I sprinted across the grounds toward the chasm.
I spotted the dragon body a little ways away laying in the valley and I started running along the edge.
"ERIN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I heard Scott call.
"YOU'LL SEE!" I called back with a mad grin. I avoided the arrows being shot from both sides of the chasm as I ran before diving into the valley and landed next to the body. The dragon head I had ransacked earlier was laying only a few dozen feet away.
I pulled the dragon blood and scales from the bag then reattached it to my waist. That's when I smashed the vile in my hand and let the blood drip down the creases in my palm as I started to chant in ancient runes. I had memorized this spell almost a year ago and my words came out in hisses and snarls, like a wild animal. My veins turned black as I continued the spell.
The storm overhead began to swirl above me, and I heard thunder rumble in the distance as the blood started to turn from scarlet to black. I reached my palm out to the body and the blood started to flow in strands around it.
Then I crushed the dragon scale in my hand and sprinkled it in a pattern in front of the dragon's snout. It was like a square within a diamond with straight lines crossing through the points.
Then I pulled out my dagger, still chanting. My magic had started to pulse in an orb around me and the dragon corpse.
That's when I made a deep cut in my palm and clenched my hand. Blood started to flow from my fist, and I opened my palm and let the blood drip over the crushed scale. The powder started to spark, and I stopped chanting and started to smile. It was working.
I heard shouting from the sides of the chasm and looked up to see all the rulers, including Scott, staring down at me.
"STOP, NOW!" Gem shouted in absolute horror. I gave her a smirk before I finished.
"FROM DEATH SHALL YOU RISE AND FROM DEATH YOU SHALL LEARN. TO FOLLOW MY LEAD AND HELP THE WORLD BURN." I screamed.
"ERIN NO!" I heard Scott shout before light exploded from the dragon's body. Me and everyone else was thrown backwards. I smashed into the valley's wall then rolled back down onto the ground.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the dragon twitching. My face broke into a grin as the dragon stood up, lifted its head, and roared. The sound was deafening and penetrated my bones. The rip in the dragon's neck stretched as it moved its head. Then it lowered its snout until it was eye level with me. Its eyes were no longer the shade of green they were before. The entire eye was a milky grey and the slit pupils had turned red.
I saw in the reflection of its eyes, my own face. My eyes were completely black from performing the spell, but the red of my eyes were shining through and my pupils appeared as slits. It would wear off soon, but it looked terrifying and incredible. I placed a hand on the dragon's nose, and it closed its eyes. "YES!" I screamed.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" Gem shouted.
"THE IMPOSSIBLE!" I shouted back up at her, before I jumped onto the dragons back and yanked hard on the reigns. He flew straight up into the air and flew stationary. It's broken and shredded wing creaked as it moved as the bones cracked and rubbed against each other. "WANNA TRY US NOW GEM!?"
"Oh no." Scott said. "Erin...get off the zombie dragon. Please."
"Yeah, get off it please." Katherine peeped.
"But why?" I asked.
"You monster..." Gem muttered. "How have you...you reanimated a dragon...the level of power needed to do a much smaller creature. That's the highest form of dark magic!"
I giggled. "I know. I'm a natural am I right?" I looked around at all the rulers. Scott and Lizzie had been facing each other but they were staring up at me. Jimmy looked shaken and his eyes were wide with fear. Joey was glaring at me. Sausage was clutching at his chest which was bleeding freely. Fwhip was leaned up against a large boulder. Huh, I didn't know ankles could go in that direction. Shrub was still on her wolf and Katherine, Pixl and Gem were all just staring at me. Elven bodies were strewn across the ground.
A deep growling suddenly came from the dragon's throat, and I smirked. Fire spurted from its maw, and it dove down towards the rulers, spraying them with fire. Gem whistled and after a moment I started to hear wingbeats. Another dragon. A purple one, the color of amethyst. It definitely was brighter than the steel grey one I was riding.
Gem grabbed onto the stirrup and launched herself into the saddle. I landed my dragon and she landed hers so that we were circling each other. "You are disobeying the laws of nature Phoenix..." Gem said. "There will be consequences."
