Woah, it's been a hot minute since I've posted on this story, huh? Sorry about the brief delay, school and work got the best of me for these past couple weeks. I'm happy to say that, while they will be more sporadic and slow going than I initially planned, updates will continue. I want to thank my readers for sticking with me during this short wait, and thank you guys for ten followers on this story! Means a lot that people actually want to read this. Got another Morgan chapter coming at ya', but after this big boy we're heading back to Berk for more of Lucinda's arc! Getting some action in this one, say buckle your seatbelts!

A Future Past, a New Fate

Chapter 5: Scream

~Morgan~

"So… Aür is like a dragon's own personal branch of magic?"

Greenscale sighed, then nodded. "Yes… are you starting to get it now?" He asked, almost pleading with me as he threw an exasperated glance in my direction.

I nodded slowly, reluctant with my answer. "Sort of… it seems similar to mana, but Gods, there's a lot of differences between them."

"I get that, but does that really warrant me explaining the basics of Aür over and over again?" Greenscale replied, sounding mentally exhausted from the healing he had performed just twenty minutes ago and explaining to me what Aür was four times over.

I chuckled, grinning sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that… trying to get a good grasp on something this huge is harder than it sounds," I apologized.

My newest companion simply smirked. "That's exactly how I feel right now. If someone told me I would be teaching a human-turned-dragon how to fly just a couple hours ago, I would've laughed in their face and examined their head," Greenscale joked, laughing silently to himself.

I laughed alongside him. "I can imagine."

For the past half-hour or so, Greenscale took the time to try and explain to me what exactly Aür was. He was a little surprised at first to hear that I had no idea what he was talking about when he mentioned Aür, but chalked it up to inexperience, since I had only been a dragon for a few hours at most.

Aür was essentially a much a more personal version of magic. Where mana was drawn from the earth itself, Aür was pulled from the user's own personal pool of it. Every dragon's Aür was very slightly different from one another, unlike mana which was the same energy that every mags pulled from. It was very comparable to the soul, but that's just what made it so confusing to me! How were dragons able to contain and use a magical energy source like Aür? I've read about several mages trying and failing spectacularly to fuse mana into their body, so it was written off as impossible! Maybe it has to do something with the way mana responds to a dragon?

I fought off the growing headache I was beginning to get. It'll all be answered in due time, I suppose…

"Ah, here we go. This should be perfect," I heard Greenscale say approvingly, snapping me out of my internal rambling. I glanced over to the area he had chosen for my flight lessons, my sharper eyes taking in every detail. The smell of the ocean was much stronger now, probably because we were right next to a cliff that dropped off into the literal ocean. My jaw opened slightly as I stared over the cliff, in awe of the beautiful sight before me. The sun was just starting to dip below the sea, filling the skies with a mixture of reds, oranges and purples. The sea was calm, the deep blue waters lapping against the rocks below, spraying the salty water a couple feet upwards. Fluffy clouds floated aimlessly in the sky, the sun's rays painting them with a soft yellow.

"Woah…" I whispered, not wanting to take my eyes away from the view. It was probably the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen, bar none.

Greenscale must have noticed my amazed expression, because he chuckled before smirking. "Yes, it's quite the view, but you can enjoy it later in a much better spot." He said, nudging me slightly with his wing.

I glanced over to him. "What spot would be better than this one?" I asked him, not entirely sure what he could possible be talking about.

He smirked. "How about… the sky?"

My wings instinctively twitched, and I perked up immediately. "...I like the sound of that," I agreed, trying to ignore the tingly feeling I was getting in my two new appendages.

His smirk grew slightly wider, showing off his sharp teeth within. "Then let's get started." He turned, gesturing with his wing over to a slightly elevation in the cliffline, almost like a ramp, which led to another higher elevation about thirty yards over, like a plateau. "I'll say you're proficient enough when you can get from this spot," he pointed at the ramp-like elevation. "To that spot," he moved his wing to the higher plateau area. "With relative ease."

I shrugged, smiling to myself. "Alright, sounds good to me!" I affirmed, quickly bounding over to the spot he had pointed to first. I was really excited to try and actually fly, and besides, how hard could it be? Greenscale made it look relatively easy, and I've seen how Pegasus's fly before, so this should be a snap!

"Spread your wings out!" I heard Greenscale order. I nodded firmly in reply, holding my head high as I felt the leathery texture of my wings unfurl to their full length. I immediately felt the wind brush the underside of them, filling me with a sense of anticipation. I was about to fly. Actually fly!

Greenscale grunted, though if it was in approval or something else I couldn't tell. "Crouch down, and use your hind legs to push off!" He instructed. I couldn't help but grin to myself as I lowered my body to the ground, the powerful muscles in my hind legs tensing up. I counted down in my mind; 'Three… two… one…!'

'GO!' I pushed with my hind legs, angling my body upwards so I could get a good amount of height. I felt my body leave the ground, the wind catching under my wings, and for a moment I was flying.

… Then I came crashing headfirst into the earth.

"No, no, no, NO, AUGH!" I yelled out in pain when my head impacted the rocky ground, the headache I was feeling from before now back with a vengeance. I groaned softly to myself as I rolled onto my back, my wings folding underneath the weight of my form. 'Owwwww… that hurt more than it should've…' I sulked, rubbing the top of my head with my right paw.

It was when Greenscale's heavy laughter reached my ears that I realized that this was going to be a lot harder than I initially thought.

I groaned in pain and frustration, although more of the latter as I picked myself up from the ground after my latest crash landing. That's not to say my body didn't hurt, however. Oh no, it was quite the opposite. My wings were aching from the constant flapping and crashing, my chest hurt from landing heavily on the rocks, and my head especially was pounding from the many, many collisions I've had up to this point. I would probably put the amount of times I've crash-landed at around twenty. I was beginning to grow tired of the monotony of flying in the air for a few seconds, flapping once, then veering towards the ground or off in some random direction. That one crash I had into the ocean was definitely the least pleasant crash I've experienced.

