The Fight for Salvus

Fox was no fighter. This much, he supposed, was obvious. He was frail, and quiet, and still a kid, technically. So of course, he did not find himself on the front lines of the battle when it began. Instead, he sent Tsunami to listen in on the conversation that happened between Tenoch and Teeba, and his heart sank when he heard its inevitable conclusion. There would be no way out of this. Thankfully, Fox had already planned his own way of helping. It wasn't scarves this time, as nice as that would be. No, he had something different in mind.

Chrysanthos arrived by his side and Fox climbed onto his dragon's back. The two were situated behind several of the buildings, hiding them from the brunt of the action. He brushed a paw across Chrys' hard scales, more of a reassurance to himself than anything. 'Do you know where everyone will be?' he asked his dragon in his mind.

Chrysanthos hurriedly picked up the pace and began to carry Fox towards one of the buildings near the center of the city. "Probably furthest away from the action. We all knew today might be the day chaos struck. I imagine anyone unable to fight would have been hidden away already."

Fox nodded his agreement, a shiver running down his spine as he heard the shouts of battle behind them. It was still far off, at the very edge of town, but he really didn't want to get any closer.

He didn't think he could stand seeing any of his friends hurt. Chrysanthos hummed a silent understanding, just as Tsunami returned. The fluttery dragon glided overhead and reached the building they were aiming for first. Tsunami gave the door a staccato knock with her beak, and after some hushed discussion from inside that Fox's ears picked up, the door swung open.

Chrysanthos reached the door and nodded to the dragons and riders gathered inside. These were all folks he didn't know quite as well, what with Salvus having grown so much over time, but he still had a deep care for all of them. "Is everyone who's evacuating here?" the dragon asked on behalf of his rider. Firefly poked his head out from among the crowd, and weaved his way to the front. Fox sighed in relief - even though he had known inwardly that all his dragons were safe, seeing them in the flesh was still a nice reassurance at present.

"Everyone's here, Fox, Cry, I can assure you! Even got some of the ducks sent our way by Terra's dragon a little big ago," Firefly said in a voice that, while still fairly loud, was more hushed than his usual energetic ramble. Everyone was clearly on edge today, especially with the fight occurring all around them.

Fox held up both hands, facing out, tapped them together, and then brought the right hand back like he was opening a gate. Then he pointed towards the forest. 'Portal's that way.' Chrysanthos nodded.

"That's probably the one where we have the best chance of not getting spotted while escaping. The Militia's in the field fighting, and while they surely might have hidden some folk in the forest to prevent runaways, there's a couple jungle dragons who are scouting the forest for us. Far as we know, the path is clear."

Fox nodded at Chrys' translation of his inner thoughts, and used his index fingers to make four little hooks in the air. 'Questions?'

The scared crowd mutely said nothing, until one young dragon burst out crying. "I'm scared," they said, and Tsunami flapped over to alight next to them and offer quiet melodies of encouragement.

"We've got this!" Firefly said, with much more bravado than he felt inwardly. "Just one step at a time, right? Follow us and we'll get you all to safety. Syntyche is meeting us up ahead, isn't that right, Cry?" He was first out the door, and Chrysanthos stepped aside to allow him out. Slowly, the group followed, and Chrysanthos, with Fox atop his back, took the lead of this odd little parade.

"Indeed," Cry agreed. Walking through town wasn't quite as scary as Fox imagined sneaking through the woods was going to be, but there was still an apprehensive feeling as the group began the walk towards safety. Oh, how Fox wished they had been able to evacuate earlier - but then, there was no better time than this, with most of the Militia distracted.

The sounds of the battle ebbed and flowed, and finally began to consistently fade as the group reached the border of town that lead into the forest. Tsunami crossed the barrier first, and looked in all directions. Nothing to be seen - just the odd silence of a forest that was usually alive with the sounds of nature. Fox thought it was mighty distressing, but they really did need to press on.

Chrysanthos hopped the barricade, while Firefly stayed at the back of the group in case of stragglers. As it turned out, the entire group hesitated to cross the relative safety of the barrier. Fox sighed. He understood their hesitation, but it was really time to go. He turned on Cry's back, sympathetically frowned at the gathered dragons and riders, and held his hands up vertically, before swiping one across the other. 'Let's go!'

It didn't take much more convincing for them to follow, not after several brave dragons hopped the barricade and encouraged their friends. Tsunami glided silently into the cover of the forest in front of them, and the group continued. "Duck low, stay quiet, and stay together," Chrysanthos instructed, an order which was accepted with hushed nods and nervous glances.

Fox gripped Cry's back harder as they began their walk into the forest itself. It was almost as if he could see eyes everywhere he looked, as if every stray branch was the spear of a soldier waiting to catch them. But still, he put on the bravest face he could for the others as he and Cry led them forwards.

