Chapter 6
The room was brightly lit with an invisible light source, and everything was almost obnoxiously white. All the walls where bare white, the pillars supporting the high ceiling with a skylight, where also that of pure white. At the end of the room was an impressive throne made of gold and emitting its own glow.
On the throne sat a man clothed in robes of white with gold trimmings, pointed ears proudly displayed outside a head of pale golden hair that came to his shoulders. Stern golden eyes peered down a pointed nose to the bowed form of the hooded figure in front of him.
"Are you positive of what you saw Estar?" The figure spoke, his voice ringing with authority.
"Most definitely Great Elder. I saw it with my own eyes, the green shell and aura was unmistakably that of an ancient dragon," the figure now known as Estar replied, his voice portraying his confidence in his discovery.
"Very well, this calls for immediate action, gather two of our brothers, we will solve this problem by tomorrow, understood?"
"Yes Great Elder, as you command," Estar then arose and left the throne room.
/
The sun had already risen in the city of Elmsar. Xellos was seated on a rooftop overlooking the city's temple near the palace. His leg was sticking out while his other was bent up to his chest with an arm resting across it. His closed eye gaze fixed on the entrance to the temple, watching, and waiting.
It was an hour before noon when an elderly man dressed in priests attire, finally exited the building. He had planned to go for an evening stroll to relieve some of the stresses on his mind. Xellos watched the priest intently as he rounded the corner. He then summoned his staff to his side, his bangs shadowing his eyes.
"Well, time to go to work," He smirked before vanishing into the astral plane.
/
"Ok, I'm going now guys, I'll be back soon," Filia called out as she grabbed her things.
"Oh, Miss Filia, while you're out, could you pick us up some snacks please?" Gravos asked as Filia was walking out the door with Val's basket, the flower nestled beside the egg, still in its vase.
"Sure, it can be my thank you for minding the shop while I'm out. Did you have anything in mind?" Filia asked, smiling warmly at the pair.
"I'll jus' 'ave a beef pie thanks boss" Jilas said from beside Gravos.
"And I'll just take a hotdog with everything on it if that's ok," Gravos replied.
"Are you sure you're going to be able to eat all that Gravos?" Filia inquired puzzled.
"Of course Miss Filia, after all I am a big guy, and big guys need plenty of food to keep us going you know," Gravos stated, standing straighter and puffing out his chest.
"Haha, of course Gravos. After all we wouldn't want you wasting away on us now would we?" Filia said humorously, walking out into the street and closing the door behind her.
It was an hour before noon and the streets where really stating to fill up with people going about their own business. Filia took a breath of fresh air and made her way down the street. The local florist was further in town and a long walk, depending on how busy the streets where.
On her way down the street, Filia passed many stores and their owners shouting out into the crowd, selling their wares and haggling over prices. The whole time Filia walked with a smile on her face. There where a few times where she wanted to stop and browse a few of the stalls on her way, but she decided against the idea. She didn't want to be gone too long, and if she stopped to window shop she would quickly loose track of time. So she powered through the crowd and eventually made it to Charlies Florist in only half an hour.
Filia entered the shop and looked around. There where flowers of every variety decorating every corner of the shop, small pot plants hanging from the ceiling, and towards the rear of the shop, there was a small counter with a cash machine and an elderly man with warm eyes and a welcoming smile standing to the side of the machine, the entire wall behind him filled with shelves stacked with different seed packets and plant nutrients.
"Why hello Miss Filia, what a lovely day we have today don't you think?" The elderly man asked, his smile warm and trusting.
"It is a very fine day today Charlie. How goes business?" Filia asked politely, smiling friendly at old Charlie.
"Oh same old same old, the occasional young couple or travelling artist looking for something pretty, is there something I can do for you today?" Charlie said, now leaning on the counter.
"As a matter of fact, I was wondering if you could do me a small favour, you see I have with me a rather peculiar plant that doesn't seem native to these parts, and I was wondering if you could tell me what it is?" Filia inquired, walking up to the counter and taking the vase with the flower out of Val's basket.
"I'll see what I can do. Pass it here and let me have a look," Charlie said taking the vase from Filia.
