Chapter 15 – Pyrrah
SL: Due to life being life, we won't be able to publish on Friday, so you all get the chapters early! Back to normal on the 28th February
It was two days on the boat: two days of Callum wishing he could fly, and two days of Rayla wishing she'd taken their offer to walk around. But finally, Villads and Berto announced there was land close by, and the trio gathered to watch as it came up over the horizon.
As it did however, something soared over the ship.
Callum quickly looked up at the sky and frowned. "Did anyone else feel that?"
"Feel what Callum?"
He stared up at the sky, his tail flicking by his leg. "I don't know… something." He watched the clouds for a while longer, trying to pinpoint what that feeling was.
~#~
Having made it to land, Rayla quickly got off, and hurried to get away from the water. She almost forgot to pull the hood of her cloak back up, and Callum somehow caught up to her and pulled it up before someone spotted. "Rayla! Horns!" he told her, then turned back. "Thank you Villads! And you too Berto."
"Aye, good luck on your travels!" Villads called, waving in the wrong direction until Berto corrected him.
As he climbed back onto the Ruthless and sailed back out to sea, Callum looked around the new town. "Not sure about you, but I fancy a hot meal."
"Oh yeah," Ez agreed as he put Bait on his shoulder, "A nice hot stew or a jelly tart!"
"Dunno about the tart, but there's an inn over there," Rayla noticed, "And a hot meal I'm not gonna throw up would be great."
"Come on then! We still have some gold left. Let's spend it!" Callum laughed as he led the way.
They entered the inn without being noticed too much. A few people turned to look at them, but then went back to their own business as the trio sat themselves in a corner. It was only a few minutes before a young man walked over to them.
"Welcome to The Calm Octopus. What can I get you?"
"Three nice, hot meals would be great please!" Ezran ordered, "And three glasses of water."
The man chuckled. "Just got off a boat I take it?"
"Yeah, it was… a long trip." Callum tried to smile. "Do you have a room open?"
"Yep, five gold for the night if you wanna stay?"
"Yes please."
"Alright me boy, I'll get you the key and yer food. Stay right there."
As the barman left, Rayla pulled down her scarf. "Callum, we still have a lot of…" she trailed off, worried someone might be listening. "We still have a long way to go. We might need some money."
"Rayla, relax. We're fine, honest." He patted his bag. "I got bored on the boat and counted it all, several times. It was relaxing. And we're fine."
She stared at him, then nodded. "Fine, I'll trust you. Money is…odd."
As they sat and waited for their meals, Callum began to look around the inn. Ezran wasn't bothered, too busy playing with Bait, and Rayla was trying not to draw attention to herself by scratching at a knot in the wood of the table. After a few minutes, a woman came over with three plates on her tray. "Right, so we got three hot stews? One for you, one for you… and one for you," she said, winking at Callum. "Got you an extra potato. Looks like you need to keep your strength up."
"Oh, thank you miss."
"No need for the miss, you can call me Rosa." She smiled kindly at him. "Say, I've got some apple pie cooling in the kitchen, would you like a slice after your stew? On the house." She leaned a little closer to him, "I might even be able to throw in a bit of cream."
"Yeah, that would be nice Rosa." Callum licked his lips at the idea. "Can Ez and Rayla have one too?"
"Sure thing cutie. Whatever you want." She waved at them and walked off.
Callum smiled as he watched her go, "She's nice."
"Yeah… nice," Rayla mumbled into her stew, "Did you have to go flirting with her?"
"Flirting?"
"You know, going all 'Oh Rosa, I'd love to try some of your apple pie'."
Callum frowned, poking at his meal. "Well… I would."
Rolling her eyes, she went back to her stew. "Whatever, just… just eat your food."
Head down, the dragon looked at his brother, but Ez just shrugged. Rayla's bad mood was a mystery to him too.
After their meal, Rosa brought back the apple pie as promised, although, Callum's was a fair bit bigger than Ez or Rayla's slice.
"Anything else I can get for you cutie?"
Callum looked at her, then stood up. "I just wanted to say, I wasn't… flirting with you before."
