On These Wings: The Remake

[Kjakings]

((ANOTHER NDK. PRAISE WHATEVER GODS THERE ARE.

 

Also, BlackScorpion and En'k'haral: I've started typing up the next stupidly long Drac post in which I control DS' characters too (I haz permissionz). It requires a time-skip of about two weeks, so please try and wrap up your current thing (but don't rush it. Rushing = bad).))

[Dragon Song]

((FWEEE! NEW NDK PERSON TO PLAY WITH! Accepted Blue ^^

 

*will stop neglecting Cassie soon and get a post out before Kja's post if muses co-operate*))

[BlueApollo]

((Okay! *looks back on first page* At this time, is it necessary to post an escape for Ayden, or should I drop him in some other way?))

[Kjakings]

((That's a good question.

 

AKSHULLY, I propose you wait until I finish the super awesome big post. It'll provide you with an intro opening.))

[BlueApollo]

((Awesome! I'll wait! *is eager to see Kja's super-epic awesome big post that will be super-epic awesome big*))

[Kjakings]

((I'm calling it Superbigpost 2: Revenge of the Wordcount. I've already got about 1500 words and I have yet to do all the dramatic and emotional exchanges or some like that. So far all I've done is throw Kiara out of the tower while 17 stories up.

 

All of my characters (and all of DS' characters, to boot) hate me. I'm so horrible to all of them. If you put all the various versions of Drac together, he has died about 16 times. Add all the planned deaths I never got around to and it's a wonder he lets me post with him at all.))

[BlueApollo]

((You make me sound too nice to my characters. I should work on that.))

[Kjakings]

((You should always be more horrible to your characters. The only one I'm probably not horrible to is Lexi: hell, half the time I make her immortal. Which could be seen as the ultimate cruelty, depending on your standing on immortality.

 

Anyway, only DS knows who Lexi is but if we ever finish OTW and start a sequel (none of the sequels ever survived long enough for a plot to assert itself) she'll be appearing. But DS will be making the RP, because Kja is cursed. ))

 

((That reminds me... somehow. Where in god's name did Kitt disappear off to, AGAIN? I had this whole exchange planned between Aoi and Drac and they were going to beat the living out of each other and everything. They were gunna fight, fall down a hill, land in some unseasonable mud, start to laugh, the whole ridiculous cliche ten yards.))

Edited July 25, 2010 by Kjakings

[Dragon Song]

((x_x You cannot use magic as an excuse for everything. Most things, but not everything.

 

And Cassie doesn't hate you! Hell, Cassie doesn't even hate me yet! Something I may have to work on...

 

Lol. "If we ever finish OTW" Yeah. Sure. DS'll believe that when it happens.))

[Kjakings]

((This isn't BYDHOE DS, it has an over-reaching plot remember. It will end when someone rams that blade through Hyro's face (preferably Drac, I want Hyro's last words to be "Wait, what?). And we have finished it once.))

[Dragon Song]

((I know this has an end, I'm sceptical about whether or not we'll actually get there. And yes admittedly we have finished it once. When there was just us two left RPing. ¬_¬))

[BlackScorpion7]

((Okay, if En'K'Haral and me have to slowly finish up things, I'd suggest we either catch Rio quickly or let het slip the leash in the next 2 - 3 posts.

 

And I'm always too nice to my character. Worst thing I ever did was in a story I was writing for NaNoWriMo letting my character half-drown under a mudflood. He miraculously escaped with the help of moon-elves who kept him alive, though came out with many broken bones...

 

Anyhow, in other news: after this week I will be on holiday for 2 weeks. I can try to get online a couple of times, but can not promise anything...))

[En'K'Haral]

((Ehem. I have returned from my absence I see and understand the request. I vote we have her slip through the leash and train for two weeks in order to save the others. That would be a good place for Mr. Blue to hop in as well.))

 

Gelltor looked around closely as it seemed that Katelyn and Sleet had the scent. There were tracks before them which he inspected closely. A satisfied grin stretched across his face as he plucked a single small orange scale from a footprint that looked to belong to a girl wearing size ten.

"Well I couldn't have hoped for a better result. Here you guys get a whiff of this."

He handed Katelyn the scale.

"I was right in thinking you two were the best for this job."

"Malice we have a trail. Any luck on your end?"

"No. I can barely see through all the foliage."

"Keep looking."

Malice banked having caught sight of something glimmer but it was just another regular fleeing rebel. He returned to his search.

 

Rio and Ayos had held their breath as Malice banked but it seemed it was something else that caught his attention and he had disregarded it and flown off.

"We are not staying here."

"Agreed. Let’s move north."

Crawling out from their hideout Rio and Ayos began heading north swiftly. The pair kept their eyes on the sky ready to duck down should anything sore overhead. Much to Ayos's annoyance Rio still carried the instrument.

"Just ditch that thing already Rio."

"No way. We will need it in order to pass the time."

"Pass the time!? Are you serious? I will be satisfied if we get out of here alive."

Rio sighed shaking her head as they continued to walk towards god knew where.

[BlackScorpion7]

Mr Slick is trying to suck up.

Keep calm, Sleet. I need that saddle.

 

This shut him up, still feeling guilty for the destruction of the saddle. Stretching out his neck, the ice dragon's nose hovered close above Gelltor's hand as he took a deep breath of the scale. The air around his hand chilled as of the deepest northern regions and soon icicles would form on his fingers. Letting out a huff of breath, Sleet pulled his head back and lifted his head high, after which his head snapped around.

 

Right from us, not far away.

 

Katelyn nipped from the scent through Sleet's mind and locked onto the place the dragon thought the runaways were. Not even waiting to give an order to Sleet, she started running, leaping over fallen branches and trees, through shrubbery and brambles. The scent got closer until suddenly she saw a flash of orange and a distorted running shape not too far away. She knew she should be more careful with the noises she made, but there was no time for that. There was no way the girl or dragon wouldn't hear the breaking branches under her feet. Closer and closer she came, her longer and stronger legs giving her an advantage in this pursuit. Barely twenty meters separated them now, eighteen, sixteen, fourteen. Soon she would be able to leap and catch them.

 

Only ten meters now between her and the runaways. Eig- a sharp pain ripped through her leg and she slammed to the ground. Sleet, who was still in the clearing, let out an anguished growl. Turning swiftly, Katelyn looked behind her, only to see her right ankle in a trap. It was a rusty old thing and she was lucky it had not snapped her foot right off, but the teeth were firmly embedded in her flesh and blood flowed freely. Her head snapped round and she saw the girl and hatchling flee away. A hiss escaped her and she started shivering.

 

Sleet, send Gelltor here right away.

What happened? You're hurt!

Gelltor, now!

 

Sleet spoke to the man via his mind, his message faltering and urgent, the dragon worried about his rider. The track had to be opened quickly and the wound treated and cleaned, before the rust took hold of her flesh and would infect her. The hunt was over for her, something Katelyn had troubles accepting. Cursing and shouting, she bit through the pain, tears of pain, anger and frustration clouding her eyes.

 

((*le sigh* told you I had been too nice for my chars. I think Katelyn will look cross-eyed at me for a long time, wondering why it had to be a rusty bear trap and not a rope rabbit trap which wouldn't have left more than a burn mark... Maybe 1 more post to get her out of there and both her and Gelltor back to the castle with Matthew? Feel free to play with Matthew to get him in a cell or something...))

