Chapter 6: Saying Goodbye
"What's the point of a promise anyway? How can we expect people to stick to their word about anything when the world around us is so arbitrary, unreliable, and senseless?"
- Taylor Jenkins Reid
Blind.
Paralyzed.
Agonizing throbs.
Kilat squirmed and convulsed on the grass, delirious from the blood gushing out of the stump at the scapula, the base of her left wing. Pain like nothing she had ever experienced in all the ten years she lived shocked her entire body again and again. It never ended, and all she could do was close her eyes, at shriek at the top of her tiny lungs as everything grew colder.
"Lani! Take Kilat and get away!"
The warmth of another lifted her up. It hurt, but she felt someone worm his muzzle under her chest, using all the strength in him to prop her above the ground.
"We're getting out of here, Kilat," whispered the Earth dragon in her ear. "Don't worry about me. I found a small Spirit Gem. It fixed my leg a bit."
She hissed, "I… c-c-can't, I-I… hurts so much…"
Explodon's booming command overtook her ears. "Go! Anywhere but here."
"Ancestors," muttered Lani. "You can do it, Kilat. Just walk."
It wasn't her legs or feet that hurt. It was the bleeding stump that had been her wing. Kilat wavered from dizziness, nearly collapsed. But she held on and walked, just as Lani encouraged. "Keep walking," he said. "Just keep walking. Lean on me and I'll guide you. We need to escape before they kill us!"
She wanted to reply. She wanted to say she already knew this. That they couldn't possibly take on multiple apes with hard combat experience. But the Electric dragon child spent every ounce of her focus on taking each and every step forward.
She had to ignore the pain.
She needed to endure the pain.
But Kilat couldn't see where she was going. Her eyes were open, yet all they caught were wavy pillars of darkness, a claustrophobic canopy of poison green swaying above, and a kaleidoscope of colors she would never recognize, not in a state of shock.
Kilat heard Explodon's voice from behind. Faint, getting farther—softer with each step. "She needs Spirit Gems! I'll buy you some—OOF!"
Kilat stopped and looked back, her hazy vision barely discerning the red shape in the distance, quivering on the ground next to three dark, furry figures. "Explodon! No!"
"Keep going, Kilat." Her last remaining companion forced her to look ahead. "Don't stop."
"I, I… no, we can't…"
"Please," begged Lani. Sounds of battle rang anew behind them. Like a death knell for the teenage dragon standing ground for their sakes. "Explodon stayed behind for us. For, us."
The dread—the fright and the grief reverberating in his voice persuaded the Electric dragoness to walk. She kept going as Lani entreated. She leaned on him for support, unable to walk, to even see properly. Kilat wouldn't waste Explodon's sacrifice. To do so insulted his heroism. It spat upon his spirit.
His dying wish.
The two children retreated from the clearing. Lani searched for the crimson gems as they plodded their way in Warfang's direction as fast as Kilat's condition permitted. He was terrified of her injury, she knew. He feared his only true friend in the world, a dragon he considered his younger sister in all but name, would die pitilessly like this.
Why were the Apes so hateful? They already left the Valley of Avalar alone, haven't they? They kept to themselves now. Why couldn't they simply forget the past? Let bygones be bygones? Why cling to their hatred for dragonkind?
But Kilat's thoughts wandered away from the Apes. They pondered why she and Lani had to go through this ordeal. It couldn't have been because they were both born outside the Year of the Dragon, could it? But even if that was true, Ancestors, it simply wouldn't be fair for the two of them to be punished so harshly. They entered the Dragon Realms with such unfortunate timing by no fault of their own.
The two dragons only wanted to reach Warfang. They simply sought refuge there, where other dragons lived, safe and in peace. There, they could seek out anyone who may possibly have family ties to either her or Lani.
Because the both of them were orphaned when the Apes invaded the hidden settlement their families lived in seven years ago. She didn't know how Malefor's forces found them. She didn't know how the massive, terrifying black dragon leading the army of Apes discovered their homes when it was days away from the Dragon Temple. Days away from Warfang.
Kilat barely remembered what happened that night. Her youngest memories yielded few flashes of her real parents, of her real brothers and sisters… of a dragoness with six horns and a bladed tail, overwhelming the brave few with scores of Apes behind her.
Then there was one more glimpse of the far past, when her sky blue eyes caught a red fox parting the bushes with its paws. It—no, he saw her together with Lani, lying on the cold, wet ground dying of starvation, thirst, and disease. "H-he… heeeeeelp," she moaned. The language alerted the fox to their situation, and so he flew.
