SoNem’s scales prickled as the Aramooran dragonelle crash-landed near him on the hillside. His first instinct was to check and see if she was alright, but he knew from the pungent aroma of blood that she was gravely injured. Istaria had already fluttered down to the dragonelle’s side and was examining her for further damage, flicking her tongue gingerly over the Aramooran’s copper scales to utilize all her senses. She cast SoNem a worried glance, before turning back to the dragonelle.

“You will live,” Istaria said soothingly. “One human arrow cannot slay a mighty dragonelle such as yourself. However, you should rest for the time being. Now grit your teeth, this is going to hurt a bit.” She set to work removing the arrow shaft from the Aramooran’s shoulder.

Her left wing is fractured from the fall, Istaria spoke directly into SoNem’s mind. She won’t be able to fly right away. We will have to travel by saa until she recovers. She tried to convey her concern for the wounded dragonelle by sending him mind-pictures of humans attacking her. Was it a cruel manipulation? Probably, but she was worried SoNem would abandon the Aramooran to save himself. The urge for self-preservation was always more prominent in male dragons.

Fine, SoNem closed his eyes, trying to block out the images Istaria was pressing on him. We can spend the rest of the night here– He stopped when another scent drifted to him on the wind. His griff fluttered at the odor of human sweat and blood. He dashed over to the Wimborne, where she was standing over the collapsed figure of a hominid, and shouldered her aside.

SoNem loomed over the human, sii poised to deliver a fatal strike. He stood like that for a moment in frustration. He didn’t speak the hominid language, and he was certain the man didn’t understand Drakkin. He settled on sending him mind-pictures of a human dropping its weapons and fleeing from a dragon. Next, he sent one of a human trying to attack a dragon, but getting fatally burned in the process. He snarled at the human on top of that, baring his fangs and rattling his griff menacingly, and hoped that would get the message across.

He heard a loud thud behind him and a new smell washed over him. He whirled around at the dragon-smell, griff still descended. Dragons were naturally territorial, so the males generally avoided each other’s company to prevent frequent fights. He relaxed slightly when he saw that it was only a drake. He eyed the two long bulges on the young dragon’s back. It wouldn’t be long before this drake sprouted its wings, which would explain why SoNem first identified his scent as that of an adult. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sharp dragon-smell of the other.

“So, you survived too, drake?” He said, purposefully holding his head up higher than the other’s. “How did you get this far without your wings?”

Feneya winced as the serf worked on getting the arrow out of her shoulder. The blood poured more freely down her side once the arrow was out all the way and Feneya sighed when she realized her wing was fractured as well. Feneya looked at the Erithian dragonelle as she spoke to her master's mind, Feneya knew she was convincing him to stay with her despite her injuries. Once the dragon left Feneya realized she was alone with the serf, even though the scent of human blood was heavy in the air. She looked more closely at the dragonelle that was licking her wound to clean it and realized she was far younger than herself. The strong urge to send the Erithian away rose again with a renewed strength in Feneya's hearts and she cocked her head slightly.

Feneya guessed the dragonelle had not yet reached her first century yet and Feneya felt her protective instincts rise again. She smelled the human scent in the air and tried to figure out some way to get all of the young dragons she had found herself with to leave, to get to safety. She knew that she would not be able to fly for a while and it would take just as long for her to be able to create a strong enough foua to defend herself from human hunters, but she also knew that the others had to live. Feneya shifted sightly to ease the pain in her wing and sighed as she tried to find at least one reason the dragonelles would accept, she wasn't too worried about the dragon, she could tell he wanted to survive. Finally Feneya decided to get to know the serf better and perhaps convince her to leave.

"What is your name, Serf?" Feneya was feeling a little stronger in the short time she had rested, but her wing and shoulder were still in a lot of pain.