[En'K'Haral]

Gelltor followed up behind the pair as he got Sleet's message his hand still a little stiff from the sudden cold. He arrived at Katelyn and he jammed his shield between the jaws of the trap next to her leg. He gave a solid reef and the jaws snapped. Not possessing any anesthetics he removed the teeth quickly while saying speaking to the pair.

"Sleet focus, go and see if you can catch the kid. I will send Malice to your aid. Katelyn keep pressure on the wound I will see if I can find anything in this godforsaken wood to use."

"Malice, can you see us?"

"You seriously need to ask?"

"Follow Sleet he is on the kid's trail. Support him in the capture if you can. DO NOT BLAST THE FOREST AWAY!"

"Ok ok, understood. Jeeze what's his problem."

Gelltor used his sword to cut away the pant leg to reveal the wound. He could see there was still rust in cuts. He removed most of the flecks by hand and then sucked out some of the blood in order to remove any that may have entered to get into the bloodstream.

"Sleet. Get after the kid now before you lose the trail."

[BlackScorpion7]

Katelyn grunted and hissed as Gelltor worked on her leg. It bit, stung and burned as if fire was spreading through her veins. Sleet in the meanwhile had troubles concentrating. He heard Gelltor giving him an order, but his mind was too clouded with worry for Katelyn. The woman cursed and looked wildly behind her, back the way the girl had run away to.

 

"She's escaping, the brat is running! Sleet don't stand there like an idiot and follow her!"

But, but...

"No buts you moron! Follow her!"

You're hurt!

"As if that's the first time, go!"

I'll be okay, it's just the leg, it won't kill me. Now please, go!

 

The ice dragon glanced once back at his rider, before pushing off between the trees and shrubs in the general direction the girl and her magi dragon had run off to. The moment there was a clearing, he spread his wings and flew up, almost bumping against Malice. Snapping a growl at him, it was obvious the ice dragon was out of his normal behaviour. Eye peering through the canopy, he kept grumbling and roaring.

 

The girl is mine. She did this, she hurt Katelyn!

[En'K'Haral]

Rio and Ayos had seen Katelyn hot on their tail only a moment ago before she suddenly just fell. They didn't even stop to think they just kept running.

"Above us!"

Rio glanced skyward to see an angry Sleet soaring just above them.

"Use these"

Rio handed Ayos the half full bag of blinder's. Ayos ascended to meet the challenge he tossed up the bag of blinders while tearing it open. The effect being that the marbles scattered across the sky, drawing on Rio's energy he detonated the marbles which each gave of a blinding light, Unfortunately he had forgotten to close his eyes and was effected too. But he mustered his energy anyways and shot of a pair of fireballs in what he hoped was Sleet's and Malice's direction.

Malice was effectively blinded by the enchanted marbles and so didn't see the fire ball. Nor did he feel it since it was off target.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Gelltor had collected some leaves that he concluded wouldn't cause any further damage and pressed them against Katelyn's wound, he then took the cut cloth of Katelyn's pant leg and tied it tightly around the wound binding the leaves to it.

"It's shoddy but its better then bleeding out. Think you can still give chase?"

He asked offering to help her up. Under normal circumstances he would have left her to rot but he needed her right now for things to work out. Besides Sleet was right there, if he had left her they would have assumed treachery, which wasn't far from the truth but it was not to come for now.

[BlackScorpion7]

Grinding her teeth, Katelyn shifted her weight and accepted his hand, pulling herself up. Testing her leg, she knew it wouldn't carry her. The teeth of the trap had gone deep, though she didn't think they had severed any tendons or muscles. It would need healing and she wouldn't be able to fight properly on foot for a while, but it didn't seem she'd be handicapped and useless for the force. Just as she wanted to reply, Sleet roared in the sky and in her head. Letting go of Gelltor's arm, she folded her hands around her ears, cringing.

 

Sleet, calm down! What's going on?

They're escaping! I... I can't see!

Keep calm, stay where you are, hover so you won't hit anything.

 

"I'm afraid there won't be a lot of chasing going on. They escaped and Sleet's temporarily blinded. That * you followed has some nasty tricks up her sleeve. If Malice can still see, let him try to follow them. I'm not risking Sleet's wings to try and follow them while he can barely see where he's going. As a show of good faith, I'll ask for only one saddle. After all, I couldn't give you the girl."

 

Locking her eyes on the sky, she slowly guided the ice dragon back and down to their location. Arriving there, the dragon slowly sniffed his way to his rider, his vision coming back only slowly. Touching her dragon on the nose, she patted him kindly. On his back, the bound Matthew seemed groggy and nautious. He was blinking furiously, apparently also caught by the blinding flashes. Sleet lowered himself on his belly, at which Katelyn limped to him. Dragging herself on his back, she looked at Gelltor.

 

"I'm going back to the castle with this guy here. I'll see you there. Good luck."

 

As he could see some forms and colors again, Sleet carefully flew up and as high as he dared with a bound form and loose hatchling on his back and his rider on a makeshift saddle with an injured leg. Slowly they made their way back to the barracks, where they would let guards handle Matthew and Questra and Katelyn could get to a healer to have a look at her trap-injured ankle.

 

((Okay, I'm done for the time being. Me ish now waiting for the big big post with time skip. Sorry for letting Gelltor on his own ))

Edited July 27, 2010 by BlackScorpion7

[En'K'Haral]

Malice was in a fury. Blinded but not stupid he held his position fretting about his report to Gelltor. But it seemed that the report made it to his rider regardless.

"Malice."

"He threw some kind of item at us we were both blinded. They got away of their own skill everything was going-"

"Will you be quiet. You failed to capture the child but we succeeded in losing one saddle to pay for. We underestimated the kid's abilities and that’s as much my fault too. Circle around and see if you can find them."

The relief in Malice's response was evident and he was more then eager to try and hunt them down again.

"Right away."

 

Malice searched by eye but found no trace of Rio or Ayos. He made his report to Gelltor who ordered his return to pick him up and the pair flew off back to Hyro's Castle. Once there Gelltor began making preparations with his contacts to pay the family of the dead spy as well as for the saddle. He had at least accomplished that goal and as far as he could tell everything else was progressing as he hoped.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Rio and Ayos had found themselves a tree that was bearing some kind of pungent fruit after they got away from Sleet and Malice. The smell was absolutely foul and Ayos had picked some and scattered it about to destroy their scent trail. Once that was done they huddled together while Ayos had the foliage grow thick around them completely concealing their presence. There they hid quietly as Malice passed above them and was then gone.

"I motion for us to stay here."

"I second that motion."

Huddled together the pair feel asleep they had agreed to stay in hiding for a good long while searching out other members of the NDK before they would attempt a rescue mission.

 

((Take her away Master Super-post))

Edited July 29, 2010 by En'K'Haral

[Kjakings]

((*le sigh* I suppose I have to get off my lazy ass and actually do something, don't I? *goes to find some half-decent music to listen to*

 

Also, if you listen to The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny whilst asleep, your dreams become instantly kickass.))

 

((Going strong. Over 4000 words. But now, barbecue.))

 

((Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the featured film you've all been waiting to see:

 

Superbigpost 2: Revenge of the Wordcount! Over 4,250 words, far longer than any post has any right to be! Please give me a round of applause!))

 

 

 

((Seriously. Applaud.))

 

 

Drac looked around the ‘cell’ where he had awoken, not knowing how long he had been out. Multiple long-term periods of unconsciousness could not be good for someone’s health. The room could even barely be considered a cell; more like a torture chamber.

