I charged right at the dragon as soon as he took a few steps out in the clearing. I made a jumping swipe at him, but he yelped and moved to the side, my claws only hitting air when I landed at where he was. Before he can return the favor, I reacted first, with my tail quickly lashed out, right across his face. The intruding dragon groaned, stumbling around a bit, appearing to be in a momentary daze. I took advantage of that, grabbing both their shoulders with my paws before he can recover. With a roar I quickly heaved him aside with all my might.

The dragon landed on his side in a thundering thud. They apparently also landed on their wing. I heard him roar in pain. I took a quick glance around the area and saw Dart and the others were awoken by the fight. They were very alarmed when they found TWO big dragons in one area. They knew something bad was happening. I also made sure there were no other dragons besides this one were coming out of their hiding spot too. If he has backup they would've shown up by now.

But I didn't see any other dragons. He appeared to be alone.

Or so everyone would think. Or maybe he was a lone guard searching without some backup.

I did not have time to think more. I scrambled up to the dragon on the ground. Before he can get up I was right on top of him. He was grunting loudly, squirming a bit beneath me as I wrestled with him a little bit, "Ow! Eee! Ah! Hey!" Shortly he stopped, gaping me while on his back, wings splayed as he was pinned by me, while I was baring teeth at him with my paws on his scaled chest, my wings flared and tail flicking behind me. I got a good look at this dragon now. He was definitely a drake, judging by his voice, about as young as me. He was kinda handsome looking unlike some other drakes I've recently met, though I don't really care about that sort of thing. He came with very green scales that makes him look like a vast forest.

But this FOREST was taken down by the likes of me.

I was thinking about killing him by having my jaws pierce his neck, but the green dragon cried as he held surrender in his eyes, "Hey, hey! Take it easy. You're acting like I want to kill you!"

I hissed at his face, "That's precisely the point of this fight, ain't it?"

The green drake objected, "Well if anything you're the one that's trying to kill ME. What's wrong with you, lady? I wasn't planning to do anything to you."

Playing dumb, huh? I growled, "I have my reasons...And I'm sure YOU know all about them."

"Hey!" Dart finally came up besides us with his sword already drawn. He pointed the tip of his blade at the pinned dragon below me, right at his face, barely close. I'm certain that would be enough to kill him right then and there if it went through his eye. Least that human was willing to help me out again instead of arrogantly-stupidly accusing me of something again. Not that I really need his help anyway. I was handling the situation just fine.

The green dragon appeared totally surprised at the sudden appearence of a human with me. Well, TWO humans with me cause Alex also joined up with all of us along with Ly, instead of just staying back and watching this matter from a distance. Alex said concerningly, "Celine, are you ok?"

Dart demanded to me without taking his glaring eyes off the pinned drake, "You got him covered?"

Ly asked too, "Yes, you done fighting him? Cause I don't think he can fight now!"

I assured, "I do, guys, and I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"Eh, it's ok." The male human remarked, determination in his eyes as he still held his stance with the sword, "I got him covered too."

I said with a smug frown, "Who's got someone pinned, human?"

Dart said with a shrug, "So what? We got him covered both ways."

Well...He's got a point.

Ly said with some concern shone for the new dragon, "You're not going to kill him, are you, guys?"

I told her, "Ly, you shouldn't be involved in this matter." I flicked my snout to a spot in the clearing, "Stay back over there and let the adults handle this."

But she declined adamantly, "But I wanna stay right here. I wanna help...Without killing someone."

For ancestor's sake...I don't have time to look after you AND deal with another dragon at the same time. I turned to Alex with a small plea, "Alex, a little help here? You know, with Ly?" But Alex didn't move. She only stared squarely at the green drake I pinned. I impatiently snorted. What's wrong with her? Why is she staring at him like that? She's acting like she hasn't seen a dragon before!

"No way." The green dragon spoke after he stared mostly at Dart and Alex, acting surprised, "Humans...With dragons? What the hell did I walk in to?"

Ly was smiling when she babbled, "Pretty crazy ain't it? I sometimes think I'M dreaming that I'm walking with something that isn't a dragon and I'm not eating them. Not that I wanna eat them, my friends aren't edible." I rolled my eyes. Oh, little one, now's not the time to make friends. He's trying to kill us under Messina's orders!

