Zec broke the link with his friend and was moving. Forcing along with the beautiful and still naked woman he had just tangled with. While she had to scramble for her leathers and mocs, he just had to summon the Draca and his Alabastar armor was adorned by him two steps out of bed. While she was sitting on the sheets, still topless and putting the mocs on her feet, he walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand, giving it a light kiss.

"You were an amazing tangle love, ten times hotter than the Scorch itself. Maybe after this Scalder business we could do it again." She smiled, her cheeks flushing just a bit. He kissed her hand one more time and bolted from the room.

The halls of Bastions Keep were full of people running. A multitude of his brothers and sisters were in a controlled panic while running through the halls. Ash-men, Shielders, and Shard-men were running to their rigs, preparing for the Scalder. The Ash-men and Shielders would be going to one of the five family Scalder-Rigs. These were large Alabastar sand sleds made in the refinery at Queens Lance. These large sleds were smooth-sheened and flat bottomed, with a raised furled front end and solid Alabastar rails on each side. Looking at it from the side, they reminded one of a snail's profile. Thus, some chose to call them by that name instead of the traditional rig. It took eight Master Spinners to man one Scalder-rig along with four Ash-men, two Shielders, a pilot, and one Eagle. The Ash-men were the 'fire fighters' on the rig; using earth and wind magics, they fought the Scalders by either trying to extinguish it with the desert sands, or fueling the Scalder with air from the winds to make  it burn out quicker. The Shielders used whatever magics needed to shield and protect the rest of the members on the rig. The pilots used earth and wind magics to propel it; whether it be skimming speedily over the sands, or flying high above of a Scalder's winds, and pull. The Eagle was Captain of the rig, they called the shots and coordinated with the pilots on how to fight the beast. The Eagle also acted as spotter for attacks from the Scalders, aiding the Ash-men and Shielders any way they could.

The Pilots knelt just behind the furling Alabastar at the front of the sled. They wore only shorts so their legs were in direct contact with the Alabastar, with their hands resting on the front of the rig. The Eagle stood directly behind them, barefoot for direct skin contact to the sled as well. On each side of the sled, in order stood the following: a Spinner, a Shielder, a Spinner, and then an Ash-man. They, too, were all barefoot. Having direct skin contact with the Alabastar opened up the Draca that each person on the sled possessed. The contract allowed them to draw from the magics that the Alabastar itself possessed, amplifying the Draca of all who had contact with it. The direct skin contacts on the Alabastar also worked as a Human magnet; as long as the spinner was in direct contact with the sled, they wouldn't fall off, no matter what maneuver the pilots performed. It made all on the sled more powerful spinners... But it didn't make them invincible, or take the jolts and jostling of flight from them. The job was still the most dangerous of any border job on Nazra.

The Scalders were a relatively new threat, something the Dracgons had only been fighting against for a couple of years. They appeared one day from deep in the desert and had wrought utter destruction to the border towns along the Scorch. So much so, that the Queen had ordered the Dracgons and noble Houses to figure out a way to stop them.

The Scalders, which took the form of large, fiery tornadoes, came to the border towns with fury. Blowing or burning away anything in their paths; brick, stone and metal were swallowed up in the belly of the fiery beast. Towns and people caught in their paths were totally obliterated; nothing stood after being hit by a Scalder. With the new threat Scalders presented, the Queen, in an unprecedented move, had permanently assigned the 'spinners' from the Houses Bastion, Anlace, Wrent, and Qwel to the southern borders. Their orders were to figure out a way to stop the Scalders from destroying anymore towns, farms, or people. While the 'spinners' were assigned a permanent residence, their Dracgons would remain on the three-tour rotation. Two years at the Scorch, two at The Bridge of Ancients, and two of leave at Queens Lance.

In the beginning, Scalders appeared and would hit the inlands in random places. But before long, they seemed to zero in on towns and villages, as if they were getting smarter. The first few times the Houses tried to stop a Scalder had been disastrous with House Anlace losing their Dracgon, Duke Niz, and each House losing numerous Spinners. But those first few battles lost helped prepare them for the war. In enduring those losses, they found that the fire of the Dracgons did in fact hurt them; that sometimes, instead of trying to put the fire of the Scalder out, it was in fact better to fuel the fire to try and burn it out quicker. They had no idea where a Scalder originated or how it was formed, only a few theories with nothing concrete. So, it came down to the Dracgons and the Eagles to decide the best way to fight the Scalders. Whether or not to try and extinguish it or fuel it to burn it up faster. Over the course of those two years, the Houses came up with the idea of Scalder-Rigs to fight the fires. Getting spinners up in the air made them harder targets and gave them a better vantage point from which to fight the desolate beast. Since their inception, Spinner casualties had dropped significantly and Scalders reaching any villages or towns were no longer happening. The Queen and her Dracgons were protecting the realm of man yet once again.

