As Told by child_dragon: Part Fifteen - Trial by Fire by child_dragon |  |
It was cold, and dark. I stood alone in a circular room, made of black stone.
A eerie purple light lit the area. I could see no visible way out. What now?
I wondered, seeing no sign of the Elemental Spear, or anything except stone,
for that matter. "child_dragon, the Essence of Neopia," a voice breathed from
behind me.
I whirled around, dropping into a crouch, the claws in my hands out. A Scorchio
stood there, smiling sadly at me. He was brilliantly coloured with all the colour
of the elements, and his eyes were gold rimmed.
"Lord BrightSong?" I ventured nervously. It was at the point that nothing
could shock me. He merely nodded.
"But you're dead," I said, wondering what further strangeness I would encounter.
"I'm not here in flesh, just in spirit. Even if I wasn't the true Essence,
I held it for a while."
He walked past me and tapped on the wall. At his touch, a section of the wall
glowed red, a portal to another part of this strange place appearing.
"The Spear has been broken up into shards of the different elements. You need
to go reclaim them. Good luck, Essence of Neopia."
I nodded to him, and stepped through the gate. A blast of heat seared my face,
and I looked around in amazement. Fire, the most temperamental and unpredictable
element. A narrow path of stone led through a lake of fire, off in the distance,
flaming comets fell from the sky. Gouts of fire would suddenly leap up in random
places, everywhere I looked was an inferno.
"Hey sis," a voice said from my left. I looked, and saw Sabreur standing next
to me. But he wasn't really there, only in spirit, like BrightSong.
"I don't understand," I said.
My brother shrugged. "Time and space have no meaning in the realms of the
Shadows," he said. "I care about you, so a spirit form of me is here to be with
you as you fight. I can't help, but I can guide."
"So is Sabreur, I mean, you, at two places at once?"
"No, the Sabreur that's not in the Shadow realm won't even know any of this
is happening."
I was silent for a few minutes, digesting this. "Well, then, lets go get the
spear shard." I set off down the path, my brother following.
"I'm glad you're my sister, Kiddo," Sabreur said.
"Yeah, I'm glad I have you for a brother," I replied, stepping daintily around
a puddle of molten rock.
"Most girls I know complain about how awful their brothers are, but I get
lucky and get stuck with you."
Sabreur just shrugged.
"Even if you have to follow in my footsteps?" he asked.
"I couldn't think of anyone better to follow," I replied, meaning every word.
We continued on in silence, following the path. It grew progressively skinnier
as we walked, and the heat seemed to grow even more oppressive. Finally, the
path vanished. We were left standing at the edge of the lava lake.
"Now what?" I asked.
Sabreur just looked at me and shrugged. I sighed and stared out across the
inferno.
"There's what looks like a small island out there," he said, pointing.
After a few minutes of searching, I saw it also.
"Worth a try," I muttered. "But I guess this is the end of the line for you."
He nodded and grabbed my shoulders, looking me in the eyes. "Listen. You come
back all right, got it? You're the only sister I have."
I nodded solemnly. "I will. I swear it."
I quickly turned and leaped into the air, the hot air beneath my wings causing
me to soar with hardly a wing beat. The mass of rock loomed nearer and nearer,
and my resolve strengthened. I would do this, I was the Essence. I landed lightly,
folding my wings close to my back. So where is it, I wondered. There was a rumbling
and I staggered, glancing around wildly for the source of the shaking ground.
Then I saw it. A plume of fire, rising from the lava, twisting and twining into
the form of an enormous winged snake, made entirely of flames. It howled, and
the very ground shook, the lava booming out in a wave away from the force of
its arrival. The fire drew into it, solidifying into skin that burned like the
embers of a fire. Its eyes were flame, and its wings leapt and threw sparks
into the superheated air. I crouched, the claws in my hands sliding out in reflex.
The snake looked at me, then hissed. It rose into the air, beating its fiery
wings. It circled around me, eyeing me with one bright eye. I never let my eyes
leave its massive form. It shrieked again, the sound of its roar so powerful
I staggered back a few paces. It struck, snapping forwards in a sudden lunge.
I dove to one side at the last moment, snapping my wings open and throwing myself
into the air. I flew high, as the beast followed, even faster than I. I banked
sharply, avoiding its jaws once again. It whipped around and dove after me.
It was the blitzkrieg! How could I defeat it? I dove lower and lower, shutting
my wings fully to plummet even faster. At the last second, I snapped them open,
soaring so low over the lava that I could of reached out and touched it. I flared
my wings, gaining altitude and nearly stopping my forward momentum. The creature
was underneath me, and I snapped my wings shut, falling squarely on its back.
I raked with my clawed hands, but the snake's scaly skin was immune to my claws,
and red hot to the touch. It hissed and easily shook me off, and I desperately
flapped my wings, gaining speed and altitude. Fear lent strength to my tired
muscles. The snake roared again, a note of triumph in its banshee cry. I was
out of ideas, and fast running out of time and strength. Then I spotted the
falling fire that I had seen when I first entered this place. I smiled grimly
to myself and swerved in that direction, flying even faster now that I had purpose.
I drew ever closer, the hideous swish of the creatures wings following me. Now
I could hear the roar of the falling fire, comets from a blood red sky. I took
a deep breath, and flew into the midst of them. It was dumb luck now, I could
only pray that I wouldn't be hit and the snake would. There was a roar, and
a comet streaked by, very close to me. I desperately tried to regain my balance,
but the agitated air left in its wake pushed me of to one side, and I had to
hover to regain balance. The snake snapped around, eyes glinting. I tried to
dive, but too late, it lunged forwards, and I could see its gaping maw. There
was another roar, and I was tumbled through the sky by a blast of scorching
air. I frantically straightened myself in time to see the snake slam into the
lake of lava, crushed by the flaming comet. It gave one last despairing cry,
then vanished. I didn't even stop to catch my breath, but flew back to the rocky
island as fast as my wings could carry me. I landed and fell to my hands and
knees, gasping for breath, a stitch tight in my side. There was a soft whisper
of air, and I looked up. A stream of red sparks gathered before me, crystallising
into a shard of reddish tinged crystal. The first shard of the Elemental Spear.
I reached forward and grasped it, and a piercingly bright light surrounded me.
I closed my eyes, feeling the power of fire surging through my veins. The light
faded, and I looked around. I was back in the stone room, BrightSong standing
before me.
"Well done child_dragon," he said. "Well done."
To be continued...
Feel free to Neomail me, I encourage it. I like feedback. Sabreur is really my
brother, you can Neomail him also, though I ask you to go easy on that. He's in
college right now, and I'd rather not have him mad at me for getting a ton of
Battledome challenges, etc. Melody is also real, my best friend. She's in college
too, her NeoPets name is horngodess, but I wouldn't suggest bugging her, she has
a very demanding major and hardly any free time. Sakuko is also real, she's a
really nice person. |
