It was viciously torn apart, only its head, neck, and tail were intact. The rest... had been eaten. Now two vultures sat on its huge rib cage, pecking on the few fragments of meat it had left on it. But they were definitely not the culprits of this vile crime.

The dragon's elegant head lay on the pine needles, golden eyes gazing up at a sky it could not see, its tongue bloated and a trickle of blood lay dry on its mouth. A wing rose up from the ground, half extended, tinged with orange and red. Teeth were missing, proving it had put up a good fight. But it hadn't been enough. Something had fell upon it, tearing it to literally pieces. Bones lay, discarded in various places around the scene. They were starch white and picked clean.

But perhaps the most disturbing fact is that this had been a recent kill.

"The... cats," Arianna gasped, staggering to her feet.

Daemon pulled off his hat and bent to a knee, "They are worse than I thought. The-"

Fraylon snapped his wings, agitated, "Shh!"

"Don't shush me!" Daemon smacked his hat back on.

"No, shh!" Fraylon said, more urgently. His ears perked forewards, then slid across the forest from either side.

Arianna pressed her ring and a bow sprung into existence. Pulling an arrow from around her shoulder, she strung it and watched the forest too, her breathing soft and shallow as to not block out any forest sounds.

Daemon got into a defensive crouch, opening his connection with his dragon. If the cats wanted to eat Fraylon, they'd have to get through him.

Sprite readied her hooves for some kick-butt action. Those ugly bunnies were going to be taught a lesson about messing with pegasus's!

Fraylon strained forward. "It's someone calling for their mum," he whispered.

Arianna's heart melted and she lowered her bow, "It's a child? Let's go save-" she stepped forward but Daemon pulled her back, a finger over his mouth.

"It's probably a trap," he whispered.

"But what if it isn't a trap!?" Arianna whispered back, jerking her arm from Daemon's grasp, "What if it's some poor child that needs our help? What then?"

While they had been talking, Fraylon had surged ahead. Now they heard him say, "Rider, Arianna, you're going to want to see this."

Without further ado, they raced to Fraylon's side with Sprite fluttering madly behind them, trying to see over their backs. "What is it?"

Fraylon was staring at a mangled cat, lying before a tree. It was a mess of black blood and black and white fur, with a snarling face that seemed to be staring straight at them with a look that Arianna would forever remember in her nightmares. Those black pit eyes still had the same sting they had had when it was alive. So evil... she felt a shiver worm down her spine and shake her whole body.

Fraylon nodded solemnly, "She put up a good fight before she went down. She killed this cat in vengeance of her life. And so I shall tell her kin, if I shall ever meet any, that she went down a true veteran, fighting tooth and claw."

Arianna looked away from the scene, biting her lip. The size of the bloodstained, outstretched claws on the creature were enough to give any grown man a wet spot on the seat of their pants. They were up against this? How could they possibly survive? She forced herself to swallow, although it felt like wood chips being shoved down her throat.

"Wait- I hear it again. Do you?" Fraylon asked his Rider. Daemon nodded seriously.

"Oh please don't say it's coming from the cat. Because if that thing is alive I'm going to poop out all my sugar cubes," Sprite neighed nervously.

"No... it's coming from the," Fraylon narrowed his eyes, "It's coming from the tree!"

Arianna took a step closer, peering at the tree the cat was lying on. At eye level there was a hole- like the ones owls or squirrels take residence in. But Arianna could see huge, long claw marks scarring the wood on the sides of the hole like the cat had tried to dig its way in. And... was that a flash of something inside it?

Overcome by curiosity, Arianna sidestepped the cat- avoiding looking at it at all costs- and investigated the tree with Fraylon about breathing over her shoulder.

"Grrreep!" a little voice chirped inside, and a tiny red head snaked out, golden, inquisitive eyes staring at Arianna with interest.

Arianna's heart jolted. It was a baby dragon! A red baby dragon!

"Oh my Grisnatha!" Daemon breathed, flicking the hair out of his face for a better view.

"Oh you poor baby," Arianna crooned, reaching out her hands to pluck him out of there. The hatchling considered her hand for a moment before nip! He nailed her on a finger. She drew her hand back with a hiss. "He's got chompers for a baby!"

Fraylon started talking to the hatchling in draconic. The hatchling replied back in few words, bobbing its head for emphasis. After they were done, Fraylon turned to Arianna, "She's three days old, likes chasing butterflies, and is waiting for her mommy to come back from beating up all those big ugly kittens. That's all she would tell me."

"What's her name?" Arianna asked, her tone sad.

Fraylon turned back to the hatchling, and after a quick conversation he said, "She hasn't earned one yet."

