Chapter 14: Confrontations
***Author's Note: I just want to say a quick thank you to everyone who is enjoying this series but the biggest thank you goes to my co-writer smegger_29 who helps to bring Cyrus alive.***
Kennice yawned and snuggled closer to Cyrus. Soon the dawn would come and their magical barrier would fall. Then they would be at the mercy of Erykia and Rhys. She stifled a shudder. She was going to pay dearly for this one moment of passion but she truly didn't care. She would die with a smile on her face for she and Cyrus had finally had their one true desire fulfilled.
Softly Cyrus sighed, his dreams once more dark and shrouded in the sleepy mists of someone calling to him. The clouds rolled with thunder overhead, the sounds punctuated with the leathery swoop of something huge and dangerous. Quietly he shifted in his sleep, his face frowning as another loud roll of thunder was heard overhead. The skies lighting up with lightning crawling along the belly of the dark skies like a petting hand across the abdomen of a loyal beast.
Erykia and Rhys came running out of the hut. They had spent most of the night trying to figure out how to separate the two lovers permanently. The sound of thunder had sent them both outside.
"Damn it! Wake the boy up!" Erykia roared, her eyes on the sky.
Kennice gaped at them but then shook Cyrus. "Wake up, Cyrus! Wake up!" she shouted.
Cyrus stirred a little but did not awaken, his face still contorting and frowning as his dreams continued. Deep inside his mind, the locks Brenna had put on his memories were being eroded away by the new intruder. The onyx stone necklace had begun to glow against his pale flesh.
High above, in the dark skies, a high-pitched roar reverberated across the landscape, more piercing than that of the usual dragons. The villagers looked to the skies to see what the trouble was and were rewarded with a brief view of a belly as black as pitch. Taloned claws glinted in the lightning, the reflection however seemed to be absorbed by the sheer darkness of the scales on the belly of this sky beast.
Kennice's eyes widened. "Cyrus, please! Evil is coming! We must fight!" she cried.
"Rhys, grab the staffs, now!" Erykia ordered.
Rhys ran into the hut and came out with three staffs. Each had a hollowed out top in the shape of z circle. Within the circle was a different stone. Rhys handed the staff with the ruby to Erykia.
"Kennice, out of the circle now," Erykia growled just as the first ray of dawn hit the magical barrier and it vanished.
Kennice scrambled to her feet and opened her hand. She stared in shock when her staff flew from Rhys to her.
There was a moment of stunned silence. "Um," Kennice stammered but quickly shut up when Erykia shot her a quelling glance.
"If you have to hit him with a blast, do so. But that boy needs to wake up."
"I understand high priestess," Kennice said meekly and ran to Cyrus' side and shook him hard.
In the skies, the great dark body of the beast dipped above and below the skyline, in slow widening circles. The clouds above began to twist around in a wide swirl, the lightning itself seeming to contort to the shape that was forming. Another roar was heard and the wind began to pick up around the village. The centre of the swirl was directly above Kennice and Cyrus now, the winds pivoting on them like a wild dog leashed to a post. As the sky beast moved with faster, stronger movements, the winds picked up, throwing up dirt and loose vegetation. It seemed, however, that around Kennice and Cyrus, there was perfect calm, the eye of the storm.
Cyrus stirred as Kennice shook him hard, his eyes cracking open slightly. For a moment they had become like black dark pools that matched the scales on the sky beast that was soaring above them. Softly, one word escaped his lips, "Kaie..."
"No! She holds no sway here, dragon rider!" Kennice said firmly. "Cast her out! This is not the way. You belong to Brenna."
Cyrus shuddered and gripped the stone as the roar sliced through to his very core, unlocking that which had been hidden from him. He tried in vain to make a coherent thought form in his mind, but the invader had a firm grip upon him, forcing him to witness the endless procession of memories before his eyes.
The wind grew stronger and several villagers, who had come to check on the high priestess, had to fight to keep themselves upright. Above them, a funnel cloud began to snake down towards them, threatening to engulf the platform.
