Look, it almost took me a year to update. This was actually written in the past two or so weeks, so for anyone who still remembers this story, here's the next chapter, nice and long. It's a bit more mature than the other chapters, due to violence and character death. Don't worry, it's not Beau.

Discovery

"Scales!"

"Indeed."

Skin literally growled under her breath as she turned on her heels sharply and forcefully brushed past Kyd, who then glared at her back and crossed his arms in a silent I've-been-mistreated-yet-again sort of pout. Skin stalked several meters away, and Edd felt the need to speak up again.

"So…"

"So this," Skin said darkly, regaining her composure, back still turned to them, "is what we do next."

Edd and Kyd waited, albeit a tad impatiently, in the forest. Dark clouds were starting to gather overhead, threatening them with rain. The trees began to sway more as the cold wind began to pick up, and as Edd and Kyd wished their jackets were at least a little thicker, they continued to wait for Skin to say something.

Her hands were clenched at her sides, and Edd could only begin to guess what she might be feeling. Their orders, directly from Word Paynn himself, were to kill the boy, Artha Penn, and his dragon. The girl and boy with them were to be taken back to Word. Simple enough, Edd supposed, since it was them three against a boy, one dragon, a girl and an even younger boy. Three against two and a half, or perhaps just one and a half, considering how low their skill levels must be, and how high their own were. They wouldn't be any trouble at all.

Of course, the Dragon Eyes loved to make their plans more complicated. Edd sighed. Of all the times to come down from the north and stir the war up again, it just had to be now, and it just had to happen right in front of them. Although it wouldn't be as bad if they hadn't taken their prisoners through black shadow teleportation gear, where they couldn't be followed.

Skin, apparently still in thought of what to actually do next since their quarry had disappeared, continued t o stand perfectly still.

"Well," Kyd started after he had kicked all stones within his immediately vicinity at Edd for no other reason than he was bored, licked his lips nervously and continued, "I guess we'll have to call Word Paynn then and…"

He gulped suddenly and cringed behind Edd as Skin whipped her head around and glared daggers at him with one eye, which did the job twice as well as two. "Call Word Paynn? We…we are not in that position right now. This problem can still be rectified."

"…so you know how we can find them?" Kyd ventured to guess.

Skin tilted her head as she looked back at their waiting wraiths, giving her explanation without looking at them, thinking deeply while she spoke. "Black shadow teleportation gear is specifically designed to allow a complete and fool proof escape route. Following them is impossible without our own teleportation gear to analyze their leftover energy waves, which would be completely gone if we did manage to go back to Word and get the gear."

Edd frowned while Kyd shifted." So how can this problem still be fixed?"

Skin then looked at them, her eye patch catching the last of the light as the storm clouds fully rolled in and lighting brightened up the distant skies. "Word Paynn said that this Artha is right now his most important objective, exceeding all others."

"Why?" Kyd asked. "He's just a boy."

"He did not tell me," Skin admitted, shocking both Edd and Kyd. "All we know is that any means necessary, and I mean any, he is to die. Now the Black Empire has taken him. We will make contact with them and tell them to kill Artha and his dragon. Surely a deal can be made. We will have his dead body soon."

Kyd sighed and hunched down into his jacket. "I'm guessing we have to find a way to contact them without letting Word know?"

"Word Paynn has entrusted this task to me, and I will not return without completion," Skin said sharply. "When we return, we will have Artha's head and nothing less."

She mounted her wraith with practiced ease and galloped off, leaving a stumbling Edd and Kyd to keep up.

The weather was damp, musty and overall unbearable. It was humid, and it was also one of many things Artha found himself complaining about. The rope currently tied behind his hands was itchy and tight, the post he was tied to was giving him splinters, he was missing good ol' draconium supports and wishing wood would stay in the forests and not in this tent (which was rather nice, he had to admit). But overall, what really irked him was the failure of his escape attempt, if it could even be called that.

Perhaps he had been doomed from the beginning, since the Dragon Eyes made sure Beau was too far from him to be of any aid, and what aid that could possibly be, Artha didn't know, since Beau was far more guarded than they. Artha had actually managed to run through the trees and out of sight of his captors after he had kicked his guard in a place that had delivered a very satisfying shriek of pain to Artha's ears. Unfortunately, the desperation he had been running on only allowed himself seconds of freedom before other guards tackled him from behind. And now he was stuck in this tent with Delilah and Covert, all three tied to the large post in the middle of the tent with at least two guards standing outside.

Artha hung his head. Even his nose itched and he couldn't even scratch it.

Delilah was to his right and squirming around quite a bit. Artha almost felt like telling her to stop, except he was busy wallowing in self pity and didn't have the energy. He had long ago stopped being able to hear Beau's roars, and the worry for him was growing larger, and so was his sense of failure. He had no mag charge left in him, otherwise he would have used it long ago.

He sighed. In the clutches of the Dragon Eyes. If they found out who he was, it was over. Even if they didn't, Artha's hope for freedom wasn't burning too bright at the moment. He had run out of options.

The guards at the entrance to the tent laughed at a joke they had made, apparently not considering their prisoners within to be of much importance to warrant any more of their attention than was necessary. Which was a good thing if Artha thought he could escape. From bonds that he knew he couldn't get out of (he had tried and only succeeded in chafing his wrists). Not to mention he was In the middle of a large enemy camp with the sun burning merrily away high in the sky. Things were not hopeful.

But then Delilah stopped squirming, and Artha had one less thing to check off on his new list of things that annoyed him. Delilah turned her head to look at him and grinned.

"What?" Artha asked flatly. "Did you get your wrists to hurt as much as mine, or is the entire situation somehow funny to yo…"

"Oh be quiet," she interrupted. "I want to be in this place just as much as you do."

"Which is not very much at all,' Artha pointed out.

"Exactly, so instead of sulking," she said while Artha began to verbally disagree with her on that one, "I've been trying to get us out of here."

"What? Really? After all your talk of, 'it's impossible to get free from the Dragon Eyes camp. No one has done it before.'"

