"Thunderfang!" a large, booming voice roared. The voice echoed throughout the vast cavern chambers, which to be called caverns would be disgraceful due to the incomparable majesty of its various tunnels, and the natural wonder of the smoothen ceiling and its supports. A large, dark dragon sat poised at the base of a rock spire, which had been worn away by the centuries, and now formed a natural throne. The dark dragon's fiendishly yellow eyes glowed brightly, as it looked across from its rocky throne. Another figure stirred in the distance behind the corner of a cavern wall, before quickly making its way towards the larger figure on the throne. "You called me, lord Predaking?" the smaller creature asked nervously as it bowed its horned head in respect to the much larger dragon, its superior. In size, Thunderfang, a dark blue and purple dragon, was miniscule compared to the gigantic black dragon which sat before him, and the difference in size intimidated him immensely. "I wish to know how my mate is doing in the egg-laying process?" the large black dragon asked. Thunderfang quickly replied, "She is doing well, my king. At this rate, your child and legacy will enter this world very soon." The large black dragon's yellow eyes narrowed in thought, and fixed themselves on a cavern a distance away from him. "Excellent," Predaking said, tapping his claws against the stone floor of the cavern in edginess, "You may leave me now." Thunderfang quickly bowed his horned head and spread his wings. With a few strokes, Thunderfang took to the air and flew into a tunnel on the second level of the cavern.

Predaking ruled over all of the Predadrags, a large and powerful clan of warrior dragons who controlled the vast wilds of the Stormwind plains, the Red Mountains, and the Jungles of Chaos. His fortress lay on the Predadrags' home planet, which was organic, in the Stormwind Plains, which during the winter, had the fiercest winds on the planet. Predaking was the largest of all of the Predadrags, outclassing all other Predadrags by both strength and size. He was even larger than the warring Autodragons and Decepticdragons, who had been fighting for twenty millennia. He had expanded his territories and his rule by forming his army and conquering all who resisted. Even after he acquired his land and kingdom, he ruled with an iron claw, with the one exception being his mate, whom he loved dearly. Predaking had all the power, land and Energon he could ever want, but the one thing he did not have was a successor. He was without a heir to take the throne when he eventually died. He was filled with hope as his mate, Blackfire, had finally come with child. But now was the time to wait, wait for her to lay the egg that would be the heir to his kingdom and would eventually rule in his place. News of his expectant child was scattered throughout his territory and lands. Many were overjoyed, some were indifferent, and others; his enemies, of which he had many, saw an opportunity.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a panicked voice. Predaking turned around to see Thunderfang flying hastily towards him. His arrival was soon followed by an explosion and plumes of smoke pouring out of the surrounding tunnels. "What is happening?!" Predaking asked in alarm. "My king, the fortress is under attack!" Thunderfang replied. "Under attack?! By who?!" Predaking demanded. "By the.. Bladewings.." Thunderfang replied worriedly. "They're here!?" Predaking exclaimed, "Where is my mate? Is she safe?!" Thunderfang mustered all the courage he had not to flee from the spot and spoke as clearly as he could, "I am not sure, my king. But she is accompanied by five of your finest warriors." "Which of my warriors?" Predaking asked suspiciously. "I am unsure of their names, my king, but I assure you they will keep your mate safe." Thunderfang replied nervously. Predaking looked towards the rest of his fortress, as smoke spilled in through the tunnels and filled the air. "Summon the rest of my warriors, and order them to destroy all enemies without mercy." he ordered. "Yes, my king!" Thunderfang replied before quickly flying off to summon his king's warriors.

