Hey everyone! After playing a few days of Iceborne, I have an intense urge to start writing a fic about it. I promise you that I do plan on posting a story on it after this one is finished, but I'm having a hard time not splurging on said story at the moment
Once again, please leave a review! They honestly really help me write future chapters. They're really good motivation boosters.
The Megaevolved Pony: Ooo that gave me chills. Maybe I will get to the steamy bits soon. (:
Enjoy!
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Nergigante awoke in a dark place. When she had first opened her eyes, she would've confused the environment around her for the back of her eyelids if it wasn't for the red light shining down.
It was confusing at first, to wake up in such a dark landscape. The ground seemed to be made of pitch black, shining as the red light bounced off it's surface.
A crimson circle hung in the sky, with the moon concealing the light of a sun and staining it a dark red. A single trail of bloody light dripped from the eclipse, meeting the blackened Earth in an uncanny union between sky and dirt.
Black chains littered the sky, with each link crossing another section of another chain. The chains crossed every which way, linking themselves to obsidian mountains that circled the black plains Nergigante stood in.
The chains were pulled taught. Some of the links even creaked under the pressure they looked to be under. Each of them lead to a singular point in the dark landscape.
Eerily, it was the same point the trail of crimson light met the Earth.
And in that point, a creature was chained.
It breathed shallowly, as the chains had been bound to it by blood-stained restraints that were fitted under the creature's slightly crimson stained scales.
Nergigante reeled when she recognized the creature as an Elder Dragon. Her instincts told her so. Her species had a unique ability to sense and track Elder Dragons, and the thing before her set off every instinct tied to that ability.
The Elder Dragon looked like a traditional Elder Dragon. It's wings were large, at least twice the size of it's body. It stood at ten feet tall, it's total length being just under eighteen feet from snout to tail tip. A pair of upward curving horns adorned it's head, bearing the same obsidian color as the land around it.
It's mouth lacked lips, only bearing large obsidian colored teeth with a set of two larger canines at the front of it's mouth. Large curved blades lined it's spine, stretching all the way down to the tip of it's tail where the last blade formed an abyssal black spike.
It's wings bore two inward curving spikes where Nergigante's own were also placed. It's claws made up the last few inches of it's five fingered paws and it's elbows, both front and back, bore two inward facing blades reminiscent of both it's wing spikes and the spines on it's back.
It's scales were a grayish color and had a layer of crimson on top of the gray. It's scales were not exactly scales, more like large plates of gray bio-organic armor.
It's wings were pulled out painfully far, held in place by wicked hooks that were at the end of each chain. It's tail was nailed in place by four large iron rods that also made up the end of four individual chains. A large iron rod was placed in both of it's forepaws, keeping them rooted to the ground.
It's horns were held by iron rings that bore another chain on the front which ended in a large nail the ground. A set of four more iron rods were buried in it's back, with two on each side of it's spine.
Nergigante could only imagine the agony the Elder Dragon was in, with those metal hooks and nails keeping it from moving as well as digging into it with every movement. Breathing must have been hard for it.
That's when the creature moved slightly. It's head lifted upward as far as the restraints in it's horns would allow. It let out a raspy breath as it moved, making the chains moan under the pressure. Crimson steam poured from it's teeth, filling the air with the scent of blood and gore.
The stench quickly invaded Nergigante's nose, making her shake her head and place her fingers on her nose to block it out.
The Elder Dragon seemed to wake up, opening only it's right eye. Crimson light poured from the socket, reminding Nergigante heavily of the bloody eclipse in the sky.
As soon as the Dragon met her gaze, it began to struggle against it's restraints. The iron nails in the Elder Dragon's feet began to move and the membranes of it's wings made a tearing sound as it pulled every muscle away from the chains.
The chains themselves didn't fare very well against the draconic strength of the creature. The two chains holding the horns of the Dragon to the ground snapped with a loud cracking sound. Like a bungee cord breaking under intense weight.
Not a moment later, the hooks in it's wings tore their way completely out of the membrane, leaving large torn sections of broken scaly flesh.
Nergigante stumbled backward as the Elder Dragon lifted itself from the obsidian ground. Something about this dragon made her nervous. Even more nervous than the Black Sword that the Hunter carried.
Then she noticed that the Elder Dragon's aura was eerily similar to the Hunter's, albeit warped and damaged beyond belief. The similarities were uncanny. It bore no crimson iris on the left side, mirroring Eclipsen's own missing eye.
The Dragon lifted it's head and roared. The roar was ear-splitting, shaking the very landscape around it. Nergigante had to press her hands to her ears to block it out, and even then it was above what was safe for hearing.
It's mouth began to open more and a crimson light crawled up the Elder Dragon's throat before exploding out of it's maw in a beam of pure red Dragon element. The beam was thick, burning even the air with the sheer heat of the energy.
Black smoke seeped out of the edges of the Dragon's mouth, staining the already red colored air with a dark miasma.
The beam of energy reached far into the sky, striking the eclipse head on. The crimson circle then exploded into a fiery ring of orange, sending pieces of flame and meteorites showering down upon the black landscape.
The area's temperature then became intensely hot, making even Nergigante uncomfortable. Small pieces of molten rock struck the ground all around both her and the Elder Dragon, cracking the obsidian ground with each impact.
The beam them died out as the Dragon clamped it's mouth shut. The black smoke seeped out of the cracks of it's teeth, the edges of the dark miasma floating with glowing embers.
Nergigante met the Dragon's gaze head on, her yellow eyes countering it's crimson orb.
Then the Dragon lunged, each chain snapping and failing to hold it back as it's mouth curled around Nergigante and clamped down.
-Transition-
Nergigante nearly leapt out of the bed as the nightmare reached it's climax.
The blankets around her were soaked with sweat and her spines had speared a few places in the mattress, leaving holes in both the sheet and the mattress.
She looked rapidly about the room, finding it completely calm. The muffled sound of the water wheel was the only thing she heard besides Hether's drunken snoring.
Eclipsen seemingly hadn't even been shaken by Nergigante's nightmare induced sleep movements. He slept soundly, his right arm tucked beneath both his head and pillow, while his left arm rested on his chest. His breathing was calm and undisturbed.
Nergigante redirected her gaze towards what was in front of her. Her mind wandered unwillingly back towards the nightmare.
What was that creature? Why did it feel exactly like Eclipsen? Why was it chained like that?
Too many questions swirled about her head at once, forcing her to close her eyes and try to recall the actual dream.
It had ended right when the jaws of the Dragon had clamped down on her. When she would've died.
Nergigante couldn't think of anything as to why this dream had invaded her sleep. She was too tired to even think of an answer to her previous questions.
With a sigh, the Elder Dragon lowered herself back onto the bed and laid on her right side. She shifted a bit closer to the Hunter before slipping her hand around his left arm and closing her eyes.
Hopefully the pieces would put themselves together in the morning.