"On the count of three," Nyx huffed, rolling up his sleeves. That fact that his tattoo no longer faded but was stark against his skin at all times had started to worry him, but he pushed that thought aside and focused on the door before them. Quin had his arms up, as though preparing for a fist fight, as they steeled themselves to charge for what must have been the 100th time in half an hour.

"One," Nyx squared his shoulders. His mind raced as he though of everything that could be happening to Luna and Minx beyond those doors and used it as fuel to make his muscles tense harder.

"Two," Quin breathed. His hands lit up and tiny embers danced through his hair. He was anxious.

"Three!"

As they charged, Nyx heard the subtle click of a lock turning. When he was supposed to hit the wood, there was nothing but thin air. His chin hit the ground hard, and he let out a painful groan. An elegant, streamlined head gazed down at him, black scales lined with blue and eyes curious.

"What are you doing?" Minx asked.

Nyx looked up to see Luna - now carrying a sword, a shield and a book - and Minx flanking a large, glittering dragon. Suddenly, he couldn't form words. He just stared into the dragon's milky white eyes. It sniffed the air and bowed down, low.

"The mystic and Pyron. Ever graceful, as always," It hummed. "I am Eli. You are my Master's friend, are you not?"

"Master?" Nyx chocked as a pair of hands dragged him to his feet. He nodded in thanks to Luna as she let go, then turned his gaze back to the dragon

"I serve the Dragon Hunter," it replied.

Nyx frowned. "Hatchet?"

"Not anymore!" Minx laughed as she helped Quin stand. Nyx couldn't help but notice that the floor was scorched where he had fallen. Embers flew from his skin, catching on his clothes but not burning. He looked confused and a little bit angry.

"What's happening?"

"No time to explain," Luna grunted. "We've got what we need, we need to get back to the others."

Minx whistled, nudging Quin and shooting Nyx a coy wink. "I think something's wrong with Luna. She's being all responsible."

Luna just snorted playfully and started back off down the corridor, her footsteps chasing her all the way. "Hurry up! The sooner we free Meden the sooner I can go back to being dead weight!"

Nyx brushed himself down, wrinkling his nose in distaste as years of dust and cobwebs stuck to his fingers. Minx glanced at Eli and just shrugged before bounding back down the corridor after Luna, and sure enough the old dragon was close behind, holding itself with a steady and almost imposing sense of pride despite the fact it had to duck down in order to fit. Quin darted forwards, taking Nyx's hand and looking up at him, confused.

"What just happened?" he asked as the pair started off after the others.

"Honestly?" Nyx replied, making sure to stay well clear of Eli's long, sweeping tail. "I have no idea."

~

Axel paced back and forth, pulling at his hair as Alistar lay by the fire, swatting lazily at Jags whenever he got too close. His head was pounding, like something was trying to claw its way out, and he couldn't focus on anything for more than a few seconds at a time. His skin was drenched in a thin layer of cold sweat, and he was shaking. Axel suppressed the urge to snarl and bit down on the collar his jacket, feeling the fangs try to force the teeth below them out so that they could take their place. He had roughly three portions of wolf's bane left - four, if he wanted to risk stretching that - and with no sign of Luna and the others he was beginning to think he may need to leave, lest he risk the safety of everyone else. But right now he had to focus on keeping himself together; as leader of his squad and subsequently this group, his duty was to make sure they were ok if things went south. And that meant not going full wolf while they were split up and vulnerable.

Yet still, the thought of just surrendering to the beast was tempting.

Axel sighed and sat down beside Alistar, running his fingers through his hair. It clawed and snarled and spat, wrestling for control. He could taste iron. As discretely as he could, Axel reached into his mouth and pulled out the tooth, flinching as a single fang pulled itself up from the fleshy mess left behind.

"You must fight it," Alistar purred, stretching out. He turned his back on Axel, basking in the soft warmth of the laughing flames.

Axel didn't reply. The sky was an endless black sea - dark and moon less - and it was making the monster restless, more so than usual. He held his head in his hands.

"I can't do this."

"You must," Alistar said, "Or we risk losing it all."

"Why though? Why keep going?"

"My Queen was taken. Your leader lays slaughtered and consumed by earth. Our God has been shackled."

"That's it then? Our motivation is simple vengence?"

"I second that!" Jags piped up, "Sure, I'd love to take a bite out of Pasirima, but..."

He trailed off. Silence flooded in, threatening to crush Axel. He swallowed a second tooth, afraid that if he spat it out the others would see.

"It's not enough."

"Indeed," Alistar agreed. "We are doomed."

