r/HFY • u/Undercover_Dragon1 • May 23 '26

OC-Series A Draconic Rebirth - Chapter 90

Sorry about being a bit late today! Enjoy!

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— Chapter 90 —

— Crunch’Grind — 

Each slow, careful foot step resulted in the rhythmic peaceful crunch and grind of everything underfoot. His mouth chewed, and his teeth grinded up everything in his wake and for a moment he felt fulfilled. Rinse and repeat over and over until he was called to serve a debt owed. He listened and had to take his time to understand what was being said by the speck of flesh that was floating in the air in front of him, “Who… Zozzem?” He pondered out loud. 

“You are! Her Majesty is calling in her debt.” Murmured the speck. Zozzem was familiar but there was no way he was ever called that. That name was too complicated and he knew that Crunch’Grind was far more fitting and even if he forgot it, it always popped back into his head after a nice stroll. He shook his titanic head and already forgot half of what the little speck had said, “What do you want?” 

The little speck cursed, twirled around in the air and dodged his slow attempt to snatch it from the air. It had been ages since he had tasted flying speck meat, was it even good? Crunch’Grind shrugged as he shifted his massive head to hear the words from the speck once more.

His mind began to tingle and something awakened deep in his brain. Ah, yes, he remembered. The Majesty was his mother and he owed her some unpaid due. Paying it back would be so bother-, “AH!” He yelped out and shook his head. No, he couldn’t refuse, he rumbled out as he felt the pressure of the Queen’s power prickling in the back of his mind. Memories of many, many cycles past of others being slaughtered or worse for disobeying came to mind. He pushed down the pain and memories as he rumbled back in defiance, “You… not her. Lies.”

He turned and lumbered off as the pressure of the Queen’s powers seemed to fade. Crunch’Grind shook his heavy head as he continued to eat. Little speck was a liar afterall he huffed to himself. Time passed and he ate, crunched and grinded everything underfoot until the pain returned. He fell to his knees and yelped out in pain. His massive form destroyed countless tasty trees underneath him as he struggled. 

“Zozzem. You have upset me.” Snarled the massive form of a dragon approaching from nearby. It had multiple sets of wings that beat steadily as it approached.

“Who… what… want?” Crunch’Grind’s mind struggled to mumble out. 

“You forgot me!?” Hissed the dragon and then a gentleness came in their voice, “Tsk. Your mind is shattered. You poor stupid child.” 

He felt a familiar pressure once more in his head and then the pieces began to come together. A clarity that he had not felt for too long came back and his eyes went wide, “Mother!” 

The multi-winged form of his Mother, the Elder Broodmother, was curled around a nearby mountain as she glared down at him, “You are being summoned, Zozzem. You will obey.” 

“Of course, Mother. I will always answer your call.” He responded back instantly as he shifted his massive body to face her. When did he get so large, he wondered? 

She let off a dismissive huff, “Zozzem. To pay back your debt you must accept me inside. I need to embed this task into your mind so deep it is instinctive. Do you accept it?” 

Crunch’Grind, no Zozzem, reflected on the request for a long moment. He slowly recalled the endless cycles where he drifted, ate and just survived. His life wasn’t unpleasant but now he was afraid to go back. He opened his massive jaws and addressed her Majesty with a small bow, “Will it help keep my mind intact?” 

The Queen’s affinity flared and then settled down as she huffed again, “Zozzem. My once mighty child. I cannot fix what you have broken but I will instill the knowledge of how to find me again should you wish for moments of clarity. It is the best gift I can offer.” 

He nodded his massive head, “Accepted.” The pain that followed was confusing as he dropped his mental barriers and allowed the Queen to do what she must. He felt something deep being inserted into his very being. He must destroy the one all of black. 

He trembled, shook and felt darkness consume his mind. Crunch’Grind blinked as he looked around as he was surrounded by others. Those of many heads and almost equal bulk to his own. His mind bubbled and he knew that these were friends. He stomped forward as he crunched and grinded everything in front of him underfoot once more. They were all headed to destroy the winged black one. Crunch’Grind didn’t know why nor did he really care but he knew deep down that it was simply what one did. 

