The dive had been reckless, she should have known that but the Sultana’s brave heart had followed where Einarr lead, even down towards a thrashing half-seen beast of unknown power. Chao reigned and to all sided the fighters struck at the mighty crocodile and it struck back. Beneath her the she saw the beast writhe but it took ans unexpected movement and the paired attack seemed to be thrown off balance. Einarr’s hooves struck the beast but on sharp scaled ridge and and in the split second her attention was drawn away from her own, Megaera’s own attack was dodged  b the crocodile.

The Sunspear let out a furious grunt but she was still falling. With a clear place to land, she could have pulled out of the dive with her usual deft skill but the beasts movements and the other bodies that moved all around her made for a more treacherous landing. She rolled in midair, tucking her wings  but she was forced to fling them out again to soon, too fast, in order to prevent her legs from slamming into the earth at the wrong angle and she felt a horrible wrenching in joint of her right wing.

She let out a yell, half pained, half angry, as her hooves found solid purchase on the ground beneath the salty water. Immediately her wing drooped slightly, the muscles refusing to hold it up as well as they should and screaming at her when she would not let them fall. Megaera backed away, hastily, trying to ignore the pain as she tried to refocus and find an opening for her next attack. The little bunch of herbs hit her on the flank and instinctively she spun, prepared for battle, only to see that it was her healer who had tossed them at her. She had been right in his promotion at least, a healer not afraid to be in the think of things, and pride in her Dragon’s Throat family surged in her heart. Quickly she bent and snapped up the herbs and swallowed them but before she could turn back to the croc, heard a cry she knew well, one she would always answer to and turned to behold a mystifying sight.

Mordecai was there, Mordacai was flying, and for an instant she forgot about the war that raged for the sight of her precious child, near grown and finally taken to the sky was like seeing the sun rise after a long night. But before she could think clearly her daughter was beside her, just as fierce and wild as her father, and Meg could almost sense the power that radiated off the yearling and towards the crocodile.…The Crocodile! Horror flooded Meg as true danger of the situation struck her. Someday, they might ride into battle side by side but not now, not yet, she was still too young. The shimmer of magic seemed to fade, though the anger on Mordecai’s face lingered and Megaera knew she would attack because the dark girl was her father’s daughter, and Meg’s as well. “NO! MORDECAI GET BACK!” She bellowed and the mother surged forward, ignoring he own pain, to force the girl away from the fight. She had faith in the Sun God, in her fellas that the battle would be theirs but none of that mattered if her daughter would be put in harm’s way. And so she pushed and prodded until they would be well out of range.