Chapter Thirteen
Sigisvult
My last moments with Celeste were just perfect.
A kiss, a goodbye, me leaving her company in a wholly different way than I had entered it. Respectable, something she could really love.
My last day, however, was proving difficult. The walls of the rebel citadel were taller than I remembered, towering over the area with a great shadow, and shading over what trees were left around the erupting mines. The rocks were uneven, though most provided adequate footing to climb the intimidating path. I took an uneasy step up the hill, steadying myself by grabbing the rocks around me.
I left the rest of the troops just outside the rebel city and now made my way through a long, narrow cave with Caridan, Bozaldras, and Fhalanae, guiding us by luck alone in the pitch darkness. I could hear footsteps nearing me and pressed myself thin against the rocks behind me, willing my tired breath to go unheard.
My fingers cut against the rocks, sending sharp pains through my hands as the source of the footsteps easily passed me by. “They don’t know we’re here yet,” Caridan mumbled, his tone indicating he didn’t know whether to be patient or panicked.
The rebel arena spanned long across the land, begging the question of how big this explosive was, exactly. I stood easily with Caridan at my side. We were just embarking on the entrance to the base.
Getting in hadn’t been a problem. We peered out through the rocks. The citadel was full of reels; it was their very last hideout.
I could hear laser weapons fire off from within the base; they spotted the Weredragons outside their walls. It would be an excellent distraction.
We peered through the opening of the underground tunnel and watched as the rebels flooded in with various weapons, standing there like obedient dogs, hundreds of them.
Within the large pack of rebels were bundles of highly corrosive bombs, the kind used to attack Earth embassy years ago, caked across every available surface.
I’d never used one himself, but time and again I saw the damage just one could do.
We heard the cry of Weredragons off in the distance, and a sick pain rushed through my stomach.
“Ready?” Caridan asked, his sharp eyes digging into mine and before I could say anything, Fhalanae was already rushing out the door.
We raced out in in flight, our bodies taking to the air. Caridan spread his oil slick stained wings with strength and determination as he took off from me.
I followed suit, surefooted, even as a black dragon came out of nowhere and batted me with his tail.
The blow sent me shooting to the ground. I grabbed his leg and swung him around to try and regain my balance, digging my claws into him in the meantime.
Another shifter came from my left, swooping down and roaring with rage, but seemed to stop short as he caught sight of Caridan. The shifter looked horrified as fear crept over his every feature.
“It’s… it’s…!” he began to scream as he backed away quickly with a single gust of his wings.
I smiled at this, as did Caridan.
We made our way further into the base: a stone citadel encased by walls and surrounded by a great moat. The waters shook and waved as the mass of dragons flew in.
We darkened the sky with our colors, streaming against one another in a fury of numbers. The dragons were so staggering, I could barely tell who was friend or foe.
Great cries could be heard coming from every direction on the battlefield.
It was only when I saw our men start surfacing high into the sky did I start to feel nervous, feel the rush of battle take its true form.
Our troops headed for the sky as quick as lightening, knowing the great fire was about to begin. I looked over at Caridan, ready to make my ascent until I saw the black dragon, Haden, grab hold of him and claw him to the ground.
“We looked for you!” the dragon screamed as Caridan went careening into the stone below.
My eyes widened with terror as our savior crashed to the ground. Looking up, I could see his children were oblivious. They were readying themselves to spread fire across every acre of the citadel, and they didn’t even know we were left behind.
I raced down to Caridan and grabbed the black dragon on top of him, ripping my claws into his flesh and throwing Haden across the arena.
He turned to me, hissing wildly at the blood the pooled at his back and ran at me, ripping his teeth into my shoulder and splitting my flesh with his thick fangs.
I screamed in tortured agony, and Caridan whipped his tail at the shifter. Haden fell to the ground, and others seemed to jump in, ready to help him. Ready to be the ones who took down the great purple dragon.
I could feel the dragons tearing away at us like wild animals to a feast. I shielded myself with my wings until all at once, they stopped.
“Fire! Fire! Fire!” one began to shriek, and they flooded to the sky, raced to attack Fhalanae and Bozaldras.
I looked up and could see the white dragon flying in half circles back and forth. Her grace and beauty was everything the legend made her out to be. I didn’t know her, but I could already feel her sense of justice radiating through the wide sky.
