Chapter 73-Soul Shattered
Ryta plodded silently behind Reath as they made their way over to where Geer's chambers were to see if they could find her siblings and coax them to come along and be safe with the two dragons. The sight of seeing her mother's form cloaked in shadows still lingered in the back of her mind as they walked and she realized the formerly blind dragon had taken more damage than Narssia had during their conflict.
"Reath, go on ahead and find Ilena and Nurus. I want to go see Sitedal," Ryta admitted as she slowed to a stop and stared at the floor before her forelegs.
Turning around and walking over to her, Reath nuzzled her and licked the side of her snout. "As you wish, Ryta. I know this must be troubling for you and I am willing to give you time to sort through your conflicting emotions. Discovering she had hid this from you must not be pleasant to deal with, especially after the death of Jormundur still fresh in your mind."
"I knew you would understand," she hummed as she returned the lick and departed down a side passage to get to the small medical chamber where her brother continued to recover from his wounds received during the battle with the clones and against his own sibling.
Sitedal was distracting himself by breathing a tiny amount of his element onto a small rock he was levitating with telekinesis as she entered and waited for him to notice she had come to see him. The small ripples of fear were wearing away the rock and making it smooth and glossy as he made sure to spin it around every now and then to make the object perfectly round. Finally getting the perfect shape he wanted, the black dragon lowered the stone down between his forelegs and Ryta noticed his left front leg was heavily bandaged. Besides the soft plush red cushion he was laying on in the center of the room, there was no other pieces of furniture.
"Welcome, little sister," he softly hummed as he lifted his head and gazed at her with his right eye, his left still having that deep gash from his entrance to the Compound and getting attacked by Tamli. "I would normally assume you came to pass the time but I can sense that is not the case."
Unsure of how to begin with telling him all she had learned from Geer about their mother, Ryta shifted uncomfortably before sighing and dropping her gaze to the stone between her brother's forepaws. "Mother had some setbacks. She lied about being free from Arxa, brother. That parasite is still alive and is currently residing in an egg in Geer's personal chambers. Geer tried to smash it himself but the vile spirit immobilized him and proceeded to torture our new siblings until Mother injured the egg herself and watched it repair the damage."
Hearing Sitedal hiss softly, Ryta glanced up at him to see he had accidently moved his bandaged forelimb. "Fractured the limb completely," he growled as her inquiring gaze suggested she wanted to know what the extent of his wounds were. "Ramming into Jormundur and then being flung into a tree broke every bone in my left front leg, sis. Aurelia says she can patch it back up together but it will take time and I don't have time right now for it to heal."
"Corruption isn't through with Mother. Geer told me that a crystal of some kind formed and implanted itself into the base of her neck. He had to fight her afterwards but it wasn't her, the eyes were murky white and he got no response when he would try to call out to her. That gem, if tried to be removed by force, could cause severe damage to her that she doesn't need right now . . ."
"Where is she being held? I assume Geer had enough sense to stun her and then chain her up," Sitedal remarked as he flicked the end of his tail, tired of just laying around while waiting for his leg to mend itself.
"In one of the cells down below. I watched him secure her but I could sense he was uneasy, almost as if he doubted that even our strongest chains could hold back the darkness."
Sitedal sighed, the action reminding Ryta of the brother they had both lost. They had lost him twice, she mused silently as she curled up on the floor in front of him, first by Corruption and then with his demise. It pained her to think that the wind dragon had not been strong enough to resist the vile temptation, yet a similar situation was affecting their mother. Whatever resentment remained in her heart towards Narssia had to be put aside for the good of restoring her back to the light.
"We have not lost hope," Sitedal growled softly as Ryta blinked, wondering if he had read her mind as his words calmed her restless heart. "Tell me something, would you? How are things between you and Reath? I know your heart still aches over the death of Pytris."
"Things are . . . progressing," she muttered, glancing down at her forepaws as the subject made her uncomfortable.
Noticing her reaction, Sitedal snorted and levitated the rock into the air. "Look, I'm sorry I asked. I just wish we were closer like it was back when you were still young. I look at you now and find it hard to see the powerful dragoness you have become. To me, you're still my little sister and I guess Jormundur's death just made it more apparent that we need to spend more time together."
