The Story of a Queen, a Dragon and a Knight

by MatthosSeaworth5

The world of Remnant is one plagued by fire-breathing monsters. Humanity squabbles amongst themselves, the dragons remain as disjointed as ever and a mysterious threat rises in the shadow cast by war. This is the story of a Queen, a Dragon and a Knight.

74. The Queen's Kingdom

Flying was something Weiss felt like she wanted to get used to but at the same time didn't. It was a magical feeling, one that could not be done justice by mere words alone, and she felt like even trying to describe the feeling of flight would be a disservice to that wonderful feeling.

To put it simply she was both weightless and shockingly heavy at the same time. She felt as light as a feather as the wind whipped against her skin and toyed with her hair like a curious toddler poking and prodding and pulling some that caught its attention. Yet at the same time she was overly aware of the fact that if she slid off of Cinder's draconic back she would plummet to a brutal death, either dash against rocks or cut apart by trees or drowned in a river with her bones broken from hitting the rocks laying beneath the murky waters. The simple fact that her death was potentially mere moments away made her overly aware of her body and how strongly she gripped onto Cinder for support, how heavy her limbs felt and how terrified she was of the thought of slipping and falling and eventually dying after a long plummet.

She did not know if Cinder would save her or let her fall. They had an accord and common cause, but if Weiss was to make a stupid mistake and pay the price for it then she had no doubt in her mind Cinder would like make her suffer for it. She was not cruel by any means, but she was determined to reach her family and secure them from Nikos' grasp, something Weiss could not begrudge at all. If Weiss acted and proved herself to be foolish, Cinder would not invest any more of her time or energy into her and their agreement and would instead flock to her family.

After their troubled rest at the ruins of the village Weiss had destroyed, they had travelled westward in search of a village that had survived Weiss' incompetence and total failure. Fortunately for the strained strands of what remained of Weiss' sanity they managed to do so nearly seventeen miles away from the village she had destroyed with her magic, with the duo stumbling across a struggling hamlet rather than an abandoned tomb. The village had been struggling long before Weiss had inflicted her own special brand of misery onto her kingdom, but the hardy villagers had managed to weather the storms. They were surprised to find two noble-looking albeit ragged ladies enter the village, but they had been gracious and kind in their hospitality. After being fed a warm broth by kindly elderly women Weiss had fallen asleep surprisingly easily in the lumpy, straw filled bed she had been provided by the village leader. It was far cry from the comfort of her own luxurious mattresses and sheets that she had been forced to abandon at Nördliche Burg along with her crown and dignity and pride and everything else except for her life.

She woke up a day later to find Cinder lounging next to her. The older woman gave her an amused look before handing over a cup of water and a small plate of hard bread and harder cheese that still tasted divine to Weiss' half-starved stomach.

"You've been asleep for a day." Cinder informed her with a smirk. "Half the villagers had thought you died before you started snoring loud enough to wake the dead."

"I do not snore." Weiss retorted haughtily, though the croakiness of her throat lessened the effect. "I merely breathe. Sometimes loudly."

"No, you definitely snore." Cinder grinned, her face quickly falling into a serious expression. "Now that you've caught up on your beauty sleep are you ready to set off? Every moment we waste is a moment Nikos has gained."

"I...Yeah." Weiss said, for a moment preparing to list off the dozen things she would normally need to do in the morning before being ready to leave Nördliche Burg. "Do we have any supplies I can take with me? Food for the travel."

"The villagers are surprisingly charitable considering the circumstances." Cinder replied, a faint hint of respect in her tone. "They have provided us with enough food to last six days, though considering it would be a waste for me to consume your little meals that will mean six days of food for you. I will be able to hunt to sustain myself, and will likely find more sustenance hunting than by eating the little morsels you humans typically devour."

"Then I suppose all I need to do is finish this and say goodbye to the villagers and thank them for their aid." Weiss said, swallowing down a lump of thick cheese. "Have you also thanked them?"

"I did." Cinder nodded. "I'm not heartless you know? They've been kind, they deserve kindness in turn."

"I didn't know dragons had that sort of philosophy." Weiss noted whilst preparing to chomp down onto the thick brown bread loaf she'd been given. It wasn't exactly sophisticated or a civilised way of eating, but she hadn't been provided cutlery and she was too damn hungry to care about decorum, not when she had no court or courtiers or standards to meet.

It was startling to realise how relaxed she could truly feel without the burden of a crown on top of her head and the worries of court weighing her down. Who knew life could be so wonderfully simple and uncomplicated?

"We usually don't." Cinder shrugged easily, plucking a piece of cheese from Weiss' plate and raising and unconcerned brow at the glare she received. "Dragons aren't just one type of being. We are individuals, and we have individual beliefs and systems. Some prefer to be iron-fisted tyrants, others prefer to be benevolent guardians and others prefer to dwell far away from humans. Some believe your kind to be insects, others slaves and others sheep in need of protection. I suppose a few here and there might consider you to be somewhat equal to us, but those types are typically love-struck fools eager to not scare away their mate in the early stages of their relationship."

"I thought you didn't want our human 'morsels'?" Weiss glared, quietly taking in what Cinder had said. Still, she was more outraged over her stolen cheese than the idea of most of dragonkind having not particularly positive feelings towards humanity. That was something Weiss already had an idea of judging by the way they acted like warlords.

"I don't." Cinder grinned, chewing on the cheese she had stolen. Weiss scoffed and rolled her eyes at the dragon in disguise before turning to her plate and hurriedly devouring what was left, not wanting the overgrown lizard to steal more of her food.

Cinder smirked in a way that immediately raised Weiss' hackles, before she realised what the sneaky dragon had done. Cinder wanted to be on the move, and by making Weiss eat her food swifter they were closer to that goal. Weiss sent Cinder a knowing glare that was merely met by that infallible smirk of hers, and Weiss sighed before standing up and stretching slightly, her arms and legs still tired despite the long rest and aching slightly.

Weiss did not need to get dressed for the day as she had fallen asleep in what she had worn the night, or rather day, prior to when she had gone to sleep. The villagers had offered some of their own old clothes where they could, but many looked too big for her lithe frame and wore often clearly plagued with lice, so despite the generosity Weiss had turned down their offered clothing in favour of her own albeit itchy albeit dirty albeit not lice lidden clothes. Instead she stretched and yawned and turned to Cinder.

"Shall we be off then?" Weiss asked, before her still somewhat tired mind conjured a question. "How long will it take us to reach Vale's coast from here?"

"One day if the winds are kind." Cinder answered. "If not it will be two."

"Can you stay in the sky for that long without rest or food?"

"I hunted whilst you were sleeping." Cinder explained. "I have no need to fear hunger after eating my fill, and I will be able to fly the distance if the winds are not kind. It will just mean I will need rest once we finally arrive at Vale's mainland as opposed to continuing onwards towards Emerald Vale."

"Have you made the journey many times before?" Weiss asked. "You seem to have some experience with it."

"I have travelled between Vale and Atlas before, yes." Cinder replied. "Both before Nikos and after. I spent a lot of time searching for unclaimed land in my youth. I desired to build the greatest hoard known to man and earn one of the few titles we dragons have."

"What?"

"The Slayer of Man." Cinder replied blasely. "You can acquire it by slaying many men, razing many of your settlements or you can acquire enough wealth in your hoard to show you dominate much of mankind by lording over them and receiving many tributes. The title has been bereft of a holder for many years now."

"Do you still want to claim the title?" Weiss asked quietly, and Cinder shook her head.

"I have other goals now." She replied firmly, and Weiss knew she was thinking of her family. "We need to be off. The sooner we set off the sooner we'll be at Emerald Vale."

"But I need to thank the villagers." Weiss reminded her, and Cinder shook her head.

"Fine. I'll be waiting at the outskirts since I've done so already." Cinder huffed, before hurrying away and scaring away a villager that had made to ask her what was wrong with a fierce glare.

"Can I speak to your elder please?" Weiss asked politely, offering the villager an apologetic smile. The villager nodded and guided her to a central hut that looked no better than the huts and shacks surrounding it.

"Ah, Lady Weiss." The village leader bowed. "I am glad to see you were not truly struck by some sort of sleeping spell."

"The only sleeping spell I was struck by was exhaustion kind sir." Weiss smiled politely. "I would like to thank you for both your hospitality and generosity in providing us with supplies for our journey."

"It is nothing." The villager leader said dismissively, shaking his head. "If we did not share with those in need then we would not receive aid in our own dark hours. I can only apologise I cannot spare anyone to provide you with an escort. Many of our young men were taken away to serve in our Lord's levies and have not returned, though we do not know if they live or fell to the storms or the swords of the enemy. We need who we have left to survive. I am sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Weiss reassured. "We'll be fine, and we do not have far to travel. Thank you again for all your help, though if you would excuse me my partner is eager to set off."

"You are free to leave when you wish." The villager leader smiled. "Safe travels."

"Likewise, I wish you and your village well." Weiss curtsied, and the village leader bowed in turn. She turned away and hurried out of the village, saying farewell to those who did the same before finding Cinder waiting impatiently.

"Wait milady!" Someone called. Weiss turned and saw the villager who had led her to the village leader, whose hut she had slept in, approaching her, waving something in his hand. Weiss' heart caught when she the darkened, muddy flag in his hand. It was the one she had taken with her from the village, the one that had been toppled with the watchtower, both brought down by her magic. "You nearly forgot this milady."

"Thank you." Weiss smiled weakly, taking the flag and holding it tightly before tucking it away. "I was fearing I had left something behind."

The villager smiled back before walking away again. Weiss turned and continued over to Cinder, her heart heavy as she felt the flag curled up against her from where she had tucked it against her bags. It was reminder of her failure. Of her foolishness. Of what she had done.

"Come." Cinder ordered when Weiss neared, her patience clearly at its tether. "I found a clearing that will allow me transform."

"Is it far from the village?" Weiss asked, not wanting to scare the villagers by having a dragon appear on their doorstep. Cinder nodded.

"It is. Do you take me for a fool?"

Weiss said nothing and they walked in an awkward silence towards the clearing Cinder had discovered. She was clearly angsty to be off and worried about the safety of her family, so Weiss could not begrudge her snappy behaviour even if felt like she was merely being caught in the crossfire of Cinder's wrath as opposed to being a cause for it, which was fortunate considering Cinder's capabilities.

"Is the wind good?" Weiss asked eventually, uncomfortable by the awkward silence between herself and her protector.

