Chapter 11 #3
The dark plates deflected the blow.
The weapon thrummed violently in his hands.
Meanwhile—
Aldric launched himself.
Airborne.
High.
He aimed for the base of the wing—
He reached it.
Dreyrath angled downward.
He pushed the heat from his brand into the blade.
The sword ignited with crimson light.
Heat.
Power.
Enough to challenge nameless shadow—
He struck.
Nothing.
The blade scraped across the surface.
No dent.
No mark.
The dragon reacted instantly.
It surged upward—
Then flipped.
Upside down.
Aldric slammed into the ground.
Hard.
The armor absorbed most of it—
But pain still exploded through his body.
Every bone screamed.
Ulric was still fighting.
Aldric spat blood inside his helmet.
“Fucking hellfire…”
This thing had no weakness.
Eyes.
Maybe the eyes—
The dragon smashed Ulric into the ground.
Then turned.
Focused on Aldric.
For a brief moment—
It tilted its head.
Curious.
Aldric froze.
It’s eyes shifted.
From ghostly white—
To crimson red.
Anger surged in Aldric.
They lunged at the same time.
He was outmatched.
He slashed at claws.
At joints.
Nothing.
No openings—
One of the dragon’s paws came down.
Pinning him.
The weight crushed him into the ground.
His head remained free.
Barely.
The dragon lowered its snout.
Closing in.
So this is it.
This is how it ends.
The pressure increased.
His brand burned.
Pain exploded through his chest.
A scream tore from his throat.
A broken sound.
A man losing everything.
Dying.
Slowly a part of him stopped resisting.
And in the darkness—
A memory surfaced.
Unbidden.
Their first meeting.
Her stepping through the vines.
That smile.
Those eyes.
The taste of her lips.
A faint smile formed beneath his helmet.
He loved her.
The pressure…
Lifted.
Silence followed.
Stillness.
Aldric smiled faintly.
So this…
is what dying feels like.
I wish she was here…
A faint breath escaped him.
I miss you…
I miss you so much…
My Rae.
Silence.
Weightlessness.
Then—
A scream cut through it.
Not his.
Aldric’s eyes snapped open.
He was still there.
On the ground.
Bruised.
Broken.
Alive.
Ulric had slammed into the dragon’s flank.
The impact staggered the beast.
It responded instantly—
A claw lashed out.
Ulric tried to dodge—
Too slow.
The claw tore through his armor.
From shoulder to opposite hip.
Metal split.
Fabric shredded.
Ulric was hurled across the plateau.
He rolled.
Barely avoided the follow-up strike.
Aldric pushed himself up.
And froze.
The dragon had changed.
Its void-like armor had softened.
Now translucent.
Almost fragile.
Its eyes no longer red.
Aldric picked up Dreyrath.
And charged at it again.
But something was wrong.
He saw it.
Instantly—
The dragon’s head snapped toward him.
It’s eyes flared crimson again.
It’s body becoming like void again.
It charged.
Full speed.
Terrifying.
And in that moment—
He understood what needed to be done.
He stopped and—
He drove the sword into the ground.
The helmet followed.
“What are you doing?!” Ulric shouted, struggling to his feet.
The gauntlets.
Quick.
Dropped.
The greaves.
Fell.
The breastplate.
Clanged against stone.
Aldric stood in his tunic and breeches.
Unarmed.
Unarmored.
He opened his eyes.
Looked at the dragon.
It slowed.
Aldric lowered himself to one knee.
The dragon stopped.
Ulric was still charging.
But he was far away.
Limping.
The dragon lowered its head.
Slowly.
The massive snout hovered inches from Aldric.
Hot breath washed over him.
The creature studied him.
Its eyes flickered—
Red.
White.
Red again.
Then—
It let out a low rumble.
Not a roar.
Something softer.
Almost… uncertain.
Aldric didn’t move.
Didn’t resist.
The dragon exhaled.
A long breath.
