Solris yelped as the mole pressed a dollop of salve onto her open wounds. The dragoness shivered due to equal parts chill and pain. As the initial shock subsided, the ointment generated a dull throbbing in her chest.

"Quite the wounds you're sporting." The mole said idly, as he ignored the dragoness' discomfort. Solris got the impression this was far from uncommon for him. Given the dragon race's tendency to fight she imagined he saw all kinds of things.

"I had a bit of a run in with some dragons." Solris lied, an image of Astir's glaring eyes piercing her mind.

"Found yourself caught up in the brawl across town?" The mole asked.

Solris nodded sheepishly, thankful for the excuse. The mole simply shook his head as he continued to dress her injury. "Always knew a day like this would come." He continued with a shrug.

"A day like this?" Solris questioned tilting her head.

"When dragons would turn on each other." The mole clarified. "Malefor kept your kind unified, and the city stable. With him gone it seems your baser instincts are taking over."

"I don't know if I like your tone." The dragoness murmured eyeing the mole.

"That's exactly what I mean." The mole continued, seemingly unconcerned. He waggled a small furry finger at her and shook his head. "Your kind is quick to anger, and even quicker to fight. Moles have known it for ages, but we're stuck. Without the protection of the dragons who knows what would descend on us."

"A disconcerting thought." Solris replied doing her best to sound troubled. She hardly needed or cared to hear this mole's opinion on the relations between the two races.

"Well I suppose we've weathered the storm this long." The mole sighed as he wrapped fresh linen around the now gelled wounds. "First an evil purple dragon, then his lieutenants, then self-proclaimed gods descend on us. Doesn't seem like our troubles will ever end."

"They aren't gods." Solris countered before she could stop herself. She froze as the mole looked at her curiously, only to eventually shrug.

"You'll hear no argument from me." The medic replied. "Wouldn't want to live in a world where those two are our only example of higher beings. Unfortunately, they seem to have the power and influence to appear as divinity. Doubly tragic is that your kind tends to buy into all these prophecies. My people are more pragmatic."

"You don't believe that the world will come to an end without their intervention?" Solris asked referring to the prophecy the order had been touting.

"Malefor was supposed to end the world too, you can see for yourself how that turned out. Although I'm sure I don't need to explain Malefor's failures to one who knew him so well." The mole said his voice turning deadpan as he eyed the dragoness.

Solris' eyes widened as she realized the implied connection. "I'm sorry?" She stuttered in confusion trying to play off his accusation.

The mole huffed as he tightened the bandages around her crest making the dragoness wince. "There aren't many black dragons in the world Solris. Far fewer with your former allies dead." He said after a moment.

The dragoness continued to stare at him. She'd never given her name. "I'm glad to hear that you don't think those two are true gods. However, the fact that you're here means you must have some faith in them." The mole continued.

"My business is my own." Solris hissed feeling her annoyance grow. The mole looked at her, and for a moment she thought she might have seen some genuine fear flash across his features.

"You've already been led astray by a tyrant once." He said bluntly. "I pray you've learned from the experience."

The black dragoness stared at the medic silently, at a complete loss for words, as he picked up his things and began to leave. "Oh, and that seafoam dragon you asked about." The mole said looking over his shoulder. "He's further in the back, should be up for visits at this point."

The dragoness simply nodded still unable to speak. The mole grinned slightly, seemingly proud of himself as he turned away and left her to herself. It was the first time a mole had left her speechless. She wondered just how many of them remembered the things she'd done so long ago. Perhaps she hadn't disappeared as well as she'd thought.

Shaking the thoughts from her mind, the dragoness tested her limbs ensuring that the bandages covering her were secure. Finding them to be to her satisfaction, she stood and moved further into the infirmary. There were a few other dragons lying about, but despite the fighting that was almost constant in the city the building still felt mostly empty.

It was something that didn't truly surprise Solris, most dragons were more than willing to nurse their own wounds. Many would only seek help if the injury was life threatening, and even then, some were too stubborn.

The black dragoness quickly spotted who she was looking for. A dragon with seafoam scales who looked half asleep near the back of the area. He was alone, something that hardly surprised Solris. The black dragoness paced past the others, ignoring the looks her onyx scales drew.

"Jaskir?" She asked as she approached.

