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Fallon hovered over Ruari's bedside with gentle, hopeful eyes looking down at him. It had been two days since Ruari had feinted, and every hour that passed made Fallon's stomach twist into a tighter knot. Rarely did he leave his son's room unless it was of the utmost importance. Mara would often join him and bring him food and drink.

But most importantly, she would bring him comfort.

"How is he?" she asked as she rejoined him.

Fallon sighed and folded a wing over her back as he rested his head against her shoulder. His eyes felt so heavy, like there were weights pulling them shut. "The same," he answered. Every blink of an eye made him want to keep his eyes closed forever and fall asleep.

Ruari was steadily breathing as he lay on his side. Sometimes a limb would twitch or move and get Fallon's hopes up before he went completely limp again.

"We nearly lost him... I don't think I could handle losing him too," he mumbled. If he had lost both him and Raegan...

Mara nuzzled the top of his head. "You're tired, my love. I think you should rest and let me watch over him."

Fallon shook his head and sat up straight and alert. "No, I will stay."

Mara twined their tails together and leaned against him instead, nestling her head against his neck. "Then I will stay too."

Fallon smiled and pulled her against him. "Very well, then."

"While you were away at the council," Mara said after a few moments of silence, "his friends visited. They said that Ruari saved them twice: once from the first explosion and again by shooting a crystal into the sky."

"Crystal?"

She nodded. "They described it as an ordinary, household light-crystal, but instead of light it was fire. That's where the burn mark on Ruari's paw came from."

Fallon felt infinitely prideful of his son for being able to save so many lives at such a young age. "When he wakes up, we'll give him a little time to recuperate. Then we'll bring him and his friends to the council for questioning."

"Are you sure, Fallon? He probably won't want to talk about it or have the energy to."

He sighed and nodded. "It needs to be done; this is a matter of our clan's safety... maybe even the world's."

* * *

Ruari blinked sluggishly as he tried to open his eyes. His dreams shifted into reality, and his head felt like it weighed a ton. As he tried to lift it, he groaned and gave up before burying his snout into a pillow. Everything was too bright to look at directly, so he nosed beneath the pillow and hid there.

He had to make sense of what was real and what wasn't: what happened and didn't happen. Numbness clung to his entire body; it felt like he had been asleep for ages. Then he realized that he had passed out because he used too much magic. How long was I out?

Visions of the fiery explosion flashed in his mind; he could smell the smoke and hear the ringing in his ears. He clenched his teeth and looked at his bandaged forepaw that stung terribly. The black dragon--he had failed to stop him. What happened after he passed out? Were Aidan and Desmond okay?

A soft, deep voice called to him. "Ruari..."

Ruari shifted and winced as he pulled the pillow away, barely being able to see his father's ebony blob as his eyes were almost pinched shut. "Dad?"

Fallon nuzzled Ruari and sighed with relief. "How are you feeling?"

Ruari's eyes slowly began to open and he could see the worry lines engraved into his father's face. Fallon looked exhausted and his eyes were hardly able to stay open either. "I'm fine... I can't move much. What time is it? How long was I passed out?"

"Almost three days. It's the middle of the night, now."

Ruari understood that his father was most likely sitting by his bedside almost all of that time. He looked utterly drained, but in spite of that a warm, loving smile spread his lips. "Oh..."

Ruari shifted his stiff limbs and groaned. He was careful of his injured paw, keeping it tucked against him so he didn't hurt it more. He didn't feel like getting up quite yet. "Are Aidan and Desmond okay?" he asked. The last thing he remembered were the two of them trying to help him.

His father bobbed his head slowly. "They are fine, but they're really worried about you... We'll go see them tomorrow."

Ruari nodded. "What about the black dragon? Did they catch him?"

A puzzled look crossed his father's face. "Black dragon?"

"He had pitch-black scales and evil, red eyes," Ruari said. "He's the one that attacked the city... He caused the explosion."

"I never heard any mention of him... but..." Fallon tilted to the side and had to catch himself from falling. "We can... talk about it tomorrow. Do you mind my joining you tonight?"

Ruari shook his head.

