Chapter 68-Emotional Scars
A soft blue light illuminated the room as a white dragon opened its teal irises. Having been moved so that more wounded dragons could be healed, Tyst groggily lifted his head and searched the area around him for his sister Malie. If he hadn't been so trusting of the psychotic clone Tanui, their parents wouldn't be dead now. Fixating his gaze on her gray scales, he growled softly to let her know he was awake.
"How do you feel, brother?" She asked as her crisp, sapphire blue irises looked him over.
"I've been better . . ." He muttered, noticing her attention drifting away from him. "What is it?"
"I've been worried . . . The infection was worse than predicted and I thought you might not survive." Malie turned her head away, quivering slightly. "I can't bare to lose you. After what happened with mom and dad, I . . ."
Growling softly in comfort, Tyst unfolded a wing and motioned for her to join him, understanding her fear was only to be expected after what they had been through. He suspected he might have seen her distress sooner had the infection not set in and dulled his senses. Once her scaled hide rested against his own, he draped his wing over her and hummed quietly.
"I know the past few days have been a scary time for you, little sister," he growled. "In truth, I was scared too. It was unnerving to not know if the infection had become too great to combat . . ."
A low growl rose into the air, bringing with it a voice that Tyst dimly recognized. 'Despite that, you survived against all odds. You should be proud of that, my son.'
"Son? I was raised by the dragons Rados and Roylezn. Show yourself!"
'I would if it were possible. The dragons who raised you were instructed to do so by me. My son took you under his wing and taught you all you know, while Roylezn provided additional resources to aid in your growth.' The spirit paused, allowing Tyst a moment to growl softly at what he was hearing. 'I am the shadow-walker Finca, offspring of the Great Protector Mirage, and the one who laid the egg that contained you. Unfortunately for us, the recent conflict with dark forces resulted in my death. As it is now, this is the only way I can talk to you.'
Malie lifted her head, irises sparkling as she nuzzled her brother. "You mean you're one of the original dragons from back when our kind was in paradise? How did you survive for that long? Mother said few managed to escape the conflict-"
'My spirit broken, I fled from the city a few years after my rider vanished. He had a son with the woman who brought you both here and every time I looked at him I saw Tamli. I did not fight in the war to save our home but I know some who did and survived, only to die during the thousands of years that passed while the bloody conflict continued.' Finca sighed, hesitating before she spoke once more. 'Tyst, is it? When I asked Rados to accept your egg, I never dreamed that he would be killed by a clone of my mate. Seeing you now brings a sense of joy to me in the midst of our tragic time . . .'
"If you are my mother, why did you let me be raised by my own sibling? I thought of him as my father and Roylezn as my mother for years! Now you come and tell me that I'm not their son," Tyst snarled, looking down at the floor as Malie tried to comfort him.
"Fath- I mean Rados told us that Finca was attacked some time after giving him an egg. I assume your injuries were too severe to check on him afterwards, correct?" Malie inquired.
'As was the case, youngling. I was forced to abandon your sibling as well due to my injuries. By the time I was healed, I found myself in a position of power within the Compound and thus could not seek either of you out to learn of your fates . . .'
Tyst lifted his gaze, the tip of his tail twitching. "You mentioned a sibling? Who is it? Can I see him?"
'What you call a male is actually a female. So yes, my child, you can certainly meet her. Verdra, would you please join us,' Finca hummed as a black dragoness entered into the room, her purple irises sparkling with wonder.
"When I heard the news that you had died, mother, I wasn't expecting for you to be able to communicate with us so clearly and so quickly after the event . . ." Verdra paused, glancing at Tyst and Malie. "And who are they?"
"Apparently you and Tyst are siblings," Malie informed her as Verdra walked over to them. "My name's Malie, now the only offspring of Rados and human-turned-dragon Roylezn Ricata."
'I've known this for some time but feared if I mentioned it I would never get to see what became of the egg I gave to Rados,' Finca commented, watching as Verdra hesitantly nuzzled her brother.
"You worried the grey dragon that attacked you, who I later discovered was the brother of the dragon that became my mate, would go and destroy all of them because he failed to kill you?" Verdra questioned as Malie closed her eyes, lowering her head down to the stone underneath.
'Yes . . .' Finca hissed as Tyst heard the metallic click of Nethial's footsteps coming towards them.
"Did you ask for her to come?" He inquired as Malie trembled under his wing.
'No. Why would I? She's brought nothing but trouble here since she showed up. While she brought you two with her, she is the one that set Tanui free during the battle so he could exact the highest level of pain and misery on my mate.'
