1 Prologue

"It is over, Evgenis," the Darke Force grinned unsettlingly. Around him, like evil birds, flapped the Draconi, from whom he had stolen Lyght. The Evgenis brother stood beside each other, both exhausted and both in dragon form. Behind them, a frightened figure holding two small, sleeping babies crouched. This was the wife of Nikhil Evgenis, one of the two brothers. The other was known only by his Draconis name, for he had elected to stay in his dragon form for the majority of his life. Either way, his name was Flamethrower.

"Give up. I have conquered your comrades and soon, I will conquer you. I may even spare your wife if you step away from the Core of Order," the Darke Force cackled at the two panting brothers.

"I will never back down," Nikhil Evgenis growled, "Flamethrower, take my family to safety. I am about to finish this wretch,"

"But what are you going to –" Flamethrower began but was cut off by what happened next.

"You want me to back down? Sure. But I'm taking the Core with me," Nikhil's scales began to shimmer, and Flamethrower realized what was about to happen. He threw himself in front of the woman and the two babies to shield them from the energy outburst.

A blinding white light began to build, becoming brighter and brighter until it filled the whole cave, enveloping the Core of Order in its harsh light. All through it, the Darke Force could be heard screaming in anguish.

All of a sudden, the light was gone, but so were the Core of Order, the other Draconi and the Darke Force. The woman had collapsed and the babies were still sleeping peacefully. However, Flamethrower did not care at the moment. He looked around frantically for Nikhil but did not see him initially.

Finally, he saw his brother, in his crippled human form, lying on the cold, hard floor of the cave. Rushing over, he saw the barely-noticeable rise and fall of Nikhil's chest.

He's still alive. Flamethrower realized with a jolt.

He scooped up his brother's lifeless form, his sister-in-law and the two babies from the floor and put them gently on his wide, dragon back and began beating his powerful wings tiredly, pushing them to the limit, because he knew that his brother's life was slowly fading away and he would be gone within the hour. And there was only one person who could save him.

Moving as fast he could, he started flying towards Angsanian Towers.