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.

4. Chapter 4

Fall of the East: Chapter Four

Four Months Later

Rem paced back and forth as he awaited the Phobius at the entrance to the estate. Over the past four months the fear guardian had helped Rem master his element of fire to the best of his abilities in their spare time. The young black dragon had grown considerably over the time as well, growing into about 3/4 the size of an adult dragon as well as celebrating his fifteenth birthday. Today would be the first time that the fire dragon had been to the city since the execution attempt and he knew that he would have to keep a low profile. Everyone thought that he was dead. If he was spotted meandering around in the streets it could spell disaster. Rem agility and strength had also improved considerably from the fear guardian's constant training. When Phobius finally arrived, he handed Rem a fresh piece of black cloth to cover his marking on his shoulder. Placing it on, Rem followed the fear dragon out of the estate and took off, flying around the small valley in the mountains. As soon as Phobius and Rem landed in an empty alleyway, the fear guardian placed a spell on himself to alter his appearance to others and left Rem to go about the alleys, searching for any valuables to place in his collection. Rem had also learned a spell to change his scale colour to the natural red of the fire dragons, but his marking and cloth would still remain. To get to the next alleyway, Rem cast the spell and walked casually through the open area, stopping only once to buy a small piece of meat. Sitting inside the alleyway, the fire dragon released the spell when he was out of sight and began to eat alone, Listening to the sounds of the active city.

Atop one of the buildings nearby, a scrawny, half-starved black dragon was perched beside two Anthro wolves, who looked almost identical apart from their eye's. One had bottle green eyes and the other a golden yellow. They leered at the passing street rats that crept to close and sent them running while the black dragon laughed at their antics. "Come on, Reya will be waiting for us." he snickered before leaping down onto another rooftop, his patched wings flaring wide as they made their way towards the edge of the market. Over the past four months, Crow had come to know the city like the back of his hand, and now it was like a playground to him. The twins had also become good friends of his, even though they didn't say much. When Reya wanted something done, she would always send the three of them out to take care of it, and they had all become quiet the team.

Reya and Crow had also become good friends, and together, the four of them had become rather infamous in their thievery. In the village, Crow had gotten by by begging and eating of the scraps of others, but here, Reya had taught him that no-one could survive like that here. You had to take what you needed to survive, and nothing more. Crow had become a rather adept thief, and could get away with almost anything. He had hated lying low for the first month or two, but the four of them soon realized that no one even cared about a couple of low life street rats like them, and Crow had been out of the streets soon after, pulling his weight to help his friends survive. The light of the sun beat down on the black dragon now as he leapt from roof to roof, and he smiled as he remembered the memories he had gathered from living with his friends. Suddenly he paused and leaned over the edge of a building. "Hello, hello. What have we here?" he said as he spotted an unfamiliar face.

Ty and Lee peered over the edge on either side of him and grinned as they spotted the newcomer. "Come on guys, lets show this traveller some Warfang hospitality!" she said with a laugh and Ty and Lee looked at each other with a grin, before leaping off the building and disappearing into the crowd, while Crow followed from above. As the trailed the fire dragon, his eyes narrowed in confusion as his form seemed to shimmer. Was it some form of mirage? He paused in the shadow of a building and looked around carefully before he stared at the dragon and focused. Over the months, he had used his fear ability to his advantage when stealing, whenever the merchants tried to hide their valuables with a spell, Crow could use his powers to see right through it and snag it without a problem.

But without training, he hadn't been able to do much more than that. It was strange for him to see this kind of advanced spell on a dragon though, and he blinked in surprise as the mirage suddenly disappeared to reveal a black scaled dragon, rather large for his apparent age, and somewhat familiar...he stared at him thoughtfully before he received a signal from Lee, and leapt into action, casting the thought from his mind. The dragon had slipped into an alleyway and was starting to eat the food he had purchased from the market, when Ty and Lee shot past him, knocking right into him and shooting past him before whipping around a corner. Crow watched carefully from above, before spreading his torn wings and hopping over to the next building. "Well, what did you get?" he asked as he spotted the twins nearby, and the opened their paws to reveal some money, grinning from ear to ear. Crow laughed and motioned with his paw "Come on, let's go." he said and the trio took off, laughing and leaping from rooftop to rooftop without a care in the world. Soon enough, they arrived back at their new hideaway, a burnt out building at the edge of the city. It was a lot bigger than their old home, which was good because they had added a few more kids from the city to their group.

