The colossal stone door swung open, as Kothar's avatar had claimed it would, at his mere touch alone. The deep booming of hidden churning gears made the ground breath Vorador's feet rumble and shake. The red dust which had lain undisturbed for thousands upon thousands of years jumped and danced, the large doors pushing out to allow it to fall inward.
The chamber beyond was unbelievably colossal, perhaps half a smile at its radius,  a crater like opening with gently sloping sides merging into a dome like roof. Directly in the centre of its  curving ceiling was a hole open to the distorted sky. Even here, in so huge a space ever square inch of wall, floor and ceiling had been painstakingly decorated with the city's right angled artistry. Viewing it as a panorama, the many images merged into one whole. In colossal depictions were the elemental icons, all converging towards the centre where the swirling symbol of Spirit was the largest around the round gap in the ceiling. In addition, the elements were also accompanied by depictions of animals. Near the symbol for Earth was the Bear looming over it. A Spider, with its spindly eight legs out side, crotched atop the symbol for Air.  Around the icon of Water was curved a Snake. The icon of Fire, strangely in comparison, was devoid of a companion and stood alone.
Standing at the entrance to this place, Vorador looked out as the mammoth chambers interior. Four long red stone bridges, arranged at the four points of the compass, lanced from the edge of the chamber to its direct centre. He stood at the beginning of one such bridge. Each one had square carvings etched into them as well and occasionally a pair of stone claw like structures sprouted out from beneath and curved up along like an arch.
Directly above was a large circular stone circle suspended directly below the hole in the ceiling. Eight pillars, each one standing on either side of each of the four bridges, lanced from the bottom of the chamber directly to the circle. Each pillar was engraved with an elemental symbol. Somehow their number and configuration seemed symbolic
Where the four bridges meet and conjoined was a towering pale stone pyramid, directly beneath the hole in the ceiling. It was not at all like the terraced pyramids above but rather was seamless on all sides except where the bridges joined to it. For a long moment, Vorador simply stared at these featureless, plain pyramid in utter silence. Without even having any form of confirmation beyond the word of Kothar's avatar he knew for certain what he was looking at.
-0-
"Now, finally, I had come to the end of my quest. Before me lay the ancient device of draconic construction that the Seer had bid me to find. The Celestial Arrow, the so called weapon against the Gods. A device more advanced than any of the most elaborate Hylden construction. Tales of it had lured many in search of it and often to their deaths."
-0-
Slowly, step by step, the Vampire began out across the bridge. This space was so large that his footsteps could not echo and the sound seemed almost muted, without strength. The entire chamber had a hushed quality, very much as if no sound had been allowed to be here for such a long time that it was unused to it. Minutes ticked by as he walked across that bridge, his eyes fixed on the simple pyramid.
As he neared he saw more details that he had missed at a distance. The pyramid itself was suspended above a large circular pit that dropped down all around it for quite some distance, making it hard to see what was at the bottom. He could smell the unmistakable aroma of moving water even from so high above. The wall of the pit was lined with strange groves that ran vertically from the bottom to the top and intersected horizontally at seemingly random points. The purpose of them eluded him at least at a casual glance.
Finally he came to a stop before the pyramid. Unlike all other surfaces in the entire city, this structure was completely featureless, devoid of any decorations. It seemed seamless, made of one entire piece. In fact, even the bridges did not connect to it directly but stopped a foot from its edge. The pyramid in fact, now that he was almost right up to it, did not seem like it was made of stone either. It looked more like rough opaque pale crystal but of a type that defied classification. Standing so close, Vorador could feel something strange about it. It was nothing he could put into words, just a strange pulling sensation that seemed to tug at his inner sense of being, as if trying to pull him toward it like metal to a magnet.
-0-
"And now I saw why the Seer had bid me merely to find this device, not retrieve it. This thing was far beyond my capability to move. I did not see how my merely finding this device benefited her in any way but I suspected by now that the Seer was no Moebius the Time Streamer. Perhaps she was not as in control of events and certain of her facts as I had scornfully thought before."
-0-
Staring at this huge shape, suspended here in this huge yet simple chamber, Vorador felt that tugging sensation grow more and more acute, as if strengthened by his mere presence. Staring at it, a rising realisation began to fill his mind. Within this shape, the elements were being drawn together, merged, combined and made one. He could feel the cauldron of energy surge inside. This could only mean one thing.
