Chapter 26
New Age Dawn
Kratos was in the library of Jade Mountain Academy, sitting behind the welcome desk with forbearance. A small breeze glided across the corridors, giving off a deep whistle. The air smelled of decay from the large puddle of red lining the floors. Kratos knew this smell all too well, yet it gave him a feeling of comfort. He clicked his claws together, embracing the power that he lost many years ago.
He set his hands on his lap, taking in a breath. He lifted his arms, and started to peel at the back of his head. The paper mache had worked like a charm, and it stuck to him like dry blood. The process took a long half hour, but Kratos wanted to be precise.
Finally, he could reach his claws under the covering, and slowly started to peel the paper from his face. Inch by inch, layer by layer, Kratos removed his mask, and set it down on the table. He sat there for a moment, allowing the cool breeze to brush against his scaleless face - even after one hundred years, he forgot how it felt to be dead.
Getting to his feet, Kratos proceeded to remove the rest of the paper mache.
—-
The evening sun was just about to set, sending off a bright orange radiance, welcoming the dark purple and black of night. Moon's wings appeared to belong with the stars as she soared through the sky, the wind smashing against her face. She didn't let doubt or fear control her. She flapped her wings with grace, as if they were the Wings of Fire. Before long she spotted Jade Mountain, and with a powerful surge, Moon dashed out of the sky.
She swooped down to the entrance, and paused to gather her thoughts. Moon gazed up the mountain, the symbol of the Dragonets, the home for every Wing. She took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
When her snout was assaulted by the stench of decay, Moon felt her heart sink.
Fatespeaker and Webs' organs were strung up around the foyer, their blood streaming up and down the walls. The blood was still wet, and warm when she accidentally stepped in it. Moon's eyes fell on the gong, and she flew towards it, shaking her head.
Upon landing, she gazed up in dismay at the bodies of Clay and Sunny. Their stomachs were clawed open, the insides entirely removed. Blood dripped onto the ground, soaking under Moon's talons. Their lower jaws were broken, revealing a gaping, tongueless chasm of teeth. Their eyes were frozen, and their claws were touching, grasped tightly to never let go.
Moon put a hand to her head, sucking in air, telling herself, "I will make this right."
She moved on to the next corridor, and even though the floor wasn't stained, decomposition was strong in the atmosphere. The whistle down the hall was like a ghost watching her every step. Up ahead, she saw red on the wall leading to the study room. Moon braced herself, and stepped inside.
The bodies lying on the desks belonged to Winter and Qibli. Their eyes had been taken, and wrapped around their necks, along with their tongues. Their wings were broken and snapped in half, arteries hanging. Like animals, they were gutted, their organs lying in a pile in the corner. Nothing was left on their torsos besides muscles, and some exposed bones.
Moon was on the edge of crying, screaming even, but she kept in her rage. She walked up to the bodies, gazing into their eyeless sockets.
"I'm sorry," she said, "for everything. I was a terrible friend, you were just trying to help. I love you both."
Faint talonsteps were heard down the hall. Moon craned her neck, her eyes narrow and painted with anger. She took a deep breath, and stepped out. A shadow lined the end of the hallway for a second, and she ran after it. Nothing was there upon turning the corner, but a wing flap was heard on her right. She walked into a classroom, and strode down the aisle.
"Welcome, I've been expecting you," said a voice. Moon turned her attention to the desk, and noticed Kratos sitting in the chair with his back towards her. She walked up to him, and he said, "Have a seat."
Moon took a chair and sat down across from him. "Did you think killing my friends would stop me? Did you think I would break down and give up screaming?"
Kratos paused, then turned around. What caught Moon off guard wasn't the glare in his eyes, not the blood stained claws, it was the lack of scales across his face, and body. Kratos was a living skeleton with organs and innards completely exposed, his wings without leather, and arteries trailed across the bones.
"I expected you to find out sooner or later," Kratos said.
"What happened to you?" Moon asked.
"You tell me."
Moon contemplated. "If Jerboa resurrected you, how did you lose your scales?"
Kratos tapped his claws against the table. "As I grew older, Fate caught up to me. Like my fire, he took my scales, they fell off my body like a snake shedding its skin. However, I had to blend in somehow."
"How are you alive?"
"Destiny loves to watch her subjects suffer. She knew how horrid I was, what I did, how many dragons I killed, she allowed this to happen. First Fate made a mockery of me, then Destiny didn't let me die, and now the history books have erased me. Perhaps it served to be an advantage, no one would suspect an extinct dragon to have committed these murders."
"But why?" Moon asked. "Why would you do all of this after you got your memory back? Revenge for what the tribes did to you? To eradicate the scavengers, maybe? Your wife loved you very much, she would never leave you, or doubt you for a second."
"She would walk with me even in this state," Kratos said. "We HarroWings do not care for others, we fight for ourselves."
"It doesn't have to be like that. You can start over again, forget this ever happened."
"Do not think you can change my persona with magic. It happened before, that is why I released Peacemaker from this life."
Moon took a moment to piece that together, and her eyes went wide. "Then what is this all for? Why kill all those dragons, frame it on someone else, and then what? Destroy the Dragonets and everything they did? Lie to everyone and make them trust you?"