Tyst growled softly, noticing the venom in Finca's voice. It made sense from the way she talked that she was distrusting of Nethial but the woman had saved his life. Unsure of whether to voice his opinion or not, he snarled as Malie pulled away from under his wing and stood up, sensing fear in her mind as he briefly touched her consciousness to make sure she wasn't hurt.
"Sorry I haven't come to see how you're doing-"
Before any of the three could act, Nethial was thrown forward and slammed into a wall before being turned around. Tyst suspected Malie had already sensed it was going to happen due to her unique connection to the world around her. Roylezn had considered her gifted but, at the time, he hadn't understood why. Now he realized she possessed a gift from the ancients that few dragons knew anything about.
"What do you sense, sister?" He asked, still unable to forsake his connection with the dragoness he had grown up beside.
Malie shuddered, retreating a step. "Finca carries many ill-conceived grudges in her heart, most of them directed towards the one that saved you."
Nethial struggled to get her breath back after being slammed against a wall as forcefully as she had. She sensed Finca's hatred for her just rolling off the she-dragon's essence, the sensation reminding her of how Corruption's energy acted. Panting, she braced a hand against the wood closest to her as her gaze flickered to the three dragons still inside the room. Malie was still quivering but Nethial could sense an odd energy around the small dragon that made her think of what she knew of oracles. The dragon Jhira had been one during her time spent in paradise but the scale-flier before her was not a descendant of the Siren Seer.
'Monster!' Finca seethed. 'Did you not think I was unable to sense what you were planning to do? I lost Tamli for many moons . . . and now you think that because of my new state you can just slip back into his life and claim him as your own once more. I will never have that happen!'
"Finca, listen to me. I-" Nethial started to try and make the irritate she-dragon spirit understand but the scale-flier interrupted her with a low snarl.
'No excuses! Just because he was your first love you feel like it is fine to take him back from me now after what has happened. You were the one that released Tanui from imprisonment . . . You caused the psychotic clone to target me as his final act of malice against the dragon-human hybrid I chose as my mate!' Finca snarled as Nethial felt something wrap around her metal legs.
Still trying to reason with Finca, Nethial snapped back, "I did not force Tanui to go after you, Finca! He made that decision himself following the death of the two-"
Roaring in anger, Finca cut off Nethial once more as she extended binding cords of her essence to wrap around the woman's arms and chest as she had already done with the artificial limbs. 'Just because the clone killed the first offspring I had with Tamli and its mate, a human-turned-dragon descendant of the Nekita line, does not give you the right to justify why it turned its attention to me.'
"Finca, please, listen to your own words!" Nethial cried as the wisps of spiritual energy around her limbs began to emit a pulsating current that burned her skin and flickered across her legs. "Your behavior towards me and unwillingness to let Tamli go is exactly why the Order of the Protectors failed back in paradise once Vanz assumed the throne. All the inner fighting and violence made the hearts of the people turn bitter and distrustful of everything . . . Even the peace with the dragons which had been fought so hard to establish was nearly torn apart. For the first time since we had found understanding with the scale-fliers, they turned on us and we against them. Bonded dragons were seen as traitors to the wild members of their race and encouraged to break the bond that held them to the weak humans they had once put their hope in . . . Such was the collapse of our society and I remember every part of the dark days leading up to the Battle of Corruption . . ." She paused for a moment, closing her eyes as she lifted her hand away from the wood. "What I am trying to say is that I seek no claim on Tamli . . ."
'Why not?' Finca hissed as Nethial cringed, feeling the odd power increase in intensity and become more painful. 'There is nothing stopping you from trying to take him back now.'
"You heard about my fall from grace, I assume. That I embraced dark powers best left unspoken . . . and how I lost my relationship with Raoul gradually over time until everything crumbled the moment when I tried to choke him to death," Nethial admitted, understanding slowly that her confession was the first time she had ever truthfully revealed the reason for why her own child had turned against her.
"She tells the truth, certainly you can see that," Tyst growled in agreement with Nethial's words, trying to help her in getting Finca to understand.
'I . . . I am acting as if I was a hatchling once more,' Finca whispered as Nethial felt the cords dissolve into nothing and she breathed a sigh of relief. 'Tyst, you don't know what I have been through to get to this point. I have been the vessel for two different spirits, had numerous offspring over the years, and yet I still feel as if Nethial is here to reclaim what was hers to begin with. It was only after her death and the end of Amia's unholy project that Tamli and I even started to consider a relationship between us. I gave him time to grieve and make his decision-'
"You didn't give him a choice," Nethial interrupted, opening her eyes back up to see that she had gotten Verdra's attention with her statement. "I may have still been a spirit then but I kept watch on Tamli over the years. It was the only thing I could do other than linger in a semi-conscious state while waiting for Corruption to decide my fate for how I acted when I tried to turn against it."
