//------------------------------// // 2: A Den of Dragons // Story: The Storm Of Tartarus // by AleneShazam //------------------------------// It’s been so long. So long since my feet shook the earth, since I could feel the wind between my fingers, since I was free to bend the realm to my whims. I know that the world has changed since I last walked upon it. It felt less disorderly, less chaotic. It was a peaceful, innocent time. There were no great wyrms to burn the skies, or leviathans to swallow oceans, or golems to crush cities. None of my foes in the past greeted me as my army marched on this changed world. I roared as I approached the nearest populated area. I was nowhere near the size I was before my imprisonment; that bastard Tirek made sure of that, having stolen most of my magic away and reducing me to a petty beast, to rely on natural weapons instead of the cosmic powers that I once wielded. It appeared to be a dragon’s migration area, a bowl valley which would have been virtually impossible to access by anything save a dragon due to the intense heat and the treacherous landscape. Which is why I laughed at their petty natural defences and strode straight into the magma. My powers surged, and instead of being burnt, my body drained the energy from the molten rock, causing my skin to start glowing bright red.  The lava around me actually began to solidify after the heat was absorbed by me, but I ploughed through it regardless. I wanted to get a decent meal and I wasn’t going to let a measly bit of rock get in my way. The dragons began to take notice of this newcomer wading through their lava moat. I roared again, beating my chest aggressively and even letting loose a plume of flame that shot through the air like a flare, attracting the attention of a particularly large wyrm. The black reptile rose out of the magma a good distance away, and I could already tell that it was a fair bit larger than I was. Good. I like a challenge. With two horns that curved down like ram’s horns, pitch black scales, and a pair of wings that could blot out the sun, it would be a worthy opponent for me. It burst out of the molten rock, its wings flapping and producing winds so strong that a veritable tsunami of magma was sent my way, though I broke through that as easily as a rock could weather a wave. Rising higher and higher, the creature revealed its true size, which by sheer length was probably twice as long as I was tall. “Come then, wyrm! Lets see how well you fare when your head is detached from your body!” I roared, and raised my two larger palms at the dragon. Twin blasts of lightning exploded out of each palm, screeching through the air and slamming into the dragon with two earsplitting claps of thunder. The impact, which generated a visible shockwave, knocked the dragon clean out of the sky, sending it hurtling backwards out of control until it crashed into the cliff face at the edge of the lava moat. To its credit, it seemed more annoyed than anything after the assault. Shaking itself off, it rose unsteadily back to its feet before glaring balefully in my direction, a look that I gladly returned. Before I was ensnared by those treacherous ponies, I ate dragons like these for breakfast. It opened its maw, and a blast of fire erupted from within, streaking towards me and exploding against my skin. It was almost humorous how the dragon thought its fire could harm me, when I already waded through a sea of magma to get to it. I forgot how idiotic these animals were. The fire seemed to seep into the pores of my skin, filling me with a sense of incredible heat and power. I grinned crookedly, with came out more as a toothy grimace, as I raised my primary hands to the skies. As soon as I did, an orb of lava and brimstone formed in each of my hands, swirling slightly and hissing from the intense compacted energy. I roared, and hurled both orbs at the dragon. They exploded against its scales, and the effects were immediate, the dragon writhing in agony as the superheated stone burned into its flesh. My meteorites were many times the strength of the dragon’s moat, and it easily pierced even the thickest dragon’s hide. I continued to wade through the lava, absorbing energy, and rediscovering lost powers. I raised my arms, calling upon my lineage as a titan, and commanded the elements. The winds answered to my call, as did the cold, and the spirits of lightning. The sky darkened, and with a terrible boom of thunder a bolt of lightning came crashing down and struck the dragon directly, causing it to spasm in agony, completely at my mercy as I reached the opposite side of the moat. My hands gripped the creature’s head, its body still twitching uncontrollably, and I crushed. The dragon fell to the ground, lifeless and headless. I chuckled, a deep and grating sound, as I clawed off chunks of meat from the lizard, until I revealed the heart of the creature and brought