FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 20

"I feel like a bear waking up from winter's slumber" Cyril groaned, paw massaging the forehead, where it still felt pieces of paper stuck in between the scales from all the oregano that was hanging(($ from him as if he would be a statue decorated by children

Every such scratch made the groaning more audible, irritation reaching unimaginable levels when he combined the feeling with a glance towards whatever mirror, already seeing his reflection covered in all this paper he not so long ripped apart.

A clown.

A jester.

A joke.

I will destroy this mole.

The disgrace!

He winced after his head was unexpectedly stabbed, he pulled his claws away from the forehead, only to notice that the tips were hued bright red.

Again he thrust his claws into his scales from all this anger!

Act like a Guardian fool!

Save those claws for the stinky rat!

"It's like years have passed, the trap that sprung without our notice must be powerful indeed" Cyril grumbled, he turned his bloodied claws around slowly, observing the blood there with ominous fascination.

"Only the most cunning and strongest have a chance to overpower me, and only by surprise, cowards" he comforted himself with rhetoric acid hissing on the tongue

He glanced over the room, noting two other sentient creatures, a cheetah and a dragon, both young.

Both lesser.

Not the first time.

Does every old dragon goes through the same thing when he gets older? Maybe it was about time to accept that it's time to sacrifice dignity?

He flicked the blood away with a rumble in the throat.

No fucking way. Not until he turns the mole into a pile of steaming shit.

First thing first though.

What the fuck is going on?

Before him sat Hunter, his whole frame was glowing, the light that surrounded him just a moment ago faded, becoming nearly transparent by now. His own body was normal by now, not surrounded by any magical mist.

Glowing cheetah.

You senile old fool! These are not some lesser creatures! This is a Blessed One!

Dignity was saved, it was wounded, but not torn apart, no worry though, he knows where to fetch the perfect skin to patch it up with. First things first though, before anything can move forward, he needs to gather up some knowledge about his surroundings and the general situation of this new world he has waken up to.

From the looks of it he wasn't the only one seeking explanation and answers.

Hunter had his legs extended forward, butt firmly placed against the floor, both arms extended before him which he constantly turned. His wide eyes kept staring at the glowing fur, the pupils turned into sharp slits.

He was like a infant who just discovered limbs on his body.

He reeked just like a newborn would, with the difference being in the contrast, his smell was dominated by a sizzling stench of burned flesh and fur.

"If times would be different I would order an arrest for you Hunter, displaying ancient magic like this is dangerous, you surely remember the legends about your kind. For all the worship you cheetahs give to your figures, your kind was incapable of standing true to the responsibility magic puts on you. Every single one of you was reckless, fickle and arrogant. Wild. Bad combination when you are meant to wield the world's soul"

"Not everyone is born a dragon though, inspiring to our majesty can only be praised I suppose, no matter how amusing, or trivial the effort might seem"

Hunter didn't hear the dragon's mocking tone, his misanthropic approach was a known fact so it did not trigger a reaction from him, he doubted that anything would. He never saw a cheetah's fur glowing before, let alone his own.

"It is not me" he mumbled breathlessly, eyes remaining aimed at the constantly turning arms, even if not his own, taking a sip from the well, well that was all this time only his fascination, was breathtaking

He felt like a cub that took a bow for the first time in his hands.

Magic.

Not his creation, but in the name of everything that's holy, it really did feel fantastic.

"Don't toy with me Hunter, I had enough of it for a lifetime" Cyril grumbled, all paws clenching tightly, crushing the remains of the oregano under their claws

The scout finally decided to look up, the arms he so vigorously watched pulled back, both hands grabbing the material of his ruined coat.

Heat caressed his fingers seductively, followed by what he believed to be feminine, labored breathing.

He pushed the outfit away, the weakened material tore itself apart under the pressure, revealing behind a black mark on the cheetah's skin. The fur around it was burned to the skin, strands that spread a little farther were completely blackened. He brushed the brand, wiping away the charred remains of his skin and attire away.

