Scales and Honor: Emerald Secrets

Chapter 13: Righteous Flames

Arcturus neared the surface as they climbed each of the steps. Arcturus imagined the reception they would receive once they got to the surface. It had not been long since the gnome ran up the stairs, so it was possibly they did not have a strong defense prepared for three adventurers , and a dragon coming up to greet them. The plan was going to be simple, Arcturus would advance with shield of faith protecting him to throw off some of the energy crossbow fire. Lyndis and Veledar would turn invisible and wreck havoc with any force that was currently waiting for them. Merlia of course would find cover and make it rain with her arrows. If anyone surrendered they would of course show mercy, but once the combat started it would be hard to simple avoid killing people. With all this going on he hoped Lyyreth and Cordenth would catch on and join the fight. Than he remembered the canons on the walls, he figured they would not fire into the fort. However even if they started firing the cannons down, Veledar could probably swoop in and disable one or two. Especially if all three dragons hit them quickly and together.

Arcturus could see the light from the surface now shining down the stairs he was climbing. He picked up the pace as he pulled his sword free, allowing the white light of holy magic to spring forth around the blade. It seemed to ripple like water as it clung to the blade, lighting up the stone a tad bit more. With the latest step on the stairs he thought to the eldritch blasts he had been throwing with Veledar, if any foe were to escape his sword he would be blasting them with that. He bounded up the final stair and charged out the open door with his mirror shield held high to block any energy blasts drawn his way. He shouted as he ran out into the courtyard, finding no weapons firing at him, no soldiers waiting, only the sounds of soldiers shouting orders. He heard the occasional snap of energy crossbow fire, followed by a scream, and than by a roar.

“We've got the dragon on the run!" came a shout, followed by the sound of additional crossbow shots.

From the barracks roof came Lyyreth, bounding over it. His claws ripped up the wooden boards tossing them to the earth as he frantically avoided the energy crossbow shots directed at him. It looked like the dragon had not emerged unscathed however, as some of his green scales were scorched black. Lyyreth landed in front of Arcturus breathing heavily as the others came running over.

“Whats going on?" Veledar demanded, as he returned to his proper size in a flash.

“and where is Cordenth?" Lyndis asked.

Arcturus quickly scanned the area for the sign of soldiers coming for them.

“Someone got close to inspect us as horses." Lyyreth said, holding his snout down slightly. “and when one of the men touched me, I got nervous and started sneezing. I lost my concentration and turned back to my true form, to the surprise of the man. I have been been fighting and running the entire time since."

“But you said you were the best at shapechanging!" Veledar snarled, “You gave me a hard time for losing my concentration!"

“Veledar this isn't the time." Arcturus said, as he heard the sounds of energy crossbows from right around the corner of the barracks.

“The dragon went this way lads! Keep your eyes peeled!

“Well we most definitely are having a conversation about this later." Veledar snorted and stood beside Arcturus, and turned his snout towards the sound of the soldiers.

“Where is Cordenth?" Lyndis asked again.

“I did not see, we got....separated. These mortals actually know how to fight. Well at least better than the ones in the forest."

“How so?"

“They split up for one, its harder to hit them with our breathes when they do this. Then they are able to flank and utilize their numbers and cover to their advantage.

“Ok so we find Cordenth, regroup, and set a few fires!" shouted Arcturus, “ then we head out!"

From around the building filed in fifteen soldiers, six of them carrying energy crossbows, with another carrying a design of it he had never seen before. The man holding it was clad in full plate and carried the large crossbow with both hands, but he held it from the top instead of from the bottom. It numerous vents to dissipate the head and glowed a light red. The other eight wielded a variety of swords, spears, and axes. Lyyreth took one look at the soldiers, a look of worry appearing on his snout. The dragon's claws dug into the earth as he bounded for something to place between himself and the energy crossbow fire.

“There he is lads! Let em have it!" shouted a man in chain mail.

“They have another dragon!" came the cry of another, pointing to Veledar.

“No matter stay focused!" the guards than split to take cover behind some wooden crates and boxes that were scattered around.

Veledar roared out in fury from behind Arcturus, as the men took aim with their bows. Arcturus started charging with his shield as Veledar bounded over him in a flash, and let loose his fire breath. The orange inferno swept over only three of the men and reduced them to screaming as they collapsed onto the ground. Before the men could react the red dragon had swooped over their head's drawing their fire. However his parting gift was to catch a man with his tail,and send him crashing to the ground.

While Veledar had done this Arcturus activated shield of faith, letting the blue field envelop him. He saw some of the men swivel their cross bows towards him, but it had been done. Veledar had given him the ground he needed.

“The dragons flying!" came a shout mid charge from one of the soldiers, “Someone use the cannons!"

