Errors of Dragons

by searing light dragon

Sequel to Revival of Trust. After Finca's mystery attacker leaves her for dead, seven years go by - during which her newest daughter is raised upon the laws of the wild. Witness new and old characters come together under the strain of Corruption's darkness and the malice of the newly awakened Arxa.

80. Sheltering Darknes

Chapter 80-Sheltering Darkness

Tiny bits of dust floated freely through the dim, murky air as Arxa wearily opened her eyes to see the area around her was not the dark jagged, rocky mountainside she had last encountered before blacking out. While the space was dimly lit, it was narrow with a rounded ceiling - although she could hear water dripping from farther inside. Gradually, the slow awareness of being inside a cave dawned over her as she glanced over her foreclaws. Her body was sore all over and she hissed softly as her wings brushed against the dusty, damaged black scales that lined her back. She glanced at her foreclaws again for closer detail and saw faint smudges of dirt masking the brilliant ivory whiteness that her mighty talons normally displayed - although it confused her as the last thing she remembered was smashing into rough terrain.

A barely audible click of talons on rocks abruptly caught her attention and Arxa turned her head towards the location of the sound, growling bitterly at herself as she pulled strained muscles in an attempt to stand. Her feeble attempt lasted for only a few seconds as her trembling legs gave out from under her and she landed hard on her underbelly, unable to quiet a shrill shriek that tore from her jaws as the pain threatened to overtake her. Unease slowly overtook her agony as she gradually lifted her head to see something moving along the ceiling that abruptly skidded away, its feet clicking sharply against the tightly packed rocks as the spirit thought she heard a raspy breath echo as the creature circled around.

Her attention was focused more sharply on the shadowy spider-like thing as she noticed it possessed a pair of wings - although hardly visible in the dim lightning - and also bore a tail that curved into a single tipped point. Confusion threatened to cloud her judgement as she tried to make sense of where she had seen such a creature before but her concentration was abruptly shattered when the strange beast leapt down in front of her and landed on four legs that ended in tips as each appendage curved inward to position the ends directly under its slim body. A dim gleam of light fell onto the spider's face and Arxa noticed two murky yellow eyes with slitted pupils starting back at her before it shrieked in protest and crawled up a wall to escape the illumination.

Those eyes reminded her of the dragoness Finca but she was uncertain if the wraith-turned scale-flier had descended so deep into the corrupting power that its very body had been changed. She certainly knew the forme she had seen fight Tamli was not the actually new body of the dead twisted soul. A low rasp from the spider creature forced her to clear her thoughts and she snarled, trying to get onto her feet once again. Her legs violently shook but held steady this time and she glanced up at the ceiling to see that the cave-dweller was no longer where she could see it.

A slight tremor ran up the base of her tail and Arxa dropped her head to glance over at her side as she pulled her tail over to her left side, only to be thrown to the floor as something landed directly on top of her. Even with being forced onto her tender underbelly, Arxa managed to send a weak blast of green fire against a wall that scared off the creature and let her catch her breath as the elemental attack drained much of the strength she had left. As she panted in exhaustion, she was suddenly slammed into on her side and rolled over, landing on her back and leaving her exposed underside open to attack. A brief glimpse of long mandibles met her gaze as she found her vision blurring and she tried to snap at the sight before a sharp bite into her shoulder provided to be too much for the weary spirit and she blacked out, leaving the new appearance of Finca to do to her what she wanted.

---

'Hurry, Nuodasis! Every second we wait, the more Axsanu's life could be in danger,' Zagnoth urged her as Narssia struggled through fierce winds in search of her newly discovered 'sister' who she had always deemed as her other half while they had been together in one body.

"As much as I would like to stop right now and have a word with you, I sense something is wrong. I am trying my best to combat these strong gales but I am the one flying, not the stripped-of-body spirit who complains all the time in a language I barely understand!" Narssia snapped back, banking hard to the left as a sense of worry descended over her. She had just found out her relation to Arxa several hours prior and now the former dark spirit was now in harm's way with no idea to tell where exactly she had gone.

