A portal swirled into existence amidst a lush green forest cracked by the vein of a river from which the water swirled upward to meet and spread wide the gate for Rain, Tanya and Kia.
Forced from the watery realm as portal crystal clear turned red, they fell without grace to the bottom of the river. Rain parted the waters to pull themselves free of drowning, but the portal was open enough for fourth body to emerge.
"We can seek Kitana!" Tanya insisted, she pulled Rain up ashore as his right shoulder bled out.
He pushed her away, unwilling to hear reason as the portal closed on Daegon just before he could breach.
If only a moment was granted to them, they took it to breathe and pull the soaked clothing from Rain's torso to examine the cut.
Before this, they had found solitude in desert city within Edenia, guided their by the allure of myths, but the brutal reality had come in the form of Daegon, a beast certain of Rain's death and any that aid him.
"Never Kitana." He spat blood and water and leaned up with Kia's assistance to assess the damage.
Daegon had more with him, members he claimed of the Red Dragon. One was lucky to catch the Half-God.
He touched the sting of parted flesh and watched the blood mix with water down his breast and stomach until the wound closed and the flesh smoothed over into a scar.
"You can do that?" Critical, Tanya pushed him back down.
"I would have been dead long ago otherwise, right?" He jested, a sudden acknowledgement of his wayward arrogance?
"Only the Gods, and very, very few with the ability to control blood or souls." Kia explained, then looked back to the clear water as it sorted the blood downstream. "He's going to find away to teleport here. He's a God too."
"Half." Rain acknowledged.
"Enough." Kia returned.
"More than enough." A boot punted Kia down to the foot of the river.
Tanya bolted to her feet, Daegon already there to grapple her and shove her down the slope as well.
One boot pressed down on Rain's skull as he pulled a dagger free and paid little attention to the squirming and struggle beneath him.
"With you, it'll be one down and one to go." He brought the dagger down fast and with both hands on the hilt.
It stuck fast into the mud beneath where Rain had melted into the ground. He only had a second to look up before a wave formed from a near still river and washed him from the shore into the forest and pinned the bulky beast of a man against a pine tree.
The force was enough to peel his flesh from bone, but only the power of his father could withstand it, but it took the fire of a dragon to spit back into the current and the steam revealed the three had fled.
Outworld.
The purple hue of the skies above him were the last thing he wanted to see in this desperate moment. Even worse, the castle where the steward of Outworld certainly would not welcome him kindly, but in this desperate moment, he'd have to hope for anything.
"Kitana it is." Rain pulled himself together and searched for entry into the city beneath the palace.