Arcturus saw an arrow fly over his right shoulder. It struck a man wielding an energy crossbow right in his eye. The man was tossed back onto the ground, with the arrow sticking straight up. The next volley of energy crossbow shots were aimed at him this time instead of Veledar. He saw the one with the new weapon point towards him as he charged, “get the one with the shield!"

The red bolts flew towards him, with several impacting onto his shield. However they felt like mere bumps to him. Which made him remember that after one such shot from a crossbow it would destroy a normal wooden shield, and after a few more a metal one. However with the new one they impacted uselessly against the shining surface, not even leaving a scratch on it's surface. Arcturus grinned as chocked it up to being magical. The other shots he did not block with his shield we instead deflected by the blue field of magic surrounding him. He saw them flow off of him like water, to the collected horror of the guards in front of him.

“It's not working!" a man yelled, followed by another man next to him catching an arrow to the head. With a thud the man collapsed on the ground just like the first one. The man that shouted then had an arrow fly into his throat, he fell clutching it in surprise. Arcturus made it to them unhindered. He found himself facing eight of the soldiers wielding melee weapons. They stood with their weapons at the ready, standing in the way to defend the energy crossbow wielding ones. Each of the men stood close enough that they could defend the man next to him. They suddenly were forced to scatter as Veledar flew over head, letting loose another burst of flame. His fire setting the whole barracks ablaze in an orange inferno.

The man with the new energy crossbow took aim at Veledar and let loose a near constant stream of red magical bolts. It sounded like the scream of a banshee as the man fired. Steam started to billow out of the vents, thick and white. He followed the dragon with his volley of energy bolts, forcing the dragon to break off to avoid it.

Arcturus took advantage as the men ran from the dragon's fire. One of the men tried to keep Arcturus at bay with his spear, but with a swift chop from the glowing sword he severed the thing's head and batted it away. Than he followed up with a slice that cut the man across his chest. The rusted chain mail was no defense against the magical enhanced blade. It cut right though the worn metal like a hot knife through butter. The man was sent spinning to the ground, blood oozing from the wound. Another man took his place and leaped at Arcturus, sword raised high. With a great shove his shield smashed into the man's frame with a crunch. The man stumbled backwards in a daze, from the sheer force. Arcturus chopped into that man's side with the same result as before. With another strike he struck a man wielding a sword and shield. His sword met the man's hard wood shield. The shield cracked from the force of Arcturus' sword, and was tossed backwards to the ground from the paladin's strength. The others attacked Arcturus in an orderly fashion. Arcturus was forced to side step a jab from a spear, block a strike from a sword, and back up to avoid another. The men pressed their advance on Arcturus as they gave him looks of confidence.

However a spell from Lyndis certainly ruined their confidence. The half-elf appeared beside him, holding her hand outstretched. Flames burst forth from her left hand and made several of the men back away, covering their faces with their hands. One unlucky man was caught on fire and fell screaming to the ground as his body cooked from the flames.

Than another arrow flew past Arcturus, and with a blink of white magic the arrow split into four separate ones. Each arrow struck into then chest of a different soldier, making them stumble backwards in pain. Some of them clutched the arrows dug into them in disbelief, but none of them fell dead.

“You can of course surrender!" Arcturus said aloud, drawing the attention of the remaining soldiers before him. He narrowed his eyes as the soldiers did not respond and preceded to attack once again.

“Well you tried!" Lyndis shrugged as she tossed a fire bolt at a man. The bolt flew through the air and was deflected by the iron shield held by him. Arcturus gave a cry and charged their injured line. They fell easy to the combined effort of Lyndis, Merlia and himself. Each time it appeared one of the soldiers would get an opening to take advantage, one of them would cover for the other. Arcturus parried a blow meant for Lyndis, she in turn blew a weapon out of a man's hand, and Merlia of course found homes for her arrows in the form of the soldiers kneecaps. This allowed Arcturus and Lyndis to finish them off quickly as they stumbled forward.

Merlia gave a cheer as the last man fell to the ground dead. The man in full plate was still distracted as he was continuing to fire at one of the dragons. With the death cry of the last soldier, the armored man turned to face them. Arcturus readied his shield as the blue field around him faded away, the spell spent. However with a quick loud roar, slash of black dragon claws, the armored man fell dead to the ground. Lyyreth stood over his corpse, his snout dripping blood. The dragon gave a triumphant roar for all to hear.

