The four dragons looked at each other across the main chamber of Jia's lair. Occasionally one of them shuffled uneasily against the stone floor beneath. None knew really what to say, and the scent of their anxiety filled the air around them as musty pall. Not only had one of them had their crest taken, but three. It was an event unheard of as far as draconic history could go. Evil gods and forceful magicians had stolen their auras, yes, but never the crests. Never the crests. Now they had gathered together in Jia's cave to protect the only one that remained.
Jia's nostrils flared slightly as she took in the distasteful smell of shame. She sensed the embarrassment in the other three dragons over loosing their crests, and it rankled in her mind that they could loose their crests so easily.
The blue dragon took a deep breath and raised herself on all fours. If no one else would speak, she would. Jia glanced around her to be certain her movement caught the attention of the other three.
"We can't keep staring at each other any longer," she said quietly in a strong voice. "We need to find out who's behind this." The blue dragon swung her gaze in Ebony's direction. "We'll start with you. How was your crest taken?"
Ebony shuffled nervously, knocking a small stone into the pool around the ledge. For a moment he looked distractedly at the ripples the stone had caused, then after a dry cough from Nall he turned back to Jia and cleared his throat.
"That's just it. I thought it would be safe. I had embedded the crest within a diamond."
"Was the diamond shattered?" Nall asked.
"No. It's like..." Ebony paused, turning back to the pond. He lightly kicked another rock in. "It's like that stone. It entered the water without breaking it. The water flowed aside and allowed it to pass. The diamond was to her like the water was to the stone. The thief took it out the same way I put it in. But that not only requires a lot of power, but also a lot of talent in earth magic."
Nall grimaced. "We already know she's got a lot of power."
The white dragon's remark brought the awkward stillness back into the chamber. Jia shook her head, knowing that she would have to prod some more to get anything out of any of them. She wrinkled the end of her muzzle in a mild expression of annoyance. "Ruby, you said a copy of Nall took your crest?"
Ruby snorted in a frustrated manner, causing a bit of flame to sprout from her nostrils. "Yeah... I thought he was Nall until he started spouting otherwise."
"And that happened after I lost some power," Nall pointedly added. "I think we can guess what she meant by 'replacing' us now."
"Just how weak are you now?" Ebony coiled his neck in Nall's direction as he spoke.
"I'm not that weak, but unfortunately the fun's not over yet." Nall's eyes narrowed into slits. "My power is still being drained, and it's a likely bet that the weaker I get, the stronger my clone becomes."
Jia nodded briskly, hoping to stay on topic. She turned to Ruby. "How close a match to Nall was he?"
"I already told you," the red dragon growled. "I thought he was Nall! He looked like Nall, he sounded like Nall, he even smelled like Nall!"
Nall snapped at Ruby. "Is that a crack about my personal hygiene?"
"Its not my fault the word 'shower' is foreign to you."
Nall bellowed and launched himself, wings extended, at the smaller red dragon. The two rolled around yelling out insults and struggling for superiority. Ebony rolled his eyes and turned to Jia.
"One big happy family," she said with a tinge of sarcasm. Jia shook her head and sighed. "I just wish we could stay on task a little bit better. We still don't know who's behind this all."
"True," Ebony allowed, "but I don't think that's the most important thing we have to worry about right now."
Jia looked at him in disbelief. "Then what?"
"I don't think we can stay here." He waved a paw when he saw she was about to speak again. "No. Listen, hear me out. This person after us obviously knows where our caves are. We've got to move the crest to a safer place."
"Even with all four of us here?"
"If she can't find us, we won't have to fight. And besides..." Ebony glanced back to the fighting dragons.
"... and what kind of dragon wears a bow?!"
"At least I don't have an ice cube for a brain!"
Ebony shook his head. "While they have their strength now, if Nall gets any weaker we can't afford to have him involved in the battle."
Jia let out a breath. "You're right." She looked over at the two dragons and watched Nall earn himself a singe in the ear. She knew it would fade in a day or so without any harm done.
"You know they enjoy that," said Ebony.
Jia smiled a little, she agreed.
The black dragon winked. "You grab Ruby, I'll grab Nall."
The two walked over to either side of the fighting pair. They waited for a break in the ring of claws and teeth and each grabbed the tails of their respective dragons, tugging them apart.
