The Dragon

As Fawn fights against her inner desire to go check on the dragon, they perch on the branch of a dormant, leafless oak tree and stares at the enormous dragon large enough to rip trees from the ground with one claw and use it as a brush if it wanted to.

Several minutes pass as the dragon lies still, breathing deeply when the tail twitches and makes the fairies hold their breath. Watching the dragon even closer for more movement as Tinker Bell says barely over a whisper, "The color matches that of the scale pieces we found!"

When the fairies hear a pained groan come from the dragons partially open mouth, Fawn briefly cries out in alarm as Tink quickly puts her hand over her mouth when Queen Clarion quietly mumbles, "No one move a muscle or say a word..."

As Star Reaper slowly lifts his head while groaning in discomfort from the splitting headache he is suffering from, he turns his head from left to right slowly to look at where he is. Unable to see clearly, he tries to blink it away as he attempts to get his limbs under him.

Unaware that he is being watched, several moments pass as he growls painfully while getting into a sitting position from his right side, feeling the now burning pain in his body as the bolts were shoved in deeper and pierced the left side of his body. His breathing quickens a bit from the exertion and turns his head to look at his left side, lifting his wing up painfully to see the mithril tips of the bolts sticking out of his body by at least a couple feet. With a hesitant sigh, he says, "Since they are visible now, I better remove them so the wounds can start to heal."

Queen Clarion moves her right hand over her mouth at hearing the dragon speak, mumbling through her fingers, "When did they learn to speak?"

Lord Milori grips the reigns of his snowy owl tightly as he watches the dragon's large head move under its wing with open jaws, clamping onto something beside him and swiftly tears it out of him with a muffled growl of pain coming from his nose and clenched teeth.

Tinker Bell can't stop herself from gasping at seeing the large, blood-soaked object pulled out of the dragon's side and flung against the mountain with a metallic clang. The long object bounces off and lands on the ground below, glistening with the dragon's blood. an idea strikes her as she leans over to Queen Clarion's ear, whispering, "Do you have anything I can collect some of its blood in?"

Quickly nodding and pulling out a jar with a cork in it, she hand it over to Tinker Bell and whispers, "Just wait until it finishes discarding those dangerous-looking objects."

Holding the corked jar in both hands, she watches the dragon pull nine other objects from it's side and toss them against the mountain. When the dragon moves its head under its left wing and begin breathing fire over where the objects were lodged, she sees her chance and takes off towards the pile of discarded objects to collect the blood she needs.

Once he finishes cauterizing the wounds in his left and right sides with his fire, he turns back to the pile of bolts and notices a faintly glowing gold trail of glitter fade into nothing beside the pile. Curious, he rises onto his hands and feet, then slowly makes his way towards the pile to investigate, asking himself, "What was that?"

Tink hears that and gasps, returning the cork to the half-filled bottle and darting underneath one of the massive objects several times larger than the width of her body, praying silently in her mind, 'Oh please don't let it catch me...'

Star Reaper carefully looks over the pile of bolts coated with his blood, he notices a tiny pair of green shoes between two of the bolts and says, "I see your shoes, little one. So come on out and introduce yourself unless you wish to fight me." When the creature doesn't come out, he breathes in and blows out a strong huff of air through his lips to send it out of hiding.

Crying out in alarm when she is abruptly blown out from her hiding spot saying, "WAHH!"

Periwinkle almost races out to help her sister when she lands face first into a pile of snow and digs herself out. As she sees the look on her twin's face when it pops out of the snowbank, it is cherry red which causes Peri to giggle behind her hand saying, "It is true! She really does turn cherry red when she is angry."

Fawn watches Tink stomp over the snow towards the dragon and quietly says, "Please don't do anything to make him angry..."

Tinker Bell storms up to the jar of the dragon's blood and picks it up, looking up at the massive creature and shouting, "YOU DIDN'T NEED TO BE SO IMPATIENT AND RUDE! NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID TO MY WING, YOU BROKE IT!"

