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Once they were far enough away from the battle it was quiet. But not quiet in a good way. William has long since gone silent and was no longer squirming. If it was not for the occasional sniff he heard Cyrvanyx could have thought that he fell as sleep. Although most of the sounds coming from him were drowned by the sound of the wind as he flew through the night alongside Arylaryl.

He did not know for how long they had been flying, but what he knew was that they would not be able to make it to their clan in one night. Cyrvanyx was about twice as fast as a galloping horse, but he could not keep that speed up for long. He knew that Ary was faster than him, but they both preferred to stay together for the time being, it was safer that way.

They had to rest soon. They did not have any opportunity to sleep and after the battle they had just taken part in sleep was more than welcome. Cyr already felt how his eyes got heavier by the minute and his wings began to tire out.

"Ary!" He called out to her, breathing heavily. "We have to find a place to rest!"

"No!" She snapped back at him. "If we don´t get Gareth any help he might die and I won´t allow that to happen!"

"We will never make it to the clan in one night! Why do you even think that they will be able to help him?"

"The clan won´t!" The twisted her neck to look him right into his eyes. "But the humans will!"

Oh, right, he almost forgot about them. There was a small group of humans who lived a simple live in the mountains alongside the dragons, far away from politics and wars, just like the dragon clan. He did not know a lot about them, all he knew that as far as he could remember they had always been there. The humans who lived within the borders of Albia called them "highlanders", probably because they lived in the mountains, but Cyrvanyx never bothered asking.

"You won´t be able to save him if you kill yourself!" She looked away and focused on the way ahead instead. Why won´t she listen? "Ary, please, we need to find a place to rest. We will find a way to keep him alive for the night, but we need rest as well."

There was silence between them for a few moments, and Cyrvanyx glared at her all the while. He could see in her eyes that she was beginning to realize that he was right.

"Fine..." That was all she had to say.

He just sighed and decided to not press her any further and just look for a suitable place to stay overnight. Luckily dragons had good night vision compared to humans, so it was easier to make out the landscape underneath him, but he still had to focus to see clearly. Not after long he spotted the outline of a cave at the foot of a small mountain, almost small enough to count as a hill.

It was not much, but it would be enough for the night. "Ary, follow me! I found something!" He called out to her as he did a little dive to lose some height. Then he stopped flapping his wings and let the wind carry him the rest of the way. When he was about to land he bet his wings against the wind to lose his speed, blowing up some leaves from the forest ground.

He was very careful when he landed, trying to land mostly on his hind legs. The landing was surprisingly smooth, if one considered that he landed on his hind legs and merely used one of his fore paws as support as he did a few awkward steps forwards. He set William down on the ground just as he saw Arylaryl land behind him, almost as smoothly as him.

Cyrvanyx watched as she put Gareth limp body down on the ground. She stared at Gareth, waiting for him to open his eyes or show in some other way that he was not dead yet. Just seeing Arylaryl sad made him sad as well, or rather even more so since he did not cope with Henry´s death himself. It would take some time for him to get over that.

He slowly approached her, not daring to say a word and simply stared at Gareth just like she did. His armor looked similar to that of Henry after the battle, stained with blood, their enemies blood. The only blood that was his own came pouring from a wound on the side of his forehead. In the worst case he was already dead. That wound must have been inflicted when he was still wearing his helmet, which would mean that the blow had to be of immense power and that it caused damage to his brain in some way.

Cyrvanyx opened his maw to say something, but did not find the right words at first. "... He´s dead, Ary." He spoke to her in a soft voice. She just shook her head and continued to stare at him. He sighed and gave her a concerned look. "I know that it is hard to let go."

"No he is not." Her voice was a torn whisper filled with pain and grief.

"Even if he is still alive he soon will be-"

She turned her head to look him straight in his eyes. "You might have left Henry, but I won´t give up Gareth, not when he needs me the most."