-0-
"Now though, I think I truly understood. Whatever these 'travellers where - Elder, Keeper or both; they were as subject to the fundamental elements of this world as anything else and due to their nature, their need to feed on life, the purest essence of Spirit was beyond painful. Such pure, elemental focus tore them asunder and freed the essence of life, the soul itself, from within whatever place they digested it. That was the intention of the Celestial Arrow, to gather, galvanise and focus elemental power into the pure Spirit and then discharge it in one colossal burst."
-0-
This weapon, for despite its grand nature was merely that, was a feat of such engineering that it boggled the mind. The greatest Vampire sage and the most knowledgeable Hylden scientist would sell their souls to be able to create such a majestic item as this. This pyramid of unknown crystal was in a very strange way the ultimate Serioli ideal, utter and complete mastery and control of the elements and expressed in purest form. Ajatar-Cadre, or any of the other Serioli strove to achieve this perceived perfection.
This thing, this object of elemental perfection, had certainly not been what he had imagined the Celestial Arrow to be. Then again, he was not even sure what he had expected in the first place. The Seer had offered him nothing beyond a name. From that name alone his quest, through war, blood, carnage and death, had led him here. Only one question was left to be answered. Now that he had found the Arrow, if this was indeed the arrow as he confidently suspected, just what was he supposed to do now?
-"I remember you."- The statement pulsed inside his mind, a telepathic communication similar to the Whisper only many times more acute. Like how Kothar's avatar had spoken to them but without any gentle reassuring tone or words. There was nothing but harshness in this voice. Instantly Vorador drew Marrow from his side, looking around sharply trying to see where it was coming from. The massive chamber was devoid of any presence he could see or sense, but that did not mean it was empty.
-"I could feel the elemental energies in your blood; your mastery and knowledge of our most powerful secrets. It stirred me back from the void to wakefulness."- The harsh voice continued unbidden inside his mind. The Vampire could sense that it was coming from nearby, from somewhere uncomfortably close. Urgently he looked for any sign of the mental speaker.
-"But do not let that foster false pride."- The voice was condemning and filled with scorn. -"Our knowledge may survive in some way with you but it is polluted. You do not even know the proper names for the elements which you so clumsily in comparison, wield."- Suddenly and without warning the ground beneath his feet trembled as a shockwave of distinct elemental energy radiated through it, the element of Earth roused.
Vorador spun  as torrents of fire and water seemed to materialise out of thin air all around him, blasting around together back and forth. The two dangerous elements, especially to a Vampire, seemed to dive and soar at him in an almost predatory bird like way. He had to leap back and forth to avoid each one, only to get caught by a sudden and overwhelming blast of wind. It struck with force head on, a gale like the worst a typhoon could conjure, pushing him nearly to the edge of the bridge and the long drop beneath.
-"Not Water, but Aqua! Not Earth but Terra! Not Air but Aer! Not Fire but Ignis!"- The voice thundered at him as he sank Marrow into the stone, using the sword as an anchor to prevent himself from being blown away. Just when it seemed he would lose his balance and fall, the wind let up and the disturbances ceased abruptly.
In the moment of clarity, Vorador knew that had not really been intended as a serious attempt to kill him. That theatrical display had been merely a demonstration of power to illustrate a point of utter superiority. The light from above flickered briefly, a short quick but still palpable shadow passing over it.
Vorador looked up quickly and then jumped back away as far as he dared. The Dragon came down upon the bridge right where he had been standing merely a moment ago, landing with elegant grace for so large a beast. The bridge was wide enough to allow it to crouch or stand on all four legs without difficulty.
Kothar's avatar had been of comparable size but it had been merely an illusion, an image projected into the air. It had had no substance or matter. The creature before him now was flesh and blood and very real. slowly looking up, Vorador came face to face with it as it lowered its head on the end of its arching neck to peer at him, as one might peer down at some smaller and less important.
Vorador stood less than twenty feet away from a mouth capable of snapping him in half with little effort. A pair of large sickly yellow eyes regarded him, the silted pupils contracting and expanding as the monster focused on him. Close up, the parallels between the features of both Hylden and Ancient Vampire were more than obvious. The crest that sprouted from atop its skull could easily have belonged to any Hylden and the feathers lining the neck and forelimbs were almost elongated copies of those from the wings of Janos himself.
