Chapter 6.

Cold wind howled through the frozen winter night, but it wasn't strong enough to bother the sizable group of Night Furies flying westwards. The sky was dark and full of clouds, making them practically invisible. The moon provided some insignificant amount of light, and luckily it was more than enough for the dragons to continue safely on their course.

They all flew in a well organized fashion: the oldest and youngest Furies were in the middle, with most of the clan around them in a wide circle. Pairs of Guards were roughly half an hour of flight ahead, beside, and behind of the formation, scanning the area for any potential danger. The remaining seven dragons were a day ahead of the group, preparing a landing site for the majority, resting, and then going forward again to their next stop.

At a certain point, the main formation of the Furies began to spread out a bit, and under any other circumstances, Lohengrin would've rushed ahead to intervene and shepherd everyone to their spots. But this time, he didn't do a thing, because he knew exactly what's causing the slight disarray. Almost everyone were glancing back towards the southeast.

Towards the direction of Toemnir valley.

Even Lohengrin couldn't resist of taking one last look at the place. Everyone's heart was heavy with the farewell. The valley wasn't just a place to live. It was a placeholder for an uncountable amount of memories, old and sometimes very vivid and dear ones. Generations upon generations lived and died in that valley, uncaring about the rest of the world because they could be safe and happy there. Now, all of them became root-less in a blink of an eye. There were no promises of a secure future anymore. Everyone had a hard time accepting that Toemnir valley ceased to exist, and they have to move forward in order to survive.

Lohengrin felt his throat clench, as he too took one last glance at home. Forty-five years ago, many Furies, including his own parents died, to ensure that the clan can remain home. He couldn't help but feel that he's dishonouring their sacrifice by moving everyone away.

But regardless of how bad everyone felt about it, they had to leave. They couldn't afford overstaying their welcome, they didn't have the numbers anymore to put up an all-out fight. It was emotionally hard but everyone knew deep inside that this is the only logical option they had left. Lohengrin was the first to become aware of that, and he spent hours upon hours in the Halls of Enlightenment, to see if he can find a suitable place mentioned there. Much to the luck of all, a late Elder left a detailed description of the whole continent including a fascinating map carved into one of the caves' walls. The chamber was pretty deep inside the cave system, but the reward was well worth all the effort.

The wise foresight of the unknown Night Fury gave Clan Toemnir another chance. And Lohengrin was determined not let that chance go waste.

"WHAT?!"

Lohengrin sighed, and thought that speaking to Lenhardt privately, out of hearing distance from the rest of the clan, was a sound idea after all. Convincing his mate about his plan proved to be easier than expected, convincing his son looked like be a tad more time-consuming.

"Dad, you can't be serious!" Lenny burst out "There's got to be another way!"

"Look." Lohengrin said calmly "I thought over every option I have. This will be the best for everyone."

"But I don't know anything about being a Leader!" Lenny protested.

Lohengrin tilted his head a bit, shooting a questioning glance at him.

"Lenny, that's not true."

"Umm... It is?" Lenny asked back, mimicking his father's expression.

"Then let's talk it over, son. A couple of years ago, you asked met why do I have to spend so much time away from home, meddling into everyone's business. Do you remember what my answer was?"

Lenny swallowed tensely, and sat back on his haunches. After a few moments, he hesitantly began:

"You said... you explained that being a Leader isn't about ordering others around. It is more about being with them, helping with tasks and supporting. That showing care towards anyone with problems is more important than exercising authority."

"Precisely." Lohengrin nodded. "Let me explain it more. The lowest ranking Night Guard is the Guard-Aspirant. What does it do? Mostly patrolling and keeping an eye out. A few other things are there as well, but patrolling is the majority. Then comes the regular Guard. What does it do? Mostly patrols. Let's jump a few steps forward and see what Salkonyr's doing."

"He's mostly on patrol?" Lenny asked.

