s i x t e e n | s k y e
SKYE FEELS HIMSELF returning consciousness with a high pitched ringing in his ears, and something warm trickling down his face. Slowly, he brings his hand up to his head, and groans as a sudden wave of pain hits him.
For a brief moment, he struggles to think past his hazy mind. He can't remember...
Lana pushing him away. The flash of golden light. The sensation of being weightless, then nothing.
He gasps, and bolts upright, as if he'd been zapped with electricity, now feeling fully conscious and aware. His eyes slowly flutter open, and as he tries to look around him, pure radiant light stabs its way into his sensitive eyes, searing a painful shock of brightness into his brain. He grits his teeth together and quickly squeezes his eyes shut, throwing his arms over his face for good measure, and feels immediate relief at the restored darkness.
That's not a good sign.
"Lana?" He calls out tentatively, hoping she's still there. Hoping she didn't do what she was planning on doing, yet knowing the desire is naive.
Pushing past the pain, Skye forces his eyes open and looks around him, the luminosity of the landscape around him fading gently, until the bright shooting pains disappear and he can finally see. He searches around him vainly but all he can see is the same desolation, with him being the only live soul around.
Slowly, he brings his hand up towards his lips, remembering their all too brief kiss before....his hand moves downwards to reveal the dark blood that rain down his forehead.
She really did leave; somehow using powerful magic to do so.
"Damn it, Lana," He groans and quickly pushes himself to his feet, ignoring the vertigo his aching head gives him as he stands shakily. It's not important compared to everything else that's happening. Lana is planning to walk into Vyanna's trap, and the city he's been tasked with protecting is under attack.
He tries taking a deep breath to steady himself, but only ends up feeling more overwhelmed. He needs to find Lana before she meets with Vyanna. Chances are, he's too late already, but he won't let her leave with that Morai. He can't. Not after everything they've been through.
With that, he feels strengthened so he prepares himself for the pain he's about to go through. Then, promising himself to not think about it, he starts to charge through the labyrinth of rock formations. It's all he can do to keep himself from stopping because of the throbbing pain that stabs its way through his skull as the impact from jogging jostles his head around painfully with every step. He can hardly think straight anymore.
Then suddenly, he crashes into a figure who's moving along the same path as him, and he almost loses his balance, the ground becoming dangerously welcoming. Panic and anger take over him, like fire in his veins, and with a yell, survival instincts kick in. Swiftly, he unsheathes the sword that was clasped on his belt, and raises it blindly towards his attacker, ready to fight.
"Easy," a deep voice says with relative ease, and the figure raises his arms in a slow but deliberate way, as if he's comfortable in his current situation but is most definitely is not relaxed.
Skye stares at his 'attacker' incredulously. "Raz? How did you find me?"
Raz shrugs casually, and lowers his arms to his sides as if he doesn't believe Skye will skewer him at any moment. "Ellerin and I were looking for you after you ran off. Guess I got lucky and found you first."
"Where's Ellerin then?" he demands, not so eager to let his sword drop from where it's pointed. He still doesn't really know Raz, and doesn't trust him. Everything about him is too mysterious and unknown. People like that are never trustworthy.
"We split up so we could find you faster," Raz says slowly, as if that fact was obvious. "What happened to you?"
Skye lowers his sword gradually, then finally, after realizing fighting against someone who is trying to be on his side is pointless, he drops his arm completely, "It's Lana. She sacrificed herself in a deal with Vyanna to spare Halsa."
Raz cocks his head to the side. "What would Vyanna want with a normal Dragon Rider?"
He frowns, suddenly aware of how bizarre the situation is. What value does Lana have that supersedes an invasion that will be a crucial victory for the Morai? Why risk it all to take her.
"I...I don't know."
"Well, if we hurry, we can still catch her." Raz says confidently.
"How can you be so certain?"
The other man sighes, as if resigning himself to a task. "I'm a Seer. That's why I was able to find you so easily. I also know that Ellerin will be alright if we leave her, but we need to hurry if you're going to even have a shot at saving Lana."
Skye nods quickly at his words, and silently follows him as he beckons him down a path only he can see. He can feel millions of answered questions enter his mind. Raz is a Seer? That seems impossible. He had always read that Seers had gone into hiding hundreds of years ago, disappearing off the face of Maris, never to be seen again. How come he had decided to reveal himself after such a long period of secrecy? Why now?
