FROM ABOVE, THE SKY DARKENS AS A COLOSSAL RED DRAGON PLUNGES DOWN FROM THE CLOUDS, ITS FIERY BREATH SCORCHING THE LAND IN ITS WAKE. A RAIN OF FIRE FOLLOWS ITS DESCENT, TRANSFORMING THE BATTLEFIELD INTO A BURNING WASTELAND, WHERE LIFE ITSELF IS FORBIDDEN TO THRIVE.
AS THE DRAGON CIRCLES OVERHEAD, A MASSIV LIMULUS COLOSSUS BELOW BRACES FOR IMPACT. IN AN INSTANT, THE BEAST KNOWN AS CRASHES INTO THE GIANT, SINKING ITS CLAWS INTO STONE-LIKE FLESH. WITH A DEAFENING ROAR, THE DRAGON BREATHES A TORRENT OF FIRE DIRECTLY INTO THE COLOSSUS'S FACE, ENGULFING IT IN A BLAZE THAT RIVALS THE FURY OF A FALLING STAR.
HERE, AMIDST THE CHAOS AND CARNAGE, IN A CLASH BETWEEN DRAGONS, GIANTS, ELVES, AND GODS, THE QUESTION OF RIGHT OR WRONG HAS LONG SINCE BEEN FORGOTTEN. ONLY ONE TRUTH REMAINS, THIS BATTLEFIELD WILL FOREVER BEAR WITNESS TO THE FURY THAT WILL RESHAPE THE WORLD.
THERE WERE NO OTHER DRAGONS CLOSE TO HIM, HIS SWARMING FLAMES WERE INDISCRIMINATE, SCORCHING BOTH FOE AND ALLY ALIKE.
SURROUNDED BY MASSIVE WAR PUPPETS, THE DRAGON LASHED OUT WITH A DEADLY TRIO OF ATTACKS: A FEROCIOUS BITE, A SWEEPING TAIL STRIKE, AND A CRUSHING BLOW FROM ITS CLAWS. IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, THE ONCE-FORMIDABLE WAR MACHINE WAS REDUCED TO MOLTEN METAL, A TWISTED HEAP OF DEBRIS THAT HADN'T EVEN TOUCHED THE GROUND BEFORE IT WAS OBLITERATED.
WITH TERRIFYING SPEED, THE DRAGON PIVOTED TO ITS NEXT TARGET, A WAR ELEPHANT. BUT IT WASN'T ALONE. THE COLLECTIVE FURY OF THE DRAGONS IGNITED THE BATTLEFIELD, REDUCING IT TO NOTHING MORE THAN A CHARRED WASTELAND.
THE GROUND, ONCE CRAWLING WITH FEARSOME BEASTS OF WAR, WAS NOW THE STAGE FOR AN AIRBORNE ONSLAUGHT. WHAT WERE ONCE GROUND-DWELLING PREDATORS HAD BECOME INVADERS OF THE SKIES, SWOOPING LOW WITH THEIR DEADLY DRAGONFIRE, THEIR ROARS ECHOING AS THEY UNLEASHED MAGIC BORN OF ANCIENT DRACONIC TONGUES. OVER AND OVER, THEY RAINED DESTRUCTION UPON THE EARTH, WHILE IN THE AIR, AGILE DRAGONS RUTHLESSLY CULLED THE RANKS OF THEIR ENEMIES WITH LETHAL PRECISION.
THOUGH OUTNUMBERED, THE DRAGONS LEVERAGED THEIR SUPERIOR MOBILITY AND OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER TO PIN DOWN THE ELVEN ARCHMAGES AND THEIR AERIAL SPEEDBOATS. BUT THE ELVES HAD NOT ACCOUNTED FOR THE UNPREDICTABLE NATURE OF DRAGONS. INSTEAD OF MEETING THE ELVEN FORCES HEAD-ON IN AERIAL COMBAT, THE DRAGONS IGNORED THE AIRBORNE SKIRMISH, REFUSING TO BE DISTRACTED BY THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE AND ITS IMPENETRABLE MAGIC SHIELDS. THEY SET THEIR SIGHTS ON THE MASSED ELVEN ARMIES BELOW, KNOWING FULL WELL THAT NOT EVERY SOLDIER WAS PROTECTED BY SUCH SORCERY.
