Note that this story does not / probably will not fit in with PS2 Drakan's story line and is pulled directly from the forums. ATOD is written by Drakan fans and is no way connected to Surreal software. This is the sequel to Drakan in story form for people who are not going to play the PS2 version as far as I'm concerned. The story is now finished so read it and enjoy!

Note that there is another tale called 'Drakan2 the fan fiction' - both these tales are set after the game ended and conflict with each other. Ill leave it up to you to decide which one you like best and what you would rather happen to our heroes after the game!

Authors;  CYA Wolf, Lord.stone, Metaldragon, W_knight, Sapphire night, Shadow of Light, Arokh's Twin, Aungy

A young boy and his grandfather sit by a fire; the night is dark and chilly, the cold air hangs clammy around them. Like the grip of an unseen hand.

The old man smokes a pipe and watches his grandson with wizened eyes. A calm smile upon his craggy face. He taps the fire with a stick and chuckles softly as the boy sees images within the flames.

"What is it you see my Grandson?"

"I see shapes within the fire, what does that mean?"

The old man smiles once more and nods remembering the images he saw many years earlier. "You see shapes, what shapes do you see?"

"I see, Dragons."

The old man once more chuckles and nods. "Dragons eh boy, Dragons?"

Slightly bemused by his grandfather's tone he looks at the old man and raises a questioning brow. "Dragons are what I see."

Again the old man nods once more and sighs, "I used to see Dragons once, a long time ago, when I was your age. I saw them in my dreams and in the odd vision or two; I never did understand what those images meant though." Another wind-like sigh. "They were the most magnificent of creatures. Most wondrous."

The boy sits and listens, wide eyed and full of wonder himself. His face lit by the slow flickering of the fire.

"What happened to the Dragon's Grandfather?"

"Some say they left the lands after the fall of Navaros. Some say they died at the very same time. No one really knows."

Lifting his chin to look at his grandfather the youngster nodded his assent. Just then a shadow passed across the moon and flickered across the ground. It looked to them both, like the form of a Dragon, some kind of large one, and upon the back of this creature. A woman sat, in dark armour, hair loose and flowing.

"Grandfather?"

"Just a shadow." Said the old man. "Just a shadow."

but the boy was not so sure. He wanted to look.

Of course, the grandfather would not let the boy out and sent him to his bed to sleep.

The boy could not close an eye, because he was sure he saw something pass.

In the middle of the night the boy got out of his bed, and sneaked past his grandfather to see what was outside.

It was freezing outside, and the boy did not see a thing. He walked out for a short distance and saw a shadow going over the ground.

When he looked up, the boy could not believe his eyes. He saw a real dragon flying above his head. And it seemed a young woman was riding the dragon.

Not thinking of what might happen, the boy ran in the direction the dragon went.

The boy ran following the dragon and its rider for what seemed like hours.

Soon, as the moon was setting, the boy watched as the dragon and its rider descended behind the mountain ahead.

The boy climbed the mountain and looked down into a valley that he was sure was not there before. Below him he could hear snippets of conversation carried up by the wind.

The boy climbed down further wanting to investigate the voices.

Hiding in some ferns, he peered out to see that the voices were coming from the dragon and its rider!

Straining to listen in on the conversation, the boy lost his footing and fell right in between the dragon and its rider!

The boy shivered with fear as the dragon turned and looked down on him.

The great Dragon looked down at the boy and a singular eyeridge rolled upwards. He craned his neck down slightly and blinked.

It was a blink that seemed to last forever to the boy.

The woman watched this child with some amusement and chuckled softly to herself. Eyes falling on the Dragon.

"Hello young one." She said with a slight smile.

"H---h---ello?" replied the scared youngster. Keeping a watchful eye on the Dragon.

The scared boy cowered down ever so slightly. Knowing he had been spotted the boy did not bother to conceal himself. He stood in plan view before the majestic beast. The beast looked him over. Yes this be the boy we have been in search of.

The dragon then utters a few indecipherable words... The boy’s eyes suddenly become heavy, as it occurs to him, the beast had said a phrase of magic.

The boy slowly growing wary, falls to the floor. The rider then speaks, "that was much to easy, are ye sure he is the one?"

The dragon cranes it's neck back, "of course he’s the chosen, I have yet to make a mistake all these years, what makes you think I would start now. Retrieve his lifeless body before he awakes."

The woman surveyed the fallen boy and quickly went towards him. Enfolding the child in her arms, gathering him gently.

The Dragon watched her with glittering obsidian eyes. Curving his mouth into a slight smile.

"Reminds you of Delon? does he?"

Rynn looked at Arokh and back to the boy, the Dragon was correct, he did remind her of Delon a little, perhaps that brought out her maternal instinct a little.

"We need to get going Rynn, the Wartoks will be coming for him soon, lead by Rathek. We need to fly now!" Arokh's tone was impatient and would brook no argument.

Rathek surveyed the scene before him, taking in the indentations in the snow, noting the dead, and watching the shadow of the great dragon fly across the moon. "They escaped us," he said in his deep voice, scowling at the retreating figures, "Lord Navaros will be most displeased at this turn of events, as will Queen Rakana." He turned to the Warthoks in his party, noting with disgust the stains on most of their uniforms from eating, and fighting. He himself was pristine, a very uncommon trait among his brethren, and actually had some intelligence. This was to his advantage, as no one ever expected that he knew anything other than how to hit things with a club, or an axe...

Rynn looked back over her shoulder, the memories of the yells of the Warthoks still reverberating in her mind. She had just picked up the sleeping boy and placed him on Arokh's back when the arrow whizzed past her head, barely missing her. She had immediately drawn the sword, Runeblade, and turned to face her foe, intent on protecting the child. The 5 orc's had reached her first, being smaller and faster, more able to get through the brush than the larger more clumsy warthoks. Rynn knew her only chance was to dispatch them quickly and escape on Arokh before the others arrived. Moving swiftly forward, she dodged the first strike, rolling towards her opponent and neatly slicing his arm off as she jumped out of her roll, turning and cutting off his head as she did. She turned to the closer 2, who stood staring dumbfounded at their fallen comrade. Taking quick advantage, the swordswoman moved in for the kill, neatly stabbing the first one, pulling her sword out and swiping the second one in half. She did a neat back flip and landed behind the 4th orc, not noticing the one sneaking up behind her as she dispatched the one in front of her until a burst of hot flame caused him to explode behind her. Startled, she turned to Arokh. "Just watching your back," said the dragon with a wry smile. "After all, it's technically mine as well." Smiling, Rynn jumped onto Arokh's back, holding the boy in front of her so that he wouldn't fall as Arokh shot of into the air, away from the curses of the warthoks left on the ground...

The boy felt himself struggling through the comforting darkness surrounding his mind. "Sleep, sleep, sleep..." it seemed to say, and for a while he was content to listen and dream. But no matter which way his thoughts turned, there was always a dragon.

A dragon! He fought harder against the sleep and gradually made out sensations beyond those in his mind. He was sitting on something smooth and warm, and there was something holding him fast around the waist. Wind was rushing past his face and whipping through his hair - he could hear it whistling through something nearby. The harder he listened, the more convinced he became that what he was hearing was wings.

Involuntarily, he gasped aloud and snapped his eyes open to stare in stark disbelief at the long, ruby-scaled neck of the dragon stretching out in front of him, and its great, crested head, backlit by the stars in the midnight sky.

"He's awake," a woman's voice said from just behind him.

"He's stronger that I expected," the dragon replied, and the boy could hear the deep voice rumbling through the winged creature's entire body.

"Don't be frightened," the woman said before the boy could so much as blink. "I'm Rynn. My winged friend here is called Arokh."

"A dragon!" the boy said, all fear lost in his sudden excitement. "A real dragon! My grandfather said that none lived here anymore because of Navaros!"

"Not many," Arokh corrected. He tilted his wings slightly.

"What is your name?" Rynn asked, for the boy had fallen silent at hearing the dragon speak.

"Auraki," the boy almost whispered.

"Was there any reason why you stumbled into us when you should be at your own home?"

"I...just wanted to see the dragon. I've been seeing them all day - even at home in grandfather's fire."

"Where do you live, Auraki?" Arokh asked suddenly. His neck craned around to fix the boy with a single, flaming eye.

Auraki shrank back slightly, huddling into Rynn. As fascinated as he was with dragons, he was just as obviously afraid of them, Rynn thought with amusement.

"Grandfather's house is down by the fork of the Sendii River," Auraki said at last. "In the Valley of Khel."

"Rathek!" Arokh snarled.

"That's where the wartoks were headed!" Rynn shouted. "Arokh, quickly! We must see if we can rescue Auraki's grandfather!"

"If the Dark Union hasn't reached him first," the dragon rumbled, and he swung eastward and sped through the night like a crimson arrow.

Smoke turned the sunrise in the east a sickly gold-grey haze. The fires that had incinerated the tiny village in the Valley of Khel had burned themselves out before dawn, but embers still glowed, and smoke still twisted and writhed in tall columns.

Rynn wiped a hand across her face leaving a black, sooty smudge on her forehead. With a bleak glance at Arokh, who stood nearby, she shook her head.

No one had survived. Man or woman. The children were missing. Auraki, stricken by the carnage, had only been able to nod when they found the body of his grandfather - impaled on a wartok spear.

"This is too familiar," Rynn said softly to the dragon. "Too much like home. I hoped never to see something like this again."

Arokh shifted his huge wings and glanced over where Auraki stood some distance away, near a grave he and Rynn had dug for the boy's grandfather. "He is the one the wartoks are looking for," the dragon rumbled softly. "You can't sense it, but there is great power in him. Elemental power rivalling - if not surpassing - the Guardian Magi."

"Like Rimril?" Rynn looked stunned. "But Auraki is just a boy!"

"And his power will grow. There is no stopping it."

"So what do we do? We can't let him fall into the hands of Rathek and the Dark Union, that's for sure."

"I don't know." Arokh sighed heavily and smoke wisped from his mouth. "Times past he'd be trained by the Magi, but there are none left, as you know."

Rynn pursed her lips. "Could you teach him?"

Arokh shrugged and lowered his head. "I do not know. I am a dragon. He is a human." He paused. "There used to be a test - much like the one you took to join the Order of the Flame, but I don't know where it is. Or even if it still exists."

"Even the vaguest idea?" Rynn asked, her heart sinking.

"It's in the lands occupied by the Dark Union," Auraki's voice said.

Both Rynn and Arokh turned, startled.

"How do you know that?" the dragon demanded.

The boy didn't shrink back like before. His face was dirty and tear-streaked, his eyes dull. "Grandfather... read the old legends to me," he said, faltering a little. "We both thought they were just bed-time stories..."

Rynn knelt beside the boy. "Auraki, where is the Magi test?"

"Grandfather used to have a map..."

Opening her pack, Rynn pulled out a large map and unfolded it. "We're here," she said, pointing. "The Valley of Khel. Can you read?"

Auraki nodded, then rubbed his eyes and looked closely at the map. "It's-"

"RYNN! STEP ASIDE!" Fire blasted from Arokh's jaws at his last word, and Rynn leaped forward, sheltering Auraki with her body. The map, inevitably, went flying and was burned to ash along with the two orcs that had been sneaking up. The noise that echoed through the valley was very...very...loud.

"I think we better get moving," Rynn said. "Auraki, will you please come with us?" The answer wouldn't change the outcome, but she preferred asking. She knew what rebellious little boys could be like.

"Where're we going?" he sniffed.

"To the Tower of the Guardian Magi," Arokh said, lowering one wing to help the two humans onto his back. "And to stop the ones who did this to your home."

Auraki only nodded, then Rynn had him up in front of her. "It's Northeast," he said in a subdued voice. "A long way Northeast."

"By foot, maybe," Arokh replied, leaping into the air. "But perhaps not by air!"

Auraki didn't answer.

Queen Rakana was displeased.

Displeased, however, was the politically correct way of describing it. 'Screaming fit of rage' was closer to the mark, though no one, not even the stupidest wartok, would be caught dead saying that in the hearing of the Queen of the Succubi.

Rakana sat on her high throne, red, bat-like wings folded around herself, and glared at Rathek through a thick tangle of silver-blonde hair. She should have known that this ugly oaf, no matter how intelligent Navaros had said he was, still had the brains of a wartok. Stupid, pathetic, UGLY...

"I suspect I know where they're going," Rathek said, small eyes watching the Queen for any danger signs. The Queen felt insecure, more so by the recent failure to capture this so-called powerful human child, and was likely to decree execution of anyone she felt was trying to take her throne. Even a wartok.

"Where?" Rakana demanded ungraciously. She raked back some hair with her claw-like hands.

"The Tower of the Death Magi," Rathek replied with a faint smile. "Formerly of the Guardian Magi, as you know, your Majesty." He bowed as she scowled at him. "It's exactly what we wanted, though with a different escort."

Rakana mulled this over, eyes narrowing. "The Test will still work to the devising of the Death Magi?"

"It will, unless someone changes it." Rathek grinned, exposing his tusks. "But who knows about it, except for the Dark Union? There are no legends save that the Tower was taken by Navaros. Only one Magi fled, and he's dead."