The lone drake responded, seemingly fascinated by the ordeal, "I think I'm dreaming up of all this. What's going on here? I thought dragons aren't naturally allied with humans. Did I miss something? Did I eat something that's making me hallucinate? Or did my head hit a tree branch pretty hard?"

Alex put her hands to her hips with a suspicious glare. She finally spoke after a long time, "I don't think you hit your head...I think we're a little too real to be a hallucination...And I doubt you're missing anything." I felt internally relieved. Good. Least her mind is back on track.

The green drake said to me with astonishment, "Ancestors, and she sorta sounds like she has an attitude like you do, and she's smaller. Are some females of every species like you?"

Did he really say that? I snarled, "Shut your mouth!"

His horned head flinched, "...Just asking."

Dart eagerly asked as he held up the sword, the blade threatening to poke out the drake's eye, "So, how should we end this? Shall I let you kill him, Celine, or can I?"

The green drake sounded nervous, "You wanna point that thing somewhere else, little guy? I don't like when something pointy is THIS close to my eye."

Ly declared, "Me too! I hate sharp and pointy things too! A couple times I had a vision that I was running and a pointy stick from a tree branch accidentally rammed right into my eye!" She quivered at the thought, "Looked pretty painful. In fact I think I also saw my BRAINS coming out of my head. Pretty disgusting, right? I think it is. Makes me cringe thinking about it." Alex scrunched up her face in disgust while Dart just gave her a quizzical frown. The yellow hatchling said sheepishly, "Sorry...Bad time to bring up brains?"

I ordered, "Will you be quiet? We're in the middle of something." I honestly think we should kill him now, before something happens, before I regret not doing something sooner. It'll be the best way to protect everyone.

But then I was having a second thought that he might not be what we think he is. This is kinda starting to feel like another misunderstanding, thanks to what this dragon already said so far. He could be just another dragon just passing through. No reason to kill someone that isn't really involved in our affairs. Perhaps it's best to ask questions than rush into killing him.

Even though he might be lying, but I rather not make the same sort of mistake again tonight. I hate making the same mistake twice.

But the green dragon inquired before I would, "I kinda have a few questions...What the hell are you dragons doing with humans? Are we in some kind of alliance now? And why the hell is this hatchling talking about a vision? Is she sick or something?"

Ly declared, spreading out her wings to show herself off, "What are you talking about? I'm not sick! I feel great!"

She's not getting what he meant. But this isn't the point! I spit out some more heated words, my narrowed eyes continuing to stare down at him, "I ask the questions here. You better answer them and don't play dumb with us. If you don't, we'll kill you. And if you try anything else before we decide what to do with you, we'll kill you."

Dart didn't seem too sure of the idea. He tossed my name at me in worry, "Celine..."

The green dragon still acted like he didn't know what I was going on about, "Play dumb? Try anything? Who do you think I am anyway?"

I leered a bit, "You know exactly what we are thinking."

But he still denied it, "No, I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Did I just wander into your guy's territory? You really don't like someone else intruding your space and bothering you guys? We could've made a compromise and I would've left you alone. I mean that's sorta what tends to happen when a dragon owning territory encounters an outsider."

I know that! I've dealt with a dragon like that before! He's still acting like he doesn't know anything. He still seems like he hasn't heard of us, nor acting like he was after us. Either he really is not one of Messina's dragons...Or he's a very good liar. I can't tell which.

I claimed, "We don't have a territory."

He hummed, "Sure feels like you have one."

"Pfft." I rolled my eyes, "As if dragons like you care about territory."

He stated with a smirk, "Hey, I always have respects for someone else's territory. Do you have respect for someone that has respect for you?"

I growled deeply, "Don't spin this around on me. And I told you I ask the questions!"

He said, letting out a chuckle, "You haven't asked me any questions. I got nothing to bring if I don't know them."

Ly piped in again, "He's actually right." I huffed out a sigh. Didn't I tell you to be quiet? I was getting to that!

"Alright, enough of this back and forth." Dart finally interjected with threat in his voice, bringing his sword tip much closer to the drake's face and having the smirk swept off his snout, "She's gonna ask some questions now, and you better start telling us what you know. I reckon you can imagine what would happen when I JAM this thing STRAIGHT into your eye. I'm imagining some brains oozing out of that hole after I twist this thing in there right about now." He moved the thing a bit down to the neck area, "Or shall I poke this thing right through your neck all the way to the other side? Will that be better? Might not be a quick death if I went down that route. I can do this the quickest way, or the slowest, if you don't pay attention."

