Deus Ex Machina

"Child, you know not what you do." he said. "This Nexus cannot be allowed to exist. It must be destroyed. Now, stand aside."

"I won't. I won't let you." Adele said, already gathering power for her next spell. The blue-green magical energy crackled about her outstretched hands, fueled by the ring and her own desperation. Her regret, guilt, and self-loathing were temporarily forgotten, and she thought for a moment that she could feel another presence beside her, bolstering her failing confidence and making her strong. Urging her to protect her father's masterwork.

Father, are you finally speaking to me? I'll defend you, and this place, with my life. Perhaps Conscience was wrong. We can win out in the end. I'll make right my mistakes, if only your power will guide me. Guide me, father!

Adele spoke the arcane words, the energy streaking out from her hands in multiple directions, only to converge in a strike at Heraclius, whose eyes widened in shock as he realized, too late, what she had done. He deflected what he could, but wasn't fast enough and absorbed a blow which flung him back against the cavern wall. He had seen this spell only once before, yet he recognized the arcane words, remembered the searing pain.

*

The war with the Tellurians had been relatively short, but brutal, and had cost many dragons their lives. First in the regrettable, but necessary purge of the dragons of the Philosophic faction, whose naive accommodation of the humans had led them down this fatal path. Later, in the battles that had followed with the Tellurian forces and especially their mages, many more had fought and died.

As badly as the dragons had suffered, the Tellurians were the worse off. Their empire destroyed, brought down by the wrath of the Ethereals. Generations of progress in the magical arts had been scoured from this land in under a decade. The citizenry of the empire had scattered across the Ryngaerd and even further to the east, abandoning their ruined cities.

A new dark age was dawning over humanity, but it was their own doing, at least as far as the Ethereals were concerned. The Tellurians had come too far. Like their ancestors the Stannics, they had refused to accept the stewardship that dragon-kind magnanimously offered. They entered into a pact of cooperation with the wrong-headed Philosophics, but continued to hide secrets from them, especially regarding the ancient device in their citadel. And when the ambassadors had learned of the engine's existence, had pondered its purpose and the reasons why it was kept from them... they were assasinated.

Now it had come to the end - the citadel itself was the last stronghold, guarded perhaps by the only survivor of the Tellurians to remain in the capital. Perhaps the most dangerous as well - Archmage Celubar. Many dragons of both factions blamed his rise for the failure of the Philosophics' cooperative pact. Once he took over the leadership as the Tellurian Archmage, relations with the ambassadors had steadily deteriorated. After the assasinations and the outbreak of war, the Ethereals had learned the reason why; Celubar was the primary mage responsible for the Tellurian secret projects, and had steeped himself in the knowledge and power of the ancient device, the Nexus.

Whatever dark arts Celubar had managed to extract from his work on the Nexus, he had put to good use against them. No fewer than a dozen had fallen to his spells since the war began. But now he was alone, he and his precious device. and the Ethereals were come to end it, to rid the world of this threat once and for all. Eight dragons approached the Azure Citadel that day in the deepening twilight, among them the High Lord Sargon, leader of the Etheral faction. In the bowels of the ruined fortress, they faced the mage and his machine. Victory was achieved, but the cost was great. Sargon himself had come under the power of the Nexus, and had been made by Celubar to turn on his allies. In concentrating their power, the remaining seven had finally broken the Nexus, but when its glass tubes had shattered, the gears coming untracked and falling away, their Lord fell slain, as though his very soul had been ripped away by the machine in its death-throes.

*

Heraclius had been a young Ethereal in those days, brash and impulsive. He had grown and matured since, changing his opinions on humans and eventually joining an Order that espoused the Philosophic ideals. But he had always held an unshakable conviction that they had done the right thing in destroying the Nexus. And now here it was again. He knew what had to be done.

Heraclius stepped forward and focused his power. His body began to grow outwards and upwards, changing color and shape. His clothes, which were only magical constructs for his human form, melded back into his body as it transformed. He could not rear to his full height in this cave, nor unfurl his wings, but it was enough. His massive dragon form took up nearly a third of this chamber. He let loose an ear-splitting roar. The girl fell back before him, back towards the Nexus. She raised her ring to fire off another blast. In her panic, it was weaker than the last spell and glanced harmlessly off of Heraclius' armored scales.

The girl stood directly in front of the Nexus, in a vain attempt to shield it from his coming wrath. Heraclius hadn't wanted to destroy her, but it seemed it would be necessary now. He opened his jaw, and from deep within, spewed forth an inferno. The firestorm washed over the machine and the girl, filling the entire chamber, turning rock to glass, burning to cinder and ash any object that was flammable, including the bodies of Belboz and Sigin. Heraclius pressed the attack to his fullest power, hoping to end this threat before it had a chance to begin.

At last, his breath gave out, and he stopped to rest and replenish the flame that he housed deep within. The room was filled with steam and smoke. But as it began to clear...No...No! The Nexus remained. Scorch marks on its tubes and gearworks, the runes and sigils adorning its surface glowing an angry red. He did not see the girl, but was sure that she had somehow survived as well. He eyed the glass box, which had been turned opaque by his flame attack. In the back of his mind, he could hear something...faint at first, but growing clearer. Vaguely female, disturbingly inhuman....laughter. Howls of maniacal laughter! The smoke and steam in the chamber began to coalesce, being drawn into the machine. The gears began to turn...

Heraclius let out a roar of pure despair, and fled, transporting himself away.

1. Heraclius appears at the summit
2. Meanwhile, Fred and company....
3. Adele, back in the Nexus...
4. Elsewhere...

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