Nodding in agreement, Ryta lifted her gaze back to her brother's warm amethyst irises. "You're right, we do need to spend more time together. I guess I just thought you would be too busy with Ladetis being back-"
"Why would I think that? You are my sister, Ryta. We are the only family to our Mother that knows enough to help her through this traumatic time in her life." Sitedal's voice was strong but Ryta knew he was still hurt from the bitter way Arxa had turned their own sibling against them.
Realizing Reath would need her help to find Ilena and Nurus, Ryta reluctantly rose and bid her brother goodbye, promising she would visit whenever he needed someone to talk to. She was slightly curious about why he had been shaping a stone using his element when she first entered but figured it was better not to say anything in the event it was meant for Verdra as a present.
Nethial found it odd to be able to feel the cool stone under her feet as she walked, the sensation bringing a whole host of memories she wished would rather leave her alone. While it was difficult to forgive Ladetis for his impulsive actions, she knew the hatchling was berating itself for how it had attacked her when she was defenseless. Realizing it might make the dragonet feel better, she started out towards its shared chamber with its parents after letting Aurelia watch Ilma but got sidetracked along the way.
She wasn't sure why but the hair on the back of her neck rose and a chill seemed to linger in the air as she passed by Geer's chambers, the sensation calling forth memories of her encounters with the dark dragoness of Corruption during her time of loneliness and isolation. Rubbing her arms to starve off the oppressive cold, Nethial made the choice to investigate the formerly blind dragon's quarters and determine the cause for the odd drop in temperature and the sense of unease she felt.
Entering, Nethial glanced around before her gaze fell onto the dark gray egg that was left towards the back of the room. Taking a step towards the lone object sent a sharp spike of pain through her body and she gritted her teeth, willing herself to continue to advance. Every move sent another pulse of agony ripping through her but her eyes focused on the vile protection the black spirit had formed around itself. It hadn't been hard for her to figure out that it was Arxa who resided in that eggshell, although she never expected to come face-to-face with the malicious presence in its current state.
"Can't defend yourself now, can you?" Nethial whispered in restrained glee as she stopped and glared at the dark object. "How sad is it to realize your life could be ended at any second if the wrong dragon knew you survived. I'm sure Ladetis wouldn't mind getting a bit of revenge on you."
Crouching down, Nethial ran a hand through her hair as she waited to see if the dark spirit would respond. When there was no bitter remark made back, she sighed and stood back up, shaking her head in disappointment before taking another step forward.
"Nethial, what are you doing here?"
The raspy mental voice of Geer startled her as Nethial turned to see the formerly blind dragon enter the room, blood coating his scales in places as his right shoulder still oozed the crimson liquid and a large portion of his tail reflected numerous bite marks due to the scales lacking luster. Noticing the intensity of the wounds, she started to step towards him but the scale-flier forbid her with a soft growl as he made his way over and stopped beside her.
"How is your daughter?" He asked as a single icy blue iris glanced her over and Nethial inwardly chided herself for not telling him the name she had chosen for the newborn hybrid.
Clearing her throat nervously, Nethial lowered her hand back to her side and turned to face Arxa's egg, still feeling like Geer was watching her. "She's fine. What happened to-"
"Don't ask," Geer hissed, interrupting her as Nethial sensed the subject was best to be left alone for the time being. It did concern her that Narssia was not with him, especially with Arxa's presence so strong in the area.
Briefly glancing at the noble dragon beside her, Nethial thought she saw the egg shake but ignored the idea that the dark presence was using this absence from its original host to come into the world that already hated and loathed it. Even with the brief amount of time she had known both Geer and Narssia, she had felt a deep love between the two start to blossom and it only caused her to remember that the one she had fallen for was now dead just so she could survive the delivery of Ilma and be a mother to her child. Hearing a low rumble, her attention turned to the egg to see that the malicious spirit was indeed hatchling right before them.
"Is she-" The hesitation and unease in Geer's voice surprised Nethial as she noticed the dragon seemed worried and distracted.
Watching as a single crack started to appear on the eggshell, Nethial again rubbed her arms before speaking up. "What has you distracted? I could understand if you wanted to slaughter this dark-spawn in front of us but something has your interest and it's not the event taking place before you."
"Narssia . . . something happened and I don't know if she'll ever be able to forgive me for what I did. Corruption took over her and implanted some kind of crystal in her neck . . ."
Lifting a hand to silence him, Nethial turned to face Geer as she tried not to show too much worry. "What color was the crystal? I remember seeing several dragons back before the collapse of paradise with gems in their necks. Those that were controlled by evil forces were vicious, emotionless beasts that only lived to kill others and obey the wishes of the darkness that gave them incredible strength and stamina."
