What might have been, all welcome but this time its Glen/Gem shipped together. oo. Maybe Keya/Auraka could happen? would be interesting

"Drannor's already seen to that issue." She grinned. "I had things planned yesterday for this." That was something she was well capable of at the moment. She as used to being able to plan ahead. "They're waiting outside."
With that she headed towards the front door and down the stairs.
She could see the others waiting. Someone else had taken the time to get her horse ready. The white stallion was wearing basic light armour, and was waiting for her. All of them were only really covered on the heads and bodies, none wore anything on the legs, she knew that the journey there had to be swift. Time was certainly against them.

Drannor held the horse while Gem got up onto him. She saw her parents and Ashlere's parents waiting, but the dragons with them were not only protected by their own scales this time, but a full suit of armour themselves.

It seemed that everyone was ready. Then Gem looked towards the others. "Everyone ready?"

They all nodded, springing into their own saddles. Fifteen Hawkblades were soon quickly in the saddle, the entire group.

“Move out!” she called. All the horses started to move off, they were only walking though while they were in the city. Once we were outside those walls though, the dragons would blink us to Aduran.

“We can fly ahead and hide somewhere nearby to wait for him to show up,” Laura said. “We'll keep things safe for you to do that. Bizandra and the others all have that ability, and they'll use it to get us to a place between Nuduien and Aduran, so that we can block his approach even better.”

“I'd rather you were within sight of Aduran,” Gem replied, looking at her.

“We will be, Gem, only far enough that Rhothilion won't be able to tell what's going on in the the city when we attack him and his followers,” Zelphar replied.

“Alright, lets do it.”

Gaelira chuckled as she landed near us. “If you turn the saddles the other way around on the horses, we'll be able to carry one with us each time we blink forwards.”

All of them did that, knowing they would need the horses when they were on the way back. Gem knew though that the people in Aduran did not have many horses, but at least this way, they would have some protection if needed. If something was to advance against them from ahead, the elves would be able to ride ahead, deal with the threat and then meet them at a chosen place. It seemed like a well thought out plan to her. And that was a good thing, she could not see many obstacles on the way home, but she knew that something she dreaded would happen.

Right now though she could not dwell on that said thing, seeing as there was nothing she could do to stop that from occurring. It would happen, no matter what she did. They were the ones who had decided that they would fight, and she would not stop them now. She was the first, alongside Drannor and Glenawing to blink forwards.

Gaelira and the others dropped us within sight of Aduran and then vanished to collect others. It was weird watching her vanish into thin air, when Gem knew she would be back in a few seconds. She was right, it took no time at all for the three dragons to bring the other twelve across to us. She smiled though and leapt into the saddle once more, as Bizandra and the other fighters left on a wide loop around the town, to where they would lurk, waiting for the human king.

Soon the horses were heading towards Aduran, and once we were easily seen by the human town guards, Gem said, “Get that banner open, Drannor.”

He did and Gem smiled as the white dragon on its green background was battered by the wind that the galloping horses. As they all drew closer to the city, the gates swung open to admit them.

Now though it was Gem's turn to take the lead. She led the others through the cobblestone streets towards where Lord Aaron lived. Many humans seemed to stop what they were doing as the elves moved through the streets. They had not expected to see Drannor and Gem again so soon. A couple of kids from the orphanage called, “Nice to see you again, Gem!” as she passed the building. That made her chuckle, she could not help it at all. She had missed this town so much.

"I better go find out what is happening here at the moment," she told Glen. "Lord Aaron will be waiting for me up there."

"They know me well enough that I'm not going to attack them. After al, I did live here for fifteen years." She smiled though. 'You seemt o see danger when there isn't any. None of them would attack me, else I'd be dead by now, and certainly not have become queen."
Soon they drew near to the manor house of Aduran. The gates to it opened as well, admitting them into the outside courtyard, where a few young boys came up to take the horses. The main door to the building opened as Gem swung down from the saddle of Narimya. The elves were ready to do what we could for this town. Lord Aaron came striding out, though this time, he was not alone, a tall blond haired female elf – wait an elf? - accompanied him. She smiled at all of the other elves, though she did not speak.

“It's good to see that you have come, My Lady,” Lord Aaron said, coming to a stop in front of Gem.

“How could I leave you to his wrath? That would not have been fair if I had chosen to, after you kept me hidden when you all knew he would want me captured and taken to him. I owe this town my life, and now I have the chance to repay that debt.”

“All of my people are already preparing for departure. We have simply been waiting for you. Only there is one problem. We do not have enough horses and things to get everything out that my people want to take,” Aaron replied.

“I trust him, that should be good enough for you, Glenawing,” Gem said. “We're wasting time. Every minute you stand here talking to him like is making it easier for Lindan Marcos to get here and destroy the city. We don't have time for this.”

She grimaced. She knew how much more closer things were getting. “Listen to me, there's a band of Minotaur coming this way, to meet up with Lindan Marcos and help him. If they get here before all of are out of here, we're going to be outnumbered. We have to get things done, and fast.”

She sighed. “I'd know if he is going t double cross us, but I can only be sure of us getting back into the woods as long as we keep the Minotaur behind us. If they get here, there is no telling what the future holds, I'm blind around the beasts.”

“You don't know which way they are coming from.” She spoke quickly. “Take a look out the window behind me. See the twin mountain peaks? If you keep riding towards those, you'll intercept their path. I know you'll have to double back through the town, but luckily Aduran is small. The gate we came in by is the only gate.” She sighed. “Stay safe.”

She looked at Aaron. “I'll get my men helping where they can. With any luck we'll already have left when you come back.”

She smiled at Glenawing“I'll see you somewhere between here and the forest, Glenawing.”