A yin yang symbol was melted into his flesh, the medallion simple and mundane, ironically being the most normal thing he will definitely see today. Impulsively he tapped with his claw at it gently, as if knocking, image of his birth home flashed before his eyes, hand knocking at the wood, heart expecting a scarcely dressed young girl to appear soon, gems of her tiara flashing brightly like half lidded eyes.

"It's Hope. She's here" he pulled his claw back with a soft gasp as if fearful that he was about to poke a young eyeball

Cyril's eyebrow rose in surprise, the cat was making no sense, in fact he seemed to be more stricken by the current events than he was after being a puppet to a feeling and command he didn't remember.

It wasn't normal.

But it was good nevertheless, it reminded him that dragons are better than other creatures anyway, especially he was. He is holding himself proudly after the humiliation while the two youngsters are being overwhelmed by victory.

Pathetic, but unfortunately this was the only thing he could use right now.

"Is Hope a name or what?"

Hunter opened his mouth to confirm, yet before his tongue could utter a sound his ears perked up in attention and the desire to say yes vanished immediately as if they would pull out the letters right from the tip of his mouth.

Wild.

Prison.

Never in his life he would displease a dragon, but besides his own motivation there was also honor ruling his life. Honor demanded that his savior would remain a mystery, especially if Cyril was demanding an answer, out of all the three Guardians Cyril seemed the most memorable and vengeful, already having a grudge with Brill that he quenched and in the dragon's eyes it might have been exactly that decision which led to the current situation.

The Guardian won't make the same mistake twice.

Hope blessed him for a reason, sacrificing her to the whims of the ice dragon would feel like a betrayal.

Valuing his own people over the dragons, if only the Chief could see him now.

"Hope is our savior dear Guardian" Hunter pushed himself up, using one arm for support, despite the magically strengthening glow it was still shaking from exertion

"The only explanation I can provide is that the influence of this place, it affects every single one of us, it shows what is hidden deep in us"

Cyril snorted.

"Philosophical nonsense, I'm not an idiot to believe that your magical powers appeared out of nowhere"

Hunter readjusted his posture, mouth opening to voice another argument, the words were however quickly silenced by a sharp, draconic claw pointing at him.

"No more excuses. You are hiding something and I can see it so don't offend me any longer feline by pretending otherwise"

The cheetah's ears flattened on the skull, head dropped in a ashamed bow.

"I beg for forgiveness"

"I don't care, we have bigger concerns right now and as long as your wild magic is useful I will allow it to coexist. This city followed idiotic rules long enough and look what happened" Cyril glanced over the room, snout twisted in visible disgust "It's about time to take the rougher path, the more effective path"

He disregarded the cheetah with a wave, like a king would dismiss his subordinate that he got tired off. His eyes turned towards the peculiar dragon, not so long ago his features triggered shock, the boy was so familiar to the dragon kind that was believed to be extinct.

But now?

He didn't care, the boy could be a sentient, overgrown worm and it still wouldn't bother him.

"What about you boy? Are you really a wind dragon or something else perhaps coming from your depth?"

Cloudas sat on his haunches, massaging his jaw that kept clicking occasionally, his bloodied snout empowering the grimace of pain wrinkling his snout. Everything was hurting him, to top that he wasn't sure if he still had his lower set of teeth still intact, his mouth was so numb that he could barely feel his jaw.

"Right now I don't know if I'm a dragon or a pancake" drool slipped past his moving mouth, the numb lower lip unable to contain it. He felt the tear of saliva rolling down his chin, yet made nothing to stop it, completely uninterested by it

The care for dignity was long past gone.

Disrespectful response, something that he should be angry about, but luckily for the young drake this kind of response also served as an answer. If the dragon knew who he was he wouldn't dare to reply like this.

He was really what he thought he was, a living example of a draconic specie considered extinct.

It really felt like he woke up in a different world, wind dragons and cheetahs wielding magic, it's a song of the past.

