The market erupted into chaos as the Sons of Culmubrae dashed throughout the area. Pots were smashed and plants were burned as they chased furiously after the prince. Many moles and cheetahs scrambled to get their wares out of harm's way as Rune ran past. The furious dragons were hot on his heels, unleashing every attack they could to throw him off.
Rune surrounded himself with as much of a magical shield as he could muster as the fire dragon unleashed his blaze. The prince winced and panted as he worked to fight them off. Rune cursed himself for his poor thinking; how could he have forgotten about the Sons of Culmubrae? How could he just walk around all willy-nilly while those thugs were still lurking around the city? If Rune got out of this alive, he just knew that he'd never hear the end of it from his mother.
Fight back, you idiot! Runefor hissed. They're trying to kill you!
I need to get them away from the merchants! Rune snapped as he ducked under a spear of icicles. They've taken enough collateral damage as it is!
Rune kept going until he got to the end of the market. He whirled around and spread out his limbs to get into a battle stance. He let lightning dance across his scales as he called upon every element he could think of.
When bursts of flame came his way, Rune countered with gusts of wind. When they tossed ice spears at him, Rune melted them away with fire. And when they got too close for comfort, an earth bomb sent the foes reeling. It wasn't much of an offensive, but Rune put his training to good use. Unfortunately, this only resulted in the assailants growing angrier.
"Rune!" Albanion screamed from far across the way. Rune glanced past the thugs and spotted the Deep Shadow scrambling to come to his aid, with more guards in tow. Rune gave a small sigh of relief.
But when the leader of the assailants noticed Rune's gaze, he quickly glanced back and snarled.
"You two deal with the Deep Shadow!" The fire dragon declared. He reached into his satchel and produced a glowing, purple crystal. "I'll deal with the black prince myself!"
Rune gasped in horror; Convexity?! Where did this dragon get a crystal of Convexity? There was no time to process that, as while the leader's companions turned to attack Albanion, the fire dragon smashed the convexity crystal and consumed the aether that emerged. He then spread his limbs out and howled as a purple aura surrounded his scales. Seconds later, a burst of purple flames erupted from the dragon's maw and flew straight at Rune.
The prince summoned up an aura of ice to protect himself, but it quickly melted under the intense heat of the convexity. Rune winced as the flames scorched his clothes, and he turned to flee again.
"Oh no you down!" The fire dragon howled. He zoomed about the area and struck the ground with his magical fire. Flames erupted from the ground, forming a barrier of purple fire that cut off Rune's escape. And when Rune tried to shadow-jump through it, the assailant grabbed him by the tail and forcibly pulled him back. He then slashed at Rune with purple-tinted claws.
Rune howled as the dragon clawed at his sides. He immediately called upon his water magic to heal his own wounds. But it was a struggle to focus on healing himself and scramble away from the assailant at the same time.
"Your days are numbered, heathen!" The fire dragon howled.
Fight back with your own convexity! Runefor howled. We can take this blowhard!
I won't risk letting YOU get out! Rune growled internally. He healed his sides and spread out his limbs to face down the assailant. As the fire drake reeled back to unleash another burst of flames, Rune inhaled deeply and prepared to unleash the biggest burst of ice that he could…
Only for pain to spring up in the back of his head. It started out faint and mild at first… but over it time it grew worse and worse. Rune clutched his head and collapsed onto the ground. He snarled and twitched in pain, struggling in vain to rise back onto his feet.
What are you doing, Runefor?! He demanded.
This isn't my doing! I feel it too! Runefor hissed. Gah! This is unbearable!
As the prince writhed in agony, he watched as the leader took in the sight with a peculiar expression. The assailant quickly grinned with horrible glee as he inhaled even deeper. As the fire drake got closer, Rune. Rune tried to call upon his magic to save himself in any way he could; ice spires, earth shield, shadow-jumping… but they all failed him. All the prince could do was look on in horror as a burst of purple flames erupted from the dragon's maw…
…and went completely around the prince.
Both Rune and the attacker watched in confusion as the flames went in a perfect ring around the prince and died away in seconds. With a snarl, the attacked tried again, but his flames died out halfway to Rune's muzzle.
"What's going on?!" The attacked demanded. He glared down at the prince. "What have you done to my convexity?!"
Rune wanted to spit some kind of insult at the assailant, but the pain in his head was too great; all he could do was snarl and wince. The attacker snorted in derision and just raised his forepaw to slice at Rune's face… only for lightning bolts to fly in from out of nowhere and strike the assailant. The red dragon howled in pain as the lightning danced across his scales; he collapsed to the ground in a heap, where he struggled to get back up.
"Alright, I think that's enough of that." A voice said nearby. "You and your friends have disrupted my caravan for long enough."
Confused, Rune turned his head to see who it was. Rune could scarcely believe his eyes. It was a purple dragon, dressed in a fancy cloak and adorned with a golden mane and bear. He had ram-like horns and a mysterious glint in his red eyes.
The purple dragon stepped forward and offered the prince a forepaw. "Care for some help, my prince?"
"You…" Rune stammered in disbelief. He took the dragon's forepaw with trepidation and rose up to his paws. He then took a step back and struggled to comprehend this. "You're…. You're…"
"Bergan!" Someone roared from across the way.
"Hmm…" The purple dragon clicked his tongue as he and Rune looked up to see Albanion stomping his way down the street. The guards behind him were in the middle of restraining and hauling away the other two Sons of Culmubrae.
"I should have known you'd be here." Albanion snapped. "Who else but the founder of the FTC would spearhead a caravan of traders bearing the trading company's logo?!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too." Bergan snorted. "Long time no see, Mr. Deep Shadow."
"You know him, Uncle?" Rune asked curiously.
"We've met a few times before." Albanion rumbled. "Mostly when we were children, training under Lord Spyro's watch."
"And my how times change!" Bergan declared. "You're a Deep Shadow serving under Her Majesty, and I'm the ruler of Faeshrine." He smirked. "You've done well for yourself, Albanion."
Albanion silently glowered, while Rune took a breath of relief and looked around. The various merchants were hard at work cleaning up after the battle. They worked with alarming efficiency, using the exact methods needed to repair any damage done to their goods or vehicles. Albanion's guards were hauling away the other Sons of Culmubrae toward the opposite end of the street.
"Don't forget about this one over here!" Bergan called to the soldiers as he pointed at the red dragon. "This gruesome fellow tried to assassinate your prince! I'm sure Queen Elenar would be interested in hearing that."
Rune sucked in a breath; there was no way his mother would allow him to travel out and about if more assailants tried this kind of thing… especially not if they had access to Convexity. He flapped his wings in worry and fidgeted with his talons.
"YOU!" The red dragon screamed. Rune flinched, and Albanion spread out to snarl at the dragon. But the drake ignored the both of them and focused his furious gaze on Bergan. "You TRAITOR!"
"Traitor?" Bergan repeated with a scoff. "Whatever are you talking about?"
The red dragon struggled to lunge at Bergan, but was held down by the guards. The drake snarled and gnashed his fangs, all while Bergan fell back onto his haunches and tapped his talons on the ground.
"We almost had him!" The drake snarled. "Richteriel could have been avenged! But you've gone and turned against the Order of Culmubrae!"
"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about." Bergan scoffed. "I was never a member of the Order. And besides, I have no love for Richteriel. You're barking up the wrong tree, my friend."
The soldiers forcibly restrained the fire dragon and hauled him up and away from the area. The entire time the dragon continued to curse out the purple drake.
"You're a traitor, Bergan! A TRAITOR!"
"Yes, yes, we all get the point…" Bergan just snorted and wiped off his foreleg. He then smirked at Albanion. "Is this the kind of dragon who's been causing so much trouble for Warfang lately? I can't begin to imagine the headaches they cause for your fellow Deep Shadows."
