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Dawn of the Last Flame

What is a Singularity?

There is a constant in any reality, any timeline, any continuity. That is the mortal urge for survival. In utter defiance of the natural order and the inevitability of death, every mortal will - at one point or another - do whatever they can to preserve continuity. Even the drive of civilizations towards self-destruction - whether conscious or not - could be attributed to some form of mortal lifeform seeking to preserve itself. There have been studies conducted about entire countries or cities who have attempted to sacrifice their own in some attempt to appease some deity into favoring them. Even given a predilection towards self-sacrifice could be guided or motivated through the preservation of one’s legacy, offspring or some other attribute of the self. When given unlimited resources and unshackled by morality, anyone will do whatever it takes to make sure they exist in some way, shape or form in the next dawn.

This was no different when the Chronomancers of Temporal implemented their Time Compression. It was a technique where, should they ever fall in one timeline, they entered a ‘transient’ state where they would compile all the other instances in other timelines into themselves, effectively collapsing those realities to make an amalgamation to replace the one that was killed in the timeline where they died. Of course, this posed a problem if different timelines did the same thing but that was quickly quashed during the Purge of Time.

What they didn’t realize they were doing was that they were making themselves into singularities - entities that acted as anchors for all other timelines and realities. They were weaving all the timelines into themselves, winding together the tapestry of fate and destiny and forcing Time to adhere to a single path.

This was not a bad thing. Why you ask?

Well, let’s take a step back and understand what a singularity is. As mentioned, a singularity is a single point where everything - time, space and reality - is compressed. Whatever that singularity does, everything else is forced to move with it. If it shifts two points to the right, existence moves with it. If it decides to do a somersault, so does the rest of reality. If it dies… well, everything else dies as well. Think of it as the main character in a story. The camera follows it, it is their story and when their story ends, that universe ends as well.

So why is it not a bad thing that we are forced to dance to the tune of a select few especially when those few come from a race of egomaniacal, genocidal, power-hungry ‘scientists’ with extremely loose morals and no empathy?

Because that means there will be little or no variance in the timeline.

Everyone is, on some level, a singularity. Their choices causes branches in the timeline. When you are presented with a fork in the road and decide to go right, there is an alternate version of you somewhere out there that goes left. The universe splits because of your decision. A true singularity, however, would force everyone to follow the path they chose even it would be the ‘wrong’ one.

So if, say, you were playing the role of a hero in some great epic fantasy and you won against the main antagonist. Since you are only a partial singularity it would mean that there is a timeline out there where you lost. There could be other timelines where you were corrupted by the antagonist and joined them. Maybe another one where you convinced them to turn away from their evil ways. Could be that you broke out into song and utterly humiliated them in a rap battle that caused them to commit ritual suicide just because.

But if you were a singularity, if you won against the antagonist, that’s it. You win. End of story. Game over.

The balancing act, however, comes when you’re dealing with forces outside of the confines of time and space. Like a god. Or a Demon King. How do you stop such an entity, a literal force of nature, from just hopping to a timeline where he won or the hero was slightly weaker? At the same time, how do you ensure that you have enough wiggle room that if the hero were to lose, you could rely on another from a different timeline to get the job done?

That was what I did.

Over the course of millennia, I turned countless people into singularities. The Chronomancers made themselves into singularities. When the Purge of Time happened I selectively pinpointed which combination of their personalities and timelines had the best case for success while eliminating the others before they could start consuming other timelines. Other individuals whose choices over the course of their lifetime would help guide Tower Thirteen to a better future I also transformed into singularities . Even if it was painful, stressful and they wavered, I had utter faith in them to guide us forward. If they ever strayed or I saw a devastating variance in the future, I had to eliminate them.

Even if it meant that other timelines had to be sacrificed in the process, I did what I had to do. There were realities where heroes triumphed over a renegade God of Fire and brought light to a Station shrouded in darkness. Others where young students, scarred by a war that was not of their own making, were forced to struggle through pain and suffering. Even a timeline where all was peaceful and prosperous had to be destroyed by my singularities.

These are stories that will never be told, tales that will never be finished and left at a cliffhanger.

All because I am putting my faith in this one chance, this one timeline sown together by the lives of countless others. A cast of main characters and villains that I have personally picked to lead this play. Stories woven together into a single path whose choices and decisions dance as one. I still cannot tell where the story will end.

But I’ve never made plans. I just make people think I do.

And do you want to know what the funny part it?

This timeline has the one instance of a naturally occurring singularity.

That’s right. This one person, this one character, became a singularity on his own. No interference on my part. I might be stupid for putting my faith in this timeline because there is a variable that is out of my control but… I think that’s exactly what will ensure this timeline will succeed.

No matter what happens, I will see this through. I will place my faith in them. I will continue to put my faith in them till the end of time.

Scourge of Conflagration

A young man stumbled drunk along the white cobbled streets of Corona, the capital city of Incendius. High above him, perched on at the very top of Mount Helio that the city gradually grew around was the Sun Spire. Divine light cascaded from atop the pure-white tower, a lighthouse powerful enough to wash over most of the Incendian mainland and provide light, warmth and holy guidance. Despite being directly beneath the tower, Corona remained in a perpetual spring-time warmth without its residents being blinded permanently. By the grace of the Sun Goddess, the Sun Spire provided. Though it was the middle of the night, the Sun Spire continued to shine with a soft, bluish-purple glow that was dark enough to enable people to sleep but bright enough to enable even an inebriated man to stumble through the streets without toppling over in the darkness.

This drunkard, a bottle of the finest mead he could afford in his hand, turned towards the tower and saluted the goddess supposedly perched at its zenith before taking a swing from the bottle. An intense burning immediately exploded from his throat and he gagged. Glass shattered on the cobblestones from his dropped bottle as his hands became preoccupied with clutching his throat. His eyes boggled, nearly popping out of his head. The scream that erupted from his throat was unholy and not something that any mortal man could generate.

He threw his head back, arms extended by his sides as if possessed. Loud cracking echoed down the streets as his bones were forcibly snapped and his elbows bent backwards in an obscene, unnatural pose. A tired mother of three pushed open wooden windows from her home nearby about ready to throw a basket at him until she saw the agonizing pain he was in. Before she could shout for help, intense, crimson flames exploded from deep within the man’s throat, shooting upwards into a spire of fire that could be seen a few blocks away. Similar geysers of fire quickly shot out of his eye sockets. His arms spasmed, veins burning with liquid lava even as his flesh turned as black as ash.

The woman quickly shut the window panels.

Not a moment too soon.

The man exploded, the eruption of flame and flesh enough to throw the woman off her feet and send her crashing against the far wall of her home. Ringing in her ears was accompanied by the blurred vision of a concussion. Adrenaline and fear for her children’s safety had her running to her feet even before she could fully come to understand what had happened. Lucky for her, she had practiced and paced the pathways to her offsprings’ rooms enough times that it was a reflex to fish them out of their cradles and beds and pull them out into the streets.

Streets that were ablaze with fire.

In one of the many smaller townships around Incendius, a farmer was just finishing herding the last of his cattle into their pens. He wiped his brow, surprised at just how hot and exhausted he was. Thinking to cool himself off, he walked to the nearby bucket of water. His temperature rose and without thinking, he grabbed the bucket and attempted to douse himself in the stagnant water. It never touched his skin as the liquid immediately evaporated a mere half-inch from his flesh.

Then all he knew was pain and the frightened cries of his cows as he too exploded into a pillar of flames.

Deep underground within the perpetually twilit forests of the Custodia Vampiri, a beautiful songstress sung her aria perfectly… until the last note at the closing act. The audience murmured amongst themselves as her voice broke. First, many thought her wide eyes was an expression of shock and humiliation and most of the polite members hid their laughter and mockery behind raised hands. Then she opened her mouth and a torrent of flames exploded from her throat, setting the delicate, velvety curtains of the theater ablaze. The first row was incinerated within moments. The second were turned to shrapnel in the ensuing explosion of the singer. The third and fourth were blown back and burned while the entire building caught ablaze.

Even amongst the icy fortresses of the Custodia Lupus, the werewolves of Incendius watched in terror as one of their own brothers fell to his knees and the ice around him melted. He howled in terror before his fur caught ablaze and suddenly, he was gone in a burst of flame. One of the Lupus turned beyond the enormous southern wall of Chillfarn and gasped quietly as a similar burst of flame seemed to erupt in the inky blackness beyond the wall.

The volcano worshipers of the Searanti saw a similar phenomenon occur. The moment one of the ‘savages’ as the Church branded them noticed that their own was about to be incinerated, they hurried the victim to the lip of one of their ‘volcano gods’ and threw them in. Sometimes the heat of the volcano consumed them before they exploded. Other times, they were not so lucky.

Amongst the flashing lights and dazzling casinos of the Sunless Lands, the Sultans received news of the spontaneous combustions and hurried to keep it all quiet. The Sunless Lands was a place to escape such problems and profits would immediately drop if tourists realized that they could easily explode into flames here as easily as anywhere on the Station of the Sun.

Somewhere else, in another time and place outside of Tower Thirteen, the God of Fire stirred. For the first time in millennia, the avian god opened his three eyes…

… and saw the white Wulfun with golden eyes standing in front of him… an ever-present smile on that lupine muzzle.

“Good, you’re awake,” said Harm Chronos. “It’s finally time.”

Sparking Something New

The Alphacine Event Hall was one of the biggest spaces in Pinnacle College as well the only one open to the public. Enormous, high walls glimmered with holograms displaying advertisements from various sponsors and drawing people to the many booths set up in rows along the hall. The ceiling glimmered with a magical depiction of a clear, starry night sky to give greater emphasis to the holograms. The dark, metal floor that was carefully crafted with a hexagonal pattern and decorated by lighting that guided people through the crowds and foot traffic. Scents and accents of various people from all different Stations melded into one. There was the slightly metallic aroma of Xaosians that was mixed with the musky cologne of Ventarmans. The flowery dialect Daitollians blended with the harsher blunt statements of Nebulans.

Far on the other end of the hall, opposite to the multiple entryways was a stage where the current Headmistress of Pinnacle, Salashi Omeris, shook hands with various vaunted guests under burning spotlights. Her glimmering emerald scales were perfectly wrapped beneath a brilliant red pants-suit that hugged her figure professionally but without reducing any of her femininity.

The rows were filled with students from all walks of their career at the Academy. There were a few older students looking for new craftsmen to help them in their careers. Most consisted of first years looking for talented people to form a professional relationship with and to build the weapons and equipment of their choice.

First years of Pinnacle were given three months to get acclimated to the high-performance, high-expectation environment of the prestigious college. Most were fresh out of high school and the highly-selective institution was specifically geared towards preparing the ‘next generation of the world’s defenders’. That may sound grandiose and ridiculous but it was borne out of necessity.

Fifteen short years after the Fall of Haven saw the destruction of much of Tower Thirteen’s defensive capabilities, the world had found itself scrambling to fill in the holes against threats from all directions. For the first year after the Fall, Stations could no longer trust the Church of the Tower for any of their defenses or even for moral guidance seeing as so many of their Paladins Fell and transformed into competing warlords set to tear each other and their homes apart. With most of the military might having come from the Church and said might being devastated during the Fall, every Station had to turn inward for ways to defend itself.

