//------------------------------//
// Ch.27 Grey Skies Ahead 
// Story: The Crystal War Book I: A Spark to Light the Dark 
// by NatureSpark 
//------------------------------//


~Chapter 27: Grey Skies Ahead~


Icy water splashed into Draft’s face, waking him from dreams of foggy mountains and rain. It took a moment for his steely grey eyes to adjust to the early morning light that shrouded his and Ursa’s little camp, but when they did the pegasus was met with the dripping wet face of his older brother staring down at him. Downpour looked terrible, his lips were frozen in a smile that could have been mistaken for a grimace of pain and his eyes were bloodshot, with one swollen and bruised from where Ursa had hit him the day before. Downpour shivered silently as Draft rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up in the damp blankets that covered his midsection. Ursa was still sleeping peacefully beside him, so he carefully got out of bed without disturbing the larger stallion and stood facing his brother.
“What the hay are you doing here, Downpour? I thought I told you that I didn’t want to see you again,” Draft spat at his brother as he got in the stocky pegasus’s face.
“You did. You did say that, but I needed to talk to you,” Downpour explained as shivers wracked his damp body. Draft sighed as he leaned down and pulled one of the blankets off of Ursa, causing the earth pony to groan and roll over on the makeshift bed that they had been sharing. He draped the blanket across his brother and fixed an irritated gaze on his sibling’s tattooed face.
“Well, what are you doing here?” he asked again.
“I’m so sorry, Draft,” Downpour finally said through chattering teeth. It looked as if he had been walking all night, Draft realized as he looked his brother up and down. His boots were caked in mud and his short, black mane was plastered to his head. “I’m sorry for everything that happened.” Draft waited silently for him to continue. “I just, I guess I freaked out… and that was wrong.”
“No shit,” Draft replied flatly. He walked a few steps away from the camp and took a seat on a partially rotted out log that had fallen to the ground a couple yards away. Downpour followed his lead and sat down beside the lankier stallion, turning his body to face the younger pegasus beside him.
“I had a long talk with Spade and he made me realize how foolish I’ve been to think that love is something you can control,” his brother expounded. “Or that who you love changes the fact that you’re my brother.” Downpour’s tired eyes begged for forgiveness as he spoke.
“Who?” Draft asked, curious as to what pony had been able to get through his brother’s thick skull and change the stubborn pony’s mind.
“A bartender,” Downpour explained. That made sense, Draft thought, nopony else would be willing to talk to Downpour for an extended period of time. “He gave me some good advice and I decided to find you and apologize. I walked all night just to catch up to you. I’m cold, wet and tired, but I made it here,” Downpour said, following up the statement with a loud sneeze. Downpour had probably caught some sickness spending all night in the foul weather, but Draft decided that it was nothing less than what his brother deserved.
“I don’t think that I can forgive you. This isn’t the first time you’ve screwed up this badly and how am I supposed to know if it will be the last?” Draft asked. Downpour was silent for awhile as he considered his brother’s question.
“I suppose you can’t. Not yet at least, but I promise that I will do everything I can to make it up to you. You’re my brother, Draft, and I’m sick of hurting everypony I care about,” Downpour explained as a cold breeze whipped by their place on the log. Draft stared at his brother silently for a few minutes, trying to gauge the sincerity of his words. Downpour seemed genuinely sorry for his actions though, so Draft decided to give the older stallion another chance. He only hoped that it wouldn’t come around to bite him in the flank.
“You walked all night, huh?” Draft asked with a hint of humor in his voice. His brother nodded his head as his teeth chattered from the cold. “Moron,” Draft chided as he got up from the log and walked back to the shelter that Ursa had built. He glanced back and saw his brother still shivering on the log, so he called out, “Well, come help me light a fire before you freeze to death over there.” Downpour smiled at him, his lips far bluer than they normally were, and walked over to Draft’s side.
“Thank you, for giving me another chance. It means the world to me, Draft,” Downpour told him as they cleared a circle of dirt to use as a fire pit.
“Ugh, when did you get so mushy? It doesn’t suit you,” Draft replied as they both stood up and peered around, searching for scraps of wood and stones in the dim forest clearing that served as their camp.
“I don’t know, I think the cold is affecting my brain,” the older pegasus replied with a chuckle, which turned into a horrible sounding coughing fit.
