Chapter 9: A Loss to the Shadows
#10 of Pursed Series
Chapter 9: A Loss to the Shadows
Xenorosth and Flare both exited Ariel's cave in silence. Both were wondering the same thing: What now?
It was time to leave, but no one could help him on where he should stay. Ariel couldn't make suggestions because Yamizephyr could confront her again. Flare couldn't help either because he didn't know the landscape at all. What now? It was all Xenorosth's choice.
He quickly picked a few ideal spots. One was the secret place he would go to when he was upset. However, it was right on the border of the black dragon's territory. He thought it through, then decided that it wouldn't be smart to be near his father's domain. Even though no one had ever found him there before, he discarded that location.
Another place was at the beaches of the midnight dragon's realms. He thought it out. The ocean was clear, open skies, so no one could see him without being spotted as well. However, he could be ambushed by land. If Yamizephyr did that, he would be trapped between his father, and the vast oceans of the sea dragons. Besides, being in making his lair in the midnight dragon's lair would be a bit predictable. This place too was discarded.
To give himself more time to think, he suggested to Flare " Lets check up on the fire dragons." He agreed. Mentioning that he was very concerned for his fellow friends and family, he placed a claw on Xenorosth's tail.
Xenorosth pictured himself and Flare standing outside of the place where he met Darkwing. The fire dragon told the hatchling to stay hidden. He didn't think it would be wise for him to show up again, just in case Yamizephyr was there. He agreed and went into the cave, head still sticking out so he could watch his friend go out up into the sky.
As soon as Flare got a good 500 feet in the air, he roared loudly. Two black dragons, both very muscular and clean with malicious grins on their black faces, were charging at Flare ready to subdue him into capture. Xenorosth watched helplessly as Flare tried unsuccessfully to evade them. He was hit hard in the side. Injured, he landed on the ground where one of the black dragons dived and hit him in the same side, knocking him over.
Flare cried out in pain. The sound of it sent shivers down his spine and made it feel as if every bone in his body was being broken in half excruciatingly slow. Flare tried to get up again, but once more he was knocked down. Both black dragons seemed to be enjoying themselves. It surged rage into Xenorosth. Flare was kicked hard in the chest. He roared in agony again. Again, he felt like he was being torn in half, physically and mentally.
He couldn't take such torture. He came out of his hiding space flying towards Flare as he was being pinned to the ground. His fore claws pushed against stronger black dragon. He seemed to have made some progress, but then his friend came down and assisted in subduing Flare.
"Don't you even try to touch him!" Xenorosth screamed. Both black dragons looked up. Now that he was closer, he could tell that they had eyes that would strike intimidation into most warriors, claws sharp enough to tear them any foe to shreds, and the sheer strength of 2 normal dragons. One had a massive battle scar on this back right leg. The other had a distinctive necklace around him made of gold. Both were about 40 feet tall. However, none of this seemed to be a factor with Xenorosth. Not with his friend in danger.
Once Xenorosth was spotted, the dragon with the necklace spat, "Or what? You're just a hatchling."
The other dragon whispered to his cohort "That's the hatchling we have orders to catch! And not to mention give the message to."
The hatchling growled an affirmative. As the dragon with the scar approached him menacingly, ready to pounce and capture another victim. The other dragon kept Flare pinned.
"That's right! Now let him go! I am the one you want. Come after me!" Xenorosth growled, hoping to get them away from Flare.
Flare shouted out loudly. "Run! You can't fight them! Save yourself! You're the one who matters!" However, the dragon without the necklace bound his mouth closed with a shadow. It started moving over his body, paralyzing him. When every inch of him, except his face was covered in the black dragon's binding shadow, the dragon pinning Flare got off and started going towards Xenorosth slowly. The hatchling started backing away.
"Take the red dragon away! We can handle that hatchling." The black dragon with the necklace ordered to someone. Xenorosth couldn't see if anyone else was nearby. The other two dragons were blocking his view of Flare now.
They leapt at him, but Xenorosth teleported, and easily evaded them. They both snarled at the hatchling in surprise. They must not have been told about the abilities that he possessed. That was a good thing. He could constantly surprise them with new techniques they haven't encountered before. And that single moment of recoil could be the difference between getting away with Flare, or being captured.
