Old friends New problems.

[killjoy]

Gillien had been working all day the next day on the weapons but still had a lot to do considering he had only finished some of the bullets with Rovertson's help for some of the materials. He had not slept last night with all the excitement. Deciding he was to tired to continue he tried to find Azronical as he found he quite liked talking to the old grizzled dragon finding he had quite interesting things to tell. That is when his time wasn't monopolized by Haze. The ebonystriker had really grown on him. He especially liked the stories about Asralie and desired some day soon to go see the city for himself.

Rovertson was searching for peter when he finally found him with the help of several of the resident dragons. Walking in the rather crowded confines he had to walk on two legs carefully through the walkway until he reached him. "I need to talk to you real quick got anywhere we could chat? "Sure, I know a few places. Just depends on how much company you're okay with." Peter said as he turned to face the Ebonystriker. "Any amount would be fine its nothing sensitive." "Alright, then follow me. I'll take you to the nearest place that is big enough for you to be comfortable. We can talk in Shockstorm's old cave, the Protectorate hasn't done anything there since his death besides move the body." Peter said, waving his hand for Rovertson to follow. When they reached where they where heading Rovertson started talking. "Well I never told anyone how I became this way I think it would interest you greatly." He said as he curled up. "Oh, well you thought right then. The Protectorate has done more investigations than anyone can count, but we've never found the truth. Please, go ahead." Peter said as he pulled a thousand-year-old stool that had been in the cave since Jorgen had first had it made. Rovertson let out a small puff of golden smoke before continuing "well it started before I was born. A life ebonystriker by the name of Erandel was a loner after Asralies destruction by Rezeroth. He had a skill no other ebonystriker had before him and since him, and he decided to use it to hide from Rezeroth. The ability to turn human. As you know several ebonystrikers have transforming abilities but to turn into another sentient form is on the extreme. Well the ebonystriker ended up falling in love with the wrong species. My mother. At first it looked like I was completely normal besides my sun allergy. After a bit the barbarians attacked and both my father and mother died and turns out Rezeroth sent those barbariens because he to busy chasing a group of ebonystrikers. So fast forward to when I changed. When Azronical got hurt I had an instinct that told me how to help him and when the blood touched me it must of somehow triggered the draconic side of my family causing it to be dominant. And after I changed it turns out I had a full set of draconic instincts that where lying dormant in me the full time. Even when I was human I felt one of the instincts. I guess my whole life I've been part dragon. Is saddening outliving most of your friends watching them get old and frail while I just get larger. Even the dragon i fell in love with grew old and died as I held her in my paws as she took her last breath I cried my heart out for three full days just holding her as I cradled her in disbelief. Wishing we had more time. My poor girl. I beat myself up with it every day to the point of wanting to die at times but i just cant leave Azronical like that. My only release was to kill as many deamons as I could in honor of all who have died fighting them. You know the day I heard Jorgen had died I actually cried I have only cried five times in my life. He was one of the best thank the gods Kyle made it with Darkender and Rouge I don't think I would make if they had died to. I only tell you this because I like you kid you remind me of him." After Rovertson finished he dropped to the ground his head right next to the stool peter now sat in looking at him with sad defeated eyes showing the emotional side of him that rarely would come out. Those eyes looked weary with age tired. It takes a lot to make a prideful dragon admit weakness and Rovertson was most definitely prideful. In his moment of emotional release a large amount of tears escaped his eyes staining his scales causing them to glisten. His massive body started shaking as he let all the pentup emotional stress out in the tears that now started raining from his maw and onto the floor.

Peter tentatively went and kneeled next to Rovertson's head and rested his hand near the base of the Ebonystriker's neck, completely shocked to see this dragon in such an emotional state. "Well, I am honored to know how much I am like my legendary ancestor, and I can't even begin to understand how it can feel to watch all those around you whither and die, but I do know that you are also a dragon right from legend and that you just need to find better ways of dealing with that... pain." Peter said awkwardly, not at all comfortable with such... personal and emotional conversations. "From what old Shockstorm once told me, when he got into a similar mood, hiding these emotions won't help. Shockstorm was able to keep the sadness at bay by telling stories about those he missed. You just need to find your own way to relieve the pain." Peter said, hoping that it helped some, "Now come on, if anyone stumbles in here we wouldn't want them to see you in tears, you have a reputation to keep up as the strange human/dragon mixed breed that isn't good at being social. And what would they say if they saw me showing compassion and trying to help, can't have anyone be thinking that now can we." he added jokingly. Finally Rovertsons sobs stopped as he started saying "thanks yes it would probably make your hospital have an extra patient for heart attack I guess" Rovertson started cleaning the tears from his muzzle with his forked tongue. "Exactly, I can't have that kind of pressure on my head. Now then, is there anything else you wanted to talk about? Otherwise I'll go back to supervising the preparations of the Reserve Protectors for the inevitable battle when Askin finds us. We want to be as ready as possible and I just know my second-in-command will mess things up if I'm not there." Peter said jokingly. "No nothing more I had to tell you." "Alright, then I'll make sure the war preparations are going over smoothly. If you need anything else, I'm sure you can find me." Peter said as he turned and left the old cave.
Azronical was walking thrue the streets until I saw Kyle with the usual dragon gang and I walked up sitting down and sayed "hmm what are you doing for now? I feel like talking to familier faces to many new people to keep track of and we've barely talked since finding you." "Oh nothing much I was just looking of a place to continue working on my latest project that I've been working on you?" Azronicle gave a sleight murmer of what only could be described as fear excitement and lovesickness which could only mean one thing. "I'm getting Azura to come over and was wondering if you could tell me more about your life before yo appeared in berk and met the very much younger me. It might only seem like such a little time for you as if you saw me only a few weeks before as a young litle ebonystriker so it might be a little odd for you to see us like this. Its been a thousand years... I missed you and to be honest I'm still a lil freaked out to see you again hehe." My tail tapped Darkender in a friendly way knowing he did not like to be touched sometime. "Missed you you. You tended to be fun to be around at times. Still got them achiles claws of my fathers?"I looked at rouge and said. "Hmm Haze might want to see you soon little one. Its been a long time and sorry I took all of his time and left you none until now." "It's alrighty I understand your his idol and I'm fine with that Oh and Darkender still has those a chiles claws" Rouge replied. Kyle cleared his throat and said" well I was and still are a inventor I made lots of stuff like a hoverborde, shoes that could walk on water, a shrink/grow ray and so on and of course a time machine I only had one friend not including my girlfriend, I use to get picked on because of my obsession with dragons they use to say dragons didn't exist but in my gut I knew they did and that was one of the reasons why I built the time machine and every night when I'd stop working and go to bed I would look at this homemade soft toy my mum made for me when I was nine and and I'd say one day I'll find them then I'd go to sleep." Azronicle gave a quiet purr "interesting. Well I'm glad you ended up meting us but thank the gods that it was after I had met rovertson or that meeting would have been much more tense I was not ok with humans then. So what you want to do?" "I under stand most dragons aren't keen on humans it only takes a specific human to change their mind anyway I don't mind what ever you have in mind I'll do." *I stand up and stretch my wings accidently hitting a house with them and give a wimper of apology before continuing *I was mayby thinking of heading down to the ocean and waiting for Azura she should be close now.* "well let's go and wait for Azura together then."

