What Comes After Death

Chapter 11

Warning: mentions of death

The horizon held many vibrant colours, starting with orange and blending to blue as it rose from the land. Long shadows from the trees were cast across the grass fields, the grass lightly swaying with the wind. The three of us rested at the top of a mountain, taking in the peaceful sight; it was a nice way to end a day of hunting. We silently watched as the colours gradually changed to darker blues. I took a deep breath in, "let's head back, shall we?" The others nodded in agreement.

As we turned around, River suddenly darted forward, "last one to the village has to prepare tonight's feast!" Blaze chuckled, "Just because you're scared of the dark-!"
"Just because you have a natural light source," River rebutted and quickly took off into the air.
"That's no excuse!" Blaze shouted and chased after him in the air.

I followed after the brothers and jumped into the air, letting the wind take me. I called out to River, "I'm not a fire dragon either, should I be scared?"
"You'll be safe with me," Blaze turned his eyes and blinked at me as I passed him.
"In your dreams," I laughed and manipulated the wind around me, leaving him in my slipstream. I quickly surpassed River with minimal effort; whoever loses between them is their problem.

I began to slow myself once I saw the edge of the village, I knew I was too far ahead for the brothers to catch up quickly. As I flew closer, I noticed the silhouette of a familiar dragon leaving the village. The dragon had an unusual walk, head stooped low and almost dragging their body; something was wrong. I landed next to her and immediately recognised the ice dragon.

"Frost, what's the matter?" I asked her, deeply concerned. She stopped for a moment then slowly lifted her head to look at me. I froze as we stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, her eyes were cold and empty.
"Frost, where are you headed?" River suddenly appeared, hopping toward us. My eyes snapped to him and he froze, realising something had happened. Blaze landed behind him cautiously, already seeing the situation was tense.

Frost turned her head toward the brothers, both of their faces growing with shock as they looked into her eyes. I shook off the paralysing tension and turned back to Frost, "Frost... what happened...?"
"Darkness... death..." she barely whispered. We all stared at her, shocked by her unexpected words. Did someone in the village die? Were we attacked? There didn't look to be anything wrong as I approached.

Then it occurred to me. I remembered Frost telling me of her visions some time ago. That must be what was going on, it had to be... I shook my head and jumped to Frost's side. I put my wing over her and spoke to her softly, "it will be alright." I looked up to the brothers, "Come, let's head back to my hut." I encouraged her to turn around and escorted her back into the village, the brothers following closely.

After a short walk we arrived at my hut I rested Frost on a blanket and Blaze lit the fire pit. I sat by Frost's side to comfort her, "you are safe now." I looked up to the brothers who sat nearby, patiently waiting for an explanation.
"Frost told me she has visions quite regularly," I began to explain, "she can usually handle them no matter how unusual," I looked back to Frost, "but this one..." There was a long silence as we allowed Frost time to process. Blaze spoke softly, "what did you see?"
"I saw... darkness... the sky... purple... death... all around me..." her voice was shaking, "in front of me... a dragon egg... untouched... a dark dragon lifted it... treated it as his own..."

There was a heavy silence, all of us trying to piece together her words.
"What does it mean?" Blaze questioned. The question was answered with silence.
"Who was the dragon?" I tried.
"The purple egg..." she stated. I looked to the brothers then back to her, "what purple egg?"
"at the temple... you must destroy it..."
I glanced up to the brothers and gestured for them to step outside and they reluctantly followed my order. I turned back to Frost before joining them, "you have done well, rest now."

"What does any of it mean?" River pondered quietly. Blaze cursed, "Can we really believe what she's telling us?" They both looked to me for answers. I shook my head slowly, "Visions never lie, you saw that in her eyes."
"Then..." River hesitated for a moment, "what do we do...?"
"We destroy the egg," I looked to the temple.

River jumped in front of me, "You must be joking! That is a criminal act! Only ancestors know what would happen if we were to be caught!"
"And unless you've forgotten, but purple eggs don't exist, never have." Blaze stated.
"Then what do you think her vision means?" I looked to Blaze, "what if the guardians are hiding something?" There was silence.

I sighed, "look, it may be a pointless mission, but I'm willing to risk anything to stop that vision, stop the potential death of many. So you don't have to come with me-"
"You must be crazy to think we would let you do something reckless on your own," Blaze smirked at me, "besides, you need us." River nodded enthusiastically. I smiled at the brothers, we may be reckless idiots, but we are brave reckless idiots.

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The brothers she spoke of must have been the two dragons with her when I died. Neat little team. But, why did they so blindly take Frost's word? Visions can be misinterpreted easily, especially if you do not understand them. They barely understood the one vision, and they were diving snout first into the mission.

Though, that vision she spoke off... could it be related to the conspicuous future I have read about? One that no one dares speak of? Surely not... Why has she received visions of it but I haven't? If I did, I would be able to understand the situation better. I sighed in frustration; thus even the wise Chronicler was lost.

But a purple egg...? I have never even seen nor heard of a purple egg, let alone read any purple books. What element could a purple dragon possibly have, anyway? Is she sure the egg was purple? What made her believe it was at the temple? What if the guardians were hiding something? They were very segregated; only the guardians and guards may enter the temple, anyone else was watched under heavy supervision. I looked over to a distant shelf with various books, "Ignitus... I know he was a guardian at the time..."