Chapter 69-Dark Destiny
Narssia felt tired when she finally regained consciousness, although the area she was met with was not the same location as where she had collapsed. The vast expanse that greeted her was a muted grey color and seemed to stretch on until the horizon in every direction, leaving her very uneasy about where she currently was and why Geer was not with her. It was only minutes later that a cool breeze against her scales revealed to her exactly where she was and the thought terrified her as her claws dug into the sand-like terrain underneath. The inner depths of her mind had always been the dwelling place of Arxa and she had accepted that, choosing to leave it alone as best she could. Now with the environment around her so lacking in color, she knew that she had been drawn into the domain of the dark presence by some unfamiliar force.
'It didn't take you long to realize your location,' Arxa hissed slowly as Narssia retreated a step and flared out her wings, knowing that the terrain was unfamiliar to her as it belonged to the dark essence which had invaded her mind and taken over.
'Why am I here? Arxa, answer me!' Narssia snarled as the malicious spirit shrieked in delight, the wind increasing in strength and power as it rushed past her.
'You are here to fulfill a promise,' the vengeful spirit hummed as unease caused Narssia to move around slightly. 'A promise made even before your conception, dear one. It was written in the very stars that from the lineage of the Dark Dragon Nira would come one whose heart was so black that even the very essence of darkness would bow down before it and obey any command given.'
'What does that have to do with me? My heart was never-'
Arxa's shrill hiss interrupted Narssia as the black essence slowly began to rise up from the ground in the form of a thick green mist. 'It has everything to do with you, my host. From the moment you were hatched by Vanz, darkness was already seeping into your body and influencing your thoughts. Why else would you try to seek a relationship with Mirage? He was a dragon born thousands of years before you came to be, yet you felt it acceptable to go after him as your mate . . . We both know how worked out, don't we?'
'It was the work of an unhinged revived Protector,' Narssia whispered, lowering her head as she sensed what Arxa would naturally bring up next.
'But what about your own precious rider? He, too, was killed in cold blood by the same dragoness. Your killing of Meta was all your own, Narssia. While you try and act as if I was already in control by that point, you and I both know that you were the one who slaughtered an innocent fellow scale-flier. If anyone should be blamed for the murders I committed while you were my host, then should it not be your fault? I was, after all, only using your fangs and claws as my own weapons . . .'
Narssia was momentarily taken back by the statement. She had feared that very same result ever since she took back control of her body after seeing how the other dragons acted towards her. Those that had fought against her would be thrilled to place the blame solely on her head alone while ignoring the fact that Arxa ever existed separate from herself. Even Tamli would be likely to be swayed against her once he discovered just how much she had partnered with Amia during the cloning project. Closing her eyes, bitter tears dripped down her scaled cheeks as a mocking laugh from the dark spirit rattled her further.
'When Vanz died, I did nothing to prevent it from happening. With Mirage, I was gleefully ignorant of what had been done until later. Of all that I have seen and witnessed in the years since my hatching, you are by far the worst individual to have ever come into my life. I was just starting to cope with their deaths when you first came to me, told me lies just so I would accept you as being my equal. Once you forced me to seek out Nethial upon her revival into our land, I knew then I was dealing with a presence far more powerful than I had expected. I tried to fight back but you had gained so much influence and power by then that my attempts failed to even faze you . . .'
'Narssia,' Arxa hummed, the green mist of her true physical form pulsating slightly as it gathered together. 'I am not the enemy. As I told you many times before, it is those who reject Corruption's gift that are our foes-'
Snarling, Narssia reopened her eyes as smoke drifted from her nostrils. 'That's not the truth! You are nothing but an embodiment of Corruption's malice and darkness used to turn me back into its grasp, Arxa. I embraced its power selflessly when Vanz was my partner but I have since made peace with my past actions and vowed never to become that desperate ever again! No matter what you say or do to me, I will no longer depend upon that black magic to sustain me, even if the price I must pay is my very soul.'
It took Arxa several minutes to find a respond to what Narssia had said, allowing the dragoness time to try and find the peace Windra had asked of her during her time spent in the past so she could tap into Corruption's dark powers without putting herself at risk of falling under its influence once again. From her point of view, there was nothing the malicious essence could take from her that would force her back into the oppressive control of the black magic that had ruled much of her life. The time for her to fight back was upon her and she had to make a final stand if only to protect those that had never given up hope that she could be redeemed and set free.
'You mentioned that I could do nothing to you, yet you failed to include those two precious new descendants of yours. Certainly you realize I can take them from you . . . isolate you back in the darkness where you belong. Vanz was a fool to think you could be trusted, even I saw that back before I revealed myself to you.' Arxa snarled, allowing the mist to rise up and take a dragon-like form nearly identical to Narssia's own. 'All I have to do is threaten the eggs and you'll come crawling back to me, begging for mercy. For such a dragon that claims to be independent, you certainly rely on others quite frequently . . .'
Despite herself, Narssia could not control the sharp hiss that rose from her throat at the mention of Arxa harming the eggs. They were the only things that enabled her to continue a connection to her dead rider. Even with the unnatural method of mating, given that Vanz had been dead and restored to life with a dragon body only to protect her from the darkness her past self had descended into, it still gave her hope to see those two glistening eggshells and realize she had a reason to continue to fight against the blackness which had invaded her very soul.
