OH MY GOD! I stood and it felt like time had slowed down completely with all noise turning into dull drones that blurred together. Ariana landed on the ground and her large gold dragon leapt into action by guarding her body and letting fire spray from it's mouth. Collin jumped from the tips of Pustrei's fiery fingertips and rolled to strike again. Watching everything happen so slowly made my head spin, I wanted this to stop. No one was supposed to be hurt, this was only a search party. Why was this egg such a big deal!? It doesn't matter if Quinten and Ariana know about it!...I have to stop this. As soon as the words formed in my brain, my legs took action and I began running back towards them with Matthew yelling at me to come back.

All noises came back and time jumped into the present as I ran towards the scramble.

"STOP! STOP!," I yelled reaching for them. "COLLIN, STOP!"

Collin looked at my from behind his shoulder and lowered his hands, but Pustrei was not ready for surrender. The golden dragon reached out his enormous claws and swiped at Collin, but the young rider was too quick and dodged the attack. He then turned and ran towards me, "Did you get it!? WHERE IS IT?!"

I pushed past him and ran to where Ariana lay on the ground in the dirt like a crumpled piece of cloth. I glanced up to Pustrei who was too busy to notice me, the dragon was more focused on Collin, waiting for him to attack again.

I knelt down by Ariana, she looked like she was dead and I felt my eyes watering. Her hair was covering her face, I brushed it away softly and looked at her blank face, her eyes were closed and her breathing was shallow. I wanted to pick her up, to save her, but I couldn't. I didn't even know what was wrong with her, this was magic!

Pustrei roared viciously at me," WHAT HAS BEEN DONE!," the loud voice echoed in my head, craning his neck to look at us.

"Calm down Pustrei, it was only a knockout spell. She'll be fine in a few hours," Collin jogged over to us.

Pustrei roared again and jumped in front of Collin," YOU WILL NOT TOUCH MY RIDER!"

"I'm sorry, Pustrei. I didn't want to hurt her," he cowered back from the massive beast.

"YET YOU HAVE! YOU WILL SAVE HER NOW!"

"She isn't dying. She's just unconscious," Collin held up his hands to show he was not going to attack.

"THEN YOU WILL WAKE HER!"

"Pustrei, it will wear off. She'll be fine."

Pustrei roared again, fire singing off parts of Collin's clothes, he ran away trying to douse the small flames on him.

I felt the enormous animal turn to me," YOU. DO YOU KNOW OF MAGIC?"

"No," I said pathetically. "I don't. I'm so sorry." I turned and saw the pain in Pustrei's eyes, I could see the need for Ariana to be safe. The golden dragon lay beside Ariana, watching her chest rise and fall shallowly, willing her to wake up.

Suddenly, she was being lifted and I saw hands moving around her face and throat. I slowly raised my tearful eyes to see Quinten working quickly, he was merely a flash of color as he moved around Ariana's body speaking in the foreign language and touching her carefully.,

"Can you heal her wounds?," Pustrei seemed broken and feared. "I cannot hear her, she is silent..."

Quinten said nothing to Pustrei, not a word of encouragement or a word of distress, he kept his focused stare on her and remained completely oblivious to what was happening elsewhere. I looked back to Ariana's face, but it stilled looked the same: pale, unmoving, and limp.

What is Collin cast the wrong spell?! She could be dead...

"Quinten?," I asked childishly, "Is she dead," I refused to look away from Ariana, I was afraid of the answer he might give me. Quinten said nothing, he kept working, not wasting a second of his breath for a response. I took that as a maybe and I felt the fear cutch my chest.

She's dead. Oh my god! Ariana's dead! If she's dead then that means I just saw Collin murder her.

I tore my gaze from her face to look out at the dirt surrounding me, I caught Collin kneeling over Ashley. I stood up and saw that Ashley was fine, sitting and holding her head as if she was in massive pain.

Good, I thought smugly. You deserve that pain! Collin deserves it too! As does Matthew and... I do too, for letting all this happen. Matthew was just now returning to the battle sight with his bag slung over his shoulder. He glared at me as he came to Ariana's side.

"Quinten, have you tried the revival chant?," Matthew asked as if he was the doctor who just arrived in the operating room.