He was encased in magically fused steel surrounding all of his joints at least 3 inches thick so he couldn’t move at all, he could barely breathe. Drac tried drawing on his magic to help him get free, but found it blocked by some external force and noticed a blocker on the wall, one of Hyro’s nefarious inventions and probably tied to Drac’s own personal magical signature. If he wanted to escape, he was going to have to find some way around that.

 

Taja sighed and clenched her jaw; it was still a bit stiff after hat battering Stormwind had given her and her shoulder still felt as though it were made of lead. She had enjoyed having Kiara wait on her for a week or two though, the woman needed to be taken down a few pegs.

She wandered her way into the kitchen and grabbed some bread at the door, intending to make a sandwich along her way to the stables to check on Stealth. She had made it a point to become friendly with the cooks so she could just wander around in the kitchen looking for a quick snack in between meals. Hyro’s DragonRiders were supposed to be his bastions of terror but NOBODY messed with the head cook.

Stealth was in good condition, the stable hands knew what a rare cross-breed he was: Oncoming Death and regular horse, with all the good qualities of the former but minus the savagery. Taja had gained considerable favour due to her capture of Drac, practically erasing Bramble’s previous blunders. It was odd: despite dragons being completely sapient creatures all of their mistakes were blamed upon their riders, as if they were horses.

Speaking of the Stormwind boy, she should go up and see if he was awake. Taja knew that Kiara had been sniffing about there like a dog since he’d been captured and Taja would have liked to get there before that *. She would undoubtedly bring up their past, which would only serve to piss Drac off; which made him unpredictable. When Drac was unpredictable, he was at his most dangerous.

 

Kiara tried not to touch anything as she went down the hall. Chicias’ most dangerous criminals were held here and that... undesirability oozed out of every pore of the corridor. She was going to check on Stormwind again. It had been about two weeks since Hyro had placed her under the service of Thorn, and it had been a humiliating fortnight.

She walked up to the door separating the Magical Criminal ward from the regular high-security prisons, and suppressed a growl as one of the guards stopped her.

“I’m sorry mistress, but no weapons are allowed within this section of the prison, this is the rule: even for DragonRiders.” The little man said, making Kiara let out an annoyed growl. How easy it would be just to pick him up using magic and smash him into a tiny compact cube. But Hyro didn’t like that, and Kiara was rapidly re-evaluating how exactly she was to play the man. She reached into the guard’s mind and found out what he was thinking about her: the same thing most men were.

“But Gerry,” she pouted slightly, also pulling the name from his mind, “those are dangerous criminals in there. What if one were to break free and I had nothing to defend myself with? They’d hurt me, and you don’t want that to happen, do you?” Kiara was pressed right up against him now, so she could feel his heart beating. It looked like it was working, but then the guard remembered who he was working for.

“I’m sorry mistress, but rules are rules. Even for you.” Kiara let out an annoyed sigh again. This wasn’t working.

“B-but... ok then.” Kiara bit her lip, releasing a small tranquilizer in her mouth which she then blew straight into the guard’s face. Twilight Tranquilizers they were called, one of her... contacts developed them. When inhaled they caused you to fall asleep and forget the last five minutes.

 

Drac opened his eyes when he heard the door opening, not remembering having fallen asleep again. Kiara strode in, confident now that Drac was in the most vulnerable position he could be without his ass in the air.

“Ah, Draccy. How the mighty have fallen. It’s been about a month since your little uprising, and we’ve already captured or killed three quarters of you, including the only real leader you had. You’re a tactical genius Drac and you’re terrifyingly powerful when you’re angry, but you’re not a leader. You don’t have that ability to make people follow you that Aoi had.” She said, weaving around the room in the shadows, like a viper.

“You seemed pretty eager to follow me when we first met.” Drac shot back, and Kiara laughed.

“You seemed pretty eager to lead me. So why did you stop talking to me Drac? Was it because you found out I worked for your father? That I was one of his DragonRiders? Was it because I lied to you, poor Draccy boy?” Kiara was getting to him, and she knew it.

“Partially, but mainly because I found out what a traitorous monster you are: selling yourself and your people out just because you find it fun and you enjoy playing sick little mind-games with everyone you meet. I met your father once, you know: it’s a shame Lord Riviera spawned such a vindictive, whoring, self-serving...” Drac never got to finish as Kiara let out a growl of rage and flew across the room, smacking him so hard in the face his mouth practically exploded into blood.

“Don’t you DARE talk to me about that man! You have NO IDEA what he was like! LOOK AT ME WHEN I’M TALKING TO YOU!” Oily black tentacles of magic flew out of her hands and grabbed Drac’s head, forcing him to look at her.

Wait... Kiara could still use magic. That was it! Drac started slowly siphoning off her power so she wouldn’t notice it at first and started feeding it into the blocker.

 

Kiara shouldn’t have exploded like that and let Drac get the better of her. It let the boy know she was vulnerable, and one thing Kiara didn’t need when with Stormwind was a chink in her armour. She definitely shouldn’t have used so much magic around him. She was already starting to feel drained, which was very odd considering she was of the more powerful of Hyro’s DragonRiders.

Everyone had some small sliver of magic running through them, although around ninety percent couldn’t access it. Of that ten percent, only ten percent of THEM had any power worth accessing, although many of them could use their minor magical abilities to craft elaborate spells that got the job done. Of that ten percent of people, only 1 percent had the raw power required to be a DragonRider.

DragonRiders were supposed to be dreadnoughts, un-stoppable fonts of power that could slaughter hundreds both physically and magically, only given any resistance when brought to bear upon entire armies, or others of their power levels. That was the theory anyway. In reality only about half of the DragonRiders were like that, and Kiara liked to think she was one of them.

Those spells had really done a number on her; she was more tired than she thought. But she stood up straight and kept her intimidating face up. Never show weakness in front of the boy.

“Why should I? Beauty only runs skin deep, and I can stare into your heart by looking at nothing.” Drac spat a mixture of blood and saliva into Kiara’s face to punctuate his point and Kiara screamed in rage just as something exploded behind her.

 

Drac silently cried in triumph as the machine exploded: drawing any more magic out might have made her suspicious. Kiara drew her bow out and loaded an arrow in the blink of an eye, and Drac used some of his own, now-restored, magic to rip the rest of hers from her body. Kiara staggered and dropped her bow, looking at Drac with eyes a mixture of rage and terror.

“What did you… how… what gives you the right to do that to me?!” She screamed, drawing a dagger.

“I’m the good guy, and you’re the bad guy. The good guy always wins, and the legends never go into detail how.” Drac used the stolen magic to shred his bonds, turning them into deadly steel shards that smashed into every surface in the room, including Kiara. He then magically picked her up and flung her through four adjacent rooms and then out into the open air, hundreds of feet above the city below.

“I really hope she dies.”

 

Taja had decided to go back to her room and get a few things before going up to the prison, and had found a slip of paper under her door. It had no name, date or signature on it and all it said was ‘Your parents are dead.’ Taja couldn’t even recognize the handwriting, but before she could ponder it she heard a large explosion and crash of stone from upstairs.

“I guess Drac woke up cranky this morning.” She muttered, grabbing her sword, a few throwing knives and whatever armour she could slip on whilst running. She sent a quick message to Bramble and Cirrus to try and stop rioting, both by citizens and opportunistic soldiers.

