Sabre watched in horror as Certo lunged for his twin. The black dragons met each other head on, clashing in a fluctuation of red-violet energy. Everyone watched as the brothers rolled across the ground, snarling, clawing and biting one another like a couple of savage beasts. Her heart raced in her chest as she watched the male she adored transform into a bloodthirsty monster before her very eyes.
"Sabre, let's go!" Crona shouted, stepping in front of her and pushing her back towards the line of dragons. Sabre clumsily staggered back, keeping her eyes on Certo the entire time.
As she watched the brawl continue, one thought crossed her mind. "What have I done?"
It was relatively easy for Sabre to slip silently through the underbrush as the two apes dragged off the body of their dead comrade. The scent of fresh blood was easy to follow as she flicked her tongue out, tasting the air to sense how close her targets were.
She had followed them just over a mile out from where they had confronted the black dragon, after his training session for the day, before they stopped in another open field. At the edge of the clearing, Sabre hunkered down in the long grass, and watched as the apes set the body down. They began using their heavy blade weapons to dig up the soft dirt.
Neither of the two brutes spoke. After the better part of two hours, they had dug a hole deep enough to lay their dead partner in. As they began using their hands to pile the dirt back onto the hole, the looks of scorn and hate could be seen clearly in the setting sun. The rays of light formed sharp shadow shapes across their muzzles, revealing the deep scowls they wore. When they were finished with the burial, they paused for several minutes, standing silently over the grave.
A gentle wind blew across the field and one ape curled his lip. "It still smells like dragon out here," he growled. Sabre huddled closer to the ground and held her breath, listening to the throbbing of her heart in her chest.
"Tell me about it," the other spoke. "But then that's all we can ever smell anymore. When we go home. When we go to scout out that city." He looked back towards the dragon city in the distance. "Why is it we seem to be losing more of our own than doing any serious harm to those cursed dragons?"
"It wasn't like that before," The first ape muttered. "I think in the first couple attacks we took quite a few of their heads."
"But that changed last time. They were ready for us. I don't know how, but we barely did any serious harm to them. It's like they're getting stronger. Smarter."
The first ape only spat in the dirt. "Those monsters will never be able to overthrow us. We have the advantage of numbers on our side. They can't fight all of us at once."
"Are you so certain?"
"What do you mean?"
"The very dragon who has been giving us orders for almost the past year has the ability to wipe our entire race out with a breath. I don't think he literally could, but it's a possibility. And as we found out, there's another like him with just as much power."
Sabre bit her lip as she thought back to watching Certo train. He had indeed gotten remarkably stronger; far more than she had seen in any dragon in such a short period of time. The thought of him with his scars and bad eye blazing red frightened her.
"And who knows how many other dragons there are that possess that much power," The ape continued. "We found this out the hard way. How many more of our brothers must we lose until we get what we want? Or will we just continuously run into more powerful dragons because our so-called master insists on dragging out this little crusade of his?"
The first ape's arm snapped out and clasped his brother's mouth shut. "I really hope we're alone right now. Because if the master were here, he'd have you gutted on the spot."
"I want him to keep his promise to us," he growled, swatting the hand away.
"I believe he will," The other answered. "If you think about it, he's been more determined at finding that white dragon he said can make his plan come to fruition. If we can just capture her, then we won't have to worry about killing the others. We will have all the power we ever want right there with us."
Sabre's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open. "Crona?"
"I think I've heard enough." The second ape sighed, his breath whistling between his long fangs. "We'd better report back soon or the master will have our heads anyway."
The two apes turned and disappeared into the underbrush leaving Sabre sitting in awe at what she had just heard. She remembered listening in on the conversation between the guardians and Vixen's father at the library, but had dismissed the idea of Crona being a target as nothing more than skepticism. A sudden chill ran up her spine, shaking her awake. She emerged from her hiding spot and slunk across the field, around the mound of dirt where the dead ape had been buried. When she reached the trees again she stopped and listened. After flicking her tongue out and tasting the air, she quickly realized that the apes were traveling fast and their scent was disappearing quickly.
Sabre plunged into the underbrush, darting from tree to tree, trying to catch up to the baboons. Far ahead, the apes swung nimbly through the branches, high above the forest floor. It would be a long journey before they made it back to their original territory.
The entire way back was spent trying to catch up for Sabre. She tripped and stumbled over rocks, branches and fallen logs as she tracked the movement of the apes ahead of her. The ice dragoness's legs and chest hurt; she felt as if her scales were on fire. What she was following them for, she had long since forgotten. All she could do was continue to taste the air and follow their trail. By the time their scent became stronger, Sabre realized how far away from home she really was.
The trees surrounding her no longer resembled the luscious green with vibrantly colored flowers speckled about the treetops. All around were dull, brown, dreary trunks with little to no leaves hanging from their bone-like branches. Sabre felt another chill run up her spine as she looked up at the branches stretching over her, blocking out what little light there was from the moons. If she wanted to fly away, the branches would not make it easy or painless.
By now the apes had reached the edge of their village high up in the canopy of the withering forest. Dried moss hung from the branches like dead, peeled flesh draped around the huts in protective bunches. The two apes Sabre had been following were just a few yards ahead of her in the branches above. Down on the ground, apes patrolled their village, looking more bored than anything else. Before Neros had come, guard shifts had not been enforced. Sabre paused, crouching low in the shadows beyond the torchlight of the forest. The village was extremely well lit, giving Sabre a good idea of how vast the apes' territory was. She could see huts on the ground as well as the trees stretching back as far as her vision would let her. If she were to cause a disturbance and fight her way out, there would be no way she would survive.
After taking a deep breath, the ice dragoness darted forward, silently moving across the ground. She kept to the shadows until she reached the first torch. At the edge of the shadows she leaped high and beat her wings once. The closest ape guard turned at the sudden sound and waved his hand torch, looking around. The baboon's beady eyes swept around the darkness of the night, searching for any movement; listening for anything out of the norm. He began to move on, but kept a weary eye on the forest beyond the edge of the village.
Sabre breathed a sigh of relief as she clutched the tree trunk above the ape's area of vision. She turned her attention back to the branches further in, spotting the two apes she had been tracking. They climbed the side of a tree and disappeared into one of the smaller huts built into the tree top. The ice dragoness adjusted her grip on the tree she was hugging and looked for the next hiding spot. She found a shadow two trees away and kicked off her first tree, gliding silently over the patrolling apes before coming to an unnoticed landing on a low-hanging branch.
Inside the target hut, Neros had waited patiently for his scouts to return. They had been gone far longer than the others that had been sent out. He had begun to expect that they had been found out and disposed of by the time darkness was falling. After the first day, there had been no word from them. The albino had been pacing about the hut trying to come up with a new idea on how to handle the situation when the scouts returned.
"You're both late," Neros growled, narrowing his ruby eyes at them.
"Forgive us Master." The apes lowered to their knees, bringing themselves to his level. "There was... a little trouble."
Neros's eyes seemed to spark with convexity and the apes' tensed at the sight of it. "Explain."
"We were discovered." The second ape sighed in shame. "The black one... your brother, discovered us. He... he didn't attack... at least... not right away." The first ape glanced at his partner then lifted his eyes to see Neros standing nose to nose with him. The baboon swallowed hard when he heard the tapping of the dragon's mercury tail blade against the wood floor. "He told us to return and deliver a message to you."
Neros's brows jumped slightly at this. "Oh? And what would my dear brother have to say to me that he would send you two back, and not tell me himself?"
