Okay, this one comes right after the first chapter. It was written at 11pm, so I'm sorry if it seems rushed. Ooh, it be dark chapter, aye!
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"Wraiths!" Artha rasped in a panicy voice. " I'll close the hatch, you get the others to the stables. And don't argue with me Payne!" Artha turned back to Moordryd. "Just do what I say this once, we can't take another attack right now."
Moordryd nodded back and rushed off as quietly as he could.
Artha climbed up the ladder toward the hatch. 'Damn outer defences crap. How could they miss a group of wraiths? This is...' He thought angrilly. He reached up to grab the door and slam it closed behind him. With all the confusion, there was no way the wraiths could pin point where it came from.
BANG!
Or maybe it could.
'No, no no no, go away you crazy, sadistic little dragon. There's no one down here...' Artha squeezed his eyes closed. 'Oh please go away...'
BANG!
Artha flinched as he heard someone...no, something jump down off the dragon and scratch at the hatch. Artha sat completely still and tried not to breathe loud. He winced as a fist pounded on the door, but the wraith seemed to get bored with that and decided to wander away. Artha let himself breathe and rushed down to where he thought the others would be.

"Artha! Are they up there!" Kitt asked in a terrified whisper.
"Yeah. They almost found us this time." Artha panted. Beau walked up behind him and snarled quietly, looking at the roof. "Hey, quiet boy."
"They're up there." Moordryd whispered to himself. Decepshun nosed his shoulder, trying to get him out of the usual trance. Moordryd patted her forehead."And we're down here, hiding again."
"Moordryd, do you think we have any other choice!" Kitt hissed back.
She turned away from Artha and poked Moordryd in the chest with a finger. "How else are we going to live Payne? Would you rather go up there and die!"
"Yes!" Moordryd snapped back, hitting her hand away.
"Stop it!" Lance pushed in between the two. "The only reason you're fighting is because you're both worried! You don't really mean it!"
Wyldfyr and Decepshun snarled at each other quietly.
"Would all of you stop it!" Parm muttered. "We have to be quiet!"
Kitt and Moordryd continued to glare at each other, but kept their mouths closed. Lance stayed between them, his eyes wide as they darted around the cave. Fracshun did the same and whined softly.
"It'll be okay, they'll be gone soon and then everything'll be okay." Artha soothed.
It was then they heard the scream. It wasn't a wraith.
"No...who was out there!" Artha almost cried. The scream was cut off and he made a rush for the door. The he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned to see Moordryd's grey eyes, utterly blank through the yells.
"Whoever it is, it's too late." he muttered. "There's no use being the Dragon booster if you're dead."
Artha froze at the words and hissed through his teeth in frustration. He was right. Whoever had been out there...was gone now.
"You're a basterd Moordryd." He whispered.
"I know." Moordryd answered. They both knew Artha needed Moordryd to be the cold one at times like these, so Artha didn't have to shoulder that he had let anyone die.
Moordryd drew away and leaned on Decepshun's shoulder, staring at the floor in silence. Artha sat next to Beau, drawing one knee up against his chest.
"How can we keep doing this?" He whispered to himself.
Lance sat beside him and leaned on his brother's shoulder, afraid even though he didn't truely understand the fear of thr wraiths. Only Artha and Moordryd had seen what the wraiths could do on a large scale, and both never talked about it to anyone. He only knew that they could hurt people.
"When will they leave?" He whispered.
"When they've had there fun." Moordryd replied.
"Shut up Moordryd." Artha snapped. "Don't say it like that! There are people dieing up there!" He jumped up. "You don't even care!"
Moordryd glared at him, but let Artha's words slide.
"Let's all just stop fighting." Parm said quickly, rubbing Kitt's shoulder, as she had been getting ready to start another fight.

"Kids!"
The voice made all five of them jump in the silence, the dragons growling in shock. Conner ran into the stables, looking scared.
"Dad!" Lance yipped, runnig to him and clutching his leg. "Is it over? Have they gone?"
"Yeah." Conner smiled reasuringly.
"Who did they get?" Artha asked softly.
"How did you..."
"We heard the screams."
"Oh...I'm so sorry you had to hear that...It was one of Pyrah's crew." Conner said sadly. "Come on, there's a meeting with the rest of the crew's to find out what went wrong with the defences..."
"I really don't feel like going dad." Artha muttered. "Just tell me what happened later, okay?" He got up and moved out of the room. Moordryd nodded and followed him slowly, much to Conner's confusion.
"Well...I'll tell you two when I get back."

Artha pounded his fist into the wall in anger, trying his best not to start screaming. He hated feeling helpless! He stopped as he heard Moordryd's tell-tale limp.
"It wasn't that bad. It wasn't anyone we knew." Moordryd muttered bluntly.
Artha gritted his teeth and spun around to face him.
"What do you mean it wasn't that bad! We heard someone die in the worst possible way for no good reason at all! How can you say that! You cold, self centered, little pain in the ass!" Artha took a swing at him, but Moordryd easilly ducked out of the way. Artha lost his balance and fell weakly against him.
"I hate you." He whispered miserably.
Moordryd stroked his back soothingly. "I know you do."
"How can you just sit there and not get angry? How can you not care about it?" Artha pulled away.
"I don't know why you have to care about it." Moordryd answered cryptically. He turned on his heel and stalked away.
Artha slipped down the wall and hid his face in his hands.
He had to be strong for the others.
At least Moordryd was strong for him.

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Ooh the angst! Mind you, I was writting this while listening to 'Lies' by Evanesence. If you haven't heard it, look it up on . It is seriously a depressing song.