He looks closely at the small creature, noting that her left wing is hanging at an odd angle. Sighing as he sees that, he then spots the tiny amount of blood in the jar and says, "If you wish to heal your wing, just apply the blood to the damaged edges and it will help it regenerate."

The anger leaves her immediately at hearing that an cocks her head to the side, saying, "Wha-What did you say about your blood?"

The others look on wondrously as the dragon repeats itself, instructing her to go to the end of one bolt that has an arrowhead and cut her palm, then apply some of the blood to the wound to allow it to work it's magic.

Hesitantly, Tinker Bell makes her way to the pointed end of a bolt and sets the jar down before pausing a few moments to slice the palm of her right hand open with the sharp edge, then uses the forefinger on her left hand to coat the tip with some of the blood, saying, "This feels gross..."

Star Reaper watches her move her covered finger to her cut and says, "When your hand starts to feel on fire, you know it is working. So brace for a bit of pain and endure it while you watch the wound close up without a blemish." Once she smears the blood along the small cut, he watches closely as it takes several seconds for her to begin shaking her hand in the air before shoving it into a snowbank. With a gentle chuckle at the scene, he watches her look up at him with a red face, saying, "I told you it would burn, but now look at your hand, tiny one."

Grumbling to herself while her redness fades away, she yanks her hand out of the snow and looks at where the cut was with a gasp, saying, "It worked?" Wiping her left forefinger clean in the snow, she then tries to spread the skin apart. Unable to find any trace of the cut, she slices her right hand again on the blade and applies a little more blood on the new cut. Careful not to make too much of a mess, she wipes away the excess blood and cleans her left hand off in the snow while watching her cut intently. Gripping her wrist in her left hand, she fights her desire to cool it off and sweats through the burning while the cut slowly begins to glow white and close up before her very eyes.

Once the glow fades away, she thrusts her hand in the snow to wash the blood away and looks over her hand closely. Amazed by it actually working, she smiles widely and then turns around to look up at where her sister is hiding. Waving her right hand in the air at her twin, she calls out, "PERI, COME HERE AND HELP APPLY SOME TO MY WING, IT REALLY WORKS!"

Very hesitantly, Periwinkle squirms a little before groaning and heading down to help her sister, saying, "I'm coming!"

When her twin lands beside her unhappily, Tink turns around and says, "I can't reach back far enough to coat the damaged edges, could you do it for me, please?"

The winter fairy looks at her sister, asking, "Are you sure about this, Tink?"

Nodding her head, she says, "I am. We can't always rely on the magic of our wings to heal each other, so let's give this a try."

Peri groans and says, "Alright, but if that dragon starts breathing fire, I won't let you forget it." Taking some of the blood with her fingertips, she grumbles with disgust, saying, "Eww...this feels so disgusting." while gingerly lifting up the damaged wing and coating the thin, delicate edge of her sister's wing.

Seconds pass as Tinker Bell feels the heat increase in her wing and hops lightly in place, while clenching her fists tightly and rapidly chanting, "Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, HOT!"

Watching her sister hop back and forth between her left and right foot with concern, she notices a white glow along the damaged edges and holds her hands in front of her mouth in shock while the membrane knits itself back together seamlessly, saying, "Wow..."

It takes a few moments for her wing to stop burning as she says, "Whew, I thought the burning would never go away! That really flapping burns, you know!" She turns to her sister and asks, "Well Peri, how does my wing look?"

Peri holds her sister's wing in her hand and looks it over very closely, unable to believe what she sees, she says, "It's flawless...completely healed. Did the blood really restore your wing? Try to fly."

Tink flutters her wings and floats around her twin saying, "See?!" She then flips around and flies around her sister facing backward, adding, "The blood does at the dragon said it would, though it does burn quite a bit when applied to a sensitive area like our wings. Try it for yourself, cut your palm a little and dab a little blood to it. Cold snow does nothing to ease the burning, I tried."

