Chapter CXIV: Dread

"Yusei—Yusei!"

He jolted awake and scrambled for his paws, stumbling before racing for the entrance. His limbs were stiff with exhaustion and his head felt as if it were throbbing. He couldn't think straight for a moment, senses reeling, as he scrambled to find the source of the alarmed cry. He stumbled out of the cavern, nearly falling over himself, and struggled to recall.

What had he dreamed of? There had been a flash of someone—with red scales like blood and brilliant golden eyes to rival the sun. They'd been gutted, paws slithering in their own blood upon the ground, and the other dragon—black and blue with burning eyes—had struggled to stand despite the blood oozing from its throat. They'd stared at each other, panting and gurgling, and slowly the red male had struggled forward, launching itself once more. They'd tangled and fought, blood flowing like twin rivers from severed flesh and—

Yami.

Yusei blinked stupidly. That had been Yami and Dimitri. He narrowed his eyes, trying to force the realization away—he could deal with it later—just as he took in the newcomer. He stiffened, standing impossibly straight in his groggy state, and snarled softly.

"Jesse…"

"I'm okay," the Ice Dragon blurted, rushing forward. "Dimitri got to me, but Yami was there and healed me after."

Yami had been…?

Yusei blinked and flicked his tail. Did he know what was going to happen? Did he know what would happen if he fought Dimitri? Did he know he was going to die?

Or was the future limited for him?

Was he unable to see his own path?

"He didn't know I was awake when the female approached him. He called her Camula"—Yusei shook his head when Jesse gave him a more pointed look of askance—"and said she'd killed her nest before he could. But he kept saying she just wanted back at Atem for something."

Yusei blinked. "Back at Atem?"

"She said she knew where Yami was," Jesse rushed to say, raising his voice to talk over his question. It took him a single moment to disentangle the words and truly consider what he was saying. He flicked his tail, stiffening, and Jesse gave him another frantic look. "She said she saw him in the human village. I left when they did. We don't have a lot of time."

Yusei shivered. "Atem is going to kill us," he whispered, though he raised his head again and turned to him fully. "Go fetch Leviathan. He may be able to hold his own against Atem for a few minutes while I try to head off Jaden."

Jesse nodded and was gone a split second later.

Yusei felt sick as he took flight.

Timaeus woke with the sensation of ice in his limbs. He sat up quickly, stomach lurching, and a shiver coursed down his spine as he struggled for his paws. He shook himself, snow falling from his body, and blinked as he studied the area around him. He considered where Aki had organized a patrol to run the border of the territory and wondered if he should find Atem and Yugi. Were they still getting Jonouchi settled in the valley den? He had left before they'd migrated, when Atem had insisted he didn't need help to transfer the Red-Eyes but told him that he needed to be able to watch Jonouchi more than he had to worry about Timaeus. The implication he'd been a burden wasn't lost on him, though he knew Atem hadn't meant it more than splitting attention between someone who was clearly still under Dimitri's claws rather than the corpse he thought Timaeus to still be.

He raised his head to look at the sky. It was blanketed white, and he could see where snow collected on top of the immense thorn barrier overhead.

Something was wrong.

He couldn't tell what it was. He didn't even know if it was to do with the sky itself or if it was something else entirely. But he realized there was something increasingly wrong. The air felt oddly heavy and Timaeus wasn't certain what he tasted on his tongue, but it wasn't snow.

He glanced around awkwardly, stretching, and looked back and forth amongst the trees for a moment. Yugi and Atem would be back at the den Yami was born in. He could easily go join them if he wanted. He knew he was invited to. The invitation had gone unspoken, but Atem had looked at him meaningfully when he'd told him of the change of area. And he hadn't needed the reminder that he could come to him with anything he wanted or needed, mutual as always between them.

He himself was tired, but the snow wouldn't slow him or put him to sleep as it did Yugi or Jonouchi. Wind Dragons usually had wide open spaces and colder areas that they claimed as their territory. The fact he had fallen asleep and woken so suddenly was almost unnerving. He flicked his tail and got to his paws.

