A/N: Wow, a month…well better late than never I suppose. I think that this chapter took so long because I didn't really enjoy writing it, but hopefully you will like reading it more than I did writing it.
Feeling returned to his body with a jolt. Taelas screamed in agony as his limbs regained their sensitivity. Electricity snapped around the dragon's figure searing and jolting him. The sensation continued rendering the dragon virtually immobile. There was a crumbling sound in the distance, though Taelas could give it very little attention, due to his situation.
Suddenly, the dragon's pain lessened noticeably, and his eyes snapped open at the first instant. Taking in a large breath the dragon sat up half-way, to meet excruciating pain. His vision hazed in and out, black spots piercing his sight. With a rasping cough he tried to focus and turned to see Ivarik standing before him, lightning crackling in his teeth.
Thinking that the attack was aimed at him Taelas turned away trying to bring up his wing in a feeble defense. There was a loud crackle, and a burst of light as the electricity shot forward past Taelas and into the ground. Earth shattered and sent smaller bits through the air pelting the two dragons.
Taelas whipped his head back around, sending out a few sparks from his, still, overcharged scales. "What was th-
The dragon stopped speaking midsentence as Ivarik placed three talons at three different points on his head. Again the pain that coursed Taelas' body diminished significantly, this time it seemed to disappear all together, leaving him feeling sore all over, and a little tired. As if losing the lightning energy had somehow fatigued him.
Ivarik turned his head again, and spat to the side, sending out small flares of electricity. A moment later he acknowledged the purple dragon once more. "What were you saying?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"I was asking what you were doing." Taelas reiterated, although at this point he already had a clue as to what Ivarik had just done.
"I siphoned the electrical energy out of your body, before it could cook you from the inside out." Ivarik said. "Although, I think I might have taken a bit too much from you. Would you like me to put it back?" He asked a few sparks bouncing between his fangs.
"No, that's fine. I'll be fine." Taelas said quickly, shaking his head as he stood up slowly, shaking slightly as he moved. "About what just happened, I'm sorry, I acted too quickly, and jumped right in to confront Ridan, you were right we should have waited, perhaps this could have been avoided." Taelas said looking at the earth dragon's corpse which lay nearby.
"Wow, I never thought I would see the day when you would tell me that I was right and you were wrong." The cyan dragon said a snide edge to his voice.
"Don't push it." Taelas said his mood changing back to its usual self. "I give credit where credit is due, nothing more; I still don't really like you."
"I can live with that." Ivarik said his eyes narrowed. "What do you suggest we do now?" The dragon asked.
"That cultist, I've seen him before. He must be significant to the cult." Taelas said ignoring Ivarik's tone.
"Alright, and you are telling me this because?" Ivarik asked, expecting some dramatic conclusion.
"He told us where they were meeting tomorrow night. He also got my blood." Taelas said touching the wound on his side with a paw, blood smeared the scales at the spot, he ignored the pain of the wound. "They have wanted my blood for as long as I have seen them, but I don't know why. Now they have it, and whatever they plan to do with it will probably happen tomorrow. So I am going there, and I am going to stop them." The dragon said.
Picking up on the purple dragon's speech, Ivarik cocked his head to the side. "You will be the only one going there?"
"Just me." The dragon said firmly.
"Either you really do hate me a lot or you're just dumb." Ivarik said.
"You aren't coming." Taelas answered with a slight growl.
"You can't stop me dragon. I know where they are, I can go myself."
Taelas didn't answer he didn't have an argument for the drake. Over the short time he had known him, Taelas could tell that the teal dragon was dead set on this endeavor. Smart and fierce in combat, perhaps he wasn't as bad as Taelas had made him out to be, but he wasn't about to change his opinion on the dragon yet, he still had plenty of proving to do.
"Why is it that you care so much?" Taelas asked suddenly.
"What do you mean?" The teal dragon responded.
"I mean about this cult, you say that you want them dead, but I have seen no motive. You have no reason other than hatred, blind hatred." Taelas said. "But there has to be something fueling that."
"I have a motive for doing this Taelas, whether you see it or not, I do not care." Ivarik spat.
"What is it then, it's not like you have to keep it a secret." Taelas pressed.