Albanion didn't comment on the rogues; he just scowled in Bergan's face. "You're in a world of trouble."
"Am I?" Bergan tilted his head. "Is that line of speech any way to thank me for helping to save the life of the prince?"
"Helping to protect Prince Rune doesn't make up for years of neglect." Albanion pointed a talon at the purple drake. "You've refused an audience with the High Queen for years. If you're in Warfang uninvited, then you best believe that the queen will hear about this."
"Uninvited?" Bergan snorted. "That's funny: last I recall, merchant businesses only need to show their permits to the city guards to gain access to the local market. And everyone in the FTC has one of those, myself included." He fluttered his wings.
Albanion glowered. "You can't simply argue your way out of the consequences, Bergan."
"Oh, I'm not trying to start any arguments." Bergan rolled his eyes. "Tell you both what: Why don't you follow me back to my shop? Let's all see if there are some choice items that you'd like to buy for some very particular dragonesses." He pointed his muzzle down the street. "Maybe I'll even set you both up with a spot of tea, or any other delightful delicacy I've got sitting around."
"I wouldn't mind having a look around his carriage, Uncle." Rune said.
Albanion sneered. "Don't you think you've gotten into enough trouble today, prince?"
"At the very least, he saved my life." Rune sighed. "Paying a visit to his shop is the least I could do to thank him, Uncle."
Albanion sighed. "Fine. But I'll be coming along to keep an eye on you, boy." He cast a suspicious glare toward the purple dragon. "And… I thank you, for saving Rune."
Bergan gave a warm smile. "Oh, you're most welcome, old friend." He spun around and took a pleasant gait down the street. "Follow me, gentlemen. My carriage isn't far from here."
Bergan led Rune and Albanion down the street as the last of the assailants were carted off toward the dungeons. Along the way, Rune cast curious glances upon Bergan. Ever since the prince started living in Warfang, he'd become vaguely aware of the existence of the purple dragon. It was so strange to him: All this time, during all of this conflict in the world, there was a purple dragon living and breathing through it all. And not only that, but this Bergan had to have trained under the tutelage of Spyro and Cynder at some point. Why hadn't they ever mentioned Bergan before?
Hold on… Rune started to rumble with worry, and slight frustration. If this Bergan was around during the Twilight War, why didn't he do anything to stop it? And… where was he during the Malefor Ordeal? Rune cast a suspicious glance at the back of Bergan's neck. Couldn't he have helped?
"Not if people don't listen to me." Bergan said abruptly.
Rune balked and came to a sudden stop. He looked up at Bergan incredulously as the purple drake turned to cast a smirk down at him. Albanion stopped in surprise, and then glared at Bergan as he fluttered his wings.
"Y-You can read minds?" Rune asked incredulously.
"No. But I could tell you were about to ask me some rather choice questions." Bergan laughed. "I'm not all-powerful, my dear prince. Sad to say, but I pale in comparison to the magic at Lord Spyro's disposal. That, coupled with only being a boy when that war started, was reason enough for plenty of dragons to ignore anything I said."
"Not ALL of them." Albanion chimed in with an air of frustration. "You've had your influences in the past, Bergan. Don't sell yourself short."
"Hmph. I'd say that's open to interpretation…" Bergan rolled his eyes. "But that was the past, and this is the present, where I've promised to deliver onto you some decent food and beverage. Let's press on, shall we?"
Rune wasn't fully convinced. He had a feeling there was more to this dragon then he was letting on…
~~…~~
Eventually Bergan led Rune and Albanion to a large carriage at the end of the caravan. A pair of cheetahs was standing guard on either side of the door. When they saw the purple dragon approach, they bowed their heads and stepped out of the way.
"Follow me inside, gentlemen." Bergan said as he unlocked the door. "Oh, but before we do…" He turned toward Rune and held his forepaw out. Rune got defensive, while Albanion growled. With a flick of his wrist, Bergan produced a gold coin from between his talons. "I believe you dropped this, my prince."
"Oh…" Rune blanked. He sheepishly took the coin. "Uh, thanks, Mr. Bergan."
"You wouldn't have missed the coin, Your Highness." Albanion snorted as he relaxed.
"Ah, but it was still his, so I returned it to him." Bergan chuckled. He then pushed his front door open and stepped inside. "Come in, come! Make yourselves at home!"
The inside wasn't what Rune expected to see. As he stepped through the doorway, the first thing he saw was a large table in the center of the carriage, with a few small cushions scattered around it. Massive shelves lined the walls on all sides, save for the spots for the windows. Various trinkets, vials, tomes, and other odd objects were ornately piled up in every nook and cranny. An odd box sat on a shelf on the far side of the room. Everything looked like it was neatly swept and polished to give the room a marvelous sheen.
"What kind of shop is this?" Rune asked. Bergan walked around the table and sat down at the far end of it.
"Why, it's a magic shop!" Bergan answered with a smile. "I don't go around declaring it, but I've spent some time practicing as a magician. Non-draconic methods of magic and incantations have fascinated me ever since I was a boy." Bergan opened a little container off to the side and produced the ingredients for a teapot and some cups. "Have a look around; the tea will be ready in just a moment."
"Hmm…" Albanion looked all around suspiciously. "You'd better not be carrying anything that's considered forbidden magic, Bergan. Otherwise the queen will-"
"Come now, you don't think I'd have forbidden magical ingredients just sitting around, do you?" Bergan pursed his lips as he set up his teapot over a magical fire on the table. "Do you take me for a fool? I'd never be caught violating the laws of any city!"
"Hmph." Albanion just harrumphed and got to looking around at the various items. "Very well, Bergan."
Rune took a steady breath as he got to looking around at what was on display. There had to be items from the furthest corners of the dragon realms all gathered in one shelf. One book that caught the prince's interest was a tome called The Fundamentals of Darkness and Light, which looked to be written in ancient draconic. As Rune ran his talons along the rough bindings of the tome, Bergan gave a chuckle.
"I don't think you'd be able to read that." He said. "That book is older than your grandfather's grandfather."
Still, it might make for an interesting addition to my collection. Rune thought with a smile.
Ugh, you bore me.
Albanion looked over the jewelry that Bergan had for sale.
"Spotted something appealing, have we?" Bergan raised an eye ridge. "Now what would a Deep Shadow want to do with jewels?"
"I'm looking for a gift for my wife." Albanion snorted. "It should match her in beauty and elegance."
"My, aren't we the romantic sort?" Bergan laughed. "I remember a time when you had a keen eye for the lovely young dragonesses in the Dragon Spire. Though you didn't use words like elegance or beauty…" He put on a smirk. "It was more along the lines of fu-"
"That's enough of that." Albanion sneered. "I've changed quite a bit in the decades since we were boys, Bergan."
"Hmm, I suppose plenty of dragons change with the passage of time…" Bergan turned to face Rune. "What about you, your highness? Is there a special female in your life as well?"
"Well…" Rune scratched his head with a wing-thumb. "There was one, but she's mad at me now. I was wondering if I could find something to make her ease up a bit."
"Hmm, that might be tricky." Bergan pursed his lips. "The underworld hath no fury like a young dragoness scorned. If you did something to anger her, then she may hold a grudge for some time."
"Then what else am I supposed to do?" Rune demanded. "If I try to court some other dragoness, that'll only make Sandra even angrier with me."
"Ah, yes. Courtship among royals can make for quite a complicated game." Bergan laughed. "But if there's anything most princesses have in common, it's that they melt like butter in the sun when presented with fine jewelry."
Rune scratched his chin at that. "Well, do you have anything that was finely made?"
The purple drake ran a paw through his beard. "Hmm, I believe I have just the thing! For both of you, in fact!"