In over a decade since, new technologies and techniques developed all over the world. Eager to unite the world once more, the Generals had founded the International Education Exchange. Colleges and academies such as Pinnacle would send their students off to different campuses in other Stations where they would spend the entire year learning about the Station, absorbing knowledge and integrating what they learned into their fighting styles. Uniquely, Pinnacle was the only such institution that could transport its entire city-like campus to the Stations through powerful and expensive Warp technology.

The idea behind the IEE was to ensure that every citizen was fully capable of defending themselves and no single entity would be responsible for defenses of an entire world. The students of Pinnacle and similar institutions would not only be lending their expertise to their professions in a practical sense but they would also be expanding their knowledge and appreciation of their neighboring nations. The example the Headmistress gave at the start of ‘Craft Day’ was that a blacksmith from Diatollia would use different materials and techniques to someone from Miasma. However, few people have ever explored the idea of using Diatollian techniques on Miasmas materials or vice versa. The purposes of the IEE was to encourage unity amongst the Stations through the next generation.

Which was one of the reasons Jack Denver Clarke was currently browsing the various craftspeople wares on display. The 18-year-old, crimson-furred Wulfun ducked and weaved expertly amongst the much bigger students in the crowd. At only 5’8’’, he was abnormally small for a wolf. Most Wulfuns were seven feet tall minimum and built like tanks. He was compact, lean and had a tail that often trailed behind him on the ground due to his shorter stature. His keen blue eyes darted from one stand to another, scanning for anything that caught his eye, that spoke to him and uniquely told him that ‘yes, this person can make a weapon for me’. His short, brown, spiky hair was almost a Mohawk from where it sat between his large, triangular ears which were constantly swiveling from left to right, similarly scanning conversations for any bit of gossip that might catch his attention.

It had been a month since the school year started and as a first year. It was quite an adjustment from the more structured lessons of high school to the more sporadic nature of college classes. Pinnacle had some core classes he had to take, of course, but most of the other classes were entirely optional. So far he had been getting barely passing grades. Certainly nothing to make the honor board or earn him distinctions but as people constantly said, Pinnacle was one of the top institutions in all of Tower Thirteen. Even average grades meant excellent grades elsewhere.

He didn’t believe that but he still tried his best.

A big whale gave a shout of triumph to his left, nearly knocking back everyone else around him as he swung an immense flail through the air. The head of the flail, shaped like a spiky star, let out a burning blue fire as it did so. The blacksmith looking on looked very pleased with himself and was already having a contract drawn up for the potential new client. A little down the aisles, a spunky mouse swung the enormous greatsword that looked about as tall as she was with ease. The blacksmith that had made it stared at her with open-mouthed shock as she swung the blade easily through the air like a toothpick.

Pinnacle students were something else.

As part of the curriculum in Pinnacle, every first year needed to sign on with a blacksmith or craftsperson. The artisan would be be dedicated to making the equipment for that student for an entire year. It not only stimulated the economy by giving these hard workers jobs but formed partnerships. After all, a student would eventually go out on adventures with the weapon provided to them by their blacksmith. If trust was built between the two, then they would continue to work together. Word would spread about the magnificent and legendary weapons the student would wield and that craftperson’s name would spread far and wide.

JD watched as other students triumphantly signed contracts, shaking hands and taking pictures as they formed these partnerships. A lot of the stalls were very flashy. Even those that were geared more towards stealth or subterfuge had a certain flair to them that was designed to draw people in. However, none of them really called to him.

Then he noticed the lone, simple stall off in the corner, heavily overshadowed by a huge military-looking outpost. This stall was manned by a single, silver-furred Wulfun who looked a little despondent as he watched the crowd flock over to the one next to his. Many of the others who were watching demonstrations from the loud-mouthed sergeant boasting about his military-grade weapons spilled over to his section, mostly blocking him from view. No one paid any attention to what he had to offer and, at the moment, he had a small, semi-transparent, blue cube in his paws, thin threads of light springing from the cube and into his ears, playing music. No one noticed him or even paid him much heed. Likely they assumed, given his build and camouflage pants, he was part of the bigger military-sponsored crafting guild.

But JD noticed.

He quietly made his way towards this lone wolf, idly messing with large discs on his otherwise bland table. Beams of semi-transparent blue light danced out of these discs, seemingly materializing little screws, drill bits and simple pieces of machinery at his command. All the large silver Wulfun needed to do was tap one of the surfaces on his blue, crystal cube and the discs seemed to generate these bits for him. There was a simple holographic sign over his head, ‘Handicraft Hart’.

“I take it you’re Hart?” JD asked.

The Wulfun’s perked his ears up and gave him a sidelong glance, green eyes somewhat dulled from what must have been a depressing day. He yanked the earbuds from his ears, the threads of light retreating into the cube, a Sequencer. “Yeah. If you want to stand on my stall to get a better look at the military surplus place, go ahead.”

The guy’s defeated look and down energy was clear for everyone to see. Likely didn’t help his sales.

“I’m actually more interested in what you have to offer.”

The large wolf, typical height for a Wulfun, but much bigger in terms of muscle size, let out a soft huff. He ruffled his black hair with blonde roots. It was clear at one point he had a bit of a buzz cut but it had since grown out. “Thanks for your sympathy but you’re better off looking elsewhere.” He hiked a thumb over at the stall next to his which was currently blaring loud rock music. “I’m probably going to pack up and leave soon. I didn’t think this was a good idea anyway.”

JD say down on the edge of his fellow lupine’s desk. “Well if you’re going to leave anyway, why don’t you tell me about yourself and your work? What’s the harm, right?”

The powerfully built Wulfun turned to JD, appraising him. For a second, he seemed confused and looked about to say something but bit back whatever comment he was going to make.

“Alright,” he sighed. “Well, my name is Hunter Hart. I am…” He paused, twisting his lips a little in discomfort while his ears folded back against his head. “… was a military Combat Engineer. I used to work on the HHHC Immanent Armageddon but my contract didn’t get renewed and I was thinking about trying something different. Something new. I saw this opportunity and decided, why not?”

He groaned a little as the music started up again. Folding his thick, corded arms across his broad chest, he grumbled, “Little did I know how woefully unprepared I was.”

“What kind of stuff do you build?” JD asked, tilting his head to the side, long tail gently slapping the side of Hunter’s stall.

Hunter leaned on one paw and gestured with the other towards the stall next to his. “Mostly military stuff as well.”

“Nothing off script?”

There, Hunter’s thick blonde eyebrows perked up a little. “A little, I guess. But the military never let us actually put such stuff out on the field. It had to be according to their blueprints or not at all. One of the reasons I kind of want to try something else.”

“Spread your creative wings, so to speak?”

“Pretty much.” JD didn’t miss the slight wag of Hunter’s tail from behind the stall. “What about you? Tell me about yourself?”

JD smiled lightly, wiggling his black nose a little as he sniffed the air. “I’m Jack Denver Clarke. JD for short. First year here in Pinnacle. And yes, I’m a Wulfun too.” He lifted a finger before Hunter could interrupt him. “Before you ask, I had an accident when I was young. During the Fall actually.” JD turned his back and lifting his shirt just a little just enough to reveal the ragged pink scars running up his back. “My spine was completely destroyed. I couldn’t walk or move anything from my neck down. It was only thanks to extreme surgeries and cybernetic implants that I could walk the way I do now. It’s severely stunted my growth. I’m not getting any taller than I am now. Also, it prevents me from using any magic of any sort from my own energy reserves. I can still activate runes and spells if it comes from an external power source but if you need me to cast a spell with my own power…” He shook his head and made a slicing motion through the air. “… can’t do it.”

Hunter tilted his head to the side in confusion. “How’d you get into Pinnacle?”

JD’s lips tilted upwards ever so slightly. Without warning, he vanished, leaving Hunter puzzled. The bigger Wulfun never noticed JD’s muzzle hovering right next to his ear.

“Like this.”

Hunter let out a cry of surprise and tumbled off his chair, staring at JD in total horror and his paws up in fists. “How!?”

JD beamed, fangs flashing. “I can’t use magic from the Illuminus Weizar but there are other techniques that I can use with my own raw Force and Spirit energy. One I learned from a good friend is call Shukuchi. Basically, using raw Force energy, I move my body into the blind spot of a moving object. Something has to be moving for me to activate it but I’ve gotten pretty good at it that if someone so much as breathes, I can trigger it.”

He held out his paw. Crimson lightning crackled between his fingers. “I can also generate electricity. I guess that was enough for the judges at my entrance exam to let me in.”

Hunter staggered to his feet, dusting off his camouflage pants and black tank-top. “That’s pretty amazing,” he said, offering a lopsided smile. “You made the best of your situation. None of the other kids bully you or anything?”

“People tend to be divided into two camps,” JD said, flipping the seat Hunter was on back to an upright position. “Either they look on at me with pity or disgust like somehow getting touched by me would make them lose their magic too.” He shrugged and sat back down on the table. “The way I see it, I can’t let anyone else define me.” JD got a distant look on his face and smile. “A friend of mine once said, ‘We are all cogs in a greater machine. We are defined by how we affect others and how others affect us’.” He turned back to Hunter with a smile. “I choose to validate my life by helping others.”

The bigger Wulfun sat down on the chair, arms crossed. “And what? Am I your latest charity case? You want to help me?”

“Maybe,” JD responded. “But I think there’s something about you that can actually make me a weapon I’ll genuinely use.”

“Oh yeah?” Hunter’s large ears perked up, angled towards JD to reveal the blonde fur inside of his ears. “And why’s that?”

The smaller Wulfun pointed at the loud-mouthed, showboating sergeant just one step away from launching rockets into the air. “You picked a place right next to one of the showiest and loudest stands in the hall. That tells me that you’re hoping to somehow outshine them. The fact that you’ve stayed here throughout this entire time also means you’re pretty stubborn so you’ll not only take pride in your work but stick with it. Then you told me that you want to break away from the mold of the military.”

He pressed a paw against his chest. “For someone with my unique circumstances, I kind of need someone who will shine in their own way, stick with the admittedly difficult task ahead of them and think outside of the box. Let’s face it, I’m a wreck.”

Hunter’s brow furrowed. “I’m sure there are other smiths out there that can make you something more fitting.”

“Maybe but they are out there to make money. You’re here to make a name for yourself. To explore what you’re capable of.” JD held out a paw towards him. “I’m just starting out at Pinnacle as well. I want to figure things out.” He tilted his head slightly towards Hunter. “I’d be honored if you’d help me.”

Hunter shut his eyes for a second, the faintest tug of a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. “Kid… that was so corny I could taste it.” Still, despite those words, he reached out and grabbed JD’s paw, giving it a firm shake. “But you’ve got yourself a deal. When do we start?”

“How about you come over to dinner and we can talk?”

