7- Consequences
#9 of The Legend of Rift Book II: Resurrection
CRACK!
Sithris jerked awake with a startle. Flashes of lightning made the cave entrance blinding, and thunder echoed through his ears. He placed a paw to his chest and breathed deeply, attempting to calm his racing heart. He glanced around, observing the cave he rested in. Its contents were pretty basic; A large fire pit in the centre, large enough to cook any caught prey and also keep the cave heated. The ground to his left seemed scratched and gravelly, as if something had been rough-housing there for years. To the right, a straw bed, more than large enough for a young dragon couple. What caught his eye the most however, was a phrase written on the wall.
Malrak, yth re ir, rift vur kara
"Forever, we are one, Rift and Kara..." Sithris trailed off, sympathy filling his heart. If he's this broken after so long, how bad was he when he lost her... He shook his head. The weather is awful out there, and he still hasn't come back.
Sigh, such a pest. Things would be so much easier if he wasn't so thick-headed... Sithris thought, forcing his aching muscles to move, trying to ignore the memories of the previous day. He clenched his eyes shut with a grunt, the sheer pain of standing giving him nausea. Moments passed before he forced through it and slowly opened his eyes.
It was pitch black outside, his black scales blending in with the darkness. The sound of millions of drops of water assaulting the ground was only broken by the occasional boom of thunder. Sithris squinted as lightning flashed, giving quick glimpses at his surroundings. A flash of orange caused him to sigh. He walked over to the gravesite his orange companion was curled around, the poor dragon shivering wildly. His legs kicked at the air, something obviously haunting his dreams.
Knowing his companion would not take well to being pulled away, Sithris sat next to the orange dragon and pulled his wing over his shivering form, shielding him from at least a little rain.
The sun arose hours later, the rain having dissipated. Sithris slowly stood up, his sore muscles made worse by the cold. Guilt crossed his mind, knowing he'd have to wake Rift up. The orange dragon had just earlier finally broke from his dreams and relaxed. Sithris took a few steps back to protect himself and gently poked the sleeping drake in the belly with his tail. To his surprise, a paw grasped his tail and yanked him in. The orange dragon curled around him, his warmth starting to return.
Sithris swallowed and tried to slow his panic. Under other circumstances, I might not mind a warm body after a cold night, But if he wakes up with us like this... I don't want to know...
Moving as slowly as possible, he gently lifted each paw off his body and slipped out. He sighed in relief, before something tugged at his horn. Uh oh...
"You have five seconds to explain what you were doing," Rift growled, eyes opening into a scowl.
"I uhh... was cold and I figured a fire dragon would fix that..?"
Rift glared straight into Sithris' eyes, before the rolled and closed. "Consider yourself lucky I'm feeling as bad as I am. Else I might have ended up having roast blacky for breakfast"
Sithris chuckled softly, watching the orange dragon crawl to his feet. "I appreciate the honesty... you seemed like you were having a rough night."
Rift faltered, looking at the ground and shaking his head. "That's... none of your concern."
Sithris sighed, testing his luck. "While normally, yes, i would agree, you are currently my patient, and rest is of utmost importance"
Rift turned to him, the tiredness in his eyes unmatched by the determination. "Don't push it, else I may have to see how much blacker your charred carcass is."
Sithris gave a slight smirk and looked up, tilting his head in confusion. "Is... that a feature of the area?"
Quickly looking up as well, Rift saw the object in question. A rather large bubble floated above them, its colour a very toxic dark green. Moving as quickly as his body would allow, Rift shoved the black dragon away and tried to throw himself as well. The bubble exploded, acidic liquid pelting Rift's body in splashed of steam.
"Gah, fuck!" Rift hissed, gritting his teeth and forcing himself back up. He looked over in horror, the wooden cross melted. "No!"
Sithris sprang up, recoiling at the sight of Rifts wings. Whatever was in that bubble had eaten holes through the thin membrane, an injury that would take a long time to heal naturally.
Chittering filled the air as a ring of apes appeared around them, FeS laughing as he stepped in front of the dragons. "A nice place you have. A real shame it has a couple of disgusting dragons inhabiting it. Nothing that can't be fixed though..."
Rift snarled, the ground around him heating up rapidly. Sithris yelped from the sudden heat and backed away, looking at Rift. "I highly recommend we attempt a withdrawal for this one, you are in no state to fight."
"Enough with the shit!" Rift shouted, annoyance and anger evident in his voice. "I'm ending him and that's final. Now unless you want to risk wasting all that effort on me for nothing, I suggest you keep the others off me."
Sithris looked around and nodded. "Based on our previous encounter, I will be able to incapacitate the grunts with medium effort. However, it is very unlikely you will be able to defeat your opponent in your current state."
Rift ignored the comment and stared at FeS, their eyes meeting in a glare. Nobody moved, both parties waiting for the other to act first. The silence went on for a few more moments, before Rift roared, and both he and FeS charged.
