Fall of the East

by Exodus9

Co-written by three authors, Exodus9, Talon the Dragon, and Kauzul. Fall of the East follows the story of the last Eastern Dragons who are trying to find their way in the world, which wants them all dead. Along the way they meet new friends and enemies, and their journey will one day take them to face Alto, the destroyer of Aeon and, if he has his way, the world.

3. Chapter 3

Fall of the East: Chapter 3

Rem watched in shock and confusion as he looked up from his drawing and watched as Crow started heading for his room. "Crow wait!" he said as he spread his wings and flipped in front of the crying fear dragon. Rem instantly brought him into a comforting hug and allowed the young dragon to cry into his shoulder. "Shhh... it's alright Crow." he said in a whisper as he hugged the young dragon tighter. As he got the young fear dragon to explain what happened, a slight amount of fury build within him. "So it was all an act..." he thought to himself. As he released the young dragon, Rem ripped a piece of parchment from his sketchbook and wrote down a long note. Leaving it on the table, the fire dragon growled and packed his things. He then instructed Crow to do the same and when he was finished, led the young dragon off of the balcony and into the alleyways below. They walked for hours and after the time constantly hiding from any other dragons, found an old abandoned building. After confirming there was no one living inside, Rem led Crow to the second floor and told him to stay there, leaving to find some basic supplies. First, Rem came back with a large circular mattress and then some basic food and fluids. Rem then snuck into a large shop with writing utensils, parchment, scrolls and other trinkets before "borrowing" them and returning to the building on the far side of town, away from the academy. "We can teach each other now Crow. You can help me learn to live on our own and I can teach you everything my father taught me." he said in a saddened tone.

Crow wept as he stumbled into their apartment, and could hardly choke out a few words, but Rem seemed to understand what had happened, and started making the preparations for them to leave. Crow was heartbroken, he had started to consider Phobius almost like a father, but now he could see that the only reason the Guardian had ever cared about him was because he had lost his son in the wars. It had all been a lie, all of it, and he had been stupid enough to believe that the kindness Phobius had shown him was genuine. Eventually, he stopped crying and simply followed Rem out of the academy, his eyes turning hollow and blank. He would never trust anyone other than Rem ever again, the pain simply wasn't worth it.

Phobius hardly got any sleep that night, and the next morning he awoke feeling awful. Reuel always had a way of twisting the thoughts and words of another with that silver tongue of his. He groaned and got up, glancing out one of the windows to see the sun rise over the horizon. The day past without anything notable happening, but all he while, Phobius was wrestling with his thoughts concerning Crow and his son. Yes, Crow could never replace Feral, but over the days he had gotten to know him, Phobius had developed feelings for the young dragon. It had been wrong of him to deny it, and he was determined to ignore what Reuel had asked of him and continue protecting Rem and Crow from their wrath. With this new zeal, he marched directly to their room around mid-day and knocked on the door. "Crow? Rem? Are you there? It's time for your training." he said and walked in, but the place was empty. Usually, Crow would be in the main area practising or in his room, but neither of them were present. "Rem? Chronos?" he called out, but to no answer. A spare piece of parchment rested on the main table, a message had been feverishly written across it, and the page was blotted with ink as well. He picked it up and began to read, and his blood turned cold as he did. "I have taken Crow away, we will never return for this slight against us, you have grievously harmed my friend and for that I will never forgive you Phobius. What I thought was a sanctuary for us turned into a nightmare, how could you have said such cruel things against Crow? It does not matter, we are gone you will never find us!" Phobius cried out in shock and threw the letter away, unable to read anymore.

What had happened...had Crow...heard what he had said last night? "Reuel!" he snarled, that bastard must have known Crow or Rem was nearby! "And I was foolish enough to let him goad me into saying such things." he hissed. Without another seconds hesitation, the Guardian rushed out of the room, and headed towards the main chamber. As he walked he noticed a piece of paper, lying on the ground near the door to Rem and Crows room. He picked it up and his eyes widened as he realized what it was. The hesitant and messy writing was no other than Crow's "He must have wanted me to see this..." he said quietly to himself, and tucked the parchment away. Before flying into the main chamber, where he pinned the Wind Guardian to the ground. "You Monster! You KNEW that Crow was there last night! You knew and you goaded me into saying those things!" he roared, but the Wind Dragon merely smirked, despite Phobius's claws latched firmly around his neck. The students in the room cried out in shock at what was happening, and scrambled about in fear. "Of course I knew, it was so obvious, the little wretch was right behind you! But once he saw me he backed away...must have stopped to listen once I mentioned him!" Reuel laughed, but it was cut off as Phobius started to choke him, his white eyes blazing with anger. "How...dare...you!" he snarled, but Reuel only laughed harder. "I didn't make you say anything, fool, you caused this! I'm guessing the little bird has flown away? No doubt taking that other abomination with him!" "SILENCE!" roared Phobius and the air started to shimmer around him. "I hope you've enjoyed our conversation, Reuel, because it is the last thing, you will ever hear!" he roared, and unleashed a sonic scream point blank at the Wind Guardian, who cried out in terror as the red beam crushed him into the floor.

