Dragon Aster Trilogy

3: WRONG COAT



Atrum City’s inhabitants had gone into hiding when Dyaus collided with the base of the castle. Cirrus looked up at the lightning that had given them another chance. The High Guard remained situated around the city on its various buildings, fearing the sky and the white fire that had attacked Dyaus.

Cirrus knew that they would end up destroying the entire city if he didn’t stop their attack before the lightning gave out. He made the decision to unsomn as Dyaus got to his feet and sent his claws for him. He thought of peace. He thought about Sybl and why they had come here as he stood in his human form, and it was enough to stop the General in his attack. A momentary standstill to the dragon’s violent nature followed. “Call the High Guard off, father.”

“What is going on?” Dyaus asked as he pulled his claws back to himself.

“That isn’t Nafury who you are following. He is the Awl, Damek,” Cirrus said.

Dyaus knew the Texts as the High Guard were required to. He looked back to where Nafury stood on his own chosen building in the center of Atrum City. “What are you talking about? That is our resurrected Prince.”

“That isn’t Nafury!” Cirrus shouted back at the General. “It is the demon who has taken him from us! Sybl never brought him back from the dead!”

Dyaus let out a yelp of pain when Damek caught his life Threads and pulled on them. Cirrus somned and went straight for the rooftop that Damek stood on. He had once called him his Prince, but now there was no one but an enemy before him.

“Why are you fighting me, Cirrus?” Damek asked him by psi. “Join me and let’s stop this senselessness.”

You are not Nafury, and I will not answer to you!

“You are giving me no chance to reason with you outside of war,” Damek threatened as his green eyes glowed brighter. He somned as Cirrus landed on him, and the two dragons tumbled off of the rooftop, crushing everything they touched underneath them. Damek caught one of Cirrus’ life Threads to his lungs, and the black dragon collapsed for a moment, before just as quickly springing back to his feet and charging at Damek. After the demonic dragon had met his charge, the two exchanged a fury of claws and teeth, before Damek had Cirrus’ neck in his hand. “Call the Caelestis here, or I will have my High Guard retrieve her. Even if it means overturning this entire city.”

He expanded out of Damek’s grip and spun around, whipping the dark brown dragon across the street, and it scraped against several buildings and brought others down entirely.

One of the High Guard flew at Cirrus, and he caught Wyr and whipped the red dragon through the street in the opposite direction. He knew he couldn’t fight all of them, even as two phelan caught Wyr’s wings and kept the fire dragon grounded. But he wouldn’t be the one to dispel Damek’s appearance of Nafury when the Awl’s illusion weave suddenly faded away. Everything seemed to stop, as no one had ever seen an Awl in its true form before. The black creature spread its webbed wings on its back, as its form seemed more of a dark human-shaped spirit than entirely in the physical.

“You wear my coat with so much shame,” a familiar voice said from the top of another building.

Cirrus looked to see that it was Delare. Somehow the Awl had cut the illusion Threads around Damek, revealing the demon’s true form. Before he could figure out how or why, Damek sent his rage flying for the somnus. Delare quickly somned into his pluma form and caught Damek by his side with a rake of claws, before the vengeful Sentry veered backwards and flew higher into the air.

Cirrus looked to the Atrum where Sybl was standing in the window of the shattered throne room. The Sylvan energy contained within her glowed dangerously brighter. He took to the air to put himself between Damek and his Bond. “You are nothing but a vengeful puppet! Now leave!” It felt like he was threatening Nafury, even as Damek gave no indication that anything of his friend was left within him. There was only this monster. The part of this demon that had once been Nafury was long snuffed out. Now he just had to believe it entirely.

“How dare you!” Damek stopped at a hover before him. “So is this where our friendship ends, Cirrus?”

“My friend was Nafury. But now I’m certain there is nothing of him left in you.”

“I am what I always was. Soon our Caelestis will be much the same, a reborn Goddess of War. Then you will see that you are very much on the wrong side. Then you will see that without me, she will never truly be yours.”

“Sybl will never be like you!” Cirrus flew at him, but the dark Sentry dodged out of the way.

“Time is all that stands in my way now, and very soon Aragmoth’s strength will give out entirely. I will see you again where all the ends to the Animus Threads lay scattered. Then I will pick them up and carry them with my revenge to Earth.”

Cirrus chased after Damek, but the demon opened a Rift in the center of the city from where his blood had dripped to and dove in, vanishing into the Keol. He flew back to Delare, who sat in his pluma form and acted oblivious to the dragons who surrounded him. “Just what the hell are you things?”

Delare didn’t answer him. The unexpected move by the Awl had trapped Damek in his own attack, as the High Guard believed what they had watched with their own eyes.

Cirrus sent his psi to check on Sybl. She was alright and with Kas, but when he looked to where Dyaus was, something else was seriously wrong.