His father climbed onto the bed with him and curled around Ruari protectively. Ruari felt his heart thudding in his chest as warm comfort washed over him. It had been almost two years since his father last held him like this. He couldn't shake the smile that curled his lips. As he nestled his head under his father's, he heard him rumble deeply before laying a soft wing over him.

Ruari could tell that his father fell asleep very shortly after tucking him against his belly. He shut his own eyes and relaxed against his father's warm, comfortable body, relishing in the moment that he wished would last forever, but before long he was whisked away into a pleasant dream.

Ruari scratched his forearm nervously as he retold the events to his father's council. It helped that his friends were there sitting beside him, but the atmosphere of the council room was intimidating. Two unfamiliar, big dragons peered at him from across the table, making him feel smaller than what he actually was. They listened to him closely, every word he had to say, and one mistake was embarrassing enough to leave him flustered.

But his father's reassuring glances would keep him going. His uncle was there too, smiling and nodding at him beside his grandmother. Aidan often helped describe the events when he was fumbling for his words, and Des didn't mind speaking up on the occasion. He felt immensely better since his family and friends outnumbered these two Elders. His recount was over before he knew it, but now came the questioning.

"You keep mentioning a black dragon," Elder Ryke started, "but neither of your friends recall seeing him, and the same for the mysterious runes in the dirt. How do we know you're telling the truth? How did you just so happen to come across an evil dragon and these mystical warnings?"

"Are you accusing my four-year-old son of conspiracy?" Fallon growled.

Ryke smirked and shook his head. "Of course not, but I have to wonder why these mysteriously magical things happened to him and _only_to him while Vance was rattled to its core."

"What reason would he have to lie?" Evelyn asked, glaring at the bronze elder.

His face twisted angrily. "Perhaps we should clear the room of any biased opinions," he suggested, looking between his father, uncle, and grandmother. "You're so quick to defend him, yet you're unsure yourselves."

"No, please," Ruari pleaded. He didn't want his family to leave. If they weren't here, then he would probably be interrogated and pressed for more answers that he didn't know.

"He's telling the truth," Aidan stated firmly. Ruari had never seen a more serious look in his life. "Just because we didn't see the dragon or the text doesn't mean they didn't exist. He saved us AND probably a lot of others too. I watched him send one of the crystals flying into the sky."

Kevion nodded. "If he had ill intentions, then I would understand the lying, but his intentions were obviously pure. What reason would he have to lie?" he repeated.

Elder Ryke rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine," he grumbled. "So the big question is: was this attack tied to the others? Are these attackers planning something bigger? Their destruction has only escalated thus far, and the discovery of these explosive crystals means that they may have something bigger hidden beneath their wings."

"Ruari, didn't you mention that the dragon said something to you?" Fallon asked.

Ruari nodded and picked at the ground with his claws. "He said something about a cause and that I would have made a good addition to it, but then... he tried to kill me."

The room fell silent. Aidan slid his tail next to Ruari's and twined them together. Ruari looked over and Aidan flashed a smile at him, lifting Ruari's spirits some. He knew he wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Aidan.

"So there must be an organization behind this," Fallon said. "These attacks can't be coincidences when they're happening so close together and by the same method: fire."

"But the attacks appear to be random at best," Kevion said. "The first two were small villages that were thousands of leagues apart, and they were completely destroyed. This time a city nearby was targeted, but for what reason?"

No one had an answer.

"How did they make these crystals, anyway?" Ryke asked. "Do we have any idea how to replicate them?"

Fallon shook his head. "I don't know any Fire-dragon capable of creating something like that; I didn't even know it was possible. I asked Dorian to look into this and form a research team."

Dorian nodded. He wore a solemn expression, one that didn't quite match the current conversation. Ruari caught his eyes and quickly turned his head away.

"I hope this is to bolster our defenses and not use them against our enemies," Evelyn said, staring at her sons. "These _weapons_sound like they can be far too destructive and only used under ill intentions. Vance lost nearly two hundred citizens in that one attack alone. It leveled a few buildings and tore apart several others."

Ruari didn't realize how destructive that blast had been. It truly was a miracle that he and his friends were still alive. Someone had saved them all, but whoever it had been wanted to remain hidden.

