From the Ashes: Ember's Story

by Zoljen

Running Again

Light Feather woke to the smell of cooking meat, she yawned widely and stretched out in her comfortable bed before slowly rolling out of it. She shook herself and looked towards the door, “Huh, who's cooking breakfast?” She slowly made her way out into the living room to see Ember in the kitchen, in her unicorn form. Quicktail was providing assistance and pointing out where things are.

Ember didn't even look towards her as she kept cooking, “G’morning Light Feather, Quicktail is helping me make breakfast for you both.”

“Huh, are you sure you should be moving around? Aren't you still sore?” Light Feather asked as she moved towards the table, seeing an array of bacon and eggs already on it.

“I’m fine. One advantage to being what I am is I recuperate fast.” Ember hovered over another small plate of bacon to the table. Quicktail glanced at her, tilting his head slightly.

“Recuperate?” Quicktail slowly sounded at the word.

“Heal up and get rest after being hurt or becoming ill.” Ember chuckled softly as she explained. Light Feather chuckled softly as she watched the pair.

“Are you sure you can't stay?”

Ember nodded slowly. “I’d love to, but I explained why I can't last night.” She sat at the table, as Quicktail and Light Feather did the same, starting to dig into the food. The meal mostly passed in silence after that, though near the end of it Quicktail chirped softly.

“You know how to cook very well, Miss Ember.” He grinned as he picked up his plate.

“Yeah, have to admit. This breakfast is very well done.” Light Feather grinned towards Ember.

“Well, it's one thing I do, please griffins.” She said with a big toothy grin. “Among other species anyway.” She chuckled softly and took Light Feathers dishes in her levitation and went towards the kitchen.

Light Feather watched her, sighing softly. “Having magic must be nice.”

“It can be a bit much at times, and relying on it too much can be bad when it's suddenly gone.” She set the dishes in the sink with a shrug. “So I try not to use it too often.”

“Uh oh,” Quicktail said softly, as he was currently looking out the window of their home. “Uh, Miss Ember. I think you should come see this.” Ember glanced towards the door, and squeaked as her ears went flat against her head. She suddenly detected a lot of suspicion from outside, and Quicktail had spotted the source.

“Oh no.” She said quietly, backing up some and going slightly pale. Light Feather quickly moved to the window and looked out as well. She saw three drakes walking down the street, each one was sniffing the air and looking about at the homes. Light Feather quickly glanced back at Ember who was shaking slightly, staring at the door. “They found me.”

“But they don't know it's you, do they?” She asked as she started to move towards her bedroom.

“They can smell what I am.” She sighed, looking down at the floor. “So I can't hide here.”

“Then run,” Light Feather said calmly as she placed a pair of saddlebags on Ember’s back. Ember looked at her with a puzzled expression. “Go north.”

“But…” Ember started, looking towards the door.

“Open up! The griffin we are looking for is inside!” Thundered from outside the door, making Quicktail squeak and run into his room. Ember looked towards Quicktail’s room, then back to the door and took a few steps to the side, angling herself up with the door.

“Get back, and thanks,” she said as she glanced at Light Feather, “for everything.” She focused on the door, her horn starting to glow. Light Feather took a few steps away as the drake pounded on the door. Ember growled softly as she fired a beam at the door, blasting it off it's hinges and into the street. Ember looked back at Light Feather. “Take care.”

Light Feather nodded back at her as Ember dashed out the door. Ember pounced into the door, keeping the dragon pinned underneath it. “I am the one you’re after!” she yelled, changing into her griffin guise and taking to the air, floating for a second. “Come get me if you have the balls!” She then dashed off to the north. The dragons looked at each other, then took into the air after her. The one under the door struggling to get back up.

Quicktail poked his head out long enough to see the beam go off and knock the door away. He waited until Ember had left to walk up to his mother's side. He nuzzled her gently, making her look down at him.

“Can you make a little statue of her?” he asked quietly, looking up at her. She grinned warmly down at him and nodded.

“I have one in mind, yes.” She said, looking back towards the door.

---

Ember looked over her shoulder at the pair of dragons that were following her. She grinned as she flapped her wings to get some distance from the small village. She lowered herself down towards the forest below her when she heard a roar from above. She glanced up just in time to see one of the drakes above her, making an attempt to grab her.

She yelped and dropped down to dodge the grab. Her claws barely scraping the forest top as she glanced up and watched the dragon who was already making another move to snatch her from the air.

“You should've taken a dragon form! At least then you might be fast enough to escape us!” The drake roared from above her as he tried to grab at her. She twisted in midair to face him, letting herself get grabbed as she placed a paw on his chest.

“Yea, one thing about attacking a healer, we know how to hurt you as well!” Her form engulfed in fire, revealing her natural form as her horn glowed. She channeled magic through it and her hoof as a small quick shock went through the drake. His wings straightened out as he yelped in pain, feeling thousands of tiny needles poke and stab at him.

He released his grasp on her and glided into the forest, crashing into the trees below as Ember leveled out and looked for the other drake. She spotted him coming straight at her, a crimson glow in his muzzle. The drake inhaled then exhaled sharply, a gout of flame flying straight at her. She barely raised a shield in time, feeling the heat of the fire pass over her.

After the short blast of flame, her shield suddenly felt a sharp impact and shattered as the drake charged into it and grabbed her in his claws.

“I dare you to try that on me!” he snarled as he held her arms at her side and hovered there. She smirked and looked up at him, wincing slightly as his claws dug into her chitin.

“OK!” She kicked with one of her hind legs, landing it into his stomach as her horn glowed again. Another shock found it's way into this drake, making his wings stiffen and grip loosen. Though before he went down, he managed to get a good claw slash on her chest as he twitched and fell to the forest below.

She held her arms over the wound as she noticed the third drake fly up and look at her, then look down at where his comrades were. He hovered as he looked over the changeling. She growled and looked at the drake.

“I can go for a third today! You’re not taking me back!” Ember snarled at the drake. He looked down at where his comrades had crashed into the forest.

“We won't chase you then. I have wounded to tend to, we’ll just say you died in our attempt to grab you.” He lowered himself, watching her for a moment before diving into the forest below. She let out a sigh, then winced at her chest wound and flew off north.

She kept going for what felt like a half hour before diving into the trees and weaving through them to eventually come up to a stream and land by it. She sighed as she levitated the satchel off her back and set it down, then scooped up some water to splash over her wound.

She looked over the satchel and grinned warmly, seeing the wooden statue’s head poking out of it. She opened it and saw rations inside, along with some bandages and a few medical supplies. She also spotted a note tied to the unicorns hind leg. Using her magic she unrolled it and read it.

“Ember, I hope you find everything of use in here. I wasn't able to fit a lot in here, as I did pack it kind of hastily last night. If you are heading north, there should be a costal village, you may be able to take a ship from there to Equestria. I hope you find what you're looking for there. Thank you for your time and I hope you don't forget us. - Light Feather and Quicktail.”

She let out a content sigh and rolled it back up, “I won't.” She said quietly as she unrolled the bandages and covered up her chest wounds. She sighed and kept her eyes southward, wondering how they doing at this moment as she used her magic to cover her wounds. Once done she took her griffin guise again and made sure the bandages were good.

She decided to start walking towards the next town, instead saving her wings this time so she wouldn't tire herself out unlike last time. And it would make her a bit harder to track if the drakes wanted to go back on their word.

Comments

[The Forgotten Comrade]

Yeah never take on a doctor or medic. They always seem to dismember you rather easily. Only thing worse to fight against is a butcher.