Arianna considered this before digging in her pouch and grabbing some left-over fish. She offered it to the hatchling, whispering soothing words. "Come on, baby. Come with us," she crooned.

The hatchling growled at first, but Arianna could tell it was hungry. She waved the fish in front of the hatchling's snout and it followed it with hungry eyes. Finally snap! the fish was snatched out of her hands and the dragoness dug in with relish, eating like a starved hyena. Arianna didn't know that something so little could eat so much. After she had eaten every last mouthful and licked every talon, she turned to Arianna with admiring eyes. The princess reached out a hesitant hand and lightly scratched the hatchling's chin. Its eyes rolled back in pleasure and she could hear a light purring. While it was happy she scooped her up in her other hand. The dragoness curled her sinuous body around Arianna's arm with her head resting on her shoulder and promptly went to sleep.

"Looks like you made a new friend," Fraylon smiled.

Arianna stroked the little dragon's crest sadly, "I think I'm to be her mother until I find a proper mother for her. But until then... I'm going to name her Eleanor, the brave."

"Eleanor? Seriously? Is that a name for a dragon?" Sprite spoke up.

"Why wouldn't it be? I like that name. And we could call her 'Ellie' for short. Poor baby. She's an orphan now," Arianna shook her head sadly. "All the more reason to kick those cats butts. Come on, we have to get going before the trail gets cold."

"Wait- we're taking the little dragon with us?" Daemon asked.

"Of course! What am I going to do- leave poor Eleanor to die?"

"Stop calling her Eleanor, and she's wild. Wild dragons, especially fire ones aren't good. They could eat you in the middle of the night."

"Daemon I have never heard you be so irrational! Ellie- eat you?" she motioned to the little dragon entwined around her arm. "No. And besides, just because she doesn't have a Rider doesn't mean she's any less important."

"Well actually-"

Arianna glared at him so hard that he shut up. "Come on. It'll be dusk soon," she said in a don't-you-dare-argue-with-me voice. Then she turned and faded into the forest. Daemon and Fraylon looked at each other before following. This was going to be the most interesting journey of their lives.

Ralem woke to a whole lot of jolting. Ack, Jaydon. Stop jumping on the bed. I'll get up in a minute. His whole body was exhausted, beat up and sore from... what had he done yesterday? It was kind of fuzzy in his mind... in fact the more he thought about it, the more fuzzier it got. A massive jump sent Ralem completely off the bed and banging onto the floor.

"Jaydon, I told-" Ralem started to snap, his eyes flicking open. Then he realized

(1) He was not on the floor

(2) Jaydon was not jumping in bed- actually his face was just inches from Ralem's own and he was drooling into the wood.

(3) They were on a cart.

He cursed under his breath. They had been caught! Without moving his head, he assessed how many men he'd have to take down to take a break for it. One soldier was directly ahead of him, but he didn't seem very alert. Another was half-hidden by Jaydon's big head, and he could hear yet another stomping beside the cart. This would be easy.

Ralem tried to reach his hand secretly over to nudge the dragon awake, but his hand wouldn't respond. "What the-" he jerked harder and his other hand moved along with it. He was trussed like a deer. "Crap," he swore. Giving up on that, he started to scoot closer to Jaydon. "Hey, Jaydon," he hissed, "Wake up."

Jaydon snorted a little bit. "Pie," he murmured. More drool dripped onto the wood. "Blueberry pie, please."

"Come on, wake up," Ralem said, more urgently, tapping his boot ever so slightly onto Jaydon's leg- which was pretty hard to do when your legs are tied.

Suddenly the squeak of a boot grabbed his attention and he instinctually turned his head to find the black-bearded man scowling down at him, sword in hand. He felt a boot settle on his shoulder and press down, rolling him over so he was facing the sky. "So.. he lives again," the man drawled.

Ralem squinted against the glare of the sun. "What- you think I died that easily?"

"I know you died. And your twin over there was definitely dead. Looks like he's breathing now." A slight pause, "All the more evidence to turn you over for witchcraft."

"I do not-" Ralem started to say, but then he saw a flicker in the soldier's eyes. Do I smell fear? Ralem thought. He smiled broadly, "Yes, I am a witch. The worst one there is. And if you do not let us go I will curse you and all your descendants!" He lit his eyes up, calling on the wind to push and pull on the soldier, all the while doing his best crazy-witch laugh.

The soldier's fist crashed down on him.

He watched as Ralem's head snapped back to ground and his eyes roll back in his head. "I guess even witches can get knocked out," he smirked, kicking the Rider in the side with a steely boot.

He woke again to find that the cart had stopped. With every heartbeat he could feel a thumping pain blare from his forehead. That guy kicked me hard, he thought, licking his parched lips.

