Kaleth was...different now. Mel couldn't yet definitely tell if the change was for the better or worse, but so far he was leaning towards the former. To best put it, Kaleth was now much more openly affectionate towards him, which usually just made Mel's head spin. He hugged him, held his hand, even kissed him in public. In Irithara.

It was as if he was suddenly free of however many issues he'd had with this, and he didn't care about them anymore. Mel would be over the moon because of this under normal circumstances, however, it was very obvious what had brought on this change.

After absorbing Irif's power, Kaleth had been less bothered by...well, everything. And once again, Mel would be ecstatic about that, but.... It also meant that Kaleth was a bit less considerate of other people's feelings. Particularly the people he didn't like.

And that worried Mel. Kaleth had always at most been a little dismissive or sarcastic. Now he was outright hostile, particularly towards Mereria. They hadn't interacted too much, thankfully, but the one conversation Mel had witnessed had scared him.

Kaleth had outright made a threat towards her, and it had been Edras who had had to tell Kaleth to back off. He hadn't been happy about that either.

But on the other hand, to Mel, Kaleth was even nicer than before. So this was all very conflicting. But perhaps it was good that he cared less what other people thought of him. And Mel had had a talk with Kaleth about his behavior towards Mereria, and he had seemed regretful of it, claiming that he had just been too angry to be rational.

So the most worrying thing of all was still the fact that Kaleth was now the most powerful being on the planet. Mel still didn't know what to do with that. The first few days, he'd been terrified of Kaleth basically becoming Irif. Thankfully, that hadn't happened, and it didn't seem to be a danger given how Kaleth was usually acting. But it didn't mean Mel stopped worrying.

He wanted to believe he would be able to tell, but it was still entirely possible Irif was still there, either pretending to be Kaleth, or influencing his thoughts and feelings. But of course, Mel wouldn't say a word of this. Not yet, anyway. He didn't want Kaleth to be mad at him.

He really needed to discuss this with Rayni when they landed. She was flying somewhere behind them, far enough that Mel couldn't see her when he turned his head around. Probably for the best because she was carrying Mereria, and if she and Kaleth were near each other, the atmosphere would be undoubtedly much worse.

Although it was quite pleasant right now. Kaleth had a hand on the side of Mel's long neck and ran his fingers over the scales from time to time. And the loving emotions Kaleth was sending him in waves were even better. This made focusing on the bad things that much harder.

Nevertheless, Mel felt hopeful. There wasn't any threat looming above them, and even if there was, there was no one who could stand against Kaleth.

Unless that someone was Kaleth himself....

Mel shook his head, making his long ears flop around. Kaleth wasn't a bad person, Mel thought to himself angrily. He wouldn't treat Mel like this if he were.

Is something wrong? Mel heard Kaleth ask, his voice inside Mel's mind so caring and concerned. No, Mel decided, Kaleth was the same as ever, if only a bit less filtered. He wasn't, and he wouldn't be a threat.

I'm just... I'm thinking—

Mel was cut off by a piercing pain in his right wing. He cried out, immediately beginning to plummet down into the ocean. He threw his head to the side to look at his wing, which was now torn and bleeding.

Panicking, he desperately tried to flap his wings harder, but he just continued falling. Once the ocean surface was in reach, he just shut his eyes, bracing himself for the crash.

But none came.

Once a couple of seconds had passed, Mel opened his eyes once more. It took him a while to understand what had happened. He was now suspended mid-air above the ocean, his tail just touching the surface.

He gasped as he felt Kaleth touch his injured wing and the tears began knitting themselves back together. Mel looked back at Kaleth, more than a little disturbed when he saw the glare combined with Enor's light glowing from Kaleth's hand.

Mel knew Kaleth wasn't mad at him—it was obvious from the fear and worry he was giving off—but it was still worrying to see him glare like that.

"D-did you see what hit me?" asked Mel quietly as Kaleth continued working on his wounds.

"No," Kaleth sighed. "Someone clearly shot at you, however. And I'm going to deal with them just as soon as I make sure you're okay." Mel hummed as Kaleth ran a hand over the now-healed membrane of his wing. "It doesn't hurt too much, does it?"

"It's as good as new," Mel replied, smiling and stretching the wing out. Kaleth didn't seem all that convinced or happy, though.

