ENTER THE MYTHRIL Chapter XV

CHAPTER 15


'Think Al, think!' Allastor murmured; or at least he thought he did as he searched about the area for an alternative escape route from that human crafted building that was his prison for now. The tools hanging from the ceiling didn't help the least with all those swinging blades and tools on top of his head.

'Al? What is it?' Cadorec's voice was heard in the back of his head.

'Cad? I am trapped! Inside the granary!' he sent via the psychic link, thinking of a way to escape. He looked down to the ground and the hay.

'How did that even happen!?' Roc's voice was heard, in complaint.

'I… I was trying to lure them to me!' he replied to Roc, a little upset as he began removing hay and digging on the dirt.

'Lure? Getting locked in a granary is your concept of luring?' Roc half mocked at him and half complained.

Allastor simply made a grunt, and decided to keep on digging rather than listening to Roc. He could also hear voices outside of the granary. The other humans were probably arriving the scene. He panted as he kept on digging.

'What in the name of all dragons you were thinking about when you got in there!?'

'… Phreatic level…' Allastor thought when he found out that as he dug and dug more into the dirt, it got more and more moist and the hole eventually began getting filled with water.

'… What?' some of the other dragons replied, almost in unison.

'N-no, it is just… I tried to dig on the dirt to get myself out of here, but we are too close to the lake!'

'You're hopeless, Mythril. I cannot tell how other really believe in you-' Roc started, but he was interrupted by a louder, feminine voice that boomed into their minds.

'Be quiet, Roc!!' Melina protested, her voice then returned to normal, with a hint of concern. 'Al, can you get out on your own?'

'I.. I do not-' he began, but he heard the human voices outside, and he flared his ears looking at the dual doors he intended at escaping through at first.

"We'll get this one, you two go to the other side." Someone was almost whispering, but loud enough to reach Allastor's sensitive ears.

'… I'll come for you.' Melina said.

'No! Mel, you stay where you are!' Talon's voice jumped into the conversation. 'Keep the fog up and wait for us to return!'

'Then I'll go!' said Cadorec. 'I am only keeping you in direct communication through my mind.'

'No! Do not come! I… I will be fine!' Allastor replied, standing and running towards the wagon with hay. He grabbed the sides of it and struggled to move it over its almost rotten wheels, and positioned it to block the closest doors. 'You do as you are supposed to and get out! I will find my way out!'

'… If you get Cad killed, 'Snowflake'…' Talon almost threatened.

'NO, TALON!!' Allastor protested. He then grasped the bottom of the wagon with his hands, engaged and bent his legs slightly and supported his tail on the floor for some leverage. Using his strength he eventually lifted and turned the wagon over its side, and the hay fell over to the door, effectively blocking it. "Cad... just... do not come here! I do not… want another dragon dying on me…'

Silence. An uncomfortable one, despite the few noises and murmuring the humans outside of the granary were making. Allastor had still a hand gently touching the underside surface of the wagon, remaining in his standing position, still with his heart racing from both what the humans would do and what his dragon companions would say at his last statement. It was not nice to be in that kind of situation. Voicing from the outside disturbed his brief trance.

"We're ready here! At three!" His ears flared as his heart raced even faster. He had not thought about how to deal with the second pair of doors, which would be his only escape route by this time. If they saw him, there was no telling how they could react. "One… two…" The counting was too fast, and Allastor quickly jumped into one of the piles of hay, shuddering and wriggling quickly to have his body covered in it. "Three!!"

The dual doors boomed open and two humans holding a forked like tool pointed forward entered. The other doors opened as well, but the other two humans yelled as hay came onto them. Part of the doors remained unblocked, giving an aperture wide enough for the Mythril one to escape, but if he did, the other two humans would notice him. Furthermore, that door also leaded to where Jayna and Roc were, to the stable, where they would be collecting food.

"What the hell!?" one of them shouted from the other side of the wagon.

The two that entered were dressed more or less the same way as the man Allastor had seen at first farming. They both walked slowly, looking around to attempt and see under the little light provided by the half blocked windows. They both noticed the whole Allastor had attempted at digging but had stopped. Then one of them looked around towards the area where no more hay was scattered. The hiding dragon failed to notice before that his paws had left prints, and he widened his eyes from his laying position.

