Neena watched as Popper dove into the fires, a feeling of hopelessness washing over her. Rigs One thru Four were setting up a thick wind wall that the first Scalder would be going through shortly, but she wasn't sure how they would attack it after that. Usually Ash-men would set up a wind wall, the Scalder would barrel through it, then the Dracgons would hit it with a concentration of Alabastar fire and burn it out. But they didn't have any Dracgons now. The howling of the first Scalder went a pitch higher as it crashed into the air walls. Neena loomed back, keeping a watchful eye on both Scalders. Things were going as planned; the first Scalder was hitting the air wall and burning faster, the second one would be doing the same in a few moments. Suddenly it jumped, leaving the ground, and in horror she watched as it switched directions. They never switched direction! In that moment, it came crashing down on the nearest House Wrent Scalder-Rig; consuming it, the rig and its crew were thrown about like rag dolls, and then they were gone. By sucking in that rig, it also began pulling in the other two rigs still connected by the air wall. The other Scalder-Rig crashed towards the base of the Scalder, but at the last moment the crew seemed to get a hold of the rig and began steering clear of it. A large, whip-like tentacle of sand lashed out at the rig, burying it and its crew in a mountain of sand. Neena watched as it crashed to the ground. Despair gripped her heart once more as realization came upon her. By switching direction, the Scalder was now heading straight toward Bastion Keep!

She watched as the other rigs continued to hold their air walls up. Fighting the first Scalder, the pilots of each rig were now moving in the same direction and at the same speed as the Scalder. This enabled the Ash-men to concentrate solely on bending the winds to their will, keeping the Scalder in the denser winds. At least this Scalder was behaving like past ones. She knew the other rigs had no idea of the second, deadlier Scalder and she had no way to tell them now; the howling winds prevented it. Her crew had seen the entire horror of that second Scalder play out before their eyes, and now those eyes all stared nervously at their novice Eagle. Neena could see the fear and doubt in their gazes as they hovered a safe distance away from both Scalders.

"Get us above that second Scalder, Ben!" She shouted to her pilot, tapping him on the shoulder.

"We're not gonna wait for help?" Shouted a voice over her left shoulder.

She shot a hard glance over her left shoulder, not sure if one of the two Ash-men had asked the question or if it was the Shielder. Either way, she didn't care.

"This is my rig! I'm the Eagle. What I say goes!" She shouted, letting her anger be known, "We're going to fly over the top of this damn thing and attack it from above, then..."

"But that's insane!" Shouted back the Shielder to her left.

Their eyes met for an instant, the Shielder a tall and skinny man peered through his goggles at her. Seeing the controlled rage within Neena's goggles, he looked away quickly, bowing his head, "As you command, Master Eagle. Our lives are yours."

Neena flared her nostrils at the man, then turned away. She had more pressing things to worry about than his insubordinate ass, she'd deal with him later. She watched as the sands below her grew further and further away. Ben kept taking them higher and higher, trying to get above the fiery tornado. She knew why the Shielder had voiced his displeasure with her orders, she had them going against everything they had been trained to do. Attacking the base of the Scalder was the message preached to all Ash-men; get the bottom of the Scalder to burn hot and it would dissipate at a faster rate. No one knew why, only that it worked, and here she was ordering their rig to attack from above! She knew if this didn't work that their chances of survival were almost none, but she had to try and help Abel and Popper. She wasn't about to lose two Dracgons in her first Scalder fight as a lead Eagle!

She bent down to get closer to Ben's ear, the howling winds were intensifying, "Get us up over it. We're going to dive straight in, Ben! Any problem with that?"

Ben was smiling, "No, Ma'am! Shit, I'd fly us straight up the Queen's ass if you ordered it!" Their eyes met briefly and for a brief instant Ben worried her, the mad glee in his eyes was almost terrifying, but then she thought a madman was who she needed piloting this rig right now.

"Linking now!" She yelled, and with those words she let the crew know she was going to mind link them all, through the Alabastar rig's magic. This would allow them to communicate telepathically, getting them to act as one. The Alabastar magic swept over her in a calming fashion, giving her goose bumps and warming her all at the same time. Being the link's master was different than just being linked. She could feel all the crew's emotions, fear, excitement, doubt, anxiety, determination, and more. It seemed kind of invasive being inside each crew members head like she was, it threatened to overtake her for just an instant, but she was able to push it back and settle into the group conscience. They would only be able to feel her emotions, not each other's, so she had to exude total confidence even though she didn't feel it at all. Ben continued pushing them skyward.

