Wings of Fire; The Assassin

Chapter 22

Bubble woke up in a cave, but it was not his sleeping cave. All that surrounded him was darkness. Just darkness and silence. It was kind of... peaceful. He started to walk down into the darkness, and he gripped around to make sure he didn't run into anything. He was walking through the darkness when he stumbled on something hard and heavy. He regretted looking down.

To his horror, he saw the limp, cold, bloody body of Artemis. Her neck was twisted in an unnatural way, and she had cuts lining her whole body, mangling her arms and tail. Her wings were shredded, softly flapping around, even though there was no breeze.

He crouched down and shook her, trying to wake her up. Tears started to fall as he continued to shake Artemis' shoulder and called her name, trying to wake her up. He gave up and continued to walk on trying to find some way out. He was walking for what seemed like days when he finally stumbled upon something that hurt his heart so much that he thought he was dead. Not that anyone would care if he was dead.

He saw the dead bodies of everyone from Jade Mountain Academy, all lying in a pile. He ran up to find anyone who could possibly be alive, but all he saw was the pool of blood around them getting bigger and deeper. Blues from IceWings to reds of everyone else. He came upon Diamondback's body and didn't even attempt to wake him up, he just walked by it.

He was walking by Diamondback's body when something grabbed his back left leg. He screamed and turned around to see what it was, and he saw Diamondback holding on. Diamondback was not alive, his eyes were rolled back which shows that he was dead beforehand, but the dead body held on and looked up to face Bubble.

He studied Diamondback, and noticed that his tail was being dragged behind him, but not like it was attached. It looked like it was half severed, and was dripping blood. There was a trail leading into the darkness. Bubble gagged at the sight and tried to back up, but Diamondback kept his grip.

"They're dead! They're ALL DEAD! Because of YOU! You could have saved them! You could have saved us!" Screamed Diamondback's dead body.

Diamondback screamed that over and over, and Bubble clutched his head, having a panic attack. He felt his heart drop to his stomach, and his gut twisted, hurting him and making him feel like barfing.

"No! No! NO! NO! Please! Leave me ALONE!" Bubble screamed. He struggled, trying to escape the grip of his climate, but he just couldn't seem to escape.

All of his friend's dead bodies followed, and all trapped Bubble. He pulled and tugged at his own limbs, but couldn't even move a little. He was stuck there, like a statue.

"Your fault!" all his friends' bodies shrieked, "your fault! Your fault!"

Bubble felt his strength and life starting to be sucked out of him. He felt colder and colder every second, and he felt empty. He accepted his fate. Bubble closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but then he heard something faint.

He heard his name, like a whisper, echoing off of the darkness. Bubble felt something touch his shoulder, but when he looked over, it was not one of the dead bodies. In fact, the bodies disappeared, and now he was just standing. The world around him started to fade, but not like he was dying. It was more like he was becoming more alive.

He jolted awake with someone shaking his shoulder and saying his name quietly. Bubble's heart was racing from the dream, but at least he was out of it.

"Bubble. Bubble! BUBBLE!" the dragon whispered to him.

He got out of his bed so fast that he felt lightheaded. Bubble looked over at the dragon who was shaking him, but all he could see were some stars. His SeaWing night vision finally kicked in and he saw the figure of a NightWing. He didn't know any NightWings personally, but then they shifted their tail, and he saw a venomous barb at the end of it.

"Artemis! What are you doing here!? It is the middle of the night, and I don't think students are allowed to roam about the school." Bubble said with concern and was blushing super hard. This was NOT the time to have these feelings. It was the middle of the night, and he had a mission to focus on. He could not get distracted!

Though it was dark, and his night vision was still a little dim, Bubble could tell Artemis was blushing too.

That's strange. Maybe... Maybe she feels the same way. No. Probably not.

"You are not going to tell anyone, are you? I don't want any trouble."

"Of course not. I trust that you have a reason, but still... why are you here?" Bubble pointed toward the ground, showing "here."

"I walked down the halls when I saw you having a nightmare," Artemis whispered, "can I explain somewhere else?"

Bubble nodded and followed Artemis out of the room, and they walked down the halls of the school.

This is kind of creepy. One of the most crowded halls in the school is now barren and empty. I hate this feeling of being watched, especially when I think I'm alone. At least I'm with Artemis, and I would change nothing to get rid of this moment.