"Hey guys!" one of the men shouted. "Are ye sure it's a tiger what we're trying to find here?"

"I don't know." Said one of the men on the other side. "It's big, that's fer sure."

The ones already inside began searching for whatever was inside apart from them. They first looked into the cubicles, stepping into view quickly with their improvised weapons ready to strike. As they came across the piles of hay, at the same time, they pinned their weapons into them. Allastor panicked when he saw them do so, provided he was hiding a couple of cubicles to their right. When they did the same to the second pile, Cadorec's voice resonated into his mind.

'Are you alright?'

There was no reply. Allastor was concentrated in neither moving one muscle nor making any noises. The forks dug into the pile on the cubicle right beside the one he was hiding, which made him tremble violently and pull himself slightly back into the cubicle. The hay piled up over him hissed as it slid over more hay. The humans looked over at where he was, only they didn't see him; still, their suspicious look told Allastor they had found what they were looking for. He panicked, and his body wouldn't obey him. The humans drew their tools up into the air, ready to stab the pile of hay and him inside.

Unnoticed by him, the moment he jumped and shifted to further hide into the cubicle, the back of his body and tail had disturbed a nest of rats that were also hiding there. One of them came out, rather upset, and bit the first thing it found that didn't belong to their home. Unfortunately for Allastor, what the rat found was the tip of his tail.

The shock and the feeling made Allastor leap and roar in pain. The amount of hay and his expression seemed very monstrous, and it made the two men yelp in fear and fall over their butts. Quickly and before they would actually see him, the dragons pushed some hay at their faces and pushed them both against the wagon, with enough force to knock them out. He then turned to see his precious tail, drawing it close to see the damage. He gently grabbed it with his hands and licked its tail tip, where it felt in pain, and further glared at the hay, from where a couple of rats came out and fled towards the entrance behind the wagon. A couple of beatings were heard towards the other entrance, and Allastor flared his ears, turning towards the dual doors already open. He saw as two other men fell to the grass, unconscious. The silhouette of another dragon came into view.

"Are you ok, Al?" Cadorec spoke in Draconic from the door. Allastor was still holding his tail. The Amethyst raised an eye ridge at him. "… What happened?"

"A rat." Allastor murmured.

"A… rat?" The Amethyst one repeated, confused.

"… It bit my tail."

"…" Cadorec held a chuckle. "Let's get out-" suddenly an arrow hit him on a wing and Cadorec knelt, roaring in pain.

"Cad! No!" Allastor ran towards him and knelt to help him. He seemed fine, but the arrow was still piercing his wing. They both remained silent and they heard rumbling. A few more arrows hit the walls of the granary and Allastor pulled Cadorec inside. He held the amethyst one against the wooden wall and he took a peek around the hinges of the doors.

There was movement in the fields far into hills. The fog around them did not allow him to see very well, but the rumbling had a very familiar and terrifying sound: that of a coming battle. Both Allastor and Cadorec panicked, and remained inside of the granary for a while, both to take cover and to remove the arrow from the Amethyst dragon's wing.

'An army! Humans!' Allastor sent a psychic alarm, still in pain, to the others.

'What?' 'An army?' 'What are you talking about?' the others replied.

'We have to leave this place!'

A woman scream was heard, then a crowd of scared people, and then chaos. The remembrance of what had happened in their den under Stirling Castle slowly came back into the dragon's minds, and Cadorec felt them all at once.

"We must… get out…" Cadorec murmured. He looked up at Allastor with a pleading, scared look. "They are coming…"

Allastor looked back at him, as scared, and he nodded. He helped him stand and together they ran towards the opposite side of the granary, leaped over the turned over wagon and into the other side, finally out, with very cat-like agility. There was already fire in some of the houses and people running around in a complete chaos. It was now the humans who were desperate to save their lives from an incoming army under a banner the dragons were once spoken about by the Elders back home: The Clan Donald*. Knowing their vicious skills and the reputation of their leader, the two dragons hurried to gather with the rest of their companions.

