A Call to Arms (Twilight Imperium)

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The Twilight King sat just outside his den, his pale gaze on the night sky. In the morning he would gather the Survivors and reveal his plan for dealing with the monsters. For once, finally, if all went well, Dragonkind would begin fighting back. No longer would the once rising empire of Fire, Darkness, and Earth cower. No longer would its leaders wallow in their anger, their sorrow, their depression. And if Baldirak could manage it, no longer would Dragonkind be divided. It was his wish that all species come together to take back their lands. Perhaps it was a foolish dream, for even past alliances of two or three had failed, and never had all seven clans been united. The EarthWing closed his pale eyes. How odd it would be to speak of unity when--since just after the monsters' attack--there existed only one leader. The Gifted Crystals never had a leader to begin with; last he heard, the Starlights' SkyWing King and Queen disappeared; Tenebris was locked up in Shadows Refuge, his concern on becoming a saviour to all Dragonkind by allowing everyone to come to the Ebonwing Isles; Kenina was still too depressed, only just recently allowing her mate to hear her speak for the first time since the invasion. This left only Baldirak for his kin to turn to. His only ally were the ElderWings and they still had not yet uncovered the past of these monsters.

Baldirak opened his eyes again and stood, turning round to make his way back inside his den. For the first time in too long, he was aware of the talismans around his neck. He looked down at them. In his den, in the center, was a circle of Moonstones. Ten in all. Seven were white and three were purple. They glowed brightly now, a hole in the ceiling having allowed them to absorb the maximum amount of moonlight. How he could possibly still believe in the gods, especially the one who--if they even existed--was most expected to aid the besieged and dying, was a complete mystery to everyone. Being a Prophet, a King, even a Demi-god, did not exempt Baldirak from rumor. But he did not care what others thought. If he had but one admirable quality, it was his loyalty. Nothing could make his belief waiver. The EarthWing stepped through the circle and went to the back of the den where he slept. He would not meditate within the Circle of Knowledge tonight.

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The sun broke through the fog that typically surrounded the island the Twilight King dwelled on. He was already awake and eating a giant pile of spaz fish fit for an EarthWing. Once he was finished, Baldirak took flight, making his way to the main island of the Ebonwing Isles where the meeting was to be held. He knew his nephew would be there. The Thunderbird, Tormaigh, was likely to attend as well. Beyond that he wasn't expecting to see any familiar faces. Recently, some before-thought dead FireWings had surfaced, so he hoped they would show up.

Baldirak landed on the main island and walked to the meeting spot. His right foreleg, for once, wasn't hurting enough to cause a limp, but that would soon change. For now, the King was glad of the lessened pain. There was a bit of raised ground that Baldirak would sit on--not that a 140ft EarthWing needed to be raised up. Here he waited, surrounded by rocks and trees. Vilkas, Baldirak's nephew, arrived five minutes later and sat nearby. They spoke for a brief time, mostly inquiring about how the other was doing. The half-FireWing wondered about his uncle's various injuries and asked about the Queen. Baldirak asked about Vilkas' training. And then they fell silent while they waited.

Tormaigh gave the firewing a nod, having nothing to add to the discussion. Meanwhile Cyclone and Typhoon’s shared tail swayed as Henri introduces himself and Nyetia. The pair both smiled as they introduced themselves.

”Hi. I’m Cyclone.”

”And my name’s Typhoon.”

While perhaps least expected Tenebris had left the confides of the Onyx Citadel, hearing only through whispered rumours from Refugees of what the King of the Imperium intended. The Archon of the Nightwings despite his wounds circled the sky gracefully high above the designated meeting spot, he made a spiral in his descent as he mustered what elegance remained of himself. As his talons grasps the floor on his landing his features grimaces as he winced, his usual well defined smooth features were no longer so. His wounds were clear across his maw, three large claw marks from under his left eye across his cheek and over his mouth disfigured the usually proud dominant Nightwing. Tenebris wore none of his usual finery, his garb of silver what usually adored his visage and horns were none existent and only provided more evidence of his current weakness, large marks across his shoulder and tail were evident where we was mauled and almost lost his life at the Twilight Spire.

Surprisingly alone, Tenebris stood before Baldirak his usual herald to announce his presence no where to be seen along with his other attendant and personal retinue, many of them now lost in the chaos of the past weeks or fallen in the initial assault. He'd bow his head towards the King before meeting his gaze, while his eeire sapphire glare seemed to maintain their usual brilliance and silent scrutiny upon those before him, his eyes seem sunken, his visage weary and worn. His usual smug sadistic smirk was not present upon his face, he seemed broken and sullen by recent events, even his voice as he spoke seemed to lack energy and his usual well cultured smooth sarcastic tone "Your majesty Baldirak, good to see you once more. I have heard rumour that you have some interesting developments?"

Baldirak was about to continue speaking when Tenebris arrived. He had not seen the NightWing leader since he saved his life. Tenebris, without the advanced healing capabilities of an EarthWing, still bore the scars of the Twilight Reckoning. The Twilight King's pale eyes regarded the various marks on the dark dragon's body. Tenebris was quite vain, to say the least; there was no doubt these wounds caused psychological pain as well as physical. Baldirak suddenly felt weary. It took seeing the battered NightWing to remind him of his own pains. The more serious of his injuries had been healed quickly upon arrival to the Isles. Others had been left to heal of their own accord, as Baldirak knew his tribe couldn't afford to have all leadership hiding away in self-pity. But some evidence remained. The King had several scars on his stomach and three spanning nearly the entire length of his body on his right side.

Baldirak noted the uncharacteristic way in which Tenebris spoke. Somehow, he wasn't as surprised about it as he thought he'd be. The King gave a slight nod in acknowledgement. "Tenebris. It shouldn't surprise me that you would make an appearance now. I have a plan, but at the moment it does not require your service. You may go back to your Citadel and continue licking your wounds." He spoke with a bit more anger than he intended. Or perhaps he had intended it. It simply irked Baldirak that Tenebris and Kenina had decided he could handle things on his own, that he hadn't suffered as much as they.

Tormaigh looked over to see the Nightwing that had often irked thunderbird with his believes. Now though, he looked to the dragon not with anger, or annoyance, or fear of being enslaved. No. He eyed Tenebris with a more understanding look. To see such a proud ruler, one who use to wear fine garbs just to show his position, reduced to a scarred, broken mess of a dragon.

The thunderbird slowly approached after Baldirak spoke. The only thing Tormaigh could get out of his beak was ”Tenebris.”