Silence gripped him as the events of the morning unfolded. Normally he was a man of few words and now that things seemed so far out of his control he found that he had absolutely nothing worth saying. No words could change any of this. They couldn't stop the great beasts from swarming them, they couldn't get him off this island and they couldn't stop what was coming for Arcadia. There was no use for them.

Gabe clenched his fists. It was all he could do to keep from making for the trees when the multitude of dragons swept down. Of course it was a magnificent sight, one he most likely would never see again. They were incredible, graceful, lithe and filled the sky with color and motion. Perhaps that is why he stayed put. With such a stunningly beautiful variety of creatures on display he had to wonder what happened to this one.

Of course the biggest, nastiest, ugliest, brute would step forward to challenge him after he had turned his nose up at the waif Annabelle had been eyeing. It was a monster. A jagged under-bite, small smoldering eyes, thick neck, hunching posture, and thick slabs of muscle rippling with every motion gave this thing a look only it's mother could love. Now it breathed it's foul, caustic breath down the back of Gabe's neck. He stood his ground despite every nerve in his body telling him to flee. The Illuminavit had taken off already and he was still coming to terms with what he had to do next.

"He's just like a horse," he remembered the Prosthetic telling him. Gabe shuddered and his ribs suddenly ached where they had never fully healed after a vicious kick suffered in his childhood. He turned to face the creature.

It... He... growled low in his chest so much so that the ground rumbled under them. He opened his mouth in a snarl that felt almost taunting and revealed a long lolling tongue and a yellow-green glow from somewhere deep inside. The great dragon spread its wings and threw its huge tail from side to side posing a threat to the trees around the creek. The Prosthetic was so wrong. Gabe smirked and tilted his head at the dragon. This was nothing like a horse.

His legs seemed to move on their own while part of him screamed to stop what he was doing. There was no way he could back down now. It was time to step up to the plate and of course he had his pride as a cut-throat, do anything, go anywhere mercenary to uphold. Gabe stepped up on the dragon's shoulder and mounted at the base of its neck carefully situating himself between the ridges that ran the length of its spine.

Then he held out a hand for Annabelle, "Get on," he said. The woman did so but rejected the hand he offered and any of his help what-so-ever. Gabe made a face and rolled his eyes.

"Can this beast even take to the air?" she asked, incredulous, "It's built like a rock."

"More like a boulder," Gabe snorted... "Boulder." He liked the sound of that and so did the dragon from the sound of the gravely chuckle that boomed from under them.

With a great pumping of his wings flinging up dirt and mist and leaves Boulder did indeed heave himself into the sky and with far more power and grace than either of his riders had expected. At first the lurching made Gabe worried he would lose what little food he had scrounged up the past day, but once into the clouds it was a completely different and exhilarating experience.

---

Brooklyn screamed a slew of barely audible curses over the rushing wind. Her body shook violently as she clung tightly to Sebastian and her knees dug into the dragon's sides. She glared out over the clouds. They were beautiful but it only took the edge off of her seething.

Truth be told she was in awe of what was happening to her right now. She couldn't even be sure if she was awake. The skies and clouds stretching forever were just so surreal and beautiful. However she was disgusted, furious, sick and worst of all frozen by terror. Aurora's wings beat the air to keep them aloft. Brooklyn could feel her muscles with every stroke and became very aware of the creature and how it had treated her as some kind of hilarious play thing. She knew she should be feeling wonder in the prescience of such a legendary animal thought to be extinct, but disdain filled her heart. 

As Sebastian pointed out the station in the distance and spoke about beautiful cities she listened, but said nothing. What an ass. One moment he was saving her life and seemed like he cared and the next she was being ignored or made-fun of. One thing was for sure. She was done with it. She was done with being dragged around for fear of dying. The life she had built was gone now anyway. She was done with being powerless. And she was done with Sebastian. His smell and voice and body touching hers were making her livid.

"Am I alright?" she repeated his question back to him slowly with venom, "I hate you," she hissed.

Her hands loosened their grip on him little by little as her anger overtook her fear until finally she let go of him. When she had completely separated herself from him she placed her hands on Aurora's neck to hold herself steady. Inside her chest she could still feel her heart pounding miles a minute. She was still scared. Death was all around her at this height and with her life in the hands of this, this, this [i]demon.[/i] Humiliating herself by handing herself over to the will of others only made it feel all the worse. She could handle being scared and stressed. No longer could she handle losing herself and her dignity. Moisture laden winds whipped past them snapping their clothing and she let their eerie voices fill the bitter quiet.

Taking deep breaths and focusing on the clouds and the spire of the space elevator Brooklyn waited for her imprisonment with these two to be over.