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The Direct Assault

Avila woke up the next morning, sleeping the whole day. She was woken up by Coraero when Cynder told the dragon that Avila seemed sick.

"Avila? Hey, are you okay? You slept for a day straight. Are you sick?"

"No I...wait, you mean...I lost the meal for a day?"

"Yes, and seeing that you're now part raven, those feathers start to fall off. What are you doing, actually?"

"I was...nevermind. I was too tired, having to stay up for the night. I've got a pretty bad nightmare."

"Whatever the nightmare is, are you ready to start the day today?"

"Y...yeah."

Avila tried to stand, but all four of her legs were too weak as a result of not using them for a day, and so she didn't stand properly. Her head was so heavy that she got a sudden swirl in her vision and she fell again to her side. This time, she tried to stand, now with her tail support. But, she again fell, and if not for Coraero's big body, her own body would fell flat on the floor.

"T...thanks..."

"You need a ride on my back?"

"I want to thank you on that offer, but no. I want to try to walk alone."

"Suit yourself."

When she walked, she sometimes swooned to either right or left, requiring aid from nearby dragons. They weren't as scared as the first time they saw Avila's new form, although some tried to avoid her best they could, though they also try not to express fear on her.

Only when they found the main hall, Jekizira that was standing beside a wall started to say, "Avila, that growth of yours...wasn't from any of your heredity, right? You can't be the offspring of a raven."

"I can't tell you..."

"I know you're a death dragon from Sikha. He somehow respected you after giving that pray to Mikha."

"He...did?"

"Yeah. Now he's going back to his own race with Mikha's body. He departed yesterday with two of his kin. He'll be back for two or three days."

"Oh..."

"Anyhow...you're still our best asset, especially the fact that you're a quick thinker."

"Uh...for what?"

"It's hard to find any smart dragons these days, especially those with great analytical skill like you. We all knew about much knowledge, like magic, history, everything. But you...you're the first dragon I know here to have that skill like a human."

"Oh...uh, guess you all know about that?" But in her head, she said, "Oh, I'm gonna kill that dragon! He blew everything up!"

"So? Just eat. You're hungry, right? You skipped a day of meal."

Avila saw venison in front of her, and she just drooled. Yes, her stomach was empty, demanding things to be inside, wanting to be full. There was a sense of greed building inside her. She felt she could eat all of the meats available until nothing but bones were left. She started to eat one when a voice in her head said, "Beware! For there will be threat coming!"

Avila then had a sick sensation when she felt that Fenrico that was near the opening was killed by a fire ball, then the next was Poio which had his head fell while Pio was killed by a stab through his throat. There were many colorful dragons ransacking the city, flying over it while burning them into ashes, leaving no humans intact. Some became ashes, some gave up, some were eaten. Avila could see she was overwhelmed by big dragons before she returned, panting in shock.

"What happened, Avila?"

"A...all of you, get your claws and wings ready!"

"What do you mean?"

"We are going to be attacked! They are coming! Our enemies! They came from the porch! Goddamn it!"

Avila didn't know what happened, but she just run to where Fenrico was sitting, watching the dark city silently. When he saw Avila, he said, "Hey, what's wrong, little one? Want to..."

"Rico, step aside!"

"Wh..."

Fenrico was still confused when Avila did the initiative to blow Fenrico with her wind to the side while a fireball came, right at the time she knew. She then flew to it and cut it with her cutting wind, now able to shift between normal wind and sharp wind.

"Th...the fuck?! Avila, how in ancestors did you know about that fireball?!" exclaimed Fenrico when the cut solid stone went pass him. "And what the hell is this?! Meteorite?!"

"I have no time! Tell the other that hostiles are coming!"

"W...what?! Hostiles?!"

Before he could ask more, Avila had dashed away from the scene, leaving the burning zone behind for Fenrico to take care off. Running on what speed her small paws could bear, she ran back to the mess hall to find that the place was ransacked already by bright scaled dragons (because Avila was color-blind, she only knew black and white. Moreover, she had inversed contrast) while her friends tried to defend themselves.

