Dragon Aster Trilogy

46: SWORD



Sybl felt a surge of energy pull her mind awake, and she looked down as the ground sped closer. She was falling, and Cirrus would hit the ground first unsomned, just meters away from her hands. “Cirrus!”

He didn’t respond, and she tightened her fall to go faster, until she reached him. She forced her aeri energy into him, but he wouldn’t wake up.

Moon caught them both, before re-somning with them safe inside him. But he had tried to stop their descent too fast, with no time to keep his wings from snapping back like an umbrella from a harsh wind. There was no water to break their fall, as they hit the ice a mile from the Harbor and skidded to a rough stop.

Sybl was whipped out of his somn and sent tumbling with Cirrus across the snow.

Moon lay some meters from them, looking as hurt as they were.

She forced herself to crawl over to Cirrus against her pain, and to her relief, he was still breathing. Something struck the ice behind her, and she looked back to see that it was a sword pierced upright.

Behind it, was Damek in his golden armor.

“Well done, Asil. You have found and tamed the Dragon Moon.” Damek walked over and pulled free his blade.

“Damek...”

“Now all that remains is for you to restore the Sylvan light to this world and fulfill your destiny.”

“It’s not going to happen, Damek.” She curled together, trying to get a grip on the pain in her body.

“This world will not exist much longer like this. Will you give it to the Falls so easily? Will you let Aster become the corruption and suffering that Earth is now, rather than stop it while we can?”

“You just want the Sylvan Aur up so you can take your vengeance against Earth,” Sybl said.

“And so I will. The destruction of the first Aster must be paid for.”

“Revenge isn’t the answer against a world that doesn’t even know this one exists.”

“Ignorance is not an excuse,” Damek said as he walked over to her. “You will help me, whether you want to or not.”

Sybl braced herself as best she could for what he would do next, before Damek stopped in his steps. What ever his intent was, something else had caught his attention.

“You transferred my Curse to someone else… Interesting,” Damek said, and he looked towards the Atrum.

Kas! Her soultwin’s psi shouted back for her to get away from him, but she could barely move. Then she turned her eyes to where Hain appeared from the Rift that still hadn’t closed from Damek’s arrival. He was bleeding all over and filthy.

“Reol. You disappoint me,” Damek said, as he turned to face the Awl.

“Get away from them,” Hain said as he aimed his gun at Damek’s head.

“Why do you defy me? Can you not see this is our time?”

“I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, but I’ve decided that you aren’t fit to play supreme god.”

“Such a shame. Then today is the day that only three Generals will take command of Aster.”

Hain turned around as a roar like that of falling glaciers came at him. Looking back at Damek, he opened fire on him, but the bullets were effortlessly blocked by his estus energy. Then dozens of spears of ice came out of the snow tide, and pierced through him.

Sybl screamed as Hain fell to his knees. His illusion Threads faded, and he collapsed to his side in the snow. Hain’s black wings covered his body, until his feathers scattered to the wind to carry his ashes.

Damek looked back to where Cirrus had been, only to find he was now gone with Sybl. All that remained was a black pool of the Rift that he had used to slip into as Moon. “You only delay the inevitable, for Aragmoth’s Fate will protect you no longer.” He slashed his sword against the wind as Toria’s dragons flew overhead. Towards the fires of war.