“Let’s find some wood and get a fire going. You don’t sound too good right now,” Draft told him. Downpour nodded his head in agreement as he tried to clear his throat of phlegm. The pegasus both walked around looking for dry wood, but had to settle for slightly damp twigs instead. Still, with some extra effort, they managed to get a small fire going; a welcome escape from the biting cold that surrounded them. The brothers hunkered close and warmed their bodies by the crackling flames as the sun slowly broke over the eastern horizon, casting thin rays of light between the grey clouds.

Ursa had been glaring at Downpour ever since he had opened his eyes and seen the tattooed pegasus sitting by the fire. Downpour tried not to give it much thought, but it was hard when a stallion twice his size had a grudge against him. He hadn’t even attempted to apologize to the earth pony, knowing that any words would be met with stoic silence at best and a hoof to his other eye at worst. Downpour kept his gaze trained on the fire as much as he could, ready for the inevitable fight that was bound to start, but to his surprise the green stallion hardly acknowledged him. Ursa wouldn’t even make eye contact, preferring instead to talk only to Draft as the two ate a quick breakfast.
The old Downpour would have been chomping at the bit, just waiting to pay Ursa back for his cheap shot from the day before, but during his long walk through the rain the pegasus had decided that fighting with the earth pony would only widen the gap between him and his younger brother. He had made a promise to himself that he wouldn’t throw the first punch. If Ursa happened to start something, then he’d fight back of course, but until that happened, the short tempered stallion would try to avoid any conflict. His coughing had gotten worse, a sure sign that his brother had been correct in assuming that spending all night in the rain had gotten Downpour sick, and each time he spit out larger globs of snot. Eating had made the pegasus feel a little better, as did the fire, but he was still very sore and completely exhausted from his traveling. It was going to be difficult to keep up with his brother and Ursa, but he’d try his best not to slow them down.
“Alright, the sun is up and we’re done eating. I’d say it’s about time we get moving,” Draft informed his companions as he shoved the last of their supplies into his saddlebags and threw on his remaining gear. Downpour had left his own boots near the fire, along with his cloak, hoping that they would dry out, but to his dismay, the boots were still damp on the inside. They made squishing noises as he walked on them. His cloak was much drier though and that was a little something to be thankful for.
“I’m ready when you are,” Ursa replied to the grey pegasus.
“How about you, Downpour?” his younger brother asked him. Downpour really didn’t feel like walking more, but he nodded his head anyway, so Draft snuffed out the fire and started trotting down the trail, with the sun just beginning to peek through the growing clouds that loomed overhead. Downpour sighed and followed wordlessly behind the other two ponies, doing his best to keep his mind off of how tired his body was.
“Do you still think we’ll make it to the palace today?” Draft asked the earth pony. Downpour remained silent while the two conversed, saving his focus for the task of not tripping over his own fumbling hooves. Every step was difficult, but the pegasus gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain.
“It will probably be evening before we get there, but I think so. Yes,” Ursa replied. That was good news to hear and the corners of Downpour’s mouth curved in a slight smile at the thought of his journey ending.
“Good, I’d imagine we won’t be able to meet with anypony until tomorrow though,” Draft commented.
“Probably not,” Ursa agreed. One more night wasn’t so bad and then Downpour could start heading home to Strata and his own bed. His wings shot out for balance as he slipped in the mud. It was a good thing that he was a pegasus, Downpour thought, otherwise he would have fallen right on his face. Neither of his companions noticed his misstep and they continued talking without missing a beat. “It could even take two nights. I’m sure that the duke is a very busy stallion these days, what with having an entire, unstable country on the brink of war to run.”
“Hmm, well let’s hope that we’re not waiting around for too long then,” Draft sighed. “The more time that passes, the more difficult it will be to change his mind. I can’t imagine he’d still call for this war if he knew it could be avoided.” Downpour decided to stay in the air after nearly falling again. He hovered behind his brother and quietly listened to him speak. The younger pegasus seemed to know what they needed to do far better than Downpour at the moment. It was almost like he was the more mature brother right then, which was probably the truth, Downpour decided.
“I would hope not,” Ursa replied. Downpour glanced up at the clouds, but he didn’t feel any raindrops yet. It almost looked as if they would get a break from the rain for awhile. The pegasus could even feel a little bit of the sun’s warmth over the cool breeze that blew across his bruised face. His wings flapped in a slow rhythm, nearly silent as they carried him through the humid air. His muscles were overworked, but he still hovered without any trouble. Pegasus’s strongest muscles were the ones that composed their wings, used constantly from the time of birth, his especially so. It meant that he could still fly, long after his other limbs gave out from exhaustion.
