I Am: The Saviour

Chapter 22

I told you he'd come! Pegasus whinnied in excitement. I stared in open fascination and horror as the two dragons battled. Judas was large and built for force, but the older dragon was armed with years of battle-honed reflexes and instinct. He dodged and snapped and bit and tore, only serving to anger Judas and cloud the younger dragon's judgement. Silver look out! Pegasus' warning came only just in time and I leapt out of the way to dodge King Zelrox's incoming fireball.

Pegasus! I dodged another fireball and lobbed one of my own. Get out of here, get somewhere safe!

I'm not leavin-

I can't protect you if you're an open target, Pegasus. Find somewhere safe and let me kick this bastard's ass! I cut off the mind-link and stepped in front of Pegasus as he relented and began to hobble away. I lobbed two fireballs towards King Zelrox and picked up an abandoned sword from one of the bodies that littered the courtyard. King Zelrox was waiting, and swatted it out of the air long before it hit him. He waved a hand and I was sent flying into the courtyard wall. I grunted as cobblestone crumpled, and slammed a hand into the debris, holding myself in place. I dangled from the wall like a monkey holding onto a branch. King Zelrox waited with a look of amusement. I gritted my teeth and conjured a fireball into my free hand. I planted my feet firmly against the rubble and pushed off, soaring through the air.

King Zelrox leapt up to meet me and we collided mid-air. I managed to smash my elbow into his nose and delivered a painful kick to his kidneys as we fell. His hand scraped my burn injury and I muffled a scream. I landed and stumbled; he landed gracefully like a panther, and I watched as he cracked his nose back into place and the bleeding abruptly stopped. He straightened easily.

"When are you going to realize that-" There was a agonizing roar of pain that split the cobblestone and cut off King Zelrox's gloating midway. I looked in time to see the old dragon deliver the killing blow to Judas, clamping his neck between his razor-sharp teeth and violently wrenching sideways. King Zelrox's mouth dropped open and he doubled over as though he'd been booted in the stomach. Judas' limp body dropped unceremoniously to the ground.

As I watched, King Zelrox's eyes glazed over and became a milky blue. Before our very eyes he seemed to age a thousand years, his skin sagging and growing wrinkly and gnarled. His body lost much of its composition and he was reduced to a frail old man. His moustache and beard became white and fell out. King Zelrox dropped to his knees, his mouth gaping wide like a fish out of water. The old dragon watched quietly as I walked slowly to stand in front of the man who had sired me and pulled out the gun. The sound of the safety switching off was like a gunshot in the silent courtyard. Pegasus watched from the shadows.

I pressed the gun against King Zelrox's forehead. Tears leaked out of my eyes and my hands were shaking violently.

"This is for Tomas, and all of the lives you've destroyed." I whispered. The moment the bullet made contact with King Zelrox's skin, his body was reduced to dust. Judas' body caved in on itself, and the dust sank into the ground and disappeared forever. There was no sign that either King Zelrox or Judas had ever existed. I dropped the gun on the ground and turned around just in time to see Pegasus drop. "No!" I cried, and ran over to where Pegasus was sprawled on the ground. "Pegasus...just hang on...hang on...I'll get Mum, I'll do something." The blood on his side had spread so that it covered most of his midsection.

Silver... Pegasus' voice was weak and pleading. He didn't want to die. I didn't want him to die. He couldn't die. He couldn't. Not when we'd won. Not when we'd won.

"Just hang on Pegasus..." I was crying. Tears blurred my vision as I tried to stem the bleeding. I had no choice. I didn't know where Mum or Dragonfly were. There was no one to help me. I tried to take deep breaths, tried to get a hold of myself. Focus Silver. I placed both of my hands on the wound and focused. Everything slowed down. I felt my heartbeat racing in my chest. Felt the warmth of Pegasus' blood as it threatened to overflow my hands. Felt Pegasus' fear and adrenaline numbing the pain. I called to the beast that resided within me and begged for it to save my soulmate.

The beast stirred and looked at the source of discomfort with interest. Please. It got up and padded towards the faint red blur and halted just before it made contact. Then it walked slowly forward and was absorbed in red. I felt my energy peak and drop, slumping over Pegasus' body. Darkness consumed me, and I allowed myself to be swept away.

When I woke I was in a warm room that I didn't recognize. The first thing that came to mind was Pegasus. I shot up. Cool hands gently pushed me back down.

"Hey, hey, hey." Finch's voice was a welcome relief in the quiet. My vision cleared and I saw her sitting in a chair next to the bed I was in.

"Pegasus." My voice was croaky and I descended into a coughing fit. Finch chuckled and handed me a glass of water. My hands were so shaky I could barely hold it to my lips.

"He's fine. Still resting up, just like you. Leg healed nicely, but Fox had to replace the feathers that were too badly damaged. He'll have to get used to using a metal prosthetic, I'm afraid. They were quite amazed to find a whole lot of blood on his side but no wound to speak of." Finch smirked.

"You came back." I croaked. Finch smiled again.

"Sorry for running out on you." She said quietly. I shook my head.

"It's alright, I understand."

"So, I guess we're free." Finch changed the subject. I inhaled and let my head fall back into the pillow.

"It feels like a dream."

"You have slept for three days."

"So he really is dead?" I asked.

"Yes, Silver. King Zelrox really is dead."

***

It feels a lot of things, being free of King Zelrox once and for all. Mostly, it just feels good. It took a while for the Freedom Fighters to repair the damage that he had done to Amphilias, but eventually the enemies were driven out and the people were shown that there was a possibility that super-naturals and humans could live together in harmony. The old dragon (I never did find out his name) and his horde returned to the mountains where they once lived undisturbed, and every time I see a dragon soaring above the mountain tops I remember what we accomplished, and what we sacrificed to accomplish it.

It still hurts, remembering those that we lost. I miss them all. But I don't try and suppress the memory anymore; I don't try to numb it or seclude myself. I've accepted that we can't bring back the ones who died for us. I've accepted I can't bring back Tomas or Sapphire. They'll always be with me, because the ones who matter most to us never truly leave us. I've come to realize that nothing can prepare us for losing the ones we love most...nothing. And it's ironic how in the storm of grief, the ones who are no longer there are the ones we want most to comfort us. It's sad, because you're going to lose people in your life who matter to you. And no matter how much time you spend with them, it'll never seem like it's enough. So we do all we can to try and keep remembering them. In my case I did all I could to make sure his death wasn't in vain. I succeeded. We succeeded. At first I thought revenge was the one thing I needed to free myself of the pain, but killing King Zelrox didn't make the pain of losing Tomas and Sapphire - or anyone else for that matter - any easier. Revenge...it can't change the past. But boy oh boy, does it feel good.