I warned the green drake, "I think you better listen to him, stranger. He's not afraid to try it on somebody else. Did I mention he chopped another drake's tail with it?"

While the green dragon's eyes went wide, Ly's form quivered at the memory of that. She said, "That looked more painful than how my eye would look in my vision. He was screaming very loudly so it must've hurt."

"All right, all right!" The drake gave in, "Calm down. I'll answer whatever question you ask. Just shoot em."

Now we're getting somewhere. I asked, "Great. First question: Who are you? Second question: Why are you here?"

I can hear his tail brushing around on the grass when he replied, "My name's Raziel, and I'm merely looking for a place to sleep. But instead I came across you taking this spot with this odd looking brunch. Oh, and you attacked me for no reason...Barely forgot to mention that."

My eyes darted back and forth, trying to see if there were other dragons hiding within the shadows. I still don't see a sign of tall forms with scales anywhere. My serious, interrogating eyes focused back on him, "Are you alone?"

"What?"

"You heard me, you're not deaf. Dragons are never deaf." I demanded loudly, "I don't like repeating myself! Answer it!"

"Alright already!" The next answer left Raziel's snout, "Yes, I'm alone. I'm a lone drake going around place to place. I have no home, I have no tribe. That's it."

Is he telling the truth? I tried reading his eyes...And he seems convincing. Could still be lying. I pressed once more, "So you're not after us? You're not happening to be working for a homicidal dragon queen with one eye named Messina?"

Raziel below me wrinkled up a quizzical brow, "Dragon queen? Are you saying tribes have queens now? I thought we don't do kings and queens. We pick leaders and we follow them, we don't use terms like that. What else have I been missing?"

So did I. Apparently he hasn't heard of her either...

Ly strode up, asking him with plea in her eyes, "So you're not here to kill all of us because we made someone angry? Because it'd be kinda okay if you said so. Not that I'd LOVE the idea of you killing us, I wouldn't enjoy that. I do want to live a VERY LONG LIFE. I can probably give you a break if you're being honest about that and you promise you will never lay a claw on us. Honesty is always a good thing. Lying only brings you trouble." She glanced up at me, trepidation etched on her face, before fixing her eyes back on Raziel, "I doubt Celine is as forgiving as me. She does have a cranky side. I do foresee what she'll do to you will be VERY BAD."

Alex pointed out, thumbing at Dart, "Don't forget about him."

Raziel responded to that with his head tilting, "Why would I wanna kill you guys? You guys are bringing me nothing but curiosity. You're the ones that're threatening to kill me."

Ly stated factly, "I don't want to kill you. I just wanna talk to you."

"Hold on, hold on." Dart said, gazing at Ly, "Ly...Do you recognize this guy? You haven't been acting like it. You never seen him before at Messina's fortress?"

Ly frowned up, "Well..."

Huh, that's a good idea. That is a great way to uncover what kind of dragon they are. Why didn't I think of that?

Probably cause I was too busy interrogating this guy and worrying what he might do.

I calmly instructed the hatchling, "Take a good look at him, little one. Is he or is he not a guard you met, or saw, before? It'll help us out."

Ly squinted hard at Raziel, who was staring right back at her. After a long time, after a thoughtful, low hum welled up in her throat, Ly revealed, "...No."

I pressed, "Are you sure?"

She looked up at me, "Yes, I'm sure. I never met Raziel before. I never heard of the name either. He does have green scales like a couple I met, but I can tell they're different dragons." Her eyes fixated on the pinned drake again, "And I think I do foresee...That he won't lay a claw on us."

I don't think foreseeing him doing something is helping much. But she may be right about him.

Dart questioned Alex, "What about you, Alex? Have you seen him before, before you escaped with us?"

The silver haired human stared hard at Raziel. Raziel stared right back at her. They didn't break eye contact for a long time. I know Alex didn't say anything yet, but with the way they looked at each other...They seemed to have known each other.

Was he actually a guard under Messina after all? But Ly said she didn't know him.

For his sake...It'd better not be, or I'll rip his throat out for lying straight to my face.