[Shockstorm]

"No, no, no! The howitzers go on the lower balcony, and the trebuchets on the upper balcony! How would the trebuchet fire with a ledge above it's arm!" Peter yelled to his reserve forces as the scrambled to set up defenses along the island's cliffs. "You know, these kids aren't any older than you are and most of them haven't even been off this island except for training excersizes. They've never been in a battle, let alone something like what we're going to face, so you can't blame them for being clumsy in their fear and excitement." Arc said as he hovered a few feet away. "Yeah, but I also want to try and make sure they survive. Dad put me in direct leadership over the Protectorate Reserve, if anything happens to them it will be my fault, and I refuse to fail in a task like this. I've studied Jorgen's books on battles and sieges, and all the books my family has written on the subject through the ages, so I have a good idea how this will work out. Suffice it to say that we will not go without serious casualties, we might be able to fend off Askin's attack the first time, but I doubt we'll survive a second time if we do. Besides, I really need to practice my whole yelling orders angrily voice for when I'm Chief Protector, hopefully a long time from now." Peter added with a grin before getting back to his preparations. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

As he was doing a fly-by around Dracobyen with his Smokbreath squadrons, creating a layer of fog around the island to help distract the demons when they come, Haze spotted Azronicle, Kyle, Rouge, and Darkender out near the ocean looking as if they were waiting for something. "Why don't you guys keep up without me, I want to check on our honored guests." Haze said before diving down into the thickening smoke cloud. Using the fog as cover, Haze quietly snuck right up to Azronicle and the others before popping out. "Hey guys! Glad to see you didn't get lost down in the city!" Haze said. Azronical jumps high in the air before giving an annoyed huff. "I see you still haven't lost that habit... haven't I told you before not To do That your going to make my old poor heart give out. Oh and we are just waiting for Azura to show up. She is supposed to be here soo to help out." Azronical drops the annoyed act before nuzzleing Hazes side in affection. "Crikey Haze you scared fudge out of me" Kyle said with one of his hands on his heart "oh hay Haze" Rouge said with a slight jiggle in her voice, as for Darkender he gave Haze an angry look and growl. "Hi Rouge, been a long time since we talked. Well, maybe not for you but for me it's been ages since we last met for me! And like I always say, Azzy, a thousand years old isn't too old to have fun! Besides, if your heart goes out I'll just get Arc to fix it! I know how much you love electroshock therapy, and Arc is the strongest Skrill since old Shock... well you know." Haze laughed with a little bounce. "And did you say Azura was coming? Great! It's been forever since any representative from Asralie came other than dusty old Vidoron! I haven't seen Azura for almost 300 years, since that incident with that one travelling salesman that wandered into Asralie! How's she been? Do you think she's much bigger? Is she still as aggressive as she's always been? Is she more aggressive? How do you like the smoke cloud my Smokebreaths and I are working on?" Haze asked in rapid succession, though he managed to restrain from bouncing this time.

Azronicle purrs in amusement "even age can't remove your curiosity Haze. Well she still is aggressive but now she is my mate. That still doesn't exclude me from her wrath sadly. And I do like the wall very much and now you have your own group of smokebreathes." "Its brilliant that should really help wait ago" Kyle said putting his thumb up after speaking. "Thanks! And of course I have my own flock, I had to get over my fear of other Smokebreaths eventually, and being in charge of them is much easier with my large size! It's good to know Azura hasn't changed, it wouldn't be the same if nobody got hurt! Anyway, my Smokebreath's can finish the smoke barrier, I think I'll wait here with you guys!" Haze said as he sat down where he was. "Ok Haze she should be here soon I think." Azronicle said.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

