--------///----Eclina's POV----\\\--------

As soon as the fight was over i turned my darkness tail off and switched to my light to help me heal and feel better. I only had some experience with healing myself since Mr.Garris was too strong to try to injure me so i would have to do it myself when i wanted to train. After i was done using my light to heal me, i started to feel a bit hungry... So i took a small break and started to descale the drake... But that took a while to figure out because i've never done something like this. At first i tried to peel away the scales with my claws but it didn't feel like i'd make any leeway with that method. I thought about biting them off but my teeth didn't seem to like that idea.

If i used too much darkness on it then the meat would get all mushy and taste disgusting. Fire wouldn't work, it'll cook the meat but still not work. Then i remembered another thing papa did. When we met Mina he used air to pop the scales off of the fishes he caught.

~ Can i do the same thing? I have no idea how papa managed to do that so where do i start? ~

I wasn't paying attention to how exactly papa did it so i was stumped as i tried a bunch of different ways until i found out the way papa did it. When i pushed some air into the holes i left in the drakes back, i felt like i could pop a few scales off. At first when i tried to do it i only managed to pop off a few scales. But i knew what to do now. Since the holes in his back weren't big or deep enough to be helpful, i decided to use the gash i made on his neck. I pushed air into his neck and kept it flowing through his body until i had atleast both arms, his head and neck covered and began popping the scales off.

It was slow but it was going good. After a minute or two i managed to get all the scales from his top half off. I didn't know where i wanted to bite into first so i just used a few swipes of air and cut off meat from his neck and arm. Despite only using small swipes i managed to take off juicy chunks of meat. I walked over to the chunk from the arm and took a bite into it. At first the meat was hard to chew because it was so hard, but the more i chewed the more juicy and delicious it got.

I kept chewing on the arm meat for a bit and just enjoyed the taste that came from it. It was a good first try of drake meat and it made my stomach growl for more. I moved over to the meat from its neck and dug in. Unlike the arm meat, the meat from its neck was a bit softer and easier to chew. The juices made it delicious but i liked chewing and savouring the taste of the arm meat more then i did the neck meat. It was a tasty experience that kept me eating from it's arms until i was satisfied. When my stomach stopped growling i had already ate a whole arm down to the bone and left half the other bone aswell.

When i was about to leave i heard steps coming from somewhere behind me. I didn't know what was coming so i tried to find somewhere to hide but the only place i could hide would either be behind the drake or up in the air. Since it seemed like the better option, i decided to go up and get out of the things line of sight. I ran up and hid myself 10ft in the air and looked down for whatever was coming. After a minute i saw the skinny figure of some kind of bird hobble up the incline in the direction of where i was just at.

Looking at it i could tell it was hurt. From my view it looked like one of its wings were broken as i could see a bone sticking out and it was dragging it on the ground. It looked like it had a bunch of deep cuts all over it's body. I think it had an eye gouged out but it might've just been closed. The bird stopped and looked at the dead drake and seemed to start shaking as it swerved its head all over the place, probably to look for what killed it. After another few moments it took a few hesitant steps towards the corpse and kept looking at the other corpses as it did.

Just seeing it made me feel sad for it. I debated what to do until i decided i would help it. Slowly i started jumping down towards it and see what i could do. When i was close enough i called out to it to see if it could actually talk.

(Eclina) " Helloooo! "

When i shouted that, the bird froze and looked up towards me. It seemed to be staring at me and that's how i noticed it really did have an eye gouged out. The more i kept getting closer the more the bird panicked. But the more it panicked the more it's wound would start to bleed.

(Eclina) " I'm not going to hurt you! I swear! "

Despite me saying that the bird kept panicking. When i landed infront of it all i could see in its eye was fear. Another thing i noticed was how skinny it actually was, despite it being a good foot taller then me it looked like a skeleton. It looked like i could see its ribs through its feathers. I could also see how its bright yellow and red feathers were caked with mud and blood that was still coming from its wounds. The bird kept looking at me and even tried to fall back but it only ended up falling.