Arcturus' attention was drawn as he heard the thunderous sound of energy cannon fire. It appeared that three of the towers had gotten someone to man them. Each of the metal cannons was firing large beams of blue energy, streaking across the sky towards the flying red dragon. Veledar gracefully dodged the first lance of magical energy from one of the towers and swooped past it. He took a breath let loose his inferno on the gunner, who was promptly reduced to ash. There was another thunderous noise as the second tower fired, causing Veledar to swerve to avoid that one as well. He continued his flight towards that tower, and when he close enough a cone of intense cold sprung forth from the dragon's right claw. It washed over the gunner in that tower, and without a doubt froze him to death at the controls. Than a third shot rang out like before. The blue energy beam seemed to pass by Veledar as the dragon swerved like before. However Veledar this time roared in pain. Arcturus hoped that it was only a glancing blow as the dragon seemed to not slow down as he closed in on the last gunner. The dragon grabbed the man with his jaws and with a yank, tossed the man violently into the air. The man flew high quickly away from the dragon screaming. Gravity soon took over and the man plummeted to his death. Veledar flew passed the final tower, letting out a roar of victory. Arcturus watched the dragon dip his wing membranes, and prepare for another pass.

Arcturus pried his sight away from the sheer force of destruction that was Veledar. It was practically breathtaking to see the dragon cut loose with such fury. He wondered if the dragon fought that ferociously when they met, if he would still have been able to capture him. He quickly made his way over to Lyyreth, who was still standing over the dead body of the armored man. He held his snout high, his eyes scanning for more soldiers.

“Now were did you say you saw Cordenth last?" Lyndis asked.

Suddenly as if to answer her Cordenth crashed through one of the buildings, sending wood and burning debris scattering in many directions.

“We got this one lads! Press the attack!" he heard a shout from another group of soldiers.

Well first objective down, they had found Cordenth.

“Cordenth!" Arcturus shouted, as the dragon rose slowly with a pained growl. Arcturus could see that his scales were covered in numerous black burn marks just like Lyrreth. He ran to the dragon and held out a his hand as he focused on healing the dragon. Magic sprung forth into his hand, causing it to glow with a soft white light. He than touched Cordenth's injured scales, the magic flowed from his hands and passed into the dragon. Cordenth took a deep breath, and gave a sigh of relief.

“Well your certainly a breath of fresh air, no wonder Veledar keeps you around." the dragon said with a smirk.

“Well perhaps only because you two keep insisting on getting injured. Now focus, I want you to take Lyyreth and head into the air. Help Veledar in strafing the soldiers, keep them busy. We will work on getting a way to get the message back to the king."

Cordenth gave a nod and looked to his brother. “Come on whelp lets go help that balloon of hot air!" the green dragon spread his wings and took flight, letting loose a roar.

“Be careful all of you." Lyyreth replied, following after his brother. With a flap of his wings the dragon bounded into the air, causing the earth around them to kick up a cloud of dirt.

“Your the one who always seems to need it!" Lyndis cupped her mouth and shouted back towards the dragon.

“So how do we go about getting this message back to the king?" Lyndis crouched over one of the many corpses, and started to rifle through the dead man's pouches.

“Dat da time lass?" Merlia asked, as she carefully made her way over. She crouched low, behind one of the wooden crates scattered around. Her dwarven eyes scanning for any soldiers, as she held her bow and arrow at the ready.

“Always the time." Lyndis waved back to her. “So Arcturus were are we going?"

“We are going to go Bertram's quarters. I imagine he had a sending stone himself, so that he could relay message's quickly to Entis." Arcturus replied. He looked up as two soldiers appeared where Cordenth had been.

Merlia let fly one of her arrows, catching one of the men by surprise. He fell backwards clutching the arrow in his chest. Arcturus heard the dwarf mumble something under her breath as the second man ducked behind a wooden beam for cover. Merlia just calmly knocked her second arrow and drew it back.

“Ya can't hide from me!" she shouted, loosing the arrow.

The arrow flew towards the man taking cover. When the arrow got close it curved in a way so that it actually flew around the cover, and struck the man. He let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground dead.

“Nice shot!" Arcturus exclaimed.

“You tink dat was a nice shot?" Merlia asked with a laugh. “It's all in da bow lad. Although even without it I'm a great shot." She patted the oathbow three times with her hand. Course I love shootin around tings, it just makes me all giddy !"

“Now lets get going to Bertram's office before we draw yet even more attention. With any luck they will be too busy keeping their heads up for three dragons." Arcturus looked up to see as if on cue, the form of all three dragon's flying in what appeared to be an attack wing. Veledar let loose a breath of fire, lighting even more of the building ablaze. The green dragon's flew on either of his sides, letting loose large clouds of green poisonous gas. When the passed over head they were followed by the shots of energy cross bows, but none of them struck the dragons. The trio let out roars, and turned back for yet another pass.

