The Legend of Rune: Forsaken Blood

by Deeth Irteen

Four years have passed since the Malefor Ordeal has ended. Rune is enjoying life in his new home. However, things are not peaceful; new conflics have arisen across the dragon realms. The largest of which is Bergan, a purple dragon, and his daughter Tyrrany, a mysterious white dragoness. Rated M for mature themes and violence.

25. Act 2, Chapter 11

It was a disaster.

For hours, the Deep Shadows helped the many dragons and non-dragons put out the magical fires that spread across the southern section of Warfang. They also struggled to keep panic from spreading. Many of the draconic citizens had children that were sent to The Nexus… and just like that, they were snatched from out of Elenar's protective grasp.

And among them was Cyrus. She couldn't believe what had happened; just like that, her son was whisked away to ancestors-know-where. And just after she'd had a fierce argument with him! They'd gotten so heated at each other, and now he was gone! How could Elenar have let things go so wrong? She had to find him, and tell him she was sorry! She didn't want to lose her child: Not again!

No… No, she couldn't give in to the panic. She was the High Queen; everyone looked to her for guidance and strength. So, with a deep breath and a heavy heart, she pushed her emotions away and stood tall to take on her regal stance.

Focus, Elenar. Focus.

Once the flames were mostly doused, Elenar gave the order for the people to repair the damage. Salvageable materials were gathered and cataloged as well.

And during all of this, Elenar struggled to keep everyone calm.

~~…~~

Elenar and the others were back in the gardens when Albanion got back from his search of the Dragon Spire. Ever since he'd learned that Elza was missing… she'd nearly lost his mind. He gave a fierce roar as he came to a harsh landing on the ground between the other Deep Shadows. His mane was disheveled, and his eyes twitched as he struggled not to gnash his fangs.

"I searched every inch of the Dragon Spire that I could!" Albanion cried out. "She's gone! GONE!"

Elenar ran to Albanion's side and draped her wing about him to pull him close. Albanion shook and snarled for a moment… but then looked into the high queen's eyes. She'd never seen him so distraught in all the years she'd known him.

"Albanion, look at me." She said as she struggled to remain calm. The poison drake locked eyes with her as he shook in place.

"We'll find her." Elenar declared. "We'll find Elza, and she'll be safe and sound. I promise you."

Albanion wasn't the only dragon driven to near madness. Throughout the streets, Elenar could see that many dragons had been driven into a frenzy. With the loss of the children, they began attacking their property and crying out in agony.

"This is inexcusable…" Urobos said as he gazed out at the smoke clouds that still loomed over the city. "What kind of dragons would wish this upon so many people?"

Elenar took a breath and descended the staircase. Almost immediately, Apella and Grail moved to walk on either side of her. The queen could see in their eyes that both of them were struggling not to join in the grieving. Elenar quietly sighed in pity. They had every right to worry: Apella had lost her niece and nephew, and Grail had lost his grandchild. And yet here they were; soldiering on and holding grim faces.

Elenar was distracted when she heard someone stomping their way down the street. She looked over to see a fire dragoness racing toward her with tears on her face.

"How could you let this happen to Warfang?!" The dragoness cried as she slammed the ground at Elenar's paws. "Where are our children?!"

"I…" Elenar began.

"You were supposed to PROTECT the children!" The dragoness continued. "Not gather them all in one place so they could be abducted in one fell swoop!"

Elenar flinched; Apella and Grail were quick to spread their wings and stand at the ready beside the queen.

"That's no way to speak to a monarch." Apella snapped. "Screaming at her won't fix anything."

Elenar lightly patted Apella's side to get her back up. The queen then took a calm breath as she stepped toward the grieving dragoness to look at her in pity. Elenar rose her head up high and pushed all of her pain and anguish to the side.

You are the high queen, Elenar. She told herself. Even if your people hate you, you must be their rock.

"I wish that I could tell you where the children are… but I cannot." She said coldly. "But I can assure you, and the rest of the dragons of Warfang, that I will do everything in my power to see the children returned safely to Warfang. You can be sure of that."

The grieving dragoness didn't seem all too convinced. However, soon she was joined by her mate; a wind dragon, who lightly rubbed her back. The wind dragon put on a brave face as he bowed his head to Elenar.

"Th-Thank you, Queen Elenar." He said quietly.

As Elenar watched the drake take his mate away, she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. How could she ensure the return of the children when she was so unsure of everything? Her people were suffering. The Sons of Culmubrae and the Extremists had killed some of her best soldiers. The Nexus had vanished in a puff of darkness; darkness too great for even a group of dark dragons to conjure up. One of her sons was missing, and the other son suffered from a curse. Her daughter… Her daughter was somewhere out there, possibly spreading more worries about white dragons in the countryside. And throughout all of this chaos, Bergan was lurking somewhere.

There had been no signs of Bergan ever since he helped Rune evade the Sons of Culmubrae. And even during the chaos, Elenar hadn't seen any signs of him. What was he up to? Why didn't he do anything to stop the spread of chaos in the city?

What do you want, Bergan? Elenar frowned.

~~…~~

Elenar called for a meeting with the Deep Shadows in the throne room. Urobos sat on her right, and all the remaining Deep Shadows were gathered around her in their temporary thrones. Grail, Albanion, Apella, Aegis, Lilith, Wraith, and Cerulean all had uneasy faces as they looked upon the queen.

"The situation in Warfang is growing worse." Elenar declared. "First things first: What's the word on Deep Shadow Rose and the two elders?"

"Rose, Argos, and Icarox are in the medical wing," Cerulean said. "They're alive but unconscious. The two elders were in some sort of enchanted sleep, while Deep Shadow Rose was the victim of a poisoning."

"Poisoning?" Albanion repeated with a glare.

"Mhm…" Cerulean reached into his robes and produced a small clear bag, within which was a blow dart. "We found this in her neck; it numbed her body and made her lose control of her magic. Her condition is stable, but she'll still be unconscious for some time."

Cerulean handed the dart to Albanion, who held it up to examine it. His nostrils flared, and he flipped it over to inspect the fine detail.

"No doubt about it; it's a magical poison dart," Albanion said angrily. "By design, the darts numb a dragon's senses and inhibit their magical ability so that they aren't a threat."

"Are they lethal?" Aegis asked.

"Usually…" Albanion said coldly. A worried murmur began to spread, but then Albanion looked back at Cerulean. "You said that Rose's condition is stable?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Why?"

"Because, normally… she'd have had a heart attack and died by now," Albanion said as he put the dart down.

"What?!" Lilith exclaimed.

"But this dart… its design is different." Albanion held it up in the light. "As if all of the lethal qualities were stripped away, and replaced with magic, not unlike the enchanted sleep. Whoever fired this dart wanted to neutralize threats, without killing the target. And it would take someone skilled in both wind AND poison magic to create such a dart."

The Deep Shadows looked around at each other. Apella scowled, while Aegis tugged nervously on his beard. Elenar shivered; there was only one person who might have done it… but she didn't want to say it.

"What of Argos and Icarox?" Elenar asked Cerulean. "Can you tell me when they'll wake up?"

"I don't know, Your Grace." Cerulean shook his head. "For now, all we can do is let them get their rest and tend to them until the enchantment wears off."

"Very well…" Urobos said, with a slight sigh of relief. There was no telling what the old drake might have done if his two oldest-surviving friends had been critically injured. Elenar faced the Deep Shadows again, took a deep breath, and took her regal posture.

"Next topic; the fires and the abduction," Elenar said aloud. "Do we have any suspects in mind?"

The Deep Shadows all exchanged glances; it was clear on most of their minds that one particular name was about to come up, much to Elenar's dread.

"Bergan." Albanion declared with gnashed fangs. "Who else could it have been, but Bergan?"

Elenar flinched; she didn't want to think that the once-noble purple dragon from her youth could have a motive to abduct an entire city's draconic child population. But her mind raced to find some kind of answer to prove otherwise. Especially after he aided their daughter to attack her son…

"He certainly picked a curious series of places to set fire to, though." Apella declared. "We've had quite a few arrests all day."

"What?" Elenar asked curiously.

Apella stepped forward and pulled a map of Warfang out of her robes. She placed it down on the floor for all the Deep Shadows to see and proceeded to make a series of marks with a quill pen.

"This shows a diagram of each and every place that was set ablaze," Apella said. "And when we came to put out the fires, each time… we found weapons and tools belonging to the Sons of Culmubrae."

"What?" Lilith exclaimed.

"Oh yes." Apella nodded. "A lot of them tried to hide or salvage their weapons by the time we arrived to help with the fires. Once they were given up, they tried to resist. So, most of them were carted off to the dungeons."

"And that wasn't all," Grail said with a snort. He picked up the quill and began marking several other places on the map. "Other buildings that were burned down… belonged to the Extremists."

"They did?" Elenar asked in amazement.

"Indeed." The burly drake growled. "They had scrolls stored away in secret compartments, which were blown into exposure thanks to the fire damage. And a lot of them detailed various unsavory plans."

"Plans for what?" Aegis queried.

"You don't want to know the details…" Grail growled. "Just be thankful that we've stopped them from doing unspeakable things."

"Hmm…" Elenar tapped her chin. "Were there any casualties?"

"None among civilians, thank the ancestors." Cerulean sighed. "But a lot of the extremists and the Sons of Culmubrae were brought to me in critical condition, among them being Marcus, evidently the leader of the Extremists."

Elenar's eyes widened. She took a few deep breaths and wracked her brain. So all of the fires took place in buildings belonging to both dangerous groups roaming in Warfang simultaneously. That kind of extensive pre-planning would take weeks, if not months… unless someone had the pre-emptive know-how of where they all were. Someone like Bergan…

"But what about the marketplace?" Elenar asked. "I was informed before that the caravan from Faeshrine was set ablaze, too."

"Funny you should mention that, Your Grace…" Wraith said as he stepped forward. "When I finally got back around to investigating, we found that none of the merchants from Faeshrine were present when the fires started. And all of the wagons and carriages were cleared of their supplies; it was a series of burning, empty husks."

Of course. Definitely, something Bergan would do… Elenar gave a deep sigh. "There's no other dragon that could be responsible: Bergan did this. He did ALL of this…" She looked up toward the sky. "Which means he's the only one with the ingenuity to steal an entire fortress."

"So that's that, then." Grail snorted. "We need to hunt for Bergan."