"The smoke wall is nearly complete, but it won't be enough. I want all of our Ebonystriker defenses set to their highest possible energy levels, and I want the navy to maintain a constant presence at sea within the barriers. And keep our air forces, dragon riders and aerial vehicles, at standby. I want them ready to scramble at a moments notice." Thomas ordered his generals through the island's emergency communication system. He had been standing over the same hologram projection table ever since the war preparations began, watching as the Protectorate geared up for war. Thankfully they had learned much about defending their island from the first time Dracobyen was attacked, and have since spared no expense on defensive measures. "We'll need every to bring everything we've got to survive the demon horde, or even just Askin for that matter. How are our demonic defenses coming along Urkendel?" Thomas asked the demon of the unknown. "We are making progress, but these defenses will not hold long against the corrupted goddess Askin, surely you humans know this. Why do you fight when your deaths are unavoidable?" asked the demon, in one of the rare occasions where it does not know the answer to a question. Thomas knew why Urkendel would ask this, he knew that any demon representing mystery or the unknown would be uncomfortable when it does not know something. "We fight because even though the odds are against us a billion to one, we still have hope that we will survive. We still have faith that a miracle will save us, or that we can actually defeat Askin. We fight not because we are assured victory, but because it is a better death to die trying than to die already in defeat." Thomas said. "You could have spared me the speech, we do not have others listening, but I believe I now at least understand your perspective. But I also still believe you humans and dragons are being worse than foolish, however, since my death is also guaranteed I will remain by your side. I suppose a prolonged death in battle is more, what do you humans call it? Glorious? Yes, more glorious than dying a quick death begging for mercy. We will continue our preparations, Chief Protector." Urkendel said before ending the communication. "Well, looks like our demonic friends are beginning to understand. Do you think we'll survive long enough to see them realize the full potential of life?" Thomas asked aloud. Screech looked up at him with a gaze that gave Thomas all the reply he needed. "I suppose you're right, we'll just wait and see."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Urkendel flew through the tunnels of Dracobyen, following the most distinctive life force in the whole island. After his talk with the Chief Protector, Urkendel felt a strange desire to speak with the one creature in the whole world aside from the Askin spirit that could kill him with ease. Finally he found the dragon he sought, though Urkendel hoped he would survive the encounter. "Greetings demon killer. I wish to speak with you on a matter with which we are agreed on, the survival of this world, and a vision of a world without the corrupted goddess. I come to make peace before we throw our lives to battle the demon hordes." Urkendel said, keeping a healthy distance from the beacon of life energy he now spoke to. Rovertson stiffened suddenly before giving a low growl of frustration to the deamon behind him before turning around to face him a very angry look glowing in his eyes that spoke of danger as the light from his grapnel spikes leaked out a bit in preparation. "You are just determined to get yourself killed aren't you." Rovertson then stared deeply at the deamon and sniffed a bit before shaking his head violently. "You're older then Rezeroth aren't you? and you're confusing to me deamon. You approach me unlike any other without trying to lop my head off and do so with respect... the only reason I have not killed you back when you touched me is because you made me curious.. I thought you might be different then the others don't prove me wrong or I'll just as quickly rectify my mistake now speak." Rovertsons body language definitely showed he was still displeased with the deamon but he became more tolerant of the deamon.

"First I will state that I am ever grateful that you have not killed me thus far, I do believe I have lived the longest of any demon who has come into contact with you, except maybe old Rezeroth. And also yes, I am much, much older than that upstart Rezeroth, even older than some of the deities. I am was present at the forging of Thor's hammer Mjolnir, and I was there when Askin went rogue, as it were. And unlike most of my kind, I am not inherently evil as you humans and dragons so often depict all demons. Through my existance I have been both good and evil. When Askin first broke away from her family, I was the one that helped her gain the unflinching loyalty of the demon hordes, but when Rezeroth began slaughtering humans, dragons, demons and anything else that got in his way, I used my powers to hide large populations from his feeding, and helped instigate the other demons into rejecting both him and Askin as too dangerous to our own kind. I do not ask that you stop killing demons, many are far too volatile to leave alive, but I ask that you accept those of us not entirely devoted to death and destruction as beings that are not inherently evil. Most of the demons you've slain over the centuries deserved what they got, but many more of them were not guilty of any crime beyond existing, and were close friends of mine, though I bear you no ill will for it. What I am saying is that your mercy has not been wasted, even now me and my brethren who left the horde prepare to defend this island and it's inhabitants even at the cost of our deaths. Earlier today I learned the value of honor, something that I originally found to be foolish and self-destructive, but now I know it's worth. If we survive the battle, I will personally devote myself to find a cure for the ailment Askin placed on you, and I will aid you in hunting down the more evil demons. We are not all creatures to be destroyed on sight, and I shall prove it to you in particular, demon killer, kin slayer, Rovertson the life Ebonystriker that once was human. Besides, it will give me the chance to feed off their secrets and reveal many more. Askin alone will keep me fed for many centuries to come." calmly said Urkendel, feeling something it was not used to, the human concept of emotions that even dragons shared in, but demons supposedly could not achieve unless they represent said emotion.

Rovertson stared deeply at the deamon in thought as he shifted to completely face it "hmm so you say that not all deamons are inherently evil and the most confusing thing for me is the fact I sense no deceit as I am usually able to leaves me in a dilema. Because after fighting askin and shoving her deep into the coma she was in I devoted most of my life to trying to send your kind into extinction but if what you say is true then I'm without my sworn duty to kill you all. And what I still don't get is why a creature of survival no matter the means goes to the one being who can kill him with a single movement and most likely very much want to just to have this conversation. But if what you said proves to be completely true I'll leave you and them set of deamons alone until I have a reason to kill any of them. By the way in the battle there may come a time where I will have to release a blast of energy that will kill anything nearby with demonic essense and definitely give Askin quite the pain so when I tell you that you need to go deep underground I suggest doing so if you want to live." Rovertson sat down looking at the deamon curious to what would happen next. "Well as I said, I have only recently learned things that have changed my views on what it means to live, and now I believe that mere survival is not worth the effort compared to truly living. And after this is over, if we live, I have decided that I will take control of the demon hordes personally and try to teach them this lesson as well. And while your concern for the survival of me and my followers is appreciated, it will not be necessary. The Chief Protector will have our allied demons fighting on the opposite side of the island from you, a choice he made to avoid any confusion in the heat of battle. Before I return to the battle preparations, I have just one request for you. I would ask that if you find yourself fighting the Askin spirit and the fight is not going well, I ask that you use this amulet to augment your powers." Urkendel said as he passed a metal necklace with a glowing gem in the center, set to fit Rovertson almost perfectly. "As you can see, It is an aurora gem amulet. Use this in combination with your fighting, but before you release the life energy, and it will create a large area around you that will completely eradicate any demon which enters, and should have a slight draining effect on the corrupted goddess. This should also improve the effects of your life energy blast that you have planned." Urkendel added, not mentioning that all the demon essence and Askin energy drained would be absorbed by him, and that he would use that energy to conquer his demon brethren. Rovertson sighed before taking the amulet and inspecting it. "Hmm ok but when I say the blast will be large I mean every deamon on this island will be eradicated. Every. So I will still warn you. But trust me if I feel this gem start draining me more than it should I'm removing it then chasing you down. I'm still not completely sure there isn't another motive and I'm pretty sure your holding something back but I'll find out on my own I'm examining this gem and even though I'm acting more tolerant doesn't mean I trust you." Rovertson walked a bit to a nearby table and snatched a device from it bringing it over on a claw before handing it to the deamon. "This will allow me to contact you before I do so though." Urkendel took the device carefully and attached it to one of his wings. "As you wish, though I swear on the dark reaches of the minds of the gods that there will be no direct negative effect on you from the amulet. I may be a creature of secrets, but I never lie. Now I will leave you to your business." Urkendel said before abruptly turning and flying away, heading back towards the surface to prepare for the coming battle.

