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Scales and Honor: Swirling Storm

Chapter 19

Ramakox explained that he was leaving to the Jandar practically right after he had finished speaking with Fremra. The man had still been grieving, his snout soaked in tears as the dragon spoke to him, it had been hard to not mist up at the man's resonating sadness. The blue dragon did not explain the _exact_details of course, he had bit his tongue and simply told the mortal that he was off to see the Emerald Lady about something direly important. He had hated the words when they slipped from his maw, it made his scales itch something awful, as if there where tiny bugs crawling underneath them.

_When I get back and have a plan....I will tell him._The dragon had told himself to ease his troubled mind. He at least wrapped the half-dragon in his limbs and wrapping his warm wings around him. He had held him as Jandar shivered onto his scales. He had told him that he would be back as soon as he was able, wishing that he could stay and help comfort him some more. Jandar nodded through soft cries, wishing the dragon well despite the ache that his heart must have been doing. Ramakox had returned the man's words with an affectionate nuzzle, holding him tighter against his scales, and words about how strong, brave, and how proud he was of him.

So with a heavy heart the blue dragon strolled out into the near morning air, taking a deep breath of the cool breeze that brushed against his scales and made him shiver. He blinked once, looking to the vast sky that was being slowly filled with the sun's warm and golden rays, its brightness almost a mockery to what had transpired. Ramakox wrinkled his snout and narrowed his eyes. He snorted once, mind thinking to the task ahead.

"We best be careful while dealing with her." Fremra spoke, sliding in beside him without a sound. "I know you trust her....But I know she knew something was going to happen...You can't trust that she is telling you everything." She puffed out her chest, leaning up against his scales. "That's why I'm going with you."

"You are?" he asked, slightly taken back as he tilted his head. He had honestly thought she was going to stay here and comfort the mortals that were mourning. "I thought..."

"I had wanted to." She looked back with a frown on her snout. Her frills drooping as she took her next long breath. "But Jandar told me they were good as is....and that I should not let you see her alone." The dragoness turned to give him a lick across his muzzle. "Besides...I know you could use the help anyway, even if you won't admit it."

Ramakox wrinkled his snout as he kneaded the ground with his claws. "That's...not entirely true." he lied, turning away from her with a flick of his tail.

"Oh sure..." she gave him another lick across his head with a slight chuckle. "I will be here for you." the sea foam dragoness unfurled her wings, and rustling of membranes flapped them gently. "No time like the present. The sooner we leave...the sooner we return to them...and share the news." the last words from her mouth were accompanied with a soft defeated sigh as she flicked her tail behind her.

"Then let us go." he nuzzled her softly, his spirits lifted slight as she pressed back against him, and they readied themselves to take wing into the sky. He crouched low, wiggling his tail side to side before bounding into the air with a mighty leap. The blue dragon pounded his mighty wings against the air, and carried himself up to the domain that he called his once more. He looked back only once, the human's house and barn slowly shrinking with each wing-beat. Don't worry Jandar...We will solve this.

*

The journey to the forest of despair took several weeks of flying across the landscape between Drenedar and Lumara. Once more the blue dragon soared high through the brilliant blue skies with Fremra right at his side the entire time. From this height they could make out the vast quilt of multiple colors that made up the earth below. They would occasionally spot the forms of gryphons far below them, flying blissfully unaware of the two dragons flying ever so high above their furred heads. With the gryphons came the first airship that the blue dragon had ever graced his eyes upon. He had wrinkled his snout as he spotted the wooden thing floating casually in the air. It had looked like a ship of the sea, made out of sturdy wooden plants, and instead of a mast it was tethered to a large brown balloon with the symbol of a golden gryphon painted onto it's surface.

Ramakox remembered how much he had despised those things that invaded the territory that belonged to dragon, and visited by gryphons. He pushed his view away from the thing, still finding that its mere sight made him narrow his eyes, and a small fire ignite within his chest. He pushed his disgust down with his next few wing-beats and focused instead on the task at claw. For that thought alone had kept him going through all the long days of flying, and the nights where they would rest away from the world. He had spent a good deal of those nights just staring out to the great star dotted sea of black, wondering what all the souls of dragons would think of his actions more then ever before. He would feel his scales shiver at the shame lurking deep within his bones, knowing they would turn away from him in disgust. Some great Swirling Storm.. He would grumble to himself, drumming his talons on the earth, and snorting his disapproval.

However each time that the feelings became too much, and the shame brought misty tears to his eyes, Fremra had been there to sooth his heart. She would slide over to him, as if she could always sense his vulnerability. Her pleasing touch would fight off the darkness that would slowly slip into his heart. Her licks calming, and would bring serenity to his troubled mind. She would sleep with him each night, her form wrapped tight by his wings, and her tail intertwined with his own. Ramakox would nuzzle her head before letting sleep take him, glad that she had come to aid in his endeavor.

They kept up with the same routine day in and day out. They would rise in the morning, do a brief hunt of the surrounding area, take off into the sky and fly for a good portion of the day. When their wings would grow tired they would land to rest, nuzzle against one another and take in the warm rays of the sun overhead. When the burning sphere overhead would sink below the horizon they would rest, pressed up against one another until the morning once more broke through the dark sky. It was not long before they reached the dark hunter green dot that was the forest they sought. Ramakox narrowed his eyes as he felt his heart start to quicken in his chest.

It was the first time in his life that he stared out to the vast forest, and he did not have pleasing thoughts on his mind. Instead he felt a slight light headed, and that his heart was being stretched in two different directions. That familiar itch beneath his scales returned as he glared out to the green quilt, unease filling his mind. He tried to shake the feeling from his mind with his next flap of his wings as Fremra passed by him with her tail nearly brushing against his nose. He spread his wings into a glide as his next few breaths came quickly, and brought him no comfort.

"Something on your mind Rammy?" Fremra called back, arching her neck to glance at him with her concerned purple spheres. "You may speak your mind..I hate to see my brilliant Sapphire troubled so."