The ape could feel his mouth go dry. The thought of the black dragon's glowing eye still terrified him. Seeing his fellow ape get cut down so fast and easily was beyond nerve-wracking; it was downright frightening.
Sensing the pause, Neros noticed that the scouts were one body short. Seeing what the message was, he nodded understanding the situation. "I see."
"M-Master?" The second ape spoke up. "If I may ask, what is your plan? Y-your brother... he murdered our brother with no mercy or delay. And it was with that red power he's learned."
"Was it now?" Neros's frown grew more serious. "How well was he able to use it?"
"Too well." The first ape replied. "He's already mastered it. The white dragoness you've been seeking has been teaching him how to use it."
"Damn it!" Neros shouted, his voice catching the attention of any nearby apes. In the adjacent tree, Sabre huddled close to the trunk, keeping in the shadows as best she could. The conversation was loud enough so it could be heard but not clear enough to make out every detail.
Neros began to glow with convexity as he summoned his power into a visible form. "That dragoness is becoming a thorn in my tail now. If she wasn't so valuable I'd have her butchered at the first chance we got."
Outside, Sabre coiled her legs underneath her and sprang towards the tree. She latched onto a branch just under the floor of the hut. Neros, sensing the sudden disturbance in the wind perked up and looked at his subordinates. "It seems that you two brought a visitor along." The apes glanced at each other, confusion written across their faces. Sabre stifled a gasp and covered her mouth with a paw. Was the dragon talking about her? If so, how could he have known? Certo was the same way.
Sabre held her breath, trying to breathe as silently as she could. Neros and the apes waited silently, Neros more than the baboons. Sabre's heart pounded against her chest. It was a small wonder they could not hear the rapid beating of her heart, giving her position away.
Just then there was a crack. Sabre froze as the noise continued. She looked down to see the branch she was perched on breaking beneath her weight. With one final snap, the tree limb gave way, dropping the screaming dragoness to the forest floor. A startled snarl came from the ape whose head she landed on, knocking him out. Sabre groaned as she sat up, dizzy from the sudden fall.
"A dragon!" An excited shout cut through the night air. Sabre blinked herself awake and looked around to see dozens of pairs of eyes locked on her. The apes had been alerted to her presence and were taking hold of their small weapons, slowly creeping towards her.
The ice dragoness back up against the tree, before turning to find her exit cut off by a trio of guards standing behind her, cutting off her escape.
"Come here, dragon!" An ape lunged for her only to grab nothing but air. Sabre jumped over his head, latching onto the face of the nearest ape, biting down on his muzzle. The ape snarled in pain, swatting the dragoness away. Sabre rolled across the ground as the apes started to close in.
In a flash, she was on her feet; icy particles spiraling around her body in a glistening white sheet. The apes lunged and immediately started clutching at their eyes as the jagged ice particles stung their faces. Sabre took the distraction as a chance to flee. She vaulted over the circle of apes and flapped her wings, desperately trying to get some air beneath them.
Above her, Neros waved a paw, dispersing the wind current and causing the young dragoness to hit the ground hard. The sudden lack of air scared Sabre as she jumped to her feet. The apes turned on her and howled excitedly. The blue dragoness ran as fast as she could, heading deeper into the apes' territory. An evil smile crept across Neros's muzzle. He spread his wings and joined the pursuit.
Sabre leaped and bounded over tree roots, flapping her wings like a limp goose trying to get off the ground. "What is going on?" She shouted in her mind. "Why can't I fly? What's happening to me?" Her lungs were beginning to burn and her body started to ache once again.
All around, apes emerged from their homes in time to see the dragoness run by and get shoved out of the way by the pursuing party. Sabre screamed as she tripped over a mangled tree root, hitting the ground and tumbling head over heels. The closest apes leaped high with their daggers raised. Sabre's heart skipped a beat before she opened her mouth to scream again; but instead of a scream, a beam of pure ice energy burst from the back of her throat.
The apes were frozen in mid-air before falling to the ground and shattering on impact. This brought the pursuit to an abrupt halt as the rest of the apes and Sabre stared at the frozen remains of her initial attackers. Neros hovered in place and bobbed his head in approval. It was an unexpected move but one he felt was well executed.
Since her assailants were distracted, Sabre scrambled to her feet and leaped into the air once more. She sprang off the trunk of a tree onto another before aiming towards the tops of the ape huts. After touching down on one of the rooftops, she leaped towards the open sky. Neros only smiled and inhaled deeply, drawing the wind away from her. Sabre screamed as she plummeted to the ground, hitting several branches before striking her head on a root. The blue dragoness gave a quick cry before lying completely still.
The apes, who had regrouped from their momentary shock, rushed forward, ready for an easy kill. A large, silver-backed ape shoved the others aside and raised his knife to plunge it into the dragoness's warm flesh. As he brought the weapon down, a white blur shot by, striking his hand and knocking the knife to the ground. The ape turned to see Neros standing beside him with a grin on his face.
"Not yet," He ordered. "I want to have some time with this one."
The apes looked around at one another in confusion. Neros straightened up as did the apes on reaction. "Gather her up and bring her back," he ordered. The apes moved to pick up the young dragoness and drag her back to Neros's hut. As they walked along, Neros stared for a long time at the young female. Under normal circumstances, he would have allowed for her life to be taken right away. But after learning about Crona's abilities, he was not going to be so hasty to take another life until he was certain she was expendable.
By the time Sabre regained consciousness, it had been two full days since she had arrived at the village. A groan escaped from her mouth as she slowly began to wake up. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. Sunlight shone through the gaps in the hut's walls, casting warm rays of light across her slender, blue body.
It was then Sabre remembered where she was. She jolted upright and was instantly greeted with an intense throbbing in her head. The dragoness groaned again, pressing a paw against her head. She could feel a nasty welt swelling up; touching it only made her headache worse.
"It's about time you woke up," Neros spoke, grabbing Sabre's attention. He had been sitting beside her, patiently checking her condition as it improved.
Sabre looked up at the albino sitting beside her as he stared at her with his ruby-red eyes. The dragoness's heart began to beat faster in her chest and she curled away from him. He looked exactly like Certo, without the scars covering his body. It was clear that the two were related.
"Don't bother trying to get away," Neros sighed, calmly shaking his head. "You won't get very far, even if you try." He rose so that he was standing over her, causing her to shrink back in fright.
"What do you want with me?" Sabre squeaked, her throat suddenly feeling dry.
"A good question," Neros nodded, turning his attention out the hut entrance nearby. "An even better question is what are you doing here? Obviously you're no scout dragon. You're too young plus you don't wear armor like those other dragons." He paused and narrowed his cat-like eyes at her. "Unless there's something special about you that you could venture all the way out here on your own, expecting to live for some absurd reason."
"N-no. No!" Sabre shook her head frantically. "Th-that's not it at all. I... I just... was..."
Neros tilted his head sideways as Sabre looked him up and down. "Curious to see if I really am related to the sorry excuse of a black dragon? Well, the answer is yes, unfortunately. But that still does not explain why you are here." Neros brought his snout to press up against Sabre's the ice dragoness felt the chill of the albino's negative energy through his skin and her wings ruffled slightly. The male smirked seeing that she was uncomfortable; the more pressure he put on her, the more likely she would be to break.
Sabre swallowed hard and averted her gaze. She felt something cold and hard press against her cheek. A startled squeak escaped from her lips when she realized it was Neros's tail blade. He forced her to look back at him with a frown on his face.
"Now I'm curious to ask," Neros pressed one of his barbs against her soft facial scales, causing Sabre to squeeze her eyes shut. "What is your connection with my dear brother?"
