Ellora took a deep breath, and let it out a little bit at a time.  Her eyes closed briefly, her claws kneaded the stone beneath her, and then she opened them again, feeling a slow purr rumble in her throat.

For once, her cave was peaceful and quiet.

With an energetic mate and rambunctious hatchlings, such peace was a rare thing.  But Taran had woken up wanting to jump and splash in the puddles left from the rain that had fallen overnight, and run out to do just that before either parent could stop him--getting himself all wet and muddy in the process, of course!  Then he'd dashed around trying to pounce his brother or sister and get them all dirty with muck as well, though neither of them had let him catch them, and at last Hueroc had scooped him up and taken him down to the lake for a bath.  Loria had helped clean up a few of the muddy pawprints, then went back to her nest for a nap, while Neth got out a book to read; and for once it was nice and quiet and calm in her home.

Mothers so rarely got a chance to relax!  If it wasn't her hatchlings who needed care and attention and instruction, it was her mate wanting to spend some private time with her, or she had to keep the cave clean, tend to her garden on the slopes above the cave, or there was some errand to run... and all of these tasks could be so tiring, especially when it was one thing after the other like it so often was.

"Mother, what's this word?"  Neth looked up at her, then pointed to one of the longer words on the page: though he had no trouble reading the letters, building up one's vocabulary took time, and he was still encountering new words, especially when reading through a more difficult book--he was well past the realm of children's tales, despite his age.  "A-mell-eeorr... ate?"

She tilted her head, peering at the word, one that wasn't the easiest to pronounce or to explain!  "Ameliorate," she corrected him, and tilted her head when he repeated after her.

"Amellll--  Ameliorate.  But what does it mean?"

"It's..."  Ellora paused.  "It's sort of complicated.  It means to take some bad thing or situation and improve it."

"Oh!" the little hatchling peeped, and read over the sentence another couple of times.  "Now it makes sense!  Thank you mother."  He nuzzled her paw, then went back to his reading.

She purred more loudly, and nuzzled between his wings.  "You're learning so quickly!  I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," he said again, but didn't look away from the words this time: intent on his reading.  She chuckled, but didn't interrupt again, instead quietly getting up and peeking into the sleeping chamber to check on his sister.

The red-and-yellow hatchling had sprawled not in the smaller nest she shared with her brothers, but settled down near the edge of the larger nest her parents typically used.  Her legs were all tucked beneath her, head and tail and wings splayed, her eyes shut tight as she napped.  She was so beautiful, so precious, so peaceful lying there...  Ellora gave Loria only the gentlest of nuzzles, not wishing to wake her, only wanting to give her offspring a loving caress, and when the soft touch made Loria start purring she smiled happily.  How she treasured them!

Neth was busy turning the page of his book when she returned to him.  Thanks to the size of the book, meant for a full-grown dragon, it was an endeavor that took both his forepaws and a great deal of effort!  But he never wanted help with it, so she let him get the paper flipped over on his own, and settled down again next to him for company.  Unless Hueroc took a detour to hunt, he and Taran would be back soon, so she wanted to savor the quiet while she could, and stretched herself out on her belly, curled in a half-circle around Neth and his big book.

For a few minutes she got her wish, no sound but her son's occasional turned pages and the noises of the forest outside, wind rustling the branches, the sounds of bird and bug and other creature...  It was so relaxing.

Then Neth let out a soft peep, and she opened her eyes.  His tail was twitching back and forth, wings rustling.  "M-mother..."

She lifted her head up and nuzzled him, crooning.  He seemed far too anxious to be only meaning to ask about the meaning of another word...  "What is it Neth?"

Her hatchling quivered a little when she touched him, and nestled in tight against her side.  "I--  I can feel something...  You told me to tell you!  It's..."  He whined loudly.  "It feels so angry!  I'm scared."  He clung to her.

