Ameera's mind settled on her own, Elspeth instantly recognising the tanzanite's voice, despite never having heard it before.

The west entrance at the top of the Southern tower will bring you to the waiting room, she said gratefully at the dragoness' request. Pausing briefly, she bit her lip with a slight frown.

How old is your rider, dragon? the Commander enquired warily. She didn't particularly want to recruit the young ones but now it seemed she didn't have much of a choice: still, she'd like to know. Do you think she will be able to cope with the challenges that will be presented to you both? I want you to know, I'm not ordering you to give aid - I'm asking you - and you may refuse without being judged, if you wish.

Arimis struggled to keep flight, couging blood and trying to see through blurred vision. Ahead were the hazed forms of the mountains that lead to the legion. He gave one feeble call before his enegy gave out and he began to fall from the sky. His white and serpentine crashed into a patch of trees inside the mountains. A painful scream echoed from his throat as a thick branch from an oak tree struck him through the heart and slowly began to kill him. His roar in pain turned into a mental scream the echoed through the minds of every sentient being within the horizons.

It was a maddening scream that sang of downfall, devistation and the loss of all hope. Arimis no longer controlled his own body as it began to scream and writhe on the ground, shoving the limb further and further into his body. He refused to die... he had to give his message and recover... he had too... for Asirma.... for the last of his race..... for if he died.... Asirma would be lost.

She is sixteen." Ameera replied warily. She can handle anything you put her through trust me, she has been through a lot. She added. It was true Sage was pretty tough and could care less about pain and hard work, as long as whatever she is doing get's done she was okay. Ameera flew to where Elspeth had told her to go and landed gently in front of her. Sage jumped off Ameera and smiled, "Hey."

Trying to mask her weariness and failing, Elspeth hailed the young girl as she leapt spritely from Ameera's back. "Sage," she said with a small smile and a nod, "It's good to see you. I'm afraid if you wish to join the legion, we're going to have to forego training and start immediately. Ameera tells me you're both a confident rider and worker and I believe enough in her assessment that you are able for the tasks I must set you."

Still seated, Elspeth ran a hand through her short hair, blue gaze staring into middle distance as she thought. "It has come to my attention that the mage influence from Wordonat is much greater now than I anticipated. In the space of a day, I've had three men and two dragons injured by supposed 'bandits' and 'hunters' as well as word from one of the Daken in Nailin that a former usurper is on the rise to power once more. And this time, I believe he has aid of the highest kind: the mages of Syannath from the top dark-mage college in Wordonat. There is no other way an uprising like this could come about again without aid."

The Commander paused for a heartbeat, thinking briefly before speaking once more, her tone of voice much colder than it had been - though there was still a hint of regret. "I will be placing the Coalition on full alert:" she said shortly, pressing her fingertips against her brow as though staving off a headache, "Every able-bodied man and woman will carry a weapon with them at all times - be it only a knife or small blade - until I say otherwise. I will need soldiers - both to defend and attack - and I need scouts; I would like to request you to join the latter. Ameera's colouring provides good camouflage against the night sky - especially - and both of you are small and nimble enough to escape most attacks presented to you."

"However," she continued, fixing first Sage and then Ameera with a piercing blue stare, "I would also request that you take Alexis and Shadow with you: you may need their healing prowess. It will also be useful to have them at your side if you find any injured soldiers out in the field."

In a single, graceful motion, Elspeth stood, clasping her hands behind her back in the military fashion, her gaze never wavering from the eyes of the two before her. "I want to make this perfectly clear," she stated slowly, careful to make sure that her words were not misheard, "Your job is to scout, not to attack. Under no circumstances are you to engage an enemy in combat without prior consent from myself. Your duties are to gather information, aid those wounded that you find - where possible - and to return to me to report or for further orders regarding rescue operations or battle tactics. Is that understood, Lieutenant?"

Sage took in each and every one of Elspeth words. She formed them into sentences she would understand and nodded. "Of course. Should I wait for Alexis and Shadow then?" she asked Elspeth. She remembered the girl from earlier and knew that she wasn't with Elspeth and herself.

Elspeth shrugged with a slight smile. "It's your choice as to whether you wait here or seek her out. I contacted all of the legion, so my hope is that they all turn up here at some time or another, but as this is a relatively urgent mission, you are wlecome to find her beforehand. Her chambers will be on one of the lower levels of the Sky-Quarter; most people should be able to direct you to her if need be. Ameera may also be able to sense and communicate with Shadow if he is near. The choice is up to you but I will remain here until the rest of the legion arrives."