"Yes. You know why? Because nobody in charge should expect something from its subordinates which the leading one wouldn't do. Oh yes, Salko leads every Guard. But he doesn't just order them to fly here and fly there, he also takes part in the actual work, too. I let the prime Hunters, Guards, Elders do their own tasks because they are experts their field. But I do help them out; my job is to help out everyone. To do that, one only needs a set of good wings to fly enough, and a clever mind to think. You don't need to tell the Hunter how to hunt, Lenny. But you help them out, and in exchange, you can rely on their expertise when it comes to decide about searching for new hunting grounds for example. As a Leader, I am the highest ranking dragon of our clan. And because I am above everyone, I have to be fit to help out anyone or even replace them in their duties, in addition to commanding them. This is why our community works; if I do nothing all day and just shout orders and expect to be serviced, it would only breed discontent and eventual violence."

At this point, Lohengrin took a deep breath before going on:

"I'm not saying that this is easy. There's a lot of responsibility on my shoulders, because my decisions can affect the lives of many. But I don't always have to make the hard decisions alone."

Lenhardt looked like he's a bit less stressed out, but he still had concerns:

"Then why me? You've just said that any dragon could do this!"

"If we think it over, you're the only logical candidate." Lohengrin elaborated. "Our family gave each and every Leader to this clan since its foundation. The entire Clan trusts us. Selecting someone who's not related to us would cause disagreements, and it could eventually break the clan apart. If I selected a Guard, the Hunters would protest. If I selected a Hunter, the Guards would protest. If I had re-formed the Council of Elders again, everyone would protest. Lacking one strong leading dragon in times like this would be counter-productive to say the least."

"That leaves Mom and me." Lenny concluded sadly.

"Well, yes. And I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that your mother would have an even tougher job at keeping things together than you."

"Why?"

"Ever since you were little, I've been explaining and trying to teach both you and Nyssie a great deal about what am I doing and why. You already have an advantage, you already know more about what to do and how than anyone else, including your mother. And..." Lohengrin stopped for a moment and stared deeply into his son's eyes "I wouldn't even consider trusting you with this, if I knew that you weren't capable handling it."

"But... what makes you think I could do it?" Lenhardt asked desperately

"Firstly, you're modest, which is a trait of a good Leader." his father smiled "Maybe you haven't noticed it, but during the last days, you've earned quite a reputation among the others."

"All I did was trying to be at the right place at the right time!" Lenny protested.

"And by that, you gave valuable support to many your clanmates, exactly when they were in need of it."

After a few seconds of heavy silence, Lenhardt sighed:

"Do I have a choice here?"

Lohengrin's ears twitched as the smile slowly faded away from his face.

"Of course you have. If you say no, I can try to find someone else."

"I..." Lenny began hesitantly "When I heard that you wanted to go after Nyssie and the others, I wanted to ask you to let me accompany you..."

"Son... I am willing to risk my own life, but there's no way I'll put yours on the line as well."

"But-"

"You still don't understand." Lohengrin swallowed tensely before going on "There's a good chance I won't make it back either."

"But you still want to go!" Lenny cried out.

"We have missing clanmates, including your sister. What kind of a leader, what kind of a father I would be if I asked someone to save them instead of me?"

Lenny hung his head in resignation, and let out a sorrowful sigh.

"I just... I wish none of this had ever happened to us."

Lohengrin walked over to his son, sat down beside him and threw his wing around his back to comfort him.

"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with thetime that is given to us."

Every day was mostly the same for Clan Toemnir. The Night Furies departed right after the sun vanished under the horizon, heading west all night, and touched down at the designated resting spot the forward scouts cleared the day before them. Fatigue was taking its toll on everyone, organising hunting parties was a nightmare, food was scarce, and after Lohengrin inspected the general state of everyone, he decided to get all the clan together and rest for a day or two. Ten nights after their departure from the Shalnar ridges, they were roughly halfway towards their destination when they eventually found a wide river with a few sizable islands on it, which looked decent enough to serve as a temporary accommodation.