A few of the other people in the bar turned to see him while Rosa blushed, and Rayla pulled her hood over her face in embarrassment.
"Y-you what?"
"I wasn't flirting before. Rayla seems to think I was flirting with you, and I wanted to say, I wasn't. I don't even know what flirting is. So… I wasn't."
A few of the tables began to snigger at the barmaid, but Rosa just smiled. "Well… aren't you a sweet one," she said, then leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Thank you. Now sit back down before you cause your friend there to burst into flames."
"What? Rayla? Are you going to burst into flames?"
"Just sit down you dumb lizard," she muttered under the cloak.
Suddenly feeling like he'd made a fool of himself, Callum sat down and shrank back. "Umm… Ray-"
"Not. Another. Word." she snapped, pulling her hood away enough to show her furious eyes and flushed cheeks. "You don't say another word while we are in this town."
"But-"
"Ah! Not. Another. Word."
The dragon lowered his head again and went back to his free dessert, practically licking the plate clean without making a sound.
Once finished, Rayla decided to head off, but when Callum tried to follow, she told him to stay in their room at the inn with Ezran, and left.
Deciding to do as told, Ez sighed as he looked around the room. "So… what are we going to do now?"
Callum just shrugged silently before finding a spot to sit and draw for a while, but every image ended up being thrown out. He was unable to concentrate. After a few hours, Rayla returned. "Path ahead is clear," she explained, "Shouldn't be too hard to walk. We'll leave in the morning."
"Great," Ez replied.
Callum smiled and nodded in agreement, but kept his mouth shut.
Rayla frowned at him. "Callum? Why aren't you talking?"
He looked at her, confused, then tipped his head, gesturing to the floor.
"You… think someone's listening?" she guessed.
He shook his head, pointed at her, and then the floor.
"You think… I should go downstairs?"
This time he glared at her.
Ezran chuckled as he stepped forward. "You told him downstairs that he couldn't say another word while in this town."
"What? Oh for crying out loud, Callum, I was joking! You can still talk."
He shook his head and looked away in defiance.
Rayla blinked at him. "Wait… are you mad at me?"
He nodded.
"And you're giving me the silent treatment?"
He looked confused by the term, so Ez stepped in. "It's where you deliberately don't talk to someone."
With a silent 'oh', Callum nodded at the elf and stuck his tongue out at her.
Rayla glared at him. "You're being a baby."
He gave a smug look and nodded.
The elf sighed as she moved to sit beside him. "Callum, please, don't be like this. Look, I was upset and embarrassed when you said those things downstairs. I mean… that girl was just trying to do her job, sell some things, and make her customers happy and… well, I didn't like the way she spoke to you."
He frowned, confused.
"You know? All 'cutie' and 'keep your strength up'. She was flirting," she sighed, looking away, "I just… I got mad at her… and you for not telling her off."
He looked away from her as well, thinking. "So…" he said softly, "You were… jealous?"
"What?!" Rayla scoffed suddenly, "No… I never said I was… jealous."
"Then… why were you mad?"
She froze, staring at him.
"Rayla?" he asked again, turning to face her, "Why were you mad when Rosa was flirting with me?"
The elf remained frozen, then cleared her voice, and climbed down from the windowsill. She grabbed his cloak and headed for the door. "I need to clear my head," she told them, "Stay here. Both of you."
With that, she left once more. Callum turned to Ezran. "What was that about?"
"I dunno… dad always says 'a wise man never tries to understand a woman'. He said I was too young to know what it means but… maybe you're old enough?"
Looking at the door, the dragon just sighed, "I have no idea Ez. Hey, come over here so I can draw you and Bait."
~#~
The sky was cloudy and the moon barely shone above, perfect conditions for a night attack. Pyrrah smirked to herself as she flew towards the targeted settlement. She'd been scoping it out for the last few nights, and now it was time to strike.
The humans would pay for their attacks on Xadia.