Ellora was torn.  This presence he felt--whatever it was--could be dangerous, and the more he could tell her about it the better.  Where was it?  Where was it going?  What else did he know?  Might Hueroc and Taran be in danger?  So many questions and worries sprang to her mind, but poor Neth already seemed so distressed that she was hesitant to press him for more.  She nuzzled at the little bundle of orange scale, and licked gently at the small fin that crested his head, tucked down against his head as it was in his fright.  "It's okay, dear...  You're safe with mother."  She hesitated, and then said, "be brave.  What do you feel?"

"I don't..."  He shivered all over.  "It's so angry!  It hates--"  Another loud whine interrupted him.  "It hates you-- other dragons--  Mother, how could anyone hate you!"  His voice was higher, shakier in his distress, almost a wail!  She couldn't bear to press him any further, worrisome a description as this was.

"It's okay Neth.  It's okay."  She could think of a couple of names, cruel dragons, evil dragons, but they were long gone, they couldn't possibly be here!  Not now!  "Maybe--" she started to suggest he go wake his sister, but then a shadow darkened the entrance to the cave.

"Maybe she once tried to kill him," a voice hissed.

Dread raced through her, deep and cold.  This couldn't be real!  It was impossible.  "You're dead," she whispered, so low that even Neth likely didn't hear her.

"Maybe he tried his very hardest to show her the evils of those who controlled the clan."  A dragon stepped into the cave, and she leapt to her feet to defend herself and her hatchling.  So many of the dragon's features were familiar--the curved horns, the thick ridges down his spine, the fin running along the underside of his neck, the tough armored scale, especially thick at the shoulder and the ridges of his brow...  "Maybe he taught her, guided her, helped her grow, and despite all his efforts she let her mind be poisoned by those he tried to protect her from."  This he punctuated with a snarl.

Ellora couldn't take her eyes off him: there was no doubt, hearing that voice, and seeing the familiar form, though there were differences as well: his armor was cracked in many places, his sides gaunt and wasted, showing his ribs.  Earth-brown coloration had darkened nearly to black, and there was an ominous yellow glow in his eyes and the crystalline spikes jutting from his tail: some sort of magic had spared him, but it seemed to have come with a price.  "Cortuss..." she said, again so quiet, so many old fears and memories bubbling to the surface: the pain, the harsh training, the beatings, near suffocations, crushed beneath the rock--  She felt paralyzed by fear, to see this old nightmare suddenly back to life, only to hear a soft skittering of claws as Neth fled behind her for protection.  Protection.  Her son was counting on her to keep him safe, innocent sleeping Loria needed her to keep her safe, and she would, she had to!

She found her voice at last.  "Stay back!" she cried, and turned it into a roar of challenge--and a cry for help, if only Hueroc heard it!  She had some defense against his earth-magic here, but it had never been tested, and his stout armor, cracked though it was, would still protect him from her claws and fangs if it came to bites or kicks or scratches.  "You won't make me fight for you!"

"No.  No, of course not."  The sound of her old teacher's teeth snapping shut had all the sudden sharp ring of a metal trap springing closed.  "You've been too thoroughly indoctrinated!  Like so many dragons here!  Believing that this small, weak, barely defended clan is the best you can do.  Believing that manipulator and her spirits are the best leadership you can find.  I'll show them how weak they are!  And remove anyone in my way!" he roared back, glowing eyes narrowed, the anger in his words making Neth whimper behind her.

"You're wrong."  She lashed her tail, stepped forward just a little to put more distance between her and Neth, and she was glad to hear him retreating away from her, sensing her intention.  She had to stall for time, or at least keep him and Loria safe--last time she had managed to plant a seed within his armor, but she didn't have one with her now, and the nests were in other rooms, too far away to be of use...  She had to keep him just threatening or taunting her instead of fighting so Hueroc could arrive, if she tried to grapple with him she'd never break his armor--he'd already nearly descended into raving once, maybe she could encourage it a second time.  "What could you even do differently!" she challenged him: keep him talking, keep him from trying to bring down the roof over my head...

But Cortuss only snorted.  "No, no.  Not getting into an argument with you.  Fool.  First you... then the elders... then her."  The glow in his eyes and spikes brightened, and a rumbling sounded from above as cracks appeared in the ceiling of the cave.  Please, she thought, please, please, please...