'You wouldn't dare to harm them!' Narssia feebly growled, retreating several steps as the dark mist-dragon opened its eyes to reveal vast pools of blank whiteness that sent chills down her spine. 'You were the one in control when they were laid. I heard the tenderness in your normally coarse voice as you spoke to me of them. Hurting them would hurt you, Arxa.'
The embodiment of Arxa snorted, taking a step forward as its long tail curved around from behind it, a large plate of metal taking up much of the creature's tail as a wide groove appeared cut away from it to make it resemble a scythe. 'What are you muttering about? I told you that I only decided to make it seem like we were finally getting along just to get closer to Jormundur so I could turn him completely over to Corruption's darkness-'
'Yet you were unhappy when he attacked us,' Narssia snapped back, letting a soft snarl rise from her throat.'You shrieked in anger and rage, chiding him for delving deeper into the black magic than he was supposed to go. I know I should have seen your betrayal coming but I honestly thought things were getting better between us . . .'
'It is the way of the darkness to twist the mind of their host. Nearly all the things Vanz did were done because he thought it was helping those around him. Why else would paradise have been lost? He trusted the power of the magic he was bestowed with, unlike you.'
Arxa growled, urging the black mist to break apart and form two separate dragons as she used the creations to attack Narssia from different sides. Body quivering, Narssia threw herself into the air to avoid the first one, balancing herself as her tail smacked the second shadowy scale-flier to the ground where it shattered and returned to being mist before vanishing back into the grey ground. Hearing the initial mist beast snarl as it tried to lunge at her again, she opened her maw to send down a burst of fire but the creature surprised her by biting down on her tail and throwing her onto the pale earth.
Pain radiating from her entire body as she struggled back to her feet, Narssia wearily blinked before going on the retreat as the shadowy mist snapped at her and charged forwards. Sharp teeth met tough scales as the creature tried to go for her neck but was met with a scaled shoulder instead, although the action left the black dragoness winded as something within the bleak environment felt as if it was sapping her strength. Knocking the beast back with a blow from her tail, she heard it shriek before dissolving into black mist and seeping into the ground.
Confused, she glanced around to ensure she was again alone before breathing a sigh of relief. Whatever was making her weaker seemed to be affecting Arxa's abilities as well, although she had never seen the dark essence make such creatures before during her time as its host. It seemed that certain things were only created far away from her own eyes, she surmised as a shrill hiss from the black spirit which had claimed her as its host put her on edge.
'Arxa, are you behind this odd sensation of weakness that I've been experiencing?' Narssia asked as she sensed the irritated dark presence nearby, realizing it had used the conflict to hide from her.
'I am certainly not,' Arxa snapped back as Narssia gingerly stepped to the side, feeling a steady throb of pain start in her shoulder from where the mist dragon had tried to attack her neck.
Tamli didn't hesitate long as he saw Nethial collapse to the ground, brushing past Finca's essence to go tenderly lift the unconscious woman onto his back. He snarled softly at his formerly bonded mate before taking the mother of his firstborn down to see Aurelia, hoping she wasn't severely hurt by what had been done. If he had only sensed what had been going on sooner then perhaps she wouldn't be in the situation she was now . . .
"Tamli?"
It took Tamli several seconds to realize Geer was also waiting on Aurelia's aid, although he wasn't sure exactly why the blind dragon would need to seek out their healer. Pushing the thought away for the moment, he was about to move past the unseeing scale-flier when he sensed a brief flicker of panic cross the mind of the one who had called out to him.
"What are you doing down here? I thought you were with Narssia, Geer," Tamli growled as the sensation of panic again touched his own thoughts and he realized this time it hadn't come from the blind dragon standing in front of him.
"That's the reason why I'm here. She- Arxa came back and Narssia went crazy-"
Snorting in amusement at how Geer had phrased it, Tamli tentatively brushed his mind against Nethial's as he wanted to confirm for himself that she was still alive and that the life she carried inside wasn't harmed. "Define crazy, Geer. We've seen odd things before, remember? I doubt this could top anything you've heard about me."
"When Narssia was fighting Arxa's returning presence, bits of stone from the floor rose up into the air. I could sense that they gave off wisps of black magic . . . Corruption's magic, Tamli."
"You mean Narssia was unsuccessful in destroying Corruption's link to her?" Tamli asked softly as he glanced past Geer to see that in the room behind the blind dragon lay Narssia, her unconscious form twitching as black mist occasionally cloaked her darkened scales. "Have you told Sitedal what happened?"
Geer growled as smoke rose from his nostrils. "No, he's still heavily injured last I checked. It would do him no good in his current condition to know that his mother is still unable to free herself from the darkness."
"You have a point," Tamli muttered as he noticed Aurelia enter from a back passageway to check on Narssia. "Excuse me for a moment, Geer."
Moving past the blind dragon, Tamli approached Aurelia as he noticed the mist around Narssia's body flicker slightly and felt a twinge of pain echo out from the weakened dragoness. With several scratches on her arms and her hair tied back into a ponytail, their main healer angrily wiped away sweat from her brow and took a step back just before he growled softly to inform her that he requested her presence. As he waited for her to acknowledge she had heard him, he noticed her usual white shirt and black pants were stained with splatters of blood and the sight reminded him of how he had first seen Tanui after the insane clone had taken Finca from him.