"Mother, listen to reason. While I understand your connection to Tamli to some degree, I believe Nethial is correct. Your refusal to let him go is preventing both of you from moving on." Verdra snorted, the look in her eyes reminding Nethial of the fact that even she was affected by the death of white dragoness.
"Verdra is right," Malie added, opening her eyes as Nethial noticed her trembling had ceased. "I sense much heartache and sorrow within you, Finca. The death of Rados's siblings was but one step towards your attitude of resentfulness towards the resurrected former-rider Nethial. Having Tamli taken from you and forced to watch his slow death from a disease you could do nothing to treat only increased your desire to ensure he would be yours forever-"
Finca's raspy hiss signaled her displeasure with how true Malie was at revealing the problem but, after the interruption by the irritate spirit, the dragoness continued, "Having been the host for both the Protector Makiar and doomed spirit Szara, Tamli's own mother, you knew from each of them what it felt like to lose someone you cared deeply about but nothing prepared you for the crushing blow of his death. Your recklessness afterwards proved how much you suffered without him, even going so far as to give up one of your own eggs to be watched over by the surviving son you had with Tamli. Following the attack on your life by Jormundur, you claim you were too injured to go search for Verdra's egg or to see how Rados was doing raising his own sibling, yet after you were healed and rested from the encounter you failed to act because you were simply scared of what you would find. While hiding here in these dark tunnels like a coward, you were approached with offers of being in powerful positions, but you denied such requests and tried everything to get away from the painful memories of losing the only one you ever felt truly comfortable around . . ."
"Finca," Nethial commented, gently easing away from the wall, "you know from Mirage that I loathed Tamli after he left once my grief at never seeing him again had passed. Once Corruption found me and I willingly submitted to its dark powers, I discovered that deep in my heart I wanted nothing more than to see him suffer for what he had done by leaving me unclaimed and pregnant. I had always thought he would be my future husband but during the years following my death, as my mind slowly began to break apart, my thoughts of him turned to nothing but malice and hatred. The more time I spent thinking of him, the greater my desire for vengeance became until I lost all sanity and was later revived into a world vastly different from how I had left it." Clenching a hand, Nethial forced herself to keep her breathing steady as she heard Tyst growl uneasily.
"I honestly don't remember much of the first few moments of my restored life," she admitted as she continued. "There was panic at first for being able to breathe again after thousands of years, but I somehow forced myself to crawl until I found a small cave as if only to give me a feeling of familiarity. In the time I spent as a spirit, I had nothing to do or see and simply existed in a realm of bleakness and vast emptiness. This was why I found the dark area and isolated myself in it, hoping to be left alone with my broken thoughts. When Narssia came to me, I was severely dehydrated and nearing hysteria but one look at the black dragoness was all that it took to get my scattered attention focused on her. It wasn't until dark mist was seeping from my body and my limbs felt as if they were on fire that I noticed for the first time how her eyes had changed to vast pools of blank whiteness. By the time Corruption's energy and essence was drained from my body, I was already about to pass out but then Arxa had to make herself known to me by entering my fragile mind and ripping everything she could find into shreds only to cover her own tracks should I have been discovered. My sanity lost, I dimly stared after her as she turned and left, finding out later that she carried me to the dark underground of her cavern hours later once I had fallen unconscious.
"The seven years I spent down there seemed to be ages to my broken mind. I always hid from the clones as best I could and quickly learned the layout of the underground passageways. Even with the damage that had been done, I was still fast on my feet and occasionally shattered fragments of memories would come to me as if only to taunt me over my condition. I rediscovered my festering hate for Tamli after one such event and turned my efforts to learning just what the creatures that resembled him were doing. It didn't take long for me to realize they were not the hybrid I had loved - despite how similar they appeared to how he had looked when he left me - but I soon grew too fragile to care if they indeed saw me. With my limited periods of sanity, I quickly neglected to provide for my fully fleshed body and found myself taken care of by the spawn-clones of the man I had loved but now loathed." Glancing at Verdra, Nethial saw surprise and extreme interest lingering in the she-dragon's eyes as she paused to gather her thoughts. "The copies ensured I was provided with food and water but I made the choice to continue my isolation from them as best I could. I never spoke, fearing what nonsense I would utter that might give away my identity to them, and only fell deeper into madness. My exploration of the cave system eventually lead me to a small chamber that seemed perfectly built for a fire and so I created one for my own benefit, although I can say it hardly proved me with anything other than a place to scar my arms and chest with large burns . . ."