"You don't need to know the whole story; I'll give you the short version." Ivarik said. "This cult killed someone. Someone close to me, the only person I have ever known to give a damn about me." The dragon growled, the very retelling of the story bringing rage to his voice. "The dragon who killed him was named Malik, a poison dragon, green scales, tan crest. His cultist mark is splayed on his crest, right here." The dragon said tapping a claw on the top right corner of his crest. "There in clear sight for all to see. He killed the only person that I have ever cared about, and now I'm going to kill him."
Taelas didn't respond for a while, pondering the story he had just been told. "Is that enough motive for you?" Ivarik asked begrudgingly.
"I wasn't asking you to prove yourself." Taelas growled.
"Then what were you asking?" Ivarik questioned angrily quickly losing his patience.
"Nothing, I simply wanted to know your reason to fight. If you fight without purpose you have already lost." Taelas said looking away from the dragon as he spoke. Ivarik stood stunned, what the purple dragon had just told him amazed him. The statement seemed as if it would come from an elder not someone who was only just a teenager. "I know you weren't asking, but you can come with me, Ivarik." Taelas said. The teal dragon nodded blankly seemingly unable to speak a word.
"Come on, let's get back." Taelas said opening his wings and flexing them.
"What's your motive Taelas?" Ivarik asked suddenly. Hearing the words Taelas stalled for a moment before launching away, kicking up dust in his flight as he left. Ivarik pondered the drake for only a moment before leaping into the air as well.
The flight back was short and silent. Taelas hardly watched where he flew; his mind was preoccupied on so many other things that he could have flown into something without noticing. His mind was still reeling from the things that had happened. Over the past week his life had become hectic. With cultists running wild, his family under attack, best friends turning against him, and corruption throughout the city he could hardly focus his thoughts.
By the time that they landed outside his doorstep the dragon had still not reasoned anything out, and so he gave up his efforts. Suddenly feeling exhausted the dragon stepped through his front door Ivarik following him inside.
His family was still in the front room, Syra was still asleep on her pillow, but she looked as though she was at rest now. A few feet away Spyro lay on the ground, head in the air, and eyes wide open, obviously waiting for his son to return, before he would go to sleep. Cynder lie curled up close beside him, and Aria beside her, both of the dragonesses' being asleep.
"Are you alright Taelas?" Spyro asked his voice low as to not wake anyone.
"I'm okay, and so is Ivarik." The purple dragon responded.
"Good, but what of Ridan, I do not see him with you." Spyro said already assuming the worst.
"We found him but…" Taelas trailed off, unable to speak of what had happened.
"We confronted him, he was talking to us about the cult, but another dragon, a higher up, killed him." Ivarik grunted.
"He is dead?" Spyro asked as if he didn't believe the two, and needed to hear it again.
Taelas was about to respond as his sister yawned, and rolled out across the floor. Sprawling out and stretching the dragoness was obviously unaware of the others in the room. Finally standing up and opening her tired eyes she asked, "What's going o-…oh hi." She said awkwardly, seeing Taelas and Ivarik staring at her.
"Right, he is dead." Taelas said turning back to his father and ignoring his sister.
"Who is?" The dragoness asked looking from Taelas to her father and back. "Is Ridan dead? Did you kill him?" She asked exasperated.
"He's dead, but we didn't kill him." Ivarik confirmed. "Another cultist did."
"It won't look like that; people will think that you killed him. Cynder and I will talk to his parents, but I don't know what I can do."
"Are they going to get arrested?" Aria asked.
Spyro was silent for a few moments, as he weighed the seriousness of the situation, finding it to be quiet incriminating. "The guards will try to arrest you unless we can convince them otherwise."
"That shouldn't be hard; you are both purple dragons that should be more than enough to vouch for us." Ivarik argued.
"Normally I would agree with you, but in this case a dragon lays dead and you two were the only ones there to tell what happened. It doesn't look good." Spyro said. "Also being a purple dragon does not give you immunity to the law."
"But you won't let the guard take Taelas will you dad?" Aria asked fear audible in his voice.
"I can try but at this point nothing is certain." Spyro said, leaving a silence in the room so thick you could slice it, realizing a few moments later that no one else was speaking up the purple dragon spoke another question. "Did you find anything out when you talked to Ridan?"