The face of this one was different from Kothar's avatar. It was longer along the snout and the chin was more pointed giving it a more pointed triangular look. Despite the lack of features to allow for recognisable human expression, there was a clear disdain and malice clear in those eyes. It seemed almost ethereal to be standing here, sword in hand while a Dragon considered his worth.
-"I know not by what instinct you navigated your way here."- It said into his mind and began to raise its head back up to its full height. -"But this place is the pinnacle of our civilisation, the focus of all our knowledge and understanding. A weapon it may be but it still stands as the greatest legacy and heritage of Uni."-
Its colossal wings, like those of an immense bat, settled down over its back and seemed to fold in almost like a cape to keep them out of the way.
-"Even when your kind were allowed as pets and experiments, you were never permitted to venture into this place. Even to Hoskor and his naive ilk, such a thing would be unthinkable."- Its eyes narrowed dangerously. -"And yet here you are of your own volition and will. This ought not be tolerated."-
Vorador took deliberate long breaths to keep himself steady. He needed to be in possession of every ounce of his wits and his instincts were screaming at him in anxiety to flee.
"I presume then that I am in the presence of Thanatos?" He asked out load instead as his mind began to whirl with options on what he should do. The Dragon's eyes widened in sincere puzzlement and its lips pulled down at the edges of its long mouth.
-"And you even know my name?"- Its thought asked and its tone sounded more irritated than confused. -"Is nothing truly sacred anymore?"-
"Not to a true pursuer of knowledge." Vorador replied quickly.
Thanatos, instigator of the first war of Nosgoth, snorted in derision and his long tail with its feathered quill lashed in annoyance. Under his stretched taught hide, muscles powerful enough to crash a man could be seen to move. His eyes were locked on the Vampire intruder and did not waver.
-"Your form is more human than anything else."- He began as if he were just now noticing his tone critical and darkly contemplative. -"But yet you also have characteristics of the Vampires, the eye colour and the configuration of the hands."- His nostrils distended and flared and then he snorted again this time with more disgust. -"Your vital life force, your soul, even smells like a Vampire!"- Vorador was not entirely sure how one could 'smell' a soul but Thanatos did not give him time to ask. The Dragon raised a paw and gestured with one talon down at him.
-"What manner of being are you?"- He demanded. The Vampire had already thought of a response to that.
"You've been asleep for a long time." He said and a good deal of self control and concentration was necessary to keep his voice steady. "The world has changed since then." Grimly he added. "And will continue to change into the far future." While it was the only logical response he could give, Thanatos seemed less than pleased.
-"Evidentially so."- He admitted with scorn, lips parting on one side of the immense muzzle to show his jagged teeth. -"But I think such change that I see is repugnant and repugnant things ought be corrected. I ought to have devoted more effort to culling your species than wasting my time on the Hylden, even if they seemed the greater threat at the time. You clearly show the Vampires are even more a hideous, unnatural mutation than ever before."-
"You could always go back to sleep." Vorador replied sardonically. He was deliberately being insolent, to keep the Dragon annoyed and irritable. So that when the inevitable attack came, he would have some warning.
-"The sleep, as you call it, was my only option for survival."- Thanatos said as if he had been ignorant even to make such a statement. Anger was clear in his tone and he seemed to radiate his rage. -"My kin were all dead or dying around me, cut off from sustenance as the world itself sickened in the Elder's gluttonous grasp."- He half turned to look back at the strange crystalline pyramid behind him over one large shoulder.
-"Even the firing of the Arrow was too little too late to stem that tide of death. In order to safeguard myself I regressed back, reforming the egg which had once sheltered me. Once enclosed I drifted in stasis, isolated and protected."-
"And yet you chose not to share the discovery of this method of preservation with any others of your own kind?" Vorador asked flatly, allowing a hint of his own disdain for such selfish to creep into his voice. Thanatos' head whipped around and in his eyes there was murder written there at being addressed in such a tone. Vorador tightened his grasp on Marrow. It wouldn't be long now.
-"No I did not."- The Dragon replied bluntly. -"But that truly does not matter. We are not like you hominids, forced to mate in order to produce offspring."- He reared up higher and spread his wings, the wide limbs pushing out to make a huge canvas of stretched skin.