The drake had been half asleep when she spoke. He looked up groggily, but once he recognized her his eyes seemed to focus.

"Rissy?" He asked curiously as he lifted his head.

"Do you know any other black dragonesses?" Solris questioned half smiling. Jaskir laughed lightly, something Solris hadn't seen him do in a long time.

"What happened to you?" Jaskir asked eyeing her bandages.

"I got caught up in some of the street fighting." Solris answered without missing a beat. "Nothing to worry about."

"Looks like you're lucky to be alive." Jaskir commented having noted the severity of her injuries.

"You should see the other dragon." Solris answered. There was a brief silence as Solris gazed at her friend. Upon closer inspection she could still see flecks of purple in the dragon's otherwise golden eyes. They seemed less bright than before, she hoped that meant the effects were fading.

"You should sit down." Jaskir said as he watched her examining him. Solris nodded and did just that, although as Jaskir noticed she stayed opposite him instead of cozying up. "I need to apologize." He said as the dragoness settled in.

"Apologize?" Solris asked, not having expected such a statement. This whole conversation seemed to be going better than she could have hoped. She was afraid that Jaskir's condition would have only worsened.

"I haven't been myself lately." The dragon continued. "You don't have to pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about. I don't know how to describe it, it's like my mind has been in a fog."

"Don't worry about it Jas." Solris replied smiling. "I've known you long enough to realize when something is strange. I'm just glad to have you back."

The dragon sighed looking tired. "I've really gotten us into something this time, haven't I?"

"You won't hear any arguments from me." Solris replied. "Although if it helps, looking back, I don't think you had much choice. We needed their help; I was just too scared to take the risk."

"You mean too intelligent to ignore the repercussions. I should have listened to you Rissy." Jaskir smiled. "The question now is, where do we go from here?"

"All I know is that we can't stay with the gods." Solris whispered her eyes darting around the room to make sure no one was near enough to overhear them.

Jaskir nodded in response. "I can't say I'm their biggest fan, but at the moment we need them. If the guardians were hesitant to hear us before they surely won't listen now. If we abandon this faction then we'll have nowhere to go in this city.

Solris bit her lip as she pondered to herself. "Jas, I need to know that you trust me, and that I can trust you."

"Of course you can trust me." Jaskir replied easily. Seeing the dragoness' doubt, he shrugged. "I know I've been acting strange lately, but I promise whatever madness took me is gone Rissy. However, if you want to wait to tell me something, I wouldn't hold it against you."

Solris shook her head. "What happened wasn't your fault, that energy Sol gave you must have done something to your mind."

"Agreed." Jaskir said nodding. "I saw things, heard whispers." The dragon looked around the room idly then. "I couldn't focus, or sleep. It was like my sanity was slipping away."

"I'm sorry I wasn't more understanding." Solris answered hanging her head.

"Don't be." Jaskir replied. "Whatever it was seems to have faded. I guess it just took some time to filter through my system. Now that my mind is my own again, I want to look for a way out. I could use your help Rissy."

Solris smiled. "Just like the old days?"

"I think the stakes may be a bit higher this time though." Jaskir nervously chuckled. "So, if I've proven my mental stability, do you want to tell me what I missed? It's all a bit of a blur to be honest."

Solris looked at the seafoam drake and nodded slowly. She let out a deep breath. For the first time since coming to the surface Jaskir seemed like himself again. She hadn't realized how much she had missed that. Without a word the black dragoness stood up and repositioned herself next to the wind dragon. She leaned into his scales happy to be able to feel his warmth again. Jaskir smiled, a seemingly similar emotion running through his mind.

"There's a lot to tell." Solris started. With another deep breath she began to relate the events of the past few days, this time there would be no lies to her tale.


Yet another mutant fell to its knees, already dead before slumping over completely. Lyara shivered as the violet energy in her body filtered into another burst of convexity. Her attack pierced several other unfortunate creatures dropping them as well. As the energy left her body the dragoness scales turned back to their usual silver tint.

Nearby, Syra slashed the ape she'd been occupied with before stabbing her tail blade through his heart killing him. The dragoness grimaced as she wrenched her tail from the still warm corpse and turned to face the ape's comrades. To her surprise, they were backing away. A few seconds later they turned with hoots and hollers as they fled from the two dragonesses.