Volteer's preaching about the Veils being the points of collision of two worlds really had some merit to it.

There will be time to celebrate the news, time to dwell on them further, he could already imagine the wind dragon being cradled like a child by the society. He was the chance to bring back his own species from extinction, if they survive this and get rid of Brill and his fanatics that brought this catastrophe then he will focus on the dragon.

He will put his entire attention on him, an opportunity to strength his own race couldn't be ignored.

"A dragon, boy, I will make sure of it"

Cloudas shrugged, letting out a hiss when a jolt of pain cracked through his jawline.

"Whatever, all I care about is not being a training dummy again"

Cyril grumbled, the rude retorts were really irritating, giving away hints that the boy will be insufferable, making him a terrible pupil. He decided though to leave it be, there will be time to put respect in that hot head when the times comes, right now his Guardian duties were calling and no matter how many times he complained about them he never abandoned his responsibility.

It was time to recover this city from the puppeteers grasp.

"Walk me through the situation" the Guardian's tail drummed against the floor, beating slowly, roughly, like a heart of a predator skulking around his prey "What are we dealing with here and how can we stop it"

"Corruption" Hunter stretched out his hurting body, the pops in his bones were irritating, but the relief they provided were still worth it "A more ominous shade of it, originating from the temple most likely. The most serious cases, people that already lost their soul to this devouring magic, all carried the mark of the most faithful"

The blue tail made a slam against the floor, so strong that the walls rattled in agony.

Both Hunter and Cloudas jerked their heads back in surprise, both expecting the dragon to soon go into a frenzy at least, Cyril was known for his short patience, even Cloudas caught that little detail.

Yet instead of fury, a predatory, broad smile appeared on the Guardian's snout, his fangs flashing like recently sharpened swords.

"Splendid. Tell me my dear cheetah warrior..." Cyril leaned forward, poking the furry chest with his claw, eyes steady and piercing

Hunter gulped, intimidated, the chilly breath of the dragon was as soothing as it was paralyzing.

"Does this Hope of yours protect us from becoming Corrupted again? You two seem just fine to me"

"I...don't know the answer. It protects us now, I'm not familiar with the length of its grace however"

The ice dragon snorted, the cold breath of air made the cheetah's fur stand on end.

Cyril pushed back, gazing behind his shoulder, sight distant. This wasn't the information he would like to hear, some guarantee would be appreciated, after all throwing yourself at the main antagonist without protection was never a good idea. The corruptive power of this magic will be certainly at least tripled at the source.

But then if these two youngsters could move through the city without a hindrance, creatures of unworthy power, then the chance that his protection will hold was high, he was a Guardian after all, an ice dragon, his control over magic was unmatched.

Besides who cares for the risk if the opportunity to end Brill without the usual boring and unnecessary trials of law in the way presents itself. Situation demanded the death of the old mole, nothing he could do about it, there was no other way.

A quick end to this rotten story.

Some crying will be there, some blaming, many suspicions will be directed at him, but unfortunately for the people, he doesn't care about the opinion of lesser creatures. The most necessary and direct actions are always frowned upon, the consequence of them always appreciated in history books.

Fuck history, satisfaction was far more rewarding than good reputation.

"It will do" Cyril replied thoughtfully, muscles popping from underneath the blue scales "Time to end this farce, come with me, let's close this circus"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Cloudas shouted, his explosion was followed by a rough cough, seems his insides didn't particularly recover yet after the windragonpulping

The Guardian's head snapped in the direction of the young drake, his nostrils puffed out a cloud of icy mist.

"Can you repeat that boy? I think I've misheard you"

"You heard me! I'm not going anywhere! Hunter isn't moving anywhere too. That temple is a death trap, crazy you almost kicked our asses. There will be plenty more of those lunatics in that pit of madness, plus the shit that's doing all this insane mojo. Scream all you want but we're staying!"

"You insufferable brat" Cyril growled, the threatening breath of cold air wafting also from his mouth this time "Do you know with who you are talking to?"

