A/N: Thanks so much to all my lovely reviewers! It is wonderful to know you're all enjoying this story! I love you all! Mwah! =)

Reply to un-signed in review: lol who are Amy Rose and Sonic? Whoever they are, if their relationship is good, that is a compliment! Thanks a lot and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

That goes for all of you! I hope you enjoy this...

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"Say it again." Malefor demanded, the fury and terror in his voice barely concealed. The ape named Crystal Eater whimpered. "SPEAK TO ME!" Malefor shrieked.

Brius, standing far away on the other side of the huge, cavernous room in the Mountains, almost didn't catch the ape's quivering voice as he spoke the words that would mean his death sentence.

"Forgive us, Master. Forgive us all. The old one escaped with the p-p-purple dragon's egg-"

His voice was cut off by Malefor's scream of rage and denial. Brius closed his eyes as the pained cries of the apes that were dying all around them bounced off the walls of the room. Malefor finished them quickly.

Brius opened his brown eyes to see Malefor standing an inch away from him. Apparently, his fit of temper was not over.

"How could you let him escape?" He yelled, pointing a claw in Brius' face. "You, with your power! You have failed me, Brius!"

Brius did not answer. He knew he was a failure already. He didn't even resist when Malefor raised his paw to deliver a (possibly) death blow.

The pain did not come. Malefor stopped when he saw the black object in Brius' hand. "What is that? Bring it forth."

Unspeaking, Brius laid the egg gently at Malefor's feet. The dark Master gazed upon the black dragon egg with an almost greedy happiness.

"Ah. My egg. Perhaps you are not completely useless, Brius. At least you have brought me my dragon. We can only hope that it will not be such a disappointment as you are, can't we?"

"Yes, Master." Brius murmured. He turned away to leave, but Malefor's gentle paw on his shoulder stopped him.

"One last thing..." he murmured.

And this time his claws made contact. His talons swiped viciously across Brius' face, gouging in deep, tearing through flesh and ripping off scales.

The pain was excruciating, but Brius did not make a sound. He knew that was what Malefor wanted. To hear the sound of his pain. It did no good to scream.

"We have to do everything ourselves these days, don't we?" Malefor mocked him, his green eyes dancing sadistically. Then his mouth twisted into a feral snarl, and his face became serious..

"You're lucky it isn't any worse than that, friend." He warned. "Fail me again and the price is death!"

Brius, once again, did not reply. Why? Because, gazing into Malefor's horrible eyes, he had seen the scarred, demonic face of a war dragon no better than Malefor. The dragon that was himself.

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A/N: Sorry it's such a short chapter, but if I made it longer, that would be putting three chapters into one, and then this story would only be about 6 chapters long, instead of the 10 I've planned so far!

Thanks for reading and please review! xxx =)