As much as Syra wanted to believe it was her imposing influence that had made them turn tail, she knew better. Lyara had just drained the last mutant. While Syra had killed more than a few in the ranks Lyara had torn through the apes with seemingly little effort, turning their own chaotic energy against them. Eight mutants in total had fallen by her claws during the brawl.

The rosy dragoness turned to her peculiar ally, a few of her fangs poking out from under her lip as she contemplated the idea of being upstaged by the one she despised. Lyara however didn't notice her ire for once. When Syra saw her, she was surprised to find her sitting and breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" She asked reluctantly. Part of her simply wanted to walk away, but she knew she couldn't. Whether she liked it or not she was stuck with the silver dragoness.

Lyara didn't respond. She blinked purposefully several times as she tried to clear her vision. Much to her chagrin, she was having a hard time steadying her breathing. Her body ached. While she could absorb convexity there was a limit to such things. The elder's words of failsafes ringing in her mind.

Aside from that her head was filled with residual thoughts of fury. Pulling the energy from the apes had been accompanied with their raw emotions, the vast majority of which had been rage. In short bursts she could filter it, but after having drained so many she could feel the anger welling inside her.

"Lyara?" Syra asked again, drawing closer.

"What do you want you insufferable-

Lyara cut off her biting words, snapping her mouth shut. The fire dragoness was too stunned to give a retort.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." She apologized finally. "I just need a moment."

Slowly regaining her wits, Syra scowled at the dragoness. "If you're already winded just stay here. I'll find Taelas and the others on my own."

"That isn't-

"I don't really care." Syra interjected. "Just find a place to hole up until this is over."

As the dragoness spread her wings to fly away, she paused. Her head tilted from side to side as she tried to make sense of a faint sound. With only seconds to spare, the dragoness backwinged as a mutant ape landed where she'd been standing. The cobblestone shattering under his crushing weight.

Syra's maw was wide a moment later, flames swirling forth from within her throat covering the monster completely. Through the bright blaze the red dragoness saw a club rise and rush towards her. Once again, she backed away out of reach of the weapon. As her fires subsided the ape snarled, but his purple eyes turned instead to Lyara. With an excited hoot it turned to face her raising its weapon once more. The silver dragoness, still recovering, was hardly in shape to dodge.

Cursing her own conscience, Syra burst forward flames licking her jowls. In one swift motion she leapt up and grabbed the wooden club from the ape's paw. The creature cried out in surprise as the club was wrenched from his grasp. He watched as Syra landed nearby, the wood between her fangs. With a short huff flames shot up the wooden weapon blackening it instantly. It melted to ash a second later and Syra spit the remains from her mouth before glaring at the ape.

Now fully committed to the fire dragoness, the ape ignored Lyara as it turned on her. Syra braced herself as the creature loomed closer. She would have to act quickly or she would be overwhelmed. In terms of physical strength, the ape would easily outpace her.

In an attempt to keep her distance, she pulled on her element again flames soaking the air before her and covering the foe. She could hear the ape cry out from inside, but wondered how much damage she was actually doing. Within the fires she could see him still drawing closer. Deciding she would have to take a risk the dragoness quickly cut off her attack and burst forward. Before the fires had completely dissipated Syra was there, horns angled towards her enemy's ribs. In a fluid motion she rammed into the creature knocking them both to the ground.

Syra pulled her head from the ape, a spurt of blood following in her horn's wake. As she started to step off the creature, she felt something grab her tail. The dragoness' eyes widened as she saw a wicked grin form on her adversary's mouth. Before she could react, Syra felt herself being flung through the air only to swiftly slam back into the earth.

The dragoness gasped as the air was forced from her body. Before she could recover, she felt another yank on her tail as the ape began to rise and swung her back around slamming here against the stones once more. Now completely stunned, Syra only twitched in response.

The ape pulled her up by her tail, dangling her upside down. He looked at her interestedly as he poked a sharp claw into her soft underbelly. Almost on instinct alone Syra snapped to life a ball of molten fire erupting from her mouth and exploding into the ape's face.

The mutant cried out in pain and Syra felt herself being thrown once more. She was mildly thankful when she at least felt the ape's grasp fade from her tail. Almost immediately she regretted any optimism as she crashed into the wall of a building and slumped to the ground.