 

The entire wing of Hyro’s fortress that housed the prison was in total chaos. Drac had blown the locks off of everything within a large radius, including doors and shackles. The prisoners had quickly taken the opportunity to launch a fast and furious bid for freedom, bludgeoning guards to death with their restraints and then stealing their weapons.

There was a good deal more mages among their number than Drac had first thought, and they were doing the most damage. Four or five of them had formed a small makeshift squadron and was holding the entire east section of the prison against any and all attackers that were trying to reinforce the badly outnumbered guards that were putting up a valiant last stand in the kitchen.

Drac ignored them all and closed his eyes, trying to search out someone specific. He almost found what he was looking for, and they had just come through the massive hole Drac had put in his cell wall. He opened his eyes and turned to his right, coming face-to-face with Taja.

“Is there something ****ing wrong with you, Drac? Is this what your big stupid revolution stands for? Anarchy, chaos, flames and death? If you’re trying to weaken Hyro’s position, you’re doing a job. All your movement has done so far is burn down parts of the city, slaughter innocent civilians and now release the most dangerous criminals of the past two decades. Hyro’s managed to whip up a flurry of hatred against you and your movement. It would’ve been better if every one of you New DragonKnights had been slaughtered in your various escapes and martyred yourselves.” She spat, drawing her sword.

“We stand for freedom against tyranny, no matter how hard people try and ignore it Hyro is a dictator who took control by force. Those ‘civilians’ worked for Hyro by choice and so are casualties of war. These are dangerous criminals according to Hyro, who really knows what they actually did to be put in here?” Drac retorted, looking for something he could use as a weapon if Taja attacked.

“That is Prince Lai, who slaughtered his entire family when his younger, and far more competent, brother was elevated to his father’s position over him. That man burned an entire village to the ground. She ripped apart the Royal Observatory because she wasn’t given the holiday bonus she wanted.” Taja pointed out the people in the brawl she was referring to, all of them appeared genuine. “Not everyone works for Hyro out of choice, Drac. Some of us are forced.” Taja then looked around as if a thought had just suddenly occurred to her, and then she looked angry.

“You’ve realised it too? You’re father’s not here, and I checked the stables for Thorn magical signatures too, Grenadier is gone as well. Hyro won’t have set them free, because then he’d lose you: despite Bramble, you’re still his most competent dog.”

“Hey!”

“So I’ve spent my entire adult life working for a man who wants to rule the world, and the only way I’ve been able to keep peace with myself turned out to be a lie by that very same man? What do you propose I do then, Drac, because I’m obviously incapable of doing anything?” Taja sighed, all life seeming to leave her.

“Join us and fight him, or at the very least let me go, so I can fight him. You were doing this to protect your family: it’s not your fault that Hyro is a twisted and idiotic man.” Taja said nothing but stepped aside, letting Drac run through into the cell and grab Kiara’s bow and quiver. “You won’t regret this.” He told her, and did a running leap through the hole Kiara’s body made.

 

It was no more than five seconds after Drac had leapt from the hole in the tower wall that Hyro had run up, black magic clenched in his fist.

“You most certainly will regret that, Thorn. I will deal with you later, once this riot is dealt with. Trust me; the repercussions of this action will not be good.” He growled, walking swiftly over to the wall where Drac had leapt when something caught his leg and he tripped.

“No. You’ll deal with me now, old man. You killed my father and one of the most respected dragons in the Blackthorn, and forced me to help you destroy a nation in exchange for their safety, although you never held up your end of the bargain. You now need to deal with those repercussions.” Taja was using the trademark magic of the Blackthorn to hold Hyro, large vines covered with small black thorns with ragged edges curled around his body, trapping him in place and piercing his skin, using the edges to hold fast in his skin.

One even curled around his throat and clenched, piercing it in about two dozen places and spilling his blood all over the floor. That just served to make him angry, and only the suicidally brave made Hyro Stormwind angry.

A blast of Darkfire burned the vines to small lines of ash along his floor, but Taja didn’t give him time to do much more than that. A blast of telekinetic energy completely erased the room they were in and the three adjacent, slamming Hyro into the middle of the next tower along before he ran out of inertia, but Taja was right there with him. She ripped the two thick support columns out of the tower and hurled them at him.

Unfortunately for her Hyro’s arms erupted into tentacles of pure black energy, which caught the beams and threw them back at her. Taja deflected them easily, and the small shower of rubble that came when the two foot thick wall on the west side of the tower, all that was left of the walls on that floor, cracked and crumbled, making the tower begin to fall.

Hyro was standing in the middle of the room, the tentacles having split into three coming from the single main stalk that now went up to his shoulder. He was breathing heavily, but that was probably a ruse designed to make her confident.

Taja gave the top of the tower a small shove with her powers, which righted it momentarily. She then smashed out what remained of the walls and slammed the tower down on Hyro, completely erasing three floors. There were soldiers in the tower, broken and dying. All probably innocents like she had preached to Drac, and she then understood what he meant about casualties of war.

She recited the spell to summon the Blackthorn magic again and made it creep up the tower, when she noticed Darkfire licking at the edges of where she had slammed down the tower on Hyro.

She abandoned the Blackthorn magic and put up as strong a shield as she could, but even that barely held against the eruption of Darkfire that hurled the tower upwards, making it crash into the fortress walls and shatter them.

“You leave your mind far too open when you fight, Thorn. I can reach in and take out any information I want: what your next move will be, who your third uncle was. Anything.” Hyro jumped from the ruined remains of the tower and landed in the courtyard. He shot up three of the tentacles, shattering the small bubble that kept Taja aloft midair and slamming her into the ground.

Hyro absorbed the tentacles back into himself and reformed them into massive blades that overtook his entire forearms and jutted out at the elbow. He took a battle stance and waited for Taja to attack.

 

Taja didn’t disappoint him and attacked almost immediately in a flurry of blades, both magical and steel. Vines periodically erupted from the ground and tried to trip Hyro, but he cleaved them in two with the blades and they withered and died, as if allergic to the magic. Taja was beating him back, but barely. Hyro was holding off against everything Taja was throwing at him, but he couldn’t attack. Taja wasn’t winning, but she wasn’t losing either. Neither was he.

Then, she slipped. Hyro dodged faster than she could swing her blade and got in at her left. She formed a barrier in time, but Hyro still managed to haul her off of her feet and throw her across the courtyard. Taja landed badly but managed to roll and avoid any serious damage. She got up and saw one of Kiara’s knives lying next to her feet. Made entirely out of magically reinforced emerald, Kiara’s knives were the best in Chicias. Taja got her foot under it and flipped it up, caught it and then hurled it at Hyro’s throat with a rush of magic to speed it along. It stopped less than half an inch from its target, apparently held in the air by nothing.

All magic left some sort of visible image, even if only a distortion in the air. All magic except Taja’s telekinesis.

“When I said I could take any information from your mind, I meant it.” Hyro grinned, and Taja instantly knew that she had lost. She and Hyro had been just about evenly matched when she had the advantage of a form of magic that was unique, as far as she knew, only to her. Now Hyro could use it, and she was screwed.

Still, she took all of her magic, even her life force, that was left and channelled it into her telekinesis, ripping up everything around her and throwing it into one giant freight train blast that ripped up the ground and slammed into Hyro, who deflected it as if it were nothing more than a fleck of dust.

“Five minutes earlier, and that may have done it. Valiant, girl. I may not kill you after all.” Hyro mused, but Taja had already blacked out.

