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Prologue: The lovers' betrayal
Approaching Agate Mountain, Darkstalker flies steadily, his limbs staying tense as numerous thoughts fills his mind, their feelings piling up to the point of trouble and frustration, his keen sight almost blurring due to such a distraction.
Curse you Clearsight and your stubborn focus on the future, and curse me for making that scroll without a personal method of recovering it! If I had it in my claws just now, victory would have already been mine...
Thinks the nightwing hybrid, so focused was he to take his revenge on the traitorous prince that he did not see in time the vessel of his magic being stolen. But that is not so bad, tries to think the chosen one of the moons as he puts faith in his foresight, hoping to find a clear and quick way to recover his greatest power and make that confusing phase end…
Spotting Clearsight in the distance after more than few minutes of watching from above, his wings starting to ache though he will not let that slow him down, the nightwing discovers his mate remains calm, oddly very calm as she gives him no more than the most mundane of glances, her mind seemingly not that troubled as no emotion colours her mind with enough intensity to be perceived from such a distance.
Are you not afraid nor even angry at my coming. You must know why I now act the way I do, it's not like I try to hide it Clearsight. And yet, that silent attitude on yours almost calling for me, taunting me… Are you so sure of yourself you think you can handle me in enough futures under your standards?
Arriving then landing in front of her, the thrice blessed one feeling rising anger and suspicion as his paws touch the cold stone of the mountain, it is with an unflinching stance that the dragoness responds as he folds his wings, her attitude making the would be king longing for her mind to be readable, but he knows wishing that is in vain as his mate never took off that gift during the years she had it.
Damn that moon bracelet and cursed was your wish! Just look at the both us playing with false trust and incomplete truths… You just grow wary of me as time passed, and now you may fully conspire against the one you chose to love for the rest of your life...
Silence reigns for a stressful moment as both dragons stare in the eyes of the others, both trying to anticipate the next move of the other as trust is no more… Finally, it is Darkstalker who decides to speak in a neutral tone, using what little reason he has left to progress through that thorny field of a situation.
- "Clearsight, it is good to see you are alright. After all that chaos, something bad could have happened to any of us, even if it wasn't likely. I am sorry for the shortcoming of my mind this time."
Words are said in the wind as the speaker does not believe any of them, and neither does Clearsight, that he can even see as the dragoness turns her head not to look at him, but at the horizon and clouds above.
- "You are not losing any time are you? No matter…"
Doubt and worry spread in the nightwing's mind, but anger takes over at the thought of his mate really betraying him as well as everything he built, everything he fought for during such stressing years when he recently lost so much.
- "I won't play your game Clearsight. I know you have hidden my scroll, and for now... Nothing proves me you are trustworthy. Do you realize that Clearsight?"
The dragoness takes a little step back, one her mate does not see as he spreads his wing, a clear gesture lead by growing doubt and distrust.
- "Then you already know what to do."
Hearing such words, Darkstalker freezes, his mate doing no more than staring at him while his mind stays partially in denial of what is suggested. And when he comes back to his senses, he sees her more than ready to stand with her talons tensed up, surprise being a reaction he can not hide at the moment.
- "My love, what are you doing?" He says in a clear tone, his voice devoid of any subtlety like his gaze.
- "Preparing myself for what needs to be done."
Taking a step back, the ambitious nightwing is stunned by what he just heard from the dragon that was destined to remain with him, from the one that strove for their happy ending just like he did, or so he thought.
- "What are you even saying? It is like I'm a completely different dragon to you. Why Clearsight? Don't you see the light at the end of the tunnel, that after this... nightmare, after the war, after the queens, we will be happy?"
Hearing the progressively desperate voice of his mate, the very young yet greatest seer of her time snorts, having made her mind long ago.
- "Darkstalker, you poor fool. Always in the present, not knowing what you do and the consequences. No matter how hard I try, you won't ever see that."
A halted breath can be heard as the pride and purpose of the ambitious one take a blow at the worst time, the black dragon not holding back anymore as he hisses before replying bluntly, one of his talon hitting some insignificant rocks around it.
