Dragon Mama - Chained Light
Okay, i'm not 100% happy with the focus shift mid-text, it feels like a bump in the road but I have no idea on how to properly implement that, not in this case at least.
Either way, this is the last chapter, except I might do an epilogue, but that'll only be in a few days at best. Regardless, have fun readin!
Chained Light
He had his eyes closed, the travel had been long, long enough for the sun to rise again. Placing a hand in front of his face he stared through his fingers at the rising sun, the blind dusk, a time where no dragon walked outside, the one time they were as blind as those without eyes. That is, if their pride was so inflated that they'd refuse to wear glasses, like the one underneath him. Samuel lowered his body to rest it against Hirya's neck, stretching his arms to hug her. She was nervous, shaking, tired, and yet refused to land until they've reached their destination.
When they finally reached their destiny, Hirya almost fell to her knees, breathing heavily. Samuel jumped off her back as quickly as he could to relieve her of his burden and went to look at her straight in the eyes. Her heavy breath left his clothes entirely wet, but he simply smiled and extended a hand to her "One more..." she nodded bravely, extending a claw to put on his hand, it wasn't like he had the strength to help her stand but just his gesture was good enough. Holding each other's hands they faced east, one more.
It was still a considerable trip, going over rocky terrain of a mountain, they arrived at the face of a cliff wall. It was here where they'd find Lumina, the last living child of Hirya's and the only girl. Samuel had been dreading this encounter more than the others, while he knew that Hirya's heart could endure any pain, he was not so sure about her scales. They knew almost nothing of Lumina's present condition, only that she still lived by the old customs of the dragons, a mate and slave to a male master, part of a small harem. She probably had whelps of her own by now.
As they stopped in front of a cave, one of many which connected in a larger complex inside the mountain, they seized up what had been clearly marked as the primary entryway. The ground has been swept of dust and debris, a perfect place for landing, bones adorned the surroundings of the cave, prey that had been proudly caught, failed contestants, invaders. Barbaric, senseless, cruel. For the first time, Samuel heard a strangely high-pitched whine from Hirya. A constant, strained, constricted flow of wind from deep within her lungs, her water breath contained with all her will, were she a human, she'd be clenching her fists. From inside the cave a brown-scaled dragon walked out, his eyes were cold, golden, his earthy scales full of battle scars, his horns standing proud, curled on his head, undamaged, from his leathery wings, dust always falling. He was strong, a victor and dominator, son of the strongest blood of the dragons, who's elemental power would shed from the wings for all to see.
"Ah, another one who seeks to join my nesting" he made no pretense of pretending to be able to see, yet his posture was still proud and he made sure to indicate he still knew pretty well where the two standing before them were "Your offering is a little below par, but I accept it"
Hirya huffed and flapped her wings once, it had been forever since she felt her aggressive instincts trigger, but something just felt off, the smell of the air, the presence of this dragon... Her maternal instincts, perhaps. She just knew she had to move, and fast "I come seeking no such thing. I have come to see my daughter and I will".
Samuel took a pair of steps back, the inevitable was about to happen, but he still spared a glance to Hirya, whereas he did expect it to come to blows he never did expect her to pick up so much aggression in herself. Although he shouldn't have been surprised, she was one of the ones who survived, after all.
"None other than my nesting is allowed in my caves. " he other dragon was impassive "Leave now, or I will make you leave" he leveled his darkened sight at Hirya.
Powered as she was by her rushing hot blood, Hirya had still never been an aggressive beast, so she simply stood defiant against the first negative "I am not asking".
The other dragon suddenly growled "I will not suffer an invader" he shouted, and roaring loudly unfurled his wings, beating them once sending a massive wave of shrapnel towards Hyria. Samuel barely had enough time to jump aside from the field of effect as it was aimed at his friend, Hirya had barely enough presence of mind to counter it with a powerful wave of water from her mouth.
Samuel simply stared amazed at how beast and scholar pitted the rawest representation of their elemental affinity at each other, evenly matched. That is, until he noticed that Hyria was not simply letting out a stream of water, but controlling it so that it turned into pulses, expertly timed with the beat of the opponent's wings, being able to save her breath and focus more power to deflect the greater raw power of the opponent.
Hirya then suddenly drew her wings closer to herself and jumped, letting the shrapnel strike at her full force, blowing her backwards and off the cliff side. She seemed to fall for a moment but with the momentum of the strike she received and the fall she quickly took to flight at maximum speed, arcing upwards and towards her opponent that, not knowing how to take flight at full speed so fast, simply covered himself with his wings. Neither her claws nor her water could piercing the frailer leather of his wings. She bounced back, surprised at his resilience, and with her guard open for a moment he turned around, bringing his tail to bear over her head like a warhammer, striking with enough force to strike her into the ground and cause her to bounce just once.
All it took was a single strike, and he had all but defeated her. Smart as she was, she still lacked enough power to pierce his hide, and the little moment she failed left her hurt and shaken. She barely had time to stand on her shaky feet when she saw him closing in fast.
"Hirya!" it was Samuel's voice
She saw the glimpse of metal in front of her, cylindric.
She clamped her jaws hard against the metal cylinder, which looked disturbingly as a rein, and let out her water breath with everything she could. The other dragon advanced without stopping, until his claw was barely touching her face, a stare of growing horror in his own. She spit the used cylinder down as the opponent fell down to the ground, completely immobilized.