Charlie removed the flower from the vase and studied it intently, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. He gently felt the texture of the stem and petals and sniffed the bloom, his face changing from concentration to confusion. "Golly Miss Filia, truly a very unique flower, I've never seen anything like it! If I did not know any better I'd think this was a type of flora only found in stories. My great uncle used to tell me a story of plants that can grow outside the planes of our world that are unaffected by time. But those are just the stories of an old gardener with too much spare time," Charlie had a whimsical look in his eye. "Hehe, while a plant that doesn't wilt sounds nice, it would put me out of buisness!"
"Really? I thought that people would flock to your shop if you could sell such plants," Filia questioned, her mind racing with implications if these old stories held some merit in this case.
"Hahaha yes for a short while I'd be the most popular shop for miles, but my buisness thrives off return customers, and customers wont feel the need to return for replacements if the plants dont need replacing," Charlie chuckled in amusement. "Setting fantasies aside, I apologise, but I don't have the slightest idea what it is, but I sure would love to find out, it is quite a beauty." Charlie said, now admiring the flower while slowly twirling it in his hand.
"If I may inquire Miss Filia, how did this come into your possession?" Charlie shifted his gaze to Filia's blushing face. "Was it perhaps a gift from a charming suitor?" Charlie grinned knowingly at Filia's flushed face.
"What? No no no, i-it was just a fr-friend of mine, h-he stopped by my shop and gave it to me a while ago, I swear there is nothing between us!" Filia started, her face going more flushed by the second. Charlie gave her a knowing wink.
"Sure it was Miss Filia," He placed the flower back in its vase and handed it to her. "Well, I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, was there anything else you needed today?" Charlie asked.
"No, that was it, but thank you for having a look at it anyway, I really do appreciate it," Filia said politely as she gathered the vase and placed it back in the basket, beginning to exit the store.
"Any time Miss Filia. Have a nice day, take care".
"Same to you Charlie, and thank you," Filia called back as she left the store. 'I wonder if there was something to the old story. Plants that grow outside this worlds plane. Could that be refering to the Astral Plane? I've never heard of anything growing in the Astral plane. While that may explain why it isn't whilting, that just raises more questions. How did it grow? How did he find it? This makes no sense'. Thinking more on it as she walked, she started to doubt this was the answer she was looking for. 'For those kinds of stories to exist, it means humans had to have seen them before, but there's no mention of humans accessing the Astral plane without dying, let alone bringing back souvenoirs that physically shouldn't even exist. It must be some human fantasy made up for entertainment, that must be it'."Oh well, no use brooding over it," Filia then started back into the town center to get Jilas and Gravos their snacks before she headed home. Along the way four hooded figures started following Filia at a distance. At first Filia didn't notice them and continued on her path into town. But eventually the figures started to close in on her.
It was then that Filia noticed she was being followed and quickened her pace. However as she quickened her step, they also hastened their steps to match her own. She ended up in a jog going down twisted pathways and turning which ever way to try and lose her pursuers. She then started to speed up and ran around another corner, almost running into a brick wall, a dead end.
Filia spun around to footsteps behind her. She saw the four hooded figures standing behind her, blocking her only exit.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Filia demanded, anger and fear creeping into her voice.
One of the middle two spoke "I am Lortus, Supreme Elder of the Earth Dragon King, and what we want, is that egg you carry in that basket".
/
Xellos had tailed the priest on his stroll through the town, waiting until he was alone. Half an hour into the stroll, the old priest turned down a few side roads for a little change of scenery from the bustling streets.
'Haha, big mistake you old fool,' Xellos smirked darkly to himself, following the priest down the nearly deserted street.
The old priest began to feel somewhat uncomfortable. He felt like he was being watched. Deciding to cut his walk short he began to hasten through the streets, trying to find his way back to the temple. Unfortunately the priest had never been down these roads before, and quickly became lost in the twists and turns of the suburban maze.