Ivarik opened his mouth to speak but Taelas cut him off. "We were talking to him to make him hopefully relinquish anything he knew but as we were nearing the point where he might tell us something of use, he was killed. Right Ivarik?" The dragon asked turning to the dragon and cocking his head, his eyes narrowing only slightly enough for Ivarik to see.
"Yea, the dragon that killed him came from nowhere, one second Ridan was alive and the next he was dead." Ivarik said momentarily playing along with Taelas.
"Well, there isn't any use thinking about it now, get to sleep I imagine you'll need it. Ivarik you are welcome to stay if you like." Spyro said. Hearing his father's words Taelas' eyes widened slightly, as he didn't want the lightning dragon around anymore than he had to be. In a fight he was useful but staying in his house was a different matter. Taelas didn't say anything, but instead walked away retiring to his room.
"Thank you Spyro, but I think that I have already overstayed my welcome. I'll head out for the night." Ivarik said turning for the door.
"As you wish." Spyro said nodding. Aria, who had watched the brief conversation transpire looked to her father, and then back to Ivarik who had just crossed the threshold of the house. Torn the dragoness tried to decide on a course of action. After what seemed like minutes to her she ran out the door after the dragon. Spyro watched her curiously, but didn't speak. A faint grin appeared on his face as he thought.
"Ivarik wait!" Aria said. The teal dragon, sighed, and folded his widely spread wings.
"What is it?" The dragon asked tiredly as he turned on his paw.
"You, you shouldn't go." Aria said stuttering very slightly.
"And why not?" Ivarik asked curious, as he noted that the dragoness seemed to be acting odd.
"Because, it's dangerous." The azure dragoness explained. "The cult could be anywhere; they could try to kill you."
"I think that I will be fine."
"But you don't know that." Aria argued.
"Why would you care so much anyway? We have known each other for less than a day."
"That doesn't matter Ivarik, I mean, you saved by life today, please I want to do something to make it up to you." Aria explained looking down at her paws as she spoke.
"You feel as though you owe me something?" The dragon questioned, legitimately curious.
"I…I suppose I do." Aria said after pondering the drake's statement for a moment.
"I suppose I can relieve you of your debt, although you should know that I didn't act in the hopes of gaining anything. You owe me nothing Aria." The dragon explained a smile flickering across his features.
"Oh, I, well, thank you." The dragoness sputtered as she tried to speak coherently. Ivarik chuckled at the girl, doing his best to not show the emotion.
Greeted by the ice dragoness' questioning face Ivarik answered her unasked question. "You look funny when you are flustered." He said still smiling.
"I do not." The dragoness said faking a scornful tone. Giving the dragon a playful shove she continued. "Now come on let's get inside, its chilly out here."
"As you wish." Ivarik laughed.
As they made their way to house, Ivarik spoke. "You have my thanks Aria." Ivarik said his tone suddenly serious.
"Oh, I, alright." The dragoness stuttered, unprepared for the sudden change. There was a short pause between the two as neither knew what to say. "You can stay in our room, it's rather large anyway." Aria explained after a moment, getting a nod in response from the teal dragon.
Ivarik followed her inside and turned in the direction of the staircase. As they passed by Spyro he appeared to be asleep, but in reality, he was not. The dragon made no moves, he had no desire to startle them, the only reason he was still awake was to ensure that his family was safe.
The two dragons went up the staircase and Aria turned into her joint bedroom. Taelas was already asleep near to the balcony in the room. Ivarik looked at him with scorn, but said nothing, he didn't much care for the idea of sleeping anywhere near to the dragon. As Aria lay down on a nearby pillow the dragon put his thoughts aside for the night and fell laid down as well. Sleep took him quickly as it had been a long day and an equally long one tomorrow.
Spyro and Cynder both woke up the next morning feeling refreshed, but strangely apprehensive. The morning went by in relatively silent, Cynder seeming rather saddened, by what Spyro didn't know.
"Taelas didn't come home last night." The dragoness said quietly. "What do you think happened?" Cynder asked softly as she turned to Spyro.
The purple dragon looked at her with confusion. "Cynder what are you talking about?" He asked.