The fierce gales ripped at her scales as she suddenly dropped, going into a dive as she left the clouds she had been going through and now overlooked a fertile valley with the distant peak of a mountain some miles further away. She wasn't quite sure what had caused her to suddenly go into that risky dive, as she now stabilized herself with a flap of her wings, but she thought she saw lightning flicker from the direction of the mountain.

'The illumination? Perhaps it holds a key to finding Axsanu?' Zagnoth suggested as Narssia tried to mask the irritated growl that threatened to rise from her clenched jaws in protest.

Smoke rose from her nostrils as Narssia stretched her wings out as far as they would go, catching the surrounding wind around her to sharply raise her speed as she felt a dim echo of pain from Arxa run across their mental link. "For just once, Father, would you be quiet! I know this is new to you, but I need time to think without you giving me a sharp pain in the back of my neck every time some little thing catches your interest."

The wind carried her faster than she could have flown by herself as she tapped into one of the powers Arxa had killed for to guide the breeze into pushing her along. Narssia was pleased as her father quieted and refused to speak as the mountain came closer into view and she gently landed on a narrow cliff that led into a small cave where occasional flickers of blue lightning could be seen. Jumping back from one such stray bolt that barely passed by her chest within inches, she cautiously entered and was shocked into silence as she stopped and beheld the terrifying scene laid out before her.

Arcs of blue lighting engulfed the entire spacious interior of the cave as the powerful current swirled around one single individual. Black scales burned to a dark gray lay limp as the entire body of a dragoness hung suspended in the illumination, a fresh wound to her shoulder oozing blood as the electricity cocooned the scale-flier. Standing off from the swirling vortex of energy a few inches as the source of the voltage sparked from her mandible jaws, a dark spider-like figure stood with translucent patchy wings held high as it focused on the task before it and the smell of frying tissue spread throughout the medium-sized space.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

A dark fireball burned forth from Narssia's jaws as she took a step forward, her eyes glowing white as Zagnoth lent her the use of his dark powers. The blast scorched the rocks next to Finca and she jumped in shock, abruptly cutting off her electric stream as she scurried backwards and up the wall behind her as several ice shards pierced the rocks next to the fast-moving wraith. Hearing Arxa drop to the floor as the lightning faded, a torrent of flame shot from the mouth of the enraged black dragoness at the twisted former scale-flier.

'Nuodasis, allow me to deal with the twisted spawn. I shall ensure she pays dearly for hurting Axsanu,' Zagnoth whispered as Narssia briefly glanced over at Arxa's crumpled form while hearing a pained shriek from Finca as the flames burned her.

"Do it," she snarled mercilessly as the twisting shadowy vapor she had known as Corruption rose up beside her and darted towards Finca, engulfing her as screams of pain and agony soon touched her heart as she made her way over to Arxa.

Blinking as her eyes regained their normal yellow color, Narssia sat down beside the fallen dragoness and quietly nuzzled her as tears threatened to gather in her eyes. The once black scales of the dark spirit were now an ashy gray, broken by occasional flickers of lingering electricity. A wound to her shoulder and one on her side worried Narssia. She could have prevented this, she could have come sooner and saved her sister from the torture that Finca had delivered. Her head lifted from Arxa's neck as she heard an intake of breath and looked hopeful as she saw Zagnoth slowly approach her from the corner of her eye.

Keeping her voice low as to not disturb Arxa, Narssia softly asked, "Is Finca dealt with?"

'Indeed, Nuodasis. I shredded her as only I am able to accomplish. My domain over this aspect of existence allows for such to occur. It was my fault that wraiths were formed to begin with and now I have taken care of the latest one to exist. How is Axsanu?'

Glancing down at Arxa's still body, Narssia nodded. "It seems we got here just in time. I've always seen her so strong, so brave, and now for her to be like this just tears me apart."

'It is not thou's fault, Nuodasis. Axsanu reacted on instinct when she fled and we know not all the details of what occurred . . .' His tone seemed to suggest a lingering sadness and Narssia was quick to detect that there was more going on than merely what she knew herself.

"Her dreams. What were they? Don't lie to me, Father. I have a right to know."

'Axsanu was plagued by dreams that I would find her unfit and kill her when she least expected it. I suspected it was that fear that drove her to flee and end up as we see her now.'

