A Flight Rising Short Story
Clouds float across the sky lasily, the sun setting in the west, and the sound of strange insects and frogs fills the late day air. A shabby building with a windmill on top stood near the pond. This massive shabby building seemed crudely put together, with scraps of metal, blocks of stone with moss on them, and wood planks covered the majority of the buildings surface. The windmill turned slowly creaking every few rotations. A small chimney slanting to the left and puffed smoke. A round door off to the side of the shabby shack stood strong, the door opened and out came a large Ridgeback, through the door a crater was visible, in the crater a sheer vertical fissure in the ground.
A black bird flew from the fissure and landed on one of the ridgeback's spines. They eye on its chest blinked and and electricity displaced along its body, an audible crackle made the ridgeback turn its head. The ridgeback picked up a burlap sack and wrapped the bag's strings to her spines as an anchor. The Behemoth spread her wings and brought her wings down throwing herself a few inches off the ground, causing a shockwave of wind to reverberate across the pond. She flaps her wings again launching herself into the air. She flaps again pushing herself forward, she flew slowly across the pond towards large pink spires around a hill with an ancient building on top of it.
She turned to a more northern direction, towards a paved pavillion with small stands. She glanced towards the crystalline spires and saw another ridgeback, she couldn't see details, but saw the nose. She glanced forward again to see the pavement below her. She tucked her wings in and dropped to the ground, she landed making the ground shudder. A pile of random things stood in the corner of the the pavillion, one side of the pile collapsed exposing a square stone brick, with Draconic symbols carved into it. A dragon with orange and blue fur covering most of his body shambled from the pile. He picked up a pair of wire frame glasses and put them on, he searched around and saw The ridgeback. "Aww Tang good to see you, I think Swipp is trading some good stuff."
The dragon said. Tang walked daintily for her size. She nodded and said in a Elegant but stern voice, "Hello Pinkerton, I'm here to get rid of some junk."
She rattled her spines causing the sack to fall to the ground. The sack burst open spreading trinkets and stones all over the ground.
A cart with crates on it on the other side of the pavillion shook and another dragon similar to Pinkerton popped out of the cart, she flew quickly to the remains of the sack. She bent over and dotted her sparkling eyes through the trinkets and stones. She picked up a small round coin and saw an unusual face. She flipped it over and saw a building with columns. The coin was covered in green material, she took out a purse and took out some treasure and offered it to Tang. Tang took the treasure and said, " You can keep that."
The lady jumped with joy and hopped back to her cart. "Oh Crim…" Pinkerton rubbed the base of his snout, shaking his head.
Pinkerton walked back to the pile and noticed the square stone, he pulled it out of the pile and the pile collapsed a bit. He paced back to Tang and gave her the stone, "I didn't even know that was in there." Pinkerton said.
The Symbols flashed and iridescent rainbow of colors as she held it. "Well that's interesting…" Pinkerton gasped.
The light show ended and tang blinked, she glanced up and asked, "Do you have an extra sack?" Pinkerton nodded and flew back to his pile.
Tang looked back down to the stone, and read the inscriptions, "The magic of the world focused in one place and used to power the Machine." She questioned the inscriptions, not really thinking much of it.
Over the hill behind Tang, came three other dragons. "Hey Minerva what do you think of Highgrass Priests?" Asked a small ridgeback with a circuit pattern along his body.
A The tiny fae fluttered up to the ridgeback's ear and said in a feminine monotone voice "They're pretty good actually, a bit crunchy in fact." She shook her frills and licked her lips.
A little shiny dragon wiggled a few inches off the ground fluttering its wings, the dragon flew up to the ridgeback and landed on the ridgeback's back carefully avoiding the spines. It curled up on the dragon's back. The ridgeback turned its head, "You tired Asmara?"
The dragon asked. Asmara nodded and curled into a tighter ball. Minerva yawned and said "Well, I guess we should probably hurry. Jarvice?" Jarvice had stopped a few steps from the market, he glanced to the massive dragon in the middle of the marketplace.
