I am back! Another chapter! Yay, I managed! (Also, I updated the summary. Hopefully this one is better than the last one.)

"Beryl!" Gale heard herself scream. She struggled up to her talons, grabbing her spear to lunge at her opponent. The SkyWing turned around and picked up his own spear, then blocked her attack.

Eventually the bigger SkyWing overpowered Gale, pushing down with his spear. It was then that Courage had managed to push past the mass of dragons and bowled over her attacker. Moments later Zephyr appeared and helped Courage drive him away.

"Take care of yourselves," Zephyr advised to both Gale and Courage. "Don't try to get in a fight that may cost your life. I need to check on the others." Before any of them could respond, he had already gone as fast as he came.

A cough came behind them. Gale turned around and crouched down front of Beryl, who was in a collapsed heap.

With one glance at the gaping red gash in Beryl's belly, Gale could tell that he was beyond help. She couldn't say anything. Nothing came out of her mouth.

"You know that he can't be saved," Courage murmured next to her. Gale gently clasped Beryl's talons, trying to ease his pain a little.

"There's a MudWing coming," she heard Courage report, but his voice was distant. She was paying attention to Beryl, who was gasping faintly. He blinked rapidly as his eyes unfocused and focused on Gale.

"G… ale…" that was all the SkyWing could manage before he started struggling for breath. He mouthed something to Gale. You belong together.

Gale blinked. Beryl tried to grin, but didn't have the strength to.

"Gale. Gale!" the wingless SkyWing jerked up to see Courage tapping her shoulder. "Snap out of it, please. You have to fight!" That was when the MudWing Courage warned about earlier charged at them. Both friends dived opposite ways, confusing the MudWing as he skidded to a stop.

Two of the Flawed and one SandWing jumped onto the MudWing, pinning him down as he tried to fling them off.

The SandWing nodded to Gale and Courage, her black eyes glinting. "Go help the others," she growled.

"Javelina!" one of the Flawed dragons yelled. "You need to help!" The SandWing turned back, helping her allies.

"Let's go," Courage said. He glanced at Beryl, then touched his now-still side briefly with his nose. "There's nothing else we can do for Beryl." Gale looked away. You belong together. Beryl's words echoed inside her head. You belong together. You belong together. She tried to shake the thought from her head as she focused on the battle.

"A… alright," Gale managed to choke out, attempting to push down her shock.

There were sudden roars in the sky. Gale and Courage looked up. These roars sounded they came from new arrivals, not from the battle-worn dragons here. In the darkening sky, there were glimmers of white.

"No way… IceWings," Gale breathed. The IceWing army advanced. RainWings, SkyWings, NightWings, and MudWings all looked on warily, not sure why the IceWings were here. It was then that a big SkyWing came winging down from the SkyWing pavilion, not intimidated at all as she stopped right in front of the head IceWing.

"So you did come, after all, Aurora," Topaz said with a smirk. "What made you decide? I thought you decided not to help the SandWings."

Some of the SandWings turned to eye the IceWing queen distrustfully.

"That's not the point," Queen Aurora said icily. "The queen of the SeaWings, Ripple, decided to give me the treasure. She's a coward, even though she agreed to 'help' dethrone you. That so-called queen wouldn't even show her face here."

Topaz leered. "For once, I do agree with you. We are not on the same sides, yes?"

"Enough talk!" Aurora bellowed, blasting her frostbreath at Topaz. The SkyWing dodged it, and chaos erupted again as the other IceWing charged in to intercept the SkyWings and MudWings.

"Out enemy has no enchanted protection against frostbreath," Harrier suddenly said thoughtfully out of nowhere.

Gale nearly jumped. "Um, where exactly did you come from?"

"I helped undo what I did wrong," Harrier shrugged like as if it was no big deal. "You know, free the prisoners? You know, heroic deed?"

Torrid, who was nearby, looked on confusedly at Harrier. "Why would you capture us only to free again?" Quetzal, the little RainWing holding onto Torrid's leg nodded in agreement.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I changed my mind. Now the question is, when is that animus going to reveal himself?"

