Ember really wasn't sure what to do. How in the world should he react to this? Surrounded by Drago's men, all of whom were pretty clearly terrified of 'Second', a sky-blue Night Fury covered in scars. Second had just bowed to Drago and was now looking at Ember.
On the one hand, Ember was a dragon, if not at the moment. He would know if Second said anything, and knew that no matter how scary he looked, Second was probably at least somewhat reasonable. Drago was trusting the Night Fury to apparently lead him on a tour of the ship, so there had to be some reason for that trust.
On the other hand, Second bore a frightening resemblance to a Night Fury Ember had fought and Flint had killed... more than twenty years ago. Ember had seen the body. More recently, Storm had apparently seen the old, rotting corpse, so it wasn't like it had gotten up and walked away.
Ember paled slightly as a realization struck him. If this was that same dragon... this was also Storm's real Sire. The monster who had forced himself upon Thorn and blinded Herb in one eye.
But that wasn't possible. That nameless blue Night Fury was dead. This could not be the same dragon. That was one of two things holding Ember back. This couldn't be the same dragon, and he needed to save Storm.
So, how in the world was he going to react to this?
Ember decided to withhold judgment... and to make an impression that might come in handy later. "Hello, Second." He held a hand out cautiously for the grizzled and dangerous dragon to sniff... ready to yank it back in an instant if Second tried to take it off.
There was an audible thud as a dropped weapon hit the deck somewhere within the ranks of Drago's men. Second snorted, turning away without really investigating Ember. Better than Ember had expected, all in all.
Drago, who had been watching with interest, seemed pleased by Ember's lack of reaction. "Not many men can look Second in the eye and remain calm," he noted. "I am impressed. But Second is mine. Do not get too friendly. He is only calm because I wish it."
"I do not doubt that." Ember nodded at Drago. "He is to show me around?"
"Yes. Second," Drago glared at the dragon, "tour. After, spend some time in the cage. I will not tolerate failure."
At that, Second, a dragon that everyone on board save for Drago seemed to fear, whined and bowed again, as if in apology.
"No. You will do as you should." Drago stood firm. "You know the consequences for willfully disobeying."
Another whine, another bow. But this time, Second spoke, subservient and yet proud. "I wish you understood. I cannot."
That was extremely interesting, especially given Drago did not hear or comprehend what was said. So, Drago knew some little of the wordless component of the language, but nothing else. And Second knew it.
Second turned away and began to walk back towards the hatch. Ember, feeling very out of place, followed, trying to ignore the subtle and not-so-subtle looks of shock on the faces of the soldiers he passed.
It had been quite a while since he was stared at because he didn't have a problem with dragons. That brought a small wave of nostalgia. A simpler time.
Yes, Ember thought as he was led down into the bowels of a ship by a Night Fury who bowed to a man who could read emotions, a simpler time indeed.
The ship was large, its interior complex. Ember followed Second through the large corridors. They were alone, for the moment. Should he try and make contact? He still didn't know about the whole 'looks like a dead dragon' aspect of the situation. That needed an explanation. Things were too complex, not knowing the answer. Too many possible interpretations of what he knew.
"You know," Ember made his voice light, "I have to ask, did you have a twin brother or something?" It was the best explanation he could think of that did not involve magic, necromancy, or some similarly convoluted series of events. Usually, the simplest explanation was the best. His personal existence tended to be one of the rare exceptions.
Second whirled and pounced, driving Ember to the floor. The look on the dragon's face was some painful mixture of fear, worry, and rage. Not at all a good thing to have in a dragon pinning one to the ground, with no help in sight.
Ember could feel claws digging into his leather armor, one on the edge breaking the skin through his clothing, a small trickle of blood pooling on his chest. He forgot to breathe for a moment, not that he could with that much weight on his chest.
"Once." With that, Second snapped, teeth flashing an inch from Ember's face, a clear warning, before withdrawing. "I know you can't hear me, one who my alpha has taken an interest in." Second nodded, quite deliberately, before snarling viciously. "Let that suffice for an answer."
Should he let on that he understood? Not yet, not this soon. Second might be a source of information, if the dragon could be baited into speaking, thinking Ember did not understand. This entire situation needed to be played carefully, so carefully. If he could, he needed to get a measure of Second's loyalty before letting on that he understood.
