"Quickly Roh," Asce seethed through tightly clenched teeth although none of his anger was directed at his wife. His hand was tight around her forearm as he pulled her through the burning halls of their home.
"I'm moving as quickly as I can." Rohesia replied to him, her voice a heavy mix of emotions.
She didn't have time to feel any of them. The scratch of the smoke as she breathed it into her lungs, the heat of the fire cracking against her exposed skin, not even the painful stabbing in her heart and soul at the loss of her beautiful dragon, Neta could distract her from the need to get her daughter out of the castle.
Tucked beneath the safety of blankets and nestled into the warmth of her mother's chest, three-month-old, Emeline the Princess of Wyvern, stirred restlessly with all the chaos erupting around her.
Asce and Roh darted through the halls of their home. Roh pushed herself further into Asce's side as a part of the ceiling fell down behind them, narrowly missing the pair.
They knew this was coming and they had no way of stopping it. There death was imminent, there dragons were gone, half of their soul murdered by the council who wished to rule, there castle was about to be nothing more than ash, they're strength and power gone, nothing left for them to do, except one.
Save their daughter.
Adkin was waiting for them in the centre courtyard, sat atop Nuri, her red scales reflecting horrifyingly beautifully under the light of the fire. He was ready with multiple saddle bags hung over Nuri's large hunches, they're eyes distracted in horror as the bright red, yellow and orange colours burnt away the castle.
"Adkin," Roh breathed in relief finally allowing a tear to slip from her eyes.
Her steps slowed as she got closer to the man and his dragon. Her arms instinctively wrapped tighter around her baby girl. It was her job to protect her, from the moment Roh knew she had a life beginning in her belly she swore her life to protect her child but never would she have imagined that the day would arrive so soon.
Pulling the blanket back away from Emeline, Roh slowly leant over her little baby, lips pressing softly against her head. She tasted salt as she let her lips linger on Eme's forehead. This would be the last time she would ever see her daughter, hold her, kiss her and her heart shattered into dust, nothing would heal it now.
"I love you my sweet girl, be safe." She whispered before pressing one final small kiss to Eme's forehead, fingers stroking through the soft tufts of her brown hair.
Asce carefully removed Eme from Roh's shaking arms, watching as one of the women he loved the most in this world completely fall apart in front of him. He had no words for his baby girl, all he could do was give her one quick kiss to her head, putting everything he felt into it before handing her up to his closest friend. If he held into her for a second longer, he would have never been able to let her go.
Adkin quickly took Eme from his Asce's arms, seeing the pain clearly painted in his green eyes. He brought Eme to his chest and pulled the bindings of the carrier tight so she was secure against his chest, blanket covering her head to protect her from the winds they were about to endure.
"Keep her safe." Asce said tightly, arm reaching out to pull Roh to his chest supporting her weight as her legs gave out from beneath her.
Adkin nodded at Asce and Roh, Asce returned the nod tears falling freely from his eyes.
This was the way they had decided it to be but it didn't hurt any less.
With a quick kick of his legs, they were gone. Nuri huffed a noise in goodbye to the people in front of her before she shot into the sky, giving herself enough height before flapping the large expanse of her wings taking them far from the people they once were.