“I just hope that we aren’t already too late,” Draft said with a frown.
“Me too,” Ursa agreed.

They continued walking without any breaks for the rest of the morning. Draft and Ursa made conversation, while Downpour quietly followed behind them and listened.  Once in awhile, Draft would ask his brother a question, but the older stallion tried to keep his answers short. Ursa treated him as if he wasn’t even there, which seemed perfectly fine with Downpour. It just meant that he wasn’t tempted to fight with the earth pony, Draft figured. It wasn’t until they stopped for lunch that Ursa finally addressed the pegasus directly.
“Your brother told me that you apologized to him,” Ursa said to the bluish pony as his younger brother got everything ready to light a fire. Draft looked up from the task when he heard Ursa talking to Downpour. The pegasus expected their words to escalate into physical blows, but it never happened.
“Yes I did. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did and I apologized for it,” Downpour replied as he dropped a pile of semidry wood on the ground near Draft.
“I just want to you know that if you try anything like that again I’m not going to hold back next time,” Ursa responded in his deep, confident voice. A flash of anger crossed his older brother’s bruised face, but to Draft’s surprise, Downpour kept his calm.
“You do what you have to,” Downpour replied flatly. Draft shook his head with a sigh. They only had to deal with each other for a few more days, but it wasn’t going to be very easy if they continued to act how they were.
“Alright, that’s enough from the two of you. Let’s just eat some lunch and try not to piss each other off. Does that sound good to both of you?” Draft asked as fire slowly started consuming the sticks that he had piled in the fire pit. Downpour and Ursa nodded their heads silently, still glaring at one another from across the fire. It would have to do for now, Draft decided. “Good. Ursa, can you get out some food and pass it around?” The earth pony reached into his bags and passed some lunch out to his companions. Draft watched as the earth pony glared daggers at his brother, both of them deathly quiet as the pegasus took the food he was offered.
“Thanks,” Downpour said over clenched teeth after taking a bite from his apple. Ursa didn’t bother to acknowledge that he had even spoken.
“See, now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Draft asked with a smile. It wasn’t returned, but his companions had both stopped glaring at each other long enough to start eating, so that was a slight improvement. Draft felt a little bit like a foalsitter at that moment, just trying to keep the peace between two stubborn colts. “I wonder how Spark and Strata are doing right now. They should be heading this way any time, don’t you think?” Draft asked, attempting to get a conversation started. It was the only way he could think of to dispel the lingering uneasiness between everypony.
“I’m sure they are by now. Chances are that we’ll see them within the week,” Downpour replied before taking the last bite from his sandwich. The stocky pegasus must have been famished, because he had eaten all of his food before Draft had even gotten through half of his own meal. “Unless they decided to stop by Canterlot and pick up Star first,” Downpour finished after washing down his lunch with some cider.
“I hadn’t thought about that. It sounds like something they might do though, but that would still only delay them for a couple more days,” Draft responded.
Draft was glad to hear Ursa’s voice chiming in, “I’d think it would be more than just a couple days worth of delay to go all the way back to Canterlot before heading here. You did say that Spark was a unicorn and not a pegasus, right?” Downpour nodded his head and Draft explained the situation to the earth pony.
“They’re traveling in a flying chariot that Downpour’s marefriend is pulling.” Ursa stared at him for a few moments, as if he thought Draft was going to break out into laughter and tell him that he was joking. When Draft failed to laugh, the green stallion asked him for an explanation. “To make a long story short, we met this mare that designed a flying chariot. She gave it to us as a gift in return for me testing it out for her and that’s what Spark and Strata are using to get around faster, so we should be seeing them sometime soon,” Draft explained in one large breath, glad that everypony was participating in a civilized conversation for once.
“Ah, well that makes a little bit of sense I guess. She really designed a flying chariot?” Ursa asked, clearly amazed by the news.
“She did. It uses enchanted gems and actually works very well,” Draft replied.
“I take it that she’s an earth pony?”
“Yeah, but how did you know?” Downpour asked, deciding to get back into the conversation, now that he and Ursa weren’t busy hating each other at the moment.