As she headed towards the town and passed over the forest, she almost felt her heart stop. There was another dragon nearby. She turned around and tried to pinpoint the source. Whoever this dragon was, they were powerful. Powerful enough for her to sense them from so high above. Almost as if…
She stopped that trail of thought. That wasn't possible.
Slowly, she worked out the location and flew in a different direction. She landed a fair bit away so the unknown dragon wouldn't sense her, and she shifted to her human form. If this dragon was smart, they would also be in human form.
She walked around, looking for any sign of the presence. What she found was a little surprising. Not only was it a dragon in hybrid form, but an elf and a human sat with him around a fire. All of them looked young.
The dragon was radiating power. The closer she got, the more she realised he was a sky dragon. A young one too, but… there was only one mated sky dragon pair.
That would make this dragonling…
She shook her head. No, it couldn't be!
Suddenly, she heard movement and a voice. "Callum, shift!" someone hissed before the power dimmed dramatically. Moments later, the elf ran out from the cave they were hiding in, blades at the ready as she stared at Pyrrah. "Oi! Human! What're you doing here?!"
Pyrrah frowned at her. 'How dare you turn your blade to me, elf! I'll bite your head off!' she thought, but then put on a smile. "I saw your fire. I was hoping to rest somewhere for the night."
"Yeah, sorry, no humans allowed."
"Oh? But you have two humans with you, or are they a sprite and a goblin?"
The elf glanced back, then at her. "You'd sit at a fire with an elf?"
"I'd sit anywhere that is warm," she played along.
"Rayla," the small human pleaded, "Come on, it's cold tonight. I bet it's going to snow, and we're miles away from the next town. I say we let her stay the night."
'What a kind human… I'll kill him quickly,' she decided, looking at the boy she knew was a dragon.
He stared at her, then frowned. "Let her stay," he decided at last.
As if under his power, the elf retracted her blades and went to sit by the fire. "Alright, you can join us. But no funny business!"
"Wouldn't dream of it." She smirked as she walked over and sat by the fire, looking over the trio. They also looked at her; she had short, black hair that framed bright blue eyes, and she was dressed in a short, red gown with a high collar, but exposed her shoulders and golden finery. "So… an elf travelling with two… humans. That's unusual."
"We're an unusual group," the elf, Rayla, huffed, poking the fire for a moment. "What about you? Travelling alone in the dark? Dressed like that? Bit stupid if you ask me."
"Mind your tone, elf!" she snapped before she could control herself, "I can protect myself perfectly fine."
"How? I'm not seeing any weapons on you."
"You don't need weapons to be dangerous."
"Oh really, you wanna try it?"
"Rayla, will you calm down?" the dragon sighed, "Sorry about her, she's… not too good around new faces."
"I guessed. And you are?"
"Callum. This is Ezran."
"You can call me Pyrrah. And where are you three headed?"
"Nonya," Rayla said before anyone else could speak.
Pyrrah frowned, not knowing the location. "Nonya?"
"None ya business," she finished with a glare.
The female dragon glared back at her then turned to the others. "Your elf could do with some manners."
"We invited you to our fire," Callum reminded her, "You'd do well to show some respect. I would advise you not to insult her."
Pushing some hair behind her ear, the visitor sighed deeply. "Why should I care if I insult an elf? They are inferior, dumb creatures in the servitude of greater ones."
Ezran frowned. "That's not a very nice thing to say."
"Perhaps, but it's true. Humans are cattle, elves are sheep, and dragons, the wolves."
"What would you know about dragons?" Callum questioned, narrowing his eyes at the stranger.
Pyrrah shrugged. "Enough. More than any of you, that's for sure."
"Really?" Callum asked with a slight smugness, "Then what do you know about a dragon's powers?"
The female laughed. "That they are limitless! A dragon is pure magic and power! Some used to say the sky dragons were the strongest, but…" she scoffed, "Not anymore. They are the weakest, rarest, and stupidest kind."
Rayla reached out and held Callum's arm, pulling him back before he could lash out.
Catching the movement, Pyrrah smirked. "After all, the King of the Dragons was a sky dragon, and look what happened to him. Killed by a single, feeble human. Pathetic."
