The time had come, and the elder wolf stared at the three under seasoned warriors who had left their Princess to face that palace alone. No matter how good Kyera was, she couldn't handle an entire palace guard, not unless the power within her exploded out. By the time that happened she may very well be dead from the force of it all. These fools had even agreed to leave her here if she did not arrive by a specific time. How ignorant.
"Daxin…" Empress Vivina began weakly and the man looked at her. She was so pale, and sickly he could hardly believe this was the gorgeous empress he remembered from before. The hardship of the last few months took more of a toll than be had hoped. That bloody heartless prince.
"Everyone load into the carriages. The time is nearly up. Empress, you need to rest." Daxin tried to sooth her gently.
"We can't leave without Kyera." Empress Vivian protested but Daxin frowned. He shot a glare the two boys helping the others into the carriage.
"Kyera gave the order for us to leave and it was accepted. We have to get you to safety." Daxin replied controlling his voice not to show his concern. Honestly, he didn't want to leave either but disobeying the Princess was a breakdown in order. If he did so and they waited, it would be no different than the Dark Ones who believed they knew better than the Princess.
"I…I am the Empress Dowager. My orders overrule hers." Empress Vivian tried to pull rank but deep down she knew it was a long shot.
"Empress Vivian, no offense but the Forest Knights have always acted in the best interest of the royals. That being said, we have never followed your orders over our Princess." He reminded her gently and offered her a hand to get her to climb into the carriage.
Vivian sighed deeply and she took Daxin's hand to step into the carriage. They were not going to give her options, just as Kyera had not. It made sense, she had been a part of the world that tortured their kind. She had been married to the man who ordered the slaughter of their kin. Right now, she should just be grateful they were taking her away from here.
"Old Lupine one, we will not go with you." Ember told him coolly. He flinched slightly and turned to them.
"Then you will disobey the orders of your Storm Queen?" He asked, hoping that the title would achieve his goal.
"You do not understand the ways of the storm. We do not always obey the Queen's words, but we without fail do as she wished." Ember replied with a bit of a draconian grin. It made most the smaller creatures feel as though they were food morsels arguing with the one who held the plate.
"So… you are going with us as she wished?" Cian asked raising an eyebrow slowly. He wasn't sure where these beasts were going with this.
"No, she wished to remove the Empress from danger, all of you and the Empress will climb aboard a coach and the other dragons and go home. My flying companion and I will make other arrangements for us." Ember replied as he looked at the forest.
"As you wish." Daxin agreed, realizing there would be no convincing this dragon and they were wasting time. The four dragons supporting the carriages leaped into the air, and the two guard dragons followed suit, one flying behind and one overtaking the carriages to lead.
Seri approached cautiously and sat beside Ember, her petite form gazing up at him through warm golden eyes. Her crimson scales seemed even deeper in the shadows of the woods. He glanced at her for a moment before stareing at these woods.
"Why are you so tense? Do you feel something?" Seri asked, her words were curious and timid. Ember snorted.
"No, I just… grrr." The soft growling notion peeked Seri's interest.
"You can talk to me, Dear one. I shall not tell a soul." she reminded him and laid down to listen.
"I know. I just remember last time I left Kyera in these woods alone. She almost died 4 times before we were reunited. When we were her soul was so tortured that she was a different person. Still My Storm Queen but a bridled power, afraid of herself." He explained with a deep sigh that almost set the tree infront of him on fire, but Seri let a puff of her own fire escape and engulf and stop his.
"Do you ever regret it? Responding to her call with your sister?" Seri asked and Ember chuckled darkly.
"Seri, I hope one day you learn a love deep enough that suffering their pain is worth anything just to see them smile." Ember replied as his tail discretely swung closer to his and wrapped around the tip of hers "And I hope I am the one to teach you."