Arcus story

Chapter 13: Death of a villain

Still into you - Paramore
Thus always to tyrants – The Oh Hellos

Arcus opened his eyes to find himself on a soft bed lined with cloud. Ignis was sat on the floor next to him with his head on the edge of the bed, sleeping soundly. The bags under his eyes showed this was the first time in awhile. Arcus didn’t dare wake him, instead he sat there studying his rounded features. His horns glowed faintly and soft puffs of smoke floated from his nose.
Arcus sat there for a moment before slowly standing up. His back stung as he stretched out his long body. It felt stiff, but surprisingly strong considering his condition. As quietly as he could, he snuck out the room.

He opened the door slowly and carefully made his way into the hall. Sidus was sat outside, half asleep. He moved towards her and gently put his nose to her forehead, waking her slightly. She looked up slowly, sleep prevalent in her expression.

”Arcus?” she asked sleepily.
”Hey little cousin” he purred.
She flung herself around him, squeezing him tightly.
”I thought I lost you again,” she whimpered.
”I’m not going anywhere,” he reassured her. A sob shook her body, and soon enough they were curled in a crying mess on the floor.

Ignis woke up a few hours later. He raised his wing to gently touch the dragon before him, only to find the empty bed. His eyes shot open and panic quickly overtook his movements. Gentle sparks flew from him as he looked around the room before bursting out the door.
Arcus was sat with Sidus, his uncle and the other two guardians in his uncles office. Nympha and Terra were sat next to him, and every once in a while one of them would reach out to him, as if checking he was still there.

It didn’t take long before Ignis burst through the door of the room. He froze as he met the purple eyes of the blue dragon. Arcus slowly stood up from his seat and walked towards the fire dragon.
Ignis lifted a clawed foot and gently touched his cheek, as if checking he was really there.
”Arcus?” his voice was barely even a whisper. Arcus closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, smiling brightly.
”I’m right here,” Arcus whispered, his voice cracking slightly.
Ignis wrapped his wings around him, hugging the air dragon tightly.
”I knew you’d come back to us,” they whimpered.
Arcus purred softly, the sound echoing into the room.
”I’ll always come back to you,” he whispered.
A voice called out to them, interrupting their moment.
”Alright lovebirds, get a room, would ya’?” Sidus chuckled.
”Sidus, leave them be,” Nimbus shot a grin look at her.
The rest of the table chuckled as Arcus curled up a bit, blushing brightly. Ignis on the other hand smiled confidently, sending them a smug look. He winked at the blue dragon, causing him to blush even brighter.

Eventually they sat down and continued the meeting. Nimbus updated Arcus on everything that had happened while he was unconscious.

”We’ve found signs of Venero down by the northern beach on the east coast an hour or two ago. He seemed to be injured, based on the trail he’s left behind. We’ve waited for you to wake up before deciding to go after him, as I’m sure you would love to join that patrol? They’re ready when you are,” Nimbus asked.
”Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go catch that killer,” he urged.

It wasn’t long before they arrived on the beach, landing softly on the sand. Ignis followed close behind him, with a group of guards following from both the air- and fire kingdom. Arcus eyes scaned the surroundings before motioning for the head guard to continue on.

”Last traces we found were right over here,” the guard explained as he walked on.
The sand before them had clear traces of a legless dragon.
”He must have fallen over over here,” Arcus commented, looking at an indent in the sand.
They reached the gras that met the sand andcontinued on.
”He couldn’t have gotten far,” one of the fire guards commented.
The head air guard shot him a glare and the fire guard met his gaze with a scowl.
They continued on before Arcus stopped. In front of him laid a little pool of black blood. Without alerting the others, he started racing forwards, following a trail of blood. Ignis was at his heels, not bothering to question him.

Eventually they ended up outside a small cave in a hill. The outside was decorated with herbs of all kinds. The trail led into the cave. Arcus slowly peered into it. The inside was filled with stone ledges, each holding a different kind of herb or plant. Though what caught his eyes was the body of the purple serpent-like dragon laid out on the ground. His entire back was charred, showing Ignis must have hit him with his fire.

Beside him laid a large black snake. It raised it’s head up, hissing at the intruders.
Then, it locked eyes with Arcus, and all of a sudden the hissing stopped. It slowly slithered towards him, it’s tongue flickering in the air. It moved closer and closer and soon enough it raised it’s long body up to meet his eyes. It stood at half Arcus height, yet it looked at him as if he was much, much smaller. The snakes eyes were purple, as if touched by Veneros venom. Arcus slowly bent down, and the snake softly touched it’s nose to his own.

”It’s your venom, isn’t it? Venero can’t produce his own venom, he’s an air dragon by birth,” Arcus asked slowly, realizing.
The snake touched his nose again before Arcus noticed a little cage made of vines in the corner of the cave.
”He kept you trapped here huh?” he looked sympathetically at the snake.
”He didsss,” the snake spoke with a strong accent, clearly not speaking his birth language.
Ignis attempted to walk into the cave, earning a hiss from the snake.
”Not youssss. I owe you nothingsss. Rainbowsss been hurt,” the snake hissed lowly.
”You- you can smell the venom in my blood?” he looked at the snake in shock.
”Yesss. Smellsss hurt. Not like himsss though, he deservesss pain,” the snake motioned to the dragon laid in the middle of the cave floor.
”You did that, you killed him?” Ignis asked.
”Yess,” the snake responded irritatedly.

Arcus slowly went over, looking at the once so powerful dragon. Despite everything that had happened, Arcus found no joy in the death of the enemy. He watched the empty black eyes of the purple dragon before slowly reaching out and closing his eyes with his tail.

”We’re done here,” he spoke void of emotion before turning back to the snake.
”Are you staying here?” he asked. The snake nodded.

”Guards, I’d like you to take care of this dragons body. Bury it outside and ensure you mark where. Every dragon deserves a place to rest after their journey ends, even the likes of him,” he spoke solemnly.