Suddenly, Phobius was grabbed from behind and pulled back by the other guardians, causing the beam to shoot up into the celling, breaking the window and showering everyone in the room with glass. "What is the meaning of this?" cried one of the Elders as they rushed in to help Reuel, who was now unconscious. Phobius struggled to break lose but two guardians held him firmly. "I was merely dealing justice where it was due!" he snapped. "Phobius...you have committed a great crime against us." said the Ice Guardian seriously, but nodded to the other to let him go. The Fear Dragon shrugged away from them and pointed aggressively towards Reuel, whose head lolled to the side as the healers gently took him towards the Healing Ward. "That Dragon is the cause for Rem and Crow's disappearance!" he said coldly, and the guardian's eyes widened in surprise. "What, do you mean they've been abducted? Killed?" growled the Earth Guardian.

Phobius looked to the ground before addressing him. "Not exactly...they have run away." he said and the guardians looked at him in confusion. "Last night, I was walking back to my quarters when I was confronted by Reuel, he insisted that I distance myself from Crow and Rem...because I was growing to attached to the Easterlings...mostly because the younger of the two resembled my son. I was angered by his statement, and venomously denied that I felt anything towards the pair...but Crow had followed me, and he heard me say such things. He must have told Rem, and now they have fled." he said, his voice full of regret. The other dragons frowned at his story and were silent, until the Guardian of Earth spoke up. "We must find them, if they are still in the city, they are in grave danger." he said solemnly, and Phobius looked up in shock, he had not expected this. Infurnus scoffed "Why should we look for a pair of sewage rats? They had their chance and now they are gone, let them face the consequences of their actions! It is Phobius we should be focusing on! He attacked the Guardian of Wind! And might have severely injured him, he should be put on trial!" snarled the Fire Guardian, but before Phobius could interject, the Guardian of Earth held up a paw.

"Phobius will have to face the consequences of his actions...but not now. We will send out search parties for the two and we will bring them back. And EVERYONE is to participate, Infernus." he added coldly as the Fire Guardian turned to leave. The Elder growled quietly before nodding curtly. "Good, now let's go." said the Earth Dragon and turned to leave, but Phobius placed a paw on his shoulder. "I want to thank you, for doing this. I know you are putting yourself at risk for these two." the Elder simply shook his head. "Think nothing of it, Phobius. For now, let's just hope we find them before Death does." he said gravely, and the Fear Guardian nodded and took off, heading towards the city.

Rem slunk through the alleyways of Warfang as he moved about the city in search of more supplies for Crow and himself. He had managed to get some black cloth for himself and his friend so that they could cover their eastern markings without looking too suspicious. As he rounded another corner the fire dragon placed a couple armor bracers in his side-bag as he walked by a stand before continuing on his way back into another alley. But as he turned a fourth corner to head back to the street, he literally ran into the last dragon he wanted to. The fear guardian. With a snarl, the young black dragon blew a cloud of smoke around the two and took off, quickly losing the guardian and heading straight back to his and Crow's new home and placing his collected items in front of the two. "How is your writing coming?" he asked as if nothing had happened on his trip.

Crow blinked as Rem walked into the abandoned building and placed his quill down with a sigh. The parchment was blank. "I just can't do it, everything's so confusing!" he muttered quietly and flopped back onto the wooden floor. Part of the roof had been blasted off and he could see the sky that had been painted red and orange by the setting sun. It was strange to think that the two of them had gone from living at the Academy, the most prestigious and impressive buildings in the entire city, to a burnt out building. It was like waking up from a dream...no...from a nightmare. "Did you make it through the market alright?" he asked, placing a paw over the cloth that covered his mark.

