It had been weeks since Damien saw any of his other Dragon Rider companions; the King's men stormed the hideout- Everyone was missing; Kela, Jackson, Jace, Serva...
He shook off the feeling of defeat and stepped towards his Lunaran Dragon asleep on the forest floor.

"We're going to find them." Damien spoke to himself, "I believe in us."
Orian lifted his head with a flick of his tail, giving a small yawn and flexed his jaws before he settled again.
"Mmm yeah we will." Orian said to his rider before he looked up to the sun creeping into the sky. "Did you sleep?" He asked as he stood with a bit of a stretch.

"Not really, No." Damien said before he walked to Orian, fixing his bags on his saddle before he pulled himself up onto his dragon. "I don't need it; We'll be fine."
"Do you think there are any unaligned Riders left?" Orian asked with a fluff of his wings, he started walking along the forest as he looked around, Damien keeping his eyes out too.
"if there are, We're going to find them." Damien started with a sigh, "The King will kill them if they don't join him." He sighed and shook his head.
He knew his fate... He knew what he eventually had to do...

To say things didn’t quite go as planned would be an understatement in Loraya’s eyes. In fact everything had gone to hell in a handbasket very quickly. She didn’t understand, the plan they had worked out should have gone off without a hitch. No one should have even suspected her team sneaking into the palace, they’d plotted for weeks and figured out every guard rotation, every staff change down to the minute. Yet when they made it to the King’s chambers there was a small army waiting for them.

Lor’s tribesmen didn’t even stand a chance as the battle ensued, there were twice as many guards as them. She fought right alongside them, trying to find them a way out. She was prepared to die for them, but then stupid Koravir forced her to flee. He said one of them needed to live and it needed to be her. She didn’t want to obey his orders, but he was her master. He taught her everything she knew and she couldn’t justify ignoring his last command. So she fled as her tribesmen held off the guards for as long as they could. She escaped, but not without injury. The crossbow bolt protruding out of her left side was evidence of that.

She had no choice but to leave it there until she was to relative safety and could remove it. So she fled into the forest, her strength leaving her quickly as the adrenaline began to fade. Just when she thought she was safe she crossed paths with a most unexpected creature. In front of her was a fairly large dragon and she couldn’t help the fear that rose in her. She’d never been this close to a dragon before nor did she really know anything about them, yet here she was face to face with one. Every instinct in her body told her to run as this dark creature looked her over as they began moving closer to her. Lor was too weak to act on her instincts, however, and instead stood there fully expecting this dragon to end her.

That’s when something unexpected happened as the creatures head lowered to inspect the crossbow bolt and Loraya stared on in confusion. “Wait what are you-ack!” She screamed out as the creature deftly snapped off the back end of the bolt. Lor was beginning to see spots from the pain, but it didn’t stop there. The dragon proceeded to shove the bolt the rest of the way through her body in order to remove it safely. The caused Loraya to scream loudly in agony as the spots returned and her vision began to cloud. She collapsed and fought to keep consciousness, her hand going to her wound as she tried to staunch the bleeding some. “Now what’s your plan, let me slowly bleed to death.” She asked the dragon weakly which only caused the creature to huff at her before it’s head snapped up as if it had heard something.

They had walked in silence for a little bit, Damien working on patching up a helmet before he perked up at the sound of screams. "Orian." He said in a hushed voice, "Find out what that is."
Orian lowered himself to the ground as he sped up quietly, timing his pawfall with each other to make less sound than expected.

The Dragon stopped in the shadows of the trees, spotting the other dragon and the wounded figure. "A dragon." Orian uttered, Damien moved off his dragons back and stepped forward slowly.
"I mean you no harm." He spoke quietly, moreso to the dragon than to the wounded person. He was taking a massive risk just walking out in front of a dragon with... what could potentially be its next meal. "I heard the yells. I'm not with the Kings men."
Damien tried to cover as many bases as he could as he stepped towards the wounded individual, moving to put his hand into his bag.

Orian followed close behind his rider, keeping his eyes on the dragon with a sway of his tail. He moved away from his rider and stepped towards the other dragon.
He held back his excitement and expressed the little caution that bubbled around.
"Is this your... rider?" He asked the other dragon quietly, he turned his head towards his rider before returning his attention to the other dragon.

