Nall winged ahead of Ebony and, with jerk of his head, indicated that the three dragons should follow him. Rather than aiming directly for the palace, he took them to the shoreline some distance away.
"Let's try not to appear threatening," the white said as he banked for a landing.
They touched down on the rocky bluffs, still wet from the salt spray of high tide. From the gates of the palace, two clones watched them. The white dragon appeared wary and suspicious, but the red seemed more nervous than anything else.
Nall studied the two and, not finding them immediately hostile, looked back at the three dragons with him. He sighed, trying to figure out the best way to handle this. They had come because they were running out of time, but other than the barest idea of how to negotiate, they didn't have much of a plan. Finally, meeting the gaze of his companions, he spoke with as much authority as he could muster.
"You three stay here unless I call for your help. If I go alone, they shouldn't feel as threatened as they would if we outnumbered them two to one. I want to do my best to keep my promise to Aji and, quite frankly, I'd rather not get into another fight if we can help it."
Ebony and Jia nodded their acceptance of the order.
"Nall," said Ruby with a nervous shake of her tail, "please be careful. I don't want to lose you, and I almost did the last time you faced that white dragon."
He nodded. "I will be, Ruby. You can count on it. I don't want to leave you any more than you do."
Ruby bowed her head, flush with embarrassment. Ebony and Jia exchanged a glance, never having seen Ruby quite like that before.
Nall smiled to his family. Then, taking a deep breath, he turned and walked towards the two clone dragons. The other white, looking so much like him both in appearance and manner, moved forward to meet him. The red dragon behind him hesitated, but meekly followed after a moment's consideration. Before long the twin white dragons stood face to face, as if there were an invisible mirror between them, reflecting the image of one into the other. For a while they gazed at each other, neither speaking, until finally, the clone broke the silence.
Laln raised his head and demanded, "How'd you find us?" His eyes flashed anger, and any semblance of being merely a reflection vanished in that instant.
"Does it really matter?" Nall asked, flicking the tip of his tail. "We're here."
Laln trembled with barely contained rage, his claws tearing gauges into the rocky beach beneath his feet. Behind him, Yur turned her head down and away. She met neither the eyes of her partner nor the gaze of their visitor.
"And now that you're here," said Laln, "what do you intend to do?"
Nall turned his attention from Yur, finding himself no longer angry or disgusted with the red dragon. Instead he felt only pity. He looked back sternly at Laln and met the eyes of his twin.
"We intend," said Nall, "to recover our crests and our powers."
"And you think we'll just let you?" Laln asked, punctuating his words with a snort of frost.
"No, I don't," said Nall. "But I don't want to fight you, any of you, and I'm hoping that if I talk to you we can find another way. I don't believe in what Twyla is doing, but I do believe that you are no more at fault than we are. If you are willing to listen, perhaps you will come to see that."
Laln regarded him blankly for a moment, then could no longer suppress a chortle. "Heh! You expect us to believe that? Twyla is going to make Lunar a better place to live, with our help!"
"She created you. Of course your first instinct is to think she's right, but step back and think for yourself. It's not as simple as she would have you believe!"
Laln growled, snaking his head low like a beast. "I am not a puppet! I do this because I know that it's right."
Nall matched the force of the other dragon's voice, but left his own posture unchanged. "But do you think it's right," he asked, "or did Twyla make you think it's right?" He thumped his tail for emphasis.
"I've had just about enough of this," said Laln with a snap of his jaws. "I'm not a blind follower! I have my own ideas."
"Then prove it," said Nall.
"How? Give you the crests? Give you our power? Then slink off into the shadows? I don't think so."
"I didn't say that! Just listen to me. If we keep fighting, there will just be more pain and suffering, and that benefits no one. Is that what you want?" Nall asked.
Laln chuckled. "The fighting won't last. We're more powerful than you are now and you know it. That's why you're trying to talk your way out of this." The clone dragon grinned, tilting his head at a cocky angle.
"Idiot!" said Nall. "I'm talking because we don't want to hurt you!"
"I don't think you'll have to worry about that," said Laln, taking attack position. "You'll be the ones hurt unless you fly away now like good little dragons."
