FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 24

One more seemingly unending walk.

It was a living nightmare.

There are times when you dream bad dreams in most of them fear is depicted by gloom colors, silence and loneliness. In those nightmares you were left alone to face whatever horror that was hunting you.

Neither of those things were to be expected in a big city like Warfang, a gem of the Dragon Realms simply couldn't be devoid of life, a hub of culture draws attention, feeds on it and breathes with it.

And here she was limping with her cursed contraption through an empty, barely lit street surrounded by shadows and with black as tar sky above her head that was so thick that if she could touch it she was sure it would suck her in like the most hungry of marshlands.

Besides the clicks of her artificial legs and sniffs of her wet nose, there was no other sound present.

Just like in a nightmare.

Why her?

Not so long ago she was unseen, a nobody, a lousy cripple and a looser that got tossed around by the will of the world as it saw fit and now she plays a hero when the attitude of the world towards her didn't change at all.

Why is she Hollowborn? Of all the people in this world, why the Taint, ironically, cannot see her? Why of all the people in this world she is the one it is most afraid of?

What cruel joke of Fate is this?

Unimaginable evil cannot cope with a tiny dragoness who has troubles chewing food due to her crooked teeth, while she, a poor excuse of a dragon is supposed to stop a force that has the power to change the world.

She snickered, spitting all around herself, she wiped her cheek into the contraption that kept her balanced, cleaning off a rope of saliva that got stuck to her mouth.

If she would tell anyone about it they wouldn't believe her, she hardly could believe it herself and she was in the center of all this.

To top it all she limps along the empty, scary wish on the request of a creature that possessed Cynder, a creature of practically the same ominous aura as the Taint corrupting this city. Not even the most dramatic of fantasies could come up with a joke of fate like this.

Life always writes the most insane stories.

Of course this was not the end, she was set on a course that will make this already bad situation a little more tragic, mostly for herself. At the end of this road not only awaits her a temple full of corrupted people, if Ancestors are watching over her they won't notice her like the rest, but also Brill who still possessed some manner of unpredictability, the dark crystal itself and probably right now the scariest obstacles of all.

Capro.

That dragon was the only certain danger inside the temple, there was a slim chance to avoid everything else, but she could feel in her heart, in her fast paced with terror heart, that there was no possibility to avoid a confrontation with the malachite drake.

Knowing this she couldn't comprehend why is she still walking, her cowardly nature should push her back, make her run away from practically certain death.

Maybe her soul just knew there was nowhere to run to, if leaving would be so easy than there would be already hundreds of people storming the walls from the outside, there was no chance that the rest of the Dragons Realms couldn't see the black clouds hanging over Warfang.

Coriza sighed.

What is she even trying to do here?

She was alone and all that she can hope for is some more hours of life before she eventually drops dead, who knows maybe one of her uneven teeth might get a scratch when they will finally be smacked out from her mouth.

She stopped, the mechanism that served for her legs began to huff and puff, the artificial limbs creaking, the construction adjusting itself to the slipping grip of her paws. She lost all of her strength suddenly, stopping in the middle of the street with a creaking, fading sound of working gears like a rusted train arriving on its stop for the very last time.

Her struggling machine was screaming the sorrows away instead of her, at least in all this misery, she gets to keep her vocal cords out of such strain. She needs them for sobbing.

She could feel the choking arms of silence wrapping its arms around her throat, even if her enemy was new, she recognized the touch of the hands on her neck, each belonging to a different force

Fright and cowardice.

All she wanted to do right now was to lie down, close her eyes and wake up in a different place, can be even on the Seeker's bed, lifelong shame was better than this in every regard.

She stood there, mechanical legs spread and stretched out like legs of some drunk spider.

Besides the depression and fear, there was a brief moment when she felt a piece, a moment when she accepted her situation and her breath left her mouth with no vibrations. The short relief was so strong that it made her frown, desperately making her look for it again.

Such unexpected feeling triggered memories in her, memories of the temple and serenity found there in its times of glory.

Her search however was ended by the noise of bursting flames and magical explosions in the distance. Her head immediately kicked up, eyes gazed down the path she had conquered already.

There were remains of a magical explosion flashing in the air where she left Cynder and her monster to their fate, the dark shield they built around the hospital that kept intruders away from Sparx and Amela burned brightly, flaring up with new strength.

The increased intensity was short lived however, when it calmed down she could see the entire silhouette of the barricade losing its ominous dark shade, becoming slightly more transparent, getting weaker, disappearing.

And with it was fading the life of whoever it was protecting, with it was fading the meaning of the sacrifice of those that decided to put their lives at risk only to open the path for her.