At least now he had some semblance of an answer. This was not the monster, but his brother. Ember hadn't been aware that dragons could be twins, laid in individual eggs as they were. It had never happened in his memory. It was possible Second was only a normal brother of the other Fury, but either way he now understood the connection. That made this, if not easier, then less terrible. Having to deal with a resurrected monster would be... traumatizing, and not just for himself.
Storm. How was she taking all of this? Where was she? What was her situation? Ember followed Second through the ship, both musing on these questions and absorbing everything the odd dragon showed him.
There was all that could be expected of a ship of this size, places to eat, sleep, and all the other mandatory activities for human existence. The sleeping quarters, in particular, were jam-packed, every single spot, be it a hammock or bed against the wall, occupied by equipment, clothing, or soldiers.
All of whom stared in horror and a slight bit of awe at Ember calmly following Second around.
Ember was getting a bad feeling about Second's reputation. Was it because of what the dragon was? Who it took orders from? Or was it related to those scars? Or something else entirely? A reputation like that, especially one held among hardened warriors, was earned in some way.
Ember had a horrible feeling that Drago's threat involving Second was not an idle one.
The Night Fury led Ember through to another large room, this one full of weapons, before exiting again as quickly as he had come in. The tour was really not that in-depth, a simple glance into most of the cabins and side-chambers.
All except for one. There was one door that Second stopped in front of, turning to growl at Ember. Speaking too, though Ember was not supposed to hear him.
"Alpha's den. Enter and die." Second seemed done with the tour after that, though Ember continued to follow him, having nothing else to do. Besides, they hadn't yet seen...
The cages, the dungeon, the prison, whatever one called this room when it was on a ship. The brig, that was it.
There were no human prisoners at present, and most of the cells, built with a layer of steel coating the entirety of the insides, were empty.
As Ember followed Second down the hall of cells, a very odd sound began to... assault his ears. Second heard it too, judging by the way his ears twitched and laid flat against his head.
It was a hard thing for any human to describe, not having the reference points needed. Ember, knowing the dragon language as he did, had a slightly better idea. A running series of shrieks and whines, snarls and growls, not forming words in any language, grating and yet smooth, flowing into each other as if they were meant to, despite the terrible overall sound.
What made it so terrible was not the simple sound itself, though that was bad. Those noises all on their own meant something, a string here of anger, betrayal, challenge, hatred. All negative emotions that dragons had sounds for, wordless messages meant to be used in times of need. Not like this, not endlessly strung together.
As the cell the noise was originating from came into view, Ember realized what it was, that sound.
A song of defiance, if one could call it a song at all. He had found Storm.
A beautiful grey and pale blue dragon, whose mottling was like Herb had described, unique even among dragons. Her ears pure grey, fading into the blue of the rest of her, flat against her head in anger. Her song never faltered even as Second came into view, instead growing in volume and intensifying.
Second roared over it, almost screaming at her. "Stop it! You know he will come to see if you do not play along."
"I will never stop defying both of you." Storm had a subtle lilt to her voice, though it was not so pretty with what she was saying. "Neither of you is an alpha." She did not continue the song though.
"He is. I am not." Second stepped into Storm's cell.
Ember did a double-take as he realized Storm's cell door was open, apparently leaving her free to leave at any time.
Storm took a step to the side, and it became apparent that her tail was manacled, chained with a fairly generous chain to the wall, in a way that seemed impossible to undo at all, even if one had a key, a tangled mess of steel bars around the lock. It was clearly some sort of secondary defense, to...
He recognized the idea, if not the need. Had Storm or some other dragon really succeeded in picking the lock with their claws before, to merit this extra measure?
Storm backed against the wall, her back arched defensively. "Not one step closer."
Second, not arguing that at all, sat on the inside of her cage, his head tilted carefully. "The usual arrangement. We cannot risk otherwise."
"You cannot." Storm nevertheless nodded. "But we are watched." She tilted her head at Ember.
Second seemed to have not noticed Ember in the area until now. He growled, motioning with his head at the exit. "Leave or be eviscerated."
Ember took a step back. "Hey, I don't want any trouble. You and the lady dragon can just..." He trailed off as a few things clicked. "Actually, maybe I should stay, and make sure nothing untoward happens." Storm was Second's niece. Surely Second could tell, could smell the relatively close connection?
Then again, they were acting as if he would tell on them, tell Drago, when Drago clearly had a certain outcome in mind, leaving the door open, ordering Second down here, chastising him for failure. This was not a new situation for either Storm or Second...
