The Among

Chapter 12

Between the feeling of the soft grass under her feet, the protectiveness of equine-like dragon which held her close to his chest, cradling her soft head from the impact of being expelled from the Error's gullet, and the crispness of fresh autumn air which filled Flamour's lungs, the young girl really wasn't sure what to expect. Had she and her bold dragon partner been expelled from depths of the darkness, or was she still partaking in some delusional scheme? Whatever the case, she was glad to be back on solid ground where she could actually feel the brittle soft grass under her. Edgy nuzzled her cheek softly, and pressed his nose into her face, to make sure she had survived the impact.

"You alright?" he asked softly.

"More than I will ever be," Flamour retorted with a muffled tone.

"Sorry about that, I should have warned you earlier," Edgy sighed.

"Should have?" Flamour demanded, "Edgy, every time I go to that forsaken place I come back a little less sane than I was before. I thought I was in the abyss, NOT an abyssal dragon!" she pushed herself out of his grasp as she brushed herself off.

"Ah, yes, well when one becomes with the abyss things can have unprecedented outcomes, my apologies. Won't happen again." Flamour sighed as she shook her head. "I think have had enough adventure for one day, I need to see Shilah,"

"Afraid you can't do that," Edgy said softly, wrapping a paw around her gently.

"And why not, I think that it's only fair for me to spend time with him after all I have been through," Flamour demanded getting rather tired of the games she has been through.

Edgy cleared his throat as he turned the girl to face him his eyes glowing and staring deep into her own.

"Remember when I said that during the Abyssal Moon Error stalks his prey in search for new dark energy, to take with him to the Abyss?"

"Yeah?" Flamour asked slowly.

"and remember how I said that the abyss is only for the scum of the earth including thieves, murderers, corrupt politicians, and the occasional Assassin?" Edgy asked droning out the conversation.

"Get on with it!" Flamour demanded.

"Well, your boyfriend is the assassin I was talking about," he said turning Flamour around to show her just how skilled and cunning Shilah has grown during his training and research through the means of the Oasis.

"You mean to tell me..." Flamour began.

"His fate has been sealed as a murderer," Edgy said quickly, "Therefore unless the Higher Up deem his actions as justifiable, his energy life force will be trapped in Error's gullet for all eternity,"

*****

Rage, justice, devotion to The Creed everything that Shilah learned by using the Oasis seemed to be coming back to him. The white feral beast which he rode upon its back pounded the earth with heavy strides. Shilah bounced gently upon the back of this feral beast which ran towards the mansion with accelerated speed. Shilah looked behind him as he watched the dark dragon with glowing blue eyes fly high above them, landing its dark and robust figure on top of the mansion as it watched the man make its way towards the large front doors. The large white beast slowed down its pace as the neared the mansion. Setting Shilah down, the white feral beast got to its feet and snaked its way to the roof top, cloaking itself in the dark corners of the house where it could not be easily seen.

Shilah watched the beast closely as he studied the man who had a large hunting knife concealed just beneath his trousers in a leather sheath. Studying the man's movements he noticed the man carried a vacant expression across his face as his eyes flickered with the same hue of blue as the dark abyssal dragon. It wasn't until then that Shilah realized that this man was being unconsciously controlled by the darkness. Shilah had to act fast if he wanted to carry out his task. He made his way into the mansion through a secret passage that lead into the laboratory, something told him that is where Syd was going to be headed for. He slowly snuck onto the catwalk which hung high above many festering bottles variant colored liquids.

The smell of the Laboratory was deplorable as white smoke bubbled from different glass jars of different dissected specimens. The way that these different objects were set up reminded an old movie that he once saw, a movie about a mad scientist and an experiment gone terribly wrong. Shilah sat and watch slowly as he flexed his wrist, testing the mechanics of the hidden blade which hung snuggly inside its sheath until it was ready to be used.

The door of the laboratory thrust open as Syd walked in with the same hypnotic stare on his face as he walked towards Chad he was busy mixing chemicals together to form a complex reaction. Chad looked up from his project as he watched Syd with a disgusted and rather annoyed scoff.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to come in here when I am working on a new chemical reaction," he sneered. Syd looked at him and then at the table full of glass jars, as he ran a finger around the rim of a fat glass bottle which held green liquid in its case.

"Syd, I am talking to you! You are not welcome here while I am working!" Chad said with a stern voice.

"You never loved me, Chad did you?" Syd asked with a dry and monotone voice.

"Of course I never loved you, you ingrate, we were only pretending to be lovers so that we could sue large corporations for their wealth, how do you think we managed to nestle ourselves into this settlement. After Oasis was recalled by the government for false advertising, we had to shut down production and find a new way to pay our ways. You know that as well as I do, how hard I have been working on creating a perfect concoction to sell to pharmaceutical companies. It's all been part of the get rich quick scheme. You honestly think I cared for you? Get out of here and go do whatever it is you do," Chad snorted as he continued to pour his liquids in a vial.

"You have trifled with me for the last time Chadandra," Syd said menacingly, reaching for his knife as he threateningly put it against the scientist's throat. "That concoction you are making has made you greedy, with power and corruption, and I have been very hard to support you in your endeavors but this has got to end now,"

"So what, you're going to kill me, what will happen to you later on you still haven't found the girl or that damn assassin,"

"I will worry about them later, but it's you who needs to be worried," He growled menacingly, and he dug the tip of the tip of the blade into his partner's throat, drawing a little ounce of blood. Syd giggled with shear malice as he licked the blood off the tip of the blade.

"You've gone criminally insane," Chad huffed as he struggled to breath. There was a few moments of silence as a young girl by the age of nineteen with blond hair, pale skin, and green eyes rushed into the laboratory filled with distress and terror, he wrapped her arms around the man and reached a small frail hand up to touch him with a comforting tone. The man swung around with a bewildered look in his eyes as the sharp blade came down with a sudden swiftness, the sound of metal piercing the skin of the human being was all that could be heard. Eyes widened with terror as they filled with disappointment and a hurtful expression. The words "I loved you," were the last words anyone would hear.