"Animus?" Courage made his way next to Gale, glancing around to see if there were any more enemies coming up to them. "Oh. Him. Judging by who he is, Doombringer will come out soon."

"By now, Doombringer most definitely knows about the IceWIngs," Harrier mused. "Why isn't he coming out to enchant the armor to be immune to frostbreath? He's up to something, that's for sure."

"Maybe he's not up to anything," Gale suggested. "Perhaps he doesn't care anymore." She suddenly noted that Kunzite was gone. "Where's Kunzite?"

"Kunzite was carried to a safe place by Sulfur and Quetzal," Courage assured the wingless SkyWing.

"Alright-" Gale cut herself off as she leaned on Courage, feeling a little dizzy.

"You lost some blood," Torrid said with a hint of worry in her voice.

"You all lost some blood too," Gale almost snapped, not feeling so good. "Stop worrying about me. Worry about yourselves... your lives are in danger, too."

"You're right," Harrier said. "We got to end this battle before we all die dramatically of loss of blood. And the possibility of being written down in history of great heroes who died in battle defending all of Pyrrhia."

"That's not funny, if that's what you are aiming for.." Torrids sounded irritated. "You won't die of loss of blood. You've got barely anything but a scratch on your tail."

"Let's just stop arguing," Courage said, pointing his snout to the sky, where the most battles were happening now. "We need to help. Or, if you're too injured, you can always hide."

"I will go help," Gale volunteered. There was no need for answers from the other dragons as they showed that they were ready.

"According to the condition of this battle, it seems like that we are most likely to win," Harrier checked on the battle. "However, the tables can turn anytime if Doombringer comes out and personally decides to join in the fight. The battle, overall, is quite unpredictable, so I do recommend that we go and destroy my sister first. That way with no current queen, the SkyWings will be disorganized."

Gale gulped a little. "Destroy?"

"Yep," Harrier nodded. "If she isn't killed, the war will not end with her alie. I, of course, won't be the one to kill her."

"I think I should bring Quetzal to a safer spot," Torrid interrupted.

Quetzal tilted his head. "Okay. But if things get bad I want to join!"

"Alright, good luck," Gale told the pair as they lifted off. "So… how exactly are we going to… kill the queen?"

"Look," Courage growled. "Not too far at the front, that SkyWing queen is going down to the ground."

"Why?" Gale asked, suddenly curious.

"Ah, my queenly sister wants a taste of revenge," Harrier explained. "You call yourselves the Flawed, yes? Your group did manage to escape my queenly sister. They were meant to be all dead anyways. There's a battle, so she may have already had her fill for blood for the ones that can fly. Now, she wants to come down to the grounded Flawed and unleash her brutality on them. Doesn't it make sense, to be equal? If you attack the ones able to fly, shouldn't the grounded ones have their share of misery too? Quite fair, I say. Not one side gets more misery than the other."

"...An interestingly complicated way to explain the reason for Topaz to come down here," Courage commented. "Come on, let's sneak up to her. That may work."

"And why is she wearing jewelry in battle?" Gale questioned. "She's wearing a heavy necklace that'll slow her down."

"No scratches," Harrier observed. "Bye Gale and Courage! I'd better spread my genius plan to everyone else."

"Wait, what genius plan?" Gale called as Harrier hopped away.

Harrier turned around to them and said something, but even when Gale strained to hear him, she could only hear the sounds of battle. Harrier vanished into a mass of dragons before she could go after him.

"ZEPHYR!" a powerful voice bellowed. "COME FIGHT ME LOWLY CREATURE! YOU DARED DEFY YOUR QUEEN!"

"Topaz?" Courage muttered. Another form burst away from the Flawed, and cries of shock came after him.

"Zephyr!"

"Stay with us!"
"What are you doing?"

"Don't! She's dangerous!"

Zephyr, to Gale's disbelief, ignored all of the Flawed's words. He had an unusual light in his eyes, something she had never seen in him before. He was usually almost always calm, understanding, and wise. This was not a side she had seen in him before. It's almost like that time I crushed the pineapple… he's not himself.

