No Greater Disaster

AN: I'm back at long last! Sorry for keeping everyone waiting, but I was working on my Wings of Fire stories for the last few weeks. I'm kind of going back and forth between the two universes right now, so I don't get bored writing one or the other. Keeps things interesting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Raya and the Last Dragon.

Chapter 12:

Well, the good news was he still had his horn. But that was mostly through sheer luck as they didn't have the tool to remove it here. That being said, it was still humiliating—and a bit painful—to be tied down, muzzled, and locked up like some sort of mindless animal. They had thrown a canvas sheet over his cage, too, which lead to the bad news…if one wanted to call it that.

He was tied down so tight he couldn't move much, and so he had nothing to do besides sit there while trying his best to ignore the chafing caused by the chains and manacles while also trying—and failing—to ignore the itch on his back. It was driving him absolutely crazy, and he couldn't do anything about anything until Raya or whoever else found him and unlocked the chains. And that probably wouldn't happen until they made it into the camp.

So with no other choice, he merely sat there counting the minutes until something happened. He also kept his ears open for anything important one of the guards might say, but so far he hadn't heard anything of particular use. At two-hundred-sixty-two minutes after he was captured, they loaded his cage onto a cart. Sixteen minutes later, the canvas was lifted slightly to allow a most welcome sight indeed. Raya appeared and lifted the door to his cage just enough to slip inside.

It was rather lucky these cages weren't locked. The hunters probably didn't see the point locking the cage when they simply chained the dragons up inside them tight enough they couldn't move. And since the hinges were on top of the cage, it was rather easy for her to lift.

Being as quiet as possible, she closed the short distance between them and gazed at his situation sympathetically. It seemed she found the sight of him in chains just as enjoyable as he liked being in these chains—which is to say, not at all. 'Sorry,' she mouthed. He just blinked in response since he couldn't really do much else. Despite his curiosity, he couldn't ask about the others, and Raya couldn't exactly talk without risking being overheard.

She sat down near his head and grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. They were manacled of course, but he could still move his wrist and fingers. She stroked the back of his hand with her thumbs in a reassuring gesture. He couldn't see her face, but he could tell she was upset at seeing him in this position.

The activity around the cage picked up not long after, and then the convoy started moving. During the entirety of the trip—which he counted to be a total of three-hundred and forty-three minutes—Raya never once stopped giving him some sort of physical reassurance. She would either hold one of his hands or stroke the side of his neck or even hold his head in a hug. It was highly appreciated, and honestly, if she wasn't here, he probably would have been shaking in anxiety once the carts started moving.

Almost six hours after leaving, things slowly started to change. The noise outside started to increase slightly with the presence of more hunters as the carts slowed but didn't stop. Then, the sound of an iron portcullis being raised echoed in the rather still night. About twenty minutes later, the carts had stopped. Activity around them increased once again as the cages were unloaded, and Raya's expression mirrored his own. They were both nervous about potentially being caught, and if that happened, they would both end up dead…or worse.

After fifty-four minutes, the activity around them began to thin out, and sixteen minutes after that, everything was quiet. Then, three minutes later, the sheet was lifted slightly to reveal Lana. "The coast is clear," she whispered. "Let's find the keys before the sun comes up. Otherwise, things will get complicated."

Raya nodded and stood. Before she left, however, she turned to him. "I'll be back, Pengu. Trust me on that; I will be back." He watched her leave, helpless to stop her from going and unable to defend himself if necessary. Once she had disappeared from his sight, he already felt the nervousness creeping in. He had never been in a situation remotely like this before, and he didn't like it one bit. And as the minutes dragged on, and the hour mark passed him by, he came to a conclusion.

Never in his life had he felt more alone than he did in this moment…

The only thing the truly kept him from panicking was the trust he had in Raya. She wouldn't abandon him no matter what. She still had time before sunrise, so he just needed to sit tight and have faith that she would come through on her promise. He was rewarded for his patience not ten minutes later when Raya once again appeared. And this time, she had the keys.

She immediately set about unlocking his chains while apologizing for taking so long. "Sorry I took so long. We had trouble getting these, but I don't think they know we're here yet," she explained quietly.

The first thing she had unlocked was his muzzle, so once it was removed, he stretched his jaw. "You came back, Raya. That is all that matters to me." It took almost two minutes to unlock and untangle all the chains while also being quiet—and then he was finally able to scratch that infernal itch. "How are the other dragons?" he decided to ask.

