Chapter 29

Tales of a King

-Ten-thousand years ago- King Fireheart POV

Fire can be the destruction of all things, consuming everything in its path, leaving nothing but pain and ashes. This is what I saw before my eyes, death's embrace all around me. How can such a proud race fall to the clutches of war? Fellow brothers and sisters fighting, and for what? A so-called peace that we claim we want to accomplish. Not even the sky glowed blue and yellow with the magnificent light of our sun. It was dark and hollow like it mourned for the fallen.

I became king in a time where my people, the Drakie, fought against the dark order. Invaders who thought they were above all others. They tried to take control of our kingdom by force and twist it into their very own image. My father, King Darius, gave his life in this war to save mine. I saw him fall at my side, and I could not do anything to stop it. Not long after that, Nimawe, my bounded Drako fell to the war as well. She fought bravely, standing strong with her believe that I could rule over our people the way my father had. I vowed to put an end to the war, for her, to set future generations free of any war hungering. My children to come would not know the pain and suffering that it brought with it, I just could not allow it. So, I set out to-do what no other king had been able to accomplish for many generations, to unite all the clans. Together we would be stronger, with all the elements put together, we would be unstoppable.

The last battle took place in the cold mountains of Helma; that day our footsteps warmed the snow and we took victory into our hands. Drakies of all different clans stood back to back fending of fiends; they disappeared into a cloud of dark smoke when our swords trespassed their bodies. It was like they burned and turned into ash, nothing more fitting after all they had done. Drakos of so many colors flew in the sky, biting and lashing out with their tails; it was a marvelous sight, if not terrifying. I would never forget that day, because it was the day that everything changed. Not just for all people, but for me. It was the day I met my dear Talise, a female of the water clan. She was surrounded by fiends, but to my surprise she fended them off all on her own. I stood and watched amazed at her speed, how her dark brown hair moved with her every strike. It was hard to believe that someone as slim as her could be such an admirable warrior. When I was finally able to see her face, she took my breath away. I had my fair share of women who chased after me for a chance to marry the Prince of the Drakie, but none of them were as beautiful as her.

When the war was over, I searched for her, but I was let down when she showed no interest in me. She seemed not to be fazed at standing before her king. I tried everything to gain her attention, and often slipped out of the castle to observe her beyond the trees, but nothing worked. This woman was stubborn. I sought out my close friend Alfor, King of the Alteans, but he too was having a bit of trouble with his new-found love. I reached my limit of desperation and often busied myself with matters of the kingdom to try to forget. It was not until one day I was determined to confront her, to find out why she did not return my affection.

I entered the water clan's citadel, ignoring everyone who bowed down in reverence, I had my eyes set on my goal. I stormed up to her cutting off her conversation with three other women, they backed up looking down a bit afraid.

Talise turned around to look at me surprised to see me, "Is there something I can help you with, King Fireheart?" She asked in her melodic voice.

I gazed down at her, but she did not even flinch when I looked straight into her eyes, "I need to speak with you." I looked behind her to see the other women edging closer, "In private."

"Um, sure." She began to move towards the tree line, far away from any prodding ears. She looked at the forest with her soft green eyes for a few ticks until she finally sighed and turned to face me, "What is it that you wanted to speak to me about?"

I was so mesmerized by her that I almost forgot why I had come to her in the first place, I had created a whole speech in my head but what came out instead was, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"What?" She asked confused not understanding what I was getting at.

I took a deep breath and found courage in it, "I am sure you have noticed my intentions with you, Talise. Everyone has seen that I fancy you, but you seem to have no interest in me."

She looked away and gazed upon one of the leaves of a low hanging branch, "I always imagine myself as someone who can fend for myself and a helper to does in need." She began still not returning my gaze, "I'm not like other women who seek to be in the comfort of their home and bare children. I am a warrior." I grabbed ahold of the fallen branch rising it up, my action seemed to startle her, but she finally looked at me, "I don't want to be a mare decoration on a pedestal." She confessed.

I wanted to smile, but decided to remain serious, "I don't want someone, who like you put it, be a decoration at my side. I want someone who will help me take decisions, help others, fight alongside me, and someday build a family with." She observed me with an intense gaze, "I love you, Talise. Since the first time I saw you."

She stood there still gazing at me after my revelation, it was making me anxious that she had not said a word, but suddenly she smiled. "You could have said that since the first day you know. It could have saved me a few sleepless nights."

"Wait…" I was too stunned to grasp her meaning, so she continued to speak.

"I feel the same." She stepped forward to place a hand on my arm, that's when I placed my head back into reality and lunged at her to pick her up and spin her around. She laughed at my action, and I kissed her forehead, "Alright, alright, I'll marry you." She said in between laughs as I kept spinning her around.

It was not long after that, in spring, that Talise and I were married. It was the happiest day of my life. After so much lose and chaos, she brought light into my life and the Drakie had a queen now. She surprised me by showing so much care for her new position as queen but overall never lost her humbleness. Talise stood by my side in every decision creating a better Negetia for our people.

Alfor and I, alongside four other leaders became close friends and despite our difference, we managed to create an alliance for establishing peace. We would often set out helping other planets end their wars or establish peace in each of our planets, always coming to the aid of one another. We would not stand for any of does who would bring harm to innocent lives; we had a common goal. There were does who would take from the people who had very little or pirates who would take what did not belong to them.

We had managed to track these pirates to a swampy planet, Alfor was hot on their trail. He always ran ahead and took decisions on instinct instead of planning them out, he would often tease me about thinking too much. I grunted as I held on to my white sword tightly and ran after him, he had just ran into a cavern full of does space pirates. Blaytz, Zarkon, Trigel, and Gyrgan, followed my lead. When we arrived at the closed cavern doors, Zarkon charged forward and broke them open with his strength. Alfor, as what I thought, was surrounded with more than twelve pirates all pointing their guns at him. I kicked the nearest one and sliced the gun of another in half. The others began to take down their own adversaries, they were no match for us skilled warriors.