Finally, Alex reported, "...No." She looked at all of us, "I don't think I saw him before either."

I started to relax my limbs and my racing heart. Ok...So he must be another dragon without a tribe that doesn't know a damn thing after all. Guess I should've known. I looked down at Raziel, "Well, Raziel, it's your lucky night." I finally stepped off his green scaled form. Raziel rolled to his fours, stretching his wings out a bit, particularily testing out the one he landed on, making it sure it wasn't broken. It wasn't apparently, luckily for him. He drew them back in, curling them.

He turned to all of us. He shortly apologized as all of us stared at him, "I guess I'm sorry for the intrusion. Didn't mean to ruin your night."

I shook my snout at that statement, "Forget it." I shot a serious look towards Dart, "It's all a misunderstanding." He merely shrugged with his shoulders.

Raziel asked with a smile on his face, his tail swishing behind him, "So what now, gorgeous? Gonna let me sleep here with you guys? I am rather curious about your...Well, 'tribe'."

Who's he calling gorgeous? I'm not into him. I brought my serious eyes back to Raziel, suspicion rose with my chest. I know we now determined that he isn't working for Messina, but I still don't exactly trust him. He was wandering around in the dark before he found us. I honestly didn't buy his story that he was just searching for a place to rest at this time of night. It didn't make much sense to me, and I found it a bit suspicious.

If he wasn't some guard trying to search for escaped prisoners, why would he be up now at this time of night, just to look for a place to sleep? I'd be sleeping by now if I were him.

What was he up to exactly?

I didn't wanna take any chances with him staying with us, so I started off as politely as I can, "Well, here's the deal." I pointed a claw at the woods, "I want you to go and leave us alone. Find someplace else to rest."

Raziel's face turned into a frown. Ly spoke to me in a begging voice, "What? Celine, no." She was pressing her forepaw against my foreleg, her eyes pleading up to me, "He can stay with us. He says he's not a bad dragon working for Messina."

"He's definitely not working for her. You helped clear that up." I added without looking down at her and only gazing at Raziel, "But just because he's not what we suspected he was doesn't mean he ain't something else bad. He still could be anything. He could be up to something else entirely."

Dart concurred, "Yeah, even I think so." I rolled my eyes. Of course you do, you bastard.

Alex agreed as well, "It is probably a good idea. I think he should go." I looked at her, eyes wide with surprise. Huh...I thought maybe she'd be on Ly's side and would've wanted him to stay with us. What's making her having that opinion?

Probably gut instinct I guess. She's probably being like me, can't trust every dragon we meet. Glad she thought of the same thing as me and Dart. Or else I'd probably lose the argument.

Raziel chuckled awkwardly, "Little bit much, don't you think?"

I said to him with eyes giving him daggers, "I don't think this concerns you, you're not part of the group. What we're doing is none of your business. You wanted a compromise, well there you go, so you better leave before I change my mind about you. And if I find out you're stalking us, I will know you're up to something devious and will kill you next time."

"Is that so?" Raziel said, waving a paw with a accepting grin, "Well I guess I can't argue with you guys. Alright, I'll take my leave." He gazed at Ly, "I may be older than her, but I do want to live longer." He moved slowly around with a long swing of his tail. He looked at us still when he faced the trees that he came from a bit to say the last few statements, "Again, sorry for intruding. And good luck doing...Whatever it is you guys are doing." With that, he padded for the woods and left the clearing. My ears can still hear some rustling coming from in there until they were less audible.

He was gone.

I huffed in relief. Then shortly Ly turned to all of us, dismayed, "Guys, he wasn't going to do anything. He seemed all right. He should've stayed."

Dart said with a shake of his head, "We can't take that chance, Ly. He's probably still dangerous."

Alex added, "Don't you find it a little odd that he shows up out of nowhere while we're all sleeping? He could've snuck up on us while we were napping and picked us off one by one. We're probably darn lucky Celine noticed he was coming before he did anything." I made a tiny smirk. Gee, she sounds like Dart. She CERTAINLY does not want this guy around us.

Well, I'm in the same boat anyway.

But Ly rejected the thought, having me wipe off the smirk, "You don't know that. He may have wanted to find a comfortable place to sleep. I think it's a bit rude to kick him out of the clearing like that. We shouldn't mind sharing our sleeping spot. The clearing does have enough room for another dragon."