To make it even worse her eyes caught some more chaos in the City Hall at the top, the entire building looked like it was on fire, not to mention more magical flashes on the opposite side of the city, not so far from the hospital. The sharp bursts of light clearly showed that they were at least two fighters locked in an airborne battle, one was clearly made of fire.

She could tell even from here that it was Flare.

Another soul locked in a fight, a lost battle from the very start, the numbers they were facing were simply too high for them to withstand. Her friends were throwing their lives away essentially, because she stays here, crying, not wanting to accept her duty.

And it was a duty of a cleric.

All this time she had doubts about her holy mission and now when life presented her the opportunity to give it any credit, sending her on a quest of example, a quest every cleric should follow since this is what they dedicate their lives to, she sits here and cries.

She joined this temple for a reason, it was never forced upon her nor she was ever persuaded to seek this path, it all happened rather automatically as if despite the clumsiness of her limbs, they knew where they were taking her in the end.

Amela was right.

"You are who you are, we just need to accept that sometimes Nature works in unpredictable ways, you're still alive young cleric, that alone is enough proof that the world didn't want to just discard you as unfit, it gave you strength"

The cheetah patted her heart, knocking at the door of her ribcage.

"It is up to you to find it" the strangely young eyes of the senior cleric scanned over the room, glistening with what seemed to be pride mixed with loss "Sometimes it appears in places you least expect it to be"

"There was truth to the healers words" she thought to herself

By the Ancestors she was right.

She might not be the most social type, not the most courageous one, but there was this powerful force guiding her through life from the day she hatched. It was sense of duty, Nature had a plan like Amela said, she though due to her profession and past experience with the dark crystal liked to believe that it was not only the Nature's will that guided her.

It might be blasphemous to think so, but she could feel the Ancestors watching over her, there were signs that she is not an ordinary looser all around. How easily she charmed Spyro and Cynder, how many times she got intimidated by her own eyes, the smiles she offered to people that made them brighten up, even a person as lost as the old cheetah that she met here. Not to mention all the doubts she had, just how many times did she think about the Ancestors leading her?

Her logic cannot simply ignore this, might be that she is blowing this up out of proportion, the thing she takes for Ancestors guidance might be only her deep motivation for survival in the most dire of circumstances. Be it as it may, she simply couldn't ignore it, not in a moment like this where her friends fight for life, relying on her to assist them in any way.

Dwelling on it will lead nowhere, it was better to accept it as the most peculiar mixture of faith and natural determination of any living creature.

Hollowborn or not, blessed or otherwise, she simply had to do her job. If there was ever a calling dictating her life, then the calling of duty was the one pulling all the ropes.

And among all the doubts she had there could be found a one thing she was certain of.

She was a cleric.

Coriza grabbed the handles of her mechanical legs, despite that her paws were slippery, wet with sweat and general stress, she managed to grab tightly of them, putting all the meager physical strength she had into the grip.

The mechanical construction whined in relief, the gears started turning with more force and eagerness, the pipes began producing higher amounts of fumes. The legs slid back into their natural positions, mechanical joints bulging like flexed biceps under the strain, she could feel even the straps of the device slightly sinking into her scales when the machine worked.

The slight discomfort was worth it though since the moment the contraption returned to its original position she could feel the raw strength running through it, almost see it, as intimidating as seeing veins bulging from a male's forearm as he lifts something heavy.

Despite that this machine was serving only as a support for her wounded body, she felt somewhat safe inside it, with the pumps beating loudly inside the legs she felt as if she would be inside a belly of a huffing, angry Hound.

Many would possibly laugh at her right now, especially if they learned that she treats a device for cripples as an additional hide shielding her from outside danger. She didn't mind that however, you take what you can get, not everyone is strong, she especially, these legs might be a hindrance for most but for her, and she had to admit it openly, putting aside the duty aspect that these limbs were far more reliable than her own legs.

The fact that she didn't fall flat on the ground yet was enough of a proof for that.

She sighed deeply and with a final flick of her tail, making sure that the swing is strong enough to make part of the icy club on the tip to slap against her waist. She yelped and immediately moved forward, the pinch of the spike on her butt serving as the perfect motivation.

The artificial legs obeyed gladly, making her reach the destination even before she finished articulating her whine. As silly as it might be it was good to see that something is showing some eagerness and energy.

She continued forward, her fake limbs strongly thudding against the street, the echo they created was like a distant rumble of a battle horn. The sound was scary and even if she was the one creating, it the noise intimidated her nevertheless, she was the perfect example of a creature afraid of her own shadow.

Darkness didn't see her, but she had a feeling that it knew she was approaching, or at least it was aware that something is out of the ordinary. Shadows danced all around her, tongues of black smoke kept swirling in front of her, parts of the mist passed through her like ghosts, buildings kept appearing and vanishing to the rhythm of the burning black magic sticking to them.

