FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 26

Beating those stairs felt like trying to climb a mountain.

Coriza stood on the treacherous staircase, the silence carving runes of terror upon her every nerve. Her chest was moving so inconspicuously that it was hard to tell if she was even breathing.

Sending a coward to stop the evil.

The closer she got the more insane it became.

Danox circled the ground floor silently, eyes constantly aimed at the struggling dragoness, his paws covered in the blackness that possessed the temple, steps making no sound as if his paws would float above the floor.

They haven't exchanged much words after she freed him, all that blabber that followed his release was not worth mentioning, in truth, in her presence, it seemed to him that practically his whole existence was not worth mentioning.

Pain was only a worthless substitute, a sniff of a drug, a temporary fix, his existence was nothing more than a tedious routine where he didn't have even enemies valuable enough to warrant his attention.

In all these years, life became a blur even to him, he remembered important events and people, the details might escaped him, but in the end everything and everyone prominent was there in his memory. Everything that played a role in each Cycle was there, he remembered them all.

How on the void could he forget about something as blank and flawless as this cleric?

He dug into his memory, deeply, sorting through the visions, swapping them quickly as if he would be turning the pages of the Book of Time itself. Each page contained something he recalled, a glimmer of importance was present almost after every flip.

He swiftly reached the end, the book closed with a thump.

Nothing.

Coriza was nowhere to be found.

He grunted, increasing the pace of his restless prancing, he walked back and forth across the same line for a while now, to the point that he might have as well trampled down a hole in the floor by now. His stroll not even interrupted by one of his legs shooting towards the neck to scratch it, he perfectly maintained balance on three limbs only, while the claws of the fourth scratched out canals on his gold neckline.

How could he forget about her?

This can be easily explained Danox.

You had never met her.

But how?

The pace of his walking increased even further, forcing the floor to emit soft whines as the tiles really started to get annoyed by the practically unending thump of paws against them.

There was only one conclusion.

Coriza had never existed before.

This revelation wasn't much helpful either, only brewing more questions, with a three lettered one being in the front row before the others.

How?

How?

How?

No matter how long and hard he scratched his neck no answers came and his throat was already bleeding from the cuts his claws painted on the maltreated scales.

He smiled.

A total mystery.

No strands to tug, no path to obscure, and most importantly no craving. The only living creature that did not smell like cattle, invisible and pristine like a diamond.

Beyond his control.

A true challenge for his charm, a true curiosity.

A thriving destiny.

A mere speck of dust on the plate of Fate or the first ripple that begins the shatter of its surface?

How exciting was to see a life without any signs of known destiny, a new color he never believed existed on this dull palette people call world.

For the first time in his long life he didn't know what will happen, maybe it would be worthwhile to see good finally taking the reins?

"They won't come to you cleric" he shifted his frame silently towards the frail dragoness, his sudden appearance next to her startled the girl "Your innocent soul is not aware of this, but the raw truth of survival is that you fight your most dangerous foes on familiar territory. Even those that are about to be ended like to feel safe in their last moments"

He sighed, wiping the blood from the claws, properly examining the tips after to catch the malicious shine they gave away.

"A futile endeavor is a tiring habit of mortality"

"Taint will be strong" Coriza mumbled, announcing the obvious with terror in her voice, one of her back legs slid of the stairs, finding the step below

Danox slithered up the stairs quietly, snatching the other hind paw that desired to join its companion on the lower level.

Coriza quaked the moment she felt his touch, her entire body paralyzed.

The black dragon placed the leg back to its original point.

"No matter" he moved in front of her, his entire frame shifting positions with such dexterity as if he would be a pack of leaves blown by the wind.

He presented the terrified dragoness a brilliant smile.

"With me by your side the power of your foes is irrelevant, merely an illusion of grandeur and those can be easily cleared away with a fierce shake of a head"

He brandished his claws to her, wiggling the tips shadows danced around the room, some glued themselves to the moving claws, enlarging them as they stretched them out in dark talons.

"And I have the means to hold a head of every size" he closed his fist, the ominous talons puffed, clouds od smoke squeezed through the space between his toes

Her wide eyes stared at the closed fist as if it would be a crystal ball, she never in her life expected to see a creature that wields Darkness so fluidly. It was intimidating to the very bone to have a entity of Taint assisting her.

The grin on the black snout stretched out even further.

"You might sleep soundly little angel. Those claws will never come for you. I don't ruin the exhibits I'm fascinated by. Besides, I'm beyond any known category as I mentioned. I will help you, why will you ask most likely, sadly such trivial questions always are born out of fear, but I respect you priestess this is why I will answer your every query"

He folded his wings tightly, the effort making his frame look small and meek.

"You have smitten me cleric, I owe you a favor, not many had the privilege to make me their servant. I will make your struggles a breeze if you so desire, will you use me?"

The deep purple eyes shimmered, burying themselves into the ice dragoness.

She balked, this sort of questions was the warnings she was taught about during her time in the temple. Evil forces always promise the stars, even let you touch them, all you need to do is to make a deal and sell your soul.

But the stare he gave her somehow betrayed his intentions she believed, she wasn't certain if this is what he wished for, but she could read from his eyes that this kind of question was some sort of a taunt, a mockery maybe.

A test.

He was testing her resolve?

The idea that she might sell her love for the Ancestors for privileges built up whatever mental defense she could muster.

"I do not wish that you serve me"

The fangs of the brilliant smile glimmers brightly.

"Splendid my dear" he reached out, tenderly moving away a flock of her dirty hair that annoyingly covered her eyes "I have told you that your faith will reject if it feels that I threaten you"

Coriza averted her gaze with a startled gasp.

"I do not wish for you to stop angel, I wish for you to carry good and I will assist you in this matter" he straightened up, making circles with his circles, line of black smoke painted the air

"I think I possess the necessary skillset to be of use here" he smirked

"Yes, but..." Coriza muffled her hair" I don't know who you are, are you good? Or are you bad? Stopping the curse is undoubtedly a blessing, however..."

"My dear, there are only two types of people in the world" with a grin he swiped his paw along the railing of the staircase, darkness fell off of it like it was rust, revealing the royal wood below

Flowers blossomed on the bright spot momentarily.

The size of Coriza's eyes practically overextended past her skull.

"The ones that entertain" he winked, making a swing with his foreleg, the shadows that clung to the walls on the side where his claws made the swing slipped off the surface, scuttling swiftly into the a far corner, huddling there like a pack of scared mice

"And the ones that observe"

Coriza looked around in total shock, her head impulsively leaned towards the flowers, she caught their scent quickly, honest and beautiful. She gazed upon the side of the temple that was cleansed of the shadow, fresh water and clean tiles presented themselves to her in their full glory.

A heavenly garden in this pit of despair.

Coriza cocked her head for the first time looking into the pulsing amethyst eyes of the dragon without fear, but riddled with confusion.

"Are you not Taint?"

Danox laughed merrily "Having doubts about your answer Ghost?" he caressed the petals of the freshly bloomed flora" A bit of fragrance clings to the hand that gives flowers" he winked at her, letting out a warm smile to play upon his lips

She blushed, pulling on the ruined strands of hair to cover his burning snout. Whoever he was, he was undoubtedly charming and the aura of mysteriousness that surrounded him, which at first she believed to be a flair of a malicious trickster, only added to his allure.

Especially when he created beauty out of pure malice that clung to this place. This display and the lively eyes that seemed extremely familiar and pleasant put a solid wedge into the theory that he was an embodiment of Darkness.

Theory?

Some seconds ago she believed it to be certainty.

"You're too precious" Danox announced warmly, making the priestess cringe in embarrassment even further, he leaned in closer, forcing Coriza's head to tilt a bit farther

His hot breath made her quiver.

"I won't let that change, that I promise and I don't commit to oaths easily. Now it's your turn Spirit to make a commitment. Brave the dangers of your fears, there is nothing that can stop you if your desire is strong enough. Fear is a toy, believe me, I know. Bring this city under your grace priestess" he gazed upon the flowers which successfully fought back the choking embrace of darkness "Who knows, this world might need some pure good in it after all"

It was very intoxicating to listen to Danox speaking, it wasn't only about his breathy voice that simply caught attention, but also about the fact that he spoke as if he possessed the knowledge of an elder. Such a young dragon sharing his philosophical doubts and observations with wisdom that could rival with the greatest minds of today.

How does he know all of this?

