Aurelius had to slash out with his sword to keep one of the guys at bay, but it didn't do much. He caught the opposing dragon on the side, but his sword glanced off its scales. The man drew his axe and hit back, catching Aurelius on the shoulder. He cried out in pain, holding onto Nox tightly.
"Nox, please!" he shouted, "Please do something!"
"Working on it, kid," she answered, corkscrewing to avoid being hit.
Nox opened her wings and stopped suddenly, turning and casting a shadow over their adversaries. She opened her mouth, took a breath, and breathed out bright blue flames. If nothing else, they were able to act as something of a deterrent for the enemies.
Charlie rode by Jekyll flying very quickly, he swung the axe at one of the riders as they flew by, slicing through the riders chest leaving a gushing wound trying to help while still keeping himself and Jekyll safe
"Sword out," Nox ordered her rider.
Aurelius extended his arm, which was stiff and painful with a fresh wound. He held onto Nox as tightly as possible in preparation for more of her fancy flying. She dropped below their opponent, then pushed back up into the air behind them and moved forwards with a burst of speed so that he could catch the rider in the back, knocking him off his dragon. Aurelius looked to Charlie, who seemed to be fending for himself just fine.
"Let's go!" he called, "I think we can escape now!"
Eliam once again leaped upwards over the flames. His hidden gaze shifted as he watched the fire burst extend outwards, catching anything it touched on fire. This included both allies and enemies. The armored male looked back towards his opponent, to only find a boot slamming into his chest. Eliam released a gasp as he was sent flying backwards. Yet, the assault didn't end there.
Cain was quickly behind. His hand snagged the other's ankle, swinging him right around. Eliam was sent through a wall of a house. Cain watched, yet the male seemed barely winded. Black smoke continued to escape his slightly parted lips. His eyes glowed brightly, pupils thin slits that were nearly lost in the vast yellow of his draconic gaze. Both hands still held the grip of his blade, the wind blowing through. For several moments, it seemed he had done his job, but even Cain knew Eliam wasn't defeated so easily.
As if to answer, shadowy tendrils suddenly sprung upwards around the dark haired man, quickly subduing him. The shadows wrapped around his wrists and legs, keeping him in place. A soft hissing chuckle sounded from behind him.
Cain glanced backwards out of the corner of his eye, to only be met with a giant, glowing purple eye. Jaws opened, revealing rows upon rows of jagged fangs. Then the feminine voice hissed in his mind ~Well, well, well, what do we have here? Cain, child, tis so good to see you again~.
A long slender neck soon pulled around, the giant serpentine head now hovering in front of him. Eliam suddenly appeared, standing on the dark purple, nearly black, beast's head. The smirk had returned on his face as he looked downwards. As for Cain, he was helpless, his blade having been dropped to the side and the shadows keeping him in place.
~How's that bastard you call a dragon hm~.
Another shadow suddenly snaked upwards. The tendril seemingly swirled around Cain's body, as if searching, or perhaps simply testing. Playing with the prey before finally finishing it. The beast before him seemingly gave another hissing chuckle.
~Eliam and I will enjoy this. We've been waiting for quite some time to 'play' with you~.
The shadowy tendril suddenly lashed outwards. It pierced through Cain's cloth armor, straight into his shoulder. He released a choked gasp, but his airway was quickly closed off as another shadowy tendril appeared, wrapping around his throat. The male struggled, but once again the other shadows kept him subdued.
The fangs of the beast opened in front of him. Darkness swirled forth, the breath was ice cold instead of warm. Cold eyes stared from the darkness ~We could give you the sweet release of death, but what fun would that be? Watching you suffer is…~
Sudden release!
A screech of agony echoed as the other beast writhed from a furious blaze. The large, familiar shadow had once again appeared. Red, black, and gold scales glimmered as the great beast had once again appeared. Cain was dropped to the ground, yellow eyes once again returning to their dark amber. The pain in his shoulder was intense, blood pouring from the wound. Where he had been dropped, he remained.
As for Jun, the giant dragon wasted no time in snagging his fallen rider in his claws, and swiftly taking flight once again. The beast was not going to fool around with 'talk'. He knew there would be another time to have a 'chat' with that dark pair. As of now though, Jun needed to get his rider out while he still could and away from danger.
Jade watched the fight from above. She watched as the dragon dragged his rider high into the sky, "C'mon Dawn let's follow them."
