Rainbows In The Dark

Chapter 9

Silver

It had been about a month now, and Silver had the nightmare every night.

The same nightmare. Every. Night.

There was fire all around him, and in his small clearing was a pool of blood that would slowly burn and close in on him.

But whenever the fire got near him a voice would call him but he could never remember what they said when he woke up.

Silver woke up in a sweat. No matter how many times he had it, it always unnerved him. Pronghorn was sitting by the barred window in the cave, the sun glowing on his dark yellow scales.

"Ah, Silver, how are you doing?" He asked.

Silver stood up slowly. "Not that well." He said, stretching his wings.

"Another nightmare?" Mana asked, she was one of the other 13 prisoners in the cell.

"Yeah. I don't really understand them, I wish my powers were working." Silver sighed and leaned against the wall.

Torchlight reflected off of the tunnel, attracting the prisoners' attention.

Two guards stepped forward, one a Nightwing,  the other a Sandwing, who was carrying the torch.

The Sandwing unlocked the cage and walked over to Silver. She put shackles on his talons and grabbed his right horn.

"Hey! Be gentle will you? This is degrading enough!" He protested.

The guard dragged him out and threw him out of the cave as her colleague locked the barred door up. "Move it." The Sandwing snapped.

"Alright, alright." Silver said, moving forward with his chin high.

The Nightwing rolled his eyes and took the lead, letting the other guard stand behind them.

"Only two guards?" Silver thought. "There are usually three or four when they come by."

They passed the test chamber and continued down the hall until the Nightwing guard opened a gate. An empty ballroom came into view as they pushed him forward and into a corridor that went up a flight of stairs.

The guards stopped when they came into a fancy hall with six doors. They stopped at the second to the right with a look of uncertainty on their faces.

"O-okay, in you go." The Nightwing said.

"You aren't gonna open it?" Silver asked. The guards took a step back and he shrugged before fumbling the door open with his shackled talons.

The guards closed the door and scrambled away. Silver frowned before turning away from the door.

He froze, his heart pounded and every ounce of adrenaline rushed into Silver's body.

A hybrid was standing on the balcony beside a small table, his head facing the sky. His blood-red tail and white underbelly standing out against the blue and green outside.

Squall chuckled. "Silver, it's nice to see you again."

Silver took a step back. "A-aren't you dead?"

"You would think so, wouldn't you?" Squall turned around and Silver bit back a gasp.

On his face was a type of mask, with two fire-orange lines in it. The metal of it was planted onto his face, with the bottom corners attached to the horns on the rear of his jawline.

"Surprised?" Squall asked. "And yes, I can see you. Come, sit over here."

Silver hesitated but sat down beside Squall on the balcony. "Why are you acting so weird?" He asked.

Squall picked up a metal cup from the table in between them. "Silver. You must understand, I chose you as my rival. We faced off and I lost. I am satisfied with how it turned out and I'm turning my life around. Is that so wrong?"

"By kidnapping random dragons?" Silver looked at him sideways.

Squall chuckled and took a quiet sip of his drink. "Actually, I'm here to take down what's happening. This organization goes by the name of the Association of Relative Supervillain Evil."

Silver looked out at a far away mountain. "Their name is... A.R.S.E.?"

"Yes." Squall sighed.

"So, how are you not dead?" Silver asked.

Squall laughed quietly. "After you hit me in the eyes I only had one choice if I wanted to live."

Silver's eyes widened. "You mean you-"

"Yes, I gouged out my eyes." Squall said. "After that I just flew, I sometimes landed but I didn't know where." Squall looked down at the forestation covering the ruined city. "Eventually I got this visor and was recruited for this stupid organization. But I have a real reason to live now and I'm going to bring this all down."

Silver rolled his shoulder. "Tell me, how can I trust you? You tried to kill me and my friends. Not to mention what you did to Gol-"

Squall seized his throat. "Don't you dare talk to me about her!" He snarled.

Silver flinched.

Squall let go of him and took a deep breath. "You don't need to trust me. But I'm not the same dragon I was three years ago. I want to use my skills to destroy the foul dragons who run this place, and with the only one I consider my equal, I believe I can do that." The lines in his visor seemed to glow like the fire in Silver's dream. "Tell me Silver, will you join me?" He asked.

Silver closed his eyes. "Yes."