"Reya? You here?" Crow called out as they entered the building. A few of the younger kids who had been resting on the lower level cried out in joy as they saw Crow and the Twins arrive, and rushed around them. "What did you get?" they asked eagerly, until a female dragon suddenly landed beside the three. "Come on guys, give them some space!" she said, shooing them away. She was at least two years older than Crow, but was still small for her age, only slightly taller than him. Yet she held a very commanding presence, and had led their gang well over the past months. Her dull crimson scales gleamed dully in the light and she motioned for them to follow her up to the second level. The building's shell was mostly intact, but the floor that separated the first from the second level had almost been burned completely away, leaving about half of what had been originally there. Reya landed lightly on the charred floorboards and sat down in her nest. "So, what did you get?" she said with a grin.

Rem coughed as he picked himself up off the stone ground and looked around. Seeing the tail of a black dragon jumping from the roof nearby, he decided to follow him. Silently, he leapt behind the smaller male, trailing him just far enough away to not be heard or smelt. Growling, he looked on as the dragon dropped down beside the two Anthro wolves and listened in. As the fire dragon slowly got a closer look, he almost gasped at what he saw. Crow! He was still alive! The fire dragon was overjoyed by the sight before him, but soon frowned at a new thought. "What has become of you, Crow? Resorting to thievery?" Shaking his head, Rem slunk behind them until they ducked into some tunnel hidden away under a shop. Rem sat near the den and silently awaited the black dragon to exit once more. He would get some answers from Crow, no doubt about it. Making sure no one was around, he placed the spell on and silently waited in expectation. As soon as Crow exited, Rem would jump and pin him.

"Well, we snagged some bread from the market earlier this morning..." Crow gave a dramatic pause before motioning for the twins to show her the money they had snagged from the newcomer "and this!" he said and the three grinned while Reya counted the money carefully, before stowing it safely away. "Who did you steal this from? I thought I told you guys that we only take what we need, and this is more than enough." she said, sounding slightly worried. Crow flopped to the ground with a sigh while the twins exchanged uneasy looks. "Don't be so worried, it was a traveller, there's no way they even realized there money was missing, and if they did, we're long gone." Reya's expression didn't change so Crow continued "Besides, they're a newcomer, they won't be able to find their way around this place as easily as we do, so don't worry! We have people to look after, and this money will ensure that we'll be able to eat if times get tough!" he insisted, and at last Reya nodded. "Well alright, but lets stay away from the market place for a bit, until the heat of the bread fades away anyways." she said and the others sighed in relief.

Reya had been known to throw quite a tantrum when her orders weren't followed. Crow and the twins leapt down from the second platform and headed towards the exit. "I guess we can just take the rest of the day off, it's boiling outside, should we go to the beach perhaps?" asked Crow and Ty nodded eagerly while a look of horror came over Lee's face. The two of them laughed at his expression "It's okay Lee you don't have to go swimming, you can make sandcastles or something." said Crow and Lee reluctantly nodded before following after the other two into the ally's outside.

As soon as the three exited the tunnel, Rem leapt into action. First he shot a fire ball in front of the three to stop them before leaping onto the first wolf snarling, he kicked off and grabbed onto the second wolf, punching him across the jaw. With a quick back-flip he then landed on top of Crow and pinned him stomach down, and placed his tail blade on the front of his throat. "So you think you can take my coin, eh?" snarled the fire dragon and slammed his fist into the back of the younger dragon's head. lifting him up by the horn, Rem reached for the cloth on his arm and snarled. "I knew it was you, Crow. Why are you living like this! You are so much better than this. I don't even know you anymore!" snarled the male as he jumped off and avoided one wolf who had recovered and landed on Rem. Removing the spell, Rem flashed the marking on his shoulder to the fear dragon before placing his spell back on. "The Crow I knew would never drop down as low as thievery." he said as he spread his wing and flew off, landing inside another alleyway and waiting for Phobius to return.

