Soron sneered as he watch the figure approach. He closed his eyes for a moment. He had just died and now his soul was being contested for ownership. He had this feeling that he knew this figure somehow. It was at the back of his mind slowly working its way to the tip of his tongue but he still couldn’t put a finger on it. He shook his head as he thought.
“Soron…” He looked at his love with soft eyes. She seemed nervous but at the same time it held confidence. With a subtle nod she agreed to what he was planning.
”I’m not done. Not now. After all I’ve dealt with in my life and this is how I’m destined to go?” ”Till the end…” “Till the end..” She echoed.
Soron, whilst holding his long sword he stared into the figure with defiance as the runes across the front of his body suddenly lost its color. His eyes glowed a deep gold before quickly, lightening to a white. Smoke seemed to trail from the edges of each and every mark on his body,
slowly engulfing his body with a thick layer of smoke. “Another one..? No.. not this time.” The voice if the creature was calming as it echoed. Yet it grew more intense and ferocious as it neared its end. It's form that once moved as gentle waves of dark now spiked and flared up rapidly. It's hands were brought up from below and palms faced upward as it infused a terrible darkness below the traveling shadow dragon skeletons. As they ran they merged together to form a 13 foot tall and 20 feet long skeletal dragon. It crushed the soft earth beneath it as it made it's way to Soron. It moved like a train as it kicked up the ground beneath it as it charged full speed and jaws extended open to bite into Soron.
The smoke that engulfed Soron abruptly stopped its rather serene, gentle movements and shifted into a much more violent pattern. A gurgled growl escaped the onyx fumes as a elongated head began to form, teeth curved back like talons, and eyes that glowed a bright lunar color. Behind its head, ten solid black bonelike structures formed, connected by a thin layer of grey. It flicked its tongue at the large shadow dragon that approached before hissing at the aggressor. In a moment it leaned forward and turned quickly, spiralling down Soron’s body with haste as it lunged towards the approaching dragon, the fan behind its head opened wide in a display of intimidation. This was the
basilisk of Basille, a fraction of its true size. At 25 feet long and standing 5 feet tall, it was a small part of darkness that represented Soron and who he was.. Upon his back a single black wing began to manifest. Its purpose was unknown, even to Soron but he paid it no mind.
The basilisk slithered along the ground and met the dragon head on, its mouth agaped. With a violent jerk, it thrashed its head to the side in an attempt to throw the other dragon off balance. The moment it would make impact, the basilisk would then begin to wrap itself around the other dragon and constrict it, biting into its smoky flesh. Soron reached for the back of his belt, hoping that he still had his equipment. Subconsciously relieved by the realization he did, he withdrew an orb of Sun’s Rays and chucked it at the larger figure before bringing his finger up, charged with electricity.
A loud almost echoing roar could be heard from the black skeletal dragon as it's bones snapped beneath the constricting pressure of the Basilisk. It was when those bones broke that the giant shadow figure took a step back. It's foot moving sporadically as it in fact shrunk in size. This caused its footing to fall off balance and it fell to a single right knee. It looked to the sky as Soron tosses his orb. “More..” It demanded. The dragon above it all in the sky cried out with a ear shattering roar as the chains were tightened upon its surface. Light in the form of energy fluctuated down the length of the chain and to the holder. The shadow figure seemed to be distracted as the glowing chains fed energy into it's being. Soron let loose the Sun’s Rays, its burning pillars of light flashed in every direction, so close as to narrowly avoiding the Balsillie Basilisk, causing the thing to shriek in surprise. Soron watched closely to the figure as it dropped to one knee, the cause of the bone dragon breaking. But when the figure commanded more, he heard the tightening of chains and a roar that could shatter mountains as he looked up, noticing the light beaming down from the sky along something. He couldn’t see what but he knew it wasn’t good. The basilisk hissed and screeched as it aimed for its next target, that of the figure. Once the figure fell, the Basilisk charged forward, attempting to bite into the being’s other leg.
’Whatever he is, he’s being fed by that dragon up there. They’re connected somehow, they have to be...but how?’ He squinted his eyes as he began to think. Quickly he retrieved one of his teleport stones and held it to his mouth, cupping his hands in the form of a funnel. Gathering what air he could, a jet of wind shot the stone from his mouth towards the pillar of light before vanishing in a cloud of smoke and near the-
Chains?
