Metamorphosis of Power

Damien smiled to himself as he gave the signal to begin the assault. The Estatua from the four groups on the ground burst into the warehouse followed by the Equilibrio elite group members and pandemonium erupted as the forces engaged each other. Johnson proved why he had earned the rank he had by fighting his way straight to one group of Equilibrio fighters and then continuing to support them. After a brief pause from the original attack the fifth Estatua burst through the ceiling allowing that group to control their descent into the warehouse with telekinetic manipulations of the power, without much harassment from the Fjorlag fighters. The Estatua had a devastating effect as they fought their way to Damien and then protected him from any strikes. Lokraine stayed out of the combat and when she noticed the Estatua gather around Damien she smiled and ran away towards an open area of the warehouse. The fight was going very well for the Equilibrio with most of the Fjorlag already down, so Damien and the Estatua charged after Lokraine. Suddenly a gigantic winged creature appeared just in front of Lokraine and she climbed into a saddle that was on its back. The creature dwarfed even the Estatua and Damien had no doubt what he was looking at, a dragon. The appearance of the dragon sent a wave of shock through the Equilibrio fighters and Damien had no doubt that they had all walked straight into a trap. The dragon launched itself in the air, hovering just below roof height and exhaled a huge swathe of flame that hit Fjorlag warriors as well as Equilibrio sect fighters. The physical shields implemented into the Equilibrio sect protective items protected them against the flames and allowed them to retreat, but the remaining Fjorlag were not so lucky. Knowing that he needed to act quickly to save his people Damien sent some quick mental instructions while he ran towards Lokraine and the dragon. He screamed at Lokraine “You want me, then here I am” as the Estatua moved away from him. Both Kylie and Johnson screamed out “No Damien” while Lokraine laughed out loud and the dragon lowered itself and lunged its head at him, mouth open for the kill. Suddenly Nataasha appeared and struck the dragons head, breaking any defensive shield it had and causing it to pull back. At that same time three of the Estatua returned grabbing the dragon’s tail and rear legs, pulling it to the ground. As it’s front section came down the remaining two Estatua timed it perfectly with strikes to either side of its head, knocking it senseless. Lokraine jumped off its back as it hit the ground and attempted to run, but Nataasha had been ready and attacked. A fast but intense battle followed, with Damien witnessing what Gary had been referring to about Lokraine’s abilities as she moved with supernatural speed to dodge all of Nataasha’s blows. Suddenly Nataasha lost her balance slightly and Lokraine attacked ferociously going for the kill, as was Nataasha’s plan. She took advantage of Lokraine’s focused strike to deliver a blow that disabled Lokraine’s shield, relying on her own defences to protect her. Lokraine was unprepared for the physical defences in the new shields and was completely surprised when she was deflected. Nataasha took advantage and impaled her though the chest, then powered her blade to destroy Lokraine as she had done on the voloksu that killed Nicky and the battle was over. Cheers erupted from all of the Equilibrio people and then silenced when this caused the dragon to stir. Damien commanded the Estatua to hold it down and Nataasha moved towards it with her blade, a grim expression on her face. “No” Damien thought to her “Bring the mistress of the gardens and Celeste here now, I want to make sure this beast cannot be saved.” Nataasha seemed surprised at this but moved off to follow his commands. The dragon did try to get free, but was obviously still dazed and the Estatua restrained it without difficulty. Damien ordered an assessment of their losses and was pleased to be informed that there were no deaths and only seven people injured, with those people embarrassed to be the only ones. Much quicker than Damien expected Edna and Celeste arrived on scene and upon seeing the dragon Edna was shocked while Celeste was fascinated. “This creature would have killed us all” Damien told Celeste “It may have been under the influence of Lokraine though, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to save it if possible.” She smiled and nodded at him before moving over to the dragon. She placed a hand on its head and closed her eyes, obviously performing some kind of manipulation of the essence of power. The dragon stopped struggling after a bit and whined several times before closing its eyes. Then it emitted a deep sigh and stopped moving completely. Shortly after that Celeste opened her eyes and swayed a bit before she was able to get her balance and then look at Damien. “You were right, it was under Lokraine's control. She captured it when very young and raised it herself. Through a regime of mistreatment she turned it into an attack dog that followed only her commands. It may take a lot of time, but I am confident I can undo what she did.” Damien nodded to her and thought “You will have everything you need, but remember he is your responsibility now.” Damien then gave general instructions for the concealment and transport of the dragon before ordering a return to the headquarters.