XII
Thanks to a file corruption I had a MAJOR setback, and I had to push back the release of this chapter. Also, Chapter 11 had some issues I managed to fix, so go finish that if you haven't already.
The moon hung above the temple, among the twinkling stars and neighboring planets. The city sat quietly, a few lights scattered across the land. Many were asleep, others were part of the nightlife, out partying and drinking. All was fairly normal in these final days of peace across the Dragon Realms.
Figura, in the form of the barely alive Karaia, crept silently in the halls of the temple. She sneaked silently over to the rooms of the young Guardians. She was going to enact another step in her simple plan. Tonight, she was going to have the blood of the Ice Guardian, Cyril.
She figured the task would be easy enough. She's been watching the young one in his sleep for a few days now, and she noticed he was a heavy sleeper. Nothing awoke the young dragon: storms, falling objects, banging in other rooms, snoring in other rooms.
Through it all, Cyril silently slept in his bed.
However, while getting the blood would be easy, disposing of the body wouldn't be. No doubt, Cyril would need to be disposed of, because after the draining, he would be too weak to even walk. This would raise suspicion to the already wary occupants of the temple.
Figura thought as she walked to chilly dragon's room. Should she simply scrap him and be done with it? No, that wouldn't work, since there would be a missing body, no matter if she chose either body. She could simply hold him prisoner, but he'd pass on much quicker than an adult dragon like Karaia would. What could she do then?
Figura cursed herself for not thinking ahead. She hadn't even thought out step three or even four yet, or even just what should she do when she had all their powers. Should she just take everything over and become a queen? Or, should she exterminate those "Dark Guardians" shes heard so much rumors about.
"Ouch."
Her felt her head pang. Too much thinking. Figura decided she'll formulate a plan as time goes on, as she usually does.
Maybe there will be another, even better opportunity than just the Guardians even.
She came upon the door of Cyril. She blew out the nearest candle in the hallway to keep her presence better concealed.
With the tip of her claw, she gently pressed on the door, opening it slightly.
Creeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak.
The shape-shifter flinched at the loudness of the door. No sense in trying to be quiet now.
Figura opened the door, swiftly hopped into the room, and shut it behind her as quietly as she could.
Now she was in.
She normally had terrible eye vision, but thanks to her form, it was easy to move around in the pure dark.
Cyril's room was fairly simple: a small brown carpet on the floor, a large book case in the corner, and a massive blue-covered bed that could fit even the biggest of dragons. Outside his open window he was provided with a great view of the city as well.
Not bad for a kid.
Like a predator stalking it's prey, camouflaged by nature itself, Figura crept up to the bed. Cyril was curled in his sleep, his head resting on a massive wool pillow. The dragon slept with a content smile on his face, as he dreamed, not a care in the world.
"Good. I'll silence him as I begin the extraction." Figura reached for her needle, which she kept in a small little bag, convenient for her since she had to make use of a dragon's body.
She slipped her hand into the bag. She felt around for the massive syringe, ready to extract every crimson drop. But, she felt nothing. All that was pulled out was a crumpled up paper and a broken pen.
The shape-shifter growled in frustration. "Did I honestly leave it miles away in my home?"
The bag dropped to the floor as Figura hustled to the door, slipping out as quietly as she could.
Maybe she left it inside somewhere out in the hallway? Ancestors or whoever knows, it might have fallen out when she was sneaking around, dodging dragons, cheetahs, and apes.
Figura jumped out and searched for the needle, leaving the stirring Cyril in his peaceful sleep.
Gaul paced around the temple, stepping over and around old roots and leaves and weathered marble. The ape general was bored out of his mind. Nothing to kill, nothing to fight, torture, toy with, and no women.
Nothing.
He was sure that he would've had to find the temple, and that was it. Ultimate power. The death of everything that wasn't an ape, and then, life on top of the world.
Hell, one of his now-deceased soldiers made a drunken joke, one that Gaul managed to actually laugh at: "First ultimate power, then the bitches."
He learned moments after arriving that the temple's power wasn't accessed easily. It required essence, the liquid that is said to hold pieces of your soul: blood.
At first, it wanted little droplets at most. His remaining three soldiers each took turns in donating some of their blood with it. For a time, the temple would sit after each donation sated, quietly humming, similar to a machine. When it needed another donation, it would begin to glow a deep blood red color that illuminated the entire temple.
But since recently, it's grown greedy. Even worse, feeding it had even become dangerous.
"Sir!"
