Hello again readers! We hope you're all ready for this chapter~! Although I have to warn you, since I forgot to last time, there will be some violence in this chapter. So be prepared!

ItalianCrybaby: Arthur, Francis, Roderich, Gupta, Sadik

YamiyoDarknight: Alfred, Matthew, Romulus, Folkert

Enjoy~!

Arthur felt miserable. He knew that being separated from his beloved dragon would be hard but he didn't realize it would be thishard. He missed everything about the dragon. His smile that made Arthur heart jump, his contagious laughter, his warm strong embrace, and even his scent. It had only been three days since the dragons left and already Arthur's memory of the dragon's scent was becoming faint. That thought made the knight sigh sadly to himself.

"Are you moping again?" A voice snapped Arthur out of his thoughts.

He looked up to find that Francis had entered the armory where Arthur was preparing to go out and do his duties.

"So what if I am?" Arthur said childishly.

"You know they're coming back tomorrow, right?" Francis raised an eyebrow at the other Knight. "Stop acting like they're never coming back. It's depressing me."

"I can't help it if I miss them." Arthur turned away to finish packing his pouch with items he would need for today's work.

"I miss them too, but it's no reason to be all down in the depths of despair about it." Francis replied. He eyed the bag that Arthur was packing. "You're not going out to work again are you? I know you just got reinstated but you should take it easy."

"I don't want to 'take it easy'." Arthur informed Francis. "I have a duty to uphold. Plus, I don't want to just sit around waiting for them to come back. Time goes by faster when I'm working."

Francis just gave a defeated sigh. "If you say so… but if you work yourself to death, tell Alfred it was your fault not mine."

Arthur left the castle soon after encountering Francis. He honestly didn't even know why he tried carrying on his duties like he used to. Most of the citizens avoided him. They still weren't happy with him for befriending a dragon and, although the King had pardoned Arthur of all crimes, there were still prejudiced people in the Kingdom who did not like the change Arthur stood for.

It hurt Arthur to see people reject him and decline his assistance. He wished he could follow the other Knight's advice and 'take it easy' but he knew he would just feel restless doing nothing. Plus, Arthur felt he shouldn't give up. It would be shameful to neglect his duties just because some people didn't like him. He was sure if he kept working at it, someone would eventually want his assistant–

"Sir?! Sir?! Excuse me, Sir?!"

Arthur spun around when he heard a distressed voice. A young man that the knight had never seen before was quickly running towards him. He had tan skin and wore travelers clothes along with a keffiyeh. The young man stopped in front of Arthur gasping for air like he had run a mile. (Which by the looks of it he most likely had!)

The man looked up at the knight; his dull forest green eyes were full of worry. "Y-you are a Knight c-correct?" The young man asked in-between gasps.

"Yes, yes I am." Arthur answered hurriedly. He stepped forward to assist the man. "What's wrong? Do you need any help?"

"Yes." The man answered immediately. "My name is Gupta, I'm a traveler and I came here with my friend, but he was badly injured and needs help!" The young man, who Arthur now knew as Gupta, looked close to tears.

"Calm down. Your friend will be just fine." Arthur tried comforting the lad. "Lead the way and I can help him."

"H-he's this way!" Gupta pointed towards the woods and hurriedly started running back the way he came. Arthur followed quickly behind.

Gupta was fast and Arthur was finding it hard to keep up with the lad. Once or twice Arthur almost lost sight of the man, but he would quickly get back on track when Gupta called back which way he'd turned to the knight. Arthur felt like he was running out of breath as they went deeper and deeper into the forest, but he refused to slow down. He needed to get to whoever needed his help.

"It's just a little farther ahead." He heard Gupta shout from ahead of him.

Arthur burst forward trying to catch up. "Just a little further." He thought to himself.

Arthur stopped running when he broke into a clearing. With his chest heaving slightly, Arthur rapidly looked around for the traveler. "Gupta? Gupta, where did you go?"