"Well," she started with a frown. "I know I said that, but just because it's impossible doesn't mean we can't try."

Artha stared at her blandly for a second. "What's the point?"

"The point?" Deliah echoed. "The point…is that we didn't go down without a fight. I'm not going to die here, or stay here for the rest of my life or do whatever it is they do with prisoners. We have to help stop the war," she added in as an afterthought almost. "However big a part we may actually play in that."

"No," Artha said, and looked again to the entrance of the tent, and for a moment, Delilah thought he disagreed with her again. "We are going to make a difference in this war." He looked at her again and added, "a big one."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "A big one," she repeated skeptically. "Not overestimating yourself, are we?"

It was Artha's turn to grin at her. "Nope. I'm going to stop it. And I'll need Covert's and your help. Right Covert?"

Artha looked to his left, where Covert looked at him for a few seconds before breaking into a wide smile and nodding. Delilah's suspicious and confused face went unnoticed by Artha as he smiled back at Covert, glad of having his support.

"So," he said, turning back to Delilah, who smoothed her features into a blank expression. "What were you saying about trying to get out of here?"

"Firstly, keep your voice down," she said silently, glancing towards the entrance. Artha clamped his mouth shut. "And secondly, I've already gotten out of the ropes."

"What?" Artha barely remembered to whisper. "How?"

Delilah grinned. "I slipped out. It hurt, but I'm free."

Artha nodded. So that's why she had been squirming and wriggling. Now it didn't seem so annoying anymore, and he wondered why he hadn't come to that conclusion before. "Now what? Wait for nightfall?"

Delilah looked worried as she thought about it. She shook her head. "Too much can happen before then. Besides, nightfall might be when they decide to…question us."

"They could question us now, or wait another day to do it. Besides, if it's nightfall we can sneak around camp. We have to find Beau," he reminded her, in case she had forgotten.

"I really don't think we should stay here longer than we need to."

'We can't walk around camp in broad daylight. They'll see us!" Artha vehemently argued. "They aren't blind, Delilah!"

"It doesn't matter if they see us," Delilah said, licking her lips in worry and thought. The corner of Artha's mouth twitched. This was no time to panic; they had to wait until the right time.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I mean," she said somewhat exasperatedly, "that we can slip through them unnoticed. We can put Dragon Eye symbols on ourselves and dress up in some of their gear. We don't need to wait for night."

"You expect us to…dress up as them?" Artha said almost dubiously. It certainly had potential, but it also had risks, more so than if they went with his idea, he thought.

"I expect us to do something," Delilah said with more force than before. "And soon."

Artha shook his head. But night will conceal us better."

"Trust me, Artha," Delilah hissed. "You do not want to be a prisoner of the Dragon Eyes longer than necessary. Please, we have to leave now!"

"We have no idea where Beau is, someone will see us! And recognize us! I don't know about you, but I didn't see anyone our age here, did you? Well stick out. When it's dark-"

"When its dark we die. Or worse," Delilah announced seriously. Artha shook his head again.

"It's too risky."

"Staying here is too risky," Delilah said, her eyes wide and uneasy. "We can slip out of the tent. We can…come on, it's a good plan."

"It's a stupid plan," Artha retorted.

Delilah bit her lower lip. "We can't stay here, Artha. They'll come soon."

Artha sighed. "Trust me. We'll have a better chance if we go tonight." Covert watched them both, for the moment ignored and completely unafraid of their surroundings. He pursed his lips in thought.

"Please."

Artha looked away from Delilah, away from her pleading eyes and obviously scared expression. "I don't really know too much of the Dragon Eye Empire, and I know I'm not as afraid of them as you, and maybe I should be. But one of us has to keep a cool head here."

Delilah looked at him for another moment, feeling overlooked, and then looked at the ground, her eyes filling with desperation.

"You're right," she said. "You don't know." Artha looked sideways at her as she looked back at him. "I…if you wo-"

The ground shook, really shook, at the same time a monstrous sound, an explosion Artha realized, sounded. Then before the tremors from the first explosion subsided, another came, though less intense. The three captives looked around wildly. Artha thought he asked 'what,' but wasn't quite sure the sound made it from his mouth. His ears were still ringing. Battle cries could be heard and the pounding of feet, both human and dragon, as they raced past their tent and to the source of the noise.

The guards stuck their heads quickly into the tent, glaring at the rattled prisoners, before shouting something to each other and rushing off.

"What?" Artha repeated, hearing himself this time.

"An attack?" Delilah asked shakily, then stronger, "an attack! It was an attack, Artha!"

He glanced at her. "What?" he asked again, bewildered.

"An attack!" she repeated, smiling this time and stood up and ripped the remains of the rope from her wrists.

"An awhat…hey, get back down! Delilah-"

"It's an attack Artha," she said, bending down beside him and untying his bonds. "You can hear the fighting."

Artha listened, hearing the screams, calls, roars, clanging and distinct sound of mag energy being thrown about. Then it hit him. "It's-"

"A great distraction, for us," Delilah said, grinning widely, and moved to free Covert. Artha shot to his feet.

"It is," he breathed, realization dawning on him.

"And it sounds like a big one," Delilah almost chuckled. "The whole camp will be busy!"

"Yes, yes!" Artha laughed. Who had time to pay attention to some lowly prisoners when a battle was brewing? A battle… "But, we have to be careful."

Delilah nodded and grabbed Covert's hand tightly, pulling him up. "Of course." She looked at him, full of rushing adrenaline. "Let's find your dragon, and quickly."

"Beau," Artha said grinning, reminding her that his dragon had a name. "And…and I know where he is. Come on."

Artha ran to the entrance to the tent, knowing which direction Beau was, almost feeling his dragon through the bond. A slightly confused Delilah followed him. "You do?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "Now no questions." He grabbed her hand and pulled her after him as he ducked out of the tent, looking at the running Dragon Eyes, all heading to the growing conflict and ignorant of the three.

Artha had no time to listen to the battle, the screams or to smell the growing smoke. He knew where Beau was. He dodged the running Dragon Eyes, with Delilah and Covert running behind him. Beau was getting closer, they were going to get out.