it to my maw. I didn’t actually eat, of course. Immortals did not need to eat. What I did was a more symbolic gesture, as I devoured its essence. However little such a puny mortal creature contributed to my strength, it was still power that I needed if I was to regain my previous glory. The cliffs surrounding the dragon’s nesting area was barely a challenge. I simply breathed in, and exhaled a torrent of flame that melted through the rock, burning a path through the cliffs.I brought the decapitated body of the dragon along too, for extra effect. As soon as I burst through the stone into the dragon’s nesting area, I was confronted by the angry bellows of a whole nest of dragons. I cracked all four of my knuckles, which began crackling with lightning as the first dragon leapt for my neck. I swung both of my right arms, and the fists connected with the side of the dragon with a thunderous crack, the primary arm even punching through the lizard’s ribcage so that I could make a direct grab for the heart. I snorted at how pathetic the mighty dragons have become; in my day, dragons were the terror of the land, scorching entire continents with burning flames that hurt even my skin. Ripping the heart out and incinerating the corpse with hellfire, I raised my left arms just in time to blast an attacking drake with twin bolts of lightning directed straight at its face, which sent the younger dragon careening back, clutching at its pockmarked head. Another blast of lightning took the drake’s head clean off, causing blood and fire built up in its flame bladder to spurt out uncontrollably. I roared victoriously, but had no time to celebrate as yet another dragon threw itself at me. I snarled, and I held up my palm at the creature, holding it in place with my divine power. Bringing the creature closer, I opened my mouth and began to inhale, causing a trail of crimson vital energy to leak out of the dragon into myself. In only moments, the dragon became but a withered corpse, and soon not even that, just dust on the wind. I smiled grimly at the dragons as more of my powers returned; poison, magic draining, storm calls, paralysis. I am the father of monsters. I am not to be trifled with. Man, you’re no fun. I stopped suddenly, my muscles locking up. Instantly, a drake tackled me, using its superior mass to knock me back straight into a cliff face, a large crag breaking off and shattering upon my skull. My vision blurred for a fraction of a second, as I felt an unfamiliar presence press against my mind… You can pretend you’re in control for as long as you want, buddy. “Who… dares… invade the mind… of TYPHON?!” I roared, lifting an arm covered in crackling lightning and smashing it into the drake who dared to attack me. The creature fell back clutching its snapped snout, the wound bleeding profusely. “I have desecrated the halls of the gods!” A dragon leapt at me, and I grabbed it by the throat, swinging it around and smashing the creature headlong into the cliff. The rock crumbled easily, burying the wyrm under a prison of stone. “I have weathered the most powerful weapon known to the divines!” I reached out with a crackling hand and pressed it into the face of an incoming drake, watching the lightning course through its system and cook it from the inside out. I smirked, remembering when I wrestled the control over lightning itself out of the hands of the gods. “I have escaped from the pit of Tartarus!” I bashed two fists together, generating a thunderclap so loud and powerful that it actually blew back the dragons surrounding me, sending the smaller outs flying and staggering even the largest ones. And you’re my bitch. Big deal. I roared in agony as I felt the alien intrusion grow stronger. My strength faltered, and my arms felt unusually heavy, as though they were injected with lead. My advance halted as I lost control of my movement, and I fell to my knees, a splitting pain piercing my head. “WHO ARE YOU?!” Let me help you with that… Then I was back, the pain gone, with this… knowledge in my mind. How to better use my powers, ancient techniques that the millennium of confinement has blurred. I leered at the lizards, and with a single wave of a hand, created a wall of hellfire and brimstone that crashed into the dragons around me, scouring the flesh from their bones. My mouth opened, and I inhaled, drawing in their life force before they could pass on into wherever souls went.   “What just happened…?” With all my might as a titan, I could not imagine what could be powerful enough to influence a mind such as my own, let alone teach me anything about my immense powers. Look, I can get being in character and all, but your high and mighty attitude bugs me. “What is the meaning of this?” I growled, still keeping an eye on the remaining dragons. Like the cowards that they were, they grovelled just out of range of my more powerful abilities, avoiding my gaze and keeping absolutely silent. Good, they’re learning. You’re lucky I’m not strong enough to take control yet. But give it time… “Who are you? Who dares attack the mighty Typhon?!” I’m not your enemy. Let’s just say that. I gave you that walkthrough of your powers, didn’t you? “You granted me the knowledge? Then for that I thank you… though the transgression of invading my mind will not go unpunished.” Please. You’d sooner beat your head open before you could get to me with your mental acuity. Just know that it’s in my best interests that you survive your little spat with Tirek. I scowled. Tirek was still at large, with his stolen power. I would hunt him down and rip the power right out of his beating heart if that’s what it took to reclaim my past glory. “I don’t know who you are, but know that if you cross me, I WILL hunt you down like the dog that you are. But I concur, Tirek is the more pressing threat currently.” Now, you have an army to command. The hunt is over, Typhon. Time to wage war. “Yes… as I did a thousand years ago, I shall do so again. Tirek will regret crossing me.” Us. He backstabbed me badly as well. “Then we have more common ground than I realized. If you continue with your assistance, perhaps I will tolerate your presence in my mind. If not…” Stop it with your empty threats already. You can’t do jack against me. “Continue with that attitude and perhaps you’ll realize that I am much more capable than you ever imagined.” Psh. I turned to face the cowering lizards. “And these? I suppose you will tell me to spare these innocent beings?” I said the last words with as much venom as I could muster, actually spitting a cloud of deadly poison out of my maw as I did so. Nah. Eat ‘em if you want, see if I care. I just want to see this world burn. I smiled, knowing that whoever my mysterious benefactor was, he would not stop me from doing what I should have done long ago. “Your wretched race will reign no longer, dragons. You defile my original creations, pervert their forms, and now retribution will find you.” I raised a claw, and after a moment’s hesitation, plunged it into my chest. Pulling it out a second later, I held in it a single pitch black scale. “You.” I pointed at the largest remaining wyrm. “Come here.” The dragon’s eyes widened, and it looked to the remainder of its brood as though it was expecting aid before looking back to me. “Come here, or I will incinerate you where you stand, you worthless lizard.” I growled, igniting a meteorite in an empty claw. The dragon hastily made its way to me after that remark. As soon as it was close enough, I seized it by the throat and buried the scale deep within its forehead. Hot blood spurted out, and the dragon bellowed in pain, its claws swinging wildly, scrabbling uselessly against my skin in its throes of pain. I ignored its struggling, instead focusing on the task at hand. “Ladon, my son, heed my call. I am the father of all monstrosities, the titan of disaster. I give you a new body, and a new task: by force or by coercion, make these weak excuses of dragons into more of your calibur. Awaken, child, and obey your creator!” The dragon writhed in my grip, its body suddenly swelling and distending disgustingly, its blood red skin blackening like ink was running across its surface. As the blackness spread, its body began warping and twisting, lumps of scaly flesh springing up and lengthening into distinct shapes like viciously clawed limbs, and snarling heads. Its wings grew larger, and wider, more terrible than ever, to match the hundred heads that had sprung up at the creature’s shoulders. Where it was once close to my size, it now swelled to almost thrice as long as I was tall, and I could barely touch its snout with my arms. It was like a hundred writhing pythons twisted into one, a tortured creature that rippled with power and a terrible majesty. Its eyes flashed open, and inside burned molten gold pupils that matched my own. “Father…” It’s- His voice was deep and rasping, accompanied by a hellish stench and a cloud of vile poison inherited from myself. All one hundred of his heads spoke in tandem, and their voices shook the earth when they spoke. “I see the ravages of time have not been kind to you.” “Silence, serpent.” I growled, in no mood for Ladon’s sardonic jest. “You understand what must be done?” “I do, father. It shall be done.” Ladon said, its countless eyes darting towards where the remaining worms hid. “Are these what passes for dragons in this age? What a disgrace.” “You will make them strong again, of course?” “Of course… the Drakon line will return, and these… worms, will be purged from the land.” Or he might rise up against you with his brood and destroy you. In your state, it would be possible. “Begone, trickster. I’ll hear no more of your lies.” I muttered, before looking back to Ladon. “When you’re done with these creatures, follow my trail to my army. I have assembled