Frost and brimstone, a confluence of discomforts struck Simon as he felt the overpowering pull of gravity twist around him, the world upside down, time crawling in the face of incredible force. His white blossom armor stained red, bone and flesh regenerating, breaking, tearing, fighting to bear the strain and pain of the overwhelming rage of Bayren’s strikes.

  ??????

  Cythrallis warbled, the living blade grinding against physics, slowing their descent, motion pressuring chemicals through Simon’s body, forcing him to brace for death as Bayren rushed him with the rage of a collapsing star.

  ?????

  Eyes shot wide, muscles gripping bones, a puppet of death, Simon’s Kyyr exploded into a weave of thorn-coated roots that embraced him as he stabbed into the Imago, slowing him against the rushing flame.

  Bayren reached him in a flash, Kyyr accumulating into a crashing strike, the force burning through space—esoterica dragging down, crushing Simon’s defense with a compressed explosion, sending his body unceremoniously skipping across the Imago’s surface.

  Simon felt his jaw rattle painfully, ribs collapsing, bones shattering, as he caught the horrifying sight of Bayren rushing with jaws spread wide.

  “BAYREN!” A roar thundered.

  Nearby, rising from a collapsed glacier, Talas emerged; limbs regenerating, the dragon rose into the sky, thick wings spread wide, deep, resonant words pouring from his snout.

  —Waves of R?nies!

  Kyyr coiled tight around the dragon, warped energy bending along his horned wings as scales surged like waves. Talas roared with a heavy flap of his wings, the esoteric force tearing free as it hurled toward Bayren.

  The Calamity Entity twisted on instinct, bracing as the gravitational waves warped his body, stripping molten black matter from charred bone. Bayren collapsed against the Imago. Ice and Kyyr exploding in a cloud of seething matter.

  Not far, Simon struggled to crawl away, mind reeling. Death is coming, he’s too—

  A dark claw emerged from waves of Kyyr, clawing toward Simon. Pursuing the trail of blood spreading across the Imago. Simon shuddered in terror, desperately pulling himself forward with broken arms as Bayren’s retaliating energy whipped him with fire.

  Bayren roared, his stripped skull erupting from the violent attack, an avatar of death, his mangled skeleton pulsing with undying fire. His flesh spread like black clay; it churned and hissed. Yet the beast's ridiculous physiology allowed ?his muscles alone to drag against the waves of gravity, ignoring the spreading energy as flesh slithered back onto bone.

  “He can do that?! How’s that fair—fuck, fine, how about this!” Talas roared, Kyyr shifting, as new words of power poured from his jaws.

  —Waves of Fusha!

  His jaws split wide as energy built, flickering against the star-flecked sky. Black lightning writhed around a thundering red core. His jaws strained, teeth churning in waves as he struggled to expel the warped orb, the red energy fighting against its master, flaying his scaled jaw as it barely tore free.

  “S-ORBITAL—COMPRESSION!” Talas roared.

  The energy streaked across the horizon as it expanded violently, crashing into Bayren. A red haze spread, the convulsing energy stabilizing into a perfectly spherical probability cloud. Bayren’s Kyyr receptors screamed as the black beast struggled to pull himself free from the ominous space. He hissed, clawing at the sticky air; mucous and stubborn, the disturbing force tore his flesh away in massive chunks as he struggled against unseen particles. The stable field crackled—Bayren’s tail still trapped, his C.E. instincts screaming. He rolled onto his back and, with a determined slash, tore himself free—tailless.

  The attack scratched the air, screeching, the strange sphere collapsing inward in a violent explosion that sent Bayren and Simon flying back, leaving behind a single perfect black orb of compressed C.E. flesh that clattered against the Imago.

  Bayren let out an enraged roar, molten matter regrowing, his focus snapping up toward the flying Talas that was wrestling with his Kyyr’s recoil.

  How!? Compression has the pull of a black h—

  In a blink, Bayren ascended the sky, an amber comet flashing toward Talas.

  The Dragon God reeled, panicking; he pulsed Kyyr and roared. “P-ORBITAL—SHEAR!”

  Opposing planes of Kyyr erupted from his wings, crossing an unknown horizon, the flaming comet was split across space, the points caught between axes ceasing to exist.

  A fleeting second, Talas’s slit eyes wide in awe as the rising flame split into four, the individual segments reaching out in a hellish display of resilience as they grabbed onto the dragon, reconnecting in a flash. Bayren’s jaws clamped over Talas’s snout, crushing it! Bayren ripped the dragon’s wings as the two fell, fire exploding as Talas let out a guttural howl.