Damien looked to Orian before he moved towards the Female again. He moved to kneel beside her and scanned his eyes over her body.
"Oh jeese." He started, "That's not good..." He placed his bag down and moved to rummage through it to try to find anything to help.

Loraya watched the dragon closely, finding it strange as the creature became very alert and what seemed to be slightly defensive. That’s when she heard the faintest of sounds and turned her head to see yet another dragon. “Oh good there’s another one…” she began to mumble as she watched a figure jump down from his back, “with a rider?” She finished as she too went on alert, though it wasn’t like she could do much. She could attempt to fight back if they attacked her, but she knew in her state she wouldn’t be able to last very long.

She watched the man skeptically as he spoke and began to approach. “Well, even if you did mean me any harm someone has already beaten you to that.” She replied facetiously as she nodded down at her wound. She relaxed a bit, but kept her eyes on this man just in case. He stated he wasn’t one of the King’s men which was a small comfort for her.

The ebony dragon standing over the woman watched the two approach, prepared to defend this woman if she needed. Sindra had no ties to the woman, however she had pity for her. She’d already been gravely injured and she’d be damned if she let the woman be harmed any further. So she watched and listened to the conversation until the other dragon asked if this woman was her rider. Her gaze snapped to his. “Rider? No she is not my rider. She stumbled upon me here, injured and exhausted. I thought it might be best if I attempted to help the poor creature out.” The effeminate voice replied coolly.

Lor’s gaze snapped up to the dragon as she heard her voice, shock evident on her face. “So she can speak...I must be delirious.” She mumbled before shaking her head and looking back to the man kneeling beside her. She allowed him to examine her wound, but at his words she let out a small scoff. “Thank you for that observation.” She replied sarcastically then sighed.

“I was shot with a crossbow and this dragon was kind enough to remove it for me.” Lor explained as she attempted to sit herself up and almost immediately regretting it as she winced. “So, unless you’re a doctor and have the medical supplies to patch this up, would you be so kind to help me to someone that can stop this bleeding?” She asked as she continued to try and get herself up, but failed as she realized how light headed she was.

Damien moved to gently put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting up.
"Hold on, take it easy." He said before he pulled out two woundpads and took the back off one of them.
He acted quickly and moved Lor's clothing to gently press the woundpad onto her skin to stick it down. He moved quickly to do it on the other side as well. He continued his swift movements.

The male rider moved to pull out a large bundle of bandage before he started to wrap up the two woundpads.
"Just breathe softly if you can." Damien spoke, looking to Damien before his eyes moved to the other dragon. He moved his free hand and the soil under Lor seemed to shift, pulling the blood she dripped below the top layer.
He looked to the dragon again before he moved to press his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "Of course it was the Kings men. He's a cunt." He hissed slightly, "He's scattered my crew."

"Well you're one of the kindest dragons that don't have a rider I've ever met." Orian said with a happy smile, before he caught Damien's eyes. His head perked up and his ears flicked around.
The sound of footfall echoed around, not more than 5 minutes away, they needed to act quickly. Damien already knew what was coming, he could feel it through the ground. "Kings Men." Orian said with a lower of his head.

"We need to get out of here." Damien said softly before he looked to the Void Dragon, "You too. We have space for other dragons. I'd rather not have you in danger as well."

Just the gentle hand on her shoulder was enough to make Lor sit back down. She hated how weak she felt, but she knew it couldn't be helped. This man was bandaging her up and that was better than what she was capable of at the moment. At is orders to breathe slowly she sighed and relaxed a bit, letting him work. "Yes sir." She said flippantly as her eyes drifted up to the female dragon above her. She really was quite a beautiful, majestic creature.

At Damien's next words she couldn't keep the dry laugh from escaping her lips. "That's definitely one way to describe him. I prefer to describe him as an insecure slimy prick with an ugly bitch ass dragon who needs to answer for his crimes against the world with whatever the most foul sentence could be." She said as she slowly took her gaze off the dragon to look back to Damien. "But cunt definitely works too." She finished as she gave him a slightly sadistic grin.

"I must say I think I like this girl." Sindra said with a chuckle when Lor finished speaking. She looked back to the other dragon. "Perhaps that's why I decided to help her. Maybe it was some innate sense that told me this girl was worth saving. Though I won't lie, I did consider eating her at first." She admitted with a grin, but then her head snapped around to glance out into the forest.