I rolled my eyes. "You're so dramatic." I said. The glares we were sending each other were so filled with hatred and disgust, I was surprised Gem was capable of it. No, actually, I wasn't, Gem's a hypocrite.
Everyone was backing up and from the corner of my eye, I saw the terrified look on Scott's face.
"Scott, what do we do?" Lizzie peeped. Scott's head snapped toward her.
"Why are you asking me!?" he cried. "You were just trying to kill me a few seconds ago!"
"Oh right." Lizzie said. "Gem what do we do!?"
Gem didn't answer, we just kept circling each other on the dragons. A small grin spread across my face; I had her right where I wanted her. I yanked on the dragon's reigns, and it lunged forward, slashing at the other's throat.
Gem's jumped backward and whipped at me with its tail. I jumped from the saddle, six feet into the air to avoid getting swept off and back into the chasm.
As I landed back in the saddle, I heard a deep rumbling from my dragon's throat. It reared its head and spewed fire everywhere before it dived toward Gem and clawed at her dragon's face. Blood started to pour from in between its scales and my dragon managed to rake out the other's right eye.
Then Gem's dragon lunged and tackled mine. We were thrown to the ground, and I pressed myself against the saddle to avoid getting thrown off again while the dragons grappled with each other.
The rulers had to jump out of the way of the fight, or they would have been crushed by our 2-ton dragons. At one point my dragon rolled across the ground, and I had to smash myself into the saddle so I wouldn't get crushed in between the dragon and the ground.
I gripped the reigns and streams of magic shot down them and absorbed into my dragon's skin. An eerie red glow started to come from in between its scales and from its mouth before black fire exploded from its mouth, enveloping Gem's dragon, and sending it skidding.
I leapt from the saddle and sprinted down my dragon's neck and up onto its head as fast as I could before jumping and launching myself. I landed hard on Gem's dragon's snout on my right foot before sliding down the neck and smashing into Gem.
I punched her in the face before her dragon reared and I was blown from the dragon. I think I blacked out for a moment because the next thing I remembered was smashing into a tree.
The force sent me bouncing off the wood and skidding across the ground. I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Scott on the ground. He was sporting a large burn across his torso. "SCOTT!" I screamed, scrambling to my feet and racing towards him.
His forehead was bleeding, and his eyes were closed. "Come on, come on, come on, come on, don't be dead." I muttered under my breath as I shook him. His head snapped up.
"What?" he asked.
"Oh, thank god." I sighed. "I didn't mean-"
A deafening roar exploded from the distance, and I looked up. My dragon was ripping the amethyst one to shreds. "Hey, at least he finished the job." I shrugged.
Scott sat up and winced, clutching at the burn. I grabbed his other hand and pulled him up, but that's when I realized we were surrounded. Fwhip was basically hopping on one foot and Gem was being held up by Pearl but that didn't help the fact they had formed a tight circle around us.
Scott slowly crouched down and grabbed his sword. I unsheathed my daggers and we stood back-to-back so we could see all of them.
"One last chance to surrender." Sausage growled.
"Didn't you say that 'last chance ago?'" I smirked.
"We have you surrounded. Stop making snarky comments." Fwhip snapped.
"Aw you think I'm snarky? I'm flattered."
Fwhip's nostrils flared in agitation. "Put down your weapons."
"But I like them." I said, pouting with my lower lip. Then I hit the ground and slid underneath Fwhip's legs before I stabbed him in the back.
"NO!" Gem screamed and sent a blast of purple light at me. A sheet of ice slid in front of it and shattered as the light collided with it. I pulled my dagger from Fwhip, and he collapsed to the ground.
I looked up and saw Gem blocking a blow from Scott's sword with a small knife.
I heard a swish of metal right next to me and I ducked just as Sausage's sword would have decapitated me. I lashed out at his legs and kicked his shins so that he toppled over.
But suddenly many sharp somethings pierced my right arm and pain seared up my nerves. I looked up and saw my upper arm was clamped in between the jaws of Shrub's dire wolf.
