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Addavein flew in the auroras of the sky, rainbow threads of reality catching on his wings like pieces of more-than-ephemeral fog. The waters of the Meteor Sea were so far below that the clouds above the waters were like swirls of icing on a blue cake. The few hoverships plying those clouds, as a boat would ply the waves further below, were practically invisible. Most of them were actually invisible, as well. The visible ones were more than likely nuclear bombs set out for kaiju to try and eat.

Those sorts of traps usually worked well enough, killing one or two curious and stupid kaiju every other month. The true bomb boats were clearly indicated with that yellow and black circular symbol that meant nuclear danger, so humans mostly left them alone. Mostly. The people that messed with them usually didn't survive their first encounter with a nuclear bomb blowing up in their face.

Addavein set his wings and steadied his course, and then he got to scrying the Grey Whale, sending his mind and vision far, far below, to see what everyone was up to. Of course there were wards to work around, each of the magical defenses crafted with multivariable schematics, and then there were the divine wards set up by Hearthswell's power, and, to a lesser extent, Freyala and all of the rest, but slipping past those was not especially difficult. Not anymore. Not since Addashield had become Addavein.

Addavein was pretty sure he was his own person. After waking up and being confused about being Addashield in a new body, Addavein had become himself again. It just took a few days of wakefulness to rid himself of the dream of being Addashield. The feelings of disconnect were greatest right after waking, and he did not like that. So, the obvious solution was to never sleep. Addavein chuckled at that thought. No wonder dragons didn't like to sleep, aside from the usual weakness that happened when they slumbered.

While sleeping, and in the hours upon waking, there was no other time in a dragon's life when they were weaker. Often, the only way to kill a dragon was to hunt them and wait for them to sleep. Such a dragon hunt could last months, sometimes. Unless the dragon found out they were being hunted, of course. Then the hunt usually ended rather abruptly and definitively on the side of the dragon. Addavein spied where he desired. He looked in on Aurora Valen, who had killed so many different dragons in her life.

She was the premier dragon hunter of her generation, and who often did not wait until they slept. He looked in on Reeni Thumb, who looked over her shoulder, knowing she was being spied on but unable to trace the scry back to its source. Addavein huffed a little laugh at that. Addavein looked in on Mark, who was doing his own sorts of spying on all of his new neighbors… Hmm. Looked like he had told a few people that he was adamantium blooded. Well…

They didn't seem to be making plans to kidnap him, which was rather nice. Honestly, Addavein had expected a kidnapping to happen sooner or later, and if not Mark, then Mark's little friend, Eliot. With the platinum girl's resistances and the giant girl's strength, Mark was making a nice little team for himself. Addavein approved. But let's look a bit deeper. What are Mark's current goals… Forging, farming fish for meat, and learning magic? Eventually heading to Endless Daihoon for resurrection magics?

All good goals, really. Addavein was a little miffed that Mark didn't want to ask him how to survive Endless Daihoon, because that was the most obvious solution, but it was admirable for him to seek out other sources. It put a damper on Addavein trying to insert himself into the settlement, to become a Hero of Humanity once again, but… that was fine. Addavein spied for a good while, looking for ways in which he could make himself known as a Hero once again, but he was already seeing a few good options.

Aurora's mother was still a dragon cultist after all these years, which was a good option to pursue, but that seemed messy. Honestly, they were prepared against Addavein in every possible way— There was a person standing on his nose. Addavein sneezed, and Reeni Thumb reappeared on his back. With a twist and a shove, Addavein pulled off a fleck of adamantium and lifted Reeni into the air, to stand before him, upon a platform of black, like a mote of dust before a hurricane. Addavein frowned.

And then Addavein cut the air between them, severing the connection that Reeni had used to appear before him like that. A thread of magic broke, and Reeni turned indistinct. She remained, though. She was too strong to be cut off that easily." You shouldn't have come to me, Reeni. I could have killed you, and that would have made me sad." Reeni scowled.

"That's all you have to say to me, you old bastard?" Addavein snorted.

"Bah! I'm barely a year old!"" If you were truly 'just a year old' then I wouldn't have been able to jump to you, because I wouldn't have had a connection to you, at all," said the small woman, with the strong glare.

"You've changed, of course. You've become something different. But you're still mostly Addashield, and that connection remains. This is going to be easier than I thought, especially if you want to cooperate." With an arched eyebrow, Reeni asked, "Would you want to cooperate?" Addavein was incredulous for too many reasons to care to consider. But mostly: Was she truly asking if he would submit to soul magics? Truly? A dark rage flowed through Addavein. Perhaps, a lesser being would have argued with the small woman.

They would have decried the small woman's attempt at corralling; at controlling. Like Addashield had once done, they would have talked down the threat that Reeni now posed. But Addavein was not his 'father'. Addavein did not need to suffer old rivals and sometimes-lovers, and their attempts to take his power for their own. Addavein Spoke," I rebuke you, Reeni Thumb." Reeni's foggy form splashed away like so many glimmers of light, and Addavein was alone again.