Crow cried out in shock as the fire suddenly appeared before them and he was pushed down into the ground. Ty and Lee tried valiantly to fend off his attacker, but to no avail, they seemed to know exactly when the young wolves would attack, and mad sure Crow couldn't escape. As they placed their tail blade in front of his neck and slammed his head into the ground, Crow screamed in pain "Stop! I'll give you your money back, please, just let me go!" he said, his claws digging into the ground in agony as the attacker punched him in the face. The young dragon blinked blood out of his eyes and spotted the mark on his attackers shoulder. He was saying something, his name but Crow's ears were ringing from the head trauma he had suffered. "R-rem?" he said before the dragon took off and flew away.

The twins rushed over to him and helped him up, looking at each other in concern as the Fear Dragon started coughing up blood. "It's okay, I'm fine!" he snapped and stumbled away from them. How could he have not realized that the dragon they had attacked was Rem? And now he had shamed him. His eyes stung with tears at the thought of what Rem must think of him, a thieving rat of the city. But wasn't that what he was in the Aeon? He had been a beggar, scrounging off scraps that even the crows didn't want. Wasn't this better? It's not like he had a choice, Reya had offered him a home and he had to do what he could to help her and the rest of his friends. With a sigh, he whipped the blood away and looked over towards the twins, who were still staring at him, their eyes wide with concern. "...why don't you two go on without me? I just need to think for a little bit." he said quietly and took off into the sky. He flew silently for a while, occasionally adjusting the rag that circled his shoulder as he scanned the city for any sign of Rem. Eventually, he spotted the Academy in the distance, but his eyes narrowed and he landed atop a cathedral. The spires shot high into the sky and he sat at the very edge like some sort of gargoyle, watching the sun set over the city.

Phobius landed lightly as he met up with his young apprentice near the edge of the city. Looking down, he watched as the young fire dragon adjusted the cloth on his shoulder, which now had a slight claw mark in it. "Did you run into some trouble?" he asked in a concerned tone as he sat down beside Rem and began to untie the cloth, then retie it once again. Rem sat and frowned at the ground, never lifting his gaze to meet the fear guardian's. "No, Master Phobius. Just ran into a bunch of thugs when I was resting near the market, trying to get a bite to eat. They took my coin, but I found them and sent them a message. That's all... a bunch of no good, thieving low-lives." replied the teenaged dragon. Nodding, Phobius spread his wings and took off, Rem in close tow. The fire dragon turned back to the city one last time and created a smoke ring, something he had always done to signal the Crow his position. He did not know what compelled him to create it, but it was done and he was quickly through the gate and out of the city.

As the sun sank below the horizon, Crow figured he should probably return to the hideout, yet he couldn't seem to move. His limbs felt heavy and tried, perhaps he should just stay up here for the night. It wasn't uncommon, Crow usually would leave the hideout for a couple of days to just give himself some space from the others so that he could practise his abilities. The cathedral happened to be one of his favourite places in the city, it wasn't as tall as the Academy, but it was high up enough that he could scope the surrounding area for trouble. With a sigh he lay back, resting his head against the cracked stone, only to sit up in surprise as he spotted Reya. "Are you okay?" she asked, hopping up to the ledge and sitting down beside him. Crow gazed at her for a second then looked away, wrapping his wings around him. "Talk to me Crow. Ty and Lee told me what happened. You were attacked by that dragon you stole money from right?" Her voice wasn't scolding, but it was easy enough to pick out the apprehension it carried. Crow nodded slightly. "It was Rem." he said, squeezing his eyes shut at the memory. Reya's eyes widened in surprise "The twins failed to mention that. Didn't you recognize him?"

"No! That's the point! He must think I stole from him on purpose, but he's grown so much, and I just thought he was some newcomer! Now Rem thinks I'm some worthless thief!" he said, his voice breaking as he admitted it to himself, and buried his face behind one of his wings. Reya frowned and placed a paw on the young dragons shoulder. "Listen to me, Crow. I'm sure Rem doesn't think those things." she said gently "Yes he does!" sobbed Crow, pushing her paw away. "Well then he is a fool to think so lowly of you. You've done what you had to do to survive. We all did. I'm sure if Rem knew what you had to live through every day, he wouldn't judge you so harshly." Crow stared down at the city below, the torch lit streets still full of citizens as they made their way home for the night. "What does it matter, it's not like I'll ever get the chance to explain myself to him. He flew away without a word after he beat me into the ground." he said quietly, his pale eyes growing dull. Reya sighed and spread her wings "I'll leave, for now, but I want you to promise me you'll return to the hideout tomorrow alright? At least your friend is alive, be happy about that." she said quietly and leapt from the cathedral, spiraling down towards the rooftops and vanishing out of sight.