Fallon nodded his head. "We need to figure out how we can defend ourselves from these crystals. We don't want to be surprised like Vance, and we need to prepare for the likelihood of his happening to us, without raising panic."

"Water stops them from exploding," Ruari said and all eyes turned to him. He meeped and wanted to hide under the table.

"How do you know this?" Kevion asked.

"When the dragon tried to kill me, he threw one of those crystals at me. Before it hit the ground, Aidan saved me by catching it in an orb of water. Its energy rapidly dissipated and drained from it completely, rendering it harmless," Ruari explained.

Aidan bumped Ruari with a wing. "I didn't do that," he said, eyeing him curiously. "Des and I had just turned the corner since we were trying to catch up with you. You moved so fast!"

Ruari furrowed his brow. "If you didn't... then who did?"

"I suppose that doesn't matter," Ryke said dismissively. "We now know that water will be valuable in our defense research."

Ruari tried to figure out who could have saved him. He knew Aidan was a Water-dragon, and he didn't know what element Des was, but both of them had been too late. It made no sense for his attacker to save him, so who did it? Was it the voice, presumably the one who saved his friends too?

There were too many questions left to be answered. And now that Ruari discovered he had a second element in his kor, his studies would only increase tenfold. There was so much to discover about himself first before he started questioning the likelihood of an evil organization. He let out a sigh and gave his eyes a brief moment of respite.

"Have we anything else pertinent to this matter?" Fallon asked. "My son needs his rest."

No one stated otherwise, so the council wrapped up its meeting and everyone went their separate ways except for Ruari and his friends, with his father trailing behind. They walked outside together and were greeted by the peaking sun directly above them.

Aidan nudged Ruari's side and smiled at him. "We're glad you're feeling better. You had us worried!"

Des nodded and bumped snouts with him. "Aidan kept offering his healing skills, but thankfully your mother wouldn't let him. He probably would have made a mess."

"I would not have!"

Ruari smiled joyfully at his friends and giggled. Even though he had been in a coma-like state, it felt like it had been ages since he last saw them, and he was very thankful they were alive and well. "I was fine--just a little tired is all." He lifted his burned forepaw and winced as he flexed it.

"Fine!" Aidan scoffed. "You were not fine. You saved the both of us twice and still managed to stop the bad guy. And here I thought I was supposed to be the hero," he grumbled. "I didn't do anything, and you nearly died from magic-overuse. Some 'hero' I am, letting his sidekick almost die."

Des chuckled and bumped Aidan's shoulder. "Hey, I didn't do anything either. We were both just lucky to be alive."

"I would have died too," Ruari added, deep in thought. "If it wasn't for those messages, we probably would have all died..."

Fallon rumbled and stretched a wing over Ruari and pulled him close. "Let's not dwell on what could have happened and instead celebrate that you three are alright."

Aidan and Des nodded dutifully.

"You two took care of my son as promised. Thank you," Fallon said and bowed his head to the both of them.

They looked utterly stunned, and even Aidan was at a loss for words. Fallon turned and led Ruari to the take-off zone, guiding him with his wing. He looked back at his friends and waved. "See ya!"

Fallon leapt to the skies first, quickly followed by Ruari. They turned and flew next to another all the way home, soaring over the city. Ruari's wings still felt extremely sore.

Carefully, they touched down in the small atrium in the front yard, landing in the snow. Ruari gingerly used his injured forepaw and hobbled around on three legs inside.

"So, what does it mean that I can use two elements?" Ruari asked as he and his father settled down in the living area. The scent of food cooking wafted into the room from down the hall, where the kitchen was. His mother must have been making them lunch!

His father grinned as he lay down on his padded mat. "It means that my son is very special. Not very many dragons can use two elements, let alone at such a young age."

Ruari beamed proudly and nodded. He looked down at his talons and lit a small spark between them. When he woke up this morning, he was all too excited to begin practicing his new element, and he learned how to control small sparks relatively quickly. He couldn't wait to be able to practice the harder stuff when he recovered. No longer did he have just a lame, useless element, but an intense, dangerous one!

