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Here we go, the second installment of the first tale of the Hall of Heroes. Hope you enjoy it, as always comments are apprecaited.

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Continued from 'A Rider's choice'...

Daelin stood beside Mikael, a step to the right and behind the rider leader. Tamerin stood in an identical position to Mikael's left. It was few days after he had left Washington DC, and the bright lights of TV cameras before them were nearly blinding him. Argil, Nixarian, and Skye were standing fully visible in the background and he knew that anyone watching this would be captivated by their presence. He restrained the urge to yawn; his job today was to look noble and strong, an effect that yawning would kill. He had gone without sleep since the nap he had taken on Nixarian's back because they had had to make many preparations. First, Mikael and Argil had both agreed with Nixarian's proposal that the riders renounce their citizenship. And more than that, Argil had laid down a code of honor that the riders were to follow. All the riders had agreed that it was necessary to have such a code in place because the riders had incredible strengths in magic and knowledge, strengths that no one else had. And since they were casting themselves free of all nations, no laws could guide them any more. Tamerin had commented that the written code looked like the code of Chivalry and that had given Argil the idea for their organization's new name. After a brief discussion, the riders had decided to call themselves the Knights of Juno, in honor of the first human to fight on the side of the dragons for several millennia.

The President was due to speak in a few hours and they knew that they had to get their message out first. And that was why none of the newly formed knights had gotten any sleep. Reporters and TV crews had had to have been gathered. Broadcast equipment had to be found and set up. And now, everything was ready. The cameras were rolling and Mikael began to speak.

"People of the world," he began. "I come before you today to bring you a message. In a few hours time, the President of the United States is planning on sending you a message, telling you that the race of Dragons that have returned to the world will be working for him and that with them, he will control the world. This is a falsehood. My fellows and I," he continued, opening his hands to indicate the riders that flanked him. "Are the dragon riders of the modern age. We were once soldiers in the military of the United States, but no more. Here and now, we proclaim that we renounce our ranks and our citizenship in the United States of America. Henceforth, we will be known as the Knights of Juno. The dragons wish no harm upon the world we live in. We do not seek to be your masters, but your friends. Let it be known that no nation shall lay claim to our allegiance. No power in the world shall control the dragons. Where we go from here is your choice. I hope you will choose well."

And with that, he gave a final wave and stepped away from the TV crews. This was the signal for the crews to scatter, each one trying to have its network be the one that had the story first. Already, translators were hard at work, supplying everyone around the world with the word of the master of the knighthood. The trio walked away to where the other riders were waiting and Tamerin spoke.

"Do you think it will work?" he asked and Mikael shrugged.

"Whatever happens, the message has been given." Mikael stated. When they reached the other riders, they turned about and saw the camera crews already sending the signal out. "Now that that is done, I think that we should be going. We have our own work to do..."

***

Not a week later, Sir Daelin sat on a mountainside, watching the dragons work. After the message had gone out, Argil had proclaimed that Mikael was now the Lord of the Knighthood, and the young man had knighted each of the riders in turn. The dragons were now hard at work, ringing the mountain where the dragon nests were. But the peak, never very large, was changing before his eyes. The mountain was growing rapidly, spreading out and upward under the direction of the dragons. They had laid claim to the area and Argil had decided that all the dragons should live in the mountain, rather than in the human cities that had once called home. Daelin sat and watched the dragons work for a little while longer, than he got to his feet and turned back, walking towards the camp the Knights had set up.

"Hey Darkblade." Tamerin said when he walked up. Daelin looked at him confused for a moment and Tamerin continued. "Yes, I mean you Daelin."

"Darkblade..." Daelin repeated, mulling the word over in his head. It did seem fitting. No other knight carried a black sword after all. The knight nodded. "I like it."

"Hail Sir Daelin Darkblade." Tamerin called out. Several other knights standing around the clearing laughed and Daelin bowed to them. He had a new name to go with his new life. Smiling slightly, he continued on his way into the camp. For now, the knights were living in tents on the mountainside while the dragons crafted their new home, which did not bother the knights in the slightest, after all, they were all soldiers and used to hard conditions. After laying his rifle inside his tent, Daelin walked to the other edge of the encampment.