(???) " Please leave me alone, i don't want to die. "

Despite him trying to beg it all just came out as a whisper. If my hearing wasn't as good as it was then i would've missed it. I walked over to the bird but he kept trying to crawl away even though he seemed to be hurting himself the more he moved. I know he was scared but the more he crawled away the more annoyed i would get.

(Eclina) " Stop moving i'm trying to help you! "

I was too annoyed so i just shouted at him and that seemed to work. His only eye went as wide as it could as he started looking into my eyes. It seemed like he was trying to tell if i was lying or not but he was still giving me a scared look. Since he was staying still while he was doing that, i just started using my light tail and walked over to him. He flinched and tried to move again but when my paw made contact with his talon, he stopped. He looked at his talons as his cuts slowly started to close.

My light might not be that strong but i was still proficient enough to heal some wounds. After a minute, the lightest wounds on him were all closed but his wing and the rest of his major wounds were still open, just better off now. He gave me a look of astonishment and started to cry. I didn't know what to do and i thought he was in more pain but before i did, he put his good wing around his face and cried a bit more.

(Eclina) " W-whats wrong? Is something else hurting? Why're you crying? "

I've never had to deal with anyone crying since Morrius or Lily haven't cried before, i don't even think i've cried before. I had no idea what to do.

(???) " Why're you helping me? Why? "

That confused me for a second. I didn't really have a reason to help him but i wanted to do it anyway.

(Eclina) " Why shouldn't i? There's no reason for me not too. "

When i said that the bird moved his wing away from his face and looked at me again. He was still crying but his tears were coming out slower. Suddenly his stomach growled and we both looked to each other. I remembered how Mr.Garris brought up not to heal on an empty stomach and decided to stop my healing. When i did he looked at me a little scared but he wasn't crying anymore now. 

(Eclina) " Come on. lets eat a bit, ok? "

He nodded his head and tried to stand up but he tripped again. He seemed to have a harder time moving so i tried to do what i did for Althea but this time i was too short to do it. I didn't know what to do so i tried something else. I tried to make a small platform of air for him to lay on but i couldn't manage that... I was stumped on what to do but then i had a thought.

~ Why don't i just drag the drake to him? I'ts only a foot or two away. ~

I couldn't find any reason not to drag the drake so i just did it. At first i didn't know where i should try to drag it but then my eyes settled on the bones of the arm i completly ate. Drake bones should be tough so i tightened my jaws on its arm bones and started dragging. The bird looked surprised since the drake was obviously bigger and heavier then i was, yet i was dragging it with relative ease. I thought i would have an issue with dragging it but whether it was because i ate a bunch of it's skin or i was just stronger, i wasn't having a hard time dragging it.

After a few seconds i was able to drop the drake right infront of him and helped push him closer to the body. He was looking at the body with a starving face and his stomach growled louder then it did the first time. He crawled over to the arm that i half ate and started ripping flesh from it. As he was eating he started to cry again, i didn't get why but he just was. As he kept eating he seemed to start choking so i helped him cough out whatever was stuck in his throat. A big bit of meat came out but after it did he went back to eating. I had to stop him for a bit because i didn't want him to choke again.

(Eclina) " If you're going to keep eating like that then eat from the neck. It's softer then the arm bits. "

He turned to me with a beak full of meat and swallowed. He looked over at the neck parts and started hobbling over to try out the neck meat. When he bit into it his eye seemed to go wide and he started digging into it. It put a smile on my face but i had no idea why. As he kept eating i decided to start healing him again and try to work on his wing. At first i didn't know where to start but after a few seconds of thinking i decided to try to put the bone back in and then start healing. I had to have him stop eating which made him a bit sad but when i explained why, he stopped immediatley and extended the wing in question. The bone didn't seem that badly injured but it still broke through his skin.

I didn't know where to start with this kind of thing so i just did the only thing that i thought might work. i pressed down on the bone and snapped it back into place. He let out an ear piercing screech and struggled to keep standing as i started letting my light flow into the wound. Slowly the wound started to close and wounds around it did too. When i was done he seemed to be exhausted. He plopped down, wings spread wide and just laid there.