Then the body began to fracture.
Cracks of light spread across its form.
The void-armor dissolved.
The wings faded.
The massive form unraveled into drifting particles of blue light.
The apparition…
Vanished.
Ulric staggered to a halt.
Breathing heavily.
“What the… fuck just happened?”
Aldric exhaled slowly.
Then bent down and began putting the armor back on.
“I had to stop fighting. Stop resisting.”
Ulric was still catching his breath.
Aldric fastened the breastplate.
“This dragon was… a mirror. That’s why I couldn’t defeat it.”
The mace slipped from Ulric’s hand.
Clanged loudly against stone.
He sat down heavily, massaging his shoulder.
Aldric secured the final clasp.
“I had to stop trying to defeat myself… and accept it.”
Ulric looked at him.
“So you beat the dragon… by giving up?”
Aldric chuckled faintly.
“Yeah. Pretty much.”
Ulric shook his head.
“Nobody’s going to want to hear that story.”
Aldric smirked faintly.
“Good thing I’m not doing it for them.”
Then they both grew quiet.
And their eyes settled on the pillar.
Aldric slowly walked towards it.
Both hands, finally, rested upon it.
For a moment—
Everything went quiet.
Then a low thrum echoed through the plateau.
A loud cracking followed.
Energy surged.
The brand on Aldric’s shoulder burned hot, searing pain flooding through his body. The sensation traveled downward, through his limbs, into his hands—
And into the pillar.
The structure trembled.
Cracks spread across its surface like lightning frozen in stone.
Then—
It crumbled.
Quietly.
Its form dissolved into a fine, shimmering mist that seeped into the soil beneath their feet.
Aldric stood there.
Blinking.
“That’s it? I thought it would feel more elabo—”
He hissed.
Pain exploded across his shoulder and chest.
White-hot.
He looked down, through the small gaps of his armor.
The brand had changed.
Expanded.
Runes now stretched across his chest and upper arm, intricate markings etched into his skin.
It was complete.
Ulric stepped closer.
“What’s happening? Are you okay?”
Aldric breathed slowly.
He felt it.
The anger.
The frustration.
The constant gnawing tension inside him—
Dissipating.
That side of him just becoming part of him.
Accepted.
He exhaled.
“Yeah.” A faint smile. “I feel… great. Like waking from a long, bad dream.” He rolled his shoulder. “Right. Now to get my girl back. First we’ll need to—”
His gaze caught something.
On the ground.
A fragment.
From the pillar.
No larger than the palm of his hand.
The strange alloy-like surface shimmered faintly. Beneath it, a deep blue hue pulsed softly. A crystal of sort. Trapped.
He felt it.
Instinctively, his hand reached out.
He picked it up.
Turned it slightly in the light.
Then—
It happened.
A thin, thread-like splinter extended from the shard.
It pierced his skin.
And vanished.
Aldric gasped.
Something tore inside him.
Not flesh.
But deeper.
The fabric of his being.
His soul.
The world hurled.
Ulric grabbed him, steadying him upright.
“What is it? What just happened?”
Aldric’s vision blurred.
He looked at his hand.
It was becoming almost translucent.
Faint cracks formed beneath the skin.
Spreading.
He suddenly felt heavy.
Very heavy.
Exhaustion flooded him.
All he wanted—
Was to lie down.
To rest.
Darkness closed in.
He collapsed.
? ? ?
Ulric tried to wake him.
For a long time.
Nothing worked.
He shook him.
Slapped him across the face.
Called his name.
Shouted.
Nothing.
Aldric didn’t stir.
He only knew Aldric was alive because he was breathing.
Shallow.
Uneven.
That was the only good news.
He touched Aldric’s forehead.
Burning.
“Fuck!”
They were still trapped in this realm.
No way out.
When he had been here before, the Light had revealed itself after the last enemy fell.
Now—
There was nothing.
His only companion…
Most likely dying.
“Shit—shit!”