"Alright, do you think you could get me back up there? I won't let anything happen to you this time, I promise."

"Of course. But this wasn't your fault—"

"Of course it was," Kaleth cut him off, shutting Mel up. Mel heaved a sigh, and with a few mighty flaps of his wings he was back in the air, trying to spot whoever had attacked him.

It didn't take long to find them. They didn't seem to want to hide either. Flying a little back, there was a small car just hovering in the air. Or...was it a car? It was an oblong shape with no discernible features except for its four engines. Not even a window was visible.

It actually looked almost...familiar, for some reason. But Mel couldn't place it.

Should we do something? Mel asked, unsure.

In a moment. They are talking to me, Kaleth replied.

Mel's ears drooped a bit, disappointed that he was being left out of the conversation, but he wouldn't complain, of course. Kaleth would tell him sooner or later anyway.

And just as he thought this, Kaleth barely contained fury turned into shock. His eyes widening, Mel asked what was wrong, but he didn't get an answer. Kaleth just sat there, clearly unsure as to how to handle whatever he'd been just told. Whatever it had been. That is until large machine guns slid out of the sides of the car and aimed at them.

With seemingly no effort, Kaleth used his telepathy to rip the gun off, followed by the car's engines, letting the vehicle drop down into the ocean. Mel would have argued against that, despite knowing the people inside were Eternals, and therefore would survive this, but he was shocked into silence by what Kaleth told him next.

They said...they said that Enor wanted me dead, he said, now with an air of confusion.

Enor? But he's dead, replied Mel, frowning.

A small moment of silence followed, but Mel could feel Kaleth's mind working overtime trying to understand this. I think we need to get to Enoria as quickly as possible.

Mel nodded, turning around and flying as fast as he could. Can you check the news if something happened?

Not out here, unfortunately. No signal. Kaleth sounded frustrated beyond belief. Mel flapped his wings faster. At least until he heard a different voice in his head.

Go back. Now! Rayni said with such a commanding tone it actually stunned Mel for a second.

What? Why? he asked, vaguely aware that Kaleth was asking what was wrong, but Mel ignored him for the moment.

Ambush. Can't get to Enoria. Rayni suddenly sounded so tired. Mel's heart gave a painful lurch, and after hesitating for just a moment, he started to fly south again, even faster than before. He could tell which way to go to reach her, but he could also tell he was pretty far from her.

Just...get to safety, Rayni finished, and Mel finally felt himself start panicking.

Rayni? he called out, but she didn't reply. Distraught, he continued flying to where she was, hoping that he wouldn't be too late. What if she died? His eyes stung at that thought. He knew he shouldn't be thinking about this, but he couldn't stop.

Kaleth's voice thankfully managed to get him out of it, if only for a moment.

Please, love, I'm worried.

Mel's ears drooped once more, immediate guilt filling his heart. It hadn't been fair to just start flying somewhere without explaining to Kaleth what was going on. He was technically an unwilling passenger.

Rayni's in trouble.

Mel could feel Kaleth's worry multiply.

She said there was an ambush.

Kaleth's hold on one of Mel's neck horns tightened so much Mel was almost afraid it would break off. Thankfully nothing like that happened.

If there is indeed an ambush, I think you should stay away as far as possible, Kaleth said, and Mel shook his head in outrage, letting out an annoyed snort.

I'm not useless, Mel grumbled, sighing. Kaleth patted his neck. That small action brought so much comfort to Mel it was kind of incredible.

I never said you were, love. I just don't want you to get hurt. Once was more than enough for today.

Well, I don't want you to get hurt either, Mel retorted sadly. He had a feeling this argument was pointless and would go nowhere, but what was he to do? He couldn't just bring Kaleth wherever Rayni and Mereria were and leave.

Clearly coming to the same conclusions, Kaleth sighed as well. Just be careful. I'll do my best to protect you.

Despite what Kaleth had said, Mel had a feeling he really did think he was useless, at least a little. Especially compared to Kaleth. Mel supposed it was true. But he was still somewhat good at fighting, and he could definitely help Kaleth with this. He would just have to prove it to him, he supposed. Or remind him, at least. Since Kaleth had become so powerful, it had consistently been him saving Mel, not the other way around, so Mel understood.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

He didn't agree, but he understood.