Ramakox could feel his tension slightly fade with her words, his next breath filled with the thought about how lucky that she was right here with him. _Not luck...Jandar found her and led her to you._His mind reminded him, making the dragon hang his head and sigh. The blue dragon wanted nothing more then to rip into his own hide, something he figured which would be a fitting reward for his past actions. Once more he felt the guilt creep into his chest, and make his head swirl. "Just...uneasy. Is all." he struggled to say over the wind brushing against his cheeks. The joy he usually found with flight doing nothing to set his soul at ease. "I worry if she will actually help us at all." he grumbled, the thought making his head hurt.

Fremra flew in silence, not even her wings making any noise. She seemed to be thinking it over at first, if her intense stare out into the sky was any indication. Her frills twitched away with each beat of her wings against the sky. "She will." The dragoness said softly, dropping back to be within a few feet of him. "You can't lose hope after all..besides." she tossed him a tooth filled smile. "You have me here...I think with the pair of us we can surely persuade her to listen to reason. "And if she doesn't.." The dragoness growled in the back of her throat. "Mark my words my brilliant Sapphire. Jandar will be free of this curse."

"That's rather optimistic of you." the blue dragon grumbled as the darkened forest was practically below them at this point, stretching out for miles upon miles in every direction. It's green vegetation almost a shade of black, as if the forest itself was trying to ward the dragons away from it's presence. For Jandar. He told himself, steeling his nerves with his next long breath. He angled his wings and started his descent towards the vast twisting forest that was known to snatch up mortals and drag them away. The winding trunks of the trees pulled his eyes as the two dragons practically skimmed the top of the canopy with their forelimbs. He scanned the fields of green for the palace he had visited all of those times before, the great structure of sturdy bark, and winding vines. However no matter how hard he looked, or how tightly he squinted his silver eyes, he could not even spot a small trace of the place.

Ramakox hovered in mid air, the only sound the steady beating of his heart and the constant flapping of his wings battering the air into submission. He wrinkled his snout as it occurred to him that the dragoness might be hiding her nest from him, using the magic of the forest to conceal the large structure from his sight. "She's never done this before." he growled in the back of his throat as Fremra took position beside him.

"Do what?" What is it that you're looking for?" his wonderful dragoness asked, her voice filled with warmth and concern.

"Her palace of great vines, the place she resides in. She must be hiding it." he grumbled as he felt the urge in his bones to fly down into the forest and touch down on the ground. It was a small feeling that banged against his senses like a drum , and with each passing moment the feeling only grew stronger, until that little drum became a crashing symphony of thunderous slams. Ramakox held his head with a claw as his mind started to spin with each steady beat against his mind. "Shes...calling to me.....Pulling me...She wants us to go in." he widened his eyes, worry rising up within his chest with his next few breaths.

Why was she acting this way? The thought sounded through his mind and made him try to grasp for any answer that could explain her acting so strange. How could she mean any ill intention for him? The Emerald Lady had been a friend all of these years, someone who he could look up to, trust, confide in. True she was a dangerous if you were not considered her ally, or if you showed disrespect, but she was an old dragon after all. Am...I not considered a friend and ally? "Fremra." he pointed to the hovering dragoness, who was giving him a troubled look with a raised brow.

"Yes?" she asked, bringing herself to swirl around him in mid air, nuzzling him gently as she passed close to him.

"See that clearing by the lake?" Ramakox pointed with a claw to the body of bright blue water among the sea of dark greens. "That is where the sensation is coming from...I think she is there."

"How do you know that? Surely she can be anywhere in this forest. What makes you think that she is there of all places?"

"Call it a hunch..That feeling to go down is pulling me there, as if I had a tether attached to me...She wants us to go there." He looked down to the area, picturing her lying there with a flicking tail as she chuckled to herself

Fremra followed his gesture with her snout, her eyes full of worry as her frills twitched slightly in the gently breeze that washed over them. "Then we best be twice as careful. I seems your friend is expecting us.

"So it certainly seems." he replied, knowing her firsthand over the years prior. She always had the knack of knowing when he was going to show up. It was hard to surprise someone with the ability to see the future after all. Ramakox flapped his wings and carried himself towards the source of that need, the place he suspected to contain the great and dangerous Emerald ruler of this forest. He could feel the anxiety rippling through him with each beat of his wings, and each breath that filled his lungs with air. It was hard to believe this much worry could swirl inside of him on a fine day such as this.

Ramakox tried to sooth his worry by telling himself this was all a game, some sort of test for the dragoness below. That in reality this meeting was going to go well, and occur just like all the other times in the past. He let out a snort as the densely packed forest gave way far too quickly to a clearing large enough for several dragons to comfortably spread their wings from tip to tip. The darkened greens of the forest seemed to fade away to bright vibrant, gentle tan sand, and refreshing crystal clear water that rippled in the wind. It was among this field of green, reds, and golds that the Emerald lady was casually lying down with her snout held high, her frills twitching in anticipation as she briefly gazed to him with her royal purple piercing spheres. She turned her attention to a snowy white gryphon with tiger stripes who was playing with the two green dragons Cordenth and Lyyreth with loud laughs and playful squawks.

Though the pair of young dragons had grown significantly since he had seen them last. They seemed to have sprouted several feet. Both of them now about the size of a standard human. Thankfully he could still recognize them from the yellow patterns still on their lime green membranes. The pair was currently chasing the laughing gryphon through the field, trying to nip at his swishing tiger tail. Each time it seemed that the pair would be able to snatch that fluffy appendage, the gryphon would change direction and yank that teasing tail out of their reach with a joyous squawk.

"Hello Ramakox." The Emerald Lady spoke with a soft chuckle as she flicked her tail against the grass. "Should best be going you three!" the dragoness called out to the playing trio of gryphon and dragons, gesturing to the blue dragon overhead with a stretch of her neck. "I have an old friend that I wish to entertain in the meantime. We can go back to enjoying ourselves later."

The twins smiled up at Ramakox for a moment, before frowning at her mothers next words. They clearly went to protest with groans, but the white gryphon was quick to wrap his wings around them in a flash, and pull them away into the forest with a soft trilling noise escaping his beak.