Minerva fluttered and landed on top of Jarvice's head and looked at Tang. She cocked her head, "What did you expect, ridgebacks are usually pretty big." She whispered in Jarvice's ear.
Jarvice shook his head nearly throwing Minerva off his head. Minerva fluttered to the ground. "Hey!" squeaked Minerva.
Jarvice looked down to Minerva and said "Oh sorry." Minerva Fluttered back up onto his head with a sneer on her face. Her little pink hat nearly falling off. She picked up her rose that she uses in potions. She waved her rose and stopped, "You didn't get into my love potions did you?" She Questioned.
Jarvice reeled back knocking Asmara into the air, She uncurled and spread her wings enough to safely float to the ground. "No of course not!" Jarvice insisted, Hearing the commotion only several paces behind her, Tang turned around and saw the group. She walked slowly and without a sound towards the group as they fussed with each other.
"And who might you three be?" Tang asked. Asmara flew in a spiral motion up to Tangs head and curled up on her brow. Minerva fluttered up to Tang's nose and landed there, "We're from Archy's, I'm Minerva."
Jarvice ushered to Asmara and said "That's Asmara… And I'm Jarvice." said Jarvice awkwardly. Tang looked down to see Jarvice looking straight up to see her head. Jarvice was probably half Tang's size. Minerva flicked her ears and her pupils contracted
"Do you hear that?" she whispered. Jarvice cocked his head listening but heard nothing. Tang did the same, but she did not hear anything either. Minerva hopped along Tangs spines until she reached the bag. She cut a hole big enough for her to fit and crawled in. Tang turned her head and saw the hole,
"What are you doing?" She asked patiently. She waited and decided to take the bag and open it. As the bag opened Minerva appeared, she was sitting on the stone with a translucent orb of mist between her claws. She spoke in a draconic tongue. The mist fell into the stone and was gone. Her eyes dilated and she shook her head.
Asmara looked up and asked "What were you saying?" in a small cute voice. Minerva raised a brow and asked
"What are you talking about?" Asmara looked at the square stone and rubbed her eyes, "Hey look!" she squealed Pointing towards the woods. "What is it?" asked Tang, still wondering about Minerva's outburst. Asmara flew around Tang requesting,
"Can you stand over the stone?" to Tang. Tang sighed and obliged She stood over the stone to see a beam of light emanating from the stone. The beam went towards the Woodland Path. Minerva cocked her head and asked, "How did you see that?" Asmara smiled and replied, "I'm a light dragon."
The Stone's inscriptions glowed once more causing the group to step back. Minerva flew down to the stone and landed, she stretched her wings out and said in a loud metallic sounding voice, "The machine must wake or the world must wait for the exodus can not come." Minerva stood still for several seconds then Shook her head. "That was unusual…" Sighed Minerva.
Asmara sighed in relief and flew in front of Minerva, " Are you okay?" Asks Asmara. Minerva nods and looked around.
Jarvice blinks and asks, "What was that about?"
Tang glances over to the wooded area and replies, "I do not know, but I want to." Tang picks up the stone and walks towards the woods wings folded, "Ceasul, Venir!" She bellows.
A large black bird flies from Swipp's landing on one of her spines. Jarvice runs up to Tang, barely keeping up with her pace, "Hey wait up I'm coming to!" He squeaks.
Tang Stops and glares at Jarvice. He backs up a few paces. "Fine, you must keep up however." She walks forward stepping right over obstacles.
"Come on Asmara, we should go." whispers Minerva. She flutters off towards the spires of pink crystals. Asmara looks back and corkscrews after Minerva. Crunch! Crunch! "You may not want to make all that noise." adds Tang.
Jarvice looks down to sticks all over the ground. "How do you not make noise?" Questions Jarvice.