"What?" Cinder asked, frowning in confusion, and Weiss gestured to the clear sky above them.

"The wind, you said we'd reach Vale quicker if it was good." Weiss explained. "I assume that by good you mean blowing strongly and in the correct direction."

"You assume correctly then." Cinder replied. "And the wind is mild for now, it will make no difference as it currently is. That may change, for better or worse, later on in the day."

"Right." Weiss nodded, all too aware of how temperamental the weather could be. "Do you have any god you pray to for good wind?"

"Dragons don't need gods." Cinder replied simply, coming to a stop before surveying the clearing and sniffing slightly. "I can't detect anyone else other than us, though this form is far weaker in terms of senses so I may be wrong."

"Do we go elsewhere then?" Weiss asked, and Cinder shook her head firmly.

"We've wasted too much time. This clearing was empty earlier and I do not see why that might change." Cinder said simply. "We go to Vale now. I will not waste more time in this frigid land."

"Very well then." Weiss replied, flinching as Cinder started to glow as brightly as the sun. When the light died down and Weiss opened her eyes, red spots danced around her vision, and she didn't get the opportunity to re-orientate herself as Cinder huffed at her. Clumsily, Weiss clambered onto the dragons back and yelped as Cinder took to the sky without warning. She gripped onto one of the spikes protruding from her spine and yelled curses at the dragon that were caught in the howling wind as they rose higher and higher into the sky.

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Ruby had been walking for days when she finally collapsed in the snows. She was starving, she was thirsty and she didn't think she could feel anything that hurt more than the pain she already felt.

Either she truly was in some sort of hell or Atlas had been turned into a complete wasteland of snow and ice, completely devoid of life. She had wandered the blank hills that looked alike until she had literally stumbled into the remains of a hamlet of some sort. Thatched roofs had been caved in by mountains of snow and frozen, dark hands stuck out from underneath the piles of snow that had flooded the inside of someone's former home. Ruby had finally vomited then, and she had spent the night crying, curled up into her cake with the smell of cold, vomit and death curling up her nose.

The next day was worse, somehow, as it started with her uncovering a dead mother and her dead babe whilst searching through the snowdrifts for food. She left the village hungrier than ever and with a sickening feeling in her stomach that she might be the last living person in the world. Any supplies she might have found would be buried and ruined and likely covered by the corpses of the poor people who had once dwelled there.

Ruby wandered, her mind swimming despite her exhaustion as boredom managed to overtake her pain and fear. There was nothing around, just endless miles of snow, and she could only watched the sky for so long before feeling like she wanted to bury herself in the snow and wait for the inevitable.

Instead her mind wandered to what had happened over the past few...days? Weeks? Months? Years? She had cocooned herself in magic and had only awoken from her slumber when her body had been incapable of keeping it up anymore.

But her magic existed purely to fight dragons, and she could only use the magic of a silver-eyed warrior if there was a dragon nearby. The filthy reptilian monster that had once deceived her into thinking she dragons could be something other than monsters was somewhere around, or at least had been, but whatever had attacked her had been wolf-like and darker than the midnight sky. Ruby didn't know what it was, whether it was some strange sort of Atlesian wolf or a juvenile bear, but the fact remained it shouldn't have ignited her magic, least of all so strongly.

Blake...Blake had betrayed her and was likely working with her monstrous blood to poison Jaune's mind, if they hadn't outright decided to leave him for dead or to just kill him. Her heart clenched at the thought of Jaune dying at their hands, and she felt the urge to turn back and try and pick up their trail in order to find out what had happened to one of her few friends.

Guilt was something that came easily to her, but when she thought of Jaune it came to the fore stronger than anything else. She was abandoning him, wounded and in the mercy of a traitor and a monster, but she had no choice. She needed to speak to her mother, to learn more about the magic she thought she already knew more than enough about. She had been proven wrong, and she did not want to risk that happening again.

Silence and snow was the only constants she had left, and when she stumbled across another dead village she realised she was probably going to die. Atlas was well-known, infamous even, for being a harsh land made up of mountains and snow. It's heartbeat was cold, and it's blood made of ice. At it's very epicentre lay the ruins of Mantle, the destroyed remains of a city that was once glorious but ultimately brought low by all manners of monstrosities, or so the legends told. Some believed it to be cursed, others a warning story of hubris and for others the need for security before all else. But the fact the ruins of a dead city lay at the heart of Atlas told one all they needed to know about the snowy northern Kingdom, and Ruby had a feeling she too was going to end up as just another dead soul claimed by the frigid, cold land.

But she walked on. She kept going. Determination, a slim sliver of hope and the need to see and speak to her mother and hug her father at least one more time drove her on, even as the cold and the hunger and the thirst took its toll on her. When she finally keeled over at some point where the days and nights had merged together she fully expected to wake up in the afterlife or the Otherworld.

Instead when she finally awoke she found herself in a broken hut. The snow had become part of its walls, propping up the roof and filling in part of the hut Ruby assumed had been destroyed by the same snow that had caused that side of the hut to still hold up the roof regardless.

"H-Hello?" Ruby mumbled hoarsely, her voice sore from lack of use and lack of food and lack of water and a lack of...just about everything really. Her call went ignored, and she wondered for a moment about whether she may have dragged herself to shelter in her sleep in the same manner as people who walked in their sleep. She called out again, and she heard the sound of footsteps. Her eyes roved over the dark room before flinching as the door to the hut was opened and bright light spilled into the hut. She hissed slightly and shielded her eyes with her weak hands, blinking through her fingers and gradually adjusting to the light to the point she could see the shadow in the doorway.

"So you're finally awake." The person said, their voice deep in a masculine way but still youthful. "We were debating other whether we'd bury you or eat you if you didn't wake up."

"W-What?" Ruby stammered out, and the person stepped forward. In the darkened shadows of the hut she could see better, and what she saw was a young man who was surely around her age. Despite his relatively short stature and lithe frame, there was a gauntness to his face and a hollowness to his cheeks that spoke of hunger. His eyes were dark and jaded, and despite his thin frame it was clearly powerful, his rough hewn shirt straining over shoulders and speaking of hard work as a farmhand or labourer.

"It's not anything personal, we just would've needed something to eat." The boy explained in a calm tone that carried a hint of sympathy. "We barely had enough to scrape by before the storms. Now we're desperate. But you're alive, so don't worry. We aren't cannibals just yet, and even if we were we'd draw the line at killing someone still alive just to eat."

"We?" Ruby asked quietly. The conversation had put her on edge, and she was desperate for information that might be useful should she need to escape.

"My village." The boy said, face falling sadly. "Or rather what's left of it. Before the storms most of the men were taken away to fight in the war. Then the storms hit and now it's just whoever survived. Some elderly, some women, some children. There's only a few boys like me, and since we've been doing most of the hard work people have been listening to us and letting us lead. The village elder died in the storms, and since no one else stepped up it left us in charge."

"How many of you are there?" Ruby asked, before pausing and thinking of a way to reframe it so it seemed she wasn't fishing for information too much. "How many survived?"

"A dozen." The boy replied. "Four elders, two kids, one babe and three mothers. Then there's me and my friends. Twelve total, or so the elders say."

"There could be more?" Ruby asked, the boy shook his head.

"I'm not that good with numbers and counting." He explained. "So I'm just going off what I was told."

"Where am I?" Ruby asked, slumping against the damp bed she was laid on. She didn't want to know how many had lived in this place before everything had gone wrong.

"Fallow River." The boy said with a sardonic smile. "We're about forty miles south of Snowmire and a few hundred more away from the coast. Where are you from?"

"Vale." Ruby answered. "But I was travelling near Snowmire when the snows hit."

"Your eyes...you hunt dragons don't you?" The boy asked, somewhat breathlessly. "You're a silver-eyed warrior!"

"I am." Ruby smiled weakly. "My name is Ruby. It's good to meet you."

"I'm Thorn, it's an honour to meet you!" Thorn said eagerly, a wide smile on his face despite his clearly malnourished, tired state. "I'm sorry about everything, but we don't have much left in the way of...anything. We're running out of food, water and everything else."

"Is there anyone you can go to for help? Anywhere you can travel to?"

"We can't." Thorn explained, smile falling as quickly as it came. "The nearest hamlets are all destroyed, and the nearest town is Snowmire, but we can't travel there. Even if we had the supplies our elders won't survive the trip. I...You said you came from Snowmire, or at least that direction. Is there any surviving villages or hamlets or places we can find supplies?"

"Not from where I was, where I came from." Ruby shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise, unless you ate all the supplies that way then you have nothing to be sorry for." Thorn smiled, though there was a brittleness to it now.

"Earlier...You mentioned most of your men had been taken away to fight a war." Ruby said slowly, mind swimming and still weak from the lack of everything that had caused her to collapse. "What war? What happened?"

"Mistral invaded and razed Vulcan." Thorn replied, giving her a curious look. "The lords conscripted as many men as they could take under the Queen's command to push the Mistrali into the sea, but the storms hit soon after and we don't know what's going on anymore. How did you not know?"

"I was travelling the wilderness near Snowmire in whilst hunting a dragon." Ruby explained half-truthfully. "I've been out of the loop for a while now because of it."

"A dragon too?" Thorn whispered hoarsely. "First the war then the storms now this?"

"You don't need to worry." Ruby reassured quickly. "It gave me the slip before the storms hit, but last I saw the last time I saw the beast it was heading north. It won't come across your village, I promise."

"That's a relief." The boy sighed heavily. "At least something can go our way. Wait here, I'll come back with an elder and some food we can spare. I've never been much good at talking."

Thorn left her and Ruby waited patiently. Things had happened rapidly in the past few minutes, from the suggestion of her being used as a meal to her being a silver-eyed warrior giving the boy some semblance of hope. Thorn wasn't gone long, and when he returned a hobbled old woman was at his side. The elderly lady had a large staff to walk, and a thick shawl covered her grey head. Thorn carried a wooden bowl and cup in both hands, which he handed to her after bowing.

"So you do have some sense in that dense head of yours eh boy?" The old woman snorted as she sat the bottom of Ruby's bed with a huff. "Don't give me that look girl, you may be a silver-eyed warrior but this was my house."

"I didn't mean anything by it." Ruby replied, face flushing quickly as she balanced the wooden bowl and cup on her lap. "Thank you for the food...and for saving me and stuff."

"Don't mention, it was Brawns over there who carried you here." The old woman huffed, pointing her large stick at Thorn, who stood to the side awkwardly. "Good to see some rosiness in your cheeks lass. You've been as pale as a corpse for three days now."