Arcturus led the others through the fort as the dragons rained death onto the soldiers below. They passed three groups consisting of several soldiers that outright went to ignore them. Arcturus would stop them in their tracks and give them a chance to surrender, and gesture to the dragons above. Two of the three groups without a word went right for their weapons. Arcturus was forced to dispatch them quickly, the soldiers hardly putting up a fight. With a quick flurry of his sword, stab of Lyndis' rapier, and Merlia's piercing arrows , both groups were taken down with ease. Arcturus thought back to when he had knights under his command. If he had had a handful of experienced fighters such as the two with him. He imagined that the terrible fight with Dread Flame would have gone much differently.

With the two groups dispatched they made it to Bertram's office unhindered. That was until Lyndis went to open the door to the office. The last group they ran into was something else entirely than the usual guards running to help attack the dragons. This group seemed concerned with looking through buildings, and consisted of four guards and a gryphon. The gryphon had brown feathers and fur covering her body, with teal tipped wings. The four guards consisted of two human males, one elven male, and a human female. One of the human males was Bor, who had a look of complete terror on his face as he looked to the sky above. The blonde haired elven man did not brandish his weapon as Arcturus gave him the chance to surrender. Neither did any of the soldiers with him.

“Is this really the time?" The elf shouted, “There are literal dragons setting fire to this place! We all will be lucky to get out of here alive!"

“Except the dragons are on our side." Arcturus said with a grin. “Especially the red one. He kind of wants to see this entire place reduced to ash. I share that opinion."

“Wait." the elf raised an eyebrow, “Your helping them destroy this facility?"

“Ah hes getting it now." Merlia added from behind.

“What about the prisoners?" the gryphon asked, her yellow eyes narrowing, “Are they trapped below?"

“We got them to safety" Lyndis said with her hand still on the doorknob to the office. “and out of your villainous hands."

“Not our hands I assure you." the elf replied back swiftly. “We have been sneaking one prisoner out of here at a time for months."

“What proof do we have of this?" Arcturus asked, truthfully he was just glad someone in this place had not outright attacked him.

“If the prisoners are all gone, than we have no proof. However you might have noticed we have not raised any weapons against you. That must count for something, no?"

Arcturus nodded, the elf was right. “Fine, than if you have been helping them you won't mind using this stone to get out of here." He gestured to Lyndis,who pulled the stone from her pouch. “It probably won't be safe here after we are finished."

“Lad what if dey be lyin to us!" asked Merlia, “Dey could just be tellin us what we want ta hear!"

“Than they will have the Emerald Lady to deal with." Arcturus said grimly. Thinking about what she would do with those sharp teeth. It probably involved ripping. He shook his head to get the image out of his mind.

“Dat is a good point!" Merlia exclaimed, “I forgot about da cranky green witch"

Lyndis walked over to the elf and held out the stone for him. She briefly went over how to use it with them. Making sure they understood the activation phrase, and the hand movement required. The elf and his companions gripped the stone.

“Arcturus....." Bor said slowly,"All of you.....thank you."

“Na problem lad, its wut we do!" Merlia gave the man a nod, and a quick salute.

“Just go and be safe. We shall see you soon enough Bor, we have a fort to destroy." Arcturus waved them goodbye as they recited the activation word and did the circular motion with their hands and claws. Each one of them was enveloped in a purple wave of magic before disappearing with a loud pop.

“Well it is certainly nice to see even in a place such as this, there are good people in Lumara." Lyndis said, opening the door to Bertram's office with a loud creak. “It's nice to see people like you in Lumara." she turned back towards Arcturus as he walked over. “I want to thank you for helping me save Gerald. When I first met you, I....thought the worst of you."

“Don't worry about it." Arcturus replied, walking into the office. “If this is how you knew my people I might have thought the same." He shook his head trying to get the image of the torture room out of his mind.

“Well we should probably should start checking through his stuff." Lyndis pulled open a drawer from Bertram's desk loudly with a thud, causing some of his papers on his desk to fall onto the floor. Arcturus and Merlia soon helped as well. her start digging through all the paperwork, drawers, cabinets, and any were else they could think of were Bertram would have kept the sending stone.

“Look wut I found!" Merlia shouted, holding up what were clearing erotic pictures.

“Merlia!" Lyndis laughed, as she held her hand to her forehead. “Those are certainly not sending stones."

“Well now we know wut he kept in here!" Merlia chuckled, starting to leaf through them quickly. “Tink I might keep a few of dese!"

“Merlia!"Arcturus rolled his eyes and tried to hide the smile that had sprung forth on his face. He ducked his head and went back to searching through the small chest he found. Although what was inside was only a brown cigar wrapped in a red wrapper and various other papers.

“Wut? A Gurl has her needs too!" the dwarf continued to laugh, stashing some of the pictures into her pack.

“Found it!" Lyndis shouted, holding up a palm sized brown stone.