Bergan turned and picked up the box off the shelf behind him and started rifling through it. Rune and Albanion stepped just a bit closer to get a better look.
"I keep my most valuable, one-of-a-kind items in this box right here!" Bergan declared. "Normally I have an assistant hold onto the key, but she's off on an extended break today, so I'm all by myself."
After a minute, Bergan pulled out two pieces of jewelry. The first one was a large white gem that was hung on a golden chain. The other bit of jewelry was a finely crafted jade necklace. The purple drake handed the former to Albanion and the latter to Rune.
Albanion inspected the white gem curiously. "What is this?"
"What you have there, old friend, is a rare Serenity Gem." Bergan clasped his forepaws together. "By presenting this to your significant other, you are telling her that she is of a shining beacon of grace and elegance that will shine brightly for the rest of time. I'll sell it to you for thirty pieces of gold, a fraction of the cost you'd pay elsewhere."
Albanion held the gem close and inspected the surface with increasing suspicion. "You didn't do anything magical to this gem, did you?"
"No yet, but I could." Bergan grinned. "Perhaps a ward to stave off harmful poisons. Or maybe I could make a blessing that brings good luck." He flapped his wings. "Any of that sounding appealing, Albanion?"
Albanion just snorted and put the gem down. Rune tilted his head and studied his uncle's face; the prince had a feeling that Albanion was inspecting the gem for any kind of corruptions or curses. But when he found nothing, Albanion just sighed and reached into his coin purse.
"Alright, Bergan: I'll take it." He produced the specified amount of gold, and then placed the gem in a pocket.
"Thank you for your patronage." Bergan bowed his head and smiled. He then eyed Rune warmly. "And what about you, my prince? What do you think of the Jade necklace?"
"Uh…" Rune held it up and looked it over; something about the necklace looked oddly familiar. "Where is this from?"
"From the finest forge to be found in Glenhaven, of course." Bergan smiled. "It was handcrafted by masterful earth dragon artisans."
"Glenhaven, eh?" Rune raised an eye ridge. "That's funny; all of the best earth dragon artisans teach at the Glenhaven Palace, and I've never met anyone who made necklaces."
"Well, perhaps it was before your time." Bergan smirked. "Ever wonder what Telus did with his free time back in his Guardian days? Perhaps you could ask him when you see him next."
"Maybe…" Rune put the necklace down. "How much is it?"
"Well, since you are the prince, and I saved you from a gruesome death at the hands of insurgents, I'll sell it for…" He stroked his beard again. "…Ten pieces of gold!"
"It's a deal!" The prince exclaimed. He produced ten pieces of gold, and pocketed the necklace. "Whoever I give this to, I'm sure they're going to love it."
"You may have helped the prince this day, and your sales were rather generous to be sure…" Albanion leaned forward and glared harder. "But that doesn't excuse you for your continued absence."
"Oh?" Bergan tilted his head and smiled curiously.
"Elenar will be learning of your presence immediately." Albanion declared. "She'll no doubt want to speak to you before the nightfall. You'd better not up and disappear again before then, Bergan, or you'll be in for a world of hurt."
Bergan's smile faded. He rose up to his full height and flapped his wings.
"Let me just remind you that I'm not merely a merchant boy anymore." He said coldly. "I have become the ruler of the city of Faeshrine; the closest thing they've had to a monarch in years. If Elenar wants my audience, then it will only be by my consent." He flapped his wings for emphasis. "Try to capture me, and it'll be seen as an act of war against Faeshrine. Choose your actions carefully, old friend."
Albanion and Bergan glared at each other silently for a long time. Rune looked back and forth between them, a chill going up his spine. Something had happened between the two years ago; the prince could see it in there eyes. Rune suddenly wanted more than ever to get out of that carriage and be on his way.
"Uh, uncle…" Rune tugged on the Deep Shadow's sleeve. "It's getting late. We need to warn my mother about the fact that the Sons of Culmubrae have access to Convexity."
Albanion's eye twitched. He cursed himself under his breath, as if the images of the purple flames from before had completely slipped his mind. With a grumble, he stood up tall and flapped his wings.
"Well… we'd best get going, then." Albanion turned toward the door to push it open. He then glanced back at Bergan one last time. "We WILL be speaking again, Bergan."
"Of course…" Bergan picked up his tea glass and took a sip. He then held the cup up as if to toast the Deep Shadow. "Until then, have a safe day, Albanion."
Albanion held a scowl as he stepped into the light of day. Rune glanced uneasily between the two before following his uncle outside. As he gripped the door to close it behind himself, he looked Bergan in the eyes and lightly bit his lower lip.
"Thanks again for saving me today." Rune said. "Goodbye."
And with that, Rune closed the door. Bergan was left alone to drink his tea. He finished off his glass and looked outside to see Rune following Albanion into the air to head back toward the Dragon Spire. Bergan wracked his talons on the table as he waited until they were finally gone.
"Two more pawns have joined the game." Bergan said as he stood up and grinned. "And now, I wait."
~~…~~
Cyrus and Tina flew through the skies as they made their way to the northern part of Warfang. It always felt good to take to the air whenever he was done dealing with training and responsibilities back at the Spire. The prince sighed in satisfaction as he gazed down at the many houses and towers from way up high. As he tilted his head, he took in the sight of the northern walls and battlements at the edge of the city, as well as the expansive plains beyond.
It had been a long time since Cyrus went on his great adventure across the dragon realms. He wished he had more time to stop and take in the sights back then, without having to worry so much about doing his part to save the world. He also wished he had more chances to venture out past the walls of Warfang to take in those same sights. But no, he always had to play the roll of a prince. He didn't even get to visit any specific places, like Rune did every year. Cyrus was stuck at home, listening to his mother…
But not here. Not in the sky. Up amongst the clouds, Cyrus was free; he could fly to whatever corner of the city he pleased. He beat his wings and spun in a circle. The prince flew around in a loop in the air, using his wind magic to boost his speed. Here in the clouds, no one could tell him where he could or couldn't go…
Nor could anyone stop him from looking upon Tina with wide eyes. The dark-yellow dragoness held the same playful grin she always had as she flew beside the prince. Sometimes she'd follow him, and other times he'd follow her. And to be honest, he didn't mind having her lead him around. Not when it meant he could look upon her wonderful form. Cyrus swelled with joy, and felt warmth run up and down his body; Tina was so beautiful. There was no one else he'd rather have join him up in the clouds.
On a whim, Cyrus flew around in a wide arc around Tina. She slowed down and looked around incredulously as the prince flew this way and that. After sucking in a breath, the prince proceeded to go through his usual array of stunts: aerial spins, back flips, exaggerated twirls, and the like. All for her.
"Pretty cool, huh, Tina?" He asked with a grin as he flew beside her.
Tina just rolled her eyes at the sight. She beat her wings and focus her gaze on him. Her eyes began to glow a bright white… and suddenly, Cyrus came to a stop in the air. He wriggled and struggled as invisible binds held him in place.
"Hey, what the-?" Cyrus looked at Tina incredulously. "What are you…? How are you…?"
"Dad's been teaching me some new tricks." Tina smirked. "Starting with telekinesis."
Cyrus struggled even harder to get free of the magic, to no avail. "Tina, let me go!"
"Say uncle, Shorty." She declared.
"What?! No way!" He snapped.
"Say it…" Tina said with glee.
The more the prince struggled, the more he felt like a fool. He couldn't even use his shadow magic to slip away; there were no shadows to jump into.
"Alright, alright! UNCLE!" He screamed.
Immediately the binds vanished and Cyrus fell a short distance. After a moment, he beat his wings and forced himself to regain control of his wings. The prince then brought himself back up to be level with Tina, who was struggling to not erupt into a giggling fits.