(Eclina) " Umm. How do you feel? "

(???) " Better... But hungry, tired, and sad. " 

While he was saying that, he was flopping towards the rest of the drakes neck to get more food. He kept eating and lifted his wings to try to get a better hold and stand up but he seemed to be failing.

(Eclina) " Umm. I think you'll have to try not to use your wing so you don't hurt it again. "

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

He just looked back to me with his good eye and started looking at me skeptically.

(???) " You think? Uh.. Have you... Never done something like this before? "

I couldn't help but shyly look away from his gaze. He seemed to keep looking at me but then he went back to eating. Suddenly i heard the sound of more steps racing towards us. It sounded like four or five seperate beasts but i couldn't be for sure. I looked over to... I just noticed i didn't know his name. The whole time i just kept refeering to him as "the bird". 

(Eclina) " Umm. What's your name? "

When i asked that he looked sad and just stopped moving. He looked like he was about to start crying again. I didn't get to stop him since he immediatley said why.

(???) " I don't have one... Mom and dad died before i could get one... "

(Eclina) " Oh... I'm sorry... Ummm... "

~ I don't know what to say to that... I still have mama and papa... But i already missed them after not seeing them for a month... I don't know how i would feel if i ever lost them. ~

While i was thinking about it he started to tear up again but i had no way to stop him. I didn't want him to cry again so i tried to distract him instead.

(Eclina) " There are other beasts coming so why don't you eat some more. "

When i said that he froze up.

(???) " How many? "

I listened in again and i managed to make out 4 beasts. I was sure of it now since they got closer. 

(Eclina) " There's four of them. Why? "

When i said four he started shaking and he started chattering his beak. I could easily tell he was terrified. Maybe he knew who was coming? But before i got to ask i noticed the sound of them running was getting louder. And closer. I didn't want to get surprised so i ran up into the air with my air tail helping me. When i looked out i saw a pack... No looking closer they seemed to be cat like beasts so was it a hunting party?

~ Do groups of cats make a pack or is it something else? Oh, is one of them lookinng at me? Oh... Now the rest of them are looking at me... Now what? ~

Despite them all seeing me in the air they just kept coming. It'd take about a minute for them to reach us so i decided to just go down to my new bird friend and see what these new beasts wanted. I told him that there would be company soon but that only made him shudder more. I tried to ask him about why but he didn't seem to hear it and just kept shuddering. I put a paw on him to see if he was cold but he was still warm. If this was all because of who was coming then i started to worry a bit.

The sound of steps grew louder and when i turned around i could see the party of lynx's come up the incline. They looked just like i saw them, light green fur, purple claws, and bron eyes that had the usual cat like slit. But despite how they looked, they were different then the lynx corpse from earlier despite having the same colors. They had long tails that seemed like curved claws, they seemed to be over a meter and a half tall but these beasts were lankier then the drake. While i was looking at them they seemed to be doing tthe same to me.

One of the lynx's looked at my bird friend and seemed to start growling. The others looked im the direction the growling one was and they started to have the same reaction. They all started looking upset and growling, then the biggest one looked at me and snarled out at me.

(???) " How dare you fix it! Do you know how much of our fun you've wasted!? " 

When he said that i couldn't stop myself from turning to my new bird friend and see how scared he was. When i saw the look in his eye i couldn't help but get mad at them for doing that.

(Eclina) " That was you!? Thats not fair there are four of you! "

The leader just snarled at me more while the other lynxs started to fan out while the leader flashed his fangs at me. I could feel the tension in the air and another feeling that i wasn't familiar with.

(???) " Food shouldn't care about fair. "

Two of the lynxes went over to my right side while one went to my left while the leader charged at me with his tail swishing back and forth. I wanted to avoid him but then i realized if i did that he would be right infront of my bird friend... If i was going to fight four beasts on my own then i had to do this in a smart way. I had to hold my ground. I wasn't going to need my air and light so i took the chance to start switching my elements from air and light to darkness and earth.  If i was going to hold my ground i was going to make sure i could defend AND fight back.