Ignasius coughed up more blood once again as the most inquisitive of dragons have approached him. The fact that arrows are stuck into his back should be a thing that may puzzle some of the dragons... Some farther behind him there are also several corpses with human weapon inflicted wounds, as well as a dead horse with a spear lodged into it's neck. The old knight heard the steps of the dragon and rose his head, he weakly smiled and nodded, trying to reassure the creature that he does not mean, nor able to do any harm. He managed to roll onto his side, so that he would be able to observe the surroundings more easilly without and coughed some blood again, due to the ammount of strength he needed to use for this action. "Greetings" He spoke in a hoarse voice, hoping that the dragon's might understand him, but he instantly regreted that, as he felt piercing pain in his chest once again, coughing up more blood.

Before he could see if the dragon could respond, another came in, pushing the previous away and snarling at him. He saw things in his mind... It seemed as a threat, as a warning. Ignasius only coughed up more blood as he figured it out that he was missunderstood. "I -" more coughing "Am not your enemy". The old man coughed relentlesly, before he slumped on his chest once again and passed out.

A single dragon flew through the sky... Like the others, he had fled under the Queen's orders, attempting to migrate with the other dragons of their sanctuary. However, with the sudden raid of the human hunters, many scattered to the wind, and this dragon was no different. He was an aged, Windborne dragon, obviously a few centuries old by now. His mighty wingspan and his black speckled scales were a sight to behold. Almost as soon as he took off, he landed again, feeling a small pain in his lower chest. A tiny bolt stuck out from between two scales. He winced a bit, but tried to shake off the pain, as surely a small bolt such as that was much like that of a splinter to a man. Suddenly the brush rustled on the clearing edge and a figure walked from it. The dragon was surprised by the sudden appearance of what now as revealed to be a man. He had not smelled him like the other humans, in fact, this "man" only seemed human from his shape, but nothing else. The dragon readied his flame inside of him, preparing to torch the strange creature, but the creature simply bowed to the dragon.

"Greetings, mighty Windborne. If you may spare me a moment?" said a strange, dark voice. The dragon was astounded. This dark, huminoid creature had just spoken in Drakkin to him.

"You speak the tongue of dragons, dark one? What are you exactly....?" The dragon said, now simply staring down at the strange figure. The creature chuckled.

'Yes, my appearance is... unconventional.. but non the less I am a man, like any other.....Do you know why the humans, such as myself, continue to utterly wipe your kind out of existence?"

"Because your kind is greedy! You hunger for our bodies and steal our souls!"

"Yes, but why? How is it possible a man, such as myself, can bring your race of mighty beings to the brink of utter destruction?"

This question suddenly drilled into the dragon's mind. How was this possible? How had it come to this? The strange human was right after all, how did the mighty race of dragons come to such dire circumstances? The dragon, troubled by the question, began to think hard, sorting through his many decades of knowledge and wisdom for an answer. The strange man and front of him chuckled again.

"A strange question, yes. But an easy one." from under his cloak he pulled out a baseball sized metal device. It had various gears visible and a compact coil of metalic string. The dragon bent his head, curiosity besting him and looked closer. The strange man continued. "Take this small little invention of mine. Looks harmless to a beast of your size, but in fact, it is quite deadly. The metalic string, called "wire" is covered in barbs and is incredibly strong. If I where to deploy this little device, it would cover you in its web, and much like a spiders web, the more you struggled, the harder it became to escape. Humans invent, humans do not sit idle in their dens. We do not change for our world, we change our world for us. That is why we will always be better than the dragons, why we will eventually be the single most powerful and influential creatures of this land."

Suddenly the dragon felt weak and the pain in his chest began to flare incredibly. Without even a whimper he collapsed to the ground, barley alive. The area around the small bolt that was in his chest was now a sickly purple and his eyes bloodshot. The strange man walked over to the once mighty dragon's head and leaned over next to its face. "Humans will be the creators and destroyers of this land. And it will be interesting to see how they handle that." The dragon weakly turned his head to face the masked man, seeing a dark red eye staring back at him.

