Of what happened inside of Taltros, and the Crystal Tower, I will never tell anyone. It is not that I do not wish to tell others, or record here, what happened when the machine was destroyed. Its simply that I can't, the memories slip between my thoughts. They are disjointed and chaotic, and the harder I try to remember what happened, the harder it gets
to remember anything that happened. The bits and fragments that I do remember are not pleasant things. I talked to Lord Sutton after it was all over and he was bringing me back to Cloudkill Lands, and I think I understand why we simply don't remember what happened.

     Mortal minds can't function without a linear time line to follow. When we shattered the machine, we apparently shattered the only thing that was controlling the Crystal Tower, and released all of the energy that had been stored up inside of it by previous sacrifices. Time, which had already been disturbed on Taltros from the first use of the Crystal Tower those centuries ago at the end of the Last Great Dragon War, shattered. Everyone who was on Taltros island was engulfed by the effect, and some of the results were not pleasant at all.

     Of the dozen or so total dragons who had been on the island, exactly five survived. An Amethyst dragon, Darkheat, Lord Sutton, Mistress Bell, and a black dragon who had been at the edge of the island when the tower blew up. My mind shys away from the images which I still remember, and I hope that they too will fade quickly. The sight of a black dragon who's front half aged rapidly, while its middle section became younger, and its tail simply stayed the same, was not a pleasant one. The results, as you may expect, are fatal and rather disgusting.

     They found us floating, three miles south of where Taltros was, and is. I say is and was, because the Island no longer exists within our own time stream. It appears randomly, and the one scouting party who attempted to learn what was going on inside of its borders returned as hatchlings, those two who managed to return at all.

     After our return to the All Clans Isle we were kept busy recounting what had happened to the Council. Mykell was back with the Council by the time we were received in Council. It seems that Darkheat, along with a faction of Gem dragons, and even a few Metallics, had set a plan in motion to eliminate her so that they would be able to continue work on Taltros while the Council was in chaos. It seems that Lord Sutton's reappearance within the Blood
Isles was too good an opportunity to pass up.

     The long and the short of it is that Darkheat and Clan Magma were severely reprimanded. Darkheat's seat on the council was stripped, and I can almost guarantee he will have challenges of Claw and Wing soon enough. The patrols over Cloudkill lands were ended, and Lord Sutton managed to talk Clan Deathstalker into providing protection for Cloudkill Vassals.
And so I come to the end of this story, my last as a Kindred and Vassal to Clan Cloudkill.

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     The Silver dragon and Elf were silent on the long flight back to Cloudkill lands, heading more or less in a direct line away from the chaotic Council. They had both slipped out after the announcement that the patrols would be stopped, leaving before anyone decided to press charges on Jean. Since all of the Council's attention was on Magma and what they had attempted to accomplish, it was surprisingly easy to do. They were headed for Mt Fang,
since Jean wished to head back to New Dunbouri, having been gone for far too long as it was. It was not until they were almost past Mt Fang that Laureine spoke up from her position astride the silver dragons back.

     "Jean, take me to the cave of elders." Her voice was tired, but still managed to cut through the wind to the silver's ears and he nodded, dipping to the left and down towards the well hidden cave. It was here that Ari had come for her coming of Age Vigil, and the well hidden and protected cave was a huge natural dome buried deep within the mountain that had once been the home of Cloudkill City. Inside was buried nearly all of the remains of past
Clan heads, along with what remains Laureine had found of Lord Sutton's father after the destruction of the Clan. They landed just outside of the cave and Laureine dismounted from Jean's back, stepping infront of the dragon before he entered the cave and blocking his way.

     "Laureine? I thought you wanted to enter and pay our respects?" Jean asked in confusion as he looked down at the elf before him.

     "Lord Sutton... Jean." She smiled proudly up at the silver dragon before her, patting his right foreclaw. "Your father would be very proud of you, you know that?" Jean slowly nodded, watching her intently with his two good eyes, even though the scar was still visible across his right cheek and snout, at least he had both eyes back.

     "I don't want you to enter with me, because I'im going inside to say hello to your father for one last time." She watched as understanding raced across Jean's face and he lowers his snout to her level.

     "What should I tell your son?"

     Laureine smiled at that and laid a hand on Jean's snout fondly. "He already knows that I love him and am proud of him. Be well Jean, I will tell your father how well you have done, and how proud I am of you. Go on now, its time for me to rest, my journey is nearly over." Almost hesitantly the mature adult silver pulled back from the elf that he dwarfed. With one last look at her, and a formal draconic bow in farewell, he turned and took flight.

     Narrowing her eyes against the flurry of dust and wind as the dragon took off, Laureine watched silently until he was a small silver speck on the horizon. Not until then did she move, and turn towards the entrance to the cave. She entered slowly, wearily leaving behind one journey, and about to begin a new one, from this world to a place where pain has no place.