AS LIVING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION, THE DRAGONS CARVED THROUGH THE BATTLEFIELD LIKE A SCYTHE THROUGH WHEAT, LEAVING BEHIND NOTHING BUT SCREAMS OF AGONY AND THE STENCH OF DEATH.
MEANWHILE, ON THE GROUND, THE CLASH OF STEEL REVERBERATED ACROSS THE BATTLEFIELD. MECHANICAL WAR CHARIOTS AND TOWERING STEEL PUPPETS WERE DEPLOYED EN MASSE, THUNDERING FORWARD LIKE AN UNSTOPPABLE TIDE. YET, STANDING IN THEIR WAY WERE FIGURES MUCH SMALLER THAN ONE MIGHT EXPECT.
DWARVES, STOUT AND SHORT, ENCASED IN GLEAMING STEEL ARMOR, HAD FORMED A DEFENSIVE LINE. TOWER SHIELDS RAISED HIGH, THEY USED THEIR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD TO HALT THE ADVANCE OF THE ENEMY'S BURNING MACHINES.
A MASSIVE WAR PUPPET LUMBERED FORWARD, BUT THE DWARVES WEREN'T DETERRED. "TAKE OUT ITS LEGS," THEY ROARED, "AND EVEN THE LARGEST BEAST FALLS!"
A SEA OF IRON-CLAD WARRIORS FORMED A FORTRESS OF STEEL, LED BY THE INDOMITABLE KING OF THE HILLS. THESE WARRIORS, LIKE CLUSTERED HILLS OF IRON, BECAME THE SPINE OF THE BATTLEFRONT.
"HONOR!" "STONE!" "VICTORY!"
THE BATTLE CRIES OF THE DWARVES RANG OUT, NOT JUST AS A RALLYING CALL, BUT AS A DECLARATION OF THEIR VERY IDENTITY. IN THEIR VOICES, YOU COULD HEAR THE PRIDE OF THEIR TRIBE, THE FORGOTTEN NAMES OF CLANS LONG SINCE WIPED OUT, AND THE ECHO OF THE DWARF TRIBE, ONCE DECIMATED, NEVER FORGOTTEN.
AMONG THE FOUR ANCIENT TRIBES, THE DWARVES HAD ALWAYS BEEN THE LEAST FAVORED IN COMBAT, KNOWN MORE FOR THEIR CRAFTSMANSHIP AND FORGING THAN FOR THEIR FIGHTING PROWESS. AND YET, IT WAS FOR THIS VERY REASON THAT THEY HAD SUFFERED THE MOST DURING THIS BRUTAL WAR.
"FORGED STEEL!" "VENGEFUL SOUL!"
EACH SHOUT WAS MORE THAN JUST A WAR CRY. IT WAS AN ACCUSATION, A BITTER LAMENT FOR ALL THEY HAD LOST, AND A VOW OF VENGEANCE FOR THE BLOOD SPILLED.
THE DWARVES DID NOT FIGHT WITH STRATEGY ALONE, NOR DID THEY RELY ON CUNNING FEINTS OR DELAYS. WHEN BOTH ARMIES FINALLY CLASHED ON THE BATTLEFIELD, THEIR HATRED WAS A FORCE SO CONSUMING IT COULD NOT BE RESTRAINED.
THE DWARVES KNEW THE COST OF WAR, BUT THEY FOUGHT WITH A SINGULAR DETERMINATION. IF TRADING THEIR FLESH AND BLOOD FOR A CHANCE TO DESTROY ONE WAR PUPPET WAS THE PRICE, THEN IT WAS A PRICE THEY WOULD GLADLY PAY. IF MOVING FORWARD JUST ONE INCH MEANT GETTING ONE STEP CLOSER TO PLANTING A FIST IN THE SMUG FACE OF AN ARROGANT ELF, THEN IT WOULD BE WORTH IT.
"BLOOD DEBT!" "PAID IN BLOOD!"
AS THE BATTLE RAGED, ALL THE DWARVES BEGAN TO CHANT IN UNISON. THE GROUND SEEMED TO TREMBLE WITH THE FORCE OF THEIR VOICES. EVEN THE FEARLESS IRON ARMY, WHO HAD ONCE SEEMED INVINCIBLE, BEGAN TO FALTER.