"Is that how long I've been here?" Ruby asked, sipping the water in the cup and glancing down at the bowl to try and make out what was in the cold, watery soup.

"Yes, give or take." The old woman said, nudging Ruby's knee with her staff. "Eat, it won't kill you, though you probably wish it would thanks to the taste."

"Dandy makes nice food!" Thorn protested quietly, and the old woman rolled her eyes at Ruby.

"All it takes is a voluptuous figure and the men lose their minds." The old woman huffed, waggling her eyes at 'voluptuous'. "That meathead over there is Thorn, if he hasn't already told you. The lass who made your food is Dandy, one of the many widows in the world now. I am Norene, another widow though likely one Brawns over there isn't interested in."

Ruby giggled at Thorns against face. Norene rolled her eyes and huffed in a way Ruby thought was teasing.

"His loss." Norene said, turning back to Ruby. "When Brawns said you had silver-eyes I thought he'd finally lost it. You are one aren't you?"

"I am." Ruby nodded, scooping up the soup hesitantly before taking the plunge and shoving it in her mouth. It tasted like water with floaty bits in it and Ruby fought down the urge to gag before swallowing with a grimace. "T-That's nice."

"Liar." Norene scoffed. "But then again a starving little thing like you can't complain. I complain, even though I'm hungry, but I've lived long enough now to have the right to share my gripes."

"Is that why you're here?" Ruby asked innocently. "To gripe at me?"

"So the Rose has thorns after all." Norene smiled. "Did you really think all us peasants don't know who's who when it comes to you uppity nobles? Your mother is quite famous Ruby Rose."

"Rose?" Thorn blinked. "As in the dragon-slayer who killed the Slayer of Men?"

"As in the silver-eyed warrior noblewoman who killed the Slayer of Men." Norene grinned evilly. "This is her daughter."

"You're a noble?" Thorn asked, wide-eyed as he turned to Ruby, who nodded. He fell to his knees immediately. "A-Apologises for any disrespect milady."

"Luckily for you she seems like the nice sort, the type who won't cut you up for disrespect." Norene said, turning back to Ruby. "Now, Brawns over there tells me you came from Snowmire, and it's as much of a wasteland as our wonderful little village is."

"It is, at least from what I could see." Ruby nodded, forcing down another mouthful of soup. It was poor manners on her behalf, to eat whilst spoken to, but she needed the food, no matter how bad it tasted.

"I see." Norene said, turning back to Thorn slowly. "I was right and now we have proof. You should-"

"If you suggest me and the others leave you and the other elders I'm afraid I'm going to have to close my eyes, cover my ears and say la-la-la." Thorn retorted firmly, cutting off the elder. Ruby was taken aback, as he seemed deferential to the old woman, though Norene only huffed.

"Idealistic fool." She sighed. "I take it you were heading somewhere Lady Rose?"

"Ruby's fine." Ruby replied. "I was trying to head to the coast. I need to go home to speak to my mother about something."

"Dragon related?" Norene asked curiously, and Ruby nodded carefully.

"In a sense." She replied, and after a few moments Norene huffed when realising she wasn't going to elaborate.

"Fine, keep your secrets." Norene said. "But we need to talk. This village is gone. Even if we pulled through the coming months there aren't enough people to keep it going. We need to move, but we can't go far. We don't have any supplies and considering how dangerous the outside world may be we lack protection also. We don't have much, but we'd give you it if you helped us find somewhere safe."

"Do you have anywhere in mind?" Ruby asked, cautiously open to the idea. She wanted to help these people, but she also needed to speak to her mother.

"Snowmire is too far away but Bessemer isn't." The old woman replied. "If you could escort us there we should be safe from bandits and the like. It'll take a week, and we'll run out off food four days in unless we find somewhere we can take supplies from."

"Bessemer isn't far from the coast right?" Ruby asked, earning a nod. "But it's further to the west?"

"Yes." Norene nodded. "If you were to travel to Vale from Bessemer, or rather the nearest port, you would end up close to the border with Vacuo as opposed to Kingsport."

"I see." Ruby said, frowning as she thought. If she were to end up near the Vacuoan border, or rather the Valean port city closest to that, she would have to travel across northern Vale to reach Bluhen, her mothers keep. It would mean a longer journey overall rather than travelling south and then sailing south to Kingsport, though if Vulcan had been destroyed by the Mistrali she had little other choice. "I will help you all travel to Bessemer, but you don't need to give me anything other than food to help me help you get there."

"That's fine by me." Norene smiled, patting Ruby's blanket covered knee. "Eat up and rest some more. We'll have a long journey ahead of us."

Thorn stepped forward and helped Norene stand up, earning a swat in the process. Norene hobbled out, and Thorn turned to her, the wide smile on his face again that made him seem his age.

"Thank you. It...Thank you." He said honestly, and Ruby smiled back.

"I'll get you guys to Bessemer." She replied firmly. "I promise."

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Yang flew for what seemed like an endless amount of time, during which the high winds did most of the work for her. Every now and then she would adjust herself with a few quick beats with her wings and after that she would let the wind carry her south, following Uncle Qrow who was a few miles ahead of her. She knew he was keeping the distance purposefully, out of some form of sulking but she didn't particularly care much. They could hardly communicated properly in their current forms, and she knew the reason he was angry with her was the same reason she was feeling standoffish towards him.

Jaune was asleep on her back, and she glanced around every now and then to make sure he was still relatively secure. Even in his sleep his grip against her was strong, though she could only feel it very faintly and with a lot of concentration. As a dragon she could barely feel him as it was, but when she was in her human form she quiet enjoyed his hugs.

Yang felt a swirling of guilt and embarrassment and excitement when she remembered his flushed face earlier. She hadn't meant to make the innuendo, but Jaune had opened himself up to the teasing with his own reaction. Teasing was a mild way to describe her poor attempt to flirt with him, and that was what made her feel guilty, even in her Pugnator form. There had been a burning village and bodies of the dead nearby. She didn't know what had happened, not truly, and Uncle Qrow had claimed Jaune had apparently lost his mind and started killing people. Yang didn't believe him, not fully, because she knew that Jaune wasn't too far gone. He couldn't be. And even if he was she would bring him back.

But would she? Apparently she herself had sunken so low that she would flirt with her mate near the dead, who deserved solemnity and respect rather than the disrespect Yang had given them. Her views towards the dead were strong, though she did not know where they came from. Maybe it stemmed from the fact she knew if Ruby had murdered her in her youth her own corpse would not have been buried or treated with respect or even cremated. She would have been left to rot alongside Raven's corpse.

So Yang had always believed she should respect the dead out of the hope she would receive the same respect whenever she perished, an all too possible outcome throughout much of her life. Yet she had practically ignored the slain and focused entirely on her mate, though was that truly a bad thing? You were supposed to care for your mate, something she was beyond determined to do after seeing how Raven's cruelty had driven her father away from her so thoroughly.

Yang chuffed and let the wind brush over her scales. Things were too complicated, too much, too everything these days. She wouldn't change it though, not for the loneliness and impending death that had marked the days before she had met Jaune and Uncle Qrow.

Things were complicated but she would handle them, sort them out until things became simple and understandable again. It wouldn't be easy, that much she knew for certain, but she would get there. They would get there.

Her mind calming from the previously tumultuous state she had been in she focused on the lands below her, or rather the seas below her. Massive icebergs floated in the roiling oceans, and Yang could make out the shapes of human ships braving the tempestuous seas and zig-zagging to avoid the giant blocks of ice that floated in the saltwater. She remembered the massive storm that had forced her and Jaune and Blake to seek shelter in the cave that had contained Salem's tomb deep within, and she wondered if that same storm truly could cause the giant icebergs that bobbed along with the sea. Was that even possible? The storm had been ferocious beyond comprehension, but she did not know and did not want to believe it had had the power to make the sea icy.

Jaune stirred briefly, but his eyes remained closed. She found herself staring at the sword sheathed against his hip. Jaune had claimed the sword was no longer the God of Darkness, but rather something called Crocea Mors. Yang did not know enough about the Brothers to know whether that meant it was something different, something the same or something slightly different to what it was, but something about the name felt old, ancient even. There was a somethingness to it that made it seem different to what she had seen and heard from the God of Darkness. Despite that, it's stench remained the same. A scent of death and the utter coldness of something purely evil, utterly malignant. It was the same scent as tainted meat that would make you sick, the same scent as the corpses strewn across the field near where Yang had found Jaune again. It could call itself something different, maybe it would act differently too, but it's scent was the same. That worried Yang. Even Uncle Qrow had thought the sword had smelt so vile it could only be something related to Salem. How was something that was so similar to the being who wished to burn down the world and rebuild it anew in her own image supposed to be on their side?

Jaune seemed to think it was different, but he also seemed to have little to no idea what was actually different about the sword, about what had made it go from the God of Darkness to Crocea Mors. Yang remained dubious, especially since she didn't believe a being like the God of Darkness would meekly give up. It had seemed to arrogant, too Raven-like for that to be the case.

A distant howl broke her from her thoughts. She saw Uncle Qrow shift ahead of her, veering to the right, and Yang followed. In the distance a foreign scent carried through the wind, and she peered into the horizon. A dark speck flew there, just as high in the sky as she was, and instantly her hackles rose as she realised another dragon was nearby. A potential competitor. A potential threat. A potential mate stealer.

Yang roared a challenge at the stranger, and she could hear Uncle Qrow bellow back at her. The distant dragon howled again, and another roar followed after. Soon the sky was practically shaking as other dragons answered the howls, and Yang's wings failed for a moment out of shock. Never before had she seen so many dragons so close to one another, though technically the distances between them would be far.

The cacophony eventually ended, but Yang was suddenly hyper aware of the vastness of the sky. Her eyes fell to the dark clouds that drifted above, and she surveyed the horizon from east to west. Most of the dragons had roared and bellowed from her east, though it she was heading south that meant it would be from the west. She could make out the dark specks littering the sky there, and she remembered suddenly what Uncle Qrow had told her of the Grimmlands, of lands filled with dragons that had been seized from them with Salem's return.

There were so many of them...too many. They was not enough land in the human kingdoms as it was, she knew that much from being constantly driven away by dragons protecting their claimed territory. If hundreds, possibly thousands, of dragons were now migrating to those lands it would be nothing short of a bloodbath, and the humans would be caught in the middle of the conflict that would leave nothing but ashes and an even broker world.

