Sorry about the random text I don't know what's wrong with my computer.

Chapter Twenty-Four

As Soul traversed through the cave, it was quiet except for the sound of water droplets hitting the cold, hard ground. Despite the situation, there was only one thought going through his head, How could he have let this happen? A voice was screaming in the back of his mind, "It's all your fault!" There was so much venom in its words it made him sick to his stomach.

"He responded, "Is it though?"

"It is," The voice hissed at him as if it was angry that he even asked that question. "first Aleen and now Snow, when will you ever stop being useless?!"

Soul shook his head, trying to clear his mind, "If I don't hurry up, then her blood will be because of me." He continued forward, attempting to ignore the voice before another smoother and calmer one interjected.

The voice whispered, "This way." Soul recognized the tone of the voice as Aleen's. Soul, seeing his chance to reunite with his lost friend, broke into a run towards the voice. As he was sprinting, he saw her tail before it disappeared around the corner. His legs picked up to tempo to try and catch up.

"Come on you can run faster!" Her voice was louder now and seemed to be getting farther away from him as Soul turned another corner. Desperation was flooding over him. Then he saw her stop in a large open cavern with the skylight streaming down and her red and golden scales seemed to glisten in the darkness. Soul ran up to her and embraced her, holding her tight. He didn't want to let her go, fearful that he would lose her again.

Aleen laughed. "I missed you too," she whispered. Soul felt Aleen hug him back.

"Oh don't cry, Soul." Confused by what she meant, he touched his cheek and found that they were moist from the tears streaming down his face.

Before he could utter a word, a thought came to mind, "Wait, how is this possible? Aleen is dead…"

As if she was reading his thoughts, she whispered, "You'll be with her soon." His heart stopped as he realized what was really going on. He felt something move beneath him. Soul pushed her away as he dodged what looked a scorpion stinger. It had been anxious to strike where he had been moments ago.

The dragoness smirked, "Well you're smarter than I thought." Her scales started to change from their gold and red to a familiar dark purple. Her body grew from adolescence to full adulthood, revealing Mara.

Soul was shocked but felt a strong heat spread through his face, "HOW DARE YOU!" Soul shouted with the most rage he had ever felt in his life. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his mind as he struggled to keep Fury out. "NO! I won't let him take control now!" Using almost all his mental effort, he eventually managed to completely shut Fury out. He opened his eyes just in time to avoid another strike from Mara's tail.

"Oh, that's so…disappointing that Fury failed to control you. I guess I'll have to kill you myself!" Mara charged him horns first, nearly hitting him with what would've been a bone-crushing blow. Soul pounced, jumping on her back and raking his claws through her scales. Mara roared and used her tail to knock him off. He landed on the ground, hitting his head against the hard, ragged wall. His ears started ringing from the sudden impact and his eyes blurred. They came back into focus right when Mara attempted to strike him with her stinger again. He rolled to the side right as the tail stuck itself the wall. Soul instinctively, and without hesitation, bit down on her tail. Mara roared in pain but instead of throwing him off she curled her tail inwards. Soul tried to let go of her tail but it was already too late. The tail wrapped around his neck, completely restricting his breathing. Mara moved him in front for her. She glared down on him.

She snarled, "It's over you little pest!" Mara raised her paw to land the finishing blow when Soul suddenly felt Light surge through him again. He opened his mouth and a blinding flash of Light burst out. Mara hissed and dropped him. He rolled across the floor and saw Mara holding her paws over her eyes. He didn't hesitate when he lunged at Mara, crashing into her. They both tumbled on the floor, eventually stopping with Soul on top of her chest. He ripped into her throat tearing through her arteries and cutting her roar of surprise short. He jumped off her chest and looked back at his sister. She lay convulsing on the floor and holding her paws over her throat. Then her eyes went blank and her body went limp. He waited a moment in silence before the realization hit him. He had just killed his own flesh and blood. Despite that, he felt no sympathy for her suffering. She had tried to kill him but...still, he had never wanted this life for her or for him. He wanted a peaceful one with Aleen but he knew that could never happen. For as long as he lived, he would never be able to forgive himself. Thanks to him, he and Snow were both targets. They would always be hunted because of the danger they posed...unless he killed Fury. Wasting no more time, Soul jumped into the air and flew through the hole in the roof. He had to find Snow before it was too late.