"Rimril, yes, I know." How could she not? She'd been the one to lead the attack on him. She'd also been the one to give that human-girl Rynn directions to the throne-room when Shilla, jealous of Rakana's victory (and survival) had banished her from the baths. No one knew that, though. Except for the girl, of course.

"Someone must send word to the Tower that the Death Magi must leave it at once," Rathek advised. "It may be suspicious to find their tower of magic infested with Lord Navaros' Magi."

Rakana shrugged and looked at her bodyguard - an Ebon Knight. "Give him the key."

The knight unfolded its massive, steel-clad arms, opened a huge, gauntletted hand and dropped a glittering key of grimstone on the floor before Rathek.

"That's the key to the Grimstone portals, Rathek," Rakana told him. "It will take you directly to the Tower. Do what you will."

Rathek bowed and swept up the key in the same motion. As he left, Rakana called out:

"Oh, Rathek..."

The wartok turned. "Yes, your Majesty?"

"How can you be so sure our little boy is headed for the Tower?"

"I heard them say so, your Majesty," he replied, grinning again. "They never saw me."

Rakana looked at him bulk, privately doubting it though having no way to prove otherwise, then shrugged again and proceeded to ignore him.

Her mood had suitably improved. If this boy became as good a Death Magi as Navaros thought he would, maybe she'd be gifted with immortality after all...

The flight to the Tower was longer than Arokh had anticipated. Three days passed before they reached the border of the Dark Union lands, and another two before a large, stump-like structure appeared on a barren hillside, battlements broken jagged and reaching for the moons like a claw.

The red dragon hovered for a minute as he and Rynn glanced around to check for foes, then he landed and the two humans slid off his back.

Auraki rubbed his eyes and yawned. Arokh may not have needed to sleep during the flight (he said he could go at least a week without getting tired), but sleeping on a dragon was hardly comfortable. Rynn hadn't been much better with her dragon armour.

"There's no one here," Rynn said. "I'll check inside." She knelt before Auraki. "I need you to stay here with Arokh, all right?"

The boy had gotten over his wariness of the ancient dragon, and only nodded as he yawned again. He wrapped the cloak Rynn had given him around his shoulders and sat down against Arokh's left foreclaw.

"We'll wait for you here," Arokh said. He crouched down, extended one wing over the boy to shield him from the light, and winked at Rynn.

Sentimental fool, Rynn thought with a smile. She drew Runeblade and jogged to the tower, using the excersise to stretch out her muscles after the long hours of inactivity.

The tower was a straight, tall, cylindrical building of dark stone and it seemed to have no windows. Unwholesome fungi were growing up one side, and the door was missing. Inside it was dark.

Rynn paused to light a torch, then snuck in, absently smushing a spider on a wall. There were a couple of doors in here and a staircase leading up in a spiral that hugged the tower wall. Rynn cracked open both doors and found rooms of scrolls and books. Odd, she thought. They should have rotted away long ago. Unless they're enchanted.

The only thing she found worth her attention was a lone wartok in the kitchen on the second floor. Drunk on the job, he staggered unsteadily to his feet as Rynn's torchlight alerted him, made a few awkward swings with his half-full tankard (sloshing Rynn with a unique blend of wartok ale) then keeled over as she ran him through.

On the highest level, there was a glowing portal - a vortex like the one in Rimril's tower, only dark green. She wondered if it was always kept open like this, then noticed a black pedestal with the imprint of a hand on it.

Shrugging, she put her own hand to the pedestal.

A strange, ghostly-sounding voice came from nowhere. "You have the power to become a Mage. Step into the portal to begin your test and training."

Rynn blinked. She could become a Mage? She wondered what Arokh would say to that! Did the world need a new Guardian Mage? She paused and thought for a minute, then decided to talk it over with Arokh. There might be rules about this sort of thing.

It took her a few minutes to get down all the stairs, but she was soon back outside in the somewhat fresher air. Auraki was asleep, so she told Arokh what she'd seen.

"There were Guradian Magi who were Bonded," Arokh noted. "If you were told you have the potential, I certainly won't stand in your way. The magic you learn would definitely be useful."

Rynn nodded. "That's what I thought. Though I'll never equal you," she added.

Arokh snorted. "The day you do is the day I retire."

Rynn sat down against the dragon's chest and sighed, laying Runeblade across her knees. "I guess we'll find out if I have what it takes tomorrow."

She closed her eyes.

"Good luck to both of you," Arokh rumbled. He blinked a few times in the weak mid-morning light, scratching absently at one of his flanks with a hindclaw. "I hope you won't mind if I go back to sleep."

"Tired?" Rynn grinned.

Arokh yawned at her, revealing his impressive array of teeth. "You didn't spend six days carrying two humans half-way across the world!" He sniffed. "If you two become Magi, you might actually be able to pull some of the weight around here."

Rynn laughed. "We'll wake you when we get back."

Arokh muttered something and tucked his head under a wing. "Try not to get yourself killed."

"You too," the woman replied in a wry tone. She motioned to Auraki and the two of them walked up to the tower. "Sleep well?" she asked him.

Auraki rubbed his eyes. "Yeah. I had strange dreams."

Small wonder. After all the poor child had been through... "Want to tell me about them?"

"I keep seeing dragons."

Rynn's brows shot up. "You mean Arokh?"

"No...yes...I don't know. I see him and lots of other dragons. Gold ones, green ones, black ones... ones that look like skeletons. Then there was one huge one with four heads. It...scared me."

Navaros? Rynn kept her expression calm so she wouldn't scare the boy. What did this mean? Atimar had always told Rynn that dreams were prophetic. What of this one? "Go on," she said levelly.

"There was talking," Auraki said. "I can't remember the words, though. You know how dreams are." He paused. "No, I remember one thing clearly. The four-headed dragon said to me, 'Which do you want?'" He crossed the threshold of the tower entrance and darkness covered him.

Rynn followed after and lit her torch, then led the way up the stairs. "Would you call it a nightmare?"

Suddenly, the boy smiled. "No. I was flying, Rynn. And there was the most beautiful girl with me - like an angel. Golden hair and amazing wings... Only the four-headed dragon was scarey. Maybe it was a nightmare and a dream."

Rynn shrugged, thinking it possible. She'd had nightmares about spiders often enough. Most of the time, these nightmares ended in some kind of wonderful fantasy about her dashing around and putting an end to the arachnid population with Runeblade and Arokh forever.

The two reached the top of the tower and stood in front of the pedestal. The greenish rift was still there, swirling in the floor.

"What do we do?" Auraki asked.

"We touch this pedestal then jump into that vortex. Do you want to go first, or will I?"

The boy looked excited at the prospect of being the first new Guardian Mage. "I'll go!" Then he seemed afraid. "Will you come with me?"

"I'll be right behind you," Rynn promised with a smile. "Let's go!"

Auraki grinned. It was the first happy expression Rynn had seen on the boy since his village had been slaughtered.

He stood before the pedestal, reached up and touched the imprint of the hand. When the ghostly voice proclaimed his worthiness to continue, he walked around to stand on the edge of the vortex, gave Rynn a brave smile, held his breath and jumped.

There was a faint hiss as he vanished beneath the black-green swirls.

Rynn repeated what Auraki had done, hoping that the voice wouldn't say she couldn't follow because someone was already in there. It didn't. She stepped to the edge of the rift, drew in a deep lungful of air and jumped after the boy...

As Rynn disappeared into the portal, a slight noise began in the room, as Death Magi emerged seemingly from nowhere. These magi were different than the ones typically seen. Like the others, they had no lower bodies, resembling floating half-mummies. The odd thing was that in each one was a heart, each one a different colour, pumping blood the same colour as the heart. In the group, there were 5 Death Magi total. Had Rynn and Arokh not been so tired, they would surely have sensed them. As they emerged, each drifted to a spot in the room, forming a five-pointed star directly in front of the green swirling portal. At each point was a magi with a heart that matched an element. A magi with a green heart for earth, one with a red heart for fire, blue for water, and purple for air. One magi stood out, because his was not any single colour. It was all four of the others, swirling together. As they took their places, they began to chant words in a foreign tongue, a language so old that even Arokh would not have known it, all save the one with the multi-coloured organ. As the chant continued, he began to glow, a foul ugly brown, the colour of dried decaying blood. As it appeared that the glow would envelop the room itself, the Mage flew into the portal, as the remaining four disappeared, dead, the portal closing as they faded....

It was almost exactly the same as the one Rynn had gone through to join the Order of the Flame.

First was a large body of Water, which the two had swum across with little difficulty. Rynn had been a little encumbered with Runeblade, but her armour was light enough. What caught her attention was that the water was so cold. Deathly cold. Almost freezing.

But when they got across, they found themselves back on the side they'd come from.

"Wh-what d-did we d-do wrong?" Auraki chattered, rubbing his arms.

"I guess we're n-not meant to swim across," Rynn said. "Maybe we're s-supposed to use magic." She stood up, dripping, and went to the water's edge. Telling everything she knew, all her logic, to shut up, she stepped onto the rippling surface.

And didn't sink.

She took another step.

Then Auraki was beside her.

"I get it now," he said. And practically skipped the rest of the way, grinning in excitement.

It was with relief that Rynn and Auraki entered the test of Fire. They even spent a few minutes just sitting in the heat until they dried out, before it started to grow so hot it was hard to bear.

Rynn had already decided that they weren't going to like this test, because it was obvious they were expected to walk through the fire itself to reach the passage beyond. And if you lost concentration here...

Auraki smiled, looked at the hesitant Rynn with gleaming eyes and asked, "Ready?" Then he walked straight into the fire and disappeared.

Rynn felt her throat close for a second. Just watching the boy walk into fire... "Auraki?" she shouted.

"Come on, Rynn! I think the next test is Earth!"

Well, the dragonrider thought rather morbidly. If I'm lucky, my armour will protect most of me...

She took a few steps back, blanked her mind of the belief that fire is meant to burn, scald, hurt, and generally disfigure, then ran forward and jumped through the crackling flames.

Then she was crouched on the other side, heart pounding.

Auraki was instantly trying to drag her to her feet. "Come one! Don't you want to be a Guardian Mage?"

Rynn wished she had his enthusiasm. And youth.

The two arrived at the next test, which was Earth. A deceptively smooth length of barren ground with another passage at the far end.

"This one is easy," Auraki said confidently. "Just don't think anything bad will happen, and it won't." So saying, he walked across with no trouble.

Rynn groaned inwardly as images of earthquakes sparked in her mind. She started across...and hear a splitting noise. The ground started to shake.

"Don't think!" Auraki shrieked.

She couldn't help it. She tripped and rolled forward. The ground in front of her cracked. "Time to do this the old fashioned way," she muttered, and sprang forward with a leap. Skidding left as the ground opened a pit in her path, she sprinted up a sheer rise that had suddenly appeared and jumped toward the passage, barely grabbing the threshold with her hands.

Auraki, wide-eyed with fear, bent down to try and help her up. "Are you ok?"

"As long as," Rynn gasped, "the ground doesn't decide to close."

When she said that, it did.

Auraki pulled desperately at her hands as the earth started to climb and fall back to its original smoothness. Sharp rocks began to close in on Rynn, and she found a foothold and flipped up into the passage, breathing hard.

"Air," she panted. "Second last test, I think. Let's go or I'll just give up here."

The test of Air was much like the test of Earth. One had to walk over nothing to reach the other side. Rynn looked over the edge once on the off chance she'd be able to see the bottom, and wished she hadn't. Very long, very sharp spikes.

"It's a wonder there were any Guardian Magi at all," she muttered to herself, and watched with something close to disgust as Auraki walked calmly to the next passage. "No wonder the Dark Union wants him so badly. He makes it look so damn easy." The thought suddenly made her smile. Delon had been so proud of doing things he was good at...

Rynn took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked forward. She kept the firm thought of 'ground' in her mind. Smooth, safe, solid.

"You made it!" Auraki said, touching her arm. "Last test!"

Rynn stifled a sigh of pure relief. She smiled at the boy, trying to be enthusiastic for his benefit. "I'll race you."

...and shadowing them through the tests was the skeletal apparition of a Death Mage, a sickening red-brown glow pulsing where its heart should have been.

Rynn didn't know why, but the second she set foot in the final test room she felt a great sense of unease. The room was cavernous, circular, and had only two things in it that looked remotely interesting.

One was a carving on the floor of a large triangle, smaller triangles overlapping each of its three points.

In the middle of the largest triangle was a rectangular box, almost like a coffin, made of gold-coloured wood. When Rynn and Auraki looked up, they could see the lid hovering high above.

"I have no idea what this test is," Rynn admitted. "I thought it would be like the one I went through when I got the rift crystal."

"I'll go first," Auraki said. "I think you have to lie down in that box."

The uneasy feeling intensified, and Rynn wondered if this was some kind of test on life and death. Maybe you had to die and someone bring yourself back to life. That couldn't be possible... otherwise Rimril would still be alive.

"Go ahead," she said. "But I have a bad feeling. If it looks like something's going to happen, I'm getting you out of there. Deal?"

Auraki nodded and jumped into the box, lying down in its polished interior.

The lid began its slow descent.