He ran back into the bushes and disappeared for a few minutes, returning only when he rallied a handful of adults to care for them until they were fully healed. The Ancestors must have blessed them that day, as they could've easily been a people accustomed to a foreign language. Instead Kilat and Lani found friends among the merciful people of Mungo Volpe. A secluded village hidden in the lands beyond Avalar, even further than the settlement personally destroyed by the Dark Master's general.
A village populated by foxes and mongooses. Not unlike the cheetahs of Avalar, fur coated their bodies and both species walked on two feet. As a people, they were fast as they were surreptitious and resourceful, but unlike the cheetahs, the residents of Mungo Volpe specialized in digging, surprise attacks, and foraging.
For the next seven years, Kilat and Lani lived in ignorant bliss. The two dragons rotated throughout the community every so often, becoming a part of practically every family in the village. Everyone shared their way of life with the Electric and Earth dragons. Although Kilat and Lani knew they were dragons from the very beginning, neither knew or understood flight. Neither was aware of their ability to harness the elements.
.
.
"Ancestors, just where are the Spirit Gems when you need them? I'm getting tired."
.
.
Even then, they lived as brother and sister for the next seven years, happily and in peace. Kilat and Lani did not learn of Malefor's defeat by the Purple Dragon of Legend or even consider coming face to face with their traumatic past until three adolescent dragons stopped by the secluded village to rest, en route to the City of Dragons from a land so much further than Mungo Volpe Kilat wondered how big the Dragon Realms truly were.
It had only been a few days since they first met. Curiosity drove Kilat to dash to the three dragons. "You… you're dragons," she uttered to the red one nearest them. He seemed the most sociable of the three. She didn't exactly like the blue or green one. "Just like us."
.
.
"Kilat. Hey, Kilat."
.
.
The red dragon stood beneath his companions. He seemed to be the youngest among the three of them. "Yes," he said happily. "We are. What are you doing here? I don't see any other dragons in this place."
"That's because…" the Electric dragon child turned away from the red one. "Mom and dad, they're..." An unusual choke wanted to burst out of her throat. That didn't happen every time she thought of her parents. "They're..."
"Forget I asked," dismissed the adolescent considerately. "What's your name? I'm Explodon."
"I'm Kilat," said the young dragoness. She pointed at the Earth dragon slightly older than her, prancing around Explodon's companion as green as the only other person who was a constant throughout her entire life. "That there's Lani. He's my older brother."
.
.
"You tired too? Can you still walk? Do you need to rest?"
.
.
"Your brother?" Explodon gave her an odd look. He eyed Lani for a few seconds. "I don't see the resemblance—
Kilat cut him off, "We adopted each other." She left it at that, but Explodon managed to put two and two together.
"Ahh." Explodon laughed when he watched his traveling companion gently shove Lani away and step back, only for the child to approach him like a persistent, relentless fox. "Hey, let me introduce you to my friends here. Your brother's about to drive Rockclaw mad."
.
.
"Hey. Hey, are you okay?"
.
.
She held her tongue and resisted Explodon's pull.
"Kilat, what's wrong?"
"I," she stuttered. "I, I, I… uhm… it's, well, uh, because…"
"My friends are cool. You can trust them. I've known them for years." He smiles at her. "Come on now."
"Oh, okay."
.
.
"Oh no, hide!"
.
.
An external force on her shoulder brought Kilat back to reality, where she found herself in the oppressive forest. She stood on top of a small hill without a wing, covered in blood, and barely able to walk. "L-Lani?" she said. "What's—
"Shhh!"
Lani huddled close to a tree and held his paw out, pressing Kilat's body into the trunk as much as he could. The dragoness flinched from her older brother's hustling, but she muffled her whimper as much as she could.
It was a good thing she did.
Four apes, each of the same stature and build as the two Lani faced in the clearing, ambled into view. They held weapons of various sorts, with one holding a bow with one arrow ready at the drawstring, his keen eyes darting to and fro for anything noteworthy.
"Oh, lookie!" cried one. "More pretty red crystals!" He pointed a spiked mace at the cluster of Spirit Gems glinting next to a tree trunk. "Right over there."
"Then go and get rid of them," spoke another. "Can't have those two dragons getting their second wind now."
"Do we really have to?" whined the third. "They're just kids. It's not like they—
"Sari told us never to underestimate dragons," retorted the second. "I have family waiting for me in Aldozira, so I'm seeing through to that."
Lani grumbled under his breath. "So that's why we can't find any Spirit Gems."