"No need."

Quinten's only words allowed me to take a sigh of relief, revival is when someone is dead and need to be brought back to life, if they don't need it, it means she is not dead! THANK GOD! Arianna is not dead! Oh... god, thank you.

"Is Ariana going to be well?," Pustrei's said voice drifted. The dragon sounded like it's voice was about to crack and that it may cry soon if Arianna did not wake.

"I'm almost done," Quinten muttered under his breath as he was intensely channeling energy to Ariana. The comment was mostly to himself and was neither positive or negative but Pustrei waiting impatiently for another answer.

A roar from behind made caught my attention, it was Erea, she was guarding us all from Collin and Ashley. Collin immediately backed away from the massive dragon but Ashley only stood there holding her head. I glanced down to Quinten and Matthew, they were busy with Ariana, Should I go talk to Collin? Calm Erea down? Explain the situation?

I stepped towards the blue creature that towered over but she had lost interest in Collin and Ashley and faced me. All of my confidence was washed away by her large piercing eyes and I froze, but she was calm and made no movements. What is happening? The dragon was not looking at me, but past me, so I turned and saw Quinten was now standing. He look so majestic and powerful without even saying a word, his eyes were cold and stern while the wind tugged his blond curls in front of his face.

I looked to Collin who was standing by Ashley and staring back at Quinten, but he was not angry, Collin was calm and collected. As they both stood there, no one spoke and the tension between the two increased and I could feel the angry brewing.

Not another fight. How do I stop this? Can I stop this? Two boys, Two dragons, magic, and a rivalry... what more could go wrong? Think about Luna, think about home. Take a deep breath... here we go.

I opened my big mouth to say something, I was going to make it up as I went but someone else stole the spotlight before I had a chance.

"If we leave now, we can it make it back to the castle by tomorrow night."

I turned and saw that Collin: big, stupid, idiot, Collin has decided it was wise to try and push everything under the rug and act like he hadn't just attacked Ariana for no reason. Even a simple "I'm sorry" would have been better than "let's leave now"

My head whipped to Quinten, his body language was unchanged and he wasn't trying to kill Collin, at least not yet but I knew he was on the verge of exploding.

"Quinten, no one was hurt!," Ashley tried to defend herself. "Can't we forget about this?!"

THIS BITCH! SHE ACTUALLY ASKED HIM TO FORGET! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? PLEASE QUINTEN, PLEASE STAY CALM.

"Can I forget about this? Can I forget about THIS!?," Quinten pointed to Ariana laying of the ground next to her golden dragon. "THIS! THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Quinten was shouting, but his feet were firm in his stance. "YOU have attacked, not one, BUT TWO of your fellow riders. TWO, ASHLEY. Do you know the punishment that awaits for you when we return to Ilirea? You could be tried for this and lose your rank."

"Hey," Colin interrupted," Nothing is goi-..."

"And you as well, you have attacked two Riders with no just cause. Just because you feel like it, just because you wanted to."

"You don't-..."

"YOU DO NOT GET TO TELL ME WHAT I DO AND DO NOT KNOW!," Quinten suddenly yelled at them from across the opening.

This is getting scary...

"It's over!," Collin shouted back. "The Queen will explain it to you if she so desires."

Quinten hunched over in a laugh. It wasn't a real laugh, it was almost like the one that a villain does before they explain the master plot to destroy earth. "The Queen? You are telling me the Queen told you to attack your escorts? The escorts she hand picked! The escorts that she told to protect YOU!"

"Ask her yourself," Collin said darkly.

I just want to go home...

"Fighting isn't getting us anywhere," Matthew stated, trying to gain peace.

"You're right, Matthew," Quinten turned his attention." But neither does running away." Matthew cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable by what Quinten was saying. "I saw you," Quinten stated with betrayal in his voice. "I saw you run the other way! Running from a fight, this isn't a first."

"Stop," Matthew said quietly. "You know it wasn't like that."

"Do I? Do I really? How can I know anything! I can't trust anyone here," Quinten locked his hand in his curls, frustrated by his situation. I wanted to do something, say something, but what could I say. He can't trust me. I'm a slave to the Queen. I didn't tell him what he needed to know to protect Ariana. If I would have told him we were in search of a magically egg that might bond to one of us, would he have believed me? If I could do this over, would I have told him?

