Inpar leaped from rock to rock, descending the steep mountainside.

He didn't have the necessary strength and control to fly like his siblings could, but he still had enough strength to safely descend a steep mountain.

Scaling the mountain had taken him half a day and yet he hoped to descend instantly.

Of course, the fastest way would be to jump down a cliff, but the only cliff steep enough was on the southern side, where they had established their city.

The cave entrance from which the drake was most likely to emerge was on the north side of the mountain.

This side was less steep and would therefore take a while to traverse, even for Inpar.

Four knives made entirely of bronze floated next to him, keeping pace with each leap.

The fine carvings engraved into the blade gleamed in the sunlight, creating a mysterious allure.

The wind whistled in Inpar's ear while he leaped from stone to stone.

Like a goat he leaped and lunged, unafraid of heights.

He passed by rocky outcrops, pine forests, and little rivers and streams.

After a short while of this travel, he faintly heard roaring coming from below.

He looked down and saw a dust cloud rise.

Inpar let out a low growl and cursed.

"They had one task! And they couldn't even do that."

Inpar increased his speed, hoping to make it in time.

Soon he saw the dozen weak combatants, which had been left at the cliff to push the boulders down. He landed next to them, startling them in the process.

Inpar took in the scene that greeted him from below.

The drake was breathing a fire breath directed all around it.

It had several wounds, with spears sticking out of it and even a broken tail, but it was still energetic and full of fight.

Half the lizard riders were either wounded or dead and the other half was stunned by the sudden flame attack.

The spear line was equally disorganized and Inpar watched as the drake crashed into the spear line.

"Oh no you don't!"

Inpar launched himself off the cliff and free-fell toward the forest ground.

The drake just broke through the line and was about to escape.

Inpar could faintly hear the screeching of his sister but ignored it.

He faintly wondered why none of his sisters did something in this critical moment, but his thoughts were drowned out by the burning hatred he felt for the drake.

Twice, the drake had caused great losses to Inpar.

The first time was when it heavily injured him during their first encounter and the second time was all the losses he and his companions suffered during their second encounter.

He felt nothing but hatred for the drake, so it was with this feeling in his heart and with a face contorted into a mask of rage that he caught himself with his powers, slowing his descent, while sending his bronze knives at the drake.

All four blades flew toward the drake aimed with surgical precision to hit its exposed wounds or old scars, where the scales were no longer as thick.

Three struck true while one glanced off the scales around a scar.

Inpar didn't have enough time to allow the knives to charge another powerful strike, and the energy currently stored within the knives wasn't enough to deal great damage to the drake.

So he chose to do something else. He chose to detonate the bronze knives, releasing all the stored energy in the engravings themselves, and sacrificing the knives in the process.

With smug satisfaction, Inpar watched as the knives ripped apart the flesh of the drake, gouging out large chunks from its body.

He used the remainder of his energy to descend safely after which he collapsed to the ground.

"It's good that I managed to arrive in time."

Saying so, he slid along the stone wall behind him and sat down.

He closed his eyes and felt for his knives.

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Where previously he had four connections, he now only had one.

The sensation was jarring and felt somewhat like losing a limb.

Inpar was pale and sweating profusely.

His last knife flew back to him, landing softly on the ground next to him. He opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

There were many wounded, but it seemed like not too many were killed or severely injured.

They had however suffered a few losses amongst their elite lizard riders.

From where Inpar was sitting, he could see the corpse of a lizard, its stomach clawed open with intestines being visible.

He suddenly remembered Dolo and felt a twinge of anxiety. Had he made it?

"You, did you see if Dolo was injured?"

The passing shield bearer bowed his head before answering.

"Sir, Dolo had been injured by the drake, but he should be fine. Last I've seen, the healers were taking care of him. It didn't seem too bad."

Inpar nodded his head, before sending the shield bearer away.

Just when he was about to close his eyes to concentrate on regaining his strength, he saw Feidi approach him.

Her eyebrows were furrowed and she wore a thin-lipped frown.

"What took you so long? We agreed that you would come here immediately. How come Stella and I were here faster than you? Did you specifically take your time?"

Inpar, faced with such accusations, couldn't help but reveal a deep scowl.

"I need longer to travel than you and Stella. You know this. Look at how sweaty I am. Do you think I would look like this if I took my time? And what's with the attacks? How about a thank you for killing the drake?"

Feidi sneered and crossed her arms.

"Thank you? Yeah, I can thank you. Thanks for barely doing your part of the plan. Thanks for doing something right for once, unlike last time."

The surrounding people all pretended not to hear anything and left as quietly and quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, Inpar's face grew an unhealthy shade of red.