So saying, she settled herself once more into the worn chair with a heavy sigh.

Sage breathed heavily. She didn't think she was ready to go on her own, but she noticed Elspeth's worn and tired face, she would have to go find Alexis. "Can you contact Shadow?" she asked Ameera. Ameera nodded, and focused sending Shadow a message. "Let's go down so I can find Alexis." Sage said, hopping onto Ameera and pulling her too the entrance.

(Geebers you and iced don't heal me fully.... I would PM this but i would rather type it in my post rather than wait another 10 minutes to send it to you guys.)

Asirma remained silent. The Onyx Elites drew closser and he held his breath and prayed for a quick death. However, they stopped short of where they would be able to see him and turned around and went back to the door. The minits dragged by and soon they did the exact same thing. That must be their patrol pattern... interesting As he slowly pushed himself up one more burst of pain slipped through his soul and he collapsed once more.... In his heart, he knew Arimis just died....

A surplus of blood floated around the sinking ship on the treble water. Like the red coloured the otherwise monotonous sea, the wreck would decorate the bottom of the sea. The corpses of the sailors had been left at the ship, but would without a doubt be devoured by animal predators within minutes. As soon as the last markings in the water disappeared, it would as if nobody crossed the, today.

"Ready to go? Ready or not?" Undani growled impatiently. At the age of 14, she was the youngest of all the sisters and the most energetic. Her siblings did not share this trait, which caused the Sagar-Morwen to wait, 'pointlessly' according to the girl, much more than she fancied.

"I can't figure what the hell is wrong with your head." Silicai, an older Sagar-Morwen sister said. She had claimed herself the leader of the five-branched family and was by far the most offensive, cruel and dominant one. Secretly Silicai acted like that because she was incredibly insecure and scared. But only Naradei knew of that.

"I love you to death, no strings attached. Except for this one dangling thread that wants to-"

But Naradei too had enough and interrupted her bossy elder sister. "Shut up both of you." She moaned and then sighed loudly before she turned to the younger sibling. "Undani, at your age, you can go home by yourself. We'll come after you soon."

Undani stuck out her tongue as a sign of protest but obeyed her older sister. She and the two other younger sisters dove underwater. This left just Naradei and Silicai, remaining to drift on the sea's surface together. Silicai swam a short end away from her sister, then turned on her back and peddled herself forwards, while the little sunlight that broke through the mist was reflected right by the water on her face and chest. Naradei waited before she followed her only older sibling towards the shore.

Silicai bumped the back of her into a rock wand unknowingly and emit a painful screech. Naradei shook her head and then turned in the opposite direction to hide her grimace. She lifted herself up and sat down on one of the rocks. The air was colder than the water, Naradei shivered and mumbled something about how much she treasured the drips of the salty water sliding down her body.

"When I talk to you I can't tell what's disease and what's your heart." the Morwen suddenly said. Her sister stared at Naradei's back, surprised by the sudden words. "At least look at me when you talk to me Naradei!" Silicai replied with a hiss. "And this has nothing to do with my disease, Undani was a little pest long before I ever fell ill."

"That's why I can't tell. I can't pick your moods apart."

"Look at me already for sound's sake!"

Naradei gave in to Silicai's demand and turned around to face her. The Morwen was holding the back of her head within the palm of her left hand while kicking the water to stay afloat. She looked beat, tired, it didn't suit her face at all.

"I can't discern your fears from your anger Silicai. The girls seem to think you've gone crazy, which isn't an unlikely theory at all."

"Well you'd better get used to cranky old Sil then, because I'm not healing and smashing my head in that rock didn't help out!" Silicai sneered. "Now I'm going home, we'd come after them soon remember?"

Shadow was lying on the grass relaxing when he heard the message, quickly he sent it to Alexis. "Seems we have a mission Alexis"
Alexis sighed and asked "what is it?"
"Not sure something about a battle"
Alexis was quiet for a moment then said "Ok, I'm on my way"

Alexis grabed her spear and bow after making sure her armor was right she left her room and headed toward where shadow awaited her.

Sage and Ameera left to find Alexis and her dragon, and the exhausted Commander sank further into her chair, rubbing her temples as she rested her chin against her chest. With a gentle shifting of straw and the rustle of wings, Gaeb emerged through the open doorway into the waiting room, settling himself at her side.

