The small drake was recognized, but seemed worth no more attention than a bit of recognition. While Belnair seemed to find it amusing that Draetur had come to join his brethren, the small drake was obviously nothing but another feather among the cloud of blue down that was coming at him.

It struck Draetur just how big Belnair was again. Though the drake was terrified at the hellkite's size the first time the two met, he was now being compared to all of the young one's family, and they were indeed just small birds raging against a cliffside. They all dove and scratched and roared, digging their teeth into the hellkite's wing tissue when they could, but even Draetur's father, who had always been gigantic compared to Draetur, was now just an insect.

Life on Jund rarely gave one time to think things over. Their flight here was a brief reprieve from the world of survival, and now the world had thrust them straight back into its unrelenting tide. Belnair was where the cloud of blue was focused, but other dragons swarmed around the mountain home. One such dragon quickly caught sight of Draetur and Jek, who were entering the outskirts of the battle, and dove for them. The drake was faster, however, and tilted away from the dragon's flight pattern.

"What're we going to do?" Jek shouted into the wind.

"What?" Draetur tilted his head back.

"What are we going to do against that?"

"Whatever we can." Draetur answered, spotting an unsuspecting dragon below him. He dropped with Jek convulsively grabbing at his neck, and landed harshly on the dragon's head, aiming for the eyes. With a furious scream, the drake took off again, flying up and behind the dragon before its fiery breath could find him, because its eyes would no longer find anything.

"Aim for the eyes with your weapon. If you get caught in a maw, stab the top of its mouth before it burns you, and most species have a weakness in the area you're sitting, where the neck joins the shoulders and chest." Draetur shouted, not believing that he was giving tips not only on dragons, but potentially on killing drakes. Of course, Jek already knew those key facts, but the information seemed to snap him out of worrying over the impossible situation.

With a silent understanding between the drake and his human, the two charged into battle. Most dragons were large enough that Jek could jump onto their backs without them noticing, and then deal some damage before jumping back onto Draetur's back. His short blade was useful, despite its small range and Jek's undeniable nervousness.

Draetur couldn't remember a time in which he flew more furiously. His kind were meant for the skies and the seas, and since there were no seas in Jund, the skies were their only true home here. Still, Draetur had never focused his efforts on the mastery of flying, instead using it as a means of transportation to more interesting things. Now, he was working every muscle in his arms and in his back to fly fast and with precision, keeping in mind the extra clearance he needed for Jek. He was flying faster than ever, in tighter circles than he had ever attempted, and dive-bombed with a ferocious precision.

The two together were a surprisingly potent team. They crippled as many dragons as they could lay claw and dagger on, cutting down the length of wings and stabbing out many an eye. Draetur's agility in the air, coupled with his extra effort, made it near impossible to lay a claw or flame upon them, and Jek used what he remembered from his former masters to direct Draetur towards more potent methods of killing and wounding the dragons.

Finally, they carved their way into the center mass of battle, where drakes streaked everywhere. Draetur worried that they would fight him and Jek, for no one had ever heard of a drake pairing with a human, but no one seemed to notice. He would get hell about this from his mother later.

All the dragons and drakes were tearing at each other here, and more blue bodies were dropping than red ones. Draetur raged in with his own battle cry, and Jek stood up on the drake's back, screaming an announcement to his presence. The large dragon that stood between them and Belnair turned and opened its maw just as Jek jumped off Draetur's back. The human landed on the beast's head, and got an eye before the giant, scaled thing began tossing its head. Jek shouted in surprise and looked about, but could not find Draetur. There were so many blue bodies around, he couldn't tell one from the other. Even the young ones were fighting!

Finally, although Jek hung on for dear life, he felt himself finally fall from the beast's head. Wondering, not for the first time, whether this was his end, Jek looked around him. Things were chaos. Dragons, though wounded or blind, were still up and about, doing their best to destroy everything around them. A few had slammed into the mountain and destabilized it, causing its form to shake. Drakes were getting killed and wounded faster than the dragons, and the stench of death and battle was almost choking the air. Not a moment after Jek realized a great potential in battle and war, Draetur swooped under the boy, catching him. Gasping, Jek made his way to his seat on the drake's neck.

"Perhaps you'd fight better from far away." The drake said, flying away from the battle and beginning to curve toward the ground.

"What? No, I'm fighting with you!"

"Whoever said you weren't fighting with me?"