Minutes Later

Soul started scouting around the area from where he had escaped, "I need to find Snow...if...if she isn't gone already." He pushed that thought out of his head "No, she is still alive! I wouldn't know what to do if I lost her too! I love her and I want to tell her, but if she even feels the same way I'll be putting her at even more risk. But if I lose her I'll regret not telling her the way I feel." Soul decided he would tell Snow how he felt when...if he found her. Soul returned his eyes to the ground when he saw it, a line of smoke staining the sky. Soul angled his wings and body toward the source of the smoke and dived towards it, picking up speed. He stopped when he was right above the sea of trees. Once Soul was above the source of the ash clouds, he landed on a tree branch and climbed down until he had a clear view of what looked like a camp. A fire was rampaging through the camp but there was a cage at the center of it. "Snow must be in there. She has to be; I'm sure of it!" Soul thought to himself. Everything was silent except for the sounds of the forest and crackling fire. After a full minute Soul jumped into the camp. He was careful to tread through the flames, but he noticed there was no supplies, weapons, or tents. "They must have moved on from here. They likely burned it down to hide the evidence of their presence." Soul also thought they might have killed Snow in the process, but as he approached the cage and looked in, Snow was lying on the floor unconscious. "Yes, she's not dead…I hope." He looked at the lock, it was constructed of iron. "I could melt it but I might accidentally burn her if I do." He decided to pick the lock instead. He called upon iron and metal flowed from the ground and hovered in a sharp spike next to his head. Soul made the iron flow into the lock then harden with into a key. When it unlocked, he ran over to Snow and gently shook her awake.

"Snow come on wake up." He whispered. Snow stirred and her eyes shot open. He saw her opening her maw to scream, but quickly covered it. Having been suddenly grabbed, she started panicking and struggling against him. He tried to calm her down.

"Shh! Shh! Snow, it's me! I'm not here to hurt you." Her eyes locked with his and she froze. His familiar blue hue instantly soothed the young dragon's stress. Seeing that she stopped, Soul removed his paw from her muzzle.

"Soul? W-what happened? I can't remember anything except when you were shot down!" Snow exclaimed.

"I'm don't have time to explain that yet. Whoever was here might come back." Soul grabbed Snow's paw helping her to her feet. "We need to get out of here." Without realizing, the contact with her was making him blush. Luckily, his blush blended in perfectly with his red facial scales.

Soul whispered, "Follow me." Snow nodded and they made their way out of the camp. After of bit of exploring and searching, they both managed to find a small cave and hid inside. The cave was nothing special, but it would do for now. Once they were settled, Soul turned to her.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?!" Soul asked, with a slight growl on the second question.

"I...I think I'm okay." Snow answered. Soul was relieved that she was okay and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're alive. I thought I'd lost you." Without thinking, he hugged her tighter and nuzzled her affectionately on the cheek. Soul blushed when he realized what he had done and pulled away. Snow felt him let go of her and had a confused expression on her face.

"I...I'm sorry. I...I overstepped my boundaries. I shouldn't of-"

Suddenly, she pulled him back into the hug, "It's fine Soul. You didn't overstep anything." Soul was hesitant but eventually re-embraced her. Soul thought about telling her then but the voice in his head returned "What do you think you're doing? She doesn't care! She probably thinks you're nothing but a waste of space! The only one who ever cared about you was Aleen and you killed her!" The voice's toxic tone almost made him break right then and there. But he managed to hold it back. The voice still echoed in his head, making him keep his confession to himself.