Under the Shadows of the Eldertrees

Hunter was genuinely surprised to have found a client - even if it was just a single one - at the Craft Day. It had been a long shot for him. When his commanding officer had pointed it out to him as an alternative to renewing his contract because she clearly understood he wasn’t happy with being restricted all the time, he hadn’t seriously considered it. Renewing his contract was no longer an option… Well, renewing his contract as a Combat Engineer. If he wanted, he could always sign-on as infantry but that was his absolute last option.

No, that wasn’t true.

His last option was going to work for his dad.

Having a contract signed with a Pinnacle student would ensure that he would have a steady income from the school for at least a year. Longer if JD decided to keep renewing their contract year-on-year. Of course if he had more students sign up for him, he could make more but one student would at least give him a decent wage. Not enough to really make a living but at least he wouldn’t starve if he was clever with his money.

Another surprise came when he got his new client’s address and found that the young abnormally short Wulfun lived in Geohaven of all places.

Haven - the 13th Station of Tower Thirteen and commonly known as the Station of the Divine - was divided into two sections; Strato-Haven and Geohaven. Strato-Haven consisted of enormous floating islands known as motes. The majority of civilization was housed in these magical wonders. Glistening glass and crystal cities connected by elegant pathways of light and magic dominated these structures. Geohaven was the main landmass of Haven and was covered in enormous Eldertrees that could easily reach a hundred meters tall. Most of Geohaven’s cities and towns were considered ‘rural’ or - at most - ‘suburban’ and was generally cast in a gloomy twilight. In the middle of the night, it was almost pitch black. Few made their homes down there because of how isolated it was.

Ironically, during the demonic invasion that preceded the Fall of Haven when demonic forces struck at the heart of the Church in Haven, Geohaven was the safest place of all because of how large it was and how easily one could get lost in the trees. The scattered nature of all the homes there also meant that Havenese forces could easily engage in guerrilla warfare, catching demonic forces off-guard.

Even to this day, a decade after the end of the war, few lived in Geohaven due to rumors of demonic stragglers picking off the unwary. Hunter guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised that someone as tough and resilient as Jack Denver Clarke would live down here.

The coordinates he was given landed him in a sleepy suburb in the grove far from any other mote. From the air, it was impossible to see it entirely simply because the canopy of the Eldertrees shrouded it completely. It was only after weaving through the thick branches could he take his four-man verticar down into the suburb of maybe fifty, quaint homes.

Gone were the structured and often similarly designed houses of Strato-Haven. Every house was custom built and had odd property lines. One home was distinctly ‘L-shaped’ and had red rooftops that were covered in vines. Another was a large three storey building with a sizable pool in the backyard. The Clarke home was a squat single-storey building with a large backyard and equally large front yard. There was what looked like a full tennis court in the back. The house sat on a slightly raised hill that grew from the nearby Eldertree’s lifted root with the path leading up to it coming from the winding path up said root. Thankfully, Hunter was able to bring his verticar right up to the front lawn where he parked it, hovering, in the large yard.

He stepped out of the car, dressed as formally as he could on such short notice with a sports jacket, some dark slacks and a white shirt beneath. In his paws was a casserole that he had bought from a store. Curiously, he noticed the presence of two other vehicles outside of the garage and wondered if one belonged to JD and the other his single father.

He approached the front door and noticed that it was one of those hex-doors. While it looked like an ordinary door made out of wood, there was a distinct absence of a door handle. He rang the doorbell and waited. A short moment later, the door itself dissolved into a flurry of dancing, bluish-green hexagons. On the other side stood JD dressed in a pair of shorts and a graphic shirt.

“Hey Hunter! You made it!” He bounced aside and welcomed Hunter inside.

The house had a very cozy feeling to it. Instead of the traditional metal structure that was painted or textured to look like wood, the frames were genuinely made out of wood. Steelwood if he was right - just as hard as metal but the the coloration was more natural which made it more expensive. Between these frames, on the walls itself which gave the panels between the corners and pillars look like someone had stacked multiple hexagonal-shaped tiles on top of one another to form the walls. They were all a warm, beige color that went well with the reddish-brown of the Steelwood. Some plants hung from the ceiling with little light sources between the leaves or showing through their roots to offer some moody lighting. Wooden floorboards were heated feeling good against Hunter’s socks.

He followed JD into the kitchen where he found four other men. One was obviously JD’s father, Alexander Clarke. The other three he didn’t recognize.

“Hey guys,” JD announced, pulling Hunter forward. “This is Hunter. He’s the craftsman I was talking to you about.”

The sole human of the group, a 5’11’ lean, muscled man with long black hair that was tied back in a ponytail and handsome chiseled features approached Hunter with a hand out. Hunter set down the casserole on the nearby table and shook the guy’s hand. A firm grip with calloused palms spoke of a man who was used to manual labor. Strange purple eyes glowed beneath a thick brow. “JD has talked a lot about you. I’m Rayne. Rayne Noam.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hunter greeted.

The big, Green Draconis who was leaning against the kitchen counter with a beer in his hand approached next. He was almost as big as Hunter but was probably a few years younger. His enormous wings were folded back but if they were spread, he was sure it would consume Hunter and more. A blonde mane ran down between his nutty brown horns with large, pointed ears having little tufts of the same hairs at the end. He had a strong, square jaw and sharp, brown eyes that matched the color of his horns. Bright green scales were complimented by softer, yellow ones that ran from the underside of his jaw and likely down his broad, muscled chest. The dragon was dressed casually in a black tank top and some khaki shorts though Hunter was surprised that he had a wide digitigrade stance where most Draconis were plantigrade. Such genetic modifications were not cheap.

“Wood,” grunted the dragon, holding out his free hand. Hunter shook it as he took another drink from his beer. Once Wood was done with his sip, he let out a loud belch right in Hunter’s face. “Wood Bladebreaker.”

That name instantly sparked recognition in Hunter’s mind. “Bladebreaker? As in Bladebreaker Manufacturing?”

“That’s the one,” Wood said with a grunt. He let go of Hunter’s hand and moved back to search for more beer. As he did so, the last man in the kitchen moved over to Hunter; a slim Tigris with a braid of black hair running down the side of his head covered in beads.

“You’re probably wondering why JD would recruit you when he’s got a weapons manufacturing juggernaut’s son and heir having dinner with him, right?” said the feline, holding out his paw. “Skye King.”

“Hey,” Hunter replied, shaking the offered paw. “And yes. I’m genuinely wondering that.”

“Wood doesn’t really want anything to do with the company he’s bound to inherit,” said the tiger, stepping back after releasing Hunter’s paw. “You’ve heard the story. Teenagers rarely want to follow in their parents’ footsteps and make their mark on the world with their own two hands.”

He glanced over at Wood. “Does that mean he doesn’t take his parents’ money?”

“He’s actually staying with us,” JD offered helpfully. “Wood and Skye have been my friends since I was a kid. They were around every step of the way when I was recovering from my injury.” He nodded towards Wood who was rummaging through the fridge. “Wood sort of doesn’t talk to his mom and hasn’t lived with her since the Fall. He’s been staying with us.”

“Wow, you guys must be really close.”

Wood padded back over and draped an arm around Skye’s shoulder while his long, serpentine tail wrapped around JD’s legs gently, pulling him closer. “Yep. The three amigos here.” He jerked his chin at Hunter. “So you think you can make weapons for us all?”

Hunter balked in shock. “Wait. What?”

JD grinned at him sheepishly. “Wood and Skye both didn’t like any of the other people offering stuff at Pinnacle so when they heard I found you, they wanted to see if you’d make anything for them too.”

Shocked at the sudden influx of clients, Hunter was shaken. In his mind, he had hoped to stick with JD as his client for the year so he would become comfortable with the new working environment. Then, afterwards, maybe he’d consider making new clients. Having three off the bat was overwhelming.

“I haven’t even made anything for you yet,” he confessed. “And I don’t know anything about either of your friends to be able to judge whether or not I can make anything for them…”

Wood suddenly released both his friends and got a hard look on his face, a look that made Hunter fear he was going to get a face full of acid as Green Draconis were known to spit when mad. “Here’s what you need to know.”

“Wood…” warned Rayne.

“Skye uses Spirit Magic,” explain the dragon bluntly.

“Spirit Magic?” Hunter repeated. “As in the magic to manipulate Spirit energy directly? Isn’t that…?”

“Forbidden by the Church?” finished Wood. “Fuck yeah but the Church isn’t in power anymore and you’d be wrong about Spirit Magic. Skye sees ‘spirits’ all around him. Like…” He glanced over at the Tigris. “How’d you describe it?”

Skye sighed heavily and regarded Hunter apologetically. “To take a step back, I’m from Miasma. We’re a very spiritual people. I come from a tribe that specifically focuses on nature. We see spirits around us. I guess you could call them the collective influence of mortals on the environment around us that has amalgamated together to form primitive consciousnesses.”

Hunter gave him a blank look.

“Yeah, I give him the same look,” Wood said. “Basically they’re ghosts.”

“They are not ghosts!” snapped Skye. “Every time anyone does anything, it leaves traces of their actions in the world. When multiple people do the same, those essences gather together and form a spirit. Those spirits help me as I borrow some of their energy and help me cast my spells.”

“So ghosts,” stated Hunter. “Or would it be more accurate to call them poltergeists?”

Wood let out a loud, barking laugh and pointed at Hunter. “Yes! Fuck yes! They’re fucking poltergeists!”

“They are not poltergeists!” Skye barked, his whiskers twitching in agitation. He took a deep breath, pressed his paws together and turned to Hunter pleadingly. “Please don’t agitate the spirits. They are an integral part of nature and without them, much of what we know and love would be unable to function.”

“He means that he’d be as useless as a flaccid cock if we piss off his spooky friends,” Wood grunted.

Skye glared at his friend, feline eyes narrowing into slits. “Alright. While we’re talking about our ‘conditions’, why don’t we talk about your condition, Wood?”

Rayne stepped forward. “I don’t think -”

“Fuck it,” Wood declared. “Enough edging.” He puffed out his broad chest and hiked at thumb at the cleft of his pectorals. “I’m a Fallen.”

It took Hunter an entire minute to come to terms with that declaration. A Fallen. A Fallen was someone who was graced with the Mother Goddess’s invulnerable weapons of purity and sanctity designed to bring peace and word of faith to the rest of Tower Thirteen but had chosen to forsake that mission and corrupted their Valor into a Sin. Ordinarily, those who obtained a Valor would become a Paladin and be whisked away by the Church to be trained in divine sermons and how to be upstanding citizens in the world. However, during the Fall of Haven, many Paladins were revealed to be corrupt and Fell, becoming Fallen and turning their Valors into Sins.

“Wait,” Hunter began, “how old are you?”

“Nineteen,” Wood said gruffly.

“The Fall of Haven only ended ten years ago and was a five year war.” He began counting the years with his fingers. “So… at the minimum, you must’ve Fallen from the ages of four to nine.”

“People can fall outside of the Fall,” said the dragon indignantly.

“Did you?”

There was a pause.

“No.” Then Wood’s eyes narrowed. “Is that a problem.”

“No,” Hunter replied. “Honestly I’m just curious about the mechanics of it all. I mean… How did you fall?”