The other dragon growled lowly, trying to keep his temper.
"And his mate? The queen? Ha, don't make me laugh! She's the weakest of them all! She didn't even give the order to retaliate!" She turned her head to look at the other dragon directly. "If you ask me, the queen is a lazy, weak, and useless excuse of a monarch."
That was the last straw. Callum jumped up to his feet, his wings spreading wide as he charged at the human. However, Pyrrah got up herself and shifted to hybrid, her own wings coming out as she prepared to fight the youngling.
Callum barely even registered that it was a dragon he was fighting, his anger blinding him as he lashed out. His talons aimed for her face, but Pyrrah just blocked and dodged, having years of experience against the young dragon.
He tried to sweep her legs with his tail, but she saw it coming a mile away, and stepped on it before he had the chance. She tripped him up so he landed on his back, her knee on his chest, and her hand over his neck.
She smirked. "Knew it. You're a dragon. Sky too by the look of it. Only question is; how?"
"What are you talking about?!" Callum snapped as he struggled to get free.
"There are very few sky dragons left. Most have died or left Xadia… I can think of only two that were alive when you would've been sired… so that means...you must be their child." She knelt forward towards him, sniffing a few times. "But you can't be. You can't be him. He's dead."
"If you mean the Dragon Prince, then you're wrong!" Rayla snapped, her blades at the ready if she made another move, "He's the Dragon Prince, Cadonumis."
"He's dead!" the raven-haired dragon snapped, looking at the imposter below her, "Cadonumis is dead!"
"No… I'm quite alive," he mumbled under her chokehold, "And I'll prove it. Fulminis!"
Rayla was smart enough to grab Ezran and cover him with her body as the lightning shot into the cave and collided with the attacker. She screamed in pain and let him go, allowing him to back off and stand with his friends.
Pyrrah panted as pain coursed through her, and backed off towards the mouth of the cave while glaring at the group. "The royal dragons are done!" she cursed at them, "They are cowards, failures to our kind, weaklings, and fools! Xadia will be better off without them! We will rid the world of these pathetic humans, even without their permission! We will take the west for our own!"
Callum growled and charged towards her, but she jumped off the cliff, shifting as she did, and took to the sky as a full dragon once more.
As she disappeared into the clouds, Callum let out a deep sigh. "Well, that wasn't a great first impression of dragons," he said casually, looking over the pair, "You two alright?"
"Us? You're the one who went berserk," Rayla scolded.
"Hey, no one insults my mother or my friends," he growled, then sighed, leaning over and nuzzling them both in apology. "Sorry if I scared you."
"It's alright Cal," Ez chuckled as the scales brushed against his cheek.
Rayla looked out the cave entrance, checking to make sure she was gone, then nodded. "She must have been a western dragon. They live on this side of the border. They tend to be a little… shall we say… salty?"
"Any saltier, and she would have been an ocean."
~#~
Soren tried not to grumble as he held the rope tied to his 'prisoner'. For the last few days, he had been trying to help the hunter escape so he could resume his mission of helping Ezran and Callum, but each time he tried, Claudia caught him. He was beginning to think she was getting suspicious.
When they arrived at a town, he finally came up with a workable idea. "Claudia, why don't we ditch Corvus in jail or something and be done with him? Then, we can… go back to tracking the princes."
"Princes?" The mage frowned.
He coughed. "Prince, of course, only one prince."
"That's better. And I agree, we will leave the traitor at a jail, and hopefully, we can still pick up their trail."
"Yeah… hopefully."
Corvus stayed silent. He'd been doubtful at first of the Crown Guard's intentions, but now he knew he was genuinely trying to help, to help him escape. If he could get into a jail, he could easily escape and catch up. He'd been keeping mental notes on any signs he saw while bound to the siblings, so he had an idea of where they were. He just needed to lose the mage.
When they arrived at the town and walked through an impressive gate, Soren looked around for anyone of authority. "We're looking for a town jail? We've got a horrible traitor to lock up for, uh, traitorous words and deeds," he bluffed.