Continuing his flight, a small isle appeared on the horizon. And Mel could tell Rayni was definitely there—he could feel her there. He relayed the information to Kaleth, who kept watching the sky.

I can sense her, but not Edras, Kaleth said, not really acknowledging what Mel had told him. Mel frowned, looking back at Kaleth. He didn't ask, though, it was clear what Kaleth was implying. The barely hidden dread and anger Kaleth was emitting was enough.

Mel tried to send some calming emotions his way as he finally reached the isle. He couldn't sense anyone on the isle except for Rayni, but that didn't mean she was there alone. Who knew what kind of technology Enor had come up with to cloak his soldiers?

Mel shook his head, rejecting the idea. Enor was dead. This was something else. Maybe the remaining supporters of Relioth.

Seeing Rayni's dragon form covered in a metal net, limp, made Mel completely ignore Kaleth's previous warnings. He landed on the isle almost clumsily and ran towards Rayni, stomping through the snow. At some point Mel had felt Kaleth jump off his back, but Mel just kept on going until he reached his sister and quickly pulled the net off her.

She didn't move, though. The metal net, no doubt made of othrin, must have drained her to the point of losing her consciousness.

But at least she's alive, Mel thought to himself as he gently nudged her side with his snout. She didn't react at all. Mel sighed, trying to ignore how his heart clenched, and turned to Kaleth who was watching the horizon.

"Where's Mereria and Edras?" asked Mel, hoping that what he was thinking wasn't true.

Before he could get an answer, the distant sounds of metal clashing against more metal filled the air. Mel's ears immediately snapped towards the sound, and not waiting for Kaleth, he ran towards it. As the sounds got closer and closer, Mel pushed himself to run faster, ripping bark off trees as he went.

Finally finding himself on the other side of the isle, he froze for a moment, seeing three Eternals attacking Mereria and her barely managing to fight them off. She was wearing her hood, which explained why neither Mel nor Kaleth could have felt her presence.

Seeing his former master under attack made Mel instinctively fly to her rescue, breathing fire at the Eternal trying to stab her in the back. It did very little to hurt him, but at least it made him jump away from Mereria.

Unfortunately, it also meant Mel had just brought the hostile Eternals' attention onto himself. He growled and pulled his wings close as one of the three advanced on him, but before either of them could attack, Kaleth caught up with him and with a wave of his hand threw the Eternal into a rock at a speed that must have broken his host's spine, ensuring that he wouldn't move for a while.

He did the same to the other two, almost as an afterthought.

"We need to go back. Immediately," he said, glaring at Mereria.

"Agreed. We can't get past that." Mel looked where Mereria had pointed at the sky, and his eyes widened. There was a cluster of aircrafts in the distance, maybe a hundred of them. They didn't really seem to be moving, but Mel couldn't be sure. What he was sure about, though, was that they really wouldn't be able to get past them. No matter how strong Kaleth was.

"We could try flying around them?" Mel suggested. Both Kaleth and Mereria shook their heads immediately.

"No, they'll just move," Kaleth said and sighed. "And I highly doubt splitting up would work either."

"Yes, and Raynimara is injured," Mereria reminded him. Suddenly worry flashed in her eyes, and she ran back to where Rayni was passed out, completely unbothered by the snow and ice.

"Where do we go? Back to Irithara?" Mel asked Kaleth, who was glaring at the small army of aircrafts blocking their path.

"I don't think we have a choice," he replied, putting a hand on Mel's forehead and turning back, following Mereria. Mel went after him, nuzzling Kaleth's side as he went and trying to throw some positivity his way. Sadly, it wasn't very effective when he himself couldn't feel overly positive right now. Kaleth seemed to appreciate the gesture anyway, though, judging by how he stroked Mel's neck.

"Do you think you can carry her?" Kaleth asked as they reached Rayni. Mereria seemed to have decided that nothing serious had happened to Rayni and was now glaring at the blockade, much like Kaleth had done earlier. Mel was starting to wonder if maybe they didn't like each other because they were a little similar as well, beyond the fact that Kaleth reminded Mereria of Enor, and Mereria was using Kaleth's sister as her host.

"Of course I can," Mel said, but in reality he wasn't completely sure he could manage to lift Rayni's larger body. But he didn't really see an alternative. Unless Mereria switched forms, but he was starting to doubt she could do it. His memory was very spotty, but even then, he didn't remember a single instance when she'd changed.

