'bout freaking time...
school just started again, so i'll update when i can..
claimer: same as the others..
enjoy...
68. - Iridescent flame
The moment the iron door swung open the overwhelming scent of death rushed up my nostrils, the putrid odor seeming to singe my snout and cause my eyes to stream. I coughed and stepped inside, the door swinging shut behind as soon as my tail was clear of the only entrance, and exit.
I braced my muscles and squinted in the gloom, but I could make nothing out, even with my enhanced vision. The fact that every scent was masked by the reek of carrion wasn't exactly a great sign either.
I slowly crept forward, senses on high alert and ears straining for the slightest movement. There was something in there, thousands of them, their souls pulsing dully and irregularly – dead.
I shuffled forwards, my claws scraping against the stone floor, my wings tight against my body and my fangs bared in a grimace as I approached something I couldn't make out in the dark, but the stench growing with every step.
Then suddenly a flame erupted from in front of me and I stumbled back in shock and disgust. The fire had come from a metal hole in the ground, supposedly fueled by magic. But that wasn't what had caused the overwhelming sense of nausea to sweep through my head, but the colossal object in front of me, its dull and rotting scales shedding from its decaying form and its empty eye sockets glaring down at me.
Bile rose to my throat as I looked up at the clearly dead dragon, its once powerful body now supported by carelessly arranged wooden shafts. I turned away from the corpse, despair and rage coursing through me, when I caught sight of its obvious rider beside it. The human's silver helm was crumbling from his head and his bones were propped up with more wood like a scarecrow, his scull lolling to one side and jaw hanging off.
I backed away, so blinded by revulsion that when another fire ignited from behind me I leapt almost ten feet off the ground, letting off a startled shriek, before whipping around to come face to face with another dragon skeleton, its once green scales missing completely from its body and instead now scattered the floor with mold.
Without thinking I began to run, hissing and skidding in the opposite direction every time flame rose in front of my nose, my mind clouded with emotions that, in my panicked state, I couldn't identify.
Pausing for a moment I realized that I was now trapped as I found myself in the center of a circle of flickering black-tinted flames, accompanied by hundreds of empty bones peering down at me, their hunched forms menacing and their rider's hollowed eyes staring into mine.
"Monumental, are they not?" a deep voice sounded from behind me and I sprang round, my fangs bared and back arched in defense. I froze as I recognized the King from my dream, his face just as pale and eyes just as red and bloodshot, as if thirsting for the death of many. Shruikan stood behind him, his heavily muscled body rippling under the scales and his ivory talons gauging into the rock, his black eyes fixed on me.
"What you have done is sick, and you both will die for it." I hissed, my words sharp and escaping from around my fangs.
The man smiled, his rotten black teeth glinting in the yellow light.
"I'm afraid there is only one that will die today, and that is you. Along with those thousands of idiots you have brought
with you of course."
I roared and leapt at him, my talons extended and bracing myself for impact, when I was knocked aside by a huge dark shape before I had even reached my target. I flew through the air and flipped when I landed so that I was facing them again, preparing to rush at him again when I was suddenly pinned down. For all his bulk, Shruikan could sure move fast.
He roared in victory and brought his jaws down to clamp his teeth onto my neck as I dug at his armored belly with my hind claws, knowing it was useless, but unwilling to give up. I couldn't die now, this was my chance to end this war, and I wasn't going to let any more get harmed because of my failure.
But instead of ending my life his fangs just scraped against my neck scales and a deep, hurried voice entered my mind as its owners eyes – eyes so similar to the one that I loved – locked onto mine, full of desperation.
Listen to me, I will give you one chance to kill Galbatorix before he becomes aware of what I am doing and kills me himself. You must end his life before any more innocents die from his treachery. Do not fail, he grows ever powerful by each day, and soon will be completely immortal, unable to be killed, and he will destroy this land of my ancestors forever. I cannot allow that, so you must destroy him first.
I flinched back, surprised, you are willing to give up your life by having your rider killed to save this country? I asked him slowly, disbelieving. The dragon smiled sadly, his eyes full of truth and long-ago memories.
He is not my true rider, no matter what he has forced me to believe, I can tell what magic I am under, and it is slowly devouring me to be away from my actual other half who was slain many years ago. I should have joined my real rider to fight against Galbatorix, but instead was forced to join him. You must do what I can not, end this war, kill the king, and save the land. Then he suddenly leapt backwards off my body, pretending to be kicked off by my flailing legs. He growled menacingly at me, but with his face turned to me and in the other direction from the king's, his eyes looked at me, full of meaning. It was obviously time.