"Yeah" the wind dragon shrugged carelessly "A corpse if you go there"

The air in the room became suddenly freezing.

"Cloudas' worry is valid!" Hunter shouted, jumping in between the two dragons, acting before the Guardian could open his mouth, knowing well where this was going

"We do not need to fight our enemy headlong. We have the perfect opportunity to cripple him"

"I'm not interested in wounding little cat" Cyril barked, eyes burning ferociously "I'm interested in killing"

"I apologize Guardian, but we must change our priorities to saving. The magic of the temple will overwhelm us, we must land a blow from a different angle"

"You don't understand Hunter" Cyril leaned closer again, burying his gaze right into the feline's eyes as if wanting to pierce his skull through with sight alone "As a Guardian I have a duty to this city. As a Guardian I. Don't. Back. Down"

"Oh come on!" Cloudas whined, feathers fluttering "Nobody cares about your big guy talk. We are not strong enough to get that thing, there is nothing wrong with that!"

The eyes of the dragon sprang up, murdering gaze beating at the wind dragon.

"But we can become stronger!" Hunter added quickly, interjecting in the confrontation before it got out of hand

Something he didn't think he would stop if the circumstances didn't demand Cyril's attention, for all his anger, the Guardian very well understood that they weren't in a favorable position in this encounter.

The eyes returned to him once more, demanding and irritated.

"We need your help Guardians, only dragons as powerful as you can help the people of this city. We won't land the killing blow, but we will raise a shield to protect our people. We must make haste however, this mysteries are numbing for the brain, but there is one thing we understood unfortunately, the longer we longer, the more time Corruption has to devour the soul of all the people"

"Sacrifices all normal in war, some must die for others to live, it's ugly, but this is how the world works. Dragons are strong, they will survive, we worry about the city"

"Are our friends not the city?"

Cyril withdrew his head sharply, all those years on this godforsaken world made him forgetful, everything became so mundane, so boring and automatic that he no longer pays attention to what is what. Every day seems the same.

He forgets about everything, from the buildings to the people.

But he didn't walk this path alone.

His Guardian friends were with him all this time, age made them bitter, but it never changed one thing between them, for better or worse they were friends, they were family.

It was disgraceful to be reminded of that by a simple scout.

Are our friends not the city?

Ironically, in this situation they were, Guardians are the heart of Warfang,

With every loss, his own heart collapses, with every pain his heart bleeds.

Friendship.

How easy it is to take it for granted.

Brill you lucky bastard, your death needs to wait.

I have friends to save.

The big dragon snorted, the sound of his escaping deep breath made his eyeballs flicker.

"Fine"

The grunt forced the sharp, feline ears to stand on end.

"Tell me your plan"

"This gift that I possess" the scout presented his forearm, displaying his glowing fur "I believe it to be the key to salvation for Warfang, for its people, our potential is limited unfortunately we don't possess the magical prowess that dragons do, adult dragons, Guardians"

The cheetah looked at the ice dragon pleadingly, a shimmer of reverence glimmered in his eyes.

"I think that you are the key to our salvation. Combined strength of all the Guardians must be able to spread this power of mine to the whole city, channel it like a chant. Volteer is brilliant, he must have an idea"

Cyril measured the feline with a steady, cold gaze, thoughts pushed into a whirlwind of battle where arguments were conquering themselves. After a short while a victor rose from the struggle, making him realize one thing.

The plan was clever.

He didn't really know how to achieve it himself, but the proposal of using the strongest dragons the city has to offer, beginning the purging from the heart of Warfang was ingenious, but risky.

Sensible.

Convincing.

Of all the cheetahs of this world, Hunter had some credibility to his name, maybe he would discard this recklessness as nonsense if someone else would approach him, but the scout proved his worth, he at least deserved a moment to be heard.

He managed to break his shackles after all.

Cyril nodded, his agreement clearly relaxed the cheetah's muscles.