The ape hollered as it clawed at its face. Its normally grey fur had been burnt away leaving blackened tissue around his muzzle. His beady purple eyes burned with rage as he adjusted to the pain. Locating the dragoness who had caused him so much trouble, the ape began to stalk forward.

As he drew close Syra began to stir, but it was far too late to escape. She looked up at her impending fate, thoughts of home and her parents suddenly rushing to her mind. It was then that the ape faltered. The dragoness' face screwed into a knot as she watched the creature writhe and fall to its knees.

The pieces snapped together as Syra turned to Lyara who had risen back to all fours, purple energy currently wafting towards her. She appeared to be struggling greatly to maintain her stance. With a guttural cough the silver dragoness spat a glob of blood on the stones. Knowing she wouldn't last, Lyara growled and unleashed the bits of energy she'd been able to gather. The resulting beam of convexity was small, but still lethal. Syra watched as the top half of the ape before her simply evaporated, the smoking lower half falling over afterwards.

Before she could truly register what had happened, the fire dragoness heard another thump as Lyara crumpled to the ground. The red dragoness pulled herself to her feet, her very bones aching from the beating she'd just received. With some effort, she drug herself over to the silver dragoness.

"Lyara?" She called as she drew closer. "Come on, now isn't the time to sleep." She chided as she finally got within reach.

Still getting no answer the dragoness reached out a paw and rustled her silvery scales. The dragoness didn't respond, however now that she was closer, she noticed something more disturbing. She was hyperventilating. Her eyes were closed and her body heaved in a quick spastic rhythm.

"Damn it all." Syra cursed trying to determine what she should do. Her thoughts were disrupted as she heard more scurrying in the street. The dragoness turned on her heel to see several apes charging towards her. None were mutants, but her muscles still locked as she tried to ready herself.

Syra was so focused on the apes that she failed to hear the flapping above her. Aria dropped directly in front of her ice branching out from her talons and covering the street. Syra shivered as the temperature dropped far enough for her to see her breath. Down the street the apes lost their footing, screeching as they slid out of control.

Ryn slammed down a moment later, shards of earth jutting forth, one for each foe. The ape's own momentum impaled each of them on the earthen hazards. Syra grimaced at the gruesome scene as Ivarik landed beside her and spat an arching pulse of lightning that jumped between the squirming enemies, silencing them.

Syra looked to him in confusion with a cocked brow, not understanding the continued assault.

"A quicker death." Ivarik said bluntly, as he turned to Lyara who was still on the ground breathing out of control. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure, she just collapsed, I think she over-exerted herself." Syra explained turning to look at her. She felt a shiver course through her body as she realized she felt faintly pleased with Lyara's state.

"Step back." Aria said nudging against the yellow dragon. Ivarik obeyed and Aria steadily breathed a wave of frost onto the silver dragoness.

"What are you doing?" Ryn asked still eyeing their surroundings for any lingering foes.

"Cooling her off." Aria explained as she breathed another light layer. "We need to steady her breathing, but she needs to be conscious for that, hopefully this will shock her system enough."

As Aria breathed a third coating of frost onto the silver dragoness her eyes creaked open. Her breathing was still coming in short rasps as she looked around. Aria noticed, and immediately moved to her field of view. She leaned down looking at the dragoness intently. "Everything's fine." The said in a soothing voice. "Just try to calm down, alright?"

Lyara managed the slightest of nods as she attempted to get her breathing under control. The azure dragoness noticed her involuntary shivering then. Deciding that the ice had done its job she turned her head to Syra. "She's cold, now that she's awake we need to melt the ice. Raise the temperature here a bit."

Syra eyed the dragoness not answering her request. Aria turned fully and scowled at her friend. "Do it Syra, this is no time for petty rivalries."

Syra sighed, she knew her friend was right, but it still bothered her on some level. To some degree she was disgusted at her own thoughts, but couldn't bring herself to feel differently. As she concentrated slightly, all of the dragons felt the air grow warmer. The ice covering Lyara quickly melted to a puddle before evaporating altogether.

As the temperature leveled off the silver dragoness seemed more content. She'd managed to stall her breathing and as the heat enveloped them her eyelids fluttered and she passed out.

"Is she alright?" Ryn asked only now taking the time to witness what was happening before him.