As they left behind the tent in which they had been imprisoned, a figure quickly strode up to the tent after dismounting his dragon, Luutt. He thrust aside the tent flaps and marched in, only to stop in surprise at the empty tent and tangled pile of forgotten rope. Rancydd yelled and clenched his fists and marched back to Luutt, who immediately magged him on.

That prisoner, that boy…that dragon…. Rancydd shook his head, unbelieving. Mere minutes before, the Shadow Booster had contacted him, and in a deep voice had ordered Artha Penn to be waiting for him when he arrived. Rancydd had nearly gone into shock. He hadn't been seeing a ghost. It really was…but how?

He shook his head. How indeed? But wondering how on Draconis Artha Penn was alive and at age sixteen still, and wondering how the Shadow Booster knew of it would not recapture him. Rancydd looked straight, looking for their retreating backs, but saw nothing.

How indeed.

"Ssshhh!"

"I am ssshhhh!" Artha hissed under his breath as Beau and he carefully stuck their heads out of the tent and glanced madly around. Getting in the tent where Beau was imprisoned had been easy. Knocking out the lone, unsuspecting guard was easy, and Artha wouldn't have guessed Delilah could punch that hard. Taking off the gear was also easy, but sneaking Beau out of the tent and into the woods beyond the camp perimeter? That would be tough. And to top it all off, Covert was giving, of all things, a little temper tantrum. Though it was silent, he was obstinate; flinging his fists this way and that, and managed to give Artha a bit of a bruise on his jaw. He let Delilah calm him down while Beau and he peered out of the tent. Already the sounds of the battle were dying down, and could end at any time. They had to move. Perhaps a flat out run to freedom would be best.

"Covert, stop it!" Delilah said, growing impatient with his behavior. "Not now. Please not now!"

"We'll just run for it, I guess," Artha said as he and Beau took one last glance around before bringing their heads back into the tent. His heart was pumping madly as he mounted Beau. Beau magged on Delilah and a squirming Covert. "What's his problem?" Artha asked.

"He's…scared I guess…what'd you say about running?"

"Oh, yeah. We'll just run for it. We're running out of time."

"Whatever, can we just get out of here?"

"Sure thing." Artha looked ahead and adjusted his helmet. "Ready boy?" Beau nodded his head and narrowed his eyes. "Well jump out and take them by surprise," Artha began to say, but was interrupted by a loud wailing.

"What is that?" he demanded, turning around and clamped his hands over his ears.

"Covert!" Delilah yelled. "Quiet!"

Covert, sitting on Beau just in front of Delilah, was yelling. Not crying, just yelling his heart out, with his eyes closed tight in an effort to yell and scream as loud as he could. Artha looked to the front of the tent. Shadows were moving in, signaling that the element of surprise was lost. Voices of confusion, suspicion and curiosity flowed from the approaching Dragon Eyes.

"Go boy, go!"

Beau let his roar mingle with Covert's high-pitched screaming until it overpowered it and left Artha's ears ringing yet again. Then he took a flying leap out of the tent, while Artha filled his hands with golden energy.

Rancydd jerked Luutt's handles, avoiding the Dragon Eyes in his way, then pushed them forward when he got impatient and left them dodging for their safety. The screaming had caught his attention immediately, since the noise of the battle was clear on the other side of the large camp, and as such was quiet enough for Rancydd to pick out the distinct noise coming from Covert. He knew of only one child in the camp, and that was one of the prisoners.

And where this child was, so was Artha Penn. He gritted his teeth, still in disbelief.

When the screaming got louder and he was nearly sure he was very close by, a roar sounded, alerting Rancydd to where he was. The tent where the dragon had been housed…oh scales.

A gold blurr leapt out of the tent with a thunder of a roar, and suddenly two mag streams picked up and threw the closest Dragon Eyes away, the dragon never once stopping and already running in a clear direction. Years of training had quickened Rancyyd's reflexes, and his own mag push barely missed the rider of the dragon.

Artha Penn ducked and looked at him, and before he had disappeared behind some tents on his speeding dragon, Rancydd saw quite clearly his face, his quite unchanged face. His own face turning whiter than the snow that fell in the North, Rancydd's dragon rushed forward unbidden, giving hot pursuit. Rancydd crouched low in his saddle and activated his viddscreen.

"High alert on escaping prisoners, heading north east on a clear route out. Demanding immediate backup!"

Running through the camp was surprisingly easy. Quite quickly the crowd of Dragon Eyes had thinned drastically, and Artha no longer had to concentrate on mag pushing them out of Beau's way, lest they be run over. Artha had never been so happy in his life for distractions that worked in his favour. He had no time to think of the lives that were undisputedly being lost in the battle, focused so clearly on his own freedom, mere seconds away. And then, they jumped past the last of the tents and fortifications, and dashed through the trees.

Artha yelled happily as Beau roared in success as they wound their way through the trees. He looked behind themselves, where no discernable pursuer was visible. "I think we made it! We did it! Right Delilah?"

Delilah looked behind for a split second before tightening her grip on the back of the saddle. "We aren't clear until we're further away. They can still send people after us."

Beau ran faster, eager to put as much distance between themselves and the camp as possible. He slid down a slight hill, stirring up leaves and dirt as he went down.

"How's Covert?" Artha asked, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings.

Delilah paused before answering. "Better I guess. I don't know why he did that."

"Well let's ask him when we're a bit further away," Artha responded with a very displeased frown, fully intending to do so.

Beau burst through a thicket of trees into a small clearing, and increased his speed. For a moment, Artha watched the approaching tree line grow as it grew closer, then in curiosity, glanced back. His eyes widened.

"Woah," he gulped, suddenly feeling quite small.

Thick, black smoke rose into the sky, briefly lighting up as purple and blue mag energy streaked through it. At times, when the mag stream was obviously not belonging to a quick mag push, the plume of smoke glowed incredibly bright with that one colour, looking almost ereathral, and Artha could only guess at what mag moves where being preformed to create such an intense glow. As the trees once again prohibited a clear view of the sky, Artha tightened his grip on the handles and turned forward again. Delilah remained indifferent to the spectacle, focusing only keeping her balance for dear life.