"We've not much time so no arguments, just do what I say and we'll all get home safe and sound." She could feel their tensions rising, but no one interrupted, "Ash-men, I need you all to start spinning the winds beneath us, all together. Make a tornado, with winds as fast as you can! Shielders, I need you to make a cone shaped shield over our bow and get it spinning as fast as you can."

No one questioned or hesitated, they went about the tasks that she had ordered. Ben still had them rising, the Scalder was heading towards the keep at an even faster speed now, excited with the prospect of wiping out almost all of House Bastion. They were now behind the Scalder and losing ground.

"Speed up Ben!" She ordered. She could feel the force push gently against her body as the rig zoomed faster towards the conflagration. They were now at a vantage point to be able to look down upon it, thousands of feet up in the air. Beneath her she could see the burgeoning tornado that the Ash-men were making; Ben was going to have to get them up even higher! "Up, Ben, up!" She ordered.

So they ascended faster and faster, the distance between the Scalder and their rig began to shrink. Ben was pushing his Draca to the limit piloting the rig.

"We're losing wind, Neena! The Scalder's pulling everything into it! Our tornado won't last once we get closer!" Came the thoughts of the Ash-man who had called her insane moments ago.

She looked at her four Ash-men working the winds, he was right, the Scalder was sucking everything into it, including their man-made tornado.

"Shielders, expand the cone, shield the Ash-men's tornado!" A wave of fear washed over the crew, she could feel it.

"Th...the..whole thing?" Came a fear filled thought of her port-side Shielder.

"Just do it!" She ordered.

The Shielders obeyed, the turbulence and winds now started buffeting the rig, everyone was now being pummeled with the howling coming from within the Scalder. The maddening, howling winds worked to disorient the crew and Neena concentrated hard to keep the crew on taskb as thoughts of fear and fleeing washed over the entire crew. Well, all but Ben, as he seemed to be in his element. Neena was sweating now, her head spinning, confusion washing over her. She reached for more of the Alabastar magics, the comforting numb washed over her; the confusion that the Scalder pushed her way subsiding, allowing her to think once again.

The port-side Shielder once again, "We can't shield the Ash-men's winds, it's too big!"

"Bullshit! You're not pushing hard enough, now do it, dammit!" She ordered.

She looked around at her crew as the winds attacked the rig, the closer they got to the Scalder. She could see the Shielders protective cone shield extending out further and further, but she could also see the terrible toll it was taking on her Shielders and her Ash-men. They were all pushing their Draca to the limit, and amplifying as much of the Alabastar's magics as they could. Neena realized then that her crew didn't have the strength needed to do what she asked of them, but it was too late now. They were committed, no turning back. She pushed the doubt aside, hoping against hope that the crew didn't feel the hopelessness felt by that of their Lead Eagle. Neena joined in the spinning now, adding her strength to the Shielders. The cone grew, Neena pushing her Draca to the limits right along with them, drawing on every bit of power she could muster.

They were now way above the Scalder, the Known's eyes vantage point, looking down upon it with the Ash-men's tornado in tow. Neena strained, the Shielders and herself barely holding the cone shaped shield together.

"Ben, line us up with the center of the Scalder the best you can then dive us down into it. Hurry Ben... Hurry!"

Ben looked over his shoulder at Neena, "You got it! Hold on tight and gird your loins!"

With those words, the world went mad.

The rig plummeted into the swirling winds of the Ash-men's tornado. The winds clawed and scratched at them, the swirling sands cried for their blood. Neena could feel the winds of their own tornado threatening to rip them apart, the rig needed its own shield! She held the shield around the tornado, aiding Shielders with her left hand. With her right, she spun another shield, one to protect the rig. The shield fluttered, failed and fluttered again. Neena opened her mind entirely to the Alabastar magics, emotions like a torrent ripped at her; fear, excitement, glee, frustration, apprehension, doubt, hopelessness, exhaustion, gloom, peace, but most of all... Fear. It was the fear that she opened herself up to, swallowing it all, embracing it like a long-lost love. She ate it up, and suddenly there was a shield around the rig. The shield drowned out the howling winds and biting sand, the turbulence that had threatened them was now gone, and the noises of the tornado and howling flames of the Scalder was now all a thing of the past.

"Faster, Ben, faster! We're barely holding on here!"

With that order, the rig went into a nose dive, sending Neena and her crew deeper into the abyss. She could see very little through her goggles now, the shield around the rig was being crushed by the angry winds. Doubts flooded through her once again, her plan was insane! A Scalder-Rig, inside a man-made tornado, charging into a fiery inferno that had the power to kill Dracgons! Hopelessness ate at her, but she opened up even more, consuming every ounce of fear she came in contact with. Fear! So much fear! Where did it come from? She ignored the question, concentrating on the two shields she was spinning. She didn't look back at the crew, she looked over Ben's shoulders as they plunged deeper and deeper into the Scalder. Angry, fiery tentacles of wind and sands lashed out at them, beating against the shield around their tornado, each attack taking something out of the Shielders. Neena could feel the shield protecting their tornado failing, they had to get to the core of this thing soon, or all would be lost.