Rem sat down beside the young dragon and draped a wing over him. "You will get it soon enough. Here, let me show you." said the male as he placed the quill in Crow's paw and guided the young dragon's paw through the motions of the first few letters and symbols of the alphabet to help him get a feel for it. As he asked about the market however, Rem seemed to stiffen for a second before speaking. "Same as usual. But I had to return earlier than I wanted. Too many..." he paused for a second. "Too many guards in the area for my liking." he finished after a moment.

Crow smiled slightly at the letters appeared on the paper, but his face fell at the mention of the guards. "We should be fine, I doubt anyone is looking for us anyways." he said glumly but suddenly a commotion started outside near the entrance of the empty building. Shouts of heralds could be heard and the heavy fall of footsteps echoed down the streets as night began to fall. "What's going on out there?" asked Crow as he got to his feet and peered outside. He gasped and quickly ducked under the windowsill, for it was Infurnus, who was atop a platform surrounded by guards in the middle of the market outside. "Attention!" he barked, flaring his wings in irritation "We are here looking for two fugitives! They have escaped from the Academy and our honorable Guardians of Earth, Ice and Fear have made it the top priority of our forces to see them returned to us." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, it was clear that this was the last place he wanted to be. With a sigh, he pulled out a flyer, bearing the symbol of the Eastern Marks. "If anyone has seen two young dragons, of dark scales and bearing the mark of the enemy on their shoulders, please come forward and divulge your information!" he shouted and the crowd muttered amongst themselves at the sight of the mark. Crow's eyes widened in fear as he peered out into the torchlight clearing below. Would anyone come forward?

The young dragon's paranoia was furthered when the beating of wings hailed the arrival of Phobius, who landed on the platform next to Infurnus. He muttered something angrily to the Fire Guardian, who rolled his eyes and stepped down from the platform. "What my fellow Guardian has failed to convene, is that these young ones are not hostile, nor are they are prisoners!" he added, with a slight glare towards Infurnus. "Please, if anyone has seen anything, come forward." he said, and hopped down from the platform. The guards began to disperse into the market place while the two Guardians remained near the platform, talking quietly. Crow gazed at the Fear Dragon with mixed emotions, and turned away, sliding down the wall as he tried to hold back his tears. He had to be stronger than this! And with a slight snarl he pushed himself up off the floor and peered outside, and what he saw almost stopped his heart. One of the market goers had approached the two guardians, and the wolfish creature was gesturing towards their new home! "Rem!" he whispered, almost tripping over his feet as he scrambled back over to his friend, "we've got to hide! I think the guardians are coming over here!" he said, looking down towards the entrance through a gaping hole in the floor.

Rem looked around frantically for a few moments and after thinking, he pulled the large, dark mattress over the hole that served as their entrance. He then grabbed onto Crow and hid under a part of the collapsed roof, dragging some rocks to cover their entrance and sat quiet. The fire dragon stiffened as he heard the flapping of wings outside the windows and held his breath while placing a paw over Crow's mouth. "If they were in here, they are gone now!" called out the voice of Infernus as he turned and flew away. The guardian looked back and spotted the corner of Rem's blue eye but said nothing and left. If no one knew where the two were but himself, he could easily rid himself of the two and no one would know, not even Phobius until they found the bodies. He would just have to make it look like suicide, that was all.

Phobius scouted the abandoned building carefully, he wasn't so sure that the wolf had been completely honest in their evidence, but by some miracle their lie had actually led them straight to where Rem and Crow had been hiding. He walked inside and bent down, picking up a quill that had been tossed aside. Some other familiar objects also lay scattered around the building, but all was quiet, Infurnus was probably right, they were gone now. With a sigh he straightened up. "Guards!" he snapped and two other dragons rushed inside. Crow squeezed his eyes shut in fear and held onto Rem's arm tightly. "The dragons we are looking for must have known we were coming, so they can't have gone far, search the area! And keep someone posted in the marketplace in case they decide to come back, they obviously left in a hurry, for they didn't take much." he said clearly and the guards nodded before rushing outside. Phobius looked back at the empty hall one last time before spreading his wings to join the search. As soon as he as gone, Crow pried Rem's hand away and gasped for air. "Well, that was lucky!" he panted and squirmed out of their hiding place.

