Old Wound
The air here tasted different, like stone-dust. Strange tangs in the air sent shivers up my spine. It felt like pressure was rising, like with my furies, swirling clouds in preparation of whatever was to come. At least my furies were to my favor; here it seemed like the realm itself was readying itself to shake apart at the seams, tearing apart until the very sky was torn to bits and pieces.
I shivered, glancing around. There was Ignitus, suspended above the hard tiles within a blue ball of magic, gripping him like a spider's web, though far from the fine silk that hung around my neck and shoulder.
Shadows writhed at the edges of my vision, seeming to creep forward, but as I whipped my head to look, I found them only the results of paranoia.
At least I hoped they were.
I gulped, placing one foot forward, then tentatively bringing the other up ahead of it. The cold tile pressed against my pads, and my tail and wings were so stiff it felt like a breath of wind could snap them in half. All was still, though. The wind held silent, the shadows watched with invisible eyes, and Ignitus was right there, alive and somehow whole.
If this was a trap, there was little I could do about it. I stepped towards Ignitus' prison.
"Cynder…?" Sparx fluttered nervously after me, his wingbeats the only sound next to that of my beating heart and the crackle of the blue electricity holding my mentor in place.
I ignored him, trying to extend my senses as far as they could go. I'd really rather avoid having my neck snapped before I knew what had happened to me.
"Um… Cynder?"
"What?" I snapped, edging forward. Still no sign…
"I don't like this," he confessed. "It feels like he's baiting us… I'm getting smarter."
"No shit, Sherlock," I snapped. I thought I heard the swish of wings, but whipping my head back and looking upward I found nothing. "Now shut up so I can listen."
Apparently awakened by my snapped profanity, Ignitus' ruby orbs blinked open blearily, then widened at seeing it was me.
"Cynder..." His voice was so much older, so ragged, like his strength had been whipped to pieces and scattered like ash in the wind. "De-destroy the crystal! Quickly!"
I hadn't even noticed it resting beneath him, and looking upon it now… I found I really didn't care. I'd come for him, not some dumb lump of rock!
"C'mon," I growled, "let's get you out of here before the General gets back!" I stepped forward, but suddenly something was barring my way.
Same scales wrapped in writhing shadows, same eyes colder than death itself.
He grinned, almost jauntily. "If only it were that easy." Tail swished up in a small loop. "Go ahead, little lady," he mocked, tilting his head towards the red guardian, "save the poor red lump."
He leaned his head down, one glowing eye as big as my paw, and grinned. His teeth, filed to grotesque points, were stained a sick rust-red with aged blood, and his breath smelled like fresh death.
"Of course..." His voice was old and young all at once, and he crouched, widening his blood-dyed wings. "It may be a bit harder than you think."
"So-so-so big." Sparx trembled, and I made a frantic twitch of my tail, telling him to get out of firing range. He complied without complaint.
The General circled around me, each heavy pawstep ringing like cold thunder. "It's time you learned how complicated life can be."
With a twist and a lash, he brought his huge murky-gold tailblade forward and slammed it into me, sending me sprawling onto my back. The pressure exploded on my side, burning like fire, but still I righted myself, rising on trembling legs.
"Run, Cynder!" Ignitus cried desperately. "Save yourself!"
"Not this time!" I stood, crouching, my tail lashing back and forth like a viper ready to strike. "This time I fight!"
The General snorted, a cloud of grey smoke curling from his gaping nostrils. "Oh? Let's see it, then!"
The truth was, without my elements, I didn't stand a chance.
With a snarl, he shot a great lashing bolt of electricity at me and I rolled to the side, barely missing it. It left a blackened scorch-mark where I had been a moment before, and he turned his murderous eyes towards me once more.
Gritting my teeth, I dodged another blast – this time of a red matter I now understood.
Fear.
If I was hit by that again, I didn't think I'd have the strength to continue.
The General snarled in frustration, leaping towards me and slamming his paws into the floor, creating a shockwave that nearly sent me careening off the edge of the platform. The whispers were there again, guiding me, and per instruction I lurched up into the air. My wings strained in a frantic downstroke to carry me high enough in time.
I learned why a minute too late. With a rumble, stone spikes shot up from the ground like great javelins of earth. Unable to avoid it, one of the spikes tore a long but shallow gash in the scales of my underbelly. Hissing a profanity, I flapped higher in desperation.
One of my wings burned with agony and I realised it had also been struck by the spikes. Blood congealed around a small tear in the membrane, and air rushed through it with every beat of my wings, hampering flight to the point of impossibility.
Tears of pain leaked unbidden from my eyes as I dropped and landed awkwardly, blood drenching the tile under me. Pain lanced from the slashes, arcing through my trembling body like electricity. Gasping, I fished a red gem from my bag and let it soak into my scales. At least I was only out of magic gems.
The cuts sealed over, the edges knitting together, leaving only a jagged scar that would be gone by day's end.
Assuming I lived that long.
Crouching again, I released my muscles and shot forward, dry wind rushing around me, tearing at the sore skin around my new scars and burning my already stinging eyes. It burned until I was forced to squeeze them shut, and when I landed I forced them open and found myself in front of the general's wounded foot, the stub void of shadows. A pink, sore tip with an almost bruise-like, sickly purple sheen.
I wasn't really thinking properly at this point; the adrenaline pounding through my veins had erased everything else, anything but fear and desire to protect had disappeared like ash on the dry wind.
Lunging forward and giving an infuriated hiss, I clamped down on the old wound, biting through the uncovered skin that was the only protection left on it. My teeth went through like razors it was so soft.
I squeezed my eyes shut as dark blood splattered everywhere, the sick rusty taste causing my tongue to feel like it was burning away cell by cell. I'd give anything for water... My claws scratched and skittered uselessly against rough scales, causing an agonizing squeal like nails on a chalkboard.
For a moment all else was silent, and I worried I'd bitten into the horrid flesh for nothing, but then the huge dragon released a agonized shriek, feral, hammering into my eardrums and tearing apart any mental capacity I had left by the very seams. Fear crashed through my body, and the only thing that kept me clinging and clawing at the bloody stump was arrogance.
I'm not afraid of you!
Finally regaining some semblance of composure, the General snarled, "You need to learn to give up!" His voice softened, so quiet I doubt anyone else could hear it. "I don't want to kill you!"
I glanced up and his eyes seemed softer for a minute, pained and young, a naivety the General certainly lacked – but then it was gone and his eyes narrowed again, and a great pressure exploded against my side, faster than whiplash. Before I knew what was happening, I was flying backwards, cracking against a pillar, squeezed for a moment between it and his broad tailblade before it released me and let me fall.
I barely stumbled to my feet, panting, and looked up just in time to see the General launch at Ignitus, snapping his head down to grab the charged crystal, before crouching and exploding into the air. He launched upwards, his shadowy form disappearing into the coal-black night.