Sabre's eyes opened and they turned to look at the albino. Her heart raced in her chest as his fierce eyes seemed to stare into her soul. There was no way this demon could be anywhere related to Certo. Certo was quiet and closed off, but at least he had a good heart. This dragon was made of pure malevolence.
"Well?" Neros demanded, pressing his blade to her cheek, drawing a couple drops of blood.
"I love him!" Sabre cried, trying to lean away from the deadly spade.
Neros's eyes widened at this. "You... love him?" Sabre felt him withdraw his tail blade and let herself relax just slightly. "Wow." Neros sighed taking a step back. "I never would have guessed that my brother's mate would come to track me down. I thought the last dragoness was his mate."
"Crona?" Sabre thought to herself.
"But this is just fine," Neros continued as he started pacing around the blue dragoness. "I can only imagine my poor brother's reaction when i deliver to him the carcass of his beloved mate."
"What?" Sabre jolted upright as her heart nearly burst from her chest. Neros hissed and lunged for her throat. Sabre screamed and dove out of the way. She stumbled, hitting the floor and causing another wave of pain to pound in her head. Neros turned and struck with his tail blade, gouging Sabre in her hind leg. The dragoness screamed, having never felt this kind of pain before in her life.
Neros kept his blade pressing into her thigh and moved closer to her. Sabre sobbed uncontrollably as she looked up at the pale-skinned dragon. Neros's eyes began glowing with convexity as he pressed his paw against her neck, pinning her to the floor. "I'm going to enjoy watching Certo squirm when I bring him what's left of you after I let those apes have their way."
Sabre coughed, trying to breathe. "N-no! Please! Don't!"
Neros only smiled and yanked his blade from her leg causing another agonized cry to burst from Sabre's throat. The sound came off as more of a gagged hacking noised than a scream, but he couldn't care less about such a trivial matter. Sabre watched as the albino raised his tail blade like a scorpion preparing to use its stinger. The ice dragoness held her breath, hoping something, someone would burst in and save her. "Certo!" She screamed in her head. "Certo! Anyone! Save me!" She looked into Neros's eyes one last time as his tail muscles tensed for the strike. Sabre screamed when she saw what was coming. "I know you're after Crona!" She cried out on impulse. When all she heard was silence, Sabre opened her eyes to see Neros's tail blade had stopped just inches from her throat.
"What is your point?" Neros growled, his blade twitching ready to move the last couple inches into her flesh.
Sabre was suddenly left gasping for air as her chest and sides heaved rapidly. Neros was hesitant to back away from her, but he allowed the dragoness to sit up while still keeping his tail blade ready to strike at any moment.
"I... I overheard the guardians... they said that the..." Sabre glanced outside at some apes far below on the ground. "The apes were targeting Crona for some reason. Certo said he was almost certain it was because of you."
Neros smirked. His twin definitely knew him better than all the dragons of the world combined.
"They've been training together the last few days constantly," Sabre continued. "I told Certo that I love him. But..." The dragoness's voice trailed off as she stared down at her feet. "He claims not to care about me. Not in the slightest." She raised her head to Neros who watched with a blank stare. "You're his brother, do you know why he acts this way? I mean, I offered myself to him as his life mate but it's like he doesn't care at all. If I didn't know any better I'd say it's because of Crona! They're always together, from sun up to sun down! She says she doesn't like him and he doesn't like her! So why is it I'm not being chosen as his life mate?"
Neros was thoroughly enjoying this melodrama from the ice dragoness. This new information was giving him a new idea, one he was certain he could execute without failure. He paced over to her and draped a wing over her back, pulling her close to him. "I'd be lying if I said I cared. But I do think we can work together to get what we both want."
Sabre immediately felt uncomfortable being touched by the albino, but did not resist. "What do you mean help each other?"
"You want my weakling of a brother for yourself and that white dragoness is in your way. It just so happens, I want that dragoness for myself. So what do you say?" Neros pulled Sabre closer to him and brought his tail blade to her throat again. "You help me get Crona, in exchange for your life. You get released relatively unharmed and can have Certo as much as you like. In return you deliver me the white dragoness."
Sabre felt her limbs stiffen as the barbed blade pressed against her jugular. Neros had just proposed a plan that could get her the dragon she had longed for, for months, but at the price of a fellow classmate. She had no ill feelings towards Crona except for the fact that she had Certo when she had no love towards him in the first place.
"Well? What will it be?" Neros asked, pressing harder.
"What do you want with Crona?" Sabre gasped, leaning away from the blade. "Certo keeps saying you want to kill all dragons. So why do you want Crona? And won't you just kill me later too?"
Neros chuckled at the ice dragoness's cleverness. "Oh Certo's right about that. I want dragons to be wiped from the face of the earth. But in order to do that I need Crona's powers at my disposal."
Sabre cocked her head curiously. She had never recalled Crona showing any sort of demonstration of her breath attacks. It was not until now that she began to wonder what sort of skills she possessed. Whatever they may have been must have been strong enough to get Neros's attention. Looking at the albino, it made sense why he was after her. The white dragoness had willingly volunteered to help teach Certo how to use his new power and it was because of her that the black dragon had progressed so quickly. "What sort of power does she have that you need so badly?"
Neros smiled. He had not expected many dragons to know what abilities Crona possessed and Sabre was clear evidence that the white dragoness's power was a closely guarded secret. He had only been lucky enough to witness her abilities first hand, thus putting him in his current position.
"That's personal information," Neros replied, pulling his blade away and taking a few steps from the dragoness to make her feel more comfortable. "But I can tell you this, I'm not after her life, just her power."
"And what about Certo?" Sabre asked, fixing the pale dragon with a serious stare. "Will you promise not to kill him?"
Neros shook his head and curled his lip. "I don't make promises directly involving my twin. I won't go out of my way to kill him, but... if he should so happen to assault me, then I will have no choice." Sabre's eyes widened in horror at the thought of the black dragon being murdered before her very eyes. Neros saw her expression and smiled. "Certo will die, I can promise you that. But whether it's sooner or later is entirely up to him." Neros walked in a slow circle around the ice dragoness, keeping his ruby eye on her at all times. "You can have a long happy life with him. It's within your grasp as of this moment. You will have him all to yourself with no one else to interfere ever again." He stopped at the entrance to the hut and felt the fresh air fill his lungs. "All you have to do is work with me. Hand over the white dragoness and Certo will be yours forever."
Sabre was frozen in place. The albino had just handed her an opportunity to have what she had been longing for, for so long; a chance to have Certo as her own and the chance to rebuild her family.
"A family..." the dragoness whispered to herself. She glanced up to see Neros standing patiently, his tail blade swishing back in forth like an anxious feline. "I'll do it. As long as you don't attack Certo."
"I won't be the first to attack him." Neros bobbed his head, the grin on his face growing more by the second. "Now tell me, what do you know about Crona helping my brother to master this new power of his?"
"His new power?" Sabre had to think back to when she had been spying on the black dragon during his training. The way his eye glowed was enough to give any dragon nightmares. It was even more frightening because of what caused the power to emerge. "I don't know much about it" Sabre mumbled, lowering her gaze. "All I know is that Certo has gotten better at summoning it over the past several days. Crona was the one who discovered that it reacts more to his emotions when he's angry."
"When he's angry huh?" Neros raised a brow as he thought over the dragoness's words. He tapped the floor thoughtfully with his blade as he looked out the entrance of the hut.
"I... Is something wrong?" Sabre asked hesitantly.
