Dear Followers!
To those who are still around, it's been a long time! For four years, I have let this story sit in the closet even though I had gotten so far with it. This is a very, very late update, I know… But if any of you are still interested, I am going to finish this, finally!
In the meantime, I wrote original fiction, two extensive Dragon Age stories, and honed my writing skills. So, when I pulled out Lightbringer again after going to see Thor: Ragnarok, I was both shocked at my writing and stunned that I never found the resolve to see this through to the end. In the end, I think it was the harrowing events of Infinity War that made the decision for me. I took up overhauling the whole thing, determined to finish it. It's proving to be a big undertaking, because damn was my writing… unrefined back then (fukken awful.). I don't know if it's so much better now, but I try. English is not my native language, so I apologize for any strange choice of words, grammar, phrases…
I would like to invite you to read this whole story from the very beginning. I have revised the entire thing.
What changed?
First of all, the general plot did not change. I like to think my writing evolved, though. Many, many descriptions have been refined. I have changed complete dialogues to be more genuine and fit the characters better. Generally speaking I have tried to make the characters seem more real, bring out their idiosyncrasies, describe their inner conflicts and feelings better. Also, there is more romantic tension and feels, and its… steamier than before. Yessir. Please consider starting from the beginning!
For now, I have a short teaser for the things to come. It's going to be a wild ride!
XX. Firstborn
Vegr had walked along the lush hillsides of Alfheim for an unmeasured time now, with no sign of any strange magic far and wide. But his dragon senses were on edge. They registered a deep wrongness he could not quite place. His life-bonds were so far away and fleeting, as though they were not entirely real, but rather ghosts of the past slowly fading into oblivion. Never had he felt more cut-off from his family, so alone. He hated it. Since the day he had hatched, the bonds have always been there. Comforting, loving, supportive, like the roots of a great, strong tree. Their absence made him feel hollow, crippled. As though he was the last of his kind, cursed to wander the world without a single kindred spirit to turn to. Was this how mortals felt, all the time? So deeply aggravating.
That moment, he saw the stone circle. Towering high over any human or elven form, a dozen slender rocks stood in formation a few hundred feet further, between the last outskirts of Alfheim's woodland. And Vegr could sense it, crystal clear and unshrouded in their very centre: A pulsing, seething tear in reality, concocted by those who use the magic of the shadows. Sucking even light into its core, like the maw of an otherworldly monster that devoured and crunched everything in its wake. Black hole.
Vegr had seen them before in their natural states, outside the boundaries of the Nine Realms. But this was a tremendous violation of draconic law – taking even an ounce of energy from the realms could disrupt the balance. It meant stealing from the very thing they protected: Yggdrasil's creations. As he closed in on the stone circle, his dragon sight surveyed the powerful magic that fuelled this abomination. Strings of pure blackness swirled around it, distorting the fabric of space. Immense pressure, folding matter as one folded a piece of parchment over and over again. But it did not grow. Why did it not grow?
The crown prince of dragons walked between two of the standing stones, his steps confident. Anger surged in his heart. The Darkflight would be called to account for this. An eerie stillness fell within the circle, all sounds muffled and all movement slowed, as though time stood still. The air felt heavy and thick, each breath like inhaling some sort of gooey oil. Vegr stepped up to the black hole until he was barely an arm-length away. The black hole tore at his dragon magic, trying to grab this powerful source of energy to devour it too. But he steeled himself against the current, as his hands began to move with the precision and knowledge only a firstborn son of the Dragon King could muster.
The sealing spell formed slowly from his restless fingers, emitting delicate strings of light that looped as though they had a life of their own. In his effort to concentrate on this complicated sorcery, Vegr did not feel the presence manifesting behind him. Did not see the dark, hooded figure walk lazily across the withering grass. Did not hear the swish of a billowing robe. It was only when strong fingers closed around his throat that he realized his tremendous mistake. But by then, it was too late. He had walked right into the Darkflight's trap. Unable to shift, pressured by the black hole's magic, isolated by the veil they had conjured, Vegr could do nothing but squirm while the ambusher squeezed his windpipe shut and the darkness closed in all around him. The last thought he could muster before he plunged into darkness was dedicated to Ljosira, hoping and praying to Yggdrasil that she was safe.