Aboard the Defiance was a silence, a silence so prevalent that the swings of a blade coming from deep within the vessel echoed around its near infinite halls. Urne, ship mistress and fleet commander stood rigidly at the command deck of the Defiance, a manifested Shola at her side as well as Idris himself, both staring into the roiling abyssal pathway from which their ship had passed through, hundreds of ships still pouring through the sore hole in reality. Each of them pretended not to feel the swing of the blade breathing down their necks, each holding back the urge to wince or shudder from the subtle authority and aspect that shook the Defiance a little.

Weapons primed at the planet where a jade lord and three ancients did battle against the forces of the conqueror, Idris adjusting lightly as he spoke into his Hud, the flagships of the legion forming a barrier around the Defiance as well. He took a deep breathe, feeling the anger and burning strength that flowed through the aspect of his pseudo-primordial lord and shuddered,

What had happened?,

Annika had barricaded herself with the titan blade within his near castle-like quarters, the orders passed through Shola herself who had affirmed it. At first, Idris had felt resentment begin worm into his heart, he was the champion of the titan blade, he should had been the first notified, but then he had come face to face with the power of the swings from the titan blade the closer he got to the quarters and he had relented,

It could obliterate a master with a single swing,

The forces of the chimera, Ashira Kairos herself, were drawing ever closer and soon enough she would be able to force open a pathway that was becoming harder by the day due to the interference of the abyssal energies into the Defiance who had already accepted her as one of its lords, Shola giving her unfettered access on the orders of Moyo himself. The Shieldborne had barricaded themselves along with their lord, just not within his quarters as well, but around, feeling the full brunt of his attacks as every half hour, a diamond ranker among them would be brought out unconscious, body shuddering from being around such a powerful aspect and aura.

Immediately they recovered, it would be back into the area for them, determination burning in their eyes to grow ever stronger, something that Idris respected, to protect the titan blade was to be around him at his deadliest as well as his weakest. And while his mere aura if currently unleashed, could break down a diamond if intended, it simply pushed the Shieldborne to be better, to push their endurance higher and if the reports he had been hearing from the ascenders close to their area were true, turning them into deadly weapons of war themselves.

Josh mithril warden, Valoris of the Shieldborne and lord regent of the sentinels hadn’t for once stepped out, Idris meeting the master with his legs crossed, deep in meditation as the aspect of the titan flowed around the room, enforcing and enhancing the ascenders within at the beginning. Idris would had loved to join, to hone his skills even further, but someone needed to watch over the house’s forces seeing ass the two masters and clan leaders of the house weren’t around to do so. He felt Urne shift around him again as updates were coming from the planet below, the ships of the archailect still doing battle with the carnage striders that ran rampant across the stars of the planet.

He followed her eyes, the way she calculated every vector of vessels under their command, as she whispered words of commands to the small frigates that harassed the striders before the flagships of whatever cohort was nearby were given free rein to seek out the vessels and destroy. Information had gotten to them that even diamonds could attack the striders now, making Idris wonder what the aim of the forces of Vusal were, if they deployed some of their strongests at the earlier stages of their engagements. The claws, Kaminaris and brawlers were at the forefront of their forces, somehow taking what they perceived was their lord’s wrath out on the striders.

Ascensions had come to a jarring halt, no matter the amount of aether they gathered with the resonators, no matter the presences of the rulers, ancients and even the one time a primordial had stepped out to the battlefield, wiping out an entire section of space of carnage striders in the blink of an eye, it had done nothing. Ship log identified the primordial as Ynas the true eye, a silver glowing large eye that floated from a ship behind those of the dragon’s brigade, clearing space with a power that brought even Idris to his knees, a bright white light with an angelic cry tearing the striders apart.

When all was said and done, Idris felt the eye lock on to their ship, felt its probing presence seek to intrude and felt the aspect of the titan flare up in return, a biting edge to it, as if daring the otherworldly being that could crush everyone within the Defiance apart from the titan blade like a gnat. It had retreated immediately, the power of the titan blade burning through the very space itself in rage, the house’s fleet forming up, preparing for an attack. A representative of the brigade had come to meet him, seeing as he was the one in charge when the titan blade wasn’t around.

The brigade member was a ruler, a creature made of piles of rocks, linked by lines of aether so strong and shaped in the form of a man, covering his entire form like a glowing extra skin. He wielded six legendary ranked weapons as his path, Idris got the distinct impression that his path was a blend of both aura and intent before it had been blessed by the path of the sun-burner. Glowing red arms folded behind its rocky frame, the blank face nodding at him serenely,

“Ascender master Idris on the path of Geb hand?” it asked, no mouth or organ for speech, the words vibrating from the aether around its frame,

“I am, who do I have the honor of addressing?” Idris asked,

“Brigade overseer Graniteus of the path of the gilded golem” the ruler replied,

Idris kept a straight face, ignoring the childish voice in his head itching to point out the similarity in name to granite, it was not like the brigade overseer would get the joke. Eyes wondering to where the ship of Ynas lurked on the horizon, its powerful thrusters pushing slowly across the stars as it shot lances of white and golden light towards the carnage striders that lurked around, masters and rulers flying out of the vessel of the primordial, battling the behemoth creatures. He bowed again to the overseer,