FeS swung his staff, bouncing it off the horns on Rift's head. Ignoring the vibration in his head, the drake's tail launching towards the ape's neck before getting deflected by an armored wrist. The same arm grabbed the Rift's tail and swung him back, but the drake quickly readjusted himself and launched back.
Sithris backed up away from the advancing group of apes around him, beginning to pump electricity through his body. "Now please, I give you one polite chance to leave out of the kindness of my heart."
FeS snarled as Rift bit into his arm, repeatedly slamming the dragon into the ground to no avail. He slammed a fist to the side of Rift's head, finally forcing him off. The drake growled as he slowly rose to his paws, charging and slamming his head against the ape's stomach. FeS groaned in pain, leaving an opening for Rift to slam FeS' head to the dirt.
Sithris sighed as the apes around him kept advancing. "As much as I dislike having to do this, you leave me no choice." He tensed up, before roaring and releasing his built up charge in a burst that sent everything near him flying.
Rift roared in pain, a dagger jammed into his side. Kicking FeS off him, Rift lied on the ground in pain. Blood was running from multiple wounds on his body, as well as the dagger in his side. Stumbling to his paws, only to get kicked back to the ground, Rift weakly bit at the ape.
FeS pushed the dragons face into the dirt with his foot, leering at him. "You lose dragon."
Rift shrieked in pain as FeS slammed the end of his staff against the drake's neck and pushed.
One by one, Sithris was taking out the ape grunts with deadly amounts of electricity. He panted, his reserves running low with all but one ape eliminated. The ape looked at its deceased comrades and snarled in hate, charging the black dragon. Sithris stepped out of the way easily and wrapped his tail around the ape's neck, squeezing tightly. "It's over now, sleep."
CRACK! The ape's neck snapped, the primeape going limp. Sithris released the body and turned around just as Rift screamed.
"No!" He shouted, forcing himself to run over to Rift.
FeS laughed, revenge on his mind. One hand on his staff, the other twisting the dagger around Rift's wound. Rift couldn't help but tear up at the unbelievable pain, his gasps and cries silent from the lack of air he could suck in through his compressed neck. He watched through a blurry eye as FeS lowed his head towards his, the ape sneering in triumph.
"You have lost dragon. DIE"
Sithris realised he wouldn't make it in time, clenching his eyes shut, unwilling to witness Rift's end. The orange dragon forced out a roar which was followed by the sound of flesh being impaled.
The black drake shivered, debating if he was ready to see the damage. With great reluctance, he opened his eyes, only to gasp in shock. Rift was still pinned to the ground, but was still breathing. FeS however was wheezing, Rift's tail spade having fully pierced through his torso.
Rift growled and threw FeS off, forcing himself up and walking to the doomed ape. The orange dragon bit hard around FeS' neck, unleashing a torrent of flames and incinerating the creature's throat. With the ape deceased, Rift spat out the blood. As he turned to the awe-struck Sithris, Rift collapsed. His vision became blurry, then going black.
Rift groaned as he stacked the last ape body in a pile, his body bandaged after his battle. Sithris watched within the cave, cooking up venison. Rift shook himself, taking a deep breath. With a great stream of fire, the ape bodies were set ablaze. Turning around, Rift walked back into the cave and flopped on his straw bed. Sithris chuckled.
The orange dragon looked at him. "What's so funny?"
Sithris rolled his eyes. "Relax, I was just thinking about how you were barely alive a few hours ago and now you're pretty much all recuperated. You have an amazing turn-around."
Rift snorted; "So I'm free to go?"
The black drake shook his head. "Sorry, I need to make sure you are 100%. Nice try though."
Sithris began cutting the cooked deer in half, pushing one to Rift.
Rift began eating before collapsing and grabbing his chest, the ground beginning to shake. Sithris jumped up in a panic, the ceiling starting to crumble. Grabbing Rift, Sithris rushed out with him just before the cave collapsed, burying what once was Rift's home.
Rift pulled himself up and stares in disbelief. "M-my home..."
Sithris shuddered, pulling his wing over his orange companion. "My sincerest sympathies, Rift..."
"Well, it's been a while, whelp."
Rift looked toward the voice and froze in terror, confusing Sithris. "Do you know this dragon?"
The new burgundy dragon laughed. "Know me? Very much so. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Keltin, the master of darkness."
Sithris sized up the dragon. "What brings you to destroy my companion's home?"
Keltin pointed to Rift. "This failure made a huge mistake some time ago and he will be paying for it ten fold. I offer you one opportunity to serve me and avoid a gruesome demise."
Sithris shook his head. "Unfortunately, you are threatening my patient.Therefore, you are threatening me. Please, rid yourself from here."
"So be it, I will have his head in due time. I doubt that either of you will even survive to the fight; my lieutenants will quickly dispose of you." Keltin said, his voice rather amused.
He turned around and headed off, turning his head back to smile at Rift. "You shouldn't have left the job unfinished."
Sithris looked back to Rift, seeing the orange dragon slump in defeat.
Rift sighed; "I should have finished it..."