"Forzen. Time to wake up."
The young purple dragon groaned as he opened his eyes. He looked up, seeing Muras standing over him, poking him gently. With a tired moan, he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Ugh, why so early?" Forzen muttered.
"We've got to leave early to begin our flight to Dryovell. That's today, remember?" Muras replied.
Forzen paused. Dryovell? What was that? Was this something they had talked about earlier? As Forzen rubbed his eyes a little bit more, trying to force himself awake, he suddenly remembered the events of yesterday and everything he had overheard Cynder and Muras talking about. It all came flooding back to him as the situation filled his head again.
"Oh yeah… that. Give me a moment, I'll just… I'll be up in a bit," Forzen groaned.
"Good. Don't take too long. The last thing we want to do is keep Cynder waiting; she'll be here soon," Muras said with a sad smile before turning and leaving Forzen's room. "While we do that I'll get to work on filling a satchel of red and green gems for you guys. Cynder will probably bring one too, but it can't hurt to bring extra. We don't know what we'll run into on the way there, and you guys might need a decent amount after whatever fight or interaction with Drachen you'll end up having."
With that, he was gone, and Forzen was left on his own. He let out a wide yawn, his tongue flexing inside his maw as he did so. With a shake of his head, he stood up and stretched his body. He then made his way to the bathroom, before splashing some water on his face to wake himself up. He looked up into the mirror at himself, frowning at the scars that covered his purple scales. Most of them were quite thin, but there were some thicker ones across his face: the ones that Cynder gave him on the first training session he had with her.
It was a painful reminder of why he hated being around Cynder so much. She terrified him to no end, she was incredibly violent, and had the best chance of mutilating him to her heart's extent. She was so much bigger and more powerful than his worst bullies at school. She could kill him with one swipe if she wanted to. If she was allowed to… it was more than clear that she wanted to.
If he wasn't being protected by Muras and Torialis right now, Forzen was sure that Cynder would have killed him weeks ago.
The other scars on his body were left over from the recent attacks made to capture him, as well as several attacks from Fjor'gand and the gang. There was so many on his body, and it hurt him to look at them.
He would never have a whole body. He would always bear the wounds of the hatred pushed onto him. He would always wear a constant reminder that the world was out to get him, that he was hated, that he was alone.
Forzen screwed his face up into a snarl and growled at himself as he felt tears brimming his eyes once more. It was an awful feeling. It hurt. It was a different type of pain to getting teared into by large, deadly claws, but it hurt nonetheless. It stung to feel tears prick his eyes, to feel his chest squeeze tightly as emotion rose in his chest, his throat constricting as he tried not to let out a single sob.
With another growl, Forzen turned away from the mirror, wiping his eyes frantically and then leaving the bathroom. He couldn't bear staring at himself anymore. He already looked horrible with the scars covering his bright purple scales. Watching himself on the verge of crying… he looked pathetic.
The moisture in his eyes disappeared as soon as it came. He left the bathroom and made his way downstairs, waiting in the living room for Cynder to arrive at their doorstep. He had barely sat down for a few seconds before he heard footsteps, and Muras came to take a seat next to him, a satchel full of gems hanging around his shoulder.
"Hey, you alright?" Muras asked.
"I'm fine," Forzen murmured.
"Forzen, it's okay to be scared. After all, this is your first time on a mission like this, and it's… not a very nice one for a first one. This one's quite intense. It's perfectly fine to be scared."
"I said I'm fine."
"It's Cynder you're worried about, isn't it?"
"I said I'm fine! Now leave the topic alone! Please!"
"Okay… I'm sorry."
They sat in silence, unable to start up another conversation. The air in the room was too grim to start up a nice chat. Not that Forzen wanted to start one of course; he didn't even want to leave the house.
But he knew he had to. He had no choice.
It didn't take long before Cynder finally arrived. There was a knock on the door, and Muras had barely stood up to open the door before Cynder yelled from the other side of the door. "I'm here, now hurry up! We're on a short time-frame and it's about a day and a half's flight to Dryovell at the quickest!" she shouted.
"Cynder, not all of us are wind dragons," Muras deadpanned as he opened the door. "Forzen might be able to keep up, but I'd fall behind very quickly. I'd be lucky to make it before sunset on the second day, but definitely not by noon."