Wood huffed, his chest deflating slightly and his guard lowering. “Year two of the war. My dad got it into his stupid head that he’ll go out and try to be heroic. Tried to protect my mom and I from some demons. Died in the process. I got pissed. Wanted to avenge him. Boom, Valor.” He made an exploding gesture with his free hand. “But then all I wanted was revenge on the demons. Double-boom, fell and Vulcan turned into a Sin.”

“You were just six years old.”

“Yup.”

Rayne sighed heavily and turned to Hunter. “The Church would have us believe that anyone touched by demonic corruption is immediately full of sin and Wood, being a Fallen, is tantamount to being a demon. In fact, each of us here would be considered heretical.” He gestured towards Skye. “Or completely infirm due to the lack of their ability to use magic.” JD waved from behind Rayne. “As you can see, we aren’t evil. That’s just the old way of thinking that most of the older generation consider to be dogma.”

Hunter held up his paws. “Hey, don’t need to go preaching to me. I was barely seven when the war started. By the time it ended, I was old enough to realize just how messed up the Church really was. Hell, my dad would drag me to sermons every week. That was enough to make me hate the Church even before the Fall. Joining the military was a giant fuck you to him and his Church-loving ways.”

Wood grinned broadly. “I’m liking him already.”

The silver Wulfun inclined his head at Alex and Rayne. “You kept using ‘we’. Why would you two be considered ‘heretical’?”

Alex shrugged. “You mean apart from the fact that I’m a rampant homosexual, an unapologetic slut and my son is my clone?”

Hunter’s jaw dropped. There was some clear resemblances between Alex and JD. In fact, the more he looked, the more the resemblance was utterly uncanny. Apart from the height and build differences, there was very little separating the two.

“I’m a gay man, Hunter,” Alex said, lifting a glass. It took Hunter a second to realize that it was a martini glass filled with a fruity looking drink. Admittedly, it looked delicious and he fought the urge to lick his lips. “I fought in the war and I was a hell of a spy. I will admit that more than once, I slept my way through a mission. But I also suffered from some serious FOMO when my ex-brother-in-law, JD’s uncle, had his own son. Not looking to get married myself, I looked into ways of getting my own kid. Adoption was too messy. I wasn’t going to find a surrogate because just the idea of child birth and a velvet taco makes my dick want to fall off.”

“So you turned to cloning?” Hunter stated bluntly.

“Is that a problem?”

Hunter shook his head, using it as an excuse to glance from JD to Alex. “Not at all. If you don’t mind me asking though…”

Alex quickly explained that JD had a 10% variation in his genes but most of that manifested internally with only some superficial differences outwardly. JD’s muzzle was a little shorter than Alex’s and his paws were bigger, making him look slightly out of proportion whereas Alex had crafted his body into a lean, muscled wolf that was giving strong ‘daddy’ vibes with the slightly looser brown hair with flecks of gray around the temples.

“The Clarke Family also has access to Illusion Magic,” explained Alex. “A form of magic that doesn’t use the Illuminus Weizar. According to the Church, that’s heresy.”

“And I’m a Demon Prince,” Rayne explained bluntly.

Hunter arched an eyebrow. “Really?” He then glanced from face to face. “You have a Demon Prince staying with you? Or you know one? How’d that happen?”

Rayne regarded him with surprise in return. “That’s your reaction? No question about the fact that I am one? No question about why I don’t have horns, cloven hooves or wings?”

Hunter waved that away. “I know about you Demons changing shapes and I know about how the majority of you guys actually defected from the demonic invasion and allied with the Generals to stop the invasion. You helped save lives and rescued people trapped behind enemy lines. You were given amnesty by the military and have been living amongst us for a decade.” He glanced aside and grumbled to himself. “Despite rampant racism…”

Rayne frowned briefly, appraised Hunter and then nodded approvingly. “You’re right, Wood. I like him too.” Then with a hike of his thumb, he said, “To answer your question, I’ve known the boys since they were young. Alex and I go way back. I’m also an instructor at Pinnacle. I like to think that they decided to sign up because of me.”

He gestured at the three students while Alex grumbled something into his martini. Hunter had to smile to himself. It almost looked like Rayne and Alex were the two opposing gay dads looking after three boistrous sons.

Now that he thought about it, admission into Pinnacle would generally involve invoking magic of some sort to meet the minimum standards. Wood could not use most of his abilities as a Fallen or he would likely paint a target on his back for school bullying. There would likely be very few instructors that could show him how to use his powers. The same could be said about Skye and JD who either couldn’t use their preferred use of magic or couldn’t use magic at all.

Rayne explained as much. Since he was within Pinnacle’s staff, he helped the trio get into the school by guiding them towards other parts of their education that didn’t necessarily rely on magic. Skye, for instance, was very studious and he could still use the Illuminus Weizar even if it was to a limited degree. JD couldn’t directly use magic but he could use magical tools. Wood had great physical prowess and being a demon himself, Rayne could train him to control his powers. It was a combination of these that got them into Pinnacle.

Now that was a teacher.

“So now you know about our little band,” Alex sighed. “Thoughts? Questions? Feedback?”

Hunter looked from face to face. Strange as it was, he felt welcome amongst them. More than that, there was a spark of inspiration that started shining it’s light into his eyes that was drawing him into its lure.

He smiled.

“Are you right handed or left?”

An Angel at the Gates

The addition of Hunter Hart into their little private circle of secrets was unexpected but welcome. Rayne had been a little cautious about JD inviting the combat engineer over but when the Red Lightning - as Wood and Skye had come to call their spry friend - caught onto an idea, there was very little stopping him. Plus it felt good to talk to another adult even though Hunter was only three years older than JD. During that dinner, he had enjoyed sitting on the back patio with Hunter and Alex, drinking a few beers while the boys played some videogame up in the guest bedroom.

This left Rayne feeling quite pleased. He had been worried about the Pinnacle requirement that every student be equipped with at least one weapon from a craftsman before entering the second semester. Few craftsmen out there would be willing to even indulge Wood’s Fallen status while Skye would only be taken on as a curiosity or challenge. Maybe JD would be considered a charity case.

But Hunter seemed genuinely interested.

Now the question was the young wolf’s skill in the craft.

For now, Rayne was pleased that all signs would point to the three boys heading to Incendius in the next two months. That had been their hope and goal since starting the semester. They wanted to prove that they were on the same level as everyone else while also learning more about the Station of the Sun.

Apart from the complications with their conditions, there were other roadblocks.

Alex, for one. Overprotective and deeply concerned for his son ever since JD was injured, Alexander Clarke was extremely conscious about sending JD off to another Station for an entire year with only periodic visitations in between. The two of them had spent days arguing about how he couldn’t coddle JD forever and the Red Lightning’s impulsive and often rebellious forays out into the wild were a direct result of Alex’s near-suffocating parenting. This also extended to Wood, Skye and the fourth boy living amongst the Clarkes. Alex had a lot of a love to give and was a great father.

But he was also was stubborn. He wanted to keep an eye on his son as much as possible.

So, Rayne came up with a solution.

He gently knocked on the metal door leading to the Headmistresses’ office. After a few seconds, he walked straight into the door, the metal rippling around him like water. Whatever train of thought he may have had was immediately stalled, however, when he noticed that Salashi was not alone. In front of her very formal, horseshoe-shaped desk with a myriad of inbuilt devices were two people from the Church of the Tower.

Though disgraced for the evident corruption put on display during the Fall of Haven, the Church was still a prominent force in all of Tower Thirteen. Their influence was severely diminished and more people were drifting away from daily practice. It was still a very powerful institution hosting some of the most influential individuals in world, however. One of them was standing in front of the displeased Headmistress.

“Aria,” Rayne greeted, striding forward. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Aria Valkyrie, a Templar of the Church, stood as regal as ever. Her platinum blonde hair tumbled down the back of her head like a perfectly pressed, silvery waterfall. Amethyst eyes glistened in opposition to Rayne’s smoldering purple eyes. Her features were chiseled much like his and in many ways, they were like mirror opposites to one another; light and dark, night and day. Of course, while he was dressed in a tank top and shorts for his duties as a PE teacher in Pinnacle, she was dressed in the black attire of a Templar with the two flaring pauldrons shaped like eagles spreading their wings mounted on her shoulders. Her Valor, the long spear Gungnir was strapped to her back. A long, flowing, black cloak covered the rest of her body modestly with the trim remaining a pure white to mark her home Station as Haven. Heavy, white armor befitting an Angel was hidden beneath the coat.

“Rayne,” she greeted in return coldly. “A pleasure.” There was a time when she treated him with hostility but ever since the deaths of her two best friends - Lumire the Eternal Prophet and Harm Chronos the Last Chronomancer - she had mellowed out somewhat. Over all the voices of the Church, she was one who had long advocated for moderation even though there was a time when she would be considered a zealot of the Church. As a member of the Angel race, she was effectively immortal - or at least ageless. Mortal wounds could still kill her but she was incredibly resilient.

Next to her was a Paladin so depicted by the fact that he only had one pauldron his shoulder, his shaped like a snarling lion’s head to match his Leomian species. His tawny brown fur was cut through by his red mane which he had been neatly styled and tied back into a ponytail behind his head. The mane around his face was trimmed to leave his cheeks bare and only to have a short, bushy goatee hanging from his rounded chin. His sharp, yellow eyes observed Rayne through circular glasses with a critical gaze. Rayne took note that this Paladin’s left arm was completely consumed by his Valor; an enormous, black, metallic arm with vicious red claws that hung past his knees. The Paladin also held a large tome in his other, normal paw.

“Allow me to introduce my companion,” she said, gesturing at the Leomian. “This is Tanar. He and I were just offering our services to the Headmistress given the start of the new year.” Aria turned towards Salashi. “I believe it would be absolutely criminal if the new age of defenders for our world’s safety did not have the wisdom and guidance of the Church.”

“I think we all saw what that ‘wisdom and guidance’ got us during the Fall,” Rayne grumbled. “Over-reliance on a singular entity for all aspects of morality, military and culture left us vulnerable to corruption from within. That’s why the Generals empowered institutions like Pinnacle to do their own thing.”

“Rayne,” Salashi said, regarding him sharply. “Lady Valkyrie was merely providing a suggestion not insisting. And I, for one, am glad for the offer.” She leaned back in her high-backed seat. “After all, we need to offer differing perspectives in our education. We need to let our students make up their own minds on the facts we present them not control their ideologies through dogma and unbending theories.”

Though having the presence of an Angel in Pinnacle made his skin crawl especially considering Wood’s circumstances, he knew Aria was a reasonable person. They had fought together during the Fall, after all. It had been Chronos that had stayed her blade from his neck. Then again, it had also been Chronos that had steered the Demon Lords and Princes away from the Demon King for millennia in preparation for the war. Only the Demon King’s most ardent supporters and zealous followers followed him to invade Haven. That was still a lot of troops and it still cost Tower Thirteen but the Destroyer of Time’s actions had made the Demon King’s defeat a foregone conclusion even before the war started.

Rayne had long theorized that the King had triggered the invasion knowing fully he would fail to purge the demonic ranks but he would never know now.