One by one the rebels could see her take form, half great white dragon and half beautiful saint. My eyes traced her as I coughed for breath.
They must have thought she was coming to save them. Believed their legend.
But we knew better.
I looked at Caridan and he looked back at me, each resigned to our fate as the fire began to fill the sky with its blaze.
Blood pooled around him, and I could feel he wasn’t alone as the hot liquid flowed from my sides. I breathed raggedly, and my eyes darted around the arena, and I realized it was just him and I now.
With one echoing breath, Fhalanae parted her sweet lips and out flooded a hot, red flame that cast a red burning across the land in one sweeping blow. Her cry was earthshaking. Bozaldras followed quickly, his deep azure fire spreading through the sky and bursting whatever it came into contact with.
As I looked up at her and saw the fire sweeping down, I couldn’t help but think of my beautiful chosen. Celeste.
Her name warmed my soul faster than the heat ever could… and I began to feel the strangest sensation.
Caridan’s eyes widened as the flames billowed down the stone walls and began to encase us with a blistering heat.
And I began to glow.
I breathed in an obstructed breath and felt my scales light up with a deep navy glow, and I could see the water streaming in around us, calling to my soul. My dragon’s cry.
The water flooded in, coming up over the high stone walls guarding the rebel’s citadel. They crashed in and made a forceful barrier above Caridan and I, beckoning to my call.
The elder dragon looked over at me with puzzlement and then burst into laughter.
“What is this?!” he called to me, water droplets falling on us as the wall of water protected us from the blinding heat.
“Water,” I said stupidly and laughed despite myself, despite the fear that was coursing through my veins.
He looked at my glowing scutes with a strange acknowledgment.
“Your chosen,” he stated, struggling for an even breath.
I nodded, but wasn’t sure how to explain myself.
He looked stunned and then all at once touched. “I’ve never seen a chosen succeed in restoring a dragon’s powers before.”
“I guess mine is special.”
The battle was lost to us as we lay under my force field of water. It held there until there were no more flames to combat and suddenly crawled away from us, up and over the rebel walls in a supernatural way until it splashed back into the moat below with a thunderous crash.
Days went by of scanning the citadel, making sure no rebels had survived before the lot of us were taken directly in by on-site medics, hastily bandaged and stitched and sent back into the city to celebrate our victory.
Caridan and family were reunited with tearful cries and instated as Udorian citizens. Whether they would stay was a mystery, but having them here made me feel whole somehow. Made Udora feel whole.
We were to meet the Koth and council back at the mossy fields, and for once, we walked in as heroes.
Civilians and chosens were waiting in the vast mossy fields for confirmation of victory. Cheers overpowered the crowd, the deep sky shadowing over the field, glow stones illuminating every inch of the natural beauty. I looked through the crowds of familiar faces, cheering for our return and the peace that was now restored to Udora.
And then I saw her.
Red hair and a green skirt, black blazer, tall boots walked towards me with a familiar smile. That smile I’d come to love.
I’d protected her.
A shameless grin crossed my face as tears threatened to form in my eyes. She saw my wounds and her smile nearly fell. Celeste ran toward me and jumped into my arms, showering me with kisses and seemingly done with her concern for my injuries and the gauze that covered them.
“We won!” she yelled as she buried her head in the crook of my neck. “We won, we won!”
I hugged her tightly, running my hands through her thin hair and kissing her. “We won,” I repeated, suddenly satisfied at how warm her body had become.
“I guess this means I get to rule over Udora now, according to you, huh?” she teased, tapping the tip of my nose.
I was so overcome with the love I had for her, the way that she had saved me and she didn’t even know it. A choke entered my throat and seemed to live there as she chattered on about how scared she was, how excited when she saw the fire take over the skies.
“Celeste,” I said seriously. “Thank you.”
She swallowed. “For what?” she asked with all the innocence in the world, her eyes smiling somehow as she met my gaze.
“For saving my life.”
“Well, it’s about time I got a thank you for that,” she snorted.
She stared intensely into my eyes, the gray flecks of her iris lost to the darkness of the mossy fields, the lack of light creating the illusion of her pupils having swallowed all color from her eyes.
“Sigisvult?” she’d thumbed across my stubble, her brows cupping with sympathy. She brushed the hair from my face, her eyes flicking back and forth from mine. “I told you I’d make you love me.”
“That you did,” I laughed.
And now I had forever to prove I was worthy of it.
The End