"Alfor, you should really stop running ahead and getting yourself in trouble." I scolded. He roused from the ground slowly, holding his shoulder.

"You are much more knowledgeable as an alchemist than a soldier." Zarkon commented.

"That's what I keep you around for, Zarkon." Alfor responded with a smirk.

"Well, at least you served as a distraction for a great entrance." Blaytz added holding his head high with a smile. We laughed at his comment.

"Now, now, I made a great entrance too." Alfor shot back in a joking manner.

"I say we should hold a feast at our great victory today." Gyrgan stated rubbing his stomach.

"Always thinking with your stomach." Trigel said pocking his side with her staff.

"What? All this fighting has made me hungry." Gyrgan retaliated.

"Well in that case, banquet is on me." Zarkon said with a smile.

We left the cavern and headed back to our ship, we had come in the Alfor's ship, The Castle of Lions. Talise's faces lit up when she saw me and ended the conversation with Alfor's wife, Emelia, to come and greet me. She gave me a hug and ran her eyes over me inspecting me for damage, "How it go?"

"We caught them inside a cavern after Alfor ran in and got himself stuck with a so dozen of them."

"Sounds like him." She said with a laugh.

"Oh Alfor, you should really be careful more." Emelia said touching her husband's face.

"Where are we headed now?" Talise asked.

"We are going to Daibazaal, Zarkon will host a feast in honor of our victory there."

We followed Alfor the control room where he took his stance on the small platform in the middle of the room. Two small pillars rouse from the ground until they came into contact with his hands, they lit up white when they finally connected. Coran set a course to Daibazaal and Alfor opened a wormhole passing us through, soon before us was Zarkon's rustic red, half sphere, planet. We disembarked to head to the main base's diner hall. I grabbed a hold of my wife's hand as we walked through the corridors, her long white and gold tunic trailing behind her. I stepped forward to pull out a chair for her and she graciously complied with a smile, I took a seat next to Alfor. Others took their spots on the across from us while Zarkon his usual place at the head of the table. Coran, being Alfor's loyal servant, stood behind his chair, attentive to anything his King or Queen might need. Galra servants came out from a corner door and began to serve tantalizing dishes, I hadn't noticed how hungry I really was until the smell hit my nose. Everyone began to take small bytes of their food and sips of their drinks, while Gyrgan stuffed his faced with anything in his path, Talise looked at him wide eyed at how much he could fit in his mouth.

We began to laugh and make jokes of our previous mission, often teasing Alfor of his rashness. The whole atmosphere felt joyful as our laughter filled the great dining hall.

The servants came back with more drink, Blaytz took his share from one of the servants and smirked at the young servant, "Mm. Pull up a bench and join the feast!"

Zarkon cleared his through startling him, Blaytz ears dropped down and frowned, "You know that fraternizing with the servant class is not permitted." He scolded, "It erodes discipline."

"Well, perhaps a bit of discipline erosion would do you good, Zarkon." Alfor stated setting his drink down.

"Something I will consider the next time you are surrounded by Lambonite scavengers." Zarkon shot back.

"I was handling myself." Alfor stated with a frown.

"Sure, you were my friend." I added with a smirk, Talise nudged me with her elbow. I turned to look at her and she wore a small smile, I pretended her hit hurt by holding my side which only made her smile wider.

"You mean wetting yourself?" Gyrgan said with a wide smirk, which only made Alfor's frown deepen. Everyone began to laugh, Blaytz spit out his drink not being able to contain his laughter.

"Why I ever joined up with this band of scoundrels, I'll never know." Alfor stated.

I slapped him on the back, "Cheer up my friend, it's just friendly teasing."

"Because we're the only band of scoundrels that would have you." Trigel said with a smile. She stood up and raised her goblet high, "To us!"

Just when we were about to raise our goblets as well the dining hall began to shake violently. Red light seeped through the windows above us.

"By Willow!" Gyrgan gasped.

Above us a red ball of fire passed by, it was so bright that I was blinded for a few ticks, I felt Talise take my hand and move closer to me as I stood up. The ground once again shook as the ball of fire made impact with the ground bathing us in a bright dome of yellow light mixed with dust.

"Whatever that was, we need to go investigate as once! We don't know if it might be hostile." I said urgently.

Everyone else nodded and began to run toward the base exit. Talise stayed behind with Alfor's wife as she still sat there shocked. The others had gotten onto speeders and had left me behind by the time my boots made contact with the rocky surface of Zarkon's planet. I began to run after them and jumped of a ledge materializing my wigs and shot forward. I was able to catch up to them in as little as ten ticks as how rapidly I was flapping them. From above I could see the massive crater that the fire ball had made, it glowed with an intense light with different hues of yellows and reds.

The others abandoned their speeders close to the ledge of the crater and began to descend, trying to get a better look at what was below. I came down next to Alfor, landing loudly and spreading dust particle in the air as I folded my wings close to my back. I waved my hand in front of me, sending a strong gust of wind through the landscape, clearing the dust. There, before us, stood a giant grey comet with glowing green veins that extended throughout its surface.

"What is that?" I asked shocked.

"Looks like an asteroid." Trigel commented.

"This is not a type of asteroid I ever seen before." Zarkon added.

"We need to investigate what this is, in the meantime, we must evacuate the people surrounding the creator." I advised.

Zarkon nodded and began to call upon his forces to send a message to his people, twenty vargas later, Alfor and I had set up a lab surrounding the comet. With my ability to withstand high heat, I was able to break off a small chuck of the comet for Alfor to study. Once I handed it to him, he began to move rapidly analyzing every theory of what the rock might be. I watched him move throughout the lab like a swift Drako, not letting anything distract him.

