Several More Years Later...

Standing in the Forge, hands behind his back, Oehler surveyed what he had accomplished over the years. That night, so long ago when he had gotten rid of that weakling High Protector and defeated Ageestam once and for all had been the beginning of a glorious rule. Hammerstine had fallen not two weeks after Ageestam, followed closely by Inaemataan, the last radim in the south. Now their sights were set on Undrunran in the far north. He had done what no other High Protector had, begun to unite the radims. Not in peace, but by force. So what if he had ordered the murder of dozens of people, beginning with Koack and his fellow patrolmen? It was all for the greater good. "Sssacrificing the needsss of the individual for the needsss of the group." Someone tapped on his shoulder and Oehler turned to see a young Taev standing nervously, wringing a cloth between her hands. "The hatching hasss beg-g-gun, High Protector." she stammered before quickly bowing and running off.

"Humph, no wonder she never passed the test." Keelie stated, grooming her forepaws on his shoulder. Narrowing his eyes, Oehler grimaced at her cowardice and grunted in agreement before exiting the Forge and descending to the Nests. A large hatching of younglings was to occur today, and by tradition he was required to attend. "Humph, future of Elmnkim radim my tail. Those younglingsss get more opinionated every clutching." he muttered. "Who are you to be ssspeaking of opinionated younglingsss? It wasn't long ago that you yourself were one!" A familiar voice came from behing Oehler and he quickly turned to see his oldest friend and chief council, Estsam. He was originally claimed to be a Judge and the old High Protector had had him looking closely at Oehler's future because of his ability of empathy. One of his first acts as High Protector was to retrieve him from the depths of the radim and have him assigned to be his council. Another had manifested empathy upon receiving his helmet and was used to replace Estsam.

The man was big, although not taller than Oehler, broad-shouldered but less developed because of his 8 year seclusion at the Triumvirate caverns. His skin was a dark, leafy green and his eyes were mud brown, both perfect for hiding in the few remaining forests. "I'm sssurprised that you aren't already at the Nesting Hall yet, Est." Flicking his wrist dismissively, Estsam rested a hand on the hilt of his scimitar and grinned. "I wasss teaching a few of those degeneratesss in the prison a lesson on not ssscreaming at night." Estsam was equally vicious when it came to discipline. Slapping him on the shoulder, Oehler smiled. "Let'sss hope it worksss, I've been able to hear them all the way from my quartersss."

They had now entered the Nesting Hall and were seated in the high loft to watch as the eggs shattered and each new youngling was held up before him and named. With a nest numbering close to 100 at each hatching, it was a daunting ceremony. Estsam sighed and leaned back, preparing for the long haul. "Have you noticed that more and more Taev have been coming from these hatchingsss?" he asked, lifting his helmet slightly off of his head and scratching between his horns. "I've alwaysss taken that asss a good sssign. It meansss we are needing lessss Battlemen." Nodding, Estsam agreed. "But it also meansss that there might be a weakening in the genesss." Oehler snorted. "From what I've ssseen, the femalesss are being a little lessss picky with those they mate with." he said with a knowing grin. Estsam laughed and received glares from the parents section of the stands.

"Ssso, when are we making our next run at Undrunran?" Estsam asked, boredly. "Sssoon, my friend. Sssoon. I'm waiting for the perfect moment." "You know there have been rumorsss of a truce between Undrunran and Muulkatha? They were going to briefly unite to ssstop your advancesss." Watching as a particularly strong and loud youngling was held up and named, Oehler just grimaced and said, "Those two are run by hopelessss idiotsss who couldn't find their tailsss if they weren't attached to their rearsss. I am not afraid of a union. Two for the price of one." One squalling female was held up before him and named, he was glad when she was removed. Just as the last youngling was held up, warning trumpets blew outside and Oehler quickly turned to see infantry men already flowing out of the radim. "Attack! Woratem airshipsss on the horizon!" "Bloody hell." Oehler growled and launched himself from his chair, quickly followed by Estsam. Keelie leapt away with a yelp, skirting quickly out of the way of hurried feet. With a sigh, she trotted off to find something to amuse her, perhaps one of those babies would suffice.

In the Protector's room, Oehler heard the news from the scouts. "Undrunran, Muulkatha, and Woratem radim'sss have united?" The scout nodded, still panting from his run to the radim from his tower. "Yesss sssir, apparently you are a great threat." he said proudly. Oehler nodded and turned to the Protectors. "Thisss could be the final battle, Protectorsss. If we win, we will have done sssomething no other radim hasss done in the past; conquered all of Wareiph'a. But, if we loose...it will be the end of Elmnkim, the end of all of thisss. I know we all have it in usss, I sssaw it at Hammerstine and at Inaemataan. I have great faith in all of you. Let'sss finish what we ssstarted!" he finished with a shout, banging a fist on the table. Angry roars filled the room again, just as they had only a few years ago. With pride and anger fueling them, all the Protectors charged bellowing out onto the battle field, met with a chaotic clash of teeth and horns and metal.

With a full-throated roar that overcame all of the fighting and shouts, Oehler combined efforts with all of those with fire-powers to send down a hail of small fireballs, shouts and screams of pain resonated throughout the valley. A fierce wind kicked up the dust and dirt not already pinned by blood, causing a great dust storm just as quickly put down by water-bringers. A man charged at Oehler, recognizing the mark of High Protector on his chest-plate, swinging his morning star high in preparation to bring it down on his head. He was however, very foolish in leaving his sides unguarded and a well-aimed jab by Oehler punctured his lung and severed several arteries. Blood pumped out onto the well-trodden ground and Oehler leapt over him for another victim.