"I must check on Blackfire." Predaking said to himself. As he spread his wings in preparation to take flight, a large explosion came from behind. Predaking looked behind him to see a large, smoking hole in one of the cavern walls. Suddenly, a group of ten to fifteen dragons pour out of the gaping hole and fill the main room. The last dragon to exit the hole was a large and muscular black and green dragon, with a trigram of horns on his head and violet eyes. Predaking's eyes narrowed in recognition and hatred as he looked at the dragon. The black and green dragon smiled wickedly at Predaking, though Predaking was larger than him by at least six times. "Shadowflame.." Predaking said angrily. "Good to see that you haven't forgotten me." Shadowflame replied haughtily as he stepped through the hole in the wall slowly. "Do you really think you can destroy me?" Predaking asked mockingly. "You may be the most powerful of all Predadrags, but you're not the most intelligent. And intelligence trumps strength every time." Shadowflame replied. "What do you think this little attack is going to hurt me?" Predaking replied confidently. "Who knows what something little can do? Big things do have small beginnings." Shadowflame replied with a devious grin, "Attack!" All at once, all of Shadowflame's small force lunged at Predaking. Predaking roared angrily and began fighting his attackers.

In the medical wing, Predaking's mate, Blackfire, who was said to be as beautiful as she was fierce, lay over a bed of soft foliage taken from the jungles of Chaos. Blackfire had previously been in eased labor as the egg had reached a point of rest in her oviduct. When the barrage of explosions occurred, a wave of shock went through her, restarting the egg-laying process. Blackfire groaned in pain as she pushed as hard as she could to lay her egg. Her nursemaids were hurriedly running around fetching water and strong wet leaves, which served as cloths, for their queen. "You're doing fine, my queen. It'll be over soon." one of the nursemaids said comfortingly. "I.. Know... It's just… what are those explosions?" Blackfire asked in a strained voice. "I'm not sure my queen." the nursemaid replied.

One of the younger nursemaids came running quickly into the room. Her face had the expression of panic and fear on it, as she breathed heavily from her haste. "What is it Trona?" the eldest nursemaid asked. "I was told that the fortress is under attack by the Bladewings! What are we to do?!" the dragon known as Trona said worriedly. "We will keep calm until the queen's egg has been laid. Then we shall evacuate immediately." the elder nursemaid replied calmly, "Can you find any of the king's soldiers to protect the queen, Trona?" "I already have.." Trona replied as she moved her small, light green body to the side to reveal five muscular dragons behind her. "Very good, Trona. Now escort them outside until the queen has laid her egg." the older nursemaid ordered. Trona nodded quickly, then led the five warrior dragons outside the medical wing. Blackfire continued to howl in pain as she pushed with all her might to lay her egg. "Don't strain yourself, my queen." one of the nursemaids advised fearfully. "I have to… We have to get out of here.." Blackfire replied.

About fifteen minutes later, Blackfire gave one final cry of pain, and with it, one great push, which sent the egg out of her oviduct and into the waiting claws of the eldest nursemaid. "You did it, my queen! You have laid your egg. Your future child." the nursemaid said joyously. "That's wonderful.. It's so.. Beautiful.." Blackfire said weakly with a joyous smile on her face, as she looked at her egg, which it's shell was a beautiful shade of dark purple, and had a black band rapping around it. A few of the nursemaids cheered in joy at their queen's first child, but they stopped as soon as the five warrior dragons entered the room. "Has the egg been laid?" a dark red, colored warrior dragon asked. "Yes." the eldest nursemaid replied. "Good." the warrior dragon replied. "Now let's get the queen and her egg somewhere safe." the eldest nursemaid said, "The queen is very weak and she needs to be moved, and-" "I don't think so." the red dragon said, interrupting the elder nursemaid, "The queen will remain here, but the egg will not." "What are you implying, soldier?" the elder nursemaid asked suspiciously. "We're not soldiers. At least not for your king anyway." the red dragon replied. "They're.. Bladewings.. Save the egg.." Blackfire said weakly. The elder nursemaid's blue eyes lit up in realization, but too late. Once she moved to go for the egg, the red dragon raked his claws across her side and knocked her into the wall behind. All of the nursemaids went into a panic, and scattered throughout the room; some escaping out the door and others backing up against the far walls as they were surrounded by the other Bladewing dragons. "Now, let's see that egg shall we?" the red dragon said as he reached out to grasp the egg, which lay on a pedestal of stone and swathed by a bed of foliage.

