Spring, 1331

It was a long and exhausting night. All the dragons in Mera’s and Kharriana’s squadrons were weary, listless and on edge as the siege wore on. Auxian ballistas and mangonels continuously thundered against the walls of the castle, while attacks periodically erupted as the human infantry continue to probe the castle’s defenses in the darkness, hoping to find a gap in that they could exploit and retake Miers Castle and escape the trap that they had fallen into. These the defending dragons were able to easily throw back, with eruptions of fire that would flash through the dark from atop the battlements and through the bastions, sending the human survivors of each assault scurrying back downhill like so many rats. Still though the great wyrms could detect approaching figures with far more sensitivity than any humans could, the probes continued unabated; there were only eight dragons, five unwounded, against thousands of increasingly desperate Auxian troops.

Meratezatgh himself was in bad shape; silently watching from the top of the inner bailey without break at the large masses of Auxian troops arrayed all around him. His broken arm throbbed, the painful bloody wound having long since gone into the body’s failsafe of shock. Thergamorth's death also had not entirely sunk in; that mental injury as deep as any physical one.

Thergmorth was gone-in a flash his friend was dead. The younger dragon's death was like a void had just suddenly appeared in Mera’s soul. All the fun little conversations, all the familial pissing and moaning, all the steadfastness together through poor weather, poor hunting, rival dragons, the trials of this war, all the adventures and the plans for that great adventure, all just abruptly cut off like a severed rope. Mera knew he was mourning over his friend’s passing, but he needed to keep that in check. There was still a battle to finish.

Still, that bleeding ulcer of a thought remained, which Mera could not shake-had he killed his friend?

*Commander*

Mera turned to see the other dragon commander-was her name Kharina?-crawl over the walls of the inner bailey , attracting a volley of bolts that went wide. The other commander managed to force a sardonic grin.

*If all of the humans have this poor of an aim, we should have no trouble whatsoever.*

Mera shook his head. *It’s night. Their aim will get better during the day.*

*All the more reason for you to take some rest. You need sleep. You are going to kill yourself like this.*

*If we falter now, they will find a way to kill us.*

The other squadron commander shook her head. *If you don’t rest now, you will falter and they will find a way to kill us.*

She forced another smile. *You've done well, feral, seizing Miers Castle from under the noses of the humans. Thanks to you, we have a chance to live. Rest on your laurels a bit, and we’ll see this through.*

Mera sat on his haunches and ran the paw from his good arm over his head. *I can’t sleep. I lost a good friend of mine. He was younger than me, he looked up to me, and I got him killed.*

*Yes, your Hearesecha told me about that. She also told me that you suffered some pretty bad blood loss from your wound and that she was worried that you are still on your feet fighting.*

*Am I bad?*

*What kind of question is that?*

*I failed. My friend is dead. Thergamorth. I had a responsibility to keep him alive, and I was unable to do so.*

The other commander snorted. *How presumptuous of you. This is war, and good people die, regardless of whether you wanted them to or not. That may not be for you to decide, but the heavens themselves. Such are the fickleness of the winds and the currents of the seas.*

*That’s not very helpful to me is it…*

*It is what it is. You are not one of the gods. You cannot impose your will on the heavens, no matter how much you would like to.*

*You have a lot of snark, Commander Khari-*

*Kharriana, of Behran Island.*

*You’re one of the island dragons.*

*That I am. I live in the Betakakin Sound.*

Mera thought for a minute. *Behran Island. White mountains that rise from the sparkling blue waters. That was one of the places that Thergamoth wanted us to see.*

*Oh?*

*Our big plan to explore Nalbin. See what there is in this land. Experience life, there is so much to see and do, he had said. Before this war, before he died.* Mera stared at the ground. *He will never see Behran.*

Kharriana sat besides Mera. *I’m sorry.*

The rustling of the grass two thousand feet away caused the two wyrm commanders to peek out over the curtain of the inner bailey. Another force of human spearman were attempting to infiltrate the walls by crawling along the gutter of the Northwest bastion, the dragons sensed, their infrared cutting straight through the tall grasses. Raphrsah intercepted, quickly joined by Tjufre, and as soon as the humans began assembling for an attack the two dragons struck out over the outer walls and sent sheets of fire searing through the area. Screams, brief glimpses of spears and arrows and bolts sailing through the illuminated night, and the sound of running and then all was silent again.

Kharriana smiled. *Looks like we’re getting a handle of things. I think as long as we keep rotating watch, all of us can get some rest tonight.*

Mera turned to the other commander. *Tell me about Behran Island.*

Kharriana leaned back and stared at the stars. *It’s a beautiful place. Like your friend said, there are towering white mountains that rise from the sea, topped by trees like so many ornaments. There are also beaches of red sand, occasionally broken by rocks. The sea is generous, and provides its wealth, fish, and whales and porpoises and crabs and lobsters and octopi and squid and worms and slugs and kelp. During the winter storms, the trunks of trees that dwarf even dragons wash up in massive piles of driftwood.*

*Sounds nice.*

*It is. Sometimes I fashion a little throne for myself among the driftwood, when watching the sun descend into the sea. The entire sky turns red and orange and reflects off of the waters.*

*I would love to see that.*

Kharriana laughed. *You would love to look at the sunset? Or look at me? Because let me tell you, I don’t look very impressive. I usually lean on the throne, cross my legs and pick my teeth with whatever piece of driftwood fits between my teeth-sometimes it’s the broken masts of some human shipwreck. I probably look like a fat sea slug.*

Mera managed to laugh. *Okay, I would love to see you like that as well.*

*Well, let us survive this night, and the next day, and we’ll see if you can’t someday.* Kharriana nuzzled Mera’s cheek.

The female commander got up and shrugged.

*The sea gives what it wants, when it wants. The waters are beautiful, but if it so chooses, the ocean storms can also consume whole islands, and drown or dash a dragon to pieces. That is the world. You cannot take its beauty without its ugliness. Rest now, Meratezatgh, and we’ll get ourselves over its current ugliness to find its beauty again.*

And with that, the other commander crawled back over the walls of the inner bailey. Mera sat alone in the darkness for a minute.

One of these days, he'll go see Behran Island for Thergamoth. See those white mountains rising from the sea. Maybe meet up with Kharriana, watching the sunset like a fat sea slug.

And with that thought, Mera finally laid down and curled up to sleep.

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The Kinks-Long Way from Home

Courtesy of  TheRoguez