No one even looked at him, too busy looking upwards at the sky.
Soren frowned at them. "Umm, excuse me? Crown Guard here."
"Uh, something's weird," his sister observed as she also looked upwards.
"I know! No one's listening to me," he grumbled, glancing at Corvus to see if he could escape, but a minute shake of his head showed it wasn't the right time.
Suddenly, one of the town's guards pointed upwards. "There! It's back!"
Everyone looked up to see a shadow flying over the clouds above them, the outline, unmistakable. "Is that…" Soren started, almost about to say 'Callum', but he stopped himself.
The guards nodded at the man on his horse. "A dragon? Yeah, this is the third night in a row it's flown over us."
"And you haven't shot it down yet?" Claudia scoffed, "What are those ballistas for?" She pointed to a tower, far taller than anything else in the town.
The guard shrugged. "Well, it hasn't attacked us."
"So?" the mage huffed, "It's the enemy."
"Claudia, if it hasn't attacked…" Soren started, but his sister shot him a hard glare.
"We're taking command here. My brother is a Crown Guard and I'm a dark mage. So, we're more qualified than any of you. Now, man those ballistas!"
As she climbed down and the guards hurried to the tower, Soren kept hold of the rope for Corvus. "Claudia, wait… if that dragon isn't attacking, it might just be trying to scare us."
"Well I'm not going to give it a chance," she huffed, then took the rope from her brother, "Aim for the big ugly thing before it attacks the town!"
Emotionally torn between what to do, Soren looked at the dragon. The dragon flew low over the village this time, and he could see it was red, not blue and silver like his friend, but… it was still his kind. He couldn't hurt it. But if he didn't, his sister would do far worse.
He frowned and decided to try and scare it off, taking aim, but firing below the beast, hitting an unmanned wall instead.
The dragon flew upwards into the thicker clouds, and for a moment, the guard thought he'd done it.
But then it came back and roared at the tower, igniting one of the other ballistas before going for the town itself. Soren could only watch in horror as it attacked innocents. "Claudia! Help me take aim on that beast!" he shouted to her, hardening his heart to the creature. He'd shown mercy. And now, it was going to pay.
As he and the other guards took aim with the remaining ballistas, he glared as the beast came around for another attack. "FIRE!" he ordered once it got in range, and three bolts fired at it. Unfortunately, it avoided them all and shot its own blast at them. The troops managed to get to cover in time, but one more crossbow was lost.
Soren looked over the damage the attack was causing before turning to his 'prisoner', drawing his sword, and cutting the ropes away. Claudia gasped. "Soren, what are you doing?"
"There are people out there in need of help, and he can help." He nodded at the hunter, "Go, help as many people as you can."
Corvus stood up and looked at the pair, but focused on Soren. "Don't get yourself killed," he told him, then hurried to do what was asked of him. The siblings stood with one of the few remaining defences.
The Crown Guard watched the dragon as it continued to burn the town. "I think we really messed up this time, Clauds," he told her, looking at the fire and smoke. "I don't know how to stop it."
"Don't say that yet." His sister smirked as she rummaged around in her bag until she found a small box. "I have an idea!" She opened it up and looked at the contents. "It's the eye of a gryphon. With this, I can enchant a ballista bolt to never miss its target, no matter what!"
Soren peeked into the box and almost gagged at the item, staring at the back of his sister's head as he thought about all the lives her magic had cost. Gryphons, dragons, wasps… all of them dead so she could do magic. He frowned at her, disgust no longer just from the eye. "So, you just carry a gryphon eyeball around with you? Who does that?"
His sister didn't look happy at his statement. "Oh, how about, 'Thank you for carrying a gryphon's eye with you Claudia. You're so prepared. You're the best'."
"Claudia, a gryphon died for you to have that," he reminded her.
"Yeah, and now, no one else will die because of that dragon! Just turn the ballista to aim at it!" she snapped. She stood by the arrow and chanted as she squeezed the eye between her fingers, and spread the enchantment over the arrowhead.