The Lady watched the group depart with soft sigh, and a smile appearing onto her snout. "Always nice to spend time with the family..." She looked up to the blue dragon, her moment of good cheer fading away with her next rise and fall of her armored chest. "Now that we are alone.." The dragoness snapped her piercing eyes towards Fremra, and then back towards Ramakox. "We can get to discussing why you're here in my forest, and what is to come of it." She picked herself up to all fours, refolding her wings against her back as she shook her form. The sound of soft clinks filled the air as she worked a kink from her neck with a resounding crack. "And...It appears you brought company." the Lady chuckled, gesturing to Fremra with a wave of her foreclaw. "That is certainly..." The green dragoness' eyes narrowed with a flick of her tail. "Surprising."

"Nice to make your acquaintance as well." the teal dragoness replied coldly, landing onto the field with a quick backwing.

"It is always nice to make MY acquaintance yes.." The lady held her head out with a chuckle as he chest swelled out proudly. "I am the Emerald Lady my dear...and welcome to _ my _ forest." She flared out her wings wide and flashed her sharpened teeth with a wicked smile.

"Oh yes, I have heard of you before." the teal dragoness snarled, as Ramakox landed beside her with a gust of wind.

"Settle down." He said calmly, eyes training on the ladies scales, watching her movements as the feeling of unease started to settle once more into his bones.

"Something the matter Ramakox?" the green dragon started to strut around them, holding her head high above even them. Her eyes filled with amusement as she glared down at them, like some lord on high. "You're tensing up. Is that anyway to greet an old friend? One might think you were _ nervous _ to see me." She stopped, holding up one of her claws to inspect the onyx black talons. If the blue did not know any better he would think she were disinterested in this meeting. "So tell me...What brings you to my forest you two?"

The blue dragon just stared at her for a moment, not really wanting to play this little game of hers. "You know why we are here." he said quickly, wrinkling his snout. "Why do you wish for me to say it?"

"Things can _ always _ change slightly." the green dragoness snapped her snout towards him, her eyes narrowing as she focused on his scales. "So it is nice to hear how things are progressing..I can think of several possible reasons you are here within my domain..So enlighten me on your purpose."

Ramakox just let out a sigh as he tapped a claw against the ground. "We are here about Jandar." he grumbled. "The after effects of the ritual...He looks like an anthromorphic dragon now."

"Mmmmm." the lady smiled, sitting down onto her hinds as her tail curled around her. "Isn't that curious, I always knew the boy had some dragon in his heart."

"That is not all!" Fremra added, her claw tapping the ground harshly. "He found himself a mate, and produced a child! However when the child was born it was not a human baby, but instead a full dragon!"

The green dragon's eyes widened into pleased slits with the teals words. It seemed like she might even be a lost for words for the moment as she said nothing and casually flicked her tail across the grass. She shook her head slightly as a deep chuckle resounded from her throat. "Well _ that _ is certainly a predicament that I did not foresee." She placed a claw to her chest, smirking as she did so. "How did they react when the child was born?" The ladies smirk turned into a menacing smile, showing off her sharpened pearly white teeth. " I bet they were shocked."

"They were thrilled!" Fremra shot back, making Ramakox glad he was not the lady in that moment. "Happiest mortals I have ever seen...All up until the little one...." The teal's head hung as her frills drooped, and her face darkened. "Died that same evening."

Emerald Lady seemed to take pause as she stropped her chuckle and quickly pulled up her snout. The great dragon fidgeted in place before them in uneasy silence, and gave out a single snort of air. "Indeed." was all the shot out before shutting her snout again.

For a moment Ramakox thought that she felt a small bit of pity in her heart. For she was a mother, surely she would understand the fear and pain associated with losing ones children. So it was on that moment of vulnerability that he decided to press. "So we come here on that troublesome news. This development prompted us to seek you out...To find a way to remove Jandar from this spell we cast upon him and twisted him to our likeness. He smiled to himself when he saw the usually smug dragoness look away with a tap of her tail and kneading the grass uncomfortably. "So please Emerald Lady...Don't let my son experience such pain again."

"I...cannot." she replied flatly, letting out a soft sigh as she shifted her gaze back to the two dragons before her.

"What?" he asked with a raised voice, finding himself at a loss. Surely she knew what was to be done right?

"That cannot be!" Fremra chimed in, bringing voice to his own thoughts.

"It can't be changed." Emerald Lady snorted. "The spell has wound it's way so deep into his body, that there is no way to remove it even if I wanted to. I warned you of something like this years ago Ramakox, but you decided to go through with the ritual anyway..You even told the boy there was no danger to be had."

"A mistake that I wish to undo!" he shouted back, slightly unfurling his wings as he did so. "Please...anything...surely there is something that I can do to make this right!" desperation filled his words, making the guilt he felt in his heart ever stronger as he stared at the great dragoness. There had to be a away to undo this he just knew it. He could not have come this far only to have nothing be able to be done.

"No." she said again, " This is the nest you have made Ramakox. It is time that you laid down within it."

"You knew this would happen!" he shot back, his mind trying to find any solution to help the mortal he loved. "There are even worse things to come aren't there? You knew the entire time and did not stop me!" he snarled, thinking back to the moments years ago when she told him. If only she had said something, surely he would have stopped? His scales itched at the truth that he may have still gone through with it. The thought made the guilt find it's way to the surface of mind again.

"I am not bound to stop every little thing from occurring Ramakox. Especially when said things fall perfectly into place with what _ needs _ to come next. If it is any consolation, I am sorry you and he had to go through this and the pain to come."

"His suffering is part of some sort of twisted plan?" Fremra snarled back, ripping up some earth with her claws as her anger seemed to ignite the very air around her in flames.

"Just like Ramakox had his own agenda to bring him greater fame and power. I have a plan to better all of dragon kind in this world." She let out a sigh, looking past the pair to something far away like she typically did. "Sometimes...things need to suffer..." her voice started to turn into a droning thing, flat and without any emotion present within it. "To make the future bright, some things must suffer like the rising night." The lady fidgeted, shifting her piercing eyes towards the blue and teal, flicking her tail slowly behind her. "To the near death of the Radiant Star, to a dragon hunter who strays so far." She pushed herself onto all fours, stretching out her wings, and twitching her frills. "I do not like it Ramakox...But some things must die...To forge the brilliant flames of the Crimson Sky."

