Meanwhile, unaware of that which had happened, Supreany and Blaizen were still making their way through the street, when a host of men came up to them.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Aren't you a pretty girl," one commented as he reached up his hand to touch her.
She quickly smacked it away. "Hands off."
Another one stepped up from the group. "Look, let's just make this simple. We already have your three other friends. So why don't you just come along without a fuss and you won't get hurt."
"Yeah right. Like we're supposed to believe that," Blaizen smirked as he went to get a grip on his guns.
"Wait," Supreany whispered in his ear. "If we let them take us to where the others are, and at the opportune moment …"
"And if they're lying?" he whispered back.
"Well, we'll just have to take our chances."
Blaizen took in a deep breath. "All right."
One of the men who had been hovering close to Supreany stepped closer to her and ran his fingers down her neck, pulling out her necklace. "This is an interesting stone." He ripped it off her neck. "You won't mind if I keep it, will you?"
She was instantly enraged. "Mark my words; I'll be back for that."
The man disappeared as his companions relieved the two of their weapons, save Blaizen's gun and escorted them away.
Supreany's anxiety welled up inside her. She wanted her stone back, and she wanted it back now. It didn't make sense why it made her so mad, not even to herself, and furthermore, she didn't care. Her breath had quickened, her jaw set firm.
The men walked Supreany and Blaizen into a building down some steps, down a corridor, and at the end of it was the cell that contained Ean and Orckle. Upon reaching the end cell, the men were going to lock them in a neighboring cell. By this time, Supreany's heart was racing. She could feel her blood pressure rising, and her blood was beginning to burn in her veins.
"And they said that you all would give us so much trouble," one of the men smirked. Just as he did Supreany's wings ripped out of her back, slamming him and another man against the wall, rendering them unconscious. In that moment, Blaizen pulled his weapons and finished the rest off. After that, he hastily grabbed the cell keys and released Ean and Orckle from their prison.
But something was wrong with Supreany. She began making yelps and screams as though she were in pain. Uncertain they were believing what they were seeing, they found themselves unable to do anything but watch. She slammed her hands down on a small table. Her nails were not nails; they were sharp dragon-like claws. Honey-colored scales began to form on her cheekbones and on her hands. Her spine became rigid and from the bottom of her spine sprouted a tail covered in scales and tipped with a diamond-shaped spike, like those on skleros dragons.
"Supreany...?"
She raised her head to look at them, her claws digging into the wood of the table. In an instant, the look of fear and pain transformed into a wild and fierce stare. She jerked her head down. Tearing the table in two, she flung her arms out. Her wings spread wide. Her head lifted and she gave out a fearsome roar that seemed to shake the building. Before they could stop her, she turned and tore through the corridor and out of the building.
The men hurriedly gathered their effects and ran out after her. They made it outside just in time to see her fly through the window of a building nearby.
-
-
While Valgus was still entertaining himself with the young queen, a man proudly came through the doors of the room.
"We captured the other two." He lifted his hand. "Here is the stone you requested."
"Marvelous." He took the stone and began to look it over. "I'm not sure why he wants this, but it was part of the deal."
A moment later, there came a great resounding roar. Within a minute, a man bolted into the room. "Sir, we have a serious problem!"
"What is going on? Are we under attack by dragons?"
"No, it's the girl! The girl that they told us could fly ... I'm afraid she can do a bit more than that."
Shrills of pain could be heard down the hall. Valgus stood there, wide-eyed.
Cecealye took in a slow deep breath as the whole place filled with silence. "You're not afraid, are you, Valgus?"
He looked over at her as she began to back away. Just then, there came a large thud just outside the closed door. Out of the five men in the room, Valgus was the only one unarmed. All of those who were armed, had their weapons pulled, seemingly ready for whatever was to come.
Busting down the door, a man's body was flung into the room. Standing in the doorway was Supreany. Cecealye could barely recognize her. She walked in growling and hissing. The armed men bolted at her. The first was met by her grip and was thrown out the window, and the next was stuck harshly by her tail as she spun around. The third charged at her with his sword, but it would prove to no avail, for she grabbed the sword by its blade and twisted it around into him. The fourth, seeing her do this, dropped his sword and began to cower, begging for mercy.
Her attention then turned to Valgus, who was still holding her stone. She lunged at him, slamming him onto his desk. Perched on his desk peering down on him, she yanked her necklace from his hand and flung him into the hallway. She then turned and dove out the window, flying off.
Cecealye did not understand what was going on and why Supreany had left her there, but she saw her opportunity to escape and she planned to do just that. Picking up a short sword and a couple of knives, she ran through the corridors on cats' paws. If it were possible, she would avoid any undesirable obstacle. Suddenly, she ran upon three men blocking what seemed to be the only way down to the ground level.
She instantly threw a knife with great precision into one of the men's eyes. She then clashed swords with another. Spinning around, she sliced his neck open with yet another knife. Turning to encounter the last man, she saw that a sword was protruding from his chest. With gasps of breath and moans of pain, he slid off the sword and fell to the ground. Standing in the doorway were Ean, Blaizen, and Orckle.
Ean wrapped Cecealye up in his arms. "Are you all right?!"
"I'm well."
"Where's Supreany?" Blaizen questioned.
"She dove out the window and flew off to the northwest. What happened to her?"
"We don't have time for this now," Ean commanded. "We must get back to the condoras. After you're safely out of this place, we'll search for Supreany." Nobody dared to argue with him. They went with all haste to their birds. Saddling them up, they began to pack up their supplies.
Blaizen backed up in a panic. "Wait. I don't know the first thing about flying one of these things."
"I do," Cecealye added as she climbed onto her condora. "Just follow my lead."
The rest climbed onto their birds as Cecealye turned around to grab the reins of what would be Supreany's condora. When all were ready, Cecealye took the lead into the air, after which she let go of the other bird's reins, and it faithfully followed. They found themselves flying for several minutes toward the northwest. Supreany was nowhere in sight.
Where could she be? they all wondered.
"I think if we just keep heading this way, we'll find her," Blaizen added. "Is there a forest in this direction?"
"Yes, there's a forest around Jecklon's Lake. Why do you ask?" Ean queried.
"I was just curious."