I sprang to my feet and roared, flaring my wings to make me look bigger, then I ran at them again. Galbatorix smiled and drew his dark blade, taunting me, daring me to try to harm him.
I grinned savagely and just as I was about to slice out his throat I morphed at the last second, surprising him as, instead of an enormous dragon landing on him, a silver hawk dove at his face and clawed out one of his eyes.
He screamed in anger, the outraged roar resounding around the room as he grasped at the now empty socket, half of his face now almost identical to his victims around him. His weaponed arm shot out reflexively and the blade sliced down my belly, causing me to screech in outrage.
I soared around back towards him, dropping the bloodied lump from my claws and avoided a clumsy swipe from Shruikan, his lips grinning discretely even though I was sure he could feel Galbatorix's pain.
The traitor king slapped a hand over his injury and his hand turned black as the magic flowed through it, unable to completely heal it seeing as I had his actual eye, but able to stop the bleeding.
The procedure took about five seconds, but that was all I needed.
The sense of the deceased spirits were all around me, and I drew them towards my body, reaching out with the souls inside of me to grasp them and capture them in my chest. I had never absorbed the souls of a human or magical creature before, and was therefore unprepared for the sudden surge of power and memories that flooded through me.
The energy made me feel as if my skin was about to burst and I would spontaneously combust, but still I let them enter my body. My own mind diminished to be overcome by thousands of voices, all outraged as my eyes looked upon the one that had murdered them. Then the souls took over, all thinking one thing, kill.
I morphed into a dragon, but when I looked down at myself every one of my scales were a different shade of the rainbow, each one glimmering in the flickering light and tracing patterns across the stone. I couldn't control my actions, but I was aware of what was happening, and what was going to happen. I stared into the overjoyed face of Shruikan, one lone silvery tear traveling down his dark cheek.
My body was turned towards the king, the one who's life was about to end. He had stopped fixing his eye to stand frozen and slack-jawed at me, and I saw my reflection in his one eye, accompanied by a silver mist that hung around my body, the souls of his victims come to seek revenge.
Then my mouth opened on its own accord and a torrent of different colored flame erupted from between my fangs to splash against Galbatorix's body, his mind too shocked to retaliate or save himself, and his own death reflected in his red eye.
His body was consumed by the flames, a scream frozen on his face as his skin turned as black as his magic and then crumbled from his skeleton and exploded in a cloud of darkness and glimmering color.
As the fire left my jaws so did the souls, I felt them go, one by one, to attack their murderer until he was no more, nothing but a pile of ashes. I saw his soul flee the chamber through a wall, but felt no need to pursue it. I fell to the ground, my body spent and eyes flickering slowly closed. But I fought against my weariness and dragged myself towards Shruikan who had collapsed to the earth as his impersonating rider died, my wound sending pain flashing through my body.
His mouth was opening and closing with no sound escaping from his powerful jaws and I peered into his dark eyes, watching as the life diminished from them. But happiness lingered in the black gems and a smile twitched around his lips.
Thank you…he thought to me, and I watched as a small silver light made its way over to his enormous body, and I saw his eyes brighten as his own soul detached itself from his body and joined it, becoming one with his other half, his rider that hadn't had a chance to know what it meant to be a rider.
I smiled as the two drifted upwards, along with the thousands of others leaving the earth after completing what they had been kept in the world to do. The air was filled with light and the ground flames were dimmed as they headed for the sky, free at last.
I laid my head on the cool stone, my vision dizzy and scales now normal silver, a feeling of relief overcoming me. Blood stained the stone crimson, but I didn't care then.
It was over, we had won, Galbatorix was dead, and the land was saved. But then why did I feel like I was forgetting something important?
Then the echoing voice of the old green dragon resounded through my head again, the prophecy weighing down his tongue with destiny.
There will be two, one of sky, one of earth, that hold the power of the stars in their claws.
Then I sank into unconsciousness with the words revolving in my dreams as my body numbed and thoughts of tomorrow drifted around my mind.
sorry if that sucked, but again i'm not good at writing fight scenes and don't like to make them very long, especially seeing as i managed to kill him in one chapter, lol. hope you guys liked it though and constructive critisism is appreciated.
PLEASE REVIEW!!
-Firesilk:D
