Her eyes swept across the room, calmly taking in the mess of bodies. Some were in various states of injury, being tended by the healers and the humans who tried to stabilise them before they passed into the unknown. Some were mostly ashes, their charred bones the only object with shape remaining, some had scales which had melted and now clung and ate into the flesh of the dragon's bodies.

Taking steady breaths was far too easy. So was not crying over those who were dead, unlike many which clustered together, trying to pull those they loved from the area of pain, suffering and death. Smoke rose from small patches which were being put out, mixing with the smell of death that hung in the air.

However, all of this was not what made a shiver run up her spine. No, it wasn't the cries of suffering and mourning, the stench. Nor was it the sight.

It was her own feelings. She felt nothing.

Not the normal emptiness that came with after an event - important or terrible. This was different. This made her feel cold, as if her scales were being frozen, and her insides following.

Reaching out towards Uliel, she felt nothing. Not the small presence that was in the back of her mind when her angel was ignoring her. It was like she didn't have Uliel anymore, as if, her angel was gone. Forever.

That frightened her more than her own lack of empathy.

Uliel! Where are you? I need you!

Nothing.

Please! I'm begging you!

Silence.

A whimper left her body, her claws scratching grooves into the stone ground. Malim's soft fingers brushed against the scales on her head, but Ore shook it, making the human retract his hand as she whimpered again.

Although Ore thought that she should be sad, emptiness swallowed any feelings. Only her body reacted with the sadness she should have been feeling. Her wings had flopped on the ground, Ore only realising this when her legs pushed out under her and they dragged by her sides.

"Ore, what are you doing?" Malim's gentle voice reached her ears. Turning, she stared into his warm brown eyes with her own eyes, and watched her trainer recoil. Her eyes flicked towards his hand which he had put around the pommel of his sword upon his back.

Stepping back, her eyes flicked around, taking in flashes of what was happening. A water dragon was being healed by a light green scaled healer, a female human was holding a dead dragon's head, the last of the fires were being put out.

Wind pushed her away from the nearest being - Malim - and Ore looked around, looking for the offending air dragon. Her eyes stopped a familiar silver scaled dragon, who was watching her with those cool silver eyes.

When they made eye contact the wind vanished for a few moments as the female air dragon took a step backwards, those silver eyes wide. Ore snarled as a gust of air swept around her with a new intensity, causing her to crouch down to defend herself. Through the dust, she saw that humans and dragons alike were watching.

Tinted eyes met cool, pure eyes.

A snarl tore out of Ore's throat. Her legs pushed out under her, sending her flying into the winds. Wings were nearly torn open as she struggled through the howling winds, towards the air dragon. The air dragon took a few steps backwards, retreating from the approaching angel dragon.

But not enough to escape the other dragon.

Ore's claws scraped across the air dragon's scales, her tail sweeping around to catch the dragon's wing. A gust of wind sent her stumbling backwards. Not much later, a wing swiped at her head, sending her to the side before a tail struck her side.

Landing on the ground with a clang, Ore looked up to the air dragon whose body loomed over hers, casting a dark shadow upon her scales. She tried to stand up, but the air held her down, making her watch the air dragon walk closer.

"What are you doing? What is wrong with you?" The dragon said, their eyes meeting.

Baring her teeth, Ore stayed silent.

"Tell me what is wrong, this is not normal," Mercury said, her voice soft - well, for the tongue of dragons.

A whimper escaped the dragon on the floor, who turned her gaze away from the majestic silver standing dragon.

"We can't help you if we don't know what is wrong."

Ore shivered as she raised her eyes to meet the silver air dragon. Staring into Mercury's eyes, she spoke.

"My angel is gone."

The dragons nearby who had been listening all stepped back, eyes glued on Ore, whose claws scratched the stone ground, creating deep grooves. Letting out another whimper she stopped as she felt a dragon still standing above her.

"Ore, your angel was not you. You are a dragon, not an angel. Look at me," Ore looked and saw Mercury sitting near her.

"What is an angel dragon without an angel? It's like..." Ore paused for a moment, "it's like you struggling to fly!" Ore's claws scratched the ground a little. "It just isn't right."

Hearing human footsteps get louder, Ore glanced over to the entrance of the hall, where a group of armed humans came in holding nets and dragon restraints. Turning her head to look at Mercury, Ore knew that the air dragon thought the same thing.

"It might just be a precaution-"

"Maybe, but I'm probably out of the program anyway," Ore said, her wings drooping beside her. "I'm a liability-"

"Ore, you may not have the strongest or most useful powers, but you're an amazing fighter-" Mercury cut Ore off before Ore did the same.