Tang stops and chuckles and replies, "I'm on the path." Jarvice walked up to Tang and looked at her feet. She was standing on a clear cobblestone path. Tang Walked forward right on down the path. Jarvice close behind. Hoo hooo! Cried an owl in a nearby tree. Jarvice as jumpy as he felt couldn't help but feel impressive, he was on an adventure.
A pink flash crosses Jarvice's vision, "Wha-What was that?" Asked Jarvice fearfully.
Jarvice looked at a branch above his head but just a few inches above Tang. A large pink owl stood on the branch staring at Jarvice. Tang rose a Razor like wing and slashed the Bird in half. The remains of the bird fall apart mid air into flower petals. Jarvice watched as the petals floated to the ground, he in his mind visibly changed to a pale green. Similar to his circuit pattern all along his body. He lowered his head to look directly down the path to see nothing but brambles and trees.
His claws clattered against the mossy stone path, he could hear other things beyond the forest. The cacophonous rumbling of the Ashfall wastes, the crackling lightning of the Shifting Expanse. Along with the diseased screams from the Scarred Wasteland. He shuddered thinking about the silence of the forest, such unnatural silence from a populated forest.
In the shadows a pink dot is seen through the bag with the stone inside. Tang stopped and turned her head to the more densely forested side of the path. She licked her chops and walked over to the side of the path, she breathed a luminescent fuchsia mist making the plants, vines, leaves, and roots curl to avoid the mist. She blew the mist through the forest in front of her, parting the foliage. Behind the foliage stood a pond with reeds all over the shores. The mere sight repelled Jarvice who stood away from the shore. She stopped at the shore as she watched the fish in the water. "Come here." requested Tang.
Jarvice took a step back and shook his head, "I don't like water!" Jarvice squealed. Tang shrugged her undefined shoulders and plunged her hands into the pond pulling up a large silver fish, the fish wiggled in tangs hands. Jarvice inched closer and sniffed the air. With her razor like claws she cut the fish in half, she threw the fish to Jarvice who caught the fish on his pointed nose.
Tang promptly started to eat her fish, peeling the soft flesh off the bones which she sat in a small pile. Jarvice on the other hand ripped the fish apart leaving food all over the place. "Do you have the time?" asked Jarvice with fish all over his face.
Tang setting the last of the small bones in a pile replied with a satisfied grin, "No way to tell." Jarvice nodded and looked around at the different scenery around the pond.
"Hey how did you get that fish?" Jarvice asked.
Tang laying in the shallows turned her head and replied, "I, grabbed a fish with my claw."
Jarvice nodded and frustrated said, "I know that but you don't seem to mind water. Honestly I can't get any closer than this." Standing about twenty feet away. Tang pondered for a moment,
"Well I just never really avoided water as a Hatchling." She said happily. Jarvice looked to the pond shuddered and said involuntarily, "My father was afraid of water, I learned my habits from him. My mother didn't like water either but she would at least walk within twenty feet." Tang laid down listening to Jarvice speak. She laid her head down on the ground.
Her eyes shot open, crickets were singing in the reeds. She rose her head, and saw Jarvice on the other side of the pond mud up to his chest. He was looking at a metallic pipe coming out of the water. The pipe weaved into the brambles and trees, Jarvice saw tang and motioned her over.
Tang walked around the pond in a few quick steps arriving next to Jarvice who was now trying to break through the brambles. As he ripped them away they grew back around his arm at an unnatural rate. At one point he ripped away part of a tree to expose a crack in the pipe releasing a strange green energy into the surrounding plant life.
Tang joked saying, "I'd hate to see what this does to an animal." Jarvice ripped his wing from a tree and his leg from a group of roots. The plants grew back around the pipe covering the crack stemming the flow of energy.