-"As long as a single one of us stands, we are legion!"- He thundered. Somehow that statement felt familiar.
"That will take time." Vorador remarked.
-"Time is all I have left!"- Thanatos snapped back. -"So I can afford to be patient."-
The Vampire paused for a moment and remembered everything that had foreshowed this confrontation. He remembered the images he had seen in the ruins of what had obviously now been Dragon refuges. He remembered the warning of the so called Keeper, telling him to remain out of Thanatos' direct path, as he now did. He recalled the sheer anxiety and panic of the Seer when she been trapped in the Eternal Prison, screaming and driven near madness repeating over and over the name of Thanatos.  
Before him now was a dark reflection of his sire, Janos Audron. Like Janos, Thanatos had survived the end of his own species and a cataclysmic war. Like Janos, he had striven to survive so that he might one day be able to restore some part of what he had lost. But unlike Janos, Thanatos had been motivated to do so only by his hatred and anger. The Seer hated Janos for his role in destroying her life. But Thanatos she dreaded with a horror that was almost holy.
"So this is her ultimate irrational fear." He murmured to himself. Thanatos himself seemed not hear. He was shifting his weight, his muscles tensing.
-"But I have indulged my fancy for conversation long enough."- He said ominously. -"And it falls to me to rid this place, the sacred first city of the world, of the vermin which infest it."- His eyes suddenly bulged wide. -"And I believe I will start with you!"-
The pressure inside Vorador's mind increased dramatically and it felt its crushing weight. Letting out a grunt, he stiffed. That weight was considerable and pushing down, attempting to crush his very mind. But he was not without considerable defences for his mind, heightened over thousands of years. He pushed back, straining against the pressure that threatened to burst his brain from the inside out.
-"How amusing."- Thanatos' voice pulsed inside his head through the pain. -"You have greater mental defences than the five mind forged humans I destroyed."- As Vorador stood there, fighting off the pressure inside his mind, the Dragon drew back the head on his neck. The element of fire surged up and flared. With only moments to act, Vorador shoved the pressure in his mind aside. It took great effort but he forced his body to act immediate afterward. He held up one hand with his talons spread wide and as the fire burst from the Dragon's mouth he asserted his own will over it. Mastery of fire was the one thing, the one skill he was utterly sure of. It was time to see if his own skills competed with those of a Dragon, the original elemental masters.
The stream of flame turned into an unstable spiral, reflected away from a direct path and up and over the edge of the bridge. It spun as it fell down into the depths of the dark pit below. Startled at having his flame diverted, Thanatos let loose an angry roar and slammed one of his fore limbs down trying to crash the Vampire where he stood. Vorador stabbed up with Marrow, the blade stabbing deep into the beast's palm like a small knife. Thanatos' anger intensified, his paw drawing back as he growled in utter rage.
Diving forward the Vampire avoided the angry swipe of a long spike ridden tail, a battering ram that would have either crushed or skewered him. He rolled clear, only to come right up as Thanatos threw his jaws open directly before him. What emerged this time was not fire but another intense blast of wind, a storm force gale that burst from the open jaws. Reduced to a pierce of parchment before a hurricane Vorador was carried off his feet and thrown back, tumbling end over end. Grasping desperately in mid air he caught a hold of one of the bridges' many arches with his free hand, trying not to be sent flying into the abyss below.
His eyes forced shut against the intense stinging wind he struggled, forcing himself  back and around the stable structure to which he clung. The far side offered him should shelter from the wind, allowing him a few precious moments to reconsider his position. His master of fire has saved him from the classic weapon of draconic choice and even then it had been a near thing, but the other elements were simply too powerful for him to counter.
As if to emphasise that understanding in his mind, the air directly overhead grew instantly absolutely freezing. The moisture in it condensed and froze in an moment, forming a rain of deadly shards of ice which came raining down like glistening knives. Springing forward the Vampire narrowly avoided the falling ice, its glittering dust like fragments coming down to rain all over him.
-"You are only prolonging your own torment."- Thanatos' radiated thought informed him, full of self satisfaction and smug superiority. -"I take no real pleasure in dispensing pain."- The sultry, almost erotic tone his thought's took put the lie to his words instantly. Slowly, like a colossal stalking cat, the bulk of the Dragon began to slip forward along the bridge towards him.