Rem crawled out careful not to make any noise and sighed. "Yeah, a bit to close for comfort however. Place everything in our bags, I am going to look for a way out here and try to find us a new place to stay. I will be back here by midnight. If I am not, head south of the city and find a cave to hide in and take whatever you can." he said before spreading his wings and slipping out of the hole in the roof without another sound.

Crow nodded and started packing what little supplies they had. "Good luck!" he called out quietly as Rem disappeared, but he wasn't sure if the older dragon had heard him or not. It was strange, he had lived almost his entire life on his own, never having anyone really care about him or tell him what to do, but apart from occasionally seeing Rem, he had been alone. But now, after spending so much time with the fire Dragon, Crow couldn't bear to see him go on without him. He knelt down, and placed the papers neatly into one of the bags. Crow knew that feeling this attachment to another dragon was a bad idea, but he wouldn't let Rem get hurt, it didn't matter if he was younger, he would do whatever it took to become stronger, so that nothing would ever hurt them again. Rem wasn't used to living like this, but he was, they would be alright. They could be a family...maybe...The young dragon smiled slightly at the thought and placed the bag in front of him, waiting in the darkness for his friend to return.

Rem silently flew over the rooftops of Warfang as he searched for a new hideout for the two of them. After a half an hour passed, he spotted another abandoned building. It was considerably smaller than the one they were currently residing in, but it was better than nothing. After confirming it was not taken, Rem flew back to the large building. On his way however, a large force slammed into the male's back, sending him spiraling down into an alley a few blocks away. As he stood up he felt himself grabbed by his tail and lifted into the air. The sight that met him was not pleasing, Infernus. "So you think you two could hide in the city huh? Well don't worry, I am not going to kill you... the citizens are!" he said as he started cutting into himself with Rem's tail blade, and even sometimes grabbing the black dragon's leg and scratching himself. "Wait until they hear 'Oh, thank the ancestors you are here... that ravenous eastern did this to me!" he said in a sarcastic tone before grabbing Rem's head and smashing it into the side of a building. As blood dripped from the side of Rem's head, the fire elder dropped his body onto the roof and flew back to the academy.

As time went on, Crow became more and more anxious, it was at least half and hour past midnight, but Rem had still not returned. The young dragon paced back and forth nervously, not really wanting to leave in case his friend suddenly returned. After another fifteen minutes, he growled slightly and slung the bag over his back, and flapping up on top of the building through the gap in the ceiling. As he crouched there, carefully taking in the sights of the marketplace below, his eyes widened in surprise as he saw an angry crowd marching down on of the streets. He quickly leapt down and pressed himself behind a broken wall. "Have you heard the news?" one of the villagers snapped to his neighbour, who had blearily stumbled outside at the sound of the commotion. "One of our Guardians was attacked by those Easterlings! He barely made it back alive!" The crowd roared in outrage at this news and Crow gritted his teeth.

As least he knew that Rem was alive, he must have been injured by Infurnus, and was just waiting until he felt better, yes, that must be it. Leaving the angry mob behind, he quickly disappeared into the shadows, something he was rather good at, and weaved his way South of the city, heading back towards the beech. As he travelled, he stumbled over a broken piece of stone in an alleyway and fell to the ground hard. Crow winced, but as he started to get back up, another dragon appeared in front of him. She was young, no older than Crow, and it was easy enough to tell by the state of her scales that she was a beggar. Behind her were two anthro-wolves, who sat perched onto of a pile of trash, their sunken, hollow eyes glowing dimly in the night. "Well, well, well. What do we have here boys? A trespasser!" she drawled, spiting to the ground as she said so. "This here is our turf, newbie, and you'd do well to remember it!" she said, leaning over and glaring at him. Crow quickly scrambled to his feet and backed up "S-sorry, I didn't know-" "Didn't know! Didn't knnnoooowwww? Do you here that boys?" she exclaimed and the two wolves laughed. She whipped around and cuffed Crow over the head. "That's not the first time I've heard that excuse. You'd do well to beat it, shrimp!" she said, crossing her arms.