Loraya was about to say something to the dragon after hearing her speak, but then the wind carried to her the sound of approaching men. "Shit, they followed me." She muttered with alarm as she deftly pulled a dagger out that had been hidden up her sleeve. She knew she could take at least a few out with what weapons she had left, but she agreed with the man that they needed to get out of there.

Sindra turned her attention back to the man and nodded. "I suppose it may be best to stick with you, if only to make sure this woman gets out of danger for long enough to heal. Here, help her into my back. I will carry her and follow you to wherever you deem is safe." She said as she lowered herself to make it easier to get Lor on her back.

Lot gazed at the dragon and then the man in horror at the suggestion. "I can't ride on your back. I don't-" She was cut off as Sindra made a noise that Lor interpreted as her not having a choice unless she wanted to become a meal. So she shut up and allowed herself to be helped onto the dragon.

"Innate senses between humans and dragons aren't uncommon." Damien said as he rubbed the blood from his hands and motioned to Orian to step closer, "She can't ride bareback on your back in her state." He said before he reached over into Orian's saddle and pulled out what seemed to be a leather training saddle.

He notioned to Orian with his hand before he stepped towards the other Dragon and held out the saddle. "May I?" He asked her It would be rude to just place a saddle on a dragon- He tried doing it to a couple of dragons while he was just learning in the Order, and that never worked out well for him.

Orian moved over to Lor with a sway of his tail, offering his head for her to grab to help her stand up. "Grip my horn." He mentioned softly, "I won't move too fast I promise." His bright eyes watching her intently; Much like his Rider he wanted to help, but he didn't want to push her.

Orian gave a small laugh at her mention of the Kings Dragon, "The King is Volvens Rider." Orian said, shuddering at the mention of the Dragon God of Power's name, "When the King is killed, I say we chain him onto a cliff and refuse to feed him." He said with a small huff.

Sindra huffed a little, but ended up nodding in compliance. "Yes I suppose you're right. Go ahead and put it on me. We shouldn't dawdle any longer." She said as she watched him. She definitely wasn't comfortable with the saddle, but if it would help them all get away quicker she wouldn't complain.

Lor turned her attention to Orian as he approached her and lowered his head. She hesitated only for a moment before conceding and gently grabbing his horn. She braced herself to be helped up, gritting her teeth in the process. If she were to be honest she would admit that she really wasn't comfortable being this close to a dragon's mouth, but neither of them had done anything yet that should warrant complete distrust.

When Orian gave his suggestion for Volven, Lor couldn't contain her small laugh. She immediately regretted it as it caused a splitting pain in her side and she inhaled sharply. She gave herself a moment to recover before speaking again. "That's not a terrible idea, but instead of just not feeding him we should constantly flaunt food in front of him." She suggested and looked to the dragon with a small grin. She then looked over to Sindra and the saddle that was being put on the dragon for her nervously.

"So where is it that we plan to try and escape to?" She finally asked the man, wondering if he had any plan.

Damien smiled and quickly slipped the saddle onto her body. Moving to tie the straps underneath her lower body and made sure the straps weren't rubbing too hard against her scales or legs.
"That's not too tight?" He asked her as he stepped away, looking to Orian as he slowly lead Lor over. "I'm Damien, by the way." He said before nodding to his dragon, "That's Orian."

Orian let out a laugh-like rumble from his chest as she agreed with his idea. He cut in when she asked about where they were going, "The Orders Sanctuary. Unable to be attacked by the Kings men!" He said with a wave of his tail. "It's not too far from here, there's enough food for a lot of dragons and there's safety there."

"And Medical supplies." Damien said as he moved over to Lor and wrapped his arm around her chest gently to help her towards Sindra, "Hopefully Kela is there to be able to heal all of this up." He said with a furrowed brow.
The footfall got closer, Orian started to get slightly jittery.

"Nope, it's fine." Sindra assured him as she glanced over to the woman. She was beginning to get uneasy as she sensed the King's men getting ever closer to them. "Pleasure to meet the two of you, I'm Sindra." She said, finally introducing herself to the lot.