Cortuss frowned as five seconds passed, then ten, the rumbling increasing, more cracks forming but only tiny pebbles or clouds of dust falling onto her, and then abruptly it stopped as he gave up the magic.  "You crafty bitch!" he snarled at her, and she allowed herself an angry grin: the roots of her garden she'd spent a year worming into the rock above her cave, the precaution she'd needed to take before even daring to sleep inside again without someone to keep watch for her, had worked.  He couldn't cave in her home, not without bringing down the mountainside on both of them!

She knew what he'd do next: if not the roof, then the walls or the floor.  She came forward and circled, hearing Neth mimicking her, as intuitive as always, as she tried to put the entrance to her back so she could flee outside if he tried.  With any luck he wouldn't look for Loria, and she would know to stay hidden!  Loathe as she was not to be between this horror and her daughter...

"But did you do the same to the floor, I wonder," he hissed, before she could make it around him, and his eyes glowed again--

A lance of bright concentrated flame struck him in the side, and instead of crying out in victory he howled in pain, the impact sending him tumbling as the magical fire exploded.  The armor there shattered, exposing skin beneath already charring from the blow, and his second howl, of anger and challenge, was utterly drowned out by the roar of her rescuer.  Hueroc stood there in the cave entrance, his wings mantled, fangs bared, tail lashing as he bellowed at the intruder for daring enter his territory, his cave, threaten his mate and hatchlings!  Ellora had heard him roar many times before, and for many reasons, but never like this; the sound seemed to go on forever as it echoed through the cave, the unbridled fury in his voice breaking over her like a physical blow.

Cortuss could read the rage in his eyes as easily as she could, and didn't waste any words threatening or challenging him: instead he summoned his magic again, and the rock around him lifted up like a wave--  "No!  Hueroc!" Ellora cried out as the rising stone cut off her view of her mate, her dear precious mate, he would be crushed, she had to stop this somehow but the rock was rising so fast--

Hueroc flinched when the rock swelled around him, getting between him and his target, cutting off his view of his enemy, his mate, everything--  It closed in above him, sealing around him almost like a bubble in the rock--  No.  He was trapped beneath the dome, could be killed in an instant, and he could not let that happen, not ever, not now, not when his mate needed his help!  He felt the hot eager energy of his magic roiling within him, his temper summoned by the threat to his family and bringing all that power to the surface along with his rage...  It had already boiled over once--the bolt that had wounded the intruder--and now it surged through his mind again, reacting instantly to his need: a second bubble formed around him, glowing reddish with his magic, and when the rock surged downward to squash him it struck his magical shield first.

The explosion was deafening, like a crack of thunder as the rock rebounded off the shield, cracked, and then burst into fragments, the magic field converting to an explosive force that flung the stone away and crumbled it to little more than pebbles.  Like that the near-tomb of rock was gone, and there, there was his enemy, who had tried to kill his mate, tried to kill him, and must be destroyed at once!  Again he roared, and again he poured his magic into his fire-breath, converting flame to a pulsing bolt of energy aimed right for Cortuss' head.

Shocked as the old dragon was by the display of power, he tugged up a wall out of the floor to take the force of the magic, getting it in the way just in time!  The barrier took the initial shock, fractured, and then blew apart with a snap, the remnants of the bolt striking him in the toughest armor of his shoulder.

This time he only snarled, rather than bellowing, and though the impact slid him back a few steps he didn't fall.  Cortuss looked from the enraged dragon stalking towards him, to the determined dragoness moving to his side for safety, to the back of the cave...

"Sis!" Neth cried.

"This isn't over Ellora!  I will have my revenge!  On you and the clan both!"

Hueroc roared and loosed another beam of his fire, but this time Cortuss dodged with surprising speed, rolling and leaping to his feet and diving for the bed-chamber.  Ellora started to lunge in pursuit--he'd see Loria in there!--but didn't want to block her mate's line of fire, and then to her horror there was Loria, huddled at the passage between rooms watching the commotion!

