The Battle

A week after Winter finished setting up her new room Phoenix returned home with both Sapphire and Healinggem. His mother was waiting for them in his office as he walked in, “Welcome back. I am glad Sapphire is here but confused as to why Healinggem is here.” She told him.

“Sapphire is going to examine Winter’s mind to see if it is safe to unbind her powers or not. If it is then she will do so. Rosary sent word that she was concerned about Winter’s wings, she is worried that there is damage that she cannot heal because they were bound for so long. We are hoping that Healinggem will be able to help.” Phoenix replied. “Where is she at the moment? Her room?”

“Likely.” Inferno sighed, “She allows myself, Lacey, and Rosary in. Keep in mind this is the first time in her entire life she has had a space all her own. She may not want anybody else in the room.” The other three nodded in understanding, then followed Inferno to Winter’s room. Sapphire knocked on the door and waited. Winter slowly opened the door and looked at the four of them before focusing on Inferno.

“What is going on? Am I in trouble?” Winter asked Inferno.

“No. Do you remember Sapphire?” Inferno replied, she quickly realized that Winter was talking to her privately because she was unsure about the others that Inferno had brought with her.

“No, I do not. We have met?” Winter was baffled, she had no recollection of meeting Sapphire before. She recognized the name but not the individual in front of her.

“Yes, she was the one who reconnected you and Storm. And who helped get you properly connected to the pack. Do you recognize Phoenix?”

“Only his scent, I assume he is the male.” Winter’s mind voice held caution as she answered the question about Phoenix. When Inferno had told her before that she had met him, she could not recall it. She still could not recall it.

“That is correct. Are you okay with speaking with all of us at once? We would like to speak with you in your room.” Winter considered Inferno for a moment before looking at the other three. She then took a step back from the door and gestured for them all to come in.

“I do apologize, Phoenix and Sapphire, I do not remember meeting you before.” Winter told them as the walked inside, she made sure to project her thoughts to everybody in her room. Phoenix looked startled but Sapphire did not look surprised by that statement.

“It is okay Winter. You were very ill at the time we last met so I am not too surprised you do not remember either of us. It took some time for your mind to heal. Thank you for letting us in. I would like to see if it is safe to unbind your powers. In order to do that I need to look into your mind, I will only do so with your permission. Healinggem is here to see if she can heal some of the damage to your wings.” Sapphire told her.

“What are you looking for in my mind? There is something you are not telling me.” Winter told Sapphire. She could vaguely sense that Sapphire knew more about why she could not remember them.

“You are correct.” Sapphire admitted with a sigh, “You were linked to the Dark, you were very close to becoming a Dark Haloing. Do you know what that means?” Winter nodded, Lacey had filled her in on what a Dark Haloing was. “Good, at least I do not need to explain that. I am looking for any trace of that link still being present. It should have been destroyed completely when you were properly linked to the pack and re-linked to Storm, but I have to be sure before I unbind your powers.”

“I think I understand, if I am still linked I put the whole pack at risk when my powers are unbound. Is that correct?” Winter asked. Sapphire was impressed at how good her speech had become. Her thoughts were clearly coherent and focused. Sapphire could also sense a very sharp mind behind her mental wall, she suspected that Winter was extraordinarily smart.

“You are correct. I was going to wait a few more months but Inferno and Phoenix believe that you are ready now. It is still up to you though.” Sapphire replied after a moment. She waited while Winter discussed Sapphires proposal with Storm.

“Okay.” Winter said after a long moment.

Sapphire approached her and placed one hand on either side of Winter’s head. When she entered Winter’s mind she immediately noticed a difference between now and just a few weeks prior. Now she felt Storm’s attention on her as well as Winter’s, compared to before when she barely had one of them. The link to the pack was strong, the link to Phoenix was present but not being actively used. This did not surprise her much, Winter was still very wary of men. There was nearly no trace of insanity, no trace of a link to the Dark. Sapphire was certain that Winter would always have faint traces of insanity in her mind, after all the she had been through it would be shocking is she were not slightly insane. Sapphire found Angel’s binding spell and released Winter’s power slowly and carefully, making sure there was no trace of the Dark in her power. Once satisfied that Winter had a hold of her power, and there was no trace of the Dark, Sapphire fully released Winter.

“How are you feeling?” Sapphire asked.

“Okay, that felt interesting. What happens now?” Winter replied.

“Now you work with somebody in this pack to gain control of your power.”

“You were able to unbind her?” Phoenix asked, startled.

“Yes, she is unbound. Who do you have to work with her?” Sapphire answered.

“Lacey and my mother should be okay to work with her.” Phoenix replied. Winter nodded in agreement. She felt calm in Phoenix’s presence, not calm enough to allow him to approach but calm enough to allow him in the room. She was also very excited to start training with her magic.

“Before you go running and starting to learn how to use you magic, will you let me look at your wings? I understand you are having difficulties when trying to fly, and you do not seem to be able to open them all the way?” Healinggem asked Winter. Winter nodded a yes to both questions, “Okay, in order to do this I do need to see all the individual joints. Including the ones that connect to your spine.” She told her. Winter looked at Phoenix who nodded in understanding and left the room. Winter removed her shirt and turned away from Healinggem then spread her wings. Instantly Healinggem could see where the wings had been bound for years, Winter could not fully open her wings even if she wanted to. The bones in her wings had clearly broken from the bindings as she grew, they then healed incorrectly once unbound. “These must hurt you constantly.”