"But how?" Cerulean asked. "He could be ANYWHERE with those kids."

As the Deep Shadows began to discuss what to do about the situation, Elenar glanced over at Urobos again. The aged drake's eyes darted this way and that, and he seemed a bit choked up. Something was on his mind; likely that vision he'd talked about before. The high queen reached over and shook his shoulder to get his attention.

"Speak, Urobos." She said softly. "Tell them what you saw that day."

"Alright…" Urobos stood up tall and cleared his throat to draw the Deep Shadows' attention. All of the Deep Shadows quieted down so the old drake could speak.

"Here's the situation as I see it," Urobos said with a sigh. "We need to find Bergan and The Nexus. Once we do, we'll have to either find the means to detain him… or negotiate for the release of the children of Warfang."

"Negotiate?" Grail asked incredulously. "You want to negotiate with a kidnapper?!"

"Grail, you should know very well that Bergan isn't one to be taken lightly," Elenar said. "If he thinks you're a threat, he'll be gone in seconds; he always had a talent for time-related magic. But he's open to lengthy discussions; if we start by asking him what he wanted with The Nexus, it's a good start."

"But… what if he's grown into a killer?" Albanion asked. "Think about the destruction of the Hurricos Hearth; he wasn't shy about killing a whole room full of extremists in an explosion."

Elenar shuddered briefly, but she quickly retook her regal expression.

"Most of the dragons here have encountered Bergan in some way, shape, or form," Elenar said. She glanced at Aegis and Lilith. "The two of you used to work for him in Faeshrine, yes?"

"Correct… but that was ages ago." Aegis rumbled as he wracked his talons on the floor. "And I wasn't exactly one of his high-tier employees at the time."

"Hmm…" Elenar looked between Cerulean and Apella next. "The two of you used to be Guardians. Was there ever a point in time when you met Bergan during your meetings with the former Pappas over the years?"

The red and blue dragons exchanged uneasy glances.

"Those meetings were far too fleeting for Bergan to leave much of an impression, Your Grace." Cerulean shrugged. "Sorry, we're not of much help."

Apella frowned "He wouldn't hurt children, would he?"

"He's not above doing SOMETHING to those children." Grail declared. "But there's no telling what he's planning."

"Well, we won't know until we find him." Urobos sighed. "And the sooner we find him, the better; we're running out of time."

"Out of time?" Lilith repeated uneasily.

Urobos took a very deep breath; it was time to share his most disturbing news.

"Everyone… It's my belief that a time of great disaster is fast approaching… one to rival the time of Malefor's war against the realms." Urobos took a heavy breath. "The fires in Warfang, and the abduction of The Nexus... they were all just a part of the horrific vision I received. And if it turns out to be a prelude of what's to come, then…" The old drake shuddered. "…then I believe that we need to enlist the help of some old friends."

"What?" Aegis asked incredulously. "Do you mean the Guardians?"

"No… well, I suppose yes." Urobos nodded. "But we'll need some OTHER help to turn the tide in our favor." He rose onto all fours. "I need to venture north, to the remains of Mount Erebus."

The Deep Shadows all exchanged uneasy glances; they murmured uneasily as they wondered what Urobos was planning. Elenar, however, had a good idea of who he wanted to enlist; she rose onto her feet and stood beside him.

"It's going to be a rather harrowing trip, Urobos." She said softly. "It might take you days to get there, even if you were in your prime."

"I know, but we have to hurry nonetheless." The elderly drake insisted. "Every second wasted here is a second where danger could be lurking closer and closer over the horizon."

"Well, if you're so concerned about saving time… then why not teleport?"

Elenar and Urobos looked across at Wraith, who now stood tall. He carefully made his way around the map of Warfang to stop before the high queen.

"If all three of us work together, we can channel our shadow magic to make our way to the remains of Mount Erebus in no time," Wraith said. "Well, actually, maybe a bit of time. But it'll definitely save days on our travel time."

"That's an excellent point." Urobos declared. "Let's do exactly that."

Elenar looked around at the Deep Shadows. "Are there any objections?"

Everyone exchanged glances. Most of the dragons were silent; Aegis in particular looked ready to rise and leave immediately. But there was just one dragon who looked ready to protest: Cerulean.

"I have to ask, Your Graces…" The blue dragon looked between Elenar and Urobos. "What exactly do you intend to do at the ruins of Mount Erebus?"

The queen and elder shuddered; they looked at each other and held their tongues. All eyes were upon them, making the silence of the chamber very uncomfortable.

"That… Remains to be seen." Urobos finally said. "I ask that you put your faith in us; I… I'm not even sure if the trip will work. But if it's a chance that we can save the world, then we must take it."

Cerulean looked very doubtful; he tapped his talons and glanced at Elenar. "Is there something you're not telling us?"

Elenar sighed and shook her head. "As Urobos said; have faith for now. We shouldn't make promises we can't keep."

"Hmph…" Cerulean backed up and flapped his wings. "Fine. Keep your secrets. I just hope you know what you're doing, My Queen."

I do, too… She thought with a sigh. She cleared her throat, stood up tall, and spoke in her regal tone once more.

"This meeting is over. Wraith, prepare what you need for the journey. The rest of you should go about your assigned duties to keep any more chaos from erupting in Warfang. Go."

"As you command, Your Grace." The Deep Shadows said in unison.

One by one, they rose from their cushions and made to head out of the throne room. One of the last ones to go was Albanion, who struggled to keep his composure. Elenar could see the pain in his eyes; he wanted more than anything to go looking for Elza. And she wanted to go along with him… but there was work to be done. And once he was gone, Elenar gave a worried sigh and turned toward Urobos.

"Do you really think they'll aid us again?" She asked with a flap of her wings.

"Why would they refuse?" Urobos frowned back.

"Last time… they got involved to prevent Malefor from spreading destruction across the realms." She said. "All we have to go on is one vision, Urobos. They may not see it as important enough to step in."

"The only way we'll know for sure is if we ask them for help." Urobos declared. "There's more than one great evil lurking in the Underworld."

"I… I guess you're right." Elenar sighed.

"So, we mustn't waste time." Urobos declared. "We need the aid of legendary heroes to combat the coming disaster. We need Spyro and Cynder."

~~…~~

It was the next morning.

Elenar stepped out of the throne room to gather up everything she'd need for the journey. Everything was packed in a golden satchel, and she held it tightly against her chest as she returned to the throne room. Soon, the Deep Shadows rejoined her. They all gathered around as Urobos began channeling his magic to prepare for the journey.

During the gathering, Apella had a growl in her throat, and her tail shook wildly. Wraith turned to her and raised an eye ridge. "What's with you?"

"I've been robbed," Apella said through gritted fangs.

Elenar's eyes widened, as did several other Deep Shadows. They turned to the golden dragoness as she shook with rage in place.

"What do you mean?" Elenar asked. "What was taken?"

"My nephew's sword and armor." Apella scowled. "When I returned to the training arena yesterday, I discovered the display glass smashed inwards. Someone stole them during the crisis!"

"How vile…" Urobos grimaced.

"I need to hunt down the thief." Apella scowled. "But I don't have any true leads."

"Was there anything out of the ordinary yesterday?" Lilith asked.

Apella scratched her chin and blew golden smoke from her nostrils. "Just one thing; one of the apprentices, Ozul, claimed that a solar dragon was lurking amongst the student body."

"Ah, he's an astute kid." Wraith grinned.

"I sent guards to search the Dragon Spire," Apella continued, "But they never found anyone with the scale color."

"Hmm…" Cerulean bit his lower lip. "How strange. Perhaps I'll help you search for clues… after we're done here."

"Right…" Apella sighed. "I understand.

Elenar and Urobos continued to get ready. Wraith and Cerulean had their tails coiled about each other as they looked into each other's eyes.

"You take care up north, you hear me, Smokey?" Cerulean declared. "No freezing to death because you forgot to keep warm."

"It's not my first snow day, Blue." Wraith poked his husband on the snout. "I think I know what I'm doing."

"Heh…" Cerulean rolled his eyes. "Here's hoping."

Wraith planted a quick kiss on Cerulean's muzzle, and then made his way over to Urobos. Elenar stood between the two of them, and they all formed a triangular formation in the center of the chamber.

"The three of us have all been to the remains of Mount Erebus; it shouldn't be hard to visualize the base of the mountainside," Elenar said. She held out a forepaw to grasp Urobos's. "If we pool our magical capabilities, we should have no problem teleporting the great distance."

"Indeed…" Urobos carefully took Wraith's forepaw. "But to ensure we don't end up embedded partially in the rock, let's take the time to chant."

"Yeah…" Wraith held the two other dragons' paws tightly. "That works."

One by one, the three dragons knelt their heads down and chanted under their breaths. At first, they had three disjointed and unconnected rhythms… but over time, they synced their voices together. Shadowy auras began to surround their bodies and spread out to unite with one another. Soon, all three of them were engulfed in dark magic. Albanion, Grail, and all the other Deep Shadows gave careful salutes to the three of them.

"May the Ancestors look after you." They said in unison.

Wraith, Urobos, and Elenar sank into the pool of shadows. And just like that, they were gone. The air became silent as the Deep Shadows beheld the spot where the three had just been. Albanion took a cautious breath and stepped forward to address the others.

"We're done here," Albanion said. "Let's get to work; the people need us."

Everyone nodded in agreement and made to leave the throne room. One by one, they slipped through the doors of the Palace of Kings, and took off into the sky to fly across the city…

All except for Aegis and Lilith.

The dark-brown dragon took a cautious breath, while his wife stepped up to drape a wing over his back. They gazed up into the sky, where The Nexus had once been.

"Are you alright?" Lilith whispered to him.

"Of course not…" Aegis looked at her with dread in his eyes. "Everything is wrong, Lilith."

"Don't lose faith…" She nuzzled his face. "Tina's alright; I'm sure of it. As are all of the other children."

Aegis frowned. "How can you be so sure?"

"Well… you did as Bergan asked, didn't you?" She looked at him seriously. "You gave him the key?"

"I… I did." Aegis's ear frills drooped. "And now, he's whisked the children off somewhere. There's no telling what happens next."

"We just have to keep our faith in Bergan…" Lilith gently grasped Aegis's forepaw. "He's never let us down before."

"I know…" Aegis gulped. "But… there's no telling how the others will react if they find us out."