"The crystal is red," Geer growled softly as he closed his eyes and sighed. "I wish it wasn't this hard to fight for someone you love . . ."
With a sharp crack, the eggshell split in half, revealing a small dragonet with black scales as tiny glowing green lines etched across her legs and back. Opening its eyes, Nethial flinched and retreated a step as Arxa stared her down with a near completely white eye, save for a ring of silver around the shrunken pupil. Geer made no sound as he reopened his eyes and turned to leave, walking to the entrance of the rom before stopping and glancing back at Nethial.
"That color crystal is not what I saw in those that were under Corruption's control but it is possible that the shade changed over time," Nethial remarked as Geer growled quietly before slipping out and leaving her alone with a newly hatched Arxa.
Glaring angrily at the dragonet, Arxa squeaked and scrambled back as Nethial charged forward and tried to grab her. The chase continued until she had backed the hatchling up against a wall and the embodiment of Corruption yelped in pain as it was slammed against the tough stone wall with a kick before being lifted into the air through telekinesis.
"It's all your fault!" Nethial yelled as she let her anger towards Arxa take control and continued to smash the dragonet into the wall over and over again. "You could have just stopped with me and never had to let Narssia go through this pain. Why didn't you just die when Jormundur tried to put an end to you? You're so self-centered that you care nothing for the well-being of others! I hope you finally see what a menace you are and pray no one takes pity on you. No one deserves any mercy after they've done what you have, monster!"
Giving her one last slam against the wall, she dropped the dragonet and stormed out, not caring if Arxa had survived the brutal assault or not. Right now she was too angry to wonder how it would affect Narssia if, somehow, the dark spirit didn't live. All that matter for her was getting as far away from the vile creature as she could and getting back to Ilma.
Every breath sent pain through her entire body as the former dark mind-half of Narssia wheezed in agony, her vision blurring and doubling as she struggled to understand why she had hatched so early. Struggling to get a clear breath, she lay on her side where Nethial had dropped her and felt her vision flickering, although not towards unconsciousness but in a shared connection with the dragoness who had showed her compassion.
Her body ached, the pain nearly overcoming her as she awoke to find she couldn't move any part of her body except for her head. The area around her was dark, isolated. It scared her but she was more concerned about Geer than for her own life. How badly had she hurt him? It was just a split second but . . .
A distant ringing in her ears signaled to Arxa that she was pushing her powers too far but she ignored the sensation and cringed as she coughed, spitting up blood as her tiny white fangs became speckled with the crimson fluid. The right side of her head throbbed and her tried eyes glanced at the floor to see broken scales littering the ground beside her. So the impact had been hard enough to loosen scales, she mused as she flicked the end of her tail and winced. The extent of her injuries caused by Nethial were unknown to her but she promised herself that there would be revenge once she was strong enough. Not that she didn't already want to rip the former rider to pieces but it gave her a new reason to want to see the one that had rejected Corruption's gift held in the grasp of agony and torment. Another cough sent up more of her life-blood and she hissed softly in pain as the sensation made her lungs feel as if they were on fire.
Trying to adjust her position, the movement made her injured ribs ache in protest and she clawed feebly at the floor beside her as she was unable to muster the strength needed to roll over onto her belly. Cursing her short stature, she turned her focus to just how to repay Nethial for what the woman had done and found herself dipping back into the power she had used earlier to see things from Narssia's perspective.
A chill pressed against her scales as the base of her neck sent spikes of pain down her back. Protesting, she bared her teeth and closed her eyes, sensing the shadows swirl around her as if trying to be of comfort. It was that darkness that had caused her current predicament and the lingering wisps of its power stayed around her claws to remind her that she could tap into it whenever she chose. Mentally shuddering at the thought, Narssia tried to feel the soothing warmth of her inner flame but, upon trying to breath out a small hint of her fiery power she had been born with, no rush of hot air came forth.
Confused, she tried again but the actions only left her throat dry. She wished she had some water but knew there had to be a reason why she had been moved in here and chained up. The last thing she remembered was trying to break Arxa's egg before she whited out and then only a brief flickering sense of seeing Geer's eyes narrowed in concentration some time later before fading again and waking to find herself confided in the cell. Another flicker of pain from the base of her neck caused her vision to blur for a moment but she shook off the sensation.