"You're making progress! That time you had about a second more of airtime," Greenscale praised, though I could tell there was a joking undertone to it.

I snarled angrily at him, the last few attempts of pain and failure starting to affect my normally upbeat mood. "I'm really beginning to doubt you as a teacher," I said, my eyes narrowed in frustration.

My anger didn't affect him whatsoever, as he simply smiled cheekily. "My philosophy is that failure is the best teacher."

I froze, my eyes softening ever so slightly. 'Failure is the best teacher.'

I would remember those words for all my life.

I stared with hardened eyes at my foe, a menacing figure that had caused much trouble for me in the past weeks. He had proven formidable in our past encounters, able to take my magic attacks with ease, but this time I was stronger. I was ready.

The soft glow of my Arcthunder tome illuminated my face, and I felt the spell's familiar pull on my mana reserves as I drew the necessary power to perform the adept-level spell.

I shot out my right arm, the magical energy transmuting itself into electricity, the bolts jumping over my charmed sleeve. Such usage of an Arc-level spell required some sort of protection, and thankfully mom put some protective magic over my robe to protect myself from some magic damage.

"Arcthunder!" I shouted when the energy reached a peak in my hand, releasing the powerful magic by thrusting my arm forward. Powerful bolts of lightning shot from every direction around my target, closing in on my adversary. I smirked. Victory was all but assured for me!

The electricity collided with the area, covering my target with a flash of light. I squinted, still not entirely used to the explosion of light Arcthunder caused on a successful cast.

When the light cleared, I glanced over to where I was aiming, eager to see what had become of my foe.

Only to find that every bolt had missed it's mark, leaving an unscathed training dummy surrounded by charred earth. My jaw dropped in shock. "Wha- but, but how?!" I exclaimed in exasperation, not exactly sure how I missed every single shot on a stationary target.

Raucous laughter filled my ears, and I sighed in indignation. "Mom, cut it out! I'm trying my best, you know," I said angrily, though I was more mad with my spectacular failure than with my mother.

She raised her hands in front of her, looking slightly apologetic, though she was still smiling widely. "Sorry, Morgan, but your reaction was absolutely priceless!" She tittered, walking up to me and ruffling my hair.

I tried to keep the furious look on my face, but my mother's smile was too much for me, and I broke down laughing with her. "Haha… yeah, I must've looked like Uncle Gaius when you told him to take a break from sweets."

She nodded in agreement. "Oh, definitely. But don't get discouraged by not hitting the dummy, that was probably the best Arcthunder I've seen out of you yet," My mom praised, putting a hand on my shoulder as she did so.

I sent her a curious look. "Really? But… I missed every shot! The last few times I at least hit one," I pointed out, gesturing to the untouched dummy. My mother simply smiled, putting a hand to her chin as she nodded slightly. "While that may be true, those last few ones had about the same power as one of your Elthunders, which is why you were able to control the raw power of a much more volatile Arc spell. That cast you just did," she gestured towards the destroyed earth. "That was a true Arcthunder. You're getting there, you just need some more practice," She praised, lightly patting me on the shoulder. I bristled when I noticed she scuffed my shoulder, and I quickly brushed it to smooth out the wrinkles.

I huffed, not really believing her words. "But I've been practicing for, like, a month now, and I've made barely any progress!" I argued back, throwing my arms up in frustration and crossing them over my chest. I was just so fed up with all the failed casts. Who knew that transitioning from El level spells to Arc level spells could be so difficult? When I had moved from the basic Fire, Thunder and Wind spells to the El versions it wasn't nearly as hard as this!

My mother's smile never wavered, her eyes shining with laughter. "Take this from somebody with experience… failure is the best teacher out there. Better than me, your father… better than anything out there," she told me, grabbing both of my shoulders and turning me to face her. I looked into her silver eyes, the orbs reflecting so much care and love. "Trust me when I say that failure is not something to be afraid of. You take those failures and piece them together into something great. Why do you think I have so many history books?" She asked rhetorically, ruffling my hair as she broke her contact with me.

I simply stared, taking in the information she had presented to me. "Huh… I never thought of it like that," I admitted, putting a hand on the back of my neck as I thought.

The Grandmaster of Ylisse grinned wide as I said that. "Of course not, that's why you haven't been making as much progress as you've wanted. Sometimes you've got to think about things…" She punctuated her statement by pulling out her own Arcthunder tome and riffling through it, a soft yellow glow illuminating her gloves hands. With one swift motion, powerful electricity suddenly shot towards the dummy, obliterating the wooden target with a mere wave of the hand. "... From a different perspective."

I stared in awe at the destroyed target, subconsciously glancing down at my own Arcthunder. 'Outside the box…'

"Hey, Morgan? Morgan!"

I blinked in surprise at Greenscale's voice, abruptly snapping me out of my reminiscing. I looked over to the Ripwing, who was staring at with a confused expression. "Are you alright? You spaced out for a second there," He asked, a worried undertone evident in his voice.

I blanked on what he was talking about for a moment, then abruptly nodded, realizing that I had been thinking about that one memory for a bit longer than I probably should've. "O-oh, Y-yeah, sorry, just thinking. That 'philosophy' of yours reminded of something, that's all," I answered after a beat of silence, trying to assure him nothing was the matter.

I could tell that Greenscale wasn't entirely convinced by my words, judging from his furrowed brow and skeptical look, but he ultimately sighed in defeat, glancing towards the ground for a second. "Alright… let's continue with the lesson, then. What do you think is going wrong with your flights so far?" He prompted, trying to figure out what I was doing incorrectly.

