Magi Nexus

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Unification
The Aerie, Crux Space. 19,000 Light Years from Earth.

Rizar sensed the approach of their ultimate destination, and urged his steed, the mighty Vyko, to lead the way and gate back to the material realm. He concentrated his mind and reached out to her.
~Vyko, our destination approaches.~
~I am aware, Rizar,~ the Void Dragon answered, a patronising note to her tone. Rizar smiled to himself, he enjoyed needling Vyko whenever he had the chance, but she gave as good as she got in that regard, too.
Magical energy surged around the dragon as it reached out once more and pressed its will upon the fabric of reality and tore a hole back into the material realm with an expanding wave of exotic blue energy.
Vyko beat her wings once more and dove for the gate. Rizar always enjoyed these moments, but today, he needed to be aware of his surroundings more, and he looked back over his shoulder to check that the flight of dragons behind him were following.
The sight that greeted him made him proud, and was both impressive and daunting at the same time.
Over one hundred Void Dragons soared through the Wyrmhole, it's blue glow backlighting the dark reptilian shapes as they changed course slightly to follow Vyko through the gate.
Their mission had been successful, and now they would return home to formalise things.
Feeling proud of his achievement, Rizar focused his attention back on the gate before him just moments before Vyko burst through it and back into the material realm. The energy of the gate splashed over him like an invigorating shower of life-giving energy, and then they were back. Behind him, the other dragons in the flight burst through as well and moved to follow him.
Satisfied that everything had gone to plan, Rizar looked forward once more at the vista that greeted him. This was the Aerie, the home of the Crux Nomads, or the Corpus Nomadica, to give them their proper name.
Ahead, a vast rock riddled with countless holes and caves, surrounded by a field of smaller asteroids—each of which would be the size of a small planet by themselves—filled the void of space. The huge central rock was also covered in cities and settlements, some of which reached out into space to connect them to the surrounding asteroids.
Pinpricks of light were everywhere, revealing a huge population living here, close to the centre of the galaxy. Unlike the space around Sol, where their mission had taken them, here, the night sky was filled with the light of countless stars, many of them closer to the Aerie than Proxima was to Earth.
The result of the void being so filled with stars meant that the Aerie was constantly lit up by the nuclear fires of these stars. Ahead, beyond the Aerie, the brightest area of the galaxy glowed, backlighting everything.
Deep within that irradiated cluster lay the supermassive black hole at the centre of the galaxy, and the secret that it held.
Rizar focused on his mission again, pulling his attention away from the stunning vista before him and urged Vyko on. They made for what could be considered the north pole of the Aerie, and the vast, flat-topped asteroid that floated above it, locked into place by the towers that reached up to it from the surface of the Aerie.
Rizar made out the huge flat area that was his destination ahead. It was surrounded by enormous mountains, while the largest peak looked more artificial and rose three times higher than the other mountains. It too was covered in the glow of a thousand, thousand lights upon its ebony surface. Rizar guided Vyko down and soon landed gently on the rocky floor.
Vyko folded her wings in as she settled, while the other dragons in the flight came in to land behind her. Rizar concentrated and pulled on the Essentia around him, using its Magical power to enact his conscious desire to be standing on the floor.
With a whip-snap of displaced air, he Ported from the back of Vyko and appeared on the floor before his steed. He looked up at her.
~Thank you, Vyko, you have served the Crux well once again,~ he sent through his mental Link to her.
Vyko inclined her massive head to him, and moved off to one side, revealing a group of creatures nearby, and beyond them, a growing crowd of Nomads Porting off of their steeds.
Rizar walked forwards and approached the creatures, who, for the most part, looked anything but human. The one who did look human stepped forward and inclined her head. She was beautiful with ruddy tanned skin, long, straight black hair, dusky eyes, and a long black dress that did nothing to hide her curvy body. Her looks alone would be enough to intimidate most Riven men, but as a Magus, he knew it was just one element of this creature and the others behind her that gave Rizar pause and made him tread carefully.
They were powerful, and Rizar could feel it. He could sense the incredible connection they had to Essentia and the reserves of magical energy within them. They were clearly on alert, with their Aegises up and glowing brightly in his Aetheric Sight.
“Thank you,” the woman said, her voice felt like velvet, but there was steel behind it.
“Of course. It is our pleasure to serve the Crux and their allies,” Rizar replied. “I trust you were not too bored by the trip out here?”