It was an hour later when Beau finally slowed to a walk. A deep ravine housed rapid waters to their left.. He made sure to stay well away from it, feeling only the slightest sense of unease coming from the deep drop.

Artha panted as he patted Beau's head, who rolled his tongue out in response. "See?" he said. "We…no one followed us."

Rylada nodded, and then chuckled. "They had bigger problems to worry about." For no other reason than it felt good to smile after such an ordeal, Artha threw his head back and laughed, the whole situation strangely hilarious. Delilah laughed with him while Covert seemed to alternate between pouting and being confused. Beau was simply too tired to do anything but glance up at them.

As the laughter subsided, Artha looked down at Covert. Delilah sensed the change in mood and lowered her head.

"He gave our position away," Artha began instantly, his voice dripping with admonishment. "I mean, we're lucky we had all the gear off of Beau when he-"

"I know," Delilah snapped, shaking slightly. After having been so nearly caught back in the camp, her nerves hadn't yet calmed down. The Dragon Eye Empire was nothing to be brushed off so easily, something which Delilah was sure Artha would soon learn. "Do you think I was happy about his timing? Or that he did that at all?"

Artha backed down and concentrated his attention specifically on Covert, who avoided eye contact with both of them. "I thought you said he was mute?" Artha pointed out.

"Not mute," Delilah said. "He has no tongue."

"Oh…oh," Artha said, unable to think of anything else. After a pause, he asked, "why?"

"Someone cut it out," came the flat answer.

"Who would do that?"

Delilah glared at an imaginary spot on the horizon, before replying in a very stubborn tone. "I'd rather not say."

"But, you lied to me before. About him being mut-"

"I know," she said, "it was just easier to say that. You must have heard him laugh before now."

"Rarely," Artha muttered as he faced the front again. And awkward silence followed, broken only by the sound of the rushing water flowing nearly a hundred meters down on their left. Beau took a path that veered away from the deep ravine and once again into the forest, but suddenly stopped and lifted his head.

"Beau, what?" Artha asked, looking around himself. A hard mag push suddenly exploded onto Beau's side, sending them all flying a good deal away. Everyone fell from Beau's back and crashed hard onto the ground. Artha coughed from the rising dust and looked up. Beside him, both Delilah and Covert groaned and lifted their faces from the ground. Beau growled at their attacker, and immediately stood in a weak fighting stance, breathing heavily, digging his claws into the earth.

"Nice try," Rancydd said, his tone implying that it wasn't really at all.

Artha gasped at him before understanding kicked in with a swift blow. "Rancydd," he breathed, coughing halfway through the name. Rancydd sat on Luutt, at the beginning of the clearing, his hands clutching the handles expertly.

"Yes, yes it is. And such a surprising turn of events…Artha Penn."

Artha narrowed his eyes in confusion. Rancydd's tone of voice was hard and sounded very much like he was incomplete control of the unusual situation, but his expression told a whole other story. He couldn't have possibly looked more shocked than he did at that moment. For a few agonizingly quiet minutes, they stared at each other. Rancydd in utter bewilderment still, and Artha, who looked frightened and like he was about to throw up at any given moment. Delilah bored her eyes into the side of Artha's head, not quite daring to say anything, even though she had quite a few questions and choice words for him. Beau's growl had lowered into decimals too low for human hearing, and had his own staring contest with Luutt, who looked about as stunned as Racnydd, though she did hide it better to a certain degree.

What broke the spell suspended between them all was the rustling sound as Covert got to his feet and whimpered. Rancydd's eyes immediately turned to him, now full of duty. "This," he began slowly and looked back to Artha, who gazed back defiantly now, "is where you all surrender and come with me."

"I don't think so. I don't know what's going on-" Artha began, ignoring Delilah's whisper of 'that makes two of us,' "-but I'm going to find out. Let us go."

Rancydd shook his head. "Shadow Booster won't be too happy if I let you go. He's rather determined to have you, as you can well imagine. You owe him…explanations." Rancydd looked him up and down, indicating that he too was to have some answers before all this was over.

"Look," Artha said, "I know you must both be confused, but I can't stay and chat." He left out mention of his own confusion of how the Shadow Booster had discovered him.

Rancydd sneered and readied his blocking staff, on which the ends popped out into foot long blades with an audible slicing sound. Artha's bravado dropped a few points. Then his heroism kicked in. This was real danger, and he'd be scaled if he let anyone get hurt, or allow himself to get recaptured. He was getting closer to the Gold Empire, closer to his dad and brother, closer to stopping this war, and closer to having everything make sense again. He was not going to lose. Under no circumstances was he going back with Rancydd!

Artha stood as Delilah pulled Covert back with her a few steps. "Turn around and go back. Don't make me fight you, because I don't intend to lose!"

"Perhaps you haven't noticed, Penn, but I possess the skills, experience, training and strength to take you back without so much of a struggle on your part. You fight me and I guarantee one of you will get hurt. Their blood will be on your head!"

"No!" Artha yelled. "There will be NO bloodshed, Rancydd. I will fight you, but I won't hurt you."

Rancydd scoffed. "I highly doubt you can manage that." Luutt intensified her gaze on Beau and sent Rancydd flying with a mag stream. He balanced on the top twenty feet above them, holding his staff with one hand while the other quickly shot out a mag push directly at Delilah and Covert.

Delilah screamed and jumped back, red blood staining her right shoulder where the mag push had merely grazed her skin. Artha stared in shock at them, first at the fact that Rancydd could handle mag energy now, then at the fact that he had not fired at him, but Delilah and Covert, and then at the fact that she was bleeding, and that the ground behind her where the mag push had actually landed was now charred and smoking.

"As I said before," Rancydd said, bringing Artha's attention to him. His head dipped forward threateningly. "Their blood and possible death is now on your head. You don't know the danger you're putting them in."

