Chapter 24- Building Bridges

Malefor awoke from his slumber and sat up. He stared forward, marveling at his new invention. "This ought to aid us in our cause, but we'll need more to make it a truly useful device. Time for some more construction. Sometimes you have to make in order to break."

Malefor summoned up a tremendous amount of force from the Void. Once his pull on the Amophis was complete, he opened a portal and marched through. He found himself surrounded by pools of lava, bubbling quietly and providing warmth for hundreds of apes who all snapped to attention once Malefor unexpectedly entered the area. One of the larger ones bounded to his feet and stood rigidly, saluting the Dark Master. "Master Malefor! Welcome to Munitions Forge, my lord."

Malefor glanced around the area, paying the ape no mind. "Where is War?"

Another ape grabbed a discarded shovel left behind by the Manweersmalls and plunged it into the middle of one of the lava pits. He managed to get one or two good pokes in before the submerged end melted, leaving him with half a tool. Seconds later, War pulled himself out of the pool and glared at the ape. "What? I was sleeping. This had better be impor—oh! Master Malefor! What are you doing here?"

Malefor gestured around the spacious mining site and said, "Your organization skills leave much to be desired. Your troops are just lying about, sleeping and being otherwise quite useless."

Lowering his eyes, War replied, "Oh, I thought I did well when we settled in. The entire island is being patrolled as we speak. More and more of the natives are being found in hiding every hour, and we've only been here for two days."

Malefor raised an eyebrow and asked, "The entire island, you say? There are enough of them to cover such a wide area?"

"And then some," nodded War reassuringly. "According to my second in command, there's not a thirty square foot area in Munitions Forge that doesn't have at least one ape occupying it."

Malefor pondered the idea for a moment before remarking, "That's more apes than I would have thought there'd be. Then again, they multiply much faster than dragons, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

"Anyway, I need you to clear the area. Many of these soldiers are in my way."

War wasted no time commanding the apes to move, though many had gotten up themselves when they heard that Malefor felt they were in his way. Once an excessively wide circle had edged away from Malefor just to be safe, the Dark Master placed a giant paw on War's back and said, "Now, I'll need you to stand back as well. What I'm about to do requires the use of great power. I don't want you to get caught up in any potential danger while I work."

War's eyes lit up with excitement as Malefor gave his warning. "Oh! Sounds like an important project. What have you been planning if you don't mind my asking?"

"A network," replied Malefor as a corner of his mouth curled upward.

War looked up and pressed further. "What kind of network? Like a spider web or something? I don't know, that was stupid." War trailed off as he waited for Malefor's response.

With a low, rumbling chuckle, Malefor glanced down and said, "In a way, though this web will serve a multitude of purposes. Now, I need crystals."

Many apes dashed to the edge of the mining field and disappeared into the tunnels that riddled Munitions Forge. War watched them go in approval and made his rounds through the mining camp, ordering apes that were standing around to go gather crystals for Malefor. When the entire crowd had finished clearing out of War's headquarters, he turned and walked back to Malefor, a look of pride gleaming in his eyes. "It's exciting having so many who will do whatever I tell them to."

"Indeed," nodded Malefor. "So, have you attempted to take any of the surrounding islets yet?"

War rubbed his foreleg and replied, "I didn't know you wanted me to. I can certainly do that if you want, but there aren't very many of them and they're all kind of far away from the main base. If any forces stationed there were attacked, they'd pretty much be on their own. It could take an entire day of flight to get to the nearest two, and they are in opposite directions. If they were attacked at the same time, one would have to suffer a sure defeat."

Malefor shook his head and said, "The islet to the northwest is the nearest to the mainland of the two. There is another further north from there a good two day's flight from here. If the first islet is attacked, you can use it as an advance notice that forces are heading your way, giving you two days to prepare for battle while also giving you the advantage of two battles to weaken the arriving forces before they even get here. You shouldn't worry about a simultaneous attack on two islets, especially the ones further south from here. Any opposition would have to go out of their way to circumnavigate Munitions Forge. Not only would it take them longer than a day to do so, giving you enough time to prepare for such a move, those forces would be exhausted by the time they reached the battalion awaiting them."

"That's a really smart idea, Master Malefor," replied War in awe at his master's strategy. "But should I even occupy the islets south of here? That doesn't seem like a useful move. It just spreads my forces more thinly."

Malefor dipped his head in acknowledgement and said with a smile, "Very good reasoning, War. Normally, you'd be right, but I have specific reasons for the fortification of the two islets to the south."

Cocking his head in curiosity, War asked, "Why's that?"

Malefor pondered his answer for a moment before saying, "There is a much larger island than Munitions Forge three day's flight from here. I'd rather it be protected as thoroughly as possible."

"Shall I occupy it as well?" asked War with a smile.

"No," answered Malefor quickly. "No, don't venture any closer to that island than Munitions Forge. I don't even want you accompanying the parties you send to guard the two islets that form the resting points to get there."

Taken aback by Malefor's demands, War asked, "What? But why? If the island south of here is larger, then surely it would make a better base then Munitions Forge."

Malefor stamped a foot into the earth and repeated, "No. Munitions Forge is a staple location to control. This place has the tools and the raw materials your army needs to create weapons and siege engines. Besides, I need you to remain stationed here until I say otherwise."

"I just don't see why you don't want me going near the southern island," replied War.

Malefor lowered himself to War's level and gently raised his chin with a digit to softly reply, "It is a dangerous place, War. Too dangerous for you. I need you alive. The prophecy cannot be fulfilled without you. Do you understand?"