A whistle could he heard over head and both of them looked above as a meteor-like object flew and completely destroyed a house several yard from where they stood. It was set ablaze immediately and a figure came out rolling from the impact, and it growled. Talon had come out seemingly unharmed, smoldering a little and holding a good amount of sheets about the size of his chest. Both dragons looked at him concerned, and after shaking his head, the Ruby one looked back at them, slightly shaken from his crouching position. A couple more whistles and explosions were heard behind them as more houses were destroyed and the crowd of humans desperately ran north, to the east of where the younglings where.

"We have to go! Now!!" Talon called in Draconic, to which both Allastor and Cadorec nodded, and the three ran on all fours.

A few steps taken, Cadorec stopped with a shocked look. Allastor was the first to notice, and Talon stopped moments later, and Melina was already in view to the three of them.

"Cad?" Allastor inquired, looking at the Amethyst dragon.

"Jayna is in pain!" Cadorec replied. "Roc is close to her! They are in danger!"

"What!?" Talon exclaimed.

"Where!?" the Mythril one asked hastily.

Cadorec turned his head back into the burning town, some point north-west, towards the destroyed stables. The highlanders from clan Donald had already gotten into the town and were in the transition of taking over and looting whatever they found before moving on to Inverlochy Castle. A close look into the north revealed a wave of people moving towards the town, a contingent of the Scottish army. Their numbers were vast and seemed overwhelming even for the invading opposing force, which was nothing less impressive than the first one.

Allastor looked back and forth between Cadorec, the other two and the town behind them. An itch in his head bothered him and terrified him at the thought that both Jayna and Roc would die there, at the hands of humans. An external war had begun, which completely placed him out of the cause of their loss if they perished, which somewhat relieved him, but every time a dragon didn't return into their sanctuary he blamed himself for cause the situation in the first place. A nut in his throat and a chill down his spine kept him frozen in place, deciding whether to head into the stables and get them out or return with his life and the other three. Part of him didn't want leave other the dragons behind, but Roc had particularly pestered him to a point he had becomes an even greater annoyance than Norren and Draik combined. He didn't like the Bronze male, but he didn't want be labeled the cause of the decease of another dragon, especially if he was a witness. There was also Jayna, who had not been particularly bothersome to him, even if she didn't look at him with the best eyes or treated him very well whenever they had a chance to share a word or two. In fact, she would even speak to him if she could help it, normally very distant to him. An orphan of the Massacre like Roc, the Emerald girl secretly blamed him for it, reason enough to avoid him.

Another explosion startled the dragons, and the Mythril one became increasingly uneasy, visibly shaking and holding his urges. He desperately wanted to prove that he was not selfish, following the teachings of his Elders and his parents. Plus, both Jayna and Roc were part of his rookery. A small tear of desperation and terror ran down his cheek, which he shrugged away as quickly as it formed. He didn't want them to die. A frown formed in his feature and his body finally propelled him, galloping towards the stable.

"Allastor, it is too dangerous! What are you doing?" Cadorec called.

"I am getting them out of there!" Allastor yelled back, running on all fours towards where Cadorec had looked at.

"Al!!" Melina also called for him, pretty scared, still behind the wooden fence at the end of the field.

"Come back here!" Talon shouted. "Curses, 'Snowflake'!!"

Passing over Talon orders and warnings, Allastor quickly closed in to town, and disappeared between the two story buildings on fire. Hidden as much as he could, the young one sniffed the air, trying to catch either of the two missing dragons' scents. For the most part, he caught the smell of blood, smoke, burning wood and clay and human sweat. The cracking of fir, explosions and screams of fear and pain filled his ears, as well as his panting. Every single fragrance he could detect reminded him of the assault to their den, which made him grow uneasy and fearful for moments. Constantly trying to shake the thoughts out of his head, he crawled and prowled around, searching for the other two.

Taking a peek through a window he noticed the inside of one of the buildings. There was nothing there. He moved further, two more houses from the stables. As he was passing by the second house, a beam of wood on fire fell close to him, just were the corpse of a couple of men laid, and it startled him. Paying little attention, he resumed his search. He coughed a couple of times from the smog surrounding him. He then checked another house. The moment her took a small peek around the door frame, a couple of humans holding baby came running out, and his heart jumped, and curled himself to almost a ball on the floor, holding his arms, wings and tail curled tightly against his body, sitting on his haunches and shooting his eyes closed. Nothing happened, and he opened them again after a few seconds. The couple had come out running to save their lives and failed to notice Allastor. He made a sigh of relief and moved into the house. Smoldering and burning furniture and broken pieces of glass and ceramic was all he could find. Closer examination showed that a wooden cross had been left behind by the couple as they ran out of their home. He looked at it for a few seconds, making a slightly sad face, for he knew what it represented to the humans.

