Dragonborn

Chapter 23 ~ Dawn of War (OLD)

Chaos broke out as demons hurled themselves at the small party. Said dived towards Gwendolyn and tried to get her to safety, which Akila did her best to break Fallon's hold over the demons. The ones around her turned to fight the rest of the hoard. "Fight by me!" Akila screamed so that she might be heard over the sounds of war. "Some of the demons listen to me!"

The other Dragonborns caught on and quickly and drifted closer. Sai was battling her was through flying demons. Akila, though, didn't move. She focused on expanding her circle of demons she could control, and it was steadily growing. Unfortunately, Fallon approached and it became infinitely harder.

"I see we have a contender." He said sarcastically.

She bit out, "I've heard just about every pitch to convince me to join the dark side, it won't work on me."

He laughed and pushed her circle of control inward. "Why would I want to do that? You're so powerful, and honestly, I like being Xydes' favorite servant."

"Cool." Akila said, she wasn't sure how to respond to a demon that wasn't trying to convince her to join them. "Then you'll leave me alone then?"

Again, he laughed. It was piercing and entirely evil. "Where ever did you get such a notion? Of course not, I'm going to kill you so that you do not pose a threat to me."

She bit her bottom lip in concentration. The words did register somewhere, and she drew on her reserves of strength to protect what she could of her circle of control.

Fallon remained nonchalant, "You can't beat me at my own game. Just give up and accept your fate. I'll even reward you with a quick and painless death."

"Never." She was on her wits edge. Then an idea popped into her head. It just might work. If Akila could do whatever she did to defeat the Shakarakh, then maybe she would stand a chance against Fallon. She had no idea where to start, but it seemed to have found her for her vision adopted a red tint.

"No!" Fallon yelled. A demon flung itself at her from out of the sky. It seemed like he used quite some will-power to make it obey him even as it got closer to Akila, causing her to gain some ground. It was short lived though, for it lifted her into the sky, breaking her concentration over the demons.

It an attempt to fight, Akila transformed into her dragon and broke it in two with her teeth, only to be slammed through the sky by Fallon, who was also currently a dragon. His scales were dark grey and his eyes red. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the knights trying to make their way to her, only to be overrun by demons.

They crashed through the trees, far enough away from the battle to obtain privacy. An audible crack was heard. "It's over." He breathed.

"No." Akila hissed before transforming into her human form and wiggling out from under his claws. He followed in suit, not that she could get far anyways for blinding pain assaulted her.

"You're broken. Admit it. There's no chance for you now. You are at my mercy, an antiquity which I do not provide." Fallon said.

"I won't submit." Akila bit out. "I'll fight until I die."

He chuckled, "Ah, there's the demon spirit. It'll do you no good, though."

She was crawling, and he was slowly walking towards her, brandishing a wickedly curved dagger that looked as if it could treat bone like butter. "Come on Fallon, you can stop this. It's not too late, all you have to do is call off the demons. You and your sister can have a home with the knights." She tried desperately.

"But why, when I can just take my sister and be forever happy? You realize that I can make her immortal, like me, with the elixir." He argued.

"You'll never be truly happy. Darkness leaves no room for love." Akila tried.

"It will if I make it. Now shut your incessant rambling."

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, but made no sound. He was beyond hope, the only way to bring Fallon back into the light would be by force.

"Good, now let me tell you how this is going to go. You're going to die, and I will forever be Xydes' favorite. Your friends there will also die, with any luck, and I will have torn down a great barrier for darkness, making me a hero. The kingdom will succumb to Xydes' rule of darkness, through me, and the future will be paved in delicious death and despair. The generations of trust and tradition forged by the Dragonborn Knights will be nothing but a bitter memory. And guess what else, it will be all your fault. If only you had worked harder, then maybe it wouldn't have come to this, but because you haven't, a great flame will be snuffed out before it reaches its true potential. I want your eyes filled with despair before I kill you, you must understand, so that your death is all the more delicious."

As her last brave act, Akila refused to give him the satisfaction. "Someone will live on, darkness never wins."

"The light can be snuffed out, but no matter how many times the dark is repressed, it always lives." He hissed, before raising his dagger. At this point, her back was pushed against a tree trunk and all she could do observe the wicked designs carved into the dark blade. In another time and setting, she would have admired it. Funny how things change when they're about to be plunged into your heart.

So instead of worrying, she calmly closed her eyes and sent good thoughts towards her friends. She had only been a knight for a short time, but she hoped her sacrifice would help them live to fight another day. No pain came, though, and she opened her eyes when she felt a shiver of demonic energy cascade down her spine. A figure appeared in darkness flung Fallon aside. It was Xydes'. Her about-to-be killer hit a tree and crumpled to the ground.

"How dare you disobey my command!" The god screamed. "I had one, ONLY ONE condition!" He emphasized the words with a backhand across Fallon's face that left gouge marks, completely tearing through what from her perspective was his right eye. "And that was that you leave the girl alive! What do I find though? You have a dagger perched above her heart. The dagger that I gave to you as a gift! How could you show such blatant disrespect for your superior!" The god picked his servant up by the neck. "And now you shall pay the price."

Much to Akila's horror, Xydes stuck his hand straight into Fallon's chest and ripped out his heart. The lifeless body was discarded and a dead heap a mere few yards from her.

"You better be worth it." The monster said, "Or your fate is going to be so much worse." He then proceeded to vanish in a puff of black smoke.

In the distance, screeches of battle subsided, and then intensified. The demons, Akila sensed, had turned on each other in confusion. Knowing her friends would be alright, she crawled painfully to the side of the brutally mauled Fallon. He looked a little more... human than when he was alive. Black blood was lazily trickling out of his chest and face. His good eye remained lifeless, staring into no spot in particular.

And then it hit her. Gwendolyn, I told her we would get him home safe... She didn't want to tell the little girl that her brother was dead, but giving her false hope would be just as bad. She instead looked at the boys body hopelessly, Akila would bury him and then she would let the others come and say their goodbyes. Gwen especially doesn't need to see this.

Painfully, she transformed into her dragon and gouged lines in the earth until she could lay him down. I couldn't save you, but maybe I can help your sister. Hesitantly, she pilled dirt back on top of Fallon until all that was left of his memory was a pool of black blood, a mound of dirt, and a misshapen stone that acted as a grave marker.

Unsatisfied with her work, but deciding that she'd been there long enough. Akila transformed back into a human and started wandering through the trees. She couldn't fly, and wasn't in a hurry to get home anyways. The walk was painful, but she felt that it was, in a way, deserved.

Memories of her morning runs with Gavin resonated in Akila's mind. Before dawn, the forest had always been dead quiet, much like it was now.

And this was definitely the dawn of a war.