As Narssia watched, Arxa's eyes fluttered briefly and she hissed to get Zagnoth to quiet. Nudging the damaged dragoness in front of her gently, she was awarded with a muffled snort that told her that her sister was soon going to be waking up and explaining what had happened to cause her to be in such a state. Two silver ringed irises met her bright gaze as the dark spirit gradually opened her eyes as a series of questions rippled from the she-dragon's mind timidly.

'Who am I? Where is this place? Why can't I see anything?'

'Axsanu, can thou not see? Thine eyes are open, yes?'

Narssia turned her head, snapping at Zagnoth as her teeth passed through the black mist that made up his body. "Don't confuse her anymore than she already is! I will speak with her. Alone."

Raising a wing to comfort Arxa as Zagnoth snarled in anger and retreated over to where he had shredded Finca, Narssia heard her whimper and fought the urge to curl up beside her as she draped her wing over the injured dark spirit's body. She could tell Arxa was scared but the words her sister had used haunted her mind relentlessly. Her sister, the one she thought of as her other half, was blind. Having no memory was problem enough but to be unable to see . . . The thought nearly broke her heart as she nuzzled her warmly and then winced in rejection as Arxa pulled away from the loving contact.

'Stay . . . Stay back,' Arxa snarled softly as she bared her teeth, curling up as she trembled in exhaustion.

"Axsa- Arxa, please. I'm just trying to help you. Let me comfort you through this difficult time," Narssia whispered as she silently cursed her father for even telling her what Arxa's original name had been.

'No! I don't know you. I can't even see you. Why would you even help a blind runt like me?'

"Arxa, I know you don't understand much right now-"

A sharp growl rose from her throat as Arxa turned her head to the left and stared down what she thought was Narssia but was actually just a rock. 'Now you question my mental state? Leave me alone, outsider! You don't know what I'm dealing with!'

'Nuodasis, let me speak with her. If anyone can talk sense into her, surely her own blood can.'

"Zagnoth, do I need to knock myself unconscious just to make you be quiet! This is not helping Arxa in any form. Your twisted logic would only confuse her greater!" Narssia shrieked, turning her head to glare at the swirling mass of black energy that composed her father.

'Please stop! I don't know how I survived. I don't know! Leave me alone,' Arxa sobbed, attracting the attention of the two as Narssia noticed her scraping her claws against her own already damaged scales.

"Arxa . . ." Narssia muttered, folding her wing back against her side as she reached out to nuzzle her sister, only to jerk back as a fear-induced scream burst from the amnesiac she-dragon's maw and left a blazing red circle on a wall close by.

'Axsanu, hath thou gained To'nus? Is thou communing with the spirits of the dead?'

"To'nus? What is that? Does it make up for her being blind?" Narssia asked as Arxa tried to move her wings and hissed in pain.

'The word comes from my ancient tongue, child. In Dragonic it translates to Second Sight and, indeed, it will make up for her lack of vision. To'nus is a gift from Aker, mine own brother, to those that are parted with their sight to see things in the realm of the deceased.'

'I said I don't know! Stop tormenting me, please!' Arxa shrieked, visibly shaken by something as she trembled and tried to curl up tighter into a ball.

Seeing her sister so broken, Narssia sighed and got to her feet. "So this is it's effect . . . leaving her unable to tell the dead from the living. She can't even see us to tell us off if she felt like it."

'Fear not, Nuodasis, Axsanu will learn to recognize the difference between the dead and her periods of blindness. She is still in every regard your sister,' Zagnoth muttered softly as Narssia briefly lifted her wings from her back and stretched them out before tucking them back against her side.

"Arxa, this will be hard to admit but we are sisters. Our father is here with us and I am willing to help you with whatever you need. I know the spirits plague you but listen to the sound of my voice and please understand that I will protect you from this trauma that threatens to overtake you." Narssia tried to make her words sound as soothing as she could as she lifted her head and forced her mental presence to shield Arxa's weakened defenses.