A little ways down the valley, two large dragons watched over a group of thirteen adolescent dragons that were playing a game that looked like tag, only with a lot more wrestling involved. Two teams seemed be playing, each team made up of a clutch of dragonlings. One of the dragons watching them was Scarlon, a pretty red and gold dragon that was the mate of Argil. Many of the dragonlings were hers, easily identified by their scale colors, each bearing a mix of their parent's colors. The other was Beryl, the green dragoness who was the mate of Skye. The green and blue dragons, though younger and less numerous than Argil and Scarlon's children, seemed to be holding their own in the rough and tumble game. Daelin chuckled to himself as an aquamarine dragon pounced on a red and silver dragon, the pair rolling around on the ground in a ball of multicolored scales as they each tried to pin the other. But, a moment later, his magic senses told him that something was wrong and he turned, seeking the source of the feeling.

The other knights didn't seem to have noticed anything, but he was certain that he had felt something. He walked a few paces away from the camp and then accessed his magic, suddenly turning invisible. He walked into the trees down-slope from the dragon camp and found what he sought. Standing behind a tree, watching the young dragons play, was a young human boy. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, and he was watching the dragons with keen interest. Daelin drew his sword silently and dropped his invisibility, tapping the boy on his shoulder with the flat of his sword's tip. The youth whirled around and stared along the length of the dark sword, his breath catching in his chest with the fear.

"Who are you?" Daelin asked suspiciously, the sword not wavering in his grip. The boy's mouth worked in silence for a moment, his eyes locked on the point of Daelin's blade that sat not an inch from his neck. Daelin sighed and lowered the sword slightly before speaking once more. "I am not going to hurt you boy, but you have to answer my questions. Okay?"

"Okay." The boy replied weakly. "My name is Nick, Nick Molenari."

"Alright Nick." Daelin said, sheathing his sword at his side. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I don't really know." The boy answered. "I came here looking for the dragons."

"Well, you have come quite a long way through the wilderness." Daelin replied, which was the truth. With the rise of the dragons, the few humans living in close proximity to them had moved away, not wanting anything to do with the huge creatures. Thus, the roads had become overgrown and it required a journey of several days through rough terrain to get there. "Come into our camp." The boy nodded and followed the knight into the camp. When they had settled next to the campfire in the center of the camp, Daelin returned to questioning the boy. "So, what is your story?"

"Well, when I was six years old," the boy began, looking around at the riders who were gathering around the fire to examine the newcomer. "I was coming back from vacation on a plane at night. I was looking out the window. And, while I was looking out the window, a white Dragon with silver timed scales stuck its head out of a cloud and winked at me before it ducked back down. Ever since then, I have been looking for information about dragons and I finally decided that I should go out and look for them. My parents called me foolish and forbade me from coming here, but I didn't listen to them. So here I am."

"That sounds like a story Argil told me." Mikael said, sitting down at Daelin's side. "At least I can tell that you are telling the truth." Mikael looked at the youth for a moment appraisingly and then spoke. "So Nick, tell me something. Do you aspire to live an honorable life?"

"I guess I do, yes sir." The boy replied, surprised at the question and he wasn't the only one. Daelin wondered where the Lord was going with this.

"Then I have an offer for you." He said and Daelin suddenly understood. "How would you like to join the Knighthood?"

"I would be honored." The boy replied his eyes wide with excitement, but Mikael held up his hand.

"Please wait before you give an answer." Mikael stated. "If you accept my offer, it will mean giving up many things. We knights will never grow old, so you will outlive all your friends and family. You will have to give up your citizenship to live with us and you will likely be branded a criminal, as we have been. You will also be trained intensively to fight and use your magic as well as we can. It is an awesome responsibility, so you must have no illusions about what your choice means. Think carefully."

"All I have wanted since I saw that dragon for the first time was to see them again, to live with them if I could." The boy said and Mikael nodded. "I have thought about this already."

"Then you are welcome here." The lord said, extending his hand to the boy. "Your training will begin tomorrow, for now, we will get you squared away with a tent, and when the dragons are done with what they are doing, I will introduce you around."