"Ralem," he heard a voice whisper. He had thought Jaydon was asleep, but now the dragon opened up his eyes to just slits. "Ralem, are you okay?"

"Fine," Ralem said, but he knew that tone. "What's wrong? Aside from all this crap."

Jaydon grimaced, "I'm exhausted and I'm not done healing." He shifted just enough so that Ralem could see the huge scarlet stain. "I need something to eat. Now."

Ralem bit his lip. He knew the feeling. "I don't know if I can help you there, Jaydon. I can't exactly tell someone to fetch you a pie."

Jaydon's expression was strained. "You don't understand! I'm hungry!"

"I know, but we're kind of tied up," Ralem replied as gently as he could.

Color was starting to creep up on Jaydon's cheeks. He bared his teeth. "You're my Rider. Get me food."

Ralem was taken aback by this sudden burst of anger. "I wish I could. But I can't, bud."

Jaydon gnashed his teeth, desperate. "I'm going to die if I don't eat! I'm starving! Give me some food!"

Before Ralem could reply they both heard heavy footsteps approaching the cart, accompanied by light chuckling. "Is somebody hungry? Oh, poor baby!" A boot settled on the cart's edge and a brutish face peered at them mockingly. He had a bump on his forehead and Ralem vaguely remembered him as one of the guys Jaydon had bowled over with his two-by-four. But that's not what drew Jaydon's attention. It was a raw breast of chicken that dangled from his hairy hand.

"Give it to me!" he snarled, jerking upwards, his teeth snapping.

The man laughed harshly, watching Jaydon thud back to the wooden floor with cold eyes. "You want it? You really really want it?" He waved the chicken just out of Jaydon's reach.

Jaydon tossed and turned, reaching desperately for the elusive meat, groaning as his wound was stretched and inflamed. Finally, too exhausted to go on, he let his head rest on the boards and looked to his Rider like a dog would plead to his master. It read a simple message that every mother on earth would know. Tell him to give it to me.

Wow those baby puppy eyes could always do a number on Ralem. He tore his gaze from them to glare at the soldier. "Stop teasing him."

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kill you first when I get free."

"When? Don't sound so sure, witch. You know how the Queen feels about your kind."

Ralem's gaze hardened. "Just give me the chicken." He focused on the hot, sluggish wind slowly moving around the man and gathered it around the chicken, yanking it from the man's grasp. The man watched, dumbfounded as the chicken floated slowly down to Jaydon's mouth. The dragon snatched it like a snake would catch a mouse and immediately wolfed it down. The way he ate it without hands was repulsive; his mixture of tongue, lips, and jaw movements reminiscent of a crocodile tearing into a gazelle. It was gone in seconds, leaving him to lick the blood from the wood.

Ralem grimaced as he felt his face get speckled by droplets of blood.

"You know that's raw?" the soldier said awkwardly, seeming to have found his voice.

Ralem laughed. "That's the only way he eats it. Bloody." He looked at the soldier hungrily, "He says that human flesh tastes no different from chicken."

Jaydon raised an eyebrow, I never said that.

Shut up. I'm trying to intimidate them, Ralem snapped, smiling as the soldier backed off uneasily.

Would you let me eat a human? Jaydon asked, one eye looking up from his blood fest.

Ralem tried to smack him upside the face but that was near to impossible when your hands are tied. "Of course not! You crazy?"

Jaydon rolled his eyes. Just asking.

The cart rumbled to life again as the gentle cart horses were urged onward by impatient soldiers. Jaydon desperately tried to lick up the rest of the blood before it was sloshed into the cracks.

Now it was about an hour until sunset. From the little that Ralem could see over Jaydon's body, they had already left the fields of Redfield and were soon to enter Vulnaire. For a second he pictured himself using the wind to pick up all the soldiers and hurl them to their deaths, all the while using a sword he had nabbed from a soldier to free himself from the ropes. But this was stupid and he knew it. He didn't have that much power! Besides, he was too exhausted to do much more tricks than floating chicken.

Jaydon licked his red lips. "I'm still hungry," he said, "but that will do. I should be able to heal your headache soon."

"Thanks but we have worse problems than headaches," Ralem replied.

Jaydon nodded seriously, "Yes! Ralem, my gem collection hasn't been shined for almost a week! It could be-" his eyes widened as he thought of something nightmarish- "oh no! My Jewels could be getting rusty! Someone could have stolen them!" He heaved against the ropes mightily, his eyes wild. "Ralem! We have to go back! I need my hoard!"

