No Greater Disaster

AN: Sorry this took so long to come out, but as I said before, this isn't my main story. I spent the time working on those (when I could), but I'll be able to spend more time on this one once those two are finished which they are both close to being.

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

Chapter 13:

Pengu watched the scene with exasperation as he begrudgingly admitted that the rather reckless idea had actually worked. "Sometimes I wonder whether you know the meaning of subtlety, Raya," he commented as they watched the swarm of guards heading towards the armory.

She shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?" Then she looked the other way and saw that the area was relatively clear. "Come on. Let's get out of this area while we can." She took off , keeping to the back alleys and shadows as much as possible, and he and the other three followed behind her.

They ducked behind another building as they heard shouting coming from around the corner. The group passed them by without spotting them, and just as Raya was about to take off again, he grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She looked back at him questioningly, and he pointed to the sign above her head.

She smirked and peaked around the corner. Seeing that the coast was clear, she waved them forward and came up to the door. Surprisingly, it was unlocked, so they entered the large stone building and looked around. There were various tools and unfinished weapons and armor scattered around, and there in the center of the room, was a large, lit forge and smelter. Raya nodded appreciatively. "Yeah, I think this'll work," Raya said.

Since the buildings were rather close together, and the ones surrounding the smithy were made of both wood and stone, an explosion from within the forge would spread the molten steel everywhere, causing massive damage to this building and the surrounding area. Add in all the unfinished weapons, and the explosion just turned into a massive shrapnel bomb. "We won't have much time to clear the area if you're about to do what I think you're about to do," the female dragon said.

"Clear the area," Pengu told them, and the other three didn't argue. Once they were safe, he turned to Raya. "You, too." She looked at him in surprise and seemed to be about to argue. "I can run faster than you," he pointed out, and she reluctantly agreed, putting her barrel of powder down and running after the other three. He sighed and shook his head as he lifted the three barrels and prepared to throw them into the fire. The wood would give him a few seconds before the powder inside exploded, but if they wanted maximum damage, the explosion had to come from inside the forge and not next to it. "This is so very unwise," he muttered to himself before throwing the barrels and running, not even bothering to watch if they even landed where he wanted them.

He wasn't even halfway across the street when the entire building detonated. While he was far enough away to prevent the shockwave from causing him harm, he didn't escape unscathed. He felt something spear into his side, causing a wave of pure agony to shoot through his body and steal his breath. He collapsed with a groan, his teeth grit against the pain as he looked to see what had hit him. One of the swords that had been lying near the forge was now impaled in his side, though it didn't feel as if it hit any major organs. "Pengu!" he heard Raya yell in panic once she saw what had happened.

She and the other dragons ran up to him as he tried to stand, though the pain caused his legs to buckle before he could. He was breathing heavily from even that small effort which only caused him even more pain, so he tried his best to control his panting and take shallow breaths.

"HEY!" a sudden shout rang out, and they all turned to see that a group of fifteen enemy soldiers had spotted them. "INTRUDERS! GET THEM!"

Raya drew her sword as they charged, grim determination steeling her against these overwhelming odds. "Get him out of here," she ordered the other three dragons. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."

He opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by the female dragon. "Go, you two…I'll watch your backs," she told the other two dragons, her tone brokered no argument, but he could sense the underlying sorrow in them. He looked to the two dragons lifting him up, and they shared a moment of hesitation before turning away and carrying him to safety.

They both paused as they reach another alleyway and looked back at the female as the fighting began in earnest. "Good luck," the younger one whispered.

Then, they were back to making their escape. Pengu thought about the look the two had shared with the female, and that she had shared with them. They obviously knew each other, and evidently, they cared a lot for each other, too. And he had a pretty good idea as to why. "Sister?" he asked sympathetically.

"Yeah," the older one answered. "She's our big sister," he clarified, and Pengu could only nod, understanding now why they were so upset at leaving her. After all, he knows what it's like being the oldest sibling.

The had been on the move for about two minutes when the alley they were in made a sharp left ahead. They turned, not slowing in the slightest and bumped into—literally—Lana and her group as well as two of the other groups.

She had been tensed up and her weapon drawn before she recognized them, and she sighed in relief, lowering her weapon. "Oh…Pengu, thank goodness you're…" she trailed off, suddenly realizing that things were very wrong once the other two dragons set him down. Her gaze landed on the sword in his side, and she immediately called for one of the other humans to help her as she knelt down next to his wound. "What happened?" she demanded, her expression and tone serious. "Where's Raya?"