"Who.....are....you?"

"I am E. I am death."

With that, the dragon gave up clinging to life and passed, the poison now circulating through all three hearts. The hunt has begun.

The only dragon of the group showed his dominance to the drake by making himself taller than the rest. Instinctively, Dovah tried to do the same as the dragon addressed him. He responded sharply, "What's it to you?" He stared sternly at the dragon, the mere prescience of the dragon caused the drake's nostrils to flare. This wasn't entirely new to Dovah, as he got older he started to see other drakes and dragons as competitors for both mates and territory, not that Dovah had much luck with any drakka. It was a hard fight to get just about any cave at the bottom of the nesting grounds. What annoyed him most was that he wasn't able to win very many fights, either in speech, intimidation or physical combat. Sure, he could take on a large bear any day, and probably a human or two, but a drake he could with difficulty and a dragon he knew he couldn't.

With that thought in mind and the remembrance that he could very well get stranded out here, unless he showed proper respect to the dragon, who would hopefully in turn let him go with them. The sudden realization that he would have to swallow those venomous words he just spat out also made his chest flare at the thought of saying sorry for the remark. He hissed slightly as he turned his eyes to the ground in submission, "Had some help from one who had wings. I told them to fly off when the human's attacked." Dovah didn't feel the need to explain everything, the dragon got the answer he asked for.

Seulki's ears pricked at the string of strange words the human said. She didn't understand his language, and she doubted that he knew hers. She was about to reach forward and nuzzle the human to show her particular interest in him before being shouldered aside by SoNem. Seulki growled out in alarm, staying back. She watched as the dragon raised his sii menacingly. She could only helplessly watch as the human died under his claws. Yet, SoNem did not choose to kill the human. Instead, he threatened the helpless human and went off to confront another dragon. Seulki tentatively crawled back to the human, quite worried. The scent of blood was even more stronger, and she felt the life and vigor drain away. He needed help, but what could she do?

She could do that. Not realizing that the human had passed out, she sent mind messages of a peaceful meadow and skies. Before doing anything drastic, she made sure SoNem was occupied before gently grasping the human with her claws. Seulki took care to avoid the arrows the best she could as she set off into flight. Within moments, she was up in the sky, heading towards a human village. Certainly, like all races, they would take care of their own kind. She chose to fly the opposite direction of where she last encountered the humans, setting off to the northeast. As she flew, she couldn't help but gaggle at her actions. She was helping this creature! Quite amused, she landed in a farmers field, setting the human face down on the ground.

Ah, was she a little too rough? Worried, she nosed the human. No response. Seulki whined, looking around. There were no signs of the humans. Perhaps she would have to wait... Suddenly, a little human girls voice reached her. Before more humans could see her, Seulki bolted away. Sure enough, the girl had reached the bloody unconscious human and was staring wide-eyed at the disappearing silver dot in the sky.

“My name?” Istaria echoed, staring at the Aramooran dragonelle in surprise. Most of the larger dragons ignored her or treated her like she was beneath them. She wasn’t used to being asked any personal information, even her name. “I-Istaria. Might I ask for your name as well, my lady?” She shuffled her feet and leaned back on her haunches, curling her tail around her saa. She had finished cleaning the dragonelle’s wound so it could heal properly.

Istaria suddenly smelled another dragon, and craned her neck around to see a white-scaled drake limping towards them. In almost the same moment, she saw SoNem bound over to confront him. She rolled her eyes. Dragons could be so conceited. She considered going over to stop the standoff, but decided against it. She doubted SoNem would be foolish enough to start a fight when they were already battling against the humans.

---

SoNem snapped his griff shut and snorted, satisfied that the drake had submitted to him even if he did so with reluctance. He heard the whooshing of wings behind him and turned to see the silver dragonelle taking off with the human. He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. It wasn’t worth it to try and stop her. If she wanted to rescue one of the awful creatures, then so be it.