"I think she will be." Aria said putting a paw on the silver dragoness' chest to feel her heartbeat. It had steadied off to what she could only assume was an appropriate level. Removing her claws, she turned a heated glare at Syra who recoiled. "I can't believe you Syra." She muttered. "You're better than this."

"I didn't force her to use her powers to exhaustion." Syra retorted.

"But you were reluctant to help just now." Aria countered.

Ivarik and Ryn glanced to each other as they watched the two females bicker. Neither wanted to come between them. Their eyes simply darted between the two wondering what would happen next.

"I wouldn't have let her die." Syra scoffed.

"But you would have let her suffer all the same." Aria snapped. "You should have talked to Taelas the other night, you should have settled this."

"The time wasn't right." Syra replied weakly.

"The time was perfect; you're just being a coward." Aria remarked making the fire dragoness cringe. Sadly, she knew her friend was close to hitting the mark.

"What does Taelas have to do with this?" Ryn asked, finally venturing a question.

"What?" Aria asked turning to him, her ire hadn't abated yet, and Ryn felt some of the emotion bleeding into her question. "It isn't important, don't worry about it." She finished having taken a second to register what he'd asked.

"I think we all need to calm down." Ivarik said slowly trying his best to diffuse the tension. "There are still apes around, and speaking of Taelas, we need to get back to him."

"You're right." Aria nodded as she exhaled deeply. There was silence between all of them for several seconds then. Aria was the first to break it. "Ivarik can you carry her?"

"Why do I feel like that's a demand and not a question?" The lightning dragon inquired as he moved closer to the silver dragoness.

"You learn quick." The dragoness smiled as she pecked his cheek. "Ryn, could you help me lift her up?"

"No need." Ryn said as he stamped the ground.

The earth responded and the stone beneath Lyara rose up elevating her just above them. Ivarik positioned himself next to it and Ryn slapped his talons to the earth again. This time the earth slanted sliding the dragoness gently down onto Ivarik's back. Aria was there beside him to catch and steady her.

"Can you carry her?" Aria asked idly as she tried to maneuver the dragoness into a more stable position.

"Of course." Ivarik replied rolling his shoulders. "She's actually pretty light." When the lightning dragon turned to look at Aria, he found a suspicious look being leveled at him. "Not as light as you though." The dragon added quickly.

This seemed to please the dragoness and she grinned as she finished adjusted Lyara onto his back. "Alright, Ryn are we clear?"

"The apes seem to have realized we aren't worth it." The earth dragon answered eyeing the scattered corpses in the streets.

"I just hope Taelas is doing alright." Aria said worriedly. "He's probably still at the gate."

"He's far too stubborn to die here." Ivarik said reassuringly, putting a paw on top of hers. "If I fly, I'm liable to drop her, maybe you and Ryn should go on ahead."

"Are you sure?" Aria asked. She tried to keep the nervous eagerness from her voice but failed horribly. She couldn't help but be concerned for her brother.

"Of course." Ivarik answered. "Just be careful okay?"

"Promise." Aria said nodding happily. Almost before the word left her mouth, she extended her pale-yellow wings and took off right there a gust of wind blasting into the other dragons.

"Ryn." Ivarik said watching her go. The earth dragon hesitated; he'd been about to leave as well, but he stopped to raise a brow at the lightning dragon. "Keep her out of trouble for me."

"Count on it." Ryn answered. "Just try not to take too long."

The emerald scaled drake took off in a similar manner, cutting through the air to catch up with Aria.

Ivarik stood quietly as he rolled his muscles making sure that Lyara was in fact secure. "Snap out of it." He grunted idly, as he began to pace forward.

Syra shook her head as she began to walk alongside the yellow dragon. Ivarik peered at her from the corner of his eye. He'd never seen the dragoness so distraught. "Want to talk about it?" He asked after a moment.

"Not with her here." Syra mumbled. "And probably not with you."

"I'm a bit hurt." Ivarik smirked. "We're on a world threatening journey together. There should be more trust between us."

"We only knew each other in passing until recently." Syra replied. "You really expect to build trust that quickly?"

"No." The dragon said curtly. "But we have to start somewhere. By the look of it your options for conversational partners are slim at the moment."