  In his spiraling, the dragon roared words.

  Waves of Ra’d va Barkhord!

  His chest rumbled with a thunderous roar as a wave of sound erupted, sending the C.E. flying off. Bayren’s beastly form ignited the sky as fire rained all around him, consuming the mirror-scape in hellfire.

  Simon watched from nearby, catching his breath as he raised Cythrallis, the blade humming maliciously as he poured Kyyr into it. White roses blossomed across the hilt as he pointed the blade toward the falling star beast.

  Simon steadied his breath.

  Nuptial Covenant—Till…

  His Kyyr spiked as he rushed the Calamity Lord, white roses spreading from where his feet touched the ground, the sound of wedding bells ringing through the starry sky; the scarred eye of Fowoz judging every clash.

  Bayren crashed down, a firestorm exploding all around, white roses catching fire, as the C.E. reacted to the ringing bells, his monstrous visage snapping towards Simon.

  …death…

  Simon stopped at the edge of the convulsing fire, armor burning in the face of Bayren’s Kyyr, the Calamity Lord roaring as he rushed to meet Simon with a flaming set of teeth.

  “DO US PART!” Simon screamed, throat burning as he swung the blade, bells tolling as a white surge of petals tore across Bayren. His fathomless form shrouded the heavens as he crashed down on Simon.

  Rite of Union!

  Flaming teeth and claws tore into Simon—limbs snapping, ribs swallowed, skull crushed into red nothing. Energy swelled, his corpse hissing, as Kyyr exploded. White rose burst from the impact zone, the petals burning away to reveal Simon unharmed, flying away, white armor consuming him.

  Bayren screamed in agony as every strike and bite he dealt to Simon snapped back into his own body, bells thundering as white roses tore through volcanic black flesh.

  Simon struggled to catch himself; Cythrallis slicing the Imago as he stumbled to the ground, blood pouring from his helmet's visor, as his Kyyr waned from the burden of Bayren’s attack.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Such heavy blows… the Nuptial Covenant was barely a breeze against a storm, if it wasn’t for this blasted needle… He swallowed hard, struggling to his feet, eyes lost in the dauntless form of Bayren reconstructing in the distance. The hopeless waves of fiery Kyyr striking his nerves with imaginary fire. He grimaced, pulling back as he churned his Kyyr. Sincerely, I depart—prevailing love…

  A sprawl of white roses spread out in waves, blooming large and thick, a jungle of sincere white.

  Sub Rosa.

  He vanished into the all-consuming white, his Kyyr spreading wide as it reached Talas’s convulsing body. Simon slipped out of the white, a ghost in the purity. He landed next to Talas, whose flesh had been cauterized by Bayren’s flames. The dragon writhed, his Kyyr unsuccessfully trying to heal his body. Simon took a deep breath, and with Cythrallis in hand, he sliced the cooked flesh clean off.

  KABROOOOM!

  The white jungle around them shuddered as an explosion of fire erupted nearby as Bayren ignited the rose forest in the flames of Calamity.

  Simon shot a glance towards Bayren’s direction, unnerved. We’re going to die unless we change our approach… Our Kyyr is thinning too fast…

  He placed hands on the struggling dragon, the large beast groaning in agony.

  Vileblood rite—Remembrance of the Mother—Albedo.

  White roses burst from the dragon’s wounds, cleansing the flesh and filling Talas with unnatural peace, calming his breath and scales as he receded into his human form. A young man lay on a bed of white roses, his light brown, messy hair framing a face with fierce dragon-slit eyes that sparked with rage before falling to the fleeting scent of roses.

  Simon released his Kyyr, the brief serenity washing over Talas fading as the encroaching roars of Bayren echoed across the field, burning roses.

  “Talas! Unless you fancy another death, we need to start working together.” Simon said.

  Talas groaned in pain, scales erupting around his body, turning him back into a Draconic Plāgas. “I hear ya…” Talas growled. “But he’s unkillable and his Kyyr is beyond anything I’ve ever dealt with…” his monstrous visage swelled into a look of terror. “I have no way to hurt him, that monster tore through my killing waves like they were nothing.” He looked down at his claws, his breathing labored. “To ignore the overwhelming waves of fate—” he turned to Simon. “It’s insane!”

