A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is so heavily dialogued, but I've been, erm, gone for a while. This is one of those chapters that drag in the writing process.
Bolero had consented to carry all four comatose griffins, and very quickly it had to be done, too. The morning of Flury and Bolero's heated conversation had been the one the other dragons had decided to act. The dragons had stopped in the city, possibly to examine their allies' ruins.
The only plausible direction Flury and Bolero had been able to come up with was east; there at least there was a possibility of finding help.
"Oh," Flury groaned, his wings heavily under strain, "I hope we find someone." Flury's magic had not recovered nearly enough for him to translocate, and Bolero was not wasting her own after the latest ordeal.
"They had better be there by now," Bolero said heavily. She was showing more signs of fatigue than ever before. "I can't keep this up much longer." Dragons were not ones to admit defeat.
The coast came into view, a line of white sand bordered by cerulean sea. Normally, Flury would have found the sight breathtaking, but the only condition the adjective 'breathtaking' fell under currently was the presence of an army of his allies. Naturally, there was no such thing.
"We'll fly along south," Bolero said, wheeling around and facing towards the distant outline of a tower. They continued south, and Flury probed the surrounding area with his magical senses mercilessly, hoping for some kind of magical contact. They landed hopelessly a day later; Flury was teetering on the verge of exhaustion. Bolero was near that verge as well. She carefully laid the griffins on the ground.
"Awake, my friends," she said raggedly, waving her claws over the group.
"What happened?" shouted Don, leaping up, ready for a fight.
"Nothing happened," Flury explained, lying on the ground next to them.
"My head," said Elda, rubbing her eyes.
"My wings," Cazak said in reply.
"My everything," Callette grunted.
"Oh, be quiet," Bolero said irritably. "You've been in healing comas for three days. You're much better off than Flurian and myself."
"Don!" Elda said, suddenly remembering something, "Dad told me you got married!"
"No, Elda," Don said, her large golden double, "I'm engaged, though."
"To who?" Elda asked curiously. She was evidently done feeling left out now that she was actually on the other continent. They were all in dapper shape after their three days rest. Flury was almost the exact opposite. He hadn't the energy to spare to listen to their asinine conversation. If it had been a conversation about Elda being engaged, well, he would have listened to that. Preferably if it was he Elda was engaged to.
"Larasa Acker," said Don proudly. Flury was not extremely familiar with the Ackers, but he assumed Don knew them quite well.
"Fighting family," Cazak commented.
"Quite high up," said a voice from Flury's bag. And here he had almost forgotten Hesian! Flury opened the flap and Hesian toppled out, looking rather warm and sleepy. "I know her," he said to Don.
"Hesian, I presume?" Don asked.
"In the flesh," ("Not exactly," Elda muttered under her breath,) said Hesian, stretching luxuriously. "Nice girl."
"She is nice," said Don, his eyes enigmatically staring at something that was not there.
"Aren't you just peachy?" Elda asked irritably. This was the last part of the conversation Flury heard, as he had fallen asleep. How long he slept, he had no idea, but he awoke to an argument between the four others about something. Then he noticed that there were more than four griffins around him.
"Listen Elda," said a black griffin, "We came as quickly as we could. Things have gotten a lot worse since you lot left."
"How so?" Flury asked groggily, sitting up with difficulty.
"I'm glad you've decided to join us," snapped Kit. Flury would have been indignant, but he was simply too tired to really care.
"Those idiots at the University have barricaded themselves in, just like the idiots at that outpost on the beach. Won't come out for anything, they're so scared."
"Wait, who else is here?" Flury said suddenly. Was this the army they had been waiting for?
"Just me, Blade, Dad, Lydda, and a few human wizards, including Querida. The dragons from our continent are busy fighting the rebels over there, and all the wizards are either barricaded in the University or out of reach. Luther's kingdom has been overthrown, as well as the dwarven clans," Kit recounted grimly.