"Gah." Ramakox shook his head at all the future rhyming as it made his head spin. It sounded insane to have everything suffer and die, just so she could get this future that she wanted? It made his scales itch, and him grind his teeth.

"Everyone had their part to play Ramakox." The Emerald dragoness chuckled, inspecting another claw. "Even you and Jandar in the end."

"And that plan has him suffering or dying is it? You still haven't said."

"That is certainly true..It is like before..Does me telling you what will happen change anything? It has all gone as I have foreseen it..The good.." the lady rose her head high. "And the bad." her eyes trained on him, as if peeling back his hide and gazing into his soul. "These things must happen."

"You keep saying that!" Fremra roared, "People's lives are not to be tossed around or played with!"

"And what do you know about this hmm? Who are you to demand anything of me in this forest?" Emerald Lady swiveled her head to face the angered teal, and curled her lips into a snarl, a terrible thing that made the blue dragon shiver. "You are but children to me! Fumbling and trying to correct me on things you cannot understand! If one must suffer for the rest of dragon-kind then so be it! I cannot go about saving _ every _ poor soul that needs it!"

Her words made a little more sense to the blue dragon, as he narrowed his eyes at her. It however did not make him feel any better about the situation, and like hell he was going to sit here and be told it was his mortal that had to suffer. "What if it were your children? What would you do then? Would you still let them suffer so?" he tilted his head to the side, letting the words sink into the ladies horned head.

"Silence your tongue!" she snapped her snout towards him, thrashing her tail on the ground and tossing up any loose dirt in a shower of brown. "I _ have _ thought about it." the lady seemed to bite her lip with her next few words, " And my answer does not change in the slightest."

"You monster!" the teal dragoness gasped loudly, he wings twitching behind her. "They are your children! You're supposed to die to protect them!"

"Not with all of dragon-kind in the balance my dear ignorant dragon." I love them dearly then life itself, but sometimes one must make sacrifices....Even if it plagues your heart with grief."

Ramakox shook his head as the ladies words lingered in the air, filling his ears with their twisted sounds. She would never let her children be harmed or suffer like that, she was playing a game surely. This was all a way to get them caught off guard with her words. The blue watched the rest of her body carefully, seeing if the green scales would tense up in any fashion. "So what about Jandar?" he loudly proclaimed with a deep growl. "You have avoided the question and still have not said!" he dragged a talon through the dirt. He watched the light in her eyes flicker like a candle's glow over a pool of wet ink. "He dies doesn't he?" he gulped, hating the words that came from his mouth. He hung his head for a moment before raising his head again with narrowed eyes.

"She knew it the entire time." Fremra spit out, "But you knowing about it did not fit into her plan...Can't risk that changing can it?" the teal dragoness brushed up against Ramakox, giving him a quick reassuring nod before staring back at the intimidating green serpent in front of them. "You consider us nothing but pawns don't you?"

"Oooooo..So you are certainly interesting." the green dragoness crooned, eyes closing briefly as she let out a chuckle soon after. She rose up one of her claws, her spheres inspecting the fine scales as she clenched and unclenched her scaled digits. "You being here is certainly an oddity."

"I won't let it happen again." the teal flicked her ears back and let out a resounding hiss. "No longer will I lose children do to others." She lowered herself and flicked her tail violently. "So stop playing with us..Tell me how to save our son and stop what Ramakox did to him."

Ramakox smiled in pride at the teal's words, glad she considered the man her own as well. He bared his own teeth in unison with hers, flaring his wings wide to make himself seem bigger. He did not want it to come to claws or teeth, but if that is what needed to be done to save his son, so be it. "Now tell me." he growled the demand, kneading the earth with his talons.

"No." the Lady replied with a deep rumble of her own. "You have done your part, and I have answered your question that you inflicted onto me." She flared out her wings wide, blocking out the sun's rays before them as she bared her wicked teeth. "I can see it in your eyes you know." she growled, her eyes narrowing before them. "Think about your next few choices within this place ignorant dragon, it will determine the rest of your future."

"We said tell us!" Fremra roared, a brilliant white bolt of lightning flying out to crash into the green scales, winding around the ladies claw and making her leap back in surprise.

"You insolent whelp!" the lady roared, making the bolt of electricity circle round her until it flew out towards the forest, striking a trunk and causing it to explode in a shower of wooden shards. The green dragon did not get a chance to recover however, for as soon as her hinds had touched the grass, several copies of Fremra lept at her with tooth and claw.

Ramakox let out his own roar as he bounded towards the green dragoness clashing with his mate and her mirror copies. He crossed the distance instantly with a flap of his wings, his claws missing the green hide by scant inches as she twisted away from his strike. He cursed himself and tried again, only for the lady to avoid him yet again with a grace he thought only Fremra possessed while underwater. Damn't he snarled as despite being attacked by the two dragons, the lady seemed to be doing well. She ignored the mirror copies of Fremra, and went straight for the "real" one.

Fremra was sent smashing into the ground with a snarl of pain as the Emerald Lady struck her across the snout with a forceful claw. The moment she let out a pained grunt, the mirror copies vanished into thin air.

"This is my forest whelp...Learn you're place." Emerald Lady cackled gleefully as she continued to avoid Ramakox's seemingly clumsy attacks. Until with a resounding roar of victory the blue managed to tackle her, his sharpened talons ripping across her green scales and drawing lines of dripping crimson. "Graaaaah!" she roared out twisting beneath him, and giving his underside a forceful kick with her powerful hinds. "Get...Off!"

The blue dragon tried to hold onto her, but her strength was greater then he thought. He crashed into the ground with a shower of dust and throbbing pain. He almost expected for a flash of pain to follow as the green dragon took advantage of his vulnerable state. Instead he heard a screech from the lady as the ground suddenly grew spikes beneath her, glancing her limbs and cutting through her green armor. With the lady distracted Ramakox sprung up to all fours in a flash.