Ember thought fast, knowing this could be a way into Second's confidence, and Storm's, though that would be far easier. "I think..." He had to make it sound like he had figured it out on his own. "You don't want to, do you? You two look so alike, I bet you're related."
Second's face fell minutely as if he had been shocked by that. It was an amazingly good guess, at least with what Second knew.
Ember stood, walking to the edge of Second's vision. "I have no desire to get either of you in trouble." He very purposefully turned his back on them both. "Now if Drago asks I can say I didn't watch." Not that Drago necessarily knew he was down there to begin with. Better not to take that chance.
Ember heard Second warble, a deep and almost rusty noise. Clearly, one Second did not have to use often. "It seems this new one will not be an issue."
"How can you say that? It's right there!" Storm did not sound convinced.
"Again, I understand them. It is a skill you would be smart to learn, stuck around them for the foreseeable future."
"I would rather die," Storm spat venomously, "than hear your cowardly No-scaled-not-prey and understand. They are not worthy of my consideration, slime that traps and defiles me. Us."
"My alpha does not... understand." Second seemed uncomfortable. "In all other ways, he is supreme. This is just one thing I cannot do, and he has no way of knowing that."
"Ha!" Storm made a sound that was close to spitting. "You defile yourself in every other way. Why not this?"
"Because this is against all that is right." Second snarled. "You should not argue for it, even to spite me."
"Bowing to a No-scaled-not-prey is also against all that is right!" Storm abruptly yowled, a sound that did not fit her venomous mood at all. "Well? I do not feel like watching it beat you until you cannot stand again."
Second roared loudly, and he and Storm continued for a few seconds to make quite a bit of noise, before abruptly quieting.
"So what do you do if someone is around to check?" Ember wondered out loud. This was all well and good when they were alone, but surely that was not always the case. Drago did not seem like one to trust that all was going as planned when he never saw it happening, and he also seemed like the kind of person to watch this sort of thing just to be sure.
Second snorted in dry amusement. "Storm, this one is more intelligent than the rest. It wonders how we fake this with spectators." He said it in a way that made Ember think the statement was a continuation of an argument.
"No, it does not. They are not that smart."
"Neither are we, for we have no solution for that save for me refusing and taking the punishment." Second growled. "If I could, I might ask it why it cares."
"I am surprised you have not found a way to beg in their language." Storm's voice was caustic. "You've certainly had time and reason to try."
"I do not know why I bother with you." Second growled back. "I should just kill you, take the single beating it would earn me, and go back to my life."
"Such that it is, at the beck and call of a No-scaled-not-prey wearing your Dam's skin!"
That seemed to hit a sore spot. "He is my alpha! I cannot disobey-"
"Except for this, meaning you choose not to!" Storm rattled her manacle. "I will never have this removed! I would rather die with it on than be like you."
"Life with no control is not truly life," Ember agreed softly, not thinking about what he was saying. "It is something less." He had felt that way, in the days as Hiccup the useless, being taken to the blacksmith and told to learn, thrown into dragon training with no say in the matter. The Timberjack had saved him by taking his control, and he had given it willingly, but that had been temporary. If it had been permanent, Ember would not have been able to stand it.
Second was silent for a moment. "I do not know about this one." Ember felt like they were both staring at him. "It just happened to agree with you. That is not normal."
"That makes it no less stupid." Storm retorted angrily.
"No," Second said softly, "it is not smart for one under my alpha's command to agree with you."
"Get out." Storm growled. "I wish to continue defying it and you, but I will not see you defiled by it for disobeying."
"Understood." Second padded silently out of the cell and past Ember, leaving the brig.
Ember turned around even as that terrible song began again, taking in the sight of the sister he had never known.
At least she wasn't a pushover and apparently was far from broken if that spiteful tone and terrible sound was any indication.
To make things less easy, she did not understand him and had a very low opinion of the species he was representing at the moment. He needed to get her out, but that would require some modicum of trust, something that did not seem obtainable.
Ember left the brig when the song began to grate on his nerves, thinking all the while about how to gain Storm's trust. He had one idea, one that probably wouldn't help very much.
O-O-O-O-O
"I wish to sleep in one of the cells below," Ember said confidently. "With the door open, of course."
Drago stared at him.
"Your men need no more crowding where they sleep, and I prefer-"
"The company of dangerous beasts to my soldiers?" Drago chuckled. "You do not lack courage."