"I can take you!" Artha shouted defiantly, putting up his fists, severely missing his blocking staff. "Delilah, take Covert and run!"

"Are you crazy? He'll kill us before we take a few steps!"

"I can stop him!"

"You are crazy!"

"Is this really a wise move, Artha Penn?" Rancydd yelled and fired off another mag push, hitting Covert on his leg. Beau's mag stream, intended to intercept Rancydd's, had been too slow, and he powered down again, sinking low to the ground.

"Covert! Beau!" Artha yelled, surprised at how quickly the situation had become very dangerous. Covert began bawling as he held his leg tight, blood seeping between his fingers. Delilah held him close, keeping her eyes on Rancydd.

"Wrong choice, hero," Rancydd sneered, grabbing his staff with two hands. He charged down to Artha.

Beau leapt tiredly in front of Delilah and Covert, roaring at Luutt as he regained his strength. Luutt hissed in reply and darted along the treeline, circling round them. Beau sent out a mag stream to Artha, who fired off two mag pushes at Rancydd as he quickly came down, having no time to do anything else. The mag pushes were easily blocked with the staff, and then the staff itself, blades whistling through the air, came down at him.

Artha jumped backwards, but far too slowly. The sharp blade fell upon his face, and then Rancydd's boot knocked him flat on his back. Beau roared in unprecedented anger, but was unable to leave his position without putting Delilah and Covert in danger.

As Artha fell on the ground, his breath was knocked out, and while his lungs were desperately trying to draw air, Rancydd brought the blade down in a blur, stabbing his left foot and burying the tip of the blade into the ground, effectively pinning him there. Artha tried to scream, but no sound came. His vision began to turn white from the pain and lack of air. He noticed Rancydd's lips moving, but couldn't make out the words clear enough to understand.

Beau roared again as he sent out an incredibly powerful mag push, too fast for Rancydd to block, knocking him well into the trees. Luutt stepped back, having only heard a dragon roar like that a few times in her life, and neither time ended well, for all parties involved. Beau growled dangerously and crouched low to the ground, now ready for anything, now that he knew what the rules of the game were. He watched Rancydd and Luutt carefully, waiting for their next move and wondering all the while how he could help Artha. Behind him Covert continued to cry while Delilah rocked him back and forth.

Artha suddenly took in the deepest breath he had ever taken, and used that to scream. He lifted his head and saw the imbedded blade, and screamed again, trying desperately, and failing, to stifle his yelling. Hot tears ran down his face.

"As I said," Rancydd panted as he stood, favouring his right wrist, "bloodshed. One more chance to surrender."

Artha shut his eyes tight against the pain. "N…no. I… I c-can't." He opened his eyes and stared at Rancydd, who stood behind a large tree, keeping it between Beau and him.

He saw Rancydd grimace in displeasure, then sigh irritably and shake his head. "Only making it harder, Penn." He turned his attention to Beau, intent on subduing him next. Luutt also turned to Beau, and continued circling to get on his other side. Artha cried as he moved his foot and tried to rise to his elbows. Then something unexpected happened.

Rancydd, partially blocked by the tree he was standing behind, suddenly jerked and let go of his mag energy and staff. He opened his mouth in astonishment and stared wide eyed at the empty space before him. He slowly dropped to his knees, then fell forward as he was pushed from behind, his arms splayed out in the dirt around him. Artha saw a dark stain spreading on his back, stemming from a hole in his jacket. From behind the tree stepped Protyst, holding a staff similar to Rancydd's, but displaying a red tip. Protyst eyed the dead body for a second, reveling in his victory, then turned his attention on Luutt.

Luutt's eyes were wide in utter disbelief. Her entire body was frozen in the act of creeping closer to Beau, one forepaw still held in the air, now forgotten. Her gaze turned to instant rage and shifted to Protyst, who shook his head as he tsked at her and pressed a button on his wristcomm. Luutt bounded to him, surprising him with her speed. He frantically pushed the button repeatedly as the charging dragon closed on him. From out of the trees several black mag cables attached themselves to her hind flank and drew tight, effectively stopping her as she ran and flung her to the ground. She attempted to get up, but roared weakly as the energy was drained from her. Protyst spared his dragon a sharp glare for being late before he nonchalantly bent down and wiped the end of his staff on Rancydd's jacket.

Artha's jaw was agape as he watched Protyst. Beau too was stunned, to say the least, and moved as if to help Luutt, but remained still, worried that if he did free her, Protyst would be killed, and Beau was not about to let someone else get hurt. So he remained where he was, wondered what exactly Protyst was up to, and attempting to get over the shock of Rancydd's abrupt death.

"What?" Artha croaked, blood flowing down his face from the gash Rancydd's blade has initially inflicted. "Why?"

Protyst walked over to Luutt and patted her on the head, which did nothing other than increase her rage and her struggle, which weakened her further.

"Ah, Artha, Artha, Artha," Protyst hummed to himself and strode over to Artha's injured body. "That was rather foolish of you, taking on a colonel like Rancydd while your dragon was exhausted."

"Beau doesn't get exhausted from a little run, he's t-tougher than th-that," Artha gritted out between his teeth, watching Protyst warily. Protyst stopped at Artha's feet and looked down at him, obviously beyond pleased with himself. Artha grunted from the constant pain his foot and face were in, and managed to say, with as much contempt as he could, "you killed him. You scale-scrapper!"

Protyst laughed. "Now's there's one I haven't heard in a long time!"

"You killed him!"

"I'll have to agree with you on that point."

"Why?" Artha yelled.

Protyst smirked down at him, tapping the blade of his staff against his foot. "Rancydd was my superior, and because of that, I had to eliminate him. He was one of the few Dragon Eyes that followed the Shadow Booster from the very beginning. Being colonel is just a, I suppose a sort of thank you for all the years of loyalty for him. He didn't deserve it. I did. "

"So you killed him?" Artha choked.