Wiping her hands clean in the snow, she then looks at her own palm and hesitantly moves it to one of the sharp ends. With a quick jerk, she cuts the side of her right hand open a bit with a hiss of pain then collects a little blood with her left forefinger and lays it just inside the fresh cut. It takes a few seconds for the burning sensation in her hand to increase and slowly become unbearable, making her shake her hand in the cold air to try cooling it.

Fighting back her own giggles, she then finishes collecting the dragon blood she needs and says in an amused tone, "Burns while it heals, doesn't it?"

Peri looks at her sister with a mildly annoyed look saying, "It does! I can't begin to imagine how that felt for your wings..."

Remembering that they are in front of a massive dragon, Tinker Bell stops and lands, then looks up at them with a bashful look on her face and giggles nervously, saying, "Sorry if we were rude and ignoring you, but do you plan to go on a rampage and burn everything you see?"

Star Reaper cocks his head a moment before recalling the tales handed down from long ago and snorts in amusement, saying, "No, if the legends from long ago of dragons being like wild, mindless, and vicious beasts are to be believed, we came a long way in those six to twenty thousand years." His amusement gives way to sadness as he remembers how he came to be here and sighs saying, "I will not be rampaging or terrorizing at all for several years as I am being punished."

Seeing an opportunity to learn more, Queen Clarion flies toward the dragon with the other fairies following behind while Lord Milori goes from branch to branch to watch over them closely. When she is by Tinker Bell and Periwinkle, she stops and asks, "Can you tell me why that is?"

He sighs heavily and looks down at her, saying, "I was responsible for a great calamity due to my lack of knowledge, let me share my story with you so you can understand what I have been through... I don't know not how long ago it was, since I had lost track of time along the line. It all began one day when I was wanting a very special gift to present to my love to ask her to be my mate, though I had no idea of what I should get her, so I left my den to fly around to get some inspiration for a gift. I climbed high in the sky to ride the fast air currents to take some of the burden off my wings, traveling pretty far until something caught my eye. I looked closer and saw some mountains that reflected the light, revealing themselves to be made entirely from crystal. Making my way there, I paid no heed to the city as it was against the law for the biped creatures to attack us first without reason." Seeing the confused faces on them all, he then says, "They couldn't attack us without provocation because they were ruled by the Arch Dragon, Sulfur Hide, who was the uncle of my lover, Sky Wing. Anyway, back to the story... As I was passing over the city, I was headed for the very peak of the mountain when a bolt identical to the ones that are in a pile before you now, hit my horn and broke half of my right horn off. The moment that happened, it made me angry as I was not planning on attacking the city."

Tinker Bell sits down on the snow beside her sister and the other two fairies except for Queen Clarion and Lord Milori, who watches over them while they continue talking, hearing him say, "Shortly after that first bolt broke my horn, I came under fire by the biped's ballistae mounted on the city's walls. Six other bolts had struck my right side when I corrected my course and struck the mountain's peak, fracturing it and allowing me to begin prying it off with my claws when other bolts struck my tail. When I managed to break off the small chunk, I held it in my claws and began to head back to my den, warning them that I would return to burn them all for breaking the Arch Dragon's law."

Star Reaper then continues his tale, saying, "It took me a couple of hours to return to my cave, where I let myself get sidetracked with carving my gift to my love. It was night time when I was finished, so I tucked the remarkably clear crystal heart away in my den after feeling it wasn't special enough. When I remembered that I was attacked, I left my den to uphold my warning to the city." Looking at the scared faces of the beings, he sighs and asks, "Do you wish me to tell you the details of my attack on the city, or skip to the conclusion?"

Before the other fairies can say anything, Queen Clarion says, "Just the conclusion before the young fairies, if you please. Violence and bloodshed have no place in our world."

