Post by kingfish on Mar 17, 2021 5:04:12 GMT
TW/ THIS CONTAINS GRAPHIC MURDER, DISCUSSIONS OF DEATH AND IMPLIED SUICIDE! DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE NOT OKAY WITH THAT! NOW DRINK YOUR WATER.
The hushed voices of the dragonets echoed around the small cavern as Martyr stood very still, half-immersed in the water as Idol rode on his back.
“It’s not very far until the end of the tunnel, I can feel it,” Legend said, grinning over at the MudWing. Her bioluminescent green scales were lit to their brightest, though they weren’t quite enough for Martyr’s sight to fully pick up on their surroundings.
Idol wagged her tail, “I can’t wait!”
The golden SandWing flicked her ears forward.
“Don’t get too exited,” Martyr chided with a smile.
“Too exited? This is the first day of our lives, Mart, and you’re really concerned? I could fight off anyone outside, anyway!” Legend challenged, and Martyr made a small chuffing sound.
Idol flicked her useless wings back as Legend dove under the water.
“Everything is going to be so great outside!”
-
Legend’s neck snapped like a prey bone breaking in two, a noise that echoed within Martyr’s chest.
No.
Nononono-
A scream echoed across the arena, Idol’s claws reaching through the golden cage’s bars as the SandWing yelled for her sister.
Illustrious sat shocked, purple eyes fixed wide open and unable to look away from the dead. Dauntless’s head retreated into her talons. Gone was the SkyWing’s angry flame, replaced by the shock and horror of her sister’s end.
Dune’s jaw opened and closed, Htivir turned away, along with Webs. They knew defeat when they saw it.
There was no fixing that angle of her neck, the limp posture as the Champion stepped mutely away, leaving the body alone on the sand. The MudWing might have noticed the resigned look in her eyes had be been closer.
His blood pounded inside his ears as Martyr threw himself off of the pillar, a roar he couldn’t hear building in his chest.
The wing binds caught him.
Painfully.
Martyr could hardly feel the smallest bones in his wings creaking and snapping through the cold shock he felt, claws grasping for the SkyWing whomst had...had..
Asha.
Asha, who had cried for them to get away as she burned under the Queen’s flame.
Morrowseer, gone in the cave-in.
And now Legend.
The dragonets were not coming.
-
Months, days, weeks, years passed. Martyr didn’t even notice. It all felt a haze, really. The ends of his wing bones healed slowly, and always poked inwards at an angle. He didn’t feel like fixing them.
The arena was a hot constant of death. He would wake every morning to the smell of the bodies outside, being cremated under the fire. The MudWing would have surmised that Legend had gotten the same treatment, but he knew better. The crowd had a muted reaction to her death, and the queen had to really prove it.
Her body was hung by the neck outside the palace, like a gory banner. He could sometimes see it, a green spot in the blue sky.
Illustrious was the next to go.
The day was warm and bright, sun barely rising over the horizon as the NightWing was nervously thrown into the arena overhead. Scavengers, with small sticks in hand, were also released.
Martyr could barely get his hopes up.
The MudWing himself had been tossed in twice, once in place of Dauntless and another in Illy’s place. Both had ended in stalemates-Martyr had neither the stomach nor the anger to actually kill the poor SkyWings thrown in with him. So he had been placed in an iron pit, unable to see well into the arena.
Well enough, though, to see as the scavengers drew blood from Illustrious’s legs before he incinerated them with a fire breath.
Martyr smiled and allowed himself to hope, craning his head to look up at his brother through the bars.
“You’ve got this!” he called.
Illustrious clambered around his pit, distracted by his next enemy, “I-I don’t think-“
The IceWing the NightWing was staring at came hard and fast, smacking the dragonet down on top of the iron grid as they growled and wrestled.
That was, truthfully, for about three seconds, before the IceWing’s breath sprayed out of it’s mouth.
Martyr had to move to avoid it as Illustrious’s screams grew to a freezing point. His arms and half of his face were gone, the frozen limbs thumping into the sand near Martyr as they were snapped off with a tail swipe.
The IceWing was merciful as they slit his neck and vocal chords in the same slice, leaving little but a convulsing body robbed of lifeblood.
Martyr caught the last look of terror within his eye as Illy died.
-
Martyr sat on the seaside, the surf splashing over his talons as the few remaining of the dragonets of destiny watched the sunset.