"My power has only grown weaker today, I don't know if I actually have any powers. I may be a great fighter, but does that matter if I can't even get close to my opponent? What if I loose it again and go after our own side in the middle of a battle? I cannot be trusted." Ore looked towards the armed humans again, who had stopped to talk with the woman that Malim knew.

"I think that you just went into shock from loosing your angel, it's probably just a one time thing-"

"yes, but we don't know! If the decision has already been made for me to go, I have no choice but to go," Ore said, looking down at her paws, which had remained silver whilst the rest of her scales had slowly turned a pale orange colour. Her voice quietened as she spoke the next three words.

"I'm falling, Mercury."

"What is this whole falling angel thing? Does it really matter?" Mercury said, her voice continuing to be soft.

"It's what happens to an angel dragon, you become more unpredictable and dangerous the further you fall," Ore paused, not wanting to say the next words. "Then the only safe thing to do is to..." Ore faltered. "Is to..."

"Kill them?"

Ore nodded, her tail wrapping around her back legs.

"Look at me, Ore," Mercury said next to her. Doing so, Ore's eyes stared into Mercury's. "If you can fall, you can also rise."

Ore looked at her claws again, the words spilling out of her mouth before she even thought of them. "But there is a point where the escape is too far. I don't think I am there yet, so I will try to rise - if it is even possible to do so."

"I believe in you-" Mercury stopped as her eyes focussed upon a spot above Ore's left shoulder.

"I guess this is good bye," Ore said, her fixed upon the humans with the gear for trapping and controlling dragons, which mostly consisted of varying types of ropes. All the dragons were watching from afar, their eyes following the humans' every move.

"Ore, come here," Malim's voice said in the near silence. Eyes meeting for a few moments, they looked at each other as Ore's feet moved towards him. Almost there, a gloved hand cut across her vision before stopping around her jaws. Instinctively, she flared her wings and reared onto her back two legs, but the hand remained clenched around her scales.

As something grabbled with her wings - most probably an arm - Ore's eyes looked towards Malim, her breathing making her nostrils flare almost constantly. But her breath caught in her throat as her heart sank after seeing Malim shake is head.

From then on, Ore did not resist, but she never stopped looking towards Malim, who barely even glanced in her direction. Mercury was somewhere behind her, but calming noises still reached the angel dragon's ears.

After a few moments, Ore examined the ropes that was wrapped around her body. Her wings were tied down to her body, and the same dark red and grey rope circled around her jaws. Turning her head, she glanced up at the humans who had bound her, they were glancing towards Malim and his sister.

"Take her to the same place as the others, same protocol," the woman said, then there was a small poke in her right thigh as one of the humans started to walk towards the exit. Ore had no choice but to follow.

The small group entered a plain grey hallway, the only very visual differences among the walls were long claws marks, some of which carved deep grooves into the ground. Keeping her breaths steady was easy, as was keeping her body moving in a steady rhythm, but her heart and mind didn't slow.

What was going to happen to her? Would she ever see Malim, Carbon, and Mercury again? Was she going to be trapped here forever?

Am I going to die?

Once that thought entered her mind, it hovered there, never leaving and coming forwards every time her mind wasn't thinking about anything else, and sometimes when it was. Ore managed to keep her breathing and steps even, steady, and calm, juxtaposing the struggling state of her mind. The emptiness that seemed to have eaten away at the majority of her mind threatened to swallow the surviving part, just clinging onto a thread of saneness.

The corridor that the small group entered had long gashes across the otherwise plain, grey walls, especially near the solid metal doors. One of the guards walked down, checking the single piece of paper at the start of the hallway on the left side, about shoulder height of a human.

Glancing at each of the human guards, Ore waited as the first guard walked down the hall and pulled open a door, his arms straining as he pulled it open. The guard turned and nodded before one of the guards poked Ore's flank, prompting her to move forwards.

Metal claws clicking on the floor, Ore walked towards the now open door and turned her head. The room was bare, very bare, consisting of a small, fabric nest in one corner, a metal container that contained water, and another next to the water and under a metal hatch. Then, there was just walls and a floor and a ceiling, oh, and air.

Standing in the room, Ore noticed how small the room actually was.

An adult dragon would probably only be able to take a step or two before reaching the other side, so Ore could take a few steps before walking into another wall. She saw one of the humans move out of the corner of her and, one of the stick approaching close to her head. After a few moments, the strap that had clamped her jaws together was now dangling.

The door closed shut behind her, leaving the room in pitch darkness for a few silent moments before the lights turned on.

The metal dragon walked over to the pieces of fabric layered on top of each other and looked around the room. Gashes ran down the back of the door from a juvenile dragon, from the depth and width of them.

Lowering her head, the young dragon called out to the back of her mind again, searching for the presence that had always been there, even if she hadn't know it. She tried many times, but got no response, not even a slight shadow in the back of her mind.

The angel dragon's angel was gone.