"How's Naina?" Elspeth enquired, fixing the emerald with tired blue eyes - how long had it been since she had last slept?

"She sleeps," answered the dragon, leaning over to nuzzle at her head in a motion akin to comfort, "As does Daniel. They should be feeling better in a few hours and will be as right as rain in a couple of days, maximum."

Nodding, Elspeth leant her head against her friend's muzzle, gazing into middle-distance. "Can you conact Aeon?" she asked, slightly warily, "I'm loathe to invite him into our midst but, at the moment, we need all the strength we can get."

Do you think that's wise? Gaeb returned softly in her mind, remembering her earlier encounter with the unfriedly pair and curling his nose in distaste at it, His ego doesn't need any more inflating, I think...

I know, his rider sighed in response, But his pride may be such that he can't refuse a plea of help and I've got to take that chance.

Unconvinced, the emerald snorted, the tip of his tail flicking slightly in agitation. Yet his claims were wholely unjustified, he retorted shortly, He could speak to anyone in the coalition and see that they are no different from his precious rider. Just because he has a difficult history, doesn't mean he should blame a whole species bar one. But, of course... Gaeb added snidely - an unusual emotion from the stoic dragon - he would not deign us even the chance defend ourselves and see for himself what the real truth is.

If we give him a chance to trust us, then maybe he will, Elspeth answered resignedly and tilted her head to look at the worn stone ceiling far above her. "Where's Destrain and his rider got to?" she enquired aloud with a slight frown, "I saw them earlier so they can't be far..."

There was a short pause and then, to her surprise, Gaeb chuckled gently. Turning her eyes upon his curiously, the Commander smiled slightly at her friend's mirth. "What?"

"I think young Tavi may need a bit of rescuing from the cells," he answered, still laughing quietly, "Too successful at cards, possibly?"

Shaking her head, Elspeth laughed also. "Well, at least someone's been enjoying themselves in all this mess. Will you go find him for me? I aught to stay here in case any of the others turn up." Or Daniel wakes, she voiced privately, though Gaeb already knew her reasoning.

With a soft smile, the emerald lowered his great head in acknowledgement and stood, whuffing at her short hair once more before leaving through the large exit that ran in a long tunnel all the way down to the Sky-Quarter.

And don't forget to contact Aeon, she reminded Gaeb with a gentle prod, to which the dragon only grunted. Still she knew he would do as she asked - if only for her. With a final sigh, Elspeth settled back into the large chair once more and closed her eyes.

Cold. He felt cold. And tired, despite having been sleeping before. He had to have, he had awoken, right? Or had he been unconcious with his eyes closed for no particular reason. Hungry, he was so hungry... His stomach gurgled and groaned in protest. And the pain... Man alive, it was agony. The pain killers, or whatever they had made him drink before, they weren't working. They had simply reduced the burning inferno sweeping through his wounds into a dull, heavy throb. He moved to touch his chest, where it hurt the most and just managed a strangled cry, his throat too dry, too raw for him to scream.

His arm was broken from the fall. His whole right hand had been crushed... It was a miracle that the doctors had managed to put it back together so well. Or maybe it had just felt crushed... Daniel couldn't remember. His chest was unharmed, but he knew the pain Naina was feeling. Even in her restless, exhausting sleep, she could still feel it. It was too tiring even to rest... Stars, what a nightmare... He should have been more prepared, taken better care of his beautiful companion. But he had failed her and his depression filled the room in a thick fog that was not visible to the human eye, nor any other kind of eye.

He attempted to move again. His legs were alright, but they had deep gashes, and were sore as f*ck. Just like every other part of his body. His broken arm was in a sling and his chest was bandaged up too, though apart from that he was only in his underpants. Dried blood covered him underneath his bandages, he could feel it crickling and peeling off as he walked. He wanted to be near Elspeth... He could feel her nearby. He didn't know how far he walked or fohow long, it was all a blur. But he remembered collapsing next to Naina and bawling silently like a baby. He felt so alone without even her dreams to reassure him.

His heavy, empty heart soared that little bit when he saw his love, nestled and sleeping in the large armchair. He had gone down such a long tunnel and lost his sense of direction too many times to count... But he had reached out to her through mind link and found her sucessfully and she wasn't even concious. Daniel felt after their little encouter with the barbarians, that he and his Commander would be connected by mind link quite strongly... Or maybe it was just considence she rescued him and he had found her in this bloody huge castle, he wasn't sure.