Popper ran to the balcony across the hall from his quarters, the doors were closed, but with practiced precision he hit the latch while sprinting at full speed and the double doors flew open as he rushed through. He hurled himself from the balcony, plummeting over the edge. He looked down to see that the five Scalder-Rigs were still docked, their crews scurrying to get aboard and in flight. He looked to Rig Five and saw his sister, with her goggles on, barking orders. This would be her first Scalder fight as an Eagle. Neena had proven to be a great Ash-man, and when the sled arrived from the refinery, she had been chosen to be House Bastion's fifth Eagle. A huge honor and responsibility for one so young, thought Popper.

Popper let his body fall a moment longer, he loved the way falling tickled his stomach. To someone looking up from the ground, he looked like a suicide jumper launching himself off the seventh-floor of Bastion Keep; but all here knew of Duke Zec's thrill seeking ways. Those not bustling to prepare for the fight watched in wonder as he crashed towards the earth, waiting to see the transformation from man to Dracgon. His Alabastar armor glistened in the desert sun, sending streaks of light through the air that dazzled the eyes of all who beheld him. Viewers had to concentrate on the Duke himself, and not be distracted by the light, or they'd miss the transformation.

Falling face first, he held his arms wide open, spread eagle. He could feel his skin tingling all over as the Draca spread over it, getting ready for the transformation. His eyes were wide open as he stared at the ground that rushed at him faster and faster. Suddenly, his vision changed from Human to the enhanced sight of a Dracgon. He blinked, and in that quick moment, Duke Zec was gone and the Bastion Dracgon roared, wings flapping and stirring up the sand as the they barely skimmed above it. He roared once again and started to gain altitude, he heard the Ash-men and Shielders cheering behind him. His body was gone, in its place was the twenty or so foot long serpentine body, that of a large flying snake. Long, powerful wings propelled him through the air, shooting through the sky like an Alabastar bolt of lightning. His arms were long cords of muscle and might, sharp Alabastar claws tipped his fingers. In each hand, the Dracgon held the Alabastar war hammers of House Bastion. The head of a Dracgon was that seen on any Dragon; a large snout and large, menacing razor-sharp teeth. He snorted and roared once again, by the Known, he loved this feeling.

He reached out to his Dracgon brethren.

"Eno, Abel, you guys out?"

Eno: "Just heard the horns, everyone getting around now. Do you see it yet Popper?"

He scanned the horizon, turning west to the sounds of the loudest horns. He had yet to see anything, the horns would guide him to the Scalder.

"I don't see it yet. Heading west, Eno, it's somewhere between Bastion Keep and Qwel Manor. I should be able to see it shor..."

His thoughts stopped as his Dracgon eyes locked onto the Scalder, it was the biggest one he had ever seen. He roared once again to let the Eagles know he had found it. The Horns-men on the ground heard the roar as well, they put the horns over their backs and then urged their mounts, the large lizard like Wyverry to flee the scene. He could see two Horns-men busting ass to get out of the Scalders path, their Wyverry scuttling across the sands at a speed that made one wonder how their little stubby legs could make them move so fast. They rode towards the Scalder-Rigs that were skimming across the sands, knowing that the Rigs were there now and their part was done.

"This thing is huge, guys! It's the biggest burner I've ever seen! You guys are going to need to hurry!"

Eno: "We'll be off in a minute or two. I've locked on to you, Popper, but it's going to take us a little while to get there. Me and five Scalder-Rigs are enroute."

Popper clenched his jaw. That was not what he wanted to hear.

"What about you, Abel?"

Abel:"You got lucky, Popper. I was out on patrol, got two Scalder-Rigs with me. We're coming up from behind it... wait a sec... son-of-a.... Popper! There's another one coming up behind us!

What the... two Scalders? At the same time? That'd never happened before. Popper looked north, he could just barely make out Abel and the Scalder-Rigs, but he could see the large Scalder shadowing behind them. What hadn't been there a minute ago now threatened to overtake them.

"Get out of there, Abel! Go up! Go up!"

Abel let out a large roar as his powerful wings began to carry him upwards. The two Scalder-Rig Eagles had their pilots follow suit and began going upwards as well.

"It's pulling us in, Popper!" came the panicked thought from Abel.

