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Part two is finally finished. I managed to find a way around my writers block and I finished it at last. I hope you enjoy it. By the way, this story includes some graphic, violent imagry. If you are not used to reading such things, please proceed with caution. You have been warned. * * *

Continued from part one... Mikael stepped into the command center in the heart of the mountain and approached the central table, where a holographic representation of the world floated passively, awaiting instructions. Mikael did not speak to the knights and dragons on duty in the room, for he was waiting for Argil to come in the room. The command center had several passages leading to it four of which were large enough for the knights and two that were large enough for the dragons. Most of the officers in the room expected the huge dragon to enter through one of the dragon sized passages, but Mikael knew that Argil treated it as a challenge. Several new officers who had never seen this before gasped as Argil's large head suddenly entered from the human sized passage. It was followed quickly by the rest of his body as the huge dragon came twisting through the passage, his wings folded tight to his body. As the great dragon settled himself in an open space, Mikael shook his head. It always amazed him how flexible his friend was. Once the dragon gave him a nod of confirmation, Mikael looked at his subordinate commanders expectantly. "Sir, two of our scout pairs have gone missing." Mikael's second in command said, a knight called James Tamerin. James was one of the other two knights old enough to remember Juno personally. He too had been a marine all those years ago when the knighthood was formed. Mikael trusted him completely, for the knight was one of the knighthood's most formidable warriors, second only to Mikael himself, and a dear friend. "Where?" Mikael asked and Tamerin waved a hand at the enchanted display. The aerial map of the world spun slightly to show Europe face up, then zoomed into a remote part of the Tatra mountains. "Somewhere in this region we think." Sir Tamerin stated and a dot appeared. "This is the last place we had contact with them. We have tried scrying them, but no dice." "Hmmm." Mikael said, stroking his mustache. "What could interfere with scrying?" "Not a whole lot." Argil answered, leaning his head over the map and peering at it. "Only a very powerful force of magic could do that." "Do humans even have that strength?" A recently appointed officer asked and Mikael answered for the dragon. "A few do." He said. "But they are exceedingly rare. It may just be several magic users combining their efforts." "Do you want me to lead a company out there?" Tamerin asked, his hand fingering the long blade he wore in his belt. The commander considered his second in command's offer for a moment and wondered why he would be offering to go. Mikael always went after missing knights. He considered it his duty to find knights who were out of contact and his second in command knew that. "Who was it that went missing?" He asked and a red dragon in humanoid form answered him, looking at a second holographic display that hovered against the wall. "Sir Talorn and Realgar, as well as Lieutenant Shoju and Felstrad." He said and Argil looked at him with a surprised expression. Realgar was one of his many sons and Felstrad was the son of Skye, Argil's second in command. "I will handle it, as always." Mikael said, and turned to his friend. "Who else do you want to bring?" "Scarlon will come with us, as well as Skye and Beryl." He said and Mikael nodded. He had expected that the two mate pairs would go to find their offspring. Their riders were competent enough, but Mikael wanted to take no chances. "I will bring along another flight, just to be safe." He said and turned back to the commanders. "Have Amethyst prep her flight to fly in one hour." *** "We knew it could happen." Mikael said, staring off over the mountain range. The two flights of dragons were getting ready to fly off in the mountain below where they stood. The pair were standing on the very top of the dragon mountain and were staring off into the east together, as if they would pierce the shadows of the night that was just visible from that height. "That is the danger we all were ready to face when we became knights." "No one ever said that happened." Argil stated, looking down on the mountains spread our below them. "No, but we must accept the possibility." Mikael stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "True." Argil replied, "But Realgar has always been the most careful of my children. He would not go blindly into danger." "No, and the two knights with him are some of the best." Mikael stated, watching Scarlon, the massive scarlet and gold dragon that was the mate of Argil, rise from the mountain, accompanied by another mate pair, one blue and one green. The