“Apologies, but lord titan blade is in seclusion, I am all that is left to attend to you in matters of authority” Idris replied,

Graniteus cocked his head thoughtfully, blank features making it almost impossible to get an understanding of how he felt, but Idris could see the tensed stance of the ruler and wondered just how strong the titan blade had become to make an overseer feel threatened,

“I come at the behest of the leader of the brigade, lord Xerxes sun-burner himself, but seeing the mood of the titan blade, I am glad to have met you and not him” Graniteus explained,

Idris folded his arms behind his back, nodding as he invited the ruler into the ship, Graniteus shook his rock-like head,

“I would go no further, it is not in my best interest to antagonize the titan blade in light of the relative situation going on currently” he replied,

Idris nodded, filing away the fact that whatever happened to Moyo had spread as far as the brigade itself, still, he gave no inch of ignorance, gold and tinged purple eyes bearing the mark of his lord within his eyes, he spoke to the overseer,

“Is this about the war, are we to be deployed?” he asked calmly,

Graniteus shook his head,

“No, this concerns his ties with the other primordials and a particular errant of the archailect” the overseer said,

Idris paused, aware of the swirling stability of the aether around since the arrival of the overseer, like reality was empowering itself, similar to when the titan was around, it was something Idris hadn’t been able to replicate. He inclined his head for Graniteus to continue, unsure if the overseer could see his body movement,

“The brigade and the other primordials have reason to believe that the titan, your master, could potentially turn against the archailect, seeing as his old master just did as such” Graniteus said,

Idris paused, making no move to reveal the depth of surprise he just felt from the revelation, still, he was the champion of the titan and he spoke in his place. With a deftness, he gathered his aura, despite the fact that he was a master riding on the proverbial coat of the titan blade, he spoke,

“Are you accusing my lord of willingly sabotaging his holdings and that of the house?’ he asked, his tone calm but the threat evident in it,

If the brigade overseer took offense in it, he said nothing, merely shaking his head,

“Come now, it is my understanding that the members of house titan blade and their patriarch for that matter are a bit…ignorant of the true scope of the archailect” Graniteus said calmly,

“Over the span of a year, we see more rulers either fall to the lure of the abyss or attempt an intergalactic spanning conquering of empires, usually among the ancients” he started,

“The archailect is always in a state of perpetual warfare, and only recently has it seen a period of calm, a calm that was a prelude to war” he continued,

“However, what we have attempted to avoid, was a situation where a primordial or a pseudo primordial fall to the power of the abyss, something that we are glad to inform you has never happened before” he finished,

“Then why do you assume mine would?’ Idris asked,

The overseer paused,

“Nothing is certain any longer, those with the precognitive sight all say the future is indeed grim, dark and full of terrible possibilities, and all have just one saving grace, the light of the titan blade at the end” he replied,

Idris absorbed that in, watching as the flagship of the Kaminaris moved across the port of the Defiance, its weapons glowing and bristling with power. Graniteus continued,

“It is why some of the more…. eccentric powers have decided to remove him from the equation, but with the backing of the brigade and other clandestine forces that I’m pretty sure not even your lord knows about, direct confrontation unless through proxy battles has been strictly prohibited” he said,

Idris frowned, glancing in the direction of the area where the attack of Ynas came from,

“Ah, that has been dealt with, heavy sanctions have been imposed on the primordial and it would reverberate through her entire galaxy, but you must understand, a primordial is a primordial, there is little we can do” he said as a form of apology,

“Overseer Graniteus, what exactly do you want?” Idris asked, feeling his ire rise,

“I see I’m beginning to offend you” the brigade member said,

“You think?” Idris retorted,

Again, the general bowed making a low hum as a golden scroll appeared,

“Again, the brigade apologizes for this” he started,

“But as of this moment, the faction of the primordials known as the celestials have issued a warning of disruption to the pseudo primordial known the titan blade, while we hope that this will in no way affect the contributions of the titan blade to clearing the archailect of the taint of the abyss, we regret to inform him that attacks against his vassals have been accepted to quell insurrection” he read,

Idris felt his ire churning, his aura bubbling and the power of the titan blade itching to explode out of him, his will of pure steel held it in place though, calmly staring at the overseer who continued,

“Any attacks against the titan blade will lead to swift retribution by the brigade, and as per the rules, should the titan blade decide to withdraw entirely from the war and retreat to his domain, he will lose all rewards from the entire war, but should he persist till the end, will obtain an item of power each from the celestial primordials” Graniteus finished with a finality before straightening and passing the scroll to Idris.