Dune and Htivir slept in a small ball of each other. They seemed...unbothered by Web’s doom. Mostly, though, the adults seemed utterly tired.
Idol was still crying, though Dauntless did not.
Martyr had stopped crying over the losses after the first few. It seemed..too exhausting.
“Will you miss him?” the SkyWing said, sitting next to him.
“Of course.” he replied.
“I won’t...” she said staunchly, “He got what he deserved.”
“Death?” the MudWing asked plainly.
“I mean-yeah, pretty much. He deserted. If I was Ascidian than I would have done the same.”
“And if you were you?” he asked.
“I would have killed him earlier if I could have. I didn’t see him trying to help Asha.”
Asha, who Webs could have saved.
“It..doesn’t matter anymore, Dauntless. Lives don’t..trade. If I could have saved..” he trailed off.
“You would have. I know. But...we don’t have to lose anyone else.” Dauntless said, tone uncertain.
“Dragons still believe in us.” Martyr said staunchly, changing the topic, “We have to..save everyone. It’s in the prophecy, right? It didn’t say..that none of them passed away. We just have to...save everyone.” he said, convinced by his own words.
“Marty...what if we’re...not?” Dauntless asked, shooting a look at Idol.
“What do you mean?”
“What if..we can’t..save everyone. Morrowseer said..NightWings couldn’t just..die. But he did. And so did...”
“That wasn’t in the prophecy. It’s destined, Daun. We have to do this.” he stood up, resolute, with a smile, “How about we head to the RainWings?”
-
It was so easy for a dragon to be defenestrated. Dune fell, a tiny sandy dot, slamming into the forest floor with a squishy sound that Martyr knew that Idol could hear.
“DUNE!” she screeched.
“That’s what will happen to the rest of you if you don’t get the hell out of here right now. You’re not my tribe.” the RainWing queen said, anger in her eyes.
-
Hvitur couldn’t handle it. They found him in the morning.
-
Dauntless dropped out of the clouds, wings catching on the currents above the battle.
She screamed a battle cry, spying Sawtooth in the distance, ears pinning to the sides of her head as she dove-
A MudWing caught her first. Fire sprayed across her wings, before Martyr could get to her, and though an IceWing caught the MudWing with a breath of frost moments later, it didn’t help as Dauntless fell; fell, fell, to the ground, wings of fire burning away at her body until she hit the ground with a crack and didn’t get up.
Martyr had to restrain Idol as the SandWing tried to reach after her sister, turning on his tail and heading straight for the ground.
The grief set in days later as the two lived in a cave for a time.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Idol sobbed. Martyr could only wrap her in his wings more.
“Everyone, everyone I’ve ever loved is dead, except for you, Marty. I can’t-I can’t lose you.”
‘And I can’t lose you’ His brain whispered back. His littlest sister..no, he couldn’t lose her too .
He did.
Sawtooth screamed as she died, like any other dragon. The viper venom spread too fast to heal, too fast. By the time Martyr had set the snake on fire, his body was little more than a shriveled lump on the floor.
Saguaro was the last one standing.
“That was..easier than I thought it would be.” the SandWing mused, turning to look at Idol, crouched over the dragoness’s body.
“And you. Are you here to challenge me?” the pale SandWing drawled to the small hybrid.
“W-what?”
“Isn’t your name Idol? Rather-*Princess* Idol. For now.”
“What-no! I don’t want-no! We’re-we’re the dragonets of destiny! I-“
“Oh, stop your blabbing, would you? Yes, yes. My little mistake. I gave a certain Morrowseer your egg, didn’t I? Well, too bad that didn’t work out.” Saguaro simpered.
“You’re-wha-“
Saguaro moved too fast. Her tail lashed at Idol-
Only to be caught by Martyr’s claw, as the MudWing snarled and used his MudWing strength to snap the tail at a ninety degree angle.
Saguaro screamed in anger as she hissed, shooting a jet of flame that he blocked with his wing, jumping at the dragoness with mouth open.
Saguaro dove out of the way, hissing and snarling as Idol stood, frozen.
“Idol, go-“
Too late. She went left, than right, tail arcing for Martyr-then, she suddenly changed direction .
Her talons raked down Idol’s side, drawing so, so much blood, and when she was down, her claws split the young golden dragon from throat to tail.
Idol gurgled horribly for breath as Martyr snarled, roaring fire at Saguaro as he ran for his sister- and then, there was nothing but the heaviness of a dragonbite box over the head.