Arthur heard only silence. He looked around once more before he realized that something didn't feel right…

A jolt of pain went through Arthur as he felt someone hit him squarely on the back. The force of it caused Arthur to fall forward onto the ground.

"Heh heh, good job Gupta. Looks like you brought back a knight." A dark voice laughed.

Arthur lifted his head up to see a tall olive skinned man with a white mask staring down at him. There was a smirk on the man's face that made Arthur's skin crawl.

"I don't know who you think you are," Arthur started as he lifted himself off the ground, "but I'll have you know that it is illegal to attack a knight."

The man smiled knowingly at Arthur. "In case you haven't noticed, my pal Gupta and I aren't exactly from around here so the law doesn't apply to us." He began to circle Arthur in a menacing way.

"The law applies to any person who steps foot into our Kingdom." Arthur replied angrily as he stood his ground.

"Any person?" The tall man laughed again. As he halted right behind Arthur.

"I guess it's lucky that we aren't people then, right Sadiq?" Gupta questioned the man. Arthur's eyes grew wide.

"Right you are, Gupta." Sadiq answered. The masked man's appearance slowly began to transform into something more reptilian. Wings sprouted from the man's back, teeth and nails grew long and sharp, horns appeared atop his head, and a long tail swished threateningly back and forth.

"You're a dragon." Arthur stated in shock.

"Yes." Sadiq answered. "And quite frankly, I'm starting to get tired of you humans."

"You humans have been nothing but trouble for us." Gupta added as he glared at the knight. "And according to our Elders, suddenly we dragons are supposed to be ok with you all and give you our scales?! I don't think so." Gupta also took a menacing step forward. Arthur tried to take a step back, but it only caused him to bump into Sadiq.

"We decided that we want to teach the humans a lesson." Sadiq smirked as he put a heavy hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Let's see how they react while they watch us tear one of their beloved Knights limb from limb…"

Arthur realized that there was no way he would be able to reason with these dragons. They were angry and wanted blood. But Arthur didn't want to fight them either. They had just gotten the law passed and it wouldn't look good if he harmed them. So Arthur did the only thing he could think of. He tried to run.

Sadiq was much too fast for the knight. In one quick fluid movement, the dragon was before the fleeing knight. He grabbed Arthur roughly by the arm.

The knight let out a yelp of pain as he felt the dragon twist his arm with a sickening crack. The dragon tossed Arthur carelessly to Gupta who bound the knight in ropes.

The flight to the Elders had been a long, tiring one. Not only had the siblings not exactly known where their kin was hiding, there were complications due to blizzards developing in the higher atmosphere. It was one reason, they knew, that the kin had chosen to stay in this mountainous area. The constant storms, winds, and blizzards kept any human away. Only dragons could get past these natural barriers, though with some trouble.

As soon as they'd found their kin, they didn't even bother to rest before requesting to meet with the Elders in order to present the news they had. They were taken immediately to the silver and gold dragons to tell their story. The two Elders had adopted their human forms since over 200 dragons had to stay in this system of caves; there was not much room for the large mythical creatures otherwise.

"So what news is it that you bring us?" Romulus asked, looking quite interested in what they had to say. "Surely, it is in our favor?"

Alfred nodded. "The King met with his council. We were allowed to attend and it possibly helped win their favor since we were able to elaborate on points the King could not, as well as give proof as to what our intentions are. They agreed to compromise with us, and are currently writing into law what states that it will be illegal to kill a dragon."

Romulus smiled but Folkert remained his normal stoic self.

"Now, as we have come here bearing this news, I'd like to hear your final decision as well." Alfred stated firmly, brows furrowing. "I don't want to have come here to tell you this, only to hear that you've changed your mind."

"We thought about what you said to us before," Folkert replied curtly, ice-colored eyes focused on the young dragon. "We decided we will continue with your proposal. We understand that there will always be opposition, but we will work through it so that our kin, as well as the one of the humans, will no longer sustain such losses as they had before."