"Thank you," The youth said and then, paused a moment before adding, "My lord."

Daelin shook his head. This was going to take some getting used to...

***

Daelin stood on the edge of the newly carved out Aerie, staring out one of the openings that the dragons would come and go from. A year had passed now since the dragons had declared themselves independent. Many changes had been made in the world since that day. The President had been impeached for acting like a dictator, and his successor had pardoned the knights as a gesture of peace. While Nick Molernari had been the first of the new recruits, he was hardly the last. Dozens had turned up in the last year, so many that almost all of the dragons had a rider now, or at least they would when the youngsters finished training. As an Expert Sharpshooter, Daelin had been teaching the aspirants rifle marksmanship and most were picking it up quickly. But he was still surprised at all that had happened. The transition to independence had been surprisingly peaceful. The government hadn't taken any action against the dragons or their companion knights, at least none that they had been able to detect. All in all, everyone seemed to accept the change as a natural choice. But the eerie peacefulness was starting to worry him. Something about the behavior of the former President and the Joint Chiefs when he had last seen them was bothering him.

"Now what is the problem?" Nixarian asked and Daelin looked over at him. The dragon had padded up noiselessly from behind and he cocked an eyebrow at him. "You always seem to have some sort of problem brewing in your head. So what is it this time?"

"It has been very quiet recently." He said, returning his gaze to the wilderness spreading out below him. "Way too quiet. Call it an old soldier's instinct, but I can feel something coming and I don't like it."

"Well, we are safe here at least." Nixarian commented. "No one can get up here to bother us, so why worry?"

Daelin just shook his head and sighed. "Well, I will keep a sharp eye out when Mikael and I go to before the UN security council in a few days."

"So will I." the dragon replied.

***

A few days later, the two silver-white Dragons and their riders landed outside the UN Headquarters in New York City, to the thunderous applause of the gathered crowd. Many people had gathered in the streets outside to see the great dragons land. Mikael slid off of Argil's back, bowing to the crowd. Argil, looked at the crowd, then exhaled a tongue of flame straight up, which caused the crowd to let out a roar of approval.

"Show off." Nixarian muttered to his brother and the dragons moved off to the side, sitting down so their riders could pass them and enter the building. But Daelin's instinct warned him that all was not happy. He looked around the courtyard and, seeing nothing amiss, he turned to enter the building. But a shout from one of the police officers holding back the crowd caused the knight to turn. There, breaking through the police cordon was a man in a suit. He had a heavy magnum pistol in hand and it's barrel was raised towards Mikael's back. Daelin did not hesitate. Time slowed down as he drew his black sword, stepping forward swiftly. The man started to readjust his aim towards Daelin, but the knight was too quick. A quick thrust and the man with the gun was falling, the sword piercing through his chest with ease. Two more men fought their way through the police barrier, but they fared no better than the first had. A double slash later and Daelin's sword dripped with dark blood. The crowd was screaming, the police were dashing around and the men fell, but Daelin remained perfectly still, his blade dripping slowly while he searched for more targets, his muscles still ready to strike.

"I think you got all of them." Mikael said, striding up next to Daelin. The knight nodded and wiped off the blade on the trousers of the first man. Mikael began to search the first man and Daelin moved to do the same with the second and third. The searches turned up only one thing. On the third man, Daelin found a small radio transceiver ear bud, and he handed it to Mikael.

"Well, lets see what Argil can make of this." He said and carried it over to the dragon. Argil held out a massive paw and Mikael dropped the device into it. The tiny radio looked even smaller in the dragon's palm, but Daelin was distracted a moment later by an image blossoming in his mind. The image came from a vastly powerful but alien presence that had connected itself to his mind, a presence that he knew was Argil the Dragonlord. After a moment's hesitation, the image quickly cycled like a movie being rewound. He saw the three attackers fall to his sword, then the men arriving in the crowd, then it backtracked farther and farther until it froze in place inside a building with a familiar seal on the floor. It was the seal of the Central Intelligence Agency. The image faded quickly, but Daelin immediately felt chilled.

"I knew that it had been too peaceful." He said and Mikael nodded.

