The Golden Sky

Awirren Goldenfeather stood on top of the tallest tower of her sole flying fortress. Her sect didn't have a large fleet, it didn't have many airships and fortresses. Her flagship was the only one that they had of that size, and it didn't really compare to some that other factions had. It wasn't a weakness though; it was just a different focus.

Her was a Sect filled with only primary Cultivators, and fliers at that. And they valued personal prowess over anything else.

Her people were gazing up at her, admiring and basking in her beauty. She wore a simple yet powerful tunic in the karura Sect style. A single strap that covered one of her shoulders and came down to her opposing hip where it met the skirt that covered her to the mid-thigh. Just enough coverage, but revealing her beauty to all. Her golden feathers blazed with the light of the sun above, making the air around her shimmer like a mirage. She soaked in the gazes of her people, and knew that it gave her power. They loved her, and that was all that mattered.

But she could also feel the eyes of so many others. The perimeter army surrounding her, and those watching from afar, from across the world. All would see her glory. She passed her claws across her feathers, the metallic feel of the surface calming her mind from the onslaught of such attention. She didn't fear it, in fact, she relished it. She wanted everyone to see, to know who she was and what she could do. She had shown her power in the recent years, had gained influence and power, as was her right. Her Sect had risen, had gained resources and opportunity. She had protected the world, and that was... good? She didn't care, as long as they loved her. Already others were shining brighter than her, and she couldn't let them remain in the spotlight.

Her Far-link Orb chirped, and she listened to the message, but didn't respond to the voice of her old friend. Instead, she turned to her loving warriors and spoke.

"Rise, Golden Sky Sect, and burn all in your wake," her stats let her voice carry like thunder for all to hear. Their cheers rose like the sound of an avalanche, and they took her words as orders they were intended as.

They left the ships that transported them to this place behind, unneeded tools of the weak, and took to the skies on their own power. Their wings spread wide, and the wind picked up to fill and carry their ascent. Their forms ignited, like the embers in the night, filling the sky with the sight of ten thousand fireflies. An army rising to block out the sun.

A single airship followed behind them from far above, just a tiny speck among them all. Awirren turned her eyes to look at it, no powers gave her a better vision, save for her own body's stats. Her eyes saw the two people standing at its prow. Her old friends.

Anatalien and Sigmund had been assigned to her army, and she couldn't refuse them, lest she revealed the past. In the eyes of everyone else, she had to appear as an elated friend, rejoicing Anatalien's return. But inside, inside she churned, old wounds festered and split back open, scabs falling away to reveal what had never healed. The parts of her that she had pushed deep inside. The inferiority that she had fought so hard to overcome. She stood at the peak of power! She was one of the greatest High Rankers of the Sects, of the world entire! She should not be feeling this way, and she hated that she did. And there above her, she stood on her ship, Ruler of the Empty Sky, a joke of cosmic proportions. SHE TORE HER DOWN, HER FIRE BATHED THE SKY. IT WAS SHE THAT RULED THE SKIES, SHE DEFEATED HER, SHE TOOK THAT PLACE. SHE STOOD MAGNIFICENT IN THE SKY, SCORNFUL OF ALL OTHERS.

She shook her head, pulling back as much as she could.

Then she realized that she had been twisting the black ring on her middle finger, so dark that it seemed to eat the light itself, and forced herself to stop. She couldn't risk triggering it in her state, not here, not now. The ring was the most important thing that she had, the thing that kept her together. She adjusted the ring next to it, checking that it was properly activated, the ring that kept some of her titles hidden, that showed a false image of her screens, it was powerful but she knew that there were people that could get around it. It didn't matter, because she had the other one, the black one, that one was different, far more important to her. With it, no one would ever know the truth.

She watched as Anatalien's ship flew high above, unable to draw her eyes away. Oh, how she shone in her mind's eye, a flame that consumed everything. Once, she had envied that blaze, standing in front of her, mocking Awirren's weakness, her ignorance. Now, now she saw how greater that flame had become, how Tali had come reborn as a phoenix that Awirren had taken as a moniker.

How dare she come back, how dare she look at me with pity in her eyes. She caused it all, it was her fault, her--

Awirren pulled her thoughts back with a monumental effort of will, pushing them all back, focusing on her ring. She took a deep breath, then turned her eyes away.

She couldn't let them see, she had to be perfect. To inspire and terrify in equal measure, she could not let them see what was beneath.

This was her moment, the instant where she would shine the brightest. She spread the wings on her back, two golden symbols of her might. She took to the sky with a single powerful beat, overtaking her army in an instant. She flew high above and ahead, standing at their head and nearing the Dome filled with a forest that looked ancient and alien to her eyes. Nothing like the hollow and tall trees of Aegos her home, but thick and gnarly, ugly things that even the Infinite Realm had too much of.

She pulled her Soulfire Cloak around her, sheathing her feathers into a glorious cover of golden flame. She blazed in the sky, brighter than the sun, and all looked upon her as they should.

She pulled raised a hand and gave the signal. One of the fliers beneath, her Sect Leader dipped down, flying toward the dome. He landed on top of the Dome and knelt, pressing his hand against the surface. A moment later, a notification blazed in her mind.

Warning! The 18th, Dome of Reckoning - Dome of the Living Forest has been opened! The Forest wakes. Defeat the Wild Will in order to stop the wild growth.

Fight, prevail, prove that you are worthy.

Defeating the Living Forest will bring new opportunities and rewards for those brave enough.

The Dome vanished, and the forest inside stirred. Her people surrounded the dome from above, and they didn't need any orders. Techniques blossomed all around her, most of them Fire related, but some Lightning, or Light. There was no uniform release of technique, like how Classers would've done it. No great volley that lanced out all at once. One of her Sect Leaders fired a technique, a growling open maw made out of flames that rushed toward the dark green forest beneath. That was the signal, and others did the same, in an uneven release of power, her Sect attacked.

She could see the forest beneath rustling, leaves moving, but then her vision was filled with the light of her people's techniques. A moment later, they hit the canopy, in a blazing inferno. Smoke exploded as techniques burned at an accelerated rate, and her sight was obscured.

The technique she had been preparing inside of her body reached the tipping point, and she pointed her hand beneath her, then released her own power to aid her people.

{Field of Everburning Fire} manifested beneath them, and golden flames dropped through the smoke, bathing the forest below.

The scent of burning wood filled her nostrils, and she closed her eyes, taking it in. This was her moment to shine, to demonstrate to everyone her might.

Then her people started falling out of the sky, and the screaming filled the air.