The reality of what could happen bared down on her suddenly, and she started flying with gusto. She did not lazily let the winds carry her forwards, and instead she used her wings to propel her forwards, to make her go faster. The change in speed awoke Jaune, who yelled and gripped onto her tighter. She sent a reassuring coo towards him, though he did not seem to understand. Their flight continued through the night, though she was forced to slow down near dawn as her wings and body started to ache. The winds were still strong but were weakening slightly, so she decided to relax her pace again to make use of the wind whilst she could. She would rest slightly, and when the wind would no longer be able to carry her by itself she would properly fly the rest of the way to Vale.

Fortunately for her that did not end up being the case. Large cliffs appeared first, followed up distant mountains and barely noticeable foliage. As she flew closer she could see the waves dashing against the cliffs, the dark forest spreading out to the distant grew mountains. Uncle Qrow swooped down, and Yang followed, thinking that he was preparing to land, but he disappeared into the forest for a few moments before swooping out again. In his talons were were a large buck that flailed wildly before being crushed and falling limp. Uncle Qrow flew on, so Yang followed, staying at his height just above the treeline. He swooped down again, shattering trees and emerging again with another animal, this time a doe. It died a quicker death than the stag, and Yang elected not to hunt out of a desire not to hurt Jaune. Her body would shatter the trees as she swooped low and the splinters would easily pierce Jaune's skin, the both of them having forgotten to pick up his helmet as they hurriedly took to the skies after Uncle Qrow back in Atlas.

They reached the mountains, and Uncle Qrow flew over them but didn't land. Yang followed, though she started to wonder how much further he would push them before they stopped and rested. They could not continue forever, and from how urgently Uncle Qrow insisted they see the 'old man' he knew she could tell he was trying to get them as close his friend as they could before resting. She noticed a distant human settlement, a large grey castle that had been carved into the side of a mountain, and Yang wondered just how humans were able to create such structures. They would not have dragons to help them carry stone, and they certainly couldn't do it themselves. The image of hundreds of tiny humans lifting a ginormous stone slab into place amused her, though she knew such a thing couldn't be possible. Or at least she hoped not. It certainly wouldn't be nice for the humans doing the carrying.

Dozens of human settlements, great and small, passed underneath them before Uncle Qrow started a slow glide downwards. Yang spotted his landing area, a large cliff jutting from the side of a small mountain devoid of human settlement, and she followed him downwards. At the last few moments she reared and flapped her wings rapidly, creating a large dust cloud as they finally settled down. Uncle Qrow starting changing immediately, his body glowing crimson red and illuminating the clearing in the dim morning light. Yang waited for Jaune to dismount, which meant she had to wait for Uncle Qrow to change so Jaune could open his eyes again. It did not take long, thankfully, and when Jaune slid off her back Yang gave him a moment or two to adjust to the ground before shifting herself.

Her body glowed yellow and she let out an exhale as her bones cracked and shrunk and her shape changed completely. Thankfully she was much better at shifting than she once was, in part due to effort and concentration, and she kept her clothes as she shifted into her Amator form. She did not fancy being nude in front of her Uncle or even Jaune, not until they had properly mended their relationship that was. Amusedly it was a relief to change into her Amator form, with her Pugnator form being the one that ached and hurt for once.

"Where are we?" Yang asked, stretching and feeling her bones popping nicely. Uncle Qrow did the same, whilst Jaune looked like he was still trying to find his balance being on solid ground again.

"Vale." Uncle Qrow answered. "Though if you mean where we are specifically then we're a few miles east of Kingsport, a major port in northern Vale. We can rest here for a few hours but then we need to head southwest towards Emerald Vale. The old man is holed up at the Beacon Ruins, and we need to get there soon if we're to beat that massive dragon migration we saw earlier."

"They were right with us, and they were keeping pace for a while." Yang replied sceptically. "I don't think we'll beat them Uncle Qrow."

"That was just the first wave Yang." Uncle Qrow said darkly. "I've been to the Dragon Isles, though now its back to being the Grimmlands. There are thousands more coming, and they'll be taking their time. They don't know where to go, they're confused, they're hungry and they've just lost their homes. Some will probably run out of energy and fall. If they think fast and have enough Aura left they might be able to transform and someone else might take enough pity on them to save their lives. If not they'll drown. Those poor bastards aren't used to flying far."

"Dragon Isles? Grimmlands?" Jaune blinked, facing paling. "Dragon migration?"

"See those shrubs over there? Get some sticks so I can start a fire. I'll get some meat ready and we can take whilst we wait for it to cook." Uncle Qrow said, shaking his head like a disgruntled parent.

"I'll help Jaune." Yang said, standing next to him, and Uncle Qrow rolled his eyes.

"Sure you will." He said dryly, taking a knife from his belt and turning to the dead buck and doe he'd dropped whilst landing. Yang and Jaune wandered away, and Jaune helped her pick out a few sticks they could use for the fire. They also gathered up some loose sticks and twigs to use as kindling before creating a little pyramid with the kindling inside. Jaune found a few rocks and slammed them together until sparks erupted, and with some gentle coaxing he started the fire.

Uncle Qrow came over with a few juicy slabs of meat, which he skewered and held over the fire. They then pushed the discarded remains of the side of the cliff along with and they settled around the fire. Uncle Qrow sat opposite them, keeping an eye and a hand on the stick with the meat, whilst Yang sat next to Jaune as close as she dared. He smiled at her, weakly, and she smiled back. His smile grew, and her heart was raised by the sight and what it might mean.

"Okay." Uncle Qrow sighed heavily, making Yang flush as she turn her attention from her mate to him. "I'm going to talk for a while, to explain things. I don't know everything, so don't take what I say for definite. The old man, he can make sure you know everything correctly when we meet him later. I'll appreciate if you just let me talk, since I don't know what you already know or if you know anything at all I'll be starting from the beginning. Any questions so far?"

Jaune shook his head, and Yang copied him. Uncle Qrow exhaled slightly.

"Good to know you two can listen." He remarked dryly, shaking his head. "Once upon a time the two Brother Gods created Remnant. One created life, and everything that went into being alive stems from the God of Light, the elder of the two brothers. He created souls, emotions, everything that makes us unique from an animal, though he created those too. His brother, the God of Darkness, resented his brother for not involving him in the process. He was jealous of the love his brother received from his creations, so the God of Darkness created his own servants, the Grimm, to destroy Humanity and everything that had a soul. This created a cycle of balance, the cycle of life and death. Both Brothers eventually agreed to uphold this order to prevent any instability caused by things like overpopulation, as without death we'd just reproduce until we overran Remnant and destroy all other life. Are the both of you still with me?"

Yang nodded, enraptured by the tale. Her Uncle had a strange way of being utterly captivating with the tale he told despite how relatively calm and bored he seemed relaying it.

"Good. I'd hate to repeat myself. That was how we all came to be. Now as to why we are specifically sat on this rock resting after a long journey is thanks to Salem, who I understand you met already."

"Briefly." Jaune blurted out, and Yang felt a shiver of fear as she remembered the force of nature they had tried fighting against. "Even that was too much."

"I see." Uncle Qrow said, in a tone that implied he didn't and he also knew it. "Before she was what you met she was just another mortal, like us in a way. She could love. She could feel. She could die. But back then every human was magic, and Salem still has access to that old magic we have long since lost. She was trapped in a tower, only to be saved by a legendary knight called Ozma, who she fell in love with. They eloped, and for a time they travelled the world together. But Ozma caught a fever, and eventually he perished to it. Salem beseeched the God of Light to resurrect her dead husband, but he refused in order to not upset the natural balance. Then she travelled to the Grimmlands, the realm of the God of Darkness, where she sought an audience with the feared God of Darkness. She presented herself as a genuine worshipper of the dark god, and using his jealously towards his brother and by inflaming his ego she tricked him into bringing back Ozma from the dead. But the God of Light intervened and informed his brother of the truth, causing Ozma to be sent back to the Afterlife. The Brothers punished Salem for her attempts to usurp the natural order by making her immortal until she learned the importance of life and death, cursing her to remain separated from her husband, who remained in the Afterlife."

Uncle Qrow paused for breath, and he shifted the meat over the fire. Yang glanced at Jaune, who gave her an astonished look. They both turned back to Uncle Qrow when he started speaking again.

"Salem tried killing herself, tried ending her life and going to the Afterlife, but each attempt proved fruitless. True to their word the Brother Gods had made her unkillable, everlasting, and she burned with rage. She used her inability to die as proof she had tricked the Gods, that she had stolen their immortality. She tricked mankind into turning on their creators, and she attacked the Brothers with a great army. The magic they used proved fruitless, as it was a gift from the Gods themselves. The Brothers wiped out ancient humanity for revolting against them, and the Brothers abandoned Remnant to start anew elsewhere. The God of Darkness, still smarting at mankind's arrogance, destroyed the moon whilst leaving Remnant, leaving it forever broken and shattered. Salem was left alone, and she wandered and wandered until she found herself in the Grimmlands. She threw herself into one of the dark pools there, hoping for death, but instead she was turned into a monster, the one you saw in her temple."

Uncle Qrow gave her am inscrutable look, and she met it with astonishment, awe and some mild confusion. He looked at Jaune, who had a similar expression as his own, and he snorted.

"Before he left, the God of Light brought Ozma from the Afterlife and tasked him with uniting humanity in order for the Brothers to return. He gave Ozma four powerful relics, the Relic of Choice, the Relic of Creation, the Relic of Knowledge and the Relic of Destruction, to aid with this task. Whenever Ozma would die, he would be reborn in a body with a like minded soul until he completed his task. Ozma accepted this task in order to find Salem, who he was told had been left alone on Remnant. Once he was reborn, he was confused. Faunus had been created in the absence of the Brother Gods by an eldritch being known as the Curious Cat, who had accidentally created the Faunus when attempting to travel from a mystical realm known as the Ever After to Remnant. He met with Salem, and she convinced him to use their magic to unite the world and guide a weaker Humanity that had returned after the Brothers abandoned Remnant, as nothing can stop life indefinitely. Ozma joined his wife, and together they united mankind under their banner, presenting themselves as gods. Although they protected mankind from the Grimm, who had remained despite their creators abandonment, they also waged brutal wars against those who questioned their divinity and refused to join their empire. Salem eventually learned of Ozma's mission, and she decided Humanity was no longer worth redeeming, and no longer worth saving out of the risk their existence might lead to the Brother Gods returning to Remnant. She instead wanted to replace mankind with their own lineage, born from Ozma and Salem's children, which appalled Ozma. He tried sneaking out from her castle in the dead of night with the four children they had sired together, but Salem confronted him. The two fought, and their children were caught in between the titanic clash. With his wife a monster and his children dead, Ozma wandered Remnant, broken in spirit for many hundreds of years. After finding love and purpose again, he sought out the Relic of Knowledge for knowledge on how he could kill Salem. It told him he couldn't, and he was broken once more. He guided humanity from the shadows, overseeing its development and continued existence despite Salem's attempts to destroy it using the Grimm she could now control after once more diving into the pools of Darkness in the Grimmlands, the same pools that could create Grimm. They fought a millennia long shadow war, one that culminated in the final battle against Salem that saw her body destroyed...for a time at least."