“It makes sense. Every major mechanical advancement ever was the result of earth ponies’ hard work. We may not be able to use magic or fly like unicorns and pegasus, but we have our own skills which more than make up for that fact,” Ursa explained with a cocky grin. “I believe that it’s our lack of magic and flying ability that drives many earth ponies to create so many amazing inventions. Many of the most industrious cities are built by earth ponies.”
“I suppose so,” Downpour acknowledged. Draft chuckled at the green stallion’s conviction as he bragged about his own race. It was true though, earth ponies did seem to be responsible for many of the technologies that were used by ponykind. Draft grabbed a flask of cider from the ground beside him and when he tilted his head back to take a drink, the grey eyed pegasus caught sight of somepony flying above them.
“I think another one of those crystal knights is coming down here,” he told his two companions. They both followed his gaze to the sky, where a pegasus was indeed heading for them. “I wonder what they want.”
“Maybe they’re still on the lookout for those griffons that the other knight told us about,” Ursa reasoned. It seemed like the most likely scenario.
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Downpour agreed. A few seconds later the pegasus made a landing near their encampment. She too was wearing a lightweight armor, just as the previous knight had been. This pegasus was a light purple color however and she also sported a set of wing blades that were much nicer than the new ones Draft had just gotten. The pegasus felt a stab of jealousy as he took in the sight of her armaments. 
“Hello there, I am Aurore a member of the crystal knights,” she called to them as she approached their campfire. “We’ve been getting reports of griffon activity in the area over the last few days. Have any of you seen anything suspicious?”
Draft shook his head and replied, “No, I’m afraid we haven’t seen anything that would help. We’re just on our way to the palace.” Aurore glanced at the three traveling ponies and nodded at each of them in turn.
“If you do see anything, please report it to a knight as soon as possible and be very careful, these griffons might be dangerous,” she told them before lifting back into the air with powerful strokes from her wings.
“We will be sure to do that,” Ursa assured the mare as she flew up into the air and headed northeast, away from their location. “I guess that means that they’re still looking.” Draft couldn’t help but thinking that he would have made a much better knight than the two he had met, because they didn’t seem very qualified to keep the peace.
“Mhmm, hopefully they catch whoever it was. We know for a fact that the Red Eyes had something to do with the empress’s foalnapping, so whatever they’re up to around here can’t be good,” Draft responded.
“With our luck, they’re probably out there looking for us,” Downpour acknowledged. It was actually fairly likely if the mercenaries had learned of their plans to stop the war. Draft just hopped that they would be lucky enough to make it into the palace before anything happened.
“Then I’d suggest that we get a move on, before they find us,” Ursa said as he tossed his saddlebags around his waist and cinched the straps down tightly. The pegasus nodded their agreement and Downpour put the fire out while Draft grabbed his own bags and put them on. As soon as everything was ready, the three stallions continued down the dirt path to the capitol.
Their camp wasn’t even out of sight before Draft felt a cold drop of water hit him on the flank. After the first drop, the pegasus immediately felt two more drops and before long the sky was pouring rain down on them at a furious rate. Draft’s mane and tale were soaked in mere minutes and Downpour was sneezing as he pulled his cloak around him. 	“So much for our break from the storm,” Draft sighed as their camp disappeared from view behind them.

“Is that another knight,” Downpour asked as he pointed up into the stormy skies above them. Ursa squinted up into the rain, trying to catch sight of whatever the pegasus had seen. “If so, then there’s more than one of them this time.” There were at least three figures that he could see through the downpour.
“Those don’t look like pegasus ponies to me,” Ursa replied. “What do you think, Draft?” The grey pegasus fixed his gaze on the approaching forms and groaned.
“I think that our luck just ran out. Those look like griffons to me,” he responded as the three figures drew closer to them. “Ursa, can you help me with my wing blades. I get the feeling that they didn’t hunt us down for a friendly conversation.” The green stallion nodded and started helping the younger stallion with his weapons. Downpour made his own preparations, dumping the last of his magical powder onto his tongue. The rush wasn’t as strong anymore, but the pegasus definitely felt his heart beat faster as his body absorbed the magical mixture. Draft saw what Downpour had done and glared at him when their eyes met.
“I thought you were done with that shit?” he asked in an irritated voice.
“That was the last of it, so I sure as hay am now,” Downpour replied as he stretched his wings and psyched himself for the coming fight.
“Between being sick and that stupid drug, you’re going to wind up killing yourself,” Draft informed him as Ursa finished latching on his sharpened wing coverings. “Just promise me that you’ll take it easy on the magic substances after this.”
