New Realities (Angel)

“Hmm, it seems the dragon has made his way into my cave,” Elisud said with some displeasure in his voice.

Selenanth cocked her head to the side, “How can you tell?”

The mage chuckled, “Dragons, I dare say, are not the quietest creatures in the world. Several hundreds of pounds does not move in secrecy.” The female smiled lightly at his words, taking no offence to them. However, taking a more serious note, “This mean, of course, that we will have to be very careful when entering. No doubt he his at least blocking the exit. A battle in my cave will be cramped. More or less it will turn into a battle of who can take the most blows.”

The princess sighed deeply, “That would be a battle I couldn’t win. Drakon is by far my better in combat. He should be, after all, he is a guardian.” The thought caused her to sniff again. After fleeing from Trason, she imagined things couldn’t get much worse. How wrong she was indeed. A rustling of papers caught the dragon’s wandering attention and she looked to Elisud, “What are you looking for?”

“A lightning spell. I would rather have it prepare when we reach the entrance than try to find under attack,” he replied automatically and finally rested on a page in his magic book. He muttered a few words and a faint, white light surround his hands. “Good, I should be able to fire it as soon as we reach the cave.” He started moving but Sele didn’t follow right away, the looming battle was stealing what courage she had left. He waved a hand with urgency, “Come on.” Reluctantly, the princess followed. After only a minute or two of walking, a faint light came into view of the pair. Elisud put a hand to lip to signal to be quiet and continued walking forward, hiding his glowing hand behind his back. A light became slightly stronger and started to seep into the cave, the mage stopped.

“What are we doing?” the female dragon asked in as low a whisper as she could get.

He flinched slightly at her voice but proceed to tell her, “I’ll charge in and fire my lightning spell which will hopefully catch him off-guard. You’ll need to change to your dragon form in that time. I will support you throughout the battle as I can.” Sele opened her mouth to protest but he gave her a weak smile, “Do not worry about me. If this doesn’t work, neither of us live anyway.” With that he charged into the room and, seeing the dragon’s form rise up to take him on, launched a powerful blast of lightning magic at him.

If the two personalities had not been bickering, Drakon would have easily heard the whispers emanating from the hole and would have killed Elisud before his head cleared the tunnel exit. But the ramblings of the two had made the guardian disorientated, and before he could do anything a bolt of lightning caught him squarely in the neck. Drakon hurtled backwards, colliding with a wall with a sickening thud. But before he even touched the floor again, Drakon was up. The bloodlust was apparent in his eyes as he charged forward. His claws were extending to their fullest of a foot long.

The mad creature lashed out at the mage, but instead of cleaving flesh and bone his claws met with a silver shield that appeared out of nowhere. Grunting in annoyance, the dragon smashed the transparent shield with a brutal swing of his hand.

Pitiful attempts, which is all they are. An effort to delay the inevitable…

Taking a deep breath, Drakon expelled a breath of ice. Aiming it with deadly accuracy, the guardian watched as it headed towards Elisud with alarming speed. But before it got close enough a wing appeared, taking the full force of the attack. A sheet of ice covered the wing, but with a shake it fell to the floor.

“I do not want to do this Drakon, but I will if I must.” Selenanth roared bravely. Roaring even louder than her, Drakon charged forward. Putting all of his weight into the attack, the dragon slammed into the older dragon, knocking them both off their feet. Using his superior strength, Drakon pinned Selenanth to the floor, their heads barely a foot away.

“Drakon, I know your in there, overcome the force that controls you-”

Slamming a fist into the side of her jaw, the guardian cut her off mid-sentence. The primal side did not want to give her another chance to push him away from consciousness, and he would keep her quiet at all costs. Letting the water build in his mouth, the dragon began shaking his head, urging for the water to build pressure. But before he could use it, a white hammer crashed into Drakon’s head, making the water spill out. As soon as he opened his mouth, the water shot from it, creating a rather large hole directly next to Selenanth’s head.

Elisud had been reading through spell while the two dragons had been struggling, and had summoned a hammer to his side, one made of Dragon’s Bane. The hammer took another swipe at the creature, missing its jaw by centimeters.

Kill him and be done with it, we have no time for interruptions.

Batting the hammer away with a flick of his wing, Drakon moved forward towards the mage. Before he could do anything, the dragon lunged forward, his jaw opening. Closing it moments later, a sickening ripping sound filled the cave as Drakon pulled Elisud’s arm off, the one holding the book. Screaming in pain, the man fell to the floor, black blood pumping freely from the wound. Swallowing the limb, the dragon turned back round to face Selenanth, only to be greeted by her slinging the hammer directly into his face. The blow nearly cracked his skull, and knocked the dragon out cold. Falling to the floor with a crash, Drakon passed out.

Sele breathed heavily, not entirely sure what had happened. Or what she had done. One instant, Drakon had been on top of her, ready to kill. Next, he was laying on the ground, a hammer in her draconic hands. Moans from Elisud caught her attention and she rushed over to his side. He was vainly trying to stop the blood from gushing from his stump with his robe. “Here, let me see,” she requested. Giving her a pained look, the mage lifted up the layered cloth. Blood ran from the wound, black in color. Taking a deep breath, the water dragon expelled a mist that froze the wound over. “I don’t know how much that will help...” she stated.

Elisud gave her a weak smile, “Well, it stopped the blood. Not to mention the pain’s gone, as well. If I can find the right healing spell, I’ll be fine.” His face was pale from loss of blood.

Sure that this ally would survive, for now, she walked over to the other dragon. Blood slowly leaked from where the hammer had struck his head. His breath came quietly, calmer than during the short battle. She laid on of her claws on his forehead, her eyes full of worry. Drakon... how will you be when you wake up? Will you be the same guardian that I’ve known or will you once again try to kill me? Can you forgive me for attacking you? She sighed deeply and her head drooped. A drop of blood fell onto his face. Confused, Selenanth wiped the area where the guardian had punched her. A smear of the fluid came off on her claw but she looked at it blankly, It... doesn’t even hurt...