THE DWARVEN FORMATION, ONCE VIEWED AS THE WEAKEST LINK IN THE DEFENSE, HAD ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE. THEY MET THE IRON-CLAD WAR MACHINES HEAD-ON AND CRUSHED THEM, TURNING TOWERING ENGINES OF DESTRUCTION INTO NOTHING BUT SHATTERED HEAPS OF SCRAP METAL.
IN THIS MOMENT, THE DWARVES, DRAGONS, AND GIANTS STOOD UNITED. TOGETHER, THEY UNLEASHED A FURY THAT SHOOK THE BATTLEFIELD TO ITS VERY CORE.
AND THEN, SUDDENLY, THE AIR CHANGED.
A STRANGE HUM FILLED THE BATTLEFIELD, SILENCING THE ROAR OF FLAMES AND THE CRASH OF STEEL. THE GROUND QUAKED ONCE MORE, BUT THIS TIME IT WASN'T FROM THE GIANTS OR THE DRAGONS.
"BUZZ!"
AT LAST, THE FIGURE EVERYONE HAD FEARED APPEARED, DRAPED IN A DARK HOOD. THE SKIES ABOVE STILLED AS IF THE WORLD ITSELF WAS HOLDING ITS BREATH. THUNDER AND VOLCANOES ALIKE SEEMED TO FREEZE IN THEIR TRACKS.
"THE SAGE HAS COME."
***
IN THE MIDST OF A RAGING BATTLE ON THE MAIN PLANE, A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAR UNFOLDED IN THE SHADOWS, AND THE TEAM WAS ON HIGH ALERT, RACING AGAINST TIME.
"WHO THE HELL SET OFF THIS TRAP?!" ONE OF THE TEAM MEMBERS SHOUTED, FRUSTRATION CRACKING THROUGH THEIR VOICE.
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW? WE DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE WHEN THE ALARM WENT OFF!" CAME THE SHARP REPLY. PANIC EDGED THE WORDS AS THE SOUND OF CLANGING METAL FILLED THE AIR.
THE GRAY-WHITE CORRIDOR STRETCHED AHEAD OF THEM, STERILE AND COLD, BUT IT WAS ANYTHING BUT SAFE. ALARM BELLS BLARED INCESSANTLY, ECHOING THROUGH THE STERILE WALLS AS THE TEAM MOVED SWIFTLY, THEIR FOOTSTEPS BARELY KEEPING PACE WITH THE IMPENDING DANGER.
BEHIND THEM, A TOWERING METAL AUTOMATON ADVANCED, ITS ONCE-DORMANT EYES NOW FLICKERING WITH OMINOUS RED LIGHT, CLOSING IN FAST. BUT THAT WASN'T THE WORST OF IT. THE SMALLER, QUICKER AUTOMATONS, ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR TRANSPORT AND ENGINEERING TASKS, HAD BEEN ARMED. NOW, WITH THEIR AGILE STEEL FRAMES AND BRUTE FORCE, THEY WERE FORMIDABLE FOES.
"BOOM!"
THE GROUND SHOOK AS THE TEAM FELT THE WORLD ITSELF TURN AGAINST THEM. AHEAD, THE PASSAGE'S GATES SLAMMED SHUT, AND AUTOMATIC TURRETS HIDDEN ALONG THE WALLS SWIVELED INTO ACTION, SPITTING FIRE.
"BASTIAN, CAN YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS?!" A VOICE SHOUTED FROM THE BACK.
"GIVE ME A MINUTE!" BASTIAN CALLED OUT, RUSHING TO THE FRONT. HIS HAND PRESSED FIRMLY AGAINST THE COLD STEEL OF THE BARRICADING DOOR. A GLINT OF CONCENTRATION FLASHED ACROSS HIS FACE AS HIS FINGERS FLEXED. IN AN INSTANT, THE DENSE METAL BEGAN TO LIQUEFY, MELTING AWAY LIKE WAX UNDER THE SUN.