It was going to take a few moments for my tails to swap over so i had to make sure i could hold back the leader. The leader must've noticed what was going on with my tails and made a guess about it since he started charging faster, reaching me quicker then i was expecting. He lunged with his claws extended and cut into my side and knicked earth tail. But when he did, a piece of his claw seemed to have chipped halfway into my earth tail.

When his claw chipped his eyes went wide and stopped paying attention to what i was doing. Since he lunged he couldn't stop himself or his momentum, so i wasn't stopped from biting towards his hind leg and ripping a chunk out of it. When he landed he went past me and the drake body and skidded into the water, but before he went out of range his tail had snapped at me and cut a deep wound into my back. I was about to move closer to my friend to make it easier to protect him but then the other lynx's started jumping towards me in turns. The first one came from my left and tried to slash at me with its claws but i felt my darkness and earth tail respond to me. I made sure my darkness was at its peak to perfectly defend me.

When the lynx made it into less then a foot distance i made a wall of darkness and pushed it towards the lynx. I didn't get to see the looks on its face since my wall blocked it but it didn't seem to be in a state to keep fighting. The other two lynxs didn't waste time as one jumped at my right and the other jumped over me and fliped over me while it's tail cut into my back. It managed to cut into the wound the leader gave me which stung and bled more then it already did. I didn't expect that so i didn't have anyway to defend myself from it. The other lynx was different, it was just another rush towards me so i just made a dome of darkness on my right side to protect me. 

But it looked like it must've been waiting for that since it used its tail to slam into the stone and stop itself from colliding into my dome. I wasn't expecting it's tail to be strong enough to pierce the stone so i was too focused on that instead of the lynx who jumped over me. It charged at me and plunged its claws into my side and bit into my neck. Despite them having short claws they still felt horrible, and even if my neck was harder thanks to my earth, I still felt his fangs creep deeper into my neck.

I radiated a burst of darkness that made the lynx back away but before he jumped back he made it worse by slashing down and making my wounds even bigger. That seemed to make the lynx screech in pain along with me since a few of its claws broke off in my skin. I could hear my bird friend screeching and calling out to me but everything was hurting too much for me to focus on him. Suddenly the world seemed to be slowing down and my thoughts were flowing through me faster then they ever have

~ Heal... I have to heal... B-b-but am i even going to have the chance? Atleast 2 of them can still hurt me, i don't know what happened to their leader... He's not dead but he just disappeared after falling into the water... But what about my bird friend? Is he ok? Where'd the one that hit my shield go? What can i do? ~

I knew this wouldn't be enough to kill me, nothing important was damaged and i still had a lot of my blood so i wouldn't bleed out. But i knew i had to heal, i could feel something eating me from the inside... Their claws were poisoned... I needed my darkness to kill it and i needed my light to fix my wounds. Despite having them i've never been able to use them at the same time. Mr.Garris said he didn't understand the reasoning behind it but he said i'd manage it somehow.

~ I have to do this. I need to do this... I WILL DO THIS ~

As time started to come back to full speed I forced my earth tail to stop as fast as i could and forced my light tail to work... I felt it. I felt my light trying to co-operate with me but i felt my darkness trying to consume and fight my light. I couldn't afford to have this chance ruined. I NEEDED this to work! My darkness was MINE if i wanted it to work it would respond, if i wanted it to stop it would stop, and i DID NOT give it permission to fight MY light! They are MY ELEMENTS they will do what I WANT!

I couldn't see it but the lynx's started to come up to me and seemed to be saying something but the world infront of me wasn't what i was focused on. I was focused on bending my darkness to my will and making it work with my light. The more i bent my darkness the more i felt my light surge in me. In the outside i suddenly started radiating darkness that put the lynx's in a state of alertness as the two i was defending against had jumped back while the third one, who had his paw and his arm up to his elbow, corroded by my darkness, also jumped back despite missing that much flesh.

