Shadow wings

Flames of Destiny

Ferndall stops dead in his tracks and his heart almost stopped at the sight of this ancient creature. The dragon's gaze rested calmly on them. Millions of thoughts ran through the prince's head and his body felt paralyzed.Dragons were extinct hundreds of years ago because of their sturdy and sharp scales, which were ideal for armor and weapons. Was it possible that this was the last living dragon in this dimension. The temple was built thousands of years ago, at a time when dragons were everywhere. The creature probably didn't even know that he was the last of his kind.Ferndall couldn't take his eyes off the majestic animal. The flickering light of the torches on the walls were reflected in the reddish-brown scales, which seemed to constantly change their color in the changing light.The dragon was huge. His tail was wrapped around one of the pillars and his claws were dug deep into the ceiling.Now the others seemed to have discovered the monster too. Marelin almost screamed but her sister was just able to put her hand over her mouth in time. Although the dragon looked at them closely, it didn't seem to make any move to attack. Mary whispered softly, "Luna, I think this would be a good time to do something..." "What do you expect? I am a third generation Dragonborn, which means that I have only adopted certain skills from my ancestors. I don't speak the dragon language. I'm probably not even capable of it." The redhead whispered tensely. "Even if you could, it would probably be of little use to us. This dragon is supposed to prevent us from reaching the artifact and he will try to do that no matter who or what we are."  ,,That's probably why he's not attacking us right now. He gives us a chance to return." Gall intervened. "Oh how very kind of him..." Laxus said ironically. "What do we do now? If we try to get the artifact, it will devour us in one bite!" Marelin whined."Then we have to be faster than him." Ray said. "What do you mean faster? That's a giant dragon, in case you haven't noticed." Laxus replied. "Ray's right, we have no other choice." Ferndall intervened. "That's what we're supposed to do now..." Suddenly, Luna was interrupted by a thunderous rumble and the dragon started moving."Whatever we decide to do, we shouldn't stay standing here." Mary shouted. They started running in different directions while the dragon landed on the ground with just one jump. Ferndall was able to narrowly avoid one of the huge claws that dug into the ground.Ferndall could see the dragon's razor-like teeth snapping at Marilyn, but she was snatched out of the beast's reach at the last second by her sister. This seemed to anger the dragon deeply, as he let a loud roar escape from his throat. At that moment the dragon struck at the two of them. But this time he scored.Marelin cried out in pain. Ferndall stood still watching in horror as she flew several meters through the air and then lay motionless on the ground.The dragon roared again.It was so loud that Ferndall had to cover his ears. Panic rose in Ferndall and he ran towards Marelin to help her. However, this drew the dragon's attention to the prince. Mary, who had also run in the direction of her injured sister, almost fell to the ground when the dragon turned in Ferndall's direction, causing the ground to shake. But before the dragon could attack the prince, an explosion hit his gigantic skull. Luna had attacked him. This didn't seem to have hurt him, it just made him even more annoyed.Ferndall had reached Marilyn in the meantime and bent down to see if she was still alive.The dragon cried out again, seeming to have lost his last patience. His huge body hit the high columns, which began to crumble. The enormous creature tried to open its wings, but the hall didn't have enough space. Instead, one of its wings hit one of the pillars again, causing it to collapse.The dragon turned as if instead of attacking the friends directly, it wanted to let the huge boulders from the ceiling and the pillars kill them. In a panic, Ferndall tried to pull Marelin out of the monster's reach, but suddenly she released a piece of rock directly above them and we fell down. However, in his fear, the prince did not notice the danger that was approaching him.At that moment Gall's voice rang out: "Ferndall, be careful!" The prince turned around, in shock.Seconds before the stone could impact Ferndall and Marelin, the blond elf used magic to destroy the stone. The boulder broke into thousands of smaller pieces of stone that fell on the prince. He raised his arms protectively so that he was not injured by one of the larger stones.Gall rushed towards the two and helped Ferndall get Marelin behind a large rock for better cover. Meanwhile the elf asked worriedly: "Are you okay? Are you injured somewhere?" Ferndall replied worriedly: "Not me, but as you can see, Marelin was badly injured." "I can't treat her while this dragon is destroying everything around us. "I'm afraid I'll need a little longer and it would be too unsafe to do it here." Gall explained. "Then we have to help the others fight the dragon, we can't let them down anyway, so we have no choice." the prince replied. Gall nodded and said, "I'm afraid you're right. However, be careful, under no circumstances should anything happen to you." "Because of my blood?" "That's one of the reasons but definitely