"That must be why the plants don't grow out of control." Jarvice said. Tang widened her eyes and took a roll of silver metallic material. She pulled some of the material off the roll tearing the end with her teeth. "Can you tear away the plants around the pipe please?"
requested Tang to Jarvice. Jarvice Nodded and ripped away at the vines and roots, the crack became exposed. Tang lunged and covered the crack with the material, the energy flow ceased, the plants shriveled and turned to ash. Jarvice walked up to the pipe and pointed to it,
"This looks like the StormCatcher's work." Inquired Jarvice. Tang walked up to the pipe, and tried to read a strange rusted sign.
"Do you know what this reads?" Asks Tang. Jarvice walked up next to her and squinted,
"No I can't, what language is that?" Wondered Jarvice outloud. The sign in a language they couldn't read, read, "Millstone Nuclear Power Station Unit 1". Tang pointed at a different sign with an arrow.
"Look at that, it must point to whatever this reads." Tang followed the sign through the woods with Jarvice at her heels. The ripped through brush, winding around trees, and eventually they got to a wall. This wall once again was that of brambles. Tang began to get out the silver material but Jarvice saw no crack in the pipe as he ripped at the plants.
"There isn't a crack in the pipe!" Announced Jarvice who was still trying to rip away the prickly vines. Tang walked around the wall and saw spires of stone and metal. There was a massive pile of material in the middle of a wire fence. The plants surrounding the fence were warped horribly. The closer the plants were to the pile the worse they were disconfigured. Tang tried to get closer to the fence to find out, the plants were growing in front of where she was walking.
She took a step to her left as the twisted brambles grew around the fence with needle like spines. She picked up a stick and poked one of the needle like thorns. A luminescent green ooze dripped from the needle. The little droplet hit the ground with a hissing sound. A small crater was left where the droplet hit. The same needles spread across the vines wrapped around Jarvice, Tang rushed over and ripped Jarvice from the vines. The brambles regrew and covered itself in spines, "That was close." Jarvice sighed. Tang nodded thankfully and looked around for a place to sit.
She found a small area not entangled in corrosive spines. She sat on her haunches and took out the square stone. In the dark you could see the beam of light clearly. the beam pointed towards the pile of material within the fence. She placed the stone back inside the bag and paced back to Jarvice who was dripping the green ooze onto leaves and other things. Tang watched as a leaf disintegrated under the ooze.
Tang took from her bag a small strand of material with a glowing red orb at the end.
"What is that?" Jarvice asked sitting down.
"Our way in." Tang replied with a smile. She lifted it up to her snout and blew on it, the orb glowed as steam came off Tangs Glistening scales. She threw the object at the fence where it stayed for moment then exploded setting the surrounding area ablaze. The now molten fence slipped along the ground bubbling and burning the warped plantlife.
Tang walked through the now open fence stepping on the molten metal without any ill effect. Jarvice decided to go over instead of through. Jarvice landed next to Tang as she walked up to a hollowed out brick building. She looked inside but saw nothing of interest. She walked along a cracked and weed infested path. Yellow markers in the middle showed a lot of damage, a large crater in the middle of the path impeded on safe travel.
The plants all along the path had armed themselves with toxic thorns. As they neared the pile they noticed less and less normal plantlife and more warped plants. The number of even these was diminishing the closer they got to the pile, to a point where there was not even weeds. Barrels of a strange metal lined the path, the same green liquid was all over the barrels and at their bases. A large tower sticking out of the side of the mound creaked as they neared.
Tang spotted a strange rectangular faded machine in the path, on top of a yellow humanoid suit. She picked up the machine and saw a skeleton inside the suit. She lurched back nearly bumping into a wall of needles. Tang pointed at the suit and cried, "There's a body in that suit!" she quivered a few meters from the suit. Breathing heavily she slowly inched closer to investigate, Jarvice was looking down into the expression of the mostly skeletal remains. The body still had greyish skin on it, with the eyes and nose gone however.
Tang looked closer at the box she had picked up, it was a pale yellow, with mysterious writing or symbols along the top. A black rectangle was hanging off the side by a coiled cord. A switch on the top caught her attention. She flicked the switch and a light appeared on the black rectangle, and a dial on the yellow box shifted. The needle went from one side of the dial to the other, an irritating tapping noise in quick succession rang out. The needle would change position as the black rectangle swung around.
