"I really hate it when he does this," grumbled Leeta.
The princess, Fox, Carmen, Lorene, and Vaul were once again inside the city limits of Hibil. Each one was wearing a dark cloak over their equipment to conceal their true purpose. A day prior to their arrival at the city, Cole had suddenly decided that he needed to take care of something else back on the other continent. So, without so much as a decent explanation, the Dragonmaster had teleported away using the Dragon Wings. No sooner had he done so than had the demon patrols doubled across the countryside surrounding the city.
"He does this kind of thing a lot, then?" asked Lorene.
"Crazy ideas?" replied Carmen. "Yeah. He's pretty famous for them."
"Now it isn't nice to talk about someone behind their back," came the Dragonmaster's voice from an nearby alleyway.
Cole, also wearing a hooded black cloak, stepped out into the alley his friends were standing in. Leeta walked up and punched him in the chest. "You are really asking for it, pal. Don't tell me you teleported right here into the city?"
He nodded with a large grin. "Well, I had to let them know I was here."
Leeta slapped her forehead, Fox groaned, and Carmen just shook her head. "Why do you always have to do things the hard way?" complained Leeta. "One would think you'd learn after the first hundred times."
Cole, still smiling, put his arm around her shoulders. "That's why you love me." He withdrew it quickly and was suddenly serious. "Now, let's move. If everything's gone right, then Itise is in the Prime Minister's palace."
While everyone began to ready themselves, Leeta leaned close to the Dragonmaster. "So, what did you go off and do?"
Cole flashed her a devious grin. "Made use of some knowledge that we had to our advantage."
She frowned at his response. "Is that all I'm going to get out of you?"
He nodded once. "Yeah, I think so." Cole quickly leaned forward to kiss her before the princess could respond. "Come on. Today's not over yet."
Itise didn't know what the hell he was doing. Why he hadn't run away by now was beyond his comprehension. Himself, and several other servants, were standing perfectly still against a stone wall while the Demon Dragonmaster raged back and forth around the main audience chamber.
"He's here!" screamed the dark warrior. "I feel him out there!"
The one called Arlax was standing patiently just off to the Demon Dragonmaster's left. "I already have men searching the surrounding areas."
"He's not in the countryside!" spat Kole. He spun around, madness clear in his eyes. "The Dragonmaster is already in the city."
Arlax sighed. "Then I will have more patrols released into the city proper."
"NO!" shouted Kole. He pointed right at the Chaos Dragon. "I want you and the others to go out and find him!"
"I am the only one here, my lord," replied the dragon. "You sent the others back to the Blue Star to collect the remaining Stones."
Suddenly, Kole released a primal roar that was amplified by an explosion of black power from his body. Everyone, including Arlax, was thrown to the floor. His roar faded away, leaving the man breathing heavily. "Everyone is against me," he said in a low, menacing voice.
He took in a long breath through his nose and exhaled loudly. "I can smell the treachery all around me." Like a bolt of lightening he moved to the prone Arlax.
The Demon Dragonmaster lifted the Chaos Dragon into the air as if he were nothing more than a child. "Even you are against me, my dear Arlax. Oh yes, I have known for some time that you've been plotting against me, but don't worry. I'm not going to kill you now." He lowered the dragon back to the ground and began to pat his right shoulder. "I still need you."
He swung his head all around the room. "But your treachery is not the only one I sense." A mad smile spread across his lips. "Oh no. There are others out there who plot against me along side the Dragonmaster and his allies."
Itise tried not to, but he swallowed hard anyway. That one movement drew the Demon Dragonmaster's mad gaze to him. "Ah crap," he muttered.
By the time Cole and the others had reached the palace, it was apparent that their presence within the city had been discovered. The down trodden people in the streets were roughly pushed aside as large black scaled demons covered in horns began to patrol the streets aggressively.
"Are you happy now?" whispered Leeta.
The small party was situated just outside one of the palace walls. Cole didn't smile this time. "We need to get inside." Before Leeta could say another word he wrapped his arms around her tightly. "Hold on," was all the warning she got.
With a mighty leap the Dragonmaster, with the princess in his arms, jumped right over the thirty foot wall to land safely on the other side. They were soon followed by Lorene, who easily made the jump herself. Fox and Carmen made it over in a similar fashion to Cole and Leeta. Vaul simply flew. They all made a mad, yet stealthy dash to the eastern wall of the palace.
"Now what?" asked Lorene.
Cole wiped a hand over his face. "Leeta, can you cast a spell that will float us all?"