Nodding his head, he continues, "I shall respect your wishes. I left my den under a clouded, night sky and flew up above the clouds with a bright, full moon overhead as I headed for the city. When I finished my attack, I left much of the city and its walls covered in my unique navy blue fire." Spotting an owl swoop down and land behind the beings with another of their kind on its back steering it, the being hops off and hurries over to the tall one and hold them tightly. With a sigh, he says, "From that reaction, I take it you experienced blue fire before. I know not what you went through, but I am sure it had to be quite traumatic."

She nods and holds Lord Milori close, saying, "It certainly was, but continue your tale."

Star Reaper nods again and resumes, "I left the city with an elven princess, who offered herself to me in exchange of sparing those that remained. After finding the missing part of my horn, I used it to serve as a grim reminder of the law along with a message which isn't important knowledge. When I returned later that morning, I began to make her captivity somewhat pleasant when I heard the wing beats of a dragon approaching my home. As I checked it out, I saw that it was just my love coming to check on me. Once she landed outside, she told me she saw the smoke from her den and how she figured it was my doing when she noticed my broken horn and asked what happened and if I was injured. Not wanting her to know that I was injured, but not seriously, I already had my right side angled away from outside view. I then told her that I was fine but the bipeds had gotten smarter and made better weapons that could cause great harm to us and tore one out of my tail to show it to her, she did not like how sinister the barbed tip was and wanted to tell the Arch Dragon of the news. She also asked if I could fly there with her, but I lied and told her I couldn't because I needed rest and that I would meet her there tomorrow. As I turned to head further into my den, she must have spotted one of the bolts because she asked if I was sure I was okay and how many hit me. Not wanting her to know the real number, I lied to her again and said that there were only a couple more in my right side and jokingly told her there was no need for her to worry about little old me. She understood my joke because she huffed in amusement and called me old sarcastically, saying that I knew all to well that dragons don't die from old age, but in battle with pride."

As Fawn listens to the story, she chuckles a little at his love snarkily telling him to get some rest and calling him a geezer. As she hears how he continued to make the elf's stay more comfortable, and told the elf that his love frequently visited and gave her details of her appearance, she starts to see him in a better light. While he tells them how he woke up to the elf sleeping within his arms, she wonders how strange that must have looked when she hears him say, "When I woke up the next morning, I remembered the dream I had where I was flying among the stars above my world and got an idea of how I would complete my gift to my love in hopes that she would accept me."

Pausing telling his story for a moment to let out a sad, heavy sigh, he says, "This is where I had made a terrible mistake... I had to wait for Summer to roll off of me before I could get up, when she did, I made my way quietly outside and flew toward the top of my mountain and hovered just above it to search for a star strong enough to imbue the crystal heart I had carved. I closed my eyes and used my intuition to begin searching for a suitable star, which took me several minutes to find one. After I had located a suitable one, I stopped rotating and looked up at it. Squinting my eyes and enhancing my vision as much as I was able, I just barely could see the flickering of the star. I then held the heart up between three claws and began using my inner magic to draw the strength from the star and into the gift, taking me an hour to fully imbue the crystal with a magical ability. When it was done, the star simply disappeared from view, so I looked down at the heart to see that the crystal had changed from being as clear as a diamond to a color deeper than a blue sapphire and had a glow all its own. Moving the crystal into my hand to hide it from view, I headed inside my den to pick up the princess and take her with me to the Arch Dragon."

Periwinkle listens to the story as she hears him speak of his arrival and can't hold back a snicker at hearing one of the other dragons comparing his injured side to the backside of a porcupine when the Arch Dragon began speaking with him. As he tells them of the conversation between the two of them and recounting his tale of the attack, she hears him sigh again and say, "When he asked for my thoughts about the bipeds, I took a few moments to think it over before telling him how I couldn't help but feel that the age was turning in favor of the bipeds. I then shared the other half of my thoughts, telling him that if the bipeds desired freedom from dragon rulership, then we should make them prove themselves worthy through battle."