Uncle Qrow chuckled darkly.

"You see, you have to be specific with the Relics. If you want knowledge, you need to ask a question that is correctly worded, one that covers all possible bases, if you want a thorough answer. This is hard to do, as you can only ask the Relic of Knowledge three questions every hundred years. Ozma asked if how he could kill Salem, and he can't."

"Can we?" Jaune asked, voice filled with determination. Yang nodded next to him, back straightening out of support. Uncle Qrow shrugged.

"Maybe. No-one knows who can, or who will." He replied simply, looking away. "During the war against Salem, the Brother Gods returned. They wanted to leave Remnant behind for good, but as it was their creation part of themselves remained. They resolved to destroy Salem and to gradually remove their essence from Remnant over hundreds of thousands of years, something that wouldn't be possible if Salem destroyed Remnant. However by this point Salem had learnt of this too, and she absorbed part of them, the part that had been left behind. A few scraps remained, hence why once the war was won the Brothers partially remained in the forms of a sword and shield, Crocea Mors, a weapon wielded by one of the legendary warriors who had fought in the great war against Salem, the Rusted Knight. But Salem became a sort of minor god after stealing the essence of the Brothers, which was why she did not stay dead after the destruction of her body at the end of the great war. We have enjoyed centuries of peace, but the Brothers knew Salem would return. They already had the Silver-Eyed Warriors, who were expert fighters against the Grimm, but they also created Dragonkind in order to protect and guard humanity, and faunuskind, further. The dragons were led by the Lord of the Dragons, a title which has been long forgotten and badly twisted and maimed over the centuries. Infighting, as always, broke humanity and the dragons apart, partially due to the weak leadership of the Lord of the Dragons. As both sides grew to hate one another, the Lord of the Dragons became a different title, one passed from mother to daughter so long as they were strong enough, cruel enough, powerful enough."

Uncle Qrow's eyes met hers, and Yang felt frozen underneath his gaze.

"The Slayer of Men." He said, and Yang's world started to spin and her ears rang with distant, faint noise. "The Lord of the Dragons. A title left open since your mother's death Yang. A title we'll need you to claim if we have any hope of stopping a great war between dragons and mankind at a time where Salem has finally returned."

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Even hundreds of meters up into the air Weiss could hear the horrifying, visceral sounds of battle.

It was the smoke she had seen first. Cinder had made good on her word, and they had arrived in Vale by the end of the day due to the harsh, punishing winds. For hours Weiss had lowered her head and and tucked herself down as it felt like the natural elements themselves conspired in an attempt to through her from Cinder's back and send her plummeting into the ocean. Weiss had spotted icebergs, great blocks of ice floating in the swelling sea, and she had tried coaxing her powers to come to the fore. It had took an effort that had given her a migraine that lasted until dawn, but Weiss' eyes had glowed with ice blue fire and she had been able to dispel many of the icebergs, paving the way below for ant-sized ships braving the harsh seas.

At one point a distant howl had erupted out of nowhere, and Cinder had bellowed back. The skies erupted with the sound of roaring dragons, and Weiss found herself shocked and awed and terrified at all it implied. Did the dragons truly rule the skies? Did massive flocks of the scaled beasts fly hidden out of sight, just above dark clouds to conceal themselves but always there?

The rest of the journey had been silent apart from the howling wind. Weiss' migraine gradually faded and she did not hear or see any dragons during the rest of the flight. When they reached Vale they paused, with Cinder hunting down and devouring some wild animal whilst Weiss tore through some of the packed supplies, though one the bags filled with food had broken off unnoticed at some point during the flight.

Cinder was eager to be off so it they only briefly rested for an hour or so before setting off into the skies once more. Everything had been green and clear and beautiful.

Then the dark tendrils of smoke seemed to erupt from out of nowhere. Then it had grown and grown until Weiss had been able to identify the source through squinted eyes.

"Emerald Vale." Weiss gasped, recognising the tiered walls from books and brief stay there when she had been very young. The lower tier of the city was engulfed with smoke, and barges were fleeing to the north through Emerald Vale. The river gates had been opened, flooding the otherwise fertile fields and creating a muddy mire that would protect the fleeing barges unless the attackers had boats of their own. Cinder circled in the sky, giving Weiss the opportunity to take everything in.

Bodies and blood stained the fields to the south of the city. They stretched from gate, to gate, and a large mass of men were concentrated a hill surrounded by forest, facing a large horde of horse riders. From the fluttering banners and flags Weiss could surmise that Ironwood and most of Vale's nobility were fighting there, facing an unknown enemy host. She wondered if it was the Mistrali, but they preferred to fight with their spears rather than with horses. The horde had no identifying marks, no flags or no sign of who was leading it. The only enemy that would fight on horseback, with no identifying features and in such numbers was...

"Vacuo." Weiss realised, her eyes fixating on a familiar banner. On it were two golden crests, and Jaune's face flashed in her mind. His father was down there somewhere, fighting with Ironwood in defense of Emerald Vale.

But the city had already fallen, or at least just been breached. But it was clear that Vale's fighting strength was outside its walls, and that Vacuo had developed some sort of ploy were part of their infamous horde would draw out and entrap Emerald Vale's defenders whilst the rest would somehow enter the city and enjoy free reign to pillage and plunder.

"Cinder..." Weiss said. "Cinder we need to help them."

Cinder snarled, making her opinions clear. Weiss knew she would be reluctant to do so, reluctant to follow another humans orders after what the last one did. Weiss' heart thundered in her chest as she wondered as to what she could do to convince the one-minded focused dragon into helping her, into helping her people. She had already failed her Atlesian subjects, she couldn't stomach failing her Valean ones too, not when they were in dire need of it. Mercy was not something the Vacuoan horde was famous for.

"Cinder...please!" Weiss howled, fighting to speak louder than the wind and to speak to Cinder. "I'm not ordering you! I'm not blackmailing you! I'm begging you! We have to help them! They're my people, I need to help them please!"

Weiss felt, rather than heard, Cinder's responding rumble. She turned her head, and Weiss stared at her reptilian but all too human eyes. It took Weiss a moment to realise there was a silent question in those eyes. Weiss reached for the muddy flag tied against her belt, unfurling it and gripping it tightly as it roared in the wind, proud despite it's sorry state.

"Those ones!" Weiss added, pointing at Ironwood's men. "We need to help those, protect them. The horse riders are the enemy!"

Cinder let out a roar of frustration that tore through the air. Weiss yelled as Cinder dove suddenly, the wind howling and mixing with Cinder's roaring battle cry. The battle froze and both sides panicked as the dragon bore down on them both, and for a brief moment Weiss feared Cinder might kill all of them out of spite.

The world suddenly grew hot like and inferno as fire billowed out of Cinder's maw, and the sounds of dying, terrified men echoed in Weiss' ears. She did not see who Cinder had struck, so she turned and felt a crashing wave of relief when she saw Ironwood and his men still standing. A ragged cheer erupted from them, and it was at the moment that Weiss realised she still held the flag of Atlas-Vale in her hand, identifiable enough even from the large distance between them.

Cinder veered and Weiss turned back to her companion slash ride. She leaned forward and hugged Cinder's scales, both to hold on tighter and to show her gratitude.

"Thank you Cinder." Weiss blurted out honestly. "Thank you so much! All you need to do is circle the city! Ironwood can secure it with his men then you can land. I'll make sure to clean it up so when you bring your family here for safe keeping they are truly safe."

All she got in a reply was an annoyed rumble.

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"To the city!" Ironwood roared, feeling rejuvenated at the sudden turning of the tide. Of all the things to have happened a dragon saving them all was something he truly hadn't predicted. "We have to secure the city!"

The ragged army followed him, trampling over the ash of their enemies as they hurried after their mysterious saviour to save the burning city and prevent the utter ruination of their homes and families. Ironwood's heart thundered and his heart pounded as he saw the smoke rising from Emerald Vale, heard the desperate cries of its inhabitants as Vacuoan raiders ran rampant. He did not want to imagine what was happening, what had happened because of his failure in leadership.

His men were given a second wind, both by the arrival of a dragon that was one their side, of all the things, and by the fact it was their families being attacked and threatened and killed and worse. He thought of Winter in that moment, and Ironwood felt weightless as he thundered across the former battlefield towards the gates.

"Open the gates! Open them now!" Ironwood roared, but he didn't need to. The guards were already working on opening the ginormous, protective gates that was supposed to keep enemies out of the city, and by the time Ironwood reached it they were open enough he and his men flooded through.

"Secure the city!" Ironwood bellowed. "Street by street, home by home. Kill any Vacuoan you see and push them out! We have a dragon on our side! How can they hope to defeat us? Who does this city belong to?"

"Vale!" His men cried, mixed in with a few cries of "Atlas!". The message was the same, and it reached them all.

Friends and brothers in arms split off and the large host melted away to a few stragglers like himself. He wished he could have organised better, developed plans of some sort that would make clearing out the city more organised and sure, but he hadn't anticipated Vacuo's arrival and had not planned for them being able to somehow enter the city.

Now the city burned.

"James." Someone said, and Ironwood turned to see Nicholas Arc standing next to him. His old friend turned enemy turned...something else had a band of retainers nearby, and Ironwood immediately tensed, fearing the worst.

"Nicholas." He replied stiffly, and he saw his friend struggle with his helm blood stained helm before he managed to take it off his head, showing a gaunt face covered in mud and blood and gore. Somehow, Arc looked even worse than he had earlier, but then again battle had a way of doing that to men.