"You may tell that human King that we are fully willing to cooperate, so much as he is willing to cooperate with us." Romulus added. "There are more things we would like to discuss, but perhaps we can organize another meeting with that man so we may get our point across without you being our messenger bird. Tell him we will meet with him at his kingdom to discuss some things we would like to have his opinion on."

Alfred and Matthew both nodded their acknowledgement.

"Before you leave, you should rest, if even a little. The flight here is not easy. It will be easier going back, but you will not make it if you are tired," Folkert suggested.

"We'd certainly like that," Alfred agreed, grinning tiredly. "That blizzard was not fun!"

As the dragons were led back out, accompanied by the Elders, the blue dragon couldn't help but wonder what Arthur could be doing...

Surely, he wasn't working himself to death...was he?

Arthur felt like death. Sadiq thought it was fun to beat the Knight whenever he felt the urge to do so. Arthur couldn't even resist or fight back because his hands were bound behind his back. Any time he struggled, a sharp pain shot up his broken arm. He could feel bruises forming all over his body. His left eye was swollen and hard to see through.

Sadiq had only just ceased beating the knight once the sun started going down. The two dragons sat leisurely as if they hadn't just kidnapped and beaten the poor knight.

"So why don't you just kill him now?" Gupta asked Sadiq like it was the most common question in the world.

"Because, I want all those humans to see it." Sadik answered. "I want them to see the same fear and hopelessness in his eyes as was in the dragons that their kind mercilessly killed."

"Even if you do kill me…" Arthur spoke up from where he was bound. "It won't stop change from coming."

Sadiq threw his head back and laughed mockingly at the knight. "You really think the humans will want anything to do with us once they see us killing one of their own? They'll just see us for what they think we all are. Beasts. Monsters."

"I don't think that's what you all are." Arthur muttered.

That caused Sadiq to stop his laughter. He and Gupta looked quizzically at the Knight. "What sort of knight doesn't think dragons are monsters?" He questioned Arthur.

"The kind that befriends them." Arthur answered simply. And falls in love with one…

The two dragons continued to look puzzled by the knight. Finally, Sadiq said, "Then trying to befriend our kind was your first mistake."

"It wasn't a mistake." Arthur spat bitterly. "It was the best decision I've made in my entire life."

"And look at where it's gotten you." Sadiq mocked. "Just you wait. Come tomorrow morning, you'll regret ever trying to have anything to do with our kind."

Arthur glared at the dragons as they turned their attention away from the knight and continued talking in a playful banter. Arthur wasn't going to let them destroy all of the hard work he and Alfred had done to get both sides cooperating.

The Knight tried getting a feel for the ropes around his hands (even if it was difficult with his injuries). He figured he knew a spell or two to break free. He just needed to be patient. He had to wait for the dragons to fall asleep before he made his escape.

After a couple hours of rest and some food, both dragons felt they could make the returning trip easily. At least they wouldn't have to fight the winds head-long and could ride them out (so long as they were careful). So when they were ready, they bid farewell to the Elders as well as their kin before heading back. Matthew carried a message for Roderich written by Folkert, which conveyed their wishes and thoughts.

It was quiet as they flew except for the constant roar of the blizzard as it ripped past them like an angry beast. Alfred had nothing to say at the moment.

For some reason he had a nagging feeling that something was wrong. He had a pretty good intuition, but it seemed like right now it was chomping at the bit, trying to tell him something bad had happened. And he couldn't think of what it could be.

He just hoped it didn't involve Arthur and that he was okay.

Arthur crept quietly pass the sleeping dragons. Breaking free from the ropes was harder than he thought it would be.

If he tried cutting the ropes with a Slicing Charm then he would risk hurting himself. So, what he ended up doing was using a Lengthening Spell to loosen the ropes, but even then Arthur still had to wiggle himself free and that proved to be difficult with his broken arm. His lower lip was bleeding from him biting down onto it to suppress his cries of pain. It had taken all night for him to free himself but at least he had done it. Now the sun was barely starting to rise over the forest.

