Ceris stood in the dark corridor, as still as the stone figures around her. It was dark, and totally silent, the air was cold on her face. A very dim half moon shone faintly through the clouds, casting just enough light to make the marble of the hallway take on a faint, ghostly light.

Ceris stood in the same spot for a long time. She was looking, and listening, ears straining for even the slightest of noise, trying to detect the presence of any other dragons that may have been there.

But there was nobody, she was alone, and yet still she stood. The only thing she could hear was the adrenaline fueled heartbeat that thundered in her ears. Cerise was scared, terrified of what she was about to do. She held a small canteen between her talons, the cold liquid inside slowly warming from her nervous grasp. Cerise was trying to build her confidence, trying to force herself into action. Part of her wanted so badly to turn and run away, back down the corridor, and to keep running until she was safely in her fathers arms. But the other part of her wouldn't let her move. This was the part of her that held her courage, as little as there may have been. This part of her argued fiercely with her fear. She had come this far, hadn't she? She was so close, her goal was within reach. She could have been done by now, if she only would force her fear-deadened legs to move.

But what if she was caught? What if someone were to come along the corridor?

But nobody walks around this section of the palace. Especially at night.

But wouldn't it be safer to turn back? She hadn't revealed herself to the little seawing, there were still no witnesses that she had ever been here.

But what would the point of that be? She'd only feel worse, once the fear subsided. She would hate herself for letting the little seawing die because of her cowardice.

But what difference would it make? Scarlet may kill the little seawing herself, and all of her risk would be for nothing.

Maybe. Maybe she would. But she may not either. One thing was for certain, the little seawing would surely die within the next day if he wasn't given water.

The images of the seawing mothers face crossed through Cerise's mind. Her expression as she had realized there was nothing she could do for her son.

The memory tugged at cerises heart. It was awful that this could happen to a young mother and her son. It was cruel, twisted, and sick. A shiver went down cerises spine, and she made her decision.

Cerise steeled herself, and stepped into the dim moonlight. The balcony was more brightly lit than the rest of the corridor, but the little pedestal that the seawing laid on was overshadowed in darkness. Ceris couldn't see the little dragon in the shadow, but she knew he was there. Cerise looked back into the corridor, first left, then right. There was still nobody there. She took a big breath and slipped off the balcony.

Cerise quickly made her way to the base of the pillar, sneaking through the shadows. The canteen bumped against her chest as she sought claw holds in the rock and began to quietly pull herself up.

It was an easy climb, and in no time she was pulling herself over the edge and onto the platform.

For several minutes she sat quietly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the shadows and listening for any signs of a pursuer. But there was none. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she picked out the iron loop driven into the stone, and followed the chain to the dark little shadow that was the seawing. Cerises heartbeat became impossibly faster as she leaned towards the little dragon. She held out her talon and gently touched the seawings shoulder.

The little seawing did not respond to her touch. Cerise pulled her talons away, unsure of herself now. Was she too late? Had she waited too long? Was the little seawing dead?

She reached back and touched his shoulder again, and shook the little dragon, gently.

"Hey, hey," she whispered, "wake up. Come on little seawing, wake up. I have something for you."

After a few seconds, she got a response. The little seawing let out a cracked whimper, and curled into a ball. He moaned quietly, and shivered. Cerise felt a wave of pity wash over her, pity for the poor little dragonet and his plight.

"Wake up little one, I have some water for you."

The little seawing slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. He remained still for several moments, and cerise realized that he didn't believe she was actually there. The absolute disbelief on his little face was more than just shock, or suprise, he truly didn't look at all convinced that she was real. Cerise took the canteen and pulled the cord over her head, taking it off her neck. She uncorked the top and poured a few drops onto her talons. She reached out and rubbed the moisture on his forehead and face, noting the warmth that radiated from his scales like a fever.

At the cool wet touch of her talons, the little seawings eyes opened wide, and he sat up. His mouth opened, and a cracked squeak uttered from his parched little throat as a sudden desperation passed over his little frame. He tried to stand, and took a few unsteady steps toward her, nearly falling over the chain in the process.

"Woah, woah, calm down, it's okay," said Cerise, "I'll give you some water, it's okay. You're gonna be okay."

