• tab Pyra flew through the canyon, shocked into silence at the scope of the destruction. Black pillars of smoke spiraled up from charred remains of walls and towers. Blackened gaping pits scarred the grounds around them. Charred debris even littered her flight path. Twisted pieces of spelled metal protruded rudely from the narrow canyon walls, causing her to slow her pace.
    tab “I’ve never even dreamed that the Walls would fall…” She thought. “Bast said that he tried to breach the walls during the civil war. He said he had an army of a hundred-thousand golems, yet he was beaten back at the first gate!” She tucked her wings close to her body and rolled to avoid a particularly large piece of metal. “Yet the gates fell like human children’s blocks to one enemy…” She dipped under a large piece of wall top, which extended from one end of the canyon to the other, but only a few hundred feet higher than the rest of the wall. “I’m starting to have second thoughts about facing this enemy…”
    The field directly after the final gate caught her attention. A tattered Blue Dragon Army standard was spiked into the ground. She spiraled in closer for a better look. Small craters and debris pockmarked the ground. Bodies and pieces of bodies, some with pieces of armor melted on them, were scattered about. Pyra retracted her wings and drew a cavalry blade from the storage unit before she hit the ground. She landed in a crouch, holding her sword loosely at her side. She spoke out loud, “This wasn’t a battle. This was a massacre!”

    tab Karin punched the window in frustration, “Damn it!” She shouted. Kyle laughed and scooped the coins off the table and into a pocket as he walked back to the chairs. Hammaas walked over to his chair and sat down, saying as he did, “Why have the Twin Blades, the most powerful army in the Wraith faction, arrived late?” Karin flopped dejectedly into a chair. Kyle stood near Hallsoor, looking down at him. He answered without looking at Hammaas, “Late?” His brow furrowed, “You said that earlier. I was under the impression that we were on time…” Karin covered her face with a hand and leaned back in the chair.
    tab “Could it be possible that we heard the wrong time?” She said.
    tab Kyle poked Hallsoor’s shoulder, “We could have heard wrong. But I don’t think so.”
    tab “Then what do you think happened?”
    tab “Commander Solstice probably has something planned.”
    tab “Or maybe he’s still angry at the Dragons.”
    tab “There’s that too. But I do not think Commander Solstice is the type to hold a grudge.”
    tab Kyle looked over at Lilly, who was watching small crackles of energy ripple across the window, cleansing it of Sasha’s blood.
    tab A dragon walked into the room, he coughed lightly to gain attention, “Ahem. Will the ambassador representing Arc Twin Blade please follow me?”
    tab Kyle and Karin stood and bowed, “That would be us.” Kyle said. The dragon looked from one to the other, “Ah, but only one is allowed inside of the council room.”
    tab “We will decide on the way.” Karin said.
    tab “Very well, follow me.”
    tab The dragon walked over to a locked door and slid a card into a slot near it. The door opened with a hiss, revealing a small landing with spiral stairs heading up and down. The dragon motioned for them to follow and began to ascend the stairs. Kyle saluted Hammaas, “May your hammers never fail to crush your enemies.”
    tab Hammaas returned the salute, “May your blades never dull.”
    tab Karin walked behind Kyle and the dragon guide as they climbed seemingly endless flights of stairs. Footsteps ahead caused the trio to step off to the side to allow those who were descending to pass. Angel Arc Hammer appeared around the rounded central pillar. As she passed Kyle, she tapped the back of his hand twice. Karin remembered that motion as the signal to ‘meet soon’. She wondered what the Arc Hammer had to say to her superior.
    tab Karin watched Angel for a second, and then began to walk again. She tapped Kyle’s right shoulder three times: the signal for ‘It’s yours’ or ‘Your turn.’ Kyle didn’t respond, but Karin knew that he acknowledged her decision. Balconied windows begun to appear along the outside wall, letting sunlight mix with the unnatural light of flame orbs suspended above their heads. They passed another Arc Hammer standing outside on a balcony. Karin stopped to follow his gaze to the raw, cracked, earth below. He asked her without turning, tab “Do you envy the dragons for their wings?”
