Querida was desperate not to lose her parents again in the bustle of everything. That morning, it had been announced that Daisy Mae had declared war on Quartz, and they had a week to prepare for their departure. The guards had increased training, and had begun preparing the prisoners for battle. Most of them didn't seem to care, they were too excited to have a chance to get back at Quartz for locking them up. Pyrite and Plagueheart were among them.
Querida had tried to convince her parents not to fight, but they were too angry at their imprisonment to listen. Sure, Querida also wanted a chance to get rid of Quartz and be with her daughter again, but there was something off about Daisy Mae, a gleam in her eye that made Querida feel uncomfortable. She wanted to be doing this for herself, not for some crazy guardian bent on her own vengeance. Were they even going to be freed after the battle, or would she keep them, soldiers serving yet another tyrant.
Then again, it wasn't like Querida could do anything about it. Sighing, she continued her preparations, sticking close to her parents. With all the prisoners mingling together, it would be all too easy to get lost in the crowds, and if they got separated in battle they might never know what became of each other.
"Do you remember everything we taught you?" Pyrite asked as the three wildclaws joined their group for their last training session.
"Of course, Dad." Querida said softly. She hated the tone in his voice, like he was preparing to never see her again. She knew he was just preparing her for the worst, but she still didn't like to think about it. There had to be a way around this.
"I can't wait to rip apart that coatl." Plagueheart growled. "Not only for what he did to us, but also to what he did to you and your daughter. Who does he think he is?"
Querida just fell into an anxious silence. No matter how hard she thought, she was still another pawn. She had been too reckless as a queen, she had been demoted on the chessboard, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Suddenly, the guard led their group into a bright, candlelit room. On the floor was an arrangement of pink runes, glowing faintly and adding their own tones to the stone room. One guard stepped aside to reveal it while another stepped onto the set of runes and in a flash of pink light, he disappeared.
"This is a portal out of the prison." The guard explained. "We are moving you to a prison camp outside of this prison dimension, where your training will continue. Please do not attempt to escape, though I know some of you have not seen the open sky for years. You will be heavily monitored."
With that, the guards began gesturing for dragons to stand on the runes one at a time. Each dragon disappeared in the same flash of pink light. Soon it was Querida's turn. She stepped onto the runes, which were indented into the stone floor below her talons, and with a flash of pink light before her eyes, she found herself standing on grass, squinting at the sunlight as it glinted off of large pink crystals rising out of the ground. To her dismay, the grass was enclosed by tall stone walls. It was a courtyard, and with her wings chained, there was no way she could fly. She walked over to join the other prisoners through a low stone arch and was quickly shoved into position. It was not long before her parents joined her.
There were only two guards accompanying the group of six. Now that it was properly light, Querida could see they were heavily uniformed and were completely covered in armor. It was the general shape that gave away the breeds, a wildclaw and a mirror. None of their genes or colours were actually visible. After the arrival of her parents, the guards took up their positions at the front and the back of the group and escorted them through the building. All five were stuffed into a small cell. It just barely had enough room for three bunk beds and a table and chairs. After they were brought in, the mirror took up his position. The wildclaw beckoned Querida and her parents forward.
"You three will join me for your last training session." He grunted in a gruff, raspy voice. They followed him without a word. He was very quiet throughout the journey, throwing none of the usual jibes the guards did when escorting them to and from training sessions.
At last, they arrived on the top of the building, overlooking a sheer crystalline cliff. It was clearly meant to discourage those who tried to run, as the chains would very quickly drag them down to the bottom of the ocean, if they managed to avoid the smaller shards of crystal jutting treacherously out of the water.
"Okay, you three do not have long." The guard said quickly, grasping his spear firmly. Without any warning, he swung it at Querida. She ducked, and it caught on her chains. Once they were held in position, the wildclaw pulled out a key, and unclipped them.
"Wh-"
"Shhh!" The wildclaw hissed. He then proceeded to do the same for the other two wildclaws. They all stared at him in shock.
"Hey!" Another guard called from on top of a tower. "What are you doing, guard!"
"Fly. Fly southeast and waiting for you on a small island is an manticore. She will help you from there. I have disabled the trackers clipped to your wings, so you should not be followed if I do my job well enough." The wildclaw hissed again. "I will join you as soon as I can."
Querida and Pyrite did not need to be told twice. Plagueheart seemed more reluctant, as Querida and Pyrite did a few stretches to warm up their wings, she hung back, looking in confusion at the guard.
"GO!"
"I could have sworn-" Plagueheart began.
"Palla, GO!"
As the three wildclaws took to the air, there was the whistle of arrows flying through the air, but they could not turn back to see what had happened. They had some trouble getting airborne after so long since their last flight, but they soon fell into a usual rhythm. They journeyed southeast as the guard had told them, and before long, they did see a small island with a manticore sitting and watching the sky expectantly. Querida recognized her immediately.
"Tess!" Querida exclaimed as she landed, wrapping the manticore in as huge a hug as she could manage. The manticore smiled and placed her paws on Querida's shoulders.
"You know this manticore?" Pyrite asked, eyes wide with wonder.
"Yes, she's my friend." Querida explained. "Oh Tess, how did you know where to find us? And please say that Ruby is safe? How is she? Oh I am so happy to see you!"
"I will explain everything." Tess explained with a smile. "So, I take it you found your parents?"
"Yes!" Querida exclaimed with a giggle. She couldn't remember the last time she had giggled. Probably when she was a hatchling, laughing at something Quintessence or Swedey had done or said.
"Tess, who was that wildclaw helping you?" Plagueheart asked with difficulty, like she didn't want to give herself hope.