Arthur knew he had little time to get back to the castle before the dragons woke up. Once he was out of their presence he broke into a run. He had to warn others about the dragons so that they could take cover.

He had barely been running for ten minutes, when he heard a loud roar break through the forest. That alerted Arthur that Sadiq and Gupta were up and discovered that their prisoner was gone.

Arthur pushed himself to run faster but it didn't help. Moments later, the trees behind him came crashing down. A great dark brown dragon with white markings around its eyes appeared and growled menacingly at the retreating knight. Arthur could only guess that this dragon was Sadiq.

Sadiq flew forward knocking over everything in his path. Arthur leapt out of the way just in time; he stumbled slightly in the process but quickly regained his balance.

Arthur continued to run but looked over his shoulder to see where Sadiq went. While he was distracted, he didn't see the dragon's tail appear in front of him until it was too late. Sadiq's tail swung at the Knight causing him to fly back against a tree.

Arthur lost his breath at the impact. He gasped for air as Sadiq's dragon form crept towards him. A smirk was evident on the dragon's face.

"Tambula dasta!" Arthur shouted a spell at the dragon.

Sadiq thrashed his head back as long gashes appeared on the dragons snout. The dragon's mischievous eyes now shifted to look more angry and murderous.

"Shite…" Arthur thought as he bolted again. Now the dragon was even more upset with him!

Sadiq started breathing flames, setting fire to everything around him.

Heart racing, Arthur ran ahead of the flames. Just when the knight thought he was almost free, he ran into a dead end. A steep unclimbable rock cliff appeared in his path. Arthur had nowhere else to run. He turned around as he heard Sadiq coming closer.

Arthur backed up until his back was pressed against the cliff. He clung to the sapphire dragon scale around his neck for comfort. He feared that he would never see the beautiful blue dragon again. He closed his eyes tightly and whispered his dragon's name, "Alfred…"

The two dragons weren't quite halfway back to the kingdom when Alfred caught Arthur's scent. It was faint, which meant it was farther away, but it was there. And for some reason it sent that nagging feeling at the back of his mind to a frenzy. What had he been doing so far? It was a thick forested area, and not one that Arthur frequently visited.

He stopped midair, making Matthew stop as well, and he gazed intently in the direction the scent was coming from. Where...?

"Al? What's wrong?" The violet dragon asked with concern.

"Something's bothering me. You keep going to the kingdom. I'll be back later, but I feel like something is wrong and it involves Arthur." Alfred replied, an icy feeling of dread pooling in his stomach.

"Well, I would definitely look then," Matthew agreed softly, eyes showing his concern. "I will let the others know. Please be careful."

Alfred nodded, and within moments, was shooting off in the direction he'd caught the scent, diving into the trees where the scent was strongest.

Please be okay.

Having nowhere else to run, Arthur braced himself as Sadiq surged through the trees. The dragon's paw slammed into Arthur's chest; pinning the knight to the wall. The force of such a strike left him breathless. Unable to draw air, Arthur gritted his teeth as his worst injuries throbbed with pain. His broken arm was failing him. There was absolutely no way he could fight back.

"S-Sadiq…" Arthur gasped as his good arm weakly tried to pry the dragon's paw off him. "You don't have to do this… Humans and dragons can live peacefully…"

Sadiq's snarling monstrous face leant close to his. The dragon's teeth bared and his lips curled back much like a wild dogs. Growling out from between his teeth, his voice inhumanly low and harsh, Sadiq replied, "None of us can live peacefully as long as you humans are around."

Arthur's eyes doubled in size as Sadiq drew his head up. Flames began to build up in the dragon's mouth as he prepared to burn the Knight alive.

Not knowing what else to do Arthur shouted a curse, "Lann Oighir!" Just as the flames leapt forward.

