"That was so weird."
"You've said," Null replied. "Repeatedly."
"Yeah, but it felt like a spirit gem. Like, you know what if feels like to absorb a spirit gem and regain your elemental power?" Apex asked.
"No."
"It was like that, but it was also like someone reached into my head and just took control. Like I was a puppet." Apex shuddered. "And all I could do was just watch as I tackled you."
"Which hurt, by the way."
"But at the same time, I felt so strong! So powerful! Like I could flick a claw and cause the world to explode!" Apex jumped up onto a rock outcropping. "I felt like I could do anything!"
"Good for you."
"I wonder if that's how the purple dragon feels. All the power in the world at your clawtips, just waiting to be used." Apex sighed, jumping down from the rock outcropping. He slowly padded up to a green spirit gem. "It was so weird…"
"Uh-huh."
"You're not even listening at this point!" Apex accused, turning to glare at Null. "I'm telling you, it was awesome and creepy and terrifying all at once!"
"…Then why didn't it do anything when I touched it?" Null asked quietly.
Apex was silent. He turned to look at the spirit gem again, breaking off a chunk and absorbing the green stones. "I don't know."
"I just ruin everything I touch." Null sighed, carefully slipping past a spirit gem and stopping as he stood next to the cluster he had accidentally killed. He stared at the lightless gems for a while, then turned to look at Apex. "Just like these spirit gems."
"That's still bugging me," Apex muttered. "You absorb the gems, but you can't touch them? Why? Why can you even absorb green gems when you have no element? Red gems make sense since they heal you directly, but the green ones just restore your elemental reserves."
"Not for me," Null said bitterly, continuing out of the cave.
"Why do you always have to be so glum about that, Null?" Apex darted around in front of his friend. "You're the smartest dragon I know! You figured out how those grublins were getting into the storage shed, and that was almost six years ago!"
"The hole was just hidden behind a crate," Null muttered.
"Okay, and who was the top of the class in every single year of school?" Apex prodded.
"Me, because I didn't have friends to distract me from studying."
"And who saved those kids from a rock troll?" The wind dragon continued.
"You did."
"Only after you told me how to do it! I would have been flattened if you hadn't pointed out how that troll had a hitch in its shoulder!" Apex insisted.
"I forced you to do it because I was too weak. I'm always too weak. Always too slow. Always too…" Null kicked a rock, causing it to fling into a cluster of spirit gems and shatter them. He sighed. "Me."
"Always be you, because if you aren't then who are you supposed to be," Apex said sagely.
Null shot Apex a sidelong glance. "Do you even understand that?"
"Not at all, but it sounded wise and I read it in a book somewhere." The wind dragon grinned widely.
Null shook his head and started walking again, chuckling softly. "By the ancestors, you're such a doofus."
"That's the Null I was looking for!" Apex cheered, trotting up beside the dark green dragon. "Now that I have you back, I have a question I need to ask you."
"About the crystal, right? It reminds me of a story…" Null trailed off.
"Which story?" Apex asked eagerly.
"A story about the Destroyer, lemme think…" Null paused for a moment, then quoted from memory. "The heart of the Destroyer was a dark and twisted crystal, a spirit gem corrupted by Convexity. But in previous appearances, when the cause of the end was natural, its driving magic was a purple spirit gem drawn straight from the…" He hesitated. "…From the heart of the world."
"Two things." Apex held out his paw to stop Null, then put up two claws. "One, you knew that from memory? Holy crap your mind is a steel trap. Two. The heart of the world. Explain, please."
"Well, according to the legends," Null began. "And I'm not saying this is true, but according to the legends the heart of the world is a spirit gem of unimaginable power. The legends say that the ancestors reside within the spirit gem, providing it with their elemental energy. It's from this one spirit gem that the others sprout, the elemental energy being diluted as it flows through the world so that it doesn't kill a dragon on touch."
"So…" Apex hesitated. "Does that mean that the giant purple crystal might've been-,"
"Hold that thought," Null interrupted, sniffing the air. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. That was a scent he hadn't had the displeasure of smelling since…
Since the storehouse mystery.
"Grublins," The dark green dragon hissed, lowering his stance.
The nasty creatures smelled like a mix between rot, mold, and maggots, with their insectlike bodies covered in random plant detritus and moss. Common belief held that the little pests were the creations of Malefor, during the war, but Null knew better. Texts showed that they had existed far before even Malefor, if you knew where to look.