"No!  Loria!  Run!" Ellora screamed, and she did jump forward this time, she had to keep her daughter safe!  She was aware of Hueroc right beside her, moving even more swiftly, seeing the danger, if they could just get there in time!

The ground beneath their daughter abruptly fell away, and she squealed in fright as she fell into the rapidly forming hole, her legs flailing and little wings snapping out to try to right herself before she hit the bottom.  Cortuss leapt down into the pit after her, and before either of them could get close enough the portal vanished as quickly as it had appeared, the rock utterly smooth, as if the chasm beneath had never appeared!

Hueroc's anger was snuffed out at once by his panic, though all the magical energy remained if only he could find a way to use it!  "Loria!  No!"  He pawed frantically at the floor as all around them the cave began to shake and the cracks in the ceiling multiplied, trying to dig his claws into the rock, break through it, pull it open again--  "Let her go!  No!"  He reared back and arched his neck, preparing to try to break through it with magic.

"Hueroc!"  Ellora pulled at his tail, tears in her eyes.  "Come on!  We have to go!"

He knew the ceiling was crumbling.  Knew it could come down any moment.  But he couldn't leave his daughter down there somewhere, couldn't let that evil dragon take her!  He had to help her!  "But Loria!"

"I know--" his mate sobbed, the pain in her voice nearly breaking his heart.  "But we can't-- can't follow!  We'll be crushed!"

It was so very hard for him to turn away from whatever hole in the ground Cortuss had sucked their daughter into--hard for Ellora, too, he knew from how distraught his mate was.  He felt his rage beginning to boil again knowing he couldn't help her, knowing that they had to run away instead of pursue...  After one more moment he turned toward the entrance and ran, following his mate out into the sunlight, every step taking him farther from Loria, making him feel worse, and worse, and worse.  That a dragon could come into their cave, try to kill them, kidnap or kill their hatchling, and despite all their efforts they hadn't been able to stop him...  It was a horrible impression of fear, powerlessness, weakness...

At least their sons were safe, as little consolation as that felt at the moment.  Taran and Neth both clung to their mother, the blue whimpering and the orange crying outright, huddled against her leg.  Her wings soon appeared and draped over them both, and the rumbling from within the cave quieted.

"He's taking her away," Neth said quietly.

"I know dear... I know."  Ellora sniffled, then looked to Hueroc.  "We have to go to Emma.  We have to warn her and the rest of the clan, and they'll be able to help us find them."  She nuzzled him.  "We'll find her."

He looked back into the cave.  It had been so sudden, so horrible--  It almost didn't feel real.  "I don't understand.  How--  I thought he was dead."

"So did I..."  She whined.  "I don't know--  Don't know how..."  She shuddered all over.

Hueroc's wings trembled.  "I don't want to leave.  Not like this.  He was running--"  He had to stop, and reared up and bellowed into the sky.  "He took her!  Our daughter!"  Coming heavily back down onto all fours, he raked his claws through the soil, rage and anguish warring within him; he had never felt such loss as this, he didn't want to accept defeat, failure, not any of what had just happened--

Both Taran and Neth wailed, and the sadness won out over his anger, so abruptly that it felt like something within him had crumbled, sapping his strength.  He leaned against Ellora, spread his wings over his mate and his sons and pressed his snout to hers, trying not to cry with the three of them.  He was the father.  The dragon.  The helper, the friend, the protector...

Ellora gently nuzzled him, supported him when he leaned on her, and gently licked the bridge of his nose.  Her face was wet with tears, eyes shining, seeming not to want to let any of them get even one inch away from her...  But finally she stood up and shook out her wings.  "It's not safe here anymore."

That might have been the worst part.  Their own cave, their own home, had been invaded, the safest place any of them knew attacked, cracked, nearly brought down on their heads...  And Cortuss could come back to bring the mountain down on them if they didn't move.  "I know.  We have to go."

She gave him Taran, and helped Neth onto her back.  The bright sky overhead was darkening, rain clouds gathering.  "Follow me.  We're going to see Emma."