Despite her shyness she had to ask, the answer was simply too fascinating for her to ignore.

"How do you-" her speech ended abruptly when she finally looked past the strands of her hair, eyes widening behind the veil of locks

Danox was gone.

She removed the locks from her snout, holding them tightly she started to turn around looking all around the temple.

He was really gone.

She felt sadness at first, but the depression was only a pinch since as a sensitive creature she immediately sensed that she wasn't alone.

Danox was here.

He was everywhere.

And despite his intimidating attitude she could feel that he will keep his word.

For better or worse.

She gazed up the stairs and before she recalled what was happening her paws started to beat the steps, leading her confidently towards the corridor that not so long ago was the gullet of this horror.

The corridor was as empty as the ground level of the temple.

This time though there was no light burning here, it was pitch black, despite it though she knew where to go. She knew this temple, its every corner and she would walk those dark calls if not for the paralyzing feeling that there was something lying in wait in all of that darkness.

It might have been only her own fear speaking, no matter what triggered it, the hesitation was there.

She wanted to turn around, or call Danox, in fact she was about to do one of those things but in that very moment she felt a gentle touch grabbing the bone of her folded wing.

The crutches holding her suddenly melted, in a matter of seconds she was back on the the ground, standing in all four paws, surprisingly no blinding pain followed. She could walk, didn't know how or when she recovered, or perhaps that might be just the stress, or Danox had some numbing influence on her, no matter what the case might be the crutches were no more and for better or worse it looked like she no longer needed them.

With everything that's happening right now she preferred not to look for any logical explanation for this, there was already too much insanity going on here to add more of it to the boiling mess.

The touch belonged to Danox, she couldn't see nor hear him, but she knew he was the one holding her as if he would be her lover intertwining claws with hers as they went out for a romantic walk. He gave her a delicate tug, leading her into the blackness, she followed his tender suggestion.

The hesitation was still there, but now it was no longer paralyzing, becoming more like a necessity as if having a chasm behind you while you stood in front of a wooden bridge that will bring you to plains again while at the same time having fear of heights.

The presence pulled her a little closer, her shoulder touched what she would say was a wall, but the warmth and the obvious feeling of a hold upon her wing made her believe that she was pressed against masculine, scaly legs.

Her heart raced, her body heated up to unbearable limits, she started to pant immediately, feeling as if she was about to have a heart attack.

They stopped unexpectedly, the jerk stealing a whimper out of her.

She felt a breeze grazing the tip of her nose, nostrils inhaled the scent deeply, the smell making her gag.

It was a stench of rotting evil.

There was definitely something moving in the darkness, she instantly realized why there were no people in this temple, with menacing, invisible guardians like the monster covering in the shadows you don't need mortals to obscure your path.

For the first time since this horror started she was glad that she couldn't see anything. She doubted if she would be able to progress further if she laid her eyes upon the beast, no matter of tugging would force her to continue after that.

Her entire body flexed, she felt the grip increasing its strength, pressing her weight to the ground, clearly stating that she should remain in place.

She stopped breathing at some point, probably even losing consciousness since the world around her started to feel uncomfortably distant.

By the Ancestors, the smell was making her sick.

Tug.

She began to move.

The pull was strong and commanding, her legs kept kicking wildly and as always when stress takes over she felt a bump. She was tripping.

She never fell however, the hold on her wing was so strong that it carried her, making the claws of her draconic feet scratch across the blackened floor as she hovered in the air.

The force placed her on the ground a moment later, the pressure that ordered her to stay still previously had returned, probably even stronger than before, making her body twist in the direction from which the pressure was applied.

She could feel something slithering behind and ahead of her, the smelly breezes of air were touching her, this time she felt that it was no accident. It made her whine and curl her tail in between her legs to the point where the tip touched her belly scales.

Whatever poked her did it intentionally, its rotten touch felt like claws of a torturer tasting your flesh, looking for a perfect spot from which he can start to peel your scales off.

If not for Danox holding her she was sure her cowardly soul would make her recoil, right into the withered embrace of either of the evil monsters.

She heard something wet smacking against the wall somewhere close to her. Danox pushed her, making her cry out sharply, while it should be quite obvious that she was shoved away from the wall the monster glued into, she couldn't really tell where she was, all of it was extremely distant and numb, as if having your head suddenly shoved into water.

Something brushed against her flank, a greasy trail was left upon her body, feeling of which made her gag once more.

She received a soft tap, her legs immediately began to act, glad that they received permission to move. She pushed through the thick darkness, barely feeling her paws touching the floor, eyes kept darting in the eyeballs from one side to the other, she really felt like she was walking into the maw of a sleeping beast, praying with all might that it won't close it and swallow her.

She sensed the presence of the nearby creatures tightening around her, no matter how Danox maneuvered her the monsters had to sense that something was going on.

She received a solid shove.

With a yelp she collapsed on the ground, sliding along the greasy floor, the filthy ground possessing absolutely no friction. She stretched out her legs immediately, knowing from memory that she was heading head first at a wall.

She bumped into the rough surface, immediately scrambling on all four legs, falling twice when her slippery paws were unable to hold her steady. After the third time, while having claws of one foreleg deeply thrust into the cracks of the building she managed to stand up.

And had to immediately shield her eyes.

Light blinded her.

Blue head immediately lowered itself down, gold eyes widening again, who knows how many times they did it already. The ground wasn't black any longer, but blood red and the light stretched out somewhere from ahead.

She looked to the side first though, noticing the veil of choking blackness she traversed not so long ago, it cut off the light like a saw, making it impossible to pierce by the will of eyes alone. Danox shoved her away from danger, part of her heart cringed when she realized that she no longer felt his guiding touch on her wings, part of her heart was worried that he put himself in danger while protecting her.

Of all the things she thought about and saw she didn't dare to examine her own body, knowing well enough that there won't be any beauty to find there, not even the modest grace of a cleric. She was and felt filthy.

At least she fit in this place perfectly.

As intimidating as the light was, it was still better than any darkness all around, it drew her attention quickly, she was slowly peeking through the wings, following the trail of light which grew thicker and thicker the higher her head rose.

First thing that crossed her mind was the realization that she recognized the corridor, this was a path that no caretaker could ever forget. These were the halls were the Seeker resided.

The same corridor that Capro led her through.

She finally looked past her wing, neck straightening immediately when she spotted the source of the light.

It was the window through which Capro threw her out.

But it was a window by name only, what she saw was a twirling hole of energy, a vertigo of chaotic magic, she never saw a portal in her life but this is definitely how she imagined one to look like.

Minus the bloody, intimidating colors this particular portal was built from.

The longer she looked at it the more it resembled blood to her, while it might be only her scared imagination speaking with each passing second she believed she started to understand just where some of the people from the temple disappeared.

They were like meat put through a grinder.

The thought alone made her sick, just watching the reddish portal, imagining that it is made of remains of minced people threw her stomach up towards her throat.

Her paws felt wet and heavy, not from the grease the monsters covered the floor with, but with blood. She was sinking into the ground, the light turned into a red pool, the sickening warmth embraced her legs. The blood drowned her paws, not reaching even a quarter of the length of her legs.

She could barely tolerate droplets of blood, a whole basin of it was simply an overdose.

Coriza swayed on her legs, world became a hollow echo and all the colors faded away, red the only one remaining. Eyelids dropped sharply down like a pair of guillotines.

Danox appeared from the shadows behind, his body bent and ready to lunge forward, raw strength pulsing in his hind legs, he was ready to catch her.

And then from the end of the hall he heard a creak of hinges.

He froze, Coriza fell head first onto the floor, dropping with a hollow thud upon the ground, blood splattering in all directions.

The hollow, special creature mastering enough courage to free him, trust his guidance, mustering confidence to traverse the deadly shadows, this creature just fainted at the sight of small pool of blood.

He smiled, stifling the chuckle that built up within his throat.

"How cute"

Clicks of claws echoed from the hallway, he recognized them immediately.

Capro.

He sunk into the wall.

He despised himself for letting Coriza fall, but in the end in all might work for his favor, she went through enough trauma already, there are still things she is better with not knowing about.

Rest well ghost.

A huge malachite drake appeared in the corridor, leaving from one of the rooms. Muscles bulged unhealthily, veins covered practically his entire body, each raw muscle clearly visible. He body was ragged, hungry and devoid of water. Eyes lacked any shine, milky and squinted as of someone who was about to fall asleep soon.