Warfang was burning, flames of the Taint sticking to every stone, a black, depriving of hope sight. She could feel that it was intentional, Darkness tried to confuse her, putting up obscuring obstacles that would make anyone unfamiliar with the city lose his surroundings with ease.

Darkness didn't know with who it was dealing with, unable to discern the invader it put up defenses that it was certain would work for everyone. If it knew who she was the Taint would realize that covering up the path to the temple for someone like her is for nothing.

It doesn't work.

She could find her way to the temple from every corner of this city, no matter how dissolved it might seem.

Time flew by quickly, like always when you know that you are going to face a stressful situation today, doesn't matter if it comes late at night and you just woke up, stress erases whatever period of serenity you had and simply speeds you up to the moment you dreaded, no matter how far it might have been in the beginning, in the end you always will realize that you didn't have enough time to prepare.

Corrupted Warfang was no different, before she could record it she crossed all the necessary corners and passed through all the required alleyways, breathing shallowly to the sound of her beating heart.

The carved statue of a dragon loomed over her, the dark fog swirling all around filled the empty eye sockets, the twirling mist made the eyes look alive.

And they seemed to stare directly at her.

Welcome home Coriza.

She looked around almost instantly, preoccupying her eyesight with whatever random thing she might find. She simply had to get her eyes off of the scary figure, she could feel it stealing the meager amount of courage she still had in her.

Especially when in one of the black eyes she believed that she can recognized a disappointed, even mad, glare of the Seeker.

The door to the temple were widely opened, just like when she arrived here with Sparx, what seemed like an eternity ago. If they would just turn away from this building on that fateful day, everything would be normal, there would be no fear and curses.

She trailed the walls of the building with her sad sigh, making her way to the corner, she wasn't surprised to see shards of glass still on the ground, sinking into the gloomy grass. This is where she fell when Capro threw her out of the window, nobody even bothered to clean the mess up.

That fateful day began a process of change that will afflict everyone and this horror was just the start. The scattered shard on the side serving as the perfect warning sign, showing quite clearly that the consequences won't be pretty, the consequences will be filled with pain.

Future will birth cripples.

She looked over her shielded body, looked over the construct that served as her legs. It was a reliable piece of machinery, while she was the first to begin the process of erosion, the first cripple, a consequence of a grave mistake, she was a case that still maintained some dignity and independence.

If pain has to come, she could only pray that people will have get to live with the same amount of discomfort as her.

She walked onwards, this time though her step lacked the confidence from earlier, the entire machine became far more quieter, the huffs the joints made lacked the power that was so motivating before.

It seems that even a brainless, simple machine knew that they were heading into a den of evil.

What was surprising though was the fact that inside the building she couldn't see a living soul, it was quite the opposite of what she thought to find here. The creepy monster controlling Cynder also seemed to be wrong, the thing was trying to prepare them for slaughter and yet there was no one here standing in her way.

At least she managed to find a little bit of comfort here in this place, right under the cursed crystal.

Or it all might be a trap.

Despite the stress, the thought about walking into a well prepared ambush amused her, even if in reality it was laughter through tears. It would be something to fall into a trap prepared for a dragoness like her that can barely walk, if she would face a mastermind like that than it would be her first confrontation where she would have such high chances of victory, first and last one since from all the others she ran away from.

As she crossed the doorstep she noticed the shadows becoming more uneasy, they were assaulting her like flies, a chaotic, twirling mass of dark tongues kept swirling around her, she could even feel some delicate pokes here and there when the shadow probed her like a curious scientist.

She felt a presence, a strange prodding sensation tapped against her skull as if hordes of ants would be running across her scalp. All the evil she felt in this city, or even the one radiating from possessed Cynder, it was merely a speck of dust compared to this.

If she wouldn't recognize the building, she would say that she stepped into the heart of the Dark Realms.

With this magic trying to cloud her thoughts she realized two things, the first one was relief. It turned out that sending her here was a good idea, due to her condition the power here had no hold over her, who knows what kind of catastrophe would be triggered if Cynder, Spyro or anyone else with considerable power would try to get his paws on the dark stone. It would require a lot of will to withstand this pressure, while she isn't the best example when it comes to resistance, it was worth noting though that even with her immunity she could barely keep her sanity together.

All of this was scary, but it wasn't as depressing as the second thing she realized.

She felt it before.

...Wondering that perhaps she is wrong, methods that she stands against are actually the only way. Perhaps cleansing should start with her and all that hold her back and pushes her in the wrong direction is her cowardice, her inability to take arms.

Here, in this place, the thought was so much more potent, here the gaze of the Ancestors was sharp. Here their voice so much more stronger. Here their presence was felt, wearing the skin of every believer.