Confusion lit upon the simple boy's face. Then he saw what the drake was flying toward, and shock replaced confusion as he recognized a fellow hunter, Ther, holding up a package. The drake landed beside him, quite comfortable that they wouldn't be noticed down here. All the death and destruction was up above.

"I figured a warrior should go into battle with proper gear." The man said gruffly.

Jek leapt off Draetur's back with the giddy energy of a school boy, although his outward demeanor was quiet and serious, like someone somberly accepting a gift. Inside the wrapped cloth were weapons and a very tough leather armor, which the boy donned. He strapped it with such seriousness that the drake almost forgot the awkward, not quite frightening teenager.

"The leather is light, but strong. You won't lose your agility in the air because of it. We've given you a spear, and a few long-ranged weapons. You should do better out there."

"Thank you, Ther." Jek said, feeling the worn leather.

"Your father… always wanted you to become a warrior."

Draetur watched the two interact quietly, doing his best not to pull away too quickly to the battle above. His people were holding their own, and all he could do was trust them. But he noticed Jek hold the dragon talon necklace as Ther spoke of Jek's father. Was one of the men in the previous hunting party Jek's father? Was Jek's earlier anger toward his villagers for forgetting his father too soon? While the drake pondered these questions, he almost didn't notice the woman bringing another package.

"These are for you." She said, catching Draetur's attention. "We don't usually charge in with beasts of war, but when we do, we're well prepared with armor. We found some that would fit you."

She lifted a head piece out of the bag, and the drake sniffed it cautiously from a distance.

"He's not a pet, Darley." Jek said softly, both defending Draetur and being kind to the girl. This was probably the proudest moment in which Draetur would remember the young boy, since he was never known for being good with words.

However, something in Jek's voice seemed to catch the female's attention, and a spark lit in her eyes. Draetur understood none of it, but now he saw that she was not intent upon forcing the armor on him, as if he were some infernal beast of burden. Knowing now that it was his choice to fight with the help of the humans, the drake slowly extended his neck so that his nose eventually touched the piece of metal. The gesture was taken with full enthusiasm, and the rest of the group set to gearing Draetur up as fast as they could, so that the drake could raise Jek into battle again.

The head piece connected with a set plates that were connected as best as the humans could, so that they covered his neck and chest, protecting some of his more vulnerable areas. A light saddle was also added to the attire, as well as a nifty sort of mace attachment that strapped onto his tail. There was even a strange blade he could hang onto with each wing thumb. While Draetur was shifting in his gear- and upsetting those who were strapping it on as quickly as they could- there was a sudden loud cry. All heads turned to the battle above, and Draetur was pained to see that his presence was badly needed.

However, all heads turned further from the battle as a line of dragons swooped toward the battle. Draetur felt his heart drop as he turned his entire body to face the horror that had just dawned upon him. Another hellkite, one that Jek had rid of a single eye before being bucked off, was leading the fresh charge. There was a bright flash of fire, so bright as to contest with the light of a thousand suns, and then there was screaming.

It took Draetur a couple of moments to realize the scream was his own, and his entire body tensed up to take flight. Surprisingly, weight suddenly pulled him down to earth, and the drake quickly realized that the human hunting party were all ganging up on him, forcing him down to earth. This didn't stop the drake from struggling, and he did everything in his power, even lashing his new weapons, to free himself.

"Let me up!" He roared quickly, almost jumbling the words.

"You're not finished yet." Ther shouted over him, putting pressure on the drake's neck. It was startling, the difference between Jek and the rest of his brethren. Jek could sit comfortably on Draetur's neck, but Ther could snap it with his big arms if he wanted to.

"To hell with the armor!" The young drake screamed, deep blue eyes, pained and screaming for redemption, fixed upon the largest hellkite's form.

"If you just charge out there now, you're going to die!" the girl pleaded, but she had no hold over Draetur.

With a final surge of strength, Draetur pulled his head up from Ther's grip, snapping the leather strap at his chin and causing the headpiece to fall. Wings threw off everyone, and he slammed his head into the big man's chest to force him away. Swinging his spiked tail to ward off any more attempts to bind him, the drake wasted no time in launching off, but not before a weight dashed onto his back.

