Songbird, Book 1: Sun's Arrival

Chapter 22

Most of Thunder Strike's army had gone into hiding. Tia wanted to see what would happen. "No!" Zea had declared defiantly. "I lost one sister, and that was the worst experience ever! I don't want to lose both!" Thunder Strike had sighed. "Well, I don't want Horizon to die!" She had said. Zea just shook his head. "WATCHING her die won't help, Thunder Strike!" Tia had flown off, before Zea could convince her otherwise.

Wind was buffeting the two's wings. They were facing each other off, staring as if just the power of their emotions could shatter the world. Nightmare growled. "Are you sure?" He asked Horizon. Horizon nodded. "No time better than this, am I right?" She laughed. A sad, last kind of laugh. "Well then let's do it. I will fight until the tiniest fragment of my scales are demolished. I won't let you. Never." What are they going to do!? Thunder Strike wondered impatiently. Horizon crouched, then flew down to a clearing below the cliff. Nightmare followed. A sudden realization hit Tia like a boulder slamming into an ant. They're going to use their true forms! Tia thought, humming with panic. If I don't get out, I'm going to get-

Fshhhhhhhhh BOOM!!!

Trees flew everywhere. A pulsing, radiating light came from below. The wind was even stronger now. Thunder Strike risked a glance over the edge, and nearly got blinded. There they were, Horizon and Nightmare, on the ground. Though it didn't seem like they were on the ground. The two were so large, that even the tallest trees looked like a mouse next to them. There were so many mini explosions that the air felt hot, like it could roast a chicken alive. Their heads towered over the cliff and their voices echoed off the mountaintops when they spoke. "Now are you happy? To finally die?" Nightmare spoke. His voice was his own, but had a second, lower, bellowing and deeper tone to it as well. Horizon's was the same. They argued for a little while, and then Nightmare sank his claws into Horizon's wings. Horizon screeched, a deafening sound that probably could be carried out across all the seas in the world. Tia had to cover her ears quickly so the sound wouldn't kill her. Horizon swerved in a giant ark, flattening thousands of trees with her tail. She retaliated, striking Nightmare's back ankle. Nightmare howled, and flew into the sky, diving down toward Horizon, creating a giant shockwave that sent Tia stumbling back a couple inches. She yelped as he toppled onto her, his weight driving her down and forming a crater in the ground. This went on for a long time, and by the end of it, they were both panting, the entire land around them destroyed.

Serpent, Nebula, Luna, and Starhidorah quickly ran up to where Thunder Strike was hiding. They tried to grab her, ushering her back to the valley, but Tia only pushed them away, wanting to see more. Horizon took a breath, held it, and roared, louder than anything in the world. Thunder Strike covered Nebula's ears, and everyone held their own as well. Only Luna stared in horror at the two dragons, unable to speak. The sound washed over them and Luna began to shriek. The shriek was like nothing Tia had ever heard. It was like bones slowly being ripped out of your body, your soul smashing itself against a wall. The shriek lasted for ten seconds, then Luna collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. Serpent gasped when she saw Luna's body lying there motionless on the ground. The group started to drag Luna back to the valley. Thunder Strike stayed put. Horizon had not only roared, but had sent a shining blast at Nightmare. Tia watched the fireball sail past her, feeling the immense heat radiating from it. Then she watched it slam into Nightmare.

An explosion.

A nuclear fuse

Something that tore apart the world.

Thunder Strike leaped back, but not fast enough. The shockwaves passed over her, and she slammed into a tree. The tree also fell back, its roots now in the air. Tia slowly got up, fighting the heat and energy that zapped through the cliff. When the fire and smoke cleared, Thunder Strike saw Nightmare on one of the meadows, breathing heavily. She looked over. Horizon was also on the ground, burns lashed angrily along her entire body. Blood dripped out of her mouth. Her true form, the giant one, began to flicker in and out, fading and glowing brightly, on and off, on and off. Then Nightmare sat up, dragged himself to Horizon's body and stood up, staring down at the scarred dragon with merciless fury.