"Still she's-

"Passed out." Ivarik finished. "Lightning dragons can feel the innate electricity in every living thing. Did you know that?" Syra looked at him not seeming to understand the point. "I'll know when she's waking up." Ivarik said bluntly. "Until then, indulge me."

"Fine." Syra answered somewhat begrudgingly. "Seems we'll have a bit of time before we reach the front lines anyway."


Taelas stabbed his tail through the mutant's heart. The blow was so fierce that his tail blade broke through the other side of the creature. With a growl he wrenched himself loose from the ape. As his tail came free, he slapped it against the ground a spike of rock jutting forth catching the ape in the mouth. The body hung there lifeless as Taelas panted heavily.

The purple dragon coughed as he tried to regain himself. Cuts and bruises lined his body. Looking down at his deep purple scales he found them spattered with the blood of his foes.

Forcing his eyes upward, he looked around at the scene. They hadn't moved from the destroyed wall. Apes still crossed the threshold; however, their numbers were dwindling. The city would hold at this rate. His violet eyes darting around the dragon realized what the true cost had been. Littering the area were the corpses of apes and dragons. Blood trickled from the bodies lining the cracks of the cobble streets.

Taelas' face crinkled as he tried to block out the sight. He still had work to do. His legs wobbled as he started to move towards the nearest dragon still locked in combat. Before he'd made it three paces a large fire drake crashed down grabbing the opponent in his mouth and shaking it fiercely. The mutant howled before there was a loud snap that pierced the air. The fire dragon tossed the ape to the side and nodded to his grateful comrade.

Without waiting, the fire dragon turned to approach Taelas. It was only then that the purple dragon realized it was Kalim that stood before him. Taelas looked at him curiously, he could have sworn his scales weren't so red. It took a moment before he figured it out. The elder was covered in blood, nearly head to talon.

"Are you alright?" Taelas asked, still reeling at his grisly appearance.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Kalim replied, he seemed chipper given his surroundings. Seeing the younger dragon's concerned look, he continued. "This isn't my blood, well most of it at least."

"I see." Taelas said slowly.

"I'm glad to see the purple dragon is still with us." Kalim said. "You're a little green but…" Kalim paused as he looked around at the bodies that had piled around Taelas. "You seem to have gotten the hang of things. You'll have a few stories of glory to share I'm sure."

Taelas tried to hide his discomfort at the thought. He mostly wanted to forget everything he'd seen that evening. "There can't be many more." The purple dragon muttered as he looked around. The brief interlude had given him the time he needed to catch his breath.

"Agreed, however any sort of leader has yet to show himself." Kalim said his head swiveling as he scanned their surroundings.

"Perhaps he slipped through the front lines?" Taelas inquired.

The fire dragon laughed heartily at the statement. "He's far more likely to be leading from behind. A coward's tactic."

"Brace yourselves, another regiment incoming!" A dragon shouted from the half-destroyed wall.

Kalim and Taelas looked at each other for a moment before turning to the hole in the wall. Through it they could see four apes. They were all mutants. Their hulking forms were larger than the others however. Even from such a distance Taelas could make out their menacing stares and bristling fur.

"That's no regiment, too small, too restrained." Kalim grunted.

"A personal guard seems more accurate." Taelas said eyeing the elder who nodded slightly. "You don't think…" The purple dragon trailed off.

"Could be that he's finally making his appearance." Kalim offered.

The two watched as a dull amethyst light shone behind the four apes. They each stopped under the purple glow. From behind them another ape, this one of normal stature and coloration, appeared. Taelas recognized his muzzle even from that distance. It was the same ape that he'd encountered upon his arrival to the town. Falk held the same staff he had the during the first assault. A purple gem gleamed at its head.

Taelas locked eyes with the ape. The creature scowled; his fury portrayed clearly. He tapped the staff on the ground briefly, the gem glowing in response. The four large apes shrieked in response, it almost seemed as though they were in pain. Taelas tensed as the creatures writhed in place for a moment before roaring simultaneously their muscles bulging and fangs gleaming. Then without warning the dashed for the entrance.

"Are you ready for this?" Kalim asked his muscles rippling.

"I don't think I have much choice." Taelas responded as one of the creatures glared at him barreling forward with reckless abandon.

"Have confidence friend." Kalim said grinning. He seemed to be enjoying this far too much. "You're a purple dragon after all. You won't be done in by mere mongrels."