"I am so getting back at you for that!" Cyrus yelled.
"You'll have to catch me first!" Tina stuck her tongue out at him. She then turned toward the northwest and took off at high speed, laughing all the way.
Cyrus glared as he chased after her… but after a moment, he couldn't help but give his own little chuckles. No matter what Tina did, Cyrus just couldn't stay mad at her. He just wished she'd take him a bit more seriously…
~~…~~
Down in the city streets, Tyrrany chased after the two dragonesses in hot pursuit. Flam and Arthur struggled to keep up with her. Whether or not Jonathan was following in turn, Tyrrany didn't care. She just couldn't take her eyes off the black dragoness; of all the places in all of Warfang they could have searched, and there one was, just like that.
At one point, the two dragonesses stopped in the air and proceeded to behave in an odd manner. Tyrrany couldn't fathom what would make the two behave in such a way. But that wasn't important. She continued following the two dragonesses, seeing where they might lead her.
But who is this dragoness? Tyrrany wondered. The only ones anybody's mentioned are an elder and Elenar's two sons. Nothing about any black dragonesses.
"Annie, wait up!" Flame shouted, breathing heavily.
"You need to slow down, girl!" Arthur added, flying near the red dragon.
"I can't let the black dragoness get away!" Tyrrany called back to them. "Pick up the pace if you don't want to be left behind!"
Flame and Arthur sighed. The trio continued their chase, following the two airborne dragonesses across the city.
Eventually, the two flew down to the ground, landing in an unpopulated park in the northwestern part of Warfang. Tyrrany, Flame and Arthur entered the park, hiding behind a patch of the trees to spy on the two dragonesses. The dark yellow dragoness had their back to the trio, while the black one was hidden from view. Tyrrany crouched down and took several breaths; she never realized just how heavy her violin case was until now. Perhaps she should have left it behind…
"Hey, you doing alright?" asked a muffled voice.
Tyrrany flinched; she looked up and saw Jonathan entering the park. He was flanked on either side by two more dragons: an ice dragon and a brown earth dragoness. The two of them wore similar masks to Jonathan, bore tattered rags and old pouches as opposed to Jonathan's fancy cloak.
"Hmph, about time you showed up." Arthur snapped.
"Oh hush up, gnat." Jonathan snapped. "We would've been right behind if you didn't run out of view so fast."
"Shhh…" Tyrrany held a talon to her lips. "Don't blow our cover."
"What are you talking about?" The earth dragoness asked.
"We've run into a black dragon and her friend." Flame answered; he gestured with a forepaw around the side of the bush. "Annie felt like tailing them."
"A black dragon?" Jonathan said; he flinched in place and instinctively reached for his switchblade. "Right around the bend, huh?"
"BE QUIET." Tyrrany said through gritted fangs. "You'll alert them to our presence."
"Alright, alright…" Jonathan brought his voice to a low whisper. "Don't have a cow, Annie."
Tyrrany just rolled her eyes and turned around to peer through the bushes to spy on the two dragonesses…
~~…~~
"You need to pick up the pace more, Cyrus." Tina chuckled. "You're not quite as lanky as you used to be."
"Heh, that's because I've been packing on the pounds…" Cyrus smirked. He did a dramatic pose and winked. "I've been building up my muscle to look more masculine."
"So, in other words, you've been making yourself chunky?" Tina giggled.
Cyrus flinched and snorted. "Not what I meant at all."
"Sure, sure." Tina nodded. "But either way, you might want to cut back on that; you've been getting awfully slow in our races."
"You only won because I ran out of wind magic." Cyrus said indignantly. "When I'm fully charged, I can run laps around the entirety of Warfang's out walls in mere moments!"
"Hmm, I'd love to see that for sure." Tina winked. "It'll probably happen on the same day that pigs fly."
"Gee, nice to know you have such confidence in me." Cyrus said with a flat face. But eventually Tina laughed, and Cyrus laughed as well.
As the two dragons continued their playful banter, Tyrrany listened intently. Off to her side, Flame struggled to not erupt into a fit of laughter.
"What's wrong?" Arthur asked the red dragon.
"I just realized…" Flame snickered. "The black dragon's a GUY."
"Say what?" Jonathan asked incredulously.
"Didn't you hear him speak? It's a guy!"
Eventually Flame gave in to his baser instincts and erupted into a giggling fit. Arthur soon joined in. Jonathan's two thugs exchanged glances and gave a few chuckles. Tyrrany, meanwhile, growled at her friends. Tyrrany was about to snap at them, but Jonathan beat her to it.
"Keep it down, you morons." Jonathan hissed. "It's one of THEM."
Immediately the two thugs stopped laughing, while Flame and Arthur just glared at Jonathan.
"The voice is off, but I definitely recognize it…" Jonathan gave a growl. "It's Rune's brother."
Tyrrany bit her lower lip and looked back through the foliage for any signs of the black dragon. Eventually the pair stood up and walked across the clearing in such a way that the black dragon came into view. Tyrrany could make out his masculine face, his grey mane, his magenta underbelly… and the glowing red möbius signs on his sides.
There was something that Tyrrany had heard several times before. It should have been easy to put two and two together. Several times, she'd heard that Elenar had two sons. Several times, they were referred to as black dragons. Several times, Tyrrany expected that she would come into conflict with black dragons that were Elenar's sons.
And yet, only now, in this moment, when she was able to see the same magical birth-marks on this black dragon that she had on her own sides… did it truly sink in. Shortly after tossing Tyrrany into the garbage, Elenar had run off with a black dragon. This one couldn't have been much more than a year younger than Tyrrany. She wasn't just abandoned; she was replaced.
Tyrrany took several long, hearty breaths. She fell back onto her haunches and took her violin case off her neck. Her breathing became more erratic as she reached into the case for her instrument. Her breath only hastened more and more as she fumbled with her bow to play a few notes.
"What's she doing?" The ice dragon asked curiously.
Flame stepped up to the cloaked dragoness and tapped her shoulder. "Annie, are you okay?"
"She replaced us." Tyrrany said as she strummed a few notes. She played her music in time with her heart-beat.
"What?" Arthur asked in confusion.
"A purple dragon wasn't good enough for her…" Tyrrany said. Her body shook, and a purple aura surrounded her cloak. "She didn't like how a purple dragon gave her ME, so my mother tossed us in the trash and replaced us with BLACK DRAGONS."
She played more of her music as she peered through the foliage at the black dragon… her half-brother. She blew small bursts of purple smoke from her nostrils and turned to glare at Jonathan.
"You're supposed to take Elenar's sons captive, right?" Tyrrany demanded.
"Of course!" Jonathan declared.
"Well you'd better get out there and capture him!" Tyrrany exclaimed. She stopped playing her music and picked up her violin to carry it forward. "Before I do it myself!"
With that said, Tyrrany turned and leaped out of her hiding spot with a growl.
"Annie, wait!" Flame shouted.
But it was too late.
~~…~~
Cyrus and Tina had heard some strange music for a few moments. And as they were walking around, it just suddenly stopped. At first Cyrus figured that some local musician was taking a walk in the park to practice playing… but the sudden angry growl made him flinch.
"Who's that?" Cyrus wondered aloud.
He got his answer when a strange dragoness emerged from behind some bushes. She was dressed in a black cloak, not dissimilar to what the Deep Shadows wore. She wore a hood over her face, and fell back onto her haunches as she held a violin against her chin. From what little Cyrus could see, the dragoness's hide was purple.
"Who are you?" Cyrus asked.
"Oh, don't mind ME." The dragoness snapped. She twirled her bow around with her free forepaw and pressed it against the strings. She then began playing some erratic tune on the instrument, much to Cyrus and Tina's confusion.