Crow sighed and curled his tail around the ledge, wishing that he had never gone to the market today. Suddenly in the distance, a smoke ring appeared and Crows eyes widened in shock, could it be him? He knew that smoke rings were rather common in the city, but to see one so soon after his 'meeting' with Rem...He just had to see for himself. Without wasting another second, Crow spread his wings and quickly flapped his way across the city, veering up and down as he tried to control his flight path. Hoping from rooftop to rooftop was easy enough, but he had never really mastered high altitude flight yet. Soon enough, he reached the place where the smoke ring had been placed and looked around eagerly for any sigh of Rem. The fading scent lingered near the City Gate and he wondered if he should leave the boundaries of the city and search for his friend out there, but where could he be? Had he been hiding in the wilderness all this time, waiting for him? He had to find out, angling his wings, the young Fear Dragon shot out of the city and headed towards the ground. "Rem?" he called, looking around as he hit the earth with a dull thud.

After informing the fear guardian that he would return to the estate by midnight, Rem sat patiently in the fields with his spell on, blending him to the surrounding area. "Rem?" The fire dragon flicked his ears at the call of his name and opened his eyes. Looking to his south a bit, he could see the smaller black form of Crow. Satisfied that the young dragon had followed the signal as always, the teenaged fire dragon slowly stood and spread his large wings, landing a few feet from the fear dragon with a low growl emitting from his throat. The fire dragon stood in a defensive stance, ready to leap at the younger dragon at any moment, but held himself back and sat down, wrapping his tail around his paws and placing his wings slightly spread to make himself look bigger and show his tail blade as a threat at the same time. Rem sat quiet, awaiting the younger dragon to try and explain himself.

Crow let out a squeak of fright and tumbled back over his paws as the large Fire Dragon landed in front of him. He blinked in surprise and got up shakily backing away slowly from the larger dragon. "Rem, is that really you?" he asked as the mirage shimmered around his old friend. "Listen to me, I'm sorry about what happened earlier, if I had realized it was you I never would have asked the twins to steal from you, I swear. I...I brought your money with me!" he said and took out some coins, they weren't Rems of course, and he silently cursed himself for not going back to the hideout to bring his real money back, but it wasn't fair to the others to just take it away, and they were so excited about it, he would just give Rem some of his own funds that he had been saving over the past few months, it was the same amount anyways. He quickly placed the money on the ground and then backed up again. Rem seemed so...intimidating, he was a lot bigger than the last time they had seen each other, wear as Crow hadn't grown at all. He was probably even more malnourished than when they had parted ways. All Crow wanted was for Rem to act like his old self, a kind, caring, brotherly like figure that he had been at the academy. Had his act of thievery changed Rems perspective on him this much as to expect an attack. Crow drew his wings around him and looked up at the fire dragon "I'm not going to hurt you, you know. I don't know why you're acting so defensive." he said, trying to smile.

"Keep it." the fire dragon said plainly as he looked around before allowing his mirage to fade off, revealing his natural black scales. "And like you could hurt me anyways. Phobius had been training me non-stop for the past four months. i have mastered my element and battle style. Heck, I was even able to beat him once or twice, but that is not why I called you. I want answers. The Crow I knew never stole, only worked to achieve what he needed. That was the Crow I thought of as a younger brother. That is the Crow I desperately begged my parents to adopt. THAT was my friend. Not some low life thug who's only thought is to take what other's need to survive." growled the male and in his anger, he did not realize that flames not covered his tail blade.