But there was another smell that made the presence of grublins all the worse. Smoke.
"We need to get back to the village. Now." Null immediately began to run through the forest, not trusting his wings to carry him.
"What? Why?" Apex asked, launching after him and quickly matching his pace.
"There are grublins attacking the village." Null leaped over a small stream, stumbling as he tried to keep his footing.
"Whoah, whoah." Apex rushed forwards and supported his smaller friend. "How can you tell?"
"I can smell it. The village is upwind of us, blowing the scent here. If there was no wind, I wouldn't even know…" Null pushed himself off of the white dragon, propelling himself forwards once more. "But we need to get back, now!"
"Can't the elders handle it? Old Ferrus is a master of combat magic, and your mother can put out the fires with a blast of water," Apex reasoned, still easily keeping up with Null.
"I have a bad feeling…" Null muttered, not slowing. "A very, very bad feeling."
Indeed, the scent of smoke was only getting stronger as the young dragons drew closer to the village, and soon enough Apex could smell it too. There was another scent that was making Null uneasy, one that he didn't recognize at all.
The village soon came into sight, and it was exactly as Null feared.
Grublins were everywhere, carrying flaming torches and setting fire to anything that would burn, and a few things that wouldn't. Almost every building was on fire, with the schoolhouse being the only structure that wasn't yet burning. Ferrus was there, using his mastery of his earth element to keep the grublins at bay.
Null was about to launch himself into the chaos to help, only to stagger back as the smoke hit him like a hammer. He began coughing, unable to handle the smoke entering his lungs.
Apex, however, had no such issues. He easily held his own in the smoke filled street, using his wind element to not only keep the air around himself clear, but also to strike down the grublins. He wielded wind like a blade, causing gusts to form into surprisingly sharp pulses of air that sliced through the grublins with ease. Even the few that managed to slip past his elemental defense were cut down quickly by his claws.
Null cursed his fate. He was weak and helpless, without even an element to back himself up. All he could do was watch and try to recover from smoke inhalation as Apex saved the day.
But the dark green dragon was determined to not be useless. He began to make his way around the outskirts of the village, using his coloration to slip from shadow to shadow in the tree line as he did so. All would have gone well, if he hadn't tripped over a tree root.
The noise alerted a small group of grublins to his location. Null cringed at his blunder, drawing deeper into the poor shadows. Even though it was nearing sundown, there was no way the grublins could possibly miss him. The creatures may have been stupid, but they weren't blind.
It was fortunate for Null, then, that two dragons noticed this small group of grublins breaking off from the village. One, a feisty red dragon by the name of Althus, unleashed a stream of fire onto the insectoid creatures. The other continued past the burning grublins, heading towards Null.
"I knew it! You did this!" The dragon, an electricity dragon named Amp accused. He vanished in a flash of electricity, reappearing directly in front of Null. He grabbed the scrawny dragon with his claws, pinning him to a tree trunk.
"Amp! Amp please!" Null gasped. "Stop!"
"Why should I? You brought these grublins here, no doubt, you little freak!" Amp growled, shoving Null's face into the tree. "Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you here for your crimes!"
"I didn't-," Null tried to protest, only to have the air blown out of his lungs again by a furious blow from the yellow dragon.
"What've you got there, Amp?" Althus asked, padding over calmly now that the grublins were a pile of ash.
"Just a traitorous little freak," Amp answered. "He probably brought the grublins here, otherwise he'd have been in the village when they attacked."
"Oh really?" Althus jabbed Null with his tailblade. "Is that why he's skulking in the shadows? Because he's watching his handiwork?"
"Let me go," Null wheezed. "You have to let me go. I need to see if Mom's alri- Gah!"
Althus smacked Null across the face. "Stop lying, freak. You don't care about anyone, just like your demon father."
"And what do you two think you're doing to my friend?"
Both of the bullies turned to look at the newcomer. Amp snarled. "Oh, it's the village idiot."
"Really? Last I checked I wasn't the one who was attacking the one dragon who has no ability to hurt anyone instead of, oh, I dunno, saving the village!" Apex shot back. "Now back off!"
"How do we know he didn't bring the grublins here?" Althus asked, not moving an inch.
"Because he was with me all day, ashbrain. Now you and sparky need to get back in there and stop torturing Null," Apex growled.