"Uh… are we supposed to toss a coin into her case or something?" Tina asked.
"How about we toss you one of THESE?!" Someone shouted.
That's when a bright green earth bomb went flying over the top of the bushes and hurtled toward Cyrus and Tina. The two yelped in surprise and dashed in either direction to get out of the way. There was an explosion as the earth bomb tore the ground to pieces. As the dust settled, Cyrus spotted several dragons emerging from behind the bushes. Three of them wore plain white masks and formed a horizontal formation in front of the purple dragoness; the center and left dragons were earth drakes, while the dragon on the right was an ice drake. They all growled angrily, all while the dragoness played her music.
Cyrus didn't like the looks of this; these dragons looked ready for a fight. Still, as he glanced at Tina, the two nodded at each other and sprang out into fighting stances. Cyrus put on the scariest face he could muster and glared at the leader of the mask-wearing dragons.
"Who the fuck are all of you?" Cyrus demanded.
"It doesn't matter who we are!" The dragon growled. "What matters is that YOU are going to give up and come along…" The dragon fanned out his talons. "If you don't want big, fancy smile carved from ear frill to ear frill!"
Cyrus wasn't taking that kind of threat lightly. He blew smoke from his nostrils and let magical lightning dance across his back.
"You'll need to get a lot closer than THAT to get carving, cretin!" Cyrus snapped.
"Gladly!" The lead dragon growled. He looked back at the cloaked dragoness. "Care to lend a hand?"
The dragoness just snorted and started playing again. That's when Cyrus noticed the strange, purple aura covering the dragoness's scales. He also saw that yet another dragon, a fire dragon, had emerged to stand beside the dragoness. Strangely he was the only one not to wear a mask… and a dragonfly floated around his head too. Weird.
As the dragoness played her music, the aura around her body glowed ever brighter. She then pointed her bow at the dragon directly in front of her. In a fraction of a second, the aura disappeared from around her body, and instead erupted into existence upon the earth dragon. He then beat the ground and cackled as his body shook.
"Oh, YEAH!" He howled eagerly. "So that's what it feels like!"
The dragoness played a few more notes and pointed at the other two dragons in turn. The earth dragoness and ice drake shook vigorously as similar auras erupted into existence upon them. They then cackled and scratched the ground as they moved to surround Cyrus and Tina.
"Oh, great…" Cyrus crouched down low and glowered. "Convexity."
"You sure?" Tina asked as she stood beside him.
"I'd know that purple glow anywhere…" Cyrus snorted. "Figures that a purple dragon would use convexity to power up her friends."
The dragoness gave a quiet snort and resumed playing her music. The fire dragon just sat on his haunches and grimaced while the other three drakes roared and sprang into action.
Cyrus dashed out of the way as a multitude of earth bombs and spires were sent hurtling his way. Soon after came a deluge of ice spears and other sharp bits of magic. The three dragons also dashed wildly about in a circle, their convexity-augmented bodies giving them a slight boost in speed.
Cyrus and Tina held their ground. The dragoness let bursts of dark lightning arc through the air and land right in the path of the earth dragons as they ran into them attacks; it wasn't long before they howled and wailed as they jittered in place. As for the icy dragon, Cyrus countered all of his attacks by melting the ice into steam with fireballs. To Cyrus's surprise, the ice dragon gasped as if he never saw such a thing coming. Cyrus then charged right for the ice dragon and surrounded himself with another fiery aura. With one powerful tackle, the ice drake was sent flying backward into the grass, where he lay on his back and howled in pain.
These aren't students form any magical school, that's for sure. Cyrus scoffed. He looked around again; while the male earth dragon was able to shake off the lightning, his female ally collapsed onto her belly. She groaned as the male rolled her over to help her up. But this dragon was no dummy; when Tina thought that the drake wasn't looking, she opened up another arc of electricity.
However, the drake summoned up an earthy wall between the two of them, and quickly helped the earth dragoness onto her feet. And when Tina tried to dash around the other side, the earth drake shielded his body with earth magic and charged right for her. Even as lightning danced across the drake's scales, he still endured it enough to ram his head into Tina's chest. Tina was knocked off of her feet, but she quickly tuck-and-rolled to come get back into the fight.
Hmm, this guy's more experienced than his friends. Cyrus thought.
"Stand up and fight, moron!" The purple dragoness shouted at the ice drake. With a faster tempo in her song, she refueled the convexity aura surrounding her comrade. As his body shook fiercly, the ice dragon sprang up and howled delightedly as he turned to charge at Cyrus. This time, the ice dragon surrounded himself in his own aura of blue and purple, in the hopes of countering any more flames. But all the prince had to do to counter this was to shadow-jump out of the way, letting him fly right past and charge across to the other side of the clearing…
…and right into the path of the two earth dragons. Tina saw the ice dragon coming ahead of time and scrambled out of the way just before-
KA-BOOM!
Icy magic exploded from the dragon, knocking all three of the thugs to the grass. The area was surrounded by frost and snow as they lay in a crumpled heap. Cyrus re-emerged from his shadow and watched as the trio struggled to get up as they shivered and groaned.
"You moron…" The earth drake scowled.
"Sorry…" The ice dragon whimpered. "I was… aiming for blackie…"
Cyrus just rolled his eyes. He then gave a few chuckles and spun around in a circle; he barely had to put up a fight to deal with the thugs.
"Yeah…" Cyrus grinned. "How do you like THAT?" He beat his chest. "That's what happens when you mess with the likes of ME!"
"Us." Tina insisted as she stepped up beside him. "The likes of US."
"Sorry, sorry…" He chuckled and shrugged. "Heat of the moment and all that."
As Cyrus was gloating, the violin music suddenly stopped. He looked back at the dragoness, who was snarling and growling in his direction. Perhaps his show-boating had interrupted her concentration or something.
"You must think you're soooo important, don't you?" She asked bitterly. Cyrus cocked an eye ridge.
"Well, I am a Black dragon!" He said with a smirk. "You idiots should have chosen someone in your ball park to pick a fight with instead!"
The dragoness's eye twitched. Her limbs shook as she struggled to focus on playing her music again. The red dragon by her side just frowned at her.
"Annie, calm down…" He whispered.
"Yeah, Annie, or whatever your name is…" Cyrus grinned. "You'd better calm down, pack it up, and head on home." He fanned out his wings and struck the ground with his talons. "You don't want any of THIS, sweetheart!"
The dragoness gripped her bow so hard that she nearly cut one of the strings. Purple smoke billowed from her nostrils as she looked around at the downed thugs.
"Alright… THAT'S IT!" The dragoness screamed. "If these morons can't do the job…" She tossed her violin and bow down on the grass. "I'll just DO IT MYSELF!"
In the blink of an eye, the dragoness vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. Cyrus's jaw fell open. "What the-?"
Magic exploded overhead as the dragoness reappeared again; her talons were drawn and ready to strike. Instinctively, Cyrus called upon his Time element. The world changed to a bluish tint as the dragoness came gracefully downward. Cyrus casually stepped out of the way as the attacker gently crashed onto the grass.
When time returned to normal, the ground shook. Tina laughed at the sight as the cloaked dragoness struggled to get back onto her feet.
"You missed." Cyrus smirked.
That only served to make the dragoness even angrier. She blew flames from her tongue as she snapped at him. "FUCK YOU!"
The dragoness summoned forth a pool of shadows quite rapidly from all four paws. She then sank down into the grass, only to re-emerge in Cyrus's own shadow to slash at him. Cyrus once again used his time magic to freeze the world and dart out of the way. Time returned to normal, and the dragoness slashed at nothing.
