Omega's Rebirth

Menarx sat at his table in the command tent, staring down at the maps spread out before him.

His table was a mess of scrolls, maps, land markers and a dozen other files, some splayed open and others closed and neatly stacked at a side.

Amongst the opened scrolls, most contained the reports from the last few scout patrols that had been sent out since arriving Dwarven terrain.

There was a black ink pen in Menarx’s hand with which he marked out and traced some points across one map to the other.

When the points met at a location, Menarx noted it down in a separate scroll.

The fourth squadron had set camp just a day’s flight away from the first outpost of the dwarves, out of sight but close enough to keep a watchful eye on dwarven terrain.

For the past few hours, Menarx had begun a comparative study of different maps of the stronghold, each reflected the entire Asvarian terrain from a different angle.

But Menarx’s focus was particularly on the patch of territory that was known to belong to the dwarves.

The supreme dynasty of the dragons ruled over all territories, but each race still retained their original borders and territories.

The mers had their mer sea, the dwarves had the hidden city beneath and the mine outposts on the surface,

The fae clans had the Sunthron Forest and it’s interlinked forests, the list went on and on,

All of these encompassed the stronghold with it’s twelve fortresses situated at different strategic points throughout the realm.

Though Menarx had long memorized most of these maps, he would not have it that he had missed something, he was always extremely detailed in executing his orders.

A sense of Deja Vu churned within Menarx and had been since he arrived the first outpost.

This would be the second time around Menarx was entrusted to lead the charge on the dwarves, since Menarx had been the very same battle dragon commanding the last battle.

But something about this felt quite different and Menarx was not certain if it was because he was already nursing a wound from adamantium which made it all the more real that a dragon could truly fall to a dwarves blade,

Or if it was something else in his gut, something his instincts were triggered by.

Menarx sensed a presence approaching his tent, he knew just who it was but he did not bother glancing up, his attention fully occupied.

"You have been at it for a full day now, Narx. As your cousin and kinsman, I do respect and appreciate your diligence..."

"But as your physician, I must admit I have contemplated knocking you unconscious if it would get you to take a rest." Everon reprimanded.

"The dwarves have always been ambitious and unreasonable, greedy and manipulative...yet they know enough not to test our patience." Menarx murmured, more to himself than to Everon.

"Does not seem like they know anything... considering they attacked a Lord dragon of the king’s guard." Everon replied, taking a seat across from Menarx.

"I have faced dwarves, Ron. They are not to be underestimated. Their cowardice is not considered a weakness for they always know to avoid what battles they cannot win."

"If the dwarves are stirring trouble, there is always a reason...a motivation...a source from which they draw confidence."

"The last time, it was their hidden vault of adamantium and the knowledge that they held in their power the only weapon that could kill a dragon." Menarx reminded.

"Perhaps their motivation is still the same? You crumbled the adamantium vault then and razed it all down, but perhaps the dwarves have built another?" Everon asked curiously.

"Pure veins of adamantium ore is extremely difficult to track and even more difficult to mine at highest purity."

"To acquire a vault of that size would take centuries and a great deal of manpower, unimaginable amount of supplies, steel and the likes."

"How could such a bustle have escaped our watch?" Menarx pointed out.

"But the fact remains, the dwarves have a source of adamantium. If there was that one spear...there must be a lot more where it came from." Everon replied.

"Adamantium is a natural ore, it cannot be truly destroyed. We did not have false expectations of never encountering it again."

"Mining the ore is a declaration of war against dragon kind, we only need to make clear the consequences of breaking dragon law." Menarx said, still marking out points on the map.

"Regardless, it is a fact that we are susceptible to adamantium...as long as it is in the picture, we cannot underestimate the dwarves." Menarx added.

"The point is to destroy the source whilst avoiding casualties and the easiest way to achieve this is overtaking the inner citadel itself." Everon said in understanding.

"The dwarf king is a cunning man. He would easily leave a thousand of his soldiers for dead in exchange for his own life. It goes to show that the war must be brought to him, he cannot be allowed an escape this time.

"He must have a taste...of fire and blood." Menarx asserted.

"The inner citadel of the Dwarven empire... their only strength lies in our ignorance of it’s location." Menarx continued.

"The fourth squadron will not engage till Jian orders it, our sole task is laying siege to the Dwarven empire and cutting off all supply routes to the surface." Menarx said, gesturing at some points he had marked out.

"The surest way to track down the inner citadel is isolating it. I understand your intent." Everon agreed.

"There were originally seven mine outposts of the Dwarven empire, marked by large mines, the only territory marking of the hidden city that broke the surface."

"All seven outposts supply the inner citadel with the most basic needs for the thousands of dwarves living beneath surface."

"Isolating these outposts would be no trouble, the trouble lies in the supply routes we do not know about." Menarx explained what he had been marking out these past hours.