The princess thought about it for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "Why?"
Now he smiled. "I think it would be a good change if we attacked from above instead of the ground floor for once."
Not two minutes later, they were all floating upwards along the palace wall. They were two thirds the way up when Cole signaled them to land on a long balcony. Fate being true to form, though, a pair of human dark knights stepped out just as Cole's feet touched the ground. But no sooner had his boots touched the white stone did Cole have his Sword free. The first of the knights was able to parry the Dragonmaster's first strike, but Cole quickly muscled down the other's blade and then reversed his own across the knight's face.
The second knight slashed at Cole, thinking the Dragonmaster vulnerable. The green eyed warrior, though, circle parried the knight's sword away to his right. Then he easily arced the Goddess's Sword up, shearing right through his enemy's armor. The knight was dead before he even hit the ground. Cole pulled his hood back, revealing the Dragon Helmet beneath.
He turned back to his companions, who were just standing there looking at their leader. "Let's go."
They all quickly followed him inside. Their progress through the palace was relatively unmolested. When a stray knight or enemy soldier did cross their path, the group made quick work of them. It was only a few minutes later when Cole came around a hallway corner somewhere on the second floor. That was when he heard what could only be his own voice echoing through out the palace. He made a several gestures for everyone to stay quite and follow him.
Soon Cole found himself staring down from a balcony over looking what had to be the Prime Minister's main audience chamber. Directly below them was the Demon Dragonmaster, who was raging about like a maddened beast. Kole had just dropped, surprisingly enough, Arlax on the floor.
"But your treachery is not the only one I sense." A mad smile suddenly spread across his lips. "Oh no. There are others out there who plot against me along side the Dragonmaster and his allies."
Kole's head snapped around to focus on none other than Itise. "Cole," whispered Leeta. "We need to help him."
"Wait for it," replied the Dragonmaster.
The Demon Dragonmaster rushed Itise and lifted the young man up by the throat. "Who are you, boy?" he demanded.
"Cole," urged Leeta.
"Wait for it..."
Itise began to writhe within the madman's grasp. "You work for Him, don't you?" screamed Kole. "Tell me! Where is He?"
Cole's hand tightened on the hilt of his Sword. He tensed as his double drew Kasra. "Fine!" he roared. "Perhaps your blood will tell me a different story!"
"NOW!" cried Cole as he leapt from the balcony.
Everyone in the chamber looked up as the Dragonmaster and his companions swooped down from above. Kole threw Itise aside just in time to parry Cole's downward slash. Without even a word, Leeta and the others descended on Arlax before the demon could react. Fox released a comet like fireball from his Bow just as Leeta loosed a beam of blue power from her hands. Both attacks slammed into the dragon, sending him through a wall.
Kole immediately forgot everything else in the room and attacked his most hated enemy. Kasra's black blade lashed out seeking the blood it desired most of all. The Sword of Althena responded by meeting each of its deadly slashes. Dragonmaster and Demon Dragonmaster faced off against each other. Hands gripped tightly on sword hilts, both men went at each other relentlessly. Time seemed to slow as the pair fenced back and forth with neither one gaining any sort of advantage.
Cole made a series of left and right slashes, which Kole more than sufficiently parried. On the final slash, however, Cole spun around to level a kick at his opponent's head instead of attacking with his Sword. The kick hit home, dropping the Demon Dragonmaster to the floor. Kole didn't spend too long down, though. He was quickly back on his feet and charging again. Cole parried each of his vicious slashes with calm ease. On the third part of one of Kole's combinations, the Dragonmaster allowed his foe to push his blade down to his right. Then, just before the dark warrior brought his weapon up to skewer him, Cole was surrounded by the power of the White Dragon Dash.
The glowing Dragonmaster slammed into his double, sending him flying across the room into the Prime Minister's throne. The white glow faded, and Cole stood tall in the center of the chamber. There was an explosion of black power as the Demon Dragonmaster vaulted back to his feet. Itise, seeing his chance, bolted for Cole's side. Kole, eyes fiery with rage, looked upon them.
Black power began to gather in his left hand. "No more games, Dragonmaster!" he roared.
Cole smiled calmly. "I agree." He reached into the pouch at his side and pulled out the yellow and red Resurrection Stones. He began tossing them up and down in his left hand. "I don't think I need to tell you what these are."
The power gathering in Kole's hand dissipated. "Give them to me," he growled.