"Well, we had best get moving, the council is waiting for us." The lord stated and the two knights made their way into the building...

***

Just as the two knights were walking out of the building a few hours later, still discussing the UN council's concerns about the dragons, a man came up to them. He was dressed in an all black suit with a security headset circling up into his right ear. Both knights were instantly on guard, but the man put both hands up.

"I mean you no harm." He said. "My name is Agent Chambers, United States Secret Service. I have a message for you."

"Walk with me." Mikael said and led the way out to where the hulking dragons were still waiting for them. Mikael stopped before Argil and continued speaking. "Now, what is your message?"

"The President sends his greetings and wishes to tell you that a rogue element within the Intelligence community has been uncovered and is plotting to attack the dragons." He said, and looked to where the concrete was stained red with blood. "You have already met some of their agents today."

"Thank you." Mikael stated. "Tell your president that I said thank you." The agent nodded and walked away, headed for a black SUV parked on the street nearby. When he was well out of earshot, Mikael spoke. "Argil?"

"He was telling the truth, or at least as far as he knows it he was." The dragon replied and Daelin grinned.

"You monitored him." He said and the huge dragon nodded.

"Lets get going on home, I have had enough excitement for the day." Mikael said. The pair mounted back up and the dragons rose into the sky, headed westward...

***

A few nights later, the tension that had began with the attack outside the UN came to a head. Daelin was sleeping in his chamber in the mountain when he was suddenly awoken by a strange sound. He sat up in bed and shook his head, trying to clear it and then strained in the darkness, listening for the sound. There it was again, a faint chuff sound that made his blood run cold. It sounded like a silenced weapon being fired. In an instant, he was up, grabbing his sword from where it rested. He was only dressed in a pair of light trousers but he knew there wasn't time to get dressed. For him to have heard the sound, the attackers, whoever they were, had to be very close. The knight slung his rifle onto his shoulder and moved to the door of his darkened chamber. Foot steps carried in from the hallway outside and Daelin waited, his sword in hand. A few moments later, an arm clad all in black cloth holding a silenced pistol came into his door way and started to track across the room towards him. With a quick motion, he grabbed the attacker's wrist and threw him forward onto the floor, his sword stabbing downward into the man's side, pinning him to the ground.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Daelin asked, looking down the shaft of his sword at the man. The black clothed man didn't say anything, instead, he spat at Daelin who shrugged and then drew his sword from inside the man's side and swiped, laying open his neck. Daelin appropriated the man's pistol belt and the silenced weapon and then checked him for ID. There was none, which told the knight that this man was with the same crew that had attacked them outside the UN. Daelin Darkblade stood up and sheathed his sword before checking to make sure that his rifle was fully loaded. Seeing that it still held a full load of ammunition, he flicked the weapon's safety off and raised it to his shoulder. Daelin crept silently down the hall and into the neighboring quarters. The knight who had been occupying the chamber was dead, a single bullet hole in his temple. He hadn't even woken up.

A cold anger started to brew in Daelin's heart and he looked up at the sound of foot steps outside the room. He sent a searching tendril of magic out in that direction and found another of the black clothed attackers sneaking up the corridor. Daelin jumped out into the hall and pulled the trigger of his rifle, the report of a single shot echoing down the corridors loudly. The black clothed man fell sideways, slumping to the ground with a bloody hole dead center in his chest. Daelin grabbed the man's MP-7 submachine gun and ammo, then smiled, seeing that his shot had penetrated even the man's body armor. The prototype rifle and ammunition had worked as advertised. Running footsteps sounded coming from up the corridor and Daelin turned, sighting down the bend and waited. Mikael came around the corner, his sword bound at his side and Daelin lowered his rifle.

"What is going on?" The lord asked and Daelin stood up from his crouch.

"We are under attack." He said, kicking the corpse beside him. "I don't know how they got in, but Sir Aric is dead."

"How many?" Mikael asked, taking the MP-7 from Daelin and checking its clip.

"No idea." He said and Mikael closed his eyes, his fingers glowing slightly with magic as he searched the whole mountain in a matter of moments. Daelin kept watch while his commander worked and then looked back at him when he opened his eyes again. "More than two hundred are in the mountain. A think about a dozen knights have been murdered, but your shot scared them enough that they are holding their positions."