Before the youth could reply the elder moved away to intercept a different mutant. Taelas braced himself and as the ape drew close, he pounded the ground a sheet of rock rising directly between them.

For a brief second Taelas thought he'd outwitted the mutant. The dragon's jaw nearly dropped as the monster burst through the deterrent scattering rocks everywhere. Hardly phased, the ape punched the dragon in his jaw. Taelas heard his bones groan in protest as he was knocked into the ground. Before he could get his bearings, he felt the ape wrap its claws around his back. The creature lifted him into the air and slammed him back down again. The dragon coughed feeling his ribs bend under the stress.

As the ape lifted him up once more Taelas called upon his lightning, the energy coursing through his body and into his foe. The creature dropped him to the ground roughly more from shock than pain. Rubbing its hand, the creature scowled at the purple dragon and drew upon his own twisted strength. A burst of convexity pulsed from his fur carving out even the ground they stood on.

Taelas bounced away the energy burning his scales before he finally rolled to a stop nearly fifteen feet away. The dragon coughed as he attempted to stand up. He knew the ape would be upon him again soon. His mind rushed to think of a solution.

Suddenly the noises of battle around him seemed deafening. He couldn't focus, his own heart beat pounding in his eardrums. The violet drake shut his eyes meaning to focus himself. As he did, he heard a strange warping to all the noise. Everything slowed, the strange soundscape made him open his eyes once more.

Looking around the purple dragon was dumbstruck. In every direction, events were decelerated. The air seemed to shimmer like a hot surface on a summer day. What was happening finally dawned on him. Spyro had mentioned control over time briefly, but Taelas had never been able to manifest the ability despite training.

Realizing that the flow of time could snap back to normal at any instant Taelas turned to the ape that was nearly upon him. The creature seemed even more threatening in his nearly still state. Every detail of his muscled and raging form was all the clearer.

Knowing this would be his one chance Taelas conjured up a blade of ice. The sheet was thin like a razor. He inspected it for a moment to ensure it was sharp enough, he didn't want to waste this chance. Deciding it was to his standards the dragon sent it spinning forward. The blade sliced straight through the ape's neck and came out the other side, a smear of blood coloring the frozen water.

Slowly, Taelas could see the ape's head coming detached. The creature didn't even look surprised. The purple dragon could only imagine how quickly things were happening from its perspective. Knowing the ape wouldn't be a threat Taelas fell onto his haunches breathing a sigh of relief.

The purple dragon jumped back up almost immediately as with his exhale time quickly resumed its normal flow. The head of the ape flew away and its corpse fell to the ground with a loud thud. From a distance Taelas heard Kalim roar in triumph as he had witnessed the kill, although he wasn't certain what events had transpired.

Taelas didn't pay him much heed, his eyes already focused on Falk who had witnessed the events as well. The ape snarled as he stared down the purple dragon. Taelas began to pace forward meaning to end things. After fighting so many convexity empowered monstrosities, a regular ape would prove little trouble.

"These sorts of conflicts seem to be tradition for you purple dragons." Falk growled making Taelas stop before him.

"You've only yourself to blame for this." Taelas answered.

"There will be no blame, only triumph."

"You're delusional." Taelas scoffed. "You've already lost, your forces are scattered."

"A simple rally is in order." Falk replied smiling. "Killing a purple dragon should do nicely."

"You're welcome to try." Taelas murmured as he sprinted forward.

As the dragon closed in Falk rummaged quickly through one of his tunic pockets. Taelas opened his maw to strike as the ape whipped his hand out grasping a purple crystal the size of a fist.

Taelas immediately recoiled as he felt something invisible envelop him. It felt as though the air had turned to soup. Stumbling, the drake struggled to stay upright as amethyst wisps manifested and floated towards the crystal.

"I'm sure you think convexity is your greatest strength, but against us it happens to be a glaring flaw." Falk spat.

Taelas didn't have to ask what was happening. He recognized the feeling and the memory sent chills down his spine. It was similar to when he'd been forced to open the portal that let Sol and Arum through to their plane.

As Taelas willed his body to move Falk reached forward decking the dragon easily. Taelas hit the stones and sputtered from the blow. He watched as the ape clenched and unclenched his fist seemingly satisfied.