Gale turned her head to Topaz. The queen looked terrifying, her snout twisted into a snarl, smoke billowing from the corners of her mouth. Didn't she say… he defied her? Yes, Kunzite said before that the queen had taken his right wing for punishment of defending a flawed dragon.

The leader of the Flawed and the queen of the SkyWing faced each other off. Zephyr, who was smaller than Topaz, reared up on his hind legs to make himself look bigger. However, he wa unable to flare his only wing, as it would throw him off balance.

"Deformed, useless, lizard!" Topaz roared. "I will rip your remaining wing off! I should have finished you those years before, and the rest of your infectious colony."

"Not unless I kill you first," Zephyr roared back.

"My, my, what a standoff." Harrier hovered above them.

"Turncoat," Topaz simply said to Harrier, not even glancing at her brother. "I will finish you off once I finish Zephyr." Zephyr rushed Topaz, and she released a blast of fire at him. Expecting that, Zephyr nimbly dodged and raked her side. However, he paused for a moment to examine his talons, puzzled at something.

This is no time to be confused! Gale wanted to scream as Topaz stole that moment to whack Zephyr's head with her tail.

"Look," Courage pointed out to Gale. "It's like as if Zephyr never scratched her." Gale nodded. Zephyr had already shaken off Topaz's tail whack and had stabbed his claws downwards, aiming for Topaz's shoulder. Gale's grip on her spear loosened as she watched her leader's talons bounce right off his enemy's scales.

Zephyr stepped back, about to say something, when Topaz pounced on him. Courage suddenly jumped forwards and let out a roar of fire at Topaz. She ducked instinctively, but the flames enveloped her wings. When the smoke cleared, there was no burn whatsoever on her.

"She's invincible," Gale heard Courage mutter as Topaz returned the fiery NightWing rolled out of the way just in time.

"Stay out of this, NightWing," she hissed. "This is none of your business. I have a traitor to take care of."

A shove from behind startled Gale. She dodged an incoming swipe, and came face-to-face with an… IceWing. The white dragon shot a cold stream of frostbreath at her. Gale narrowly avoided it, feeling her part of her scales go numb. The frostbreath, luckily, didn't hit her, but it did come very close.

"Why?" Gale gasped. "I thought you came to help us!"

He was snarling, claws flexing, ready to slash her. His blue eyes told her otherwise. What… just what is going on here!? His eyes were pleading, regretful. He seemed to be trying to hold himself back from attacking, but he failed and leaped again, pinning down Gale. She clenched her teeth to stop from screaming as his serrated claws dug into her shoulders.

Gale was thoroughly confused as she managed to slither out of the IceWing's grip. Another SkyWing, a Flawed, leaped in to help Gale. She pinned him down and knocked him out instead of killing him.

"Thanks," Gale panted.

The SkyWing nodded back to her. "No problem, Gale. It's Gust, if you remember."

"Gust… that's right," Gale echoed. She didn't recognize this bloodied SkyWing at first, but now that she looked closer, she remembered it as the SkyWing mother who had escaped from the clutches of Topaz, along with her blind dragonet, Mistral.

"Wouldn't Mistral be worried about you?" Gale asked.

"If I don't fight, we'll all die anyways if Topaz manages to take over," Gust reasoned. "Do you know what's going on with that IceWing?"

Gale shook her head, but the paused for a moment to survey the battle. She did notice some… other oddities going on. Some of their allies had turned traitors. Yells of disbelief came from the attacked as they were forced to fight their own comrades.

"...Look," Gale said to Gust, pointing to the back of the enemy's troops. She had spotted a figure in the back, a black NightWing with purple wings. He was barely visible in the evening, his movement betraying him as he flapped his wings to keep in the air.

"He's the one," Gust breathed. "I've seen him several times before… heard rumors that he was an animus."

"Doombringer is an animus," Gale concluded. "I think… I think he's somehow controlling our, um, friends."

"Sorry I couldn't come in time." Courage pushed his way to Gale and Gust.

Gale turned to the NightWing, lighting up a little. "No need to apologize, Courage. How's the fight with Queen Topaz?"

