Reunion Pt. 4

Before Shaw could fully realize what was happening or even stumble in the sudden darkness he had found himself engulfed in, he realized he was off his feet, suspended high above the ground in the dark void which Naga had turned the room into in his sudden outburst. Something was constricting him, an invisible hand crushing his torso, his arms wrapped close to his body. He felt a sudden painful shock along his spine and the back of his skull as he was slammed violently against a shadow covered wall, a second thud beside him could be heard immediately after. In his daze he could hear whimpering coming from the source of the second sound. Dread forced its way into his mind driving his limbs painfully numb and lifeless. Another whimpering cry emanated from beside him. He knew now he was not alone in what was to come, but he could not see just who it was. A low, angry growl filled the room.

A dark red light began to shine from a few feet in front of him, finally bringing light into this dark void which Shaw had found himself. Although Shaw couldn’t say he was happy at the sight, knowing full well what it was. A star shaped soul-shard affixed and burning brightly on the torso of Nagaetros. Shaw could finally see, but what he saw was a sight no one would wish to behold. Naga's eyes, golden and uncaring, were glaring at him through the darkness like a predator does his prey, the light illuminating his many fangs as they were barred in a sinister, and angry smile. To his left, out of the corner of his eye, Shaw could make out the form of Echo, clutched tightly in the draconian's claws, just like he was. The sound drake struggled, but it did no good.

The Time drake cried out as he found himself lifted and slammed against the wall. The distortions he put out agitated as he looked up to see the soul shard glaring in front of him. Looking up a moment later to behold the eyes of the draconian looking down at him. He was in very real danger here, he thought to himself. The draconian had targeted both him, as well as the sound drake that he could see pinned next to him almost immediately. Not lashing out, not randomly attacking the others in the group. no. It had been aimed at the two of them, and that was every reason to fear. He could not die here, but there was much you could do without killing someone.

He struggled against the draconian’ grip. Looking up at where Naga’s face should have been in the darkness, before opening his mouth to speak.
"N-Naga... what are you... Doing!?" He said between gasps.

" Something that shouldve been done a long time ago, Shaw Haust." Naga answered.

Echo managed to gasp out a few words.

"P-please! Master! I have been nothing but loyal to you! Please! Don’t do this!-"

"-Silence!" Naga roared and closed his fist tighter around the squirming sound drake causing him to scream in pain. Shaw could hear the feint crack of bones.

“Traitors! Lay-abouts! Plotting back-stabbers! Did you think I would not know!?" He roared at the both of them. "Did you think in the years’ worth of time you left me to rot that I was blind to your actions!? Your self-interests?! Your attempts to turn things to your favors?! How DARE you!" Naga slammed the two drakes against the wall again with another crack of bones against stone.
"I am god of filth like you! You do not betray me! How dare you even attempt it! A whole year GONE. Wasted away because of your incompetence!"

"Please! Lord Naga! I don’t know what you're talking about!" Echo squeaked.

"HA! Of course you don’t!" Naga roared. "You side with the very whore who split my mind across dimensions for your own benefit! You work with her so that you may gain while she goes about, free of fear of capture, while making little 'arrangements' against me and my grand design! you invade my quarters and make yourself at home, using my body as a foot rest! You planned to leave me in that wretched state!" He squeezed Echo again, causing the sound drake to yelp.

"What? But Naga! i.... Haven't done any of that! i haven't betrayed you...  I've made progressions loyally!!!" Shaw gasped as he heard Naga berate echo and himself on their actions. He grit and bared his teeth against the pain of his body being compressed as he heard the draconian mention just who echo had apparently sided with after the sound drake protested. Turning his head painfully to look at you sound drake.

"You... Miserable screeching Bastard!” He shouted hoarsely at the sound drake. His air still restricted. "You've been working for her?! the Flux member that’s caused all of this?!  I swear... Echo... if we don't die here, I’ll slash your face open in your crib!!" He shouted.

