My once shattered, frayed, and empty bond was no longer so. Reliving my moments with Nytheri seemed to have brought it to life, and now it was screaming for its other half, and I was screaming in pain. Its demands were insistent, demanding Nytheri, demanding control, and, most of all, demanding blood. This thing inside me lacked capable thought, so though it felt Nytheri was slain and wanted vengeance, it could not think who could have done it and urged me to slay the dragon cowering in front of me. Rylar, my son.

He had crammed himself as far back in the corner as possible, and small chirps just barely reached my ears, nearly drowned out by the pounding of my heart. A cascading waterfall of red blurred my vision, making it impossible to see clearly. In my desperation to regain control, I had smacked my wings into the wall a moment earlier, and I continued to press harder against them despite the slight crunch that was generated as a response. The pain scarcely pushed back the bond, but it was enough.

"RUN!" I roared at him as I launched my body to the side, providing a gap for him to slip through. Needing no further encouragement, he slipped through the gap and out the entrance, leaving my bond wailing in rage.

A screeching noise left my jaws, a demonic sound that I had never heard a dragon make before.

If the town wasn't awake before, they are now. At least Rylar can get away.

My last wall of resistance crumbled under the onslaught of the bond, leaving me exposed. I could feel it inside me like a parasite, squirming around searching for something. I realized a moment too late what it wanted, and my jaws opened in a soundless gasp before it seized me completely.

"Lyrk," it called, bringing forth my element, and plunging me into darkness.

~~~

Kazlar had fallen silent after his shriek, and for a moment I wondered if it was over. I glanced backward hesitantly, slowing down to stall. A second later he surged up from the cave, flying erratically and releasing blood-curdling shrieks every few seconds, prompting me to continue flying.

He's gone insane.

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As if he had heard my thought, his head snapped around to spot me flapping frantically against the empty sky, and he instantly took pursuit.

Terror filled my entire being as he crept ever closer, threatening to catch me quickly. If I could make it to the Pillars, which is exactly what it sounds like, I'd be able to outmaneuver him, and it wasn't that far away. If not, I'd have to dive into the clouds, potentially making it harder for the townsfolk to find and help me.

Spotting a dragon in the direction of the Pillars, my decision was made for me and I sped forward, ahead of Kazlar by scarcely a league. The closer I drew to the Pillars and the dragon flying my way, the closer Kazlar drew to my tail.

Snap! The sharp click of teeth provided extra motivation and propelled me forward, though it wouldn't be enough. The Pillars were still over five leagues away, and Kazlar was no further than a wing length.

I'll have to dive.

I abruptly shot vertically into the sky, Kazlar releasing a cry as he lunged for where I had been a moment earlier. I didn't hover to watch him figure it out, instead speeding towards the edge of the mountain. His screech told me when he had spotted me, but by then I was at the edge of the mountain, diving into the cover of the clouds.

Grey filled my vision and muffled my hearing, but I could still hear Kazlar's wingbeats gradually growing louder.

He's close.

I weaved erratically up, down, left, and right, struggling to lose him. Finally, I moved out of hearing range of his wingbeats and stilled my own so he could not track me, gliding away in near silence.

It was almost peaceful, this empty grey. The silence was deafening, almost unnatural, yet somehow soothing. In this empty void, I had nothing to fear.

A burst of red entered my vision, warning me of danger, but it was too late. Kazlar released a shriek as he slammed into my side, throwing me off balance and sending me hurtling toward the ground.

I struggled to regain flight as panic seared through me, growing in intensity the closer and closer I got to breaking the cloud cover. Right as I was about to plunge through, I managed to recover and soar back up to safety. Now though, I was wary.

How did he sneak up on me like that?

My eyes flashed around in all directions in a few milliseconds, my blood heightened and my skin crawling.

Now I know what it's like to be prey, and it's not a great feeling.

A shadow flitted through the clouds ahead of me, and I instantly thrust upward, barely dodging Kazlar as he dashed out of his cover. His eyes snapped up to mine, and then he was upon me.

In less than the time it would take for me to blink, he was at my side, slashing and biting and screeching at me. His talon slashed just above my eye, and my stomach dropped. Not just out of fear though, but because we were falling.

We spiraled out of the cloud cover, plummeting towards the ground like a comet.

This is exactly what I did during my combat Trial, but now there's no way out. He's going to kill us both.

I squirmed frantically against his grasp, trying everything, anything, to escape. The ground was nearly to us, so close now that it filled my entire vision.

His claw finally slipped, sliding off my scales after a failed strike. Taking advantage of this, I slipped through the space created, trying to escape before his second talon could land a blow.

Everything seemed to slow down. His claw came down quicker than I could escape, heading straight for my eye. A near incomprehensible pain seared through me, and the world went dark.

He got my eye.