War shook his head with a frown and said, "No, I don't understand how it could possibly be too dangerous for me, but I'll stay here as you say."

Malefor rose up again and stared into the lava pit before them. "See that you do. And be mindful of the fact that your armor makes you powerful, not invincible. Should certain forces set themselves upon you, you would be helpless to defend yourself. Here, you are safe."

For several moments, War pondered what else besides a Ranvacoya would be able to stop him in his new armor, but his thoughts were interrupted by several returning apes. Some carried armfuls of crystals, others hauled carts filled with the stuff. Everything was brought before Malefor and dumped at his feet. When Malefor demanded more, the gathering parties returned to the tunnels to excavate more of the gems.

Malefor placed a paw on the pile and allowed darkness to fill the various crystals. War watched in fascination as Malefor then took up the task of using his magic to meld them together, forming one colossal black crystal. One end was sharpened with care before being embedded in the ground. As more and more crystals were brought before Malefor, he continued to add them to the massive column. In just a few short minutes, the base of the structure was already complete, spanning three feet in diameter and stretching up to nearly eye level with the Dark Master.

Eyeing the formation from a respectable distance, War said, "Hey, it's leaning. You may want to straighten it out."

Malefor added more crystals to the top and replied without looking up from his work, "It's supposed to do that. Worry less about what I'm doing and make sure the apes can keep up with me. I don't want to run out of crystals and have to wait."

For the next several hours, War supervised the apes as they brought Malefor the crystals he desired. The leaning tower finally stretched almost an impressive two hundred feet into the air and curved fifty feet to the side. Malefor stopped at this point to take a break, standing back to admire his work. "Ah, halfway there. It's coming along faster than the one I built in the Pit at Mount Genesis yesterday. Having the apes gather for me is really speeding up the process."

"What is it?" asked War with one raised eyebrow. "It kind of looks like half an arch."

"That's because it is," replied Malefor.

"Oh! That makes sense. But why are you building a huge arch out of black crystal in the middle of my base?"

"For the same reason I built one in the middle of mine," replied Malefor with a pleased flick of his tail. "Remember when I said I wanted to build a network?"

"Yeah," was War's simple reply as he awaited an explanation.

"I'm sure by now that you've realized it takes a monumental amount of Amophis to force a portal open, and a small, temporary portal at that. Once I've built more of these thresholds, a simple command by myself or one of my dear generals is all it will take to open much larger portals capable of transporting entire armies days, even weeks of travel in an instant. This threshold will be your army's main means of transportation between Munitions Forge and the battle-grounds-to-be outside Warfang in the days to come."

"That's incredible! Where did you get such an idea?"

Malefor watched as the apes collected more crystals for him and said, "I have my sources. So tell me, War, how do you like it here at Munitions Forge?"

War waved his head side to side and said, "Eh, it's okay I guess. I like being in charge, but I miss my friends."

Malefor pat War on the back and replied, "You can visit your friends if you want, just don't stay away from your post for too long."

"Wait. I can? You didn't mention that," said War with excitement.

Inspecting his claws and sharpening them on a stone protruding from the ground, Malefor replied, "I wanted you and your friends to get settled in and make sure everything is running smoothly before I allowed you to move around. So, do you feel like Munitions Forge is home yet?"

War knit his eyebrows together and fiddled with his tail. "To be honest, no. At first I was excited to be here, but after the first day, it's just felt more like a prison than anything." War rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes, holding his ears with both paws.

Noticing this, Malefor leaned down and asked, "Everything all right?"

Straightening up, War shook his head and said, "It's nothing."

"Tell me what's wrong."

War looked up into Malefor's eyes and said, "I don't know. Sometimes, I feel like the whole world is humming. I noticed it when I first got here, but it sort of died down. I just got the feeling that the buzzing was in my head again. Do you know what it might be?"

Malefor stood once more and turned to regard his project again. With his back to War, he allowed a smile to grace his features. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably just the hum of the machinery here. You're not used to such an industrial environment. Tell you what, whenever you feel like that humming is getting more powerful, try to find out where it's coming from."

"It feels like it's coming from my armor when it flares up," replied War.

"Are you sure that's the only place it seems to be originating from?" asked Malefor.

Shifting around nervously, War replied, "Well, no. I guess not. It does kind of feel like it's coming from somewhere else, too. How did you know?"

Malefor turned around once more and gave War an assuring smile, "Like I said, it's probably some of the machinery here. If you find the source of the noise, go ahead and destroy it, whatever it may be. You have my permission."

"Okay, I will," replied War. After a few moments of silence, War looked to Malefor again and asked, "Master Malefor, did you ever have any younglings?"

Malefor slowly turned around to give War an inquisitive look. "What makes you ask something like that?"

"Oh, nothing," replied War, swishing his tail and clicking his claws on the ground. "I was just wondering if you ever had a family, or if you had ever wanted one."

Malefor lowered his head and stared intently into the dirt between his paws. "I had a family once, like everyone does when they're born. Just me, my mother—and my father." Malefor's last words hung in the air, the tension was so thick, War felt like he was being suffocated by it, but then Malefor continued. "But time passes, and when that happens things change. I never had anything resembling a family after that, nor do I have any wish to enter into another relationship like that. My parents did nothing but get in the way and reject me. I'm far better without them."

"I'm sorry to hear that," replied War. "If it makes you feel any better, I know what that's like. My mom died before I ever really got a chance to know her, and my dad is the Fire Master. He always left me alone day and night, and when we both happened to be home at the same time, he would—"

Malefor glanced down carefully looking War over. The youngling had his head down and he was shaking. When he raised his head, it was clear that he was putting his all into keeping his tears firmly inside. "We never got along."

