The Silver Reckoning

Chapter 37: The Breaking Point

The flames moved, spreading out and slowly moulding together once again. They slowly moved away from the building, revealing the city beyond. It was in shambles. Smoking fires were spreading quickly and sirens were wailing throughout the city. People were crying in both pain and terror. Many had died, human's too fragile to withstand even the slightest taste of equilibrium. The only building within a mile radius untouched by the fire was the abandoned construction sight. Everything else had either collapsed or was about to.

Silver felt a tear fall from her eye as she looked down to the road, desperately trying to find her friend. But there was nothing, only the steady cooling of melted bitumen and particles of ash. She was gone. It wasn't like the time when Firefly had engulfed Silver. Raize had meant to go for the kill, and had succeeded.

"You know," said Eldawin, still holding her down at the neck, "There's always a point, just as someone dies, where the mind... hits a realisation I guess. They know they are dead... and then their conscious just... fades. But it's always there, no matter how quickly or slowly they die. A lag time at the point the soul leaves the body, if you believe in that sort of thing. Firefly just experienced that."

Silver froze, a deep growl resonating through her. With a cry she forced the metal under Eldawin's paw to contort, and then a spike shot through his palm. The mind dragon let out a startled cry and stumbled backwards, leaving Silver free to leap up. She instantly turned on the drake, leaping forward and raking her claws across his chest, drawing three long claw marks of blood.

He snarled, leaping backwards again, and as she came for him suddenly her vision went hazy, and her body movements slow. She stumbled, then let out a grunt as Eldawin's massive tail smashed into her side, throwing her into the wall. She coughed, and then groaned as the pain caused by the blow intensified to far more abnormal levels.

"Yield Silver. You will not defeat me," he growled, walking forward to the dragoness as she curled up around herself, closing her eyes in an attempt to ward of the pain, "Admit your mistakes. This fight... it's hopeless. It's stupid. Your fighting against the very thing you believe in the most. All I want for us is to be free. That is all I want. And if you continue to stand in my way, there will be far more horrible things to come."

"The... only... mistake I ever... made," hissed Silver as she struggled to her feet, "Is helping you build... that damned machine!"

She swung her claws at him again. But she was so slow. It was like she was trying to fight through water. Eldawin snorted, easily dodging the attempt, before knocking her to the ground once again with his own claws. She grunted, hissing softly as the strangely intense pain once again flooded her.

"Very well then," he sighed, "Those who die next, their blood will be on your claws."

Suddenly the dragoness screamed, and Eldawin's eyes narrowed in concentration. He forced his way into the dragoness's mind, digging deeper and deeper, flooding her senses. Tears sprouted from her eyes as she struggled to fight back, her body tensing as she let out another cry.

"Get out of my head!" she roared.

But it was already too late. Everything went black.

* * *

A small group of dragons were quickly flying over the burning section of the city. There were four of them in total, Zepos, Retrix, Faen and Kai. Tyler was riding on the feathered dragoness's back, and continued to glance down at his tracker. He knew exactly where they were, but the battle between equilibriums had caused them to hold back.

Below the city was in ruins. Not many people in the vicinity had managed to make it out alive. There were flashing red and blue lights everywhere as the ambulance, police and fire department all made their way through the burning rubble, trying to find survivors, and trying to figure out what happened.