Except her and perhaps a handful of others guilty ones.

"What's upstairs?" Flare asked when he stopped in front of them, tail wagging happily and eyes directed at the curtain and the stairs behind leading upwards

Upwards towards the stars.

Towards the Ancestors.

She could hear their whispering when she slept in her quarters.

They spoke with the voice of the Seeker.

How could she be so blind?

First she couldn't sleep anymore in the caretakers quarters, then Sparx came and without hesitation she started hanging together with him, then Cynder, her personal beauty practice, all of this could summarized with one word.

Distractions.

She was pushed out from the temple and what she felt was not the grace of the Ancestors, but the corrupted, back then still weak, presence of Darkness that even separated her from the Seeker, leaving the old mole to be devoured by the force alone.

It was so weak back then compared to now, it spent so much time on flourishing, if she would only acted, confront the Seeker, do something, it all could be avoided.

But as always cowardice won and as always it made her run away from confrontation, from decision making.

From responsibility.

Well done.

Cleric

If not for the fear of drawing attention to herself she would start crying right now, she lost count how many times her eyes were wet already.

Despite the warnings and predictions, the temple was empty, a completely opposite image of the one she witnessed when she entered this place with Sparx.

Where did all the people go?

Did the Taint really sent them all on the hunt? Leaving itself defenseless?

Or perhaps it simply didn't need the protection of weak mortals now when it displayed its full power. People here might have served only as a distraction.

Something she's an expert in and yet still failed to put it all together.

She was surely the hero that the Dragon Realms don't need.

Despite the intimidating shadows the temple was as she remembered it to be, nothing changed in its structure, she didn't know if it was for the best though. She can find her way now, yes, but if destruction would occur it would be easier to start anew, new walls meant new beginning, having the old ones intact would only remind her and probably many more people of the horrors they had to go through.

Not to mention that the remains of darkness could still be present in the cracks when all of this will be over finally.

Nothing will be the same.

And if life of a coward has any certainty about it, then it is its fickle irony in predicting the worst scenarios becoming real. Life will change in Warfang and it won't be for the better.

All this thinking made her unaware of her steps, only when the fake legs became stiff all of a sudden she realized that she approached some kind of obstacle that couldn't be traversed normally.

She stopped in front of a flight of stairs.

So close to the nightmare.

She gazed up the staircase, to the black tunnel at the top that in normal days was simply an arch leading farther into the corners of the temple. Right now it looked like an entrance to a den, unfamiliar and ominous, she watched it instinctively, seeing absolutely nothing besides a splotch of thick shadow.

There was no turning back now.

Ironically she could feel that the only way to remain sane was to keep moving forward, deep down she knew that if she would turn around now and try to run away the door of the temple would close in front of her nose. Panic is the last thing she needs right now.

Come on cleric.

Time to return home.

She grabbed the handles tighter, her claws digging deep into them, they had no troubles sinking into the material, her blades already left deep enough scratches throughout this entire terrible day. The poor machine will have to go through a serious renovating process.

Groaning she forced one of the legs to lift itself up, it dropped down onto the first step as quietly as she could manage it, fully aware that the construction is quite heavy and every effort to silence it is useless, especially on stones used for staircases.

The artificial leg touched the step.

There was no sound.

Her eyes widened, not only the ground made no noise, she also felt her leg becoming rather numb, losing most of its strength since instead of a rough surface it landed on something soft, like a carpet. She had to fight with the handle a little to stabilize the mechanical paw that was prepared to land on stone, luckily her effort was not in vain and she managed to steady the leg.

Instead of a delicate thump, all she heard was a wet smack.

Something splashed against her paw, tiny, sticky droplets.

Like saliva.

A chaotic thought dashed through her mind.

Did she just step on a tongue?

She looked down, trying to calm her slowly panicking senses, her ruined hair dropped down along the sides of her neck, like numb arms of an exhausted sprinter. The shadows seemed to sense her fear since immediately they grew and bulged from underneath her, creating a see of swirling blackness that obscured her sight and covered the foot of the mechanical leg under its dark layer.

She couldn't see anything.

The thing she stepped on could be anything, from a spilled juice to remains of a bloodied heart.

Why throw monsters at you when your imagination can be your biggest foe.

Coriza stood there paralyzed, her eyes widening with every second, pupils not even bothered by some strands of her hair irritating the eyeballs. Freezing touch of terror was creeping along her spine, building up like magma in a ready to erupt volcano.

Logic demanded that she focuses on details, she got here without trouble after all, nothing stopped her at the entrance, what are the chances then that danger would be hiding in a stupid staircase.

This was insane and completely unrealistic, it had to be her head playing tricks on her, all this time she spent in the shadows starts to get to her, after all even in a completely normal night, when you let your fantasy loose, you start hearing things that aren't there.