SoNem cast the drake one more skeptical glance, and then turned to rejoin Istaria and the injured Aramooran. He swept his tail around, flicking the tip to indicate for the drake to join them. He sniffed at the dragonelle’s wound, grimacing at the blood-scent. His own blood boiled. He couldn’t stand to see his own kind hurt like this at the hands of a human.

He stomped down the grass, softening the ground, and lay down near the two dragonelles. All the activity from the earlier attack had finally caught up with him. His limbs ached. He yawned and rested his head on the ground, fixing one eye on the drake.

“I never did catch your name,” SoNem said lazily. “What is it?”

Feneya smiled weakly at Istaria, she had probably been ignored by other dragons her entire life as many other serfs had been. Feneya narrowed her eyes at the brash dragon and wondered how long Istaria had suffered him. She glanced at the drake that had just joined them and gave him a simple nod, realizing that of all the dragons and dragonelles that had foolishly stayed with her, she was most probably the oldest. She thought for a moment and tried to think of some way to use that to get them to leave but she was too weak to think that much.

Instead she folded her good wing to her side and curled her own tail around her before she turned back to Istaria "My name is Feneya. Please don't call me 'my lady', Istaria, it's irritating." She turned to the dragon "And you, Dragon, would be better off if you learned to show some kindness to those younger than yourself, especially in this circumstance." Feneya smiled weakly at the young drake "You shouldn't be here, but you're welcome to stay."

Feneya shifted her weight off her injured shoulder and looked around for the missing dragonelle "Where is the wimborne?" She remembered the scent of human blood and her eyes widened "Did they attack her as well?"

Dovah was grateful the dragon didn't press the matter any further. As the drake waited for another response from the dragon, he also cast a look at the silver dragonelle as she flew off with the human in her claws. This greatly confused him, was she actually going to take it to a place where humans could save it or did she intend to drop it from a high height. While he hoped for the latter, it was more likely she was trying to save it. This made Dovah feel on edge, what if the humans caught her trail somehow as she came back and sent some after her. He quickly glanced to the dragon only to see him hold his tonged as she flew off. Dovah was starting to wonder if he's overestimating the human's tracking ability.

When the dragon turned to the other two dragonelle nearby, Dovah snapped out of his thoughts and noticed the older creature's tail flick in indication of inviting him into the group. The drake remained quiet as he did follow behind the dragon a little bit, being reminded of his fall every step of the way. All he would need is a good night's rest, he's had similar injuries before as it wasn't the first time he's been dropped violently, granted not as dangerously as this.

It took a few seconds for Dovah to realise he was being asked a question. He shrugged as he spoke, "Dovah. And, if I may, ask what your's is?" He sat down as he asked the question, enjoying the peace of the moment after the chaos of the mass migration. His attention quickly turned to the, probably, oldest of the group. She gave a small rebuke to the dragon before turning her attention to himself, telling him that he shouldn't be here but was welcome to stay. Dovah gave a quick thought of the other drakes and drakkas that weren't as lucky to get out of the original nesting grounds during the migration. He gave a very simple response to the dragonelle's words, more out of reaction of his own thoughts, "None of us should be here..."

PAIN!

Ignasius was snapped out of the unconsciousness be the sharp pain going through his back. He screamed loudly. And started moving. After that, he heard a rather familiar voice.

"Damn it, he's awake. Milton, Wesley, hold his arms! Vanja, get him some moonshine! Ignasius, calm down, you are going to be okay. I need you to stay calm and trust me"

Ignasius trusted the man, even if he couldn't remember who's voice was that, but it wasn't as easy as he was being cut open while awake. He heard another voice.

"Bloody hell, father, this man is strong"

"I know, I already sliced and stitched him a few times. Alright, I'll hold it off for now. Ignasius needs some alcohol to dull his senses. Vanja, where is that booze?!"

He heard a female voice following.