"I can understand and predict animals," which was somewhat true except that the term animal did not apply to dragons, "whereas men are far less simple to counter."
"A possibly untrustworthy guest requests to sleep in the cells." Drago grinned cruelly. "I see no reason to deny you that."
O-O-O-O-O
"I remember specifically requesting that the door be left open. Not shut and locked." Ember took a step forward, looking at the guard who had just done exactly that.
"That weren't part o' Drago's orders." The guard chuckled. "It's for your own good, crazy boy. Second sleeps down here. You'll need the protection of a steel cage."
Ember had not known that. "I was unaware of that. In that case, should I thank you?" His voice was sarcastic.
"No, ye can thank me if ye survive the night." With that, the guard left, tossing the key in his hand.
"Survive the night." Ember sat down and removed his prosthetic, letting off some of the pressure his stump had been feeling all day. It was almost odd to be back in a body down a leg for more than a short time. "He says that like it will be a challenge."
Then again, it might be. These bars would not stop a plasma blast, not a small one. Ember tried to focus, to plan in this enforced still time, but...
"I get that it's a mark of defiance," he said irritably to the prisoner a few cells down, "but could you quit that for just a second?" Storm didn't understand his words, but maybe the tone-
"Oh look, Second's newest owner is in here with us." Storm chortled. "Stupid thing." She went back to singing.
So much for that. Ember considered, seeing as they were alone, shifting and revealing what he was.
No, still too risky. He needed to know for a fact that they were and would continue to be unobserved. An assumption was not safe enough. Tomorrow, when they let him out, he could check and make sure the brig really wasn't guarded. It was odd, though with how things were at the moment not that much of a surprise. Storm wasn't going anywhere, and Second seemed to have the run of the ship.
O-O-O-O-O
When Second entered the brig, he did not even stop to stare at Ember, instead walking into Storm's cell once again.
Storm bristled but ceased her yowling, which was a relief to all present. "This is not your cell."
"Alpha says I must spend nights here." Second sounded tired. "I cannot make him understand, so we must keep the farce up."
"You tried." Storm grunted skeptically. "I find that hard to believe."
"I did try." Second turned, revealing several bloody welts on his side. "He does not take kindly to me attempting to communicate outside of the signals he has set."
That was very much not a good sign. Ember winced at the untreated gashes. A whip, maybe? They almost looked like claw marks, but he did not think Drago had claws hidden under that dark, morbid cloak.
The two Night Furies settled down, in an odd sort of truce. Storm as far away from Second as possible, and Second sitting carefully on the inside edge of the cage, against the bars, outside of Storm's reach, which was limited by the chain.
Ember sat up for a while, trying to think of a plan, but nothing was coming to mind. Second was stubbornly loyal to Drago, and if Storm couldn't get him to see reason in the time she had been here, he was probably better off not showing his hand by trying.
This shouldn't be as hard as breaking himself out of Viggo's domain. It was a single ship, one that while heavily armed and armored was not outfitted with the same level of paranoia as Viggo's island had been. It had, from what Ember had seen, been built with pure offense in mind, a massive hulk of wood meant for ramming and bulling its way into another, less fortunate ship.
Those design specifications did not lend themselves to dragon-fighting weaponry to start with, but the ship was strangely lacking even more so than what would be expected, almost as if Drago did not expect that attack by dragons was a possibility.
With a Night Fury under his command, maybe it wasn't that likely. That could be an explanation for Second's reputation, if Drago used him against any dragons they came across.
That disturbing mental image was the last thing Ember remembered before drifting into an uneasy, dreamless sleep.
O-O-O-O-O
The morning began with another ear-splitting performance by Second and Storm. Ember did not mind, precisely, given the alternative, but it was not a pleasant sound to wake up to.
That thought brought to mind another time he had been woken up by a Fury whose noises were not intended to do so. Did he ever have Beryl hum the whole song, as he had intended? No, more dire and important events had driven that from both of their minds. Now he would never know.
Ember fought off the crushing sadness that threatened to take hold by the simple method of telling himself to wait. He just needed to get Storm to safety. There would be time to mourn, time to join his family, once that was done. For now, he sequestered memory, no matter the dull ache that caused. His heart was numb, cold. The pain was similarly dulled. He could handle it.
Time passed, and Second left the brig. Ember began to contemplate picking the lock. Was that what Drago intended, a test of his resourcefulness? A measure of his skill?
Before Ember could decide whether that was the right course of action, the same soldier from before came in, sneered at Storm, and unlocked Ember's door.
