The Blackness

Anger . . . revenge . . . greed. The three emotions burned in her soul as Queen Blister ran through the darkened forest. Anger for all the pain and anxiety the dragonets had caused her. Revenge on the dragonets, for they are the ones who kept trying to stop her, and get in her way. Greed for power and ruling, she was the rightful heir to the throne; not Thorn, not Burn, not Blaze, only her.

All that rage inside made her run harder through the darkness. No tree stood in her way as she sprinted on. The grass swayed with every step she took. She only found herself running, without the remembrance of waking up, or feeling angry before. The queen didn't even know how she got here.

Upon that realization, every other emotion washed away with question as Blister skidded to a stop.

How was she here?How did she get here? Or most importantly: Why was she here? Blister put her hand to her temple and tried to remember. She was just at Burn's stronghold - yes, that was right - but she killed Burn with the Dragonbite Viper, then she went to kill Blaze. Blister was much bigger than her, so it was an easy fight.

But after that, nothing. It was just a blur after that. Did she kill Blaze? No? Yes? She couldn't remember, and it was frustrating to try and recall everything that happened beforehand. It made her feel stressed, anxious, and apprehensive. She wanted to leave. Right now.

Blister looked around, trying to find something, anything that could help her get out of here, but there was nothing. Nothing but grass, leaves, and trees. Was this a dream? But she didn't recall going to sleep. Did she get knocked out? By who? It couldn't have been Blaze. Could it? Did someone bring her here? Did someone use Animuc Magic on her, bringing her here? Or was an Animus tricking her into thinking this was real. She shook her head, trying to regain her sanity and out of this darkened place. But she couldn't. No matter how hard she shook her head, or tried to wake herself up, she couldn't.

It must be Animus Magic, she thought. This all has to be a hallucination.

Blister thought the Animus brought her here, and the queen tried to remember what this place was. But because it was so dark, it was nearly impossible to recognize the forest, or if she had even been here before. The moonlight was dim, but bright enough to show the silhouette of trees and bushes in front of her. But every few steps she took, Blister would run into a tree. It happened often enough to make her frustration rise, and when she ran into another, the SandWing queen growled and opened her mouth to breathe fire at it. Except . . . no fire escaped her throat, and it hurt. Blister put her hand to her throat and coughed, as if she hadn't drunken water in days. Her throat felt extremely dry. She looked around, and started to walk, trying to find a pond or stream.

The SandWing Queen found a small river after a mile and a half. She knelt down, and dipped her hands in, full of water, and drank it. She took a minute to feel the soft liquid slide down her throat, and although it felt good, the taste was . . . wretched. She wasn't about to vomit, but rather felt odd about the taste. Blister took another sip to see if it would taste differently, but it didn't. She tried another sip, and another, and another, and even though her throat felt better, the satisfaction did not. Blister examined the water, and realized that the water was . . . red. A sudden smell of decay assaulted her nose, and she gagged. The SandWing then noticed something floating down the river. As it came closer, something came over the queen: Fear.

It was not driftwood, it was not an animal . . . but a corpse. The dead body of a SeaWing, but it didn't take her long to realize that it was Queen Coral, her body ripped up in pieces and scattered across the stream. Queen Blister could only stare in horror as more bodies came - they were all noticeable. The first was Blaze, her body mangled and in pieces as well. Then Burn, then Thorn, Morrowseer, Smolder . . . then Oasis, only she wasn't in pieces.

Blister stared as the corpse stopped right in front of her. She realized there was nothing that could make it stop floating, and her heart began to race, but tried to conjure up courage. The head of Oasis turned towards the SandWing Queen, as if it knew she was there, and stared her dead in the eye. Seeing her dead mother like this made Blister on edge.

After a long moment of silence and inactivity, Queen Blister could swear she heard the corpse growling at her. Her eyes went wide as the groaning grew louder. Then, after a short while, the dead body of Queen Oasis leaped out of the water, and grabbed her. Blister shouted in fear and pain as the body dove its claws into her shoulders. She tried to breathe fire, but just like last time, her throat hurt, and no fire came. The corpse tried to pull her into the river, but Blister bit at its face, and took off running, the body letting out a bloodcurdling roar as she left.

Queen Blister ran so hard her feet started to hurt, until she made her way out of the forest, and fell on her knees at a beach next to the ocean. Her chest hurt, her throat hurt, and she realized she was covered in the stuff the corpse splashed her with. But she didn't need anyone to tell her that it was blood, and she drank from it.

The queen dropped her head and vomited, her stomach throbbing and throat burning in pain as she did so. Once stopped, Blister looked out with weak eyes at the ocean. Maybe she could fly out of here - the small moonlight will help her see. She spread her wings, but instantly felt pain in the left. She put her hand to the wing, clenching her teeth to fight back the pain. Something felt wrong about it. The bone felt loose, but it wasn't long until the queen realized it was broken. She craned her neck, and saw a piece of it hanging down, still slightly attached by a small series of veins.

How could that have happened? Did the corpse break it when it attacked her? All of a sudden, she felt pain in her left leg, almost knocking her down. Blister looked at it, and saw that it was broken as well, and had no memory of ever breaking it. Her eyes gazed at her tail, and the barb was broken in half. Her body was twisted in a freakish way, turning her stomach purple. More blood fell to the ground like a waterfall, and Blister saw in horror that her chest was smashed open, the rib cage poking out and heart pumped no more, and the lungs were burned. Blood then began to fall from her nose, mouth, and eyes. She lifted her hands. Her claws were sharper than any blade or tooth, then saw something in the corner of her eye.

Blister saw her reflection in the water. That face of a horrible person, a murderer . . . and a dead, rotting corpse. Even though she didn't have any, Blister could see her ugly face had a nose bleed, mouth covered and barfing up blood, and eyes gouged out, bleeding as well.

A thought suddenly flew into her mind that made her remember everything that happened before this: She was at Burn's Stronghold, she did kill her with the Dragonbite Viper, and she was going to kill Blaze, but never had the chance because the dragonets had decided that Thorn will be the new SandWing queen. Just as they were giving her the Eye of Onyx, Blister came and took the eye. But as she was on the verge of triumph, the eye did not choose her, it did not want her to be the queen . . . so it killed her. The treasure she wanted her entire life, hidden by her mother, was the cause of her demise . . . and that was why she was here.

This was her afterlife . . . this was her punishment . . . this was her underworld. She became this thing because of her own actions, and knew very well that she would never be able to escape this place. She had become a monster, a symbol of everything she was: An angry, greedy, vengeful dragon who only wanted whatever she thought was hers. Blister was no longer a SandWing, she was no longer a queen . . . she was a monster that lurks for eternity in the sorrowful darkness of her own past. And she will skulk, and roam through the dark . . . inky . . . never ending . . . blackness.