"What can I do for you?" Aurelia questioned without turning to face him, although her voice showed how weak she still was after giving birth and then having to treat the injured without being given much time to recover.
"If it is of no inconvenience, Aurelia, I would like for you to examine Nethial. Finca recently took out her long-held aggression on the former rider and I want to ensure that she is relatively unharmed from the event." Tamli willingly chose to leave out the detail that Nethial was pregnant, seeing as Aurelia had no need of knowing currently that their most recent addition to the Compound's human members was carrying the offspring of the most dangerous clone.
"Given that Dhran is currently watching Nathan, I think I spare a few minutes to look her over."
Curiosity perked Tamli's interest as she led him to an isolated corner of the room where he could lay down Nethial, finally prompting him to ask why she had called Nathaniel by a shortened version of his name. Laughing quietly, Aurelia replied that it was simply to save time as she helped him move the injured woman onto a small cot that had been emptied of its prior inhabitant. Once the former rider was safety on the white material, Tamli stepped back to allow their healer to examine Nethial's current condition.
Other than Narssia, Nethial was the only other inhabitant in the room, both unconscious as Tamli felt another sting of pain ripple out to him from the black dragoness. There were several other similar sized cots as the one the dragon was on thrown against one of the walls but most of the space had been cleared to make room for larger medical equipment. Glancing back at Geer for a moment, a sense of worry and unease reached Tamli as he realized slowly that the blind dragon had begun to fall in love with Narssia and wondered if the dragoness felt the same way about the scale-flier that once been partnered to him.
" . . . Tamli? I need you to focus here. Why didn't you tell me she was pregnant?"
"It was not necessary for you to know as I only wished for you to examine her and determine how severe any injuries might be," he raspily snarled in reply, attention returning to the woman he had loved once as Raoul's warning from when she had first come to the Compound resounded in his head.
"I would say that is something important I should know," Aurelia snapped back, glaring at him as she went to check on Narssia once more. "Not that I have any say in it but is it-"
"It's not mine. We might share similar genes but that life she is carrying inside is not from me." Letting a low growl punctuate the end of his words, Tamli turned to return to Geer's side, only to be stopped by Aurelia.
"What do you mean it has similar genes? Are you hiding something else from me now . . . ?" She paused for a second, realization coming over her as Tamli was certain he could see what little color she had drain from her face. "You mean that thing is . . . is his? She's carrying that psycho copy's child?"
Sighing, Tamli lowered his head as he realized he had to inform her on all she had missed recently. Her delivery of Nathaniel into the world had severely limited her interaction with the dragons of the Compound and the fight against Corruption had not helped her recover that lost time.
"The majority of the clones were created to be sterile, except for Tanui. He was deemed the prize achievement of Amia's work and, as such, the demented grief-stricken former rider made it possible for him to engage in intercourse. I am unaware of how exactly Nethial made love to him but from my best guess, she isn't even two months along yet . . . However I fear things may not progress smoothly for her . . ."
"What do you mean? You said the clone was capable of passing along its genes so what is there to be worried about?"
Lifting his head back to its regular height, Tamli made eye contact with Aurelia as he growled softly in warning. "There is a reason why there is only one known true human-dragon hybrid in existence, Aurelia. Other than the vast differences in size between the two species, it comes down to how much the child reflects its more savage half. Dragons are usually only gravid for a month or two before laying their eggs while humans such as yourself are pregnant for nine months." He briefly glanced at Nethial's unconscious frame, wishing she didn't have to go through the pain the next few months would bring her. "Because of this, the offspring grow quickly and are fully developed and ready for birth by about four to five months. Any visible signs of the pregnancy begin shortly once the carrier of the hybrid fetus is about two months along, which Nethial is almost at that stage. Due to the fact that dragon offspring create eggshells around themselves to protect and further develop, the human blood within the young often cancels that instinct out, although it does bring along certain unpleasant experiences as a consequence . . ."
"What kind of unpleasant experiences? Also, how do you know so much about this? I thought that there were no records on your birth . . ." Pulling on the piece of string that held her hair up in a ponytail to ensure it would hold properly, Aurelia seemed interested in his knowledge as she stopped midway between the two injured individuals.
"During my time being dead, I inquired about my birth mother's experience from Szara, given the dragoness spirit had been the reason for my creation in the first place. She was hesitant about giving details but I pressured her into telling me so I would understand just why there were not more hybrids walking around. Terrible pain, that's all she would say at first when I asked about how it had felt for the woman who carried me for six months-"
"Tamli, I hate to interrupt but you just said that the hybrid fetuses are ready to be born by about four or five months. How did she manage not to deliver you sooner?"
"Because of Szara's presence," Tamli whispered, closing his eyes for a second, "because she sensed the pain of the woman that she had possessed to create this new life. It was only because of how Szara interacted with things that she managed to make it bearable for my birth mother to not go into labor any sooner than she did. When the time came for my birth, though, it still made no difference . . . The strain killed the one who carried me into the world and the dragoness spirit that had watched over her knew nothing could be done to save the fragile woman even as my first cry spilt the night air. Even with the instinct to form an eggshell no longer present, the offspring are larger than expected due to their mixed blood and, as it was in my case, the child is born but the act of delivery breaks several bones in the process and the mother bleeds to death before help can be found."
