What Comes After Death

Chapter 1

"There is a great evil coming, Arborick," the Elder of the village managed to speak. He laid very still, his chest the only part of his body still moving. My healing magic flowed through him, trying to discover what had happened to him.
"Are you sure you don't remember what happened to you?" I waited for an answer for a moment, "Try to think," I could feel his aura slipping away. I was starting to panic, what could have caused this?

Suddenly I heard a roar outside, a pained roar. My head darted toward the entrance of my hut, that didn't sound good. I wanted to see what was going on and make sure no one was in trouble, but I couldn't leave the Elder. I felt as if he was going to pass soon. What do I do-
"Go..." The Elder barely whispered.
"But-"
"Those dragons need help, they need your help. You are the guardian of this area, and they all rely on you. I will be fine; they are more important than I am. They are the next generation of dragons and exist to protect the ones after them. I have done my duty already." I opened my mouth in go contest, but he didn't let me speak, "Don't argue with me! Go!" I imagine that is precisely what he would say to me at that moment. He was always a bit overdramatic at times, so it wasn't entirely true, but he did have a point.

I nodded to him and jumped to the entrance, I felt him nod back with the little energy he had left. Once I was outside, I looked down either side of the dimly lit cobblestone street, trying to find the source of the roar. Suddenly there was another to the right of me, the sound travelling from around the corner of the end of the street. I jolted to the end of the street and peeked around the corner, assessing my danger before charging in. There were three dragons, one white, one red, and one blue. They were all wearing a mixture of defensive and offensive type armour.

There were still bodies all around them, the still bodies of the town dragons. They weren't dead as I could feel each of their auras. Devastated with their destructive behaviour, I walked to the middle of the street and called out to them. They all turned their heads casually but stared me down with revenge in their eyes. I slid my back right foot backward, and my front left foot forward, moving into a fight stance. I shifted my head down slightly, focusing and listening through the earth for any movement, waiting for any attack they might launch on me.

The white dragon suddenly launched toward me, too fast for me to dodge, so I blocked her with my wings. I felt the sharp blade on her wing armour strike along my wings, trying to break my defence but I held strong. I broke open my wings to assess my new situation; the red and blue dragons stalking away from me and continuing through the town. I spun around to the wind dragon that would now be behind me, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I looked to the sky and the rooftops, no sign of her anywhere.

I spun back to the two males running off into the darkness and spat two sharp earth element toward them. They both roared in pain simultaneously as the sharp earth pieces dug deep into each of their legs. I collapsed; I lost all feeling in my body and fell limp. My body instantaneously rendered useless, there was nothing I could do now. This is how the Elder and the others must have been feeling. But what caused it?

As my vision began to blur, the white dragon appeared. She landed between the two injured dragons and spoke to them harshly, "Hurry! We must find the egg before it is too late!" The two wounded dragons nodded at her and groaned as they tugged out the earth shards in their legs.
"No..." I groaned to myself, "I will not let them harm anyone else...!" I gathered any strength I had left and rose to my feet with shaking legs.

I spun around, using my tail to whip the earth and create a diagonal wall to enclose each of them. The momentum of the spin threw me onto the ground, and I was once again too weak to move. I had the three dragons in my sight, each of them struggling within the earth walls. The wind dragon hissed at me, "You don't understand! If you stop us, there will be-" I couldn't make out any more words as her voice began fading away. I felt my own life slipping away. Now I just had to wait for someone to get help.