Post by Lone Dancer on Oct 8, 2021 7:12:52 GMT
As she stood among the rubble, the debris of the once-mighty village littering about, she clutched at the round crimson mask in her claws. Her grandfather said it promised good luck. But she wasn't sure she counted being the sole survivor as good luck. The faint smell of ash speckled the air, as she dragged her claws against the warm to the touch soil. The sound of clanking armor echoed out from behind her.
She decided to face her new assailants, turning to look them in the eye. It was a band of six spear-wielding, plate-wearing dragons. They laughed and cruelly chuckled to another, as she scooted back, as they approached ever closer. Wide, depraved grins decorated their faces, leering towards her. She clutched harder at the mask in claws, her last source of comfort now.
"Well aren't you a pretty one" Slimy words uttered by an even more slimy individual, she shuddered when the words practically oozed into ears. The other five seemed to share similar sentiments as the first, and kept getting closer, trying to corner or surround her. She didn't know if it was impotent rage at her situation, or fear, or a mix of that and other emotions. But it didn't matter in the end, when she decided to toss the mask clutched ever so tightly in her claws.
It bounced off the leader's steel helmet, with a small clang. He made the mistake of looking down at what just struck him. A thin spindle of stone raised from the earth below, skewering him through the air, and piercing through the back of the helmet. His corpse just flopped, sliding down the thin spike, blood pooling out from the impaled eye.
Made cowards by this display, the other five tried to run, but the shadows clutched at their legs, preventing escape. In the air, in front of closest armored dragon, a blob of bubbling green acid materialized. It began to edge ever so close towards the dragon's mouth as they tried to squirm away, before plunging in, the dragon buckling and seizing as their insides were melted alive. Finally, they expired, made hollow. He never got a chance to scream, his vocal chords being the first thing to go.
This made the other dragons (victims?) panic even more, shouting for help, but their cries were strangely muted, barely making a few feet before muffling out. A figure has rose from where the mask clattered down. It was always shifting, never staying one shape for long, comprised of smoke and wisp; the only constant the mask that would lay where a face should be.
It outstretched a limb, and spikes of ice began to crawl up the third, peircing through armor, and digging into scale, slowly freezing over. Soon, their entire body was covered, and they began to fracture by some unknown force, before shattering into a million tiny pieces, of flesh and ice. A haggard wheeze could be heard emitted from the elusive figure.
"None shall hurt the child."
The fourth had the most merciful death, merely incinerated at the spot, ashy remains drifting down like little grey black snowflakes. For the fifth, the shadows that encased his legs began to grow frowning faces with inky teeth, and they began to drag him down into some where else. He was pulled into his own shadow, which lingered for a moment, before disappearing.
The sixth was full on shaking, trying to plead for mercy, that he would change his ways. The mask wearing figure turned towards him, as if judging him. And found him wanting. The steel plate armor the dragon wore began to twist and distort, constricting upon the ensnared dragon like some metal snake, squeezing him of breath. His wheezing become more and more desperate, before shutting off, having been suffocated to death. their final breath hitched on their throat.
The figure turned to her, seeming sad, in a way. She was currently trying to process the horror she just witnessed, before she felt a cool sensation across her head, and feel asleep into dreamless slumber, unaware as traumatizing memories were snipped away before they become a true problem, her ever so ignorant of what just happened as she slept.
When she woke up, she was home. She shook her head, the remnants of dream shaking free from her mind. Her mother came to greet her at the door, and she did her best to ignore the tiny little voice that whispered that wasn't her mother. But of course it was, she's been their daughter ever since she hatched from their egg. Any claim otherwise was preposterous.
Right?
She decided to face her new assailants, turning to look them in the eye. It was a band of six spear-wielding, plate-wearing dragons. They laughed and cruelly chuckled to another, as she scooted back, as they approached ever closer. Wide, depraved grins decorated their faces, leering towards her. She clutched harder at the mask in claws, her last source of comfort now.
"Well aren't you a pretty one" Slimy words uttered by an even more slimy individual, she shuddered when the words practically oozed into ears. The other five seemed to share similar sentiments as the first, and kept getting closer, trying to corner or surround her. She didn't know if it was impotent rage at her situation, or fear, or a mix of that and other emotions. But it didn't matter in the end, when she decided to toss the mask clutched ever so tightly in her claws.
It bounced off the leader's steel helmet, with a small clang. He made the mistake of looking down at what just struck him. A thin spindle of stone raised from the earth below, skewering him through the air, and piercing through the back of the helmet. His corpse just flopped, sliding down the thin spike, blood pooling out from the impaled eye.
Made cowards by this display, the other five tried to run, but the shadows clutched at their legs, preventing escape. In the air, in front of closest armored dragon, a blob of bubbling green acid materialized. It began to edge ever so close towards the dragon's mouth as they tried to squirm away, before plunging in, the dragon buckling and seizing as their insides were melted alive. Finally, they expired, made hollow. He never got a chance to scream, his vocal chords being the first thing to go.
This made the other dragons (victims?) panic even more, shouting for help, but their cries were strangely muted, barely making a few feet before muffling out. A figure has rose from where the mask clattered down. It was always shifting, never staying one shape for long, comprised of smoke and wisp; the only constant the mask that would lay where a face should be.
It outstretched a limb, and spikes of ice began to crawl up the third, peircing through armor, and digging into scale, slowly freezing over. Soon, their entire body was covered, and they began to fracture by some unknown force, before shattering into a million tiny pieces, of flesh and ice. A haggard wheeze could be heard emitted from the elusive figure.
"None shall hurt the child."
The fourth had the most merciful death, merely incinerated at the spot, ashy remains drifting down like little grey black snowflakes. For the fifth, the shadows that encased his legs began to grow frowning faces with inky teeth, and they began to drag him down into some where else. He was pulled into his own shadow, which lingered for a moment, before disappearing.
The sixth was full on shaking, trying to plead for mercy, that he would change his ways. The mask wearing figure turned towards him, as if judging him. And found him wanting. The steel plate armor the dragon wore began to twist and distort, constricting upon the ensnared dragon like some metal snake, squeezing him of breath. His wheezing become more and more desperate, before shutting off, having been suffocated to death. their final breath hitched on their throat.
The figure turned to her, seeming sad, in a way. She was currently trying to process the horror she just witnessed, before she felt a cool sensation across her head, and feel asleep into dreamless slumber, unaware as traumatizing memories were snipped away before they become a true problem, her ever so ignorant of what just happened as she slept.
When she woke up, she was home. She shook her head, the remnants of dream shaking free from her mind. Her mother came to greet her at the door, and she did her best to ignore the tiny little voice that whispered that wasn't her mother. But of course it was, she's been their daughter ever since she hatched from their egg. Any claim otherwise was preposterous.
Right?