Wings of Fire; The Creed

Chapter 17

The figure limped over, ruby blood rolling down their back, legs, and neck. Their wings were torn up, flapping in the breeze created by the massive inferno.

"A-Artemis!?"

Artemis was finally close enough that details were more easily spotted. Starburst saw huge gashes along her side, underbelly, tail, legs, and even across her neck. Mud was smeared all over her scales.

However, when Starburst looked into her clawmate's eyes, she didn't see her clawmate's purple eyes, with the shine of hope in them, all she saw was white. Artemis was dead...

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw more movement on the ground. Starburst slowly turned to face the movement, to see three more bloodied and mud-covered figures. One SeaWing figure, one SandWing figure, and one IceWing figure.

They all had white eyes. All her clawmates were... dead...

One more figure came out of the shadows, but this time, it was different. The figure did not limp out of the shadows, rather, they were running. Running at full speed through the falling, blazing branches. When the figure finally burst through the dark smoke clouds, Starburst saw that it was a RainWing, and not just any RainWing... It was her best friend.

Starburst thought she was going to be dead, just like everyone else she had seen. However, she had her eyes. Her beautiful, magical dark green eyes.

"Firefly!" Starburst cried joyfully, ecstasy and relief overflowing.

"Starburst!" Firefly shouted, fear filled her voice, but there was still a hint of relief in her voice too. Firefly reached out with her front talons, trying to grab onto Starburst, but before she could reach, something came flying through the air above them and straight through Firefly's back.

Time slowed down, and everything else went blurry. Starburst couldn't hear anything, just see. The orange glow from the flames above framed the falling limp body of her friend as she collapsed.

Starburst screamed in pure pain and rage. She was forced to watch Firefly die, blood pooling in the mud beneath them. All hope was lost for her. Starburst felt helpless. Firefly's body joined the others in animation but was no longer alive.

Suddenly, the animated bodies of her friends all started to chant at once in a haunting melody.

"You could have saved us! You could have saved us!"

Starburst let out a yelp of despair, "I know! I know! Please! I'm sorry!"

No matter how much Starburst pleaded, the voices kept chanting. Starburst curled up as much as she could, trying to become smaller. She was partially hoping that she would just sink into the mud and hide from all this mess.

She closed her eyes, tears streaming, body shaking. All she wanted now was peace. She wanted to be away from all of this. Everyone is dead. She felt cold. Even though the flames were scorching hot, she had never felt colder.

The chanting continued, slowly breaking Starburst. She finally heard them stop, leaving the muffled sounds of screaming from above and the roar of the blaze filling the silence. She opened her eyes to see that a dark mist slowly approaching her. The mist surrounded her, blocking out all light and noise. She was left in a void. The vines retreaded and the mud disappeared, leaving her in the dark.

She stumbled around, trying to figure out her surroundings, but the only thing around her was the mist. It was as though she was no longer anywhere. There were no trees, the ground had no texture, and as she stumbled, she didn't feel any wind.

She walked around the void, or... at least she thought she was moving. She wasn't entirely sure. She couldn't tell if she was because of the lack of reference points.

She finally stood still, shivering and taking shallow breaths, eyeing the darkness around her carefully. She didn't hear or see anything, hoping that meant she could relax. She started her little relaxing ritual, which she also found was useful for hiding emotions, where she turned all colors, in a slow, pulsing pattern. The hypnotic pulses of her scales, she found, were very useful.

She looked around a little, wishing that she could see anything other than a void. She took a slow spin, looking in all directions, and to her surprise, she did start to see some sort of light. There were two white orbs floating in the distance. She stood there for a second, confused about what they were, but curiosity forced her closer. She crept closer, slowly and cautiously, trying to keep a safe distance from the orbs. The orbs stayed, not moving. Starburst was so close now, that she could reach out and touch them. She slowly reached out her right talon, trying to decide whether she actually wanted to touch them or not.

Her ears perked up as she heard a nearly silent raspy breath. The glowing orbs moved. They moved toward her. Starburst jumped back, falling over onto her back, but it was too late. She watched wide-eyed as the orbs moved close enough for her to see what they were.

The orbs were eyes. She could see a face, with curved horns and a ruff. The dragon she was looking at was a RainWing. The face stayed there for a moment, as if it was paused, just like her friends from earlier...

Starburst sat there, waiting for anything to happen. The RainWing was looking up past her when it froze, so it was just staring off to the nonexistent horizon. The RainWing slowly looked down at her, as if it was a stone statue that came to life, jerking every once and a while. Starburst was horrified by the unnatural movement.

The RainWing was finally looking at her, and a liquid started to form out of the eyes, dripping down their cheeks, but it was not tears. The liquid was dark red. The RainWing was crying blood.

"A-Are you okay? C-C-Can I help you?" Starburst asked nervously, not sure what was going on. Starburst shuddered as another drop of blood hit the ground below her.

The RainWing stood still for one more moment, before leaping at Starburst, screeching loudly. Starburst braced for what she was sure was about to come next, closing her eyes, when everything was gone, the noise and the light...