3 years later, Perseus' P.O.V
Much had changed in the last three years. Belladonna, Victoria, and Tiamat are now the sizes of medium sized houses, with Belladonna being slightly larger than the other two. Each of them could now breathe fire. Flames matching the colors of their scales.
Belladonna's spikes had tips of sea green, along with her claws. Tiamat had gold colored claws, and spike tips. Victoria's spike tips and claws, however, were black. The Forsworn who had pledged service to Galbatorix, upon their betrayal, their dragons lost their names, rationality for the most part, and even some of their instincts as dragons. The lost their desire to mate. A few of the riders killed each other, in desperate attempt of currying favor with Galbatorix. He quickly put a stop to that though, evidently he didn't want to weaken his forces further.
Under the training of masters Formora, Oromis, and even Brom and Vrael, I grew much better with magic, well, magic that wasn't water or liquid based. My skills with the blade however, while growing, was not thanks to them. I was better with the sword than all of them, even Vrael himself, acknowledges, even if reluctantly, that there was nothing they could teach me about fighting with a sword.
Rhunon, the old sword smith, forged me, using my own body, a rider's sword. The same length as Anaklusmos, only a different color and metal. Starting at the bottom of the sword, it was pitch, dark as night black, then about the middle of the blade it turned gorgeously sparkling blue, before topping off, shiningly purple. I loved it, and named it, ελπίδα και δικαιοσύνη, or Hope and Justice, for that's what it would be.
My friendship with Arya and Glenwing got stronger. I had, with Islanzadi's reluctant approval, and Evandar's easy agreement, started helping Arya with her sword training. My relationships with the other elves, or rather, the elf women, was a different matter.
For some reason, I was drawn more towards the elf ladies of the forest, and made friends with them easier, than I did with the men. Olga, Celestine, Tauriel, Eltariel, Galadriel, Arwen, Zelda. Hell, even Arya, Islanzadí, and Formora, I was quick to befriend. I didn't know why, and while I wouldn't complain about it, I still wanted to understand it.
'Perseus, what's wrong? You seem deep in thought, and troubled.' came the concerned voice of Belladonna. While she wouldn't care about many people, her rider and her sister dragons, were the exception.
'It's nothing really. I'm just wondering, as to why all of my friends, with the exception of Glenwing, and masters Oromis and Brom, and to an extent, King Evandar, are females. I seem to attract them, and I'm trying to decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing.' I told her half jokingly.
'Pft. You are powerful. Power attracts. Do not be concerned about this, at least not right now. We should be focusing on the task Vrael gave to us, last night. Besides, all of those women are powerful, or as is the case with the princess, will grow up to be powerful, and thus will make fine mates for you.' Belladonna said, with me nodding along and agreeing with her, while taking a sip of water, only to spit it out, once she got to the point of talking about mating.
'Belladonna! I'm only twelve years old, mating is the last thing on my mind at the moment!' I said back, blushing heavily, I could feel my face and ears burning, no doubt they were red.
'Why is that? We are only three years old, but even we can mate now. Dragons can mate at six months old, if we wanted to. You two legs are weird.' Tiamat said.
'I don't see the problem. You find these women attractive, and they clearly care about you. Why not just go up to one of them, or all of them, if you want to, bend them over or hold them to the ground, and assert your dominance. Take them by force! It's simple. It's how dragons mate. You would also acquire immensely powerful offspring.' Belladonna said.
'Tha-----t'---sss---ss no----ooo----ot how it w—w---wo---r-rks! That's rape in all but name!' I sputtered, somewhat embarrassed and disgusted.
'No, you two legs make things much more complicated then they have to be. It is how it works. The strong take what they want. It's the rules of nature.' Victoria interjected calmly.
Now Victoria was a weird case, amongst dragons. She was bonded to me, true, but she was also bonded to Arya. Of course, nobody knew that, but Victoria and I. I might have Victoria give Arya a ride later, her birthday is coming up, after all, it could be before I leave.