    tab Karin stopped and blinked at the question, “I hadn’t given the dragons much thought before the emissary arrived at our town.”
    tab He continued to stare out into space, “Heh. Maybe it was envy that led the Enslaved Arc to battle their owners.”
    tab “We will never know what drove the Enslaved to combat the dragons’ ownership. But I am thankful that they did so, as I enjoy living in the relative peace that they achieved.” Karin answered.
    tab He smiled, “It is possible that there are soldiers who still remember the second draconic civil war; the beginning of the Arc.”
    tab Karin stepped forward, “What do you mean? No Arc soldier could possibly be that old.”
    tab He turned to face her, leaning on the railing. His solid white eyes matched his white hair and skin. “What I mean is that there is a rumor that the pure families pass down true accounts of the war.”
    tab Intrigued, Karin stepped closer. She crossed her arms. “Really? I haven’t heard of this.”
    tab “That’s because I only just found this rumor.”
    tab Karin turned and looked for Kyle, who was not to be found. She sighed, “Looks like my squad captain continued without me.”
    tab The Arc Hammer laughed, “Tough luck there. It’s not so hard to find the control room. Just follow the stairs until you find a door.”
    tab “Thanks.”
    tab He made a shooing motion with his hand, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t let the rumor spread.”
    tab Karin took the steps two at a time, finally reaching a large metal door after ten or so minuets. She pressed on the door and stamped her foot in frustration, “Damn it! They locked it behind them…” The door opened and a human technician walked out, concentrating on the contents of a message tablet he was holding. He looked up and took a step back when he saw Karin. “Oh, excuse me…” he murmured. She let him pass and slipped into the room before the door could close.
    tab The room was a bustle of activity. Dragons spoke into com-units while simultaneously typing rapidly at stations located around the perimeter of the room. Human technicians carried message tablets from station to station, updating their dragon co-workers. Large glass panes looked out upon the land around the tower, the Dynee mountain range was hidden behind a screen of clouds in the distance. One of the human technicians walked up to Karin, he gestured at a hallway. “Your partner has already entered the council room, would you like to wait here until his return?” He said.
    tab Karin nodded, “That will be fine, thank you.”
    tab “Find an empty chair or stand around. You are a guest here so do as you please.”
    tab “Thanks.”
    tab The technician nodded and returned to a control panel. Karin looked around and saw an empty chair. She walked over and sat down. The technician next to her spoke up,
    “The technician at that panel is running an errand. Would you mind filling in for the meantime?”
    tab Karin remembered that Kyle told their group before they left their town to do everything possible to keep the dragons complacent. With this in mind, she picked up the com-unit and set it over her right ear. A square green screen swiveled down over her right eye as she folded the wire microphone down. She smiled, “Of course.” The technician nodded and returned to his work. Karin looked down at the screen on the panel, Draconic symbols scrolled across the screen. She recognized a few here and there, but the rest was gibberish. She settled down to wait for a transmission to come through.
    Kyle followed the guide to the control room and then into a small side hallway. The guide stopped in front of a door, and punched a code into a nearby panel. The door hissed open and revealed a small square room with a ramp leading up to a blank wall. A female dragon stood next to a pole with a panel on it near the entrance. The guide motioned to the dragon by the panel, and waited for her to type in several access codes. The blank wall warped and distorted, seeming to melt into spirals, revealing an identical room on the other side.
    tab The guide walked up the ramp and through the wall, motioning for Kyle to follow. Kyle stepped into the other room; the wall fused together behind him. They stood in front of a circular sealed door. A small pad of glowing symbols was set into the wall near it. The guide pressed a few and the lights dimmed. “Dragons sure do love theatrics…” Kyle thought.
    tab The door silently opened on the ground floor of a dimly lit amphitheater. A throne-like chair stood in the middle of a circle of light. Kyle followed the guide into the room. They stopped in front of the chair. The guide bowed to Kyle then left the room. The door glided shut silently.