Crow quavered in fear for a moment, but Reya's words echoed in his mind and his eyes narrowed. "I could say the same for you. You've changed a lot over the past four months. While you've been away training with Phobius, I've been trying to survive!" he muttered indignantly, his voice rising. "You have no right to judge me for what I've become. And if you think that I was some sort of saint four months ago, then you're wrong. I've always begged and lived on the streets, I was the scourge of our village, and I realize that now. I did what I had to do to survive, and help those who took me in when no one else would!" he growled and stooped down to pick up the coins before straightening up and staring Rem right in the eyes. "You have no right to judge me, because you never came back. You left me to rot in the gutters of Warfang. And then, you overestimated my 'wickedness' and sought to attack me. If you had just shown up and asked I would have given your money back! You didn't even forcibly take it, just hurt me, and my new friends!" he snapped, his real anger and fury and pain that he had been keeping pent up inside him all this time finally venting, and tears of rage and sorrow started to appear in the corner of his eyes, but he quickly whipped them away. "So...there. I hope that explained everything that you didn't understand." Crow said coldly and turned around, heading towards the city once more, his heart feeling heavier than it had in ages.

Rem looked on as the young dragon started to yell at him. "I'm sorry." he said quietly. "You are right. It was not my position to judge you like I did. But you have to understand that I have wanted to come back. I have worried every day wondering if you were still alive or a corpse rotting in the streets. I spent three of the last four month lying in a bed like a crippled elder because it pained my wound too much to move. More than once Phobius had to force feed me because all I wanted was to die to escape the pain. So you have to understand when I finally get a chance to come and find you, and am strong enough to do so that I get robbed by the one dragon I care about most! I am not going to act too kindly on it. If you wish for me to leave you alone, I shall return to Phobius and stay hidden from the world so that it does not cause anymore grief."

Crow paused at his words and listened without turning to face him. He was ashamed of his actions and to hear of his friends plight grieved him beyond anything he had felt before, but something he had said could not be ignored. After a moment, he spoke "Why are you with Phobius?" he asked quietly.

"I know that you do not trust him, Crow. And I do not blame him. But after he recused and brought me back to health. He explained everything that happened that night. Crow, the wind guardian saw you waiting and tricked Phobius into saying those things. He even offered for me to strike him down if I did not believe him." replied the fire dragon as he sat in a more comfortable position. The night was starting to become crisp as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. Crickets could be heard from all around, giving the area a peaceful sounding bliss. Rem's ear flicked as he looked to his left and gasped as he saw a large cat launch itself at the younger dragon. On instinct, rem growled and leapt forward. He soon stood over the younger dragon, The cougar's teeth and claws driving deep into his foreleg. With a swift flick of his tail, Rem beheaded the cat and pulled its teeth out of his leg and sat down, holing his injured leg to his body as the blood dripped to the ground below.

"Rem!" gasped Crow as the cat attacked, and despite his better judgment he rushed over towards the Fire Dragon and examined his wounds. "I'm sorry, I should have seen it..." he said as he pulled the cloth that hid his mark and wrapped it around Rem's leg, slightly stemming the wound. "You should probably get that looked at before it gets infected..." he trailed off as he realized what he was doing. He was acting as he would have four months ago, before he joined Reya and her group. With a slight intake of breath, he stepped back, whipping the blood from his paws onto the grass. "Phobius might have been tricked into saying those things, but at the end of the day, he still had the choice to say them or not. I...I can't go with you, Rem. I have...friends...here that I have to look after. But...perhaps, I could visit you again?" he asked, hopeful.

Rem looked down to the younger dragon and nodded in understanding as he reached for the cloth. "You need this more than I do, Crow. I will just get it bandaged when I get back to Phobius. He was in a tough position Crow... if he said that he did care, he would have lost his position as a guardian and would have been tried and be listed for execution like I was. Go back to your friends. I may or may not be back. I don't know. Look every night at the sunset for a smoke ring at this gate. If there is we can talk, if not, I am either training or Phobius is hiding me from suspicious eyes. Good bye Crow." Without another word, Rem spread his wings and took to the sky, his black scaled blending into the night.