[night fury100]

As Kyle waited for Azura he thought he might as well continue on the small parts for his current invention so he pulled out three small green crystals and three glass tubes with four prongs at the bottom of them. Azronicle tilts his head before saying "why are you allways tinkering with something nowadays" "its mostly a habit to help pass time but this thing I'm working on is a weapon that shoots a consentrated blast of energy that after it hits its target it bounces to another nearby target and it does this five times then stops it also stops when there are no more targets to bounce to." "Ahh ok well that sounds interesting wish azura would hurry." "Me too I can't wait to see how much she's changed" Kyle said "me three" said Rouge. "Honestly she hasen't changed much at all still crazy and a fighter. Just much bigger now." Said Azronical. "Well even so it would be nice to see how much bigger she is it will be a nice surprise probably not as much as when I saw how big Haze has gotten." "Hey! Are you calling me fat!? I cut back on the atlantic cod, I swear!" Haze said, pretending to be insulted. "Actually now that I think about it Haze you have become quite chubby!" azronicle says before Teasingly poking Hazes stomach. "No evans Azronicle but your one to talk." Kyle said giggling at what was going on. Azronicle gives kyle a flat stare. "Im a rock ebonystriker of course im bulky! Hmphh!" "Oh yeah? Well are you sure bulky is the right word Azzy? I mean you're sooo old that you're absolutely massive!" Haze said while laughing. "Well said Haze" Rouge said whilst rolling on the floor laughing.

[killjoy]

Azronical just snorted at the comments as he saw something large in the water rocketing at an unusualy fast pace before it became obvious it was Azura and she pulled herself out of the water a lkttle larger then Azronical shakeing her scales clean of it. "Ugh... Azronical I'll get you later for dragging me into this mess." She looked exausted that without even greeting kyle or darkender or any look of suprise she pulled herself to the side lying down.

[Shockstorm]

Approaching from the city, a demon specializing in stealth was on his way to meet Haze. This demon was one of the demons that had flesh and blood bodies instead of the more arcane forms of the primordial demons like Rezeroth and Urkendel, and his name was Cheshire. Cheshire resembled a winged serpent with just a few variations, he had a split tail, his head was made from a stone-like substance that resembled bone, and his wings had the pattern of a smiling face on them, plus he did have a few demonic powers such as invisibility, making his face pattern glow even while invisible, phasing through inanimate objects, and being able to reassemble himself is he is sliced or smashed or otherwise made into more than one part. Plus he breaths a purple flame that instead of burning causes decay and infection. When Cheshire finally found Haze he noticed that Haze was accompanied by two Ebonystrikers, a Night Fury, a Terrible Terror and a human, but he had no choice other than to approach. "Well hello Haze, Lord Urkendel sent me to report to you that the demons who will hide in the smoke are all in position. Except for me because I had to come here and report to you like some kind of messenger. But don't mind my problems, why don't you introduce me to your friends. That would be the polite thing to do, now wouldn't it." Cheshire said to the aged Smokebreath with a constantly sarcastic tone.

~Here's a picture of Cheshire for reference~

SPOILER: Click to show

_________________________________________________________________________

"Azura's here! Azura's here!" Haze said excitedly as he hopped a circle around where she laid down before stopping where he started. He could tell she was tired when she didn't beat up Azzy right away, but Haze was still happy to see her after so long. Although he was quickly interrupted by Cheshire's arrival. "Oh, okay thanks. Well... the old one is Azronicle, the tired one is Azura, the tiny one is Rouge, the silent one is Darkender, and the scrawny one is Kyle. Everybody, this is my demon friend Cheshire. He's a demon, snake, dragon, thing. He's here to help protect Dracobyen." Haze said by way of introducing everybody, though he was worried how the others would react to Cheshire being a demon.

[night fury100]

"Holy FUDGE you demons definitely have very interesting looks to yous if you don't mind me saying anyway as Haze said I'm Kyle and...." Kyle stopped after realizing what Haze said then turned and looked at Haze "Did you just call me scrawny." Kyle said with a shocked tone.

[killjoy]

Azronical huffed opening his right eye to look at the demon before replying in a strained tone obviously holding back an rude comment. "Kyle Haze was bigger then you where round back in the day. As for me I'm pretty sure the deamon knows enough about his lore to know who I am and what I mean. Thank the gods Azura is asleep she doesn't know the truce that's happening yet. How she sleeps thrue haze I'll never know."

[Shockstorm]

"Well, don't you keep some... charming friends." Cheshire said sarcastically as he looked over each of Haze's companions in turn. "And yes, Azronicle, I do indeed know who you are. I also know your sleeping friend there who from what I know has a fiery attitude. I don't think you should worry too much about us demons on Dovangard though, I personally am thankfully you've killed so many of those weaklings and over-confident idiots. And I look forward t helping you kill the single most annoying moron of them all, the illustrious Askin." Cheshire said, honestly looking forward to the chance to kill Askin. He may not be a demon that is suited to combat, but he always enjoyed watching entities stronger than himself die painfully. "And don't worry about your life breathing friend with the rather bad looking disease. I imagine he's already been acquainted by our lord Urkendel by now. If anything can help that demon slayer live longer, it's the demon of mysteries." Cheshire said, accentuating the fact that there are other demons all over the island. He was also amused by the prospect of the legendary demon slayer Rovertson getting help from what is potentially the strongest demon currently alive, with the exception of the tainted goddess.

[killjoy]

(Night asked me to skip him.) "Well Rovertson is the one to convince more then me he has a very strong conviction to hate all deamons I'm more the open one then him." Said Azronical looking at Azura with a smirk. "And she does have probably the worst temperment problems I have ever seen in a dragon."

