Chapter 42 - Dragon's Heart

As suddenly as the white light took him, Hump was floating through clouds. He felt the warmth of the sun beat against his back, and wind brushed his face, cool on his skin. Down below, a luscious green forest stretched out across the land. On and on it went, further than he had thought possible, across hills, and rivers, and mountains. Untouched by civilisation.

Am I dead? he wondered. It was dangerous taking on as much essence as he had, but he’d hoped to have at least held on long enough to put some of that power to use.

He tried to turn his head and examine his body, but it didn’t move as instructed. With every fibre of his being he willed his head to turn, his eyes to flicker, for anything to move and give him some sign that he was still alive. Nothing happened. All he could do was stare out across the expanse.

Then something changed. He felt his body moving, but not by his command. His muscles tensed; the blood rushed in his ears as loud as a waterfall.

Faster than he could process he felt himself swept up. The world spun, and he was plummeting toward the trees. Wind whipped against his face, it howled in his ears. Down below birds flocked from the trees in great black clouds, scattering into the air. And then Hump saw them.

Dragons.

They dived through the air at his side, their charcoal coloured bodies poised like arrows as they shot for the ground. The first were already amongst the trees, leaping and flying through the canopy, crashing to the forest floor below.

The ground was getting closer. Excitement filled him. His heart beat like thunder, pounding in his ears with more power than he had ever felt. He wanted to join them in the trees. He wanted to scream and cry out with all the delight and exhilaration of the fall. Instead, what escaped him was a mighty roar.

And then he was amongst them. Ducking and diving between trees, racing against the other dragons as they went.

All at once he felt them. The minds of the pack. Eight brothers and sisters; their thoughts intertwined in a whirlpool of images and emotions. Hump found himself overwhelmed by the sheer force of their raw emotion. It was too much to take in at once. He felt their happiness like an explosion in his chest. His body surged forward, fuelled by their thrill for the hunt. It raged through him until his blood boiled with theirs, each body an extension of his own. A part of a whole.

He tried to raise his head and roar but again nothing happened. It hit him then; this was not his body. The dragon had swallowed him, and now he was experiencing a part of her. A remnant memory. Her soul was imprinting on his, consuming it. The infection had already begun and Hump had thrown himself to it entirely, not offering up even the slightest hint of resistance.

But as the pack howled around him, he found he didn’t care. Their thrill was all consuming. It goaded him on, everything else was irrelevant. All that mattered was the moment and the hunt.

As one with the dragon, he crashed through two trees, trailing just behind a sister. She glanced back at him; her lips peeled into a playful snarl. He could sense the challenge in her yellow eyes, polished like fine gold. A challenge he would not let slide. He flapped his wings, launching themselves across the forest floor at a mad sprint, bounding through the trees as if they were merely fresh saplings. He was a dragon and nothing could stand before his might. His thoughts were only for the chase. The challenge. The thrill.

The gap closed and he pounced upon their sister’s tail.

Hump’s stomach lurched. The forest toppled, the ground rose beneath him until the world turned over. When it righted, scorched earth and charred trees took the place of the forest.

He was stunned by sudden fear. As he looked around, he couldn’t understand what he was supposed to be afraid of, but the fearful panic of his pack froze him in place. He searched for them but all he saw was flame. Trees blazed around him, filling the air with black smoke as thick as night. With every passing moment, the pack’s terror filled him like poison. Urging him to flee, to hide, to find them. And he saw images of pain and bloody wounds. It hurt him as if it were his own.

They called for her—for him. Their names were more than just words. They were sensations, and images, and emotions, too complex for Hump to fully understand but he could feel the beauty in it even now. She was the daughter of storms, fierce and powerful. She was pride and determination. She was fire and lightning, fastest of all in the pack. A streak of black through clear blue skies. A burst of red flame amidst dark clouds.

And she would not fall here.

There was another voice amongst them, so quiet, Hump almost couldn’t hear it. But then he felt the warmth in her belly. The life that was growing within her. This rage and fear was not just for her; they dared to threaten her egg. Her child.

She flapped her wings, pain exploding in her side. She tore at it with her jaws, ripping free a spear as long as a person. The pain was staggering. Her vision darkened, but voices were nearing. Men and women shouted nearby, speaking in words neither she nor Hump understood. The intent behind those words was more than clear enough.