“Okay, mom, I’ll be careful from now on,” Downpour replied sarcastically. He knew that Draft was just looking out for his best interest, but they had bigger problems to deal with. The griffons were directly above them and gaining speed as they dove toward the ground. “Are you two ready?” Downpour asked as he tensed the muscles in his hind legs, prepping his body to launch him straight into the first griffon that attacked them.
“I’m ready,” Draft and Ursa replied at the same time. Downpour watched as the griffons hurtled towards them, his heart racing as the first one reached the tops of the trees, but instead of attacking, all three griffons pulled out of their dives. They all flew away from the stallions in the same direction, east.
“That was, uh… unexpected,” Draft stated as they watched the three mercenaries vanishing from view, into the rolling storm.
“What do you think that was all about?” Ursa asked as he let out the breath he had been holding. “I thought for sure they were going to pick a fight.”
“So did I, but I guess they must have had something more important to do,” Downpour replied. His heart was still pounding in his chest and he realized that he had just wasted the last of his powder. “Damn.” As soon as he met up with Nature Spark, he would need to have the unicorn make him some more.
“Works for me,” Draft said as he turned back to the path and started flying north. “We don’t have time to waste on fighting right now anyway.” Ursa shrugged and followed after the grey pegasus. Downpour stood where he was, staring in the direction that the griffons had gone for a few more minutes before looking away with an annoyed sigh. Even if they hadn’t attacked this time, Downpour was sure that those griffons would be coming after him and his brother eventually. There was some unwritten law somewhere, which said he was destined to run into trouble every few days. Downpour caught up to his brother and Ursa fairly quickly, but was coughing quite a bit as he did. After it continued on for a few seconds, Draft shot him a worried glance. “Are you alright, Downpour, that coughing sounds pretty bad,” Draft told him after he had finally caught his breath. Downpour cleared his throat and spat out the phlegm he had coughed up.
“I’ll be fine. I think a little sleep tonight will have me right as rain,” Downpour replied. “Not to mention a nice dinner and a fire too. If we can get one going in all of this damned rain that is!” he shouted up at the storm. Draft rolled his eyes in response.
“I don’t know about of fire, but we’ll definitely at least need some shelter if it gets too much worse,” Ursa informed the brothers. “We should be able to make it to the city by nightfall, but only if the storm will let us.” Downpour surveyed the sky and noted that the clouds overhead seemed even darker and more foreboding than they had been the night before. He didn’t expect them to make it to the city by nightfall. He didn’t even expect them to make it out of the forest by nightfall.
“Yeah, something tells me that isn’t going to happen,” Downpour responded. “In fact, I’m pretty sure that it’s going to get even worse than it did yesterday.” A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, followed by the crack of thunder a moment later, lending truth to Downpour’s prediction. Shivers ran down his spine, until he retightened his cloak and ducked his head down, the rain running off of his body in sheets. It made the traveling seem to take even longer and his cough grew worse with each flap of his wings. Soon he was hacking up snot and coughing like an old stallion on his death bed.

“This country has the worst weather ever. It’s just showers, day after day!” Draft shouted out to Ursa. The rain was falling sideways in the raging winds and flashes of lightning were becoming more frequent as the ponies made their way down the muddy road. Draft’s fur was soaked, even through his clothing and boots, and his mane and tail hung limply, dripping water from the ends. The wind blew icy and chilled the pegasus to his core, sending continuous shivers down his back. Beside him, Ursa and Downpour looked just as miserable as he was. They were both cowering from the deluge inside their cloaks and the shorter pegasus made frequent stops to quell his bouts of coughing.
“It would only have been half as bad if you came in the summer!” Ursa retorted, shouting to be heard over the howling winds and the continuous pounding of the rain against the trees and earth.
“And miss out on all of this, now why would we ever want to do that?” Downpour chimed in, once he had finished with another series of rasping coughs. The bluish pegasus sounded on the verge of collapse as he spoke and Draft decided that it was time to stop for the night. They could always get an early start in the morning.
“Alright, I’ve had enough of this. Let’s just find a place to sleep and call it a night,” Draft told his companions.
“Sounds good to me,” Ursa answered.
