Rain of Fire

The ground was soft and crunchy under her feet as she walked through what was once a beautiful, healthy forest. Everywhere she looked she could only see burnt trees and nothingness. Even the mountains far away seemed to cry out to the sky the agony each living thing could still feel in this area. Eyes closed, she could feel everything. The soil was almost sandy, in a way, but with so much more dust at each step. From time to time, something hard and fragile would crack under her foot.

She didn’t want to look at it.

Not now that everything was over. Not now that they were all gone. The roars, the yells of pain and distress… she was hearing it all over again. The corpses were alive too in her memory. It’s been years since then. Since the chaos that brought down their quiet and magnificent world. But the feeling she felt with her feet was nothing when facing the smells that hit her nose. The scent could be detected miles and miles from the actual dead forest. A mixture of old ashes, half burnt trees, bones and dried blood. One would think that peculiar smell wouldn’t have survived the years of weather changes.

She did, at least.

But it seemed that not only she didn’t want to come back here. The dead weren’t disturbed by anything. Not the weather, not any living animals… and not her. She opened her eyes again when breathing became difficult, something was stuck in her throat. Like she had an unidentified object in there that was prickly. She couldn’t swallow, afraid of what would happen if she did. No crying, she promised herself when she left camp in the morning. But, was that the hardest troth she ever took. With burning eyes she let her eyes witness the scenery surrounding her. Her gaze caught on the vision of a fallen tree. Tree that was a long time ago the biggest of the forest. She played in its branch with her brother. And now it was broken, just like the rest.

Beside the eternally agonizing tree was resting the skeleton of the venerable and wise head of the pride. He was also the biggest and oldest of them all, the one they could rely on and listen to in times of trouble. And one of the first to die. Without him, she would be dead, and twice. Kneeling before him, Aïka reached out her hand leaving only a few inches between her fingers and the bones. Using the burning fire nesting inside her, she let some threads of magic touch the remains. Soon enough, the memories came flooding in…In his last moment, he thought of her, she discovered as the memory overtook her thoughts.

That little youngling, he thought as his body was failing him. So fragile was she that first time he met her. He could have ended her life in one flick of his tail. And now, she was fighting like one of them, spilling blood of the enemy with both her hands and her magic… and burning every living elf in her sight. Her green hair twirling with her sudden moves, from time to time he caught the sight of her pointy ears. So many things would be different if he hadn’t chosen to take her in… but he would do the same, given the choice. He remembered so well…

He picked up a strange smell while hunting. Hunger was making him growl in anticipation of flesh under his fangs and blood on his tongue. But that distinct scent was intriguing. It was like nothing he knew. Or, if he did it was a long time ago. So, he interrupted his hunt to find out what that was. Maybe it would be something edible. Even something good! The thought only brought his appetite to a point he could no longer control himself and he jumped in the air and flapped his wings to go higher in the sky. His pale blue scales reflected the sunshine as he was pursuing the trail.

The moment he was back on the ground, shock made him freeze in place. Before him was a youngling from another species, one he hadn’t seen for almost a century. They went so far away from it the moment they first met. The elves were despicable creatures. Bipedal thing with variable skin tone and hair, capable of using weird magic, roughly anything like theirs. Most of them were killing other creatures for the mere pleasure of it, hungry or not, in need or not. Shame should be glued on them like a second skin.

But this tiny elf before him could barely walk properly on her own. A female, he remembered by their distinctive smell. Not too much hair for now, but it was emerald green, contrasting nicely with her skin as white as the stars. She was playing with sticks and rocks, flames coming out of her fingertips. That’s what was startling him. The magic emanating from her was as rough as his, as theirs. It seemed to be instinctive, without exact form. No need for spells, words or gestures… it was just born. It seemed just as part of her than her hair or anything else that was hers. He met elves before, and he knew the way their magic worked and it was nowhere near what she was doing.

So, he approached her.