This wouldn't be the first time the dragoness tried this; again and again Cyrus used time magic to dodge out of the way of the vicious attacks the dragoness dealt him.
"FIGHT ME LIKE A DRAGON!" She bellowed.
"My mom says I'm not supposed to fight dragonesses." Cyrus said with a shrug. "This is the best I can do."
"Even though you look like a girl." Tina smirked nearby.
Cyrus groaned. "You're not helping, Tina!"
~~…~~
The dragoness grew progressively angrier as time went on. Across the way, Flame and Arthur watched as the dragoness frantically chased after Cyrus. They exchanged uneasy glances as Tina cast them nasty looks.
"Should we help her?" Flame asked the dragonfly.
"Well, our job is to prevent her from getting hurt." Arthur stated. "However, the prince isn't fighting back, for some reason. And the dark yellow dragoness is still tired from fighting Johnny's goons."
"I suppose we could just stay here on the sidelines until those two actually try to hurt her." Flame grimaced.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking…" Arthur nodded."
"Oh, you two are such COWARDS." Jonathan snapped. The earth drake had finally regained enough stamina to force himself onto his feet. He panted through his mask. "Man, that purple stuff really left me worn out…"
Jonathan reached into the confines of his jacket and pulled out a rather sizeable red gem. He immediately smashed it into dust, which were absorbed into his scales. The green dragon howled in delight as power flowed through his body. The ice and earth dragons pulled out gems of their own, albeit theirs were smaller.
"Alright, let's try a different approach…" Jonathan whispered. He nodded toward the two thugs and pointed off to the left. The trio then crouched low and moved along the perimeter of the clearing to avoid being scene. Flame just grimaced and returned his gaze to Tyrrany, who was chasing after the black dragon while spewing several curses his way.
Flame sighed sadly. "I hate when she seeing her like this."
Eventually, Cyrus's magical energy started running out. His time-freezing bursts gradually shortened in length, until he could only stop time for a few seconds. Tina grimaced upon realizing this and dashed in to help.
"Cyrus, you need to stop!" She yelled at him. "Before you-"
While Cyrus was in the middle of trying to dodge yet another attack from the dragoness, he suddenly collapsed onto the grass; he was spent. He scrambled to get out of the way as the cloaked dragoness lunged at him, talons extended. Cyrus ducked his head as she came at him from the front. As Cyrus ducked his head, his upper horns scraped along the front of the dragoness's chest. At the same time, her talons slashed down the length of his back. Both of them cried out in pain and collapsed onto the grass several feet from each other.
"Annie!" Flame cried out.
"Damnit…" Cyrus winced as he forced himself up onto his paws. He reached within himself for healing magic, but found his reserves were running low. He scowled in the direction of the dragoness, who clutched her wounded chest with a scowl.
The dragoness's body glowed a purplish-blue for a moment, and the wounds on her chest sealed themselves up. But that didn't stop her from wincing and panting as she re-oriented herself to face the black dragon.
"What do you want from me, anyway?!" Cyrus snarled at her.
"I want you out of my life!" The dragoness hissed.
"Then LEAVE!" Tina snarled at her. She charged forward to tackle the dragoness, but Cyrus extended a wing to block her path. "Hey!"
"I don't even know who you are!" Cyrus continued. "What could I have POSSIBLY done to you?!"
The dragoness merely snarled at him yet again. She sucked in a deep breath and unleashed a burst of lightning magic his way. But before it could reach the black dragon, Tina shoved him out of the way and opened her own maw. A burst of dark-tinted lightning erupted from Tina's maw and collided with the cloaked dragoness's lightning. The two arcs of magic rocked back and forth a few paces as both dragonesses stomped toward each other. After a moment, Tina's lightning was pushed back bit by bit toward her maw. The cloaked dragoness's eyes beamed as she prepared to strike her down…
Only for chunks of dirt to hit her in the face; Cyrus had grabbed a pawful and thrown it at her while she wasn't looking. She lost control of her own lightning, and Tina's bolts flew forward and struck her in the chest.
"ANNIE!" Flame screamed.
The dragoness collapsed onto the grass and shook violently from the bolts. While she was down, Cyrus and Tina nodded at each other before charging forward to strike again.
But Flame wasn't having that. With fire bursting from his maw, the red dragon pulled down his goggles and leaped angrily into the fray to defend the cloaked dragoness.
Tina quickly reached into her satchel and tossed Cyrus a red gem. He immediately smashed it into dust and absorbed it, letting the magic flow through him with gusto. He nodded to Tina in thanks, and then turned to glare the new opponent. And he had to use the newfound magic almost immediately to dispel a burst of fire from Flame. The red dragon stood over Tyrrany's body as she finally pushed away the lightning.
"You okay, Annie?" He whispered to her.
"I'm fine…" She snorted. She rolled over onto her paws and glowered at Cyrus and Tina.
Cyrus and Tina growled at the two, who of course growled back. And Arthur just floated around over his friends' heads, putting on the bravest face he could. Tina prepared to attack.. only for her ear frills to wriggle at the sound of footsteps from behind. She immediately whirled around and flinched as the three thugs from before came up from behind. They surrounded their bodies with rock and ice respectively. They moved to help Flame and the dragoness form a ring around Cyrus and Tina.
"You ready for round TWO, bastards?!" The earth drake growled and wiped grass from his mask.
"Oh great; Now it's five against two." Tina hissed.
"And just what am I then? Chopped liver?" Arthur asked in exasperation. He came to a landing on the cloaked dragoness's head. "Let's see what you can do, Tyrrany!"
"Get off me." She snorted.
"Tyranny?" Cyrus asked incredulously. "You mean we're fighting some who's literally named after a cruel and oppressive rule?"
The dragoness's eyes narrowed, and she blew purple smoke from her nostrils again.
"It's TYRRANY!" She declared. "Tur-On-Eee! Get it right!"
"I don't care what your name is!" Tina declared. "Nobody messes with Cyrus but ME!"
She made to lunge at Tyrrany, only for Flame to block her with his body. He then forced her back and spat magical fire at the dirt by Tina's feet.
"Don't touch her!" Flame hissed.
"Our boss would kill us!" Arthur added.
"What a shame!" Cyrus spat. He made to attack the pair, only for an icicle to graze his hind leg from behind. The prince turned to snarl at the ice dragon, only for a few earth bombs to come flying his way. Cyrus scrambled to avoid the attacks, but the last one of them struck him on the flank. The black dragon howled as he was sent flying through the air. He crashed on the dirt and writhed in pain; he could feel his flanks bleeding.
Cyrus forced himself to roll over to stand up. As he looked back, he heard Tina hissing and thrashing as she unleashed bursts of dark lightning at any of the dragons who tried to go after Cyrus.
"What do we do about this chick?" The earth dragoness asked.
"Just knock her ass out." The male earth dragon said. "Get her out of the way so we can capture blackie over there."
"I'll deal with this dragoness myself." Tyrrany declared. "Go after the prince. Now!"
"Don't have to tell ME twice…" The earth dragon turned and snickered at the wounded Cyrus. He surrounded his talons with earth magic and stomped forward, with his two thugs in tow. "Rune's not here, so I'll take my aggression out on you myself, PRINCESS!"
Cyrus's eye twitched. At first he was having some fun messing with some common thugs. Then he dodged around as some crazy dragoness unleashed purple magic on him… and now, he lay bleeding on the ground as his best friend was surrounding. And as if that wasn't bad enough, this one dragon had the NERVE to call him THAT WORD?!
"Alright… that's it…" Cyrus scowled as he forced himself up onto all fours. He glared at the approaching thugs, and then down at the crystal that hung around his neck. "I've had it with all of you!"