I warned, "Little one...You can't believe what everyone else says to you. Not all the time. There are bad dragons that can lie to you and toy with your emotions. He might be lying about what he said."

Dart announced, "My thoughts exactly."

The hatchling replied, sadness evident in her throat as he looked out to where Raziel went off, "I know, I know some can lie...But still-"

I said after letting out a tired sigh, "Enough of this, Ly. He's gone now and he's not coming back...Hopefully. Besides, what we're up to is not his problem. No need to involve someone else." Dart purposely coughed. I groaned with a roll of my eyes, "All except this ARMY that we're gonna try to gather up for an upcoming war." I huffed, padding to this spot where I layed on before with a swish of my tail, "BUT UNTIL THEN...I'm tired." I slowly turned to the others before flopping down on my stomach, "I know we had some unexpected excitement tonight, but let's all try to go back to sleep. We still got hours before dawn."

Dart nodded in agreement, "Right." He beckoned Alex, "Come on." The two of them went back to their sleeping spots and quickly laid down, Dart laying on his back and Alex resting on her side.

Ly tried to say when she came up to me, shyly, "Uh, Celine...Can I still-"

I answered before she would finish, "Yes, Ly...You can still sleep by me." She beamed at the words. But I wasn't feeling too excited about it as I lifted a wing for her and she immediately went underneath. I hope you're past your squirming at this point.

If I even feel just a slight of a kick, Imma pushing you away from me.

*****

"Phew..." In the middle of the dark forest, Raziel tested his wing out again by stretching it out as far as it could go. It still wasn't broken, but it does feel a bit sore. Good thing too. He had his flight earlier before everything got dark...He didn't want it to be his last. The green drake looked back to the direction of that clearing he came from. The face of the blue dragoness appeared inside his head. He chuckled in amusement. Little quick on her feet. He'll give her that.

Folding his wing on his back Raziel wandered much further away, trying to put as much distance from that clearing as possible. Don't want to be seen again and be seen as a threat. He already had a taste of that mean female, he don't want his scaly ass kicked by her again. She's one tough girl, and he didn't even put up a fight!

If he did...She'd know that she wasn't as tough as she thinks...

He certainly went through another long day, so it was about time he found a place to sleep for tonight. Very soon, he found that spot. It was just under a tree, but the area around it held enough room for him to lay around. It's not the clearing but it was as good a spot as it can get. Raziel slumped down to his stomach, his tail curled up to his side. He drooped his head, but didn't lie it on the dirt. He didn't feel like sleeping yet at the moment. He was busy mulling over what he encountered.

A thoughtful expression crossed his face. So that was them...The ones he was trying to find.

They thought he was just nothing to them. That he was just an ordinary dragon trying to mind his own business. They've made a determination that he wasn't working for this dragon named Messina.

But what they didn't know...Was that he was pretending.

He had pretended to be looking for a spot to rest, although that part is also sorta true. He had pretended that he didn't know what questions they were asking. He had pretended that he didn't know them. He had pretended that he wasn't following their scents. He had pretended to be something that he wasn't.

Truth was...He actually WAS working for Messina.

Only thing about it was he wasn't a typical guard, but rather he was the assassin. The assassin the queen sent to kill them...And bring back the hatchling with the visions...Alive.

Heh...Raziel hasn't talked to this Ly before, never laid eyes on her in fact. The little one wasn't kidding that she never met him before. But obviously his majesty wasn't kidding around about her either. She really does see visions. She saw that he wouldn't hurt them.

Guess she was kinda right...He's surprised that she didn't have a vision that he had FINALLY found them, sleeping around and was watching them a bit, and had this idea to try to throw off any suspicions about him. Which was why he wandered out in the clearing in the first place when that Celine chick came back from somewhere. He figured she saw him spying on them from a distance. He figured she would have been suspicious and would've started searching, and he had to figure out some way to put her at ease a bit, or else things would've ended badly for him. His idea KINDA worked, although there were some suspicions still roused about him, but none for him to worry about. They didn't suspect a REAL thing about him. Not even the yellow hatchling surprisingly.

Ancestors...He's more surprised that she didn't have a vision that he was sent to take her back to Messina...And kill her friends...

