Chapter 6

                Roknier woke up early. He headed outside to watch the sun slowly rise from between the mountain peaks. His whole life had been shattered in one night. Where am I going to go now? What am I going to do with my life? Roknier sighed and turned to go back into the cave. Swiftclaw was right behind him. “I have breakfast ready. You can come inside when you’re ready.” Swiftclaw then saw the look in Ronkier’s eyes. “Don’t despair, young one. What’s past is past. You can never change your past, but the future is a stone wall, ready to be carved. Find your purpose and work with it.” Roknier nodded and followed Swiftclaw back into the cave. A big pot was hanging over the fire. “I thought you might enjoy some warm fish soup.”, Swiftclaw said smiling. Roknier smiled a little. Fish soup was one of his favorite meals. He spooned some out of the pot and into the bowl he had used last night. Swiftclaw had gone and washed it in a nearby stream.

                As he ate, he thought about his future. One thing was for certain. I need to find the other person with a bonded soul. At that thought, a flood of questions filled his mind. What does this person look like? Are they friendly? What are they bonded to, if it’s not a dragon? Are they a boy or a girl? Will they want to work with me, or at least be friends with me? Roknier wasn’t so sure he wanted to meet this other person quite yet. His thoughts were interrupted by Swiftclaw, who cleared his throat. “I just obtained a message from Ravenwing.” Roknier looked on expectantly. “I have been challenged.” Roknier almost choked on his food. “Challenged? By who?”

                “A newcomer.”

                “What’s his name?”

                “Shadeheart”

                Roknier stood up and clenched his fists. “You don’t mean…”

                “Yes. The same one who was alpha here before I was.”

                “I thought you beat him a long time ago?”

                “I did, but times change. The wind might bring back what you throw into it. In this case, Shadeheart.”

                Roknier shuddered. He didn’t remember Shadeheart, but he had heard the stories. It was said that Shadeheart would kill other dragons if they didn’t please him. He erected a kingdom and forced those under him to do his bidding, and die at his word. He was a ruthless warlord, always battling his way towards the humans, conquering every dragon alpha in his way. Rumor had it that he served Morzaer. Others said he was Morzaer in the flesh, sent to send them to hell. He would torture for sport and prolong the suffering to the most extreme. It was also said that he had no soul, and that he demanded the firstborn and fourthborn of every dragon under his “watch,” to eat them. Oddly enough, his name didn’t use to be Shadeheart. It used to be Bladespinner.

                The howling wind pushed against his back. Just weeks earlier, he had been under the protection of Riverbender, the alpha for the dragons in the Mountains of Fire. Now, he had been labeled outcast, traitor to his kind. He hadn’t done anything serious. The only thing he had done was eat a non-fertile egg from another dragon. He could even explain why he did so. First of all, it was the drought season. This particular drought was the worst they’d had in centuries. Second, if you let the middle generation die, you get less dragons that will reproduce, and you lose numbers. Third, the egg was non-fertile. Sure, he could see someone getting cast out for eating a fertile egg. That would be horrendous. Then again, maybe not. He wondered what it would taste like, the fresh meat and blood dripping down his chin. The succulent flavor of the young and tender. His mouth watered at the thought. He hadn’t eaten in days, as he was in the Haridian Desert, and had been for several days. Food was scarce, and he was hungry.

                He squinted into the distance. He thought he saw shimmering. Maybe it was a mirage, but there was only one way to find out. He stumbled closer and closer to the image on the horizon. It was nearing the middle of the day, and his skin was beginning to burn. Dragons’ skin doesn’t burn very easily, depending on what type you are. Being a Mistwritherer, his skin was more susceptible to heat than most other dragons. Just as he was about to faint from lack of water, he fell onto the ground. Except, this ground wasn’t like that of the desert. It was smooth. Using the last of his strength, he rapped on the rock. Sure enough, it was hollow. He fought to keeps his eyes open. He had to live. He had to go back and show those dragons exactly what they had done for casting him out. His eyes closed and his breathing shallowed.

                He woke up to find himself chained to a slab of stone. He hadn’t realized that he fell asleep. His skin was red and slightly scarred from being out in the sun for so long without water. He looked around to see where he was. The walls were made of a smooth black stone. He could only turn his head so far, though. He looked to the other side and jumped. A human was staring at him. He tried to use magic, but the chains only made themselves tighter around himself. He stopped trying, and they loosened some. The human spoke. “Do you know where you are, dragon?” It spoke the last word with utter contempt. It obviously didn’t give a thought about the dragon in front of itself. “What are you called?” silence. “I know you can speak my tongue! Speak, or I will remove your insolent tongue from you!”

                “I am called Bladespinner, if you must know, scum.”

                The human smiled evilly. “An odd name, but it fits. At least for now. Do you know why you are here?”

                “No.”

                The human’s laughter rang out. “You shall see soon enough.” He turned and shouted in the magical language. “Skreka!” Bladespinner watched as tiny little worms came out of the walls and gathered around the man. He snorted. What could these little things possibly do to me? The human turned to face him again. “You’ll see soon enough.” Bladespinner was shocked. How could a human know his thoughts? This human…had magic!?! Such a thing was looked down upon with greatest disgust amongst the dragons. He looked to see what the human was doing. The human was whispering in the magic language. “Atareen skreka, atareen. Okno yiryth, skreka. Nid ne.” At his command, the worms gathered into one large mass. The grew larger and more dark. They jumped as one up onto the rock slab. Bladespinner was shaking. The man spoke again. “Albren aller skreka. Aller sythyr.” The worms began to change. They became more like shadows. Their form shimmered to translucent. Bladespinner became more scared. The human waved his hand and uttered his last command. “Yiryth er fyera anuria!” The grubs became a shadowed cloud over Bladespinner. “Please!” he pleaded. “Don’t do this! I’ll do anything. ANYTHING!!!! Just please…” The human laughed evilly. “You’re right. I won’t do it quite yet. I want to burn into your mind who I am. I AM TAERMON’BORVIR! The demon-eater. That is my Morzaerix name. Or you can call me by my human name, Shayde Deathgleaner. That was the last thing Bladespinner heard before he began convulsing. The shadow worms had gone into his soul.

                After what seemed like an eternity of endless pain, Bladespinner woke up. He felt…different. Better. Stronger. Darker. He looked down at his body. His slender silver mistwritherer body was now dark black, lined with streaks of blood red scales. He was still in his chains, on the slab of rock. There was a power in his body now that wasn’t there before. There was a whispering voice inside him. IT spoke softly. Taermon is in the room, Shadeheart. Bladespinner looked around him. He didn’t see anything. What was the voice talking about, and why did it call him Shadeheart? He would have you killed. Strike now, and you shall have power. He has had too much for too long. He is starting to disobey my orders. After all, he did do this to you. All the pain was from him. Kill him slowly. Then, when he is gone. Go after those that have wronged you. Make them feel the power of Morzaer. Give them the justice they need. With me in you, I can make you become Supreme Ruler. I can make you rule the world. I just need one thing. Your essence. Don’t give it too much thought, as time grows short. When you feel the power Shadeheart, STRIKE! Bladespinner shook his head, trying to clear the voice. It was soothing and reassuring. What the voice said made sense. There was justice to disperse on the people who had wrong him. There was still one unsolved problem. Shayde was in the room, alive. “Welcome back, my pet. This is where your new life begins!” Bladespinner bristled. “I am not your pet, demon-eater. You will live to regret the day you changed my life.” He broke his chains. “Fear me, demon, for my name is SHADEHEART!”

Author's Note

This chapter took a different turn than I expected and had planne.