"She's dying," said Nall, bowing his head in grave respect for the ailing.
Ebony nodded sadly in agreement with the white dragon, though he did little else to acknowledge him. He found himself unable to take his eyes off the scene just a short distance away. Try as they might, they could not deny it. Ember was dying.
Jia and Ruby had returned well into the evening the previous night after they'd had a talk of some sort. Neither of them had been specific about it. Though Nall had been awake when they arrived, he and Ruby didn't speak to each other, settling instead of an exchange of glances. The hour had been late and private talk could wait until morning. The white and the red had fallen asleep a short distance away from each other, and Ember, having expressed happiness at Jia's return, had curled up beside her. And now, this morning, she couldn't get up.
The malformed red lay before Jia, breath coming in shallow, irregular gasps. Barely conscious, her pupils dilated as she tried to focus on the dragons around her. One of the lens had fogged over, blinding her on her right side. To the eyes of a dragon, who lived off the power of magic, the cause was obvious. The last of the energy that had sustained Ember was fading.
Ruby sat a distance away from both of pairs of dragons, well within hearing distance, but far enough that no one called out to her. She curled her tail about her body and hunched her wings in close around her, saying nothing as she watched the four of them.
Jia stroked Ember's dirty red fur and hummed a wordless lullaby, perhaps as much to set herself at ease as her friend. With her other paw she rubbed away the salty moisture in the blue fur of her muzzle. Ember was peaceful, and in no pain. She was only tired. Even if Jia had still possessed her full powers as the Blue Dragon of Althena she would not have been able to save her. Ember should not have existed and had no aura of her own.
"Jia?" came Ember's voice quietly. "Why cry?"
"Oh..." said Jia, rising out of the depths of her mind. She shook her head. Ill thoughts never did anyone good. "I'll be okay, little one."
"Cry when sad," the little dragon insisted.
Jia looked down into the innocent red eyes gazing back up at her. She saw trust in those eyes, as well as love, and she knew she couldn't hide the truth. Ember should know, so she could prepare herself.
"I'm sad because... you're going to go away," said Jia, lowering her head so she was almost at eye level with the malformed dragon.
"Ember... go?" she asked, looking a little confused. "Why go? Ember can't... get up."
Jia swallowed nervously, wondering how to explain this so that Ember would understand and would not be afraid. She remembered Ember's reaction to the deaths of all the other imperfect clones and pushed the image from her mind. No, she couldn't compare it to that!
"You're very sick," she said finally, "and sometimes when you're sick you don't get better, and then you have to go."
"No want go..." Ember grumbled. Then she perked up, just for a moment. "Jia come?" she asked.
Nall turned to Ebony. "Shouldn't we do something?"
"There's nothing we can do, Nall, except be there," came the reply as Ebony pushed himself slowly to his feet and moved over towards the two.
After a second, Nall followed. Jia spared a thankful glance to the two dragons as they joined her around Ember, and then lowered her gaze once again. Ember smiled at all of them.
"Family," she murmured.
"We're all here, Ember," said Jia, bobbing her head.
"Yeah," added Ruby, "all of us."
She appeared next to Nall so suddenly she startled him. Without another word she slipped one of her forepaws into his and looked down at the twisted version of herself. The white dragon nuzzled her gratefully and squeezed her paw in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"Family," Ember repeated, "come with?"
Jia shook her head and patted her on the shoulder. "We... can't come with you, dear..."
"No... want be alone," she said, her voice fading beyond a whisper.
"You..." Jia inhaled a ragged breath as she tried to composed herself. "You won't be alone. Others have gone there before. Nice people. You might make some new friends."
"No alone?" Ember said hopefully.
Jia shook her head, swallowing a few times.
"Jia, Ebony, Nall, Ruby, family... love," Ember said quietly, no longer able to lift her head to look at them.
"We love you too, Ember," Jia said quietly.
Ember lay back with a smile on her muzzle. Her chest rose and fell once more and didn't rise again. Her form became still and the light of her eyes faded like the embers for which she had been named. The red energy from which she had been created flickered around her form momentarily, making her body seem to glow, before curling and disappearing into the wind, leaving only an empty husk behind.
"Althena keep you," said Jia, though she knew the goddess, too, was dead.
For a long while, she gazed at the still form, a sign of so many things gone wrong. They couldn't allow this to go on. They just couldn't. She felt a pressure on her shoulder and turned her head to find a black paw there. With a sigh, Jia pressed her head against Ebony's dark fur and sobbed quietly. He wrapped his wings around her and just held her.
Nall and Ruby watched the two long enough to be certain they would be all right before taking their leave of them and finding a private space behind a rocky hillock. For a few minutes they sat together in silence, out of sight of the other dragons. Neither of them knew how to start the conversation, but, somewhere, Nall found the courage to try.
"Ruby," he said, turning towards her, "I..."
She didn't let him get any further, instead shaking her head and waving away his concern with a brief motion of her paw. "Don't, Nall. Just don't," she said quietly. "What happened between you and that other doesn't matter anymore. It's in the past. Right now I only want to think of the future."
Nall lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers. Only sincerity greeted him in return.
"All right," he said.