"Then I have some bad news for you, Shaw!" Naga interjected. "This whole ordeal was brought upon us by you! That wretched witch sought your weaknesses! And what do you do when given both the means and authority to track her down? NOTHING! Where were you, 'timecaster'? 'temporian god of ruin'?" did you fear the little bald bitch?!? Why did you leave me to rot while you had all the ability to prevent this?!" Naga squeezed Shaw all the tighter. "you spent your time allying with Sotek! Shadowy lap-dog of that glowing angel knock-off! You seek power by marrying a daughter of Phobos! You watch behind a temporal veil while you plot for your own gain! Do not think I have not watched you particularly close, Shaw Haust! A year is a long time for a disembodied god!"

The Time drake Groaned as he felt the draconian tighten his grip. He already knew from the sound of bones creaking he had heard from the sound drake that the sound of creaking and cracking he could hear within his own body were very real. He coughed slightly, the air crushed out of his lungs. The Blood he tasted in his mouth telling him that pain was something he would now be able to feel in the flesh. drake or not.
"T-the means to track her?” He managed to choke out. "Her?! You think it is so easy?!... gahh!" He cried out. "The one who put you in your state for so long?.. Such a "Witch" that could do a feat like that is not one that is stupid! Foolish.... yes but not stupid! She covered her tracks, I can’t see them, and we need a solid interaction with her!!" He said. "We've been looking! Our assets have grown! Sotek is no longer needed!! You were there for that discussion!!" He screamed, not directing it at the draconian, but rather screaming it out in mixed pain and frustration. Groaning again as he felt his chest being compressed again.

" Lies! Lies to save your own hide!" Naga growled. "In my disembodied state I could see from her own eyes! I know just how hard it was to track her as I dwelled within her thoughts! She was but a fleeing beast, cowering from her hunters in the time I occupied her mind! I could see every attempt to capture her by those who used the slivers I had given them, Shaw Haust! But not you! You were not among them! You coveted the slivers, using them for your own plotting! You had the means but hid them away, forgotten, while the others were left to their own resources! Time was not on their side!" Naga growled, barring his fangs which clicked together as he gnashed them. "Time was, however, on yours."

The time drake could only bear his teeth in a rictus of mixed pain and frustration as he found himself berated by the draconian for his inaction. His words, stung. To an extent they were right. Yet they were not without reason, He "Had" held chances to attack the woman directly, but he hadn't. Why hadn't he? He wondered to himself curiously. Then he recalled why. There had been other priorities, and it was a wonder to him why the draconian could not recall some of them. He had undermined the flux with his attack on Dorin. Had thrown them into chaos. He had forseen that they wouldn't be able to recover; they were a front that needed to be cleared for his forces to move freely.
"You don’t know time..." He said in a choked gasp. "The flux needed to be compromised...." He said, pausing. "But your right... I did use them. I used them to make our objectives easier! If..... nnnngh! If it is what you want! Her blood will be our first priority!" He shouted in a hoarse choke.

Naga appeared to relax slightly after Shaw's words, a brief moment of cold, emotionless calm to the previous fury and rage.
"Your actions against the flux are commendable to an extent, although premature and a serious risk. But her...She will suffer as no other had suffered before her, Shaw. I shall take everything from her that she has ever loved....and ever desired...." His moment of calm ended as fast as it began.
"But it shall be by my hands! My power! Is that clear?!"

The Time drake took the slight release in the draconian’s grip to draw in a few breaths of air. His bones already working to reset themselves as his temporal infused body structure drew itself back to a prior period of time. He looked up at Naga’s face, his own skewed slightly in pain, closing his eyes and turning his head as the draconian yelled at him once again.
"Premature?" he asked. "A serious risk? Any move against them would be a serious risk. That is temporal warfare, Naga... There will never be a mature moment to attack them. They won’t allow one. Dorin’s allowed herself to be stripped of power." he paused.
"The entity has devoured one of their great shelters... when the time comes to drive the blade home. They won’t have enough to deflect it, it'll shatter anything that’s left of them..." He narrowed his eyes. "Understood, the woman is yours to do with whatever you will choose to do..."

"Very good..." Naga said as suddenly he tossed the two drakes high into the air, much to their surprise. As they fell back down Naga began to quickly revert to his smaller drake form. in one quick, fluid  movement he caught the both of them by their necks in midair and slammed them back to the shadow concealed wall. Even though he was no longer in his true, monstrous form, he was still tall enough to leave the two suspended on the wall, their feet dangling helplessly under them, the pressure on their necks no different than that which was felt by the larger hands of his true form's on their whole body, effectively cutting off their air supply.

