A Brighter Future Ahead

AN: I'm back with another one of these. This is a two-parter that will finish up in the next chapter, so I'll try to have that out in the next few days so as to not leave everyone hanging too long. Especially because of what's about to go down...

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire.

Darkstalker:

He couldn't really shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen as he tried to fall asleep that night. He didn't know why, though. He hadn't seen anything in the futures he had checked, and Clearsight hadn't mentioned anything, either. And she definitely would've if she had seen something. Maybe he was just being paranoid. The four of them were spending the night on the beach under the stars since the sky was clear and the weather was good. He hadn't slept out in the open in a while, so maybe he just wasn't used to being this exposed.

There was nothing to worry about, though. He had being nodding on and off for the past few hours and nothing world-shattering had happened. They were perfectly safe here. Yeah…he was just being paranoid. And once he came to that conclusion, he finally fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he had been out, but he woke up suddenly with the feeling that something unspeakable had just happened. The first thing he did was turn to check on Clearsight, but he never could have prepared for what he saw.

An unfamiliar Nightwing stood above Clearsight, his talons grasping the handle of a dagger that was dripping with fresh blood. And his beloved soulmate's throat had been slit as she slept, though she had been alive long enough to open her eyes in fear and reach out for him.

Red-hot fury exploded within him like an erupting volcano, and with it came the once-dreaded sensation of losing control of his own body. This time, however, he surrendered to it willingly. The assassin had enough time to see that Darkstalker was awake and have his expression shift to terror before he roared in wrathful vengeance. He launched himself at the assassin who had dared to take his beloved from him, wanting nothing more than to tear this insolent interloper limb from bloody limb.

However, this assassin made it clear it wouldn't be that easy as he rolled with the impact and launched Darkstalker into the air with his rear legs. Darkstalker snapped his wings open and caught the air before he landed, hovering in place with a sneer. Well-trained or not, this Nightwing would be nothing more than a smear when he was done with him. The shadows swirling across his scales obeyed his will and launched themselves as a tangible missile at his opponent.

The assassin dodged the first one, but when Darkstalker sent a second shadow missile at where he was about to be, the assassin instinctually raised the dagger to try and defend himself. To both of their surprise, the dagger released a flash of blue light and an audible crackle of raw energy upon impact, dissipating Darkstalker's attack and leaving the assassin unharmed.

Darkstalker narrowed his eyes at the weapon, recognizing that it carried powerful enchantments on it—powerful enough to even kill him, possibly. Seeing that he was unharmed and connecting the dots, the assassin's expression became more confident and he got into a defensive stance.

By this point, both Fathom and Indigo were awake and watching the scene with uncertainty, unsure what to do—or if they should even do anything. They had dragged Clearsight out of the way, though, so he was thankful for that, at least. But they didn't matter right now, for Darkstalker's entire attention was on the dragon that took Clearsight away from him.

He sent missile after missile, hoping one of them would get past the assassin's defenses, but each and every one of them was skillfully blocked with a flurry of blows from the enchanted dagger. Furious, he sent a massive wave of shadow at the assassin. It blocked his opponent from view for a mere second, and that was all the other Nightwing needed to launch himself into the air straight at him. Before he could react, the assassin was able to achieve a hit, and a large slash opened up along his chest. He roared in pain, and batted the next few hits away, his jaw clenched against the searing pain spiking through his body with every jarring impact.

Fed up with this fight, Darkstalker tried to directly enchant the Nightwing to drop dead, but even that didn't work. That dagger must do more than nullify enchantments, he thought. It must protect the wielder from direct magic attacks, as well. Now that he had some momentary breathing room, he used his magic to heal the gash across his chest.

He saw the assassin narrow his eyes at that, but still he didn't back down. Both of them knew that it would only take one well-aimed blow to kill him, and if Darkstalker couldn't kill this Nightwing with his magic, then he was at a rather serious disadvantage.

While he had been trained to fight tooth to claw, he had always secretly used his magic to gain an edge. Magic was his strongest weapon, but here it was rendered useless. For the assassin, however, it was clear he was a highly skilled fighter. He had no choice, though. If he wanted to kill that Nightwing, he had to do it the old-fashioned way. "So it's going to be like that…" he snarled. He landed once more on the beach, the assassin following suit, and by some unheard signal, they both charged at each other.

Without a weapon of his own, he couldn't actually block the weapon for fear of amputating his talons, so he was forced to resort to either redirecting or dodging his opponent's strikes. It made things infinitely harder since going on the offensive was almost impossible in this situation. All he could do was fight defensively and hope an opening presented itself before the assassin overwhelmed him.

He didn't know how long he had held the assassin off, but it was probably somewhere around five minutes. It was certainly the longest fight Darkstalker had ever been in, and if not for the enchantments he had on himself, he most likely would have tired halfway through. The assassin wasn't so lucky. His endurance and skill were top-notch, but after continuing with his flurry of fast attacks for so long, Darkstalker could tell he was beginning to tire. The strikes were becoming just that much slower, and soon the opening he had been looking for appeared.

The assassin overextended himself on an upward swing, giving Darkstalker enough time to grab his opponent's wrist and start wrestling against him for control of the dagger. He may have been younger—and therefore smaller—than the other Nightwing, but he wasn't tired. He was able to get the assassin on his back and pin his limbs against the ground, forcing the tip of the dagger closer and closer to the assassin's neck. Try as he might, the assassin was finally expended, and Darkstalker plunged the dagger deep into his opponent's throat.

AN: R.I.P. Clearsight...

As I said, this scene will finish up in the next chapter, so we'll see the aftermath of this sudden and devastating loss. And please...no hate messages.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22