I put a claw to my chin, sitting on my haunches as I began to think. What was I doing wrong? "Well… It feels like I've got the wings and flapping part right, but I just feel like I'm missing something…" I admitted. I could feel that something deep in the recesses of my mind was telling me that there was something I wasn't doing. Something wasn't clicking.

Greenscale seemed deep in thought. "Hmm… that is curious… I haven't seen a Shadowshifter fly before, so perhaps there is something that Shadowshifters have that Ripwings don't? It's entirely possible," My teacher rationalized, pacing back and forth as he rambled.

I nodded subconsciously, my stare set on someplace far away as I thought long and hard about what I wasn't doing right. 'Shadowshifters fly differently, huh? What about them is different…?' Judging by how my body felt right when I flapped but still veered far off course mere seconds into the flight, it must have something to do with the stabilization of my body. Maybe I had a second set of wings I didn't know about?

Deciding to test my theory out, I tried to feel around my new muscular structure to see if there were an groups of muscles that felt similar to the set of wings attached to my back. I felt my wings twitch slightly, and the muscles attached to my back tended in response. 'Right, there those are, and…'

That's strange… something twitched way farther below my back.

Blinking in surprise and confusion, I glanced backwards to where I felt the twitch originate from, and my eyes widened upon the realization of just what I was moving.

Two fin-like protrusions sat innocently at the end of my tail, fanning in and out as I slowly moved my newly discovered muscles.

'What the… how long have those been there?' I thought, staring at my two newly discovered appendages. They felt exactly like the wings on my back, just… smaller.

"Hey, Green," I called, catching the Ripwing's attention. "Maybe it has something to do with these?" I said, swinging my tail in front of me, showing off the little tail-wings I had just discovered, unfurling them in and out to punctuate my find.

Greenscale's eyes went wide for a split second, before narrowing slightly as he moved closer to me, his eyes staring intently at my tail as he inspected it. "Hmm… It certainly does look like these tailfins control your stability in the air. I've heard that some other dragons have a pair of tailfins, maybe that's what you're doing wrong. Up to this point, I've been teaching you like a Ripwing, and, as you can see," He picked his tail straight upward behind him, wriggling it slightly. "I don't even have tailfins. So, during this next attempt, try incorporating your tailfins, see what happens." He instructed, letting his tail fall back onto the earthy ground with a small thud.

I nodded in affirmation, agreeing completely with his observation. "Can't hurt to try, can it?" I asked rhetorically, slowly walking over to the rock I've been jumping off of for the past hour, trying to ignore my throbbing muscles and joints as I did so. 'Actually, scratch that. It definitely can and will hurt to try.'

I carefully set my feet in the usual starting position I had used for the past twenty attempts, the stone beginning to wear since my claws keep scraping on it from my numerous liftoffs. I closed my eyes, letting air filter through my tired lungs as I calmed my breathing, forgetting about the previous failures, about the bruises littered over my body. The only thing that existed right now were me, my wings and the sky. My wings slowly unfurled themselves from my back, letting the wind catch underneath the sensitive scales. I felt my… tailfins, I think Greenscale called them, flatten themselves instinctively, and for the first time since my very first attempt, I felt confident in my abilities. I usually wasn't one to doubt myself, but throw so many failures at a person and anybody will begin to doubt themselves.

I took a deep breath to calm myself, then with practiced grace that someone acquires from failing at least twenty different times, I launched myself into the air, using my hind legs to once again push of the rock. I felt the gravel roll under my large hind paws as they quickly left solid ground, the air beating against my face as I spread my wings wide. Around this time on the previous attempts, I would futilely flap my wings a couple times before pitifully crashing headfirst into the unforgiving earth. I knew, however, as I adjusted my tailfins to be parallel with the ground, this time would be different. With the grace of a Pegasus, I shifted my shoulder blades as I rose higher in the air from my first couple of wingbeats, a grin worming it's way onto my face as I quickly realized that I was flying. I was actually flying!

The spot that I had been aiming for was getting closer and closer now, and I flapped my wings a couple times to gain some more height, angling my tailfins downwards as I did so. I sliced through the air like a knife, my aches and pains from my previous attempts all but forgotten. The feeling of flying was indescribable, the wind beating against my face filling me with adrenaline and the air filling my wings made me feel like I could do anything and go anywhere.

In a way, I could.

Before I knew it, I was touching down on the ledge that Greenscale had pointed out, using my hind legs to land first before falling forward onto my front paws. My breathing was heavy, not from tiredness, however, but from just how exciting flying was. I couldn't help but grin wide, laughing boisterously to myself. I whooped, standing on my hind legs and pumping a paw into the air, before falling straight onto my back, laughing the whole way. "That was… so cool!" I exclaimed happily, righting myself back onto my paws, almost bouncing with giddiness.

I saw Greenscale fly up to the ledge I was on, his eyes twinkling with pride and happiness, before landing next to me, a large smile mirroring mine on his muzzle. "Morgan, that was great! You're a natural at flying! A little practice, and you'll be unbeatable in the air, I'm sure," He praised, looking very proud of either himself for teaching me, or me for doing well. Probably a bit of both.

I chuckled sheepishly. "Aw, thanks, Green. I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help!" I said gratefully, bowing my head slightly after saying the last part.

Greenscale responded with a slight grin, his teeth glinting in the setting sunlight. "Don't thank me just yet. I said you would be proficient when you could make it from that rock to here with relative ease, correct?" He pointed out, gesturing over to my makeshift launching pad and the area we were currently standing on.

I blinked in confusion, wondering what he meant. "Er… yeah, what of it?" I asked, a small feeling of dread laced in my voice.