Cyrus grasped the convexity crystal in a forepaw and reached into it with his mind. He snarled as the powerful magics were awoken from within. The three thugs were stunned into stopping as purple lightning erupted from the crystal and danced along his scales. Cyrus unfurled his wings and sprang into a fighting stance. His heart beat rapidly as purple flames erupted from his nostrils.
"Is that… Convexity?!" The ice dragon exclaimed.
"Oh, you better believe it!" Cyrus bellowed. He spat purple flames from his maw and burned the grass around him. "I'll show you what happens when you fuck with a BLACK DRAGON!"
Cyrus charged forward at ramming speed toward the head thug, a trail of purple flames in his wake. The earth dragon surrounded himself with a barrier of stone just before the black dragon smashed against him. The force was great enough that the thug was sent flying backward to crash against the other two. The trio groaned in pain while Cyrus dashed around in an arc about them.
"He had Convexity this whole time?!" The ice dragon exclaimed in surprise.
"Nobody said anything about Convexity!" The earth dragoness shouted.
"Well I'm saying it NOW!" Cyrus screamed the last word. The scream was coupled by ripples of purple energy that crashed against all three dragons. They howled as their ear frills were assaulted by augmented fear wails. Once again the thugs were forced onto their paws as Cyrus glowered down at them.
The earth drake was the only one to force himself back onto his paws. He groaned in pain as he struggled to stop his head from spinning. Once he was standing again, he looked around at his two friends, who groaned and whimpered on the grass.
"Kass… Mora…" The earth dragon sighed. "You two stay down. I'll… handle this myself."
"You want more of this, do you?!" Cyrus screamed.
The earth dragon finally turned around to face the prince. That's when Cyrus realized that a good half of the drake's mask had broken off and lay in pieces on the dirt; perhaps from the initial ram attack. The earth dragon realized this, and cursed his bad luck as he reached up to feel the edges of the three nasty scars that darted along his face.
"Wait… those scars…" Cyrus squinted his eyes. "I know I've seen them before somewhere."
"Doesn't matter where you've seen them!" The earth dragon snapped. "Doesn't change the fact that I'm not scared of you, even IF you have Convexity!"
"Oh, you WILL be…" Cyrus spat more purple flames from his maw. After scorching the ground again, the prince lunged forward to attack; he'd teach them all a lesson they'd never forget.
~~…~~
Tyrrany assaulted the dark-yellow dragoness with a series of earth blasts. She wasn't looking to kill this bystander; she wasn't the target. So, why not unleash her opposite element in full force. For the most part, they did the trick; Tina was struck with a multitude of earth bombs that pushed her further and further away. But what Tyrrany hadn't counted on was the dragoness eventually evading her magic blasts by fanning out her wings and just up and levitating into the air. Tyrrany had to blink to make sure she was seeing things; what kind of magic allowed a dragoness to fly without using their wings? She shook her head and put on an angry face to avoid looking vulnerable.
"You coward!" Tyrrany bellowed.
"What's wrong?" Tina asked slyly. "Can't fly in that getup?"
Tired of wasting earth bombs on the dragoness, Tyrrany instead switched to spewing out icicle spears to skewer Tina's wing membranes. But the dark-yellow dragoness simply lifted herself left and right to evade the attacks in ways a dragon couldn't normally swerve to avoid. It burned Tyrrany up inside; if only she'd anticipated such an agile target in her training days.
As Tina evaded the ice attacks, she swooped down to claw at Tyrrany with her talons. Tyrrany ducked and dodged several times, but the last few attacks managed to make contact. Tyrrany hissed as she heard fabric getting ripped apart and scales slashed at her back. Tyrrany collapsed onto all fours and looked herself over: To Tyrrany's relief, the fabric of her cloak magically mended itself in seconds, even though the wounds under her garments were still aching from scratches. Tyrrany quietly offered thanks to her father for giving her such a useful item… but soon her anger was back, as she snarled at Tina and rose up.
"I'm getting sick of you!" Tyrrany snapped.
"Likewise!" Tina huffed.
Tyrrany decided to change up how she fought; why use just one element when she could use any element? Fire, earth, ice, wind… she spat out whatever element she could think of off the top of her head. Tina yelped as she struggled to avoid being hit by the multiple attacks.
During the onslaught of attacks, Tina didn't notice Arthur floating up out of her field of view. He spun around her head and suddenly screamed in her face. "BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA!"
Tina yelped in surprise and tried to swat him out of the way. But just as the dragonfly flew out of Tina's reach, an earth bomb cane hurtling toward her face. Tina screamed and tried to swerve out of the way, but was too slow; the earth bomb collided with her chest and knocked her out of the sky.
Tyrrany smirked with satisfaction as she watched the yellow dragoness collapse in a heap on the scorched grass. She'd done it; she'd taken out one of them. She marched forward toward the moaning dragoness and prepared to deliver a blow to the head to knock her out…
And that's when a horrid growl came from across the way. Tyrrany looked up and saw the black dragon standing proudly over Jonathan and his two thugs. Purple flames erupted from the black dragon's nostrils and he stomped menacingly toward Tyrrany. Purple energy arced randomly across the prince's back, and his talons left nasty scars on the ground.
"Get away from Tina…" Cyrus growled. "You BITCH!"
Tyrrany couldn't believe her eyes. She thought she'd heard the thug shout something about Convexity earlier, but she figured that it was about her own. She put on a brave face and growled… but something felt very wrong. She knew that black dragons had access to all the elements of magic… but Convexity? Tyrrany thought that was exclusive to only purples and whites. And yet here the prince was, more powerful than ever and ready to strike.
She wouldn't let herself be afraid... she couldn't! Not after coming this far! She had to keep fighting; she still had some of her convexity remaining. She could use it to fight back; she filled her being with her own convexity and prepared to face off against the powered-up prince…
But Cyrus was through doing anything remotely fair. In the blink of an eye, the prince stopped time again and charged forward at ramming speed. Between blinks, Tyrrany got a face-full of black dragon head. Something cracked. And in another blink, Tyrrany was several feet away, writhing in pain on her back beside the bush.
"ANNIE!" Flame and Arthur screamed in horror. They turned their backs on Cyrus and rushed over to help the dragoness. That was a mistake; Cyrus froze time yet again and sent the both of them flying to crash into the grass beside her.
With his opponents finally all downed, Cyrus returned to normal time. He stood over the injured Tina and rolled her over onto her paws.
"Cy…?" Tina asked worriedly.
"I've got you, Tina. Don't worry…" He said soothingly. The prince used the last of his convexity to conjure up healing water magic. The magic flowed over Tina's body and tended to her wounds, scrapes, and the few dented bones.
"Ugh, my head…" Tina grimaced. She pulled herself up onto her feet and stretched out her wings. "Back in mostly-top form. Thanks, Cy."
"You're welc…" Cyrus began to say. But as the last of his convexity magic finally ran out, all of the pain he'd gotten throughout the fight came back all at once. He howled in agony and collapsed onto Tina's back. She grunted as she struggled to support his weight. "By the ancestors, my arse is bleeding!"
"Oh, ick…" Tina grimaced as she looked Cyrus over a few times. "Don't worry, Cyrus. We'll…"
She looked at his face and blinked. The bulk of Cyrus's forehead, where he'd rammed into the dragoness, was a bright purple. The same purple as the dragoness's scales.
"What in the…?" Tina ran a talon along Cyrus's forehead; it was purple goo. She shook her talon in disgust and looked over in the direction of the downed dragoness.
Flame and Arthur struggled to pick themselves up, but they were in too much pain. This gave Tina the opportunity to carry Cyrus over to Tyrrany. The cloaked dragoness's hood was forced back from Cyrus's initial blow, revealing her pitch black mane. She moaned in pain as she struggled to lift herself off of her back; she was too disoriented from the bleeding head wound.
