Silko stood defensively ready to pull his sword, the sensation running through his abdomen was new and he wobbled with his balance trying to adapt to the new lack of feeling. He glanced to Kai to see her completely at ease starring into the dark trees where Suoh said a dark presence was lurking in the trees watching them; his friend said that "clouded eyes flashed in the moon light". Silko wondered how she could seem so careless when he was convinced she was just as aware of the thing in the trees as his friend had.

To both dragon and boys surprise Kai whistled into the dark, a long low whistle towards the presences form. So she did know something was out there. Silko barely jumped at the sudden piecing noise and his hand flew to his hilt but he didn't draw the weapon. He thought there might have been danger. Silko could hardly hear her whistle but it held long, a flash of white made him glance towards Suoh. The great dragon was desperately trying to cover its ears using the ground and its clawed paws. Quickly Silko bolted towards his companion and stretching as far as he could, he cover the protruding ears on the dragons head, he ended up practically sitting on the beast's snout. The thoughts of pain streaked through Silko's mind distracted him from Kai's movements.

Silko's ears twitched as he heard the scampering sounds of something fleeing over the wordless groans of discomfort.

"What was that?" Silko yelled, Kai's green eyes flashed at him and he instantly quieted.

"Someone's coming…" she said quietly and slowly. "They sent some kind of beast to scout." She ended taking cautious steps towards a group of trees out in the dry grass away from the forest. Suoh urged Silko to follow her to the trees for cover. Nodding Silko took the same cautious steps to the trees as Suoh took flight and quickly disappeared from view, the dragon was much to large to be able to hide from view in the patch of trees.

At Kai's curious look he told her Suoh was circling above. For its size, the dragon was successfully quiet in its movements. Kai crouched behind a tree and closed her eyes. To Silko it looked like she fell asleep against the tree.

She could hear them coming, their movements were too irregular to be people from the same race, or perhaps just too unorganized to work together. Some steps were lighter then others and most strides were longer then one, there was only eight or so. The quiet steps split up and all seemed to face in their direction. She counted seven now that they weren't grouped together, the short strides and heavily footed figure Kai guessed to be a dwarf, that or a very heavy being of similar stature.

Her eyes snapped open as she heard the sound of wood bending back against its will, archers she thought quickly standing and turning towards the space the arrows would be coming from. "Don't mo-" Silko was pierced with and arrow. All she could do was watch from the other side of the clearing they were in, his wide eyes starred into her own, then he slumped over, dead.

The deathly quiet night was thundered with the painfully cries of a monstrous beast. High over the trees, the dragons cry echoed in all directions. The sound was much worse then anything it had ever produced before. The earth shook as the heavy dragons body slammed into the ground on the other side of her patch of trees. At the first piecing cry hundreds of arrows flew into the trees and all she could do was dodge as she made her way to the dragon, Kai launched herself into the trees and with a powerful leap twisted over the tree tops and slid across the dry grass to the dragon, the arrows still spinning through the trees behind her.

Four (and counting) arrows were sticking out of the dragons hide as it pitifully slammed its head on the ground, its white head was smeared with dirt from dragging it across the ground, and its body lurched in all directions in invisible pain. What caused the dragon so much pain? It seemed the dragon didn't even notice the arrows embedded in between its frosted scales.

Whipping around she quickly caught an arrow aimed for her head. Who were these people, she knew there was only seven but the amount of arrows was too great for seven beings to send in her direction. With a spin she caught three more and flung them into the trees towards the attackers, two dead thumps barely caught her ears over the roars of the dragon, they could send multiple arrows her way but couldn't dodge one thrown by hand? With all of her experience she couldn't even come up with a single believable explanation for what was happening.

Silko was dead, this dragon was going insane, and she was being shot at, not what she called the best of nights. There was nothing Kai could do for the dragon, but she could stop the arrows.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that night Kai push her limits and faded from view as she ran into the forest headed toward the people trying to kill her.

She came up behind the first and never slowed as she leaped up towards the tree and kicked the human man out of the tree. When she landed she kicked him across the face and he flew into another tree, a loud crack echoed through the trees as his neck broke on contact. Typical, the humans were so different none sounded remotely the same from a distance.

It was an illusion! Kai realized noticing the large diminish in arrows flying through the air, the man wasn't sending off dozens when she saw him. Kai never really like this magic, and look what it did. She over estimated her attackers now that she knew their cheep trick. Firing one arrow and willing it to look like dozens.

She took out all seven; it seemed it was only a really fat short man with the magic wielding humans. Something still didn't seem right as she stood still in the dark, the dragon's cries still filling the air. So there was eight Kai thought as she heard his quiet breathing. His unearthly quietness made her body rigid and uneasy.

She didn't get it… if the empire was after the dragon and rider to join, why would they kill the rider? And if it really was the empire, why would they use those weak humans as back up? And if killing them was the objective, again, why a handful of weak humans?

"We want you, dear." a silky voice range throughout over the dragons cries. It was coming from the eighth figure. Without moving Kai glanced towards the figure, even in the dark his red eyes were distinguishable; his blood red hair reflecting off the small amount of moon light fighting its way through the tree tops, was that a shade?

"Why?" she asked simply, her hand always resting on her faithful weapon.

"Why not?" then he disappeared. It was a test; she knew as soon as he faded away. He wanted to see what she could do, to see her limits, her strategy. And she had given him most of it. She cursed into the dark and made her way towards the piercing cries of the dragon.

It was bound to happen; Kai avoided them as long as she had. Nothing ever lasts she thought. The Empire had caught up with her.

-

People must have been afraid to investigate the noise. It was the third day Kai had sat there watching the flailing dragon, it didn't seem to tier as quickly as she had hoped, and it wouldn't feel right to leave the dragon in such a state. She would just have to wait.

Sitting in the dry grass under the beating sun Kai glanced at the same patch of trees singled out in the field, she had buried Silko there the following morning of his death. She was the only attendant. He died too young in her opinion, from what she gathered, riders lived until they were killed, age never brought them down. Silko could have been the one to take down the king. But she didn't care, Kai didn't include herself as a person of Alagaesia, she followed her own rules and always avoided the empire, but that didn't seem to get her anywhere as she then knew the empire was after her, for what though?

Sighing Kai turned her gaze to the groaning beast, it had stopped roaring only hours earlier. It only confused Kai when she thought about the dragon and its behavior, why was it in so much pain? Morning a death would seem to look less painful. On the first night it looked as if someone was poking the beast's brain. Confusing was the perfect word.

With a long low grumble the massive dragon passed out. For the first time in days it was a peaceful quiet as Kai slumped onto her back in the tall grass.

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