"You can see for yourself." Tess said, nodding behind the wildclaws. A gleaming shape was drawing closer. It was clearly the guard who had helped them escape, but something was wrong. His flight was lopsided, and when he came in for a landing, he skidded on the grass and collapsed nearby. Arrows were sticking out of his armor. Plagueheart rushed to his side and pulled off his helmet, and it disintegrated as soon as she lifted it off. As though an enchantment had worn off, the rest of the armor disintegrated, leaving a pink and green wildclaw with arrows embedded in his body. At first, Querida thought it was Quin, but the colours weren't quite right.
It couldn't have been, but somehow it was. Plagueheart looked on the verge of tears, something Querida had never seen before.
"How are you alive?" Plagueheart asked.
"Sometimes, the Wyrmwound Plague leaves survivors, I got lucky." Pennar explained weakly. it was clear his strength was draining quickly. "It appears I don't have the same luck now, but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be."
"No, don't say that. If I had known you were still alive I would have searched the world to find you. I am not losing you now that you are in my grasp again." Plagueheart said.
"But don't you see?" Pennar said with a cough. "What if the reason the Plaguebringer let go of me is because you caught her attention with your daring and spirit, and it was my duty to live long enough to be sure you could achieve that. I was already on borrowed time."
"No, Pennar, you are not dying again! I simply won't let you! We can remove the arrows, we can patch you up!" Plagueheart insisted. "I refuse to believe there isn't another way to save you! Losing you was the worst thing I've ever been through. When my son hatched and looked just like you, I projected you onto him. I don't want to live without you. I've missed you far too much! Fate can't be cruel enough to steal you away so soon after I found you again! I thought we were always going to do things together!"
"Palla, you aren't alone anymore." Pennar said with a weak smile. He was growing pale, it was clear he would not hang on much longer. "You have Pyrite by your side, whatever he is to you, a friend, a mate. You have your daughter. You have Windkeep Tower. That is what is yours. You don't need me anymore."
"Pennar, I'll always need you." But before her brother could answer, his gaze grew fixed and glazed and with a puff of sickly green mist, Pennar breathed his last. The mist floated higher and higher into the air until a gust of wind caught it and blew it towards the Plaguelands.
Plagueheart's face grew stony and angry. Carefully, Querida crept up to her mother and lay her head on her shoulder. Plagueheart stretched out her hand and lay it across Querida's shoulders, her expression unchanging. Pyrite too came up beside his mate and lay a hand on her shoulder. The only one left out was Tess, turning her head away to give her family this emotional moment to themselves.
As the sun went down, they buried him on the island. They had debated giving him a wind burial and casting his ashes into the wind to allow the spirit to travel forever, but Plagueheart was insistent. She wanted a place to come back and visit him, a place where he could stand guard and be a comfort to others. Once the burial was complete, they etched some words into the crystal jutting above him.
Here lies Pennar
5th Year of Shadow ~ 6th year of Lightning
A brave spirit, a kind soul, the best brother.
He died as he lived: out of love for his family.
"You're telling me what!?" Daisy Mae yelled at the gathered guards.
"There was an escape, Mam." A mirror said bitterly. "My own partner. Apparently he sneaked in disguised as one of us, put my usual partner out of commission, and took his place. We found Gerald hours later, locked in a cellar."
"He managed to kill Spike, but not before he riddled the imposter with enough arrows to ensure he would not live long afterwards." a ridgeback said gleefully.
"We need to double the guards. You will all be working double shifts." Daisy Mae ordered, eyes blazing. "I will not have this chance to take down Quartz compromised! He killed my charge, and he will pay for it! Prepare the soldiers to leave tomorrow at dawn, I don't care how tired you all are! And the beast will need to be ready to move too! Now hop to it!" The guards were quick to obey and scuttle out of her presence, save one.
"Mam, what will we do with the prisoners after the battle?" The remaining guard asked.
"They will be of no use to us, and they will have learned too many secrets. They will be fed to the beast." Daisy Mae said, her stony expression unchanging. "Now run along, get to work!"
The remaining guard left quickly.
Another long chapter, but a very important one! I hope you aren't too mad at me for killing Pennar. As I said a little while ago, I did find him exalted, which was frustrating because I had sent him out as a traveling dragon in the hopes that he would someday return to me and could return properly to the story, and I wanted to give Pennar a last hurrah before I had to write him out forever. I hope I did him justice.
Also, as for the dating system on his tombstone, I guess I should explain. I tend to like to see Flight Rising time as one of our months being the equivalent of one year on Sornieth. That's why I tend to do time skip updates, and leave some timing up to interpretation. The festivals run on a cycle, each happening at the start of a new year. After every festival cycle, the number changes so currently we would be on the 6th Year of Lightning, leading into the 6th Year of Fire, as this will be the site's 6th Flameforger's. The Night of the Nocturne also has it's own year. I headcanon that it is known as the Year of Night, and was known as that before the Night of the Nocturne began because it seemed to be the only year without a strong elemental connection, and therefore was like a period of darkness and stillness. the Year of Night goes by many names depending on history and culture of a clan, but Year of Night is the most common one. Others call it the Shade's Year (if their history dates back to before NotN began), or the Year of Mimics, things along that line. Likewise, an elemental year could also be referred to by its deity, for example, the 6th Stormcatcher's Year. All this to say, that leaves Pennar to be about 5 years old. A cycle is also a measure of time so once a dragon lives more than 12 years, they might begin to say they have lived for 1 cycle instead on revealing their more specific age. I won't be referencing this system often, most likely, but I wanted to explain so you know how I imagine timing to work on Sornieth.