His scales were also dull and a deep frown wrinkled his snout and forehead just like he would be going through a fierce headache. The stretch his scales gone through on his head thickened the veins on the neck, making it look like as if his throat was about to explode.

Capro looked like a wreck, he might have been clever and resistant due to his obsession, but he was not immune, especially if he brought this gem of a dragoness here that only infuriated Darkness, forcing it to lash out.

Danox growled.

You stupid blind fool, idiotic vendetta put a blindfold on your eyes, you couldn't see what kind of bomb you brought into the temple.

And now you're going to pay the price for it.

Capro blinked, head throbbing, his eyelids moved slowly as if there would be pins trying to hold them open despite everything. There was a shape on the floor, the Night was right when it warned him of an intrusion after all.

He placed his muscular legs a bit farther, his paws smacking against the ground so heavily that the entire building seemed to rattle. Each step projecting an echoing thud as if an earthquake was about to come.

Few more hard steps.

He roared when suddenly he felt a bolt shooting from his paw, he could feel his bone cracking, it screamed at him in agony and it was only his instinct that managed to save it, instinct that he trained for years, he wasn't new to total exhaustion.

He threw himself against the nearby wall, smashing into it like a sledgehammer, forcefully removing all of his weight from the threatened paw. He thrust his claws into the shaking wall to stabilize himself on the three legs he stood on currently.

The remains of the torches that hung on the wall dropped onto the floor.

He snarled, the growl only intensified when he finally recognized the lying figure.

It was the fucking girl, the dragonfly's slut on a leash. The old mole's hope.

His mistake.

So many years, so much time spent on preparations, so much effort put into the act of making all the chess move how he wanted them to, all this pretending bordering on mental breakdown when toying with that black freak on the mountain or daily life where he had to withhold his fury every time he saw that black, murderous whore flashing smiles and sauntering through the city.

All of this wrecked by this worthless piece of shit.

He will end her.

Maybe he will stomp her head into the floor, turning it into a pulp. Or maybe he waits until she wakes up and then holding her by the wings he will feed her to the portal, toe after toe, hearing her scream when the grinder turns each piece of her into liquid. He could also feed her to the Night itself, it didn't work at first, but now when the shock is over he doubted that even this strange girl could withstand its touch, seeing her wither would be a sight for sore eyes.

Or he could satisfy his own personal vendetta in a way, taking a slice of an appetizer before moving to the main dish. Forcing the old mole to stab her to death while she looks into the eyes of her idol as he bleeds the life out of her.

Or he could turn her into a thrall, the moles he sent for testing worked very well, he did not have to hide now and play it safe. She would really look good without a tongue, especially if he would make her swallow it.

Decisions, decisions.

He might just simply kill her also, bleed her dry like a fish. Maybe it looks merciful, but then again he heard screams of dying people already, it only lasts a while and it's over. Being alive, losing consciousness and never waking up, now this is a rather tormenting perspective to consider.

He had still some distance to beat, some steps of consideration to make, if only life could bestow him with similar choices throughout the years, maybe he would remember how it was to laugh, honestly laugh.

He made several heavy steps forward, his mind busy with sorting through the ideas of punishment he will force upon the dragoness that he didn't notice a splotch of shadow growing on the wall just next to him.

Danox leapt from the magical hole, stretching out his dark infused paws he rammed straight into the oblivious earth dragon, slamming him against the opposite wall even before Capro could utter a sound.

The eyes of the green dragon widened when he realized who exactly was projecting the external pressure that pinned him against the rocks.

"You!" he growled, making the black dragon smile

"You cannot stop Death boy"

"How did you..." Capro grunted when the black dragon smashed him again against the wall, his eyes caught the silhouette of the unconscious girl, a spark of enlightenment immediately shooting across his head when all the pieces merged together

Of course only one thorn could snap Danox out of his cage, no other creature would enter this temple and retain sanity of mind.

Capro began to laugh.

It was a rough, ugly sound, like that of a young child trying to mimic the reaction of his parents for the first time in its life, not knowing what it was really doing, just like Capro didn't seem to know anymore how a laughter should sound like.

The reaction made Danox cock his head.

"Pathetic!" Capro snarled, ending the laughter as quickly as it began, his paws strongly gripped the startled black dragon and before Danox could gather his bearings the green drake shoved his shoulder into him, his muscular weight was like a battering ram

He was strong, momentarily gaining physical dominance despite his withered appearance, the well built muscles easily shoving the black dragon against the opposite wall.

"You are a joke!" Capro taunted the drake "Your arrogance failed you like Night promised! And if not for that weakling you would rot in this temple! You are nothing but a mistake! An abomination!"

"I like to expand my perspectives"

"Bullshit! You have no idea what you are doing!"

"A swift conclusion from someone without patience. I gave you my claw but instead of holding to it you grabbed the whole paw. Very naughty" Danox looked around, his expression displeased, he pointed up, rolling his single toe in circles "This is your chaos boy, your spoiled pot"

"You still don't get it" Capro snorted, shaking his head "I wasted so much time and now it all went to shit"

The black drake polished his claws.

"Should have followed my advice, you would never end up as a failure"

"You dumb fuck, you are a failure and led me nowhere else. Your ignorance only proves that you remained a moron despite the lessons you were taught which you narcissistic shit decided to ignore. You have no power or vision over Fate, this chaos caught you unaware"

"You did not listen, I have spoken about the future to you, about this. You simply did not wait and now you have to pay the price"

"You are still blind even when you are helping the girl. You toy with life Danox, you have fallen in your own trap" Capro smashed the nearby painting, it was covered in glass, shards of it fell upon the floor, one remained stuck in his paw, drawing blood, he removed it and presented it to the black drake

"Take a look, you will understand what failure means"

Danox sighed.

"Why fools always blabber so much" resigned, he gazed upon the glass, balking momentarily when he spotted his own eyes in the reflection

They were deep purple.

His mouth fell open, paw moved towards the eyelids, stretching the soft scale there as if looking for another eyeball, the one he got used to.

The black one.

"The future you remember doesn't exist anymore!" Capro threw the shard at the black drake, it bumped off his forehead

Danox ignored it, remaining stunned, claws kept pushing at the eyelids.

Future did not exist? Why? This Loop happened, details changed, but the end is getting almost to the same conclusion. Everything was still heading to the same place, a little more bumpy than before, but still pressing forwards.

The green head made another shake.

"Still nothing" he smashed a fist into the wall, his entire snout wrinkled by an expression of irritated fury

"The future you know stopped existing when you entered this world! You were never in flesh in the past you thought you toy with!"

The black paw dropped, scratching the neck.

Capro's eyes followed the paw, he spat on the floor when he noticed the claws grazing the scales thoughtfully.

"Night was correct. You are far less interesting than you think you are"

Danox didn't hear those words, he was lost in his own troubled thoughts. All this time he saw the world dancing according to his wishes, allowing it a moment to sway here and there besides the tempo, after all what was fun in taking the same way while knowing that you will win anyway?

It lacked fun.

Fun, yeah, it was all about fun. Each day here only made him certain that he was the one reaping the spoils of it, he was so lost in it in fact that he did not see the obvious. Like he would be one of those beauty addicted people that keep telling themselves they are still young, their faces still remaining young in the mirror, showing no sign of age, making them oblivious to the certainty.

Time flows and they cannot stop aging and the reflection they see is as fake as his mastery over Time.

It played the cruelest trick on him, used the weapon he wielded proficiently against him

Fate made fun of him.

This irrelevant boy was correct, whatever Corruption showed him was true. The future he thought the world was heading to was no more. While it probably was already different the moment he let fun in, making it bruised and bumped in places, altering the image as he wanted to, he never took himself into the calculations.

It was ironic in a way.

When going into the past, did he not end the Cycle of the world he had left?

He gazed towards the unconscious dragoness, she was like a beacon among this confusion, this revelation would cause him to sink deeper into the pit hole of doubt, it would make him wonder if all of this is worth it in the end since it was a known truth that the Cycle was finished like always.

He would never figure out how to proceed to, pathetic as it may sound, at least recover the future he lost, the boring, dull world where there is nothing but the unending craving to satisfy Hunger with the scraps that floated there.

This pure ghost though was a mystery, each window of her soul shut so tightly that it prevented even a fly from squeezing through. While an empty vessel was an object of desire, a question mark like the cleric was a wonder to behold.