"Good, we do it your way. What's the first step?"

"Just to be clear!" Cloudas barked, raising his paw in the air "I'm not serving as bait again! I like my skeleton"

Hunter's head dropped down apologetically.

"To corruption made the Guardians rabid, they won't allow me to get close, our only choice is to preoccupy them long enough so I can find an opening. This means battle unfortunately" Hunter fiddled with his fingers nervously

Cyril shrugged, unconcerned.

"Then we hit them hard if we must"

The feline didn't hide his astonishment, he did not expect the ice dragon to take the idea of hurting his long time friends so lightly. Cyril is many things, but there was no denying that he cared for the remaining Guardians.

"What?" the elder dragon chuckled "They both deserve a slap, they had it coming, all the better that I have an excuse to do it now. I always liked beating people for the better cause"

"Graceful Wind be pleased" Cloudas wiggled his shoulder, something popped inside, stealing a hiss from his throat "Cool that we have someone nice in the team now"

Cyril licked his lips, boldly presenting his sharp fangs, wind dragon or not, sarcasm and rudeness in someone who just recently stopped sucking on his mother's tail is a trait that he gladly stomps into the ground. The only slot he opened where such behavior was tolerated was already occupied by a certain black dragoness.

There was no other plans to expand on that offer, he promised to himself that every other attempt will be severely crushed. Priorities are important, but teaching this dragon a lesson would be quite the relief especially after everything this Corruption made him go through.

He never got the chance to fulfill his spontaneous dream.

There was a deafening rumble, the entire building began to quake, Hunter and Cyril dug their feet firmly into the floor, that was the only thing that prevented them from toppling over. Cloudas who kept massaging his hurt body wasn't so lucky, falling over instantly when the first shake struck the construction.

The rumble morphed into a roar, so strong and powerful that they could feel it coming from every angle as if the sky itself would turn into a gaping, monstrous maw desiring to devour them all.

Hunter's body flashed bright yellow.

Whatever ice remained on the walls or floor cracked under the pressure of the powerful noise.

"That didn't sound good" Cloudas whined, pulling himself up, his eyes widening and goggles clicking when he threw his head back in surprise

The floor was being flooded by a thick, black shadow, it sprawled along the ground like a lazy wave on the shore.

"This doesn't look good" the young dragon stated the obvious

Heavy thudding vibrated along the floor, the rhythm coming from a distance, from a different room, yet the same building.

The roar stirred something or someone. Whatever it was it was big.

Hunter and Cloudas started to listen intently, instinctively frozen by a bolt of intimidation. Only Cyril acted lively, his head snapping in the direction from which the sound was coming. Without hesitation he marched towards the wall on the end of the room.

Swirls of ice magic filled the air.

The Guardian touched the wall, momentarily the torches and braziers in the surrounding area puffed, their lights extinguished in a second. Frost covered the wall, it didn't take long for it to become a block of ice.

The heavy thudding got louder, the vibrations painting shallow cuts on the ice as if there would be an invisible dagger making scratches on it.

Cyril backed away, paws emitting a misty air that got kicked in the air with each step like dust.

Sharp jolt of magic cracked somewhere behind the wall, followed by a rumbling sound as if there would be a cave-in nearby. Powerful gusts of wind blew through the cracks in the ice, enlarging them as a result.

Through the holes they could see that the wall in the corridor collapsed, opening the building to the outside world, sprinkles of earth magic glowing at the corners of the debris.

Cyril dashed forward unexpectedly, right towards the wall, scales turning into rough diamond. The block of ice shattered on impact in the company of a sharp clinging sound as the many pieces bounced off the nearby surfaces.

The dragon leapt forward, the air vibrated with the sound of a low, dirty blare, once again the walls and floor shook. When the shards settled down Hunter and Cloudas noticed that Cyril tackled a dragon, from the metallic spiked ball on the swinging chaotically tail the cheetah could easily say that Cyril threw himself at Terrador.