 

Drac had left the fight when Taja was still winning, but had missed being crushed by the flying tower by about 8 inches, and was now riding through the city on Stealth. This time he’d stolen some full Dragonscale armour, and decked up Stealth like a war horse. On his way out of the castle he had used a javelin he had found to spear through anyone who tried to halt his escape.

Several dragons were flying overhead and razing entire blocks of the city to flush him out. Drac had kept Kiara’s bow and arrows and was now trying to get a fix on who was doing what. Wraithwing: the Hellfire Wyvern and his rider had destroyed an entire mining village in the foothills because they had refused to let him just walk out of there with a sword they had been commissioned to make by a Lord for one of his various sons. Drac threw some magic into the arrow and fired, piercing Wraithwing through the bottom of his mouth and going straight through his brain. The body crashed to the ground, taking the rider with it.

Onyx: the black and her rider had obliterated a foreign delegation’s wagon train because one of the princes had asked her to a dance. Drac shot her through the jugular vein and loaded up another arrow, looking for a new target.

Crystal: the white and her rider were only here because her younger brother was being held hostage by Hyro. Drac lowered the bow and shot it at a cavalry soldier who was harassing some burnt civilians. Drac had just made it to the outskirts when a line of Darkfire shot from the sky and Stealth nearly threw him from the saddle.

Drac looked up and saw Hyro and his Dracolich in the sky, burning a wide circle of Darkfire around Drac and Stealth.

“Look at what you’ve made me do to my people. Every major event of your New DragonKnights has been anointed by death and flame, killing innocent people who would have lived otherwise. Is this what you want Drac? Death and anarchy?” Drac ignored the insidious voice in his head, trying to work out how you were supposed to harm something made of bone and dark magic.

“You’re not going to get what you want. There will be no glorious revolution of the people against my tyranny under your guidance. You are doing nothing but strengthening my position, showing people that at first, force is only what some people will respond to.” Kiara was famous for booby-trapping her weapons. Maybe he could find some way to turn that to his advantage.

“Surrender, Drac, and no more have to die. You are leading a pointless revolution for a people who live in ignorant bliss against a dictator that has done nothing to harm them until you interfere. The people you released have made their way into the city and are doing what they please. They weren’t all inconvenient enemies I had put away. Many are rapists, murderers and other dangerous lawbreakers. Several repeat offenders. That is what you’re doing to the people you claim to be trying to free. Subjecting them to poverty and squalor.” Drac threw the bow and arrows high into the air, and when they got lodged in one of the bones of the Dracolich’s neck Drac let loose his spell: they exploded, severing the head from the body and causing it to crash a few feet from Drac.

That didn’t appear to be enough to kill it, as the head writhed and snapped at Drac and the body continued to hover. It had, however, seemed to stall Hyro who was probably trying to repair his flagship of terror.

Drac unleashed another spell and a golden orb shield burst into life around Drac and Stealth, making the Dracolich head howl in pain and making Hyro sweat.

“Run through the flames. Trust me.” Stealth obviously didn’t like Drac’s idea but complied anyway, charging through the Darkfire. The shield shattered under the stress, but its job was done and Stealth charged off into the plains, heading for the coast and the NDK’s second meeting place whilst the city burned behind him.

 

 

Taja awoke groggily and found she was strapped to a table in what appeared to be a torture chamber, she could see a furnace with all manner of brands plunged into it. Hyro was standing there tending one when he saw she had awoken.

“Good. You’re awake. I could have done this while you were unconscious, but that wouldn’t be fun. Your little stunt of defiance cost me much, Taja. The safety of my fortress, all of my captives, half of my city to flames. But you’re powerful, and a good bargaining chip. I can hardly have the Blackthorn joining up with the NDK. So I have a different plan. I’m going to brand you.” Taja shuddered at this, and Hyro laughed.

“That’s not the delicious part. It’s not just your skin I’m branding as mine. I’m taking your mind and your soul too. From this day forth, Taja Thorn, you belong to me.” Hyro took the brand out of the furnace and Taja saw that it was glowing a sickly bruise purple, and was in the shape of Hyro’s crest. He rammed it into the skin just above her right thigh and Taja screamed as her mind was enveloped in a grey fog and her eyes went dull.

“Stand.” Hyro commanded, releasing the restraints that bound her hands and feet, and was rewarded when she did so without hesitation. “Draw your blade.” Taja did so again, promptly but without feeling. “Take it and cut off the little finger of your left hand.” Taja did so, ignoring the pain and the blood that began to drip from the wound. Hyro laughed: she well and truly belonged to him now.

 

Edited July 29, 2010 by Kjakings

[Dragon Song]

With half the city on fire it could hardly be missed. Plus there was a significant lack of some of the towers from the centre of the city. With that level of destruction, it could likely mean only one thing. Drac was out.

 

It was Amora who brought Cassie the news. The pink reappeared from her trip out at sea, her hide completely sodden and sending the highlights dancing off every inch of her. As she settled on the ground she twisted to look at the effect and apparently liked it, drawing herself up and standing much more primly. She seemed to grow nearly 5 inches in stature as she admired her pink hide. That was one of Amora's flaws - she could be really quite vain. She spotted Cassie sat under an overhang in the cliff and tried to pick her way over to her rider and get as few grains of sand on her hide as possible. She wasn't impressed in the slightest when Cassie ran over and managed to spray grains up practically all over her. Cassie ignored the glares, both mental and actual that she was getting. The pink considered dropping the few fishes that she'd brought back into the sand but Cassie would likely just send her back down to the sea line to wash them off, so instead she just deposited them in her rider's hands.

 

Cassie trudged back her 'camp' with Amora saying she'd follow behind once she'd dried out. Don't go sunning yourself in plain sight she warned, knowing Amora's feeling of self pride. She got a huff in return, and was grateful that she was far enough away from the hatchling to avoid being caught by the sand the drafts from her wings had whipped up. She plonked herself back down on the sand and began to prepare herself something to eat with the fishes that Amora had caught her. There were times when she really wished from simple luxuries. Such as cutlery and a plate. Would be better than a rock and fingers that was for certain. As she worked on descaling the fish, gutting them and trying not to pull a face at the task, the teenager thougth back on everything that was going on.

 

The NDK were not in favour with the public to put it mildly. As Amora had pointed out previously, they probably had every right to hate them. They'd hardly done a lot of good so far and their cause it seemed was currently viewed as a selfish act simply because they themselves didn't want caught: so they were saving their own hides at the cost of innocents'. If only they knew the half of what was really going on. Before everything kicked off with their first move there'd quite probably been near 100 who had pledged support. By the end of the first escape night there had only been about half of them left. Then of course they'd been busted and there were less than a quarter of the original lot left live. And some of them were in captivity.

 

Like Drac.

 

The NDK had lost yet another leader. First Aoi, then Drac. Some fool had said that the position was cursed and now it seemed that no one wanted to take it up. So surprise surprise, they were in disarray around this other meeting point. It was essentially every pair for themselves. What hope did they have of being a proper resistance if they weren't even united any more. Cassie had avoided a few of the groups because she'd felt the rising tensions before she'd even said hello. Her intuitions had often be right and fights had broken out. Now everyone was on their own with just their dragon. Maybe it was better that way in the sense that they were less likely to be found - seeing as there wasn't a big group like last time. It was all a shambles.