Maybe she had the same problem as Kaleth. Or was it even a problem? They were both so strong, it didn't matter what form they took. Except for not being able to fly, maybe.

Mel waited for Kaleth and Mereria to climb onto his back before jumping over to Rayni and gingerly wrapping his front paws around her chest. He didn't remember ever ever actually trying something like this, so he hoped he wouldn't drop her mid flight. Even ignoring the fact that this was his sister, Mereria would get murderous.

If you think you can't do it— Kaleth started, but Mel interrupted him.

I can do it. He hoped, anyway.

He gritted his teeth as he started beating his wings, trying to get into the air. Thankfully it seemed that Rayni was only a bit heavier than that car he'd had to lift back in Imbera, so while it took all he had, Mel managed to rise up slowly after a moment.

Huffing, he hugged Rayni's bigger body closer to him, wrapping his hind paws around her as well. Once he was more or less sure he wouldn't drop her, he looked back at the hovercraft blockade behind him. They weren't moving, but that didn't make them look any less threatening.

Adjusting his grip once again, Mel started flying back towards the Iritharian coast. He was vaguely aware that the coast itself wasn't where the Iritharian territory began, but he didn't care—he had to get all the way to Aleara, that would be the safest bet. Mel knew that the Iritharians weren't exactly thrilled about Kaleth and the other Eternals 'visiting' in the first place, and staying anywhere else would definitely lead to more conflict.

The task turned out to be more difficult than he'd thought, however, and his plan to fly all the way to Aleara quickly changed to flying to the nearest island that was within Iritharian territory. He landed as gently as possible, which was difficult with how tired he was already.

"We need to get farther away," Mereria muttered, throwing a worried glance at Rayni and then glaring at the hovercrafts. They were so far away now that it would be difficult to spot them with mortal eyes. Mel looked down at his paws, his heart twisting with guilt.

"We are far enough," Kaleth replied, not bothering to hide his hostility. He petted Mel's forehead, taking a defensive stance in front of him. Mel just leaned into the touch.

"No, we aren't," she snapped, and Mel sighed. Why did they have to fight all the time? It was sad and exhausting. "They could move any minute and attack us."

"They haven't yet. Even though they can. This is clearly just to intimidate us and keep us in Irithara," Kaleth growled, folding his arms. Mel could feel anger radiating off of him, and he was pretty sure Mereria could feel it as well. The way the two glared at each other made Mel worry they would actually get into a physical fight right here on the snowy, frozen coast they were standing on.

And then Mereria's expression changed from rage to exasperation in the blink of an eye.

"You two are idiots," she said, the body now clearly controlled by Edras.

"Useful observation, thank you," Kaleth replied, his anger subsiding, but only a little. He must have been really angry with Mereria to act this way towards his younger sister.

"At least your reason for hating her makes sense, kind of," Edras continued, her words quickly gaining speed as she started rambling. "You are just trying to be the protective older brother even though I'm thirty-five, but fine, you have catching up to do. But Mereria—she can't even look at you without getting mad at you for reminding her of—"

She cut herself off as her eyes flashed with white light. "No one."

Mel stared at her in confusion, which was perfectly mirrored by Kaleth.

"Enor, you mean?" he finished for Edras, taking a step towards Mereria. "I already know that. And I'm not him."

"We can only hope."

Mel couldn't help but get angry then as well, while trying very hard to ignore the doubt creeping into his mind. He wouldn't just let Mereria talk to Kaleth this way. Kaleth wasn't like Enor, and he wasn't going to be like Enor. He wasn't.

Before the conversation could escalate into something even worse, a groan sounded behind Mel, who immediately turned around. Rayni was blinking up at him in confusion and exhaustion.

"What the hell are you all yelling about?" she asked, her words slurred slightly as she dragged herself to her feet. She shook her huge head and stretched out her wings, still half asleep.

Mel didn't reply, just walked over to her and nudged her shoulder. He wished he had hands so he could hug her.

"Are you okay?" Mel asked, looking her over with worry.

"Yeah, yeah, I hate those net things," Rayni mumbled, yawning. Then she looked around herself. "What happened? Did we win?"