But he was sure he wanted to be near her. His half naked body was cold and shivering and his muscle ached, as did his heat, wanting to be close to his beautiful, beautiful Commander... He reached out to stroke free flowing strands from her face, then he leaned down as bst he could without groaning in pain and kissed her head tenderly, then did it again for good luck. He somehow managed to manouver her without waking her so he was sitting with his back to the backrest and she was in his lap. He had wrapped his slight hairy legs around, holding her close in his arms and proceeded to stare at her in awe, before kissing her all over her face.

He did not want to wake her, she wa so peaceful for once, finally getting some rest. Daniel muttered a sleeping spell into her ear, though he had to keep renewing it every so often because he was so damn weak... He needed to sleep too... But he was so happy, her resting finally and him getting to kiss and cuddle her with her (almost) acceptence, looking after her, caring after her, being the man she deserved in protecting her... But despite his best intentions of being the watch dog, Daniel too joined her in the land of Nod. He prayed their dreams would bring them together somehow.

The cells were dark, lit only by the torchlight that flickered as the great beast passed, his wings pressed flat against his flanks. Weaving his way through the tunnels, Gaeb eventually reached the main prison-chamber and several men jumped to attention, a large ruby dragon lifting his head to survey the emerald with narrowed orange eyes.

"Gabriel," he rumbled and Gaeb lowered his head in acknowledgement, though the emerald clearly held the authority in the room, "What brings you down here at such an hour?"

"The young lad you hold," he answered, amber gaze surveying the various cells in an attempt to spot the boy, "Commander Dann wishes to see him."

One of the wardens stepped forward, ignoring his colleage's tug on his arm, and frowned. "He cheated in cards - he must stay until he learns that stealing coins is not the way we do things here."

Though he made no move, the emerald's posture changed, the tension of the room sliding up a notch as Gaeb lowered his muzzle to the man's height. And of course, Kristan, your record is as clear as a crystal when it comes to gambling, the dragon threatened, though only the warden could hear. The man paled and Gaeb raised his head once more, nodding towards the door that Tavi's scent was filtering from. "If you wish to tell the Commander that you have detained one of her legion in a period of war, then that is your descision," he rumbled placidly and the warden's companion stared at the dragon, mouth agape.

"War?" he repeated sharply, "You mean...?"

"Yes," answered Gaeb, a little more kindly, though no less blunt for it, "You are to place the citadel on high alert and distribute weapons accordingly. Now, please: release the boy."

Fumbling for the keys, the guard inserted one into the cell's lock as the warden continued to glare at the beast before him. "Come boy," Gaeb heard the guard say as he watched the ruby dragon turn to the warden, murmuring something inaudible into the man's mind, "Quickly lad: it's the Commander who wants to see you and you don't want to keep her waiting, less you want to stay here for much longer than a night..."

Eventually, the warden removed his gaze from the emerald's, lowering it to the floor grumpily as Tavi was led into the main chamber. Ignoring the chastised man, Gaeb turned to the young rider with a smile. "Call your dragon, boy: we have need of his might as well as your magic."

Turning swiftly, Gaeb led the way from the prison quarters back towards Elspeth, Tavi trotting gamely behind him.

---------------------------

Elspeth stirred slightly as something warm pressed gently against her head, a small smile twitching at her mouth as she slept. Fast asleep once more, she didn't feel the gentle movements of someone shifting her into position but nonetheless, naturally curled towards the warmth, her caloused palm resting softly against smooth flesh. For once, she barely dreamt and, when she did, they were as carefree and light as they were when she was younger - without the troubles that presented themselves in these difficult times. Daniel - his bright mop of hair blazing in the sunlight of her dreams - flickered in and out of them several times, his features as untroubled as hers as he grinned charmingly, inaudible words falling from his lips as he watched her with an emerald gaze.

In a while, the Commander began to wake, her blue eyes opening slowly to settle upon the man curled beneath her and her smile broadening. Reaching up, she drew an errant lock of hair from his brow and then pressed her hand to his chest once more, noting the new bandages wrapped around his torn form. One of his arms was in a sling - recovering from a break it seemed - and he bore stiches that held together a large gash across his eyebrow. But the strangest difference was in the link they bore: before it had been nothing more than a flicker of conciousness in her mind but now... now it was more than that. Though Daniel was unconcious, she could virtually hear the thoughts that swirled in his dream state - something she had only ever felt with her dragon companion before - and it was a wonderful sensation.

