Stained in red

The Beginning Of The End

Every single Violet Soldier was snatched into the afterlife. None of them quick enough to scream, before darkness dragged their soul away. Only when the stretch of land was dead silent did Kassa slowly drag in her death magic. She left the fire to clear up the bodies and boil the blood until the snow had melted and all that was left was a black scorch mark. Behind her, Elise and Ferrum lay motionless on the cold ground. Their souls now in the stars. Sarkon knelt beside Elise, no tears rolled from his eyes but he flipped a blade in his hand. He silently cut a small Yellow line on his palm, small enough to heal easily, large enough to leave a scar.

Silence swarmed around me, it was still enough to allow me to hear my own heartbeat. The beat was quick and strong, it reminded me of Elise. Her heartbeat had now stopped, her white blood now still and cold. But no matter what colour blood we were, we were all the same. Yes we had differences, like personality and appearance. But we were all truly the same.

That was why I felt guilty. If I had hurt when Elise had... died, I couldn't even imagine these soldiers families. I stopped myself. They had killed my Mother, my father, my friend and her dragon. I shouldn't feel guilty.

I felt her before I heard the dragon, who landed behind me. I faced the White Dragon, and the name came to me: Aureus. It meant snowflake, in one of my Fathers secret tongues.

It definitely suited her, the way the snowflakes bounced around in her aura. "Aureus." I whispered, as I scratched the pearl scales under her jaw. She nodded. "What did I just do?" I asked her.

"The damn, right thing to do." His gruff voice echoed behind me.

"Sarkon." I laughed and hugged him. I felt stupid but I needed to hug him. "Is...she's gone. Isn't she?"

"Yeah."

"Like... dead?"

"Dead."

"I'm sorry."

"No need. It was the right thing to do, by the way. If you hadn't had killed them, they would have done so much worse." He paused. "How... did you?" He trailed off. "Your magic was so much less powerful last time... don't get me wrong it was bloody scary last time. But you need to keep an eye on it."

"I know. It's growing. And fast. Sarkon?"

"Yeah."

"I'm scared."

"I know." He lifted my head. "I am too. But we can find a way to control it, together. No matter how long it takes, we can learn to beat it. To not let it..." he trailed off again.

"Consume me, I know." I could feel it growing, the power inside me. It was scary but I felt stronger now, maybe it wouldn't consume me! Maybe... maybe it would consume the world instead...

"Sarkon."

"Yeah." He answered.

"I love you."

"I know that." Sarkon told me.

"I know."

"When the time comes, we'll go together. In the stars." At first I wondered why he said that. We had so much longer together. But maybe now we didn't, maybe now... it was the just the beginning. The beginning of the end.