Blade(Part 4): Midnight

Chapter 2: Marcus

Marcus felt like nothing more than an insect flying next to Drogbel. Even Anorae, Dameon, Shala, and Kai all looked tiny sitting on the Great Dragon's back. The Dragon of the Sky and Wind looked different from Araxes and Rhazaan. He had two legs instead of four, and the bends of his wings acted as the front legs. The head had a main that almost resembled that of a lion, but with a bright blue color that matched his scales, which were the color of the sky. Hanging from under Drogbel's nostrils were two long, thin whiskers that trailed behind his head as he flew forward. Marcus considered riding him with Anorae and the others as they flew across the Sea of Orathan, but the thought of being on a dragon's back while it was on the ground was terrifying enough. He would rather trust his own wings than someone or something else's. An hour of flying above the ocean eventually took them to the view of a fleet of hundreds of ships. Two smaller dragons were flying above them. One of them was a desert dragon that belonged to Matilda Colmer named "Aos", and the other was a sea and storm dragon named "Polarpi", who was ridden by the Blade of Midnight, Akanotahkon. Swimming in the ocean for hours on end every day for an entire month must have made him grow to a bigger size than the three-foot dragonling that hatched just before the last Battle of Noglidas. Drogbel began to fly towards the head of the enormous naval force, consisting of Queen Azia's ships and King Matthias'. Since Anorae didn't have a fleet as powerful as the other two monarchs, her soldiers were sharing ships with theirs. Combined, their entire army must have numbered near two hundred thousand. Drogbel landed on the Falcon, which had Rhazaan and Araxes on its deck as well. Marcus landed on the ship's deck as Anorae, Dameon, Shala, and Kai climbed off of the dragon's back. Akanotahkon quickly rushed to Dameon as his feet touched the deck.

"Sir!" he shouted. "I felt Commander Zeno die! What happened!?"

"That's a long story," Dameon answered. "And since you did not follow my direct order to stay in Astros, I'll fill you in at the helm."

"Uh, okay," said Akanotahkon. They went to helm with Shala and Kai, and Marcus looked around for Isylinor, who was near the bow of the Falcon with Xyhra and Maisa. Xyhra was holding a small tablet that had a white color, and gold trim at the edges. Marcus noticed that Xyhra had a confused look on her face as she looked at the tablet and muttered in a strange language. Once she was done, and looked out into the ocean in front of the ship. Isylinor and Maisa did the same, but nothing happened.

"No," Xyhra hissed.

"What?" asked Isylinor. Suddenly, Xyhra screamed with anger, and threw the tablet behind herself. Marcus caught it with his reflexes, and when Isylinor and Maisa looked backward and saw him, both epsilon warriors rushed to him immediately.

"Marcus, what the hell happened in Noglidas?" Maisa demanded. "I felt your grandfather's light fade!"

"That's because I killed him," Marcus enlightened. Maisa and Isylinor then froze where they stood. A look of horror came across Maisa's face. Marcus then understood why. He had just murdered his own grandfather, and confessed to it so casually that it would worry even the most battle-hardened warrior. As he was flying to the Falcon, though, he did feel guilt at his actions, even though he kept trying to tell himself that his actions were justified. The gods would disagree, but Decimus was about to kill one of his friends, along with the three people who were willing to sacrifice the lives of their soldiers to help the Colonial League win its freedom from Aziz. Maisa was ignorant of that, though, along with everyone on board the Falcon.

"Why!?" she screamed, grabbing both of his shoulders.

"Because he was about to kill Dameon," Marcus answered. "And Anorae, and Matthias, and Azia."

"He did what!?" Xyhra shouted. Marcus had forgotten that she was Dameon's real mother, and his heart raced at the goddess' scream. Dread then rushed through him as a blue light surrounded her before she suddenly appeared right in front of him. Even though he wasn't aura-sensitive, Marcus could tell that there was anger in Xyhra's eyes, and in her voice as she began to question him.