As they turn a final corner, they burst into an open clearing with two dragons waiting patiently, the sight of which brings a wave of comfort to Skye as he recognizes the familiar fiery red scales of one of them. He finds himself rushing to his dragon side, the emotions that were racing through him spilling over through their bond and Firedust tries to comfort him by sending back a certain calm energy.
It hardly seems to make a dent as Skye feels that same sense of panic rise up within him like it had when he was sparring with Bryan. It's the same uneasy energy that so easily throws him, and his magic, into uncharted territory. He feels his heart start to beat at faster rates, and his body aches from it's increased speed, as if it's trying to burst out of his chest. His hands start to shake slightly, and he has to curl his them into fists to suppress it from becoming noticeable. What if he doesn't make it to Lana in time? Or if he doesn't make it in time to help his people? Will he really be able to save the people he loves from destruction?
It's the same question, the same what ifs that keep running through his head that cause him to feel this oppressing anxiety. He just doesn't think—
"Skye?" a voice breaks through his thoughts, and he looks up to find Raz standing next to him with concern in his eyes.
"I'm okay," He says quickly and suppresses that doubt, pulling himself into Firedust's saddle, ready to find Lana. Raz does the same with the other dragon, and Skye dimly recognizes it to be Ellerin's but doesn't have it within him to ask where the other young man's dragon is.
Even if Raz understands what he's feeling,he just can't bring himself to tell him that he feels like there's something breaking in him. He can feel himself slipping away, as if it's sand pouring through empty cracked hourglass, and soon, he knows, there'll be nothing left inside of him and he'll shatter.
After several moments, they are flying above Halsa and he can feel a stab of pain every time he sees destruction. There are several buildings already burning near the bay, closest to the invading ships. On the streets, he can see the people running about in a panicked state. Most of these people aren't warriors and they can't defend themselves. What if their defenses don't last? He looks to the skies and feel the tension in his heart ease somewhat when he sees the majority of the Riders up in the air, moving to create the strategic attacks they had planned.
For the past few days, he had been speaking with the leaders of other Dragon Rider groups, and they had all explained to him the different tactics they'd been taught as apprentices. Every island had been taught differently to accommodate with different climates and landscapes. So instead of forcing each and every one of the Riders to learn new strategies for this island, he had learned all of theirs, and had utilized each and every unique feature to his advantage. Every group of Riders would have their role to play, but every role would be different. Hopefully it would all piece together flawlessly.
As he looks around them, he begins to nod, realizing that the defenses are actually holding pretty well. There's a couple dozen dragon hunter ships huddled together in a tight formation right outside Halsa's bay, but they haven't moved forward in the slightest because of the damage they're taking from their Riders. He can see several groups of dragons raining down fire and arrows onto the dragon hunters below them, destroying their power little by little. Even as he watches,he sees the ships lose their power as many of the dragon hunters stop firing at the city, and start focusing more on shooting at the dragons flying around them and salvaging their ships. Unfortunately for them, it's not working.
They can win this. They can drive her back. Vyanna won't win over Halsa, and she sure as hell wouldn't take Lana either.
Raz is looking around approvingly as well and looks as if he's about to say something, when an earth shattering dragon roar rips through the sky, almost forcing him to cover his ears with the pure volume of it. His heart sinks at the noise.
Raz and him slowly turn, and he can feel his hope for a win in this battle dissipate at the sight in front of him. There, flying towards the great city of Halsa is his master Arlo, riding atop his giant dragon. His dragon casts a dark shadow upon the fair city, and he's an intimidating sight. Skye freezes, and only watches as his dragon moves towards the bay area of Halsa, and starts to set buildings on fire. Then, as he watches silently,he can see his people running in terror from him, all of them defenseless.
That's when he gets angry.
"Raz," Skye says in a low tone, feeling the anger within him surge upwards until he starts to notice small tendrils of flame curl their way around his fingertips. "I need you to help destroy the rest of those ships, and keep the rest of the dragon hunters busy."
Raz frowns, looking at him in confusion. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me."
Skye doesn't wait for a response and immediately dives down towards the city at full speed, with only one thought in mind: there's no way he could let Arlo hurt his people like he is now.
