Shuffling through the cold, eerie light generated from the excess earth essence that had accumulated in the cave's walls for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, the dragoness steadily descended into the depths of the mountain.
As she progressed, the dragoness was forced to ignore the overwhelming dank, musky smell and the occasional rotting corpse from beasts that been wounded, crawling into the darkness to die.
She couldn't help but sneer as such weak, pathetic creatures. While it seemed like the dragoness was behaving in the same way, unlike those lesser creatures, she hadn't come to escape her enemies but to kill them.
When faced with any questions on direction when the tunnel split into multiple paths, the dragoness always picked the leftmost path and prayed she would not come to a dead end before completing her plan.
Ignoring her injuries, she would only stop to examine the various, small nests hidden in the caves many hidden orifices, to stumble and wipe more blood on the wall or, in certain places, to quickly scratch a rune-like scribble with her long, sharp claws before covering it with any debris nearby.
After about thirty minutes of forcing herself through the exhaustion, the dragoness was forced to blink her scaled eyelids rapidly. Her vision kept blurring, and she couldn't help but release a hiss-like sigh.
She had been hunted for days now, having managed to break through the surrounding forces that had arrived to assault the Dragon's Peak.
During that time, the dragoness had been in mortal danger more times that she could count and her nerves were beyond frayed.
Each, almost silent, drip from the various stalactites that hung from the cave's ceiling caused her muscles to spasm, ready to fight at a moment notice. Even though she was a monster that held the dark attribute and lived in the shadows most of her long life, now she knew it was coming to a premature end, as well as the fact that if she fell, so would her unborn child, every shadow felt like it concealed a hidden danger.
Combining her exhaustion and the impending sense of doom, the dragoness slowly reverted to her natural instincts and released chilling hisses and rumbling growls towards the shadows, terrifying the caves indigenous wildlife that consisted mainly of insects and small mammals.
Her kinds brutal, imposing nature, especially those of the Dark Clan, was to stand and fight. To face any threat head-on, no matter how powerful or cunning the enemy was. This was growingly shown in her disposition after a couple of bats and giant cave spiders, too weak for her to even take notice of, was incinerated in a wave of black flame for being to slow to get out of her way.
However, even though she had an urge to stop and fight those who were undoubtedly following her trails, an even higher instinct kept her moving forward.
One that had enabled her to forsake her family, pride and to attempt to escape the coming calamity. Not for herself, as when she had completed her mission, if she hadn't already fallen, she would return and stand proudly with her race as they met the enemy head-on.
No this was for her unborn child. An event that, for her almost immortal race, that was so rare, entire species may never witness.
A small black tear, almost unnoticeable, flowed between her scales before splashing on the stone floor.
The face of her lover, a member of another bloodline who had decided to stay and share her clan's fate, as well those of her parents and siblings as she broke through and fled caused immeasurable sadness in her heart.
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It wasn't that they were angry or even sad when they saw what she was doing. It was that they displayed relieved, understanding countenances that didn't hold a trace of judgement. They not only expected her to do it, but it was also like they were waiting for her to try and escape.
The moment she acted, the entire peak became a maelstrom of death and destructions as the ancient dragons released thousands of years of bitterness and anger. The Chosen, stunned by the ferocity of the counterattack, could only fall back and make way as she broke through.
Though it is evident that they had all wordlessly not only agreed with her actions but had provided the best distraction, the dragoness felt like she had dishonoured them with her decision. Their efforts, while causing a high death toll of Chosen, would limit the time they were able to hold out and hasten their demise.
Still, even if she went back in time, she would make the same decision again. It saddened her, but it was what had to be done. The dragoness was now a mother, and a dragon mothers highest priority was her offspring. Not to mention this was the first and, most likely, the last child she would have.
Most of the world's races, especially those of the Chosen, would call her kind aggressive, tyrannical and unyielding. Others, though in the minority, would say they were fanatically loyal creatures that lived, and died, with honour.
To the dragoness, both accounts were both correct yet even now; she wondered if it was their natural disposition was what led to the current situation.
To the edge of extinction.
The unwillingness to lose their position as overlords at the top of the world, to submit to those they had deemed inferior beings, even with the blessings of the gods, had been what had caused their decline.
The other dragon bloodlines, sensing the shift in power early on, either kneeled at the feet of the Chosen, preferring to become the ultimate pet and companion, or fled to one of the secondary worlds leaving her clan to stand alone.
The Dark Clan was compromised by one of the more stubborn dragon subspecies and instantly refused to yield.
Thousands of years of bloody conflict later, where they had slaughtered an uncountable amount of Chosen and their monster slaves, they no longer had the strength to continue the fight. While a dragon was still the pinnacle of power, they had been worn down by sheer numbers.
While the dragons killed so many that entire rivers of blood flowed, and mountains of bone rose out of the ashes, they could not compete with the vermin-like, rapidly propagating species, at least in their eyes, as they repopulated and evolved at an outstanding rate.
Unlike the newer species, dragons eggs took a little under a million years to fully develop, their species having come from an era where the world and spirit energy was so thin, it took aeons to gather.
Not only that, but dragon hatchlings were extremely intelligent, gaining necessary information from their bloodlines, and needed to be nurtured carefully to ensure they the did not warp their souls and personality. Intelligence and basic knowledge without context and experience, while beneficial, turned out to be a double-edged sword.
In comparison, the various Chosen species only took a few decades to develop, after a brief gestation period, and by utilising their divine gifts, could become powerhouses that, given enough time and resources, could even threaten a dragon.
While only a rare few could reach this stage, just by the sheer numbers born, to the dragons, it felt like they had only just started to recover from the last Chosen hero when another entered the fray.
Still, even with their divine gifts and ability to repopulate rapidly, the war had been devastating for the Chosen races. If it weren't for their faith in their gods, who actively took part in the conflict whenever it looked like a Chosen species was about to wiped out, they would have long since sued for peace.
It wasn't surprising that, even though the gods had removed most of their base instincts when they selected their races, an instinctual fear had once again been engraved into the souls of the Chosen.
For every dragon that fell, the Chosen and their allies paid a hefty price but, in the end, their tactics seemed to have paid off.
The last bastion of dragons, the Dragon's peak, was on the verge of falling.
Begrudging respect appeared in the dragoness' heart.
While the dragons stood like mountains, the Chosen were like the winds and the rain. Tiny, unworthy of notice and seemingly insignificant but with enough time, they had eroded their foundations and brought the world into a new era.
She only hoped it would be one that her offspring could survive in.