A Shadowed Legacy

Epilogue

Diya 

"Are you done, Darci? We have to get going before sundown," a pale-golden-haired shifter spoke hurriedly to their companion, pacing. They glanced towards the cave entrance, as if still expecting another person.

The feline snorted at her, dark, curled hair rustling as she shook her head, "we can't be impatient with this, Diya. We need to make sure the tranquilizer has set in first, or she'll grab the first spark she can find, and we'll both go up in flames." She nodded to the partially conscious elemental beside her. Her dark hair had fallen over her face, concealing furious pale-orange eyes.

Diya looked over the fire elemental with a sneer, "they certainly didn't have any issues with that before we left their realm." The griffon sighed, brushing dirt from her dark-cream clothing, addressing Darci directly now, "where do you think Gareth went? He vanished into thin air during the chaos."

"He probably ran off to his sister, no dragon other than Suha has the guts to completely abandon their kin. It was only a matter of time," Darci scoffed, curling her lip in disdain, "too bad it takes a powerful ally away from our side of this war."

The griffon shrugged, lip curling, "well, it looks like she's unconscious now." Diya examined the elemental for a moment, then shifted and headed for the entrance, beckoning to the other shifter with a feathered tail.

-----

"Did you manage to take care of the phoenix?" An impatient voice echoed throughout the small, icy cavern the second Diya and Darci stepped through the golden field that surrounded the cave, flickering every once in a while before returning to a translucent color. A tall, lean woman with pale hair, her skin flecked with scars, turned to face the two, dark green eyes narrowed. In one corner lay a simple bed of layered cloth, and the other was covered by a shelf carved into the ice. The shelf contained various shiny metal objects, including a shattered crown that looked like someone had tried to fix once, but eventually gave up. The broken pieces lay on a soft blue cloth and would have looked like a delicate whorl of pale metals when in one piece. There were three indents, only one of which containing a turquoise blue jewel, the rest empty. The ice dragon spoke coolly from where she stood gazing at it, "where are Anis, Colden, and Elias?" She looked around again with narrowed eyes, "and what of Gareth's whereabouts? Traitors need to be dealt with."

Darci looked sideways at the griffon before speaking quietly, avoiding looking at the dragon directly, "Anis is dead, and Colden and Elias have been captured. The Reian and Aier families are scrambling to decide who will be the next leader. Um...no one knows where Gareth is. If he went to Marian, he's lost." Suha scowled at the words but didn't comment, turning to the griffon.

Diya spoke quickly as the ice dragon's gaze turned to her pointedly, "erm, I couldn't kill the half-blooded phoenix, Suha. She had a dragon protecting her, so I had to retreat." She hesitated before speaking again, "...from what Darci has told me, there was another phoenix there after Anis was killed. A full-blooded one."

"Did you at least get the fire elemental I told you about?" Suha pinched the bridge of her nose frustratedly before glowering at the two of them.

Diya brightened, her orange-gold eyes lighting up, "ah, yes, we did. They're being placed in a cell as we speak. Although we may have company soon. A small group of dark elementals was sent to find her."

Suha blinked, seeming surprised at this development. Something like excitement began to burn in her eyes, "dark elementals?"

"...that is what I said, yes?" The griffon eyed the ancient ice dragon warily.

"Send a message to them," Suha's voice rippled with anticipation, "they were our allies once, maybe we can get their help again. Do you know if any of them are from the royal family? They'll have a brighter spot of color on dark armor."

Diya tilted her head at her leader, "uh, yes. If I had to guess, it was a few of the royal guard. The leader had armor like that."

Her dark green eyes narrowed, and she nodded slowly once certain she'd decided what she wanted to do. Her voice was matter-of-fact when she spoke next, "send a message to them. I want to speak with the dark elemental personally."