  Simon frowned, thinking. “Indeed dear friend, his Kyyr is all-consuming, and as vast as the abyssal seas.” He traced a hand along the air, feeling the burning Kyyr. “The Kyyr reserves here aren’t bad, but under Calamity's dominance our limits are bound to Cythrallis’s dying core.” He paused, feeling the burning energy sting his eyes. “…Yet, the Kyyr you struck Bayren with had an impact—the monster panicked. I think these killing techniques might be the key to our survival, could you please tell me more about them?”

  Talas raised a scaled brow. “N-Now?!”

  “Yes.”

  Talas stared at an unwavering Simon, the sound of roaring fire echoing in the distance.

  “Okay, okay! So—Waves of Fusha are my killing waves. It’s a multi-faceted technique that changes based on the Kyyr orbit I select—each one has varying setup time and recoil. The easiest to use are P-Orbitals, though conjuring it is a bit of a pain and the recoil is pretty bad, it causes my Kyyr density to drop, leaving only my scales to protect me. S-Orbital is another iteration on the same technique and it has less recoil but the detonation time is hard to control and it requires pretty hefty Kyyr calculations. There’s also D and F-Orbitals that require a lot of setup and if I’m not careful I could end up hitting you or even myself. The zones of overlapping probability are also hard to detect in the heat of battle, and I doubt they’d do much besides slow Bayren down.”

  Simon thought, “Hmm…”

  Talas paused for a second before continuing. “There’s also Wavefunction Crollo, a Kyyr equation that prevents all superpositions. It resolves all probabilities at once. A wave of assured victory. BUT it’s a Dominant Ability, and with my Kyyr constrained by Cythrallis there’s no way I could even nudge at Bayren’s control of the local Kyyr. It also takes forever to set up, and it might end up shredding local space permanently.”

  Simon kept thinking. “I see… What about defensive options? Are there any waves that can consistently handle Bayren’s blows?”

  “Probably Waves of Stellaris, but the recoil is just like P-Orbitals, If I miss or get parried he’ll just chew me up again.”

  Simon nodded along a line of thought.“I see… that might be our only option.”

  Talas glared at him. “Are you deaf? If I fuck up I’ll get mauled like some chew toy!”

  “So getting hurt is the problem?” Simon said with a smug smile.

  “Fucking duh! I’m not a pervert like you!”

  Simon leaned in with a devious smile. “Hmmm, then you have nothing to worry about."

  “Why are you smilin—”

  “Talas,” Simon interrupted as a pillar of fire tore somewhere in the distance. “Hear me out—I shall join you once more as a Dragoon—a brother in the face of Calamity, please allow me to become your fleeting scales, your shield from pain.”

  “???” Talas looked at him confused. “What?”

  “My roses will bloom through you!” Simon announced as plumes of smoke climbed the skies. “Though timing will be key.” He nodded to himself. “I’ll have to synchronize our Kyyrs precisely… yes…”

  “You wanna ride me again?! I mean…” Talas grumbled. “But—but wait, what about synchronizing our Kyyrs? You can’t do that, you don’t have Draconic Kyyr.”

  “True, but…” he grabbed Cythrallis by the hilt. “But with this cursed needle I imagine there’s a chance.”

  Cythrallis warbled in his hand.

  Meanwhile, kilometers below the thick ice, running through the maze-like insides of the Nordos Starglider, were three figures exchanging information.

  “That was Pax!?” Rusk said, shocked as he guided his fellow rangers. “Why did he attack you—me?”

  “No idea sir—he transformed into that thing and became aggressive.” Zhenyu said.

  The group slowed for a second, letting Lirien pulse her Kyyr through the metal. “He’s keeping his distance, but he’s definitely following us.” She turned to Rusk and Pax, who were catching their breath under the flashing red lights. “My guess is he’s after children”

  Rusk felt nauseous. “What?! A-Are you sure?”

  Lirien nodded as she tracked the monstrous Pax skulking somewhere in the beating dark. “Before everything went to hell he called me, but something was off. He was asking about the Lord’s family. Trying to get us to round them up in their common area.”

  Zhenyu peered down the long hallway. “You think he’s working for those guys that arrived at the port?”

  “What guys?” Rusk asked.

  Zhenyu shrugged. “I’m gonna be honest I just know some people landed and then bam! Lord Bayren’s Kyyr got like this.” He motioned at the dense, hot Kyyr that was pulsing through the air.

  Lirien stared down the hallway. “I think the why is irrelevant right now. We should focus on the threat at hand. Based on how he handled Zhenyu and me, he’s conscious to some degree. The creepy bastard knew how our Kyyrs worked, which means Pax is still in there.”