“I thought you’d never say that,” Downpour replied between ragged breaths. Draft knew that his brother was more exhausted than he let on and didn’t blame him for wanting to rest. The stocky pegasus had been on the move since yesterday afternoon, taking only short breaks to eat. Draft was surprised his brother was keeping his eyes open, especially now that he was out of his magical powder. He had expected his sibling to react poorly to coming down from his high, but the rain seemed to have sapped any energy Downpour had left, leaving a drooping stallion with bloodshot eyes and a severe cold. Eventually the three of them came upon a small clearing that looked as if it would serve their purposes well enough and Ursa motioned for them to stop walking.
“This should work,” the green pony informed the brothers. “Why don’t you two gather wood and then work on a fire? I’ll see what I can do about a shelter and dinner.”
“Fair enough,” Draft replied. He and his brother set about finding any branches and smaller sticks they could, dragging everything over to the clearing near Ursa. Just as Draft started to walk towards the larger stallion and offer him help setting up a shelter, lightning lit the forest around them and he saw a large shadow being cast on the dirt nearby, the shadow of something moving fast above them. Draft opened his mouth to shout a warning, but whatever had cast the shadow struck him from behind before he got the chance, sending the pegasus sliding across the ground and knocking the wind from his lungs as he crashed into the trunk of an oak tree.
Whoever had crashed into Draft took off into the air as he slid through the mud and another flash of lightning revealed just how much trouble the pegasus was in as he looked up into the dark sky and saw a group of six or seven griffons flying above him. The darkness returned in the wake of the thunder and the hybrid creatures made their move. Draft heard his brother’s scream as the older pegasus grappled with one of the attacking griffons, his voice rising up over the sound of the storm. In the blink of an eye, Ursa was also struggling against one of them, his hooves raking the air as he struck out at the winged enemies, who were slashing talons at his muzzle.
Draft pushed himself up from the ground and dropped his saddlebags. He pulled out his wing blades just as a griffon’s talons slashed the side of his face open. The pegasus screamed as blood ran out of the wound, dripping down his face in warm streaks. It seemed that the mercenaries they had seen earlier only left to round up some of their friends. Draft lashed out with every limb as his wings lifted him into the windy air. The griffon flew through the tree branches and out of his reach, so Draft dropped back to the ground and hurried to attach his weapons before the griffon made another attempt on his life.
“There’s a bunch of these bastards up there,” Downpour called out as he assaulted his attacker with a barrage of punches. Draft fumbled with the latches on his swords as the rain slicked his hooves. If only he had a little magic to help make things easier, Draft thought, as he tried again to latch on his weapons. The buckle caught just in time for him to duck low and avoid being cut by claws. He bucked his back legs to the sky and struck a griffon in their side, sending the creature flying into a tree. The half-eagle, half-lion mercenary crashed into the oak branches with a loud crack, before falling limply to the rain soaked earth.
Draft whipped his head around, searching for his next opponent in the cloud covered sky. He didn’t have to look far, as one of the griffon’s companions cut a path straight for him, hurtling at breakneck speed with outstretched talons ready to shred the grey pony into pieces. Draft jumped to the side and launched himself into the air, intercepting his foe as they broke through the tree cover. The quicker stallion shot past his aggressor, the sharpened edge of his right wing blade sliding through the griffon’s right arm with little resistance, eliciting a pained cry from the mercenary’s yellow beak.
Before Draft could circle around for another attack, something crashed into him from above, sending his rain soaked body careening toward the ground.  The startled pony threw his hooves out in front of him, but he had too much momentum to land gracefully and his legs buckled on contact. Mud filled Draft’s mouth and splattered along his cloak as his face impacted with the soggy soil. He tried to get up, but a clawed paw dropped onto the middle of his back, knocking the pegasus back down before he got the chance. His muscle burned with a fiery pain as the griffon’s beak bit into his withers. He struggled against the crushing weight forcing him down, but it was to no avail.
Draft spat the dirt from his mouth and sucked in a gasping breath as sharp claws dug themselves into his hide, gripping his flesh tightly in their painful embrace. He bucked wildly, trying to shake the griffon from his back, but his attacker responded with another bite, tearing into flesh and causing the pegasus to scream out in agony. Thankfully, Downpour heard his brother’s tortured cries and bounded over to the younger stallion in leaps, slamming headfirst into his attacker and knocking them loose from Draft’s back. Downpour continued to assault the griffon with vicious blows to the head as his brother shook the blood stained mane from his face and shot quick glances around them.
“How many of them are there?” Ursa questioned, his voice rising over the sounds of the fighting going on around him. The large stallion was fighting hoof to talon with an equally large griffon.