Rynn walked around the box, watching carefully and waiting to see what was on top of the lid. It might give her a clue... When it was almost low enough for her to stand on tip-toes to see, it suddenly gave a jerk and a strange ka-ching noise sounded.

Steel spikes suddenly jutted out from the underside of the lid!

Rynn drew Runeblade and was about to stick it between the lid and the box when something struck her from the side, stealing her breath and knocking her off-balance. Her sword glanced off the lid and it went down faster, now so low that Auraki would not be able to get out without seriously hurting himself.

She heard the boy gasp in fear...

A Death Mage coalesced before her eyes, glowing eyes boring into hers. Rynn was almost transfixed by the sight of the pulsating heart. Keeping her wits, she slashed out with Runeblade but the Mage vanished in a brown-grey whirl to appear directly above the spiked lid of the coffin.

"Rynn! Help!" Auraki shouted, terror in his voice.

Then the lid slammed down with a sickening crunch...

...and the Death Mage started to glow with an intense light.

Inside the coffin Auraki watched the lid lower, gasping when he saw the spikes emerge. He was terrified. As the lid continued to lower, he saw Rynn try to help him, and the Death Mage stop her. Auraki screamed for Rynn to help, but when he saw the Death Mage's heart, a strange calm came over him. The lid was very nearly closed, and as Auraki looked up at it, he simply bent all the spikes, so that none touched his body. His body began glowing slightly, and he looked around the inside of the coffin as much as he could, noting that the spikes were going to block his movement. He said one word, and they disintegrated. As he looked around the inside of the coffin, he began to grow angry. As his anger grew, so did the glow surrounding him. With one defiant shout, he blew the top of the lid off, with such force that it cracked straight down the middle when it hit the wall. Whirling, the Death Mage took in the sight of Auraki floating there, glowing, and actually managed to look astonished. Rynn was speechless for once. Quickly getting over it, she lunged at the Death Mage, wielding the great Runeblade in a death stroke. "NO!" shouted Auraki. Rynn froze, confused but willing to listen. "We have to know what they were up to," Auraki explained, "as well as what has happened to me."

Rynn nodded slowly, realising that something was different in the boy. Holding Runeblade steady and pointed right at the Death Mage's glowing heart, she said, "What has happened?"

The Death Mage looked at her contemptuously and said nothing.

The glow surrounding Auraki suddenly brightened, and the Death Mage flinched back, fear in its burning eyes. "Tell us!" the boy shouted, his voice taking on a strange note of authority.

"The test was changed," the wraith-like figure said finally. "It was changed eons ago, after the Guardian Magi were defeated. This test no longer trains Guardian Magi." It looked at Auraki and its skull face drew into a hideous grin. "It trains us."

Rynn suddenly felt sick.

"Will we be affected?" Auraki demanded.

The mage glanced at Rynn. "You will not," it said, sounding faintly disappointed. "Not even if you had completed the Test of Death. Runeblade is too powerful."

"What about me?" Auraki asked when it fell silent. "WHAT ABOUT ME?"

The Death Mage's ghostly chuckle echoed through the room. "When you die, your soul will belong to Lord of the Dark."

Auraki let out a snarl of denial and lunged forward, sparks of light jumping from his hands, but Rynn managed to throw out a hand to stop him.

"How do you reverse this?" she asked, pushing her sword closer to the mage so that its gleaming point just touched the heart.

"You can't!" the mage answered with a muted scream, half of pain and half of victory. "You can't..!"

Rynn shoved Runeblade forward, and the Death Mage vanished in a wispy swirl of smoke.

"What can we do?" Auraki whispered. "They're going to hunt me..."

"Let's get back to Arokh," Rynn said. "We can protect you, and it seems that your new-found powers are already formidable. We will find a cure for you, Auraki."

He was suddenly a little boy again; young and afraid. "What if we don't?"

"Then we'll find the Lord of the Dark, and kill him before he kills you."

Rynn had half-expected, half-feared that Arokh would be under attack when she and Auraki emerged from the Tower, just as he had been captured when she'd completed Rimril's test. As fortune had it, however, the great red dragon was rolled over on his back with the afternoon sun warming his scaled belly. As the two humans approached, he opened one eye lazily.

"Do you think I enjoy waiting around?" he grumbled.

"It's not my fault you're too fat to fit through the door," Rynn retaliated.

"Fat?!" Arokh's four legs flailed the air as he tried to roll over. When he succeeded, he glared at his bonded human.

"Something went wrong," she said before he could continue to argue. "This place no longer tests Guardian Magi, but Death Magi."

Arokh's head raised in startlement. He looked at both Rynn and Auraki, then asked, "You both look the same to me."

Auraki said in a soft voice, "I completed the Test." He held out one hand and it was suddenly wreathed with violet-blue flames. Just as suddenly, he aborted the spell and looked up into the dragon's eyes. "But I escaped what would have made me a Death Mage. Rynn was protected by her sword."

"Arokh," Rynn said, "if Auraki dies, he will become one of them."

The dragon frowned, a rumble coming up from deep in his throat. He knew the power the boy had, and if it fell into the hands of the Dark Union... "We cannot just hide him."

"I want to fight this Lord of the Dark," Auraki announced.

"That would be difficult," Arokh said carefully, "since he has no mortal form at the moment."

"I think the first thing we should do is find Rathek and get rid of his army," Rynn suggested. "He's the main threat at the moment. If we stop him, we save ourselves a lot of trouble."

"I agree," Arokh rumbled, then he and Rynn looked at Auraki.

The boy blinked, aware that the two were waiting for his agreement or refusal. Now he had come into his powers, whether the Guardian or Death variety, he was an ally. An asset against the Dark Union. "I agree, too," he said at last. "Where will we find this Rathek? Is his a wartok?"

"He is, and he was last at your village," Rynn replied. She rubbed her chin with a mailed fist. "An army travelling for a day could have gone how far..?"

As a green glow shimmered not far across the field and wartoks, orcs and succubi came streaming out, they knew the answer.

This far.

As the agents of the Dark Union came streaming out, Rynn assumed a fighting stance, drawing her sword Runeblade, while Arokh took off into the air to deal with the fliers. Auraki, still unsure of his powers in a way, moved out from behind Rynn, keeping his eyes on the enemy. As they closed in, Rynn leapt to the attack, slicing through orcs and Wartoks, taking down as many as she could. Auraki got his first glimpse of a succubi, and nearly fell down in his shock. His dream! Now he understood that his dream had been prophetic in a way, and that the beautiful winged lady he had seen had in truth been with the Dark Lord, and would now try to kill him. Above him, he saw Arokh roasting, freezing, and electrocuting the airborne succubi, as well as the various dragons that were attacking. Occasionally, when the immediate area around him was cleared, he would let loose with a huge ball of poison gas at the army on the ground, aiding Rynn and Auraki as much as he could while he took care of the air.

As Auraki prepared to really use his new magic, something caused a prickling sensation in the back of his eyes, and he swerved around. As he had suspected, more of the enemy was coming in from behind, thinking to take Rynn by surprise. Auraki shouted a warning to Rynn, and then began to battle the approaching mass. He saw that there were death mages with those that now approached, and wisely took care of them first. A spell came into his mind, and he raised his arms high, floating up a good 10 feet off the ground as he chanted. Suddenly, he let loose with a shout of "Formonus Vinete!" and great surges of power shot from his extended fingertips, seeking out each and every Death Magi, causing agonised screams of disbelief as they disappeared into nothing. Auraki next turned his attention to the other creatures approaching, which appeared to be mostly Wartoks. Summoning up his strength again, Auraki let lose with a terrible cry, filled with pain and sorrow as he unleashed his hurt at the death of his grandfather on the horde of Wartoks in the form of fire, hotter than anything man-made can be, burning the flesh from their bones in seconds, and leaving the field riddled with hundreds of skeletons. Auraki then turned to aid Rynn, who was doing her best with the aid of Runeblade, and was surrounded by dead enemies. Arokh had nearly wiped out the airborne foes, and was battling with one last Dracolich. Firing of a resounding burst of magma, Arokh then proceeded to help Rynn, flying over the company and roasting them. Auraki noticed that Arokh had been injured in various places, and floated up to land on the dragon's back, telling him to relax while he healed him. Arokh, once he got over his surprise, noticed that the pain in his side from one particularly nasty wound was gone, and craned his neck back to see...he was shocked that it was no longer there, not even bruised any longer.

Rynn, down on the ground, was growing tired, though Runeblade transferred vigour and power to her as she fought on, grateful for Arokh's assistance. When at last the army had been defeated, Rynn suddenly felt herself grabbed from behind, her nostrils assailed by the scent of singed leather as she was pulled back against a huge chest. Rathek had somehow managed to sneak up behind Rynn during the fight, and had now managed to secure her, forcing Runeblade from her hand. Arokh, sensing that his bonded was in danger, quickly descended towards her, taking in her situation, and landing in front of them. Rathek had an evil smile on his face, compounded in ugliness by his huge teeth.

"Too bad you landed, it would have been much simpler to have killed her while you were still in the air, turning you into a statue and plummeting both you and the boy down to your deaths. Oh well. I guess that simply means I'll have to break you myself after I slit her throat," said Rathek, pulling a knife from his belt and drawing it close to Rynn...

As the knife drew closer to her neck, Rynn began to glow, a light barely visible blue. Rathek took no notice, keeping his eyes on the dragon and the boy, certain of his victory...until he realised that he couldn't move his arm. In surprise, his grip on Rynn tightened, and he found himself hitting his own chest. Rynn had disappeared, and in her place was a wolf, a solid black coat tinged with deep blue, and Rynn's green eyes. As Rathek prepared to attack, he found that he could no longer move his legs either. Looking down, he saw why. He was sinking, and to top that off, he was being petrified as well. Panic began to show in his eyes as the earth reached his waist, and continued to move up. He began screaming obscenities, as the earth slowly moved up to his neck, barely touching his chin...and stopped. He was buried so that only his head remained above the ground.

"Consider this your fate. You will remain here, prey to whatever comes by, surrounded by the bodies and smells of the rotting corpses of your army. And this is how you will die, with only starvation, thirst, and madness your companions. Enjoy," said the wolf, as it slowly turned back into Rynn. "Let's go guys," she said to Auraki and Arokh, who was for the first time since Rynn had known him speechless...

"Wait!" Rathek howled, spittle flying from his tusks. "Please, I beg of you! Don't leave me here!"

"What?" Rynn demanded, rounding on him with such anger that it almost seemed uncontrolled. "After what you did to Auraki's village? And mine? That's right," she snarled as the wartok's eyes widened in shock. "I recognise you."

"I was following orders!" the creature protested hurriedly. "You should know that no one refuses Lord Navaros!"

Arokh, having momentarily overcome his surprise at Rynn's new powers, was regarding Rathek with the kind of expression one has before lighting a large fire. "Personally, I don't like his new legs." He grinned toothily at the stone stumps Rathek was attached to. "It's more fun to incinerate them when they're moving."

"Oh, I could probably arrange that for you," Rynn said with a chill smile.

"I'll tell you anything," Rathek pleaded. "I had high position on the Dark Lord's council."

The two humans and dragon exchanged long glances. They did need to know how to help Auraki...

"Talk," Rynn ordered. "What's happening with Auraki?"

Rathek took a deep breath, obviously convinced that he wasn't going to die if he told them all he knew. "Lord Navaros wants the boy to serve him as a Death Mage because of his power. It was luck for them that you came of your own volition." He paused to consider his next words, looking at the expressionless Auraki. "Did you go through with the Death test?"

"Most of it," was the dry reply.

"If you die, you will rise as a Death Magi," said Rathek, "but you will still have your free will. Remember that until you, all those who went through the Test wanted to be Death Magi."

"So what can change me back?" Auraki demanded. "Or make me a Guardian Mage?"

"I don't know," the wartok said, his beady eyes gleaming. "But I could find out. Navaros and Rakana trust me completely."

"Who is Rakana?" asked Rynn.

"New Queen of the succubi."

Rynn suddenly smiled. "What's that word you use for killing royalty?"

Arokh was also grinning. "You know, I never had the chance to thank the succubi for their...hospitality."

Auraki was suddenly nodding. "I'd like to meet the girl of my dreams. And express my appreciation for her warm welcome." He gestured at the body-littered field below them.

Rathek said, "I can get you in there." He paused. "The humans, that is. I can activate the grimstone portals to get us in, but the dragon won't fit."

"He'll fit," Rynn said. She looked at Auraki. "You think we can blow a hole big enough for Arokh through the side of a mountain?"

Auraki smiled. "Sounds like fun."

"Think you can trust it?" Arokh said with a smouldering look at Rathek.

"Of course not," Rynn answered. "That's why we're going to tell him that if he betrays us, I'll turn him into a dung beetle." She raised a brow at Rathek. "Clear?"

The wartok nodded. "I understand."

Meanwhile...