She was just like all the other innocent creatures living in his forest. She didn’t seem to be startled by him as he grew closer. On the contrary, she looked up to him with bright golden eyes and a sweet smile, like he couldn’t decide to eat her in one move. As she was distracted by him, the fire became wild and broke free from her grasp, starting to burn the trees around. All dragons didn’t have the same gift, so using his to protect the innocent woods, he let out a sigh. With it came a freezing breeze, so cold that no fire could never be warm enough to survive it. He didn’t mean to kill the infant, but protecting the forest was his duty just as much as the dragons under his rule. He couldn’t let it burn…

But, as it turned out, the little girl was still alive and well. Giggling at the cold breath of the dragon. He took a step back but before he could make up his mind and flew away from that weird elf, he felt something on his mind. He recognized the touch and let the entity enter. “She needs you” it said. “Just as you all need her” it added. “She has the blessing of old, young dragon. Remember that and someday, she will need to know too.” He hadn’t been called a young dragon for a long time, but in comparison to this spirit, he knew he was just as a youngling to it than the young elf was to him, even more so, probably. A long time ago, he heard about the stories of some bipedal creatures who received the Gift from the Great Dragon, but never did he think he would ever encounter one. For all he knew, those blessed ones were a myth. Something they would tell each other in hopes of a brighter future.

His gaze caught the one of the young one. She seemed so calm, at peace with everything. He could see, now that he knew what to look for, that she had one scale with the whole spectrum of color on her little hand, it was like a small rainbow but with so much more. One day, maybe will it go to her forehead like all the high priestesses of old, the ones from the stories… But anything could happen until then. Only time would tell where the truth lies.

With that last thought, he made up his mind and decided to take the child with him and his pride. It was the only possible choice and in his heart, he knew that even before the words of the Great Dragon he would have made the same choice. No youngling should be left alone to fend for themselves, no matter what species they were.

As the memories faded away from his mind with all the pain running through his body, he looked once more to Aïka, named for what they all knew was what she was in the end. With their own language, they named her for the deathly fire she possessed and her will that was as strong as a storm, like the roughest of thunderstorms. She was their little rain of fire, once translated it was the meaning of her name. He was proud of what she became and couldn’t be more hopeful for what was there for her to accomplish. But she needed to survive. A low growl escaped his mouth when he saw some tamed creatures of the elves go after her. No one was near enough to do anything… Nor help him to try and defeat her foes. One of them would die, and on his dying body and last breath, he swore it wouldn’t be her. So he rushed off…

She rushed back in her body the instant she felt a change in the atmosphere. Not soon enough to not be overcome with all the pain that came with his sacrifice. But the matter in hand was a lot more important than the tears in her eyes and the weight on her heart. An unforgivable wind was troubling everything around her, making the ashes fly and making it difficult to breathe without choking. She couldn’t help but think that most of that ash was made by her… and could have been a living thing beforehand. She wasn’t interested in eating any of it, not even by accident. She looked up to the sky and as she thought, she could caught the sight of wings in the false storm. Motioning her arms violently and a frown on her face, she made contact with the one she knew was fooling around: her brother.

With a very sound boom, a very large golden dragon landed beside her, making her collapse on her knees. One look into his emerald eyes and she knew it was just as hard for him to be here as it was for her. The sigh he let go made it clear about what he thought of her little trip to the past. She felt his discomfort, his anger and his disapproval weighting on her mind. But whether he liked it or not, she wasn’t going to stop. There were stories who were never told and needed to be heard. They needed her now and as they never let her down, she wasn’t going to do so either. She was their last dying hope, how could she turned her back on them? With a push on her shoulder, her brother drew her attention back to him. With his rather large head, he showed her what was beyond.

Yes, she thought. The river.

They lived over there. In some short of cave. She lived in there longer than him, because of his height. They spent only two years together in there. But he was always there beside her for all the years after. Without saying anything, they made their way over there. Lost in their own thoughts, remembering how it looked before and how everything was once so… sweet. No one could believe her if she told them “dragons are the sweetest creatures in the world”, but she didn’t remember anything else and most if not all never lived among them like she did.

So how could anyone possibly know the truth?