The Earth Guardian trashed mercilessly, his powerFful neck twisting, throwing the head around in every direction, deadly teeth snapping loudly, trying to get a hold off Cyril's flesh, his diamond scales though protected him well however, making the fangs slide down the slippery surface whenever they wanted to take a bite.

The ceiling above the two wrestling dragons rattled.

Terrador found a foothold and pushed himself of the new leverage, slamming the Ice Guardian into the opposite wall.

Some of the ice shell shattered.

He might have surprised the Earth Guardian, but unfortunately for Cyril Terrador was a more bulkier dragon, it was a matter of time only before the muscular earth wielder will overpower him physically.

Cyril though was aware of his disadvantage, using the power of his channeled magic he collapsed the diamond skin he was wearing, making it explode. The shockwave it created pushed his opponent away, throwing him back roughly with a roar of fury. Cyril immediately followed, gaining momentum from the explosion he threw himself at his friend again, the empowered force of impact made the Earth Guardian lose his balance allowing him to get a proper grip.

Terrador fought fiercely though, bouncing off of walls and furniture he tried to regain control, unfortunately for him the unending pressure of another massive body against his own was too much for him to overcome.

The winner of this battle was never decided however.

After another push both reached the end of the corridor, being thrown exactly where the hole in the wall was. They hurled themselves through the opening, both Hunter and Cloudas gasped when the two big dragons fell through the wall, disappearing from their sight.

Their wrestling ended while they were falling, out of the two Guardians Cyril was the one who was expecting for this to happen, he actually planned it. He momentarily slipped from the grasp of his stunned by this event friend, rolling in the air and climbing on top of him, making sure to hold the massive wings in place.

A rumble filled the air, the boom so loud that it would wake up an entire city if any of the citizens would have their own will of course.

The dragons hit the ground, Terrador smashing into it first, his body cracking the street, creating a small crater on the spot where he landed.

The world was shaking before Cyril's eyes, his legs did everything they could to tie themselves together yet he retained enough strength and sanity of mind to be able to command them and order his paws to step off from his fallen friend.

He shook his head fiercely, something began to ring in his skull.

Age.

Fucking age.

In his prime he crushed dragons similar to Terrador without a hiccup.

Cyril still wobbled yet the shake helped him to recover his bearings a little, or so he thought at least since many black dashes and dots appeared. He squinted, the ringing in his skull turned into sharp pain yet despite the wince he managed to focus enough to clear his view.

These weren't random blurs caused by a headache.

All these forms were people and all of them were running in the same direction like rats chased of a sinking ship. Not to mention the sky that was completely black, not even the tiniest sparkle of sunlight could pierce through the veil.

"Cyril!" Hunter screamed from top of the building, pushing his head through the crack in the wall, finger pointing forward

He gasped when he looked that way, Terrador, a dragon of the same age as him already scrambled from the ground, disappeared really, without a sound as if he would be young and dexterous again. A small moment of distraction was enough for the Earth Guardian pull himself up.

What was surprising though was the fact that he wasn't interested in fighting him, he sprinted right after the crowd, trampling some even some smaller citizens on the way.

Something else was happening in this city, something that Corruption treats very serious to the point that it is willing to ignore them and throw all its forces at the unknown to him danger.

It was disgraceful for one.

It was also scary, it was not only some random people controlled, it was the entire population of Warfang, including his own friends and they were running straight at their enemy. Corruption is using everything it got and this meant only one thing for the unfortunate soldiers.

Death.

Powerful magic was afraid of something which only meant that its opponent is at least on comparable level of strength. Easy calculation that he witnessed being carried on many times in his long life already.

Whatever the plan was, they need to hurry or the streets of this city will turn red from blood.

Sadly though he was experienced enough in the arts of battle that he realized that thorns like them can be irritating if they sting long enough, the sad part about it was the fact that some of these people will need to be sacrificed without their consent.

This force knows only violence and it will respond with the only answer it knows.