The silence that enfolded them once Tamli finished stretched on for several minutes until Aurelia softly asked, "Do you know the name of the woman that gave birth to you?"
"Autuma . . . That's all I could get Szara to tell me when I asked that very question before she would clam up and walk away." Tamli's gaze hardened, his attention quickly turning back to Nethial as he watched the shallow rise and fall of her chest to distract himself.
Aurelia carefully approached him, placing her hand on his scaley shoulder as he briefly glanced at her before resuming his observation of the woman he had a son with. "I know you're worried about Nethial but she's strong, Tamli. After what all she's been through, it would have broken a normal person but she survived and lived to tell about it." Hesitating a moment, she tried to find the right words to say before whispering softly, "I'll keep her under heavy surveillance and run numerous tests to check for internal bleeding and broken bones. It won't end the same way it ended for Autuma, I promise."
Narssia still felt uneasy as she kept glancing around for the dark spirit that had become a part of her. Even though they fought and bickered numerous times over the years, she had grown to see Arxa start to shed that tough exterior for a softer outlook. Once the two eggs had been laid, she hadn't expected the black essence to sound so caring about them and had truly been shocked to see how much it cared for their well-being. Taking a step forward, she stumbled before catching herself and let a low growl rise from her throat as her mind felt hazy.
'Arxa, are you certain you aren't causing this?' She asked as she dug her talons into the soft sand-like ground under her to help stabilize herself.
'For the thousandth time, I am not the reason for your apparent sudden onset of weakness,' Arxa snarled in response, the normal coarseness of her voice nearly nonexistent.
'Something has to be the reason for it though. Is it like this always for you? A sense of confusion and uncertainty no matter what you do?'
Arxa's sharp hiss of anger signaled Narssia that she was only irritating the dark spirit and so she elapsed into silence, closing her eyes as she tried to focus on the peace that Windra had suggested. It was difficult for her to be back among the blackness that had consumed her in the first place but she knew that without calming herself the fight would be over before it even began. Taking a deep breath, she heard a faint growl echo from nearby before feeling the vast might of Corruption's magic press against her and try to resist her controlling its dangerous abilities.
'Sitting there with your eyes closed won't help,' Arxa bitterly snarled in disgust as Narssia twitched briefly. 'We both know I won't go down without a fight.'
Focus still on finding that sense of peace she had been able to find back during her time spent in the past, Narssia ignored the comment from Arxa and subconsciously felt shadows lick at her right foretaloned leg. She had to trust that Windra had known what he was doing when he agreed to help her control the darkness that had settled deep in her heart. Despite what she was trying to achieve, her mind still wandered back to what the evil spirit had said when it mentioned a being whose very identity pulsated with the vilest blackness that even Corruption obeyed it without question. Unsure of what it had meant at the time, she had chosen to ignore the idea that maybe those words were about her after all she had gone through since her hatching.
'Arxa, what did you mean when you mentioned a being whose heart was so black that even Corruption obeyed it without question?' Narssia asked suddenly as she opened her eyes to find that the black spirit had created another mist-dragon to keep her company in the vast bleakness of their current environment.
'I mentioned a prophecy that was spoken long ago, one that has yet to be fulfilled,' Arxa replied as the mist-dragon blinked and curled up on the grey ground to await its orders. 'As I told you, the creature that will make this event come true is destined to come from the lineage of Nira. You are a descendant of his and one of the most powerful she-dragons that currently exists-'
Snarling at the words being spoken, Narssia snapped back, 'That title would not be mine if innocents were kept unharmed! Amia upset the balance of nature when he created the cloned hybrids, you know this. It is them who continued to kill everything in their path just to get to Tamli, Arxa!'
'I am aware of that.'
'Then stop hiding and face me! If you refuse then I guess I will have earned the right to consider you a coward in your own domain . . .' Narssia knew she was tempting fate by insulting Arxa but nothing else had worked to get the dark spirit to come out and meet her face-to-face since she had arrived in the barren expanse.
The low, agitated snarl that echoed out from the bleak area around her gave Narssia hope that her words had finally forced Arxa into action. She noticed the mist-dragon shatter into pieces suddenly and felt a rush of cold wind as the fragments of the creature rose up into the air together before a strange green mist seemed to come up from under the ground. As another growl unnerved her enough to force her to take a step back, Narssia noticed that the pieces met the green mist and elongated into various parts of a dragon's body before combining together to create a scaled beast that was only a few inches taller than she was.
Four pure ivory white horns curved backwards as the scale-flier opened its eyes to reveal the vast blank emptiness that Narssia knew was Arxa's whitened irises from the times when the dark spirit would take control over her. Grey scales coated the creature's entire body and its pair of wings had a small white spike jetting out from the main bone in the front while the dark leathery material trailed behind. Similar smaller spikes ran from the base of its tail to the tip of its neck as its four talons per leg shimmered under a faint layer of shadows that cloaked the entire creation. Its triangular shaped snout tapered to a point as two small fangs stuck out from its upper jaw; the thick, muscular tail also having the same scythe-like appearance from the mist beasts as it gleamed like polished metal.