Rakana sat upon her throne, waiting for word of their victory to reach them, and planning strategy with Malesh, the High Priest of the Death Magi since Seermec's death bringing Navaros back from the Rift. "By now, the brat should be one of you," she said, "So why hasn't he come here yet? Is it possible that the Mages you sent have failed?" she commented in a syrupy sweet voice. Rakana did not like the Death Magi. Something about them grated on her nerves. As far as the Death Magi were concerned, they felt the same about Rakana. Queen Shilla had been no problem to them, easily manipulated simply by calling the fat cow beautiful, or some such compliment. Rakana was a different matter. She was actually intelligent. Malesh knew she hid something, and was determined to find it out, so as to have blackmail to make her do his bidding. "Highly impossible. I sent the most highly trained of us after him, they must have simply encountered problems when faced with the wench and her pet dragon. It is possible that she realised in time to save herself from the final test," replied Malesh. "What concerns me is that we have had no word from Rathek. The stupid idiot should have taken care of them by now! What is keeping him?" complained Malesh as he observed Rakana's figure, and the weight she had put on since becoming queen. The burden of the succubi queen was similar to that of a queen ant. She is the only one who can reproduce. The difference is that she is able to move around, and that being queen increased her powers 10 fold. Also, the ability to decide how often to give birth was also passed on, though all succubi knew that if a year passed with less than 6 new succubi born, the queen would wither and die. No one knew why, it simply was. As it was, the way to become queen was something many succubi could not bring themselves to do. The body of a dead succubi queen cannot be destroyed...it has it's own magic to preserve it until a new queen comes along, and devours it. In this way is the power of the queen passed down, and magnified, for each queen is more powerful than the last.

As Rakana and Malesh continued to bicker, far off and away, Rathek had led Rynn, Auraki, and Arokh to the new stronghold of the succubi...

The Grimstone Portals opened in a large, open area just outside a small passage leading into the depths of the mountains. Once the green glow around Rynn, Arokh, Auraki and Rathek dispersed, the first two dispatched the three orcs on guard while the boy-mage kept an eye on the turncoat wartok.

Rynn squinted up at the tallest mountain where it vanished in the clouds. "This place looks bigger than the last succubi nest."

"It is," Rathek muttered. "After you waltzed in to the last one and all but slaughtered everyone in it, the new Queen decided to... redecorate."

Arokh cleared his throat and Rathek jumped nervously. "Which peak is the throneroom?"

"The highest." He pointed a hairy, muscular arm at the peak Rynn had been looking at. "I don't know how thick it is..."

"No need to worry about that." Arokh fixed him with a darkly glowing eye. "But if it's the wrong one, you will." Crouching, he thrust himself into the air with a beat of his wings. "Let's see who reaches Rakana first!" he roared, and flames spurted from his mouth in a golden cloud.

Auraki concentrated, and chains appeared on his wrists and legs, then on Rynn's. "They'll break at the slightest resistance," he said, then glared at Rathek. "We're your prisoners. Escort us to the throneroom, as the Queen of the Succubi would wish."

"There's one problem with that," Rathek said, and glanced pointedly at the huge form of Runeblade sheathed across Rynn's back.

It suddenly vanished, and the illusion of an axe appeared in Rathek's right fist.

"Let's go," Auraki said.

"I don't know if I want to turn my back on a wartok," Rynn muttered as she and Auraki went forward with Rathek behind them.

"Don't worry," Auraki whispered back. "I'm using my magic. Let's just say I have eyes in the back of my head at the moment."

Rynn chuckled, then schooled her face to a sullen expression as two succubi challenged them.

"What a beautiful young man!" one exclaimed as she landed before them. One clawed hand reached out to lift Auraki's head, and the creature actually smiled at the revulsion she saw in his eyes. "Oh, we could have so much fun with this one, Shalsaya."

"I think he actually hates the sight of us, Kitule," the other agreed. Her pale eyes ran down Auraki's chest, then up to his face again. "I haven't had a good challenge in weeks."

"Leave him alone," Rynn said, soft menace in her voice.

"Is he yours?" the one called Kitule asked without much interest. "Don't worry. I promise he'll be very happy..." She laughed softly as Auraki jerked his head away.

"Claws off, demon-women," Rathek growled. "He belongs to the Queen."

The two succubi looked disappointed. "Can't you just let us have him for an hour, Rathek?" Shalsaya pleaded.

"You know that the Queen doesn't like to be kept waiting," was the harsh reply. "Get back to your posts. I can take care of these two."

"Two..?" They blinked at Rynn, as if noticing her for the first time. Then one of them laughed mockingly.

"So, it's the one who killed Shilla."

Rynn muttered under her breath, "She had it coming... the fat cow..."

"Rakana won't be so easy to deal with," Kitule announced. "Not that you're in any position to be a threat."

Rynn tried very hard not to laugh in her face.

"Let's go," Rathek said, and pushed the two humans forward. The two succubi stepped aside, and Rynn and Auraki were escorted deeper into the hive...

Auraki, never having been inside of a Succubi nest before, looked around with wide eyes, that shortly filled with disgust. Corpses hung at varying intervals along the walls, all male, victims of the Succubi's insatiable craving for the male lifeforce. As Auraki observed however, he noticed something that made his stomach lurch. The bodies he saw were not those of corpses: They were alive, barely. A few even had a flittering Succubi in front them, gaining her daily feeding. As Auraki, Rynn, and Rathek waited for the floating disk to descend and carry them up to the next level, a group of 3 Succubi flew in, carrying with them a struggling man. They flew to an empty space on the wall, and easily manoeuvred him so that he hung from the wall as the others did. As Auraki watched in a kind of disgusted thrall, one of the Succubi flew up to the man, so close she could have kissed him. She forced him to look into his eyes, and before Auraki's eyes, she took on a different form, looking into the mans heart and assuming the form of the woman of his dreams. The man looked at her, and the trance was complete. As he gave in, the Succubi leaned into kiss him, and the man closed his eyes in happiness. Suddenly, his eyes popped open in horror and he tried to scream, struggling for all he was worth. Auraki saw the Succubi draw back, her long tongue still inside of the man, as a glow passed along it from the man to her. His lifeforce. Auraki's eyes widened in horror, as the man aged before his eyes. Where he had previously appeared to be a man of around 25 years, now he looked to be around 60.

Rathek followed the boy’s eyes and took in the site that so disgusted him. "Now you know, boy, why we are all loath to cross the Lord of the Dark. To do so is to be turned over either to the Succubi for such as you have just seen, or to the Death Magi, for experiments that I hope you never have to witness," said Rathek, "The Death Magi do things that make you wish you had been given to the Succubi." So saying, the trio mounted the floating disk and ascended to the next level, getting off shortly and heading off along a dark corridor, presumably towards the throne room...

Rakana stood from her throne, eyes blazing in triumph as she saw the boy being pushed ahead by Rathek. He was young... and powerful. He'd last quite a while.

Then the female captive let out a blurt of surprise. "You!"

Rakana recoiled. "Rathek! What is she doing here, and in my presence after all the trouble she caused Shilla?" Her voice raised several octaves. "How dare you bring her here?!"

Rathek stared at her in utter astonishment. "I bring her here for any torture your august Majesty would wish upon her," he replied, bowing low.

Rakana narrowed her eyes at him, the nails of one claw drumming on the arm of her throne as she sat down again. Ignoring Rynn, she ordered, "Bring the boy closer."

Auraki stumbled forward, determinedly keeping his eyes away from the Queen in case she changed her form. "Such power," he heard her whisper.

The next thing he knew, a huge, armoured fist clamped around his midsection and lifted him up. He looked around wildly to see the Queen's guard - an Elite Ebon Knight two times taller than Arokh!

"My Queen," a hollow voice issued from the heavy helmet. "This one is dangerous."

Rakana's eyes widened in outrage and she shouted at Rathek, "What is the meaning of this?" Gesturing, she ordered the succubi to take Rathek and Rynn into custody.

And a thunderous booming noise started to shudder the very mountain itself.

Rynn, evading the grasping Succubi, easily broke the chains that bound her, as Auraki had said, they were nothing. Not bothering to draw the hidden Runeblade yet, Rynn sent a sudden highlevel burst of energy up to the ceiling, intensifying the shuddering of the mountain as a huge burst of magma shot through the hole, scattering Succubi in all directions, and killing quite a few as well. Arokh burst in through the hole Rynn had made, easily flying the huge cavernous space within the Succubi nest. Rakana shrieked, and made to retreat, but found herself stopped by a heavy hand grabbing her hair.

"You fool!!" she shrieked, "What do you think you are doing?" as Rathek twisted his hand even farther into her hair, causing as much pain as he could so that she would be too distracted to summon her powers and blast him. "Release the child now Rakana," he said, for the first time not addressing her as "Majesty" or "Your Highness." "Or I swear by Holy Kratzna that I shall kill you myself by slitting your throat," so saying he lifted the appearance of the axe in his hand to where it didn't quite touch her throat, but almost...

Rakana laughed shrilly, one claw scratching at the hand seizing her hair. "Let him go?" she answered, beautiful face drawing into a sneer. "He will indeed be free if you don't release me. My knight knows what to do with your beloved human-boy." She snarled as Rathek wrenched her head back even further. "Nothing will be able to save him if he dies," she whispered.

Rathek hesitated and looked up at the imposing form of the knight. It stood as still as a steel statue, Auraki struggling to free himself from its fist.

"Not many know why the Elite Ebons are so valuable." Rakana gave a throaty chuckle. "They are immune to magic. Only a couple were needed to destroy the Guardian Magi that first time."

The cavern fell utterly silent.

Rynn nodded to Rathek and the Succubi Queen was set free. She whirled to face him, a scornful smile on her face as a beat of her filmy red wings lifted her into the air. "Wise decision," she murmured. "Guards!" Some Crimson Knights came forward. "Escort Rathek and this woman, Rynn, to the dungeon." She descended a little to look Rynn in the eyes. "I'll have to decide which is the more interesting fate. Kill you and turn Arokh to stone, or kill Arokh and watch you become a Soul Shadow... forever regretting what you have done." She laughed softly.

Several succubi surrounded the unresisting Arokh as Rynn and Rathek were forced from the throneroom.

"Now what?" Rathek muttered. His axe had vanished when a knight had tried to take it.

Rynn didn't answer until they'd been pushed several corridors away. Then she dropped and rolled forward, coming to her feet and drawing the glittering Runeblade all at once. "Duck!" she shouted, and leaped forward with a skull-splitter aimed at one of the knights.

Rathek lunged for the ground and caught the legs of the knight Rynn had missed, then broke his neck with a powerful kick.

"Where would the succubi take a dragon?" Rynn asked Rathek. "Auraki is safe for now. Rakana can't use her magic on him so long as he's being held by that Elite knight, and she won't have him let go because she's afraid of his power."

"Rightly so," Rathek agreed. He unsheathed the flaming sword of one of the knights. "As soon as she realises you've escaped she'll try to have the dragon killed. There is a cavern below these ones, in the depths of the mountain. We should try there."

"Rathek," Rynn said, her voice suspicious. "Why are you helping us?"

The wartok gave her a grim smile. "Humans aren't the only race that Navaros has tried to subdue." He started down the stone passage, eyes alert for guards. "Nor are you and Auraki the only ones to have lost families to him."

Memories...

A peaceful day, a lovely blue-green sky, children laughing and playing while proud parents looked on, smiling as a young one helped another, or discovered a new insect, or some such other precious thing, that makes a child more dear to their parent every second. Rathek looked to his wife, the most beautiful woman of the village, his love and pride showing in his eyes as he glanced down to the new child, his first son, in her arms. Their twin daughters played with the other children, running over every so often to present him or their mother with a pretty stone, or a gift for their new brother. He and Marinna had come together 9 years ago, and were still as much in love as ever. As he looked upon his new-born child, and glanced at their daughters, he felt a sense of completeness, as if everything was finally wonderful, and right, and that the Tri-Council had been right not to align with the newly arisen Dark Union, which was again rearing it's ugly head. The Council had reasoned that the Dark Union's day was past, and that neutrality of any upcoming conflicts would be the wisest course...

A lone wolf howled in the night, startling Rathek awake. As he began to settle back down next to his sleeping wife, something alerted him, and he tensed. As he slipped from the bed to get his sword, a huge crash was heard. No longer worrying about stealth, he grabbed his sword and rushed outside. He was seized as he left the house, by a huge Ebon Knight, and held motionless, no matter how he struggled. As he looked around, he saw that all the males, the adult ones that is, were also being held. Their families were being barricaded within. And then Rathek saw the orc with a huge burning torch making it's way towards the line of houses. He started making his way down, lighting the thatched roof of each one on fire as he went. Rathek went berserk, knowing what was to happen, and realising that his village had been chosen to be used as an example. As he actually managed to free himself of the Knight holding him and tear off towards his house where he could hear Marinna and his daughters screaming, he reached for the door, screaming their names, just as everything went black...

Rynn looked at the wartok, for the first time, without hatred. Her look was quizzical, even compassionate. "What happened then?"

"You're fortunate to be alive," an undulating voice remarked with a vague note of amusement.

Rathek forced himself to look up. Despite his strength and heavy build, he felt like his body was one long bruise. Dully, he realised he was in a steel cage - barely large enough to fit him in. Beyond the bars was a Death Mage, its glowing green eyes watching him with interest.

"Rathek, yes?"

"How do you know that?" Rathek growled.

A ghostly laugh came from the Mage's skull-face. "You don't really want to know that. But I know all about you, Rathek Krarshna." It hovered a little lower so they were eye to eye. "You... can be trusted."