Lor was glad to hear that they had a plan on where to go. She truly preferred plans, less room for things to go wrong with plans. She allowed Damien to take over helping her to Sindra. She'd heard the introductions, but hadn't planned on saying anything until she noticed Sindra looking at her expectantly. "Right. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Loraya, but most people typically just call me Lor. Now that we've wasted time with introductions can we please be on our way? I encountered the King's men once today and it didn't go well, I would prefer not to come across them again." She said as she slowly attempted to get on Sindra's back. She could hear the footsteps and the sound of voices and knew they only had moments before they were found.

Damien frowned slightly at the sound of the Kings men approaching. He moved to smoothly but swiftly to lift her up onto Sindra's back, he tried his best to make it so that it didn't hurt her at all.
"There we go." He said with a small smile, "You should be safe on this Saddle, Once we get above the trees we'll be safe."

Damien stepped towards Orian before he looked back to Sindra. "Just keep close to us, we know the way from here." he pulled himself onto Orian and Orian fanned out his wings quickly before taking into the air swiftly.

Orian twirled as he broke through the leaves above the trees, fanning out his wings and falling back slightly before landing on one of the higher trees, perching as he waited for Sindra.

Lor winced ever so slightly as he helped her into the saddle, but she had to admit she was rather impressed that he was able to maneuver her so that there was minimal pain. She found herself adjusting in the saddle and half listening as he spoke. It took her a minute to register everything. "Above the treeline?" She mumbled to herself as it dawned on her and she felt stupid as she just realized they'd be flying. Her eyes got wide as she looked up and watched Damien and Orian take off.

Sindra nodded to Damien as he instructed her to stick close to him. She could easily stick close to him, but would have to get used to flying with a person on her back. She readied herself to take off as she heard the voice of the woman. "Um perhaps now isn't the best time to tell you that I'm afraid of-" Lor was cut off, gasping and gripping tightly to whatever she could as Sindra leapt into the air.

Sindra broke through the treeline not long after Orian did and made her way to come up beside him. "I don't think the elf is too fond of this." She said with a small chuckle and a nod back to Lor, who was hunkered down, grasping tightly to Sindra with her eyes glued shut. Lor hadn't even heard what the dragon had said, instead just focusing all her energy on trying to calm down and get past the fear of falling off.

"It isn't too far from here, don't worry." Orian said to the other dragon before he glanced to Damien.
Damien was watching the clearing they left, he saw as the Kings men stepped into it. He stood up and stepped to the edge of his dragons saddle. He closed his eyes and lifted his arms up, causing the loose soil to move and caused them all to drop down to their knees deep in the ground.

Damien stepped back onto Orian's saddle and almost collapsed.
"You're doing too much." Orian said with a huff before he started his way towards the Sanctuary. Damien mumbled something that could only be head as an argument at his dragons words, but he didn't get up.
Due to the way his saddle was shaped, the sides curved up and blocked any sight of Damien when he was down against the saddle.

Damien was in pain, he had used too much of his energy, not just from what he did around Lor- But before he even found them, against all of the Kings men who attacked his team. He was the reason the others managed to get away; he pooled most of his energy into those attacks towards the guards. Everything hurt, but he would soldier through... For the riders, for the dragons, for the people.

Sindra nodded to the other dragon as she glanced back at her own rider. Lor was still sitting there with her eyes shut and muttering something that wasn't cohesive and Sindra just shook her head. "I think the sooner we get there the better for this poor woman." She told Orian with a sigh.

She noticed Damien collapse into the saddle and glanced back to where they had been before, noticing the men partially buried in earth. This human had magic and had obviously been using too much. She just shook her head again before taking off after Orian. As they flew, Sindra spoke softly to Lor. "You shouldn't tense up your body so much. You're injury is only going to worsen if you do." She told the woman and after a few moments the elf actually obeyed her. "You can also open your eyes, I'm not going to let you fall." She added, trying to help the woman feel a bit more comfortable.

"No I'm quite happy with my eyes shut at the moment. If I try and open them the chances of me tensing back up are high." Lor said in response as she continued to keep her eyes closed. It was really taking all of her focus to keep from tensing up and so she continued how they were. She didn't hear any more argument from Sindra either.

Orian fanned his wings out as he seemed to lower himself down after a moment of flight, he glanced up towards Sindra with a small smile.
"This way, the entrance is this way. We have to go in on land; the magic doesn't open for anyone without a pendant." He explained, moving his head back to his saddle before he nudged Damien up.

