"No they do not, but you cannot fool me Rex. I know you have lost your way and in turn decided to rebel against the dragons. The very beings that saved us and protected us", she said. "I don't understand why anyone would make such a choice."

Aaliyah listened to the conversation and smiled slightly. She started humming to herself and continued listening with a sly smirk on her face.

Rex felt his emotions rise slightly. "And who will the dragons believe? I have ever been their loyal servant, and you dare question me?" He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

"It seems so. If you've been such a loyal servant..then why turn away? What made you turn away from them?" The girl could feel that she was beginning to push Rex's buttons..but she had to know. Why turn away from the very beings that made them who they are today? Why? "I've been their loyal servant since they first found me and yet I do not turn away from them."

Aaliyah bit her lip and frowned, she had to get Nacine away from this man. She started tapping her foot and waited, she officially despised this man she couldn't believe him and yet she knew she would have to talk to him.

"I have never turned away," said Rex, his voice leveling out. "I respect the dragons for their great strength and power, and the only way to live the way we do is to be loyal. Frankly, I like the good life I have and I don't want to mess it up!"

Nacine would be in her room, trying not to cry. Deep inside, she knows what she has to do, but is scared.

With a humph, Rex left the girl, irritated. He knocked on Nacine's door.

Nacine sighed, and opened the door. "What do you want?" her eyes were still red from crying.

"Can we talk?" Rex asked quietly. "In private. We seem to have hit a... complication."

She sighs. "Yeah, more than one. Get in here."

Rex came in. After Nacine closed and locked the door, he said, "That new girl -- Tanith was her name -- she suspects that I'm not loyal. I showed her the scale --" He took it out and showed it to her. "-- and before you try to kill me, let me explain. My flames aren't normal; not only do they burn flesh, they burn spirits and souls."

She sighs. "OK."

"I killed a dragon to get this, Nacine," said Rex. "A yearling, perhaps twelve feet long, four feet at the hip. Still a child." He sighed. "Anyways, I have weapons for the fighting hidden in my room."

She looked at him. He would be able to tell she was hurt. "Is that all you came to tell me?"

Aaliyah lowered the ice walls and walked to Rex's room, she sat in front of the door and waited for him to get done talking to Nacine. She would figure Rex out and maybe even do it forcefully.

"Not all," Rex confirmed. He stepped closer. "As much as you hate those loyal to the dragons, we need someone to keep eyes on them. You'd be best at it."

She sighs, and shakes her head. "No. I can't. Besides, you're friendly enough with them. Why don't you just do it?" She's obviously mad at him.

Within deep and hidden chambers of a dragon's temple stood a line of subjugated Acolytes. Their condition was far from optimal, showing clear signs of malnourishment and torture. Parts of their body also seemed to have developed frostbite, something which was only worsened by the icy aura keeping them in place. Before this line sat Merus alongside a dragon. Marmernax was his name, a dragon which along with Merus, dealt with trials, judgements, and inquisitions.

"You still will not speak?" Asked the dragon. "Pitiful. Merus..."

Merus smirked, and with a wave of his hand, small spears of ice formed within the prisoners' cold aura. They stabbed the flesh, digging deeper and deeper to illicit excruciating pain. In Merus's mind, this was a fitting punishment for those who would dare speak of even a hint of rebellion against the dragon overlords.

"Marmernax, I think that from past questionings we can infer that the one in the middle, Bjorn, was the one who thought of this little idea amd group in the first place. The rest are mere followers."

A certain cruel shine sparked in Merus's eyes, something which the dragon picked up on. Marmernax nodded, something like a chuckle escaping its throat. The cruel Acolyte stood from his seat and walked towards Bjorn.

"The Ice of Cocytus chills the very soul," he began as he grabbed Bjorn's throat. Dark ice spread from his grip. "Revealing horrors and nightmares within."

Bjorn began to shake and whimper. Not from pain, but terror as the strange ice dug into his mind to bring out his worse fears. Sorrow overcame him, the breaking point seeing those closest to him lying dead.

"S-stop... I'll....talk..."

Heads of other subjugated Acolytes turned, shock on their faces.

"There we go," Merus said. "Speak."

Bjorn began to speak of some other Acolytes which had escaped capture and of certain materials which he and others had stolen from the dragons for later use against them. Marmernax growled deeply when he finished talking.

"Find the ones he has spoken of, and recover our possessions," Marmernax ordered, prompting surrounding Acolytes hidden in the shadows to step forth and head out on their task.
"Merus.... kill them."

Merus sent icy spikes through the heads of each defected Acolyte.

"Case closed," he said with a twisted grin.

---

Merus had left the hidden chambers of Marmernax's temple and was now roaming around the upper ground. Not much else could be done at the moment, except wait for his other allies to return with the escaped Acolytes to be subjected to trial and torture.

BlitheCrescent said
She sighs, and shakes her head. "No. I can't. Besides, you're friendly enough with them. Why don't you just do it?" She's obviously mad at him.

"Is this all about Lily?" asked Rex. He seemed angry.