I glanced down and noticed the pendant Hrothgar gave me. I remember what he said to me.
"Perseus, this pendant is very powerful. It was forged underneath the sea, by the orders of the gods and goddesses of the seas. It will protect you from all scrying attempts, it will protect your mind from attacks, and enchantments. It is indestructible, by mortal means, and it cannot be lost or stolen. Only you can remove it, upon it's placement. It was given to me, with the instructions, to give it to the one of the sea, he who is like no other mortal. I believe that to be you, at least, if the prophecy is to be true, then it must be you." The old dwarf king told me, solemnly.
"I thank you for this gift, your majesty. Truly a work of art, but surely it is too much? I can't accept it."
"You must. Only you can. You are the only mortal, of the sea. Therefore, there is no one else that may wear it. I would rather not have the gods angry at me, and taking it out on mine people. Do not fight with me on this, godling." He spoke with a slight edge to his voice, telling me to not argue further.
That was the end of it, I had no choice but to accept the pendant. I couldn't afford to have the dwarves angry at me, well, yes I could, but it wouldn't have been wise to do so.
The pendant itself, was a beautiful blue color, with a sparkling green gemstone in the center, a trident engraved in the emerald. All in all, craftsmanship of the finest degree. Something about it was familiar, however, almost as if I had seen it before.
'I wonder who gave him the pendant, and why it was forged? I thought gods tended to not care about mortals? Something's fishy here. This doesn't add up.' I mused to myself.
'Well, you're not wrong.' Tiamat said, after the four of us pondered on it all. I glanced out of the window in my tree. I started thinking about what Vrael told me, his task.
"Perseus, your training is mostly complete. As of now, the only thing you are really lacking, is experience, both with magic, and as a dragon rider. Your sword skills are quite impressive, your abilities with water, air, lightning, and earth, are phenomenal. So, I have decided to test how ready you truly are, for the world outside of the forest. You are going to go and kill the urgal king, King Kulkarvek. His lair is in the far north, hidden in the icy wastelands. You are to tell no one where you are going, and are not allowed to ask for help. This is a task for you, and your dragons, only. Other than that, good luck." Vrael ordered, before heading to his tree, giving me the rest of the day to prepare. I truly had no idea how long this journey would take. But I know this, I will succeed. For myself, and for my dragons. I would not fail. I couldn't.
Gazing out the window, I noticed night had fallen. Figuring it would be better to get at least a few hours of sleep, I turned and headed towards the bed. I noticed, with fondness, amusedness, and exasperation, Arya had, once again, snuck into my room and bed. I shook my head, before crawling into bed as well. Laying my head on the pillows, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Sometime in the night, Arya must have rolled over or just moved, because when I woke up, her head was laying on my chest. She must have been having a good or funny dream, because she was smiling. As gently as I could, I slipped out of bed, got dressed, and quickly wrote down on a paper, telling Arya that I had a task to do, an order given to me, and I would return sometime.
'Which one of you is going? I love all three of you, but it would be foolish for all three of you to go. Considering we will have to out fly potentially the others and the Forsworn, it is better that two of you remain here.' I said concernedly.
The three dragons traded looks, and closed their minds off to me, honestly, a tad bit offensive.
'Belladonna will go. She's faster, stronger, and more vicious than us. We will stay here, and look after the little princess.' Tiamat said to me.
'Yes, however, when you get back, Arya's day of birth will be upon us. Remember you thought about letting her take a fly with me, yes?' Victoria said.
'Only if you are willing, of course. Though I figured you would be, she is your other rider, after all. Though I'm not sure if she knows or even suspects that.' I said.
"Perseus, where are you going?" I heard Arya ask. I cursed, and spun around. She stood there, at the bottom of the stairway, with a scared look in her eyes. For some reason, seeing her scared, made me feel pained.
"I have an order, from Vrael. He gave me a mission. I won't be gone long, and when I return, Victoria and I will take you for a fly, okay?" I asked her, but she shook her head, tears starting to form in her eyes. My own eyes went wide.