"I'd love to take my time with you." Falk said grabbing his weapon. "For all the things your predecessor did to my people." The ape looked around at the continuing fight. "However, I don't think I have much time. Your head on a spike will have to do."

Taelas snarled, but try as he might he couldn't will his limbs to obey him. The dragon cursed as he saw the sinister mace arcing towards him. He waited for the blow that never came as he heard the sharp clang of metal hitting stone. Taelas cracked his eyes to find the wicked mace only a foot from his head, a chunk of ice wrapped around the stem of the weapon. Falk looked just as confused as him, but it only lasted a second. Taelas watched as a sapphire blur impacted the ape like a meteor and they tumbled away.

Drained, the purple dragon watched helplessly as his sister tore into the ape as quickly as she could. Her ferocity was a little unnerving to him, but he was relieved simply to see her alive.

Taelas began to push himself back up, the crystal that had been sapping him having bounced away, becoming inert without a user. However, he was still hardly in any shape to fight, his accumulated wounds taking their toll. He watched as Falk threw the dragoness to the side. As Aria rolled to recover the ape threw his weapon towards her. The metal bashed into her legs and she let out a small cry as she tripped and crashed into the stone.

Taelas took a step forward, but found his paw unable to support him as he stumbled back to the ground. Furious, he watched as the ape stalked towards the dragoness. Aria was struggling to recover, large bruises already forming across her front legs.

As the violet drake was about to call out to his sibling as a third dragon entered the fray. Ryn landed next to the ape and whipped his body around, thick tail knocking his opponent senseless.

Falk tumbled head over heel from the blow. As he did Ryn roared and bashed the ground, stone rupturing under his paw. The earth beneath the tumbling ape popped forward bouncing the warrior into the air. Ryn leapt up to meet him, once again spinning around cracking his tail across the ape's ribs and sending him back into the dirt.

As Ryn landed he didn't take him eyes off of Falk. Based on his haggard breath however he assumed there was no longer any need for caution. He had half a mind to kill him there, but could see the other dragons approaching.

The mutants were dead, their strength overwhelmed by pure numbers. Ryn looked around, had there been no warning this would have surely been the end of them all. Even still, many dragons lay dead. Ryn eyed Taelas who had managed to stand and make his way to Aria, the two seemed intact if nothing else.

"Is he dead?" Kalim asked approaching.

"Close." Ryn spat looking back to Falk.

"Seems you miscalculated, ape." Kalim taunted.

Falk snarled, a biting retort on his lips. His ire found a new target however as he saw Clove appear beside the dragons. "Traitor!" He coughed, his broken ribs preventing him from truly yelling.

Clove looked at Kalim who shrugged. "I'd have words with him. Then…" The ape trailed off as his boney fingers brushed over the knife on his belt.

"Make it quick." The red dragon snorted.

Clove hobbled over to the younger warrior and knelt beside him. As he unsheathed the knife and lay it across his lap it seemed as though Falk's rage would overtake him.

"It is over now." Clove said quietly.

"You betrayed us!" Falk growled. "We could have won this battle; we could have thrived here!"

"I tried to warn you Falk." Clove said shaking his head. "Had you won today more would have come to avenge them."

"Still nothing but a coward." Falk spat.

"I saw long ago what war with dragons did to our kind." Clove replied sadly. "I'm sorry that I failed to instill that lesson into you." The ape picked up the knife then, examining the crude but sharp blade.

"Wait." Falk whispered suddenly, as his eyes darted from the knife to Clove. "You don't have to do this, we can still get out of here, both of us."

"I'm afraid there is only one solution to this problem Falk." Clove answered dejectedly.

"We have convexity in our hands, we could bring others, we can recover from this." Falk continued, his voice a desperate whisper. The shaman grimaced seeing the ape slowly coming unhinged. The young warrior had tears in his eyes, as he babbled incoherently.

"Power such as this was not meant for us. I'm sorry young one." Falk murmured as he thrust the knife forward. The ape stiffened as it pierced his heart falling still a moment later.

Clove removed the blade letting it clatter to the stones. The elder stretched his hand across the dead warrior's chest feeling the ape's heart go still. With the other hand he reached out and closed Falk's eyes. Sitting back, he looked at the corpse his jaw clenched. "Damned fool." He whispered a hint of anger in his tone.