A wicked smiled washed over Neros's face and his teeth glinted in the dim sunlight. "No. That will work out just fine. "
"Certo!" Cytros shouted, rushing forward in an attempt to break the brothers up. A sudden surge of energy burst from between the black dragons. A bolt of convexity struck the fire dragon in the chest, sending him flying backwards.
"Captain!" Kia cried, rushing to his side.
"I'm alright!" The fire-breather groaned as he rolled to his feet. He coughed hard, spattering the ground with blood.
"Stay down," Kia urged. "I'll take command from here."
Cytros didn't argue. All he could do was listen to the savage snarling across the field as Certo kicked Neros off and lunged for his throat again.
"You see! This is what I warned you would happen! By following this feral he has led you all right into a fight that could have been resolved peacefully! He knows nothing about our peaceful ways, and if we want to survive, we have to rid ourselves of this menace."
Kia felt a hot anger boil up inside her. She was not normally one to lose her temper around others, but hearing Volcanus' voice speak out against her former student, seemed to infuriate her beyond any previous measure.
"That is enough out of you Volcanus!" She turned and was shocked to see that the former fire guardian had not been addressing her but the crowd of dragons behind them. Her mouth fell open when she realized what he was doing.
"By following this feral, you have been subjected to his dangerous ways, and led astray by your rogue guardians!" Volcanus turned his fiery orange eyes on the air dragoness. Kia bared her teeth and was preparing to lunge for the blue dragon when an agonized snarl reached her ears. The dragoness turned to see Certo pin Neros to the ground, pressing a heavy paw against his brother's throat. The black dragon was gnashing his teeth savagely, trying to bite down on the albino's neck, but Neros squirmed and lashed out at Certo with his claws while kicking his hind legs.
Certo had had enough, and pinned his brother's limbs down. Neros continued to squirm as he watched his sibling open his jaws wide to deliver a killing bite. The pale dragon's mouth opened and a burst of purple energy caught Certo in the face. The black dragon squalled and lost his grip on his twin. Neros rolled free and slashed his brother in the face, forcing him off. Certo's eyes watered, blurring his vision.
Neros inhaled and roared, sending Certo flying across the field into the trees as they shattered into piles of splinters.
"Certo!" Sabre screamed as Crona pushed her back behind the guards.
"Sabre, leave this to us!" The white dragoness ordered. "You have to get to safety!"
"But Crona!"
"But nothing!" The dragoness snapped. "Now go!" She looked towards some of the volunteers who were watching the fight. "Hurry! Take Sabre back to the city. Make sure no apes follow you!"
Three of the dragons nodded, one snatching Sabre up in his jaws by her tail.
"Crona wait!" Sabre cried but her voice was drowned out by the sound of beating wings as the adults took to the air.
Crona rushed back to Kia's side to see Certo pick himself up off the forest floor. He groaned in pain as chunks of wood peppered his body. Across the field, Neros laughed at him. "Come on Certo! I know you're a better skirmisher than that! Impress me already!"
The black dragon's lip curled and his bad eye blazed bright in the darkness of the forest. An angry roar burst from his throat as did a beam of pure crimson energy. The intense heat caused the city dragons to cover themselves behind their wings and the apes to duck behind their shields. Neros smiled as he forced himself to generate more convexity. His brother's beam clashed into his energy barrier, sending the rays of crimson spraying in all directions. The city dragons and apes scattered and danced around as the superheated energy burned into the earth. When the light died away, a deep scorch mark scarred the ground before them.
Crona and Kia gaped in open shock at the destruction that lay before them. Both brothers were gasping heavily from the exertion of energy. Off to the side, Volcanus turned on Cytros.
"Captain, you need to take control of this situation right this instant!" The blue dragon fumed as the fire guard struggled to his feet. Cytros coughed hard, spattering blood across the ground even more than before. He could feel himself bleeding internally and he could do nothing to stop it.
Volcanus struck Cytros across the face with a heavy paw, knocking him to the ground again.
"Volcanus!" Kia hissed and moved to shove him off but the blue dragon turned on her in a flash. A hard elbow caught Kia in the face, knocking her on her back with more force than she could have expected the elder to deliver. She raised her head in time to see Tectonica's foot come down on her ribcage. Kia snarled and kicked the get out from under the former earth guardian, but the dragoness held her fast.
"Get off of her!" Crona snapped, lunging for Tectonica's face. The earth dragoness snarled as the white dragoness dug her claws into her cheek and bit down on her brow. Crona felt a heavy paw strike her from the side, knocking her to the ground. Kia shrieked and blew a gust of wind up under the earth dragoness's chest, giving herself just enough room to slide out from under her. Tectonica growled and charged the air dragoness with her head down. Kia leaped into the air as the heavy-weight dragoness barreled by her. Crona rolled out of the way, just narrowly missing being trampled.
The white dragoness looked around to see the other city dragons and guards looking more confused than anything. The guards were torn between supporting their captain against the guardians and focusing their attention on the apes. The situation had already escalated out of anyone's control.
Volcanus pressed a heavy foot against Cytros' chest and growled; blue flames licking at the rim of his mouth. "Take control of this situation Captain! Or the deaths of our people will be on your head!" Cytros' eyes snapped open as did the city dragons' attention on the blue fire-breather. The volunteers backed away in fright, glancing at the apes that had not moved an inch from where they stood across the field. None of the dragons felt comfortable hearing about them dying from their former fire guardian. They glanced between both fire breathers then to Tectonica and Kia, and finally to Certo and Neros. The brothers were circling each other making half-hearted swipes at one another, trying to get the other to back down. At last, Certo pounced on Neros and the two were back into their brawl.
All of a sudden, a shower of ice spikes rained down from the sky, surrounding Volcanus on all sides. Every head turned up to see Nitrus gliding towards them with Terra trailing behind. The ice dragoness landed and hung back, away from her father who lumbered over to Volcanus.
"Volcanus, you have said enough!" The ice guardian snarled, showing his icy, white teeth. "You are excused from further volunteer work from this point on."
The fire-breather narrowed his orange eyes at Nitrus as if expecting the ice dragon to reconsider and back down at any moment. "Are you rejecting a fellow dragon who is trying to help you? You are a fool to discard any sort of voluntary assistance!"
Nitrus leered back as a growl resonated in his throat. "You may be a volunteer Volcanus, but you and your..." He glanced at Tectonica and Titanus. "Gathering is far from being any sort of assistance. Unless, of course, you're assisting with making the situation worse, then mission accomplished." Terra held her breath as she watched her father move until he was nose to nose with the blue dragon. "Leave. Now."
Before Volcanus could speak, Certo's roar cut through the air. The black dragon kicked Neros off of him and sprang backwards into the air. A crimson glow came from the back of his throat as he reared his head back before breathing a wave of crimson fire. Neros braced himself and threw up his convexity shield again as the sizzling hot energy burned the earth around him. When the thunder of Certo's voice died away, the ground surrounding Neros was charred black; the burn had even cut a deep wound through the vast forest behind him. Both brothers were both winded from the hit-and-run brawls and the major exertions of their special elements.
"You see what you're allowing to happen?" Volcanus snapped. "You are letting this violence continue in front of our fellow citizens with no effort what so ever in stopping it!"
Nitrus ignored him and turned to face the two black dragons. Neros paused to fix the pale, blue dragon with his fierce ruby eyes. Nitrus spread his wings wide and roared, breathing a cloud of frost at the albino. Neros sprang into the air and beat his wings hard. The frosty cloud was blown towards his brother, encasing him in a layer of ice. Certo snarled as he beat his ice encrusted wings to stay aloft.
