An Anti-Hero's Origin

Avingrad

^^ Wood Elves of Avingrad ^^

Father, being the annoyingly impulsive individual he was, leapt through my portal with nary a thought for safety while I was still taking in the scenario, and my immediate reaction was one of indecision; on one hand, I knew my Father to be a spectacularly gifted ArchMage, and more than capable of defending himself. On the other hand, however, there were twelve Dragons here, and even just One would be a match for any ArchMage.

After a very brief growl of annoyance, I snapped at Evander, making a decision. "Look through the portal, get a bead on all the dragons, lock in their coordinates for me, and ready portals to the hidden Chambers at the ends of the Dungeons! There's Twelve, so this works out just fine! Also, deactivate all the Portals in the Lobby, and summon my Mother to the Tower, with all the Restoration Mages she can muster!!!"

"And you intend to do what in the meantime?"

"Keep my Idiot of a Father Alive, I suppose..." I sighed, leaping through after him and running on the air; he was already shielding a group of Elves with a Barrier, having arrived in mere moments with his high-elven fleetness of foot, so I opened a portal underneath them, dropping them into the Tower, and grabbed his shoulder once they were gone. "Move on, Father, they're safe!" I snapped over the noise of the calamitous setting, catching his attention.

He spun around, looking at the empty barrier with a pile of burning rubble on top of it, and nodded slowly, running towards the nearest sound of screaming with me hot on his heels. As we ran and teleported people away, I kept an eye on the dragons, making sure to avoid them in their rampages until we were ready to start portalling them; I kept a small portal open next to my ear so I could hear Evander speak, while we saved the resident Wood Elves and the very few High Elves that were in residence. 90% of the population here were Wood Elves, with the rest being humans besides maybe twenty High Elves, but I surmised the real reason none of the High Elves were visible was because they were either dead, having fought the dragons when they originally came, or they'd fled first, and their wicked speed had carried them far away already.

To that end, I was opening portals under much of the wreckages, dumping the ruined buildings into the wide open expanse of Rockwell's outer area, beyond the Inner Wall. If there were any survivors within that we couldn't see or hear, the Glass Golems would find them by way of tremor-sense and bring them to the Tower, where hopefully the Restoration Mages would have already arrived.

"You've gotten very skilled in the past six months, you know, Son. I don't like to make your Ego bloom, but I'm honestly, unbiasedly impressed." Father sighed, glancing at me and then back at the Dragons circling above; with fewer Crowds to attack after we'd teleported them all off, they were getting curious about the disappearing buildings, and circling our position.

"Thank you, Father. While I think you were foolish to leap into this situation with no plan to defeat a Thunder of fully-grown Dragons, I do admire the bravery and stubborn pride required for such a foolhardy course of action." I nodded calmly, unbothered by the dragons; I had a plan, and it was very nearly finished.

He snorted softly, amused. "Ah, yes, Backhanded compliments are your mother's preferred method of affection as well, aren't they?"

"I could make up the couch for you, if you'd like, Darling?" Mother spoke through the small portal near my ear, and he snapped his attention to it instantly.

"Selene? Where are you?" He hissed quietly, glancing up at the Dragons warily, hoping his voice hadn't reached them.

"In our Son's Tower; I've never been Summoned by a Ghost before, but the number of Patients here is rather troubling... you didn't, by any chance, take our son to a War-zone populated by a Thunder of Adult Dragons bent on abject terror and calamitous destruction? Because that would be ridiculous, and you're much smarter than that, after all!!!"