Redemption - Fourth Wing

35. Black blood (~)

A/N:
A bit of gore and self-harm

Ronny's Pov
Aifos was reckless.
They kept flaring off spells back and forth, and the rhythm was so tight that the wyverns didn't have time to physically reach me. The grey reptiles kept falling, either because of a broken wing, or neck, or an inside blood loss, or a snap of neurons, or any other deathly reason.
Aifos called lightning again, but they lost control of the streak and it clashed on the cliffside. Boulders fell, and Aifos took control of them and tossed them against the enemies. I sharply rolled left, and a boulder brushed my wingtip nonetheless.
-Pay more attention!- I said, but Aifos' mind was swirling, and I couldn't get through.
I recognised the pattern of their thoughts, their rushing spiral before the foreign stillness which would squeeze their body in a paralysis. I dipped my right wing and spun around, but Aifos tracked down my path and ordered me to go back.
-You have no control over your emotions. You're going to burn yourself out.-
-I said go back!-
-I will not!-
But then I felt their mind pressing against mine, and its intention was so crystal clear my roar shook the sky, and for a moment I was whipped back in Uru'Baen, and forgot which Rider I was carrying on my back.
I twisted around and lost a wingbeat, and clashed against a dragon; she yelped, and we started careening towards the cliffside.
"Skulblaka, letta!" Aifos cried out, and our bodies clamped immobilized. The red dragon screeched, and her Rider yelled something which got lost in the noise of the battle.
Then the spell was broken, and we were quick to disentangle from one another.
I squarely kicked her away, and dove down towards the smoking village; my landing was messy, and I knocked out a half broken building with my tail.
I twisted my head around and bared my teeth to Aifos, -Get off me and sort yourself out. I gave you what you asked for.-
Aifos glared at me, then did as they were told and ran deep inside the village without sparing me a glance, their mind sharpening and expanding.
With a brief crouch off I went, and an old rage burned my blood while I dug my teeth in the temples of the first wyvern and splinted its neck apart. Red tinted my vision, and the only thing that I remembered was that I had to slash and break and kill and torture, and it was only out of luck that I was surrounded mostly by wyverns, or else I would've attacked dragons, as well.
I forced open the mouth of a wyvern as big as Tairn, and burned up its insides; another one swooped down from behind, but I heard its whistle and I rolled around, welcoming it with bare claws.
The clash had us falling down, and I clamped my fangs in its throat while it slashed at my wings. I rammed my back claws in its belly, and the cuts were so deep its insides started oozing out. It wailed in pain, and it flicked its poisonous barb forward, but my armour blocked it and I stretched out my talons.
The wind was howling in our ears, and I curled my claws and sank them deep. I yanked away scales and skin and a great chunk of ribcage, and the wyvern's whistles were so much pained I revelled in them. My bloodied claws grasped its core, and tore it out of the remaining split bones.
With a heave, I inverted our position, and the dying wyvern misshaped the whole square of the village and dirtied it with its blood.
I let out a victorious roar, and instinctively I took hold of its creator's fleeting conscience and forced it within the borders of its core, which started pulsing a faint grey.
Its conscience cried and whined, and my mind caught flashes of the dark wielder's will. But it wasn't meant to live beyond its body, so with a great annoyance from my part it faded away way too soon.
I forgot how many I slaughtered, and how many tried to slaughter me; I only remembered broken scales and the bitter taste of wyvern blood and fire streaking the sky.
When the last headless corpse was claimed by gravity, my breathing was raspy and laboured, and my muscles were shaking.
I broke off from the riot, and couldn't push myself much further away from the village. My wings fell, and I crumbled down and my temple slammed against the harsh ground.
I groaned, and laid there, my wings askew and my armour pressing uncomfortably on my right flank. 
At one point, the clouds thinned away and a faint ray of sunshine started warming me up. I closed my eyes, and forced my lungs to breathe.
A vulture flapped overhead, and a lizard crept up forward; a gentle breeze whisped past my cheeks.
Uneven steps were heard, but I didn't crack my eyes open. Heill clanked on the ground, and Aifos slid down heavily not so close to me, and yet not too far.
Their breaths came out ragged too, and I could somehow picture them laying on the ground much like I was doing right now.
We didn't acknowledge each other, nor did we speak; we only remembered to breathe, and we felt the unforgiving ground and the unforgiving armour which were both-
My distracted thoughts halted abruptly: I hadn't heard the clink of steel when Aifos sat down.
For a moment, I thought about ignoring it altogether, but something pulled at my heartstrings, and with an annoyed chuff I cracked a single eye open.
My heart lurched in my throat.
Aifos' blood was painting the dull ground, and I could immediately track a deep slash in their right side. They weren't wearing their armour, and their whole forearms were cut open and bloody, and I couldn't understand if they'd self harmed themselves or if they'd allowed the dark wielders to harm their wrists for them.
They had their eyes closed, but their features were peaceful.
I shifted to get closer to them, but Aifos' mind cut the silence, -Stay there.-
-You're hurt,- I hissed, but they said, -You are. I shouldn't have tried taking control of your mind. I made you relapse.-
-Yes, you did. But if you die, I die, and right now you're losing too much blood.-
-I was careful. Not many of my wounds are deadly.-
-The one in your flank is.-
-I can heal myself up anytime.-
-Then why are you holding back?-
Disappointment rippled in their mind, and they turned their head slightly, still with their eyes closed, -You know why.-
-I do.-
-Then why did you ask?-
-I don't know.-
Their sigh was slow, -Did you hurt any dragon?-
-Oddly enough, no.-
-That's good.-
-Did you kill any venin?-
-Some, yes. Theopanie wasn't among them.-
-She's seeking out Sorrengail,-
-And the Irids.-
The vultures screeched again.