"Sorry," replied the Dragonmaster. He tossed the Stones over his shoulder to Itise, who barely caught them. "If you want'em, you're going to have to come and get'em." He quickly reached into his other pouch and pulled out the Time Runes.
Kole roared with pure anger and released a column of black power at them. Cole reacted by creating a barrier with the Time Runes. There was a flash as the Demon Dragonmaster's divine power struck the barrier. When the light faded, only Cole was smiling.
He opened his left hand, and the three Runes floated up several inches. "Tag. You're it." With a commanding thought, Cole told the Time Runes what he wanted them to do.
They obeyed without hesitation.
Ruby, followed by several others, stormed out into the beachside. "Mirage!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
A man came running up to her. "Are you looking for the Blue Knight?"
The Red Dragon grabbed him by the front of his white tunic and pulled him close. "Where is he?" she hissed dangerously.
"H... he and the Blue Dragon left a long time ago," stammered the man. "He said he had something to take care of."
"Dammit!" cursed Ruby as she tossed him aside. "That idiot!"
"Which one?" asked Nall.
Ruby shot him a glare. "Both of them. How unclear was I that we shouldn't move until Cole had finished in Fummara?"
"What is this thing he is planning to do anyway?" asked Argile.
Everyone suddenly jumped away from Ruby as she was surrounded by a red glow. Both Alleia and Onyl were also a glow due to their respective color. Ruby turned her completely red eyes on them all. "I think you're about to see."
All at once they were in Lucitania. Everyone was standing in the exact same positions they had been down in Fummara. An added problem, at least Leeta saw it as one, was the fact that there were also a countless number of demons scattered across the landscape around them. The princess looked back at Cole, who was now surrounded by the five colors of Althena's dragons. Not even with her centuries of magical knowledge could Leeta understand the words that the Dragonmaster was uttering.
As the final word left his lips, there was an explosion of magical power. Vaul, who was now his full size, reared his massive head back and roared. An ethereal golden dragon spewed from his open maw up into the sky. As it passed by the dragon dispersed the blanket of dark clouds that had been covering the planet for months. Leeta was spellbound at the scene playing out before her. The golden dragon rose higher into the sky and was soon joined by four other ethereal dragons, each one a color of Althena's dragons.
They went so far up into the sky, that each one was soon gone from sight. Then it happened. It was daytime, but Lunar was suddenly ablaze in the blue sky. The five ethereal dragons began to wrap themselves around the small planet until it was covered in a prismatic shell. The spell finally ended with a great flash around Lunar. When the flash dissipated Lunar was gone again, but there was now a permanent hole in the cloud cover.
When Leeta finally tore her eyes away from the sky, she found Cole on his knees breathing heavily. Everyone else, including the Demon Dragonmaster, was still staring up at the sky. Thinking quickly Leeta dashed for Vaul. With speed and agility she didn't know she had, the princess scampered up on to the Gold Dragon's back.
"Vaul!" she shouted up at his head. "Grab everyone and get us out of here!"
Not needing to be told again, the mighty beast grabbed Fox, Carmen, and Lorene in his left claw and Cole and Itise in his right. Before Kole or Arlax could even react, the dragon was soaring away to the East. Leeta looked over her shoulder at the quickly shrinking forms of the enemy. It took a little doing, but Vaul was eventually able to put the passengers in his claws on his back. Leeta immediately placed herself behind Cole and wrapped her arms around him protectively. Her beloved had passed out during the escape.
"Vaul?" asked Lorene loudly. "Where are you taking us?"
"I can feel the other dragons in this direction," he rumbled back. "I can't think of a safer place to go."
The elf shrugged. "Makes sense."
Cole began to stir, and Leeta caressed his face. "Shhh," she soothed. "It's over. You did it." She kissed him on the forehead. The Dragonmaster gave her a weak smile.
"Damn!" Itise cried suddenly.
Leeta didn't like the sound of that. "What?"
Itise started to pat himself down. "They're gone!"
"What? What's gone?" asked Carmen.
He looked up at them all with shame clear in his eyes. "I dropped the Stones."
Kole was about to release a column of destructive power and the retreating dragon, when something else caught his eye. Lying just fifteen feet from him were the yellow and red Resurrection Stones. The Demon Dragonmaster lowered his hand and walked over to the Stones. He slowly knelt down and picked the items up.
"Should we not pursue them?" cried Arlax.
"No need," Kole replied with a sudden and eerie calmness in his voice. "I have what I needed."
Arlax walked over to him. "What about the Dragonmaster?"