"You won't escape so easily!" The scarred dragon growled. He shot a lightning bolt at Xenorosth. That Xenorosth didn't see. It knocked him back, stunning him momentarily, but something made him recover quickly. He flew up again. Looking to see if Flare was okay. It startled both black dragons again. The look in their eyes gave their thoughts away: How could he recover from taking such a hit so quickly? He was half wondering that himself.
He looked over to where Flare was laying, bound by the shadows. Something was wrong though. Was seeping into the ground? He tried to fly to assist, but the one of the dragons cut him off. The other came around behind him. He shot 2 fireballs, aiming for the dragons' eyes. Both growled evading them without difficulty. They must have been expert flyers like himself.
This was enough to make room to get to Flare. He dived down, trying to reach Flare before he was gone. As soon as he landed, The shadows went over Flares, head.
"Flare!" Xenorosth yipped. He ran over to him, unaware of the two black dragons. Tried to touch the shadows, but before he could, it vanished, leaving no trace of Flare. Xenorosth gasped and looked in awe at the spot Flare was seconds before. Gone! How? To where?!
"No...." Xenorosth murmured.
"Oh, yes! And you will share the same fate!" The black dragon was right behind him, watching him panic. He stepped on Xenorosth's tail, intending to keep him pinned. Xenorosth roared in pain. The dragon maliciously laughed.
" Does that hurt hatchling? Don't worry, you will be safe with your daddy soon! And your red dragon won't bother you any more. My friend will take good care of him though, rest assured. He's already there now ‘helping him recover'." He mocked. He pressed down harder. Xenorosth let out another loud roar. He growled and closed his eyes.
At first he could only hear that dragon maliciously laughing, his jeers and hisses penetrating his very thoughts. But then he went into a deep state, deeper then any before. The pain in his tail melted away. The voice of the taunting faded. The only thing that he felt was power of the darkness of the night, and the red moon above. He took the energies of both and stored them inside himself. He surrendered himself to it, becoming engulfed in the energy... willingly.
He felt the darkness and the moonlight mix. He felt his own limbs move without his body commanding it. He opened his eyes to see that there was a blue light surrounding him. It was getting brighter and brighter in the eternal, dark night. The black dragon backed away slowly, freeing Xenorosth tail. His eyes shown fear. And it was well placed.
The built up energy quickly became too much for the hatchling to contain in his body. It filled him up and started looking for an exit. Xenorosth felt this and quickly let his mind loose, letting the energy escape willingly. He expected it to seep out slowly, but instead, it all tried to get out at once. Because of this, it clogged, causing none of it got out, and he rose up purely by instinct. The energy seemed to then start seeping out of every scale, go out with every breath, even radiate off of his thoughts.
Suddenly, he landed, and a huge, bright blue wave of raw force and dark moon energy radiated for Xenorosth. It seemed to be fatal; it knocked the black dragon well off his feet and sent him flying backward.
There was now a blue light radiating from the hatchling now. He went over to take a look at the black dragon. He was knocked out, but he was still alive. He half wanted to straight out slit his neck, but he thought he would show mercy to him that he wouldn't have shown. He would be the bigger dragon, not physically, but by heart.
There was no reason to stay here though. He put an image of a beach he knew of on the midnight dragon coast in his head. With a quick alteration, he soon found himself right on that same exact beach.
"How could I let him down...?" Xenorosth muttered to himself. He couldn't believe that Flare was gone. This was the exact reason he didn't want him to come along with him. But it looks like either way he would have been captured.
Xenorosth looked up into the sky, in which the moon was shining its pale blue light. It was so free in the sky. He couldn't bear the thought. He turned away, and observed his location. He was about a few feet left from vast ocean, which looked black in the night. To his right was a cliff a few hundred feet tall. It provided some security. But from now on, he could no longer meet anyone.
Xenorosth then realize how tired he was. It would have been smart to rest with his mother for the day. However, he was already far gone from her, and his pride wouldn't let him go back. Hubris, maybe, but he just wanted to be alone.
Xenorosth started digging in the sand, making a nice spot to curl up in. He summoned up a pile of kindling then lit it on fire with a simple fire bolt. His powers seemed to become easier to control every time he used them. Still, if he weren't so tired he would have speculated about that weird attack he had done to escape. He closed his eyes and trying to rest. It would do him some good. It didn't come easily, but he finally fell asleep.