Dragons are Free. 38

In the mountains of Keanna, deep in the back of a great cave. Gird heard a call from his King. Rage was home atlast. Gird rose up and flew to the entrance to meet him, He and the rest of the clan knew Rage and Jandar had retrieved the Dragon spirit. There slumber was almost over. It was time to get up and be about the world again. As Gird approached the entrance he saw Rage and Jandar coming down the cavern.
"Welcome home, my king." Gird bowed before them. "All is well out in the world I hope."
"I think its time for you to go out and see for yourself again." Rage told him.
"My job is here." He said. " Protecting your home."
Rage raised the Dragonspirit to show Gird. He looked on it, glad to see it back.
"You got it back!!" Gird smiled. "Does this mean Polan's dead?"
"Unfortunately, no." Jandar said as they walked back through the ranks of dragons all around them. Rage had missed his brothers and sisters. Now he could wake them from there sleep. "I'm afraid he's still out there causing trouble." Jandar said.
"We need to do something about him. You could help Gird."
"How?" He asked.
"You could help back in Settlement. There are many ways you can help." Rage told him. The three of them had found Rage's old place in the cave. This is where the spirit hung before it was stolen. Rage shifted to his Red Dragon form. He held the spirit in his fore claw. Raising himself up he placed it in its place on the wall.
[Brothers and Sisters. The time has come for you to wake and walk with us. Let the sleep pass from you. Let your limbs stretch out and move. LET ME HEAR YOU ROAR!!!]
The sound of movement came from everywhere. Wings stretched out, heads raised, legs and forearms reached out. Then a great roar was heard vibrating through the cave.
[WE ARE AWAKE!!!]
As Jandar looked around, he watched all the dragons come awake. He felt no fear. He was apart of there clan and could hear them in his head. Each one of them greeted him. They all knew who he was and what he'd done for them. They knew how much Rage loved him and they all accepted him. A large brown dragon with many legs stepped up to him. He was a great beast, the biggest Jandar has every seen. He walked on a row of six legs and he had no wings. his massive head had two large horns. Jandar looked at him awe of his apparent strength.
[I am Thunder. Rages brother. To respect you I will take my human form so we can talk eye to eye.]
In a flash he became a dark brown man. He noticed his nakedness and conjured leathers on himself. Thunder reached out and gripped Jandar's hand.
"I want to thank you for all you've done for us." He smiled. "We are all grateful to you and the others."
"We're glad to have helped." Jandar said to him. Others walked over, all now in human form. Thunder insisted on introducing them. "Let me introduce our new brother Jandar Tyr. He's a Master Mage and our savior." Thunder thumped him on the back.
" This is Banshee. Dragon of sound. And Icicle, the frost dragon. Over here we have Chimera. He has control over any and all animals, even insects. And my dark brother here, Blink. The dragon of darkness."
Jandar shook hands with all of them. Lastly Blink. He saw sorrow in Blinks eyes. Guilt. Jandar wondered why. Blink had been asleep in this cave. What could he be guilty of?
"I hear your thoughts. Jandar." He said. "All my brothers and sisters know why I feel guilt. As a new brother I will tell you."
"Phft." Thunder said. "Nothing he did is your fault."
"Shadoe is my egg." Blink told him with his head down.
"Thunder is right." Jandar said. "Your egg was corrupted by a horrible man. He's to blame, not you. You didn't give him the egg, he stole it from you."
"I produced that abomination. "Blink said still not convinced. "I'm responsible for him."
"We are all responsible." Banshee said as she joined them. "Not just you. This is a clan. We take care of our problems ourselves."
"Then help us destroy him." Rage said. He came over an hugged them all one by one. Blink stopped him.
"Blink," He said. " Your abilities rival Shadoes. You can be a big help to destroy him. Come with us."
"Yes Blink." Icicle said. "We could go with them and help. Im tired of being in this cave. We could all go."
"Yes you could." Jandar told them. "Your all welcome in our home."
"I must talk to you Thunder." Rage said taking him aside. They walked into the hatchery. There were a few dragons in there checking on the eggs. They were all there.