As soon as he realized that he was lost, the priest began to panic, running wildly down every which turn, trying to find his way back to a public setting. But alas, his efforts where futile, he couldn't even seem to find any other pedestrians to ask directions. 'Where the devil did everyone go!?' he thought in his panic. And Xellos, who was slowly gaining on his prey, was relishing in the fear and panic that the priest was emitting, greedily feeding of him like a starving man would on a feast.
"Run-run all you want, but you can never escape your fate," Xellos disembodied voice sounded as though it was coming from all around the priest.
"Who said that? Who are you?" The priest demanded, spinning around trying to find the origin of the voice.
"Haha, it's always the same questions. 'Who are you? What are you? Why are you doing this to me?'"
"Who said that? Show yourself!" The priest said, fear clearly evident in his voice and quivering form.
"Very well, if you insist," Xellos then appeared in front of the terrified priest. "Is this better for you?" Xellos asked darkly, his bangs still shadowing his eyes.
The priest let out a shriek of horror and ran as fast as he could away from the monster. Xellos decided to let the priest run for a bit before pursuing him. After all, Xellos did love to play with his food.
/
"W-What?" Filia asked in shock, holding the basket closer to her body protectively.
"The egg, hand it over and we will leave you in peace," the one named Lortus spoke, holding his hand out to take the egg.
"B-But why Great Elder? He is but an egg. He hasn't done anything, why do you want him?" Filia asked, backing away a step.
"You foolish girl. It's not what he has done, it's what he can and will probably do. He is too dangerous to let live. If he lives and we let him become more powerful as he gets older, he will put the entire world in jeopardy. That is why his kind was eradicated in the first place, they posed too much of a threat to the world. Therefore it is our duty as protectors of this world to destroy every last one of his kind, so that the world may remain safe. If you hand us the egg, its destruction will be swift and painless. And we will avoid a great calamity to the world," Lortus said, advancing on Filia slowly with the other three following closely behind.
"You're wrong! The ancient dragons where never a threat to the world. They where a peaceful race that you massacred because they wouldn't join you in The Great War. Val is not even a newborn and I don't understand why you have to kill him for something he hasn't even done!" Filia argued, slowly backing away until she hit the wall behind her. 'Damn it!' she thought, 'this is not good'.
"Grrr, it is not your place to speak in such matters that you know nothing about! Now hand us the egg or we will have to resort to extreme measures," Lortus was becoming angry now, evidenced in his clenched fists and raised voice.
"You'll never lay a hand on him!" Filia yelled, transforming into her dragon form and taking to the skies, Val's basket safely tucked in her arms.
"COME BACK HERE!" Lortus yelled after her as he and his companions transformed and initiated the chase of the younger dragon.
/
The priest was running as fast as he could, completely consumed by fear. But no matter how many alleys he turned down, he could not shake his pursuer, and Xellos was slowly but surely gaining on him.
The priest turned down yet another alley way, only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of the purple haired monster standing before him.
"Hello there, have we met?" Xellos humored darkly as the priest screamed and ran back out the alley and down the street again. He turned another corner, and yet again Xellos was there, staff in hand and an evil smile on his face.
"Honestly how long do you plan to keep this up? You should know by now that you can't run from me".
The priest turned around again and went back the way he came. He turned down another corner, only this time he wasn't confronted with Xellos, but rather a dead end. Someone chuckled behind him.
"Looks like you've got nowhere else to run old man," The priest turned around quickly and there was Xellos. His piercing gaze fixed on the quivering form of the priest. To the priest, the look in his eyes was the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
"I regret to say that whilst this has been an amusing game, it must stop here, after all, all good things must come to an end. Isn't that right old priest?"
The priest screamed.
/
Filia flew as fast as she could, the rushing wind almost deafening her to her surroundings. But no matter how fast she flew, the dragons chasing her flew faster. They started firing laser breaths at her which she barely managed to dodge. She sped along the country side, twisting and twirling, trying to avoid the waves of laser breaths on her tail, she even shot back a few of her own, but to no avail.
She decided to try and head into higher altitudes to lose them in the cloud cover, but no matter what she did, they where always right behind her.
Finally, despite all her efforts, one of the dragons gained on her and fired a laser breath directly at her wings.
