by LJ Davies
"I almost admire the fact your little band believes they have a chance," he hissed as two more shapes descended from the night, shadows pouring from their skeletal bodies.
"Did you really believe you could hide away up here without us knowing?" he asked, waving a forepaw dismissively while adding mockingly. "No, my fellow ebon wings and I will ensure that orkin fool is ready for you, thus making your annihilation all the swifter."
I focused on my defence as he strode about me, my eyes fighting to watch him and his shadowy companions all at once. I may have been outnumbered, but I still didn't sense killing me had ever been their intention.
"I do pity them, you know? To resist the inevitable is folly, and yet still they fight," he went on, glancing at the camp.
"They don't know that, they haven't given up like you," I challenged.
He glared at me, fire burning in his one good eye.
"No, like you!" he snapped.
Although my blood ran colder than ice at those words, my resolve stiffened. I didn't say another word, but Pyro let out a long and chilling laugh.
"That's what we are, isn’t it? You and I, every ebon wing and dragon, we have all given up and we don't even know it, because..." He paused, moving his head closer to my own. "Not one of us was ever created to understand."
I staggered back, falling flat on my face with a splash as the vulpomancers suddenly slashed at my hind legs.
"You could say that about anything," I coughed, looking up at his scarred head as he snorted purple flame.
"That may be so, but if it’s true, let's see if we can prove it," he stated, beating his wings and disappearing into the night.
The sound of merriment became that of panicked commotion. Several blasts of fire erupted from the tents as dark shapes spiralled down.
No, not again, not like the village!
The moment I saw the vulpomancers I darted forwards, only for those behind me to leap up and drag me back. I struggled in the water, thrashing my wings in an attempt to escape. They stayed just out of reach, mocking my struggle as they circled.
"I've waited a long time for sssome blood," one hissed, its rasping words slithering through dripping fangs.
"Careful, this one'sss flesssh is far from mortal," the second added, lips quivering below its eyeless gaze.
The former of the pair didn't seem eager to take that advice and lunged with outstretched talons. I swung to meet it with the sharp edge of my wing blades, leaving myself open to the claws of its companion.
What's a few more wounds? All I'll have to do is sleep them off! I thought dismissively as I cut a burning gash through the spiked head of the first creature.
It screeched, shadowy smoke gushing from the glowing wound as it fell into the water.
The second brought its dark claws across my muzzle, black talons cutting at my armour and scales as I staggered back. It gave a horrific shriek, before charging forward, but I jumped back, darting aside as its bladed tail thrust forward like a spear.
Spinning round, I seized the spiny mass in my jaws and pulled hard. The shadow burned my mouth and stung my nostrils, but my strength proved enough to drag the thrashing creature toward me. Retching and coughing, I tossed it into the water, reared up and smashed down onto its spiny head with all of my weight, splintering its horns and bony skull.
The sound of splashing behind me warned of the other creature’s recovery as it took to the air in a flurry of smoke and water. I took a deep breath, cleared my throat and collected myself. I could see more of the beasts gathering above the camp and darting down into the confused crowds. They had adopted the same fireball tactic they had used to burn down my home, and while flames weren't as effective against dragons, they were against the camp’s other residents, not to mention the tents themselves.
I have to find Pyro. Driving off the ebon wings seemed to disperse them last time.
Without a second thought, I beat my wings hard and leapt into the air, blasting several of the swirling beasts aside as more winged fighters shot up from below. It only took a few moments before the calm night sky became a brutal aerial battleground of fire and slashing claws. I tried my best to evade most of the combat, not to mention the arrows, flames and magical bolts that lanced through the air.
How am I supposed to find anything in this!? I thought, narrowly avoiding a monster's talons, before realising. If Pyro's here there's only a few dragons he'll really be looking for!
I needed to reach my friends! My first assumption was that Risha and her brother would be at their nesting tent, and I just hoped Neera and Ember would be close by too.