"You mean you inflicted the burns on yourself? Why would you do such a thing?" Tyst growled as Malie hummed in agreement.
"Insanity, little one, makes even the most simplest of objects become a weapon if the deranged individual is willing to use it," Nethial replied, lowering her head in shame as she averted her gaze. "Every burn made the pain of my situation a little easier to accept. I was alone, both mentally and physically. There were several times that Arxa visited me, strictly to get questions answered, but I had nothing I could tell her. How could I tell her of the darkness when I barely even knew who I was or how its very power had broken me to my core?"
'Why did you allow her to meet with you after what happened upon your rebirth? Corruption was always a threat to you with how long you were exposed to it.' For the first time since Nethial had begun to reveal most of how her life had turned for the worst, Finca spoke with such a softness to her voice that rattled the former rider who had not intended for the spirit to enter the conversation.
"I realize now just how much of a risk I was in during the times she would visit but, back then, I cared little for the interaction and only wanted to remain in her presence as little as possible," Nethial sighed as she raised her head back up and took a hesitant step forward. "My isolation from the clones proved useful when Tanui was first brought in by a number of them. I was able to determine that they had found him unconscious but my attention, however, was quickly diverted to the white fledgling that followed along behind them and continued to keep an eye on the hybrid-"
"Ladetis stayed that close to Tanui's side? Even after what the clone had done to him, done to us?" Verdra questioned, head lifting a few inches as she took a step forward out of curiosity.
Nethial briefly glanced down at her metal legs to remind herself that the wound to them she had gotten during the fighting had been fixed. "From how I understand it, Tanui was how Ladetis made sense of the violent attack that left only him out of the three hatchlings surviving. He may have blamed the clone hybrid for the act but I saw little of any fighting between them. The only time I ever noticed it was when Tanui stepped in to save my life from his own irritate dragon . . ."
'The beginning of you getting your metallic legs,' Finca hummed, almost amused as Nethial crossed her arms over her chest and sighed.
"I still can't understand why Ladetis went after me of all people but I soon found myself running for my life from a very irritated poison-spitting dragonet. Unfortunately for me, one of my legs got caught in a decaying bit of tree bark and the white fledgling caught up faster than I had anticipated. The next thing I knew, my body was completely numb in shock and Tanui was standing directly in front of me like a shield, mentally snapping at the bonded dragon over how it behaved. I felt right then that I had never known such bravery and began to become interested in the spawn-clone while trying to avoid him noticing." Sighing again, Nethial let one arm drop to place her palm on her abdomen. "If only I had known back then where that path would lead me . . ."
Closing her eyes once more, Nethial sensed Finca quietly touch her mind and then retreat, leaving her alone to her own thoughts. Telling Tamli had been the right thing to do but after how Finca had reacted when she had entered to check on Tyst . . . Hesitating, she wondered whether to tell those present in the room about her love making with Tanui in Tel-var following her reconstruction by Cambre. Based upon how her initial reveal had been perceived, the thought of having Finca more irritated with her made Nethial uneasy to say anything else.
Still torn over whether to reveal her condition to the dragons presently among her, Nethial opened her eyes to see Malie nod her head ever so slightly. Taking the sign as an indication she should admit to her pregnancy, she cleared her throat and collected her hands behind her back, feeling her palms clammy and moist. For once she was glad that her legs were no longer flesh but instead metal, otherwise they would have been shaking severely, Nethial silently mused as she paused just briefly enough to attract the attention of the three dragons and Finca.
"I never told anyone about what happened after my restoration on Tel-var by the healer Cambre. There was no reason to bring it up, especially with Tanui's deterioration soon afterwards. Yet I suspected something odd only after a month had passed, although most of that time had been spent healing both physical and emotional wounds from his sudden attack on me . . ."
"The clone lost control before? What did you do to provoke him?" Tyst questioned, lifting his head as he narrowed his eyes.
"I was not the trigger that set him off, Tyst," Nethial corrected, worried for a moment that she had been too quick to rectify his error. "I don't even know what prompted him to go after me. One minute we were talking and the next he had me in a telekinetic choke hold - similar to the one I once held Raoul in while we still lived in paradise."