"He hit you?" asked Malefor.

War screwed his eyes shut tight at the sound of the words. Pulling himself up, he let out a pained cry of anger and frustration as his pent up emotions vented themselves while they had the opportunity. His armor flared with a sudden spike in heat, and the ground beneath him instantly burned white, fusing the dirt and the stone together. Several apes traveling to and from the tunnels stopped to stare as Malefor placed a paw on War's back. The Dark Master pulled away, as the heat was too great even for him to endure. When War's tantrum was over, he stood panting on the spot, angrily trying to call back the tears that had managed to escape and stream down his face. They landed on the ground and were instantly vaporized by the hellish temperatures that met them.

After War had some time to cool down, Malefor did something the youngling neither expected nor questioned. The Dark Master scooped him up with a paw and held him to his chest. War allowed Malefor to hold him, to rub his back and curl his tail around the both of them. For several long minutes War just shuddered as Malefor rocked him gently. Malefor ignored the wet spot on his chest as War burrowed his head deep into the purple dragon's scales. After a time, Malefor said, "You are a good youngling, Arragor. Don't ever let anyone fool you. You have the makings of greatness in you. No one else is more suited to fulfill the destiny you have been born into. Your fate is a birthright. When this war is over, you will be one of the greatest for it, one of the most changed by it. I chose you to be my general because I knew no one else would be able to fill the position."

Raising his head and sniffing, War asked, "Why? I'm only twelve years old. Even I have to question why you'd choose me and my friends as generals for a war."

"The youth are the future. I'd choose no one but you and your friends for the task. You just have to trust me."

Slowly, War nodded his head. He then realized that Malefor was holding him. Taking a chance, War laid his head back down against Malefor's chest. However, Malefor released him and set him back down where he had been standing before. War felt crunching beneath his paws and looked down to see that he was standing on a thin plate of glass. Widening his eyes, he asked, "Did I do this?"

"Indeed you did. Fire dragons get rather hot when they're angry. And that armor makes you far more powerful than just any fire dragon. It's no surprise you have the ability to burn so completely. To think, your anger burns so fiercely that the earth itself can be reduced to glass by it. Not even my infamous Belt of Fire was able to do such damage to the Burned Lands. Granted, nothing has grown there in the twenty three years since the Belt of Fire was instated, but glass. Nothing would ever grow in such a place again. Such beautiful sterilization of the earth. This, this is what we strive for right here. Take a good look, War. This is the future. We'll burn everything. Then, when the world is clean, we'll till the land again, make everything new. Sound good?"

War nodded and inched closer to Malefor, placing a paw on his tail. "Thank you, Master Malefor. No one's ever believed in me before. No one has ever been so kind to me before."

Malefor rose to his feet and replied, "What can I say? I see myself in you. Perhaps, in another world, you would have been my son."

"Like the world we're making right now?" asked War hopefully, tugging on Malefor's tail.

Malefor looked down at War and thought for a while. After a moment, he gave a sigh and shook his head. "Come. Help me finish the threshold."

They both went back to work, fashioning the second half of the arch. The job took several hours to complete, but once it was done, Malefor stepped back and looked it over. When he determined that it was perfect, he searched for the sun and realized that it was already dipping below the horizon. "It's been a long day. Let's get some sleep."

War let out a yawn and crawled into one of his lava pits. Before he settled down beneath the surface of the burning puddle he said, "Good night, Master Malefor. And thank you."

"You're very welcome, War. And remember what I said about spreading your troops. I want those four islets occupied in the next two days."

Saluting Malefor, War replied, "Will do, Master Malefor. Good night." With that, War disappeared into the depths of the lava, and Malefor returned to Mount Genesis.

XXX

The next day, Malefor awoke in his quarters in the scorching depths of Mount Genesis. Rising to his feet, he prepared to open a portal. Making his way to the Pit, he placed a paw on his threshold and commanded it to open a door. The massive purple dragon walked through the magical gateway and stepped into a lush jungle. The earth smelled of fresh rain and exotic plant life. A cacophonous chorus of thousands of birds filled the air at first, but all fell silent as Malefor touched the ground on the other side of the portal. Smirking with a smug sense of satisfaction, he allowed the portal to close behind him and announced to the suddenly hushed trees, "Your master returns. I see my presence carries as much weight as it ever did. Good, good. All would do well to never forget."

The Dark Master made his way between the bamboo and the ghastly thin trees with their hanging vines and their dense canopies. The trees looked to Malefor like ridiculously top heavy giants with long, spindly arms useless for anything other than annoyingly smacking into the faces of passersby. Occasionally, stone totems slipped into view between the thick foliage, their hideously grinning faces covered with a twisting overgrowth of moss, lichen, and the snaking vein vines that flourished in the Tall Plains.

Several minutes into his walk, Malefor reached a break in the trees and came to a halt at the edge of an impossibly high cliff. Clouds drifted by several feet below, just out of reach. Taking a look around, Malefor counted dozens of the curious elevated islands. Some were easily a mile across, others were barely big enough for a dragon to perch on, but all were dwarfed by the largest island in the center of it all. Taking flight, Malefor made his way toward the main island in the distance. As the land mass crept closer, Malefor began to wheeze, his breathing became labored and he had to touch down on one of the miniscule islets to catch his breath.

"Hmm, the air is a bit thin up here. I forgot about that."