Slightly uneasy from seeing the creature so nearly exact to her own frame, Narssia briefly wondered if Arxa had created this just to mess with her mind and make her lower her guard. She shook her head, snorting as she dug her talons into the soft earth under her. The scale-flier had to be what the dark spirit imagined itself to be, she reasoned as she felt ice crystals start to form around her maw as she readied herself to blast the opposing dragon's wings with a frozen stream to slow it down.
Ice spread over the grey's dragons wings as Narssia took advantage of her speed to have the first strike, pouring her anger and regret into freezing the very creature that was the embodiment of her most hated foe. She heard Arxa snarl harshly at being attacked but cared little about the well-being of the malicious spirit and followed up the attack with a blast of shadow that, although not the same as Corruption's darkness, had the intended effect that she had hoped it would cause. It confused her at first when she unleashed the black smoky substance into the air because she had actually been trying to use the dark magic that had tainted her but the shriek of pain from the scale-flier made her realize that she had somehow gained the element of shadow without having been in contact with Finca.
Throwing herself into the air, she spread her wings and roared in challenge to the grounded grey dragon before sending down a barrage of fireballs to inflict further injury. To Narssia's surprise, the creature seemed to absorb the attack without any damage and even defrosted its wings from the gained heat while trying to toss her out of the sky with a strong gust of wind. Snarling in anger at seeing the same tactic that Jormundur had often used, she retaliated by spinning and shocking the scale-flier with a jolt of electricity as the movement prevented the excess static energy from harming her wings as it had done in previous attempts. Giving her wings a hard flap to stay airborne as she straightened back out, she tried to quickly remember what she had gained from Rados when Arxa had killed him. Time travel could have been from either of her sons or even from Rados himself yet she thought there was a something else that she had obtained from his dying frame.
Arxa, seizing upon her host's lack of attention to the area around her, used the dragonic embodiment of her essence to lift up a large portion of the sand-like ground with a gust of wind and then froze it around Narssia after ensuring it completely encased the black dragoness . . .
The sharp pain of something burning into his shoulder startled Tamli at first but he quickly realized that Aurelia had taken a step back and had dropped the contact between them. Glancing at Narssia's unconscious frame, he saw the shadows consume her scales and knew that whatever she was currently facing was causing her the agony that she was reflecting out to everyone around her. Unwilling to risk touching her mind and discovering just what her situation was, he lowered his head and turned his attention towards Nethial as he watched the shallow rise and fall of her chest.
"Tamli, would you mind staying with Geer until Narssia wakes up? I'd like to but now . . ."
"It is not a problem," he assured her before turning around and walking over to the blind dragon that had once been bonded to him for a time.
Even being farther away from Narssia failed to decrease the sting of pain he felt every now and then but Tamli did his best to avoid showing his discomfort as Geer curled up on the floor to wait. Watching Aurelia fuss over Nethial soothed some of his fears as he tried to think of how best to approach his former love with the details he knew she would need to survive the coming months. If she was as stubborn as she had been back before Raoul was born then it would be difficult to get her to understand that the life she was carrying inside might just kill her or seriously hurt her without realizing its own actions.
"Why haven't you shifted yet?"
Geer's sudden question startled Tamli from his thoughts and he snarled, snapping at the blind dragon out of instinct before realizing what had been said. Why hadn't he shifted back into being a human? He enjoyed having the freedom to switch between the two parts of his identity but it seemed easier to forget his problems and live by instinct while embracing his more dragonic side. The psychotic clone had done the opposite by always staying human and . . . Growling, he pushed the thought away before it could stir up emotions that he would rather leave buried for the time being.
"I don't know how to answer that, Geer. My soul mate was a dragon but my first love, the very woman whose life is in danger now, has always been human. I suppose I just want to hide away from the pain in a form that finds it easier to deal with . . ."
"I understand," Geer hummed, "because I have also gone through the same thing myself. For the first several months after I hatched, I had no sight and had to use my other senses to move through the world. Once I unlocked my inner electricity, I began to see things around me through their electromagnetic field. It wasn't perfect vision but it was better than what I had and I cherish my element because of it . . . because I was given a second chance at something I never had to begin with."
The comment made Tamli hesitate as he listened to Geer. He had never known the blind dragon's reason for having electricity as its element but it seemed ideally gifted the more he thought about it. Tanui had given a similar source of hope to Nethial when he found her and, as much as he hated to admit it, her current happiness had to have come from how the clone had made her feel while it had been alive.
"Geer, I think I could give you a similar experience, if you'd allow it. There's no pressure to accept my offer . . . I just thought it might give you a new outlook on things."
Geer snorted, lifting his head slightly. "Why would I say no? Of course I accept your offer, Tamli."
Nodding his head, Tamli leaned over and pressed the tip of his snout against Geer's eyes. He quickly informed the blind dragon that the pain it would feel would only be temporary and that the gift he was giving it was something he should have done quite a long time ago. It had been one of the things he had asked Mirage about during the time he had been dead but now he realized why it had felt so important back then. Geer had been born without sight but he could give the dragon the one thing it never had so it could be free to admit its feelings for Narssia.