The sound of footsteps outside echoed quietly within the temple. Gaul was leaning against the temple wall, his swords reflecting the light of the rising sun.
His soldier sprinted up the stairs and into the temple. Above his head, in his bloodied arms, he carried the corpses of two dead deer, who heads hung lifelessly.
Gaul nodded at his subordinate. He look at the altar, then at the prize that hung above the ape's head. "Proceed."
The soldier nodded at his general, hustling up to the glowing altar, it's aura eerie and threatening. The ape grew uncomfortable, a common feeling around such a strange object. He quickly plopped the deceased animals onto the altar.
Immediately, the air around the temple became putrid and disgusting.
The corpses sizzled on top of the altar, as if they were being roasted inches away magma. Before the apes eyes, the bodies literally melted into the altar, fur, guts, bones and all. The smell. Oh, the smell was so disturbingly acrid and disgusting that the ape soldier turned away, his stomach having flown into his mouth. He vomited away from Gaul and the altar, but the smell still traveled into his nose. He coughed and retched again and again, clutching his nose with one hand, and his throat in another.
Gaul quickly sprinted out of the temple, his soldier behind him, their eyes wide and bloodshot. Gaul hadn't been hit as hard as his subordinate had, but his skin still stung, along with his eyes now, and he fought hard against himself, holding his vomit within his mouth for as long as he could.
They flew down the stairs, finally stopping a few feet away from the temple's stairs. The unlucky soldier was still in intense pain, his eyes blind, and skin feeling like it was dipped in acid. He fell into the dirt, his knees sinking into the soggy wetness. He took quick breaths, slowly begin his recovery from the sudden gas attack.
Gaul had managed to suppress his urge to upchuck just enough for him to speak. "W-what in the name of... what was that?"
His remaining soldiers, who'd fallen behind, just emerged from the dense jungle. They rushed to their fellow apes sides, confused and concerned, having no idea just what had happened to them.
Damn needle.
Figura had no clue just how did her needle escape her bag, but she wasn't happy about it. She fumed, huffing loudly as she walked to Karaia's room, tired from her lack of sleep. The sun was creeping in through the windows, meaning her chance to secure Cyril's essence had be delayed. It was still much to early for anyone to be awake yet, so she had no trouble getting back to her room.
She opened her door to Karaia's simple and plain room: a massive bed, a few paintings of who she believed were famous dragons, and dressers that contained other unimportant belongings.
Seeing the warm, soft bed made Figura relax immediately. She'd stayed up, all night, looking for her needle, which he had secured inside her bag yet again. She also checked for and patched any holes she found, small or big, to prevent such an incident. She'd wasted an entire night for nothing. All she wanted now was fall into her bed's arms, and allow it to fly her into the land of sleep.
She fell onto it, smiling into the covers. She was already drifting off, her body slumped over her bed side, but she didn't care.
Now... time to sl-
"Karaia!"
Oh, hell.
"Hello? Miss Karaia?"
Someone knocked on her closed door from the outside. It was Mich, the mole who woke her up each morning for her duties. She'd completely forgotten about him.
She growled into her bed. If I ignore it, it will go away.
"It's time to wake up!" Mich practically fought the door now. Karaia never took this long to wake up and answer him. "Are you alright ma'am?"
She couldn't take it any longer now. "YES! I'm fine, what the hell do you want, pipsqueak?"
The mole was taken aback by her harsh, tired words. "My apologies, but you have meetings and events to tend to. First, their is Ember and Flame's marriage to attend to, then there's..." The mole went on and on about Karaia's duties today. The shape shifter regretted choosing her as a body now, not knowing just how busing substituting her life would be.
"Piss off! I'm trying to sleep here!"
"Ma'am?" The mole replied. "I do not need to go to the bathroom right now."
Of course, Karaia would have one of the stupid ones.
"Alright! Damn it, I'm coming!" The she-villain slowly rose from her bed with strong reluctance. She caught sight of her brown bag, the entire reason she was stuck like this for the day.
She snatched it up, emptied it's contents onto the bed, and tossed it out the window, not caring if it hit anything.
No nights sleep, or a bratty dragon's blood nabbed? Already, today was a day she was going to hate.
Ah. Gut. Next chapter out soon. Much sooner than usual. Try looking on the weekends from now on. Next chapter will focus on the battle (sort of) against Karaia.
Be sure to tell me what you think! I've been trying hard on improving the details and story, and I want feedback! Thanks for sticking around!
Ahero