I lost track of time, just sitting on a stool looking at the small chunk of rock under Alfor's instruments. It was fascinating to see the veins of the rock pulse as if it was alive. Something about it called to me, its energy was something I had never felt before. I was leaning towards it to try to touch it when Alfor smacked my hand away and Zarkon came in informing us that all Galra surrounding the crater had been evacuated.

"What have you discovered?" Zarkon asked.

"We're not sure." Alfor responded leaning forward to analyze the stone once more, "This comet is like none seen before. It seems to be made of a material that can pass between realities."

"You mean to tell us, that this comet is not from this reality?" I asked.

"Well, I mean that sages have always theorized that there are many realities stacked side by side with each other." Alfor responded moving away from his sample to the hole in the center of the lab, "Whole other universes with their own histories unbeknownst to us. But we never had proof, until now. When we moved the comet, we found this."

Inside the hole glowed an intense yellow and I could make out people below analyzing what seemed to be a crack on the ground.

"This…" Zarkon began, "Is another reality?"

All three of us began to edge forward trying to get a better view, but suddenly Zarkon screamed making us quickly take a step back, "What is that?!" By Zarkon's feet stood a small black and brown animal meowing up at him.

"Do not worry." A female Altean said as she kneeled to grab ahold of the animal, "It is only Kova. He is from our reality." She stood up and the feline sat on her shoulder looking at Zarkon with big yellow eyes.

Zarkon stood their shocked looking down at the Altean with his mouth hanging open, I looked at him amused and placed a hand over my mouth trying to scuffle a laugh.

"Zarkon, Glerd, this is Honerva." Alfor introduced, "She is the best alchemist on Altea. I asked her to come to Daibazaal and lead the scientific investigation. Her expertise will be invaluable.

"Isn't it exciting?" Honerva said happily, "It could change the way we understand our entire universe."

Zarkon finally found his voice again and glanced another way, "Well, find out everything you can. I will provide any support you require. I must go." He quickly turned around, his black cape flying behind him, and left rapidly like he had seen a ghost.

"He didn't stay long." Honerva pointed out.

Alfor and I looked at our mutual friend with smirks at his strange behavior.

From that point on, Alfor took pieces of the comet back to his lab on Altea. Talise and I when back to our planet to watch over our people and tend to any matters. It was a time of piece, and it would have felt complete if only we were blessed with a child. Months passed by and I assured Talise that there was not pressure at all, we would have a child when the time was right, but she seemed to think otherwise. She would often take walks in the Castle's garden looking up at the sky, smelling and touching the plants with the most delicate touch of her hand. She would argue that as King, I should have an heir, but I always reminder her that we had our whole life ahead of us. She was the only family I needed, like the very air I breathed.

Her mother often came to visit to lighten her mood, and one day she changed. She began to see the world with a different perspective; with more hope. Talise had journeyed back to her clan claiming she would explain everything at her return. I did not press her on the matter and a few days later, she came back carrying an unhatched Drako egg. It was a dark blue, with thin silver veins that ran on its surface.

"This Drako, will one day belong to our child." Talise said running her hand over it, "It is only right that he will have a piece of me too; a water Drako as a partner."

I touched her face making her look up at me, "You are going to be a great mother someday." She smiled widely and went to store the egg in a chest for safe keeping in our chambers.

Years passed and Alfor had made incredible discoveries about the comet. I would often visit Altea to check up on him and help him with anything he needed. When I returned from one of my trips, my ship landed and Talise stood outside on the landing pad waiting for me. She smiled widely; a smile that could brighten any cloudy day. She came to me and I embraced her tightly. Talise kissed my cheek and whispered in my ear, "You're going to be a father."

I opened my eyes shocked and stopped rubbing her back, too stunned to move. Talise noticing this pulled back confused, "Did you hear what I just said?"

"Can you…Can you repeat that?" I asked finally finding my voice.

"You're. Going. To. Be. A. Father." She said each word with a pause.

I broke out of my trance and lifted her off the ground to twirl her around in circles, "I going to be father!" I screamed for the whole world to hear. I said it over and over again with such joy in my heart, my subjects began to clap and congratulate us.

Talise's stomach began to grow with each passing month, and I would often joke she swallowed a Fasir fruit; a round fruit bigger than my head. She would smile and smack my arm, "Just wait until this Fasir fruits starts running around." She would joke back.

Three months into her pregnancy, Emelia sent a message saying she too was expecting. Alfor threw a banquet on Altea celebrating the coming of our children. Talise and Emelia grew ever closer almost like sisters and would often talk about what they would name their child. They vowed to not learn the sex of the child until he or she was born, which only caused Alfor and I to become frustrated.

Alfor had placed a hand on my shoulder as we looked upon our wives talking and laughing, "Glerd, my friend, this is going to be a long wait."

"I don't understand why they don't want to know what the child will be." I said crossing my arms.

Alfor chuckled, "Is there one thing I learned, is that women are the strangest creatures in the universe."

I smiled at his comment, "Your definitely right about that."

A couple of months later, Talise and I had a beautiful girl. The first time I held her in my arms and she opened her eyes, I wanted to give her every star in heaven; they were a soft green, brown, and gold. She mesmerized me and captivated my heart. She was as beautiful as her mother, that's when a name popped into my head and I whispered it to her, she reacted to it and gurgled moving her arms inside the blanket she was wrapped in.

"What did you call her?" Talise asked lowly.

"Taylin."

She glanced up at the ceiling of our chamber and slowly a smile appeared on her face, "I like it." I walked to the side of the bed to gently place our child into her arms. "Welcome, Taylin Fireheart, Princess of the Drakie." She said and placed a light kiss to her forehead. I sat on the edge of the bed and placed an arm over Talise's shoulders bring them both toward me, "I chose that name, because she reminds me of you."

She looked up at me with a smile, "What are you talking about? She looks exactly like you."

"Be it as it may, she is beautiful." I responded giving her a peck on the lips. "She going to be a fine Princess and a great water Drakie, just like her mother."