The little seawing stumbled, and sat down as he lost his balance. He was breathing hard, panting, and his eyes never left the canteen. Cerise scooted towards him, until he was in comfortable reach. She held up the canteen and poured a few drops of water into the bowl shaped cap. She offered the little bit of moisture to the desperate dragonet, who took the cap and gulped the contents in one swallow, before holding it up to her, silently begging for more. "Be careful," she warned, "I know it's really hard, but you have to drink slowly." she refilled the cap, and the seawing once again gulped the tiny swallow of moisture. "Slow down," she said, as he held up the cap again, "you'll hurt yourself if you drink too quickly." She refilled the cap, but caught his little arm as he was about to gulp his third drink. "Ah, ah, slowly. Hold it in your mouth for a few seconds. Okay?"

The little seawing nodded, and she released his arm. She watched as he slowly drank the little cup of water, and could tell that it was taking every bit of willpower he had to control himself.

As they sat there, Ceris slowly gave the little seawing larger drinks, administering the water in a slow enough fashion to avoid shocking him. The little seawing drank each portion thirstily, until there was nothing left. When the water was all gone, cerise handed him the canteen so he could get the last few drops.

For several seconds she watched as shook the container over his parted jaws, catching two glimmering drops. Then he looked up at her, with a hopeful expression on his face.

"I'm sorry." she said, "I don't have any more."

His ears drooped, and his eyes went back to the canteen. Ceris took it back and replaced the cap.

He looked at the canteen longingly as she hung it around her neck once more. The water hadn't completely quenched his thirst, but it would be enough to keep him alive.

She heard his stomach growl too, and thought about how he hadn't eaten anything in two days, maybe longer. The water may make him hungrier now, and she wished she had thought to bring some food with her.

But on the other hand, the food may have made him thirstier. Next time, she had to bring more water. Maybe she would have to buy a bigger canteen.

The little seawing was looking up at her, appearing much more alert after his drink. He didn't look so teetery, and the glazed look in his eye was gone. The water was helping him recover mentally as well as physically

Now that her mission had been accomplished, ceris felt it was her que to leave. She didn't want anyone to happen along the avian wing and see her, as unlikely as it was. Still, she didn't want to take her chances, she felt she had pushed her luck far enough. There was a part of her that sighed in relief at the thought of leaving.

She looked back down at the dragonet, who was still staring at her. He looked unsure, and scared.

Ceris smiled at him, whether to make him feel better or herself she wasn't sure, and started for the edge of the platform.

"Wait," said the little seawing, his voice taking her by surprise.

She turned back towards him. He was looking up at her with wide eyes, pulling his chain taught against the iron loop.

"Please don't go 'way." he said. His voice was small, and crackly sounding from his dehydration.

"I … um, I have to. I'm sorry, but if I'm not home, my dad might find out I'm gone. And someone might see me out here."

"But I'm scared." said the little seawing.

Ceris wasn't sure of how to respond to that. She was scared too, after all. She was risking her life to be here right now, and her nerves were threatening to fail her. She wanted to run away, run home and jump under her blanket, where she would be safely out of danger. She had already done the little seawing a huge favor, now it was time to leave before her luck ran out.

But she forced herself to stay calm. She repeated to herself over and over, that she had made it this far, she would be fine. She made herself step away from the edge of the platform and go back to the little seawing.

She knelt down, bringing herself closer to his eye level.

"I'm not sure of what I can say to make you feel better." she said, "After all, I'm scared too. But …"

He looked up at her, waiting for her response.

"But I will be back tomorrow. I promise. Okay?"

He reached out, and put his talons on her forearm.

"You promise?" he asked.

"… Yes."

He smiled gratefully, and the look melted her heart.

"And I'll bring more water, and food too. Just … hang in there tomorrow, okay? I'll try to swing past and check up on you during the day, if I can. I'll try to be here when scarlet brings your mother out. But you must pretend that you've never seen me before when I do, okay?"

He nodded, and looked away.

"I'm scared about moma." he said, quietly.

Ceris winced. She hadn't meant to bring up another fear of his, although his mother was probably never far from his thoughts.

"She's okay." said Ceris, "Scarlet is feeding her, she's being taken care of."

He looked back up at her, unsure.

"Really?" he asked. "That me-"

He was cut off by a brief coughing fit that made Ceris cringe and look over her shoulders, afraid that someone may have heard the noise.

When he recovered, he cleared his throat and continued in a painfully scratchy tone.

"That mean scarlet dragon hates mom. I think she's hurting her."

"She's not," said Ceris, 'at least not right now' she thought.