'Why is she crying? What did I do? How do I stop this?' I thought to myself.
"Don't go. Please? Stay here, I don't want you to die!" She said as the tears began to pour down her face. I looked at her shocked.
'She thinks I'm going to die? Why?!' I thought.
"Arya, why do you think I'm going to die? I assure you, I will not." I told her.
"I saw it in a dream a few days ago. You left and didn't come back." She sobbed. I felt horrible.
'I never wanted to cause her pain. I want to help her, but I don't know how.' I despaired.
I walked over to her, and hugged her, while speaking softly to her, though I knew I needed to leave soon, her arms, after wrapping around me, squeezed me tightly, refusing to let me go. I knew what had to be done. I brought my hand up, and chopped her on the back of the neck, just hard enough to render her unconscious. I lifted her up, took her upstairs, and carried her over to the bed, before laying her down and covering her up, planting a small kiss on her forehead.
"When I get back, Arya, I promise to take you on that flight, and spend an entire day with you. You have my word. This has to be done, however." I said out loud, before speaking to Belladonna.
'Belladonna. We're going to have to fly hard and fast. I fear if the others find out we have left, they will come after us. We need to be out of the forest before then. The others won't come after us. We also have to keep a look out for the Forsworn. Luckily for us, you are the greatest flier in the order, eh? If you're ready, let us be off.' I said to her.
The two of us then took off, flying harder and faster than ever, blitzing past Gilderien, and making it out of Du Weldenvarden, in record time, after a few hours. Of course, this was only thanks to me feeding her with my own energy, and using a bit of my power to manipulate the wind to help us.
'Probably shouldn't have done that. But we needed to get that distance behind us, in order to succeed here.' I thought to her.
'Yes, I agree. Though I am still not sure this is the wisest course of action. This mission of Vrael's is shady. Why talk to us in private about it? Perhaps the others wouldn't agree with it, or maybe they would tell us it's a suicide attack? I don't know, but I don't like it.' Belladonna sent to me.
We flew north, not really sure where else to go, other than north, through rain and snow, wind and lightning. We flew on, only stopping, briefly, to rest, or drink and eat. Having spent weeks traveling, we got closer and closer to our goal. Arriving in a frozen mountain, covered in ice and snow, giving off a dreadful aura. Radiating death, and rot, malice, and evil.
Belladonna slowly descended to the ground, before her feet lightly touched the ground. I jumped off her back. I wearily drew my blade, Anaklusmos. The beautiful blade sprang forth, gleaming brightly, calming me somewhat. I glanced at the wide, dark, and foreboding tunnel. I shared a look with my black dragon, before we both headed in. Walking in the darkness, through the maze that was the ancient barrows of the urgal king, I couldn't help but feel it.
'This seems familiar somehow. Like I've done this before. A maze. Underground.' my mind was overwhelmed by a flashbacks and memories.
"Percy, don't you get it? We've found it. An entrance, to the Labyrinth. Right into the heart of the camp! This is huge! The protective barrier doesn't matter if the enemy can get behind it through the Labyrinth." A woman spoke.
"I am Antaeus. Son of Poseidon and Gaea. Welcome to my arena, my home, your tomb, and final resting place." A large, red skinned, fat giant wearing only a loincloth spoke.
"His father's nature protects him, we cannot burn him! Not easily. Curses!" Some weird wolf-seal-dog things spoke, surrounded by a volcano.
I was suddenly thrown back, when Belladonna nudged me, 'Perseus, you must focus. We are about to face a dangerous enemy! Are you trying to die?! Such a distraction will get us killed!'
'Right, sorry. I don't know why I keep getting these memories. Something is triggering them.' I said to her apologetically.
We soon came upon a huge open chamber, with a old, stone throne in the center. Glancing around, I noticed dead and rotting dragon carcasses, torn open, lots of meat torn off their bones. Heads were set by the throne. Showing off his victories, no doubt, at least to his mind.
'Filthy barbarian.' I sneered inwardly.
