Eternity of Pain (FINISHED)

Chapter 10: The Fiery Terror

 ShineSwift woke up to a dazzling scene. The light was way too bright. The heat was at a melting point. Golden lava flowed all around her, their ruby color shifting slowly. The ground was burned black, with every blade of grass and flower had been reduced to ashes.

ShineSwift scrambled up and folded her wings close, unsure of where to fly. The smoke was choking her with its shadowy gray puffs and clouds.

Just fly. Just fly out of it.

She took a shallow breath, and flew into the ash covered sky. For a second, her wings refused to lift her up into the sky. Terror seized her as strong as a claw over a plump mouse. Suddenly, ShineSwift's wings thrust out and over, throwing her up above the ash clouds.

The sun was gone. A black shape covered it, barely letting any dying rays travel down and away. Only a dark, blood red disk remained. The stars were burning out, flashing in one last desperate moment.

Suddenly, ShineSwift's wings failed her. She fell through the clouds, and right into the bright red glow of death.

Which also meant that ShineSwift woke up screaming for absolutely no reason on several thousand billion dollars of rubies and whatnot and scaring Lunar out of her skin.

You idiot.

ShineSwift groaned and shifted her wings. Why does it still feel as if she had breathed several tons of ash? She pushed herself up, and flicked her tail over to where the cat was standing, Lunar's fur and tail still fluffed out. Lunar stepped cautiously forward, her nose up in the air. Gradually, she walked over to ShineSwift and somehow made a "worp" noise.

ShineSwift sighed softly, and walked over to the battle collage. The colorful dragon still reminded her of something, but she can't pinpoint it down. Kind of like an echo of something many years ago.

Then she remembered the dream she had long ago, of trapped in the caves of endless lava and terror.

That's it.

The dragon in the picture was the same dragon that had walked these caves long ago. The lava had changed into jewels of brilliant suns. The rocks have long cooled down, but their symbolic midnight black has remained.

But where did the blue come from?

Suddenly, Lunar leapt up, eyes alert. ShineSwift froze herself, trying to locate the scratching sound in the amber cave.

I thought we were alone.

Suddenly, claws tackled her from behind. ShineSwift could hear Lunar's yelp as she whirled around to meet her attacker.

Damn it.

A FireTail.

ShineSwift searched her head back to when she and StarFire were paired for fighting in FireTail techniques. ShineSwift took a deep breath, and threw herself at the attacker, claws whirling as she met her opponent head on.

Suddenly, the attacker paused, as if unsure what he was meeting. There, ShineSwift took the chance. She twirled on one claw, and flashed her bright cyan feathers. Though Magma always scoffed at her unconventional battle strategies, no dragon can doubt that this was very effective.

Suddenly the gray dragon spun on his tail, releasing clouds of smoke that choked ShineSwift and blocked her light. ShineSwift was put on the defensive as she slashed her claws furiously at every single bit of sound.

A pained mew flashed through the swallowing darkness. ShineSwift's blood turned to ice. Lunar!

She whirled around and faced the seemingly empty space. ShineSwift bared her teeth at the ash and smoke. "Show yourself already! Are you a coward that hides in the shadows and is afraid to show their true nature?"

"This is my true nature," a deep and commanding voice echoed through the amber cave. "But alright. Please don't mind that your attacker is a smoky being."

The smoke slowly ebbed away, leaving a gray creature floating around one of the towers of amber. When he flicked his tail, a plume of smoke puffed out.

"My name is GrayWind," he introduced.

"Not very good at attacking," ShineSwift muttered. She scanned her surroundings until she spotted Lunar. The little creature was hiding behind a fat garnet tower, her tiny body pressed to the ground.

"Sadely, I'll have to take you to the FireTail palace," GrayWind rumbled. "It would be easiest if you don't struggle. You can take the Clawth along with you, if that'll calm the jitters out of you." He reached out and picked up Lunar.

ShineSwift stared at her claws for a long, endless moment.

What hell of trouble did you get yourself into?

Wait. . .

"Wait," ShineSwift flicked the FireTail's wing. GrayWind turned around and stared at her.

"Are we in FireTail territory?"

"Of course we are. Why would I be here if not?" ShineSwift could hear the amusement in the gray dragon's reply.

"Last question." That question has been stuck in her head since the moment ShineSwift arrived at the cave. In the fury of the short battle, it floated out of her head, but now. . .

"Where are we exactly in FireTail territory?"

GrayWind threw his head back and laughed, though it was more like a hacking cough. He threw ShineSwift the answer that she was expecting. . .

. . . but makes complete sense when you look at it the right way. . .

"We're in the SunFire caves."