-
He woke up to screaming.
(1691 words)
The hushed voices of the dragonets echoed around the small cavern as Martyr stood very still, half-immersed in the water as Idol rode on his back.
“It’s not very far until the end of the tunnel, I can feel it,” Legend said, grinning over at the MudWing. Her bioluminescent green scales were lit to their brightest, though they weren’t quite enough for Martyr’s sight to fully pick up on their surroundings.
Idol wagged her tail, “I can’t wait!”
The golden SandWing flicked her ears forward.
“Don’t get too exited,” Martyr chided with a smile.
“Too exited? This is the first day of our lives, Mart, and you’re really concerned? I could fight off anyone outside, anyway!” Legend challenged, and Martyr made a small chuffing sound.
Idol flicked her useless wings back as Legend dove under the water.
“Everything is going to be so great outside!”
-
Legend’s neck snapped like a prey bone breaking in two, a noise that echoed within Martyr’s chest.
No.
Nononono-
A scream echoed across the arena, Idol’s claws reaching through the golden cage’s bars as the SandWing yelled for her sister.
Illustrious sat shocked, purple eyes fixed wide open and unable to look away from the dead. Dauntless’s head retreated into her talons. Gone was the SkyWing’s angry flame, replaced by the shock and horror of her sister’s end.
Dune’s jaw opened and closed, Htivir turned away, along with Webs. They knew defeat when they saw it.
There was no fixing that angle of her neck, the limp posture as the Champion stepped mutely away, leaving the body alone on the sand. The MudWing might have noticed the resigned look in her eyes had be been closer.
His blood pounded inside his ears as Martyr threw himself off of the pillar, a roar he couldn’t hear building in his chest.
The wing binds caught him.
Painfully.
Martyr could hardly feel the smallest bones in his wings creaking and snapping through the cold shock he felt, claws grasping for the SkyWing whomst had...had..
Asha.
Asha, who had cried for them to get away as she burned under the Queen’s flame.
Morrowseer, gone in the cave-in.
And now Legend.
The dragonets were not coming.
-
Months, days, weeks, years passed. Martyr didn’t even notice. It all felt a haze, really. The ends of his wing bones healed slowly, and always poked inwards at an angle. He didn’t feel like fixing them.
The arena was a hot constant of death. He would wake every morning to the smell of the bodies outside, being cremated under the fire. The MudWing would have surmised that Legend had gotten the same treatment, but he knew better. The crowd had a muted reaction to her death, and the queen had to really prove it.
Her body was hung by the neck outside the palace, like a gory banner. He could sometimes see it, a green spot in the blue sky.
Illustrious was the next to go.
The day was warm and bright, sun barely rising over the horizon as the NightWing was nervously thrown into the arena overhead. Scavengers, with small sticks in hand, were also released.
Martyr could barely get his hopes up.
The MudWing himself had been tossed in twice, once in place of Dauntless and another in Illy’s place. Both had ended in stalemates-Martyr had neither the stomach nor the anger to actually kill the poor SkyWings thrown in with him. So he had been placed in an iron pit, unable to see well into the arena.
Well enough, though, to see as the scavengers drew blood from Illustrious’s legs before he incinerated them with a fire breath.
Martyr smiled and allowed himself to hope, craning his head to look up at his brother through the bars.
“You’ve got this!” he called.
Illustrious clambered around his pit, distracted by his next enemy, “I-I don’t think-“
The IceWing the NightWing was staring at came hard and fast, smacking the dragonet down on top of the iron grid as they growled and wrestled.
That was, truthfully, for about three seconds, before the IceWing’s breath sprayed out of it’s mouth.
Martyr had to move to avoid it as Illustrious’s screams grew to a freezing point. His arms and half of his face were gone, the frozen limbs thumping into the sand near Martyr as they were snapped off with a tail swipe.
The IceWing was merciful as they slit his neck and vocal chords in the same slice, leaving little but a convulsing body robbed of lifeblood.
Martyr caught the last look of terror within his eye as Illy died.
-
Martyr sat on the seaside, the surf splashing over his talons as the few remaining of the dragonets of destiny watched the sunset.
Dune and Htivir slept in a small ball of each other. They seemed...unbothered by Web’s doom. Mostly, though, the adults seemed utterly tired.
Idol was still crying, though Dauntless did not.
