Chapter 4: The Source
Rayman's heart felt as if it had been torn from his chest, his eyes widened, his jaw dropped.
But suddenly, his sadness turned to anger. He barred his teeth and tightened his fists. The dragon snarled at him and dropped Skye from his mouth – she did not move.
Rayman glared in frustration at the horrid creature. The dragon roared at him, lifting its wings, then flapping them hard to lift itself in the air, fleeing.
The guardian's breathing quickened, the monster got away, but he didn't care – he needed to see if Skye was okay.
However, as he was about to run up to the young one, he heard groaning. He looked around – Betilla!
The poor mother nymph was on the ground, not far from where the dragon was. He quickly approached her.
"Betilla! Betilla! Are you okay? What happened?"
She lifted herself up, facing him. She was not too badly injured. "That… that creature attacked us. I tried to defend Skye, but the monster… he…"
Rayman looked over at Skye and quickly ran over to her. He looked at her closed eyes and sighed. Was she really…?
He picked her up gently and embraced her. "Oh, Skye… I should have been here… I'm so sorry… I…"
Suddenly, a tiny giggle reached his ears. He hesitated and moved Skye back in front of him. Her sapphire eyes opened slowly with life.
"Skye…" The hero found himself saying quietly.
She smiled gently. "What… can't I pretend to be dead for the dragon?"
"I…I…" Rayman was at loss for the right words. Betilla came over and hugged her gently.
"Oh, Skye, I thought you… I'm so sorry I couldn't defend you right, I tried my best, sweetie…"
Skye simply smiled. "Don't worry. Dragons don't scare me."
Rayman let her go gently and hesitated. "Oh, really? Then why did you scream?"
Skye rubbed the back of her head. "Well… I just really needed to convince the monster."
The hero sighed, rolling his eyes a bit. "Well, just… don't go scaring me like that."
The young one smiled. "I won't. Sorry."
A sudden thought crossed his mind. He looked over at Betilla.
"Betilla? Do you know where that dragon came from?"
The auburn-haired nymph thought. "Well, I don't really know; we heard roaring and tried to leave the area, but the dragon caught up with us."
"Do… you think…?"
The nymph quickly caught on what her limbless creation was thinking.
As they realized who could be the source of all these creatures, the distant roaring of dragons could be heard, approaching nearer and nearer.
Deep within these screeches and roars, Rayman swore; he heard a very familiar laughter. He recognized it right away.
"…Betilla, I think I know where that dragon came from. But first, I need to know; where is Ly?"
"She might be in the Fairy Glade. Why?"
The guardian let out a sigh and looked over at Skye. "It's time we got her home."
A small, familiar teensy snickered as his fire-breathing beasts were unleashed. He lowered his hat and cackled at the sight of his dragons starting to set fire to the Glade.
As the teensy laughed maniacally, an unfamiliar female creature sat in the shadows, dead silent. She was attached to machines, her energy being drained from her. As more energy was drawn, more dragons spawned. Was it possible that she was the one creating the beasts?
More and more monsters spawned, and time ticked faster as they began the chaos.