It was her mind creating the illusions, Taint simply powers up the fear.

Time to move.

Once more she rearranged her grip on the handle, slight stings were pinching her toes when the resistance of the already irritated claws was tested once more.

She jerked her leg up.

Only to find out it was only her sweet wishful thinking, she didn't budge and the force she applied pushed her down so quickly that she almost let go off the contraption.

Something was holding her.

She tried to free her leg again, yet no matter how hard she tried it simply didn't want to move. Her advanced crutches began to whine in effort, the machine pumping more steam, effectively silencing her own groans of struggle and squeaks of fear.

The shadows below started to be more active, steams dancing around like long bodies of slithering snakes.

Her heart began to race, each beat kicking the breath out of her lungs, turning the pants and squeaks into whizzes of a prisoner having a loop of rope tied around his neck.

She watched in horror when something rose out of the restless shadow, growing like an antennae of a snail. The black tentacle crawled up the artificial leg. Each time it moved higher, her struggles intensified and whizzes became louder, both from the crutches and her own throat.

The machine started to pump steam louder, the gears inside speeding up so quickly that they began to rattle.

The line of blackness didn't stop, rising up towards the handle, she could feel its freezing touch on the side of her front paw. The touch making her sob.

The tongue stretched even further, coiling around her wrist all of this done with intimidating care, with a grace of a predator stalking its prey.

It wants to pull her down, drown her in the shadows.

She screamed, throwing her head back, uncontrollable breath of ice pushed out from her gaping mouth, the magical strike struck the twirling shadowy mass, whatever icy trail it created was gone momentarily, the breath got sucked by the darkness, no trace of ice magic was left.

The coiled tentacle around her wrist tightened its grip, just by a small margin however, as if intentionally not wanting to cause her discomfort, as if testing her.

She didn't record it however, feeling molested nevertheless, having enough groping from dark creatures for a lifetime.

"Let me go!" she cried out and pushed with all her might, commanding the construct to rip the floor apart if it needs to free itself

Unexpectedly the coil around her wrist unclenched itself, sinking back into the shadows.

Her eyes widened when the leg momentarily broke free, the force with which it sprung up almost made the leg kick her in the chin, her head was thrown back with the blow. Draconic teeth sliced the tongue, her struck mouth spat out blood as she grunted.

She forced the leg out of its normal plane of dimension, the crutches as advanced as they were, were simply unable to cope with the unforeseen situation, losing their center of balance.

She made an unintentional back flip, seeing the end of her tail flying before her eyes before her back hit the ground, the pain that exploded throughout her body silenced whatever scream she was producing, making her gasp for air.

She forgot immediately why she had the crutches in the first place, it did not matter what hurt her that made Amela suggest her to wear one. Right now hurt everything, she was pretty sure that she was about to collapse like a weakened building.

She was gripping the handles tightly still however, artificial legs stretched out into the air, stiff like boards.

From the distance she must really look like an overgrown, dead spider.

She laid there on her back, huge eyes frozen in shock, chest unmoving due to a deeply held by her breath, waves of pain pulsed through her body. The ceiling of the temple was as dark as the floor, absolutely nothing could be seen there, it was a total oblivion.

Total, silent oblivion.

For a moment she forgot where she was, pulsing echo of pain was the only thing that was left and despite the surroundings, this moment of limbo was something spectacular. She could even fall asleep she believed if only she had the courage to close her eyes.

"Fascinating"

Eyes grew even wider, bulging to the point that if she wanted to she could catch the entire eyeball in her claws.

A voice.

A deep, masculine voice.

It sent shivers down her spine, she imagined this is how a Death Hound would sound like if it could speak while having its sharp fangs right next to your throat, each deep growl followed by a teased of a hot tongue on your scales as it toyed with you, its food.

She was totally against it, yet her neck moved on its own, head turning towards the direction from which the sound came.

Towards the stairs of which the first step proved to be disastrous.

Her mouth opened on its own, following in the wake of her eyes, gaping to an unthinkable level.

A black mass stretched out from the fog of shadow that obscured the stairs, the darkness covering the rising figure was constantly moving as if it was a restless sea.

It was familiar.

It reminded her of clay spun around on a pot ready to form pottery of all sizes.

The black figure was a mold, ready to be formed in anything it desires.

"A wise creature is able to adapt to the surprises of life as water to the decanter it is poured in"

The black silhouette recited with a low, breathy voice, she couldn't see its mouth at all, it was like the sound was coming from its entire frame.

The black mass slithered closer to her, from the middle of its high frame that stopped growing stretched out a limb, as restless as the rest of the ominous body.

The tentacle moved right in her direction.