The sun was just barely over the horizon, as the smoke stack on the pile bellowed a white steam. Tang observed the box and picked up the black rectangle, and pointed the end at the pile. The dial tapped furiously, she then pointed it in the direction of the molten fence. The box tapped a little slower. The mound shifted and a putrid ooze came out a crack in the side and travelled to the ground. The liquid smelled truly fetid. Tang covered her snout trying not to breath the repulsive stench. Jarvice did the same, the black ooze was disgusting, and he had heard the stories about the Wyrmwound. Tang with her covered snout said, "I think this thing was using this machine for something, I think whatever it was killed him. This machine must have something to do with it."
Jarvice looked again at the different pipes and wires coming from and going to the mound, "This really looks like the Stormcatcher's work." He said alarmed.
"It also seems like something the PlagueBringer might create. Did you see the plants, and all the death?" Tang added. She scratched her chin and said, "This stuff looks ancient though, the metal is rusted, the stone worn down, and these structures are not of Draconic origins. This body also shows that, Along with the machines that I haven't seen before."
Jarvice agreed and asked, "Why not take out the stone?" Tang pulled the stone out of its bag, the morning light made it hard to see but the light pointed directly at the mound. Tang looked around a bit looking for an entrance or something of that nature, careful not to touch the Black slime or the Green acid, or the spines.
She spotted one such opening near the back of the Mound. She breathed a pink mist that when it touched the ground curled the spined plants away from her landing spot. Jarvice landed next to her, "Is that the way in?" He mused.
Tang nodded and replied "I think so." She climbed the pile of metal bars, stone and mysterious bodies of creatures in green camouflage uniforms with strange metal machines in their hands. She picked one up in her massive claws careful not to break it, but found it surprisingly sturdy. It was made of a metal she had seldom seen, it was barely rusted for how old it must have been. She found what must have been a switch or something and pressed it, this switch sprung back into place, but not before creating a noise rivaling that of the shifting expanse. The whole mound rumbled as Jarvice and Tang clenched their teeth and covered their draconic ears. Jarvice, glared at Tang and squeaked, "What w-was that?"
Tang shook her head and with ringing in her ears replied, "I don't know." As the walked they found a hole in the wall, it was about big enough to fit Jarvice's claw, he worked at the hole until he could pull out a crushed metal fragment, about the size of an arrowhead. Tang held the mysterious noise maker and pulled a curved metal piece from the underside of the object. She poured the contents on the ground, sixteen roughly ovaline metal bits with pointed ends.
"Well it does kind of look like this." said Jarvice Holding up the mostly flattened bit. She dropped the newly determined weapon,
"We should keep going." She said finally. They kept moving unaware of the true origin of the mound. The farther they went into the mound the more remains they found, not just the strange armoured creatures. Unusual warped animals and a familiar sight. A Guardian Skeleton, With unusual growths all over the bones. "This skeleton is as old as the other bodies. "Did these creatures use dragons as Weapons?" Tang asked herself in disgust.
Jarvice walked up to the skeleton. "No look it was facing towards the creatures, it was fighting them." He realised.
"It must of been protecting this place." Tang said to herself. They kept moving along the tunnel, after a few minutes of walking they realised that they had been walking at downward slant. They had been walking down a hill for ten minutes. The came across a room to small to fit either dragon, but they could look inside. It was nearly pitch black except for Tang's eyes which were now acting as torches to lead the way.
The room had several box-like machines seemed to be wearing clothing that they might wear if it was bigger. They kept going towards where the strange metal box was leading. It was like a game of hot and cold sort of.