"But how does that work?" Ruari asked. "I thought kors only had one element bound to them... How can there be two?" The scrolls he read never explained how someone could have dual elements in a single kor. Does that mean he had two kors? That didn't make sense because dragons are only born with one.

"Each element has its own chamber inside the kor. Most dragons are born with only one, but it appears that you have two different chambers, one for Lightning and one for Light," he explained. "Typically, your primary and secondary elements relate on some level. Though they are different, Light is created in your Kor close to the same way as Lightning. Most dragons don't discover their second chamber until they are adults."

Ruari nodded in understanding. He wanted to stay modest, but he couldn't deny that he was special. Not only had he discovered his magical abilities before almost everyone else, but he had two elements before he was five.

His mother walked into the room carrying a basket between her teeth. She set it down and greeted both of them as she handed them their food: lots of cooked venison as well as some fish. Keira entered the room too, having followed behind his mother with her own dish of food.

She glared at Ruari and left an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he ate. He attempted to ignore her, but it seemed like she was staring at him the entire time, even as she talked with his parents. Ruari added bits and pieces to the conversation when it was directed at him but otherwise kept his maw shut.

After he finished, he excused himself to his room for a midday nap. He was about to climb into bed when he heard claws clacking behind him.

Keira was standing at his doorway.

"What do you want?" Ruari grumbled and flicked his tail.

She frowned and stepped into his room, encroaching on his territory. He didn't like that. "Why do you hate me?" she asked.

Ruari backed up slightly as she approached. He didn't like how close she was getting. "I... I don't hate you," he said truthfully. He disliked her, but hate was a strong word he didn't like using.

A small snarl curled her lips. "Then why do you avoid me?"

Ruari lowered himself defensively. As she closed her distance, he was losing his territory. She didn't appear threatening in anyway, and she moreso ambled into his room, but Ruari still felt like he was being pushed into a corner. He didn't feel strong enough yet to defend himself; his limbs almost felt like limp noodles.

He knew why he disliked her: she was spending more time with his father than he was, and she had insulted him when he was grieving over his sister. She didn't deserve to live with his family or in the city. But he didn't want her to know he was jealous or that she had hurt him, so he attacked from a different standpoint. "Because you're a Northerner," he answered. "Your kind killed my grandfather and a lot of our clan members. You started a war, and you have no remorse for your actions!"

Keira scoffed and shook her head. "How petty. With the way your father speaks of you, I imagined that you wouldn't be so stupid." She waved his harmless response to the side, dismissing it.

Ruari growled and bared his fangs while his tail lashed behind him. "What do you want!?" he growled.

"I wanted to know why you won't give me a chance! I've done nothing to wrong you, yet you won't even acknowledge my existence. When I asked if I could join you and your friends, you couldn't even bring yourself to speak to me!"

She was too close now, so Ruari started walking forward in an attempt to push her back, but Keira didn't budge. She had this fiery, determined look in her crimson eyes, and Ruari knew this would have to end one way or the other, but he was afraid to start it. He still needed to recover his energy.

"All I want is a reason why you don't like me," she said a bit softer.

Ruari gulped and answered, "The first time we met, you told me to 'get over it' when my sister had died. This is yo--"

"You were balling like a hatchling that lost his toy!" she growled and took another step forward. Only a foot separated their snarling muzzles. Now she was definitely trying to intimidate him. "I lost everything, and to see you crying like that was pitiful. I expected better of Fallon's son."

Ruari hissed and slashed her snout open with his claws. She yelped as her white scales were quickly stained with red splotches. Before Ruari knew it, he was on the ground beneath her larger body. He lashed at her with his talons in an attempt to free himself, but she was too strong. He had no idea that she was this strong!

He formed a ball of light that rapidly expanded and flashed intensely. He shielded his eyes and successfully blinded her and distracted her enough that he could slip out from beneath her and stand his ground again on trembling limbs. Before Keira could recover, he thrust his shoulder hard into her flank and brought her to the ground.

Now it was Ruari's turn to pin her down, but almost as soon as he did, her hind legs kicked into his stomach and sent him flying into the wooden wall with a smack. The wall cracked and he nearly broke through it. Luckily, he didn't break one of his wings.