“I think that there were seven of them at first,” Draft called back. “I got one, how many have you fought off?” The earth pony took a few moments to respond as he traded blows with the aggravated Red Eye. Ursa’s strikes were slow, but powerful and he soon had the griffon on the ground where he finished the fight with a well placed stomp to the back of the hybrid mercenary’s head.
“That makes two!” Ursa yelled back to him as he caught sight of his next victim.
“Only four more then!” Draft responded.  The weight of the twin weapons he wore pressed against his raw wounds as the pegasus lifted himself into the air, but the pain was nothing more than a slight annoyance as adrenalin rushed through his veins.  The sound of his heart thundered in his ears as he spun in a circle, keeping an eye out for any movement around him. Everything else was dulled by the blinding intensity of the fighting.
“To your left!” Downpour warned him. Draft glanced over just in time to dodge a wide slash of talons and he swung his weapon into the side of the griffon’s head, rending flesh from bone as his blade passed through. The mercenary shrieked in rage as he violently lashed out against the lanky pegasus, razor sharp claws failing to connect as Draft dipped and dodged around his slower enemy.
“Just go down already!” Draft screamed into the Red Eye’s face as he followed up with another swing of his wingtip. His strike connected with the griffon’s chest, parting the hybrid’s muscles in a quick slash. Blood splattered Draft’s face as his foe let out a dying scream. Draft didn’t have time to watch him fall however, as one of the griffon’s companions took up the attack with a murderous vengeance in their red eyes.
Draft felt a rush of air on his face as claws passed before his grey eyes, he couldn’t get his legs up quick enough and the griffon’s wing followed soon after, their wing blade catching the pegasus in his shoulder and cutting open his hide. Draft’s slender wings carried him backwards as another slash missed its mark by a hair. His uninjured foreleg pulled back and he unleashed a strong punch into the side of the griffon’s beak. Crack! The mercenary threw their head back in pain. Draft hesitated for a split second before lunging forward, lancing his wings toward the hybrid’s exposed chest.
Draft saw the strike coming in slow motion, the griffon’s blade stabbing at him in perfect synch to his own thrust. Both swords drew blood at the same instant, as they hit their marks in tandem. Lightning arced between the storm clouds, lighting Draft’s scream of pain as the blade passed through his muscles and into his lung. His own attack was lucky, placed directly through the mercenary’s heart and felling him quickly. The griffon’s wing blade leaving the pegasus’s chest was even more painful, as it twisted on the way out.
Draft’s scream died into moist coughing sounds and the metallic taste of blood flooded his open mouth, dripping down his face as his wings went limp. His vision blurred as he fell from the air and crashed through the barren limbs of the trees below. The only sounds he could hear over the booming thunder was a horrified scream, whether his or somepony else’s, Draft didn’t know, but his vision started fading as he spiraled to the ground. He struggled once again against the weight of his own body, but his wings were heavy and he blacked out before his fall had ended.

Downpour was helpless to do anything more than stare as he heard his brother’s screams and watched the younger pegasus fall. He grappled with the griffon in front of his face; trying to find an opening he could exploit to overpower the tough mercenary. He threw a punch, which missed its mark, and followed through with his elbow, catching the hybrid in the chin and knocking them on their back. The stocky pegasus dove for his opponent, landing on the griffon’s stomach causing a sickening crunch of ribs and other bones. His enemy didn’t get back up again.
There was no time for Downpour to feel bad about possibly killing again; he was already flying towards the place his brother had fallen from. Ursa was already standing at the spot in the pouring rain, Draft’s limp body resting over his back. Downpour glanced around as he approached, but there was no movement that the pegasus could detect. A few bodies littered the woods around the green stallion, a testament to how much damage the earth pony was capable of inflicting. Downpour reached a hoof up to his eye as he remembered how hard Ursa’s punches were.
“How is he?” Downpour asked as he skidded to a stop at Ursa’s side.
“He-he’s bleeding. He’s bleeding really badly!” Ursa was on the verge of tears as he yelled over the constant drone of wind and rain. The crystal pony may have even been crying already, but Downpour had no way of knowing in the storm. The pegasus grabbed his younger brother and pulled his limp body off of the larger stallion’s back, lying him on the muddy ground so that he could examine the wounds. He sucked in a gasping breath as he saw the large stab wound in his taller sibling’s chest. Blood bubbled out with every shallow breath that Draft took.