He would go find Atem and Yugi.

He needed to know if they sensed it too.

Leviathan looked up when he sensed Jesse nearby. He got to his paws, stretching his limbs, and considered the Ice Dragon as he landed. He studied him, bewildered by the dried blood that lined most of his body but for his face and neck, and took a moment to sniff the air. There was no fresh blood. It was all old and stale.

But it was definitely Jesse's.

And…Jaden's.

"Did you get into a fight with Jaden?" he muttered, scoffing to himself and lashing his tail, but the Ice Dragon glowered for a moment as he panted for air. Leviathan considered how exhausted he looked and glanced around briefly. He flicked his tail again to dismiss the dragons that lingered about. When he turned back Jesse gulped in air and shook himself out, looking small and tired.

"Dimitri," Jesse grumbled, and Leviathan faltered. He'd fought Dimitri and he was still alive?

"Jaden found you in time then?"

Jesse blinked and shook his head. "No time," he panted. He inhaled, held it as if he were summoning a breath, and then exhaled slowly. He raised his head and looked at him. "We have to go. Jaden is…hunting Yami."

Leviathan tilted his head. "Has he even found him?" he scoffed. "He can't hunt him if he can't find him."

Jesse snarled softly. "He found him."

He froze for a moment, then growled. "Gods damn it."

Yusei couldn't find him. The other God Dragon seemed to have disappeared entirely, and even when he skimmed the edges of the territory and circled the expanse of Atem's region, he found nothing of the Fire Dragon. It was as if he'd ceased existence, even when he sought him out. He could feel him somehow, however, drawing from him to keep himself from going into shock with the temperature plummet. Usually Yusei could trace that feeling and find him through the means of that bond, but the instant he tried it was as if Jaden had ceased existence once more.

Either he was blocking him, or he was close to Atem or Yami already and he couldn't follow it because of proximity. That was why Yugi was immune, after all, and he could see it applying now to Jaden. Of course, speculation wasn't going to help him at the moment, but what else could he do?

"Where is he?"

Yusei looked over his shoulder, hovering from where he had begun to sweep toward the human village. He whipped around to face Leviathan, and the Divine Serpent kept his eyes on the terrain below. Yusei wondered if he was searching for Atem or Jaden at that moment.

"I don't know."

Jesse looked around frantically, drawing in unsteady pants and scowling. "We have to find him," he managed to spit out. He kept scanning the region below them, but there was no sign, and Yusei wondered when exactly Jaden had learned this trick. Hiding one's signature was completely different from drawing energy from someone and somehow blocking them away at the same time.

"He's drawing from you," Leviathan commented, "so this temperature won't even slow him."

Yusei grimaced. "Yeah—" His eyes shot toward a flicker of movement. Immediately he raised and turned his head, but the dragon before was brilliant teal rather than gold. He bristled, surprised, and raced forward. "Timaeus!"

The Wind Dragon swooped down but stopped short, hovering, and looked at them in bewilderment. His amber and golden eyes flickered with suspicion for a brief second before he scanned the ground as they were. "Atem…isn't here," he muttered, and had Yusei not been so close he would have missed it entirely. "Where did he…?"

"You think he sensed Jaden?"

"How?" Jesse burst out. "I can't even feel him through the Claim."

Yusei blinked and looked over. Jaden had definitely learned a new trick or two. He almost scoffed, but immediately turned to Timaeus. "You came to find Atem?"

"Not that it's your business," the Knight Dragon sneered, immediately looking over, "but something is clearly wrong. What's this about Jaden? Is he here?"

"Yami is here," Jesse supplied, flinching when Timaeus whipped around to stare at him. "And someone tipped Jaden off. He came here to deal with him."

"Then Atem will rip him to pieces." Timaeus looked at Jesse grimly. "My condolences for your loss."

"Yami."

The dragon had fallen straight to the ground on his face and refused to move but for steady breathing. Ryou had grabbed him when he sensed the change in the air, shaking him by the shoulders, but the dragon remained asleep. His entire body was still and limp and his head flopped when Ryou shook him even more vigorously.