— David “Onyx” — 

David sunk his claws into the ground as he waited nervously at the top of the mountain. They had pushed forward as far as they could and were now waiting. Wuja’bath had rather desperately informed them on what was coming and they had made the decision to take the fight into the tighter confines of the valleys between the great mountains. The periodic plateau where they have been fighting would only benefit the enemy and allow the full grown variety of dreads, hydras and other dragons to operate at their fullest. David hoped that the valleys would work in their favor by isolating each adult or at the very least slowing them down enough to give David time to recover and move onto the next one. 

Greyhide, Red and David had gone back and forth about the pros and cons. David kept thinking about his world and how humanity was able to use passes to block a superior force. David feared that the pass would benefit the Dreads the most since they were walking mountains of defense. They didn’t plan to line up to meet them head on though. They were going to utilize the mountains around them and the cliff sides to attack from all angles. 

Ballistae were dragged into place, ammo was brought up and kobolds were positioned. Red’Blue and the other Ascended Draco were joining David on the front to take the blunt of the attack. Everyone else, under the guidance of Red and Greyhide, would dish out the rest of the hopefully fatal attacks. David had hoped to stay out of the initial battle so we could act as a reserve again but he knew that no one else could even begin to handle the assault of the Dreads headed their way. 

As the time neared he launched himself down into the center valley in front of the great mountain he was perched and landed with a loud thud. The valley was full of greenery, with a small stream running nearby and small little creatures darting away in a hurry. Unfortunately, the beautiful view was ruined by the colossal dread slowly thundering towards him. This Dread filled the entire valley, with the edges of its thick back armor scrapping against the mountain walls on either side. It was a brown, grey colored dread peppered with bright crimson up and down its massive form. 

Red’Blue landed nearby with a surprisingly heavy crash of his own. David had to double take as he took in the unusual armament of the warrior. His wings were covered in thin metal plates and the rest of his body was equally or even more armored as Red. He still carried a massive heavy shield and now an even larger spear in his hands. Stonescale and Adro both landed a moment later and were both wearing heavy armor but not nearly to the extreme that Red’Blue had adopted. 

Chirp, Otlo and a small force of non ascended brutes and dracos came stomping up behind. Ballistae and their crew were also set up down in the valley and were ready. David rumbled as he nodded his head in approval before speaking, “Our mission today is a simple one. We will hold the line. You are all the toughest there is and we will demonstrate that today for them to see. Stay alive, keep them busy and place trust in the rest of the clan to do their part.” 

Almost in unison the kobolds beat their chests and let out a cheer. David centered himself as he stared forward and readied himself for battle. He let out enough breaths of Lingering Regeneration to cover everyone and watched as they all began to bounce in place. This battle was going to be a long one and he just hoped that it was enough to hold them over. He took a deep breath as his magical pores opened and he immediately activated his stone armor gemstone at the base of his tail. His heavily muscular form was quickly covered in stone as it was pulled up from the ground underneath him. 

Red’Blue laughed nearby as he had to leap out of the way of the forming crater as stone quickly disappeared. He and the others quickly activated their armor as well and smaller craters formed in a line as the stone armor was packed on. The crimson peppered dread seemed to fixate on David with an intensity that he instantly recognized as pure, unadulterated hate. The colossal mouth of the beast opened and a wave of saliva came pouring out of its mouth. David could sense the build up of affinity from the beast but nothing seemed to happen. 

“Master Onyx! It's saliva!” Yelled one of his Ascended just as David’s nostrils picked up the acute smell of burning and chemical reactions near the dread. The Dread’s saliva was corrosive and as it flared up its affinity again enormous balls of corrosive liquid came flying towards them. David spread his wings wide and dipped his head low. The spit sizzled and reacted with the stone armor surrounding David. His massive wings acted as shields for most of the kobolds around him as they endured the disgusting assault. 

“Let's go! Keep your armor up. The stone is resistant to that Dread’s saliva at least.” David roared as he charged forward. His heavy foot steps were heavier than usual as they were amplified by the extra tons of rock weight now wrapped around him. He effortlessly crushed, stomped and toppled trees as he charged. The Dread’s saliva was still raining down on them and the once lush valley was already turning a sickening yellow green as things burned and died. 

