Act 3, Chapter 4

Nellie sat on the cold floor, curled up tight. She was waiting for Runefor to return with Roxanne.

"Why?..." She asked, depressed. "Why is this happening?..."

The dragoness cried a river of tears.

"It's not fair. Why did this have to happen to me? All I wanted was to be with Rune. I love him so much. He's the one who always made me happy whenever I was feeling down. He always used to do so much for me. I would have done anything for him. If he ever wanted to mate with me, I would have done so in a heartbeat. But, he wanted to remain pure until he felt the time came, and I respected that.

"But that Runefor.. Oh, he's a monster! He's everything that Rune isn't! He's selfish, violent, and a sex-crazed cannibal! He's done such horrible things to me! How could something so evil be a part of Rune? Why did Rune become forced to share a body with a Demon? Oh, I'd do anything to be with him again. Anything!"

Nellie continued to cry for a few more moments...

Suddenly, a large Purple cloud of smoke appeared across the chamber. Nellie flinched.

"He's back." She said. "It's time..."

When the cloud faded, Nellie was surprised.

She saw Runefor and Roxanne, as she expected. However, A large Black dragoness was there as well. It was Cynder. To make matters more confusing, Runefor had shrunken back down to his normal size.

"Fuck!" The White dragon shouted. "How did you manage to follow me?"

The Black Dragoness looked around the room, and was shocked to see Nellie crying on the floor a short distance away.

"Nellie?" Cynder asked. "Thank goodness you're alright!"

"I wouldn't say that, exactly!" Runefor exclaimed, grabbing the still-weakened Roxanne by the neck and lifted her into the air. "I'm going to be replacing her with this sexy number!"

"No..." Roxanne whimpered. "Let me go..."

Cynder snarled.

"Rune, I order you to release the Lightning dragoness from your grip!" She commanded.

Runefor laughed in the Black dragoness's face.

"And just what makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" He exclaimed, chuckling.

"Rune, I am your Elder." Cynder snapped. "I am also The Great Shadow, which makes me your superior. Let. Her. GO!"

A grin spread across the White dragon's face.

"As you command, Oh high and mighty Great Shadow." He said mockingly.

With one motion, Runefor sent Roxanne flying across the cave. The Lightning dragoness crashed into the wall that Nellie was laying near. She then crumpled to the floor, howling in pain.

Cynder was surprised by what just happened. She then glared down at Runefor, who grinned smugly.

"How DARE you do that to her?" The Black dragoness snarled.

"What? You're shocked that I used violence?" Runefor scoffed. "That's nothing! You see Nellie over there? I've been porking her again and again for six months!"

"WHAT?" Cynder was disgusted.

"Well, I'm not going to be doing it anymore. She's pissed me off one too many times, so now I'm going to be porking Roxanne from now on!"

The Lightning dragoness gasped in shock.

"NO WAY!" She screamed. "Not if you were the last boy in the dragon realms!"

Runefor pointed a talon at Roxanne.

"Shut up!" He shouted. As he did this, a small beam of Convexity flew out of his talon and crashed into the wall a few inches away from Roxanne's head. She yelped in surprise as this happened.

"I recommend keeping your mouth shut." The White dragon sneered.

Cynder growled.

"What in the dragon realms has become of you?" She demanded. "Why have you allowed yourself to become a horrible monster? This was not your fate, Rune! You had everything you ever wanted. You finally had closure with your Mother! You were accepted by your people! You were even able to have Nellie as your beloved.

"But now? Look what you've done! You've aided in the murder of your mother, the dragoness you longed to make peace with so long ago. You've caused the deaths of far more beings than the night of The Hive's destruction. And it seems you've routinely tortured you beloved Nellie time and Time again. Why, Rune? Why would you do all of this?"

Runefor slowly increased in frustration during Cynder's ongoing lecture."

"Oh, would you SHUT UP?" He snapped. "First of all, I am NOT Rune!"

The Black dragoness gasped.

"I knew it!" Roxanne shouted, struggling to get onto her feet. "I knew you weren't the real Rune!"