"I don't think one victory after around fifty failures if proficient. When you can do ten of those runs you just did in a row, then we can stop," He explained, a cheeky smirk growing on his face the entire time he talked.

My eyes went wide, and I stared at him with disbelief. "Are you joking?" I pleaded, hoping to whatever Gods were present in this time that he was just pulling my leg.

The look he sent me told me everything I needed to know.

I sighed in annoyance, grumbling to myself as I jumped off of the higher ground back to the cliffside. "Godsdamnit, you've got to be kidding me…"

What followed was the most painful experience since Lucina's last "Hour of Hell", as the rest of us so affectionately dubbed it.

Turns out, just because I knew what I had to do, doesn't mean I was good at it. I wasn't exactly the most graceful person in the world. Compared to Lucina, actually, I was downright clumsy. Knowing her, if she was turned into a dragon as well, she would have a much easier time getting down the balance and technical stuff.

Me, however? It took me three hours just to get ten runs in a row. Sometimes I would fail on the first run, no big deal, but a couple times I was so close to completing it, on the eighth or ninth run through, but I always fell short. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity for me, I managed to complete ten successful short flights. I was dead-tired as I sloppily touched down onto the ledge, collapsing onto the floor as soon as I could and panting heavily from the exertion of flying so damn much. Normally, I would be laughing and yelling about such a hard-fought victory, but I was so exhausted that I didn't even have the energy to muster any sort of triumphant shout.

Greenscale, who had been watching me the entire time, landed next to my limp form, looking down at me with worried eyes. "Are you alright there, Morgan? You look half-dead right now…" He said.

I wanted to yell at him for even thinking that I was on the 'alright' side of the hurting spectrum, but I settled for a indignant grumble, very slowly getting to my feet so I don't agitate my burning leg muscles. My wings felt like they were about to fall off from how much I used them in the past few hours, and my entire body had bruises and little scrapes littered across it from the many, many collisions I was forced to endure. I sent my teacher a glare. "What… do you… think…?" I shot back at him in between deep gulps of air, trying desperately to refill my tired lungs.

Greenscale grimaced before chuckling sheepishly, a guilty look plastered on his muzzle. "Yeah, we might've overdone it…" He muttered, glancing away from me with a mixture of guilt and embarrassment, probably for not letting me stop sooner.

I mustered to sputter in disbelief, my glare intensifying ever so slightly. "Gee… ya think?" I asked rhetorically. 'Might've overdone it' was the understatement of the Godsdamned millennium. Overdoing it meant you felt like you were just a little more tired than you normally felt after a particularly hard training session or battle. What I felt right now was akin to feeling like you were about to die or collapse from sheer exhaustion, whatever came first.

'At least I feel a lot more confident about my flying skills,' I conceded to myself, noting that the hell I had just been put through did have some benefits.

Greenscale looked me over for a second, before sighing. "You should probably get some sleep before you go looking for your sister, it would do you no good to fall into the ocean because you were tired… what do you say?" He questioned.

I responded by simply collapsing onto the ground, my eyelids already slammed shut. "Yup… sounds good to me…" I sighed, the feeling of beautiful, blissful sleep already beginning to envelop my senses.

I heard Greenscale chuckle quietly. "Lazy Shadowshifter…" He muttered, before my brain decided to call it quits for the day, my body finally getting a well-deserved rest.

I was awakened from my (thankfully) dreamless sleep by a loud roar in the distance, followed by violent tremors shaking the very earth me and Greenscale were currently resting on.

I let out a yell of shock, not expecting to be awakened so abruptly, my eyes snapping open in reflex. I quickly got to my feet, noting that my body, while still sore, was nowhere near the condition it was yesterday. My eyes frantically glanced around my surroundings, noting that nothing significant had changed, save for the tremors now ravaging the surrounding flora and fauna. Greenscale was awake as well, looking just as confused and frightened as I was. "What's going on!?" I yelled over the loud noises.

My companion seemed surprised to see I was awake. "I-I don't know! Langt Borte isn't known to have earthquakes!" He answered truthfully, his eyes wide with fear.

I grimaced, my ears instinctively folding against the back of my head as another roar sounded out in the distance, it's piercing volume causing my ears to ring. "What in the world was that?!" I wondered aloud, turning my head to where I heard the massive roar coming from. If there was one thing I knew about roars like that, it was that it usually meant people were in trouble, and I hated standing by when people are in trouble and I can do something about it. Before, I knew it, my wings were slowly unfurling themselves from my back. Lucina always said I was a little reckless when it came to saving people.

Greenscale must have noticed what I was doing, because he suddenly landed in front of me, his eyes looking worried. "Morgan, don't even think about going towards whatever dragon that was." He ordered, that same authoritative voice from just a few hours ago when he was teaching me sounding a little wavery for some reason.

I met his gaze with steel in my eyes, not backing down for a second. "People- er, Dragons could be in danger over there! What if whatever that was is attacking some innocent dragons? You're just going to let them get hurt?" I shot back, the many times I've argued with Lucina over a battle plan coming to mind. We both wanted to save people, but we have differing opinions on how we should go about it.

The green dragon's gaze faltered slightly, not expecting me to snap back like that, before hardening again. "I don't want to see you get hurt, either! You don't really know how to fly all that well, hell, you don't even know how to use your fire or Aür! What do you expect to do that will help whoever is, if there's anyone, over there?" I was actually a little taken aback by just how worried he sounded for me, but I couldn't let that get to me. I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to make sure that nobody dies, even if I don't even know them.

"...I'm sure I'll figure something out," I responded, before spreading my wings wide and taking off into the sky, flying as fast as I could without plummeting back to the earth. I heard Greenscale call my name behind me, but I ignored him. If he was going to let innocent dragons die, then that's fine by me, but I was going to help in any way I could.