A growl reached his ears and they perked up high. It came from the other side of the house. It was weak and painful, and Allastor quickly leaped through the window that was covered with fiery wooden blinds. Landing on the other side of it, he found a body with green scales under a ground of sheets, oak beams and what seemed like half a cow. It was Jayna, and she was still conscious, moaning out of pain. She was shocked by the sudden coming of Allastor into scene, and she seemed scared to death, pupils completely flared. He could smell blood and he grew greatly worried.

"Jayna…" He murmured, and the Emerald female slightly relaxed herself, staring at him still in stupefaction. Allastor moved closer to her. "It… it is I, Al."

"I know who y-" she hissed in pain, holding the side of her body. What looked like a claymore was stuck on her side, just over her right hip, and she was bleeding some, still in the hand of a dead highlander, laying behind her. "They came out of… nowhere… What is happening?" she spoke slightly desperate between pants of pain.

"I… I do not know…" Allastor replied as softly as he could, removing the half cow and the debris from her. He kneeled before her and offered one of his hands. "We must get out of here, Jayna."

Jayna looked at Allastor somewhat skeptically, but still scared, and after short consideration she nodded. She took his hand and attempted at moving, but the girl growled in pain again, holding her side.

"Th-the sword…" she whimpered, looking down at her side. Her worn leather attires were ruined down her left side, revealing her scales and her stabbed waist.

Allastor kneeled close to her, looking about her form to try and remove the blade from her body, without hurting her much and, somewhat, disrespect her. He looks at her with apologetic eyes, hoping she would not react violently, but she was too scared to even move, looking at him with pleading eyes. The Mythril dragon hoped over her larger body and settled behind her, where her tail met with her rather voluptuous and muscular rear and looked at the blade. He took a while to think and then looked down at her. She never took her gaze from him, asking constantly for help.

"Jayna … this is… this may hurt you… I need you to hang on, alright?" He told her in a low voice, so not to scare her and trying to have her trust him.

She gulped. "How… how much…?"

Allastor pressed his lips, not replying and looking at her with great concern, but giving an answer right away, and she knew it would hurt like hell.

"Oh, gods…" the girl whispered, almost crying, and panted a couple of times. Her hands slowly dug into the dirk below her and made a couple of deep breaths. She turned to look at Allastor with glazed eyes and nodded to him. "Ok… make it quick…" she whispered.

Allastor nodded to her, and turned to look at her behind. He hesitantly moved his right hand and gently placed it on her hip. He looked at her apologetically for his touching, but she could only look at him, holding her breath, at the brink of crying. The Mythril one then looked back at the sword and took the handle and the highlander's hand still attached to it with his left one, and he himself help his breath. Jayna then closed her eyes and grimaced in anticipation. A couple of more detonations and screaming were heard outside, and Allastor waited for the noise to become more or less even so to not be disturbed and not scare the injured girl. With a swift motion, he pulled the sword from Jayna's body, which she tensed and she produced a shriek of agony, and she was left panting, and crying in silence. The Mythril one sigh in relief and somewhat smiled at Jayna, claymore still in his hand. The force of the motion had dislocated the highlander's shoulder and made his hand release the sword. He stood up, looking at the defenseless female and he got ready to aid her.

Another growl drew his attention past Jayna and before them: Roc glared at him with his eyes glowing in deep emerald and snarling. He had come a split second after Allastor removed the blade from her weakened body. Definitely the wrong moment for him to have come and Allastor flared his ears at him. He looked at the claymore, instantly panicking, and looking back at the enraged Bronze male.

"No! Wait, Roc! It is not what you think!" he pleaded in anticipation. "It is not what it looks like!"

"And what the hell does it look like!?" he snarled at the Mythril one, giving slow steps towards the pair.

"I was trying to help her!" He replied, backing up slowly with a scared look. "Please, do not do this!"