His concern, however, rested with Tanar. He was the unknown and his presence shadowing a Templar was concerning. Templars were generally autonomous and were free to do whatever they wanted. That a Paladin - a member of the Church of lower standing - was with her spoke of an organization that didn’t trust one of its most powerful and experienced soldiers.

“I guess while we’re on the topic of hiring more people on staff,” Rayne said, pushing the crystal tablet he held across to Salashi. “Do you remember Alexander Clarke?”

“That rather bothersome father of JD Clarke who has been campaigning to keep his son on Haven despite the curriculum demanding he travel to Incendius in two months?” The annoyance in Salashi’s voice was very evident. Alex had made quite the nuisance for himself for the faculty ever since JD had been successfully enrolled in the Academy.

“Why would the father of a student be opposed to this school’s policies if he enrolled his child into said school?” Tanar asked. “Unless this Alexander Clarke didn’t read up on Pinnacle’s curriculum?”

“Oh I’m sure someone as intelligent as Mr. Clarke knew full well what his son was getting into the moment he was accepted,” Salashi said, switching on the tablet and scrolling through the notes Rayne had provided. “In fact, the moment the acceptance letter was sent to the Clarkes, he was front and center demanding change. The problem comes with the fact that he never believed his son would actually be accepted.”

“That’s rather harsh.”

Rayne waved away the comment. “Don’t get the wrong idea. Alex loves his son. JD, however, has suffered crippling injuries as a child which has caused a good majority of his body to be replaced by cybernetics.”

Tanar frowned. “That would severely restrict his abilities to use magic.”

“Exactly. Since a lot of Pinnacle’s classes and the basis of most of Haven’s society is based on magic, Alex never believed his son would make the cut.” He grinned ruefully at Salashi who was attempting to hide a smile. “It just so happens that JD is a rather nosy wolf and sniffed out a conspiracy against our dear headmistress here. Despite her protests, he unraveled the plot, brought it to the authorities and rescued her from humiliation.”

The curious looks from the Church officials caused Salashi to wave away their concerns. “Nothing serious. Just the parents of a rather inept student trying to throw their weight to force my hand into accepting their child into Pinnacle. Young JD intercepted their attempts, confronted me with them and, despite my begging to keep this amongst us adults, somehow he scared the parents into withdrawing their attempts at coercion and sent their student over to Summit instead.”

She raised her hand. “This did not influence my decision to admit JD into my academy however. His audition was… unorthodox but nonetheless fascinating and inspirational. I had already planned to accept him and his actions were just further proof that he is the kind of man I want as my alumni.” She chuckled softly. “And to think, he picked up on my distress just because of the inflection in my voice when I said ‘parents’.”

The Headmistress shook her head and tapped the screen in front of her. “Are you sure about this Rayne?”

“Alex is a good guy,” Rayne responded. “He’s just worried about his only son whom he treasures above all else especially after the accident. I think it’ll also open a window to that ‘adult education’ program we were talking about.”

Salashi let out a soft laugh and nodded. “Fair point.” She pushed the tablet across the table to him again. “Very well. Let’s proceed.” She nodded towards Aria and Tanar. “Both of you are welcome to Pinnacle as well. We will discuss the terms of your assignment at another date.”

They thanked the headmistress and left her office.

“I see you’ve been keeping quite busy,” Aria observed, smiling at him gently. “Teaching tolerance towards demons, I take it?”

There was a soft growl of disapproval from Tanar which confirmed Rayne’s suspicions that the Leomian was a hard-core Church conservative.

“I have,” he replied proudly. “Or at least respect. Come what may, students tend to set their bigotry aside when you can beat them in simulated combat.”

“Tolerance implies that we must endure the presence of another for the sake of cohesion,” Tanar growled. “You are not to be tolerated, Mr. Noam. You must be accepted.”

That surprised Rayne entirely. Such a forward-thinking Paladin was hard to come by. Though now that he examined Tanar, he guessed that the lion was probably a little older than JD and his group. Perhaps about as old as Hunter. Probably raised during the War and the ensuing recovery period. It would not surprise him at all if Tanar was trained as one of the new age Paladins as a way for the Church to gloss over how a lot of their bigotry was on full display during the Fall.

“I’m glad you’re able to find friends and support, Rayne,” Aria said, a distant note of sadness in her voice. Her words brought Rayne back out of his reverie. “Goddess knows we’ve lost so much during the war.”

He could not help but pity her. For millennia, there were two other people at her side that seemed to be immortal. Lumire was known as the Eternal Propheticus Primoris, the head of the Church and a force of change in the Church’s doctrine. Despite being human, he didn’t age and was astoundingly resilient. People said he was blessed by the Mother Goddess herself. Then there was Harm Chronos, the Last Chronomancer and a chaotic force of change in his own right. However, during the war, both men had died. Lumire was assassinated in the opening volleys of the war, killed by demonic invaders while defending the Church’s holy cathedrals. Harm sacrificed himself to destroy the fragment of Chrysalis holding Haven as it was falling to demonic corruption and the only way to prevent that corruption from seeping into the very soil of Haven was to destroy it.

Aria had fought during the Purge of Time some three thousand years ago alongside both men. Now, she was alone in a sea of weakened Church officials who were grasping for power and trying to pin the blame on anyone apart from themselves.

To be that lonely was crushing.

“Hey,” he said, “The Clarkes are throwing a barbecue tonight. JD found a blacksmith willing to work with his unique condition and he signed up his friends as well. They’re revealing their weapons tonight and Alex thought it’d be a good opportunity to celebrate. You should come.”

Aria shook her head, seeing clearly through the attempt. “I appreciate it, Rayne, but I would be a stranger amongst friends. Enjoy your time. We shall have many more opportunities to catch up and build a professional relationship in the coming year.”

The addition of ‘professional’ in that sentence made him wince internally.

“We should go,” Tanar said, surprising him yet again. “I’m honestly curious to know about this ‘JD Clarke’s’ audition to Pinnacle and the company he keeps.” He grinned showing off his sharp fangs. “Plus free food is always preferable.” He eyed Rayne cautiously. “They aren’t vegetarians are they?”

“One of them is but they’re mostly carnivores.” Rayne turned and waved a hand backwards towards them. “Bring your appetites. The Clarkes cook up a hell of a storm.”

We're Cousins, I Swear

The Clarke home was a strange little sanctuary away from the rest of the world. Alex’s penchant for hosting gatherings was primarily borne from his obsession with protecting his son but over the years, Skye had found it as a place where he could be himself. He was sure Wood felt the same. Those that came to the house knew all about who they were, what they were capable of and held no judgment whatsoever about the fact that he practiced ‘heretical’ magic or Wood could ‘corrupt’ anything he touched merely by breathing on it.

Of course this evening’s festivities was a little more… complicated.

When Rayne introduced Aria Valkyrie the legendary Templar and her assistant, Tanar, Skye felt the constricting collar of the Church close in around his neck all over again. He greeted the two Church officials pleasantly enough but quickly excused himself when it seemed appropriate. Without needing to communicate, he and his two friends retreated to the backyard away from the adults. Wood was taking care of the barbecue while Alex was cooking up sides inside.

“Think I should give the Templar a slice of ‘corrupted’ meat?” Wood growled. “Seriously, what was Rayne thinking inviting her?”

“They’re old friends,” JD responded, laying flat on the bench with a baseball cap over his eyes.

“What makes you say that?” Skye asked.

“Well, he’s a Demon Prince and she’s an Angel. Before the Fall_,_ they would’ve been at each other’s throats but he’s inviting her to a barbecue. That tells me that they’re friends. Or maybe it’s a political move from Rayne. Not sure. But I think she’s cool.”

“And what about Tanar?”

JD hiked the bill of his cap up slightly with his thumb, his sharp blue eyes off into the distance. “I think he knows people have this opinion or expectation of him that he’s going to have the Church’s blessed rod up his ass. He doesn’t like it but he doesn’t know how to correct them.”

“All that from the ten seconds you were exposed to them?” Skye chuckled. “Or were you spying on them again before they arrived?”

An enigmatic smile on JD’s muzzle appeared and the small Wulfun lowered his cap once more, pretending to be asleep.

“All of them just make my skin crawl,” grunted Wood, his tail lashing in agitation behind him. “Too much law and order bullshit. This place needs a little more spice. We need -”

As if summoned by Wood’s words alone, a loud bang erupted from somewhere in the house. All three boys turned just in time to hear blaring rap music laced with vulgar expressions bursting from the the back door. That door was blown off its hinges by a big, thick booted foot. Skye grimaced but couldn’t help the grin tugging at the corners of his lips. Wood beamed brightly and JD was immediately up, tail wagging.

“The party starts here, boiiiiiiiiiiis!” roared the black-furred Ursus.

Kane Fenn came charging out of the house, trampling the hexdoor on his way. His huge five-hundred pound, muscled body was hands-down the biggest fur in the entire house. Ripped, brimming with muscles and simply oozing sexuality, Kane strutted forward wearing nothing but a shockingly tight pair of bright pink shorts that might as well have been a thong that did nothing to hide his seizable package. His chest would normally have been bare to show off the downward triangle of golden chest fur but today, it was covered by a bright, white fishnet tank top and a silver necklace. His hair - which was naturally blonde - was dyed purple. He changed the color every day. He beamed down at JD, setting down the immense sound system that he had been hoisting on his shoulder while dropping the ever-present black gym bag that he always carried. One of his eyes was blue and the other was hazel.

“Come ‘ere, cuz!” Kane exclaimed, scooping up JD in his huge arms and spinning him around like a child. From the house, Skye could see Hunter, Aria and Tanar staring at the big bear in shock. No doubt Kane had made one of his famous entrances. Second only to JD, the ursine made some of the best first impressions.

Then he saw their expressions widen in shock, bringing Skye’s attention back to Kane. He should have been surprised that Kane suddenly had his muzzle pressed deep against JD’s, his tongue visibly bulging against the smaller wolf’s muzzle… but he wasn’t. JD, tried to struggle away but there was no way he would ever escape that bear hug and there was just something about Kane’s kiss that drained your brain of all its senses and made you dizzy. Everyone in the Clarke house - visiting or not - had been on the receiving end of one of those kisses. Yes, even Alex. Kane justified it by saying that it was just a kiss and he technically wasn’t related by blood to any of them.

“Are… are they actually cousins?” Hunter asked, gingerly wandering over.

Skye wandered over, leaning on the brawny military engineer’s shoulders. “Yes. Not related by blood, though. Alex’s ex-wife’s brother is Kane’s father. Though I guess since JD is Alex’s clone, that’d make Kane more like JD’s nephew? Not sure. It’s a little gray.”

Hunter regarded Skye with a stunned expression and pointed to where Kane dropped a stunned and dizzy JD on the grassy ground before turning towards Wood. The two began bumping their chests against one another and measuring one another’s machismo. “That’s how he greets people? I mean, he didn’t even knock! He just came barging in through the window! He nearly gave me a heartattack!”

“That’s Kane for you,” Skye answered with a shrug. “His dad is really high up in the military and, just like any rebellious kid, he veered away from all the stringent rules and order of the military in favor of something else. He’s a second year in Pinnacle but instead of focusing on the more… studious parts of the curriculum, he enjoyed the more… base pleasures of his year up in Xaos.”