A few days passed after Taylin's birth, but her wing marks would not appear on her back which had me slight worried. There were whispers in the castle that she was cursed by the ancients. Talise upon hearing this, refused to leave her side, watching her every move. Ten quitants passed, and what happened next left everyone with their mouth open. Golden wings had manifested on Taylin's back, when I looked down at her I had to blink a couple of times to make sure that I was seeing properly. Talise had placed her on our bed, on her side; she was fast asleep not aware of what was going on around her.

"Glerd, how is this possible?"

"I do not know, Talise." I answered not removing my eyes from Taylin's small back, "This is practically impossible. No female has ever been born with the golden symbol of the Firehearts. It was always a boy to be born witch such a gift."

She moved to sit close to our child, "What does this mean? Glerd, I'm scared for our little girl." Her eyes reflected concern and I moved to kneel in front of her taking her hands in mine, "You don't have to be afraid. If the ancients have blessed our child with this gift, then they believe that she is strong enough to carry such a burden." Talise nodded and reached to wipe a stray tear.

"You're right."

The news of a girl becoming the next Queen of the Drakie spread like wild fire throughout the land. Everyone gasped or simply could not believe that it was true. One-night strange noises began to come from inside our chambers. Talise immediately stood up to check on our daughter, but she was unperturbed by the noise. It sounded like something pushing against glass and breaking it into tiny pieces. I went to grab my sword and stood in front on my wife ready for anything, but Talise placed a hand on my shoulder and walked around me.

"What are you doing?! Stay behind me."

"It's alright. I know where that noise is coming from." She went to a faraway corner of our room and stopped in front of a small black chest, "It's the egg."

It has been there for many years that I had forgotten of its existence. I lowered my sword and walked to Talise who began to open the chest carefully. When she finally opened it, two dark blue eyes gazed up at us. The Drako had small horns extending out of its head and it scales reflected many types of blue. It had small white talons, but even with their size, they could cut through anything.

Talise picked him up and walked to Taylin's cradle, letting the small Drako see her for the first time. It suddenly jumped out of her grasp and landed right next to Taylin, she woke startled by the sudden jolt; the Drako looked at her curious when she began to cry. I was about to reach out for her, but the Drako beat me to it. It placed its head right next to her and lowered its body only to place a wing on her small frame, surprisingly she stopped crying and her eyes slowly closed until she was once asleep. From that point on, those two were inseparable, just as I once was with Nimawe. Everywhere Taylin went, he had to go and every time I saw them together I could not help but to smile.

Three quintants later, I received call from Alfor exclaiming with joy that he too had a daughter, which they named Allura. Once they were old enough to sit by themselves we brought them together on Altea. We watched them play together and on occasion pull Taylin's Drako's tail.

"I think our daughters like each other." Emelia commented.

"They sure do." Talise responded, "They are going to be good friends just like you and me."

Soon the two girls were old enough to travel farther distances, Alfor and I decided to bring them long on our trip to Daibazaal to check up on the progress of the rift there. Zarkon was very pleased to see us after such a long time and was surprised to see the two new members of our small families. It was clear that Zarkon did not know how to act around children or females. He awkwardly stared down at the two girls and presented to them with gifts in honor of their birth. The gifts consisted of two small Galra warrior helmets, which Talise and Emelia placed on the girl's heads. They giggled at the sight of their small warriors.

"Honerva has really softened you up, my friend." Alfor said.

"I never thought the day would come were the great Emperor Zarkon would marry." I added.

"Yes, how is the married life treating you?" Talise asked with one of her signature smiles.

"Its…" Zarkon answered scratching his head, "Good."

We left the girls with their mothers and followed Zarkon to Honerva's lab, we found her hard at work on one of the panels.

"Honerva, working hard as always." Alfor commented, "Many thanks for the gifts, the girls love them."

"It was a customary gesture." She answered blankly still looking down at her panel; her comment made us raise our eyebrows, it was not like her.

"Of course." I responded in the same manner.

"How is our quintessence experiment?" Alfor asked.

"Still running." She answered and pointed to her right.

"Running for a full year on one drop of quintessence, with no decline in revolution per dobosh." Alfor said.

"I never seen such an energy like this one." I added fascinated.

"The ships I'm creating for us work on the same principle." Alfor stated, "and the ore from the comet practically engineers itself. It's frightening in a way."

"Endlessly powerful ships for the Galra Empire." Zarkon said.

"And an endless source of clean energy for the entire system." Alfor added.

"Of course." Zarkon complied.

Something behind me suddenly moved and made me almost punch the glass cylinder, "What is that?!"

Honerva finally turned away from her control panel to explain, "I sent some signals into the neighboring reality and this creature answered the call. Nothing from our universe has been able to survive the passage through the rift. But somehow, he arrived unharmed."

"What?" Alfor gasped, "I thought we discussed this." He said with a bit of anger, "We must exercise caution."

"Alfor, is right. We have no means of knowing what is on the other side." I said crossing my arms.

Honerva touched the cylinder causing the wisp to come near her, but once she removed it to turn around it jerked away, "The ancients thought that lighting was shot from the bows of the gods until science proved otherwise. We must always push into dangerous territory in pursuit of knowledge."

"But is it really worth putting everyone on the planet at risk or even the entire galaxy?" I asked.

Honerva was about to answer when the wisp began to screech loudly and hit its glass prison. The lab began to shake and a purple liquid began to gush out of the hole that contained the rift. I took Alfor by the arm pushing him back and placed a protecting dome around us, "We have to get out of here!"

We turned around and began to run to the exit as the liquid began to hit my shield.

"We need to contain this!" Alfor exclaimed.

Honerva looked at my shield, "Perhaps we can place a force field around it. Will you be able to withstand the pressure while we set it up?"

I nodded at her and ran outside to edge of the crater, extending my arms out a yellow dome shield began to materialize rapidly inclosing the rift inside. I could feel the pressure hitting against it and looked it over trying to find an opening where the liquid could come through.