Zagnoth's low growl of displeasure signaled to Narssia that she had done something wrong but she ignored him as Arxa wearily closed her eyes, exhaustion pulling the dark spirit into peaceful slumber. Moving her sleeping sister's head to rest on a rock, she sighed and turned around to join her father on the other side of the cave. The inner depths of the swirling black mass that composed his form rumbled ominously as she neared but she snarled at him in defiance and he slid over a few inches to give her room.

'Thou can't protect her all the time, Nuodasis,' he clarified as Narssia cast a tired glance towards Arxa. 'The spirits shall eventually find out that thou are shielding Axsanu and thou's sanity shall be in danger as well. Why put thyself at risk simply because of her?'

"Because I feel as though I've failed her so many times already. It is my way of making it up to her . . ."

'Thou doesn't have to exhibit bravery in every situation, Narssia,' Zagnoth remarked, surprising her as she laid down and heard him refer to her by the name she had been given by Vanz. 'I was weak and clinging to my sanity when I first implanted that crystal in your neck. It was selfish, however useful now due to our current situation concerning Axsanu . . .'

Shock caused a raspy growl to echo from deep in her throat as Narssia turned her head to face him. "You just called me . . . Why? I thought you knew me only by the ancient name you had bestowed upon me."

'I had not ignored the brief time thou spent with the traitor king, child. His mannerisms toward thou rubbed off on me the longer I lingered and it is hard to separate from them. He was so gentle with thou . . . almost as if he knew the hidden creature locked deep inside the depths of your mind.'

Lowering her head to rest on her forelegs, Narssia snorted in mild amusement as Arxa twitched briefly and she strengthened the mental shield she had put in place as a precaution. "We need to tell others about this . . ." She trailed off, lost in thought for a moment before a quiet hum echoed through her mind that caused her to turn her attention to her father once again.

'Nuodasis, this must stay between us. Axsanu's current condition leaves her vulnerable and she would be in great danger if you were to take her back to the Compound.'

"But I could convince Nuri to help me keep her safe! He would understand, I know it!" Narssia protested, lifting her head as her eyes glimmered with moisture.

'The young blood dragon is not the problem. It is those that feel Axsanu should never have been given that second chance at life thou bestowed upon her that-'

"So my selfishness caused this, is that right? Well, forgive me for trying to see the good in even the worst dragons!" A speck of saliva flew from her jaws as she snapped back at Zagnoth, sitting up as she brought her tail up by her right side and cast a concerned glance over at Arxa.

'I meant no harm by my words, Nuodasis. I just-' Zagnoth was interrupted by a shrill shriek from Arxa and Narssia winced, shaking her head as if it hurt from a headache. 'It is the spirits? Daughter, speak to me!'

Narssia stood, advancing towards Arxa with unsteady steps as she trembled, feeling a crushing weight pressing down on her and the shield she had placed over her sister's mind. Her legs felt heavy as she shakily approached the dark spirit and placed the tip of her snout against the small hallow where the back of the lower jaw met the start of the neck. As much as she wanted to rage at Zagnoth and tell him this was all his fault for getting her into this mess, she knew it was a joint effort between both of them.

She sighed, realizing her idea to shield Arxa had put both of them in danger quicker than she had expected. The dead were fast to pick up on the mental block and come after her, that much her headache reminded her as she held back a fierce growl. Her sister hadn't ask for this when they had first separated . . . hadn't wished for the pain it now brought her in the form of blindness and amnesia. Whether she would get her memory back wasn't a question Narssia wanted answered right now with all that had happened so rapidly.

"Zagnoth," she whispered softly, hearing her sister's heartbeat as she closed her eyes. "Is there any place we could take her to keep her safe?"

'What does your heart say?' The aged deity questioned in response.

"The cave where I first became aware of her presence," Narssia replied as she eased the mental shield away, realizing she couldn't protect Arxa from this without the cost of losing her own sanity in the process.

'Then we take her there and wait.'

She opened her eyes and glanced back at him cautiously, lifting her head as she felt the pain ease. "Wait for what? Father, we can't just lock her up and pretend she never existed! Surely there must be some dragon that could at least help us with taking care of her . . ."