[Shockstorm]

Cheshire was brimming with amusement now. Dracobyen was home to a fairly large demon population, and now they had two of the most powerful and irritable demon slayers on the island plus a third, less irritable one to boot. All the while they were preparing to face the fallen goddess in a battle that will most likely mean all of their deaths. Things were getting so lively Cheshire could almost laugh. "Yes well, should Rovertson attack Lord Urkendel, then at least we won't need to worry about fighting Askin. Urkendel was ancient before Rezeroth even existed, and Rovertson is the most powerful demon slayer in history, none of us would survive a battle between them. But all that aside I have work to do, preparing for the defense. I imagine you'll meet my brothers at some point, after all the four of us are the highest ranking demons on this island with the exception of Lord Urkendel. Even now y younger brother Tartarus is preparing the demonic defenses on the island, while my older brother Jormungandr is keeping watch from higher than most planes fly. We'll know when the fallen goddess is coming before she's even halfway here! And as for our oldest brother Basilisk, he's preparing the demons that will be in the counterattack. Have fun on your visit." Cheshire said before departing from the group, heading back into the smoke barrier.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

"Soo, that happened. Who wants to see more of the island?" Haze asked once Cheshire left, eager to change the subject. Clearly Cheshire believed that the peace wasn't going to last long with this many demons about, so Haze wanted to try and enjoy some time with his friends before Dracobyen was attacked.

[night fury100]

"Sure me and Darkender would love to come see more of the island" Kyle said before for walking over to Darkender and pushing down on a point on Darkender's neck as Kyle did Darkender's back spines slit in two "I found that out when I was giving Darkender a massage." Kyle said when he got onto Darkender's back. "Now what are we going to do about Azura is the question..... I'm sure as hell not disturbing her sleep." Said Azronical. "Great! But we can't just leave Azura here either, what if another demon happens along while she's awake?" Haze asked, glancing over at their napping friend. "Why don't we take her to a privacy room somewhere and leave her there without waking here." Kyle said Darkender didn't like what Kyle said so he through Kyle into the sea "Darkender you know I can't swim." Azronicle rolled his eyes at the sight. "You really have not changed at all." He said not meaning one or the other but both of them before nonchalantly giveing a dull stare at Kyles floundering. "Haze can you get him I have had my fair share of water today." "Alright." Haze said before quickly swooping down and lifting Kyle out of the water by his shoulders. "Oh, and so you know I charge now whenever I pull someone out of the water." Haze said calmly to Kyle as he flew back up to the others. "Oh just take it out of Darkender's next meal" Kyle said. "I can do that easy!" Haze said, laughing at Kyle's response. For Haze it has been far too long since he's had time to relax with friends like this. Darkender was outraged he sticks up for someone who was asleep and this is how he is repayed. Darkender walked a little bit away from the group and sat with his back towards them. "Are you pouting Darkender, is the big hatchling pouting" Kyle teasingly said. "Leave him be Kyle no need to upset your dragon. I wouldn't want to try carrying Azura either she's very.... bulky." Azronical chuckles. "Oh he knows I'm playing with him, don't you bub." Kyle said stroking Darkender's head and in response Darkender stared licking Kyle's entire face.

[killjoy]

Meanwhile rovertson paced back and forth after his talk a constant need to move overtakeing him in his frustration. The world just felt to damn insane and upside down to him at the moment. Gods he was even accepting help from deamons what was happening! It was driveing him up the wall with all that was happening and he knew it was only going to get worse with the arrival of Azura. He knew she was here her life force amazingly strong and easy to detect her ability to turn an insanse situation into utter madness well known and not allways welcomed by rovertson. He chuckled a bit tho at the thought of what would happen when she saw a deamon. Plenty of little bits to pick up.

[Shockstorm]

Askin had been very busy the last five days since she had awaken. It was a timed even near the day shock had died she forced herself back into the world and now she was left with a predicament. It had only been a few hours since she possessed this almost useless body and was quite desperate for a new one the weak human flesh of it decaying from the power running along it and it was quite possible it would break after another few hours. She knew a deamonic hideout nearby deep in the mountains and started her trek there quite speedily it only taking an hour to reach a distance that a plane would reach in a day forcing her way past the barriers the deamons set up. A crowd of deamons of various shapes formed together upon feeling the discharge of energy smashing through their defenses and soon they saw Askin. They did not look happy to say the least but knew that it was pointless to argue out a point against her as without a word she took control of the leader of the nest a very strange deamon who looked like a continuously morphing form. Several days later after Askin had taken control of the deamon she found the new body was quite flexible and she made it take the form of a purple haired female her static launching between parts of her body. She had ordered the deamons to gather the other strongholds together for battle her main goal was to kill Rovertson. The one damn fool who had the ability to face her. She had an old alpha deamon acquaintance of hers poison the fool a few days ago by lending some of her energy to boost the potency ripping past his natural defenses.
(Present day)
A day later she set off from the nest to search for Rovertson knowing that he had to be near allies. And the deamons had mentioned that some of the ancestors of one of his old friends Jorgen had set up a base nearby. She knew that was her best chance and had already sent out the order that in a days time they would attack the location.
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Flying high above the hidden island of Dovangard, almost outside the atmosphere of the Earth, a lone winged serpent kept watch. His name was Jormungandr, a demon that specialized in detecting other creatures of all kinds and even identifying them, as well as being one of the fastest flying demons that ever lived and the only demon known to be able to survive so far from the planet's surface for extended periods of time. From his current vantage Jormungandr could see all of Europe, though the distance also blurred his view of individual creatures to where only familiar or extremely powerful ones could be singled out, and he couldn't quite see through the defenses of Azralie but only because he was not familiar with it. But that was unimportant, because what he saw was very troubling even to him. It may have been a few hundred years since her last appearance, but the aura of Askin was still unmistakable and still remarkably powerful. Not even a full week since her awakening and the corrupted goddess was terrifying, Jormungandr was glad that based on her movements she was still unaware of Rovertson's exact location in Dracobyen. However he has noticed that Askin has visited a couple of demon nests and was likely amassing a demon army at the very moment, but even worse she was known to be able to accomplish much in a very short amount of time. Jormungandr calculated that at any moment if Askin decided to make her move, she could raise her demon army and be at the outermost of Dracobyen's defenses in no longer than one hour, and he doubted their luck would hold out. And based on the growing mass of demonic aura that was gathering around Askin, Jormungandr figured the corrupted goddess would make her move soon. It was time to alert the others, best not to wait until she begins to move. And so Jormungandr began to fly downward straight for Dracobyen and let out a screech that could terrify even other demons with ease, it was the signal that Askin was nearly ready to attack. After this he only thing left for him to do was signal when Askin actually started to get near Dracobyen.
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All preparations for the Reserve Protectors were going smoothly, and Peter was about to go down to the armory an check on Gillien before a terrifying screech echoed down and through the city. It was an easily recognizable screech that could only be made by a demon, and a very specific demon at that. "All right! You all know what that means, so finish setting up these defenses and do it right!" Peter yelled at the Reserves before giving command to his second and hopping on Arc. "Come on, let's go get our sniper friend." Peter said. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. He might freak out when Jormungandr's screech reaches him." Arc replied as he flew quickly into the tunnels to get to the armory. Now that hey weren't walking, it took much less time to reach the armory than before, and Peter nodded to Gillien's escort before hopping off Arc and approaching him. "So, how's the new sniper coming along?" Peter asked casually. Gillien smiled holding up his strange looking sniper he had fashioned several attachments onto it. "It is but you will have to wait to see what it does." He chuckles. "Well it looks like I may not need to wait long. Come on, I'll fly you to the others on Arc." Peter said as he hopped on Arc's saddle. "Come on, Arc Taxi Service charges by the minute, and your time has already started." Arc said. Gillien chuckles and roles his eyes before hopping on behind Peter. Arc wasted no time and sped through the passages as quickly as he could, going just slow enough so that Gillien didn't fall off. Not long after they were outside and circled around the island before landing in front of one of the oldest buildings in Dovangard, a five floor stone tower with external supports styled to look like Monstrous Nightmares. "We'll wait here for the others. It shouldn't take too long." Peter said to Gillien as he hopped off Arc's saddle and sat on the stone steps to the tower as he began to polish the emeralds on Smaragd. "Peter do you think Rovertson has a chance. From what I hear she seems so... powerful. Sure he seems to be very strong but he is no god and she is. Maybe he got her almost killed in a fluke."