Rathek's mouth quirked into a bitter smile. "To do what?"

"To lead the orc and wartok army of Lord Navaros." The mage circled the small prison and, when it moved, Rathek saw that the cage was on a wagon tethered to a pair of large scavengers. Evidentially, he was going to be taken somewhere.

"Why should I?" Rathek asked. It was the logical question.

"Because if you don't," the mage said, coming around to the front again, "your village won't be the last that burns." It laughed again, softly, as Rathek's jaw clenched, thrusting both tusks out. "And I know you will listen and obey..." it added, staring at him in satisfaction. "...because you care."

Rathek closed his eyes, defeated, and let out a deep sigh. The next breath he took would be his last as a free creature.

"Tell me what you want me to do. I will do it."

Fateful Choices

"What to do with you..." The Queen of the Succubi fluttered up to the steel fist clenching the struggling Auraki. "So young... so full of power and so unaware of what power really is." She laughed, a low throaty sound, and lightly touched the side of the boy's face with one claw.

"What do you want?" Auraki demanded.

"You really are an innocent, aren't you?" Rakana drew away and drifted down to her throne, resting her chin in her hands, she pondered her situation. She dared not let the boy go for fear of his magic, but she couldn't feed off him any other way. Wait for him to sleep? Knock him unconscious?

No...

Rakana's pale eyes narrowed. That would inactivate his powers if he wasn't alert, and she wanted them. ALL of them.

Her gaze wandered down the hall where the dragon Arokh was bound in a Rune Cage. "As for you," she said with a smile. "You're going off to visit Lord Navaros as a substitute for the boy... I'm sure he'll understand."

"Majesty!" a ghostly voice shouted angrily, and the Death Mage Malesh drifted down from an alcove somewhere above the throneroom. "This is not right! The boy belongs to the Death Magi! To me! He took the test!"

"If you can kill him, he's yours." Rakana smiled pleasantly as the Elite Ebon Knight looked down at the Head Death Mage, his features hidden beneath the helm.

Malesh hissed. "Lord Navaros will have you punished for this!"

"Not if he has Arokh..." Rakana smiled again. "I'm sure he'll forgive you if you make our mighty dragon into a dracolich."

Malesh's eyes burned at the notion. A draconic Death Mage. A dragolich. "I would rather have both," he said at last, and five other Death Magi descended from the alcoves to support their leader. At that, several succubi guards leapt into the air and Crimson Knights drew their flaming swords.

Rakana waved them all down. "The boy is not leaving unless Navaros can give me something for him," she announced. "Until then, Arokh is a gift. Take him, Lord Malesh. The sooner he's a Dracolich, the sooner his little woman becomes a Soul Shadow."

Surprise...

Auraki gasped and opened his eyes, sitting bolt upright in his bed and throwing a soft blanket to the earthen floor.

Nearby, a log in the fireplace cracked and spat sparks across the hearth.

Auraki's heart beat slowed as he recognised the old man seated before the fire. His grandfather looked over at him. "Awake at last?" He smiled. "Someone has been waiting for you."

And from the shadows stepped a person he'd thought long dead.

"Mother?" Auraki gasped, eyes widening.

The woman smiled radiantly, pale eyes gleaming with happiness. She spread her arms wide and whispered, "My son..."

Unthinkingly, Auraki jumped up and threw himself into his arms, literally crying for joy that everything had been a dream. "I was so scared..." he began.

"Shhhh..." she enfolded him in her arms and held him in tight embrace. "It's all right. I'm here. I'll never let you go..."

Auraki sighed and closed his eyes, relaxing himself completely.

"Everything will be fine..."

The voice...

Auraki opened his eyes to see silver-blonde hair on the shoulder he was leaning against, red-wings enfolding him.

"Surprise..." Rakana whispered...

Rynn and Rathek paused, heads turning as a faint scream echoed through the stone galleries of the Succubi hive. It went on for about half a minute before dwindling away, fading... dying into silence.

"He lasted longer than most," Rathek remarked, continuing down the steep passage. "What's more, he was strong enough to scream."

"I never saw or heard anything like this last time," Rynn whispered, following him carefully.

"Count yourself lucky," the wartok grunted. He stopped and pointed out a lone Crimson Knight standing by a closed portcullis at the bottom of the passage. "Fight?"

Rynn nodded tersely, and the two of them charged forward without another word.

The knight saw them and threw a flaming spear at them, but Rathek stepped aside with suprising agility and Rynn ducked, rolling forward and thrusting upward with Runeblade.

It was basically over after that.

Rathek pulled the lever beside the door. "We must be quiet here," he said softly. "Echoes carry in the lower galleries. We'll be high up, and if your dragon is here we'll see him. If he isn't..."

"Are there any rivers?" Rynn asked, her voice low. "Last time, Arokh was transported out on a ship."

"There's no need for river travel with the grimstone portals." Rathek cracked his knuckles loudly and gripped his axe. "If he's not here, he's probably been taken straight to Navaros."

"We can follow."

Rathek squinted at her. "Perhaps. What if the Queen's bodyguard is there?"

Rynn didn't want to remember her first encounter with an Elite Ebon Knight. Of course, she hadn't had Runeblade then, but she didn't think it'd make much difference. All the Knight had to do was break her sword arm. The other, thankfully, had only managed to break her left.

She followed Rathek into the passage and before long they could hear dark chanting coming from up ahead. Rynn was strongly reminded of the ceremony she had seen the Death Magi doing to her brother, Delon, in order to make him a vessel for Navaros, and her heart went cold. Then they reached a gigantic stone cavern that seemed to go down forever. Barely in sight was a large platform, bridges leading to it from lower down the cavern.

On the platform was Arokh.

Around Arokh were four Death Magi, their skeletal forms circling the dragon slowly and light streaming from their hands.

"Arokh!" Rynn shouted.

Disbelief...

Arokh tried to look around to see who was calling him but chains prevented him from doing so. The death magi suddenly glowed a bright orangy colour and then went dim. Arokh groaned at this and then stopped struggling. One mage broke off from the group who continued taunting the mythical beast and stopped chanting. The mage flew up to the general direction of where Rynn and the now defected Wartok was hiding. They quickly crouched down and tried to hide behind the natural stone bridge ready to draw their weapons. The feeling of that place was an icy cold dampness, which encased the whole palace. Even the torches were cold. It wasn't so much as magic but the over powering evil in the air. The mage didn't even come close to the pair but merely flailed his hands in the air and very slowly a fleshy formation grew out from the bridge to the sides of the wall preventing the two to see down and the mages to see up. It wasn't what Rynn had expected. She was ready slash the undead creature halfway across the room at the slightest chance. Rathek knew that the mages wouldn't stop for them now. Not now that they had already completed half the conversion.
What Rynn saw in that brief moment before calling out to him was utterly horrible. Her pupils were now dilated at the thought of it alone... Arokh. His wings torn and held to the ground in place by large hooks made out of giant's tusks. His scales were peeling off. A rod which looked as if it was made out of Grimstone protruded out of his belly holding him to the giant triangular altar similar to the design on the floor of the tower. His eyes... Rynn had never seen them that way. Rathek knew exactly what was in them. Fear. Pure fear. It was a thing he had always tried to blank out of his mind whenever he razed a village. A thing he had grown used to for all these years. A sight he saw in the nightmares of his wife and children. This was new to him however. It was new to both of them. Never has a Dragon seemed so frightened that the normal orange glow was to become black. So black that you could see even into the heart of its bonded.
A tear rolled down Rynn's cheek. She was crying. A thing she rarely did. Only towards the death of Atimar, and the loss of her brother Delon. And now, Arokh. Rathek was about to say something then paused for a moment. She waited for Rynn to acknowledge that he was there.
Rynn thought, what happens to the rider when the soul of the bonded is totally and completely dominated by torture and pain? When all that is Arokh is removed. Will she too be converted, destroyed? She could feel Arokh’s lifeforce at its peak but somehow she could feel it was the lifeforce of evil. She could feel Arokh’s soul less and less. As if it were slowly disappearing.
She looked at him and stopped.
"We have to find our way to that room without being noticed, and quick." Rathek said calmly, "I'm... Sorry."

Transformations

Before Rathek could do anything more, there was a sudden upheaval. The ground shook and grit sifted down from the invisible roof. At the same time, a hideous roar reverberated through the entire cavern and a flash of dark fire billowed up from the hidden platform below.

"AROKH!" Rynn shouted in despair, feeling in her soul that something was changing. There was a sudden break, and she felt a sensation of indescribable loss. "He's gone!" she whispered to Rathek, disbelief in her voice. "Rathek... Arokh..."

The wartok grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back into the passage as a dark, winged form leaped up from the platform, flames streaming from his jaws and a shriek of hate filling the air. Fire-glowing eyes fixed on the dragon's former bonded, and a cruel smile curved his dagger-toothed maw.

"That's not Arokh any more," Rathek whispered, real fear in his husky voice. "It's Navaros's dragon..." He dragged the dazed Rynn down the tunnel and a blast of fire rocketed after them, its heat searing the backs of their necks as they ran.

"Rynn!" Rathek shouted when they reached the end of the passage. He shook her by the shoulders. "RYNN!"

Rynn stared at him. "I... I don't... know..."

"We have to find your young mage!" the wartok told her. "If he's as powerful as I've heard, he might be able to save Arokh for you."

There was a draconic laugh from through the tunnel. "If he's as powerful as you've heard," a voice that wasn't Arokh's rumbled in dark amusement.

Auraki sat slumped in the steel cage, wrists held by magic-inhibiting chains. Rakana was having him transported to another series of caves on the off-chance that his friends would escape and try to save him. His mouth formed a tiny smile of bitterness. He didn't know why she could be bothered. Why not suck him dry and be done with it?

His haunted eyes looked to one side at his own hand, twenty years older than his ten years. It wasn't his life-force the Succubi Queen wanted, but his magic. That, she had told him, would recharge. She could feed off him again and again...

There was a sudden gust of wind and a roar from above. Auraki looked up in startlement as orcs and succubi scattered fearfully before the draconic shape descending from above.

The young mage's face lit up, but the shout of Arokh's name died on his lips.

Something here was terribly wrong.

The dragon seized Auraki's cage in fore-and-hindclaw, lifting it up with powerful beats of his wings. The long, neck craned over so one fierce eye could peer in at him. "I am going to give you the supreme honour," the draconic Death Mage snarled softly, "of becoming what I am, and being my Bonded."

Heart pounding with a strange fear, Auraki looked back and saw the mountains were already far behind them.

As were his friends.

It was too much for Rynn to take in, her knees went weak and she slumped down against the wall. A tear rolled down one cheek. "Arokh is gone, there's no chance I can get him back now is there?" she asked.
Rathek replied "maybe, but keep your spirits high Rynn, I will see if I can get what's left of my army to help us"
Rynn looked up at him "I'll never forget that look on his face... those eyes, they were filled with pure hate, Arokh has never looked so evil."
She trailed off and Rathek bent down to comfort her. Just then, Queen Rakana appeared accompanied by two flame knights.
"Aha here are our two friends, I just thought I'd let you know that our dracolich has taken your boy mage far away from here so you can't interfere with anything. He is to be the bonded of what was once Arokh"
Rynn thought, once that is done, it will be impossible to reverse what has happened to Arokh, as his good soul will be completely consumed by evil. She jumped to her feet just as Rakana shouted, "knights, kill them!"

She looked up ands saw a blade of fire streaming down at her and she rolled away while she cut through one of the knights footplates. There was nothing inside but black.

A huge crash bellowed through the room as an axe was hammering the helmet of the next knight achieving nothing. Ironically a beast wielding a heavy axe was nothing compared to the power of Runeblade as if the sword and its wielder were one and the same.
Delivering power from the deepest reaches of its master's soul normally trapped by the burdens of the mind.

A searing hot blade ripped and burned the skin and fur of Rathek's hugely developed arm. The pain was immense and it repeated in the opposite direction harder, Deeper, the pain grew overpowering. The flaming sword flew in a curve just before a rusty metal axe swiped it out of the way. Rathek curled his arm and axe around that of the dark minion and ripped away the flaming sword. It fell to the floor and a gust of flame and fire saw it shatter on the cold damp floor.

The knight jumped back dodging the heavy swing from who was once a comrade.
The flames glistened upon the metal as if pieces of gold dust finely scattered among river. This wasn't water though, it was a sword.

Blades twisted, swords clashed, and Rakana was smart enough to stand well back. The fire in her eyes was pure. Her wings unfolded and a storm encased the room as she launched her self into the air with wings flapping like a bat. She leaned forward and shrieked orgasmically like a banshee letting out a ball of light more beautiful than the sun glowing like lightning. As it hit the ground it burst into rainbow of colours and meandering like a snake towards Rynn.

She was at the moment too concerned with ripping off the mask of the knight to notice the light swelling up behind her like a cobra.

"RYNN, LOOK..." SMASH, a metal fist struck Rathek across the face.

Watching Rynn Rakana gave out an evil provocative smile.

