A Brighter Future Ahead

AN: I don't really have much in the way of news other than to say the next chapter will take a short break to check up on a few other characters before we come back to Darkstalker again.

Also, more major character death in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Wings of Fire.

Darkstalker:

Queen Pearl,

No doubt you've heard of the Mudwing army being obliterated by this point. If you're unsure as to who could have done it, I am writing this to inform you that it was Darkstalker. His power has grown exponentially, and I fear that it will soon be too late to stop him. So I implore you to heed my advice: kill him.

He has powerful defensive enchantments on him, so the only possible way to accomplish this is by using animus magic. I know you fear it, and you have every reason to be. But if we don't do something, none of us will be alive for much longer.

Indigo

Darkstalker growled dangerously and crushed the scroll, silently willing it to burst into flames in his talons. He heard her gasp, and he turned slowly to match her terrified gaze with his murderous one. He bared his teeth at her in a vicious snarl and spoke lowly. "…You!" he growled through clenched teeth.

Fathom looked between the two of them, not knowing what was happening, though he knew enough to know that the Nightwing was about to kill Indigo if he didn't step in and say something. He ushered Indigo behind him and held up his talons in a show of peace, but Darkstalker didn't calm in the slightest. In fact, Fathom's defense of Indigo only served to incense him further. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice almost shaking with worry and fear as the Nightwing turned his hate-filled glare to him.

"Get out of my way, Fathom. I won't ask again," he warned.

"Not until someone explains what's going on," he pushed. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we—"

"THERE IS NO WORKING THIS OUT, SEAWING!" he roared. Darkstalker knew he was a naturally intimidating dragon because of his abilities and reputation, but that intimidation factor had escalated exponentially with the look of wild fury and vindictive hatred in his posture. "She's been plotting my death behind all of our backs!" he accused, and Fathom flinched at that, glancing back at Indigo as if unsure if she would do such a thing or not. "But the Seawing Queen can't help you now. And Diamond was too stupid to enchant this thing properly," he raised the dagger for emphasis. "I'll kill both of them in due time, and then I'll find the one responsible for sending the assassin to kill Clearsight and rip them apart slowly. But here…" he threw the dagger down at her talons, and Indigo glanced down at it cautiously. "If you want to kill me so badly…do it yourself…"

Indigo matched his glare with a stony expression, but he could hear her fear in her thoughts. If he was able to defeat that assassin, what chance did she have? She swallowed heavily and picked up the weapon. Fathom looked at her, horrified at what he was hearing and witnessing. "Indigo, what are you doing!? Put it down! You can't kill him!"

"You would still defend him after everything he's done!?" she yelled at her boyfriend—or more like ex-boyfriend at this point.

"Defend him!? Why would I need to!? He's done nothing wrong! He defended himself from an assassin, and what dragon wouldn't want revenge for having their loved one taken from them! The only one who's acted out of turn is you!" he yelled at her, his own righteous anger at her actions stirring.

Indigo flinched at that but then hid her surprise with a snarl. "I knew it! He's corrupted you because the Fathom I knew would never condone anything like this! Hopefully Queen Diamond can remove whatever enchantment he put on you, but right now…" she got into a ready stance. "It's time to do what I should have done long ago."

Darkstalker erupted in cruel laughter at that. "I'd like to see you try!" But Fathom still didn't move. It was obvious the Seawing didn't want this to happen. He cared about both of them, and he didn't want to see dragons he cared about fight to the death. But he also knew that the situation was beyond salvaging. Indigo wouldn't back down, and even if he convinced her to leave, Darkstalker would never stop hunting her down.

This was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not.

Fathom still tried to reason with the purple Seawing regardless, though. "Indigo, please, don't do this."

Her expression softened when she looked to him. "It's okay, Fathom. We'll take care of that spell he put on you, and then you won't be confused anymore. You'll see that I was right all along—that Darkstalker is a monster and deserves to be put down before he hurts anyone else."

Darkstalker just sneered at her words. The fact she was so deluded she thought he had enchanted Fathom and the Seawing was 'confused' because of it made him sick. Could she really not accept that Fathom chose him over her—that she was the reason Fathom had drifted away from her?

With a reluctant sigh, Fathom stepped aside, and the two mortal enemies faced each other. Darkstalker stood there, looking completely unthreatened despite the fact Indigo now held the weapon specifically designed to kill him.

She charged with a ferocious roar, but Darkstalker merely rolled his eyes at the sloppy tactic. Did she not know just who she was dealing with? He let her close the distance without even attempting to either move or stop her attack, and as she slashed at his chest in what should have been a killing blow, the blade merely scraped harmlessly across his scales.

Indigo had just enough time for her eyes to widen in surprise that the dagger hadn't killed him before she was struck so hard in the chest that all four of her feet left the ground for a split second. She collapsed, her breathing turned to raspy wheezing as no doubt a few ribs had broken from such an impact. "Did you really think I would just give you a weapon that could kill me?" he mocked. "I made sure that only I could wield that weapon's power."

Indigo just glared up at him in hate. "Go to hell," she cursed at him.

Darkstalker chuckled maliciously. "That's your next stop, not mine. And don't bother waiting for me…" he began and leaned down to whisper the next part of his gloat in her ear. "I am immortal, after all, and I plan to rule Pyrrhia for a good, long while." The color drained from Indigo's face when she heard that, and she stared at him in horror.

His victorious smirk was the last thing she ever saw as Darkstalker merely snapped his talons and she died instantly.

AN: Yep...Indigo's dead. Though, I think she kind of deserved it in this situation. We'll see what Fathom's reaction to the whole thing will be in the chapter after next, so...

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22