"I'm no stranger to keeping secrets from the Deep Shadows." Lilith gave him a cheeky grin. "But what I did then, was for the best interest of the realms, just as it is now."

"I hope you're right, my love." Aegis sighed and held her close with his one good wing. "By the ancestors, I hope you're right."

The two Deep Shadows ventured forth to descend into the Dragon Spire; there was much work to be done. And for the rest of the day, they put their faith in their purple dragon.

~~…~~

That same morning, in a place far away from Warfang…

The first things Cyrus heard were low muttering voices coming from somewhere behind him. His head felt funny as he gradually woke up. Bit by bit he started to wake up, and he could better understand the voices.

"…Are you sure we should just leave him there?" Asked an uneasy girl.

"He's been a real jerk lately." A more aggressive girl said with a snort. "Let him wake up on his own."

A third voice, a boy, took an uneasy breath. "I guess we'll just figure things out on our own, then."

Multiple pairs of paws walked away from Cyrus, vanishing somewhere he couldn't see. Cyrus muttered to himself in confusion as his eyes shut… then opened… then shut… then, finally, opened up wide.

Cyrus was lying on his side on something fluffy and soft. His head felt fuzzy, but otherwise, he didn't have any aches and pains other than minor twitches in his wing membranes. Even his forehead felt better. Upon looking himself over, Cyrus realized that all of his armor was gone; someone must have stripped it when he was unconscious. He put a forepaw on his neck and found that his convexity crystal was still there.

Thank the Ancestors… He thought with a sigh of relief.

The chamber the prince was stuck in was small, but also brightly lit. And the barred door of the cell was wide open.

"What…?" Cyrus blinked and rubbed his head. "What happened?"

The prince wracked his brain to try and remember the previous day's events.

There was some kind of disaster in Warfang. Fires broke out all over the place, so Queen Elenar ordered all the draconic children to take shelter in The Nexus. Then she dragged Cyrus here to get him to help the apprentices look after the other kids… He gnashed his fangs upon remembering things.

We were waiting in the lower chamber. Someone opened the door and shot me with a needle… everything after that became a blur.

"Damn it…" Cyrus scowled. "I need to find out where I am."

He stepped through the door of his cell and looked down both hallways. To his shock and awe, every other cell down the hallway had its doors wide open. Everything was brightly lit, and there were plenty of snores filling the air. Out of curiosity, Cyrus peered into the cell across from his own. It was a lightning dragon, asleep like nothing was wrong. In the cell across from the lightning drake was a dragoness with dark-red scales. Then after that was an earth dragon, then a wind dragon, and so on…

Light and dark younglings, sleeping like this was some big naptime. Cyrus grimaced as he scratched his chin. What's going on here? This is like… He shivered a bit. Like dad's old plan.

Looking around at the interior of the cells, Cyrus began to get a good feeling of where he was.

These must be the lowest dungeons of The Nexus. Cyrus sighed. Dad told me never to come down here. And then Mom and Grandpa ordered me to stay out of here. He flapped his wings and snorted. Looks like somebody broke that rule for me.

Cyrus scratched his upper foreleg and grumbled uneasily. "If they're all asleep, then why am I wide awake?" He looked down both sides of the corridor. "I hope Tina's okay."

The prince spent the better part of an hour wandering up one side of the hallway, going into each dungeon cell individually to look for Tina.

At first, he'd gone down the eastern wing, but he quickly came to realize that all the younglings there got younger and younger with each new cell. He reached dragons that were about ten years old when he started to hear a girl crying. With a grimace, Cyrus approached one of the cells to look and see who it was…

"It's okay," Ozul said. "It's going to be okay."

Cyrus found the crimson dragon sitting on his haunches beside a smaller dragoness. She was hugging Ozul and cried quietly as she hugged him with her wings. By the time Cyrus stepped into view, Ozul and the girl looked up and gasped. The dragoness quickly dashed around to shiver behind Ozul, who gulped and stood up tall.

"Well, looks like you're alright." Cyrus snorted.

"I… I don't want any trouble." Ozul said nervously as he shielded the dragoness. "Just… leave Layla alone."

"What?" Cyrus blinked in confusion. "Why would I cause trouble?"

"I…" Ozul gulped. "I know you're furious with the other apprentices. I just…" He shifted to protect his sister. "I just want to find a way to get my sister home."

"Alright, alright…" Cyrus rolled his eyes. "I'm going to double-back the other way: I need to find Tina."

"O-Okay…" Ozul nervously stood up, while Layla stayed hidden. The pair watched as Cyrus stepped out into the hallway to go back the way he came. As Cyrus left, he could just barely hear Layla whispering to Ozul.

"Why is the prince so mean, Big Brother?"

Cyrus just snorted and rolled his eyes; he didn't feel like arguing with some random kid.

Cyrus marched forward with his head held high as he inspected every cell, just in case he found someone else who'd woken up. There would be a lot of work involved in freeing these kids, and he wanted to look his best.

But on his way back, Cyrus heard some familiar voices from around a corner. He crept up against the wall and listened intently.

"…Alright, fine; thank you." A male voice said with a sigh.

"You're welcome, Your Highness." Another voice chuckled. "Though I have to admit, you're cuter when you're snoozing."

"Excuse me?" The male snapped.

"Can we please just get out of here?" A feminine voice asked. "This dungeon is giving me the creeps."

Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. Of all the teenaged dragons in the whole of the fortress to wake up on their own, it had to be THOSE THREE? Cyrus felt his blood boil; he wasn't sure whether or not to take off down the hall to avoid them or curse them out right then and there.

Ultimately a choice was made for him; the trio rounded the corner he was standing by. Lantel, Helianne, and Chalice all jumped in alarm to see the black prince seated on his haunches.

"Prince Cyrus?" Chalice exclaimed. "You're awake!"

"Yeah, hi," Cyrus said flatly. He cast a glare at Lantel and Helianne. The former opened his wing to shield the latter, who shrank back and looked away from the black prince.

"How did you break out of the sleeping spell?" Chalice asked.

"Is that what they're calling darts to the face these days?" Cyrus snorted.

Chalice balked and then grimaced. "I guess that means you were knocked out differently than the rest of us."

"What are you talking about?" Cyrus demanded.

"Surely you've noticed that all of these dragons are out cold?" Chalice extended their wings and spun around. "They've all been put into an enchanted sleep; it's just like the one all the younglings were put into four years ago."

"Yeah, I know." Cyrus huffed. "So how did you three break the spell?"

Chalice beamed with pride, and they sat back on their haunches to place a forepaw on their chest. "I studied up on the sleeping spell after I moved into my new home in Warfang with Granddad. It's definitely based on some very tricky wind magic. I wasn't able to replicate it myself, for obvious reasons, but I WAS able to concentrate while dreaming to gradually wake myself up."

"Good for you…" Cyrus said flatly; he twirled a talon in the air.

"Once I finally got myself awake, I set to work using what I studied to get these two to wake up next." Chalice gestured to Lantel and Helianne, who glared at them. "I figured they could help me free the other kids."

"What, you can't wake them all up one at a time?" Cyrus snorted. "Don't have the gems for that?"

"Well, it's still more than YOU have accomplished." Lantel snorted. Cyrus gnashed his fangs… but then a thought came to him. He fell back onto his haunches and flashed the golden prince a toothy grin.

"Back to your big talk, are we?" Cyrus chided. "Did your balls pop back out after Rune kicked them so hard up your arse?"

Lantel flinched at the very mention of Cyrus's brother. He spread his limbs out and snarled furiously. "Shut your mouth!"

"Or what, you'll fight me?" Cyrus snorted. "I thought you weren't going to give me the satisfaction!"

Lantel looked ready to pounce. And that suited Cyrus just fine; the prince rose onto all fours and prepared for the throw-down he'd dreamed of for ages… Only for Chalice and Helianne to block the drakes' paths.

"Cut it out!" The princess snapped at her brother. "This isn't the time or the place for your stupid arguing."

Lantel scowled at his sister for a moment, before eventually grumbling and blowing smoke out his nostrils.

"Helianne's right." Chalice snapped at Cyrus. "I expected better from you, Cyrus."

Cyrus's eye twitched. "Excuse me?"

"Just look around." Chalice pointed at the various cells. "All of these other kids are in danger. And you're the closest thing they have to an authority figure right now. You should be focused on helping to free them, Cyrus."

"What, are the two of US not enough for you?" Helianne scowled.

Chalice gave the princess a dour look. "In terms of RESPONSIBILITY, Cyrus outranks you."

"Chal…" Cyrus ran a forepaw down his muzzle and growled. "You are REALLY in no position to be lecturing me. You're still on my shit list for stabbing me in the back."

Chalice rolled their eyes at that. They then turned around, grabbed Cyrus by the shoulder, and forced him to step forward to the left of Lantel and Helianne. "Stop arguing and get moving already!"

"Hey, get off!" Cyrus protested.

"You have more magical capability than any of the rest of us." Chalice yelled at Cyrus. "You have the means to free so many more of these younglings from the enchantment! So now's a good time to start learning to use enchantment magic!"

"Alright, alright!" The black prince snapped at Chalice. "But where do you get off barking orders at me all of a sudden?!"

Chalice's face became a mask of anger; it burned so hot that even Lantel and Helianne backed off with worry. Chalice stomped forward and glared right into the prince's eyes.

"I'm an apprentice DEEP SHADOW!" Chalice snarled. "I've been trying to prepare myself for the role of a servant of the people for years! I wish I had the magical might and power to free all of these dragons myself, but I just CAN'T. And then there's YOU!" Chalice poked the black prince on the muzzle. "YOU, who have so much potential to do good, and all you ever do is flaunt your power!"

Cyrus's eye twitched. He opened his mouth to speak, but Chalice slapped their forepaw over his muzzle.

"You're always flying around, showing off what you've got like a high-and-mighty jackass!" Chalice continued. "You're always trying so DESPERATELY to show off your stupid magic tricks and theatrics in front of me and all the other apprentices!"

The grey dragon spread their wings and trotted around with a sarcastically-pitched voice. "Hey, everybody, look at me! I'm a black dragon! Grovel before me and bask in my greatness!"

Cyrus growled as Chalice did a little lap around him. Lantel and Helianne snickered at the sight and didn't stop even as the black prince scowled at them. But that scowl was knocked away as Chalice came to a stop before Cyrus and snapped at them again.

