Just as I had feared, what waited for us on the other side of the portal was anything but good. The atmosphere alone was ominous, the shock of what had just happened still very much present and leaving surely everyone reeling. Friends and family had died trying to protect one another, trying to protect their home while many more hurried through the portal as quickly as possible.
Truth be told, a part of me had felt ashamed that I had failed to raise a hoof against Kaos and his madness, but it the thought was a fleeting one. As much as I loved the lands that had become my home, my family was infinitely more important, for they had become my world, and without them, life held little meaning.
As we came through the portal amongst so many others, I looked frantically over everyone; my beloved, our brace son, and the companions that had been ever at our sides for so long. One, two, three, four, five... They were all there and seemingly unharmed, but before I could even attempt to form a word in my throat, one of the last things I had expected to happen happened.
Like a terrible dream, it all unfolded so fast. From where she had been perched atop Tristan's head, Suli curled her lips back and let loose a vicious snarl. I had heard such a noise come from the green several times prior, right before she would take off in pursuit of prey, but this time it was different. No longer could I feel the build-up of excitement from the dragon right before the hunt, the thirst she felt for blood on her tongue before she took off. In fact, I couldn't feel anything from her at all, and that was when I knew that something was terribly wrong.
"Suli!" I cry out just as the green shoves herself from Tristan's head into the dark skies, an uncharacteristically barbarous look tinging her violet eyes. She ignores my concern, however, and seems only to grow agitated at it. With another malicious sound coming from deep within her throat, Suli opened her jaws as though intending to attack, but the fire fails to come. As though possessed, she takes to the skies without another thought, leaving us behind in a mad fit.
The display had been enough to invoke a painfully sorrowful trill from Merlin, who had clutched just a little tighter to my nape. He trembled, and understandably so, and I only wished that I could provide him comfort and an explanation, but I am simply dumbfounded by the event and can barely find it within myself to move or even speak. While the connection between Merlin and I did feel significantly off, it was still there, and from what I could tell, loyal Kasai seemed to have no intention on following suit with Suli.
"I-..." It's a weak and feeble attempt to speak, but with a deep breath I swallowed past the growing lump in my throat. In such a foreign land, and especially after the events that had just transpired, it would be foolish to go rushing off after the green, as agonizing as it was to even think about moving on.
The silence that falls around us in the brief moment following the dragon's outburst is damning, and with shaky breath, I break it. "Are any of you harmed?"
"Speak."
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