Quinten turned away from us, I knew he was deciding his next move. I would be too if I was just attacked by the group I was traveling with, What will he do? Erea went to his side and I knew they were discussing the options of what to do next. Can we just tell him it's over and we can leave now? We got the egg and it's over. Pustrei raised his head to their conversation, he was now involved while the rest of us waited for the verdict.

I turned to Collin, I was scared and wanted him to reassure me that it was all okay. Collin was occupied with Ashley, who was whispering to him but when she saw me looking she stopped and stepped away. Collin saw me too, but he looked away saying nothing.

Luna... Can you hear me? If you can, please come. I don't want to be here. Save me.

Quinten turned back to face us all, but his expression was blank and his eyes were dull. Oh god... what is he going to do? Is he going to kill us?! Can he do that?!

" I, Quentin Vanyalígala: Rider of Erea, place all of you here in binding for the actions you have shown. These include attacking a Rider, using magic as a weapon in any way that could harm an innocent, and failing to report/stop/assist in the attacking of a Rider. Queen Nasuada will decide your punishment when we return to the castle."

"You can't do that," scoffed Collin.

"Wait. What's happening?," I was panicking.

Matthew stepped forward, his hands placed on the opposite hips which formed an X of his arms across his torso, almost like he was halfway through dancing the Macarena. " I willingly agree to be bound," he said before bowing his head in shame.

"Matt, you idiot! He can't do that! He can't take us all!," Ashley yelled.

Quinten ran his hand along Matthew's arms, making an X while saying something and then Matthew grunted and staggered back. After taking a second, he gained his composure and stood, his arms weren't moving from their spot and his chest had a glossed look over it.

What... Binding? Is that like being placed under arrest?! Am I being arrested?! That looks painful! I don't want to! Doesn't he have handcuffs of something!

"What is going on?," I asked again.

"He as two dragons, you have nothing," Matthew stated to Ashley like she was idiot, ignoring my question. "He will bind us if he wants to."

As soon as Matthew said that, I felt like I was being closed in because Pustrei and Erea has taken either side of the clearing, leaving no escape. I hadn't even noticed they had moved, but they slowly moved in, closing the space. Nowhere to run, not like I could anyway.

I saw the panic spread on Ashley's face," Quinten! You can't do this!"

Quinten ignored her and instead turned to me, I made eye contact and was still terrified at the events happening. The dragons were getting closer and I could feel my heartbeat thudding wildly against my rib cage, This is how I die. Quinten was now in front of me, I looked up to him and he was the same as I remembered the night of the ball: tall with beautiful gray eyes and sweet blonde hair. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, but I didn't know what trusting him could mean.

"Alyson?," he asked recalling my attention.

I closed my eyes tight and just nodded, knowing that my voice would fail me and that if I looked up I would cry

I felt my something in my hands, it was rough but soft at the same time. It was Quinten's hands, he gently crossed my arms and put my hands on the my opposite him.

"Brace yourself," he whispered. I clenched my teeth and bent my knees to prepare for the pain. "Malthinae."

With that single world I felt like an elephant had stomped on my chest breaking my ribs and my heart had been gripped by the devils hands. I let out a gasp of air and stumbled from the tight grip of the cloak that surround my torso. Quinten grabbed my shoulders to steady me as I struggled for air. I couldn't breath or even feel my chest.

"It's okay. It's okay," Quinten reassured me. "Take a deep breath through your nose and sit down, the feeling will pass."

My knees gave out and I crumpled to the ground exhausted from doing nothing. Whatever he had done had sucked all life from me, I went to move my hand to brush the hair from my face, but I couldn't feel it. I looked down and there it was but I couldn't move it. It felt like someone has wrapped me in seran wrap which made my arms useless. My chest didn't hurt anymore but my head was dizzy and I was seeing spots, so I closed my eyes and tried to breath through my nose.

How did I get into this?

It's been a good minute and I apologize for lacking so hard on this chapter. I know, I know, all of my two readers are really excited but that's okay because I am too!
WOW! ITS FINALLY DONE!
I'm going to try and start the next chapter right now!
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