"Is this the grand legacy you wish your people to pass on?" Vorador called out, his own voice quite hoarse despite trying to sound calm. "Hate and intolerance?" Even as he said it, the words stuck in his mouth. The parallel between what the Ancient Vampires had done to the Hylden and what he now faced were too alike to ignore. How long had this circle of hatred passing down from one generation, one race to the next, truly been going on? Was this the true meaning of the heritage the Seer intended him to find?
-"I am still here! My people have not passed from this world yet!"- Thanatos declared with an angry projected thought. Spreading his jaws wide the Dragon burst out two elements combined, Air and Water, producing a powering concentrated torrent of freezing snow and ice. The burst seemed like the worst cold of winter bottled up and unleashed all at once. Everything in its way was glazed over with frost and even thick slabs of ice in places. The arch Vorador was attempting to use to shield himself with took the full force of it and began to be covered in ice.
Vorador knew that he had to get in close, it was the only way he was going to find any physical weakness the beast possessed and capitalise on it. Perhaps he thought, in a admittedly naive movement of optimism, he would get lucky and find a weak spot on Thanatos' left breast directly over the heart. Unfortunately use of such immensely powerful elemental displays kept him from getting close to do anything.
Desperately, he looked around for something to help him, some element of the Arrow's chamber that he could turn to his advantage. His eyes fell on the colossal murals on the inside of the wall, three animals associated with each of the four primary elements. Suddenly, an idea struck him. At first glance it seemed utterly and totally absurd and without any basis in logic whatsoever. Such an idea would only result in getting him killed. Unfortunately, he admitted to himself, he was out of alternatives. He could not flee and he could not press on. The only thing he could do was gamble on a hunch.
Brining the form of the spider into mind, he followed himself into it. Enclosed in arachnid form within a few moments, he burst out quickly and scuttled off over the width of the bridge. Thanatos turned his head to direct the cold wind after him. The Dragon seemed not at all surprised to find his quarry transform itself into a spider the size of a donkey. But as he did, the cold blast of wind had no effect. Vorador could feel the element of air surround him, directed destructively at him but it seemed to have no substance to it, as if the intensity which it had was no longer relevant. The Spider was immune to the wind.
Before Thanatos could change his tactics, Vorador scuttled underneath the bridge clinging to its underside. Quickly he began to climb upside down, heading towards the distant edge where he could see the feathered end of the Dragon's tail swaying back and forth. Suddenly however, the red stone bricks that made up the bridge buckled together even more tightly and then began to rise and fall, the element of Earth employed to command them to dislodge him. The Spider was definitely not immune to Earth, but Vorador was all but certain now he had an animal shape that would be. 
He came up to one of the eight pillars which ringed around the pyramid. Quickly he became to climb up the far side of it, going as up as fast and as far as he could. Thanatos came up directly below him, glaring up at the insect which despite its size was still a mere bug to him. Firmly he laid one of his clawed paws against the pillar and it to two began to writhe, undulating back and forth trying to shake him off. That had been the moment Vorador had been waiting for.
Quickly he turned about and changed back to his regular form. Almost immediately he was changing again, swelling out until he unleashed the savage pent up fury of the Bear. The beast within roared with glee to be free once again and dived down towards its enemy, galloping down the side of the pillar and gaining speed. Its rocking about did not impede the Bear at all. It was as immune to the element of Earth has the Spider had been to Air.
Perhaps Thanatos, in his smug arrogant sense of superiority,  only perceived the real danger he was in at the last moment for he only began to turn away right before the colossal bear, an animal as big as his entire head, was on him with a stunning impact. Vorador made no attempt to reign in the Bear's natural instincts for savagery, allowing it to claw, slash and bit almost rapidly at Thanatos' long equine face.
A roar of pain and intensified rage burst from the Dragon's maw, claw marks raked deep across his snout and just missing his eyes. He swung his head back and forth, desperately trying to dislodge the furry thing. He reared up, swings spreading wide as he reached up with his front paws to grasp at the thing attacking him. All he could get a hold of was a handful of loose fur.
-"Get off of me, you unclean mongrel!"- The thought burst from the Dragon. Vorador, even while connected to the mindlessly savage Bear, was observing closely, waiting for the attack he knew was coming.   Sure enough directly overhead, Thanatos caused the moisture in the air to condense, a thick block of water appearing as if out of thin air.