Crow glared angrily at her "Fine, I'll leave!" he snapped and spun around, marching away. "Hey! Uh, wait a second kid!" she said spreading her wings and gliding beside him. "I may have been a little...over de top in my banishment of your figure there." she said landing in front of him. "What, first you want me to leave, and now you want me to stay? Make up your mind!" said Crow, rolling his eyes, but coming to a stop. "Hey, I do what I do to make sure that we" she jerked her thumb towards the wolves "don't get hurt. You seem like a ok kid. Why don't you stay with us for now? You're looking for a new home, aren't ya?" she said with a grin, and Crow's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you-" "Your bag there, runaways always carry a bag when they're going away." she said with a smile. He sighed and nodded "Well you're right, but I need to meet up with my friend, and so I need to go to the beach." he said and started to walk past her. "I wouldn't go that way if I were you, shrimp." she said "Folk down there don't take kindly to Easterlings." Crows eyes widened and he looked back at her, only to see her twirling the piece of cloth that had hidden his mark around her finger. "Hey! Give that back!" he snapped and grabbed at the cloth, tying it tightly back in place.

She laughed "Come on, don't be like that! We won't hurt you. None of us even know what the war was about. As long as you're one of us, we won't hurt ya, even if you are a Shrimp." she said with a slight smile. "Look, your friend probably asked you to meet up with him if you got separated right? Well me and my boys know this town better than anyone. We'll help you find them." she said and Crow smiled "You will?" "Yep, but in the morning, for now, we need to rest. That mob will have calmed down by then." she said and suddenly disappeared into a hole in the side of the ally. The two wolves snickered quietly and hurried after her. Crow hesitated for a moment, looking onto the street, which was still crowded with angry citizens, before he followed after them. Inside was some sort of underground room. The ceiling was very low, and support beams ran in every direction.

Across the floor, various quilts, blankets and rugs of varying decay and cleanliness were scattered about. The two wolves instantly dove into a pile of pillows and curled up to sleep. The female dragon, however, had a rather neat sleeping place. Wind chimes and ornaments hung from the ceiling and shone dully in the gloom. Crow hesitantly walked forward and sat down on one of the rugs. "Hey, relax kid, you're among friend now." said the dragoness with a smile. "Why do you keep calling me a kid? We're the same age, aren't we?" "Not by a long shot! I'm older than I look!" she said indignantly. "What's your name anyways, shrimp?" she said, placing her head on a pillow. "...Chronos. But just call me Crow." he said quietly. "Crow-nos" she said, rolling the unfamiliar name over her tongue. 'Easterlings have such strange words." "Well what's your name then!" muttered Crow, but he was smiling anyways. "Reyna. But I'm known around here as the Rat." she said with a grin. "Why's that?" asked Crow in confusion. "Oh, they call all of us rats. We beg and steal and live in gutters and under houses, so the name suits us." she said, gesturing to the room around them. "Above us is a shop. The owner knows we live down here, but as long as we don't steal from him, he doesn't bother us. Now those to over there" she pointed at the mass of fur and pillows "Are Ty and Lee, twins. Sometimes we have others that stay with us, but those two never seem to want to go. They don't say much, but they're good kids." she said with a smile. Crow nodded and lay down, finally relaxing. "And what about you?" "Me?" she asked, slightly surprised at his question. "Not much to say really, there's never much to say about a beggar. Used to live with my parents, but that kind of life didn't suit me, so I ran away. End of story." she said with a sigh. "And what about you, Crow?" she asked. He shrugged slightly "Well, I never ran away, mostly because I had nothing to run away from. I've been on my own for as long as I can remember. Rem...he was the only one who cared about me. He rescued me from the attack on our village, and brought me here, to the...well to this city. But we got separated when they discovered our hiding place." he said, drawing his wings around him as he started to fall asleep. "Rem...is he your brother?" she asked, her voice fading as her eyes closed. "No...just a good friend." he said with a smile and fell asleep.

Rem awoke to find himself still on the roof of the abandoned building. Disoriented still from the blow to his head, the blacked scaled male unknowingly stumbled into the hole in the roof and faceplanted onto the unforgiving tiled floor. ~What happened to me..?~ thought the male as he walked around the room and plopped onto his side, no longer being able to stand. Rem could still feel the blood trickling down the side of his head but chose to ignore it. As his eyes fell upon a single piece of paper on the floor, he reached out with his clawed paw and began to read. It has been the paper he was helping Crow learn to read and write on. This triggered a series of memories inside the young male's head and he groaned as they all came back at once. Pushing himself to his paws, Rem spread his wings and shot into the night sky, his black scales allowing him to blend into the night easily. Landing in a few alleyways, he would whisper loudly, calling out for his friend and frowning whenever he did not get a response. Growing in frustration, Rem smacked the flat end of his tail blade against a metal garbage can. This he would regret. "What was that!" called out a nearby guard. Before Rem could respond, they we upon the male. As they surrounded him, Rem felt his shoulder to see that he still had his cloth on. "What are you doing out here?" asked one of the guards in a rather rude tone, but this only made Rem panic. Out of instinct, the young male spread his wings but before he could get more than ten feet off the ground, he roared in pain as electricity coursed through him and dropped the male back down.

