Transported: A Wings of Fire story

Old Friend

Daniel fell speechless, he remembered Barren as a kind soul who helped him out despite him not needing to. He was the one who taught him to function as a dragon... And now here he was... Identified to be his worst enemy all this time...

Barren could tell Daniel was on edge and as such he sighed.

"Daniel... Look, I know there's a lot of things running through your head right now, but all those times when I said you were my friend, I wasn't lying, I never was, "Daniel burrowed his brows, still untrusting as one would be.

Barren continued speaking.
"Daniel, we both want the same thing... To leave... That's what you've been fighting for all this time, you've thought that by defeating me or whatnot you'd be able to leave and go home..."

Daniel didn't say anything, he stood his ground while listening attentively, but it was clear he wasn't buying anything Barren was saying, at least not yet.

"I knew you were different the second I saw you, Daniel, why else would I save you from certain death? I couldn't care less what happens to these fictional creatures!" He spat which earned him an angry growl from Daniel's friends.

"We both want the same thing, so how about we put our differences aside and work together to get out, with the relic that you've collected the shards for and the map that you have in your bag, we can finally leave this place... So please..." He extended a talon out towards Daniel.
"Come with me, let us break free of this prison... That's what you've been striving for right?"

Daniel stared at the yellow talon which was extended out towards him.
His heart sped up, the pathway to freedom was there, it was right in front of him... He just needed to accept Barren's deal... And give him back his map...

Daniel quickly dug through his belongings before pulling out the map that Barren had given him so long ago.

But as he outstretched a talon to return what he'd borrowed... He stopped himself. The word 'deal' echoed through his mind, the word which had doomed him and his friends into the violent monsters they are now.

Daniel had made himself clear as to not make any more deals with the Gatekeeper, and here he was about to blindly walk into another one.

Daniel looked up into Barren's eyes. Qibli once taught him that you can read someone just by their eyes, and so Daniel looked closely, very closely into Barren's eyes in an attempt to decipher his intentions.

Barren looked down at Daniel, his eyes flickered with irritation and annoyance, yet he was smiling cheerfully without the gleam in his eyes... His smile wasn't genuine... He was trying to lure him... He was lying...

Daniel growled, "Don't lie to me," he spat, "You've got some sort of trick, if I take your deal you'll probably just kill me!"

Barren's expression darkened.
"If I wanted you dead I would have already killed you," He pointed out, "I've kept you alive until now, don't make me revoke my kindness,"

Daniel bared his teeth fiercely.
"I don't know what you're planning but what I DO know is that your whole let's be a team story is simply rubbish!"

Barren growled.
"Last chance Daniel, take my talon, and I'll spare you and your friend's lives..."
Daniel gulped as he looked back at his friends.

It was clear that most of them didn't know what was going on, though a few smart ones such as Qibli and Cricket figured it out.

Cricket shook her head.
"Don't do it, Daniel..."

Qibli agreed with Cricket as he walked forward and grabbed Daniel's tail gently.
"He's trying to bait you, don't give in,"

Daniel turned back to meet Barren before he shook his head.
"Not happening,"

Barren bared his teeth at Daniel with a frown. However, a few moments later it transformed into a sinister grin.
"You think you're so special... Don't you?"

Daniel raised a brow as Barren continued speaking.
"Standing up to me like you're some unkillable god when in reality you're only the way you are because of me..."

The Sandwing laughed."
Why do you think you're able to pull off death-defying stunts without practice just like that when needed? Under any circumstance, you would have died within the first few tries if not sooner!"Barren paused for a moment. "You're like this because I made you that way, I enchanted you the day we first met!"

Daniel's heart skipped a beat....twice. He looked down at his talons in a sort of shock, though he didn't know why. It shouldn't be surprising that he was enchanted, if anything it made things make sense, yet... A part of him didn't sit right with the idea, that it wasn't him pulling it off on his own.

Knowing that he was enchanted to be able to do, it undermined everything that Daniel had accomplished, even if it wasn't much. It made him feel small, it made him feel weak... it made him feel... mortal...

Daniel looked up at Barren as he went to ask a question but the Sandwing beat him to it. "Why, you ask?" Barren said. "Because you see... By enchanting you to be able to pull off these things, I turned you into the single most powerful thing in this realm possible... The main character..."

Daniel raised a brow as he contained a laugh caused by the absurd and slightly cringe-worthy statement that Barren had just given in the most serious tone. The Sandwing kept speaking as Daniel finally managed to swallow his laugh and return to a normal face.

"You see Daniel, by making you the centre of attention in whatever you wish to call this fake reality of literature, you're essentially unkillable to almost every opposing threat, whether it be dragons or simply your lack of judgement and recklessness,"

Barren smiled.
"Every achievement, every impressive thing you've ever done is because of me... To put it simply... You're a fraud, you're not special, and you're most certainly nothing to be afraid of,"

Daniel's body shook with a mix of fear and anger. He wanted to shout, he wanted to fight, he wanted to do SOMETHING... But his body didn't comply... Instead, he just stood there, unmoving, for the first time since he'd entered this world, he felt weak... Powerless...

White flashes of lightning crackled across the pitch-black sky as Daniel's body threatened to cave in on itself... But then he noticed something.
"Wait... You said ALMOST every possible threat..."

Barren nodded.
"Yes that's correct, I said ALMOST because I can very easily kill you if I so choose to, after all... I get my power from the souls of others,"

"Then why don't you? If you can so easily kill me then WHY DON'T YOU!?" He screamed as he lunged at Barren.