one of the less important ones. The main reason is that I would never forgive myself if you died in my presence and under my protection. I will do my best to keep you safe. However, this is a dragon and these creatures should not be underestimated." With these words he created a magical protective wall around Marelin. Then the two of them stepped out from behind the rock.What they saw next made them freeze. In the few seconds in which they disappeared behind the stone, complete chaos seemed to have broken out. Ray and Laxus had also joined in the fight, trying hard to avoid being torn apart by the dragon's sharp claws.Luna's summoned "Dragonskin Armor" shimmered around her like wild goden flames. At that moment the dragon swung at her with one of its claws, but she was able to dodge just in time. Ferndall reacted quickly and approached the dragon and tried to use his magic to cover the dragon's head in shadow to restrict its vision. This actually worked and the dragon roared in anger as black mist formed in front of his eyes.Now Gall also joined in the fight, he summoned his bow and aimed at a spot on the dragon's head that had smaller and fewer scales. When Gall shot the arrow, it flew through the air with a hissing sound and before it embedded itself in the dragon's neck, it glowed silver for a brief moment. The dragon, in pain, let its tail whip through the air. Luckily, Gall and Ferndall were able to duck in time.Luna used a magical explosion to injure the dragon's vulnerable spot, but she missed it and hit one of the two horns on the dragon's skull. The monster shook it and the black mist disappeared. Now that his vision was no longer restricted, the dragon pounced on Luna. His teeth were embedded in her armor. Without her dragon skin armor magic, she would have been bitten in two. But even though his attempt failed, the dragon didn't give up. He flung his skull violently through the air, like a wolf killing its prey, before loosening his bite in mid-motion and letting Luna fall. Due to the momentum of the movement, she was thrown at high speed into one of the columns, from which Luna bounced off and fell unstopped several meters before she hit the ground.Ferndall could see her trying to sit up. Her magical armor seemed to give her strong protection, but it couldn't protect her from everything. She was probably injured. At that moment Mary stepped out from behind one of the fallen stones, she hopped, probably being caught by one of the falling stones. But this didn't put her off. She targeted one of the dragon's eyes and attacked with a summoned spear. But just before the weapon could bore into the dragon's eye, it raised its head slightly and the spear bounced off the sturdy scales. Mary cried out in frustration.The dragon gave Mary a violent blow with its claws, tearing a small part of her armor and injured her. She was thrown against a stone, but was able to get back up and get a few meters away. Laxus, who had previously placed himself under cover of the dragon, now ran along the fallen stones in the direction of the altar. But this did not go unnoticed by the dragon's watchful eyes. The monster opened its mouth a little and a liquid, which burst into flames when it came into contact with the air, dripped from the corner of its mouth: draliva, dragon saliva, which was highly flammable and gave non-magical dragons the ability to spit fire. Before Ferndall or any of the others could warn Laxus, the dragon spat a huge amount of the liquid in his direction which immediately began to burn.Ferndall was about to attack when the dragon roared again and swung its tail in Ferndall and Gall's direction. The two couldn't take cover quickly enough, Gall tried to pull Ferndall aside, but it was too late. The dragon's tail hit them both hard. Ferndall felt an overwhelming pain in his stomach and thought that he could lose consciousness from the pain at any moment. For several seconds, none of his senses functioned, his body felt numb, and the pain in his stomach made him feel like he was going to vomit. As he slowly returned to normal, he layed several meters away from the spot where he and Gall had previously been standing. He was curled up on the floor in the fetal position. His entire body was throbbing with pain and his vision was blurry. The prince heard a hissing noise and then a crash of stones breaking loose above him. At that moment, Ferndall saw Gall, who was also several meters away from him, lying motionless on the floor. An unpleasant fear came over Ferndall: the elf couldn't be dead, could he?At that moment, a huge boulder fell onto the ground between the two, blocking Ferndall's view of the other. More rocks fell down but Ferndall, who was still paralyzed from the impact and pain, had no way of avoiding them. One of the stones missed the prince by just a few centimeters and a big cloud of dust hung in the air. Ferndall could only pray that Gall and the others were unharmed.He tried to slowly pull himself across the ground to get a better view of the current battle situation. But when he was finally able to look between the stones, his heart almost stopped and all hope left him.His friends, who had fought bravely for a few minutes, lay motionless on the ground or had fallen under the cover of hundreds of fallen stones. The dragon had his skull raised high and was looking for more people that he had to eliminate. The fire had spread with the liquid and was burning all around the monster.Then, out of nowhere, the room lit up, in a divine light with silver shadows. The light came from no place, it was present everywhere, even in the darkest corners of the hall it shone brightly. A pleasant feeling came over the prince, a feeling of security and home. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice, which Ferndall couldn't identify, rang out. The person spoke in a foreign language, a language the prince had never heard before. Just like the light, the voice filled the entire room. Even the dragon seemed to be listening intently to the person. Then the voice fell silent and the dragon lowered his head as if bowing. At that moment the dragon dissolved into dust, which scattered quietly over the ground and the fire went out. "Humans, you have earned my blessing and my trust. Thus, I shall deliver you from your demise. Yet, it is not my role to shield you perpetually. I will not grant you a second reprieve; therefore, remain vigilant and strive valiantly. Continue your journey, but heed this warning: proceed with utmost caution."The voice fell silent, the light and the pleasant feeling faded away, as if they had never existed. A cold shiver ran down Ferndall's spine. He sat up slowly and felt his body for injuries. The prince felt a strong pain as he came near his ribs and when he moved his armor to inspect it, he saw a dark bruise that was very swollen. He had to hope that none of his ribs were broken. Ferndall carefully tried to get up and actually managed to do so under great pain. He stood up completely and slowly walked through the gap between the two fallen stones. As he stepped onto the platform behind the narrow passage, he suddenly heard stones rolling behind him. The prince turned quickly and saw Gall landing next to him with a great leap from a small pile of stones. Concerned, the blond turned to the prince: "Are you hurt? Do you feel pain anywhere?" "I don't think I'm too badly hurt, but I have some pretty bad pain in my ribs. What about you? Are you okay?" The prince asked. "I'm not injured. And besides, I have a very good self-regeneration system. Sit down for a moment and I'll take a look at the place." "Shouldn't we check on the others first and see if they're hurt?" "Don't worry, it won't take long." Ferndall sat down on the ground and with the elf's help removed part of his armor so that the blond could take a better look at the injury. Gall asked the prince to pull up the rest of his top and Ferndall did as he was told, but while the elf was assessing his injury and carefully sliding his hands over itm, to feal if a rib was brocken. Ferndall only now noticed how incredibly embarrassing this position was. His heart beat fast as always in the blond's presence, but now he was afraid that it was so loud that the elf could hear it. The prince felt his face heat up and averted his gaze to avoid the other to see that he was blushing.Ferndall felt the same warmth and saw a slight light coming from the elf's hands as he had a few days ago in the alley when Gall had protected him from the demon. As the blond began to heal Ferndall's injury, he immediately felt the pain diminish and eventually disappear completely.Gall straightened up and helped the prince to stand. When Ferndall stood opposite the blonde, their eyes met. Gall smiled in amusement when he saw the prince's face. Embarrassed, Ferndal turned away from him and changed the subject: "You heard that voice too, right?" he asked as he, followed by Gall, walked in the direction where the others should be. "I did. What do you think what it could have been?" asked the elf. "From what it said, definitely a higher being... Maybe even one of the gods." "That's what I suspect too. The only question is why it helped us. As far as I know, gods aren't allowed to intervene in that kind of situation. Perhaps this is also the reason why it thought it could only help us once..."At that moment they spotted Luna and Ray. The red-haired woman had dissolved her armor spell and was sitting exhausted on a stone, while the other rushed towards Gall and Ferndall as soon as she spotted them.She did not appear to have suffered any injuries. When Ray arrived she said: "You don't look like you're hurt, that's good, we have to find the others." The two nodded and immediately started to help her look for the others.After a long time they actually found them all. Hardly anyone was only slightly injured, Laxus had suffered severe burns on his arms and legs. Luckily for him, Gall had several supplies with him to treat wounds and burns.When they had finally organized themselves again, they cautiously approached the altar and, as before, the artifact was radiating a slight light. It resembled a broken corner of a beautifully decorated plate. Ferndall slowly stepped onto the raised platform. "Be careful." Luna warned. The prince turned around thoughtfully for a brief moment, then he grabbed the artifact and took it. He turned around again. "That was a lot easier than I thought." Laxus said. But at that moment the artifact shone brighter than before. The light enveloped them. "Laxus, can't you keep your mouth shut for once in your damned life?" Mary shouted angrily. But then they felt the ground beneath their feet dissolve and they fell into the depths of darkness.