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Auri… Mara's back there. I don't want to risk you getting hurt anym-
"GO! We're helping her!"
Nox went a little out of her way to catch Mara on her back. She curled her tail around Mara's waist to help her stay on, then wove frantically farther away, trying to catch back up to the others.
Aurelius, I can't go much faster!
"It's okay. You're doing great."
“How many people aren’t still alive?!” Farron called out to Aurelius, flying back to meet with him.
"Well, considering the Hall of Elders is up in flames… There's blood in the streets… Not everyone even managed to get to their dragons and fly, and the worst isn't over yet? We're talking utter destruction," Aurelius replied, "Of our group, I think we got at least almost everyone."
"Get me down to Riven." Riven has been down below following all of them and was just hoping that Mara was okay. "We're close enough to the ground, just drop me Riven can catch me." Mara wasn't sure if they could even hear her.
Farron nodded, “We should get to somewhere safer. North or east is our best bet from here.”
Nox tilted a little, lowering her wing so that Mara could use it as a slide down to Riven's back. Aurelius clung to the dragon tighter.
"Nox… I'm a bit unsteady. Let's not do that again. You might drop me," Aurelius muttered before agreeing with Farron.
Jade and Quincy flew back to the group. Quincy ‘properly’ mounted and they looked at the utter destruction behind them. Quincy didn’t know what was worse, the fact she wasn’t hurt by all of her friends burning to death, or the fact she thought some of them deserved it.
Aurelius saw Quincy from the corner of his eye and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"We good? Anyone following us?"
“None that I can see,” Qunicy responded. She still had a tight grip on her sword, “They could be hiding though.”
"Let's keep going, then. I'd say North towards the mountains. Lots of places to hide and rest if we must," Aurelius said. His grip on Nox was becoming less firm. He had to sheathe his sword, in fear that he would slip off if he didn't have both hands.
“There’s a clan of northern dragon rides that I… I know will give us cover if need be.” Farron was hesitant but swallowed it down.
"We'll figure it out once we get that far," Aurelius said, thinking if we get that far.
He finally turned his head to look at his arm. The cut was deeper than he'd thought, but that explained why he was already feeling a little drowsy.
"Any other ideas? Suggestions?" he asked.
“Nope, other then Harrow’s clan I can’t think of anything else…” Farron said, shaking his head.
Mara landed on Riven's back and put her sword away. Mara, I'm glad your safe. She hugged her Dragon and just followed the others. The bad thing about not being able to fly was that she couldn't hear the conversations. "That was terrifying."
"Is everyone else unhurt?" Aurelius asked, glancing around. He flexed his fingers. They were becoming cold, and therefore a little stiff.
“I’m not.” Farron said, looking over Ysethen.
"Good," Aurelius replied, "So we should be able to make it a bit farther."
Nox fluttered her wings a little in distaste.
Yeah, a bit. That's all. I feel you about to slide off my back up there.
"Aurelius!" Mara shouted from the ground, with all the background noise and the wind blowing in his ears. When she was up there he looked to be in bad shape, it would be safer if he were to ride Riven and Mara to ride Nox.
“What is it?” he shouted back, his voice breaking a little. For some reason, he was beginning to feel more afraid now than he did in the midst of battle.
Quincy looked around and said to the ithers, “Why don’t we land so Mara can be included in this?”
“I’ll pull lower,” Aurelius said.
Nox dipped down, not landing, but flying with her legs tucked into she wouldn’t scrape the ground below. Aurelius’ face was a little above Mara’s eye level.
"Why don't you ride Riven and I'll ride Nox." Riven slowed down so that Nox could fly next to him. "I would feel much better if you were closer to the ground." If he fell off Riven, it wouldn't injure him as much as falling off Nox.
"You sure? Do we have time to switch?" Aurelius asked, casting a quick look behind them. No one appeared to be following.
Be careful with him, Nox said.
It looked like he wasn't going to have a choice in the matter, but then again, a tumble from Nox would probably kill him, so they were right.
Jade flew down and hovered above the surface at Mara's eye level.
Mara stood up on Riven's back and jumped to grab onto Nox foot. "Slid down onto Riven!" She shouted as she began to climb up Nox. Don't worry Nox I'll be careful with him Riven reassured her. I'll treat him like I do Mara.
Nox tilted her wing back down and pulled up a little, using her foot and tail to guide Mara up onto her back as she let Aurelius down onto Riven. Aurelius landed roughly. He almost missed and fell, but he made it still. His heart was starting to race as it tried to compensate for the lost blood and surges of fear. He flexed his cold, stiff fingers again, then moved both hands to hold onto Riven tightly.
"We have to find somewhere safe. Aurelius needs help." Mara sat on top of Nox and the feeling of flying felt amazing, but somehow not right at the same time. "Riven be careful with him. Quincy, do you want to fly ahead and see if you can find a place to stay for a while?" Mara would do it but she didn't want to get to far away from Riven and Nox probably felt the same.
Quincy shrugged, "I can do that."
Jade flew higher up before moving out across the land. Quincy figured a clearing would work the best for the group.
“We’re probably a couple of miles out. As long as no one saw us, we should be fine to stop soon, but please don’t feel obligated to stop because of me,” Aurelius said.
Nox kept a lower elevation to be closer to her rider. She made sure to stay aware of what Mara was doing, since she was an unfamiliar rider and she didn’t know exactly how to predict her movements.
Quincy flew back to the group, "I found a clearing not to far from here."