Crow watched mournfully as Rem flew off into the sky, before tying the cloth around his arm once more. He didn't know how to feel, about Rem...or Phobius. Crow had always thought that if Rem ever came back, that everything would be fixed, that things would get better for both of them, but now he could see that that was just some fantasy he had been holding onto for too long. His eyes dull and his wings tired, he decided to walk back towards the Hideout. As he entered the gate, the guards at the watch gave him suspicious looks, but luckily did not question him. Their eyes followed him into the city and he quickened his pace, ducking into the first ally way he spotted. Crow stood there for a second and caught his breath, before turning around and running straight into another dragon, who pushed him down onto the ground. He winced and looked up at them, and his eyes widened in shock as he realized who they were, Lycan. Lycan was the leader of a rival group, one of the largest in the city, and he had just run into him. The Lightning dragon snarled and a few of his cronies appeared behind him, all of them glaring at him. Crow got quickly to his feet and backed away, tossing a few of his coins down before the gang leader. Although the dragon was not much older that Crow, he was huge, and very intimidating. A long scar ran across his dull, golden scales, but he didn't even look at the money. "You're the Crow, aren't you? My boys here tell me you've stolen from our loot before, haven't you?" he said with a snarl, and Crow's eyes widened in shock "No! I've never stolen from any of the groups!" he insisted, and it was true, but the goons behind their leader smirked wickedly as the large Lightning dragon advanced. Crow backed up even further, and almost made it out of the ally way before he was suddenly grabbed by the Lightning Dragon and pinned to the wall. "I don't like you, Crow...ah...now I remember why. You're one of The Rats, part of Reya's groups, aint ya? Now if you haven't stolen from me, she has. And I think it's about time she paid for her crimes, isn't that right boys?" he said with a laugh. Crow struggled against the Lightning Dragons grip, but the older dragon held him firmly against the wall, driving his scales into the stone. Lycan moved one of his paws to grip Crow's neck, and started to sink his talons into it.

The Fear Dragon tried to scream for help, but was quickly silenced. "Don't think that I'll let you bring the guards in here, I know that they'd be happy to arrest you just as much as me!" he snarled and squeezed tighter, cutting off Crows air supply. The goons laughed mercilessly and Crow could feel himself losing consciousness. He was going to die...he was going to die! A fear unlike anything Crow had ever known suddenly welled up inside him and he grabbed onto Lycan's arm. The Lightning Dragon gazed at him in confusion for a moment, but his eyes widened in surprise as the shadows around Crow seemed to gather and swirl around the young dragon. "What-what's happening to him?" asked one of Lycan's goons, but before their leader could answer, a blast of red and black energy threw him into the opposite wall, and sent the others shooting out into the streets. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Crow as wave after wave of energy shot out of him, ripping the houses nearby apart and sending the citizens who got hit by the waves into a full-fledged frenzy. Screams of fear and agony rang through the streets, and the guards of the wall rushed into the ally way, to find a small, black dragon crouched against the remains of a wall, his wings pulled tightly around him as he pressed against the stone.

"What happened here?" asked one of the guards in shock while another leaned down beside the youngster. "Did you see who did this?" he asked, but cried out in shock as red energy seemed to swirl around the young dragon. "Me." said Crow quietly before he opened his jaws and screamed. His cry seemed to drive the guards insane, and they covered their ears in an attempt to escape the noise. Soon enough, Crow found himself alone in the destroyed ally way, the screams of the tormented souls ringing in his ears as fire burned around him, and he was reminded of his village, how it had burned to the ground after the attackers. With a snarl, he turned around and rushed back towards the hideout. His eyes a glaring red.

"Crow? Is that you? By the Gods, what happened out there? We could hear screaming and fire is burning in the distance, do you know what happened?" the young ones pestered the Fear Dragon with questions as he entered the burnt out building, but the black scaled dragon ignored them as he flew up to the second level, where Reya and the twins were talking quietly. "Crow? Do you know what's going on out there?" she asked with concern but her eyes widened when she realized what state he was in. Blood spilled from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. Ty and Lee leapt up and rushed over to him while Reya looked from the burning city outside to the collapsed dragon before him. "He did this...I don't know how but he did. They're going to come looking for him..." she was silent for a moment but then looked up again "We have to get him out of here." Ty and Lee pointed towards his wounds and Reya bit her lip. "Alright, well he can stay until he's healed...but then we have to move. This place isn't safe anymore. Lea!" she called and leaned over the floorboards in order to address the young Anthro wolf below "I need you to get some medical supplies for Crow, take this coin, and be back as soon as you can! Don't tell anyone who you are buying the medicine for, do you understand?" she asked firmly and the young wolf nodded before catching the money and darting out the door. Reya walked back over towards Crow and helped the twins move him onto his bed. "What happened out there?" she whispered again.