As Star Reaper continues telling them of the Arch Dragon's declaration of war and how he then faced his love and called her out, requesting her to me his mate. He then tells them how she stepped forward out of the crowd and ordered him to step forward to be judged as worthy or unworthy of being her mate, and that he then shared how he made the heart to call forth a shield to protect her from those meaning her harm. When he reaches the point of how she appreciated his gift and declared him worthy to be her mate, he closes his eyes for a moment, saying, "As she reached out to claim the crystal heart with her claw...she was stopped short by a pure white dragon priestess stepping into the opening with a golden headdress completely covering her face and a silver staff, shouting 'hold thy claw, Sky Wing'."

Opening his eyes again, he continues, "She pulled back her claw and turned to the priestess, asking her for the reason she has for not allowing her to complete the ceremony. The priestess then told her the issue she has was with the gift and the dragon she intends to be her mate, then told her that the heart was pure and honest to purpose. However, she then told her that the only problem is how it came to become that way, which caused me to quickly turn to her as she headed toward me and said that I didn't understand and that there was nothing wrong with what I did. She stopped near me and cut me off by whacking the end of one of the bolts hard, causing me to gently roar out in pain as she shouted at me to be silent. Saying that I knew not what I had done, but she did. She stopped at my right shoulder and I had to look down a bit to give her my attention as the others kept walking around me. She then continued telling me in a loud, clear voice that the star whose energy I had taken belonged to a solar system blessed with life."

Moving her hands up to her mouth as she gasps, whispering no under her breath as she hears him continue his tale, "That when I had taken the last bit of energy remaining from the system's only sun, the massive star went supernova and reduced the entire system to rubble. Telling me only one planet on it sustained life and the heart I made is tainted by the blood of those that called it home."

Tears start falling from Sled's eyes as he puts the clues together, sitting down on his knees to hold Fawn close as she begins to sob when he hears a sob come from the dragon. He curiously watches as a few tears fall from the dragon and sink through the snow while he hears the dragon continue his tale through his tears, saying, "Saying that the number of those I was responsible for was so far beyond count, she was sickened to even consider me a fellow dragon."

Star Reaper hangs his head and looks at the ground in grief and shame, saying as his tears continue to fall to the snow-covered ground below, "Her words made all dragons in the caldera go deathly silent and struck my heart hard, shocking me to my very core, so much that it caused my back legs to give out from under me as I just looked into the distance with a shock-stricken face and said pausingly that I...I didn't know. I then slowly turned to look at her and asked what was to be done. She then looked up at me and said 'exile of the highest order' Because of how rarely that sentence is used, it caused many dragons to gasp at the severity of the punishment. As she began tapping the ground in a slow rhythm of three steady taps of her staff on the stone under her, the others joined the rhythm as she started to deliver the punishment saying 'Cosmic Seeker, as the head priestess, I hereby expunge you of your name and grant you the draconic name of Reuladair Rionnag, known in common as Star Reaper. As a constant reminder of the innocents you indirectly slaughtered with your action, we hereby curse your body permanently with the main color of black with a blood-red undercoat and claws to match. You shall be tasked with making things right with others you have also befouled before your penance begins. Any last words before the magic is cast and you are hurled from this planet, Star Reaper?'"

Shocked at hearing how he was punished harshly, Tinker Bell can't help but ask, "Uhm...do you know what your penance involves?"

With a nod, he says, "I do, and it isn't pleasant... What happens is that everything that makes me...well, me...my knowledge, intelligence, magic, ability to think, speak, feel emotions, and my conscious sense of self, get locked away deep inside a cell as my instincts take over and rule my body with the basest of needs to guide it along. Meaning that I become a prisoner inside my own body as it becomes driven by the needs of the body, only capable of feeling hatred or nothing at all, and am forced to watch helplessly as my body acts on its own."

Queen Clarion then clears her voice and asks, "Is this penance common knowledge among dragons?"