"Jaydon! Snap out of it!" Ralem yelled, snapping both his tied legs up to kick Jaydon in the gut. The dragon immediately shut up as Ralem continued, "I don't care about your stupid hoard! I care about getting out alive! And you acting like an idiot is not helping!"

"Stop yelling at me!" Jaydon snapped back.

Suddenly a whip snapped carelessly backwards as the driver of the cart got fed up. "Stop your fighting back there!"

Ralem sucked in a breath when the cracking leather popped a hair's breath from his cheek.

When he looked back over at his dragon, Jaydon was giving him the evil eye.

What? Ralem asked in his mind.

I'm not talking to you. Jaydon said frostily before turning his head pathetically so that he was looking anywhere but at Ralem.

Jaydon, seriously stop being so childish! Ralem snapped, kicking him in the gut, harder. We need to work together! We need to make a plan to escape!

Jaydon flinched when he got kicked but other than that, stayed perfectly silent. "Okay, okay," Ralem relented, "I'm sorry about the comment about your hoard. I really do care about it."

"And?" Jaydon prompted, still looking at the sky.

"And I'm sorry for yelling at you," Ralem mumbled.

"Good," Jaydon approved. "Now what were you saying?"

I was saying that we need a plan to escape before we get to Vulnaire.

"Hey, is that the prisoners I hear yapping back there?" They heard a familiar voice call. Ralem's head ache worsened at the sight of the black bearded man leaning over the front of the cart to peer at them. "Didn't I tell you that they're highly dangerous?" He twisted to his feet, hopping to the back of the cart with a javelin in hand. "They could use their witch powers on us if we don't keep them knocked out."

"What?" Ralem squeaked, "Hey, no need for that!"

Jaydon growled at the sight of the javelin, "You touch me with that and I'll burn you like an overdone pie."

Ralem lowered an eyebrow, "Burn you like a pie? Seriously? That's the best you can come up with?"

Before Jaydon could reply there was a flash of brown and an ominous crack! as the butt of the javelin crashed into Jaydon's skull. Ralem hissed as he felt an echo of the pain. "Ah! Stop it! Don't-"

Jaydon's eyes faded out as another lightning fast strike sent his brain reeling. Ralem twisted mightily, swinging his legs to try and trip the black-bearded soldier.

Crack!

They both went limp.

The soldier leaned over Ralem, his javelin poised. "Hmm, is he down too? Interesting." He straightened and addressed the driver, "How much longer?"

"We should be there in an hour or so," the driver replied.

"Good. The Queen will be delighted with our trophies" The black soldier stroked his beard thoughtfully, "I can't wait to be at their hanging."

Ralem stretched tiredly. "Almost there yet?" he asked his dragon. His long legs were splayed out in front of front of him like usual, his arms folded behind his head as he leaned on the dragon's neck.

Yes. Any second now. Jaydon was flying high over the Saelic Sea, his huge wings casting a dark shadow over the roiling water. Ah, there it is! He exclaimed as the mountains appeared, wreathed by smoky wisps of clouds. Below, a beach spread out, covered in a soft blanket of snow. Jaydon folded his peacock tail and spread his wings to their full extent, angling his body for the descent. Ralem flipped over so that he was on all fours, peering around Jaydon's scaly neck to look for his date.

And sure enough, there she was, standing on a blanket and waving her hands merrily, her cheeks red from the cold. Her parka ruffled as Jaydon landed on all fours, folding his wings to his side. Ralem slid down his side and ran through the snow to Arianna, snatching her up in a huge bear hug. "Hey Arianna!" he said, breathless, "You look beautiful today. Ready for our first date?"

Arianna slapped him playfully, "Technically, it's our second. And of course I'm ready. Sit." She motioned towards the warm polar bear fur and sat down. Then she brought out two balls of colored snow from her basket. "It's called a yummy snow ball," she said brightly.

He took it. It was blue and hard, like rock candy. He smiled at her, "So how have things been lately? I feel like it's been forever."

She laughed as she bit into her snowball and red juice dribbled down her chin. "Forever? It was only yesterday when we talked. Remember, in the field?"

Jaydon leaned his huge head down to let her scratch him on the chin. "Ah, Jaydon. How are you this fine morning?" she said soothingly, scratching his chin.

He purred. "Excellent. I'll leave you two alone," and with that, he swung his head back to retreat into the ocean, his tail swiping amiably over the sand.

Ralem laughed lightly, "So... we were saying?"

Suddenly he felt something smash into his face, "Snowball fight!"

"Hey!" he yelled, wiping snow from his face. Stumbling to his feet, he grabbed for some snowballs and started chucking them at Arianna, who had slid behind a makeshift fort she had made out of a snow drift. "Come on, is that the best you got?" she teased as his snowball smacked against the fort's walls. Popping up like a gopher, she threw her own purple snowball and it hit him square in the chest.

