I dreamed again of Ash. I could feel that I was older, much older, but age didn’t seem to matter. My body was tight and powerful, more so than I had ever felt before. I gazed around me and could see for miles from the top of my mount. It slowly raised its long black neck and turned its scaled head to face me.

I patted my dragon on its head. “There, there. I know it’s hard to wait, but it’s almost time. We just have to be patient a little longer, and they will come.”

My mount lowered its neck again to look out and around from the cliff we were on. Today the Sisters were coming to see me again. It was all arranged, the last step needed for me to step forward from being a long-lived mortal to being a demigod.

Ash smiled as he thought about the fight with Drath’s mother for his egg. He fought her for two weeks in her lair before she let him take the egg. He didn’t win, but neither did she. They came to an agreement that he would raise the dragon, and he wouldn’t return.

Ash’s mind wandered across his life. From the death of Lorrie, which started him on his path to his love for Miyuki and his hope to be with her. Losing her when he followed Maria as a slave. His thoughts went to his Embers men, who were shattered like him but still driven to protect.

Then Ash sighed and thought of Maria, his sister. He had sworn to protect her, only for her to die while he was visiting his home. A place that had turned him into a legend and didn’t want the person. The city had been swept clean by the time he had gotten there. The orc had leveled it, and the people had fled. He could find no trace of his adoptive family.

It had been a great loss for Order as she had force-leveled Maria and had blessed her. However, when the attack happened, it wiped out the years of work to establish worship in humans. After that battle, humans started to worship the dark ones as well.

He had spent years after that leveling in combat, killing orcs and goblins by the thousands. His name was known in their homes and spoken with fear and hate. Those who sided with the dark ones knew of him as well. Chaos had turned him loose again, this time without an army. He raided and killed those who supported the Dark Pantheon.

Then Order brought him to his heels. She turned and offered him armies if he would be her Champion. So he became the Champion of both Order and Chaos, the Hand of the Sisters. As a Champion, he could die like any man of his level, but his body stopped aging.

Now, after hundreds of years of fighting and building temples, he was on the edge of stepping forward. The Sisters were descending to meet with him and help him through this step. It seemed so odd that of all the things they needed to come for, this was it. Not the wars not saving their people but helping him step forward.

A bright light broke in front of him, and the Sisters stepped forward as he had never seen them. They walked almost as a single overlapping person. It was hard to understand what he was seeing. Then they spoke.

The Sisters stretched out a gem to him and said. “Take this gem and eat. With it step forward from that of a man to more. It will help you see where you must walk to begin to your steps to ascend.”

I dismounted and met the Sisters. This was the only time that I had seen them outside a temple, and they had never touched me or given me anything directly. I reached my hand, and they dropped the gem into it. It was only the size of a dime but pulsed from a light inside warming it.

I bowed. “Thank you should I eat it now or else where?”

The sisters smiled. “Your dragon will guard you as you deal with your step and we will watch for a time.”

Then I tossed the gem into my mouth and swallowed. As I did, the power started to erupt from inside. It wasn’t just a matter of levels but a need to control what was happening. In my body, I felt things change as power adjusted. No longer did mana sit in one place, but it started to try to move and to do.

As Ash sat, the Sisters spoke. “I wonder if he will be like you or me? Oh, my dear sister, he will be like me. I am sure change will follow him. But he loves the Structure he creates. Surely he will be mine.”

Even watching from the outside, I couldn’t tell how long Ash sat there. It could have been days or weeks. His mind was a mess that I couldn’t follow as he put things together in ways that seemed to lock into place but not that I could understand.

Finally, the mana in his body started to move in a pattern. His memories started to become clear, and I could watch as things moved into a cycle. Then something random would seem to happen, but the cycle would keep going accepting the change.

Ash spat up gunk and stood up. At that point, I could tell it had been a while. His normally tight beard was long down to his chest, and his hair had grown to his shoulders. He groaned as he stood and then smiled.

Drath roared at him and lowered his head to be pet. “Yes, I am back. I am not their Champion any longer. I need to go to a temple to speak with them now.”

Ash climbed onto the huge back of the dragon, and then they took off. As soon as they did, a fireball streaked out in front of them. It was clear that it wasn’t aimed at them but rather missed its target. However, that didn’t mean that Drath was happy.

The dragon folded its wings and plunged through the sky, falling faster and faster. As they approached tree level, Drath opened his wings and leveled out. Right in front of them was a town that was burning. It had been overrun by orcs. The last of the movement seemed to be one woman who was running away from the orcs. She had a lead on them, but then she tripped.

Ash twitched his knees, and Drath banked. “We need to land between the orcs and that woman. Then we can take care of everything here.”

Drath roared and let a stream of fire fall onto the orcs as they flew toward the woman. As they landed, Ash jumped off and cast a spell that ripped a dozen orcs apart. Then he started a defensive fight.

Drath rose to the air. Once airborne, the dragon started to fall onto the back lines of the orcs. Spewing fire across their healer and mages. He circled back and snatched the one that lived through the fire into the air, only to drop him. Then he roared and flew into the ranks.

Drath was death to those he faced. When he landed, he used fire and his tail to fight. His eighty-foot body blocked most of the orcs as they tried to rout. As he fought the main body, the ones that were pursuing the girl still charged Ash.

Ash had changed in his years of fighting. He still knew how to advance and destroy that would never change. However, as a leader, he had to be the pillar the support for the battle. So he had learned to wait and guard. To hold the line by himself so that his troops could rally. In this case, he planted his feet around the fallen woman and started to fight.

His sword floated to his right, fighting for him while his shield was to his left, blocking anyone that could get close. He had in his hands a bow that he shot till he was out of arrows, and then he started to cast.

As he fought, the woman stirred. She slowly stood up and looked around. Ash noticed her through his battle sense. She was around five foot 10 with red hair. Her eyes gleamed green and then turned blue as she stepped to his side.

She spoke with a hoarse voice. “If you have a mana potion I can help as well.”

Ash looked over at her and pulled one out of his pouch. “Careful with it. Might be more than you can deal with so just use drops.”

She smirked and poured a little on her tongue. Then she widened her eyes and started to cast out fireballs. One after another, hitting the orcs on her side. As she fought, she would drink more of the potion.

It wasn’t long before the army was no more. It couldn’t stand before the might of Drath and Ash. Once the army broke, Drath took to the air and hunted the rest of the orcs down. As he flew off, Ash turned to the woman.

He asked. “Do you know if there are others alive in the town?”

She shook her head. “I was the last of the defenders the rest of the town fled yesterday. I fear that they have all been killed.”

Ash nodded and sighed. “Do you know which way they fled?”

She nodded. “Over that hill.”

With that, they walked up and over the nearby hill. Laid out before them was the story of the end of the townspeople. A line of them, like the orcs, had chased them all down. First, the little ones and the old ones, then the healthy ones killed with cuts to the back. The woman started to cry.

Ash turned toward her and offered his hand. “I know the feeling I lost my people in the same way. What’s your name?”

The redhead smiled with a sad smile and took his hand. “Jessica Taphine.”

* * *