Ten, seemingly endless, years past. All the things that were good turned into malice. There were three exceptions. The dragons Ilorina, Dai-Dai, and Mae had remained pure. Each had grown into some sort of spectacular dragon.

Ilorina was the first to mature. She was winged grace itself, and was commonly compared to goddesses by other dragons. Despite the praising she remained modest, and healed dragons. Her feathered wings glittered even in the darkness, and her scales seemed to shine with a holy light that helped to heal.

Dai-Dai had had a drastic change in his appearance. His mucky red-gray color had changed to a bright shade of glossy red with silver highlights. Legs had become strong and powerful, just like his massive set of wings. He had become wise and clever, because of all the experience he had received from various quests for knowledge.

Mae, who had taken the name of Kailan as was the custom of his clan when one was chosen. He had become the newest leader, due to his amazing skills and intelligence. Mae had grown for very sturdy legs, that allowed him to bound faster than any dragon from any dragon. Despite this he had lost a horn from a bit of foolishness.

He was the youngest ever to take the position of Kailan in his clan, but he had been chosen by the eldest and they knew what they were doing.

At least everyone hoped that.

The war between dragons had begun. It was for land, honor and a hope for the future they all claimed. The three dragons convinced their clans to remain neutral. It only lasted for a short while, before something happened to prevent that.

"KAILAN!" A distressed dragon yelled as it ran in and out of caves dodging random dragons that were in his path. The dragon finally ran into a very small cave. He came face to face with a handsome one horned dragon.

"Kailan! A dragon has been attacked at the borders!" The dragon was doing its best not to pant.

"How badly is it?" Was the Kailan's first question. It did not matter if the dragon was from a rival clan or not. It just mattered if they were alive or dead. "Well, Scout?" The Kailan pressured.

"He's barely alive, and..." Scout tried to break bad news in a nice roundabout way.

Mae simply glared at his spy, and friend.

 "We do not know who attacked the dragon, but we do know this dragon had an immense amount of power. The surrounding area was burnt to a near crisp. If this dragon is with another clan we are in great danger."

"No joking," The Kailan sighed. He could not dwell on that problem for long as two more dragons rushed into his quarters.

"Rina? Dai?" He said in great surprise.

Ilorina fluffed up her wings a bit, *We have a problem.*

*A major problem,* added Dai-Dai.

"Don't tell me a dragon was attacked on your borders."

 *I'm afraid so.* Dai-Dai confirmed one of his best friends fears.

*May we assume that you found a dragon that was also burnt to a crisp? Scout is here after all.* Ilorina waved her tail in Scout's general direction.

Scout waved and nodded.

"Three attacks on our clans borders. All by the same dragon, but the dragon cannot fly or walk that fast can it?" Mae walked over to the corner of his room and began to dig through a pile of scrolls. 

*You don't even know what borders were attacked. How can you already tell that it is impossible to get from one place to another.* Ilorina said in an annoyed tone. He had yet to listen to all the facts.

*He knows we would never come if the attacks were close together. We would have been able to catch the dragon before it got to there territory.* 

*Whatever you say.*

"Ahhaa!" Mae exclaimed as his head popped out of the pile of scrolls. A fancily decorated scroll was hooked on to his one horn. Walking over to the group he smiled as he rolled it out on the floor.

All three gave him a very flabbergasted look.

*You don't think...?* Rina whispered.

*It honestly can't be him!* Dai objected.

Mae gave them all a grave look. All he said was, "It is."

***

The fools were playing into his trap. They were going to flee straight into a war. He almost giggled to himself thinking of the awful genocide he was going to cause.

Aritarg would wipe out this little mistake.

And there was nothing the other gods could do about it.

*** 

*Gratiiiiiira.* Col cried from a rather awkward perch in a tree. She was in her goddess form since no dragons came out this far into the wilderness.

