Chapter 63 The Weakness of Solitude pt1
“I’ll kill you, you vicious bitch! Where are you taking me?” I scream, thrashing my fists feebly against Ember’s giant claws as they grip me from my shoulders to my knees. Hours of flying have allowed my pain to become second to my anger.
“Mice are usually quiet,” Ember snarls. She breathes a plume of fire then flies through it harmlessly, except it singes my hair several inches shorter.
“I will not surrender! I will not lie down and die! I’ll kill you, bitch!”
“I will squeeze the life out of you, little mouse,” she warns.
Her claws tighten, making my chest too tight to breathe. My eyes bulge, regardless of the stinging wind whipping past us. I’m at her mercy. The truth rushes over me and makes my stomach turn. Ember’s taking me away to devour me, maybe feed me to her young. Prolonging my death is a sick pleasure for her, some kind of game.
Like a cat with a mouse.
Below me, pines and oaks blur into a cacophony of green and red, the fall colors a brilliant array of light. Slashes of blue split the land, rivers, and lakes, and in the distance is the ocean. I can see so much from up here, so much sheer beauty. The fact it’s the last time I’ll ever see it makes my chest clench harder than this damned dragon ever could.
Prepare yourself, Anara!
“Oh, you’re here!” I mock him. “I thought maybe you ran away like a coward!”
“Who are you speaking to?” Ember snarls, her wings beating erratically in surprise.
The king is coming for you. I will do everything I can to protect you!
“The…king?” In my mind, I see the reincarnated form of Zaries the First storming in on the back of a white alicorn. But that can’t be it, can it?
A splitting roar I know all too well, a roar burned into my memory, tells me the truth. It’s not a human king coming to save me, it’s the silver dragon.
“Was this your plan, Ember?” I cry. “Feed me to your king? I hope you both choke on my bones, that way I’m still a slayer, even in death!”
“Tharros! No!” Ember roars, tucking her wings and diving.
The massive silver dragon appears above us, his silhouette blocking out the sun.
Tharros, the silver dragon. The King of Dragons. He’s come to devour me at last.
The great shadow descends upon us, appearing black with the light of the sun behind him. I scream, it’s all I can do. His eyes are on me, so full of rage. His talons, bigger than I am tall, outstretched, and already dripping with blood.
He doesn’t speak or roar, he just attacks.
Ember lets out a screech of pain as his talons wrap around her back and wrench.
Tharros’s wings beat like a drum, stopping our descent so fast that my head whips back and forth with the jarring attack.
My vision blurs as I watch one massive dragon attacking another, fighting over a meal. Fighting over who gets to eat me. The dragons snarl and roar, both of them biting and snapping wherever they can reach. Hot blood rains down, coating me. I cough, the viscous liquid choking me.
I blink, trying to clear my vision, just in time to see Tharros snap his jaws around Ember’s neck and rip.
She screams, the agony in her voice making my heart clench. This isn’t right, even animals don’t fight like this over food. Why is he attacking her? “You’re a fucking monster!” I scream. “Attacking your own kind, you deserve to die, you—”
Shield yourself with winds! She’s too weak to hold you! He’s killing her!
Ember’s claws go slack, and for a split second, I feel like I’m hovering in mid-air. A mournful howl escapes her, drowned out by the victorious roar of her ‘king.’ He deserves no such title. He’s a monster, a barbarian…
Tharros flaps his wings and rises, pulling Ember further into the sky and away from me.
My plummet begins.
I gather my winds, trying to cocoon myself, trying to halt my fall, but I’m not strong enough. My wounds and the searing pain from them hold my powers at bay. I scream in frustration, flapping my arms wildly. My veins glow, my powers fighting hard to resurface.
But it’s no use.
The roaring dragons continue to fight above me as I fall, their thrashing bodies and blood rain the canopy of my fall.
Ember wrenches herself free from Tharros and dives toward me, but he clamps her wing between his massive jaws and wrenches her back. She screams in pain, her body lurching, her huge spiked tail slicing through the air.
Right toward me.
I hear someone scream “no” but I can’t tell if it’s coming from me or one of the dragons. It doesn’t really matter.
This is how I die.
Time seems to slow as I watch her massive tail approach, the spikes gleaming in the sunlight.
Could have been worse, I guess. Could have died in the fall instead of by a dragon strike. I try to laugh, but the wind steals my breath away.
“For Amaranthine,” I whisper.
Her tail collides with my body with such force that I’m launched sideways, soaring faster than I was falling. Pain detonates all over again. Agony is my new companion. Consciousness fades, even as I fight to stay awake. I fight to live, even though I know it’s fruitless. I fight for my powers, my body screaming in agonized denial, but I cannot touch them.
I can hear my mind mentor trying to tell me something, but it's garbled like all my thoughts.
The trees are coming fast, and my flight quickly reaches the treetops. I strike a pine first, my body folding around it. The tree snaps with a thundering crash, breaking my ribs as it falls. The many branches of a maple tree try to catch me, but they snap under the pressure of my speed. The ground is coming faster, faster…
I’m astonished I’m still awake to experience this.
I should be dead many times over.
I should be in pieces.
I should be a smear of blood and viscera on the landscape.
But no, I’m awake for it all. I’d laugh at the cruelty of this death if it didn’t hurt so much.
I see the boulder coming, although I’m not surprised.
I strike it, bouncing off its surface like a ragdoll. Bones fracture. Sinew snaps. Pain engulfs. I finally land, finally stop falling, and find myself in a field of wildflowers. I stare up at the sky, unseeing, uncaring.
“So this is death,” I choke, coughing up blood. All I know is pain. All I can sense is the incoming darkness of death.
Wait for me, Anara! Fight for life! Fight for destiny!
I can’t fight this.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth, my words never escaping my lips.