A Little Something Familiar
I struggled to my paws only to fall again, my blood-stained belly pressing against the cold stone floor. Ignitus stumbled to my side, huge tailblade grinding against stone. Silently, he reached into a brown satchel that looped his neck and handed me large chunks of both green and red crystal.
I looked at him. "Don't you ne—?"
"You need them more than I," he said tiredly.
I nodded, absorbing them into one paw and sighing when the refreshing cool wave enveloped me and disappeared, taking the ache with it. My elemental magic spiked to normal, a reassuring warmth in my chest.
I studied my forepaws for a minute, something pressing on my mind. "Ignitus — the General. There was something in his eyes; something that reminds me of, well…me."
I looked at him helplessly. Was I insane or was there more to it than that? Ignitus' expression was sign enough, his ruby head dipping to the floor as his shoulders slumped like they bore the weight of the world. "There should be, Cynder, there should be. You and the General share more than you know... It's time I told you the truth. All of it."
I sank deeper to the ground, still leaning heavily against the pillar. Blood splatter covered me, smelling like rust. Though it didn't really show on my black hide, my pink belly and membranes were splattered with darker red, while the white of my horns and blades were all but dyed. Thank the ancestors my spidersilk bag was embedded with some simple craft-magic, just enough that any liquid would simply run straight off without staining.
Sparx fluttered next to me. After checking me over, he sighed wearily. "Man… You look like hell, Cyn."
I raised an eyeridge at him and he shut up. I turned back to Ignitus.
"You see, on the night of the raid, after I took your egg to the Silver River, I returned to the grotto to save the others. I found...utter chaos. The other guardians had been overrun; the other eggs smashed to splinters. All but one. You see... He wanted to destroy all the eggs to prevent the birth of the purple dragon, but he also needed a dragon."
"Why the hell would he need a dragon?"
"Because only one born in the Year of the Dragon can open the portal that serves as the Dark Master's prison. He wanted any dragon, save one. But by the time their leader got to the nests, the purple egg alone remained."
My eyes widened. "So the General, under all the shadows... He's…?"
Ignitus nodded tiredly. "He is the one with the power of the purple dragon, foretold to bring peace to the realms once again."
I cringed. What was I supposed to think? How was that thing my age? If Ignitus hadn't taken my egg first, would I be in his shoes?
"If he's like me, why is he so...?" I trailed off.
"Big?" Sparx filled in. "Monstrous? Evil? Powerful?"
I snorted. "Something like that."
Ignitus exhaled softly. "Because, Cynder, after he was taken by the Dark Master, he was corrupted. Altered by the Dark Master's poisonous nature, twisted by his evil lore. He's become worse than a monster, unable to distinguish morality. The few times I have seen him act even slightly for himself, he was pulled under again in mere moments. He's only said something sane to any of the guardians once."
"What did he say?"
"Before you came, he told me he has a name, one he chose himself. Then he was lost again..."
"What's his name?" I wondered, looking at him.
"He never had time to say. He just seemed troubled for an instant that he was only ever called the General, but then it faded again. He's inseparable from the evil ravenous need to carry out the Dark Master's will."
I shivered. "But why? What does this 'Dark Master' want, anyway?"
"He wants to be freed from Convexity so he can unleash havoc across the lands. And if the General manages to open the portal, he may just succeed."
Suddenly, the tension that had been building detonated and the earth shook like thunder.
I barely managed to stay steady, but it passed. Even without seeing beforehand, I knew to look to the sky. And there, a spiralling vortex of energy loomed, shining brighter than a blue sun. It was almost beautiful, in an eerie, horrifying kind of way. The very air pulsed with power, sending shakes and shivers down my spine as the fabric of reality itself was torn apart.
Ignitus looked up at the ethereal spiral, worry draped around him like a veil. "I'm afraid…we might be too late."
I looked at him. We'd definitely gone too far to give up now. No fucking way in hell.
"No. I refuse to give up! We've come this far, and I'm sure as effing hell not giving up now! I'll stop them both if I have to!"
"Cyn—" Sparx started to argue, but a glare shot his way shut him up. I looked at Ignitus.
"Okay, okay, Cynder. You're right. At the very least, you have to try. But be careful — Convexity acts as an airlock between our world and the Dark Realms beyond. If the Dark Master escapes, a shadow will fall over the land. You must stop him before he uses the final crystal and activates the portal."
I nodded, dipping my head to him before crouching and exploding into dry air. Blood beat through my veins and my ears pounded like drums. I could barely hear Ignitus' last words to us over it all.
"May the Ancestor's look after you..." He paused, stepping forwards to watch as I shot upwards. "May they look after us all."
I knew one thing. If I was going to do this, I had to do it myself. I couldn't rely on the help of anyone.