"Faster... Please, Ben... Faster!"

Ben yelled at the top of his lungs, plunging the sled downwards even faster, straining every muscle and magic he knew, getting as much speed as he could. The world was a blur now, nothingness, it was just him and the Alabastar sled, nothing else seemed real or of consequence. Speed, more speed, speed, speed, speed. The descent seemed to last forever, the Scalder tearing and lashing out at them, their shield slowly being torn apart. They weren't going to last much longer, this was going to be all for naught. Fuck it, he thought. At least he was going to die doing what he loved! It was getting rougher and rougher, the winds were more violent. Keeping the sled on course during this nose dive was pushing all of his skills to their limits. Just when it seemed all was lost, the turbulence of the Scalder subsided and his view was clear as they flew into the epicenter of the fiery inferno. Ben's heart leapt to his throat at what he saw. The Forever Flames had come to Nazra.

Neena could taste the blood now running from her nose. Her head was pounding with the power being channeled through her body, yet she pushed for more; sensing more fear and pulling more power from it. The shield was barely holding, Ben had the rig in a complete nose dive, and the shield was acting like a drill, cutting through the gale winds and fiery flames. In the epicenter, the sands were gone, pushed away by the tornado's winds, allowing her to see the furious beast within. The onslaught of its murderous howl was starting to pierce their shield. She watched in horror as the scene played out before her, the figures growing larger and larger as the rig sped closer and closer to the ground.

Popper struggled as he flew through the winds, his wings barely able to propel him towards the beast within. The fiery beast had Abel by the throat, the Dracgon flailed and clawed at its aggressor to no avail. Alabastar fire erupted from Popper's gaping maul, the white flames cutting through the winds with lethal conviction. The fiery beast within was hit square in the chest. It absorbed the flames with a painful howl, the Alabastar attack pushing it to burn brighter and brighter, but its anger fueled it on. Its howl once again returned to the murderous, mind numbing shriek it had been before. The inferno shook Abel about by the throat like a child's plaything, the Dracgon's limp body offered no resistance.

The beast rose to some fifty feet high, it had no legs, just the upper body coming out of the sands. It moved along the Scorch lithely, its movements fluid and deadly. It was made of an all-consuming black-fire, a soulless fire so deadly that even the Dracgons could feel its heat through their Alabastar scaled skins. It was a fire that none of them had encountered before and threatened to take out not only Bastion Keep, but the lives of Abel and Zec. The beast slammed Abel's limp body against the ground two times, before flinging it towards the Scalder-Rig, Ben did his best to avoid Abel's unconscious body flying through the air, but the speed at which they were descending didn't allow him to completely dodge the catapult like throw. Ben angled the rig just before impact, so the brunt of the blow hit the bottom, jarring everyone aboard and sending the rig spinning out of control and pushing it from the epicenter of the Scalder back into the torrid winds, sands, and fire that were its body. The rig and Abel plummeted into the tornado and was lost, this time the beast howled in feral victory.

Popper watched as Neena and her crew were swallowed up by the Scalder, rage filling his stomach and lungs. Another mighty blast of Alabastar fire was soon spewing forth from his maul. It hit the black-fire beast square in the face, or where a face would've been had the beast had one. The wolf shaped head took the blow with a painful howl, but it continued its onslaught towards Bastion Keep and continued to lash out at Popper. Two enormous arms of black-fire lashed out at him, Popper, with the large Alabastar hammers of House Bastion in each hand, fought them off. He swung the mighty hammers, hitting each of the fiery arms and causing them to ignite and explode as the Alabastar hammer-heads hit and seared the black-fire. Popper roared and exhaled more Dracgon fire, hitting the beast in the chest, causing its ethereal black-fire form to quiver and stop. Popper knew he was gaining ground now, the armless beast howled once more at him. Popper pushed his advantage, this monster was going to pay for killing Neena and her crew.

Popper beat his wings furiously above the head of the black-fire beast, the winds making it difficult to stay in place, hovering above the things head. Popper raised both hammers above his head, getting ready to swoop down on the beast and clock him with the Alabastar Hammers of Ash, the legendary Dracgon weapon of House Bastion. He filled his lungs with the hot air that was trying to suffocate him from inside the Scalder. With one more loud Dracgon roar, he unleashed the fire he held within and charged at the beast from above. For a brief instant Popper thought the beast was looking at him, as if he were amused by what the Dracgon was doing. With rage and fury, he came down upon the beast, spewing fire and swinging hammers. With vengeful glee, Popper attacked, crashing down upon the head of the beast. Forged Alabastar and fire struck the black-fire of the beast, first causing it to burn starlight hot and then all but extinguishing it. What remained horrified and confused him.