"Yami—Yami, wake up." He shook him harder. "You have to wake up."

His eyes didn't even move behind his lids. Ryou shoved him harder and almost let him drop when he began to fall backwards. He ground his teeth and shook him again, but the dragon remained as despondent as a dead body. He hissed a breath, pleading quietly for him to wake again, and pinched him.

The dragon didn't respond despite his best efforts.

Minutes passed.

He shook him, pinched him, hissed for his attention, struggled to keep from screaming with frustration, and prayed to gods long past that he wouldn't die. He'd likely exceeded the time he should have been asleep in whatever place he'd gone, but that wasn't the point.

"The God Dragon of the South is coming," he pleaded, shaking him harder. Yami's head flopped backwards as if his neck were severed. Ryou grimaced and moved to lay him down again. "He's going to kill you when he finds you. Wake up."

He grabbed a bucket of water and flung it.

Yami's breathing didn't even change. Wherever he'd gone in his sleep, it held him so tightly it threatened to suffocate him entirely.

Ryou bit the inside of his cheek to smother a scream of annoyance. What was he supposed to do now? He hadn't expected Yami to go into such a deep sleep. When he'd agreed to help him, he'd just assumed Yami would sleep and wake when he called him as others always did.

But Yami was a dragon and a Divine. He was the son of Atem.

Ryou should have known better than to help him, even with such a simple request. Now he wondered if he'd killed him somehow. At this rate Jaden would arrive and Yami would be eaten alive in front of him.

He turned back and nearly choked.

Yami was sitting up, red eyes open and staring. He didn't seem to recognize where he was or what he was doing, and for a moment he seemed so distorted that Ryou wondered if he even knew what was going on. He looked as if he'd been beaten and left to tend to his wounds, eyes glazed with something Ryou couldn't read.

Abruptly the Divine stumbled to his feet. He held a hand out, catching himself unsteadily, and blinked slowly. His eyes flickered briefly around, and then focused intently on Ryou.

For a long minute neither of them moved.

"Jaden," Yami muttered, voice sounding oddly rough and distorted. He seemed almost distracted and uncertain and Ryou found himself frozen in place as he watched him. Wherever Yami had gone in his slumber, it must not have been a happy place. He looked unusually haunted and small, as if he wanted to be swallowed whole.

The dragon reached up and pressed a hand to his face, as if trying to ward off a head pain. And then he blinked and furrowed his brows, growling softly in the back of his throat. Ryou opened his mouth, but Yami held a hand up.

"Don't," he hissed. He cracked his eyes open again, dropped his hands, and seemed to reconsider the little hut he was inside. He spotted the back door just as Ryou knew he would and for a long moment he stared at it as if it might somehow offer guidance. Then he blinked and turned to Ryou. "Jaden is already here."

Ryou swallowed hard. "He's in the front, and this hut is in the back. Go through that door and you'll be able to get a head start if you flee," he muttered, searching his face. "A-are you okay?"

Yami looked toward the front entrance and narrowed his eyes. "Probably not," he said slowly, voice low and cutting. He sounded guttural, as if something almost ancient had stirred inside of him. But he didn't snarl and his voice remained quiet and calm for the moment. He blinked and looked over at him, and Ryou's stomach dropped. He looked wild and frenzied, like one of the wolves they'd caught in their pit traps before they could lift it out. "Thank you. That sleep… I learned a lot."

Ryou opened his mouth, but the dragon had vanished out the back before he could speak. He blinked and wandered toward the front entrance, just as the deer pelt swayed and someone else walked in. Ryou froze, breath catching, and struggled to think.

The boy in front of him had fluffy dark brown hair with a lighter brown atop the very crest of his head. The bangs were jagged and long and his eyes were a diamond-shape, large but somehow narrow as well, with glittering golden-red irises that looked dark brown at first glance. It was only when he turned his head and leveled Ryou with a cold look that he could see the different hues of color sprinkled throughout. They were the color of the sunrise, layered and speckled and dancing like its reflection upon a pool of water.

"God Dragon."