"He is no threat," Kole told the dragon as he rose. "He has no real power anymore. Didn't you see? Not once did he bring the power of the Goddess Tribe to bear against me. Not even to defend himself. However surprisingly, the only thing that saved him was the power of the Time Runes."
Demons began to gather around the dark warrior and the Chaos Dragon. "We have but one pieces of the puzzle left Arlax. And once we have it, I will lay this universe to waste."
Before Mirage knew it he and Rayn were tumbling out of the air down at the snow drifts below. The pirate was actually thrown from his companion's back as an ethereal blue dragon exploded forth from Rayn. Mirage cried out while he flipped end over end through the air until he hit the snow packed ground. He tried to get up, but Rayn's following impact sent a fresh wave of snow over him. It took a few tries, but the Knight eventually dug himself out of his white prison.
"What the hell was that!?" he shouted at Rayn, who was now back in his human form.
The boy dragon scrambled to his feet with a bewildered look on his face. "I don't know! It was like someone commanded me to aid in some sort of spell."
Mirage cursed under his breath. "Cole." Maybe he really should have waited for the Dragonmaster to finish whatever he had been planning.
A stiff wind blew over the pair, reminding Mirage just exactly where they were. Early that morning he had convinced the Blue Dragon to take him northward towards where one of the last Resurrections Stones was. Just as Luna had predicted the Stone was on the Iceberg continent far to the North. So when the others decided to wait for Cole, Mirage had made the decision to get the Stone itself. Yes, it was not the wisest decision of his life, but he had his reasons. From what his spies had relayed to him, the one called the Chaos Sorceress went out on every mission to claim a reported Resurrection Stone.
Mirage believed that if he got to this last Stone in time, he could have a chance to not only get the Stone, but to get Carla back at the same time. He took a look around the endless expanse of white. "Well?"
Rayn trudged through the snow over to him. "There is definitely something that way," he said while pointing northward. "It's powerful."
Mirage drew his Scimitar. "Then let's get moving."
The two walked on for at least another hour. All the while, Mirage was constantly reminded of how cold it was. Rayn, on the other hand, didn't seem to show any reaction to the stinging winds what so ever. They cleared a rather high snow drift, and Mirage caught the first sight of their goal.
Shining whiter, if possible, than the snow around it was an object floating at least twenty feet off the ground. Mirage started towards it when Rayn stopped him. "There's a lot of magnetic activity out there. If my guess is correct, this is one of the planet's magnetic poles."
Mirage was just mulling what his young friend had said when a shadow passed over them. Both Blue Knight and Dragon looked up just as Scorn and Thiss passed over them heading right for the Stone. Mirage started to go after them, when three things suddenly jumped off of the Demon Dragons' backs. The Blue Knight summoned his battle calm as Konnery, Arguile, and Foxx landed to bar his path to the Stone. A great wind blew at his back, signaling Rayn's transformation and take off after the Demon Dragons. Adrenaline started to get Mirage's blood pumping again.
The Blue Dragon's Scimitar was dropped low as Mirage made his charge forward. "Okay, boys. Let's dance."
The three Demon Knights converged on him as he neared. Konnery came at him first spinning his Scythe down into a deadly arc. Having already sized up the attack, Mirage more than easily flipped over his smaller opponent. As he landed, the Blue Knight placed a kick right in the Pestilence Knight's lower back. Danger instincts flared, and Mirage dropped and rolled to the left just a pair of purple bolts exploded against the snow.
The Blue Knight was instantly back on his feet weaving his Scimitar in a defensive posture in order to ward off the spikes shooting off from Arguile's living armor. Mirage already knew that he couldn't beat the three of them in a straight out fight. So, the pirate was just going to have to be smarter. By this point Konnery was back on his feet and preparing to charge in. Foxx had backed off a little to make better use of his ranged weapon. Mirage was now in the center of a very deadly triangle.
Well I've got one thing on these guys, he told himself. Speed.
Before the Demon Knights could coordinate in any way, Mirage charged Foxx at his top speed. Like a blue blur, the Dragon Knight zigged zagged his way towards the Chaos Knight. Foxx repeatedly released purple bolts of lightning from his Bow in response. Mirage, however, was still too fast for the other man to target. Every time one of the purple bolts struck the snow a huge wave of white would shoot up into the sky, leaving behind a gaping hole.