Soft footfalls came near her. “Milady,” the Nelomak said, “Perhaps we should leave the dragon to rest. We do not want to be near if he wakes up in bloodlust.”

“But,” she replied meekly, “I do not want to have him wake up and think I have left him. No, I could not have him thinking that.” She glanced back at him.

Elisud bowed, “I understand. We can remain near the cave. But I don’t think it would be wise to be right beside him when he awakes.” The older dragon nodded absentmindedly and followed him out of the cave. Barely thinking about it, she shifted back to her human disguise. The princess looked at the night sky with it’s brilliant stars hanging overhead and a crescent moon guiding them. Oh, Drakon...

Within the dragons mind, the war waged once more for dominance of the body. The sentient minds pushed back and forth, eager to be the mind in control when Drakon awoke. It was now an even fight, for when the primal side had been knocked from control, its power had been lessened greatly.

You should go back to where you came from human, Drakon is far better off with me in control.

That is nothing more than a web of lies. Matthias was better off human, and he is better with a human mind now.

But when you take control of his mind, he is never human, he is always dragon, and his human mind would not have so primal goals.

If you think I’m going to listen to your prattling, then you are wrong dragon. I was here first, and the only reason I was made to leave was because of the damn formula.

Fine. I have a deal for you if you think you would be the best mind to accommodate this body.

I’m listening.

When Drakon awakes, I will let you take control, on the condition that you stay in human form. And you must also let Drakon be in control for the first few minutes, so that he may rest.

We have a deal, reptile. Now, we wait for him to wake.

Retreating back to allow the primal side full control, the draconic side prayed that he had been right in doing so.

~

Throwing up the contents of his stomach with one almighty retch, the guardian returned to his senses. Wearily cracking open an eye, Drakon looked at the puddle of blood and several limbs, which included a head and an arm holding a book. Letting blood dribble from his mouth, the dragon clutched his head in his hands as a headache kicked in.

What have I been doing?

Returning to human form, Drakon pulled himself to his feet with the help of a nearby hammer. Looking round, the guardian found that he was in a cave, which looked like a great battle had raged in it.

“Hello? Anyone here?” the guardian shouted, the words echoing through the cave. Almost instantly, the sound of someone screaming filled the cave. A black blur came speeding out of nowhere and collided with him, and it took Drakon a few moments to realize that it was Sele. Hugging him tightly, the older dragon didn’t let go until Drakon coughed. Her face going slightly pink, she let go.

“What happened, the last thing I remember is setting off to find the mercenaries to free you,” Drakon muttered.

“You, you don’t remember what happened?” Sele said in disbelief. Before she could say anything else, Elisud appeared at her side. Waving a hand to make sure she didn’t say anything, the Nelomak walked over and picked up his blood drenched book.

“I think it would be best that we didn’t talk about it now,” the man muttered, flicking through the pages with his remaining hand.

OoC: Sorry if it's not too good.

BiC:

Selenanth was overjoyed that her guardian had returned to normal. She was a little concerned, though, Drakon doesn’t remember a thing. I suppose that’s good... maybe. If he doesn’t remember, though, he might not be able to stop it if it happens again. Would it happen again? Will I have to be on my guard as long as I travel with him? Those thoughts drew the older dragon back into a depressed state.

It must have shown on her face for the younger dragon asked, “Are you alright, milady?”

“Huh?” she was startled out of her thoughts, “Oh, yes, I’m fine. Just... worried about you.”

“It is my duty to worry about you, princess. But what happened? How did we get here? And you?” he questioned, looking over at Elisud.

“I helped the lady dragon escape from the other mercenaries,” the mage stated, still flipping through his book. “Ah-ha,” he murmured some strange language at his disconnected arm, held it up to where it had been torn off, and the flesh mended itself. “Nothing works better than a healing spell,” the Nelomak stated and shut his book.

“Why did you help Sele?” Drakon asked, undeterred by the showing of magic.

“Simple. I wasn’t interested in turning over a dragon to a group of humans. Hopefully you’ve noticed that I myself am not human,” Elisud replied calmly.

The guardian was slightly apprehensive, “...Thank you for your help.” He then turned to the princess and once more asked, “What happened?”

“You, you really don’t remember anything?” she had to ask. He shook his head. “Well... wait a second,” the princess made up her mind, “I have to ask you something as well, Drakon. Do you remember the humans doing anything to you? Any kind of experiment?”

A shiver traveled through Drakon’s spine, and it wasn’t from the cold of the cave. Prying into his past always gave the dragon the feeling of unease, even more so when he would have to lie about it to someone he cared for.

“My memories from when I was a… prisoner, are blurred, I remember little. I think I must have repressed those memories. So no, I don’t know, they might have, but I can’t remember if they did,” the guardian said silently, his gaze cast down to the floor. Hopefully, the two wouldn’t be able to detect the lie.

Evidently, they couldn’t. Wrapping her arms around her guardian once more, Sele hugged him for comfort. If it had been back on Trason, she would never have showed such acts of affection. Resting his head on the other dragon’s shoulder, the two stayed locked in the embrace for a few more moments.

Now… it is time for you to resume your righteous fury…

The words resonated within Drakon’s mind, and were followed moments by a splitting headache. Releasing his grip on the other dragon, he stumbled backwards. Multiplying its force, the headache forced the guardian to his knees. His iris once again began to clot, becoming blood red. His muscles tensed, but he remained in human form. Taking control, the primal side immediately locked its gaze upon the princess.

“Now milady, lets see how long you last against me like this,” Drakon snarled, and charged forward. Before the other two could even react, the dragon’s fist connected with Selenanth’s jaw. The impact of the blow sent her skidding along the floor, until she came to a halt at the far end of the cave.