Instantly he acted, banishing the bear back to its cage within. The beast did not go quietly and without indignant protest.  He morphed into his next form so quickly he still had bits of fur on him before scales began to appear. With a by now practised skill he assumed the form of the serpent, just as the water came down like a crushing weight.
Quickly he surged down the Dragon's neck, looping around it several times as the water cascaded harmlessly over him without any effect whatsoever. As he had hypothesised, each of the animal forms he had claimed on his journey were immune to the corresponding elements depicted in the chamber.  This levelled the playing field, or at least that was what Vorador had hoped for a naive moment of optimism.
Thanatos beat his wings once and instantly the immense beast was in the air, bursting up with such speed and force that Vorador was left momentarily confused and bewildered. The power behind that rise into the air would put a geyser to shame. In that moment of confusion, Vorador found himself reverting back to his normal form. With nothing else to grasp onto he grabbed one of the many curving spikes that ran along the Dragon's back with both hands, his centre of gravity thrown off as the beast rose up higher and higher.
Then the beast began to spin as he flew, his body turning end over end like a water predatory with prey in its jaws. Its aerial grace and precision was beyond compare, even the highest flying eagles were clumsy wallowing ducks next to it despite the Dragon's size. Hanging on with both hands, Vorador looked up to see the curving dome ceiling of the Arrow's chamber approaching at an alarming speed, a solid wall of red stone.
Quickly he dropped, catching hold of another spike along the beast's back just as the curving ceiling swept by. A moment of two later and the impact would have crushed him. Still Thanatos rolled about, feeling where his unwanted passenger was on his back and trying to either throw him off or grind him whenever possible against the wall. Clinging on as hard as he could, Vorador could feel the colossal muscles beneath him constrict and relax with each sweep of those mighty wings.
While he was still a flee on a dogs back, he had an opportunity. He was right up to the Dragon's body now. Quickly he glanced up. He was clinging to Thanatos directly below the right shoulder blade over the wing. Above him loomed the Dragon's long muscled neck. With agonising slowness, the Vampire began to climb up. Every now and then he had to stop and change position as the flying creature beneath him rose and fell, desperately trying to shrug him off.
With one gargantuan heave, Vorador pulled himself up until he was clinging onto the large shoulder of the Dragon's forelimb. At that exact moment, Thanatos swung around in mid air and reached for him with one large forepaw, talons spread wide. Reacting instant Vorador leapt for the only thing he could, the thick arching neck.
What happened next occurred so rapidly that it all seemed to blur and merge into one continuous event. Instinct seemed to take over, a reactionary urge so strong he could not resist it. Unable to stop himself even if he had wanted to, he sank his fangs directly into Thanatos' exposed neck
-0-
"It was only as my fangs penetrated his hide  that I realised this was a unique event, something that had never happened before. This species which had given rise to so many legends of fiery breathing terror had become extinct long before Janos first turned me as the first of the second generation of our race. No Vampire had ever sampled the blood of a Dragon, let alone one such as me, trained in the use and understanding of elemental lore."
-0-
Blood flowed as it always did. Blood was the life. But the blood of a Dragon was not like the blood of the other races, nourishing the body, restoring energies and healing wounds. One mouthful, just one taste, carried with it a burden and price. The blood was already flowing down his throat and as he sensed the onrushing surge coming, Vorador realised it was already too late.
Dragon blood did not only nourish. Within came power and knowledge, an uncontrolled blast of thoughts, feelings, images bursting into his mind like an exploding star. He could feel understanding and true perception push into his awareness allowing him to see past what he had considered 'mastery' of the elements. He could see now how Thanatos could belittle any skill obtained by the younger races in controlling the elements. Even the Serioli could not even dare imagine the depths of which their elemental erudition could be pushed. But not only that. The knowledge flowing through him was startling enough but the power that came with it could only be described as euphoric. His knowledge, skills and understanding were swelling, budding out like a flowering plant. His conscious mind simply could not take it all in.
He pulled back with a gasping cry, his lips red with blood. Whether Thanatos felt either the bite or the siphoning of power did not really matter. The Dragon let out a bellow and righted himself in mid air, his long neck curving so one large eye fixed on his unwanted passenger. Stunned and reeling from the conflicting power and knowledge whirling inside him, Vorador looked up.