I re-evaluated my priorities when I looked down on the fortress’s ruined courtyard. The few dragons trapped on the ground were like fish in a barrel as the vulpomancers dove into them.
This is not how it's supposed to be – the battle's not supposed to be here – not now! Mordrakk's cackling echoed through my mind, his dark tone perforated by the sound of tapping stones. I need to find my friends and keep them safe... No, I need to keep everyone here safe!
Mordrakk believed I was capable of doing whatever I wanted, even if he frowned upon it, and while the images of the battle played through my mind, he didn't let go of that ambition.
Gritting my teeth, I swooped toward the attacking creatures. I let out a great breath of white fire as I darted through the shadowy throng, setting many vulpomancers alight and eliciting a chorus of horrifying shrieks. Those spared from the inferno swiftly came after me, and I twisted back, sending another explosive bolt into them. The blast tossed several aside, but many more persisted.
My instincts were urging me to fly away as fast as my wings could carry me, ignoring the urges I swooped toward one of the ruined towers. The vulpomancers had no trouble matching my agility as they swarmed after me. I swerved and dodged crumbling peaks and decrepit bridges until something in the corner of my eye grabbed my attention – one of the larger towers had a hole right through it.
The space was barely the size of an adult dragon, but tucking my wings at my side I flew straight through it. The confined walls ripped at my wings, and for a moment, I thought I would lose a limb or two.
The cold night air burst open around me and I spread my wings once more, swerving back to face the hole as my pursuers poured through. The blast of white fire I sent back at them struck cleanly and the whole tower buckled under the force of the explosion, crushing them under its weight as it toppled over the waterfall's edge.
Not so immortal after all! A wry smile broke over my muzzle as I imagined the look of a certain human's face.
It seemed I wasn't the only one focused on the tower, and as I swooped back toward the cliffside, I felt the force of heavy wing beats above me.
"You're really starting to bother me!" Pyro growled, lashing his claws at my wings.
"Likewise!" I replied, dropping lower, spinning up and cutting the underside of his armour with my talons.
He roared as he recoiled and I swerved to avoid the rapidly approaching arches of an aqueduct, forced low to the lake. Pyro’s shadowy reflection appeared beneath me, pushing me closer to the glistening surface, and then, as my legs struck the freezing water, I fought desperately to avoid crashing.
With a flick of my wings I shot out from beneath him, the beach ruins lying before us and just beyond that, the area used for training. It was still bustling with battle, and almost immediately, my eyes fixed upon a red tent.
It's not on fire! Was my immediate thought, even as the glow of flames and enveloping smoke covered everything.
Pyro caught up and once again fought to kick me down into the rapidly passing dirt. Swerving around the ruined walls, I dropped as low as possible, but despite the oncoming obstructions, neither of us moved aside.
He's waiting for me to bank. I predicted, so instead my wings flared. Good thing I know how to be unpredictable!
Pain erupted through the leathery membranes as they caught the air and I stopped sharply. In a flash, Pyro tried t
o do the same, but his greater size and momentum carried him straight into a wall, shattering the cobbles with a loud thud as he disappeared in a frosty cloud of dust.
Despite my quick thinking, I fared little better; and unable to maintain my flight, I ground into the dirt, rolling to a stop in a shower of debris. Pain pulsed through me, until the sound of battle remerged in my ringing ears. I staggered to my paws, glancing around, first at the darkness of the lake, then at the fiery battle consuming the keep.
The blazing inferno horrified me, and even if the majority of my friends were indeed fireproof, my urgency to find them intensified.
I limped as fast as I could to the far end of the training field, where something else caught my attention. I'd never heard such a desperate scream, filled with fear and yet so quiet it was hard to detect above the commotion. I looked to the source, spying a vulpomancer upon a small pile of rubble, its attention focused on a small hole. As it pulled at the rocks with its sickle-like claws, I heard another cry. This time I was sure I recognised those frightened voices, and instantly my mind snapped into place.
