When Null had woken up the previous morning, the last thing he had expected to happen was to be nominated for a trip to Warfang. For that matter, he hadn't expected an elemental to attack the town, or for Apex to freak out after touching the giant crystal, or…

Or for his mother to die.

And to be honest, Null didn't even know if he could make himself go on.

Null lay on his bed, in truth nothing more than an oversized cushion. He felt as though his limbs were heavier than he was, and his eyelids refused to stay open. He couldn't even muster enough energy to think, to consider the implications of an elemental showing up in the village. It just wasn't worth the effort.

The dark green dragon curled his tail around, looking listlessly at the tailblade. It was made of bone, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. The natural weapon was shaped like a curved dagger, jutting a short distance out of the end of his tail before widening into a wickedly sharp blade. Null knew from experience how sharp it could be, he had cut himself with it, and many other things as well.

It would be so, so easy to just bring the blade closer…

"Null? You up?"

No. No, thinking like this wouldn't bring her back. It wouldn't fix anything. Most importantly, it wouldn't help Apex. Apex still needed him. Apex would be so lost without him. Dumb, goofy, lovable Apex, his only friend.

With this thought fresh on his mind, Null pushed himself to his feet. "Yes."

"Okay, just making sure. Ferrus wants us to meet at the school building, since it's the only one still intact. Make sure to grab anything you wanna bring." Apex's voice was coming from just outside the door. "Um. We might not be coming back, Ferrus said."

"What do you mean?" Null furrowed his brow, looking at the few possessions he had. Honestly, none of them were that important to him. Just trinkets and toys that had held his attention for short periods of time. There were a few books, but he had mostly just borrowed books from the school, and the few he had were simple and easy to obtain copies of.

"I dunno, he just said to make sure we had everything we would want because we may not return." Apex paused for a moment. "Hopefully."

"Hopefully?" Null shook his head, deciding that nothing here was worth taking. Many of the things he would've wanted had been destroyed by the fire, it seemed.

"Yeah, um. I didn't understand. I probably wasn't supposed to hear the 'not coming back' part. He sorta muttered it." Apex sounded pensive, and Null didn't blame him.

Sighing, Null shook his head and pushed the door open. It had been miraculous that his own room had mostly escaped the flames, but the rest of the house hadn't been so fortunate. The guest room was the only other room besides his own that still had four walls and a roof, and that was where Apex had spent the night.

Null glanced at the wind dragon as he made his way out of his room. "Well, we'd better get going. There's nothing much here worth worrying about."

"Alright then." Apex nodded.

There was something off about Apex, but Null couldn't place it. The white dragon was certainly more tired than usual, but that could easily be explained as a lack of sleep. Anyone would find themselves unable to sleep after what had transpired yesterday, either from fear, excitement, anticipation, grief, or anger. But there was something else that was different, something that screamed at Null to pay attention.

To be honest, Apex was kind of terrifying.

Null shook his head. That was just his tired mind screwing with him, Apex wasn't scary. Not to him. Apex was always there for him with a joke or a supporting flank.

"Let's get going," Null said, starting off towards the school building.

Apex fell in behind Null as the two made their way to the school. Now that it was the next day, it was clear that the damage to the village had been rather extensive. There were no buildings that had escaped the fire entirely, and the only one that was entirely standing was the school. Null wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or not. On one paw, there were more than enough adult dragons in the village to have defended it entirely from the grublins. On the other paw, the only ones who were selfless and brave enough had already gone out to fight. The rest had barricaded themselves into the school. It hadn't just seemed like there were only a few defending against the grublins, it was just the simple fact that there were only a few.

It didn't really matter at this point. The past was gone, and there was nothing that could change it. Null knew that most of the inhabitants of the village were selfish; he had seen it often enough. Amp and Althus coming out to defend the village was a surprise in and of itself.

Null quickly spotted Ferrus at the school building and made his way towards the iron-scaled earth dragon.

Ferrus. Reliable old Ferrus. The earth dragon had been like a surrogate father in the absence of his actual father. Ferrus originally treated him as an oddity, but had eventually grown to know him as a person.

"There you two are," Ferrus greeted.

"What's the plan?" Null asked.

"I've gathered some supplies that should help you on your trip, but there's not enough left in the village to supply you two and the rest of us," Ferrus explained, picking up two harnesses. Both of the harnesses had multiple pouches on them, with two large side pouches that bulged with the contents. "These should last you a few days as far as food goes, but after that you will need to hunt for food. There's rope, red spirit gems, green spirit gems, and a map and compass in each of your bags."

Null took his harness, opening one of the side pouches to see everything that Ferrus had listed. He glanced up at the earth dragon, one brow raised. "Why do we need all this stuff? Isn't it just a few day's flight to get to Warfang?"

"Flying, yes, but flying isn't an option." Ferrus took the map out of the second harness's side pouch, unrolling it on the ground. "We are situated here…" The earth dragon placed a talon on a southern part of the map. "While Warfang is here." Ferrus traced a trail northwards, eventually ending on the marker for the city. "And in between lies the Ancient Grove."

