Chapter 3: Price of Prophecy II

He rushed down the corridor to the door at the end where two moles stood guard with pikes at the ready. Upon seeing him they braced themselves as the mighty red dragon ran past them and the door parted ways for him. Ignitus ran through into the sparring area, the relatively calm and relaxed camp he had seen previously was now a battleground; the apes had pushed their way through far into the temple's interior, weighing down his already heavy heart. Closest to him were several mole at arms with crossbows covering behind boxes and carts firing towards the enemy has a dozen smaller battles were taking place towards the end of the room. He saw the back of Volteer as he stood at the front of the defense with a pair of dragon warriors and dozen or so assorted mole at arms alongside him . Apes were pouring out of the door at the end of the arena, smaller common soldiers and larger hulking officers, far in excess of the defenders, slowing inching them back.

'So far so soon…' Ignitus thought dimly as he took off galloping towards his fellow Guardian. He watched as Volteer swiped his massive paw across his front and sent a pair of apes flying into the wall before he suddenly reared back as if pulled back by an invisible chain.

"Get clear!" he shouted to his allies as his usually chatty maw opened wide to a web of blue lightning, a dozen or so arks of pulsing electricity latched onto the nearest ape, jumping from the next one to the next. In seconds more than twenty apes were convulsing in the clutches of the electric web, smoke rising from their fur as the Electric Guardian closed his mouth, the electrified apes all falling like dominoes in unison. The cheers from the defenders were short lived as yet more apes came filling through, clambering over their troopmates.

"Volteer!" shouted Ignitus as he ran up towards him, the yellow dragon only giving a short glance, too occupied to answer straight away as he snarled and slashed with his claws. A terrific blast suddenly rocked the temple and shattered the roof above Ignitus, chunks of heavy stone falling through the foliage to the ground and onto him. He cried out as rocks smashed against his back and wings, causing him to stumble and nearly loose his footing as he moved to escape the avalanche. Almost at once, several snarling, dog like beasts jumped down to the ground accompanied by their ape handlers.

"Deathhounds!" shouted Ignitus as a warning to the others. They were reptile-mammalian abominations with green scaly spots and dark purple fur on their hunched, Hyena like backs. Ignitus took his stance as the hounds howled and snarled with spine like teeth. The pack scattered across the room, towards the grotto, towards Volteer's band and Ignitus. He doused the nearest one in flame, but another quickly lunged and seized his right leg. He clamped his crushing jaws around the hound's back but another jumped up and bit into the red dragon's neck. Ignitus snarled and ripped the deathhound from his leg, tossing it aside as a pair of apes charged at him with large rectangular blades. Ignitus thrashed to dislodge the hound on his neck, the blades poised to cleave into his chest.

A sparking orb of lightning shot from the right into the path of the two apes, the orb cracking with the sound of thunder as whips of electric current stopped the apes in their tracks. They were hoisted off their feet by the current, shaking violently as the lightning fried their nerves and burned their fur. The hound dangling from Ignitus's neck yelped in pain as its grip suddenly loosened, falling to the ground with blood dripping from its mouth with a crossbow bolt in its back. Ignitus grimaced as crimson blood streaked down from his neck, looking to see a mole standing on a cart to his left with a crossbow and the lighting orb obviously coming from Volteer. The attack by the deathhounds seemed to have faltered, but the few moments distraction had done its job; Ignitus watched in horror as Volteer was attacked from behind and the line of defense began to falter.

"Volteer, fall back!" he cried desperately, rushing to aid his friend. One of the dragon warriors set several apes alight with a burst of flame, but another deathhound seized his throat in its teeth as an ape delivered a blow with a hammer to his head, a swarm of apes descending on him with daggers and pikes. Volteer jumped and kicked like a wild horse to throw off his attackers as Ignitus made a sweeping thrash of his tail, bowling over a group apes into another. He dampened his thirst for revenge in order to save the living, clawing at an ape on Volteer's back as he shook the others loose.

"Back! Everyone fall back!" Ignitus shouted as the line of defense began to break. He and Volteer stood facing the onslaught, stepping back slowly as they used their respective breaths in unison, burning and shocking the apes as the surviving moles and one dragon warrior retreated towards the grotto. The mole archers covered the withdrawal of their comrades as they exhausted their last bolts. The two guardians felled more apes then they could count, but they continued to swarm in from the doorway and hole in the ceiling, seemingly as if the entire army of Gaul had descended on the temple. Ignitus feared that may be the case; what if the message they had received was false? Was Warfang under attack at all? Had it already fallen? It seemed improbable, but perceived improbability bred complacency, a moment of which had forced Pyra to throw himself in harm's way to protect the Fire Guardian, the one who was supposed be protecting him.