 

Half of Rythos is on fire. WHAT?! Cassie nearly burnt herself on her small fire in shock. Amora had a knack of stating something big with not much emotion in her voice. Right now she sounded as if she were stating the day's weather. Calm down. I said half of Rythos is one fire. What exactly do you mean? Exactly what I said. At least that time she accompanied the message with some images. There was a definite dark glow and a hell of a lot of smoke coming fro Rythos' direction. She also couldn't decide if some of the towers were missing, or if it was just Amora's viewpoint. What do you think is going on? I think that Drac's out, Cassie replied, trying to contain her excitement, They'd have a leader again! They could actually do what they were meant to do and fight the oppression! I think that you're getting your hopes up too much Amora stated dryly. For someone who under exaggerated everything she was also a pessimist. Contrasted Cassie's mindless optimism rather well at least. How come? Because granted Drac does leave a trail of destruction wherever he goes, but with half the city burning down I think that's a bit much for him alone. From what I can tell it's darkfire, which means Hyro was after him personally. If he's gotten out of that alive, if at all then I'll eat sand. Besides, I can't get a hold of Night at all, which makes me think that he's still restrained somewhere and has magic blocked off. Drac wouldn't leave Night behind. Pessimist. Have some faith.

 

-----------------------------

 

Cirrus and Bramble were more than well aware of what was happening between Drac and Taja, both fully tuned into the conversation. Sod stopping the riots, someone else could stop them. Well all right, most of the other Riders would simply encourage them for their own amusement but that really was not a concern of theirs at the moment. Being too far away to be of any assistance at the moment of course, neither could do anything. But when she let Drac past, both shared a sense of relief that this reign of terror from them could finally be at an end, but also a sense of dread as to Hyro's reaction. Of course, right before Hyro appeared Taja shut them out and shooed them off to their riot control. And once the fight started they couldn't get near due to all the flying objects.

 

Neither however, reacted well to Taja's capture. Both were unable to do anything, and the best way to control them from wreaking more havoc than the riots and mobs was to threaten the yet again unconscious Taja. The only solace that either could find was the fact that Drac had possibly killed Kiara, and that he had gotten out. When Taja awoke one of her aims was to keep those two out of her mind. That was of course lost the moment that the brand touched her flesh.

 

Cirrus was instantly lost as well. The close bonding of any dragon/rider pair meant that her mind was not separate enough from Taja's and if Hyro had control of Taja, he had control of Cirrus as well. Bramble however, was unique. Unique enough in that he as her 'second dragon' he was actually bonded to her. Completely different to all other dual dragon pairs - such as Kiara with Ebony and Oak. Pairs like that only had one actual bonded dragon and the other was just controlled by will power. In Kiara's case she was bonded to Oak but had twisted Ebony's soul and mind (Not with difficulty it had to be said) so that he would be loyal to her. But Hyro's magic did not take over Bramble as well. He could feel the lure of it, and the power form it but could choose to ignore it easily enough. Of course, he was distressed as anything and very nearly destroyed half of the courtyard around him with his thrashing and magical outbursts. He onyl stopped when Cirrus herself appeared, with Taja sat astride.

 

One look at the pair of them and he could see the differences. Still having some link to Taja's mind, he could feel the order at the forefront of everything. He blanched, backing up from the pair of them, not wanting to believe what he knew was true, Hyro had order them to kill him. He had no doubt that they would... For a rider to kill their dragon... It was a thing unheard of. Many would put a blade through themselves before they purposefully harmed their dragon. And Bramble realised grimly in the back of his mind that Taja would do that without hesitation too if Hyro so ordered it.

 

The black backed up, one step at a time as Cirrus almost leisurely made her way. He knew he should run. Flee, find the NDK. Maybe even see if he could go home... no. There was nothing to help them back at the Blackthorn, He'd be denied salvation he was sure of it, considering the state it had fallen into when Hyro had gotten his hands of Taja's father and Blackthorn Grenadier. With he Cirrus and Taja having worked for Stormwind for so long they'd me as mistrusted as anything. He couldn't go back without Taja anyway. He wouldn't be able to live with it.

 

Cirrus lunged, her lightning quick speed meaning she got her teeth loosely round his neck. That was enough for him to move, yanking backwards and causing her teeth to cause relatively shallow slices down the side of his neck. He was in the air in moments, but it still wasn't fast enough. His blows were half-hearted, more just to keep her away from him. He didn't want to have to fight Cirrus. Sure they argued, but it never came to anything more than playful blows. But now she was trying to kill him, and Taja had just drawn her blade. Things were not looking good. He needed to flee. But how? There was no way that he could outfly Cirrus, she was Hyro's fleetest dragon. That was probably the only reason Hyro hadn't ordered Taja to kill her as well - Cirrus was a useful tool for him. But he, Bramble. He was a wild card, hated by Hyro anyway and now not under his control. A possible obstacle. Obstacles were removed with due force.

 

He had to steel himself for what he did. As Cirrus made yet another snake like lunge at his softer throat, he brought his fore legs crashing down on her head. He wasn't an incompetent fool really, he was a skilled opponent with a forte in physical combat. Cirrus dropped the ground like a stone, but not before Bramble clipped Taja hard enough on the side of the head to at least stun her. That ought to give him enough time to get away.

I'm sorry girls. I'm so sorry he whispered into their minds as he turned to flee. The one time he had ever fled, and it was from part of his own soul.

 

Despite outward appearances, Bramble could be stealthy when he wished to be. He just never felt the need to put to practise all the training he had half of the time. He did however, manage to track Drac's progress, eventually anyway. He flew over the coastal spot where he knew the NDK would be at roughly dawn the morning following morning, alighting on the sands. Tucking his wings to his sides, he observed the apparently quiet beach, green eyes glowing in the dim light.

DRAC! he demanded, then waited for the boy to appear.

[BlueApollo]

((Thanks for the awesome setup, Kja!))

 

Ayden huddled in a corner of his cell, trying to appear as weak and undetermined as he could be. At least, that’s what Ophelia had told him to do before he got captured. If the guards thought he was being submissive, then they wouldn’t bother him. They might even forget just how dangerous he was. So far, it had been working. He seemed to be getting less and less attention as it took the guards more and more time to check up on him in his cell. He counted the seconds between each pass as it grew from just sixty all the way up to six hundred, and it was still expanding. He considered giving up his counting and actually figuring out a plan to get out of this stupid cell, especially since he knew he was going to start losing count soon. Still, based on the pattern, it would take another day or so before the guards gave him enough time to really think about giving up his counting. If he did anything out of the ordinary, they would start checking up on him even more again. He was beginning to understand and respect Ophelia’s calculating attitude a lot more now. Some part of him wished she was with him right now, but knowing her exact location would have to do for the time being. He knew she was safe, but he wanted more than anything to get back to her in case anything did happen. Besides, he didn’t feel right being all alone like this.

 

Fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five… He could hear voices near his cell, male and female. Some girl was probably sucking up to the guard to let her see the scary prisoners. He ignored them and went back to his counting. Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty… He heard a thump, but he also ignored that. The guard probably tripped or something. They weren’t the brightest creatures on the planet anyway. One hundred… More noises. Maybe that girl was up to something. One hundred and twenty-one What in the world was going on?! He was only able to get up to two hundred before things began to go terribly wrong. Explosions of magic, prisoners running amok, it was becoming an utter fiasco. Well, if there was any time to escape, now would be quite good. The guards had found Ayden to be more harmless than he seemed, so they had only used a lock that was strong enough to defend against his brawn. Too easy. He quickly opened the lock with his own magic and slipped into a hallway that seemed more like a battle than anything else. Criminals fought the guards for their freedom, kicking, biting, and punching their way out. And he had been stuck with these thugs? He was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t been classified as a higher level of prisoner. Oh well, having his captors think he was merely an annoying troublemaker was better than being widely known as a New Dragon Knight. Good thing Ophelia had escaped long before his captors had even gotten close to him. Ayden began to make his way down the hallway, avoiding swinging fists and feet and the occasional knife. A few guards tried to stop him, but a quick fist to the face was all they needed to know that he intended to get out of there as quickly and neatly as possible. This was not an opportunity he was going to waste.