'HE DARES DO THIS TO MY KIN?! WE SHOULD SCORCH AND TEAR HIM AND HIS RACE APART FOR THIS ATROCITY!' Belladonna screeched angrily through my mind. I briefly winced.
'Calm down, Bella. We will kill him, and they will all be avenged. Only interfere if I start to lose. Otherwise I want to handle this myself.' I sent to her, with her very reluctant agreement.
Upon that throne, however, sat a huge, menacing figure. The figure stood up, making his bulk even more noticeable. He was around ten feet tall. Large, thick bulging muscles. Large, thick, and sharp knife like horns jutted out of his head, and curled backwards, grey with age. His teeth were sharp and pointy. His face was scarred and brutish. Grey skin and venomous yellow eyes. He glared at us as we walked towards him, lifting his huge, heavy battle ax as he did so.
Baring his teeth at us, he bellowed, "HOW DARE YOU DEFILE MY ANCESTOR'S SACRED LAND WITH YOUR FOUL PRESENCE! HUMAN SCUM! PREPARE TO DIE!"
Lowering his head, he charged at us, his ax coming up to swipe at us. I dodged to the side, bringing my own blade up and swinging at him, he was knocked off course, slightly. Regaining his balance, he brought his ax down, with a mighty bellow. I swung my sword up, meeting his own weapon halfway. A battle of strength began. He pushed downward, I was slightly straining upwards. Sparks began to fly, thanks the metal clashing.
One grunt of effort later, and I shoved him backwards, causing him to stumble. I ran forwards, thrusting my sword. He spun around it, before smacking me with the broad side of his ax. I flew back, rolling on the ground. Dazed, he came barreling at me, I lashed out with my leg, throwing him back, briefly.
'Fuck it. Time to go on the offensive.' I started to let go of my restraint and began to attack more viciously. Faster and harder. I swung my blade, letting out many flurrying strikes, stabs, jabs, slices, slashes, lunges. I threw everything I had into my sword swinging. I parried, ducked, dodged, weaved back and forth. Clashing and clanging filled the chamber, as the king and I swung back and forth, hours passed, and the battle was at a stalemate. I could feel my stamina begin to wane. My strength was fading. My blows getting weaker. The king was starting to sag with exhaustion himself.
A mighty swing later, and I managed to knock both our weapons out of our hands. Not wasting time to go and grab my sword, I threw my fist at his face. It connected, managing to break his jaw in the process. I slammed my fist into his chest, grabbing his face, as he bent down, I rammed my knee into it. Blood gushed out of his broken and smashed nose. I plunged my fingers into his eye, and ripped it out, his right eyeball was then crushed between my fingers. I kicked him away from me, before rolling back and drawing my blade up, out of the ground where it had landed and sunk, after it was knocked out of my hands.
His own ax was now in his hands. He screamed in rage, his words incomprehensible, due to the blood pooling in his mouth. His eyes suddenly took on a red tint, his berserker blood taking over. A red aura started flowing off of him in waves. He grinned savagely.
He came rushing at me, faster than he was before. He snatched me up, and upon grabbing my arm, crushing it. I screamed in pain. He then threw me across the chamber. He roared in anger at me.
I staggered up to my feet. The blow hurting more than I thought it would.
"Dam, that hurt. A lot worse than I was expecting." I said through gritted teeth.
'Are you okay?' I smiled as I heard the concern and anger in her voice, though there was also a current undertone of, what was that? Regret? Sadness?
'I'm fine. I'm still alive. That's all that matters. Enough playing around. We finish him.' I told her.
I felt her own wrath flowing through me, a torrent of white hot rage, and anger. The sheer feeling of hatred, it was tasteable, empowering, even awe inspiring. Black overtook my vision, all I saw was red.