Stirring fully, Elspeth let her smile drop with a sigh. So many things different and yet the worst aspect was the same: the Coalition was at war. Her head was now clear and she could no longer deny the fact that the attacks were only the beginning of something much more. The dragons, with their foresight, had been spot on in their assumptions and though she had listened, she had done nothing to prove their theories. And now, it seemed, it was virtually too late.

Sitting up, she untangled herself regretfully from her love and stood, gazing down at him with sad eyes. He needed the sleep but Elspeth didn't want to leave without telling him; crouching beside the chair, she picked up his good hand in her own, playing absently with his fingers as she watched his peaceful features while he slept.

Daniel, love, she said softly into his mind, knowing without thinking that he could hear her, I must leave to prepare the Coalition. I sense Naina stirring: she will need some company, I feel. Take your time to rest: I'll come and find you both later.

Rising to her feet once more, the Commander removed her cloak, tucking it around the sleeping rider and kissing him gently. "I love you," she murmured softly against his lips and, with a small smile, moved to leave.

"Alexis!" Sage exclaimed as she saw the pretty rider and her big white dragon. "I need your help." she said, changing her expression to be serious. "We need to scout, not attack." she said almost like Elspeth. "We need to look for wounded men and we just need to find out what the heck is going on." she said, with another smile. This would be fun, she thought to herself. "Elspeth said to bring you for your healing powers." she added.

A broad shade broke the light descending the seas. The Sagar-Murwen considered this phenomenon a forecast; a ship sailed above them and created an obstacle for the sun's rays. Hunting like this was very convenient for them, as they could stay deep enough in the water to hide from the human eye. But today, there were multiple shadows falling down the sea. Was there a fleet sailing through the rift?

Nactala, passing through was the fastest way between Wordonat and Armiekai, but not often used because of the treacherous currents, dangerous rocks just below the water's surface and the large Sagar-Morwen colony living underneath it. Some pirates knew these seas and manoeuvred through them swiftly, but even they only crossed Nactala if there was the utmost need. Because depending on how deep the Sagar-Morwen swam, they might fall to prey to these sea-predator's fangs.

“I've made up my mind, don't try to tell me otherwise, I'm not gonna listen this time.” Undani mumbled. She was as determined as ever and trying to talk her out of her egocentric attitude was impossible, much to Silicai's annoyance. Thites and Menecly watched as their older sister fell out to the younger girls again.

“Weren't you told from the start that you're going to find somebody new to take you out to hunt?” Silicai cried out loudly. Her entire body shook violently. Every time she and Undani had an argument her anger grew greater. This particular sister would never submit to her will easily and Silicai grew less patient with the day.

Undani shrieked; “Why do you think I'm going to Nactala in the first place?” in reply. She was completely confident another Sagar-Murwen would help her out. Misplaced confidence, of course. But she didn't know. She wanted to get away from her oldest sister, who according to herself had gone mad and was dangerous to the family. But Silicai wouldn't have it.

“Tell me none of those,” Eyes narrowed and her voice shook, “None of those lies!”

“Then where were you when I was spilling out my heart, when I was telling you the truth?” The small Murwen yelled. “You're giving me nothing I can use and you're doing me nothing but abuse!”

Silicai let out a loud and painfully high-pitched screech, which had been intended to be a curse but it was hard to hear the words in a cry that hurt even Sagar-Murwen ears. Thites and Menecly covered their hearing senses and Undani replied with a cry of her own.

Naradei would much rather have roosters, even though such a bird was alien to her world, to wake her up. She slowly realised she had vision, albeit little, and placed her forehead in the palm of her left hand, just to realise the shriek pierced through her head. "Undani has gone too far again..." were Naradei’s first thoughts. But then again, the girl didn't know about Silicai's condition. Freeing herself from her sleeping mind quickly, she searched for the direction it came from, though it cost her effort to define this because the cry not only echoed within the small open cave she laid in, but also because it was so incredibly painful to listen to. When she determined where the sound came from, she clung to the rock bottom and groping around her to define walls as her sisters’ cries was disrupting her own vision.