Star Reaper nods and says, "It is because every dragon is driven by instincts when we hatch until we develop conscious thoughts and begin to learn things taught by our parents. With the penance, we are reverted to that state and kept there until we are slain or set free somehow though it is rare that happens."

Fawn then sniffles and says, "Why did you destroy the mainland? What did we or they ever do to you?!"

With a sigh, he looks at the sobbing creature, and says, "Neither you nor they did anything to deserve being destroyed, it's just that the thought that there might be life out there other than on our world never occurred to me, if I had considered it...I would have tried to find another way."

Lord Milori looks up at the dragon and frowns at him saying, "It greatly upset and hurt us to lose our duties to the mainland, and I believe that all fairies on this world would expect you to right your wrong." Turning to the others, he asks, "What do you all think, young fairies?"

Star Reaper then looks at the fairies to hear them all voice their agreements loudly, and says, "I will do what I must to fix what I have robbed from you, and shall risk my very life to see it done."

Queen Clarion smiles very faintly and clasps her hands together before her saying, "Would you mind continuing your tale and how you came to arrive here?"

Nodding his head, he says, "Certainly, I was given the chance to say something before I was cast from the world, so I lowered my head to the ground and told the princess to get off. When she refused to leave me, I twisted my head and threw her to the ground while telling her she didn't have a say. Using my left hand, I picked her up with my thumb and index finger then tossed her gently to my love, and began to formally surrender everything I owned...to her, including the elf princess and the deal between us. When I was done, I lowered my voice only so she could hear and asked her to enjoy the contents of the hollow boulder for me and take good care of the elf. I then bowed my head to her as tears started to slip from my eyes and apologized for failing her, telling her that I hoped she would find a mate far more worthy for her than me and have a large clutch of eggs. After that, I said farewell to her and heard the staffs all hit the ground as the spell was cast, I remember the sensation of something tiny crawling underneath my scales and hide as the changes began to take effect. Just before I was shot up into the sky, I heard my love say she would, and said goodbye to me. I opened my eyes as I was sailing up into the air upside down and back first, surrounded by the golden light of the spell and watched my former home slowly shrink from sight as shame and sorrow hit me harder when I began to comprehend just what I had done and wished that I hadn't taken the energy from the star."

With a heavy sigh, he then continues, "I lost all meaning of time after that, remembering how I felt gravity pushing in all round me and forcing the bolts in deeper, increasing the pain a hundredfold. Things then reversed as I started to feel pulled in many different directions as the pain increased yet again, and opened my outer eyelids when I started to move faster without being allowed to use my wings. I moved so fast that I could see light form individual beams as they flew past, which entranced me for a while until they ended abruptly before I shot out of a black void surrounded by rock being drawn into it."

Fawn listens and winces at hearing his tale about his journey through the space where the mainland once was, tears slipping through her fingers as she gasps at hearing how he was knocked unconscious by a rock bigger than him, saying, "That sounds like you went through quite the ordeal to end up here, I couldn't imagine being on a journey for just over ten years without any control of where I was going."

He then raises an eyebrow saying, "It has been ten years since the calamity?"

Queen Clarion nods and says, "It has been ten years and eight months since we lost our duty to bring seasons to Earth. How do you plan to right things, Star Reaper?"

Star Reaper shakes his head, saying, "I do not know...I do my best thinking while flying."

Taking a moment to talk it over with his love, Lord Milori then looks up at the dragon responsible for their loss, saying, "So be it, but you will not be allowed to fly alone."

The queen then looks at him saying, "Most definitely not, I will be assigning a large group of scout fairies to escort you at all times. I expect you to respect and follow their requests or answer any questions they may have, should you ignore them or act aggressively towards any fairy for any reason, there will be consequences."

Nodding his head, saying, "Very well, though I only wish to lament that which I had lost and destroyed and will be feeling nothing but sorrow, guilt and shame for the foreseeable few centuries, so I will listen and heed your wishes."