The attrition on the apes seemed to have had an effect as they became more cautious, no longer throwing themselves at the Guardians, but the two dragons had exhausted themselves, now barely able to muster the mana to wield fire or lightning. The edged back closer and closer to the door, knowing that if they turned their backs the horde would unleash on them and surely storm the grotto.

"Ignitus," said Volteer, "You are wounded, you should retreat,"

"No," he replied fiercely, "We cannot let them overtake us or they will seize the grotto."

"We can't hold them back for eternity, Ignitus…"

The Fire Guardian glanced at his companion tensely as the tips of their tails nearly backed against the arches of the doorway. The apes closed in on them cautiously, claws and fangs bared menacingly as they backed their foes further and further towards their seemingly inevitable doom. A deep, guttural roar suddenly echoed from far down the arena, a roar that found its way under the scales of both the Guardians and seemingly among the ranks of apes before them. Peering over the swarm of their numbers, Ignitus saw a towering silhouette shuffling its way through the doorway at the far end of the arena. He paused mid-breath as a single glowing green eye regarded him as the full figure stepped into the light, brandishing a pair of long curved swords in its hands. The monstrous ape rose above even the large commanders of which it wore the same dark purple armor, but sported a distinctive helmet with large horns that curved upwards like the shape of a longbow before its tips turned outwards. The long baboon like face was scarred from the top left across its nose, the one natural eye focused on him as its glowing companion shone brighter.

'Gaul himself…' thought Ignitus dreadfully. The Ape King lifted his right arm and stabbed the blade towards the two dragons.

"Bring me their heads!" he roared.

Without warning, Ignitus reacted impulsively, jumping forward and startling the apes as he summoned every ember left in his body, casting a blanket of fire across the front rank as the flames spread to those behind. The normally lightning fast Volteer stood stunned as finally an ashy black mist of smoke followed the last of the flames from Ignitus's mouth.

"Go!" he yelled, waiting for the Electric Guardian to turn and rush back through the door before he did the same, giving the Ape King a last glance before he turned about and ran through the door. Another furious roar echoed through the tunnel as the door sealed behind him, following Volteer through to the grotto he rushed through the last doorway as it too was sealed. Ignitus found himself starring back into dozens of eyes as they all turned their focus on him; the eyes of the damned. Across the room the door to the dojo was already sealed, a makeshift barricade already being stacked against it by several mole at arms.

"They've broken into the dojo, sir!" one of them cried fearfully, "We're trapped!"

A loud thud against the door made the mole jump as the crates stacked against it rocked. Throughout the room were tense murmurs and gasps of dismay as the pounding against the door intensified as did the voices of the apes behind it. Another loud crash from the towards the sparring area rocked the building as Gaul's bone chilling roar echoed through the temple's walls.

"I do indeed believe we are surrounded, Ignitus," Volteer remarked forlornly. Ignitus did not answer back as he squeezed past the wounded and those still standing and moved towards Pyra, who still lay where he left him. A herbal balm had been rubbed into burns, though his breathing remained heavy. The young dragon tilted his head slightly towards him, his eyes latching to those of the Fire Guardian.

"Is it bad?" he asked bluntly.

"You'll come well again, young dragon," Ignitus said warmly.

"Not me," Pyra groaned dismissively, "For all of us." Ignitus could not hold back a grim sigh as he lifted his head and saw that all eyes were still on him, the physicians trying to ease the suffering of the wounded now looked upon their work with futility as Volteer called all those fit to stand ready.

"Bad," Ignitus confessed to his squire plainly, "Very much so,"

"Arm yourselves! We must stand ready for when they breach!" Volteer ordered. At once the able-bodied moles formed a line before the two doorways, pikes facing outwards as others with swords stood shoulder to shoulder with their comrades; grim faced, fearful, but resolute. Though there were two doors for the southern attackers to breach, the presence of Gaul himself undoubtedly would ensure neither would hold for long. There was but one able bodied dragon warrior standing among the defenders, though his wings were badly mauled leaving him unable to fly. The few other dragons among the wounded were a poorly sight, though through their pain they lifted or limped to their feet, ready for a final stand.