Those are the hatchlings Ember was training!
I charged as fast as my wounds would allow, lowering my horns. The monster's head shot up, eyeless gaze meeting mine as its fangs flared and its wings beat in an effort to escape. I slammed into it long before it could get airborne. Falling back into a flailing heap, it let out an angry hiss and spun back to its feet with unnatural swiftness, smacking my muzzle with its tail.
"How many timesss do you expect usss to fall for the sssame tricksss?" it rasped, pressing a claw to my muzzle.
"For as long as there's still some of you left to kill!" I mumbled around its deathly grip as I kicked up at its underside.
Another manoeuvre anticipated, it jumped out of reach, but what it failed to see, was my tail and the blade at its tip, which swiftly cut a deep line down its bony body. The beast gave a breathless howl, turning to dust as it fell over me.
Try avoiding that next time! I thought bluntly, shaking away the residue.
"Whooo... that was incredible!" an eager voice suddenly cried in excitement, and I looked to see blue wings fluttering like those on an insect as the young dragon leapt into the air.
Teal, Scarlet, Brass and several other small dragons, all cheered in amazement.
"Can we see it again!?" the red dragoness asked eagerly.
I'd no idea about the mix of emotions I was feeling at her request, be it pride, sadness or anger that they had to be here in a war zone like this. Those ideas changed when Pyro’s dark shadow rose up over the rubble behind me.
"You most certainly can," he growled, battered and panting.
The young dragons sank back into their hiding place when his glowing eyes passed over them, and I instinctively spun to place myself between the two.
"Now, why does this seem familiar?" he asked, raising a foreclaw to his muzzle.
"Oh right, leave them alone," he taunted. "The hero until the end, it seems. I wonder what will happen when you watch me tear the life from their bodies!"
I assured myself I'd never let him do such a thing, and for that moment, I didn't doubt I'd rip the rest of his limbs off, if I had to. He exploded forward, his wings flared and claws poised to rip me apart. I coiled back, ready to strike, when another shape leapt out from a ruined wall and slammed into his side.
He fell against an opposing wall in a shower of dust and snow as his attacker jumped back, beat her wings once and landed neatly before me.
"Just try it, traitor!" Ember snarled in the most fearsome tone I'd ever heard.
Her nostrils flared and snorted spouts of flame, smoke curling up from her bared teeth as her dark armour shimmered like black glass in the light of the inferno. Pyro lifted himself up and turned to face her with an equally ferocious hiss. But the moment he laid eyes upon her; his fiery aggression faded.
Oh no, this is it...
A long, wicked smile crept across his scarred muzzle, and in that instant I knew his teeth, claws and dragonfire were the last things I had to fear.
"Blaze!" an alarmed voice I knew all too well bellowed, and before I knew it, Risha appeared above me, seeing the smaller dragons and swiftly jumping down to the hole.
"What in the creators’ name are you all doing here? Boltock, move these rocks and get them somewhere safe!" she ordered when her brother swooped down next to her.
"We saw the Guardian fight; he took on one of those things and showed them who’s boss with his fire and his claws and..."
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is!?" Risha cut off the eager hatchlings’ babble as they appeared out of the hole Boltock had cleared.
"Why not just let them enjoy the show?" laughed Pyro as he began a slow prowl around us.
Ember shifted to face his every step, a glare that could melt dragon scales beaming from her narrowed eyes.
"Leave, traitor, you're outmatched!" she hissed.
Pyro ceased stalking and raised his head, and I felt my heart stop as his eyes met hers.
"I know you won't attack me," he purred.
"Try me," she challenged, spitting a jet of fire.
Risha glanced between the pair, all the while keeping a wary eye on the hatchlings as Boltock pushed the little ones behind him.
How can she not recognise him? How can I fix this!?
My urge to run was almost inescapable, and yet my legs felt like trees rooted to the ground. Another instinct told me to charge and kill him, before he could tell them what had transpired. All the while, Pyro laughed, and Ember stiffened.