"I...I'm sorry James." Nicholas said truthfully, and he looked genuine. He even sounded genuine, the tone of his voice more familiar with what Ironwood remembered of Nicholas. "I don't know what happened, or why, but I'll atone for what I've done. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that." Ironwood replied, unsure of what to make of Nicholas. He had gone from madman to normal in the span of an hour. "In the meantime using your men to help secure the city may make my judgement more lenient, as it will show the genuineness behind your will to atone."

"I will. I just wanted to speak to you first." Nicholas said, nodding over to his men and half-turning towards them. "I hate battle. But I enjoy fighting alongside you. I'm glad I got the chance to do so one last time at least."

"Likewise." Ironwood said, smiling a fond smile tinged with sadness. This was Nicholas, the man he called friend, and it would be Nicholas who would suffer for the actions he had undertaken whilst mad.

Nicholas redonned his helmet and hurried over to his men, waving for them to follow. They did, following their lord with an obedience that could only stem from loyalty, and Ironwood watched until they disappeared behind a street corner.

He shook his head, before stepping forward and jogging north. This part of the city seemed untouched by the Vacuoans, so he hurried north to the gates leading to the Middle City. He needed to know if the rest of the city was secure, untouched by the invaders, so that he knew he could concentrate all he had on attacking the Vacuoans in the Lower City and driving them out of Emerald Vale.

The streets were mostly empty, though frightened city folk peered out of doors and windows as he ran past. Most of them looked elderly, most looked confused, and Ironwood found the rest of the city folk gathered around the closed gate leading to the Middle City, having abandoned the old and infirm in search of sanctuary. Ironwood shook his head and turned away. He wouldn't be able to force his way through the crowd, not alone, and if they were so eager to get into the Middle City then it would surely be safe. To make sure he was correct in his assumptions, he entered and empty house and made his way to the roof, having to punch out a hole in the thatched roof to reach it. He clambered onto the roof and peered out over the other rows of house across the city. It wasn't a perfect birds eye view, but it was good enough to tell that fires were contained to the northern end of the Lower City. The Vacuoans must have been able to breach the North Gate somehow, as the walls looked entirely intact.

Ironwood shook his head to shake away looming thoughts of betrayal fuelled by paranoia. Things hadn't felt right since Nicholas lost his senses and led a mad rebellion, and he was still adjusting to his new body. Tiredness rolled over him suddenly, and he felt his age as he sank onto his knees, arms weary and legs tired. Having half of his body made out of metal did not help, and his stamina had been utterly drained by the fighting so far. Yet there was more bloodshed, more battle, to be had. As there always was.

If only the world valued peace as much as it valued war.

Ironwood sighed and heaved himself up. It didn't matter if he was tired. It didn't matter if he was alone in a city filled with enemies and possible traitors. What mattered was the fact he wasn't dead yet, and Vale needed him still.

He clambered back down onto the street and worked his way to the north. The further he went the louder the screams and shouts and sounds of battle grew. The larger the smokes loomed and the heat of innumerable fires burned. He crossed a few bodies scattered across the street, and to his relief it seemed like they were all Vacuoan. Then he entered another street and saw a mix of Vacuoan dead and the bodies of civilians mixed with them. The next street other lay the bodies of his men next to the bodies of the civilians and on top of the bodies of Vacuoans. Every street was bloodier and more violent than the next, and the fact he had yet to come across a living soul unnerved him.

A sudden scream caught his attention and he raced into a nearby house, where it had sounded like the scream originated. Inside he found a woman cowering over her children, the body of a man nearby, his crimson blood staining the floor. Judging from his clothes the man had been a family member. Maybe a husband, a father. An uncle, a brother. There were two Vacuoan dead as well, and a further two that were alive. One of his soldiers was fighting them, but it was clear the soldier was going to lose. Blood stained his armour, and if it wasn't his own then it belonged to those he had killed. Ironwood charged forward with a roar, catching the fighters by surprise. The Vacuoan he targeted didn't recover in time, and another kill was added to the growing list of souls Ironwood had taken. His soldier recovered quickly and slew the other Vacuoan, and Ironwood turned the trembling family.

"Head to the south, it's safer the closer you get to the South Gate." Ironwood told them, firmly but gently, and the woman nodded distantly, eyes not leaving the corpses of the dead. "Go!"

The woman was galvanised by the command and grabbed her children, running from the house with a heart-wrenching wail. Ironwood turned to his soldier, who was waiting stiffly.

"Good work." Ironwood complimented, nodding at the soldier. Something about them felt familiar, which was odd as he truly did not recognise them. "What is your name soldier?"

The soldier looked away, and Ironwood frowned, feeling his paranoia creeping in. Before he could press the issue the sound of galloping hooves and screaming drew his attention to the street. He hurried outside, where he saw a dozen or so civilians fleeing down the street after the family of three that he and the suspicious soldier had just saved. Behind them were a small group of his men, and behind them were a larger group of mounted Vacuoans, who yelled as they jabbed spears and tossed javelins after the fleeing mix of soldiers and civilians.

Ironwood raced forward, and the suspicious solider was neck and neck with him as they charged to assist. The civilians part way with ease, and his soldiers made noises of surprise as he raced past them and charged the Vacuoan raiders. The raiders were taken aback by what would normally be a suicidal charge, though a few seemed amused. That amusement died when Ironwood dipped his shoulder and tackled the leading raider with the iron side of his body. He gritted his teeth as sharp shocks of pain erupted through his body, and he scrapped backwards through the ground as the momentum of the horse carried it forward. He found purchase after sliding into the body of a dead Vacuoan, and with a roar of pain and anger and adrenaline he tossed the horse onto its side. It screeched and kicked like a fish out of water, the noises drowning out the pained screams of its rider, and the rest of the raiders froze in shock at what had happened. Ironwood grunted and tightened his grip over the hilt of his sword, readying to lash out at the nearest rider when the Vacuoan fell with a scream.

Ironwood saw the suspicious soldier in the corner of his eye, and the action of the soldier galvanised the rest of his men. They charged forward with battle cries that drowned out the scream Vacouan and his horse, and the rest of the raiders turned and fled, startled and broken, but not before another of their number was struck down by his men.

One of his troops put the Vacoan and his horse out of its misery, and they turned to Ironwood, awe in their faces. Ironwood tried hard to keep his composure.

"Escort these civilians towards the South Gate, the area there is clear." Ironwood ordered, and his men hurried to fulfil his commands. The suspicious soldier stood at his side, and Ironwood turned to ask for their name again. If they refused he would have demanded it. Instead he let out a pained grunt and fell to one knee, his body burning with pain. What he had done was stupid, reckless and would not have worked if he wasn't halfway towards being a monster made of metal. A golem of some sort. The rest of his body had struggled to keep up with his antics, and he found his eyes stinging with sweat and his legs burning with exertion.

"James!" The soldier cried, and Ironwood froze utterly as they ran towards him, catching him in their arms. The voice...no...no it couldn't be, it wasn't!

"Winter..." Ironwood gasped out through the shock and pain, world slowing down as his wife tossed off her helmet and flicked his head.

"You damn fool!" Winter scolded, face contorted in a frown of anger and worry. "You charged a horse you idiot! What were you thinking!?"

"What...No!" Ironwood shook his head, body cold with fear and fingers trembling. He couldn't...He wouldn't! He wouldn't lose her to this madness. "What are you doing here? What are you doing here?!"

"Fighting." Winter replied firmly, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Not charging thundering warhorses. Don't act as if I'm in the wrong here mister."

"You shouldn't be here!" Ironwood gritted out, grabbing Winter's shoulders and trying to shake some sense into her. "You can't! Who's in control of the Upper City? Why are you here!"

"As I said, fighting." Winter retorted, nostrils flaring. "I wasn't going to sit alone in my little room whilst Emerald Vale burned to the ground. I know how to fight James, why would you let me train otherwise."

"There is a difference between helping you develop the know how to defend yourself should you need it and having you participate in this madness." Ironwood growled. "I thought you understood that. You can't be here Winter."

"I thought you understood I'm not some mere damsel in distress." Winter retorted angrily. "You may be my husband but you don't command me."

"I'm not commanding you, I'm begging you!" Ironwood snapped back. "Winter...I need you to be safe. You won't be safe here."

"And what about you James?" Winter bit back. "Should I be content running away to hide behind slightly safer walls after seeing you behave so recklessly? After you charged a horse of all things like you were a bull?"

"I don't matter as much as you do damnit!" Ironwood bellowed, taking her aback. He rarely raised his voice towards her, as he had never been so fearful of losing her. "I don't care what happens to me so long as you live."

"You don't even care what I think? What I care about?" Winter asked, voice deceptively calm. "Because I care about you. I don't want you to die. If you die, what do I have? A distant sister that hates me? A city that I hurt out of grief? I have nothing. If you are allowed to sacrifice yourself for me, then I'm allowed to do the same because I don't want to live in a world I don't share with you."

Ironwood said nothing, but his shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes. He was all too aware of the sounds of battle raging nearby, and he did not like lowering his guard so thoroughly. But he was too tired to care otherwise. Too exhausted. Too scared. He was terrified of opening his eyes and seeing Winter's lifeless eyes, her blood staining the ground and pooling around her deathly still body.

"Look at me James." Winter commanded quietly, and Ironwood obeyed. There was a fire, a determination in her eyes that had caught his heart for years now. "We'll do this together. We will protect each other. And when this battle ends we'll still be together. Okay?"

"Okay." Ironwood nodded, though it wasn't okay. Not when he saw the fire extinguished in her eyes, not when he could see her dying so easily in the chaos they found themselves in. He mustered what remained of his sagging strength and pushed himself onto his feet, the grip he had on his sword firmer than it ever had been. He wasn't fighting for himself anymore, or fighting to see Winter when the fighting was done. He was fighting to protect her, directly in the midst of battle, and he felt his eyes narrow as the fierce urge to succeed at his duty burned through him.

Winter silently donned her helmet, and Ironwood exhaled to calm himself. Then they turned and ran down the street, towards the battle, towards the chaos.

They found it easily.

Valean troops battled dismounted Vacuoan raiders caught in the middle of looting. They were dismounted and separated from their greatest strength, but they were still fighting fiercely. Ironwood might have respected them for their battle prowess, if not for the fact they were fighting because they desire to loot, burn and rape.

A fire burned in Ironwood's soul as he charged with a roar. He would slay every one of these monsters single-handedly if he had to, because not one of them would lay a hand on Winter, who fought alongside him. They fought as if they had fought together a hundred times before, which was technically true due to the training he had sometimes participated in with her. They carved through the Vacuoans like a machine made for murder, and Ironwood was not sure whether to be impressed or terrified at how easily his wife killed.