Peter glanced at Gillien for a moment wondering how to answer, even he had his doubts with Rovertson in a weakened state as he is, but Gillien was at least somewhat new to all this and that probably wouldn't be the best thing to say. "Well, if he were on his own he wouldn't stand a very good chance. But he has Azronicle, and Azura, and most of the Draco Protectorate here to back him up. I may not be able to say we'll win for sure, but we will definitely not make it easy for Askin either. So don't worry so much." Peter said with a confident tone as he sheathed Smaragd. What he didn't say was that even if they did win, their would be a massive amount of casualties, and once everything was all said and done either they would all be dead, or there would be one massive funeral for all of those who didn't make it. Neither were particularly happy endings. "The worlds so upside down at the moment. First off I find out I'm an ancestor of a bloody dragon and then deamons and all this nonsense.." Gillien shakes his head. "Yeah, I imagine this is all a big shock for you. Honestly though, we normally introduce new people into all of this a bit slower so that they don't get overwhelmed. You must just be very unlucky." Peter said jokingly. "Maybe it runs in the family, I recall old Shock telling me many stories where Rovertson was caught in an unfortunate predicament. Though for some reason Azronicle was even worse off." Arc added as a random spark zapped across his wings. "At least I'm not the only one fate likes to screw over." Mumbles Gillien. "True, fate likes to screw with all of us it seems." Peter said. Arc was about ready to take a nap when he caught the scent of Haze and the others nearing from the beach, and as he got up he saw Rovertson and Urkendel come up from underground not far off. "Looks like we're all here finally." Arc said with a yawn. It seemed his nap was going to have to wait.
___________________________________________________________________________

Haze was about to suggest that they get a could of Deadly Nadders to help move Azura when he distinct sound of Jormungandr's screech echoed down through the island. "Well that's not good." Haze muttered to himself. It seemed the time to just relax with his friends was just about over. "WHY CAN I HEAR WHAT SOUNDS LIKE A DRAGON DYING" Kyle yelled whist covering his Dragons ears. "What does that sound mean Haze?" Asked Azronical meanwhile Azura was barely stirred by the loud screeching noise. "Typical.." said Azronical as an afterthought. "Well, that sound would be Jormungandr telling us that Askin now has enough power and demons to challenge us, he'll give another signal when Askin starts getting close." Haze said in a rare serious tone. "Well I guess that means we should find Rovertson and Gillien so we can ready up." says Azronical. "As for Azura she will wake soon enough" he added. Kyle opened his bag and said "Rouge get in and put your armor on." Then Kyle picked up his invention and hopped onto Darkender "I'll need to work fast if I want this finished in time" Kyle said as he worked more on his invention.

"Well we really don't have time to wait for her, she's also needed at the meeting of the lords. I'll have to wake her up, please make sure she doesn't kill me afterwards." Haze said to Azronicle before jumping onto Azura's back in hopes of waking her up. Azura staggered awake before pinning Haze to a wall quick as lightning before after several tense seconds she slowly released her grip looking quite furious. "What the hel was that for! I just got done traveling to many damn miles to help just to be woken up." She said quite displeased. "We need to get ready Azura, Askin is near by." Kyle said as he finished up the the wiring "Nearly finished it just need to install the recharge crystal." "Well, nearby isn't entirely true, but we can expect her to attack at any moment now. We need you present for the meeting of the lords, I woke you so that we can get moving. So, would you please just, follow me to the Remembrance Tower." Haze said cautiously. Azura sure was as scary as ever. Azura just snarls in frustration before stalking towards the destination. "Well that when better than excepted" Kyle said as he followed Azura on Darkender. "I need some help." Rouge said from inside Kyle's bag. "That was a little too close, but at least she's awake." Haze said as he started off in the direction of Remembrance Tower.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Thomas was hard at work organizing all the different teams that were preparing for their defensive against Askin, but when the first signal from Jormungandr arrived it still worried him. "Well Askin sure didn't take long to gather an army large enough to challenge, now we just need to wait until she actually attacks us. No matter what we do I imagine our casualties will be high, and if something goes wrong with Rovertson's plan then we will all die. How the lords managed to defeat Askin and Rezeroth when they were barely more than kids is beyond me, but at least we can try to live up to that legacy. And we do have seven of them here, though the Ebonystrikers and Haze are all quite old and the time travelers are still young." Thomas muttered to himself. Screech just gently butted his head to Thomas and gave him a knowing look. "Yeah, you're right. Let's give this our all." Thomas said, sending a message for Urkendel to alert Lord Rovertson to the situation. He imagined Peter and Haze were filling in the others already.
________________________________________________________________________________________

