Dragon Talons (Indigo Apocalypse Book I)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Precursors Of Death The Hero

ZAVALA:
    The sun began to set over the Plains, it's rays a brilliance of gold, reds, and yellows. Neat dracon lines fanned across the Plains, the last of the villagers making their way into carriages echoing into the silence. I held my dark blue dracon fans, closed and sheathed on my torso, one hand on the handle of each. Raveaque stood several yards away, his white hair glinting in the sunset to my left. Draco stood several yards to my right, his black hair and light blue eyes cast into shadows by the sunset. "I've forgotten how much I hated this part." Someone said. "I know, the waiting, it drags on forever." They had a point, that the waiting for the enemy to arrive was torturous, and was part of the key point in winning a battle. One side could be too tired from waiting and fall, while the other side could be too tired from making the trek and be too tired to put up much of a fight. But these weren't dracon warriors, they were immortal spiders, spiders that were supposed to be nothing more or less than myths and legends. "Legends never die, so it seems." I thought, digressing on a memory of a song Holly loved to listen to over and over. How far I seemed from my werewolf best friend. Just how far would it seem if she saw me now. Saw me at the front lines of a dracon fight, a dracon battle, a battle of the ages. Dracons verses Ragni Di Morte. What I'd give for Kitana to be here. What I'd give for Seeka or Theia or even Vello to be here. What I'd give for Huntor to be here. My heart squeezed painfully at the memory of him, but I ignored it, pushed it aside and into a box, stuffing it deep in my soul. "Steady," The Head, who's name was Decre, practically human compared to the others, like Qudorzo, or Quedesha. "Steady." Then, I felt them.
A breeze swept in from ahead, a breeze smelling of death and hate, of a sickly sweet venom that could only mean one thing. "They truly are real." A female dracon said, a few rows behind me. "I didn't wanna believe it either." Said a male. "Why would the queen betray us?" Asked another. "We trained to defend her, defend the kingdom, why would she betray us like this?" "We do not worry about why and how, we don't bother with who and where. We defend the kingdom, the, Snow, Kingdom. Clearly, the queen has left the kingdom, which makes her an enemy of our people." Decre said. That was an obvious statement, the queen is public enemy number one, and whoever sees her, kills her. Though I wondered if Huntor already killed her, if he and Sydney killed her and Dargonue. The breeze turned into a strong wind, a wind that was a foray to the death that would rise over the horizon. Though Decre's statement was clear and cut, the matter adjudicated, I still wondered if there were betrayals out there, if dracons would rather follow the queen, or if they had no choice and followed her out of fear, instead of loyalty. I shifted a little on my feet, my wings jostling a little. Other dracons did the same. "Steady." Decre said. "These are nothing more or less than spiders, and they die just like them." Decre snapped. "Or are you afraid of stomping them flat." Grumbles and curses, but they stilled. I realized it was Decre's version of a pep talk, insulting his men and women, so that they had no fear, or, as little fear as possible as they went into battle. Then, they came over the horizon. All I could do was stare, stare for a moment, stare at the sheer mass of black that bore down toward us. "As horrors from the dark unleashed, as, precursors, of, death." "Freezing Dragon Talons." Someone swore. "Steady." Decre said. The spider army came closer, their many bodies becoming distinguishable. "It's like the winds of death itself carry them." Someone said. "Death." I thought. Then that same line ran through my head, "Horrors from the dark unleashed, as, precursors, of, death." My mouth fell open in a perfect "Oh," as I realized what that might mean. Then, a powerful wind blew in from ahead, sending their vile scent into my nose.