"You act like everyone ignores you, when the truth is that they're sick of you always being in their faces!" Chalice yelled. "Do you honestly think that if you kept pestering those dragonesses in that study group eventually one of them would go out with you?!" Chalice stomped their paw. "Why do you even WANT that attention from them?! Aren't you smitten with Tina?!"

"Tina doesn't take me seriously!" Cyrus snapped back. "She'd rather go out with YOU!"

Chalice snorted at that. They then fell back onto their haunches to count off their talons.

"First of all, I'm not trying to take Tina from you: I'm not even seeking ANYONE in a relationship. Second of all, Tina has been trying to get you to ask her out officially for ages."

"Sh-She has?" Cyrus blinked. Chalice just rolled their eyes and kept counting off.

"Yes, but THIRD of all, you're too dense to notice it because you're too busy acting all smug all the time." Chalice slammed their forepaw down and gnashed their fangs. "And frankly, she could do better than you."

"What?!" Cyrus snapped.

"Don't act like it's my fault." Chalice snapped their talons. "You've acted like nothing but an egocentric pain, who abuses their magic like it's a toy. If Rune were here, he'd be trying to free these young dragons in a heartbeat."

The mention of Rune made Cyrus's eye twitch. Chalice ignored that and scowled at him. "Don't you realize what kind of danger these kids are in? Do you even CARE?!"

"Yes, I do!" Cyrus screamed. "I cared about them enough to try and help them four years ago! I ran away from home to try and bring back my mother! And it WORKED!" He slammed his forepaws down. "Many dragons were spared! The war was finally over! Dark and light dragons can intermingle again! And it's all because I was one of the only dragons with the guts to stop my Dad!"

Cyrus's limbs were shaking at this point; his eyes watered with tears as he dug his talons into the floor.

"But even after all this time, nobody cares that I was involved." Cyrus declared. "They prefer to focus on RUNE's actions. It's always Rune! Rune's struggles! Rune's trauma! Rune, Rune, Rune!" Cyrus slammed his forepaws on the floor and walked forward. Lantel and Helianne balked as the black prince did his lap around Chalice and put on his own sarcastic false voice.

"'Rune's the one who's going to be the next king! Rune's the one everybody wants to talk to! Rune's the one with the nasty scars! Rune's so kind! Rune's adventure across the realms was so dangerous! Rune's adorable! Rune's the best!' I just can't take it anymore!" Cyrus scowled at Chalice. "Do you have any idea what I have to do to get people to notice I'm even around?! I barely even get attention from my own family!"

"Well, your shitty behavior isn't going to win over any sympathy, Cyrus." Chalice snapped. "You even act horribly toward people who TRY to sympathize with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about RICIN." Chalice glared. "Ricin has idolized for your ages. He looks up to you; he wants to be like you. He's always the first one to support you when you perform those theatrics of yours. And how do you repay him? By treating him like TRASH."

Chalice sneered at the prince, who balked and stepped back a bit.

"You keep acting like Ricin and I backstabbed you," Chalice continued, "When all we did was go find your aunt and uncle. I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt; that you were only being cruel to us because you were feeling miserable about something. We figured that you just needed to talk to your family…" Chalice stepped forward and glared again. "It's not our fault that we found you just as you were screaming and ranting at Helianne."

"That reminds me…" Lantel said. He stomped forward to blow golden smoke in Cyrus's face. "Don't you EVER insult my sister like that ever again, you prick!"

Cyrus coughed on the smoke and then growled. He took a deep breath and reached within himself for some wind magic; he'd show this pain in the arse why he shouldn't get so close. Cyrus focused his glare on Lantel, parted his jaws, and…

Coughed.

Lantel, Helianne, and Chalice all blinked in confusion. Cyrus's eyes widened, and he stammered for a moment.

What the…?

Cyrus took in another deep breath, called for wind magic… and coughed awkwardly as nothing came forth. He tried a third time to unleash a burst of wind… but he couldn't conjure anything but his own natural breath.

"No…" Cyrus began to shiver. He tried opening up his shadow to dive in… and hit the floor. He tried augmenting his strength with earth magic to punch the wall… only to pull back his aching paw. He tried lightning, ice, fire, water, poison… none of it worked.

"No, no, no…" Cyrus's eyes twitched as he backed up. The more frantic he grew, the less control he had. He looked for his satchel on instinct to grab some red gems, but it wasn't there. And neither was his magic.

"No, no, NO!" Cyrus was screaming at this point. He looked around at the other dragons, but none of them had any satchels. The prince backed up again and grabbed his head in his forepaw as his wings shook wildly.

"Cyrus, what's wrong?" Chalice asked with a slightly-unnerved expression.

"M-My magic!" The prince cried out. "I can't use my magic!"

Chalice blinked. "Your magic is gone?"

Cyrus looked down at his convexity crystal and grabbed it. He desperately squeezed it and reached into it with his mind, trying desperately to unleash any dormant power it may have still had… but there wasn't so much as a drop of power.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Cyrus screamed louder and louder. "This can't be happening! This isn't happening!"

"Cyrus, just calm down." Chalice snapped. "Maybe you're just drained after the ambush. We'll find a way to restore once we're out of here."

"But I need it NOW!" Cyrus yelled at Chalice as tears formed. "It's my magic… my magic! How can I be a prince without my magic?!"

"Oh, will you just stop it?!" Yelled Lantel from across the way. "It's not the end of the world!"

Cyrus growled at the golden prince as his eyes twitched again. Cyrus dug at the floor, pushed past Chalice, and charged for Lantel at full speed. He tilted his head to ram into the golden prince. Helianne gasped and leaped out of the way, while Lantel stood his ground…

WHAM!

Cyrus came to a full stop against Lantel's chest. The golden prince didn't even budge; he just looked down at Cyrus with a glare. The black prince groaned as he backed up and rubbed his head. But that didn't deter Cyrus; he just rammed into Lantel a second time, and then tried again a third time. Lantel just took a deep breath, grabbed Cyrus's forehead, and pushed him back toward Chalice.

"Just stop it." Lantel huffed. "You're embarrassing the both of us."

Cyrus panted as he shook in place. He tried his best not to cry as Lantel simply walked around him. Helianne followed behind and turned to focus on Chalice.

"We'll have to figure out how to save the other kids without him," Helianne said. "If he's got no magic, he'll only slow us down."

Cyrus's eyes went wide with horror.

"I guess…" Chalice sighed, and then looked at Cyrus in pity. "Maybe you should just… I don't know." They shook their head. "Just try not to get into trouble."

Cyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing. He watched with stunned silence as Lantel, Helianne and Chalice made their way down the hallway. This couldn't have been happening. He was a black dragon; a prince! He wasn't supposed to be stripped of his power! And he wasn't supposed to be left behind and considered a burden! This wasn't right!

Cyrus made to walk in the opposite direction. He struggled to keep his composure as tears threatened to pour from his eyes…

"Cy?" Tina's voice asked.

Cyrus's eyes flew wide incredulously. He had to have been hearing things. He turned around and looked around the corners where the hallways crossed. Sure enough, just across the way came a mess of dark-yellow scales. There were several other colors of scales behind her… but he lost track of them as he was suddenly pinned to the floor after Tina tackled him.

"I knew it was you, Shorty!" Tina declared happily. She backed up off of him and stood up tall. "Figured you'd use your black dragon magical shenanigans to wake yourself up!"

"Hi, Tina…" Cyrus sighed.

Cyrus just barely managed to look up to see who was following Tina; it was Holly, Brisa, and Ricin. The blue and green dragonesses frowned down at Cyrus, while the indigo drake stayed behind and frowned.

"Oh, how nice… he's awake." Brisa huffed.

"Well… maybe he's finally done being mean?" Holly asked hopefully.

Tina's outbursts and laughter attracted the attention of Chalice, Helianne, and Lantel. The trio stopped and looked back incredulously to see Tina picking Cyrus up onto his paws. Holly and Brisa looked across at the other trio, and soon everyone came together to look at each other.

"I guess we're not the only ones awake," Brisa said.

Chalice practically sprinted down the hall to stop before Tina and the other apprentices. "Thank the Ancestors you're alright. How'd you wake up from the sleeping enchantment?"

Tina stuck a talon in the air to silence Chalice. She then reached into her ear frills and very carefully pulled out tiny little nubs from each ear hole. Chalice blinked in surprise as Tina stored them away in a pouch on her satchel.

"I recognized that song that Elza was singing," Tina said.

"Aunt Elza?" Cyrus repeated in surprise.

"One thing after a time, Shorty." Tina flicked Cyrus on the muzzle. He winced and held his muzzle, much to the amusement of Brisa. Meanwhile, Tina relaxed against a wall as she focused on Chalice.

"I don't know why she was doing it, but Elza was using wind magic to create a Siren's Song," Tina said. She glanced at Brisa, who glowered a bit.

"It's a lullaby technique to put younglings to sleep," Brisa said. "My moms used to sing them to me to help me get some rest when I was little. But… I guess Lady Elza used an alternated version was used to make the whole chamber of children pass out."

"I don't remember reading anything about Siren Songs." Chalice grimaced.

"They're pretty uncommon these days; they used to mostly be used in Aeroshard" Brisa shrugged. "I was caught off-guard when Lady Elza started singing one; I guess it figures that she'd know a few."

"Uh-huh…" Chalice looked back at Tina. "Then, how did you know to use earbuds?"

"Because my Dad went to Aeroshard to study once." Tina grinned. "He taught me about it a while back. So, when Elza's singing got louder, I knew something was up. So I quickly shoved this in my ear frills and pretended to pass out with everyone else. And hoo boy…" Tina's face turned sour. "Whoever grabbed us is VERY touchy-feely."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Cyrus asked.

In response, Brisa snarled… while Holly shivered. The wind dragoness sheltered Holly with a wing and snarled.

"Somebody up there thought it would be funny to grope flanks." Brisa hissed. "We're going to find him and give him a piece of our minds!"

An awkward silence filled the air. Lantel looked over Helianne for any signs that she'd been groped, but the flora dragoness didn't seem particularly affected. Ricin, however, quietly growled at the back of the group. And in the middle of it all, Cyrus tapped his talons on the floor and sighed.

"We're not going to give anybody any comeuppance if we all just stand around down here," Cyrus said. "We should all get going."

Everyone was silent; they just shot Cyrus glares, and then looked at each other. Tina noticed this, and then just sighed and shook her head as she frowned at Cyrus.