“Good, now we just need to capture someone here alive to send a message." replied Arcturus, as he walked over to inspect the stone.

“Why not git Veledar ta send da message? Git him all intimidation like!" Merlia started to dig through a pack lying in the corner of the office.

“What are you even looking for? More leud art to steal?" Lyndis laughed.

“No, I'm lookin for loot, gems, cigars, booze, anting dis arsehole kept here." Merlia shot back, tossing papers onto the floor. “Hah! Found some!" she cheered, pulling out a small silver flask with the engraving of a gryphon on it. Arcturus walked over and handed her the cigar that he had found. “Tanks lad!" she stashed these too into her pouches, “Now I can leave dis place happier den da red baby is in da sky."

Roars outside drew Arcturus' attention back to the matters at hand. “Well enough of the fun, back to getting someone to send this message." Arcturus dashed outside to see Veledar fly overhead once more. The dragon opened his maw to let loose another wave of fire down onto the burning buildings. Arcturus heard a chorus of screams cry out from the direction of the dragons breath. Right behind his force of destruction was Lyyreth and Cordenth , picking off what Arcturus assumed were survivors with their poisonous gas. Arcturus picked up the pace as he started to make his way to the point the dragons had focused their breathes. It was possible they could find survivors there, all they needed was one to send the message. He looked up as he ran, to see Veledar turning to start another attack. However this time came the earth shattering sound of thunder, like it was only a few feet from his ears. He watched two blue lances shoot up from where he was heading. The bright lights of magical energy collided with Veledar as he swooped overhead. The dragon roared in pain as he was struck from the air , and forced out of Arcturus' view. Arcturus heard the loud sound of splintering wood, as he pictured Veledar crashing into a building. He heard the dragon let out another roar of pain, followed by the cheers of men. Energy crossbows soon filled the air with the non stopping sound of their snaps. Arcturus willed his feet to go faster as he ran towards his friend.

With every step his concern for the red dragon grew. He could feel pain coursing through his limbs with every step. Although deep down he knew it was not his own. It was almost like it was coming from the dragon himself. He did not know how, or why, but it was happening. It was the only thing that made sense to him, as he rounded the corner of a building. He passed burning building after burning building. He felt satisfaction spark in his mind at the thought the soldiers would be unable to save this place. It would be reduced to ash, just like it needed to be. He rounded the last corner, as Veledar continued to roar out over the sound of the energy crossbows. Veledar was backed up against a building with Lyyreth and Cordenth standing beside him. There was a large golden dome of shimmering magical energy extending ten feet on either side of the red dragon. Facing the dragon was a collection of soldiers all brandishing energy crossbows. They were spread out effectively, so that if the dragons went to breathe they would only be able to snag maybe one or two of the soldiers. Five of the soldiers were carrying the larger crossbow from before. They were firing nonstop lines of constant red energy shots. Despite all the shots from the men, Veledar's shield was holding. It would ripple like stones hitting the water as the myriad of bolts impacted upon it. However, despite this onslaught the shield seemed undamaged. It must have been an immobile shield as well, otherwise he figured Veledar would have tried to escape. However even despite the scene before him, it was not what drew his full attention.

Standing across from the dragon was a large eight foot tall construct like the ones Arcturus had seen in the woods. Except where those had six limbs to brandish weapons, this one simple had two large energy cannons on either side of it's torso. The end of the cannons ended with a propeller like device that was spinning, as heated steam was escaping. If those cannons were anything like the ones on the walls Arcturus figured they had to recharge every thirty seconds before they were able to fire again. Arcturus looked to the walls above the fort. His first thought was to have Merlia and Lyndis get to the towers and use their own cannons against them in a surprise attack. Surely the beams would be able to cut through the remaining soldiers with ease. He frowned as he remembered Veledar's shield. He was not sure how long the dragon's defense could hold, and if it was anything like most of the protection spells he had been learning they only lasted for a minute or so. To top this whole dilemma off, he had to somehow keep one of the enemy soldiers alive to leave a message. His eyes quickly found one of the men wielding a energy crossbow shouting orders to the men. He was balding and had a scar on the back of his head, Arcturus grinned, that was going to be the guy.

“Any suggestions?" Arcturus said, leaning back towards Lyndis and Merlia. “We need the balding man over there alive."

“Well I could turn invisible, and take the man hostage." shrugged Lyndis, gesturing to her cloak.

“How bout we take down da blazin metal ting!" Merlia pulled out an arrow, “We gotta lot of magic between da tree of us. Den I cast a good ole fog cloud, giving da dragons cover! Cause we know in da forest dey could fight just as good in it! Den da men better start beggin, cause dose dragons will make short work of em!"