He took a step back, still looking into her teary eyes. That part she said about Henry hurt him more than she might have intended. He never thought about it that way. What if Henry wasn´t really dead and he just left him there to die? What if he was still alive. When she turned her head away from him and settled down on the ground next to Gareth he wanted to say something back to her, but he could not. He just stared at her for a while longer, tears forming in his own eyes. before he turned around to face William.

The young human boy sat in the corner of the small cave that was bigger than he anticipated. There was enough room for about five dragons, more than enough for two humans and two dragons. He was simply sitting there, no word passing his lips, staring at the cave floor. Never before had he seen that boy so sad and depressed. All the times he heard of him from Henry he never mentioned him ever being so down, and rather described him as a cheerful fellow with a passion for fighting.

He walked towards him with uncertain steps. He knew he had to talk to him, say something that would cheer him up. He only had to find out would that would be. That boy has just lost his mother and his father in a single night. he could not blame him for being the way he was. But he could still try to do something about it.

"William." Cyrvanyx spoke so soft that his voice was almost a whisper. He waited for an answer, but it never came, not even a glance. William stared at the ground, not responding to him in any way. "Listen, I... I know that this is hard for you." There was still no response from him, his gaze still on the floor. He already knew that it was going to be a rather one sided conversation.

"No one should lose their parents in such a young age. I´m... very, very sorry about your loss, William. I didn´t know your mother, but your father was like a brother to me." He made a pause to take a deep breath, keeping his own tears at bay. "I... wish I could´ve saved him somehow."

Still, no response from William. The only thing he accomplished with his words was that William was starting to cry again. It was pretty clear that he had chosen the wrong words, but he did not know what else to say, did not know what to say that could comfort him at least a bit. Then an idea came to his mind, an idea that could actually work.

He settled down onto his belly and sighed, looking at William. "When your father met with you and your mother he afterwards always talked about her like she was the most beautiful being in the whole world." He forced a smile. "I clearly remember that, but I never remembered her name." A brief chuckle escaped his throat as he dwelled in memories for a bit.

"But you, William, you were different." That was the first time William moved, even if it was only slightly and easy to miss. "Your father only spoke about you twice, ever, and yet I remembered your name. Want to know why?" William raised his head, only slightly, but at least it showed Cyrvanyx that his words were showing effect.

"Because I was impressed by the things I heard about you. He talked about the spirit you had, just as cheerful as his own, and how you wanted to fight alongside him on the battlefield." He let out another chuckle. "That is why I remembered your name, William. I was fascinated by the spirit, because it reminded me of one of my own brothers. One could say you have the spirit of a dragon."

Cyrvanyx lowered his head to his eye level, even though William did not meet his gaze. "I know that this is hard for you, but it does not mean that you should give up now." He was starting to raise his voice a little. "The William your father told me about wouldn´t give up. No, he wouldn´t, he never would. He had the spirit of a dragon, and a dragon cannot be broken." He made a short pause before asking him one final question. "Do you want to make your father proud?"

For a moment there silence between the both of them. Just when he thought that William was not going to respond he slowly raised his head. When both their gazes met there was a small moment of silence again, this time the comfortable sort. He just nodded once, staring at him with trembling lips and teary eyes.

"Good. Then don´t give up. Carry one and make him proud." He said as he slowly rose from the ground, standing on all fours.

He kept eye contact with him for a while longer before he turned away. He looked over towards Arylaryl and Gareth. She laid on the cold stone floor, protectively curled around Gareth, just like he himself once did with Henry, only that Ary did it on purpose. He never really knew how much Gareth meant to her, never really knew how important he was in her mind.

Their bond was as deep as that he had with Henry, if not deeper. Because the dragons normally outlive their human companions, they close bonds with more than one knight during their years of serving the order. But Gareth was her first oath bound companion, just like Henry was Cyrvanyx´ first. He understood her grief all too well.

He wanted to talk to her, but he knew that she needed some time for herself, so he just laid down on his side right there where he settled down only a few moments ago, this time glaring at Arylaryl.