“Ah, I had forgotten the pleasantries of wielding power in this form, it may inferior to the dragon body, but it is fitting nonetheless,” the primal side muttered, cracking his neck and knuckles simultaneously. Turning to face Elisud, Drakon found that he was leafing through his book with one hand held out in front of him. Before he could cast whatever spell he had in mind, the guardian was upon him. Wrenching the book from his grasp, he flung it over his shoulder.

“No... No more tricks... No more delays. Time to run, time to scream, time to die...” Drakon snarled, and brought both hands forward at the same time. His flat palms met with the Nelomak’s stomach, breaking several ribs and sending him flying backward into a wall.

The princess gasped for breath, the pain of the attack knocking it out of her. No, not again, she cried silently as blood slowly dribbled out of her mouth. Sele may have been taught some rudimentary fighting skills but nothing to match a guardian. After all, she was suppose to be protected by one and have no reason to fight. The dragon struggled to her feet, her body aching everywhere. This battle would end soon but she had a feeling it wouldn’t be to her advantage. She watched as the younger dragon knocked the mage into the wall, his red eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “That’s it,” she whispered, barely having enough energy to talk out loud, “I don’t know who you are but you aren’t Drakon.”

The red-eyed dragon turned to face her, “I’m what he should be.” The guardian then started walking towards her, probably intent on finishing her off.

“You’re just a killer,” she rebuked and swiftly changed to her dragon form. She felt slightly more rejuvenated in her true form but doubted she could stand up to him in his true form. However, instead of also transforming, he simply scowled at her. Taking whatever opportunity the gods had given her, the princess let loose a blast of icy breath. The human-form dragon jumped out of the way.

“Are you actually planning to kill the one you care for?” he questioned her, breathing ice around his knuckles and formed jagged spikes.

Sele waited a few seconds, “You aren’t Drakon, though.” The older dragon growled, Why doesn’t he change his form? He isn’t planning to fight in his human form, is he? She lashed on of her talons out at him, which he managed to dodge easily by simply ducking. As her claw passed over, he slashes with one of his fists. The attack left marks but was unable to draw blood. Roaring, she brought her other claw around and smashed it into the murderous dragon. He went sprawling across the floor. Tearing her eyes away from him, she walked up to the fallen Nelomak, “Are you alright?”

Elisud coughed and struggled to sit up, “I’ve been better.”

Sele turned her eyes downward, “You rest. I’ll... take care of... this.”

She started to turn around but was stopped when the mage called, “Wait.” He managed to sit up but then coughed up some specks of blood, “Damn. Milady, something else is inside your guardian’s mind. I don’t know what but it has to be the cause of what he is doing.” When he paused for a second to gather some air, the princess didn’t interrupt him. “However, it’s hold seems to weaken whenever you try to approach him. If you wish, I can cast a spell that will allow you into his mind so you can find the guardian.”

The dragon blinked, “Into his mind?”

The mage nodded, “Yes. But it will take sometime to find and cast the spell. I’ll only do it if you wish, though.”

She thought for only a few seconds, “Yes. I will hold him off while you find the spell. I’ll... do anything to try and get him back.” He immediately started flipping through his book and the older dragon turned around to face the possessed dragon. But he wasn’t anywhere she could see him. Where... she managed to ask before something landed on her back. Mild pain coursed through her as he attacked her back with his claws. Growling, the princess whipped her head around to knock him off but the side of her face was met with one of the jagged spikes. She cried out as a few drops of blood came from the scratches, her scales weaker on her face than other parts. The dragon shook her back in an effort to throw him off but to no avail.

“Once you are gone, nothing will oppose my control of this body,” he stated venomously and started clawing at the base of her neck.

“Heh,” Elisud managed to say loud enough, “If you can’t gain control, you probably shouldn’t have any in the first place. Merge!” A bright light flashed from his book, blinding the two dragons. Suddenly, Selenanth felt a floating sensation. Confused, she tried to move around.

“Who are you?” a booming voice asked. It felt as though the question would literally blow the princess away.

“Drakon?” she meagerly questioned.

“Sele?” a weak voice answered, one more familiar to the lady dragon.

Am I... inside his mind right now? she wondered and tried moving towards the familiar voice, “Drakon...”

Curled up in a tiny ball, the baby dragon watched Sele approach his small form.

“Sele, help me.”

“Drakon, what’s wrong?” the other dragon asked gently. Taking a seat next to him, she cradled the baby in her arms, trying to comfort him as though she were a mother.

“What you seek to do will take more than just asking questions.” a voice muttered into Selenanth’s mind. Instantly alert, she clutched the hatchling to her bosom. Out of the foggy mist that made up the younger dragons mind, a figure approached. For a few seconds, its features were clouded, but then the mist removed itself as if it were a sheet, revealing the figure. It was draconic Drakon, only more… evolved. His features were that of the more powerful dragons, without any hint of mercy on his face.

“We must not linger out in the open where he can find us,” the dragon uttered urgently. Gesturing for the other dragon to follow him, he turned and walked away into the mist. Hesitantly, she waited, as if for some reason she needed the go ahead from the tiny form she still held in her arms.

“He can be trusted Sele, he is the part of me that you know best,” the hatchling mumbled. Hoping that he was right, she followed. White fog enveloped the two, and moments later, they found themselves in an oddly familiar place. It was Drakon’s old home, where Arrow had first brought him when he had been brought to Feroth.

“In this place, our words are veiled from his mind, making us safe,” the wiser dragon said simply. Taking a seat upon a nearby chair, Selenanth continued in her holding of Drakon as if he were her own offspring.

“What has happened, why is Drakon’s mind like this?” the princess asked harshly, deciding to get straight to the point.

Ooc: Short post was caused by low CJ, please standby and post while you can. Thank you and come again. *ding dong*

The evolved dragon sighed deeply at her question. However, the princess felt that she had an obligation to know what was going on. Drakon had attacked her out of the blue and apparently against his will. If Selenanth was going to survive, she had to know what exactly was going on. “Please, I must know,” she asked again.