They were a fairly large group, sneaking away into the trees, but Fox really didn't want to split the group up. He didn't want to risk losing anyone. So, with Firefly watching the back of the group, Fox and Chrysanthos ducked down and led the way behind a row of bushes, off the beaten path.

It wasn't very long before Fox heard sounds from up ahead. He held up a hand for the group behind him to stop, and mentally sent a question to Tsunami. 'Who is it?'

The black and white dragon, hidden high up in the trees above, responded after a moment or two. 'Three militia. Heading towards the main battle, they should pass by if you stay hidden.'

Fox nodded, and slid off of his dragon's back, pressing himself into the grass and motioning for the others to do the same. For all the fear the group felt, they were astonishingly quiet. Two of the dragons, earth element to their name, brought some dirt over the more shiny dragons for camouflage.

Fox watched through a gap in the bushes as the three militia members approached. They were following the main trail, muskets in hand and steps light. He faintly heard them discussing a guard they had left at the portal in the woods. Blast.

Despite the bad news of the portal Fox and crew were headed to being guarded, he still thought things were going fairly well in terms of staying hidden. At least, until someone behind him sneezed. And just as the enemy was closest, too. All three soldiers paused, and glanced in the direction of the bushes. Two drew their guns, at the ready.

Fox gasped silently as he could, not sure how to fight back, to keep people safe, when Cry gave him a reassuring mental nudge. 'I've got this.'

And without warning, as the three soldiers got too close for comfort, Chrysanthos lunged out of the bushes, knocking two of the three to the ground. Tsunami dived down and grabbed one of the muskets from the fallen soldiers while Chrysanthos knocked the other one unconscious by throwing them into a tree (apologizing all the while). The soldier that Tsunami had taken the weapon from chased the bird dragon off into the woods, leaving just Cry and the one remaining soldier. Fox watched on in worry.

The militia member raised his gun and fired. Chrysanthos raised his wings and set his magic to harden his scales. The bullet blessedly bounced off Cry's hardened scales, and as the soldier charged at Cry, the metal dragon sent his mind towards the other's, halting them in their tracks.

"Lay down your weapons and leave," Cry said, voice deep and powerful. Tricked by the dragon's mental suggestion, the soldier did as they were asked. When the forest had grown quiet once more, Chrysanthos beckoned to Fox and the others. "All clear," he whispered.

Fox jumped out of the bushes, stumbling a bit, and hugged Cry. 'That was terrifying! Never do it again, I was so worried you'd be hurt,' he thought in concern.

"I might have to," Cry replied, wrapping his wings around Fox before helping his rider back up onto his back. "There's still the guards at the portal. But maybe we can surprise them there, get away safe. All of us."

Tsunami appeared a bit later into their hike through the woods, no militia member in sight. With a cheerful tune, she announced how she'd gotten the fellow lost in the forest and then hurried back to assist the main group. Firefly was ecstatic that she was okay, and the two mentally chattered away as they approached the portal. They came across no other enemies until the location of the rift to the chronoscape was within earshot.

Firefly snuck on ahead this time, crawling through the undergrowth. Fox crouched low atop Cry's back. He really wasn't enjoying this life or death version of hide and seek. The dragons and others behind him got low as well, while Firefly relayed what he was seeing to his rider.

'Four militia, one dragon. Looks to be a storm dragon?' Firefly sent through thoughts. 'They're definitely more alert than the last group. Only shot I can see for this is if we circle around behind and all jump them, or something.'

'Alright,' Fox responded, about to suggest a plan - but suddenly, the portal flared and surged, and Syntyche walked out of it with two of her dragons. The soldiers whirled to attack, and Archie and Leif - Ty's dragons - launched themselves at their attackers. 'Oh gosh, we've gotta help them!'

Most of the able-bodied folk hiding in the bushes found the courage within them to jump out to join the sudden skirmish. Ty hit one soldier over the head with her bow and ducked as another swung a sword at her head. The four soldiers were quickly taken down - the dragon was another matter. The storm dragon sent spikes of frost and cold every which way until Tsunami was able to sing a tune to calm them down.

Several of Fox's group were hurt, but none were dead, and their exit was right there! Fox grinned at Ty and her dragons, and Syntyche gave him a high five in return. "Thank goodness you all were around, I thought I was in big trouble there," she said with a nervous laugh.

"Everyone who's leaving town is with us," Cry said for Fox, waving one wing at the group around them. "Everyone else is going to fight in the hopes that the artifact can get figured out." He smiled, and said something for his own sake, as well. "Teeba sends his well wishes to you."

Ty's expression warmed at that. "The same to him. He'd better not die on me while I'm getting you all out of here. Are we ready? Best to be off before any more soldiers find us all having a group hug in the woods."

Fox nodded, and gave a thumbs up. His part of the mission? An absolute success. Not bad for a simple fox, he thought to himself. Not bad at all.