"You were shitty again, weren't you?"

Cyrus blinked. "Wh-what?"

Tina looked Cyrus in the eyes; he tried to avoid looking at her. The dark-yellow dragoness tapped a talon as she snorted.

"Out with it, Shorty." She demanded. "How did you insult them this time."

"I… I didn't do anything." Cyrus looked away. "I just… I just…"

"Forget him." Lantel suddenly said. "We need to work on freeing the students, and the first step is to track down whoever's running this scheme to put a stop to it." The prince stamped his foot. "Come on; we've got work to do."

"Right." The apprentices all said in unison.

Lantel turned to lead the way down the corridor. Chalice was to his left, and Helianne was to his right. Holly, Brisa, and Ricin walked around Cyrus and Tina to follow behind. Tina was at the very back, frowning down at Cyrus as they walked forward to take the rear. Ricin glanced back at Cyrus, but then nervously avoided looking at him. Tina sighed and then sneered at the prince.

"Why do you have to be such an arse lately?" Tina asked incredulously.

"I…" Cyrus stammered. He couldn't think of anything to say; he just bent his head low in shame.

~~…~~

The group of eight dragons made their way calmly through the various dark corridors. Chalice and Tina eventually took the lead; they were the most familiar with the passageways, and could lead everyone up toward the chapel.

Along the way, a pool of shadows opened up; everyone stopped to watch cautiously. Out of the shadows came Ozul and his sister Layla… and both of them were shivering in fear. They stumbled out of the shadows and made to sit down in the hallway; Ozul covered his sister's back with a wing as she cried.

Chalice and Tina gasped; they sprinted over to kneel before the shadow dragons, while the other apprentices hang back.

"Ozul!" Chalice exclaimed as they crouched down. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"N-N-Nothing…" Ozul said quietly. "Th-There's nothing… out there… but…"

"Hey, hey, take it easy…" Chalice patted Ozul on the shoulder and called upon their magic. A red mist surrounded Ozul's body, and he soon stopped shivering as he took a deep breath.

"Say again, Ozie," Tina said cautiously. "What's wrong?"

Ozul looked up at the two with a blank expression.

"Everything's wrong," Ozul said quietly. "I don't know how to explain it, but…" He held his wing over his sister to comfort her. "When we went to look around outside… everything was wrong."

"What?" Lantel asked as he stepped up. "Start making sense."

"I've… I've never seen anything like it." Ozul shook his head. "I… I'm going to stay here to protect my sister. Just…" He lowered his head. "Just don't go outside."

Chalice and Tina exchanged dubious glances. None of the other dragons knew what Ozul was talking about. Lantel just snorted and kept marching forward.

"Whatever, kid…" He said with a huff. "We need to find our way out of here."

Everyone walked after Lantel to keep going. Brisa and Holly stopped beside Ozul and Layla to whisper to them.

"We'll come back for you guys," Holly said as she hugged Ozul with a wing. "Don't be scared."

"Yeah; just keep a brave face." Brisa put on a big smile for Layla. "You're among friends, okay?"

"Oh-okay…" The crimson dragoness said dubiously.

Ricin frowned down at the two, but still, he didn't speak up; he just glanced worriedly at Cyrus before he hurriedly ran away. Cyrus snorted, and he just glanced dourly at Ozul and Layla. Ozul frowned up at him, and then just wordlessly looked at his sister to comfort her.

Before long, the group of teenagers arrived at the doorway to the chapel. Cyrus pushed past the apprentices and made to stand beside the doors.

"What's your problem NOW?" Lantel demanded. "Need to be upfront about everything?"

Cyrus didn't respond; he just glared as he pushed the doors to open them. He stepped forward and immediately looked around as the others followed after him. They were standing in the left corner of the chamber, away from the chapel's front.

The prince balked as he spotted the front of the chapel's altar. A series of black stones had been placed in an octagonal pattern around the perimeter of the altar's platform. Multiple other teenaged dragons were standing around wordlessly; each one wore one of those white masks from Johnny's gang. And standing before the altar, with a book in one forepaw and a glass of wine in the other… was Bergan.

Naturally, when Cyrus made such a loud noise, all of the gang members gasped in alarm. Most of them leaped to their feet and growled at the prince, who growled back. And yet through it all, the purple dragon nonchalantly sipped from his wine.

"Hmm…" Bergan raised an eye ridge as he read a page. "Fascinating magic."

"YOU!" Cyrus screamed.

Bergan put his book down, looked right at Cyrus, and smiled. "Ah, good evening, my prince."

Cyrus gnashed his fangs as he stepped forward. Several of the gang members were quick to march forward to intercept him. However, everyone behind Cyrus was quick to stand in formation. Chalice and Tina glared threateningly at the gang members. Lantel flared his nostrils to look imposing. Helianne stepped back and shivered, while Brisa and Holly made to stand on either side of her.

Cyrus ignored all of them, and simply focused on the purple dragon.

"Bergan!" Cyrus yelled angrily.

"Yes, that's my name." the purple drake chuckled. He gave a bow toward Cyrus's group. "I'm glad to see that you're all well-rested."

"What do you want us to do with them, Bergan?" A blue dragon asked bitterly. Cyrus's ear frills twitched; he sounded just like one of the two thugs who ambushed him in the park that day.

"Oh, settle down, youngsters." Bergan put his wine glass down and waved his forepaw. "Let Prince Cyrus and his chums pass on by."

"Weren't we supposed to keep him locked up?" A fire dragon demanded.

"Of course not." Bergan took a careful sip as he rose from his seat. "Now, let them pass."

The gang members grumbled in annoyance before backing away from Cyrus's group. With a snort of his own, Cyrus marched forward to glare daggers at the purple drake.

"When my mother finds out what you've done, you're in for a world of hurt!" Cyrus yelled.

"What I've done?" Bergan raised an eye ridge. "Well, I suppose what I've done is leave her forepaws quite full. She's very busy at the moment, I'm sure, what with cleaning up the messes that those two warring factions made."

"Warring factions?" Helianne repeated.

"The Extremists, versus the Sons of Culmubrae." Bergan grimaced. "It was only a matter of time before the two groups made Warfang their battleground." He took another sip of his wine. "I'm thankful I was able to get the children to safety when I did."

"Safety?" Cyrus repeated incredulously. "They're all asleep down there! What did you do to them?! And where's my Aunt Elza?!"

"Settle down, my boy." Bergan nodded. "The questions are related, though: I enlisted the help of Elza to get the younglings to rest, while the dirty work was dealt with."

Cyrus was sick of whatever the purple dragon was getting at; he'd had a lot of pent-up aggression tonight, and it was about time he found himself a big, purple outlet! Cyrus reached within himself, sprang forward… and comically collapsed onto the floor. He groaned as a headache flared up at the back of his head, and he struggled to scrape himself off the floor. But that didn't hurt nearly as much, as the fits of laughter that sprang out from the Crazy Aces.

"What in the world was THAT?!" An earth dragoness exclaimed; hers was another familiar voice. "He just fell forward like an idiot!"

Cyrus growled, and he tried not to blush. He scowled at Bergan and tried to unleash his magic again… only for it to fail. Bergan raised an eye ridge at this and pursed his lips.

"Is something the matter?" Bergan asked.

"You…" Cyrus shivered as he glared up at Bergan. "You stole my magic!"

"Stole you…?" He began, only to sigh and chortle briefly. "Ah, I understand now; you were incapacitated with one of my darts. We have Bulb to thank for your condition."

"Condition?" Cyrus repeated.

"It's only temporary, I assure you." Bergan nodded. "You'll regain your magical might in time. For now… I'd recommend keeping a level head."

Cyrus scowled as he picked himself up; he whirled around and stalked toward Bergan again. He then glared past Bergan, at Chalice and the others. He was almost tempted to yell at them for not stepping up to help him deal with the purple dragon… But then again, he'd had enough of being yelled at for supposedly not caring about his subjects. If they were going to be useless, then Cyrus might as well be the big hero on his own.

"What's your scheme, Bergan?" Cyrus demanded. "Waiting for the right moment to have my Aunt Elza perform a Siren Song to knock us out again?" He looked around and scowled. "Where IS my Aunt Elza, anyway?!"

"Hmm, your lovely Aunt is around here somewhere." Bergan nodded. "As for having her knock you out… well, there's no need to use it again: I simply didn't want you interfering with my efforts to save the children."

"Oh, enough of your crap!" Cyrus stamped the ground. "Release my aunt AND all of those kids!"

"I'll say it again: I didn't capture them: I rescued them." Bergan clicked his tongue. He stepped up to the altar and wracked his talons upon its surface. "White dragon hatchlings and younglings, coupled with artificially created dark dragons, were all gathered up and stowed away up here in this fortress..." The purple drake pointed a talon up toward the ceiling. "And there they all floated around; one great big target for all of the dragons who would do them harm. I'm sure plenty of them spent the last four years fantasizing about blowing this whole fortress out of the sky, raining dead children upon the gardens around the Dragon Spire."

Cyrus grimaced; he shook his head to keep himself from even DARING to imagine a sight like that. And the other teenage dragons did the same.

"You're SICK, you know that?!" Lantel snapped. The prince stepped around his sister to approach Bergan. "SICK!"

"No, Prince Lantel: I'm merely telling you a possible future." Bergan shook his head. "Had I not intervened, all of those sleeping children down below would be very, very DEAD." He helped himself to another sip of his wine. "Ah, if only this were enough to get the images out of my mind."

"I don't care if you think you're some liberator." Cyrus snapped. He smacked one of the black stones out of alignment and hopped his way up onto the altar. The prince stamped his forepaw on the table and glared daggers into Bergan's eyes.

"As future king of Warfang, I order you to-"

"Future king?" Helianne scoffed. "In your dreams, maybe."

Several of the gang members laughed at that. Cyrus scowled at Helianne; how could she think to undermine him at a time like this? Stupid bitch, he was trying to set those kids free!

"You were saying, my prince?" Bergan asked Cyrus cautiously.

Cyrus blew smoke from his nostrils and glared back at the purple drake. "Let those children out of the sleeping spell, and set them free!"

Bergan snorted. "Well, Prince Cyrus, the children are free to go as they please, provided YOU can figure out how to awaken them." He flapped his wings. "I only know how to get a wind dragon to cast the Siren Song to put children to sleep: I haven't the foggiest as to how to make a song to wake them up."