The dragonic Drakon looked at her sternly, “Before he met you, Drakon had another name. Matthias Fasa.”

“Matthias?” she questioned.

“Yes. It’s a human name,” he replied with a stern tone.

The princess stopped for a second, “A... human name? But...”

“Drakon was born as a human. His parents were even part of the resistance and his mother led the attack that drove you from Trason.”

The female dragon looked at the baby in her arms, “So... can I trust him?”

“Sele...” the baby muttered, his face looking somewhat hurt.

The wise dragon cleared his throat, “You cannot trust Matthias, no. However, you can trust Drakon. The problem is the human has gained a large hold over Drakon’s mind. I’m not strong enough to hold him back anymore.”

“‘Hold him back’? Did you ever try from the beginning?” she asked, her hatred of humans sinking into her voice. The princess really did love him but... humans were a dragon’s enemy. Sworn enemy. Just the fact the this human side had managed to gain control convinced her that he would never let go of this side.

The dragonic side let out another sigh, “You must understand. Matthias is not a dragon and never will be. Drakon is, however. He killed his human mother to save you.”

That got her attention, “His mother?!” She looked at the baby in her arms once more. His eyes appeared heavy as though he would fall asleep. The female instantly felt guilty of her thoughts.

“No need to feel guilty anymore, Sele,” a sweet voice called to her, “There’s no need to be guilty about anything. It won’t matter soon...” Suddenly, the dragon felt the hint of rage in the voice. She could feel the invisible voice sneer, “It won’t matter because I’ll never love you. Something rammed against the house hard.

“How...” the evolved dragon started to ask but simply ended that thought with a growl.

The baby dragon curled himself tightly in Sele’s arms, “Sele, don’t let him win,” he said timidly.

The princess hugged him, “Don’t worry. I’ll help protect you.” She allowed herself to shift fluidly to her dragon form, still holding the infant in her claws though it was hard to balance on two legs. Come Matthias, she thought silently, This is another battle a human will lose.

Taking up a fighting stance, the evolved Drakon gestured to one wall of the house. Cracks were growing along its surface, like vines. Letting a growl escape her lips, Sele stepped forwards. However, before she could get any nearer, the other dragon cast out his arm.

“This is not a fight you can win, Sele. Not now. You must leave here, I will take care of Matthias.” The other dragon gestured to the door.

“But what about you?” the princess asked.

“As long as that dragon in your arms is unhurt, so too will I be. This is not the real world, and many of the laws you think to be true will not apply here. Now go, before the beast enters.”

Scurrying from the house, the two dragons entered the fogbank. Moments later, the sound of an explosion filled the air, closely followed by war cries. Knowing that sleep would soon overcome him, the baby dragon decided to give one last bit of advice before he became useless.

“Sele, if you want to undo the damage that has been done, you must find the river. Find it before Matthias finds us.”

His eyelids passing down over his eyes, the baby began to dream. It would be unknown if he was ever going to wake again.

~

On the outside, Elisud had made preparations for the end fight. It had been difficult, but he had done it. Selenanth was now sat in a meditative position, still in her dragon form. The mage had pulled the human Drakon from her back, and had surrounded him with a cage made purely of lightning. If Sele couldn’t put right whatever had been done, it would leave them only one choice. They would have to kill Drakon.

Hoping that it wouldn’t come to that, the Nelomak chanted a few words of good luck, and took a seat next to the sub-conscious dragon.

The wall finally crumbled under the strength of the human conscience and the evolved Drakon simply stood his ground. “I can’t believe you actually tried to hide her from me, Drakon,” a malevolent voice stated. Matthias was not much different from the human form the dragon could take. However, his blond hair was shorter and wilder. Muscles could be easily seen under the black clothing and almost appeared as though they could burst through. “You should know by know that his mind is practically mine,” he declared.

The dragon flexed his wings, “This mind will never be yours as long as I’m around.”

The human smirked, “Well, that’s something I’ll just have to fix.” Matthias rushed forward, his speed too great for a normal human, and aimed a fist straight at Drakon’s head. The dragon remained firm in his position and caught the fist with his claw. His black talons dug into the peach flesh but was unable to cut it open. Matthias smiled, “You think you can protect that female dragon and the real Drakon, don’t you? You may be unbeatable as long as the true dragon remains but that princess isn’t going to be able to protect him from me.”

“What makes you think you’ll get to her in the first place?” the dragonic Drakon challenged and lashed his tail out at the human. Matthias simply caught it with his other hand.

~

Sele darted through the streets of Drakon’s Feroth memories. She had reverted back to her human form for two reasons. One, it allowed her to carry the baby Drakon much easier and, second, she was smaller as a human and could hopefully hide either from Matthias. Then again, how exactly do you hide from someone in their head? she wondered. The baby dragon was curled tightly in ball, his eyes closed in slumber. The princess wished she could ask Drakon where this river was but she didn’t want to disturb him. His sleeping might help the other, evolved Drakon against Matthias. It’s hard to believe they’re all one person, though, she thought. Her steps weren’t the only noise, though. Battle sounds could be heard further away and Sele had a good guess that it was the other two personalities fighting. If only I could find this river, the dragon knew and started running through the streets faster.

With a sound that would have made the strongest being shudder, Matthias ripped a wing from the evolved Drakon’s back. Roaring in the pain, the reptile responded by bearing his teeth for a single moment before swinging his hand towards the primal being. The tips of the claws passed through the fabric of Matthias’ shirt, before coming to their target. With a splash of his crimson blood, Matthias’ arm fell to the floor.

“As they say, an eye for an eye,” the evolved Drakon grunted. Taking a few steps back, he watched as the primal being simply looked at the stump. Within moments, it began to regenerate. Soon enough, a fresh limb was in its place. Likewise, the dragon’s wing had regenerated.

