24- When Fire Flickers
#26 of The Legend of Rift Book II: Resurrection
Rift stepped away from the others, trying to keep them away from Keltin's focus. He growled and raised his wings, ready to attack if needed. He had a sickening feeling as he looked over the burgundy dragon, corruption seeming to radiate off the scales.
"Keltin, I don't want to fight. Just leave us be."
The dark fire dragon laughed maniacally. He wanted all their blood. Most importantly, he wanted the orange dragon's head on a wall.
"You know, most people would never be able to watch their mate and child die, but not me. If anything, watching you suffer from it was worth their lives. I don't want to fight you, I'm gonna rip your scales out one by one. Then, I'll remove your horns, your wings, your tail. Break your body down to nothing before you're forced to watch as I slowly rip away the life of the life dragon, and make Kara and the black dragon my breeding bitches. Maybe then, and only then, will you be able to embrace death."
Rift roared and charged at the burgundy dragon, both colliding head first in a power struggle. The two reared back and slammed their heads against each other once more. Rift glimpsed over at the other dragons, losing his focus. Keltin took the distraction to slam his tail into Rift's neck, sending him to the ground.
Rift rolled out of the way of Keltin's diving tail spade, only for a paw to slam his face in the dirt. The dark dragon smirked.
"What's wrong? Scared that I'm gonna go after them? If you don't start putting up a fight, maybe I will."
The orange dragon slashed his tailspade at Keltin's paw. forcing it off his head. He growled and tackled, pinning the other and slamming his head down. Keltin quickly grabbed Rift's horns and clamped his jaws around the orange dragon's snout. Rift screeched in pain, flailing in a failed attempt to get free.
Keltin clamped harder, noticing how easy it was to defeat his rival in the presence of his enemy's friends. He released and snarled, not appreciating the lack of fight. "You're completely distracted with them here. Either make them leave, or I destroy them!"
Rift groaned and stood up, limping slightly to the three onlookers. He stopped and looked at them all. "Look, he's right. I can't fight with my all if I'm worrying about you."
Zapras and Kara both gave a knowing nod, but Sithris growled and slammed his paw on the ground. He stepped right up to Rift and glared.
"Like hell are we just going to fly away and let you get killed! We'll stay and fight with you." Sithris started to charge his claws with electricity, only for Kara to step in front of him.
"Sithris, I understand how you feel, but this is a fight they need to settle for good. Let Rift finish him."
Sithris trembled and lowered his head, whispering inaudibly. He looked at Rift and laid his forehead to his. "So be it, but don't you dare lose, I need you."
Rift smiled and rubbed his muzzle affectionately to the black dragon's muzzle, looking at the three dragons before him. "I'll see you all soon, be safe."
Kara nudged Sithris and they joined Zapras on their way out, looking at the orange dragon getting in a battle stance. With a tear falling off Kara's face, they left.
Rift closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. Keltin smirked and spat out a large fireball. Rift slammed his tailspade against it, knocking it away. He charged, dodging a tail swipe and connected a balled paw to Keltin's jaw.
The dark dragon growled, wrapping his tail around Rift's neck and slamming it to the ground. He grunted as the other's tail curled around his neck, both dragons trying to free themselves by suffocating the other. Keltin gave in first, releasing his opponent's neck. He clamped on the tail, swinging the orange dragon into a wall. Neither noticed the black tail nearby.
Rift rolled out as Keltin jumped at him, the orange dragon reversed, ramming the dark dragon's side with his head. Keltin staggered back. Rift ran beside him, wrapping his tail around Keltin's intact horn. He roared, his momentum swinging the dark dragon over his head and into the ground.
Keltin dug his claws into the metal brace on Rift's chest. The orange dragon panicked, knowing that he'd be left with a massive weak spot once it was removed. He flailed, slamming his paws at Keltin in an attempt to protect the brace. He faltered, noticing a dark outline in the distance. A loud clunk signaled that the brace had given way, the hole in his chest exposed to the maniacal dragon.
Zapras observed the two dragons in front of him. Sure, he may have only known them for a short time, but something felt off to him. He sped up to Kara's side.