I vaguely heard her calling my name. I couldn't tell how long it had been though, my mind was fuzzy. I came to my senses, in a puddle of black liquid, on my knees. I must have fallen. I couldn't even remember what happened. I just remember the white hot rage, seeing nothing but red, and my body was moving subconsciously, almost as if it were just being controlled by someone, with no mind present, as if the body was moving only on instinct. I was soaked in urgal blood. Glancing around, I saw hacked and cut off body parts, it hit me like a tidal wave. I bowled over, retching, between the gruesome scene of butchering the king, and the enjoyment I felt from it, fear rose within me, along with loathing.
'I'm a monster. What have I done?!' I thought, after emptying my stomach.
'Never call yourself a monster again. Do you understand me? You are not a monster. You ended a threat, avenged dragons and riders, and you regret your, admittedly, barbaric actions in regards to butchering the king's body. Are those things a monster would do, little warrior? No, I don't think they are.' Belladonna said.
"Come on, let's get out of this dusty old mountain, and once we have rested for a bit, we should destroy it." I said out loud. After heading out and waiting for a few hours, to replenish my energy and stamina, I focused on my ability to cause earthquakes and vibrations, an ability I had discovered a year ago. The mountain shuddered. The shaking began to pick up in frequency and power. Moments passed, before the mountain started crumbling. About an hour later, and there was nothing left. The mountain was gone.
Climbing aboard Belladonna, after putting Kulkarvek's head in a bag, we headed off, back towards Du Weldenvarden.
Arya's P.O.V
'Perseus has been gone for weeks. I knew it. He is dead. I should've known he wouldn't keep his promise to me.' I thought to myself, feeling my tears start to fall, again.
I woke up, shooting out of the bed, and running downstairs. Hoping I wasn't knocked out for too long, even though I know I was. Tiamat and Victoria were in the lounge area, the huge area big enough for all three dragons. Glancing around I noticed neither Belladonna nor Perseus were here. I couldn't help it, I cried. The tears, fat and salty, dripped down my face. My friend had left me, and he was going to die.
I ran out of the house, and told everyone I knew of. From my mother and father, to his mentors Formora, and Oromis, even to Glenwing, Faolin, and all of my aunts. I broke down, crying.
I screamed at Vrael, "How could you send my best friend off to die?! I hate you! He's gone and it's all your fault!"
I ran away back to Perseus' tree. My best friend was gone, and it was entirely Vrael's fault. I cried on his bed.
Third Person
"You know, she's not wrong, at all. What you did, Vrael, was wrong. You know that. I hope you're happy with yourself." Formora spat angrily. Her own tears falling now. She turned and chased after Arya, wanting to make sure her niece was alright.
Oromis just looked at Vrael with sheer disappointment and anger on his face. For the first time, Oromis actually showed anger on his face, something that took everyone by surprise.
"Vrael, I have half a mind to call for a change in leadership, due to your actions." Oromis' anger could be felt with each word uttered.
"He was a child, Vrael. A child that you sentenced to death." Islanzadi said.
"No, I killed a threat to our order. I saw him for what he really was, and thus, took care of it. I will not have another Galbatorix. One is bad enough." Vrael spat.
Arya's P.O.V
I was sitting in a clearing, talking to Tiamat and Victoria, both of whom made me come here, because they had a surprise for me.
"Oh? A surprise for me? What is it? Where is it? Come on, already!" I was, somewhat, giddy with excitement. I still missed my friend, but the pain was starting to dull.
It was then, that I heard it, wing beats. I felt the wind around me pick up, reluctant to hope, I lifted my head, and my eyes went wide, because in the air above me, sitting on top of a deadly, but beautiful, black dragon, was my best friend. He was covered in black liquid, he looked tired, and his arm was severely injured, but he was grinning at me. It didn't matter, it was him, and it was enough.
The end.
So how was it?
So I need some help here. I need to improve my fighting scenes. Also a few questions.
1.) Should Arya still be captured and tortured by Durza? I have an idea or two about that.
2.) Perseus' arm. Should it be healed or cut off? I can work with either one, to be honest.
3.) First lemon. When, where, how, and who? Formora, Islanzadi, one of the dragons, take your pick. Suggest someone else if you want. A goddess, animal, monster, etc.