"What is going on Glerd?" Talise said over our linked minds, "The Galra all of the sudden began to run out towards the lab."

"There has been some complications, stay with Emelia and the girls." I cut her off before she could ask more questions as to not lose my focus on my shield.

"Any time now, Alfor!" I exclaimed over the comm.

"We almost got it, just a bit longer." He responded.

A few ticks passed by when a purple dome began to materialize outside of my shield, once it has covered it whole, I let go of the energy; my shield fading away.

"About time." I said wiping my brow.

"I believe the right words are 'thank you for saving my sorry hide' " Alfor responded.

"Very funny Alfor, I think it's the other way around."

"Perhaps it's time for the others to see the project I have been working on, this might help us contain does creatures that want to escape the rift."

"You think this will help?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Then we should get moving as fast as we can, this force field will not hold forever."

Alfor had been working on a side project one that he called project lion. He had made ships in form of lions from the comets ore making them the fastest and most lethal of the galaxy. I had come down to visit him while he constructed them; his designs where astonishing, but the lions required a power source. Something to give them an edge and separate them from being mare ships, so I offered to help find that edge. I chose six Drako crystal hearts to place in each of the lions. Some of them jumped at the chance to become whole again after their bodies had been taken from them. I chose Shadow from the Black Drakos, Brisinhart a fire Drako, Drakosvane from the nature clan, Azur a water Drako, Meeker an earth Drako and lastly, Nimawe my bonded Drako. I asked her if she would like to take the opportunity to become one with a lion, and she agreed. Nimawe wanted to feel helpful, but I was afraid of what the connection might do to her, but she refused to let the opportunity pass and I had no choice but to take her to Altea and place her inside one of the lions. To my dismay, once her crystal heart was set inside the White Lion, she longer spoke to me. It was as if the lion was just an empty husk.

As Alfor lowered us down to his main lab, everyone looked hesitant of what these so-called ships would look like.

"I trust this plan of yours will work, Alfor." Zarkon said.

Alfor lowered his head and closed his eyes with his arms crossed and waited for the others reactions as the lions came into view from the elevator. Zarkon, Gyrgan, Blaytz, and Trigel looked upon them with awe. I found it funny that even Blaytz was at lose of words.

The elevator finally made it to the lower levels and opened for us, we stood in front of six mighty lions, the Black towering above them all.

"Incredible." Trigel gasped.

"Alfor, they're amazing." Zarkon said, "How do they work?"

"I made them from the quintessence-infused ore of the comet, which provides them with an endless supply of power." Alfor responded, he thankfully kept his word in keeping the secret of the crystal hearts.

"Remarkable!" Zarkon said with a smile.

"The comet aloe also renders them nearly indestructible." Alfor added.

"What sort of weaponry do they have?" Blaytz asked.

"This is where things become more interesting." Alfor responded, "Altean alchemy can accomplish some incredible feats of engineering, as you know. But in testing my ship, I started to feel some sort of psychic link. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the ship wasn't just reading my mind. It was communicating with me. They seem to be evolving. We don't yet know what powers these ships possess, but we may gain understanding with time."

I crossed my arms as Alfor explained, knowing all too well how the connection was established, the Drakos crystal hearts had become one with the lions making them seem alive.

Zarkon brought me out of my thoughts, "Time? Time slips away even as we stand here. My people will soon be slaughtered by dark creatures from another realm." He argued coming closer to Alfor, "Without these ships, all hope is lost."

Alfor looked down in thought with a hint of sadness, but quickly recovered himself, "I understand." He said moving to stand in the center of the lions, we formed a circle looking up at them; they seemed like they were doing the same looking upon us. "It may take some doing. These are not regular ships to be chosen at a whim. You do not pick the beast. The beast will choose you."

Alfor's voice faded away and everyone else in the room vanished as well until I was surrounded by dark room. I turned around when I heard a low growl and there before me, was the White Lion. Her eyes glowed an amber color and her wings extend out from her back like sails. They were no longer pure white, but they slowly became a gold color.

"Nimawe?" I asked hesitantly.

She responded by giving a load piercing roar, and the colors of the room came back. She lowered her head to the ground and opened her jaws to reveal a ramp. I laughed and ran into her jaws only to find myself in a beautifully designed cockpit, I sat of the white pilot seat which suddenly moved forward brining me closer to the control handles. As soon as my hands touched the handles, Nimawe stood up and roared once again; a feeling of warmth enveloped me as our connection was once again established.

"I know, it's good to fly with you once again." I told her with a grin, she responded with a low purr that vibrated my seat.

The other lions had also chosen their pilots. Alfor was with the Red Lion, Blaytz got the Blue, Trigel was chosen by Green, Gyrgan would pilot the Yellow Lion, and Zarkon got the biggest of them all, The Black Lion.

We changed into our armors each with the color our lions and lifted out off out of the hangar. The lions moved with such a speed and agility; I had never piloted such a unique vessel. Blaytz laughed and hollered joyfully as he barrel rolled through the air. Soon the blue sky of Altea disappeared into the vast blackness of space.

"Now, go easy at the beginning," Alfor advised, "This is greater energy than you have ever worked before."

"Perhaps you should lead the formation, Alfor." Zarkon suggested, "You have a greater understanding of the vessels that anyone."

"I'm a better alchemist than a military leader, Zarkon." Alfor argued, "I'll stick with being your right hand."

"Very well, then." Zarkon agreed, "On my mark, Paladins!"

"Paladins, huh?" I said with a smile, "I like the sound of that."

Zarkon made a low sound which I understood as a chuckle, "Right flank, Alfor and Blaytz. Left flank, Trigel and Gyrgan. Glerd take the back flank, right behind me."

We followed orders without hesitation and formed a V; we pushed our handles forward and we were flying through space at an incredible speed. When we arrived at Daibazaal, the creature had already broke free from its dome prison. The Galra soldiers had taken point by the crater, but its quickly made short work of them.