the demons to Tartarus to march on our hated foe, Tirek.” Even Ladon, who feared none save myself, recoiled at the sound of his name. “The thief still lives? I will tear him apart limb by limb, I swear it…” “While you work I shall attempt to resurrect the brood mother. Be diligent, Ladon. The world is a changed place, and I wish not lose another of my brood.” “Praise your name, father.” I grunted and strode off, using my newly gained strength to simply push through the cliffs and wade back into the lava, in the direction of where my army was stayed. I love family reunions. “I will destroy you, after Tirek falls.” Love you too, sunshine. I looked over the masses of horrors gathered under my banners. If they had escaped by themselves, though that would have been impossible, they would be cowering under the first rock they found, never to rear their ugly heads. What a shame that would be. Each one of these creatures were mighty warriors in their own right, by strength, or speed, or magic. Each one of them were a match for the princesses armies, and required the wretches themselves to seal them away. So, when under the command of a being who rivalled gods such as myself, they could be shaped into a deadly army indeed. An army enough to raze the pony cities to the ground, perhaps. If I could defeat the princesses as soon as possible, and absorb their life forces, I would have more than enough power to regain my old form, and challenge Tirek with all my glory. “Trickster. I know you are listening.” Hmm, Trickster. You know, I actually like that name. But yes, I’m listening. “You boast to have great intellect, no?” I like to think that I do. “Then you will be my tactician. As Athena served Zeus, you will serve me.” Meh. Not got much else to do anyway. I’m in. So, almighty Typhon, what do you want accomplished? “Subjugation of this puny land.” I said, snorting. Of course. Now, I want you to call upon your greatest warriors. Just three will do fine, you’ve only got about three hundred of them anyway. “Tiamat! Behemoth! Seth! Come forth!” I roared, my voice echoing across the plains on which the army was camped. Out of the throngs of demons and monstrosities, three creatures emerged. The first, a massive she-serpent, eclipsing even the size of Ladon with her massive barrel and immense length, slithered forth, her motions fluid and devilishly beautiful to those of beast blood, myself included. Her scales shimmered with a rainbow light, and the air around her was damp and heavy: for Tiamat was the mother of all sea serpents, and where she went water followed. The second was a gargantuan beast, a mixture between elephant, hippopotamus and rhino, with a set of tusks jutting out of a massive maw, with another horn perched between its nostrils. His legs were thick and treelike, resembling a elephant’s legs, and his tail whipped about with enough power to fell even the tallest trees with a single swing. The Behemoth, the father of all earthly beasts that shook the earth. The last, in stark contrast to the first two, was tiny, taller than a pony but barely reaching even my knees. Perhaps ten feet tall, his face was like that of a jackal’s, but with an elongated and curved snout and rectangular ears. He wore garbing that protected vital areas of his body, his chest and guts, the armor seemingly woven from gleaming gold. His skin was a dark crimson, like spilled blood, and he walked with grace and poise but also a ferocity and power, like a desert storm. Seth relied not on strength, but trickery and magic. Announce them the lords over your armies, Typhon. Have Seth be the one to commands, Tiamat the one who leads, and Behemoth the one who fights. That way they will manage your armies, and you can focus on your own tasks. “Seth, you are wicked and cunning, like the jackal that you embody. By my primal might, I declare you commander of my horde.” I proclaimed, my voice carrying for miles. Seth bowed, and turned to face my army. “Tiamat, your beauty is unmatched and your leadership unchallenged. You will carry out the orders of Seth, and lead my people to victory.” Tiamat hissed, and turned to face my army as Seth did. “Behemoth. Your valour and strength is second only to my own. You will be at the front of my army, decimating my enemies and aiding my forces.” Behemoth gave an earth shattering roar and swung about, looking over his comrades with his beady black eyes. “Seth, my only command is as such: conquer!” I held up a balled fist, and gave a roar that prompted the army to roar as well, the ear splitting noise heard for miles and miles around. “Spread the glory of my name, and spread the glory of our kind! Let Tirek know the pain of his betrayal!” “TIREK WILL FALL!” The horde screamed. I locked eyes with Seth, and Seth bowed respectfully. “My lord Typhon, your wish is my command.” “Seth.” “Yes, my lord?” “Make him pay.” Seth smiled grimly. “Of course, Lord Typhon.”