Barren didn't move, he didn't need to because as soon as Daniel made contact with him, he phased right through him.

What was supposed to be solid scales turned into darkness the instant that Daniel touched them. A small explosion of black sand-like particles occurred and Daniel collapsed on the ground behind Barren.

Barren laughed without looking back.
"You never learn..." He switched his attention to the queens who were spectating the situation from the sidelines.
"I'd like my half of the deal now,"

Glory looked at the Sandwing with worried eyes.
"W-what...?"

Barren shot her a sinister grin.
"You heard me... I completed your wish and led you to the Heathens, now I want my half of the deal,"

Coral stepped up beside Glory.
"But we still don't know what you want!" She cried.

Barren shrugged.
"Oh, well that's a shame then, but no worries, I'll just take it myself..."

Within a moment, black smoke and corruption engulfed Barren as he transformed into the shadowy figure that everyone knew all too well.

The Gatekeeper snapped his claws as more lightning crackled in the sky. As the bright crooked strokes dispersed across the clouds, Daniel felt his heart drop once again.

Even if he was behind the Gatekeeper, he could still see the small bodies floating in the sky around the sadistic shadow.

Everyone's eyes widened as they witnessed the sight. Off to either side of the Gatekeeper were the floating bodies of dragonets... Specifically, dragonets directly related to the Queens...

Ruby and Snowfall pushed themselves to the front frantically.

"CLIFF!"

"MINK!"
They each yelled respectfully.
Another flash occurred before none other than Auklet appeared, she too floating aimlessly beside the shadow.

Then there was a fourth flash which spawned in a fourth dragonet. They were a Mudwing, a younger one but likely the oldest out of the dragons floating about.

Daniel didn't recognise it but he could see Moorhen's face morph into one of deep horror. As such, he guessed that it had to be one of her siblings.

Daniel growled as he got himself up, but not before the Gatekeeper saw him. A tentacle sprouted from the ground instantaneously and picked Daniel up by his tail before bringing him over the Shadow's head and slamming him on the ground again.

Daniel coughed in pain, too much pain to get up, but he had a perfect view of whatever horror the Gatekeeper was about to release.

"W-WAIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Coral screamed angrily.
"THAT'S MY DAUGHTER YOU HAVE THERE!"

The Gatekeeper smiled.
"Oh yes I'm quite aware of that, but why are you complaining? You agreed to my terms after all."

"WE DID NO SUCH THING!" Snowfall screamed.
"WE WOULDN'T EVER AGREE TO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!"

"But you did." The shadow said as his smile grew wider.
"You agreed even after I stated it would come at a hefty price... Guess you were all too full of wrath and a lust for revenge to think straight... Well... Almost all of you,"

The Gatekeeper pointed an ominous and void-coloured claw at Hazel.
"You were the only one to suspect something was off... It's a real shame that nobody listened to you..." He mocked.
"But then again, why would they? You're just a dragonet after all..."

"A dragonet too young to be a queen..."

Daniel turned his head to see Hazel's confidence get struck down tenfold. Her eyes made their way down to the ground as their spark diminished.

Daniel could only watch as Hazel started to visibly doubt her capabilities once again, despite being one of the smarter queens by far.

Hazel bit the bottom of her lip slightly before looking up at the shadow. Her confidence as a queen may have been cut short, but her confidence as a speaker wasn't.

"Shut up," Hazel spat as his eyes were on the ground.
This gained The Gatekeeper's attention as he growled slightly, though Hazel didn't notice it. Well, it was either that or she didn't care.

Hazel kept speaking.
"Yeah it's true, I'm too young to be a queen, and I don't get the respect that I supposedly should have as a queen, but here's the thing..."
She paused before looking up at the Gatekeeper.

"I don't care." She smiled.
"Because so what if I don't get respect from my tribe? I gained the respect of my friends who see me as myself rather than my title, and that's better than a bunch of mindless acquaintances under my rule anyway..."

Daniel smiled as he locked eyes with Hazel before he groaned slightly, getting himself back up once again.

The Gatekeeper growled before another voice joined the conversation.
"I think it's about time you told them all the truth..."
The dragon stepped forward, they were holding a ruby-red karambit, and that was enough for Daniel to identify them.

Flame walked slowly into view of everyone. Ruby saw what he was holding and her face immediately went a few shades paler.

The Gatekeeper looked down at Flame bitterly.
"Crimson..." He said,
"Finally decided to stop hiding in the shadows?"

"Says the literal shadow," Flame remarked as he looked directly into the void-like eyes of the Gatekeeper, "It's time the truth is said,"

The Gatekeeper laughed, "What truth!?"

"The truth, about you..." Flame said.

The Gatekeeper rolled his eyes and laughed."What could you POSSIBLY know about me? I wiped your memory, remember? Oh wait, you don't!"

Flame, however, only smiled wider.
"Ah, but you see... I know a few animi... So memory restoration wasn't an issue really,"

The Gatekeeper's eyes widened for a second.
"But how did you even know you lost your memory in the first place!?"

Flame shrugged, "Well it all started when Hazel asked me a certain question on the way here..."He laughed.

"A simple question which would unknowingly lead to me learning your one and only weakness...."

YO! Wassup!
Hope you're all doing good.
As usual, I don't want to get into writing massive chapters at te start of the new part , so although I COULD have made this like 6k words, I decided against it.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed.

Peace!