"Avila! There's no better timing than this, huh?!" exclaimed Coraero while biting a smaller dragon. "Thanks for the warning!"

"You bet!"

"If you want to...fuck!" The black dragon dodged a fireball before shooting a fresh jet of fire back to the one trying to hurt him. He returned his gaze to Avila. "If you want to find Cynder, she's in her room!"

"What the hell is she doing in there?!"

"Do I look like I know what sort of shit she's doing?!"

The black dragoness wanted to run back to Cynder and her room when suddenly she was attacked by a dragon. Because it came from the light source Avila was temporary blinded before she felt the killing aura mysteriously and launched her attack.

Rogue wind came to her aid, and they started to become sharper and cut through the dragon like it was a piece of jelly. Blood rained down from the cut body while the decapitated head of the once proud bright red dragon hit Avila and caused her to yelp. The sight was horrific, seeing blood everywhere, around where the dragon stood and all over Avila. Remains of cut part of the body scattered all over the floor. It surprised some and made others uneasy on the amount of gore spraying the nearby dragons, enemies or allies.

"W...what?! Avila, can you explain what did you just do?"

Avila had no time to answer. Sure she was surprised by the warm blood, but she had another concern to go aside from answering Coraero's question.

Running inside the relatively dark and devoid of life corridor, Avila tried to find her shared room, until she found Cynder inside one of the room that wasn't even theirs.

"Cynder! Those light dragons are attacking and you're holed..."

"Vila, behind you!"

Avila managed to spin in time to slash the lunging dragon. Her sharp claws hit perfectly, cutting the dragon's belly part, spilling more blood over her. It was fatal, and the dragon fell inside the room, eyes opened devoid of soul, only leaving a carcass full of blood. Both dragonesses were panting. Avila because she was caught in surprise, and Cynder because seeing the body.

"Hey! Why are you..."

"Can't you see I'm recovering from that fall?! I wanted to fight them but Sikha told me to rest!"

"So why the hell are you leaving the mess hall?"

"He told me to rest."

"Oh, ancestors, this is a goddamn situation and you're useless?!"

"How can I be useful in this situation?! My powers are stealth-type!"

"I don't recall my powers are stealth-type!"

"Then stop playing dumb and go out there! I can't be much of a help for all of you."

Avila never got furious to dragons this much. She was used to the environment where dragons just left her in fear, and she recently got furious at her counterpart for arguing about whether her actions were the best or not. Her inner self wanted to make Cynder suffer, either by ripping her legs, left her to bleed, and made her wish she could die, but she couldn't.

Her claws had started to descend to Cynder when she felt another sensation which saw Cynder's leg got maimed and she was killed by another dragon that managed to burst through Avila, before running to her immobile state and cut her with the sharp claws.

"Hey! Avila, what's wrong now?!"

"Shit!"

She stumbled, trying to turn, when she realized a dragon managed to toss her with its strong front leg. She had saw this, and tried to stop the bigger dragon from realizing the premonition.

Too late. She fell to the side near the body, and she watched the dragon cut Cynder's back leg until it went off from the body. Blood gushed through the cut part, and Cynder's roar of both surprise and pain echoed through the corridor. The dragon had no time to hesitate, and he made a stance.

The claw fell.

Meanwhile Coraero managed to root out the last of the light dragons in the mess hall. The place became a bloody mess. Body parts everywhere, bloods decorated the once peaceful and clean rocky hall, and many scorches also decorating some parts of the place where missed fire landed. Fire still flickered in the condition, and there were the Dark Sentinel dragons, panting in exhaustion and very dirty, covered in gore. They weren't able to express a very great thank you to the small dragoness they had almost try to avoid, though her appearance was still scary enough for them to back away.

"But, where the hell is she?" thought Coraero. "After storming off to her quarters, seeing that her friend was in danger or whatever. She's supposed to be here by..."

A roar of pain came from the corridor leading to the dragon quarters, startled the dragons. Coraero heard the pattern of the roar was similar to that of Cynder's. But then, there was another roar, clearly full of rage, then there was silent.

