Komodo shrieked and flapped his wings furiously. He began to rise into the air, beating his wings and trying to get away from the monster. The demented horse jaws closed right where he had been a moment before, and it immediately struck again. It sprang up at him, trying to snatch him out of the air as he beat his small wings even harder.
The obsidian-black dragon glared at Komodo out of the corner of his inferno crimson eyes, rather like Komodo was an unpleasant bug. He didn't seem to be interested in the small dragon, but was glancing around, maybe hoping Capella would return.
Komodo shivered in fear and rose, wobbling, into the air. He began to fly backwards, right into a bush. The midnight dragon looked disappointed, staring at the bush. "Well, I refuse to believe this weakling is in the prophecy, but just to be sure, I guess you can kill him." the dragon looked away from Komodo, like he couldn't stand to see him for a moment longer.
"It would be an honor, Master Nightfall..." the sea creature said in their horrible voice. Komodo struggled in the entangling leaves, attempting to escape. The monstrous animal approached him with wild, angry eyes. "He thinks he can escape! I am a mighty Kelpie, you weakling!" it roared, eyes flashing with hatred. They seemed to be very egoistical, or just insane.
The kelpie reared back, baring it's jagged teeth. Komodo clenched his eyes shut. This is the end. This is it. I'm going to become seahorse food... not the death I imagined... he thought hopelessly.
Capella was shivering and traumatized, with a giant fish flung over her shoulders. Ace was flapping noisily above her with two giant fish clutched in each of his talons. A drop of fish saliva plopped onto her head.
"Can you quit that?!" she snapped, angry that she had nearly become fish food. "Ife mot thryin to dfo thraf!" Ace complained pathetically. "Yeah wha-" Capella started.
She saw the giant fish thump down beside her and Ace's expression turn serious before he shot out in front of them. Capella saw a horrifying scene playing out in front of her, a strange pale green horse, a pure-black dragon, and Komodo trying to escape from a bush he was entangled in.
She felt adrenaline coursing through her veins and before she could even realize what she was doing she had shrugged the fish off of her shoulders, sprung out of the trees, grabbed the sea creature by the neck, and lifted it into the air with powerful feathery wing beats.
She imagined the flapping of a birds wings, replicating their elegant movements with a flame of fury burning in her swirling hazel eyes.
Komodo awaited the jaws, but they never came. He cracked open his eyes, just in time to see the screeching Kelpie being lifted off of the ground by none other than Capella, who looked like she was going to faint from the exertion. Komodo opened his eyes fully and stared at her in awe, admiring her strength.
Behind the kelpie being lifted off of the ground Ace and Nightfall were clashing talon against talon, not a very fair fight considering the obsidian dragon towered above Ace. The enormous dragon struck again the smaller crimson one, who blocked it with his spiked tail, pushing the larger dragon slightly away.
Ace opened his mouth and showered the larger dragon in flames, who roared in fury, flinging his arms over his face as if trying to shield himself. He leaped backwards, fury in his eyes, and then charged again, flapping his wings and gaining speed.
Capella continued lifting the Kelpie, and then dropped the seaweed covered horse. The Kelpie fell about 8 times it's body height and there was a sickening crack as it hit the ground skull-first.
Capella collapsed onto the ground, looking traumatized, and tore apart the vines clutching Komodo, which seemed to have wrapped itself around Komodo. The Kelpie's neck was twisted in an impossible position, which made Komodo want to puke. "Let's help Ace," Capella declared, with a sudden burst of confidence.
Ace rose into the air, followed by the black dragon, who glared at him in fury. They clashed in the skies, Ace blocking attacks. The black dragon was too strong, and Ace was forced to go on the defensive. The black dragon pinned one of Ace's wing backwards, and shredded it with his claws as the crimson dragon roared in pain, blood dripping down his side.