  A million thoughts crossed Rusk’s mind. Why the girls? Why Pax? What’s going on with Lord Bayren? He shook his head, refocusing. “If Mera and Lamia are his objective, then we can’t lead him to them. Actually—do either of you know if he has some kind of tracking skill? When I was hiding in the vents he somehow knew where I was, even with my Kyyr and presence muted.”

  Zhenyu hesitated. “Well… I ran FTX with Captain Pax before, and he was a monster—not like now, but still a beast. He hunted us down like fawns in a cage. It was impossible to ambush the guy and he always knew where you were—a lot of the guys would say he had instincts like an animal.” He glanced over his shoulder and down the long hallway. “And you know looking at him now with that huge nose—beak thing, maybe he’s tracking us the old-fashioned way.”

  Rusk’s eyes widened. “Like an animal…”

  Lirien added. “He has a xenomorphic ability from what I understand, so biological augments aren’t beyond reason here.”

  Rusk nodded. “Yeah… that makes sense—when I was hiding in the vents he lost my scent when the air conditioning's deodorizer kicked in.”

  Lirien narrowed her eyes, the beating red deepening the shadows, flickering in and out, and—there, standing tall at the end of the hallway was a monstrous figure, staring at them. “He’s here!” she said with an urgent whisper.

  Rusk and Zhenyu looked down the hallway.

  Zhenyu swallowed hard. “Wh-what do we do?”

  Rusk thought in a panic, pulling out his crystalcomm. “We need back up, otherwi—?!” He stared at the display, a warning spread across it. “Your crystalcomms! Check your crystalcomms!” he shouted at the two as Pax watched from the far end of the hall. His body clicking as he watched them panic.

  Lirien and Zhenyu checked their comms and were met with the same notice.

  “The fuck? I’ve been removed from the Endymion Network?!” Zhenyu exclaimed.

  Lirien frowned. “Same here.”

  Rusk looked down the hallway, meeting the looming figure of Pax. “He did this… he got us removed.”

  The Starglider shuddered, the pulsing red light suddenly waning as the alarm lulled, the lights shutting off, before slowly fading back in a stable amber glow, illuminating the chitinous form of Pax, lumbering forward, tendrils ripping into the walls.

  Rusk stared at the alien form, a cocktail of emotion, commotion, confusion, anger, and desperation melding through his mind and body. He took a deep breath. “We need information…. We need to reach one of the terminals wired directly to the ship, even if we use guest access we could contact one of the engineers.”

  “What about the girls?” Zhenyu asked, his eyes frozen on the slowly encroaching Pax.

  “We have a protocol for situations like this, I trust Veladonna is doing her part.” Rusk frowned. “Though it all hinges on how much Pax knows—our best bet is to lead him to the lower floors… assuming he follows us.”

  Zhenyu looked at Rusk worried. “Assuming….”

  Lirien took a step back. “If we follow these stairs the path should split into two. We can split up and see which path Pax prioritizes. We can regroup in the engineering hall and descend a floor and repeat the pattern with the splitting paths that lead to the lower deck.”

  Rusk nodded along. “Right… we can also look for other people while keeping our distance from Pax.”

  Zhenyu stared at the encroaching Pax. “What if he doesn’t follow us?”

  Lirien stared at Pax. “He will… that creepy bastard is stalking us with intent. Though, odds are he’s mainly after you…” She pointed at Rusk. “All of us in security know Nordos is a modified Dreadnaught, the ship is massive and without prying I can guess there’s dozens of panic rooms all over the place. On one hand he could systematically go through every safe room, but—” The Starglider shuddered as Bayren’s Kyyr rumbled. “Bayren is nearby and as soon as he finishes off the other intruders, I guarantee he’ll drag everything back in time. In other words Pax is on a timer.”

  Rusk nodded. “All we have to do is waste time, of course this works if we assume Pax is in an information deficit, if he were to somehow learn where they were hiding it’d force us on the offensive.”

  Zhenyu swallowed. “So we’re gambling with time and information… great.”

  Lirien sighed. “Aren’t we always?”

  Zhenyu gave her a weak laugh as the trio began this dubious game of cat and mouse.

  Pax down the hallway watched in silence, his senses flaring as he drank the air. How much time do we have?

  ??? ?????? I’ll notify you when preparations are complete. Find the girls and get out. We only need one. Just one, to ruin Bayren.

  Pax chittered, the monstrous cackling spreading through the hall, the lights dimming as the Starglider's power was redirected to its outer shields as Kyyr rumbled beyond, ice crashing, burying thousands of innocents in the ravaged city of Aeburgh.

  -L.Osric