His skin prickled as Aria stepped over, arms folded. Her porcelain features were unreadable as they watched the dragon and bear start to flex at one another. Though Kane was clearly bigger, that didn’t stop Wood from still competing.

“He seems like such a free spirit,” she said observed. “I have a feeling he is the type of person that would go out of their way to irk anyone he encounters but beneath it all is a strong sense of familiarity that would not be broken even by the strongest of weapons.”

There was a hint of approval in her voice and… nostalgia. Skye wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“You’d be right there,” he chuckled. “Sometimes it’s a little hard to tell if what Kane is doing is just to annoy you or someone else but you can tell when he’s doing what he’s doing as a sign of affection when he’s up close and personal and touching you. Comes from being a pornstar, I guess.”

Hunter jerked away from him while Aria quirked an eyebrow at him. From his other side, he heard someone to a spit-take and glanced over. A stunned Tanar was staring at him wide-eyed.

“T - that brute is…” Tanar coughed and cleared his throat. “How is he a student at Pinnacle?”

“Pinnacle isn’t restrictive on the kind of culture that you experience,” Skye responded calmly and with a faint smile on his muzzle. “The purpose of the academy is to hone your skills while learning about different Stations. As I mentioned, Kane chose to focus his efforts on the more carnal lessons. He does this by literally sleeping around and showing off his body for money. In case you’re wondering, he is actually an incredible student. Check his student records. He gets consistent S-ranks in his exams and classes.”

“How!?” Tanar blurted.

“Don’t be so narrow-minded, Tanar,” Aria chastised, surprising Skye. “Good grades and an active sex life are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Sometimes, we learn more from what we experience with others than what we learn from books alone. Gone are the days where only those with S-rankings are those who spend hours buried in notes and attending every class.” She lifted a finger. “Besides, Pinnacle allows you to pick which classes you attend apart from a few core classes. It just goes to show when you have the freedom to choose your path, you will excel.”

“Oh Kane just grabs a board with the names of classes and throws darts at it to pick his classes,” Skye said. “Last year he took up the super complicated cybernetics surgery class that’s exclusive to Xaos and got an O - Overachiever - on it.” He glanced off to the side. “Might have something to do with the fact that he was really enthusiastic at tearing up people…”

Hunter looked pale. “It’s really terrifying that someone like that is incredibly intelligent.”

“Come on, it balances out the party!” Skye laughed. When he got a confused look, he explained that each of them were aligned to differently and balanced each other out. “I’m probably the Lawful Neutral here,” he said. “I’ll follow the rules but it’ll be morally gray on whether or not I use it for the betterment of others or my own selfish desires. Tanar, you’re clearly Lawful Good.”

The Leomian puffed out his chest at that assessment.

“You’ll stringently follow anything that says it’s for the greater good or betterment of others even if it means sacrificing yourself.”

That deflated him a little.

“Hunter, I’d say you’re more on the True Neutral side. You’re pretty flexible. Might do some shady stuff here and there but you’ll balance it out with acts of charity.”

Hunter glanced towards Aria and offered a quick, sheepish smile.

“Lady Valkyrie, I’d say you’re more on the Neutral Good side. I’m sure you’ve broken some laws or even gone outside rules for the greater good but still remain within the bounds of not being persecuted.”

She made no comment but the faint smile on her rosy lips confirmed his assessment.

“JD is Chaotic Good,” continued Skye. “He’ll do whatever he can to benefit others. Rules be damned.” Then he hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “Alex is Chaotic Neutral. Mostly because his primary focus is his son and what he wants. Wood, I’d say is more Neutral Evil. He doesn’t care much for rules but will follow them when he has no choice and he’s kind of selfish and self-centered. He cares for those he calls his own, though. Rayne would be Lawful Evil. He has his own set of laws and set of honor but he’d be pretty self-serving too.”

“We saw that when he pushed for Alex to be a chaperone for Pinnacle’s trip to Incendius just so that he would be removed as an annoyance,” Tanar grumbled. “Even though yielding to an overprotective parent could only prove more problematic later on.”

Skye paused a moment, regarding his fellow feline for any hint of a joke. When Tanar just gave him a blank stare, his heart began to sink. “I’m going to have to tell the others about that…” With a shake of his head, he turned to the last person on his list. “And I guess you can guess that Kane is our Chaotic Evil. Totally out there. Self-serving and laws and regulations be damned. Might go out and hurt someone because it’s funny.”

Smiling to those around him, he said, “But we ultimately balance each other out.”

Aria let out a soft, musical laugh. When given a curious look she said, “The arrangement just reminds me of when I fought during Purge of Time. There I was, the stringent Inquisitor who would follow the letter of the law without fail. Lumire was undoubtedly our epitome of Good. Everywhere he went, there was a ray of sunshine. Then there was Harm, the element of chaos. You never knew what would happen when he spoke. Then there was Sophia… our War Priestess.”

“Your War Priestess was Evil?” Skye asked, his whiskers twitching - a little twitch of his indicating that there was a juicy piece of knowledge that he was eager to dive into.

Aria grimaced. “Yes. So much yes.”

“I’d love to hear the story.”

She smiled at him and nodded. “I’d be happy to share.” Then she nodded towards the barbecue which had been left unattended and was now burning. “But how about we salvage the meal? I believe those two young gentlemen were so busy flexing at one another they forgot the meat they were guarding.”

The smell of charcoal suddenly became evident and Skye’s eyes widened. “Wood! Kane! The meat is burning!”

The two glanced down the grill and immediately went on to blaming one another. Aria strode forward and with a wave of her hand, the burnt charcoal that had become the burgers, steaks and sausages were blown off into the wind. They were instantly replaced by glimmering, perfectly cooked pieces of meat of different types and from different Stations, warming themselves in the grill.

The power of perfectly executed Divine Magic - the magic of creation.

“Call the others,” she said, grabbing the tongs from where they rested. “I believe we’re ready to serve.”

Skye beamed.

He had a feeling both Aria and Tanar were going to fit in just well.

The meat was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Nothing short of perfection from the Angel. Even Wood had to admit that it was most tender and well-cooked meat he had ever tasted. Aria distantly reminisced about how her friend, Harm Chronos, once spent a month trying to perfect the exact time-to-cook-to-meat ratio per type of steak, constantly rewinding time until he got the perfect medium-rare cook with exactly the right amount of sear.

“Even though he couldn’t have any for himself as a Chronomancer, he still went out of his way for these seemingly trivial things.”

The mood was quickly dropping but JD quickly brought them back to the side of mirth and merriment.

“Hey, Hunter, weren’t you going to reveal your weapons for us?”

The burly silver Wulfun nodded. “Oh yeah. Here we go.”

He ducked inside the house a brief moment and came stumbling out with three cases. The first and the biggest was offered to Wood while the second largest was given to JD and the smallest to Skye.

“I took each of you into consideration based on what you told me about your situation,” he said. “So I hope you all like what I made for you.”

JD eagerly opened his case, pulling out two, longswords that looked to be made of a pure-white metal of some sort. Skye inclined his head to the side, noticing how the blade itself was paper thin with the tips suspiciously curved to almost make it look like it was an enlarged scalpel. The grip was simple; metal wrapped in plain black leather to make it more comfortable. Apart from the blade though, it didn’t seem too special.

“Is it made out of… etherium?” he asked.

Kane blew a raspberry and let out a bawling laugh. “Come on, dude! Even a guy like me knows that etherium is as brittle as glass! You can’t use that in a sword.” He lifted the large burger he was holding in his paws, using it to point to Hunter.

Hunter ducked his head, his eyes cast down and his confidence wavering. Then there was a flash of crimson lightning and all eyes went to one of the swords JD held. The short wolf’s signature crimson lightning was dancing across the length length of the blade, causing the white metal to glow with a dull light. There was a determined look in the wolf’s eyes. Lightning fast, he swung the sword.

The burger in Kane’s paw was sliced right down the middle, the cut appearing just between two of his fingers. JD gave his fellow wolf a soft smile followed by an encouraging nod.

A burst of confidence entered Hunter’s expression and he puffed out his chest. “You’re right, Kane. Etherium is brittle as glass but do you know what makes it one of the most commonly used materials in all of Tower Thirteen?”

“It’s ability to conduct magic,” Tanar provided.

“It’s ability to conduct energy,” Hunter corrected. “Magic refines energy into elemental forms but at its most basic, etherium conducts and changes forms when exposed to any form of energy. I did some research and experimentation and learned that if you channel pure Force energy into etherium, it’ll maintain its integrity for as long as you keep channeling energy into it. In essence, as long as JD keeps shooting his pure Force energy-lightning into it, it’ll never break.”

Tanar blinked a few times in surprise. “That’s genius!”

“There’s more,” continued the combat engineer with a bright smile. “I learned that when doctors try to repair damage to magical leylines in the body, they siphon a little bit of Spirit energy into etherium tools. That makes etherium intangible. Unable to harm anything physically but it can cut into magical energies instead.” He nodded to JD. “Want to give it a try?”

JD smiled and glanced towards the other blade. The sword shimmered, becoming slightly intangible. He swung it at the nearby table. The weapon’s blade passed right through the table.

“You’re going to have to be really careful, though,” Hunter advised. “Like I said, trained professionals basically have scalpels made of the stuff. I’ve read stories about doctors accidentally nicking the wrong magical leyline and causing some sort of explosion.”

“I can teach you on the anatomy of magical leylines,” Tanar supplied, resting a paw on JD’s shoulder. “It would be my honor.”

JD beamed brightly, lowering the swords carefully and returning them to their original brittleness. “That’s so much, Hunter! They’re perfect. What are they called?”

Hunter didn’t hesitate, locking eyes with his fellow wolf. “Validation.”

The crimson wolf’s smile grew broader. “Awesome.”

The moment was interrupted when Wood let out a loud whistle. His case contained an handaxe with an axe head bigger than his hands. The enormous dragon regarded it with a little bit of uncertainty.

“Hunter, bro, I appreciate the sentiment but I’m not sure this is my speed. Vulcan is already a handaxe…”

“I thought you might say that,” Hunter replied, his confidence growing. He padded over to the dragon and gripped the weapon about halfway up the haft. A soft green glow emitted from the blade. “Cataclysm has a dual purpose. As a Green Draconis, you naturally produce a corrosive acid. Cataclysm emits an aura that can corrode metal. You’re also a Fallen so I figured why fight that? You shouldn’t suppress who you are just because other people might look down on you for something that isn’t your fault. Cataclysm can be used in tandem with Vulcan and your natural acid-breath as a Green Draconis to create an armor-eating virus.”

Wood’s scaly eyebrows rose. “Virus, you say?”

“Yeah. It’ll devour any inorganic metal above a certain density. You’ll basically render metal armor useless with just a slash. Better yet, it’ll spread.”

“Fucking sweet!”

Hunter beamed and turned to Skye who had already retrieved the two bangles. Excited for his own weapons, Skye put them on and watched as they began to glow. He was surprised when his feet began lifting off the ground.