Arthur's curse and the flames clashed together. Sadiq's flames were strong… but Arthur's curse was much, much stronger. Ice enveloped the flames and froze them in place, but the curse didn't stop there. Shards of ice continued to grow, seeking to extinguish any source of heat.

Sadiq relinquished his hold on Arthur, causing the knight to fall into a heap on the ground. The dragon began thrashing about in pain as the shards of ice continued to grow and pierce him from the inside. A howl of fury and agony broke forth from his snarled lips.

Arthur looked up in horror at what his impulsive curse was doing to Sadiq.

The dragon was now clawing at his own throat, attempting to rip the ice out from inside him, but that was only causing him more pain.

Arthur came out of his shock and stumbled to his feet. He bolted forward and started to shout, "O-oh god! Sadiq… I'm sorry I d-didn't mean… Let me help you!" Arthur raised his good hand and motioned for the dragon to halt his thrashing, but Sadiq wouldn't stop.

"Sadiq! Stop moving!" Arthur ordered frantically. "If you don't let me reverse it you'll die!"

The dragon's flashing brown eyes held as much comprehension as a wild dog's. He scrambled back trying to avoid the knight.

"D-don't… touch m-me!" Sadiq's strangled voice sounded made it sound like his throat was made of large rocks that were grinding together. "I r… refuse to be… h-helped by th-the likes… of you!"

Sadiq attempted to let out another wail of agony, but his voice bubbled in his throat. He began spewing out blood and shards of ice from his lips.

Moments later, although it felt like a lifetime to Arthur as he still tried to assist the dragon, Sadiq slowly crumpled forward. The light in his flashing eyes began to fade and the dragon breathed no more.

"S-Sadiq?" Arthur held his breath as he approached the motionless creature. When he received no reply, the knight fell to his knees at the dragon's head.

So many emotions ran through Arthur as he stared in horror at the lifeless form in front of him.

'I-I killed a dragon.' He thought numbly to himself. 'I killed one of the very creatures I've been trying to protect.' Arthur's heart clenched as the terrifying truth took hold of him.

'I'm a murderer… I'm a monster!' He bit his lip as tears brimmed his eyes. 'Now none of the dragons will trust us and Alfred… o-oh god,Alfred!… He'll hate me now too.'

Arthur didn't bother to get up. His sorrow was too great. It weighed and anchored him down to the hard forest ground. Everything was ruined… and it was all his fault.

Alfred had traced the trail among the trees, no longer in dragon form (since he couldn't fly among so many trees), panic growing when he caught the scent of two dragons he didn't recognize. Why was Arthur with two dragons? Unknown ones at that? He wasn't stupid enough- unless he didn't know they were dragons!

He didn't have a sense of smell like Alfred did! If they had pretended to be human...

He bolted through the forest, heart pumping, chest heaving for breath as he ran. He just couldn't move fast enough! He could smell blood as he seemed to get closer, and though he could tell it wasn't Arthur's, his unease only grew.

What had happened to cause such a blood spill?

It was when he came across his Arthur that the dread grew to such a horrible size. Covered in blood and heavily injured, the knight was in horrible shape.

"Arthur...?" He asked, voice barely above a whisper. His eyes widened with horror when he took in the sight of the slain dragon, the ice crystals protruding like daggers. "Wh-what happened here?"

Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Alfred's voice. He was the last person the knight expected to see. He looked up at the dragon fearfully.

"A-Alfred…" the knight was at a loss for words. How could he possibly explain all of this to the dragon? He felt helpless at the look of horror on Alfred's face. "I-I didn't mean… It was an accide… I didn't know what to do… I…"

Arthur's words all jumbled together. He was unable to form a coherent sentence, as he was still trying to come over his shock. The tears finally began to spill over his eyes as he felt overwhelmed with everything that had just happened.

Alfred's horrified expression became one of great concern and he immediately hurried over to Arthur, pulling the smaller man close to his chest. "Arthur...hush. It's alright. I know you would never do this on purpose." He replied in a hushed voice, stroking his hair.