Naga flexed the cobra-like hood on his neck, his spines stretching out as far as they could as he twisted his head, the sounds of bones cracking could be heard. He rolled his shoulders which were covered by silver pauldrons, his robes were so dark they were almost invisible in the shadowy void save for the blood red accents which decorated his clothing and the silver and red armor which covered it. the dark background, the void which the 3 had been enclosed in before began to fade away, revealing the rest of the group just where they were left, the room while still dimly lit, was more welcoming than the darkness from which they had just returned from, even if the floor was littered with corpses.

Carmilla had a look of great concern washed over her face as she looked at Echo as he struggled to breath, looking nervously back and forth between him and her father as though unsure of what she should do. The others, however, remained calm and silent observers awaiting the next action from their master.

"It feels so good to be moving again..." Naga said to no one in particular as he popped his jaw and grinned. "Like a great weight has been removed from my shoulders...."


The Time drake gasped again as he felt himself thrown up, then fall down. His fall back down to the floor beneath him prompting him to position his legs and partially form his wings in an effort to catch himself. Only to feel his fall come to an abrupt halt as the draconian shifted down to size. He struggled a bit; his hands going up too grip at the shadow drakes arm as he felt his throat. He gritted his teeth and skewed his muzzled face as he, like the sound drake struggled to breathe. It was still something that he was getting used to. But he had found that having to breathe was not something that he had missed from his time as a calvara. It was something that he wanted now.

He looked around the room, taking note that the others were now visible.
"T-that’s... Excellent to hear... But... There’s a bit, of a weight on my throat now..." He managed to choke out. His voice nearly silent from its lack of air.

"Yes, well, imagine a years’ worth of it!" Naga gave a snarling smile, pressing Shaw closer to the wall. Naga began to laugh, a sudden tonal change in the draconian which was unexpected to its core when considering what had occurred just moments before.
"She...She did something to me!" He gasped between laughs. "She RELEASED something! Something is not right!" he laughed. "I-I feel....different now..."he chuckled. "Better than before...and yet...something is wrong!"
"Something is missing....someone...."
"I understand...” Shaw said his voice still choked from the shadow drakes pressing his throat with his hand. The sudden increase of pressure Naga gave on his throat cutting off the small amount of air that he managed to keep. The time drake’s hands going up to grip at the draconian’s arm.

He looked at Naga suddenly with an expression of surprise as the draconian began to laugh. The laughter being something that he had not come to expect from the drake in the least in the time that he had interacted with him before the event with the bald one had put him in his comatose state. It seemed totally out of place, wrong almost coming from the drakes face. he would have called it almost hilarious if it wasn't concerning to him that him and echo were the closest things at hand should these" Changes."  Turn out to be dangerous.

Just what, "had" she done? He wondered to himself.

"it is of no concern now...."He chuckled. ”For the first time since my death....I feel free" He laughed. "and very...very....hungry...."
Naga loosened his grip on the two drake's necks just enough to let them speak easier. a low, bestial growl escaping his fangs.
Carmilla's eyes grew wide in terror from where she stood and the hounds' ears picked up as though hoping for scraps.

Shaw widened his eyes in mixed surprised and mingled fear and anger at the draconian’s words. The words that he spoke were certainly directed at him and the sound drake as he took the chance of slight relief in the draconian’s lessening of his grip on their throats, Taking a deep breath. He would not die here. That much he knew. But death could come to him a few times, physically speaking. His body could technically die... and that gave him reason to protest.

"Then Go hunt a few flux and union soldiers to quell your hunger...." he said. "Give their heads back to their commanders."
"Why do that? When I’ve got two perfectly good examples right in my claws...." He grinned.