*Whaaaat?*

*Would you hurry up? We have to save those poor dragons before Aritarg does something terrible!*

*I'm waiting for Kyna.*

*Then tell him to hurry up!*

"I'm here already," said the god. He was also in his godly form.

*ACK!* Col almost fell from her perch in a most inelegant display. If it was not for her powerful wings she would have made a fool of herself. That had not been unusual lately.

All the three of them were nervous. They all knew perfectly well that Aritarg was planning something that would destroy all Bishel dragon kind. They had to stop him before he destroyed their creations. This plotting had pushed them all to their limits.  

And of course that was part of Aritarg's plan as well.

"This vexing task is going to take quite a lot of miracles."

*Well,* Gratira came to great both gods, *That is our department.*

***

"What do you mean all of the main caverns are blocked off?" Mae growled at one of his assistants. 

The dragon stuttered as it explained their situation. Someone or something had cause cave ins in all of the important caverns. The only pathways left were the tunnels that opened near battle fields.

Curses flowed from Mae as he made his way to the main hall where the two other clans were waiting. Being a leader was great, but it did have very large down sides when dealing with large groups. 

He explained the situation and suggested that a few of the strongest dragons from each clan accompany him to see if the paths were safe, otherwise they would have to go by other clan routes.

It was decided that they would all go, no matter the risk. The two other representatives of the clans had decided that they could wait no longer. War was upon them, and death would shortly follow afterwards.

So they choose the north route, which lead them past a former battle field. The only things left were the bones of their kin from other clans. It was a sad place, and a graveyard in its own right. They would cross the place undisturbed according to all of the scouts and seekers. At the end of the trail they would head to a safe haven.

Or at least Rina had hoped. She had received a vision from her patron goddess. It had showed a place filled with lush vegetation, plentiful water sources, and trees as high as the mountains. There, at the tip of the paradise was their lightly beaten path.

The wryms were clinging to their parents, the elderly were supported by the young, and the warriors guarded all. They trudged along at a snails pace so no one would be left behind. 

Dai, Mae, and Rina were leading them. Only the sounds of dragon footfall and crunching of light snow was heard as they passed through the grave yard. Each dragon prayed for the fallen, in hopes that they were somehow safe and had managed to get over the small barriers that faced them in life.  They prayed that the gods and goddesses were now looking on the living with kindness.

Alas, one god was not.

Dai stopped. His companions, and all those behind him came to a halt as well.  He looked to Mae, *Do you smell that?*

His comrade sniffed the air. *Strange... It smells like...*

Both dragons heads snapped to the north. The third dragon had already caught sight of the dangerous foe approaching them. 

Mae hissed as he ran to force the company back. "Turn back! Turn back!" He called to warriors further down the line. If they turned back then all the civilians would as well. "Protect the females and wyrms if moving is impossible!" He saw several frontline flying seekers relay the message to dragons down the line. "Let it be enough," He whispered as he came face to face with his second in command.

"Use the other route! HURRY these dragons down the line." Mae looked over his shoulder and noticed that the black figure was still moving. "I know it is very difficult to move so many dragons but we have little time."

"But Sir! What danger can one dragon bring?"

"It does not SMELL like a dragon despite its looks. I'm not going to push our luck when we have so many innocents along with us."

"But Sir!"

"By the grace of the gods! Leave now with them! I ask you as a friend and not a superior!"

The Second seemed shocked for a bit. "As you wish.." He gave a graceful bow as he turned to the party and prepared for departure. 

Mae turned back to the other problem. The looming figure was almost on top of his two friends. He noticed that Ilorina's wings were full stretched and puffed up to an enormous size. Also, smoke was puffing out from Dai-Dai's nostrils as his back spines seemed to straighten to an odd point. 

Mae did the only thing he could do. He ran with all his grace and speed to meet his friends and this new force. His breathing was heavy and labored, like he was about to face impending doom.

Little did the dragon know he was, and he would not be walking away from the encounter.