“How long can you keep this charade up, Drakon? It’s only a matter of time before you grow weary. Either that or something happens to the child.” Taking a stance, the primal human held out a fist in front of him.

“You overlook the fact that Drakon’s love of Selenanth has yet to come into play. If he figures out-”

“Silence worm! I will make sure that it never happens. Not in this lifetime,” Matthias snarled, a slight amount of spit flying from his mouth. The two ran at each other again, instantly striking out with their own unique ways. It would only be a while before one fell.

~

Turning her head as the sound of war cries filled the air, Selenanth lost her concentration on where she was going for a brief moment. As if the entire place wanted to take advantage of that instant, a wall rose up in front of the dragon. With a dense thud, Sele crashed into the brown bricked barricade, plowing through it as though it were merely paper. As she fell, she spread out her arms in instinct to stop herself from hitting the floor. Unfortunately, she dropped the baby dragon in her arms doing it. With a bounce, the hatchling hit the floor. But instead of it ending there, the small creature shattered like a mirror, glass-like fragments spreading everywhere. The older dragon looked in horror at what had happened, her mouth hanging open. For a few moments she was silent. Then the tears began to well up in her eyes. They poured silently down her face, collecting at her chin and dropping onto the stone floor. Holding her head in her hands, Selenanth wept for her guardian.

“What’s she crying about?”

“I haven’t a clue.”

“Maybe she hurt herself. Getting hurt hurts.”

“That’s kinda’ self explanatory.”

“Well, purple always was a cry-baby.”

“I am not, I’m just very sensitive.”

“Keep telling yourself that, and maybe one day it’ll come true.”

“Settle down, she’s looking up.”

Taking her hands from her face, the elder dragon found that instead of the shards, six different colored dragons now stood. They were the same size as the baby Drakon, and were identical to him in every way except color. Two of the six, one white, the other green, floated above the rest. The purple dragon was laid down, as if napping. The rest were stood watching Sele.

Selenanth looked at the multiple baby dragons, not knowing what to do now. I’ve heard of multiple personalities but this is becoming... slightly ridiculous, she decided. “What’s going on?” the princess asked.

“You haven’t figured it out? Sheesh,” the black one muttered.

The white one shot him a reproachful glance, “We are the different sides of Drakon’s personality. Unlike the evolved Drakon and Matthias, we are actually different parts, not other entities.”

“Say, that’s what we should do!” the red one suddenly shouted, “We should kick Matthias’ butt! Make him pay!”

The green one sighed, “Yeah and then get stepped on.”

“He was too strong for Drakon. What makes you think we would even have a chance against him?” the blue dragon sniffled.

“Aw, don’t think that way,” the purple baby came up and patted the blue one’s back, “Why do you think Sele’s here. She’ll help us.”

“Wait,” the older dragon interrupted, “how am I suppose to help?”

The black Drakon started to say something but was silenced by the red one, “You’re suppose to knock Matthias off his clock. Kick his butt all over the place!”

The white baby glided over to the princess, ignoring the red side, “I believe Drakon already told you you need to find a river. That is essential to sealing away this human side.”

“But where is this river? I don’t even know what I should be looking for,” Sele explained, feeling relatively helpless. However, the white Drakon shrugged, having no knowledge on where they would find it, either. Feeling a slightly tugging on her dress, the female looked down to see the green baby needing her attention.

“Why don’t we spread up? It would be faster, wouldn’t it?” he asked and then yawned.

“That’s great!” the red one exclaimed and started flying in circles, “I’ll find it first, of course, but you guys need to help, too.”

“Pfft, you wouldn’t find it if you fell in it,” the black Drakon commented as he rose into the air.

“Now don’t fight. Let’s just find that river!” the purple one stated as he started to fly in circles near the red one.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine on your own?” the woman dragon asked, understandably concerned for the baby dragons.

The white one nodded, “Yes. The other Drakon is holding off Matthias quite well. We should have enough time to locate this river long before that fight is finished.” With that statement, the six, colored Drakon babies flew off in different directions, mild boasts coming from the red, purple, and black ones.

Selenanth sighed slightly, “I suppose I should go looking, as well. Oh, Drakon, how in the world did all this happen?” Trying to show a determined face, the princess started running down the alley of the Feroth memory.

~

The evolved Drakon let out a howl as he flew into a building wall. “See, dragon,” Matthias stated as he walked up, “I told you you’re no match for me. Human’s have far more power than any reptile could dream of.”

“It... it doesn’t matter how strong you are,” the dragon spit out, “You’re nothing more than a bad memory that’s soon going to be forgotten.”

Matthias lashed out and grabbed Drakon’s neck with his hand and started squeezing, “Talk all you want, lizard. This body will be mine just like it should be. I’ll rip that woman and baby to shreds. Then the human will be in control once more.”

“Bloodthirsty. You’re worst than any uncivilized creature...” the dragon managed to say before he lost consciousness.

OOC: For some reason, I’m in one of those ‘make RPing hard for Ranny with some sort of object’ moods.

IC:

Flying haphazardly above the highly complicated buildings of Feroth, the emerald colored dragon kept a lazy eye on the streets below him. He wasn’t really bothered about finding the river, more about catching a nap while he was alone. Actually finding the river would be a bonus. Slowly drifting into a state of mild sleep, he didn’t notice the rapidly moving shadow below him. Letting a snore escape his mouth, the small creature suddenly felt the presence. But too late. As he woke in a frenzy to try and escape, a pair of muscular hands grabbed him from underneath, dragging him down into the dank, dark alleyway.

Minutes later, the azure coated dragon, who until then had been sniffling as he made his way down the streets, screamed and made a bid for freedom as he saw Matthias. It didn’t get very far before it was grabbed by its tail and pulled back down. Silencing it with a blow to the head, the primal being lodged the unconscious creature in his coat with the other fragment of Drakon.