Desperately in his mind Cyrus spoke the only thing he could keep a firm grasp on. ~Brenna!~ His breathing was harsh now as he struggled to sit up, his muscles refusing to do as they were told as he resisted. They seemed to only want to work if he cooperated with the intruder in his mind and watched what was being shown to him.
There was a rumbling roar and Brenna came streaking in from the east. ~Leave my rider be!~ she challenged.
Kennice's head whipped up and she smiled. With Brenna here they had a chance.
"What do we do?" Rhys yelled over the raging winds to Erykia as he gripped his staff tightly.
"We wait!" Erykia hollered back.
The dark beast suddenly dipped very low. It was bigger than Brenna, and looked much more dangerous. ~I am Kaie!~ she roared and headed straight for the village in full fury at being interrupted. Her massive jaws opened wide and with an angry rumble, a pillar of flame erupted from her jaws. The flames were spread around the village in a tall wall, controlled by he will. Kaie swooped once more high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds, lightning striking her scales and traveling across them. Her tone was deep and full of menace, jealousy and rage. ~He does not belong with you Sister! I have shown him the truth that you have kept hidden from him and I will do what you do not have the courage to do. I will bring justice to those who have violated the ancient draconian laws.~
Suddenly she swooped down, her eyes focused on Erykia. ~Time for you to find out what happens to those who torment the future ruler of this world.~
Erykia only smiled pleasantly before saying, "Now."
Kennice grasped her staff with both hands and her amethyst stone glowed brilliantly. A strong beam of purple light lashed out. At the same time a blast of red came from Erykia's ruby and then blue from the sapphire in Rhys' stone. The three beams hit the intruding dragon then spiraled out to form a cage around her.
Kaie roared once more and surged her wings down with powerful strokes, forcing herself backwards. She opened her snout, letting loose another pillar of white hot flames directly at Erykia, the air rumbling as the particles were incinerated in it's fiery path.
"No!" Kennice shouted and flung up her hand. The white-hot flames died before reaching Erykia.
Then Brenna was there, spewing forth her own flame at Kaie. ~Go away! You have no hold here!~
Kaie's strong wings thudded once more, rising out of the path of Brenna's flame and returning a shot of her own at Brenna. ~You always were too naive Sister, you have kept things secret from your rider but now he knows the truth and has let me inside. All thanks to you!~ Her eyes glowed brightly and Cyrus shook his head a moment and looked at Erykia, seeing his chance.
Moving from the table, he held his arm out beside him. He called forth his bass blade, which hummed and sparkled brightly. Kaie had shown him more than hidden memories. She had shown him how to combine his powers. The blade was thrumming with the power of his rave rage that was focused intently on Erykia as he advanced towards her. "You did underestimate me, Erykia." He slashed at the staff in her hands aiming for and connecting with the gemstone.
The resulting explosion flung everyone backwards. Rhys crashed into the door of the hut with Erykia landing on top of him, her staff burnt and broken.
Brenna lost altitude and plummeted toward the ground.
Kennice was flung the farthest and crashed hard into the trees. She let out a shriek of agony when a tree branch slid through her back and out the right side of her chest, just missing her right lung. The pain was instant and excruciating. She coughed and felt blood on her lips. "Oh Cyrus," she whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek as she slumped over.
"NO!" Rhys came to his feet even as his whole body glowed blue. "You have broken the draconic/druidic pact. Her pain shall be yours!" He held up both hands and blue energy snaked out and lassoed all of Kaie's limbs, her neck and then her muzzle.
Erykia was watching even as she used her powers to send a call through the earth to Bogart and Henry who had responded and were on the way with other dragons to assist.
Dark thunderous laughter was heard as Kaie's eyes shined with evil. Cyrus began to rise from the rubble he had been flung into. His mind had become a hurricane of rage as he advanced on Rhys. His own eyes were still black pools of malice. The air around him was vibrating with the force of his powers.
Cyrus raised his bass blade once more, pointing it at Rhys. As he spoke, his voice held the combined strength of Kaie who used his mouth to speak. "You naive mortal, I hold no pact with druid scum like you. You have no idea of the power you have given this rider by tormenting him so. Your stupidity has done nothing but fuel the fire of this man's rage. You have condemned the world to darkness and have left yourself wide open."