- "Speak for yourself! You always warn me and stop me from doing anything in fear of something worse happening if I act. But in the end I have not done enough, and for that? The terrible futures arrive right in our face!" He declares with anger still growing, a behaviour that could almost be seen as calling for help, but Clearsight is not one from that kind of dragons, and especially not with what is at stakes now.
Staying calm, the dragoness of night stands to him, and taking the time to think, it is with a firmer voice that she replies, her eyes still fully gazing into his own.
- "You mean like your plan to kill the queens, or wiping out all the icewings, be it directly or only those who dare to attack us. You do not have a plan that doesn't involve you becoming one of the greatest threat to Pyrrhia."
- "And you let tyrants like Vigilance and Diamond run free, despite their wish to eradicate anyone who stands in their way." Not all plans you objected to came from me mate...
Breathing for a moment, her tail instinctively twitching while her wings shake slightly, the stress of such a situation weighting on her mind more than she would like to admit, Clearsight allows herself to glance out there… before turning back to face her main antagonist.
- "And you will kill more than any them if you ascend to the throne. You should have seen it, but it does not matter now, I will stop you if you continue." She says with more power, her stance shifting to one that is more than defensive, yet the other still doubts of her position, though that feeling quickly gets overshadowed by the outrage leading his response.
- "Is that it? You only care about the evil I can do, not the evil that others do. Why? Because the blood won't be on your talons? Because you don't feel as guilty when the culprit is too distant?!"
Suddenly, the dragoness takes a step backward, then looks away, trying to counter his accusation and the ardent feeling that push it, but Darkstalker continues.
"You accuse me of being the worst, but you always worry about me all the time. It's like no matter what I do, there is always a bad future. And you look at that dark future, and then speak to me as if I was this darker version of myself you saw in your nightmares."
- "But you are! I was worried, Fathom was worried, Indigo couldn't trust you, and now look, our fears have become reality."
- "You never trusted me, not even at the beginning, am I right? you never smiled at me without fearing me at the back of your mind. I don't need to read your mind to see it."
Taking a small step forward, his tail swinging more than it should, the chosen one of the moons stares away, at the sky while one can hear the wind blowing over the rocky skin of Agate mountain, just for the time he needs to think and regain focus, though his heated emotions remain.
"It's like a self fulfilling prophecy, you never wanted to take risks, to make compromises, to make me feel truly loved." To heal my broken soul.
Watching the nightwing's overwhelming frustration, a tear running across his face, Clearsight is drawn to his side, the little hope of chasing away his darkness coursing through her mind. But that comes too late, things have gone too far…
Strengthening her stance, the seer who delved in the future more than any other regains the will she needs to have, and taking a long breath, it is with her firmest, coldest voice that she replies.
- "It was for the good of everyone that I did not give in to your demand. When I will reflect on this period of my life years later, I will realize I made the good choice, and that I should not regret it."
To these words, Darkstalker roars with unrestrained fury, the scream echoing through the skies so similar to one of the countless noises of war, his heart drowning in anger and birthing a hatred one can now see with naked eyes.
- "You think you're good and strong and wise?! You just refuse to understand me, you don't know what I feel at all! I love my mother and my sister more than what you could ever imagine, I was hated by my father since the day I hatched, my childhood was shattered as my mother and father screamed at each other!"
Overtaken by his rage, the black dragon appears to be beyond any reason, swinging tail and talons violently, almost slamming and clawing at the air but at the dusty soil, a loud behaviour that his mate must hide her reaction to, a task becoming far harder as Darkstalker continues his act.
"Then the queen tries to assassinate me, and finally, my mother dies in the War! So go on, tell me how you're so sorry for me, but that I must not be tempted and restrain myself. Tell me, how I, with the power of the moons themselves and the will of the great ice dragon in my claws, should not use any of it even if I'm on the verge of dying, for the greater good."
As Darkstalker finishes his speech and catches his breath just after, something he expected little follows...
No answer, just a silence that begins as the nightwing is in a way truly exhausted, shaking but not moving like his mate, as the calm sound of breathing and staring at the other adds to the wind, hiding the storm that could came out instantly...