"I have to leave this cave for good." Rage told him.
"Why?" Thunder asked. "Your our king. We follow you."
"Yes, I know. But I want you to lead here now. " Rage said. "I've tuned the spirit to you. I have to teach the young ones and then there's Polan and a promise we made to defend this world. I can't put that promise on you and the rest. It's not fair."
"Any promises you've made, include all dragon, you know that." Thunder said. " We are all family. We stand together."
Rage placed his hand on Thunders shoulder. Thunder was the brother he had always been closest to. He wanted him at his side, But he was needed here in the cave protecting them.
"You will always be my brother, now I want you to lead here." He looked into Thunders eyes." Will you do this for me?"
"Of course brother." Thunder hugged Rage. "We will always be your clan and answer your call."
"I hope so." Rage laughed.
"So many of them will want to go with you." Thunder said as they walked back.
"I know. They can come." Rage said. But I want this part of the clan to continue, here."
"We will honor your wishes." Thunder and Rage stepped up to the rest of the dragons.
"Everyone listen." Rage called out. "I am splitting our clan in two. This will make us stronger in our fight against the evils of the world we have promised to protect. Thunder will be leader here from this day on. I expect you all to show him the love, respect and loyalty you have shown me. Any of you that wish to come to Settlement are welcome to join us. The rest will follow Thunder and stay here. Gird is coming with me. Any one else?"
"We're coming with you." Blink, Icicle and Banshee stepped up to Rage. "Shadoe must be stopped. I have to do this."
"We have to do this." Banshee called out. Blink looked at his brothers. They gave him the stone face. He wanted to argue with them, but he knew he couldn't win. They were right. Shadoe was all there problem.
"Your right. We have to do this." Blink said. "Together."
"Yes." Jandar said. "Together."
"Come brothers." Rage held out his hands. "Your new brothers are waiting to meet you. Gird, come on home."
"Yes my King." Gird followed Rage and the rest to the entrance. There, each dragon shifted one by one. Icicle first. He was a slim white dragon with a frosty mustache and goatee. No horns on his head, instead he had more frosty hair. His breath came out in a frost cloud as he breathed. He walked to the edge of the cliff, spread his wings and launched himself skyward. Next came Banshee. She was blue in color. She had shell like hidden ears and whiskers on her snout. Her eyes blazed with a blue glow and she had very powerful wings. Rage told Jandar that her scream or call could shatter boulders and the vibrations from her wings also caused a hum at times that could rise to a scream. Jandar could hear the hum as she took to the sky. Then Blink walked over to them. He looked like Shadoe. This caused Jandar to jump.
"Wait Blink." Jandar called. "Love. I'm going to ride with him if you don't mind. I have a small gift for him."
Rage looked at Jandar in wonder. What gift?
"He looks so much like Shadoe, people will mistake him for Polan. I have to do something for his safety." Jandar kissed Rage and climbed on Blinks back. Off the cliff and up into the sky they flew.

Sailing through the day skies Blink flew following Banshee, Icicle and Gird in the lead. The wind under his wings felt wonderful. His long sleep made he appreciate being in the air again. He couldn't wait until the night came and he could fly in the cool darkness. His element.
[I heard what you told Rage.] He sent to him. [Shadoe resembles me?]
"Yes." Jandar said. "So much so that it will be dangerous for you. Many people in Settlement and all the lands for many days flight wish to see him dead.
[Including you and Rage. Again I apologize for what he's done.]
"Blink." Jandar said. " I know the guilt you feel. Family history, wars, things done in the past. Polan corrupted Shadoe and made him evil not you. From what Rage has told me, being a shadow dragon isn't easy. Merging can be very dangerous for your kind."
[That is true. Our kings are very careful when they let one of us merge. He has to be absolutely sure of the human we merge with. His heart must be good. Or they could both be in killed in the merging. This necromancers dark magic is what saved him. His strong personality.]
"Then you agree." Jandar said. "This isn't your fault."
[No.] Blink sent. [It's not my fault. But how can you help me?]