It only took a small portion of his strength but Tamli tried to make the process painless for Geer as he allowed his aura to spread over the dragon's eyes and correct what had been damaged before it was even hatched. He briefly wondered if Finca had been in any danger when she mated with Nira for the scale-flier before him to have hatched without sight but quickly silenced the thought as he lifted his snout away and sighed. Geer had never admitted to having feelings for Narssia but he had, instead, sensed the connection from the injured dragoness as it waged war against the darkness that thrived inside of it.
"I'm done, Geer. You can move your head now." Tamli tried to hold back the weariness he was feeling from his voice but a low growl of concern from Geer signaled he had not been successful with hiding his current condition.
"Tamli, if you're tired then you don't-" Geer paused as he blinked, finding colors dance before his vision that he had never experienced before. "Did you . . . give me sight? Why?"
"Because every individual deserves a second chance," Tamli whispered softly as he joined the dragon on the floor, turning his head to better see Nethial so he would be aware the moment she awoke.
"You didn't have to exhaust yourself just to give me sight, Tamli! I know you're still injured from the fight with the clone so the best thing for you to do right now is rest. Sure you have a faster healing rate than most dragons but it isn't good for you to be up moving around so soon after what's happened . . ."
Letting a low snarl ripple from the back of his throat in protest, Tamli focused a single amethyst iris on Geer. "I can't do that," he growled, wincing as another flicker of pain from Narssia brushed against his mind. "Every time I close my eyes I see him killing her. I need to keep myself busy so I won't think about it and then remember he electrocuted himself to death before I could avenge Finca. That is the reason why I haven't shifted back! I can't stand to see how broken my body is right now because I failed to go to my mate in time to save her."
Geer blinked as Tamli finished his outburst and lowered his head onto his forelegs, the formerly blind dragon's new icy blue irises gleaming with life. "Surely I've experienced worse, Tamli. You need to realize that there was nothing you could have done to get to Finca any faster than you had. Tan- The clone was determined to use everything he had to make you miserable and he chose his final action to be ending the life of the one you cherished the most so you would be distraught when you fought him. He wanted to use your fragile emotional state to his advantage to kill you as he had killed her."
Sitting up, Tamli sighed and made the conscious choice to shift back into his human forme, the words Geer had spoken reminding him that he had done only what he could have to save Finca. Clenching his teeth to keep the pain of his transformation at bay, he watched as the blue dragon glanced over his broken frame with an anguished expression. He could feel the swelling in his left knee had gone down some but, as he gingerly tried to touch it, the pain still made him grimace. The numerous scratches he had gotten from the fight and burns he had received following the clone's abrupt death had been bandaged up but he sensed that the problem with his back had not yet been resolved as it twinged angrily with every breath he took. His right arm felt quite sore and he reached up with his left hand to massage the bruised shoulder from where Tanui had smacked him with the staff to cause him to fall to the ground.
"You see now what I meant!" He muttered as he saw from the corner of his eye Nethial twitch. "Every breath I take causes me pain, Geer. I can barely walk because of the swelling in my left knee and thus figured it would be easier to pass off my problems if I was cloaked in scales."
"Those should have started to heal by now," Geer growled as Tamli moved slightly to get comfortable and felt his breath catch in his throat as a spasm of pain flared up from his injured back.
Once he had his breath back, he wheezed, "They would have but for any healing to start I have to at least be conscious. As my wounds indicate, I was out cold for much of the two days following the fight and I'm certain Aurelia would say the same thing if you asked her."
Concern for the hybrid caused Geer to snort softly as another spasm of pain caught Tamli unexpectedly and he closed his eyes, leaning forward as he curled his hands into fists to prevent them from trembling badly. There hadn't been this much agony when Nethial interacted with him upon his awakening, he realized as a sudden cough shook his feeble frame and he tasted blood in the back of his mouth. Glancing up at the blue dragon as he weakly reopened his eyes, his expression told more than he could bare to say in words.
"Aurelia, would you mind taking a look at Tamli? I believe I can keep an eye on Nethial and Narssia while you examine him, if that is acceptable."
Tamli was thankful that Geer had spoken up as his body quivered and he uncurled a hand to brace it against the floor to help give him balance. He couldn't explain why he was suddenly feeling as worn out as he was but he put the thought from his mind as Aurelia walked over and placed a comforting hand on his left shoulder. Blinking, he tried to focus on her but whatever she was saying seemed to be drowned out by the fact that Nethial was regaining consciousness as he saw her open her eyes and glance around in mild distress before finding him. For a brief second he thought she might have mistaken him for Tanui but her expression soon darkened and he felt resentfulness ripple out towards him from her mind.
" . . . Tamli, how long have you been awake? You know your body needs to recover from the damage it received during your fight with Tanui. Answer me!" Aurelia fussed as his back twinged painfully and a low hiss escaped him before he could stop himself.
"He's been up moving around ever since I visited him," Nethial admitted as her soft voice carried across the room. "I was the one that pushed him to do things before he was ready and am sorry if he is feeling the effects of it now."
"Net . . ." Tamli whispered as another spasm of pain from his back nearly took his breath. "It's okay, I'll be fine. I have survived much worse."
