Alexander the Great Mage

"Hey." Alexander smiled warmly at Flamewing, his heart suddenly full of euphoria. "You did it. Well done. Very well done, Flamewing!"

"Thank you. Glad to be back…" Flamewing whispered softly before passing out. 

Alexander quickly checked her pulse worriedly. 

"Don't worry. Her body is extremely weak right now. Let her mother take care of her. Our job here is done." Blackfire said, barely able to control his overflowing joy and happiness.

Next to him, Flamebright didn't even try to control her emotions as she burst into tears of extreme happiness when she finally held Flamewing's human form in her arms once more after so many long years. 

Alexander smiled with great satisfaction as he watched the other dragons turn into human form to fuss and take care of Flamewing and Flamebright. They were in good hands, and he was truly basking in the joy of a job well done. 

"Let's go." Alexander said softly. 

"Go?" Blackfire said with a start. "I assume Flamebright would probably want to express her gratitude to you once she's…"

"There would be time and opportunities for that in the future. For now, I have to go back home immediately." Alexander interrupted. 

Blackfire nodded. "Come, I will carry you upon my back, and we will go where you need to be with the greatest speed." 

"Dubaza." Alexander called out. 

"Here, Your Majesty." Dubaza promptly replied as he quickly made his way to Alexander's side.

"We're going back to Rin-Turah immediately. Travel with Lord Blackfire here and bring Princess Anastasia and the three kids with you. I will be going on ahead." Alexander turned to look at Blackfire. "Please bring them back home safely. I will go back home first, it will be much faster if I travel alone."

"Understood." Blackfire replied obediently. He raised his hand up and a translucent, blood red parchment appeared in his hand. 

"What is that?" Alexander asked, slightly surprised. Without Flamewing in his mind to answer most of his queries, he had to resort to asking his questions aloud to the person involved. 

"I'll definitely miss having that girl in  my mind." Alexander thought ruefully to himself.

"This is a blood contract, my Lord." Blackfire said solemnly as he waved the contract towards Alexander. "From today onwards, until the end of the six hundred years I owe you, it will be my blood, my body, my soul before yours. This contract will create a protective barrier around you with the power of my blood and my soul. Any damage you take will be transferred to me. And before my lifeblood and soul are exhausted, you will not take any harm." 

Alexander held the blood red parchment and read the content in deep surprise. It truly was exactly as Blackfire had said. He turned his gaze to Blackfire, feeling a deep sense of newfound respect for him. 

He was a dragon, an apex being in the Universe. For him to willingly produce a blood contract to be signed by a mere human was incredibly humbling. And in Alexander's case, totally unnecessary. 

"Thank you for your offer, Lord Blackfire." Alexander began.

"Please call me Blackfire, My Lord." Blackfire interrupted respectfully.

"Blackfire it is." Alexander nodded. "However, I do not need you to sign this contract. I know for sure that you would definitely do your very best to protect me. That is enough for me. This contract is… too binding."

"Binding, My Lord?" Blackfire asked, slightly confused at Alexander's choice of words.

"Yes, binding. There are times when injuring myself is the only way to progress, when situations call for realistic subterfuge. I need to be able to bleed in order to do that." Alexander said seriously.

Blackfire frowned slightly. He did not quite understand Alexander's way of thinking. Being a dragon, he never had the need for subterfuge before.

Alexander noticed Blackfire's frown and smiled lightly. "However, I do have someone very important to me, someone I would gladly give my life for to protect. Will it be okay if she signs this contract in my place?"

"Absolutely, My Lord. This contract is for you, your loved ones and your descendents." Blackfire said with a slight trace of relief. Producing a blood contract was an act of resolution and finality on his part, a symbol of his willingness to die for his lord. He would absolutely hate it if he had to somehow cancel the contract. 

Alexander nodded. "I will take this contract with me then. I presume you'll probably know it when the contract is signed?"