A dark growl rose from Zagnoth as the black mist stretched out, slowly turning into a more dragonic shape. 'Doth thou not think I want this for her? Axsanu was the one I had cursed to begin with by forcing her into thou and now I see the vile effects of what I did so long ago. I couldn't have kept all three of mine offspring alive for eons in the state Aker left me in so I did the only thing I have ever regretted never being able to correct . . .'

Understanding flooded Narssia at hearing the words spoken so plainly by her father and she turned to face him as Arxa's eyes fluttered briefly. "When you put it that way, I understand the risk you've taken to get to this point. I am not proud of things I have done but I've never had to silence one of my own children and place their essence inside another - that act alone takes greater courage than I could ever be able to muster. For all the harsh words that I said towards you earlier, I'm sorry and I said those things in the heat of the moment. I never knew just how great a burden this was on you . . ."

'A burden he now sees staring back at him.' The voice, although softer than normal, still bore the coarseness Arxa was known for as a raspy cough tore its way up her throat.

"You're awake. How do you feel?" Narssia inquired as Arxa slowly lifted her head and coughed again, the sound more grating as a brief flicker of pain echoed across their mental link.

Ignoring Narssia's abrupt question concerning her health, Arxa straightened as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, her talons digging into the hard rocky floor underneath. 'I heard you bare your innermost thoughts out to her . . . to us,' she whispered to Zagnoth, hesitating slightly. 'If you did regret such an action, why not correct it when given the chance?'

'What are thou saying? Doth thou . . . ?'

Arxa wheezed, feeling the effect of the electricity used to cripple her as Narssia asked if she was alright. 'Don't pity my condition. I'm just-'

The amnesiac dragoness would have finished her statement had it not been for an intense surge of pain gripping her and leave her breathless. Narssia seemed to sense it as Arxa weakly hissed, her forelegs trembling so much she was ordered to lay back down. Refusing to show herself as weak, the dark spirit stayed where she was as her scales suddenly lost what little luster they had and became cracked. The thin skin on her wings started to develop holes as violent coughing spells seized the vulnerable dragon, leaving Zagnoth concerned Finca had done more to Arxa than just the illumination he and Narssia had seen when they first arrived.

"What's happening to her?" Narssia asked softly as he came up beside her, reaching out with a bit of his shadowy form to curve around Arxa's jaw comfortingly.

'I have been wondering the same question, Nuodasis. My best guess is that the wraith did more to her than just the electricity show we saw upon our arrival. Why it didn't start happening until now is something that is concerning me as well . . .'

"What about the wounds to her side and shoulder?" Taking a glance at the mentioned areas, Narssia saw purple veins stretching out from the injuries and reasoned it was some kind of poison that had been injected into Arxa.

'Poison? I . . . I know this poison. This is from the same plant Dragonisicm is derived from but I don't understand why it's affecting her like this . . .'

Narssia glanced at him, an accusatory look in her eyes as another cough rattled Arxa and made the veins pulse. "If you know about this then you know how to fix it," she snarled at her father.

'Under normal conditions I would fix this myself but this is not the normal toxin. The wraith knew the effect her attacks would have and wanted Axsanu to die.'

"We can't let that happen! You know how much she means to me. I just find out my relation to her and now . . ."

Arxa quieted her with a simple gesture as she brushed her decaying wing against Narssia's foreclaws, the symbolism understood by Zagnoth as he watched the two interact. Her frame wracked with violent shutters from the coughing spasms that gripped her, the dark spirit tried to act brave as her front legs collapsed under the strain and she fell onto her side. A pitiful shriek rose from the dragoness and their father advanced, ordering Narssia to back off as he drifted near the child he had hurt the most.

'Go and retrieve the blood hatchling if thou feels it will help,' he sneered as Narssia retreated a few steps before stopping and snarling at him.

"I will do no such thing! Leaving her alone with you . . . with this monster that only now confesses to being my father. I would sooner endure a thousand years of having her in my head than to let her die while you stand watching and do nothing to save her."

Turning around as she spoke, Narssia left and Zagnoth stared after her for a while until shifting his attention to his hurting child. It was times like this that he hated not having a physical body any longer, especially with Arxa suffering because of the poison.

'I shall not harm thee,' he whispered comfortingly as Arxa's claws began to show spots of dark gray as the toxin spread further through her body.