"Scared," was her immediate reply. "They don't know why this is happening to them, but they're hoping we can save them."

She paused for a moment, staring at nowhere in particular, as the last chain slid off of him and he stood. "We will," he promised. "I will not leave any of them behind. Not again."

She nodded as the canvas was lifted up to reveal Lana. She saw that he was free, and that seemed to be the only thing she cared about right then. He saw the relief in her eyes, but he also saw the will and determination to press onwards. They had a limited amount of time before they were discovered, and she wasn't going to waste it on sentimentality…yet. That would come later. "Keys," she pressed Raya urgently. She tossed them to the mercenary leader who snatched them and immediately went to work.

With only one set of keys, there wasn't anything for them to really do except press onwards, as well. Much like Lana, he knew this was no time for platitudes—not when the lives of their group and others was on the line. But he would make sure they had the time for them after they were safe once more.

So with nothing else to do except keep watch as Lana unlocked the other dragons, the two stood guard silently. Every dragon that stepped out of a cage would stare at him in shock, but more importantly, the spark of hope in their eyes had been rekindled. He gave each of them a hug for both support and reassurance. Some cried, some didn't. He didn't judge. He was just glad they could save them.

He was a symbol. He knew that. To the humans, he was this regal, mystical leader of dragonkind that was respected more than any other dragon except maybe Sisu. He never really understood his importance to them, and because of that, he often found their reactions to him amusing.

However, to his own kind, he symbolized something else. A dragon's magic is often considered unique to the individual, but the truth is that many dragons in the present had the same or similar magics to dragons of the past. But in all the generations—all the dragons—in however many centuries or millennia his kind had existed, he was the first dragon in a thousand years to possess the ability to make it rain. For dragons, water was sacred. The ability to call it forth, however, was exceedingly rare and special.

It's why he was so influential among his own kind even at such a young age. He was special because of his ability, and it symbolized things that were intrinsic to a dragon's very nature…

Freedom.

Hope.

Life.

According to the legends, a dragon with his ability only appeared before times of great change and struggle. One would think that would lead to suspicion and distrust, but it was actually the opposite. Yes, the prospect of crisis was bad, but in every story, dragonkind had survived…and then prospered. There was a saying that it was always darkest before the dawn, and it showed in his kind's history. Some of their best periods of history came after the worst disasters. The original Kumandra had been an extended golden age that started not long after another crisis in the past according to the legends. It had ended with the Druun, and he thought their defeat two years ago would lead to yet another golden age, but it hadn't. They were still fighting monsters, but this time, it wasn't the Druun.

It was people.

Speaking of which, despite them being inside one of Ronin's main camps, there weren't many guards on patrol. Perhaps the fact this camp had never been discovered before had made them all complacent, but after what happened in Spine, he wasn't going to underestimate their opponent. Those that did wander too close were quickly taken care of by Lana's men. And each time one was taken out, they all knew that their chances of being discovered rose. Eventually, someone would come looking for these men, and they needed to be ready for that. "How many left?" he asked quietly.

"Just three more," Raya reported. He nodded, satisfied that they were almost done. As he surveyed the growing group, he saw that a few of them were wary of Raya and the others now. It was unfortunate, but he could understand their reactions. Humans had done this to them, and for some, that had caused a rift of distrust for all humans.

The sun had just peaked above the horizon when Lana finished freeing the final dragon, and he released a small breath in relief that they hadn't been spotted yet. "Alright," Lana began as she rejoined him and Raya. "The dragons are free. Now it's time to cause some chaos," she smirked.

"What?" one of the dragons, a cobalt blue female with navy blue stripes asked. "You aren't leading us out?"

"The only way out is through," Lana answered, shaking her head.

Most of the dragons seemed outraged about that. They had been freed from one group of humans, only to be conscripted by others into helping when all they wanted to do was to return to their lives. Before they could get too worked up, however, he spoke. "There may be others here, too," he pointed out. "Would you leave them behind to suffer an even worse fate?" They started looking between each other, uncertain, but Pengu's next words convinced them. "Would you leave me to face these humans alone?"