"Our son." The dragoness said her voice hardening suddenly. "I know you are at odds with him, but you could at least remember what happened."
Spyro looked at her scornfully, making the dragoness regret her outburst. "Spyro I'm s-
"It's okay." Spyro said recovering from his temporary slip of emotions. "I know that Taelas, and I don't always see eye to eye, but I would never forget about him." The purple-scaled dragon said. "He is upstairs along with Ivarik. They came home last night; you were sleeping so I didn't wake you."
"You didn't?" The dragoness asked outraged, and pushed Spyro, although the motion hardly moved the adult dragon. Spyro shrugged having no answer, as Cynder sprinted through the room down the hall and into her son and daughter's room.
There was a moment of silence and then Spyro heard a small crash, and a yelp that came from his son. With a small smirk on his face the dragon moved about, going to find food to feed his family.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Taelas asked as he lay on the ground, the onyx dragoness smothering him.
"I was worried about you, I wasn't sure if you would come back." The dragoness said quietly, still hugging him. "Taelas I'm not sure what I would do if I were to outlive one of my children."
"Don't say that, mom; you know I'll be fine." The violet dragon assured her.
"Sometimes I don't know Taelas." Cynder said backing off of the purple drake, and allowing him to stand up. "I want to think that, but in truth I worry."
"It's a mother's right, but you have to know that I can take care of myself. Nothing is going to happen to me, or even to Aria." Taelas said trying to calm her.
"Ancestor's I hope that you are right." Cynder said. "I am going to go find your father; he has probably already left to find food. Just promise me one thing Taelas," And the dragoness paused making what she had to say seem all the more important. "Taelas promise me that you won't go looking for trouble, not with this cult, and not with anyone else."
Taelas stared back at her, at a loss for words. His lips moved to speak, but no sound came. He knew he couldn't say that, he couldn't promise her anything, not truthfully at least.
"I-I promise." The dragon said forcing the words, which tasted horrible in his mouth. Cynder nodded and gave him a light kiss on his forehead, before leaving the room.
Once she was an ample distance from them Taelas cursed to himself. He felt horrible for making his parents worry, but he had to do what he knew he should. He would still go to whatever meeting the cultist's had planned for tonight, despite anything that Cynder or Spyro told him. Already feeling weary the dragon looked across the room to see Aria and Ivarik. The teal dragon was already standing but Aria was stretching out after her good night's sleep.
"What is he doing here?" Taelas asked walking over to Aria eying the lightning dragon all the while.
"I invited him to stay the night." Aria said defensively. "Why does that bother you?"
"A little." Taelas muttered, looking from her to Ivarik and back.
"Why does it matter, I thought that we had settled our differences last night?" Ivarik stated.
"Not having a problem with you, and you sleeping in my house are two very different things." Taelas answered.
"Taelas, if you don't like him then fine, but I have no problem with Ivarik." Aria said moving to stand closer to the drake.
Taelas stared at her for a moment, as silence fell over the room. Finally the purple dragon sighed, and waved his paw, having no further arguments, at least none that he choose to open up now.
"Don't worry about him Ivarik, he is just touchy all the time, and he doesn't much care for new people." Aria explained.
"Ya, I figured as much." Ivarik said staring at Taelas and rolling his eyes.
"Who's the new guy?" A familiar voice from the hall said, interrupting Taelas's retort.
"Syra!" Aria said excitedly, as she ran over to her best friend, and hugged her, almost toppling the still wounded dragoness.
"Hi." The dragoness said wincing slightly at Aria's impact. Feeling her friend's discomfort Aria backed away immediately and looked her friend's bandages over. "Are you alright Syra, should you be up and about?"
"I'm fine, just a little sore." The dragoness laughed. "But like I said, who is this?" The dragoness asked again pointing a lone black claw at Ivarik.
"He is a friend." Aria answered.
"That's debatable." Taelas responded.
"My presence comes with mixed feelings." The teal dragon answered looking at Syra. "My name is Ivarik."
"And you are the one who saved me?" Syra asked looking him over.
Ivarik felt her eyes running down his form, and paused awkwardly. "Yes, I saved you I suppose." The dragon said shifting back and forth.