Their presence rallied his men, who had been wavering in the face of surprisingly stiff resistance when the Vacuoans had been caught out of their element. The Vacuoans started to fall-back. Then they started to flee. They died all the same.

He hurried onwards, hearing more fighting. His men followed. Winter was next to him. The next skirmish was larger, and there were Vacuoans who were mounted on their steeds present. Ironwood charged into the fray all the same, and the arrival of reinforcements turned the tide of the skirmish. The Vacuoans died, and Ironwood marvelled at the seeming lack of casualties on his own side. It felt good, a rare moment where he had not lost a single soul during an engagement with an enemy force.

A pained cry shattered the relative calm. Ironwood turned, heart pounding in his ears as he saw what had been a dead Vacuoan rise behind Winter. The world slowed as his eyes fixated on the blade stained crimson with blood, jutting out horridly from her side. The Vacuoan keeled over with a groan, and Ironwood ignored him as he thundered forward and caught his wife. He tried speaking, saying something, anything, but all that calm out from his mouth was a panicked, terrified scream. His hands trembled as he tried stemming the flow of blood, hands staining with the horrible sight of his wife's blood, and he saw her eyes, wide and filled with pain and fear, through the slits in her helmet.

"Healer! Anyone!" Ironwood roared. "Someone save her!"

"Her?" One of the soldiers nearby blurted out, and Ironwood felt his very soul tremble.

"My wife!" He howled. "Someone please do something!"

No one stepped forward. No one knew what to do, how to help. A few ran away in search of someone who could, but Ironwood knew that by the time they returned it would be too late.

"No..." He gasped breathlessly. "Please no. I'll do anything. Please if any god exists then just save her. Take my life if need be. Take the world damnit! Just save her please!"

"J-James..." Winter rasped, and Ironwood tore off her helmet, cradling her head gently and holding her tightly. "M-Maybe I shouldn't have been so stubborn."

"Winter it'll be okay-!"

"Don't lie James." Winter smiled weakly, coughing out blood that stained her cheek. Ironwood tried wiping it away, only to spread more blood from his hands against her face. "You were never a good liar. It's okay. I'll be with them. All of them...we'll wait for you. Take...Take your time. If you die too...too quickly...I'll...I'll..."

Her voice trailed off with a whisper, and Ironwood was frozen. He saw the life leave her eyes. Felt her body slump in her arms. He stared. Helpless. Frozen. Transfixed.

Someone was screaming. He didn't realise it was him until his throat burned and he couldn't scream anymore. His entire body felt cold, lifeless, and pressed his forehead against hers and rocked her back and forth gently, trying to coax the life back into her, trying to drive away the cold.

She was gone. She was gone. She was gone.

"M-Milord..."

Ironwood growled weakly, tearing his head away from his wife to glare at the soldier who approached him.

"W-What should we do milord?" The soldier asked, unable to meet Ironwood's eyes. "How can we help?"

Ironwood turned to his wife. Her lifeless eyes stared back at him, as cold as winter itself. He shook his head, lifting his shaking hand before closing her eyes, those beautiful eyes, for the last time. He laid her against the ground gently, laying her sword on her chest and rest her hands against the hilt of it.

"Guard her body." He ordered hoarsely, tearing his eyes away from his wife to glare at her killer, who moaned in pain and was in the act of trying to crawl away, blood spilling from the wound against his chest that had led him and the others around him to believe the man was dead. "Guard it with your lives. If so much as a single rat touches her I'll kill you all and burn the entirety of Vale to the ground. Guard her."

"Yes milord." The soldier replied quietly. The other soldiers milling around stepped forward, forming a circle with their bodies around Winter, and Ironwood breathed slightly, stepping towards his wife's killer. The man howled as he screamed in pain as his ankle was crushed into smithereens by the iron tight grip of his iron hand, and Ironwood steadfastly dragged the screaming man away into a nearby alley, filled with the sole violent intent of making sure the man died as slowly as he could, to make him feel a fraction of the pain that filled Ironwood's heart and soul.

A nearby house was on fire. Ironwood ignored it and the screaming inside it. The roof caved in, and the screams fell silent, and all that filled Ironwood's ears again was the dying sound of his wife's murderer as Ironwood slowly discovered just how easy it was to crush flesh when your hand and half your body was made of metal.

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Death. Bodies stacked in piles. A baby screaming in its cradle as a burning roof fell inwards, the sounds of battle and death echoing inside. A roar of fury tore through the air, a roar of grief and pain and anger. A soldier made of iron stumbled past the burning house, covered in blood and ignorant of the babes wails as it stumbled onwards, seeking enemies, seeking death.

Salem smirked, slowly stroking the flank of her dragon. She had spent days resting, building up her strength. She had a small army of Grimm now, as well as her dragon, and she would soon attack Light's hiding place. All it took to change the course of one her enemies best pieces life and destiny was the easy manipulation of a dying pawn to strike a fatal blow.

Truly, sometimes it felt unfair to be her. Everything was just so easy.

And this wasn't even the first of her many ploys.

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Ruby struggled to sleep, to rest, but somehow she managed to. The burden of her promise weighed down on her heavily, and she was determined to not let the people who relied on her down. They were eager to set off too, and shortly after being awoken and given food by Thorn, who seemed much more jubilant, she was led outside where she found a dozen or so people waiting in the ruins of a village, all staring at her. Her voice caught in her throat, and she felt like they expected some sort of morale raising speech from her.

"Hello." Ruby supplied instead. "I'm Ruby."

"I'm Thistle."

"I'm Dandelion, though everyone calls me Dandy!"

"I'm Daisy."

The greetings went on, and the only ones she could remember were Thorn, Norene and Dandy, who had a bright smile that seemed to shine. Ruby nodded sagely, though she didn't really know why.

"Is everything packed?" Ruby asked, turning to Thorn. "Food, water, clothing?"

"We have a few bags for food and waterskins for, well, water." Thorn answered, rubbing his head. "We've limited other non-essentials to what people can carry."

"Good." Ruby nodded, feeling relieved she wouldn't have to organise the group's supplies before leaving- something she knew she would do poorly ar. "Do we have a map?"

Thorn shrugged, and Norene stepped forward, swatting the boy with her walking stick.

"I know the way to Bessemer girl." Norene said, tapping at the side of her head. "This is our map."

"Gods preserve us." Someone muttered, earning a dark look from Norene. Ruby stepped forward to try and ease the sudden tension.

"Well, that'll have to do then." She smiled. "Lead on Norene."

"If I set the pace we'll be in Bessemer sometime next year." Norene snorted, swatting Thorn. "Come here Brawns and be useful for once."

Ruby watched as Thorn adjusted the bags strapped to his back and leaned down slightly. Norene hobbled forward before clambering onto his back, before patting Thorn's head and pointing with her walking stick.

"That way Brawns, and get to it." Norene commanded, and Thorn grunted before standing and obeying the command. Ruby followed after them, and the survivors of Fallow River trickled after them. Ruby ordered the other young men, both of whom looked disgruntled, to keep an eye on the rest of the elders, who hobbled behind them. The children and the mothers, one of whom had a child swaddled in thick furs cradled against her chest, formed a tightly packed group at the middle of the convoy, and Ruby stayed around them in case of attack.

The pace was slow, with Thorn often having to wait atop a distant hill and setting Norene down to catch his breath and wait for the others, particularly the elders, to catch up. After a while, Ruby noticed frustration growing on the faces on the two boys who were Thorns age, and who she had directed to protect the three elders that lagged behind.

"They wanted me and the others to just leave them behind." Thorn explained when Ruby asked about them. "They thought they'd slow us down."

'They were right.' Went unspoken between them, but Thorn made no sign of showing any change of heart in regards to bringing the elders along with them. After a slow slog through the endless snow, they found shelter in a crevasse they had nearly walked past before Norene had pointed it out to them. They had to dig out a large amount of snow packed at the bottom, and the ground was damp and wet, but they were able to get some reprieve from the howling winds. Thorn unpacked a small pile of timber one of his friends had carried throughout the day and started a small fire, and they ate a lukewarm stew made for them by Dandy, who told stories and spoke to everyone in the camp, always with a smile on her face and lifting morale. Ruby slept restlessly, and she awoke at some point in the night, finding the fire long dead and the darkness of the night spilling into the crevasse. She shifted slightly and stayed awake for an hour or so, unable to fall back asleep, and she couldn't find the sentry, one of Thorn's friends, that she had asked to keep watch for most of the night. Thorn had volunteered to take the shift after him, though Ruby didn't know if that had already happened. She listened quietly, though she couldn't hear much of the howling wind and the soft snores of Norene next to her.

She was shook awake by Thorn, the baleful orange dawn sun lighting up the crevasse. His face was pale, and not just with cold.

"The elders! They're missing, all of them except for Norene are gone!" Thorn hissed, and Ruby shot up immediately, grabbing her scythe and letting Thorn guide her towards the end of the crevasse, and true to his word the three other elders were gone. Ruby could see the shape of them imprinted against the ground, where they had slept the night prior. There was a mismatch of footprints and mud, and Thorn's friend, the one who had been on sentry duty, stared down at them with a guilty look.

"Did either of you hear anything last night? See anything?" Ruby asked quietly, the rest of the camp still slumbering. Both of them shook his head.

"It was too dark." Said Thorn's friend. "I barely even heard Thorn approach me when he came to take his shift."

"I didn't notice until it started to get brighter." Thorn said, pointing to a rock further ahead. "I was sat there during my sentry duty, I would have heard them if they snuck out."

"I was over there." The other sentry said, pointing to a small alcove at the sloping entrance to the crevasse. "The wind was real bad last night, I could barely hear myself think. They might have snuck out."

"Or someone might have snuck in and killed us all in our sleep." Ruby retorted with frustration. If you were in such a bad position you'd move, at least a bit, so that the camp wasn't endangered. "Do we have any tracks?"

"Faint ones but they're sporadic and disappear in places." Thorn replied. "The storm last night may have disrupted or destroyed them."

"Stay here and guard the camp." Ruby ordered. "I'll see what I can, but I won't go too far. I don't think they would have made it far if the storm was as bad as you say it was."

"I don't think that's a good idea." Thorn's friend said, shifting slightly. "Yesterday, the elders kept talking about how they felt they were holding us back, endangering us. They felt like they were slowing down the group, that we'd die if they stayed with us."