He let that comment hang, snuffing out any and all resolve with a set blanket. Axel knew why; they were all adults here. No point in lying forever.

He made no attempt to hide the next tooth. He ripped it out, tore it from raw and bleeding gum and hurled it into the fire. The beast inside rumbled in delight at the smell of burning blood and rose up again. Still roaring. Still scratching.

~

Luna followed close behind Eli. The distant rumble of thunder shook the ground, and in the thickets hundreds of faceless somethings trailed behind them. Eli carried in regardless, his wizened, unseeing eyes focused on the horizon. The trees around them collapses, giving way to running water. A bridge, worm with age and use stood proudly before them. A reminder of better times.

Nyx stopped at the water's edge. He was looking for Oki. He would not find it. Oki would have followed the river out to sea, at least, Luna hoped it would have.

"I remember this," Nyx murmered.

Minx stopped beside him, staring into the watery void. "That's nice, Nyx."

"No, I mean...I saw this before. I've seen this already."

Luna patted him on the back as she walked past. "Its called de ja vu, hun."

Nyx's head snapped up and he seized Quin's hand and Minx's tail, dragging them to the other side of the bridge where Eli still continued along as though nothing had happened, just a flashing metallic silhouette by now.

"Luna, I need you to repeat what I say. Can you do that?"

"Nyx, we don't have-"

"This is important. Please?"

Her shoulders sagged in defeat. "Fine."

"Nyx, turn around."

"Nyx. Turn around."

"You're not real."

"Say it again," he pushed.

"Turn around Nyx."

"Are you real?"

"I feel stupid," She groaned, looking to him for help. She didn't want to do this. They were wasting time.

"Just do it!" Nyx growled. His eyes were glazed over and white. "We don't have much time."

Luna rolled her eyes.

"Explain what's happening quickly. Say I need to hone my skills. Do it," he commanded, clicking his fingers.

"Things are happening, faster than the Society was prepared for. You have roughly six months to hone your new skills."

"What new skills?"

It appeared in the distance, racing towards them at an impossible speed. The creature was huge and malformed, chunks of earth flying off as it dashed madly closed, ripping pieces of path out with scyth like claws. A long, snake like body unfurled as the creature opened its mouth and screamed. Nyx dashed forwards and seized Luna's wrist.

"Luna! We need to go!"

They ran. The creature sprinted. Nyx pushed harder.

"Tell him its in the library, third shelf. Last book. The creation story," he said. "Look behind you and shout it!"

"The library! Third shelf to the left, last book! It's called-"

The worked exploded as the creature leapt skyward, taking the path and bridge behind them with it. Water, unnaturally cold, sprayed upwards in a tidal wave, drowning the grass in seconds. The creature splayed its claws in victory and howled. Nyx thew himself over Luna. It wouldn't do anything. He did it anyway. Luna and Nyx braced themselves for the impact that never came.

The sound of the ground cracking finally forced him to look up. Eli had the creature by the throat and was chocking the life out of it. Ink streamed down, dripping like poison around the thrashing beast as the dragon drove its teeth deeper then deeper still. Only when it stopped moving did he let it fall, prowling like a wolf who had just won a battle of supremacy. He nodded to Luna and Nyx as he passed.

"Come. Time is of the essence," he said, padding off back towards town.

Quin picked himself up, trying to untangle himself from Minx's tail. He stared after Eli in awe.

"You're new dragon is cool," he said, his voice cracking a little at the end.

"Yep," said Luna, walking after him. The four of them fell into step, a few metres behind the lumbering silver monster.

For the first time in a long time, Luna allowed herself to hope that they could actually do this. They had a chance now, especially with the dragon of the great dragon Hunter himself on their side. She took Nyx's hand in her own and smiled. Things were finally looking up.

And that was when the laughter started.

~

...

Well...this is a bit awkward.
Hello again! Its been a while, hasn't it? Are you well?
Please, pull up a chair. Lets catch up. Feel free to skip this BTW if you hate author's notes or don't care where I've been.

So...to the people actually reading this, I'm not dead (I think) and I haven't stopped writing this - and to the small percentage of future readers, just skip this. It doesn't really apply to you (unless you want to read it, that is)

Firstly, I want to apologise for the lack of updates. Exams have just finished. I've been writing other things. Burning text books and revision notes. You know, usual stuff.

Secondly, thank you for 800 reads...900 reads (I'm a little late to the party, sorry about that.)

Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to regular updates (ha ha ha, funny joke there) and get this book finished. Thanks for sticking with me throughout this.

And for the first time in a while, I guess I'll see you in the next part! XD