Popper watched helplessly as Abel and the two Scalder-Rigs flew for their lives. The Scalder was growing bigger and bigger, the howling winds and burning inferno swallowing up desert sands and anything else unfortunate enough to get in its path. The howling grew in intensity to an ear piercing, mind numbing howl that caused confusion and pain to all nearby. The two Scalder-Rig pilots had their rigs flying vertically, straight up, straining the entire crew as they worked their magics to stay on the sled and offer any support possible to help speed the rig upwards. It looked like they were going to make it, but then the whip like strains of fire and sand began to lash out from the howling, spiraling, fiery wind beast. A flaming whip lashed out at Abel and the rigs, it was going to hit them, the Known only knew what damage it would do. Abel saw it coming and stopped speeding upwards, the rigs darting past him. With a loud bellow, Abel unleashed the Alabastar fire from deep within.

Alabastar fire was a sight to behold, it was a fire that burned white hot, yet blue and red streaks could be seen lavishing inside of it. It was like seeing the most beautiful bolt of lightning streaking across a dark, moonless sky; only it was a hundred times brighter. The Alabastar fire was not of this world, and its presence on Nazra was truly awe-inspiring. Abel's fire hit its target, the long fiery arm that was headed towards the rigs dissolved into nothingness as the Alabastar fire consumed and destroyed it. The two rigs rose above the Scalder's winds, safely out of harm's way, but Abel wasn't as fortunate. Popper stared in horror as Abel's wings frantically worked to get to where the rigs were, but to no avail; the Scalder was slowly drawing him in. Abel valiantly fought the winds, his Alabastar muscles ripping and pulling, but he was unable to escape the hot, damning winds swallowing him up. Abel was near the top of the angry funnel winds, so close to safety, yet unable to pull away from the Scalders grip. He turned once again to face the thing trying to consume him, he thought of the family weapon passed from House Dracgon to House Dracgon. The long handled, crescent shape House Pierce guillotine blade. He felt the Draca magic surge through him once again; the magics of the Draca and Albastar mixing, the Pierce guillotine blade now in hand. He bellowed Alabastar fire one more time and then dove head first. Then guillotine blade was held high over his Dragon head, and with fire bellowing from his mouth he rushed into the arms of the killer. Alabastar fire now swirled with the howling winds and burning sands. The Alabastar fire consumed everything its fiery flames licked, but something from within the Scalder claimed him, or so it seemed. All evidence of the Abel's Alabastar fire dissipated.

"Abel? Abel. ABEL!"

Popper received nothing in return. The two Scalder-Rigs were now flying fast, trying to get ahead of the Scalder. Popper assumed they were trying to get ahead of it enough to set up an air wall, so the Scalder would move through it, and the air would feed whatever was at the center of the Scalder and cause it to burn out before reaching, flora, fauna, village, and towns.

"Popper...i.....it's a....I can't believ..."

Abel's thoughts were weak and fading.

He flew just above Neena's Scalder-Rig, he looked down and met her eyes. She, too, had seen Abel save the Scalder-Rigs and get drug into the living fires of the Scalder. Neena nodded in understanding; Popper banked hard right towards the north, he had to try and save Abel!

"Abel, I'm coming, hold on!"

He had no idea what to do, the only account of a Dracgon being sucked into a Scalder was that of the death of Duke Niz. He had been flying close to ground level trying to save some foot Ash-men, but he and the Ash-men were consumed, with the Draca vacating the burnt body of Niz and finding a new host in his great niece Indys. That was all he had to go on, nothing more, and this Scalder had grown to be bigger than the first one.

"Popper, don't do it! Wait for me to get there." Eno's plea.

"No time, E. If I don't do something fast, Abel will be with the Known."

The Scalder was now becoming more violent. He wasn't sure, but Popper thought he saw a few sparks of Alabastar fire in the middle of the Scalder's torrid winds. Popper made up his mind and started flying upwards, he would get above the Scalder and then dive right down the middle of it, find Abel, and get the fuck out. It sounded easy, but he knew it would be anything but. High above the Scalder he stared down into its tornado like winds, they seemed to become more and more violent - as if Abel's presence inside of it was pissing it off even more. The Scalder jumped about the desert, suddenly even more violent. The Scalder-Rigs that had been with Abel had the air wall up, he hoped that would help. Hovering above the Scalder's epicenter, Popper smashed his Alabastar hammers together, making a loud thunderous clap with them. Alabastar sparks flew from where they struck and into the Scalder's inferno. Popper took in as deep a breath that his Dracgon enhanced lungs could take and with a mighty roar, unleashed all the Alabastar fire he could before plunging headlong into the Scalder. His Dracgon roars were consumed by the Scalder's howling.