The electricity and fire dragon glanced at one another, then Amp let Null go. "This isn't over, freak."
Both of the bullies flew back towards the village as Null fell to the ground. He could barely breathe, and the smoke in the air wasn't helping any. He lay there panting for a bit as Apex cleared the air of smoke, then eventually managed to climb to his feet.
"Did you see my mom?" Null rasped.
"No, but I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself. You should worry more about yourself." Apex shook his head. "I'm sorry I forgot about you. I'm a crappy friend."
"If you were a crappy friend, you wouldn't have saved my tail from those two meatheads," Null retorted, slowing his breathing to a normal level. "Let's go."
Apex led the way through the thick smog that lay over the town. Many of the grublins had died already, either by dragon claws, elements, or their own mismanagement of fire.
But there was still an odd scent on the breeze, one that made Null feel as though the worst had yet to come.
Null could hear Ferrus shouting over the crackling of the fire.
"Where have you two been? The village catches fire, and the both of you vanish!" The old dragon berated. He was glaring down at Amp and Althus, the two dragons both trying to hide behind the other.
"Sir, we saw Null at the village outskirts, and-," Althus tried to explain.
"And what, young dragon? Hmm?" Ferrus lowered his head until he was staring Althus in the eye. "I'm aware how you feel about Null, and I find it unfounded. So choose your words very, very carefully."
"We thought he was working with the grublins!" Amp spat out all in one go.
Althus turned to look at his friend in horror. Amp always had a penchant for speaking without thinking, but this was just suicidal.
"You are aware, then, that I sent Apex to watch over him when he left the village this morning?" Ferrus asked.
"Er, Apex informed us that he was with the frea- erm, Null, all day," Althus stuttered.
"And no doubt you are wondering why he left the village at all?" Ferrus continued. "Or do you already know the answer?"
Both of the young dragons bowed their heads in response, giving Ferrus every answer he needed.
"You two are on repair duty." Ferrus straightened, dismissing the bullies.
Amp and Althus scurried off, not once looking back at Ferrus. They even ran past Apex and Null without noticing the duo.
"Ferrus sent you after me?" Null asked. He wasn't hurt by the potential thought that Apex wouldn't have come after him anyways; he knew the wind dragon better than that. But he was curious as to the reasoning.
"Yeah, he wanted to make sure you didn't…" Apex trailed off, realizing that he had already blurted out the first part.
"Didn't what?" Null's brow furrowed.
"Do anything you would regret," Apex murmured. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "I wanted to keep you company anyways."
"Null! Apex!" Ferrus greeted, padding over. The old dragon's iron scales shimmered in the waning sunlight, the flecks of rust on them seeming more like blood. Ferrus was an odd one, among earth dragons. Biologically at least. His scales were composed mostly of metal, a phenomenon that was not unheard of but was far from common.
"I'm glad to see that the two of you are alright," Ferrus said with a sigh of relief. "We've wiped out the grublins, and we're going to start extinguishing the fires. Can you boys help?"
"Where's Mom?" Null asked.
"Your mother was out at the stream when the grublins attacked. She should be back any minute now-," Ferrus was interrupted by a cry of distress.
Before Null could react, a sapphire colored shape had grabbed him and pulled him close. "Oh, I'm so glad to see you're alright! I was so worried about you! You didn't get hurt, did you? Did you breathe in any smoke?"
"Mom, I'm fine," Null protested, his voice muffled. "I was worried about you."
"It's okay, I'm here now." Jaya kissed Null on top of his head.
Null nuzzled closer to his mother, not ashamed to admit that he had been terrified. And yet…
The dark green dragon stiffened. "Something's wrong…"
"It's okay now," Jaya soothed.
"No." Null squirmed out of his mother's grip, landing on the ground. His eyes were wide. "It's not okay now. Something's coming. Something big."
"What is it, Null?" Apex asked. Of all of them, he knew Null the best. The scrawny dragon didn't lie, he never had any reason to.
"I don't know. I don't know." He put his paws on his head. "I can smell it, I can hear it, but I can't identify it!"
Ferrus straightened. "He's right. Something is coming, and it's causing the earth to vibrate."
It didn't take long for the others to feel the vibrations in the earth, like the footsteps of a goliath. Null stood up straight, backing away from the direction that the scent was coming from. He could sense it getting closer and closer.