Jek's presence was just a footnote in Draetur's mind. There was no holding back the blind fury that had consumed him. He couldn't help but remember everything, from his youngest memories to his most startling discoveries. Every face of his family came before him, whether he knew them well or not. That was probably the last of the entire race of drakes in this place, and Belnair just wiped it all out! He even seemed to think the battle was over, as his roar signaled the dragons under his control to continue on home, to abandon this charred carcass of a mountain.

With each wing beat, Draetur continued up, up, up. He went so far that he passed the level Belnair was flying at, angling himself once he had reached a proper height. Jek hopped up so his feet were on the saddle and the hand that wasn't preoccupied with a spear was holding onto a leather strap. As they dove, both let out a battlecry, and Belnair looked up just in time to have their full momentum slam into his muzzle.

Belnair cried out in surprise, and Draetur was sure he heard a loud crack from a fractured bone. The drake and his rider gave out another yell, and then swooped around to meet Belnair in battle. Draetur couldn't feel his legs, but he didn't need them for flight. Jek seemed to have lost his spear already, and was switching to a bow. Draetur heard him put every ounce of strength into pulling the string back after he sat down, and did his best to give Jek every opportunity to hit Belnair. Upon trying to blindside Belnair, Draetur spotted Jek's spear, lodged in a soft piece of skin right next to the eye. The boy had just missed his mark.

Heckling the hellkite seemed to work, because he arched his neck back eventually, the telltale sucking on air signaling firebreathing. Jek grabbed something Draetur had seen in action before, and threw the spidersilk net at Belnair's muzzle just before he could open up properly. The result was a sort of explosion effect inside Belnair, who began to smoke from the mouth and nostrils. Infuriated that he had been made to look like a fool, the dragon tore off the net with his claws and began to actually pursue his quarry, stretching out his neck to surprising lengths and almost grasping Draetur in his jaws more than once.

"Is this all you can come up with, drakeling?" the hellkite taunted. "Your entire family destroyed, and yet all you can muster is a few scratches. Not only that, but you've stooped so low as to accept aid from a human!"

"I'll show you." Jek muttered, and his weight shifted on Draetur's back.

The message was clear to Draetur, and he built up speed, angling at Belnair's head. The dragon moved so that no such trick could be pulled on him, but Draetur instead took the opportunity to try and swing his tail mace into the dragon's eye. He missed, but it was a good enough distraction. Jek jumped between the gigantic hellkite's shoulders without being noticed, and made his way carefully onto the oblivious dragon's head.

From a distance, Draetur noticed Jek much more. Though Draetur was blinded and driven by his fury, the expression on Jek's face was one that matched what the drake felt. Perhaps the two shared a mission, not only for themselves, but for each other. Suddenly, the drake felt a duty to the young human, and swore quietly to do all he could to get them both out alive.

Stepping upon the eye ridge of the hellkite, Jek came into view just as he was raising his dagger to strike down upon the red eyes. But it was a moment too much, and a sudden change in footing caused Jek to begin plummeting to earth. Draetur dove immediately, avoiding Belnair's snap at his tail, and quickly caught up to the boy who was sheathing his knife and reaching for another long-range weapon. There was a grim determination upon his features, and as the two closed distance, Draetur realized that Jek had finally grown into a warrior; he had finally found the inner fire that allowed you to survive on this dismal existence.

Jek was now preparing to remount, waiting for Draetur to swoop beneath him so that he could land conveniently between the drake's shoulder blades. But then, something both entirely unexpected and unsurprising happened. A dragon, lingering from the giant battle, came between the drake and his human. The drake saw it coming, and he stretched out his neck as if to grab the boy before it could happen, but no amount of desperation could stop Jek from becoming dragon food.

Muscles tensed and his wings tilted automatically, the part of him that was still primal and grew up on Jund aware that there was nothing else he could accomplish like this. There was no saving Jek. But his mind, the part of him that discovered emotion and thought, was stunned. Jek was gone. How could he be gone? They were both going to come out of this alive, a pair of the strongest warriors known to Jund, thanks to innovative teamwork. Yet, here was Draetur, suddenly alone.

Then the rage came. Family, friends, his home- everything the young drake had ever known was gone. Belnair was the sole reason for their immediate absence, and he was the only one the drake's mind would turn to. With a scream of fury, Draetur rose into the air again. His body burned as he swept around his enemy, attacking at every chance he got. But it was not to be, and a giant set of claws came at the drake and slammed him into the charred wall of his mountain. Sliding down, the drake found a grateful ledge.