The boy blinked slowly, then straightened. He was a head taller, and Ryou felt almost dwarfed. He couldn't tell if it was because the God Dragon was truly that much taller or if it was because of the aura he exerted. Maybe he just seemed large enough to swallow him whole like this.

But Jaden wasn't interested in him. His eyes shot to the back entrance and he strolled right past him.

Ryou darted out in front of him. "You've nothing to ask?"

Jaden paused, eyes burning into his. "I already sense him. And your panic now tells me everything I need to know. He was here. He went through that exit. And he is fleeing as we speak," he answered in a cold, smooth voice. His eyes flashed like gems. "Was there something else you wish to add? Or do you mean to be so worthless in your attempt to slow me down?"

He almost flinched. The dragon looked as if he might eat him alive, but he made no move to strike out. After a moment Jaden moved past him. Ryou grabbed the first thing he saw on the table, cupped it in his hands, and spat, "Jaden."

The God Dragon turned immediately, snarling, and Ryou blew into the powder in his palms. Jaden jerked backwards, spitting in surprise, and hit the wall. A snarl surged out of him, then a deafening roar, as he hit the ground and twisted frantically. Ryou was amazed when he saw his body flash and change rapidly, turning from human to dragon and back several times.

But it lasted only a moment.

Abruptly Jaden rose to his feet. He was snarling, eyes flashing red with anger, and Ryou felt his throat constrict as his hand squeezed. Ryou wasn't even sure when he'd gotten so close as to grab him, but the pressure made him gasp and sputter. Jaden lifted him off the ground and Ryou panicked, kicking and flailing even as the God Dragon peered at him hatefully. For a long minute he looked as if he meant to rip his head off.

And then he blinked slowly, dropped him as quickly as he had grabbed him, and sneered, "Nice trick, little human" and walked out. Ryou barely had a second to get to his feet and rush out past the deer pelt marking the exit in time to see Jaden change to his true shape and launch himself into the air.

The God Dragon was gone from the human's sight within seconds.

Yami had barely managed to get to the outskirts of the territory when Jaden caught up. He could sense him long before he heard him. The Divine dodged to the side and spiraled to avoid his claws when he dove for him. The Fire Dragon whipped around and faced him and they eyed each other warily.

"You didn't hurt anyone, did you?" Yami demanded, scowling. "Ryou and the others—they're all okay?"

"Ryou? Is that the shaman's name?" he asked quietly, curious rather than angry as he'd expected. "He's a brave little brat. He rushed me and blew some kind of burning powder into my face. Blinded me for a few moments."

"They use it to force a dragon to take its natural shape when they're hurt and can't manage it themselves."

"Interesting, but I didn't ask."

Yami nodded slightly. "How did you find me?"

But even as he asked, he saw the female. And his mind reeled for a moment. He'd never met her himself, but he remembered Atem's nightmares. He remembered her cursing him and wishing him the worst in life when she'd slaughtered her nest. He saw it all in a blink, so quickly he almost didn't register it, and it was gone again almost immediately.

"Camula?" he muttered. He didn't recognize the name, but it had come forth from Jaden's thoughts unbidden. The Fire Dragon had pictured her now as well, bloodied and pinned beneath him as she spat at Atem.

"I hope you one day feel the same pain I do now. I hope you one day suffer so much you feel the desire for death as I do."

Jaden eyed him. "Jesse says you healed him."

"I was in the territory," he answered, though he paused and reconsidered. Jaden narrowed his gaze and stared at him more intently, and Yami nodded. "You saw Yubel as well."

"Yes." He bore his teeth. "You healed them both."

"Was I meant to leave her to rot?" he asked softly. "You did that enough on your own. I didn't see a reason to aid in that decision. It's nothing to do with me what you both went through. I needed to know and I repaid her knowledge with the return of her sight and vigor."

Jaden snarled softly. "You're too powerful to leave alive."

