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A claw burst from under the rubble as a loud gasp for air could be heard. The claw belonged to a red scaled dragon, who was struggling to pull himself out of the rubble. The best he could do was remove the debris from his upper body. Every breath was labored, every movement strained, and the feeling below his waist was numb. Panic coursed through his body, but he was thankful to see that his legs could work.

The dragon, Josiah, managed to open his eyes after resting for a moment. His eyes were a fiery orange color, yet they seemed dull instead of ignited. When his eyes adjusted to the night sky, he remembered that he was in a temple before the whole place collapsed on him. Josiah remembered just walking down the hall to his sleeping quarters and then...nothing.

Noticing that no one was around, the panic that he felt before returned. Yet, no matter what he did, he could not get the charred rock off of his body. Calming down a tiny bit, Josiah tried to breathe fire onto the rock. Thankfully, the flames were enough to melt it a tiny bit, yet it was still too heavy for lifting. Digging his silvery claws into the molten patches, tearing out chunks of rock. Combining the effort of his flames and claws, the rock began to dwindle in size.

Five more minutes passed before the rock was small enough to be rolled off of his body. Josiah screamed in agony when the rock slipped from his grasp, rolling down his back left leg, nearly crushing it. Hearing the crunching of other pieces of rubble sent pangs of sorrow through his body; he may have just killed someone..

Josiah was one of the fire guardians of the eastern temple. The temple, before it was destroyed, was made of beautiful white stone. It had five sections, each belong to their respected element. Fire, Ice/Water (they were considered the same), Earth, Electricity, and Air were the elements that most dragons possessed, but there have been reports of other elements. However, none of the 'new elements' were confirmed.

Gathering his strength, Josiah lifted upper body off the ground, getting a good view of the ocean. The moon cast it's reflection against the calm waves. If he could, he would have laughed at the irony. Feeling his lower body, he found that his back right leg and part of his tail still worked. The leg that the rock rolled off on was unresponsive.

Rolling over onto his stomach, he let out a growl when his wings hit the air. Weakly turning his head, Josiah saw that his wings were a mangled mess. Most of the scaling on them was gone and the nerves hitting the air were enough to drive him to tears. Looking around one more time, he dimly noted that some of the temple was intact. The main chamber had half of its ceiling caved in, but there was a chance that some survivors grouped up there.

Lacking the energy to stand up, Josiah crawled to that part of the temple. He couldn't even feel some of his scales being torn off. Every time he found the ability to call out, it faded when he opened his mouth. It felt like someone had filled his maw with sand. Every few yards, Josiah had to stop in case the pain returned.

After what seemed like hours, he entered the collapsed meeting room. When he did, he couldn't help his eyes from widening. The egg clutches, all brought here earlier for a ceremony, were crushed. Egg shells littered the ground and unborn infants lay scattered. No explosion could have tossed hatchlings wildly.

Then, it slowly dawned on him. The dragons were at war with the apes, a race of brutal yet intelligent mammals. They never really showed their intelligence when they send in soldiers, but when explosions such as the one here came into play, one could not admire their work, no matter the purpose. Darting his eyes, he was relieved to see that there were no apes waiting in ambush.

Creeping closer to the remainder of the Pool of Visions, he saw himself in the reflection. His red muzzle had a silver horn on the top of his nose and two from the back of his head. The top horn curved up while the bottom one curved down. Then, he noticed something that he failed to take into account: a thin piece of rubble had pierced his mid-section. How this happened or when was beyond him. Josiah screamed in pain as the strain on his body took place.

"Josiah, is that you?" a female voice asked. Movement came from behind him.

Craning his neck back, Josiah let out a hopeful chirp. There, wandering towards him, was an earth dragoness named Terra. The sight of her dusty green scales and brown ram-like horns seemed to meld the pain away. Of course, that all faded when he saw her leafy wings were torn and the flowers that grew down her spine and to her tail were all but dead. However, what made his scales pale was what happened to her face.

Her eyes were seared shut.

"Terra..." Josiah whispered. She turned her head to him, wobbling towards him. How she found him was beyond him.

"Where are you, Josiah? I can't see..." Terra called out, feeling around with her claws.

"Ten yards to your right," the fire dragon replied.

About halfway to him, she suddenly tripped. Josiah couldn't react in time to stop her fall, so she hit the ground head first. His eyes widening again, he started to crawl to her. Adrenaline surged within, and within seconds he managed to clasp his claw around hers. Terra's muzzle rose, pulling herself closer. If this had been any other time, he would have blushed.

"Is it really this dark? I never knew the nights could be like this..." she asked. Could she really not feel the burns on her eyes?

"Terra...you're....you're...." Josiah had no way of putting it gently, so he touched the burnt flesh. She squirmed in response.

"Ugh...I must have been hit really hard by that ape...." Terra rubbed where he touched with her claw. As soon as she did, she froze. "...Why don't I have scales here? Josiah, what happened? Why is it so dark? Why can't I see anything?"