Everyone seemed indescribably relieved upon hearing about the rest, and the promise of decent food and actual sleeping time. But despite the lucky conditions, Lohengrin did not allow the safety restrictions to loosen up: Most activities had to happen at night, and daytime-flying had to be kept at the minimum in order to keep a low profile. The caution was necessary, because there were a few human settlements just a couple of hours from their current location, and nobody wanted to take any chances.

But nevertheless, the slow-down of the pace at least allowed the Furies to take care of each other.

Salkonyr and Faelynn for example, who'd barely seen each other since the beginning of the clan's move, could spend time fishing together in the shallows around the northern tip of the island.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"For the grace of the Spirits, Salko!" Faelynn burst out "I've told you like a thousand times already, I'm expecting an egg, not ill!"

"I know!" he said defensively "I'm just concerned about both of you!"

Faelynn took a deep breath, and the genuinely worried expression of her mate calmed her down quickly.

"I... understand." she said softly "But I still have around twelve days left."

Salkonyr walked up to her to press his chest against hers and rub his chin on her brow.

"I know I'm taking it too far sometimes, but with everything a bit messy lately, I'm just..."

"It's alright." Faelynn comforted him, then a smile appeared on her features "Besides, you look cute when you're making that worrisome face."

"Oh come on, be quiet, you're ruining my reputation!" Salkonyr grinned.

They both chuckled but as both of them gazed to their reflections on the water, Faelynn sadly spoke up:

"I look so fat."

"No you aren't!" Salkonyr protested.

"I am."

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"How about both of you shutting up, someone's trying to fish here!" an angry voice called at them. Salkonyr turned his head to see one of the younger Guards, who quickly deflated under the weight of the First Guard's glare.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't-"

"It would be a waste of you're abilities if you'd be tasked to bury the insides of leftover prey for the rest of your life, don't you think, Menagar?"

"Umm... I agree, sir?" came the frightened reply.

"Good, now get lost."

"Aye!"

Salkonyr watched the younger dragon hastily disappear into the forest behind them, then turned back to his chuckling mate.

"Thankfully, you still have some reputation left." Faelynn commented.

"Thankfully." he replied dryly. "Now, where were we at?"

"We've just agreed that I look fat."

"No, we did not! Let's have a deal: I'll stop pestering you about your well-being, and you stop saying nonsense to yourself, okay? When I say you look beautiful, you are beautiful, understood?"

"At ease First Guard, you're off duty today!" Faelynn smirked, and gave her mate's cheek a grateful lick "Although you look cute when you're angry, too."

"Yeah, and dangerous." Salkonyr grinned at her.

"Poor Menagar can vouch for that!" Faelynn laughed.

Now that the clan stopped moving for a few days, Elder Tamaana had the chance to send out a few youngsters to collect whatever herbs were available on this island, for the chance of offering proper treatment to anyone who might need it. There were quite a few Furies with minor injuries such as scratches, bruises, gashes, or even strained joints, and although these would heal quickly, appropriate ointments will make it much quicker and painless.

Then there were some dragons who especially needed the additional treatment, like Ohrana. Her case was one of the toughest Elder Tamaana had to face during her long years as Healer, it took every bits of her experience and knowledge to prevent what's left of her eye from getting infected. Thankfully, Ohrana was recovering fairly well from the trauma, but it saddened the Elder that there's nothing she can do to give Ohrana her sight back. At least she wasn't alone, a lonely and half-blind Night Fury's chance of survival are much lower.

"There we go." the Elder said kindly, dipping her paw into her only remaining bowl which was full of her brown healing salve, and gently rubbing a last layer if it on Ohrana's face around the injured eye. "Please stay still for a bit to let it dry out, then you can go. Wash it off tomorrow morning."

"It feels a lot better now." Ohrana admitted.

"Unfortunately, herbs in winter are not accessible, so I had to do with roots, tree bark, and the pawful of camomile I have managed to save from my reserves. It will help, but not as much as it could."

"Never mind that" Ohrana said leniently "I'm sure once we arrive to our new home, you'll have plenty of resources to choose from. And without your help, I doubt I'd even be alive."

Their conversation was interrupted by a huge dragon landing just a few steps away from them.