"Do you think...they manage to get far into the sleeping quarters?" said Avrisa, before she saw Coraero had dashed as fast as his four draconic legs could do. He tried to run, but he realized the pain on his left leg after being hit by a dragon's claw prevented him to force them, or else something worse could happen.

Meanwhile, Coraero ran down the corridor, thinking the worst had happened to the dragonesses. He should have followed Avila, or he should've tried to prevent Cynder to leave the hall. Right now the worst might happen and he must be ready to blast the dragons trying to harm them.

Right when he was three steps before reaching Avila and Cynder's room he saw a splatter of blood coming from the room, following by a flying front leg, this made him yelp and almost shoot it. He became surprised again when another flying part flew outside and he almost roared in fear when he saw...he saw a red dragon's head, staring blankly. It was a surprised expression. He wanted to know, and brace himself to see inside.

He saw a slaughterhouse.

Inside...

"Vila! Stop! Stop, goddamn it! He's dead!"

"You think he's dead? You think this son of a bitch is fucking dead?! I'll make every part of its body disappear until only a big pulp left!"

"You...my leg is cut, okay?! That didn't convince you?!"

"This is for your leg!"

"Avila, stop! You're making a mess!"

Coraero's voice came from the door of the corridor, and Avila almost used her cutting wind to cut Coraero into half. After seeing the blank eyes of the dragon she just killed, she realized that she was too much.

"Cynder was right," she thought. "He's dead."

"I can't believe this," said Coraero after kicking the carcass of a once proud dragon away. "You're really different, Avila. No dragons in any history would cut any dragons in pieces."

"He...I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," said Cynder. When they both turn to the dragoness, she again roared, albeit slowly and with no additional energy. Blood still stain the floor of the room, and this made Avila and Coraero returned to reality.

"Ancestors...Cynder...your leg..."

"She's losing too much blood. We must find anything to close her wound before she dies." "I know, Avila! I'll go to the medic..."

"YOU stay here!" exclaimed Avila back. "I'm faster."

"Find a white fabric wrapped in a roll. You must find a portion for big dragons. She also need a painkiller or...or anything! Snatch everything in the medic cave here!"

Avila dashed away, while Coraero tried to stop Cynder's bleeding using the hay. It's no use. Blood still flow. Coraero need to find something to close her wound temporarily. He never got any dragons with maimed leg before, and of course despite of his front legs which could grasp anything, he still needed to find something fast.

"Co...Cory," said Cynder weakly.

"Don't worry, Avila will come back with the meds. Just don't talk too much."

"It...it really hurts..."

"I know...we won't gonna lost another member after Mikha. We won't."

"Goddamn it. She takes a long time," thought Coraero. "I hope she knows what to do."

Avila managed to snatch a whole lot of medicines and bandages, including some vines and a bucket where she could carry with her mouth. Her paw type legs couldn't grasp most things, and she felt ashamed on trying to cut away the victim she was killing.

"What the hell happened to me," thought Avila. "I didn't want to be a sadistic dragon again. Why? Am I...really destined to be a menace?"

"You won't be one," said the shrill figure again. You lack the evil necessary."

"I'm just the curse of my race, goddamn it!"

"If you think you're cursed, you're not supposed to be carrying the medical equipment like now."

"It's natural, right?"

"I won't gonna talk with you in this dire moment, then. Let me tell you a hint of her. If you can race me to the finish, I'll gonna spare her life."

"What?! This is not a gamble for life!"

"In fact, it is. She's dying because of excessive blood loss."

Seeing how the figure ran faster than her made her determined to save her friend and so she used her wind to propel her forward. Wings opened, she dashed in incredible speed, throwing away anything near her path. The feathers on her wings fluttered by the unnatural wind while Avila flew through the death dragoness.

"Hey, you cheater!"

"Sorry, but I can't gamble her life to you!"

"Fine...." She sighed. "You really need to cheat when you're gambling with your life. I won't gonna force you, but let's just say you owe me another soul."

"Damn..."

"Don't worry. I'm just your nothing, after all."