As another flamesword was about to stab his belly. Spitting out blood, Rathek jumped to his right and down came the brown and silver axe like a butcher and his knife chopping off the gauntlet which held the flaming sword. It clang as it hit the ground and the sword fell out of the now severed hand. Another chop from behind and the hollow armour fell from the torso and the red glow from the helmet dissipated like a gas and the armour turned to dust. Rathek looked at the remains vanish and looked at his wounds.

The figure of the flaming knight staggered backwards as Rynn sliced and pierced it's armour letting out all her feelings for Atimar, Delon, Auraki, and now Arokh surge into power more aggressive and violent than the waves during raging storm next to a cliff face by the sea.

She was beautiful but deadly when she fought. All Rathek could see now was dark silhouettes against a bright snakelike aura on the other side of the room. It seemed like a desert was between them as he ran to Rakana who was now directly above and behind Rynn. She was watching with pleasure as the knight struggled hopelessly against Rynn's all-powerful Runeblade.

He fell to the floor silent and a wind gusted. The armoured ghost fatigued and beaten, his suit shattered into a fine dust and one of the swords grew hotter and hotter melting itself. The Rakana's wings were beating and beating but Rynn was too consumed by watching the knight die to notice.

The gaseous soul dissipated among the dust the suit was now degrading into. One sword remained as the hot metal was cooled by the wind blowing across it nearly extinguishing it. Any normal fire would be dead by now. A fire without hate.

The aura started to cup around Rynn as she was just about to pick up the fiery blade.

"Oh yes, YES!" Rakana breathed as the light was swelling around Rynn and over her.

" Run Rynn! GET OUT OF THERE !!" Rathek was shouting and screaming at Rynn and she only started to notice Rathek trying as hard as he could to signal Rynn as if the volume was slowly being turned up.

A state of panic flooded her heart as she looked around seeing the aura now about to encase her in a bubble of dark magic. She tried to crouch under the slowly growing lip of magic and escape it but it burned her delicate flesh upon touching it. "Rathek, help me!!!" she cried.

Rathek drew his axe well back aiming at Rakana and threw. It cut the air like a tomahawk whistling and spinning as it flew. It ripped straight through her left wing and thudded as it hacked and lodged itself into the ceiling behind her. The bubble immediately vanished like the souls of the dark knights.

"Arhhhh!" she screamed. A different scream. One of agony. Suddenly she stumbled in the air feeling a pain surging along her wingtips. Slowly, she rose to the centre of the room and a fleshy hole opened up and she struggled through as Rynn was already shooting arrows at her in a fury not, aiming just, desperate to get her revenge.

"Stop it Rynn. She has a magic shroud around her now. Look Rynn, There's no point! We'll get our chance later. I Promise..." Rathek tried to tell her again and again. But Rynn wouldn't listen. She was having none of it.

The arrows screeched as they soared like a flock of eagles. None of them hit her but just stabbed into the walls of the leathery orifice. They closed round each other, like it was the inside of a creature, bleeding slightly.

Rynn let her head down in a sigh of disappointment, her heart aching. "I could have killed her you know..."

Rynn looked at Rathek who was bleeding heavily from his arm.
"Here drink this," she said as she threw him a health potion.
Rathek didn't say anything; he removed the cork and swallowed the bottle's contents whole. Slowly the wound began to heal.
"Now lets get out of here, I have an idea where Auraki was taken but it will take a few days on foot to get there" he remarked thoughtfully looking around the room.
Rynn squinted at him and exclaimed "a few days!, that’s far too long, there must be another way"
She thought for a moment then continued "of course! the grimstone portals, surely we can set one up to take us there!"
Rathek examined her closely. He could get some of the orcs to open a gateway, if they would take his side that is.
"Come on lets go before it’s too late!"

Meanwhile...

Auraki looked back up at the dragon "I will never bond with you, I would rather die"
The dragon laughed and said "that you will, you seem to forget that all I have to do is kill you and you will become a death mage. You would have no choice but to bond"
Auraki felt foolish for a moment, he thought to himself, what happened to Arokh's soul? is it gone for ever or is it trapped in his soul crystal? He wasn't sure, maybe he could overpower the evil and reinstate Arokh's soul. He asked, "Arokh where are you taking me?"
The dragon replied "Do NOT call me by that name, Arokh is dead, or at least he will be when all that remains of him is gone - his soul. You are to attend the ceremony tomorrow night. All we have to do is wait until my slaves bring me Arokh's soul crystal" he laughed for what seemed like ages.
"That was too easy, he seems to want to tell me everything, it proves that if I bond, Arokh will be gone for ever" Auraki thought to himself. He must not let the Dark Union kill him or else the forces of evil would be unstoppable....

Not too far away in a nearby range of mountains, the group of orcs and wartocks were just arriving outside Arokh’s cave. A draught of warm air came from the entrance bringing with it a strange musty smell. Peering in cautiously, the lead wartock waved to two orcs to go in and investigate. They grunted in agreement and ventured inside, but suddenly there was a loud clanging noise and two simultaneous screams then silence.

The wartock looked round at his small group "who wants to try next?"

Nobody volunteered at first then one of them stepped forward and strode up to the entrance.

"Be careful and let us know what you see" the wartock said sternly.

As the orc ventured into the cave, he came to a man made section consisting of a square stone tunnel. A series of blades were swinging out of slots in the walls at intervals. There was no gap in between to just run through, it was all to do with timing with jumping and ducking at the right moment. He shouted back to his companions who subsequently joined him.

"I’m going to try and get through" he said as he looked around at his 3 remaining companions. Nobody answered and the small orc sat there for a few moments until the time was right to make his move. He got up and ran through ducking to miss the highest blade, then jumping to avoid the lower blade. Unfortunately, he didn’t jump high enough and the blade cut off his legs with ease. He screamed with agony but it was short lived as on the second sweep, the blade cut off his head.

The two remaining orcs looked at each other with horror and turned to face their leader who stood there with his arms folded. "Now its your turn" he said with a smile.

The first orc was killed but the second managed to get through the blade trap and was presented with a deep pit which was impossible to jump across. Fortunately he had a rope with a grappling hook on one end. He threw it and it caught on a stone block at the other side. He tied the other end to a nearby stone column and began to make his way across. The weight of his body was too much however and the stone gave way sending the orc to his death.

The wartock thought to himself, there’s no way I’m going in there! Just then, a voice sounded, it was the dracolich contacting him by magic.

The dracolich sat infront of a grimstone screen. The wartock’s face filled it although the wartock couldn’t see who was talking to him.

"Have you succeeded in obtaining the crystal? Its been far too long what are you doing?" asked the dragon with an impatient tone in his voice.

"No I haven’t, Arokh’s lair is booby trapped and I have lost all of my men" answered the wartock fearfully.

"You fool, I needed that crystal to bond with Auraki, but come to think of it there is another way of bonding without the need for a crystal, forget it and come home"

"But master, what about Arokh’s soul? It must be destroyed" the wartock snarled feeling his trip was a waste of time and effort.

"You are absolutely right, but that isn’t important right now, I will see that Arokh’s soul is destroyed within time" came the reply.

The screen went dark and the dracolich turned to two guardian ebon knights and said "make sure you bring be that idiot wartock when he returns, I want to have the pleasure of killing him myself"

They nodded in agreement and left the cave.

"As for you" the dracolich turned to Auraki who was still imprisoned in his cage "You and I will meet Navaros later, or maybe I should kill you now?"

Auraki’s heartbeat began to rise. If he was killed now, resistance would be useless – all Navaros had to do was bond him with the former Arokh. Many thoughts went through his head, maybe he could use his magic? However he didn’t need to.

"not so fast!" Queen Rakana shouted "I want his magic first! ALL OF IT NOW!"

The dracolich looked at her with surprise and an evil smile crossed his face.

"You can’t have it, it belongs to me and Navaros"

Rakana looked despondent for a moment then strode up to Auraki’s cage with the key in her hand. The dracolich intervened and said" I wouldn’t do that if I was you"

Rakana ignored him and continued. A strong foreleg of the dragon pushed her violently out of the way knocking her to the ground. Before she could get up, the dracolich was standing over her. Fire began to swell inside his body and his mouth opened just as Rakana shouted "NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Her life force quickly left as the flames engulfed her until she was dead. Her body did not burn however as the succubi queens are indestructible.

"Consider that a favour" the dracolich said to Auraki. "I will let Navaros have the pleasure of killing you later, for now, you can rest easy"

Auraki did not rest easy however…..

Whilst Auraki waited in fear, Rynn and Rathek were making slow progress through the maze like rooms and passages of the succubi hive. The place seemed rather deserted, only a few succubi flittered around, the majority of them seem to have left. Rynn and Rathek quickly dealt with them though and all of them refused to talk when pressed. Lots of things went through Rynn’s mind; she wondered why she didn’t become a soul shadow instead of her mortal soul returning to her body. She mused on other things, things that were more important; such as how is she going to get Arokh back? She knew the soul crystal controlled the link between them and served as a place for the combined soul to live, so where is Arokh’s soul? She presumed that it is still in their soul crystal but the link between it and Arokh’s body has been broken.

"Do you think we will make it in time? She asked Rathek

"I hope so, if not your former dragon and Auraki would make a deadly adversary, almost impossible to defeat"

Rynn’s heart skipped a beat and she gulped "I wish you wouldn’t say that, it doesn’t inspire confidence, I’m sure Auraki can fend them off"

"Not if Navaros has anything to do with it, he will more than likely carry out the bond, the dark union knows a way to bond without a need for a crystal; although it doesn’t work on mortals. But seem as neither the former Arokh or Auraki have a mortal form, it can easily be done" He spoke with a slight sadness in his voice.

"NO, we will get there first!" she shouted running down the passage towards the grimstone portals.

Where the body of Rakana lay, a faint glow shimmered, to entice any Succubi who might come near. As the dracolich watched over Auraki, a troupe of Succubi fluttered in, gasping in surprise to see the body of Rakana lying on the floor. The dracolich swiveled around and looked at them, then simply turned back to Auraki and ignored them. Kalika strode forward and gazed down at the body of Rakana, then turned to her friends and said, "Bring the odd one." One of the Succubi immediately flew off, returning shortly carrying another Succubi, younger than the others. As they approached, Auraki noticed that the one being carried had ebony black hair, instead of the typical blond, and appeared to be around his age. "Aramina, come forward. You shall be our new queen," said the Succubi who was apparently in charge. Auraki watched, horrified, as the girl Succubi knelt over the body of Rakana and began to nibble at it, gradually pulling off large chunks as she got more into it. As she continued, a pink glow surrounded her, and she and the corpse floated to a height of about 15 feet off of the ground. By this time, even the dracolich had turned around to watch. Before the eyes of all watching, Aramina consumed the last bit of Rakana, going so far as to suck the marrow from the bones. As the last bit disappeared, there was an explosion of such bright pink light that everyone shielded their eyes. As it dimmed, Aramina glided down to the ground, and Auraki saw her eyes for the first time, as black as her hair, and seemingly warm, unlike those of Rakana, which had been pure blue ice.

The dracolich, no longer interested, turned back to observing Auraki. Aramina looked at each of the Succubi in turn, and then at Auraki. "Be ready, we are going to help you" said a voice in his head. Auraki, trying desperately not to panic, looked incredulously at Aramina, and insignificantly nodded. As he observed, he saw that the Succubi, while chattering incessantly about innanities, surrounded the dracolich, who continued to ignore them. As soon as the circle was complete, they let out a shriek and attacked him, restraining him and holding him down while Aramina flew straight to Auraki's cage and pulled the bars apart. She reached in and grabbed him, holding him with her legs while she flew off for the nearest grimstone portal as the other Succubi continued to distract and hold the dracolich, despite his roaring and struggling. Auraki and Aramina flew straight through the portal, and right into Rynn and Rathek...

Rynn was just about to enter the portal when Auraki fell straight into her, knocking her to the ground and trapping the runeblade underneath her. She looked up with surprise then spotted the succubi and rolled over making a grab for her sword.

"No" cried Auraki "she is on our side"

Rynn faltered for a moment and saw that the succubi was not attacking her.

"What?" she demanded.

"I used my magic, the succubi no longer serve Navaros; like the orcs and wartocks, this is their new queen, Aramina. She will help us get Arokh back and defeat Navaros and his undead army of death mages"

Rynn looked suspicious for a moment and glanced at Rathek who shrugged. She still wasn’t sure about this, maybe Auraki is on the dark union’s side and this is a big plan to kill her, but why would they go to all this trouble? Nah, she thought, she was been too suspicious. Anyway if Auraki were on their side he would look like a death mage. She did want Arokh back, he is the only one she really cares about now that Delon is dead even though he is a dragon. He was a true friend and companion and he would never let her down, so she wasn’t going to fail him now, not when he needed her the most.

"Tell me more" she demanded.

Auraki spoke up first "The former Arokh was held down and trapped by the succubi, but they can’t hold him for long. He is too big to fit through the portal but I fear that he will be coming for us soon so we need to gather up a small army of succubi and orcs to defeat him. Navaros won’t be around till darkness falls so that gives us the best part of the afternoon to make plans" he paused then looked at Queen Aramina "go and see what you can do, assemble an army and bring them here"

She obeyed and disappeared into the portal.