She made all of it worthwhile.

With her he absolutely had no idea how the future might look like, with the new insight she might not even be a brief wheeze of life that, taste of which could become bland like a narcotic after a while, becoming nothing more than an addiction.

No.

She might be life itself, the part he hardly ever experienced for long.

Good.

Pure good.

And picturing himself by her side, guide and protector, him, a black dragon, a menace to this world. Evil incarnate side by side with a dragoness of a soul so pure that she could be worshiped as an Ancestor.

If this is not fun in its most crudest of forms he had no idea what else could be.

The paw scratching the throat pressed itself against the scales, almost cuddling them. A warm smile stretched the black lips.

"Diseases are the interests of pleasures"

Capro cocked his head, of all the things he was expecting to see, he didn't suspect finding true satisfaction on the black snout.

"What do you want Danox?"

The breathy voice chuckled.

"I do not know any longer" he shrugged "And I find the sensation far more excitable than pain"

"You disgust me. You're as much of a whore as your mother and you will suffer just like her" the eyes of the green dragon narrowed on the fallen cleric

"You know nothing about my progenitor and her suffering, lack of any to be exact" shadows began to envelop the black silhouette "Something that the daring Spirit will also be unfamiliar with"

Capro laughed bitterly.

"Spawn of sickness speaking of care. That's rich"

"From my own personal desire, Annoyance" the low voice of the black drake echoed, rumbling with pride, purple eyes glared with mockery at the malachite drake

The big dragon growled, elemental magic pulsed from underneath his paw, stretching out tendrils of glowing energy towards the lying dragoness. He did not care really if the black bastard cared for the girl truthfully or not, sign of any affection was enough for him to make the dragon regret it in an instant.

Danox being from another timeline did not matter at all, the original plan failed, he might as well serve as a perfect substitute.

Let's see if he really defends the cleric, even if he does it will serve as a perfect weakness for the future, when you care about somebody you begin to make mistakes and become vulnerable.

He learned this lesson the hard way.

Shadow enveloped Danox in an instant, with a puff of smoke he teleported right in front of the lying cleric, right in the way of the incoming line of green energy. One paw remained covered in the veil of blackness, it sucked the elemental magic, you could see webs of it stretching through the black, magical cloud that supposed to be the leg of the drake until they eventually were devoured by the ominous magic.

"You lost in this very moment" Capro stated gloomily, there was palpable sadness in his voice

Danox ignored the remark, with an arrogant smirk he slowly strode towards the earth dragon. Capro flexed his muscles, due to his rather thirsty look all the muscles became visible to the point that they practically bloated him, at the brink of bursting.

He moved with ease and strength however.

The malachite drake lunged first, fangs and claw of a foreleg attacking the black dragon. Danox remained calm, deflecting the slash with ease by using his wing while putting trust into his dexterity to avoid the hungry maw.

Capro however also expected that the black dragon won't be so easily beaten, despite his masochistic tendencies the whore son was aware just how fatalistic wounds may be during battle. His massive tail was immediately put into action, scratching the walls as the deadly tip was swung at the black dragon, the strong gust its massive weight created was enough to peel some shards of rocks from the nearby wall.

Danox remained unfazed by the attack however, someone doesn't live for as long as he does if he is not aware of the fact that you don't play into your opponent strengths, no matter if you are far more powerful than him to begin with. Life was fun, but battle was a completely different story, especially this one, one of a kind really, today he is not fighting with some rage induced fool so blind in his fury that he throws himself at him, ruled only by spite and no other motive, just to get a piece of this black scales.

Today he is fighting for the safety of someone else, there was actually an aspect of failure here this time. Raging fool could only cause a bolt of pleasurable punishment if he allowed the worthless sack to land a blow. If Capro would succeed now, he would actually kill Coriza, it was a very long time when he last felt that a death of a stranger would impact him.

He would be really sad.

It would be a bad emotion.

And he was fully aware where bad emotions led him last time.

Sorry green boy, but you never entered the playing room. Capro power was raw, physical strength, that incoming tail would really be a challenge to stop and even if he would do it, the dragon was probably ready with a counter.

Too bad for you that Dark doesn't fight fairly, comes with the birthright.

Danox jumped straight at the green drake, his entire body becoming dust, he blinked through the big dragon, shadow walking straight through his flesh.

Capro gasped, his body straightening up, for a second there he felt as if Death itself would grip him by the heart, everything became cold all of a sudden. The unexpected, shocking sensation made him unaware that Danox blinked behind him, already attacking.

The black drake parted his mouth, lunging forward with the deadly fangs, they sank into the green neck, the strength on his clamping jaw made the knees of the green dragon to buckle. Hind legs sprung forward, allowing the front ones to make a thrust, the black forepaws were surrounded by a dark fog, burning like ominous torches with black flames.

The claws sunk into the green scales, an explosion of black energy accompanying the impact, the dark veins under Danox' eyes thickened and pulsed as if they would be worms, his purple eyes were glowing brightly. Two black tentacles wrapped themselves around the malachite torso and began turning around it quickly.

Blood started trickling from underneath them in increasing quantity as if the turning tendrils were a pair of saws.

Capro screamed when such a powerful burn exploding from his neck and torso wrecked his senses, he could even feel the fangs slicing through his neck grazing over his spine. He thrashed wildly, the instinctive fear of death overpowered him in an instant when as a dragon, a war breathing creature, he realized that he got surprised by his opponent, opening himself easily to him and allowing him to strike a killing blow with ease.

The chaotic, green energy colored the floor underneath and almost immediately pulsed, stretching out on the floor and nearby walls. An explosion followed soon, rocks and barriers pushed out from the light.

Danox got struck by the green pillars stretching out from the walls, their numbing blows pushed him back, forcing him to release the green neck in a splashing show of blood being hurled from his roughly removed maw. Similar pillars grew from the floor, these particular ones had spikes that not only severed the connection with the dark saws, killing them on the spot, but also created a space between him and the green dragon when they grew, becoming a magical barrier between the two drakes.

Danox ignored the stabs, he snatched both pillars that kept drilling into his flesh, pulses of darkness were sent across them, the dark magic disintegrating them on the spot as he growled.

A tongue of blood painted the corner of his lip.

Capro smashed his tail against the floor, the barrier around him shattered, turning into sharp projectiles, many of them, all were sent towards the black dragon.

Danox managed to deflect some of the incoming missiles, but there was simply too many of them to counter, his entire body kept emitting green bursts of energy when the magical projectiles connected with his body. The combined explosive energy pushed him back, he managed to remain standing, his deeply wedged into the floor claws being the reason for that, leaving deep scratches on the floor like someone would rake the ground.

The black dragon roared, his scream low and screeching, the entire floor turned bloody red, bright, reddish blobs began to sprout from the walls like stomach ulcers. They immediately began to burst, each of them breaking with a sharp, shrill shriek.

Fear magic.

Capro smashed his paws against his earholes, images kept flashing across his eyes, he never actually managed to see what this magic tried to project upon him. He was no longer afraid of anything, having lost all already, the son of a bitch had to forget about that or simply wanted to confuse him. That part actually worked, while fright couldn't grip his soul, the noise these pestering pimples created was simply too annoying to ignore.

However not annoying enough to make him unaware of his surroundings, he noticed the black dragon heading towards him. He attacked immediately, slashing with his claws and reaching for a bite.

This time it was successful, the class scratched the flank of his opponent, throwing his body closer towards his approaching mouth. His teeth bit into the shoulder, finding a perfect grip in an instant, he used this moment to take advantage of his physical superiority, pressing against the drake and lifting him above the floor.

Earth magic sprouted a magical spike behind the black dragon, standing at attention like a lodged spear.

He managed to topple Danox onto his back, the drake fell directly onto the spike, there was a wet sound when the back got impaled on the sharp protrusion, Danox even groaned what strangely sounded like a deep, whine of pleasure. The spike didn't run through however, the draconic scales proving once again that they are an armor of perfect craftsmanship, letting only part of the tip in.

Blood gushed into his mouth from the bitten shoulder, he was expecting a torrent of heated liquid splash against his tongue and palette, yet the liquid he tasted didn't feel like blood at all. While it was red, it completely lacked the heat present in veins, it was almost as if he would be swallowing snow, while cold, in higher doses there was a bit of warmth in it to be found.