'Why? Why did you stay?' Arxa rasped between fits of coughing, her rattling breaths filling Zagnoth with dread. 'You could save us both the trouble and just end this. The dragoness . . . she wouldn't need to know.'

'I refuse to end thy life, Axsanu. Nuodasis cares more for thou than thou will ever realize. It would destroy her if I had to inform her of thou's death, my child.'

Arxa lifted her head slightly, closing her eyes as she clenched her jaws in concentration. 'Be honest with me. I am not going to survive, am I?'

'The answer is not mine to give-'

'The spirits claim you can fulfill my request. You've put some of them here . . . Why not just finish speeding things up and go back to that dragon with the knowledge you did what was right . . .'

Zagnoth growled softly, circling around her as he spread his vapor to surround her comfortingly. He would continue to refuse to end her life, simply because killing her would never heal the gaping wound in him from where he had first set things into motion and threw her into her sister's mind.

'There is so much thou lost . . . So much we both lost when thine memory was taken,' he whispered mournfully.

'What do you mean?' Arxa's voice quivered slightly as Zagnoth sighed and reached out towards her with his mind, intending to find out more about the attack she had endured by Finca.

He tried to be gentle as he examined her thoughts, peering past them to dive deeper into the persona of his daughter. The unique power that fueled him allowed him to go past the blanket of amnesia that had settled on her and reach back into those moments before she was forever changed. Wave after wave of guilt crashed into him as he watched her struggle against the wraith and be bitten before being shocked with so much voltage it was a wonder she was even before him in the state she was currently in.

'Get out of my head!'

A shrill snarl was all the warning Zagnoth got before he was thrown backwards telekinetically, forcibly ripped from her mind as he smashed against the same wall he had shredded Finca against. Dazed by the ferocity Arxa had just displayed, he focused his unsteady senses on her and saw her form wreathed in shadows, her eyes burning white as she bared glowing red fangs at him. Collecting his wispy essence together, he rose and started towards her, nudging at her roiling thoughts in an attempt to make peace with her and explain what he had been doing when she violently interrupted him.

'Stay back!' The words shimmered with uncontrollable rage as she snarled them through clenched teeth, rising onto her legs as sheer fury drove her to ignore the pain and blindness that had kept her grounded.

'Axsanu, let me explain. I-'

Malice surged from her as she let out a deafening roar, drowning out the rest of the apology Zagnoth had tried to make. 'No excuses! You were trying to make my amnesia permanent! Rid yourself of one more threat . . .' Arxa snorted in muffled amusement and took a step forward. 'I've seen past the lies you told . . . What was her name again? Oh, yes, Nuodasis . . . You thought you could try to pass off this time with me as keeping me safe when you want nothing more than to just kill me and take my body as your new vessel! I heard all of the conversation you had with her, heard the longing in your voice for a body of your own that wasn't restricted by that wretched curse your brother placed upon you.'

Arxa paused briefly, allowing Zagnoth time to hear the dim sound of approaching wingbeats. Realizing it was two different pairs of wings, although nearly similar in sound, he reasoned Nuodasis had found her blood offspring and was returning just when he had a very uncontrolled situation before him. He had never seen Axsanu so fury-driven before but it worried him to think what it was doing to her already exhausted body . . . and what his abrupt removal from searching through her pre-amnesiac memories would mean for her.

'Axsanu, listen to me. Your anger is justified but I would never try to claim your body as my own. The rage you feel is brought on by what was done to you . . .' Zagnoth tried to explain as ice shards tore through the mist that made up his form, feeling the chilled strikes land more than just physical blows as Arxa shrieked in feral rage.

'Liar,' she hissed darkly as she lifted her right foreleg and he felt a jagged bolt of electricity rip across the swirling black mist of his frame. 'You deserve to . . .'

Her eyes flickered, the shadows fading as the rush of power ebbed away and she collapsed. Rushing to her side, Zagnoth supported her gently as best he could as he heard the sound of talons striking stone and knew Nuodasis had returned with the blood hatchling just as he had gotten things under control.

"What was she trying to say?" Narssia asked as she approached, leading a bewildered Nurus as the hatchling glanced between the ice shards imbedded in the wall and Arxa's collapsed form on the ground.

