Fall of the East: Chapter Nine

Warfang

Reya ran as fast as she possibly could down the hallways of the arena, her breath sharp and her eyes focused as Vicerys ran beside her. At length, Reya couldn't take it anymore and spread her wings, completely disregarding the fact that it would draw more attention to her, despite the fact that the hallway was relatively empty. Candles lit the dark halls, casting a deep shadow on the wall wherever she flew, Viscerys close behind her. Cutting a close corner, the Fire Dragoness touched down and burst through the hospital doors to a shriek of fright from one of the healers, but paid her no mind and marched straight inside. "I want to see him, now." she insisted to the quavering Dragon, who meekly nodded and pointed towards one of the doors leading into the rooms at the back of the ward while stooping down to pick up the various objects that had fallen from her claws. Without another word, Reya strode past her while Vicery's gave the nurse an apologetic expression and quickly followed after her. Placing her paw on the heavy iron handle, Reya stared at the wooden door in front of her, and breathed deeply before smoothly pushing it open and going inside.

Beyond the door, lay a dimly lit room, with a bed and simple furnishings. Her eyes swept the room until she spotted Crow, who was standing in front of a desk staring at her with a shocked expression, before it broke into a grin and they both strode towards each other and pulled one another into a hug. "I thought that the treatment had failed, the way they were going on about it!" sobbed Reya in relief, practically choking Crow to death in her strong embrace. The young dragon gasped for air and started laughing as Reya let him go "A few more minutes of that and all their efforts would have gone to waste!" he joked and Reya gave him a look before helping him sit down. From his eyes and voice it was clear he had made a full recovery, but to Reya, Crow still seemed so frail and delicate, she wasn't about to let him have a relapse after all she had put him through. Vicerys stood politely at the door, waiting for her to introduce him, but cleared his throat after she failed to do so. "Oh, I forgot! Crow, this is Vicereys, we were friends, in my youth." she explained and Crow waved shyly towards him. "I suppose I'll leave you two alone, you probably want to catch up." he said after returning the gesture and turned to leave, but Reya stopped him. "Wait, you don't have to leave, I actually want to take Crow home now." she explained as she got to her feet. Vicerys looked back to her in surprise. "You can't be serious; he just got out of intensive treatment-"

"The longer we stay here, the more likely either of us will be recognized, it was a miracle the guardians have not noticed our presence up till now but I won't risk staying any longer than necessary." explained Reya in a quiet voice as Crow looked between them curiously, his calculating eyes gleaming in the candlelight. Vicerys bit his lip but at length gave in and the three of them left the wing. "You can lean on me if you aren't feeling well, alright?" offered Reya but Crow shook his head. "I'm fine, Reya, really!" he said, rolling his eyes slightly as the Dragoness continued to give him a concerned look. Soon, the trio reached the front entrance of the academy and walked down the steps together. "I guess this is where we part ways then..." said Vicerys quietly, a long coming sadness that he had kept hidden in his voice up until now finally breaking through. The last few days with Reya had been something out of a dream, and he had come to realize that he still loved her, after all this time, even after he was told she was dead. And it hurt him that she did not feel the same way, or was not willing to stay even a day longer at the academy, but he was glad they had been able to spend even a few days together, as friends. "Will you ever come back to Warfang?" he asked as Reya and Crow prepared for takeoff.