I heard another piercing roar blast my eardrums, making me flinch from the sheer volume of it. The brief disorientation almost made me lose my focus and therefor my balance, but I quickly recovered, determined to make it to wherever the commotion was coming from. 'I'm not gonna let anyone die. Not while I'm alive to make a difference!'

I saw a couple dragons that I didn't recognize flying my way, looking very panicked and worried. They were both the same species, it looked like, but how they were up in the air was beyond me. Their wings were incredibly stubby compared to the rest of their bulky body, with huge jaws and massive teeth poking out of their mouths. Their tails looked especially sturdy, possibly used for bashing their foes in combat. They looked like they were trying to run from whatever I heard over there, so maybe they know something about what exactly that "thing" was.

"Hey! You two!" I called, trying to get the pair's attention. They seemed a little surprised to hear my voice, and when they turned to face me they looked even more shocked for whatever reason. I ignored it, however, flying up to them and hovering in place, panting slightly. "Can you two tell me what's going on over there?" I asked, gesturing with my head over towards the source of those loud roars.

They instantly tensed up, their eyes filled with terror. "Oh, Naga, it was horrible! This huge, white dragon appeared from the ground, and started feasting on the island! Me and my mate were able to get out, but I saw some get trapped in their caves from the tremors!" The large dragon on the right explained hastily, his voice shaky with fear. The dragon on the left, his mate, presumably, cowered during his explanation.

I swore under my breath. 'Of course it has to be a huge dragon. Why wouldn't it be a huge dragon?!' I thought, exasperated. It seemed like, everywhere I went, there was some kind of huge evil dragon waiting for me. Everytime!

I nodded my head in thanks for the information, before heading off towards where the two were coming from. "W-Wait! Where are you going?" I heard the female dragon call after me, sounding worried for my well being.

I turned to her, smiling confidently. "To help, of course!"

I had flown for a little over five minutes before I came across the area those two dragons had spoken of. On the way there, more dragons passed me by, all looking terrified out of their minds, but since I already knew where I was going there was no need to stop and talk to them. Besides, I needed to get there as fast as I could before others got hurt.

I raked my eyes across the ruined area as I touched down on the edge of the destruction, a feeling of sympathy and dread settling into my stomach. 'Gods… it looks like a war happened here.'

What once might have been a center for dragons of all shapes and sizes to settled down and relax, was now a pile of rubble and fire. The cliff I was currently sitting on the edge of led down into a series of ledges, but those ledges were now covered with large, jagged rocks that possible came from a landslide when the tremors first began. The ledges went lower and lower until eventually reaching a flatter region that bled into the shoreline, plumes of fire sprouting here and there as my eyes followed the carnage. That wasn't even close to be being the worst part, however. My ears folded against the back of my head as I realized those roars I had been hearing for a couple minutes now were the terror and anger filled cries of dragons trapped underneath the rubble, unable to muster the firepower or strength to tear away the rocks. 'What could have caused such damage?' I inwardly wondered. Only a massively powerful spell like Valflame or Mjolnir could've done enough to cause such a massive landslide, maybe Bolganone if the user was powerful enough.

My answer was abruptly given to me when a massive white dragon suddenly erupted from a fissure in the ground, almost making me lose my balance and tumble down into the rocks below. The entire earth seemed to shake as it rose into the air, a small (compared to the rest of it's body, at least) central body that had a huge maw filled to the brim with razor sharp teeth topping off it's massive form. It led to a large pair of wings which helped it speed upward, and an extremely long tail covered in all sorts of dangerous looking spikes. I managed to catch a glimpse of it's eyes, and they were straight red, like there was no emotion at all. It let out an earsplitting roar, and I struggled to keep my feet on the ground as I firmly pressed my ears against the back of my head, trying to block out as much of the horrible noise as I could.

"What is that thing?" I said to myself, staring at the demon-like dragon with a mix of awe and apprehension.

"White Demon." I jumped nearly six feet in the air when I heard Greenscale's voice next to me, not expecting for the Ripwing to have followed me. He stared at what he called a 'White Demon' with hardened eyes, following it's movements through the air.

I put a paw to my chest, feeling the rapid palpitations. "Good Naga, Green, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" I exclaimed, trying to calm my raging heart.

Whether he heard me or not I did not know, he simply glared at the massive dragon. "An extremely powerful dragon that I've only heard mentioned a couple times before. It's said they feast on islands, and are never satisfied until they have consumed almost twenty times their weight in stone," He grimly explained.

'Twenty times…? That thing looks like it weighs about five times more than Minerva!' Indeed, it was an incredibly long and large dragon, but as I continued staring at the White Demon, watching as it scanned the landscape as if looking for something, I couldn't help but think that I've faced bigger. I suppressed a shiver, an image of Grima flashing through my mind. 'Much bigger…'

Greenscale sighed, though this one sounded much angrier than before. "Morgan, don't you see? There's no conceivable way for us to even try and defeat such a menace!" He argued, trying to talk me out of this so we could leave somewhere safe. But for a tactician, the safety of your troops and securing a victory were the two most important things to consider when making a decision. Your own safety came second when the safety of many others were at stake.

"Rule one of being a tactician," I began. Greenscale looked at me, confused. I turned to him, determination burning in my eyes. "Never assume something is impossible." And with that, I leapt down towards where I heard the closest roars coming from, using my more sensitive ears to try and pinpoint where they were coming from. I needed to free as many of the trapped dragons as I could without garnering the attention of the White Demon, because as soon as I did I would have to fight it. I knew that with some careful planning and good execution, I could probably beat it in a fight, but I knew next to nothing about my foe, so chances of success were slim… but not nonexistent.