"As for you, Rathek, you can go to the nearby wartock camp and do the same, me and Rynn will wait here"

With that, Rathek adjusted the crystal that controlled the portal setting the destination for his home and stepped into it.

Auraki looked at Rynn and said "hungry?"

Rynn was hungry, she nodded and they left the gigantic cavern like portal room and made for the dining halls, but however they soon found that the succubi had a bad taste in food much to their disgust…

Much to Ponder...

"What about you?" Rynn asked Auraki when they had time to sit. She looked at the boy, now a man because of Rakana. Older than Rynn.

"I'm adapting," Auraki said with a shrug. "It might take a while. I'm taller, for one thing. And my voice... I hardly recognise it." He hesitated, then looked at Rynn. "I'm sorry about Arokh."

Rynn felt tears sting her eyes, then fought them back grimly. "He's not gone yet," she stated. "Even if he has become the vessel of Navaros' dragon."

"What was the dragon's name?" Auraki asked.

Rynn shook her head. "I don't remember. I heard it once, I think. Or read it. In any case, he's just a vessel. If Runeblade freed my brother from Navaros," she said, a small catch in her voice, "then it's worth trying it on Arokh.

"There will be a difficulty, though," she added. "He is much more dangerous than you may realise. I once learned that Navaros became one with his dragon. That's not just his dragon in Arokh's twisted body - it's also Navaros."

"Perhaps he doesn't just want to bond with me, then," Auraki mused, eyes narrowing.

"Blood and Fire..." Rynn whispered. "...and Magic."

The two looked at each other in silence for a long time. Then Auraki asked, "What do you think we should do? Do you really think you can fight this creature? A human against a dragon, even with Runeblade?"

Rynn nodded slowly. Her green eyes, lifeless since watching Arokh's soul torn from hers, suddenly rekindled with the tiny flame of hope. "Not just me." Her hand rested firmly on Auraki's shoulder.

Kaeros

Arokh's blackened and skeletal body twisted powerfully and three succubi were flung against stone walls, killing them instantly. With a roar of rage as Auraki was flown through the swirling Grimstone portal, he sent a deathly cloud of golden flame all around him until even the cage was nothing more than a molten puddle.

Eyes burning, a toothy smile appeared on the dragon's face as it watched the portal close. "You're on stolen time, Auraki," he grated. "Your life belongs to Navaros. We will take the world again. He and I, Kaeros. We will become one, though this time he will be the one to die."

Auraki's soul essence would mix with his, and Kaeros would be the greatest power ever to fly the skies and walk Drakan's earth.

All he needed to secure his plan was Arokh's Soul Crystal.

And to ensure his triumph, he would need Runeblade.

With a downsweep of tattered wings, Kaeros took to the skies. It had been so long since he'd flown, and Arokh had had a strong body. Laughing deep in his throat, he turned his flight for Arokh's lair. Now he didn't have to worry about Auraki, he would just fly in and take the Soul Crystal himself if his minions hadn't already captured it.

Either way, he was looking forward to killing them.

Oh yes, he thought to himself smiling darkly. It felt good to be undead.

Rynn could not stop thinking about Arokh, his once magnificent body, rotted away to its skeletal form as he went through the change, his mind and soul replaced by one of evil. All that remains of him now is his soul essence contained in a crystal many miles from where she sat. Just then, the portal suddenly opened and Rathek stepped through followed by 30 or so orcs and wartocks. Rynn heard the commotion and she and Auraki went to investigate She walked into the large cavern and was presented with Rathek’s army.

"I’m afraid this is all what’s left of my army, Rynn" he stated

"Never mind, it will be enough…" her reply was cut off when the portal opened again and Queen Aramina and 5 succubi entered.

"Rynn, I bring bad news, the dracolich has killed most of us, we are the only ones that remain around here and I’m afraid he has gone after Arokh’s soul crystal with the intention to destroy it" she said quickly not pausing for breath.

Rynn’s heart sank, they were never going to get to Arokh’s lair first even with the grimstone portals, as one needs to be at each destination. She looked at Auraki who looked back but he was smiling.

"I can take care of that" he exclaimed

"How?" Rynn asked

"I can’t bring the soul crystal here but I can make it appear invisible so the dracolich thinks it isn’t there"

"Do it" Rynn demanded

Auraki screwed up his face and thought very hard, whilst he was concentrating, the magic from his mind went through the very air itself weaving its way to Arokh’s lair, the route taken from Rynn’s mind. With a bolt of blue light, the soul crystal seemed to vanish just minutes before Kaeros appeared at the entrance. When he flew down to investigate further, he was angry to find the crystal ‘gone’. With a roar he took off and headed back to where Rynn, Auraki and their army were waiting.

They didn’t know this however and whilst they were discussing plans on how to defeat Navaros and his dragon, Kaeros was on his way to get the Runeblade and Auraki which would ultimately lead to his triumph. As long as he could kill Rynn, Arokh’s soul crystal wouldn’t be important yet, he would find it later and ensure its destruction.

With Death Under His Wings...

The dark shadow of a dragon in flight swept over roiling waves. In the west the blazing orb of the sun was sinking below the horizon, streaks of cloud that looked like tattered streamers of flame trailing in its wake.

As the light lessened, though, the dark shadow was joined by another. Then a third.

Dozens.

Hundreds.

The night sky was blotted out by the wings of all kinds of dragons, all heading in the same direction, all flying for the same destination.

All following one leader to a new war against the creatures that crawled upon the earth.

Kaeros watched the daylight fade from the sky and night begin, and laughed to himself as he led his flights of dragons toward Rynn and her companions.

Humans, succubi, wartoks, orcs... all were doomed.

Dragons would rule the world again.

As Kaeros flew forward with his army of dragons, alive and undead, Rynn and her company continued trying to make plans. "Rynn," said Auraki, "have you tried going into a trance yet? One to use the Sight, and see what is happening in other times and places?" Rynn looked at Auraki, startled by the very idea. "That hadn't even occurred to me," she admitted. "How do I do that?" Auraki smiled slightly, a new hope beginning to burn within him. "Get comfortable, close your eyes, and completely clear your mind. Think of what you want to see, in this case Kaeros. Let your mind fly to where he is, it will know where to take you." As Auraki talked, Rynn did as he said, letting herself relax, and simply drifting...

Rynn...bonded of the ancient Arokh, hero of men and dragons...why do you come here? said a voice in her head, which actually seemed right in her relaxed state of mind. Arokh has been taken over by the evil Kaeros. He plans to pervert the bonding ritual and join with Navaros again, and with a mortal boy who possesses great magic...will you help us? Rynn sent a huge stream of pictures to the beauty, showing her what her Sight had shown her, the army, the evil laughter, the silhouette... So, he plans once again to betray us, calling forth our dead, and corrupting our young ones. Very well Rynn, we will help you. But, be warned, some of your number will have to bond, in order to awaken our generals, those trained in the art of war from the days of the Order...are you willing to have them do this? Rynn didn't even have to think about it Yes...

A thunderous noise brought Rynn back to her senses, trembling and amazed at what had just transpired. She woke to find herself being carried by Auraki, and looking up to see the evil hatred of Kaeros shining out of her beloved Arokh's eyes as he and his army attacked them. "Through the portal!" shouted Rathek. "Hurry, or we are lost!!!" As they hurried through the portal, Rynn passed out again...

Rise of the Dragons

They had run again, as Kaeros had expected. He didn't want this to turn into a tedious game of cat-and-mouse, but neither would he divide his forces to cut off all possible retreats. He wasn't stupid. He wasn't going to lose by being hastey.

"The High Death Mage, Lord Kaeros," a blade dragon announced in a crow-like voice and a rustle of metallic feathers.

"Malesh," Kaeros growled with a smile. "You survived my awakening."

"Unlike my predecessor, I know the secrets of cheating death," Malesh said with a low bow. "How can I serve you?"

"Disable the Grimstone Portals."

"Ah." The skull-face drew into a grin. "They serve you better being active, my Lord. Repeated use of the portals, of exposure to concentrated grimstone, is not without its effects. Rathek should know this. All you have to do is give chase. If they keep using the portals, their wills will weaken. Not even a mage can prevent or undo this."

"Excellent. Are all the portals in the open?"

"They are."

Kaeros smiled. "Good. I want you to gather all those still in the succubi hive, Malesh. Knights, orcs, wartoks, succubi... all who still serve Navaros. They are now mine. Capture and scavengers we can use, and kill any resistance. Find the Elite Ebon Knight. He will be useful against the boy-mage." The dracolich looked around at the dragons resting on the mountains or circling overhead. "For now, we wait. Gather my people, Malesh. I will search out my prey."

He closed his eyes and began to use his magic.

They came out in the islands, near Rimril's ancient tower. The remains of Rimril, left untended due to Rynn's haste to save Arokh and Delon before, had long since become bleached by the harsh island sun. As they approached, Rathek saw an orangey yellow glow glide down towards them. Rynn finally revived, and looked to the glow, recognizing the shape of Rimril. She became instantly alert, leaping from Auraki's arms towards the apparition. "Rimril!" she cried, trying to throw her arms around him and falling straight through him. "Careful Rynn," said the still hooded mage, "I am but a soulshadow now, and have come here to talk with you about what is transpiring..."

The First of the Guardian Magi

"How can you be a Soul Shadow?" Rynn asked, picking herself up off the ground. "I thought that only happened to people bonded to dragons."

"Not so," Rimril's shade replied. "If the need arises, the Guardian Magi can return in this form as long as they have the power. I cannot do anything physical in this state, but I can talk and teach."

"You know about Arokh?" Rynn whispered.

"I do. He's the vessel of Kaeros now, dragon steed of Navaros." The cowled head turned toward Auraki. "And I also know about this one. Come closer."

Auraki complied. "Who are you?"

"This is the spirit of Rimril, the last of the Guardian Magi," Rynn explained. "He set me the test to join the Order of the Flame. I guess I no longer qualify now that I don't have a dragon," she added with a trace of bitterness.

"That can wait for now," Rimril told her. "Arokh is not lost, and the bond will return to you when he regains possession of his body. Do not try to bond with another dragon, though. There is no need." He looked again at Auraki. "Yes... you took the test in the tower that originally belonged to us and has been corrupted by the Death Magi. I can sense it in you. You know what will happen should you die?"

Mutely, Auraki nodded.

"Should it happen, you are truly lost. Your mind will wholly belong to the Dark Union and you will serve only them. It is not the same with the succubi, orcs and wartoks. The latter races were gradually pulled into service the first time, then forced the second. They were never evil. The succubi joined willingly. It seems both are coming around."

Rathek, Aramina and their followers all nodded silently.

"What can we do?" Rynn asked him. "Kaeros is leading a flight of hundreds of dragons after us. I've asked a dragon I saw in a vision for assistance and she agreed, but will it be enough?"

"Fire, Blood and Magic," Rimril said. "The three must join. Navaros was a war mage as well as a dragon rider, which was why he was so feared. I will train Auraki in everything I know, and you as well, Rynn, in everything you can learn."

"Then we just have to wait for your dragons to appear, Rynn," Rathek said. "They won't attack us, will they?" he added, meaning his kin.

"I... don't know." Rynn frowned. "I don't think they will. They'll know you're with us. But look, are there any wartok or orcish villages near here?"

"Yes." Rathek nodded eagerly. "I can call on them to help us."

Aramina said, "I'll organise my people as lookouts. We'll need to keep an eye out for any kind of dragon."

"And after I train a bit with Rimril, I'll go looking for other humans," Rynn said.

The wartoks, orcs and succubi moved out and Rimril gestured for Auraki and Rynn to follow him into the tower. "Now, Auraki," he said, "I cannot undo what has already been done. You will have to retake the test at the other tower - under the Guardian Mage specifications - for that problem to be fixed. Until then, however, nothing can prevent you from becoming the first of the Guardian Magi. Just as Rynn caused the Order of the Flame to be reborn, you will do the same for us."

Sundance

The golden Kang-Shi dragon slid down the wind, sunlight glinting with dazzling brightness against her polished scales before it sank below the horizon altogether. Rualan, 'Sundance' in the speech of humans, glided down to a broad ledge jutting out from a mountainside. She was starting down the tunnel almost before she'd finished folding her shimmering wings.

"I call the Council!" she shouted, her voice echoing down the stone passage.

"Rualan?" another draconic voice called back.

"Yes, it's me. Call the Council, Tol'varen! Kaeros has been awakened."

When Rualan reached the end of the passage where it opened high up in a cavernous hall, about twenty dragons had gathered there around the three Master Dragons, who rested on their haunches in the very middle of the cave. Rualan leaped from the opening, wings snapping out to catch her fall so that she glided toward the gathering and landed gracefully before the Elders.

"We already know that Kaeros, accursed mount of Navros, is awake, young one," the green Elder Brynth announced. She fixed Rualan with a wise, golden eye. "Do you have anything else to contribute?"

"I do, Elder Brynth," Rualan replied with a bow of her sinuous neck. "I was contacted by none other than Rynn, Bonded of Arokh!"

The Elders waited silently for the whispers of amazement to cease. These dragons had long ago decided to have no further dealings with any other race, but this was different. The Order of the Flams was a union of two races. Not a struggle for the supremacy of one.