"He's not the first," Protyst said offhandedly. "I suppose you're wondering what happens to you all now." He gazed at each of them in turn, stopping on Beau. He narrowed his eyes while Beau glared at him. "Artha, you and your dragon will come back with me and you can pay a little visit to the Shadow Booster. Those two behind your dragon, well, I haven't quite decided yet. It all depends on whether you choose to come quietly, Artha."

Artha let his head drop back onto the ground heavily and closed his eyes, trying to think against all the pain. Was this it? He couldn't even move without his vision blurring up, let alone fight. He couldn't just give up, but he also had to think about Delilah and Covert's safety, something he hadn't when Rancydd first attacked. Now he knew what could happen, and he wasn't sure he wanted to take that chance.

He opened his eyes and saw that Protyst had taken his silence to mean that he would comply. Protyst had detached all the cables from Luutt, who was now too drained of energy to move. She lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Beau watched Artha, while his eyes flitted to Luutt every few seconds. Artha could tell he was wondering what they were going to do. Usually, Artha would be confident they could win, but he was wounded, unlike anything he had been through before, and as for Protyst, well, they didn't know his fighting styles. They weren't sure what he could do. Perhaps he was as skilled, if not more skilled, than they. That was certainly a possibility. And he was not afraid to kill. Any resistance from Artha could very well mean the death of Covert and Delilah.

With all the thoughts swirling through his head, Artha swiped away the blood leaking into his eyes, and then saw something he did not want to see. Protyst had removed all the cables from Luutt, and now stood at her head. He was already surrounded by glowing mag energy, and was beginning to form it in one of his hands, which he had poised directly at her head.

"What are you doing?" Artha cried.

Protyst didn't even spare him a glance. "What does it look like? You think I'm dragging her back? She's a witness."

When Protyst began drawing his hand back further and tensing his body for the release of a powerful and deadly mag push, Artha had no doubt in his mind of what to do. True, he had to remember to protect Covert and Delilah, and his actions may very well mean danger to them all, but that didn't mean he would ever stand by and watch another die. What kind of Dragon Booster was he then?

He sat up with a grunt of pain and turned to Beau, lifting out his hand. Beau complied and sent a stream of mag energy, which caused him to cry out as the coursing energy seemed to electrify his pain. Almost blindly, he let out a mag push just as Protyst paused to look over at him. Protyst was knocked back a couple of steps, and it took a few seconds before he seemed o know what Artha had just done. Then he laughed.

"Very well, then, I'll deal with you first, since you're so eager," Protyst added with a twisted smirk as he walked over. He glanced up at Beau.

"You won't kill me," Artha said. "And Beau won't let you come any closer."

Protyst gave a sharp laugh. "No dragon has bested me before."

"You haven't met Beau before."

Protyst stopped a few paces from Artha and faced Beau. He sighed and tapped a few buttons on his wristcomm. His dragon slowly ambled over to Beau, looking for a good position in which to attach the cables. Beau stood his ground and watched him warily. Artha heard Protyst mutter something about failing to bring along black jamming gear before he moved out of earshot as he stalked closer to Beau on the opposite side as his dragon was. His hands filled with energy. Beau roared and sent a stream out to the other dragon, lifting him up and throwing him into the trees. At the same time, Protyst lifted his own hands to fire at Beau, which Artha had been anticipating.

Artha used the last bit of energy he had stored in himself and created a large mag push and sent it flying towards Protyst. It hit him and sent him landing mere meters away from the ravine's edge. Protyst was on his feet in a flash, glaring at Artha, obviously having not expected Artha to have any more energy left in him. Beau roared and sent several mag pushes at Protyst, who dodged them easily, and even sent a few flying back via his staff.

Beau then separated his mag energy. He continued to try to hit Protyst with mag pushes while he also gave Artha a mag stream. Artha filled himself with the energy, doing his best to ignore the pain, which wasn't easy. The world tilted, and when Artha brought up a hand to form a mag pull, his couldn't keep his hand steady. Beau sensed Artha's distress, and doubled his efforts to hit Protyst, who began showing signs of exertion.

"Enough!" he screamed and jumped behind a tree for a break from the onslaught of energy.

Artha's world went momentarily dark as blood and sweat dripped into his eyes. He wiped them clean and fell back onto the ground, breathing heavily. The pain was just too intense, and the cut on his face had to be deeper than he thought. When Beau looked over at Artha in worry, it was then that Protyst pounced.

He leapt from behind the tree with his elbows bent and his hands up and clenched into fists. He thrust them down and let loose a mag pulse. Artha screamed as the blade was wrenched from his foot and as he was thrown back, hearing nothing but his own yells. The world seemed to swirl around him, and he realized that he must have stopped tumbling and must be lying still. He tried to focus, but couldn't tell what was going on. Far too slowly, his vision cleared, and he saw a blurry vision of Protyst squaring off against Beau. Every so often there would seem to be two of everybody, and nothing ever stood still enough for Artha to identify what was really going on.

But he was able to make out the main shapes. Protyst, glowing purple, and the larger shape had to be Beau, who abruptly disappeared. Where did he go? Amidst the thrumming of the blood pounding in his ears, Artha heard Delilah scream, and a dragon that was not Beau roar. He saw the dim shape that was Protyst lift his hands as the screaming intensified. Somehow Artha knew it was now or never.

He gathered all the mag charge he had let into his hands and fired it at Protyst, praying that he hit him. Then he blacked out.

Something touched Artha's face, something wet and warm. He tiredly opened his eyes and squinted them at the sudden brightness, even though it was getting dark outside. Disembodied voices rose in volume until he could make out the words.

"…not dead?"

"What?" Artha moaned, opening his eyes further as the world came into view. Beau looked poised to lick his face again, while Delilah looked at him worriedly, brushing hair from her face.

"I said, not dead…are you?"

"Can't be. 'M talking," Artha mumbled. Delilah smiled. "What happened?"

"Well for starters, everyone's okay…sort of," she said, tilting her head towards Artha's foot. "That's the worst of our injuries."

"But what happened? Did I…I remember trying to hit…did I hit him?"