Not to mention that it also had no taste at all. Blood of every creature has a distinct flavor, it might only be a subjective illusion created by nothing else but your own emotions since from medical point of view blood is blood and vein is vein. Yet whenever he bit into his enemies those that he hated and felt their blood splashing against his tongue, it always tasted differently.

Danox had no flavor. If he wouldn't see the crimson color spurting from the wound he would say that he might as well be drinking water.

His wings opened when he put more pressure onto the fallen dragon, trying to drive the spike farther in until it finally pierces the dragon's rotten heart. His entire body began to glow green, scales turning rough and sharp as if they were becoming a surface of a treacherous mountain.

The rough edges began to sink into the black scales.

Danox swung his trapped tail, part of it smacked against his enemy's waist, the tip simply couldn't reach anything, however the same thing couldn't be said about its magical extension. The scythe stretched out, the extra protrusion a glowing, restless shadow that curled above the green dragon's back like a sting of a scorpion.

Even the black began to glow with deep, green, ugly light. It began to hiss.

Acid.

Danox swung the sting down just when Capro's rocky body pushed him lower onto the magical spike, his rough body eating away at the scales.

The huge acidic tip thrust itself into the green back, slicing even through the rocky barrier that surrounded the scales.

Capro gasped, letting out a hollow shout, his teeth parting, releasing the shoulder, blood gushed from his mouth that was a mixture of the black dragon's and his own. His entire body became stiff when he felt the poisonous aura spreading throughout his veins, it was burning, making him feel as if he was melting from the inside, every muscle and tissue dissolving.

No dragon possess such power.

Not even Spyro is capable of rendering an experienced, draconic fighter numb with just one attack.

The black tail made a backwards swing, lifting the malachite drake with ease as if he was a bug impaled on a fork. Capro was hurled at the far wall, spat out like a worthless bone found in a fish, he painted the walls with his spurting blood, the hole the magical tip created making it work like a gazer.

The green drake crashed numbly onto the floor, mouth gasping for air, his maw was full of boiling blood, there were random red splotches bubbling here and there.

His entire body was on fire, he felt as if something was eating him from the inside, he tried to move his limbs but they were unresponsive, it was like his entire body was severed from his head.

Danox kicked the dragon, making him roll onto his back.

Black paws stepped on the heaving chest, pressing it forcefully down.

Capro coughed roughly, blood erupted from his parted mouth, splashing all over his snout.

Danox leaned down, whatever purple shade his eyes had were gone, emotionless obsidian orbs were staring at him, in their reflection Capro could see his dying image.

"Be grateful Annoyance that I am a hungry failure, otherwise this would be the day where I show you how cattle pays their debt to me"

Danox parted his mouth and bit roughly into the green neck, Capro's eyes widened when he felt fangs touching the sensitive nerves.

They did not sink any farther however.

His entire body arched, paws numbly began punching at the black body towering above him, the burn eating away at his insides was fading, once again he began to feel his limbs, the shock however let in all the agony, the molested tissues screamed at him, furious that he allowed them to suffer so much.

Whatever acid was devouring him Danox sucked it back in.

That he realized that the screams echoing from all around his body became too loud, blurring his vision, the world faded away and green eyes shut themselves fiercely.

One thought managed to break through before he lost consciousness, a hint of doubt, of confusion.

Telling him that it would be better if he died today.

Capro's body dropped numbly onto the floor, one, last, loud breath announcing the end of the rule of consciousness.

Danox withdrew his fangs, stepping off the defeated dragon, he wiped the trail of blood he drank from the throat, giggling when his back stung him with pain.

The dragon was a capable opponent, if he would fight one of his kind of course. Another reason that made this existence boring that even a fighter like that had no chance against him.

And if not for the sleeping cleric he would yawn.

He gripped the big wings and dragged the unconscious dragon towards the swirling portal at the end of the hall. He gazed into the reddish vortex, smelling carnage wafting from it.

Such a primitive gullet, only a temporary satisfaction, with no regard for the future.

Just like him once.

"Amateurs" he made a circle with his claw in front of the portal, the tip drawing a faint mist in the air that immediately got sucked by the magical whirl

The portal in a moment became dark, the smell that was wafting from it was no more, replaced by the abhorrent stench of alcohol.

Danox cocked his head, running a paw over the surface of the portal, clearing the blackness off of it.

He saw his hill, his cave where he was cast out by the Guardians.

And he saw his Protector.

Ignus was more dead than Capro, many empty wine bottles surrounded him, some were still unfinished. The red dragon was snoring loudly, each breath pushing out more of the disgusting, alcoholic stench in the air.

We all have our demons to fight, guess the dragon preferred to avoid them instead of facing them here in Warfang.

"Conscience betrays guilt" Danox recited and shoved the hulking dragon through the portal, he could see his silhouette forming on the hill, dropping right next to the drunk fire dragon

Ignus did not even react.

The portal became the gullet once more.

Danox spat into its whirling maw.

He slowly made his way back to the sleeping dragoness, the wound on his back already sealed, mended together by black sewing threads. He stepped into the blood, stopping just in the distance of a neck stretch of the dragoness.

Despite her ragged look, she looked passionately innocent when sleeping.

He lowered his head, driving his tongue into the pool of blood, he began to drink, slurping the liquid loudly. After all he was alone for the time being so there was no point for grace here. He took deep gulps, his stomach stretching out as he sucked the blood in, dragons were no strangers to this liquid gore, during fighting dragons always drink a little of it when they bite, it was natural for them.

But even them would wince at the sight of him drinking blood like water from this crimson pond. Danox drank so fervently, filling his mouth to the brim that some of the blood flowed down his chin. The pool kept refilling itself, but the dragon's thirst was too much, eventually the pond vanished, letting normal floor to break through.

The swirling portal began to turn slowly, its colors fading.

Danox raised his head, licking his mouth and swallowing whatever still lingered on his tongue.

He smiled to himself.

No more swimming in blood for Spirit.

He approached the dragoness, gently stretching out her legs, he started to lick each paw from top to bottom, removing the dried filth and blood from them.

He shivered all over when he felt her innocence and purity on his tongue, such a rare trait that even he saw for the first time in his existence. His tongue cleaned each scale and paw with great focus, making sure he didn't miss a spot.

He kept purring during this entire, exciting ordeal.

With one final lick over her thigh he pulled the tongue back into his mouth, softly running a claw over his lips that quaked under the touch.

She was exquisite.

Her paws shone with the gentle light of his saliva, no droplet of blood was left on them.

Coriza remained unresponsive throughout it all.

He really felt excited, he kept trembling like a spooked animal, it was a very long time since he experienced a similar sensation. This is just the beginning, but he was quite certain that this girl will be his entire world for a while now.

She will have her Guardian Angel, a dream of every priest, a bit comic that his wings are black though, in any case stories always speak about angelic and divine.

Fallen angels posses these two traits as well.

This is a start of a huge mystery and he already can't wait to see what it hides.

He dropped next to the dragoness, coiling his frame protectively around her as if he would be a mother cradling her child in a protective embrace. He put his head on the floor, right ahead of her softly breathing, sleepy nose. He kept looking into her closed eyes, this very moment here outweighed everything he been through in his life.

He would never guess he would appreciate beauty again, but there she was, a figure to admire, the pushed out crooked teeth only added to her irresistible charm.

You will never again be alone Ghost.

He didn't know how long he lied there, but he wasn't in any rush to end it, however the decision to end the daydreaming was made by someone else. His scales tingled as if hordes of ants would dash across them. He could hear a soft drumming, getting stronger and stronger.

Something was coming.

Something familiar.

He rose his head sharply, turning his attention towards the direction from which the peculiar sensation was approaching. His eyes kept staring at the wall of the hall behind them.

His sharp claws started to drum a hollow rhythm against the floor.

And then the corridor where dwelled the shadow creatures flashed brightly, an intense yellow light filled the hall, in a blink of an eye reaching them and shooting farther inside, silencing the hungry portal behind, wiping it out of existence.

Danox' neck stiffened, as if frozen when the light passed through them. His eyes were once again purple, this time doubled the size as they grew in shock and after a very exciting realization.

Hope, my little songbird, you are out there after all.

He grinned widely.

Well done Hunter.

Coriza gasped loudly, the passing light ending her forced coma, she threw her head up, startled eyes barely making out the surroundings while the wings and limbs kicked chaotically, only to be blocked by something. She blinked several times, wondering what was obstructing her, only to find out she was surrounded by black scales.