"Interesting what a little teamwork can't do" said Samuel walking to the paralyzed conqueror "A small human creation, a Breath Cylinder. That one specially made for a water born, turns their breath poisonous, a powerful paralyzing poison. Given your strength, and side, I'd say you've an year before you recover" he said, with a cruelly gentle smile, before simply ignoring him further, following Hirya intohisden.
Darkness, pain... She looked down at her left flank, her dirty white scales were smeared with blood from the master's latest lashing out. It hurt, every moment was painful but she was used to that, was hurt most was that it caused her to think. Her whelps were just being whelps there was no need to- No, she couldn't think, thinking hurt, felt bad. She just had to act, let her instincts guide her. Yes, that'd do it, they kept her alive until now, they'd keep doing it.
She walked down the dark corridors of the cave, she was happy they were dark, it was sad, oppressing, helped her not to think. She couldn't see well here, but she knew the path, she walked forward. That's where they were, the whelps, hers. Six of them, all pretty small, four little girls, two boys. The boys were twins, born from the same egg, their scales shining white, brightening up the room, like hers once were- No, she couldn't think, she couldn't remember, she couldn't admire her children, thinking hurt, feeling hurt, she'd just have to act, her instincts, yes they'd guide her. She growled.
"How many times have I told you, the master's chambers are off-limits!" her own voice scared her, it was cold and cruel, she didn't knew the owner of that voice, it wasn't hers.
The whelps were scared. One of the light twins had an injured paw, probably- No, she couldn't keep thinking, thinking of him hurt caused too much pain, just keep acting. His brother jumped in front of the others "Mother! Why do you hate us so much!" it shouted at her, he was shaking, his voice broken, he wasn't brave enough to stand up to her, yet he did so.
It hurt, it hurt too much, she tried not to think and just to act but there was no avoiding the confusing, aimless thoughts and memories in her head, she had to act to stop thinking, she couldn't stop feeling this sensation of wrongness, of doom, this nagging memory. She raised a claw "Insolent whelp!" that unknown voice shouted with her lungs.
She didn't want to see it, she didn't want to hear it, not again, not like this- She was snapped out of her acting trance due to an intense pain in her raised claw, she was mid-swing, stopped cold in it's tracks as another dragon had sunk her teeth into her arm, keeping it in place. She stared at the other dragon, she knew her, she didn't believe in her presence but those eyes behind the glassy panels, framed in azure metal, only her mother had those.
"Do not... Commit the same mistake I did... Lumina..." she said.
Those words hurt more than her fangs, still holding her claw in place "Those whelps need to learn to be strong, or else they won't survive" that horrible voice growled at her mother.
"Tell me, Lumina... Was Eratho weak?" Hirya's voice still faltered at his name "Are you... Strong?" she said, slowly letting go of her daughter's arm.
Lumina couldn't speak, too many thoughts rushing into her head, she couldn't think even if she wanted to. She slowly turned her gaze to her own children, all six of them... And within her own mind she saw herself, hiding behind her younger sibling, staring up at herself- Her mother. The fear, the helplessness, and the worst, the knowledge of why. "Why..." the voice was soft, the tone so low almost inaudible, tears hiding in each letter. For the first time in a long time she heard her own voice, and ran scared of herself.
She curled in a corner, huddled in a little ball, wings covering her face so she didn't have to stare at her own misery. She growled a low, bassy, rumbling growl, crying as loud as her lungs would allow. And was surprised. Forcing their way underneath her wings, the twins looked up at her, their lighted scales so contrasted against her muddied ones "Mama?" their said together, it was so cute how they did that sometimes. She felt something, someone tugging at her tail, and one of her wings. She lifted the covers of her face, looking in disbelief forward "Mama, are you okay?" said one of her children. She couldn't believe they'd still call her that after everything...
It was then that she felt a comforting touch, a soft, misty breeze washing slowly the dirt off her scales. The soft touch of her mother's water, carefully washing her over. It had been so long since she'd been treated with any sign of care or love. She always knew that, no matter how savage and cruel her mother might have seen, she had always loved her, but she could never afford to show that. Were her own children that way?
"M-mama..." one of the twins said, the one with the hurt paw "I... I know that father gets angry and hurts you when we do something bad, I'm sorry..." she really hoped he'd stop that phrase right there, but she knew he wouldn't "H-he does so too if you don't hits us when we do, so... Y-" she gently put a single finger over her son's mouth before he finished that dreadful thought. That hurt more than anything had ever hurt until now.
"No, Illios... I won't... I won't ever again" she closed her eyes, using her wings to embrace all of her children "It's... It's just wrong... A mother has to protect her children, no matter what. I won't let anyone else hurt you, not me, not him, or anyone else. Just..." she steeled herself for the next few words "Just promise to be nice... If something happens to me". She let go of them, and stood up.
"Not so fast" said an unknown voice, staring downwards she saw a human standing beside her mother "What you said is true, a mother's duty is to protect her children" he said, his smile was so gentle, reminded her of the gentle moments of her mother.
"It's true, my little speck of light" Hirya said, folding her right wing over her daughter, she hadn't used that nickname in forever "You mother already took care of that for you". Lumina was amazed, it was true that a child's worship of their parents would never die down.
"M-mother... I didn't know you were so strong..."
Hirya shook her tail just once, hitting it lightly against the ground. A chuckle. "I'm not. But a little human inventiveness was all it took."
Samuel smiled, and turned around, leaving mother and grandmother to get used to each other again. He looked further into the cave, towards the darkness, it'd take some work to find his path around like this. As he walked, his path was lighted as two sources of light approached, he turned around to look. He offered a knowing smile to the twins, and continued deeper into the corridors "Let's meet your aunts".