"You think you can control _ my _ forest?" The Emerald Lady snarled, twisting away from Fremra's attack with her talons. "How about you try a taste of your own plan?" The green twisted one of her claws, and gave a wicked smile. The ground around Fremra rippled like waves on the ocean, before large twisting tentacles of hardened earth suddenly springing up to try and grab the teal dragon, and forced her to take wing into the air to avoid their grasping appendages.

"You...will have...to try harder to try and catch me with such pitiful attempts!" the teal dragoness taunted loudly with a defiant trill, as she avoided tentacle after tentacle trying to pluck her from the sky.

Enough of that I think. The stone skin spell should held out with her talons. Ramakox uttered a quick spell, his scales turning a dark tan, and adopting the hardness of solid granite. He charged at the green dragoness, hoping to break her concentration as the tentacles grew ever closer towards the dragoness he loved. With his teeth bared, he opened up his glands and let loose a bolt of lightning from his maw.

She seemed ready for this however, easily deflecting his lightning with a flick of her mighty tail. "Really? You again?" She quickly spun to face him, one of her outstretched claws glowing a bright yellow, as he leaped through the air with his teeth ready to sink into her.

However as he neared the dragoness he felt his scales grow warm, and the color fade away back to his normal dark blue. Before his teeth could connect, she quickly spun around, her tail smashing against his face, feeling more like solid steel than scales. Bright stars exploded in his eyes as he was sent crashing into the ground once more with a pained roar and a spine tingling crack. He settled onto the ground with a grunt, struggling to push himself to all fours as the world around him spun uncontrollably. "You think....gah.." he struggled to say, his tail twitching weakly behind him.

The Emerald ladies victory over the blue dragon was short lived, as large spears of sharpened ice pelted her hide from the sky, several of the rigid spears driving right through her sensitive membranes and even one piercing through her wing joint and into her shoulder. "VILE THING!" the dragoness snarled as Fremra continued to dodge the coiling pillars of earth still desperately trying to snatch the playful dragoness.

"For such a powerful thing, you really need to focus!" Fremra laughed into the air, flipping out of the way of yet another seemingly slow attack by the magical grasping pillars of stone.

"We will see about that." the lady snarled, the ice jutting from her hide melting away as flames wrapped themselves around her scales, and blackening the grass beneath her talons.

With a final shake of his head Ramakox shook off the spinning world around him, getting enough clarity to quickly utter a protective spell. His scales shined slightly as the protective field spread out around him, and making him sigh in relief from the cooling sensation. He once more pounced at the Emerald lady, trying to keep her on the defensive. If he could keep diving her attention, it might be possible for Fremra and he to subdue the terrifying ness. He let out a roar to draw her focus to him, and not to the teal that was swinging around for another attack run.

The green dragon spun to face him, flames flying from her claws out towards him. The red orange flames filled every inch of air around him, wrapping around the blue dragon's scales like a blanket. However thanks to the protective field already around him, the flames that should have burned his scales instead were a calming warmth that brought him an almost soothing calm.

"Lost your touch?" he grinned, lashing out with his talons, causing the ness to backwing away from him to avoid his sharpened digits.

"Clever." the lady snarled, landing onto her hinds with a hiss. "You have quite the mastery of protective spells it seems." she sliced at him with her own claws as he closed the distance between them once again with his next breath.

He was ready for her however, he shifted his attack so she struck one of his hardened plates. The talons doing nothing but rake uselessly against the dark blue armor. He quickly returned her attack with two powerful strikes to her snout, his talons ripping into her scales and splattering her blood onto the grass. He did not get in a third strike, as the quick dragoness leaped back again with a wicked hiss. He patted himself on the scales as Fremra pelted the lady with several bolts of purple magical energy, that struck her scales with little explosions of light and made the green ness snarl in pain.

Ramakox winced at his throbbing chest as he continued to harry the green dragoness who had done the deed. Despite being on the defensive the snarling ness managed to get a few good strikes against his scales, ripping into his hide and making the blue dragon roar in burning pain. Fremra soared by again to unleash more magical attacks on the Emerald Lady of ice and fire. Ramakox avoided the ladies latest series of strikes, ignoring the pain under his scales. He snarled as he ducked, hating that it had come to this after all these years. The dragoness he had once called friend, now ripping into him as if he were her worst enemy.

But this is for Jandar...To save him.. His mind shouted as he was suddenly thrown back into the air after a blunt column of stone rose from the earth to slam violently into his chest and nearly knock the wind from his lungs. "Graaah!" the blue dragon tumbled to the ground, twisting over and over until he came to a complete stop. "Ugh." he spit out some rough sand that had worked it's way into his maw as he started to feel the dull ache of the rest of his limbs. His next breath was ragged, and brought fireworks of pain through his chest, making him thump his tail weakly in response. _Okay....try to not let that happen again._With great effort the blue dragon pushed himself to all fours, a smirk coming to his snout as his attacker was smashed into the ground with a loud roar of fury.

Fremra fell to all fours, her front claws shining a bright silver as she barred her teeth and let out a long hiss. "Don't touch him!"

Finish this. Ramakox willed himself to sprint to the toppled green ness, ignoring the pain shooting through the rest of his limbs. _There will be time to heal later...after we have subdued The Emerald Lady._He leaped onto her wiggling form, his claws finding her twisting neck as he dug his talons into her hide. He felt his blood start to heat, his breaths start coming quicker as the rush of victory coursed through him. "Now you _will_tell me how to save my son." he snarled, pushing down onto the Lady and pinning her against the earth. "Or by the gods help me I will.."

"Or...what?" she gasped, managing a grin as the blue dragon pushed down onto her neck. "You'll kill me? Rip me asunder for nothing more than not changing the future to your liking?"

He narrowed his eyes and ignored her twisted words. They were nothing more then a way to divert his attention and throw him off his purpose. "Tell me how to save him!" he roared, his blood starting to boil as he pierced sections of her neck with his talons, and causing the ness to gasp in pain.

"I bet...you think you've won here." The Emerald Lady growled, struggling beneath Ramakox's grip, and forcing the blue dragon to push down harder against her neck.

"Stop your stalling and tell me." he growled, snapping his jaw several inches from her snout.