Damien sat up weakly and fumbled around his pockets before he moved his hand to his neck and around the small diamond gem around his neck, as it flickered in green and silver colouration.
"Keep on guard Orian." He started, "You don't know if the Kings men are watching the entrance."

A pair of eyes watched from the shadows, moving silently across the trees towards the Sanctuary as they saw Orian land, disappearing into the trees quietly.

Sindra followed Orian's lead and landed shortly after him. She glanced around them more out of caution than anything before looking back to the pair. On her back, Lor finally opened her eyes and relaxed her grip. A rush of pain washed over her as her attention was brought back once more to her injury. She hadn't realized just how much the tension she had while flying would affect her injury.

Sindra looked at the weakened Damien as she moved to be beside Orian. "Is he going to be okay?" She asked the other dragon in a low voice. She was now worried about the human man as well. She also glanced back at Lor who also wasn't looking too great. The elven woman was woozy once again and seemed to be fighting to stay conscious.

"He'll be fine. He's done this before." Orian said as he slunk through the barrier, pausing halfway to notion for Sindra to follow.
In their view was a large door, it was mainly hidden by the stones and trees around it. A large mossy-styled statue of a Dragon perched over the door, which caused Orian to freeze up slightly. "Careful..."

The statute seemed to move slowly, opening its eyes before it slipped down and shook off the moss covering is copper scales. The beast had curved horns, much like a ram, it was broad and bulky with small wings that fold back onto his body.
"Orian." The beast said before it relaxed slightly, "I'm glad you're okay."

"I...Its okay Ram... W..Where is Kela..?" Damien uttered weakly, "Its an... emergency."

"If you say so." Sindra said with a nod as she followed Orian. She looked over the door as they approached, impressed by how well hidden it was. She could have easily walked passed it without ever being the wiser. That's when her eye locked onto the dragon she'd originally mistaken for a statue. Sindra became quite alert and watched this new dragon like a hawk.

"A friend of yours....I'm assuming?" Lor managed to say weakly as she looked over the new dragon and then looked to Damien. "As much as I'm enjoying meeting your friends, may I request...finding a place to lie down? I must say I'm feeling quite tired..." It was taking everything in her to not lie back on the saddle and go to sleep. Talking definitely seemed to be helping her.

Ram seemed to relax slightly at the words of Damien, moving to lower his head to the ground before tilting it, tapping his horns against the grass before he moved towards the door, which was big enough for even him.
"Follow. Kela is inside." He rumbled as he moved inside.

Orian followed without hesitation, looking towards Sindra with a weak smile, "Ram is protective, my apologies if he seems off." He added, Damien only replied in a grumble, watching the sudden lights of the hideouts roof as they entered.
The feel of warmed air drifted over their bodies, the sound of footsteps in the background echoed gently around.

There was feeling in the air, apart from the warmth, it was a feel of hope and strength; but also the oddly familiar of dragons.
Ram led them to a large room, which looked to be a common room, there were cupboards at one end and a small kitchenette area. A hooded figure had their back towards everyone as they entered.
"We have Guests." Ram rumbled, the figure only hesitated before turning around to tilt their hooded and masked head to Sindra.
"You are a new one..." A feminine voice seemed to whisp into the air. "And your rider is injured."

Sindra found it quite curious that the dragon called Ram seemed to respect this human. She, herself, often avoided contact with the humans and elves alike for fear of how they would treat her. She even feared enslavement to a point, yet as of tonight she found herself in the company of both an elf and a human. She was still alert, however she was finding it easier to trust Damien. "I cannot blame him for being protective." She said in response to Orian

She followed the group inside, glancing back at Lor on occasions to check on her. She definitely needed medical attention soon as she was looking quite pale for her complexion. She hoped this Kela person would be able to help her.

As they entered the common room Sindra's eyes locked on the hooded woman. "She is not my rider." Sindra said to the woman with a sigh. "I found the woman injured and decided I needed to help." She continued to explain.

Lor slowly began to move, deciding if best to now get off Sindra's back especially with her declaration. "And I will say I'm quite grateful to Sindra for helping me out." She said as she slowly slid to the ground. To late she realized this may have been a mistake as she found she was weaker than she thought and collapsed. "I swear I will find the man who shot me and I'm going to rip out his throat." She grumbled in irritation.