"Coming, Arlo"

Arlo... Arlo Mattoney, a field surgeon that was has saved his and other knights lives more than any warrior. He saw a woman approach him with a bottle and a glass. He drunk a bit of it, which was strong and disgusting... And even after drinking a single glass he felt quite drunk. Ignasius sighed and opened his mouth

"Bloody hell, Arlo, how have you found me?"

"Let's talk about this after that thing is out of your lung, shall we?"

"Right, can I get another glass?"

After these words Arlo's wife once again filled a glass and poured down the man's throat. Ignasius coughed a bit, painfully too, and nodded.

"Do it."

And so, after an hour of screaming that turned into a hoarse groaning... After an hour of cutting and stitching, the both bolts were taken out. Ignasius now was bandaged and laid in bed....
When he woke up he only remembered the last things of the night in a heavy blur. He still ached, but at least now he could breathe freely. The man saw the door open as Arlo came in. He was a short haired man, and with a bushy mustache under his chin.

"Well Ignasius, how are you feeling?"

"No longer half dead.. Thanks to you, Arlo. How did you find me?"

"A strange story, really... A girl in our village found your body in the fields. She told that a dragon brought you but nobody really believed her.... Do you remember how you got injured?"

Ignasius sighed and spoke.

"Well, by a crossbow bolt. But no doubt you already know that... Apparantly I tried to protect a bunch of dragons from a band of slayers.... As far as I understood the latter scattered"

"Hmm... I am not a one to judge... But why did you charge in? Did you thought that you'd be able to defeat them?"

"No.. But I hoped I'd by the dragons some time. I've seen them up-close, Arlo. Majestic.... And menacing. And apparantly one of them played a part in saving my life... Say, any idea how far it is to Silverrun?"

"About a day's walk... Probably you should double that for your condition. Why do you want to go there?"

"You remember Hartam?"

"Of course... He was one of the most educaded warriors I've ever met. He's a schollar now, isn't he?"

"Indeed... And he had great interest in dragons. I remember him even researching their language during his free time. So I suppose I'll go to him for help in communicating with those majestic creatures..."

Arlo looked sceptic. He sighed and then nodded.

"If you think that is wise. I'll lend you a horse, and I will send my son with you to keep you safe. I also suggest you to leave the armour for weight reasons... You can pick something lighter from my wardrobe."

Ignasius nodded

"You have always been a great help, old friend. Hopefully we may meet again."

The man took a linen shirt, a pear of leather pants and a leather west. After he put that all on, he took a hooded cloak, once again thanking Arlo.

About fifteen minutes later, as well as Arlo's son Wesley were on their way towards the city of Silverrun.

After leaving the human in the fields, Seulki dashed away, desperately hoping that the humans weren't tracking her. It would be terrible if she led the hunters straight to her new-found companions. She slowly swirled around in the air, her eyes scanning the ground for any hint of metal or human scent. Occasionally, the cautious Wimborne would swoop down to ground level and land, her ears pricked for any sounds of heavy footsteps. As she took numerous detours, the image of the injured human floated into her mind once in a while. Was he alright? The little human would help him, wouldn't she? She blinked, wondering if she would ever meet the human again.

A few long minutes passed and she trudged through the tall grasses, her tail whipping back and forth. It was a rather nice day, despite the fact that everything had horribly gone wrong in just a day. Seulki stretched open her jaw for a yawn as her wings opened. There was no danger, at least for now. In the meanwhile, she would head back to her kindred. It didn't take long for the Wimborne to reach the familiar rocky cliffs. The tangy scent of blood still lingered, along with another new smell - the drake. She warily landed just in time to hear the new one speak.

"None of us should be here..."