"Welcome back to the world of the living Ghost" Danox announced cheerfully

She threw her head up, coming eye to eye with her guide's warm smile and purple eyes. She looked around, finally being able to tell what is holding her in place.

He was.

He coiled around her, protecting her from danger using his body and tail, tip of which seemed to bounce gently, letting through a tiny hint of joy. He kept her in his embrace like a caring mate does his partner.

She blushed, scratching her still confused head.

"What happened?"

"You fainted my dear, I made sure that no harm would befall on you until you wake up"

"Fainted?"

"Yes, you don't tolerate the sight of b-"

"BLOOD!" she yelped, thrashing around chaotically she tried to scramble away from the floor while throwing quick glances at her kicking paws

Clean kicking paws that didn't want to slip on the bloodied ground.

Despite her better judgment she looked down, seeing nothing but solid stone.

There was no blood on the ground.

She rolled onto her back, throwing all four legs into the air, she examined each limb thoroughly, there was no sign of blood on any of her paws.

"Cleansed" she mumbled in shock

Danox chuckled.

"Not only you were granted this boon Wraith" he removed the tail that cradled her and obscured the vision

Coriza titled her head, her mouth dropping open.

"What?" she rolled onto her belly again, rubbing her eyes to make sure that she is not seeing things

She wasn't.

The floor and walls, basically the entire hall was once again back to its original form, exactly how she remembered it, emanating respect and serenity, the deep feeling of welcome that she got to know this temple by.

She caressed the floor below, tenderly scratching the surface with her claw, making sure that this is not an illusion, fearing that she will peel of the welcoming surface like old paint from a wall.

She did not succeed.

It was real.

"Is it over?" she breathed in deeply, her moan full of hope

"Almost" Danox lifted himself up, legs trembling, despite that he was giving the priestess a charming, supporting smile "Your touch is all that is still needed Ghost"

She gazed silently towards the end of the hall, catching the surface of the fateful door at the end.

"Are you capable of doing it?"

She would say no, she wanted to in fact, yet her mouth remained shut, soul knowing that it would be a lie.

A fake habit.

She didn't know why, but for the first time in her life she wasn't scared, she felt determination, she felt confidence.

She felt hope.

Whatever will happen, she truly felt like the Ancestors were guiding her, she could feel their touch upon her scales.

"I can" she sighed deeply "I can feel the Ancestors with me"

Danox suddenly laughed.

Coriza jumped back startled, somewhat offended by the dragon's unexpected outburst, she was aware that not all people believe in the divine, or at least not as fervent as she does, nevertheless it still hurt when her Faith was being openly mocked.

"Forgive me" Danox shook his paw in apology "I do not toy with your devotion, I simply find the irony humorous, that's all"

"Irony?"

Once again the alluring smile returned to the black lips, paw landed on the gold chest modesty.

"I never believed that someone like me would witness fulfilled prayers"

She frowned thoughtfully, however no matter how hard she tried to concentrate she simply couldn't understand what her ominous companion meant by those words.

Black paw waved dismissively when the purple eyes spotted the bewilderment.

"Do not trouble yourself with it. Press onwards Spirit and accomplish your goals. You will be alone there, I would prefer not to interfere, the consequences of my last arrogant breach were rather... unpleasant" he tapped the floor with his unchained paws "You can do it Ghost, but no matter what happens, no matter your immunity, do not touch the crystal for long. Corruption is destructive and it will kill you if you expose yourself to it for too long. Promise me that Phantom"

"You are not coming?" she swallowed hard "Ancestors might grant me strength against Darkness, but I won't be able to overcome Capro"

A glint of menace sparkled in the purple eyes.

"He won't trouble you. You have my word, can I have yours in return?"

For better or worse she believed the dragon automatically.

"A promise is a sacred bond, I cannot give one dishonestly, promise is a contract signed by souls and they have to be welcoming and known to both"

Danox cocked his head.

"Oh?"

The priestess offered him a toothless smile, so warm and pure that it nearly knocked him off his paws.

"I am no ghost, my name is Coriza"

The dragon gripped his racing heart, bowing respectfully.

"Coriza, will you promise me that you will be careful?"

"I promise"

Danox nodded gratefully.

"I will be watching, pray to your Ancestors that my intervention won't be necessary"

She swallowed, it was comforting to know that she had someone here who looks out for her safety, yet it was just a faint dose of serenity. The more troubling fact was that Danox was afraid of getting close to Darkness, while she could explain that by simple telling herself that it was all because of his black scales, his incomprehensible connection to Dark, she somehow felt that it was not the whole truth.

Cynder protected herself from Corruption by letting a shade of the same catastrophe poses her, even if Creep was different than she imagined and helped her get here by dragging the attention of people away, putting himself in harm's way, he was still a shard of Taint in his roots.

A shard that Danox is very similar to and yet when they met, he wasn't a brainless thrall, but a shackled prisoner. That thrust doubt into her heart, making her wonder that perhaps he didn't have much, or any connection with Darkness ruling this city.

It also struck fear in her, Danox was clearly following his own agenda, whatever it might be, he was like a bird, free high above in the air, the decision where he would go next dependent only on him. His independence wasn't as frightening as the fact that Darkness imprisoned him. Taint corrupted everyone in this city, would take control most likely of Cynder too if Creep wouldn't intervene and here was a dragon that Darkness didn't dare to touch.

Was the Taint afraid of touching him? Or simply not capable of doing it?

Neither of these answers would be comforting if she knew them, after all there was nothing more intimidating than having a creature display interest in you that even the Darkness itself has troubles challenging.

In any other scenario these doubts would be enough to hold her back, or in the worst case make her faint again. This time though, the powerful presence of hope, the guiding touch of the Ancestors was simply too strong to allow her to back away. While her mind was preoccupied with these disturbing thoughts her legs were working and before she knew it she was standing in front of the door to the fateful room.

Her eyes locked themselves on the black handle that seemed to be as greasy as the trail the shadow monsters left on her scales.

She extended her paw, claws wiggling in the air nervously, slightly away from the ominous handle. She looked at Danox, trying to find any sort of support in him.

He wasn't smiling any longer, his purple eyes were big and shimmering, his expression sulked. He was worried and obviously clueless to the result of the upcoming event. Judging from his expression he clearly didn't like that.

She grabbed the handle, letting out a disgusted grunt when the black slick surface splashed against her draconic palm, it really felt as if she just thrust her paw into a pot filled with bloody guts. Gritting her teeth and whining all the way she pressed the handle down, it gave without any resistance.

The door creaked, locks loose.

With a racing heart and a major headache she gulped, almost choking on her own saliva, she gave the door a delicate tap, making them swing a little wider. She kept staring into the growing slit, expecting soon to see the bodies that spoke to her earlier, dancing happily since she just put herself on their platter.

The black mass twirled around her paw and gripped it tightly.

She gasped when the massive pressure suddenly threw her almost on the floor.

She felt as if some force just gripped her by the shoulders and butt, lifting her up.

With one powerful tug she was shoved inside the room, the door slammed shut behind her.

She slid across the floor, seeing absolutely nothing, the room was pitch dark, she finally crashed against something, the sudden impact kicked the breath out of her lungs. She was on her side, something rattled behind her, another thing wrapped itself around her torso, cradling her.

She looked down, surprised to notice a faint glow of yellow light surrounding her, it gave enough illumination to easily judge what exactly was holding her.

A skeletal arm.

She screamed and momentarily sprung on all fours, jumping away from the corpse, breathing quickly. Each pulse of her lungs made the light surrounding her grow brighter, until she was emanating an orb of yellow light around herself.

Just like a dragonfly.

Just like Sparx.

It was breathtakingly beautiful and so, so intimidating.

The light allowed her to get a glimpse of the room, the only thing she could see was the area where her light reached, a small orb in the thicket of a black fog. The darkness in the room was not something normal, not a mere shadow.

It was alive.

She could the tendrils of it slithering away from the light she was emanating, some of the tentacles tried to lash out, only to be snapped back by the aura. The entire black mass at the edge of her vision swiveled uneasily, beating and flexing like some kind of rotten organ.

No wonder Danox didn't want to step inside, light was not something he was very familiar with.

She didn't know if her condition is caused by the Ancestors grace, or was it her own birthright that caused all of this, maybe the answer is already there but all she could think of now was her surroundings.

