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Losing them would be a huge blow since the people she'd brought made up the vast majority of our forces at the moment. Sure a dragon could fight as well as ten regular mages easily, but we were up against an army, and only one of our dragons were in fighting shape. Copper was too young to put up a real fight, and Wyatt was a statue. Neither could be thought of as a reliable combatant. I frowned to myself at the thought.

Copper could at least attempt to defend himself or run away. Wyatt was trapped in stone, and hadn't been able to move in month. Never mind the fact that his mind wasn't here at the moment. He'd reached out to Ethan. I had sensed that when it happened, but Ethan's bond had always been stronger, and more in tune then my own so it made sense to a degree that they were able to connect better then I was.

I looked up at Eliza when I realized that I'd been ignoring her for over a minute.

"Anything else?" My tone was a bit hostile.

That was understandable considering she'd told me she'd choose to ditch us over fighting to the death with us.

"Nothing of note," She turned to leave, "I would have preferred to speak to your dragon friend again, but it seems I won't get the chance."

"You think we're going to lose," my tone was flat.

"There are nearly two hundred mages in that tree line," she stated it as fact, "And less then seventy of us. Even with the help of the beasts we are heavily out numbered." she sighed, "You should know as well as I do that it's a losing battle."

"We're not going to leave him behind," I spoke with more conviction then I expected.

"Every day that this continues you are going to lose ground," she sounded almost like a teacher scolding a student, "And you lack the manpower needed to reclaim it."

"I said that we are not leaving him behind," I firmed my voice up.

"Even if that means your death?" she snapped.

Clearly angered by my refusal to see reason.

"If these dragons die then so will our home world," I sighed as if defeated, "We won't survive on a barren rock, and the other worlds have little reason to be kind to us. I'm betting on the more stable future. The one that grants us as a race a higher chance of survival."

"You know how you sound don't you?" Eliza frowned at me, "The world doesn't need dragons to survive. It's survived thousands of years without them."

"Do you know how mana dense this world was in the time of dragons?" I snapped.

My anger, and her own curiosity made her turn to face me again.

"A single human mage could easily equal an elven mage," I stepped forward, "This world was so mana abundant that crops could grow overnight. Forests would appear, and disappear just as quickly. Magical beasts were so commonplace that if you didn't see one during your day then you didn't go anywhere. Famine was rare. The air was always fresh, and the streams clean." I could remember the oily feel of the creek in the park, and the unhealthy trees that surrounded it, "Look at this forest. This whole place was nothing but ice, and dead trees three months ago. Nothing thrived here. Very little even lived here." I threw my arms out, "This is the affect of just one dragon adult dragon. Now imagine if there were five." I dropped my arms, "Most of Greenland would actually be green."

"I'm sure you believe that," Eliza looked around her, "But I need more proof. One creature doing one good thing does not mean they will continue to do so."

I shook my head, and chose to ignore her comment. Walking back to my spot to sit down. She could think what she wanted. I ran my fingers along the blackened stone. Sitting back into it so I could relax a bit.

The stone was hard, but it didn't affect me much. My body was tougher then it had been before so this didn't bother me. I could sit here for days without worrying about my ass hurting. I snorted as I watched her walk away. I wasn't in the mood to speak to the woman anymore. I didn't care that she was a great mage.

She wouldn't last long in a fight against a mature dragon. Aurora was already enough to give her trouble, and she was still technically a teenager. I placed my hand flat on the stone, and tried to reach him the way Ethan had. I found nothing but a thick oily darkness. I wouldn't be able to reach him this way.

I focused my mana on my mind. Trying to force my way through the darkness. It hurt to dig through that darkness, and it burned through my mana far faster then I could replenish it. I was repelled again when my mana ran out. It would take quite a bit of power to reach him this way.

I simply didn't have the power needed to do it. I didn't even make it halfway through the darkness. I wondered briefly if he had to pierce through this darkness to get where he was now. I heard the disturbance in the distance long before I sensed anything off. I rushed toward it.

There was no way Ethan was still asleep after all of that. I dropped into the shadows, and appeared near the disturbance. I threw a ball of fire above my head, and allowed it to explode outward. The flames weren't meant for an attack so they spread out harmlessly. Lighting up the area like intended.

Several ability users had snuck into the camp. I snarled angrily. I didn't need the light to see with the moon out. My eyes lit up the dark with their slight red glow. Flecks of darkness mingled in the red.