Ember was getting tired of so many nameless faces, but he did not really want to get to know any of these soldiers. He and Storm would be leaving, soon if he had his way.
Wait. Drago had said a week to a stronghold. Ember did not want to see what security might exist in a stronghold. It appeared he had a deadline. That was a cheery realization.
"Yeh have fun watchin'?" The soldier sneered. "I see ya survived."
Ember did not respond, leaving the cell instead. There was no good response to that.
The soldier stepped into his path, blocking him. "Listen, kid, yer not in the safest position to-"
Tired. He was tired of all of this, but the game had to be played for a while longer. A knife was out in an instant, held back to throw. "I want no trouble. But I think the risk killing you would bring is acceptable. Your boss wants to see what I do. It would be easy to spin your death as being in his interest." A bluff, though one Ember almost thought he could pull off if needed. Drago would likely accept self-defense if the way the man had spoken so far was any indication.
More incentive to get out. Drago had spoken of 'testing him' at the stronghold. Not something Ember wanted to know more about if he could help it.
"Kid, yer no killer." The soldier scoffed, not even drawing the sword at his belt. "I know-"
"Nothing." Ember finished for him. "That will become apparent soon enough. Move."
"No." A moment of silence. "That's about what I thought." The soldier sneered.
"What is your name?" Ember decided to try a different tactic, as this one was intent on being difficult.
"Gonna report me? Drago don't like snitches." Another sneer.
"No, I just assumed your name might match your personality, and as I don't know anyone quite as obnoxious and brain-numbingly stupid as you-" Ember ducked the hasty punch, triggered the shift and held it in check on just his hands, and shoved both palms into the soldier's armored stomach.
Hitting a thin plate of metal like that had a very interesting sound. A crunch of metal bending, but no sound of impact, a subtle pressure on his palms for a moment as the force fully registered. The soldier staggered back, and as he looked down Ember reversed the shift, pulling the fires back in. There was nothing to see but a flat palm with a curious scar.
To all appearances, Ember had just badly dented a metal plate with a single strike, not even bothering to ball his hand into a fist first. A blatant impossibility, and one that spoke of hidden danger.
"Next time, it will not be armor I smash so badly you'll need a blacksmith to fix it." Knowing metal, that was definitely true. That dent would not be hammered out without the heat of a forge, not from such low-quality iron. Ember brushed past the astonished guard and made his way to the deck of the ship.
The sky was still slate-grey, a condition that had not lifted for weeks. Ember realized with a start that he did not even know what day it was, or what month. Winter, the endless winter that he would likely not see the end of. That was all that mattered. It was not snowing, which was a welcome change.
The deck was a flurry of motion. They had not yet set out from the port, though Drago had meant to be on the move by dawn. Curious. Maybe it was not dawn yet? With this sky, that might be the issue.
A thump got Ember's attention, and a familiar cage was shoved up a ramp and onto the deck, followed by another. Both cages were covered, and of a green metal Ember knew. What was this?
A newcomer stepped aboard, followed by five men, all of whom looked foreign. The newcomer spoke with a slick and practiced grin. "Drago, my oldest and best customer!"
Drago emerged from some shadowed corner like a large specter of death, a dark figure that absorbed and destroyed all light nearby simply by existing. It did not feel entirely like an exaggeration to say as much, not with the morbid cloak that did not reflect even the faintest glimmer of light. He was holding a dark staff topped with a cruelly curved hook, a weapon Ember had never seen used, a tool from stories of foreign warriors. A bullhook. Not something Vikings used.
"Eret. Your son is adequate." Drago grinned. "Which I suspect is the highest praise you have ever heard concerning him." There was a hidden menace in Drago's voice, a suspicion.
Drago did not trust this man, Eret. Was the comment about the son a threat?
"He is, at that. I am glad you have him in your employ, my friend." Eret smiled, a strained expression. "He will never surpass me though."
"I have." Drago dropped all pretense of amusement. "I have, and he might. You are not so good as to be unsurpassable. What have you brought me?"
"Well, Drago, I couldn't find any Night Furies, but I found-"
"I don't care if it is not a Night Fury." Drago snorted. "I know no other pairing works."
"Ah, but these are different!" Eret whisked the covers off of the cages dramatically, taking one with each hand in a flourish that had to have been practiced. "I found these in a place no man has ever gone before!"