They came across a massive room even for a Fully grown ridgeback. It seemed like a cavern of some sort, a river of putrid black ooze was to their left and piles of rusted barrels with green slime to their right. The Mysterious uniformed creatures were all over the ground some were ripped apart some were even warped as badly as the plants. A statue of another mysterious creature was up on a pedestal in a preachers position with his arms stretch outwards on either side. Tang walked through a more or less, less body littered area. "What happened here?" Asked Tang outloud.
The statue cracked and green goo came out of the cracks. The statue moved as a majority of the cracks were at the joints. "I can tell you that much." The statue said with slime in his mouth. He spit it out and sat next down Using his arms as effectively as possible he ushered them over.
"What is he saying?" asked Jarvice.
"I can't understand him." Said tang. To the statue they were just making rattling noises and clicks. "ahh I see you can't speak can you. Here let me help."
He snapped his fingers and sparks fell to the ground. "I do believe you can understand me now?" He Inquired.
Jarvice nodded, and Tang cocked her head. The statue scratched his stone laden beard. He started, "A long time ago, seamingly minutes for me a large foundry lay here. We used this power like no other, we combined the element of lighting with death, You see what you called the PlagueBringer existed before she was tangible. We lived in a complex we called TauTona, the world's deepest mine, as the machine laid in ruins we survived. We travelled for years to get here only to be decimated by this place. The nuclear plant was on a bit of land that had been shifted from America and had slammed into Africa were TauTona existed." Cutting him off Tang criticised, "What do you mean, you existed before us? And what is this America and this Africa you speak of?" The statue patiently said, "America and Africa were continents, before the Icefields and the Northern continent." Jarvice thought for a moment, he was about to speak but the statue man Said, "I can read your minds, does that answer your question?"
He put his hands together and rubbed his hands against the other, creating a scraping sound. "The zealots of the world which still thought of \pure magic as the wonder power source made the machine while we built this. The machine wiped the earth clean of the scourge of people. We did more damage to the planet then the blast did. These soldiers were meant to stop me. Look at their markings." Tang walked over to a soldier and flipped him over, on his uniform spelled Dominion. In bright red letters. "I was part of the United nations, which opposed the dominion. We both controlled a large portion of the world." The soldiers on both sides all died regardless.
"I am no longer human as anyone could probably guess, that's why they tried to stop me. I was an abomination." He stood up and cleared his mouth of ooze again. He walked over to a wall and opened a rusted panel. Behind the panel was a faintly glowing tube. "This is what is creating the nuclear waste, as long as it's here it will be producing it for hundreds more years. Take it please!" he pleaded.
Tang grabbed the handles on either side and they left the way they came. The The Nuclear river to Tang's left slowly stopped moving as the production of nuclear waste ceased. The pustule river kept moving Arcanist knows where or from where. The mound creaked as the Nuclear core was taken from the mountain. As they walked they saw no bodies, no skeletons, no weapons.
They reached the entrance, the soldiers stood at salute for the dragons that ended their suffering. Tears dropped from some of the men as they stared sadly at faded pictures of supposed loved ones from time gone by. Some carried flags and some sat, Men and women alike were here, some were soldiers somewhere in the strange yellow suits. The sight was a marvel in itself as the hundreds of soldiers stood at attention. Tang looked back to see the pile collapse and a Guardian standing guard of the heap of debri. The stone man stood high above the ground on the Guardian's head, he saw the Ridgeback look.
His stone body no longer pliable cracked and shattered revealing a young man about 6"2 with jet black hair and, red Irises. The soldiers faded into the past and reverted to bones and the dragon stood at an eerie attention forever watching his keep. The stone Sorcerer Forever grateful.
The End
Hope you enjoyed it I wrote it as a request from Drakion, She gave me only a vague outland so I kind of built off that, I would enjoy your feedback and any suggestions you may have.
Credits
Idea Drakion
Story Archnight
Ownership of story FlightRising
Themesong you have in your head - Imagine Dragons, Radioactive
Other themesong you may have in your head - Pop Evil, Trenches
I do not claim ownership of the Game Flightrising, or any of the Characters that are not mine in game.