As the Lightning dragoness proceeded to shout at Runefor, the White dragon quickly summoned his Gold-bladed sword into his forepaw. He then quickly turned and tossed the sword at Roxanne, slicing part of her upper horns off before she could react. The sword clattered to the floor, along with the dragoness's blue horns.

"My Horns!" She screamed, grabbing her head.

"I warned you, stupid!" Runefor laughed.

As the White dragon was distracted, Cynder quickly slashed him across the face, sending him flying backwards several yards. He crashed violently onto the floor

"If you're not Rune, then WHO ARE YOU?" Cynder demanded. "And where is the real Rune!"

Runefor started getting back onto his feet, laughing.

"Well, technically, I'm half of Rune." He answered. "The superior half. I go by the name Runefor. The rest of Rune's being is locked away inside my head. He's a permanent guest of my mind."

The Black dragoness snarled.

"RELEASE RUNE!" She demanded. Runefor scoffed.

"No." He answered. "I don't have to."

"You had better release him, before I stoop to violence." Cynder sneered, in all seriousness. The White dragon chuckled.

"You don't scare me." He snapped. "I can kill you easily."

"You do not realize the full extent of my power." Cynder growled, her eyes glowing Pure White.

"Likewise, you stupid Black-hided BITCH!"

Runefor's body started glowing with a thick Purple Aura. An instant later, a geyser of Purple energy exploded out from underneath Runefor, engulfing him completely and surprising Cynder.

"Convexity…" She said.

A moment later, Runefor reappeared in view. He had grown to the size of an adult dragon. He was now larger than Cynder.

"As you can see, I'm pretty big myself!" He chided.

His body began to glow with a purple aura again. Cynder got on her guard.

"You can't win, Cynny!" The White dragon shouted. "Any magic you throw at me can't stand up against my Convexity!"

The Black dragoness growled.

"Is that all you ever do?" She asked. "You hide behind the power of Convexity in each of your battles?"

"Well, I go with what works." Runefor replied, grinning. "And it's been working quite well."

"You are a coward." Cynder said coldly.

"Excuse me?" Runefor demanded, glaring. "I'm not the coward. RUNE is the coward!"

"I believe that you would be a weakling if you fought using only your claws and teeth."

"WHAT?" The White dragon shouted. "That's absolute BULLSHIT! I'm just as deadly with Physical Combat as I am with Magic! And since I also have the advantage of scale, I'm the trifecta of Invincibility!"

"Words, but no action." Cynder stated, shaking her head. "If you are as powerful as you claim, then kill me using only Physical tactics. I will do the same."

Runefor scoffed.

"If that's the way you want to play it…" Runefor's Purple aura vanished, and he proceeded to shrink back down to the size of a normal teenager. "..Fine. Let's see who can be who, Cynny!"

The White dragon leapt at the Black one, and the two proceeded to battle. The chamber became filled with the sounds of roaring, clawing, and talons ripping though scales.

As the battle commenced, Roxanne limped over to Nellie. Pain still filled the Lightning dragoness's being, but she could tell that Nellie's pain was far worse.

"Nellie…?" She asked. "Are you… okay?"

The Water dragoness didn't look at Roxanne, but she still answered her question.

"No…" Her voice was filled with absolute depression. Roxanne sighed sadly.

The Lightning dragoness could hardly believe that this was happening. Sure, Roxanne had an extreme dislike of Nellie for stealing Rune away, and had no qualms of mocking her in the past. She even took delight in getting the chance to smack Nellie around a bit back when they had that fight in the Palace Arena.

But, even with that as true, Roxanne never wanted to see Nellie like this. Her scales were bruised, she had several cuts here and there, and a large chunk of one of her wing membranes was missing. Nellie wasn't just molested by that Runefor character: She was beaten senseless, possibly on more than one occasion.

Roxanne felt horrible. She started to remember the days when the two girls were friends. Back then, whenever one of them had gotten hurt, the other one would do her best to help. The Lightning dragoness sighed.