"How cheerful," Hesian remarked. "What do we do about it?"
"There's not much you can do about it," Elda said scathingly. "You're a second-rate magic user."
"Now wait just a minute—" Hesian began heatedly, but was interrupted by Flury.
"He's not second-rate," said Flury, weariness penetrating his voice. "He simply does things differently from most of us."
"That's what makes magic so unpredictable," came Derk's voice, absent of its usual cheerfulness. He walked into the light cast by the fire, and Flury saw himself mirrored in Derk's appearance. Derk had a look similar to that of when he had been Dark Lord; however, it was magnified tenfold. He was worn ragged, his clothes sagged on his usually plump frame, and he had not shaved for weeks by the look of his newly acquired beard. He collapsed onto the ground and leaned against the huge form of Kit.
"Derkholm is completely overrun, as is the land surrounding it. Our house is gone," Lydda said tearfully, following her father into the light of the fire.
"Houses can be rebuilt," Derk said dryly. No one was really in the mood to comment upon this statement. "I don't know what has become of the Friendly Cows or the flying horses or anything else."
"Yes, we've lost all the animals and all our crops. But enough about us, tell us about you," Kit said. "I want to know what in the world happened after you left." So Elda gave the newcomers a fairly accurate account of all that had happened, and then some. Hesian occasionally chimed in with a "yes," but Flury and Bolero remained silent.
"Interesting," came yet another voice from the darkness outside their circle. A short, greenish old woman stepped imperiously into view. "I still want to know what happened after everyone was knocked out."
"Oh, that was me," said Flury quietly. "I was so angry when the others were attacked that I cast one of the strongest spells I've ever done. It turned the dragons to stone, but then I passed out."
"Stone? I did that to your cousins when they attacked my cats," said Querida grimly. Flury remained quiet. He felt very embarrassed, as everyone was staring intently at him.
"Where's Blade and the other wizards?" asked Elda, out of the awkward silence.
"They're trying to communicate with the University, but I don't think it's going to get through. Dragons are blocking magic from entering the University," said Querida, disdaining to sit on the ground. She conjured a small, squishy armchair covered with doilies.
"So, what are we planning to do?" asked Derk, suddenly on task.
"What can we do?" asked Kit grumpily. "Deucalion and Policant told us to find the travelers, nothing more."
"Yes, but we need to fix things. Any suggestions?" said Querida scathingly.
"I have one," said Hesian, his tail twitching obscurely about. "We could find the counteractive to those medallions their armies are wearing."
"Counteractive?" asked Flury, bemused.
"Obviously they wear them for protection. Such a cliché notion, wearing medallions to identify oneself, they must be protective. Besides, I sensed a subtle spell in them, as spell-sensing is my specialty," Hesian said. He was no different than he had been in Flury's school days; vain, proud, and haughty. Hesian was of quick mind and stout heart, though, and these traits overwhelmed his vainness.
"I see… What if we were to get hold of one of these medallions? I call this a lead," Querida said, mostly to herself.
"Pray tell me how we would be able to steal one? It's not as if we can visit the city again; their guards will be doubled and tripled by now," Cazak said quickly.
"We can locate one of their scouts with magic, and fight him down. It can't be that difficult for all of us to overwhelm one griffin," interjected Derk.
"Hesian, what do you think these medallions are protecting them from?" asked Flury, suddenly bothered by this question.
"I don't know. It can't be terrible strong, or they wouldn't be so mass-manufactured. I think it may be to keep their mind and spirit within their bodies. I don't see why they would need protection from their own antics, though, but there you have it," replied Hesian knowledgably. He flitted about in excitement at being taken so seriously.
"I'll talk with Blade and the others about it," said Derk, standing up abruptly. "If all goes well, we can begin our excursion tomorrow."
"I agree," said Flury. "I think, sooner or later, we're going to have a full scale war on our hands. Speed is of the essence."