Dragon Falls (Indigo Apocalypse Book III)

Chapter Thirty-Three: Can You Decipher Symbols Like Hieroglyphics?

DIANA:
"Wow," said Luna as we walked along. "I mean, all in all, I guess I knew she wasn'tt that bad a person. I just really didn't like the vibe she gave off back then. But to think she was as sweet and protective, over girls younger than her." I nodded. "Kitana was not always so harsh. And, to be frank, I'm glad she's found a mate, glad someone warmed her heart in the ways I couldn't." "Have you ever," she let the sentence hang. "No," I shook my head. "I never saw her that way, and nor did she see me that way. When we met in that orphanage, it was a fight for survival. We fought each other, then, fought for the girls. Our caretaker, Ritz, was a monster in her own right. She was cruel, downright evil. We bare the scars to prove that. But no, Kitana was never imfatuated  with me, or, anyone for that matter." I ran a hand through the sheath of arrows on my back. "I might have hoped, but as I said, there was no time for affection there. Afterward, when we got here, I did hope, but it wasn't high, not until we well, I, saw how she looked at Kendra." "You saw it?" "Well, we'll say it was that tingle at the back of my neck, something told me to pay attention, I knew she was infatuated with Ken. I never thought it was love, real, true love. Never imagined it to be, but, when I realized it was. There wasn't, and isn't any words that can describe just how happy I am for her." I looked away from Luna, into the distance. "Finally," my voice came out dreamy. "It's as if I can rest." Luna's hand grasped mine and squeezed." "Really?" "It feels like I've protected her in my own way, protected her and stood in front of her, now, now I can step back, and just, rest." We paused at the edge of camp. Behind us, lay a camp as long as a mile or more, and busy as a beehive.
I watched the distance sky, lost in thought. Luna waited, not speaking. A team of dracons flew overhead, their beating wings sounding in unison. "I can't remember when I first was able to shift." "What do you mean?" "I think, I think it was when we saved Sarah. I think that's when I could first shift. Appearing in that glacier, in the midst of the fighting, I could, just, just, do it. It just happened. But, I wonder if it was because, because a part of me was finally free, free, from my sister by choice. Free, to finally change as she was." "I don't know." Said Luna. "I always had the power to make jewelry out of indigoism. The pendants, the orbs, things like that. Joy and I could always do that. But, the power, the true power of summoning pure indigoism." She let my hand go, and her palm glowed with dark blue light. Light, that tasted of pure ice. "I hurt Kitana with this, burned her with ice. Huntor stopped me before I could do any real damage, but still." The light faded. Another few dracons flew overhead. "I'm so happy times are different." I murmured, still lost in thought. "Even through the war we have to fight, the battles, the blood, I'm glad some of us found those we could love. Love for an eternity." "Yeah." Said Luna. "At first, I didn't like the idea of Camille and Joy but I mean, they are kinda cute together. But—" she paused as running footsteps sounded behind us. Shale shifting, I turned. Kendra and Holly were surging toward us. Luna's hands glowed with yellow light, throwing their shocked terrified faces into relief. "Where is she?" Kendra asked, fear in her voice. "Who?" Luna asked. "Kitana and the others were attacked, attacked—"By what?" I asked, snapping myself out of my revery. "Something that was huge, a lot of them." "Ragni Di Morte?" "No, something else." Kendra put her hands on her temples. "Kitana's thoughts are jumbled and confused, she never thinks like that. Whatever it was, it scared her, her, and Sarah. She said Sarah is terrified, that she just collapsed and fainted." That was all I needed to hear. I turned, racing a few steps before my body glowed with light. Before that warm wild sensation lashed like a bright day, like daylight. My arms turned into wings, my body shrank, and I took to the air as a black bird, a black swift bird, who's breast glowed silver.