"Syra." Taelas said jogging the dragoness' mind. "Not that I don't want you here, but shouldn't you be at your home, with your parents?" Taelas asked.
"You never were very subtle Taelas." The dragoness chided. "No, while you were out last night they came here to see me. It was decided that I should stay here instead of being moved."
"Oh." Taelas said at a loss of words, because of the dragoness' statement.
"So now what?" Syra asked. "I mean what did I miss?"
The others looked at each other, knowing the story already. Over the course of the next hour they explained to Syra what had happened. Everything was told to her, only Taelas held back some information, the things that no one, but him knew, what he considered to be private.
"So now they are going to perform some blood ritual?" Syra asked digesting all of the information that she had heard.
"It seems that way; we are going there tonight to find out what they are going to do, maybe even stop them." Ivarik said, and Taelas nodded in agreement.
"Wait I don't remember hearing either of you talk about that to our parents." Aria said addressing Taelas.
"No, I didn't tell them, and they aren't going to find out." Taelas said sternly, bringing a questioning look from his sister. "They have already worried too much on my account; I'm not going to make it any worse."
"Taelas you can't just do that!" Aria protested.
"And why not?" The dragon asked angrily.
"Because it doesn't help! They will find out what you've done. They'll know and they will be even more worried about you because you are charging off into danger without even consulting with them."
"I don't need their permission."
"I never said that you did, I'm just asking that you try to think about us, about everyone else. This isn't just about you. You can't keep secrets and leave us in the dark!" Aria said angrily.
There was a sharp silence as the dragoness' words faded. None of the dragons spoke. Ivarik and Syra didn't know what to do or say, as they felt it wasn't their place to do anything. The steady silence was eventually broken by the sounds of claws on stone tiles. Spyro and Cynder emerged in the doorway not long after, both oblivious to the events that had been transpiring.
"Taelas, Aria." The large purple dragon said grabbing the sibling's attention. "We are going to see Ridan's family; they need to know what happened."
"I'll come with you, it's only right that I do." Taelas said moving forward and Ivarik began to follow in suit.
"No, I want you both to stay here. If the story you are telling is true then this is neither of your faults. Although, I still want to take caution, I do not want anyone to lash out against you." Spyro explained.
"Syra, Ivarik, you are both welcome to stay as long as you wish." Cynder added. "We will probably not be back until early evening."
"Take care." Spyro said as he, and his mate exited the room and proceeded down the hall.
As the adults left the attention turned back to the previous matters. It was almost a minute before any of the dragons spoke again.
"Taelas, I-
"Forget it Aria, just forget it." Taelas said turning, and walking across the room towards the balcony.
Aria would have none of it though and ran to catch up to her brother grabbing his arm. "You can't just forget this Taelas. You have to do something about it eventually."
Taelas shook the dragoness away, a small amount of his strength easily loosening her grip. He said nothing as he stepped out onto the balcony and dived off the edge, disappearing from sight.
"Don't worry about him, he is just-
"Just what, being moody?" Aria asked cutting off Syra. "He's being stupid, but nothing I say will stop him."
"Then perhaps he should learn for himself." Syra said doing her best to not lose her own temper. Aria's brow furled at the words. A sense of frustration and helplessness setting in. The dragoness fell silent and retreated from the room, her steps fading as she went, leaving Ivarik and Syra standing awkwardly in the large room.
"Everyone seems just a little temperamental today." Syra said looking to the teal dragon.
"Are they always like this?" Ivarik asked turning his head to look at the dragoness.
"Sometimes, you get used to it." Syra said shrugging. "You want to grab something to eat?"
"Uh, sure I guess." The dragon said hesitantly. He was still unsure about all of these dragons that he had found his way to.
The day passed in a haze of relaxation afterwards. It felt good for Ivarik to not worry about all of the pressing matters at hand, but at the same time he was consumed with apprehension, so much so that even Syra began to take notice of it. As a response she gave him a small slap on his head to stop him from overanalyzing and worrying about the situation.
Later that afternoon as the evening began to set in, the two were sitting back in Taelas and Aria's room.
"Are you sure that Taelas will come back here?" Ivarik asked laying on his back and staring up at the vaulted ceiling.
"You said that he wanted you to come with him tonight did you not?" Syra responded.