"Nellie," She began, "I just want to let you know: I'm sorry for being such a bitch to you all this time."

Nellie turned her head to look up at her.

"Why did you start acting that way in the first place?" She asked.

"Uh…" Roxanne stammered nervously. Nellie sighed.

"Don't answer." She said solemnly. "I already know: It's because you liked Rune too, and got jealous of me."

"Right…" The Yellow dragoness replied, feeling stupid. "Well… I'm sorry, Nellie. For everything I said and did to you up to this point. Can you ever find it inside yourself to forgive me?"

Nellie looked away again.

"It doesn't matter if I do or not at this point." She said sadly. "Runefor is going to kill me."

"Oh no he's not!" Roxanne shouted.

The Yellow dragoness looked behind herself to spot the White dragon. He was still locked in combat with Cynder, trying his best to slash at her torso, with little success. Roxanne snarled.

"Nellie, I swear to you by the Ancestors that we'll make it through this alive."

Roxanne tried to help Nellie onto her feet, but the Blue dragoness was reluctant to get up off the floor.

"Come on, Nellie."

"It's hopeless, Rox." The Blue dragoness said, defeated. "You haven't seen what Runefor's capable of. He's killed so many people and destroyed so much of the world in an incredible amount of time. Cynder can't beat him. He's going to kill her, and then me. And then, he's going to violate you in the same way he did to me."

"Stop talking like that!" Roxanne shouted. "He's not going to kill you or Cynder. And there's no way in the Dragon Realms that he's so much as getting near my cootch. Come on!"

Roxanne tried getting Nellie to get up again, but the Blue dragoness still refused.

"How can we possibly beat him?" She asked Roxanne. "He's too strong."

"There has to be a way…" Roxanne replied.

The Yellow dragoness glanced over at the Golden-bladed sword. It still sat on the ground, next to Roxanne's severed upper horns. The dragoness felt her head again, enraged.

She then glanced over at Runefor once again as he battled Cynder.

I'll stab him to death! She decided.

Roxanne walked over to the sword, picked it up in her forepaws, and watched Runefor carefully, waiting for a window of opportunity….

…

Rune couldn't believe what was happening.

Cynder was the one dragoness whom Rune held in the highest regards. When Rune thought he had caused his mother's death, it was Elenar's wrath that the young Black dragon feared to face, not Cynder's. And when the Malefor ordeal came to an end, Cynder helped Rune realize that he had nothing to fear.

But now? Runefor had engaged Cynder in a physical duel, and was looking to kill her. Rune tried to make his other self stop, but he was practically helpless. All he could do was shout.

"Stop it!" Rune screamed. "Stop fighting Cynder!"

Oh, shut up! Runefor snapped.

The White dragon appeared before the Black one, standing before the giant invisible barrier that separated their minds.

None of your whining and bitching and moaning has ever done a bit of good. I just ignore you and continue on my merry way. I had hoped you were serious when you gave up on shouting at me the other day. But, I guess I was wrong. Stupid me.

"You don't understand!"Rune shouted. "Cynder isn't like Nellie! She's already dead! Plus, she's got access to elements that you DON'T have! You can't beat her!"

I don't know about that, Rune. Runefor replied. She looks, talks and FEELS pretty alive to me.

"What are you talking about?"

Man, you're an idiot… Runefor shook his head in contempt. Whenever I scratch at her, she feels pretty damn solid. I'm guessing she decided to stick around for the last six months instead of going back to the Underworld.

Rune gasped.

"But that means…" The White dragon laughed.

That means that I'll be sending her Big Black ass back to the Underworld REEEEEAL soon!

"NO!" Rune protested, banging on the barrier.

"No"? You stupid fuck! If I don't kill Cynder, than CYNDER is going to kill US!… Unless I cheat and use Convexity on her ass when she least expects it, that is.

"I'd rather she kill us." The Black dragon snapped. "If it means you'll be unable to cause any more death and destruction to the dragon realms, then fine by me."