“Shit! I need you to find Draft’s bags. I need you to find the purple elixir and bring it to me,” Downpour frantically stated. Ursa stared down in horror for a moment, frozen in fear, until Downpour yelled at him again. “Ursa, go now!”
Ursa finally turned and ran towards the spot where they had dropped their bags, lunging over bodies and protruding roots as he galloped. Downpour pressed his hooves over the wound in his brother’s chest, trying to stem the blood flow as he waited for the earth pony to return. His own wounds were insignificant next to his brother’s, a few small lacerations and some bad bruising, but nothing that was life threatening. Ursa returned a few seconds later, the healing potion gripped firmly in his mouth as he knelt down beside Draft’s dying body.
“This is it, right?” Ursa asked as he spit the glass container into Downpour’s waiting hooves. The familiar people mixture contained in the small bottle was a beautiful sight to the shaking pegasus.
“Yeah, this is the one,” Downpour assured him. He pulled the cork from the top of the bottle and dumped a little of the fluid onto the open wound, then he sat his brother upright. “Hold open Draft’s mouth. We have to get him to swallow some of this.” Ursa complied, Holding Draft’s lips apart as Downpour shoved the neck of the bottle in his mouth. The wounded pony coughed and sputtered as the purple mixture flowed down his throat, spraying both of his companions with a mixture of blood and the elixir. His grey eyes remained closed the entire time, as if he didn’t even have the strength to move his eyelids.
“Is it working?” Ursa’s question was more of a plea as they waited to see what would happen next. The slender pegasus had lost quite a bit of blood already, but Downpour kept his hooves firmly clamped over his brother’s chest, begging for a miracle to take place.
“I-I’m not sure. I don’t want to look,” Downpour replied with a grimace. Draft’s eyes didn’t open as they sat there and he feared the worst; that his little brother wouldn’t pull through. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to make up for everything he had done wrong yet. Tears mixed with the blood and rain, sliding down Downpour’s face and dripping onto his hooves. It wasn’t right.
“We need to check on the wound,” Ursa told him as he reached for Downpour’s hooves and forced them off of Draft’s barely expanding lungs. “He has to be okay!” Downpour had to look away; he couldn’t bare the sight of his brother’s blood staining him up to his wrists or the view of exposed bone and flesh that threatened to pull the younger stallion to the other side of the darkness. “Oh, thank the emperor!” Ursa exclaimed in a choked sob. Downpour forced his eyes open and glanced below him. The tear in Draft’s flesh was beginning to heal, the flowing blood reduced to a mere trickle at that point. Downpour’s breath came out in sputtering cough. His blue eyes burned as the salty tears of his sorrow spilled out.
“Damn, ha ha, I-I really th-thought that he was going to die on me for a minute there,” Downpour choked as his voice wavered between giddiness and sickening fear. He broke into a harsh cough as he spoke, but it barely even registered to the bluish stallion.
“Yeah, me too,” Ursa agreed as he fell onto his flank with a deep sigh. It seemed as if the three of them would live to see the palace after all. Downpour wiped his tears away with a dirty hoof, streaking blood over both of his eyes, but the pegasus didn’t even care as relief washed through his body. Every muscle trembled as his terror receded and the adrenaline wore off. He felt shaky and weak, but they were going to have to leave immediately.
“We should get him to a hospital as soon as possible. Do you think that you can carry him to the city tonight?” Downpour asked the green stallion, who nodded his head in agreement as they rose to their hooves. Downpour helped drape his brother as securely as he could across Ursa’s back and then grabbed up their saddlebags, strapping both sets around his waist as comfortably as possible.
“Are you sure that you’re up to walking all night again?” Ursa questioned.
“I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” Downpour replied as the two of them turned towards the trail. “I’ll be fine as long as we get my brother to a safe place.” The rain didn’t let up as the stallions traversed the soaking ground. Mud sloshed around their boots and bolts of lightning split the sky. Each time Downpour jumped, as the shadows of the tree branches morphed into the attacking claws of griffons in the corners of his vision. The pegasus cringed over every gust of wind that threatened to topple his brother over and groaned whenever Ursa nearly slipped. One thing was certain; he was in for another very long night. Downpour groaned as he adjusted the weight on the bags on his back and picked up the pace of his beating wings. The storm hammered against him, but he ignored every drop of cold rain as his mind pleaded with unknown forces to spare his brother from a grim fate.