On her way towards the source of the sound, higher up in the water where the sun's rays lit up the water, she heard it ebbing away. Even though it would still resound in her head for ten minutes. Naradei emitted a few signature whistles, so her sisters would know she was coming. Quickly after she heard Silicai’s.

“She’s on her way to the black and gray.” The agitated Murwen told Naradei when she was close enough to identify words. She was still shivering and she turned away her head from her sister.

“Nactala?” Naradei asked. It wasn’t the first time Undani had started about leaving the family. She was fed up with Silicai’s ‘madness’. It getting worse with the day wasn’t helping either. She said she wouldn’t be able to live like this much longer and would take drastic measures if needed a few days ago and today was her first attempt at these.

Without waiting for the answer Naradei added, “I’ll look for her.” And swam away, whistling again while not paying mind to Silicai’s further rants and protests about how nobody should bother with Undani anymore.

“Don’t turn your back on me when I’m talking to you for sound’s sake! Those behavioural relapses make you worse than the very worst!”

It took a while before her whistles were answered. Undani’s was shaky and weak to the point it was barely recognisable. Regardless of how tough she though she acted, Undani was an open book to anyone who delved into her mind a little.

“Have you come to lecture me?” The girl muttered when Naradei had found her and laid a hand on her back. Undani was lying down on her belly, her face planted on the ocean floor refusing to look at her sister. Looking away from others when things became serious was one of the girl’s trademarks and the very reason Silicai lectured Naradei on it when she did so herself.

“Possibly.”

“Never mind then.” Undani muttered in the same breathe. She pushed herself up and her body ascended in the water effortlessly. The girl let herself drift up a little before she took control of herself and positioned herself vertically. But her back was still turned on Naradei.

“Are you going to Nactala?” Naradei asked and took the silence that followed as a confirmation. “But you barely know anything or anyone there don’t you?”

The girl turned around and faced her sister for the first time in the conversation. Naradei could see she had been crying. Her face always looked much older for some reason. Maybe it was Undani’s smile that accented her youth. “Black and grey, I think I’m on my way.” Slipped from the girl’s lips and now it was Naradei turned her face away, to smile.

“Wanna come, colourful person?” And without waiting for an answer, the girl kicked the water.

“And then she gets angry!” Undani almost cried out incensed, her way of recovering. Naradei had joined her sister, even though she was heading for Nactala. Naradei had hoped that when Undani would calm down she would turn back, but it seemed there was determination beyond anger.

“And what does she do anyway? You’re the one who cares for us, you’re the responsible one! Who does she thinks she is? Yes! I know mom trusted her to, but she isn’t doing it is she? She’s just being bossy and cranky all the time! All the time! All the time! All-”

“You’ve yelled out ‘all the time’ three times by now. I think we’re clear.” Naradei answered, lengthening her ‘I’ and rapidly pronouncing the rest of the sentence.

Undani snickered. She could take such a remark much better than Silicai. It took her a while before she said anything again. “Hey, Dei, I’m sorry. You know?” Naradei nodded when the girl gave her a questioning glance. “But, I’m sorry too, because, well, I don’t think I’ll come back.”

“You’re not?” Naradei questioned.

“Well… Not soon anyway…” Undani grumbled, once again looking away. “Maybe when Sil stops being crazy… But only maybe!” She added when she meant to feel a hopeful spark from Naradei.

“So, you’re not going to come back tomorrow morning?” Naradei said. Undani pretended not to hear it and the two sisters continued to swim wordlessly for a few minutes. But then, something new grabbed Undani’s attention.

“Those are many ships…” She muttered, watching how the light seemed to create uneven borders in the dark waters in front of them. “What are so many ships doing together?” But her sister didn’t know.

“Wanna find out?” Undani suddenly asked, to Naradei’s unforeseen surprise. It was much like Undani to randomly want to explore things. Today was no different. The girl waited a moment for an answer, but when she didn’t get one, she accelerated and headed for the fleet. Naradei called for her but Undani had no attention for her sister.

“Sil’s right… Always been a pest.” Naradei moaned to herself, before giving chase to the small annoyance.

Arimis coughed up more blood, I'm not going to be able to make it... Asirma forgive me.... As the dieing Dekan said this his hide began to turn a sickly gray and almost opaque. He tried to claw forwards but every movement seemed to drive the branch deeper into his body. He screamed a gurgling scream and lashed out. Driving the deadply branch in further as he whiped around and knocked over more trees and kicked up dust and other things into the air.