“They do, I can fly… it just makes the pain worse. Can you help?” Winter asked.

“I can, you will not be able to fly for a minimum of six months once I do this though. The bones and muscles will need to heal and that will take time.”

“I understand. Why must I do?”

“Lay down on your stomach, keep you wings as far open as you can. This will be painful, try not to fight me okay?” Winter nodded then lay down on her bed. She relaxed as much as she could as Healinggem went to work. Over a span of three hours Healinggem healed her wings. Any bones that were not lined up properly or that were in the wrong place were re-broken or realigned one by one. Once she was done Winter’s wings were twice the size they had been. Healinggem carefully cast a spell to keep her bones in place then helped to fold them in so that Winter could move around.

“Thank you. They already hurt less.” Winter told her gratefully.

“They might ache a bit, but with everything back in place they should not hurt you as much as they did. I was able to straighten out, and repair, most of the nerves so they are no longer being pinched.” Healinggem told her. Winter nodded in understanding before going to her room to sleep.

It was a full six months before Healinggem was able to release the spell keeping Winters bones aligned and in place, another four months before she was able to fly. During that time Winter learned about Luna responsibilities, as well as the mating process. The biggest thing she learned was that sex was not suppose to be painful, but pleasurable. She decided that if she ever completed the mating process with Phoenix she would determine then if such an act was pleasurable. For the most part Phoenix left her alone, they did speak mind to mind quite frequently.

In July Inferno and Violet surprised her with a birthday party to celebrate her 20th birthday and her second year of freedom from the sex ring. She got to have cake, something she had never really had before. She decided she did not like how sweet it was but was glad for the opportunity to try it all the same. She much preferred the cinnamon apple pie and ice cream.

She loved her room and really loved that it was her place to live and protect, it was her den. Storm loved it as much as she did, they had never had a secure den before. She was able to start cooking on her own, although she always had company for at least one of her meals. She was much better about taking proper care of herself.

One day in October Inferno, Lacey, and Winter had sat down to eat lunch when the perimeter alarm sounded, the three of them looked at each other. “Inferno, did you not tell me that the perimeter alarm will only go off if a human or a Dark Haloing tried to come in?” Inferno was nodding her head when Phoenix called out over the pack mind link.

“Guards get the shield up, we have Dark Haloing’s attacking. All warriors prepare for battle.”

Lacey ran for the intermarry, Inferno right behind her. Winter asked Inferno, “Is there not a bunker of some sort to put non-combatants? Do we have a way to call for help?”

“No, too both of your questions. I have to go guard the infirmary. Go to Phoenix for instructions.” Inferno quickly called back to her over her shoulder.

Winter saw the multi coloured shield go up as she ran towards the main pack house, the shield did not hold long. With a loud crash the shield fell and Dark Haloing’s began to swarm over Blue Moon. Winter turned, spread her wings, took flight, and engaged in battle with the first Dark Haloing she came across. Unlike before she was able to control her powers, using lightning balls she was able to incinerate Dark Haloing’s one by one. She desperately tried to find Phoenix as she rose into the air, but she could not see him and she did not know what his wolf looked like.

Below Winter the Blue Moon pack had engaged in a heated battle on the ground, some were in wolf form while others were not. Shields had gone up around all of the individual buildings, non-combatants inside each one. The Blue Moon pack was holding its own until a Dark Griffin arrived, the battle began to turn with the arrival of the first one.

Seeing the battle turn Winter called on a deeper level of her magic and brewed a storm, remembering Inferno’s lessons she spread her storm over the entirety of the Pack Lands. Deep purple and blue clouds formed over all of the Blue Moon, lightning crashed and thunder roared. Winter called on the winds and trapped one Dark Griffin in a cyclone, she then incinerated it with lightning. The next one was smarter and stronger, when she got it into the cyclone it threw its own shield up before her lightning could hit it. It broke free of her cyclone and put deep scratches in her wings, she recovered before she fell and threw a cage of lightning around it. Once caught she shrank the cage until the Dark Griffin burned to ash, she was started to get tired but refused to stop. The people below were still in danger, she was also hoping that the magic brought storm would attract the attention of a winged patrol. Other Haloing’s from Blue Moon had seen what she was doing, they took to the air and helped trap the Dark Griffins so that Winter could incinerate them with lightning. Blood dripped from her wings, the cuts were bad, a few were right down to the bone and she was struggling to stay in the air.

Just as the Haloing’s of Blue Moon thought that they were going to win the battle an even greater menace arrived. Four dragons, at least a hundred feet from nose to tail tip, flew over Blue Moon. Their colours were red, green, black, and grey. Each dragon looked to be covered in soot, and all the colours were muted like the soot was coating their scales. Winter froze, unsure what to do, she then sent a cyclone at the red one that was closest to her. Her intent was to at least slow it down, she succeeded better than she thought she would. The red dragon was clearly surprised she was still able to fight back and she did more then just slow it, she trapped it. Not wasting any time she struck it with lightning, she burned it but otherwise did not do any damage. She quickly realized she could not hold it for long and truly hoped that somebody saw her storm.