As they grew closer to what was once their home and safest of all places, her eyes caught the sight of her old bed, made with branches, leaves, feathers… and anything that could work. She always had a special bond with reading memories, but she learned a long time ago that she was also able to keep them in objects, picking some in her mind and putting them elsewhere to be found later, so she would never forget. She exchanged a look with the bright dragon by her side and he nodded. He then blinked slowly and stretched his neck to fit his head in the small cave. It was her turn to nod. Yes, she would share it with him. So, while touching the bed with her magic, she leaned her forehead against his. Slowly, the memories came rushing back, full with laughter and joy.

The sunshine was slowly warming her skin as she waited on the grass beside a big tree and a lot of rocks. The strange thing brought her here, she couldn’t know why or comprehend how exactly, but she didn’t mind. It was pretty. Peaceful, too. The breeze making her hair fly in every direction, the birds singing the most beautiful songs of all and all the other trees talking and creaking to each other. Growls and roars could be heard, also. So loud that she couldn’t help but cover her ears with her hands. Time passed and she started walking around. Going closer and closer to a big hole in the rocks before her. Something had caught her gaze, it was shining like the sun in the middle of the day. That’s where she found it, that big, really big golden stone. With a genuine smile on her lips, she came closer. So close that she was able to put her small hands on it. And she did. Right at that moment, a million thoughts and memories overthrew her mind. They were just as sloppy as her own, but they were there. A huge crack startled her and she broke contact with the golden piece. It was just in time as everything fell apart. Huge cracks appeared all over and a moment later it shattered completely. There was standing a young dragon, a bit smaller than the little girl and of a very bright gold colour. When she turned over, it was to face three very large heads of dragon. One with very pale blue scales, another with dark purple ones and the last had some of a very light silver. They looked at one another and nodded…

Years later, she was on the back of her brother, Yuka, the bright fire of her life. For the first time since she could talk, her parents agreed to let her go fly with him. It was already a grown dragon, but maybe not the wisest. He was going higher and higher, the wind sapling her face without mercy. The cold was everywhere in her body, but she didn’t mind it. She learned long before that it couldn’t do her any harm, because the fire inside of her was burning so intensely. So now, she let go of the freezing wind and focused on everything else. How the forest seemed so small below, how the sun was even brighter than usual and how she was… free. She let her arms go above her head and laughed. She laughed until the air couldn’t fit in her lungs. They went up and down, down and up, moving in unison. She hadn’t flown before, but it sure looked like she did. Yuka was laughing and smiling too, in his own special way. They had fun before, but now, it was like they reached the very idea of it…

More memories flooded her mind before she broke contact with the bed. Tears were slowly making their way along her cheeks. The same burden of joy, nostalgia, sadness and anger was coming from her brother. Their innocence had passed. Neither of them could go back to that time where the only problem was how to break their own records and what foolish decision would trigger their parents the most. None of it stayed with them after the slaughter. Without a word, she disconnected their foreheads and went back outside. There was one more place they wanted to go before they had to flee. She could already hear, not so far away, the sound of thousands of feet walking towards them. They didn’t take long, she thought bitterly. But no matter what, they had to say goodbye, one last time.

So they went toward the final resting place of their parents, Keynor and Aya. As many others, they fought beside one another… and like the others, they died together. For that, she could never forgive. How forgive the murder of your family, of everyone that made you whole? There was never any space in her for forgiveness of such a sin. She knew mercy, but there were none in the hearts of her foes, so they would never find it in hers. Nor in her brother’s. They made them into warriors and vengeful beings, so it was on them. For the last five years, they fought, killed and vanquished… everything. But it didn’t matter now.

She kneed beside the bones and Yuka crouched. The remains of their parents was still touching, just like she last saw them. Even death couldn’t separate those too, at least… that was her hope. Her last one. She remembered absolutely every single things that happened that fateful day. But it was the last minutes of it that stuck in her head and made her nightmares alive and well.

Blood. There was blood everywhere. On her hands, in her hair… on her face. The smell of it made her sick, but it wasn’t time to throw up. There was no time for anything besides to protect and to kill. Fire in one hand and a bloody stick in the other, she fought with all her might. They wouldn’t take it all away, they couldn’t. She won’t let them… But wherever she looked, there was dead loved ones. Broken eggs, dislocated baby dragon body just as much as grown dragons. She could still see her chief die before her, as countless others.