She knew there was a lot of work to be done, but it was not long before she had spoken to Eltaor when he and the other centaurs who were sent had arrived. Twenty minutes later everyone was heading out of the walls and on their way towards the forest.

She had however learned of something she had not been anticipating. Keya had been found by the soldiers not long after she had gone home to the forest. And they had taken her with them to Nuduien. Gem knew that meant her cousin would be aware of who she really was now.

A burden she had not wanted to have to face, but yet now, she knew there was no avoiding it. Just as they left the walls behind, Gem heard a roar of rage and the four dragons came flying past, low in the sky but swift. The one in the lead was Bizandra.

"Try and move quickly everyone, they're coming at us now," Gem told the others. Everyone sped up a little.

I turned my head to watch as the dragons soared through the air, aiming for something that was behind us. I knew as I looked on that the dragons were angry, there was something coming that should not have been. For a few moments, my horse stopped as i turned in the saddle to watch as Bizandra and the others went soaring past us, low in the sky and swift. It was clearly an aggressive stance that they had taken as they soared along. They were ready for battle, and I knew that they would do what they had to now. They would only be able to hold off those who chased after us for so long though.

We would not get as far as we had hoped, but hopefully we would get far enough that we would reach the mountain before we were overrun by what ever else was following us. the last thing we needed was for Gaelira and the others to have to reveal themselves to Lindan Marcos.

Let him think that the dragons rushing for him now were our only ones. he would not know what he was getting into when the time came for me to fight him that way. Though I hated for it to be such a thing for my mother to have to pull, off I knew that she would do what she had to to protect our greatest secret that we had. A secret with one name. Gaelira. She was the Sun Dragon, and that was something that Lindan Marcos and Rhothilion feared the rise of. They would leave us no peace when she was revealed, this I knew myself to be true. Nor would Gaelira give them any peace when she chose to reveal herself to them. She would not let Rhothilion live long then.

When that time came, I had to be read to fight as well, It was not something that I was ready for yet, and she did not want to have to reveal herself until I was certain that I was ready personally. Not for a while yet would that be possible. I knew that much at the moment. I cared for her, but I also had my duty to the rest of Nuban. It was a heavy weight for the shoulders of such a young elf as myself, but I would do what I had to do to protect all of them from the likes of Lindan Marcos. That much I knew at the moment.

My people were counting on me at the moment and I had to help them where it was needed. There were so many things that could go wrong at the one crucial moment right now, but I knew that my mother would not allow that to happen. As soon as I saw the rapidly approaching Minotaur though, I called out to the others and the other Hawkblades swept backwards, falling into a line and ready to charge. They were quickly joined by many armoured centaurs.

it only took me a moment to call out the command and we were racing towards the oncoming bull-men. they were not a match for or strength and speed on the plains, I could see that. We were moving a lot more quickly towards them than they were towards us at the moment. I could feel Gaelira's worry though, but she was keeping it contained at the moment. She knew that I was not in danger unless more came than the fifty we were facing at the moment. That was something that she had nothing to be worried about at the moment.

I could sense no more Minotaur lurking any where near here, so we would be quite safe at the moment. there was nothing for us to fear. I hoped though that it would stay that way. Anything that came at us though, we would cut down where it stood. Though a dragon would be a bit of a bother for us. That was something that would be out of our range for a fight, I knew that.

Corellon only came out of its sheath as we got a lot closer to those who would fight us. I would not allow my friends to be caught and as soon as one of the Minotaur was within striking distance, my sword rose and cut him down. Eltaor and Drannor were on either side of me the whole time we fought, they would help if I needed it. It was clear why Eltaor was the General of the Centaur fighters, he seemed easily able fight off any Minotaur that came rushing at him. It really was something that made me pleased to watch at the moment.

Every time I heard one of the dragons fighting nearby roar in pain though, I could not help but look up to see who it was that had been hurt. Then it happened, I had just looked up and seen Rhothilion sink his teeth into Bizandra's neck, crushing the bones. She howled, he hadn't killed her, but she could not shake herself free from him. It seemed to happen in slow motion as I saw Lindan Marcos thrust out with his blue sword once more towards my mother, and as it cut through her chest and I knew through her heart, Bjart rammed into Rhothilion, forcing him to let go of his mate.

Right now Bizandra was right above of us, and I hastily shouted, “Dragon!” Everyone bolted. We managed to get out of the way but the few remaining Minotaur were crushed as she slammed into the ground, causing the earth to shake with the force of her weight hitting it. Some of our horses reared when she hit the ground, throwing off their unexpecting riders. I was one of the few who got thrown off.

I got back to my feet with a wince though and moved towards where the dragon was. I knew that none of the Minotaur's beneath her would have survived, there was no chance for them to escape even if they had. She was way too heavy. You could only really imagine how much a creature of her massive proportions would have weighed. One of her talons had Aloiene in it, but now that she was on the ground, and certainly not moving... the grip she would have had on it was gone, and it slid out easily, when I pulled on it.

I couldn't believe though that they really were gone from us... until we died. Even then they might have moved on, and we would not see them again. My eyes shot up to the sky, Bjart was grappling with Rhothilion with a ferocity that I would not have expected the blue dragon's brother to have. Then again, this was his mate and his own rider's mate lying here on the ground near me.

Then there was another roar and Bjart tumbled as well, killed the same way. Eltaor was the one that caught the two green swords when they fell, he was the only one who was able to get over there and back before Bjart crashed into the ground himself.

If it was one thing I was well aware of, it was the tears that were welling up inside me.

"If they cannot beat him, when they are older than him, who can?" I was starting to doubt my own destiny. How could I possibly beat Lindan Marcos? And yet, I was the one who had to.