Dill
Dill (originally known as Dillon, and briefly by his undername Dust) is a major protagonist and pivotal leader in The Metalwood Saga. Introduced as the tough, enigmatic captain of Shock Crew and the commander of the trashboys in the Under, he is eventually revealed to be a four-hundred-and-thirty-year-old elf and the biological son of the saga's ultimate antagonist, Orym (Aten).
Balancing his fierce loyalty to the underkids with the dark legacy of his parentage, Dill evolves from a secretive gang leader into a true commander, ultimately playing a critical role in stopping his own father from destroying the universe.
Appearance and Personality
Though he is over four centuries old, Dill appears as a human man in his early to mid-twenties. He has blond hair styled in spikes and striking light eyes that shift constantly between blue and gray, often flashing when reflecting overhead lights. He is in peak physical condition, possessing a lean, perfectly sculpted, and muscular physique. To survive the harsh, anti-elven environment of the sky cities, Dill underwent extremely rare and painful cosmetic surgery to have his pointed elven ear tips removed.
As "Dust" in the Under, he typically wears a dirty green t-shirt, though he manages to look impressively clean compared to the rest of the underkids. In flashbacks to his life on Earth as Dillon, he is seen wearing grease-stained overalls. Later in the series, while traveling on Valaralda, he adopts flowing desert clothes of tans and browns.
Personality-wise, Dill is a natural leader—witty, street-smart, and deeply protective of his Crew. He projects an aura of danger and mystery, maintaining strict boundaries and rarely showing vulnerability. As Queen's secret second-in-command, he described himself as the "ass" to her "mouth," handling the dirty, practical logistics of ruling the Under. Beneath his tough exterior, Dill carries a heavy burden of guilt for the things he has done to survive and a deep, underlying melancholy regarding his fractured family.
Biography
Early Life and the Ascension
Born to the brilliant scientist Orym and an enigmatic woman named Tiala, Dillon grew up in the shadow of his father's growing obsession with magic and power. Tiala eventually left Orym, unable to bear the monster he was becoming, an event that deeply fractured Dillon's relationship with his father.
Roughly three hundred years ago, Dillon was living a quiet life as a mechanic in Dublin, California, restoring vintage cars with a human friend named Oil. On the eve of the Ascension, Orym contacted him, warning him that the world was about to end and instructing him to reach a specific gatesending portal at Taylor and California in San Francisco. Speeding through the chaotic streets in a taxi, Dillon crashed the car but managed to dive through the gate just as it closed, securing his survival aboard City Three.
The Under and Shock Crew
Living in the mechanical depths of the sky cities, Dillon shortened his name to Dill and became a prominent figure in the Under. He allied with the ruthless Queen, helping her form Her Majesty's Navy. While Queen acted as the terrifying face of the operation, Dill worked from the shadows. Operating under the alias "Dust," he ran the trashboys and secretly managed the "gearheads"—a squad of underkids who raced stolen cars.
During this era, he befriended the young killgirl Phoenix and her partner Beam. They eventually broke away from Queen's tyranny to found Shock Crew. When a massive Cothellon assault and an erupting supervolcano on Stromboli threatened their lives, Phoenix sacrificed herself to save the world. With her dying breath, she forced Dill to promise that he would keep her young son, Rylan, far away from the dangerous world of magic and Crew life.
Honoring her dying wish, Dill coldly kicked the ten-year-old Rylan out of Shock Crew. Though it broke Dill's heart and earned him Rylan's bitter resentment, Dill secretly watched over the boy from the shadows for the next five years to ensure he survived.
Rebellion and the Fall
When a fifteen-year-old Rylan awakened as a fallfoiler, Dill finally welcomed him back into Shock Crew's inner circle. Dill had spent decades attempting to unite the various Under Crews to overthrow the Cothellon government. He organized a massive underground rally, but it was ambushed by Cothellon forces. During the ensuing chaos and structural collapse, Dill, Rylan, and several others plummeted out of the sky city, surviving only thanks to Rylan's newly awakened gravity magic.
The Final War and Confronting Orym
Dill traveled with the heroes to the planet Valaralda, fighting alongside his loyal underkids Small, Shot, and Grime. His faith in his father was shattered when Lorelei and Rylan revealed that Orym was secretly the "Imprisoner"—the ancient architect of the Cothellon's darkest deeds who was now attempting to seize control of the celestial machine Xyclami to become a god.
Determined to stop him, Dill piloted a souped-up flying undercar outfitted with Valaraldan technology during the massive battle in the skies over Old San Francisco. He distracted Orym while the True People unleashed the weaponry of the Escape Module.
When Orym was finally shot down and crashed into a ruined rickhouse, Dill approached him alone. Rather than fighting with magic, Dill used his words. He confronted his father with the memory of Tiala, reminding Orym that she had left him because of his endless, ruthless thirst for power. The emotional confrontation broke through Orym's megalomania, bringing him to tears and prompting him to finally abandon his quest for godhood. Tragically, moments after this reconciliation, Orym was swarmed and murdered by millions of spiders controlled by the dying Cariel.
Epilogue
Following the deactivation of Xyclami and the permanent erasure of magic, Dill mourned his father and the many underkids who had died in the war. Recognizing Dill's immense leadership capabilities, the intellectual John Ronald (Jalnab) offered Dill a high-ranking position within the True People. Seeking a new purpose beyond the Under and the violence of his past, Dill accepted, ready to help lead humanity into a new era of rebuilding and peace.
Powers and Abilities
- Shockstriker (Lightprime Elm): Dill's natural Alignment is the Way of the Creator. By burning prime elm, he can shoot devastating, spherical bolts of blue electrical energy from his hands. He is highly proficient in combat, able to blast multiple heavily armed guards across a room in seconds. However, he uses this power sparingly, as generating lightning drains massive amounts of physical energy and rapidly consumes his primewood supply.
- Master Mechanic: Drawing on his pre-Ascension life restoring vintage cars, Dill is a brilliant mechanic. He maintained the gearheads' fleet of racing vehicles in the Under and flawlessly piloted an advanced, flying convertible during the final war.
- Leadership and Tactics: Dill is a master tactician and charismatic leader. He successfully commanded thousands of underkids, managed complex supply chains for stolen primewood and food, and coordinated massive, multi-Crew offensives against trained Cothellon armies.
Key Relationships
- Orym (Aten): His father. Their relationship is fraught with tension. Dill spent centuries believing his father was a Cothellon scientist, only to discover Orym was an ancient, power-hungry mastermind. Despite Orym's atrocities, Dill still loved him and was the only person capable of talking him out of his madness.
- Tiala: His mother. She left Orym when Dill was young, unable to handle Orym's darkness. Dill holds her memory in high regard, using her legacy as the emotional anchor to reach his father.
- Rylan: His surrogate son and Crew member. Dill's decision to exile Rylan caused years of heartbreak for both of them, but they eventually reconciled, fighting side-by-side to save the universe.
- Phoenix (Megan): His close friend and co-founder of Shock Crew. He respected her immensely and swore an oath to protect her son at the cost of his own reputation.
- Small, Shot, and Grime: His most trusted lieutenants in Shock Crew. He views them as family and is deeply devastated by the casualties his Crew suffers during the war against the Twins.