"Paladins, I'll fly ahead and divert its attention." Zarkon said, "The rest of you, attack from all sides!"

Zarkon went towards the monster's head and shot a laser out of the Black Lion's jaws; we followed his instructions and flew in different directions shooting at its back and legs.

"Keep firing!" I ordered, as the monster began to move back from our lasers.

The beast sent purple tendrils after me, I moved to the right to avoid getting hit and turned around quickly shooting a powerful laser beam from Nimawe's jaws. I felt how our connection deepened until our powers became linked, the white laser suddenly became a tunnel of fire as I fed her with said element.

"These blasted things are covering me!" Blaytz exclaimed over the comm.

The monsters had covered the Blue Lion inside a ball, Alfor shot a laser at them that caused them to give up Blaytz. The main monster's head began to glow yellow and it shot a laser beam from it, Alfor, Blaytz, and I managed to move just in time before impact.

"Th-thanks, Alfor!" Blaytz stuttered.

"Anytime." He responded.

From our right, Gyrgan suddenly came at us yelling, "Spinning head smash!" The Yellow Lion began to spin in the air until it was a blur towards the monster, but the beast managed to make a hole in-between its body causing Gyrgan to crash on the ground hard.

"Gyrgan!" I called out worried, but he came out unscathed through another hole on the ground.

"I can't hit it!" He complained.

"Fall back, Paladins! We must regroup!" Zarkon ordered.

"Wait!" Alfor said, "We must come together in formation."

"Sounds like a plan, Alfor, but what good would that do?" I asked.

"I don't know, but somehow I can feel it." He responded.

We began to move into our V shaped formation without another complaint and flew upward towards the crimson sky. A strange energy washed over me, and I could feel the life forces of the other Paladins.

"Hey, I feel it!" Gyrgan exclaimed.

"I do, too!" Trigel added, "What's happening?"

"I never felt something like this before." I said in awe, "It's like I can feel everyone."

"Voltron." Alfor gasped.

An image of a giant mechanical robot appeared in my head; it was a magnificent sight.

I began to feel how my lion moved and shifted, it was not clear to me yet what was happening. Everything was bathed in white and blue intense light, that I had to cover my eyes or risk being blinded. I began to yell at the force gravitating us upward, the yells of my friends filled my airs; they too felt the same thing. We came out of the glowing sphere, and I noticed my position had changed. We were no longer in individual lions but in the mechanical beast I had seen in my vision. Together, we came down from the sky and brought the Red Lion, now an arm, on the purple monster. The hit was so strong it split it in two and created a crater on the ground.

"I can't believe we did it!" Blaytz exclaimed as the dust settled and we stood over the new hole on the ground.

"How did this come about?" Trigel asked astonished.

"Am I a leg?" Gyrgan asked excitedly.

"This power, it's unbelievable." Zarkon added.

I looked around outside, "It appears I'm the chest, and the other lions are connected to mine, fascinating."

"This is Voltron." Alfor said.

Our victory was short lived when the ground began to tremble, and an explosion occurred behind us. We turned around to see another purple monster with long tentacles. It suddenly formed it's top into a humanoid form and shot a laser beam from its face. We expect the impact to hit and send us flying back but it never happened. When we opened our eyes, in front of us was a shield held by the Green Lion.

"A shield!" Trigel exclaimed surprised.

"Well done, Trigel." Zarkon praised.

The shield seemed to be holding back, but the monster began to fire two more beams; I struggled to keep Voltron in place, but it was too strong. The shield broke in half and send us tumbling to the ground. The creature, seeing us down, came at us before I managed to get us back into a standing position. It surrounded us in a swirl of red and purple with electricity coursing through it.

"It's trying to rip into us!" Zarkon grunted.

"We have to get it off!" Blaytz exclaimed.

"Any suggestions?" I asked.

"I know what to do." Alfor responded.

Suddenly the Green and Blue Lions came together and formed a bright light, when it died down, Voltron held a sword in the jaws of the Red Lion. Alfor wasted no time and began to slice at the monster, creating an opening and stabbing it in what seemed to be the creature's chest. Its tendrils stopped swirling around us and it stood before us with luminescent blue gashes on its body and our sword stabbed inside of it. It looked at us as if not believing that it had been defeated before it exploded. We all looked at where to monster once stood amazed at what we had accomplished, but our job was not done yet.

"We must find a way to seal up this rift." Alfor stated once we had landed back into lions. Honerva had come rushing to Zarkon once she saw him exit his lion.

"Seal the rift? Why?" She protested.

"It nearly destroyed Daibazaal!" Alfor retaliated angrily.

"We cannot allow more people to come to harm, or another creature to come through the rift." I added crossing my arms, "We nearly did not make it with one, and you want to test your luck with another."

"Those creatures nearly destroyed Daibazaal, and you found a way to defeat them." She argued.

"Zarkon, surely you agree with me." Alfor said turning to look at him, "It must be closed."

"Perhaps, not." Zarkon answered.

"What?!" I asked outraged, "Are you insane?"

"Look at what we've gained, Glerd." He shot back, "The ships are the most powerful machines ever created. Who knows what else may be discovered if we continue working."

"You would risk your entire planet, the entire solar system, for what?" Alfor asked with his hands clenched, "For more power?"

"You know it's more than that." Zarkon answered calmly.

"We already have Voltron." Alfor said rising his voice, "You have to know when it's enough."

"I'll decide what's enough on my planet!" Zarkon shot back aggressively.

Alfor and I were taken back at his response, he had never raised his voice before. Something about that rift and comet had surely affected him and his wife.

"Zarkon, sometimes you have to know when to stop." I said taking a deep breath, "Otherwise you place those closes to you in danger. You have a whole planet depending on the decisions you take. Don't let that power blind you."

Zarkon closed his eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, Glerd. The work will continue."

I turned around to leave and grabbed Alfor by the arm pulling him with me, "Come Alfor, it's no use. We can't change their mind."