After island hopping for several minutes, Malefor was finally met by a patrol of wyvern class grublins that swarmed out of the jungle to meet him. When they recognized that it was their master who came calling and not an intruder, they broke formation and returned to their posts. Malefor hummed with pleasure at their response to his arrival and landed at the edge of the main plateau that formed the heart of Tall Plains. As he worked his way further inland, more and more troops passed him. Delight lit Malefor's eyes as he made his way through the jungle, observing the surprisingly thorough job Famine was doing commanding his troops. He had not seen such organization since his last reign.

After several minutes of pushing his way toward the center of the plateau, Malefor finally found the village that Famine had commandeered. He let out a puzzled hum as he took stock of the area. To his surprise, the village didn't look like it had just been stormed by an army. Unlike War, Famine had had the battlefield cleaned of nearly every sign that there had ever been a struggle. The only hint of the goings on of three days ago was the faint scent of death still hanging in the air. Marveling at Famine's efficiency, Malefor uttered, "And I thought he was the slow one."

Opening his mind, the Dark Master called, "Oh Famine, where are you? I've come to check up on your progress."

Amophis flowed invisibly through the air as the clipped reply shot back. "I'm here."

An image of Famine's nest faded into Malefor's mind's eye, allowing him to make his way through the village as though it were home. As he ventured further into the village, the reek of fermentation grew more and more dense. Soon it was all Malefor could do to breathe as the odor dominated his sensitive draconic olfactory senses. Calling forth a wind in an attempt to blow the foulness away, Malefor held his head down to breathe into his shoulder. It was then that he noticed the faint streaks of crimson in the grass trailing away toward his destination.

Understanding filled Malefor's eyes as he bobbed his head in approval. "Good, I see it has begun with this one already."

Malefor finally found a curtained entrance in the side of one of the buildings and poked his head inside. Doing his best to ignore the nearly unbearable stench, he asked, "Famine?"

Inside, past a massive pile of rotting bodies, sat Famine, who was feasting on the remains of his foes. He tore himself away from the abdomen of his latest choice and licked away the remaining bits of entrails from his muzzle. "Hi."

Malefor stared back at the youngling for a moment and slowly replied, "Hi. Come out here, Famine. Let us walk and talk."

Famine lifted himself up and walked past his spoiling spoils and into the light. When the curtain concealed the chilling sight once more, Malefor lifted himself up and said, "This way, Famine."

When they were a fair enough distance from the scent of decay, Malefor breathed deeply and asked, "So, how are things faring here?"

Famine looked around the village and watched his troops for a moment before replying, "My army does all the work I tell it to. It's nice. I thought being a general was supposed to be hard."

Malefor nodded and said, "It certainly is nice, but being a general is supposed to be difficult to at least some degree. It takes a strategic mind and careful planning to run an army. I'll be straight with you. While I have come here for one reason in particular, another purpose of my visit was to assess the job you're doing and instruct you further from there. However, you appear to be doing considerably better than I had hoped. I would never have guessed that you would be so effective at commanding an army. Hmm, seems I've discovered your special skill. They say everyone has at least one."

Famine simply shrugged his shoulders and thickly replied, "I dunno, I just kind of . . . you know, tell them to do what seems to make the most sense."

"Indeed. Well, since you seem to be doing so well here, tell me, what are your plans for the future?"

"I do what you tell me to."

"I mean the immediate future."

"Uh, walk and talk more with you?"

Letting out a sigh and composing himself, Malefor calmly replied, "Not that immediate. I mean, what else do you plan on having your army accomplish before I give you new orders?"

"Oh," came Famine's reply as understanding finally nudged its way past his thick skull. "Let's see, I've set up an inner per-peri-perimeter? Yeah, that sounds right. It's around the village."

"Yes," sighed Malefor as he shook his head in disbelief. "If you're talking about the formation the troops around the village are holding, that's called a per-i-me-ter."

"'K. I've done that, then I've posted more troops at regular . . . uhm, spots? Around the jungle? On this big rock thing."

"So what you're telling me is that you've posted troops at regular intervals around the main plateau?"

"Uh, yeah. That sounds right. Then I told the grublins that can fly to make nests on some of the surrounding islands. I don't think they're done with that yet, but they're coming along. I've figured out how to make more grublins, too. So I've been making kinds different from the ones you gave to me."

Malefor raised an eyebrow at this and asked, "How are you making grublins? You do not possess the ability to create Amophis producing crystals to power them."

"Yeah, that does make them weaker. Even though I don't have the dark crystals to power them forever, I've used green crystals I've found growing in the jungle to give them life. It works for now, but I thought maybe you would bless the crystals for me during a visit so they would work better."

"I would certainly do so if they prove worth it," said Malefor thoughtfully. "What else have you done to prepare?"

"If you give me lots of black crystals to stock up on, I have something special in mind, though I'd like it to be a surprise."

"Very good, Famine. Why don't you go ahead and show me some of these new grublin models?"

"Okay, they're over here." Famine led Malefor toward the largest building in the village.

Once inside, Malefor noticed that many places in the ceiling looked like they were crumbling. "Famine, why does this building look like its falling apart?"

Famine looked up and replied, "I, uh, got rid of all of the walls in here. This place used to be a bunch of rooms, but I wanted to make it one big workshop. Okay, first up is this one. I call it the wyrm."

Malefor looked down before slowly tilting his head back up. What he had originally assumed was a giant pile of rubble from the busted walls was actually a rather sizable grublin coiled into a ball. It uncurled itself as Famine introduced it to Malefor and raised its head to inspect Malefor with cold, beady eyes. Malefor hummed with pleasure and remarked, "Incredible. I couldn't even tell it was right in front of me."