Ember felt something shift in his cold and broken heart, an old memory long since forgotten. A pack of white dragons, reclusive wanderers, like himself in shape but not species, subtly different. These were of the same breed. He remembered a time, long ago, when he had not been alone in his wandering, however brief it had been.
The one on the left was male, slightly undersized, and white with a strange yellow glint to his scales, one that reflected the torches around in a yellow flash when he flinched.
The one on the right was female, sleek and smooth, with a ruby-red tint overlaying her white scales, akin to the yellow of the male, her eyes the same deep red. She stared out at the ship in utter horror.
Innocents. Ember could tell in an instant that they were at least somewhat innocent, young and not versed in the cruel ways of the world. It was visible in their eyes, the way they both were so clearly horrified by all that surrounded them. Not totally naive, but not in any way familiar with the horrors that now surrounded them.
Drago seemed surprised, though it was a subtle change, like all of the dark man's moods. "Interesting. But not compatible."
"I assure you, they are-"
"Not Night Furies." Drago strode towards the male. "I wish to breed a following of the strongest breeds of dragons, not dilute my one current success's blood with these." He looked up. "You know this."
Eret gulped. "I do, but they have other uses. Their scales are-"
Drago struck like a snake, his bullhook slipping through the bars of the cage and-
Ember abruptly had to fight off the urge to vomit, knowing weakness would be deadly, but nevertheless unable to bear the brutal and lightning-fast death of the male dragon. Blood spilled from the slumped body, dripping from the grievous wound in the dragon's neck and pooling on the deck.
Another light extinguished from the world, another innocent dead. It did not hurt like the deaths of his family, but it hurt more than any of the hunters dead by his hands. This was one who in no way deserved the fate he had just been dealt. Ember could not listen to the grieving of the other, the female who was screaming in fear, in horror.
Not in mourning. Maybe she did not truly understand the finality of what had just happened, maybe that would come later if she had a later, but she was not mourning. Ember tried not to listen to her, could not bear the horror.
"You know my policy, Drago. Kill it and you buy it." Eret looked visibly shaken. "But as I was saying, their scales have properties brought out by heat, amazingly thorough camouflage. I will be going back for more of them, to test that, but they can hide in plain sight."
Drago looked down at the corpse in a cage. "A significant benefit to cloaks made from their skin and scales." He shook his head. "I don't need that innovation. We are strong without stealth."
"Ah, but you see my friend, you are not my only employer, and only I know the location..." Eret began haggling, trying to convince Drago to buy the location, or pay him to bring more... what did he call them, Light Furies?
Ember was not totally listening. There was a small vine of discord snaking through his head, but he ignored both it and Eret, unable to tear his attention away from the female Light Fury.
She was moaning, her head in her paws. "No, no, no, all my fault, no..."
Eret was expounding on how these Light Furies seemed totally unaware of hunters until it was too late, speculating that the pack he had found was so isolated they did not know humans. He had not revealed the location, said only he knew it.
Though really, his crew probably did too...
"No, no, no... no..." The female's denials died, and she began crying wordlessly.
Something she had said broke Ember in a way he had not been aware existed. Her words, those that so mirrored the dull horror he felt with every minute of every day. 'All my fault.'
Drago seemed to be listening, if skeptically, to Eret's arguments.
Ember felt colder than ever before, and he understood the situation. Eret would convince Drago, would go back himself, or would give Drago the information. More Light Furies would be captured, slaughtered, and sold. And if the female knew what she was talking about, which she very likely did, she would be to blame.
He knew that pain, felt it every moment of every day.
Could he let an innocent feel the way he did when there might be a way to stop it? Even if it meant endangering his last goal?
He had threatened the soldier in the brig, and the soldier had believed his words, if not his resolve...
Because they both knew if Ember played it right, he could probably get away with murder, knowing Drago...
Drago was suspicious of Eret...
'Am I so far gone that I will let another suffer as I have?'
Author's Note: In case you didn't catch it, this is the father of the Eret we know from canon.
Also, I was greatly amused by the reviewers who instantly assumed that this had to be that monstrosity who started all of this. (His name, by the way, was Third. Drago is not very original). I'd like to point out that I vaguely recall saying no Necromancy in this series at least once somewhere, and that still holds. The sum total of animate beings can only be increased the natural way in this world. Even Ember's case is neutral, a life and personality changing, not actually bringing back another separate being. Still, I suppose no assumptions about what is or is not possible should be made in this world.