THE TEAM WATCHED IN AWE. AS AN ALCHEMIST SKILLED IN THE MANIPULATION OF METALS, BASTIAN HAD ANOTHER SECRET. HIS BLOODLINE WAS THAT OF A RED DRAGON, HIS MASTERY OVER FIRE UNPARALLELED. THE FLAMES HE SUMMONED WERE NO ORDINARY BLAZE, THEY WERE INFUSED WITH THE DEADLY DRAGONFIRE, FEARED EVEN IN ANCIENT LEGENDS. NOT MUCH COULD WITHSTAND HIS ALCHEMICAL TOUCH.
"I'LL CLEAR THE WAY!" BASTIAN SAID, TURNING BACK TO HIS COMRADES, AS THE DOOR FELL APART UNDER HIS MANIPULATION.
WITH A RUMBLE, A GIANT IN THE TEAM SURGED FORWARD, SMASHING A METAL PUPPET TO THE GROUND. THE DWARF WARRIOR AT HIS SIDE QUICKLY HACKED AT ITS LIMBS. AS BASTIAN BRUSHED AGAINST IT, THE COMPLEX MECHANISMS POWERING THE PUPPET COLLAPSED, THE LIGHTS FLICKERING OUT AS THE HULKING FIGURE TURNED INTO NOTHING MORE THAN A PILE OF SCRAP METAL.
"BUZZ…" THE REMAINING METAL GUARDIANS FIZZLED LIKE BROKEN MACHINES. THE ROAD AHEAD, ONCE BLOCKED BY FEARSOME CONSTRUCTS, WAS NOW LITTERED WITH THE REMAINS OF WHAT HAD ONCE BEEN NEAR-UNSTOPPABLE FOES.
THE PUPPETS HAD BEEN RELENTLESS, THEIR TOWERING FORMS ABLE TO RESIST PHYSICAL AND MAGICAL ATTACKS ALIKE. EVEN CRIPPLED, THEY CONTINUED TO FIGHT WITH TERRIFYING PERSISTENCE, EACH BATTLE DRAINING THE TEAM'S STRENGTH BIT BY BIT. WORSE STILL, THERE WERE ALWAYS MORE. WHERE ONE PUPPET FELL, ANOTHER DOZEN APPEARED, SWARMING THE PATH AHEAD.
THEY HAD TRIED EVERYTHING, RELYING ON THE GIANT'S BRUTE STRENGTH, THE DWARF'S RELENTLESS STRIKES, AND EVEN THE POTENT MAGIC OF THEIR DRACONIC ALLY. BUT NONE OF IT HAD WORKED FOR LONG. IT WAS ONLY WHEN BASTIAN AND THE OTHER ALCHEMISTS FOCUSED ON DISMANTLING THE CORE COMPONENTS OF THESE CREATIONS THAT THEY BEGAN TO TURN THE TIDE OF BATTLE.
"COULD IT BE... THE PHILOSOPHER STONE?" SOMEONE WONDERED ALOUD, INSPECTING THE DEACTIVATED REMAINS OF A PUPPET.
"POSSIBLY," BASTIAN REPLIED. "WE SHOULD KEEP IT IN RESERVE, IT MIGHT COME IN HANDY LATER. WHO WANTS IT?"
"LET ME HAVE IT," NAAVYA SAID CONFIDENTLY, STEPPING FORWARD. SHE TOOK THE STONE, QUICKLY SWAPPING IT WITH THE ONE IN HER OWN EQUIPMENT, WHICH WAS NOW ALMOST DEPLETED. NANA'S MAGIC SHIELD HAD BEEN THE ONLY THING STANDING BETWEEN THE TEAM AND COMPLETE ANNIHILATION MULTIPLE TIMES OVER.
BUT IT WASN'T JUST NANA'S SHIELD THAT HAD SAVED THEM. IF NOT FOR BASTIAN'S QUICK THINKING AND HIS MASTERY OVER METAL, THE TEAM WOULD HAVE BEEN OVERWHELMED LONG AGO.
"ARE WE EVEN ON THE RIGHT PATH?" ONE OF THE TEAM MEMBERS ASKED, THEIR VOICE WEARY.
"MAYBE," BASTIAN MUTTERED, SUMMONING TWO WOODEN FIGURINES FROM HIS SATCHEL. HE WHISPERED SOMETHING UNDER HIS BREATH, AND THE CARVINGS SPRANG TO LIFE, TRANSFORMING INTO HUMANOID SCOUTS THAT DARTED AHEAD.