"Yes, I will know it immediately. In fact, I should be able to communicate with the person if she wishes to." Blackfire explained.

"Very good. In that case, bring Dubaza and the kids along with you and find me in the Royal Palace of Rin-Turah." Alexander instructed.

"As you command, My Lord." Blackfire bowed.

Space rippled slightly, and with a slight burst of golden light, Alexander was gone. 

*-*-*-*-*

A magnificent, planet sized Starship was parked near a similarly-sized planet. It was in the shape of an upside down double bladed axe with a massive round dome on top. That round dome was as large as planet Earth's Northern Hemisphere and contained more than ten billion souls, with more than two billion fighting men, elves, trolls and even orcs. 

It was one of Symphonia's Galaxy Class Starship. It, and others like it, formed the backbone of Symphonia's military strength, and was the reason why they were able to rise to become a Universe Empire. 

A single Galaxy Class Starship was capable of bringing forth the strength required to fully dominate an entire galaxy. 

It contained exactly two thousand Solar Class Motherships, and each Mothership contained a million soldiers and a fleet of hundreds of battlecruisers, frigates and destroyers. 

The Solar Class Mothership was the bane of planets, and they were powerful enough to invade and control entire star systems containing tens to hundreds of life planets. 

With two thousand of those Solar Class Motherships, a single Galaxy Class Starship could easily dominate a galaxy. Afterall, there were only so many critical star systems that needed to be controlled before the entire galaxy falls under one's command. 

However, as powerful as those Solar Class Motherships were, they were not the main deterrent of the Galaxy Class Starship. The main deterrent was simply the Starship's main cannon. 

It was a mobile star-annihilator. A single burst from its main cannon was powerful enough to cause a star to explode and go supernova. 

This particular Galaxy Class Starship was called Star of Symphonia, and it belonged to Prince Flario.

Prince Flario was seated in his luxurious command center within the bridge of the Starship, sipping wine and studying the reports being displayed on the massive hologram screens before him. 

He glanced up and surveyed his bridge briefly, as he usually did every so often to make sure that everything was functioning as they should be. His magically and technologically enhanced eye took in every little detail without missing a single thing. 

He glanced down from his lofty captain's seat to survey his impressive command center.

Hemipherical in shape with a stunning radius of almost a kilometer, Prince Flario was seated high up, almost all the way to the top of the hemisphere. All around him within a twenty meter radius was a magnificent spherical hologram of the entire Symphonia.

The hologram displayed the entire Universe Empire, and the sections which were under Prince Flario's and his allies' control glowed slightly green. The sections which were under the control of neutral Princes and Princesses glowed slightly yellow, and the sections under the control of rival Princes and Princesses glowed slightly red.

Right then, almost two fifths of the Universe Empire glowed green, a fifth glowed yellow, and the rest glowed red. 

All over the hologram of the Universe Empire were dots of all sizes with all three colours. These dots represented military vessels at the battlecruiser level and above. Vessels below battlecruiser grade were fodder, and had no right to appear on his screen. Even battlecruisers were merely slightly fatter and stronger fodder. 

The main sources of concern were the various star-shaped objects glowing brightly all over the place. These represented other Galaxy Class Starships and were the crucial pieces that could make or break his attempt for the throne. 

Prince Flario had two Galaxy Class Starships, and he was secretly building the components for five more in all fifty of the planets he owned. 

The battle for the throne was heating up spectacularly and Prince Flario knew for certain that the other Princes and Princesses were desperately maneuvering for the resources to build more Galaxy Class Starships as well. 

Although he currently had the largest amount of territory and power, he couldn't let his guard down. Not one bit.

The battle for the throne was extremely ruthless, and a knife would never fail to strike if you so much as reveal a tiny gap in your armor. 

That was why he had gathered everyone he deemed important into the Star of Symphonia, the most heavily modded Galaxy Class Starship in the entire Universe Empire. That way, the enemy would not be able to get to the important people that determined the success of his daily operations.