"Ugh…" She wrinkled her nostrils at the smell of her own blood. She instinctively reached up to wipe blood from her face… and wiped at a patch of white scales that were quickly staining with blood.
"Annie…" Flame groaned nearby. "Your makeup."
"My what…?" She mumbled. But soon, she looked down at her purple-stained talons, and her eyes lit up in horror. "Oh no…"
Cyrus rubbed his eyes and looked at the horrified dragoness; with her hood down, he finally realized that her four horns were identical in shape to his own. He forced himself off of Tina's back and, ignoring the searing pain in his flanks, forcibly rolled Tyrrany over onto her belly so he could grab her cloak.
"No…" Tyrrany protested. She struggled to crawl away; to keep her cloak from being ripped off.
But it was in vain; Cyrus pulled the cloak off of her chest and tossed it off to the side.
Cyrus and Tina looked down in surprise and alarm at Tyrrany's white scales. Her purple makeup was revealed. But most importantly, and to Cyrus's complete shock and alarm, he could see the red möbius signs that glowed on Tyrrany's sides.
"It can't be!" Tina exclaimed.
But it was. Cyrus blinked several times; many things ran through his head at once. He had gone talon to talon with a white dragoness and came out the victor. He'd also caused some serious trouble when word got around about this. But most importantly, he had realization.
Cyrus lumbered forward toward Tyrrany's face. He ignored the pain in his neck as he leaned down to whisper to her.
"Are you…?" Cyrus asked slowly and carefully. "Hope?"
Tyrrany blinked. What in the world did that mean? She blew smoke from her nostrils and tried to snap at him, only for her headache to become all the worse. She snarled and struggled in vain to re-orient herself enough to get some healing magic going.
Cyrus, meanwhile, felt a sick feeling in his stomach. This was bad. This was very bad. He struggled to scrounge together just enough reserve magic from within himself to cast it out upon this dragoness. But he was quite interrupted when a red dragon struck him in the side.
"Leave her alone!" Flame hissed. The dragon looked like he was still considerable pain from just moving around. But despite this, he grabbed the cloak from the ground and quickly fumbled to pull it over her body. He then walked in an arc around the dragoness and hissed at Cyrus and Tina. "Get away from her!"
Cyrus would have snapped at him, but the pain in his own body flared up once again. He could feel his wounds burning as blood reached all the way down toward his ankles. All he could do was use his own last reserves of magic to numb the pain and back up slowly from the enraged red drake. Tina backed up along with him so he could lean against her to stay standing. Meanwhile, Arthur finally picked himself up off the ground and carefully floated around his friends' heads.
"We are so screwed." The dragonfly mumbled.
"We'll get you out of here, Annie." Flame whispered to the dragoness. The dragoness mumbled something in response that he didn't quite understand.
Cyrus grimaced; he had so many questions for this dragoness… his half-sister. Why did she attack him? Where had she been all this time? Who were those thugs in the white masks? He just didn't know where to begin…
And he wouldn't, judging by the feint sounds of clanking armor outside the garden. With every second the clanking grew louder and louder.
"What the-?" Arthur asked.
"Soldiers!" Flame cried out. He whirled around, only for pain to shoot through his spine. "Damnit!"
Across the way, Jonathan finally forced himself up onto his feet. His head was wracked with pain, and all his muscles ached. The black dragon really knew how to give a beating when he was angry.
"S-Soldiers…?" Jonathan said aloud. He slowly shambled over to his two thugs; they barely moved as they mumbled in the grass. He tried with all his might to roll his friends onto their paws. "Come on, get up!"
Tyrrany took several breaths as she shambled across to the bush, where her violin and bow still lay in the grass. She picked them up, stuffed them in her case, and fumbled around with inside the pocket as she glared back at Cyrus and Tina.
"This isn't over…" She scowled toward the prince. She took the deepest breath of air she could as she pulled Flame toward her. Arthur flew down to land on her snout as a tiny purple aura surrounded all of their bodies.
"Hey, wait!" Cyrus shouted. He stepped forward to grab at the dragoness, only for his paw to flinch as pain shot through it; one of the bones was broken in his talon. He collapsed into a heap on the grass. "Damnit…"
As the prince nursed his injured forepaw, he watched as the two dragons and dragonfly vanished in a shadowy portal. Seconds later, a squadron of feline soldiers and four dragon soldiers rushed into the area. They were swiftly followed by General Grail, who gasped upon seeing Cyrus and Tina on the grass.
"Grail?" Tina asked, confused.
"What in the flying blazes happened HERE?!" Grail demanded.
"It's a long story…" Cyrus said. He suddenly winced as a sprain in his hind paw flared up. "Oww…"
"I go looking for you, and I find THIS!" Grail exclaimed.
"Looking for me?" Cyrus repeated curiously.
"Yes, looking for you!" The General declared. "Your brother was nearly killed by the Sons of Culmubrae not an hour ago! We were dispatched to find you and escort you back safely to the Dragon Spire…"
The General cast his gaze toward the three downed dragons across the clearing. A grail escaped his throat as he saw their white masks. "Well, it looks like someone's tried to kill YOU, too."
"No, they wanted him alive." Tina said. "I don't know why, though."
"I see…" Grail growled in his throat. "Let's get a better look at those three."
The General stomped forward toward the three thugs. The ice dragon and earth dragoness just lay still on the grass; they were barely conscious enough to know he was there. But the earth drake, however, froze in terror when he saw Grail approach. He clutched at his face and backed up as far as he could before bumping into a cheetah soldier. The soldier pointed a knife at the earth drake's throat, which made him freeze in place. He clutched at his face and began hyperventilating.
"Hmph, I haven't even used my magic yet…" Grail snorted. He reached down swatted the earth drake's paws away, and snatched the mask from his face. Grail's eyes then widened in surprise. "You?!"
Jonathan immediately tried to attack with some small scrap of magic, but all that managed to come forth was a tiny green spurt. Grail snarled; with a wave of his forepaw, he had the cheetah guard apply a metal muzzle to Jonathan's face.
"No!" Jonathan screamed. He struggled to get away, only for a few more cheetah guards to grab his wings and pin him down.
"I can't believe this…" Grail snorted. "Prince Jonathan, launching a sneak attack on Prince Cyrus."
"Prince Jonathan?" Tina repeated.
"Name rings a bell…" Cyrus grunted.
"Oh, you and your friends are in some grave trouble now, Prince Jonathan." Grail scowled down at the earth drake, who flinched back.
"They weren't the only ones." Tina said. "Three more got away just before you arrived."
"Three more?" Grail repeated as he turned around.
"Yeah." Cyrus answered. "There was a fire dragon, a dragonfly, and a purple dragoness. Only, she wasn't really purple: She wore a disguise. She was actually… Well…"
"Well what?" Grail demanded.
Cyrus leaned up to try and whisper into Grail's ear frill. The General just snorted and leaned down to whisper.
"I think it was my sister."
Grail's face immediately turned pale. He stood up tall and gazed down at the prince incredulously. "…Are you sure."
"Positive." Cyrus nodded. "Come on: We've got to tell my Mom and grandfather about this. Immediately!"
~~…~~
Greetings, friends and loved ones.
I debated how much detail to put into the attack on the caravan. The Sons of Culmubrae were a problem for Rune, yes. But they weren't the most IMPORTANT thing in this chapter. Bergan was always going to step in and lend a hand to win the prince's favor.
Now, the fight between Cyrus and Tyrrany… THAT was the most important thing. In addition to being a big awesome fight scene, the prince finally meets his sister for the first time. Hmm, but it seems he KNEW about her.
And why wouldn't he? You don't think that Elenar would keep secrets from her boys, do you?
Tenebra ecce Veritas