Ruby fell flat on the ground in midleap. "Hey! I was..."
"What are you..." Nall grumbled from his undignified landing.
"We need a plan, Nall," said Ebony, still holding him down, "and since, for some strange reason, you're the tetrarch, it's up to you. I think we should move someplace harder to find."
Nall brushed himself off and smoothed his fur, trying to take on an aura of leadership. "Right. So who knows a good place to hide out?"
Ebony paused. "That's a plan?"
"Well I can't think of any place!"
"I'm afraid I haven't been out much these past couple centuries," said Jia. "I don't know how much the landscape's changed since I last took a good look at it. I know the area around my cave--which is too close to hide in--but that's about it."
For a moment the four were silent. Then Ruby spoke.
"I've got it," she said fiercely.
The others turned to look at her.
Ruby gestured loudly with her paws. "The Forest of Illusion! That place is like a maze, and that's only if you have the right spell to see the way. Without the spell getting in on foot is impossible!"
"Which brings up a point," said Nall, placing his forepaws on his hips in a very human gesture, "we don't have the-"
"So what?" said Ruby, interrupting him. "We can fly!"
Nall spread his wings, flapped them experimentally. "Point taken. Anyone against this plan?"
Ebony and Jia looked to each other, then shook their heads.
"We're fine," said Jia.
Nall nodded. "Then we'll head there now. Let's not waste any time. Where's your crest?"
Jia rubbed her muzzle with one side of her paw. "I... sort of hid it..."
The blue dragon moved from a sitting position to one of walking in a fluid motion. She reached the end of the ledge then leaped the distance over the pond and on to the rim of the fountain Ebony had made for her. Looking slightly embarrassed, she reached into the mouth of the Nall statue and pulled out the crest.
Ruby immediately broke out into laughter. "Nall's big mouth! What a perfect hiding place!"
Nall looked like he wanted to make a comeback, but he realized that Jia might mention his "running off at the mouth" statement if he said anything. So he suffered in silence. Jia half jumped, half flew back over and offered her crest to Nall.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "It's your crest. You hold onto it." He turned to Ruby, his voice serious. "Lead the way."
Nall's grave mannerism did not last long once the four dragons left Jia's lair. Before another hour had passed he had gotten himself into yet another argument with another dragon.
"I'm older than you are!"
"Oh wow! A measly ten years! Older doesn't mean wiser!"
"I helped Alex save the planet from Ghaleon!"
"Oh gee, what did you do? Say 'these are easy pickings' before a battle. Big help there."
Jia and Ruby traded a glance as Nall and Ebony were once again in their "why are you the tetrarch" argument. Ruby was flying in the lead, while Jia was to her side and slightly behind. Nall and Ebony had fallen back, or rather the blue and red had flown ahead, so they could have their argument in peace. If anyone on the ground could make out the four high-flying dots, they would have beheld a sight that had not been seen on Lunar for an entire century. Not since the destruction of Pentagulia had all of Althena's dragons flown together.
Ruby sighed quietly to herself. "I wish Hiro were here."
Jia recognized the tone, a sorrowful one for a dragon, and one that Ebony used often, except in reference to Miko. She knew Ruby had made quite a few human friends. Though not the youngest of the four, the red dragon was the last of the current dragons to claim her power and had dwelled in her infant form for almost a millennia. She had accompanied a group of people who had saved the planet from destruction by Zophar, and to accomplish that goal she had to become a full-fledged dragon. But all that was a while ago, none of those friends were around anymore.
Jia had never made any close friends among humans since Miko. She knew the pain of loosing such a friend and that a dragon's life could allow for the loss of hundreds if not thousands of those friends. The blue dragon would not wish for such sorrow. She had Ebony, and to a lesser degree Nall and Ruby. That was enough.
Her reverie was broken as Ebony cried out. He curled up as if in pain, wings no longer extended, and began to fall. Nall had already arced back his wings and dove after him. Jia swung around and pumped her wings to gain speed. The blue dragon set herself on a course to align herself with Nall.
As Jia neared she called out, "What do we do?" Ebony was larger than she was, and even with Nall's help, he'd be difficult to carry through the air. Dangling Ebony between them by the wings or the limbs all the way to the Forest of Illusion was not much of an option.
