Azriel looked at Ashdeer in surprise, "Where is the dragon? He was here right now."
"Still in front of you Azriel, if you care to look at me."
"Oh....," she nodded in stupefaction, "So, you are a Dragon...."
"The Dragon Guardian and Lord Protector of Irismus, and the Holder of the Blight", he says a bit bitterly.
"I didn't even know that something like this existed."
He winced and said, "We will continue this in a bit Azriel, I need to heal first. It will take a little time for the wounds to heal."
She realized that Ashdeer had a lot of blood over him and felt immediately mortified. She bent down and touched his shoulder, 'Oh..my god Ashdeer, how can I help?"
"You can't Azriel. Just give me a bit. I have to heal myself, Lara and the other wounded. That is why it is taking time. What you can do is shut the open eyes of the fallen, before we give them a burial."
She nodded sadly and made her way to the many fallen. There were so many that her heart began to break. The unicorns lay in patches of brown, white, grey and blue, tiny gnome people lay with throats gashed, and stomachs slashed. Tiny bird like creatures lay on one side, their wings fluttering in the wind. She took a deep, slow breath and began to tend to the wounded and the dead. A few of the survivors had joined her in the task, but she noticed that they had begun to keep at a respectful distance of her, almost as if they were terrified of her.
Almost an hour later, Ashdeer limped to her. He looked pale, and there were shadows under his eyes, but his wounds had obviously healed. Blood was still spattered on his uniform. She looked him up and down and said, "There is blood on your uniform...."
"I know...but I've used too much magic in healing. I'll wait for a fresh pair."
"Fresh pair?"
To answer her question, two human's with large wings emerged from the sky, carrying packets and reinforcements. They were tall and lanky, with pale skin and a shock of white hair, their eyes were red.
Ashdeer waved at them as they alighted on the grassy surface. They both looked grim. He said, "Ewol and Wole please take Azriel with you to the fortress. We will manage the rest." They handed over a few bags to Ashdeer and bowed to Azriel.
She looked at Ashdeer in stupefaction, "But, why?"
"Azriel, you need to leave with them. What you have unleashed here is a very powerful magic on the underlings of the Dark Lord who rules the Blight. I think you don't even know what tremors have been sent across the whole magical world. Not just the Blight and all it's dark minions, but anyone with remote access to magic will have felt your energy unleashed. We were hopeful of getting you spirited into the castle and safe. It was all my fault. You were so happy to be out at the lake, and I wanted you to have a small taste of freedom before we reached the fortress of Irismus."
She took a step back and said, "I'm sorry, I never realized what was happening...it all happened so fast. I was so scared and I..."
He raised his hand and said, "We don't have too much time I'm afraid. The Blight might send reinforcements. Nowhere is very safe for you now Azriel. Let's get you to the fortress as soon as possible."
The two albino twins came on each side of her and respectfully held her hands and shoulders. She felt them lift her off into the air. Higher and higher they went till the lake was a tiny blue dot below her and the trees looked like small ants on the grassland. Ashdeer and his compatriots were probably even smaller, and she could barely make them out. They rose till the cloud cover and then moved ahead towards the mountains. They kept flying across the slate grey mountains, which she realized was dotted with crystal trees, ravines, valleys and many breath-taking waterfalls. She had never seen such a sight in her life. Slowly the fortress of Irismus crept up and she dropped her jaw in awe.
It was a large slate grey fortress, carved into the very rock itself. A part of it hung out over the edge of the mountain, looking into the valley they had just left. She felt even the Book whisper, "Woohooooooooo" as the twins swept them past large grey turrets with the red flag of Irismus flying high on them. She realized that the turrets were dizzyingly high, and topped with crystal poles from which the red flag of Irismus flew. The flag had the symbol of a grey-green dragon, the guardian and lord of Irismus. There was a large wall on the side of the edge, which continued till a long span. It had sharp edges on the side, like teeth and she realized that it was bots of sharp metal that had been hewn to fit into the rock. A blue most ran between the outer and inner walls. The inner walls were a bit smaller than the outer walls, but also composed of the same slate grey stone. There were intricate stepwells, buildings, gardens and even a town square inside the castle. She looked and saw many buildings had domes and minarets, again dazzlingly high and intricately carved with symbols of many sorts in white, blue and red embossment. It was a place unlike any she had seen before.
They alit on a square courtyard, fringed by olive trees and intricately carved pillars, much like those she had seen at the ruined fortress. A fountain was in the middle of the courtyard and sparkling blue water flowed from it.
The twins gently placed her down and the twins bowed to her and said in unison, "Welcome to Fortress Irismus Lady Azriel."