The black-fire beast had burnt itself out with the Alabastar fire of the Dracgon accelerating its demise, what stood now was a smoking, still raging Werewolf. The Werewolf's fur was all gone, it was now nothing more than oozing, puckered, burning flesh. In its eyes, he could see the pain it was in, but also the rage, hatred, and unbridled lust to kill him. What caught his attention most, however, was the armor that the Werewolf wore. It was made from shards of Alabastar. The wolf was wearing Alabastar armor? This lone wolf was the force controlling the Scalder, the core deep within guiding the winds, fires, and sands that haunted the southern borders?

Werewolves were responsible! All this time they thought they were fighting rogue forces of nature, instead it was all the Werewolves! Popper descended the forty or so feet, preparing the killing blow, hammers high above his head once more. The defeated looking wolf watched helplessly as the killing blow crashed down upon him, but then...

Suddenly black-fire erupted from the werewolf, empowering it, and swallowing up Popper in its tormented flames. He could feel the heat searing and tearing at his Alabastar skin, he tried to inhale fresh air to fuel his Dracgon fire but inside the black-fire there was no air to be had. When he inhaled, all he could feel was the burning fires of the Forever Flames. He swung his hammers with all the might of his Dracgon muscled arms. His eyes were now on fire, unable to see his target, his hammers never struck. He beat his wings in a fevered panic to no avail, the black-fire consuming more and more of them with each beat. He struggled, fought, and wiggled, trying to free himself from its deadly flames. The black-fire seemed to sense it, burning hotter and hotter. The pain was something like he had never felt before, his world was on fire, and he had no escape!

The torment was threatening to overtake him, with his dying thoughts he reached out to his best friend, "Niko! The Scalders are the ..."

Popper found himself face to face with what was left of the werewolf, the beast's lips and skin were burned away, its teeth on fire. Popper realized he was in Human form now, somewhere along the way he had transformed back. Or the Draca had already left him? He could feel the strong hands of the wolf-man tightening around his throat, crushing his airway. The gruesome beast was going to destroy him. The Werewolf lifted Popper up over its head by his throat; he clawed at the beast's burnt arms futilely, the grip tightening. He was slipping now, in mere moments he would be dead, but he kept fighting. As consciousness left him he could see Neena's face, blood oozing from her eyes, nose, and mouth, the dead coming to welcome him.

She could barely stand now, she held onto Ben's shoulder tightly to remain up right. She was using every fiber of her body to work the magics to help maintain the shield, and help work the wind currents to aid Ben's piloting. She could see the Werewolf holding Popper above its head, strangling him. She was having trouble holding the shield and working the winds, the fear that had been so abundant earlier, that she had been drawing on for power was now gone. She reached within the Alabastar and found all sorts emotions once more; this time she grasped on to the strongest one, elation. She had no idea where it came from, but it was strong, who would be feeling elation at such a time as this?

"Ben, get us directly behind it."

The only response she got back was the rig silently drifting in behind the werewolf, the beast totally preoccupied with Popper. She could feel her strength waning, the amount of blood pooling around her feet was scaring her, but she had to press on. The fire, winds, and sands were still bearing down on the keep, in a few moments it would be engulfed as well.

"This is it, Ben! Go! Go!"

In response, the rig lurched forward, gaining speed as it raced towards the Werewolf. Neena's goggles were filling up with the blood from her eyes, so she ripped them from her face, throwing them aside. The black-fires would have burnt them alive had they not been shielded this close to the Werewolf, but the shield was smoldering and about to fail, Neena knew if this didn't work they were all dead. She pushed on, feeding off the elation and propelling the rig even faster. She met Popper's eyes for a brief second, and then the rig struck the Werewolf. The beast howled in agony as the rig hit it in the back. A large spike suddenly grew from the front of the Alabastar rig, impaling the Werewolf and 'sharding' him. A large explosion rocked the desert sands, sending hot winds and sands to pummel Bastion Keep. Popper crashed through two walls of the keep before coming to a very still halt. Somewhere, scattered across the Scorch, the bodies of Abel, Neena, and her crew came crashing down to Nazra's rippled sands. Bastion Keep still stood, but the Scorch was now much, much more dangerous. A new era was to begin on Nazra... The Scalder Wars.