The Bright Future (COMPLETED)

The MoonWing

Darkstalker woke up with a jolt, sitting in a grassy meadow. He leaped to his feet immediately, hissing and spinning in a circle. Then he paused. No one was there. He turned in a full circle, slowly, but nothing was around him except for tall, waving grass. Not even a forest on the horizon. 

He had no clue what he was doing here; the last thing he remembered, Darkstalker had been sitting in his library, about to cast a spell. Panic was starting to seep into his thoughts, for once in his life, he felt completely helpless.

Wait... he squinted slightly. There was another dragon here. That little NightWing he had seen in his visions. She was standing there, on the other side of the field, looking bemused. Darkstalker made himself invisible with his magic, then thought of a spell. 

Not kill her... that would be too evil. Hmm... Evil. Maybe he could use that against her. But how?

Darkstalker snapped his claws. He knew the perfect spell. Darkstalker closed his eyes and sent his power underground, through the roots, and found the perfect vines...

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She was floating, floating high over the meadow, drifting lazily on her vast black wings, dappled here and there with silver and gold. She was very pleased that The Contradiction had happened again. She was very pleased that there were two more dragons here for her to play with.

She wondered how their fight would turn out.

Already, the large, ancient one was winning. She could see him using his magic to play with her mind. With each spell he cast, the young one was becoming mentally weaker and more unstable.

The MoonWing swooped down lower to watch it play out. The Darkstalker was making this drag out. The poor dragonet was becoming more unhinged by the second, more carefree and wild. 

The Watcher of Stars took to the air, laughing slightly, and the MoonWing decided it was time. She stretched her claws into the sky and tugged on the strings of the galaxy. She felt the moons move at her command and pulled all three high, high into the sky, blocking out the sun.

Both dragons were radiating confusion and uncertainty. She laughed her quiet, clever laugh and sent two gusts of wind blowing the dragons towards each other. 

Though they resisted, soon, the Watcher of Stars and the Darkstalker were standing several feet apart.

With another flick of her claws, the MoonWing made the Darkstalker visible again. "Your petty little illusion spells can be easily taken away," she called out, making them both jump. "Keep in mind, I will not accept any cowardice on my battlefield. Make this a real fight."

"You're one to talk!" shouted the Watcher of Stars back angrily. "We can't even see you!"

"That's because you're not looking," she chuckled.

She tilted the moons slightly so they could shine directly on her scales, revealing her body. She slowly allowed herself to drift down towards the ground, the moons shining above her like three spotlights, all pointed at her.

She came to a hover several feet above the ground. "I want you two to fight it out," she instructed in a commanding tone. "Only two rules on the battlefield: no cowardice, and no direct spells."

"What does that even mean?" cried the Watcher of Stars. "What is this--why am I--I want to go home!!"

"No cowardice means no running away, no turning invisible, and no teleporting. You'll get yourself killed if you try to teleport back to your dimension. And no direct spells mean... well, you can't just tell a rock for example, 'turn into a knife and go kill her'. Those don't work. Well, that's it! Time to fight, we don't have all night!"

They both stared at her with open jaws. "But--you--I--why are--how--do we h--"

"FIGHT, OR I WILL COME DOWN THERE AND TURN YOUR TAILS INTO VIPERS!"

The Darkstalker wasted no time. At the moment where the Watcher of Stars had been distracted, he had whirled around and sprang towards her. She yelped and darted away, throwing her wings over her face.

"Stop!" she cried, running towards the MoonWing. "I don't want to fight, please! You at least have to tell me your name or explain all this to me. I'm Starwatcher, in case you were w--"

"I know your name. I'm Goldenstorm, a MoonWing," she growled in reply. The gold and silver freckles on her snout seemed to glow in the moonlight. "And you are simply not allowed to stop, you will keep fighting until one falls, and the other is transported back to their realm."

"What do you mean, falls?" asked Starwatcher, her voice quivering. Darkstalker snorted.

"She means you die, DUH!" he said, rolling his eyes.

"Not exactly," explained Goldenstorm, dropping her threatening manner for a moment. "You will die, then you'll sort of... un-die. Then you'll become a MoonWing and join me here."

"Oh." Starwatcher stared at her feet. "I guess it's not that bad."

"It's not," agreed Goldenstorm. "Now get fighting, and I won't take any more pauses."

The two NightWings circled each other, and this time, they were both out to kill.