Without listening a word of it, Roc pounced Allastor and they both struggled, one to make the other stop, and the other to take vengeance. On top of the Mythril one, Roc delivered a couple of scratches at Allastor's face, which Allastor could not really avoid, leaving marks on his muzzle. He had dropped the sword to try and support Roc's weight and use his inertial to toss him back, but he found a wall behind him they both nearly crack. The Mythril one only moves his arms the best he could to cover his face and groaning as the Bronze one clawed at him. Jayna came to her senses and noticed them both and called out for them to stop, which ended up on deaf ears. Roc took the air out of Allastor's lungs with a jab on his abdomen, which made him uncover his face, and he immediately received two well planted left-and-right punches on his muzzle, turning his head to each side and making him groan in pain. The second attack drew blood from the Mythril one's muzzle. In an attempt to get Roc off of him, his right legs came up against The Bronze male's abdomen, but Roc grasped his throat with one hand and began strangling Allastor. He reactively took Roc's wrist to try and make a futile attempt at removing his claws from his neck, and his other hand travelled to help the other. Roc intercepted his other arm and locked it with his free hand, twisting it and forcing Allastor's elbow to point at the wall and towards his back. A choked screech escaped his throat and he looked up at Roc, grimacing in pain.

"P-please… Ro-aghh!" He managed to say as the Bronze one held him immobile.

"Stop it!! Roc!!" Jayna's crying voice sounded from behind them. She was half seated and holding her hurt side with her hand, and trying to cover up her body where it had been torned. "He was…" At first Jayna held her comment for fear to admitting that the Mythril dragon, the one who presumably caused her to have orphaned, had possibly saved her life. "… he was… helping me!!"

The Bronze male turned his head at Jayna's pleading look, and he pant growls of anger. His eyes were still glowing in a glare of hate, but they eventually faded when he finally assimilated what her eyes were conveying. She had never looked so vulnerable until now, and he couldn't help but feel compassion for his Emerald friend. He slowly began to release Allastor, and the Mythril one help his neck, choking at the lack air and the amount of smoke around them. Roc looked at Allastor again, still slightly enraged. He deeply wanted to give the Mythril dragon a bit of a good trashing for all that happened after the Massacre and what it had leaded them into. But he thought about his sister and about returning home safely. Her and his own survival was most important that beating him up, for more satisfaction it would give him right now.

Jayna started standing up, towering both males and she recomposed herself, shrugging her tears off and sniffing once. Her tone still carried a bit of her crying and she couldn't hide it.

"Let's… let's go home, ok? I'm pretty scared as it is… I don't want to see more of this…"

"… Right…" Roc replied, and then he glared at Allastor for a while, who was standing up now and panting. He looked back at Roc, still bleeding from his muzzle. The Bronze one moved to help Jayna. "Let's go."

She refused. And he grunted.

"Fine!" say spat, leaving the place after picking half the cow Jayna had collected.

The female then looked at Allastor, who was now looking at her with his ears folded. For a while they would only look at one another, uncertain about what the other would be thinking about the first. Dismissing the idea, Allastor walked closer to Jayna and looked up at her. She was in a rather bad state, and yet she was standing, powerful as always, but fragile as he had never seen her. She them limped closer to him and gently held onto his shoulder, leaning on him for help. He hesitantly at first took her arm and allowed her to rest on his shoulders and his other arm embraces her waist, being careful not to hurt her further. Contrary to what he thought would happen, Jayna didn't mind at all. As it had been for decades, the female was reluctant to be touched, especially by other males.

"Easy now…" He told her, moving as fast as her injuries would allow. She whimpered and pant a couple of times, until she got used to the bouncing of their walk.

Once out of the town, Allastor and Jayna found Roc already nearing Cadorec, who at some point had decided to help them. A decision he took with a little of delay and he ran to meet with the couple. Roc kept moving to meet with Talon and Melina, looking about and carrying the half cow. Talon noticed the others and the lack of supplies other than what he had gathered.

"That is it?" He asked Roc. "That will barely sustain the six of-"

"Listen, Talon! I am not in the mood for being bossed around! If you want to get yourself another piece of meat in that revolt, be my guest! I'm out of here!" he spat at the Ruby dragon and kept on walking. Talon and Melina widened their eyes, staring at Roc as he kept on moving into the bushes behind the fence. The remained shocked at his behavior until the other three came into view. Jayna was being helped by the Mythril and the amethyst dragon.