Yami nodded. Amun had even said something to that effect. But what he'd said about Dimitri disturbed him more than he could put into words. Something about the way he'd spoken of him and the glint in his eye had made Yami feel sick. He still didn't know what to make of the situation. Amun had said there was hope for him, yet moments later he'd seemingly turned back on the statement. Yami still didn't know what he meant by his powers born from moonlight and dreams, but he didn't think it mattered much.

Jaden was already here.

And Yami wasn't sure things wouldn't be easier should he let him end him there.

At least then Yugi and Atem would survive.

It was the only thing he believed that truly guaranteed their survival.

He looked Jaden over for a moment. "And what of Dimitri? Do you truly think you can kill him on your own?" he asked slowly. "I may not fight back, but he'll tear your head off in the seconds it takes you to breathe, Jaden. What about your plans to use me to neutralize him?"

"You're both too strong to allow to live. It's not my responsibility to see you get the chance to kill him." Jaden bore his teeth. "I'll destroy him as I must, just as I'm sure Atem would have to save you."

Yami stared for a long moment, then chuckled. Atem would have killed him in a heartbeat if he were able. Atem wouldn't have let things get this far if it hadn't been for Yami himself requesting he let Dimitri live a little longer. He'd wanted so desperately to find a way around his coming death and yet there seemed to be nothing. He couldn't find answers and Amun had confirmed he would see them both to their deaths…

"Perhaps," Yami said quietly, baring his teeth in turn, "you should have tried harder to kill me when you found me the first time, Jaden."

The Prime Material Dragon raised his head, eyeing him critically. "Oh?" he murmured, flapping his wings and narrowing his gaze. "And yet you were so determined to let your parents fight for your life then. What's changed since?"

He thought for a moment to answer him in terms of the realization he was going to be sacrificed one way or another, but the words died in his throat. A small surge of defiance swept through him and he found himself laughing again. If he was going to die, he'd at least sink his teeth into Jaden before he did. There was so much he needed to rectify with the God Dragon—even if it was the last thing he managed.

"It doesn't matter what's changed." Yami lashed his tail and shot forward. Jaden startled and dove aside and Yami spiraled to regain his stance with the speed he'd flown. They stared at each other a moment longer and then Jaden surged forward. Yami hesitated. Did he dodge aside? Did he allow him to make contact? The inaction made Jaden hit him full force. His claws sank into his flesh and his teeth tried for his throat.

They hit the ground in a tumble and Yami's head roared from the impact, entire body aching. His muscles burned as claws shredded through them for a split second. He squirmed, then dug his paws into the ground, thrust his back upwards, and flared his wings. Jaden was shot immediately into the air, and Yami leaped forward to get some distance between them.

He whipped around to stare as Jaden climbed easily back to his paws.

Anyone else would have been winded, but the God Dragon merely blinked and shook himself out. The Prime Material Dragon stalked a step closer and Yami flicked his tail again. He could hear voices off to his left, just as he felt the electricity of someone coming toward them. Yami blinked and raised his head, narrowing his gaze, and glanced toward the sky for a split second before turning back to Jaden.

"I would step back and reconsider the attack if I were you, Jaden," he said slowly. He tensed when the God Dragon came closer still, not the least bit alarmed by the audience that was rapidly approaching from the trees. Yami spotted Mana and Valon in his peripheral and then Malik and Atem's parents behind them. The two hatchlings looked at each other and came rushing forward with cries of protest. "You won't make it out of this alive."

"You were so certain you should hand your life to me moments before." Jaden bore his teeth, peeled his lips back into a hideous smirk, and crept forward again. "What changed? Do you think you deserve to live now? Or do you think you've the power to defend yourself from me when you previously cowered?"

Yami shook his head slowly. "I won't have to lay a claw on you," he answered.

"And yet you're so sure you won't be killed." Jaden flicked a wing and a burst of fire crackled in front of the two hatchlings as they got within yards of them. Mana yelped and Valon tumbled into her, the two of them tangling and then rushing to separate again. Malik came forward to snatch Valon by the throat and pinned Mana to the ground with his paw. Jaden didn't look away from Yami, stepping closer again. "If you will not defend yourself, then who do you imagine will?"

"Me."