 

Within a few minutes Ayden was outside and almost in the clear. He would have to escape through the gates, and that was easier said than done. He instantly headed towards the stables, knowing that speed would be key here. It was difficult enough getting there with all the grooms and stable hands running around like banshees, but he found a suitable steed within an acceptable amount of time and was pounding down the streets towards the gates. He could feel the horse’s panic, knowing that the creature was just as confused as the rest of the crowds around him, but he used the emotion to his advantage, urging the horse to top speed. He felt unstoppable now. No one would cross paths with a rampaging horse. He could hear the crumblings of the fortress behind him as the towers began to fall and looked back in time to see one of them collapse. Before he could turn his focus forward again, though, he felt the horse come to a sudden halt. He went sailing over the horse’s shoulder and managed a quick roll to break the fall. His right arm stung from a rock he had hit, and he glanced down to see a small tear in his tunic and a few drops of blood dripping from his sleeve. That was my favorite shirt! Before he had more time to contemplate the revenge he would take on whoever had stopped his horse and ruined his treasured piece of clothing, a fist slammed into his abdomen. Ayden doubled over, gasping for breath. He felt another blow on his back that knocked him to his knees. He quickly looked up to see a guard armed with one of the coldest glares he had ever seen. The guard was preparing for a knockout blow to Ayden’s head, but the escaping prisoner rolled to the side before the fist could make contact. Finally regaining his breath, Ayden kicked up at the guard’s stomach and jumped to his feet. He looked around to see that the other guards were busy with the crazed civilians, and his horse had fallen dead not a few feet away. A spear protruded from the horse’s chest, and Ayden assumed that that was how the poor horse had been stopped. Oh well, the horse had at least served some purpose. The guard would be getting back up soon, so Ayden quickly knocked him out with a kick to the head, then began sprinting towards the gates. A hundred meters, fifty meters, twenty-five meters left between him and his road to freedom. Only one mounted guard stood between him and his escape, and he was already quite occupied with an escapee that was attempting to steal his spear. Ayden took the opportunity to use his momentum leap up onto the horse and knock the guard off. Both the guard and the determined escapee went flying into the dirt a few yards away while Ayden shouted a quick, ”Thank you!” and urged the horse into a gallop. He was on his way to find Ophelia and get back to the NDK’s new meeting spot. He looked back one last time to see how much destruction the fortress had taken. The place looked like it was almost in shambles. Some serious magic must have been going on in there. Ayden guessed there could really only be one person responsible for such trouble: Drac Stormwind. He had heard that the NDK leader had been taken prisoner, but he had refused to believe it. Well, if he was going to believe it now, at least the guy was escaping. The NDK wouldn’t have to go through the trouble of a rescue mission then. Ayden turned his horse onto a path that led towards the coast. Ophelia had probably sensed his movement, and he could already feel that she was leaving her hiding spot. They would meet somewhere between the fortress and the new meeting spot. Ayden looked towards the skies. Hopefully she would come soon. He didn’t like riding around on a horse like this when the fortress was on such high alert.

 

 

((I do believe that's probably one of the longest posts, if not the actual longest, that I have ever written. 1265 words. Kinda small compared to Kja's post, but I feel accomplished.))

Edited July 30, 2010 by BlueApollo

[BlackScorpion7]

((Hope you don't mind tweaking the saddle already in Katelyn's possession, but she needs it.))

 

Katelyn had just been on the training field when things became ugly. There had been no separate room with accomodations for Sleet, at least not yet, but she had received the saddle from Gelltor. It had not exactly been the same, a few less cosmetic details, but it was sturdy and well made and fitted it's purpose. Sleet was laying lazily besides the field, his eyes heavy lidded and his muzzle opening occassionaly in a wide yawn. Katelyn's leg was healing well enough, it was still a little sore and she couldn't yet use her full weight on it, but she could at least train again. Her current victim was a straw doll strapped to a pole and getting slaughtered with her short sword. Just as she swung at its neck, the first blast sounded. Head snapping around, she stared intently at the buildings. The prisons! Quickly pushing her sword in its scabbard around her hip, she ran in the dragon stables to get her saddle and strap it on Sleet. In the few seconds it took, another blast sounded. The moment Sleet was saddled, she ordered him to remain there, alert and ready for action.

 

Whatever happened next, happened almost as if in a blur. Escaping prisoners, shattering buildings, fires devastating half the city. Katelyn could only try to keep up, protecting herself from the escaping prisoners and trying not to kill too many fo the innocents. Already early at the action, she had ordered Sleet up in the air to keep him from possible harm. He flew close over the castle grounds, freezing fleeing prisoners with his breath while dodging arrows and magic. Magic, Katelyn cursed herself more than once for not having any. No magic defence against flying rubble or arrows, no defence against heat or anything. When she saw the dracolych take flight, she quickly ordered Sleet to stay away from it. The last they needed was attracting Hyro's attention.

 

At one moment she thought to see the NDK Matthew run from one of the ruins and she started after him, this was a prey she didn't want to let go. The guy looked like he had lost lots of weight and strength, his cheeks hollow as well as his eyes. Narrowing her eyes, she quickened her pace, intent on catching him again. But that was not counting on Questra. The dragon hatchling had spotted Katelyn even before she had spotted them. Running on agile horse like legs, the dark purple hatchling flung herself before the feet of Katelyn, making her trip and roll over. Rolling a few times herself, she quickly staggered upright again and with a few bounds, flung herself up in the air. Sleet spotted the small dragon and angled his flight to her. With his much bigger wings, he was above her in no time. Opening his muzzle, a steam of freezing air already formed a cloud around his teeth.

 

Stop!

 

Confused, the ice dragon looked down at his rider.

 

You can't kill her, we need them alive!

 

With a grumble, the ice dragon swung around in mid flight and slapped his tail against the hatchling, hard. It fell out of the sky, a harsh cry of Matthew piercing the air. There was so much noise, but still the cry stung Katelyn. With almost empty eyes, she watched him run to the prone form of his dragon and pick it up. Watched him cradle the hatchling to his chest, until suddenly his eyes lifted and locked upon her face. Anger radiated in it, pure venom. Just standing there, she watched him, aware of Sleet's confused thoughts and urges. Turning her head away, it was almost as if she gave him a sign and without hesitating he ran away again, carrying his hatchling in his arms.

 

Katelyn!

I can't catch them, Sleet. Let it go.

 

The ice dragon didn't comment on it, but she felt his unease. If Hyro found out she had let Matthew go. But she hadn't, theoretical. Her leg hurt, Questra had hit her right at her injured ankle. She couldn't keep up with him, could she? The next few prisoners who passed her were less lucky, her own anger firing up her sword arm. Time passed, smoke billowed and blood flowed.