“Whoa!” he cried. “What are these!?”

“I figured that as someone based more magical combat, you’d probably prize mobility over defense,” Hunter explained. “I based those rings on the anti-gravity rings that we see all over Haven. With a little practice, you’ll be able to move and maneuver with ease so you don’t have to use your body and precious Force Energy to cast your spells.”

Skye was about to correct Hunter that he tended not to use his own Force Energy to cast his spells but understood that he still could in an emergency.

“Better yet,” Hunter continued, “I did some research on Miasman magic and I made those rings of capable of stockpiling spells.” He pointed at the rings. “Miasman magic usually requires longer chants and focus times to cast so I thought that if you can prepare your spells before hand, you’ll have an easier time. I call them Fleeting Dream.”

Skye was genuinely surprised. “You understood all that after just a week of talking with us?”

Hunter blushed a little. “It’s a bit of a rush job, I know. But I promise I’ll keep refining them. And if you don’t like it, I can make something else.”

“No!” Skye exclaimed, holding up his paws. “They’re amazing, Hunter. I’m just honestly astounded that you took all that into consideration and made such fantastic weapons in just a week!”

“Yeah,” boomed Kane. “That’s pretty fucking impressive.” He crossed his arms and waggled his bushy eyebrows at Hunter. “So what you got for me?”

The slightly smaller Wulfun to the Ursus was taken aback. “Uhm… pardon?”

“You ain’t gonna leave me out, are ya shorty?” Kane clapped his paws together demandingly. “Let’s put your craftsman chops to the test. You’ve had two seconds with me. What weapon do you think I would like?”

Hunter glanced from face to face and seeing the expectant and some defeated expressions, he held up a finger. “Just… just give me a second.” He turned around and took out his matter converters from his pockets - the small, disc-like devices he had been fidgeting with back at Craft Day. Pulling out his crystal cube - the Sequencer - he unfolded the cube and brought a thread of light from it to the discs, creating a portable console of sorts. The silver Wulfun hurriedly began building something.

Skye tried to hover to Kane but quickly began wobbling through the air.

Aria grasped his wrist. “Resist the urge to move with your legs,” she advised. “In the air, the slightest movements is what causes the most disturbance and your legs are generally the largest parts of your body. Lead with your chest.”

“Thank you,” he breathed, following her advice. She nodded in understanding as he made his way towards Kane. “Don’t you think you’re being a little mean to Hunter?”

“I’m joking,” Kane said with a laugh. “I just like to see the new guy squirm -”

“Ah!” Hunter suddenly exclaimed, spinning around and shoving a hammer into Kane’s hands. “Here you go!”

Kane regarded the archaic mailbox in his paws with a look of utter confusion. It had a long, Steelwood shaft and the head that was attached looked like someone had slapped a breadbox onto a pole. The large hammer head was reminiscent of an ancient mailbox complete with flap that opened and the little red flag that would indicate if there was mail or not.

“Uh… corporal,” the bear said. “What the fuck?”

“Well…” Hunter offered a grimace. “I sort of made that thinking that it is kind of you. You know. Unexpected. Loud. And I thought you’d get a kick out of humiliating someone by smacking them on the head with a mailbox.”

Kane let out a short laugh. “Yeah. Okay. That would be funny.”

“Oh and I made it so that it can generate exploding envelopes.”

There was a second of silence.

Then Kane told everyone to stand back before he swung the pseudo-hammer through the air. Sure enough, a few envelopes were spewed from the weapon. They fluttered in the air for a few seconds before -

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They all exploded with the might of firecrackers. Minimal damage at most but still spectacular. Kane stared at puffs of smoke that hovered in the air left in the aftermath of the explosions.

“Fucking sold!”

Visions of Fire

Two months passed by fairly quickly.

JD, Wood and Skye struggled with their grades as their limitations prevented them from truly excelling. However, Tanar had been tutoring them all. He had his reservations about them - particularly Wood - but the dragon was ultimately a good kid deep down, just made bitter by the needless death of his father and scarred by the war. Had the war not happened, he wondered how these three would have turned out. The details of JD’s ‘accident’ had never been revealed but he had a feeling it was due to the Fall. Skye was less of a challenge. He could still use traditional sanctioned magic and was, by nature, curious so he absorbed knowledge hungrily. Tanar persisted with all three, however. He felt it was his duty to help them get their grades up if only to help the Church atone for their part in the fall.

Thanks to him, they got their grades high enough that they wouldn’t be left behind when the rest of the campus headed over to Incendius. Their ranking was still miserably in ‘UG’ - ungraded - but it was better than flat zero. It irked him how Kane, despite spending most of his nights drinking, sleeping with someone new or shooting pornographic films under the alias ‘the Black Cannon’, did exceptional in his classes - always getting an ‘S’. Tanar had spent the better part of the last two months trying to sniff out any cheating on the bear’s part but there was no denying that Kane was just talented.

Irritating but undeniably talented.

He instead took pride in the fact that all three students he had helped tutor were now lined up amongst the others ready to make their way to Incendius, the Station of the Sun. Kane would be joining them, of course, as the entire campus would be moving to Incendius but he chose to focus on JD, Wood and Skye.

Thanks to some of Rayne’s political maneuvering amongst the faculty, himself, Aria, Alex and Rayne would be the designated chaperons for the four students. He would personally be in charge of Kane’s grades.

“You have each been assigned a rubric,” Salashi Omeris said from the front of the stage in a cleaned out and prepared Alphacine Event Hall. To emphasize her point, a few students held up their dominant hands or paws. Glimmering blocks of holographic light danced from their skin, shimmering to form a solid block that displayed her face and emitted her voice. “Your rubric consists of a curriculum that has been designed specifically for your education. Every time you achieve a particular task in your rubric, you will be allocated points. Your points at the end of the year will dictate your grade. Just remember that it takes more and more points to get to higher grades and not every task in your rubric will be graded the same. You’ll notice that exceedingly dangerous tasks are worth less points. As much as we encourage you to find your own adventure and place amongst the Stations, we do not want you risking your life.”

There were a few murmurs of discontent amongst the students. Kane was unperturbed. He had been through this before.

“Furthermore, you have each been assigned a guardian, a chaperon. Apart from your professors, they will be the ones giving you points. They are fully capable of giving adhoc points for various achievements and are under strict rules to avoid fraternization and to maintain a level of professionalism.”

A reason why Alex was not JD’s own chaperon but actually looking after Wood. Aria was looking after the young, crimson Wulfun while Rayne was in charge of watching Skye.

“While on Incendius, you are not only representing Pinnacle but also Haven,” continued Salashi. “So please, be on your best behavior. Most of all, however, immerse yourself in the culture of the Station of the Sun.”

Kane leaned towards Tanar, his new mailbox-themed hammer over his shoulder which he had decided to call ‘Going Postal’. “I fully intend to immerse myself in Incendius if you know what I mean.”

Tanar ignored the comment.

“Learn all you can about it’s citizens.”

“I’m going to learn all the the ins and outs of its citizenry. Physically.”

“And most of all, have fun.”

Tanar lifted an eyebrow at Kane, expecting another innuendo. The tall black bear just grinned at him.

“Way too easy,” commented Kane with a sly smirk.

Just as Skye said, chaotic.

With those words, Salashi told everyone it was time to warp. Tanar closed is eyes. Warp technology was relatively knew; developed by General Solomon during the Fall. Whereas previously, travel between Stations was restricted to physically making the trip through the Void in starships, Warp technology allowed them to bend space and time to bring themselves from one location to the other instantaneously. It was much like JD’s Shukuchi technique but on a winder scale. Given that they would be warping the entire mote that Pinnacle stood upon, this was no simple feat.

It still made Tanar sick though. Like someone had stuffed an egg beater into the contents of his stomach and whisked his stomach acid until it became stiff peaks. Just thinking about made him recoil and pale.

A low whirring quickly rose into a tremendous roar, the tell-tale sign of a warp jump approaching. Tanar tensed, keeping his claws from digging into his palms and holding his shoulder back, stiff and straight as possible to brace himself for the inevitable twist as they crossed time and space.

That roaring grew louder and louder, a high-pitched keening following.

Then… silence.

He exhaled. It was over. He took a deep breath and was suddenly assaulted by the harsh smell of ash, sulfur and violently hot air. Coughing naturally followed and he immediately opened his eyes to see what had happened.

“What in the…?” he gasped.

Instead of being in the highly decorated hall of Pinnacle, he was on some devastated volcanic landscape. The ground was black with veins of magma showing through it. The skies were a blood-red with distant volcanoes exploding spewing dark clouds to formed an almost-all-consuming canopy over their head save for a single, perfectly circular hole that showed a dead, volcanic planet staring angrily down at him from above.

He took a step back and was immediately hit a big, furry wall. Glancing up, he saw Kane, frowning deeply. The big bear’s paws wrapped around his shoulders protectively while his eyes scanned their surroundings.

“Searanti…?” asked the bear.

“The dead planet above our heads says otherwise,” Alex growled.

A glance around him revealed that the two of them weren’t the only ones stuck in this devastated land. All nine of them were here. All were looking confused… except for Aria.

“The Burning Throne…” she whispered.

“What?” Tanar asked. “You’ve been here before?”

“No,” confessed the Angel. “But Harm and Lumire described it to me multiple times. This is the realm of the Fire God Adramalech… But why?”

Suddenly there was a loud rumbling from above. All their eyes went up to the dead planet above their heads. The angry red cracks all over its surface began to widen and the fiery aura around it grew bigger and more volatile. Wood let out a cry, shouting at them to duck. Fiery meteorites came raining down upon the land, smashing into the ground and shattering the land around them.

One particular meteorite landed just a dozen or so yards from them, kicking up ash and knocking them all off their feet. When the dust cleared, Tanar could see something… something red and fiery standing in the middle of the smaller crater. It was a sword… a sword that looked like a scimitar or sorts with the blade shaped like a fiery red wing.

Then the rumbling came again and another storm of meteorites fell down upon them. Skye suddenly screamed, falling to his knees and clutching his head.

“Skye!” JD cried. “What’s wrong?”

“The Spirits!” the Tigris cried. “The Spirits are… are…” Suddenly his body went stiff and he threw his head back, his eyes turning a fiery red and crimson flames bursting from his eye sockets. JD, Aria and Hunter, who had been standing closest to him, were blown back as the Tigris was lifted into the air by some unseen force. His muzzle opened and his voice, accompanied by a dozen others, spoke even though his lips remained static.

“The fires of destruction were doused but remained smoldering as embers. Echoes of sins past shall fuel its resurrection.”

Six beams of crimson light burst from the horizon and curled through the air, striking the dead planet above. The cracks along its surface grew bigger, entire chunks of the sphere splitting apart and flying off from its angry surface. There was something… or someone encased within the orb; a black entity at the center of its burning core.

“Fiery blood ignites for those who bask in the sun. Their sacrifice, spilled blood and screams of agony ignites the flames and awakens the sleeping phoenix.”

Movement occurred in the corner of Tanar’s vision and he caught sight of someone gripping the sword embedded in the ground. He called out, catching everyone’s attention. This figure lifted the blade from the ground and raised it to the sky. He was immediately engulfed in flames and became the seventh pillar thast shot up into the sky towards the dying planet.