He lifted Arthur's face to look at him and was saddened to see him so injured. "What did they do to you?"

He'd failed. He said he'd protect Arthur before, keep him safe, and now his knight was so hurt in more ways than one. He couldn't even talk, he was so scared.

Tears stung his own eyes and he pressed a kiss to Arthur's forehead an then held him close again. "I'm so sorry," he apologized brokenly. "I'm so sorry, Arthur! I couldn't protect you when you needed me to and now you're hurt!"

Alfred looking broken and holding and kissing him slowly began to pull Arthur out of his shock. He took in a shuddering breath and clung to Alfred with his good arm.

He should have known that Alfred wouldn't be angry with him. He should have known that Alfred would be understanding and forgiving; even if the knight didn't deserve it. The dragon was even apologizing to him when it wasn't his fault.

"Don't be sorry." Arthur finally spoke weakly. "I was stupid enough to follow them. I should have known there was something off when…" Arthur broke off. He didn't want to tell Alfred exactly what Sadiq had done to him; in fear that it would only upset the dragon more.

"What did they do to you?" Alfred asked firmly, not letting the topic go. "Tell me Arthur."

Arthur gazed intently at the dragon in front of him. He knew Alfred would not let this go, so he relented.

"They were looking for a knight." He began shakily. "They weren't happy with the changes that have been happening and they wanted to let the kingdom know what they thought of us. So they captured me and… and were planning on executing me in front of everyone."

Alfred's despair melted away and burned like fire, becoming a fiery rage. "They what?!" He hissed, gritting his teeth.

It was very much like how he'd been hunted and nearly executed by the humans, and that made him furious.

How dare they hurt Arthur!

"A-Alfred calm down." Arthur quickly raised his hand to stroke the dragons cheek, hoping it would steady his oncoming rage. "Their plan didn't work. I escaped and I'm alive."

"It doesn't change what they did, Arthur!" Alfred snapped, blood boiling. Even small blue flames were starting to escape his mouth as he spoke. "If you hadn't stopped him, what would've happened? You would have died, Arthur. I wasn't there to stop them." His gaze hardened as his fury continued to build. "I almost lost you once again, and it's because someone dared to hurt you."

"But Alfred-!"

"Sadiq?!" A desolated cry cut off Arthur.

Gupta, who was wondering why it was taking Sadiq so long to bring back the human, had arrived to see what was left of his mate. He looked around with malicious eyes until his gaze fell upon Arthur.

"You!" He growled through bared teeth. "You did this!"

Alfred growled lowly in his throat at the newcomer, recognizing the dragon carried the same scent he'd smelled earlier.

His dragon features appeared and he bared his fangs warningly at Gupta. "You're one of the ones who hurt my Arthur..." He growled, moving into a crouched position, tensed to launch an attack at any given moment.

"Alfred…" Arthur spoke in a warning voice. He grabbed onto the hem of the dragon's shirt hoping to prevent him from doing something he would regret.

"Your Arthur?" Gupta repeated with a raised eyebrow. The malice in his eyes did not fade away as he also crouched; ready to fight. "You keep a filthy human around as a pet?!" His eyes suddenly shined mischievously like he was planning something.

"Alfred, ignore him." Arthur pleaded. He didn't like the look in the others eyes. "Let's get back to Hetalia. We need to report what's happened to the King."

"Yes, Alfred." Gupta taunted his draconian features beginning to reveal themselves. "Listen to the human. Be the weakling you are and don't try to avenge your possessions."

"He's not a pet!" Alfred snarled furiously, completely ignoring Arthur's pleas for him to calm down. "He's my lover and he's not my property! He's on equal standing with me so don't you dare treat him like he's some kind of object!"

He was beginning to lose all sense of rational thoughts, eyes focusing on his enemy, watching for every move made by the opposing dragon.

"You speak as if you care about it." Gupta smirked evilly. "But if you really did love it, then you wouldn't have let the human fall into our hands… where it could easily be bruised and broken."