The figure vanished when Avila realized she was blocking Avila's view to Cynder. The dragoness was now in a brink of death. She was panting heavily, high fever, maybe. Some part of her scales started to become red as a result of the fever. The blood didn't flow that much again, but it started to get infected. Cynder couldn't even move or even open her eyes. Her breathing was slow, even nearing death.

"Avila! Thanks the ancestors you're fast! She's slipping away!" said Coraero when he saw Avila.

"I can't help tying these things," replied Avila after dropping the bucket. "I don't know if you can, though. It's not normal for dragons to do that."

"Don't worry. I study a lot from Jon. He told me to use my front legs more to help him in any situations. You can help soothing Cynder. Oh, this."

Coraero threw a string of vine to Avila. When asked, he said, "Tie her mouth together. At least don't let her loose too much energy to roar. She'll get exhausted and...you'll take her soul."

"I won't gonna take her soul."

"If I can guarantee that, then help me."

Avila had a hard time tying the knots to close Cynder's mouth because of her paw foot model, but she managed it with a little help from her teeth and Coraero's own front leg. Cynder couldn't open her mouth, both being tied up and being too weak because of blood loss. Without any time to hesitate Coraero position a cloth around the cut part and tied it tightly. Cynder started to make a weak jerk, and a muffled roar tried to come out from her tied mouth.

"Don't move too much, Cynder! You're going to die faster," said Avila.

"Vila, hold her other back leg while I tie this up."

Avila positioned herself to the leg and using the might of her body weight she held the jerking leg, effectively holding it at place. Coraero wrapped the whole bandage over Cynder's leg and in a last knot tied it in place.

"Okay, at least now we can stop her bleeding for a while," said Coraero after a sigh. "We need to call Sikha back before this bandage gets too wet. I hate tying this shit again."

"I'm actually surprised you can do that. It's not normal."

"Ho...now you like me?"

Coraero then helped clean the room. Luckily he and some other dragons had front legs used for grasping so the buckets were enough to clean the room. Avila wanted to help them, but Javoux said, "No, youngling. You're not fitted to this work. Just tend her while we clean this place up...damn, what a waste of blood..."

And so, that night, they moved Cynder carefully to the pedestal in the medical room. Coraero had offered his time to wait for the small dragoness but Avila insisted on guarding her. After much talking, the bigger dragon just surrendered himself and bid them good night.

Avila then watched Cynder through the night. She now was breathing calmly, seeing her smiling in her sleep made Avila calm. The mutilated leg was now covered in a thick bandage as to stop blood flow more effectively. The death dragon watched the part seriously and couldn't think of anything other than being sad.

"I can't imagine how her life from now on," thought Avila. "I should've had a better timing before she lost her leg. This...this condition of her is worse than death. I'm afraid she won't be able to walk or even run properly with only three legs left."

Avila still watched Cynder for another hour before she started to get drowsy. Her eyes had almost closed when she saw Yrelka watched Cynder from beside the pedestal where she slept, with Kanesh'ak near her.

"Oh...you are trying to sleep?" said Yrelka. "That's okay, I'll watch her condition."

"B...but, Kanesh'ak..."

"Don't worry, raven wing," said Kanesh'ak. "You friends are in a deep sleep. We are not going to stay here all the night. Right when the first light from the sun strike the horizon then we'll left."

"Oh," said Avila in a drowsy state. Seeing this, Yrelka smiled and said, "Don't worry. She's a tough girl. We'll ensure she's still breathing, so take a rest."

Upon hearing that, Avila started to close her eyes, before going into a dreamful slumber. Yrelka just watch them sleep soundly, then she said, "Oh, Yorloka, you're here."

"Yeah. I just wanted to say sorry to her, seeing that I freaked out on her with no reasons. Hey, are you..."

"I don't want to step out from the shadows. If any of her friends seen me they'll freak out."

"Okay...." Yorloka turned his head to the snoring Avila. He just grinned. "She looks beautiful when she's asleep."

Yrelka, in the shadow, just smiled, "Yeah, just like you...."