"Two hours before sunset on the second day. No slower," Cynder ordered. "Now come on you two, we needed to be in the sky twenty seconds ago. COME ON!"
"Ancestors, Cynder!" Muras growled, before turning back to call Forzen, who was now already walking up beside him.
"Great, everyone's here; let's go!"
Immediately, Cynder spread open her wings and leapt into the sky, illuminated with amber light from the sixth-hour sunrise. Not wanting to get onto Cynder's bad side this early in the flight, Forzen was quick to follow, giving himself an extra boost with the wind element to allow himself to catch up with her. He didn't look back until he was caught up with Cynder. As he did look back to the sight of the gargantuan dragon city shrinking below them, he saw Muras a few metres back, flapping his wings extra hard to gain the acceleration he needed to match their speed. Eventually he caught up with them, but Forzen could tell that it was a challenge.
The flight was very uneventful. There was no talking amongst the three of them. The tension between Forzen and Muras was still strong enough to prevent them from starting any conversation, and Forzen didn't even have any idea what to talk about. Muras was his mentor; it wasn't like he was his friend and he could talk about dumb, silly things to him. Talking to Cynder was out of the question for both of them. She scared them both enough that they wouldn't dare get distracted from their mission at hand: flying to Dryovell.
Forzen watched the world around him change as they spent the next few hours of the day flying. Warfang disappeared, as did the plains that lay around Warfang. Next was a large expanse of thick rainforest, which went on and on for miles. It was about the eighth hour when they flew over the rainforest, and they spent almost two hours flying over it.
They then flew over a large expanse of beautiful green hills with rivers twisting throughout it, as well as a massive waterfall running down a cliff face that would be the water source for the streams of water in the valley. In the last few weeks, Forzen had done a little bit of geography with Muras to learn a bit more about the world around him, and so the younger purple dragon could tell that they were currently flying over the Valley of Avalar.
It was empty. The only life Forzen could see was the botanical life, as well as the few small rabbits, squirrels, and a few deer. However there weren't a lot of them. In the distance, sitting in the corner of the Valley sat some old ruins. What looked like destroyed wooden huts scattered the pit that sat inside a large, thick ring of trees, and moss had grown on top of everything. A few small trees had even sprouted in amongst the wreckage.
This had to be the Cheetah Village, the place that Spyro had decimated twelve years ago, forcing all of the cheetahs who lived there out of their homes. Derilan was one such cheetah.
It was strange, seeing what was the Cheetah Village look so full of life and peaceful, when what he had heard of its downfall was so destructive and violent. He tried to imagine explosions filling the dark sky, flames rising ominously and smoke choking the life out of everyone, not before they succumbed to Spyro's plasma attacks. Now twelve years had passed, and the greenery around it had begun to grow back, taking a life of its own as it claimed the space that was once claimed by many cheetahs.
The Valley continued for a little longer, before another large expanse of forest replaced it, with a large rushing river snaking down the middle of it. It was larger than the first expanse of dense trees they flew over, and there was still more left by the time the sun passed its halfway point in the sky.
By now, his wings were aching. They had been flying non-stop for hours. He had needed to rely on his wind element to keep himself up in the air a few times, but now he was really starting to feel the strain. He had never flown for this long before. He also was quite a small dragon, still being only twelve years old and not having hit the sixteen-year-old growth spurt yet. A twelve-year-old's small pair of wings were not made to sustain flight for this long.
He wanted to complain, but he knew Cynder would give him hell for it, so despite his pain, he had stayed silent. He had tried to focus on his surroundings below him, taking in the new sights to distract him from the pain, but after almost three hours of flying over the same dense forest, looking down below him wasn't helping.
"Alright, let's land and grab some food," Cynder announced, before she led the trio down into the forest.
Thank the ancestors, Forzen thought, before his stomach rumbled, as if reminding him that he hadn't eaten at all yet and that he was hungry.
They found a nice undercover spot to land, taking shelter in the shade of very thick tree cover. "Alright, I'm going to go find some food. You two can stay here," Cynder said. "Don't run off."
Muras just scoffed. "I'm not a child, Cynder; you don't have to scold me like one," he huffed.
"You act like it sometimes," Cynder deadpanned. "And he is a child."