She smiled, but it was the smile of a predator. “We shall see if this was worth it…” she answered, and Rizar sensed a threat behind her words as if she was saying: if this didn’t work out favourably for them, there would be trouble.
Rizar pressed his lips together, unsure how to answer her for a second before he recovered. “I’m sure it will be.”
Essentia flared behind him, and Rizar sensed the appearance of another inhuman power; one that could rival this woman, but maybe not all of the Archon’s combined.
Rizar turned to see the nearly ten-foot figure of Vine, one of the Crux, standing there. She looked somewhat female, with her slightly wider hips and the impression of breasts, but that was as close as she really got to looking human. Her skin was charcoal grey and looked like it was divided up into armoured plates. She wore some robes that hung from a belt on her waist, but little else. She stepped forward towards Rizar and the Archons.
He turned to face her and lowered his eyes in deference.
“My Lord,” he said in a low tone.
“Welcome home, Rizar, you have excelled once again. The Crux thank you and your fellow riders for your service in bringing our guests to us.”
Rizar bowed slightly. “My pleasure, my Lord.”
“Archons,” Vine continued, focusing on the creatures behind him. “Welcome. It is with great pleasure that I welcome you here to the Aerie. I am Vine.”
“I was under the impression that there were more of you,” the woman said.
“You are Lilitu, I take it?” Vine asked.
Lilitu didn’t move to confirm or deny what her name was. Instead, she stood there and watched Vine for a moment before saying anything. “Where are the others?” she asked, scanning to her left and right.
Rizar looked over at Vine, a knot of fear rising up within him. He’d never heard anyone talk to one of the Crux in such a disrespectful manner. Any Nomad or Magus would be killed on the spot for such insolence. But Vine’s eyes flicked over the group of Archons and then back to Lilitu.
“You’re right, there are more of us. However, all but one of us are always indisposed, I’m afraid. Meaning that only one of our number might greet you here today.”
“Is that so?”
“I do, however, speak with the full authority of the Crux and our father.”
“You speak on their behalf, and yet, they can’t be bothered to be here themselves?” Lilitu said, stepping forward, her tone and posture threatening.
This was not going how Rizar had hoped or expected it would.
“I think you misunderstand me, they physically cannot be here…” Vine answered. Was that fear in her voice? He had never heard one of the Crux express fear before. Maybe they would be fearful of their father, but Rizar had never seen him. Few outside of the Crux ever did.
Rizar looked over at the Archons to see the others looking around them, at him, the other Nomads, and the surrounding dragons. Could they stand up to them all? They were powerful, that was for sure, but could they fight and win against Vine, himself, and their allies—a veritable army of Magi and Scions?
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you and take your place, right here and now?” Lilitu asked.
For a moment, there was silence, and Rizar glanced between Vine, Lilitu, the Archons, and his fellow Nomads, trying to get an idea of where this might go.
That’s when reality cracked open.
Right behind Vine, the air split in a glowing white jagged crack that hit like a thunderclap, sending a shockwave of force across the asteroid. It kicked up dust and shattered stones as it hammered against Rizar’s Aegis. The blinding white light flared as energy flowed from the rent and coalesced into a figure. A humanoid figure made from light that was both difficult to look at, and to be around with the simply incredible energy that flowed out of it.
Rizar thought he’d felt power before. He thought he’d been in the presence of gods when he’d met the Crux and Archons, but they were nothing compared to this.
This was true power, true godhood, and it was both mind-blowing, and, frankly, terrifying. Rizar wanted nothing more than to run screaming from it. But he resisted and steeled himself. Glancing right, however, he could see some of the less powerful or resilient Nomads had been reduced to a quivering mess and were either curled up on the floor or running from the meeting already.
Rizar focused his attention back on the figure of light, Vine, and the Archons, in time to see Vine drop to her knee and lower her head.
“Father, had I known you were planning to visit…”
The figure looked down at her and reached out its hand, touching her head. “Of course, my child, do not concern yourself. I sensed my presence was needed.”
The voice of the father was just as incredible as its form and boomed around the plain, sounding both out loud and in his head.
Vine nodded her head but said nothing. The Father turned to the Archons, who had taken a few steps back, no doubt sensing the Father’s power as much as he did. Lilitu looked at him for one moment longer and then dropped to her own knee. The other Archons did the same.
“Welcome, Archons, grandchildren of my hated sister. We welcome you into the Crux. We have much to discuss, and much to do…”