Ruari lost his breath and clutched his stomach, struggling to breathe. His thick-plated underbelly kept her talons from slicing him open, but there were obvious claw marks scraped into the dark-blue plates that stung.

As he struggled to stand up, Keira growled and threw him to the ground with ease. He yelped in pain and created another flash of light to stall her, but it didn't work this time. She immobilized him and went for his neck. Ruari swiped her snout away and kicked at her underbelly, but she wouldn't budge. It didn't help that she was already much bigger than him, but the fact that she seemed to have extraordinary strength made him feel like his life was threatened.

So, Ruari pushed his uninjured forepaw into her chest and sent a strong, electrical jolt that cracked loudly and threw her off of him. He definitely didn't want to kill her, but it was risky to use magic he had just learned. She cried out and landed on her paws with pain contorting her face. She was stunned for the moment, giving him enough time to climb to his talons again.

But not only was she strong, she was fast too. Though his room wasn't that large, she charged him from the other side of it and tackled him against the back wall faster than he could react. He tried to jump out of the way, but she caught him and cut deep into his neck. Warm blood trickled down his scales where pain erupted above his shoulders.

Then Fallon rushed in and separated them both, pulling Keira off of Ruari. He growled to state his authority and glared at the both of them. "What is the meaning of this?"

Ruari was clutching the bleeding wound at his neck while Keira gingerly held her muzzle. The blood on her scales was much more obvious than his, and it looked like he had also injured her flank. Crimson splotches coated her snowy hide.

"He attacked me first," Keira defended. Mara stepped into the room and approached Keira first to see if she was alright, but the Northern dragonet stormed off with a huff. Her blood was spilled over Ruari's floor.

Ruari whined and leaned against his father, much weaker than before. His mother hurried over to him to check his wounds and grimaced. Ruari winced too, knowing that his mother would use a special salve--it stung horrendously.

"What happened, Ruari?" his father asked while his mother fetched healing supplies.

"I... hit her," he admitted. "She insulted me and got too close, so I hit her and we started fighting..."

Fallon sighed and hugged Ruari with a wing. "Are you alright?"

Ruari nodded. He felt extremely weak after using more magic, and his burned forepaw ached even more now, as well as his newly acquired injury on his neck. His mother returned and started gently applying the salve. Ruari hissed and pinched his eyes shut. His tail flicked rapidly behind him.

After his mother had bandaged him up, he took a few heavy breaths. He trembled and hobbled over to his bed to curl up. "I'm sorry, Dad," he said with a sad frown. His father didn't show it, but he knew he was disappointed.

With a chuckle, his father bumped noses with him and licked his forehead. "It's okay, Ruari. It's not like you and your sister didn't draw blood when you fought. I need to go talk to Keira to make sure she's alright too."

Ruari grit his teeth. Keira was not his sister. She wasn't anything like her, and she could never, ever replace Raegan. "Okay..." He watched his father turn to leave, but his mother crawled up onto the bed with him and curled around him.

"She's not a bad dragonet, Ruari," she said softly. "I'm sure she's aggravated because she's tired of being put down. She's tired of being different. You should give her a chance."

Ruari stubbornly snorted and stuck his snout into the crook of his arm. "Why should I? Did you put her up to confronting me?"

"I told her she should try to talk to you," she said. "I didn't realize that you felt so strongly against her. Why don't you like her?"

Ruari gulped and sighed to let go some of the tension he felt. "She spends a lot of time with Dad... I thought I would get to see him more, but now they're always together. I saw them training the other day and... He never did that with me. He's never taught me how to fight or hunt."

Mara squeezed around him and rumbled deep in her throat. "Ruari... You should talk to him. He feels the same way. Just give it a little time. I don't think he's used to this life yet; he's been fighting for the majority of his life, and now he's leading one of the largest clans on the continent. He's still rather young to be a clan leader."

Ruari nodded and shut his eyes. His father had always been busy, and someday he will most likely be in the same position. He briefly wondered if he would have a hatchling of his own that he would have to find time for...

He sighed and nuzzled into his mother's neck. He felt relaxed in her embrace, comforted. "Thanks, mother."

She nuzzled the top of his head and climbed down from the bed, much to his disappointment. "Rest well, Ruari."

* * *