"Heavy weapons?" Daelin asked as the pair moved silently down the corridor, their weapons raised.

"None." He replied and Daelin grinned, reaching out with his mind towards Nixarian.

'Nix, are you there?' Daelin asked and he felt great relief when the dragon spoke in reply.

'I am. What is happening?' The dragon replied. Daelin stopped outside a room four down from his quarters at Mikael's signal and took up a position on the other side of the doorway from the lord. 'Enemies are inside the mountain. Mikael and I are hunting them down before they can do much more damage. We need you to get the aspirants to the Aerie.'

'Will do.' The dragon replied. 'The other dragons are preparing to fight as well. We will work from the top down.'

'Good.' Daelin stated and then nodded to Mikael. The lord burst around the corner with Daelin right behind him. They came into the chamber beyond in a low crouch, Mikael sweeping right and Daelin sweeping left, both of them firing on the men hidden in the room. The men shot first, but both knights had had the presence of mind to create a magic shield around them, rendering their shots harmless. Not so the knight's return fire. Not a shot was wasted, and none of the men got off more than a single shot before they were hit.

The pair worked their way down through four floors, clearing every room and killing fifty enemies. They told every knight they found to stay put, barricading themselves into strong points. By the time they got down to the bottom level, the enemy was getting smart, swarming upward through the mountain, away from the knights. Mikael and Daelin paused on the bottom level of the mountain to rest for a moment before going on and Mikael closed his eyes, listening to something, then he spoke.

"Argil says that the enemy brought along a few magic users." He stated, "The dragons have kept them out of the Aerie so far, but they are massing for an attack. He is on his way down to us right now."

"Right, lets get going." The two knights walked to the lower entrance of the mountain and waited, looking out. Daelin pointed to a group of helicopters that sat on the ground a short distance away. "That must be how they got here."

"There is Argil." Mikael stated, pointing up at a white streak that soared down towards the ground. The great dragon flew over the helicopters, sending their crews scattering, circled once, then breathed a gout of bright flame down onto the helicopters. The machines were obscured by the flames for a moment, then, as Argil circled back around, the two knights saw that all the helicopters were melting into flaming puddles of metal. The dragon settled outside the opening and both the knights climbed onto his back, holding on as he lifted quickly into the sky. It was a short trip to the top, and the dragon settled to the floor of the Aerie with ease. The two knights dropped to the ground and Tamerin ran up to them, saluting smartly.

"Good to see you sir." He said and Mikael nodded. "I happened to be up here when the attack came with a few other knights. We have held them back but they haven't made an attack in a while. I can't think of why they are waiting."

"Me neither." Mikael replied, "But I am not waiting around to find out. Are the knights armed?"

"Yes sir." Tamerin said.

"Good, lets get ready to make an assault." He ordered and walked up to the entrance. The knights were just starting forward in their assault when a blast of magic surged up the stairwell at them, throwing several knights back through the air like rag dolls. Moments later, a swarm of black clothed soldiers followed on the heels of the magic, rushing up into the dragon's den. Daelin raised his rifle and started to fire, picking off the first three that came up the stairwell. But his next few shots were deflected by a magic shield that had been raised in front of the attackers. Without a moment's pause, Daelin dropped his rifle to the ground and drew his sword, the dragon made weapon glinting in the light coming in from outside. Two of the enemy saw him coming and he dove forward suddenly, most of their fire missing him completely, the few shots that connected bouncing harmlessly off his shield. Daelin came out of the roll with great speed, slashing both of the men across their chests, his blade piercing the shield that protected them with ease.

