over his talon, the weapon fitting perfectly to his hand, as if it was always meant to be there.

“Thank you, grandfather,” he said, looking at it.

“Ah, but I’m not done. As the humans say, I have given you the sword, but now I must give you the shield.” Maekrux lifted the tablet he had been working on and showed it to his grandson. It had been used many times, trying to create just the right runic symbol. “Behold,” he said, pointing to the last of them, an intricate pattern of straight lines and carved shapes like the shell of a nautilus. “This is the Rune of Petrifaction. Activating it will cause Maurger’s powers of liquefaction to be temporarily disabled. He won’t be able to run this time.”

Ausixen lowered his head, not out of shame, or fear, or pain, but out of respect and love. “Thank you grandfather. The next action should be to travel to Maurger’s lair and see if it is too late for my egg.”

“I have an idea, if you are interested,” Maekrux said. Ausixen lifted his head and nodded. “Take a force of those willing into Maurger’s lair with you. Maurger surely took my knowledge of traps, and you will need their aid to overcome them safely and escape with your egg. Within, you must find any evidence or device left behind that might tell us what he has done to Valkoth and Semeneth. With it, we can topple his faction before it is too late. And if he is threatened in his own lair, he will doubtless use hostages. Therefore, I will cause distraction to pull him away.”

“You’ve done so much for me, grandfather, how can I ask you to put yourself in danger like that?” Ausixen asked.

“It is for the sake of my race too, Ausixen. And Valkoth and Semeneth are my friends. You ask nothing of me,” Maekrux said with a smile.

“No, there is one last thing I must ask of you,” Ausixen said. Maekrux tilted his head. “Fetch Frall. Today, we begin to take back everything that Maurger has taken from me, and from our people.” Maekrux nodded and soon left. Ausixen burned as he stayed behind, using the Soulflame Nail to carve the rune into his other talon.

And then, the war began…