Warmth buzzed pleasantly through her at the thought of the blue dragon who had become her mate but a sudden surge of pain from the area of her abdomen brought a raspy shriek tearing from her maw along with a few wisps of the fear element. Unable to move, she couldn't check to see what had caused the flow of aguish from that tender region but tried to ignore it as she dimly watched the entrance to her cell for someone to come see her.
Pulled again out of her lingering mental connection with Narssia, Arxa snarled softly as she remembered what she had heard Geer say to Nethial before she hatched. The blue dragon had hoped her former host could forgive him for what he had done yet whatever had occurred had brought the black dragoness back to the surface for only a second during their fight. Her tailblade lightly tapped against the stone under her as she wondered what damage could have been done to bring someone like Narssia back out of Corruption's feral grasp for a split second.
Hearing the sound of talons clicking against stone, she raised her head and looked towards the entrance to the room, expecting to see Geer return. It surprised her when she saw that it was Ilena wandering back in, the small dragoness still unsteady on her own legs as her large wings had extended and merely dragged along beside her. Holding back a snort of amusement, Arxa tried to move her body but yelped as pain blazed up her side and she felt hot liquid drip onto her half-extended wing that lay under her body. Apparently curious over the sound, Ilena approached her and she had to silence the soft snarl that rose from deep in her throat as the she-dragonet looked her over.
'What's so interesting about me being injured?' She rasped, finding her mental voice had not changed since hatching.
Ilena glanced at her again before glancing up at the broken stone wall that revealed the numerous spots Arxa had been thrown into. Growling in confusion, her lips curled back to show her bloodied teeth as the gray she-dragonet repeated the motion and then motioned at her injured body. It eventually struck Arxa as the dragoness stared at her, the glowing blue lines on its hide appearing out of place on the dark coloration of its scales.
'Shadow . . . and ice,' Arxa whispered as she realized the dragonet knew that she possessed knowledge of both elements, having blessed the gray hatchling with ice due to the unusual tattoo she had left upon its flank. 'Were you followed back here or did one of your elements manifest itself?'
Squeaking in excitement, Ilena cloaked her left forepaw in shadows and Arxa watched as the limb sunk into the ground before being pulled back out. The dragonet was just hatched and already showing its elemental powers far sooner than most scale-fliers developed theirs. Was it because she was a descendant of Narssia? Did the dark magic coursing through her mother's blood make it easier for her to obtain her true self sooner?
'Where is your brother? We can't afford to have him wandering around and find something he's not supposed to that could hurt him.' Grunting, Arxa rolled onto her stomach and shakily rose to her feet, a sense of vertigo gripping her as her head pounded.
The throbbing pain in the base of her neck oddly made Narssia feel at peace as the shadows wove through the chain links to wrap around her like a protective cocoon. Somewhere in the back of her mind the sensation felt wrong but she was already starting to fade by the time she noticed anything. Her pristine white horns shimmered with the dark energy as they looked almost blood red and her eyes faded into pools of murky white as the gem sparkled and pulsed as if it was a living thing. Every pulse of the crystal sent another wave of darkness over her and, before long, she had ceased to care as the black power rushed up her throat with the familar heat of a fireball.
Opening her maw, she sent forth flickering black flames as the embers sizzled against the stone floor and walls of her prison. Dimly aware she was still chained, her claws glowed with heat as the door to her cell slammed open and Geer sprang at her, twisting around her body like a serpent to have a direct shot at the crystal in her neck. Aggravated he was going to repeat the same thing he had done last time, she focused raw icy power to her back and chilled her scales so he couldn't get a secure grip. Unconcerned with the slight delay, the formerly blind dragon planted his hind legs firmly on the ground and blasted a stream of electricity from his maw as his foreclaws dug into the chains and, unknown to him, slipping under her now brittle scales and left lengthy gashes in her back.
Screams of pain rippled forth from her as streams of blood flowed freely from her back and stained the ground dark crimson. The shadows swirled around the crystal in her neck, doing their best to protect it from harm as she writhed and made the chains shake with every movement. Geer snarled as his blast was scattered and grabbed hold of her side for leverage before making his body spark and stunning her. Temporarily paralyzed, she was unable to defend herself as he clawed his way up her back and grabbed hold of the crystal in her neck with his teeth. Giving the gem a yank, he was thrown off her and smashed against a wall as an unearthly screech tore from her throat.
