Dragon's Fire

by Bri Sailor

  “Sorry to disappoint.” She said hoarsely. “But it’s you who will meet your end.”

  “Ky watch out it’s a trap!” yelled Atreyis.

  The warrior staggered to her feet. Lusha rolled her head in the direction of the princess and looked her over.

  “Silence! Your turn will come soon enough!” she snapped her fingers and a gag appeared over her mouth. She rolled her head back to face Ky.

  “So, mighty warrior, do you think you can finish what you started? Or are you waiting for your prince and priestess to show up and rescue you once more?” she teased.

  Ky let out a low, feral growl.

  Lusha smiled evilly. “I thought as much.”

  She waved her arm and a sword appeared in Ky’s hand as well as her own.

  “Well?” taunted the witch. “Or don’t you trust me?”

  Ky twirled the sword in her hand and stared the witch down. Atreyis’ muffled yells were drowned out by the thunder. Rain started to fall steadily, the large drops clinking loudly on Ky’s and Atreyis’ armor. The warrior gripped her sword tightly and her gray eyes turned red once more. But something else happened. Her teeth sharpened into fangs and her hands transformed back into black claws. Adrenaline and anger pulsed through her veins. She let out a roar and charged at the strangely calm Lusha. Atreyis could do nothing but watch in horror. Rage had clouded Ky’s mind and her vision narrowed. All she could see was the witch. The princess thrashed around, desperately trying to get free. Ky threw herself at Lusha and the witch blocked her with ease. This only served to enrage the warrior further. They traded blow for blow. Each outdoing the thunder around them. Many across the battlefield on both sides paused a moment to witness the titanic battle on the hill. The witch seemed disinterested in her fight.

  “Fight me, bitch!” spat a furious Ky.

  The warrior attacked like a madman. Lusha continued to fend her off with ease. Ky backed off a moment to catch her breath. Lusha remained motionless as she patiently waited for the warrior to continue her relentless attacks. Atreyis struggled against her confinements.

  “Haven’t you figured it out yet?” shouted Lusha. “You mortals can be so boring. You’re still trying to figure me out, aren’t you? Save yourself the effort. Since we last met, my Lord has graciously bestowed a gift to me. My powers are now beyond anything you could possibly imagine!”

  She laughed. “You might as well kneel now and humble yourself as an offered sacrifice in my name. Or forever live on, cursed, as a broken spirit, a withering mass, a shell, a shade of your former self.”

  Ky gripped her sword tightly. Atreyis prayed that the warrior’s pride wouldn’t be her downfall.

  Lusha tried to bait the warrior some more. “What’s the matter, General? Giving up? And so soon. I thought for sure you would put up a better fight this time around. What would your father say if he could see you now? What about your grandmother?”

  Ky growled like a lion and bared her teeth. Lusha laughed.

  “Ah, did I find a sore spot? Yes, your father. How disappointed he would be in you. Did you know that it was I who enchanted that bear? That it was I who cast my spell over your uncle and had him murder his own brother? No? I’ll never forget how he begged for his life at the end. How he pleaded that no harm come to you or your mother. I’ll never forget how those fiery eyes lost their spark as fear filled them and life drained away. It was the same look your grandmother had when I discovered her, when the poison took effect. If only I had known back then that it wasn’t Nya that I should have been after, but you. I could have saved myself so much trouble.”

  Ky froze. For years she thought that her grandmother had died in her sleep while she had been out to the market. The warrior remembered the raw pain of coming home and finding her grandmother’s lifeless body lying in her bed. She could feel the sorrow, the loneliness creeping back into her soul. A single hot tear trickled down her mud covered cheek. She started to shake with anger.

  Lusha smiled, her solid black eyes still devoid of life. “How does it feel, warrior, to know that the one person responsible for all of the death and misery in your life, is standing before you. And you can’t even lay a finger on me. You can’t even come close to dealing your own justice. How does it feel to have all the power that you possess, and it is nothing? How does it feel to know what true power is?”

  Atreyis watched helplessly as it happened, the world seemed to slow. Lusha laughed and Ky snapped. She charged like a madman with nothing to lose. They resumed their deadly dance. Lusha mocked the warrior as she blocked and evaded her every blow. Ky’s form began to falter. The witch saw her chance and knocked the sword from her hands. It spun in the air and landed perfectly in the ground with the handle pointing skyward. She kicked the warrior’s legs and Ky landed on her knees, with Lusha’s sword at her neck.

  “I had hoped more from you.” Sighed Lusha.

  She stood behind the warrior, grabbed her hair and wrenched her head back, exposing her throat. She pressed the blade into her skin. Atreyis felt the blood drain from her body as she fell helplessly to her knees in the slick mud. Tears streamed down her face. Her pleas for the warrior’s life came silently. Below, the Black Army was slowly being destroyed.