People might call him many things, many of them were true even, but he wasn't a cold bloodied killer as some made him to be, he despised barbarism and mind controlling was nothing else but just that. Luckily it will be him who will need to dip his paws in this poison, of all the Guardians he was the one used to hate, the only who can live with guilt. Just imagining Volteer losing that annoying joy, or Terrador the stoic sense of duty, it was too much, as a friend he has to keep their souls intact.

Let them grief, but never allow them to destroy themselves.

And him?

Well, he was already named a cold, emotionless megalomaniac, like always it was time to keep true to that description.

How he hated being a martyr.

He sighed deeply.

"For all its worth, I'm sorry dear citizens of Warfang" Cyril mumbled sadly, channeling his magic, whiffs of chilly breath were puffing out from the corners of his mouth "I'm sorry that you will be stripped of your dignity, in this only moment of your lives where it truly matters"

He spread his mouth wide open, a powerful stream of ice magic blasted forward spreading out thinly that it became nearly transparent. The cloud fell to the ground quickly, while the mist didn't look intimidating there was no denying its power however. The fog slid against the ground towards the charging mass of people, loud shaped cracking filled the air as the magic turned every cobblestone into solid ice on mere flick of the chilly gust.

It charged forward quickly, like wildfire devouring a dry wood.

The mist hung to the ground so closely that it ran over the legs only when it finally reached the crowd, including the legs of the smallest of inhabitants. Cyril clenched his paws, frown wrinkled in deep focus, this was the time where mastery of your elements comes to play. Reaching the highest potential in your school of elemental magic was not about making your magic unendingly stronger and stronger to the point where you reach a level when merely a sneeze can be devastating.

Mastery meant control.

Make your element strong when you want to and weak where it desired it to be that way, make it obey, strip it of its wild will that so many times overcomes the young dragons and make it realize that it lives because of you, never letting it consider the option that it might be the other way around.

This is why something that just not so long ago ruined the craft of masonry with ease only stung innocently when it finally reached warm flesh. All because Cyril wished it so.

The legs of the people immediately became stiff when magical frost struck the muscles. Limbs weren't the only target, the ground also wasn't spared the chilly touch, morphing into slippery ice. Losing control of their legs, the running people dropped down like cut trees, the cold ground preventing them from getting back up again.

Tarrador was one among the fallen.

Hunter's eyes widened at the sight of the magical display, from the top of the building he had a perfect view on the battlefield. Cyril's magic was doing wonders, the Guardian was unable to catch everyone in his influence, but the numbers he managed were still awe inspiring.

Just as the sight in itself.

There was something breathtaking about ice spreading over the land, its glimmering, deadly form was as merciless as it was beautiful. Entropy in its pure form.

"It's working!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, rising a fist in the air triumphantly, fur bristling from all this excitement

The world bellowed another low rumble, the air cracked, a tornado of black, swirling mass stretched out from the sky in the distance.

All of this was followed by earthshaking thudding, very loud and very close.

Cloudas looked behind his shoulder, eyes widening and tail dropping numbly, the walls behind them were changing colors, turning red, heating, almost ready to explode.

Cracks of electricity stung his scales when some of the bolts jumped accidently in his direction.

This rumbling was not only coming from the city, majority of the deafening noise was originating from here, from this building and the source was running straight at them.

Cloudas yelped, immediately sprinting forward, he rammed into the cheetah, shoving him off the edge just when the wall behind them exploded, spitting out rocks in every direction. The wind dragon sprang forward, catching the stunned cheetah and spreading his big feathery wings, beating them sharply even before they fully outstretched.

Something that would be impossible for normal dragon, for him worked, due to the size and construction of their wings, wind dragons like him are masters of flight, gaining speed and possessing the ability to make sharp turns so swiftly that even the Shapers envied them.

It was that natural ability that allowed him to make a turn right after jumping, and it was the thing that saved their lives.

Just when he turned a big, orange head pushed from the opening and snapped its sharp teeth, luckily biting only empty air. The figure burst from the opening like a recently fired bolt from a crossbow, their enemy focused only on devouring them, not caring at all that it won't avoid a fall.