Famine smiled up at Malefor and happily replied, "I wanted it to be strong yet stealthy, so I made it huge, but gave it the ability to blend in nearly anywhere. It's also super-fast, so if anyone ever accidentally happened upon it, it could end them really quick. It's about fifty feet long, and can squeeze a tree into splinters when it's coiled around one, so you can imagine what it would do to an enemy. Also, I've given it venom sacks filled with oil from kavok plants that allow it to poison any bite victims, just in case they somehow manage to get away. Kavok oil is the most poisonous stuff in the world, so anyone getting bit by this thing will die unless it happens to be a poison dragon, and even then it will be highly unpleasant."

Malefor stood back from the wyrm and studied it with a look that almost mirrored Famine's pride. "Such a masterpiece. Famine, you may not be the brightest among your friends, but you know something? You're a real artist. It took a lot of ingenuity to come up with this."

Bouncing up and down excitedly, Famine asked, "You really think so? I've always wanted to make stuff like this, but no one has ever asked me what I wanted to do before, so I've never gotten the chance. Every time I've tried on my own, my friends or my parents would stop me and tell me I was just going to hurt myself or something."

Malefor looked down at his suddenly sullen general once more, appraising him more deeply this time. "Now I see. You've always hungered for a chance to prove yourself. Your appetite for creative self-expression has never been sated. Truly, I chose well when I picked you, General Famine."

Raising a paw, Malefor felt out the energy given off by the green crystals in the wyrm and filled them with darkness. "There, this creature now lives on Amophis. It shall do your bidding until it is destroyed in battle. Now, you said you had other models. What else is there?"

Elated once more, Famine bounced over to another section of the workshop and halted. "This massive boulder is not a boulder."

Malefor looked at the thing that indeed looked to be an enormous boulder. It dominated half of the workshop. "What is it, then?"

"It's lots of things," replied Famine enthusiastically. "It's in the form of a giant turtle." As he said this, the boulder cracked in half horizontally, and five holes appeared, from which four legs and a head sprouted. "Even though it looks big, it's actually hollow for the most part. This allows it to carry lots of troops safely from one point to another. If it is used on the battlefield, I would send several of these things in as my first wave. The layer of rock that covers its shell is strong, but its true defense is the thin layer of diamond underneath it. Now I know what you're thinking. Where did I find diamonds, let alone enough to make this thing? Funny thing, the Atlawa's treasury is full of them. Fitting them together is a simple matter of using my Amophis enhanced earth magic to fuse them together. Even then, it was really difficult, so I'd like to see even Earth Master Terrador use magic to break them back down into pieces.

"The diamond shell covers the top and the bottom, and the 'bones' that I gave the creature are made out of diamond, too, so no taking the cheap route and breaking the legs to make it immobile. The shell doesn't cover everything, but I promise that's on purpose. It covers enough to make it pretty much impen . . . uh . . . impene. . ."

"Impenetrable," said Malefor as he listened to Famine's description in awe.

"Yeah, that! But there are little slits under the moss all over its back where archers hiding inside can safely cut down scores of enemies. This makes it a moving fortress that's as good as the amount of ammunition it can carry, which I'm betting is enough to last it for months without stopping to reload. And since grublins don't need to eat or drink, they'll last forever in there. Also, the turtle may be slow, which is about the only drawback to this thing that I can think of, but it's even stronger than the wyrm. Given enough time, it can probably nudge into just about anything and eventually knock it down or out of the way. That includes trees barricades, even gates. You know, like city gates."

"I love the way you think," replied Malefor, clearly impressed. "What do you call this second masterpiece?"

Famine kicked the ground and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I couldn't really think of anything. There was this one name I really wanted to settle on, but it's really big and I don't know how to pronounce it."

Lifting the youngling's chin, Malefor gave him a smile and asked, "Can you try to sound it out for me?"

Famine nodded and said, "The name has something to do with magical turtles. It starts with . . . as . . . aspi . . . uh . . . do. . ."

"Aspidochelone?" asked Malefor.

"That's it! Wow, Master Malefor, you sure are smart. Yeah, I've heard stories about them. They say that they're giant turtles that live in the ocean and carry islands on their backs. This one isn't quite that big, but it does carry a miniature civilization inside its shell."

"Beautifully done, Famine. This one is even more impressive than your last. How long did it take you to make this?"

"All day yesterday," replied Famine with his head held high.

"You built this in a day? Will your wonders never cease?"

"So you'll darken its crystals?" asked Famine hopefully.

"With pleasure," replied Malefor. He raised his paw and felt out the energy signature from the crystals that powered the creature. What he found was one giant cylindrical crystal gathered around a column in the center of the beast. When questioned about it, Famine informed him that the column was made out of diamond and that it served to connect the top and bottom halves of the shell.

Once Amophis flowed through the creation, Malefor lowered his head and said, "I'd really like to see you outdo this one, Famine."

"I just might," replied Famine with glee. "Over here!" Famine led Malefor toward the final section of the workshop and stopped.

"Where is it?" asked Malefor after a moment.

"I call these mites." Famine gestured to the floor and a faint mist rose up from the dirt floor to hover in the air. The youngling held out a paw before bringing it up for Malefor to look at.

When the Dark Master leaned down, he was barely able to make out a speck resting on Famine's claw. "What? How did you make something so small?"