Despite the medicine Lea had managed to buy, Crow still showed no sign of recovery the next morning. Ty and Lee refused to leave his side, but Reya knew that he needed stronger medicine, and they just didn't have the money to get it. Not to mention it would be almost impossible to steal. After Crow's fever took a turn for the worse the next day, the young Fire Dragoness knew that she would have to get help, or Crow would die. But where could she go? There were a few local healers that might be able to do some good, but they couldn't be trusted, if they saw Crow's mark...they would turn him in for the bounty on his head. Not to mention she didn't even know what he was suffering from!

She left the hideout and scouted the city, desperately thinking about who she could ask. Her eyes glanced over towards the academy and an idea popped into her head. If anyone would know what ailed Crow, it would be the Guardians, the great protectors and teachers of Warfang. Crow had mentioned in passing that he had spent some time there, and that most of the Guardians were against him, but a few of them had been friendly, if she could find one that was willing to help...she had to try. Without a second longer hesitation she shot towards the Academy, her strong wings beating against the air as the fire dragoness weaved her way through the morning traffic of dragons, harpies and other winged creatures that preferred to use the skies rather than the streets. Soon enough she landed on the Academy steps and straightened up, trying to wipe some of the dirt off her scales and look at least semi-presentable, before striding confidently into the gigantic building.

At first, she was unsure about where to go, but after following the main hallway, and avoiding some confused looks, she found the hallway of the guardians. A giant statue took up most of the room and the guardians were placed around it, teaching their students. It seemed...calm. An emotion far from what Crow had described it at. The guardians were almost overwhelming to Reya, they were huge, and carried a very ancient and commanding presence. Her eyes moved from one to the other as she hovered near the entrance to the hall, until they finally fell upon a dark scaled dragon that looked a lot like Crow. Perhaps he was of the same element? He would defiantly know what was wrong with Crow if that was the case. Luckily, he wasn't surrounded by students and was merely reading a large tomb, a distracted look was over his face and he kept looking out of the large window that gave a spectacular view of the city and the mountains and fields beyond. Hesitantly, Reya walked over to him and cleared her throat "Um, excuse me?" she said quietly, not wanting to disturb the other students around her. The black scaled dragon blinked and looked down towards her, his eyes questioning, but not aggressive. "Yes, my child? If you are seeking guidance in the art of Fire, you should speak to Infurnus...but something tells me you are not a student here?" he asked with a slight smile, and Reya couldn't help smiling back. "No, I'm not a student...I was hoping you could answer a question I had?" she asked and the Guardian nodded his large head slowly "Ask away, and I will try to answer it." "Alright well...I was wondering, if a Dragon became ill...like had a fever, and showed extreme signs of exhaustion...oh and damage to the throat as well, what could have caused it?" she asked, trying to make it sound academic. Phobius frowned "An odd question from one so young, and rather...specific. Those symptoms occur when a dragon uses a breath technique that is too advanced for him or her, they commonly sustain damage to the throat and suffer from fatigue. To have a fever along with these symptoms is rare, but I suppose it could occur in a dragon if they are untreated for the damage they sustained earlier...are you alright?" he asked, for the young dragons eyes had widened in shock as he spoke.

Reya shook her head "Oh, I'm fine I just...that is very interesting. What kind of medicine would a dragon need if they were...exhibiting such symptoms?" she asked, her voice slightly desperate and Phobius frowned. "Is someone hurt?" he asked seriously, but Reya shook her head violently "No, no, I just...want to know." Phobius sighed and sat back. "Well, they would need to go to a healer, there isn't really any common medicine strong enough to deal with that level of illness, and I am no professional in the lore of medicine." he said with a frown, and looked out the window again. The fire that had occurred near the gate of the city last night left faint trails of smoke, rising up from the ground, and Phobius's eyes widened in realization before he turned around, but the young dragon was gone. He looked around frantically, but the fire dragoness was nowhere to be seen.

