O.K. Next little piece. Backed up a little for re-edit. Any C&C, 
positive or negative welcome. ^_^
 
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 "Hey!" Amaru barely managed to dodge the girls blow, let go of her arm 
then threw himself on top of her, knocking her down and pinning her 
under him as he sensed the firestorm coming on them.

	He winced as he heard Hajime's agony filled "Amaru!" In his head, heard 
Tsuzuku's pain-filled keen. And Owaru was here, close. He had to get 
this fire out. He could do it, he just didn't know how! Hajime had told 
him that his dragon controlled water. And he needed a lot of water right 
now! The wave of heat that preceded the wall of flames rushed down and 
over them. The girl under him gasped and he felt a tingle. The bubble of 
a ward sprang into existence just as the fire hit the edge of the 
trench. It roared over them, pressing down the top of the ward, yet it 
held. He could feel the girl tremble under him. She was keeping the 
flames at bay but the heat! It seared at his lungs with every breath and 
he could feel his clothes start to smolder.

	*Don't panic. You can do this.* He took a deep breath and closed his 
eyes, tried to shut out the hissing roar that was the voice of the 
flames. He looked into his mind, for the first time consciously reaching 
out to that other creature who was a part of him. There was nothing but 
his own sense of growing panic.

	*Come on! I know you're there! Please, don't make me die again! Our 
brothers need our help!* Two slit pupiled purple eyes which glimmered 
with a silver sheen suddenly regarded him. The dragon's head formed 
around them as it blinked and stretched out it's slender nose towards 
him. *Wow! He's so cool!* He thought with awe as he reached out his hand 
to touch it. There was an audible snap in his head and suddenly he was 
aware of the moisture starved air around him, the heavy sodden air above 
him, the ocean singing its unchanging song to his left. He almost 
giggled. Of course, it was so simple! Well, not that simple. He could 
feel his power building. This small body wasn't going to be able to 
handle it. He was going to have to Change to do this. But this time it 
was by his own choice. He hoped it wouldn't hurt too much. He glanced 
down at the very pretty girl, recognized her from the drawings in 
Tsuzuku's sketch book. He needed to get away from her so he wouldn't 
hurt her when he Changed.

	Elenora struggled to keep the ward up, felt Amaru shift and push off of 
her. She looked up almost lost her concentration as she saw the white 
circle of pure power glowing on his forehead. *What?* The glow spread to 
encircle his body and he stepped backwards, out of the ward.

	"Amaru!" She shrieked, reached for him then gaped in amazement as the 
stood calmly untouched by the flames, raised his arms and rose into the 
sky in a pillar of lightning white light. The ward shrunk around her as 
she watched him become enveloped in a ball of power, crossed her arms in 
front of her face as that power expanded outwards in all directions. 
*Oh, crap.* Was her last conscious thought as she made her body relax as 
the edge of that power came down to squash her flat into the ground.

**********************************************************

	*Damn it, Jonah! Where are you!?* Lee snarled soundlessly around his 
harsh breathing as he barely dodged another blast, his hovering feet 
brushing the whitecaps of the riled ocean and returned one of his own as 
he surged up, trying to get some altitude. The two of them had managed 
to keep Tsuzuku off balance. The Fire Dragon rolled and ducked under it, 
breathed again.  Now Lee was his only target and he was almost tapped. 
But Tsuzuku had been expending massive amounts of energy also. He had to 
be nearing the end of his strength. How long could he hold that form? 
The edge of that attack caught him, sent him in a flying spin backwards 
as his cloths began to burn. *Fuck!* He twisted, dove for the ruffled 
surface of the ocean.

	The Fire Dragon growled in fury as he hovered over the spot where his 
enemy had disappeared under the cold water. The blood that dripped from 
his side hissed as it hit the water, creating small clouds of steam. His 
head snaked back and forth as he scanned the growing waves as he hunted 
the other. He would have to come up sometime to breathe and then he 
would kill him.

**********************************************************
		
	Her shoulder was dislocated, her knee was agony and the five deep 
gashes along her rib cage made her want to scream with every labored 
pant. Where had Tamanji gotten all this power from? She barely deflected 
the next attack, the speeding molecules of air a thousand times sharper 
than any edged blade. The last attack she hadn't avoided had gone 
through her vest like it was tissue paper. The sphere of power that 
followed slid through her ward to snatch her up and send her flying back 
to slam with bone jarring force against the trunk of one of the old 
towering trees. Sparks from the burning crown of leaves floated down 
around her as she slid to the ground face down, limp and still.

	Tamanji was shaking with exhaustion as she studied her sister's still 
and battered form. *Dead? Was she? Did I do it? Finally?* She limped 
cautiously towards Jasmine, kept her power ready. She nudged her 
bleeding side with her toe, watched and waited to see if she drew 
breath. She didn't. *Dead! She was!* She giggled as she leaned down to 
roll her over, wanting to take her pulse at her throat and make sure 
that her heart no longer beat.

	Jasmine willed her body to be still, fury giving her the ability to 
scream only mentally, to hold her breath and ride the wave of pain as 
Tamanji's boot pressed into one of the gashes in her side and moved the 
broken rib under it. Her outstretched hand had fallen on a thick branch. 
*Come on Tammi. You want a good look at your dead sisters face, don't 
you?* Her hand closed around the wood as Tamanji turned her and she 
swung with all of her remaining strength.

