Sionnach (closed)

"And I need you to understand that I might not go with you, no matter how dangerous it is." Fiona answered back, challenging her dragon in a way she never had before.

"I won't give you the chance to refuse," Invah warned her sternly. "You won't be resigning yourself to imprisonment, or committing suicide while I'm around. I'll be dead before that happens. I'll carry you back in my jaws if I have to."

"You'll do no such thing, Invah. If I need to find another dragon that will allow me to do what needs to be done, then I will." Fiona threatened, knowing that Invah would never let her go without her. "Do we have an understanding?"

"We do not," Invah muttered, taking off before Fiona could unhook her harness and go back to attempt her plan. Invah would be there every step of the way, even if she had to fight with her own Rider to keep her from throwing her life away.

Fiona glanced back at the camps as Invah took to the sky, knowing that it might well be her last time to do so. If Sam knew what she was doing, he would kill her personally. She was doing this for him, no matter what he might think about this. Her husband didn't need to know everything that she was doing.

"I want to be dropped on the shore, where their dragons rest each evening." Fiona called over the wind. "That way you can watch from a distance and make sure that I'm safe."

"I'll give you two hours," Invah told her above the wind. "And then I'm coming back to get you." She skirted the main battleground on the water, keeping a low profile as she approached the Eastern Calais shore where they'd seen the Imperial Riders take off from.

Fiona undid the buckles on her harness as they approached, ready to make her move so that Invah wouldn't have to land. She carefully made her way to Invah's shoulder, dropping into the dragon's curled hand so that she could be placed on the ground when the time came.

"I trust you, Invah." She said above the wind, knowing her dragon would make things a living hell for anyone that tried to hurt her fledgling.

"Just be careful. I can only help you so much if you act like a fool." Invah slowed as much as possible without falling or landing, and just before she set Fiona down, she said, "I love you. Come back to me." The speed of the drop would require Fiona to hit the ground running or roll, so Invah dropped her from only a few feet up, feet-first.

Fiona hit the ground and rolled as best she could. Coming to rest in a crouched position, she watched Invah climb, leaving her alone. She looked around at the scene surrounding her, watching dragons look towards her position with a curiosity. She slowly rose, her hands in front of her in a peaceful or surrendering motion.

"I don't mean any harm." She called to those watching her so closely. "I only come to talk."

A wide array of colors and breeds lay before Selena, some still waking up, and others already in their gear. Some growls sounded, but others looked tentatively curious. A strange blue-violet male stepped forward, a black mane down his spine and his face framed by a beard and strange long whiskers that reminded Fiona of images of the long-bodied mythical eastern dragons in some journals in the Ghis library.

"Who are you, Northerner?" He demanded quietly in a heavy Chinese accent, his claws digging into the dirt as he came to a halt before her, backed by several others now approaching.

"Fiona Blackstone." She said softly as she was surrounded by Imperial dragons. "Daughter of Owen Blackstone. You might have heard of my father's name. He spent his life trying to find and protect as many dragons as he could. I suppose I'm trying to do the same now."

She stood her ground, only reaching up to remove her helmet to let them see her cub blue eyes and pale blond hair. "And I am a fox in my own right. Not a half breed, as Barbarossa will say, but a full blooded fox."

"Most of us know the truth about you," he grunted, beginning to circle her slowly til she was entirely surrounded by the Imperial dragons on all sides. "You're either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid to come here, Caller. What is it you intend to do against an Empire that outmatches you on every possible level?"

"I intend to be honest with each and every one of you." Fiona said as she was circled by the dragons, interrogated by them. "While I am a caller, I do not want to use that to my advantage. If you make a decision, I want it to be of your own free will. I won't sugar coat things and tell you that our side is the best, because if you join us and Barbarossa does win, you are in danger. However, if you stay with him, you are in danger."

"So you intend to persuade us to betray our contracts, perhaps our Riders as well?" Another asked, a jet-black female with curved horns and an impressive crest and mane, her ice-blue eyes scrutinizing everything about Fiona.

"What's to stop us from carrying to you the Emperor now and earning our Riders the bounty?" A stout, muscular red male growled darkly.

"Remember your place, Imperial," the blue-violent male snarled, stepping over Fiona to place an arm between her and the red male. "You may be highly regarded with the other soldiers' dragons, but you are traitor scum to us."

The red male, smaller than all the others, slowly backed up, and the violet male looked down at Fiona. "You of all people should know why we mercenaries and wanderers are here, little Fox. Even if we must choose the greater evil, we must survive. You Northerners are underwhelming in all regards. Not enough ships, soldiers, dragons, or resources, no matter if you are the defenders and well-intentioned. You will lose or die, and we will extend our freedom long enough to find hiding places before the culling starts."

"He knows your hiding places. Even if he doesn't now, he has those following you that will find them in time." Fiona said bluntly. "I can offer you safety to an extent. I can promise that if we do win this, you don't have to fear death. You have a choice in this matter, but listen closely to this: he will kill you if you are able to resist the call. It will happen very soon."

