Let The Chaos Continue

Found You

Raven stared down the group before him and dropped his head with a sigh.

"She's in the last cave on the left down the hall," He offered. "Father, Crow, and Grandfather are in there guarding her, shred them as you please. She's chained up, the keys are in a pouch around Grandfather's neck, he's the only one with any weapons, just a dagger. And now I'd like to accept my fate and whichever one of you chose the short straw and gets the chance to murder me, go ahead, and if you could grant a dead dragon's last request, please make my death quick and tell Wren I'm sorry." With that, he sat down. "If you don't want to butcher me now, I'll wait here. I've got nowhere to run to, nowhere to be. Take your time."

Deathbringer, Orange, Shore, Rainkeeper, and Kelp stared at him, but then headed down the hall.

"Orange, you take Crow." Deathbringer whispered as they got closer. "Kelp, Shore- get Joy. Rainkeeper, you and I will take the big guy." The others nodded.

******

"You know, time's about up," Macaw commented, grinning obnoxiously at Joy, who glared at him in return. "I gave your Seawing four days to meet my demands, and yet, he hasn't even bother to come try and bargain with me again. Pity." He shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't care about you as much as you think." Joy smirked.

"More likely he's planning your murder, step by step," She guessed. "And when MY Seawing gets here, it won't end well for you." Macaw stepped forward, crouching down so that he was eye level with her.

"When will you realize it, Joy? He's weak. And we could've been so much stronger together. Too bad that time has passed." Out of the corner of her eye, Joy spotted a flash of black scales, and she grinned as Crow let out a quick yelp, and steel was pressed to Macaw's throat.

"Get the hell away from my wife  before I cut your fucking head off." A voice growled, causing Macaw to pause. Joy smiled slightly, relief surging through her at the sight of Kelp, Deathbringer and the others right behind him.

"Come on Kelp," Macaw laughed nervously. "Surely we can talk this out!" Kelp pressed the blade closer to the Rainwing's throat, glaring at him. Behind him, Orange pinned Crow to the wall by his throat, the younger dragon futility trying to wrench out of her hold. Orange, naturally, didn't budge.

Macaw's father struggled more as Rainkeeper ripped the pouch from his neck, tossing it to Shore before going back to helping Deathbringer keep the bigger dragon down. Shore took the keys from the pouch, ditching the rest of it.

Kelp slammed Macaw against the stone wall, disabling him, and Shore rushed to guard him, leaving Kelp free to drop his blade and rush to Joy's side.

"Are you okay?" He asked immediately, searching her face. "He didn't hurt you, did he? I swear to the moons, if he even dared,"

"I'm fine." Joy insisted. "He didn't do anything." Kelp looked hesitant.

"You know you can tell me if he did, right?" He said, lowering his voice. "Because if he tried to-"

"I'm FINE." Joy repeated, catching Kelp's talons in hers. "Relax." He came slightly.

"Its just...You told me last time you were fine," He whispered. "And we both know that wasn't true."

"Last time was a lot different." Joy assured him. She smiled slightly at him. "I knew you would find me."

"Well, I knew you'd be around here somewhere." He offered, his face growing serious again. "Now we have a Rainwing to skin alive." He unlocked the chains and helped her up.

"What are we doing with the rest of them?" Orange asked, glancing at Crow and Macaw's father. Deathbringer glanced at Joy. 

"Your call," He offered. "Although I was promised I would get to murder someone." There was a high pitched screech as Kelp punched Macaw, dropping the pathetic dragon to the floor. Kelp handed Joy the sword.

"Also your call," He went on. "As much as I'd love to destroy him, the killing blow belongs to you." Joy held the sword at Macaw's throat, watching as his scales went green and he stared back at her. 

"Go on," He taunted. "Kill me. I know you will. You're nothing but a killer, Joy, it's in your blood. You're all a bunch of ruthless, merciless killers. So go on, kill the only dragons who saw you for the monsters you were and tried to stop you." Joy stared back at him.

"You're right," She offered. "We are killers, and when family is threatened, we are ruthless. But merciless? Fine. You want mercy? You want me to spare your miserable life? Fine. But I promise you, Macaw, it won't be a mercy." She looked up, only to see everyone watching her, including Raven. She didn't know when he had entered the room, but she didn't really care. She nodded towards Crow.

"He's been brainwashed and manipulated by them, but isn't the worst of them. He doesn't deserve to die for that. Put him and Raven in the prison. We'll have a trial, let the forest decide his fate." Raven paled. "Relax, Raven. I have no doubt you'll be out sooner than you think. Your brother's a different story, though." She turned her gaze to Macaw.

"W-what are you gonna do to me?" He asked, daring to look a little scared. The sword pressed closer to his throat.

"You have been the scum of my life since I was four." Joy offered. "But I'm not going to kill you. That's my mercy. But something tells me that by the time I'm done, you'll be wishing, you'll be praying to moons that I had just ended your existence right now." She glanced at Macaw's father. "What's that saying? Cut off the head of the snake and the body will die." She nodded. "He's the mastermind of all of this. You can kill him for all I care." Deathbringer's face lit up.

"With pleasure," He said smugly.