The spot into which she was shoved was a graveyard, bones were scattered all around the place, she managed to recognize at least five legs, which clearly explained to her that many more bodies were used to create this pile than just one.

"Hollowborn!"

"Hollowborn!"

"Hollowborn!"

The entire room seemed to scream at her, the bones rattled and began to bounce, each of them ringing with its separate tone, exclaiming her new name.

The lashing tentacles of darkness became furious, trying to desperately strike her through the protective light, some driving so deep that the light sliced parts of the tendrils away, making the bits wither on the ground, sizzling as if they would burn under a heating eye of the sun

The bones began to slither, one of the skeletal arms grabbed her ankle.

She screamed, kicking like a startled horse, her sudden panic dislodged the skeletal arm, hurling it at the wall where it broke into two pieces.

"HOLLOWBORN!" the Darkness blared, the thick mass shrunk swiftly, moving in to crush her

She cried out in terror.

The shadows managed to only scare her though, the blackness immediately bounced back by the light surrounding her, droplets of black goo splattered on the ground, as thick as clotted, poisoned blood.

Darkness might have not be able to corrupt her, but here in this room, its birth place, the Taint's power was considerable to the point that her special heritage didn't matter. If it could this black mass would collapse on her and choke the life out of her lungs.

Danox' warning was valid, Corruption will kill her if she lets it reach her, if not for the light it might have actually done it already.

She needs to find something to break the crystal with.

Before she managed to move though she heard a thud coming from the evil dog, followed by a ruffle of cloth, sounded like there would be someone out there dragging a backpack across the floor.

The silhouette came into her view quickly, she needed only a glimpse to recognize the features.

It was Brill.

The mole looked like a walking corpse, his body was practically bones alone, the robe that he was wearing previously added a touch of prestige and respect to his general posture. Now the robe was dirty, filled with holes and due to the fact that Brill looked miserable right now, shrinking in size as a result, the robe no longer fit him, lying on top of him like wet sack of beggar's clothes found on the street and if not for the cane Coriza suspected that it would crush him under his weight.

She could barely stand the sight of his body flashing in the robe's holes, there was barely any muscle keeping the flesh together, all she could see was barren, dry skin with no fur on it and bones, lots and lots of bones.

She mumbled a practically silent begging to the Ancestors, her voice so low that even she couldn't hear the words. She was absolutely heartbroken at the sight of her Seeker and the condition he was in.

The unimaginable burden he carried.

She felt sorry for him, all this time following a misguided cause that in the end led him into this wrecked state. Yet despite all of that he had to live by some purpose, bones surrounded him while he was very much alive, if ruined, he was fighting a losing battle, his mind might be in shambles, but the heart full of purpose and faith kept him alive despite all of that.

And she didn't even dare to imagine the horrific torture he went through, locked here alone in this dark, surrounded by corruptive, deadly whispers.

Her knees buckled, many considered the mole their enemy, Spyro, Cynder, by the Ancestors, even she rebelled against him. But Brill was no enemy, he was a misguided, confused, old mole who got tricked into believing that the touch he felt was the grace of the Ancestors while in fact it was this crystal of evil from the very beginning.

The amount of pity she felt for the mole right now couldn't be measured by any known means.

The image might be horrible and the perspective grim, but nevertheless her bleeding heart found some amount of relief. She found it in Brill's eyes.

The mole didn't wear his special glasses, not even a helmet to light his way, his old eyes were squinted, murky, practically devoid of color, poisoned by an advanced stage of blindness. The ruined eyes however had more life in them than any other part of the priest's body.

They were wet with tears, the depressive liquid glimmered in the deep wrinkles on the mole's face like ponds of water under a moonlight.

His expression, the tears, they all spoke of great pain and regret, while the mind might be confused, the heart remained true to its original cause, Brill was really devoted to fight the Corruption and it was his Faith that bled through those eyes as it struggled to keep him alive, keep the purpose he lived for alive, struggling against the Corruption until it could fight no longer.

While they were oblivious to the crystal's presence in the temple, Brill knew about it possibly from day one and his Faith began its godly fight on that very fateful day.

Some of the heroes living on this world don't need shiny capes.

The situation they were in might as well be the consequence of Brill's struggle, if the Seeker's faith would be weak, or if Brill would be dead, who knows where they would end up today.

After all the devil lies in the details and whatever provoked this horror might have missed one of the crucial values in this horrid game.

As terrible as the Seeker was, witnessing his Faith struggling against magic in its prime evil form filled Coriza with so much purpose and determination that she felt that she could lift mountains. In this pit of despair she found a wonder, a true miracle that for someone like her meant the entire world.

You don't need magic to be of any value.

It was all about the power of your beliefs, if your faith, purpose is strong not even the evil magic of this world can stop you.

She had so many bad opinions about the Seeker, despite her reluctance to speak up, she disagreed with him on his specific approach to the situation. Branding someone out of spite for her past was simply against her personal rules, everyone deserved redemption, or at least a swing at it.

But now it might have not been the real Seeker at all, his thoughts might have been confused already, and perhaps they were since Brill had moments when he showed true anger towards Darkness, be it on sermons or meetings in the city, yet in the end he never made a move against Cynder, even though he would have hordes of people following him.

Her body jerked forward, heart drawn to the senior priest, desiring to hug him, desiring to offer support and gratitude for his fight, for his faith.

Self-preservation kept her in place however, the mole didn't look healthy, not to mention that the past experience with him when they met in this upper halls wasn't one of the pleasant ones.

And that was when the Seeker still looked relatively healthy.

"Seeker?" she licked her dry lips, trying to moist them, yet her tongue was as parched as sand, tiny droplets of blood appeared on her lips when the more sensitive flesh cracked under the pressure

"Do you hear me? It's me, Coriza"

Brill didn't seem to hear her at all, his cane kept clicking hollowly against the floor as his legs shuffled towards her, his old body was emitting ragged, laborious breaths as if he would be choking.

The sound scared her, making her instinctively back away from the approaching mole.

"Wake up please" she whined pitifully

The cane kept smashing, each step bringing him closer and closer to her, the eyes of the mole were tightly closed he walked blind. She spotted new, small tears glimmering in their corners.

"Seeker, please see me!" her heart began to race, so hard and loud that you could see it stretching out her chest if you paid close attention

There was a sudden freezing chill grazing her spine, the terrifying feeling making her gasp.

She was backing away right into the darkness, unknown, black territory, one of the black tentacles managed to graze her, she could spot it being cut off when she looked back. Darkness was getting more bold, she might as well be lured towards the crystal.

That thought paralyzed her.

All she was left with was the Seeker's scary, raw breaths and callous thuds of his staff.

"Brill!" she cried out hysterically

The mole quaked on his legs, either dazed for a second by her pained shout or simply her powerfully exhaled breath surprised his old legs. Whatever the case may be they began to shuffle in her direction again after only a short while.

She wanted to scream at the mole again, the only thing she could do, she was no fighter and felt absolutely defenseless. The building up scream however was quickly morphed into a surprised whine.

Something snatched her legs.

She looked down, trying to automatically kick herself free, but the grip on her wrists and ankles was very strong. She gasped and started to wiggle chaotically, thrashing with her wings and tail as she tried to break free from the ominous grip.

She was being held by skeletal and decomposing arms that could belong to any known creature on this world.

The dead cravingly sunk their ruined claws into her scales, she could feel the rot that ate them away making her sick.

"No!" she thrashed wildly, screaming her lungs out, but no matter what she did the dead didn't want to let her go

The thudding of the staff became so loud that the sound began ringing in her head.

She looked up, gasping in shock when she noticed the staff pointing at her and the mole being just a few steps before her.

The staff had a spike on the lower end and now it was facing her.

She started to cry.

More tears began to drop from the mole's eyes.

The Seeker moved forward, the tip of the spike pinched her gold chest.

He sobbed.

"PLEASE!" she cried out at the top of her lungs, her outcry silenced by something wrapping itself around her neck, right below the chin

It forced her head to tilt up with such a force that a bone snapped somewhere.

She could no longer see the mole, her pupils kept darting frantically around the eyeball, seeking whatever help they could find in this darkness.

The spike sunk into her chest, only the tip managed to pierce the scales, it was enough though to draw lines of blood onto the staff.

She had no words, all she could do was to cry.

The blade moved up, drawing a line of blood as it cut the scales until it popped at was touching the exposed throat.

The mole moved another step.