"You know about Zaufberg, then," a silvery female muttered. "And that Wolf they call Charles."

"Caller," a smaller green female stepped forward, pushing past the larger dragons quickly as if she'd just arrived. The violet male tried to get in her way, but the green female shoved him away and stood protectively over Fiona, looking down at her and whispering, "It's an honor, milady."

"I've known there are other callers out there for a long time. I didn't know them by name until recent." Fiona told them, watching as a small green female dragon pushed past all of the others to greet her personally.

"The honor is mine." Fiona said softly, bowing her head in respect towards the dragon before she looked at the others.

"I cannot tell you what is right and wrong in this. You each have your own reasons to act as you have acted so far. If it is fear that keeps you here, I will say that you have nothing to fear from me or our side. If it is loyalty, there is nothing that I can do to convince you otherwise. However, I promise that I will fight for each and every one of you."

Several of the dragons looked at one another as if gauging each other's reactions, some murmuring as the violet male came to step in front of Fiona again. "Some of us will not go without our partners. You should meet them- at least the ones who won't immediately try to capture you... Mine in particular will want to meet you, being our appointed captain."

"My dragon will return in two hours time to retrieve me. I will stay right here while you gather any rider that wishes to speak to me." Fiona said as she looked around at all of the dragons. "I give you my word that I will not attack anyone while here."

"You would be a fool to even try," the violet male reminded her as he stepped away, and slowly most of the dragons backed off except a select few who seemed interested to meet her. The green female remained protective, but excited to meet Fiona. She seemed young and lively, too much so for war. Those gathered spoke with Fiona about their circumstances, joining the Empire to survive, and about their origins. There were dragons from places Fiona had never heard of, and places that previously, she had only thought existed in myth.

A group of Riders came from the camps within a half-hour, twenty or so armored mercenaries all in different styles of leather and metal with cultural designs ranging across all of Eurasia, Africa, Scandinavia, the Isles, and far beyond with strange reddish-brown skin and peculiar accents and beaded pieces on their belts and long ebony hair, people unlike Fiona had ever seen whose dragons had feathers instead of scales.

The captain, the Rider of the violet male dragon, approached Fiona at the head of the group, his skin nearly ebony telling of an African heritage, and his armor made of leather, steel, and bronze decor. He glanced to the mercenaries around him as if gauging their own reactions to this rather slim and pretty young woman who was apparently a powerful Caller and a Clan Queen from the north. Sizing her up slowly, the brawny captain crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Fiona. "Well, then," he muttered in an Egyptian accent that Fiona knew from some of Suara's people. "You've walked into the lion's den, Your Majesty. Suok tells me you want us to defect even though we may live longer on Barbarossa's side. You're an absolute fool."

"I've been told that many times, Captain." Fiona said with a nod towards the man that approached her. "But I also know that if I don't try, then I'm no better than the laziest warrior. I am here, not only for myself, but for everyone single one of you. There are better ways in this fight. The least we can do is discuss them."

"What do you suggest, then? And do you really think persuading us away will give you that much of an advantage? Even now, Barbarossa is making weapons to fight against dragons, and training people to use them to deadly effect. Ballistae, cannons, harpoons, and things we've not even seen before."

"And how long before he uses them on you, Captain?" Fiona asked with a deadly calm in her tone. "He has to make sure that they work...correct?"

There was a silence around her at that statement, dragons looking towards one another. "Can you honestly tell me that he won't use them on you first?"

The captain paused, and it seemed Fiona had struck a very raw nerve, but even more so than she initially realized.

"He tests them on lame and old dragons," a young woman emerged beside the captain, taking his hand. She too had the same dark skin and eyes, marking them as related, likely father and daughter. "And some of the untrainable ones his own Riders can't break."

The captain murmured something to the girl, making her go quiet, and he faced Fiona with a new, much darker expression. "What could we expect on your side, then? A guarantee that they'll be turned on us, lack of resources, and only tiny hideaways that don't have enough room for all the people and dragons you're taking in."

"Oh, he does that now. But shall I call to your dragons now and show you which ones he will use those weapons on?" Fiona asked as the young woman tried to make excuses. "What you say is no different than saying his army uses bows and arrows on the elderly and infirm. To these dragons, that's like saying that your grandfather means nothing but fodder."

As the captain began speaking again, Fiona turned towards him, asking what she could offer. "I offer freedom. I offer support. I offer the chance to protect your bonded dragon and their mates and fledglings. If you stay, you admit that you know they will die. You admit that they're nothing to you. I don't understand how you can stay on his side knowing that he will kill them anyway."

Fiona could see a few riders look between one another at that. "We don't have much, that's true. What I can do is put you all through the isles. Spread you out so that you protect a city instead of crammed into a bolthole."