"I saw the IceWing on you," Courage answered. "I don't know what… happened to Zephyr… I had to pick between the two, and I chose you. He was faring better, too."

If Gale wasn't in the middle of battle, she would've smiled. "Who knows what Doombringer can do next. He's dangerous."

"So Doombringer or Topaz?" Gust questioned.

"I suggest you take out my queenly sister first," Harrier appeared out of nowhere again, hovering above them. "But then if you think about it, that necklace will keep her from being harmed in any way. So, Doombringer. He's the source of all this enchantment. But wait, my queenly sister! She's the queen bee of them all, kill her and her troops become chaotic and confused. Hmm… what would Doombringer do, though? Maybe kill him instead. That NightWing is quite the trump card. Killing him will prevent Doombringer from casting any more dangerous spells…" Harrier's voice drifted away as he darted to the next dragon.

"I've never seen Harrier so unsure in his life," Gust remarked, though worriedly. "He has been always the factual dragon."

So which one? Queen Topaz or the animus Doombringer? Gale gripped her spear tightly. We'll die…That's right. They're all fighting each other. What if... Gale didn't want to believe it. Doombringer's playing with us. If he can control dragons, he can do nearly anything! And with that… he could have won this war ages ago. Just what is he thinking?!

"...Gale?" Courage was blinking at her, placing his talons on her trembling arms. Suddenly something reared behind her, and without thinking, Courage acted as her shueld.

There was a thump as the brave NightWing fell, slashed in an x-like style across his chest. It was a SandWing.

"I'm sorry," the SandWing managed to choke out before lunging at Gale, unable to stop himself.

Gust tugged him back, holding on firm to his venomous tail. "Gale! Now!"
The wingless SkyWing stood there, staring at her spear.' "You want me to… kill him?"

"Kill me, knocking out will take too long!" the SandWIng rasped, struggling to restrain himself. He failed to do so, and was slowly slipping out of the grip of Gust, reaching for her. Her couldn;'t say anything else as he was forced to suck in his breath, readying his fire.

"I-I can't!" Gale shouted. "It's not him! Doombringer's making him!"
"Dragonet or not, you must be hard in combat!" Gust hissed. "It's kill or be killed, Gale! Make your choice now!" The SandWing's smoke was already curling around his horns. Gust couldn't stop him from breathing fire; she already had enough struggle with his thrashing tail.

Gale shut her eyes as she drove her spear down with all her might. There was a wet sound as the sharp weapon drove through flesh and bone. Feeling dizzy, Gale avoided looking at the still SandWing as she removed the spear that had been driven right through his head.

Ugh, I want to throw up, Gale couldn't help it but stare at the dark, glistening blood splattered on the spear. Can't I be more useful than this?

"What is done, is done," Courage croaked behind Gale. He staggered up to his talons, wheezing. He opened his mouth to say something when Gale interrupted him.

"Don't start saying you'll protect me," Gale began. "Remember what we said? We'll protect each other. And if you keep on acting like a meat shield in front of me, you won't last long." She managed to give a brief smile. "Alright?"

Courage sighed, then crouched down, trying to stanch his own wound. "Alright."

"Here, I'll help," Gust rushed over to the NightWing. Gale hoped that no other dragon would notice them as she looked for Topaz and Doombringer. It seemed that most dragons were engaged with each other, too caught up in fighting to notice the occasional dying and the wounded trying to crawl away.

"That's right!" Gale suddenly growled out loud. "Queen Topaz's necklace is removable. If we can somehow remove it, she's be exposed." WHAT. Three moons. I might as well be as stupid as a cow. A renewed determination surged within her. Alright, spear, we need to take that necklace of Queen Topaz over there right now!

Determination turned quickly to bewilderment as the spear suddenly pulled forwards with a powerful unseen force, pulling her protesting straight to Topaz.

Dragons turned to stare at her, wondering why a dragon was holding on to a flying spear. ...Huh? No. No no no. This can't be true. This can't be. I should've known before…. What is this power I feel…?

An animus's power.

WHAT IS THIS SORCERY?