Back again. And it's time for it. I think some people want some answers to the questions after the last chapter. But first: Disclaimer: No it's not mine. I only borrowed the characters to have some fun, and I do not earn money with them ..

@ crazyhorsegirl88: They will come together again, somehow sometimes, I promised. And sorry about the cliffie *evil grin have to do it sometimes. can't write without a break.

@ Milla so you really like binky ;-), well someone asked me to let an important character die . and I need the others to go along with my plot. So Thayet had to dye. Do you think Susan would be a good queen? - Just kidding ... ;-)

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Chapter 16

// They had Dragons on their side. Chaos was throwing things against the walls, yelling out her anger. Why oh why was everything so chaos-like here and no chaos down in the mortal realms? How should she win the war? How should she get through this if every part of her plan went down into some sort of chaos on the sides of her allies? It was making her mad. //

Ozorne was yelling at a stormwing. He wanted this Daine. He wanted to skin her alive, let her eat her own feet and maybe the feet of this dammed Numair as well. He wanted to see her dead, but torture her first. She had been the cause of his new shape, she had nearly killed him. She had destroyed his palace. He roared in anger. Well Chaos would make them pay. The bastard Numair, his bitch Daine and the cursed Graveyard hag as well.

Back in Corus Daine; Susan and Numair were up again. A Council Meeting with the three Dragons were taking place at a training yard. The Dragons seemed to know some important facts about the enemy.

Diamondflame started to explain "The creatures that nearly killed Daine, Numair and Susan are no common immortals, they are creatures of Chaos. It seemed to be true, that Chaos is fighting against her imprisonment and her family- the gods- again. You will have to fight against it. We three will help you. Normally we should start a Dragon Council to get more help, but a Dragon Council could take years. We are hoping that your gods will help you as soon as they have the time. We suspect they are fighting to improve the walls of Usualles prison. Pray to them for help, we help as much as possible."

Daine was getting nervous, she broke in. "Wait a moment, I sense Stormwings, well at least 3 of them coming towards us. But they feel kind of known." The Dragon sniffed. "Well it smells like Strmwings and one of them definitely smells like Rikash. I'm not sure about the others." "Rikash, well he is ok.Get your bows but wait" Numair said. "Rikash was helping us in Carthak. And he is a kind of a friend to Maura of Dunlath."

They waited. "Barzah and Hebakh!" She cried "Bows down, these are the Stormwings formerly imprisoned by Ozorne." The Stormwings landed. "We have to apologize to you. We thought we would have killed Ozorne by now, but he got away. He is an ally of Usuaelle now. We are afraid, but most of the Stormwings are with him. We had only a hundred left on our side. Not more. But we will help you to track Ozorne down, again." Barzah said. "We owe you as much. Your little one here helped us a lot. She told Rikash about our whereabouts and she tracked Ozorne down." Hebakh explained, switching nervously from one foot on the other.

"Well, we can need all the help we get." The King said. "We would be grateful if you would help us, your Majesty." He had discovered the rank of Barzah and her mate fast. Barzah nodded with grace. "We will do what we can. We want Ozone's death and we do not want Usuaelle to win. She is horrible. I prefer the other gods."

They worked on war plans the rest of the day.

Jon was relieved to have new, strong allies. He did not have a likening for Stormwings, but they were good fighters and Dragons with their magic and fire were even better and some of the Immortals would stay away from them. Some even struggled to get by when Kitten was near a place and they were not able to fight an adult Dragon.

Numair was still brooding. He liked Daine and he would like to speak with her again. Call her his Magelet again, maybe kiss her and hold her in his arms. But he knew she would just see him and Susan together right now. Susan was avoiding him, too. She was just sitting outside, somewhere -if she wasn't on guard duty as everyone these days- her bow and some arrows laying beside her, just in case.

Just now, Gareth of Naxen the younger was meeting her in the garden. He liked the girl. She was such a beauty and so educated and well lovely and rational. Gary had made up his mind, to court her.

Carrot and Angua were on duty sitting on Barlors needle with their crossbows, guarding the palace grounds against intruding immortals. It was a boring way of spending the day, but they were together and so it wasn't as bad. They were having conversation about their home in Ankh-Morpork right now. They were missing their city and their job. It was also boring but they haven't got such monsters as they were fighting here. They both hated these things. They felt weird. Angua has just found out, that she could sense them if they were in a radius of5miles to the palace grounds. Her advanced werewolf nose was a great help with sensing Stormwings, and a great curse while fighting them. Even a strong warrior got sick of their smell and she was getting it 20 times more intensive than any normal human being.

She hated the smell. She liked the scent of dragons, but she really hated the smell of Stormwings, Hurrocks weren't as bad as Stormwings, but also smelling bad.

She sighed. Her watch was nearly over and she was looking forward to a hot bath and some time with Carrot - alone and without duties. Just time to lie down, put her head in his lap and relax. She liked the way she could relax around Carrot.

Alanna wanted to curse the fate killing Thayet. She felt so sorry for Jon. And she would have to do something to keep him alive, soon. He tried to hide his feeling, but she knew him to good to fall for his little play. She knew he wasn't eating either but magicking his food away. She would have to do something fast. He was needed. He was the king and one of her best friends.

Numair was on his way to Daines chamber. He wanted to apologize to her, wanted to speak with her again. As he entered the floor he heard someone sobbing loud. He knew it was Daine and he was cursing his stupid actions once again. He headed to her room. He entered her room, finding her spread on her bed, sobbing. He went to her pulling her into a tight hug. Stroking her hair, he tried to calm her down. She cried into his shirt. "Oh Magelet, my precious little one." He whispered in her ear. "Do not cry, I can't bear it, seeing you cry. I love you too much." She was only crying louder. She loved him, too, but she had seen a half naked Susan leaving his room. She did not want to hear him admitting his love to her, now. She needed time to think about it, and to loose the picture of Susan and him.

After some minutes, she struggled to get out of his arms. "Numair, go away! I saw you and Susan. I am not ready to deal with you, right now. It hurts." Daine ran away to the stables and to cloud. She didn't want to deal with him, now. But she had to admit, that she liked it having his arms wrapped around her.

Jon was hiding in his rooms, crying. He knew he had to hide for his grief. He had to be strong for Tortall, for his people: For the sake of the mortal and the immortal realms. He had loved Thayet so much. He missed her. He needed her so badly. But he knew she was gone. He would not see her until his own death. And he could not die now. He had his country, his duties and his children. Roald wasn't old enough to lead the country. He was feeling like his heart was torn out of his body.

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Enough for this time. Well, some of the questions are not answered now. But some are. Next chapter coming soon. So who will die next? Will Numair and Daine get together? Will Jon survive? What's up with the war? What about Gary and Susan? Answers coming soon.