The knight rose to his feet and advanced quickly into the midst of the attacking soldiers, his blade slashing quickly, each strike felling a soldier. Emboldened by his one man charge, the three other knights left unharmed charged forward with their own swords in hand, accompanied by dragons in their humanoid form. Daelin was almost to the stairway when a familiar voice crying out in pain caused him to halt, panting. The other knights and dragons were charging past him, but one dragon had paused. Daelin looked at the silver-white dragon and saw the distress growing on his face. He had heard the cry of pain too and the pair turned back and ran into the Aerie. A terrible sight met their eyes the moment they rounded the corner. Mikael was up against a wall, a dark clothed warrior standing back from him, one hand raised. Argil lay sprawled in the middle of the Aerie, his eyes closed, a huge chunk of rock from the ceiling laying in two pieces on either side of his head. But, more worrisome was that the commando's hand was glowing.

Daelin and Nixarian charged into the chamber side by side just as the commando made a slashing motion with his raised hand. Mikael screamed as his jumpsuit split across his chest, the magic user's spell cleaving through his skin as easily as the cloth. Mikael slumped down to the floor, blood trailing horrifically down his chest and Daelin felt a fist of fear curl around his heart. Nixarian and Daelin slowed down, stepping to the side as they approached the commando. The black-clothed man turned to face them, magic crackling around his hands.

"Do you really believe that you can beat me when I have defeated both of your masters?" The commando asked and Daelin's blood ran cold at the voice. He knew the man under the cowl, but before he could call out a warning to Nixarian, the caster sent bolts of lightning towards the two warriors. Nixarian caught the lightning headed towards him in his palm, dissipating it as the magic touched him, but Daelin was not so skilled in magic that he could do the same. Instead, he raised his sword, trusting the Dragon sword to protect him. When the lightning reached him, it touched the sword, then forked to either side, barely missing his skin. The commando looked shocked that his spell had done nothing to either of them, but then he swept his hood back, revealing what Daelin had suspected. The face under the hood was none other than the former president of the United States. "You ruined my plans. I had it all figured out. I was going to use my magic to force congress to pass a law repealing the 22nd amendment, then I would rule for the rest of my life. But you and your dragons ruined that plan, so now I think I will make you all pay."

With that, he pointed his hand at Mikael, his palm glowing brightly with magic. Both Nixarian and his rider leapt into action at the same moment. The white dragon became a lightning swift blur, charging straight towards the man. The former president screamed as Nixarian's claws pierced his chest, but the spell had already been cast. Dark bands of magic were surging towards Mikael. Time was slowing down for Daelin as the magic approached the Lord. He had never liked taking orders from someone he had once commanded. He had disliked the Lord's style of leadership and all needed to do was let the magic kill him then he would be in charge. But his personal feelings of honor welled up inside and he reached out with a last spell, speaking the words so quickly that they were almost unintelligible. The black tendrils had nearly touched the lord's skin, and Daelin knew that if it touched the lord, he would die. But it was not to be.

Daelin's desperate spell enveloped Mikael, and suddenly, Mikael was gone, his injured body replaced by Daelin. The black bands of energy wrapped themselves around him and began to squeeze. He already couldn't breath, much less speak as the bands contracted around him. The tendrils were squeezing hard, and he could feel his bones beginning to crack. Horrible pain filled his body as he felt the magic begin to crush his insides. Through the haze of pain the spell was causing, he vaguely saw Nixarian begin to writhe in sympathetic pain, collapsing onto the ground as his body felt the spell too. Daelin knew that help would not come in time to save him and he smiled grimly, a trail of blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. Using his last strength, the knight concentrated, calmly severing the link between him and his dragon, cutting himself off from his friend. Then the magic contracted a final time, and Daelin fell into darkness...

***

Nixarian drew his clawed hand out of the mage's chest as he died, then he felt a feeling of such agony surge into his body that he was unable to move, unable to think, only able to cry out. The dragon let out a roar of pain and fell to the ground. It took him a moment to notice that his body wasn't injured. The pain was surging into his head from his rider. As he fell forward, overwhelmed by the pain, he looked up to see black bands of magic encircling his rider, contracting painfully. In the midst of his silent agony, Daelin looked up at his mount, a thin smile coming to his lips and suddenly the pain vanished. Daelin's smile widened, then a horrific crunching sound signaled the rider's death. The magic faded away and Daelin's shattered body fell to the ground, slumping into a heap. Though he wanted badly to go and see to his fallen friend, Nixarian staggered to his feet and made his way instead to the fallen lord. Seeing that he still lived, the dragon quickly healed the horrific wound that had nearly killed him, leaving a long scar across his chest. Knowing that the lord would be alright eventually, he next walked over to his brother, checking to see that the huge dragon was alright. Argil was already stirred when Nixarian walked over to him.