She yelped, tears filled her eyes as she began to chaotically fight with the crutches, the artificial legs were kicking wildly in the air, due to overwhelming panic she simply couldn't make them to roll.

The black tentacle snatched one of the artificial legs, vibrations traveled through the entire construction, communicating precisely just how strong the grip was, it could crush her skull if it wanted to.

The mechanical legs froze as fear paralyzed her.

She began to scream.

And then she was flipped, the world made a spin in front of her eyes and before she knew it she was back on all fours again, balance kept by the black tentacle glued still to one of the legs.

"Fear not" the voice intoned calmly, she could spot black scales forming on the undulating tentacle "I'm a..." the black limb pushed back, despite everything she followed it and when she finally noticed where it returned she felt that some hair on her head fell off from all this stress and shocks

Before her manifested a black dragon in his young adult years, the tentacle that held her leg was now a normal, draconic foreleg, claws of which scratched the gold neck of the drake. His back legs though did not exist, being only a pair of black clouds.

He was giving her a charming smile.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him, he was simply perfect in his evil depravity.

"Let's just say that I am not what you expect"

Obsidian eyes moved towards her, she could see her pale, frightened expression in them.

"That detail we have in common"

She was out of breath, the dragon that appeared in front of her was like taken from a painting, excellent in every regard, she could feel charisma and confidence radiating from him. All of that however was unimportant compared to the feeling of familiarity she felt when looking at him, she recognized him and she immediately realized from where.

She felt empty.

They continued down the dark corridor, the darkness surrounding this area seemed to devour even the sound itself, everything went quiet, even her own sobs, it didn't matter that her throat hacked and nose wiggled, here everything became unimportant.

They took a turn to the right on the nearest interconnection, they didn't walk far, the road back should be easy to find, yet she knew that she won't make it back, the dragon didn't even have to stop her.

Something else would.

She had this weird feeling that there was no turning back from here, if you arrive on this level you will be digested, allowed only a breath of fresh air during sleeping periods of this parasite that clearly fed on the temple.

Sparx might have troubles below, but she was glad his road was blocked, there was a chance he would land on the platter as well, the hope that the parasite had a taste it didn't like was a faint one.

Before her eyes adjusted themselves to the change of direction she managed to notice that the corridor which they left behind wasn't empty, there was someone, or something slithering in the shadows, the stretch of darkness clearly visible in the faint light.

"You were there" she mumbled quietly, her voice was so soft that not even a cheetah's ear would catch it, even if it would be pressed right to her snout

Darkness was swirling around the dragon's paws, all four obscured by the shadows as if they wouldn't have any physical form, being only black clouds that kept the drake afloat.

"I'm an entrepreneur, the world is merely a point on a map for me"

"You are Taint" she swallowed deeply, the amount of saliva that went down her throat must have been a heavy one since even her crutches bucked under the load

The dragon chuckled, claws drumming against the gold scales on his throat, black mouth stretched wider, revealing more of the pristine white, predatory smile.

"I have many names, neither of them interesting. There is something far more important" he swiftly leaned forward towards the dragoness, the sudden move making Coriza jerk back with a yelp, her eyes automatically closing

The dragon's claw pinched her nose playfully.

"You my daring glass"

She squinted, only to notice the glimmering, black eyes of the dragon staring directly at her, despite their coldness, she could see raw passion in them.

"A treasure, never suspected I will find one after so much time, and believe me when I say that I saw EVERYTHING" he cocked his head, clearly amused by something "Irony is the gaiety of reflection and the joy of wisdom. Seeing everything doesn't mean noticing everything" he licked his lips "Abroad one has a hundred eyes, at home not one"

The reciting, low tone would be a wonder to behold near a fireplace in the safety of your home. In this dangerous situation all this charm only added to the intimidation, making her feel as if she would be locked in a maze where the walls would moan, pushing closer and closer, making her claustrophobic.

The dragon inhaled deeply, his eyes shutting in bliss.

"You smell of fear, you don't have to be afraid of me" the dragon chuckled "Of all the people on this world, YOU don't have to be afraid of me" the dragon began to laugh, it was a melodic sound

To Coriza however it was terror incarnate, there was just too many scary things around to find anything pretty in the voice, the laughter only made her shiver, even her artificial legs didn't dare to emit a sound.

Her eyes darted to the sides in growing panic, the burst of laughter was loud, very loud, there was no doubt something heard them, or someone for that matter.