Neros turned back to Nitrus and opened his jaws wide. Nitrus thrust his head forward at the same moment. Another cloud of ice blew from the jaws of the ice guardian as Neros unleashed a wave of convexity. The elements clashed as Nitrus forced more of his power into his breath element. Neros locked his legs and plunged his tail blade into the ground, locking himself in place. The ice guardian had the young male pinned where he was in a stalemate of power.
Seeing an opportunity, Certo inhaled deeply. Sensing a shift in the wind, Neros's eye darted in the direction of his brother as he continued to expel his energy. Certo unleashed a sonic blast of wind, tearing up the earth beneath his brother's feet. Neros used the sudden rush of air to evade Nitrus' breath attack and take to the air. The ice shot beneath him and apes were sent scattering to avoid being frozen where they stood.
Not wasting a moment, Neros turned his hate-filled eyes on the guardian Nitrus and spat out an orb of convexity. Nitrus jumped back as the orb hit where he had been standing. The explosion that followed hurled him backwards, as well as Cytros and Volcanus. Certo flapped his wings, propelling himself at his twin. Neros quickly turned on Kia who continued to hover over Tectonica's head. Seeing his intention, Certo banked away and hurled himself in front of the air dragoness as Neros breathed another wave of purple fire. The glowing black dragon was struck, full force, and slammed into Kia. The two were knocked out of the air and landed hard on the ground.
"Master Kia!" One of the guards shouted, rushing forward.
"I'm fine!" Kia groaned, slightly dazed by having Certo knocked into her. "Protect the citizens. Get them out of here!"
The earth dragon guard froze for a moment, unsure if he should comply or help fight. Neros released another blast, this time aiming for the stalled guard. Certo launched himself off of Kia's back and raised his paws as if hoping to stop the energy attack. The purple flames crackled against a small barrier of crimson energy, but quickly overwhelmed the opposing force, sending Certo slamming into the ground at the guard's feet.
Neros laughed and turned to see Cytros lying off to the side, exposed and badly wounded. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth and his armor was broken in several areas, the shattered shards lodged in his hide.
"Captain!" Voltrus' voice hollered in panic. Cytros was barely able to raise his head to see a brilliant purple light shining directly on him. As the energy orb rushed straight for him, Cytros' thoughts flashed to his daughter at home. He had told Vixen to stay there, and wait for Sabre should she return. It was the only thing he had told her the past several days as the search had been going on. He had not had time to sit down and play or relax with her and it was a decision he full heartedly regretted now.
All of a sudden a crimson bolt of energy struck the orb, knocking it off its original course and hitting the ground a few feet from the fire guard. Cytros was sent bouncing across the ground again when the energy erupted against the ground.
Neros turned towards the crowd and breathed an even larger wave of convexity. Certo roared at the oncoming force, sending up a protective barrier in the process. Neros almost smiled as he released more energy. Certo grunted against the strain being pressed against his barrier. The wall of crimson was beginning to collapse against the pressure and his heart began to race.
"Certo!" Crona screamed. "You have to get out of there!"
Certo roared back at his twin, giving off a sudden burst of crimson as the barrier shattered in a blinding flash. The city dragons all covered their eyes and the apes shrank back behind their shields. When the glare had vanished, both sides poked their heads out to see Neros and Certo wheezing heavily as they glowered at one another. Both males were beginning to reach the point of exhaustion, and Neros gently settled down on the ground, not wishing to expend more energy flying until he needed to.
On the opposite side of the field, Kia was struggling to get to her feet. She felt one of her ankles sprain when she had been knocked out of the air and it was severely hindering her ability to rise up in front of the city sentries. She gave a menacing hiss, allowing the wind to carry the sound across the forest. The dragons of the city responded and bared their teeth, ready to fight. Snarls and growls rumbled from deep inside their throats, a sound that caused the apes to grip their weapons in retaliation.
"No," Neros ordered, extending his wings to the side, preventing them from launching their own attack. "I will handle this alone. All of you, return to the village."
"M-Master?" The lead ape that had been holding Sabre swallowed hard. Neros turned his head, just enough to see the baboon out of the corner of his eye. The barbarian nodded and bowed slightly. "As you wish." He gave a wave of his hand and a loud hoot, signaling the other apes to retreat. The dragons watched in astonishment as the savages disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
"Calling off the attack now are we?" Certo snarled.
"No sense in expending my resources when I can handle you all on my own." Neros scoffed with a superior smirk on his muzzle.
"You can't take all of us, Neros!" Crona shouted. "You may as well just give up!"
"I'll pass on that offer, but thank you though." Neros sneered. "Now who should be next to face my wrath?"
The dragons all stiffened at his comment. Certo's heart began to race as his twin scanned the crowd of dragons, slowly deciding who would be his next target. The albino let the tension build until he locked eyes with Certo. A faint smile tugged at his cheek and Certo's heart nearly stopped. The black dragon turned and bolted to the side.
Neros reared his head back and breathed a concentrated beam of convexity at Crona. The white dragoness froze where she was, too petrified to move. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the furious energy sweep towards her. Crona turned her head to see Certo, sprinting towards her, his mouth wide open as he screamed for her to get out of the way. It was then she realized that she had an entire group of dragons behind her. If she moved, then they would be caught in the middle of Neros's attack. If the stayed put, she would be killed for sure; but then so would Certo.
"What do I do?" She thought to herself. Time was beginning to pick up as she steadily released her hold. "I can't let innocent dragons die! But Certo..." She looked up at him and the horrified expression on his face made her heart tie itself in a knot. "I don't know if I can stop him," She murmured as she looked at her paws in defeat. "But if I sacrifice myself, then Neros won't be able to get to me anymore."
"Crona!" Certo's voice suddenly exploded in her ears as time snapped back to its original state. The black dragon slammed into her, knocking her out of the way of Neros's breath attack. A startled cry came from the city dragons before they were consumed by the blast. The explosion that followed shook the earth and a cloud of purple fire billowed into the night sky. Crona squeezed her eyes shut as she curled into a protective ball around herself. When the thunder in her ears faded away, she turned to see Certo covering her with his wings forming a protective cover for her against the falling dirt and rocks. The black dragon was breathing heavily with blood was dripping from his maw and nostrils. He was covered in minor cuts, scrapes and bruises as well, but these physical ailments were of their least concern. "Are you alright?" He wheezed.
Crona's eyes were wide with shock. He had just saved her life but to what cost. The sound of Neros's laughter reached their ears and Certo folded his wings back and glared at his twin. "You think this is funny? How dare you take a cheap shot at Crona!"
Neros paused to stare his twin in the eyes. "Who said I was aiming for her?"
Certo's brows jumped in surprise. He and Crona looked back to see a smoldering crater where one of the search party groups had once stood. All around, the other dragons looked to see what had happened, and their jaws fell open in dismay. Certo's wings drooped and he immediately felt sick to his stomach. Across the field, Amp got off of Terra who lay beneath him as he had provided himself as cover.
"No... no way..." Terra gasped, shaking her head. "He didn't..."
Amp twisted his neck around to fix Neros with a heated glare. "You're no dragon. You're a monster!" A shrill cry burst from Amp's throat and a bolt of lightning shot across the field.
"Amp!" Terra screamed, seeing her fiancé lose his temper.
Neros ducked under the bolt and flapped his wings, sending a gust to blow the lightning guardian away. Amp and Terra hollered in fright as they, and several other dragons were blown away by the powerful gust.