Cynder just gestured with her head towards Forzen, not even wanting to speak his name. Forzen had to suppress his groan so that Cynder didn't turn on him instead. Luckily, Cynder didn't stick around long, as she almost immediately whirled around to go looking for some game to hunt. Forzen assumed she didn't want to waste time so they could get back in the air and cover more ground.
As Cynder left, Forzen lay down, letting his wings flatten out beside him. He let out a groan as he melted into the feeling of the tall grass underneath him, more than happy to feel land again, and thankful for a chance to rest his wings.
"You doing okay, Forzen? That's a lot of flying we just did," Muras asked.
"My wings feel like they're about to fall off. I've never flown that far ever," Forzen muttered.
"What about from Dark Peak to Warfang? That's about a five-hour flight. Maybe four if you're fast."
"Firstly, we've been flying for a lot longer than five hours. Secondly, I spent about a week wandering around before I ended up finding you guys. I refused to fly so I wouldn't get caught by the patrols going out at the time. Spyro sent out so many patrols to try and find me. So no, I've never flown for this long before."
"Did you need any red gems to help with the muscle strain?"
"I'm fine. I'm just happy for a little bit of rest before continuing the journey."
Before long, Cynder finally returned with food. A deer lay across her back, and she held three rabbits in her jaws. She dropped the corpses on the ground, before taking a rabbit for herself and breaking two legs off the deer. She took them back a few steps, before sitting down and beginning to eat the meat she had hunted for. Muras stepped forward and did the same, however he only took one leg off the deer.
Forzen stared at the dead animals nervously, taking in the sight before him. The rabbit left for him had a thin slit across its throat which bled through its pale grey fur. The deer had bite marks around its neck, and its head hung at an awkward angle, the kill having been dealt by a snapped neck. The three legs that had been pulled off were bleeding at the joints, the blood leaking out from the torn blood vessels. There wasn't a huge amount of blood as its heart wasn't beating, pushing blood throughout the body and through the torn vessels. However, the sight of three missing legs that bled slightly, exposing the dark, raw flesh discomforted Forzen.
"I, uhhh… I might go and search for some fruit or something else to eat," Forzen murmured.
"You ungrateful lizard," Cynder snarled, glaring up at him as blood dripped from her mouth, causing Forzen to cower. "I went out of my way to actually get you some food. I could have just not gotten you anything."
"I'm sorry, it's just… the thought of eating meat doesn't really… appeal to me."
"Hah! A vegetarian dragon. I've never heard of such a thing," Cynder snorted. "Besides, this forest doesn't appear to grow much fruit… fruit that's edible at least. I only found poisonous ones."
Forzen wanted to point out that Cynder was only looking for meat, not fruit, so she could have missed a good spot with actual edible fruit, but he knew better than to criticise and correct her, particularly with the way she frequently acted towards him. The sight of her prey's blood dripping between her jaws didn't make it any better.
"Now, eat up, you sad whelp. We're on a strict time schedule and I won't wait for you to go hunt for fruit, particularly when I've already brought you plenty of food that should give you enough energy to fly until nightfall," Cynder added.
"But…"
"No buts. Eat. Or you can fly without being fed."
Forzen gulped nervously. He eyed the prey lying on the ground, unmoving, dead, their blood staining their fur.
"Cynder, you don't have to be so harsh on him," Muras murmured after swallowing a mouthful.
"I don't have the time to wait for him to go find fruit or berries or whatever; if he didn't want to eat meat that badly, he should've gone while I was gone, and let me know so I didn't waste time trying to get a third rabbit!" Cynder growled, before turning back to Forzen. "Now, you either have two options: sit down and eat, or you can wait until dinner tonight and then you can go grab your own food. If you take the second option, I better not hear you complaining."
"I just… the thought of eating flesh… the thought of eating something that used to be living… I've seen so much death of other dragons that it just… it grosses me out," Forzen said.
"Forzen, they're dumb animals. They're not sentient. They have no spirit like we do, like the felines and moles and canines who live in Warfang do. These animals are made to be prey, made to be hunted for our consumption. Stop being a scaredy-worm and just eat, damn it."
Forzen's stomach then growled. He suddenly realised he hadn't eaten before they left. It was the thirteenth hour and he hadn't eaten all day. He wouldn't make it to nightfall on an empty stomach. He had to suck it up and at least eat something.