Those lines broke every last bit of sensibility Alfred had. He lunged at the dragon with a shout of rage and sent both of them to the ground; a flurry of scales and claws and fangs.

Arthur instantly ran forward. He feared that Alfred would get hurt or worse. He tried calling out the dragon's name, trying to urge him to stop.

Alfred didn't hear, or rather couldn't, hear his name being called. He could only feel the rage in him. He could only hear the pounding if his blood in his veins. He was in such a rage that he couldn't even tell that his foe wasn't even fighting back much at all.

Arthur didn't know why Gupta wasn't fighting back, but it only worried him more. Arthur placed a hand on Alfred trying to get the dragons attention. "Alfred STOP!" He shouted as loudly as he could.

Alfred, without thinking, smacked the hand away harshly and then froze. Slowly, he started to gain his consciousness back and it only made him terrified. He gasped and his eyes widened as he tore away from the heavily injured Gupta.

He could see the deep slashes and cuts that littered the other, and he started to tremble at the sight. What had he done?

He'd let the blood go to his head and had attacked without even thinking, too enraged by the taunting. He'd even hit...

The blue dragon looked at Arthur with a traumatized expression. He'd hit Arthur.

Arthur flinched when he was hit by Alfred, but it did not deter his concern for his lover. He approached Alfred carefully, ignoring the injured dragon.

"A-Alfred… are you alright." He spoke carefully.

He trembled more; he could feel his fear building up as his mind reeled. He fell to his knees, unable to stand any longer, and shook his lowered head. No, he was not alright. So many things were wrong.

They weren't supposed to be. Everything was supposed to be okay now! So why?

Those blue eyes full of dread, caught Arthur off guard. It was not a look the knight was used to seeing. He lowered himself to the ground so that he was at the same level as Alfred. As weak as his arms were, Arthur tried as best as he could to wrap them around Alfred and pressed his face into the crook of the dragon's neck.

"Alfred, try and talk to me." Arthur's voice was low, soft and somewhat broken with sorrow at the lost expression on the dragon's face.

Gupta rose shakily to his feet. Although he looked terribly maimed, he still kept that evil smirk on his face. "Maybe the day of living in unity with each other isn't as close as you thought it was. I'll make sure that you both pay direly for your actions."

Without another word, Gupta left. Leaving Alfred and Arthur alone once again. Fear seeped inside the knight but he pushed it aside.

"Don't listen to what he said." Arthur returned his attention back to the distraught dragon in his hold. "We'll be fine…"

I'll make sure that you both pay direly for your actions.

Alfred paled, not hearing what Arthur was saying, not feeling the embrace around him. What had he done? What had he done?!

He'd just made everything worse. What if he had just ruined their chances at making everything right? What if a war was started because of him? Gupta was obviously set on starting up something.

Maybe the day of living in unity with each other isn't as close as you thought it was.

Why'd it have to be this way? We're those words true? But they'd been through so much to get this far!

"Don't listen to what he said."

I can't ignore this!

"We'll be fine…"

No...everything is going wrong.

Gupta fled through the forest, his anger fueling him to move fast. The human's face was burned into his mind.

How dare that creature kill his mate! How dare it have the audacity to speak of peace and commit murder! They should have killed the thing while they had the chance… well, there was more than one way to have a human executed.

He and Sadiq had been studying the humans for a long time. So, he knew exactly how they punished their law breakers.

'Let's see how seriously they treat this new law of theirs.' Gupta thought to himself. As he approached the grand Castle. 'Let's see what sort of punishment they have in store for someone who killed an innocent dragon and wounded it's mate in cold blood.'

"Alfred… Alfred please talk to me." The knight pleaded again. His concern for the dragon was growing. Alfred just sat their unmoving for the longest time with a look of complete shock and devastation. It made Arthur feel uneasy and scared.