"FIRST POSITION." Decre shouted. Dracons immediately opened their wings in unison, and flapped up into the air in perfect lines. Ten rows, each curved into a semicircle. Each baring a set of fans, two swords, a shield, a bow and arrows, and a spear. Dracons moved in to close the gaps left behind. Now I could hear them, hears their snapping pincers, hear their spinnerets oozing with silk, hear the venom drip from their mouths. I heard someone ready to hack up their breakfast. "HOLD STRONG." Decre commanded. Draco and Raveaque's faces were filled with nothing, an iced over calm, as if they'd done this a thousand times. I realized that I too, felt no fear, no anxiety, nothing but power, and bloodlust. As if Huntor's confidence echoed through our systems, as if the indigo arrogance and nonchalance plagued us. Then, Decre commanded, "ATTACK." We ran forward. The sound of many feet running echoing in the empty plain. The spiders poured on the speed, and made some kind of insane shrieking, as if they were excited to die. "Oh Dragon Tails, this is going to hurt." I thought. THe first strike, as both armies collided, that, was definitely going to hurt, and many of both sides would die. But I didn't falter, didn't hesitate, didn't slow, I bore down on the speed, keeping my fans sheathed while my comrades pulled fans out from their torsos, while shields were set in place. The army of death was close now, close enough that I could see the huge football shaped eyes, see us reflected in them. Could clearly see madness and lust in them. "Eyes are a gateway into the soul Zavala, always remember that darling." Holly's words, and they rang true, even for monsters. They neared and I felt their pounding clawed legs on the snow covered plain, felt their rage, their excitement. Twenty feet, fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet. Then, we, collided.
The sound was unlike anything I had ever heard before, a crunching of many exoskeletons and bones, screams of agony and rage, of pain and glee. I spun and drew both fans, cutting into three spiders before shoving my way into their ranks. "SECOND POSITION." Decre shouted. Dracons flew in from above, spearing down, and taking out several spiders at once, before rising into the air again. I slashed into the skull of one, and sliced off it's pincers with two deft movements. The pincers fell off, and immediately shifted into daggers. I put one fan away, and grabbed both blades. I set one in my belt, and used the other. I slashed with my fan, and stabbed a spider in it's eyes. It shrieked in agony, and, using that second, I sliced off it's head with the dagger. The spider went down with a crunch and I moved over it's broken disintegrating body and moved deeper into their ranks. Dracons flew down, again, again, again, slicing furrows into the spider army. I saw Raveaque, calm as a lake, swing his sword, slicing off spider legs while his comrades stepped in and took their heads off. He dove into a furrow and began slashing all around him, using both swords with deft precision. His white hair whipped about his face as he spun, easily protecting his back as spiders closed in around him. His dark blue eyes were as calm and soothing as a lake, as if he weren't slaughtering spiders like farmers reap fields. With that distraction, the whole of the army moved ahead easily, slicing deep into the confusion. The sun slowly set over the carnage, setting us in oncoming darkness, as darkness that the spiders drew power from. Sure enough, they seemed to become more excited, more feral, more feverish, as if the dark really gave them strength. The precise aerial army fell, rose, and fell again, their blades coming away bloodied, in both red, and silver blood. And, now I looked, not all of the dracons rose again. Onee drew back his shield arm, and threw it, sending his shield spiraling down and taking out several Ragni Di Morte. But as they lowered, he didn't rise again.
My voice was horse from constantly screaming and roaring my rage and defiance, from the power of whatever drove me on. I didn't remark on how the sun was still sinking over the plain, how even now, when it should've been gone, it still hovered just above the horizon, as if to give one final blast of golden light, shining over the carnage, giving us strength to face this army for the final time before they overwhelmed us. I slashed and dodged, stabbing with my dagger, slashing with the fan, my comrades behind me, facing the force along side me. My body was drenched in blood, drenched in silver-white blood from the horrors. Spiders were now starting to shoot their silk, trying to entangle us, to wrap us in silk long enough to sink their pincers in. But there wasn't space for it, wasn't room for that, and they more often hit their own than us. A spider, crazed and mad from it's eyes, leaped from nowhere and dropped down on me. I rolled instinctively, slashing up with the dagger into it's underbelly, opening it like a fish. The thing collapsed on me, and melted into mud, then dust, though, not before I got a disgusting mouthful of it's blood. I jumped up, and, spatting out the repugnance, pressed forward with the others, slashing and bashing, starting to push them back, as the golden sun finally, finally, finally, began to disappear under the horizon. The sun, falling for it's final breath. Darkness gathered like a tide over the plain, gathered as if holding it's own breath. I fought with renewed strength, with renewed force, trying to push them back further. But as that sun faded, as it's golden light was sucked away, as it vanished below the horizon, the Ragni Di Morte all shrieked as one, and pressed forward, as if something happened, as if, as they pressed, as they shrieked, something empowered them. At the same time, there was a wind, a wind filled with the scent of death and venom and hate, a wind that jostled our flying army, and blew through my hair. Deep inside me, deep in my soul, something I hadn't noticed in the last three days, suddenly went quiet, as if some presence within my soul, my mind, my very being, faded along with that sunlight, vanished, with that blast of death. Then, it hit me, "Huntor." That feeling could've meant only one thing, that blast of wind, could've, meant, one, thing. "Huntor and Sydney failed, they were dead, and the Dark Queen, was, awake."