-"You...bit me?"- He actually sounded surprised, even shocked. Then his rage poured out of his mind and slammed into Vorador's like an onrushing avalanche. -"YOU BIT ME!"-
The Dragon flung himself down, hurtling himself down like a falling comet until with ready force he slammed into one of the bridges below. While he did not seem to suffer from such a landing, Vorador was thrown clear. He slammed into the red stone, rolling several feet before finally coming to a stop. Desperately he tried to rise, to reach for a weapon any weapon, but his body was stunned and his mind was still reeling from what he had absorbed. He was sluggish and stiff, unable to move as the Dragon righted himself and began towards him. His jaws were opening wide and already tongues of flame were leaking past his maw.
-"You filthy little parasite!"- Thanatos thundered and reared his head back, the glow of a raging inferno illuminating the inside of his mouth.
And then William was there. The young king seemed to explode from nowhere, the shield of the Lance Lord attached to his arm and held up before him and his sword drawn back. Thanatos turned at the sight of the sudden intruder but too late. The sword thrust forward and sank deep into his shoulder. Perhaps the sword, forged using Serioli methods, allowed such a wound to be inflicted. Vorador doubted any ordinary blade would be able to inflict so much hurt.
Thanatos bellowed and reared up, trying to pull away from the wound. William pressed him, stepping forward and slashing the up directly across the chest. He opened a shallow gash, not a serious wound by enough to startle the Dragon into backing up out of reach.
William stood there, his sword drenched in blood. On his face was an expression of pure and utter, even deranged, delight.
"William De'Segnir - conqueror, liberator... Dragon Slayer." His voice was dripping with suppressed excitement as he stepped forward, oblivious in his mad lust for achievement of the danger. "An epitaph that will last for all time in the minds of men!"
Thanatos however was far from impressed. His neck arched around in an instant and the element torrent of fire burst forth. William was not quite blinded by his own ambition enough to try and endure that and dived down, rolling across the red stone as the fire continued overhead. He scrambled back up, running towards the beast. Thanatos was faster and lashed out with his tail, batting the young king aside as easily as if he might swot away a troublesome fly. William had the wind knocked out of him, sending him flying up against one of the bridges' curving arches.
The Dragon made for him with a raised claw but suddenly with a burst of light, projected images of animals were assailing him from all sides. Alarmed and startled at the appearance of a herd of ghostly deer, swarms of bees and packs of wolves all about him, the Dragon bucked up and swung about trying to drive them away. His thrashing tail and talons passed through the images as if they were composed of smoke.
Looking back, Vorador saw that approaching them along the bridge from behind holding his staff aloft and out before him was Bane. The druid marched forward, face set with grim determination and anger.
"Vile remnant of a corrupting species of reptiles!" He snapped, keeping the ghosts he summoned harassing the Dragon relentlessly, keeping him off balance. "You and your kind have done enough damage to the world!" He flicked his staff up and the pearl at its tip pulsed with light. Out of that light came a rapid series of fireballs, each one a bright blue. The druid sent them hurtling through the air to crash into the beast.
By now, Thanatos had had enough. With a snarl he raised one wing to deflect the rapid fire arcane bolts hurled at him and drew back his head. Air and Water combined in his jaws and before Vorador could even cry out a word of warning to the Druid, a blast of intense winter cold shot forth towards him. It came so suddenly that Bane was left helpless before its rush. His arcane bolts seemed to freeze in mid air and then shatter into ice like fragments. Bane himself was knocked backwards onto his back with a thump, his body nearly turned blue. His clothes were turned rigid with ice, his beard white with snow. Thick blocks of ice had formed over his chest and side where he had taken the full force of the stream.
The Dragon stalked forward but the interference of the other two had granted Vorador enough time to force his body and mind back under his own strong mental discipline. Grunting at the effort, he forced himself back up to his feet. Thanatos was coming on in a rush now. The Keeper had warned him, do not stand directly before Thanatos or his wrath would destroy him. Vorador could see now that such advice was not only practical but also providential. Thanatos had to be stopped here, would be stopped here. The timeline demanded it be so and Vorador did not need to fight him directly in order to do so. It could say now, perhaps it was the knowledge still pulsing inside his head or maybe it was merely some deep inborn instinct. Either way, he already knew what he had to do.