Coriza gasped, eyes shooting wide when she felt the blade piercing the vulnerable spot, she already could feel the taste of death on her tongue.

Ancestors, you guided me for this?

"Fuck it!" an otherworldly roar trembled the entire hall, the darkness itself seemed to shrink, one of the tentacles slammed the mole, sending him flying into the pitch and crushing forcefully against one of the obscured walls

The staff that was being driven into the dragonesses throat dropped down without anyone holding it, the sunken tip dangled on the pierced scales for a second, until it broke a bit of them and finally dropped on the ground with a hollow clatter.

The pressure she felt on her legs and head was gone, she immediately began to gasp and cough, in panic clenching her wounded throat, trembling at the feeling of sticky blood pouring onto her paw.

She didn't dare to look, expecting to die at any second now.

"TRAITOR!" the evil force roared, the entire blackness on the side where the dragoness was gone, being sucked towards a single spot

She gazed up, recognizing immediately the figure that got entered the room.

It was Danox.

At least she thought so.

Part of him stood in the light of her aura, the other was covered in the shades, due to the delicate hue though from her light she could see his draconic features, sculpted body flexed, every muscle bulging in effort as if it was gripping something, preventing it from running away.

A shade of purple shone from the darkness, at the spot where his eye supposed to be.

The other half however was just a burning shadow, there was no body there, no bone or flesh, no scale or vein, just a floating in the air cloud of black smok, resembling the features that would made the whole structure of a dragon, yet not being one in reality.

Pure essence.

Pure, dark essence reeking of evil and wrongdoing.

Taint.

"GRAB THAT STAFF CLERIC! KILL IT! NOW!" Danox roared at her but his voice was a mess, it rang with his natural, deep tone yet it cracked and rumbled so chaotically that the sound he let out was distorted as if thousands of people, both young and old, both female and male would scream at her in the same time

"YOU WILL END. WE WON. YOU WILL END" the darkness in the room blared out, making Danox groan as it struggled to break free from his grasp

"STAFFFFF!" the misty of his body lashed out at her as he blared, making nothing of the divine light she was glowing with

She yelped and out of fear alone picked up the staff with her bloodied paw, the sticky liquid allowed her to a proper grip on the handle.

She was crying, tears flowing freely like from the eyes of a little, hurt child.

The world became an echo.

"HOLLOWBORN! YOUR END!" the crystal on the pedestal glimmered with the shout, she could swear that it was smirking

"SMASH IT CORIZA!" Danox let out another painful roar, his distorted voice a tornado of malicious fury, the dark mist that the second half of his body was increased its size, almost lunging at her, ready to devour but pulled back by invisible shackles

She didn't know what was going on, everything became a mess and her head was empty, all she could hear was the orders. All she could feel was the unimaginable stress.

She limped towards the pedestal where the glowing, black crystal rested, white lines of energy cracked over its surface.

"YOU LOST. YOU LOST. WE WILL MEET. FOLLOW. YOU WILL FOLLOW"

The mass of darkness shook violently as if it was a pile of dynamite ready to explode.

Danox roared at the top of his lungs, the sound that came out of his throat was a mix of noise that couldn't be compared to anything, it was simply otherworldly and so, so very terrifying.

"FINISHIT IT! NOOWWWWWWW!" he howled, his mixed voice as loud as an earthquake, some of the stones the room was made of began dripping on the ground like raindrops

His entire draconic body sprouted veins of effort which only emphasized his raw, physical strength, the other half began pounding all around, restless and furious, Danox now seemed to fight with both sides of darkness, even the half that belonged to him.

With loud cry she swung the staff, the pressure her scream created pushed out more blood from the hole in her throat. There was a shrieking click when the cane connected with the crystal, all the light was emanating was gone, sucked by the staff and then transferred in a blink into the crystal.

Gold cracks enveloped the dreadful gem and before she could let go off the staff the gem exploded into millions of shards, many bounced off of her, but one such piece flew directly into her left eye. Coriza screamed, slapping her paw against the hurt eye, a delicate stream of blood slithered in between her toes.

The darkness from the room faded, Danox fell onto his forelegs with a taxing groan, whole once more, the part of his body that remained physical during the fight was bloodied beyond recognition, it was hard to tell if there were any scales left there or was it just pulsing flesh, it looked like half of his body was eaten by hordes of hungry piranha. Despite the weariness he crawled towards the screaming dragoness, painting the ground with a thick layer of blood.

"Show me" he demanded, reaching out with his intact leg

"My eye!" Coriza screamed again, recouping recoiling from the touch, legs remembering their inherited clumsiness suddenly, making her trip and fall on her back

Which only intensified her screams, especially when the second paw joined the first in clutching the hurt eye

"Show me, please" he slithered forward, his curled claws hanging above the wildly trashing dragoness

"It hurts!"

He touched her gently, waiting for her to calm down.

"Please, show me" he repeated warmly

The healthy gold, widened eye stared at him intently, Danox' purple eyes were radiating nothing but honest concern

He was whole once more. However the part that was once visible and draconic now became the mist, but not like the one she saw earlier, this seemed like a veil, put there on purpose by Danox himself as if to obscure something.

He put tender pressure, moving the paws away, all the time comforting her.

Despite the tears and fear she obeyed, allowing him to reveal her wounded eye.

He cocked his head curiously, he was expecting her eyeball to be empty, eye completely eaten out, or at least milky blind, basically every drastic idea one could have when a cursed gem hit you crossed his mind.

He never expected to see her eye intact.

She was truly a Hollowborn.

She had a bloody trail over her eyeball that will surely leave a scar, the shard obviously by some unexplained means bounced off, or she got hit by another one, there was a line of lazily flowing blood running down her cheek from the eyeball, clearly indicating that something got inside.

If that wouldn't be enough then one could simply judge the color of her eye, her iris was no longer sun gold, but rich beige like a freshly shorn wool. Black pupil kept dancing around, he noticed that the corners of her newly colored iris kept burning with yellow light.

"Can you see me Coriza?"

Her eyes were wide, the hurt one burned inside and all around, yet the pain was nothing compared to what she saw, it was like as if she would be looking through separate spying glasses, each of them pointing somewhere else.

She could see Danox in front of her, yet his figure was distorted like his voice previously, it was like he would be burning, his entire silhouette was a blurry mess that occasionally kept getting formed into a solid draconic body.

Somewhere in there she saw a pair of deep white, glowing eyes.

She looked around the room instinctively, examining also herself, the world followed the same rule like Danox' silhouette, first it was a blur but then again a normal, solid structure, only to become a chaotic mess soon again, after the first blink barely ever returning back to the normal features.

Her body however, for some reason was normal as always.

Her pupils returned to Danox, for a second his entire body turned into the horrible black fog she saw half of him become earlier, from the spot of his concerned lips flashed a predatory smile, followed by a wink of a pair of evil white eyes.

And then with a flash he was again wielding purple eyes and black scales of a dragon, burning with black flames.

"Yes" she responded lifelessly, despite her words her eyes seemed to intently drill into him

Danox smiled, yet it was a nervous stretch, for some reason he felt unbelievably naked.

"You are damned, damned, damned!"

The unexpected rant drew both of their attentions to the far end of the room.

Brill was clutching his head, rocking back and forth.

"Pray, pray, pray"

"Seeker?" Coriza mumbled, squinting the wounded eye as blood began to cover it as it dripped from the wound over the eyeball

"Prayers! Prayers! ! Say them! Say them!" the hands moved over the wrinkled face

"Oh, dear Ancestors" she licked her lips, stammering each word "Hear your blessed-"

"Blasphemer!" the mole shrieked, pointing an accusing, trembling claw in her direction, one of his startled, practically insane eyes looked past the quaking fingers

"Not blessed, no, no, too late, too late. Demon on your shoulder" the claw moved towards Danox

The black dragon smiled, his tail creating a protective embrace around the dragoness.

Brill whined, all fingers returning to the face once more.

"Say the prayers! Say the prayers!"

Coriza gulped, gazing again at Danox and his smoky, ominous shape.

No matter in which direction his head was turned she could see the white eyes winking at her still from time to time.

"What prayers Seeker?" she muttered quietly

The mole's hands dropped, a small crystal, a chip of the ruined one rolled from his palm. He stared at it with depressive sight of an old man.

The crystal had blood on it.

Not only his own.

"Prayers for the damned"

End of Book IX