Seulki had no words to say. It was true. At this time of day, she would have been relaxing on the cliffs of the nest, enjoying life. Now the thought of dying lingered in her soul. She quickly darted over to the injured Aramooran, pressing her body against the other for comfort. She started to slightly pruum, relieved that the dragonelle was safe. Yet, another worry struck her. SoNem. She questionably glanced at the dragon before staring at the stony ground. He wouldn't ask what she did with the human, would he?

Feneya nodded solemnly at Dovah's words, letting out a small sigh as she wondered what they were going to do. The wimborne dragonelle returned and nuzzled against Feneya's side, softly starting to pruum. Feneya weakly smiled and looked at the young dragon, the dragonelles, and the drake laying in the grass beside her. She sighed again and stretched a wing over the wimborne, despite the strong smell of human she carried.

Feneya knew that since she was the eldest, it was her responsibility to protect the younger ones. So she straightened up and spoke softly "Istaria, Dovah," She cursed herself for not knowing the other's names "Wimborne, Dragon. We have all lost a great deal on this dark day, no one here can deny the horror of the Queen's death." Her face fell slightly and she continued "But we cannot lose hope. The Queen told us to run, and we will. We will run to safety and try with all our might to make sure that no more dragon blood is shed by human weapons."

She smiled at Dovah "When we fly, I will carry you." She looked at the others and hardened her face just slightly "Until we find the others, I will protect you. No matter what. I know I am injured and it will take time to heal, but I am still a hatchling of Aramoor and my foua is strong." Feneya smiled at them again "Get some rest, all of you." She turned to the wimborne "When morning comes, we will plan for the future. Sleep now, I will watch for humans."

The rest of the night went by without much activity apart from the occasional howl of a wolf. The Slayers had retreated to the Inn at a nearby village to reequip for another attack. Gerbold was particularly impatient, but he could only rush his small army of men so much before it affected the quality of their preparedness. It would take them quite a while before they were ready to embark on another hunt.

Gerbold smiled fiendishly. But they would catch up. Oh, they would.

---

SoNem blinked against the bright morning light, his jaws unhinging in a wide yawn. Sleepiness still dragged at his limbs, but the muscle-sore pains from the previous night had faded to a dull, barely noticeable ache. He stood up slowly and roused Istaria with a sweep of his tail over her bright emerald and gold scales.

He lifted his nose and inhaled deeply, sorting the forest scents to pick out the smells of animals. SoNem suspected they had a long journey ahead of them to escape the grasping fists of the poachers. As such, they would need a hearty breakfast.

“Feeling up for a hunt?” he asked Istaria.

“Sounds good,” she replied in mid-yawn. “I’m craving a nice elk heart.”

SoNem pruumed his agreement and spread his wings. Istaria did the same and they took off, gliding over the forest. In a small clearing, a herd of elk was already beginning to scatter as their dragon-scent washed over them. Istaria dropped down on an older elk with a limping gait. SoNem eyed a younger target, diving quickly to seize the beast in his outstretched saa claws. The two rose back up into the open sky and flew back to their camp on the hillside.

They landed near the other two and dropped their catches. SoNem coated both elk in a blanket of burning foua to cook the fresh meat. The acrid odor of roasting fur and flesh wafted into the air.

“Wake up,” Istaria prodded the others with her sii.

Ignasius rose from a bed in a tavern. He and the son of the doctor Arlo had reached the city last night and stayed in the inn, as the library was closed at the time.So the man rose up, as he put on the clothes that his friend gave him the other day. He strapped on the belt and adjusted the scabbard of his blade. He looked at the sleeping young man in the bed nearby and woke him up. Together they ate breakfast in downstairs and soon after that, they headed to the library. Ignasius smiled as he saw a familiar face and greeted him.
"Hello, Hartam"
The man, who had a bald head, and a big gray beard froze and then moments after that his face lit up, bursting into a loud laughter and getting close to give Ignasius a tight bear hug, to which the slightly younger man responded with a slight groan, as he wound hasn't really healed yet. He coughed a bit, and Hartam released him, with a rather apologetic expression on his face.
"Bloody hell, Ignasius, how long has it been? Seven years since we last met?"
"Aye, too long, my friend, too long"

Hartam nodded as he looked at the young man nearby.

