Eternity of Pain (FINISHED)

Chapter 11: Abandoned Lexnar

SkyWind sleepily opened her eyes. Why is there forest vegetation all around her? Then she remembered what had happened the night before.

Ixtal had led them to one of the Fountains of Youth. He had explained this was the origin of every element except Legendary, Divine, Primal, Ancient, and perhaps time. After he explained, Ixtal led them to one of the tiny huts along the edge of Hydra's Claw. SkyWind remembered seeing EmeraldFlare and CoralCharge collapsing immediately on the leaf piles. She also remembered PoisonStream silently slithering to the crisscrossing beams overhead. Her body was draped over the long pieces of wood as PoisenStream laid her head on her talons. SkyWind remembered herself perching also on one of the beams.

That's probably why my body hurts so much.

SkyWind yawned, and a squeak came from her back. She twisted her head around to find a black and white cat with hints of red here and there. The red eyes were round, like the morning sun. The little Clawth opened its small white jaws, revealing little spikes where its teeth are growing.

"Hey, Solar," SkyWind whispered. She herself had no idea why she'd suddenly decided to name this wild creature and make it her pet but. . . well, but nothing.

I won't regret it.

"What Solar?" PoisonStream lifted her head just a tiny bit. Without her tiny legs, arms, and claws, she'd resemble a gigantic deathberry or belladonna snake. Those snakes were the biggest and most dangerous snakes in the world.

As SkyWind turned her head to the orange serpent, Solar scrambled up her neck, just to topple off her head right into her claws.

"Whoa," PoisonStream commented. "I think that several dozen tribes of the Clawths live in just the Hydnorum forest." The CyaniClaw arched her long snaky body and yawned, her gleaming white fangs visible in the moonlight.

SkyWind hesitated, wandering if she should ask the question that literally had been hanging on the very edge of her mind.

Well, hopefully I won't regret it.

"What happened with the prophecy that came from your poisonous tail?" The question was out before SkyWind could put any more thought into it.

PoisonStream slowly raised her bright orange head to meet SkyWind's eyes. Somehow, SkyWind could literally see the struggle in the Primal's eyes.

"It's. . . complicated. Several lifetimes of complications. You see, I'm the new Aur-" PoisonStream was cut off from answering by CoralCharge, who somehow managed to stick her head through the crisscrossing beams, and was now trying to push back out. That was an especially awkward moment, with CoralCharge stuck and with PoisonStream and SkyWind staring at the Primal. Then, CoralCharge fell backwards onto the floor of the wooden hut.

Somehow, while all of that is happening, the serpentine CyaniClaw has fallen asleep now. SkyWind sighed and lied down again, placing her talons on Solar, who seemed to be a cat version of PoisenStream. She placed her gaze on the dragon right in front of her.

She slithered back into the mountain. PoisonStream never liked the rain that much. It was wet, it was endless. . . She sighed as she shook herself, splaying water everywhere.

Well, at least I can pull myself together and visit the altar.

Again.

PoisonStream sighed and started to climb the tall mountain ledges, almost gliding from rock to rock, cliff to cliff. Her legs were able to fit into the tiny cracks, and her snaky body provided momentum that pushed her upward, again and again.

Finally, PoisonStream reached the altar. The cyan blue orb was . . .gone.

No, no, no . . . . NO!

PoisonStream stepped backwards, her entire body shaking with fear.

Where could it have gone?

Suddenly, shaking came from above. PoisenStream tilted her head up towards the ceiling, where unfamiliar voices spoke.

"Isn't the Primal energy that you sensed came from here?"

"Hey, it could be a mysterious rock or something?"

"Well, there's a cave below us, why don't we stay there until the storm passes?"

"Fine."

PoisonStream quickly dove to the top of the cave and opened her ruff while camouflaging her body against the hard rock. She watched as two dragons walked into the cave. One of them had a brilliant pair of red wings, with splats of orange here and there. The other one had a dark emerald green body. The wings were bursts of greenish fire.

"Wait."

PoisonStream froze as the coral colored dragon spoke.

"Isn't this the Altar of Lexnar?"

PoisonStream took a deep breath, then hissed in a whispery voice, "Of course it is." She watched with glee as the two Primals flinched.

"Oh, it's you." The tone surprised PoisonStream for a second. The coral dragon didn't seem bothered at all, which was totally weird, since the smaller green dragon was tugging on his tail so hard that he almost seemed to topple backward out of the cave at every heartbeat.

"You're the trail of bluish orange flames that everybody who flies near the Aurae mountain." the dragon tilted her head at PoisonStream. "My name's CoralCharge. That imp over there, that's EmeraldFlare."

"I'm not an imp!" EmeraldFlare hissed angrily at CoralCharge. The red dragon laughed and flicked her tail at the green dragon's nose. EmeraldFlare sneezed heavily.

"My name's . . . PoisonStream." How was she supposed to orient herself to the strange new dragons? The only dragon she'd met and even seen was herself and Chronos, who had long turned to stone.

"We're CyaniClaws." CoralCharge swung her tail from side to side carelessly, in contrast to EmeraldFlare's surprised and furious look.

"Hey! We're not supposed to say that to random people?"

"Seriously?" CoralCharge clawed the hard stone ground. "She is the CyaniClaw."

PoisonStream opened her mouth, but suddenly the world tore away from her.

. . .

SkyWind opened her wings to a very energetic Solar. She pondered what she had seen.

That explains part of it. . . but what else is left?