"Ah. That would be why." Null frowned.

"Why?" Apex asked, looking between the other two with a lost expression. "What's wrong with the Ancient Grove?"

"Not just the Grove, but everything around it." Null tapped on the grove's marker on the map. "It's not really a grove as much as it is a swamp. A particularly nasty swamp, at that. The Grove and surrounding marshlands have poisonous waters, meaning that just touching them can cause irreparable harm or death. But the waters aren't as dangerous to a dragon as the fumes are. Flying over the grove is a suicide quest."

"But what if I-," Apex began.

"The poisons would break your barrier," Null interrupted, predicting Apex. "They have a tendency to disrupt elements on contact, the vapors more so than the waters."

"Okay, then what about going around?" Apex traced a trail around the end of the Silver River, a path that spent much of its time over the ocean. "The fumes wouldn't be able to get us if we went that way."

"Yes, but that's Skavenger territory," Ferrus rumbled. "They've always hung around the Ancient Grove, but since the Reassembly the pirates have been clinging ever closer to land. Very dangerous creatures have stirred from the ocean's depths."

"And going the other way around?" Apex asked.

"Would take longer than going through the marshes on foot," Ferrus answered. "Quite a lot longer too, it will be at least two months before we get to Warfang, but that's why I'm sending you two ahead."

"Wait, we?" Null raised a brow at this. "What we?"

"This place is ruined." Ferrus sighed, looking around the village. "It was far enough away from Warfang that we escaped the worst of the war with Malefor, but even then we had trouble warding off outlying patrols of grublins. Now, with the potential threat of elementals attacking, we can't risk it. There's no way that we could defend against another elemental attack. Our only hope is to evacuate."

"And the most logical place to evacuate to is Warfang," Null finished, nodding. "Seeing as it was built to survive catastrophic events on the scale of the war, not to mention the fact that the heroes of legend live there."

"That's correct." Ferrus nodded in confirmation. "The only things we'll be taking with us are essentials, as well as the few personal effects that we can carry. If things go as planned, we won't return here ever again." The old earth dragon looked around the village again, letting out a deep sigh. "I'll miss this place, but I've left home before. The real shame lies in leaving the spirit gem cave behind. There aren't many clusters that are as large as the ones in there." Ferrus shook his head and rolled up the map, replacing it in the pouch. "Nonetheless, you two had best get on the road."

Apex took his harness and donned it, stretching his wings. "I guess we'll see you at Warfang, then."

Null nodded, stretching his own wings. "'Bye Ferrus."

"Best of luck you two." Ferrus bowed his head. "And may the Ancestors protect you."

"May the Ancestors protect us all." Null bowed his head as well. After a moment, he rose, looking at Apex. "Let's get going."

The two younger dragons set off. Null glanced back one more time at the village. He wasn't too surprised to find that he didn't particularly miss it. Too many bad memories from bullies.

Null blinked in surprise, realizing with a start that tears were pricking at the corners of his eyes. He quickly blinked away the tears. Maybe things hadn't been too bad here. He had spent his entire life in this village, after all. This was where he was born, where he grew up, and where…

Where Jaya had died.

Null shook his head and continued on, trying not to think about it. Dwelling on the past would get him nowhere. It would just feed into itself until he was depressed and unmotivated. His time was far better spent making sure that something like this could never happen again.

Steeling his resolve, Null turned his gaze forward. That was why he was going to Warfang. He and Apex were going to make sure that the world knew about the threat of these elementals. They were going to warn the Guardians and the Council.

Inevitably, Null's thoughts turned to the elemental. How had it come about? Was it really created by the Dark Master? The Deep Golems and the Destroyer were the most prominent examples of elementals Malefor had commanded during the war, but they weren't the only ones. Goliaths like the one that had attacked the village, aquatic naiads, and the sky-dwelling Nimbus were all elementals born of Malefor's dark influence. Even the rock trolls, as common as they were, had been created by Malefor's dark crystals.

Which brought Null's thoughts to the dark crystals. What were they? Why did they drain elemental energy from the nearby environment, but also power and control elementals? Perhaps the energy they drained powered the elemental? But the goliath hadn't even been near a dragon until attacked the village.

Maybe the gems didn't just draw energy from dragons? It could very well be that the dark crystals drew energy from the nearby environment as well. That was a way that it could animate an elemental, but the raw energy of the nearby area wouldn't nearly be enough. Ambient magic was powerful, sure, but it was nothing compared to the energy a dragon could create and harness. Even spirit gems-

No, wait. Spirit gems could power an elemental. He had seen it once, when Ferrus had demonstrated the process of golemancey to the class. A tiny fragment of a blue spirit gem, placed within a body made of clay, could give it animation. The only problem with golemancey, and why it wasn't a widespread magic, was that the golems were stupid. They did only what they were told to, and nothing more. True golems and Deep Golems were nothing alike, with the former being constructs and the latter being almost sapient creatures, according to the stories.

Then was there some link between the dark crystals and spirit gems? Something that connected the two?

Null faltered, a gust of wind knocking him off balance. He glanced around at his surroundings quickly. When had they taken off? Why were they flying?