Queen Clarion looks at Milori and says, "Let us head back so I can gather the scout regiment and have them prepare for a lengthy mission."

Lord Milori then nods and holds his hand out for her to take, saying, "Of course, dear." He then starts to guide her back to his snowy owl and looks to the others, saying, "Let's go back, everyone. Sled, remain here to keep a close watch until our own scouts arrive as well to help guard the dragon."

Instantly remembering that Lord Milori has a broken wing, Tinker Bell stops him, saying, "Please wait, Lord Milori, your wing."

Stopping and turning toward her, he raises an eyebrow, and asks, "What about my wing, Tinker Bell?"

Fidgeting nervously, she then says, "You could give the dragon's blood a chance to regenerate your broken wing."

Not wanting to get his hopes up to fly again, he sighs and says, "I don't think that it will be able to help with how long it has been broken..."

Not wanting to give up, Tinker Bell says, "Please just give it a chance, you will never know unless you try it! Please?!" Thinking of a way to prove it, she turns her head and looks up at the dragon, asking, "Uhm, are you positive that your blood will heal any injury, even if the limb is missing completely?"

Star Reaper nods and says, "Yes, I once watched a man save his wife from certain death when she was cut in half by a crazed warrior, she regrew new organs, bone, muscle, and even flesh. She walked away on her new legs hand in hand with her man."

To prove it, she looks at him and says, "Just watch, I will prove it works!" then turns around and heads towards the sharp blade of a bolt.

Knowing what her plan likely is, Periwinkle takes off after her, saying, "Come on, Tink, don't be crazy! You don't know for sure if it will really do what he claims!"

Ignoring her twin's pleas, she zips around in a wide circle and heads for just below the edge, saying, "I have faith that he is being honest! You will have to refrost them when they grow back!" She lowers her head and holds her wings straight up, hearing the blade cut through them like butter with a 'shing' a few inches above their base and cries out painfully just before skidding to a stop on the snow, saying, "Forget about the upper halves and apply the blood to just the cut portion Peri!" She then gets up and jogs back to the blade's edge.

Shaking her head, Peri collects some of the blood on her index finger, saying, "You're crazy for doing this, you know that?" She then begins to apply it along the cleanly cut portions of her top two wings, grumbling, "I have half a mind to leave you like this."

Tinker Bell sighs and says, "I know it is a bit on the extreme side, but I just know it will work! Trust me!"

When she finishes, she wipes her hands clean in the snow saying, "There you go, now we can get some entertainment if it does work when the burning starts to kick in."

Forgetting about that, she feels it begin to kick in a few seconds later, saying, "Oops, I forgot about the crazy burning sensation..."

Finding amusement in how the fairy now known as Tinker Bell jumps in the air and runs around while using strange curse words as her wings grow back, Star turns to the others and says, "The healing works much more efficiently with a fresh cut, if there is infection present in the wound...it will last longer as the burning will get rid of it before starting the healing process."

When the agonizingly painful burning goes away, Tink sighs in relief and falls face-first onto the snow with a groan, saying, "RELIEF...FINALLY! How do they look now, Peri?"

Wanting to get back at her sister, Periwinkle then says, "Like a bat's."

Tinker Bell shrieks and jerks her head around, shouting, "WHAT!" When she hears her sister and the others start giggling, she sees her wings are back to their normal shape and pattern, and frowns at her twin, saying, "Not very nice..."

Peri cleans the traces of blood off her wings, then frosts them saying, "Neither was your idea to cut off your wings which are identical to mine..." Then offers her a hand up.

Taking her hand, she stands back up and looks at the blade with her old wings pretty much glued to the blade by the blood, saying, "Ehh...I don't want to try to peel them off the blade since they look extremely gross with the frost stained red like that." Fluttering her way over to Lord Milori, she then raises her wings up for him to look at and lands in front of him, saying, "See, it works! Please give it a try!"