Mirage chanced a look back to see Konnery attempting to give pursuit. The nimble little Knight was just barely making his way across the pock marked battlefield. Smiling to himself, Mirage continued to charge Foxx. Feet from his firing opponent, Mirage dropped into a slide that sent a wave of snow into the Chaos Knight's face. Flustered, Foxx ceased his attacks to wipe the offending white stuff from his face. Mirage rolled back to his feet just in time to parry aside a swipe from Konnery.
Another glance over his shoulder told him that Foxx had just finished wiping most of the snow from his eyes. "Hey, Foxxy! Over here!" shouted the Knight.
The Demon Knight immediately raised his Bow and fired a blast of blue flame. Mirage laughed and back flipped high over the attack, which continued right into a surprised Konnery's chest. The Pestilence Knight was rocketed back through the air and right into one of the newly created holes in the snow's surface. Mirage landed just feet from Foxx, who took quick aim and fired again.
In that spit second the Blue Dragon Scimitar burst into blue flames. "Blue Dragon Leap!" cried Mirage as he suddenly vaulted into the air right over Foxx's black streams of power.
There was not even a death cry as Mirage's Scimitar cleaved downward right through Foxx and the Chaos Bow. White snow was stained red as the divided corpse fell to the ground. Not wasting a moment, Fox broke into a dead run for the Resurrection Stone. It was all he could do to ignore the violent roars from above as Rayn took on the two Demon Dragons all by himself. Mirage just hoped that the past few months of experience would be enough for the young dragon to survive.
The distance between the Blue Knight and the Stone lessened in a matter of seconds. Mirage came to a sudden stop as he cleared the last snow drift between him and his goal. Standing between him and the floating white Stone was a single figure. Her long black dress swirled slightly as she turned to face him.
"Carla," he whispered. The Knight slowly approached his one time lover with his weapon raised. "Step aside, Carla."
The Chaos Sorceress raised an eyebrow. "Or what? You will kill me?" Purple energy began to crackle between her fingertips. "Not likely." She raised her hands and loosed several streams of purple bolts at him.
Mirage used every trick he knew to dodge those seeking bolts of power. When they finally ceased, his ears perked up to the sound of Carla's now chanting voice. "Great," he muttered.
Carla finished her incantation and raised her hands high. A swirl of fire suddenly appeared above her and began to shoot streams of fire right at him. Mirage threw himself into another series of leaps and rolls to avoid the flames. He landed just in time to see a blood red spear flying right for his head. The Blue Knight cried out and dove to his right, leaving the spear to streak by only scoring a small gash on his left cheek. Mirage righted himself and noted Arguile setting up to attack again from his left. More chanting also alerted him to Carla's next spell.
"This just keeps getting better and better," he mumbled.
Rayn used every bit of speed he could to stay in front of Scorn and Thiss. Black flames and putrid breath sought him, but the Blue Dragon somehow stayed just seconds ahead of each attack. "It's times like this I wish I was as big as Onyl," he told himself.
But that just wasn't his way. If he was going to survive this, he was going to have to out think his enemies. After all, he wasn't a brain for nothing. A stream of black fire shot past his head, and Rayn banked down towards the snow. As he neared the cold white plain below an idea occurred to him. His primary element was water, and snow was just frozen water. His idea began to take shape. Ignoring the roars of the two Demon Dragons behind him, Rayn opened his maw and began to spew bolts of lightning at the snow plain.
Each yellow bolt left a small stream of melted snow in its wake. Half dodging his enemies' attacks and half attacking the snow in a specific manner, Rayn flew through the sky. When he believed that he had done enough, Rayn altered his angle and soared upwards with several mighty flaps of his rainbow colored wings. Predictably, the Demon Dragons followed him.
Giving off what could only be called a toothy grin, Rayn flipped around completely down back towards the small lake he had now created below. Scorn and Thiss watched in confusion as the Blue Dragon sped past them right into the water. It wasn't deep enough for Rayn to completely submerge himself, but there was enough water around him to serve his purpose. The Demon Dragons lowered themselves until they were close enough not to miss with their breath weapons. Thiss fired first, releasing another stream of black fire. With a single thought Rayn created a dome of water around himself that completely blocked the black flames.
Scorn followed next with a blast of putrid breath. Rayn converted his dome into a water spout that succeeded in absorbing all of the gas. Both the Demon Dragons growled menacingly down at him. "Your tricks may protect you from some of our attacks, Blue Dragon," roared Scorn.
"But they will not ssssave you from our clawssss," hissed Thiss. The Demons roared in unison and dove for him.
Rayn only smiled. "Played right into my hand." The words to a new spell he had been working on quickly passed from the dragon's lips.