Arcturus put a hand to his chin for a moment. He really liked that plan, it was simple and effective. Just like the best plans always were. “Merlia that's fantastic, I like it" he gave her a smile and thumbs up. “Ok, then we go through with that, strike hard, disable the construct."

“Well I gotta a lightning arrow spell left." Merlia twirled the arrow through her fingers, “How bout you Lyndis?"

“I only have the magical rapiers, they seemed immune to my cantrips yesterday." Lyndis pulled out both of her rapiers, than twirled them in either hand. “I figure I turn invisible and look for an opening on the thing while you two keep it busy."

Arcturus just nodded in agreement, “Than I will charge forward with a shield of faith spell. Should be able to wash off most of the lesser crossbow fire. I have no idea what it will do to the bigger one though." he looked to see that while the normal crossbows were taking snap shots off at Veledar's shield, the bigger ones never stopped firing. Perhaps they wont turn, and will instead focus on the dragons.

“Any better ideas before we start?" He said, breathing in deeply and setting his shield at the ready. He gripped the handle on the inside tight.

Just hang in there Veledar, you paladin is coming.

“None that I can think of. Lets get this started!" Lyndis clasped her broach and activated the invisibility cloak, and disappeared from view. Arcturus at the same moment muttered “Spaan", summoning forth the familiar blue shimmer shield of magic. He let out a loud cry as he charged towards the metal monster towering over them. He heard several shouts from the men as he covered the ground quickly towards the construct like a man possessed. With each step he felt like he was reliving that moment in Entis, were Dread Sky had killed his family. He held his shield high as the construct swiveled to face him. He saw the cannons had stopped letting out the steam for them to cool off.

Uh-oh, did not count on it turning.

Arcturus grit his teeth as the thing fired its twin cannons in a brilliant light of blue magical energy. The clap of thunder was near deafening at this range, and he could not hear Veledar cry out to him.

“ARCTURUS!" he imagined the dragon had shouted, fear all too present in his roar.

THE BEAMS ARE MAGIC! His brain screamed at him. THE SHIELD, USE THE SHIELD!

He gripped the shields handle tightly as he moved it to block the beams. He focused on the magical beams about to strike him, trying to not think about how powerful these things were. He imagined sending them back towards the construct with the shield, just like Veledar had told him.

I HOPE THIS WORKS!

The twin beams struck the mirror shield in an instant. His charge was halted as he felt an unyielding force of magical energy pushing him backwards. He grit his teeth and gripped the shield tightly in place as it began to shiver from all the magic that was flowing off of it's sides. That's when he felt something from within, calling from the shield. He could feel the magic swirling around within the shield, begging to be released. He could feel the magic start to boil, threatening to boil over and be released. He had to return it quickly or lose his chance. He focused with his eyes to the construct, and pictured the beams turning back on it. Sure enough in a brilliant light the beams were shot back towards the construct. The beams collided with the thing, carving twin holes into the metal monster as it staggard backwards. The cannons that had shot fell off the thing, their barrels had exploded and the metal looked fragmented.

That's when an arrow sparking with electricity flew passed the paladin and struck one of the holes he had created. It stuck into it and exploded, sending bolts of electricity flowing all over the construct. The thing started to squirm and spasm, as sparks showered all over the area. Than to finish the thing off, Lyndis appeared on top of the construct, after the sparks had stopped. She plunged both of her rapiers down into the thing's red eye. There was a flash of golden light as the crystal within exploded. She leaped off of the construct by doing a back flip as it collapsed onto the ground as a pile of twisted metal. Arcturus saw the one giving orders fall silent, and look to the destroyed construct , dumbstruck. He seemed to recover quickly as he went to bark out another order. However Merlia was faster, and a thick fog sprang up from no where. It spread across the area, invading every inch with a cloud so thick that you could not see your own hand right in front of your face.

“Now Crimson Sky!" Arcturus shouted, “Let them have it!"

He heard the dragon give out a mighty roar, filled with anger. No doubt fueled by watching helpless as the construct had attacked him. Two other roars soon joined him, but neither one was as ferocious as the one Veledar had bellowed out.

Arcturus lowered his weapon, raised his shield, and took a knee. His breath slowed as he started to feel a small bit of pity for what was going to happen next.

“Surrender now!" he shouted, as the sound of energy crossbow snaps started to sound, followed by a scream of pain. “Surrender and you will be shown mercy!" he stopped and waited for a reply, but only got shouts of terror as several more of the soldiers started screaming in agony. Arcturus closed his eyes as he heard several of the solider shout out to one another.

“Run!" screamed a voice before he was cut off, gurgling.

“WE SURRENDER!" shouted the man who had been giving orders, “MEN THROW DOWN YOUR WEAPONS! FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS STOP!"