"It's here," Null whispered.
As if on cue, a massive creature broke through the tree line. It was easily twice as tall as any building in the village, supported by two legs like pillars of stone. Its midriff was hollow, resembling a ribcage with ribs of stone and a heart made out of twisted crystals. It had two burly limbs attached to its torso, both composed of random stone and detritus and bound together by tree roots and vines. A blocky head composed of boulders and even more of the dark crystals took the place of its head. All around the giant monster were grublins, swarming about its feet and climbing all over its body. The beast looked down at the town with its crystalline eyes and roared, its lower jaw splitting into three separate pieces.
"By the ancestors…" Ferrus murmured. "An elemental… I had thought them gone with the destruction of Malefor…"
"Evidently not," Jaya growled, dropping into a combat stance. "Kids, you need to run."
"We're not going to-," Apex tried to protest.
"Now is not the time for argument," Ferrus snarled, preparing for combat himself. "Get out of here, and allow us to handle it."
"Y-yes sir." Apex nudged Null. "Let's go."
The young dragons started running, but Null couldn't help but watch over his shoulder.
Ferrus was using his mastery of earth to slow the elemental, creating pits where the creature put its feet down. At the same time, he was causing the grublins to fall into miniature fissures that closed soon after. The few that made it through the veritable gauntlet of pitfalls and earth blasts couldn't even scratch his metallic scales, and were downed in a matter of moments by a smack from his tail or a swipe of his claws.
Null turned away, trying desperately not to trip over the rubble all over the village. He dodged around a charred spar, glancing back once more.
Jaya was putting in just as much effort as the elderly earth dragon was, releasing blasts of elemental water from her mouth in order to chip off parts of the elemental's body. She flew around the elemental's head, swiping at the crystals that sprouted from its body and causing them to crack. With a ferocious roar, Jaya crushed one of the crystals, and the elemental's head broke in two.
"Well done Jaya!" Ferrus cheered. It seemed like they might defeat the elemental yet.
Neither of them expected one of its hulking limbs to reach up and smack the water dragoness out of the air.
"No!" Null screamed, skidding to a halt. He immediately reversed direction, screaming so hard that he felt as though his lungs would burst.
"Null! Don't!" Apex shouted. From somewhere. It felt like it was a thousand miles away.
Null didn't care. His mother was the only family he had. He wasn't going to leave her. Not now. Not with this monster looming over the village.
He didn't even notice the grublins as he slipped past them, his smaller stature allowing him to dart between the grublins without brushing against the insectlike creatures. It didn't take him long to reach his mother's side.
"Mom! Mom! You have to get up!" Null poked her with his snout, trying and failing to ignore the bone that was poking out of her leg.
Jaya stirred weakly, opening her amber eyes. "Null… get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you!" Null insisted, trying to push her upright.
"Run…" Jaya coughed, and Null couldn't deny the sound of fluid in her lungs. "Don't die for me."
"I'm not leaving you," Null sobbed, feeling tears welling up in his eyes. He lowered his head and nudged his mother's sapphire head with his snout. "I'm not leaving you…"
Jaya pushed Null away with what little strength she had left. "Run…"
"Mom, please!" Null cried, nuzzling against his mother's scales. "I'm not going to leave you here!"
"I'm so… so sorry." Jaya took a deep shuddering breath, only to cough out blood. "I love you, my little miracle…"
The dragoness's eyes closed, tears already drying on her face.
"Mom? Mom?!" Null pushed at his mother, tears streaming down his face. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me, Mom, please!"
Try as he might, there was nothing the scrawny dragon could do to move his mother. He was simply too weak, too frail to try and get her out of the battlefield. Null refused to leave his mother there, where the grublins could get her.
The ground shook.
Or the elemental.
"You killed her!" Null screamed at the giant monster, blinded by rage and tears.
Another dragon would have used a fury, a powerful elemental attack fueled by emotion and desperation. The problem with this is that a fury requires the user to actually have elemental energy. Null had none.
Blinded by his rage, Null didn't once think about that. All he knew was that the elemental had killed his mother, and he was going to make it pay.
Null launched himself off of the ground towards the elemental's ribcage, flapping his wings once, twice to gain the necessary height to slip between the stone ribs.
With claws outstretched, the dark green dragon grabbed onto the dark crystal that was the elemental's heart.
Then the world collapsed.