"Ignitus," called Volteer quickly, raising his attention. Ignitus placed a comforting paw on Pyra's shoulder, giving him a silent nod of assurance but to his surprise the young dragon didn't reciprocate, shaking his head slightly at him even as he gave his master the faintest of smiles, as if to tell him to not waste his false hope. Drawing a breath, Ignitus turned away and hurried to Volteer who stood before the purple dragon's egg. The two dragons faced each other, a nervous gulp in Volteer's throat all but confirming what Ignitus believed he was about to hear. The eyes of the yellow dragon shone with regret.

"We both knew it might come down to this," he said in a subdued volume. Ignitus let out a mournful groan as he looked down, his face twisting in anguish. Volteer looked just as torn for his friend but knew just as well the truth of his words.

"There is only one other way out of here and we cannot take them all with us. Not the eggs or…" his voice trembled, his sentence incomplete but saying all that was needed. Ignitus lifted his face, scowling towards the Electric Guardian, not in anger to him but the madness of the world. The shaking of the temple intensified as the hammering against both doors grew louder. Heavily and remorsefully, the Fire Guardian ascended the short steps to the purple egg in the golden bowl; the ultimate goal of the barbarous apes besieging them, though he knew they would not stop with the murder of an unborn hatchling. Everyone in the grotto, living and unborn, would not be spared.

Ignitus saw his reflection in the surface of the prophesied egg, the flames of the torches shimmering against it. Closing his eyes, he reached forwards with his paws and lifted the egg guardedly from it resting place, tears streaking down his face. He shifted the egg to his left side and held it with his foreleg against his body. He felt his stomach turning, a strange feeling vibrated through his body from the touch of the egg. He knew of its value, of how important it was, but in that moment inside of that room he simply couldn't fathom how it was more important than all of the others and of all those sworn to protect it. He turned about towards the stairs, meeting eyes with Volteer again as he stepped down from them.

"Are you ready, Ignitus?" he asked anxiously. The Fire Guardian remained silent, looking past his colleague around the grotto, across the rows of eggs and the courageous garrison of moles and dragons who had given their all yet could not escape their fate. His heart went out to all of them, but more than its fair share centered on the plucky young squire named Pyra who had spared him potentially crippling wounds.

"Ignitus, there isn't time. We must go now!" Volteer said hurriedly.

"Are we really to leave them all?" he asked, seemingly more to himself than Volteer.

"We agreed on this, we both know what must be done!"

"I know what we agreed but why only one? Between us we can each carry two."

"If there were more of us and we had more time…"

"Volteer!" Ignitus cried pleadingly, "We must save all that we can!"

"You would have me choose?" Volteer asked with a painful scowl, "Of which to save and which to let die?"

"No," Ignitus replied shortly, "I'll choose."

With that Ignitus began to walk with the egg tucked under his foreleg, following the circle of nests surrounding the Pool of visions. Volteer followed uneasily behind as the others in the grotto watched them apprehensively. Another loud crash outside the doors seemed not to speed up the process of choosing as Ignitus took small steps beside each of the nests. He paused a quarter way around the room, eyes constantly shifting across the glistening eggs. In his mind he imagined he heard a dozen infant voices, begging to not be left behind. With a hard breath, he reached out with his right foreleg and embraced a single, emerald green egg. He felt as though a piece of his heart had been slashed off with a meat cleaver, but he stood tall on his hind legs and moved on. He paused again at the halfway mark where Pyra lay, the young dragon's pained breathing adding to his feelings of guilt. Ignitus closed his eyes and turned his head slowly to the left, stopping short of a full turn, his eyes shooting open and fixing straightforward.

"That one," he told Volteer bluntly. Without a word but with a grieving face, the Electric Guardian stepped forward and cradled the scarlet red egg Ignitus had chosen. A strained grunt caused both dragons to look behind them. Pyra's teeth were gritted as he forced himself onto all fours, his left foreleg twitching painfully.

"Pyra? What are you doing?" asked Ignitus, a shot of hope entering his voice that the squire might be fit enough to accompany them.

"No sense lying down, Ignitus. I'll be resting on a cloud soon enough," he said with a heartbroken smile.

"But your wings are uninjured…"

"I can barely stand. I'd just slow you down."