"In trouble," he answered, his voice slightly strained from the pain. "She needs help."

Lana nodded and looked at the remaining human then gestured with her head in the direction the three of them had come from. "Go," she ordered him. He nodded and took off down the alley, three dragons having volunteered to help followed behind him. "Sorry, but…this is gonna hurt." With no other warning, Lana wrenched the sword free from his side, and he writhed in pain, a few other dragons having to hold him down to prevent him from moving too much. The pain only amplified when some liquid was poured onto it, and he roared in pain.

"That'll attract attention," he vaguely heard the second human state matter-of-factly.

"Agreed. Work fast," Lana replied. Then, Pengu laid there trying to catch his breath as they cleaned and bandaged his wound. A few guards did come to investigate the commotion from earlier but were quickly dispatched by the seven dragons that had been either standing guard or watching the scene with sympathetic expressions. "Time's running out, Wong!" Lana yelled as yet more guards closed on their position.

Well, at least he finally learned the other human's name. "I'm just about…done!" he called as he finished.

More footsteps were heard running down the alley, and Lana braced herself for combat once again. However… "Friendly incoming!" At the sound of a voice he didn't recognize, Lana lowered her weapon again, as the other human who had left a short time ago returned.

"What's going on, Wei? Where's Raya and the dragons that went with you?" Lana demanded.

"The dragons are with Raya. We found something, but we'll need help to clear the place out," he explained before looking as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, and there should be another explosion any second now."

The entire group looked between each other after that announcement but as the minute mark ticked past and nothing happened, one of the dragons asked, "What explosion?"

Almost as if on cue, a massive, thundering boom caused the ground to shake, and a massive column of smoke rose into the air from the other side of the camp. Lana looked at Wei as if looking for an explanation, but the human just shrugged. "There was a secondary armory, and Raya thought it would be a good idea."

Pengu just sighed at that. "I am beginning to fear that Raya might be a bit of a pyromaniac."

Wei chuckled. "Hey, everyone likes a good explosion now and then, right?"

Lana shrugged and nodded but quickly became serious once again. "Alright, let's go see what Raya found. You four," she pointed out Wong and three dragons—including the two who had carried him here, "Get Pengu somewhere safe and stay there. Preferably outside the camp, but if you can't make it, find somewhere to hunker down, and we'll come back for you. The rest of you, with me."

They all watched Lana and the rest of them following Wei at a full sprint to where Raya was. He noticed Wong shake his head in disbelief. "Where does she think we could find safety in a camp swarming with enemy soldiers?" He sighed, resigned to the fact he didn't really have a choice in the matter, and started walking at a brisk pace so the two dragons carrying Pengu could keep up with the human. His weapon was out, and he kept it close to his body in case he needed it at a moment's notice.

"It's too bad Githri isn't with us," one of the dragons carrying him commented sadly. "Her magic was healing."

Based on the tone and the sympathetic gaze from the second dragon carrying him, he could only assume what had happened to her. Though, even still he found himself asking the question. "What happened to her?" he asked quietly as Wong held up a hand for them to wait as he went forward to check the area outside of the alley by himself.

"Don't know," was the simple answer. "She disappeared some time ago, and my siblings and I went out to try and find her. She was a good friend of mine, and since she didn't have any siblings of her own, we figured no one else would volunteer to go looking."

Pengu nodded his understanding. It was quite a similar story to why he and Raya were out here. Amba had disappeared, so he came out here searching for her. He just hoped that she was okay when they found her.

He hoped all of the missing dragons would turn up okay.

Wong came back a short time later and stood before him. "I've got good news, bad news, worse news, and worst news," he said grimly.

"That's a lot of bad news," the third dragon remarked.

Wong shrugged. "Good news is that the fire worked and the guards that haven't fled are disorganized. Bad news: the fire's spreading this way. Worse news: the entrance we came through is in the middle of the blaze already. Worst news: the guards still trapped in here with us are heading this way to escape the fire."

Pengu chuckled wryly. "It seems our plan was both a massive success and a horrible failure in equal proportions. What do you suggest we do?" He knew setting off those explosions was a bad idea, but did anyone listen? No. And now they were trapped between the frying pan and the fire.

That's how that human phrase went, right?