"What did she say?" Elder Grafparr, a dark blue male asked.

"She asked us for help. Kaeros has amassed a flight of hundreds of dragons and seeks to destroy what remains of the Order of the Flame, as well as all of the younger races. They cannot fight this army alone, Elders!"

"Perhaps it is time that we opposed the plague of the Dark Union," the third Elder, Vasaur mused. He was a Kang-shi, a golden dragon, like Rualan. Frost-blue eyes regarded the growing assembly of dragons. Almost seventy. There were more at other caves, though.

Grafparr rumbled softly. "If we help them, it means some of us will have to Bond."

"Then we will bring our Dragonstones," Vasaur replied calmly. "I would rather be Bonded than see my kin made dracoliches in service of the Dark One." The great gold looked up again, nodding to himself as he counted everyone present. Seventy three dragons, all mature if not fully-grown. "What say you?" he roared to them.

The answering roar from every draconic throat shook the very mountain, and the stones trembled in the wake of their wings as each took flight and raised their heads to the skies...

The first clan of dragons was on its way.

Safiiri

As the first clan of dragons flew forth into the sky, Rualan was sent forth to carry the news of her contact with Rynn and her clans support to the other major clans of Dracos. She flew straight to the Safiiri clan, a clan ruled over by Agarath, a wise and very old blue dragon. Safiiri, meaning sapphire, was a clan of all blue dragons, known for their wisdom involving strategy and war.

As Rualan arrived, she dove straight down to an open clearing, landing and facing a cliff to her right, and bowing her head as she did so. Having visited before, she knew the polite way to greet Agarath. The great blue dragon, with eyes like onyx and scales that sparkled in the firelight, emerged from her cave, looking down on Rualan with a patient look on her face, similar to the way mothers look at a small child who has gotten into mischief.

"What news do you bring that warrants such a hasty arrival, young Rualan of clan Kang-Shi?" asked Agarath in a deep, melodic voice. "We are already aware that Kaeros has been awakened, and has inhabited the great Arokh's body. We know too that you have been in contact with his new bonded, Rynn. Steps have already been taken to help her, and to cast Kaeros back into the Rift of Pain from which he has emerged. Why do you come?"

Rualan had to take a moment to compose herself, having forgotten that little went on without Agarath knowing of it somehow. After composing her thoughts, she looked up at Agarath. "We, of clan Kang-Shi, have decided to fly to the aid of Rynn and the imperiled Arokh. We realize that this will mean that some of us will have to bond. I have come to ask if you will aid us as well," said Rualan, waiting with an anxious air about her.

"We shall," said Agarath. "We will bond as few as possible, but we will come to thine aid. Navaros has a very old grudge against us, as we helped in his destruction by giving the Order the special star metals used to construct the Runeblade. We know he will come after us and all dragonkind, so it is wiser by far to go on the offensive and defeat him before he gains more power. We shall meet you at the tower of Rimril in 2 days time." So saying, Agarath went back into her cave, effectively dismissing Rualan, who immediately took off in the direction of the other 2 clans...

Training

Rimril's ghost hovered before Rynn and Auraki, who sat cross-legged on the stone floor within the tower. Moonlight spilled through the huge double doors as the two apprentice Magi meditated, Rimril's voice softly instructing them.

"Mortal man is formed of the elements, but few have control over the elements themselves. By Earth our bones are formed... By Water our veins flow with blood... Air fills our lungs... Fire sparks our emotions. The fifth element of Ether is mastered by few, though all are affected by it. Ether is the wellspring of our magic, and it reigns over the powers of Life and Death.

"A Guardian Mage must always strive for the path of Life."

From there, the training began in earnest. Manipulation of the elements, despite the focus on them in the Mage Tower, was not the only area to concentrate on. This relieved Rynn for it turned out that her strength was not with all Elemental Magic, as it was for Auraki, but with only one facet. Earth. She had the power to change her physical form - to shapechange, as she'd experienced when she'd taken the shape of a wolf earlier in the journey.

So she concentrated on shifting between various animal forms while Auraki learned the magicks of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Life.

"In the Elemental Magicks, there are seperate powers," Rimril said. "Either a person is empowered with none, one or all. Rynn is a Wizard, for she has the strength of Earth - a useful tool for a warrior. Earth can be both sword and shield, helm and breastplate.

"Conjurers specialise in Fire, Sorcerers with Air and Magicians with Water.

"You, Auraki, are empowered with all that magic, and Life. You are a Battle Mage, like Navaros was."

Only two hours had passed since they began that one of the succubi guards raised the alarm. Two dragons had flown from the night and within sight of the Bellhammer Tower, and one had turned back upon seeing who was keeping residence there.

The other was flying towards them and preparing to attack...

Help...

As Rynn and Auraki rushed forth from the temple, followed by the shade of Rimril, they beheld a huge solid black dragon diving towards them, it's chest welling up as it prepared to burst forth an attack. Rynn gathered her magic and began to transform, seeing the form she wished to attain in her mind, her size growing as her magic went to work. Auraki meanwhile looked to those who were already being attacked, and were injured. He rushed forward to heal their allies, knowing that they would be needed.

As the black dragon readied another pass, a huge shriek of defiance shook the air as Rynn, who had just finished changing form, shot off into the air. She had chosen the shape of a griffin for this endeavor. Her powerful wings sprouting from a sleek tawny lion's body, and her beak snapping viciously as she flew up and under the attacking dragon. She was wise enough not to go head on, but to dive and come up under the beast near it's soft belly, driving forward with her sharp claws and beak, and avoiding the fiery breath the dragon spewed forth.

Auraki saw Rynn take off, and was amazed at the form she had managed. Having never seen a griffin before, he was a bit confused at her appearance, but as she appeared to be winning, he simply shrugged it off and continued seeing to the injured. Coming to Aramina, he saw that she had been robbed of a wing. Knitting his brows together in concentration with Rimril at his side giving advice and instruction, Auraki began the task of regenerating her wing. Slowly the bones began to stretch out, quickly followed by bare muscle, then overgrown with skin until there was no viewable difference in the new limb from the old one. As Auraki turned to the next, an injured Orc, he heard a shriek of terror from the sky. Turning swiftly, he saw the black dragon fall from the sky dead into the ocean. He had no time to rejoice however, as he saw hundreds of dragons approaching. "Strange," he thought, I see no black dragons or dracoliches among them

3 dracoliches appeared from the other direction as the new dragons arrived. To Auraki's amazement, the new dragons simply ignored the griffin-Rynn and flew straight towards the dracoliches. To his further surprise, the apparent leader, a huge bronze-gold dragon, let loose with a huge ball of magma towards them, apparently signaling the attack as all the others joined in...

Elsewhere...

Rualan flew on, for a night and a day, chilled by the night air and nearly blinded by the rising sun, still she flew on. She finally arrived at her destination, Rukonarth. Rukonarth was a clan of not just dragons, but of draco-mages, the clan from which Arokh had originally come. Rukonarth was formed when 2 other ancient clans joined as one, in times before even the Order existed. As Rualan arrived, she dove down to a rocky mound in the center of a lava pool, and simply waited, saying nothing. The draco-mages of clan Rukonarth were known to be very picky about the way they were treated, more because they were a bit paranoid ever since Kaeros, another of their clan, had turned evil and destroyed as many of them as possible in the Dark Wars...

Order of the Flame

Three dracoliches were no match for seventy-some-odd dragons. The Kang-shi clan (originally comprising only gold dragons, hence the name 'gold-scale', but having expanded since then) drove straight into the skeletal monsters without slowing - talons, teeth and tails ripping at tattered wings and boney limbs. Flashes of magical attacks erupted from the besieged dracoliches and a few flesh dragons were hurt, but none seriously. Strength through sheer numbers won out, and the undead beasts dropped from the sky to plunge into the ocean surrounding the Islands.

The Kang-shi clan came to rest on the ground surrounding the Tower and the mountains and cliffs.

"Rynn," their spokesman, a mighty golden male rumbled. "You contacted a member of my clan and asked for aid. Here we are."

Rynn stepped forward, a little intimidated by the dragon's size (much larger than Arokh) and told him everything that had happened since meeting Auraki. The dragons heard it all in silence and the gold dragon finally nodded.

"There are more clans of dragons coming to help," he said. "I am Vasaur of the Kan-shi clan. Our wings are at your service."

"We know some of us will have to bond," a green dragon spoke up. "Where are your candidates?"

"Aside from Auraki," Rynn began, "there's Rathek and the wartoks who-"

"Wartoks?" The exclamation of disbelief came from several dragons.

"The Order of the Flame was the union of the races of Dragon and Human!" one of them protested.

"As it was then, yes," Rimril's soulshadow said. The last Guardian Mage drifted toward the gathering, cowled head turned up to look at Vasaur. "But do not neglect what it should be just for the sake of what it was. Hail, Vasaur."

"It has been a while, Rimril," the dragon replied.

"Too long. Will you in truth aid us? The Order was not formed for the coming together of two races, but to end strife between these races." He gestured at the wartoks, orcs and succubi that had remained at the Tower. "They are willing."

From within the crowd of dragons, a deep violet one stepped forward and looked down at a trembling orc. Wondering, yet clearly terrified, the tiny creature reached up to touch the shimmering scales of the dragon. Then he touched his chest and said, "Urvan."

The dragon offered its soul crystal. "I am Michino, and am willing to bond with you."

"So it begins," Rimril said to Rynn and Vasaur. "Both the Order of the Flame and the Guardian Magi are returning to the world."

Gradually, some more dragons stepped forward; enough for all of the remaining wartock / orc party to have a bonded dragon. One by one the Orcs and Wartocks chose their dragon and Vasaur glanced at Auraki who was looking in the other direction. Vasaur growled slightly and shifted about to catch Auraki’s attention. Auraki turned to face the huge dragon who said "I would like you to be my bonded, if you accept"

Auraki fell silent for a moment then replied "I would be honoured to"

"Well lets make a start, it’s a couple of hours flight from here to our home, the bond must take place there" Vasaur suggested.

"Why?" asked a wartock.

"Ah ,there is a special stone artefact in each of our lairs, in which the soul crystal must be placed" the leader answered.

"So you all planned to bond anyway? The wartcok continued.

"No, no the soul crystal has other uses as well, such as healing, we are better protected if our souls are kept separate from the body, anyway it’s a tradition that we carried on from our ancestors, in the days of the order"

With that, the soon to be bonded mounted their dragons and flew off into the night. Rynn stayed behind with Rimril and the Succubi as they didn’t want to bond as they could already fly. Vasaur has commanded some of his clan to stay and protect Rynn and her companions. All they had to do was wait until morning which by that time the new order of the flame would meet them. Tomorrow would be an interesting day for Rynn, she would lead some of the dragons to the nearest cities to see if there are any humans that are worthy enough to become members of the order.

Interlude...

In the week that followed, the Order of the Flame was rekindled. As the various clans of dragons arrived at Rimril's tower, so did bands of orcs and wartoks sent by Rathek.

Rynn had kept herself occupied by seeking out any human villages beyond the Islands. There were very few, as the last uprising of the Dark Union three months ago had seen many townships swept off to work in the Grimstone mines, including Rynn's own. On top of that, Kaeros's dragons had burned much of what remained on their way through to the Succubi Hive. Rynn found twelve humans capable of helping, and only half that number were willing to help.

The Bonding ritual between dragons and their chosen wartok, orc or human went on for several days. In that time, nothing was seen of Kaeros or his minions...

...except by Rynn.

Bound by Blood, Bound by Flame

Rynn stirred up the campfire with the tip of Runeblade and stretched her legs. She was on her way back to Rimril's tower, but it was night and she needed rest no matter what form she shifted to. For most of her journey she'd chosen the shape of a wolf during the day or an owl at night.

Leaning back on her elbows, she looked up at the twin moons of Drakan with green eyes and tried not to think about her brother or Arokh. She couldn't help feeling like she'd failed them both.

Eyes widening, she sat up. She'd seen a shadow flicker over one of the moons. A glimmer of worry teased her mind, for the last week of travel had not pitted her against a foe of any kind and it was for that reason that her current camp site was virtually unprotected. There were no trees or rocks to run to for a long distance.

"Rynn..." a draconic voice rumbled, almost a whisper.

She shivered in spite of the blast of warmth that came from the unseen dragon's breath.

"Help me, Rynn..."

The voice was right behind her and the back of her neck felt hot.

"I need Runeblade. Runeblade will free me..."

Rynn whipped the sword out behind her and there was a scream of rage followed by a sharp pain across her forehead. She jumped across her small campfire and spun to face the dragon, heart pounding with fear.

"You want Runeblade?" she shouted as Kaeros glared at her, sharp teeth bared in a snarl and wings half-extended. "Come get it!"

"Not that easy, my puny little human," the dracolich grinned. "Remember the bond between you and your beloved Arokh? Kill me, and you're doomed to become a soulshadow."

Rynn shook her head. She had felt the bond fade when the Death Magi had turned Arokh into Kaeros. "I don't believe you."

Kaeros lifted one foreclaw and meaningfully touched the bleeding scratch Runeblade had sliced across his scaled brow. Rynn quick