"Look at you! Look at us, all together again at last. It's a shame that feathered thief isn't here, I really wanted to kill her first," he declared, fuelling my urge to take his head off.
Ember seemed slightly unsure, as did Risha, and even Boltock paused to peer at the black dragon as he grinned wickedly.
"You'll do no such thing!" my sapphire companion snapped, jumping down to take a defensive position beside Ember.
Boltock remained where he was, seemingly torn between helping his sister and protecting the hatchlings, while I felt no different from the statues dotting the camp.
"Now, now, is this any way to treat an old friend?" Pyro mused, peering at Risha in particular. "You were always so kind, so understanding," he reasoned, before glancing at Boltock, "But so irritating, and yet not unlikable like your…"
He trailed off, glancing my way next, before his eyes fixed on Ember.
"He hasn't told you, has he?" he purred, his fangs flashing as his grin widened. "Now, what kind of saviour would lie?"
That was it, and at those words, I didn't look like the only one who was about to collapse. Risha staggered back, but Ember merely relaxed, shock and disbelief overwhelming her fearsome expression.
"Pyro?" she stammered. "You... they said you were... you..."
"Said I was dead?" he finished her sentence, taking a step forward.
She made no effort to stop him as his tail coiled under her chin and he lifted her head so they could look eye to eye.
"You saw the death of a weakling. I am more," he boasted.
"The ebon wings... they, you..." she stammered, and he slithered onto a small mound of rubble, posing proudly.
"And does everything you've heard about us compare?" he asked, spreading his wings, pressing a metal foreclaw to his chest and lifting his head proudly.
Risha managed to steady herself and Boltock seemed to forget about the others as he watched Pyro with a look I couldn't decipher. Ember's stupor vanished and she shook her head.
"You're one of them, a traitor!" she exclaimed, and I saw a flash of irritation pass across his face.
"According to whom, may I ask? The Sovereign? This poultry rabble you call an army?" he snapped.
"These innocent lives you would so readily slaughter!" she challenged, and his frustration began to mount.
"It differs not from the fate they will all find upon the dawn," he countered, creeping back to
ward her.
No one had so much as glanced my way, and almost instinctively, I began to creep back. While, deep in my mind, Mordrakk's dark form was celebrating as he assured me how right he'd been all along.
"You don't need to do this, come back, fight with us and we can stop this," Ember pleaded.
Risha glanced at me, the glare in her eyes stopping my racing heart.
"Oh, but I do, you see? Anyone who defies the Great Master will meet a fate worse than death, and every dragon here, every featherwing and snake still in Dardien, even the orkin, will fall under his rule. I have merely ensured my place within the new world order, a place by the side of the true master of this creation!" he ranted, his proud mask fracturing like glass.
"And I now come with the liberty of extending that opportunity to you, so you may live," he offered, stretching out a forepaw.
Boltock's expression turn to a scowl, while Risha glanced between them, her muzzle working, yet seemingly unable to speak.
"Come with me so we may rule together at the Great Master's side," he insisted, almost begging her as if he feared leaving her to Mordrakk's cruel wrath.
Does he still care about her, how is that possible? I wondered, the moment so tense, even the darkness inside my head fell silent.
"You and I together?" she asked quietly, and as she spoke, my heart sank.
The idea that the truth of his fate had been revealed was forgotten as I imagined them all becoming like him. Pyro nodded and gently took one of her forepaws with his.
"There is no stopping this darkness, it will consume all," Mordrakk hissed inside my head, ushering me forwards to finish Pyro, as I should have done at Ilivar.
"I don't know you," Ember answered unexpectedly, swatting his forepaw aside. "Pyro would never have done such horrifying things. He'd never betray us!"
She took a slow step back, like she'd seen a ghost. "You're right about one thing. I saw him die, and I would rather know that than consider ruling beside one who would do this."