"Just as I thought." she chuckled in the back of her throat. "All....bluster..Do it and this little hope of yours dies...I...am...gah....Looking out for all of dragon kind....I will not help you threaten that future."

"Curse you." he hissed, pressing his talons deeper into her flesh, causing the Emerald Ladies chuckle to turn into a groan of pain.

"Don't listen to her!" Fremra shouted, pulling him from his gruesome work. "We can bind her, take her from here. Perhaps a charm of two could_make_ her try to save Jandar."

"And...You...call me a monster?" The lady gasped for breath, staring up at Ramakox with a fire burning in her eyes. "Using brute force, spells, mental manipulation to get what you want from me? Once more I must....stress....All because I am not giving you the exact future that you want?"

Ramakox shook his head, casting out her words. "I refuse to believe the future is set in stone!" he snarled, "It is you that is standing in the way of what we want!"

"In...a way...that is true." she replied, a mischievous grin forming on her snout. "However...your future does not exist Ramakox...You have been a pawn this entire time in this game of chess."

"Stop your babbling." the blue dragon snarled, pressing down further into that green neck to briefly silence her talk. "We have you pinned right now, defeated. There is nothing left for you to do."

"Really..now? What....a specimen you have become...Such the forceful Ramakox." her look of fury suddenly changed into one of amusement, as she gave a deep chuckle. "This will not end how you think it will end little ignorant dragon. I have seen how it will end...The only new addition to this meeting was the teal dragoness over there...And I already have a way to render both of you defeated."

"You're bluffing."

"Am I? Get off of me Ramakox and surrender, or she dies." The Emerald Lady gestured to the stern looking teal dragon with a flick of her eyes. "And you can bet your tail that unlike your little bluff." the green dragon smiled up at him with her sharpened teeth. "I will certainly make good on my threat."

Ramakox held her down more. Surely she was lying to him right? He had her pinned, claws at her throat. This was all some sort of trick to throw him off guard, doubt himself in the final moments. Something she could to do to escape the defeat she knew was at hand. "I don't believe you." he snapped, narrowing his eyes and glaring right back at her. "I win this day."

"This is _ my _ forest Ramakox. I control the ground if I wish, the vines and branches of all the trees with thoughts, the very water I can turn into weapons with a flick of my tail...I can even bind spirits to my will, or yank them from where they hide...Such as...Inside a teal dragoness." The lady flicked her tail slightly, and Ramakox felt his heart turn to ice within his chest. He winced as he heard the dragoness he loved let out such a shrill of intense agony that he almost felt it himself through his bones.

Fremra collapsed into a writhing pile of scales and claws as she screamed into the air. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried, grasping at the air as her whole body spasmed. Each of her limbs struck the earth as she flailed, snarling, and grasping at her chest as though something was being ripped straight out of her ribcage.

"How long can she survive without that spirit lurking within her body hmm?" the green dragoness pulled his attention with a slight snort. "Care to find out?...Now Ramakox.." she snarled, her tone once more taking on the intimidating presence it usually did. "Let go of me and kneel before me."

Ramakox trembled as his grip on the green dragoness wavered with the next pained beating of his heart. Fremra's cries were like little cuts to his soul and he could not bear to look at her flails of pain. He watched in horror as the dragoness he loved clutched at the air, and her breathes became ragged as she struggled to breath air into her lungs.

"So...not long I take it? I have yet to even properly take it out of her yet...Interesting that she is in such pain as this...Do you think it will hurt her even more to have it removed?" The lady asked, raising a brow with a wicked grin.

"Cease this!" he cried out, digging his talons deeper into the green ness. Hoping that some more pain, and a reminder of her own mortality would snap her out of her dominant behavior.

"No." she hissed, "Now..on the count of three I will be taking it away..and if I feel any additional movements from you....like..digging into my neck some more with your pitiful excuse for claws..I will rip that spirit right out of her faster than you can end me."

DAMNT!_His mind screamed to him as his forelimbs quivered. _We were so close! He looked once more to Fremra, still twitching and screaming her pain to the sky.

"One." the lady spoke with a flat voice.

Ramakox snapped his snout down to the dragoness glaring up at him with eyes of murderous intent.

"Two." she spoke the words with a hiss as that fire appeared back in her eyes.

Shes going to do it....Fremra is going to die!...But...but..Jandar!...Hes going to... "GRAAAHHH!" Ramamo pushed himself off of the green dragoness with a defeated snarl. He desperately wanted to save Jandar...But to watch Fremra die right before his eyes? That was something that not even he was willing to do, and the green dragoness knew it.

"Very good little pawn...That you know your place after all." she rose up to all fours, holding her head high above him and glaring down on him like he was an insect to be squashed beneath her claws. Her eyes seemed to glow in the air and pierce his soul, and make him feel smaller than he had ever felt in his long years of life. "Now say it." she snarled, "Or I will leave that dragoness like that for quite some time...for daring to strike me within my domain."

"B-but I struck you." he pleaded, shifting his gaze rapidly between the two nesses.

"Ramakox!..Stay on point! Say your surrender or I _ will _ leave her like that for days!" The Emerald lady cupper his jaw and forced him to look right up into her smug purple spheres.

"I give up!" he shouted instantly, his whole body starting to go numb as the words left his maw. "I surrender!" his voice cracked as he imagined his beautiful Sea Lilly spasming on the ground in agony for days. He could swallow some more pride if it prevented that horrible fate from gracing her experience.

"Very good." The ladies lips curled into a sneer, seconds before she struck the blue dragon forcefully with a claw against his snout and slammed him into the earth so hard that he heard a crack, and bright stars flashed before his eyes.

"Ugh." he spat out, bright crimson blood starting to down his jaw. He did not even try to get up as the pain of his body came flowing in full force. All of it that he had been ignoring slipped past his mental defenses and made his body twitch and unleash a groan of throbbing agony. His only relief from all the pain was that Fremra's own cries had ceased. "Did..Did..You...free her?" he gasped, gritting his teeth as he took another pained breath.