Once ready, Soren fired, only to protect the town, and watched as the bolt flew past the dragon before turning around and chasing it. The beast managed one more attack, toppling the top half of the tower, but then noticed the bolt and tried to avoid it. Nothing worked, and eventually, it dug deep into its side.
~#~
Miles away, Callum suddenly gasped, and clutched his side before running out of the cave. Rayla and Ez followed him as he looked up at the clouds. "What is it Callum?"
"Pyrrah. The dragon who was here… she's hurt."
"What?"
"She's been hit."
"Good riddance if you ask me," Rayla huffed, "She was rude and arrogant."
"She's also a dragon!" Callum snapped, "She's not far from here! Come on!" he shouted, already running off into the night.
Rayla frowned, then looked back at Ezran. "Stay here with Bait, it might be dangerous."
"But…"
"I can't watch out for you, Callum, and Pyrrah. Please Ez, stay here!" she begged, but ran off before he could give a reply. She caught up with Callum quickly, and looked around for any sign of the dragoness. "Where is she?"
"Close… she might have shifted if she's hurt." He searched the area for a moment longer, then pointed in one direction. "There!"
Running towards the crash site, they soon found a large, red dragon with black and yellow markings, lying on her side. Callum hastily ran over to her. "What happened?"
"T-the humans…" Pyrrah moaned, "T-they shot me down."
"Can you shift?" Callum asked, looking her over, "If you shift, we can get you out of here."
She groaned as she tried, then shook her head. "I can't… the Dark Magic is preventing me."
"D-dark…" the prince stuttered, then looked her over and spotted something in her side. "Rayla! There! The arrow."
Rayla nodded, lifting her wing up and grabbing the bolt. She pulled on it sharply, instantly feeling the last of the Dark Magic trying to influence her.
Callum stood by the dragon's head and nodded. "Can you move now?"
She groaned again, letting her head rest on the ground. "I'm too tired."
"Come on, if you don't move soon, the humans that did this to you are going to catch up!"
Her eyes drifted closed. "Let them. Maybe it will show you the true nature of humans."
"They will kill you!"
She released a small, groaning purr. "Let them…"
Callum stared at her, then looked up to the trees when he heard horses in the distance. "They're coming."
"Callum, we need to get out of here!" Rayla gasped, grabbing his arm and pulling him, but he dug his feet in. "Callum, they're coming!"
"We can't just leave her."
"We have to, or they'll catch us too! We need to get back to Ezran! Please!"
Callum looked down at the dragon as she cracked open her eye, resigning herself to her fate. He swallowed, then shook his head. "I'm sorry." He darted into the trees, running up a bank, and hiding in the foliage just as a group of soldiers on horseback entered the clearing.
Looking back, Callum felt his breath hitch when he saw who was at the front: the high mage's children, both of them.
Rayla glared over his head at them. "How did they catch up with us so quickly?"
"Dark Magic probably. That, or they didn't stop like we did," Callum growled, hiding in the bushes, "I had a feeling it was her."
"We need to leave, now. If they find you… she'll kill you."
"She's going to kill Pyrrah."
"We did the best we could for her. She's on her own now. Come on Callum, let's go back."
He stared at the pair, then back at her. "I want to see what Soren does."
"Soren?" the elf huffed, backing into cover, "Why?"
"I want to see."
From their position, the pair observed the siblings. The Crown Guard looked at the dragon before climbing down from his horse and going over to Pyrrah, who appeared to be unconscious once more. Callum almost shouted out, and Rayla had to pull him back when they saw Soren kick the dragon, then turn to the others. "Secure the beast!" he ordered.
The pair could only watch as guards wrapped the dragon in chains that glowed faintly.
"Dragon bindings," Rayla whispered, "They are enchanted to stop a dragon from shifting."
"Dark Magic."
"Xadian, actually."
"What?"
"Every few hundred years… a dragon might need stopping, so those are used to control them."
"How do they have them?"
"Been around for centuries, even before the split," she explained, then pulled on his arm. "Come on Callum, let's get out of here before they notice us. It's too dangerous to be here."