Soron looked as the light travelled through it. It was feeding this thing energy and he had to stop it. The figure may have not shown him too much of its power so far but he wasn’t about to chance it. With a deep breath he sheathed his blade and a look of both determination and fear struck as he gripped the chains, attempting to yank them from the ground.
As the basilisk went in the shadow figure didn't seem to take notice. The serpent would come in and bite for the leg. However it would merely pass through it like a cloud of black smoke it was waved apart but reformed immediately. Despite this it lost no balance and seemed to only grow more as light was absorbed into it from below it. A few chains planted into the ground was steadily rising due to Soron. However it did little. The long arm of the shadow having well planted it within the spiritual realm. It now looked with large hollow glowing eyes as energy could be seen leaving it's immaterial body. “It's pointless to struggle.” Soron ignored the figure as his claim to impossibility only fueled him, especially after feeling the chains move. He activated the runes in his feet and gripped tighter to the chains.
”Pointless?” He echoed with question as he growled, taking a step back with the chains still in hand.
” Pointless is the life I lived, how I died…” He kept stepping back in the hopes of yanking the chains from the ground.
”After my love died before my eyes, ripped apart by a basilisk what was I to do, who was I to be? I seeked revenge on that which took the only precious thing from me and when I got it, do you know how I felt? Hollow, empty...Like a piece of me was gone that I would never get back and for years - heh - I traveled the world - heh - trying to fill that void with something...Anything - heh - that could make me feel whole again.” He backed away panting and withdrew his blade before striking at the chains with all his might.
”What do you know of LOSS? What do you know of PAIN! What do YOU...KNOW….OF…HAVING….NO...PURPOSE!!!” With each strike, Soron’s true emotions began to show through, the thought of fading away slowly gripping at his mind. He felt fear, something he hadn’t felt for a long time. Asriel listened to him.
As Soron went on distracting the figure, Asriel closed her eyes, taking use of the distraction. Behind her the manifestation of four tendril-like forms of light left her back. Their motions seemed to be like that of waves on the ocean as they moved about. She held out her hand, a golden light slowly solidified into a thin pillar next to her palm as its form became that of a spear. She opened her eyes, a gold and blue color to them as she raised the spear and hurled it at the shadow figure. If it would connect, the tip of the spear would burst into a large ball of light, piercing the body of the shadow figure. With this she would move to Soron’s back, a second spear in hand and pointed towards the figure. Soron stopped and pointed his blade towards the figure as well.
”But now I have been reunited with my love. The gap is filled and I will NOT have it torn away from me again. If anyone was to have my soul, it would be her and her alone… This caused her to widen her eyes. Was he serious? He had to be...He wasn’t one to joke about something like that. But at the same time, she knew him well enough to understand the hidden request within his words.
The spear flying at the shadow erupted with its light and shook the figures cloudy form like ocean waves against a mist. However as the shadowy fog dissipated there was revealed to be underneath a giant black skeleton with a red glow within its empty sockets. Sitting on its head were two large horns that curved backwards along the slope of its skull. This giant skeleton slowly stood to it's feet while staring Soron down. The chain he slashed chipped away a bit and began to bend as it was pulled further. “Do you wish to hear me concede…? Never. Your soul will be mine one day. And if you are not careful it will be now…” It’s echoing voice boomed like thunder as the dragon above began to cry out with its own display if lightning to smite the ground in random locations across the field. “You face forces beyond what you know. Consider yourself lucky to have made it this far.” It's jaws snapped up and down with loud cackles similar to bone ligaments being dislodged. It erupted darkness from it's jaws like a vomit and it poured out onto the ground enveloping all in it's wake. Once it was released the grass of the field began to wilt away. It had a slow crawl as it went for Soron and everything else within its radius around it. After spewing the smoke it planted a skeletal right hand within the dark smog. Pulling from a vortex that formed around it was a black blade. It curved along it's edge but was sizable given his mass. “Become one with all the others.” The blade had a strange property to it. It emitted a ethereal glow that moved like insects trying to escape a glass jar. Low screams could be heard from the blade and they all ranged from male to female. It raised the blade up now and brought it down on the snake Soron summoned near it attempting to sever it in half before turning to Soron.