"Morgan! Stop! This is suicidal!" Greenscale harshly whispered, sounding desperate as he landed next to where I had jumped. He seemed very adamant about me not getting hurt, but as touching as it was, I had to save these dragons.

I sighed. "Green, I appreciate your concern, but… these dragons need help. And if nobody else is going to provide it, then I will." I said, firm about my position in the matter. "If you want to run so you don't get hurt, then that's fine by me. I don't blame you, but I'm going to provide as much help as I can, no matter the cost."

He was silent for a moment, his eyes looking into mine. I saw the worry there, the prominent fear, but there was something more there… it almost looked like admiration.

"...Alright." Greenscale began, rolling his shoulder blades. "What can we do?"

I blinked in surprise. He wasn't leaving? "Wait, but… you want to help?" I asked, genuinely confused. I didn't expect such a change in attitude from him at all.

He paused, before nodding reluctantly. "As terrified as I am, I'm not gonna let you tackle this on your own. So consider me your partner for this rescue operation."

I stared at him, mouth agape. I was a little stunned, if I was being honest. "Wow… okay, thanks, Green." I said, grateful for him offering his help. With him by my side, I'm sure this whole thing will go a lot easier. Now, it was time to get down to work. Going into what Cynthia called my 'business mode', I furrowed my brow as I scanned all of my options so I could make a quick plan of attack. The rocks were rather large, and judging from the various burn marks scattered around followed by the smaller bits of rubble, the dragons that had the firepower to escape already have, which left either the dragons with weaker fire, or the younger ones. The million-gold question is how do I find something that could break through these rocks? The only thing I could think of is either a powerful Arcfire or a Bolganone, but…

I had a sudden realization. 'The Aür… Green said it was like magic, but you pulled from yourself rather than using a conduit like a tome… maybe…?'

I quickly turned to Green, an idea now firmly set in my mind. "Green, give me a quick rundown on how Aür works really quick," I asked, though it was more like a direct order. At times like this, I was so used to giving orders to an army that it kind of blended into how I made plans.

Greenscale seemed a tad taken aback by my sudden change in attitude. "Oh, er, well, Aür is basically an energy that all dragons have within them, almost like an extension of their soul. If one wants to use their Aür, they have to channel the energy through them and release it into whatever form they want it to take," He explained quickly, trying to keep the explanation brief.

I nodded as I listened intently to his small speech, a plan beginning to formulate in my mind. It was crazy, and banked all on my ability to do something that was only a little similar to something from back home, but sometimes the best plans came from the most improbable places. "When you see the White Demon, give me some sort of signal." I told my partner.

He looked at me, confused. "Wait, what? What are you going to do?"

"Well, I don't exactly want to get caught by the damn thing, do I? I'm going to try and free these dragons, and to make sure we don't get caught by it, I need you to give me a signal, alright?" I told him, coming off a little more aggressive than I originally wanted to. The last thing my plan needed was I giant, hungry, bloodthirsty dragon barreling towards me in the middle of trying to free some dragons. I could probably plan around it, but I most definitely did not want to try my luck.

Green's eyes widened a bit at my tone, before nodding rapidly. "R-right, I got it," He said, turning to look at the skies. Thankfully, the White Demon wasn't in sight at the moment so I could get started at trying to figure out my Aür.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath as I calmed my nerves. Using magic required the utmost concentration, and I'm guessing Aür was the same way. I reached deep into my mind and body, looking for that familiar sensation of mana. It wasn't long before I came across a pool of energy that felt so similar to the mana I always used, yet… it was so foreign to me. I held back a wide smile. 'So this is Aür… let's put it to good use.'

I imagined that pool of energy was a tome held firmly in my grip, the pages riffling slightly in the breeze. 'I think an Arcfire will do,' I thought to myself, pulling a portion of the Aür from my reserves much like I would with a tome. I felt the energy disperse itself through my body, and then my scales began to feel abnormally warm, heating up quickly as the mana I had pulled reached every corner of my body, though it was mostly present in my chest. "What the…" I heard Green mutter, but I paid no mind to him at the moment. Had my eyes been open, I might've been able to see glowing-red, vein-like lines sprouting across my body. A tell-tale sign of the adept fire spell I was about to use. I felt my mana rising in power, my scales growing hotter.

Then, with a final roar, I released it.

"ARCFIRE!" I yelled, releasing a blast of extremely hot, concentrated magical fire from my maw, disintegrating the stone as soon as the fire touched it. I could feel the intense heat as the flames poured out of my throat, though I felt no heat from the inside, no searing of the inside of my mouth. Perhaps my mana instinctively threw up a protective shield on the inside of my throat to protect it from the intense heat. Arcfire was an extremely destructive, yet still controllable spell, so once I saw three dragons I didn't recognize cowering in the back of the cave I had uncovered with the flames, I quickly cut it off, wincing slightly as I did so. 'Geez… that took a lot more out of me than usual.'

I jumped into the cave, frowning as the three dragons eyes widened in fear, taking a step back from me. "Are you three alright?" I asked, ignoring their fear. In times like this, fear was a hindrance and could get you killed. The three looked somewhat surprised at my question, before they rapidly nodded, not looking as tense as they did before. "Good, now I need you three to get out of here as quick as you can! You don't have much time before that dragon comes back!" I ordered, which they responded to with firm nods, quickly taking off around me and through the opening I had created, their small wings carrying them over the treeline. 'Good… three down.'

"What in the world was that, Morgan?!" I heard Green's incredulous voice ask me. His eyes were wide with shock as he stared at me with complete surprise.

"Arcfire," I answered, jumping back out of the hole. "A powerful fire spell, and what I'm going to use to free the rest of these dragons."

That did nothing to sate Green's curiosity, but he didn't voice any other questions, probably figuring now wasn't the time. "I think I heard a group of them over there," He said, pointing with a wing over to a particularly large pile of rubble. I could hear multiple roars for help muffled under the rocks.