Frustrated about the whole situation, he set his head down on his paws, letting out a long sigh before he closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to sleep. He curled his tail around himself and tried to protect himself from the cold wind, coming from outside, with a wing.

Obviously he could not sleep, no matter how much he wanted to, he just could not.

He opened his eyes when he felt something poke his hind leg. To his surprise he saw William standing there, glaring down on him. "I-it´s cold." He said with a wavering voice. "Can I... lay with you."

Cyrvanyx smiled and lifted his wing, exposing his belly and chest to him. William did not hesitate for long and walked towards him and sat down, leaning his back against Cyr´s belly. Then Cyrvanyx let down his wing, protecting the young William from the cold. It did not matter that the cold wind felt very uncomfortable on his sensitive wing membranes. Protecting Henry´s son was his priority.

"I always thought dragons were cold." Cyr looked down his underside to look at William, shielded by his wing. "You know, like lizards."

He rolled his eyes. "I´m not a lizard."

"Yes, I see." William looked back at him. "But why do you have scales then? Or at least mostly?" Then his gaze wandered off somewhere else. "Dragons are nothing like any other animal I´ve seen before. You have scales at most part but at some also skin, just like us."

"I wouldn't say it like that. We are different in many ways. There might be some similarities, like that we are both sentient and able to speak but that´s about it."

"I know. It´s... weird in a way. You are sentient like us but have bodies and wear no clothes like animals. I mean..." He pointed with a finger between Cyr´s hind legs. "I think I´ve seen that on a horse before."

Cyrvanyx eyes widened and he curled his lips inwards, biting on them with his sharp teeth as he held back his laughter as best as he could. He wanted to laugh so bad, but at the same time he did not want to wake up Arylaryl. Never before had he been compared to a horse in such a way.

"What exactly is that?" William asked. "I mean where is your... you know?"

He took a deep breath after he barely managed to keep himself from laughing. "It´s called a sheath, William."

"A sheath? Like for a sword?"

That question, that question was the exact same thing Henry had asked him years ago. With his eyes clenched shut, he took a deep breath as his last attempt to keep himself from bursting out in laughter.

"Huh? What is so funny about... oh..." William giggled as he finally got the joke. "But then... I mean... what is about your... err... you know... I thought they would be inside..."

"Balls, William." He lifted his wing a little to look at him. "I´m not your mother. You don´t have to hold back using words like those." He sighed. "And yes, those can be a weak spot in a fight, but I mean, it's the same with you humans." A bit of a smirk formed on his muzzle. "But in the end the joke is on you humans. I have at least some natural armor to protect myself while you do not."

He continued to look at William with a smirk, but he was no longer looking back. He had leaned his head back against his belly and closed his eyes. Hopefully he had at least listened to what he said. He was not going to explain anything twice.

"I assume you want to sleep now?" William nodded in approval. "We have a long way still ahead of us and we both need to be in a good condition."Cyr then also closed his eyes, shifting his head on his paws until he felt at least slightly comfortable.

"Just one more thing, Cyrvanyx." He immediately opened his eyes as he looked at William, surprised that he knew his name. William stared right back at him, a flicker of anger in his eyes. "Are we going to avenge them? Father, mother and everyone else?"

Cyr was kind of surprised and shook as he heard that. Not because of the question, but because of the way he said it. He said that with no fear, or grief, just anger and confidence. At least that was how he knew that his little speech from before had just the effect he wanted it to have.

"Yes, William." He said. "I promise that sooner or later we will."

William glared at him for a few more seconds before resting his head back against his belly, closing his eyes, saying no further words. Although he could have sworn that he saw the hint of smile on his lips.

Cyrvanyx followed his example and closed his eyes, soon drifting off into a deep, deep slumber.

*Authors note*

So these four actually managed to escape the battle for good and get to safety, for now.Once they reached the Clan they will hopefully get the help they need. Let me know if you liked this chapter and leave your thoughts in the comments!