Chapter 46
Blake
My vision turns a whole new shade of red, a new level of anger and hatred towards Giratina that I have never experienced before. The pokemon that protected us for ten years, the pokemon that many held in such high esteem, huddled onto the floor of a cage before me. Every nerve in my body reaches a fever pitch that does not falter. Yet, something inside me feels empty and desperate. Fearful. Hopeless. Weak. They all fight for dominance in my mind, leaving it a jumbled mess and leaving my body unable to respond except to get hotter by the second.
Heads start to turn within the group, searching for any kind of approval or deny from anyone. Words are exchanged. Should we make the trade? Should we attack? Should we do anything at all? No one knows the answer. I search frantically for any sign or a decision, any sign that we might be turned over. But, none come which only makes the boulder in my stomach all the more heavier.
I can feel my wings start to speed up in their place, rapidly flapping up and down. Torik, who's nearby turns and notices me. He looks alarmed and he furiously shakes his head. I can hear his voice in my mind "Don't do it, Blake." But, when have I ever listened to reason?
"Dawn? April?" I hiss through my beak, jaw clenched in an attempt to restrain any actions until I can know that I won't be alone. They are both silent for a while until April speaks.
"I'm ready."
"Yep..." Dawn says with nothing but rage and fury in her voice. "Let's go."
The three of us shoot upwards like a rocket, flying like a rainbow above the army and dropping like a comet straight towards Giratina. His glowing gaze hammers into mine, but I'm not intimidated in the slightest. I glare at him with as much loathing I can.
"April! Dawn! Save Grayos!" I shout to them. The two nod and veer off in the direction of the cage Grayos is in. Giratina's mine.
As I get closer, my wings start to glow a silvery-white. Giratina gets into a defending stance, bringing his wings toward his face, leaving his midsection wide open. Perfect. I angle myself to a slightly steeper slope. using my beak as an aiming guide I have a clear shot to his heart, a sharp beak, and a sudden and urgent thirst for his blood, to watch him fall just as all my comrades have. Giratina focuses intently on me and he locks eye contact. Then, at the last second, he shifts his wings down to his midsection. Right where I was aiming. Before I can change course, I collide right with his claw-like wings.
The clash of powerful wings collide and rupture all silence. I push against him and he pushes right back in a battle for superiority over the other. Yet, he flings me to the side without much effort. I do somersaults in midair before I can regain my balance. It's not so much of a surprise that he tossed me aside like a rag doll. I can't compete with a god, but I can buy time from one.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Dawn and April aiding Grayos to the far corner of the hallowed chamber. His body is weak and limp in their care. He is not using his wings at all as if he doesn't have any life left. Maybe he doesn't maybe it's too late. I look back to Giratina who is being swarmed by all the rage Skyborne has to offer. Feathers fly and I see more Skyborne warriors than Giratina who is locked inside the fury. His black tentacle-wings claw and swipe blindly in every direction. Some manage to make contact, but without any aim or focus, it doesn't make much of an effect and the warriors just bounce back into the fray. I can hear Giratina's cry in rage as a dark shadow pulses all around him. His Dark Pulse, it looks like. All the swarms of warriors are blown off of Giratina and scattered in all different directions. When his vision of what's around him becomes clear, he zeroes in on me and charges ahead.
I act fast and escape upwards toward the cracked and crumbling ceiling. My wings push rapidly to get myself as far away from him as possible. Hanging from the roof are many scattered vines. Giratina's wings could easily get tangled up in them. My perfect escape route. I level myself out and submerge into the forest of vines. My agile body turns and twists to the path that the vines make easily. Giratina, however, didn't even risk it. When I look down, I can see his shadow below my wings. Before I can get out of the way, Giratina soars upwards and slams me into the rock ceiling. The wind is knocked out of my lungs and I struggle for a breath. The stone cuts into my back like a dagger, shooting pain into my entire body. Black spots dance in my eyes like a random ballet. I can hear the rock crumbling all around me. Then, I start to fall.
Giratina has already moved out of the way by the time I start plummeting. I want to move my wings, but I can't. They don't respond to a thing I try to tell them to do. The only sensation I can get from them is a burning ache. I can't see the ground; I can only see the ceiling. However, I do feel the icy cool water engulf me. I jolt to full awareness and I find I can move my wings again. The water feels like it enters my body and runs through my veins. My vision has become distorted by the water, but I can see Giratina in the air fighting another pokemon. I spot flashes of blue among the dragon fire. I push myself to get above the surface of the water and I realize that my lungs have been burning. The blue warrior shouts from above. "Blake! Help!" I recognize the voice and pokemon. Dawn. She's in a dragon match with Giratina and is losing but losing isn't an option in this battle.
I jump out of the pool of water and start flying higher into the sky. More dragon types have joined Dawn in the dragon vs. dragon onslaught, but Giratina is still holding his own. I get closer and closer to the top of the chamber once again, leaving the battle far below me. Once I'm so close to the top that I can see the outline I created where I hit the rock. I turn sharply and drop. Every feather presses against my body and I become completely streamlined. Wind rushes past me and whistles its song. The feeling is incredible and powerful. My beak is pointed directly downward as I watch the tip start to glow a fluorescent blue. I can feel my speed picking up and I dive faster by the second. The ground rushes to meet me like a bullet daring me to face it head on.
Then, I pull myself up into a perfectly horizontal cruise. Power pulsates through me and I aim my entire body right at Giratina, too distracted by Dawn to see me charging straight ahead. It comes fast. I slam right into Giratina and he cries out in pain with a similar response from myself. After a second of being suspended in the air, we both go down into the pool of water below us. Waves splatter everywhere and I'm pulled under along with Giratina. I don't know if I took down Giratina or not, but I did pull off a Brave Bird for the first time.
The waves settle enough that I can get my head above the surface. I cough up a lot of water, forcing sweet air back into my shrieking body. The water around me calms and the water level becomes lower until it is up to my shoulders. I hang my head in exhaustion, catching my breath and staring at the shimmering surface of the water. But, it's not the water itself that intrigues me. It's my reflection. My gaze has gone cold and serious. My feathers have grown to almost cover my right eye and I look much stronger. I've changed. I have become a Skyborne Raptor.
Weeelll, I'm on a race to get this thing done by November 30th. So, expect a steady flow of chapter after chapter for the next few days(especially since I'm hitting a writing boom right now, WOOT!)
If I can devote my Thanksgiving weekend to Skyborne entirely, expect a chapter almost every day.
Have a Happy Holidays to everyone.