Again she tried to take flight, but another spear struck her, piercing deep into the flesh beneath her wing. So she ran, barrelling through the blazing trees, fighting her way up the hill in search of escape. A man blocked her path, but she didn’t slow, barrelling past him and sending him flying. Pain flared like fire in her shoulder as his spear gouged deeply. She tore it from her shoulder with furious bite and charged onward. Behind her, the shouts grew closer.

And then there it was, a cliff and open skies. Only a single man blocked the way. A man Hump was all too familiar with. Kassius, wrapped in his shadow, his sword in hand.

No, Hump thought. A sick feeling filled him as he stared at the distinct black veins along the blade. He realised where they were and what this was. They were in the scorched forest he had passed through on the way to the dungeon encampment.

Dread. He knew what was coming next, and he didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to feel it.

With all his might, Hump willed the dragon to stop. To turn back and find another way. But there was no changing what had already come to pass. She charged forward with certainty. No human could stand against the might of a dragon, and any that dared was a fool!

But Kassius didn’t stand. He stepped aside, flicking out his thin sword to strike at her leg. It was the smallest of nicks. A cut along the thigh, all but beneath notice. A puny wound to a dragon that would do nothing to stop her flight.

So she leapt and spread her wings. The winds carried her, and she soared high into the sky until the heat of the blazing forest could no longer reach them. Elation flooded in from the pack. Relief filled her as she realised she and her child were safe.

Then pain came and the world went black and silent as death.

The next thing Hump knew, they were lying on hard stone, surrounded by darkness. Every breath was filled with pain, radiating from the small nick on her leg. So much pain. It siphoned strength and drained life. Even for a wizard, the cold was beyond anything Hump had felt. She was dying. The pack was not with her, and the loneliness that remained was most painful of all. The world was void without their emotion; it was empty without their senses. She had never felt so isolated, and it was terrifying.

But amongst all that fear was something else. Something more powerful. It took a long time for Hump to understand just what that was, but as the dragon weakened and the life left her body, he felt determination and love so strong it left him in awe. Beyond even the might of a dragon.

Nested against her belly was an egg. Through all of this, it was the one thing that was safe. Nothing would change that, and nothing else mattered. She would protect it to the death and beyond. She wouldn’t leave, even if death tried to make her.

As life left her, Hump felt a spark. Her essence leaked into the ground and was absorbed. The stone shimmered; the walls came alight with veins of pure red essence. A red stone rose from the ground beside her body, held up on a podium. It grew brighter and brighter as it drew in every bit of essence it could, soaking in every part of her that was left, filling the chamber with light.

Even as her body died, a fragment of her soul remained. The piece that belonged to her child. Her mind and spirit might be gone, but her sole purpose remained, etched into her heartstone like God Glyphs. Her egg would be protected. Nothing else mattered. The world’s essence responded to her Will, fuelled by her emotion. It was the power to stave off death, the power to birth a dungeon core, the power to protect what mattered most.

When the final sliver of her life was gone, the world went dark once more. Hump was back in his body, the heat of the dragon’s essence and soul filling him to the point of breaking. All that remained of her coursed through him. Her fear, rage, loneliness, and above all, her determination to protect the egg.

Nothing else mattered. Kassius would not have it. Nobody would. The egg was his and his alone. They could not have it!

“No!” Kassius cried. He turned away from Vamir and charged at Hump, his eyes wide and full of hate. “That power is mine!” He clenched his fist, gathering shadow to his hand and launching it at Hump.

It all happened so slowly. Hump felt his body burning as the essence within him tried to tear free. His body simply wasn’t strong enough to contain it, he needed an outlet, and what better target was there than the murderer of so many innocents.

With a thought, Hump let loose the power within him. It left his body willingly. Fire swept out from him, exploding in all directions, blasting back the shadow and setting Kassius’ cloak afire. He screamed and launched himself back, wrapping his shadow around itself to extinguish the flame.

“It is not yours!” Kassius roared. “I found it! I claimed it!”

Kassius’ face twisted in his fury. The pale light of his eyes shone brighter, it shone through his skin. He did the one thing wizards could not do. He gave in to his emotions, he let his anger control him, and with it, he let the essence of death take over. His hair turned grey and grainy, his skin creased and cracked, but no blood came from the wounds. He looked like a walking corpse.

And Hump had just the thing to set him free.