With a silent curse, he opened his tome again roughly and began to read. Outside, Reya pressed herself against the walls of the hallway as she desperately thought about what she could do. Crow needed a healer, there really was no medicine that could help him, but that mark...if anyone saw it! She closed her eyes and let out a shuddering breath as she realized what had to be done. With a heavy heart, Reya flew back to the hideout, the younger wolves and dragons were playing outside in the street and they all waved at Reya when she returned, but their smiles fell as they saw her morbid face. "Is something wrong Reya?" they asked but she shook her head and smiled. "Now, listen to me, all of you, I want you to stay outside, until I tell you you can come back in alright? And no matter what you hear, don't come in. Is that understood?" she asked quietly. The children looked at each other in confusion and apprehension before nodding. "Good." she said and went inside to join Ty and Lee, who were both beside Crow, giving him water and what was left of the medicine Lea had brought.

"There is no other choice, we have to take him to a Healer." said Reya as she rummaged through her belongings. Lee gestured towards Crow's shoulder with a concerned look on his face, and his twin gazed at Reya in confusion as she brought her carving knife over towards the two of them. "I know. If Crow is going to get the help he needs, he cannot have that mark on his shoulder. The law won't turn him away as long as he is one of us, but they will turn him in if they find out he's an Easterling...I need the two of you...to hold him down. Please." she said calmly and the twins looked at each other in fear before doing as she said and holding onto Crow tightly. Outside, Crows screams could be heard by the younger members of Reya's gang.

After what seemed to be a long time, Reya exited the building, along with the twins who were supporting Crow as they made their way towards one of the healers. Blood dripped down from his shoulder which had been carved up to the point where you could no longer see his Eastern Marking. "It's going to be okay now, Crow...please forgive us..." whispered Ty into his friends ear. Lee looked straight ahead, his eyes glazed over from what he had witnessed.

Rem watched the valley and he sat perched high in the mountains, awaiting the return of the fear guardian. He had been told to stay at the estate after Phobius had seen his wounded leg, which now sat wrapped in a snow white bandaging, stained red where the cougar had clawed and bit into him. As the sun began to set, the large form of the fear guardian appeared on the edge of the valley, gliding lazily on the rising air currents that swirled in the quiet mountains. Spreading his wings large black wings, Rem leapt from his favourite perch and angled his wings to meet his mentor at the front entrance. A smile spread on his face as the fire dragon landed, eager to know about the news from the city, but as he saw the grim expression on the fear guardian's face, Rem's own smile faded and his wings pressed against his side a bit in worry.

As the guardian landed heavily in front of him, Rem instantly was at his mentor's side. "What is wrong, Master Phobius?" asked the fire dragon and he walked with the adult into the estate and stopping in the common area. Phobius sat and faced the young fire dragon with sad eyes. "I had just returned from the healer's office. It seems that your friend Crow was the cause of the damage in the city. He used a much to advanced attack for his age and his body could not handle it. When I was inspecting his body, I also noticed... that someone had carved out his eastern symbol." Rem was in shock as he heard the first half of the news, but a deep growl escaped his throat when he heard about Crow's markings. Not only was it a disrespect to their own culture, but it also served as the only connection between their roots, but also it was the only thing that connected the two friends. Phobius attempted to calm the male down by placing a soft wing over his back, but Rem just shrugged it off and took off back to his perch above the estate. The young dragon's roars of rage could be heard echoing through the valley as he blew strong waves of fire into the air, allowing his anger to be burnt out. But as he was doing so, something changed inside the male.

His eyes started to glow a bright white and small white wisps of smoke encircled his body. The next roar came out in a distorted voice, sounding as if five dragons were talking at once. The black dragon roared one last time and spread his wings and before Phobius could stop him, took off towards the city. Only one thought was on the dragon's mind... revenge. He would get revenge on those who injured and disrespected his only friend. Landing in the main market, Rem roared as loud as he could and shot a beam of white light into the air. The crowd screamed and began to disperse from the angered dragon as he made his way through the city in search of both Crow and the ones who injured him. "Where is he!" roared the black dragon to the crowd. The male walked up to a random guard and lifted him by his neck, rising on his hind legs to lift the dragon. "Where is the healer?"