'I do not know, Nuodasis,' Zagnoth muttered softly, knowing full well the malicious intent behind Arxa's words.

"What happened here?" Nuri's question was timidly spoken and the aged deity welcomed the hesitant inquiry after what he had just been through with his own child.

Narssia snorted softly before unfolding a wing and motioning Nuri to stand beside her. "Here's the basic information you need to know, my son. Arxa and I are, in fact, sisters. Our father is . . . well you know him as Corruption. Long story short, Mirage was his brother a long time ago and they once ruled before our species even came into being. Fights were had and my father was cursed to roam among the mighty beasts his brother had made, only able to become one of them every thousand years for twenty days. Demoralized by the events, my father became a mere shadow of himself and wandered looking for the children he had bore from his own spirit. Those three he had blessed as his descendants were Arxa, Cyril, and myself but he did not have enough power to keep all three alive for such a length of time and so he tore Arxa from her egg and placed her essence inside of me . . ."

"Wait! You mean to tell me that I'm descended from some deity I never knew of until now? And I'm not just the only one, all the offspring you bore are this magical half-god special creature? Why not just come right out and tell me when you first found out?" Nuri snapped back, interrupting her as Zagnoth sighed at the young dragon's shock to the startling knowledge.

'Young blood runt, thou are not half-god. Only your mother and her siblings are able to admit to such. The royalty ends with the blood of the three chosen and continues no further,' Zagnoth clarified as he nodded to Narssia to continue informing her son.

"For reasons unknown, Arxa left and we followed her here but our arrival was met by Finca trying to kill the spirit I had just discovered was my own blood. Zagnoth, known by you as Corruption, dealt with her as I watched Arxa fight for her life. She has no memory now and was rendered blind from the electrical shock of the attack by the wraith," Narssia concluded as she glanced at her father to see he was distracted by something else. "Father, is everything fine? You seem less talkative than you were when I left. Did something happen with Arxa while I was gone?"

'The poison, remember we briefly discussed it before I ordered thou to find the blood hatchling? I didn't recall it's name at first but now I know what the other part of the Dragon's Blood Flower is that reacts so violently under normal circumstances . . .Silckskin, the most deadly portion of the toxic plant and the reason why all dragons that near the flower never escape.'

"And this means what for her? Don't be cryptic about this," Narssia commanded as Nuri walked over to Arxa and licked her snout gently.

Zagnoth sighed, the sound coming out rattled. 'When I designed the flower, I only intended for the plant to used to give struggling species a chance at survival and not have them be overrun by my brother's creations. In saying that, my wish had been for only the Dragonisicm aspect to be used as a shield against the vile scale-fliers, not the entire flower itself. Given my status as creator of it, I alone knew what it could do if both parts were brought together inside an organism . . .' He paused briefly, steadying his wildly swirling mist form as he collected his composure. 'When both parts are together, the substance acts much like Dragonisicm alone, at least at first. The weakness, the appearance of spotty patches on the body, but eventually the Silckskin makes itself know. Violent shifts in mood, uncontrollable outbursts, and a dragon sometimes displays elements it has never used before . . . As time wears on, the creature will beg for death and will start coughing up blood but each agonizing moment only makes the mood changes more apparent. None that have been exposed to both parts of the toxic plant have survived and usually have died a graphic and bloody death as their body's organs fail and the amount of blood coughed up becomes too much to replace.'

Unable to stop himself, Zagnoth glanced over at Arxa in worry, knowing from those few precious moments before her amnesia that Finca had somehow injected her with a liquid-based variant of the complete flower's two deadly toxins in both her shoulder and her side. His daughter was dying before his very eyes and he could do nothing to save her as she suffered the cruel effects of a vicious substance he had intended only to give other species a chance at life.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Nuri inquired, the blood hatchling bringing him back to attention as he glanced towards the special dragonet and its mother.

'There is something we can do . . .'

Narssia turned her gaze to him, her yellow irises glistening brightly. "Tell us then, Father. I will not just stand here and watch her die after I just find out she is indeed my own sister. If you know something then speak!"

