Ashers POV:

I lay awake that night staring up at the stars, unable to make myself fall off to sleep. I wondered how Aurora and Shade were doing on their journey, while it is true that I understood why they needed to go alone, I didn't understand why they didn't tell us that they were leaving in person.

I closed my eyes slowly and thought back to the message orb that they sent us, I had no idea how they knew that kind of magic but then again, those two have always surprised me... especially Aurora, I was proud to be her mentor, she had so much potential, and she still does, I know that she will finish this fight, after all... she's doing it for Chase.

"Can't sleep?" whispered the voice of Orpheus.

I opened my eyes and looked around to see him sitting just a few feet away, looking off into the distance.

"I guess it's hard, considering everything," I said while pulling myself into an upright position.

"Mhmm" he hummed while nodding his head.

I stared at his turned back and found my heart aching for him. Orpheus has always been so kind towards others and often put his own feelings and problems aside to help them, I think that it's just his thing...something that comes naturally to him, but because of this, I think that people forget that he also feels pain... so in the end, he has to deal with his problems alone.

"You really do care for her, don't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Of course" he replied with a slightly shaky voice. "but it doesn't matter how I feel...as long as she's alive and happy" he finished quickly.

"We are going to win this fight" I stated confidently.

"I know" he responded, "we have to, if not for us...then for her" he finished in almost a whisper.

I nodded my head and looked around at our small camp.

Even though they caused us some trouble, I'm glad that Kate, Brandon and Luna were still with us, after all, we are all fighting for the same thing in a way and besides, they had actually been a big help since they're all fairly skilled in combat.

A small smile grew on my face upon remembering the moment we had all decided to take this journey together, my group of average students became a real team at that moment and I couldn't be more proud of them... but I could never say any of this to their faces, I have a reputation to keep and they would definitely make a big deal if I got all soppy with them.

"Asher?" called Orpheus again.

I looked over to him to see that he was now standing up and staring at the sky. I grabbed my sword and quickly got to my feet, moving to stand next to him.

"Is that?" he began in confusion.

"Nadia" I blurted, cutting him off in the process "they're not meant to be back for two days" I mumbled.

I watched in anticipation as Verity's green dragon swooped down through the air, the starlight making her golden tips glimmer against the dark night's sky.

"You don't think..." started Orpheus.

I rolled my eyes and pushed past him, walking briskly towards the rather large dragon. When I neared it, I noticed that there was a large amount of fresh blood coating her snout and talons.

"Zack?...Verity?" I called, letting Orpheus' doubts take ahold of me.

"Asher?" shouted Verity "come quickly" she panicked.

I jogged around Nadia's side and looked up at her forest green scales to see that blood was also coating her back.

"T-there were too many... we had to run... but h-he got hurt" she babbled.

"Pass him down" I instructed immediately.

She moved across slightly to reveal the limp body of Zack, blood trickled from a wound that lay in a crescent shape just behind his eyebrow and coated the right-hand side of his face. She moved his feet over the side of the dragon and lowered him down as gently as she could.

"Brandon!" I shouted loudly, hoping to wake him up.

Orpheus ran to my side and grabbed Zack's feet so we could carry him across the camp.

"Brandon?" I shouted again... no response, that kid could sleep through an earthquake.

I laid Zack down and watched as Verity jumped down from Nadia and threw a nearby bag at Brandon's head, successfully waking him up.

"It's not light yet" he groaned groggily before turning over.

As soon as he reclosed his eyes he suddenly sprung to his feet in realisation and looked around in confusion.

"Verity?" he asked, staring at her in disbelief.

She gave him a small wave, putting a weird goofy looking grin on his face.

"Hey, we need you," said Orpheus pleadingly.

He rubbed his face and yawned before sprinting over to us. He instantly knelt by Zack's side and quickly looked over his wounds, frowning at their severity.

"Can you help him?" asked Verity, coming up behind us.

"Not alone" replied Brandon, looking around in thought.

"Kate!" he screamed extremely loudly, making us all jump in surprise.

Upon hearing Brandon's call Kate, Luna and Max immediately woke up and came to our side.

"What happened?" she gasped, looking down at Zack.

"You know what I need, have you got it?" asked Brandon, disregarding her previous question.

She nodded her head and ran over to her sleeping bag without saying a word, she returned no more than a minute later with a long silver chain that looked like an average necklace.

"What's that?" asked Max, eyeing it suspiciously.

"A channelling pendant" replied Brandon "I'm not strong enough to heal him alone"

Channelling pendents were really rare artefacts, they allowed you to take the power of another person or creature and use it for your own, I had only seen one once before but I have never actually used one, so Brandon was very lucky to have found one that worked for him.

"Everone gather round" he commanded.

We all formed a circle around Zack and looked to Brandon who was placing the pendant on Zack's chest.

"This shouldn't affect us too much since I'm channelling so many of you," said Brandon, emitting a light glow from his palms.

The silver chain moved slowly and then began to hover above Zack's chest, illuminating itself with a dim white light.

"Everyone put one of your hands on Zack and make sure that you do not let go until I have completely finished the healing process" explained Brandon

I grabbed onto Zack's arm and watched in amazement as the light streaming from the chain became brighter, I noticed that it continued to do this as the others also began to grab Zack.

"I have enough power to heal him, he's going to be fine" confirmed Brandon "but before we begin, I have to ask" he added, opening his eyes to look directly at Verity.

"Did you two deliver the message?" he questioned seriously, filling the air with suspense.

"Yes, we did" she replied instantly.

"And?" I asked anxiously.

"They're coming" she smiled.

💜