Seconds from reaching their intended target, Scorn and Thiss were suddenly stopped as rainbows sprouted up from the water to wrap themselves around the pair. The two dragons tried to break free, but their colorful bonds didn't give an inch. Rayn launched himself back into the air and stopped when he was level with them.
"How do you like my Rainbow Bind spell?" he asked. They would have responded with breath weapons had not each of their maws been clamped shut with a rainbow. "Catch you guys later." The Blue Dragon's thundering laughter echoed long after he was gone.
Mirage was cursing himself over and over again. If one wasn't attacking then the other was. Carla and Arguile kept up the pressure so that the Blue Knight never had a moment to reset himself and counter attack. As if he could attack Carla anyways. Despite what she had become, he knew that deep down inside the woman he loved was still in there. Arguile on the other hand, he would gladly kill if the chance presented itself. Mirage dodged another pair of blood spears, but this time when he landed from his leap his right foot hit a puddle of slush.
The Dragon Knight cried out in surprise as he fell right on to his back. Soon the Blood Knight was standing over him with his left arm forming into a large, single bladed axe. "It's over, Dragon Knight."
A large shadow suddenly washed over them. "Yeah, for you."
Both men looked up to see Rayn towering over them. With a single swipe the Blue Dragon sent Arguile flying over fifty yards in the opposite direction. Mirage jumped himself back up, smiling. "Good to see you kid," he told his partner.
"I suggest we hurry up and get out of here," warned Rayn. "I'm not sure how long my spell will hold Scorn and Thiss. Plus I'm sure the Demon Knights aren't done yet."
"Well I know one that is," said Mirage with a smirk. The Blue Knight turned back to their last enemy.
Carla was standing between them and the Stone with her arms folded under her chest. "Be assured, Dragon Knight, that I am more than capable of dealing with both you and your dragon."
I'm going to try something, the Knight told his partner through his Crest. Take her down if I fail, but don't kill her.
Gotcha, replied Rayn.
Mirage slowly started walking towards her. "You do remember who I am, right?" he said.
Carla's eyes thinned. "You are one of Althena's Dragon Knights. You are my enemy." The words coming out of her mouth sounded almost like they were being read off a script. "I am to kill all of the Dragon Knights including the Dragonmaster."
"Well, that's partially right," said the Knight as he continued towards her. "But that's not the whole story. Do you remember my name, Carla?"
Her face creased from some sort of pain. "You... are... a Dragon Knight."
They were only five feet apart now. "My name is Mirage, Carla. Do you remember? We were... together." He was never good at this kind of thing.
She took several steps back. "I... must... k... kill all of... you."
Mirage slowly sheathed his Scimitar. "We were lovers, Carla, maybe more." He carefully reached into a pouch concealed inside his belt. "This isn't the way I wanted to do this, but sometimes circumstances dictate our actions."
He pulled out a small item and held it up between them. "I wanted to do this over a candle lit dinner, but I guess the coldest place on the planet will have to do." He took a step forward with a diamond ring glinting between his fingers. "Carla, I love you, and I want you to marry me."
She was shaking violently, now. Both of her eyes were bloodshot, and her irises were going back and forth from being purple to brown. "I... h... have... to... kill..." Carla gripped her head with both hands. "M... Mirage..." she gasped.
Suddenly, Carla threw her head back and screamed. In that instant Mirage swore that he saw purple, blue, and black smoke rise up from her body. When she finally stopped screaming, Carla pitched forward. She would have hit the snow if Mirage hadn't darted to catch her. As she fell into his arms, the Knight pulled her close to hold her tightly.
"It's okay, kid," he whispered. "The nightmare's over, now."
A pair of roars split the air forcing him to look up. "Time to go, Mirage!" Rayn told him.
The Blue Knight looked at the woman in his arms and then up at the floating Stone still twenty feet away. He then looked back to his right to see Scorn and Thiss flying towards them. Another glance around also showed him Arguile and Konnery running for them. His choice a simple one, Mirage clutched Carla close to his body and jumped high into the air right on to Rayn's back.
"Get us out of here!" he told the dragon.
"Don't have to tell me twice." With two flaps of his wings, the Blue Dragon and his passengers were high into the sky and heading away from their enemies.
Thiss touched down next to the Resurrection Stone and easily took it in his large claw. "What about them?" asked Konnery from below.
"Forget them," replied the Shadow Dragon. "We have what issss truly important. We musssst now return to Xobelissssk with the Sssstone. The time issss at hand."