The fighting continued on for what seemed like an eternity, wave after wave of infantry, cavalry and air fleet came. For the first time in his life, Oehler saw a whole fleet of balloons brought down on top of the battle, instantly killing those aboard and those caught underneath. He was beginning to tire, as were his men. "I can't give up now, not when we are ssso close..." he thought desperately, laboriously cutting a path through the enemy. A wound on his leg and side were beginning to take their toll, and he was searching for a place to just stop briefly. No respite was to come, however, for a sudden flash in the sky brought everyone's attention to the magnificent light show occurring there. Earo was finally dying. There was a clear ring around the brilliant red star, it's surface seemed to be churning and everyone just knew. It was time.

True to form, most of them resumed fighting on the off chance it was just a "burp" and the sun would resume it's quiet smoldering away. Some turned and ran, only to be killed by their mounted cavalry. Deserters were not tolerated, no matter what the circumstance. Oehler roared and began cutting his way through even more fiercely. "I will kill one of their High Protectors before I die." In his single-minded quest, Oehler failed to notice the cavalryman who had sighted him with his crossbow. Once he was sure of a fatal hit, the man loosed three bolts.

As the battle surged below, no one noticed three dragons appear in the burning orange sky, green, blue, and brown.

Are you sure this is the place? They don't look as if they would welcome us with open arms... the brown, Sylenth nodded to the chaos below. Falaath nodded, Yes, this is the image I saw when I sensed the candidate. Look, over there. It's the strange formation I told you about, and the spacial anomaly. The three humans all twisted to see the exploding sun overhead, it's seething surface repeatedly expanding and collapsing on itself.

"Well, I don't know about you guys but that sun doesn't look too friendly at the moment, and neither do the inhabitants of this planet. We might want to snatch your Search quickly and leave." Zana narrowed her eyes at the colorful mass of beings beneath them and blinked. They have draconic bodies but no wings, interesting. Maleeth observed, circling to look for a landing place. "I think it's best we not land here, they might try to attack us. Falaath and I will find out possible candidate, you keep a look out for us. I think that those balloons are shooting arrows and I don't want any of us to get hit." With that, M'naz and the blue pealed off the formation and dipped low over head, Falaath scanning the people intently.

There are a number of good Searches here, too bad we cannot bring more. "Let's just concentrate on picking up the one you sensed, maybe we could try later, when they've calmed down." The blue dove suddenly and grabbed one of the people under their arms and rose back up. The man cried out, both from surprise and pain, M'naz looked down to see a line of three arrows protruding from his right arm and down into his thigh. "You should have grabbed him sooner!" The blue snorted and quickly winged up to join his companions at a safe distance. He was lucky I got him when I did, those shots would have been fatal just an inch or two higher. "Where is Zana?" M'naz called out to F'ran. "She went to find a safe place to land! Is that your Search?" Clearly detecting the aversion and disdain in his voice, M'naz grimaced and leaned down to check Falaath's cargo. The man was roaring and struggling, clutching a long staff with a sharp-looking, blood-stained blade at the end. "We most definitely need a place to land, he has a weapon." Just then, a familiar bugle echoed from a distance away and they looked up to see Maleeth hovering near the mountains. She says that there is a peaceful clearing over there.

Oehler was outraged. Just as he was about to attack the High Protector of Muulkatha, this...this beast had swept down and picked him up and carried him away from the battle. He supposed he should be grateful; had he not been picked up, the crossbow bolts lodged painfully in his leg would have killed him. Roaring, he swung his axe up, trying to hit the creature's chest but it occurred to him that he was several hundred feet above ground, and killing the thing that was keeping him up was not a wise idea. They flew off, away from the battle and he was deposited in a clearing just over the ridge while the flying beasts landed. Rolling when he hit the ground, Oehler came up in a defensive position and barely able to stand, his right arm useless. "I can use thisss with one arm, no matter." Ignoring the pain, he held his axe across his chest and leaned on the end for support as the riders of the creatures approached him.

They looked odd, with flat faces and hair on their heads. They also looked defenseless, with no claws, horns or sharp teeth for protection. He noticed each had small daggers sheathed at their waists, and the beasts looked well-equipped to fight, so he relaxed just a little in recognition that he was out-matched. "What do you want?" he asked once they stopped. The male who seemed to be the leader held out a hand and stopped, three yards away. "Put down the weapon, we're not hear to hurt you. Sorry about the scare, Falaath had to get you out of danger and away from the fighting so we could talk." Oehler shook his head. "Thisss weapon never leavesss my hand, especially when a ssstrange creature plucksss me from the battle to end all battlesss and dropsss me milesss away. What do you want!" A low growl rose from his chest as he spoke, and the three beasts moved closer as their eyes became a slight red color.

"Enough of this..." the other man said and drew his dagger. "Put the axe down, pal." He brandished it threateningly and before anyone had time to act, Oehler leapt at him with a roar, grabbing the dagger and kicking the man away. Rising, the man turned and attacked Oehler, swinging a fist to punch him in the face and hitting his helmet. That left Oehler's head ringing and his attackers fist bloody. "Stop it!" the female demanded, and the green beast stepped between Oehler and the man. It lowered it's head and rumbled, eyes now a fiery red. "He started it!" came a voice from the other side, punctuated by a bugle from the brown one. Oehler just lay there, his head, arm and leg throbbing. "You are giving this man a wonderful first impression of us, F'ran!" The leader leaned over him and offered a hand, which Oehler brushed away. "I prefer to ssstay thisss way, my leg needsss rest." He nodded and stepped back as Oehler just sat up. "My name is M'naz, this is Zana." he gestured to the female and then sighed. "You've met F'ran." As his name was mentioned, F'ran came around the green's side, holding his right hand and grimacing. "I am Oehler Hersul, High Protector of Elmnkim Radim." M'naz nodded and smiled, "Oehler, you've been Searched for Yellow Indefra's clutch at Kjanli'eyr."