"See that lake? Land there." Jandar pointed to a small clear lake. Blink told the rest of the dragons to go on. He'd catch up. Rage insisted on joining them. The two dragons landed on the bank of the lake. Jandar climbed down and asked Blink to lower his head. Then he whispered something and covered Blinks right eye and the area around it.
"Look it your reflection." He said. Blink looked at his reflection in the lake. There was a silver spot covering his eye. Now he looked nothing like Shadoe. He liked the look, it made him more unique.
[Will this be on my face when I shift?] Blink touched his face.
"Shift and find out." Rage told him. Blink turned his large body around and shifted to human. Then he looked at himself in the waters reflection. He was dressed in leather pants as all the dragons were. Blink had short dark hair and a handsome face. A dark short shirt covered his chest. He saw nothing on his face. No silver around his eye. Though there was a lot of silver streaks like Drakes in his hair. Blink hadn't seen has human form in ages, He'd almost forgotten what he looked like. It was good to walk on two feet again.
"But will it show when I'm in shadow?" He asked.
"That depends on you." Jandar said. "You can make the silver spot show if you want ,or hide it. You control what people see of you in darkness. There's one more thing."
"Whats that?" Blink asked . He had a worried look on his face. This would be the bad news he thought. Jandar saw that look and laughed. Rage had told him Blink was the kind that worried about everything. He would just have to learn to trust him in time.
"I know of your weakness to bright light." He told him. "The spot will shield you now. In the sun or if theres a sudden flash, the spot will dim your vision so the light wont expose you in the darkness or blind you. Now if you concentrate you can you can also cause a bright flash to eminate from the spot. This can surprise Shadoe and give you an advantage. He won't expect it."
"How does it work" Blink asked. "Will it work in this form?"
"Just like projecting your darkness. Only think light."
Blink reach in for the darkness abilities and felt something different there to. He triggered it and sent out a flash of intense light. Jandar and Rage had covered there eyes expecting that he might want to try his new trick.
"You know." Blink said with a huge smile. "Now my name really fits. Please dont tell anyone of this. What they dont know no one can reveal."
"As you wish." Rage said. He'd never seen his brother so pleased. He knew Blink liked his gift. Blink needed a reason to feel better, His guilt was eatting at him and they all wanted to free him from these feelings.
"Thank you both for this." He said.
"Lets get on to Settlment." Rage said. " There are people waiting for us. They both shifted to dragon for. Jandar climbed on Rages back and they took off for home.

Out in the forest outside of Settlement a figure walked deep in the forest. Dressed in a hooded cloak to hide there identity. The figure moved silently, there were people out in the forest gathering and the hooded one didnt want to be recognized. The hooded man had lot to lose if caught out here. Secrecy was of the most importance. Further on down the path there was a cave where a meet was to be. No one was around so the hooded one ran for the cave and ducked in. Looking around in the dark, the hooded one smelled something foul. Something must have crawled in and died. By the entrance were six old torches. The hooded one used a flint and lit one. Then there was a noise. Quickly turning to find a dark elf standing there with some kind of demon horse, the hooded one jumped.
"I'm here to bring you to Master Dressek." He smiled that dark smile of his. "What's your name?"
"Call me Po."
"Taren." The elf said. " Why does he want to see you?"
"Isn't that our business?" Po said. Po crossed his arms in front of him. Both of these beings could kill Po in seconds. But they were more afraid of Polan. That fear would keep Po safe for now.
"Shall we go?"Po asked. "Its dark now."
[THERE IS NO HONOR IN THIS ONE.] Terror sent. [CAN WE KILL HIM?]
[Maybe later.] Taren sent as he led Terror out of the cave. Terror could have killed Po with one kick, an accident. Taren heard his thought.
[Don't!!] He warned Terror.
[I WON'T UNLESS YOU SAY I CAN.]
Taren climbed on Terror's back and pulled Po on behind him.
"Hold on to me, or you will fall." Taren warned him. "Terror won't catch you if you do. You really won't want him to. He bites, then swallows."
Po gripped Taren's side as Terror ran off sparks flying then took to the skies. Po hoped none of the dragons would see them. Their sense of smell would identify who Po really was.