He stood their looking at Zarkon still shocked, but after a few ticks he finally turned away to go. We headed for our lions and back to our home planets. Everyone who was outside looked up at the sky to see the magnificent White Lion, I landed on the outside platforms of The Castle of Drakie, when I exited, Talise was waiting for me with Taylin in her arms, looking up at the lion in awe. I walked to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead and moved to do the same with my daughter. From that point on everything changed, the other Paladins and I continued to work together, despite our differences, to free planets from does who dared to bring oppression. We had managed to work together like a fine-tuned machine, the legend of Voltron spread throughout the galaxy like space dust to the point where everyone knew who we were.

Years began to pass by in a blur, Taylin was growing faster that I would have liked. Her first element manifested when she was just five years of age, she almost caused a wind twister inside the castle. I sat her down and explained to her what she should be prepared for. I also decided to start her basic training as a warrior, much to Talise's dismay. She refused to let her daughter to start thinking about battle at such a young age, but I insisted that she needed to know how to defend herself and not just depend on her powers for protection. When I got back from my missions as a Paladin of Voltron, I would take her up to train in air combat with her Drako Storm. Together they formed a great team, capable of understanding every order given to them. Their minds were so mended together to the point where they could see through each other's eyes.

Alfor would often visit Negetia, to bring Allura for a visit and help her train as well. The two girls became inseparable, just like sisters. Our wives would stand back and observe their child with teared eyes at how fast they were growing. Sufficed to say, at the age of ten, Taylin was a formidable opponent in sword fighting. She would flip and swing with such skill that sometimes she would win because I would just be looking at her in awe.

"Father, are you alright?" Taylin asked.

I snapped out of my trance and found myself on the floor, "Yes, I'm fine." I stood up quickly and brushed down my tunic.

"You don't seem alright, I just dropped you on the ground and you said nothing." Her small melodic voice said.

I dematerialized my Bayard and placed a hand on her small shoulder, "I was just thinking how proud I am of you."

She gave me a wide smile; a smile that would make any of the castle's subjects hearts stop, "You are the greatest gift anyone has ever given me. The most precious of jewels in my kingdom, that one day will be yours."

She dropped her small sword and came rushing to hug my waist, I patted her head.

"You are the greatest father in the entire universe." She said with excitement.

"And what about me?" Talise said coming closer.

Taylin let go of me and ran to her mother, who opened her arms widely to receive her, "I love you too mother."

Talise laughed as she lifted her up and spun her around; it was the most beautiful sight. These two girls meant the world to me, I could not live without them.

Talise set her down still grinning, "Taylin, go get ready. Allura with be arriving in about a varga."

Taylin jumped up and down in excitement and ran into the castle to get changed from her sparring outfit and into one of her favorite dresses.

"Our daughter is going to make a fine woman someday." Talise said watching her go.

I came to stand next to her and placed an arm over her shoulders brining her closer, "Just like you."

She turned to look at me with a grin and kissed me on the lips before heading inside as well.

I was happy with the work we were doing with Voltron; the universe had never seen so much prosperity and peace. It was the perfect world I had dreamed of, long before Taylin was born.

With the help of Alfor and Honerva's discoveries, we begun a new age of space exploration. Building better ships and establishing a connection between our worlds. I began to think that perhaps Zarkon was right, the discoveries of the rift had brought us to this golden age, even though Alfor was still hesitant of it. After a visit to Daibazaal, Alfor informed me that Honerva had taken things too far. She had used quintessence to expand the life span of her feline. More and more tremors were causing fissures on the planet, which Zarkon explained they had under control, but planetary scans showed otherwise; the planet was becoming unstable.

Honerva has succumbed to her work to the point were only her voice was recognizable, could not Zarkon see what the rift was doing to his beloved? Was he really, ready to sacrifice her, for power? It was madness. But he and his wife were both in denial, they refused to listen to our pleas to shut down the experiment and close the rift. Zarkon even came to the point to propose that we use Voltron to expand the rift to learn even more. His ideals had changed. Zarkon wanted to rule the entire universe and live forever, but we refused. Everything that was once born has to come to an end. Our children would take our place in the universe as we faded away into dust, but that was something Zarkon did not comprehend. Sadly, the head of Voltron had become corrupted by the prolong exposure to the rift's quintessence. It was becoming harder to work together without each conversation escalating into an argument.

One day Zarkon called for a meeting in Altea, he looked worried and defeated as he placed his hands on the table, "Alfor tried to warn me, but I would not listen. Now my wife has fallen ill, and my planet is on the brink of collapse. So, I must beg you, my trusted comrades, to join me on the most dangerous quest. We must close the rift, and I need Voltron to do it."

We looked at each other after Zarkon's speech trying to decide on our next course of action.

"We will help you." Trigel responded for us.

"I only hope it is not too late to heal the rift in my planet…" Zarkon responded, "And our friendship." He turned left and extended a hand to Alfor.

Alfor looked at his hand for a few ticks before extending his arm out to him sealing our agreement to help him. We mobilized quickly to get to Daibazaal and teared off the lab above the rift with Voltron to allow us passage. There in the middle, surrounded by a ring, was the golden rift looking up at us as if it was an eye.

"Honerva told me the only way to close the rift was to use the power of the quintessence." Zarkon explained, "We must make the opening bigger first to gather the power."

"How do we do that?" Gyrgan asked.

"We use the sword." Alfor responded.

"Form sword!" Zarkon ordered and the sword appeared in the Red Lion's jaws. We stabbed it into the rift creating a blinding light, I could feel the power surging through us at the quintessence surrounded us.

"It's too much!" Gyrgan exclaimed.

"Stay focused!" Alfor grunted.

Suddenly I felt like we were falling into the light, it was so blinding that I lost sight of where we were. Everything around us was bathed in white light, it almost felt like heaven.

"What has happened?" I asked disoriented, "Where are we?"