I soared over the lip of the Forbidden Kingdom. The ground dropped and the kingdom yawned like a beast's gaping maw. "No," I corrected myself. "Like gods took a sword and carved their way across plains of shale." Canyon after canyon of foreboding lands passed under me. I breathed through my feathers and brought the winds under my control, flying into the wind. Soon, I came across the dracons that had flown over Luna and I, and soon, saw the silhouettes of dragons flying toward us. My eyes arrowed to Zavala's back, where Kitana sat, her arms around a limp body, Audrey sitting in front of her, her blue mask in place. Kitana raised her own head, her purple mask hiding her face, but I knew she saw me. She signaled, and I understood. Turning, I headed back to camp, to deliver, Kitana's message, and, warning. "Oh God." Said Kendra as we landed, as I shifted into my human form and she raced to Kitana. She helped her carry Sarah into camp, who remained unconscious. Amala came toward me, her naked body partially covered by her deerskin cloak. "It was an ambush." She said. "But by a new threat, a threat the Dark Queen was just waiting to unleash." "What was it?" But Amala gesticulated and I followed her. Holly's golden head faded into shadows as they rounded a corner tent. Luna fell into step with us, silent and grave. We entered the tent to see Sarah laid out, her mask gone, her eyes closed. Audrey stood over her, her hands over her belly, her face just as grave as Luna's." Qudorzo stepped into the tent, "What happened?" Amala looked at Kitana, unmasked, her eyes shadowed. "We were ambushed, ambushed, by a whole new kind of monster." "What—"Scorpions." Said Audrey. "Scorpions of huge size. Scorpions, that cannot die." "What do you mean?" I asked Kitana. Briella moved into the tent, Leia right behind her. Leia arrowed toward Sarah, her green eyes filled with fear. "Scorpions, that have a harder shell, a real, hard shell." "You mean like Asia?" Asked Briella. Kitana shook her head. "They couldn't be killed. Not with normal indigo weapons. My fans didn't work, Audrey's swords, Sarah's ice fans, fire barely touched them." Briella shuttered, her golden eyes cold. Kitana stared into her mate's eyes, and Kendra slowly. Melted to the floor,  her eyes going more and more out of focus. When Kitana looked away, Kendra murmured, "We're going to die, we're, all going to die.." "Do please share with the rest of us." Snapped Briella. "Kendra held up her hands,, still on the floor, and images played against the wall. When.     She lowered her hands,  her eyes were dark with terror. "You're right." Said Briella, her voice resigned. "We're dead, all of us."  "Hold your tongue girl." Snarled Amala as Kamala entered. "No." Said Briella. "I will not, we're all going to die, did you see those things? They are nothing like the  Ragni Di Morte. Nothing like the ones I fought with Huntor,  I barely, barely, was able to injure one of those things. Do you realize just how many there are? She must have thousands of these things,  maybe even hundreds of thousands werewolf, fucking thousands, we're dead." Amala advanced, but Briella didn't back down. Kamala moved to her sister's side, her twin eyes lashing with violence. Briella's gaze remained on the wolves. "You have a debt to repay, a, life debt, to repay." "I don't care. I don't, because first of all, my debt was repaid a long time ago. Second off, if he saw those, even he would be terrified, even more than us." Said Briella. "Deep down, we are no warriors, no matter the labels he fucking gave us." She waved to Sarah. "Look at her, look, and tell me if she's a warrior, a fucking god. Look at Leia, Holly," the werewolf pup snarled. "Look at us, and tell me what we really, truly, truly, are. We can't fight in a war, nothing like this. What the keepers were, that was no war, absolutely nothing. We'll die, all of us will die in this."
    As if the knowledge truly struck, Everyone looked around. Leia stared down at Sarah, then herself, then over to Kendra, who slowly looked at Kitana, pregnant, with their child. Vello stared at Qudorzo, then to Decre and Kneecora. "What are you going to do then?" Purred Amala. "I," she turned away, staring at the tent opening. Her bronze eyes darkened. "Yes?" Purred Kamala. "I have nowhere else to go." Said Briella finally. Kitana eyed everyone, her violet gaze cool. "I'm not going to die." She said. Briella spun to her but she said, "I'm going to see this through. I have a child in me. And, I'm going to live to see them grow up, to see them become the very thing I and Kendra always wanted." "I already died once," said Audrey coolie. "I have no fucking intention on dying again. I'm the goddess of dolphins." Leia still stared down at herself, at the pearl that she rolled around in her fingers. "Huntor saved me, and in saving me, I lost my brother. And almost lost myself. I'm not letting him die and me die too. I know Kaio wouldn't want that." "Huntor fought so hard for us." Sarah woke, and swung her legs down, her blue eyes dark and haunted. "I believed everything Khione told me, and when I was freed, freed for good." She looked at Wenzi. "I realized I could have a life, a life worth living for." Briella's eyes darkened even more. "Huntor always warned us Briella, warned us we were likely to die. Before every battle, before every fight, that some of us wouldn't come back from that. Even if we die, we have to believe in ourselves, and if we do, we go out with a bang." My words echoed in the silence. Kitana sent me a look of deep affection, affection that I never thought I'd see on her face. "We are not the same indigo we were before." I continued. "Whether by coincidence or design, he made us gods. All of us are gods now, and because of that, we have deeper puissant powers that could tear this world apart, this one, and others." I turned my attention to the room at large. "He may or may not have been a god all his life. May or may not have been an IndoDragon his whole life. Either way, he made us gods even before we truly realized it ourselves. Because of that, we do have the power to turn the tide in this war. Because we're gods, we have the power, we just need to dive into it." "How?" Asked Briella. "We do the very thing we've been doing all this time." Said Kendra. "We train, and dive deep within ourselves." Said Kitana.