“Any of you holding a weapon when this fog lifts will be killed." came Veledar's voice from the fog, it sounded deep and terrible. If Arcturus did not know the dragon as he did, he might have been quaking in his boots. “Do I make myself clear?" there was silence in the air for a moment causing Veledar to let out an ear shattering roar, “DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

“Yes!" came a collection of pitiful cries from the survivors.

“You heard them Merlia." said Arcturus grimly, “Lower the fog."

“Aye lad"

Arcturus watched as the thick fog began to evaporate before his very eyes. The first thing he could see were the flames that covered every building, making it seem as if each one possessed a crown of flames. Next was the towering gaze of his dragon Veledar, his blue eyes filled with death as they scanned for the collected soldiers. Than came the forms of Lyyreth and Cordenth, standing several yards away with their snouts plastered in blood. It dripped from their maws slowly painting the ground beneath them. If he had not seen their green scales he might have mistook their heads for red dragons. Lastly came the soldiers as the fog lifted. There were only six left in all, shivering as they stared at Veledar. Arcturus could see that not a single one had a weapon still in their hands. He walked over to one of the corpses on the ground and picked up a hand energy crossbow. Just like the one he had before he broke it in the fall with Veledar. He turned it over in his hand, feeling the familiar grip. He gave it a twirl before holstering on the right of his leg.

“What are you going to do with us?" came a terrified shout. “Eat us? Someone asked, causing the others to talk in panicked whispers.

“SILENCE!" Veledar roared loudly, and flaring his wings wide. “I have seen what goes on in this place. You are lucky that you are alive right now." he strode closer with his teeth showing off to the soldiers. “I will of course not be eating you, and neither will my friends over there." Veledar gestured to the dragons, and than to Arcturus with his tail. “Besides, mortals taste disgusting anyway."

“What!?"

“I SAID SILENCE!" Veledar roared again, snapping his teeth towards a man. The man cowered and held his hands up as he let out a terrified shriek. “Now which one of you is in charge?" Veledar started to slowly circle them, as Lyyreth and Cordenth just stood there looking intimidating.

“That would be Captain Therus!" the man that had been shouting orders yelled out.

“Your captain is dead!" Veledar roared, as he turned and moved his snout close to the man. Arcturus saw the man shiver as he held his hands up in front of his face.

“Than which person would be next in charge? My time is valuable human" Veledar snarled, as he thrashed his tail against the ground. It's impact caused a small cloud of dust to spring forth from the ground.

“T-that would be me Crimson Sky!" the man dropped to all fours, his hands touching the ground as he wailed. “Please spare us O mighty and powerful Crimson Sky, and the lives of my men!"

Veledar snorted smoke into the man's face as he whirled around in silence. The man did not move as the dragon turned once again back to him slightly. “You surrendered, and my paladin over there did promise you mercy. I would not like to make a liar out of him. ….I need something from you of course, a task.." Veledar slunk back towards the whimpering man as his tail swung back and forth.

“What ever it is you need Crimson Sky I will do whatever you ask!" the man looked up as Veledar focused on him with predatory eyes. It looked like the dragon would rip the man to pieces in an instant, as his frills on the side of his face quivered slightly.

“I need you to send a message to your king."Veledar gestured to the burning fort around them with his claws and wings. 'That all of his forts such as these will be burned by my fire." he growled loudly, “For I will take from him as he has taken from me!" Veledar snapped his teeth inches from the man's face at that last bit, causing the man to flinch.

“How do you expect me to dragon? You burned down the entire fort!"

“Got the sending stone right here!" Lyndis pulled out the stone and held it aloft for all to see. She than casually strolled up to the red dragon. Arcturus saw her turn and throw the stone to the man. “There ya go Lumarian." she spat onto the ground.

“Thank you minion." Veledar grinned at her, causing Arcturus to laugh internally. Lyndis walked back over to Arcturus shaking her head.

The man held up the stone and spoke what Veledar had wanted him to say into the stone. His voice cracked at several parts as Arcturus saw beads of sweat drip down his face. The man just stared into Veledar's eyes the entire time, and the dragon simply stared right back.

“N-now what Crimson Sky? I have done what you have asked!" the man once again dropped to all fours, hands spread wide.

“I suppose your king will send someone to rescue you. I suggest you make yourself comfortable in the ruins of this place." Veledar replied, lifting his snout to look at the burning buildings. Arcturus saw the pride in his blue eyes as he inspected every single building he had unleashed his fury on. The dragon just gave a grin, as he looked to Arcturus.