Urkendel felt a glimmer of foreboding when he heard Jormungandr's screech reverberate through the tunnels and passages of Dracobyen, clearly audible even in the deepest reaches of the city, and the feeling grew when the Chief Protector told him to go inform Rovertson of the situation. Urkendel was tempted to send one of his sons for the errand, but Jormungandr and Cheshire were both outside while Basilisk and Tartarus were too busy preparing. Flying quietly through the passages as civilians evacuated deeper into Dracobyen and those who were about to fight moved up through the city, and it didn't take him long to find the beacon of life energy. Interestingly enough the Ebonystriker hadn't moved much since their last talk. "Well hello again, demon slayer. I certainly did not plan on speaking with you again so soon, but I'm sure you heard that screech." Urkendel said without emotion, still keeping a healthy distance from the life Ebonystriker wary of Rovertson's moods. "And what does it mean deamon." Was all Rovertson said too busy with something else to pay much mind. "It's quite simple, it means Askin has enough forces now to be ready for a full scale assault against us. In other words, she can attack at any moment now. The entire city is entering the final phase of preparations, all forces are being gathered where they're going to be deployed and the civilians are being evacuated. I'm here to escort you back to the surface where your friends are waiting." Urkendel said, expecting the mention of Askin to get the demon killer's attention.

Meanwhile what occupied Urkendel's mind was whether or not the two prisoners would be released to help in the fight, the two first demons to "join" the Protectorate but who are still considered too volatile to allow freedom. Neither of them were strong, but Urkendel believed that they could at least serve as fodder for the enemy, or even better as a power boost to himself. Though he doubted the Chief Protector would ever let him absorb them, at least hostile demons were free game. "Hmm I hardly need an escort but so be it. As for Askin... I knew she was ready to come. I can feel stuff like that about her. Let her come I'm ready as I ever will be either I will fend her off or die and I don't intend to die." Rovertson growled out a bit smashing his right front paw into the rock so hard cracks form along the surface. "Yes, I have no doubts that Askin will find us to be much harder to kill than expected. And if everything works I will be glad to see the corrupted goddess gone, then she will not have such an inflammatory effect on the demon hordes, even I feel more aggressive due to her aura. But come with me, we will meet with the others on the surface by the Remembrance Tower." Urkendel said, feeling slightly nervous with the demon hunter's current state-of-mind. Rovertson has quite the intense gaze at the time looking directly at him. "Well then what are we waiting for. I need to get to Azronical to prepare anyhow in the first place." He started walking towards the exit. "Right." Urkendel said quietly as he followed from a distance.
_________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah, we're here now." Urkendel said to Rovertson before flying over and resting at the base of the Tower, distancing himself from the humans since he figured Rovertson would like to be near them. "Glad you could make it!" Peter called out to Rovertson as he waved him over. "Hey Az! It looks like old Shock wasn't far off when he said you were often late!" Arc called over to Azronicle and the others jokingly, not noticing that the she dragon that Shockstorm had feared most was also with them. Gillien greeted them with a wave as Azura somewhat protective of her mate replies to Arc for him "And who are your runt." She growls out. "Yikes Azronical what did you do to put her in a foul mood this time." This earned Rovertson a rather volatile nip which made him well.... squeal. It was quite an unusual sight to see such a powerful being completely put in his place by a dragoness. Azronical cringed at the sight. "Azura maybe..." he was interrupted by a likewise nip though much less strong causing him to quiet instantly as it was obvious she wanted her space. Gillien just sat there chuckling at the sight until she looked at him trying to decide if he was laughing at their pain or her. Needless to say he shut up. "Good to see the years DIDN'T affect your fiery spirit." Kyle said to Azura as a complement. "Arc, might want to be careful, she's not in a good mood." Haze hissed quietly, not wanting to be held by the throat again. "Oh, ah sorry. I guess you must be Azura, old Shock told me about you. Um, sorry. I'll be... over there." Arc responded nervously before slinking his way to the other side of Peter. Now he understood why old Shock feared her, that dragoness's glare could probably kill other dragons. "Well, it's an honor to meet you Azura. My name is Peter, and the Skrill trying to distance himself from you is my friend Arc. Welcome to Dracobyen. And it's good to see the rest of you again." Peter said, wary of Azura's temper. He just prayed Urkendel kept quiet, Azura was foul tempered enough on her good days according to old Shock's stories and Jorgen's journals, he didn't need a demon agitating her. Urkendel watched on with slight amusement as the famed Azura displayed her famous, or infamous, temper towards the others. This looked to be an interesting meeting, hopefully they all came out of it in one peace. Azura gave a sleight huff at the greeting before replying to Arc. "Yes you do take after Shockstorm constantly avoiding me." She smirks before resting on the ground. All the rest of the ebonystrikers says hello to peter again.

Rouge popped her head out off Kyle's bag with her helmet on and said "I really need getting the rest of this on." "OK I'll help" Kyle replied. "Well, now that that is all taken care of, shall we start this war meeting." Urkendel said as he lifted his head. "Right, but first let me introduce everybody to Urkendel, he leads the demons who serve the Protectorate." Peter said nervously, hoping the others took the whole working with demons thing alright. . "Are you all insane! Working with deamons doesn't work they will just back-stab you the second it benefits them more to do so then not to." Roared out Azura angrily as she stared at urkendal very very angrily before giveing the very same look at Peter. Azronical sighs whispering so she can't hear. "Let her be she prolly will try and fight Urkendal and fail therefore forcinbg her to back down trying to stop her is pointless." And she did look to be readying for a fight growling angrily. Darkender gazed off into the distances thinking of the upcoming battle, even though he was told Askin is more powerful than the last time they fort her he still wasn't as afraid as everyone else so he stuck his claw into Kyle's bag and pulled out the Achiled claws that he was given, he put them and then he raised his claw in the air and roared very loudly and hoped other dragons joined in to boost everyone's conference for the battle then he saw Azura looked like she was going to kill someone and sighed. Across Dovangard several dragons could be heard returning Darkender's call, and even a few human and other unknown sounds could be heard in the roar, but it died out quickly as everyone got back to their preparations. "Well that was a nice gesture Lord Darkender, it would seem that the Protectorate is more eager to fight than it was before." Urkendel said in a monotone before turning to Azura. "As for you, while your accusation is true under most circumstances, I can guarantee that neither me nor my brethren will betray the Protectorate. They are currently the only ones who will not attack us on sight, and we have become very invested in their cause. To put it simply, resisting the tainted goddess has a very large potential pay-off for my horde that is well worth the risk. Much like how we benefited greatly when the upstart Rezeroth was destroyed. All of this I have already explained to your friend Lord Rovertson." Urkendel said to Azura, hoping to calm the situation. Starting the meeting with a fight would not set a very good precedent if they were to work together in the battle.