    It took time, a lot of it, almost too much of it. As we studied the scorpions, the monster, scorpions that we'd have to fight along with the Ragni Di Morte. We dove within ourselves, searching for that end, that end we had to break open in order to reach our fullest potential. Some of us, it seems, had already broken down the borders and sank into their godly power. Kitana's power swirled endlessly around her, death incarnate, able to just, speak, and kill. Leia, who had already broken her borders when she'd killed Kimopoleia, radiated power, the scent of sea storms cloaking her. Wenzi, who had already broken her borders when she's slain the once Snow Goddess Khione, thereby crowning Sarah as the next one, making her, a goddess. And Sarah herself had come into her's, had unleashed herself, when she'd frozen the ocean, when she'd created bears and penguins and birds of prey. When her and Leia, working together, had opened a portal with their powers, Audrey as well. I, Kendra Joy and Luna, Lucy and Kupoa, Camille, and, Briella, we had yet to break the borders on our powers. Briella had unleashed her true lioness form, had broken that border, but, there was more, had to be more. I knew that I hadn't broken the borders on my power, knew, because I hadn't really used them. Sneaking around via shapeshifting, shooting my bow, but, actually using that power, that silver power within that I knew slumbered, I hadn't an idea on how to break it, on lashing through the cage and setting it free. Everyday for a week, I sat in the midst of the tents, letting myself meditate, breathing in the scents of the working dracons, of Camille who attempted to drown the world in her power. In the scents of Joy and Luna, who worked together, Scarlett and sapphire, working as one to break their borders and unleash themselves.
    In the distance, I heard Lucy and Kupoa call in unison. Heard their cry of challenge, their roar of feral fury. Dracons roared in response, unable to resist that feral cry, that call to arms. I breathed, searching, searching, searching. As I dove deep, deep, deep, I felt the world begin to slide away. Deep inside, deep in my soul, silver power flickered, caged within. I arrowed toward it, arrowed, like the silver arrows from my own bow, arrowed, as if I were shot into the dark depths of my soul. Arrowed into the depths of Diana, into the depths, of, Artemis. I hit the cage that housed that ancient power. Hit it, once, twice, thrice, again, again, again, again, again, again. The cage remained. I lashed into it, silver power lashing against those phantom bars. Lash, lash, lash, lash, lash, lash, lash, lash. Still, the cage remained. I retreated a few steps, staring at that promise of strength, of limitless power. I stared at the bars, those phantom bars. Breathing, I imagined a bow in my grip, a silver bow. An arrow appeared, and I took aim. The arrow lashed, a silver light in the endless eternal darkness. The arrow lashed against the cage bars and light lashed brightly. But the cage, the, cage, remained. I fired, again, again, again, again, arrow after arrow after arrow after arrow, after arrow, after arrow, after, arrow. Still,, the, cage, remained. I lowered that silver bow, and sighed. As I sighed, I felt my mind returning to my surroundings. Felt them encroach like susurrus waves,lashing closer and closer. My eyes snapped open. For a moment, Reina stared, stared deeply into my face, her eyes wide with shock. She stumbled backward. "What?" I asked, my voice came out lyrical, powerful. "Your eyes." She murmured reverently. "Your eyes were glowing, they, they glowed silver, just for a moment, then." She waved helplessly. "Did you do it?" I shook my head. "Did you?" She mirrored my motion. "Did you at least feel something?" She asked. I nodded. "Did you?" "No." Said Reina sepulchrally. "Absolutely nothing, I don't even think I'm a god, not like you guys are."
