So...I was intrigued by the idea of what Darkstalker might have thought/felt while trapped in the mountain. Here is one idea...
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The dream was one of his favorites. He was sitting outside of his and Clearsight's sprawling cliff house, the moons were shining brightly and three of his tiny daughters were cavorting around him, batting at his tail as he held it playfully above their heads. Two of his sons were a little away, teasing what looked like a lizard. He called to them and they looked up, wrinkling their little snouts up as they grinned at him and waved. No anger or resentment or hatred in their expressions.
No.
He loved his sons just as he loved his daughters. Their was no reason for them to hate him, to resent his presence since he would never make them feel unwanted, unappreciated or hated (to make them want him dead, to make him split himself open so the ugliness inside could spill forth...)
No.
His children would never need to fear him.
He shook the dark thought off, However, in his moment of inattention, one of his daughters had caught his tail and now shrieked in delight as she dangled from it, her sisters angrily swiping at her feet and crying for their turn. He grinned widely and turned his head, ready to settle them when he caught sight of Clearsight making her way toward them from their home. He felt his heart clench and his breath catch, just the tiniest bit, when he saw her.
Even now.
He wondered if it would always be that way and found himself hoping it rather would. She smiled at him, her snout wrinkling up in that adorable way he loved.
Just then, one of his children caught sight of her approaching and, with a wild cry of 'Mommy!', he was suddenly abandoned as they all galloped towards her. He laughed helplessly as her eyes widened in alarm just before she was bowled over by the enthusiastic greeting of their brood.
He tried but couldn't erase his grin as she continued, a few moments later, to walk toward him, now sporting a few extra dragonet accessories on her back and attempting valiantly not to trip over the ones scampering around her feet. Finally, she made it, collapsing in front of him as their little ones swarmed about her.
He stretched his neck out and rubbed his snout against hers.
"And how is my lovely mate this evening?"
She grinned ruefully at him and opened her mouth to reply but suddenly, the ground began to shake. She jumped up, as did he, legs splayed wide for balance as their hatchlings shrieked in terror and struggled to tuck themselves under their parents out-flung wings.
This was NOT how this dream was supposed to go!
Clearsight turned wide, fright-filled eyes to him as she tried to scoop their children closer underneath her. The shaking grew worse as the ground began to heave to and fro, the land groaning and shrieking in harsh counterpoint to the rocks he could hear crashing down the cliffside below them, the noise of it so horrendously loud it threatened to drive him mad. He tried to stagger closer to her, tried to encourage his dragonets onto his back, terrified that the ground could give way any moment and tumble away beneath them and his little ones, too young yet to fly, would go tumbling down with it.
He opened his mouth to scream to Clearsight to grab the hatchlings and fly but just then, the quaking stopped.
He stood, uncertainly, legs braced but still feeling as if they were shaking, as the screaming and crying of his dragonets made a chaotic backdrop of sound in his still stunned ears. Just as suddenly, that sound too ceased and he looked up to see Clearsight, standing directly before him, her eyes an unnatural milky white as she began to speak:
Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,
Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems,
Something is coming to shake the earth,
Something is coming to scorch the ground.
Jade Mountain will fall beneath thunder and ice
Unless the lost city of night can be found.
He felt the creeping chill of terror crawl across his back scales and up his spine at her strange behavior and speech. Just as suddenly, her eyes cleared and she looked at him, a look of such sorrow and misery that his heart clenched in his chest.
She reached out, grasping his talons in hers.
"I'm so sorry. It's time to wake up now."
"What?", he tried to draw his talons away but her grip was unshakable.
"I never wanted it to be like this. I tried everything I could, but nothing worked." Tears were beginning to flow fast down her face now and Darkstalker began to panic, wondering what in star shine was going on. It was then he noticed they were encased in darkness, the moon, stars, their home, their dragonets… all gone.
His panic truly beginning to take over, he pulled hard against Clearsight's grip, but it was as unbreakable as iron.
She smiled sadly, then her expression hardened into something he had never seen before on her beautiful face.
"Its time now. Wake up, Darkstalker."
"WAKE UP!"
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In the suffocating darkness of a long forgotten place, dust shimmered thickly in the air as the tremors that had just shook the ground stopped… and gave way to an all encompassing silence. The black, impenetrable darkness was coupled with a quiet so thick that it felt heavy, weighing against the ears like wet sheep wool.
It was into this unyielding atmosphere that the tiniest of sounds was heard.
It was the sound of ancient metal giving way and falling to the dirt below with the faintest of 'plinks'.
And a moment later, a pair of eyes shot open in the dark.