Reya looked towards the ground as Crow frantically beat his patched wings, testing out his strength. "I...don't know. I've made a home for myself in Ridgewood, but perhaps one day I will come and visit you...but no promises." she added, with a slight smile, which Viserys returned. "Then, farewell." he said and turned to leave, but stopped at the sound of shouts, echoing from the academy resounded through the night. "What on earth?" he whispered and his eyes widened in shock as he saw one of the guardians, along with a task force rush out towards them. "HIDE!" he hissed and pushed Reya and Crow out of the way, behind a large statue that stood to the side of the main entrance. Crow and Reya quickly curled into the shadows, Reya holding Crow tightly as the Guardian stepped into the light. "That's Reuel!" gasped Crow and Reya quickly covered his mouth, pressing a talon to her lips with her other hand as the Guardian started barking orders to the task force. "If they resist, kill them, those fools in Ridgewood thought that their prisons were enough to hold them, but clearly that is not the case. The messenger also informed me that the Easterlings were aided by Anthro's, if that turns out to be the case, they will be hunted down and put on trial, is that understood?" he snapped and the task force nodded before they took to the skies, their wings beating against the air as they flew across the city. The three behind the statue were silent for a long time, until at last Vicerys stepped out into the night and motioned for them to join them. "You were right, this city is not safe you must leave, immediately." he said and started walking down the rest of the stairs that lead into the city below. All around them, guards were begging to patrol the area and Reya made sure that Crow was right beside her, while the young dragon looked around nervously, his pale eyes wide with fear. "The Anthro's do you think they were talking about Ty and Lee?" he whispered and Reya shook her head "I don't know, maybe? What concerns me is that they said Easterlings, but only Rem was in Ridgewood, what if they know about you and I?" she whispered, more to herself than to Crow. "Where are you taking us?" she asked Vicerys as he flung out a wing in indication for them to stop. "You won't be able to leave the city by air, now that the city patrol is out looking for you, and you cannot return to Ridgewood."

"But it's our-" started Reya but Vicery's twirled around and looked at her fiercely. "Now you listen to me, Reya. They know you live there now, and are looking for your friends, any hopes of making a home for yourself there have gone to ashes. You need to go somewhere safe, I can get you out of the city, but you need to promise me you won't go back there...think of Crow's safety if not your own!" he pleaded and at last, after a long pause Reya nodded. "Good, now, follow me."

Lee ran faster than he ever thought he could, the pine trees seemed to blur together as he shot through the forest, the shouts of Ridgewood becoming fainter and fainter as he moved further into the woods. Although it had taken them a full day to reach the small town from the estate all those months ago, Lee managed to reach the burnt ruins in less than a few hours, and collapsed in the field in front of it, laying in the dewy grass as he tried to catch his breath. After a few minutes, he got back to his feet, and looked off into the distance, beyond the hills, Warfang was faintly visible. The lights of the city seemed oddly beautiful in the night, but its very form was rather foreboding.

It was strange, for so long, Lee had dreamed of going back to Warfang, but now he just wished to go back and join Ty and the others again. "No! They must be warned." he snarled and dug his claws into his palms until they bleed, before starting to run again. It wasn't an hour before the gates of the city came into view, his green eyes darted around the entrance, looking for a place to sneak in, guards were on full alert, and at least twenty of them stood by the gate, but they had left the rest of the wall relatively unprotected, slinking towards the sloppy stone construction, Lee quickly climbed the tall structure, stumbling only once when one of the stones fell out of place, but he managed to catch himself on a protruding beam. Gazing at the ground far below, the wolf managed to swing himself up onto the top of the wall, and skirt across it before jumping onto the city's side. He dug his claws into the stone and slid down until he landed on the ground and shot into the nearest alleyway. The smells and sights of the city all came rushing back to him, and he smiled slightly before disappearing into the shadows, heading straight for the Academy.

All around him, the city seemed to be in a state of panic. "What is going on? Are they really this worried about the Eastern Dragons…all the way in Ridgewood?" thought Lee as he hurried towards the Academy that loomed over the city, his eyes anxiously eyeing the structure as he thought about what condition Crow might be in, what if he and Reya had already been captured? No! He had to believe they were alright! With a low growl, he hoisted himself up onto the low rooftops and started jumping from house to house, making movement much easier. In the day, the clay and sometimes metal shingles that coated the city roofs would be burning hot, but at night, they were merely warm to the touch, which was lucky. At length, Lee arrived close to the Academy, and leapt down into the streets again before slinking towards the staircase, as he approached the stone steps he suddenly froze, and smelt the air. It was thick with the scents of the city, but he could still distinctively pick out the familiar scent of Reya and Crow, they had passed this way, not long ago. Turning abruptly around he began following their trail, it weaved and meandered its way through the city, until at last, he spotted them and he almost howled in joy.