With a cautious, scared moan, he reached forward and grabbed the rabbit. He wasn't game enough to try and eat a piece of the deer. The rabbit was small, but still large enough for a dragon of his size to be a decent meal on its own. He didn't even think he was going to eat the whole thing.
He cringed as the smell of the rabbit's blood reached his nose. He placed the rabbit down in front of him and stared at it, unsure where to even start. He had only ever eaten meat once and that was after refusing it several times, and then he continued to refuse it afterwards, to the point where he was starving himself, which had forced the dragons in charge of getting Forzen's food to go out and find fruit for him, which frustrated Spyro to no end. When he had been served the meat though, it was usually chopped up into a single leg or wing or a flank, so he didn't have to worry about pulling things off and cutting things out himself. The meat he had eaten was also a little bit older, meaning it wasn't as fresh and full of blood as this freshly killed rabbit was.
Forzen's paws hovered over the rabbit, not sure what to do first. With a gulp, he reached for one of its front legs, gripping it tightly and pulling. It took more force than he anticipated, but with a few gross snapping sounds, he finally pulled the leg free from its torso. Drops of blood began to drip from the disembodied limb he now held in his paw, and he cringed at the sight and smell of it.
He turned the limb around in his paws, trying to hold the side where it connected to the torso, dripping blood and pink flesh exposed, away from him. He raised it cautiously, opening his jaws, before taking a bite.
The fur tickled his tongue. The flesh squelched as he dug his teeth into it. The taste of blood filled his mouth.
He knew this was normal for a dragon's diet but it just felt wrong. Tasting the blood on his tongue made him feel sick, his mind making him feel like he had killed someone.
A shiver went down his spine as he tried to chew the piece of meat that was in his mouth, the strange sensation of flesh breaking, blood spurting, and fur tingling, all putting him in unease. He cringed as he swallowed, feeling the chunk of raw rabbit meat slide down his throat. The taste of blood lingered.
"No. No, I can't do this," Forzen whispered.
He couldn't tell if Cynder had heard him; she just glared at him judgmentally. Muras was sitting a bit closer to him, and had just managed to pick up his complaint.
"Forzen. Just eat the leg. That's all I'm asking," the older purple dragon said calmly, gently. "You need to eat something if you're going to make it the entire way to nightfall. You haven't eaten at all today and you'll need the energy to make the remaining five hours."
"Muras, I—"
"Just do it, okay Forzen?"
Forzen flinched. He didn't know how to feel about being scolded by Muras. He knew Muras was just looking out for him, and even though he was being firm, he was gentle. Going off this, Forzen knew out of the two dragons in front of him, he'd much prefer getting in trouble with Muras than Cynder. Cynder would just yell and beat him.
Looking down at the limb he held in his paws, he raised it to his mouth again and took another hesitant bite. Fur, flesh, blood. Tickle, squelch, splash. He shivered as he chewed and felt more blood wash over his tongue. His third bite made him recoil as he felt one of his teeth scrape against the bone inside the rabbit's leg.
After swallowing his fifth bite, he couldn't do it anymore. He put the partially eaten leg down on the ground and shivered, wiping his mouth and pawing his tongue to try and rub the blood off it.
"Can we… can we make a stop near a lake or river so I can wash my mouth out? Please? I do not want the taste of rabbit blood lingering in my mouth all day," Forzen asked.
"Ancestors, Forzen, it won't last all day," Cynder groaned.
"Yes, we can do that," Muras said slowly, glaring at Cynder.
"Muras, I swear—"
"One. Quick. Stop," Muras demanded. "Just for a few moments to let him wash his mouth out, and then we can fly to your heart's content. The river's not far from here anyway."
"Thank you," Forzen murmured.
Cynder huffed in response, before standing up and digging open a hole to put the partially eaten deer corpse, Forzen's barely touched rabbit, and the leftover bones from Cynder and Muras' meals into. It was usual etiquette to not leave one's partially eaten remains in the open while in the field, as to not create a mess.
Once she had buried the bones and corpses, she filled the hole back up with dirt and immediately spread her wings and flew to the sky. With a sigh, Forzen followed her, with Muras doing the same. Within a few minutes she spotted a wide flowing river, which she dove down towards and allowed Forzen a bit of time to have a drink and wash his mouth out, which he very much appreciated.
His mouth felt clean and fresh and free of the bloody aftertaste. He'd never been so happy to have a drink of water before.