"You see what you've done!" Volcanus shouted at Nitrus. "That feral just willingly sacrificed our own fellow dragons to save the life of one! He is a threat to our very way of life and existence!" The blue dragon was promptly answered with a heavy tail across his face. Volcanus staggered, stunned from the blow. Another force struck him in the side, knocking him onto the ground. Nitrus rammed the blue dragon, and pinned him down.
"Get off of him!" Tectonica snarled, barreling into Nitrus with all the force she could muster. The ice guardian tumbled and rolled across the ground, before turning to growl menacingly at the former guardian of earth. Volcanus was on his feet before Nitrus could recover from the blow. The blue dragon unleashed a wave of blue fire at the ice guardian. Nitrus quickly countered with his ice breath, and a cloud of hot steam covered the dragons. Neros inhaled and blew the cloud away so he could watch the chaos unfold before him. This was turning out to be better than he had originally expected.
Down on the ground, Crona watched as the brawl between Nitrus and Volcanus continued. When Tectonica tried to step in, Kia intervened, and soon the dragonesses were in the middle of their own battle. Above her, Certo stood in petrified shock. The breath attack his brother had unleashed had left a deep scar in the earth where the search party had once stood.
"Certo, hey!" The white dragoness called, reaching out to him. "Come on! Snap out of it! We have work to do!"
"He... he killed them," Certo choked, still in numb dismay. "He... just..."
"Certo!" Crona slapped him across the face with her talons, jolting the black dragon awake. He stared down at her with a blank stare in his eyes. "If you don't get a hold of yourself, Nitrus and Volcanus are going to kill each other and Neros is going to kill everyone else here!"
"Neros?" Certo spoke his twin's name as if it were his very first time. He turned his head to see his brother standing aside to watch the guardians' battle for supremacy. The black dragon moved off of the white dragoness and took a couple steps towards the albino. Neros sensed his brother's eyes and turned with a grin spread across his mouth. A silent moment passed between the siblings before a furious scowl crossed Certo's face. An ear-shattering roar burst from his lungs and his scars blazed bright. Crona winced from the scalding heat that was so close to her body; she could practically hear the sizzling of burning skin.
Certo lunged for Neros, missing as his twin leaped into the air, beating his wings hard. As the black dragon passed beneath his brother, Neros roared, hoping to catch Certo in the shock wave. Certo skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest and covered his face with a wing as the sonic blast sent a cloud of dirt blowing in a wide circumference. When the dust had settled, Certo looked up to see his brother climbing higher and higher into the night sky.
Certo bellowed, his energy warping his voice as blood spewed from his maw. Both of the black dragon's eyes blazed with crimson light as he launched himself off the ground.
"Certo wait!" Crona shouted after him. She glanced over her shoulder at the warring guardians.
"Crona, go!" Amp hollered. "We'll try and take care of this!" The white dragoness did not hesitate as she took to the air, hoping to catch up to the enraged black dragon.
"What's the plan?" Terra asked Amp hesitantly.
"We fight," the lightning dragon answered. He inhaled deeply, giving Terra the signal. The ice dragoness let out a loud cry as she breathed a cloud of dense fog across the field, shrouding all the guardians in the chilling vapor.
"What do you think you're doing?" Cryus demanded, bounding over to them. "You're only making things worse!"
"On the contrary," Terra corrected. "We're trying to make them better." Amp thrust his head forward, spewing an electrical charge into the cloud of ice. The sudden surge of electricity stunned the dragons, causing them to have nerve spasms throughout their body. Four loud thuds could be heard as the adults collapsed upon the ground.
Off to the side, Voltrus began beating his wings, to blow the cloud of ice away, revealing four bloody and exhausted dragons. Kia and Volcanus were in the worse shape, being covered in nasty gashes and bite marks all over their bodies. Nitrus and Tectonica were not without their own battle wounds though. The earth dragoness hobbled on one front leg which Kia had torn nearly to the bone. And Nitrus had received a severe burn against his left flank from the flames of the former fire guardian.
"I think we've all had enough of this foolishness." The lightning guard announced, sternly asserting himself as the one in charge. He fixed his golden eyes on Tectonica and Volcanus. "You, Volcanus and Tectonica, are hereby banished from our city. Take your grandson and leave at once!"
The blue fire breather only glowered at the lightning dragon. "You are making a mistake. I can save you from death! All you have to do is follow my order..."
"You have no order!" Amp growled, taking a stand beside the sentry. The remaining guards were joining them by now and looking down at the insurrectionists in disgust. "All that has happened just now is your doing. Your so-called order is disorder! You only seek to bring a false sense of security to others and deliver injustice to those who don't deserve it!"
Volcanus only laughed. "Young Ampus, you still have much to learn about the world. You'll soon realize that Certo will be the death of all of you. Unless you cast him out as he should be, you will all die!"
"Then so be it!" Voltrus spat. "If we have to die by associating ourselves with a soul who wishes no ill will upon us and desires to help others, then I consider it a fair trade. My fellow sentries would most likely agree with that." The other guards nodded.
"And what about you Cryus?" Volcanus asked, fixing the water guardian with a harsh stare. "Will you join them and perish as well? Or will you see the light and dispose of the immediate threat to our city?"
Every head seemed to fixate on the young water dragon. Feeling the pressure Cryus tensed his muscles. "I... I..."
"Cryus, don't let him pull the blanket over your eyes again." Terra pleaded. "You can still do good with us. We aren't making you choose which side to take. Just choose what you think is right."
"I... I don't know!" Cryus shook his head. "I... I want to be guardian still! But want... Crona... I want her... to support her! But..."
"Cryus," Amp placed a paw on his shoulder only to have his fellow guardian pull away.
"No! I can't do this! I won't be held responsible!" He turned and ran past the guards, heading straight for the city.
"Cryus, wait!" Terra called, but Amp stopped her with an extended wing.
"You see Ampus. Because of your friend Certo, uncertainty has been instilled in all dragons around him. We had order once before."
"We had lies before," Ampus spat before turning away from the blue fire-breather. By now, several of the guards were attempting to help Nitrus and Kia to their feet, leaving Tectonica and Volcanus to their own strength. Nearby, Titanus sat down with moderate interest in what was going on. But now his attention was focused on the fight far above. As he watched the red and violet figured clash over and over in the sky, he began to devise his own plan of action.
Neros climbed high and fast into the night sky. A thick fog was rolling in, providing him with some cover from his pursuing brother. Below, Crona beat her wings hard to try and catch up with the two brothers. Certo was flying harder and faster than she had seen him do before. The white dragoness considered using her active power to stop time and catch up, but she knew once she did, she would be too winded to fight alongside the black dragon; and he would need all the help he could get. But just playing catch-up was not working in her favor either. Both were air dragons and therefore much faster at flying than any other dragon around.
Certo soon disappeared into the fog overhead, leaving Crona to stop and hover where she was. Trying to follow him where there was hardly and visibility would be near impossible. "Damn it!" She cursed to herself, frustrated at being left behind.
The black dragon shot through the fog until he cleared the barrier of the dense vapor. Neros whirled and breathed a wave of convexity, turning the sky a deep violet. Certo retaliated with a bolt of crimson lightning, causing the clouds to reflect the same color. Both brothers circled one another, using their special breath elements to try and catch the other off guard.
"What in the ancestor's names is going on up there?" Amp gasped as he watched the flashes of red and purple against the night sky.
"I'm afraid to ask." Terra whispered, moving closer to her mate.