Nall shook his head sadly. "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you?"
"I've heard it. I just think it's a load of dragon diamonds."
Nall sighed, but did not back away.
"Well," said Laln, "are you going to leave?"
Nall lifted his head proudly and said, "We can't."
"Then we'll just have to make you go."
The clone white dragon lifted a paw, forming a sharp lance of ice between his talons. Nall leapt back with a sweep of his wings, ready to defend himself, but that maneuver proved unnecessary. When Laln hurled the lance, it evaporated into a cloud of steam almost as soon as it left his claws.
"Thanks, Ruby," said Nall, sparing a glance behind him.
She had galloped towards him once she spotted the danger, but she was still too far away. "I... didn't do it, Nall," she said, bewildered.
As one, the two white dragons looked at Yur.
"Yur?" asked Laln tentatively. "Why?"
The clone red could barely meet his eyes. "Maybe he's right, Laln. Maybe we have been wrong.
"What are you talking about?" he snapped.
She shook her head. "I don't want to hurt them," she said, so softly that only Laln could hear her.
The white dragon huffed and turned away. "Fine then. I'll do it myself."
"Laln... Don't. Please."
Laln ignored her, squaring himself against Nall, who prepared for the oncoming attack. The clone dragon summoned the power so recently his and formed a massive lance of ice above his head. He focused hard on the magic of its creation, preventing it from evaporating or being modified by Nall or anyone else before it could hit its target. Laln sent it flying towards Nall with a roar, knowing nothing short of death would make it stop.
"Nall!" shouted Ruby. She lunged forward, but knew she would never reach him in time.
Nall sprang to dodge in that sluggish moment of slowed time as the deadly shard sped towards him. It would be tight, but he just might make it. He wasn't given the chance to see. A red flash darted in front, and suddenly Yur stood before him. There shouldn't have been the time for her to do so, but he thought he saw her balanced on her haunches with wings and forelegs held out to protect him.
"Yur!"
Laln screamed.
The shard of ice slammed into Yur's chest, the force of the impact showering Nall with her blood and throwing her off her feet. She landed hard on the ground, the point of the ice lance pushing out from between the wings on her back. Nall watched, horrified, as Laln ran to her side.
"Why?" Laln asked, his voice raw with distraught. "Why?"
Yur blinked a few times, her red eyes rising to meet his. She coughed weakly, sprinkling his white fur with flecks of red.
"Because," she whispered, "I love you both too much to let you kill each other."
Yur shuddered and Laln shook her gently, calling her name.
"Yur?" he said. "Yur! "
But she did not reply. Only her eyes remained open, gazing at him, still full of pain and sadness, but no longer alive. A tear dripped down his muzzle as he stared at the motionless form before him. Then he lifted his head and screamed, the sound lasting for half a minute before fading into the morning light.
"What have I done?" whispered Laln. "What have I..."
The expression on Laln's face shifted from grief to rage as his gaze fell on Nall.
"What did you make me do?" he snarled.
"Laln..." Nall cut himself off as he pulled his head back to avoid a swipe from the other's claws.
"You killed her!" shrieked Laln. He uttered a feral growl and aimed strike after strike at the white dragon.
"Stay back!" Nall yelled, when he caught sight of his friends moving to help him. He weaved and dodged, concentrating only on avoiding the enraged dragon's attacks and not countering any of it.
"Like we're going to sit back and let you get hurt!" shouted Ruby. She barreled forward, only to be stopped by a black paw on her shoulder. She yanked herself free and turned around. "Ebony, what are you...?"
"Didn't you hear him?" said the black dragon. "If we all attack Laln, we might win, but with his defeat would go any chance of stopping this without more bloodshed."
"But Nall is in danger!" she insisted.
"He knows the danger, Ruby, but he's trying to save Laln. He said he would call for help if he wanted it. Notice that he hasn't yet."
Ruby sank to the ground, forcing herself to sit and watch, and hoped that Nall knew what he was doing.
Nall continued to defend himself. In his anger, Laln attacked blindly, without any use of magic or strategy, but the relentlessness of his aggression had taken its toll on Nall. The white dragon was tiring.
