Under Cloak of Darkness: Chapter 5
#5 of Under Cloak of Darkness
She tried to run, but couldn't. She simply ran in place, legs moving but going nowhere. He walked up to her slowly, a smirk on his steel features. He reached her and stood to her side. She stopped running. Laughing, he knelt and spoke.
"You think you're safe? You think you've gotten away?" He chuckled. "Well, I promise that you have simply found the eye of the storm, you haven't come close to escaping its wrath."
He put his hand on her side, her heart beat faster as his fingers rested themselves on her smooth scales. Her eyes widened and he smiled.
"You can't run from destiny! I AM your destiny!" he shouted as his eyes went red and that was all she saw, redness. She woke to someone gently gripping her left shoulder, shaking it lightly. She woke up, but didn't open her eyes until he spoke.
"Well, good morning," the male voice said softly. She opened her eye a crack and looked into the eyes of a black, non-anthro dragon.
"W-who are you?" she asked groggily, rubbing her eyes opening the other fully.
"My name's Eveser, what's yours?" he asked gently.
"Cyllea," she said.
"Nice to meet you," he laid a tray of breakfast foods on her lap. She looked at it.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked, confused. She had never met him before and still he brought her breakfast in bed when she was hurt.
"Because you were hurt and needed help, isn't it obvious?" he said. He noticed her solid grey scales, her bright red eyes. Her horns were the same shape as his, but hers were wider at the base and had two smaller horns growing in just near the first two. Also, they were both steel-grey. All in all, she was very pretty. "And besides, such beauty should be kept untouched and preserved perfectly."
She blushed accidentally and tried to cover it up by falling back on the bed and putting the pillow over her head. Then she remembered. She sat up, immediately startled, then, feeling the immense pain in her shoulder, fell back down.
"Where's that freak? Where's Dameon?" she asked nervously from her pillow.
"Don't worry, he's gone and he won't bother you ever again. I promise," he swore and held up three claws. "Scout's honor."
"Thank you...for saving me," she said and took a piece of toast in her jaws from the tray. She held her head back and slid the whole thing into her mouth, chewing gratefully. She looked at him; he was patiently watching her eat.
"Would you like some?" she asked. He shook his head.
"I already ate my breakfast, thank you," he responded. She shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat. He stood up from her bed and walked around her room.
"Can I help you with something?" she asked, a little annoyed.
"I'm sorry, I was just looking. Your room is much nicer than mine," he explained.
"So what is this place?" Cyllea asked. Eve shrugged.
"In all honesty, I don't know," he said. "They dragged me here without chance of parole either."
"Why does Dameon want you?" Cyllea looked at him and cocked her head. "I know why he wants me, and that's probably the reason I'm here, but what did you do to him?"
"Who knows, he just showed up at my apartment and tried to take me off somewhere," Eve said. "Now he still wants me."
"Well, that's odd. I've never known him to do that before," Cyllea said as if she knew him for years.
"Well, it's nothing. So, tell me about yourself..."
"Hey, Daori, come and see this," the guard told the other. The tigress walked over to where the male hyena asked her. She looked out of the tower and took up her spyglass, aiming it at the pathway up to the fortress. There was a soldier, a wounded soldier, limping up to the drawbridge.
"What do you think?" the hyena asked Daori.
"I don't know, Medan, he looks like he's hurt," she protested. "We should help him."
"Well, he does look in pain," Medan agreed. "Open the gate."
The soldier walked up to the opening gate and looked in; there were medics and other troops waiting to assist him. He limped up to the moat and stepped onto the wooden drawbridge. When he got up to the large archway that served as the gate, the medics rushed up to help him. They put their arms around him and led him into the courtyard. He had a large burn mark on his chest and many slices from a blade or something else on his skin. Arronix ran up to him and held his head up so he could speak to him.
"My poor boy, what happened to you?" he asked worriedly. The soldier looked up at him.
"Dam-Dameon, Dameon S-Swade," he said and coughed up blood. He let his head hang down.
"Where? When did this happen?" Arronix pried for answers from the man. His head rose to look Arronix straight in the eyes. He had bright blue eyes that seemed to spin in this light.
"He attacked our convoy on our way back here, he wanted me to give you a message," the soldier breathed. "Then he said I was too weak, and said he would give it to you in person..."