A thunderous roar shook the sky as Certo hurled himself at Neros. The black dragon struck with crushing force, stunning the albino dragon for a brief instant. By the time Neros shook off the first hit, Certo had banked around and slammed into him from the side. Neros snarled in anger as they clashed in a cluster of claws and teeth. Certo plunged his tail blade into his twin, missing his stomach but managing to stab him in the hind leg. Neros squalled in pain and Certo struck him across the face, leaving three long, bloody slash marks.
"You think that hurts, wait until I'm done with you!" Certo growled to himself. The two males fell through the fog as the ground rushed up to meet them. Crona's eyes widened when she saw neither were breaking off from one another in order to evade colliding with the earth.
"Certo! Back off!" She shouted frantically.
The black dragon could not hear her desperate cry, but he released Neros nonetheless, sending the albino shooting towards the hard ground. Neros could sense the ground coming closer and released the most powerful roar he could. The earth shook in a cloud of dust shortly before the young male impacted with the softened dirt. Neros bounced and rolled across the ground until he slid to a stop.
Certo landed and bellowed, the deep tone of his voice pounding in the ears of the onlookers. Neros coughed and wiped the blood from his mouth. "What's the matter Certo? Don't tell me you're just a little bit upset now. I'm surprised you haven't actually tried to kill me yet. Don't tell me that dragoness has made you soft now." He smirked at Crona whose eyes widened in disgust. The albino was openly taunting his brother more than he was actually fighting him. She had seen how the brothers fought before. This was nothing like what Neros was usually like.
"You tried to kill her," Certo growled, stalking towards his brother. "I can't forgive you for that!"
"Just that?" Neros snickered. "Gee, I wonder how many other dragons I could kill and not have you care about. Perhaps if I really had killed your little blue girlfriend back there then would you have cared at all?"
"Leave him alone, Neros!" Crona shouted angrily. She could not stand the black dragon talking about murdering other dragons in such a cold, unemotional way. "Certo cares about everyone! You have no right to say those things to him!"
"Oh really?" Neros's smile began to spread and he turned towards the remaining dragons. "How much would he care if he saw them all die right before his eyes?" The guardians and sentries stiffened at that. Neros began to glow with convexity once more as did his eyes. "Well, Certo? What are you going to do? Kill me? Or watch them die? Although you have quite a bit of experience seeing others die right in front of you, don't you."
That was the last straw for the black dragon. Certo let out the loudest roar he could emit and the night sky turned to the color of blood. "I'll kill you, you murderer!" Steam rose from the rims of Certo's eyes as his tears of anger and sorrow sizzled against his skin. Both his eyes blazed like crimson suns and waves of fire began to spiral around him.
"Certo stop!" Crona shouted, shielding herself from the unbearable heat. She backed away, before the heat given off by the black dragon scalded her. "Please Certo! Don't do this!"
The black dragon continued to cry out as he generated more energy than he had ever done before.
"Crona, he's going to blow a stack!" Terra shouted.
"Get the wounded out of here!" Crona shouted back over her shoulder. "I have to try and calm him down!"
"Good luck with that!" Neros laughed. "Certo's such a one track minded fool he won't listen until I'm dead! Isn't that right dear brother?" He smiled evilly at his twin. Certo felt his grip on his self-control slip. His wings stretched to their maximum length, nearly tearing the membrane between his digits. "Aw, come on Certo! Is that all the power you have? Come on! Hit me with what you've got!"
"Shut up!" Crona charged forward, halting time to build her speed up, before slamming head on into Neros. The albino black dragon tumbled backwards, blood spewing from his nose and mouth. Crona turned and was hit with a wave of crimson energy. She screamed from the burning heat, hiding behind her wing. Certo's enraged cries hurt her ears as he continued to build up more and more of his power. His scars began to pulsate; slowly at first but then the flashes continued to pick up speed.
"We have to get out of here!" Amp shouted, seeing what was about to happen.
"We won't be able to move the wounded fast enough!" Voltrus called, before turning to the remaining sentries and search parties. "Fly! As far away from here as you can! Hurry!" The dragons did not hesitate for a second. A gust of wind swept over the field as they took to the air, beating their wings hard to get as far away from the out-of-control power-heavy dragon. Voltrus turned to Amp and Terra. "Go on young ones. We need guardians to take care of our kind. I'll try and protect the others as much as I can."
"We're not leaving!" Terra snapped. "Certo's our friend, and he needs us now!"
"There's nothing you can do for him," Volcanus shouted over the noise. He was up on his feet and was joined by Tectonica who watched the scene with a wary eye.
"I don't believe that!" Terra spat.
"Believe what you like, young dragoness," Volcanus almost scoffed openly. "But the world is a cruel place when there's no order. I hope you realize that before it's too late."
"Get out of here!" Amp shouted furiously, sparks flying between his jaws.
"As you wish." Volcanus bowed. "I do believe I have made my point." He raised his head and looked around.
"Well?" Amp demanded, impatiently. Another wave of heat hit the dragons, causing them to back away even further.
"Where is my grandson?" Volcanus asked aloud. The other dragons looked about to find Titanus and his gang missing.
"They probably took off for the city," Voltrus suggested. "If you must, then go get him and then leave! Otherwise we'll have to force you."
"You are very kind, young sentry." Volcanus nodded and spread his wings wide. He and Tectonica flapped hard, trying to get some air beneath their wings. Another rush of hot air blew the two dragons off balance and sent them rolling. Tectonica howled in pain as she felt her forelimb snap.
"Certo! Stop it now!" Crona cried, pressing forward against the black dragon's burning gale. "You don't have to do this!"
"Crona! Get out of there!" Amp shouted desperately. "He'll kill you!"
"I'm not leaving him!" Crona tried hollered over the roar of the wind, but her voice never reached the young guardian.
By now Certo's scars were flashing like strobes. Crona froze time and lurched forward. She lashed out at Certo with her talons, striking him across the face, hoping it would snap him out of his blind rage. She withdrew her hold and was instantly thrown back by another surge of energy. The white dragoness screamed in pain as she felt her skin burn.
"You won't be able to stop him now," Neros said, walking up beside her. "He's going to risk it all to destroy me; including your friends over there."
Crona looked up at the albino in shock. "This was your plan from the start!" She gasped. "You had no intention of fighting Certo to begin with!"
"Nope. Why kill off all the dragons here when it would be so much more rewarding to watch my own brother do it for me? Even if I do come out with a few more scrapes and bruises."
"You're sick!" Crona hissed, getting to her feet. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done here!"
"Maybe." Neros shrugged. "But right now you may want to focus on saving your friends. Before Certo kills them himself."
Crona looked back to the dragons across the field. They were huddling together, trying to get away from the heat as Terra used her ice breath to freeze a wall around them. But Certo's fury was melting the ice faster than Terra could form it.
The white dragoness looked from Certo to her friends. She had to save them, but how? Certo was beyond her reach now. With deep sigh and a powerful kick from her hind legs, Crona charged past the black dragon. "I'm sorry Certo!" She sobbed in her mind. She slid to a halt in front of the wounded guardians and sentries.
"Crona, what are you doing?" Cryus shouted.
"Saving our lives!" Crona shot back at him. She glanced back at Certo and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm sorry Certo," She whimpered in her mind. "Please, forgive me."
The white dragoness began to concentrate; hard. She could feel the magic in the air around her; but it felt stale, almost tainted. In her mind's eye she could see the blue mist surrounding her and the others, but the streams of magic were only tiny wisps in the burning crimson tornado that was Certo. The black dragon was shrouded in a pure red aura and Crona could see his body beginning to break as he expelled the last of his energy. The dragoness grasped what she could of the magical energy and focused it into a ball in front of her. Behind her she could heard the other dragons gasp as the magic began to manifest before their very eyes.