"Barely doing my part of the plan? You failed your part of it, so you better thank me for keeping my part of the plan, since you are unable to."

Feidi was about to retort when Stella's voice rang out.

"Enough. How old are you two? Feidi I'm with Inpar this time. You went too far. We should be grateful to him for saving all of us in that critical moment."

Stella frowned at Feidi, who humphed while turning away.

Stella turned to Inpar, who was still leaning on the wall and revealed an earnest smile.

"Thank you, for killing the drake."

Inpar gazed at Stella, a certain feeling stirring within his heart.

However, before this feeling could take hold the hatred buried within flared up and vanquished that feeling.

Inpar scoffed and stood up, before walking past both Feidi and Stella, bronze knife floating behind him.

Stella followed him with a concerned gaze before turning to glare at Feidi.

A few hours later, Dolo slowly blinked, seeing the blue sky above him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see many people moving to and fro with a large mountain reaching upwards into the sky at his feet.

Above the mountain, almost like a crown, he could see the ring around the planet, illuminated by the evening sun.

A part of it was invisible, as the shadow cast by the planet covered that section.

"Oh, you're finally awake."

Dolo heard this familiar voice, and he craned his neck to see Prince Inpar crouched on the ground next to him.

Dolo was confused and tilted his head slightly.

"Sir, why am I lying on the ground outside, and why are you here?"

Just as Inpar was about to answer him, memories of the last few hours hit him like a charging boar.

He jolted to a seating position, before promptly regretting his decision as his vision swan and a wave of nausea overwhelmed him.

"Easy there. You got hit by the drake pretty hard, so you shouldn't move too suddenly right now. The medicine man said, however, that you sustained no serious injuries so you've got nothing to worry about. Only a few cracked ribs is all."

Inpar's words flowed into Dolo's head while he tried to regain his orientation.

While rubbing his temple, he slowly looked around him.

Around him spread out on the ground were various injured people.

Some were passed out while others were moaning or whimpering in pain.

None were screaming, as all injured seriously enough to scream had either passed out or died by now.

Healers moved to and fro between the patients, performing triage.

Of course, the methods available to doctors at this time were very limited.

They had no antibiotics or disinfectant, so even a small cut, if infected could lead to death.

Dolo let out a confused expression as he turned to Inpar.

"Sir, where are the others?"

Inpar smiled a thin-lipped smile while explaining to Dolo.

"Most are currently in the forests, making makeshift sleds to carry the dead and injured. My siblings are also helping out with that. As for your lizard..."

Inpar revealed a regretful expression.

"I'm told that after you were injured, the drake intended to finish you off. Your mount threw itself in its way, buying you the necessary time that was needed for one of my siblings to get you out of the danger zone."

Dolo stilled and wore a blank expression.

"Ah... I see."

Suddenly he once more jolted and looked frantically from side to side.

"Where is the drake now? Is it still alive?"

At that, Inpar let out a light chuckle and assured Dolo.

"Don't worry. The drake is dead. I'm told that you had fought valiantly. Even after being knocked back you rushed back into the battle. And here you keep telling me you are afraid to die."

Dolo let out a sound, a weird mix between a laugh and a sob.

The relief of having survived and the knowledge that the drake was dead mixed with the feeling of loss he felt for his mount.

The knowledge that it had stood by his side to the very end only deepened the pain in his heart.

He had raised this lizard with his own hands from the moment that it hatched five years ago.

It was then that Inpar had given him that egg to take care of and raise.

Memories flashed in his mind's eye as he thought of all the shared pain and joy he and his mount had experienced.

Inpar noticed that Dolo was lost in thought and patted him on the shoulder.

"Take a rest for now. We are going to move in an hour."

Inpar stood up and turned to leave.

"Sir, do you know where her body is?"

Inpar turned and met Dolo's eyes.

The words 'don't worry about that and rest first.' died in his throat as he met Dolo's gaze.

Inpar sighed and pointed to the far side of the clearing.

"The dead are located there. Come, let me help you get there."

With the help of the Prince, Dolo managed to get up and limp in between the wounded.

His chest hurt and when he had checked, the skin around his ribcage was purple.

It hurt to breathe.

They made their way across the clearing and came to the row of fallen warriors.

Over a dozen humans and a handful of lizards were lined up in neat rows.

The bodies were a gruesome sight, with some missing limbs or in others the organs being on display.

They moved past these bodies and came to a lizard carcass.

Dolo instantly recognized it.

Large claw marks had left deep gashes in the flanks of this lizard.

Dolo collapsed at the side of the lizard and wept.

Inpar stood next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Wordlessly Inpar gazed up and watched the sun start to sink below the horizon.