"Yeah, let's just hope that he actually keeps to his word. If not I guess I'll have to go on my own." The teal dragon said rolling his eyes.
"Hey, don't underestimate him." Syra said sitting up and grabbing Ivarik's attention. "Taelas may look angry, and upset all the time, but he has a good heart, and he keeps his promises."
"Do I now?" Taelas asked, as he approached the two. He had come in silently from the balcony. His voice nearly made Syra jump out of her scales as she turned and hit him playfully.
"Don't scare me like that!" She said.
"Be more attentive." Taelas countered, and the dragoness rolled her eyes to the typical response.
"So are we going now?" Ivarik asked standing up.
Taelas nodded. "I want to head out there early to make sure that we can find it, and so that we don't miss whatever happens."
"Sounds like an apt idea." Ivarik said joining him.
"Wait." The red dragoness said grabbing both the others attention. "I want to come with you." Syra said longingly.
"I don't know if that is a good idea." Taelas responded.
"I wasn't asking for your permission. I'm going." Syra said authority in her voice.
"Noted." Taelas said not thrilled about the idea. "One condition, if there is any sign of trouble you run back here as fast as you can, I'm not letting you die on account of me."
"You think that we could die?" Syra said her firm demeanor diminished by the thought.
"I don't know, they seemed to have no trouble trying to kill me, or Ivarik, or even you and Aria." Taelas said.
"I heard my name." Aria said stepping through the doorway. "What are you talking about?" She asked eyeing Taelas and the others suspiciously.
"We are going to see this cult." Syra said answering for the purple dragon.
"Syra, you are going?" The dragoness asked astounded.
"I am, you are welcome to join us." The dragoness answered, with a small smile.
"No, she is not." Taelas said cutting off her sister before she could answer.
"Why not?" The blue dragoness said anger tinting her voice.
"Because, someone has to stay here, to tell mom and dad where we have gone." Taelas answered. "So they won't worry."
Aria growled, frustrated at having her own words turned against her. She had no argument against him though.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you everything when we come back." Syra offered.
"Just make sure that you come back." Aria said although she sounded more angry than worried when she spoke.
Ivarik and Syra nodded while Taelas leapt away falling off the balcony, and cutting through the air. Dusk was setting as they traveled away from the security of the city, and into the surrounding woods beyond. Flying westward they could watch the sun shrink away falling from view. With it darkness set in gradually but slowly.
Not knowing what they were looking for exactly Ivarik was the first to spot the clearing. Surrounded by tall foliage the opening in the forest was clearly dotted with fire and dragons. Knowing that this must be the ritual Taelas quickly spiraled off to the side flying downward and arching to the side. He continued like this until he came within fifty feet of the ground to which he leveled out and skidded to a stop landing on all fours.
The other two landing behind him Taelas quietly picked his way forward until he was just behind the tree line to see the ritual. Dragons moved all about. There were plenty there that if they were caught they would likely be killed, or at the least captured.
Xranik looked to his friend Valas, the yellow dragon nodding. Agreeing that the time was upon them, Xranik nodded back to his friend before calling out for two other dragons, one being a large green scaled dragon, and the other being a slender dragoness.
Each took their position forming a square with a very large area between them. The others in the area stopped what they were doing, whether that be talking or drawing symbols in the grass. They all knew that it was ready it was finally time.
Watching as the others settled down, Xranik's eyes shifted between the three near to him and the others out further. "My friends tonight, tonight is the night that we bring about a new age!" He began. "All of our hard work has paid off. All of the toil and secrecy, the killing and stealing, has brought us to this point. While some may look down upon us for what we have done, we know that we are the true heroes of our time, and that we shall be rewarded for our service, when the new world dawns!"
The dragons in the circle cheered wildly as Xranik said the final word. From the woods the younger dragons looked in horror, each trying to understand what was about to happen. The fact alone that so many followed this cult and obeyed without question was enough to make them worry. The dawn of a new world was a very large thing for a group like this to accomplish. As the dragon's thought about what was going to happen they realized that there would be no need as Xranik was about to perform the ritual. Taelas considered jumping from his spot to stop them but even he realized that he could not possibly stop so many. As his thoughts whirled Taelas felt another wrap around him, as Syra scooted closer so that their sides were touching, and grabbed his paw in hers. Not wanting to break the silence with words Taelas continued to watch the scene unfold, allowing Syra to rest against him.