I nodded, already making my way over there. I felt that familiar rush of adrenaline and happiness, the kind I get when one of my plans was working. 'Now let's keep it that way.'

I grimaced as I quickly cut off my latest Arcfire spell, already beginning to feel the toll this plan has had on my mana reserves. It must have something to do with that "extension of the soul" thing Green had mentioned, since I'm not yet used to pulling mana from myself rather than using a tome as a conduit for the earth's mana.

Nonetheless, my plan had been working perfectly so far. I would melt through the stone, tell the dragons to escape, and Green would alert me of the presence of the White Demon. Thankfully, said massive dragon seemed preoccupied with eating the actual island itself, so I was able to free the trapped dragons with relative ease.

My breathing was a tad laboured as I jumped out of the most recent hole in the cliff I had made with my fire, wincing as my aching muscles protested me moving at all. Turns out using a large amount of Aür repeatedly over a short period of time isn't good for the user's body as a whole, fatigue beginning to catch up with me and my muscles starting to ache again.

"How… many do you think… are left…?" I asked between breaths to my partner, smacking my lips to try and rid myself of this tingling sensation I began to feel around the fifth Arcfire.

Green craned his neck, probably straining his ears so he could hear everything around him. "...I think I hear a couple more over here, but that should be it," He relayed back to me once he was done.

I nodded. "Alright, Let's hurry and get this over with… I don't want to be around this dragon longer than I need to." I said, starting to leap from rock to rock. I've only seen it's eyes a couple times, but there was something about them that was so offputting. Probably the fact that they had no pupils, and they were only red orbs. It reminded me too much of Grima…

"I've gotta say Morgan, I'm impressed," I heard Green say as he began to follow me to the best of his ability. He was doing surprisingly well considering he didn't have legs. "You only had a short time to come up with a plan, and yet its worked almost perfectly." He praised.

I chuckled sheepishly. People often complimented me for my quick thinking, but… it's something that everyone can do. I've just had a lot more practice than most others. "It's no big deal. I was a tactician back when I was a human, so I've had time to refine my planning abilities," I replied, trying to stay humble. If there's one thing I hated, it was people gassing themselves up after one small victory.

"Bah, don't be so modest," Green scoffed, catching up to me and giving me a look. "Every dragon I know would've run away as soon as they could, but you… you jumped right into the fray without hesitation. That takes a lot of courage, Morgan,"

'Oh, he doesn't know the half of it…' I thought grimly, thinking back to all the times I had to bravely jump into a situation where the odds were astronomically against us. "Well, I try," I said, covering up my darkened thoughts with a smile.

It looked like Green wanted to say something more, but his eyes suddenly widened and he froze in his tracks. "Morgan, get down!" He whispered harshly, pulling me down with a wing to get me to lay against the rocks.

I wanted to ask him what was the matter, but just following his line of sight gave me the answer I needed. The White Demon was hovering in the air about twenty meters away, it's massive wings sending bursts of air in every direction. The spikes on its tail were raised, and it's huge Mae was open, showing off every single one of it's razor sharp teeth. That's not what worried me, though. What worried me were the three dragons cowering underneath it's murderous gaze, shaking like leaves in the wind.

"Damnit…" I muttered to myself. Of course, just when I thought we were going to get through this without a hitch…

Green seemed to have the same sentiment, swearing under his breath. "What do we do now? There's no way for us to save those three without getting ourselves killed!" He said quietly, and I couldn't bring myself to disagree with him. Those three dragons were in grave danger, but trying to save them would most likely get all five of us killed.

I blinked. 'Unless…'

"Green, do you trust me?" I asked, my tone serious.

He glanced over to me, eyes showing his surprise from the sudden question. "Uh… w-well, yes, why?" He answered reluctantly, unsure of what was going on.

I looked over to the three dragons. There wasn't much time left. "Stay here. When I say 'now', I want you to escort those dragons to safety." I ordered.

He looked confused for a moment, before realization dawned over his muzzle. "No. No no no no, no way am I letting you be a distraction!" He protested, worry and fear creeping into his tone.

"We don't have a choice, Green!" I shot back, causing him to shrink back a bit from my tone. "Any other way, those dragons die! I'm not going to let that happen!" I told him off, before leaping into the air, ignoring Green's shouts as I flew headfirst for the White Demon. My mind flashed to the time Lucina and I took on an entire horse of Risen with only the two of us. This time, however, I wouldn't have my sister to watch my back. It was me versus the world.

Greenscale's yells also happened to catch the attention of the White Demon, as it turned to me with an angry snort. "Hey!" I yelled as I shot a small blast of Elfire at its hide, hiding a small grimace as I felt the strain it had on me. "Pick on someone your own size!" I taunted, internally noting that my Elfire had done nothing but leave a tiny scorch mark on it's side. 'Fire resistant hide… that complicated things a smidge.'

The dragon was now fully facing me, and though it had no pupils I could tell that it was furious, staring at me with murderous intent. The dragon's behind it were no longer trembling as much, staring at me with wide eyes.

Then, the White Demon roared, and shot after me like an arrow.

I exclaimed in surprised, frantically moving out of the way of it's barreling assault, not expecting it to be so agile in the air. Not wasting a moment I quickly turned towards Green. "NOW!" I shouted, before flying as quickly as I could in the opposite direction, not even glancing back for a second to see if he had heard or listened. I needed to get as far away as I could from them so I could ensure their escape.

Just as I predicted, the White Demon followed closely behind, letting out a piercing roar as it did. I gritted my teeth as I firmly pressed my ears against the top of my head, trying to block out as much of the painful sound as I could. It seemed like it lasted for hours before the roar finally stopped, letting me focus on flying away once more. 'Good Gods, How is it so loud?! I don't even think Grima was that loud!' I managed to wonder to myself over the pounding of my head.

