Wings Of fire: Shadowstalker

Chapter 34: The Dessert Battle Part 2

"I got the traitor!" A male Nightwing soldier yelled proudly before yanking the spear out of Starhunter. Traitor. The word rang through Shadow's head as he watched them. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as he watched the soldier move off of him. In a fit of rage, the prince pounced towards the Nightwing. This caused the dragon to get thrown off Starhunter and into the sand. Once pinned down he smashed his fist over him, delivering an immediate fatal blow.

"..Shadow-" Starhunter groaned weakly from behind. Shadow quickly turned and tried to focus on him, but his heart was easing. He ran over quickly and put a claw over the wound, looking into his friend's eyes. "..Hey.." The wound was bad, and it was bleeding quite a bit.

"Starhunter..?" Shadow let out a small sad whimper. "Starhunter look at me.." He tried to keep calm so he could focus and use his Animus magic, but it wasn't easy. They looked at each other and he reached up to him. "Come on.. don't die on me.."

"It's.. it's bad isn't it.. I don't wanna look.." Starhunter coughed and leaned his head back. "You've been a good friend.. a really, really good friend.." He reached up and touched his talon gently. Shadow's jaw dropped as he looked at him, watching him fall limp on the sand. Shadow froze and looked down at him. He wasn't moving, or breathing.

"..Star..?" Shadow said in a low sad tone. "Starhunter..?" He shook him a little, but got nothing in response. His eyes watered a bit as he nudged him, starting to get a sickening feeling in his gut. "No...no come on, don't be dead.." His eyes began to water. "Starhunter wake up!" No response. The battle raged on overhead, more dragons fighting and roaring.

"He's gone.. And soon, he will be too." A low voice rumbled, and Shadow turned. It was Bloodstrike standing over a beaten and bruised Nighthawk with a knife to his throat. Shadow gasped and froze again.

'No. Not Nighthawk too.' He thought. Fighting back tears of pain, he snapped his claws and the knife disappeared. He then lunged at Bloodstrike with a roar. The general rolled out of the way with a small chuckle.

"Hah, didn't think you'd have any fight in you, I was wrong! Let's see what you got!" Bloodstrike barked and ran towards him. Yes, Shadow was larger than him, but the general had more fighting experience and skill. The prince leaped back with a hiss, throwing a clump of sand towards Bloodstrike. He fell down with a hiss, covering his eyes. Beside him, Nighthawk stood up with a groan.

"He's got super strength, be careful!" Nighthawk yelled. Shadow nodded before charging up his fire while Bloodstrike cleared the sand from his eyes. A bright flash of heat and blazing fire erupted from the giant's mouth. It blasted Bloodstrike head on. He kept it going for about five seconds before stopping, leaving a smoking, scorched area on the sand. Bloodstrike stood up, perfectly unscathed.

"What.." Shadow spat and his tail lashed behind him. "No.."

"Your father gave me all sorts of fantastic abilities to ensure your capture! You can't me, I am stronger, faster and smarter than you!" Bloodstrike growled deeply. "You can't kill me! There's no chance of winning!" He laughed in his awful, raspy voice.

"That so..?" Shadow's tone dropped as he paced around him. "You're forgetting I have magic.." He'd been able to focus enough to use it, but every time he glanced back at Starhunter, he felt a wave of despair and pain flow through him. Despite the pain and the fear, he was going to fight.

"That's no problem, I'll still win." Bloodstrike grinned and lashed his tail. Shadow stared into his eyes before stomping a talon. With nothing but a thought the sand below the general began to turn into a sinkhole, threatening to engulf him. Bloodstrike leaped into the air to escape, but before he could take off Nighthawk began to fire bolts as quick as he could to knock his wings out of motion. Shadow was surprised how accurately he could aim, even with his wounds.

"Grab him lad!" Nighthawk yelled as he continued shooting and reloading. Shadow jumped towards him, pinning him down into the sand. It began to dip further and further into a magic pit. Both Bloodstrike and the prince's talons sunk into the ground. Bloodstrike began to kick and thrash around. Each kick or punch was incredibly painful, and he nearly lost his grip. Using all his strength, he smashed Bloodstrike into the pit until his talons were buried up to his firearms. Bloodstrike had been completely submerged in the sand, vanishing and suffocating.

"Come on, die!" Shadow hissed and growled. Never before had he wanted to kill anyone, let alone another member of his tribe. Unfortunately for Bloodstrike, the prince wasn't holding back. The general kicked and protested all he wanted, but it didn't work as the prince was using all his strength. Eventually he stopped moving and Shadow felt him go limp, buried in the sand. "Moons.."

"Is he dead?" Nighthawk asked, standing back and watching everything before him.

"Yes, I think so.." Shadow said calmly as he lifted the dragon out of the sand. His heart wasn't beating, and nor was he breathing. "He's dead.." He huffed and dropped him to the ground. No movement came from Bloodstrike. Viper walked up behind them and glanced at the body.

"Well isn't that something. Darkstalker's strongest, most brutal general defeated. Just like that." Viper said calmly as he looked up at Shadow. "It seems the Nightwings are retreating." He said simply.

"Yeah.." Shadow sighed deeply. He then began to walk over to Starhunter, laying his head down next to him. The sandwings began to clean up or head inside, based on their injures. Shadow just stared at his friend quietly. His eyes began to water again as he moved to hug him. They won the battle, but his best friend was dead.