"Hmm, he looks familiar"
"This is Wesley, Arlo's eldest."

The young man nodded, and Hartam did so as well, before speaking again.

"I see, a pleasure to meet you, Wesley. Anyways, I do not always get such old reunions. There must be a reason of why have you come."

Ignasius nodded

"Aye. I need your help. You still study dragon lore and language, don't you?"
"Indeed, but what is this about?"
"Well, a group of dragons were chased out of their home. I am not sure how, but the poachers were at work in that. I helped the dragons in driving those murderers back, but unfortunately I do not know how to communicate with them. I am too old to learn anything, but I wish you to travel with me."

Hartam stood there, and smiled

"Bloody hell, all my life I have been studying dragons, and never got to see a live one. I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to talk with some"

Ignasius smiled and nodded.

"Good, then prepare for journey, we will have to set out soon and we'll go through Arlo's farm again. At least that's where a dragon was last seen. Hopefully we'll find them faster than the slayers would."

And so, Hartam gathered his traveling gear, a leather robe with a hood, and a bastard sword on his hip. After an hour or so, the three men set out....

The smell of burning meat and fur filling the air around Dovah, causing his ears to twitch slightly. "Wake up," a voice said. The drake felt something shake him slightly, causing him to open his eyes slowly. He was greeted by the sight of two cooked elk, obviously freshly caught by the dragon and the serf. Dovah got up with a yawn, first stretching his saa then stretching his sii. The soreness of his joints had mostly dissipated, his muscles argued to remain still however.

He waited for the others to start partaking of the meal before joining in himself, out of respect of their older age. Dovah scoped the grounds around them, simply out of boredom more so then for any other reason. If there was any danger, the dragon would have already detected it.

Feneya awoke and smiled when she saw the cooked elk in front of her. She winced as she stretched her wing and shoulder to see how much they had healed. Fortunately, they were healing excellently, the dart wasn't poisoned, and Feneya estimated she should be able to fly by nightfall. She turned to Dovah and nodded to him.

"Please eat, Dovah." She took a bite of the elk and prummed as the savory taste washed down her throat. She turned to Istaria and the dragon and raised her eyebrow "I don't think you told me your name, Dragon. What is it?" While she waited for his answer Feneya gently nudged the wimborne awake and pointed at the food.

“My name?” The Blue tore a limb from the well-done elk carcass and gnawed the meat from the bone thoughtfully. “I suppose I haven’t told you, have I? My name is SoNem, son of SoRuu.” He stripped the last of the meat from the bone, sniffed at it, and then swallowed it whole. The bone would give his stomach something to work on during the long journey ahead.

He shifted in the tall grass and felt his rough edges of his scales catch on the blades. Oh, what he wouldn’t give for some satisfying gold or silver to replenish his armor. His mouth grew wet at the thought of the metal taste. Hopefully they would be able to at least find some ore along the way.

He was roused from his musings by a prod from Istaria.

“Sorry to bother you,” she said. “But where are we going? All the others have spread out by now… We have no hope of following them.”

“I’m not sure,” SoNem replied, sniffing at the air. She was right, though: the other dragons had all left. On top of that, he didn’t know his way around since he had lived on the peninsula for his entire life. “Why don’t we head north? Maybe we can find a place the humans haven’t already invaded.” His fire gland pulsed at the mention of the human scum. He took a deep breath to compose himself.

“It’ll be a slow trip since we’re traveling with a wounded dragonelle and a drake,” SoNem also pointed out.

Istaria rolled her eyes. Her master could be far too blunt. She stepped over to Feneya’a side and reexamined the dragonelle’s wing.

“You’re healing up very nicely,” she bobbed her snout in approval. “Do you feel up to moving just yet?”