Arxa fought back to her own consciousness as Ilena pawed at her and she noticed she had collapsed to the floor sometime during her shared mind-link with Narssia. Shuddering and still hearing the screams of her former mind partner echoing in her head, she pulled her tail around by her side and lay on her belly as the gray dragonet pushed against her shoulder and then glanced toward the entrance to the room. Still in shock from what she had seen, the dark spirit was reluctant to get back up but knew it would make the young dragoness happy if they found her brother.
What was Geer thinking trying to remove the crystal by force? He had said it himself that it was buried deep enough into her neck to cause damage if anyone tried to take it out. Shaking her head at his stubborn refusal to give up on Narssia, Arxa followed Ilena out of the room as she tried to distance herself from the lingering connection to her former host. Having the dragoness pause as they went into the hallway outside the chamber, she focused her mind on the icy wind that had whipped through the upper air when they lived in the cave after Ryta hatched and tried to capture the feeling again to call up an element she was unsure she could possess in her new form. Feeling a chill descend on her snout, she excitedly opened her maw and spat out a glob of slushy water. Anger spiking at seeing the attempt had not given her what she wished, she narrowed her eyes and nearly jumped in shock as green fire burst from her maw and made the wet substance glisten like icicles.
Advancing to the mirror she had made, she examined herself as Ilena batted at her tail and she growled in annoyance. Her tailblade was much similar to the style of old shadow dragons as it bore a scythe-like curve to it and her unusual eyes gleamed in delight with realizing she had kept the design from her appearance in the dreamscape. Small forelegs bore four ivory talons per foot while her back legs had three talons and a smaller claw on the back of her ankle that curved back towards her front. She thought she remembered it being called an fisher talon but couldn't be certain. Walking around the object, she noticed her back and legs were covered in green symbols similar to the ones on Ilena's flank. Curious, she stopped and gazed more carefully at them to see they were the ancient names she had been known as when she was still Corruption prior to her existence in Narssia.
'I never expected this,' she whispered as her eyes scanned the native tongue she had known from before her creation, the words flooding her mind as she saw how she was hated and scorned by the people she had only wanted to aid so long ago. 'So many despised me, loathed why I came to them in the first place. I only wanted to make their lives easier and have less conflict . . .' Her eyes dropped to see the blood reflecting off her fangs that jetted out slightly past her upper jaw. 'But they revolted and I had no choice but to strike back and show them my power . . .'
She could feel the bloodlust rising up in her as Geer struggled to get off the wall she had pinned him against with a strong gust of wind. The need to rip and kill and destroy nearly took what little sanity she had fought back from the dark force that was controlling her. Shadows danced over her scales as a power grew and swelled inside her, the sound of the chains frantically clicking lost in her mind as she narrowed her eyes and heard a bone snap as her mate screamed in pain and she felt her head start to throb.
Confused by why she would be growing tired when she felt like she had done little of nothing, she glared at the blue dragon as Geer stared at her with tear-filled eyes. Snarling, she felt her consciousness being pulled in two directions before a shallow sigh left her sore throat and she blinked, having fought back without any instruction as her yellow irises settled on Geer. One of his forelegs had been crushed by her and he was close to blacking out as she watched him drop to the ground and take a few deep breaths before looking up at her.
Her mind felt numb as she struggled to think of what to say but she barely remembered any of the fight, save for the last part as she slowly started taking back control. "I'm sorry," she whispered, repeating it over and over as her injuries lashed out at her angrily and she yelped in pain.
Concerned for her state of mind, Geer dragged himself to his feet and limped over to her, unwilling to put any weight on his left forepaw. Stumbling several times before he stopped before her, he lifted his injured foreleg and placed it on her chained side. "Everything is fine, Nar. I suspected you might not have to wait long until the next possession and I was just lucky I got here when I did." Seeing her wince and avert her gaze from him, he leaned in and tried to be more gentle. "What you do remember about it? How did it feel?"
"Horrible," she spat, hissing as her back throbbed as if to remind her of the scratches there. "I remember just whiting out and then . . . nothing until I woke up here, at least for the first time. Something did pull me to the surface during our fight in your chamber but I don't know what. All I know is pain, terrible pain gave me enough of an opening to see you staring at me as if I was an enemy. Why? What happened to cause you to lock me up in here?"
Glancing around, Narssia saw the chains had taken damage but they still held strong as Geer sighed and lowered his foreleg back to the ground. "What about now? What do you remember from the fight we had?"