All for of his feet hit the ground with thud as he landed in front of his two comrades. He hissed and did his best to muster all of his courage. It was hard to do in the face of death itself. Now he  saw what they were face, and he nearly lost all of the strength he had gathered over the years.

A dragon with blood red eyes stood before them. He was a stunning shade of silver, and his six wings complemented the powerful color. It was not only that that would send anyone running for their lives. It was the fact that he was well armed with various self defense items such as his back spines that could have been knives in their own right. 

Rina sucked in all of her breath. It was Aritarg they were about to face.  They would not walk away from this alive unless someone divine intervened.

He lowered his head a growled, *You dare come and face me? You should all cower before me.*

*I will not cower before anyone. God or normal dragon!* Dai hissed.

*Fool. You should be fleeing for your life with the others. Then again, that would not save you from my wraith.* Aritarg seemed to snicker.

"What, Great Aritarg, have we done to invoke your anger? We live our lives in peace and we give you the proper worship, so what have we done." Mae had an edge to his voice. He did not mean disrespect, but he was doing his best to keep his guard fully up and speak at the same time.

*You live.*

"But you created us and we have repented! Should we not have the right to live?"

*SHOW RESPECT!* Aritarg boomed. It seemed like the heavens were going to collapse from all of the power. 

Still, Mae stood firm. "Why should we not have the right to live! We have made up for all the past sins. We have done our best to live our lives in peace. We have been loyal to you and all of the gods!"

*Ha! You truly think you can make up for all of the past mistakes? Nothing can make up for all the foolish and reckless things your ancestors have done. All of you must DIE if anything is to be set right!*

It was Mae's turn to growl, hiss, and sputter. "I will not let you put a dirty talon on my friends!" In his voice was venom and defiance.

Aritarg normally enjoyed a dragons anger, but this was directed at him. He did not like that so much. In fact it made him furious. *You little rat.* He growled and smoke tendrils drifted from his nostrils. *I am going to smite you for those words.*

The silver dragon lifted his mighty talons and dug them in the back of Mae's neck.

The smaller dragon would have screamed if he could. He could feel the warm blood trickling down his back onto the ground. A brain numbing pain overwhelmed him and tried to shut down all of his senses, but even if his nerves shut down that would not end the pain. It felt as if he was burning from the inside out. 

Aritarg's face lighted up in pleasure as the dragon coughed and sputtered. *Not so tuff now.* He dug deeper into the helpless dragons neck as the two others looked on in utter shock.

Ilorina suddenly screamed, *Please! Please stop this now!* Her eyes welled up with tears. How could anything do this? Even in the other clans this was too much punishment for speaking out of place!

The red dragon weighed his options. He could attack the silver god and die saving his friend or he could watch the life slowly drain out of his best friend. The choices were not the best, but he would remain loyal to his friend. God or not.

In a great feat of agility Dai managed to loosed the grip Aritarg had over Mae, but his efforts were all in vain. With a swipe from the sliver dragon Dai-Dai had be thrown out of the way like a dirty sock.

Before anyone could make sense of the situation Mae was on the ground in a bloody heap. Dead.

A blood curdling shriek was heard for miles around, but it was not the poor Ilorina, who had lost her potential mate, but a very shocked divinity. Gratira the Mighty was standing not to far from the scene of the murder. Aritarg had murdered her blessed dragon! He was meant to save his clan, not die because of some petty nonsense Aritarg had created!

The god Kynadtuli pressed his nose against Gratira's neck. "Do not do anything you will regret," he whispered in her ear before whisking off towards his brother. 

There is no way to describe the mightiness of two gods standing face to face. Kynadtuli seemed dwarfed by his brother's fierce appearance and blood stained talons. But that would never matter to a god. Kynadtuli bowed his head to his brother. "Why do you choose to provoke us, now of all times?" His voice was a dangerous whisper by the end the question.

The silver dragon looked taken aback. 