"Breathe little ghost" the dragon smirked "You're invisible"

"Not to the mortal and sane" Coriza mumbled quietly, her scared eyes catching shy glimpses of the drake, his scales were different, frame more elegant but in this place everything shifts and morphs, for all she knew he might be only an illusion while before he was wearing malachite scales

"I see" the dragon puffed out his chest, shrugging indifferently "Do not fret spirit, noise no longer calls your nemesis. Capro is preoccupied with thoughts he wanted to avoid, alas things don't always go as planned" the dragon looked down upon his insubstantial hind paws , the clouds of black mist that they were right now seemed to taunt him "A lesson I also had the displeasure to learn" red tongue made a thoughtful round around the teeth "Dine with arrogance, sleep with shame" he recited slowly, rising his empty sight "Capro will block your path, this time the old mole won't be there to help you. You will not reach your destination phantom" he smiled "Not alone"

She might have been terrified, but that didn't mean she was completely confused, her brain still worked and it managed to catch the subtle proposal hidden among the dragon's voice.

He wants her help in something.

She immediately felt dirty, not knowing the dragon's true intentions and lacking any knowledge about him, yet sensing that despite his condition he would feel perfectly in this place, she wasn't really keen of offering any assistance.

She couldn't shake the feeling that he was some kind of demon, one that all the holy books speak about when they describe evil creatures and their supposedly good deeds. Considering this proposal made her feel like she was about to make a deal with the devil.

What's worse is, she couldn't tell if he was lying or simply telling what she wants to hear.

All she knew was that he seemed familiar, he walked the shadows of this world and yet she doesn't know his name.

True demons never speak their name.

"Who are you?" her voice wavered, despite that though there was a tone of command in it

He bowed respectfully.

"Danox is my name and in this lovely place you can call me your friend"

"Only in this place?"

His lifeless eyes sparkled.

"I plan on becoming something more to you"

Her eyes widened, fear mixed with embarrassment colored her cheeks.

Danox jerked his head back, shade of black painted the air where his head was just a moment ago. The expression she gave him was pure innocence, not tainted by any flaw, even the most pious have scratches on their soul, power of any sort corrupts, even in the most trivial of ways like ambition for example.

But this girl.

She was the definition of purity.

How could he forget about someone like her?

Or did Time decided to stop being an annoying bitch for once?

How could it let something as unknown as her slip by him?

A walking, untainted mystery with big, glowing, convincing eyes.

He never thought a treasure like her existed, even the first ones, the Blessed as they called them were tainted, every single one carrying a spark of poisonous ambition, even though that there were some spectacular individuals among them.

No one stood a chance with this fragile cleric however.

He never knew that he will ever find any interest in life again.

"I apologize for my lack of tact" he chuckled nervously, scratching his neck, eyes darted around the room in embarrassment "I should be more aware of the situation you found yourself in, it can be overwhelming, more pressure is simply uncalled for"

He smiled.

Coriza frowned.

Either time flew by here in rapid place, or the dragon suddenly became warm and more friendly, his entire body language was more pleasant, more normal, the arrogant confidence was nowhere to be seen.

"It's just that I became your biggest fan, there aren't many things I find fascinating, none to be precise. Until you arrived that is my bright ghost, you have the power in you to change the world and you know what's the best part of it? It can be only for the better"

She was speechless, this dragon acted like he would be a wise, old sage possessing the secrets of the world while having the body of a pupil in his prime. He had black eyes like the pits of the Dark Realms, smelled foul as if he would be rotting from the inside, and when everyone else would think that there would be another bad trait to top them all, it was exactly the opposite.

She could feel something heroic and pristine in the dragon, even though she had seen him for the first time in her life she recognized this unusual combination from somewhere and it was extremely attractive, wanting you to follow him like the most influential of leaders.

So much chaos and mystery surrounded the dragon that it was simply impossible to make any sense of him and decide where he was headed in life.

Somehow she doubted Danox knew it himself, judging from his lively reaction he already reached a pedestal of surprise he never expected to meet.

"Who are you?" she repeated the question, breathing it out with a sigh

The dragon opened his mouth, she noticed his tongue flicking inside the maw, a hum leaving his lips and she immediately realized that he was about to open before her completely, spilling out every detail of his life to her.

Danox seemed to notice it to and got startled by the sensation, black mouth snapped shut, she spotted a tear of blood shooting in the corner, seems like a piece of his tongue didn't escape in time to avoid the falling teeth.

"Your Guardian, you will no be allowed to reach the place you are heading to. Capro will stop you, I can help you break through that obstacle"

He could see the hesitation in the girl's eyes, most of it was born from primal fear, but there was a spark that was simply adorable in its innocence. She didn't trust him and yet she was hesitant to say no.

Indecision and mystery, how I missed you!

Danox was unable to hold back laughter, a warm, friendly blare left his throat.

"Confusion is a chicken with shattered eyes" he ran a paw along the length of his chest, shaking his head "I'm aware my scales and presence do not make me the most reliable creature you met, but I assure you, my intention to help you is genuine"

His obsidian eyes burrowed into her, they glowed with a shade of purple, the color was so blatant that made her believe it doesn't appear often.