"No, Pyra…"

"Yes, Ignitus," Pyra replied sternly, even as the edges of his eyes began to water, "The future lays with what you carry. If I have helped to deliver that, then I can die here happily," he said resignedly. Ignitus felt his mouth dry, wanting in his heart to tell the insubordinate adolescent to forget his idealist views and just save himself but in his heart, he knew it wouldn't work. He was headstrong and loyal to the bitter end. Limping forward, the would be guardian pushed himself onto his hind legs and fell in against Ignitus's belly, stretching his forelegs out in an embrace. The Fire Guardian gasped quietly as all eyes envied this moment of warmth in the face of the impending doom. He wished more than anything to be able to return the gesture in kind, but could not relinquish his hold of his precious cargo. He simply stood still and relished in the farewell.

"May the ancestors look after you," Ignitus trembled, "May they look after us all."

Without another word, Pyra let go of his friend and master, sitting down on his haunches as the two Guardians resumed their unpleasant duty. There was room to save but one more, one among dozens. A silence had overcome the entire grotto, not a whimper or groan from the wounded, having made their peace with fate. The Mole at arms standing to bumped shoulders with each other or shared in the contents of a hidden canteen that carried something other than water. The two guardians eyed each other ruefully as another violent shudder in the temple's walls told them time was short.

Moving onwards the pair moved past the barricaded southern door and stopped where the nest of eggs ended before the where the steps lay. Ignitus, too emotionally worn down, did not even utter words for the last choice, simply leaning down and nudging an egg of rich pink second from the end of the others. He moved aside where Volteer collected it, both now standing and walking on two feet.

"Sirs, you have to go now," said a Mole halberdier tepidly. The Guardians eyed the small biped affirmatively before turning the same look to each other, standing over before the golden bowl, all those near the Pool of Visions suddenly lifting themselves and giving its outer ring a wide berth. Ignitus took one last scan of the room; of the eggs and the faces of all those who would be left behind. He and Volteer then turned their heads to each other, nodded gravely before turning their eyes on the shimmering Pool of Visions. They bowed their heads and then spoke aloud in unison;

'The shadows are closing, the enemy numerous, grant us salvation, let us not perish!'

Instantly, the shimmering waters in the pool began to glow brightly. The engraved runes around the pool's base and edges came to life in rays of golden orange. A sound like fire coming to life accompanied the display of glowing runes. The edges of the outer ring seemed to form a layer of mystical light around it as the pool suddenly began to rise from the floor, rising above the heads of everyone in the room and stopping just short of the ceiling. Where it had been revealed a dark tunnel that disappeared far below the temple into the plateau it was built upon. The tunnel was wide enough only for a grown dragon to enter and only in single file. Ignitus and Volteer stepped up to the edge of the hole as the pool floated above their heads and stared down into the blackened tunnel. The Moles and two dragons staying behind watched the pair enviously. Ignitus lifted his head and met the eyes of the doomed one last time.

"Thank you. All of you. It has been an honour to serve with you," he proclaimed poignantly.

"Never mind, sir," one of the Moles replied with cynical cheerfulness, "All in a day's work." With only a nod in response, the Fire Guardian looked ahead finally to Pyra who stood across the hole from him. The young battle squire lifted himself firmly to his feet, the red fire banner hanging over him. His left foreleg raised up and he clasped his paw around the banner tightly, inhaling deeply as he nodded a silent farewell to his master.

"Goodbye," Ignitus said before with a powerful thrust of his hind legs he dived headfirst into the tunnel. Clutching the eggs against his body a sea of blackness greeted his eyes as he freefell straight down into the abyss, the narrow tunnel too tight to open his wings. His heart felt like it was trying to escape his mouth as the air rushed past his body, unable to look behind to see if Volteer was following him. His eyes adjusted to see the rocky edges of the tunnel suddenly vanish into a vast cavern, instantly he fanned his wings out and soared upwards, bringing himself to a hard stop in the air as he craned his neck behind, seeing Volteer come diving out from the tunnel in the ceiling, eggs clutched tightly. He followed in his track and pulled up sharply, hovering just behind the red dragon. They paused in their exodus to survey their surroundings; a vast cavern of jagged peaks and glowing crystals. A sudden shudder rocked the cavern as the tunnel above them sealed as the Pool of Visions returned to its rightful place. An eerie silence fell on the cavern save for the beating of the dragon's wings.

"Come Ignitus, there is nothing more we can do for them," said Volteer solemnly.

"No, there's not," he replied slowly. With that he turned his head towards the light in the distance and flew with Volteer through the cavern, away from the apes, away from the temple, away from its brave defenders.

And away from Pyra.

End of Chapter 3.