  Ky managed a laugh. “It seems your precious army is about to be decimated, witch. You may have me within your grasp, but tell me, how does it feel to watch everything that you had built crumble before your very eyes? Whatever happens here today, we will never stop until the last of you and your followers, everything, is wiped from existence.”

  The warrior laughed. Lusha laughed as well. She quickly removed the blade from Ky’s neck and rammed the hilt of her sword into the warrior’s head. Ky slumped over and crumpled to the ground. Her eyes, teeth, and hands returned to normal. She was deathly still. Lusha stopped laughing and kicked the warrior over onto her back. Blood trickled steadily from her head wound. The witch remained emotionless. She looked over at Atreyis who had turned white as a sheet. The possessed woman took slow steps towards the captive princess.

  “Your turn.” She smiled demonically. “I want to relish in her pain.”

  Atreyis thrashed around like a wild animal. She watched in fear as her death walked slowly towards her.

  “Too long I have waited for this moment.” Said Lusha softly.

  She grabbed the princess by the throat and lifted her off the ground, the gag disappearing. Atreyis coughed and sputtered. She tried to kick Lusha but couldn’t seem to hit her. Flashes of memories back in the woods all those months ago when the witch had first squeezed the life out of her. Tears streamed down her face. This was it, she knew it. Lusha continued to tighten her grip. A few feet away the warrior groaned back to life. She slowly rolled herself over and looked to the witch and the princess. Her vision was blurry but she could just make out the form of Lusha holding Atreyis off the ground. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head. Her vision slowly returned. She stood up and staggered towards the witch. Lusha heard the clanking of amour behind her. She loosened her grip and looked to the warrior.

  “You just don’t know when to die, do you?” she said annoyed.

  “Ky…” croaked the princess. “…run…”

  The warrior finally came to her senses. Seeing the princess having the life choked out of her got her adrenaline pumping. Her eyes glowed red, but her head was still swimming. She waivered back and forth.

  “Lusha!” she yelled.

  The witch smiled. She held out her hand and a dagger magically appeared in it. She held on tightly to the wickedly curved blade.

  “You lose.” She hissed.

  “Ky!” screamed Atreyis.

  The warrior ran at the witch. Lusha’s eyes suddenly glowed pure white and she smiled. In one swift motion she ripped off the princess’ breastplate and drove the dagger deep into Atreyis’ abdomen. The princess’ eyes went wide and stopped glowing blue. Ky fell to her knees, everything drained out of her. The witch laughed and pulled the dagger out slowly. The princess�
� blood poured on the ground and the witch dropped her lifeless body with a sickening thud as the magical chains that had held her disappeared into the air. Blood poured out of her mouth as she coughed and sputtered and choked.

  “Ky—”

  Atreyis’ eyes closed and she didn’t move. Lusha’s mouth dripped with venom. Her eyes were wild.

  “One down…” the dagger disappeared from her hand as she turned to the incapacitated warrior. “…one to go…”

  Ky just stared at the lifeless body of the princess. Her whole world came to a crashing halt. The sounds of the battle faded into silence and her vision tunneled. Time stopped completely. The only thing she could see was the princess. She felt all the love she had ever known drain from her soul. Emptiness. Nothing but pure emptiness remained. Hot tears filled her eyes. Her soul felt like it had been ripped in half. She couldn’t even feel her own heartbeat anymore. Gone. Nothing but a void. A vacuum that was sucking the very breath from her lungs. She fell on her hands and bowed her head as hot tears streamed down her face. Her cries only made the witch smile more. The warrior cried so hard she thought her eyes would turn inside out from the pressure. She let out a guttural scream.

  “NOOOOOOOOO!”

  The sounds of her screams rang out across the battlefield. Heads turned.

  “ATREYIS!”

  The rain stopped suddenly and the daytime sky turned black as night. The fighting came to an abrupt stop. Soldiers on both sides turned towards the hill. Frozen in place by the sounds of pure agony and loss. The wind stood still. Lusha relished every moment of the warrior’s pain. Cora suddenly grabbed her chest and fell to a knee. Ehren was nearby and ran over.

  “Cora! What’s wrong? What was that?” he held her tight with worry.

  The priestess gasped. “It’s Atreyis!”

  “What?”

  “The witch.” Gasped Cora. “She’s…”

  Before she could finish another blood-curdling screech blanketed the battlefield. Some of the Black Army soldiers started to run away.

  “What’s wrong Cora? What was that?” asked Ehren breathlessly.

  Fear and grief filled the priestess’ eyes as tears streamed down her dirty face.

  “Death.” She whispered ominously.

