Kavasir drew his weapon, a battle axe with a hammer on one side. He stared at the block made of concrete. He lifted his weapon over his head and brought down the hammer on the block. The thing shattered into fragments all over the air. Kavasir transformed into his animalist form, a bull. Kavasir raised his weapon against another block, and this time not only did he shatter the block, but the ground beneath cracked under the strength of his swing. Kavasir changed back into his human form and this time used his Dragon Eyes. He once again brought his weapon down, and this time he not only shattered the floor and block, but he could hear the sparring matches going on in the other rooms, he could smell their sweat, if he focused enough he could hear their panting, their feet sliding on the floor. He was more aware, alert.

He gauged the strength of both forms. Both increased his strength, but Dragon Eyes allowed him to be more aware of his surroundings. His senses were much sharper than those of his animalist form. Kavasir then transformed into his bull like form. Then he focused all his energy on drawing out his Dragon Eyes. Once he was set he raised his hammer and struck the blocks. Not only did he shatter the blocks and floor, but made a hole six feet wide revealing the floor underneath. The people underneath looked up to see Kavasir with a grin on his face. Such immeasurable strength! But it was a fleeting one as Kavasir felt a pain course through his body unlike any other. He fell to his knees trying to maintain his footing. He began coughing up blood, and finally everything went dark.

Abathur looked at the specimen before him. The exoskeleton was durable, and could resist most small arms fire, but when paired against something with more potency it could break. The blades extending from its forearms were a necessary addition as it lacked any natural offensive measures. The specimen resembled a human for the most part, minus the fact that it was heavily modified using the same techniques Gaia used to make the animalists, albeit to a much lesser degree. This one lacked intelligence. Its eyesight was replaced by thermal vision to allow for easier tracking of targets. There were other specimens he had been working on, but this one needed more tuning before they could use it. There was another like this one he also worked on, that one was a better model. However, it was still too early in its development.

There was a flash of light in the laboratory. Abathur saw Sovereign Knight Lamia stepping out of the portal.

“Sire.”

“Abathur. How goes your latest experiments?”

“Slowly I’m afraid. The hardest part is still controlling the organism’s change.”

“What do you mean?”

“Given the genetic differences between each individual it is difficult to predict the mutations let alone control them.”

“Is there nothing we can do?”

“The genetic material from the nekro-demons and nekro-parasites have been invaluable. As well as those taken from the Grave World of Ajulik. However, I’am afraid that it will still take some time.”

“How much?”

“A few more years if at that. The problem is controlling the mutations.”

“Hmm... As luck would have it there is something that we could use.”

“What might that be?”

“What do you know of the tribe serving Zephyrus?”

“The Drakghul? Next to nothing except from the books and scrolls. Do you know something?”

“Come to Albion in your human form I’ll arrange the rest on my end. In the meantime I need to know about the other experiments.”

“Follow me.”

Lamia followed Abathur through the castle as they made their way towards the holding pens.

“The first one here is a true achievement. Even I could not fathom something like this being possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“Observe.”

Abathur pulled on a lever, and a grate on top of the pen opened up from where a corpse dropped. The creature inside the pen moved to the corpse, and actually flew as it injected some kind of tube onto the corpse. The corpse convulsed as it began transforming. The bones on his arms pierced through his rotting flesh revealing blades. His arms were split in two allowing for four blades to be made into his new arms. His ribcage forced its way out of his chest cavity providing some tougher armor for his organs.

“No nekro-parasite! Truly remarkable.” Remarked Lamia.

“Yes. Although there is some minor variations between four blades and two. These standard nekro-demons are less powerful than those you saw at the table. With fresher corpses however I have no doubt that they can develop into more voracious creatures. The next one is perhaps my finer work.”

They stood above a pit with a pile of corpses. Abathur pulled on a nearby lever, and let loose several nekro-parasites onto the pile of corpses. Lamia saw as the nekro-parasites infested the corpses and fused together to make one monster. The end result was a beat like no other made up of several human bodies. It stood at about ten feet tall, its ribs protruded outwards to protect its chest, it had multiple skulls and faces, its arms were the size of tree logs with smaller legs standing like a gorilla.

“I call it a Gravelord. There is however one problem with it.” Said Abathur.

The beast then howled in pain. It started tearing itself apart.

“Why is it doing that?”

“I’m afraid it is the amount of nekro-parasites it takes to make the creature. They have to compensate for its size and functions. As a result it overcompensates, and it dies shortly after.”

“Can’t you fix it?”

“I’ve tried a nekro-demon and whilst it does work, its behavior becomes erratic and unpredictable.”

“What do you need?”

“Time. I’m close to a breakthrough, but it will take some time before I’am able to crack the genetic code. If we still had Aldritch Essar then maybe, but as it stands right now.”

Lamia remembered the scientist all too well. He was an asset no doubt, but he cared more about playing Divine than the experiments Abathur made. In the end he ran away and covered his tracks.

“In any event there is one last thing that you need to see concerning her.”

“Is she ready yet?”

“Almost, but... I need something more.”

Lamia thought back to the prisoner Antama brought back. “Find a human skin you can wear and come to Albion. I have something there that might help.”

“What is it?”

“A relic of a bygone era.”

Kavasir slowly opened his eyes as he saw the ceiling of the infirmary. He looked to his side and saw Tullius lighting up his cigar.

“I believe you are up to six times now that you’ve tried that stunt. If it didn’t work then it’s not going to work now.” Said Tullius as he let out a puff of smoke.

“It’s actually seven... Or maybe eight? Whatever point is it’s doable. Sort of.”

“The first time I saw you try that stunt you only managed to become a liability. I almost had to leave you behind.”

“Sovereigns! Tullius if only you could feel what I feel when I use Dragon Eyes and transform at the same time. It’s like I could fight King Gaeric herself and win.”

“I doubt that very much. If the Divines couldn’t beat her what chance do you have? None.”

“Havel at least had a chance.” Retorted Kavasir.

“He never beat her and she never beat him. Besides Havel could create storms, and Gaeric’s strength was unmatched. She’s the reason why Ulammar is separated from the rest of the continent.”

“Details. It just... sucks. You know? Having so much power at my fingertips, and not being able to use it. If I was like one of those Dhampirs then maybe.”

“Are there even any left? Those are pretty rare aren’t they?”

“To be able to use Dragon Eyes and maintain an animal transformation at the same time. Gaia was a true architect. What I wouldn’t give to be able to feel that kind of power.”

“Well just be glad that you can enjoy the perks that come with being a Dolsurian Champion, Iron Dragon of Dol-Sur.”

“And Hephaestus how’s she doing?” Asked Kavasir.

Tullius sighed. “She’s... fine. So far. Nau’s going to see about getting a glass eye for her. About what we talked about.”

“It’ll take a while since her unit was mostly wiped out. In addition to her injury.”

“Yeah.”

“When’s the last time you saw Vitus and Drake? You should all go together since the three of you are rarely together.”

Tullius hadn’t visited their graves since they were buried. That was about three years ago. Had it really been that long? “I’ll... try.”

“In any case word around the grapevine is that Fang retreated. The Karashians are now on the border.”

“Yeah they’re thinking of drawing up new plans. Right now we’re thinking of building up our forces at the Island of Kreta, at the center of Lake Almarra, and launch our counteroffensive from there. The Knights of Agrippina are being dispatched north of the lake to halt their advance, and push them back. So far our forces south of the lake have been able to hold them, but they haven’t been able to make any headway either.”

“At least we’ll have the home field advantage.” Replied Kavasir.