An almost flagrant honesty.

A dragon undoubtedly powerful wanting to take care of someone as frail as her. It made no sense.

"But why? I'm a nobody"

He pushed back with a smirk.

"Modesty even now? Many would kill to be as worthless as you right now, can you name another one that remains a secret even to Corruption itself?"

Coriza looked away.

"Exactly" he waved his paw dismissively "As to answer your question, because you deserve it. I need your help wraith" he looked down on his hind paws, the clouds they turned into swirled around mercilessly "With three matters in fact, two of which are rather blunt. See these clouds? Those are my chains, I need you to break them, a trivial breath different than that of Dark will do, your enemies didn't expect anyone sane to arrive this far"

"Who trapped you and why?" Coriza interjected before the dragon could speak another sentence "Why you didn't succumb to the Taint?"

He gave her a stern look.

"You answered that question yourself already pretty ghost"

You are Taint.

She backed away, shaking her head, her heart raced in her chest. He was really a demon asking her to be free. This is how every sermon about learning from mistakes starts, the pure of heart always ends up falling listening to the whispers of evil. Usually though the suggestion are subtle, in her case though they were shoved right into her snout.

"I know how it looks, but believe me when I say that I am more than you can imagine, I cannot be defined by a single word, a worthless adjective or a tiring noun, this is all a waste of breath. And I can prove it to you by teaching a lesson to those that dared to defy me, fulfilling my second blunt request" he smiled "Will you hear the third?" his eyes sparkled with glee

She felt a stab in her heart, he reached out to her cowardly nature, he knew that she won't say no.

Danox blinked and whatever triumph shined in his eyes was gone, his body relaxed and he leaned forward, almost lying on the floor in a begging pose.

"Make me feel alive, pain becomes tiresome. You are the interest I never expected to see, I've seen much of life and no matter where the arms of chaos decide to throw it, the end is always as the one I predicted, even though the path may differ. But you spirit, Hollowborn, I do not know where your path leads, I thought I have seen all and then you showed up, a blank spot I cannot pierce, interest in its pure form. You fascinate me cleric and trust me when I say that fascination is a rare gift I bestow"

He sighed deeply.

"I beg you to make me feel alive"

"How can I know that you don't prey on my weakness? Knowing that I never decline?"

"Your faith is as strong as your cowardice. You feel what I am, no amount of social awkwardness would stop you from declining me if you so desired"

The dragon was rotten, she could feel it to the bone, but his eyes, the purple shade in them radiated the thing that she was a master of recognizing, being a potent student of it herself.

Honesty.

He could prey on her pressure, he was probably fully aware of the situation her friends are in and probably also knew that time didn't work in her favor. He could rush the decision, pressing her into accepting the offer, pretending to be her last resort and a helpful paw in these dark times, acting like some miraculously resistant prisoner of Darkness.

Maybe even pretend to be an Ancestor in disguise, why it wouldn't be unbelievable in this mess to find one of the heavenly host among the living.

Yet he opted for sincerity and if Capro is really there and everything led to the conclusion that he was, she really had no way of avoiding him.

This time he wouldn't corrupt her or wait for the Seeker to interfere.

He would murder her.

She moved past the spread out dragon, his eyes didn't follow her, respectfully as before avoiding any sort of pressure.

His stretched out cloudy back legs were right next to the staircase, she really stood on the crossroad and right now she decided which road to take.

And there were no signs to point her in the right direction.

Her head was empty, she hung it in defeat, somewhere in the distance she heard a clash of magical explosion and a scream of one of her friends.

"Ancestors forgive me" she whimpered, putting her faith into the only thing that kept her sane

Duty of a cleric.

And this duty was all about helping.

She blew a stream of ice into the clouds, they dispersed silently, no rumble followed, as if they were never there.

Subtle grind of bones rattled in the air, the dragon was getting up.

She closed her eyes, listening only to the numbing racing of her heart.

There was no roar of triumph and mockery.

"Thank you" a warm whisper reached her earholes

She didn't dare to open her eyes, part of her expecting claws to soon pierce her chest, ripping away her heart.

"You probably think that it was for the best" Danox said, sliding a claw gently under the girl's chin, propping her head delicately

She opened her eyes, they were full of tears and yet when she looked into the warm amethyst eyes of the dragon that was giving her a genuine, happy smile she felt relief. She felt some good in this dark place and probably for the first time when this chaos started her heart slowed down to normal pace.

She could breathe again.

"You probably wonder if you made the right choice"

Coriza flapped her eyelids in a silent agreement.

Danox' smile spread even further, the friendly, pleasing look of it made the cleric's mouth twitch when her lips wanted to follow.

"I wonder about it too"