"Are you trying to insinuate that a purple dragon can't figure out mind-related magic?" Chalice snapped. "I think you're bluffing!"

"No, I was never one for card games." Bergan snickered. He made a gesture toward the front doors. "If you can't free the sleeping children yourself, then I suppose you're all free to leave and find someone who has the means…" He glanced at Tina. "Perhaps your father Aegis might have some idea? He was always a clever sort."

Tina grimaced. She made her way around the side of the altar and looked right at the front doors. The dark-yellow dragoness adjusted her eyes and then turned to glare back at Bergan. She then glared around at the gang members; they all looked ready to pounce and attack at a moment's notice.

"You're up to something." She scowled back at Bergan. "I can feel it in my scales."

"No, I'm not." Bergan put on a playful smile. "You and your little circle of friends may leave the fortress at any time…" He glanced at Cyrus. "I'm sure your mother is worried sick about you, my prince."

"Fine." Cyrus scowled. He hopped down from the altar and huffed; he had a feeling there was still some trick to all of this. But if there was a chance for the prince to find his mom, then why wouldn't he take it? "Come on, all of you; we're leaving for the Dragon Spire."

Cyrus led the way cautiously down the aisle of pews. The other teenagers moved quietly to follow behind the black prince. The gang members watched them silently through their masks; Cyrus could feel the scales twitching on his spine. Lantel stayed at the back of the group, where he gave Bergan a suspicious glare.

"Have a nice day, younglings." Bergan nodded his head. "And do watch out for that first step."

"Arsehole," Cyrus said under his breath. The prince pushed the doors open and stepped through into the courtyard… where his jaw immediately fell open. His eyes widened in horror, and he fell back onto his haunches. It… It wasn't possible!

Tina and Chalice were quick to stop and investigate what he was looking at… and soon, they were just as perplexed and horrified. Holly, Brisa, and Ricin all did the same in turn. Lantel and Helianne, however, just gulped nervously and backed up; peering out the front doors was all they needed to see what lay beyond those doors…

Cyrus and his friends were definitely in The Nexus… but the Nexus wasn't floating in Warfang. In fact, the Nexus wasn't anywhere in the dragon realms anymore.

The fortress floated in an endless, iridescent void. Stars loomed in the vast reaches of space up above, below, and as far to the sides as the dragons could see. Off in the distance was a series of small, floating platforms, which circled two gigantic pillars of purple energy. Said pillars extended outwards upward and downward into the void, and eventually spread out into impossibly-large cyclones.

But the most disturbing aspects of this realm were the creatures that inhabited it. Cyrus could see several gigantic, squid-like abominations that grappled with platforms and pushed themselves through the void as if they were swimming underwater.

Cyrus blinked several times; was this a dream? It certainly felt like a dream. But the cold stone beneath his feet made it clear that he was as wide awake as he'd ever been. There was something mystical about what he saw; Cyrus almost wanted to spread his wings and explore around, were it not for a painful truth that stabbed his mind like a talon.

"We're… We're trapped here." Cyrus muttered.

"Where IS here?" Tina demanded. "And how did we get here?"

"I… I can't believe it." Chalice blinked in awe as they looked around. "This realm… it's…"

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Asked a cheeky voice.

Cyrus's group faced forward; they suddenly realized that someone was sitting on their haunches in the middle of the courtyard. It was a golden-scaled dragon, clad in Ram's armor. The drake turned to smirk at them through his white mask. He lifted his mask, revealing his scarred muzzle and beady eyes.

"Hey!" Lantel yelled angrily; he pushed past Cyrus and snarled at the golden dragon. "That's my armor!"

"Oh?" the drake pursed his lips and widened his eyes. "It's your armor? How nice."

Lantel snarled and he charged forward to attack the thief. He opened his jaws to unleash golden light… while the thief simply side-stepped out of the way. Lantel dashed by him and struggled to turn around to try again, but the thief dodged him yet again. Again and again, Lantel unleashed magical blasts at the drake… but they simply bounced off of the ram's armor and went flying into the abyss.

"Well, how about that?" The thief said cheekily. "Your armor resists solar magic? Not feeling confident in your own scales, princey-poo?"

"Shut up!" Lantel snarled. He tried to attack again, but the thief dodged… and this time, struck Lantel upside the muzzle. He tripped Lantel with his tail and sent him crashing to the ground. Lantel groaned as he fell over.

"Lantel!" Helianne called out. "Look out! He's got a sword!"

"Huh?" Lantel blinked. He'd just barely had time to roll over as something was pulled out of a scabbard. The next thing Lantel knew, the thief had pointed a blade right at Lantel's neck. And it wasn't just any blade; it was the golden blade of Lantel's own sword!"

"I'd just back away slowly if I were you, skippy." The thief sneered with the hilt in his fangs. "Nobody wants to find out the hard way if you bleed blue blood today, do we?"

Lantel flinched worriedly; he very carefully rolled away from the thief and made to stand up. The thief kept the blade pointed at Lantel's neck, so he backed up calmly and slowly to stand amongst the other teenagers. Cyrus couldn't help but snicker; it was strangely cathartic to see someone putting the golden blowhard in his place.

As Lantel rejoined the group, they heard someone come to a landing behind them. They all turned around to see Bergan having himself a grand old laugh as he moved his book to the side. And the various gang members all laughed along with him.

"Enjoying the view, young dragons?" Bergan asked with a smirk.

It wasn't long before Cyrus charged his way back down the aisle. He knew it! This damn purple drake was having himself a laugh at their expense! It was all a trap!

"You bastard!" Cyrus hissed. He spread out into a fighting stance; he instinctively tried to fill his maw with magic.

"Oh, don't go trying that again." Bergan sighed. "It didn't work the first time, so it won't work again, boy."

"I don't care!" Cyrus roared; he leaped forward to slash at Bergan… only to slam into the ground. Once again the Crazy Aces laughed at his expense. Cyrus snarled at them, and his limbs shook as he tried not to flush with embarrassment.

"Please stop that, Cyrus." Bergan clicked his tongue. "You're only making a fool of yourself."

"So where are we, huh?!" Cyrus hissed. "What is this realm?!"

"It's the realm of Convexity, of course." Bergan clicked his tongue. "The plane of existence that comes between the regular dragon realms, and the underworld. It's also where the energy 'convexity' received its name." He tapped his talons on the altar. "Didn't your magic tutor teach you this?"

"Err… that's irrelevant!" Cyrus snapped. Once again he glared back at the apprentices and contemplated yelling at them for not helping him fight. But no, they were just going to sit there, weren't they? Ricin was staring at the floor. Holly was just frowning, while Brisa had a smug look of satisfaction. Chalice rolled their eyes and gave him an "I-told-you-so" expression. Even Tina was refusing to help him take Bergan on. The one person Cyrus thought he could rely on, and she was just giving him a confused, uneasy look. Fucking PERFECT.

"You probably want to know how to get back to the dragon realms from here, don't you?" Bergan raised an eye ridge.

"Yes, I want to know how to get back to the fucking dragon realms!" Cyrus growled at the purple drake. "What do you THINK I want: A sandwich?!"

"Well, It's quite simple, my boy…" Bergan smiled again. "Teleport."

Cyrus snorted… and then grimaced. He stepped back a bit and blinked. "D-Did you say teleport?"

"Yes. Teleport." Bergan wracked his talons on the altar. "We'll get you some life gems to fill up your reserves. Then you can call upon your shadow magic and create a hole between here and Warfang… your bedroom, perhaps." The purple dragon nodded. "Surely your magic tutor has taught you at least THAT much."

"Well, he… he's tried…" Cyrus grimaced. "But I… I, uh…" Cyrus tapped his talons on the floor.

"Can't you teleport, Prince Cyrus?" Bergan asked. "You're a talented and powerful dragon, I'm sure." He reached into his robes and produced a small green gem. "So whip yourself up a teleportation spell for yourself and your friends. It should be simple."

"Uh…" Cyrus stammered. He then snarled at the purple dragon. "Are you mocking me?"

"Mocking you?" Bergan frowned. "Of course not. Really, I meant you no offense." He took a sip of his wine yet again. "Is something the matter with your skill at teleporting?"

"N-No, there isn't!" Cyrus snapped.

"Then by all means…" Bergan gestured toward the prince with the gem. "Here."

Cyrus sheepishly took the gem and crushed it to absorb the power within. He snorted out his nostrils; his limbs shook, and he gnashed his fangs. He wanted nothing more than to try pouncing on the smug purple prick once again. But with the way Bergan studied his gaze, the prince had a feeling that was just the kind of amusement he was looking for…

"Well, are you going to do it or not?!" Lantel screamed from behind.

Cyrus winced as he heard heavy footfalls approaching from behind. The black prince whirled around and gasped as the golden one came barreling toward him. Lantel swung his talons at Cyrus, who immediately leaped to the side and snarled.

"What's wrong with you?!" Cyrus snapped.

"What's wrong with YOU?!" Lantel howled. "If you're damn talented at all kinds of magic, then stop wasting all of our fucking time and TELEPORT US TO WARFANG!"

Cyrus flinched. "I… uh…"

"Why can't you be USEFUL?!" Helianne exclaimed. Cyrus looked over to see the flora dragoness making her way down the aisle, with the apprentices hot on her heels.

"I'll bet that Rune could teleport!" Helianne stamped the floor as she huffed. "So what's keeping YOU?"

There it was again; yet another comparison to his brother. Cyrus snarled and fell back onto his haunches. He looked over at Tina and Chalice for sympathy, but both of them gave him knowing looks of disapproval. Cyrus was backed into a corner now. His heart beat heavily in his chest. and he clattered his fangs as he tried to think of an excuse.

"Well?" Bergan raised an eye ridge.

"I… I can't teleport, okay?!" Cyrus screamed. "I haven't figured out how to teleport!"

"What?!" Lantel and Helianne yelled.

"I can barely even shadow jump!" Cyrus yelled, with tears in his eyes. "When it comes to magic, the element of shadow is the one thing that Rune's better than me at!"

"So we're stuck here, then?!" Lantel declared. "Because the purple fob certainly isn't going to give us a ride home!" Lantel snarled at Cyrus… with tears in his eyes. He took in a deep breath and looked away. "Damn it… Damn you…"

Cyrus didn't know how to even react to Lantel. Were it any other circumstance, seeing tears in the golden drake's eyes would have been delightful revenge. But now… it just didn't seem right. Lantel wasn't just upset; he was… hurt? And it wasn't just him; one by one, the apprentices looked down sadly.

