Eternal Ebony

Chapter 7

Now Ebon was taking the break. The emissaries had agreed to notify their queens about her cause, and she had passed out scrolls that the queens were to sign and send back to her. She sat quietly on Oblivion's cliff, her wings spread, neck tilted back to look at the stars. She smiled as she recognized a constellation. She saw a comet in the sky and made a wish silently. She lowered her head for a moment, thinking, then rose, and looked back at the stars again. She heard something, and turned. Gliding quickly toward her was Oblivion. He flapped frantically, and looked like he was close to crying. He nearly slammed into the cliff as he landed, and gripped the stone. As he crawled, Ebon could see what looked like Arrow on his back. Ebon laughed.

"Oblivion!" she cried, laughing. "Is there no time for good flying?" Her laughing stopped when Oblivion started crying. He lifted Arrow from his back and shook his head mournfully. As he set Arrow on the stone, Ebon gasped. Arrow looked sick. His wings shuddered and twitched, and his breathing was rough. He looked at her, and she could see his eyes icing over. His ears flopped forlornly against his neck. Abruptly, his claws jolted, and he scratched slightly at Oblivion's scales. He turned a little, a tiny twitch, and Ebon saw something on his chest. Mortified, she gently shoved Arrow over until she could see the object. It was a puncture wound in his chest. It was a sickly green-black starburst, that had edged out into veins that pumped a strange green liquid into his veins. As she peered at it, it pulsed, and oozed blood and pus as it pumped another bout of green liquid into his body. Under his scales, Ebon thought, watching it. Where no one could see and identify the signs of punctured poisoning. Someone did this on purpose.

He's obviously dying.

She put a talon over her mouth, and Oblivion picked him up. He gave him the biggest hug he ever gave him. "Don't worry, Arrow," he whispered to him. "I'll end your misery." He turned terrified, angry eyes to Ebon, and nodded. He didn't wait for her response. He set Arrow on the stone and, tears in his eyes, set his talons on his back. Arrow shuddered. Then he gasped, and a half-smile crossed his face before he closed his eyes. Closed his eyes for the last time, Ebon thought. She was gasping for breath. She couldn't speak. Oblivion wrapped his wings around her, and she felt his tears running down her back. Ebon gasped again, tears threatening. She suddenly shoved Oblivion away and gestured at Arrow's body.

"WHO DID THIS?!" she roared at Oblivion. He looked tired. Ebon stomped angrily toward Arrow's corpse and pointed at it. "Did YOU do this?! I will kill ANYONE that murders a dragonet this way! A coward! A...A murderer! NO one kills dragonets in MY palace! I'll find them and RIP THEIR WINGS OFF MYSELF!!" She heard her shrieks reverberating off the cliffside. She took huffing breaths, and looked at Oblivion before collapsing into tears. She ran into his open wings, felling them constrict gently back around her.
"I don't know who did it," he whispered. "I wish I did. We can take him to the lab and have the poison tested. Or I could..." He gulped down his sobs. "I could use my magic to find out who did it."

Ebon gave him a stern look. "I thought I said not to use it unless a...a, um, special occasion." She looked away, but his long neck extended and he carefully directed her face to look back at him. "Listen," he said with soft force. "This is a serious case. What happens if the assassin does it again? What if they go for someone like you, for example? I can't lose you, or I'll lose myself. I can't let this kingdom, let us, fall apart that easily." He took his wings away and stepped back.

"Stand back," he said, picking up a small rock nearby. He cupped it in his talons. "I enchant this rock to find the owner of this poison I touch it with." He pincered it between two claws and dipped it gently into the hole on Arrow's corpse. Then he held it up in front of him as it began to jiggle and squirm slightly in his grasp. He opened his wings, flapping to rise and pulling Ebon with him. He tugged her away, following the little orders the rock gave him. It tugged him along the cliffside, stopping randomly to get its bearings. Suddenly, in the cave where Ebon first found Oblivion, it tugged. Left, Left! it commanded. He turned to Ebon, astounded, before turning to land in the cave. Oblivion felt the presence of the drake immediately. But, instead of the normal, small energy it gave off, it filled to cavern, causing Oblivion to shudder. He wandered further, having become unfamiliar with the space. As he wandered down the narrow halls, he felt the aura closing in on him. He felt trapped within a maze of guilt and terror. Why did I ever decide to live here? he asked himself, cringing as he stumbled over a low stalagmite. Suddenly, the rock banked, leading them into a large cave that appeared to be filled with stars. Or that's what it looked like at first. Oblivion saw the thick, slimy trails of glowworms stalking the ceiling. But what he noticed more was the dragon hunched in the corner. He was a lot bigger than most other males in the kingdom, but not nearly as big as Oblivion. He has a lot more scars, though, Ebon thought. More skinny, more crazy, and more killer. But not killer as in killer handsome. She was about to lunge onto his back. She looked up at Oblivion for approval, and found that his expression was anguished, like there was a river trying to flow out of his eye sockets. He looked at Ebon expressively, but she didn't know what that face meant. It was all full of emotion, like he wasn't sure what he was thinking. He looked back at the hunched dragon. He stepped forward and took a deep breath.