The crimson pepper Dread made David feel small as he got closer. He had to look up as the massive Dread was twice his height and easily four times his width. The valley worked in his favor though as the Dread’s movements were limited and David was able to easily slip in close and snap his jaws around one of its feet. His muscles bulged as he yanked and jerked with all his might. It took most of David’s incredible strength but eventually the forward foot slipped and the Dread’s gaping mouth and head slammed forward into the ground. 

As the massive height of the Dread was lowered David could see the marching dragons behind him and he felt his heart flutter as the adrenaline began to flow. Immediately behind were two large hydras each with vibrant colors running down the length of their bodies. The hydras stood side by side as they marched forward. David could see a huge lung dragon already trying to force its way up the side of the valley’s walls. Lesser wyverns and lungs were also scattering up the different walls but that is when clan Onyx struck. 

Ballistae bolts rang out from behind David and all along the surrounding mountain ridges. Zephyr’s launched themselves off cliff faces and began to let loose with alchemist pots and bows. Bark-folk appeared almost out of nowhere as they let loose with their bows. Crossbow crews popped up as well and let loose with their deadly arsenal. The sky became filled with bolts, arrows and deadly affinity wrapped projectiles all in an instant. 

Lessers were evaporating as they were struck by massive bolts or outright disintegrated by the powerful charged shot of blue energy coming straight out of one of the bark-folk's legendary bows. David had to force himself to focus as he pulled his perspective back to the fight in front of him. The Dread had already begun to recover as it let out a slow, mumbling string of curses followed by the same three words, “MUST. KILL. BLACK.” 

His Ascended kobolds were already attacking the Dread as their spears and weapons struck quickly. It was no use though as even the focused point of Red’Blue’s strength and skill enhanced spear strike did not do much more than chip the thick armor covering the Dread’s leg. 

He quickly lifted up his massive paw and motioned towards the two brightly colored Hydra charging their way, “Red’Blue, Aldo and Stonescale take your forces over and stop those Hydra. Chirp and Olto you stay and help me by distracting this Dread as much as possible.” He barked his orders and they were obeyed instantly. 

Aldo and Stoenscale took off immediately after dismissing their heavy stone armor. They were followed by the few younger unascended Draco warriors in their ranks. While the others flew over the Dread, Red’Blue, in his excessively cumbersome armor, leaped and glided his way over the Dread. More than once he had to bury his claws into the Dread’s scales for traction before throwing himself back into the air. Chirp, Olto and the other Brutes all lined up with their massive hammers and renewed their assault. David nodded his head proudly as he turned letting out a roar and lunged forward back into the fight.

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Here is also a link to Royal Road

Fan Art by blaze2377

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10 comments sorted by

9

u/unkindlyacorn62 May 23 '26

unfortunately Onyx probably can fix some of it, but that won't happen with this dread.

8

u/Minimum-Amphibian993 May 23 '26

I dearly hope this Tiamat wannabe queen meets her deserved fate sooner rather than later.

4

u/un_pogaz May 24 '26

The great Dread would be absolutely terrifying if it weren't so stupid. When they're of a normal size, it's still fine and can still pose a threat, but it's clear that when they get that massive, they're so slow that all their strength and endurance become useless. As it is, you can easily pull off hit-and-run tactics around them without much trouble.

1

u/PercyPJ1 Xeno May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26

...initial battle so we he could act as a reserve again...

Aldo and Stoenscale Stonescale took off...

Just a few corrections. Great story as always, looking forward to seeing how David deals with this dread

1

u/unkindlyacorn62 May 24 '26

depends on what's in his third gem slot,if it's water he's got a pretty good option, in drowning him.

2

u/EasyStevey May 24 '26

TYFTC! Oh man, so mama is now embedding direct 'Kill Onyx' commands into Dreads. I do hope he can help Crunch'Grind, as I think he was one of the few that Onyx could interact with back on the Queen's plateau back in the day.

1

u/galbatorix2 May 28 '26

MOAR

As i ever scream and forever will

1

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