Still gaining no reply Arthur tried a different approach. He grabbed a fistful of the dragon's shirt and began shaking him harshly. "Alfred! Snap out of it!"

Alfred blinked and looked at Arthur. Recognition and awareness slowly started coming back into his eyes. He slipped his hands over Arthur's and gripped them tightly, though he still trembled.

"I really screwed up..." He forced out, voice strained. "Arthur, I'm so sorry."

"No, stop apologizing." Arthur said firmly. His own shock was completely gone now. It was replaced with a desire to make sure Alfred stayed calm and in control. "None of this is your fault. He shouldn't have provoked you like that."

"But I let him provoke me! If I hadn't listened to him, this wouldn't have happened! But I did, so now... So now we're in very bad trouble." Alfred protested, bowing his head. "I've screwed up horribly..."

"You don't know that for sure." Arthur argued. "We can explain what happened… I won't let any trouble befall you."

Alfred stilled and smiled weakly at Arthur. "I guess you're saving me this time, huh?" He asked softly.

He glanced again over Arthur's injuries. "We need to get you taken care of for now, though. At least get you cleaned up." He brushed Arthur's face softly, careful not to aggravate any wounds. "I wish I could have gotten to you sooner so you wouldn't have been hurt..."

Arthur returned Alfred's weak smile and leaned into his touch. "I'll be fine, love. I'm just glad your back safely from your trip."

Arthur took hold of Alfred's hand and stood up. "Now lets start heading back, and get this whole mess settled."

Alfred nodded and shifted to his dragon form before lowering himself to the ground for Arthur to climb up. "You do realize I'm never letting you leave my sight again, right?" He asked, standing as soon as Arthur was safely settled.

Arthur pursed his lips as he awkwardly climbed onto Alfred's back using one arm. "I swear I haven't always been this danger prone."

Alfred snorted. "Somehow I find that hard to believe right now," he replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, shut up and get to flying." Arthur said without any malice. His cheeks were tinted pink in embarrassment.

"Yes, your majesty," Alfred replied sarcastically. He flapped his wings and sent them into the air.

When they were high enough in the air, he let himself glide on the winds' paths.

"Arthur...thank you, for calming me down and being patient with me..." He said after what felt like a long silence. "I was going to snap back there, like really snap...I don't think I would've stopped if you hadn't made me...You don't have to reply; I just wanted to say that."

Arthur smiled. How could he not reply to something like that? The knight leant down to place a kiss on the dragon's neck and stroked those beautiful scales. "You're welcome, love… and thank you for being my hero."

The King waited outside the castle with his guards for Arthur to return.

'Maybe there's been some kind of mistake.' He thought to himself. 'It couldn't possibly be Arthur who killed this dragon's mate.' The King tried to convince himself… but there was no denying the distraught dragon's description of his attacker. Messy blond hair, green eyes, bushy eyebrows, and dressed in knights armor. The description fit Arthur perfectly. Roderich looked over at the injured dragon.

The dragon's face was tear stained and miserable looking. He had come running into the castle begging for help. The dragon told them of how he and his mate had been curious of the human's new set of dragon friendly laws and had come to investigate. But they were stopped by a knight who began attacking them. He tried to fight back but the human killed his mate and he had barely escaped with his own life.

King Roderich wondered why Arthur would do such a thing. It didn't sound like the knight at all, but if the knight really did kill this dragon's mate he couldn't be lenient. Arthur knew what his punishment would be if he took another's life… A life for a life. That was the rule in their Kingdom.

Roderich shivered. He hoped this dragon was wrong. He didn't know what the consequences would be if the dragon elders discovered that another one of their kind was killed by a human. But not just any human. One of the very humans that was supposedly fighting for their cause…

Oh no! What's going to happen to Arthur?! You'll all just have to find out next chapter~. ;D

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If you like Scálaí then be sure to read it's companion story L'erede del Drago. It's a spamano fic by me and Yamiyo.

And don't forget to check out Yamiyo's others stories! The link to her FF is on my profile.