aged commander of the knighthood looked at his mount and Argil knelt once more, allowing the knight to climb up into position. "But I will tell you one thing old friend. If they have been killed, those responsible will pay the dearest price." "Yes, they will." Argil stated, leaping into the sky with ease despite the weight of the huge rail gun attached to his side by magic bindings. Mikael smiled at the sight of the weapon, for Argil was not only the largest and most powerful dragon, but he was also a crack shot with a railgun. While Mikael kept an eye out for threats, Argil would often snipe enemies from long range, ending many battles before the enemy even knew he was there. But that tactic only worked against mundane targets; those without magic. For those with it, the fighting had to be done in close quarters and Mikael marveled at the fact that while high technology and magic decided most contests at long range, there were still many occasions were knights had to turn to swordplay. Granted, the swords were of better quality than ever, but still, it was odd that they would have to fight like that. Mikael had spent decades perfecting his summoning spell, allowing him to create a sword in seconds from thin air. As he settled himself into the steady rhythm of the wing beats of his mount, Mikael smiled to himself once more. He would never regret his decision to become a knight, for nothing compared to riding into battle on dragonback... *** A few days later, the dragons descended out of the sky into the mountains where the wing pair had disappeared. Mikael looked down at his friend and considered asking if they could rest for a few hours, but thought better of it because he sensed that his friend was possessed of a manic energy that he had never seen in him before. Mikael yawned and longed to lie down and sleep, but he knew it was forlorn hope that he would be allowed to. The two flights had been flying since they left the mountain without rest and the riders had grown exhausted. Dragons never tired and the knights had far more endurance than regular humans, but even they had limits. Mikael yawned once more and lay forward on his friend's sinewy neck. The scales there were smooth and quite warm and Mikael, as tired as he was, began to nod off into sleep on his friend's neck. The knight was just about asleep when the voice of his mount came into his mind. 'Mikael, look there.' The knight wearily sat up again and looked down where the dragon was looking. When Mikael saw what his friend was staring at, he was instantly awake. He concentrated on the rider of the large violet dragon who led the second flight and spoke in his mind. 'Erica, stay up as top cover.' He said and the rider answered back in the affirmative. With that, Argil and Scarlon dove down into the field below them, followed quickly by Skye and Beryl. The moment they were close enough to the ground to avoid injury, the knights slipped from their mounts, landing easily on the earth. Mikael looked around carefully, and spying only a few deer off in the distance, he knelt, Argil coming to rest nearby. Mikael picked up what they had spied from above from the soil and offered it to the huge dragon. Argil looked around with worry plain on his face, for in the knight's hand was a red and silver scale, patterned in the shape of a tear drop. "That is one of Realgar's scales." Argil stated, a trail of smoke leaving his mouth as a rage began to build within him. The only way dragons lost scales was when they were injured. "It is my hope that they were only injured slightly." Mikael stated and Argil nodded. His wife then called out to him and Mikael looked over to the woman clad in red and gold raiment. She was kneeling a short distance away and Mikael walked over to her. Several more scales lay there, some of which were blue and green. Judging by the number of scales they had found, the missing wing pair had indeed run into trouble. Mikael looked over at his mount and Argil nodded. Nodding in return, Mikael gathered up the scales and tucked them into a pouch before going to remount on his friend's shoulders. But as he walked, he knelt for a moment next to a pile of black and grey dust. He scooped some of it into his hand and looked closer at it. "This pile of ash was once a human." He stated and then looked about him. A dozen such piles were scattered around the clearing. Nothing but dragon fire could completely reduce a human to ash like that, which meant there had been a large battle in the clearing. Shaking his head, Mikael remounted Argil and the dragon soared aloft. When the flight had lifted into the sky once more, Mikael communicated the news to the second flight. The dragons looked troubled and Mikael kept a close watch on the ground below him for any sign of the missing knights. For an hour, they flew onward, deeper into the mountains, guided by the uncanny senses of the Dragonlord in the lead. Then, Argil suddenly began to circle above a mist shrouded valley. 