Oddly, Clearsight takes a step closer to the one she wishes to end, and Darkstalker lets her do it, too confused and tired by his last burst of fury, not even focused enough to have a word to say.
Then, the dragoness takes a second step… and a third, but the black dragon does not react, not believing she is able to harm him even if she wanted, while the vision that just appeared in his head is drawing his attention, the possibility of a future that spreads to the others, extends and makes the rest flee...
As she does a fourth step, Darkstalker realizes by his sight that Clearsight can finish him with something. Looking immediately over her body, his eyes stop at the moon bracelet, the one and only enchanted object on her, the one that dominates his vision.
Seeing him taking a step back, the silence being only broken by the movement of each, Clearsight suddenly takes one more forward before jumping directly at him, ready to end everything once and for all. But with unmatched quickness, a black talon grabs and holds tight the one that wears the bracelet, brought to act by union of the nightwing's instinct and foresight.
At this instant, he understands it all, the vision that spreads and corrupts all his futures. How Clearsight planned to finish him, a firm touch of the paw bearing the magical bracelet on his belly being all that matters, the paw he had miraculously stopped. Understanding his lover's absolute betrayal, Darkstalker hesitates not to strengthen his grip on her limb, his voice cold and hateful when he speaks to her.
- "You trai-"
But pain cuts his words as the dragoness mercilessly bites his holding talon, making him hiss and lose his grip on her, his scales unbreakable but still feeling and having flesh underneath.
Not discouraged by that first failure, it is seconds later that Clearsight makes her second attempt, only to be stopped by his other talon. This time, the black dragon does not retain from using cruelty to win, bending her limb so she will regret her action, blood even starting to appear on the scales of it.
Furious and heartbroken, Darkstalker watches his betrayer of a mate hissing and screaming like she was a beast, and uses his now free talon to scratch her neck, staining the skin he embraced many times before with scars and blood, all while he brings the dragoness ever closer to the ground, overthrowing her body like she was one of the countless icewings on a battlefield. Tears are as big as they can be on Darkstalker's face, but he can not stop, he can not hesitate, he must survive, that is all that matter now that fate cursed them all…
Extending her back talons brutally, Clearsight pushes away the both of them with her body's first half. Stunned by the strength of such a crude charge, the most blessed nightwing barely sees her coming back, and as a last move to defend himself, lets the first half of his body fall on her, trying to immobilize and even crush her with the talons he put on the beginning of her neck, using of all his weight.
Looking at the dragoness' eyes with unrestrained anger, Darkstalker claws at her many scales and musters all his energy to harshly throw her away, the momentum coupled with her position when she slams into a rocky chunk nearby shredding a part of her right wing, the wildest of her screams escaping her maw.
An instant after, the thoughts of him being the villain choked in the back of his mind, the furious nightwing charges at his betrayed mate and she has no choice but to do the same. With the two dragons slamming into the head of the other, the shock rendering both unconscious for a second, it seems twisted horns push away the owner of the other, Clearsight unwillingly recoiling step by step as her talons scratch the ground painfully, proving she is no match for her lover's strength.
Frowning to the point of closing her eyes, the dragoness' stance finally snap in a hopeless fit, her opponent immediately overpowering her entire body and throwing it on its back, but as overwhelming and shocking that moment is, Clearsight is able to hit Darkstalker in the belly when his momentum pushes him to go further, using the magic of the bracelet her talon bears, an event she would have never imagined the sight of.
Still remaining close to her, his paws stained by blood surrounding her laying tail, Darkstalker begins to hiss then scream as much as he can, the powerful and otherworldly light of magic under its most unknown and potent use acting like the hottest fire all over his body, removing him from what seems to be the world itself in a raw and brutish manner, seemingly butchering his insides for the few last seconds he has to live in Pyrrhia, the sound of it a tempestuous and distorted from the depths of an inferno...
Opening her eyes now that the blinding light of the wild magic is no more, Clearsight does not feel well enough to make the effort of simply standing, the dragoness of night simply breathing and trying to calm herself as she still feels the pain of her many wounds.
- "What… happened? Is it… over?"