A Scale of Sapphire

Aoife

It didn’t take long for the other monsters to start closing in. Minutes after Cass and I had begun our assault, centaurs carrying goblins came charging out of the tree line, a familiar minotaur just a few steps behind. At the same time, the humans beneath us started to organize. More and more of them were taking up arms against the angels, and the few that still chose to take Cyrus’ side were swiftly overwhelmed.

I’d received a few more cuts and bruises, but it was mostly superficial. I’d been honing my flying skills over the last few months, and the massive blasts of frost I kept launching were much more difficult to avoid than their blades and beams. It wasn’t all perfect though. Cass noticed her wings growing weaker and was forced to land. Now she was fighting with her former comrades on the ground, doing her best to help them coordinate and get on board with our plan.

Speaking of, it was time to move on to the next phase. Most of the angels were dealt with at this point. I was sure there were probably more underground, but the ones that were here right now were on their last legs, and with coordinated barrages of gunfire, they probably wouldn’t last long. That meant my new priority was to gather up as many of their swords as possible, and start delivering them to the others. A few of those blades had been scooped up by the human fighters, but most of the humans lacked the strength to use them well, and even those who could wield them would be rendered basically helpless once Cyrus hit them with his presence. Erica and the centaurs would be much more effective with them, so I stripped the humans of the swords as delicately as I could, giving a brief burst of fear to those who were more resistant to my efforts. I could apologize later.

With a bundle of golden weaponry held delicately in my claws, I pumped my wings hard, soaring over the rooftops once again as I angled toward the nearest group of centaurs. As soon as I arrived, I dropped a handful of swords and took off again. I had a lot of deliveries to make, and precious little time to make them. Next was Erica, then Tony, then yet another group after them, the whole time checking over my shoulder, waiting for whatever was about to happen. Waiting… for that.

A wave of blistering heat washed over me, radiating out from the village center. Along with it, cold dread began to claw at the edges of my mind. The village became deathly still as the din of shouts and gunfire faded into silence. I leapt back into the air, trying desperately to reach the village before Cyrus could finish whatever he’d done, but I was too late. The temple in the town square glowed red before melting into slag, and from the crater where it once stood, the sun emerged.

I was strongest in my dreams. The night was my home. I beat him there, and he never haunted my nightmares again. Instead, he’d made them real. Here and now, there were two suns in the sky, and one of them wanted to devour me.

“You had so many chances, Moonlight. I have forgiven you more times than I can count, and every single time, you’ve spat on my kindness. I’ve had enough. I will burn it all to ash, and when every last trace of you, your monsters, and this ungrateful village of swine has been wiped from the face of the earth, I will find the few who remain and live like a king.”

The intensity of the heat grew even further, and another wave of presence struck me like a physical blow. Before I knew it, I’d somehow tumbled from the sky. After months of torture, I thought I was finally free. I thought I’d never have to see that sun again, but it was here. The tendrils of burning plasma that had wrapped me up, forcing their way into my mouth, my nostrils, my eyes, pulling me deeper and deeper into the blindingly bright mass, engulfing me in pure liquid agony, they were real. It was all real. He’d made it real.

I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I felt helpless. We were all helpless. I only ever stood up to it in my dreams, and even then, I only barely got away. I was going to die. Cass was going to die. Erica and Willow and Matt and Evelyn were all going to die. I was stupid to even try. I was stupid to think that I could be anything more than a speedbump to something like this. The sun drifted lazily towards me, tendrils reaching out once again to sear my flesh, to whip my scales, to tear my wings.

Cass fired once, twice, again and again until her revolver was empty, but each round had melted before it even touched the star’s surface. She was shouting something, but I couldn’t make it out. She was too far away, and I couldn’t drag my attention away from the death in front of me. A death that paused.

“Cassandra? You can still move? Well, color me impressed.” The sun began to drift away, back towards the village center. “Y’know, I still haven’t paid you back for shooting me last time we met. Maybe it’s time we correct that. How would you like to be the first to burn?”

Tendrils reached out for something I couldn’t see, but I couldn’t ignore the consequence if I tried. Cass screamed, and it felt like someone was ripping my heart to shreds. Time stood still.

I took one deep breath, then another. Frost began to gather on my scales, thick, icy armor forming faster than you could blink, even as it felt like an eternity to me. I was scared. I was beyond scared. I was more horrified than I’d ever been in my entire life. Months of torture, months of exhaustion, they all came rushing back. I was going to die, and I was going to suffer as it happened. To my mind, that was a foregone conclusion, but if that ending was guaranteed, then nothing I could possibly do could make it worse.

That meant there was nothing to be scared of.

Faster than thought, I bolted through Sunrise, lashing out with a single claw to sever the tendril that had gripped Cass’ arm. I leapt into the sun, sank my teeth into the dragon inside, and screamed.