"We entered the rift." Alfor responded.

The alarms suddenly began to blare in our ears and as we looked outside, we could make out a figure moving towards the opening of the rift.

"Zarkon!" I yelled, "What do you think you're doing?!"

In the distance, when my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I could make out not just Zarkon, but another figure in his arms. He had lifted her up close to the rift.

"We have to get them out of here!" Alfor said.

"We must hurry." Blaytz responded, "The creatures have returned!"

As soon as he finished talking, the creatures began to attack us from all sides, "There everywhere!" Trigel exclaimed.

"Fire all lasers!" Alfor ordered.

Using all the quintessence around me, I grabbed ahold of the energy and transferred it to my lion who in return distributed it to the other lions making our lasers more powerful than ever. A side panel on my control panel rouse and Nimawe put an image of my Bayard in my head. I summoned it and placed it into the control panel, twisting it in place; a powerful energy was shot from Voltron's chest finally setting us free from the creatures.

"Trigel, grab them!" Alfor instructed.

Trigel reached out and caught Zarkon and Honerva inside the Green Lion's jaws.

"Gyrgan, Blaytz, fire your thrusters!" I ordered as I began to move us up, "We must leave at once!"

We kept moving through the rift until we finally could see the red sky above us, I landed us at the edge of the opening. We immediately abandoned our lions to check on Zarkon and his wife, but the overexposure to the quintessence had brought terrible consequences, they no longer breathed. We looked upon our fallen comrade in sadness and defeat; Voltron had lost its leader.

We could not mourn the death of our friend as the planet began to shake violently, and fissures began to appear all over the planet.

"It's the rift." I said, "We must get everyone to safety. The planet will explode."

We mobilized and send out a distress signal telling all Galra they had to abandon their planet, it was no longer safe for them. We remaining Paladins, spread out throughout the planet to help speed up the evacuation process. Once everyone had left in the Galra ships, we had to make a decision.

"There is no way to close the rift, how will we prevent it from spreading to other planets?" I asked looking at Daibazaal from afar in space.

"There is only one way," Alfor response gravely, "We must destroy the planet."

"Are you sure there is no other option?" Trigel asked.

"Sadly, no."

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, "Then by all means, let us light our darkness hour."

We implanted a powerful bomb made of the same material as the comet and watched how Daibazaal was blown to bits. No one said anything, it was a horrendous sight. No longer did the planet glow its crimson red, but it now stood before us broken and shattered with a dark void in its middle.

"I will hold the funeral for our fallen friend on Altea." Alfor finally spoke up.

"As you wish, Alfor." I responded.

Alfor has sent out a message to his planet and by the time we arrived the preparation were well on their way. It was the saddest day of our lives, it felt like reliving the loss of Nimawe all over again. Zarkon had become a good friend to us, and his loss hurt gravely; he could just simply not be replaced.

Days after his funeral, the unexpected happened. We were on Altea having a discussion of the future of Voltron now that Zarkon was gone, but suddenly the screen of the meeting hall turned on and Zarkon appeared. His eyes glowed purple with hate and his voice had become frightening.

"My fellow Galra…" He spoke, "King Alfor of Altea has destroyed our planet. He must pay for his crimes. Rise up and join your emperor! Revenge will be ours!"

His words marked the beginning of a galactic war, people trembled before the mighty Zarkon, hungry for power. He had become pure evil and obsessed in gaining more quintessence. He came after us trying to take the lions, and to take total control of Voltron. We mobilized preparing for what would come and armed ourselves with anything at our disposal. Unfortunately, peaceful planets that had never seen war were the first ones to fall. The peaceful universe that I had set out to make for my dear Taylin, was not more. Planet after planet, Zarkon crushed beneath his iron fist.

As Taylin grew, I tried to keep her in the dark of what was happening, but there was so much I could do. One day when she was eighteen years of age, she barged into one of our strategic meetings with a look of determination and a frown upon her face.

She walked up to the table and slammed her fists, "Father! You cannot possible keep me away from the fight. My team and I are ready to fight against the Galra, Storm is itching to claw his talons on their ships and make them pay for what they have done to countless planets."

I placed my hands on the table before me and hung my head, "Talise, please accompany our daughter back to the castle."

Talise hesitated looking between us and when she finally decided to follow my orders a strong gust of wind filled the meeting hall knocking a few things off the table.

"I am not going anywhere. I'm sorry Father, but it you will not allow me to join the fight, then I will seek justice on my own." With that she turned around to leave, Talise followed after her.

"I'm having the same issue with Allura." Alfor stated, "She too wants to help in the war effort."

"They are just children." I said, "Children do not belong on the battle field."

"I have seen your daughter fight, I think she can take care of herself." Trigel added, "She is just like you, always wanting to protect does in need. How bad can it be to let her help?"

"Because she does not want to stay on the sidelines and watch from afar," I responded lifting my head up to face her, "She wants to join the infiltration teams and take down Galra bases from the inside. I just can't bring myself to let her."

Talise suddenly came back and her eyes gleamed as if she had been crying, "Perhaps we are not having enough faith in our daughter. She is as skilled and powerful as you, if not better, at controlling the elements. Her capacity of understanding far exceeds her age, would it not be better to have another person like you out there helping?" I was about to speak, but she raised a hand stopping me. "It's not that I don't care for her, on the contrary I am deeply terrified of anything that might happen to her, but we cannot hold her back. It is better to have her under your watch than for her to be out there on her own fighting the Galra."

I had to admit, Talise's words moved me. I knew what Taylin was capable of and as a leader I would not hesitate to send her into the war effort, but my fatherly heart told me otherwise. I sighed and looked deeply into my wife's eyes, "Your right." She gave me a small smile and ran out of the room to tell Taylin the news.


Hey girls and boys, thanks for reading!

Sorry I took so long but this was a very long chapter to write and I am not done lol.

Hope you guys like it.

Please leave a comment.