Capella flapped her wings, apparently trying to replicate her flying display from earlier. She saw the obsidian dragon grab Ace's neck in his jaws, about to deliver a death blow. Capella scooped Komodo onto her head and he clutched her horn. She flung her head towards the skies, giving him a boost as he flapped his wings. Komodo latched himself onto the dragon's face, and he clawed at his left eye.
"AGH!" the midnight dragon roared in pain, holding his talons against his eye where Komodo had slashed him. His eye had a long, gushing scratch mark that was dripping blood down his battle-worn face. Ace plummeted to the ground, eyes wide as he stretched his claws towards his sky as if trying to grab something to stop his fall. His undamaged wing flapped desperately as he began to free fall through the sky.
Capella ran, flinging herself under Ace a the last second as she cushioned his fall with her feathery wings. He rolled to the ground with a groan, clutching the grass as blood pooled around him.
Nightfall swung his massive claws at Komodo, with careless accuracy, and one caught Komodo in the stomach, sending him flying out of breath towards the ground. He flung his wings out at the last second, lightening on the ground and trying to regain his breath.
Nightfall whirled around, lunging down in fury with hatred in his eyes towards the first enemy he saw- Capella.
He spiraled down with gaining speed, pressing his wings to the side like a torpedo, looking more like a jet-black blur than a dragon. He soared towards her with terrifying speed, reaching his claws forwards, which now seemed to be swirling with a black dust.
Capella stood her ground, and then blocked his talons with her horn. She was drove into the ground, holding her horn against the dragon's claws. She suddenly screamed in pain, the spots where the black dust was touching feeling like it was being burnt. Capella leaped away, breathing harshly as blood dribbled down the sides of her head.
She charged, stabbing her horn into the dragon's stomach before he could regain his composure. She felt a strange energy rush through her and flinched. It seemed to gather at her horn...
Suddenly the dragon went flying backwards into the sturdy trunk of a large oak, his wings flung to his sides as he held his stomach with a look of hatred in his eyes. A glowing white light spider-webbed across his front from the wound and he screeched in pain.
Casting one last horrifying glare, he turned, blinking back to pain, and flung himself into the air. "You have made a strong enemy, Capella!" he roared threateningly. "Don't be surprised when you find your heart pierced by my claws!"
Nightfall turned, fleeing with powerful wing beats, and Capella couldn't be bothered to chase him. She could only sigh in relief as the adrenaline left her body and she went limp.
Capella collapsed to the ground, drained of any and all energy, her wings softening her fall as she slid onto the grass. She breathed harshly, the wound on her head gushing blood.
"Why did they attack us?... How did he know my name?..." Capella managed to gasp out, clenching her teeth from the pain of her wound. Ace sat bleeding against a rock which he had dragged himself over to.
Capella shoved herself up, holding back a cry of pain from her protesting body. She felt horribly drained, and had to pause to stop from passing out. She limped over to Ace, clenching her jaws. Her foot must have been broken when she was shoved into the ground, when she was too filled with adrenaline to feel it.
Komodo got up, walking over to her. He didn't seem terribly injured, and looked guilty. He had barely done anything in the fight, and blamed himself for that, Capella could tell. "I'm sorry Capella..." he said, looking at his talons. "I couldn't even help you fight... I'm too weak to even help protect you!" he cried out, tears dripping from his eyes as he clutched his head.
Capella stopped him before he could say anything else. "It's not your fault, Komodo! No one knew someone would attack us!"
He nodded, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Okay..." he said, though he didn't sound like he believed her.
"Komodo, can you go gather tree bark?" she asked. Komodo nodded, understanding what she wanted him to do. Whenever either of them got injured on earth, they would shred tree bark and make something to hold the blood inside the wound.
Capella approached Ace, who had passed out. He seemed to have lost a lot of blood, and she wasn't sure if they could repair his shredded wing.
Capella shook his shoulder, and he eyelids fluttered slightly. He blinked rapidly and opened his eyes, groaning as his injured wing twitched.