"What are you trying to say?" Ruby asked, feeling her hackles rise.

The sentry said nothing, but he shifted his feet guility and stared at the imprints in the ground.

"You think they left during the storm to die." Thorn said, voice blank but face contorted in anger. "Did you say anything to them? Your or Hanning?"

"No!" The sentry hissed. "Damnit Thorn! I wanted them to stay behind with some food not...not this. What in the name of the Afterlife do you think I am?"

"Enough." Ruby said, holding back a glare as her suspicions rose at the sentry's response. "Even if they did go out to die they wouldn't have gone far. If they are dead then I'll find them so they can at least be buried properly."

Ruby strode away, following the tracks in the snow. Some of them were fresh, and she realised Thorn must have followed them with his friend when he realised the elders were missing. After a while the fresh tracks stopped. One of them had stood still before turning around, the other had turned before doing the same. In her minds eyes she could see the sentry stopping Thorn, telling him to turn back for one reason or another, and she shook her head, dismissing the image.

She went onwards, and true to what she had been told there was a large gap between the were the tracks Thorn had stopped at ended and where they begun again over a nearby hill. Maybe they had been brushed over by the wind over night. Maybe they had been brushed over by someone leaving the camp and returning to it. She followed the tracks onward, the world cast in a baleful blood orange by the morning sun, and just when she decided to turn back she heard crunching in the snow.

She followed the noise, moving as quietly as she could, but whoever or whatever was making the noise did not seem to care about the ruckus they were making. Ruby tentatively stepped up over the crest of a hill, and down below she saw three bodies and the other boy, Hanning, shovelling snow onto the bodies with his bare hands. A bloodstained knife lay nearby, and the snow around the bodies had been stained red. Their throats had been cut.

"Thordolf?" Hanning said, turning and freezing when he saw Ruby. Fear was written across his face, and Ruby's eyes fell to the blood stained knife next to him. "No!"

Ruby gasped as the boy picked up the knife and thundered towards her, eyes wide and mad with fear and anger. Ruby stumbled backwards, taken aback by the suddenness of the incoming attack, and despite her shock and still awakening body she managed to raise Crescent Rose in time to block the knife as it came slashing towards her. She stumbled back under the weight of the boy and his attack, and she let herself fall back. With a scream she shifted to her right and swung with all her might, bringing Crescent Rose singing downwards and slashing the boys face. Hanning screamed and fell to the ground, and Ruby blinked in horror when she realised it wasn't just his face Crescent Rose had stung.

Fresh, iron smelling blood poured out of Hannings throat, staining the ground wet. The boy gargled and clawed at his throat, having dropped the knife as he fell. He curled up into a ball, eyes meeting Ruby's and shining with tears. He tried to speak, but he could only make visceral gurgles as his eyes pleaded for help.

Ruby stepped backwards, guilt filling her quickly. She...She hadn't meant to...She had only meant to stun him! It would have hurt, but he would have been stunned and he could have dropped his weapon and...and...

Her eyes fell back to the half-frozen bodies nearby. The three elders had terror on their faces, and that terror would be etched there to show the world their final moments had not been peaceful. She turned back to Hanning, and she remembered the disgruntled look on his and Thordolf's faces the day prior. She could see them working together in the dead of night whilst Thordolf was supposed to be on sentry duty. The elders were closest to where Thordolf had said he'd been spending the night, and were at the entrance to the crevasse, so it would have been easy for the pair, covered by the darkness and the storm, to one by one drag the elders away from the camp and to cut their throats.

Ruby turned back to the elders, and she headed over to them. She piled as much snow onto them as she could, and she whispered a silent apology for the poor burial before turning away. Hanning was dead by then, and she was stone-faced as she returned to the camp.

"Ruby?" Thorn said carefully, eyes falling to the fresh blood staining Crescent Rose. "What happened?"

The rest of the camp were awake by now, and they were staring at Ruby in fear. Thordolf turned paler, horror written across his face.

"Thordolf and Hanning took the elders out of camp and cut their throats." Ruby explained, and one of the children turned to his mother and started crying. "When I found them Hanning attacked me. I killed him, then I buried the elders."

"You-!" Thordolf hissed, but whatever he was going to say was cut off when Thorn spun around and punched him in his jaw. Thordolf fell to the ground, shock written on his face, and Thorn fell on him like a raging bull.

"I told you we wouldn't leave them!" Thorn roared, fists wailing down on Thordolf relentlessly and sending blood splattering against the ground. "I told you were wouldn't let them die! I told you we would protect them! That we could all survive! I told you!"

"Thorn!" Norene barked, and her words were as harsh as a whip. "Enough."

Thorn staggered away from Thordolf and fell to the ground on his knees, holding his head in his hands and sobbing desperately. His knuckles were bloody and the skin broken.

"You're the one leading us to Bessemer." Norene said, eyes fixated on Ruby. "You decide what happens to him."

Ruby nodded, glaring at Thordolf, who moaned through bloodied, broken teeth. She looked up at the rest of the group.

"Look away." She ordered, and one of the mother's paled before dragging her children away. Ruby waited until the rest of the group did the same, except for Norene, who nodded approvingly. Ruby turned back to Thordolf. "Any last words?"

Thordolf whimpered helplessly.

"Good enough."

Crescent Rose sang once more.

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The rocking of her horse broke Ruby from her reverie. The rest of the journey had been hard, but they lived. Barely. If it wasn't for the fact the snows had started to melt and the timely arrival of a search and rescue party then Ruby would be dead in Atlas. Instead she had said her goodbyes to Thorn and the few survivors of Fallow River, who had been given a home in one of the growing refugee camps to the west of Bessemer. Ruby had headed to the nearest port, Sundering Rocks, and had been given free pasage aboard a merchant cog travelling to Vale. The captain had eagerly let her aboard, free of charge, after finding out she was a silver-eyed warrior tracking a dragon that had fled across the sea from Atlas towards Vale, which was a lie, but may as well have been the truth when she heard dozens of dragon cries in the air.

After arriving at Nordiff she had stolen a horse and thundered across Vale's northern coast towards Bluhen, her home. She missed Petal Burst, who she had been forced to leave in Snowmire, and she trusted Tukson to take good care of her until she could return to Atlas. Days of travel left her exhausted, and the horse she had stole was much worse for wear then herself. But eventually they drew closer to Bluhen, and Ruby startled when she realised they had entered the green valley leading to her home.

She spurred her tired horse onwards, eyes widening as Bluhen came into view. It was a modest, by castle sizes at least, fortress, built against the base of large mountain. It was squat and square, and a large village spilled out across the valley under it's protective view. Open fields spread up into the valley, tended to by the villagers, and Ruby felt a warmth in her heart when she saw the fluttering Rose banners on the walls.

The gates were open, as they often were. The Roses were a small noble family with few enemies due to their status as silver-eyed warriors who safeguarded Vale from dragons, and when Ruby entered the courtyard she was approached by a pair of guards who had her families Rose planted firmly in the centre of their breastplates.

"Identify yourself please...my lady!" The guard gasped, and Ruby recognised him from a long time ago, supervising the guards training whilst she and her mother watched. "Please, follow me! Your mother will be eager to see you and hear of your travels."

The guard hurried away, and Ruby followed, her belly rumbling. The guard turned to his comrade.

"Tell the cooks to bring some food to Lady Rose's study." He ordered, and the other guard hurried away. Ruby felt a wave of relief at the thought of food, and she silently followed the guard through the familiar grey corridors and spiralling staircases until she found herself at her mother's office, where she managed her fief whenever she wasn't busy hunting dragons or spending time with her family.

"What is it now-Ruby!" Summer exclaimed, standing up suddenly and charging towards her. Ruby yelped as she was caught up in a bear hug that crushed her bones, and Summer Rose lifted her up and swayed her in the air as if she was as light as feather. "It's so good to see you again little Rose! Tell me all about your adventures!"

Ruby let out a strangled wheeze, before Summer laughed sheepishly and let her go.

"Sorry Ruby, it's just been so long!" She cooed, stroking her hands down Ruby's cheeks and pinching them before running them through Ruby's hair. "You've grown so much! And your hair is a mess!"

"Mother!" Ruby protested, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Her belly rumbled then, making her cheeks redder.

"Bring some food now!" Summer barked like a general leading men into battle. "My daughter is hungry!"

The guard bowed and walked away with a chuckle, and soon after some servants returned with plates of food. Ruby scoffed them all down, whilst Summer told her about some of what she had missed during her travels.

"Your father should be returning anytime now with the snows abating." Summer smiled, watching Ruby scarf down her food fondly. "The wedding Port's brother had scheduled was pushed back because of the war, but with that over and snows melting away it should be planned to happen again soon. We can all go together this time, as a family, now that you're back home. But that's enough out of me. Tell about your adventure! How many dragons have you killed? Have you found a future son-in-law perhaps? Did you save him from some monster's claws like I did with your father?"

Ruby flushed, vehemently denying the later questions before launching into her tale. Of how she had travelled to Atlas, following leads that lead to dead ends, only to end up in Nördliche Burg, the capital of Atlas-Vale and home of the Schnee family. Of how she had fought off a dragon and sadly lost her guard, of how she had befriended Queen Weiss for a time and met Jaune Arc, who she travelled with on a quest and became good friends with. She told her of Blake, how they met, of their arrival to Snowmire and their ambush by Tyrian Callows. She told him of the dragon, of Jaune going off on a scouting mission he did not return from. She told her of her reunion with the monster that was her half-sister, standing over Jaune's body, of how she fought and killed the Inquisitor and how Blake betrayed her.

She told her of the wolf like monster that had attacked her and the magic cocoon she had cast to protect her that had also saved her from the storms that ravaged Atlas and supposedly froze over the sea. She told her of Fallow River, of their journey through the snows to Bessemer.

"And then I came home." Ruby finished quietly, Summer's face made of stone after having heard how many times Ruby came close to death and darkening with anger when she heard she had been forced to take someone else's life in self defence. "My magic...our magic...It shouldn't work without a dragon present. That's the rule isn't it? How could I cast that spell to protect myself from that wolf thing?"

"Ruby..." Summer sighed. "There are a great deal of things you do not know. I have not told you those things because I didn't trust you, but because I didn't want to burden you. But I can't hold back the truth anymore. War is coming, and we are going to be at the centre of a vanguard that will change the world forever-and for the better."

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, and Summer's eyes flashed darkly.

"Tell me, have you ever heard the name Salem?"

A/N: Next update 15/09/2023