Runefor scoffed.

Moron…

With that said, Runefor vanished from view. Rune then looked up at the sky of the abyss, seeing though Runefor's eyes to watch the fight.

"Why does this have to keep happening?" He asked, getting no response in return. "Why do all the people I've cared about keep getting hurt, by him? Everything that's happened is because of HIM!"

Rune started to glare He was feeling an emotion that hadn't welled up inside him in ages.

Rage.

…

The duel between Runefor and Cynder raged on.

The White dragon ran around the Black dragoness and leapt into the air, attempting to slash at her wing membranes. However, Cynder swung her foreleg around and knocked him out of the air, sending him crashing into the floor.

Runefor rolled out of the way as Cynder brought her forepaws down to slash his head. He then got back up onto his feet and leapt forwards, slashing a deep wound in the Black dragoness's foreleg. She backed away and held her wound, cursing.

"Still think I'm a coward, Cynny?" Runefor taunted.

"You will pay for your impudence, beast." The Black dragoness shouted. "When I free Rune from your control, you will suffer for all eternity."

"Yeah, right." The White dragon chided, rolling his eyes.

And with that said, the battle continued.

Meanwhile, Roxanne was still waiting for a clear opening, doing her best to stay out of Runefor's view.

Nellie saw the Yellow dragoness holding the sword, and had climbed back up onto her feet and quietly limped over to her.

"What are you doing?" Nellie asked.

"I'm waiting for a clear shot at Runefor." Roxanne whispered. "I'm going to stab him to death."

"You can't." Nellie said, trying to grab the sword away. However, Roxanne pulled back from the Blue dragoness, glaring.

"Yes I can." She said. "Just because you're depressed doesn't mean I have to be too."

"You don't understand." The Blue dragoness pleaded. "If you kill Runefor, then.."

"Then he'll be forced down into the Underworld, and we won't be seeing him again anytime soon afterwards." Roxanne interrupted. "Please, Nellie, there's no need to-"

Suddenly, Roxanne gasped. She saw a window of opportunity.

Runefor had lunged at Cynder again, only to be sent flying backwards across the cave. From the way the Black dragoness hit him, the White dragon had landed hard on his back, stunning him for a moment.

Immediately, Roxanne ran forwards, careful not to trip while carrying the sword.

"Rox, wait!" Nellie shouted to her.

She shouldn't have done that.

Runefor heard the Blue dragoness's shout, and looked over to see Roxanne attempt to stab him in the stomach. He rolled out of the way and onto his feet just before he was impaled.

"You BITCH!"

Runefor quickly punched Roxanne, sending the sword flying out of her forepaws. He was about to strike her again, but he saw Cynder approaching out of his peripheral vision and quickly dodged out of the way of a Mighty Wind blast from the Black dragoness's mouth.

"I won't have you attacking these girls any more!" Cynder snarled.

"Oh really?" Runefor shouted.

With a snap of his talons, he vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. Before the Black dragoness could figure out where he was, the White dragon reappeared above her back.

Runefor quickly swung his forepaws around the Black dragoness's neck and drove his talons into it, tearing at her flesh.

"NO!" The two younger dragonesses shouted in unison.

Runefor let go of Cynder's neck and teleported again, leaving the Black dragoness to clutch her throat, gagging and coughing up blood. Runefor appeared next to Roxanne's side and immediately slashed at her face, cutting one of her eyes.

As the Yellow dragoness screamed in pain, Runefor proceeded to cut several nasty wounds allover her body.

"THIS is what happens when you PISS! ME! OFF!" The White dragon shouted angrily.

When he was done cutting her, Runefor shoved Roxanne onto the floor.

The Yellow dragoness cried in agony, while the Black dragoness struggled to keep from choking on her own blood. As this happened, Nellie watched in horror. Runefor, on the other hand, was laughing with glee.

"Do you see, girls?" The White dragon chided. "I have no qualms about beating up on annoying bitches who piss me off!"

Runefor pointed at talon at Roxanne.

