© Avalon Lee, 2014. All Rights Reserved.

Rokevir

I was panicking. Externally, I appeared emotionless as ever. Inside, I felt like burning down a village or two. Ironic, considering my situation. An emotion I hadn't experienced in a long time came to the forefront of my mind: fear.

Then, a reply sounded in my mind.

"Rokevir?!"

"What are you doing here?" I bellowed. I was hovering now, causing some of my fellow dragons to hesitate.

"Looking for you! And did you call me Magpie?" I swore I saw the small figure on the ground put her little paws on her hips.

"Er . . . maybe? That's not important right now!" I tucked my left wing and rolled to the side, avoiding a diving dragon. I felt Rowan's sudden horror and realization flood my mind. She turned toward the hatchlings in the field, who now were holding each other in terror, staring at the sky. She slowly turned her gaze back on me, and the other dragons that had begun to descend from the clouds. I could feel the accusation in her stare, and a chilling betrayal.

"You came here . . . to destroy this village?" she asked slowly.

"No!" I protested immediately. "Yes . . . I mean—it's not like I had a choice!"

She simply shook her head and turned away, the action doubling my guilt. I could only watch as she dashed from den to den, crying out wordlessly and pointing toward the sky.

I saw the terror on the two-legs' pale faces and they ran, desperately trying to escape. Faust landed with a roar, destroying a den with a swipe of his tail. A two-leg male ran up to the silver dragon, swinging his kill-stick. I averted my eyes before I could see him be finished.

A familiar blaze of crimson shot by me. I wheeled about to see Qara diving toward the village. Or more specifically, toward Rowan. No!

Rowan was running toward the two-leg hatchlings in the field, who were still frozen in fear. "Rowan!" I roared, tucking my wings to my sides and diving after Qara.

She hissed in surprise as I sped past her. "Rokevir! What are you doing?"

"Call off the attack," I growled back.

"What?!"

"Just do it!" I glared back at her briefly before returning my attention to landing on the ground with a thunderous crash. The hatchlings screamed and ran off. Good. Run far away from here, I thought. Rowan, no doubt feeling the vibration, spun to face me.

A high pitched whistling came from above. It was the unmistakable sound of a diving dragon. And Rowan couldn't hear it. "Watch out!" I roared, leaping toward her. She didn't have time to react as I covered her with my wings, shielding her from the fire that was to come. I tucked my head, protecting the fragile little two-leg. I bit back a growl as the fireball struck my back.

Rowan's cry of alarm was dim in my mind. "Rokevir!"

"I'm fine," I responded tersely. "I've had worse." Raising my head, I caught sight of the dragon that had tried to kill Rowan. "QARA!" I roared, anger all but consuming me. I kept my wings folded, keeping the tiny two-leg female from the predatory gaze of Qara. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice.

The scarlet dragon landed mere tail-lengths from me, fury in her eyes. "What? I saw a two-leg, I attacked it."

"I told you to call off the attack!"

Qara rolled her eyes. "But why?"

"Because I'm the raid leader and I said so!" I snapped.

Qara hissed. "You—!"

I gave a growling sigh. My patience was wearing thin with the stubborn female. Well, it always did, but the circumstances weren't always as dire as now. "Listen."

Qara looked as though she were about to protest, but to my surprise, she closed her mouth and waited, annoyed.

I have her an earnest look. "We may not be able to call off our clan members right now, but I do have another order. And please . . . for the love of Sky Clan, just do it."

Her fierce expression vanished for a split second. "What is it?"

I exhaled heavily, feeling the fire within my lungs quell from its rage. Slowly, hesitantly, and wondering if I was making the biggest mistake of my life, I opened my wings. Rowan blinked at being revealed, her hiding place removed.

Rowan clamped her paw over her mouth at seeing Qara, who radiated far more hostility than me. Her terror was understandable. If any dragon lived up to the stories of monsters that were told of our race, it was the female before us. Qara never treated any living creature with anything other than anger, and now all of that fury was directed at me and the girl I was guarding. A lesser dragon would have turned and fled when faced with an enraged Qara, and I was sorely tempted to do so. But the thought of Rowan at my side kept my paws firmly anchored to the ground. I would not move, nor would I let Qara harm Rowan.

Qara's muzzle creased with a silent snarl. She raised her head to roar in warning to the other dragons. None of them were nearby at the moment, but with a single call from Qara, that would change.

I stepped forward, panicked and exasperated. "Keep your muzzle shut!"

More out of shock than obedience, she did so. Her crimson eyes were narrowed and studying my every move. They moved to stare unwaveringly at Rowan, making the little two-leg shift nervously under her gaze. Qara's tail swayed back and forth slowly, the sharp tip twitching with agitation. Her talons dug into the hard earth as if it were nothing more than sand. She was confused and afraid, a deadly combination.

"Qara . . . take her to safety," I said cautiously, fearing her answer. Knowing her, she would adamantly refuse.

Qara stubbornly refused to stay silent any longer. "Rokevir, that THING is our enemy!"

