Isabel didn't know how long it had been since the explosion. Her head was pounding and her body felt incredibly heavy as she clawed her way out of the rubble. Her arms ached as she lifted the layers of stone and was hit by a wave of warm air. She licked her dry lips, the air tasted strangely metallic. Despite how deep she had fallen, all she had to do was glance up to see a raging glow high above.
Suddenly, everything that had just happened all came back to her in a flash. She remembered the pain of losing Jess, the anger when fighting Rossula, the helplessness upon seeing Cruise sacrifice himself to take out the unstoppable Dragon. For a moment, Isabel felt like her legs were going to buckle under the weight of her own guilt. However, she held strong and began to climb up. She dug her fingers into the cliffside to get a good grip. Her hands stung every time she touched the scorched earth. It felt different from the fire she'd been consumed in before. No grenade or explosion could compare to what that nuclear bomb was capable of. Isabel doubted that even a Dragon could survive something like that.
Then, she wondered about the others. What about her mother? Erika? Giovanni? Did they escape the explosion in time? She climbed faster, praying that she wouldn't find them. Though, she considered the possibility she wouldn't be able to find them if they were caught in the blast.
After what felt like forever, Isabel finally crawled out of the chasm and was met with a sigh she'd never thought she'd live to see…the skeletal remains of a Dragon. Rossula's bones lay scattered across the horizon, with the little flesh that remained dissolving and dripping away. Isabel sighed with relief, then coughed heavily. The air was thick and ghastly. The heat was suffocating her. Even though the blast had stopped, she could still feel the shockwave. If she didn't have her abilities, she'd been dead within minutes.
''Mom?'' she cried out weakly.
All she could hear was the sound of flames flickering and the debris of the bunker turning to ash and scattering into the wind. Everything around Isabel was dead. The hills had been levelled. The dead trees that were once still erect had been destroyed. When Isabel looked up at the sky, she could even see that the clouds had been blown away, leaving her with a clear view of a sky pained a sickly orange and green.
She tried to shout for survivors but choked on the air again. She couldn't stay her, but she didn't want to leave just in case there was something here to tell her if her friends and family survived.
Isabel then heard a gasp of pain close by. Frantically, she searched for the source of the sound. Her chest hurt listening to the pained groans. Whoever it was sounded like they were on the brink of death. Dashing through the ash that continued to rain down on her, Isabel came to a stop when she found that the noise was coming from underneath a piece of the bunker wall that had been blown off. Isabel gripped underneath the end of the wall and carefully lifted it up. Normally, her strength would have done the job easy enough. However, holding the door as it burnt her palms was a struggle. Eventually, she set the debris aside far enough to see who was buried.
Isabel froze as she stared at the broken figure of Gabriel…what little was left of him.
His legs were decimated. Broken and bloody from the debris that had fallen on him. But, that was the least of his problems. His body was reddening at a frightening pace. His hair was falling out and his skin looked to be slowly melting off his bones. Even though he was protected from the blast, it still wasn't enough to save him. Isabel could see that he didn't have long left.
Despite that, she stepped forward and drew her fist back, ready to deliver the final blow.
But, before she could strike, her anger subsided. ''Where is my mother?''
Gabriel's eyes flickered from side to side. Isabel believed that at this point, he was blind. What if he was deaf too? He'd never be able to answer her question. But, he gulped for air a few times before speaking hoarsely. ''Ran…away…from here.''
Hearing that was enough for Isabel to fall to her knees and sob. She wanted to believe that the other had escaped.
''Isabel…'' Gabriel choked slowly. ''What…have…you…done?''
Isabel glared at him. ''What? You're the cause of all this! It's your fault so many are dead!''
''We…we…'' Gabriel gasped.
His skin continued to deteriorate. His ash-covered clothes were turning red with blood. Despite everything he had done and how much she hated him, Isabel couldn't watch the horrifying sight of a human withering away in front of her.
''We…could have…been…gods.'' He finally got out.
Isabel shook her head. ''No…that wasn't going to happen. The Dragons will kill us all. It was going to happen to you too.''
''I was…promised…a chance…to see…the…king.''
''What?'' Isabel gasped. ''Rossula told you about the king of the Dragons?''