"What happened?" Melina inquired upon looking at the Emerald girl's state.

"Later, Mel! Let's go!" Cadorec interrupted and continued to move to the other side of the fence, aiding Jayna first and jumping it himself. Allastor followed and they began to get away from the battlefield.

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

As the battle between the force of Highlanders led by Donald Balloch and the Royalist forces led by the Earls of Mar and Caithness brewed, terror and chaos spread along the land. Deployed at several places to protect Inverlochy Castle, the Scottish seemed to stand little chance, even with their greater force. The highlanders were brutal and quickly moved through their defenses. A small convoy of Royalist soldiers defended what was left of the town. A greater part of their division had been already decimated. A retreat order was imminent when one of the officers had noticed something moving along across the fields and saw the youngling at the distance, and he immediately reported it to his captain, who was in control of a ballista.

"Sire! We spotted dragons within the zone!" he alerted the others.

The man glanced towards where the officer pointed him and saw something moving along the bushes. He remained incredulous.

"… I'll be damned…!" He exclaimed. "I had assumed they were extinct already! Fire at will, Officer!"

"Yes, sire!"

As fast as they could, they turned their ballista and aimed towards the youngling. A few soldiers with crossbow opened fire towards the bushes, barely in range to hit the dragons fleeing from the turmoil.

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

The mountains still seemed miles away from where they were, and carrying a wounded companion seemed to slow them down greatly. However, Cadorec, Melina and Allastor refused to leave Jayna stranded and to die, be it from bleeding, by a sword or to hunger. Roc was several yards ahead, carrying the meal and Talon followed, every so often looking behind to check on the others, certainly Melina. He stopped cold a moment.

"How's Jayna?" he inquired.

"She is fine. It is not grave but she is bleeding. We have to take her to the sanctuary." Cadorec replied. The Ruby one looked at the Emerald female's expression. It was more of pain than fear now, barely conscious from the blood she had already spilled. He looked down and commanded them to stop. A trail of blood had been left by the dripping wound.

"Put her on the grass. Gently."

Allastor and Cadorec shifted to have Jayna sit, and her heavy-lidded eyes looked at the Ruby dragon, confused about what he would do. Talon regarded her.

"I need to cauterize your wound, Jayna."

"Wh-what…? No, Talon, please…!" Jayna panicked and made a futile effort to struggle. She clearly didn't want to feel any more pain than she had already gone through. "No more, please…"

"I promise this will be fast. I want you to stay still." He spoke to her softly.

Jayna desperately looked over to Melina and the other two, who gave her a comforting look. She finally nodded and made a few breaths before holding her breath when Talon told her to.

"Alright. You two hold her still." He told the Mythril and the Amethyst, and they held her arms.

Melina took the small pouch she normally carried with her and took a few herbs from it. With the help of Talon, they mashed them until they made a more or less even paste, which Melina held for a while. Talon leaned forth and signaled the others he was ready, and Jayna tensed her muscles in anticipation. The Ruby dragon then inhaled and exhaled fire from his muzzle, which he gathered and channeled with his Breathmancer abilities with his palms and sprayed it along the surrounding area of her waist and he wound as quickly as he could. The female flexed and cried a roar of pain during the procedure, until the fire stopped. She panted, making quiet whimpers of pain and Talon hurried to apply the paste he and Melina had prepared to easy the burning feeling and the overall pain. Her scales smoldered still, but the bleeding had stopped; only leaving Jayna sobbing in silence.

"Good girl." Melina whispered to her ear in a very friendly way. "Good girl, you did well…"

"It is all I can do for now." Talon said as Allastor and Cadorec helped Jayna stand again. "We need t-" two crossbow bolts landed mere feet from where they were, and everyone turned around, but Jayna, who panicked upon seeing the bolts. A pleading "no" escaped her throat.

They could see the human soldiers at the distance firing their crossbows and readying a ballista that was already aimed at them.

"Run!!" Talon shouted and he stood quickly, and everyone followed.

