Meanwhile, in another realm.

An elderly-looking man sat at a desk in an office. The office was large, with floor-to-ceiling shelves lining the walls covered in books and old tomes. On the wall behind the old man was a window looking out over a cityscape with towers that seemed to float upon the clouds far below. In fact, they are only the very tip of the towers that made up the continent-sized city. On each rested massive winged lizards that stretched out their wings as they basked in the sunshine coming from the two suns overhead.

Once in a while, one of them would leap into the sky and circle around the tower for a few minutes before landing once more. Occasionally flying too close to another tower, the dragon roosting on it would spit a massive ball of liquid fire at the intruder. When this happened, sometimes the fire would hit its target, but more often than not, it would splash off some invisible force protecting the towers from both the dragons and the massive lightning storms that raged below.

A knock at the door made the old man pause from the file he was reading; with a grunt, he shut the folder tossing it into a bin marked as, Again. "What is it, Peter? If it's not important, you can report back to the mailroom where I found you."

A tall man covered in green scales walked in unperturbed by the threat. "Sir, a man, calling himself an old friend of yours, is waiting in the lobby; he would like to come up and speak with you. He introduced himself as Baalore the Blood Titan." Peter closed his eyes as he repeated the title as if it physically hurt him to say it.

The old man tried to hide his amusement at Peter's discomfort, but a small smile managed to creep across his aged face nonetheless. "Show him in Peter, ah before you go take these files down to the financial department and have them re-done again." Peter nodded before taking the files and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him. "Well, damn, I suppose this means that muscle brain figured out I have been messing around with some of his children. I really hope he kept this from their mother. The last thing I need right now is a ruby dragon tearing a hole into this dimension to pay me a visit."

After placing the cap on his engraved pen, he turned around to look out the window. A smile spread on his face as he saw all the dragons on the nearby towers standing and warily watching his tower. Chuckling, he turned back around and pressed a button on his desk. The window dimmed, and the room began to spread out as he needed to make more room for his guest. It was always interesting how these humans always came up with the most useful inventions. Although, in retrospect shrinking the damn titan would use far less energy, not that conservation was a priority when constant lightning storms provided a near-infinite amount of energy for the city.

Pulling a remote from inside a drawer, he turned on a screen on one wall that showed security footage of the lobby. He watched as the ninety-foot titan calmly followed Peter onto a massive elevator designed for large races just like him. A sad look passed over the old man's face at the thought that when Baalore eventually passed on, the Titan race will be extinct. He lived on only through his half-breed children. For now, anyway, if my experiments pan out, I may spread the ancient titan bloodline throughout multiple races. They won't have the power of the original's, but for what is coming, the power they will hold will be a deciding factor when the veil between our realms and the realms of chaos comes down.

Pulling out a slim black phone from his shirt pocket, he pressed a picture of a young-looking woman on his home screen. Moments later, a somewhat husky female voice spoke. "Hello, little brother. It has been a few months since you called. What favor are you asking of me now?" The woman's voice sounded bored, and he could hear the sound of ocean waves coming from nearby.

The old man pinched the bridge of his nose before speaking. "Sister, we are twins. Neither of us is older than the other. And no favor this time, sorry, Baalore is here wanting to talk. I thought you might want to come by as well. It has been a while since we were all together." He only had to wait another second before he got his answer.

Sure I haven't seen Baalore in forever. He is always too busy being the guardian of the younger races to keep up with his old friends." Her voice paused for another moment before she spoke again in a more subdued tone. "Wait, does he know what we have been up to?"

The old man thought for a moment while watching the footage inside the rising elevator. "Honestly, I don't know. He might be lonely up there by himself for so long. Regardless we should tell him, he has done more for us and the younger races than a man who lost his entire race could be expected to do. Even Anandra, that hypocritical dragon, refuses to help. She claims she owes them; as she puts it, lesser races nothing, and they should defend themselves. I mean, does she think when the veil drops, the armies of chaos will leave her and her lazy daughters alone?" After a long pause, the old man apologized for his rant and ended the call, knowing he was putting his sister in a precarious position being Anandra's friend.

Moments later, a ripping sound came from his right, then two slightly tanned hands pushed through from nowhere and pulled a tear in space wider. A young woman looking in her mid to late twenties stepped out wearing a one-piece swimsuit and had a large towel wrapped around slightly sunburnt shoulders. "Really, Tracy, you are coming to a meeting with a man who is basically the king of our universe dressed in that?

Tracy looked down at herself with a frown. "What, it is only Bay he has seen me in less. Tracy gave the old man a saucy wink, but with a snap of her fingers, she stood in place in a white blouse and black pencil skirt with black stilettos on her feet. "is this better?

I nodded, having already turned my attention elsewhere. A dragon so green she practically glowed flapped outside the window staring inside at the two. The old man looked even more annoyed at the intrusion but pressed a button on his remote anyway. The window vanished in an instant, and the sixty-foot-long lizard swooped in, landing lightly on the polished wood floor, not leaving a scratch.

The dragon nodded toward the old man in thanks before turning her gaze toward the door. She was so excited that her long tail swished back and forth, making a wiring noise from the speed. Tracy tried to keep a straight face but ended up giggling at the sight. "Ria, is this the first time meeting your father? The dragon nodded excitedly but continued to stare toward the door.

The old man watched the excited dragonette closely. He frowned and took a pair of round half-rimmed glasses from his shirt pocket and placed them on his nose. "Interesting, it would seem, young lady, that you have activated your titan blood; that must have been a tough battle even for a dragon. So why aren't you changing forms to meet Baalore?

The dragon turned a look of surprise in her eyes this time as she looked at the old man. In a rough, sibilant voice, she replied hesitantly. "I wanted to surprise my father. I also need to ask a favor of you both. That was the reason I showed up today. Meeting father is an unexpected boon.

Tracy gave Ria a doting motherly look. "You want us to put you in contact with one of your older sisters or Ishmael, don't you?

The dragonette looked hopeful as she nodded her massive head. The old man frowned. "Sorry, my dear, but they are currently locked out of their bodies while they complete a set of trials we have set up for them. Although now that I think about it with your titan blood activated, if you like to stay after we meet with your father, I may have a small task for you that will give you what you're wanting.

Ria took a step back, looking both skeptical and slightly alarmed at the same time. "Mother warned me about doing things for Celestials. She said your race is full of tricks, and your mouths say one thing but mean something completely different.

The old man snorted before sitting back down on his chair. "I seem to recall that it was her father, your grandfather, that betrayed the council and doomed all three of the ancient races to oblivion. Luckily the ancient dragons and the titans could merge their bloodlines to continue their races in a form, but we can't do anything for ourselves. The races that are compatible with our biology are too weak to carry our bloodline.

A knock at the door cut the conversation short; however, the dragonette was back to acting like a child.