Without a word, He lifted his claws, and plunged them straight into Horizon's stomach. She screeched again, long and agonizing. Her roars coating every square inch of space in this world. Nightmare dug around in Horizon's guts, and cut a line from her chest, all the way down to her belly. Blinding light poured out of her body, and her form began flickering again. It gave one last try, and started shrinking. It shrank into a small, white dragon. She was on the floor, covered in blood.

Thunder Strike looked away, and she began to cry. Silent sobs in the quiet stillness of the afternoon. Nightmare also shrank, and collapsed to the ground. He lay there for about ten minutes breathing shallowly, then stood up and raced over to where Tia was standing. He grabbed her by the neck. "Look who's next." He said in a raspy voice, and soared up, into the sky.

Thunder Strike was carried through the atmosphere, up above the clouds, to where it was very, very cold. It took a VERY long time, despite how fast Nightmare could travel. Tia bet that Nightmare knew they could both survive in low air conditions, so she wasn't sure why Nightmare had brought her up here.

Nightmare hissed. "You are the cause of all this. One more dragon dead versus hundreds more in this war. I shall rip your wings off and send you on a very fun ride." Thunder Strike tensed. Am I going to fall, incapable of flying? All that way down? She scrunched her eyes shut, shivering. Nightmare grinned, a deep, ominous grin. "Yes. I see you quivering. And no one will know until they find your broken body." Nightmare scowled.

Then a faraway voice said, "Tia!" Then another voice, and another, and then another! All my friends are here! Moon, Star, Nebula, Serpent, everyone else and... Sunfyre! Thunder Strike smiled, then remembered that if they reached her in time, before she was dropped, Nightmare would surely kill them, too. They're not going to be able to help. I will do this part by myself. She gathered the courage, and the clouds around Nightmare and Tia began turning gray. Thunder rumbled. Yes! Thunder Strike triumphed. Lightning crackled, all coming toward Tia. She raised her talons, and more lightning came down on them. While Nightmare was distracted, Tia opened, her mouth,

And let out a storm.

The hyper pulse hit nightmare on the side and wing. The beam was blinding, booming sounds everywhere. The rest of the beam sailed away into the clouds behind Nightmare, parting as Thunder Strike's mass of energy struck the puffy white floating objects. Nightmare screeched, and began to plummet, his burned wing useless to the rest of him. Thunder Strike tried to wright herself and fly away, but Nightmare grabbed hold of her. "If I go down, you're going down WITH ME!" He roared, yanking on Tia's wing. "NO. NO NO NO NO NOOO!" Thunder Strike howled. She tried to twist away, thunder rumbling and clouds billowing, but Nightmare had an iron grip on her. He grappled with one of her wing membranes, and started to tear. Tia roared. The pain. The fury. The satisfaction on Nightmare's face. He bent the wing bones until Thunder Strike felt a snap! And crack! Then the pain zigzagged like lightning on a tree branch. Tia sucked in another breath, and

Roared.

She let out another flurry of electricity that exploded around Nightmare. He screamed, lightning erupting everywhere. It seemed as if light was pouring out of Nightmare's mouth, too. All the clouds around them darkened, and all the electricity Tia had ever seen in the world came cascading down on the two dragons. Nightmare flailed, then stared at Tia with fury. He kicked Thunder Strike in the underscales, biting down hard on her tail. He smacked her chest with his tail, sent a fire blast to her face, and finally, finally, his head lolled to the side and he closed his eyes.

Nightmare was dead.

Tia gasped, then gasped again. Her wings were pouring with blood, and twisted in a terrifying way. The sky and clouds were all zooming past her, faster and faster as she fell. The ground came closer and closer. Thunder Strike took her final breath, or she thought what would be. There Sunfyre and the others were flying down toward Tia. She sighed in relief, and with her remaining strength reached out a talon and clasped it with Sunfyre's outstretched claws. They linked their arms together and the others caught up, wrapping Thunder Strike in a sling. She looked up at her friends. Her wonderful friends. She said two words.

"Thank you."