"You have just slain a chosen dragon, and how do you account for it? By saying that he talked back to you maybe? Brother, I cannot stand for any of this." The normally flat spines on Kynadtuli's back stood up. His teeth were bared, and he resembled and angry guard dog.

Of course this surprised Aritarg. His brother had never shown a shred of hostility to anyone or anything in his long life. Now, he was prepared to attack him at any moment. No. It may have been his brother but he would have no compassion for someone who betrayed him.

Aritarg snapped his jaw. *You little brother, are going to suffer for going against me.* They both lunged for each other. Aritarg caught his brother's throat and Kynadtuli had caught two of his brother's wings.

They fought for seemingly hours. Tearing and pounding at each other leaving the other with a scar that marred the perfection.

In the end Kynadtuli fell to the ground bleeding and broken. He could not die from his wounds but they would cause him much pain and suffering over the millennia.

Aritarg snarled. No one would defeat him now. 

Col d'tirra squeaked in dismay. She could never and would never fight Aritarg, but how could she just sit here and watch? Could she at least get close enough to help poor Kynadtuli. It was dangerous, she knew that perfectly well, but she could not just let him suffer!

So she leapt into action only to feel sharp teeth connect with her back leg. She was dragged backwards and thrown onto her back. Col d'tirra struggled to get to her feet but Aritarg pinned her down. *Why do you intend to help Kynadtuli? Do you want to suffer along with him?*

*Stop this madness!* Col d'tirra cried in pain. *It is all for nothing!*

*Nothing? Nothing.* He pressed down on the smaller dragon so her wings would start to crack.

Ilorina looked on in shock. This could not have been happening. Mae was killed before her eyes, a god had fallen and now a goddess was about to be crushed. It was just too much to handle. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt Dai's touch.

*We have to leave.* He whispered. *If there is no one to lead the clans they will fall apart.*

*But Dai! What about--*

*I am sorry, but we have to leave him here. He's dead, and we would never have the time for a proper burial.* He tugged on the female dragon's wing lightly. *I am begging you.*

*I will leave.*

Dai, battered and bruised led them away from the battle, and not a single dragon noticed the absence.

Now, Col d'tirra was battered and she had given Aritarg a few good knocks. Still that was not enough to stop the sliver hurricane. He pounded the poor Col d'tirra until she collapsed in a heap, breathing heavy. 

That was the breaking point. Gratira's claws dug into the chilled ground. Her wings seemed to spike up, as did her back spines. Her teeth were bared and her eyes were narrow. It was a frightening sight, that would send anyone mortal running. Of course no one mortal was around to see the infuriated Gratira. *ENOUGH!* She boomed as Aritarg lifted his talons to strike Col d'tirra again.

He stopped and set his foot on the ground. He looked amused at the thought that Gratira would even think about fighting him.

*You make me sick. We are to watch over the dragons and not kill them. We are not meant to pound each other into dust. It's pointless!*

*Oh really Gratira? How do you intend to stop me from killing all of you precious little blessed dragons? Do you plan on fighting against me?* Aritarg gave a shrill laugh. *You would never win!*

*You. You killed Mae just to get to me.*

*Yes, and I would have killed the others but I think maiming the source of the problem was much more worth while.* 

*Aritarg. You will pay for what you have done.* Was all Gratira said before she attacked the sliver dragon with all her fury. The never ending war had begun.

***

*Skittles? What's wrong? Why did you stop reading?* Martia asked from her perch.

"The rest is missing. The pages are missing or waterlogged." Skittles said as she leafed through the rest of the book. How had Martia missed this when she picked up the book?

*I want to know the rest of the story.* The little red wyrm pouted. *The war only just started! Gratira has to get revenge and justice! It can't end like that!*

"I'm afraid until we find another copy it will have to remain unfinished." Skittles said with a labored sigh. It was a pity that they could not read the rest. He had enjoyed it as much as Martia.

*When we get the the realm... we'll ask if they have a copy.*