The four primates loitered in sight. They destroyed every cluster of jewels they could find, even those even Lani couldn't see. Learning this deflated Kilat. Her hopes of reaching Warfang—no, of escaping the Apes alive with her surrogate brother dwindled further and further. Had the Ancestors abandoned them? Or was it just her bad luck to walk into problems someone her age shouldn't even go through?
She lost her footing and slumped a little on the tree. Kilat felt weak. The desire to simply lie down, curl into a ball, and fall asleep tempted her greatly, and had she been alone, she might have succumbed to it without a moment's hesitation. But she was not alone, and neither she nor her brother was safe.
Sky blue eyes regained their focus. Kilat shook off some of her lightheadedness away and tapped the Earth dragon. "Lani, what do we do? Think we can sneak past them?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "I think it's better if we just wait for them to leave." Lani bit the lip of his muzzle. "But…"
"But… what?"
"They're not the only ones. I haven't seen another Spirit Gem after we left Explodon." Kilat cringed from the thought of Explodon. Revisiting the kind Fire Dragon and speculating his fate sent bad vibes coursing through her, each no less revolting than the last. "Hiding's not a good idea. Ancestors know how many monkeys are here trying to catch us."
The Electric dragon child stared longingly at the concrete fortress of Warfang, sitting pretty in the far distance. "H, h-how far are we from the Dry Canyon?"
"I don't know. Maybe the rim's very close in one way. Maybe it's very far in another." Lani bowed his head, a sensation of apology overtaking the dragon
She nuzzled her older brother. "I'm scared."
"Me too." A brown wing extended from him and wrapped around the dragoness. The Earth Dragon leaned on her, reciprocated the gesture, and rubbed his body along hers. "Hey, Kilat?"
"…Yes?" Kilat's gaze showed the four apes lurking in the area below them, seeking any Spirit Gems hidden in plain sight.
"If, if something happens—
"Brother—
Lani ignored her. "I want you to run. It's gonna be hard." He ogled the remains of her left wing. He observed the lethargy consuming his surrogate sister, the blood slowly drizzling away from her body. Even the way she avoided putting any pressure on a hind leg. "Very hard. But you're a strong girl. If you push yourself, I know you can get away."
"I, I can't do that, Lani." She shook her snout in disapproval. Water shone in her eyes. "I've been with you almost all my life. You're the only one left. I… I don't want to lose any more of my family..."
"Better you than me. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."
"But—
"I promised, remember? When I became—
"My older brother," the child said. "I know. But—
"Little sis, even if I'm gone, your world isn't going to end," Lani rebutted with a rather mature response. "No matter how bad it gets, keep looking forward. Live a long, happy life. That's all I want you to do, 'cause if you're happy, I'm happy. Got it?"
"I… I…"Kilat turned away. She pouted, disliking the way this conversation was heading. Disliking how Lani used the short respite they had to tell her something she never wanted to hear. Not from his mouth. She gritted her teeth, and would have put some more strength into it if it didn't instigate another crushing wave of vertigo. "…Got it."
A foreign voice interrupted the two foster siblings. "Ekise!" Kilat jolted from its sheer loudness. She quivered from dread, turning towards the speaker—
"The two dragons!" clamored another furry ape. The dragoness grimaced at the finger he thrust towards her and her brother. It was covered in blood. Her blood. He must have tracked them. "Over there. Right above you!"
Lani sprang into action. "Curses!" He opened his muzzle and a stream of green energy flew out. It acquired a solid, tangible mass as it rushed the air and struck the ground next to the apes below, momentarily scattering the group. "Kilat, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"
Her brother supported her weight again. "C'mon. One step. Another. And another. And another!" Kilat only stared straight ahead. The dragoness put so much thought and effort into each stride to overcome the extent of her injuries that she simply couldn't pay attention to anything, let alone discern her surroundings.
If she had checked on Lani a few times, she might have noticed the disturbing frequency he looked back, and the alarmed expression coating his muzzle every time he did. But she saw nothing but the path in front of her, sloping downward as the forest slowly yielded to the canyon. Kilat's ears caught the sound of stones moving across the earth, of a rock dislodging itself from the ground to form a wall, of booming thunks striking the various trees around them.
If she had only been more attentive, she might have glimpsed—felt Lani slipping away from her, taking advantage of her unusual focus to break off and face the Apes chasing them with the same courage and bravery of the other adolescent dragons before them.