Then, before he knew it, they were up in the sky again. They spent the next three hours flying over the rest of the forest, before it turned into a wide stretch of green flatland. There were a few small lakes and even a river that they passed over, as well as several patches of bushes or extra foliage, but the majority of the land underneath them was just long fields of green grass. Another hour and a half passed before some denser tree cover began to litter the grassy plains.
They flew for another half an hour before Cynder decided they would land, finding a spot under some decent tree coverage to spent the night. Forzen almost collapsed as he landed, his wings aching severely. He had just flown for twelve hours all day with barely any breaks, and he knew that tomorrow was going to be several more hours before they actually arrived at Dryovell.
Cynder seemed happy though; they had apparently covered more ground than Cynder had expected them to do, so she was quite content that they might be able to make it to Dryovell by midday tomorrow. The problem was, Forzen knew Cynder was pushing herself throughout the whole flight, and he could feel how ridiculously fast she was soaring through the sky, feeling it on his own wings as he tried his best to keep up with her and Muras; the latter seemed to have no problem keeping up with her. Muras also had a very large wingspan, which did help him a lot to be able to keep up with her. Forzen in comparison had a very small wingspan, combined with his smaller size. It was a miracle he was able to keep up with her using as little wind magic as he did, but he still had to use some.
"Alright, I'm going to go hunt for some food," Cynder said, before turning to Forzen. "Now, you ungrateful whelp, are you going to eat the food I get for you?"
"Is it meat?" Forzen asked.
"I'm not going out of my way to get something completely different just for you when some fresh meat will suffice in both taste, nutrients and energy, so if you have a problem with that, you can go and get your damn fruits yourself," Cynder snarled.
"Come on, Cynder. You don't need to be so rude to him," Muras huffed.
"I do not care. I'm trying to be civilised and do a nice thing while we're on an actual mission, and to give him something that will sate him. If he has a problem, that's his own fault, and he can deal with the consequences himself! Now, are you eating what I'll get?"
"I… I don't know. I… I don't even know what's out there regarding fruit," Forzen responded.
"Not my problem. I'm not going out hunting again. If you decide you want meat if you can't find any fruit or berries, that's your hunt. I'm sure you're capable enough to do so."
"Cynder, I—"
"No compromises. I'm going out once and that's it. Now am I getting anything for you or not?"
"Cynder just get him something, in case there is no fruit for him!" Muras yelled. "If he doesn't want it, it's extra food for us! Just… be somewhat kind and respectful while we're doing this!"
"Fine."
Cynder whirled off and stomped away. Forzen could hear her swearing under her breath, muttering insults towards him. He sighed, rubbing his forehead in frustration. He then heard Muras start speaking to him.
"Listen, Forzen," the older purple dragon started. "I absolutely understand why you don't want to eat meat; you've mentioned it before and I understand your logic, but the fact of the matter is we can't be picky in a mission like this; we don't have the time to be able to accommodate your preferences, and it's not like you're allergic to it. Meat is a natural part of our diet, and the main part of our diet, and it will give us the most energy we need to be able to do stuff like this. Considering we don't have fully prepared substantial meals out in the wild like this, you will need to eat some meat to be able to continue the fight, take place in the battle that's undoubtedly coming, and to survive. You won't make it through all that on fruit and berries alone."
"I… I don't want to, though. It's—"
"Uncomfortable, I know. But right now it's such a primitive, unimportant problem when there are bigger things to worry about. I'm not asking you to be the one to hunt and kill the animals; I made sure Cynder will get you some. I'm just asking you to eat something. I know I was harsher to you at lunch and I'm sorry, but… it's for your benefit. You're not going to be able to do this without any substantial food intake. I don't know what is going to be required of you when you get to Dryovell, but you'll need as much energy as you can get, and having a good meal will help that a lot. And right now, the only thing out here that's going to provide that will most likely be hunted prey."
"But I… okay…" Forzen muttered.
"Even if you have some fruit, I'm just asking you to eat some meat. More than just a few bites, please. I'm not asking you to dig around in its flank or torso near any of the more 'gross' or vital parts, but at least just eat all the legs or something. It's just flesh on a piece of bone. Nothing else underneath. I'm not asking you to like it, I just want you to get some sustenance. Can you do that for me? For yourself?"
"I'll try. I can't promise anything but… I'll try."