"Exciting, isn't it? When you get your spark, suddenly everything is clear to you. It turned you into an intelligent youngster, and me into the strongest hellkite here." Belnair said, hovering down to the drake's level. "But you've become far too much of a nuisance, and I don't like your kind. You're disgusting."

Draetur, despite the fog that seemed to have overtaken his pained and sore body, understood that his end was nigh if he didn't move. He stumbled to his legs, using his wings to help prop himself up. There was the sound of a dragon preparing to breathe fire, and it was all Draetur could do to launch off from the cliff side.

It was as if in slow motion. A blaze erupted from behind him, quickly warming up the metal end on his tail, and he maneuvered away from it, slowly, slowly, though he was sure he was putting everything he had into it. But it was no good. The fire caught up to him, and in a bright flash of pain, Draetur dropped from the sky, to land in the charcoal below.

It was rancid, whatever that smell was. He recognized it as cooked flesh, but what could smell this bad?

Draetur ventured to open his eyes, but found only one would react properly. The left side of his face and neck stung and hurt, and the drake was almost certain he had been burned. Looking above, there was nothing, not even a cloud. However, on the ground, it was like hell on earth.

Dead bodies were strewn everywhere. Drakes, dragons- he even saw a couple of lizards, goblins, and humans. Everything was burnt, charred, and dead, giving off the acrid scent he had noticed earlier. And now the scavengers had arrived, sensing the opportunity for meat.

Draetur hissed at a couple of lizard men, making them scatter quickly, and stumbled to his feet. Doing his best not to jostle the burns, the drake walked to the edge of the decimated clearing, eventually arriving at the edge of a forest- or, what remained of this part of it. The dull clink of metal against his claws brought his attention to his stumbling feet, and the drake moved his right leg to see the glint beneath. Digging in the soot, he pulled out the face plate that had ripped off when he tried to free himself.

"Oh, Jek." He mumbled, everything still in his memory, and with sharp clarity.

There was no helping the frustrated roar that he let out afterwards, but it ended in a piteous whine as the burns caused him sharp pain. What would he do now? What could he do now?

The winds were as fair today as Draetur had ever felt. It was strange being here, in a place that was so calm. In Jund, everything was out to get you, and even the humans were without any kind of vast intelligence. But here, on this different plane, things were different.

Nothing happened after the massacre. The drake, still young, flew about Jund, shouting out challenges that brought him conflict with any hungry beast that was around. Still, Belnair never appeared, and so Draetur, remembering a vague sense of smallness when he gained his new intelligence, theorized that Belnair was no longer on Jund. It was like a leap of faith, causing him to go through a space of unrivaled energy and eventually dropping him off in a world of nightmares. But in the drake's second attempt to leave the plane he was at, he ended up here.

He never met Jek's family again, either. In fact, the humans seemed to have become more reclusive. Then again, Draetur began growing quickly right after his biggest battle experience, and he wasn't able to sneak around the jungles as much as he had before. Now, about as big as he would ever get but still with the young, tan scales on his stomach, the drake had aged to about 40 human years and grown to 20 feet.

Now, Draetur tended not to look back. There was no gain in it. It was best if he looked ahead, chasing after Belnair, who had left a trail of fire behind him in every plane he had ever travelled to. The drake had found that Belnair was gathering followers who believed in red mana, and his legion was slowly growing. Draetur was close now. He could feel it.

The land gave him no hints by the end of the day, so Draetur glided to the ground, eventually settling in an area that had little tree cover. Just as he was ready to settle down here, a scent caught his attention, and the drake was off again, heading for the mountain nearby. A quick fly around, and the drake discovered an abandoned nest on a vast ledge. He landed there and gazed unkindly at the dragon whelp laying there, grunting pathetically in its sleep.

A well of hate began to bubble up, and the more Draetur looked at the whelp, the more he wanted to hurt it. Reasoning that taking care of it now would spare many people the grief of dealing with it later, the drake hissed as he slowly arched his neck up. Lips pulled back to reveal his fangs, he was about to strike when another presence was made known.

"You would kill it, even at this age?" a man said. He walked forward on a thin ledge, completely comfortable, despite the sharp drop off next to him.

Draetur examined the human figure, his neck still arched back after preparing to strike. The man stood straight-backed, his steps showing an ease and potential agility. A beard and moustache covered most of his face, and brown eyes watched the drake quietly.