Murmurs spread through the crowd before they all agreed to help. He didn't really like using his status as a symbol to his kind, but they saw him as a leader. And sometimes, leaders had to make tough decisions. Life wasn't all rainbows and butterflies. Peace can never last forever, so he had to know what to do during times of conflict.

Like now…

"We don't have a lot of time here, so we need a plan and fast," Raya said urgently.

Lana shook her head, however. "The only thing we know about this place is what the six of us saw while we were trying to find the keys. We don't know enough to make a proper plan. We'll just have to wing it as we go," she insisted. Raya didn't seem too comfortable with that idea—and neither did he, for that matter—but she had a valid point. "All I know is that most of the camp should still be quiet." She turned to address the group of dragons. "How many of you want revenge?" she asked them.

Pengu held back his discomfort with her choice of words as they all agreed. He didn't believe in revenge. He believed in justice, but as the saying went, the line between those two could get a bit muddled at times. However, if that's what they needed to hear, he would just have to deal with the aftermath. He didn't need a bunch of vindictive dragons going about killing humans after this. Though that point was probably moot with what was about to happen.

He took a head count. There were twenty-four dragons including himself. "Let us split into groups," he suggested. "One human and four dragons."

Lana nodded at that. "Agreed. It'll allow us to cover more ground but try and stay relatively close to each other. If we get split up, we'll be easy targets." Within minutes, the groups were assigned, and they went off to cause some damage in the time remaining before the camp became too active.

It quickly became obvious as he followed Raya, three other dragons behind him, that she had a particular destination in mind. "Where are we going?" he prompted her as they ducked behind a building to scan their surroundings. Seeing that it was clear, she waved them onwards.

"I think I saw something earlier that might help us," she whispered. They ducked behind another building, and Raya peaked around the corner. She quickly ducked back and gestured for them to get down just in time for a four-man patrol to pass them by without spotting them. She watched them turn a corner down the street before peaking back around the corner. He followed suit and saw what had grabbed her attention.

"The armory?" he asked.

She nodded. "A camp this size is sure to stock black powder. We take some and plant it around the camp, and boom: instant chaos." There were more patrols on the streets now, and the armory had guards. "The problem is getting over there."

One of the dragons, a dark purple male with navy blue strips, grabbed his attention. "I can turn invisible…" he said, though it also served as a suggestion.

Raya looked at the one who spoke in surprise. "Huh…handy," she commented. "Lead away the guards, and we'll take care of the rest. Just don't get caught," she warned, and he nodded, disappearing. Less than a minute later, the two guards looked at each other as if they heard something before walking away to investigate. "Alright, let's move," she waved them forward, and they all dashed across the street. Raya tried the door only to find that—surprise—it was locked.

Without a word, the only female dragon in their group simply walked through the door to Raya's absolute shock. As a matter of fact, he had been taken by surprise, too. He didn't know any of these dragons which meant they were most likely not from any of the groups that stayed in Heart.

In short order, the door had been unlocked from the inside, and the rest of them quickly went inside. "Grab what you can. We'll detonate the rest of it once we're clear," Raya instructed them. The barrels were tucked in a corner and were small enough to carry—about two feet tall and fifty pounds each. Each dragon present grabbed two while Raya broke one open and made a trail of powder to the door. Then she grabbed another, heading to the door to get ready to leave. Before that, however, she grabbed one of the torches—making sure to keep it well away from the barrel in her hands—and lit the trail of powder.

They ran, the invisible dragon joining them just as the guards came back around and spotted them. Their yells were cut off as the forty-odd barrels of powder left detonated in a massive fireball. The shockwave was strong enough to pick Raya up, but he grabbed her before she could hit something else.

The camp's alarm bell went off as the column of smoke rose higher and the flames spread farther. Shouts of alarms rang out as guards started converging on their location, so the five of them decided to split before the were caught. "Well, if they didn't know we were here before, they certainly do now," the female dragon commented.

"They'll be too busy worrying about that fire to find us," Raya pointed out. Then she turned back to them. "Let's blow up some more stuff," she said with a smirk.

AN: Raya sure does know how to make an impression, doesn't she? Oh, we need a distraction? Let's just detonate an entire stockpile of black powder! Well, whatever works...

I did have a question I was a bit curious about, though. What actor/voice actor would you imagine Pengu would sound like? I'm kind of leaning towards him having a bit of a British accent, but not too strong. So I was thinking like Orlando Bloom or something. What do all of you think?

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22