She wasn’t strong enough. Nor big enough. Neither fast…

She wasn’t enough.

That’s all that was in her mind as she engaged one foe after the other. None survived whom she opposed. But they were too many. And them too few. Tears were rolling down her face as she stroke and stroke again. No time to catch her breath or wiped that unwanted water blinding her eyes. That was until she saw the closest member of her pride. Her family was so close to her than in one small run she could go and fight beside them.

Her eyes met those of her mother and at the same moment a voice broke in her head. “Flee, my child! Find Yuka and go. Don’t ever look back!” was she saying. Something got stuck in her throat. She felt the pain and the despair of her mother. She was… dying. “You two need to stay alive. I can’t… Not without knowing…” she added. Aïka knew what she meant. So, she screamed. She screamed her brother’s name. It was a mind call so strong and loud that half the elves around had to stop fighting to try and block her. It gave some time for her friends to kill those, but there were so much more…

It took only a few seconds for Yuka to find her and she climbed on his back as he was landing. They both gazed towards their parents just in time to see them give up, they were bleeding from everywhere as they united their necks to embrace each other. Then came the final blow and the life that once was in their eyes vanished. In one instant, she felt an uncontrollable rage filled her, burning her inside out. The fire grew and grew so much she couldn’t hold it anymore. And then it exploded. She couldn’t recall the moment she joined her brother in a mental connection, but they were one now. They started spinning, spinning strangely really fast. At each turn the fire became bigger and bigger, in both of them. Then, they let it go. Fire burned down her throat as it escaped her mouth, her eyes, her hands and her heart just as much as Yuka spat fire through his mouth. Everything a mile away around them was burning when they fled, a raging fire still burning inside them but now more than ever, they would not disobey the wish of their parents.

It wasn’t the roar of her brother as much as the feeling that thousands of eyes were on her that made her think that they were here. The complete and insufferable silence was what hinted her to the truth. With a straight face, she turned around. Sure enough, they were there. Why they didn’t try and kill them in the back, she couldn’t even begin to try and guess. It wasn’t below them to do such things, after all. She knew it. She saw it. More than once.

Yuka growled and some of them stiffen. She wouldn’t blame them, anyone would. She cracked her neck, the sound reverberated around them as she did. Then, she walked toward them, not even flinching when they pointed their swords and spears at her. She stopped some foot away and stared at them. Then, she let out some words, with such a dead tone that most of them shivered:

– You should go.

One of the soldiers made a step forward and stop, then he called back:

– You should come with us, princess. You’re one of us. Not them. They broke your mind, but we can help.

A smile flourished on her face, but it was cold, even colder than the ice that her dear old friend and chief could summon.

– I am no princess. You should go, she repeated neutrally.

The brutal distinction between her tone and her facial expression transformed the atmosphere into something full of apprehension. Most of the soldiers seemed to hold their breath. No one moved, though. That was not what she wanted. When the one who spoke to her made everyone put away their swords, but not to leave, she frowned. Seeing that their leader was about to talk again, she spat:

– Leave us. Leave us and never come back. For every one of us you kill next, I’ll destroy thousands of yours! Just like I did before. Let us be and live. By the fire inside of me, I promised you that. So, leave us or die! It is your choice, choose wisely.

But they didn’t listen. The one in charge made them drew their swords and they went for the kill… or tried to, at the very least. But as she was talking, she became one with her brother again and now, they were raining fire on them all. Once again, the smell of burning flesh, burning blood and chaos inhabited her nostrils. A grim smile full of a weird mix between pleasure and sadness made its place on her lips as she watched them die. They wanted to kill them only because they existed? Fine. She only needed to kill them in return. But, just like she promised beforehand, she let flee the ones who yielded throwing their weapons away.

After this day, they never returned. Helped with the burning corpses, bones and the once living things, she used her powers and gave her life back to the forest that once was. Peace in all its forms was hard to find, but each day that followed their victory they tried to reach it and all in the wait of what was foretold by their old chief. The Great Dragon would call them one day and they needed to be ready for him.