feral | sting eucliffe

XII | DOTD

Episode 11: Dance of the Dragons!

—

HITTING THE GROUND, Y/n made an attempt to fly back up. Just as she did so, Animus had already began scaling up the tower again, heading for Natsu. She had just dropped off Akane on one of the unbroken rooftops of the castle, but that also cost her a blow to the chest by the dragon that had stayed in Sonya for so long.

Chase pulled the chains again, an attempt to rile her up and get her back on her feet. Y/n let out a roar of vexation, rising quickly and latching her jaws to Animus's tail before tossing him back down recklessly. A bright golden stream of light suddenly showered down at the top of the tower, distracting Y/n briefly as she flew up.

Her wing was suddenly pulled down by the blue dragon, Animus letting out his own angry roar. He seemed to be clear of any control now, focused on getting the Dragon Cry more than ever. He climbed up the tower, claws latching onto the architecture. As every minute passed by, Y/n found it harder to keep her form, but Chase kept tugging at the chains, giving her encouragement.

Animus flew up, grabbing Natsu's arm with his jaws. However, just as fast as he'd managed to grip the human, he was tossed off when his mouth was filled with a raging fire. It cost Natsu some as well when he was thrown against a wall, his form leaving a crater in the building. His eyes widened as a dragon claw swiped towards him, breaking the tower further.

Y/n roared, attempting to fly up further, but was incapable of doing so. Instead, all she could do was rise up and try to keep Animus from getting the Dragon Cry whilst Natsu ran alongside the tower. She let out a whimpering cry however, when she saw both of them go at it. Chase seemed to agree this time, orange eyes widening. "GET OUT OF HERE!" 

Y/n dipped down quickly, landing on the ground as the explosion rumbled the entire area. A flash of blue and white followed by a burst of orange and red revealed the true outcome as the smoke cleared. Natsu had been pierced by one of Animus's horns. Her heart dropped. Could she have stopped this?

Just as Animus ruthlessly tossed him off, Y/n caught him, gently setting him down on the ground as her eyes filled with fury. Chase hopped off of her, going towards Natsu. "Open your eyes. Hey! Open your eyes, man!" He attempted to slap the fire dragon slayer, a fireball on his palm as he waved it in front of his face. 

Y/n cried out when she swiped the Dragon Cry with her claw, but was sent flying back by Animus's spiked tail. Taking the staff by his tongue, he swallowed and let out a powerful roar. Y/n winced, reverting back to her human form as her eyes widened to the size of saucers. The golden magic circles in the sky had turned red and shot down beams, destroying the city.

As Animus let out his own promise, Sonya ran forward much to everyone else's dismay. She held out her hands, "Please stop this, Your Majesty!" Animus looked down at her, now a glossy red as the crystals across his scales also glowed a vibrant pinkish-red. "Out of my way!" He yelled at Sonya, growling.

"No, I will not move! You've done more than enough harm to the good people of Stella." Her blue eyes filled with tears. "Their souls are longing to cry out in joy! They're yearning to shine as brightly as the stars that illuminate the night sky. Your Majesty, your soul used to shine, but you fell to darkness and you're trapped inside a chasm." Her tears streaked down her cheeks.

She cried, "You were once so kindhearted, but that's all in the past." As Sonya pleaded with King Animus, Galena was healing Natsu as Chase attempted to wake him up by waving a fire in front of his face. Lucy and Happy were sobbing desperately, shaking and hugging him as Galena tried her best to close off his major wounds.

Animus spoke again, "The one who lived only to kill dragons has returned. . . only to die by a dragon's talons!" He yelled, smacking her away with his large dragon claws. Y/n looked towards her, knowing that she couldn't do anything. "SONYA!" She cried out. Luckily, the light brown haired girl was quickly caught by the large white wolf from before, setting her down gently.

As Animus let out another roar, Natsu shifted awake enough to hear just the last bit, quickly slurping up the flame that Chase had kindly offered him before stumbling up. "You're wrong," He walked forward, glaring. "I never lived to kill dragons." A flame surrounded his hand. "I've got a better reason than that!"

The fire encased him as fury filled his magic power, "For my friends, to protect them; that's why I'm still alive! That's why I fight and why I'm gonna stop you!" The flame erupted into a large heatwave across the ground, forcing Y/n to shield her face from the bright light and overwhelming warmth. Animus charged at him, "THIS TIME, YOU DIE!" 

Y/n breathed, coughing slightly as her hands dug into the ground. "Cancel them," Nikos voiced from behind her, knowing that she was still keeping up the large spell she had cast from earlier. "The soldiers are gone because well, I'd like to think that Zash is dead. We'll go evacuate the citizens and since that doesn't require any magic power, here."

A snake slithered towards her, its fangs piercing into her wrist. She felt a sudden surge of magic power, her spell from earlier cancelling out as well. Feeling stronger than before, she managed to stumble up and look towards her superior. Chase had a larger magic supply compared to her, but still felt a bit fatigued.

He caught her glance, nodding with a small smile on his face. Morphing to a dragon again, she could feel herself become stronger as magic power practically radiated off of her. A loud yell from a rooftop caught them off guard. "Y/n, catch!" It was the expensive lacrima from earlier, the one they'd gotten for Zash.

"I guessed that he'd use the lacrima for something like Dragon Cry." Akane winked slyly.