"Yes." The intimidating dragoness sat before him on her hinds, her tail curling around her as she glared at him menacingly. "Ramakox...If you were not a wonderful pawn in my game right now...You would be dead." the green dragon lowered her snout so that she was within mere inches of his own horned head. "You were right you know...The future sometimes can be altered...Shifted to suit the outcome I might want to happen...This case being to prevent the extinction of dragons, and usher in a bright new future for us."

"Y-you've altered how things were supposed to go" he gasped, flicking his tail.

"That...is true." she replied, truth resounding in her words as her frills fluttered on either side of her head. "Small things that one can shift. For instance...Telling a silver dragoness where to find a red hatchling...So that is not snatched up by his Father and taken back to that dragon's wicked mate." She raised her head slightly with a sigh, tapping her tail against the ground. "Or eventually startling a horse with a spell to make it rear up and kill a boy's mother."

"Why..why would you do that?" he barred his teeth despite his injures. "You would kill a boy's mother over something?"

"To help push along the better future?" The dragoness asked, tilting her head to the side. "Yes..It will set in motion the end of the Lunds....Well their dragon hunting side of their clan anyway."

"Lunds." Ramakox spit out some blood, spraying the ground with a crimson mist. Part of him was glad that somewhere down the line another one of them would be dead, for they had injured dragon kind over the years numerous times.

"Even you and Jandar were brought about by some tampering." she snorted, tapping his snout with her claw.

"What?" He groaned, trying to push his broken body up to glare at her, but he could not find the strength. He wobbled for a moment and collapsed with a pained grunt onto the ground. His mind rebelled at her words, telling him that once again she was playing around with him. Although with one look into her gleaming eyes, he was not so certain.

" Oh yes...Do you think it was by chance that a caravan was randomly attacked near the lair of a known dragon? That despite killing everyone there they would miss a child that was not even hiding well?" The Lady laughed deeply as she threw her head back. "It was almost like someone told them what was going to be on that caravan that day, and instructed them on what to not take or injure."

"You...You.." the blue dragon stumbled through his words as he felt his life start to shatter around him. Ice started to grip at his senses, and powerlessness leak its way into his mind. "You..monster!" he spat out, glaring up at her with bared teeth. "What lengths will you go to.."

"Uh..uh..uh." The dragoness drummed her talons across his snout with a mocking laugh. " I suggest you get a proper look on that snout of yours. I don't want to have it just be throwing me glares or sneers the entire time we have this little chat of ours."

It was hard, but the blue dragon ceased his glaring at her, and he unwrinkled his snout. Though these things were gone, he felt his anger rise up like the tide within him at this smug, horrible thing that called itself a dragon. The dragoness that played with dragon and mortal lives like they were mere chess pieces to her. To be cast aside or discarded for the better play against a foe that only she knew about. "What..what are you going to do to us?" he asked, his scales shivering as he looked back to Fremra and brought his mind back to the problem at hand. He could worry about what she said another day. Just another horrible thing that he had to share with Jandar, and Ramakox shivered at the thought .

"Now...Now..Now...Isn't that the question of the hour now." The green dragon drummed her talons against his snout like he typically did to the ground. Each one making his eyes wince from the sensation rattling his head. She held her head up, looking far off with a grin forming onto her wicked snout. "Things may not have gone the way I had foreseen them years ago...But they certainly ended the same way."

"Why...Why do this if you knew the outcome? Do you like shedding blood and causing other's pain?"

"Oh Ramakox..You still think I do this out of anger? That I do what I do because I hate other people? No, no no." she wagged a digit at him. "Listen when I talk to you little ignorant blue. I do these things that should happen. So if I see myself preforming a certain deed or action...That is the part I play.."

"That's..so heartless." he replied in shock.

"It's what need to be done." she snorted. " So all those titles that you and that ness over there spouted at me can be true. I am the affectionate, loving mother that adores my children. I am one that trades lives for a better future...I am a murderer...a protector...I can be even be called a monster." She growled in the back of her throat as she pressed one talon harder against his scales, nearly piercing them and drawing blood. "I am whatever the situation needs me to be...Just feel lucky right now that _ you _ have a part to play in this game still. Otherwise you would be adorning my forest as a stone sentinel. You would be a symbol to others, that not even the _ Mighty Swirling Storm _ could bully his way into _ my _ forest."

"You...you wouldn't sacrifice Lyyreth.....Or Cordenth.." he groaned to her forceful touch. "No mother...would be that heartless." He weakly flicked his tail, trying to not focus on the dull pain coursing through his body with every raspy breath. "If you were me right now....You would have done the _exact...._Same...Thing." he continued, the words coming easy for him as he watched her glaring stare. For a moment he thought she was going to lash out at him, pierce his hide and coat his blue scales with blood, but she did not and growled in the back of his throat. It pleased him slightly in the back of his mind that he might actually have made a point to her, and that yet again she was not telling them the whole truth.

"Stop your waggling tongue." The Emerald Lady lowered her snout so that is was mere inches from his own as she let out a threatening growl fill his ears. "Now take that teal ness of yours and leave this place, you are no longer welcome here for the rest of your days." She returned her head with a quick snort of air, her eyes scanning to the treeline around them. She gestured to a collection of mortals that were hugging the field and clad in various armors and weapons. By the look of them they were wearing dark green tabards, adorned with golden trimmings. Clearly these were the mortals she kept as treasure. "And if you ever step foot, claw, snout or tail into _ my _ forest again..." She barred her teeth as a flame lit in her eyes once more. "I will make sure that the dragoness you hold dear will never walk this earth again, and instead be encased in stone for the rest of time...For while _ you _ fit into what is bound to happen...She on the other hand." The green dragoness snapped her attention towards the still gasping dragoness, a slight grin forming on the edge of her muzzle. "Is not _ that _ important in the grand scheme."

The intimidating dragoness finally released his maw from her ever pressing talon, and held it up to inspect with her eyes. "And look at that, you have not only coated my in _ my _ own blood, but you actually made me sully of own talons....tsk..tsk..tsk." She chuckled, flicking her tail back and forth over the grass. "So you may now heal up, lick your wounds..Go to your ness if you wish...and then get out of _ my _ forest before you become permanent residents."