They flew after the injured rider.
Charlie and Jekyll followed Aurelius and Nox, hoping the riders wouldn't recover and chase them down. "Let's head to the mountain we should be able to find somewhere to hide there" He replied coming up beside them
"Yeah," Aurelius agreed, "We just need to get out of the valley. We're at a disadvantage in lower ground."
Nox began to fly towards some jagged crevices between the mountainsides, then picked a place to stop.
"Nox, we should probably get farther away," he told her.
Nox stopped anyway. "It's probably better you tend to your wounds first. You're bleeding all over me. Besides, no one is going to come here."
Aurelius could not argue with his only way out, so he made sure they were able to hide and that there was some room for Charlie and Jekyll.
Charlie followed after the 2 and landed near them. "How's your shoulder?" He asked ruffling through his bag which was still packed from his journey, he pulled out a roll of bandage and handed it to Aurelius
Aurelius took the roll of bandages and thanked Charlie. He shed his jacket to better expose the wound.
"I don't think it's too terrible," Aurelius said calmly, "It was an axe, though. There's going to be some nasty bruising later."
Aurelius started wrapping up the wound. He layered the bandages around about four or five times, then broke what he needed off the roll with his teeth and handed it back to Charlie. It didn't take long for blood to soak through in a few places, but Aurelius didn't notice.
"Gods… where do we go from here?" Aurelius asked, just kind of thinking out loud, "Everything we've ever known is gone."
Jun continued to flap his wings, heading quickly back home, the massive mountain. His wings beat the air, picking up his pace. The dragon cast a worried glance downwards at his claws.
~Cain…Cain…CAIN~.
There was no reply. Cain was unconscious. A combination of using his abilities so suddenly, the fight, and finally ending with his shoulder being mangled causing the man to feel a wave of exhaustion sweep over him. His eyes were fully closed, blood continuing to flow from the wound.
A forked tongue flicked out of the red dragon's jaws. His large head turned backwards. The beast's eyes narrowed, pupils thin slits. He caught sight of a speck in the distance, following behind. The spines along Jun's back were fully erect, his great body starting to radiate with heat. A few sparks fell from his slightly agape jaws. Though, from what he could tell, the following shape's form wasn't hostile. Still, Jun preferred not taking any chances, remaining alert and ready should he suddenly find himself having to retaliate.
Even colder air greeted them as they flew higher upwards. Yet Jun's body continued to radiate with extreme heat. His large wings lifted him upwards, having grown to know the mountain like the back of his own wings. This was his territory after all, not many ventured so close. His yellow eyes soon saw the massive cave mouth which led into Cain and his own home. The giant dragon slowly started to circle downwards, his back legs coming to rest on the ledge, followed by one of his front. He remained holding his other front off of the ground, as it still held his injured rider.
Jun walked forward, claws clicking on hard rock, his scales scraping over so slightly against the ground. The dragon soon entered the darkness of the cave, yet he could see perfectly. Jun continued further inwards, until finally coming to a stop. The beast moved carefully, being extremely careful as he laid Cain down on the bedroll his rider had fashioned. Jun turned his head, opening his jaws. Wisps of flames sparked forward, catching fire to a small fire pit. Though he turned his attention back to Cain.
The dragon gave a worried rumble. His tail slowly swayed one way, then the other. The spines along his back were partially down. Jun's pupils had become a bit rounder, showing his worried state even more. There was little he could do. The dragon was no healer breed, and nor did he exactly have the hands of a human to help. He could only remain by his rider's side and hope for the best less something or some other came.
Dawn and Jade followed the dragon into the cave. Jade quickly dismounted and ran to the injured rider. She pulled out her medical supplies and got to work helping him.
Dawn walked over to Jun, and sat down next to the large dragon.
Charlie put the remainder of the bandage away and pet Jekyll's head "I don't think we should stay here for too long, I doubt they would come looking up here but I don't want to risk it" he said.
Charlie had gone on countless trips and missions where he knew he wouldn't be back in a long while, but it was a strange, unpleasant feeling knowing there was nothing to go back to.
"I agree," Aurelius answered, "We should leave as soon as we can and get as far away as we can, and just hope that we find other survivors. Surviving as a group isn't going to do us any good now."
He sighed and stroked Nox for comfort.
"Do you have any clue where we should go?"