Suddenly, the egg was snatched out of its pedestal by another clawed hand. The red dragon looked up to see Blackfire clutching her egg against her chest, and a look of motherly rage in her fiery orange eyes. "I will not see my child in the claws of you or any Bladewing!" she said furiously, as she weakly backed away from the Bladewing dragons. "And how will you defend your child from five warrior dragons while you're in your weakened state?" the red dragon chided. Blackfire's eyes burned with a passionate hatred. In one swift motion, she whipped her long tail around and slammed in against the red dragon's skull. The red dragon groaned in pain as he was thrown against the wall behind, taken by surprise at Blackfire's sudden attack. Soon, Blackfire was desperately fighting her way through the warrior dragons as they began to swarm her to prevent her escape. She breathed her black fire, her namesake weapon, on any of the dragons who dared to approach her. She would fight to the death to save her child. Suddenly, the largest of the attacking dragons clamped his mouth around Blackfire's tail and slammed her onto the ground. Blackfire continued to clutch onto her egg, even as the large dragon pinned her wings to the ground. The red dragon walked over to Blackfire, a little clumsily as he was still recovering from the blow he had received from her. "Now that your little escape is over, give me the egg." he demanded. "I will die before I let you take my child!" she replied spitefully. The red dragon smiled wickedly, "So be it."

Predaking fought the attacking Bladewing dragons like a berserker. He cut down any dragon that came within his reach, and burned those who were unfortunate enough to get caught by his fire-breath. Even with all his fighting, Predaking was outnumbered and slower than the attacking Bladewing dragons, whose speed and small size enabled them to outmaneuver him. "Why don't you fight, Shadowflame? You prefer to let your minions do your work for you?" Predaking exclaimed tauntingly. "Honestly Predaking, I would love to fight you, but I'm a little pressed for time. And my signal to leave should be coming any time now." Shadowflame replied genteelly. Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream filled the cavern and continued to echo throughout. Predaking was frozen by the scream, as he recognized it, "Blackfire?" "I believe that's my cue." Shadowflame said, before letting out a loud screech, signaling a retreat. All of the attacking Bladewings withdrew from the caverns and followed Shadowflame's lead through the holes blasted through the walls. Predaking spread his wings and flew as fast as he could to the medical wing. His breathing shortened as he flew faster and faster, his spark beat quicker with fear and worry.

When he reached the medical wing, he could see that something was wrong by the debris that lined outside the chamber. He hastily entered the chamber, ducking his head to avoid hitting the entry way. Once inside, Predaking saw that the chamber was riddled with debris and destroyed objects. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw drops of crimson blood trailing behind a large stone rock, that was used as a washing basin. He quickly followed the trail, only to be horrified at the scene before him. His mate, Blackfire, lay still in a collapsed heap in a pool of her own blood. At first he backed away from the grisly sight, but as soon as the reality set in, he rushed over to his mate. He gently nuzzled her snout in a pitiful attempt to wake her. "Blackfire?" he asked forlornly, hope beginning to drain from his voice. Predaking saw his mate move slightly, and weakly look up at him. "Blackfire? What happened?" Are you?-" he started to speak, but was interrupted by his mate. "Bladewings… they took… her…they took the egg…" Blackfire said weakly, a brief fit of coughing following her words. Predaking froze in horrified shock upon hearing Blackfire's words. He knew that his mate had little time left, and he knew that he would comfort her before he sent his forces out to search for the Bladewings. "How did you know the egg was a female?" he asked. "It was so beautiful… I know it has to be a she…" Blackfire replied. She coughed weakly, and her eyes fluttered briefly before closing. Predaking looked at his mate in horror, he called her name desperately, but he knew it was in vain, "Blackfire? Blackfire?" He shut his eyes in sorrowful pain and grief and nuzzled his dead mate's snout with his own before pulling away.

Predaking's claws clenched the ground firmly, leaving deep gouges in its stony surface. His spark filled with anger and hate, and became colder than it had ever been before. His yellow eyes' lively glow was replaced with a burning hatred, and they narrowed and he walked out of the medical wing. He was greeted by Thunderfang and a group of strong warrior dragons. "My king, I have brought you your reinforcements." Thunderfang said. "Have them follow me. We're going after the Bladewings, and when we find them, we will end them." Predaking replied before roaring an angry battle cry. "Now follow me!" he shouted before taking off into the air and exited outside through a large tunnel.