There was a distant chime of a far off clock striking twelve.
Filia's wings were struck in an explosion. She screamed.
/
Xellos pointed his staff at the priest, intent on finishing his mission here and now. The priest begged for his life. Xellos smirked coldly.
As the clock struck twelve, Xellos fired his magic. The priest screamed as he was struck. Xellos laughed as the old man disintegrated, leaving no trace he was even there.
/
Pain. It was all that Filia's mind could register, the blinding pain. Followed by a feeling of free fall. She crash landed in a dying field, more rocks and empty barren spaces than plant life. Val's basket still tucked under her draconic arms, shielding it from the impact of the fall.
Filia looked back, her left wing was a bloody, gory mess, and half of it was missing, the freshly severed end smoking from the impact. Her mind started to slip into shock. They shot her wing off. They shot her wing off!
She looked up to the sounds of wing beats, her four attackers circled and landed in front of her. Lortus spoke. "You brought this on yourself young one, now I will ask only one more time. Give us the egg, and we will heal you and leave you in peace, however if you defy us, we will have no choice, but to obliterate you along with the ancient egg. What is your choice?"
Filia was panting. She was badly wounded and exhausted from the high speed chase. With as much strength as she could gather, she held Val's basket tighter to her body. tears running down her face. She forced her head up and looked directly into The Great Elders eyes.
"I will NEVER let you harm Val, you MURDERER!"
"Then your fate is sealed," Lortus said before he and his three companions gathered their power for a final combined laser breath that would surely incinerate both her and Val's egg completely. She curled her neck around her arms and Val, her final whispered words where "Val, I'm so sorry".
/
Xellos's eyes where wild as he reviled in his kill. The excitement of death never losing its touch. And the pain he was feeding off was making his blood run hot.
'Wait. What?' Xellos started, the priest was killed instantly by his blast, and yet he is still sensing a great amount of pain and fear. He stretched out his mind to find the source. What he found caused him to freeze.
'It's Filia!' Xellos quickly searched out his consciousness inside the flower he had given Filia. 'She's not at the house, the surroundings don't match up. There are four others with her'.
"Dragons" Xellos said, acid dripping in his voice. He put all his concentration into the part of him in the flower, he could hear a voice.
"…will ask only one more time. Give us the egg, and we will heal you and leave you in peace, however if you defy us, we will have no choice, but to obliterate you along with the ancient egg. What is your choice?"
Xellos's eyes had bled from amethyst to blood red, his inner demon snarling and clawing its way out, wanting to rip the offending dragons to shreds. Then Xellos heard Filia speak.
"I will NEVER let you harm Val, you MURDERER!"
"Then your fate is sealed".
Xellos then sensed a large amount of energy being gathered, he knew straight away what they where doing.
'They're going to Kill Her' was the last conscious thought before Xellos phased out, desperately tracing Filia's location.
"FILIA!"
/
"FILIA!" A scream of pure desperation and rage filled the area as the four dragons let fire to their quadruple laser breath attack. However a split second before impact, a powerful shield had deflected the attack away from her. When the smoke finally cleared and the dust settled, Filia and the four dragons looked to see a very pissed off Xellos floating between the dragoness and her attackers, his blood red eyes glowing through his bangs.
"Xe-Xellos," Filia spoke. Xellos snapped his head in her direction. At the sight of her physical state, Xellos let out a low, murderous growl towards the four dragons.
'That was way too close, a second later and she would have been obliterated,' Xellos then noticed her wing.
"You will all pay dearly for what you have done to my dragon, although I must say, I almost feel sorry for the one that took her wing off. Almost." Xellos said in an eerily calm voice, eyeing each of the dragons in turn. The one on the far right whimpered slightly at Xellos's comment and moved slightly to stand behind his comrade. Xellos spotted him and turned to fix his gaze on the cowering dragon.
"You! By the time I'm done with you I'll have you begging me to kill you, that is if there's anything left of you to kill," Xellos said darkly, a low growl sounding at the back of his throat.
"Filia! Has your betrayal to your race gone so far as to align yourself to the monster race!?" Lortus spat, showing both rage at Filia, and fear for Xellos.