Suddenly, someone finally spoke up.

"That's… That's not fair."

Ricin turned to glare at Lantel, who wiped his eyes and looked at him incredulously. "What's your problem, kid?"

Ricin took a deep breath and tried to stand up tall. "How is Cyrus supposed to get us back to Warfang all by himself?" He fanned out his wings. "Look where we are; we're in the middle of a weird magical void. None of us have ever been here before; how's anybody supposed to know just how far away the dragon realms are?! We're stuck regardless!"

Cyrus flinched, and he held his tongue; finally, the indigo dragon was saying something helpful. Lantel just glanced between him and Cyrus, before snorting and shaking his head.

"How can you defend him, after he's been such an arse?" Lantel demanded of Ricin. "Hasn't he treated you like garbage lately?"

Ricin flinched, but he took a breath. "That… That doesn't change the fact you're demanding the impossible from someone like him." The poison drake flapped his wings. "So… So even if you do hate Cyrus, you can't just make up reasons to be mad at him."

The golden prince snorted at that, and he looked away. "So… that's it, then. We're all stuck in Convexity, as part of Bergan's scheme."

All of the apprentices looked around once again. The various members of the Crazy Aces all snickered and wracked their talons; this must have been the most fun they'd had in ages. Cyrus felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach; they were trapped, and there wasn't anything he could do about it…

"There is another option, Prince Cyrus," Bergan said.

The apprentices all flinched in surprise. Cyrus blinked and then glared up at Bergan. The purple drake made his way around the altar and approached the teenagers. Lantel and Helianne stepped out of the way, while Tina and Chalice stood up tall on either side of Cyrus. Holly, Brisa, and Ricin took up the rear flank, to form a perfect ring around the prince.

"What are you talking about NOW?" Chalice demanded.

"Convexity, of course." Bergan smiled. "With the acquisition of some convexity energy, our dear prince could boost his shadow magic to the point where teleporting across dimensions to the dragon realms will be a breeze..."

The purple dragon pointed a talon at Cyrus's face, which made him flinch. The talon then descended toward the prince's neck.

"I'm pretty sure that your father left you some convexity as a parting…" Bergan grimaced as his talon pointed at the pale crystal on Cyrus's necklace. "Oh. Well, oh dear; it seems you've used up your convexity. That's a shame."

Cyrus looked down at the crystal and grimaced. That's when a flood of memories poured in, reminding the prince of his scuffle with the white dragoness… his sister. And that's when he remembered that said sister was the daughter of this purple dragon standing right in front of him. The prince snarled and clawed at the floor once again.

"You sent my own sister to attack me!" Cyrus growled at Bergan. "Along with some of these THUGS, too!"

The gang members growled at that; perhaps they didn't like being called out. Bergan, however, rolled his eyes and wagged a talon in the air.

"Incorrect: I sent your sister to scout out around Warfang." Bergan declared. "Her attempt to capture you was all her idea. I've tried to raise her to control her anger, but alas…" He shook his head and sighed. "Either way, it doesn't change the fact that your convexity is spent."

"Then we'll just go get MORE convexity." Lantel snorted. "You said we're in a realm filled with the stuff, right?" He turned toward the doors. "Come on, Helianne; we're getting a drink."

"I wouldn't try that if I were you, boy." Bergan snapped. "That's RAW Convexity out there; pure, burning power. You can't just scoop up raw energy and stuff it in your maw; not without burning a hole through your head." The purple drake flapped his wings. "No, convexity needs to be harvested, channeled…" He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small, purple crystal. "And refined into one of these."

The teenagers all gasped in surprise at the convexity crystal. Lantel and Helianne flinched as if they would try to make a grab for it. However, Bergan vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared standing before the altar.

"Hmm, this isn't for the rest of you." Bergan clicked his tongue again. "It's for Cyrus, and Cyrus alone: he's the only one with shadow magic, after all."

"Yeah, of course…" Lantel snorted.

Cyrus kept his gaze on the convexity crystal. He looked down at the one on his necklace and then bit his lower lip as he looked back up. Convexity… right there for the taking? Then again, look who was offering it; there had to be some kind of catch.

"And why would you just up and hand over convexity?" Cyrus demanded; he trotted forward to glare at the purple dragon. "What's your game, Bergan?"

Bergan put on a patient smile. "There's no game here: It's just that I see a lot of myself in you, my boy."

Cyrus balked. "What are you talking about?"

"I've been where you are now, Cyrus." Bergan fell back onto his haunches. "Filled with so much talent and potential, only to be repeatedly spurned by your peers. Told time and time again not to butt in where you're not wanted, despite knowing you could do so much to help so many…" Bergan sighed. "And, of course, filled with love and affection for a particular dragoness whom you've known for years, only to have her seemingly ignore you."

Cyrus felt anger flash through him. He turned to glare in Tina's direction, and his mind raced. He thought of all the times he attempted to confess his feelings, which all failed.

"Cyrus…?" Tina asked uneasily.

"And I'm sure that plenty have told you that they think you're not as good as you think you are…" Bergan continued. Cyrus held his jaws shut as he looked back up at the purple dragon, which held a deep scowl.

"Constantly comparing you to your brother: telling you that they prefer his presence over yours." Bergan stepped closer. "And, of course, trapping you in the constant catch-twenty-two. They don't want you around because you brag and boast. And yet when you stay quiet, they barely even acknowledge your presence. At the end of the day, everyone just thinks you're awful."

Cyrus glared at the apprentices. Holly and Brisa were shocked into silence. Ricin had an incredulous face. He stepped forward to try and say something… but the prince growled at him and made him hush up.

Bergan came to a stop before Cyrus, and the two looked at each other in the eyes. Cyrus felt anger in his blood at the purple dragon's words as they repeated in his head… but Cyrus saw similar anger in Bergan's own face. Had… Had Bergan gone through the same thing Cyrus had? Did he actually, genuinely want to help him?

"Cyrus, don't listen to him!" Chalice shouted from the side. Cyrus glared in their direction as they stamped the floor. "Bergan's just trying to get into your head!"

"Oh, so you DON'T think that I'm a waste of magical talent?" Cyrus asked with a scowl. Chalice shivered and held their jaw firmly shut before awkwardly backing up. Cyrus turned around to glare at Lantel and Helianne, who looked at the black prince uneasily.

"Well, what's YOUR next snappy remark, hmm?" Cyrus sneered at Lantel. "Call me a loser? Mock me for looking like a girl? It's worked so well up until this point!" Cyrus scowled at Helianne next. "And YOU! Tell me again how useless I am! And then open up YOUR shadow magic and make a portal to get back home!"

Helianne grimaced and backed up a bit. Lantel covered his sister with a wing and just took careful breaths as he looked silently at Cyrus. The black prince then turned his attention to Holly and Brisa.

"Call me an arsehole again!" Cyrus demanded. "Say that I'm a big jerk! A monster! Call me every bad name in the book! Tell me how you REALLY feel about me!"

"We… We don't want to say you're a monster." Holly's ears drooped. "It's just… You've been so mean to us lately."

"We just wanted to get along, damnit!" Brisa stamped her paws. "But you've been such a pain, and we don't know why!"

"Cyrus…" Ricin frowned at the prince. Cyrus's scowl worsened, and the poison drake flinched. "Please, buddy. I… I never wanted to be a pest." He put on a nervous smile. "I've always thought you were cool. You deserve more attention: really!"

Cyrus snorted, and he turned away from Ricin; he had nothing to say to the poison drake. Ricin gasped, and then he wracked his talons on the floors as he sniffled.

"W-Why do you hate me?" Ricin asked with a breaking voice. "What did I do wrong?"

Cyrus took a deep breath and shut his eyes to concentrate. He glared around at all of the teenage dragons once again to take in their faces.

"I'm just so… so tired of all of you," Cyrus said angrily. "I'm tired of trying to garner attention from the students. I'm tired of being compared to my brother. And I'm tired of being seen as useless.

"Well, I certainly don't think you're useless, my boy." Bergan finally said, drawing the prince's attention. "All I think is that you could use a real pick-me-up." He dangled the convexity crystal before himself. "Take it; it's all yours."

Cyrus looked up at Bergan's smile; it definitely seemed more genuine than before. And even if it wasn't, even if this were some kind of trick… that convexity was looking mighty tempting. The prince took a breath as he stepped forward to reach out for it.

"Cyrus, no!" Tina screamed.

Cyrus looked over in time to see the dark-yellow dragoness rushing toward him, desperate to push him away from Bergan. But the prince scowled at her; he filled his body with enough earth magic to make himself strong enough to withstand her force. And after Tina collapsed onto the floor, the prince forcibly shoved her away from him. It had exhausted the reserves that the green gem had given him, but he didn't care.

"Not this time, Tina!" Cyrus snapped. He immediately turned, swiped the convexity from Bergan's forepaw, and swallowed it down ravenously.

For but a moment, there was silence. The other teenagers held their tongues, while Cyrus took deep, long breaths and looked down at himself. Holly, Brisa, and Ricin all backed up nervously. Chalice helped Tina up and onto her feet, while Lantel and Helianne took cautious steps back from the black prince.

Nothing's happening… Cyrus thought. He wracked his talons on the floor and snarled. It's a dud! I don't feel any different! The prince's limbs shook angrily and gnashed his fangs at Bergan. "You piece of…!"

Suddenly, Cyrus felt his internal body heat rising considerably; his heart rate grew much faster, and his limbs shook even more. The prince heard gasps coming from behind him, and he whirled around to see the other teenagers backing up against the pews. That could mean only one thing… Cyrus looked down at himself, and grinned in delight; a purple aura was surrounding his scales.

"Yes!" Cyrus cheered. "Yes, yes, yes!" He stomped the floor and laughed. "I feel great! I feel awesome!"

"G-Good for you…" Lantel said with trepidation. "Now, how's about using that newfound power to finally open up a portal so we can get out of here?"

Cyrus scowled at the golden prince and snorted in frustration; He finally has some real power again, and this clown immediately starts barking orders at him? Where did HE get off?! This convexity was for Cyrus to decide what to do with it!

"Hmm, it looks like the treated convexity has worked like a charm." Bergan declared. "I'm very proud of you, Cyrus."

