The sky was clear. As a skywrath, Dragonus' life is that of a bird, as it is not that easy to walk with talons, and he if had wings, he should fly, right? Like a bird, Dragonus used to love flying under a clear sky, feeling the wind on his face and enjoying the sun. But now he had more important matters to think about. He flew for about half an hour, looking for his beloved Shendelzare, but still found nothing. He went to the woods Ezalor said he saw Shendelzare, but he found only a few footprints, and following them, he found a river. Now he was flying over the river, hoping to see her, desperate to see her. Because of this, he was barely aware of the changing environment, of the dead trees, and of the dangers around him. Hidden in the shadows, two dark red eyes watched him. The hidden predator lifted his two hands, black as oblivion, and a blast of energy coming from hell struck the skywrath, and he fell to the water. But that wasn't a normal predator, because instead of waiting for the prey to drown and then eat the corpse, this one moved in to kill the prey himself. Hopefully, Dragonus fell in a shallow part of the river, and was able to escape from the water, but when he looked up, a large demon, that seemed to be made of shadows, was looking at him.
"I never ate the soul of a skywrath. I wonder if it's tasty." The demon wouldn't stop looking at the winged creature at his 'feet'. "My name is Nevermore, but right now you can call me Death."
Nevermore lifted his right arm, and created dark energy in that hand. As he was about to strike, a magic projectile hit him.
"Leave him, or die!" A highly distorted female voice said. The owner of the voice was a being made of energy, but she looked way too physical. Her face was determined and her eyes showed a desire for vengeance stronger than anything Dragonus has ever seen. And the skywrath race is an angry one.
"Hello Shendelzare. I guess its two souls for me now." The demon's voice was also highly distorted, and inspired fear in the hearts of those who hear it. But in Dragonus, he inspired hope upon saying the name of his beloved one. "Well, as they say, ladies first."
The shadowy figure fired that ball of energy on the female figure, but she dodged it swiftly. He tried once more, and she dodged again. Then he summoned another blast from hell, and in the following second, she was down to her knees, like the skywrath. But the skywrath had recovered from the impact of the blast and of the fall, so he launched an arcane bolt on the demon, hitting the shadowy flesh like a bullet hitting human flesh. The demon flinched, then turned around and decided the skywrath would go first. He prepared another ball of energy, and launched it. And it hit. But it did not hit the skywrath. It hit Shendelzare, who appeared out of nowhere. She fell to the ground, and the demon could just turn around and find Dragonus behind him, and kill him. But Nevermore was confused, and it gave Dragonus time to cast a spell known as 'Mystic Flare', that was so powerful the demon barely survived. Dragonus was able to fly again, and could have easily chased and killed him, but now he could only worry about the woman fallen next to the water.
"Shendel, are you okay?" Dragonus said as he turned her body to look at her face. She opened the eyes and stared at him for a few seconds, then shoved him, got up and walked away. "Shendel, please, don't leave me."
Shendelzare stopped and didn't say anything for a few seconds. "I want nothing with you." She finally said. "I just saved you because of our past. But in the present, you're with them, not with me."
Dragonus knew that by 'them', she was referring to the skywrath race, specially their queen.
"Shendel…" Dragonus wanted to tell her everything, but he was afraid that the queen would find out and strip him of his powers, so he just kept the secret for himself.
Shendelzare sighed and walked away, leaving Dragonus to himself. For so much time he looked for her, now he let her walk away.
"Someday you'll know it, my dear Shendel. I love you." Dragonus thought. For now, he could only say that to himself.