Jason stared back,breathing heavily and his markings no longer glowing and so where unseeable. He didn't know how to read his look and so he took a step back and lowered his head,frills in and wings out to the sides. The other dragons looked over and for a moment read Ash,and as soon as one bowed as they took in his features as royalty,all of them bowed,facing him with closed eyes and lowered heads and wings over lapping with one another's as they spread to the sides of them. They weren't too beaten up really,here and there yeah but not to badly despite how strongly they had fought for them. Jason and the dragons had fought for the two faey,fought for Ash and Puck. Fought for the Nevernever.And it was clear they wanted nothing in return.

"Jason." Ash's quiet voice broke through as he was now somehow at the top of the stairs. "We should go." His tone was gentle but unrelenting. "The Iron King's army is ready to march. We have to return the scepter. Theres not much time left." He turned to the dragons. "I would like to thank you all for helping. You have earned my respect."

Flasher nodded,polite and regal at the same time. He then turned to the others and made a soft bubbling sound that was easy for the others to understand as they bopped their heads up and soon turned and began slipping through the portals. Flasher stayed for a moment and watched his little brother. "Shadow,if you ever need to call us again." He seemed serious until a smirk marked his snout. "You don't have to screech it out like a wild banshee~!" he said,then leaped around and ducked into a portal before they closed. Jason nodded to Ash,wings pulling in and head raising up again,and turned to see that one portal was still open and the sun dragon was still there,standing like a ready guard close to where Puck was. "You may leave,Lemon." He said with a duck to her and she bowed her head briefly before slipping quickly through the last portal. It stayed open though,as if waiting for Jason but he only shifted back to his half form,in clear pain and shakily,instead of making any move toward it. He swayed with a hand to his head,light headed from his own blood below him and the sudden shift in his beaten up shape.

We're going to the Reaping Fields," chimed a familiar voice, and Grimalkin appeared, perched several feet away on a cardboard box. He gingerly batted a metal bug off the surface, where it pinged to the floor, before continuing. "All the major battles between the courts have been fought on those plains. If I were looking for the armies of Summer and Winter, that is where I would go."

Jason had those same black cloths on again,not as torn up anymore thanks to the shift. "Okay." He said softly,trying to stop his swaying and shaking his head a bit. "Dang it." He muttered to himself,knowing just what the blood below him meant. It smelled that same natural scent but it was stronger because there was more of it this time below him then had been in the pipe before. He flicked a hand and the portal closed,leaving no way for him to turn back and go back to his realm now.Not unless he wanted to make another porta and die right then and there. Even though he practically was slowly dying now.Because of the shift.

Ash knew, but it was obvious that Jason didn't really like him very much at the moment.

"Oh, and if you do make it to Reaping Field, look for a friend of mine. He still owes me a favor. I believe you have met him before." Grim said. And with that cryptic message, he leaped off the box and wove gracefully through the scattered hordes of fey and metal bugs. Trotting behind a beam, he disappeared.

Ash held up the scepter. It throbbed with icy blue light, sparkling like it was made of crystal, as they'd first seen it back in Tir Na Nog. "Ill use the scepter to open a trod," he murmured, turning away. "Stand back."

Jason nodded and moved a bit away,wings wrapped around him tightly. He shuffled toward a few boxes and leaned on them,breathing heavily as his tail dragged and hung behind him limply.

The scepter flared, filling the room with cold, making their breath steam. The air around them shimmered, as though a veil had been dropped over everything. A hazy circle opened up in front of Ash; beyond it, they saw trees and earth and the foggy twilight of the wyldwood. "Go," Ash told them, his voice slightly strained.

"Come on, Jason. This is our stop." Puck gestured at the portal, waiting for Jason to go through.

He nodded,standing fully and walking toward where Puck gestured. Wings pulled close but tail still dragging.

The wyldwood was in chaos. Wind and hail whipped around them as they stumbled off the trod, screaming through the branches and pelting them with shards of ice. Green lightning streaked overhead, slashing through massive clouds that roiled and churned above them, shaking branches and stirring debris into violent whirlwinds. Gouts of snow intermingled with the rain, gathering in mounds and drifts and then scattered by the wind. A violet-skinned piskie went hurtling by, caught in a savage tailspin until she vanished into the trees.

"Darnit," Puck appeared behind Jason, crimson hair flying in all directions. He had to shout to be heard. "They started the war without us. I had an invitation, too."

Ash stepped through the circle, and it closed behind him. "Reaping Field is close." He raised his head to the wind, closing his eyes, and his brow furrowed. "The fighting is well underway. I can smell the blood. Follow me."