14- Rage
#16 of The Legend of Rift Book II: Resurrection
"HELP ME RIFT!"
Rift slammed his head against the concrete walls, tears flowing freely from his eyes. He couldn't bear it. The screams of his closest friend filling his ears were the worst sounds he's ever heard.
He kept hearing the screams, his mind kept flashing back to Kara. Except this time, he was conscious to hear it. He looked up, quivering to the ancestors.
"Please, don't put me through this again..."
Sithris trembled as Carmine grabbed another knife. He had given in long ago. He would have agreed to the older dragon's terms, but his voice was too raspy to speak words.
All he knew was pain. He knew Rift had to be chained, but all his mind could ask was why his friend wasn't here to save him. The dragon that should have been keeping him safe was nowhere to be found. A voice went off in his head.
He abandoned you.
His eyes shot open red. Runes covered his scales. Static electricity began filling the room.
Carmine gasped, his next knife bouncing off the black dragons scales. The other knives pushed out of their wounds, clattering onto the metal table. The restraints squeaked before snapping.
Sithris looked at Carmine with a face of utter hate.
"You will be the first to die."
Rift lay curled up on the floor in defeat. The lack of screams told him that his friend had to be dead. Guilt overcame him and he vomited. He trembled uncontrollably, sweat rolling down as he experienced cold chills and hot flashes at the same time.
"I-I killed him... Such a kind soul, lost because I didn't stick with him not coming..."
He was in such a trance that he hasn't noticed the blue dragoness walk in and unchain him. A slap to the face finally turned his attention to her.
"About time! Get up! Your friend is alive and will kill us if you don't help. The name's Zaheera, Ferossa sent me to help you out."
Rift disregarded the absurd explanation and wiped his face off. Stopping for a moment for his headrush to pass, he looked at Zaheera and nodded. They both ran out.
The two dragons came to what Rift immediately recognised as main training room of the old temple. As if on cue, Carmine crashed through the large dragon statue, reducing it to dust.
Carmine groaned weakly as we became limp. He was bleeding from runes freshly carved into his scales. Rifty shivered as he remembered another dragon with similar markings. He sighed and turned around, Sithris standing right behind him.
Sithris didn't say a word as he gripped Rift's muzzle and began slamming the orange dragon against the wall like a doll. He sneered and waited for Rift to stand up. He wanted to hurt his "friend." He wanted to bad.
The black dragon kicked Rift to his side and pinned him under his paw. He traced a paw over Rifts chest, finding the protective plate he made for the orange dragons chest wound. He grinned at Rift.
"I giveth, and I taketh."
Rift went wide eyed as he understood the meaning.
Sithris clamped his maw on the metal plate and began crushing it. The screams of the orange pest were music to his ears. One final bite ripped away the plate, Rift's chest wound fully exposed. The black dragon grinned.
"I wonder what would happen if I mixed that convexity in your chest with a bit of Warp?"
He didn't give Rift time to protest before he pushed his claw into the wound the wound. The orange dragon roared in agony, the scabbing on his chest ripped apart into a newly bleeding wound.
Rift couldn't get free. Between the gushing wound in his chest and refusal to hurt his friend, he was stuck. Thankfully, the black dragon pulled his claw away.
Sithris chuckled evilly and lowered his face to Rift's chest. He chanted in a strange language before breathing a purple smoke on the pinned dragon. Rift screeched in pain as the smoke produced a burning feeling as it flowed into his body. The orange dragon went limp as the smoke fully absorbed into his body. Sithris stepped away, spotting the almost calm dragoness.
Zaheera could see the damage of Sithris' power. Two powerful fire dragons lay limp and barely breathing. Only her and the demonic drake left standing.
"As you have done nothing to me, I shall let you pick your form of death."
The blue dragoness didn't say a word, walking right up to him. She smiled and nuzzled against Sithris' neck, leaving him dumbfounded. She purred and rubbed her side against him.
Turning around, she wrapped her tail around the black dragon's. Sithris looked at her. She quickly pressed her snout forward, pressing her lips against his.
Rift watched the two dragons made a dance of their tongues. His heart dropped and his tail thumped in irritation. He didn't know why, but he wanted that dragoness away from his friend. Whatever the cause, he let it continue.
Zaheera smiled as her kiss left Sithris wanting more. She gave him another, grinning as the runes on his body faded and his eyes returned to their normal black. As she pulled away, he collapsed and slipped out of consciousness, his wounds seeping blood once again.
Rift groaned and pulled himself up, scrambling over to Sithris and quickly cauterizing the wounds with a heated tailspade. He sighed as his energy fizzled out, his chest unable now to be sealed up. Looking around, he opened Sithris' satchel, grabbing a cloth inside it.
Wrapping it around his chest to keep his blood inside, Rift nudged under his friend's limp body and picked him up. He looked at Zaheera and motioned her to follow him.
Rift stared at the wall in his face, the group having been staying in his home for several weeks as Sithris endured his slow recovery. He growled as he could hear his friend coo from the attention of the blue dragoness.
Maybe he was jealous of Sithris having a girl when he was alone, or that Zaheera was taking away the one thing that kept him at ease at night. She never left his friend's side, hogging him all to herself. They didn't so much as look at Rift, even when he brought them food.
Sithris giggled as Zaheera whispered in his ear. She treated him like a lover, like he was the most important thing in her life. He kissed her softly.
"Zaheera dear, you don't need to be so formal. Just call me Sithy."
Rift tensed and roared, spinning around as his tail slashed against the wall. Sithris and Zaheera both jumped, their orange companion snarling in anger.
"Neither of you have said a word to me since that fucking incident, but you have no problem chatting the world away to each other."
Sithris looked at the ground and sighed. "I apologize if we have neglected including you in our conversations. It was wrong of us. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have."
Rift trembled. He's talking to me like a stranger he just met, like I'm not worth his time...
The fire dragon finally let loose. "LET'S START WITH THAT SHIT SHOW YOU'VE MADE TWICE NOW!"
The room became tense, Zaheera licking Sithris' chin. "You don't have to if you aren't comfortable with it.
Sithris shook his head and looked at Rift. "Very well, I guess you deserve to know about that horrid monster you faced..."