"I'd like to call next." Lohengrin announced sourly.

Elder Tamaana immediately turned her full attention towards him.

"We have just finished, what is the problem, my Leader?"

Instead of speaking, Lohengrin lifted his right forepaw to show a rather large thorn sticking out from it.

"Oh, I see." Tamaana stepped closer to examine the paw "Hunting accident, I presume?"

Lohengrin's glare wandered towards Ohrana who bore a curious expression. Then he swallowed and looked back to the Elder who was still expecting his answer.

"Ehm... Something like that... I... may have fallen into a thorny bush when I chased a rabbit-"

"Of course you did!" Ohrana exclaimed "Lohengrin you can't be serious!"

A resigned sigh left Lohengrin's mouth.

"Ohrana, please..."

"After all these years?!"

"Ohrana..."

"Could you fill me in the details?" Elder Tamaana turned towards the younger dragoness, who began to chuckle.

"He's still hunting from the air when the prey's in a forest."

The Elder looked at Lohengrin with a shocked expression.

"By the Spirits, really?!"

"Yeah, he's been doing it since he was a youngling, despite the fact that I told him like a hundred times-"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Lohengrin exclaimed in annoyance "Could we analyse my flaws later and concentrate on the damn prickle in my damn paw?!"

The two dragoness' exchanged a meaningful look, then Tamaana leaned close to Lohengrin's raised paw.

"It went in pretty deeply." She assessed with narrow eyes.

"Of course" Ohrana cut in "because he raised his legs forward to blunt the impact from the miscalculated dive-"

"Yeah, yeah, hilarious, really." Lohengrin grumped at the chuckling dragoness. "Look, I admit it, you were right all the time, I was wrong, now I pay the price for it, I won't do it again. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Oh well, I guess the more things change, the more they remain the same." Ohrana grinned, then turned to Elder Tamaana "I'll come back tomorrow for the next treatment, okay?"

"Of course. Take care of yourself." Tamaana replied, and after they nodded a goodbye to each other, Ohrana took off. Both she and Lohengrin watched the dragoness leave, then Lohen let out a relieved huff.

"Finally."

"I have to say" Tamaana began in a chatting tone "I find it most amusing that a dragon of your calibre can still obtain such a ridiculously amateurish hunting injury."

"Please, give me a break!" Lohengrin cried out desperately.

"Nevertheless, you did well to show it to me. The wound is deep, so it is safer to use some salve around it to avoid it getting worse."

"As far as I know, you're short on supplies, you shouldn't waste it on a small thing like this." Lohengrin protested.

"Let me be the judge of that. Besides, I cannot carry the salve with myself, so I will have to use all of it before we are on our way again. And you only need a small amount."

"Alright, do what you have to." Lohengrin agreed reluctantly. Shortly, Tamaana bit down on the thorn and pulled it out in one smooth motion. Then, she carefully rubbed some of her ointment into the wound. In the meantime, a rather private question began to formulate at the back of Lohengrin's mind, and he decided to ask it carefully.

"Elder Tamaana?"

"Hm?"

"I noticed that you and Elder Zorhen had a history together."

"Why does this interest you?" She asked without looking up from her ministrations.

"Zorhen was my mentor for years" Lohengrin began "he taught me a lot, and later I always considered him as a friend of mine. But lately I realized that I barely knew him at all. And something's giving me the feeling that you knew him better than anyone else."

"That's right." Tamaana sighed. "We did have a history together."

Lohengrin patiently waited for the Elder to continue, but after a while, he had to ask:

"And?"

"And it is a private matter, it holds no relevance now, and because we are in the middle of a crisis, I do not wish to discuss this, at least not now." Tamaana said nonchalantly, but after a look at Lohengrin's expression, she decided to add:

"Let it be enough that I wasn't always the wrinkly, mottled gray healer as you always knew me, and he wasn't the grouchy omniscient mentor as you always knew him. Hundreds of winters ago we used to be a couple."

The last sentence spawned an army of questions inside of Lohengrin, but Elder Tamaana turned around and walked away from him.