Rem awoke a few hours later to find himself chained up in a stone walled jail cell. He could hear the commotion of the city through the tiny window in his cell but nothing came from the male. Fear coursed through him as he saw that the cloth covering his eastern marking on his left shoulder. His thoughts were brought back to the guards however as they entered his cell and roughly grabbed onto him and dragged the black dragon out of the cell. Rem soon found himself in front of a large, booing and cursing crowd. The guards roughly lifted him into the air and exposed his underbelly by spreading his limbs out wide. The young dragon started to struggle in fear as he spotted a large crossbow being rolled out. He looked to his right to see Infernus with a triumphant smirk on his face as he turned to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see in the justice that needs to be served for my attack!" he roared, and crowd responded with cheers. With a motion of his wing, Infernus ordered the attack and the bolt from the crossbow fired. Rem closed his eyes tight, but gasped and opened them as the bolt drove deep into his abdomen. The guards chuckled and bit at the young dragon's expression and dropped him to the ground. Blood started to stream from his mouth and he blankly watched the form of the fear guardian lay beside him with tearful eyes. He then felt himself lifted by the guardian and flown off. As the wall passed beneath him, Rem's eyes slowly closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful rest, hanging from the guardian's grasp over the rolling hills of the lands. The last words he heard were. "Do not worry, young eastern dragon. I shall take care of you."

It was dark and serene as the young dragon opened his eyes. The flicker of a torchlight on stone walls reflected off of his dull, black scales. As he tried to move, all he felt was pain. That was all he ever felt, pain. Curling his neck, the black dragon looked down with weary eyes to see his midsection wrapped up in snow white bandages, stained red where his wound sat. "How am I still alive?" thought the young dragon as he looked around the medium sized room he was in. The sound of padfalls reached his ears and as they groaned against the wooden floors. "Ah, I see you are finally awake." rang the voice of the all too familiar fear guardian. As Rem turned and tried to stand, he found himself held down by the guardian. "Shhhh... you need to rest. I admit that I did speak those words that Crow surely told you, but I was played. The wind guardian an his silver tongue tricked me into saying something that was not true so that I could get him to leave." Seeing the understanding, yet confused face of the young dragon, the fear guardian continued. "You were captured and tried for the attack on the fire guardian. I knew that he was a dirty liar but he had gone to far with this. He had to you be executed. You remember the bolt being shot at you and striking you, right?" asked the guardian and after a moment, Rem nodded slowly. "You were severely wounded, but I managed to get you to my private estate far away from the city and had just enough healing gems to slow your bleeding enough for you to survive, but it will take time for you to fully heal. I will keep you here in secret but if you are to ever accompany me back to the city. You cannot show yourself to anyone. You must stay hidden in the alleyways until I come for you." Rem nodded once more before placing his head back down and slowly falling back into the darkness of the dream realm.