Ace moved his head slightly, training his gaze on Capella. "What happened?" he coughed out, noticing the absence of the black dragon and Komodo. The Kelpie sat in a heap near a tree not that far away, and Capella wasn't sure how she had caused that. She wasn't a very good fighter, but she seemed to have gained some strange abilities.
"Komodo's okay, and I fought off Nightfall..." Capella reassured Ace. "The kelpie's dead."
Ace seemed to deflate with relief. "Good..." he sighed, wincing at the small movement. "Don't move," Capella said, and Ace nodded his head slightly.
Komodo soon returned with the bark, and Capella and him shredded it. Capella with her horn, and Komodo, with his claws, which were now sharper than before thanks to his transformation.
Capella pressed the shredded bark together with her hooves, covering Ace's wounded wing with him as he winced, clenching his jaws and holding back a roar of pain.
Capella let Komodo put the bark on her head, because she couldn't reach her head with his hooves. He looked kind of horrified as he looked over the wound and shuddered.
"Komodo, what is it?" she asked, wincing as he spread the make-shift bandage over her wound. Komodo paused. "It-It's just your fur and your skin looks like it's just... gone...." he said cautiously.
"What do you mean?" she asked, shuddering and pressing her hooves into the ground as Komodo perched on her horn and continued to apply the bark. "It just looks disintegrated or something..." he said, shrugging. Capella decided not to question the small dragon further.
When he was done applying it he rubbed his stomach, which had a large purplish bruise stretched across it and winced. "Good thing I don't need any bandages..." he said, wincing. They turned their attention to Ace, who had been watching and occasionally trying to move his wounded wing and then wincing and growling in pain.
"Ace," Capella started cautiously. She could tell the dragon hadn't told them something. "Why did they know my name?"
Ace paused, but he knew he couldn't keep the secret any longer. He sighed, wondering if they would still come with him if they knew what danger they'd be in.
"Well, there's a prophecy..." he began, unconsciously dragging a claw nervously through the dirt. "It says that two heroes will come from another planet to end the war of dark and light... and I believe you're them." There was a long silence and then Komodo broke it.
"Does that mean...that I'm in a prophecy? That me and Capella are destined to be heroes?" Komodo asked, eyes flicking from Ace to Capella nervously. He didn't know how he should feel about this... excited, nervous, or scared? Ace nodded, confirming his words. "We have to get going... to the Palace of Light. Nightfall is going to report to the King of Darkness and then we'll have a whole other problem on our hands." Ace warned, voice filled with caution.
He wondered how the queen would react to one of her warriors suddenly coming home with the heroes of the prophecy. Maybe people would start to trust him more? He doubted it... the citizens never seemed to trust him, mostly because he was a dragon.
He was born on the side of darkness, like most other dragons, but switched to light. He thought it was pretty unfair how dragons on the side of light were treated differently just because of what side they were born on. Shouldn't what side they're on now be how he's judged? Dragons also didn't possess the power of light magic, because they were born in darkness. He refused to use dark magic though, so shouldn't that be enough?
They journeyed in silence. Capella asked about the prophecy, but Ace said he couldn't tell them anything else. Capella or Komodo didn't press him any further about the prophecy, as he had seemed very serious. Ace suddenly stopped, and Capella almost ran into him. "We're here," Ace said, seeming nervous but relieved. His stomach roiled like it disagreed with his actions.
He turned his head and smiled at them before pulling aside a veil of vines, revealing a beautiful palace. It shone like a crystal in the sunlight, and seemed almost like the embodiment of happiness and beauty. It's majestic spires reached high into the sky and pierced the clouds.
Capella let out an audible gasp at the quartz arched gates and the crystal clear windows. The enormous double doors were encrusted with topaz and sapphires that were shining as if they'd just been polished.
There were curtains draped over the crystal windows with intricate designs sewn into them and concealing what was inside of the palace. A skillfully carved marble statue of an Alicorn with shining sapphire eyes was rearing up with its hooves in the air. It almost seemed like it was looking at them. Ace finally spoke once more.
"Welcome to the Palace of Light."