After two days of rest, Lohengrin knew that the time has come. He grew more restless with each passing day, he knew that the later he departs, the less chance he has left to find the missing Night Furies. But the sooner he leaves, the less time he has to spend with his son, teaching and trying to prepare him for the upcoming trials.

And he dreaded them moment of farewell.

During the clan's third night on the island, he collected himself, and announced his leave to the others. They did not take it well; they kept asking lots of questions and some dragons openly voiced their concerns, protests and dissatisfaction, until Lenhardt stepped forward and pulled off a speech that made Lohengrin insanely proud.

"Bound brothers and sisters of Clan Toemnir! I understand that the recent change of events may seem disagreeable for most of us, but nobody can deny its necessity. We are missing five Furies, friends and relatives to many. We must not forget about their lives, and if there is a chance of recovering them, we have to take it. While that happens, I will continue to lead us on our path towards our new home, and you all can trust me that I will not hesitate to use whatever skills, knowledge and strength I am in possession of, for the benefit of all."

The crowd of Furies were all in an astonished silence, and Lenhardt looked like he's getting afraid when they all began to cheer.

"LIIEN LENHARDT VALDR!"

After the ovation slowly died away, Lohengrin and Lyara walked over their son.

"So?" Lenny asked "How was I?"

Without saying a word, Lyara rushed forward and threw his forelegs around Lenny's neck, hugging him close. Lohengrin just sat down with a smile on his face, and simply said:

"You were awesome."

Seeing his son beaming, Lohengrin let out a content sigh. At least he can be sure that he's leaving the clan in good paws.

Later in the night he looked up his friends, Faelynn, Salkonyr and Garenald, and said farewell to them privately. Then he spoke to all the Elders, and politely asked them to help out Lenhardt and give him advice should he be in need of them. His heart was already becoming heavier, and the toughest part, saying farewell to his family was still ahead of him.

He found Lyara and Lenhardt lying together under a tall scotch fir. When he saw how peacefully they are sleeping, he just had to stop, walk away a bit and sit down in a clearing. Never before in his life had he felt so torn inside. Part of his heart pulled him towards his mate and son, while the other half urged him to find his daughter.

He sat there for so long, he lost track of the time. Eventually, he heard a quiet rustle coming from behind him, and he didn't need to turn around to guess who's coming up to him.

Lyara sat down and leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"What woke you up?" Lohengrin asked quietly.

"I missed you." she replied simply.

The short sentence stung Lohengrin inside.

"Lya, I... I-"

"You have to go Lohen." Lyara said calmly "You cannot falter now."

"I know. I just hate to leave you alone. Both of you."

"Lohengrin." Lyara stared deeply into her mate's eyes "You know that I would go as far as the world's end with you."

Lohengrin tenderly nuzzled her.

"And we both know that Lenny's going to need you more than ever in the upcoming time."

"I had to try it." Lyara sighed.

Lohengrin noticed a tear rolling down on his mate's cheek; he leaned over to lick it away. He rubbed his nose against her and purred into her ear until she was calm again.

"I don't know how far I have to go, I don't know how long it will take, but there is no such force in this world that can keep me away from you. I will come back, I promise."

There was little that words could do to calm Lyara down as she watched Lohengrin slowly blending into the starless, cloudy night sky. She shook herself to suppress her urge to cry; both her mate and her son needed her to stay strong.

Because she is also not the one to let others down. She and Lohengrin established that many years ago, and she had no intention to change that.

With a heavy sigh, she turned around and walked back to her son. She noticed that Lenny's tail twitched and paws flexed occasionally, he must've been having a dream. She couldn't unnotice his son's expression: weary, concerned, exhausted...

She saw the same exact expression on Lohengrin's face countless times.

A/N Whoah, finally a new chapter. Lately I've had quite a few distractions, job-issues and chaotic weekends, but I'm back, full speed!

It's time to pick up the pace a little bit, next time we'll see how Lohengrin manages to find a world even crazier than his! ;)

See you all, and tell me what you think in the meantime!

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