Chapter 257 - Return To Slumber

Qh'mros' blood was pumping, and for the first time in hundreds of years, it had become truly enraged. It opened its jaws wide, letting out a silent, yet primal and savage roar from its jaws.

Calling back to its bestial origins. Its tail swished back and forth, and its eyes were wide, its jaws dripping with its own blue blood, while Xurha's red blood dripped from its claws.

But Xurha knew that he was defeated, and the gash he had torn into the void was still open behind him.

Xurha, pushing all of his domain toward his midsection, weakly flew toward the hole in the void that led to Eclat.

Ascendants were powerful beings that grasped the laws of the world itself, but they were still beings of flesh and blood, and Xurha's blood was currently dripping out his torso.

Xurha flew out of the hole that he had torn in the void, and out in the bright blue skies of Eclat. He looked about in confusion, where was the Aemos? Where were his countless soldiers? 

The hole torn in the void behind him was closing, but a pair of dark claws gripped the sides of it, tearing it open.

In that moment, Xurha spread his domain out, covering all of Eclat, in search of his flagship, the Aemos. 

"Who did this!" Xurha's voice bellowed out, echoed all over Eclat. His eyes were now bloodshot with rage, and the hand that gripped his axe was quaking.

Fleeing from Qh'mros, he had thought that he would at the very least be able to leave Eclat with the Aemos, and would be able to leave with the countless energy rich denizens of Eclat that his soldiers had captured,

Instead, he returned to find his mighty warship laying on its side on the bottom of the ocean, all the Aemos that he had bought with him scrambling aimlessly throughout the ship.

He had instantly locked in on the lack of the spatial fluctuations at the center of the ship, the heart of the ship torn to shreds by spatial fluctuations.

The resources that he had built up after so many conquests, to build the enormous ship, all wasted.

The spatial crystal that he had procured after so much effort, now spent and empty, laying within the shredded remnants of the heart of the ship.

There was no trace of the individual who had taken out his ship and stolen the energy of the crystal and Xurha let out a scream of pure fury.

Xurha might have been able to hone in on the portal that Kothar had left by, moments ago.

Unfortunately for Xurha, the absorption of the Spatial Crystal by Kothar's artifact had twisted and torn the space within the ship to such a degree that it was a mess, and Kothar's traces were obscured and hidden. 

He also took in the fallen ships all over Eclat, those ships that had managed to leave the ship had been torn and broken by the denizens of Eclat, using their energy rich bodies to destroy the invaders.

Xurha, trembling with fury, stared down at a glowing silhouette below him, his mouth opened in a snarl, and tightly gripping his axe, he made to fly down toward the being, ready to vent his rage. 

"Not so fast." Came the rumbling voice of Qh'mros behind him, as the enormous creature pulled itself through the hole in the very fabric of Eclat, its scales shining in the light of the beaming sun, the sky now clear.

"Seems like someone cleared things up." Qh'mros could see Xurha's fury at losing his ship, and taunted him, a toothy grin on its face.

"You! Tell me! Who did this! Is there another Ascendant hiding on this plane!" Xurha yelled out, completely overtaken with rage.

"Huh? You really think I would suffer another Ascendant residing in this plane besides myself? What kind of deranged fool do you think I am? I've no idea who destroyed your puny craft, but I'm glad whoever it was did so. That thing was a bit of an eyesore." Qh'mros sneered, wings flapping as it threaded through the air toward Xurha.

"Do you have time to be worrying about that little toy of yours?" Came a threatening growl, Qh'mros had easily closed the distance between them, claws swiping out toward Xurha.

Xurha raised his axe at the last moment, and was sent tumbling through the air, while Qh'mros watched with a satisfied smile.

Xurha looked over his shoulder, his gaze filled with fury, and swung his axe, tearing through the space in front of him, and slipped into the void. 

"Hmmmmm. I hope he spreads the word, I hadn't expected that I'd be forgotten so quickly." Qh'mros' rumbled to itself as it watched Xurha flee, with a satisfied smile.

"I expect he'll return, for revenge or to recoup his losses. That'll be good entertainment whenever he does." Qh'mros flew back toward the Fidour mountains.

By now, most of the invaders had been subdued, and the citizens of Eclat had emerged from the basements and cellars that they had been sheltering in.

They had stumbled as the yells of an enraged Xurha had echoed all across the plane, and then watched in amazement as he was swatted through the air like a fly.

Now, they all watched in wide eyed amazement, as the enormous creature that had emerged from the Fidour mountains now flew back toward the mountain that it emerged from.

Qh'mros flew down toward the mountain it had resided under, it swept the debris, consisting of enormous chunks of rock and dirt, and slid into the resulting hollow. 

The rubble piled up over it, and once more, the missing peak in the Fidour Mountains was there, now slightly different in shape, and a little lopsided.

Once again, the guardian of Eclat returned to its slumber.

Tales of this day would be told all over the plane, and would be passed on, through the generations, over and over, until, once again, they would be forgotten.