"Brother, you do realize you started that incident, right? You provoked him after Mother- I mean Roylezn told us he needed his rest," Malie hummed softly, glaring at him before her attention returned to Nethial. "Please continue Nethial."
"Until I was healed, I had forgotten what it was like to be caressed by another. Granted, my body had not failed to remember the sensation but with my memories so fractured, I had no prior mental knowledge of how the experience felt. Every time Tanui touched me it seemed like there were thousands of words unspoken between us with even the lightest of brushes against my skin. Upon my recovery, we jointly embraced the new feelings that could be freely shared between us and-"
'You made love to him,' Finca snorted, less than amused as a low growl followed after her words. 'Yet from what I have heard, the clones were designed to be sterile. That is correct, is it not?'
"Most of them were but Amia had high hope for Tanui and allowed it possible for him to take a mate and produce offspring," Nethial whispered, realizing that Finca had been blatantly outright with her and instantly knew that the dragoness had already caught on to what she was trying to explain.
'So you come before us to admit that you are carrying the offspring of the cloned hybrid lunatic that ended my very life? I knew I should have just killed you to begin with,' Finca snarled as Nethial was flung backwards and slammed back into the wall she had begun to move away from.
"Mother, let her go!" Verdra growled, taking a step forward. "Tanui is dead now . . . You're dead now."
'But the child is not,' Finca snapped back as Nethial felt a sharp blow of pressure to her chest and she began to feel unstable on her own feet. 'If we allow this . . . this thing to live, imagine the danger you all are in. Its father destroyed hundreds of lives and its mother interfered with just as many through her annoying habit of not knowing when to stay out of things beyond her control.'
"That does not mean that the child will turn out the same way," Tyst snarled in agreement with Verdra. "Look how I turned out. I was raised by own brother but never knew it until after he died, yet did that harm my development in any way? I think not."
"Finca, listen to the cries of your children. I know I am not one of them but am, instead, a blood descendant of yours through the dragon Rados. While you fear for the safety of your offspring, allow me to shed some light on how this unborn child is not a threat."
As black spots began to dance before her eyes, Nethial noticed Malie had lowered her head and slight tremors ran across the body of the gray dragonet. Apparently the plea from the young dragoness had at least reasoned with Finca, Nethial assumed as she fought for a breath. Several minutes passed before the screech of metal resounded through the room and the former rider could only watch as dozens of tiny tears began to appear all over her metal legs.
Determined to keep a calm composure, Nethial stayed silent as several large pieces of metal were ripped completely off their structure and fell to the floor, revealing delicate inner wiring that was connected to a central thick cable which traveled from her foot up to her hip where it met actual flesh. More large gashes scored her artificial limb but she continued to not make a sound, noticing how the three dragons seemed to be amazed at her ability to ensure such humiliation.
'I can easily rip you to shreds,' Finca snarled darkly as another piece of metal covering broke off and fell onto the floor below with a loud clang.
"Do not make another move."
The voice with its low, raspy growl quickly made sense to Nethial as white scales flickered across her limited field of vision. Purple irises scanned the room briefly as the scale-flier entered and Verdra immediately turned around to face the hybrid as it had taken its dragon forme. Even Malie and Tyst lowered their heads out of respect as a soft snarl rose from the creature as it calmly walked past them.
'Why even come?' Finca hissed as Nethial fought to move a hand to place it on the closest piece of wood nearest her for stability. 'I have seen you interact with her and you act as if she is nothing to you anymore. She set the lunatic free to allow him to kill me, Tamli.'
Tamli was hesitant to respond, something Nethial picked up on as the room seemed to swirl into a vast mix of colors. "I realize that my involvement puzzles you but your appearance has rattled me from the moment I first sensed it. With the darkness of Corruption defeated and the clone army reduced to dust, I had hoped your spirit could find peace but I see now that is not the case. Nethial knew what she was doing because she did it out of love for him-"
'Love for the clone that killed me . . . Tamli, love, I can't believe you take her side over mine. Look at all we've been through. How does that compare in the least to what she did? I will say it again: she let Tanui escape so he could kill me.'
"As you were quick to point out, it was her death that made me grow closer to you and allowed us to develop the relationship we had. All I ask from you is that you remember our own struggles and that you leave her be."
The faint snarl from Finca that filled the room after Tamli spoke sounded unnaturally high-pitched to her ears as Nethial closed her eyes and collapsed to the floor, blacking out even as the deceased dragoness reluctantly set her free from the vast mental hold that had been placed on her in a fit of rage . . .