"Laln," he gasped. "Don't let her sacrifice be in vain. Stop this. Please."
"You killed her! I'll kill you for that. Killed her..." Laln ranted to the point of being incoherent, finishing each word with a slash of his claws.
Nall searched desperately for something to say to calm him down, but he could think of little else as Laln continually pushed him farther and farther back. So intent was he on the dragon before him that he missed the danger coming from behind. They had reached the edge of the island, the rocks made slick with water and algae. Nall stumbled and Laln was upon him in an instant. The clone dragon smote him a blow to the head that flung him to the ground.
Laln bellowed triumphantly, lifting his claws for a killing strike as the dazed white tried to recover. His roar was cut short as a blast of lightning slammed into his side, throwing him yards into the air and leaving his side a black and smoking mess.
A blue dragon landed, tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Laln..." she said.
"Aji..." the white muttered before going still.
Twyla stalked through the halls of the Crystal Palace, barely sparing the effort to brush the tears from her eyes. Everything had gone wrong, horribly wrong. She hadn't realized there was a battle. It had been so quiet outside. Then she had felt Yur's death through the magic that connected the four dragons. It had been so much of a shock. She had barely managed to recall the power that had gone into Yur's creation.
By the time she had found her way to a window, the scene had been easy to interpret. Yur had died to the white dragon's magic and Laln had hurled himself at Nall to avenge her. Twyla had made up her mind to go help him, but before she could interfere, Aji had killed him. The traitor. Twyla had recalled his power as well. The two wouldn't die in vain.
No. They wouldn't die. She would remake them. She had the power. They were her family... Damn the Dragon Tribe. They were worse than she thought.
A sudden jolt around her shoulder interrupted Twyla's thoughts. Angrily, she cast a glance behind her. Her cloak had snagged on one of those damn statues that populated the Crystal Palace. With a growl she popped the clasp and let the cloak fall from her shoulders. She didn't have the time to free it now. She had to reach the crests, bring her family back. Her family. The dragons had killed them, perverted Aji. If it took getting rid of the original tribe for her plan to succeed, then so be it.
Twyla stepped into the chamber with four glowing crests.
So be it.
"Aji... why?" Nall asked, as the other three dragons slowly made their way over.
Aji shook her head, her eyes full of tears as she lifted her gaze from the body of the white dragon to the four others standing in front of her.
"I couldn't let this go on any longer," she said. "No more pain. No more death. Twyla is wrong... She's wrong." Her voice cracked and she stopped speaking, unable to go on.
Nall nodded his gratitude. "You saved my life. Thank you."
"It... might not matter if you do not hurry," said Aji, blinking the tears from her eyes. "There's not much time... You have to stop Twyla before she has a chance to make more clones. Otherwise the cycle will just begin all over again."
"Yes," said Nall, casting a glance at the Crystal Palace, "you're right."
"Jia, please, I need to speak with you," said Aji, lifting her head.
The blue dragon swallowed, not knowing what to say to this dragon that was her and yet was not. She walked up to Aji and looked at her inquiringly.
"Jia," said Aji, "I'm going to give you my power. I don't want you to be startled when you receive it. You'll need all the help you can get to face Twyla."
"But what will happen to you?" she asked.
"I... will die," said Aji. "Your power is what I was born from. Though I possess it, it has not become mine, and without it, I will die."
Jia shook her head. "No! I won't take my power at the expense of another's life!"
The clone dragon smiled kindly, her mind already made. "It is not my power to have. I should not have been. None of us should."
"You can have enough to keep you alive..."
"No." Aji shook her head. "I won't become a vampire, feeding off another, and you will need all your strength for what lies ahead."
Jia looked into the eyes of the other, and thought of what she would do if their situation had been reversed. Finally, she lowered her head and sighed.
"Very well," she said.
"Thank you," said Aji, holding out her paw.
"I'm sorry," said Jia as she accepted it.
"Please, don't be."
A bright blue aura flared around the two dragons, Aji's brighter than Jia's, but as the transfer continued the light around Jia brightened and Aji's faded to dark. In less than a minute, the aura around Aji had dwindled to nothing.