'I suspect when she broke free from you that she formed her own body, correct? If so, then there is still a chance this could work . . . We would just need to find the spot where her original body rests and-'

Narssia growled, interrupting him as she slapped her tail against the floor to get Zagnoth and Nuri focused on her. "Wait! Did you just say what I thought I heard? Arxa has an original body? I thought-"

'When we spoke in the mental plane I said I had placed her essence inside thou, Nuodasis. Her body is safe, at least it should still be . . .'

"Um, how exactly is her body still in one piece? Wouldn't it have decomposed by now? It has been eons, right?" Nuri questioned, needing clarification as Narssia nodded in agreement with her son.

Realizing the blood dragon was being smart to ask something he might have overlooked, Zagnoth chided himself for neglecting to mention the importance of it earlier to Nuodasis. Collecting his mist tighter together, he gave a growl of mutual agreement and cast a quick glance at Axsanu before switching his attention back onto his other daughter and her child.

'When I forced her essence into thou, my dear, I had a sense I might need to protect her body should anything come up later that may require need of it. Acting fast, I cocooned her lifeless form in layers of magic and stored it away under a place where the precious light of my sibling would be unable to reach her . . . Of course I could always do to her again what I did in the first place. If I did, everything she has done to make herself individual from thou would be lost as she is shoved-'

"No! Arxa will not give up her own freedom and personal growth just to become trapped in my mind again. I refuse to let you do that to her," Narssia snarled, glancing at Arxa as the amnesiac dragoness coughed lightly.

Zagnoth wasn't surprised at her reaction and he suppressed a chuckle of amusement. 'Very well then, Nuodasis. The only other option I present to thou is essence transfer . . .'

"What is essence transfer?" Nuri questioned as he backed away from Arxa and went to stand by his mother.

'Basically a way of . . . trading a physical body with another. This is dark magic that only my brother and I knew of for the longest time but eventually a group of devoted mortal two-legs were found by me to be favored enough to pass the knowledge along. It is a dangerous process that is normally preferred to be done by a same gender pair as to avoid further complications. Done correctly, though, it can give the one that wants to live the means of doing so while the one it switched with is . . .' Unable to bring himself to admit the normal result of performing an essence transfer, Zagnoth allowed his words to drift off into silence as his mist gently swirled and rippled.

'The one it is switched with dies. Just come out and say it. No matter what happens, I'll be the one that pays the price,' Arxa whispered softly and gradually as she lay with her eyes closed and each breath leaving her shaky and wheezing.

"That's not true. We can- We will find a way to save you," Nuri declared boldly as Zagnoth noticed him shrink back a little bit in realization of what would actually happen to her.

'The choice is up to thou, my child. What choice shall we take? I will do everything in my power to save her but my strength is weakened by the curse and I fear we waste too much time standing here while an option could be decided upon.'

Zagnoth could see the unease surrounding Narssia as her eyes flickered between Arxa and Nuri several times before she whispered, "We will go search for her body. I do not like this choice but it is the only one I can live with at the moment. Let us hope your memory is sharp enough to remember where you put it, Father."

'Very well,' he hummed in contentment, pleased with her decision as he had been leaning towards it himself. 'Blood hatchling, we will leave shortly so I ask thee to watch over Axsanu and inform me of anything abnormal she might do while the toxin rages inside her.'

"How am I supposed to know if it is abnormal for her?" Nuri questioned uncertainly.

Zagnoth snorted, amused by how cautious Nuri was acting around him with Axsanu so impaired by the poison. 'Thou will know if she starts to act strange. Nonetheless, contact me the moment thou suspects anything.'

Bowing his head, Nuri spread his wings back behind him in a display of understanding and submissiveness that Zagnoth recognized from the old blood dragons he once knew during his brother's control over paradise. He hummed softly, signaling the hatchling to rise before he turned to Narssia and motioned them to start the journey to find Axsanu's original body. Letting his daughter walk over to the cave's entrance, he paused and retreated to the dragoness laying on the floor.

'Sleep well, my daughter. We shall return soon and thou shall once again be whole. Until that time, rest and obey the blood hatchling.' He briefly brushed his mist against her snout before rejoining Narssia and leaving the cave.