It was the same with the mauve dragon, who simply looked at Matthias and smiled at him. It knew that running away was pointless.

“Well, at least you’ve got some sense in you,” Matthias grunted, and sent the little creature sprawling with a well aimed foot to its tiny chest.

“If you think I’m going to go down easy like the other three, your badly mistaken.” From his perch atop a spire, the crimson dragon watched the human pick up the purple backed dragon without responding to his words. Slightly annoyed at the reaction to his words, the small creature started blowing raspberries in an attempt to frustrate the figure below him.

“Ape man! Up here! Or can’t that get through your tiny mammal brain?” the dragon snickered. Again, the taunt had no effect against his adversary, who was simply looking down the street. The annoyance building in his head, the baby dragon decided to give Matthias a reason to look at him. Jumping off his perch, the tiny creature rocketed towards the human like a bullet from a gun, intent to cause some sort of injury.

If Red has been paying attention in the last few moments of his attack, he would’ve noticed that Matthias had shifted his footing to lower his center of gravity. At the last moment, he sidestepped and brought an arm down on Red. The blow batted the small creature into the hard stone floor. Like the others, Matthias picked up the small dragon and stored it in the folds of his clothes.

“I always wondered why Drakon tried to resist the meld with you. You seem like everything we need to accomplish our goals. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t support you since you want to wipe me out, but you do intrigue me to some level.” Studying the human with an inquisitive look, the black dragon floated silently to the floor next to him.

~

As each connection with his five other parts were severed, the white dragon had known he would be next. Instead of just sitting round and waiting for the inevitable, he had gone to seek Sele. More for protection than anything else, since his current form limited him to basically none of his power.

Roaming the streets on foot, the tiny creature had found no trace of the princess, and was about to give up. Turning around to take flight and see if he could find her via an aerial view, the dragon froze as he saw a form in front of him, partially clouded by shadow.

“Where…where is she?”

Selenanth wandered through the streets of the memory Feroth. Despite being modeled after the city she grew up in, the female dragon was completely and utterly lost. She didn’t have too much experience in the main part of the city having usually been kept to the area around the castle. Though, she thought that maybe she would eventually figure out where in the city she was. The princess had yet to establish that missing information. I hope those little dragons are doing better than me. At least they can fly around and look from above. I wouldn’t dare change to my dragon form now and risk being seen by Matthias. Suddenly, she stopped as that train of thought went through her head and led to another one, Wait, why should I be afraid of showing my draconic form? Eventually, I will have to face that twisted human which I will do in my true strength and power. The water dragon puffed out her chest a bit at the boasting but still refrained from discarding her human shape. The cautious voice in the back of her mind was much more persuasive now than most times. Sele let out a deep breath, she hadn’t realized that she had been holding it, and continued down the street she was on.

All the houses, apparently she traveling down a residential block, looked exactly the same. Not that they just had similar shape and features but looked exactly alike. The unchanging architecture started to unsettle her. The buildings where all block-shaped with one door, three windows on the front, and where made from the same grayish-blue stone. If I ever return to Feroth, I’m definitely going to make sure the city has appealing buildings go into the living area, the princess decided. However, thinking of the lost, underwater city threw her into even greater sorrow. I have to find this ‘river’ first before I can start making plans about Feroth, the she-dragon put her shoulders up into a stately position and walked with her head held high, I only wish I knew what this river-thing looks like. I could wander forever and still never find it. I am inside Drakon’s head, after all. If he wanted, Matthias could probably change the layout of the city every time I get close. ...Oh, why did I have to think of that possiblity?

~

Despite his ragged breathing, the draconic side of Drakon’s personality stumbled out of the ruins of the house he had tried to hide Selenanth in. “Damn that Matthias. I knew he was strong but his power seems even greater than before. Will his power cease to stop if he gains control of this body or will it still continue to grow?” The dragon placed a claws on the side of another building to support himself. Blood was running from a number are large gashes and wounds. Though, they were relatively inconsequential. The evolved Drakon would never die unless the true Drakon was killed by the human personality. Thankfully, the princess was now guarding over the baby dragon. However, that really wouldn’t matter when Matthias found her and he will. The injured dragon spread his wings and tried to get aloft but didn’t even managed to lift his body slightly. He panted, I have to get to her and protect both of them.

~

Oh please, for the love of dragons, let that be the ‘river’ I’m hearing, Sele pleaded as she took another turn and raced down a familiar street. The sound of water running had reached her ear only a few moments ago and the water lady had charged at the thought of finally being at her destination. Now, I can finally fix whatever’s wrong with Drakon and we can get out of here, she imagined thankfully as the noise became much louder. This ‘river’ was just around the corner...

“Why, hello there, princess Selenanth,” Matthias welcomed. with warm-heartedness in his voice. He even raised his hand in greeting. He was standing in front of what looked like a normal river though the water in it was too clear to be natural. He made a short, little bow, “You know, I don’t believe I’ve ever introduced myself properly to you. I am Matthias Fasa.”

The dragon grimaced, “I don’t care about your name, human. The only thing you’ve brought is pain just like the rest of your race.”

“Now, now, those are some harsh words,” he acted as though he were hurt by them, “Besides, I am what Drakon was before he joined your little race. In reality, he is simply a human living like a lizard. I only intend to bring him back to what he was born as.”

“Drakon would never slaughter people,” she argued.

The human chuckled, “If you’re referring to the bandits, they were trying to kill him so it was merely self-defense. And as for you... well, humans don’t care for dragons too much, either. Though, I’m not too interesting in hurting a woman. If you give up, I can make your death quick, painless, and easy.”

“Foul creature!” Sele spat as she lost the last strands of her temper, “I would never give into someone as lowly as you!”

Matthias grinned, “You know, I was hoping you would say that. It’s so much more fun when you at least try to defy me.”