"Good. Now, if you're wanting to go out and find some fruit, you might be better off going to do that now before it gets dark. Try not to get lost."
"I won't. I… I hope I can find something."
With that, Forzen lifted himself off his stomach back to all four paws with a slight groan. He then looked around, trying to find where the trees and foliage were stronger. He found a spot to his right and began to walk through there. He looked around, noticing it was mostly just large trees and thick bushes that filled the world around him. He walked for a good twenty minutes trying to find something, but had no luck. He came across four different bushes and two trees that all bore fruits and berries, but he had never seen most of them before, so he didn't know if they were safe to eat. The others that he did recognise were all poisonous.
He turned back, upset that he couldn't find any food that he would actually eat, knowing that an awful meaty meal would be what greeted him when he got back. He arrived back at the camp to see Cynder and Muras already almost finished their meals. He got closer and saw that the animals they were eating were hares. They were like rabbits, but larger.
With a frustrated, nervous sigh, he stepped forward and pulled a hare off the pile of prey and dragged it off to the side with him. He sat there, staring at it. He didn't know how long he had been staring at it, trying to hype himself up, before he reached forward and pulled of the first of four legs on the hare. It was bigger than the rabbit's, and his heart sunk when he realised there was now more to eat per limb than what he'd held for lunch.
And he didn't even finish one leg at lunch.
It took almost another half an hour to finish all four legs, and it was the most torturous thing he'd ever put himself through. The bloody taste lingered in his mouth, much stronger than it had at lunch, and his teeth felt weird, having been sinking into raw, firm flesh all meal. He'd tried gnawing around the first leg to eat as much met off it as possible, but he hated feeling the bone grind against his teeth, and the strange spongy texture of the cartilage made him very uncomfortable. It gave him comfort watching both Cynder and Muras not even touch the paws once they had eaten down to the ankles on the legs of their hares; he had thought he would have to eat them too and he did not want to do that.
The third leg he had eaten felt weird. It bled more than the others when he pulled it off the hare's body. It bled quite a lot, much more than all the other legs he'd eaten. But, afraid of Cynder getting snappy at him, and not wanting to argue with Muras again either, he didn't bother them about it. It tasted extra salty and metallic, like there was more blood sitting inside it than the others. It was strange. But his maw was so full of hare blood by this point that he decided he wanted to just power through the rest of it and not put it off any longer.
Once he was done eating, he tossed the legless hare torso back to the pile in the middle of the camp. Muras muttered a soft 'good job', before reaching forward and taking the hare for himself, before digging his jaws into its side.
Forzen had seen a small pond in his search for fruit earlier, so he told Cynder and Muras that he would be going to the pond to wash his mouth out, to which they just nodded and let him go. It took barely five minutes to get to the pond, and he lapped at the water aggressively, wanting to get the blood out of his mouth. He watched as the water in the slightly murky pond began to turn slightly red as his bloodied tongue thrust itself in and out of the water.
Before long, his maw was free of the taste of blood and raw flesh, so he turned and made his way back to camp. He wasn't watching where he was going, so as he walked back into the camp, he tripped over something and toppled over into the ground. As he looked behind him to see what he tripped over, he suddenly realised it was Cynder's tail.
Ancestors help me, how's she going to react? Forzen thought; Cynder was very unpredictable with how she reacted.
"You idiot, watch where you're going!" Cynder snapped.
"I'm sorry, Cynder! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Forzen pleaded, shrinking in on himself as the large form of Cynder loomed over him.
By now it seemed like she'd had enough of him. She was done with his whimpering, his frustrating defiance, his wants, and his mere existence. She had never spent this long around him before, ever, as Muras was the one looking after him, and she was only around him for a couple hours at a time, not a full day.
She finally snapped.
Due to her unpredictability, Forzen had no clue what she was about to throw at him, and due to how close he was to her, he had no time to dodge by the time he realised what was shooting towards him.
Bright red sound waves and a shrill screech.
He had been hit full force with a point-blank siren scream, the very thing he'd spent the last four weeks trying to avoid.
He collapsed to the ground, his vision almost instantly going red and distorting as everything started to twist and snake around each other in horrific shapes. Everything turned into faces, eyes wide and mouths even wider as they screamed silently for mercy. He looked around for Muras, watching as his body became a horrific gory mess in a matter of seconds as his scales melted, his flesh peeled, his eyes hung out of his sockets and his horns cracked, hanging down his face by a few thin chunks of keratin that kept them attached. Blood poured from his mouth, eyes, chest, stomach, everywhere on his body.