On the Battlefields of Sunfire
Sulley face was etched with anger as he watched Singrad begin to give to the flames, A thin smile making its way onto his face as he watched the man fight for life. He would not forget the man’s death as he savored every miniscule detail. The skin bubbling and boiling, falling off the bone like that of a good rack of ribs. Each piece seemingly to fall bit by bit. The smell of burning flesh, the screams of pain and the scent of fear from the untimely yet justified death of a murderer. In his eyes they all deserved to die and what he gave them was quick yet painful, not slow and excruciating save for Singrad’s as he seemed to be the only one who really fought to control the flames. But Sulley was no ordinary dragon. He was the Fire of Fotia and had earned that moniker in the past for a reason. His flames were like that of the sun not just in combat but in ambition. He stood out amongst the other dragonlords of old because of his dreams and ambitions. But now was not the time to reflect on that. He walked up to Singrad’s skeleton with a condescending look upon his face, placing his foot on the side of the skull. He looked up to those on the Basilisk while he slowly crushed the bones beneath his feet. That same foot slid back as he awaited the next opponent.
The two from atop their beast came down into the cleared path Singard made for them and bolted forward. Sulley leaned back and began to gather magic until-
’Dammit…’ He cursed himself. It appeared that he had used up a large portion of his magic on that move. Still, he had enough to do three things. First, he looked towards the one figure that ran and eyed him up. With his adrenaline pumping, he slammed his foot on the ground, causing a small sharp punjee spike-like pillar to protrude from the ground off to his side towards the sprinting figure in a way that would cause the figure to get close to Sulley. It seemed to have worked and Sulley spin around, hoping to bring a heavy heel into the man’s face. But instead he felt air as time seemed to slow. Hardened eyes followed the smiling man as he darted past him, distracting Sulley long enough for the other to attempt to envelop him in blackness. His instincts kicked in and with wide eyes and an audible “TCH!”, he lowered himself and rolled out. As his roll out brought him to face the blackness he fired a single shot of ice into what looked to be a solid shadow, possibly an attempt to pierce it but sadly it failed and soon Sulley, the dragon who helped give the upper hand to Vrondi, had to helplessly watch as Vrondi’s Guardian was taken over by this same smiling man. Sulley was in no shape to take on this new thing. Much of his magic pool had been used in the creation of Hellfire, even moreso that his friend, no, brother Soron’s death was the catalyst to his rampage. At the moment, he had nothing left and thus had to make an escape. He would be a burden on Vrondi otherwise. He had to recuperate.. He figured that most of the soldiers were mentality linked since he didn’t hear too much chatter on the field so he simply stared down those soldiers around him and spoke up.
”…I’m currently drained. I don’t have much in me from that attack but I managed to put a dent into their forces. If I stay I won’t be any help but rather a burden so I must go and regain my strength but I haven’t forgotten anyone. I’ll be back...” He looked up with disgust in his face towards the corrupted Gaurdian. An accusatory finger firmly pointed at it. At where the smiling man once was.
But yooouuuu...I’ll be back for you and when I do, I will leave your soul as nothing more than dust in the wind.” Venom dripped through his words as his voice slightly trembled. With that he turned back and darted for Soron’s body who was moved out of the path of destruction. His emotions started to surface again once he found his body, letting out another roar in the process before picking him up and giving Soron a hug. It lasted for a moment but it had felt like an eternity before tossing his lifeless body high into the air and leaping up after it, his body starting to shift and morph in the process. His wings were massive, extending over 50 meters in length. He began to flap his wings just as his tail had left the ground. Large gusts of wind thrashed at the ground below and trees ahead, nearly knocking over a few. Soron’s body started to fall back to the terra below but only to be caught in Suleykaar’s claws. The red dragon flew up higher and higher before leaning back and diving back down. On his way down, he took notice to one of those from the Rest Easy, Alexis. He squinted his eyes and shouted out to her, his voice booming over everyone as he began to level out. His target being that of Alexis.
Alexis up here!! You’re coming with me!”