Ragni Di Morte shoved forward, sending me flying backward. I landed amidst my comrades, but they too were disoriented, as if that wind effected them as Huntor's passing effected me. "PULL BACK." Decre shouted. "PULL BACK, PULL BACK NOW." His words were almost drowned out by the shrieks and snap of pincers. Silk shot from the spider army, who all had their abdomens pointed at us. Shields were drawn up, but that did nothing to shield against the force of their attack. They contracted their spinnerets and pulled dracons toward them. They screamed, and dracons slashed with fans, cutting some free, but others were torn to pieces from the sharp claws of the spiders. I swore and pressed forward, though I was stumbling, trying to move while my brain swam drunkenly. I felt like I needed to curl into a ball, curl in to a ball and just fall, fall in on myself. I looked around, seeing Draco stumble, barely able to hold off a hoard of spiders. Raveaque too was struggling, as if we all felt him, felt him fade from us. Then i remembered, the blood bound, the oath we'd taken as we drank his blood. "No." I muttered. "NOOO." I slashed wildly with dagger and fan, attacking every spider I could, but it just wasn't enough. Dracons on either side of me began to fall, began to die. The aerial army dwindled until just over a dozen dracons were in a small line, fighting with exhaustion in every movement. A spider appeared in front of me, but this time, I wasn't fast enough. It crashed it's abdomen into my belly. I cried out and fell back, landing flat on my back. My fan flew from my fingers, but I just managed to hold on to my dagger. The spider hovered it's pincers over my face. It snapped them excitedly, then, began to speak, to speak in a horrifying, male drawl, a drawl that was high in pitch, and made my spine shiver. "You're bastard-born of a prince tasted delicious. I feasted on him and his mate, and they tasted delicious, like the greatest summer sunlight, and the darkest, coldest glacier water. It filled me with the most power in the worlds, enough, to, wake." I realized that this spider, this thing was speaking for her, was speaking for the Dark Queen. "They will find you, they'll put an end to you." He laughed harshly, spitting venom at three oncoming dracons. "They're dead fool, they can't come back now, they won't be able to. I'm awake, and will bring all worlds into darkness, into the dark ages. The Dark Dynasty has started." He reared back, lifting to his back four legs. I yanked out the second dagger, ready to die fighting. If Huntor was dead, then I'd join him the way he'd be proud of, die fighting the very creature that killed him. Then, there was a blast of darkness, a kind of darkness I recognized. The spider's body went flying, and so did several others. Kitana appeared over me, her purple eyes feral, fangs showing as darkness coiled over her hands. "Death has come." She said in a wolf's snarl. Then, she spun, whipping her left hand out, darkness whipped out and slashed through dozens of spiders, leaving their bodies in shells as that power severed their lives. "Kitana." I grunted. "The prophecy, as horrors unleashed as precursors of death, as, precursors, of, you." She nodded, her black hair swaying with the movement. Fire blasted from the sky, and I just made Wenzi, Seeka, and Theia out as they joined the aerial army, Sarah among them. "Holy fucking freezing Dragon Talons." I swore. Kitana just gave me that smile again. "Time for Death to put an end to this." She said, her whole body engulfing in dark power.