"Oh come here!" he chuckled, jogging over to her fort. She squealed when he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

"Haha ha! Put me down, you big oaf!" she screamed, laughing hysterically. He felt her little fists pound against his parka.

"Haha, good luck with that. I'm taking you hostage!" he said, mimicking the sneaky voice of a bad guy. He tromped to the beach, feeling the snow soften under his boots. Suddenly he stiffened.

Arianna stopped kicking, feeling something was up. "What's wrong?" she asked tersely.

"Is the tide supposed to be that far out?" he said slowly. She twisted her head to look around his back. Her eyes widened. "Um, no. Run!"

In the distance they could see the water gathering, gaining speed and height.

Heading straight towards them.

Ralem opened his mouth but nothing came out. "Run!" he yelled, unslinging her from his back and starting into a loping jog. She started to run, but she was tripping over her own skirts. In the distance the wall of water grew, menacing and freezing cold. Jaydon! Ralem screamed. Jaydon, come pick us up now! He scooped Arianna up so he could run at Rider speed, his legs flying over the hard-packed snow.

Ralem I can't! I'm in it! I'm in the water! Jaydon cried. Ralem twisted his head to see that the water was less than half a mile away, and in the center was a roiling, roaring mass of serpentine green.

Arianna screamed, clutching at Ralem's clothes. She was getting heavier by the second. He couldn't keep it up much longer. His boots cracked through the snow, holding him down. "Don't worry. I got you," he promised, "I've got you."

And that's when the water hit.

It was cold, freezing cold and took his breath away in a second. His limbs flailed uselessly as he panicked, his heart pounding inside his rib cage, trying to get free. I can't swim! He screamed in his head. I can't swim! All he could see was blue. His lungs burned and his life passed before his eyes. And then...

He opened his eyes, gagging and choking. Water dripped down his face and into his eyes. He closed them again, spewing water out of his mouth and nose.

"We thought you'd never wake up," a deep feminine voice said, a little too sweetly.

Ralem shook his head, water spraying from his hair and face. He tried to pull himself up, but only came up with pressure on his back. He wiggled his fingers. They were fine, but his hands were tied behind his back. He was almost flat out on the ground, his hands behind his back and his tied legs were folded under him. Pressure on his back told him someone had their boot resting on it, if he dared to try and get up. One of his legs had fallen asleep and the other was sore from being in a tight spot for so long. His head ache resounded through his mind as he stared into the rich velvet carpet.

A long, porcelain-colored finger crossed his vision and found his chin, pulling his face upwards so he was looking at none other than the Queen of Vulnaire.

She smiled at his shocked face. "Hello Ralem. Or whoever you are. I've been hoping you would drop by."

He laughed, although it sounded rather like a laugh a hyena might make when it's been cornered by a pride of hungry lions. "Oh. Why is that?"

"Because you're a traitor. Don't think I didn't see you at the ball, my dear," the Queen snarled. "And it didn't take much asking at all to figure out what you are."

"What am I?" Ralem asked, his smile much too wide for comfort.

"One of the highest rank that puny country Baroke has to offer! You are a double-crosser and a thief! Take my gold and go prancing off to consort with the enemy! Humph! That's enough reason in itself to hang you." She got to her feet and brushed down her oversized dress. "And then I found out about how you became a devil worshipper and that gave me a whole new perspective."

Ralem's jaw dropped. "Devil worshipper? What? I never-"

The Queen silenced him with a jerky hand movement. She turned to the guard standing silent by her side, "Bring him in." She glanced back at Ralem, her lips slimmed to thin lines as she pointed accusingly.

Two men held Jaydon up, their arms under his armpits. Nothing covered his muscular back, and his dragon sign shone brightly from his shoulder blade, twisting and turning as if it were a live creature.

The Queen's finger shook as the accusation gained weight, "Then, what do you call this monstrosity?"

Ralem fumbled for words. "He's... he's my twin. I mean, the tattoo looks bad but it was a mistake. A.."

"Save it," A familiar voice said. Behind the throne, a dark shadow shifted and someone stepped out, a man. The first thing that was apparent was a green emblem glistening on his forehead. It was a sign of harsh angles and cruel slashes, one that made Ralem shiver with the sheer foreboding it carried with it. The man wearing it was almost a skeleton, with sunken cheekbones, deep-set eyes, and balding black hair. He looked at Ralem hungrily, like he wanted nothing more than to tear him apart at that very moment. "Hello, Ralem," he said coldly.

Ralem gasped. "Brother?"