The sound of her voice getting more and more hysteric made the situation darker. "Terra...your eyes....they're seared shut..." he said as gently as he could.

"...You mean...I'm BLIND?" Terra screamed, clutching her face with her claws, "No, this can't be...I was just hit hard with a club or a rock...my vision will be returning shortly."

Josiah could only tighten his grip around her claw. "Terra...you were likely hit with an explosion. You can't feel it because the nerves were all but burnt away. But...I don't think of you any less..."

Terra didn't reply, but instead wrapped her claws and wings around his upper body. Had this been any other time, he would have told her that he felt attracted to her. But surrounded by dead hatchlings, his body a mess, and no form of communication...it wouldn't lighten the mood at all. Josiah had no desire to tell her these things just yet. They just had to hold out for a day or two...the other guardians would be aware of the attack...

CRACK!

Both dragons looked to see an egg hidden in a pile of destroyed eggs. "Oh look...the hatchlings made it..." Terra smiled warmly. Her smile made Josiah grow cold.

Still staring at the egg, Josiah was able to make out that it was a purple color. Shaking his head in disbelief, he motioned Terra to crawl alongside him. Whenever they came across egg shells or a body, Josiah would motion her to stop and gently remove them from the way. Handling the hatchlings brought more silent tears to his eyes. He wanted to throw up or be nowhere near this area, but if this egg had survived...

Soon, they reached the egg and the fire dragon placed it in front of them. "Terra...the purple dragon...he made it!" he whispered to her. Watching the egg squirm as the hatchling struggled to break free brought hope through him. The project was not lost after all...

"He made it? That's fantastic! Oh, I wish the others could see this..." Terra reached out to touch the egg, but missed completely. Josiah guided her claw to the egg just as a small claw came out of the shell.

As the dragon hatched, he had a dim thought that they were parents watching their child hatch. As hard as he tried to dismiss the thoughts, they remained, and he took a long gaze at Terra. The red burns were about third degree, but maybe with some red gems, they would at least scar. A small cry turned his attention away from here and into the golden eyes of the purple dragon.

He was a dark purple color and had three white horns on his head: One from his forehead, and two from the side. Small spikes grew on his shoulders and back, with the tail being a large spike. The claws were reddish in color, as if he had blood on them. In fact, his entire appearance gave off the evil feeling, but the look in his eyes was innocent.

With a small grunt, the hatchling sniffed the air before going to the ground, shakily walking towards them. When he got between them, he curled up and fell asleep. The whole situation brought a smile to Josiah's muzzle. Amongst all this death, life survived. He saw Terra find the hatchling's head and stroke it. He leaned against her.

"What should we name him?" Terra asked.

"Malefor?" the burnt gaze Terra gave him brought more of a smile, "What? He looks evil enough. Plus, we need a name to scare the apes..."

"True...but I would rather wait until we consult the others about this."

Josiah nodded, respecting her decision. At that time, he heard movement coming from all around them. Tensing, he prepared to defend these two to his last breath. The sounds came closer and closer to the entrance and when a figure stepped into view, Josiah let off a fireball. The figure instantly jumped back, shouting. Instantly, Josiah felt stupid. He recognized that voice.

"Infernacus...is that you?" Josiah called out.

"Yes!" came the reply as the dragon in question came into view. He was a red dragon like Josiah, but darker in color. Also like Josiah, he had fiery orange eyes, but they seemed to have fire crackling within them. The horns, underbelly scales, and claws were black, matching the wing membrane. On the top of his head, fur grew. This was also starting to occur on the bottom of his chin. The fur stopped at shoulder length. Down his tail, spikes ran their course. On the tip of his tail, it ended in a shape similar to a half moon.

A small group of dragons followed the other fire guardian in, a few wincing at the sight before them, Infernacus included. "What happened here?" Infernacus asked, slowly walking towards them.

"Apes."

The realization that everyone had had some relief. He didn't have to explain the whole situation; that word described enough. Josiah watched Infernacus pull a red gem out of a bag he kept, giving it to each of them. Once he did, he looked in between them and Josiah thought his eyes were going to pop from how big they got.

"Josiah, is that a...?" Infernacus looked between Josiah and Terra.

"Yes...it's a purple dragon," Terra explained, using the gem. Her burns shrank and scarred, but her eyes still did not open. The expression on her face showed the fear that coursed through her body.

"...I don't believe it." Infernacus blinked before motioning to the other guardians to aid them, "I expect a full report of what happened here when you recover." He said to Josiah.

"Aye...I'll do that for you..."

Face it, it's a lot better than the original already. I enjoyed writing this more than half the stuff I write. Sure, it's a bit shoddy, but the darker tone of it make me feel better. Don't worry, that's the darkest thing for a few chapters. I think. My brain likes to randomly change things on me. But yes, I'll try and get to the next chapter asap.

Also, it should be noted that Infernacus does not belong to me. He belongs to WolfofSorrow on Deviantart. She could also be found on Furaffinity under the name Weirdhyenas. I dunno, I may have him be a reoccurring role if it calls for that. I don't feel in the mood to create everything ever.