"You weren't this injured though," she snapped back as she gingerly rose to a sitting position. "Sure there was the time you first experienced Dragonisicm but you recovered from it rather quickly once you were moved out of its range . . ."
"You experienced the effects of Dragonisicm? I figured its hindrance towards our kind would not be as pronounced due to your mixed blood. Tell me, how did the toxic plant make you feel?"
Geer's question caused a feeling of unease in Tamli as he closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. Something had been plaguing the farthest reaches of his mind ever since the fight with Tanui but, until now, he had been uncertain of what troubled him. With the mention of Dragonisicm, an understanding had taken place that revealed to him more knowledge than the dark clone had ever intended to admit.
"Aurelia, I would prefer an isolated examination, if that is possible." Barely opening his eyes, he motioned with a nod towards the small back passage she had first arrived from as the location he had chosen.
Helping him to his feet, Aurelia allowed Tamli to use her as a brace until he felt steady enough to support his own weight. Once moderately certain he would not fall, the two slowly made their way over to the dimly lit corridor that Aurelia had used as a back entrance from her own chambers. Slipping inside the darkened stone path, Tamli moved over to the closest wall he could find to give her some room as his palms pressed against slime covered bricks that looked far older than most of the Compound itself.
The aged mortar around them was covered with numerous cracks but several small orbs lay inside a narrow alcove hidden just behind the entrance to the room they had left behind. Briefly walking into the enclosed space, Aurelia returned with two glistening stones as the objects seemed to detect the presence of energy and swirled to life with a muted blue color, getting a soft hum of approval from Tamli as he started to remove the cloak Nethial had given him upon his reawakening.
"I see you keep a pile of light stones within easy reach," he muttered thoughtfully as Aurelia sat the glowing objects down on the well-worn path and watched him as he slid out of the soft black material to reveal the multitudes of bandages covering his lightly tanned skin.
Aurelia sighed, brushing a loose strand of hair back before she shrugged and crossed her arms. "It never hurts to have access to them. Most don't even know that this path connects to the room Dhran and I share, thus the reason why the bricks look so aged by time. Moving on to more pressing matters, why did you not want Nethial to see your examination?"
"It is because of what I think is located in my back. The discussion of Dragonisicm brought up something that I had thought I put out of my mind for years, something that could harm Nethial and the fetus right now if they were to be in close contact with me . . ."
"What are you talking about?" Aurelia questioned as Tamli sighed and turned to face the wall, letting her see his back as bright green shards mixed in with the normal skin and glistened as the faint light bounced off them.
Starting with the base of his neck, occasional broken fragments of green jewel-like shards scarred much of his back and left the skin around it inflamed and oozing blood. The back of his right shoulder was nearly consumed by the odd substance and another large portion was located just left of the center of his back. Narrow streams of blood passing over the illuminate material caused the pieces to take on a more blackened appearance and those few spots had veining around them similar to what Tanui's face had been like with the wraith's control.
"Tamli . . . What- What is that?" The slight stutter and higher pitched voice indicated to Tamli that Aurelia had little idea of what she was seeing and that her curiosity was overtaking her dragon-born instincts to get away from the material that was embedded in his back.
"It is pure extract from the Dragonisicm plant that was triggered to make contact with me the moment Tanui extinguished his life force. Amia had planned a secondary way to get rid of me if the clone failed and, from what I can gather, the entire area where I fought him was implanted with small portions of this substance to ensure I would be unable to evade being struck with the toxic material. As of why the large dose has not killed me yet, I am unsure but, based upon the amount located in my back, I believe it was meant to hinder and negate my healing abilities rather than immediately end my life on the spot . . ."
"That's why your wounds haven't been healing . . . I thought maybe it was something I was doing wrong but . . ." Aurelia whispered, moving to touch the closest shard to her for a better examination.
A low growl from Tamli was the only warning she got before Aurelia was roughly spun around and shoved up against the same wall he had been facing, his warm breath brushing past her ear as his hands clamped around her wrists. "Do not touch. I had thought your former instincts as a dragon would have alerted you to the identity of the substance but can I see I was mistaken. You may be a flesh-cloaked dragon but the Dragonisicm would still reek havoc on you, this I know from my own first experience with it . . ."
"I am aware of my former existence as a dragon, Tamli. Unlike many who choose to shed their scales and empty their minds, I returned as a human with dragonic memories in order to help the descendants of Mirage completely eliminate the threat of Corruption. My curiosity, however, has interfered with my examination of your back and I deeply regret my lack of concentration. I understand now why you were hesitant to have me look you over while Nethial was still in the room."
Letting her go, Tamli slowly retreated several steps as he collected his hands together in front of him. "I only want to protect Nethial . . . Surely you can understand that given your own history. Leaving her was the hardest thing I had ever done up to that point and I still regret how I approached the delicate subject even now."
Aurelia turned to face him as Tamli's voice softened, noticing a slight tremor briefly catch him off guard as he continued, "The presence of Dragonisicm has a devastating effect on younglings - both dragon and hybrids. I can barely stand to remember what it felt like the first time I was exposed to the substance, realizing that I wanted to be as far away from it as possible at first. Eventually it numbs your thoughts and, without removal from the area, severely damages both the mind and the body."