The form stumbled out of the shadows in front of the white lizard, revealing itself to be an aged, dark skinned dragon. The only thing that kept the small draconic from thinking that it was normal was the fact that several large chunks of ice were stuck into various places that would’ve been fatal in the real world. Yet, the young dragon remembered, this wasn’t the real world. It was the mind of a human dragon hybrid.

Who are you, sir?

Do you not recognize me, Drakon? Or has your own handiwork kept you from realizing it?

I don’t believe I know you at all, sir. We’ve never met. Ever.

Who do you think taught Drakon how to harness his dragon abilities, and who could tell from the very start by his scent that he was part human, and who cared for him regardless? Who was the one who was killed mercilessly for a crime that was a necessity in order to keep the species alive?

…Arrow?

~

In an incredibly fluid-like movement, Matthias sprung forward, dodging the fist of Selenanth, and pinning her to the wall by her neck.

“Now now, that wasn’t much of a fight you put up, was it?”

Snarling at her foe, the woman changed form in his grasp, Matthias’ sudden grasp on her neck now being on her chest. With a swing of her wing, she knocked him backward towards the river. Before he could react, the female dragon drove her horned head straight into the primal human’s stomach, sending him closer to tumbling into the supposed water. Grunting with annoyance, Matthias grabbed her by the horns and pulled, lifting the princess off her feet. The 725 pounds of dragon flesh felt as light as a feather in Matthias’ hands. Turning around, he dangled the helpless creature over the stream.

“I’m not sure what would happen if you were to be submerged in these waters. Probably something ghastly would happen, like you being robbed of your dragon form and abilities. Now, wouldn’t that be a shame?” the human laughed, his voice dripping with the utmost evil. Still struggling to remove herself from his grip on her horns, Selenanth flapped her wings uselessly.

“It was nice to know that Drakon had a weakness that I could exploit. At least now you’ll never get in his way again.” And with that, Matthias let go of the princess.

NOW!

It all happened at once. The evolved Drakon swooped out of nowhere, grabbing Selenanth before she fell into the water, while Arrow grabbed Matthias from behind, and the white dragon sprung into Matthias’ cloak, pushing the other five shard dragons out onto the floor.

Ooc: Sorry about the wait. ^^;

“Drakon!” Selenanth breathed as he glided across the river and set her down. Calming herself down, fear can make a heart go into overdrive, she looked up at the evolved dragon with relief. And then disbelief. “What happened to you?” the princess question as she saw his body covered in wounds, a few opened back up and bleeding slowly.

“I fought against Matthias,” he replied, “But don’t worry, Sele, I’ll be fine. What we need to do is worry about the human the baby dragons.” She followed his gaze back across the river. The human was fiercely battling against another dragon, this one older looking than Drakon and was also wounded in several places. Wounds that would most definitely be fatal.

“Is that... Arrow?” she questioned. She had almost forgotten about the leader of the hunter dragons, the ones that found and eliminated human resistence. Arrow had taken Drakon under his wing when the dragon first came to Feroth. Seeing the leader with mortal wounds was rather unnerving.

The evolved dragon spread in wings in preparation, “Yes, that is Arrow. Drakon was very attached to him for all his training. However, it was Arrow that led the dragons to the human’s laboratory and Arrow single-handedly killed Matthias’ father. After remembering that moment, Drakon murdered him in a blind rage. Or, I should say more specifically, Matthias murdered him.” Sele let out a small gasp. To think that Drakon had killed Arrow, who was like a father, was almost unthinkable. “Don’t hold it against him,” the older Drakon stated as though he read her thoughts, “Matthias is the one that can’t be forgiven.” With that, the water dragon flapped forcefully and was immediately airborne. He glided across the river of chemicals to aid Arrow in the battle with the human side.

How did things get so out of control, the princess wondered despairingly. At the rate that the battle was going, with a human holding his own against two dragons, things weren’t looking up.

“Don’t worry, Sele,” a small voice consoled. Looking down, she saw five of the six sides of Drakon looking at her. More precisely, it was the white one that was talking to her.

“Yeah, everything’s going to be fine... I guess,” the black Drakon stated, “As much as I hate agreeing with white, those two should be able to kick Matthias’ rear. It’s kind of shame, he’s got the right ideas-”

“Don’t talk like that! Matthias just wants to hurt people. I don’t want to do that,” the blue dragon sniffed and cuddled up against Selenanth.

“Eh, don’t worry about black. He’s just saying stuff, the green dragon also leaned against the princess with a bored yawn, “Besides, Arrow and Drakon will take care of everything. Matthias can’t be that strong.” He closed his eyes but, after a few seconds, opened one back up, “It’s too quiet... Where’s red?”

“Being an idiot. What else?” the black Drakon nudged his head in the direction of the battle. Sure enough, the red baby dragon was flying around in rapid circles above the battle and shouting rather rude words to Matthias. He also seemed to be irk that the human didn’t appear to take notice of him.

Selenanth spread her wings in an uneasy gesture, “Should I go over there and bring him back?”

“He probably wouldn’t listen to you,” the white baby replied, “Besides, you’d be putting yourself in danger by going back over there. As long as Matthias has the two to worry about, he’ll probably just ignore red.”

“It’s not like we need him, anyway. He’s annoying,” black commented.

Pushing forward, the evolved Drakon slammed a clawed fist into Matthias’ ribcage, shattering at least three of the bones by the sound of the crack that followed. The assault was followed up shortly by a horned head ramming into the human’s back, again, snapping one of the human’s frail bones.

“Not going the way you planned it, is it, Matthias?”

Flailing his arms about around him uselessly, the primal being attempted to bring his fists down on the reptile. Instead, they connected with a stone floor, shattering it with a quivering crack, and with it, breaking yet more bones in his hands.

“It is over for you, human, you are defeated. Submit, or we will be forced to take…drastic measures.” Snarling at Drakon, the primal human lashed out with a foot, only to have it grabbed By Arrow and twisted around, sending him tumbling onto the floor.