"You go back to Ezran. I'm staying here."
"But…"
"If I have a chance to free her, I need to take it."
"Callum-"
He turned to face her, his eyes stern. "She's a dragon, and I'm the Dragon Prince. It's my duty to help her."
"If you get caught…" she stared back at him, "Callum, you made me your Dragon Guard. That means guarding you."
"Then stay and help me."
"Do you see how many guards there are?" She pointed to the clearing as the men worked to chain Pyrrah to the ground.
Callum looked as well, but he simply nodded. "I only need one." His eyes narrowed as he slowly moved around the clearing to get closer before she could stop him.
The dark mage was reading a book, the markings on the front proving it was of Dark Magic, but Callum slowly picked up a small rock from the ground, and threw it at his target.
It bounced off the blonde guard's head perfectly.
"Ow!" Soren hissed, rubbing his head and checking behind him. He noticed a familiar pair of green eyes looking at him. He blinked, then looked at his sister. "I'm just going to check the perimeter."
"Hmm? Yeah sure whatever," she mumbled as she turned the pages of her book. "Ohh, dragon snot spells!"
Walking away from the dragon, Soren headed for the trees where he'd seen Callum, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Psst, Scales, it's me."
"Over here."
He was hiding behind a tree, shifted into human form in case anyone else spotted them. Soren let out a sigh and checked behind him. "Cal, you have to get out of here, now. Claudia is determined we kill you. It's not safe."
"I can't, not when you're trapping Pyrrah."
"Pyrrah?"
"The red dragon back there," he explained. "Soren, I can't let you hurt her."
"She's also dangerous. Did you know she attacked a full town of people last night? At least fifty people are dead, and over a hundred lost their homes due to her."
Callum looked away. "I didn't know that. I only met her briefly last night, and she never mentioned an attack or I would have stopped her. I'm sorry."
"You didn't attack the town Scales," he walked over and held his friend's shoulder, "I know you never would. But… I can't… I can't turn a blind eye to people in need of help. If I let her go… she'll just attack again."
"She won't."
"How can you know?"
"Because I'm her prince," he growled, glaring at him, "I can command her to do whatever I say. And if I tell her to go back to Xadia, to not attack another human settlement ever again, she has to obey."
The guard smirked. "Dragon thing?"
"You bet it Dumb Lump," the other returned with a smile, "It's good to see you again by the way."
"And you. But… where's your deadly elf friend?"
"Either in the trees watching your sister, or back with Ezran."
"She's not watching you?"
He shrugged. "She knows I'm safe with you."
Feeling a little proud of the trust, Soren nodded. "Glad to hear it. So, what are we going to do about the other dragon? You know I can't just… let it go."
"But if you don't help me, your sister is going to cut her up and use her for her perverted magic. You can't agree with that. I can see it in your eyes!" He sighed and looked back in the direction of the clearing. "Look, if we're going to stop this war, if we're going to change the way things are, we can't just watch while humans and Xadians keep hurting each other. We have to take a stand."
Soren thought about it, but then sighed. "I'm sorry Callum… I'm not ready to do that. Not yet."
"Then help me take the stand." He turned, glaring at him. "I have an idea, and it's a good thing Rayla isn't here because she would kill me if she found out."
SL: Before we go any further, I just need to say… HOW FRIGGING HARD IS IT TO SPELL PYRRAH! I MUST HAVE SPELLED IT 5 DIFFERENT WAYS WHEN WRITING THIS OUT! Thank you Ray for checking and changing them all to one spelling.
Back to the chapter, yes, here's Pryyah (STILL CAN'T SPELL IT RIGHT!) in her dragon and human form. And we also get Soren back! YA! Which is great news for Ray because (if you didn't know) she is a… slight fan of shipping Pyraah (AGAIN!) and Soren.
RK: Story never spells Pyrrah right. It's both hilarious and painful, since I'm the editor that has to change em all! Story's right tho. I ship it so hard, like yas! :3
SL: We even came up with our own ship name for them; Pyrren. Long may she sail.