Ramakox groaned as he pushed himself to all fours, his limbs shivering slightly as he placed pressure on them again. He felt the crushing weight of despair weigh him down as he hung his head and slowly slunk towards Fremra, who was still lying on her back twitching and taking in long ragged breaths. "Thank you for sparing us." the blue dragon hung his head submissively to the green ness, staring at the ground with a deep breath that made him groan and twitch his tail.

"No thanks are needed Ramakox." she snarled, "As I said, you are a part of things...Having you dead or done away with drastically changes things more then I would like."

"Is Jandar still welcome here?" he gasped at the next breath, already wishing he had Fremra's tender care and healing magic to cast away this shadow of pain.

"That mortal son of yours?" the Emerald Lady raised a brow, looking away for a moment to feign interest as she usually did. "He has always been polite and respectful...I doubt he would have come in here and threatened to attack me if I did not help him. Thankfully he did not get his manners from you."

"I think...if he knew...about his parents that might change." Ramakox spit out with narrowed eyes.

"Mind those glances." The lady snarled, thrashing her tail onto the ground with a loud hiss. "But yes, Jandar is still welcome to enter my forest."

"Good." Ramakox sighed, at least he had not ruined Jandar's chances with his actions. Perhaps one day the half-dragon would be able to persuade the lady over time to change her mind. He turned slowly with a weakened step, limping as he dragged his aching body towards the teal on the ground. He clutched at his chest with a claw as a sharp sensation of pain rippled under his strong scales. It made the strong dragon wince, and limp again as he clenched his eyes and grit his teeth. He collapsed before her when he got close, his body no longer able to carry the useless burden that he was. "How..how are you?" he gasped out, his voice horse.

"Just...fine." Fremra replied with closed eyes and a long breath. "How are you? I can hear your pain filled breaths and groans from all the way over here." she chuckled softly, eventually turning it into a hacking cough that made her tail twitch, and clutch her sides. "Grahhh....No laughing...for now....Focus on healing.." the teal dragoness held up her claws and preformed a circle within the air, magical energy of a brilliant cerulean traced her talon as it moved, as she wagged her tail back and forth along the ground.

For a moment it looked like the dragoness had done nothing but cast a dud of a spell, or perhaps only made little sparks of blue light for his enjoyment. He had expected something at least, anything that could have been useful to heal his throbbing hide and sooth his aching joints. Then almost as if detecting his impatience, a cloud of dark grey suddenly sprung forth from thin air to hang over the dragon pair.

"What is..." he groaned out as the cloud suddenly opened and let fall a sprinkling rain that splattered his scales and ran gently down his aching wing membranes. "Ohh." he moaned, as the tiny droplets of water sent ripples of pleasing sensations through his body. It caused the blue to blissfully close his eyes and hold his head up as he could feel his wounds starting to seal themselves with each tiny rain drop striking his blue armor. He gave a snort, loving the smell of rain as he could feel his pain melt away and leave nothing but warmth and comfort.

"It's healing rain." The teal dragoness sighed, letting her claws slump and rest against the ever wetting earth. "Always...loved the rain." she rose one of her paws to her snout so that she could lick upon her fine scales with that long pink tongue of hers. She diligently worked for a minute before retracting her paw with a soft whine that made Ramakox wiggle closer towards her. "I'm sorry." Fremra snorted, "If I hadn't attacked her so swiftly....Maybe we could have eventually used words to sway her...It's just...when I thought of Jandar hurting...I...I." she opened her eyes, as small tears ran down from her eyes, only to be lost in the rain dripping down her face.

"Fremra." he pulled himself closer and brought his scales up against her warm body. He sighed at the warmth as he licked affectionately at her snout, and running a claw softly down the fine scales of her neck. "It's not your fault." He hung his head in reply as the dragoness rose hers up to nuzzle his own with a small weakened rumble. "I rushed her as well." he unfolded one of his mighty wings and tightly wrapped it around the shivering dragoness and pulled her closer against his scales. He nuzzled her with a muffled whine, trying to not think about the road ahead, and what Jandar would say.

"You...have to tell Jandar now.." she said with a low voice, continuing to press her cheeks against his.

The blue dragon's tail twitched behind him at the dragoness display, causing him to close his eyes and the make the next few words come more easily then he would have thought. "Yes...we will tell him." He pulled away from Fremra, and locked eyes with the dragoness. Despite all the pain they had just suffered he felt her light shining through the darkness that was encroaching upon his spirit. He smiled at her as his head started to feel fuzzy, and made him lean in to offer her a pleasing maw parting kiss.

"I think that is enough of that." T he lady interrupted with a hiss. " Leave from this place _ now. _ ..Or it will be as I promised....Doomed to be a warning to all others."

"Yes." Ramakox replied sheepishly, not meeting the green's gaze when he glanced back towards her direction. He shifted uncomfortably as he resettled his wings against his back with a snort. He broke his view of her, his mind shifting to Jandar and the choice he made to bring him to this spot. The blue dragon closed his eyes as it felt like he was plunged once more into the sea..."Come on." he grumbled to Fremra as he unfurled his wings and flapped them in test against the air. "Lets leave this place." he bounded into the air with a quick nod from the dragoness he loved.

He brought them higher with each flap into the sky,trading the darkened forest and intimidating dragoness for the open sky and the joy of flight. Thankfully the steady beat of his wings and careful breaths drew his mind from what had happened down in the forest. He chased after the swift flying teal dragoness as she flew through one of the many clouds drifting lazily in the sky. The blue dragon sighed as he was coated in a thin blanket of water, that was swept away with the next breeze to grace his scales.

They flew for quite some time away from that forest, never looking back the entire time. They flew in silence, the tension hanging in the air as he watched Fremra's frills twitch every so often, and even tremble when she breathed. When they finally stopped for the night on a rocky mountaintop she burst into tears once again, apologizing with quivering sobs as she wrapped her head around the blue dragon.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry.." She nuzzled him, causing Ramakox to grip her tightly with a warm embrace of his wings.

"It's going to be okay." he said softly to her, the words trying to comfort himself just as much as her. He patted her scales tenderly as he lost the battle with a rising sob from his throat. "We...will find a way to help him...We will find a way."