"Did you ever! I mean, when I looked over at you after you hit Protyst, you were already out cold. A shot in the dark. A very lucky shot." She chuckled. Artha cracked a smile.

"Protyst's dragon managed to hit Beau a bit, but he's shook it off. Didn't you?" Rylada smiled and rubbed Beau on his nose. He grinned under the praise and stretched his neck as if to say, of course I did. "Then that dragon went running as soon as Protyst went over the edge, the chicken."

Artha's smiled faded slowly. "Went over the edge? You mean…" Artha tried to sit up, but was met with a wave of pain and nausea.

"Hold it," Delilah said concernedly.

"No," Artha groaned. "Is he alright?" When he tried to sit up again, the pain was less intense, and he managed to rest on his elbows. He glanced around before finding the edge of the deep ravine, a large cut in the now scorched earth.

"Alright?" Delilah echoed, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "Of course not. That ravine has to be, what? Hundred feet deep? More?" She looked at Artha's expression, which still held signs of hope for Protyst's survival. "I looked down there. It's completely full of sharp rocks. You can still…see his body down there. He hit a few of the rocks; the river hasn't swept his body away yet."

"He's…," Artha paused, giving himself a minute to comprehend what Delilah was saying. "I killed him?"

"Yeah. With a good shot too. It's…you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay," Artha grumbled. "Help me up."

"What?"

"Help me up!"

Artha struggled and pitched his upper body forward to sit in an upright position. He blinked his eyes repeatedly at the sudden dizziness.

"Why? Get back down!" Delilah instructed.

"No, up!" Artha growled, lifting his arm up at her to grab. "Help me up."

Delilah huffed at his stubbornness. "Fine. Hurts you, not me."

Artha shut his eyes tight as the feeling of vertigo afflicted him as Delilah hoisted him up. Amidst her confirmations of how heavy he was, Artha focused on staying upright. He wobbled around before Delilah managed to help him steady. Beau put his head behind Artha's back, providing further support.

"Thanks boy," Artha said flatly and somewhat distantly, his eyes glued to the edge of the ravine as they began to limp over there. Beau looked at him worriedly.

As they reached the edge, both Beau and Delilah prevented Artha from going as far as he wanted. He supposed he understood their worry. A gust of wind could blow him over the edge, he was that unsteady. But he had to see.

The sun was almost beneath the horizon, painting the sky in its farewell colours of purple, orange and pink when Artha tried to peer at the bottom of the ravine. It was shrouded in darkening shadow, making it hard to see any details.

Leaning over as far as they dared let him, Artha's eyes roamed the jutting rocks, feeling sick as he watched the water crash against them. Delilah pointed a finger; Artha followed the line until his eyes rested on a dark form that was not another shadow or a piece of debris. It was hard to make out any details, especially since Artha was feeling even sicker than before, but it was clear. There was a body down there, and it wasn't moving.

"Enough. Back, back," Artha said quickly, startling them both. They eased him back, mindful of his foot and let him sit on the sparse patch of grass. Delilah sat behind him, acting as his support as he breathed deeply to calm himself. She was quiet and allowed him his moment as Beau began to settle himself beside them, but then think better of it and almost dejectedly walk to the trees, sniffing the air for any other intruders, head hanging low in a sense of failure. He couldn't comfort Artha with what he may need most at that time. Words.

Delilah felt quite uncomfortable that the job had fallen to her, but she was the only other one who could speak. "Uhh, Artha? We should…if you think you're ready, we should go."

Artha shook his head slowly. "I killed him. Me." He looked at the ground, wincing slightly at the feel of fresh blood beginning to ooze from his face wound. "I did it."

"Yep," she responded lamely after a pause. "But you know, that happens. It always happens. It's war. If you hadn't we'd be the ones killed."

"But," Artha whispered. "I didn't mean to."

"Better him than us."

"Even still," Artha said, closing his eyes, hating himself for agreeing with her. "It was an accident."

"He deserved it though. He killed that guy-

"Rancydd."

"-Rancydd, and others before him and would have killed more in the future. You should be proud of yourself, Artha. You saved us. You're a hero."

"Is that what a hero is?" Artha asked in a whisper. "Is that what I have to do now?"

"If you want, I guess," Delilah stammered. "Look, we should get going. I don't know how safe we are here. We have to find a better place to take care of your cuts and Covert's leg, and then…find a town."

"Covert's fine?" Artha asked in a normal tone.

"He'll be okay," Delilah assured him.

Artha nodded. "Then we should go. I…let's just go. Away from here."

Delilah caught Beau's eye from across the clearing, and with Beau lying down they hoisted Artha onto the saddle as he ground his teeth together in pain, but refrained from crying out. Covert was carefully lifted onto Beau's back, and Delilah was about to follow when Beau's head snapped up, earning a grunt from Artha.

"What is it?" Delilah asked.

Beau snorted, moving only his eyes as he looked at the trees. Then they heard it as well. A twig snapped. And then another, and another.

"Great," Delilah murmured for them all. As Beau went into a fighting stance, Artha grabbed for the handles and Covert made a small whimpering sound.

The noise stopped, and silence filled the woods until a voice sounded. "Who's there? Identify yourselves."

"Uh, us," Delilah responded uneasily.

"Who wants to know?" Artha demanded with an edge to his voice.

Several voices seemed to converse with each other before the figures stepped from the forest and into view; four riders and four dragons. All armed and poised to attack at any provocation. What surprised them, though, was the bone colour of the dragons. There were two blue, and two red, all of which eyed them in suspicion.

"We asked you first," the rider on a blue said with authority. "Identify yourselves." One of the riders on a red whispered something in his ear, loud enough for their other two comrades to hear, but too soft for Artha and Delilah. The rider on the blue then narrowed his eyes at Beau.

Artha looked from Beau to the rider, then to Beau again. "We were captured by the Dragon Eyes. We escaped during the battle," he said evenly, watching their expressions.

They looked at each other and whispered amongst themselves again. Artha's mouth twitched in annoyance. "You aren't Dragon Eyes, are you? So where do you come from?"