"Reya! Crow!" he called and ran towards them. "Lee?" gasped Reya in shock and confusion, as Crow ran towards his friend and hugged him. "What are you doing here?" asked Crow, slightly concerned but overall glad to see one of the twins again. Lee smiled widely and hugged Crow back before letting go and looking over towards the dragoness. "Reya, Rem and another Dragon from the East were discovered in Ridgewood, we helped them escape, and now they know about our home. I came to tell you that Ty and the others have decided to go South...where exactly I do not know, but I'm pretty sure they meant the Capitol city." he explained, glancing towards the ground at the last bit. Reya took in the information quickly and frowned "What do you mean you don't know where? Didn't they tell you? That's kind of important if we ever want to meet up with them again, and after everything Rem has put us through, I'm not so keen to do so." she huffed and crossed her arms. Lee's eyes widened and he flailed about "But Ty is with them! We have to go South! And...well...I sorta came here without telling them..." he added and Reya glared at him.

"It's not like I had a choice! We were going to leave a note for you, but the guardian had already found our home, I couldn't risk it. At least this way you would be warned." he insisted and Reya sighed in frustration. "Argh, fine...well I'm glad you're here at least." she said and turned to Vicerys who nodded. "If you're going to the country to the south, I know just the people who can take you there." he said and the group started walking again, Reya beside Vicerys while Crow and Lee hung back slightly. "Who's the new guy?" asked the wolf quietly and Crow chuckled "Reya's boyfriend." he said and Lee grinned as Reya practically shot daggers with her eyes at the two of them. "This is Viscerys, he's going to help us escape from the city." she corrected and came to a halt as they entered the city market. Most of the shops were closed, but Vicery's led them straight towards a cluster of caravans. At the head of the column was a Lion, dressed in exotic clothing that was very different from the style of the West, coloured silk that was artistically embroidered. His physic was broad and his face stern and noble, but with a long scar ranging from the left of his forehead, across his nose and down to his right cheek.

He looked over from his work, which was sharpening a curved sword as Vicery's approached. "What business have you here, my lord?" he asked with a formal tilt of his head, but didn't get up. "You are the caravan from the South, are you not?" asked the dragon and the Lion flicked a dying ember that had fallen from the fire back into the blaze. "And what if we were?" he asked slyly, a smile coming over his face as Viscerys produced a small bag of gold. "I want you to escort my friends here to your country, do as I ask, and you'll receive double what is in here." he said and tossed the bag to the Lion, who caught it and examined its contents carefully before rising to his feet. "Done. But how will I be able to collect my reward?" he asked and Vicerys handed him a coin. "What's this for?" he asked in confusion as he examined it's intricacy. "Give this to any of the traders from my family in the south, and you'll get your reward." he said curtly "But you must leave tonight, they need to get out of the city." he said quietly looking around nervously as Reya, Crow and Lee stood behind him, Reya's wing placed over Crow protectively. The Lion smiled even wider. "Fugitives eh? Don't worry!" he laughed heartily and held up a huge paw "No questions need be answered here. You three! You'll be riding with Kiriko." the Lion said and gestured towards the last wagon, where a wolf, swathed in black cloth, waved. "We're packing up boys!" he continued to shout and leapt up into his wagon, hollering for the driver to get going. The camp was quickly in motion as all of the merchants started to gather their things and hitch the wagons onto the giant scorpions that pulled them. As soon as the first started rolling out, Crow and Lee were helped into the wagon by Kiriko, but Reya paused for a moment and turned to Vicerys. "I want to thank you, for everything you've done, we wouldn't have gotten out of here if not for you." she said but the white dragon shook his head. "Don't thank me yet, you haven't even made it out of the city." he said, his voice quiet. "I don't suppose we'll ever see one another agai-" Vicerys started to add but was cut off as Reya suddenly kissed him on the cheek. He blinked in surprise but before he could say anything she was gone, and the wagon was rolling away until it was out of sight.