Instead of answering, Nall concentrated. White light surrounded his claws and Ebony's decent slowed. The white dragon focused his thoughts harder, summoning the wind to bear the ailing dragon's weight.
"Feel... weak..." Ebony muttered quietly as the two dragons reached him.
"Geez!" Nall snapped, unintentionally angrier from the intensity of his concentration. "Quit overreacting, it wasn't that bad for me."
Ebony muttered something that was probably better they couldn't hear.
Jia pursed her lips as an idea came to her. "Ebony, shrink and I'll carry you."
The black dragon did not reply, but darkness emitted from him and suddenly in his place was a much smaller, black cat with wings. Jia snatched him out of the air, started to propel herself upward to where Ruby waited. She cradled him gently in her forelegs.
"He okay?" Ruby asked as the blue dragon returned.
Jia looked down at the small form curled up by her wrist. "I don't know. It seems his power has been drained like Nall's, but it looks a lot harder on him."
Nall snorted. "He's just looking for sympathy..."
Jia shot a glance at Nall to shut him up, then looked to Ruby. "Hurry. Lead us to the forest."
Ruby glanced at Nall, not used to getting orders from Jia, then turned back on course. Nall quickly followed her, leaving Jia to take up the rear. The small form in her paws murmured quietly.
"Thanks, Jia, owe you one."
She shook her head, sighing quietly. "Nonsense!" she breathed. "You've always been there for me, Ebony, how could I do any different?"
He smiled slightly and closed his eyes.
When the four reached the Forest of Illusion, Ruby guided them down to a large clearing near its center. The three dragons landed easily, driving away the smaller inhabitants with the force of their wingbeats. As the red dragon had said, the paths were contorted beyond reason. It would be difficult for anyone to find them here, at least on foot. No one should have reason to look for them here in any case. But their safe arrival brought up a new question.
"Now what?" Ruby demanded. She turned to Nall.
The white dragon stroked his chin with the leading edge of his wing and thought about it for a minute. "If I remember correctly, Takkar is just north of here. We can ask around there and see if we can find out anything about this woman."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Oh, brilliant plan! We'll just say 'anyone hear about a black haired woman with lots of power?'"
"At least it's a place to start! That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Fine, fine, you're the boss."
Nall surrounded his form with a white light. When it lifted, a young man stood. He had white hair, with a brown stripe through the middle. He wore greenish gray breeches with a matching tunic and a sword slung over his back.
Ruby gave an exaggerated sigh. "I can't let you go on your own, you'd be helpless without me."
The red dragon was enveloped in her own red light, and then she reappeared in her own human form; a young woman with red hair falling to her shoulders. Not being fond of dresses, Ruby wore some loose fitting trousers and a shirt with short sleeves. At her side was an old boomerang that belonged to a friend. She winked at Nall.
Nall glared back at her, the words of a protest coming to his lips, but he caved in instead, deciding that now was really not the time. "Fine... You can come. Jia, stay with Ebony and guard the crest."
Jia nodded as she looked down at the two smaller figures. "Of course. Good luck."
Nall stepped over to Ruby and waved a hand. Nothing happened. Nall scowled and waved his hand again, more forcefully this time.
Ruby smirked at him, showing a pair of fangs. "Learning to wave 'bye bye' are we?"
"I can't teleport!" Nall growled exasperatedly. His angry glare encompassed everything in sight, as though he could visually find the one to blame.
Ruby shook her head. "It must be the power drain. Oh well. I guess you'll have to rely on me." She smiled sweetly, gestured, and the two disappeared.
Jia looked down to talk to Ebony, but noticed that he had fallen asleep. She worried over the reaction the drain had triggered in him, but there was nothing she could do now but wait. The blue dragon did not like the feel of this place, though the inhabitants near the clearing had fled quickly enough at their approach. Most natural creatures knew enough by instinct to leave anything as large as a full sized dragon alone, but that did not dismiss her unease. After all, the strange woman who wished to replace her tribe obviously did not find an adult dragon something difficult to deal with.
Jia gathered together a small bed of dried leaves and gently set Ebony down in them. When the sleeping dragon did not stir, she curled herself around him, using the length of her neck and tail to complete the protective circle. She settled herself into place to wait for the others' return.