  Ky slowly staggered to her feet. White-hot anger flowed through her veins. She looked up at the witch. The tattoos that raced across her body were glowing gold. Her glowing eyes had dimmed and changed completely. They were lizard-like and gold. Her teeth were sharp and dripping. Not only had her hands changed to claws but scales now covered her arms all the way up to her neck. In one swift motion she ripped off her armored chest plate with ease. Her chest heaved with every breath. She felt nothing but fury and rage, murderous rage.

  “Now isn’t this something.” Lusha said with awe. “You’ve been holding out on me, haven’t you?”

  “Lusha!” Ky roared louder than the thunder.

  The witch narrowed her eyes. “Well? Are you going to avenge your little bitch or not? Maybe I should skin her and keep it as a trophy.”

  The witch laughed evilly. Something primal snapped inside Ky. She gave in to her animal instincts. She could feel the heat rising in her belly. An earsplitting, unearthly feral roar shook the earth. More soldiers ran away in fear. Ky could feel the heat rising to her throat. Her skin felt too tight and she thrashed around, tearing at her flesh. Lusha’s smile faded as the warrior started to change before her very eyes. The warrior grew taller and her arms and legs turned more muscular and elongated. Iridescent black scales started to cover her body. She let out another roar and hunched over. Two large bulges formed over her shoulder blades and started to grow. They slowly started to turn into small wings. An otherworldly glow surrounded her. The light allowed everyone to see what was truly happening on the hill despite the darkness. Toran felt all the blood drain from his head. Tears flowed down Arainya’s face. Ehren held Cora close. The priestess simply wept.

  “There’s no way we can defeat the witch…she’s not even human.” Stammered the prince.

  “That’s not Lusha.” Cried Cora.

  He looked at her with questioning eyes.

  “It’s Ky!” she yelled. “Atreyis is dead!”

  Ehren felt the life drain from him as he looked to the hill.

  “No!” he gasped breathlessly.

  The monster they were seeing transform before their eyes was Ky. Her soul rendered in two by grief. Lusha gathered her strength and started to transform herself as well, the sickly white scales started to cover her body. She never thought that the warrior was capable of such a thing. It seemed she would have to release her true power in order to prevent Ky from fully transforming. This change truly terrified her. Ky was the living, breathing, true weapon that the prophecies spoke of. The witch’s hands turned into claws, but her transformation was cut short. Ky let out another feral roar. The fierce heat in her belly bubbled up and flames spewed from her mouth. Lusha dived out of the way. Ky took another breath and unleashed her hellish fury at the witch. Flames lit up the dark sky and set the hillside on fire. Lusha crouched and let out a feral hiss. Ky let out a final roar and charged straight for her. All of the fear, all of the rage, all of the grief consumed her. Her rational mind gave way and let the black-out fury take over. She lunged at the witch with her claws extended. The witch suddenly turned into a black blur and Ky came to an immediate stop. The fury drained from her eyes and she changed back into her human form and dropped to her knees. The witch stood in front of her with a bloody claw. Her face was completely emotionless and her eyes had returned to being completely black. She licked the blood from her claws. Ky gasped for air. She looked down and watched the hot blood pour from a gaping hole in her chest. She fell forward onto the blood-soaked ground. Her eyes were fixed on the princess and her arm outstretched. Blood trickled from her mouth.

  “Atreyis—” she gasped one last time.

  The warrior was still. Her lifeless eyes still watching the lifeless princess. Lusha let out a demonic laugh that echoed across the battlefield, striking fear into everyone’s hearts.

  Cora’s voice shook. “They’re dead.”

  “Atreyis…Ky…” cried the priestess.

  “Goddess help us all.” Breathed Kova.

  Lusha turned to the armies and spoke in a loud voice that covered the entire battlefield.

  “Do you see it now? Do you see who the true god of this world is? Ailana has forsaken you! And now, your precious weapons against me now lie dead! Their spilled blood now soaking the earth! I am the only God that remains. And now all the world shall know my wrath!”

  The earth began to shake violently and a giant crack opened in the ground. Lusha laughed as the world thundered around them. Black mist poured from her mouth and surrounded her. Lightning crashed all around. The witch disappeared into the black and the mist flew away into the sky. She was gone. With her final seconds of life Ky watched as the black sky turned blue once more and the sun shone brightly on Atreyis’ beautiful face that was now white with death. A final tear fell down the warrior’s face.

  Forgive me.

  All of the pain left the warrior’s body and she no longer felt cold. With her final breath she allowed the darkness to take her. Off in the distance birds could be heard singing. The Black Army had fallen to their knees in surrender, but no one moved. Time stopped as the brilliant warm rays of the sun beat down on the still bodies of the warrior and the princess.

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