Armageddon

Chapter 26: Dance of Dragons

"Your dragon was a disgrace to the race of Divinity Dragons. I have obliterated their existence with his death, and you will soon join him in the void; I will enjoy watching you vanish into nothing. Thor's powers, including his ability to resurrect, have been returned to me."

Selena used her only hand to move across the ethereal platform, crawling her way to Thor's body as she continued calling him, but all she could sense was darkness and emptiness. She ignored her limbs as her arms and legs began fading—she completely disregarded her imminent fate, for she would be with him before long.

She collapsed on his neck when she got close and sobbed into his hide. I'm sorry... I couldn't protect or save you. You promised me that you would always be with me. Please don't leave me. His eyes glazed by Death, Selena tilted her head back and released a blood-curdling scream through every fiber of her being. "NO!"

The Fallen Divine maintained his stoic demeanor and watched her surrender as she dropped her head, condemned and defeated. Just as Xyaxon reached forward, she closed her eyes, accepting her inevitable failure: she was ready to die.

Yet, a sparkling tune twinkled within her ears; her eyes fluttered open when she heard a familiar voice. "Selena? Is she okay?" It was Rahim's.

Another echoed within her subconscious. "I-I don't know." Niamh? "I hope she is. I hadn't seen her since Snowhaven before that monster, Medusa, controlled me. Rahim, I want to tell her how sorry I am for what I've done."

"It's not your fault. Selena will come back—she has to."

She struggled to lift her bruised head as a vision of Alfheim appeared before her; Rahim and Niamh stood among friends and foes, Dreygur and Nidhoggr, near where the portal once held, watching Xyaxon's baptism of fire spiderweb across the fragile heavens.

Fafnir wrapped himself around the two and asked, "Is this... the end?"

Niamh held tightly onto Rahim and cried into his shoulder, but he remained strong for her. "No, it can't be. Selena, if you can hear me, don't lose. If anyone can stop this, it's you. You always believed we could change the future—it all begins with you."

Her body wobbling and nearly broken, Selena forced herself to stand up upon seeing orbs of white light surrounding her, each one whispering her friends' wishes and prayers; they twinkled like the diamond stars adorning the eternal cosmos.

"What is this magic and madness? No, only I can change the future." Xyaxon sought after her again, but an invisible barrier protected her and her fallen dragon from the god's lunging hands.

"We like this world, and we want to keep it," Rahim continued, "sure, it can be scary not knowing what will happen, but that also makes life exciting. We want to live. If you can hear me, I'm praying for you and Thor."

"What? No!" Xyaxon reached out to grab the two floating orbs drifting downward but to no avail as they slipped through his fingers. One light touched Selena, and the other went to Thor's body. She felt power like a thousand suns flowing through her veins, and her eyes shimmered when her dragon's body glowed like the stars.

"We believe in you two," Niamh rallied behind him, "You and Rahim gave me the strength to live my life and make my own choices. I'm praying for you both." The pair absorbed a second light orb each, followed by a third when Fafnir joined with "please, save my handler."

A series of guttural shrieks broke through Xyaxon's panicked shrills: "S-save... my... f-flight, Divine... Ones." She saw a vision of Noctis and his flight bowing their heads; wings extended as they caught the shimmering glint of Divine's light.

Another familiar voice chimed in her ears, and Ebony knelt beside Lord Godfrey and Prince Damien, all three huddled in chant. "I'm glad I decided to heed your call, Your Majesty. You and Thor are the only ones who can end this darkness, and I will keep praying for you two."