She stared down at her hands. "How could I be? Gaia, or someone like her came to me, gifted me with a backpack, one made from grass. Gave me rocks that even now I still don't really know how to use. Daggers that I have used, but that just aren't like your bow, or Kitana's fans, or anything." "You've looked deep within yourself." "Yes, deeply, but there's nothing, no secret power hidden away, no sensation of otherworldly strength. Just, my power as what I am." Another roar from Lucy, and several male dracons in dragon form bellowed in response. "Can you do that?" Asked Reina suddenly. "I don't know." I answered honestly. "I never. Tried admitting a cry like that, a, battle cry, to call animals to my cause." And in truth, I hadn't needed to. Sarah had always created beasts out of ice and snow. Beasts she was familiar with. And, only, beasts she was familiar with. I was familiar with all beasts, because I could shape shift into all animals. Who'd better have the battle cry to call all animals to war, than I? Reina looked at me, and asked, "What are you thinking?" I shook my head. "Nothing." The next day, so to speak, I approached Lucy and Kupoa. They were on the outskirts of the camp, their deep glacier eyes as feral as ever.When they turned those eyes on me, I knew they were close. Knew that two near gods were staring at me. Gods of the forests and jungle, gods who could call all animals to war if they wished. "Show me." Was all I said. Lucy bared her teeth in a dominant smile. I bared mine back.
"We've kept our patrols near our borders." Said Vello to Decre as we all stood in the war tent, a huge map of the Forbidden Kingdom laid out before us. "Now we are aware of the Dark Queen's newest allies, we must figure out what their weaknesses are." "If they even have any." Said Pheequa. "They have to." Said Kneecora. "Everything has a weakness of some kind." Unless we can ask them nicely to roll over and let us stab them in their underbellies, there's no way." Said Kamala dryly. "Fire barely hurts them," said Vello. "Ice barely does any damage what so ever." Sarah said, her face pale. Terrified. The girl was still so terrified after seeing them. Kitana had confided in me that Sarah had a huge fear of scorpions, and seeing them, seeing, huge, huge, scorpions the size of Ragni Di Morte, was the end of it for her. Spiders were one thing apparently, scorpions, were a complete other. "There's no taking off the stinger either. It's like something you've never seen. You can't just swing your blade and it flies off. It'll bounce right off it." "Are they vulnerable to sounds?" Asked Lucy. Everyone stopped talking. "What?" She asked. "Brute strength can't always be the answer. If their shell is as hard as you say, if they are truly that hard to kill, then, there is always another way, Kneecora's right." The former queen smiled at the feral girl. Lucy smiled back. If a bit dominantly. "Could they be?" I asked, thinking. "If fire and brute strength aren't the answer, if usual force isn't, what about symbols? What about godly power?" "Symbols?" Asked Zavala. From the other side of the tent, where they stood silently, where they always stood quietly, Horace and Isis stepped forward. Joy and Luna stared at me, their mouths open. "What if indigo symbols were the answer?" I continued. Hecate too gave me an openmouthed look. "Everyone here has a specific symbol that only they can control. One that's not replicated exactly. But those who can actually create symbols, can write them and channel their powers," I looked at Hecate, the first who could decipher symbols, write, and decipher them. Then Joy and Luna, who could create jewelry out of indigoism, and by extension everything else we have. "You guys can write symbols like their an actual language, understand them in ways not all of us can. So, what if using symbols could cripple these scorpions in a way that allowed us to kill them more indefinitely?" "We'd have to be careful—"Smart." Said Isis. "Not careful, care goes straight out the window." Hecate threw her an annoyed look for cutting her off. Light glistened on Isis's shoulder. Luna watched the light rove around her arm, and into her palm. "We can't be erroneous." Said Audrey. "Those things are extremely hard to kill. We have to be absolutely sure that when we go in, we'rr ready." "What we need to do," said Seeka, giving Isis a look. "Is ambush them."