The wolf pulled its head back and flung me into the air towards the same tree I had smashed into originally Its teeth raked across my arm as it slipped from its grasp and blood flew through the air as I did.
I heard a crinkling sound like aluminum foil being balled up as my wing joints hit the bark. That couldn't be good. I jumped to my feet and got a glance of my mangled upper arm. The cuts were deep, that's all I saw before the wolf tackled me.
I looked up just in time to see Shrub get thrown off as I was shoved to the ground by the massive dog. Its breath was rancid, and it snapped at my face. I wrapped my fingers in its fur, which was surprisingly soft, and tried to shove it off me before it would have bit off my head.
I managed to pull my knees up to my stomach and kick the huge wolf off my chest. I jumped to my feet, my fists balled, ready to attack it again.
The wolf skidded across the snow before scrambling up and growling. I growled back.
"Zodiac, Zodiac stand down!" Shrub cried with a desperate ring to her voice.
Me and Zodiac then lunged for each other like wild animals, which Zodiac actually was. I wrestled with the dog that was twice my size, and we almost fell into the ravine, but I grabbed hold of its fur and flipped onto its back. Zodiac than began to attempt and buck me off.
"WHY IS YOUR WOLF ACTING LIKE A HORSE!?" I screeched before I was thrown off and tumbled through the snow. I stopped halfway into a huge drift of the stuff and stood up, waist deep. "UGH!"
But I didn't even have time to be annoyed because Zodiac charged toward me and clamped its jaws around my waist. She began to shake her head like she was playing with a dog toy, except I was the toy. I screamed as I tried to unclamp her jaws, but I was getting very dizzy very fast.
"ZODIAC PUT THE DRAGON LADY DOWN!" Shrub shouted, but for once her wolf wouldn't FREAKIN LISTEN.
This wolf was starting to get on my nerves. It felt like it was scrambling my brain at this point. My hands struggled to find a grip on the wolf's face and at one point I think I grabbed its nostril, which was snotty and gross by the way.
Then I grabbed onto one of its large ears and yanked hard. I heard a tearing, and my hand flew backwards so hard that my shoulder was almost pulled from its socket. But there was a problem. My hand was still clamped around its ear.
The wolf howled in pain, and I fell from its jaws. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted away as fast as I could, my waist sore. I tried to propel myself into a tree, but pain exploded from my shoulder blades when I tried. I knew that cracking sound wasn't good. So, I just climbed up it instead as fast as I could before I perched myself on one of the branches.
That's when I noticed the wolf ear in my hand. I looked from the ear to the bloody head of Shrub's wolf. "Huh, this would make a cool key chain." I said, holding the ear up. I swear, it looked like it twitched, and I almost dropped it.
I actually got a pretty good view of the battle from here. It was basically everyone but Shrub beating Scott up. I had been so preoccupied with that DANG WOLF I had forgotten about him. Uh oh. I jumped from the tree, which was a stupid idea because my ankle was now pounding with pain and ran for the rulers.
"OI, HANDS OFF HIM!" I shouted and drove my dagger into Joel's arm. Instantly, Joel, Katherine Joey, Pearl, and Sausage peeled off of Scott and began to attack me. Joel seemed pretty mad about me stabbing him. Then Shrub came running into the fight with her axe, probably to defend her pet's ear.
I unsheathed my second dagger as they all surrounded me.
"Oh, you're going to pay for that one." Joel growled.
I rolled my eyes. "What is it with you guys and your foreboding lines? I swear they're starting to get on my nerves."
"And you got on ours a long time ago." Joey said. "Even Xornoth thought you were a pest."
I glared at him. "That's rich from the guy that tried to literally date him."
He glared back as all six of them circled me. "You will pay for the sins you've committed." He threatened.
"Again, with the foreboding lines...God y'all need to get a life, and a better vocabulary."
A few of them looked offended and I smirked. "Can we kill her already?" Sausage asked. I rolled my eyes and before anyone could answer, red streams of magic exploded from my wrists and blasted Sausage out of the circle.