Wong scratched the stubble on his chin in thought as he looked around. However, before he could decide a course of action, an enemy soldier turned the corner and shouted in alarm. Wong swung his sword upwards and nearly bisected the man before several other soldiers took the dead man's place. "Go!" Wong ordered while engaging the enemy. "I'll hold them off!"

The two dragons carrying him obeyed instantly while the third dragon decided to stay behind to help their human ally. From what he could see, there weren't many soldiers, but it might be enough. Alone Wong would have no chance, but with the other dragon helping him, there was a fighting chance of the two of them making it out alive.

Regardless, he couldn't do anything to help them, injured as he was. All he could do was let the two dragons carrying him escort him to safety. Though, at this point, safety was probably a relative term. They were wandering blindly without a proper destination—merely heading away from the fire and keeping distance from any enemy troops they came across. Thankfully, the soldiers were too busy trying to find their own escape routes to worry about them, so they had that going for them, at least.

Pengu had been quiet thus far to let the two brothers carrying him figure out the best ways to go, but now he felt that it was time to say something. They needed a plan, and he had an idea for one, though it was a bit of a longshot. The back of the camp was nestled against a large mesa. There might be a way for them to get to safety on its sides, or there might even be a cave or two they could shelter in. "Head for the side of the mesa," he ordered them, and they changed their course without argument.

The fire had caught up to them by the time they were near their destination—the buildings on both sides of the street they were hurrying down engulfed in the blaze. The smoke was absolutely terrible, his eyes stinging from the constant exposure. When the cliffs of the mesa came into view, they saw that there was indeed a cave mouth, and the area surrounding it looked to a loading area of some sort. There were cranes and empty wagons situated around the periphery of the area to lend credence to that fact.

They were passing under one of the cranes—which was on fire—when a resounding snap came from its structure. Pengu looked up just in time to see the flaming crane snap free from its support structure and fall straight towards them. There was no time to move before it hit them, but something hit the group of them from the side, sending them clear of the falling debris.

Pengu hissed in pain at the rough treatment, but he supposed it was better than having a flaming crane fall on them. The three of them were dazed, but when he shook his head clear, he saw that their savior had been none other than Lana. She looked both relieved to see them and utterly furious at the same time. "What are you doing here!?" she yelled at them. "I ordered you to get to safety!" Then she seemed to notice that there were two missing from their group. "Where's Wong and the other dragon?"

"Covering our retreat," Pengu answered. "There is no way out," he told her, and Lana looked out at the fire grimly. "I thought we might find shelter here on the mesa."

"Well, you're wrong," Lana told him. "Raya took everyone into that cave over there, and I volunteered to stay behind to watch our escape route in case we needed one. You're lucky I was there," she said pointedly.

All three of them nodded and thanked her profusely. There was truth in her words, and he didn't want to think about what might have happened if she hadn't been there. He owed his life to her, and he wouldn't soon forget that.

Just then, the dragon who had stayed behind to help Wong stumbled into the area. He was coughing badly from inhaling too much smoke, but he was able to make it to them before completely collapsing. Lana knelt down next to him and looked him over, nodding when she was satisfied he wasn't hurt. Then, she looked out into the fire before asking, "Where's Wong? Is he behind you?" Between fits of coughing, the dragon looked up at her sadly, and Pengu knew even before he shook his head negatively that Wong hadn't made it. Lana bowed her head with a sigh. "Damnit…" she cursed quietly before shaking her head and standing. "You four stay here. I'll go see what's going on down below."

Lana had just crossed the threshold to the cave entrance when a slightly muffled boom that undoubtedly came from a rather large underground explosion caused the ground to shake. Pengu snapped his head to the cave to try and see what was going on just as Lana threw herself back out as the cave ceiling collapsed with a mighty roar.

Lana stumbled to her feet, coughing from the dust cloud hanging over the cave mouth before she surged forward in a panic and banged a fist on one of the boulders. "No!" she denied. "No, this can't be happening! They're still down there!"

Pengu felt the blood freeze in his veins as a cold fear settled over him. He stared at the rubble as his heart clenched in dread and uttered a single name, "Raya…"

AN: Yes...it's an evil cliffhanger... But I plan to work on this one for at least a few more chapters before focusing fully on my other stories again. I like to switch back and forth between them so I don't get bored and lose motivation.

Until Next time

AdmiralCole22