Addavein spat at nothing in particular, and then he wheeled toward the east, putting the Grey Whale behind him. His original goal of becoming a Hero of Humanity again would take some doing, since the Aluatha Empire was rather solidly set against him gaining any sort of foothold in the new settlement. There were other things to be done, anyway. When the settlement needed a real hero, to help against a real threat, then Addavein would show up, but until then…

Addavein flew east until he was above the ocean between continents. A little while and a lot higher, and Addavein hovered in the sky above Dragon's Nest. Five mountains hovered above the clouds, above the ocean, each of them crowned with the power of a different dragon's soul. The ancients that had created this land were long, long gone, but this was still the place to be if a dragon wanted to speak to other dragons. It was neutral ground. Currently, the place was empty.

Each island simply hovered above the ocean, high in the sky, above the clouds, each of them looking more like a resting space than a real mountain. Addavein landed on one of the islands, and the mountain tried to kill him with its touch, but Addavein passed that small test and the mountain simply hovered. Addavein waited. Eventually, two dragons showed up. Addavein had not known who would show up, but he had not suspected these two.

He scoffed a little as the pair of them flew in from opposite directions, each of them unwilling to actually be near each other at all, unless, apparently, Addavein was here. Addavein lifted his head and laughed, a booming echo that passed across the sky, followed by the words, "Elkatracks and Quatrok! You two bastards are the ones to show? Does my presence not warrant Farhowla's appraisal?" The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Elkatracks was a brown dragon with bronze highlights. She had been alive since long before Addavein had ever been an archmage, for thousands of years, actually. She had always stayed far away from human affairs, except when it concerned dragons. When the two spheres of life crossed, she was there, taking young, idiot dragons away from the danger of humans, or deciding to let the young dragons die to their idiocy for thinking that they could kill humans without reprisal.

Quatrok was a blue-scaled imperialist who desired to be a tyrant to humanity, and who wanted all demon Contracts to only produce dragons. He didn't approve of any archmages. Consequently, Addashield had crossed spells with him many times in the past, especially in the time of Bloodmaw, and the Red War. When the Red War ended, the blue bastard had managed to distance himself from the repercussions of siding with that ancient red dragon.

This was the first time Quatrok had made an appearance in hundreds of years, as far as Addavein knew. Farhowla was nowhere to be seen. Gedahowla the Bright's crowned successor was never allowed to ascend to power because Addashield and the combined forces of humanity ousted all dragons from power, all across Daihoon and everywhere else, during the Reveal. The dragon still commanded a great deal of influence among other dragons, though…

Or at least Farhowla had commanded respect, the last time Addashield had heard about him, which, to be fair, had been 25 years ago. … Was Farhowla dead? Addavein glared lightly, asking them both, "Or has Farhowla met an untimely fate?" Elkatracks landed on a mountain to Addavein's left, gripping the stone with talons, her wings shining bronze in the auroras of the sky, as she said, "You should abandon your attempts at humanity, Addavein. Nothing good comes from humans mixing with dragons.

Come to the Northern Crossing with us. Leave Daihoon behind. Take your rightful place among your new people." Addavein raised his head, ignoring Elkatracks' pedestrian attempts to dissuade him from his course of action.

"Dragons have no culture. What would I do in the Crossing? Hide from the Bigs? Hunt kaiju for fun? Boring. I want to be a part of humanity because humans make art and beautiful things." And he was still a human, on the inside. Elkatracks said nothing. Quatrok snorted blue lightning that sparked across his body, arcing off of his wing tips onto the mountain under his grip.

"If you want to lead the charge and become the world emperor that we know you could be, then lead the charge, Addavein. But don't hide your will to power under such inane things like these 'superhero shows' that you bolstered in the wake of the Reveal. Simply kill those that oppose the power of dragons, and become the ruler of all. Remake it all, once again. We would follow you into that new world." Addavein felt his scales ripple, his spines tingling at Quatrok's words.

Addavein had to admit there was a certain sort of allure to crushing everything that he did not like… And yet… Elkatracks stared at Addavein, her bright bronze eyes full of worry and calculation. Quatrok merely stared, hiding all of his true thoughts behind craggy, scarred blue scales. Addavein grinned.

"What makes you think I am not already on that path?" Elkatracks stilled, her eyes flicking from Addavein, to Quatrok. Quatrok glared, his previous levity vanishing. For a brief moment, Addavein remembered being a small person, staring up at Quatrok's blue crag of a maw, as lightning poured around Addashield and killed his retainers in the Red War. But Addavein wasn't Addashield, anymore. Addavein could fight and kill Quatrok right now, if he truly wanted. Addashield could never have claimed the same capability.