"That's better. Sweet silence." I said before I ducked a swing from Katherine's blade and kicked her in the stomach. I grabbed her wrist as she stumbled backwards and twisted it, causing her to drop her sword. I picked it up and turned around, launching it at Joey. It slid right into his wing, pinning the feathery mass to a tree.
Shrub then swung at my ankles and at the last second, I leaped right above it and landed on the flat of the metal, which propelled me even higher.
I twisted in the air last second and hooked my legs around Shrub's neck and shoulders, pulling her towards the ground. I arched my back, my hands hitting the ground first and launched Shrub by doing a back handspring, throwing her over me.
Shrub screamed as she crashed into Joel, and they ended up in a heap on the floor. Me, my feet slid across the snow and ice for a few feet before I stood up. Pearl was the only one still standing. The glare she was sending me reminded me forcibly of when I was imprisoned in Gilded Helianthia.
"Come at me demon spawn." She spat, spinning her golden axe. I grinned. One on one with Pearl. This'll be fun.
We circled each other for a moment. I began weighing my options. Pearl was very skilled with her axe, and I couldn't straight up attack her like everyone else, because she was carrying a shield. I could go for her legs, but she would see that coming, plus she had a very strong stance and swing, she would definitely chop my head off if I tried that. But if I went over and behind...
I sprinted toward her, and she stood her ground, holding her shield a little tighter. I bent my knees as if I were about to slide, but as she swung her axe I flipped right over her head with the help of my magic. I landed right behind her and managed to stab one of my daggers into her left shoulder, the other drove itself into her right upper arm.
Pearl shouted and rolled forward, so I was flung off her. I actually rammed right into Gem and slammed her to the ground. "SORRY GEM!" Pearl shouted. "THE BOYS NEED MY HELP, LIKE USUAL, CAN YOU DEAL WITH HER?"
Deal with me!? DEAL WITH ME!? SERIOUSLY? Me and Gem crashed into a rock that was hidden by snow. Gem's impact was cushioned by me. I screamed as my, probably already fractured, wing joints crashed into the stone.
Gem rolled off of me and I struggled to my feet. I then realized; my daggers were still stuck in Pearl's back. I raised my hands, and they came speeding through the air back to me as I faced Gem. She raised her staff. Neither of us dared make a move. My back was still stinging and I'm glad I couldn't see how bad it was. I was already getting dizzy from the loss of blood from the wolf bite on my arm.
I saw from the corner of my eye, Shrub and Joel getting back up and advancing on me followed by Katherine, Pearl, and Sausage. Then Lizzie joined with Joey, Jimmy, and Pix, forming a tight semicircle around me. Right behind me was the rock me and Gem had crashed in.
Gem backed up, completing the semi-circle. "Drop your weapons and surrender. Your injured and we have you surrounded." She said.
"Never." I snarled.
"You will, or he dies."
Gem looked behind her and shifted out of the way so I could see who was talking. Fwhip, I was surprised he was able to stand, stepped into the circle. And he had his sword at Scott's throat. One of Fwhip's hands was grasped tightly around one of Scott's antlers holding his head back and the other was holding the blade. I could see the sweat dripping down his face and his clenched jaw.
I froze. I hadn't been paying enough attention, I hadn't realized Scott had been cornered.
"Don't- don't do it." Scott gasped. Fwhip pressed the blade against Scott's neck a little harder and I saw blood start to drip from a cut it had formed. I knew from the look on Fwhip's face if I even made one attempt to escape or attack, he would kill him.
"Drop your weapons and surrender." Fwhip threatened again in a low voice.
I raised my hands and dropped my daggers, my magic soaking back into my skin. Fwhip removed the sword from Scott's neck and shoved him to the ground to bind him as the others closed in on me. Gem wrenched my hands behind my back, and she clamped something around my wrists.
Instantly I felt all my energy drain out of me like water when someone pulls the drain plug. Blackstone. I had become used to it last time it had been forced on me, but my legs still buckled, and I fell to my knees.
I saw Scott's head hit the ground in a gap between Joel and Lizzie as Fwhip forced it onto him as well. We had failed.
I had failed him...