'They are down there somewhere. I can feel it.' Argil stated with his mind and Mikael nodded. The four huge dragons spiraled down into the mountain valley and settled down slowly. The four riders dismounted and looked about them. Even with the enhanced sight of the knights, he could not see very far in the fog. Perhaps it was the lack of sight that made him so nervous, but Mikael suddenly got the urge to have a weapon in hand and he summoned his sword. He felt like icy fingers were reaching out for him from the mist, but more telling than this feeling, was his sense of smell. The air of the valley held a familiar coppery tinge, the scent of spilt blood. But there was also seemed to be a malignant energy in the fog. The riders stayed close to each other while they searched and their dragons hovered above them with the second flight circling high above the valley, keeping watch with magic. As they walked, the scent of blood got stronger and stronger and finally, Mikael found its source. A dark shape rose out of the fog in front of him and Mikael drew upon his magic, sweeping the mist back before him. A mental cry echoed through Mikael's mind and drove a spike of soul rending sorrow into his heart. Argil soared out of the sky and landed with a heavy thump on the ground beside him, for there, in the middle of the field, was a sight that Mikael had hoped never to see, ever since that day he had killed for the first time. For two dragons and two riders lay on the ground in the field. All had been staked down cruelly with great bloody stakes and lines of twisting magic. The color of the dragon's scales could not be told, for they had been soaked red by their owner's blood. Both dragons had been sliced open and disemboweled, their guts spread all over the ground. Their hearts had been staked beside them in bloody pools and the stench almost turned Mikael's stomach. But something far worse became apparent as the knight looked on the tortured bodies. By the expressions on their faces, it was clear this had been done while they still lived. Scarlon landed next and raced over to one of them, guided by a mother's instinct. The great dragon mother embraced her fallen son, great tears washing some of the blood from the red scales of the dragon. While the dragons mourned their dead, Mikael found that the knights had faired scarcely better. They had kept their hearts, but they too had been covered with their own blood. Mikael knelt by his lieutenant and carefully closed the knight's eyes. Nothing in two hundred years of experience had prepared him for this horror. This act had been torture, pure and simple. Neither dragon nor rider would have known anything of value to an enemy, so it had been torture for the sake of pain. But something of the way they had been left in the open made Mikael uneasy. With the second flight still airborne and keeping watch, the dismounted riders and their mounts un-staked the dead knights and made four pyres on the ground. Then, with both flights assembled, the dragons breathed white hot fire onto them, igniting the bodies quickly. As the flames rose into the sky once more, the dragons stood silent, watching their flames consume the bodies of their brethren. The knights sat nearby, mourning the passing of two of their own as well, and awaiting the fire's death. The ashes of the dragons and their riders would be pressed with magic into diamonds and then placed into the hall of remembrance with those that had already fallen. At last, the funeral broke up and the dragons and knights began to make camp. All but Mikael and the four dragon parents who had lost dearest blood. As Mikael sat with his friend, watching the licking tongues of flame consume the knights and dragons, the elder knight spoke. "I am sorry my friend." He said, edging into the subject slowly. Argil nodded, looking over at his mate, who lay down a distance away, morosely watching the funeral pyre. "I need you to check my reasoning on what has happened." The dragon looked over at him and the knight continued. "Whoever did this just left them out here, butchered. Which means that they wanted us to find them." "Sounds right so far." Argil said, his eyes blazing with more than the reflected firelight. Mikael had only seen the dragon this angry once before and it was a memory that he never wanted to relive. Ignoring the rage in his friend's eyes, he continued. "And if they wanted us to find them, then they like as not knew that we would be angry." He said, pressing on with his reasoning, "And that we would stop at nothing to revenge this. And that means they think that they can take on the whole of the knighthood. Is it me, or does that sound exceedingly foolish?" "Its not just you." The dragon said, confirming the knight's conclusions. "And if that is what they think, then they worry me." "Me too." Mikael said, turning back to the blazing fire. "Me too..."