Raziel let out a breath. Friends...They really were working together. Celine and that male human did a nice job keeping the drake at bay. He's been in this crusade against humanity for a while now...And still never thought he'd live to see that happen. And he did. Really does amaze him.

And he thought he'd never live...To see that certain human prisoner has escaped...And is out in the open...Free.

That silver haired female human showed herself in his head. His lips made a tiny smile. Alex...So that was her name. This is the first time he's ever heard her name. What an odd one for a female. Almost sounds like a male's. Unless some female humans are named that way.

He already knew the other night, but that was definitely the prisoner he kept seeing behind everyone's back. The silver hair, the face, everything. Only now she looks a little less raggedy and her hair looks a lot smoother.

She looked...Beautiful, and strong, more than she ever was.

His smile melted off his snout, still mulling over their encounter with her. He was honestly surprised that prisoner said she didn't recognize him. He has stared at Alex more than once through the bars of her dungeon. Sure they never spoken a word to each other, just stared at each other for a minute or two before he walks off and leaves her be. For him, it was just to stare at her, check on her, see how she was doing. But for her, it was probably cause she probably didn't want to speak to a dragon, considering Messina and the rest of the tribe treated her and her fellow humans like dirt. He gets where she's coming from.

Raziel furrowed his brow in confusion, trying to put some pieces in a puzzle. But why didn't Alex say anything? That was certainly surprising. He was certain that she DID recognize him. He can see it in her eyes. But she still didn't say that she recognized him. Why? Shouldn't she be frightened of him? Shouldn't Alex have accused him of working for Messina? Get angry at him? His face relaxed a bit as his mind came to some conclusion. Maybe she wasn't sure that he was the drake that she kept seeing beyond her bars after all. Some dragons do look the bit the same. Kinda makes sense to him.

The green assassin sighed, a grim expression on his face. So...He's found the escaped prisoners, after so much time tracking them. He's finally found them...Including Alex.

Alex truly is one of his targets he's been sent to kill...

They're now within reach of his teeth and claws....They're certainly within reach of his assassination tactics.

But this assignment was different than the others the queen gave him. This was unlike any other.

Throughout all this time, sniffing that female human's scent and catching up to her, hour by hour, inch by inch...

...He didn't want to kill her.

He blinked this guilt he has within his eyes, the kind of guilt he felt before, what an ordinary assassin would NEVER feel. He cannot BRING himself to kill Alex...Especially not after looking at her again. There was something different about that human, no question about it. He can never get her out of his head. He thinks about her all the time. He was concerned for her for a long time, and always wanted to make sure she was ok in her dungeon. He never wanted to hurt her. He wants her to be safe...And healthy.

How could he kill her, knowing how he feels about it?

He didn't want to kill her...He didn't want to kill anybody.

No...He can't. Raziel's eyes were now filled with fiery determination. No...He WON'T.

It might not please the queen, it might break this faith and trust she has in him. It might even get him killed if she found out he wasn't following through as ordered...

Messina WILL find out...

But he doesn't give a damn anymore. He was putting his paw down. He will not go through with her orders. Not this time. He snorted at the queen's face in his head. Screw her. He didn't like that bitch much. He's finally through with her. Frankly he wanted to cut ties from that tribe for a while now.

Yeah...That's what he'll do. If that Alex can be free of them...Then he'll be free of them too. He will do this NOW.

And he will HELP her...He will PROTECT her...No matter what.

Then he twisted his neck, staring down the path he came from, thinking about the prisoners he left behind. Question is...How can he help her? He had his paw in his chin as he tried coming up with an idea. Alex doesn't want him around, she made that clear. He was going to have to somehow convince her to let him stay with her. He needed to convince her in a way that doesn't make him look like a danger to her. And helpful, don't forget helpful.

But the other prisoners don't want him around too, so if there is a SLIGHT chance of him getting NEAR her, then he'll have to also SOMEHOW convince the others to let him join their group. He'll have to find a very clever way to do so, cause simply saying that he's harmless is not gonna cut it. And that's not gonna be easy.

For being an assassin, he was good at making up sneaky ideas, but what sort of sneaky idea can he come up with for this situation? Just watch them from a distance and- He immediately grinned, head and ears perking up, like something lit up above his horns. Aha...He's got it. He knows what to do.

He knows just how to make that happen.