Shattering Reality - COLLAB WITH @AtomicDaDragon

Chapter 17

Ella's Perspective

  Atomic and Ted walk back. I smile. She seems happy. The sun is gone now.

  Ted looks ready to burst. I wonder why?

  Majirica roars. We all walk around around one of her massive paws.

  Ted whispers to Atomic, and she nods.

  He stands on a tree stump. He slips on the way up, and clears his throat.

  ''Well,I feel like it's time to..to tell you my backstory. I don't know why, but Atomic wants me to-'' she glares at him - ''And I've known you all for a wile. So, yeah. I'll tell you.''

  ''My name-it's not Ted, It's Tzarr. I'm the last of my kind, like Atomic, and we have a weird backstory. It all started eighteen years ago, for me. The Acid Dragon elder creates a new, I guess, being every thousand years. That was me. Then, when I was one, the elder created Atomic, to fight in the war. We met when she was three, when I first remember. At that time, there was a war going on. We and some other radioactivity and acid dragons threatened the elder's power. Long story short, there was a really big battle, I lost a claw - it's metal, look - and all my kind died. Some acid dragons lived, and the last was killed in the sim. Well, if it was a sim, how did the dragonlings die? Elyssia's stupid magic again. All three dragonlings died, leaving Atomic the last of her kind. How Elyssia did it? Er- I don't know.''

  ''Wow,'' I say quietly.

  Everyone breaks off into small groups, muttering. I'm left with myself.

  I fly into the sky, so high I can see to Chernobyl. I want to condense it so badly, but it would cause havoc among the humans.

  I float in the sky for a moment. We need to leave in the morning. I an so high I see the sun again, and then it slips below the horizon. We are on the road, with one slight difference- no Sera.

  I want Sera here, Is he alive? Yes, I'd feel it if she was dead. She must be being tortured. I feel sad, like she feels sad. Me, Atomic and her are connected by more than prophecy now. We are blood sisters. I feel her pain. But, I also feel... someone new. Sera has met someone new. This person is strong.

  **********

  I wake from nightmares, killing Sera on the mountain again. This time, the flames did not kill me. They only made me more alive.

  I shudder. I don't want to kill Sera. Why do I keep having this dream?

  Flying quietly over to Ted and Atomic, I sit by the group silently, running my thumb along the edge of my axe.

  Why is Elyssia so evil? I wonder.

  Tzarr/Ted stirs.

  ''Good morning, sleepyhead,'' I say. ''It's nine A.M. Someone slept late.''

  ''Apparently being awesome takes lots of energy,'' he jokes. ''Sorry,'' he adds.

  ''How did you two, like, get together?'' The question is really awkward to ask.

  ''Well, we were both created by the elder, felt lonely, met, became childhood friends, and yeah.'' He smiles. ''What's your story?''

  ''My village was demolished when I was thirteen, I became insane, met Atomic and Sera, and am somewhat normal.''

  ''Oh, wow.''

  ''I know. That's what most people say.''

  ''Also,'' he starts. ''I need help understanding the 'Girl Code.'' I laugh. ''What is it?''

  ''Atomic is being really grumpy lately, and ignoring me, but will not speak about 'the letter'''.

  That letter. ''I wouldn't talk about it either,'' I say. ''She was really mad. Her eyes were green.''

  ''I didn't mean to make her angry.''

  ''But you did. Also, she needs to save the world, and Sera may or may not be dead.'' I know she's alive, but I don't say that.

  ''Adios, she's awake.'' Atomic stirs, oddly similar to Tzarr, and I flap away, laughing.

  ''What is is, Ella. If you stole my pistol again-'' I jump out, yelling, 'Boo!'

  ''God, Ella!'' I laugh even harder. She grumbles away.

  ''Someones crotchety,'' I say, using one of her favorite words.

  ''I don't have grapes, do I,'' she asks. I laugh at the inside joke.

  ''No, you don't.''

  Alex and Majirica wake.

  ''Unfortunate news,'' Alex says. Majirica snorts. ''To get to the De'lor mountains, we need the Portal and Stone. But the stone is with the Riders, and the portal is with Elyssia, who bends it beyond use.''

  ''Does this mean we rescue Sera,'' I ask.

  ''Something like that. We need to go across he world again, to the middle of Scotland. Elyssia put spells across the area to hide her stronghold from humans.''

  ''Don't waste any more time, let's go,'' Atomic shouts, darting into the sky. I follow, then Tzarr, then Alex on Majirica.