Alexis looked up at him for a moment, before she nodded at him and then closed her eyes as if steeling herself for something. A second later, she jumped straight up into the air, reaching about 40 feet before her momentum seemed to give out and she began to fell back to the earth below. Her eyes would stay closed until Suleykaar caught her. As she began to fall, he tucked his wings in slightly, giving him that little extra momentum as she came back down. With predatory precision, Sulley stuck out his hind leg, and took hold of her before tossing her back up slightly for a better grip. A few more flaps and he begun to ascend into the night sky above.
Glancing underneath towards her he hastily spoke.
”Hold on!”
It was almost instantaneous. Visibly the wind around moved quickly behind him in a moments notice and would be felt by Alexis as she was whipped backwards from the propelling force if the massive
”BOOM" was anything to go off of. With this, Sulley was on his way to the Temple, hoping that the monks there could help him.
Temple of the Knowledge Seekers
Inside the Great Library, Sophia laid on the floor, surrounded by uncountable books, scrolls and grimoires. The cozy and warm interior gave it a serene, peaceful aura. If a scholar entered there, he would easily forgot to sleep or eat. Qobo had just leaved the library, and Sophia was getting ready to sleep, but one last thought kept her awake. She had a feeling that something was wrong. That war, that conflict she felt didn't seem like a normal one. She knew very well about what she had said herself to Qobo. Nothing good comes from interfering with wars and conflicts. They should let the kingdoms take care of their own problems. But even though that was true, she still had a feeling that what was happening was beyond a petty conflict born out of the greed of kings and kingdoms. There was something more... dark, wicked and powerful behind that.
"I should stop thinking about it and sleep a little." she said to herself, laying down her head and slowly closing her eyes. But the destiny seemed to have different plans for that night. Suddenly, a big, thundering sound echoed through the mountain, immediately awakening Sophia. Those were sounds of stones breaking and crumbling. Who was foolish enough to try to attack Mindah Taarvitan and the Great Library? Especially due to the fact that Sophia herself protected that mountain? No... That couldn't be right. But once more, a thunderous sound echoed through the mountain, confirming that there was something happening. Sophia gave a mighty roar, opening the big and heavy doors of the library with a slam. Almost like it was a warning for both the monks and for the potential intruders. Flying over the temple for a second, she looked around, quickly scanning the mountain to see what was going on. Not too far, on the side of the mountain, big flashes and flames illuminated the night, followed by loud sounds of stone breaking. But before she could even think in going near, the flashes stopped, and from the distance, a big being could be seen, walking towards the temple.
His body and his attire wasn't those of a mountain climber. Even over the coat of slush and ice covering his body, Sophia could see that he had the trained body of a warrior. Although he appeared to be tired, the explosions and flashes from before were undoubtedly his doing.
As he approached the temple, Sophia flew down, putting herself in front of the temple door with an imposing roar.
Earlier he had gone to meditate on whether or not to join the fight below. He wanted to tell his master that it was an unwise decision to go down there to fight. To join in their barbarism. They were a place of peace and serenity, not a temple full of sell swords and mercenaries. It was when he neared his zen garden did he feel the vibrations of an explosion, followed by said explosion. He didn’t want to believe it but then it came through again, only closer. He yelled to one of the monks to sound the alarm and within moments he disappeared and the bells tolled loudly across the temple and library. Monks from all sides came to meet along the wall that watched over the temple, each one representing a style of fight or mastery of an element. That was when he heard Sophia’s roar and made his way to her.
"Welcome to Mindah Tarvitaan, the Temple of Knowledge Seekers, warrior. I am Sophia, the dragon of knowledge, the guardian of the Great Library, the temple and this mountain." Sophia said, looking to the man in an imposing pose, analyzing the man with her eyes.
"I see you have traveled far, and faced many obstacles in your journey. Why are you here, warrior? What a warrior is doing in the Temple of the Knowledge Seekers? What do you seek, warrior? Power, knowledge or something else?" Sophia asked, paying close attention to his answer. This was when Qobo had made his appearance on the side of the warrior. His robe was off, revealing the toned body of the grandmaster. His eyes were hardened as hs once was cane transmuted to that of a sheathed sword. He made sure to let his intimidating aura impose greatly on the figure to show silently that the wrong move would be his demise. Despite Qobo’s now rigid form, he was quite loose, like that of a coiled basilisk ready to strike. The other monks did not move and awaited Qobo or Sophia’s command.