Martyr had stopped crying over the losses after the first few. It seemed..too exhausting.
“Will you miss him?” the SkyWing said, sitting next to him.
“Of course.” he replied.
“I won’t...” she said staunchly, “He got what he deserved.”
“Death?” the MudWing asked plainly.
“I mean-yeah, pretty much. He deserted. If I was Ascidian than I would have done the same.”
“And if you were you?” he asked.
“I would have killed him earlier if I could have. I didn’t see him trying to help Asha.”
Asha, who Webs could have saved.
“It..doesn’t matter anymore, Dauntless. Lives don’t..trade. If I could have saved..” he trailed off.
“You would have. I know. But...we don’t have to lose anyone else.” Dauntless said, tone uncertain.
“Dragons still believe in us.” Martyr said staunchly, changing the topic, “We have to..save everyone. It’s in the prophecy, right? It didn’t say..that none of them passed away. We just have to...save everyone.” he said, convinced by his own words.
“Marty...what if we’re...not?” Dauntless asked, shooting a look at Idol.
“What do you mean?”
“What if..we can’t..save everyone. Morrowseer said..NightWings couldn’t just..die. But he did. And so did...”
“That wasn’t in the prophecy. It’s destined, Daun. We have to do this.” he stood up, resolute, with a smile, “How about we head to the RainWings?”
-
It was so easy for a dragon to be defenestrated. Dune fell, a tiny sandy dot, slamming into the forest floor with a squishy sound that Martyr knew that Idol could hear.
“DUNE!” she screeched.
“That’s what will happen to the rest of you if you don’t get the hell out of here right now. You’re not my tribe.” the RainWing queen said, anger in her eyes.
-
Hvitur couldn’t handle it. They found him in the morning.
-
Dauntless dropped out of the clouds, wings catching on the currents above the battle.
She screamed a battle cry, spying Sawtooth in the distance, ears pinning to the sides of her head as she dove-
A MudWing caught her first. Fire sprayed across her wings, before Martyr could get to her, and though an IceWing caught the MudWing with a breath of frost moments later, it didn’t help as Dauntless fell; fell, fell, to the ground, wings of fire burning away at her body until she hit the ground with a crack and didn’t get up.
Martyr had to restrain Idol as the SandWing tried to reach after her sister, turning on his tail and heading straight for the ground.
The grief set in days later as the two lived in a cave for a time.
“I can’t do this anymore,” Idol sobbed. Martyr could only wrap her in his wings more.
“Everyone, everyone I’ve ever loved is dead, except for you, Marty. I can’t-I can’t lose you.”
‘And I can’t lose you’ His brain whispered back. His littlest sister..no, he couldn’t lose her too .
He did.
Sawtooth screamed as she died, like any other dragon. The viper venom spread too fast to heal, too fast. By the time Martyr had set the snake on fire, his body was little more than a shriveled lump on the floor.
Saguaro was the last one standing.
“That was..easier than I thought it would be.” the SandWing mused, turning to look at Idol, crouched over the dragoness’s body.
“And you. Are you here to challenge me?” the pale SandWing drawled to the small hybrid.
“W-what?”
“Isn’t your name Idol? Rather-*Princess* Idol. For now.”
“What-no! I don’t want-no! We’re-we’re the dragonets of destiny! I-“
“Oh, stop your blabbing, would you? Yes, yes. My little mistake. I gave a certain Morrowseer your egg, didn’t I? Well, too bad that didn’t work out.” Saguaro simpered.
“You’re-wha-“
Saguaro moved too fast. Her tail lashed at Idol-
Only to be caught by Martyr’s claw, as the MudWing snarled and used his MudWing strength to snap the tail at a ninety degree angle.
Saguaro screamed in anger as she hissed, shooting a jet of flame that he blocked with his wing, jumping at the dragoness with mouth open.
Saguaro dove out of the way, hissing and snarling as Idol stood, frozen.
“Idol, go-“
Too late. She went left, than right, tail arcing for Martyr-then, she suddenly changed direction .
Her talons raked down Idol’s side, drawing so, so much blood, and when she was down, her claws split the young golden dragon from throat to tail.
Idol gurgled horribly for breath as Martyr snarled, roaring fire at Saguaro as he ran for his sister- and then, there was nothing but the heaviness of a dragonbite box over the head.
-
He woke up to screaming.
(1691 words)