Lord Milori considers it and rubs his chin for a few seconds, saying, "Alright, I guess it won't hurt to give it a try just once..." He then removes his cloak and walks over to the blade, then bends over with his right wing raised when he feels a hand hold onto it. Looking over to see that it is his love, he smiles and says, "Thank you for helping me with this, dear."

Queen Clarion holds onto his wing gently as she walks forward, hearing the blade cut through the wing and causing her to wince at the sound. When the wing piece comes free, she holds it to her chest a moment as he steps away from the blade. Carefully tucking it into her coat, she heads over to the blade and hesitantly coats a few of her fingers on her left hand. Making her way to her love, she lifts his freshly cut wing up and carefully applies the sticky liquid to the edge before using the snow to clean her hands, then watches the wing closely as it slowly begins to glow brighter, asking, "How does your wing feel, dear?"

He then grunts in discomfort at the hot sensation, saying, "It is getting uncomfortably hot."

Star notices the color changing color and says, "There is an infection present, which means the temperature will increase even more and last until it is gone."

She looks at the now blue-glowing wing and asks, "Really? Is the color change a sign of it?"

He nods his head and says, "It is indeed, so prepare for the sensation to get much hotter as the infection is burned out."

Lord Milori remains stoic even though the burning pain skyrockets, causing him to start sweating more profusely, saying, "My wing feels like it's going to melt right off."

Star watches the fairy, saying, "Sweating is also a sign that it is making great progress, keep enduring through it, tough one."

Several minutes pass by when he lets out a sigh of relief and leans against his love lightly, asking nervously with a bit of hope coming through his voice, "Does it look any better, dear?"

Queen Clarion holds his wing in her hands with a happy smile as she cleans it with snow, saying, "Amazing, it is completely regenerated after being broken for so many years! There is no longer any yellow tint to the wing..." Using some of her own Pixie Dust, she covers his wings in it and says, "Try to fly now darling."

Lord Milori then hesitantly flaps his wings, feeling them start to lift him off the ground. He slowly makes them go faster and is wide-eyed at finding himself lifting off the ground and rising into the air steadily, saying, "I-I can't believe it...I'm...flying again."

She has tears in her eyes as she watches her love float around her in the air, taking her hands in his and pulling her up to join him in a slow dance, saying, "I'm glad you are back to your old self again, love."

Letting them have their moment, the dragon turns to the pile of bolts saying, "If everyone is finished with the bolts, I would like to get rid of them for good."

They all make their way a distance from the pile as Sled asks, "What are you going to do with them?"

Star Reaper then says, "Melt them so they can't ever be used again, is there a place where I can safely use my fire?"

Thinking about the layout of the valley, Lord Milori nods and says, "Yes, there is a corner at the far end of the valley, the spot is the bottom of a crater where no wildlife, insects, or plants inhabit. Follow me there."

With a nod, he opens his jaws and picks up the pile of bolts in his teeth, then turns and starts following the small fairy along the edge of the mountain's edge slowly.

Arriving a few minutes later, the dragon stands atop the ridge of the crater and looks at the bottom, saying, "This was formed by a meteor strike a long time ago, and will do nicely. I would advise you all to stay just beyond the ridge, finding safety out of the range of the heat that will be present when I use my blue flame. Fortunately, blue fire doesn't spread like normal fire does as it will stay in one spot until it burns out."

As the fairies remain at the ridge, they watch him as he heads down with a slight limp and drop the bolts to the ground. When the dragon raises his head with a deep inhale, they watch as he thrusts his head down toward the pile and engulfs them in blue flame.

Star Reaper continues engulfing the bolts in flame until the metal liquefies and forms a puddle in front of him, using his claws to smear the liquid around into the cracks to ensure nothing remains behind. Once he finishes with that, he nods and then walks around in a small circle and lies down, saying, "I must gather my strength before I do any flying, please inform your fairies that I tend to wake with a start and lash out. For their own safety, it is best they let me wake on my own."