The champion of the titan grabbed it out of the air,

“On behalf of the titan blade, lord primordial, patriarch of house titan blade and all its clans, lord of Ibere and all its vassal planets, I receive and accept said proposal” he said,

“shouldn’t that be left to the titan blade?” Graniteus asked,

Idris smiled and watched as the presence of the titan blade filled the entire Defiance, pushing down on Graniteus who crashed to his knees, struggling under the power, he was in the domain of the titan blade, the very walls of the Defiance itself were made of his authority, the titan was king and lord here. The overseer wrapped himself in a bubble of fire,

“Message received” he groaned,

Then just as quickly as it came, it was gone, vanishing without a trace, Graniteus stood up, staring in silence at Idris before calmly stepping off the Defiance entirely and zipping back to the ship of the brigade in the distance. Idris watched the ship move away before following the summons he felt in his bones, weaving through the hundreds of workers on the ship, passing through deserted corners to appear before a large door where two Shieldborne stood.

Decked in burnished mithril armor with the color of burnt silver, a helm of silver on their heads and in their hands a Warhammer and a heavy shield of mithril with the rune of strength blazing on it. Both diamonds, they cut an impressive figure of strength, imposing their very weights on reality around them that warped slightly.

Idris also felt a dangerous edge to them, these particular sentinels that had become Shieldborne were once blunt hammers, used to break apart the foes of the titan blade, now there bore the lethal strength of an unsheathed blade, their very gazes of silver glowing with pure strength waiting to be unleashed. Upon sighting the Geb hand, they slammed their hammer holding hand to their mithril breastplate.

Idris nodded at them, watching as they threw open the doors to reveal the titan blade and the burning power of his aspect that suffused the room. the moment he stepped through, he shuddered at the pure aspect and Ashe of the titan blade that boiled in the air, glancing up at the titan who sat on a simple metal throne, Gegun and dominion in each hand, their tips pointed to the ground and their blades naked.

Clad in only grey long trousers made with some reinforced material that bore its weight in legendary aether crystals, no doubt the work of Mrs Martha back on Ibere, his chest was bare, runes of golf and purple swirling, too powerful to stare at,

Otherworldly, the titan was becoming something else,

“My lord” Idris said kneeling and presenting the scroll,

“You are my champion Idris, never again should you kneel in my presence” the voice of Moyo thundered across the room, making him wince,

He glanced up to see josh as the side of the titan, his armor somehow dented and scorched, chinks of perfectly sliced mithril adorning the entire attire, his Warhammer strapped to his back and in his hand a helm. That wasn’t what drew the attention of Idris to the mithril warden, it was the burning power of his aspect, the aspect of the mithril warden somehow manifested as a shield above him.

Idris had ceased to be amazed of the bizarre powerups that happened around Moyo, but whatever form of battle the titan had engaged his Shieldborne in, seeing as he noticed the rest of them around the room, realizing with a start that at some point, the titan had fused both his quarters and that of the Shieldborne as one, it was as deadly as it had been rewarding.

He shook himself away, passing the scroll to the titan with a brief flex of his aura, the titan waved it away,

“I heard everything, we all did” he said softly,

Idris glanced at Annika who stood at the left-hand side of the titan, quietly inquiring what had happened, but the master of the stormcallers merely stared at him with sadness in her eyes, a sadness that was reflected a hundredfold in the eyes of the titan. Then said sadness vanished and all that remained was blazing fury,

“They seek to come for the spoils, like hungry sharks at the smell of blood” Moyo started,

Standing up from his throne, Idris felt his aspect swirl, the power attempting to reinforce what was already reinforced, its mere power solidifying aether around him into glowing orbs of light,

“Even as I grieve the loss of someone close to me, they dare come” he continued with a smile,

“Idris” he called,

“I hear and obey my liege” Idris replied, already on his feet,

“Gather the legion, inform them of this new predicament and tell them that they have my blessings should any force seek to accost them, no mercy” he ordered,

Idris slammed his fist to his chest, pride swirling in him,

“Josh, my Valoris” he called,

The mithril warden turned steel like gaze to the titan,

“Your words, my command” he muttered,

“Gather the Shieldborne, wherever I go, you go, right?” he asked,

“Even into the very depths of the abyss itself” josh replied,

“Then get ready, we take the fight to the forces of the abyss, I need your best, the rest are to be assigned to the protection of the Defiance” he said,

Josh nodded a large mithril gate manifesting behind him as it swung open, the Shieldborne in his room suddenly at his side, Idris noticing that each bore a different sort of forged crest on their left shoulders, whatever it meant, he’d find out later. The gate that was a pathway swung shut behind them, Annika speaking up,

“And I?, where would you have me?” she asked,

Moyo glanced at her, staring deeply as she stood resolutely,

“Gather your wardens, perhaps we need to remind the forces of the archailect just what it means to have overbearing power” he replied,

Annika smiled, and it was a terrible thing to behold, the promise of death and destruction oozed from her, lightning crackling all over her frame as she disappeared in a crack of thunder. Idris turned to Moyo, eyes waiting for his very command,

“Idris” Moyo said as he opened his vault and grabbed a robe,

“you’re my champion signal my coming to the planet below” he ordered,

“But the brigade said the planet were for the Thousandblades and Garuda Idris asked,

Moyo’s eyes glowed,

“I’d like to see them stop me” he replied,

Idris withdrew his bastard blade, donned his mantle and channeled the raw authority and aspect of the titan as a loud call to arms blared around the Defiance,

The house of the titan blade was going to war once again.