"I'd rather kill it now than fight with an angry beast later." Draetur growled.

"Does that make you any better than him?" the man asked, still quietly watching. It was slightly unnerving.

Draetur narrowed his eyes and raised his wings slightly, immediately suspicious of the human.

"Better than who?"

"Belnair. You leave a trail as wide as him while you're looking for him. Not exactly subtle, are you?"

"There's no point in allowing a monster to grow."

"And what of your children, who may not be born with a spark to allow them to speak and reason? That is the monstrous qualities you foresee for this whelp, isn't it?"

"Drakes are not dragons." Draetur hissed, a deadly tone to his voice.

"True. But they are alike."

Now the drake turned his full attention to the human. Keeping his wings open for balance, his long neck stretched to the human so that his snout was scarcely a foot from him. Blue eyes narrowed, and a very low growl was barely audible.

"What are you implying?"

"I'm not implying. I'm stating a fact."

The young dragon had stirred, and now blinked quietly at those who were around it, uncertain how to react. The human sighed and looked out at the landscape that unfolded from the bottom of the mountain. His face seemed to become much more tired.

"I defend a whelp because I have one. Not a dragon, of course. But, perhaps once you've had your own, you'll understand what I'm talking about."

The dragon decided its best course of action was to call out for help, which it proceeded to do with annoying clarity. Draetur turned to the dragon whelp, annoyed, but also wary of its adult protection. No, Draetur felt he could take on a normal dragon. It was the human's words that bugged him.

Finally, Draetur snorted his irritation. He tilted off the edge of the mountain, reeling until his wings caught the wind and stabilized him. The drake almost immediately felt a new weight on his back, and he looked to see the human crouched between his shoulder blades.

"What are you doing?" Draetur demanded among the high winds.

"Well, you couldn't expect me to stay there when Mommy was coming." The man said reasonably.

"Get off!"

Ah, young rage. It caused Draetur to fold his wings as tightly as he could, plummeting while spinning. Still, the weight did not come off until just before the treetops, when Draetur opened his wings suddenly to fly above them. Just when the drake thought he had finally gained his moments alone, he saw the human again. Only this time, the human was running on top of the thinnest branches as if he weighed not a pound.

"Sorry, but now I'd really like to ask you something. How would you like help with Belnair?"

"I don't need help!" Draetur shouted rebelliously.

What was with this man? Draetur sharply tilted to change his course. The forest ended quicker than he thought, though, and suddenly there was a vast camp full of bustling people, fireplaces, and tents. Draetur was flying so low that they all went into a panic, and a net came flying at him from nowhere. Its sturdy threads caught the drake's wing, and he fell harshly to the ground.

Many people swarmed around him, some keeping their distance and others making it their duty to personally keep him down. Damn, Draetur thought he had been rid of this sort of problem! Not that he had an issue with fighting back. He was about ready to do so when the human male from not too long ago broke through the crowd, repeating 'friend' to all the different races of humanoids that Draetur saw. The man eventually made it to Draetur and attempted to take off the bindings, but Draetur growled at him.

"I can't get these off unless you give me permission." The man protested. He waited, but Draetur did not growl again, so he took that as a go-ahead.

Once Draetur was free to move, he shook himself and flicked his tail unhappily, hissing at someone else who tried to approach him. While people tried to continue on to whatever they were doing before, the drake looked around warily. He had never seen so many different breeds in one place. There were elves, humans, even short people. The drake even spotted a humanoid form that looked more like a torch.

"What is this?"

"This is a fighting force against Belnair." The man answered calmly. "Everybody here has a reason to fight."

Quietly, the drake looked over the people once more. Everyone in this bustling group had a reason to dislike Belnair? They would all take up arms against that raging dragon?

"Drake. I wanted to ask you to fight with us."

There was a moment of silence. Then:

"Perhaps. I may fight with you. For a time."

Cards Drawn: Mountain (Nils Hamm), Hellkite Charger, Spidersilk Net, Inner Fire, Disfigure, Dragon Whelp

Shieb: Wow, ok. It's been a month since I last updated this thing. I admit it could have been done a while ago, but my attention has been elsewhere. Anyways, here's the end of the short story. I enjoy most of it, but the ending makes me nervous. It'll probably seem rushed to you all.

Anywho, R&R if you please. Tell me if you enjoyed it or not and then tell me why. It shouldn't be too difficult, right? ;)