The trees zoomed underneath me as I pumped my wings as hard as I could, ignoring the stinging pains I ignited with each wingbeat. I kept along the shoreline, not trusting my swimming skills should I fall over the ocean. From what I've seen, drowning is one of the least pleasant ways to die.

Suddenly, I heard a hissing sound from behind me. I quickly threw a glance behind me, trying to keep my body straightened as I did so, and instantly I was filled with fear when I saw what was happening. The White Demon's jaw was open again, but instead of an ear-splitting screech coming out, there was a low orange glow in the back of it's throat. 'Damnit… of course it has fire breath!' I thought, exasperated. The hissing reached a peak, then with a blast that I could liken to an Elthunder colliding with steel, a huge orb of flame shot towards me, and I quickly dove to move out of the way, instinct and adrenaline fueling my flight. I grunted and winced in pain when the tips of my wigs grazed the fire, singing the scales. It was intensely hot, and if I got hit by one of those I wouldn't likely survive it. I had to lose this guy… but how?

I didn't have any time to think, because as soon as I asked that question to myself I was suddenly struck with a stabbing pain in my side, then another on my tail. I yelled out in shock and agony, tilting my head to get a look at what caused the sudden pain, and to my shock I had two large thorns sticking out of my side and tail, blood leaking from the deep puncture wounds. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, grunting with increasing discomfort as my every wingbeat aggravated the wound, sending shots of agony down my side.

More thorns suddenly flew over my head. 'Damnit… it can shoot spikes, probably from it's tail. Less thinking, more flying, Morgan,' I reminded myself, before turning into a sharp nosedive, trying my damn hardest not to yell out in agony as the high wind speeds pushed the thorns upwards, tearing them deeper into flesh. I couldn't keep going much longer, that's for sure. This was going to end one way or another.

And as I saw a large group of dragons all sitting on the cliff I was approaching, probably survivors that were trying to regroup after the escaping the initial tremors and rockslide, it was definitely pointing at the 'I'm totally dead' option. I couldn't stop my dive now, because if I did I would just be rammed by the full weight of the White Demon, and there was no way I was pulling myself out of the way of those dragons in time. I was nowhere near that experienced with my flight. I racked my brain as quick as I could, trying to think of any option.

My thoughts went back to the Elfire I had casted at the beginning. 'It was resistant to fire, but… what about electricity?'

It was risky, incredibly risky, but it was all I had. I didn't have a clue as to what casting such a high level spell would do to me, but I didn't have a choice. It was now or never.

I calmed my nerves, letting the pain fade and my frantic mood settle. I let my mind wander to what many would consider my signature spell, one that I used in almost every battle we fought. 'Spear of the Heavens… Thoron.' That familiar tingling in the air before I cast it, the electricity dancing over my fingers… I could see it so clearly in my mind.

I slowly pooled the amount of power necessary to cast the powerful thunder spell, inwardly noting that it was three times the amount needed for a standard Arcfire. I silently waited, hoping that the White Demon would open its mouth.

Then I heard the hissing. It was time.

With one swift move, I twisted my body around midair to face my opponent, and I found myself staring down a maw filled with razor sharp canines. But I was faster. I felt the air become polarized around me, and I swear I saw the clouds above start sparking with powerful lightning. Then, I cracked my jaw open, feeling a powerful tingling deep within.

"THORON!"

My roar was accompanied with a massive beam of pure lightning shooting out of my mouth, faster than any arrow could possibly hope to be, straight into the open throat of the White Demon. I saw it's eyes widen in surprise for a split second, before it got blasted back by the sheer force of the explosion that ensued, smaller bolts getting sent in random directions from the discharge of electricity. I tried to block my face with my paws, the sudden bright light burning my corneas and the sheer force the explosion pushing me back.

I tried pushing against the powerful force with my wings, but since I was already falling downwards due to my dive it was no use, and I was sent flying towards the earth.

I heard the dragon's roars from below, though for what reason I did not know, I was more worried about getting my own body under control. My breathing quickened as I tried my hardest to untangle my limbs, shifting and turning in the air, though it seemed no matter what I tried I couldn't get a good position to open my wings or steady my descent, couple that with how much my entire body hurt and how fatigued I was from just casting one Thoron and you had a recipe for a crash landing.

I caught a quick glimpse of the ground. It was getting closer by the second. It wouldn't be long before I crashed into the rocky cliff side. The only hope I had was to tuck my body up and cast a quick protection spell, then hope for the best.

Protection spells were a rather uncommon type of magic. You only saw healers or adept sages use them, and even then they usually weren't powerful enough to protect against even the fullest of swords. I had seen the potential in them, though, and so did my mother, and she taught me everything she knew when it came to magic. Using a part of my very limited Aür reserves, I covered my body with a protective shell that was invisible to the naked eye, and curled up into a ball, hoping to minimize the amount of body parts that actually impacted the ground.

'Naga… if you're listening… let me survive this!' I prayed to whatever deity was listening, hoping that I will live to find my sister.

'Lucina…! I promise you, I'll come and find you!...'

That was the last thought that went through my mind before slammed into the rocky ground like a meteor from the heavens, and all of my senses went black.

A mighty big 10k words with this one! It was kind of tough to write near the end there but I got it done. The White Demon, if you haven't figured it out by now, is the Screaming Death. Let me know what you guys thought of these last couple Morgan chapters! I have a lot of fun writing about both of these characters (Lucina and Morgan), So if you want more you've got it! As I said, the next chapter is back with Lucina, and will be out hopefully soon! In the meantime, I'll see you all next time! Don't forget to leave a review about what you liked/disliked!