The dragon that shot from the hole they just a moment ago occupied let out an annoyed roar and Hunter immediately recognized the sound.

It was Volteer.

The electric dragon shot from the opening in the wall, thrashing wildly in the air for a moment before he finally started to fall down, twisting his body in every direction, his entire frame surrounded by a cracking cage of electricity.

One uncontrollable swing though cut the air very close to the duo of companions, a bolt of electricity jumped from the slashing claw and struck Cloudas in the rump, dragging a burning scratch to the very tail base.

Cloudas slammed into the building with a roar of anguish, his paws barely able to hold onto Hunter, one of his feathery wings folded on impact, pinned against the stone by his own body.

The free wing was beating fiercely, doing all it could to keep them aloft, the only thing that made them slide along the wall instead of falling straight down. Hunter immediately kicked with his legs, trying to find a foothold, they couldn't keep going like this or otherwise Cloudas will paint the the structure with his guts when finally the grating will eat through his scales.

His swinging chaotically legs kicked in a window somewhere below.

This was their moment.

"I'm sorry friend" Hunter withdrew a dagger, knowing that time was of the essence and there was no option to be diplomatic about things, it was the time for action only.

He swung his arm up, thrusting the dagger into the paw that was holding him, making sure that it won't go too deep.

Cloudas reacted the way he expected, the surprising pain unclenched the paw, he managed to slip from the other, it couldn't hold his entire dead weight all by itself.

He fell down, the dagger making a dive towards the ground, he didn't follow it though, immediately grabbing onto the still of the window he kicked in and pulling himself up. Adrenaline was pulsing in his veins, blurring the sight on the edges. Luckily he was an expert when it came to climbing and traversing any rough terrain, his expertise in this field proving vital to the correct calculation of force needed to grab onto a window and pull himself up.

He swiftly got inside, throwing his legs over the edge of the still on the inside of the room, locking them properly for leverage, he pushed his upper body out of the window, keeping his muscles flexed and watching the sliding dragon.

Cloudas finally reached the broken window, with nothing else to support him he dropped down like a rock, he began to scream but the incoming blare was quickly interrupted by a sharp jerk.

He stopped.

Hunter was holding him, greeting his teeth so fiercely that small cracks appeared on the surface of his fangs. The wind dragon swung, pressing his hind legs against the wall, locking himself in place which allowed Hunter to pull him up. He helped the cheetah by walking up the wall.

With one final jerk Hunter hurled the wind dragon inside the room, the scaly body dragging him with it, he fell on the floor with the drake landing on top of him.

The unexpected weight kicked the breath out of his lungs.

Cloudas coughed, pulling himself up on front legs he looked straight at the cheetah's face, the gratitude he felt right now was indescribable.

"I could kiss you right now!"

Hunter however wasn't interested in romance, his eyes were wide and face twisted by a grimace of horror. Blue eyes looked straight past him.

He noticed shadows flickering across his furry face, some big, some smaller.

He gazed where the cheetah was looking, feeling a cold scythe of terror dragging its blade across his spine.

People were jumping out of the opening in the wall above them, the same one where they were attacked by the electric dragon. Stream of people fell down, from their perspective looking like a flow of a murky waterfall, all of this souls commanded to attack them, with no regard for their own safety.

This Corruptive power had noticed them and attacked just as Hunter predicted.

Turning them into murderers without the need to raise their claws in defense.

All sorts of people were among the stream of jumpers, while he believed that the more resilient dragons will survive the fall, especially the older ones, the chances for other smaller people, like the cheetahs or moles were slim.

Very slim.

They were supposed to save people, not kill them.

Not like this at least.

And to make things worse, this wasn't the end still, some of those people will survive and get up, perhaps even more than their horrified mind can predict, plus the people that the earth managed to stop.

They will turn against them on that ground level.

And Cyril is all alone there.