In a split second Lortus was hit square in the chest by a dark energy blast that sent him flying a hundred meters away and crashing harshly on his back into the side of a large nearby rock, the only thing that was stopping his flight.
Xellos growled. "Don't you DARE speak to her again, you don't even deserve to look at her. Here, let me fix that for you," Xellos then appeared in front of the dragons face, a finger pointed at each of his eyes, and then with a well calculated energy blast, Xellos incinerated the dragons' eyes, blinding him beyond repair. Lortus screamed as blood poured from his now empty eye sockets.
Xellos then appeared in front of a second dragon. A well aimed strike of his staff stabbing the dragon right through his heart, killing him instantly.
The third dragon was attempting to conjure up a laser breath to combat the monster. But by this time Xellos had let loose, and he was not taking prisoners. He muttered a quick spell and with a swipe of his staff, split the poor dragon clean in two, the remains exploding with the unfinished laser breath.
Finally Xellos came to the last dragon. He purposely left this dragon until last, as it was the same dragon that took Filia's wing.
"Now to deal with you," Xellos grinned evilly. The dragon panicked and made to take flight and escape the wrath of the monster, but his efforts where hopeless. The moment his wings where open, Xellos teleported and grabbed one with his bare hands and tore it away from the dragons' body. The dragon roared in agony, his pain only intensifying when Xellos blasted the other wing off with an energy blast. The stumps of the now wingless dragon were spurting blood. Xellos was covered in it, and he enjoyed every minute of it. The pain and fear and anger he was feeding off was making him wild.
'Time to end this,' Xellos then sliced the dragon's arms and legs off, letting the now amputated torso and head of the dragon fall to the earth. Screams of agony filled the surrounding area as Xellos descended to the immobile dragon. He chuckled darkly as he muttered a silencing spell, making the dragons roars mute. Xellos then turned his attention to the now blind Lortus who was desperately holding his face in pain.
"It was a foolish thing to attack what is mine dragon. And I must say that I am rather disappointed that four adult male dragons would gang up on one small female dragon. Has the dragon race really sunk so low?" Xellos said, disgust in his voice.
"What our methods may be, are none of your concern monster!" Lortus shot back as he aimed a laser breath to where he heard Xellos's voice come from.
Xellos smirked and phased out of the way, leaving behind the immobile dragon in the direct path of the attack. Just before the attack hit, Xellos removed the silencing spell, so that Lortus could hear his fellow dragon's final scream before he was incinerated by the blast.
Absolute horror overcame Lortus as he recognised his comrades dying roar. To add to his grief, Xellos's disembodied voice sounded from all around Lortus. "Tsk tsk, you would even go as far as to destroy your own comrades. If this is your idea of protecting the world, then I can't help but wonder what it would be like if you wanted to actively destroy it. Ever think of joining the monster race yourself? I'm sure you'll fit right in".
Lortus roared in agony and outrage, Xellos's comment sending him over the edge and into insanity, firing laser breaths wildly in any direction.
'Hmm, probably should put him out of his misery now, or he might end up hurting Filia again,' Xellos thought to himself as he attacked from the astral plane, sending an energy blast straight at Lortus's head, completely destroying it and letting the now decapitated body slump to the ground in what would be described as a sickening crash 'n' splash as he landed in a puddle of his own blood.
Xellos grinned, his head still buzzing with the thrill of the battle. He felt so invincible, so alive!
He then heard a groan. Xellos whirled around and saw Filia still in her dragon form, unconscious. 'Shit,' Xellos flew to her side. She was alive, but barely.
'Shit, I can't believe I forgot about Filia, STUPID!' Xellos scolded himself. "I wonder how much of the battle she saw before she blacked out," Xellos thought out loud. He really hoped she didn't see too much. She would probably end up hating him even more than she already does. 'Hate I can deal with, but if she ends up fearing me, I don't think I'll be able to live with myself'.
Xellos then grabbed the basket she cradled containing Val's egg and the flower, and placed a hand on Filia's draconic hand, and teleported them away from the bloody battlefield.
'Please let her be alright'.