I stretched out my tail and curled it around Aifos, -Can you heal yourself up now?-
-Must I?-
-Yes. I don't want to see you bleeding any longer.-
-Not even because I wanted to?-
-Especially because you wanted to.- I gently prodded them up with my tail, -Come on, get up.-
They did groan in pain when they pushed themselves in a sitting position, and they took up the energy of the gems in order to heal themselves up. The cuts across the forearms were so deep the scars remained, and Aifos skimmed their fingertips on them.
I heaved myself off the ground, and nuzzled them on their feet, -Let's get moving. We have to collect your armour, and we should look for some remaining energy.-
-We have the belt.-
-It's better to use it accordingly, and wisely. We shouldn't rely on it too much.-
Our first steps were staggering, and my tail kept bumping the ground. Aifos put their hand on my leg, and I allowed them.
For some reason, I couldn't manage to be cold towards them any longer, and I kept brushing their shoulder with my wingtip.
We collected the armour, and I watched Aifos going back to wear it; then we scanned the ground, but it was barren, so we had to give up on storing energy and I laid down to help Aifos into climbing up to the saddle.
Our flight was unhurried, and Aifos laid down and thought that we both needed a good bath.
-It's winter, and the lake is frozen,- I reminded them, to which they huffed, -You forget that I've got magic.-
We flew past the wards, and we tracked down Chex's position; but we immediately grew on alert when we felt fear swirling in his mind.
With a roar, I flanked down my wings and whirled around, falling so fast the wind howled in my ears. Aifos held Heill high up, and screamed true and deep.
Our minds exploded, and we grasped the dragon's own who was asking questions he shouldn't be asking.
He yelped in pain, and snapped his head up when I suddenly splayed my wings a breath from impact and forcefully landed next to Chex, whose wings were tight against his flanks.
The brown dragon bared his teeth, but his eyes skittered on the black dried blood of both of our armours.
Aifos slid off me and took hold of Heill, their eyes straight on the dragon's, who growled, -No human is to look in another dragon's eyes!-
-No dragon is to annoy my mate,- they snapped back, and the dragon hissed in surprise.
I took a step closer when I saw fire building up in his throat, -You are a foolish one, to interrogate our bonded in such a way, and about such topics.-
He swivelled his head towards me, and narrowed his eyes, -The Elders know about your past, the blood in your claws. It's a wonder they're still letting you wander around without any reprieve!-
-It's a wonder I'm still letting you speak,- and I shifted forward, my jaw splayed wide. He was a bit smaller than me, and didn't have enough reflexes to move away. My teeth sank in the nape of his neck, and I held him down with a tight bite.
He tried swinging his Scorpiontail, but Aifos with a sharp "Letta!" had it immobilized, and his blood poured in my throat when he tried roaring out.
-The Elders know what you did! They know!- He screamed again.
I could feel Aifos' mind surging and enveloping us, thus blocking out every possibility of the dragon trying to call for help.
Chex shivered, and Aifos placed a hand on his leg.
I swished my tail, and Aifos rolled back their shoulders, -Then you should've known better than prying into the heart of our bonded.-
With a sudden twist of my head, his neck cracked broken and the dragon fell limp.
-No!- Cried out Chex, -Why did you do that?-
I let the corpse crumble on the ground and I licked off the stripes of blood on my lower lip.
Aifos turned around, -He was hurting you.-
-He was the mate of Captain Grady's dragon!-
I slowly blinked, -So what?-
He straight up shoved me, and beat his wings on my head once, twice. A torrent of fear and anger tumbled in our minds, and his talons were shaking, and his voice was terribly high-pitched, -Because now she knows that her mate's dead and she'll realise that you came up to help me and that you killed him and she will say that to her Rider and her Rider will torture Violet and Tairn will grow angry and he will chase me down and the Empyrean will exile you and/-
I clasped his shoulders and forced him to take a couple of steps back, -None of such things will happen. Aifos made a shield with their mind, and none knows the truth but us. His death will not be traced back to us.-
-But his mate knows! She told him to fly here and ask me about the centuries when I was in the egg! And I told him that I didn't know, that I didn't remember, but he didn't believe me, and, and/-
-That's why he deserved to die,- said Aifos, albeit a bit detached, -And now we will hide the body.-
They knelt down, and pressed their palm on the ground; they whispered something, and the earth shook and cracked itself open right where the brown dragon was laying. It claimed him in its depths, and when its seams got sealed back, no trace of either a crack or a brown scale could be seen.
My eyes grew sharp, and sought out Aifos', -And besides, we can control everyone's mind, you and I.-
Chex whined low, and bowed his head.
His whole lithe frame was shivering.
One day, he would understand that we were entangled deep in this world only because of him, only for him.
A couple of days later, an orange dragon did make her appearance burning up the sky and voicing her grief; but Aifos and I entangled our minds and broke through her walls as if they were parchments. I guided Aifos towards her Name of Names, and showed them how to see it and take utter control of it.
Then, we ordered her to never step claw in here, and we made her forget that she'd had a mate in the first place.
It was a ruthless thing, but I'd grown accustomed to such injustice when I was under the control of the Rider That Was Not Meant To Be, so it was nothing new under the sun; but Aifos trembled, and leaned on my leg.
-There was no other way,- I reminded them, and despite their paleness, they nodded, -I know.-
Chex regarded us with widened eyes, and I knew that he must've thought of us as strangers. Then, he spun around and flew away, and Aifos watched his retreating frame with sorrow.
-It's a time of war,- I chuffed, -He'll come round. He always does.-
-We have broken the Empyrean law.-
-We don't answer to any of them.-
-Chex does.-
-And we will slaughter anyone who dares hurt him.-
Their voice was low and slow, -I know. We've just done so.-