My bird friend seemed to stop screeching too. I could hear the water of the watering hole start to ripple as the leader had begun to emerge from it. He seemed to be shouting something but i couldn't hear it. He didn't matter. Those lynx's didn't matter. At the moment not even my bird friend mattered. My powers, my elements, my will. What mattered at this moment was me and my powers. At one point i think i even heard Mr.Garris try to speak to me but it wasn't registering. The more i worked with my light and darkness the more power i started to feel flowing through me.

I could feel my darkness corroding the stone beneath me, my darkness flowing into my wounds killing off the poison and destroying the claws that were stuck in me. I could feel my light washing over me and starting to close my wounds, i felt my light coating me in a thin layer that was covered by my darkness that was covering me like a second layer of skin. Despite how much power was flowing in me and how many of my wounds were healing i knew i couldn't hold this for long. The lynx's started getting orders from their leader and tried to fan out again. I wouldn't allow it. 

As they started fanning out i howled and let a portion of my darkness burst out infront of me. At first they started to avoid it but i wouldn't let them escape from me. I wouldn't allow it. My darkness chased them and ate the ground they ran on. When the one missing some of his flesh was caught they all started to stare as he was devoured alive. First it was his fur, it began to be devoured into darkness as he was stripped bare, then his skin began to corrode and bleed as his exterior began to peel away exposing his muscles and tendons. His blood began to gush as his capilaries, veins, arteries all began to be exposed and ruptured. Soon his flesh was gone as his bones were laid bare to the world... For a few moments. When my darkness devoured his bones not even the ground they were on was left.

The rest of the lynx's had already been radiating fear yet witnessing the erasure of their comrade seemed to release the floodgates as the fear that eminated from them made me want more. But for a moment my thoughts wandered to what i just felt, for every pound of flesh my darkness ate from him the more i healed and gained. I could feel myself getting fixed as my darkness devoured him, but at the same time i felt something growing in me. I didn't know what it was and i didn't care, i was going to eat them, i was going to devour them, i was going to erase them.

The lynx's had kept running yet this time they tried to run away... I wouldn't allow it. I chased. I chased them down and the closer i got the stronger the smell of fear grew. I wouldn't allow them to get too far away so i howled again and let my darkness burst and rain spears of death from above them. Not all of the spears were the same size, some were needles and some were spears yet they did their job all the same. The lynx's stumbled and crashed into the ground as they begun to be corroded from the outside. They screamed and wailed but i didn't care. They were going to die either way so there was no reason to put them out of their misery so i didn't, i let them die slowly and painfully. As they began to turn to muscle the leader turned his bloody eyes to me and tried to mouth something but i didn't hear or care.

When their corpses were fully bone i let my darkness return to me and flow over my body. As i did my mind suddenly started to relax. My skin of darkness started receeding and eventually stopped entierly. The same happened with my thin veil of light. And when it was all done i started to remember about something i forgot. Someone i forgot.

(Eclina) " My bird friend! "

While i was chasing the lynx's i forgot all about him! Since we ran in a straight line it wasn't that hard to find my way back. When i did i looked and smelled around for him and found him right where i left him. He was at the drakes body but he just hid behind the parts that still had skin and scales and kept his wings over his body. When i went to nudge him with my paw he screeched really loudly like earlier and started to sprawl back which almost made him fall into the water. 

He seemed to be scared out of his mind and couldn't speak straight with the tears coming from his eye and socket. I tried to calm him down a bit but that didn't really help much. So i tried what mama and papa would do when me or my siblings acted up. I went over to one of the scaled parts of the drake, descaled it, tore a piece off of it and brought it over to him. At first he still cried and seemed a bit reluctant but after a bit of me eating some of it infront of him he started to cry less and start talking again. But before i could i heard Mr.Garris' voice on the wind.

(Garris) " I'm not sure what i just winessed but whatever you did attracted the second drake. It's begun making it's way towards you. " 

(Eclina) " ... Dangit. "