Verité au Vie
By Brian Conley
Prologue Shattered
"I will not die!"
Islia screamed her will to live at the top of her lungs as she sprung forward off of her left foot at the draconic monster crashing towards her. It was scaled and clawed and it stood as a roaring monolith with a taken life. It's head was smooth, accented with flat ears and two flaring nostrils beneath its sunken shiny eyes. It swung a fist of knives towards Islia and she skipped to the side to avoid it. Sweat stung her eyes, her teeth hurt from the pressure. She attacked, driving her sword forward, digging deep into the beast's side, flicking off scales and splashing blood. A terrible roar escaped and the dragon turned violently, ripping the sword from Islia's hands and knocking her to the ground. She lost her breath and rolled to her left to evade the claws of the beast coming down but didn't roll fast enough and the claws raked across her side, leaving bloody lines in her skin. Islia clambered to her feet as fast as she could, clutching the scraps of steel and cloth that exposed ragged wounds on beneath her ribs. Once she was upright again, she shook her head clear and ducked away from the dragon's next blinding attacks. Her sword caught the sun as it stuck between scales and Islia skidded to a halt and switched directions quickly, fast enough to float under the monster's arms and dive at the grip of her sword. She grabbed it mid-air and tore it up and out as she landed, promoting a sonic howl from the beast. She ran forward, about twenty feet, and skipped off her toes to turn around to put her eyes again on her foe, stretching the wounds as she did, sending shocks of pain through her. The beast growled lightly, purring almost, and stomped around to face Islia.
She thought her sister's name and took off in a run that pressured every muscle in her young body, taking long strides to move as fast as she could. The dragon roared again, now a battle call, and lunged, covering enough ground to claw at Islia in one jump. It drilled its claws forward, turning them into an army of swords against Islia's tiny blade. She slid to a stop and used the worn muscles in her arms to keep her sword steady underneath the constant push of the beast's claws. She clenched her teeth so tight that amidst the horror and fear, she worried that they might shatter. She gripped the sword so hard her knuckles felt like they were going to pop. She looked up and caught the gaze of the dragon's sapphire eyes, looking at her with anger and malice, but beneath it, and maybe it was just Islia's last strings of hope, but for a second, they shifted to the delicate ocean eyes of her sister and she faltered.
The sword shattered and pierced through Islia's torso, shredding her flesh and pulsing blood out of her mouth and body. Islia opened her mouth to scream but only felt numbness blanket her body and the warmth of blood sift from her lips. The beast lifted her up and whipped her to the ground. When she hit she felt almost nothing, no pain, no fear, nothing. She only felt her mind disconnecting, falling away from her slain corpse, sinking into oblivion.
She saw her family, just a quick flash of a memory. She saw a blink of her caring mother, her bearded father and her two sisters, The younger one holding the elder's hand.
Her mind was a fading tornado and only two butterflies escaped to cognitive thought.
"I'm sorry."
They was her last thoughts, directed to the family she imagined briefly once more before falling into her forever sleep.