[Ona]
As soon as we notice the ship, Daax and race towards the stairs leading to the hold, only to see several Imperium soldiers are already on board. They must have been hiding while we all boarded and got comfortable. Strapped to their belts each one of them has the collars we use to keep a dragon in human form, ready to cuff us all to prepare for transport.
“Imperial worms,” I curse under my breath. Any drake who serves in my father’s army is no real drake at all. Especially the ones who have no problem cuffing and containing helpless injured dragons who have done nothing wrong other than exist.
As soon as the path is clear, Daax and I make our way into the shadowed corners of
[Eleanora] A thousand years from now, when the memory of the world that was long ago fades away into the knowledge of the world that is to come, our children and our grandchildren will ask, “Where were you during the great blackout? Where were you when the stars fell?” Our eyes, cloudy with age, will look to the horizon as we remember how it was a dark night, a night without a moon, with the stars twinkling brightly above our heads. The wind was warm with the first kiss of summer, the chill of spring slowly fading as the sound of young birds filled the night. Everything was ordinary, as it should be. A night without surprises. Until we saw the first star fall. And then another, and then
[Carnelia] The flight North was a lot longer than any of us expected. I know how to fly, barely, thanks to Ona being such an amazing big sister and mentor, but that doesn’t mean I have the stamina to fly any type of great distance. My back is sore only a couple of hours into our flight, and by the time we land for lunch, I am barely able to move. This means Primus ends up having to carry me, which we only manage by having him in full dragon form, while he carries me as a human. This allows us to maintain speed, but it also increases the amount of energy he needs to consume. But instead of eating a dragon's amount of fuel, he has been pausing, shifting back into half-dragon form, and only eating what he needs for that size, which doesn't match what he needs to eat to keep his larger body going. I know he is trying to keep his ration the same as before to make sure there is enough for everyone in the party, but he is doing so at his own expense. Unfortunately, between managing our
[Ona] The fighting has stopped. We are vastly outnumbered. Thankfully, the Imperium soldiers on board were given orders to stun and contain us, not shoot to kill. Even so, we lost more than a handful of sun dragons to the battle that ensued. Including Daax and myself, the number of resistance fighters on the boat is down to 36. Four days ago, at the start of this adventure, we had more than 60. By the time we reached the end of the tunnel, we numbered 42. I try not to think of all the bodies we lost during the evacuation of Segundus’ lab. So many had never awakened when released from the pods--and there had been hundreds of them. Drakes, drakaina, and some little more than hatchlings. Watching them die as they took their first free breaths in decades is a memory I will torment me for all the remaining moments of my life. There were more bodies on the ground than walked out of that room. I have been fighting this battle against the Imperium for the last four decades but on
[Segundus] My back aches as I land near Hatchery L11. It is early morning, just after dawn. Eleanora was still sleeping when I left. I have a feeling the doctor will give us auspicious news today about her health. Based on the color of her cheeks and her increased appetite, I am certain she is carrying our first clutch. I leave my small group of guards behind in a nearby town. I cannot have anyone who enters these facilities other than myself cannot leave once they enter. We cannot risk trade secrets leaking out to our competitors. I know that Elfholm is considering creating its own factories using a different breed, but as it is now with energy being one of our main exports, I do not want to give away anything that will lessen their dependency on our sources.
[Carnelia] The still of the morning is shattered as everyone moves into position to protect Primus, Cressida, and myself. We all drop to the ground as another beam of light shoots over our heads. “How many do we have below,” the queen bellows, commanding her men, her body rigid with fear and power. If she is afraid, it is impossible to see, her movements sure and precise. “At least a full platoon of air drakes with another half platoon of fire, My Queen.” One of the guards answers back as another shot zooms overhead. “Possibly more hidden beyond the ridge.” “Un
[Primus] Ever since I first saw her tied to that cart, there was something about her, something that captured my heart. Seeing her taken from me, held roughly by the hands of those trying to save her as she is taken away, screaming my name--that broke my heart. So much has happened since that fateful evening when she was left as a sacrifice at the foot of my mountain. She had fire in her then too, but it was buried deep within her, almost smothered by a lifetime of hate and abuse. Once I started to brush away the ash and soot of her previous life, she began to glow, her fire mostly directed at me, but fire nonetheless. Even when she tried to extinguish it, when the weight of the world and her sadness threatened to crush her spirit, she came back to me, her fire bright and true. Loving her has been hot and pure and never boring, never predictable, almost like flame itself. Right now, burning with rage, with righteous indignation, she is the brightest I’ve ever seen her.
[Segundus] “Sir,” one of my aerial knights bows before me as I ready myself for the next phase of the war. I had just sent my generals from the room and was looking over a map of Luxandra. I already have an idea of what this knight is going to say before he opens his mouth. Looking at the map, I have marked several cities that have recently been destroyed, each one a hub for an energy hub. I had them each commit to continuing the story of Skyfell, telling the untruths of how the treacherous Celestials came down to Terra, burned our cities, and stole our light. In many ways, these new attacks on major city hubs are feeding into our story, except for the unpredictable element of them being completely untrue. “Report,” I am getting irritated by all the bad news I have been receiving. My generals didn't have anything good to report from their respective lands, and the lack of resources coming into the capital was starting to make me anxious. It has become harder and harder to hide the
[Carnelia] There is a bright glow as I close my eyes and I know that it is the last time I will ever see Cressida, that she sacrificed her spark to save me. My screams turn into howls of pain and sorrow. Cressida, the kind mother who nursed me through the birth of my babies, and accepted me into her family even when she thought I was a human. I didn’t even really get a chance to know her, and now I am mourning her, along with the loss of my mate, trapped on the other side of a gate I cannot cross. “CLOSE THE GATE!” one of my captors bellows through the entry gate as we arrive at the Northern Sky Portal, “By order of Queen Cressida. This is her final command!” The drakes at the gate go immediately to work, tapping buttons on clear surfaces lit from within with swirling and changing images of blue, red, and green. The surface beneath our feet shifts and shakes and I scream in fury as I watch the large metal iris of the portal snap shut. “How could you,” I pound the chest of m