 

+++++++

 

Matthew kept running as fast as he could. It was true he was far from his old self. The prison he had been thrown in, hadn't exactly been the same as before their previous flight. For a start, hardly any food. But Drac was alive and on the run. That was all that mattered. He had to get to their second meeting place, had to reach it alive. Clinging hard to Questra's prone form, he let out a sigh of relief. When she had hit the ground, he had thought her dead. Picking her up in his arms, it still appeared so. But the moment he had started running, he could feel a faint heartbeat and see her chest rise slowly. She was still alive, though hurt. He had no idea how badly hurt she was, he had no time to check. Now it was time to run and find safety.

 

+++++++

 

The devastation was large, Katelyn didn't know who had survived and who hadn't. Sleet had gone out to the forest to catch a deer or two. The fighting had left him too hungry to be of any use until he had eaten his fill. At a sound, she looked up from the rubble she had been inspecting and saw Bramble. She had not witnessed anything that had happened to Taja, but the way the dragon was acting didn't promise much good. At another sound, she turned her head and saw Taja emerge with Cirrus. As if automatism kicked in, Katelyn quickly hid herself amongst the rubble. Being an expert in tracking, she also knew perfectly well how to hide. Something was not right here, she didn't even need magic to sense that. Bramble had always been a bit of a problem, but Taja would never harm the fool. Watching the proceedings with unbelieving eyes, she waited and kept herself hidden until Taja and Cirrus were well away. Slowly, she crawled from amongst the rubble and looked around. Taja was Taja no longer, that was for sure. Hyro. A shiver ran through her, whatever had happened to Taja, Katelyn didn't have to guess twice as to the reason.

 

Sleet, remain at the forest until further order!

Why?

Just do it!

 

Running along the grounds, through ruins and those odd parts still in tacts, she tried to locate Gelltor. The gods new she had no love for the man, but right at this moment, she couldn't think of anybody else to seek advice from. Wherever Kaja was, she had never gotten along with the woman. Whenever there had been a problem it was her captain, Taja, Katelyn had gone to. But Gelltor had kept his word about the saddle, no matter how ***ly his other actions might have been. Running, she could not but wonder how things had gotten this ugly.

 

((Ookaaaay... in about 4 hours I will be off on holidays for 2 weeks, with little to no access to internet. I'll try to check and throw in a post once in a while, but I can't promise anything. Sorries! If you feel the need to, you can play Katelyn and Sleet, but try to keep them a bit in character. Thanks!))

[En'K'Haral]

Malice was in absolutely no mood for any of this . He had been in his stable seething form his 'talk' with Gelltor for the past two weeks every once in a while going out to find their quarry with no luck. The man had managed to implement some kind of shock therapy on the dragon when they were still new to each other. The process was cruel but absolute. When given orders in a unique way Malice would be unable to resist them. A scab had formed on both sides of his claw where Gelltor had preformed his punishment. Malice jumped at the chance to do some damage. He may be mad at his rider but there was still affection that continued to burn for reasons unknown. So instead of taking things out on Gelltor he would unleash his fury on however had disturbed him. Just as he stepped out of his stable a chunk of tower crushed his home.

 

Gelltor had actually been on his way to Malice's stable for another search when all hell broke loose. He had his shield in hand and sword drawn once he saw the tower crush Malice's stable.

"What the hell?"

An escaped prisoner charged the man.

"A convict and murderer how ironic. Guess you weren't good enough to rank among Hyro's finest."

Gelltor stabbed the man in the chest having exerted minimal effort to avoid the convict's attack; he cut upwards to free his blade from the man leaving behind a severed body.

"Am I going to have problems?"

"No, and Taja is fighting Hyro."

Malice was soaring over the city with his own personal storm cloud that was black as night. Hail poured from it and lightening struck down every thing he thought was a potential obstacle. This meant prisoners, structures and anyone not trying to stop the escapees. Gelltor made his way to the stables. Two horses were gone, two escapees were away. He seemed oblivious to the destruction around him. He thought of possibilities then he saw what most would consider unthinkable, Taja and Cirrus attacking Bramble in the air. Even from here he could see Taja was not herself something had definitely changed. Looked like Hyro had won the fight and had preformed something Gelltor had looked up himself once and disregarded it since it required magic. He was none the less fond of the idea.

"About time too, maybe now we can get something done."

"I saw Katelyn a second ago but lost sight of her again. She looked panicked."

"I see her now."

This was how Gelltor dealt with real problems. By becoming unnaturally calm, this helped him keep a clear mind which meant a mind that could plan which was what he needed now. At least two escapees were on horse back and judging by which horses were missing one of those was probably Drac. The flare of dark fire at the border confirmed his thoughts. He sighed not able to come up with anything beyond crowd control for a plan, this kind of quick thinking was not something he prided himself in he preferred preplanned actions.

"Malice, try to stick to Prisoners. But if you catch sight of this man kill him, everyone around him and level that area. He has expended his uses."

Gelltor sent Malice an image of the contact he had used for the spying operation someone he had been waiting for the opportunity to off for some time. The man was smart and Gelltor suspected that the man knew who he was.

"What is it Katelyn?"

His voice was monotone.

 

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Rio had gone through a partial transformation by means of Ayos's Polymorph spell. Having been turned into a kind of bi-pedal lizard with camouflage and razor sharp talons she was getting ready to launch her rescue of Matthew and Drac. However, as she approached the city the sight of the fortress suddenly losing one of its towers caused her to pause and take cover.

"What the heck!?"

"Probably Drac. The man always did do things huge."

The pair remained hidden with their newly enchanted marbles consisting of a much wider variety of colors and effects but primarily red and white. She had been training to identify them by touch alone and was now quite skilled. They sat and watched things unfold from afar.

"What the heck is Malice doing?"

Malice had unleashed a huge amount of lightening from the storm cloud on a single spot as if doing his best to completely obliterate it. Shortly afterward she saw Bramble soar overhead and decided to figure out what was going on. The Black had been attacked by his own rider, it didn't make any sense. Turning about she and Ayos pursued him at their best speed and burst out of the bushes red marbles in hand right behind Bramble as he called out Drac's name.

"Surrender!"

Ayos soared over Bramble and flanked him summoning his magic and creating a pair of blue orbs in his claws. He held them threateningly.

"Seriously Rio? Surrender? Why not Stand and deliver or something?"

"Is now really the time Ayos!?"

A slight chuckle escaped Ayos as he couldn't resist annoying his rider a bit but he soon returned to seriousness and faced his opponent.

Edited August 3, 2010 by En'K'Haral

[Kjakings]

Drac had made it to the camp site to find the NDK in an absolute raving chaos shambles. Very inconspicuous. He decided he’d deal with it in the morning, or whenever he woke up. Right now, all he wanted to do was sleep, sleep until his body decided it was rested enough to wake up. Comas being his primary source of rest was probably unhealthy.

Unfortunately, something had ordained that he was not to rest, as something thundered about outside and yelled his name in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Bramble. Drac rolled over, grabbed his crossbow and made his way outside assuming that he was still dressed.

Drac leant on the crossbow as he saw two of the other NDK, Ryos and Aio or something similar like that, trying to threaten the massive black. It was almost funny to see the little hatchling attempting to intimidate the massive 20-ton black dragon. The average black was around 16-tons but Drac thought Bramble was getting a little bit fat.

“Am I required here or should I go back to bed?” Drac asked, an amused expression in his face. He had already started preparing a dozen spells to subdue or even kill Bramble if it became necessary, but nobody needed to know that.