"Hey, is it me, or is Sithris off? He hasn't said anything since we left."
Kara curiously looked to the black dragon and waved her tail in front of him. Nothing. She walked over and tried to nudge him, only for her to fade right though him.
"What the hell!" Kara stumbled back and looked to Zap. He stroked his chin and nodded.
"Electric dragons with mastery of their element can create a fake copy of themselves to trick their enemy." The copy faded away. "My guess is he did this so he didn't have to leave."
The wind dragon felt her heart drop. "We need to go back. NOW!"
Rift winced in pain as the dark dragon licked the wound, seeing blood on the tongue. He was already bleeding and knew that one hit to his chest could mark the end. Rift looked over to see Keltin's tail hovering directly over the wound. The evil dragon smirked.
"I win Guardian."
A large bolt of lightning slammed into Keltin, sending him flying. A black paw stepped from the darkness, followed by the furious face of Sithris. He ignored Rift's protests and hit Keltin with more electricity.
"You tried to take control of me through your mate's seduction." *zap!* "You forced your child into corruption that pushed him to suicide." *zap!* "You tried to send me away." *zap!* "And you have the audacity to want to kill MY DRAGON?" Sithris charged himself up and slammed into Keltin, his eyes flashing between red and black.
Rift struggled to get up as Sithris and Keltin came to blows, the two matching each attack. Sithris charged up a paw and tried to swing, but Keltin dodged, using his tail to trip the black dragon. Sithris collapsed with a grunt and rolled out of the way of the tail, firing a beam of electricity out of his maw. Keltin laughed and released a beam of dark fire. The evil flames quickly gained the upper hand, with Sithris struggling to hold it back. He went wide eyed as his Rift stood by his side and surrounded his electricity in flame.
The two elements merged together and formed into plasma. It quickly powered over the dark dragon, sending him to the ground. Rift collapsed, chest continuing to bleed from his wound. Sithris struggled to stay up, his energy depleted.
"Did-did we win?" Sithris questioned, looking at the smoke beginning to clear. He couldn't move fast enough as Keltin popped through and rammed his head into Sithris' chest, knocking the black dragon to the ground.
Rift roared, an orange aura surrounding him. Keltin took a clawed paw to the face before the orange dragon began slashing at him in rage. The dark drake tried to fight back, but the speed was too much. Rift charged his tail and roared as he sent it down towards Keltin's throat.
*Clang!*
Rift panted, moving his tail at the last second to spare his enemy. The dark dragon looked at him in a mix of hate and confusion. Rift looked away and pressed a paw to Keltin's chest. He stepped off as Keltin looked at himself.
"I'm not a monster like you, so this is your last chance to leave and do something with your life. I gave you some elemental energy to go. If I ever see you again, I will end you." Rift turned to Sithris and gave him a smile, convinced it was done. "Let's go home."
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Keltin snarled, dark energy emanating from his tail. He snarled and calculated the distance between the orange and black dragon. He pushed himself up. He will not humiliate me. He roared in hatred. "You will die!"
Sithris turned his head from Rift to Keltin and froze, the dark dragon began to charge at him. He couldn't move his legs, just watch as that dragon and death primed tail close in on him. No, I'm not ready to die... He closed his eyes and braced himself.
He heard the sounds of flesh ripping open, but felt no pain. He opened his eyes to see that Rift was in front of him, his orange tail having pierced through Keltin's jaw and into the dark dragon's brain. Keltin went limp, eyes going black as he slumped over dead. Sithris went to thank Rift.
The black dragon felt his heart shatter.
Rift stared at his chest, watching as the burgundy tail buried in his chest went limp. Fire and blood poured out, his inner fire. He slowly and weakly grasped the tail and pulled it out, more of the inner fire escaping with it. The wound was now a hole in his chest for fire and blood to gush from. He looked at Sithris, seeing tears streaming down his face. Rift started to open his maw, but his mind went blank. The orange dragon's eyes glazed over, and he collapsed to the ground.
The last of his fire flickered out.