Emeraldflame was on patrol when she saw the dark purple clouds over Blue Moon, she immediately knew that storm was not natural. She was a 250 foot deep green dragon with silver claws and eyes, “Emerald, are you seeing this?” She asked her Haloing.

“I see it Emeraldflame, let us cloak and see what is going on. It could just be a training drill.” Emerald replied. Emeraldflame cloaked herself with an invisibility spell and slowly drifted closer. When she saw the Dark Haloing dragons she backed away so that she could shift and send out a call for help.

“This is Emerald of Gemstone, calling Dragania, Draganio, or Phoenix. Do you hear me?” Emerald called, she remained invisible as she sent out her call. Even as she waited she saw two more grey dragons arrive over Blue Moon.

“Emerald, this is Diamond, I hear you. What do you require?” Diamonds mind voice was deep and full of power. She had not expected to reach one of the leaders, she had thought they would be too far away. Phoenix was the closest stronghold to Blue Moon. She then realized that the familial bond may have allowed her to reach Diamond easier than anybody else.

“I am on the outskirts of Blue Moon, they are under attack. Dark Dragons are involved, assistance is required immediately. Blue Moon pack cannot hold for much longer.”

“Hold your position, help is on the way. Do not engage unless you are detected.” Was the only response. Emerald hovered on the edge of the battle, waiting for whoever was to be coming.

Suddenly a portal opened up off to one side of her and Sapphire as well as Diamondflame, Diamonds dragon, flew through. Emerald was always in awe of their size, as was her dragon Emeraldflame. They were closely followed by several smaller dragons that Emerald knew as Jade, Opal, and Quartz. The three smaller dragons were scouts and only reached 75 feet in length, often scouts could be used in battles such as this to pull the injured off the battlefield as their size made them very fast and agile. Angel as Fireball and one other Phoenix by the name of Flamewing followed the dragons. Emerald was surprised to see Flamewing, his Haloing was Angels mate Blaze. Emerald revealed herself to the new arrivals as asked.

“Were do you want me?” She asked urgently. Blue Moon’s warriors were barely holding the defensive lines.

“Follow myself and Sapphire in, Flamewing and Fireball will follow behind you. Jade, Opal, and Quartz get the injured off of the battlefield. Fireball and Flamewing get to the infirmary but be ready to fight back if necessary. Let’s move.” Diamond ordered. They all took their positions and began their attack.

Diamondflame and Sapphire were very efficient with their attack, both simply clawed through the wings of their target dragons. Once the dragons could no longer fly lightning struck them and incinerated them, Winter was still fighting and had recognized that help had arrived.

Flamewing and Fireball fought their way down through Dark Haloing’s who were unshifted, they simply threw flame at them to burn them to ash as they made their way down towards the infirmary. Buildings were burning, there were injured attempting to make their way to the heavily guarded infirmary. Others were trying to help the injured to safety, the three dragon scouts went to work after they shifted upon landing. The two Phoenixes landed, quickly shifted, and aided the dragons in getting the injured off of the battlefield.

Diamondflame, Sapphire, and Emeraldflame stayed in the skies and fought the Dark dragons. One of them, a red one that Winter had already injured went after Winter again. This time it conjured sharp red crystals that it then flung at Winter who blocked the first round that it sent at her, but she failed to block the second round. The red crystals penetrated her wings and embedded themselves in her skin, she dropped. Giant holes could be seen in her wings as she dropped, bone could be seen in her wings and throughout her torso.

“Somebody catch her!” Sapphire called in panic even as she incinerated the red dragon in blue fire. Jade swiftly shifted and caught Winter before she fell too far, “Get her to the infirmary, quickly! Tell the healers there that Healinggem, Healingleafgem, and Healingstar are on their way.” Jade obeyed.

Emeraldflame covered her until she made it to the ground, as she turned to return to the air she saw a massive soot black dragon flying towards her. It was easily a hundred feet larger than her. She made it higher into the skies so that she had more room to manoeuvre but quickly realized that she would not be able to defeat this Dark creature. It was a hundred feet from her when it attempted the same manoeuvre that the red one had done. Emeraldflame went to dodge it when Diamondflame came between the spell and Emeraldflame. Wings spread wide Diamondflame reflected the Dark dragons spell back at it. The result was more spectacular than anybody could have predicted. The reflection of the spell struck the remaining Dark Haloing’s and destroyed them.

The battle had lasted for half a day, all told there were 100 dead and hundreds more injured. Some of the those killed had been killed in the air, some on the ground, the worst were the ones who had burned to death in the buildings that had exploded when their defensive lines had failed.

Healinggem, Healingleafgem, and Healingstar had arrived shortly after Diamondflame had successfully countered the black dragons attack. He was helping to rebuild the buildings destroyed in the battle, as well as helping to arrange burial for the dead. Sapphire had gone in to help the healers treat the injured.