"Um...not exactly," Mel said, looking away. Thankfully Mereria took over at that point and explained the situation to Rayni, for once not adding any passive aggressive comments to it. Which was definitely for the best because Kaleth had spent the whole time glaring at her.

"Great," Rayni said. "So, we running?"

"It's tactical retreat," Mereria said, irritation in her voice. "Are you well enough to fly?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go."

And so they flew back to Aleara. The entire time Mel kept checking behind him if the hostiles were following them. He'd soon lost track of them, but that didn't stop him. He kept waiting for them to pop up somewhere and attack them. And he could tell Kaleth was worried about the same thing.

Mel didn't like being constantly worried, and not even for his own safety, but for Kaleth's. He knew it was a bit ridiculous with how strong Kaleth was now, but that didn't matter, apparently. Mel was still so concerned something would happen to him. To him and Rayni.

Mel sighed as he landed in front of the palace, his claws cracking up the ice between the stones making up the courtyard. Winter has really gotten much harsher during the few days they'd stayed in Irithara.

Noticing the disturbed looks he had received from the guards in front of the gates, Mel kept his head down and just followed Kaleth inside. He hadn't really shown off this form around here—or anywhere for that matter—so it was understandable. But Mel just couldn't shake off the sick feeling their obvious fear brought him. He didn't want people to be scared of him.

Apparently noticing Mel's sadness, Kaleth lightly scratched him behind his ears. Mel smiled at him, and nuzzled his shoulder. That unfortunately went ignored because they reached the palace guards then.

The two men exchanged looks while clearly trying not to stare at Mel. Mel himself drew his wings in and watched the snow-covered ground. He wished he were stronger. He would be able to transform back, then. He was tired from the flight though, and changing forms would not help.

"We, um, thought you left...sir," said the guard on the left, his voice unsteady. Even though the sentence was in Iritharian, Mel could easily understand what he'd said due to his telepathic powers. He had no idea how it worked, but it meant he could talk to anyone, which was very exciting to him. Even though they had a universal language, some parts of the world preferred using their own languages, still. Such as Irithara.

"Clearly we haven't," Kaleth replied dryly, also in Iritharian. "I need to have a word with Hid—the King."

There was a second or two of silence before the second guard spoke, his voice much calmer.

"Go on."

Kaleth walked inside the palace without another word, Mel following closely behind with Mereria and Rayni keeping a slight distance. The tips of his claws were clicking against the floor, making him even more noticeable than he already was. Keeping his head down, he just walked wherever Kaleth was going. It seemed he actually knew where Hidarion was, though Mel had no idea how that was possible. Perhaps his psychic abilities were strong enough to scan through this entire palace.

Mel could hear Rayni and Mereria discussing something behind him, but he couldn't understand it. Their whispering was much too soft for even his large ears to pick up on. Which was actually a little strange, but Mel didn't want to be rude, so he didn't ask.

Bro, Rayni suddenly said in Mel's head, why don't you and your boyfriend go on ahead. Mereria wants to talk to me alone.

Mel threw a surprised look his sister's way, but then nodded, not really seeing why not. Though whatever was going to happen, whatever Kaleth wanted to tell Hidarion, Mel would have thought that Mereria would want to be present for it.

He looked back at the two women one more time before following Kaleth up the stone steps covered in a glittering, golden rug, which made the entire stairs look like they had been made from precious metal, much like the palace itself. Climbing stairs was a bit more difficult than it normally would be, but Mel managed either way.

He really hoped he would be able to turn back soon.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Kaleth immediately started heading to one of the doors on the right. He knocked and opened it without really bothering to make sure he could. Mel frowned, and poked his head inside the room as well. It was some kind of a bedroom and living room rolled into one. And of course as luxurious as anything else.

And in front of the window stood Hidarion, glass of something clear in his hand. Mel somehow doubted it was water, but the man didn't seem drunk at all.

Hidarion had turned around as soon as Kaleth had walked in, and was now looking at him and Mel with confusion. The small smile tugging on his lips at the sight of Kaleth quickly disappeared as well. Kaleth sighed, and pulled his goggles onto his forehead, revealing his beautiful green eyes. Mel wished he had a better view of them.

"Kaleth," Hidarion forced out, putting his drink on the windowsill. "Is something wrong?"

Kaleth let out a humourless chuckle and nodded. "Yes. You could say that."