Clear Skies

Chapter 18: Orichalcum

Leaving the hideout meant approaching the dark, eastern horizon, where faint stars were fading into view. The sunset warmed my back as I hunched over my runner and raced towards Martha's cottage. The surefire empty streets allowed me to take corners sharp.

A hum rumbled my thoughts. The Crimson Dragon said, I am happy to see you determined, young dragon.

A smile graced my lips as I raced through the lengthy barterer's street. I dodged a pothole. "Wow. You? Happy? Never thought I'd see the day."

More. I'm proud.

"...Of me? Have you met me?"

Young dragon. The strongest of wills is required to deny your feelings and refuse to become a Dark Signer alongside him.

I thought, Well, I, uh, didn't exactly deny them. I mean, I-

We do not speak of that part.

Yes. Right. Sure! No talking. About. That. You're, um, being nicer than I expected after what I just did.

His gentle growl was like a purr. You have withstood such pain on my behalf, yet still you fight for my Signers. I truly feel like a part of you.

You mean our Signers.

The young dragon rises! roared the Crimson Dragon. The encouragement extended my smile. I jerked the handlebars towards the road that'd swing by the sorry excuse for a forest.

A man posted up in the middle of the boulevard. I turn-braked an inch from him. He hadn't moved. I yanked my helmet off and yelled, "What's the big idea? Standing still in the middle of a street is a good way to get-"

Air hissed in through my teeth. Black filled the outside of the man's ice-blue irises. My hackles rose. The red designing his dark robes like veins, his wisps of white hair, the scarlet marks on the dark skin of his face - he was the same person who'd shown me my stage and runner months ago. The dark mark of the Spider glowed on his forearm.

"You," I breathed. "You sent that woman to kill me. I know you're a Dark Signer! What's your angle? Why did you help me way back when?"

"Your aggression grows," he said. His grin raced chills down my spine. "Excellent. I have a gift for you, Soul Reaper."

I hopped off my runner and took a defensive stance. "I don't want any of your 'gifts.' You're nothing but an enemy to me."

The Dark Signer reached into the folds of his cloak and produced a small, glass ornament in the shape of a tarantula. A violet glow like flames of a dark glyph swirled within its confines. "Not even a memory?"

"Y-you know about my memories?"

The object's shine reflected off his black eyes. He boasted it in his palms like a trophy. "They're all right here. You're not quite ready for them yet, but I feel it's only fair to give you a taste."

A drop of gleaming, lavender liquid rolled down the glass tarantula's leg. The drop splatted against the broken, dirty concrete. A sickly-sweet scent drifted up from the liquid. My eyes rolled back in my head; darkness enveloped me.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Claws clinked against obsidian tiles. I marched through the front gates of an extravagant castle. Growls rumbled from my flanks. Two beasts covered in golden-brown fur walked on all fours at my sides. The sparse firelight in the abandoned halls caught in their beady black eyes.