"I was trapped, chained by something so I couldn't move. I wanted to move, to rip flesh from bone, but my body refused to do what my mind asked. So I settled for tapping into my elements to make sure no one could hurt me. Ice coated my back to make it slipperily but I still felt electricity arch up my side and rip through my scales like they were paper." Narssia knew something was wrong when Geer stepped back and sat down, his tail curling around to lay against his left hind leg.
"What you just said was how the fight went. I'm surprised you-"
Eyes narrowed as a low growl rose from her throat. "You tried to remove the crystal, I know because I felt it. I wanted to kill you after that so I let the bloodlust take over, watching as you were miserably beaten by my powers . . ."
"They aren't your powers anymore, Nar. Corruption has warped them into something different, something primal. I'm scared for you and your children need you. The darkness isn't who you are, believe me." Narssia growled as the blue runt tried to further blame everything on Arxa. It wasn't anyone's fault that she was like this now. Why couldn't Geer see that she just wanted to be left alone to discover what she could do?
"Geer, I'm not in any danger. I remember the fight-"
Growling, Geer brushed his snout against her leg, his eyes staring up at her with muted distrust. "Yet you can't recall the encounter before. Odd, isn't it? I'd say that crystal in your neck messes with your head but you don't have to believe me. The results speak for themselves."
Lifting up his tail, he showed her the teeth marks and the dried blood from their fight. Snorting, she spat a tiny fireball at him, the attack leaving the end of his snout black. He next showed her his shoulder, hoping she would remember the wound as it happened around the time she say she had been able to break free for a split second.
"Any dragon could have inflicted those wounds," Narssia snapped as her mind suddenly felt fuzzy. She coughed then cringed as the movement irritated her wounded back.
"Could any dragon just charge the air around you with so much energy that you feel exhausted and drained of strength?" Geer remarked as he narrowed his eyes, his claws sparking every now and then to keep the electromagnetic field around her strong.
A desperate shriek from Narssia had her lose herself to the darkness for an instant before coming back out to herself to find Geer with several ice shards pinning him to the floor. One shard was close to his neck and she cringed at seeing the beautiful light blue crystal structure become tinged with blood as she noticed she had started a small blizzard as icy winds swirled around them and coated his scales in a layer of frost.
Revolting in panic, she let fire warm the air around her and held the temperature until she saw he was thawing out as she contained and calmed the ice storm she had started within seconds. Whatever it was inside of her wanted to kill him, she realized as sorrow crept over her thoughts. Her inner self wanted to slaughter the dragon that had helped her through so much already. Why was Geer the target? It made no sense for the formerly blind dragon to be of any threat to the dark power that consumed her at times.
"Geer, I- I don't know what came over me. I'm sorry," Narssia growled mournfully as she watched him get up and stare at the door to the cell. "Please say something. I didn't mean to start a blizzard but I lost control and-"
"And you've proven to me that you wish to be ruled by this power rather than trying to fight it," he remarked with a snort as he left the room, the door slamming shut behind him as Narssia lowered her head and wept.
Pulled again back to herself, Arxa was starting to hate the power she had seemingly kept that linked her to her former host. She glanced around and saw Ilena was sitting in the center of her mirror-pond and happily squeaked when they locked eyes. Growling under her breath, she waved her tail in the air and, sure enough, the gray dragoness was back to playing with it as her attention returned to the titles she had been called over the years. The Malicious Destroyer, the Black-Hearted Wraith, and numerous others along with her personal favorite from Narssia herself, the Dark Shadow. Noticing her small stature at barely three feet, she snarled and accidently blasted the mirror with more of her green fire. The slushed water turned ice shattered violently, sending Ilena flying into the air and Arxa scrambled to make the wind obey her and help slow the speeding descent of the hatchling. Panicking as even the air refused to aid her, she ran towards the dragonet and just barely caught her as a jump at the last second brought the gray she-dragon falling on her back behind her wings.
The added weight caused her to be unbalanced and Arxa slammed into her side as she met the ground, growling softly as Ilena squealed in delight and bounded off her, eagerly awaiting her to get up so they could do it again. A low hiss echoed through the air as she rose, the fury of it directed at the gray hatchling as a warning to stop being so playful.
'Never do that again,' she hissed as she smacked Ilena lightly with her tail before motioning the dragoness to follow her. 'Now let's find your brother . . . and the reason I am unable to access those elements I once held not so long ago.'