He moved his head forward and tried a very human gesture. He kissed her. Ruby's eyes widened slightly, then drifted closed as she responded to his touch. White wings slipped around a red form, red limbs wrapped around a white torso, and the two entwined.
Hours later, after each dragon had taken the time to compose him or herself, the group of them cremated Ember's body. They had felt that it was the most fitting burial for a red dragon, and not even Ruby had argued against Ember being a true dragon. Indeed, Ruby's magic carried out the cremation, for no other fire could harm a red dragon, even in death. Afterwards, Nall used his control over the wind to send the ashes far and wide.
Though guardian beasts of a goddess of song, the dragons themselves did not often sing, except perhaps as a form of childhood amusement, but now, as the last embers of the dragon who bore that name swirled away, Jia stepped forward. She spread her wings and thrust her head as high as it would go.
"Winds," she sang, "carry you high, bear you up to the deepest sky. Sleep beside our goddess dear, rest in the land where there is no fear. We shall remember you, thoughts and memories of friendship true. For dragons all are we, and even now, you, still a dragon be."
She held the final note until the last of the ashes fluttered away and then lowered her head in respect for the departed. Ebony came alongside her and she nodded gratefully to him. The deed was done, and they could not allow themselves much longer to mourn. Twyla had to be found and soon, before anything else could happen.
"Nall? Ruby?" she asked, turning to the dragons still behind her, but Ebony shook his head and lead her away.
"Let them be," he said. "They have other things to talk about."
Reluctantly, Jia cast another glance at the two dragons and then followed him. "For a while then," she conceded, "but the group of us must talk soon. There has been too little communication between the four of us since this all began."
Nall and Ruby saw them go and declined to follow, as Ebony expected they might. They decided to give the two their privacy, and to make use of some for themselves.
Nall had had a lot on his mind of late, since he nearly died, since the encounter with Yur, but he knew himself now. He looked at Ruby's form where she lay next to him. Some things needed to be said and he wanted to tell her before the next emergency, before anything else could happen. They had reconciled, but that was not enough.
He watched her, how she looked at the sky, head tilted at just the right angle. Nall wondered what she was thinking. Goddess, she was beautiful. He waited a few more seconds to see if she would notice his attention before clearing his throat and softly nuzzling her shoulder. Ruby lowered her head and focused her red eyes on him.
"Uh oh," she said teasingly, "you look serious, something must be on your mind."
"Something like that," Nall said with a slight smile.
She slapped him playfully. "Did you get into the catnip again? Because you've got a silly grin on your face."
"No!" said Nall with an solid shake of his head. "It's more serious than that!"
"I know," she chuckled. "I'm just pulling. So spit it out already."
Nall glanced away and back at her again. His nerves danced a lively jig, but he couldn't let himself be dissuaded. They both knew how they felt, and he had to say it. He wanted to say it.
"Ruby... I..." He paused, clearing his throat.
The red dragon waited patiently enough, though her tail twitched expectantly. But the depths of her eyes absorbed him, pulling him to where he could not go back.
"Ruby, I love you," he said. "I have for a long time now. I just couldn't admit it. But with all this stuff that's been going on, I have to let you hear this just in case... just in case..."
Ruby smiled at him, her eyes a little damp.
"I love you too, Nall. I have for a century."
Nall mirrored her smile, leaning his head forward to brush his cheek lightly against hers.
"There's more," Nall murmured.
"More?" she asked, her head tilted slightly to the side in question.
"Ruby, I want..." Nall swallowed, willing himself to maintain eye contact, "that is, I'd like... would you be my mate?"
Ruby pulled her head back and stared at him a few moments before laughing. Nall lowered his ears and cringed. That wasn't quite the response he had been hoping for. But she smiled wide enough to show fangs and shook her head in amusement.
"Nall, are you asking me to marry you?"
He blushed visibly beneath his shortened fur and bowed his head, unable to meet her gaze any longer. Ruby laughed again and leaned close to put her mouth near his ear.
"You didn't think of it like that, did you?" she asked lightly.
"Not... really..." he stammered, blush deepening.
Ruby craned her neck so she could see him again and smiled. "Humans might have a little ceremony, but in the end it's still a promise; a promise to always love each other and be together. Is that what you're asking, Nall?" she said, lowering her head to meet his gaze.
"Yeah," he said, wincing as he choked out the word.
Ruby's smiled deepened as she pressed her forehead against his. "Then yes," she replied.
"Yes?" Nall asked, lifting his head.
"Yes."
Nall smiled hugely, nuzzling her and throwing in a lick on her cheek.
"I'm not sure how..." he began.
"We'll figure out how dragons get married later, Nall. For now, just hold me."
Nall was happy to oblige, wrapping a wing and a foreleg over the smaller dragon. He began licking at her ear when they were interrupted by the distinct sound of someone clearing her throat. Both heads turned towards the speaker and spotted the blue dragon standing a short distance away. Her wings drooped wearily over her body, but her head she raised expectantly, poised to deliver news of great import.
"What is it, Jia?" asked Nall. He still held Ruby close, no longer afraid of showing his emotions to Ruby or anyone else.
The blue dragon bowed her head and when she spoke her words drove chills down Nall's spine.
"I'm not Jia," she said.