"Now, I ask you all for quiet, as we proceed." Xranik said, and immediately the crowd fell silent. It occurred to Taelas only then the authority that Xranik must hold.
The black dragon stepped to the center of the ritual circle, and placed two crystals, one being the color of ash and the other a milky white. After placing the crystals he took a vial, the same that Taelas had seen before, the scarlet liquid inside being his blood. Xranik let the liquid ooze out onto the crystals, until there was none left.
Once it had been done Xranik turned to the feminine dragoness nearby, her crimson scales glowing in the dim light. "Katrina, if you would please, light the circle." He said and the dragoness nodded, and spat a small bit of fire onto the summoning circle. Once the initial flame hit the markings the fire spread wildly dancing around forming strange symbols on the ground, the curved all around Xranik.
The black dragon watched as the fires completed the symbols, and once everything was alight he began to speak once more. "Now, hear my call convexity. We have granted you that which you need. We ask a simple gift in return. Bring us the gods, light and dark, woven in two. Let them radiate the power across the land, and bring the new world from this one's ashes."
One the last word Xranik violently slammed his paw down crushing the bloody crystals, before backpedaling out of the circle back to his spot.
The dragons watched as the air seemed to contort and twist, as the planar boundaries ripped. There was a crackling, and a hissing sound, which grew steadily until there was an enormous explosion that even knocked the three younger dragons back a few feet. Rubbing his head Taelas stood up and stumbled back to his position. All of the dragons in the clearing were still standing as if nothing had happened, and Taelas assumed that they had placed some sort of magic to keep them stable during the ritual.
Taelas' eyes were immediately drawn back to center though were there was now a massive tear in space was. He hardly thought it possible, but as he watched the dragon noted two massive claws grip the edges of the portal and through it came a full dragon, his scales jet black. The dragon stood three times the size of a normal large adult, a colossus. His wings were grey and his scales, besides being black as night were also razor sharp. Large spikes protruded from his body, looking more like tears or corruption than a natural addition to the dragon's armor. His head had six horns each protruding out from the back of his head and curving around in a different direction. As he stepped through the gate the dragon let out a roar that made Taelas' very bones vibrate. When the noise faded away he looked back at the cultists with a sinister smile.
Taelas stared in awe at the large black dragon, for a moment he thought that the cult had summoned Malefor back from the dead. The black dragon seemed to match the description of the now dead leader, except for a few things.
"Another one is coming." Ivarik said jostling Taelas from his thoughts, and back into the horrifying reality.
Just as Ivarik had said two more claws gripped the edge of the portal, and another dragon leapt through. This one was white from head to claw, except for the patches of dark grey scales that littered his body. Unlike its counterpart this dragon did not look nearly as menacing. Its snout was long and lean. Two large horns jagged out from the back of his head. The dragon was less heavyset than the first and now he calmly approached standing side by side with the black dragon.
"You are the ones who have summoned us?" The black dragon asked his voice split between curiosity and anger.
"That is correct Arum; let me be the first to welcome you to our world." Xranik said with a bow, which left all of the other dragons to follow suit. "And of course the same extension goes out to you Sol."
"How do you know our names?" The white dragon asked.
"We all know of you, you are the gods of convexity are you not?" Xranik asked rhetorically.
"We are, and you do know the purpose of the gods, don't you?" Arum asked a smile breaking slowly on his face.
"We know, and we welcome your leadership, in these trying times." Xranik said, smiling back.
"Then we have much to discuss, isn't that right Sol." Arum said wickedly.
"Yes dear brother, but there is one thing." He said turning to Xranik. "Have you accounted for our sister?"
"We have members patrolling all over the area, when she arrives we will find her." Xranik assured him.
"Good, she is the one who could cause all of this to fail." Sol said nodding.
"Surely, she could not be so powerful as to halt both of you." Xranik chuckled, but his laughter quickly faded as the two stared at him stone-faced. "We will find her then." Xranik said suddenly stern. "And have her dealt with."
"Then come there is much to discuss." The two said simultaneously.