"I paw-made this one myself. It's pretty much just a flake of granite with the smallest chips of crystals em . . . embed . . . embedded? Yeah, into it."

"Where did you find the time to make all of these?" asked Malefor as he gestured at the cloud in front of them. "There must be millions."

"That's the beauty of them," replied Famine. "I only made the one I'm holding right now then I set it free on the walls in this building. Within an hour the walls were gone and this swarm was all that was left of them."

"They reproduce?" asked Malefor in disbelief.

"Yes, out of the buildings they destroy! And the more of them there are, the faster they reproduce, which means the faster they destroy."

"The swarm grows and becomes more powerful at an exponential rate," remarked Malefor.

"Yup!" shouted Famine. "The only down side is that the mites can't carry very much of the crystal because of their size. Each one can hold enough to animate only one other chip, so a swarm can only double in size before needing to resupply on crystal. This swarm only grew so fast because I left a crystal in here for their needs."

"Still, it's an excellent addition to the army," replied Malefor, nodding his head in approval. "Since they can fly, a swarm several times this size can act as a mobile siege unit. Outstanding work Famine. You're a thousand times the general I expected you to be already. I mean it."

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you so much, Master Malefor," replied Famine as Malefor darkened the crystals inside the mites.

When he was finished he said, "I've taken the liberty of enhancing your mites in another way to keep them efficient. From now on, any green crystals they get ahold of will also be charged to generate Amophis."

Bowing his head gratefully, Famine said, "Thank you, Master Malefor. I'm so glad you liked all of my creations."

"Yes, keep up the good work," nodded Malefor. "Now, if there's nothing else for you to show me, I think it's time I told you why I really came here."

Now Famine looked up in askance, appearing curious for the first time since Malefor showed up. "What's that?"

"I came here to build you a bridge."

"A bridge? To where?"

"To Warfang."

"That's going to be a long bridge," replied Famine.

Malefor chuckled at the youngling and replied, "Not the way I'm going to build it. This specific type of bridge is called a threshold. And with your help, it will take only the rest of the day to build."

The next several hours passed quickly. Building the arch was something that Famine excelled at. His Amophis enhanced powers over the earth allowed him to fuse the crystals together with Malefor, making the job go by much faster than anticipated. When the arch was complete, Malefor turned to Famine. "You've done an excellent job as a general. Keep building more of those grublins of yours. And I'd specifically like to commission a dozen of those aspidochelones, so give building more of those top priority. I believe that those will prove to be indispensable. I've granted you a large stock of Amophis crystal. You've proven to me that you are trustworthy enough to use it as you see fit. Let me know when you run low and I'll be more than happy to load you up with more."

"Thank you again, Master Malefor. For everything. For believing in me and what I do."

Malefor rubbed the youngling's head and replied, "You have a gift, Famine. It was in you all along. You just needed someone to let you use it. I'm off to Mount Genesis for the night. Keep up the good work."

"So long, Master Malefor."

XXX

After a long night of rest in the peacefully warm and softly rumbling depths of Mount Genesis, Malefor found himself standing in the frozen wastes of Dante's Freezer. The extreme cold to a dragon was nothing more than slightly unpleasant, but Malefor found himself swishing his tail in frustration at the need to leave the ideal temperatures of his volcano stronghold. The Dark Master sighed to himself and mumbled, "After twenty years, you'd think I'd never want to see the place again, but I suppose it's grown on me."

Giving himself a moment to steel himself for his trek through the snow, Malefor set out toward the center of the island. Feeling the Amophis energy several miles inward after a quick search, he decided it would be much more expeditious to fly there. Five minutes later, the Dark Master touched down in the middle of a fortress courtyard surrounded by a formidable outer wall and filled with legions of the undead. All recognized one of the few specific individuals who Death gave them orders to allow safe passage.

Malefor ventured into the fortress unopposed and made his way toward the unmistakable feeling given off by Death's armor. When he arrived at the top floor of the castle, an undead soldier every bit as tall as him stood in his way. "Mmm, Dante, I presume? Step aside. I have business with General Death."

The giant of a man wordlessly shuffled out of the way, allowing Malefor to enter the room beyond the final door in the fort. There, in the middle of the room, Death sat with his eyes closed and his armor pulsing, releasing powerful waves of Amophis downward with each thrum of energy. Malefor cocked his head with curiosity and asked, "What are you doing, Death?"

Death opened his eyes and regarded Malefor with a look of quiet recognition. "I'm killing the land."

Malefor raised his head and asked, "I beg your pardon?"

Death closed his eyes once more and replied, "Now that I have power over death, I can feel the presence of life. Just yesterday, I finally realized that the earth itself is somehow alive in a way, so I've been sitting up here all day pouring my power into the land. It's not working, though. I haven't felt even the slightest bit of a shift in the strength of the life force."

A chuckle escaped Malefor's throat as he listened to Death's explanation for what he was doing. "My boy, you'll never kill that which you can feel coming from below. Your time would be better spent trying to find the source rather than trying to kill it. The land is not something that you can just kill, so you may cease this senseless venture and focus on more productive pursuits. I suggest forming a blockade by having your forces occupy the five islets south of here."

"Oh, I've already done that," replied Death with a wave of his paw. "It takes about a day of travel to get from one to the next, so the armada I sent south should be occupying the final islet tomorrow. I wanted to get an early start on expanding my territory."

"Excellent work, Death. Just make sure you don't spread your resources too thin."