Azura growled "And I should trust the word of a deamon? Do you really think I'm that dumb to ever consider trusting you? I'm going to be laughing on the sidelines as I watch you betray us". With that she flew off before anyone could stop her to somewhere. "She's too stubborn and set in her ways to consider a deamon an ally. That's a lost cause, she will still fight most likely but... don't let any of you deamons near her. Stubborn dragoness." Said azronical with a sigh. Darkender raised his head with pride knowing that he did raised moral. "Yes, I will alert them to her attitude towards us. But now let us begin the meeting." Urkendel said before nodding at Peter to continue. "Right we're here to discuss the strategy that the 'special purpose' team will be using, special purpose meaning us plus a few others. Urkendel has the details for us all." Peter said, wondering why Urkendel had to take such a round-about way of starting the meeting. "Yes, you will be the main line of defense against Askin while the rest of the Protectorate focuses on the demons accompanying her. Your team will be made up of all of you present plus two of Prince Protector Peter's dragon riders as well as Azura. Your sole purpose is to combat and disable Askin so that the Protectorate may begin the search for her body and hopefully with either Lord Rovertson's or Master Gillien's support destroy the corrupted goddess permanently." Urkendel said simply, as if the whole plan would work out just fine. "Um, right. So any questions?" Peter asked, not sure if Urkendel's description was enough or not. "Askin won't be there right away. That's not how she works she will let the deamons fight a bit. I'll help keep them at bay as we wait for her." Said Rovertson. 'I have a question how many demons does Askin have on her side?" Rouge ask afraid of the answer. "Yes well, Chief Protector Thomas advised that each of you save all of your energy for Askin, but might I point out it was not an order but does contain wisdom. However you may do as you wish." Urkendel said before turning to the little Terrible Terror. "And to answer your question, Jormungandr gave the signal that Askin had enough demons to challenge us safely, so the number or combined power can only be greater than the total combined power or numbers of the Protectorate. However as Lord Rovertson said Askin is more likely to hold back and wait so we may have the advantage. Only Jormungandr himself would know the specifics." Urkendel said, feeling that conclusion was obvious.

"Right! Sounds like fun! It has been a long time since we've had an actual battle!" Arc said excitedly, as mixed sparks of demonic and normal static arced across his body. "It will depend if they have leviathan deamons or not. And Arc this will hardly be fun." Said azronical. "Well if we have to save our energy then wake me when you need me." Kyle said as he layed down on Darkender's back and feel asleep and so did Rouge as for Darkender he stayed awake and waited. "Maybe for you old geezer, but for me this will be exciting! I haven't gotten the chance to fry anything for years!" Arc replied. "Well I have to admit that I agree with Arc to some degree, it is exciting having an enemy to face. Especially for the two of us, we've missed out on all of the competitions for the last couple years due to various missions. I just hope we don't lose too many people, dragons, or even demons in this battle." Peter said. "And if the archdemons bother you Lord Azronicle, let me assure you we can handle them. Myself and my four sons are all archdemons, though our power is dependant on the situation. I have full confidence that we can fend off other archdemons so long as no more than one of them are as powerful as the dead upstart Rezeroth was." Urkendel said to Azronicle, not mentioning that he will be getting stronger during the battle as he absorbs other demons. "And do you want this "old geezer" to show you why he is able to deal with having Azura as his mate." Growled out Azronicle. "Now let's just calm down now, you two can have your little fight when things have calmed down." Haze interjected. "Fine, I can wait to finish this conversation. Not like I was seriously going to fight the legendary Lord Azronicle anyway." Arc said feigning disappointment. Azronicale shook his head before replying. "Shockstorm was one of my best friends. But there was one thing he had a special skill at. No one was better at pissing me off then That skrill. Seems you follow the family trait." Azronical lightens up a bit chuckling. "And the trait for running headfirst into trouble to. You remind me to much of him. Makes it all the more painfull that I missed seeing the old thing before he died. I would be careful. Askin hated Shock with a deep passion and that hate is likely to be at you to." Azronical said not really angry at the skrill. "Well then I can't wait till she sees my family, father and mother are currently away but my sisters and young brother are all here. Should be quite the shock, no pun intended." Arc said to nobody in particular with an amused tone.

[night fury100]

Darkender drummed his talons on the floor as he waited for the fight to begin his face had a hate-filled expression on and his mind was thinking of different strategy's and how he could tell his rider them and WHAT the thing Kyle put in him whilst he was sleeping does. With nothing really left to do except wait, Arc began sharpening his talons against the pave stones inn the ground. Arc didn't know what to expect from their enemy since this would be the largest battle he's ever been in, but he began thinking over old Shock's stories that he grew up listening to hoping something in them might be helpful once the fighting started. As Darkender was thinking about the fight the thorough came to him Arc and Peter haven't been in a fight like this before meaning their won't do so good. Darkender turned and looked at Arc and Peter and really hoped that they could hold up their own because they may be descendants of Jorgen and Shockstorm but it didn't have the skills. Azronical sighed looking off in the distance to where Azura had flown off."Maybe I should calm her down.. we need her. I need her." Said Azronical. Darkender knew the in a few more seconds the fight would begin so in preparation closed his eyes and blocked nearly everything from the outside world.

[night fury100]

(Woh woh woh your not aloud to post here this is a closed RP)