"But she hit momma. She scratched her, I saw."

Ceris had forgotten about that. It must have been very disturbing for the little one to see his mother harmed.

"Well, your mother is a very brave dragon. She's tough, she can handle a few scratches."

It did feel a little weird to call a stranger brave, and maybe even a little inappropriate. Was a mother who let her son suffer like this brave?

The little seawing still didn't look convinced. He hung his head and nervously picked at the rock beneath him.

"I hope momma's okay." he said. "I miss momma an' sis."

For a moment, there was quiet. Ceris felt awkward, unsure of what to say. How could she respond to that?

Then she got an idea.

"Hey," she said, nudging him and bringing his eyes back up to her face. "If you want, I can try to talk to your mom tomorrow, when I carry food. I could check up on her for you."

The little seawing perked, and his expression became hopeful.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really." she said, "I can't make any promises, but I will try."

He smiled, and hugged her forearm.

"Thank you big dragon."

She smirked, and stroked his forehead.

"You're welcome, little dragon."

It was very late when Ceris snuck back to her cave. At this point, she figured it was actually sometime well into the early morning.

She quietly slipped through the door, closing it without a sound.

She listened for a minute to see if she had been detected, but she picked up the sound of her fathers snores coming from the kitchen.

Without a torch, she felt her way through the inky blackness of the cave, and into her room.

Curled up under her blanket, she stared at the ceiling. Her heart hadn't stopped pounding since she had first left the house on that risky mission, and it wouldn't stop racing anytime soon.

She had done it. She had succeeded in bringing the little dragon the life saving water, and she had done it undetected.

But even though she was back at home, safely under her blanket, she still felt worried.

Nobody had seen her. At least, to her knowledge no one had. But what if somebody did? What if even now a squad of soldiers was on their way to kick in the door and take her away?

She shuddered at that thought, and pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

What if she had just made a terrible mistake? What if she had just forfeited her life to aid a doomed prisoner, one whose name she didn't even know?

That thought distracted her for a moment. What was the little guy's name? She had never asked, and he had never said.

Maybe it was for the best that she didn't. If she asked for his name, he would want to know hers. And then, if he slipped up somehow, they would know who to grab.

But she was still curious.

And it wasn't just the dragonet that intrigued her, it was his mother as well. What were their names? How had they been captured? What was their story?

She was also worried about tomorrow. Not only was there the possibility that soldiers may be waiting to take her away when she arrived, but there was the possibility that Scarlet may kill the two seawings tomorrow.

Maybe the mother would anger Scarlet, causing her to fly into one of her famous, violent frenzies. Or worse yet, she may tell scarlet everything she wanted to know. If she did that, Ceris had no doubt that scarlet would kill them both, and then send her armies rampaging into the sawing territory, killing thousands on both sides.

Either way, her efforts tonight would have been in vain.

She groaned, and rolled onto her side.

She tried to push the thoughts out of her mind, she needed to get some sleep while she could. Two late nights would be hard on her, and the last thing she needed was to be exhausted, along with being a nervous wreck.

Her father may take notice, and fear for her health. And it would be much harder to help the sawing dragonet if her dad was checking in periodically to see if she was okay.

But it wasn't so easy to just simply not think about it. She was terrified, somehow she was more scared now than when she had actually been there, talking to the dragonet. It was her mind, driving her crazy with paranoid ideas of what could happen. She just needed to stop thinking about it.

She just needed to stop thinking. She just needed to stop worrying.

She sighed, because she knew that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

It was going to be a long night.

Well there we have it. That is the hardest chapter i have ever written, as evidenced by the fact that its been many months since the last chapter. The beginning of this scene was actually the first part of this story written.

Also, for some reason when i try to type these a/n's the bold text turns off. Im not even going to mess with turning it on again and again.

Anyway, this scene has been wriiten and rewriiten several times. Im still not 100% satisfied with it, but it came a long way. This chapter rework actually changed how the rest of the story would flow, some events were moved around.

Originally, the little seawing wasnt going to talk in this chapter, at all.

i wish i could say that the next chapter will be up next week, but that would be a lie. We are entering a very busy part of the year for me, so my free time to type will be limited. But at least i have this roadblock of a chapter out of the way, and i should be able to make progress again.

Review responses

Donhp

Im glad you like the world building. Its fun to do, although i find it takes a ton of effort, and i can very easily paint myself into a corner with it.