Death picked the dirt out from under his claws as he said, "I'll be taking a trip south in two days' time to meet my forces on the northern shore of mainland Avalar. From there, we will march south and purge the land of all opposition until we reach Mount Genesis. With me there to lead them in person, my army will only grow, not shrink."

Malefor raised his eyebrows at Death's plans. "That's certainly an ambitious plan, Death. Are you sure you can pull that off?"

"I don't see why not. Especially when all I have to do to vanquish my enemies is touch them. Taking on Avalar will be all too easy. Everyone in the north will recognize General Death as their lord and master."

"I like your enthusiasm, but I have come today to make you something that will make your job a lot easier than marching halfway across Avalar. But before we get into that, what do you plan on doing tomorrow since your troops won't reach the mainland until then?"

Death pointed out of one of his many broken windows and said, "I'd like to check out that rather sizable island to the north. It's funny, I thought Dante's Freezer was the final island to the north of the mainland, but I'm picking up an enormous life force from that direction."

Malefor shook his head and said, "Much as I'd like you to storm that place and raze it to the ground, you won't be able to penetrate the Northern Divide."

"The Northern Divide?" inquired Death with a look of confusion. "What's that?"

"It's a colossal spiritual barrier so powerful that not even I am capable of smashing through, and most likely the source of that huge life force you're feeling."

"What's a barrier that powerful doing way out here?" asked Death incredulously.

Malefor let out a low growl as he replied, "It sections off the rest of the world from the White Isle, home of the Celestial Caves, which happen to be the eternal post of the fabled oracle, the Chronicler."

A look of disbelief flashed across Death's face as he asked, "You mean Dante's Freezer is right outside the Chronicler's doorstep?"

"Yes," replied Malefor in a cool tone that calmed Death a bit. "But unfortunately, all we can do is block it off from the rest of Avalar. That's one of the reasons why I placed you here. One of your most important jobs is making sure no one reaches the White Isle. If I know the Chronicler, he'll want to use all of his resources to try to interfere with my plans. He's tried to do it before, so the only thing stopping him from doing it again is you."

Placing a paw against his heart, Death replied with the most serious face, "I will not let that happen."

"Good. See that you don't. Now, on to the original nature of my visit. You said earlier that you would like to march all the way from the northern shore of Avalar to Mount Genesis, which lies at the very heart of the mainland. How about instead of doing something that would take you weeks, I give you a way to get to Warfang in a day?"

Death scratched the back of his neck and said, "If I use my Amophis to charge up a portal, I can do that myself."

"Ah, but you couldn't bring that many of your forces through it with you, could you?"

"I don't guess so, no."

Malefor leaned down and asked, "How would you like it if I built you a dark crystal arch capable of acting as a threshold to wherever you desire?"

Death perked up immediately and said, "That would be great! It certainly would be much more efficient than my original plan. Are there other such thresholds?"

Malefor gave his general a thin smile and replied, "Three such thresholds already exist."

"Oh wow. I see you've been busy, too, Master Malefor."

"I make it a point to make good use of my time. We're not going to reshape Avalar into a true paradise unless we're vigilant. Powerful though we may be, there are equally powerful forces working against us. We have to do our very best if we're going to come out on top this time around."

Death nodded in agreement and pounded a paw into the ground. "All right then. Let's get started."

Death proved to be far less of a help than Famine. Without the ability to fuse crystals together, Malefor had to do all of the real work on his own. Still, Death was able to order his troops to gather crystals and bring them to the Dark Master so that his stash did not get too low. When the day was gone and the night brought with it a somehow even bitterer cold than before with a biting wind that would pierce any creature other than a dragon, Malefor was finally finished with the threshold. It stood glistening in the reflected light of the twin moons on the snow in the fortress courtyard. The shimmering facets were the only sign that there was anything at all standing in front of the dark canopy of the sky.

Unable to truly see the final product of all his hard work, Malefor turned to Death and said, "That will be all, Death. I will let you know when I have more orders for you. For now, rest, relax, and enjoy yourself. It won't be too long before I'm ready for everyone to begin our assault on Warfang. Until then."

XXX

Pestilence rose from his bed with a start as Malefor strolled through a portal that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. An excited grin spread across the youngling's face as the Dark Master appeared. "Finally! Someone to talk to. I've been so bored for the past—what's it been? I think five days now? Yeah, for five days I've been sitting here and waiting for something to do. You know, on the first and second days, it absolutely killed me. On the third day, I just slept all day to keep from thinking about it. On the fourth day, I found a way to play a game with myself by counting the lightning strikes outside. I lost track somewhere around five thousand four hundred seventy-three, because there's always lightning here every day even though it never actually storms. Then yesterday I just sat here. I sat here. And I waited. That's all. I didn't even sleep. I just waited. For something to do."

Malefor leaned down until he was eye level with Pestilence and replied, "Good. Then you have finally learned patience. And for the record, being stuck in one place with nothing to do for five days is nothing compared to twenty years."

Pestilence's face screwed up in disgust at the idea. "Geez, Master Malefor. Even I had the chance to go down to the fortress grounds and hunt for the eels that live here. What did you eat?"

"I don't."

Pestilence's expression was immediately replaced by one of consternation. "Come again?"

Malefor blinked and replied, "I don't require sustenance. My magic gives me everything I need to remain alive."

Unable to believe his ears, Pestilence's eyes widened with shock. "Whoa. You're not awesome at using magic. You are magic. Or . . . some sort of shell that houses it."

Malefor winced at the comment and replied bitterly, "You'd best hold your tongue, Pestilence. I didn't live over a thousand years, nearly conquer the world, be banished from my home and people, have my soul ripped from my body, return to the physical plane, nearly conquer the world again, be beaten in my hour of victory, and return again just to be insulted by one of my vassals."