Massive holes opened up as savage wounds riddled Muras' body, many of them looking like savage claw marks or slices with a tailblade, others looking like the deep wounds Forzen's plasma element would leave, particularly as his side opened up to reveal a destroyed ribcage and charred, pierced lungs. There was even a wound that opened up that looked like it had been inflicted with the poison element, as the flesh melted and shrunk in on itself, going a hideous grey colour and going all bubbly.
Forzen tried to get his gaze away from Muras, but even the trees mocked him. The bark on the trees began to peel, and instead of revealing wood, there was flesh underneath the trees' bark. Blood poured out from them. Inside some of the trees were beating hearts and breathing lungs. The leaves turned red and slowly began to become liquid, before blood began to rain down from the tree branches in a continuous fountain.
The pile of hare carcasses began to squirm and cry out, begging for mercy. The bodies, their limbs torn off them and their chests and stomachs bitten into and hollowed out, writhed as they tried to run away. The hares' faces were animated, as if they were now sentient creatures. They screamed in agony, tears spilling down their cheeks.
More forms of other dragons began to step out of the bleeding trees. All four of the guardians, Master Almai and Master Hyrath, Fjor'gand and his gang, Du'ryal, Frostine and her friends, Eleizen… they were all covered in gore and looked like zombies. Eleizen was in a much worse state than her corpse was when they found her buried in her backyard; she had no eyes, her jaw was crooked and her sliced tongue sat hanging out of her bottom jaw between her cracked teeth, her wings were broken and hung limply by her sides, and there was a massive hole in her forehead that ran through to the other side of the head, resembling a wound left from a plasma blast.
Even more dragons continued to show up, ones he didn't even recognise. They were equally as awfully maimed as those he did know. It terrified him, watching every single dragon step closer and closer towards him, gore spilling from their bodies and littering their camp. The grass became stained with rivers of red blood, scattered with islands of chunks of flesh, intestines, eyes, and some other unidentifiable organs that dripped from cavities in the dragons' bodies. As each dragon stepped forward, they screamed out his name, betrayal and horror edging their agonised cries.
Forzen felt trapped, like there was a heavy weight on top of him pinning him to the ground. He couldn't move, he couldn't run, he couldn't do anything but watch as the gory dragons moved closer towards him. He felt like prey.
His chest ached as his heart raced a million miles an hour, hammering against his chest and trying to escape. His throat hurt from the screams that he couldn't hear, and his eyes burned with tears that flooded down his face. His body trembled as he looked around frantically.
Fear filled his chest as he watched the bloody form of Muras stand and stomp forward aggressively, and he howled in unadulterated terror. He expected an attack, something aggressive or horrible, but he suddenly realised that Muras wasn't moving towards him. Muras had rushed towards Cynder, grabbing her and pulling her back away from him, almost violently.
That's when everything changed.
The moment he saw Cynder.
She was the only one he saw that was untouched by the horrific layers of gore and wounds. He watched as she stared down at him judgmentally, hate edging her glance. She looked… almost smug, proud at what she had done.
She had done this to him.
SHE had done this to him.
It was HER fault. All HER FAULT.
SHE DID THIS.
He had never felt so much rage before.
He didn't know what he was doing anymore. Everything else became a blur.
Aaaaand cliffhanger haha
I'll be posting the next chapter in the next few days, Chapter 26 is actually already done. This sequence has been one I have been waiting to write for so long and I was so excited to finally get to it. It was actually supposed to be one chapter but it ended up needing to be split into two since the entire document had reached 17.4K words (all of which I wrote within one week, which I'm actually pretty impressed by how much I wrote this week just gone).
So excited to get the next chapter to you guys, but looking forward to seeing what you think of this one!
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Dragon of Mystery: Not quite a family reunion, Spyro wasn't going to Dryovell; Spyro and Forzen won't meet face-to-face for a while yet. Forzen will have a few reunions with some familiar faces from Dark Peak coming up, so look forward to that lol
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Chapter 26 will be posted in the next few days! I'll see you when that comes out! Have a great day or night wherever in the world you are!