Thanatos lunged, gaping jaws pushing towards him in a savage near animalistic snap. Vorador leapt backwards and as he did, he morphed back into the form of the spider. Instantly he was moving, scuttling towards and then up the side of one of the eight pillars.  Bellowing out his wrath the Dragon began to rise, Earth, Water, Air and Fire rippling around him ready to strike out. Just as he was reaching up to snatch the spider with one paw, William, who had recovered from the blow struck him, stabbed Thanatos in the tail with the sword. It sank in deep right down to the bone and the squeal of pain the Dragon let loose shook the ground.
William tried to pull his blade free but found he could not, it was wedged too deep and tightly into the flesh and bone. Thanatos back over one shoulder the Dragon whipped his tail up sharply and the weapon was thrown from the young king's grasp, its tip cracking the young king across the chest. The shield of the Lance lord on William's other side also flew free, pried from his grasp by the blow
The sword was freed from the wound it had inflicted by the momentum as both artefacts sailed high up into the air, turning end over end before finally plunging back down.
William watched in horror as his sword fell past him, helplessly far beyond his reach and down into the dark depths of colossal shaft below.
"NO!" He called out, one hand extended impotently as the gleaming hint of the blade vanished into the deep abyss. Sharply Thanatos turned back, spreading his wings to rise up and in one elemental holocaust devastate them all at once. Suddenly however, there is a loud crack and a boom from above, a terrible tearing noise that echoed even inside this huge a chamber. The Dragon turned his head to look up.
Directly above, clad in the form of the mighty Bear, Vorador gave the massive stone ring he had climbed to one second and final terrible slam with both paws. The ring trembled at the impact and began to crack, small pieces of it flaking off. Finally, with a great grinding crack the entire structure began to collapse.
Vorador leapt clear and from the bear changed immediately to the form of the Raven. He had not even known he could do that on a conscious level. It was just an immediate reflex reaction and he was flying before he realised what had just taken place. Whatever energies in one mouthful of Dragon blood there were and whatever the consequences were for their absorption, it had at least provided him at least one tangible benefit. He no longer needed to revert to his natural form before shifting to another alternative one.
Thanatos back winged frantically, trying to get clear of the falling debris but even a Dragon's aerial reflexes were not fast enough. The rubble came right down on top of him, battering his colossal body with a rain of shattered red brick. The Dragon's squeal of rage and pain was cut off abruptly as he tumbled down, unable to spread his wings. With a colossal crash he slammed into the side of the crystalline pyramid, rolling down its side limply before falling down to the abyss after William's dropped weapon.
Slowly the dust began to settle and a long moment of scared silence endured. Vorador dripped down back to one of the bridges. It had been struck by some of the debris and part of it had been knocked leaving a side crack. Changing back to his regular form, the Vampire leaned over and looked down into the darkness. He could see and near nothing expect the rattle of smaller pieces of debris as they continued to fall. There was no sign of the Dragon.
Bane had been able to see himself from most of the ice which he had been struck and encased with but as he came near he was still blue, his teeth shattering and he was trembling violently. William had taken a battering but looked to be in good shape, more devastated by the loss of his prized weapon then by any physical hurt done to himself.
Vorador was about to ask them both to leave here immediate, to forget there were ever here and had even opened his mouth to begin but as soon as he did, a powerful light seemed to grow from directly behind him. Quickly he turned around and when he saw what was happened, he stared in awe. The crystalline pyramid was emitting that pale white light, the source deep within its strange and mysterious depths. As the rest of the chamber seemed to darken, the shadows widening and lengthening unnaturally he realised his error. It wasn't creating the light, it was drawing it in from all around. The strange spiritual pull he had felt when he had first approached it grew in direct proportion to that light.
The light began to spread, passing down into the abyss directly below, feeding into the grooves and creating strange patterns of illuminating like glowing water flowing through a complex series of drains. The pyramid's surface, which at first had been cloudy, suddenly beam as seamless, smooth and perfect as the finest glass.
"What...is this?" Bane began and for once he was not cantankerous but filled with a strange baffled wonder. The pyramid before them gleamed, its surfaces  showing their distorted reflections even from this far away.
"It's the arrow." Vorador began in that same tone. "It has been roused from its slumber."