Gabriel bloody lips curled into a smile. ''King Verlundathorne.'' It looked like it pained him to speak, but he seemed to be proud to say the name. ''The Dragon…above all. His heart…beats as one…for all Dragons.''
Isabel considered his words carefully. She remembered how much Rossula and the Drakes praised their king. Was there more to it than just leadership? She leaned closer. ''What does that mean? If I kill the king, do all the Dragons die with him? Why would you tell me that?''
''I have…nothing more…to lose,'' he whispered, growing weaker by the second. ''If you kill…the king…chaos…chaos…''
''No, killing the Dragons will fix everything. The world will go back to how it was before.''
''Yes…chaos…humans always...resort...to chaos.''
Isabel ignored his taunt. This was the hope she needed to hear. However, it took an unholy weapon of mass destruction to kill an ordinary Dragon. What will she do when she faces the king? Where could she and her allies possibly find another weapon to stop him? There were so many thoughts flooding through her head that she almost missed when Gabriel's chest stopped rising.
''Also…'' Gabriel took his last breath. ''To stall…so you won't kill me yourself.''
When Isabel realized what he said, she clenched her fist and raised it in the air. But, she stopped herself when she saw the light disappear in Gabriel's eyes. He was already gone, taking away her chance for revenge. He wouldn't even give her the satisfaction of killing him herself. Isabel screamed furiously before slamming her fist into the ground next to Gabriel's decaying body.
''No, I hate you! I hate you, you bastard!'' Isabel punched the ground over and over again until her knuckles bled. ''It's your fault! You killed them! You did this! Jess is dead because of you! Because of…you! You!'' Isabel's punches became weaker before she collapsed to the ground, whimpering and curling into a ball. ''I should have been stronger. It's my fault too. I couldn't protect everyone.''
For a while, Isabel lay on the ground, letting the heat sting her body. She felt too numb to care or move. What was she to do next? She didn't know where everyone else was, and she had no way of knowing how to stop the Dragon King.
Something in the distance made Isabel bolt up to her feet. There was a large, demonic aura coming across the horizon. But, it wasn't charging across the earth to reach her, it was descending from the sky above. Even though she couldn't see what was coming towards her, Isabel didn't need to stay to find out. It felt just like Rossula…only split across a hundred separate entities. There was an army of Dragons flying towards her. With no time to waste, Isabel scurried back to the chasm she climbed out of and began to descend into the darkness.
Isabel kept moving, refusing to even look back as she crawled through the narrow, earthy tunnels. Doing this reminded her of a time long ago, when things were simple. There was a small part of her that wondered if things were better than. Had she made everything worse by antagonizing the Dragons? Perhaps…she wasn't the right person to be gifted these abilities and become the Dragon Slayer.
Before long, Isabel's heavy legs gave out and she fell onto the rocky ground. She didn't know how deep into the earth she'd travelled, but she believed she was far enough away from the army of Dragons. She couldn't move on. She didn't want to move on. So, Isabel lay on the ground and hoped that her disappearing would be better for the world. She couldn't handle any more death.
XXX
HELLO MY SWEET SUPERSTARS. I HOPE THAT YOU HAVE ALL BEEN STAYING SAFE AND HAPPY. I KNOW THAT IT'S BEEN QUITE A WAIT FOR CHAPTERS. I WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. I WANT TO BE AS CONSISTENT AS POSSIBLE WITH NEW CHAPTERS AND I'M HOPING TO FIX THAT SOON. WE'RE NEARING THE END OF THIS STORY, SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY CHAPTER IS AS GOOD AS IT CAN POSSIBLY BE. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THIS ONE? THINGS SEEM TO BE QUITE BAD FOR ISABEL? THE DRAGONS ARE HERE. CAN ISABEL FIND A WAY TO WIN? WILL SHE BE ABLE TO TAKE ON THE KING? THE ANSWER WILL COME SOON. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING AMAZING AND SO INCREDIBLE. I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY DAY. TA-TA FOR NOW.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MY MILKY WAY GALAXIES & UNIVERSE BUILDERS:
ANONPERS
CASEY INSCOE
CHARMAINE DUONG
KEVIN JACKSON
RATHALOSAZURE
WANHEDA