Dovah gave an irritated grunt at Feneya's suggestion; what was he? A hatchling needing to be told what to do? NO! He was a drake on the verge of becoming a dragon, he did not need to be babied. However, with some reluctance, he started to eat some of the well-cooked food.

Then came the dilemma of where they were going to go. The serf asked the question to SoNem, presumably her master, and he made the decision that they should head north. He then made a comment about being slowed down by the wounded dragonelle and 'a drake'. Dovah was a bit annoyed with the comment, granted he couldn't fly but since they were stuck on the ground for a little bit, he could very well keep up with the dragon's pace, if not move faster. He, however, held his tongue and continued to eat.

The three men traveled back to Arlo's village. There, Ignasius was greeted by a familiar, even if rough voice of a blacksmith. A big woman, with trully big muscles and black, greasy hair, that was spun into a thick braid, her face was wide and littered with multipe scars, her nose and jaw were obviously broken a few times in the past. She was the only woman in Ignasius' platoon back then, and one of the most brutal fighters he has ever met, as he remembered, a some of the men joked of easily imagining her having a beard, but would never dare to tell that to her face. So at the time Ignasius have come, this woman, Guilin Glammadan has greeted him with roaring laughter and have given him the armor that she had repaired overnight. And so, Ignasius, Hartam, Arlo and Guilin spoke for hours about what each of them was doing in the meantime. After this was over, Ignasius asked the girl that found him for the direction of where the dragon that saved him flew off to and then started gearing up for travel. Soon the party which included two men, and a big woman have waved goodbye to Arlo's family and rode their horses, hoping to find the dragons, or at least witnesses to them on their way.

Feneya raised her eyebrow as Dovah's expression changed from defiance to reluctant acceptance as he began eating, but she didn't say anything. She turned to Istaria with a tiny smile "I am not in as much pain, so I think that I should be able to fly for a day at a time." She raised her eyebrow with a pointed glance at SoNem "We should make good progress, even if I am a wounded dragonelle." She ate some of the meat and prummed as it went down her throat, making her whole body warm.

After a second she turned back to SoNem and Istaria "I think North is a good idea, the other dragons are probably heading there as well." Feneya flexed her shoulder and moved her wing slightly, wincing at the pain but pleased that it wasn't hurting as bad as the day before. She sniffed the air and looked around at the cliffs and the forest below, trying to figure out whether it would be better to fly immediately or walk in the forest so they could smell any humans that came near. The back of her throat itched slightly as the urge to incinerate every human she saw rose in her gut but she calmed it and stood, walking towards the edge of the cliff.

She turned back to the other dragons and spoke in a commanding tone "We had better get moving soon. SoNem, you will carry Dovah." She turned and watched the sun rise as she spread her wings to test them out. It hurt a lot to use her injured wing but Feneya hid her pain and swore that she wouldn't let the younger dragons see it. As she looked north, she sighed and recalled the Queen, anger at the humans now replaced by sorrow. Then her mind drifted towards her parents, and a small smile grew on her face as she remembered her father KoRaa. He was the one who had taught her to breath fire in the special way of the Aramoor, and he had also told her about humans. He was a little older than Feneya was now when dragons were forced into hiding, and had spent much of his life in close proximity to human settlements. KoRaa hadn't learned all of the human speech but he was widely renowned in the colony as a translator of human. Feneya remembered the stories he would tell about humans, and the lessons in human speech he had forced all his hatchlings to listen to. She still knew a little human, but she had no desire to speak with one, especially...

She growled quietly as a memory she had forced behind her came to the surface. KoRaa had left the colony in search of food and on the way, he had encountered a human. The human appeared friendly at first, so KoRaa began speaking with him in human. Only a few words had left his lips when the rest of the human's pack came and attacked him. KoRaa tried to fight but there were too many humans, and he died. Feneya's face tightened in anger as she realized the only dragons that had really cared for her were now dead at the claws of humans.