Kratos tilted his head. "Don't you suppose you already did that? I have watched age after age, generation after generation tear themselves apart, and rebuild themselves by lies and control. What difference does it make now? I am here to rewrite the wrongs you placed upon yourselves, erase the fear you dread inside your souls, and relieve you of your 'horrid' life."
"Horrid? You are a psychopath. Do you think changing everything into your image will make things better?"
"That is the same idea the Dragonets had; for example, Peacemaker. Of all the prophecies you fulfilled, the dragons you saved, I find no change in this world. In fact, it seems as if you downgraded from what we used to be. Dragons are vicious creatures, and relegating the scavengers, that only adds to our superiority. What did you suspect would happen if you made peace, and accepted them into your society?"
"It shows there is hope in the world," Moon said. "Nothing has to end in battles. We are strong, and sensible enough to change the horrors our ancestors committed in the past. We need to accept what happened, and move on with our lives. Yes, we are going to face problems along the way, but I know we can face them together."
"But with the lack of your future vision, how do you plan to save everyone?"
Moon bit her lip, then replied, "I will never know, and it has gotten the best of me, but it doesn't define my soul. I know that when I die, there will be Dragonets of Destiny thousands of years from now, soaring to fight for the peace. Hopefully, without using their claws."
"Where did that lead you? What have you accomplished after five years? You dismiss the Rogue Dragons that they are wrong, that they don't care about scavengers because they want things to go back the way they used to be."
"Because they don't understand what we fought for."
Kratos sighed. "No, Moonwatcher, you do not understand the ways of survival. The Scorching happened because we wanted it to, because we fought for our kind that those creatures dared to eradicate. We are the superior species, the top of the food chain, and with an ecosystem such as ours, how do you suspect us to survive?"
Moon contemplated. "What are you talking about?"
"We eat scavengers, they are the most useful resources. It doesn't take us long to fall out of the sky, and snatch them from their families. We fought them because this is our land, our territory - it was time for a new species to walk these continents. Did you take notice of the protestors' misery? Did you see how thin they were? Most of us cannot live off of vegetables, and even though we feast on animals day by day, how can we manage to avoid famine? The queens have been struggling to provide food for their subjects, trade with neighboring kingdoms, and offer their citizens rations."
"Then we'll provide food from the oceans," Moon said. "We do not eat scavengers anymore, we replaced them with plants."
"You cannot provide for two species," Kratos said. "We allow them to live and reproduce, then eat, and not have to worry about extinction. Have you noticed how difficult it has been for scavengers and dragons to co-exist? With a species much larger than the other, more food must be given, and you have failed to fulfill that promise. Did you suspect things will get better after connecting Pyrrhia and Pantala? There are many things for dragons to be afraid of. Flooding, mass murder, but there is no greater fear than global famine. That is the fear you have failed to see, and by accepting the scavengers, you have placed yourselves on a line. Either we die, or they."
"No, you're wrong," Moon said. "That piece of paper, you can use that to multiply food. We can provide for everyone."
"What makes you think I care for the scavengers?" Kratos asked. "Did you not look back in history, and uncover the truth of the Scorching? You must recall what the scavengers did to us, how they tortured us, how they served as a plague for dragon kind. It seems you couldn't understand, but how do you get rid of a plague? You eradicate the sick, and heal the cough."
Moon waited for him to continue, but by the look in his eyes he waited for her to answer that question. She thought for a moment, then concluded with, "There's going to be a civil war."
"Divide and conquer, as is what you would refer to it as. However, I am here to set an example, an idea you stole from them. If you could take this paper from me and transform me the same way you did to Darkstalker, then you have endangered yourself."
"From what? The truth getting out? Haven't you done enough damage?"
"No, it is something much worse," Kratos said, placing his claws on the table. "Think of it like this: You are a queen, and you have just agreed to share your land with the neighboring tribe. Everything is perfect, no more wars, no more conflict. Then, as you look out at your kingdom, and everything you built, you hear a noise. It is the battle cry, the call for war. You turn and find your 'friends' charging with flames. You look back at your kingdom, and they have destroyed everything you ever loved, merely because they wanted to save themselves. That, Moonwatcher, is why the Scorching began."
"You don't understand," Moon said. "We changed, we made things different."
Kratos dragged his claws across the table. "What difference does it make that dragons must live with the one thing that intrudes our lives? If you don't believe me, why shouldn't you? I have lived for one hundred years, convincing myself I am not a HarroWing. What makes you think you can shift the world into your image? What have your visions done to right all the wrongs in the world? How many prophecies had to happen in order to force every dragon to live by your authority? Did they want you to control them, or save them? That is why I am here, you just couldn't understand what you created."
Moon stared at him, fumbling over his words again and again. When it hit her, she understood why she could not have visions. She failed them, she couldn't fulfill them, because there was no such thing as Dragonets of Destiny, it was nothing more than a tale to give dragonets hope. Destiny had abandoned her, that is why her visions were gone.
"My whole life," she said, "I've been trying to help dragons with my visions. All I ever did was make things worse." She stared at her claws, and tears were not needed. "Now I made the world into exactly what I hated."
Kratos allowed Moon to wallow in the revelation before continuing with, "Tell me something, if you could see my past, and everything I did, why were you hesitant to kill me?"
Moon met his eyes, and could not contain the truth any longer. "Because I thought you could change, like we all did."
They sat for a long moment, staring each other dead in the eyes. Kratos stood, and walked over to Moon, straining his claws.