Dragon Aster Trilogy

38: ECLIPSE



Moon let out a shrill cry as the sunlight touched the estus energy of his fur, but he caught Nafury and landed with a force as Cirrus was thrown out of his somn and into a tumble down the street.

Nafury shook the impact out of his head, and looked to where his friend was starting to burn from the rays of the sun. He ran to him and grabbed Cirrus, hauling him out of the sunlight and into the building behind him that was damaged by the black dragon’s fall. “No! Not this nightmare again!” He channeled his aeri through his hands and healed Cirrus’ burns before leaving him a moment to try and find the girl.

Nafury ran back to where they had fallen, but she was gone. Even stranger was the sunlight that didn’t ignite his skin. “Sybl!” He covered his eyes from the sunlight, trying to figure out what had just happened. But he only found what his foot did; his own fairy pendant necklace on the ground. He picked it up as the sickening realization that she was gone tightened his fist around it.

He looked at Cirrus and went back to him as the dragoon began to regain consciousness. But the moment their eyes met, Cirrus reached for the blade on his side and came straight at him.

Nafury didn’t have a breath to think about what was wrong with his friend, as his hand went to his side and found his own sword. Cirrus’ came down against his like a hammer that nearly snapped his arm. Are you berserk unsomned? “Cirrus! Stop it! I’m not your enemy!”

“You killed her! I’ll send you right back to the Hell you came from!” Before Cirrus could strike at him again, his somn came out of the shadows and rushed through him, throwing Cirrus across the street. Then the black dragon began to climb up the building to where Nafury’s corrupted somn watched them with its green eyes.

Nafury knew that he had clearly missed something crucial and that he was not in the Time that he thought he was. Cirrus’ somn was supposed to be white; not black as night.

“Moon!” Cirrus cried after the Cael that had caught fire from the sun’s rays. But what the Cael did next he could have never expected. The black dragon dispersed into estus energy, before engulfing Daath on the rooftop in it. He had become a void of darkness to entrap the demon. The sky flashed lightning again, before the power of the Sentries all seemed to come down on him at once. The rooftop exploded, and Cirrus grabbed Nafury and pulled him out of the way as the debris came crashing down into the street.

“Cirrus! We have to get out of here!” Nafury looked back up to the rooftop, as only half the building remained now. Moon had done what Aragmoth had done so many years ago; absorb the Eminor into himself. Only this time it was for one demon, and not a whole world of souls. And this time there was nothing left of either.

The Caelestis’ world was unlike anything he had seen in his Dreams. This was a world of a thousand stars and a hundred castles that didn’t care. A world with so many more people and not one came to help them. He had to get them out of here, but now his somn was destroyed by the one that Cirrus had come here with.

A cry went out from another dragon. Nafury looked in disbelief at Loki as the light green dragon looked briefly around before looking at them.

“Where’s the Princess?” Loki asked.

Nafury didn’t have an answer.

Loki unsomned in a strange manner and walked over to where Cirrus no longer responded to anything. Loki’s eyes glowed in anger, and he went for Nafury’s throat, but something held his new strength back. He let go of Nafury and then hauled Cirrus over his shoulder, pulling him into his somn as he stepped into the sunlight of the street. Then he took to the air, leaving Nafury behind.