	Tamanji slumped as the wood connected with the side of her head. 
Jasmine felt the impact go through the branch and was so furious that 
she grinned. *Good, knock some sense into that stupid head or yours! 
Stupid to fall for the oldest trick in the book, sister!* She hissed in 
pain as she struggled to her good knee, using the branch for balance 
then brought it up and over her shoulder to hit her traitor sister 
again. She paused, the branch lowering a little as her muscles trembled 
with barely restrained violence. She glared with narrowed eyes at 
Tamanji's crumpled shape, brought the branch back up then struck.

	It broke in half in her hands as it connected with the ground next to 
her sisters head. She slumped forwards, caught herself on her hands as 
her head snapped up. Elenora was in trouble! The air tingled and 
crackled as she struggled up, then a brilliant flare of lighting leapt 
for the sky close followed instantly by a boom of thunder that rattled 
her teeth. She coughed blood as she began a hopping, halting limp. Not a 
good sign. She had to get to Elenora. A drop of water hit her cheek, 
then another. Then the trees around her where hissing as the hard rain 
came. She made it thirty yards before her battered body refused to bare 
her farther.

	Everything hurt so much. Elenora...she tried to push herself up once 
more then sank back to the warm singed ground. The hammering rain on the 
side of her face was suddenly gone even though she could still hear it 
pounding into the earth around her. She managed to force open her eyes a 
little, saw out of the corner of one her scarf. It floated down, 
stretched out and ignoring the rain that should have soaked it, made it 
heavy and limp and unable to soar. Through it, behind the golden image a 
black dragon outlined in lightning broke through the boiling soot 
colored clouds. Then the smooth dry whisper of silk was against the skin 
of her face. She closed her eyes as warmth flowed through her and she 
was someplace else. Someplace away from the pain. The heat under her 
cheek was from sun warmed sand and the hiss of the rain changed to the 
quiet murmur of the sea.

**********************************************************

	Owaru dodged sideways to avoid a chunk of blazing branches that tried 
to fall on his head, glanced back to see if Elenora was all right. He 
whirled in a circle trying to see through the walls of fire and smoke as 
he realized she was no longer behind him. Damn, where did she go?

	"Yo! Elenora!" He froze, turned back as his mind caught up with his 
eyes. There was a flickering blue white glow close to the ground that 
wasn't from any normal flame. He grinned as he ran for it. The grin 
faded into a grim scowl as he closed the distance. Hajime. It was Hajime 
and he was hurt. Bad. He swallowed hard as he sank to his knees at his 
brothers side and realized just how bad. Did that glow that outlined his 
body mean he was going to turn into a dragon? He heard a change in the 
sound of the fire that burned around them, craned is chin over his 
shoulder to look. *Oh, shit!* There was a moving inferno headed for 
them!

	He hoped Elenora was O.K. as he turned back to his brother. "Sorry, 
Hajime, I know this is going to hurt but we've got to get out of here!" 
He started to slide his arm under Hajime's shoulders and knee's, 
planning to lift him into his arms and run for the ocean. Hajime gave a 
wavering groan as Owaru started to lift his shoulders.

	Hajime had managed so far to keep on top of the agony by focusing all 
his will on keeping his heart beating, make his lungs pull in and push 
out air. Amaru had said that he couldn't Change yet so he would not. If 
he could just hang on long enough for his body to heal...no, he would 
hang on long enough. The other presence was here with him, waiting to 
see if his body could out race the damage Jonah had inflicted on him. 
*We Will Not Change.* He told it firmly. There was no other choice. Pain 
radiated through him as he was moved, made his concentration slip and he 
felt his heart stutter. *No. You will beat.* He willed it to obey. 
Owaru. It was Owaru trying to move him.

	"Owaru, no. Don't move me! I'm having a hard enough time keeping a hold 
of my shape as it is." He forced out in a harsh whisper. 

	Owaru stopped lifting him but didn't move his hands. "Hajime, we have 
got to move or we are going to be toasted!" He eyed the advancing 
firestorm.

	"No. You get Amaru, get him out of here." *Stop distracting me, Owaru!*

	"No. Hajime-kun! I've got to..."

	"Do it, White Dragon King of the West! I command it." *Owaru, 
please...*

	Owaru bit his lower lip as he slid his hands out from under Hajime. He 
couldn't leave him here to burn in that but he had to look for Amaru. He 
was compelled to look for Amaru. *No fair, brother!* He growled under 
his breath even as he focused on the feeling of his little brother. He 
was close, to his left. He started to his feet, froze as a pillar of 
light shot into the sky, Amaru's glowing form rising with it. *Uh-oh.*

	"Hajime, it's too late." He said as he watched the ball of white light 
take his brother. He dropped back to his knees, leaned over to cover 
Hajime's head and shoulders with his body and covered his head with his 
hands, as if that was going to do a lot of good. He tensed as he waited 
for the impact of Amaru's power, had the thought that all four of the 
Dragon Kings would soon be in the sky as he closed his eyes against the 
brilliance of Amaru's Change.

**********************************************************

	Matsuri wondered again what insanity had possessed her to willing go 
into this miniature version of hell. She had run as fast and hard as she 
could up the burning tree lined road and now paused for a moment as she 
reached the end of it. She put her hands over her mouth, tried to get 
some un-smoke tinged air into her lungs as she watched the flame wrapped 
ruin of a big house collapse in on itself and tried to take her 
bearings. A shaft of  pure white light stabbed toward the sky to her 
left. She had seen that before. *Oh, no! Amaru-kun!* She started running 
towards it. Hajime would be near Amaru, she knew it. The shock wave 
picked her up and threw her backwards. She let it flip her over, forced 
the air that pressure had pushed out of her back into her lungs as she 
landed on her hands and toes, pushed off and was back up and running.

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