"You know, Rox, if you just decided to go along with it, you could have made a fine mate for me in the new world I create. But, you blew it BIG TIME!"

The yellow dragoness snarled through her bleeding face.

"Fuck… you…" She said weakly. The White dragon scoffed.

Runefor walked around Roxanne and towards Cynder.

"Ah, Cynder." He said. "Cynder, Cynder, Cynder. Your efforts were in vain. The old, goody-goody Rune is pretty much beyond your help. Like I said before, he's a permanent guest inside me. He's doomed. Just. Like. YOU!"

The Black dragoness was slowly healing, but she was bleeding at a rapid pace.

"You…" She choked out. "You… horrible… monster…"

Runefor laughed.

"I'm sick of you're bitching." He said. "I'll kill you first."

The dragonesses were helpless to defend themselves as the White dragon slowly charged up his Convexity energy….

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a voice screamed at the top of their lungs.

NO!

Immediately, Runefor stopped charging energy and began shaking violently.

"What the fuck?" The White dragon shouted, surprised.

Runefor twitched and shook in place, his body being taken over by some unseen force.

Roxanna and Cynder were confused by the site. Nellie, however, was the most confused of all.

Can it be? She thought.

Runefor grabbed his head, groaning loudly. When he spoke, he sounded like two people talking at once.

"I'm… tired… of… your… crap!"

The White dragon started stumbling around. As he did this, random parts of his body started changing Black, only to turn White again, and then Black again. Meanwhile, Runefor started arguing with himself.

"How are you doing this? I'm not about to tell you! Well it's aggravating! Tough shit!"

Nellie approached the dragon. She had started getting hopes up…

"Rune?" She asked.

The Black-White dragon turned to look at the Blue dragoness. His left eye belonged to Runefor, while his right eye belonged to Rune."

"Nellie, do something!" He shouted. "Don't even think about it, Nellie! Don't listen to him! You still belong to me! Nellie, help me!"

The blue dragoness became excited and afraid at the same time. It looked like Rune had somehow started regaining control of his body. However, it didn't look like he would succeed. In fact, parts of Rune's body was slowly turning completely White again.

He's not going to succeed, is he?

"Nellie!" Rune and Runefor shouted. "Fetch the sword!'

"What?" She asked, surprised.

"Go pick up my sword and give it to me!" Rune and Runefor pleaded. "Yes, go get the sword!"

Nellie was now confused.

"You two are agreeing?"

"NO!" They shouted. "Runefor is trying to trick you into giving him the sword so he can kill you! THAT'S A LIE! HE is Runefor, not me! YOU'RE the one who's lying! Nellie, hurry: I can't keep this up much longer! NO, I'M the one who's struggling to keep this up!"

The Blue dragoness didn't know what to do.

"Nellie…" Roxanne said weakly. "Get the sword…"

"But-"

"Please, Nellie!" Rune and Runefor pleaded. "Do it!"

The Blue dragoness wandered over to the sword and picked it up. She then slowly walked towards where Rune and Runefor were standing.

As she approached them, she continued to decide whether it would be a mistake of not to hand the Black-White dragon the sword.

I don't know about this… She thought.

Nellie looked into Rune and Runefor's eyes. Rune's Golden eye looked like it was pleading with her to help him, while Runefor's demonic eye looked ready to kill her at a moment's notice.

Soon, Nellie came to a decision. Something that made her shed a tear before she even did it.

I'm sorry, Rune… She said in her mind. This is the only way I can free you of Runefor's control…

Nellie walked slowly up to Rune and Runefor. The Black-White dragon reached out to grab hold of the sword. However, before they could do that, the Blue dragoness did something unexpected.

She stabbed the Black-White dragon right through the heart,

Rune and Runefor grabbed hold of the fast-bleeding wound, a look of horror on their face. As this happened, all of the White faded from their body. Runefor's three extra horns vanished. And both of Rune's eyes appeared in his head.

"Nellie…."

The blue dragoness watched with a solemn expression as Rune collapsed onto the floor.

He was dead.