[CoolNard]

"B-but My Glorious Silverness!" Thrandos bumbles, with the last of his strength, his claws digging into the ground in a conscientious feat to hold his head above ground. "The re-... reason they... have b-been... confined... is s-so they... won't t-tear... Etrirea... asunder..!" He finishes with a drained pant and collapses into a flinching but conscious heap.

"'Tear the earth asunder,' eh?" Shakura quotes musingly. "Well, Thrandos, whose fault is it that the mindless humans have been fleeing our clutches? Did you think I wouldn't know how one elven spy held you in your tracks? I'd planned to break Swiftant, by having him fight his own friends for me; we'd have had them kill each other. It was dreadfully unfortunate my best soldiers didn't even stand a chance in stalling him long enough."

"My s... ness..." At this point, Thrandos has barely any strength to vibrate his vocal chords. The Elites remain helplessly contorted and grounded.

"As the Golden General, no, as a dragon, you've blemished us utterly. Did you really think you were strong? I could shred you, now, for allowing the death of my brother, but you're not even worthy of the underworld," I taunt his pride.

"HO, HO, HUMANS OR DRAGONS, THEY ONLY SERVE AS FOOTHOLDS TO TRIUMPH! THRANDOS, I ASK YOU, FOR HER GLORIOUSNESS SHAKURA, DO YOU POSSESS THE RUTHLESSNESS TO SNAP AND GNAW ON THE BONES OF YOUR FELLOW GENERALS?", roars Gavrik.

Thrandos closes his eyes and opens them, hesitantly, at the shuddering Elites, pawing the ground meekly. He utters a growl: "Ye-"

"Your incompetency has berated and betrayed you, Thrandos!" Shakura has seen through his antics and denied him. "Swiftant was a human, he would have been subjugated by his inferior genes sooner or later, but what of you? Or are you just a useless dawdler?"

Shock blooms upon Thrandos' face, his eyeballs red and cracked. The pressure and accumulating fatigue have robbed him of free speech.

"HE'S A LOST... CAAAUUUSE, DEEEAR SHAKURA!!" snickers Qayroph, licking his lips, like a wild dog set on snagging his target. "JUST GIVE... THE WOOORRRD!!"

"Silence, Qayroph, I don't take orders. I can still confine you, as easily as I have released you from your shackles," Shakura snaps clinically.

"GRRRR... AAAALLLLRIGHT, FOR NOW... YOUR RRRRULE!!"

I love how commanding she is, I adore Her Silverness' twisted sense of discipline and destruction. It isn't the disparity in power that has us outweighed by her, but the absolute authority she has: That chauvinistic dictatorship and diabolic intelligence, which is even in a league above Gavrik's. Those are, unquestionably, the characteristics of the Silver Lineage.

"At this juncture, your demotion, Thrandos, hinges on your capacity. You can suffer and languish for all you want, but you should know the true price of falling short of my expectations is a worse fate that awaits your failure," Shakura reminds him threateningly.

"HOW TAN... TALIZING!!" Qayroph is already losing control of quelling his disgustingly sadistic appetite.

"Therefore, every one, hear me!" Shakura has come to a conclusion. "The threat of extinction looms near!

Our dwarf spies have reported the progressive fall of our empire, across Etrirea. Who knows how much more people will evolve? I, hereby, grant the Golden General and the Elites a final chance to redeem themselves. You have three days to eliminate Swiftant and his comrades. Hence, you will assume a divide-and-conquer tactic. One will go to Asgard, to lead the troops and crush the surviving rebels. Another to Bachuu and the third to Mes Thâk to scrounge for vagrant supporters.

Lastly, a dragon dwarf, stationed in the Vanishing Village, has confirmed the presence of enemies: It seems they have considerable skill and agenda; that abominable group, and Swiftant, may very well be them. Thrandos and the last general, take a hundred soldiers, find and defeat the leading band of humans.

Additionally, Akuma, the ex-Silver Dragon, dwells in one of their shadows, a young girl - Nozomi. He wouldn't endanger himself by emerging in their midst. He's probably using them, to get to me. Engage her and draw him out. Once he's out of his human vessel, the Elites won't be a match for him, so the Royal Dragon Nobles will, therein, have permission to take Akuma down.

Finally, if we fail to inhibit our slaves, I will destroy Etrirea altogether, than risk our erasure! Until then, this congregation shall act only as a witness to my words."

A smile leaks from my face and my pupils contract in excitment, and I feel the same vibes radiating from the other two Royal Nobles. In the twitch of a whisker, all three of us take on human guises - quaintly resembling our dragon anatomy. The distinguishing dragon emblem is etched into each of our chests. We know that if we are to be witnesses, we have to compress our murderous aura and not impede other dragons. Still, the generals don't look as though they'll end their shrivelling plight, anytime soon.

"Hey, Thrandos," I call out, in the sensual voice of a human female. "We'll be riding you. Don't make us use reins."

"Ho, ho, ho!" laughs Gavrik in his ever-booming-but-now-gruff human male's voice. "The lot of you, be less unsightly in six hours, we shall claim the first light of dawn!"