The human's aim got better and bolts almost hit them at times as they dodged the bushes and the trees of the woods they were getting into. Cadorec instructed Allastor to keep on going with Jayna, to which he nodded, and Melina and the Amethyst one worked on buying some time for them to flee. Cadorec displayed great skill with his telekinetic mastery to deflect some of the bolts as they closed in as Melina employed her natural magic to have the vegetation grow denser. Trees and bushes seemed to move as if the forest had been enchanted, at times taking the bolts for them. A sudden booming sound came from the fields and a powerful force cracked through the branches Melina kept placing in the way of the incoming bolts. The flying debris pushed her to the ground, instinctively covering her muzzle and head. Allastor and Jayna themselves fell forward against the grass, the male quickly moving onto her back to protect her, and Talon also crept onto the ground.

No more crossbow bolts came, but the struggling and screaming of the soldiers could be heard at the distance. Melina took a small peek to inspect what had happened, as low as possible, her heart beating hard on her chest and panting a little. The highlanders had discovered the Royalist convoy and mercilessly struck them. Melina didn't dare looking for too long, and she recovered, looking for Cadorec, who was not beside her any more.

"Cad?" she called. "Cad, where are y-" she gasped loudly, and took her hands to her muzzle in great shock. "No…" she whispered.

Allastor reincorporated himself and looked upon Jayna. She seemed fine, and she actually nodded to him. He figured she would be fine there for moments. Talon had already stood up and ran towards where Melina was; now kneeling with her eyes glazed. When he turned, his expression turned into that of woe. When Allastor finally looked, he saw in horror how the Amethyst youngling was laying on the ground, coughing and puking his own blood, one hand resting on his chest and the other grasping the immense arrow-like projectile that now went through him and kept him nailed in the ground. The hemorrhage was beyond the healing skills of any of the other five inexperienced dragons. And Jayna was already in a bad shape.

"No… No!" Allastor repeated as he frantically made his way to the Amethyst one. "Cad…! Please, Bahamut, do not let him die…"

Melina had already broken into tears, in her kneeling position, calling his name. Talon fell to his knees, looking at his now dying companion, incredulous of what he was seeing. Jayna finally managed to stand and crawl, and when she came into view she noticed Cadorec, looking up and struggling to breathe, to keep clinging on to life, she succumbed into tears as well and cried, repeating to "no" to herself in a soft voice.

Roc had come back, but seeing them all mourning but unable to see Cadorec, he knew they had lost another, and he drooped. He dared not getting closer, so he turned around, walked a few steps, placed the half cow on the ground and sat down on a nearby rock, looking down.

Allastor became desperate, knowing that if he didn't do something he would lose a friend. Cadorec had been one of the few hatchlings that actually would get along with him, even if it was by moments; an honest and rightful partner, always willing to look after him if needed, like with any other hatchling of his rookery. He constantly called him to keep him awake and grabbed his hand and shoulder gently, shedding tears and looking down at the Amethyst one. Cadorec, in his agony, finally looked up to Allastor, also shedding tears, as if he finally heard him, and Allastor's eyes seemed to brighten slightly. His desperation was not doused one bit, but he remained silent as his companion tried to project words through his throat. He coughed blood and stared at Allastor for a while. He smiled as much as his pain would allow, and he finally was able to produce a broken, soft whisper:

"A-… Al…?"

"Cadorec…? Cad… You will be fine, I promise!" Allastor sniffed. "Please, stay… just stay with us… Cad…!"

"I'm… I'm ok… This is… it…" Cadorec coughed. His voice became more shattered, almost crying. "Al… please… take… take care of them… I believe… I believe in you…"

Allastor went crestfallen and cried more, as his tears travelled down his muzzle down to the broken body of the Amethyst dragon. He looked up at him again. His tears didn't really allow him to see Cadorec clearly, even if he wiped them off his eyes. He sobbed again and called his name, knowing that sooner or later, it would happen. And without the assistance of an Elder, there was nothing they could do.

"Good… bye… everyone… Al… …"

The Amethyst dragon mumbled silently, and after a peaceful sigh from his throat, his eyes lost their vivid yellow tone, turning opaque, and they finally closed. He didn't draw another breath and his heart bit one last time. His head came to a rest on the grass, his features kept a faint smile.

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