The black prince's eye twitched; he turned around and curiously faced the purple drake again. "Proud? For what?"

"For successfully making it through the first stage of my experiment." Bergan held a sardonic grin. He picked the book he was reading and showed Cyrus a diagram on its pages. "I think you'll find what comes next quite enlightening."

"What are you talking about?!" Cyrus scowled.

"You're about to get a taste of what your better self could be." Bergan smiled. "It won't be permanent, I assure you: just a temporary transformation…" He turned a page. "But I hope you'll be happy with the results. It's all outlined right here in the Lilac Grimoire."

"Who cares about your stupid book?"

"Oh, I care immensely." Bergan nodded. He picked up his wine and took another sip. "My, you sure are getting angrier by the moment; I might have to keep you from hurting yourself and others."

Cyrus suddenly found Bergan's face a lot more punchable. The prince called upon his time element, turning the world a bluish blur once again. He then crouched down and leaped out to pounce at the altar to slash at the purple drake's face with some convexity-fueled talons. But as the prince leaped through the air, Bergan simply stepped to the side and evaded the talons. The purple drake then opened his maw wide, and a burst of purple-colored lightning erupted from his maw. Cyrus was struck square in the chest, and he flailed about wildly as he crashed onto the altar. The prince moaned in pain as the lightning arced across the scales of his back, while time returned to normal once again.

"I warned you." Bergan sighed. He held out a forepaw before the prince. "I guess restraints it is, then."

The purple dragon snapped his talons, and the whole altar vibrated. As Cyrus lifted his head, he was shocked to see several bronze shackles emerge from slots in the corners of the altar. The shackles quickly moved across the surface, seemingly of their own accord, to snap themselves around Cyrus's ankles and neck. The prince gagged at the tight sensations; the metal was so cold and tight that he swore that they dug their way into his flesh.

Tina, Chalice, Holly, Brisa, and Ricin all cried out in shock. "CYRUS!"

"Hmm, yes…" Bergan looked down at his book again. "Just like the old scripture states."

Tina and Chalice spread out their limbs and growled menacingly at Bergan. But the purple dragon simply sighed and looked off to the side. "I think now's a good time to provide some assistance, Elza dear."

"Elza?" The two dark dragons repeated in surprise. The five apprentices whirled around to see where Bergan was looking, as did Lantel and Helianne. Cyrus lifted his head, but he could only barely see a dark-green dragoness lurking in the shadows of the chapel; had she been there the whole time?

"Aunt Elza!" Cyrus cried. "Why are you helping Bergan?!"

"Because I asked her to." Bergan smiled. "And don't worry; she'll be just fine in a little while…"

Cyrus snarled as he fought against his restraints. He tried to use his shadow magic to sink into the stone to get away, but powerful shocks of lightning struck him in the back of the neck, rendering him unable to escape. The black prince cried out in pain, while Bergan simply patted him on the head.

"This will be over faster than you think, my boy…"

Cyrus turned to snarl up at the purple drake's smug, irritating face. He wanted more than anything else in the world to just slash his fat neck! But Bergan was completely unfazed; he simply reached beneath the altar and grabbed something that clanked against the stone. He then backed up and revealed that he was holding some kind of metal gauntlet in his forepaw.

"It took Malefor several years to create a suitable General out of a black dragon," Bergan said. "Sadly, he used a method called corruption…"

Bergan put the gauntlet on over his right foreleg and reached into his cloak to retrieve several more convexity crystals.

"I prefer different methods…" Bergan grinned. "All explained in the Lilac Grimoire."

Cyrus struggled in his restraints as Bergan inserted the crystals into various slots on his weird gauntlet. Where'd he even get something like that? As he pondered this, Bergan focused his gaze on Cyrus.

"Before we carry on, I'd like to take a moment to congratulate our dear associate Dona for the hard work she put in to get the dark dragons to building this fortress… I believe you all call it The Nexus." Bergan smiled. "Quite the fitting name."

He used his free forepaw to stick a talon into a tiny slot on the underside of the altar. "Truly, she rebuilt every last detail to the perfect degree."

"What are you going on about?" Cyrus screamed.

"This fortress came from the blueprints for the city you call The Hive," Bergan said. "Blueprints designed by a genius of a purple dragon. His name was Desysto, you see…"

Bergan turned his talon to the side and traced it along a crease. Several clicking sounds came, and the stone of the altar rumbled. Looking around, Cyrus saw that the whole altar was beginning to rotate to the side. Several pillars along the chamber began to shake and shift; dust fell from the ceiling as it too shook rapidly.

"Desysto came up with a plan, long ago," Bergan said. "Whatever the plan was, it involved some sophisticated machinery."

He brought his talon to a stop, before rotating it and pulling it free. The altar came to a stop, while more dust fell from the ceiling. And when Cyrus looked up, he finally understood why: the ceiling was opening. Various sections of the roof rose upward, forming a cross-shaped hole that allowed the "sky" to shine its light down into the chapel. Cyrus had to squint to adjust to the light, all while Bergan kept his gauntleted talon pointed at him.

"What's happening to the chapel?" Tina demanded. "It's never done this before!"

"That's because nobody up here knew its full potential…" Bergan chuckled. "Well, except for Dona and me. Here's a question for you all: How was it that this fortress survived the utter destruction that the rest of The Hive fell to, hmm? What makes the fortress so special?"

As Bergan said this, the altar began to rise a few feet into the air, as a stone pillar revealed itself. Something was on the pillar that his friends were gasping at; sadly Cyrus couldn't see. All he could do was gaze up fearfully at the expansive abyss that loomed overhead. Off to the sides, several metal rods revealed themselves from hiding places amongst the architecture; some of their ends pointed down at Cyrus, while the rest of them pointed up toward the "sky."

"Now then…" Bergan pointed his gauntleted hand toward upward the abyss. "Let's begin the next phase of the experiment."

A bolt of purple-tinted lightning shot out of Bergan's talon. It flew into the air, through the opening, and arced itself off in some direction. Presumably, it went flying off toward the great purple geyser in the distance… because seconds later, more arcs of glowing lightning came roaring backward along the current to collide with Bergan's gauntlet. The purple drake groaned in discomfort as his forepaw shook erratically. The heat flashing off to the lightning was so intense that Cyrus panted; he desperately needed water.

After a moment of struggling to get control of the convexity, Bergan finally pointed his talon at the metal rods. With a growl, he forced the lightning to disconnect from his gauntlet and attach itself to the rods. And after that, the convexity danced along with the metal… and struck Cyrus square in the chest.

The pain was unimaginable. All sense and rationality were knocked out of Cyrus's mind as he howled in agony and shook violently in his restraints. The purple aura that already surrounded his scales was overwhelmed by the new currents of energy; they blended together and swam across his body like ocean waves striking a beach.

"Stop it!" Tina screamed somewhere far away. "Let him go!"

"I wouldn't get too afraid of his new form, my dear." Bergan declared with a pleased expression. "After some proper testing, the rest of you might become just like him."

Cyrus howled as loud as he could as the energy embedded itself into his flesh… his very core. He reached out with a foreleg in a desperate attempt to break free of his shackles. And then… his foreleg grew. First, its length increased, sprouting new scales to quickly cover up exposed skin and flesh. After that, the muscles swelled; they writhed and shifted uncomfortably beneath the scales from the upper leg to the forepaw. His talons grew longer and sharper as the leg swung wildly. Before long, the chain was snapped into pieces as the ankle broke free, and it smashed down upon the stone altar hard enough to break a corner off.

And that wasn't the only part of the prince that changed. His tail became thicker and longer, and a series of spines sprouted free of the scales. Part of the convexity surrounded the tail-tip, before hardening and taking the form of a silver sword. The other foreleg mutated to match its twin's shape, and then the hind legs followed shortly afterward.

It was the worst pain Cyrus had ever felt in his life; his own screaming hurt his ear frills. But as his body grew, his mind felt… different. He heard his own voice become deeper and snarled as he adjusted to the change. He snapped free of all his restraints and swing his forepaws to smash at the metal rods. But Bergan used his fancy magic to shift the metal rods out of the way. But Cyrus kept swinging until he rolled himself over and fell onto the floor. He slammed on it so hard that many of the dragons around him were knocked off his feet. Bit by bit the convexity stopped arching across his back, and he was finally able to pant heavily as he rose onto his paws…

But he wasn't done growing yet. He unfurled his wings and felt them stretch out much farther than they ever had before. The black dragon felt the weight on his head shift as all four horns became thicker and sharper. The drake rose his head up, and it went much higher than it had before… or did the room around him shrink? Suddenly, the black dragon didn't care; all he felt like doing was taking deep, long breaths through his snout as he adjusted to his new form.

"By the ancestors…" squeaked a little voice from across the way.

The black dragon glanced over and then scowled. There were several little dragons, surrounded by a ring of crepsculi. The teenagers all gasped in horror at the sight of the black dragon; the golden one even collapsed backward onto his rear from the sight. There were other little dragons about the room, too. But they hid their faces behind white masks as they shivered at the sight of the growling, fearsome specimen looming over them.

Only a single little dragon held onto his nerves; he trotted his way into the chapel wearing a suit of armor. He closed the chapel doors and leaned against the wall.

"So, what did I…?" The thief looked upon the transformed dragon, and he gave a hearty laugh. "I guess I missed quite the show!"

"The Ascension is complete." The voice of Bergan said behind the black drake. The purple dragon casually glided down from the altar came to a soft landing and looked up into the face of the fantastic figure before him.

"I hope you enjoy your new form while it lasts…" Bergan chuckled playfully. "So, how do you feel… General Cyrus?"

The black dragon rose to his full height. He swung his mighty tail around and gave his beefy wings a few test flaps. The drake ran his tongue along his perfect fangs and blew a burst of purple smoke from his nostrils. His once-magenta underbelly and talons had turned a deep, masculine red! The black dragon was delighted; he gave a hearty, deep laugh as convexity radiated from his eyes. He flexed his muscles and shook the ground with his stomps. And when he finally spoke, he hardly recognized himself.

"I feel… ALIVE."

~~…~~

Greetings, friends and loved ones.

This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far; everything had been leading up to this: Cyrus's turn to the side of the bad guys. His behavior throughout the series so far had been leading up to this moment. Though with some changes, I included the apprentices, and how they react to the whole thing. Is there any hope that he'll be freed of his supposed Ascension? Only time will tell.

Tenebra ecce Veritas