"Just—please! Trust me on this! She's no enemy. I'm asking you to trust me, Qara. Please." I rarely said 'please' to anyone, least of all Qara. It wounded my pride, having to beg for her assistance. But I would swallow my pride, just this once, for the sake of the fragile two-leg at my side.

The red female's eyes widened in surprise. For a long moment, I awaited her refusal. Rowan was so close, she was practically touching me. I could feel her tremors of fear. Then Qara nodded, complying with a begrudging growl. "Alright."

I was shocked. "Thank you—"

"But I want an explanation for this later," Qara said sharply, cutting me off.

I nodded with a a slight glare and looked down at Rowan. "Go on."

She gave me a look of contempt and crossed her arms. "Thank you for asking my opinion of this," she remarked, voice dripping with sarcasm. I realized that I had indeed decided her fate for her without her consent. I was taken aback at her uncharacteristic behavior. Or perhaps, it was just an aspect of her personality I hadn't yet seen. "You're lucky I agree."

Qara roared in astonishment. "SHE TALKS—?!"

"Shush!" I hissed in panic. My eyes quickly scanned the surrounding area. Luckily, we were distant enough to have escaped the attention of the other dragons. "I'll explain later, just go!"

"You'd better." Qara turned her gaze on Rowan, and the raven-haired two-leg flinched instinctively. Then, she bowed her head in respect for the dragon female. If this surprised Qara, she gave no indication of it. With a speed faster than lightning, her paws shot toward Rowan—claws just barely missing the girl—encircling Rowan's torso and seizing her firmly. Rowan kept her eyes closed and inhaled sharply. "If she kills me, Rokevir, I will forever blame you."

Qara made a sound akin to a laugh and shook her head. She held Rowan carefully, as if uncertain in how exactly to handle the two-leg that was so much smaller than she was. She spread her wings and kicked off from the ground powerfully, Rowan safely hidden in her grasp.

I watched worriedly as they soared up and out of sight. "I trust you . . ."

I stiffened as I sensed movement at the corner of my eye. I whirled around to see a two-leg lunging toward me, kill-stick gleaming in the light of the sun. It was clean of dragon blood, but not for much longer. The two-leg's eyes blazed with a fury that rivaled a dragon's.

I roared and jerked back, narrowly avoiding the deadly bite of his weapon. My tail swept beneath the two-leg, knocking him off his feet. His kill-stick fell to the ground. The two-leg was undeterred. "IT TOOK HER! YOU TOOK HER!" he screeched. He grasped his kill-stick and leapt to his feet again.

"What?! " I frantically backed away, just barely escaping the two-leg male's attacks. Was he talking about Rowan? With sinking dread, I realized that while I understood him, he couldn't understand me. "S-Stop!" I didn't want to spill any two-leg blood. Shining silver that was not the flash of a kill-stick entered my field of vision. It was Faust. And he was glaring at the two-leg male with a killer's intent.

"That one! That one is the lord of this village!" he cried.

For a reason I didn't know myself, I turned on the lord and snarled, hoping to scare him away.

The two-leg lord stood his ground. It was obvious that he was close to Rowan, given his outrage at her disappearance. I growled in frustration and did the only thing I could to drive him off.

I clawed at the lord's shoulder.

He gave a cry of pain and clutched at his wound. He looked up at the sky in anguish one last time before finally running off, safely beyond the view of Faust.

My talons dug into the ground. Why was I so hesitant to spill two-leg blood? I never had been before. I was supposed to savor the chance to get revenge on them, yet everything about this attack, about Rowan, and about the two-legs felt wrong. I shoved my conflicting thoughts to the back of my mind as I turned to face Faust.

"The two-leg lord is dead. We've done what we came here for," I said, my words strangely heavy.

The silver dragon nodded and tipped his head toward the sky with a bone-shattering roar. "Fall back! Return to the forest!"

With a massive whoosh, he opened his wings and took off, back claws gouging into the earth. When the small windstorm he had created in his wake stopped, I spread my own wings and followed, joining my waiting Clan.

~~~

I couldn't meet my uncle's proud gaze when we returned to Forest Clan territory.

"The attack was successful?" he inquired expectantly.

I nodded silently.

I could sense Myanor searching the group for Qara's fiery scales. "Where is Qara?" he asked lowly.

I froze. "Er . . ." I desperately tried to think of an excuse. "Solo mission. She went after the lord of the village." I marveled at my own brilliance.

My uncle made a disbelieving sound and raised an eyebrow. "You're a terrible liar. Worse than your father was."

I lowered my head, ignoring his casual mention of my father. "I'll go bring her back."

"Yes, you will," growled Myanor.

I took off obediently, mind abuzz with worry. Hopefully, the two females I had left alone were managing to get along.

What have I gotten myself into?

Another late update, I know. *hiding behind couch* But guess what? I've planned the rest of the story, yay! And @firegirlstar1 made me the awesome cover on the side.

To those of you who have stuck with me and haven't given up on this story, thank you so much!

-Avalon