Addashield had been forced to flee from Quatrok more than once. Quatrok asked, "Where does your supposed path lead you, Addavein? Where does it lead us?" And then he asked the question that actually mattered, "Why did you come to Dragon Rest, to call forth those who would speak?" Addavein said, "As my father once did, during the Reveal, I will be remaking the world once again, Quatrok, but it won't be a world of empires and archmages. You only ever got a glimpse of Earth before we drove you back across the Veil.

How much have you seen since then? How much can you see, when you hide in Endless Daihoon all the time?" Quatrok roared, his wings flashing out, thunder rolling and lightning striking the sky.

"I would have had everything if not for your progenitor!"" So you hide and whine, and that is all you can do," Addavein declared. Quatrok glared, silent and hateful. Elkatracks asked, "What is your goal, Addavein?" Addavein smiled, saying, "Your scrying should have plucked out the answers to that already, Elkatracks. Just because you dislike what you have seen, does not make my goal hidden."

Addavein said, "To be clear as crystal: I am going to be a superhero, and all of my future fights are going to be for cameras and fame, because all large threats will be handled. I will rip Thrashtalon from power, I will end the threat of demons forever, I will minimize the creation of monsters, and I will make it so that no person has to fear what lies beyond the walls of cities, anymore. I will raise the dead to new life, and I will kill the unkillable demons forevermore."

As Elkatracks and Quatrok tried to digest that, Addavein continued, "Eventually, I will even figure out how to gain a separate, human-sized body, so I can more joyfully enjoy my new life as an immortal superhero in retirement. Perhaps I will even raise a family that I never got to have back when I was human." He Looked at Quatrok, adding, "And I will ensure that old threats can never harm, ever again, because I will have dismantled those threats in every way possible."

Quatrok spat lightning at Addavein and Addavein was ready for it. A flick of power grounded the lightning into the sky all around them. Quatrok huffed and leapt away. Addavein would have said something to the blue bastard, but the blue bastard was gone soon enough. Addavein turned toward Elkatracks.

"What is your response?"" Humanity is a doomed species, forever tied to smallness and death. Aligning yourself with them is foolish, and so, you should abandon that foolish pursuit. Your progenitor was wise enough to know this, for I have made no secret how humans and dragons should not mingle, and your progenitor listened to what I had to say. And so, I will not overly attempt to dissuade you from your course of action. But I will say this: Humanity is where we come from. It is not who we are, Addavein.

Abandon the home where you were born and grow into your truest self in Endless Daihoon. There is more power and growth and challenge to face out there. This tiny spec k of a planet is nothing." Elkatracks declared, "Leave the demons to their playthings. Join us in Eternity." Addavein shook his head.

"Even after nearly 80 years of growth and establishment of further growth… Even after the Reveal and all that came afterward, you still hold to this idea that humanity is worthless, Elkatracks. I never understood that about you." He added, "Even after the Red War, and after the triumphs of humanity, you still…" Addavein did not want to have this argument with her, so he stopped himself. With a heavy tone, he said, "You were never directly against humanity.

I suppose that is worth enough respect that I will not harm you now, or ever. But that one. Quatrok. If he should show again, I will murder him. It is what he deserves. Tell him that." Elkatracks sighed.

"Do what you want, even if it is the wrong thing to do. That is the power you have gained now that you are beyond your humanity." Elkatracks lifted into the air and flew away at a sedate pace. A normal pace. Five minutes later the brown-bronze dragon vanished beyond a density of auroras. Addavein had been comfortable with Quatrok's attack, because that had been expected. Elkatracks' soft words of condemnation, like it was only a matter of time before Addavein gave up his humanity forever, struck a lot harder...

But, on second thought, what kind of kaijushit was that! Dragons ruled all of Daihoon for most of the last 5000 years! They were very in-touch with their humanity, and some of them even tried to breed with humans they loved. Those kinds of dragons were not the kinds of dragon that Addashield had become, in his transformation into Addavein, but… … Hmm. The Fates of Xerkona might be willing to speak with him, to direct him where he should go next, to accomplish his goals?

They hadn't wanted to talk to him yet, but that was months ago. Maybe something had changed. Addavein hummed in thought once again, and then he took to wing, headed east, toward the Settlement of Xerkona. If the Fates were even willing to meet with him at all, they'd probably send out a representative to speak with him, when he got close. Of course, it might not be time to meet with them, so maybe Addavein would just dick around for a while... Kill some kaiju? Sure. Something fun!

He was sure that the settlement would need some big help against a big threat soon enough. Not at first, of course. Aurora was on the job, as much as anyone could be on the job. But eventually, when the defensive systems they constructed began to relax, as people always did, something big would happen and they wouldn't be fully prepared for it. Aurora would likely be purposefully relaxing, just so that all of her new people could benefit from direct exposure to the horrors of Daihoon.