But Kilat discovered the absence of her brother's weight only after several seconds. Several, crucial seconds. The Electric dragoness stopped and turned around, worry evident on her muzzle. "Lani, get back here! Why are you—
"I'm fulfilling my promise."
Behind the assertion, the resolution in her brother's voice, Kilat heard so much more. She heard his fear. She heard his resignation. She heard his determination, his love for her. "Come back!" the injured dragoness urged. "Ancestors, I can't do this without you."
"Yes, you can! Remember what I just told you. Never forget it!"
"But I…"
"YES, YOU, CAN!" Lani conjured the strongest Earth breath he could come up with, applying the few lessons Rockclaw had given him before they entered this stupid forest.
The Elecric dragoness choked. "I…"
She still couldn't process this final farewell. "I lo…" Saying goodbye to her older brother? To someone who grew up with her? Who spent years playing with her, watching over her, living with her in the peaceful, secluded community of Mungo Volpe? Who stood in for her parents even when he himself lost his family through Malefor's army of apes?
"I love you," she managed to say.
"I love you, too, Kilat," replied the Earth dragon. Sadness laced Lani's voice. He, too, knew what was coming. What it meant to stay behind and face the primates. "Now go!" he shouted.
Kilat stared on. She watched Lani snarl at the nearest ape and hurl a small boulder at it. He narrowly evaded getting his arm cut off by a machete. He glimpsed her standing still, stupefied like a blinded deer.
"Ancestors! Just GO!" Lani insisted. "Or the both of us will die!"
Both Lani's command and the consequences of her lingering triggered a primal emotion in Kilat. The Electric dragoness recoiled from the realization dawning upon her. She sighed and, with a heavy heart, turned around.
She accepted his decision…
She accepted his dying wish…
And ran for dear life.
Two of the apes moved to pursue the fleeing child. "Ohhhh no! You're not getting away from us!"
Lani charged at them, horns slamming into one pursuer. He rolled and pounced on the other, torqueing his body and lashing out with his tail before spitting out a blast of green at a third ape trying to flank him. "Over my dead body," he challenged the group.
The soldier called Ekise ventured forward. A devilish smile formed on his ugly mug. "We can arrange that," he said, looking at his fellow combatants. "Won't we?"
Not once did Kilat dawdle or turn around, just to see what happened next. She ran, and ran, and ran. She dashed as far as her legs could before giving out, before the throbbing in her wing took over and forced her to lie down. Kilat limped and struggled, even grunting as she fulfilled her own promise to Lani. Many times her four legs buckled. Many times she tripped over herself, gasping for breath. Many times, she cried, sometimes unable to go on. Sometimes wishing she could go back and return. Help her brother out.
Yet Kilat steeled herself. She forced herself to push forward. To take that extra step, one at a time. She didn't know if the Apes knew where she was, if the Apes were closing in, but Kilat promised herself she would live to see Warfang, live to get away and pursue happiness just as her older brother wished.
An oath she would fight for to her last breath.
After Ancestors knew how long, the overbearing clump of trees squeezing all around her eventually spread out. The dragoness saw the City of Dragons in all its glory at the distance. A white beacon. A great bastion of safety and power. A wellspring of relief threatened to burst out of her chest, but she stopped herself from celebrating prematurely. Her solitary journey was not yet over.
The dragon's vision wavered. Her stance wobbled. She shook her head vigorously and even bit her own tongue to stay awake and strong. The Electric dragon child took a deep breath. She couldn't stop now. Not until she was safe. Away from those murderous monkeys.
Kilat strode forward…
…and because of her semi-blindness, tumbled deep into the Dry Canyon.
Everything went black.
Author's notes:
In my main story (which is not in the Spyro fandom), I like to dwell on a character's perspective with a piece of 5K to 7K in length, then switch it up with another character and repeat this process about five more times. Doing this adds variety to the thought processes and emotion weaved by the narration, not to mention that it allows me so much leeway to abuse the "unreliable narrator", "offstage villainy", and "offscreen moment of awesome" tropes in numerous, creative ways.
This character can be a canon character. It can also be an OC with a primary or secondary role in the overall storyline. If it's an OC, s/he can also be "disposable", meaning a character that I'll write or kill off after one use (or a handful).
Kilat offers an alternative viewpoint for Aimless, of course. Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx would also be other choices as well, but only after I properly introduce them into the story.
On to the next chapter! :P
Oh, and interesting factoid about Kilat's name: "Kilat" is Malay for "Lightning". Hehe. I'm not Malaysian, but I'm guessing her name is pronounced as "Kee-laht" based on the word my native language uses for lightning.