The Dragons {Book 2 to the Error 404 Series}

||Prologue||

??? POV:

I breathed as white frost gathered around me. The walls were frozen behind a sheen of thin ice. The floor were of similar manner, except the stone were frozen solid and glowing a mysterious, blue hue. 

I always preferred the cold than the heat. The numbing the cold gives is comforting. Soothing away my emotions, detaching me from my past. Liberating me from human emotions and ridding me of any hurt I had of my choice.

My two icy blue eyes slowly peeled open as I completed my meditation. A pair of wings fanned open from my back as a spiked tail swished across the floor. I breathed. In. Out. In. Out. 

I was in my cave. It was dimly lit with soul-fire lanterns so it wouldn't melt the ice, not that I would allow it to anyway. The lanterns surprisingly, wasn't hot to touch, but rather cool. I could sense an uprising. Well, two uprisings. One was, as predicted long ago, Error 404. The other, surprisingly, was Meteor. A small smile found its way to my face despite my cold, numb heart. So he decided to show himself first? I had thought it would be like last time, with Draco and Annie emerging, then Aleia, then Meteor and finally, me.

A shaky sigh forced itself out of my lips. The war is repeating itself. This time, I will not simply imprison Error. We will kill him, as we could not before. After living for so long, we no longer look fear death. Death is like a dreamless sleep. It is comforting.

I slowly stood up from my position, my wings unfolding fully. My eyes surveyed my area before falling on a dragon-girl by the cave entrance. I chuckled softly. Our race had grown and died over the ages.

"I have a mission for you."

~~~3rd Person POV~~~

Meteor sat on his chair by his desk, tinkering with some sort of intricate redstone mechanism. An all too familiar low rumble found its way to my senses. Only I could sense such a rumble, it was only meant for Glitch Hosts. Sky had sensed Error and my presence. Knowing her, she would most likely send an evasive messenger to find the group and lead them to her. 

Sparks flew in front of me and I bit back a swear. This was the third time this mechanism had backfired on me in the past hour. I sighed and stood up. This will be more difficult than I thought it will be. I pushed the chair back under the desk and willed a fire to spark on my fingertips and dance around the room with its own mind. More fire streamed from my fingers as the curtains sealed shut and the fire formed into a man. A Glitch, mine, to be exact. I sat on my bed, and faced him.

"Ezalb," I said.

"So you decided to resurface," Ezalb, my Glitch, said. His voice cracked as it followed the crackling of the fire. This is the only way he could take a physical form: With my fire.

"I am not going to stay by the sidelines and watch the events unfold," I said, "Error needs to be stopped. For good, this time."

"You do know that it will cost not only your life, and mine as well," Ezalb said, "Our fate is not yours to decide alone."

"If you would not cooperate, the world will fall," I said, gritting my teeth, "And when the world fall, so will you. We will both die either way, we might as well save a few more lives along with it."

"Your decisions will destroy Anrah," Ezalb said, "She is your friend, is she not? She was already broken once, but was luckily repaired enough to function. With all of you gone by the end of this, she would be destroyed and broken beyond repair. No matter how powerful, she is only human, and only a vessel. Both are not invincible." I winced at the thought that Ezalb brought up.

"We have no choice," I said, "We can not let emotional ties get in the way."

"And yet you shun Sky for her choice of emptying her heart of emotions," Ezalb snorted, "Remember: Every action has an impact. Do not return to who you once were." The fire faded into tendrils of smoke hat dissipated in the cold weather. I clenched my fists and glared at the mess of redstone. 

I will not let my past get in the way of things. I will not. I refuse.

~~~