“DIRAAK NO!" came a screech from above them. Arcturus looked up to see a grey feathered gryphon flying straight for Veledar with his talons out, ready to strike the dragon down. The gryphon was being followed by another one with white feathers, and was clearly female. Unlike the attacking gryphon she seemed to be trying to catch the grey one. Arcturus instantly drew the crossbow he had grabbed and activated the rune on it. He raised the thing and with his trained accuracy fired several bolts in quick succession. They flew out and struck the gryphon each time. One impacted on the beasts chest, causing the cat bird to screech in pain as it's feathers burned. His second shot hit the gryphon's right wing, causing it to wobble in the air. The last shot struck one of it's talons right before it tried to slash at Veledar. The dragon spun around before the gryphon called Diraak could even touch his scales. In one swift motion he grabbed the dazed gryphon roughly in his claws and slammed him to the ground. The gryphon let out a pained gasp as Arcturus clearly heard something break. Fear came to the gryphons beak as he squirmed within Veledar's claws, but Veledar held down firmly, drawing blood.

“Please don't hurt him!" the gryphon from behind screamed, as she landed before them gracefully. She turned and gasped in fear as Lyyreth and Cordenth flared their wings. Her blue eyes eyed them with uncertainty before turning back towards Veledar. “Please spare him!" she continued, “Oh mighty dragon, please forgive my brother!"

“Traitor!" the gryphon spat as he continued to squirm within Veledar's grasp. “The paladin there is a good for nothing traitor! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! He shrieked in pain as Veledar dug his claws deeper into the gryphons flesh.

“I suggest you speak kindly to my paladin. Insults to him are also insults to me!" he snarled, pressing down again on the gryphon. The cat bird shouted in pain once again.

“Please!" the female gryphon pleaded, “Diraak for the love of the gods he is going to kill you!"

“What's your name gyphon?" Veledar turned to the female gryphon ,as Diraak continued to struggle with grunts of pain.

“Azurisz" she spat out, her eyes locking on her brother's struggles.

“Give up Diraak, there is no sense in struggling! The dragon has gotten us beat. Your only going to get yourself killed!" the man that had been shouting order said firmly to the gryphon. This caused Diraak to cease his struggles with a sigh.

“Good little kitty bird." Veledar hissed with a smile. “Now when I release you, play nice." Veledar got off of the gryphon, and walked a few feet away. Dirraak did not move from the spot, and just breathed heavily. Azurisz rushed to her brother and helped him onto his paws.

“Did all the prisoners escape?" Azurisz asked Veledar, as she looked around at all the burning buildings.

“Yes all of them are away. Your concern is touching little kitty bird." Veledar swayed his tail slightly.

“Thank the gods. I have been helping set some of them free." she breathed a sigh of relief.

“You too?" asked Lyndis in surprise.

“Your a traitor as well!?" Diraak gasped, spitting blood from his beak onto her white feathers.

“Does he need help?" Arcturus asked holding out a hand. “He doesn't look so well, and I heard one of his bones snap."

Diraak turned his head and glared at Arcturus with his green eyes, “I do not need help from a trai......" Veledar growled in warning, causing Diraak to whimper slightly.

“Not from you. I will manage with my wounds." Diraak than shoved his sister away violently. “Begone as well. To think one of own flesh and blood would betray our home. Our flock would be ashamed!"

“That's enough out of you!" Veledar snapped, causing Diraak to cower. “All of you will be staying here, and if I spy any of you following us I will return and kill all of you. One....."he tapped his tail, "by one....." he tapped his tail again, “by one".

The soldiers all gave him quick nods, their eyes filled with fear as they watched his tail.

“He does remember we can teleport right?" Lyndis whispered to Arcturus, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I think he is caught up in the performance" he replied back in a whisper. He than strolled over to Veledar.

“Good paladin let us be off. I tire of this place." Veledar turned his head towards Azurisz, “Azurisz was it? You best come with us as well, unless you would rather stay here." Veledar pointed his tail towards the soldiers. Azurisz only nodded quickly in reply, as she looked to her brother with eyes filled with sorrow. She dipped her head before walking over and taking a stand near Veledar.

Arcturus mounted the dragon after he had crouched down. He knew it was not going to be for long, but he couldn't wait to be in the sky again. He could feel a small sense of anticipation building in his gut, and it almost felt like he could feel Veledar's own anticipation right along side of his. He looked down to the soldiers from the dragon's back. They stared back at him with looks of hatred, it was hard to believe he was on their side once.

“Ready?" Veledar roared.

“You know we can teleport with the stone right?" Arcturus whispered to the dragon.

“Of course I know!" Veledar shouted, “But I wish to fly!" the dragon spread his wings and bounded into the sky with a mighty flap. He watched the fort shrink before his eyes as the earth got further and further away with each flap. Below he saw Lyyreth and Cordenth letting Lyndis and Merlia onto their backs.