"That's what it does to dragons as well, although the effects are more traumatic the longer it remains captive by the toxic plant," Aurelia added, watching as Tamli's jaw clenched and he averted his gaze to glance back the way they had come. "You don't want to hurt her child, do you? That's why you've been distant ever since you came down here with her."
"I don't want it to hurt her," he admitted, briefly meeting her gaze before looking away again. "The fetus is stronger than a normal human and even a single kick could break bones. Should it be near my-"
Tamli froze, sensing Nethial's approaching presence and hastily reached for his discarded cloak that he had thrown to the ground during the conversation with Aurelia. The stretch for the material forced him to reach for it with his right arm and put more weight on his injured leg. Before he could grab a hold of the cloth, he felt his leg give out and collapsed to the floor, the impact jarring his already bruised shoulder and arm.
The pain that flooded in from the fall threatened to render him unconscious as he lay there dazed. Aurelia hurrying over to him, Tamli felt Nethial's presence right at the entrance to the ancient corridor and heard her gasp, realizing she had seen his back. Taking a shallow breath, his fingers touched the black material he had been trying to reach and clenched the soft cloth as his right arm trembled.
"Tamli, is this why you didn't want me to see your back?" Nethial whispered as he tried to pull the cloak over to him. "You know I've seen wounds just as bad so why hide it from me?"
"Because . . . Because it's not like what you've seen before. This is Dragonisicm, Net. This is what Amia's final plan was if Tanui failed to kill me. It's there to hinder my healing . . . He wanted me to die from my wounds."
Elapsing into silence, Tamli met Aurelia's gaze and gave a brief nod, hoping she would understand that they had to get Nethial away from him for the safety of the unborn hybrid fetus. He didn't want to push her away but he expected what the results would be for her and the child if they were in the presence of Dragonisicm much longer. Raising his head, he smiled softly at her before his strength left him and he returned to resting on the floor.
Narssia thought at first that she had nothing else to give as her heartbeat slowed and the space around her was blanketed by complete darkness. Her senses, however, told her that Arxa had lifted up a windstorm of the grey sand and had trapped her inside it to make her submit to the malicious spirit. She had tried everything she knew but nothing had left a scratch on the vile creature that was determined to control her again.
As she began to lose hope, Narssia felt a quietness descend over her and wondered if what Windra had said about having mastery over the darkness was finally happening to her. She could feel a pulsing current of comforting energy start to flow through her body and tapped deeper into the power, hearing the grainy prison start to crack and break apart. Lifting her head proudly, she spread her wings out fully as the entire structure violently shattered. A gentle glow of white light covered her body as she gave her wings a flap and scanned the area around her for Arxa.
The brutal impact of the spirit's dragonic essence rammed into her and Narssia was thrown onto the ground, only to get stabbed with Arxa's horns as the dark presence darted around and inflicted additional injuries by utilizing its control over time. Scratches marred her left flank and bite marks lined her neck as Narssia tried to get her breath back, unable to stop the onslaught of quickly growing wounds.
Arxa's next lunge towards her had Narssia thrown back into the air as the spirit's four horns carved deep grooves into her tender underbelly. Roaring in pain, Narssia sent a fireball at the grey dragon as she extended her wings to stabilize her now airborne location. The blast was quickly avoided and a strong gale of wind was soon trying to pull her from the sky as she noticed Arxa had not chosen to directly confront her after her return strike.
Diving towards the dark spirit, Narssia focused her electrical abilities on her claws as the edges of maw glistened with ice crystals. Sending down an ice shard as a warning, her lightning-tinged talons ripped across Arxa's wings in a fury of crackling power. Rising back up and circling around, the sound of the malicious spirit's shrill shriek of pain brought a small glimmer of delight to Narssia as she watched her darker counterpart try to follow her into the sky but fall back to the ground with a snarl of disgust due to the large tears in the flexible membranes.
Snarling, Narssia gradually descended as she sent ice shards at Arxa and noticed once such blade slice through the dark spirit's left foretaloned limb and trap it to the ground. Intrigued by the discovery, she spat one at the dragon's tail, only for it to get cut in half by the creature's scythe-like appendage. Deciding to change tactics, she focused her icy power into a single beam and concentrated it solely on both the malicious one's tail and head. The result was a frozen line stretching from Arxa's snout to her tail, the entire area covered in ice.
Landing with a dark growl, her eyes found those of the black spirit's and Narssia hesitantly paused, finding the blankness had changed to a deep crimson with a single yellow ring in the center. Even as her instincts screamed for her to deliver the finishing blow, she stared at the unique color and gradually felt her resolve to fight start to fade. Killing a defenseless spirit was against everything she knew and she had promised herself long ago when Vanz had still been alive that she was not a monster. Yet despite that justification, her problems had all began because she had been too weak to fight against the same darkness that had consumed the one she had bonded with.
Blinking, Narssia shook her head and felt her mind clear, quickly realizing Arxa had tried to persuade her against the death she was about to cause. Even with the small length of time that had passed, she noticed briefly that Arxa was starting to free herself from the ice but paid it no mind. She couldn't trust the dark spirit to be truthful with anything so she ignored the weak attempt at swaying her from doing what was right and took a step forward as the black magic of Corruption swirled under her and she began to charge up a blast of electricity . . .