20- Shattered Soul
#25 of The Legend of Rift Book III: Downfall
"He should have been here by now with two heads being presented to me." Shara paced nervously. She looked at Carmine with irritation. "Go find him. I need him."
The red drake bowed slowly. "If you insist my Queen, but I do think you would be better off with someone else by your side." A tail slap to his face told him she was not pleased.
"You are not worthy to be my drake, nor do you have the power that Riften has. You bring him to me in perfect health or you will be strapped down as acid is slowly dripped onto you until you die." The turquoise dragoness growled.
BAM!
Both dragons swund their heads to look at the front entrance of the Palace. A transparent corrupted Riften snarled as he limped over. By the time he had made it to Shara, he collapsed.
"Ancestors, what happened?" Shara yelped. "What did they do to you?"
"I need energy my Queen." Riften wheezed. "The orange dragon regained his body and threw me out. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to provide the dragons you had asked for."
Shara clamped on his neck, dark magic slowly seeping into the drake, making him solid again.
"Mind telling me what this is?" Carmine questioned. "Why was he see-through?"
The turquoise dragoness smirked. "This is the result of combining Convexity with Supernova. Rift learned about it many years ago in an act of revenge against the apes. He struggled with it, the power trying to manipulate him to detonate. So it lay dormant in his mind. When I corrupted him, the Convexity combined with Supernova to take over his body. It should have completely corrupted his mind, but it seems I overestimated my hold on him."
Carmine gulped. "So how is it here without him. This is like some kind of Ancestral Spirit."
"Not quite." Shara responded. "It seems they somehow split. The original Rift had enough of his mind to force out his dark counterpart. But it was able to develop a body, though it needs a constant flow of dark magic to exist. Very interesting."
Riften groaned as he lay limp. "I almost had the black one. Then he got all mushy and the orange one pushed me out. I did injure the silver one though."
The Queen grinned broadly at that. "Most impressive. Seems he saw enough of Rift in you to hold back. Though this does massively mess up our plans. Our only chance now is full on war."
"How is that a good idea my Queen, no offense. Sithris and Kara may be simple to stop with a sneak attack, but you and I are no chance against Rift and Silvus." Carmine protested. "And let's not forget that half of the citizens have left the city, AND the apes are too terrified to help us anymore after HIS little action!" He pointed at the dark drake.
Shara rolled her eyes. "You should know by know that I always succeed in the end. I'll begin planning. Riften with me, show me what a drake with no restraints can do."
"Please hon, no one blames you for the attacks. We know you weren't in control, but in order for us to help, we need to know what she did to you." Sithris pleaded, trying to get more than sobs from his mate.
Rift shivered, shaking his head. "I've already done enough damage, killed hundreds and destroyed villages. I can't handle you thinking even less of me."
Silvus sighed and hugged his cousin. "I've got a hunch what happened, but you need to be honest with Sithris, and Kara when you see her. What she made you do affects them just as much as you."
The orange drake whimpered. "I don't want to hurt them even more. I rather she just killed me, not force me into it. It hurt worse than death."
Sithris lifted his head and looked into his eyes. "Tell me hon, just be honest."
Rift shuddered and nearly whispered his words. "She had an ambush here at the cave for you. Her demands were for me to mate with her or else you and Neala would be murdered. I'm sorry."
The black drake's heart dropped slightly. "She didn't stop it. Silvus took them out."
The fire drake couldn't restrain a wail of emotional pain. "She used me. Forced me in a corner and still went against her word." He shivered. "The worst part, I liked it. It felt good."
Silvus sighed and looked at the ground, trying to hide a small blush. "Pleasure of the flesh. Your body reacted to the touch of another dragon. While we can be as wise as the oldest of the Ancients, we are dragons. Some instincts can overcome our rational mind."
The electric dragon smirked. "Hearing Silvus talk about anything like that has made my day. But he is right. I can imagine your mind tried to get away while your body did what's natural. Just answer me this. Do you have feelings for her?"
Rift wiped his eyes and shook his head. "She ruined me. I just want her to go and let me live my life." He paused and gulped. "That... Other version of me, he is Supernova."
The Light Messenger frowned. "I was afraid of that. When I talked to Rose a few days ago, I looked into some old scrolls on it. Supernova is pretty much a living thing that normally requires a powerful fire drake to live. But given enough dark magic, it can sustain itself. It's pretty much an evil you. Which is saying something considering what you do to poor innocent trees."
Sithris gave him an evil eye and cuddled his mate ."What she did to you is in the Pest now... I meant to say past, but that works too. You are mine and Kara's again, and we will paint our names on your scales if we have to." He moved to kiss the orange dragon, worrying when he turned his head away. "Again hon, it's not your fault."
Rift sighed. "It sure feels like it."
A twitch of Silvus' tail and he poked his head out of the cave. He roared loudly and darted in. He smiled. "They finally came looking for us."
"Oh thank Ancestors. This was the first place we thought to sear..." Kara froze as she looked at her two mates. She was conflicted, more than happy to see Rift back, but pained by how frail he looked. She stepped over to them and hugged them tightly. "Don't you dare leave our sight ever again."
The orange dragon choked up. "I don't want to. I won't. Just please, don't let her get around me ever again."
Silvus hung his head. "I'm sorry cousin. I was afraid they would be killed in a rescue attempt. So I wouldn't let them do it."
"No need to feel bad now, it's done. And I'm done." Rift stated flatly.
Kara and Sithris stared at him with wide eyes as he resumed. "I'm done fighting, done being a Guardian. I just want to spend my life with my family in peace."
"I know she messed you up bad Rift, but you can't give up. We need to stop Shara before she finds where we've been and kills more innocent people. We can't do it without you." Silvus pleaded. How could she do that much damage to him?
The orange drake snarled softly. "I'm done. I won't hurt others anymore. You won't change my mind."