“Stinking lizard, if I am to be silenced in this place again, I will not go alone!” Matthias snarled. Rolling over and onto his feet, he snatched the small red dragon out of the air. Smiling maliciously, he leaned backwards, straight into the river.

“NO!!!” Darting forward, Arrow latched onto Red and threw it up into the air, inadvertently taking its place.

“Let’s see how you deal with being tethered to me for all eternity.” The older dragon let out a laugh, and embraced the human. The two hit the river with a splash and disappeared under instantly.

“What happened?!” Sele screamed, jumping into flight and shooting across the river.

“It is over, Princess…finally over.” The evolved dragon made a waving gesture to her, and disappeared in a flash. Soon after, the buildings around her and the shard dragons began to dissolve, until there was only darkness. Suspended there momentarily, the female didn’t know what to do. She was completely helpless.

And this is where we part ways for a time, Milady.

Turning around in the void, Sele found she was once again faced with a whole, adult Drakon. The one she had grown to know.

What, why?

I fear that what has happened here today has put your life in peril. You’ve seen first-hand what part of me wishes to do to you. And now we are connected-

Connected?! What do you mean?

In order for you to be able to enter my mind, the mage had to bond part of your mind with mine. And now I doubt my mind will want to let go of yours. It means that if Matthias should ever resurface, he’ll be able to enter your thoughts without aid. He’ll be able to kill you.

Isn’t there anyway to stop it?

If I am far enough away, the bond would be very hard for Matthias to use. It makes him less of a threat.

But…I don’t want to be away from you. I need you to keep me safe in this new world…please.

I am sorry, Princess…I have failed my position…goodbye.

Turning his back to the dragon he had grown to love, Drakon disappeared into the darkness, leaving Selenanth alone. With an almighty crash of light, the dragon felt his real limbs come into focus. He was back in the cave. Selenanth was sprawled on the floor several feet away, and he was in a cage composed solely of lightning. Elisud was flicking through the pages of his book, his attention focused on the injured female.

“Mage? Why am I in a cage?”

Looking up, the Nelomak’s hand strayed to the hammer at his side.

“Are you Drakon, or the other?”

“How do I prove I’m Drakon?”

“I will know if you are, dragon. I see more than a person’s body.” Stepping forward, the mage looked over him with an inquisitive eye for several moments, before sighing with relief. He clicked his fingers together, and the cage disappeared.

“I see that this little encounter has expanded your telepathic prowess.”

“I have no idea what it has done, only that now, my charge is no longer safe while I stay around her.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Keep her safe, and make sure she does not try and seek me out. I’ll contact you if I ever need to see her again,” Drakon muttered. He walked over to the fallen form of his princess, and kissed her gently on the cheek.

“Goodbye for now, Sele. I will see you again.” Raising himself up, the dragon nodded at the Nelomak, and walked out of the cave. He disappeared into the night within moments.

What now?

Well, all this messing around and mind melding has put up our appetite. Let’s go get someone to eat.

Do we have to kill? Why can’t we just go vegetarian?

Quiet down, all of you. We’ll eat later. You all need to focus on fitting back into your proper parts of this mind.

Chill, Drakey. We’ll figure it out soon enough.

Letting his wings sprout form his back, the dragon took off and over the trees, swallowed up by the night.

OOC: It was fun, Ranny. Until next time we RP…which will be quite soon.

Drakon! For the love of Trason, don’t leave me alone on this planet! Selenanth screamed into the darkness. But she could already tell from whatever connection they had that he was out of reach. At least with this form of communication. The princess struggled to rise out of the darkness that surrounded her. After all, she knew that it was pretty much a sleeplike state she was caught in. The dragon only needed to wake up.

“Dra... kon...” Sele said dreamily. Elisud wavered over her exhausted form. Landing on the correct page of his spell book, he held his hand over her and utter a short spell. A soft blue light wrapped around his hand and then extended down to the unconscious dragon. It healed what little physical damage she had but mainly restored her energy. Which, after the spell was complete, she bolted up from the floor in a panic. “Drakon!” she cried and looked around. Then she finally spotted the Nelomak and grabbed, “Where did Drakon go? You must tell me!”

Elisud looked away, “Drakon left,” he stated calmly.

It took a second for his words to register. “W-what?” she finally questioned, “How could he leave me? It’s his duty to protect me. He can’t just... give up on his duty like that!”

The mage grabbed a hold of her chin fiercely and looked her in the eyes, “It’s because of his duty that he left. He felt he would be putting you at risk by staying.” The lady just stared at him, more shocked at how he was handling her than his comment.

Finally, she let go of his clothing, which caused him to let go of her chin, and backed away. A few tears trickled down her cheek. “But... he didn’t have to... leave...” she tried to reason. She sniffed, What now? I’m alone on a strange planet and... It was because she could hardly defend herself that she needed a guard and was also why he had left. The princess simply couldn’t be relied on. “That’s it,” she stated quietly and then looked back up at Elisud with newfound determination, “I’ll just have to become stronger.”

He raised and eyebrow at her, “I don’t follow.”

“You don’t need to,” she responded, “I’m going to travel around this strange place and make sure I get stronger. Strong enough that Drakon doesn’t have to worry about me.”

The mage scratched his head, “We’ll Drakon only said he didn’t want me to let you follow him. He didn’t say anything about you going out on your own, though.” He sighed and then walked up to the dragon, “Here take this.” He handed her a pouch. “It has some money inside and medicine of my own concoction that should help if you injured or sick.”

“Th-thank you,” she stated. Looking at the pouch, then at the Nelomak, back to pouch, and finally back at Elisud, she gave him a tight huh. A couple more tears fell down her face. Elisud could almost be considered her first friend which finally meant quite a bit to her. “I’ll make good use of this. Good-bye,” she left his cave-home and walked into the bright sunlight. Don’t worry, Drakon. You won’t have to protect me anymore.

OoC: Well, that was fun. ^_^