"Are you alright?" Nixarian asked in dragonic, looking with concern as his brother got up slowly.

"I'm fine." Argil replied, looking at the black clothed man who lay dead on the floor. "The bastard teleported into the chamber and brought part of the ceiling down onto my head. Did you get him?" He got his answer from the blood that dripped from the smaller dragon's claws. Nixarian nodded anyway and the pair made their way over to the fallen knight who was being tended to by an awakened Mikael.

"He was one of the bravest men I have ever met." Mikael said, laying a hand on the fallen warrior's body. Though he had died in a very painful way, the knight was smiling, a look of final triumph on his face.

"Why didn't he just teleport Mikael out of the way?" Nixarian asked, feeling the emptiness that came with loosing his rider. "Why did he have to switch places with him?"

"It is a rule of magic." Argil stated, "You can't teleport anyone but yourself, but you can switch places with someone if you are powerful enough. No one knows why that is."

"He must be remembered." Mikael said and then Nixarian grew into his true form. He took Daelin in his hands and laid the body out on the floor. The dragon took a deep breath and bright fire wrapped itself around the knight's body. It took mere moments for the fire to burn the knight into ashes. Then, Nixarian gathered all the ashes together in a globe of magic between his hands.

"I may not have been able to keep him alive," Nixarian said, "But I can do one last thing for him." With that, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. The ashes between his hands gathered together, then compacted suddenly. The magic surrounding it grew bright, obscuring the ash, and when the others could see it again, the ashes had formed into a perfect, flawless diamond that floated in the air between the dragon's hands. Mikael smiled and nodded to Nixarian.

"Well done." He said and took the diamond in hand, feeling a strange warmth leech into his skin from within the gem, accompanying a soft light that the stone gave off. "I think I have the perfect way to memorialize our fallen heroes. Come, we have some work to do..."

***

A week later, the knights and dragons stood gathered in a room that had been tunneled out of the mountain below the Aerie. Two statues stood in the chamber; one was of Juno, the first to fight for dragons, and the other was Sir Daelin Darkblade. The statue was of the knight standing with both hands on his sword, the point of the blade resting on the ground before him. The statue's face had been shaped into a perfect likeness of the warrior by Nixarian, and not a hair was out of place. Imbedded in the ceiling of the small alcove where the statue stood, right above the head of the figure, Darkblade's Diamond glowed, shedding its pale light onto the faces of the knights. No other lights lit the chamber and Mikael stepped to the fore, his voice echoing in the silence, the new scale pattern on his jumpsuit reflecting the light dully.

"Sir Daelin Darkblade was a true knight." He began, looking on the statue. "He embodied everything that the knighthood was founded for. It is true that in life, he was often troubled by a great weight that he bore in his mind. He was a man who carried the weight of the entire world on his shoulders, the weight of his honor. He was torn by his duty to his fellow riders and the duty to a nation he swore he would defend. In the end, he chose his duty over his nation. And he chose to sacrifice himself to save my life, and as long as I live, I will never forget that. And even in death, Daelin used his last strength to save his friend, Nixarian, from sharing the pain of his passing. This alone shows his quality." Mikael turned around so he faced the statue, then drew his sword and held its blade up in front of his face, a last salute to his fallen friend. "To Daelin."

"To Daelin." The knights echoed, their blades held into the same position. A moment of total silence filled the chamber and then Mikael sheathed his blade, ending the ceremony. The knights and most of the dragons trailed away, headed out to their various duties within the mountain. But Mikael remained behind with Nixarian and Argil, the trio standing in silence until the last had gone.

"I have a question for you." Mikael said, speaking to his mount. Argil looked over at him and he continued. "Your gift to us as a reward for being dragon riders was much more power than humans can achieve, so how could a human gain enough power to rival that of dragon riders?"

"I don't know." He replied, "But however he did it, we have much more work to do. We must never again be caught unawares..."