The soldier's voice got deeper and more metallic by the end of his sentence. He punched Arronix in the stomach and stood to his full height, skin melting and reforming around him.
"Ahhhhh, well isn't this nice? All of my good friends came to play with me!" Dameon Swade shouted from the middle of the courtyard. All of the soldiers drew their blades, Dameon just looked at them.
"I've forgotten to tell you, I got a little bit of an upgrade," he said and reached out to a soldier. Black extensions protruding from his fingertips wrapped around the horse's neck, wrist, and ankles. He screamed once before the tentacles tightened and crushed his windpipe, broke his legs, and snapped his wrists. He dropped the unfortunate creature to the ground and let him suffocate. The others rushed him, he backhanded one into a wall, punched another so hard that his face caved in, and ripped another clear in half. Everyone backed up. Dameon looked around at them and watched as they parted to make a path for Hibarro Arronix himself.
"Hello old friend, care to engage me in a little tussle?" Dameon mocked, drawing his blade. Arronix drew his own blade, a short Katana with odd markings on the blade. He smiled and leaped at the serial killer, clashing blades with an enormous burst of light.
They jumped about each other, swinging their swords with incredible grace. Blinding light exploded with every clash, causing most of the other warriors to cover their eyes and back away. Swade swung his blade in a circular motion, but Arronix was just out of reach. Eveser ran out into the sunlight just as Arronix jumped and delivered a devastating strike, taken in the face by Swade and returned with an even more powerful attack. Arronix blocked, but had to jump back a step or two. He jumped again and suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke! He quickly appeared behind Dameon and tried to strike, but was blocked. He flipped in the air and swung, catching Swade on the chest, ripping his robe.
The two stood facing each other, Arronix panting and Dameon with a huge, deep scar on his face and his robe. Arronix lunged again, slicing the air to the left of Dameon's head. Dameon swung around and axe-chopped Arronix in the back. Arronix landed and rolled to a standing position.
"You're getting too old for this, my friend! Why don't you just give up?" Dameon asked.
"Age is just a number...skill is forever," Arronix shouted and lunged at Dameon. As he looked into Dameon's eyes, he realized something...something that made what he was about to do much less heroic in the long run. He turned his blade slightly to the left and continued at Dameon, who parried and swung straight, slicing Arronix along the chest. He fell to the ground. Dameon laughed and looked around.
"Well, I've caused enough pain for an hour or so, time to get home," he said. "Oh! But just before I go..."
He said and looked over at a group of buildings and pointed an index finger at it. A flickering ball of white appeared at the fingertip and jumped off, flying at amazing speeds towards the buildings, colliding with the wall. The ball exploded and set fire to the houses with a huge burst of heat and energy. Dameon laughed as male and female screams sounded from within the clustering infernos. He flew off into the after noon sun and laughed the whole way.
They all ran towards Arronix, who wheezed with great pain. Haze walked over to the man and the group of medics parted to let him through.
"C-Come h-here my boy," he whispered. Eve walked over and put his reptilian head by Arronix's.
"He was right, I was too old," he lied. "I have reached my limit; my time on earth is ended. But there is still hope,"
"How?" Eve asked. "I can't kill him and he's too powerful for all of the ones who have stood up to him."
"C-correct, you can't kill him. It is not your job, it never was. You have a very important job, though. You will succeed; the only way to doom existence is to doom yourself. I hope you will not follow this path," Arronix painfully moaned. "I suppose this is my time to go, then, I wish you only the best of luck with your destiny! Be assured that no matter how bad...things get, how dark they become, follow the light in your heart and you will always find the...right...direction."
As the last breath left Arronix's body, Eve couldn't help but feel a tear drop from his eye. It ran down his scaly cheek, down past his jaw, and onto the dead leader's body. It lay as just a stain on his white Gi. He felt all his sadness turn to rage. He didn't really know why...he had barely known this man...but for some reason or another, he felt complete and utter rage when he thought about him dying. He stood up and began to walk back. Kimona walked up to him and put a hand on his back. He stopped.
"What are you going to do?" she asked quietly.
"I'm going to find him...I'm going to hurt him...And then I'm gonna kill 'em...Simple as that," Eveser said and walked back into the base.
Hope you enjoyed! As always, the song for battle scene is Die Motherfucker Die by Dope! Thanks again and have a great day!