[3:10:14 PM] Exodus: "Crow. Crow wake up!" snapped Reya as she roughly shook the young fear dragon awake. Crow's eyes snapped open and he looked around in shock, temporarily forgetting where he was. "What-what is it?" he said shaking his head and getting to his feet as he recalled what had happened last night. "We've got to go to the market square, something bad is happening there...Crow...they've caught the other Eastern Dragon." she said nervously, glancing over at Ty and Lee, who were also awake and kneeling beside the opening to their hideout. Ty looked back at Reya and nodded "Good, it's all clear. We have to go, now!" she hissed and dragged Crow behind her, who hadn't said a word. Rem...was captured? How could this be? He stared blankly into space as Reya led the way towards the market square. Hundreds of citizens had gathered there, grumbling amongst themselves as they crowded around the main platform. "No...no there has to be a mistake, even if Rem was captured, they would have taken him back to the Academy!" he whispered as the four of them weaved their way through the crush. "I wouldn't be too sure of that, Crow." said Reya sadly and pointed up at the platform, which was now in plain sight. Crow almost screamed when he saw Rem up there, surrounded by guards, but Ty and Lee clapped their paws over his mouth. Lee held another paw to his own lips to signal silence, before both of the twins let go. Suddenly, Infurnus stepped forward and made his announcement, before motioning the giant crossbow, which had been placed on the other side of the court, to be loaded. Crow gasped and tried to make his way towards the weapon, but Reya and the others held him still. "You cant! There are over a hundred armed guards that surround the court, if they see you, you'll be caught too!" she hissed. "You can't just ask me to stand idly by while my best friend is murdered!" he snarled and struggled in their grasp, but suddenly, with a snap, the arrow was released. The bolt seemed to fly across the stadium in slow motion, the crowd was silent and all the while Crow could only watch as it sunk deep into Rem's stomach. "NOOOOO!" he screamed but his voice was drowned out in the cheers of the crowd around him. Blood poured from Rem's wounds and Crow sunk to his knee's, his eyes locked on his dying friend. "I have to save him..." he whispered and got to his feet, moving towards the stage, but Reya blocked his path. Her eyes were filled with pity, and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's too late, Crow. No one has ever survived that crossbow before. Come, lets go back you don't have to see this." she said quietly. Ty and Lee began to look around nervously as the crowd began to disperse, leaving them out in the open. Crow stared blankly up at the stage without saying a word, but didn't stop the others as they led him back to the hiding place. Once they had gotten back, Reya sat down beside him and placed a piece of bread in his paws. "Here...you haven't eaten all day." she said and tried to smile as Crow continued to stare blankly into space. "Look, I know he was your friend, but he's gone now. It may seem a little soon...but...will you stay with us? We can be your new family now, if you want. Us rats have got to stick together. We'll look after you if you decide to stay." she said, rather quickly. For a moment, Crow said nothing, then, he picked up the bread and started to nibble away at it. "Okay." he said quietly, and Reya smiled. "I promise, you're going to be OK Crow." she said but looked up as Ty and Lee suddenly shot into the hideout. "Where have you two been?" she asked quizzically but the anthro-wolves simply hopped up and down, as much as the low celling would allow them and pointed towards the entrance. "What, what's going on?" said Reya seriously, and Crow glanced over towards the twins as well. Lee walked over to Reya and whispered something, very faintly, into her ear. Her eyes widened and she looked over to Crow, who got to his feet and followed after her without a word. Heading straight back towards the market place, they arrived just in time to see Infurnus raging at the guards. "THERE WERE ONE HUNDRED OF YOU! AND YOU COULDN"T STOP HIM?" he bellowed, while the guards coward in fear before the guardian. "I'm sorry sir, but what does it matter? It's just his body, the Easterling died from the bolt." explained the captain, his eyes darting from side to side. Crow and Reya waited at the edge of an alleyway, glancing to one another in confusion. "Is there any proof of that? He was taken by a Guardian for crying out loud, if anyone would be able to save him from death, it would have been him!" he snarled, but seemed slightly stated by the Captains words. "If he has been saved, he has no-where to run. Every citizen in Warfang knows his face, there will be nowhere for him to hide, Sir." said the Captain confidently and Infurnus sighed. "Very well. In the meantime, I want our forces scouring the city for the second Easterling. I want him alive." he muttered with a scowl, and Crows eyes widened in fear. Reya tugged gently at his wing and the two of them retreated back into the shadows. "What do you think he meant by that?" asked Crow in confusion as they headed back towards the hideout. "I'm not sure, but by the sound of it, it seems that your friends body has been stolen." she said, slightly distracted as she glanced around the corners of the Alleyway to check if any guards were around. "But, maybe he's alive! Maybe one of the Guardians was able to save him before-" exclaimed Crow but Reya spun around and glared at him "Listen to me, Crow. I don't want you getting your hopes up. For all we know, that Guardian could have just stolen his body to burn because of a grudge." she said firmly, but her voice softened as Crow's smile faded away. "Listen to me, the entire City is going to be coming after you now. Is there any way to get rid of that mark on your arm?" she asked, but Crow shook his head. "No. I was born with it, all of the dragons from the East are." he said, touching the cloth lightly. "I was afraid of that. I suppose that cloth will just have to do...for now. Until we think of something better." she said with a sigh and continued back towards the hideout. "For now, you'll just have to lie low, once everything has calmed down you can help us on the streets." she said, and Crow nodded, but looked over his shoulder towards the market place. "They might think you're dead, but I know you're alive, Rem. And I promise, one day I'll find you." he thought before disappearing around the corner, and into the shadows.