The clone dragon drooped weakly, waving off Jia as she moved to support her.
"You four have a job before you," whispered Aji. "Just promise me something."
Jia looked over the faces of her family before turning back to her twin.
"Name it," she said.
"Save Twyla." Aji wheezed, her breath rattling in her throat. "She is not evil, but misguided."
"I promise we will do our best."
"Thank you... Now go. Please. I have something to do before my energy expires."
"But..."
"Go. Please."
For a moment the four dragons just stood there, silently regarding her, then one by one they turned and walked towards the Crystal Palace. Not a one said another word to her. There were no goodbyes, though not from unkindness.
Aji watched them go and, with a sigh, looked over the bodies of the two dead dragons. Her family. She used what remaining strength she had to pull the bodies together, settling them in a semblance of comfort. She pulled what remained of the ice lance from Yur's body and smoothed down her fur. The tears flowed freely down her muzzle as she labored.
"I'm sorry, Laln, Yur. I wish things could have been different... but..." She broke off with a sigh as she lay herself down between them.
Aji closed her eyes, gathering all that remained of her power. Energy crackled around the three forms, the air heating almost immediately. Aji spared nothing, for it would fade from her all too soon, and caused a fierce explosion of lightning that super-heated the area in an instant.
I'll be with you again, my family...
Moments later, all that remained were three piles of ash and a blackened area on the ground. The wind swirled round and the water lapped at the shore. Soon, even those traces would disappear.
Jia stumbled and gasped. She felt a furry bulk beside her and looked up to find Ruby supporting her. Nall and Ebony, ahead of the pair, had reached the entrance to the Crystal Palace by the time they stopped and looked back.
"Jia? You okay?" asked Ruby.
"Yes..." Jia sucked in a breath and shook her head. "It's just... It's just Aji is dead."
Ebony uttered a growl and stalked forward into the palace. Enough was enough. He would not stand by and let this continue!
"Wait up!" said Nall, bounding after him.
Jia gathered herself on all four feet and tailed after the two dragons. The interior of the Crystal Palace was massive, large enough for a full grown dragon to walk comfortably down the hall. Ebony took the lead with Nall just behind him. The black dragon moved with a purpose. Though he said nothing, the others trusted that he drew on his memory of the place to take them to where Twyla would most likely be.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ruby asked, walking alongside the blue dragon.
"I... will be," said Jia. "I have all her thoughts... and memories..."
Ruby nodded. "I guess since they were made from our energy, when you got it back you got a part of them too."
"Yeah. It's just a bit confusing at the moment. I'll be okay after I sort..." Jia broke off with a gasp.
"What... what is it, Jia?" asked Ruby.
"Twyla... I can see... she's..."
Ebony lost track of the conversation as he turned a corner. Twyla is lunchmeat, that's what. All this pain and suffering had been caused by her blind faith in that what she was doing was right. It didn't matter if she still had a black dragon protecting her. This would end. Now.
"Slow down! " said Nall. "Give Jia and Ruby a chance to keep up!"
But he didn't pay attention to the white dragon's protest--only a faint buzzing in the back of his mind. Ebony didn't notice the elegant crystalline structure around him, nor have time to remember the last time he was here. All he worried about was following the trail that would lead him to his crest. He could feel it, its magic drawing him, its proper owner, to it. Twyla no longer bothered to hide it. There was not much point with the dragons already here. He would tear this palace apart crystal by crystal if he had to. And it was close, right around the corner, right in that room, it was... There.
Ebony stopped in the doorway, head raised, as he looked inside. A human figure stood with her back to the door. Three glowing crests in the colors of red, white, and black floated in the air around her. At first he thought that she had traded her old cloak for a new one of fur, but then Ebony noticed the tail, twitching agitatedly behind her, and realized what they were. Wings. Black, furred wings of a kind he had only seen in one other place. Ebony realized why they had never seen a clone of him.
Twyla turned slowly, the blue crest in her hands, devoid of glow. Her cheeks were streaked with dried tears, but there was only resolution in her grey eyes as they met Ebony's. She seemed to read the understanding on his face.
"Surprised, little brother?" she asked.