Ridgewood

Ty paced impatiently back and forth across the small clearing, swatting away mosquitoes as they buzzed irritatingly around his ears. "He should have been back by now, what's taking so long?" he grumbled, his brother had always been the more rash of the two, and now Ty feared he had done something stupid and gotten himself caught...or worse. "I should have gone in his place." he thought to himself as he smacked another bug out of the air. Suddenly, a howl rang clearly through the forest, breaking the subtle silence that had grown between the three creatures as they waited for him to return. And Ty's heart plummeted. "It's Lee, he's in trouble we've got to save him!" he yelped and the wolf's blood almost turned to ice as he heard shouts in the distance. "The guards? But they can't be back on their feet already! What's going on?" he thought to himself as he started towards the village, determined to save Lee from whatever he had gotten himself into.

A small look of panic came over Rem's bodily expressions as he looked back in the general direction of the alert village. Lightly placing his newborn sister back into his satchel, the black scaled dragon took to the air and began to fly south. Hovering in mid-air, the fire dragon turned around and lit the forest behind his friends to buy them some time, "Come on! We have to get out of here before they find us!"

Korasi raised her head at Rem's orders. She had dozed off waiting for that angry wolf and Rem was sweeping his sister into a satchel. Korasi stood up when she noticed how urgent he was and looked in the general direction of the village. Guards, dragons in suited armor, were patrolling around.

"Elites." Korasi said angrily under her breath. This village must have a very fast messenger or a very strong communication spell to become into contact with Warfang if they have guards here. It only has been three or so hours since they have been caught. Whimpering and a subtle sounds came from Crystal, she was either hungry, really bored or just being very inconvenient.

"Elite guards of Warfang, I believe 'Ocelot' is part of their scout team." Korasi said "We need to move… Now!"

Ty turned around in shock as both Korasi and Rem started to leave, the black scaled dragon lighting a large section of the forest on fire as he did so. "What are you doing? We can't leave! Lee is still in there, he needs our help!" he said, his voice panicked and desperate.

"Trust me, He's not worth what we are going to be up against assuming we stay here. Live to fight another day" Korasi said, a little fear in her tone as she began to back up slowly "Trust me on this one" and she beckoned with her head to signal the wolf to get moving.

"You can't just expect me to leave behind the only family I have!" hissed the wolf, running into the trees, the heat of the fire singing his fur as it burned the woods nearby. With a growl, he leapt past the flames and tumbled out into the clearing before Ridgewood. Jumping to his feet, he twirled around looking for Lee, and instantly caught onto his brother's scent. He had been here, but where had he been taken? Strange...the trail seemed to lead away from the village...Ty's eyes widened in realization as his eyes followed the trail, it lead straight towards Warfang. So that was it then, Lee had gone on ahead to join the others in the city. He...had abandoned him...Ty stood still as the fire continued to surge closer and closer towards him, and the town that lay beyond.

The Elite guards were fighting against the inferno, but they moved steadily closer towards where the wolf was standing, any second now, they would round the wall and he would be spotted, but Ty made no move to hide, his eyes were blank and he didn't even flinch as the falling embers burnt into his fur. Just before the Elite arrived, a dark figure suddenly swooped down and grabbed onto him, dragging him out of the fire and back into the woods. It was Korasi. "What do you think you're doing? I thought I told you to run!" she said, dragging him through the forest. "He...he left me behind." Ty whispered, stumbling over the roots as the two hurried forwards. Suddenly, a roar sounded through the woods, Ty's scent had been caught. Korasi, her eyes wide with fear, turned around and grabbed onto his shoulders, before slapping him across the face. The wolf fell back with a howl, but Korasi pulled him back. "Snap out of it, we can't afford you to fall behind, let's go!" she snarled and Ty, gazing at her in shock, slowly nodded. "Good, now get moving!" she said and leapt into the air. After a seconds hesitation, Ty started running, his eyes glancing up towards the sky to keep tabs on the dragons position as roars continued to sound in the distance as Ridgewood was left behind, the forest around it ablaze.