Zenaida, Alexandria, and Terranon wove between floating islands, searching for their target.  At last, most of the corrupted elders had been cleansed, but a final few were proving challenging.  The greatest of the new lands refused to simply take cleansing potions, and opted to fight instead.  Thus, teams had been dispatched to find them and weaken them enough that they could be returned to their rightful state.

Zenaida was reluctant to participate in this endeavor, but the Isles and the Depths could not truly be free until their leaders were as well.  Terranon, by contrast, was quite eager to pick a fight.  Alexandria had only volunteered to make sure the other two dragons did not have their butts handed to them by an oversized bird-cat.

It was fortunate that it took almost no effort to soar between isles, as the trio searched for over an hour.  The sunlight almost seemed sharper this high in the air, beating down relentlessly.  The isles were not just pockets of land, but of noise and activity too, alive with the sound of birds and winged versions of familiar wildlife.  Between islands, there was quiet, just the lonely rush of wind.  The spirits that could occasionally be found in the air currents were silent.  Locals said they could sing, but it seemed they were not familiar enough with the newcomers to sing around them yet.

They spotted their target as a flash of white among the rocks.  The outline of the Spectral Matriarch was difficult to see, faded as it was, but her burning white eyes could not be hidden.  As the trio came in for a landing, she rose from her hiding place like a ghost.  She spread star-speckled wings wide and hissed, high-pitched, threatening.  Zenaida was the first to approach, but she did so with her head down, wings close to her sides.  “Please,” she said.  “We don’t have to fight.  Just come with us, and we’ll get that aberrant corruption cleaned right up!  Your people miss you, they want you to come back to them.”

The Matriarch continued to hiss, showing no sign of having heard her.  Terranon scoffed.  “They already tried that, idiot.  If talking could solve this, it would’ve been solved days ago.  There’s only one thing left to do,” she growled, and bared her fangs in a sharp grin: “Beat em.”

Zenaida sighed, and stepped back.  The Matriarch stepped forward.  Zenaida startled and Terranon bristled, but Alexandria remained in place, blinking calmly.  When no other action was taken, Zenaida spoke.  “Fine, but we just need to weaken them, not cripple them.  No injuries a healing salve can’t fix!”

“Oh, she’s going to need a revival feather when I’m done with her!” Terranon hissed, starting to stalk forward.  She was brought up short by Alexandria’s claws wrapping around her tail.

“No.  Listen to Zenaida,” she said.  Alexandria’s words were calm, but held a steady confidence that even Terranon did not have a retort against.  She merely tugged her tail free, and growled out an agreement.

With that, the three dragons dispersed, angling to surround the Matriarch.  Her long, trailing tail swished through the air as she tried to turn to face each of them at once, but it simply wasn’t possible.  Screeching with frustration, she launched herself at the dragon that stood directly in front of her- Zenaida.

Zenaida backpedaled, loose stone sliding under her feet.  She swiped instinctively, and the Matriarch’s lunge was brought up short as she tried to avoid her claws.  Terranon darted in, grabbing a mouthful of tail feathers and tugging, and the Matriarch whipped around to face this new threat.  Terranon was forced backwards when her antlers connected with her jaw.  She rubbed the spot.  No blood, but it would certainly bruise.

The Matriarch tried to pursue Terranon, but Alexandria intercepted her.  A cloud of sickly yellow-green spilled from her jaws, and the Matriarch began to cough the instant she breathed it in.  The poison did not seem to slow her down, however- in fact, the harrying and the sickness enraged her, and she leapt at Alexandria’s back, claws flailing.  Zenaida stepped forward, thinking to try to pull the angrily screeching gryphon off, but Alexandria merely dropped to her belly and rolled.  The Matriarch jumped free- straight into a wing punch from Terranon.  The wing caught her across her chest and she was knocked to the ground, her scream turning into a wheeze.

Zenaida leapt, reaching to pin the Matriarch down.  For a second, the gryphon writhed, held in place under her claws.  Terranon opened her mouth to gloat, but at that moment the Matriarch bit Zenaida’s toe, and she jerked back in surprise.  “Oh, come on!” Terranon howled instead as the pale elder fled the circle they were starting to form, leaping right off the side of the rocky little island she’d hidden on.

Alexandria shook her head, blood streaming off her shoulders from the cuts the Spectral Matriarch had inflicted.  “She won’t get far,” she said, “I have a feeling she’s not used to drawn out fights.  If we just chase her down, I’m sure she’ll be too tired to continue.”  She spread her wings with a wince and jumped after the gryphon, followed by her two companions.  Fortunately the Matriarch remained easy to spot, the harsh sun almost blinding off her white feathers.  Alexandria set the pace, close enough behind to keep pressure on, but not too close to prompt the gryphon into attacking again.

As predicted, she tired quickly.  Soaring over, under, and around the smaller islands, her wingbeats became erratic, and soon they saw her dip, angling to land on a soft, grassy area.  She stumbled as she landed but kept upright and immediately whirled, once again hissing aggressively as Alexandria touched down behind her.  She was too distracted to notice Terranon’s dive as she swooped down and hit the Matriarch with another wing punch, this time to the head.  The gryphon crumpled, unconscious.  Zenaida, the last to arrive, stared in shock at the brutal hit.

“Well, I suppose that’s that,” Alexandria said, shoulders relaxing.  However suddenly, the fight was over.  “Let’s carry her home, so she can get her treatment.”