They quieted and looked at him, having come to an agreement. "We've been expecting the attack and chose this opportunity to free one of our men from the Dragon Eye camp," the blue rider said in a neutral, but very much alert voice.

"We haven't seen any other prisoners," Artha replied, thinking back.

The rider's expression turned grim. "We must go and search for him then. However, you seem in need of aid. Forgive me, but we must leave quickly. I'll leave Staind to help you. He will explain things."

The blue rider and his dragon led the way, leaving with the two reds following him. All three disappeared in the gathering gloom, and Artha, Beau, Delilah and Covert all looked at their new friend.

"We're in the open here. If you will, follow me. We will fall back to a more secluded place. I have with me medical equipment we-"

"Excuse me," Artha said, interrupting him. He looked slightly startled, but kept silent and waited for Artha to continue. "But…who are you?"

Staind gave them a nervous smile and held up his arm, twisting it so they could see the symbol attached to his upper right arm. In the dark it was barely discernable. Artha squinted his eyes in an effort to see better, but stopped when the motion aggravated the long cut on his face. "Delilah?"

She was silent for a few seconds before turning to him with a wide grin that ate up her own face. "It's a star, Artha. A golden star!"

Dark had fully fallen, and the battle was finally over. The attackers had fled as quickly as they had come, leaving behind a suitable portion of the camp ablaze and a great many Dragon Eyes wounded or killed. The last of the fires was being put out as the sun slipped beneath the horizon, and the forest became was peaceful once more, save for the now very hectic activity within the Dragon Eye camp.

The Shadow Booster rode his dragon silently, mere miles from the camp now, and mere miles from showing everyone how very displeased he was. Word had already reached him about the attack, and the amount of men dead or wounded and the amount of damage that had been done had darkened his already dark mood.

First was the noise the attack had made, and the plumes of smoke rising into the sky, however now almost indiscernible thanks to the faded light. Scouts and spies were sent out to see just how much the Purple Empire had noticed. Though huge, the camp had been completely concealed to the Purple Empire, who knew nothing of the growing fortress that would one day occupy this place and provide a suitable place for an offensive attack. The chance that they were still ignorant to their presence was small, but still a reality if his men could silence anyone who thought to spread word about what they had seen illuminated in the sky or what they had heard, or if they could effectively convince no one to investigate… The Shadow Booster almost sighed. Surprise was lost. New strategies would have to be made.

Not only was the grim prospect of discovery enough to make every Dragon Eye close to the Shadow Booster walk as if on glass, but news of certain escaped prisoners…not that was something the Shadow Booster did not want to hear.

He had been contacted earlier as he was enroute, discreetly, to the large camp from another large camp on the Northern side of the Purple Empire. Skin, one of Word's most trusted. Her news of a deal was at first something to pass the time on the long trek, however, when he had learned the name of the prisoner she had wanted killed…well, he was more than happy, although stunningly shocked, to oblige, though he didn't let her know.

He knew of course, that the Paynn Empire would be one of the first Empires to know that he had finally decided to begin the Years of War again and come down from the north, so the contact wasn't entirely surprising, only the content was. A deal had been made, one that he was happy with and one that Skin wasn't pleased with, but wasn't quite opposed to either. So everything appeared to be working out well. Execute a prisoner, send the body to the Paynn Empire, keep the dragon for himself and send the other two prisoners back as well, and a terrible threat to everyone opposed to the Gold Empire and their talk of freedom for everyone, dragon or human, would be silently averted before anyone else knew who had finally come back. The Shadow Booster knew, of course, that Artha Penn was the Dragon Booster, even though Skin may not have seemed to.

But then, when the news of the escape reached the Shadow Booster as he was updated on the extent of the recent battle damage, he was outraged. Not to mention that he couldn't get a hold of Rancydd. That ignited his temper further, and the Dragon Eyes with him all but volunteered to scan the forest to see if any attackers were still nearby. This left the Shadow Booster alone, something he was glad of, for if someone else were travelling with him, he was sure he'd have taken off their head just to vent some anger.

His eyes narrowed as he reflected on all that had happened. A conflict was growing in his mind, and a voice that had been forced silent for so long was now making itself heard once again at the mention of the Dragon Booster. His hands suddenly gripped the handles tightly as a spasm rushed through him. His dragon looked up at him, unconcerned for the most part.

A final twitch and calmness and control swept over the Shadow Booster again. His grip remained tight though, and his eyes only two thin slits of angry red light.

He soon arrived on the frantic scene of the camp. He was informed that no, Rancydd had not returned or showed up yet, and no, neither was his second, Protyst, and yes, damage was extensive, though only on the north-west side of the camp where the attack had come from, and no, the prisoners were not found yet, and yes, yes they would obliterate the rock face on the western side.

The Shadow Booster looked up at the slight cliff, surrounded by heavy evergreens with an almost smooth cliff face, on which was now carefully marked with the Blue Empire symbol. The charred and smoky edges did justice for the lightning bolt inscribed in the rock, via carefully controlled mag streams.

The Shadow Booster remained quiet atop his dragon and vowed to himself that the Energy Booster would surely pay for this, but next time, he would be the victor.

Jyme stood on the saddle while Tryaust stretched his neck up high and glanced around warily. K-Oz had selected them for his scouting party, and they were now on the southern border of the Orange Empire. It was dark, and the only light came from the countless stars above and from the device Jyme held in his outstretched hand, needed to boost their signal strength and also encrypt it so as to be accessible only to the Gold Empire.

Hurry up, Tryaust urged impatiently.

Done, Jyme confirmed and sat down in the saddle. Tryaust immediately jogged down from the small hill and into cover of a group of trees. The information had been sent, and now the Gold Empire was alerted to the Black Empire as it came down from the north.

Tryaust again walked the patrol route K-Oz had assigned him; easily pretending that Jyme and he had not committed yet another act of treason against the Orange Empire.

Unbeknownst to them, K-Oz's eyes gleamed from his hiding place as his suspicions were confirmed. Spies. He grinned.

Little did they know, but they would be more useful to him than they would be to the Gold Empire.