Above their heads, the dragon had spread its wing, blocking any incoming boulders that would've likely killed them. As the cave settled, he shifted his wing to the side, rolling the boulders off and turned to face them, snarling as he did.
He spoke in a language Reaper did not understand, but she looked up at him and slowly moved to a stand, but said, "I am."
Again the Dragon spoke, but the words seemed incoherent, a language of the dragons that somehow she knew. As the dragon lowered his head, she moved towards him, raising her hand out. He pressed his snout against her hand and then laid down before her, letting off an almost purr like growl.
"I've waited for you two, for a very long time." He said, finally in a language Reaper could recognize. "When the extinction of the dragonkin happened, we lost all hope that we would be able to rise again. But, Riella knew otherwise, she told us you would be born, she sacrificed her life so that you would bring life back to our kind."
"Riella is..." She trailed off touching her chest.
"When a dragon dies, our spirits reside within the element we control. However, we give our life to an unborn child, so that we never truly die. We keep our connection to both worlds, it allowed us to live harmoniously along side the humans. She died, to make sure you were born, to allow us to rise once again." At a loss for words, she continued staring at the dragon, "and you..." He turned just barely to look at Reaper. "You ruled with honor, with love for my kingdom, you were unlike many who came before you. You sought out treaties and peace between the the Ivory kingdom and yours, rather than bloodshed. When you died, I could not alone bring you back without cause, though your soul never found peace within your slumber. It was only when she prayed for vengeance that I was allowed to bring you back to avenge our kingdom. It was Ocarus that guided you two together, for he saw the opportunity to bring peace to the kingdoms and to awaken us. Neither of you could do it alone."
"Ocarus?" She asked, "Is he..."
"He's been awake since the fall of our kind. Locked deep within the Ivory Kingdom. They've kept him locked underground, in the chances that one of the other dragons may awake, they would have the fire power to protect their own."
Reaper growled, "then us waking Azrail in hopes to take down the Ivory King only made things more difficult."
"It does not," Azrail started, "If I can get close to Ocarus, I can wake him from the spell he's under. You would then have another at your side, one who holds a deep hatred for that kingdom."
"Wait a minute." She said sternly. "I'm in agreement for taking out the king, but I can't let anyone, dragon or not, kill innocent people to take down a kingdom!" She finished.
"And you will not. Though many will die, I assure you, those deaths will belong to the King and his army at his back."
"His army is filled with soldiers from the Obsidian Kingdom, threatened under death." She replied hastily.
"Then we rethink our strategy. If I expose myself first, while you go find Ocarus, it will give a chance for those of us still loyal to my kingdom, or those that wish to turn sides a chance to strip the seals they wear. Not only would we then have Azrail and Ocarus to back us in a fight, but we'd have a small part of my army."
"They won't just turn sides if you show up alone, without Azrail, and if Azrail is with you, they'd just release Ocarus, so I would never be able to get to him." She responded and they remained silent for a while in thought. "What if I go in with you as prisoner?" She asked and Reaper turned to look at her. "As a Black Hand, knowing I was well enough alive, he'd allow me in if I said I brought a gift he couldn't possibly turn down. He'll order me to kill you, for redemption, and I'll strike you down, you'll do your shadow thing and we'll be right next to the King."
"It's ballsy." He sighed, "but it would work, we'd be close enough to attack. The only downside is him." He motioned towards Azrail. "They'd see us coming long before we'd even get close to the castle."
"Humans." Azrail snorted and wrapped his wings around himself. Shadows swirled around the giant creature and began to shift in size until he was the size of a regular house cat.
"In his defense, I didn't know you could do that either." She muttered kneeling down before the dragon and offering her hand, which he climbed onto. Moving to a stand, she looked the dragon over. "He could fly high enough to seem to be a bird, we can call for him and then we'd have a dragon right there, that they'd never see."
"Can all dragons do that?" He asked stepping closer.
"No, few can. As controller of shadow, it is within my ability." Azrail answered. "Let us leave this place."
They headed back the way they came, now using a soft flame Azrail had created to guide the path. Once outside the cave, the sun beat down upon the trio and they wasted little time before they moved towards the Obsidian Kingdom, towards their horses. Then headed for the north, right towards the Ivory Kingdom.