“The name of flame tainted. Husks of an ancient era burned and smelted into a cage of armor and puppetry. The sun closes its eyes as the Flame is Reborn, a shadow of true fire.”

The red of the dead planet suddenly turned a deep, corrupt black, seething with wisps of dark, blood-red light. The entire planet erupted, shards of the immense celestial body splitting apart and sent hurtling to the ground. From the fiery core, there was silhouetted an immense figure… a creature with four feathered wings and four arms.

“Fire is brought to heel. The King claims what was stolen. A world will burn. The Fire God descends.”

Whatever possessed Skye suddenly ended and the Tigris dropped to the ground, tears streaming from his eyes. Where he landed, the vision peeled away, soothing back into the white metal of Pinnacle’s hall. As the vision vanished, Tanar looked up at the fiery figure descending from the skies…

… and immediately felt fear.

To Slay the Fire

“Absolutely not!”

Alex paced in the large attic of the Firebrand Inn which they had hurriedly rented out as their base of operations. It was Aria’s idea to have these discussions outside of Pinnacle’s campus. Already, the need for secrecy was making him nervous. His first instinct was to tell the headmistress of the psychedelic vision the nine of them had shared. He was the first to dismiss it as some sort of shared hallucination but even he knew that was stretching the truth especially with what happened the Skye.

He cared too much about the tiger not to give voice to any accusations of powers gone wild or the feline being possessed. Both Skye and Wood had been there for his son when he had been injured. It had been Skye’s desperate use of Spirit Magic that had kept JD alive in those precious few moments when he lay bleeding out with his spine damaged beyond repair. It had been a young and already Fallen Wood that had fended off demons from the duo.

He was still kicking himself mentally for sending his son to the Bladebreaker mansion thinking it would be safe while going off to fight on the front lines. He should have been there. He should have protected his son.

One of the reasons he was vehemently against any involvement in what he was sure was an end-of-world prophecy.

“The school year has barely begun and we’re already jumping into some sort of prophecy about the Fire God coming back.” Alex shook his head, waving his paws through the air. “I am not going to be involved and I refuse to have my son involved as well.” He gestured wildly around him. “Besides, where would we even start?”

“FireFeather,” Aria said grimly. All eyes immediately went to her. “That sword we saw that crashed a few yards from us. It was FireFeather. The Talon of the Fire God.” She pushed off the wall she was leaning against. “During the Purge of Time, the campaign here on Incendius was focused around that. Pyrannos, one of the most destructive Chronomancers out there, was obsessed with obtaining it. We found it. It was being kept by a cobbled-together fleet of merchant and civilian vessels acting like a guerrilla force striking at Temporal’s forces while mounting rescues of anyone still stuck on the surface. The Talon was temporarily lost when Harm threw it towards Incendius when the fleet was attacked by Pyrannos. Then we chased its trail across the Station to keep it from the Tyrant of Eternal Flames. It’s real.”

“Great,” Alex said, shaking his in exasperation. “So our only lead is a sword that was last seen three thousand years ago during a war.”

“Not true,” Aria countered, irritating him. “About thirty years ago during the Burning Rebellion. There were rumors that Harm somehow had it again. I never saw it myself but one of the survivors of the Rebellion, Roran Strongarm, was with him. If we were to look for FireFeather, I say we start with Roran.”

Unwilling to yield to hope, Alex said, “And why didn’t you follow up on that lead? Why wait until now to go chasing after the sword.”

Aria gave him a hard stare. “Because Roran was traumatized enough by that brief war. He lost his wife and saw his best friend Fall.” She quickly glanced towards Wood. “No offense intended.”

Wood waved it off and gestured for her to continue.

“Roran deserved his peace and Harm secreted FireFeather away for some reason. I respected the wishes of my colleagues enough that I trusted them when they didn’t want to share the location of something as powerful as FireFeather to me.” There was a flicker of something in her amethyst eyes that suggested it still hurt that they would hide the location of the sword away. “Either way,” she concluded, “clearly someone is after the blade again. Someone who seeks to end the world. We must act.”

Kane made a loud popping noise from where he stood. He was sucking on a large, phallic-shaped lollipop that was suspiciously bright red. “Are you sure you’re not just looking for something to define your existence so you aren’t forced to get knocked up and then give up your life? Isn’t that what Angels do? The number of Angels must always remain the same so when you give birth, you need to die?”

Aria bristled a little but didn’t rise up to the bait. “I have seen the destructive power of FireFeather first hand especially in the wrong hands. It is not so hard to believe that someone could use it to bring about something world-ending.”

Or resurrect the Fire God.

As much as Alex wanted to keep his son from the front lines, there was an inherent sense of responsibility bubbling up inside of him. He did not want to just sit around and let others do the work for him. This mentality was exactly the same thing that drove JD. He was sure of it. Pride welled up in his chest knowing that instead of feeling sorry for himself, his son wanted to make sure no one else ever suffered as he did.

“Then why don’t we hand this over to the Generals?” he asked. “Let’s let the Templars, Paladins or even the Inquisition handle it. Professionals. Not kids that are just starting off their college careers.”

“Destiny,” Wood said gruffly, bringing silence to the room. “I hate to throw around that word but I think it’s destiny.”

Alex mentally kicked himself again. He should have nipped that possibility in the bud before it arose but now it was too late.

“We were thrown into that vision for a reason,” said the draconic Fallen. “Skye was standing off to the right of the group. There were others closer to him than Kane or Tanar who were standing farthest from him. But we were pulled in anyway. So that tells me we were chosen.”

“By whom?” Alex protested. “What if the only reason we were chosen was because we would make this prophecy happen? There have been so many instances where the heroes think their destiny is to avert the disaster of the prophecy but their actions were actually what made it come true.” He made a slicing motion through the air. “What if it’s better if we just sit still and do nothing?”

“But what if it’s not?” Rayne asked softly. “You and I both experienced the horrors of war, Alex. We both could have just sat around and done nothing but we didn’t. Our actions saved countless lives. I personally don’t believe in destiny.” He looked towards Wood. “I believe in taking ownership for my actions. Even if some divine force showed me what will happen because of my actions, I’m going to take responsibility for what I do with that information. Even if trying to fight that destiny leads me to fulfilling it, that’s on me. Not some god that showed me a possible future.”

“Doesn’t that make you feel helpless, though?” Alex pleaded. “Like you have no agency in your own actions?”

Rayne gave him a slight smirk. “On the contrary. It tells me that divine forces need me to get shit done. That the gods aren’t as omnipotent as they make themselves to be if they need someone like me to do prove them right.”

“Heretical,” Tanar accused with the faintest of smiles. “But I can appreciate that perspective. It is only the most corrupt of gods that demand obedience from their followers. True gods gave us life and free will to do with what we please. They embody goodness and purity. They do not need our love or affection and it is our choice to give it to them nonetheless because it is the right thing.”

“Shut up with your fucking Church dogma,” Kane snarled playfully. “Still, Uncle Lex, you’re basically the only one that’s saying ‘no’ to this whole destiny and saving the world shit.”

“We haven’t heard from Skye!” exclaimed Alex desperately, turning to the Tigris. “You were possessed by that voice, right? What do you think?”

Skye had been silent for most of the time since they had finished orientation and the entire time that they had booked this ‘room’. For the hour or so that they had been discussing, he had remained quiet.

“I think…” he breathed softly. “… that it was a warning, not a prophecy.” He lifted his gaze, scanning the room. “None of it screamed to me that they wanted us to really do anything about it. It was like… those voices were telling us what was coming. That… it’ll happen regardless of what we do.”

“See!?” Alex exclaimed. “So why put ourselves in danger?” Saying those words left an ashen taste on his tongue. It was against everything he stood for.

“But why even bother to warn us in the first place?” asked the shaman. “I think the voices were telling us that the end is coming but… we can still do something to avoid it. Change the outcome.” A fierceness entered his eyes. “We need to do something.”

Kane slapped his own knee. “That settles it, Uncle Lex. You’re the lone, dissenting voice.” Before Alex could protest, Kane pointed behind him. “Oh, and if you’re thinking about pulling JD into this, he’s already gone.”

Alex’s tail fluffed out and he immediately spun around, scanning the room for his son. Half of him was hoping to find JD off to the side eating yogurt out of a tub looking stunned so he could turn around to his nephew for the cruel prank but, much to his disappointment, that was not the case. JD was genuinely gone.

“Fuck…” he cursed.

He started heading down the stairs to the inn proper when he noticed the swish of his son’s red tail coming up the steps.

“JD!” he cried.

“Careful!” his son cried back up. “I’ve got soup!”

Alex backed away from the steps as JD carried up a large clay pot of some spicy-smelling, savory soup alongside some bowls. Those gathered were a little stunned at the sudden arrival of a meal but there was no denying that the aroma was drawing them in. JD set it down on the small table at the center of the room and began giving people some helpings.

“This is apparently an Incendian delicacy,” he said. “Spicy mushroom soup is the most basic description but it’s called ‘Apollia Cream Soup’. They make a spicy broth from pork bones, herbs and vegetables then bread these huge mushrooms, deep fry them and serve them with it. Hopefully the mushrooms haven’t gotten soggy.”

Alex took the offered bowl and spoon gratefully. “You went downstairs to get this?” he asked.

“I was feeling hungry,” his son said with a shrug. “Plus trying out delicacies like this will actually get me points on my rubric.” He waved his right paw showing that he had indeed obtained some points for buying the delicacy. “What did I miss?”

Alex hoped that everyone would be a little too consumed with the spicy/savory meal to bring up the topic of the prophecy again but Kane, being Kane, brought them back to topic.

“We were debating your dad on whether or not we should do something about the vision we saw.” He took sip from the soup and let out a loud holler. “Ooooooo-weeeee! That’s got a kick!”

“Pussy,” grunted Wood and took a big gulp without flinching. “So what do you say, JD? Fighting against the resurrection of the God of Fire or do nothing?”

“Oh,” JD said dismissively, sending Alex’s heart plummeting. “I thought it was already decided so I went ahead and hunted down Roran Strongarm’s location.”

The group stared at him in stunned surprise as he poured himself some soup.

“He’s got a shop in this very same district. Not too far away, actually. Apparently he used to be one of the top ten blacksmiths of Incendius but quit a few years ago. He still does some work here and there for people to keep up a living but he’s mostly a recluse these days. We can go visit him after this if you want. I have his address.”

Hunter stared in open-mouthed awe. “How did you manage to learn that and get this soup in the time it took us to mention is name?”

JD regarded the other wolf blankly like he didn’t understand the question. “I ordered the soup and while I was waiting, I talked to people around the inn. They were very forthcoming. That’s all I really did.”

Alex couldn’t help it. He just laughed.

“Alright,” he sighed, holding up his hand in defeat. “I guess it’s settled. We’re going to fight against the inevitable resurrection of the God of Fire.”

Kane grinned at him. “Don’t feel bad, Uncle Lex.” He lifted the bowl. “Good soup, right?”

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Good soup.”