It only takes seconds for Arlo to notice him and Firedust flying towards him, and he can feel his smug confidence even from the distance he's at. He quickly stops his attack on the city, and feels relief surge through him at that, but also feels dread as he turns to put his full focus on Skye. As he gets closer, close enough that Firedust pulls back and hovers in front of the giant dragon at a safe distance, he can see Arlo unsheathe a wicked looking sword, but can't see his expression as it's still hidden under the same dark hood that he always wears. That doesn't bother him nearly as much as his sword does however. His sword has several barbed hooks that gleam brightly in the sunlight, making him tense at its unfamiliarity. Arlo used to always fight with a simple rapier, nothing fancy like that sword. He winces at the painful reminder, only becoming more aware that this isn't the Arlo he used to know.
"Surrender," he shouts in a familiar yet different voice, pointing his sword at Skye.
He shakes his head, pained and disgusted. "I know it's you, Arlo. You don't have to hide your face from me anymore."
Arlo slowly, as if he enjoys watching him suffer, pulls down the hood covering his head to reveal his all too familiar face that is now devoid of expression. "Surrender yourself and your dragon, or you will die."
But he still can't get over the fact that his uncle had changed sides so quickly, and he feels a spark of anger fly through him. He reaches towards the sword he has sheathed on his belt and raises it. "What happened to your other dragon Arlo? What made you forget about Lazira so easily?"
At her name his uncle flinches, and Skye takes the opportunity to attack him full on. Firedust dives forward and Skye charges forward with his sword. Arlo moves swiftly to parry, but Skye can see in his eyes that his words had struck a chord within him. Strengthened, he carries on, letting his anger and betrayal take hold of him.
"What about me?" Skye yells, and starts repeatedly slashing at him with his sword, stabbing and slicing with no breaks in tempo. "Did you even care what your death had felt like to me? Did you even care that you left me alone in a world where I needed you?"
His uncle's parries to his attacks get slower and slower, as a stricken expression starts to take hold of him. After a second, his sword lowers, and without thinking, Skye's stabs forwards at his arm, cutting a deep wound along his bicep.
Arlo yells in pain, using his free hand to cover his wound, and in his shock at hurting his uncle, Skye doesn't notice the rising danger. Arlo's new dragon roars in retaliation and swings its massive tail upwards, swiping at Firedust and him. Firedust tries to dodge, but he feels it clip against his dragon's side, and he loses his balance in the air.
They fall.
Skye clings to Firedust's side as they hurtle downwards from the force of the dragon's attack, and he yells in fear as he suddenly sees the ground rushing up to meet them. Letting out a defiant roar, Firedust snaps his wings outwards, and the wind catches underneath them, slowing their fall significantly.
Then suddenly, Firedust's feet meet the ground below them.
He tries to dig his claws into the ground to stop them, but it only stops him, leaving him to fly through the air into the ground in front of them. He screams and tries to tame his waving arms into covering his face, but the fear of crashing into the ground drives all sense from him. He shuts his eyes, and can only wait for the impact to come.
Pain. Jarring, bone-shattering pain runs its way up his body as he slams into the ground. His body is thrown about like a rag doll and he cries out in pain as he tumbles across the expanse where I've landed.
Then finally, the new pain stops, and he finds himself lying facedown on the ground, struggling to breath through the stabbing pain throughout his whole body.
He finds that he can hardly move, but he can feel fear snake its way into his heart as the daylight around him suddenly turns to night as something's large shadow is cast over him. Despite the pain, he slowly rolls his body over, landing on his back painfully, and he finds himself staring into the eyes of Arlo's giant dragon.
His breath catches painfully in his throat, and he forces himself to his feet, despite the pain that's taken over his body. If he's going to die, he wants to die standing on his feet.
Defiantly, he tries to step forwards towards the dragon, but the second he puts weight on his right leg, pain laces it's way up his entire side and he cries out in pain, falling to his knees. He can't think straight anymore. Breathing hurts. Thinking hurts.
Then suddenly, he sees the dark figure of Arlo standing over him, his face no longer devoid of expression, just filled with anger and pain. Slowly, he brings his sword to his nephew's throat.
Then, out of nowhere, his features soften and his hands jerk, causing his swords tip to move away from Skye's throat.
"Forget about me," he says fiercely, staring fiercely into his eyes, and Skye screams as the man who he's always considered to be his father drives his sword into his shoulder, driving it toward his breaking heart.
Then his uncle leaves him there to bleed out. Alone.