"P-please! My lord! My king! My god! please don’t let it end like this! I promise! I’ll never betray you ever again! I'll serve you as loyal as no other before! I will right my wrong; I’ll do as you command! Please!" Echo begged for his life, his eyes watering and his voice scratchy. Naga brought his head closer to the sound drake, his hood began to unfurl from his neck in a fearsome display. Before he could do anything else, a scream could be heard from behind them.
"Father! Please! No!" Carmilla cried out. Naga stopped and turned to look at his daughter with a cold, golden, scrutinizing eye. His mouth in a sneer. He then turned back to the two drakes in his claws.
"Then you can die." Naga said. Before Echo could speak, Naga had lunged forward, sinking his fangs deep into the sound drake's neck. Echo's eyes grew wide as he gasped for breath. He grabbed and kicked but his efforts were futile. Carmilla screamed in anguish as Echo's eyes bugged out from his skull, the color began to drain from his form as all the blood from his body was stolen from him. in less than a minute's time, Echo stopped moving, his limbs went limp. There was a snapping, tearing sound soon after, and his head fell to the ground with a soft thud. a look of terror still frozen on his face. Naga dropped the rest of Echo to the ground as he licked his jaws. Returning his attention to Shaw.

The time drake narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth, a different response then the one that echo gave as he struggled in the shadow drakes claws, Turning his head slightly in acknowledgement of the protests of Carmilla. Responding with his own struggles, but surprisingly, with no fearful begging and sobbing that the sound drake had done. Grabbing the drakes arm and attempting to pull himself from the draconian’s grip. His own feet giving kicks of their own, some in attempts to push the draconian back . His eyes went wide with shock and disbelief as he watched the sound drake’s life drained away and the sick sound. One that he had heard himself countless times as he had done the same to those in his way. As the sound drake was decapitated.

He tiled his head down at the sight of Echo’s head on the ground, blood already pooling beneath it. Then brought his gaze back to Naga, his Face showing an expression of, not quite fear, but a mix of shock, rage, and utter disbelief. This was happening, he was very much going to die here. And he was angry at that fact.

"Well then...?" he said to the draconian. "Come on... if you’re keen on doing it! Then let’s have it!" He said his voice a choked gasp. His struggles not ebbing.

"Has Mammon delivered the child, Shaw?" Naga merely asked a playful grin on his face.

The time drake only gave a blank look in response. Listening to Naga talk had become something akin to listening to a crossed time stream. Sometimes one would be the defining line, while at other times; there would be another present in its place. He had never liked situations like that; they had always made him, slightly uneasy. Even for ruin, such things like that were not part of a natural order of things. He was hearing it here again.
He paused as he looked at Naga, opening his mouth slightly as he looked at the hooded face of the drake.

"Soon... “He said after a moment of recalling the draconian of pride, and the deal he had made with him prior. “Yes... The child will be with us soon enough... the deal is in place."

"Very good!" Naga said, dropping Shaw to the ground and turning to the others.

"Vulcan!" He said.

"Yes, my Lord...." Vulcan was smiling, glancing over to the remains of Echo while Carmilla just sobbed.
"Inform the church we are moving forward, their god is back. And tell them to begin the harvest. I am still hungry...."

"Yes, my Lord. It is an honor." Vulcan chuckled and hurried from the room.
Gernot eyed the corpse as well, not with joy, but anticipation. he waited almost impatiently for Naga to order him to do something. Dante was as quiet as ever.
Shuck and Grimm licked their jaws happily and waited for their own orders.
The time drake grunted as he fell from the drakes grip, sliding down the wall onto his unsteady feet. He wasn’t ready for the drop, and his legs went out from under him, making him drop to his knees. His tail swishing aggressively as he struggled to regain both his breath and his footing as his airway was cleared, making him cough several times. It took him a few moments to get back to his feet slowly. Looking at the others around him as things seemingly went back to their old routines.

He looked at the body of echo next to him as he took his steps away from the remains of the sound drake, giving a passing glance at the drake doctor as he walked past.

"Expecting something Gernot?" He asked curiously.

The doctor remained silent and looked to Shaw with that same expression.

"And Shaw....?" Naga said, his back turned to the shaw.
"You can always rely on me to keep my promises." With that, before Shaw could react, Naga swung around, his arm outstretched. With the roar of flames there was a sudden flash of blue, then black, then a moment soul burning, agonizing pain, and then there was nothing but silence.

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An RP between and