Oh right. Apex had mentioned that they would get to the Grove faster if they flew, especially since the wind dragon could manipulate the air currents to further accelerate them. Odd that he couldn't remember taking off, but that happened sometimes when he was thinking. Null glanced over to Apex. The white dragon looked incredibly fatigued, but still flew strong.

"Alright, what aren't you saying, Apex?" Null asked over the sound of wind whipping past his ear frills.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Apex answered flatly. Emotionlessly.

Null sighed. Apex may have learned how to hide his emotions to escape punishment from his father, but Null had learned how to read people to prevent the bullies from getting him. Plus, Apex may have been able to hide which emotion he was feeling, but he couldn't hide when he was trying to conceal them.

"You know that doesn't work on me," Null replied equally flatly. "What's eating at you?"

Apex was silent for a few moments before finally speaking. "I dragged you along on this."

"Excuse me, but last I checked I was the one leading this expedition," Null taunted, trying to get Apex back to normal. If he could get the wind dragon to react, hopefully he would break out of his slump.

"I mean I volunteered you, back at the council meeting yesterday," Apex specified, not taking the bait. "I shouldn't have done that, but I was so angry. Father just doesn't listen. He just judges, and hates, and acts."

"Apex, you know there was nothing for me back at the village, right?" Null asked quietly, almost quiet enough for the wind to drown it out.

Apex certainly heard it though, because he turned his head to look at Null. "What?"

"Let's face it, everyone else there hates me. You, Ferrus, and Mom were the only ones who even considered me a dragon, while the others called me a winged lizard, or a freak of nature." Null shrugged apathetically. "I got used to it, but that doesn't mean it was any more welcoming. Then, when Mom-," Null stopped, choking on his words for a moment. "Anyways, the only ones left were you and Ferrus, and Ferrus is leading the village to Warfang anyways. The only things I'll miss is the house I grew up in and the crystal cave."

"So you were going anyways…" Apex trailed off, looking down at the landscape below.

"More or less." Null shrugged again. He glanced at Apex again. "But something else is wrong. Why are you so tired?"

Apex chuckled. "You're way too observant, Null."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Null grinned. "But you didn't answer my question."

Apex sighed. "I don't really know. I just feel… exhausted. Like my body's burning through my energy faster than I can take it in. I couldn't sleep last night either, I was just so angry at my father."

"You wanna take a rest?" Null asked concernedly.

"I'm fine," Apex asserted, continuing on. Not even a few seconds later, the wind dragon faltered, and the tailwind faded.

"Alright, we're descending. We're nearly at the Grove anyways." Null changed his angle, flying down to the ground. After a moment, Apex followed behind.

While Null landed lightly, Apex hit the ground with a quite audible thud. Null turned around to see the wind dragon bracing himself on all four legs, his knees locked. It looked like Apex was panting heavily, and sounded like it too.

"We can just stop here for the rest of the day, if you want," Null suggested.

"I just… need a second," Apex replied. He staggered over to a large boulder and collapsed in the shade.

Null walked over and lay down in the shadow of the boulder, looking his friend in the eye. There was something wrong, something that Apex wasn't saying. In fact, it was possible that it was something that Apex didn't even know about. There had been depressingly few books on psychology in the village, mostly because the only dragons that ever practiced it were those with the mind element. Still, Null knew enough about how the draconic mind worked to tell that there was something going on under the surface, something that Apex might not consciously be aware of.

"Hey, Apex," Null said suddenly, a grin on his face. "You remember that time when Althus got stuck in a tree?"

"Yeah, that was funny." Apex chuckled. "He was freaking out so bad because his tail spade got stuck in the tree trunk, so he caught the tree on fire."

"Ferrus was so mad!" Null burst out into laughter.

"Althus wasn't even allowed outside for like a week!" Apex laughed as well, shaking off some of his weariness. "Amp was so ticked about that; he refused to talk the entire time."

Both of the dragons shared a much-needed laugh before settling into a comfortable silence. It didn't take Apex long to try and push himself to his feet.

"What do you think you're doing?" Null asked.

"Continuing on. You said Ancient Grove wasn't that far from here," Apex replied, starting off. He already seemed to be feeling better.

Perhaps his exhaustion was a magical deficiency? That would explain a lot. A dragon regenerated their elemental energy fairly slowly, and using a fury would definitely drain a lot of one's energy. Enough that the relatively mild exertion of creating a tailwind was enough to drive Apex to exhaustion. Apex hadn't gotten any green spirit gems since then either, which meant that he only had his natural reserves.

Null shivered from a sudden chill, then followed the wind dragon. Apex was moving at a surprisingly fast pace, even compared to usual, meaning that Null had to almost run to keep up.

It was well worth the effort, though, when the two came out of the valley they had landed in. Almost like an impenetrable wall, trees spread out from horizon to horizon on either side.

They had made it to the Ancient Grove.

A/N:

Not a whole lot in this chapter, apart from the fact that our heroes have made it to the first obstacle in their journey.

As always, please leave a review to let me know what you think!

Now read on!