Lowering his head, Pestilence said, "I'm sorry, Master Malefor. I was merely making a comment in awe of your abilities. I did not mean to offend."

Malefor stamped a paw on the ground and replied, "Apology accepted, though, for future reference, I will not be called a shell."

Nodding his head in understanding, Pestilence looked up and gingerly asked, "For what reason am I graced by your presence?"

After taking a moment to compose himself, Malefor lowered his head and replied, "You need the most help out of all your friends. You are a general without an army."

"But—that's not really my fault, is it?"

Malefor shook his head. "Of course not. Yours is an army that needed and still needs time to grow. Though, if my calculations are correct, you should be getting your first troop right about now."

Just as Malefor finished speaking, a tiny creature no bigger than Pestilence leapt through the open window and rushed forward, nearly colliding with Pestilence. He closed his eyes and braced himself for impact, but the surprise visitor came to an abrupt halt and swiftly bowed at Pestilence's feet. "Creator! I've journeyed far to reach you. It has been a long week for me, but I've finally made it. Tell me, Creator, what would you wish of me?"

Pestilence opened his eyes and looked down. Glancing up at Malefor, he asked, "Why is there a fear dragon kneeling to me and calling me Creator?"

"A thousand apologies, Creator," answered the creature as he lifted himself up. "I know what I look like, but that was just a disguise to protect me. I'm not a fear dragon. You see, I'm a blood dragon. My name is Helix." The creature suddenly morphed into a shapeless blob as it finished explaining itself.

Pestilence backed up as it did so and shouted, "Ew, change back!"

The creature did as it was told and nodded its head happily. "If this form is pleasing to you, I'd be more than happy to retain it for you, Creator."

Pestilence looked back to Malefor and asked, "Master Malefor, what is this thing?"

Malefor placed a paw on Helix's shoulder and replied, "This creature is your most loyal follower. It is your troop zero. The first of many in your long line of forces to come. Helix, from what creature did you spawn?"

Without hesitation, Helix replied, "The Ice Master, Cyril."

"You see, Pestilence," explained Malefor. "When you attacked Warfang to retrieve Zar so that we might complete out collection of generals, you spread your power like a disease across Warfang. This creature is the end result of the outbreak. When your victims become too sick, depending on what they're infected with, one of several things can happen. Some strains of your disease can turn the wills of others to follow yours. It can also enhance every aspect of their physical capabilities. But there is another strain that will turn hosts into incubators. The disease will then multiply and coalesce inside the hosts, forming an Amophis presence concentrated enough to spawn blood dragons like this one. It's basically a giant blood blot animated by pure Amophis and given a consciousness of its own.

"What's more, no matter what type of underling to you is formed, be it a blood dragon, a turned individual, or some other beast created by your power, they are all connected by the brethren Amophis signature that they all share. And since this Amophis was given to them by you, that means that you are capable of connecting to them, too. You have just been oblivious to this connection, but it's been inside you all along. Feel your connection with Helix and anyone he has added to your army since his inception."

Pestilence looked to Helix once more and inched forward, reaching out a paw to the creature that paraded as a dragon. Helix held out a paw as well, and when the two of them touched, Pestilence instantly understood everything about him. All of the knowledge of his army as it was passed into him in the blink of an eye. It was too much. Obtaining all of that knowledge at once gave him a seizure and made him pass out.

Helix looked down and asked, "What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?"

Malefor pat Helix on the back and replied, "No, he's just undergoing a bit of a transformation, much like you did when you went from being a bunch of blood and Amophis to a combination of both working in tandem. He should come to by the end of the day. Until he does, you can watch me build the threshold that must be stationed here. If I finish and leave before he comes to, I need you to inform him of this."

When Malefor finished explaining the purpose of the threshold to Helix he began his work on it. Helix watched Malefor far below in the grounds from the window for hours, remaining by Pestilence's side all the while. Malefor finished the threshold and left through it before Pestilence awoke, giving Helix the signal that it was his job to catch Pestilence up on what he needed to know. Another hour after Malefor left, Pestilence raised his head and groggily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Huh? What happened? Wait. I see now. Helix."

A swarm of knowledge filled Pestilence's mind. It was all his to know, but it was really Helix and Alabaster's thoughts and memories he was thinking and remembering. "This . . . this is incredible."

Helix relished the feeling of connectedness as Pestilence's elation drifted across the link. "Creator, we are finally one."

"No," replied Pestilence. "Call me Pestilence."

"Yes, Pestilence," replied Helix and Alabaster together. Strangely enough, Pestilence thought this to himself as well.

"This is going to take some getting used to," said Pestilence to himself, feeling the oneness with his fellows once more as their thoughts whispered echoes of his speech back to him. "How can this be?" asked Pestilence. "I can see so much at once. What lies before me. I see myself through your eyes, Helix. And Mjölnir, too. All at once. And yet, it doesn't blend together. Each image is its own, but I see them all as if from one point of view. It's glorious."

"Glorious," repeated the rest of them.

"What are we, Pestilence?" asked Helix.

"If we are one," continued Alabaster, "then what does that make us? I'm a mole, you're a dragon, and Helix is neither. And yet . . . we are all three and more. Master, Pestilence. Tell us, what are we?"

Pestilence breathed in as the thoughts and emotions collected within him, making them all his. Then, with a sigh of contended belonging, he replied, "Helix has already named us. We are Phylum."