"There's nothing for a very long time if we go East, could be a good option but there would be nowhere to get supplies" He stopped and thought for a minute
"I guess we could go South, there are some villages but not many and lots of forested areas to hide in, that or North and keep going through the mountains" Charlie finished, looking out of the cave
"We need supplies," Aurelius said, "But villagers may not take kindly to seeing dragons."
He thought for a few minutes, silent as he tried to reason out the best plan.
(Sorry I went to take photos)
(It's all good. I'm on and off myself.)
(I get very distracted haha)
Having a sudden appearance by one you didn't recognize was not well taken. When said 'appearance' walks into your home and approaches what you consider is your's, it is but a natural response to get hostile and protective.
Jun's massive form suddenly bristled. The dragon's four wings flared outwards, making him appear even more giant. Lips curled back to show sharp fangs that dwarfed the tallest of men. Flames licked the sides of his muzzle, yellow eyes glowing brightly. The red dragon released a deep, guttural growl that caused the entire cavern to vibrate from his voice.
It was an instinct response. Jun was still a dragon, and all natural instincts remained. The sudden appearance of the young rider and dragon was considered a threat. His primal mind seeing a potential challenger against him, and his domain. His yellow eyes shifted, watching as the female leaped off her dragon, hurrying towards his rider.
Smoke started to rise from Jun's nostrils. His tail suddenly snaked from somewhere behind him, aiming to split the girl off from his rider, though paused. Their actions weren't hostile…but still. The dragon's yellow eyes never left the female as she was soon beside his rider.
~Do you always welcome yourself into another's lair without even asking~ the dragon's rough voice suddenly echoed, clearly agitated.
He glared between the young rider and dragon, a growl continuing to sound from deep in his throat ~Consider yourselves lucky you carry the scent of the village, elsewise I would've made you regret even setting foot here~.
The red beast's gaze shifted backwards to Cain. The man remained laying place, unmoving except for the faint rise and fall of his sides, breathing.
"Let's go South," Aurelius concluded, "Seems safest right now. We can always change direction if things are looking bad." He climbed back onto Nox's back and prepared to start flying again.
"I agree" Charlie said, following in suit and hopping onto Jekyll. He decided to let them lead the way since himself and Jekyll had come accustomed to traveling alone and didn't want to leave them behind on accident
Dawn nodded, ~We simply wish to help. That is all.
Jade nodded along with Dawn, "Yeah, sorry for intruding. I see someone injured and I have to help them. It's kind of my thing."
She continued caring for Cain. It didn't take long and the man had been healed to the best of Jade's ability.
"If you're going to hold up the rear, could you keep watch behind us?" Aurelius asked, "I'm worried they could still be in pursuit, and if we get attacked again, well… let's say I don't think we'll be so lucky next time."
He tried to fly as high as possible for the time being to place as much space between himself and the intruders as possible. With the help of some fog, he figured they would be mostly concealed.
"Yes of course we're too close to the village to let our guard down" Charlie replied telling Jekyll to follow them
Aurelius told Nox to speed up a little until they were a good distance from the village. He looked back at Charlie and Jekyll to make sure they still followed.
"I feel kind of bad knowing that we left people to die," he admitted, "I'm not sure if I let the elders go out of spite or… or if it really just was logic. I feel even worse that I don't feel sad about the elders going in the manner they probably did. I'm almost inclined to believe they deserved it. An attack has been a long time coming."
"There was nothing we could have done to help anyways, and your right it was a long time coming the dragons have been having dreams of a battle for a long time and they ignored it" Charlie answered trying to comfort Aurelius
"Okay," Aurelius replied softly. He was deep in thought, still trying to digest everything.
"Do you know of any villages we could crash in? I haven't been out so far to the South before."
"I think there should be a small village coming up soon, we should move lower so we can see it ive been in their for supplies once or twice, I think they have a small guest housing"
"Yeah, that should do," Aurelius agreed, "Should we leave Nox and Jekyll in the woods for the night? I'm afraid of what people may want to do to them, but if we hide them, everything should be alright, I suppose."
He nudged Nox a little lower, and she descended quickly, just far enough so that he could see what was below: just woods for now.
Charlie agreed "We should hide them well though" He was worried since Jekyll didn't like leaving Charlie alone just as much as Charlie didn't like leaving him alone but he was sure under the circumstances it should be alright, they followed Nox and Aurelius on their decent
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