"Crona, what are you doing?" Terra exclaimed.
"I need your energy!" Crona cried, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried gathering whatever magic she could. "I need your power! There's not enough for me!"
"What are we supposed to do?" Amp cried as the howl of the wind grew louder. Certo released another growl as the wind amplified the sound.
"Your breath attacks! I need the power from your breath attacks! Hit me with them!"
"Crona, are you sure..."
"Do it now!" The dragoness shrieked. Terra let out a cry and a beam of ice burst from her throat. Amp quickly followed her lead and added his lightning power. Their elemental energy shot straight for the white dragoness before suddenly warping around her body as she took control of their elements. Nitrus added his own breath as did Kia and Voltrus. Soon the remaining dragons were all adding in their elemental specialties. The sudden surge of magic allowed Crona to spread her barrier even wider than before. Nitrus and the other guardians watched in stupefied awe as Crona's barrier spread over them, blanketing them in a baby-blue light. The white dragoness could sense Certo just in front of her. A single tear escaped from under her eyelids as she felt a final surge of energy from him.
"Let's see what you have brother!" Neros shouted enthusiastically. "Do it!"
A deep rumble came from the earth, and a moment later another roar erupted from Certo's lungs. The black dragon's head reared towards the clouds above and a crimson beam shot through the sky.
"This is it!" Amp shouted, pulling Terra closer to him and huddling close to the hot ground.
Certo's energy exploded from his body, bending the trees of the forest nearly to the ground and burning most of the foliage away. Neros ducked close to the ground and concentrated on forming an energy shield around his body. The scorching heat seared the ground around him, turning the earth as black as ash. The albino's taunting laugh was overpowered by the noise of the explosion. The ground shook, causing the dragons to waver on their feet. Crona's brow furrowed as she struggled to retain control of the magic shield that was keeping them from being burned to a crisp. She screamed Certo's name but her voice was carried away by the wind. All she could see in her mind's eye was red as Certo's body tore itself apart.
Back at the city, Sabre and Vixen could see the crimson beam parting the clouds overhead. The rumble in the distance quickly grew louder, as the wind continued to pick up. The young dragons huddled close to one another, as they sat on the balcony of Vixen's room. Just then the rumbled of the shock wave began to shake the city. The young females screamed and ducked back inside the room as items on shelves began to fall and the pavilion shook on its base. Then as quickly as it had come, the noise died away.
"What happened?" Vixen asked, still shaken by the shock wave.
Sabre watched with a dropped jaw as the beam of light in the sky slowly died away and the darkness of night returned. "Something terrible."
The ringing continued in Crona's ears. The thunderous noise had long since died away, but the dragoness's head still throbbed. The guardians and sentries poked their heads out from behind their wings, half expecting to be dead. All around them they could see charred forest, and the smell of burning made them wrinkle their noses in disgust. A gentle breeze blew across the field, carrying the ashes of the earth with it.
"Dear ancestors," Nitrus gaped in open shock at the devastated landscape. "We should be dead right now."
"But thanks to Crona, we're not," Voltrus pointed out. The white dragoness stood still as she slowly released the flow of magic back to its original free-flowing state. When the barrier disappeared she released a deep sigh, collapsing onto her hind legs.
"Crona!" Kia shouted and hurried over to her, with a noticeable limp, with Amp and Terra alongside her. "Crona, are you alright? Say something."
The white dragoness could only wheeze as she felt her senses begin to give out. "C-Certo..." She whimpered, struggling to get to her feet.
The black dragon was frozen in place, his nose still pointed to the sky. His mouth hung open and blood spilled from the rims of his maw. Across the field Neros lowered his own barrier, shaking the ash that had gathered on his body.
"That was a close one," he sneered, straightening himself up as much as he could. He too was exhausted from using up so much energy. "I didn't think you guys would survive. Let alone Certo having the guts to pull such a move."
"You're going to get it Neros," Crona hissed. Her throat suddenly felt so dry she could hardly speak any louder than a whisper. "When I get my claws on you, you'll regret every terrible thing you've said to Certo."
"Crona don't!" Kia tried to stop her from taking a wobbly step forward, but the dragoness forced herself to stand tall.
"Perhaps next time," Neros snickered. "For now, you may wish to say your farewells to him." He looked at his brother as the blood continued to trickle down his neck and chest before spilling onto the ground; sizzling on impact. "I think he's got enough blood in him to last only a few minutes at most."
Crona and the others looked at Certo as Neros began to back away from them before disappearing into the forest. Amp and Terra watched him go, both keeping their wits about themselves in case he launched another surprise attack. When they turned to Certo, they found the black dragon's wide eyes, rolled back into his skull. Blood was now flowing from his eye sockets as well as his nose, mouth and open wounds. The dragons could only watch in dismay as the blood gathered around the black dragon's feet, bubbling on the ground's surface.
All of a sudden, Certo's body crumbled to the ground.
"Certo!" Terra exclaimed. Voltrus bounded over, and leaned down to inspect the young male. Certo's eyes remained open as blood continued to flow. His expression was frozen as he appeared to stare out at the world beyond.
"What's wrong with him?" Terra asked, the worry and fear ringing clear in her voice.
"I'm not sure," the lightning guard shook his head. "But we need the get him looked at by the healers."
"Can we move him?" Crona asked weakly.
"I don't think that would be a good idea right now," Kia shook her head as she leaned down to inspect the dying dragon.
"Then what do we do?" Terra cried desperately. "We can't leave him here! It'll take too long for the healers to reach us all the way out here!"
"Terra, calm down!" Nitrus ordered, taking a stand beside Voltrus. "Have the earth dragons build us a makeshift pavilion. Several for that matter."
"Yes sir, Master Nitrus!" Voltrus saluted with a wing before turning to the rest of the guards.
The ice guardian looked down at the younger dragons with a heavy sigh and drooping wings. "We will make camp here. Terra, go grab your mother. Ampus, go with her. I want Terra to watch over Maya while you gather the other healers in the city." Amp only nodded silently.
"But dad, I want to help!" Terra protested.
"You'll be helping by ensuring your sister is safe," Nitrus scolded, far too exhausted to raise his voice any more. "Now hurry. We may not have any more time left."
"We're on it!" Amp nodded sternly. "Come on Terra!" The couple spread their wings before taking to the air. Kia watched them leave for a second before looking back at Nitrus.
"What should I do? Take care of Crona?"
"I'm fine," the dragoness breathed deeply. Her vision was blurring slightly as she sat down on her haunches. "Thank you for the concern though."
"Kia, we are going to need lots of water," Nitrus continued. "I want you to gather whatever water dragons you can and begin transporting water to this location."
"Understood," the green dragoness nodded. "And what of Cryus? Should we have him help as well?"
"If he wishes to help then he will do so. I will have to talk with him later myself, but for now we can't worry about him."
Kia bobbed her head sadly and turned to fly back to the city. When she was gone, Nitrus turned to Crona who looked like she was ready to topple over at any moment.
"Will you be okay for a short while until the healers get here?"
"I'll survive." Crona nodded, only making herself more woozy. "I can... watch over..." Her vertigo soon overwhelmed her as she collapsed to the ground. She heard a muffled cry but was unable to distinguish what was being said. As Crona's vision fade to black she stared into the hollow eyes of the black dragon before her. "I'm sorry," She whispered in her mind. "I'm so sorry."
